Exhausted Kisses

"There is only one bed."

Obi-Wan stood in the bedroom doorway of the small hut they had gone to hide in, his face a bit red as Satine gestured towards the object in the middle of the room. Her tone was exasperated, laced with the exhaustion that running and ducking all day often brought. They had been keeping their heads low, moving silently through crowds and between alleyways, waiting for Maul to call off his search in favor of other pursuits. Thankfully, they were far enough away from Satine's palace now that hardly anyone recognized them, or cared to know who they were. All either of them had been able to think about as they paid for access to the hut was how badly they wanted to collapse into their separate beds.

Unfortunately, it seemed that that would no longer be possible.

"I was sure we asked for two beds…" Obi-Wan said quietly as his gaze moved towards the doorway behind him, rubbing his bearded chin in thought. "Perhaps I translated my words incorrectly."

When he finally risked turning back to the previously-annoyed Duchess, he was more than a bit surprised to see her emerging from the small changing room, the dress and robe she'd been running around in gone. In their place was a simple shirt and shorts combination, a sight that had Obi-Wan feeling more than just a little flustered as all he could do was stare at her. He watched in baffled silence as she stretched and ran a hand through her hair, his hands dropping to his sides and a dull blush creeping up his neck to take over his entire face.

"A-Ah…" he raised his hand as he tried to speak, but found his tongue a bit limp and useless in his mouth.

She glanced up at him from her now seated position on the bed, the rather thin blankets pulled back to make room for her. She tilted her head slightly as she took in his tense stance, his bright red face, and his inability to string together a coherent sentence.

"Obi, I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I'm quite exhausted." She raised an eyebrow at him briefly. "Given our current situation, I'm willing to make do with what we have for now, as not to draw attention to ourselves."

Obi-Wan swallowed thickly, his jumbled mind finally sorting itself enough to allow him to speak.

"Ah, yes. I agree. We must… make do." He cleared his throat. "I will take the floor."

"If you insist. Honestly I am far too tired to argue with you further." She let a soft yet tired laugh escape.

"Yes, well, the beds I'm used to sleeping on aren't much different than this floor."

"Unfortunate, that." She yawned, rubbing one eye with the back of her hand. "Do you usually sleep in your Jedi armor as well?"

Obi-Wan blinked, then laughed nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck, somehow forgetting that he was still decked out in full armor, having discarded his own robe when they entered the hut.

"No… no, of course not. I will… be right back."

Satine watched him shuffle off with a sleepy smile, another yawn escaping as she stretched her arms above her head.

When Obi-Wan returned in simply his tunic and leggings, he took a moment to take in the scene before him. Satine, slumped on the bed, her knees curled up towards one pillow held tightly in her arms. She hadn't even pulled the blanket up over herself, and Obi-Wan assumed she had simply collapsed, the way they had both been wanting to. Her blonde tresses spilled out behind her, a few strands lying across her face. Without thinking, he moved forward to brush the strands away, reaching down to pull the blanket up over her small frame before he went to settle himself on the floor.

XXXXXX

He woke to the sound of rapid breathing, like the kind a frightened animal might make when caught in the clutches of a predator. Thinking the worst was occurring, Obi-Wan sprang to his feet and scanned the room, his hand palming his lightsaber. When he saw no physical threat, he turned his attention to the source of the distressing sound.

Satine appeared to still be asleep, but her face was contorted, her chest heaving rapidly with every shallow breath she took. Cautiously he stepped towards her, taking note of the sweat that dotted her brow. He had seen this all before, but it had been decades since he'd last watched her experience a nightmare. Just as he went to try and wake her, as she requested him to do when this happened, she let out a whine and clutched her pillow harder.

"Obi…"

Obi-Wan stiffened, his cheeks burning at the desperation that had laced his name. Kneeling beside the bed, he licked his lips nervously before whispering as not to startle her.

"I'm here, Satine."

Her eyes opened slowly, tears brimming in the corners, the light from the single candle in the corner of the room reflected there. He gently wiped an escaping tear away, not at all surprised when she responded in a broken and frightened tone.

"Will you sleep with me?"

A lesser man would have teased her choice of words, would have taken her moment of weakness and made it their own.

But Obi-Wan was not a lesser man.

He simply nodded, shedding his tunic and setting his lightsaber on the floor beside the bed. Satine moved over as much as she could in a bed built for one, curling up against him as soon as he was settled. She rested her head right underneath his chin, where the steady (if not a bit quicker) thump of his heart would eventually lull her back to sleep. He wrapped an arm around her as she pressed against him, his other hand coming up to interlace his fingers with hers.

She let out a long shaky sigh, practicing the breathing technique that scrawny little padawan Obi-Wan had taught her the first time she'd woken from a nightmare. Obi-Wan felt the tension in her body slowly melt away as he slowly drew invisible circles on her arm, the one she had draped across his torso. She felt so fragile in his arms, and yet he could think of nothing more perfect than lying here with her as she drifted off to the sound of his heart. Her weight against him grew slightly heavier, and after a few moments he could both hear and see that her breathing had evened out. He smiled tenderly at the dozing woman in his arms, pressing a rather exhausted kiss to the top of her head only to fall asleep mere seconds after with his nose still buried in her hair.