THE NEGOTIATOR.

However, now there was some guy in the room, staring at her with a similar face that she must be giving him. Let's just hope Harmony can forgive her if she's a bit late.

" R2 took him on a w-walk. " Was it probably the other way around ? No.

How, why in the name of the Force that might have happened is anyone's guess. Obi-Wan cannot fathom just how much of the boy's life he's missed, being thrown from there to here, and this feels like just one more small detail that's beyond his understanding. But that's not a worry he could or would voice to this stranger. He's grateful enough already that she hasn't viscerally objected to him barging in like this.

"It's not—" actually never mind. He's probably in no position to argue what does and does not constitute breaking and entering, standing here like this. "Anakin told me to let myself in, I should have known better than to take his word for it. My name is Obi-Wan Kenobi. Anakin is my student... or he was," he amends with a slight frown, though his eyes trace her face with some curiosity. Leave it to Anakin to find a way to room with not one but two robotic beings.

If anyone else saw a man in the middle of the desert, alone, staring at a pack of " horses ", they might give him a wide berth - both out of not wanting to disturb the creatures and the spectator. Bill, however, is nothing if not incredibly annoying and nosy. So of course, his first order of business is sneaking up right besides the other and loudly announcing his presence.

"TAKING AN INTEREST IN THE LOCAL WILDLIFE, HUH? THOSE ARE GOOD ONES TO START WITH - THEY'RE TOTAL FREAKS! SEE THE ROWS OF TEETH ON THAT ONE IN THE BACK? WONDER WHAT IT HUNTS WITH THOSE BAD BOYS."

It takes concentrated effort to snap his eyes away from the being and back out towards the animals he had been so busy observing.

"They're very unusual," he agrees neutrally, because calling them freaks seems a little cruel. "I've been watching them for some time now and I've not seen them go after anything at all," not even the lizards and jackrabbits and other small animals that scurry across their paths. But Obi-Wan has seen their eyes glow in the early morning light and, yes, their teeth are... impressive, so he has little doubt that they are predator animals, not prey animals. "But you're right, they must hunt something."

" Honestly, I think I would more prefer it if you did 'disturb' me. I am more used to noise than I am silence. "

The ruckus of the dining hall in Amaranthine, the campfire chatter in any warden camp, hell, even the unfortunate whimper or cry from the junior warden's barracks during twilight hours often filled the dreaded silence. It's funny, 20 years ago, the elf would've begged for the quiet. The solitude. It was easier to hunt that way, easier to stay hidden in the foliage...

Then again, there was a startling lack of whispers in her head back then. Eolas shook herself from her thoughts and managed to actually catch his introduction, easing her shoulders a bit. The least she could do is soften up and return the damn smile.

Now, so many years later, Obi-Wan has grown used to the silence, for the most part; still, even as a padawan he was always the first to break the quiet contemplation of evenings spent in their quarters at the Temple and the first to move amongst the passengers to converse on the civilian transports they took every now and then. He knows many outside of the Order find silence discomforting. If it is company and conversation she wants, he supposes he might even find it nice to accommodate her.

"Very well," he inclines his head, hands folded primly in the sleeves of his robe, though a smile has blossomed more plainly upon his face. "I'll be as disturbingly noisy as I can manage."

Even if he is out of practice and, realistically, doesn't truthfully believe he'll be around all too often. Mornings and nights are for meditation, and then... well, Obi-Wan did not become a Jedi knight just to sit around in his quarters. There's both too much to see and too much at stake, knowing that he has to get back to the Temple and to Anakin. A worried crease finds its way back between his brows at her introduction.

[ peaceandharmony ] -> is it a sport?

[ peaceandharmony ] -> oooh, are you an athlete???

[ peaceandharmony ] -> i was thinking of trying out for dodgeball

[ peaceandharmony ] -> you should join me!!

[ OWK ] -> Akin to sparring with a blade. Mostly the intent is combat or ceremony, but we do have tournaments on occasion.

[ OWK ] -> So I suppose at times it wouldn't appear so far removed from a sport. I'm not an athlete, exactly, but our training involves athletics quite heavily.

[ OWK ] -> In fact we often played dodgeball as initiates

[ peaceandharmony ] -> well i think he's perfect.

[ peaceandharmony ] -> that's what HE said!

[ OWK ] -> The robes of our Order aren't remarkably colorful as a general rule. I'm not sure I've ever seen him dress in anything but beige. Brown. White

[ OWK ] -> Sometimes grey

[ peaceandharmony ] -> oh, don't worry. i have experience in this sort of thing.

[ peaceandharmony ] -> wait

[ peaceandharmony ] -> wait

[ peaceandharmony ] -> i don't know whose cunty grandpa this is but i'm adopting him. he's my best friend.

[ peaceandharmony has uploaded an image ]

that yearns an even wider grin from his master, glittering in pride. " perhaps master yoda is indeed correct. you and i are alike in very few things, but they often stand as the ones which count. such as when to defy the council, as it would appear .. and pancake toppings. equally as important, of course. "

it's not quite odd to think that even death cannot prevent the two from falling into this routine of casualness so quickly - in fact, it's highly welcomed by the master. to any passerby, it would be believable their meeting intended to discuss their lives, recent events, rather than engage in a first conversation post-passing.

" i cannot blame you, " about the hesitation to keep the braid, that is. " i was rather glad to be rid of it myself. somewhat, that is. "

his attention no longer lays on obi-wan's hair, then, and flickers instead to the horizon. " when my master severed it, i was afraid. not of becoming a knight, but rather of what it would mean for the both of us. i feared my new title would guarantee the severance of not only the braid, but our bond as well ; that we'd be separated indefinitely. "

qui-gon's eyes don't meet his padawan's then - not yet. " thoughts like it should not frighten you, obi-wan, but it is understandable if they do. "

it would take more than a kyber-projected blade to the stomach to separate a master from his apprentice - to cut down a branch from the family tree. that's when they meet stares, when the inclination to shed tears hit both of them.

" then it is decided. " a hand lowers onto his lap, the other reaches for obi-wan. " it would be the upmost honor, obi-wan. allow me time to prepare. i doubt it will be as grand as the one you might have imagined, but we must do with what we have. "

Though he wouldn't say he intends to make a habit of going against the will of the Council. Anakin is so out of place among the Order already - Obi-Wan will not help further the divide. He had spent so much of his own apprenticeship fretting about the trouble his rebellious Master would surely drag him into via association. He's not about to inflict that on his own student. If he can assuage any of Anakin's fears, even just one, he will try.

He bites his tongue against the questions that spring to mind at Qui-Gon's confession. He has always spoken relatively little of his apprenticeship with Master Dooku ( but then, Qui-Gon speaks little about many topics ). Obi-Wan was not under the impression that the two remained very close, or even in communication at all, following Dooku's departure from the Temple. Does that not mean that Qui-Gon's fears were founded? Is he advising Obi-Wan to prepare himself?

Obi-Wan's fears have already felt founded enough. Everything he knew had unraveled so quickly, standing there in the Council chambers. Training a Padawan is a full-time commitment. Training the Chosen One, even more so - and Obi-Wan had only ever proven himself to be merely competent. There would be no need for his further involvement nor partnership. The announcement of the end of his apprenticeship had felt efficient and abrupt, not particularly celebratory. He had feared - before their battle on Naboo - that his Knighting would feel similar. An unremarkable ending. Obi-Wan would be sent on missions that one might expect of a simply adequate new Knight. He and Qui-Gon would cross paths every once in a while at the Temple, he suspected, and little more.

Regardless, even that had all been upended. The bond had already been severed so decisively that it had burned. Obi-Wan could do nothing more now than speculate.

"It does not frighten me," he answers slowly, though a matter of weeks ago it certainly had. But he had seen the steps Qui-Gon had taken so effortlessly to set Obi-Wan loose, and had done his best to follow his guidance, as always. He had accepted it. It is what they do; letting go. "As you said, there is little more you can teach me." Obi-Wan is less certain of that, but will not say so. "And I am ready for Knighthood. I rather suspected you would be glad to have me out from underfoot while Anakin adjusted. And I would be glad not to tend to so many plants each day," he adds as an afterthought, a somewhat paler attempt at levity.

Nothing is as he imagined, hoped, it would be. But a Jedi knows better than to have any real expectations, even for moments such as this. The future cannot be anticipated as well as one would hope, and it is unbecoming to set yourself up for disappointment. Obi-Wan shakes his head. "It doesn't matter." It is more than he though the would have only days ago. All that is important is having the means to pay Qui-Gon respect for so many years of training - that is as much the purpose of such a ceremony as anything else. "You honor me by being here, Master, that is enough."