deercountry | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Who: Ezra + Obi-wan. Ezra+Michael, Ezra+Ariadne
What: closed prompt in comments.
When: Evening of 2/25, and also general end of the month
Where: Obi-wan's house in Cassandra, Michael's shop, Rooftops of Trench

Content Warnings: Blood, offscreen deaths, aftermath of mass battle, grief, some corruption, others in tags

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[It's the pause, even more than the words, that makes him back off, which strikes him less automatic deflection and more struggling to say even that much.

In the Force, he tries to project a non-verbal sense of 'I'm here with you' - for Obi-wan to acknowledge, ignore, lean on - or not- as he chooses.

While he just nods, and lifts his lightsaber hilt again.]

Shall we?

[ obi-wan shakes himself out of it before settling into his stance with bone-sure certainty. ]

I am ready.

[Even for an informal spar like this, one of them has to go on the offensive. So he falls into the ready stance that is the traditional opening move for Shii-Cho - the one he'd helped teach to Sabine.

After all, it never hurts to go back to the basics.

And then he's smoothly in motion, stick closely to the classic moves of the first form, while he feels out how Master Kenobi wants to play this.]

[ for all that obi-wan gripes and jokes about his age, none of that is ever reflected in his movements. if anything, he moves gracefully, much like he's listening to a song unsung or a tune unheard. the force moves with him, water down the stream. it never yields, it never pushes, it simply flows.

and he flows. ]

[And that's part of why Ezra always has stubbornly insisted Master Kenobi isn't so old as all that.

It takes Ezra a little longer to settle into being even nearly as in tune with Force. He's never been sure why he has trouble with it, in duels. He knows now that he's operated on unconscious and barely conscious prescience most of his life; it saved him countless times on the streets of Lothal.

Put him in a situation where he's opposite another Force user, and suddenly all bets are off. Coming here to Trench, the blood changes, those things haven't made it any easier for him.

But this - this is good. The way Obi-wan flows is familiar enough he can fall into synch, with each strike and parry. Maybe it's not a learning exercise, exactly, but it feels right. Satisfying.]

[ obi-wan's blood runs cold in trench. he has new powers he doesn't like or tap into. he finds them discomforting at best and if he looked too deeply, he'd understand why. power is dangerous. he's had enough to know power doesn't determine failures and successes. keeping a level head is important.

more importantly, power is tempting and to have it so close . . . is dangerous.

thankfully, it's not a problem during this spar. the force hums and thrums at their movements, shifting in and out of parries and strikes. ]

[Eventually, the padawan shifts from Form I to Soresu. Part of him wants to show off, just a little.

Not that he thinks he can really get the upper hand. So really, he just wants to show more of what he's learned.

Including some of what Ben taught him.]]

[ he smirks at that. ]

Testing my own form against me?

[Cheerfully-]

Seeing how well some of what I picked up in the last year has stuck!

Fair enough. I better test your proficiency.

Then I know I'll be properly put through my paces in it.

I should hope so.

[Yeah, he fully expects to be politely as creamed one can be in friendly spar now.

And that's OK. He probably will learn something.

For the moment he just raises his eyebrows and resolves to do his best to keep up.]

[ since ezra is expecting a show, obi-wan's demeanour shifts. oh, his smile stays on and nothing about his aura seems to be different but all it takes is a side-step and he's leaping over ezra to aim a thrust at his back. ]

[That first thrust, he manages to block, with the minimum amount of movement, as is typical of Soresu. And he manages to keep going like that, for a while. He's clearly focused less on 'winning' and more on executing the form with as close to a technically perfect defense as he can.

Sometimes, when he isn't drawing heavily on the Force, his physical endurance flags much faster than he likes. Here, it's really his mental endurance that really starts to flounder, trying to stick closely to the classical form rather than moving almost entirely on instinct.

When he finally fails to move faster enough, he goes completely still for a beat, and then slowly lowers his saber. But he's smiling, anyway.]

[ obi-wan lowers his hand as well, deactivating the saber. ]

Not bad at all. There are very few people who can keep up with me.

[He flips his own saber off, and replies, voice warm with affection and a hint of pride - not in himself. He's thinking of that month in the Temple, watching Ben go against politely curious knights and masters. Ezra'd had to re-calibrate his own standards against a much larger sample size, and quickly realized his new teacher really was a first class duelist.]

I know. I think that was some kind of personal new record for me.

[Sure, there'd been bouts with Ben that lasted longer, but particularly between master and padawan not every lesson is going all out.]

Is it?

Then you should be proud.

[He grins wider.]

Yeah.

...still need to drill muscle memory more.

Such things take time and you have time.

[His grin fades a little.]

I hope so. [Then he shakes his head.]

You're right.[He's alive. He has family with him, even. That's a far better position than he'd expected to be in before life took him away from the galaxy. He can eliminate uncertainly about how long he'll stay here. And that's be true anywhere, really, not matter their special circumstances.]

I'll keep at it.

[ hmm. ]

Very wise of you.

Thank you. [That's sincere. And he's pretty sure Obi-wan is being sincere, too, but-]

But I have the weirdest feeling we're talking past each other somehow? [And he did not like it. Especially jarring after they'd flowed so well together, only minutes before.]

[ obi-wan pauses again. ]

How so?

[He clips his saber hilt to his belt as he's trying to figure how to explain.]

Like, I'm puzzling you, but you don't want to ask directly, maybe?

Maybe I'm trying too hard to be careful what I say, too.