Chapter 21
"Ow."
"Don't be a baby," said Mi'aka cheerfully as she pushed the syringe's plunger down.
"I don't know why we need another vaccination shot, the next round isn't due for six months. And trust me, I'm keeping count."
"I know you are, Ben. But there's some new strains cropping up and the Temple wants everyone in the Agricorps immune. And as you know, we do send you off world sometimes. Who knows what you could catch."
Obi-Wan grumbled as Mi'aka hummed a tune while applying small amount of bacta spray to the site.
"It wasn't that bad," Anakin said. Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes at the younger man who stood next to him grinning.
"Maybe next time Anakin can hold your hand," said Mi'aka.
"You're both horrible. Absolutely awful. I want you to know that."
Anakin slipped his arm through the crook of Obi-Wan's elbow and pulled him to stand. "If that's everything, I take it we're free to go?"
Mi'aka shooed them with her hand. "We're done. Finished. Mission complete."
"Thanks, Mi." Anakin sent her a wink and pulled Obi-Wan along. The older man fussed and poked at the bacta in disgust. His arm hurt.
"I can't believe you sometimes."
"It's not funny, Anakin. That quite hurt. I think she did it on purpose," Obi-Wan said. "Do you suppose I upset her at some point during the week?"
"You mean do I think she was waiting for a shipment of vaccines she didn't know she was getting just so she could poke you extra hard? No. No, I don't."
"That's not what I asked."
"You didn't piss her off, no."
"How do you know?"
"You didn't," Anakin affirmed.
"Yes, but how do you know?"
Anakin snorted and changed directions. Obi-Wan's interactions with Healers would always be a source of amusement for him. It was all he could do not to shake with laughter every time Obi-Wan not-so-covertly tried to get out of something medical. For all the fuss he put up, none of it was particularly serious and Anakin could swear that half the time it was put on just so he and Mi'aka could playfully snipe at each other back and forth. Even if Obi-Wan kept few people close, it was nice to know that he hadn't been completely alone before Anakin had come to stay with him.
Anakin led Obi-Wan through the corridors to the AgriBuilding's café. It was a lovely area that he particularly enjoyed; potted trees surrounded the area, and the skylights from above let the sun shine in, giving the area natural light. The bubbling from the fountains and small artificial river in the area gave it a sense of serenity; he felt peaceful here.
"Sit down, I'll buy you lunch," he said, letting go of Obi-Wan's arm. Immediately he missed the warmth.
"Lunch is free," Obi-Wan reminded him.
"Then embrace the sentiment," Anakin called back, moving towards the line while Obi-Wan found them a place to sit. He breathed in and turned his attention to the menus. It was a modest selection as were most things concerning the Jedi. He had hoped they had Obi-Wan's favourite soup, but looking at the screen it wasn't to be. The soups were different daily and it seems they'd clearly missed the Tuttle root stew by however many days. Anakin wasn't fond of it - it was much too sour for his tastes. He ended up ordering two bisques and some sandwiches to take over to Obi-Wan.
"Only the carrion bisque?"
"That's it."
"It's still pleasant, not like the mourshin soup. That is just-"
"Completely disgusting and probably scraped off the side of the ships?"
"Yes, that," agreed Obi-Wan.
Anakin took a bite of his sandwich, relishing the softness. He decided a while back - the first time he had bread on Bandomeer - that he would never get over it. The softness of the centre, the crisp crusts. It was amazing. There was nothing stale about anything on the planet; it was all fresh, all grown planet-side or harvested from the ocean. He'd never had fish before Bandomeer, or any type of crustacean, and just thinking of how Obi-Wan fried them in butter and garlic was enough for him to make a mental note about stopping at the market before they went home. He knew what he wanted tonight for supper. Some cherry wine would make a good complement to it as well.
He watched Obi-Wan take a break from his soup to wind his upper arm in a circle.
"If you keep doing that it's just going to hurt more," Anakin pointed out.
"It already hurts."
"Then stop it."
"I hate needles."
"You hate everything Mi'aka does to you."
"I can't help it, I was conditioned."
Anakin snorted. "I remember you telling me you were sick a lot, care to go into more detail?"
Obi-Wan waved his free hand. "It was just colds and flus and the like."
"Were other younglings sick, too? How can you catch those in the Temple?"
"New younglings sometimes brought in illness. Most were well cared for, but others… sometimes they had no one. They were orphaned, often times sick because of what they had been eating. When I wasn't in lessons, I was helping the Creche Masters and I was exposed to quite a few colds. I seemed to pick every little thing up, like a bloody little sponge."
"And then you stopped getting sick."
"I became an Initiate and got away from younglings," said Obi-Wan wryly as Anakin snorted. "But then came sparring accidents and other mishaps, which all could have been avoided if I'd just slowed down and wasn't so… hell bent on overachieving."
Obi-Wan's voice was tinged with that lingering pain again – the hint of bitterness and loss for a life that might have been. "I should probably stop overachieving on suspensions," Anakin quipped, yanking Obi-Wan's focus from his failed Initiate days to Anakin's climbing suspension rate. Obi-Wan spluttered, and Anakin grinned. He now had the most suspensions in all the AgriCorps. And all within a few weeks too.
It had quickly garnered him a reputation, not that he cared that much. He was happy with his little group. Obi-Wan, Mi'aka, Aadi, and now Shinda and Teeva rounded them all out. He didn't need anyone else, particularly those he knew for certain talked behind Obi-Wan's back.
As of now he was back to work, his probation once again lifted three days ago. The time off gave him a chance to fix the vacuum bots and try some new features. The voice feature had been an utter disaster: they kept following Obi-Wan calling "Beeeeeeeeeee". Obi-Wan had not been pleased, but Anakin fixed it again, like he said he would. Though on his next days off he was going to have to look at it again - the bot ate another of Anakin's socks the other day.
He was happier at work, though. And it was true, he missed working on more complicated machines and being able to work on engines and circuits that weren't his own designs cobbled together from scraps. But working on actual engineering marvels… they were amazing, truly. And maybe… maybe he could do that one day. He was a gifted mechanic, but taught purely by his mother and then himself once he surpassed her own considerable skills. But to maybe one day study engineering? To design ships and build them up himself from scratch? To make them faster, and sleeker, and safer? It was a thought he had entertained more and more lately. He didn't know if Bandomeer had programs like that - he doubted it, but he was sure they would know where and how. And they could use more engineers. But if he had to do it off planet, he hoped Obi-Wan would come with him.
"Are you even listening to me Anakin?"
"Hmm? Oh yeah, 'stop getting suspended, you know better'."
"Sometimes I wonder if you're just guessing."
Oh Obi-Wan, I don't have to guess when you repeat the same thing every time. Anakin smiled at him and asked about the bisque.
"Honestly Obi-Wan, what is your problem with my driving?" Anakin grinned, not even bothering to hide his amusement as Obi-Wan white-knuckled his seat. "There is literally nothing out here for me to hit."
"Do you have to drive so fast?"
"Nothing. Out. Here. To hit. And it's a hover car, do you know how safe these are?"
"Who the bloody Sith hells taught you to drive?"
Anakin snorted. "Uh, you did. But you forgot about the pod racing, didn't you?"
"Please focus on the road."
"What road? It's a dirt line."
"It's a road, Anakin. A road you are supposed to be following, you don't need to keep veering off into the grass and reconnecting."
"Then why isn't the road straight? What's with the turns?"
"There are hills."
"Pfft. Then they should have leveled them out."
"I, I – maybe they made turns so beings didn't get bored driving straight."
"That's… Yeah, yeah actually I can see that."
"Of course you would."
"You know, you could have told me you wanted to drive."
"I can barely raise my left arm, Anakin."
"Tensing is not going to help."
"Then for the love of the Force slow down you wretched speed demon!"
Anakin dissolved into fits of laughter, his belly hurting from the force of it. Pure joy lit up his face as he eased off the accelerator. He could give the old man a break, given all the grief he'd given him since he arrived and tipped Obi-Wan's world off its axis.
"I want to take you to a pod race someday."
"I don't think I could handle it," said Obi-Wan, relaxing marginally as they slowed back to a normal speed limit. "All I would be thinking about was that you used to be in of those death traps as a child."
"Can I be in one of them as an adult?"
"Anakin! What? No!"
"What? I never finished a race. I'd like to at least do that one day," said Anakin glancing his way. "I feel cheated."
"You're unbelievable you know that? Utterly unbelievable."
He grinned. "I know."
Obi-Wan let out a deep breath. Leaning back into the seat, he let the light vibrations from the vehicle lull him into a more relaxed state. Anakin's speed had slowed dramatically – an immense relief. Thank everything in the galaxy that they didn't live on Coruscant; he didn't even want to imagine what driving with Anakin would be like in that sort of traffic.
Obi-Wan smiled lightly, as he felt Anakin reach over the console and take his hand. He could be a dear when he wanted to be.
"I need to make a food run in town."
"What do we need?"
"I want seafood tonight. Tell me how to cook it with the wine and I can handle the rest."
"Your cooking has vastly improved," Obi-Wan admitted unwillingly.
Anakin grinned, eyes shining with laughter. "No more stove fires."
"Thank the heavens."
"I mean it, I can cook if you're not feeling up to it."
"We can do it together, you do what I can't."
"You should try milking this a little more, you know? Make me wait on you hand and foot."
"I don't need you doing that for me, and you know most of this is just me whining and feeling sorry for myself."
"I'll help make you feel better."
"Looking forward to it."
Dinner was good, Obi-Wan had to admit. Anakin's cooking was improving everyday, and once he came to the conclusion that recipes were just engineering manuals for food he really started to perfect his skills. The garlic shellfish over pasta with red wine sauce had been quite impressive and the caffe cake Anakin had picked up in the market had made the perfect dessert after dinner. Obi-Wan was comfortably full.
He sighed as he lay back in the warm water, having decided to bathe after dinner. His movement produced small currents that rafted along his form. Dropping a little deeper he submerged himself up to the neck and gently rubbed at his arm. It had been a nastier shot than ones he had gotten before, and hadn't been exaggerating that he couldn't really lift his arm. But it was a small price to pay, he supposed, in order to be protected from some of the galaxy's foulest diseases. Some of his travels took him to places where the Republic's vaccines were not yet commonplace. It had pained him greatly to see so many people sick and dying, horribly disfigured or permanently altered due to illnesses that were completely preventable.
Shaking himself out of his reverie, he leaned forward and pulled the plug. Baths always helped him sleep better, and hopefully by morning he would once again have full use of his arm.
Drying off and pulling on his sleep shirt and shorts, Obi-Wan made his way to his room and turned down the covers. The sheets were old cotton and a bit worn in places, but they were the most comfortable ones he owned and would use them until they were full of holes. Settling on his back he pretended to drift off and waited. Not five minutes in bed and his door predictably hissed open as it had more often that not for the past week. He felt, rather than saw, Anakin pad around his bed and slip under the covers on his right side. He draped his good arm behind Anakin's head as the man leaned against his shoulder and exhaled a contented sigh. After their mutual kiss Anakin had been growing bolder with him, and in all honesty he was glad. He felt awkward at times making the first move due to Anakin's youth and the shadows that lay in his past.
But I love this, he thought, Force help me, I love this.
And he loved Anakin. Which was why -
"I'm afraid I'm going to hurt you," Obi-Wan whispered to the dark. "If we start something, I'm afraid it will set you back. I worry that I'm taking advantage of you, pushing you into something. That I'm not good for you and that this is happening too quickly for you. The progress you've made is amazing. It's stunning."
Anakin shifted, his head burrowing into the crook of Obi-Wan's neck and his arm settling across his waist in a gentle but firm hold.
"It's thanks to you. Because of you," said Anakin. "I'm not scared and angry anymore. You've given me something I haven't had in ten years."
His thumb brushed over Obi-Wan's hipbone.
"You gave me a home, Obi-Wan. That's what this is to me - you, this house, this planet. This is my home. I know you've done all this for me without asking for anything, and I'm not giving you anything I don't already want to give. This isn't about gratitude or thinking that I owe you – not like before. I can take it slow. I am more than fine with taking it slow. I think, that's what we need to do anyway. We've both come through a lot of shit, we're both learning."
Obi-Wan watched the ceiling with a fixed gaze, eyes threatening to tear.
"You respect me. And I respect you too so much. And I'm glad that you let me sleep next to you, I don't dream when I'm with you."
Obi-Wan turned and pressed his lips to Anakin's forehead, squeezing his eyes shut hard.
He loved him.
He loved him so much.