Siri (warmingcrystal) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2014-08-24 18:22:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, obi-wan kenobi, siri tachi |
WHO: Obi-Wan and Siri
WHAT: A celebratory drink
WHEN: End of last month (backdated like crazy)
WHERE: A nondescript bar/restaurant downtown
RATING/WARNING: Low/None
STATUS: Complete
When Siri had told him to select a place for them to get a drink, Obi-Wan had chosen a restaurant. The only criteria he had used to make the decision had been it's proximity to his house. It was within walking distance. He had passed it several times and he liked the modern decor because it reminded him a little of Coruscant.
Now that he was standing in front of the establishment, he was questioning his judgment. It was technically happy hour, but rather than a crowd of office workers in need of a watering hole, the place was populated with couples, and singles looking to become couples, if only for one night. It was a dating scene. Given his history with Siri, he did not want to give the wrong impression. And given his history with Faiza, he felt... Truthfully, he did not know what to call what he felt. But it was uncomfortable. Obi-Wan did not like to be uncomfortable.
Fortunately, there were a number of other options on the block. Unfortunately, it was a trendy spot and most of the options were more of the same. While he waited for Siri outside, his eyes went to work finding a solution.
Truth be told, Siri was not a dater at all. She didn’t understand the customs, didn’t get the social norms, had never been successful at the notion. Her relationships were few and far between, and that was just because she wasn’t any good at relationships. It was not in her wheelhouse at all. Obi-Wan could’ve picked the most obvious date night establishment in the world and Siri still probably would’ve been oblivious to the matter.
Still, discomfort — discomfort she could sense from a mile away, even if she couldn’t pinpoint the source of the discomfort. Siri was intuitive by nature, but now that her weird Jedi abilities were becoming more honed as she dreamed up all those memories, it was especially poignant. What she was walking into wasn’t the most celebratory mood in the world, and she knew that Obi-Wan would likely be able to tell if she pretended like she didn’t recognize that in the atmosphere around them.
So she wasn’t going to pretend, either. Notoriously blunt and bold as always, she spotted him waiting outside the front doors to the place and rounded up to him. “Hey. What’s up?” Of course, it wasn’t a rhetorical ‘what’s up’ in the cultural sense of the phrase; rather, it was a ‘everything is clearly not okay, what’s going on?’ sort of ‘what’s up.’
For a moment, Obi-Wan was surprised that he had not been able to conceal his feelings. But this was Siri, after all. He could not think of anything he had ever been able to truly hide from her. It was a strange thing that he had always been so drawn to her when she caused him to feel so exposed and uncomfortable. Or perhaps it was not so strange after all.
Still, it true Obi-Wan fashion, he chose to pretend as if everything was as it should be and he had not been called out. In other words, he chose to lie. “Nothing’s up. I’ve just been waiting here for you. You’re late.”
"Yeah, basically always!" Siri quipped as a reply to Obi-Wan's accusation, grinning despite the fact that she still felt a twinge of tension in the air between them. She wasn't going to press, though, much as she might've wanted to or typically would've. If anything, especially at this point, Siri could definitely respect that there were things they didn't necessarily want to talk about aloud just yet. "But you probably knew that, right?"
On that note (actually a pretty lighthearted one, considering all that she had dreamed lately -- her own thing she didn't necessarily want to talk about aloud just yet), Siri stepped ahead to wrench open the door, the air conditioned interior immediately seeping out to meet them. "Oh. Congratulations, by the way!" she said by way of delayed greeting, gesturing forward for Obi-Wan to enter while she held the door behind them both.
Yes, Siri was typically late with everything, and that included congratulatory remarks. It felt so familiar that it caused Obi-Wan to smile in spite of himself. He caught the door, resigned himself to the fact that they would be drinking here after all, and made his peace with the matter.
“Thank you. It was no small feat and I’m rather proud of myself,” he said with a dry tone that bordered on smugness, but it was all in fun. There was a hostess waiting for them. Obi-Wan hesitated in approaching her, instead turning back to Siri. “Shall we just sit at the bar?” Things were a little less cozy that way.
If Siri caught wind of Obi-Wan's brief hesitation, she didn't show it. Instead, she merely gave a nonchalant shrug. "Sure, up to you," was her reply, as she shot a polite smile to the waiting hostess before the two of them made their way across the room to a couple of stools at the nearby bar.
Once they were settled, it didn't take long to get the bartender's attention. It may've been happy hour, but at least the place wasn't so slammed that they'd be waiting a 30 minutes to place a gin order. "Hi, I'm just going to do a gin sour, please," she requested, and then waited until Obi-Wan had placed his own order to continue their conversation.
"So what're the next steps? Do you have a firm or anything that you're looking into joining or whatever?" Siri didn't really know how the 'Law' side of 'Law & Order' went, but it wasn't a fake interest she was showing. She was just genuinely curious about it.
What Obi-Wan ordered was a whiskey, which now that he was a lawyer seemed a little cliche. He would have to learn to live with that. It was his drink. He had a set way of doing things.
“I’m looking at potential offices. I want to have my own practice. I have a friend who is interested in becoming my personal assistant or secretary or what have you.” Obi-Wan paused and shook his head. “To be honest, I’m a little surprised to hear myself talking like this. I don’t think I’ve said it out loud before now.”
"That's pretty cool, it's kind of great being your own boss," Siri acknowledged, twisting on her stool to face Obi-Wan as they spoke. "Takes a lot of discipline to not sit around and watch HGTV all day, but. I don't know. Something tells me you've got the discipline thing in spades."
She grinned. Something like, of course, their mutual dreams. Although Siri knew how to recognize that the man she knew from her dreams wasn't necessarily exactly the man sitting before her now, she also knew - from their previous encounters, at least - that their personalities seemed similar enough. Her own personality, she realized at least, was nearly identical to the one she held while asleep.
When the bartender brought over their drinks, Siri thanked him gratefully without breaking stride in her conversation with Obi-Wan, effortlessly. "And it helps to have the connections. It's been nearly impossible for me to work from the ground floor, without any sort of client network." She lifted her glass then. "Cheers to your victory!"
He lifted his glass beside hers and reflected on the fact that, to him, the grin was indistinguishable from the Siri of the dream world. Slightly lopsided, the light in her eyes a little more intense than a smile warranted. By the time he took a sip, he felt as though he needed it, even if only a few seconds had passed. It still felt like he was sitting beside a ghost.
Though, perhaps for the first time since Faiza's death, he felt thoroughly alive, sitting beside his long lost friend.