![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
batsutousaiTitle: Loving You From a Distance
Fandom: Star Wars
Author: Batsutousai
Rating: Teen
Pairing: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Rex, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, past Obi-Wan Kenobi/Satine Kryze, past Obi-Wan Kenobi/Quinlan Vos
Warnings: Alternate Universe – Modern Setting, quarantine, Luke & Leia are trouble twins, Obi is the long-suffering uncle, bisexual!Obi-Wan, Anakin is determined to set Obi-Wan up
Summary: Obi-Wan has always loved Luke and Leia, but he honestly never expected for them to be the reason he started dating again, especially during a worldwide pandemic.
A/N: This is inspired by our upstairs neighbours' daughter, with a brief nod, near the end, to a friend's daughter.
Fair warning that author has very limited experience with small children and yet somehow continues to write fic with them so give me a bit of leeway with Leia and Luke. Also, I'm not completely certain about Rex's characterisation in this, but, eh. It's a modern AU, there's wiggle room. Ish.
I had vague thoughts of making this a yule card ficlet, but I suspect we'll all be sick of quarantine by then and given how well I did writing ficlets for it last year, I really shouldn't be making promises, esp since I'm back at the hell-job that sucked all my creative energy, so this is posting now. (It ended up way too long, anyway, whoops? XD)
Oh, uh, before anyone gets confused, floor numbering is using the European model, where the ground floor counts as its own floor, then the first floor, then the second, and so on.
I'm...kinda of two minds about the ending, tbh. On one hand, I wasn't certain where else to take it, and I'd tackled everything I wanted to. On the other, it feels a little unfinished. *shrugs* Idk, maybe I'll write a follow-up at some point.
Cross-posted to Archive of Our Own and LiveJournal.
Obi-Wan Kenobi had lived in his current flat for just over two years, having moved into it after the second time both Padmé and Anakin were out of town for work at the same time and he had to watch the twins. His old studio flat had been plenty big enough for him, and had fit Anakin just fine for a night or two, when he'd needed to crash there because he and Padmé were having a tiff—her no nonsense attitude and refusal to play the demure wife did not always mesh well with Anakin's stubborn pride and inopportune jealousy—but it really wasn't big enough for two children. So, he'd got a bigger flat with a bedroom specifically for the twins.
He'd been on good terms with a number of his old neighbours, having lived in the same building since he'd taken Anakin in after the accident that had killed Qui-Gon and Shmi, but his newer neighbours hadn't been quite so friendly. (And, honestly, Obi-Wan didn't have quite the time or energy he'd had in his youth; mingling with the neighbours during community events was relatively low on his list of priorities.)
He had met the woman living catty-corner to him often enough to recognise her on the bus—though it was her dog's name, not hers, that he remembered—he and his next door neighbour had a rivalry that involved duelling stereos on weekends, and his downstairs neighbour occasionally left notes on his door to complain any time he was walking too heavily—which was almost always actually Anakin's fault, not his—but that was the extent of his familiarity with the neighbours.
He hadn't really expected that to change when the quarantine and social distancing orders were announced, especially since both Anakin and Padmé were out of town, which left him with two young children to keep tabs on.
"I'm truly sorry about this, Obi-Wan," Padmé said when she called to let him know she was grounded for the foreseeable future. Anakin had already passed on the same news, though he'd been far less apologetic in his message, which was par for the course when it came to him. "If there was a way for me to safely get home–"
"It's fine, Padmé," Obi-Wan insisted for the second time, because she'd apologised almost as soon as he'd picked up, before they'd been interrupted by delighted screams as Luke and Leia realised their mum was Facetiming and they could babble at her. "You know I adore them both, and I'd much rather you stayed safe out there."
She sighed. "I know, but I still feel a little guilty." She huffed. "You were never meant to become their full-time nanny."
Obi-Wan snorted. "At least they're not as much trouble as Anakin was."
Padmé laughed, the sound edged in strain. "Yet," she insisted.
"Yet," Obi-Wan agreed, because they were, after all, the children of a politician and a genius engineer. "Take some time to relax, Padmé," he added. "They'll be safe with me."
"I know they will," she agreed without hesitation. "And I am grateful you've got them; I can't imagine how spare I'd be going if they were in the care of anyone else."
Obi-Wan raised a sceptical eyebrow.
"Well," Padmé allowed, "maybe Sabé. But you're the one Anakin trusts, and all our lives are easier when he's relaxed."
Unfortunate, but true. And, since Sabé was with Padmé, it was a moot point. "I'll let you know the moment anything happens," he promised.
"I know," Padmé said, because Obi-Wan promised that every time they left the twins with him. "Do you mind if I ring through every day to talk to them?"
"Not at all."
They worked out a reasonable time for her to call, then Obi-Wan brought his mobile back to the second bedroom to let the twins say their goodbyes, then hung up.
And then, he crossed his arms over his chest and raised one unimpressed eyebrow at the starfighters they were drawing on the wall with crayons.
Leia tried on an innocent smile—the expression was Anakin, but the sheer gall was Padmé—while Luke hunched in on himself a bit and made an attempt to hide a crayon under his butt.
Well, Obi-Wan had already known he wouldn't be getting his deposit back, and he'd been expecting the walls would need a fresh coat of paint when he moved out, so it wasn't as upsetting as it could have been. "You know," he said mildly, "if you do your drawing on the paper, we can move them higher up when you're done."
The twins traded wide-eyed looks, then both scrambled for the ream of printer paper he'd absconded with from work months ago for them, which was still about half full.
He left them to it, returning to his own work while they were otherwise distracted.
The first time Luke had run over to tell him they'd lost a toy over the edge of Obi-Wan's balcony, he'd assumed it was an accident.
That had been almost five months before the start of the pandemic, and he was no longer fooled by that line. So when Luke ran in from the balcony, calling, "Unc'Obi, crayon fell," Obi-Wan closed his eyes and rubbed tiredly at the bridge of his nose.
"Luke," he said tiredly, "the crayon didn't 'fall' if you or your sister dropped it purposefully."
Luke was silent for a moment, then he caught at Obi-Wan's trouser leg and said, "Unc'Obi, Leia did."
"Of course she did," Obi-Wan muttered and got up to see where the crayon had landed.
It was not, of course, simply one crayon that had 'fallen', but all twenty-four of them. Leia was doing her best to peer through the chicken-wire Obi-Wan had installed before the winter, when he'd first realised they were dropping things purposefully, holding the empty box in one hand, the other stretched up to reach over the top of the balcony railing just far enough she could drop things over the other side.
"Leia," Obi-Wan said, disapproving.
The girl turned to him with wide, faux-innocent eyes. "Unc'Obi!" she called, and showed him the empty crayon box. "Crayons fell."
"Congratulations," Obi-Wan replied, deadpan, as he walked over to the railing to look over the edge at the scattering of crayons in the bushes and over the pavement, "you've discovered gravity."
Leia giggled, delighted, while Luke very seriously informed them, "Science 'portan'. Sez Daddy."
"Yes, your father would say that," Obi-Wan muttered, rolling his eyes at his absent adopted brother. Then he glanced down at the pair of them and sighed. "Right, who's coming to help me collect them?"
"Me!" they both shouted, jumping up and down and waving their arms in the air, the crayon box falling to the balcony ground with a hollow thud.
"Ah." Obi-Wan held up a cautioning finger. "I don't see any masks."
(He'd had to raise Anakin on a university student's shoestring budget, and learning to sew had been necessary; as soon as the city had shut down, he'd gone about making masks for all of them. They weren't quite up to medical standard, but they let them go on walks through the nearby park to stretch their legs without him feeling quite as panicked about the possibility of one or both of the twins catching the virus from others with the same idea.)
The twins raced to their room to collect their masks and the winter gloves Padmé had insisted they should also be wearing if they were going outside—Obi-Wan was not about to argue with her about preventative measures when it would be his fault if one of them caught sick, even if he wasn't certain the thick cloth gloves protected them all that much—and Obi-Wan collected his own mask and gloves. (Luke would fuss if he saw Obi-Wan going outside barehanded.)
It didn't take them long to get outside and start collecting the fallen crayons.
Luke made a pathetic sound and held up the two halves of the orange crayon. "Unc'Obi, broke."
"Yes, that tends to happen when you drop things from high up," Obi-Wan said without any sympathy. "Which is why I keep telling you two to stop dropping things you care about."
Leia patted Luke's shoulder and babbled something in their not-quite-language, which Obi-Wan was fairly certain translated to something along the lines of, 'It's okay, Luke, now we have two orange crayons so we can use it at the same time!'
Luke's face lit up and he happily dropped the two pieces into the box Obi-Wan had collected before they left the flat to carry the retrieved crayons back upstairs in.
They had found all but two colours—pink and yellow-green—when someone called from above them, "Looking for something?"
Obi-Wan glanced up and found an absolutely gorgeous dark-skinned man with blond hair looking down at them from the balcony on the first floor, holding the two missing crayons out over the edge of one of the flowerboxes hanging off his railing. "Y-yes," he managed, then swallowed and cleared his throat. "Yes, I do believe those are the renegades."
"Crayons!" Luke called, jumping with his arms extended, like he thought he would be able to grab them from the man.
The blond man knelt and reached down through his balcony railing as far as his very buff biceps would fit, holding the crayons. Obi-Wan stepped carefully through the bushes and reached up, just tall enough to take them from the man's hand.
As Obi-Wan slid the crayons back into the box, the man said, "Best be more careful with those, soldiers," his voice low and warm in a way that did terrible things to Obi-Wan's decision to abstain from relationships after his and Satine's ugly breakup.
"I'm a pilot," Luke insisted, because Obi-Wan had—possibly foolishly—let them stay up and watch Top Gun when it was on the telly a few nights before, and while a lot of the film had gone over the twins' heads, Luke had latched onto the excitement of flying, the same way Anakin had when Obi-Wan introduced him to the film almost a decade before.
"Apologies, airman," the blond man said without missing a beat.
Luke's wide smile was obvious even with the mask hiding his mouth.
"What do we say to our neighbour?" Obi-Wan asked the twins in the driest tone he could muster.
"Thank you!" they chorused.
"You're quite welcome," the man said, but he was looking at Obi-Wan, rather than the twins.
His eyes, Obi-Wan couldn't help but notice, were a lovely shade of golden-brown. "Yes, th-thank you," Obi-Wan said, then cleared his throat again, because he swore his voice didn't usually sound that rough. "Right!" he said, looking back at the twins. "Back inside, both of you."
"No walk?" Leia asked, looking crestfallen.
Obi-Wan sighed. "I promise we'll go on a walk later," he told her. "I need to finish my work first."
"Said yest'day," Leia mumbled, but she still turned and obediently turned back to the door leading into the building, Luke on her heels.
Obi-Wan sighed again and just barely stopped himself from rubbing at his face, the sight of his gloves serving as a reminder that he shouldn't touch his face until he'd got in and washed his hands.
"Can't be easy," the blond man said, leaning on the railing of his balcony. When Obi-Wan frowned up at him, he jerked his head towards the dejected twins. "Trying to juggle work and childcare."
"No," Obi-Wan admitted. And then, not really certain why he felt the need to, he added, "It would be easier if I knew when their parents will be back in town."
The man blinked. "Ah, yeah, I can see that; my baby brother's always at his worst when Dad's gone longer than expected."
"Unc'Obi!" Leia called, sounding so much like her mother at her most exasperated, Obi-Wan reflexively ducked his shoulders.
"Thank you, again," he said to the man as he started moving towards the twins.
"Any time," the man returned.
Obi-Wan ushered the twins back up to his flat on the third floor and locked the balcony door, shooing them to their room with their crayons to colour on the walls while he did his best to get through the last of the day's work so he could keep his promise.
(Which he did, somehow. He also ordered food to be delivered while they were out, because he just did not have the energy for cooking that night, and they met the driver at the door on their way back inside, the twins clearly delighted at how well the timing had worked out.)
Obi-Wan managed to keep the twins from dropping anything over the balcony railing again for two days. But on the third—Friday—he had to do a video conference mediation and didn't realise they'd unlocked the sliding door and snuck out until there came a knock on the front door.
"Excuse me, ladies, gentlemen," he apologised to his clients.
"We could all use a break," one of them admitted, raising a mug and very purposefully turning it upside down to show it was empty.
"We'll take twenty, then," Luminara, Obi-Wan's partner for this matter, suggested. "Everyone refill your tea and check on any little ones."
As though they'd heard the comment, Luke and Leia called, "Unc'Obi! 'S a door!" from outside his closed bedroom door.
Obi-Wan muted his microphone and muttered, "I hope twenty is enough," as he got up and opened his bedroom door. "I'm coming," he told the twins, who were staring up at him with wide-eyed innocent looks that they must have inherited from their father. (Which was to say, they were extremely unconvincing.) "Do I want to know?" he asked them as he stepped around Luke and made for the front door, where his visitor was knocking again, a little harder.
He quickly put on the mask he'd left on the little table with his keys next to the door as he unlocked the bolt, then opened the door as wide as it would go with the safety chain engaged, starting to say, "Can I help–?" And then he recognised the gorgeous man on the other side of the door and his voice strangled itself.
The man's golden-brown eyes seemed to almost sparkle above the line of his disposable mask. "I'm afraid you're missing something again," he said, and held up one of the stuffed dragons Anakin had bought for the twins after the third time they'd wheedled him into taking them to see the most recent How to Train Your Dragon film.
"Leia," Obi-Wan said tiredly, because that one was hers.
"Oops," Leia said from behind him, sounding so utterly not sorry.
Obi-Wan held up a finger, then closed the door enough to disengage the chain before opening it again wide enough for the dragon to comfortably fit through. "I'm sorry about this," he said tiredly as he accepted the toy.
The blond man shook his head. "It's fine," he said, and he certainly sounded more amused than irritated. "I needed the reminder to leave my flat today."
"Is she broke?" Leia asked, tugging on Obi-Wan's trousers. "Unc'Obi, is she broke?"
"No," Obi-Wan admitted as he twisted to look down at her, "but she is going in the wash."
She scrunched up her face in confusion. "Laund'y 'morrow," she said.
Behind her, Luke said, "Uh-oh," and giggled.
"Yes," Obi-Wan informed his niece. "One of the consequences for dropping your toys over the balcony railing is you won't always get them back right away."
Leia turned her saddest, most pathetically-close-to-tears face on him.
Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "Your father did that far better," he informed her, because he'd trained himself out of responding to Anakin's pitiful, teary-eyed face within a year of taking charge of him, for the sake of both his sanity and bank account. Which was not news to either of the twins, though they still tried it on him fairly regularly, probably because it did work on their parents. (Anakin more than Padmé, because he was a huge softie.)
Leia pouted.
"I had best not see any other toys on the balcony when I turn around," Obi-Wan added mildly, and there was a rushing patter of little feet as they both ran for the balcony.
The blond man chuckled. "I'm impressed," he said when Obi-Wan looked back at him, one eyebrow raised. "I'm not certain I could have told that face no."
"I've had a lot of practise," Obi-Wan said, deadpan.
The blond cast him an appraising look that Obi-Wan almost thought was disguising him checking him out. (Not that anyone that gorgeous would be checking Obi-Wan out.) "I don't know," he said, something almost flirty in his voice. "You don't look near old enough to have that much practise."
Obi-Wan raised his other eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest, catching the door with his foot before it could fall closed. "Really," he said flatly.
The blond nodded. "You're, what, late-twenties?"
Obi-Wan blinked, not sure if he was offended or pleased by the guess, especially since he'd grown out his beard because it helped him look older. (Although, with the mask in the way...) "Mid-thirties," he corrected.
The blond blinked. "Huh. You don't look it."
Obi-Wan decided he was more pleased than offended, since it was kind of hard to be upset with someone so gorgeous. He huffed a bit, then said, "I'm Obi-Wan."
The blond let out his own huff. "Rex," he said, and started to raise a hand as though to shake, then winced and lowered it back to his side. "It really was no trouble, bringing the dragon up," he added.
"I–" Obi-Wan glanced down at where he'd squished the dragon into the corner of his elbow when he'd crossed his arms. "I do appreciate it." He sighed and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "I should have left the door open to keep an eye on them, but I couldn't have them popping in and out of my meeting."
Rex winced. "I get that," he said with enough understanding in his voice, Obi-Wan suspected he did. He let out a long, tired sigh. "Fuck this pandemic, anyway."
Obi-Wan choked on a laugh, a little bit surprised to hear someone cursing—a lot less common in his life after the twins grew old enough to parrot any curse words they heard. "With a rusty mace," he offered drily.
Rex's eyes lit with delight over his mask. "That would certainly get the point across," he agreed, just shy of deadpan.
Oh no. He was gorgeous and had a sense of humour that matched his own.
"Unc'Obi!" Luke called in warning before he crashed into the back of Obi-Wan's leg. "Lost Carrot!"
"Carrot?" Obi-Wan repeated blankly, before he remembered that was the name the twins had given the misshapen, orange pillow Obi-Wan had inherited from Qui-Gon, who had apparently made it as a teenager, when he was learning to sew. "That had best not have gone over the balcony railing," he said, voice gone tight as he tried to clamp down on the rush of anger at the thought of losing one of the few things he had to remember his adopted father.
"No!" Luke insisted, and tugged on his trouser leg. "Hide-seek!"
Rex coughed. "I should leave you to this crisis," he said, not without sympathy.
"So it seems," Obi-Wan agreed. "Thank you, again, Rex," he added, holding up the returned dragon.
"You're welcome, Obi-Wan," Rex replied, and the way Obi-Wan's name sounded in his voice, muffled by the mask or no, was not fair. "Good luck with Carrot," he added as Obi-Wan started to close the door.
"I'll need it," Obi-Wan muttered, and closed and locked the door before following Luke to help in the hunt for the misshapen pillow.
(They found it under the sofa, covered in dust bunnies, and it joined the dragon in the laundry. Obi-Wan ended up being very late to return to the mediation, but Luminara had things well in hand, and had been taking notes, which she sent him as soon as he returned. And this was pretty much the entire reason he loved working with her.)
Obi-Wan ended up having to go down to Rex's flat twice over the next week to collect 'fallen' toys, and the man came up to his another two times to return toys he'd noticed in his flower boxes first. He'd also had to take a trek outside to pick up toys from the bushes or pavement another three times, although each of those had resulted in them taking their walk, because they were all already dressed in protective wear, so it made sense to just spend an hour in the park and let the twins work off some of their manic energy.
"I'm starting to think they're aiming for your flowerboxes," Obi-Wan complained when he opened his door for the third time to find Rex holding one of the twins' stuffed toys.
Behind him, one or both of the twins attempted to muffle a giggle.
The corners of Rex's eyes crinkled with a smile. "I would not take any bets against that one," he said, and Obi-Wan had to chuckle, even as he started mentally debating punishments for the parents he knew had to be the masterminds behind this. (That was the last time he left his mobile unattended with the twins when one or another of their parents rang.)
"Probably best not to," Obi-Wan agreed drily. And then, as Rex handed over the toy, added, "Thank you. Again."
"It's no trouble," Rex said in an easy, unbothered tone that Obi-Wan almost bought. Except, well, he knew it was troublesome, because one had to put on a mask to leave the flat and go up two flights and then wash their hands when they got back in. And Rex was using disposable masks, rather than the array of handmade masks Obi-Wan and the twins had, which meant he had to be going through them faster than he'd likely intended.
"What's your favourite colour?" Obi-Wan asked before he could stop himself.
Rex blinked, looking thrown for a moment before he said, "Blue." And then he nodded to Obi-Wan's own mask, his eyes bright. "That colour, actually."
...okay, yes, Obi-Wan was actually considering making his unfairly gorgeous neighbour some reusable masks.
And then Rex tilted his head to the side and asked, "And yours?"
Obi-Wan coughed, feeling inexplicably embarrassed to have the question turned back on himself. "Brown," he admitted, because fair was fair.
Rex's eyebrows raised. "Really? Why the blue mask, then? Or was it the only option in your size?"
Obi-Wan huffed, but the answer came from behind him, Leia calling, "Unc'Obi best in blue. Mumma sez."
"Hid all da brown," Luke added, and they both giggled their delight at their successful mission, given to them by Padmé as soon as she'd found out Obi-Wan was going to make masks for himself and the twins. (It actually hadn't been hard to find the missing brown cloth, since the twins weren't that clever, and their small stature limited the number of places they could hide things, but he'd let them have their win; it was hardly the first time Padmé had got involved in weeding brown and tan from his wardrobe, though at least this time she hadn't been able to disappear anything herself.)
"I made the masks myself," Obi-Wan explained to Rex's curious look.
Rex blinked, then shook his head, eyes glinting with some emotion Obi-Wan couldn't quite read. "Well, colour me impressed."
"I'm not sure we have that crayon colour," Obi-Wan replied without really thinking about it.
Rex's laughter was loud and delighted, his eyes sparkling in the hallway lights, and Obi-Wan was a little surprised at how very much he suddenly felt the need to kiss him.
Oh, this is was not good, for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which was that there was no way Rex would be interested in him. (Other reasons included the current pandemic and the two vulnerable children behind him; even if, by some miracle, Rex was interested in him, he would never dare to endanger his niece and nephew any more than they already were by needing to meet with Rex or go outside to collect their displaced toys.)
"I– Thank you," Obi-Wan said, and held up the toy to show what he meant. "I should go...throw this in the wash."
"Yes, of course," Rex agreed, and took a step back, which was the moment Obi-Wan realised they'd been standing far too close, even accounting for the narrow confines of the hallway. "I should take a walk, get some fresh air."
"Always a good idea," Obi-Wan agreed, and then couldn't quite bring himself to immediately close his door, because even if he couldn't have, at least he could look, and Rex looked gorgeous from any angle. (Unfortunately.)
When he finally made himself close the door, he turned to look down at the falsely-innocent smiles turned up at him and huffed. "Scarper before I decide it's bathtime," he threatened, and they both let out squeals before turning and making their escape, leaving him to drop the toy in the laundry and wash his hands in peace.
He did spy on their conversation with Padmé that evening, and couldn't even pretend to be surprised when she asked them, "And how is getting Uncle Obi-Wan to talk to Mr Rex going?"
"Mr Rex likes blue!" Luke informed his mother before Obi-Wan could do more that start to push the door open.
"Does he, now?" Padmé murmured in that voice that meant she was plotting.
"Padmé Amidala Naberrie," Obi-Wan intoned as he stepped into the room far enough to see her considering expression.
She flinched, having the grace to look guilty, even as the twins turned and grinned at him, Leia saying, "Mumma and Daddy like hearings 'bout Mr Rex."
"Do they, now?" Obi-Wan replied, staring at his sister-in-law.
Padmé straightened and raised her chin, every centimetre the uncompromising senator. "Anakin met him through his work and seems to think he'll do you some good," she informed him primly.
Obi-Wan's jaw clenched and he had to fight with himself a bit to reply, "I don't need your or Anakin's assistance in finding myself friends," in a mostly even voice.
"Really?" Padmé returned without missing a beat. "And when was the last time you went out to do something for yourself?"
"Fighting?" Luke asked quietly, before Obi-Wan could respond. (Assuming he could even come up with a response that she'd accept; it was hardly a secret that he had been spending nearly all of his free time, since his and Satine's breakup, with the twins and Anakin and Padmé. And when he wasn't spending the day with them, he was curled up in his favourite chair with a cuppa and his ebook reader. Which he found an enjoyable pastime, but he knew that both Anakin and Padmé were very much extroverts and struggled to understand why he was perfectly happy to just stay in with himself. Especially since he'd very rarely done that while he and Satine were together, instead letting her drag him out to pubs and films nearly every night.)
"No," Obi-Wan said, and made himself take a breath, could clearly see Padmé reining in her own temper. "No, Luke, we're not fighting. We're just..."
"Having a difference of opinion?" Padmé suggested with a smile for her children.
"That," Obi-Wan agreed.
"Uh-huh," Leia said, clearly unconvinced. Not that Obi-Wan could really blame her for not accepting their assurances.
"I was actually going to suggest," Padmé said, "that you should ring Daddy when you're done talking to me. I'm certain he'd love to see all of you."
Anakin had returned to the city not quite two days ago, but neither Padmé or Obi-Wan had been comfortable with handing the twins immediately over to him, given they had no way of knowing what he might have picked up while travelling. So he'd gone to the grocery, stocked up for two weeks, and locked himself into their house. Knowing his adopted brother, Obi-Wan suspected he had either started ringing everyone in his mobile's contacts, or was in the process of taking apart every single electronic in the house.
"Can we, can we, can we?!" the twins chorused turning pleading looks on Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan held up a finger. "I require a solemn promise," he informed them, and Padmé huffed.
The twins straightened and did their best to look appropriately serious.
Obi-Wan nodded at them. "There will be no more dropping toys over the balcony."
The twins traded uncertain looks, then turned to where their mother was shaking her head, a knowing smile playing about her lips. "Best to listen to Uncle Obi-Wan," she told them, and Obi-Wan suspected she felt secure enough in her meddling to let him and Rex sort themselves out. Which Obi-Wan would appreciate far more if she hadn't stuck her nose in to begin with. (Also, he knew Anakin wouldn't be letting things go until Obi-Wan either got kissed or punched, because experience taught him that his adopted brother was completely incapable of letting Obi-Wan handle his own personal affairs.)
"We promise," the twins chorused, sounding disheartened, and Obi-Wan suspected he was going to have to find some sort of punishment when they 'forgot' their promise in a few days.
"Then, yes, we can ring your father later," Obi-Wan agreed and they both let out delighted cheers.
He left them to Padmé after that, because Anakin had managed to instil a healthy fear of respect for other people's electronics in them, so he could trust them alone with his mobile.
When Luke called him back in, he rang up Anakin, raising his eyebrows in a complete lack of surprise when the video showed his adopted brother covered in streaks of oil. "Obi-Wan!" Anakin shouted in delight, beaming as bright as the sun.
"Anakin," Obi-Wan returned mildly, even as Luke and Leia clambered to be allowed to talk to their father. "You and I need to talk, later," he warned his adopted brother.
Anakin winced. "Uh-oh," he said, and the twins copied him, then started giggling. "After I talk to the little monsters, okay? Or, actually, what are we today?"
"Fairy!" Luke shouted, bouncing on his bed a bit. "Leia's'a troll."
"Gob'in," the girl corrected in a tone that told Obi-Wan this had been a minor point of contention between them. "Trolls're ugly."
"Oh, yes, my little girl is far too lovely to be a troll," Anakin agreed as Obi-Wan set the mobile down so he and the twins could see each other. "There they are!"
Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow at Anakin as the twins made delighted noises at getting to talk to their father for the first time since he'd started travelling home, and he nodded his understanding; he wouldn't be hanging up before Obi-Wan could talk to him, just to avoid an uncomfortable conversation, so Obi-Wan left him to the twins.
When Luke and Leia had finished with their father, Obi-Wan put on one of their films and left them to the living room while he retreated to his bedroom.
"Why," Obi-Wan asked once he and his mobile were settled at his desk, "did you set your children on Rex?"
"In my defence," Anakin insisted, "Padmé was the one who thought he'd be good for you."
"Anakin."
Anakin winced. "I–" He huffed and rubbed his hands over his face. "Look, I know it's my fault, what happened with Satine–"
"For the last time," Obi-Wan interrupted, scowling, "that was not your fault. Satine and I were having trouble before you caught ill and dropped the twins in my lap."
"Uh, yeah, sure, except I knew it was supposed to be your weekend–"
"It is not your fault you caught sick, Anakin. Satine's inability to accept our plans had to change to account for Leia and Luke is on her, not you."
Anakin just stared at him, clearly as tired with the continued argument as Obi-Wan was, but neither of them were willing to back off, so they just kept rehashing the whole mess.
Obi-Wan sighed and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "What does anything about Satine have to do with Rex?"
Anakin huffed out an annoyed sound, but he allowed the topic change, saying, "Obi-Wan, come on. He is so completely your type."
It was Obi-Wan's turn to level a stare on his adopted brother.
Anakin grimaced and looked away. "Look. He's military family, so he's not going to have a fit if you end up with a weapons manufacturing client, and he's got something like five brothers, most of whom are younger than him, so he gets that whole putting your family first and having to replan around emergency babysitting. And he likes the same dumb books as you."
The weapons manufacturing and Luke and Leia had been the last straws for his and Satine's relationship, so Obi-Wan could understand why Anakin was stressing their importance, and he and Satine had had rather different tastes in literature, which was something Padmé had noticed, mostly because she shared Obi-Wan's taste in non-fiction topics, and they'd commiserated on a couple of occasions about the struggles of having a significant other who didn't have any interest in the book you were currently reading.
"While that is all, I am certain, quite reassuring," Obi-Wan said flatly, "I still don't see why you feel the need to nose in on my interpersonal relationships with my neighbours."
Anakin made that face he always made when Obi-Wan was getting 'overly wordy'. "Look, I know what you're doing, the whole shutting down and refusing to date thing? It's not healthy."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Obi-Wan said stiffly.
"Uh, yeah, you totally do. You pulled the same thing after you and Vos agreed you were better as friends. If I hadn't dragged you with me to that dumb fundraiser Padmé was so insistent we go to, you'd never have left the flat again."
"Just because some of us don't feel the need to spend our every waking moment around a half-dozen other people–"
"Oh for frack's sake, Obi-Wan!" Anakin snapped, cutting him off. "I know you're lonely–"
"I most certainly am not!"
"Shouting it doesn't make it any more true," Anakin told him with a certain amount of mean-spirited glee; it wasn't often he got under Obi-Wan's skin enough to be able to use that particular reminder to mind his volume against him.
Obi-Wan drew in a sharp breath and closed his eyes, counting to five in his head before letting the air out in a slow exhale. He didn't really feel calm, but he did feel less like screaming was the only way to get through Anakin's thick skull. "I," he said in a low, even tone, "am not some sort of pity mission you need to fix, Anakin Skywalker, and I'd thank you to stay out of my personal life."
Anakin grimaced at his full name, before scowling. "As your brother, it is literally in my job description to stick my nose in your personal business."
"Is it, now?"
Anakin flashed him a sharp smile. "I'm sorry, who was it that locked Padmé and me into a closet together and refused to let us out until he heard kissing?"
Okay, that had...not been one of Obi-Wan's finer moments. But, in his defence, he was coming off his relationship with Quinlan at the time, and the amount of sexual tension the pair of them were giving off was driving him spare. "That was a...completely different–"
"Nuh-uh, you can't have it both ways, Obi-Wan. Either it's a brother's job to stick his nose in the other's relationship, or you overstepped and this is long overdue payback."
Obi-Wan scowled at him, seeing the trap too late to talk his way out of it.
Anakin nodded, and politely didn't stop to laud his victory over him, instead pressing on to say, "Just give it a shot, okay? Rex is good people, and I think he'll be good for you, if you'll just let him."
Obi-Wan crossed his arms over his chest and couldn't bring himself to look at his adopted brother as he muttered, "What's to say he's even interested?"
Anakin let out a long, almost-angry breath. "Satine and her fracking sister," he snarled, and Obi-Wan turned an offended frown on him. Anakin immediately held up a hand. "No, I don't want to hear you defending them, again. Listen, Padmé insists you're stupidly attractive, when you actually make an attempt with your clothing and that monster on your face you call a beard–"
"You leave my beard alone," Obi-Wan said, the words automatic after almost a decade of defending his facial hair from Anakin's comments, as if it wasn't entirely his fault Obi-Wan had been forced to grow one, because people kept assuming his teenaged adopted brother was the elder of the two of them.
"–and what even is your hair doing, this week?" Anakin continued as if Obi-Wan hadn't spoken.
"How, exactly, do you expect me to get a trim, right now?" Obi-Wan demanded.
Anakin shrugged. "Okay, fine, I'll give you that one. And Padmé would probably say you're working the shaggy look just fine–"
"Why, exactly, is your wife so interested in my looks?" Obi-Wan had to ask.
Anakin shrugged. "I guess the jealous sex–"
Obi-Wan held up one hand to shut Anakin up and used the other to rub at his face. "Right. I rescind the question."
Anakin snorted.
"Attractiveness aside," Obi-Wan said, "we are both very male, and–"
"Rex is very gay," Anakin insisted.
Obi-Wan raised a politely disbelieving eyebrow.
"According to Fives and Echo," Anakin said, and then clarified, "Two of his brothers. And, no, I did not ask if those were nicknames, or if their parents were high when they were filling out their birth certificates."
"Will wonders never cease," Obi-Wan muttered, and ignored Anakin's insulted, "Hey!" in favour of saying, "Fine. You've done your meddling. Now stay in quarantine like the good little boy we both know you aren't–"
"Excuse you, I am a perfectly well behaved–"
"I will pull out school detention records," Obi-Wan threatened.
Anakin's mouth snapped shut with a click that was audible through the mobile speakers.
Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to endanger your children for the sake of your misplaced guilt over the failure of my last relationship, Anakin."
Anakin flinched, then closed his eyes and rubbed at them. "Right. Frack. I– Somehow, I keep forgetting we're in the middle of a pandemic. It's just...more constant inconvenience than anything else."
You wouldn't be saying that if one of us got sick, Obi-Wan didn't say, but he certainly thought it. They'd all been extremely lucky, so far, with Padmé's family living out in the country, where they were lucky if they saw someone from outside their family during grocery runs, and Anakin and Obi-Wan having only each other, Padmé, and the twins left to worry about. Padmé's political position afforded her protections your average citizen lacked, and Obi-Wan had the sort of job that allowed him to socially distance on the regular (something that he had definitely appreciated every time he'd been required to take the twins for a few days, while their parents were out of town). Anakin had been the only one in any real danger, especially when he'd foolishly decided to travel against cautions, but he also had a seemingly god-level immune system, given he'd caught a whole one cold since Obi-Wan had known him.
So, yes, he could understand why the pandemic might feel more like an inconvenience to Anakin, and he could only hope they got through it without that changing. "Just...be careful when you get the twins back?" he had to request. Anakin was usually so overprotective of them, he wouldn't worry, but he could also be a bit absent-minded, especially if he got distracted by a project.
Anakin sighed and nodded. "I know. I...may be adding some additional permissions to the electronic locks on the doors and windows?"
Obi-Wan huffed, helplessly amused by his adopted brother's electronics mania. "If you lock yourself inside, I'm not coming to rescue you."
Anakin grinned. "Nah, I've got a blowtorch; I'll be fine."
"If you burn down the house, remember to call the fire brigade first."
"Oh, ha-ha." Anakin made a bit of a show of rolling his eyes, while Obi-Wan smirked at him, then leant forward and asked, "After I get Luke and Leia, though, you'll give it a shot with Rex, right? A proper go of it, not just a cuppa and kicking him out because he mocked your non-dairy milk."
Obi-Wan sighed. He did find Rex attractive, of course, and certain parts of his anatomy were absolutely on Anakin's side in this, but the idea of giving in to one of Anakin's poorly constructed plots sat...wrong with him. "I will...try," he said instead of outright agreeing.
Anakin raised his eyebrows. "Isn't your family motto–"
"No."
"–'there is no try'?"
"It's your family, too," Obi-Wan reminded him a bit helplessly, because Anakin had absolutely taken after him when it came to bringing up his great-grandfather's favourite turn of phrase just to torment his adopted brother.
Anakin beamed at him, the same way he always did when Obi-Wan reminded him that he was a part of their family, even if he'd only barely had time to get to know Qui-Gon before the accident. "Yeah, I know," he said, and he did, but Obi-Wan knew he appreciated the reminder, all the same.
One of the twins shouted for him from the living room, and Obi-Wan sighed and offered Anakin a helpless smile. "My masters call."
Anakin snorted. "I claim no blame for their demanding nature," he insisted.
"Don't lie to the man who raised you," Obi-Wan shot back, and Anakin's grin was unapologetically cheeky. Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. "Try not to go too mad in that house, won't you?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine," Anakin said, and then ended the call before either of them devolved into mushiness.
Obi-Wan huffed in amusement, dropped his mobile onto the charging pad, because the battery was getting low, as much use as it had got, then went out to see if he couldn't figure out why the film had stopped playing.
The twins did, indeed, return to dropping things over the balcony railing, but Obi-Wan was man enough to admit that it had been at least a little bit his own fault, since dropping the baggie with the masks he'd made for Rex had seemed both the quickest and least embarrassing way to get them to him. He'd been lucky enough to get the bag neatly into one of the flowerboxes, but not to avoid being seen by Luke, who told Leia, who took that as permission to drop Obi-Wan's mobile over the balcony.
Obi-Wan had included a note with the masks that they should probably be washed before Rex wore them, for his health's sake, so he wasn't surprised when Rex answered the door in one of his disposable masks. "I'm sorry," he said a bit helplessly when Rex immediately held out his mobile, which was speckled with soil.
Rex chuckled, low and warm, and Anakin telling him he had a chance was not helping. "I'm a little surprised they didn't drop something important sooner," he admitted, his eyes bright with amusement.
"So am I," Obi-Wan had to agree, because as often as he left the pair of them with his mobile or the remote, you'd think they'd have dropped one or both of them sooner, just to see what happened if they missed the flowerboxes and it hit the pavement. (Which, related, he wasn't going to be leaving them alone with his mobile any more.) He dusted some of the dirt off the screen, then said, "My brother, their father, he's back in town. Quarantining himself for a couple of weeks, just in case, but then he'll take them back."
Rex tilted his head slightly to one side. "You're saying I'll only have to keep an eye on my flowerboxes for another two weeks?" he asked in a tone Obi-Wan couldn't quite read.
"Yes," Obi-Wan said, then took a deep breath through his mask and added, "And to ask if, once they're gone, you might like to come up for a cuppa?"
Rex blinked. "A cuppa?" he repeated.
"I– Things are...weird, right now?" Obi-Wan stuttered, staring down at the dirt on his mobile so he couldn't see Rex's reaction. "So, a cuppa, and some talking? To start. And then, I...don't know?"
"Are you asking me on a date?" Rex asked, sounding rather poleaxed.
Obi-Wan peeked up at him from behind the shaggy hair that had fallen in his face. "Yes?"
"You are asking me?" Rex asked, and he didn't sound disgusted, just...baffled. Like, maybe, he hadn't expected Obi-Wan to show interest in him, any more than Obi-Wan had expected Rex to be interested in him.
Obi-Wan swallowed and made himself stand straighter, drawing on that calm persona he'd created to face down even the most agitated of clients. "Yes, of course I am. If– I mean, if you're not interested–"
"I'm interested!" Rex insisted in a rush. "I would– Yes, I mean. Yes, I would love to come up for a cuppa. Please."
They stared at each other for a long moment, then Obi-Wan relaxed, smiling in relief, and saw the corners of Rex's eyes crinkling in that way he was fairly certain meant he was smiling. "Good. I'll...let you know? When I know for certain they're going home."
"Of course," Rex agreed, and let out a quiet breath of a laugh. "I'm sure we'll see each other again before then."
Obi-Wan sighed, remembering that gleam in Leia's eyes when he'd locked the balcony door before leaving to collect his mobile. That gleam had been all Anakin, and it had never meant good behaviour was in store. "Oh, I dare say we'll be seeing quite a bit of each other over the next two weeks," he said drily.
"I don't mind," Rex said in a rush, then coughed. "Well, I mean–"
"I find I don't mind, either," Obi-Wan admitted and then he let himself be a little obvious about checking Rex out, absolutely enjoying the way he filled out his tight black muscle shirt and the jeans slung low on his hips.
"Well, then," Rex murmured, and when Obi-Wan looked back up at what he could see of his face, he found Rex returning the favour, something definitely heated in his eyes.
Obi-Wan, who had come down in the stained and torn brown shirt that hung too-loose on him because it had originally been Qui-Gon's and the pair of joggers he'd been wearing when he'd painted the twins' room, which had a handprint on one leg, courtesy of Anakin, wasn't completely convinced there was much worth looking at, but based on the interest in Rex's eyes when they caught gazes again, there was no accounting for taste.
"I should...go. Probably," Obi-Wan said, partially to remind himself that he could not, in fact, shove Rex back into his flat and follow him.
"Probably," Rex agreed, and then shook his head and took a step back into his flat, getting out of the way of closing his door. "Until next time, Obi-Wan," he said, and sound of Obi-Wan's name from his lips was still unfair.
"Yes," Obi-Wan agreed, forcing himself to turn away. "Until next time, Rex."
Somehow, the flat's door closing sounded like a promise.
In a strange way, the next two weeks brought to mind the fable of the tortoise and the hare; there were days that seemed to rush by, and days that crawled past, slow and steady. In the end, however, it all came out to the same, and Obi-Wan found himself and Anakin working in tandem to get the twins into their outdoor gear when Rex knocked on the door.
Obi-Wan didn't bother grabbing his mask, since the twins would soon enough be gone, and he very much doubted he and Rex would be wearing masks for their tea. "Hello, Rex," he greeted warmly, because the three weeks they'd been trading dropped toys would have engendered fondness for his neighbour even without how unfairly attractive he was. "Sorry, we're running a little late this afternoon."
"Mr Rex!" Luke called from where he was ready to go, with Leia echoing him half a second after, once Anakin finally got her last shoe on.
"Remind me to order you new shoes," Anakin muttered to his daughter, before looking up and almost certainly flashing one of his charming-mayhem smiles, though his mask rather ruined the effect. "Hello, Captain Fett. I hear you've met my brother and kids."
"Hello, Luke, Leia," Rex greeting the twins, before turning to Anakin and saying, deadpan, "I should have known they were your children."
"Probably," Obi-Wan agreed drily, and Anakin snorted, too aware of the handful his children could be to take offence, while the twins giggled. "You may as well come in."
Rex did, stepping politely to the side so there would be plenty of space for Anakin and the twins to leave. As Obi-Wan knelt to kiss foreheads goodbye, however, Anakin said, "So, Captain, about Obi-Wan–"
"Excuse me," Obi-Wan said to Luke, gently taking the boy's dragon and throwing it at Anakin, hitting him in the side of the head. "You have done your meddling," he pointed out when Anakin turned to him with a wounded look, the twins giggling and trading conspiratorial looks. (Obi-Wan wasn't certain whether or not he regretted giving them the idea to pelt each other and their father with stuffed animals.)
"This isn't meddling," Anakin insisted.
Obi-Wan raised one vaguely threatening eyebrow at his adopted brother.
Anakin, who had learnt very quickly that that eyebrow was never an idle threat, hunched his shoulders and walked over to join them by the door, holding the dragon down to Luke. When Obi-Wan stood and tugged him into a hug, he muttered, "I just worry about you."
Obi-Wan sighed and tightened his arms around Anakin. "I know, Ani," he murmured. "I love you, too."
Anakin clung to him, just for a moment, then tugged away and looked down at his children. "Right. Let's leave Uncle Obi-Wan and Mr Rex to their date, hm?"
The twins took the chance to hug Obi-Wan's legs, then called their goodbyes as Anakin half-shoved them out the door ahead of him.
Before the door could close behind him entirely, Anakin extended his thumb and forefinger and wiggled that hand at Obi-Wan, very obviously mouthing 'Call me.'
Obi-Wan shoved against the door until it pushed him out of the way and fell closed.
Rex let out a quiet, amused huff into the silence following the exodus. "Somehow," he said mildly, voice becoming clearer as he spoke, and Obi-Wan glanced over to see him taking off his mask, "I never would have pegged you as related to that one."
Obi-Wan sighed and shook his head. "I'm not," he admitted, pushing away from the door and motioning for Rex to follow him into the kitchen. "Anakin's mum married my foster father when he was nine. I ended up raising him when they both died on the way home from the ceremony."
"Shit," Rex said with feeling. "I'm sorry."
Obi-Wan shrugged, the wound an old one. "I had no idea he knew you until the second week, when I overheard my sister-in-law asking the twins how the getting us together was going. She told me to talk to Anakin about it when I called her out."
Rex snorted. "Siccing his kids on us does seem like the sort of thing he'd do."
Obi-Wan shrugged. "I actually don't know if it was Anakin or Padmé's idea to use Leia's interest in gravity to force us to talk," he admitted. "It's devious enough to have originated with Padmé, but Anakin's always been more invested in my relationships."
"Brother's prerogative," Rex said knowingly. When Obi-Wan raised an enquiring eyebrow at him, he said, "You're not the only one whose brother has been trying to shove him at the, by all appearances, very single?"
Obi-Wan nodded, recognising the subtle request for confirmation.
"And extremely attractive neighbour," Rex finished.
"Oh, I wouldn't–" Obi-Wan attempted to demure.
"Hotness factor is in the eye of the beholder," Rex insisted, and Obi-Wan gave in with a helplessly amused huff. "My brothers, however, didn't have strategically placed small children to force multiple meetings. They were, unfortunately, working on a strategic coffee accident for once the pandemic restrictions eased. Your offer of a cuppa saved both of us from rather a great deal of embarrassment."
Obi-Wan shook his head. "The accolades, this time, go to Anakin, I'm afraid; he's the one who made me promise to ask you for tea once Leia and Luke were out of the way."
"Hm. Perhaps we can...forget to mention that to him."
"Sounds reasonable to me."
They traded smiles and, oh, even Rex's smile was unfairly gorgeous.
Once they were both settled at the table with their tea—Rex had actually looked relieved when Obi-Wan pulled out the almond milk, admitting he was lactose intolerant and had fully intended to just forego milk, rather than make a fuss—and the biscuits Obi-Wan had ordered with his last grocery delivery, Rex said, "So, full disclosure, my elder brother used his security clearance to look you up. If he found out you were related to Skywalker, though, that wasn't something he thought I needed to know."
Obi-Wan raised his eyebrows at that. "Oh? And what records are the military keeping on me?"
"Ah. No, uhm, Cody is actually MI5?"
Obi-Wan blinked a few times, admittedly startled by that information. From the way Anakin had spoken of Rex and his family, he'd assumed the lot of them were in the military. "And you?" he heard himself ask.
"I'm British Army," Rex said. "So are Echo and Fives. Jesse's in boot camp, and Boba's only just in secondary, but he'll probably go to boot camp rather than uni, same as Jesse did."
Obi-Wan gave himself a moment to organise all the names in his head, starting to wish he'd asked for more information from Anakin.
"No quiz, I promise," Rex offered with a crooked smile.
"Well, that's a relief," Obi-Wan said, shaking his head. "Goodness. Here I've been thinking Leia and Luke are a handful."
Rex huffed. "My brothers and I are all spaced out a bit, so we could help Mum and Dad raise the younger lot. Though, Fives and Echo are twins; they were a handful. Still are, actually," he added in a musing tone.
Obi-Wan, having plenty of experience with helping to raise twins, by then, chuckled knowingly.
Rex flashed him a slightly nervous smile. "So, uhm, I did tell Cody not to tell me anything too personal? But I did get your name and occupation and that you were orphaned and fostered young."
Obi-Wan shrugged and nodded, then motioned to where a couple of photographs were hung high on the wall of the living room, well out of the reach of excitable younglings. "Qui-Gon, my foster father, had been fostered, too. I guess there's a bit of a family line going on?" he added, because his 'great-grandfather' had actually been Yan's foster father. A part of him had felt a little guilty that he hadn't followed in their footsteps, especially as he was the last of the line, but raising Anakin had been far more important than signing on with the local foster agency, and now he was helping with the twins. "Anakin was a special case. I don't expect I'll ever know if Qui-Gon actually fell in love with Shmi, Anakin's mum, or if he'd just offered his hand to get her out of a bad situation." It wouldn't have been the first time Qui-Gon had stuck his neck out for someone in need.
"I'm sorry I won't get to meet him," Rex offered quietly, eyes on the photo of Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan on his first day of university. It had been taken just over two months before the wedding and accident, and had been the last time Obi-Wan had been able to spend any significant time with his foster father.
Obi-Wan quirked a crooked smile. "He'd probably have hated you," he admitted. When Rex's eyes widened, he hurried to explain, "He served in the navy and developed a rather extreme...he insisted it was only dislike, but it always came across as hatred, to me, for superior officers for some reason I never completely understood. I just know he never met a commissioned officer he didn't want to break the nose of."
"Ah." Rex rubbed at his nose and shrugged. "He wouldn't be the only enlisted or former enlisted to develop a problem with authority."
Obi-Wan cast about for a topic that wasn't his messy family history and his eyes happened on the book he'd bought the day before Padmé's emergency trip had seen him stuck with the twins for the start of the pandemic. "Anakin implied we have similar tastes in literature."
Rex visibly perked up, apparently as willing for a topic change as Obi-Wan, and debating favourite authors got them through two cups of tea and the tray of biscuits.
So maybe, Obi-Wan thought as he saw Rex out after the tea and biscuits were gone, Anakin had been on to something when he'd set them up.
Obi-Wan, thankfully, wasn't the only one interested in taking things slow, and they spent the next two weeks trading off hosting each other, which was both familiar and new, after three weeks of visiting each other to trade dropped toys. Rex, it turned out, was a phenomenal cook.
"So," Anakin had said, chuckling, when he rang to pester Obi-Wan about him and Rex, "I guess the way to a man's heart really is through his stomach?"
"How, exactly, does that explain you and Padmé?" Obi-Wan had returned drily, because Padmé, bless her, could burn noodles, while Anakin had learnt to cook because he got sick of the pre-packaged meals that were all Obi-Wan really had time for during university and in the early days at his firm.
Anakin had huffed and rolled his eyes and taken the familiar teasing in good humour, long resigned to having married a woman who was a terror in the kitchen.
Almost as soon as Obi-Wan got home from their nineth visit, his mobile rang. Obi-Wan pulled it out, half expecting it to be Anakin or Padmé, but it was a number he didn't recognise, and it was a Facetime call. He hesitated for a moment, then held his mobile so the front-facing camera would be aimed at the kitchen worktop before accepting the call.
There was a long moment of silence, Obi-Wan determined to make his caller speak first, in case this was some sort of scam, then a male voice said, "Oh, I think I like you, Obi-Wan Kenobi."
Obi-Wan cleared his throat, uncertain how to take that. "Thank you?"
There came a quiet huff of laughter, then the man said, "This is Cody Fett."
Oh. That sort of explained the reason for the call, as well as how he'd got Obi-Wan's private number.
Obi-Wan turned his mobile to face him and took a moment to examine the face of Rex's elder brother. He'd seen pictures of the brothers, so he wasn't surprised by how much Cody looked like Rex, nor by the long scar framing the left side of his face. The man was smiling, but there was something sharp about it, something almost dangerous in his eyes, and Obi-Wan had to swallow before he could get his voice to work enough to ask, "Is this when you tell me you'll bury me if I break Rex's heart?"
Cody's smile sharpened just the slightest, teeth flashing like a predator sensing trapped prey. "I wouldn't bury you," he said mildly. "You'd just suffer a rather unfortunate accident that, should you somehow survive it, will leave you in agony for the rest of your life."
"Yes," Obi-Wan said drily, "I can definitely see why Rex told me to run like hell and change my name if we ever got into a fight."
Cody's laughter sounded very like Rex's, just the slightest bit rougher, like he'd run sandpaper over the edges of the sound. He was also, evidently, capable of cutting it off with a suddenness that sent a chill down Obi-Wan's spine, even as the man's golden-brown eyes bore into him through the mobile screen. "If, however," Cody said, sounding so very dangerous, "I ever find out you've hit him–"
"I would never!" Obi-Wan insisted, horrified at the very thought. Qui-Gon had made him take up a martial art as a child, and he'd picked judo, which he kept up with when he could, but he had never, not once, raised his hand—or foot—against another person, not even the one time Quinlan had overdone it with the drinking and turned mean. (Quin had been horrified, after, and so far as Obi-Wan knew, he hadn't had a drink since, though he had also yelled at Obi-Wan for not just knocking him on his arse so he could sleep it off.)
And then it occurred to Obi-Wan that if Cody had thought to bring something like that up, someone might have hit Rex or one of his brothers in the past, and his horror flipped to anger, because Obi-Wan might hesitate to defend himself, but damned if he was going to stand back and watch someone else be hit. "Did someone hit him?" he demanded, and he almost didn't recognise his own voice.
Cody's mouth turned up with a sharp smile. "Oh, yes, I definitely like you, Obi-Wan," he said, and Obi-Wan relaxed, just a little bit, as it occurred to him that that had been a test. "Don't fuck this up. And kiss him, already," Cody ordered, before hanging up.
Obi-Wan just sort of stared at the screen for a long moment, feeling a little bit like he'd just got off a roller coaster. And then he picked up his mobile and texted, 'Your brother is a little terrifying,' to Rex.
'Cody?' Rex guessed. And then, before Obi-Wan could respond in the affirmative, sent, 'Always has been', followed quickly by, 'Just threats?'
'Yes Cody', Obi-Wan replied. 'Also he told me to kiss you'.
'ARSEHOLES', Rex sent.
'???'
'THEY HAVE A BET'.
Obi-Wan laughed; he probably should have expected that.
'HOLD ON RINGING FIVES'.
'Why Fives?' Obi-Wan asked, and wasn't surprised when he didn't get an immediate answer.
He'd moved to his more comfortable chair and picked up his current book to start reading by the time Rex finally texted back, 'Fives owes me. Cody's got this week, Echo's got next, Fives has soon as social distance ends, Boba's got we'll break up. Jesse's already lost.'
'So 3 weeks? Longer if the gov't goes crazy & releases everyone?' Obi-Wan sent back.
'DAMMIT', was Rex's response, followed by, 'Fucking brothers yes'.
Well, at least they were on the same page with ruining all of the Fett brothers' chances.
The next two weeks were almost harder than when they'd been waiting for Anakin to come get the twins. Rex muttered dire threats under his breath every time they visited each other. Obi-Wan, probably foolishly, complained to Anakin, who jokingly asked, "Think it's too late for me to get in on the bet?"
(Obi-Wan got him back by humming the Baby Shark tune to the twins, and left them to torment their father by demanding he put the video on constantly. Anakin didn't even last a day before he was apologising.)
When they finally kissed, they did it on Rex's balcony, the same place he'd stood the first time they'd met, and it was everything Obi-Wan could have hoped for; comfortable in the manner of two people who had got to know each other well enough to be friends, but with a sharp spike of heat and an edge of desperation that very shortly saw them retreating to Rex's bedroom.
(Cody texted to let them know he'd won the first time having sex bet, and Rex was halfway through a blistering response before Obi-Wan managed to distract him. Brothers, after all, would be brothers.)
.