darkforcerising | OPEN POST

"I think it might be far more kind to everyone involved if you didn't take me to the mess while I'm a mess. It won't take me long to clean up with a sonic refresher if you can point me to one of those."

Then he could go to get food. With Bail.

"I will show you the way to quarters you can use while you're here." This would not be a quick trip for Obi-Wan and Anakin.

They were going to be here for long enough that he didn't object to being assigned quarters though odds of him for using those quarters for more than getting clean and catching his clothing were slim to none.

At least until Anakin was at least on the road to recovery.

"That's fine," he agreed, and ... stood but did not make any attempt to head toward the door first. He was going to follow, dammit.

Bail took the lead and showed Obi-Wan to the quarters assigned to him.

"There is an observation room just up the corridor, I will wait there for you. Take all the time you need."

He nodded his thanks, went through the quarters and straight to the refresher. He wasn't in there long at all - long enough that when he emerged he was clean, yes, but not any longer than that.

"All right. Now on to food."

He was - uneasy but maintaining awareness of Anakin helped. Even if he had to keep reminding himself that he would know.

While Obi-Wan was busy, Bail comm'ed the officers to request the mess be empty for the next little while, when he and Obi-Wan would use it. The man deserved some privacy.

Bail always had work on him to keep him busy in moments like this. Though he was happy to put it away when Obi-Wan finished in his quarters.

The Jedi looked... better. But still over worked, under slept. Not yet at 'a stiff breeze would do him in,' but Bail was still concerned. His friend didn't have to be almost dead for him to be worried.

"My friend," he said shaking his head. "The things you put yourself through, you make my work for the Rebellion look like a vacation," he couldn't help saying. "The mess is this way." And he started walking down the corridor.

He fell into step beside Bail, mentally preparing to be in a very public place. He didn't have enough attention to divert to actually checking the veracity of that assumption.

"We could switch jobs, I suppose, though I don't find the idea of taking on your work at all restful." He shook his head, very slightly. "I need rest. I gave Anakin a lot of energy, but calories and some meditation will go a long way toward putting me back to right."

"Really?" Bail asked in jest. "You don't want to draft legislation you know will fail again and again? I can't see why not."

He grabbed a tray and handed it to Obi-Wan and then grabbed a tray for himself before heading to a table.

He took the tray without looking at it, and headed straight for the table where he immediately sat down. "I don't want to draft legislation at all. I particularly do not want to be surrounded by politicians." A pause: "present company exempted."

"No offense taken," Bail said. Even in the best of times he would still understand. He didn't choose to be a politician, but was born into it. He supposed one could say he did choose it by not abdicating, but he would argue there was a difference, slight though it may be.

"So, do you want to tell me what happened this time?" Did he want to know? Sometimes it was better to not know. But Obi-Wan was his friend, if the man needed to tell him anything, he would listen.

He started eating as soon as he sat down, though methodically rather than with any particular awareness of what he was eating.

He paused at the question, though, looked up and again realized Bail was not just magically aware of what was going on. "Maul happened. Again." A pause and of relevance: "We have another Star Destroyer for you."

Bail paused, utensil to mouth and blinked at Obi-Wan, his mind trying to figure out how the two connected. But he couldn't make the leap.

"Did you steal it from Maul?"

"No. We stole it with Maul's help. Then Maul was... Maul."

He didn't hate the man, which surprised him. After his trip to the Dark Side at Anakin being kidnapped....

But Maul was dead, and he had come back. All he felt now was worry for Anakin (and, okay, yeah, fear there) and frustration, confusion, and a peculiar kind of heartbreak about the entirety of Maul's life.

"He turned on Anakin once we'd secured the Destroyer."

Saying 'That was a bad idea' was self-evident and he knew Obi-Wan didn't need a scolding right now. Considering how the man lost his Master, this must not be the easiest time for him.

"You got him medical help in time. He's going to recover."

"I got him medical help in time. He will live." He looked up pointedly. "Recovery remains to be seen."

He was tired, he was definitely feeling guilty but he was also, in some ways, steadier than he had been. It was... a strange place to be.

Still worried as anything, though.

"Obi-Wan," Bail said, calmly, but unyielding. "You did everything right. He's here now and receiving the best medical attention possible. Have faith in the medic's abilities."

"This isn't guilt." Well, not just guilt. "He took a light saber through his spine. That isn't a simple thing to recover from. That he lives is what matters most to me, but I am concerned about his long term mental and physical health." And short term if Anakin woke up still in that tank.

"Your concern is justified. But people do recover from spinal injuries," Bail said. "Have faith in him as well."

"I have a near endless amount of faith in him. It has nothing to do with the state of his spine." He was worried, but - he loved Anakin regardless. "I'm all right, Bail. I"ll stop worrying when he's awake and we know what we're looking at, but I'm not writing him off."

Never, that. At least never again.

"Whatever the prognosis, you won't have to manage it alone. The both of you." He wished there was more he could say to reassure his friend, but it really was just a waiting game now.

"I know." He smiled, tiredly. "I can't tell you how grateful I am to your friendship." Which was - maybe he was learning to use words for emotions. "And I'm sorry. I know I'm being rational and not, and that's a very difficult state to navigate. That you even try is... above and beyond."

"It's what friends do, actually," Bail said warmly. "You are never an imposition." By now, he'd figured out that the Jedi had some ideas about relationships that he didn't agree with. And from what he could tell, Obi-Wan might be trying to disentangle himself from those teachings. He assumed patience was the best way through that.

"I believe that you believe that. I just wish I was more able to do things that were more useful to you in return." He was trying, actually, to figure out how people who weren't Jedi worked amongst themselves. Without disliking the Jedi, because....

Well, lots of reasons, including a sincere love for so many of them who were gone now.

"I understand the work you're doing. I'll forgive you needing my help with it from time to time. You never need to pay me back." Of course, Bail's generosity was more about their friendship than it was simply because of the Rebellion. But he bet that would be harder to explain to Obi-Wan.

He accepted that - with some work and checking his first impulses and went with a statement of feeling, and fact, instead. "I hate feeling useless."

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