"Indulging Him"
Rating: PG
"I'm trying to understand." Dark brown eyes gazed regretfully into his mate's. "I can't say I'm happy about it, but if that's what you need to do, I guess I have no choice but to live with it."
Obi-Wan sighed, shaking his head in frustration. "He just seems so angry lately and earlier today, you should have seen him! At the mention your name..." he paused reflectively.
"He threw a fit?" The other man smirked. "A tantrum?"
"Well, yes, you could say that." Seeming at a loss, Obi-Wan turned to stare absently out the window. "I just wish I knew what to do. In times like these I could really use some advice from my master."
"I wish I could be more helpful, but..." With a vague gesture, Bail moved closer, staring out the window alongside Obi-Wan. "Try to think back to when you were a padawan. What would your master have done in this type of situation?"
"I was a perfect padawan," Obi-Wan replied with a wry grin. "Well, I never threw tantrums, anyway."
"Right, perfect," Bail grinned back, "I should have known."
"Besides, it isn't the same. My master believed that Anakin was the Chosen One and I'm almost certain that he would have indulged the boy much more than he ever indulged me."
"So, Anakin's being the Chosen One," Bail's used his fingers to imply quotation marks, "would justify canceling your dates, putting aside your lovers, your friends...your life? I don't know. It seems a lot like spoiling to me."
"You don't understand, I don't want to spoil him. Maybe he just needs time..."
"So, that's it then?" Bail didn't allow him to finish, couldn't look at Obi-Wan. "It's over. What we have...? It's finished?"
"No. I don't know," Obi-Wan hedged, his green eyes looking imploringly into Bail's dark ones. "Maybe...maybe for just a bit. Just until..."
"Fine, if that's what you want." Bail shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant.
"Bail, I'm not...that's not what I want. You know that I love you." Obi-Wan stepped forward, attempting to embrace the taller man, but Bail backed away.
"Listen Obi, like I said, I wish I could tell you the right thing to do. It's obvious he has a crush on you and it's obvious that he doesn't want to share." Bail smiled ruefully. "My opinion would be that it seems wrong to give in to a child's every fancy, but then again, he isn't my responsibility. But, I can tell you from my own experience what my father would have done."
Obi-Wan listened, encouraging him to proceed.
"Well," Bail chuckled, his expression turning a little sheepish, "that sort of behavior was always strongly discouraged in our home and whenever one would unwisely decide to challenge the rules...the error of our way was made quite...uh...indelible." With a smirk, he rubbed a hand meaningfully over his backside.
Obi-Wan's brow furrowed and he seemed to study his lover for a long moment. Was he being too lenient, he wondered? Was he giving in to Anakin's 'every fancy'? Being too indulgent? Now that he thought about it, if anything, maybe he should be being less indulgent. It was a fact that Anakin needed to learn more control, the boy had years to make up for. The other apprentices his age had spent their entire lives learning these basic lessons; Ani hadn't had that luxury.
It was Obi-Wan's duty -- the promise he made to his beloved master -- to see that Anakin was trained properly.
"You're right, I think..." Obi-Wan finally spoke, only to be interrupted.
"The infatuation will end. Go to the boy. Tell him it's over. Then Anakin can be happy, the planets can continue to revolve and who knows, by the time he gets over you, maybe there will still be a chance for us."
"If you're finished now, Bail, what I was going to say is: you're right, I give in too much and it's not doing Ani, or anyone else any good." Obi-Wan smiled, reached up and caressed his lover's cheek "And, if Qui-Gon were here, he would say the same thing. I'm indulging him far too much and what he really needs is a lesson in self-control. It's so simple, really, I can't believe I didn't see it before."
"Wait a minute...you're saying that I'm right?" Bail asked, his eyes going wide in mock disbelief. "How can that be, I'm not even a Jedi?"
Obi-Wan grinned, wrapping his arms around Bail's neck. "For not being a Jedi, you can indeed be very wise, Viceroy."
Leaning closer, the Viceroy lightly brushed his lips across Obi-Wan's and began slowly divesting him of his outer attire. "So, Jedi, how 'bout you show me what you've got under all these layers of clothing."
"I am far too indulgent; a most un-Jedi-like trait." Obi-Wan punctuated the admission with a passionate, lingering, emotion-filled kiss.
~ fin ~