The Perk, Wednesday Noon

[saddeserthermit]

This second Wednesday marked the first time Obi-Wan had felt anywhere near settled on this island. Perhaps it was because - outside of minor disputes in class - he and Anakin hadn't really had an encounter since Friday. But frankly, he wasn't here to think about that. Rather, he was looking for a distraction.

He settled into a seat at the Perk with a nice cup of tea. He'd picked a bag at random; tea flavors were both similar and entirely different on every planet he landed on, and he wouldn't make a fuss about it until he figured out which ones were actually drinkable.

So far, this one was fine. He drank it slowly, as he wasn't exactly in a hurry. Fandom's locals were almost all human, but they were still an interesting crowd. Sitting here allowed him the opportunity to people-watch. As the day went on, he found himself ordering subsequent cups, at least until he found a flavor that was completely and utterly terrible.

[[ open! around most of the day. ]]

Comments

[nuclear_snide]

Oh, look, someone new! Bob eyed the robes curiously. "You don't look like you're from around here."

[saddeserthermit]

"Don't I?" Obi-Wan asked, taking a contemplative sip of his tea. "How negligent of me."

[nuclear_snide]

"Sorry, were you trying to blend in?" Bob asked. "The robes give you away," he explained helpfully. "If not, then...well, you do you."

[saddeserthermit]

"I was not trying to blend in." Obi-Wan sounded faintly amused. "Not that there seems to be much of a shared aesthetic to blend into here as it is."

[nuclear_snide]

"Bound to happen, I suppose, when you throw this many people from different worlds together." Bob shrugged. "Most people seem to be sticking to turn-of-the-twenty-first-century western culture, though. Western Earth culture," he clarified, then frowned. "That doesn't sound right. A planet doesn't really have a west, does it? European and North American culture."

[saddeserthermit]

"Many planets have a west," Obi-Wan said lightly, "But it's an often arbitrary distinction, yes. I can't say I've quite mastered European and North American culture as of yet, but I'm making a day of it."

[nuclear_snide]

"Good luck," Bob said, not unsympathetically. "I've made a millennium of it, and there's still always something new. Speaking of new, you're another of the latest crop of teachers, aren't you?"

[saddeserthermit]

"I am," Obi-Wan agreed. "As are you, I take it." Also not entirely a corporeal presence in the Force, but he wasn't going to be rude and point it out just yet. "How are you finding the island?"

[nuclear_snide]

Eh, Bob mostly wasn't leading with the ghost thing because he figured most people knew by now.

Okay, and anyone that didn't, he'd have fun messing with. But mostly the former.

"A refreshing change of pace, for the most part." Bob smiled. "It's been a long time since I've been around so many people on a daily basis. You?"

[saddeserthermit]

"Likewise," Obi-Wan said easily, though that wasn't entirely truthful. A certain other robed man complicated matters. "I spent most of my time prior to this in the desert. It's quite a change."

[nuclear_snide]

"I'd say so. Straight into an East Coast winter? Ouch. What brings you here, then? How do people from other worlds even hear of this place?"

[saddeserthermit]

"A very unhelpful old friend felt it was important that I come here," Obi-Wan said lightly. "He didn't specify about any of the more unusual qualities of the island."

[nuclear_snide]

"Oh, dear." Bob chuckled. "Have you had words with him yet?"

[saddeserthermit]

"Unfortunately, he's been dead for some time," Obi-Wan said, "which means that the decision to speak to me is entirely his."

[nuclear_snide]

Bob snorted. "I've been dead for some time, too; it rarely stops anyone from giving me a piece of their mind. He's not local, is he? I thought I was the only one here."

[saddeserthermit]

"No, he's not local," Obi-Wan said wryly. "Though he would have enjoyed this place. So many pathetic lifeforms for him to adopt. You would recognize him if you saw him, I suppose; he dresses as I do."

[nuclear_snide]

"Oh!" Bob bounced a finger at him, thinking. "He may have been here a few months ago. I think I spotted someone in those robes at the convention." He tried to remember what the other ghost had looked like. "He was very...blue."

Hey, Bob had had women to flirt with that weekend!

[saddeserthermit]

"I wouldn't put it past him."

No, really, he wouldn't. "There was a convention?"

[nuclear_snide]

"Oh, yes. Ghosts from all over," Bob answered. "That was how I found this place."

[saddeserthermit]

"I didn't want to point it out," Obi-Wan said politely, "But I had wondered."

[nuclear_snide]

"Point what out?" Bob asked. "Oh! Me, you mean? I thought everybody knew by now; I'm far too old to bother being shy about it. Yes, Hrothbert of Bainbridge - Bob, if you like - at your service, dead for the last...oh, eleven hundred years, give or take a bit? I never could keep track of the calendar changes."

[saddeserthermit]

"I'm from another galaxy," Obi-Wan noted, "which muddles the difference even further."

He gave Bob a respectful nod, all the same. "I am Obi-Wan Kenobi," he said, "and I wager the blue Force spirit you saw was my former Master, Qui-Gon."

[nuclear_snide]

"Pleasure to meet you," Bob said, nodding back. He chewed his lip for a moment. "If it's not too forward, is that 'master' as in 'teacher and student' or as in 'owner and slave'?" He was hoping it was the former, but he'd hate to assume.

[saddeserthermit]

"Teacher and student," Obi-Wan said immediately. "'Master' is a rank within our Order."

[nuclear_snide]

"Ah, good." Bob smiled, relieved. "I've seen both kinds over the years," personally and generally, "and neither gets used much these days, so I thought I'd better ask. That explains it, though - old teachers love to meddle in their students' lives," he confided.