terriblymisguided | (no subject)

A bewildered laugh escapes him as the song ends, and Klaus holds up a hand in apology before pulling him back towards the edge of the dancefloor, over to the wall. He swallows hard and shakes his head, giving Obi-Wan a rueful smile as he reaches out to touch his bicep.

"Sorry, it's just-- it's surprising how much we have in common," he admits, looking down at his hand as it travels along Obi-Wan's arm. "We didn't choose our powers, either. Reginald tracked us down as babies and, well, everyone has a price, I guess. My parents sold me off. I never even knew who they were."

It's too heavy of a topic for such a wonderful night, but he likes that he can tell Obi-Wan these things. He's the only one that Klaus has ever been able to talk so freely about his fucked up past with, other than his siblings. And even then, they didn't discuss it much.

"I don't think that I was meant to be a superhero," Klaus admits, rolling his lips into his mouth and shrugging helplessly. "And things at the Academy were just too-- too everything, so I left as soon as I didn't think that Reginald could legally drag me back."

He reaches up to put his hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder, thumbing at the line of his jaw. "It must be hard for you to be away from where you belong. I'm not sure that I've ever had a place like that."

"It is and it isn't," Obi-Wan answers. "I hadn't spent much time at the temple in a long time anyway, so home wasn't so much a place as it was the people."

And even across the entire galaxy, he had still felt connected to the other Jedi. To Anakin and Ahsoka. They had been part of one another in a way that's difficult to comprehend unless someone has experienced it for themselves. He misses the others, but that's more than simply not being in the same galaxy. They're gone.

"You should have been given a choice," he says. "And I'm sorry you weren't. The man who raised you... well. I'm not always prone to anger, but I hope he never deigns to arrive here. Let's say it won't go well for him."

"He wouldn't stand a chance," Klaus replies with a soft smile. The words stir something in him, because it's nice to know that there's someone who would fight for him. He knows that Obi-Wan isn't a person prone to violence, so it means that he really cares, if he would say such a thing.

Also, on a pettier note, it's something that Klaus would kind of love to see.

"My handsome knight," he says fondly, eyes sparkling with emotion as he leans in to give him a soft kiss on the mouth. The kiss lingers, and Klaus grins as he pulls back to press their foreheads together as his hand slides down Obi's arm to thread their fingers together. "I think we should go try our luck on another round of drinks, huh?"

It's not the Jedi way, raising his lightsaber out of anger or a desire for vengeance, but it would hardly be the first time Obi-Wan had done so. He and Maul have clashed blades more than once with anger and pain and loss simmering in Obi-Wan's heart.

He knows he is far from the perfect Jedi many saw him to be.

Returning the kiss, Obi-Wan smiles when Klaus takes his hand and he nods. "Why not?" he asks. "Now that we know the trick of it, it all does seem to be a bit more fun than it had at first."

"And either way, we'll have fun," Klaus says, turning to give Obi-Wan a wink as he lifts their joined hands to press a kiss to Obi-Wan's knuckles. "And end up back in one of those rooms. Maybe even make it to the bed next time."

They dance their way across the crowd, with Klaus lifting their hands to twirl underneath them until they're on the other side of the dance floor. There's an open spot at the bar and Klaus sidles up to it, keeping Obi's hand in his as he pats the other on the bar.

"Two more of those funny drinks, please," he says happily, and the bartender gives him an odd look.

"I don't know what you're talking about," the guy says, and Klaus turns to quirk a brow at Obi-Wan. "Roll of the dice, I guess." He turns back to the bartender and ponders for a moment, trying to think of something blue. "Two sapphire martinis, then."

"That does seem to be more Magnus's style," Obi-Wan agrees as he turns slightly, leaning sideways against the bar. "It has to be unpredictable, doesn't it, or it may get boring. And if it's too easy for people to control, that eliminates the element of trickery from the entire experience."

And while Obi-Wan sincerely believes Magnus means for the experience to be nothing more than a bit of fun, he also believes he doesn't mean for it to be easy. To be a simple trick would take away what is entertaining about it.

"So what happens if only one of these drinks works?" he asks with a smile. "Does the other one of us keep drinking until we find something of the opposite effect?"

"Wouldn't be the worst thing," Klaus says with a laugh, smiling as the bartender sets down two blue martinis. He takes one and slides the other towards Obi-Wan before looking down at his drink curiously. "Or we find someone else in need of assistance and cuddle them."

He winks, because while that doesn't seem like the worst thing either, he'd prefer that it just be the two of them. This is their first real date, after all, and while Klaus certainly wouldn't be adverse to having a little fun with someone else some other time, he finds that it isn't something he wants tonight.

"Well, here goes nothing," Klaus says, lifting his glass before taking a long sip. He waits for a moment, smacking his lips a bit, but nothing happens. "Bupkis."

"There are certainly plenty of options," Obi-Wan says as he sips his drink and surveys the party around them. People are talking, dancing, having a good time, but he can see others in the crowd who are suffering from the effects of the drink and don't seem to know how to fix it. A part of him thinks they ought to go over and tell them the trick, but at the same time, Obi-Wan thinks half the fun is discovering it for themselves.

"But I don't know that I'm especially interested in cuddling a stranger," he continues thoughtfully. "Perhaps if they were in dire need."

He would see no reason not to help, but as the drinks are hardly a threat to anyone's health or safety, he also doesn't feel a pressing need, like he might in another situation. This isn't like East Hallow, where saving people had been the only priority.

“If they’re in dire need,” Klaus agrees, smiling softly as he watches Obi-Wan survey the party. It’s rare for him to have eyes for only one person, but a lot of the things that he does with Obi-Wan are rare for him.

Neither drink seems to have any effect on them, so he knocks back the rest of his martini and sets the glass down on the bar. The bartender sidles over, and Klaus taps his chin.

“Surprise us,” Klaus says, and the bartender nods before turning away. Then Klaus curls an arm around Obi’s trim waist, unable to keep from touching him for very long. He leans in to press a kiss to his cheek, and for a moment he wants to say to hell with the drinks and drag him upstairs again, but then another round of drinks is set in front of them.

“Cranberry old fashioned,” the man says, and Klaus lets out a delighted noise as he lets go of Obi and claps his hands together.

Before taking the next drink, Obi-Wan closes his eyes for a moment, reaching out into the Force with his mind and focusing it on the metabolizing of the alcohol in his bloodstream. While he knows it's a party and he isn't terribly concerned about becoming inebriated, he still has to consider there might be several more drinks in his future.

And he would very much like to be mostly sober for Klaus.

"Is this a drink you enjoy?" Obi-Wan asks as he lifts his glass, studying it for a moment. What they have in Darrow is similar in some ways to places he's visited, but nothing has quite the same name, sort of wine. "I still find myself learning the new names for familiar things."

And this doesn't apply only to alcohol. Even what Obi-Wan would call a communicator is referred to here as a telephone.

Klaus almost says that he likes all drinks, but that isn't quite true. He's a lush who will drink most anything set in front of him, but he does have preferences. Right now, he't not in a spiral of alcoholism. He drinks a lot, yes, but he would like to think that he has it under control. He's working on it, and that means that he can actually think about his preferences.

"I do, yes. I prefer whiskey or bourbon drinks," Klaus tells him, lifting his drink to take a quick sniff. It smells fruitier than a normal old fashioned, and tastes a little tart. He smacks his lips happily and waits, but he doesn't feel anything with this one, either.

"Do you want to go look at the decorations outside?" Klaus asks, because they might as well enjoy the party. "I hear that Magnus has done something to the temperature out there, too, so I won't even freeze in this outfit.:

Magic always seems like too simple an explanation for the interesting things that are possible in Darrow, even though it's the one most consistently used. Obi-Wan has to believe there's some manner of science involved, even if it's merely science that isn't yet understood.

Whatever the case, he finds it absolutely fascinating.

"Yes, I'd like that very much," he says, offering his arm to Klaus so they might head outside. "I may not know a great deal about this holiday, but the decorations are absolutely beautiful. There's something almost soothing about the lights, the way they twinkle, the golden glow. I'm sure some planet out there in the galaxy celebrates in similar ways, but I've never been there."

"I wonder if I should try to find my shoes," Klaus says distractedly, though he smiles over at Obi-Wan as he offers his arm. It's such a pleasantly old-fashioned thing, but it makes Klaus smile every time. It's probably something that Obi-Wan does without thinking, something that doesn't mean much to him at all, but it always makes Klaus feel like something better than he is.

"He really did go all out," he says as he takes Obi-Wan's elbow and carries his drink with his other hand, looking around at the decorations as they head for one of the tables against the wall. Klaus lifts the tablecloth with his bare toes and peeks beneath, but his shoes aren't there so he heads to the next one.

"We could get some lights for your apartment and string them up. I'll help." He takes another sip from his drink and lifts the cloth of the second table, letting out a triumphant sound when he finds his flats. He pulls them out with his toes and steps into them, and then turns them so that they can head for the doors leading out to the back. "You could leave them up all the time, if you want."

Edited 2020-12-27 20:16 (UTC)

"I've been led to believe Magnus often does," Obi-Wan answers and it doesn't surprise him at all. Though they had met in the park -- and really, Obi-Wan had met Catarina first -- and the entire meeting had been rather casual and relaxed, there's always been a presence about Magnus that makes this entire party seem perfectly in line with what Obi-Wan would have expected.

"They're not meant solely for the holiday?" he asks as they head outside. Klaus had been correct, the temperature is comfortable, even with the falling snow and as they walk out into the yard, the sounds of the party begin to fall away. There are other people outside, they're not entirely alone, but it seems most people prefer to be inside with the music and the drinks.

"The lights, I mean. People leave them up all year?"

"We'll have to go to the next one, too," Klaus says without really thinking of the implications behind it. He can't imagine that he wouldn't want to attend whatever the next shindig is with Obi-Wan, because he can't really imagine a time where he doesn't want to be around Obi-Wan. That in itself is strange enough, but then it occurs to Klaus that the next holiday that might warrant one of these parties is Valentine's Day.

Klaus has been to a fair amount of anti-Valentine's parties, but he's never had a date for the holiday. Except for one, maybe. Dave had snuck him chocolate that he had scrounged up from somewhere over dinner with the rest of the squad, winked at Klaus, and that was that. His first ever Valentine's Day gift. A week later, Dave was dead.

He shoves the thought from his mind and focuses on Obi-Wan's question instead, taking a long sip from his drink before answering. "They don't have to be, no. The white ones, like that," Klaus says, using the hand holding his glass to point to a string of soft white lights draped around a tree. "You could put something like that up in your bedroom, and turn them on whenever you like."

The thought makes him smile, and he turns to give Obi-Wan a suggestive look as the lights reflect off of his eyes. "Mood lighting."

"I would love that," Obi-Wan answers without any knowledge of what the next one will be. It doesn't matter at all, he'll be happy to attend with Klaus no matter what the celebration might be, even if a part of him will always feel a little out of place at these events.

These holidays are not is own. Technically, no holidays are his own, as Jedi do not participate in such things. They must be unbiased, balanced in all things, which includes holding no particular allegiance to anyone or anything but the Republic and the Jedi Order.

"Mood lighting," he echoes with a grin of his own, glancing over at Klaus and catching that expression on his face. It's a rather lovely look, he thinks, and he leans in to catch Klaus's mouth in a quick kiss. "Yes, I think mood lighting could be nice in my bedroom. I have to say, I've never done much in the way of adding personal touches to my quarters. My Master, Qui-Gon, he liked to collect things from every mission we went on, but it never held any interest for me. His quarters were covered in little things he'd found on other planets."

There is a warmth blossoming in Klaus's chest at just how easily Obi-Wan accepted not one, but two invitations from him tonight. One is for a holiday that Obi-Wan surely knows nothing about, including when it takes place, so he's just happily accepted an open-ended invitation. There's a familiar flutter of worry and nerves, but Klaus is feeling too good to let it ruin anything right now.

And then Obi-Wan kisses him, quick and soft, just because he wants to, and that warmth only grows. It's sort of bewildering being with Obi-Wan like this. He never stops being surprised by Obi-Wan, especially by how much Obi seems to want him around in the first place.

"Well, you're my master now," Klaus says teasingly, hoping that Obi-Wan knows that Klaus means no disrespect to what he knows is something deeply important to Obi-Wan. "At least in the bedroom, and I would love some mood lighting. Maybe we can find you some art to put up."

He finishes off his drink and sets it on a serving cart that they pass so that he can curl his arm around Obi's waist and hold onto his elbow as they walk. "I used to collect key cards from hotels I stayed in. But then there got to be too many, and I'm not sure what ended up happening to them."

The comment makes Obi-Wan chuckle and he shakes his head a little, only trying to imagine what some of the other Jedi would say if they were to hear such things. Qui-Gon, ever the rebellious man, likely would have laughed as well, although he can't imagine Mace finding it particularly funny.

Most of the time, with the exception of Qui-Gon, whose loss Obi-Wan has had years to accept, he tries not to think about the other Jedi. It is not the proper way to deal with what happened, he knows it isn't, and yet when he tries to meditate on it, on what happened, all it does is cause pain. He must find a way to let go, but whatever that way may be, it hasn't yet come to him.

"I'm not even sure what sort of art I might like," he admits, amused now with himself. "Key cards are the ones you insert the electronic lock to open the door, correct? Most of the doors we had were pneumatic, reacting to any presence or one presence in particular, if it were programmed that way."

"We'll have to look around and find some," Klaus says easily, smiling over at Obi-Wan as they walk. He almost laughs because it occurs to him that he just invited his lover to go antiquing with him, which is terribly cliché, but Obi-Wan wouldn't know why he finds that so funny. Cliché as it is, traveling the city to find things they might like to spruce up their places with sounds like a fun day. Then again, most things are fun when they're together.

They're coming up towards the back of the giant building, and Klaus can hear the sounds of further merriment happening. There's an ice skating rink, and probably another bar for them to try their luck at, but Klaus isn't quite ready for this moment to end, the two of them lit up by twinkling lights and dusted with snow that doesn't even feel cold. It's beautiful. Romantic, even.

With a sly smile, Klaus turns them so he can back Obi-Wan between two trees, pressing him back against the brick wall of the building so that Klaus can lean against him, reaching up to cup his cheek as he brings their mouths together in a kiss.

It's suddenly much more private than Obi-Wan had earlier assumed, two trees closing them in from either side, the cool brick of the building at his back. Klaus is warm against his front and his hands fall to Klaus's hips to pull him closer still, deepening the kiss with his lips parted and his eyes closed.

At some point, he thinks, this must become much more normal. At some point he'll stop considering how unlikely a life this is for him every time they kiss or he'll stop marvelling at how much things have changed with a simple shift in the scenery.

There is so much life to be had here. Not only with Klaus, but he's certainly a big part of that, and Obi-Wan feels something clench inside of him as they kiss, something he knows he hasn't felt in a very long time. He slides his hands up Klaus's sides, feeling the lace under his palms, and then he breaks the kiss, only to press his lips to Klaus's cheek, the edge of his jaw, the skin just in front of his ear.

Klaus had been expecting a quick kiss, something sweet and playful while they're still hidden from everyone else, but then Obi-Wan pulls him closer and the kiss changes into something a little more than that, something that draws every single bit of Klaus's focus. His hand slides into Obi's jacket to curl around his hip.

It's so easy to fall into these deep, drugging kisses with Obi-Wan. Each and every kiss with him is something to be treasured, but sometimes Klaus can get so lost in them, until he's shivering from the force of all that he's feeling.

"You're such a good kisser," is how he vocalizes this once Obi-Wan breaks away to kiss across his face, but it doesn't feel like enough. Nothing he could say feels like it would be enough, so instead he reaches up to take Obi's chin between his thumb and forefinger and turn his head so that they can kiss again, and Klaus can coax Obi's mouth open with a sweep of his tongue, groaning as his other hand dips under the hem of Obi's shirt just to feel soft, warm skin beneath his fingertips.

"To be under your tutelage has certainly helped," Obi-Wan answers, though some of the words are lost against Klaus's mouth and his tongue. He's never had much experience, they both know this, and it isn't as if he's practiced kissing much or even given it a great deal of thought. For so long, he expected never to bother with it again. After Satine died, he had felt like nothing of the sort would ever happen again.

But he likes kissing Klaus, likes getting himself lost in the kisses and living in the moment, thinking of nothing else but how he feels.

His arm slips around Klaus, palm spread between his shoulder blades, and he sighs into the kiss. There are people nearby, but not close enough that he's concerned about being interrupted and even if they were near enough, Obi-Wan could send them on their way with ease.

The sentiment makes Klaus smile into the kiss, although he isn't sure how much influence he's had. From their very first night together, when they both foolishly thought it would just be a hook up, Obi-Wan has been astounding at everything they've done.

But this, just kissing, has never felt so good.

Klaus slides his hand along Obi's throat, framing Obi's strong jaw with his thumb before curling his hand around the back of Obi's neck to keep him there so Klaus can keep on kissing him. He pulls away only to change the angle and press their mouths together again, humming softly as he deepens it. He doesn't pull away until he has to take a breath, and he tightens his grip on the back of Obi-Wan's neck as he presses their foreheads together.

"You're so much more fun than any party," Klaus breathes out, like it's some grand admission. Knowing him, it probably is.

The compliment makes Obi-Wan chuckle warmly against Klaus's mouth and he presses another kiss to his lips, pleased and comfortable and utterly content to stay right here if he didn't think they would eventually be caught and dragged back to the party.

He feels the same, of course. Parties have never been something he's felt particularly comfortable attending, because while he can play the part required of him for it, he's always had other things on his mind. Other things he had felt were more important responsibilities and while he certainly has some responsibilities here, it's not remotely the same.

For what feels like the first time in perhaps his entire life, Obi-Wan is thinking about himself. It feels selfish, so terribly selfish, something he still struggles with on a daily basis, but he hopes he doesn't ever let it colour how he is with Klaus. Instead he wraps his arms tighter around him and pulls him close, pressing kisses against the skin of his shoulder through the lace of his shirt.

The longer they stay like this, tucked away and pressed together while swapping sweet, eager kisses, the more Klaus feels a heat building that has nothing to do with any sort of spiked drink. It's Obi's calloused hands and soft mouth, the way he holds Klaus like he's something precious yet unbreakable all at once, that's driving the heat this time, making him want.

Klaus presses his palm to the rough brick behind Obi-Wan and tips his head back a little, resisting the urge to lift his skirt and rub himself against Obi-Wan's well fitted trousers, right here at the edge of this party. Instead he cups Obi's chin again, lifting it until he can press their mouths together in a lingering kiss.

"Let's try our hand at the outdoor bar," Klaus says between kisses, sliding his hand up the front of Obi's shirt, fingers trailing through the soft hair on his chest. "And if we still don't get the fun drinks, we can go back to that room and make our own heat." He smiles against Obi-Wan's mouth and drags his thumb over Obi's nipple, pinching it sharply between thumb and forefinger as he nips at Obi's bottom lip. "Sound good?"