Open

[hello_there]

WHO: Obi Kenobi and anyone who wants to hang out with him
WHAT: Obi-Wan Catch-all
WHEN: Mid-Justinian onwards (before the rifter discussions)
WHERE: Kirkwall, ect
NOTES: n/a

i. The Road Ahead
There was a puppy in Obi-Wan's travel-bag. It was actually fairly impressive, given the size and ambition of the mabari and the relative meagerness of the bag itself. It was more of a pack, really, the kind of thing meant to hold trail-food and the necessities to keep a body alive over the course of a few day's travel. Obi-Wan was not a man given to material wealth, otherwise expensive war-hounds aside.

"Cody," He warned, and glanced again towards the door— hanging ajar, open to the hall, now. Ah, that explained how he'd gotten in, again, "Now, we've spoken about this. You can't go in the pack."

The dog only whined and tilted its head, as if confused. Forty pounds and as spindly as a colt, there was no reasonable explanation of physics that could have united both dog and bag in the asked-for manner. But Cody persevered. Obi-Wan sighed to express his disapproval.

"Out."

Obi-Wan Kenobi, was having some difficulty.



ii: The "Ancient" Texts
Today was sunny in a way that, in Kirkwall, always seemed to be somehow qualified. Today, it could have been anything; perhaps it was only begrudgingly sunny in the bare hour before the afternoon rains, or too humid to be pleasant, or the smell of Darktown that's risen up through the streets in a cloud of foul-tasting steam. But, sitting in the Gallows courtyard, Obi-Wan couldn't smell Darktown, and didn't much care about humidity either way; he was writing. In his hands was a little book, and beside him another, both bound in plain, unremarkable leather. Both were handwritten, the one in his hands somewhat less so, and he seemed, despite his preoccupation, to be waiting for someone.

Or maybe he's just giving the sand-colored mabari puppy room to run; it's certainly doing its bouncing, cheerful best to encounter every single person with business in the Gallows to-day.



iii. Old Habits
Step, turn back, begin again. Second form, faster now; breathe, inhale, and lift—

Comforting basics, he'd run this form a thousand times and more. He'd mastered it. There were no fancy moves, nor clever flourishes in this calm ballet. The Lightsaber hilt was warm and comforting in his hand; familiar design, familiar grip, the hum a constant stream of nostalgia near his ear as Obi-Wan whirled it again into the third stance, then the fourth. It was never about hurting people, this way; they'd trained in a time of peace, with the hope of that peace in their ears. There were no targets, only patterns, circles in circles. Yes, a lightsaber was a deadly weapon, but it didn't have to be.

It didn't have to be— like this. None of this had to be like this.

Obi-Wan finds, abruptly, he's shifted off pattern. He stops, pushes the sweat back into his hair, and grumbles a sigh. Focus, Kenobi. How many times are you going to fail? Are you really this out of practice? Time for a break.

"I used to be able to get through this in one try, believe it or not," He says, by way of greeting, "Good evening."

Comments

Old Habits

[letoldthingsdie]

Kylo had been getting used to being away from the Gallows lately, since he and Rey had gotten a small home together in Lowtown, but he still enjoyed taking walks through the Gallows and taking in the old structures. The place was eerie and gloomy and he couldn't help but resonate with it. It had a deep history too. He also missed his old haunt - the training courtyard.

He wasn't surprised there were others who came there - there were many who had been when he was there training and he was quick to find a quiet spot for himself or with Rey. When he sees Obi-wan he stops, surprised that he's speaking to him. He hadn't exactly been nice to the seasoned Jedi the last they had spoken.

"Ah- I don't think you're doing badly?" He rubs the back of his neck, eyes dropping to his feet.

[hello_there]

"You have nothing to compare it to," Obi-Wan points out, not-unfairly. He'd chosen to become a master of the traditional forms out of a desire to bolster his weaknesses, and a dream of innovation. But his dreams, as ever, are ultimately comprised of only so much dry sand, liable to collapse and vanish at the slightest contact with reality, "But, maybe I'm getting old, after all."

He regards Kylo with a half-smile, a little wry, a little sheepish. To someone with a face that young, however the hardship, he must surely have always seemed old.

"How have you been?"

As if he doesn't know, even.

[letoldthingsdie]

"That's true, I don't. I've never needed traditional forms before." He had learned the basics from Luke but somehow he had adapted his own style. His enemies spent more time fearing him than trying to fight him, until Rey.

"Do you want me to agree that you're old?" He gives a half-smile of his own, amused that a man in his prime was calling himself 'old'. At Obi-Wan's next question he actually looks caught off guard for a moment. He hadn't expected Obi-Wan to ever want to know anything more than he did about him, not after their first impressions of one another. He hadn't exactly gone out of his way to change that perception either.

"I've been fine." Why?, he wants to ask. Instead, he elaborates, "Rey and I are settling into the new place, I think." He doubts it escaped the seasoned Jedi's notice that they were very much joined at the hip.

[hello_there]

"Yes. I've been wondering when you were going to invite me to visit."

He was not, as it happens, wondering any such thing. What Obi-Wan wonders is if, at a time like this, Ben would be pleased or otherwise to know just how like his grandfather he really is. A homewarming invitation is hardly worth mentioning, by comparison.

"Although I'm beginning to suspect I'm not wanted," Obi-Wan is joking, but he knows he has no place in what tends to form between two passionate young people, sharing a house: a family. Obi-Wan is too much himself to really forget it. Not again, at least, "Or maybe you were only trying to be subtle?"

[letoldthingsdie]

"Ah- well, if you want to see it I'm sure Rey would be happy to show you." He knows Obi-Wan isn't too bothered about it but he still feels somewhat unsure of himself with the man. He didn't know how to act around him after he'd probably already ruined it every other time they'd spoken. He didn't care for his sake, but Rey's.

"I didn't think the two of us living together would be something that escaped you whether we were subtle or not." Though he feels his face flush a bit at other possible implications of what Obi-wan has said. Surely he's reading to into it. "I wasn't sure how much Rey tells you."

She would have told him they moved in together, surely? She didn't hide her feelings for him and skulk about it the way he did. In fact, he never told anyone outright about it because there really wasn't anyone for him to tell. Rey had her girlfriends, like Nari, and he had...? No one.

[hello_there]

"You—" Obi-Wan can't decide if he'd rather laugh or sigh, "She didn't have to tell me anything. Honestly, you're as bad as Anakin."

The invective comes out automatically, and only after he's said it does Obi-Wan realize— and choke. Every time. Every time he remembers, and it's fresh and bright again, like a wet, red mouth that eats all the joy out of the moment. Oh, Anakin, as far gone as if he really had been killed, along with everyone else. And who did Obi-Wan have left?

"Of course I knew," He says it quietly, gentle, trying with all his uncertain calm to seem as unconcerned as he could, "No matter. You're entitled to your privacy, naturally."

[letoldthingsdie]

He blinks for a moment, confused and stuck on what to say about the sudden comparison to himself and his grandfather. It's hard to imagine him as just a young man and not the imposing dark figure of history and his imagination.

"You're practically her family, so it wouldn't be invading privacy to tell you." Her family, when the man had taught his grandfather and had been well loved by his uncle. He bore his name as his own, from birth, in remembrance of that bond.

"It's not as if I had anyone to tell about it." That was the sad truth, really. In times like these he realizes that he's been here for months and is still just as isolated and closed off as he's ever been. It suited him fine, he thought, but sometimes he was envious of Rey having so many people who cared for her. It made him feel cut off from her, in a small way.

ii

[provenforce]

A larger white mabari joins Cody as he bounds around, as soon as she's given a silent nod from her human to unleash herself. Rey smiles for a moment, watching them, before moving over to Obi-Wan, familiarity in her step.

She isn't so bold as to lean in and see what he's writing, but she is curious as she sits down next to him, dropping her own pack by her feet.

"What are you working on?"

[hello_there]

"Ah, Rey. It's good you're here."

Obi-Wan smiles to see her, and nods his greeting. Then he promptly shuts the little notebook and tucks it away, with care for its security. He offers her the other, the one sitting aside, and finished, a dense little volume, bound in nondescript leather of poor quality, but sturdily made.

"See for yourself," He says, with an encouraging little flourish, and sits back to give her the time to do just that, "I think you might find some of it useful."

It's not quite a training holocron. But it's something; rough sketches of forms and intermediary movements, names and histories and great deeds, the Jedi Code, and all he can remember of their teachings. Including the ones that were lies, helpfully labeled as such. Some of them even come with explanations as to why they were to be lied about-- there was some educational value, to deception.

"When I vanished, you and Padawan were left... alone. I can't guarantee I'll always be here for you, any more than you can the reverse. But, that doesn't mean...Well. You can see."

[provenforce]

Eyebrows creased in focus Rey accepts the book offered to her, flipping through the pages. Her brow relaxes as she realizes what it is, eyebrows arching in wonder instead. She looks up at him with a small smile on her face, nodding her head.

"This is wonderful. I-I tried to do what I could with what you've taught me, but..." It had been difficult. She hadn't known what to do, and there's still so much she doesn't know about the Jedi and her own power. Even with her connection to Ben making learning a lot of it easier, she's no closer to being a Jedi than she was two years ago.

[hello_there]

For a moment, he just smiles as well as he can, puts a hand on her shoulder and struggles for breath, for control. When Obi-Wan has mastered himself, he takes a deep, steadying breath, and speaks.

"The old Order, my Jedi Order, is gone. What a Jedi is, what we are going to be... it can never be was it was. What I've written down for you here is, it's just a starting direction. A light in the dark, for when you're uncertain where to go, and need to know where we've been," His smile ticks down a little, remembered sadness, lost joy, "My master, Qui-Gon Jinn, was a Grey Jedi, like you. And, like you, most of these rules never seemed to apply to him. I wish I could have been a better teacher for you, but never doubt that you are becoming a very fine young Jedi."

[provenforce]

Her smile fades as she watches him and listens to him speak, her brows knitting together again, not in focus but concern. He may be her teacher, but he's also someone she cares for a great deal, and it's never easy to see someone you care for remembering things they'd rather not. She reaches up silently to press her hand over his on her shoulder, squeezing lightly.

Him saying that she's becoming a fine young Jedi means more to her than she can possibly say, and she smiles despite the crease in her brow, before her expression grows serious again.

"What's a Grey Jedi? I didn't realize there was more than one type of Jedi. It always seemed like... there were rules that are to be followed if you want to be a Jedi. Rules I've... definitely broken."

[hello_there]

"Well, sit down, this might take some explaining," Pull up some floor, Rey, there's plenty of courtyard to go around, "You already know, loosely speaking, that the Force has two sides. The Light and the Dark."

He holds a hand to indicate the two sides, swaying first one way, towards the sunlit inner courtyard, and then back again, into the shadows under the side-passages, where the roofs closed in to guard the dormitory entryways from the sun.

"Most people, most Jedi fall into mainly either one camp or another. The Light representing stability, serenity, new life, and the Dark... chaos, imbalance, passion. Neither is more or less of the Force, but always the Jedi have always strived to bring our students into the Light: three Sith is enough to destabilize the Galaxy, and bring about terrible suffering. The Light is... better, for everyone."

He drops his hand, then, as if to refute the point, or declare it all moot. Obi-Wan's glance is significant.

"But— not for every individual. There have always been Jedi, very rare, who ignore the council, and who walk the line between Light and Dark. They're guided not by what is most balanced, or what is best for the world overall, or even what they've been asked to do; it's about what's right for the situation. They can't be called Sith, because they don't fall to the temptations of the Dark Side, but neither do they adhere only to the Light. To be Grey is... the middle road, the path less traveled."

ii

[notacrow]

As is her tendency these days, Myira is wandering around the gallows trying to figure out where she's supposed to fit into things. Normally she wears a thick cloak fo black feathers, but the heat has convinced her to leave it in her room unless she needs it and today she dresses only in light linen summer clothing to fight off the heat and humidity. When she spots Obi-Wan and his puppy, she wanders a little closer, taking careful measured steps towards the creature (a dog, she remembers that the humans in the village had some, a lot like wolves) as it takes a moment to rest, tongue hanging out of its mouth in a tired pant. Closer... closer...

In a sudden movement she reaches out to tweak the poor dog's tail and leaps away with a burst of laughter as Cody whirled towards in surprise. She bends, hands on her knees, and immediately begins running around Obi-Wan in circles as she plays some sort of game of tag with his dog.

[hello_there]

Obi-Wan looks up from his work only when Cody's innocent game of bark-and-run turns into something more focused— and more targeted at him, specifically. Or rather, at running in circles around the column he's sat himself up against. The... person?

Yes, the person.

The person who's down on all fours chasing 'round with him is another thing entirely, and he's not.... entirely sure.... what to make of that. But then, it takes all kinds of beings to make a galaxy, surely.

"...Hello?"

[notacrow]

Myira blinks as Obi-Wan speaks to her and rocks back into a casual squat only to bowled over as Cody barrels into her, not realizing the game has gone on pause. She lets out a squeal of laughter as she falls over and Cody licks her face.

"Ack--no--!" She cackles and finally manages to sit up, still half tangled with the dog.

"Hi!"

[hello_there]

"Are you alright?" He has to ask; and, to be fair, she has just been tackled by one of the famed Ferelden war-dogs, "Miss, ah...?"

[notacrow]

Myira is laughing and giggling as she's licked by Cody and gently manages to fend him off as she sits up fully, grinning.

"I'm fine! Takes more'n that to get me down." She tilts her head in a rather bird-like way to look at Obi-Wan.

"Myira. 'M Myira."

[hello_there]

"Obi-Wan Kenobi, at your service," He replies, bemused, and reaches out to offer her a hand up, "And this... is Cody."

Cody barks his own greeting, a scratchy, over-eager sound. A young sound, like a boy not yet grown into his deeper voice: a mabari's ferocious bellow. For now, though, he's not so ferocious, and mostly just wiggly.

II

[circleprodigy]

Grateful for a break in the overcast sky -and knowing it wouldn't last- Inessa jumps on the opportunity to take Garahel for a walk. The mabari, restless, is eager to comply, and it's only because of their strong bond that he isn't practically dragging her outside. Well, just barely.

Heading into the courtyard, Inessa instantly brightens upon seeing a mabari pup come up to great them. Garahel, wagging his tail excitedly, begins to lick the (relatively) tiny one as his mistress stoops to let the pup sniff her before she offers to stroke his head. "Hello, there! My, but you're a sweet one. And so handsome, too."

She darts a smile over at Obi-Wan, always warmer with a fellow dog-person. "What's his name? Or are you still deciding?"

[hello_there]

"Hello there," Obi-Wan replies, with a nod and a smile for her enthusiasm, "His name is Cody."

It was a good name, a name with square edges and a strong back. A nice, humble, workmanlike name, perfect for a trooper— or a mabari. Cody barks at the sound of his name, a scratchy, screeching sort of sound, entirely his size. One day he would be a broad-chested war hound that inspired fear in the hearts of men; but not just yet.

"I'd apologize for his interrupting your way, but..."

[circleprodigy]

"Hello, Cody. It's wonderful to meet you." That bark promptly melts Inessa's heart, remembering when Garahel once had an identical bark. As Garahel nuzzles his new tiny friend, she smiles and shakes her head. "There's absolutely no need for that. I'm a Fereldan, after all, we know to treasure mabari. Might I give him something?"

She points to her satchel, trying not to say the word 'treat' because Cody will likely understand and decide for Obi-Wan.

[hello_there]

Obi-Wan does not understand. And then, suddenly, he does and gives the go-ahead... though only after evaluating the relative worthiness of said pup. He is sitting at Inessa's feet, little stump-tail waggling, smiling a happy, doggish smile.

"As if you've done anything to earn it," But his tone is gentle, almost amused, despite the harsh words, "Go on, then."

[circleprodigy]

"I apologize for the vagueness, but I didn't wish to presume. And as you must know by now, mabari are very quick on the uptake." Often speaking to Garahel in the same fashion, Inessa chuckles. Withdrawing a couple of mabari crunch treats, she raises an eyebrow "Let's see, do you know how to shake? Garahel, will you demonstrate?"

Garahel immediately stands at attention, and when prompted, lifts his paw. Rewarding him with a treat, she turns back to Cody. "Shake?"

[hello_there]

Cody, for his part in the proceedings, regards her hand as if it were a foreign concept, tilting his head first one way and then the other, and then back again, farther each time. Eventually, he turns back to Obi-Wan with a soft, inquisitive aurr?

"Don't look at me, you got yourself into this."

Bereft, Cody returns his attention to Inessa's hand, then seems to find his inspiration and pounces on it, two-pawed. Twice as many paws means twice as many treats, right? Obviously.

Obi-Wan hides his smile behind his hand. Oh no.