Obi-Wan smiled and relaxed, settling back into the worn-out leather desk chair in front of the holovid, as he replayed the recorded holomessage from Padmé. Her stunning figure flickered once more to life as her pleasant voice filled the empty common room of his apartment.
"Master Kenobi…Obi-Wan." The bluish image smiled broadly. "It would be my pleasure to accept your invitation to dinner this evening. Tell Anakin I'm looking forward to seeing him again."
The message stuttered to an automatic halt at its completion and before Obi-Wan realized what he was doing, his hand flicked through the air and with a gentle nudge of the Force, the message began replaying again – for the third time.
As soon as her sultry tones spoke his name once more, Obi-Wan jerked with a start, staring down at his hands andquickly reached up to hit the off switch on the holovid. The image of Padmé Amidala immediately vanished, as did the smile on his face.
Why had he done that?
The minutes ticked by as he studied a possible motive, but his inner research offered no reason behind his actions. It was almost as if his fingers had had a mind of their own.
Finally resolving to blame the episode on the high level of stress he had been under for the past several days regarding Anakin and the Shidoki, he rose to use his comlink to contact the boy to return from the training salle as quickly as possible in order to prepare for their evening out.
Getting himself ready, Obi-Wan realized that he had become somewhat out-of-touch with the activities and popular places of today's youth, and therefore decided to trust his padawan to pick out a place they would go. Over the years, Anakin had gathered a large circle of friends and his apprentice never seemed to lack from places to go and things to do whenever they were on Coruscant.
They picked Padmé up at her apartment as scheduled using a private Jedi transport, which Anakin piloted. A few minutes later, they had pulled into a parking garage in the upper levels of Galactic City. As the three of them made their way toward the entrance of their destination, which was crowded with young people, Obi-Wan was somewhat relieved to notice a few padawan robes. The extremely loud vibrating beats of the music emanating from within the club initially caused some apprehension as to Anakin's choice, but it was the actual name of the club that struck panic in Obi-Wan's heart.
Scrolling across the doorway to the club was a flashing neon sign that read KRASH – a popular and well known establishment for speederbike racing enthusiasts.
"Oh no." The Jedi Master mumbled outloud before he could stop himself.
"Is something wrong?" Padmé had overheard his declaration of worry.
"Uhm…no." He reassured her with a smile, but inwardly, he was frowning. He suddenly had a very bad feeling about this.
So much forAnakin and Padme'schance at intimate conversation. The inside of the club was overly crowded with young beings of several races and sizes, all apparently with one thing in common. The latest bike technology was displayed all throughout the club, from biking holovids playing, to parts of bikes hanging from the ceiling, and even full-size working models displayed for conversation and exploration.
The dance floor was small and packed as well. Bodies were pressed tightly up against each other, and the music – if anyone could call it that – was so loud, it was near deafening. It wasn't quite what Obi-Wan had in mind for their first date, but Anakin looked excited to be here and Padmé…well, to him, Padmé looked merely intrigued.
She walked between he and Anakin, but the crowd was often so pressing, that she would occasionally be forced up against one of them. More than once, Obi-Wan had used the Force as they made their way through the mob to protect her from an overly exuberant dancer, or a being using exaggerated arm movements while describing his latest thrill ride.
Obi-Wan glanced quickly about, once again with the aid of the Force in order to locate any area of seclusion where they might sit down and talk in a more civilized manner, rather than yell at each other like everyone around them seemed to be doing.
Spying an empty booth toward the back of the club, the furthest away from the dance floor, Obi-Wan tapped Anakin on the shoulder and gestured that they move that way. What could have been reluctance flashed across the young man's face before he nodded his head and followed.
The noise was less blaring here, so Obi-Wan leaned forward across the table toward Anakin. "Do they serve food here?" At Anakin's raised eyebrows, he repeated the question, practically yelling. "DO THEY SERVE FOOD HERE?"
"JUST DRINKS MASTER." Anakin yelled back.
Perfect, Obi-Wan thought as he shot a glare toward his apprentice and then motioned his eyes quickly toward Padmé and then back, hoping that his young charge would understand the implication. Obi-Wan sighed in relief as Anakin leaned toward her and yelled out. "WOULD YOU LIKE SOMETHING TO DRINK?"
"Whatever you're having is fine." She answered back.
"WHAT?" Anakin replied loudly.
"WHATEVER YOU WANT!" She screamed, to which Anakin nodded his head to the beat of the monotonous and booming rhythms. "MASTER?"
"Anything Anakin." Obi-Wan replied with a frown.
"WHAT?" He replied, leaning over the table.
Obi-Wan once again glared at his apprentice and then motioned for him to go to the bar with a quick flick of his thumb. His eyes followed his padawan as he maneuvered through the crowd on his way to get their drinks, but he didn't quite make it there before a young woman, whom Obi-Wan recognized as an employee of Aratech stopped him. The two young people began carrying on a conversation that had to have something to do with speederbikes. Obi-Wan knew this, because Anakin never looked as interested as he did when discussing anything else.
Resigned to he and Padmé's fate, Obi-Wan turned toward the young woman who wore a pleasant smile despite their situation. Perhaps she was enjoying herself, he thought. After all, she is nine years his junior. Maybe he was the only old fart in the room. He certainly hadn't seen ay other Jedi Masters here.
"This is not quite to your liking, is it?" She spoke as loudly as she could without yelling, but apparently it wasn't loud enough as Obi-Wan scooted closer and leaned in toward her.
"I'm sorry. What was that?" He spoke directly into her ear.
As the warmth of his breath tickled along her neck and his slightly coarse beard brushed against her ear, Padmé couldn't think of a better way to spend her evening. Well except, for maybe spending it with Obi-Wan…alone.
"I said, I didn't think that this was quite your style." She returned, leaning just as closely, taking advantage of the moment to inhale deeply. He smelled of sandalwood, soap, and musk.
"Not exactly." He returned, grazing her earlobe with his beard while Padmé's skin prickled down to her toes. "I let Anakin choose tonight. Next time, I won't make the same mistake."
She smiled at him sweetly before moving once more to his ear. "Oh come on. It's not that bad. And besides, Anakin seems to be having a good time."
Indeed, he did. A crowd of several beings had surrounded his padawan and were more than likely exchanging racing tips and stories. "I believe Anakin has been here before. He seems to know his way around."
"He does seem popular." Padmé replied, once more inhaling deeply as she noticed Anakin now making his way back to their table.
"I ORDERED THE DRINKS MASTER!" He yelled loudly before turning toward Padmé. "WOULD YOU LIKE TO DANCE?"
The young woman looked at both men before answering. "SURE!" She yelled back to Obi-Wan's surprise.
He just couldn't understand how anyone could dance to all that noise. But he watched with fascinated amusement as his padawan and the Senator from Naboo did just that.
Soon, however, without thought or realization, his focus was centered on the young senator alone. As his eyes took in the seductive movements of her body, the raucous music faded away, as did the beings crowded about her, until she was the only person in the room, performing for an audience of a single Jedi Master.
Obi-Wan shook his head vigorously as the vision dissipated and reached for the drinks that had finally arrived at their table, downing his quickly.
Involuntary hand movements…hallucinations….
Definitely, the stress of preparing for the Shidoki Ceremony was getting to him. Either he was going to have to devote more time to meditation or visit one of the healers.