Satine hadn't seen such an abundance of fruits, vegetables, and other food stuffs since the beginning of the war. Mandalore, although a neutral system, had faced the same supply issues as the Republic, and it had been a difficult time for her people. She knew that she had been right in keeping the system out of the war, even if she knew now that she had failed. Being right didn't always mean a happy ending, she realized.
She paused before a stand of apples. There were various greens and yellows and reds, all that she might have expected of apples. She picked one up, turning to the vendor. "How much for these?"
It had been a long time since Obi-Wan had been in one place so long. Even before the war, it wasn’t as if there wasn’t plenty of business to handle on behalf of the order. The life of a Jedi, particularly a Master with skilled Padawan, tended to not be settled in nature. Parts of him missed the bouts of excitement, other parts were perfectly content with a bit of peace. October had turned out to be a certain type of month - stressful, eventful, and he wasn’t entirely sure he understood their take on holidays, but he’d respect it from a distance.
Of course, it hadn’t just been the holidays. Qui-Gon showing up was, well, an event. Satine being here - oh, well, no reason to comment on that. Which was surely why she managed to somehow materialize just a few feet away from him. “Here I thought you might be shopping for a pumpkin to better understand the local culture.” He noted as he approached her, stood just enough back to be out of the way.
As the market vendor took the apples to weigh them, Satine turned to see Obi-Wan, just far enough out of the way to be unimposing. She had come to accept this teasing banter between them, and though she had allowed herself deeper feelings in those last moments with him and Maul, she had pushed them aside. Even here it seemed, a Jedi and a politician didn't belong together.
"I had considered it," she said lightly, "but I found the entire concept unappealing." She looked him over, taking in his familiar appearance. "And you, Master Jedi? Are you here to purchase a pumpkin, or simply to offer commentary on my own purchases?" Her words were pointed, barbed, as they were oftentimes with him, but she meant no harm by it. "I should warn you. My market going is nothing to write to Coruscant about."
Chuckling softly, he shook his head. To a casual onlooker or someone who just happened to hear - say, the man selling her the fruit - the response may have sounded abrasive, but Obi-Wan would have been far more concerned if she’d responded in any other way. Satine was very proudly precisely who she was and that was certainly a part of her charm and something he had always appreciated, in its own complicated way.
“Oh, neither. The former - I don’t think the kitchen in my accommodations could afford, Bitty is… quite the baker.” It wasn’t a complaint, per se, but certainly something the Jedi Master wasn’t used to. You didn’t exactly find chefs amongst the Jedi, but it was endearing in its own way. “And, as far as the later, I am hardly brave enough to-” He’d almost said the word tease, slip of the tongue of course, but had managed to catch himself. “-think my commentary relevant. No, no - merely observing.” Obi-Wan very much still felt like he was finding his footings around Auradon and it wasn’t just the presence of certain people. The country was run largely by what amount of barely-not-children, the magic was wholly unfamiliar, the lack of order was something he hadn’t experienced in decades. It made something as familiar as Satine’s prickly words rather comforting. He only had to hope, very deep in the recesses of his mind, that his padawan wouldn’t show up and offer verbal commentary on that thought.
Satine paid for the apples, briefly considering the oddity of the Auradon monetary system. It was all so different from Mandalore where the Republic's influence had still held sway even as the system had become increasingly isolated. She missed her homeworld, but more than that, she missed the galaxy as it had been before Maul, before the wars, even perhaps before she had met a certain Jedi. That had not been a time of peace, at least not for her, but it had been a simpler time.
"Was he the one with the pies?" She moved away from the apple stand into the steady flow of market traffic. It was, of course, mostly foot traffic. "You ought to take him one of those and see if he can transform it…" She indicated a nearby stack of pumpkins on display. "I've heard they do that here."
Trying to seem a little less lurky - at least, perhaps selfishly feel a bit less so - Obi-Wan moved his hands to clasp behind his back. A pensive sort of stance not uncommon amongst Jedi - but certainly one in this conversation that, well, again - things that weren’t to be thought about. Minds were a funny thing, which is why they required so much discipline and grounding in reality. A good, calm stance could give that to you. A necessary skill when one filled the role a Jedi normally should have. Though, he idly supposed nothing about the last few years - and certainly not his last few interactions with Satine - could have been considered normal for anyone.
“Oh yes.” He smiled still, perhaps in a bit of an amusing juxtaposition to his stance. “But alas, I think I’ll leave him to his own devices on the baking decisions - it seems to be quite his area of expertise. And I would argue, rather outside of mine.”
Satine kept pace with the crowd, pausing on the edge of the market square as she observed the pastel-dressed individuals and their comings and goings. There had been a time when she had felt at ease around Obi-Wan and trusted him, but there were things now between them that she could not bear to reveal, no matter how much she appreciated his presence.
"I would agree. I do wonder if your area of expertise has its place here," she said, more bluntly than she had intended. She looked at the Jedi, taking in his 'calm' stance. She did not mean to push him away, but she didn't know how to change what had become habitual between them. "These seem to be a peaceful people, though I have not been here long enough to judge."
Obi-Wan kept half a step behind Satine. Habit, or something. Auradon was a pleasant place to be - you know, it reminded him of Naboo almost. It had this charm to it, something that was old world enough to have a steadiness to it. But it wasn’t so old world that you felt like you’d been transported back in time. Maybe it was the architecture and the social structure. Kings and Queens and all of those things - even if here, they weren’t elected. There was something that felt a bit, well, off - if he had to admit it to himself. But, he wouldn’t. So, merely off it stayed.
“You don’t think I’m capable of finding my way in the calm?” He piped up, the tone would have been largely unfamiliar to most people. Something impulsive almost. Obi-Wan had to resist furrowing his brow, “I am more than content to just be a negotiator again. If needed.” The if needed part was important, at least to him. Though, he was still admittedly at a bit of a loss of what quite to do with himself in Auradon - and it seemed Satine might think he was quite a bit too far gone from the war to, well, no. Nevermind.
"If needed," she repeated, her tone softening. It was an unusual place, this Auradon, and more so with his presence here. But she was not a monster. She reached out a hand to touch his shoulder lightly. She didn't know how to say that which she needed to, so instead, she focused on what she could. "I do wonder if either of us has a place in this world."
Somehow, a certain level of rigidity left his shoulders at her gentle touch. Subtle enough, but also not something that may have or would have gone unnoticed to an observant watcher. Obi-Wan would never be comfortable with even the idea that Satine may think him not capable of peace. He, afterall, still viewed his decisions as something that was necessary whether he liked them or not. That was a big crux of why if needed was of importance to him.
His eyes studied her for a brief moment before he forced himself to look forward as they walked, “Perhaps not a place either of us are familiar with.” He noted.
"That is an understatement and a problem," she agreed. She kept pace alongside him, wondering if everything she did would only push them further apart. It had been that way on Mandalore, all those years ago, and sometimes, those were the most difficult habits to change. "One that we are more than adept at handling."
Very few people could instill in Obi-Wan the inability to face something head on. Satine was one of those people. Anakin was as well, he had not questioned things about his own Padawan that he knew he should have. Things that were obvious once you thought about them. But he had never been good at questioning things closest to his heart. That included the Jedi Order, his unwavering loyalty was of no real different emotion. But what did that mean here? He wasn’t sure. So much was different here that all he could do was finally look to her after a moment, when she’d said they were more than adept at handling it. Smiling softly, he gave a slight nod. “I will defer to your judgement there-” Pausing for a moment, he almost simply called her by her name. But, he wasn’t sure if that was something she’d want - merely because things were so different here, that didn’t necessarily…”-Duchess.” He said it rather simply, that soft smile still on his face. Her approval was something he did have an awful habit of seeking, after all.