Mia Dearden thinks your facial hair is silly (speediest) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2012-06-23 19:26:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, mia dearden (speedy), obi-wan kenobi |
Who: Mia Dearden and Obi-Wan Kenobi
What: Getting interrupted by hooligans!
When: Saturday morning
Where: Out on the streets
Status: Complete
Rating: PG-13 for violence, weird repressy thoughts, and Mia's developing potty mouth.
Mia was a runner. She’d been involved with track and field in high school. She wasn’t as serious about it these days, but running had always been what she fell back on when she was stressed. It cleared her head, and god knew she needed that these days. With all of the extra miles she’d been putting in, she might as well sign up for a race. Then she’d at least she’d have an excuse that she was training for something.
Mia slowed down after a particularly hard sprint, pausing to pull a bottle of water from her belt.
Obi-Wan was, generally, not a runner. At least, not of the dedicated sort. He was more of a working out on the job kind of person, and because his jobs tended to be quite physical, he was in excellent shape. He did, however, like to take walks--and very long walks, these days. Undoubtedly, the regular treks he’d been making in his dream world, across the Dune Sea, had something to do with it. Those were his favorite dreams, despite the blistering heat beneath Tatooine's twin suns; and even though he was an old man, he still felt strong and vital.
But this morning he strolled leisurely along the path: cigarette in one hand, cup of Starbucks in the other. He recognized Mia immediately. After all, she’d made something of an impression on him as the girl who punched a hole in her shower, and yet seemed as delicate as a flower bud. .
Mia generally didn’t take long breaks during her runs. It made it harder to start back up again. Back in school, she’d seen plenty of familiar faces when she ran, but she rarely stopped to chat. Maybe she’d logged enough miles for today, though. “Hey,” she said, still breathing heavily from the run.
"Hullo there," he replied. He was happy to see her, out and about. She'd given some cause for concern when they first met. "Beautiful day, is it not?"
"It is," she said, smiling. It was sunny, but the breeze was cool enough that she wasn't drenched with sweat. She'd worked hard, though, so there was a sheen of perspiration, but she'd been doing this long enough that she didn't get embarrassed by that anymore. She'd caught her breath now, and was shifting her weight to one leg to stretch while she talked. "What are you up to?" she asked.
Obi-Wan looked at the cigarette in his left hand and the oversized coffee cup his right. "Well, clearly not making any efforts to improve my health," he said. "You seem like you do this often."
She nodded. "Yeah. Go a little bit crazy when I don't," she said with a shrug. "Less about improving my health, more about.. y'know.. not punching household appliances." Mia smirked and shrugged. "I'm probably gonna hit Starbucks before work. Can't always be healthy."
"Ah, I can relate to that," he said. "Although I keep busy by fixing the appliances after they've been punched." He took a sip of his coffee. "And I have to admit, this is mostly milk and sugar today, doubling as breakfast."
"Mmf. Didn't think my running would get in the way of your sanity." She laughed, dropping into a calf-stretch. "Sorry about that." She grinned up at him. "Guess you'll have to find some other crazy punching person."
Obi-Wan chuckled. He gave her a few moments to finish her stretch, watching her but not in any way that might have been remotely misconstrued as inappropriate. "Sanity is like your appendix. Once you lose it, you wonder what it was ever doing for you in the first place." It wasn't like him to be so chatty, but then again, he was in an exceptional mood. "The shower's holding up, then?"
None of the stretches Mia did were particularly sensual, at least as far as she knew. And she'd had a few strains in the past, so she knew the importance of it, and wasn't willing to put them off because she might make someone else uncomfortable.
She grinned at his joke. "Guess so." She nodded, shrugging. "Seems that way. My parents haven't said anything, so I guess they haven't noticed." It was probably good she'd been at home for the summer instead of in the dorms. Would have caused a much bigger fuss.
"First time living on your own?" he asked. He finished his cigarette and started on another, which by the look on his face, he was none too proud of.
"I guess, technically. I don't know, do dorms count?" She shrugged. "I thought about getting an apartment, but it's easier to stay at home for the summer." She knew that kinda made her look like a little kid, but it sounded like a sound financial decision to her. "It hasn't been too bad, surprisingly. They're giving me my space, and stuff. And they've been off on trips for most of the time, anyway."
Yes, Mia. Tell a guy who knows where you live that you're there alone. Super smart. At least he knew what kind of damage she could do, if it came to that. Not that she thought it would.
Some teenagers on skateboards had made a couple passes on the other side of the street. Mia had been ignoring their lurking, but they were crossing the street now, heading for the pair.
Obi-Wan had been forced to do without parental supervision at a much earlier age. He wondered if she knew how lucky she was. "Well, I'm glad I'm not an appliance of yours," he said, with another chuckle... but one that trailed off, as he eyed the oncoming and increasingly familiar looking skateboarders.
She grinned. "Here's hoping that was a one-time--"
One of the skateboarders wolf-whistled as he buzzed a tight circle around Mia. Mia raised an eyebrow, suppressing the urge--for now--to clothesline the guy. At the same time, another teen knocked the coffee cup out of Obi-Wan's hand, taunting the pair.
By now, Obi-Wan had realized why these kids seemed so familiar. And it was clear they recognized him, as well. They were the same trio of gangly, somewhat drugged-out washouts he and Kitty had encountered in an abandoned warehouse. The Return of the Three A-Meth-Gos!
"Hey, old man. Who's your new girlfriend?"
Obi-Wan gritted his teeth. "Why don't you move along?" A jedi mind trick would have been seriously helpful.
Mia glanced over at Obi-Wan. Did he know these kids? She crossed her arms, looking pissed off. Clearly the kids were looking for trouble. She wished she had her bow with her. She still needed to do some training, but she would've at least felt more menacing.
"You heard him," Mia said. "Fuck off."
Then one of the guys reached out to grab her ass. Big mistake.
Had Obi-Wan been close enough to prevent that from happening, he would have. That kind of behavior disgusted him, for many reasons that were uncomfortable to think about--a few years ago, it might have been him. Now, he just found himself shoving the jerk to the ground.
It was a hot button topic for Mia, too, ever since the dreams had kicked in. She was learning to deal better, but being treated like meat still set her teeth on edge. The guy was lucky Obi-Wan had gotten to him first; Mia would've gone straight for the junk.
One of the other guys was lunging for Obi-Wan, and Mia leveled a kick at the back of the kid's leg. She had next to no idea what she was doing, and just hoped she'd send him to the ground.
"This is supposed to be a nice neighborhood!"
"Right, nice neighborhood" he replied, between eye darts from assailant to assailant and Mia. Nice didn't matter much. The kids might have come from nice homes, but they were clearly on their way down from some kind of high: aggressive and tenacious, and unable to know when they'd had enough.
Was this just bad luck, he wondered, as he sent number three to the floor. The recognition in the kid's eyes was almost comical. Would this trio follow him around for the rest of his life? Obi-Wan wondered if he might lead them away from Mia, if he ran, or if he might be leaving her in greater danger.
"We should call the police, right?" Mia had dropped into a ready stance, surprised at how natural this felt.
She was watching the men on the ground, ready to fight if they tried to get up. This was crazy! One of them started to push himself up, and Mia stomped on his hand. She was reminded of the dream she had where she maimed Richard. She really shouldn't have happy feelings about that dream.
Even before the dreams, these sorts of fights had been a much more common occurrence than Obi-Wan liked to admit. At least in his youth. At certain points, they'd been his fuel, his first drug. Now, at the age of forty-two, he found them disheartening. Didn't kids have anything better to do than get high and get into trouble?
Oh god. Perhaps he truly was turning into an old man, after all.
But not too old, as he flipped one of the trio over his back. It must have been the coup de gras, because it sent the other two running. The third lay groaning on the ground. Obi-Wan clamped a hand on the back of his neck and, crouching low, pressed his knee between the kid's shoulder blades. "You've learned your lesson this time?"
"Ugh... Learned lesson..."
"I would advise you to rethink your life, son," Obi-Wan hissed.
"Rethink... Life..."
Whether the kid was willing to say anything to get Obi-Wan off his back, or something much more magical was taking place, was anyone's guess. Even Obi-Wan's. But when he got up, the kid bolted.
Mia watched Obi-Wan, wondering if there was something about her that attracted the kinds of people that beat the shit out of bad guys. She kinda wondered if he was having dreams about being in masks and tights, too. Heck, he looked more like the Green Arrow from her dreams than Oliver did. At least he had some facial hair.
"Looks like the coffee and smokes haven't done too much damage," she said after the boys had fled. She was impressed.
It was true. Obi-Wan had barely broken a sweat.
He glared in the direction of the fleeing assailants: a long, icy stare; then he shook his head and turned around. "You're alright?" he asked, as he picked up the flattened coffee cup--although he wasn't sure what to do with it. "No damage done?"
The boys had left behind one of their skateboards. Obi-Wan picked it up. "Well, at least you get a free toy out of this."
She nodded. "I'm fine. Thanks." She thought about telling him again how awesome he was, but he'd seemed to sidestep the first complement. Maybe he had some feelings about this that he wasn't sharing. She could understand that. "Seriously, man. Thanks."
She laughed at the offer of a skateboard, shaking her head. How young did he think she was? "No thanks."
Obi-Wan had a habit of sidestepping all compliments. Besides, it was difficult to feel good about fixing something that he may have had a hand in causing. He placed the skateboard back on the ground. He didn't want to have anything to do with it either. He had a thing about flying</i> gliding on wheels.
"I've run into that group before, as you may have guessed. They seem... territorial, but their territory is a bit... poorly defined." There. That was a bit nicer than saying, These punks are freaking idiots. "You seem like you can handle yourself well enough, though."
He was far better at giving compliments. And she had really impressed him.
Mia shrugged. "I'm kinda working on it, I guess. Just learning." If this had happened a few months ago, she probably would've freaked out. She'd actually stayed calm, though, which was something new. Maybe she could pull off this crime-fighting thing.
"I don't guess you teach any of that stuff, huh?" She had a handful of teachers already, but it was worth asking.
“Classes?” he replied, and shook his head vigorously. “Oh, you don’t want classes from me. I’m always making it up as I go.”
Mia grinned. “Isn’t that a useful skill, though? Thinking on your feet?” Seemed to have worked pretty well for him; this time, at least. “Better than having a list of moves you can only do when the guy’s right in front of you, or whatever.”
“I suppose, but certain things are better not left to chance.” The mashed coffee cup was still in his hand. “Like spending five dollars on Starbucks.”
Well, she had been planning to go to Starbucks anyway. She’d just imagined it being after she had a chance to shower, was all. “Let’s go get you another. I could use one myself.” She was already walking back that direction before he could argue. “Just promise you’ll pretend I don’t smell!”
He gave the flattened cup a good shake, to knock out what remained of his coffee, and he started to follow her. Obi-Wan didn’t think twice about it. Beating up nerdowells together had a way of forging quick bonds. Besides, he needed the caffeine. “How about I promise not to say so if you do?”
Though it wouldn’t be the first time he was in her shower.. What? Where did that thought come from? Ha! She’d given up on dudes. Especially ones who were, like, eighty. He wasn’t really, though, was he? Okay, this train of thought was not going anywhere good. Yes, she definitely needed caffeine. Her brain was obviously broken. “So, did you have a plan for today? Aside from scaring kids straight?”
“Eventually, I need to work on a friend’s roof,” he said. “But there’s no real timeline on that. And I doubt it’s going to rain.” It really was a gorgeous day.
“What was your first clue? The fact that we’re in Southern California?” Mia grinned. When it did rain, it seemed like half the people thought the sky was falling. It certainly got in the way of Mia’s usual plans.
“Well, I come from a country where if you don’t like the weather, it doesn’t much matter, because it’s going to change in five minutes anyway.”
“Well, if you feel like coming to the beach later, I can do that thing where I make sure you don’t drown. I’m getting better at it!” She grinned over at him, reaching to open the door to Starbucks.
Obi-Wan already knew what he would order. He’d become of fan of this thing called a Frappuccino. And he needed to replace the calories he had burned in the fight. At least, that was what he was telling himself. Loras would give him a good slap if he knew half the things Obi-Wan willingly ingested.
“May I pay?” he asked her. “I know I’m the one replacing my drink, but I feel a bit responsible for what happened out there.”
Mia shrugged. It wasn’t like he was buying her a car (or trying to get in her pants. Probably). It was just an iced mocha. “Sure. But it’s not your fault.” At least, Mia didn’t see the connection. “Assholes will be assholes.” Man, she was swearing a lot more, these days. And in front of the clerk, too, who was pretending not to notice. She ordered her drink and let Obi-Wan pay.
“Actually, that’s probably a good thing. Forgot my wallet in my other running shorts.” She didn’t carry much with her when she ran. The other reason she’d been planning to go home, first. “So thanks.”
“I’ll bet you’ve used that line before,” he replied, to diffuse any tension there might have been. But really, there seemed to be little to none. They ordered their respective drinks and he pushed a few bills across the counter. “Actually, I’m afraid it may really have been my fault, but we don’t have to get into that. I’m just glad nothing came of it.”
(He was certainly not trying to get into her pants. There were special locks in place on all thoughts of that kind. Sure, there was this sort of constant itch of irritability that lingered in the corners of his mind, but it was a small price to pay, and Obi-Wan had discovered he actually very much enjoyed having women as friends for once.)
“Oh, all the time,” Mia said, grinning. “If I had a nickel for all the free coffees I’d gotten, I’d have enough to pay for a free coffee.” See what she did there? She shrugged, sitting down at a high table to wait for her drink. “Is it terrible that I found the whole thing kind of exciting?”
Mia wasn’t the sort of person that would go out of her way looking for a fight--at least, she didn’t think she was. She was learning a lot of new things about herself. “And hey, maybe you actually made a dent. Maybe one of them will go back to school, actually be a productive member of society now, or something.” Okay, even she realized that sounded a little too Disney. Still...Maybe!
“It is terrible,” he replied, his serious side breaking free. Violent encounters were no laughing matter. He’d been involved in enough to know. But Mia was young. Hopefully, she would be able to retain such an immature attitude.
He gathered their drinks. “And I doubt I made a dent.”
Mia blinked at the sudden seriousness. She really didn’t know what to say to that. “Maybe they’ll at least think twice about doing that to the next people.” It was a little depressing, otherwise. Mia was relieved when the barista called their names, and she went to get the coffees.
He hadn’t exactly snapped at her, but he knew he tended to come on strong when he was serious. Too strong. He tilted his head and smiled a bit, “Well, we can only hope.”
She passed him his frappe, settling back in the chair. Mood was officially dead, she decided as she sipped her mocha. “So..” Yeah, she had nothing.
Obi-Wan sipped and made intense eye contact with the table, not looking awkward (he never did) but knowing he was responsible for sucking the air from the room. He considered his options to rectify the situation and chose the one that seemed the most effective: namely, he plopped his elbow onto the table and his chin into his palm. His smile was exaggerated and his voice was sing-song, almost fey. “So! School’s out for summer! What are you doing over vacation?”
Mia smiled, easily won over by things like that. She wasn’t normally the brooding sort, so she naturally gravitated back to the cheerful stuff. “Well, I had this data entry job that was draining the life out of me number-by-number. So I quit that and got a job at the beach. Beach and running, that pretty much sums it up for me.” She grinned, leaving out the archery training. “Pretty much the best summer ever.”
Obi-Wan leaned back in his chair and looked wistfully at the ceiling. All things considered, the summer was off to a good start for him as well. Strange that a good start included renting a room from an octogenarian and becoming close friends with a man whom he paid fight him once a week. (Although, now that he thought of it, they hadn’t exchanged money in a long while.)
“I actually haven’t been to the ocean in too long,” he said. “It’s still there and everything?”
Mia grinned. “Yup. Still there.” She loved the beach. She loved everything outdoors, really. She probably wouldn’t even mind some of that outdoor mister fix-it stuff Obi-Wan did. “It’s kind of my dream job, I think.” She’d started to wonder why she was even doing the college thing. She didn’t need that for life-guarding.
If Obi-Wan knew she was thinking that, he would have been torn between telling her to stay in school, like a responsible adult was supposed to say in such situations, and commiserating with her. School had clearly not done him many favors, and he’d arguably gotten the best education possible.
“Well, you have plenty of time to figure all that out,” he said. Maybe he was slightly privy to her thoughts. Maybe he was just intuitive.
If Mia started voicing those thoughts, she would catch hell from all over the place; her parents, maybe Ollie, probably Rory--funny, coming from a guy who was okay with contributing to the delinquency of a minor. She shrugged. “Yeah, just gonna enjoy it while it lasts, I think.”
“So, anything exciting happen to you last week?” she asked, pulling for stories of the weirdness. She’d spent her week living with a dwarf. Not everyone was affected, she knew, but it was a conversation starter.
“Oh, you mean the ‘buddy system’?” he asked. “I had a guy, briefly. I wasn’t saddled with him for very long. I think the universe took pity on him.” He sipped his coffee.
Mia grinned. “My favorite was ‘magic velcro’. Weird it didn’t last long,” she commented, wondering how they’d managed that. “I had a lawyer guy. Nice place, it was like staying at a hotel.” It really hadn’t been so bad.
“Mine had a wife and family,” he said. “Other than that, we didn’t get to know each other very well.” And he thought about how he had once been a ‘lawyer guy,’ himself. Funny, how things change. “But he was a gentleman, I hope?”
She nodded. “Yeah, he was a nice guy.” Not the type of person she normally hung out with--there was a lot of drinking--but he’d been happy to make allowances for her. Sitting in the middle of the field while Mia ran laps around the track. And he treated her like a kid, which was.. kind of nice. She might have been frustrated by it a while back, but after some of the dreams she was having, it was nice to have someone act like there was still some innocence left. “Adding him to my Christmas card list, or whatever.”
Once again, he wasn’t reading her thoughts. At least, he didn’t think he was. But he would have agreed that he felt the same way. That fact of the matter was, he felt a strong camaraderie with the young woman. “Ah. Have I made that list, yet?”
Mia shrugged. “I don’t know..” she said. “Might be too late. I think Christmas came in June this year,” she said, grinning mischievously. She’d give him a minute to work that one out.
Obi-Wan stared into the top of his coffee cup, as he considered his response options yet again. If she was flirting with him, flirting back was not one of them. Not because he didn’t like her company or think her attractive, but because it was never an option. Also, she was far too young, and he felt protective of her. He determined another sidestep was in order, just be safe. “Isn’t the phrase ‘Christmas in July’?”
Mia was sort of a flirt, by nature. The dreams were a major roadblock to that, though. She found that she was much more serious now, and more wary. She’d told Rory that she was swearing off men. Still, when she felt safer, some of that flirting started to re-emerge. She was just teasing Obi-Wan, really. He was attractive--and that photo on the calendar was really nice--but she wasn’t looking to get involved with anybody, especially not someone so much older. It reminded her too much of the dreams.
“Oh, right. July. Well, I guess we’ve still got time, then. Guess you’re back on the list.”
Obi-Wan smirked and tilted his head, lifting his coffee as if to say cheers. “I’ll keep you abreast of my address. Might be changing soon.”
“Oh yeah?” Mia sipped her coffee, sadly close to the bottom of the glass. “Let me know if you need help moving, or anything.” Even moving her stuff out of a dorm room and back home and sucked, so she was aware of the need for other people. And hey, he’d fixed her shower for a sandwich. She kinda owed the guy.
"I don't have any stuff," he chuckled. "I'll have to buy some, probably. But this move is still only theoretical. I need to actually ask the guy, first."
"No stuff is good, when it comes to moving." She smiled. "Still, sometimes it's surprising how much 'no stuff' adds up to when you have to actually move it. I'm pretty sure there's some sort of law of physics to do with that. Maybe all of the lost socks suddenly reappear into dozens of boxes, or something." She shrugged. "Well, I hope it works out."
Obi-Wan's gaze receded as he gave a few moments of thought to just how he was about to approach Loras about this idea of his. Honestly, he didn't expect to be turned down. But he wanted to do a good job of making sure Loras knew this wasn't just about convenience.
"Me too," he finally replied. "It might take a little convincing, but I think he'll take pity on me."
"If you need a letter of reference, I can throw in a picture of my shower." She paused. That didn't sound right. "Just a display of your handiwork. Not a June-worthy picture, or anything." She laughed. "Unless you think that would help."
Again with the flirting. Bad Mia. She was going to make him run away.
Oh, she'd have to do a bit more than that, because what that had earned her was a guffaw. He snorted and choked on his coffee. He laughed and it took him a few moments to recover. "Yes, make that your Christmas card photo."
Mia laughed. "Oh, I think that would scar poor Tyrion." She looked thoughtful. "And Ollie. And Rory. And pretty much everyone on the Christmas card list." Mia was most comfortable surrounding herself with people who would be traumatized by her nudity.
Obi-Wan wouldn't have been traumatized. But he would have felt horrible afterwards for enjoying it, which might have been just as bad. Maybe worse.
In fact, staying on the subject for so long was making him anxious. It was getting more difficult to deflect the images that kept trying to slip in. Something inside him had been fractured a long time ago, and lingering on anything sexual had the opposite effect on him than it had on most men.
Actually, his coffee was done. That was probably his exit cue. He stood and stretched. "Well, Mia," he began, as if nothing was bothering him in the slightest. "I'm glad I was some help to you today. But I have a long walk home and a roof to mend. I should be on my way."
"That's cool," Mia said, getting up to toss her empty cup in the trash. "I need to go change and stuff." And shower, but she'd talked enough about that! Awkward subject to keep coming up. "I'm working this afternoon."
"Thanks for the coffee." She'd have thanked him for the stuff earlier too, but he seemed like he was more comfortable taking blame than credit for that. She decided not to mention it. "I'll catch you later."
He wasn't a hugger--as a rule, actually. Being touched wasn't something he didn't enjoy. But it occurred to him that it was probably the appropriate thing to do, given what they had been through already.
He still didn't do it, though.
Instead, he gave her a little bow and a smile. "Hopefully we run into each other under better circumstances next time."
That was for the best. Mia probably would've stiffened up and been very awkward if a hug had happened. She wasn't a very touchy-feely person, either, especially now. She returned his smile and added a wave. "See ya!"