Musings
He hadn't been trying to eavesdrop. He really hadn't. But the walls were thin and the documents on his datapad were rather dull and tedious, even for him. It was late at night when the transmission came in, and he was rather curious who would contact Anakin this deep in space.
The Knight's rather bleary voice wafted through after much fumbling and clanging. "Skywalker."
"Anakin?"
"Angel? What-" The bed creaked, and Obi-Wan heard the distinctive sound of a head bashing against the bed frame. "Ah, fuck."
"Are you okay?" Senator Amidala's worried voice came through. "Did I wake you?"
"Sleep can wait. I'd rather look at you than the back of my eyelids."
Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. His former padawan had always been horrible at flirting, but no one aside from him ever noticed. Somehow, the women and men of all species seemed to melt at every word. And now even the Senator was, laughing - no, giggling.
"How'd you manage to get a transmission to me? I'm about to land on Malastare…" Anakin sighed, no doubt shaking his head. "You're on Malastare, aren't you?"
"I'm not on Malastare, Ani - Teckla just found a long-range com and I decided to put it to use."
"Really?"
"What, you don't believe me?"
"I didn't say that, love."
Why does Anakin believe his relationship is so discreet? Obi-Wan mused, giving up on the datapad and putting it aside. It was something concerning the Jedi Archives and the Coruscant public, but he wasn't on Coruscant to learn more about the situation.
He remembered Anakin coming into the Twilight's mess hall one time, which wouldn't have been unusual if it hadn't been so early in the morning. He had been having a quiet conversation with Cody about the planet Felicia and their current battle strategies, and hadn't really noticed the young man walk in.
But Cody, ever vigilant, did. The clone commander faltered in his words, a cup of caf halfway to his lips. "Is that General Skywalker?"
The tea they had bought on their latest touchdown caught in Obi-Wan's throat. He coughed before turning around, eyebrows raising upon seeing his former apprentice talking duly to a clone and moving down the near-empty food line. "That's peculiar. He's never awake before he absolutely has to be."
Captain Rex had just sat down, snorting at his fellow brother. "The General's a great many things but a morning sentiment isn't one of them."
Obi-Wan reluctantly refocused on his meal, knowing exactly what would cause the Jedi Knight to be awake. He spooned into his gruel and flashed what he hoped was a grin to his companions. "I should know. I live with him."
That got a laugh out of the clones.
The chair beside Cody's scraped against the floor.
Anakin said nothing, picking up his caf and taking a long drink from it. He stared somewhere past a group of groggy clone troopers, eyes vacant and bloodshot.
Cody looked at the Knight and then to Obi-Wan. "'Morning, General."
Nothing.
Obi-Wan interrupted the master-and silenced the mess hall-by slamming a palm on the table. "Anakin!"
The Hero-Without-Fear jumped in his seat, hot caf sloshing onto his hand. He blinked down at the liquid dripping off the glove covering his mechanical and then to his companions. "Hmm?"
"Are you ill?" Cody asked, cocking his head in concern. "We are near a medical base if-"
"I'm fine," Anakin said a little too quickly. He set down the caf a bit too hard and used napkin to dry his glove. A vein was visible in his temple. "I'm fine. Tired. Didn't get much sleep."
Cody chuckled, his attention slowly going back to his breakfast. "Best get rest now, General. We'll be on planet in a three standard days."
Anakin said nothing, continuing to clean the glove rather fiercely. However, his teeth grounded together.
Obi-Wan shrugged at Cody, letting the chatter of the clones around them swallow up their silence.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Obi-Wan frowned, his fork halfway to his mouth. He dropped it and went for his comlink. "Odd. The Council wouldn't request a meeting at this time."
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
"It's mine." Anakin dropped the comlink unceremoniously in the middle of the table and pressed a button. The blue, glitching figure of Ahsoka Tano appeared, hands crossed over her chest. His voice was tired when he said, "What is it, Ahsoka?"
"Morning to you too, Skyguy." Ahsoka smiled, clearly giddy despite the bandage wrapped about one of her arms. "The planet is secure, master. We managed to destroy the Separatist base, master, with the help of the local resistance. I have squads out now searching for the remaining pockets of droids."
"Good work, Snips."
"Ahsoka." Obi-Wan leaned forward, knowing that she could see him. "We're three standard days away from landing. Master Fitso's cruiser is behind us, and will be is bringing medical supplies and food goods, among other necessities. You can start prepping the wounded for departure."
Ahsoka gave a two-finger salute and a wink. "Roger roger, Master Kenobi."
"Really Commander?" Captain Rex asked, taking a sip of his caf.
"Any idea how long the rest of the mission will take?" Anakin asked when his padawan's hologram fizzled out of existence. "We've been stuck in space for four weeks."
Obi-Wan sighed, well aware of his clone commander pretending not to listen to the conversation. He wondered - briefly, ever so briefly - what life would be like if he had someone to head home to after every mission.
Well...he gave that dream up long ago.
He forced a smile. "We should be back soon enough, Anakin. Never fear."
Author's note: I know, I know. I've updated a lot today. But you know, this is what happens when you're waiting around to complete your last college exam of the semester. You get bored and decide to to through your millions of documents and find fics that you never posted :D
I have like one more oneshot to finish and post probably tomorrow. I also have mapped out the last 5 chapters of "Pictures" and planned the next chapter - or two - of "Secrets" Expect all those over the weekend and the next week ;D
ii Digestive Reader ii