TRUST THE FORCE

The elderly shapeshifter shook his head morosely, a quiet sigh escaping his lips. This conversation presented a rare moment in his human form, and thus, Yoda was able to lay a calloused hand upon Obi-Wan’s shoulder.

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ❝ So hard on yourself I wish you would not be. ❞

UNPROMPTED ASK: Grandmaster Yoda to Obi-Wan Kenobi

                     silence hung heavy as he, for a moment, refused to allow the grandmaster’s words sink in.   they simply did not feel real, like some figment his mind chose to torture him with.   the boy’s forehead creased, obi-wan struggling against the urge to slump forward against the railing, staring down at the jedi milling about through one of the grand corridors.  he doesn’t want to believe it despite the weighty ring of truth.   the moment he’s alone again, he won’t be able to remember that and all his mind will tell him is that it isn’t.   that if he worked, fought, focused harder, he wouldn’t just prove himself but…

                     if he had nothing to prove, why did no one want to be his master?

                     a familiar smart began in his eyes, the youngling giving in to lean under the weight of the other’s hand, blinking away the tears that threatened.    ❝  i want to be a jedi, grandmaster.  ❞     he hated that he sounded like a sniffling child, but wasn’t that almost what he was right now?

                            an auburn brow shot toward the gleaming white ceiling, hands clasped beneath the sleeves of his robe.   he expected hostility, but that hardly cushioned the unexpected impact of any set of words.   not hurtful, simply surprising.   ❝  i apologizing if i was prying.   it’s quite a normal question.  ❞     quite normal indeed to ask if the child living with someone is their child, though he did hope to gain a fair bit more from asking it.   he shot a tight smile at the cause of the hostility before his attention turned back to the father without dropping it.   

                            ❝  you could ask, but there would be very little to tell.  ❞     a wry note tripped off his tongue, hopefully emphasizing the nonchalance he wished to embody as the air grew notably tense.   it would be terribly unfortunate if a conflict broke out in this room, his mind flitting briefly over possible ways to force it into the corridor with all do haste.     ❝  you must understand the council’s curiosity over your involvement in something so… vital to our order here.  ❞

                          snatching back a scoff which threatened to rise, the jedi sank another boot into the sucking muck, lines about his mouth deepening as the sickly sienna mud threatened seep between leather and trouser.     ❝  if you’ve discovered a better plan, do tell.  ❞      A stomach turning squelch accompanied his tugging his opposite leg free, only a gentle push with the force preventing him from tipping back into the swamp.   never would he think the bounty hunter would prove a being he would have to join forces with, but even less likely was the need to cross such a daunting expanse.

                          if he were to fall, his robes would become a very vivid shade of orange, of that he had no doubt.   obi-wan cast a questioning glance over his shoulder, having no issue it seems for the moment in turning his back on bane.     ❝  well?  ❞

“ Why would I go anywhere with you?  ” [ @historiavn ]

                    a brown brow arched, as she almost, almost managed to mask her growing sense of embarrassment.   it’d been the excitement, the liquid lightning that’d set her veins alight the moment she’d spotted it, blurting it out to the very first people she saw when she slid back down the small hill.   only that, she told herself, not a simple lack of manners.

                    or attempting to explain herself to the american officers she’d practically stumbled into in emerging from the brush.   no, she’d rather not dwell too heavily on the optics of that at the moment, cheeks heating.

                    ❝  i only suggest it if you doubt me, sir.  ❞    her crisp accent contrasted sharply against their own, the young irishwoman mustering up every last bit of her gall with hands clenched in her skirts.    ❝  i assure you that to some, a vein of garnets is as interesting a discovery as- as-,  ❞   she struggled a moment, before an answer lit a new fire in her gaze before she bit out,   ❝  a horse race.  ❞

                     for a long beat, that she’d been spoken to didn’t penetrate.   and in a flash, she’d realized, dark eyes darting until they settled upon the clear speaker.   lyra’s fingers clutched a little tighter about the stem of her glass, a nervous smile playing across her barely painted lips.   try as she might, she wasn’t able to completely shrug off the discomfort which came from attending more formal gatherings, typically feeling more out of place than even galen.   a cave worm without its cave even, an imposter in a flowing gown.

                     another moment passed before she fully broke from her stunned silence, a hesitant nod preceding a quiet,   ❝  thank you.  ❞     she sank down beside the stranger, fingertips spinning the glass slowly between them.   a silent, agonizing moment slipped by and then, lyra turned her gaze to the other woman.     ❝  i’m afraid i don’t know you…  i am lyra, doctor galen erso’s wife.  ❞

                    the smile which crept across her lips, the beginning edges of something almost comfortable, fell away like a veil with leaden edges, leaving a blank expression in its wake.   no, not quite empty, as the young surveyor wasn’t studied in concealing the hurt bleeding into her dark eyes.   the gentle murmur of the strangers — no, galen’s friends, colleagues, some of them — muted until it was just the two of them, even as the gathering revolved before her.   so did it color her voice, the slight tremble impossible to play off.     ❝  i- i don’t understand.  ❞     

                    heart twisting, she met his icy gaze, the stream of planned words about her last project falling away, lost as her tongue grew heavy.   for a moment, a brief heartbeat, she’d thought that perhaps she’d pressed through the thorned thicket that was orson krennic’s walls or at least began to hack at them.   instead, she’d bounced off, the sharp spines so easily drawing blood.  unthinking, her eyes flitted past him to where galen stood conversing with another group, wishing he would look up and see…

                    her attention snapped back to the older man, now desiring she could simply sink through the wall, words tripping off her lips.     ❝  i just… thought it might interest you.   my apologies.  ❞