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WHO: Character(s)
WHAT: Obi-Wan Kenobi catch-all open post
WHEN: Backdated to cover the vaguely handwaved span of October/late september
WHERE: Kirkwall (Hightown), The Gallows courtyard, ect
NOTES:

I. Obi-Wan at the Hawke Estate

Obi-Wan Kenobi lived in a lovely house in Hightown. He was the only Rifter who lived there, indeed the only one on the entire street. This was, of course, because the house did not belong to him. It belonged to the Hawkes.

Specifically, most recently, to Bethany Hawke.

He valued his friendships for other reasons, but there were times when it was truly, geniunely good to have connections. Hemight work for the Inquisition, but living outside of the Gallows provided quiet, and privacy, and the luxury of at least pretending that they didn't all live in a prison built to house slaves and worse. Specificially it allowed him to putter aorund the kitchen and pretend that his arrival 'home' was no more remarkable than any other such arrival. That nothing was wrong. That he need not think of the future, or the past, or any moment beyond the present.

That he had returned as whole as he had left. Surely, there was that at least. There would be no miraculous bacta, or cloned flesh, or sybernetic replacement. This would be his life, from now on and he would just... have to cope. Alone.

There was no sense in worrying anyone, really.

II.Catching up with Cody

The first thing you'll see of them is a ball. It's small and rubber and it's brown in a way that suggests it used to be red, before time and dog had gotten their way. Mabari need a lot of exercise, and young mabari moreso than usual. So the first thing, is the ball, and shortly thereafter, bouncing at least as chaotically, is the dog. It's a sand-colored puppy, big-pawed and lanky in the way of growing dogs everywhere and running with a gait like an ambulatory pancake.

Floppa-floppa-floppa— pounce!

And thereabouts, just as the dog turns to return its prey to the hand that threw it, is when you might catch sight of Obi-Wan, walking at a much more sedate pace, and using the ball's added doubling back to make up for the lack.

III. Getting Back On The Horse, So To Speak

Obi-Wan no longer made his main residence in the Gallows, but it was still a useful place to visit. For one, most of the Rifters were still there, and for another, it was one of the few places in Kirkwall that a man could sit cross-legged with many small and often shiny pieces spread out in the sun and be reasonably sure that all of them would be where he left them a moment ago. Obi-Wan is, slowly, and with great care, taking something small and delicate off his lightsaber. It's not a terribly graceful process, for the most part, hampered as he is by the lack of a hand, but between that handicap and the use of the Force, it's a chore that requires a great deal of concentration. He's grateful for that, for the ability to simply forget about pretension, to make mistakes, even stupid ones and strive only for the hoped-for outcome.

Of course, the actual reassembly does not require the use of hands at all. But it's the time that counts, the ability to lose oneself in the work, in the meditation of it. And to forget, until someone else's shadow falls over him, that he's not entirely alone.

IV. Wildcard

Hit me up with a starter of your own!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

This is a lot of information and Rey's brows remain knitted together as she leans back in her chair, eyes focused on her teacup, before slowly rising to Obi-Wan.

"I suppose it was only a matter of time before something like that came through a Rift. Given how many different worlds are out there..." she shakes her head, still in the same position, her shoulderblades pressed against the back of the chair.

"Was the artifact destroyed?"

"No. It couldn't be," simple enough to say that they had tried, and not succeeded. And with a plasma-blade withing Obi-Wan's toolset, that was saying something, "It's in safe hands, now. Galadriel claims to be capable of keeping it contained and, as far as I've seen, that's true enough. For the time being, it's over; whether or not the Inquisition itself will agree is their argument to make."

"It couldn't be destroyed?" Rey breathes, knowing what that meant. Lightsabers were one of the most powerful weapons in the galaxy, if they were unable to destroy something, chances were good it really couldn't be destroyed.

"Let's just hope the Inquisition doesn't decide a few wraiths are worth the possible gains of abusing such a thing," she says after a moment of silence, pressing her lips together in a thin line. She didn't think some of the Inquisition's leadership would risk it, but others...

"I didn't put the exact nature of the thing in my report. Enough to be truthful, from a certain perspective, but... Well. I respect the Inquisition's goals, and it's leaders are good people, they mean well. But we can't depend on their loyalty to Rifters, once this is over. And my own first loyalty is to you, and to Ben."

Obi-Wan had never said it so plainly before, an all but open declaration of treason against the Inquisition. He would not sabotage their efforts against corypheus, would indeed help their cause any way he could. But there would come a day after corypheus, after the last Rift was sealed, and the Inquisition would have to decide where it stood among the powers of Thedas. And when that time came, it would be a weak play to defend the rights of the strange, the weak, and the unloved.

The Rifters.

"You are... my family. The only one I am ever likely to have."

She's not surprised exactly to hear it, but for him to so plainly lay out his allegiances, and in such a way... It takes her aback. It also makes her heart leap, to hear him call her family. It was unsaid between them, of course, but aside from Ben, no one had called her family before. She'd spent much of her life waiting for her family to come back for her, but it seemed that she had needed to leave Jakku in order to find the family she wanted.

Pushing herself up from her chair she moves around the table and leans down to wrap her arms around Obi-Wan, hugging him firmly.

"You're my family, too. My loyalty will always be to you first." It's never been a question for her, really. If it meant she could never be a proper Jedi, she'd take it. But the world isn't worth fighting for, if you don't have someone to love in it.

Obi-Wan had no idea what to do. He hadn't been touched in... weeks, months. And before then, only rarely; the Jedi were not a tactile people, and Obi-Wan had been raised among them, in the broad walkways and the halls wide enough to drive a speeder through.

So he was stiff, and surprised, and the pain of her kindness went through him like a wound. He would have gasped, if he could have gotten his breath. Slowly, Obi-Wan's spine bent, and he sagged against her, head down against Rey's shoulder. It was good, in a way, and painful in another. He didn't understand, couldn't understand why he was reacting to it so strongly, only that he was.

"Thank you," He whispered, eventually, and held her in return, with his one good hand, inadequate as it was.

She'd only embraced Obi-Wan once before, when she'd been overcome with joy at his return to Thedas. Physical contact is something Rey is much more accustomed to, now, because she and Ben both had been so starved for it, in the early months of their relationship they had touched often. They still do, but it's no longer something surprising.

So his stiffness when she wraps her arms around him doesn't bother her, though as he relaxes and eventually hugs her back she feels the sting of tears across the bridge of her nose again, and she smiles, pressing her face into his shoulder.

"Thank you. All I ever wanted was a family, and you've given me that." Before even Ben had, Obi-Wan had become her family.

Obi-Wan wasn't exactly sure how long they stayed there like that. At first it seemed only too short, and if he'd been forced to put a name to the anxiety it would have been that she might pull away too soon. Before he was ready. But then, that was foolish; by her own admission, Rey was as desperate for the connection as he was, strange as the idea might be. Jedi aren't meant to be desperate for anything, it wasn't how they were raised, wasn't how they existed. It was wrong. But for now, just for a moment, it wasn't anything but human. Perhaps Master Yoda would have disagreed: there was no way to know.

"Yes. Well."

He recovered, and with that recovery, the return of dignity, and the much strived-for sense of balance Obi-Wan had always relied upon. Or something like balance, as close as he'd come in recent days. It made the whole thing just the faintest bit... awkward.

"...I should think anyone sensible would be proud. To have a daughter like you."

The tears in Rey's eyes now have nothing to do with her anger and heartbreak of earlier in the evening. Quite opposite, she's overwhelmed to hear Obi-Wan refer to her as a daughter. She lets out a shuddering breath, smiling despite the tears.

"My parents sold me to Unkar Plutt when I was a child. I-I was always waiting for them to come back, but they never did." She hadn't told him much about this, really only Ben knew the full scope of what she'd been through as a child. "I'm glad they didn't, now. If they had come back, you saying that might mean less. I'd be honored to have a father like you."

What had seemed a little awkward has bloomed into fully-realized embarrassment. Obi-Wan isn't used to this much...emotionalism. Or, at least, not this much expression of it. He pats her back, carefully, as well as he can.

"Has that been worrying you?" He thinks a moment, then draws back, away from the hug, "Is it because of Ben's... Ben."

The Skywalker bloodline, he means. The very thought is vaguely laughable.

"Most Jedi come from nothing. Nearly all of us. Everyone I've ever trained with, at least. Myself included. What's important is never where you're from, it's where you're going."

"No-um," she sits back on her heels, still crouched next to his chair as she wipes the tears away from her cheeks, sniffling as she does. "I know. I thought once that it was important, knowing who they were, where I came from. I'd still like to know why... why it was so easy to give me up." She exhales, straightening and moving to sit back in her chair, careful not to disturb the animals lying around as she does.

"I just wanted to belong somewhere." That had been why she'd wanted to find Luke, then Ben. She'd been so desperate to find where she fit in.

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