Title: Lanteeban Interlude
Author: snootiegirl99
Summary: Set during the novel Star Wars: Clone Wars Gambit: Seige by Karen Miller. All characters are her and Del Ray books' properties except Vollad (OC).
Anakin and Obi-Wan get some needed downtime in the middle of a tense, nearly-botched mission on the world of Lanteeb.
Rating: M for sexual situations
Author's Notes: While I completely respect Ms. Miller's viewpoint about slash fiction-to each her own-I prefer to think that the SW universe is big enough to include all types of relationships between Obi-Wan and Anakin. Having said that, this isn't a traditional slash story anyway.
After a long day of cleaning up the village, doing what they could to safeguard the electrical plant and the shield generators, Anakin and Obi-Wan were ready to retire to their hard beds in Teeba Jaklin's storeroom.
But as they trudged down the dusty lane to her modest house, they were met by Teeba Jaklin herself. She fell in next to them and began talking.
"Teebs," she said. "There is more to your treatment for the damotite contamination. Teeba Vollad, Arrad's sister, is waiting for you at my home. She will administer the next treatment."
"Treatment?" Anakin questioned. Obi-Wan nudged him. Best to just undergo their home remedies than take a risk with the poisoning, the nudge said.
"Yes, skin treatment," Jaklin said enigmatically. "You have to draw the poison out of the pores as well as treat from the inside."
They arrived at her front door, and Obi-Wan opened it for her. She passed by him with the same resigned indifference as she had shown since their arrival, despite all of their efforts in the past twenty-four hours.
Obi-Wan sighed. They had lied to her. He couldn't deny that. He would accept her harsh judgment of them.
Anakin pursed his lips in frustration. They had explained their mission to her. Couldn't she excuse some deception in exchange for all of their lives? For the lives of millions of others endangered by Lok Durd's bioweapon?
They followed Teeba Jaklin into the house. She had disappeared somewhere further into the home, and they simply turned toward their sleeping place. When they opened the door, they found dim light already turned on. Someone, presumably Teeba Vollad, was standing next to a workbench with her back to them. Obi-Wan recognized her from the breakfast gathering in the morning. She had been busy with the children and did not speak to him.
Without turning, she spoke. "Please be seated comfortably, and remove your shirts." Then she turned. Obi-Wan caught her eye, and his breath seemed to disappear from his lungs. How could I have not noticed before, he asked himself.
This woman was a Force sensitive. And she had control over it. Much more than the child Greti, of course. But more than he had encountered in a being who wasn't trained by the Jedi. He hadn't felt her before because she had not wished to be felt.
She smiled at him as if she could read his thoughts. Anakin didn't seem to have noticed this development; he sat down and pulled his filthy shirt from his shoulders. He really wished for a shower now.
"Teeba Vollad," Obi-Wan said with a small bow. "Thank you for your kindness to us." And then he followed Anakin's lead, sitting slightly apart from him and removing his equally filthy garment.
Vollad reached behind her for a bowl that was resting on the workbench. When she turned around again, she walked toward Obi-Wan first. "I will begin with you, Teeb Kenobi, as befits your age and authority." Then she kneeled in front of him, extracting a cloth from the bowl. The scent of the skin treatment was the first thing on Lanteeb that didn't smell horrible. Obi-Wan closed his eyes and prepared to sink into the Force as she treated him.
When her soft hand touched his shoulder, his eyes cracked back open of their own volition. The softness was what surprised him. Like the pleasant scent of the skin treatment, there didn't seem to be an abundance of softness on this planet. Even the cloth she used on the opposite shoulder was rough.
Quickly, she smeared ointment all over his shoulders, chest, arms, and belly. Then she dropped the cloth back into the bowl, and rubbed her hands together to cover them with the sweet smelling concoction.
"I must draw out the poison with the heat of my hands. May I do so, Teeb?" she asked quietly. A ghost of a smile danced around her lips.
"Proceed," Obi-Wan replied. And then he was ensnared again by the softness, and the strength, of those hands. While she worked on the skin of his shoulders, his head sunk down to almost resting on his chest. The Force works in mysterious ways, he thought. It has sent us a nurse with the actual power to heal.
Anakin observed Vollad's actions on Obi-Wan. He wondered why they couldn't just do this for themselves. It seemed simple enough. But as he saw Obi-Wan melt into this woman's touch, he decided that he was glad his Master was in healing hands. He actually seemed to be relaxing, something he desperately needed after the past few days.
Vollad cast a sideways glance to Anakin, aware of his attention on her and her actions. "You could help me by using the cloth on his back," she said quietly.
"Yes, Teeba," Anakin acceded. He picked up the bowl and moved to sit behind Obi-Wan, his folded legs snugged up behind the older man. With infinite care, and mindful of all the bruises and abrasions he could see and probably not see, he used the cloth to cover the skin of Obi-Wan's back.
He finished quickly. When his eyes caught Vollad's again, she gave him the smallest nod. Anakin set aside the bowl and cloth and coated his hands as she had done. Then he began to massage the treatment into Obi-Wan's skin in the manner of Vollad.
Obi-Wan felt the addition of two more hands to his body and dimly registered that they were Anakin's. Not as soft as Vollad's, but as welcomed in their familiarity. He was safe in these hands if only for a few brief moments.
As the treatment sunk into his skin and warmed, Obi-Wan felt a tingling sensation. He could sense the poison leaving him, being sucked into the treatment itself as if it was an antibody, which it probably was. But then he felt a nudge against his mental shields. Not Anakin, softer and weaker. Vollad.
He opened a small portal to her, and she resumed her ministrations aided with her limited use of the Force. Softly, she spoke, "If your young man could help me in this, it would work better and faster." He knew that she meant the Force connection.
He nodded slightly. "Anakin, she needs your help in the Force."
Anakin didn't stop his movements on Obi-Wan's skin, but he was surprised by the request. He still hadn't noticed her Force-sensitivity focused as he was on his task. "Yes, Master," he replied. He sank into the Force to see what she was attempting.
Anakin's Force signature wrapped around Vollad's and amplified it. Obi-Wan moaned a little with the impact. But he also felt the speed of the toxin's departure increase. "Yes, it's working," he breathed.
Once Vollad had all of his front and Anakin all of his back covered in the treatment, she motioned for him to lie down.
"Now your legs, Teeb," she said, as Obi-Wan stretched out between the two of them, Anakin on his right, she on his left.
He reached to take his pants off, and she stopped him. His hands were covered with treatment, and she wanted them to stay that way. She motioned to Anakin to help her remove Obi-Wan's remaining clothing.
Once fully naked, they took turns using the cloth to spread the treatment on. Then the strong massaging resumed. Obi-Wan closed his eyes and sunk into the Force where Vollad and Anakin continued their healing of his tired and battered corporeal form.
Minutes felt like days as they united to defeat the poison, to banish it from every cell of his body. Vollad began a low humming as she worked. The sounds resonated within Obi-Wan in a way song never had before. He felt himself responding to it in fascinating ways.
When her hands finally brushed against his cock, he stiffened only slightly. Her soft voice reassured him again, "We must empty you of any remaining toxins, Teeb. Do you prefer my touch or that of your young man?" She understood that their relationship was not exactly familial, he noted.
Anakin looked quickly to Obi-Wan's face. And Obi-Wan looked back. "I have no preference, Teeba," he assured her. "Either of you will be satisfactory."
She looked at Anakin for his opinion. He gestured for her to continue her ministrations to his Master, confused by Obi-Wan's response. His Master would like his touch? He always thought that Obi-Wan was put off by his tactile nature. Anakin was usually the one to initiate any physical contact like the swift embrace earlier to reassure himself that Obi-Wan had not died a horrific death in the power plant explosion.
Anakin had always intellectually understood the Order's dictates of physical distance. But he had never even tried to embrace them for himself. He would not, could not, live a life with no contact with other living beings. And Obi-Wan was at the top of that list with his wife, Padme. However, he never thought to have the opportunity for touch as intimate as this.
He indicated by a shake of his head that he wished Vollad to continue her task. She gathered more ointment into her hands, lubricating them. Then she warmed them and applied them to Obi-Wan's flaccid member. She moved slowly and deliberately, closing her eyes to seek out his reactions within the Force. Anakin closed his eyes to see for himself.
Obi-Wan responded to the gentle touch immediately. The warmth, the nerve sensation, the softness, and the relief that welled up within him almost overwhelmed the two who sought to heal him. Anakin was staggered at the immensity of Obi-Wan's emotional capacity. What strength it must take to control this, he mused. I have once again underestimated my Master, to my own detriment.
The younger man opened his eyes again to watch Obi-Wan's physical response to the contact. He seemed to be having trouble letting himself go entirely in the physical realm. He nudged at Vollad's hands to release his Master. She exchanged with him, one hand at a time. Obi-Wan knew his former Padawan was now his minister with the exchange of soft hands for rougher, larger ones.
His reaction was immediate.
He issued the smallest moan from parted lips and arched his hips into Anakin's firm grasp. Anakin concentrated on steady, calm strokes to achieve an end-to rid Obi-Wan of sickness and death. No calling could be higher that this. Anakin used all of his knowledge from his own self-pleasuring to ease Obi-Wan's body into submission. He would leave no part of Obi-Wan vulnerable to poison.
Vollad had returned to massaging treatment into skin that had yet to be covered. His face and his feet. Obi-Wan sighed with comfort and pleasure. And, as his breath caught in his throat, he spasm and jerked his hips into Anakin's hand once more before slick semen covered his lower belly. Vollad quickly wiped away the offending substance containing the toxins of the damotite.
Obi-Wan opened his eyes, and Anakin read the gratitude there. He needed the contact of someone trusted to really let himself go. And Anakin had known that.
Looking at the two men before her, Vollad sensed that her presence was no longer needed for this task. She retrieved another bowl of the treatment from the workbench, complete with a clean cloth, for Anakin, as Obi-Wan sat up and covered himself modestly with his dirty trousers.
"Since you are much more capable of the spiritual healing than I am, I leave you to cleanse your young man," she pronounced.
Obi-Wan cleared his throat. "He isn't my young man in the way you suggest, Teeba. He's my friend." She smiled a small, knowing smile which said, I will hold my own opinions.
She further instructed him, "Allow the treatment to soak into your own skin for thirty minutes more before you apply it to him. It should not be immediately disturbed from the thick skin on the palms of the hands." Then she stood and gave them a small bow in farewell. Her steps made no noise at all as she exited the storeroom.
The two Jedi remained seated, Anakin cross-legged at Obi-Wan's right side. The silence of the room enveloped them after the violent noise of the theta storm.
Anakin spoke first, "How do you feel?" He sought out Obi-Wan's eyes, not wishing to hide from his former Master.
Obi-Wan returned Anakin's gaze steadily, and replied, "Well. I feel-better than I have in days. You will too." He reached out to pat Anakin lightly on the knee but then remembered he shouldn't be using his hands yet. He smiled at the aborted action.
Anakin smiled back. Then he reached up and brushed Obi-Wan's bangs off of his forehead and out of the treatment salve. "Thank the Force that it smells so good," he remarked.
"Mmmm," Obi-Wan agreed. At Anakin's touch, he felt chills run down his spine.
"I'm sorry, Master," Anakin said next. His hand dropped back into his lap, and he drooped a little in his posture, his head sagging.
"Sorry for what, Anakin?" Obi-Wan asked gently. He didn't want Anakin to be sorry for helping to cleanse his body. But perhaps Anakin was regretting his impulsive behavior.
Anakin hesitated. There were so many things. Where to begin? "I'm sorry that I doubted you. Doubted your capacity to feel emotions. Your strength, your control is something I should have been striving for and emulating for the past decade. I just didn't think you understood what it felt like to have such overwhelming passions." Anakin felt the most contrite he ever had. He had truly failed Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan thought about Anakin's words before responding. "Anakin. It is one thing to be told about control and lack of control. It is another to witness it for yourself. Perhaps it is I who should apologize for not showing you before now." This time, he desperately wanted to touch Anakin in some physical way, so he placed the back of his hand on Anakin's cheek.
At the soft touch, the young man looked up. He saw a mix of compassion and empathy in Obi-Wan's gaze. And something else . . . respect? love? He reached up and clasped the wrist of the hand that touched him, closing his eyes and nuzzling into the proffered contact.
The sat in silent communion for the requisite time before beginning Anakin's treatment. Obi-Wan redressed in his pants, but left his smelly shirt off, preferring his olfactory senses be assailed by the sweet odor of the skin treatment.
Anakin disrobed entirely from the beginning. He sat upright and still while Obi-Wan covered his chest and back, and then his arms with the salve. When the massaging began, he did his best to keep from purring in pleasure. This was the best thing that he had felt since leaving Padme on Coruscant what felt like years ago.
The heat, the steady pulse of Obi-Wan's fingers on him, and the pleasant smell of the salve mixed with the scent of Obi-Wan all settled him more than he would have thought possible in the middle of a mission that had gone as wrong as this had. As his Master's mind brushed his to cleanse him of the spiritual toxins, Anakin slipped further into the embrace of both the Force and Obi-Wan.
Finally, he was covered in treatment and ready to empty himself from the inside. He was lying on his back, Obi-Wan to his left side and stretched out the length of Anakin's body. He could feel the rise and fall of Obi-Wan's chest and the tickle of soft chest hair on his arm. Obi-Wan's head was propped on his hand so that he could see enough to finish his task.
Anakin, being less in control than his Master, was already hardened by Obi-Wan's massaging touches all over his body. His firm length hugged the curve of his stomach and he arched involuntarily in anticipation of his Master's touch. When the touch was given, his eyes closed and his neck mimicked the arching of his back.
If Obi-Wan was off-put by this display, he did not show it. His intent was to help Anakin. And he would by any means necessary. Perhaps his body laid out the length of Anakin's wasn't strictly necessary, but he knew that it wasn't detrimental either.
Obi-Wan followed his instincts. He knew Anakin, had known Anakin for most of the boy's life. The impetuous nature, the love of speed, the scoffing at danger, the fierce loyalty. He channeled all of these traits into his interpretation of Anakin's physical desires. It took scant seconds for Anakin to tense and then release. Obi-Wan cleaned him meticulously.
His breath still heaving, Anakin opened his eyes to look into Obi-Wan's. This mission had been filled with so many conflicting thoughts, emotions, opinions, and actions for both of them. He was swirling in the eddies of confusion, indecision, and inaction. But then there was Obi-Wan, rescuing him from the darkest recesses of his own mind, anchoring him with trust and understanding. And he, Anakin, was the savior of his Master at the same time.
He frowned a little, and raised his hand to touch the back of it to Obi-Wan's cheek in the same way he had been touched earlier. He was surprised when Obi-Wan nuzzled as well.
"We should sleep," Obi-Wan said softly, neither of them moving to their separate mattresses. He unfolded his arm and pillowed his head on Anakin's shoulder, throwing the other across the boy's firm torso. Anakin picked up the blankets and laid them over top of them both, cocooning their body heat.
Speaking softly into Obi-Wan's hair, he suggested, "Maybe you should take those filthy pants back off. You'll be more comfortable."
Obi-Wan nodded an assent and shucked them down, throwing them to the floor in a dirty heap. When he turned back toward Anakin, he hooked a leg over the younger man's hips and pulled him closer.
They held each other against the growing Dark Side that was a constant pressure and the growing danger from Lantibba that was haunting their mission. They held each other in the knowledge that here was trust and friendship and love-the best things in the galaxy with which to fight against the dark.