Obi-Wan is aging surprisingly well (obi1) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-11-19 05:23:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, faiza hussain (excalibur), obi-wan kenobi |
Who: Faiza and Obi-Wan
When: Recently
Where: Cabin on the grounds of the Ranch
What: Taking a look at their new possibile living space
Rating/Warning: Low/None
Status: Complete
They’d only just begun to share a living space and here they were, en route to a new house. No one could really claim Jedi could see the future, because Obi-Wan was thoroughly surprised. Even now, the trip to this cabin felt a little unreal even though he’d passed this way many times before. He was mostly excited, to be honest. The whole idea of a cabin in the woods intrigued him and it was nice to think of this being his and Faiza’s first place together, rather than him simply moving into her flat.
Faiza was quiet, lost in her thoughts as they drove. The change in leadership had left her feeling a little bothered. Not that anything was wrong with Shepard, quite the opposite, but the change was most unwelcome.
Obi-Wan looked sideways, using the Force to guide him as he turned a corner. What he could sense from Faiza was apprehension. Wrex was gone, changes were in motion; everything had been thrust upon her, but Faiza was one who liked to consider her options carefully. As was he. But for him, the timing was a little better, now that he was finally moving out of Loras’s house.
He reached out a hand and gave her knee a squeeze. “It’s quite lovely back here.”
“It really is. I wonder if it’s almost too far from the ranch but I suppose since I live in the city that isn’t really a problem.” She smiled nervously at him.
Her anxiety puzzled him. Fear was a difficult emotion to read. If anything, Obi-Wan felt that he ought to be the nervous one--since a step closer to the ranch meant a step closer to the woman who was tending the stables. He worried about making things uncomfortable for Faiza, but she had always urged him to find peace on the matter, so he did his best to put it out of his head.
“Is everything alright?” he asked as they came to a stop in front of the cabin.
“Nervous. This is a big move. Even bigger than hopping the pond because it’s more...permanent.”
“Accepting the job?” Obi-Wan asked simply.
“I already have the job, sort of. It’s the moving so far out of the city. But it would be good with the kids.” She could do cricket with them more!
"I've always lived in the city, but I can't say the rural life isn't appealing." Obi-Wan didn't feel like the time he spent in the desert was the same at all, even if moisture farming had been part of it. "Feels... healthier. Come, all we need to do is have a look." He squeezed her hand.
“Deal.” She got out once they’d arrived, and looked around. The cabin was nestled amongst the trees, a propane tank a dozen yards from the building. There was a sat dish pointed skyward.
Obi-Wan breathed in the air. Maybe it was mental, but it did smell sweeter. The sound of the truck doors closing vibrated through him as they both started for the door. He assumed Faiza had the key, or that it was unlocked. If not, he could probably get them inside pretty easily.
She had the key, and fumbled with it a little bit as she got the door open. “Well...lets see what it looks like, hmm? I doubt he took all the furniture with him.”
“Ah, so the place probably needs a good airing out to get rid of the smell.” Obi-Wan chuckled to himself as the door opened, eyeing the satellite dish in the yard before stepping inside. The cabin hadn’t been closed up for very long, but there was a somewhat musty smell, and particles of dust traveled through the sunbeams.
“Oh, this isn’t too bad,” she murmured, looking around. It wouldn’t take much cleaning up at all! She smiled and reached for Obi’s hand. “This is lovely!”
He tightened his fingers around hers as he took in the primary living space. Wrex had left behind some furniture, which actually seemed to pre-date the man himself, though it all had its charm. The place needed work, but the carpenter in Obi-Wan saw a lot of potential right away. “Let’s see what condition the kitchen’s in.”
The cabin was actually in pretty good shape - it had been rebuilt from scratch earlier this year after Alma had wrecked the previous one, but Wrex’s taste in furniture tended to be ‘whatever he could get his hands on’. The kitchen was rustic in design, but the equipment was new.
It was a mix-and-match sort of decor. It definitely had the feel of something a man like Wrex would put together. Nothing fussy about the place. “Everything appears to be working,” said Obi-Wan testing a burner. There’d been no need to shut down the electricity or gas. Unless Faiza decided she didn’t want the place, the transition between owners would be swift.
He walked to a door that clearly didn’t lead to a pantry and discovered an unfinished basement, a.k.a. a perfect workspace for a carpenter. “Ah yes, this would be just fine for me. No sawdust all over the yard.”
Faiza was still nervous about all of this. This was huge. Really huge. Obi moving into her flat? Small fry compared to this. She fidgeted with her scarf. “It’s a gorgeous cabin…”
Obi-Wan looked back at her over his shoulder, sensing another eruption of anxiety. His features softened. This was huge for him, as well; possibly bigger. He walked to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “And you look exceptionally good in it,” he said, before pulling her in for a gentle embrace. “Do you think… we’re ready?”
“No, we’re not ready,” she replied, honestly, but leaned in against him. “But I suspect that’s true of just about every couple, if you really think about it.”
Obi-Wan thought for a moment and decided this was a good answer. His lips touched Faiza’s temple. He pulled apart from her, though he continued to hold her hand, and walked back to the hallway to look at the other rooms. “It is bigger than your flat,” he said, echoing a statement she had made earlier. Just how much space was there?
“Much larger. We’d have room for my robots,” she said, lightly.
“What about my ship?” he replied, opening at door at random. It was a bedroom, but a little too small to be the master. The next door was a bathroom.
“There’s an entire forest to hide your ships in,” she pointed out.
“Do you think we could get away with that, here? Leaving space vehicles out in the open?”
“There’s a hanger with an advanced low orbit capable airplane,” she pointed out cheekily. “Beneath the main part of the ranch.”
Scott’s transport? wondered Obi-Wan. Maybe Kitty’s. He came to the last door in the hallway and opened it to reveal the master bedroom, of modest size, but still the largest of all the private spaces. There was still a bed inside, but it could easily be swapped out for one of their own.
“Oh I really like this space. Look out the window!” She rushed to the window and looked out. There was a deer munching on some grass.
"Huh. What do you know? Wildlife that isn't pigeons." He joined Faiza at the window, her childlike enthusiasm bringing the smile to his face that it never failed to bring.
“I wonder if there are other things. I’ve seen plenty of squirrels working out here but that’s my first deer!” She sounded quite pleased with herself, and with them. She turned and kissed Obi-wan. “Do you think that’s common?”
“They must feel quite safe here, to feed so close to the house,” Obi-Was replied. He might have grown up in the city, but he’d always been fond of animals--except cats. It was so easy to communicate with an animal using the the force--again, except for cats. They didn’t put up emotional walls. Their desires were simple.
He reached out a hand and silently called to the deer, who looked up from their food. They regarded the humans with wide eyes and then began to walk to the window.
“Wrex was a hunter, which is odd. But then he doesn’t seem like someone who hunted purely for sport.” Her eyes widened a little as the deer approached.
One of them pressed her snout into Obi-Wan's hand. He was marveling just as much. "Hello there," he murmured.
“Oh my…” She reached for the deer, gently stroking it’s head. “This is marvelous.”
It was a gorgeous animal up close. For a few moments, Obi-Wan forgot he was in southern California, and felt like he was somewhere that the weather allowed for snow. It was a comforting feeling, so peaceful.
If nothing else, it sealed Faiza’s decision. “I think I’ll like it here.”
With the hand that was still holding hers, he gave her fingers a squeeze. “I think I will, too.”