Hermit Shack in the Unexplored Wooded Area, Saturday Morning

[saddeserthermit]

After finding that stone last week, Obi-Wan had slept fitfully and well. Some days, perhaps, even too well. He had turned in shortly before sunset yesterday, struck by a sudden wave of exhaustion, and he had slept until the sun rose again the next morning.

Which was when he sat up in bed with so little warning that half his blankets went spilling to the floor.

His senses had just informed him of two things at once: one, that some strange Force entity had just set foot on the island, and two, that another, vastly more familiar presence had made itself known overnight and he had completely slept through it.

He cast his sheets off the bed the rest of the way, and got dressed quickly.

[[ for one, then two. ]]

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[saddeserthermit]

"Pardon me," Obi-Wan told his guest, and rose out of his seat, "I have a former Padawan to contend with."

He slipped out the door and shut it gently behind him. "Anakin. It's all right."

[sith_happened]

"How is this possibly all right?" Anakin replied.

[saddeserthermit]

It wasn't, really, on the global, emotional scale, but Obi-Wan was nothing if not good at keeping that under wraps.

"Apparently something on the island has interfered for the weekend," he said, pulling his cloak a little further around him. "It has brought the former Duchess of Mandalore here."

But Anakin had likely already figured that out.

[sith_happened]

Anakin crossed his arms over his chest and focused entirely on Obi-Wan's face. "And you're just fine with that. Poodoo."

[saddeserthermit]

"This is hardly the time for a heart-to-heart, Anakin," Obi-Wan said, his voice tight.

Then again, it was never the time, really.

"She's right there."

[sith_happened]

Anakin sent a quick nudge of reassurance through the Force. "Padme showed up at one of these weekeds," he murmured. "It's...excruciating...and I know you're not fine, so just don't pretend with me, okay?"

[saddeserthermit]

Obi-Wan rubbed the back of his neck. "Look--"

"Master Skywalker?" a voice called from the shack, a little quiet, but not without a measure of authority.

[sith_happened]

Anakin, despite knowing she was there, leaped about a foot away from Obi-Wan and turned a clearly fake smile toward her. "Hello there...you. What a surprise to see you again."

Smooth, Anakin. Very smooth.

[not-foolhardy.livejournal.com]

"It has been some time," Satine agreed. She shut the door gently behind her. She could identify a fake smile when it was directed at her quite easily, and Anakin Skywalker had never been a master at the art as it stood. "How do you do, Master Skywalker?"

[sith_happened]

Anakin blinked. Small talk. Could he do small talk? "Oh, fine," he said. "Partnered up with Obi-Wan again, just like old times."

[not-foolhardy.livejournal.com]

One must never underestimate the power of small talk, especially when nothing was currently exploding. Especially since this was not exactly the most comfortable situation for her, either.

"I see," Satine said. "Like old times? I hadn't realized quite that much time had passed."

Obi-Wan cleared his throat. "It has been... several years since Mandalore fell. ... Your reign, I mean."

[sith_happened]

Anakin nodded. "We're in a different, less volatile galaxy right now, if you were worried about not recognizing much."

[saddeserthermit]

"This planet is called Earth," Obi-Wan said, "And its natives do not yet know space travel. Nor do they know anything of our galaxy."

[not-foolhardy.livejournal.com]

"I see," Satine replied. "And how long have you been here, and what are you attempting to hide from me?"

[sith_happened]

"I've been here almost ten years, and I'm not hiding a thing," Anakin said.

Other than two wives and four children.

[saddeserthermit]

Obi-Wan had a... slightly more accurate notion of what she was talking about. "As I said, it has been a long time," he said, "and what has transpired since is hardly relevant--"

[not-foolhardy.livejournal.com]

"Relevant?" Satine said pointedly. "Since when are you the expert on what is relevant to me?"

She could tell something was wrong - something worse than simply what her presence stirred up.

[sith_happened]

Anakin coughed into his hand to avoid grinning. He was sooo not getting in the middle of this one.

[saddeserthermit]

You were no use, Anakin. None at all. "All I am saying," Obi-Wan said, using the most placating tone in his arsenal (which sounded more patronizing than anything else), "...is that it has been a long time, and you will only be here for the weekend, so there is hardly time to storm off and fix the sorry state of the galaxy."

[not-foolhardy.livejournal.com]

"I am not going to storm off," Satine said, "Do you take me for a naive fool? You are far more transparent than you realize. And terribly mulish."

And not nearly as good at shielding as he thought he was.

[saddeserthermit]

Obi-Wan's gaze darted briefly to Anakin. "Yours is not the only death I've had to live with," he said, "and the Jedi Order is no more. That is all."

And there was precious little she could do about it. The best he could do was wait in the shadows.

[not-foolhardy.livejournal.com]

She followed the trajectory of his gaze and came to the wrong, if not entirely so, conclusion. (Which was his intention all along, of course.)

"Oh," Satine said, and visibly deflated. "I see."

She took a step closer to him.

[sith_happened]

Anakin chewed his lower lip and didn't try to block her way. He was trying not to be a jealous, overprotective jerk right now.

He was trying very, very hard.

[saddeserthermit]

Obi-Wan offered her his arm; it wasn't quite an instinctive gesture, but an old, familiar one none the less. "It is still good to see you," he said, "But I hope you understand I'd rather not linger on the complexities at the moment."

[not-foolhardy.livejournal.com]

Satine slid her arm through his, and gave his wrist a little squeeze.

Then she looked up at Anakin. "We were planning to have a meal," she said. "Master Skywalker could come with us."