Coping Methods | Open

[obi_wanmanshow]

WHO: Obi-Wan Kenobi and whomever shall encounter him
WHAT: Obi-Wan hangs about Skyhold
WHEN: Since his arrival at Skyhold through Drakonis
WHERE: Skyhold Library and also Some random battlements action
NOTES: None yet

1 | A Quiet, Well-Lit Place
The Inquisition Library was a curious thing. He was use to holos and databases, searchable by voice or material input, by keyword and title and author and a thousand other small conveniencs that managed, one after the other, to strie him at the worst of times. It was strange, to realize how privileged even the meanest peasant on the farthest Rim planet was, by comparison to this-- to the idea of something you needed being just at your fingertips, but so easily misplaced.

He wasn't even sure if the book he was looking for existed, let alone in a language he could be gauranteed of understanding. Translation technology was more lacking than common index, and his communicator, which might have helped, was little more than salvage.

After a time, Obi-Wan simply sighed, rubbed at the bridge of his nose, and put his latest selection away-- as unsuitable as the last. Clearly Materials Enhancement: The Enchanting Art of Lyrium was going to be of no use to him. Perhaps to anyone!

What in the world was Lyrium, anyways?


2 | The Truth Between
There were a lot of jokes made about Jedi and meditation.

Most of them were grounded in truth. For example, that Jedi were so inneffectual that they responded to ever crisis by taking a nap. Not that Obi-Wan was sleeping, despite appearances. He's sat, cross-legged, and very still, just on the edge of the parapet overlooking the peaceful goings-on of the courtyard below on one hand, and wide, wild view of the mountains on the other. The tower wall at his back provides some shelter, both from the wind, and from other people, but by and large he is quite exposed-- and, seemingly, unconcerned about this fact.

Actually, maybe he is sleeping. He hasn't moved in a long time, his eyes are closed, why, anyone could just come right up and--

"May I help you?"

...or not.




3 | Synecdoche
The Lightsaber was spread out in pieces on the table by the window. It was a lovely antique, this window, beautifully made with thick, bubbly glass in beautifully cut shapes depicting... Something, surely. Obi-Wan would likely have needed a more than passing understanding of the local religions to have said exactly what. Regardless, it was the brightest place in the tower, at this hour, with the sun streaming in to illuminate the exposed guts of his once-functional lightsaber.

The casing was cracked, of course, and several connections severed, one or two slagged beyond simple repair-- they'd need re-insulating and solder at best, and to be replaced outright, at worst. He was hoping, praying in a way, for the former. A replacement of sufficient purity and delicate construction would be hard to find in a society that viewed a blacksmith's anvil as a suitable tool for weapon-construction. And the insulating rings around the power supply weren't in their best shape either. It was a miracle the crystal wasn't cracked!

But it wasn't.

There it stood, sparkling in a beam of sunlight, glowing faintly with its own inner purity, a beautiful blue Kyber Crystal, perfectly cut in one lovely hexagonal spar. It was no longer than his thumbnail, and there was no doing without it-- thank the Force that it had survived where so much else had failed. Obi-Wan sighed, and went back to his inventory of parts, so engrossed in his work that he was for once ignorant of any observer's eye.

Comments

[byblow]

"No," he says, "I'm Alistair."

And, look, in his defense, it isn't only a dad joke. It works on multiple levels. At least two. The dad joke level and the level where being who and what he is and being alright are, apparently, inherently mutually exclusive conditions. Very deep.

"And until you've been made to copy passages out of something called Essential Tomes for the Painfully Devout, I'm not going to give your opinion any weight. No offense, Ser—?"

Ser Likely Not Of This World. But not necessarily. Some of the locals have the glowy hand thing as well, these days.

[obi_wanmanshow]

"I wouldn't have had time, between reciting the Jedi Code while being made to stand on my head, and the daily meditation sessions," He retorted. He can appreciate a good sarcastic banter as well as anyone, truly-- but he'll catch that subtext as well; you're clearly not alright, Alistair, "--Kenobi. Obi-Wan Kenobi."

He already likes this one, despite the shadows in his wake. Could be worse.

"The title is Master Jedi, if it matters. I'm beginning to think that it never will. And yourself?"

[byblow]

Alistair gives the man an evaluating look, mostly to gauge how much he believes he's actually capable of balancing on one hand. Unless the Jedi Code (whatever that is) is horrifically long and involves a lot of pontification on good behavior and penitence, that part doesn't sound so bad—but meditation? Disgusting.

Master Jedi, he mouths silently while Obi-Wan talks, feeling out a foreign phrase. It is at least more polite than giving his name the same treatment—but no, it's fairly clear that the title doesn't mean a thing. Not even enough for him to distinguish it from a title of some weird nobility, so he says, "No title. Just Alistair. I'm a Grey Warden, anyway, and we're not allowed any of that."

Hypothetically, at least. Ideally. Let's not talk about the Landsmeet.

He glances at the man's hand. He isn't sure Grey Warden means anything more to him than Master Jedi means to Alistair.

"How new are you, exactly?"

[obi_wanmanshow]

Alistair do you know that you move your mouth when you think. Internal monologues go on the inside, sir, it's right in the name.

"I've... Never met any Grey Warden before," He feels as if he should know the name, but. Well, here's a Grey Warden right in front of him, no better source than firsthand, "Very. I only arrived from a rift in the Emprise du Lion recently. I've been in Skyhold barely a week's time."

[byblow]

"Oh, well," Alistair says, "let me tell you, then: we're the great heroes of Thedas." He turns his palms up and spreads his hands in a display of fake humility. "Renowned for our moral fortitude, transparency, and compassion. Everyone trusts and adores us. Particularly the Inquisition." He smiles, transparently mischievous (in a weary, sort of sad way) even without any weird mind-reading tricks anyone may or may not be capable of. "If anyone tells you otherwise, they're having you on."

[obi_wanmanshow]

Obi-Wan chuckled at that, smirk twisting wry and much-amused, "It sounds to me that you're as welcome as a Jedi Consular during an election year."

He's not immune to the whole mess, if anyone could be. The gossip has been on everyone's lips, anger, outrage, resentment...increased foot-traffic. And this man, the Grey Warden, puts a face to all that. Obi-Wan doesn't know any specifics.

"Heroics often come with significant risk, in my experience. If you're so...revered," With a nod for his own gentle sarcasm, "Then, what for?"

[byblow]

Alistair's expression doesn't change for a moment, a little blank and uncomprehending in its stillness. What's a Jedi Consular, what's an election year? He's going to ask, eventually. Probably. If he remembers when he's done explaining this.

"We stand against the Blight." Vocabulary lessons are due all around. He takes a breath, as if steeling himself, and slides up off of the table to head for another part of the library, holding a hand briefly back toward Obi-Wan to beckon he follow. "You probably haven't seen darkspawn, yet. They stay underground for the most part, aside from outbreaks here and there, but every few ages they mount a full-blown attack on the surface. They spread corruption, it kills everything, there's no cure." He's only headed a few paces away, where he stops to hover a hand over a row of books. He skips the one on the Fifth Blight and plucks out one on the First to hold toward Obi-Wan in offering. "We're the only ones who can stop them. But in the hundreds of years in between Blights, we mostly just make people angry."