darkforcerising | OPEN POST

He did join Anakin in stepping into the tub, but put a hand on his shoulder and nudged him forward a bit so he could slide in behind Anakin. Leaned back against the back, Anakin's back against his chest, his legs bracketing Anakin, and his arms loosely around Anakin's waist was the goal.

"Bail would probably let us. Breha may have an objection or two." He kissed Anakin's temple when he said it and closed his eyes.

The heat of the water was nearly forcing his muscles lax and it... felt really, really, good.

Anakin settled back against Obi-Wan's body. His hands rested lightly on Obi-Wan's, keeping the embrace. The warmth of the water and Obi-Wan was all around him, and it was so comforting. He was ready to surrender to this forever.

"I think we could convince her," he said. "If we ask really nice."

He opened himself in the Force, and playfully, gently nudged at Obi-Wan. He knew Obi-Wan had been holding back, but thought he'd see if right now Obi-Wan felt well enough to play.

He freed one of his hands, in order to start opening various bottles of bath product to smell. Why? Curiosity, mostly. Some of them were bound to be nice.

"I'm nearly positive you'd have more luck convincing her than me, under most circumstances...." Not these, but most.

He startled a little at the nudge through the Force, though there was really no reason for the surprise, recognized it as playful quickly and sort of tentatively brushed back up against Anakin. Yes, yes he was relaxed enough to (conditionally) accept an invitation - for now, anyway.

Anakin closed his eyes in self-indulgence, happy that Obi-Wan was being responsive.

"You're the negotiator," Anakin countered. "My reputation is that I blow things up."

He heard the noises of Obi-Wan going through the different bottles.

He cracked an eye.

"What are you doing?"

He was glad, once he was there, to be able to properly feel Anakin indulging himself. The happiness about his own response. It was just... less lonely.

"Exploring," he answered, without hesitation. He held one of the bottles under Anakin's nose. "Smell this. I hate it." It was a sharp, kind of astringent scent that made his nose itch.

Anakin crinkled his nose and turned his face away. "Why are you making me smell it?" He lifted his free hand and pushed it away.

"After this, I'm going to teach you about romance."

"Yes, by all means give me a set of rituals and rules to follow." It would make things much easier, he'd just follow them.

He was also pretty sure that, in spite of ruining a very good romantic moment, following a set of rituals because they existed was... not entirely the point.

He swapped bottles, and then found something with a warmer, richer, much more rounded and subtle scent. "Try this one."

"It's more akin to artistic expression. Not rituals and rules." Though Anakin couldn't help smiling at Obi-Wan's initial assumption.

He indulged Obi-Wan and smelled the bottle shoved under his nose. "It's good." It wasn't offensive like the first one.

"Is your interest in fancy bath soaps just a result of opportunism?"

He mostly figured that Anakin's remark meant that he was doing it wrong or just wasn't doing it and was going to be educated. That education might not involve concrete guidelines had not, however, exactly occurred to him.

Which was strange given how little of the Jedi was actually concrete.

"I hadn't thought about it, but I think so. Can you slide down far enough to wet your hair?"

"Why?" Anakin asked, a half laugh in his voice. Obi-Wan having never shown interest in playing with his hair before, Anakin didn't immediately make the connection to where Obi-Wan was going with this.

"So I can wash your hair." It seemed obvious to him, though, yeah, there was definitely an element of liking the way that bottle of fancy soap smelled to his desire. ...The desire would have been there, anyway, though.

Anakin looked over his shoulder at Obi-Wan, amusement in his look. But he'd take the unexpected intimacy and complied. He slid into the water and doused his hair. And when he came back up, he playfully splashed water at Obi-Wan, with an unapologetic laugh.

It wasn't perfect, but it was what he had right now and if Anakin was amused....

Well, maybe not ideal, but it was still a reason to touch Anakin and be close to him and he thought they could both use that.

He poured some of the soap into his hands and lathered it up, and then started working it through Anakin's hair, careful to stay well clear of his eyes.

"Maybe we'll manage to be here long enough to take opportunistic advantage of the water outside, too. Or at least get a good walk in." He was just -

He wanted this. Still for Anakin more than himself, but Anakin happier helped him? Especially right now when this was what he could do.

Anakin was very willing to do a great many things to make Obi-Wan happy - letting him wash his hair was one of the easier things on that list. Anakin leaned back against Obi-Wan's chest and enjoyed the sensation of Obi-Wan's fingers combing through his hair.

"How long do you think we're going to be in this bathtub?" Anakin asked, very amused. Surely they'd have time to go outside. But... if Obi-Wan just wanted to spend all his time in this bathtub, Anakin probably wouldn't complain.

"I don't have a great grasp on the passage of time right now," he said, dryly. He was aware that it was one of Anakin's problems in daily life, but between the lack of dreams and not being more present in the force his was just thrown to hell.

He kept massaging soap into Anakin's hair, then moved on and started working it into the rest of him. He was going to smell wonderful by the time Obi-Wan was done, whether Anakin liked it or not.

"As long as we're out before Leia gets here, I'm sure it'll be fine. Though I could stay here forever. Metaphorically."

With amusement, Anakin eyed Obi-Wan's hands rubbing shampoo on his shoulders and chest, but decided the off label use was fine as long as it brought Obi-Wan joy.

But he still needed to rinse his hair before the soap dripped into his eyes. He had only so much time.

"I'll be back," he said before slipping under the water again. While under, he did his best to agitate his hair to rid it off the soap.

He came back up wiping water from his eyes and moving to the other side the tub. Once there he held his hands out to Obi-Wan, beckoning him over. "Your turn."

It brought him joy.

Anakin 'agitating' his hair under water - and honestly somewhere between Obi-Wan's legs - also brought him joy. Of a totally amused sort that came closer to getting a laugh out of him than anything had in a while.

He didn't hesitate to take Anakin's hand, but it being his turn - "...Really?" Strange, but okay. Intimacy he'd take where he could get it. "Are you going to pick your own scent or are we going to share one?"

With Obi-Wan settled between his legs, Anakin wrapped his arms around the man and rested his head against his. He wanted to enjoy this happier Obi-Wan for a bit longer. He really did love him.

"I'm going to pick my own," he said after a moment. And he nipped Obi-Wan's ear. "With your input, of course."

He looked over the bottles. "Which one is the one you hated? I don't want to grab that one on accident."

"We may need to take this general concept home. It's a bit more subtle than bite marks." He was teasing - gently - though only mostly.

He glanced at at the row of bottles and then back up toward Anakin. "The one with the dark green cap."

Anakin didn't point out that it was probably unconscionable to keep a tub on Tatooine. He knew he couldn't do it, knowing what slaves got on that planet. But he liked the fantasy of it, and there was nothing wrong with having a fantasy. Maybe when this was all over, they could settle somewhere where they could have this.

Anakin picked up one bottle, avoiding the dark green cap. He smelled this one, it made him smile, it was very fruity. "What do you think of this one?"

The general concept for him was scent, but yes, when this is all over, maybe they'd go somewhere else.

Or maybe Tatooine would be too much home for him, then. Unlikely given Anakin's feelings about the planet, and his feelings for Anakin, but remotely possible.

He sniffed the bottle of shampoo and made a soft sound. "I like that, I think." It smelled a little like food, but in a comforting way he liked.
Not as much as he liked what Anakin was wearing, but that was the point.

"You think? Do you want me to find another?" He'd already set the bottle down, separate from the rest to keep it as an option. He picked up another bottle, this one smelled like some kind of flower he couldn't quite place.

"You could smell like a, uh, flower?" he said, holding it so Obi-Wan could give his opinion.

Obi-Wan got a waft of that scent on his inhale and didn't even manage to answer Anakin as he immediately went into a sneezing fit. "That's flame-lily." Native to Alderaan, "And please no." Since he barely paused sneezing long enough to speak and push it away.

Anakin found the idea of Obi-Wan allergic to something absolutely charming, in some weird way. It was information he'd never known before - so it meant it was something he had the privilege of learning now, not information he had from his memories.

He quickly capped the bottle and, using the Force, set it far away from them on a counter.

"You alright?" he asked, making sure Obi-Wan wasn't going to go into anaphylaxis.

He was somewhat charmed and somewhat confused by the concern and looked over his shoulder at Anakin, one eyebrow tilting up just a bit. "Besides wanting to rub my nose and mildly embarrassed and amused.... I'm fine."

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