Padmé Amidala (queenofnaboo) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-09-07 13:07:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, obi-wan kenobi, padme amidala |
Who: Padmé Amidala and Obi-Wan Kenobi
What: Meeting up
Where: Local restaurant
When: September 7th
Rating: Family Friendly
Status: Complete
Padmé had sent numerous texts to Obi over the course of a week in an attempt to harass him out of hiding. She hadn’t seen him in quite a while and she was slightly concerned about his mental health. It was great that he was out doing vacation type things, but she wanted to make sure there wasn’t a deeper-seeded problem there. He was the only person that fully understood her dreams and she cherished that she could turn to him when she needed to. Anakin apparently had no idea who they were in this other world and she couldn’t figure out if she was frustrated that she couldn’t talk to him or relieved because telling someone that you knew about their alternate life was strange.
Luckily, Obi finally managed to answer her and she set up a time to see him. She had obtained a couple Grumpy Cat type presents and she wanted to present them to him. Even though the cat was technically a girl she totally looked like Obi with the beard that he had going on. She was incredibly amused at the spirit animal idea and that his friends also agreed with her. So, off she went to meet him at a local restaurant and she brought the bag along with her. She took a seat at a table facing the door and watched for her friend.
Obi-Wan was reclusive by nature, a man who needed less social interaction than most. Aside from being temperamental and, yes, grumpy, it was simply way the powers that be had made him. That said, he occasionally went too deep into the emotional cave he had carved for himself over the years. The vacation he’d recently taken had been an attempt to clear his mind and shake off some of the metaphysical rubble that had fallen on him when a sort-of wall collapsed in there… but still, it had made him unreachable for a while. And he’d returned to California quietly, all the same.
No one would ever call Obi-Wan Kenobi a social butterfly.
But he wasn’t avoiding Padme. Once he was settled at home, he replied to her many texts and agreed to meet her in the restaurant she had chosen. He entered the place looking far healthier than the last time they had met: a little leaner from traveling, but there was light in his eyes and an easier smile beneath his freshly trimmed beard. He’d even dressed up a bit. Well, there wasn’t any paint on his clothing, anyway.
A comfortable smile appeared when she caught sight of Obi coming into the restaurant. She immediately stood up and waited for him to join her before she sat back down. He definitely looked like the trip had helped him because she hadn’t really seen that light in his eyes except in her dreams. Once she sat down she smoothed out the skirt she was wearing and continued to smile at him, “You look like you’ve had a good time going on your trip. Does this mean that you got a mud wrap?” Just the simple idea of a Jedi Knight in a mud wrap was one of the most amusing things to her and she didn’t even know that much about her “other life”.
Sitting down, Obi-Wan’s cheeks turned ever so slightly pink as he grinned a chuckled. “Yes. But, that just stays between you and me.” He had tried the mud wrap, out of curiosity, and for its supposed detoxifying properties. He’d beaten up his body just enough to occasionally worry about it, now that he was forty-four.
She couldn’t control the giggle that escaped when he confirmed the mud wrap. She quickly lifted her hands to cover her mouth and stop anymore laughter. It took a moment to contain herself before she lowered them and grinned, “That is fantastic. You deserved it. OH! I got you a couple things.” She lifted up the bag that contained the Grumpy Cat book and a Grumpy Cat t-shirt.
One of Obi-Wan’s eyebrows went up and then dramatically down again. “Oh no. That damned cat.” He reached out to take the items from her, for a better look. Grumpy Cat frowned at him, as if he was none-too-pleased by the comparison either.
“Grumpy cat is absolutely adorable. And I think the book is pretty hysterical. It’ll make you laugh, which will help you not look so much like Grumpy Cat,” she pointed out with a smile. It was a silly gift, but it amused her greatly and she wanted to show Obi-Wan some sort of appreciation.
He flipped through a few of the pages, eyebrows still low, but the corner of his mouth turned upward ever so slightly. He shook his head. On some level, Obi-Wan could appreciate that this was a compliment. But he also knew he was probably too old to ever fully get the joke. "Oh, but if he's so adorable, why would you want me to appear less like him?"
“Well, it’s actually a girl. I just found that out the other day. And if you were a cat then I’d say stay grumpy because it’s cute, but you look much nicer when you’re happy. But if you want to keep looking like Grumpy Cat then grow out your beard even more,” she pointed out to him as she stabbed at her salad with a fork and took a bite. Once she finished chewing she took a sip of water, “How are you doing, by the way? You seem like you’ve had so much going on and I’m hoping the vacation is helping you get back to inner peace or whatever you Jedis want to achieve.”
Before he answered, a server showed up at the table. Obi-Wan ordered a steak--medium rare--and a beer, without really needing to look at the menu. He folded his hands. "Yes. Well, a vacation in a manner of speaking. My life... took an odd turn."
“Do you want to talk about it?” She asked him honestly. She wasn’t the type to pressure someone to speak about a personal issue, so she would leave it up to him. But she did have a hope that he would talk about it. She felt a deep kinship with him, even though they hadn’t known each other for long, thanks to the dreams.
Obi-Wan lifted the water glass that had been waiting for him at the table and took a sip. "It...had to do with a woman. A friend. A former girlfriend, actually. Returning to the area." The halt in his phrasing was very noticeable. Depending on what Padme had seen in her more recent dreams, his mentioning his love life might be...extremely strange.
Padme was still trying to completely understand the ways of the Jedi. She had no idea if they were celibate or anything like that, but she had an inkling that they were. However, Padme didn’t really equate this Obi-Wan to the one in her dreams, so she knew that he would be like every other person with relationship issues. “Uh oh. Women, gosh,” that earned a small chuckle from her, “Well, that doesn’t sound like much fun. Hopefully things are getting sorted out properly?”
“Slowly….” he said with another light sigh. On his vacation retreat, he’d made the choice to be at peace with everything concerning Dani. He’d given his anger the chance to dissipate, rather than stuff it down. “It would be a good thing if she and I could find some way to be friends.”
“Well, you can’t expect it to just happen instantly. I am sure that it will happen over time. It’s definitely not something that you want to rush at all, but I’m sure the two of you will work it out though,” there probably wasn’t a person who wouldn’t get along with Obi-Wan. Sometimes you just had to let things happen naturally and she could think of a few ex-boyfriends that time healed and they eventually became friends again.
“It’s not good if I stay angry with her forever,” he replied. “That’s the most important thing.” Master Yoda was right: hate did lead to suffering. And when Obi-Wan was in pain, he walled himself off--and the pain continued.
“No, it’s not good. Just give it a bit of time and then go talk to her. Things will be sorted out and you will be much happier. I don’t like to see you upset like this,” she was surprised that she admitted that, but she definitely felt a kinship and fondness for Obi-Wan already. She knew that the man in her dreams was very similar to the man in front of her.
He smiled at Padme, knowing in his heart that time could potentially heal anything. Some time away, on his retreat of sorts, had helped him forgive Dani for the things she couldn’t control; and it had cleared up his fears about Faiza. But he also knew he was only one piece of this puzzle, and the other pieces had to fit together if everything was going to “work out”.
“Well, at the very least, you can take photos of me when I’m in a foul mood and turn them into a profitable publication,” he said, lifting Grumpy Cat book again.
“That has the potential to be a lot of fun,” she countered with a playful smile and secretly filed that idea away for a later time. She was sure that she would be able to run into Obi-Wan when he was in a foul mood and she would happily snap some pictures on her cell phone. As she finished up her salad his food was delivered to the table.