TITLE: Nesting
AUTHOR: Freaky Anomaly
RATING: PG-13; NC-17 in later chapters
DISCLAIMER: Characters are not mine. They belong to GL.
GENRE: Slight Angst, Humor, Romance
TIMELINE: After Anakin became a Knight, but before ROTS.
SUMMARY: Obi-Wan has always been the sensitive, feminine type (to my mind - i.e. his piece-sign-point fight stance was kinda girly) though still tough (think Angelina Jolie girly-tough). He's always liked kids and imagined having one or two... in the deep dark recesses of his mind. When some men hit a certain age, certain things start to happen.
A.N.: I do know that Bangers and Mash is in fact a British food item. But it was a good name.
WARNING! Mpreg! Be warned. It's my first mpreg as well, so be kind.
It was during a very crucial Council meeting that he first noticed the signs. In the middle of a discussion on just what - exactly - the Jedi were to do about the recent reports of corrupt Senators supporting the Separatist Cause... his mind wandered. Not just from the report Aki Mundi was giving but from all Jedi related material. He started thinking of his former Padawan and current friend/secret-obsessive love and said man's reaction to any knowledge he might gain of his mentor's feelings. Then he started thinking that once Anakin accepted this fact, they could move on to faster speeders, as it were. For instance, Anakin could squire Obi-Wan around Coruscant; Frankie Franklyn’s Hotthian House for Obi-Wan's icy-sweet tooth, Bangers & Mash for the dirty dancing Anakin loved so much, AMAC Theaters for the play 'Theories on Love' Obi-Wan was just dying to see.
"Master Kenobi!" Obi-Wan jolted out of his reverie, surprised and a little guilty for the lapse in attention and the venue of his thoughts. He turned his gaze outward and wiped the slightly dreamy smile off of his face. He cleared his throat and sat at attention, politely inquiring as to the question that had been put forth to him.
<><>
It was on the planet Tureth - a mission given to Anakin and himself; relatively easy, recon - that he finally admitted to himself what was going on. It all became clear when he saw THEM. The children. They were running half-naked in the streets, screaming and howling in joy. The parents watching on in amused exasperation. He saw in his minds a - a boy with his hair and Anakin's eyes and height, a girl with Anakin's spirit and hair with Obi-Wan's eyes and height.
That was it. He gave up trying to be the proper Jedi he'd once been, gave up trying to suppress what he wanted and what he'd outgrown. This was it, the last straw. There was nothing to do but to admit it... he was Nesting. Not at all an uncommon occurrence amongst feminine men, but Obi-Wan wasn't feminine... was he?
<><>
It was the night after they'd briefed the Council on their findings that he decided he just had to tell Anakin. Whether his friend felt the same or not - he was rooting for the former - he knew it was wrong to keep his change in feeling for the younger man secret... It was the night all his fantasies came crashing down around his ears.
<><>
Anakin was no where to be found. Granted, Obi-Wan should have known this as it was his usual custom to disappear for the night right after receiving leave from the Council, but Obi-Wan had expected him to stay this time. After all, he'd been injured... and Anakin used to always stay behind when his master had been injured on a mission. This time it had been serious as well. Life threatening... it hurt that Ani would still leave after such a serious incident.
Obi-Wan leaned on the crutch given him by the Head Medical Droid and proceeded to the hanger where all speeders available to Jedi were located. It was a slow and slightly painful process as his wound stretched and pinched with every wrong move of his body. It would have been easier on the man had he chosen to wait until the next day, but his need for Anakin was too great. He'd denied it for years, tried to suffocate it, and bury it so far, so deep into his subconscious that not even a Jedi Mind Probe willingly taken would be able to find it. After all, 'There is no passion; there is serenity.' But time changes people and Obi-Wan wanted what every other normal man had - a significant other who he loved very much and whom loved him in return, children, and... a home. He wanted to cook for Anakin and keep a tidy house for Anakin and pleasure and be pleasured by Anakin.
He had finally reached the hanger and looked quickly around. Sure enough, Anakin's favorite yellow speeder was missing from its docking port. With a decisive nod, the Jedi Master made his way toward a green, outdated speeder sitting forlornly in a dark, forgotten corner. He hopped delicately in and situated himself before turning the transport on and easing it out of the garage bay and into the late night traffic - which consisted of a garbage barge and a few taxi speeders. He pulled to a full stop and closed his eyes. He released himself from the everyday trials of living and focused on energy - specifically that of a particular Jedi bond. Once accessed, Obi-Wan opened his eyes and sped in the direction he was being called.
It was a relatively short ride as most people were home with their families, having dinner and playing games and the like; activities that Obi-Wan wanted to do with Anakin and their children (adopted though they'd have to be). He slowed the speeder to a crawl and then came to a complete stop when he realized that his bond had led him to 500 Republica. So, he was visiting with the Chancellor.
A scowl crossed Obi-Wan's features as he realized that Anakin would rather visit with Palpatine than stay with him while he recovered. A few seconds stewing and he cleared his thoughts, realizing that though he was the most important person in Anakin's life, there were other obligations. The Chancellor was one of those obligations. He was always trying to horn in on his and Anakin's time together, trying to ingratiate himself into Anakin's life... and it seemed to have worked.
Shaking himself back into the present, Obi-Wan cruised around the side of the building, looking for a docking port close to the Chancellor's quarters when he saw it in his peripheral. His Ani and Padme, sitting on her balcony... hugging. Hands roaming and lips ghosting. He stopped the speeder, turned it off, and just stared. Nothing overtly sexual was happening but Obi-Wan could see the potential. He could see the familiarity of their bodies. Obviously they'd been lovers for quite some time and obviously Obi-Wan had been arrogant to think that he'd always been and always would be the most important person in Anakin's life.
Understanding dawned in his mind as he thought back to the very first day Anakin had met Padme since he was nine. He thought about all the meetings between the three of them and the aura permeating the room that he'd never been able to fathom. He remembered that feeling in the pit of his stomach that always made him move that little bit closer to Anakin in possessiveness. In a daze, Obi-Wan started up the speeder and directed it toward the Temple.
<><>
He spent the rest of the night sitting in an upright position, pillows behind his back and hand pressed to his still healing wound. Padme snagged him. Snagged him right out from under him. Snagged him while he sat on his laurels. He continued to stare at the wall for hours and didn't move until the dawn light touched his face, added a blush to his pale, now beardless, face.
All the time he'd been in that daze, outwardly staring at nothing, but inwardly going over every single moment - alone and in public - he'd had with Anakin; he decided he had a choice. He could let the most important man ever to stroll into his life go... or he could fight for him, win him over, take him from the other woman. A sly smile found its way onto Obi-Wan's face. No, he never was one to let what he wanted go without a fight, Jedi or not. And he would fight anyway he could that would win him his man. Even dirty, which meant that he had to out house-wife Padme.
As he got up and pulled on his clothes, he smiled in a slightly shamefaced, embarrassed way. Being Anakin's house-wife wasn't going to be that hard. It turns out - in retrospect - that he'd been nesting for quite sometime; years even. He had experience on his side.
<><>
Anakin entered the Council Chambers two minutes late, hair mussed and clothes wrinkled - obviously the same ones he'd worn throughout the whole mission and last night. A slight stab of something Obi-Wan refused to call jealousy shot through Obi-Wan, darkening his brow and adding a frown to his features for a brief moment before he suppressed them. Anakin would be playing the husband to him in good time. He just had to win the battle.
Anakin grimaced as he was given a set down by Master Windu. He rolled his eyes as the long-winded man went on and tossed a glance full of apology and concern Obi-Wan's way. It made every nerve ending he possessed tingle in delight. He smiled in acknowledgement and patted his side in a reassuring way. His plan was to start right after the meeting.
<><>
Anakin found himself on the receiving end of attention that he didn't find particularly strange. He was used to his former Master and friend pampering him in such ways. To him it wasn't anything to be concerned about... until he walked into his shared room with Obi-Wan that night and found an elaborate dinner laid out with candles and music. It made him slightly uncomfortable and he was about to yelp,” What the hell is this?" The smile on Obi-Wan's face stopped him from such an outburst though and he grinned and bared it.
He started as a pair of hands - so soft and gentle, he noticed absurdly - smoothed his tunic and then placed a napkin on his lap, hands perilously close to his nether regions. Blue eyes looked up into a pair of ever changing orbs, an uncomfortable exclamation on pouty lips that petered out and died at the joy in the other's eyes. A gentle smile adorned the hairless cheeks of the older man, making him look... angelic?
Anakin averted his eyes and glared at the flickering flame of a candle, his thoughts going at hyper speed. He'd only ever thought of Padme as angelic and all of the sudden Obi-Wan is held on the same pedestal? What in the name of Sith was going on here? A whisper of a feeling brushed across his forehead and then was gone as Obi-Wan circled the table and sat across from him in a way that could only be described as flirty - in Anakin's newly muddled mind. But that couldn't be. Obi-Wan had always sat down in front of him that way... and if he had been sitting like that for Anakin for years then... he wasn't going to think about it.
The Knights eyes roamed over the table, searching for a distraction. They landed on the food which looked unusually sumptuous tonight. He gazed quizzically at his mentor and asked, "Why did the Kitchen go all out tonight? Are we expecting Diplomatic Inspectors?" It may have been a trick of the light but Anakin could have sworn that Obi-Wan's entire face flamed. He ducked his head in a gesture of old - but took on a whole new meaning for Anakin - and bit his lip, just like old times. A lock of hair fell across his hair and Anakin reached across the table and brushed it back behind the man's ear, fingers lingering. Multifaceted eyes glanced up and caught.
"I... I made it myself."
The soft voice shot straight to Anakin's groin, filling it in record time. Anakin, surprised and scared, dropped his hand from Obi-Wan's face, jumped up from his chair, and left through the door at a pace somewhere near a panicked, all out run. He left behind a confused Obi-Wan just sitting there as the candles sputtered with the power of confused Force... and then died out.
<><>
Anakin raced towards Padme's apartments, guilt-ridden and horny. He threw open the doors so forcefully that they nearly came off their hinges and brought his wife running. C-3PO paused in his place, hand held over a plant, watering can poised. Padme's eyes were wide open in worry, her lip bit between her bottom teeth, her hands knotted against her stomach. Before she had a chance to question her husband's psychotic look he attacked. Her lips, her cheeks, her neck, stomach, shoulders. No part of her body was safe. She didn't mind at all.
<><>
Obi-Wan sat in a dark room illuminated only by the distant lights of the busiest part of Coruscant. Luminescent white light made the tear tracks pouring down his cheeks sparkle like the surface of cold, hard diamonds. Diamonds that he'd fantasized were bestowed upon him by his loving husband.
His eyes stared glassily at the empty space across from him, at the cold and congealing food on the porcelain plate, at the chair still tipped over on the floor. His lips trembled as the tears intensified and his body rocked back and forth in the chair he was in. He wrapped his arms around himself and let out a wailing sob. It echoed around the frozen, empty-feeling room. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. In a fit of uncharacteristic rage, the usually placid Jedi launched himself up and swung his hands out. The Force kicked in and sent the table across the room, sending food, flatware, dishes, and wine everywhere.
Dark red spread across the carpet, seeping into the very soul of the material, staining it blood red. The hot rage that had fueled his temper tantrum faded just as fast as it had come, leaving him lonely and cold. His knees buckled beneath him, bringing him crashing down to the floor hard. He lay sprawled in the stain of wine, his cheek pressed tightly into the wetness... and he stayed there, eyes unblinking, mouth unsmiling.
<><>
Anakin stared at the ceiling, body satiated and mind in turmoil. He'd felt guilty for desiring Obi-Wan while having a wife, but on the flip-side of the coin, he felt guilty for taking his wife and leaving Obi-Wan all alone. He was probably confused and angry. He should go back and... not give the truth exactly but at least give some sort of explanation. He glanced at his wife and felt his heart contract painfully. He loved her, he really did, but... he loved Obi-Wan as well. It appeared that he loved him in the same way as he loved his wife. That uncomfortable feeling he'd gotten around the other man had reminded him of feelings he'd had for another. At the time it hadn't been clear. Now, though, he knew that that other person had been his wife.
The young man groaned and threw his robotic arm over his eyes. How was it possible to be in love with two people at once, to want to have both in every way possible? How was it possible to love someone for years one way and then realize that you love loved them in a completely different way? How was he going to keep sane? These questions and more rampaged through his mind as he gently, silently got up and into his discarded clothes. He was going to apologize for rushing out on Obi-Wan's no doubt painstakingly prepared meal... even if he died trying to explain it without really explaining it.
<><>
He woke with a start as the soft swish of the door alerted him to Anakin's entrance. He lifted himself from his prone position and slowly, painfully brushed off his clothes as best he could. He lifted bruised eyes and red, swollen lips to Anakin and bared all. He didn't have the energy, the will to hide it. It was over and he just... couldn't. All his dreams, his wishes to be the pampered spouse, the loving father, the house-husband... all out the door with Anakin's retreating body.
Eyes wide in concern and surprise were what he encountered when the two separate sets met. The blonde head turned this way and that, taking in the mess of food, beverage, furniture, and broken down man. And understanding dawned as he saw the truth in the swirling eyes of the older man. A small smile struggled to the surface, bloomed brilliantly. Confident strides brought the taller man within inches of the shorter, confused being.
Shaking like a leaf in a strong wind, Obi-Wan opened his mouth to question this strange - but very, very welcome - turn of events. He didn't say it out loud, but communicated it through their bond. Padme? Anakin's eyes dulled slightly in guilt but he tipped his head down and touched his lips to the aching ones below him, answering the question wordlessly. A hot flush spread across his entire body, a thrill skittered down his spine, his arms wrapped around Anakin's neck and held on for dear life. He'd won, but not the way he thought he would have. And he felt slightly guilty for stealing someone else's man.
A small voice in his head whispered, She stole him first. He had been yours for ten years and then she stole him. You're just taking him back.
<><>
Padme knew it was over. She knew Anakin thought he'd said it in his head, but he hadn't and now she knew. He'd called for Obi-Wan as he climaxed. As his body twitched, stretched, bowed, sweated, and came severely... he called for Obi-Wan. A small smile crossed her face. She knew their time was limited. She'd always known that Obi-Wan had had him first. Anakin had just never known it, until now. He would go to the man and they would work it out.
Now, she could stop feeling guilty for stealing someone else's man. Now, whenever she saw Obi-Wan, she wouldn't see the tightly restrained jealousy and hurt. Instead, she would see happiness and love and joy. Her turn with Anakin was over and now and forever it was Obi-Wan's turn. Finally, after a happy half decade, she could banish that hidden but ever present sense of guilt. She would always love Anakin... and that is why she was letting him go.
TBC...