#ooohh but...

Oh, I’m always open to blathering on about my own fics, especially when it concerns Obi-wan and Dooku.

So…my goal for this first story was really to answer this one question. “How can I make Obi-wan Kenobi realistically break?”

I went through a lot of scenarios, but the Zygerria arc has always stood out in my mind, mostly for its absolute outlandishness (THEY WHIPPED OBI-WAN ON SCREEN FFS!) and that very interesting moment where Obi-wan basically makes the execution order for Arguss via Rex, a very un-Jedi move.

And here’s the thing. Obi-wan really, really holds back his real power, just as a general rule. And he spends much of this story holding back, repressing - because he has orders, because he’s a Jedi, because he just can’t give in. But as we saw in that wonderful jar’kai duel with Maul and Savage (and in the duel in RotS), Obi-wan can kick some major ass when he allows himself to. He is *so* powerful, and so damn good at what he does. 

And you know who sees this? 

Dooku. 

Dooku, who has an eye for talent, who can sniff out potential, who is so attuned to power - Obi-wan reeks of it, and it irritates Dooku to no end that he suppresses this natural talent, that Obi-wan gets in his own way just because of the Jedi, just because of the Code, just because of Obi-wan’s own insecurities. And so when Dooku hears the Zygerrians have Obi-wan, he knows something is up. And he wants to exploit this, wants to see an Obi-wan worn down to his last threads, just to see if Kenobi will finally break. 

And he does. 

And Dooku places those hands on Obi-wan’s shoulders, the same way he did to Qui-gon, tells him that he did well. It’s perfect. Dooku didn’t have to lift a finger, that violent potential was in Obi-wan the entire time, he was just beginning to realize it. But Dooku also knows that cultivating Obi-wan is not a guarantee, that it will take time. And so he leaves. 

But he takes insurance, in the form of that video chip. 

And Obi-wan? He’s snippy, he’s drowning in that river of denial, he doesn’t want Anakin to be anywhere near him. Because deep down, he knows what he did, but he absolutely cannot admit it, it’s fine, it is just the after effects of the mission, nothing to worry about, nothing to concern yourself over. 

Everyone knows something is wrong. Anakin, Ahsoka, Rex, Cody. But it’s Obi-wan - and this is kind of Obi-wan’s own doing - but he has built up enough of a wall, enough of a reputation that no one is going to argue with him about it. If Obi-wan says he’s fine, he’s probably fine (except he’s not), and it’s not like he’s going to accept help anyway. 

And back on Serenno, Dooku knows this, because Dooku went through it. Years of repressed anger, of outrages, of allowing himself to be used by the Order, by the Council. And Dooku, who is perpetually alone, who might secretly (the same way Obi-wan secretly seeks violence) seek company - he reaches out to Obi-wan. Partially to be a pain in the ass, to plant more seeds, to see if Obi-wan will actually go down this path. But also - Dooku’s base instinct is to teach, even if it is this deformed use of the Dark Side, and so of course he rattles off an Archive catalogue number because these two are gigantic NERDS who will plum knowledge to its very depths in search of answers. 

Obi-wan at the bar? Obi-wan at the bar. It’s my personal headcanon that Obi-wan is no lightweight drinker, that a good Corellian whiskey is one of his vices, that he likes to disappear into the shadier, more anonymous parts of Coruscant to drink and forget.