"Stop pacing." Anakin scolds his father from across the room. His father's right hand is grasping his cane tightly whilst his left is shakily trapped between his teeth as he nibbles on his nails. His eyes are wide behind his glasses and Anakin knows he's trying hard not to pull at his hair. Anakin sighs from his seating position and flops further into the couch. His head turns to Satine where she's watching the scene from the chair next to the couch.

"Ben, stop pacing." Her arms are folded and one leg is crossed over the other. Her eyebrow is raised as she watches the anxious man pace. "You're going to wear yourself out."

"Why can't I take my brace?" Ben asks, turning his panicked gaze to the woman.

Satine sighs and gives him a careful smile.

"You've already worn it too long today. You should have thought about that earlier."

Ben groans as her tone turns dangerously to lecture mode.

Satine sighs and pushes off the chair to stand in front of him. She halts him in his pacing and grips his shoulders. Her eyes roam his body as she takes in the outfit he's wearing.

The black and white striped shirt belonged to Quin. The sleeves fell over his hands and nearly touched the tips of his fingers. His black pants were tucked into a nice pair of boots. Satine smiled at the ensemble and nodded.

"You'll be fine."

"Are you sure I can't wear the brace?"

"If you want to be absolutely useless tomorrow, then, by all means, go ahead."

Ben huffs and relents. It earns him a smug smile that's mixed with warmth and Ben can't help but smile lightly back at her.

"Do you happen to know what we're doing on this date?" Ben asks, hoping she'll be kind enough to tell him. Her mischievous smile is his answer. "I thought not." He laughs and smiles brighter. His nerves are still frayed and he's stressed beyond belief, but he trusts Satine.

The knock at the door has barely happened when Ben hears Anakin's frantic movements to answer the door. The exasperated sigh that escapes Ben's mouth is overshadowed by Anakin's voice.

"Cody!"

Ben's stomach drops and only Satine's calm presence is able to keep him from bolting from the room.

"Hey, Anakin," Cody answers Anakin's ecstatic yell with a slightly calmer answer. "Is your dad here?"

"Yup! Come in!"

Ben took one more brave, deep breath before he ambled into Cody's sight. Ben's mouth dried up instantly. Cody looked gorgeous. Yes, he was only wearing a navy t-shirt that clung nicely to his muscles, and the light blue jeans he wore looked marvelous on him, but he still looked drop-dead gorgeous to Ben.

"Nice." Ben mumbles, his brain not quite working the way he wanted. Cody grins at him and Satine drops her head into her palm and sighs. Ben's face heats up and he stutters as he struggles for words he meant to use. "You look nice! That's-that's what I meant to say." A nervous chuckle accompanies the fixed sentence and Cody's grin goes even wider.

It turned out Cody had the exact same thoughts that Ben did.

"You look nice as well."

Satine groaned at the sheer awkwardness radiating from the two grown men in the room. She could hear poorly hidden snickers coming from Anakin as he watched the display as well. Satine caught his eye and rolled her eyes. Anakin nodded back, his laughs still failing to be silenced.

"Don't you two have somewhere to be?" Satine asks, startling the two. Ben's face seems to grow redder by the second and Cody starts to flush as well.

"Right, yes." Ben manages to say. "I suppose so."

Cody shuffles in his place before walking closer to the red-haired man and giving him his arm. Ben shly lets his left hand rest on the other man's bicep and Cody tries hard to keep his calm over the small touch.

"You two are adorable," Satine observes, watching their faces go a deep red. She laughs and takes pity on them. "Get going. There's not a lot of daylight left."

Ben thanks Satine as they leave.

"I'll try to be home as soon as I can."

Satine shakes her head at him.

"No, you're going to enjoy the date and you'll let me worry about the kids."

Ben sighs, but nods and continues to allow Cody to lead him out to the car.

The sight of the car causes Ben's heart to speed up just a bit. True, it had been a month since the accident and yes, he was driven home from the hospital, but the idea of riding in a car still frightened him just a bit.

"Are you going to be alright?" Cody asks, noticing his fear over the vehicle.

"I'll be fine." Ben lifts his head to give Cody a slightly tremulous smile. "I have you."

Cody's heart melts and he can hear Rex teasing him in his head.

"Do you happen to know what we're doing?" Ben asks once they get to the car. Cody takes this time to open the door for the man and guide him into his seat. Ben flashes a grateful smile whilst squeezing Cody's hand in another show of thanks.

"As a matter of fact, I do," Cody confesses once he's in the car as well. It's quiet out and there aren't a lot of people on the road, so Cody drives slowly, not wanting to scare Ben more than he already is. "I had to practically drag it out of Rex."

Ben laughs and his eyes light up.

"Lucky." He says through his laughs. "Satine wouldn't tell me anything." Ben falls silent once he sees their destination. It was only about a 2-minute drive and Ben knew this place well. "The park." He states breathlessly. "Where we met."

Cody nods and turns off the ignition. He gets out quickly, racing to Ben's door and opening it before the smaller man has a chance to.

"My good Sir." Cody bows once the door is open and holds his hand towards Ben for him to take. Ben chuckles and takes the hand.

"Why, how kind of you dear." It's not far from the car and Ben doesn't have any difficulty walking this time. He gasps at the sight in front of him when they get to their little date place. Under the cover of a few trees, a blanket is spread on the ground. It's weighed down by a basket that holds things Ben can't imagine. Lights are strung up in the trees and makes the little space shine even more in the slowly setting sun. "It's beautiful," Ben says, eyeing the sunset.

"Yeah," Cody adds, though his eyes aren't on the picnic or the sunset. They're on Ben. Ben, whose face has gone soft and whose eyes are sparkling in the lights above them. His smile is soft and filled with wonder.

Their picnic passes calmly and doesn't have any bumps.

They're both grateful for that, though small talk is slightly more difficult. Neither of them knows what to talk about, and it almost seems too early to talk about their families.

"What do you do?" Cody asks, cringing at the question. He just asked the man he loves what he does for a job. Jate kebbur, the Rex in his voice says with a laugh. Ni susulur doshishya. Ben seems to take pity on him and answers with no malice in his voice.

"I teach."

It's not a lot of information, but Cody doesn't mind.

"I'm a Professor," Ben admits after a moment of contemplation. "I teach Political Science." He waits for laughter, but nothing happens.

"I was never one for PoliSci," Cody admits, looking at Ben with his full attention. "I'm an Officer."

"A Police Officer?"

Cody nods with a hum.

"How is that?" Ben's face reddens and he waves his hands. "Sorry, you probably can't or don't want to talk about that. Forget I asked."

Cody doesn't really want to talk about it, so he just nods his head.

"Thanks. It's hard to talk about sometimes."

"I understand."

The sun is gone and now it's just Cody, Ben, and the stars.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Ben asks, his eyes reflecting the stars in the sky.

"What is?" Cody asks his attention once again on the red-head.

"That," Ben says, pointing at the stars in the sky. "All of that. It's both mysterious, and dangerous. We'll never know everything that's out there, but we push to find out. We don't worry much about the dangers it could bring, but we do it anyway."

Cody looks at the sky, albeit reluctantly, and catches his breath at the sight.

"It's hard to see the stars in the city," Ben says, a content look on his face. "That's why we leave where we do." For a moment, they just breathe. They take in the slightly chilly air and gaze up at the stars. "I used to take Anakin out here. Quin and I used to sit not far from here and point out constellations to Anakin. We were planning on getting him a telescope, but things fell through."

"I'm sorry." Cody whispers and Ben shakes his head. His eyes are bright with tears when he faces Cody.

"It's alright." He tells Cody truthfully.

The silence drives on a bit longer. The space between them grows smaller, and smaller, until…

Their lips meet.

The universe explodes around them and nature itself seems to sing.

The rest of their date is passed with hands clasped together and Ben's head on Cody's shoulder.


Mando'a Translations: Jate kebbur: Good try Ni susulur doshishya: I hear worse