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]

He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck as he put down the tea with the other hand. "I believe that is going to be... troublesome... this weekend regardless of where you sleep, my dear."

[not-foolhardy.livejournal.com]

She reached out to touch his hand before he pulled away, smiling softly.

[saddeserthermit]

Obi-Wan smiled back.

As he did so, something in his eyes crumpled.

[not-foolhardy.livejournal.com]

"Oh," Satine said in a small voice, hand going up to cup his cheek.

[saddeserthermit]

"It's all right," Obi-Wan said, his expression attempting to school itself into something a little less... expressive.

What was all right, he wasn't so sure.

[not-foolhardy.livejournal.com]

"If you're certain," Satine said, not sounding that certain herself.

[saddeserthermit]

Obi-Wan cleared his throat.

"Yes," he said. From a certain point of view. "Is there anything else you need? A meal, perhaps? This can't have been an easy journey."

Could he get away with making another cup of tea so he could turn his back again? Yet at the same time, he couldn't quite fight the impulse to keep looking at her.

[not-foolhardy.livejournal.com]

"A meal would be lovely," Satine said, drinking her tea. "What's the specialty here? I didn't recognize the planet immediately."

[saddeserthermit]

"It is not a planet you would have heard of," Obi-Wan said tactfully. "As for the local specialty, most of the people here seem to prefer a flat bread covered in vegetable sauce called a pizza, but I've never quite managed to acquire a taste for the stuff."

He probably just hadn't had the right pizza yet.

"But the island knows several decent restaurants, some of which do breakfast," he said.

He was very, very grateful to have something to talk about that wasn't himself or his feelings or the fact that she had died in his arms years ago and the image was still written large in his memory.

[not-foolhardy.livejournal.com]

She stopped herself from saying "lovely" one more time (what was wrong with them, this was normally so easy), and nodded. "And we can keep talking without you having to play host."

And fuss around without making eye contact. She'd noticed, Obi-Wan.

[saddeserthermit]

"There would also be more space in a restaurant," Obi-Wan added.

It was a fairly lame attempt at humor, but he was trying.

[not-foolhardy.livejournal.com]

"That wouldn't be difficult," she teased.

[saddeserthermit]

"It would also smell less like eopie," he said wryly. "You'll have to meet Rooh and her son, of course."

Eventually.

[not-foolhardy.livejournal.com]

"I wasn't going to mention the...aroma," Satine said, smiling, "just in case you didn't notice."

[saddeserthermit]

"I've come to enjoy my living space a little less... sterile," Obi-Wan said. "I feel it's good to have some living creatures about."

Small talk was also fantastic.

[not-foolhardy.livejournal.com]

So was that smile, not fair, Obi-Wan.

"And you like them living this closely," she said. "Interesting."

[saddeserthermit]

"You should have taken the time to mind a pet," Obi-Wan said, dipping a bag of Earl Grey into his own cup of hot water. "It would have been enlightening, if nothing else."

[not-foolhardy.livejournal.com]

"I was a trifle busy," Satine pointed out.

[saddeserthermit]

Obi-Wan glanced at her again, over his shoulder. "Now," he said, "Surely there was some time in your busy schedule of ruling Mandalore to consider adopting, say, a rock lizard..."

[not-foolhardy.livejournal.com]

Satine burst out laughing. "Maybe there was," she admitted, "but I think I would have managed to kill even a rock lizard."

[saddeserthermit]

It was good to hear her laugh. Obi-Wan hadn't heard that from her, genuinely, since he was a Padawan.

He hadn't expected to hear it again.

"So little faith," he said, and if he sounded a little whimsical, she could hardly blame him, could she?

[not-foolhardy.livejournal.com]

"Oh, I have a great deal of faith," she said, "but I know where my strengths lie, and they weren't in animal husbandry."