revivalproject | won't be made useless

Entry tags:

won't be made useless

WHO: Clarice & Obi-Wan
WHERE: Jedi Temple Renovation Site
WHAT: Catching up & talking babies
WHEN: After the beach party
WARNINGS: Blanket warning so far for possible talk of trauma in either canon - will add if anything specific comes up.

It seemed like forever ago that Clarice and Obi-Wan had sat at the back of the Temba Meeting and exchanged quiet pleasantries before the discussions: adjusting to the ruined city after Coruscant, plans for the future, how to care for infants. She'd promised him some of her time and a cup of tea, and then afterward they had gone their separate ways.

Now, after talking with Ezra and learning that the Jedi Master was keeping to himself, she decided it was time to make good on the promise. She brewed a jug of the loose tea she'd concocted and let it chill overnight in the diner's refrigerator, then brought it out to the soon-to-be Temple, wandering around until she spotted his familiar face.

Holding the jar aloft in greeting, she grinned. "Good mornin'. I seem to remember owin' you a cup of tea."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

What she would see was a bit off brand for Obi-Wan Kenobi. Instead of being fully dressed in his Jedi robes, he was somewhat dressed down. Only wearing the chocolate brown inner tunic and trousers. His lightsaber missing as he stood in the grass of the garden space, that had been trimmed, barefoot. Simply standing there with his eyes closed and hands folded in front of him. The breeze tousling his russet hair just a little bit.

The moment he felt something, Obi-Wan blinked a bit and looked towards Clarice as she greeted him. “Oh, hello… Clarice.” It took him a moment to pull her name out of one of his mental files, which had since double since the Billy thing.

He then looked at the jar she held and his face softened. “Iced tea isn’t it? The type they make in America? I would love some.”

"It sure is," she said, noting his casual attire with interest and a hint of concern, but no outward sign of either. The grass looked so inviting that she followed his lead, toeing off her own shoes. "It's startin' to get warm, I thought you might like a little something. How are the renovations goin'?"

He was also notably lacking his beard. Just a bit of stubble starting to grow back. It made him look younger, almost boyish, without the facial hair that he was normally proud of. His smile more visible as she joined him in the grass.

“Thank you, that’s very thoughtful.” Some cool tea was certainly welcome. Especially since he ditched many of the layers of those stuffy robes because it was getting so warm. The searing heat of Tatooine feeling like a somewhat distant memory.

“Slowly. We are a bit behind for obvious reasons, but it’s still going forward. How have you been?”

The lack of facial hair was what threw her more, honestly, though given the heat, she couldn't blame him. Her father had always grown a beard in winter and reached for his straight razor as soon as the hot weather threatened. She reached into the crude shoulder bag she'd fashioned from some Coruscanti scarves and pulled out the cups, filling one and holding it out to him, condensation already beginning to bead on the glass.

"I'm fair enough. We're starting to get a lot done at the diner, especially with everything we brought back. I took a trip out to the Agricultural data point, so I know my stuff now, and that'll help a lot too, I hope. Kinda like having a whole book speed-read to you. ... Have you taken one, yet? I don't think I ever asked."

It wasn’t even the heat that made him shave. It was Ben. He had stayed shaved during the whole month be believed to be someone else and be had the habit now planted in his brain. He was a bit conflicted on whether to keep doing it or grow it back. He hadn’t shaved in a few days though , hence the stubble. It itched, and he absently rubbed his face before taking the offered glass.

“A data point? I took the piloting one since our ship didn’t have a pilot. I’ve considered switching though.”

Obi-Wan then took a sip of the tea and his face lit up. “This is good. Reminds me of the tea I had on a trip to Georgia that…” he paused and frowned. “That never happened.”

"Piloting is pretty useful," she conceded, "and you've got a wealth of all your Jedi knowledge and experience to draw on, too. I think it's a good combination: you can guide people in more ways than one."

When he mentioned the false memory, her brow bent in a sympathetic crease, and she reached out to lay a hand on his shoulder. "It's difficult, reconciling all of that," Clarice said softly. "But I don't need to tell you how powerful the mind is. Whatever it all made you feel ... that's real, too, in a way. And there's no shame in it."

"Well, I'm not going to assume everyone wants my guidance." Some people have made that clear already. "And I'm not the only experienced pilot on our ship now. I feel like I could be useful in other ways considering we don't need pilots all that often."

Obi-Wan paused though, trying to get his thoughts back together after that little blip. "I have no shame in it," he then said. "The life I lived was overall a happy one. But it was a very different life from that of Obi-Wan Kenobi. I've found myself conflicted. Though I admit I can certainly understand those of you from Earth better now."

"Now, see, there's a silver lining," she encouraged him gently, as she poured a glass of tea for herself as well. "Maybe in time you can find a way to dovetail what you know of Earth now against the Jedi teachings."

Clarice knew how frustrating it could be to have a lot of advice pushed on you when you were conflicted, though, and conscientiously backed off. "But enough about that for now, darlin', I want to see what you and Ezra have done with this place. How's about a tour? We can get in out've this sun."

“Maybe,” he said quietly. With a tone that suggested he would have to think about it. It would take a great deal more thinking, meditation, and time, before he could resolve this. Before he could find a way to make it work.

When she expressed a desire to have a tour though, Obi-Wan visibly brightened. “Of course,” he said and offered his arm. “I would be happy to show you around.”

She knew they all needed time to sort through what they'd seen and experienced - and now remembered. Constantly visiting it in conversation could do more harm than good, and burn them all out. As Obi-Wan offered her his arm, she chuckled softly, and laid her hand on it in the proper fashion instead of linking her arm with his. Maybe a taste of courtly manners was what he needed now: a reminder of the decorum he'd lived on Coruscant.

"How very kind of you, Master Kenobi. ... One of these days I should show you what good our trip to Coruscant did for the diner."

“Now you have me curious,” he said back cheerfully. “I will hold you to that.”

Anything that reminded him of home was always welcome of course. Plus he would like to see what creative things they might do with some of the foods from his galaxy.

“We haven’t had opportunity to do much decorating as of yet since we are still working on clean up and repair, but this is quickly becoming my favorite spot.”

This said as he took her to the small but tall building with the platform. The cutting of a certain tree she might recognize having been planted in front of it.

"Most of it's just grain and non-perishables we've been able to bring back," she admitted. "But it's opened up a lotta possibilities. And we have some fruits and other things started in the greenhouse, Tommy's been keepin' an eye on."

As he leads her to the platform, her eyes seek out that cutting immediately, and widen in wonder.

"Oh - you were able to ...! This is beautiful." She turned a million-watt soft smile on him, giving his arm a little squeeze. "I'm so happy you could bring a piece of it with you. That's got to mean so much."

"It does, though I can't claim it was my idea. It was Poe's actually." He smiled back at her, enjoying the warmth of that moment. It was good to have friends among the people here in Temba. Even though they came from different worlds, Clarice had been wonderful to him.

"He asked me if I could get him a cutting, as the tree had sentimental meaning for him as well. I agreed to do so, but only if it could be planted here at the temple." It an agreement he knew the pilot wasn't entirely satisfied with, but he had promised Poe that he could come visit the tree any time he wished. This is where it belonged, and everyone could enjoy it.

"I haven't met him yet," Clarice remarked, reaching up to gently brush her fingers against one of the sapling's leaves, "but he's already making a good first impression. Is he a Jedi, too?"

"No, not at all. He's a pilot for a resistance. The Jedi are all but extinct in his time, though hopefully on the rebound by then."

If only he knew. Thankfully he doesn't. Not yet at least.

"But he is a good man."

"The same resistance Ezra told me about, I take it," she said. "I get the feeling just about anyone part of that is someone I'd want on my side. Sounds like you met him here, though."

"Yes, he says there's about a 50 year gap between my time and his. I'm an old man by Ezra's time. There's no telling if I'm even still alive by Poe's era." Though the fact that Poe apparently grew up hearing stories about him made him doubt it.

Obi-Wan moves more towards the actual building and motions to the platform where he had set some cushions and such to make for comfortable sitting places.

"I've made this place a sort of meditation chamber."

"It's lovely." She kneels to gently brush her fingers over a cushion, and wonders if Lark made the fabric, or if the cushions were brought back from Coruscant. The patterns and colors would give her a good clue.

"I'm glad you started with this, it's pretty necessary with everything else going on to have a quiet space."

"I agree. Though the living quarters actually took first priority. A private place for Padme and the twins was needed when we got back."

The cushions definitely came from Coruscant and are of the same style in the Jedi temple. Obi-Wan didn't really know Lark well enough to ask her to make things for him.

"You're free to use this place any time you wish, as is anyone else."

"How are they? I saw her at the beach, but understandably she didn't have them with her. I should really go pay them a visit one've these days."

What she really wanted to do was introduce them to ice cream, but they weren't nearly ready for that yet.

"They're growing and developing as babies do, and being a handful. Needless to say I'm glad I brought back that droid, even if its not entirely functioning as well as it had before we left. And Padme, we haven't had much time to talk between taking care of the twins and my work around the temple."

He paused as he thought about that. It was a fact that he should probably change.

"Well, if you want someone else to keep an eye on Luke and Leia so you can have that talk, I'm absolutely game. I'd offered to help Sansa watch over James before she left, too..."

"I think any help would be appreciated. Taking care of one baby will keep you busy, and two, well."

It was a lot for anyone. It's why he tried so hard to help Padme, and he loved those kids too.

"Knocks you right out, I'm sure. Yeah, I'll talk to her. Maybe I can watch 'em at the diner on baking days. No knives out for that, and they can play with the rolling pins."

She grinned. "I lived at a Lutheran orphanage for a long time - got used to having lots of little ones around. All the staff were volunteers, so the older kids got called on to be a helpin' hand more often than not."

"I'm certain she would be grateful for that."

Padme hardly had time to herself anymore it seemed like. But that's how it was being a mother he supposed. Obi-Wan always tried to make sure he was nearby most of the time just in case she needed help.

"So a community care situation. That's not unlike what we Jedi have always done."

"A little bit, yeah, but it was a very small community." She smiled a bit. "Money was pretty tight, so we had a lot of hand-me-downs and peanut butter sandwiches, but ... it was still better than bein' alone. From what I saw, the Jedi took much better care than that of their younglings."

“Well, there were a lot more of us, and we had better resources,” Obi-Wan admitted. It seemed that at the orphanage it was a bit of a struggle, as with many such places even in his own galaxy.

He smiled at her nonetheless. “But even without those things, no youngling would ever be less loved. Some Jedi devoted themselves to the care of our young ones until they were old enough to discover their own path.”

Each person in the order had a role. They were not all warriors or negotiators. There were many professions within the Jedi.

"The more I hear about your Jedi, the more I like 'em." Clarice gave him a warm smile. "It ... sounds a lot like the sort of thing I thought I was gonna be doing when I joined the FBI, honestly. Workin' with other people to make the world safer, better."

That brought a smile to his face, because not everyone liked what they heard about the Jedi. Clarice was was one of more open ones.

"And I'm assuming that didn't meet your expectations?"

"Naw sir." One corner of her mouth twisted a little. "They had good intentions but there were too many politics involved. More and more, I saw people treating the enforcement of the law like a favor that could be traded. It was ugly. Real ugly."

"I've always hated politics," Obi-Wan admitted. "That's a shame. But unfortunately such corruptions seems to abound even in the most well meaning of places."

He sighs softly. "Even the Jedi got too involved with the government. It seemed like a good thing, but in the end it led to our destruction."

"Ezra told me a little of what happened," she nodded, compassion in her eyes. "I'm sorry. ... Everyone always told me politics were a necessary part of the Bureau, but I never bought it. Never played along. Some of 'em said that was what buried my career, but ... if that's the case, that's fine by me."

She took a sip of her tea, looking around.

"World needs people to be decent to 'em without a goddamn motive, if you ask me. Just for the sake of it."

Obi-Wan just nodded slightly to Clarice’s acknowledgement and briefly wondered what Ezra told her. Either way he decides to not pursue that topic. It’s not one he likes to talk about.

“Don’t we all,” he then says with a soft sigh. “I think… I understand a little bit. After the experience of living in Billy’s imagined version of Earth, I think I can see what you mean. In my galaxy things were really not any better either.”

She graciously leaves the topic where he let it lie, knowing that grief and trauma are things people come to in their own time ... and that theirs collectively, as Jedi, was great.

"I appreciate that you're even tryin' to understand, honestly. So much of what I'm used to must seem so goddamn different to you. Like Coruscant was for me."

“Yes it does,” Obi-Wan admits, though Billy had given him a great deal more understanding. “But I’ve always done my best to understand other cultures. One can not be a good negotiator otherwise.”

He turned a smile towards her as they walks along, up the steps to the main temple building.

“It’s also the least I can do after you strived to understand my people as well.”

"Well, you know I'm happy to help you sort anythin' out. A lot of all that was like where I'm from, minus the super powers and the heroes." She took a sip of her tea, completely at ease in the situation and her present company. She had always felt comfortable around Obi-Wan. Maybe it was the Jedi's training, his compassionate nature, but whatever it was, she never questioned it or tried to pick it apart much.

"I admit I do have a lot to sort out," he says quietly as they walked into the temple building.

"Having the memories of another life having left me unbalanced. I believe it will take me some time to come to terms with it all. But if I have questions, I know who I can turn to." A smile being given to Clarice as he sipped at his own tea.

"We're all in that selfsame boat," she reminded him patiently, though she was a bit preoccupied with her first look at the converted museum, her eyes roaming over every arch and corner and support with open curiosity, making parallels with bits of architecture from Earth as she encountered them.

"It's part of why I'm not terribly stressed out about it: I was lucky enough to know a lot of you before it all happened, so I know who you are, and I trust most of the folks here to know who I am, too."

The memories of other relationships, though: in hindsight she could see how Billy had somehow plucked familiar faces from her memories and assigned them to random people: Hannibal as her SHIELD mentor, Jack Crawford as - oddly - the building's skinny, beleaguered maintenance man, keeping it all from falling apart.

"... Did anyone from your real life show up in the city? Like ... a familiar face as someone else? A neighbor, a co-worker...?"

“That’s true,” Obi-Wan admitted, but it seemed to him they all had different degrees of difficulty with what happened. Many just seemed to shrug it off and forget about it, but Obi-Wan hadn’t been able to do that.

“Yes,” he then admits. “Cobb was a coworker of mine, and Padme was a crush. But Ezra most of all was my biological brother.”

Sighing softly, he takes a moment to look up at the high ceilings of the once museum. Unsure how to explain all of this to her. It wasn’t just a simple matter, and he had dwelled on it probably more than ge should have.

“I actually had a relatively peaceful life. It wasn’t perfect of course, but I could say that I was happy. Content with only simple worries and concerns. An exceedingly normal existence. And yet I am stressed about it.”

Meditation, Clarice thought to herself, could only take you so far before you butted up against the walls of your own limitations. Maybe it was a good thing she'd come and sought him out today. She had nothing but time and patience to listen, to let him talk through his mind.

"Because it was so simple compared to what you knew as a Jedi, or in spite of it?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

won't be made useless

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Sansa left??? If I knew this I forgot.

She's not on Taken anymore ... :(

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject