hellooo! I hope you are having some success on the "can't-find-suitable-nutrients" and "why-am-I-always-cold/hot" fronts. I just wanted to (gently) poke you (more like a tentative tap?) about that one time a long time ago when you said you had an... *leans in to whisper* Obi-Wan vampire fic sorta hanging around? That would be really neat
*G* That one is still in raw form–it’s plotted out and speedily summarized, but I don’t have any finished sections yet. …I think. *goes to double-check*
Wait, there actually IS a small finished section! There ya go!
Anakin is not stupid.
He knows his Master is sad. He’s a slave kid. Misery is easy to identify.
What makes the Temple and these cold, distant Jedi easier to bear is that Anakin knows that he isn’t the one making his Master sad. In fact, Anakin thinks he’s maybe giving Obi-Wan a reason to exist…which isn’t encouraging, but he’ll take what he can get.
He’s pretty sure that Jedi are supposed to be kinder than this. No one else seems to notice, or care, that Anakin’s Master is sad. Qui-Gon didn’t act like this—he noticed people. He knew when Anakin was freaking out or angry or nervous, and did something about it.
Anakin resolves that he’s going to be Qui-Gon’s kind of Jedi, and tells Obi-Wan so. Obi-Wan doesn’t smile, really, but Anakin thinks he understands.
Obi-Wan does care about Anakin; he was visibly relieved when he found out Anakin hadn’t gotten himself blown up by taking on the Trade Federation control ship. He’d even hugged Anakin.
Then he swore a lot, but Anakin eventually discovered that it was something Obi-Wan did when there weren’t other Jedi around. The same goes for the hugging. He doesn’t really touch Anakin in the Temple, but every time they go out? It’s like Obi-Wan relaxes, and then there are hugs. Anakin is willing to wait. His Master acts the most like a person when they’re being shot at.
Anakin just sort of shrugs at that discrepancy. He likes to podrace; he has no room to judge, honestly.
Then comes their mission to Tinnani. Anakin doesn’t hate the place, but from the moment they land, it feels like doom is crawling up his spine. He tells Obi-Wan, who agrees, but his Master is also busy trying to be polite and diplomatic.
Thank the Force for that. Anakin is still very bad at diplomacy. He can nod and bow, but if he opens his mouth, all bets are off. People shoot at them a lot on general principle, but at least three times now it’s been Anakin’s fault because he insulted their hosts by accident.
The doom portent feels even worse when the head political guy tells them to never go outside at night. (Viceroy? Chancellor? Dammit, he has no idea. He was too busy trying to figure out this doom thing to pay attention to titles.)
Anakin nods his head up and down. He agrees with their host’s instruction enthusiastically, because that is definitely where the doom portent is coming from.
Obi-Wan looks fascinated. That’s never a good sign. “Why is that, Viceroy?”
His Master is awesome. His Master knows that it’s a good idea to repeat someone’s fancy titles two or three times to make sure it sticks in Anakin’s head. “Hey, asshole” isn’t supposed to be the default setting.
It doesn’t take long for Obi-Wan to charm the story out of the Viceroy, as well as the revelation that their mission briefing is a pile of poodoo in terms of useful information. There are two sentient species on this planet, not one. The Viceroy and everyone else in this capital (Du’tuoy, thank you, Master) are Tina’ni. The other, smaller population is the Adzi’a.
Anakin listens, now just as fascinated as Obi-Wan. He might be bad with politics, but he loves learning about new people. The Tina’ni and the Adzi’a are diverging offshoots, humanoids that evolved from the same sort of night predator. The Tina’ni went daytime—and apparently vegetarian—while the Adzi’a kept more of the original species’ dominant traits. The two species share a harmonious, symbiotic relationship on their world, a mutual peace that’s developed from two bodies who gladly take on the tasks that others cannot.
It sounds like a nice deal, but from the look on the Viceroy’s face, something has to have gone wrong—which was also not in their mission briefing. They were just supposed to be overseeing the renewal of a treaty, not a negotiating a debate or cleaning up from a disastrous failure of a debate.
“I take it something has gone wrong, then?” Obi-Wan asks, and Anakin congratulates himself for guessing correctly.
The Viceroy looks nervous. “When a Tina’ni loses themselves, the damage is…minor. We are a sedate, peaceful people, so if one is to lose their mind, they do not truly remember how to be dangerous. There is chaos, but rarely is there death.
“If an Adzi is to lose themselves, it is not safe for any of our people, Adzi’a or Tina’ni, to go out at night until the other Adzi’a have gathered in numbers large enough to dispatch the rogue one.”
“It takes that many?” Anakin asks in disbelief. The question is probably rude, but the Viceroy just nods.
“Yes. The Adzi’a are also peaceful, but they have never set aside the strengths that both our peoples once shared. It can take several days or several months for enough of us to gather together to deal with the rogue Adzi,” the Viceroy explains. “Our concern is—despite our curfew, there are children who will always misbehave, who do not take the danger seriously. Two nights before your arrival, a young one snuck out of his home and was discovered by the rogue. The young one—” The Viceroy hesitates, looking at Anakin.
“Go on, Viceroy,” Obi-Wan says in a quiet voice. “My Padawan is well aware of the fact that the galaxy is not a kind place.”
“The young one had to be identified genetically. There was not…not enough left for us to be certain otherwise.”
