darkforcerising | OPEN POST

Anakin touched his palm to Obi-Wan's.

"I can feel this." He moved his index finger, up and down Obi-Wan's. "There are touch sensors on this side of my hand that connect with my nerves." Then moved his thumb to caress along the side of Obi-Wan's hand.

"But," he turned his hand over in Obi-Wan's, so the back of it was to Obi-Wan's palm. "I can't feel anything on this side... not with my nerves. Only with a mix of the Force and a relearned proprioception... though that's not what it used to be."

That-

That kind of touch, was exactly the way to turn Obi-Wan into a puddle -at least when he was anywhere close to the right mental state. It was simple and affectionate on a level that just got to him. Got to him enough that his expression softened even further than it already was, thanks to afterglow.

He didn't lose any intelligence, he just enjoyed it while it was there, and experimentally reached around to drag his thumb down the center of Anakin's palm.

"Are you afraid of hurting me, damaging your hand, or am I missing the point entirely and it's as simple as not feeling like it's part of you?" It was damned direct, but like the rest of him, his voice was pretty... warm and soft. Comfortably intimate?

"Yes," he said quietly. "No- It's just a metal hand, I can fix it. But," he laughed also quiet, "I don't think anything we do during sex will break it." He paused. "There are so many points, I don't expect you to get all of them... It's a part of me and it isn't, it's... hard to explain. I'm lucky," he said. "I have the Force, and this talent in the Force with machines so I'm connected to it in a way almost no one else would be. But even this," he gently closed his fingers around Obi-Wan's finger, "feels different than it does with my other hand."

There was a major point Obi-Wan hadn't guessed at.

"And people don't like it. Not everyone says it or shows it, but it's very hard to miss in the Force."

He used the hand Anakin wasn't holding to reach up and smooth his thumb gently along the line of Anakin's cheekbone, fingers just brushing the back of his neck for a moment.

"I've no desire at all to take sensation and enjoyment away from you. I don't want to make you uncomfortable, or less comfortable. I do want you to be able to be comfortable enough to stop avoiding with me. I know that's difficult. I understand why. But for me - both looking at you here and what I feel in the force, it's all you." A pause, though slight: "And I didn't miss your initial response to uncovering your scars, either."

"I know you don't," Anakin said. "It was learned subconsciously... All it takes is just a few encounters and you automatically start finding ways to cope... It was always like this." The unspoken implication that it was a problem he'd experienced with the Jedi. Though his new scars weren't a problem back then.

"It's hard to consciously change the habit."

He moved his hand around and threaded their fingers.

"I'm willing to try."

Anakin didn't need to specify the Jedi; Obi-Wan knew. He'd always known. He'd never known what to do about it.

He curls his fingers around Anakin's, tightening gently.

"The effort is the important part. You deserve better than to have your own hijacked by yet more of other people's expectations and biases."

He smiled - sadly - but smiled nonetheless. "Can't fix everything about galaxy." He was always going to encounter people who were prejudiced against prosthetics. What was worse - the searing passion he used to express against injustice or the sad acceptance that he would always only have injustice?

"No," he agreed, stroking his thumb over Anakin's lower lip. "We can't even fix everything wrong in this room. But if our ultimate purpose is to make life as fair as we can, then we can start with the 9 square meters of this bed and the people in it."

OPEN POST

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject