locomo | (no subject)

[He doesn't like Soresu. He can appreciate it, some parts of that form have saved his neck, and Obi-Wan's mastery of it is like nothing else. But it always relies on too much waiting, all of the ebb and none of the flow. It asks the practitioner to guard and parry instead of lunge, to have to sit through an entire heartbeat- and Anakin can't separate that much of himself from a fight. It's a solid form and one he insisted that Ahsoka drill until she could do it in her sleep.

But he doesn't like it.
Because Obi-Wan can be so smug.

Anakin turns his saber over his hand for a second time, the blue glow catching along the ungloved plates of his arm. His stance opens, becomes a slow pacing around his target.] Don't you think it's a little early to be so cocky?

If you can't keep up, I can go easy on you.

[ The reply is on his tongue before he even has time to think about it, as easy as breathing. It would almost surprise him, if not just for how strange the last few months have been both here and in his own universe. But here they are, falling into grooves well worn over thirteen years. It feels more like home than the literal house next to him.

Obi-Wan shifts his stance but remains as he is, following Anakin with his outstretched hand and his eyes. As the other Jedi starts to move around behind him, the gold inlay of his durasteel arm reflecting that plasma blue glow, Obi-Wan adjusts to keep them facing one another without altering his defensive stance.

He won't make the first strike. He knows if he waits long enough, Anakin will come to him. He just needs to remain steady. ]

[He's developed many new skills in these last few years, and taking himself through the motions is one of them. Anakin doesn't feel like the person he's supposed to be- the shift in the war, the vision, arriving here and all of the revelations that came after-

How far is he from the man he'd been when he was knighted? How far from the one that used to laugh through training matches or the one who quipped back and forth while fighting Sith lords? Anakin treats the question like a blind spot; a perpetual haze that his attention slides away from, that fades into the background. Like so many times before, Anakin's body takes the lead. His feet guide him from one moment to the next on both instinct and honed muscle memory.

But that's all he does.
Anakin doesn't strike, doesn't lunge forward- because he knows Obi-Wan's expecting it, and this fight already has him at a disadvantage. He doesn't want to be the only one of them feeling wrong-footed and frustrated.]

How can I keep up- [Anakin's grip loosens, his fingers slowly come away from the hilt until he isn't holding it at all. Until his hands are loose and empty at his sides- and the lightsaber remains where he'd left it. Fixed to the air as his guard.] -When you aren't going anywhere?

[ Obi-Wan doesn't hide the way his eyes widen. Not because what Anakin is doing is new, but because it's new in this context. But as soon as the moment begins, it shifts. Anakin has always had the distinct talent of goading Obi-Wan, even when Obi-Wan is trying his hardest to remain impartial and even and calm. The surprise filters from his expression and morphs into something focused and curious. What are you planning? his eyes ask as his mouth ticks up in the corners. ]

Perhaps you need another lesson in keeping still.

[ He teases as he makes the first move. It's a test, more than anything else. To see if Anakin will call the saber back to his hand, or if he's feeling particularly cheeky and intends to let the Force do the work for him. ]

[He stays aware of it, his lightsaber, but Anakin's eyes don't remain there and he isn't keeping one hand frozen in place either. It looks as if his blade is held by some invisible hand, an invisible hand that doesn't move into a block. Instead the blade moves with Anakin himself, stepping neatly, tightly out of the way as if he were dodging blaster bolts.]

Well I know how much you like waiting.

[The words are sing-songy for their tease, familiar banter in an unfamiliar situation. His hands fold into a tidy parade rest, and when he feels the next swing coming both he and the lightsaber dodge for a second time.

In Anakin's experience- Soresu is all about defence, down to the bones. This isn't to say it can't be used by a duelist, Obi-Wan has faced darksiders more times than he can count. But Anakin is demanding something different from him. He wants to push Obi-Wan into going on the offensive.]

I've always told you that patience could be your greatest ally.

[ Anakin has become proficient over the years. His instincts in the Force have been honed to needle point, a kind of alert precision that rivals — if not surpasses entirely &mdahs; Obi-Wan's own. He isn't swinging his saber so much as teasing; swatting at his former Padawan like his whole heart isn't in it.

And it isn't. Soresu is his preferred form, and he has learned over the years (in part with Anakin himself) how to create an impenetrable barrier. But that sort of thing doesn't always work in a duel, and Anakin knows his style like he knows his very own. It's why when they spar these days, they are evenly matched — especially if Anakin is feeling sure and calm.

It seems like this might be one of those times.

Obi-Wan feints, comes in with a classic Form Three move, but shifts in the middle of it and alters directly into Four. Suddenly on the offensive after testing Anakin's reflexes, he comes in low. ]

[He has always said that. And Anakin has always chafed against it. It isn't a matter he takes personally, how can he? In the entire time Anakin's been among the Jedi they've insisted on talking, listening, waiting, watching, meditating. And it's not as if he doesn't understand where they're coming from, but too often do they let these ideals matter more than justice. Too often they refuse to go as far as they need to, they let status quo reign even when the status quo is terrible.

It's the reason Anakin has never been able to make the leap. To be the Jedi Obi-Wan wishes he could be, that he'd trained him to be. His former Master makes another requisite swing, half-heartedly providing Anakin with something to do. The strikes lack both effort and power, cutting too slowly through the air to present any true threat. Some part of it rankles, to not be taken seriously, and Anakin's jaw closes. His teeth click.

And finally, Obi-Wan shifts. It's more like a swipe than anything else, and Anakin recognizes it as a move meant not to take an opponent out at the ankles, but to force a shifting of weight. To shake up a stance. Instead of reaching for his own lightsaber and trying to block or counter- he backflips neatly, swinging his body up and out to land a short distance away.]

So what, I should patiently wait for you to wear yourself out first?

[ Anakin dodges back with a nimble flip, and Obi-Wan finds himself smiling before his former Padawan even lands. He straightens up and gestures wide with both hands, swinging the humming blue plasma out to the side, completely opening up his chest to attack. ]

Ah, so you have retained some of my lessons.

[ There's a cheekiness in the bante and in the glimmer of his eyes. That's precisely what Soresu is designed to do, and is the kind of thing that works exceptionally well against volatile opponents. It's also the sort of thing Obi-Wan has used in the past when Anakin is riding high, and needs an outlet to batter against. Come to think of it, he hasn't seen Anakin like that in a little while. Had that been an early warning sign too?

But he isn't thinking about that right now. Right now, he's looking at that cocky smirk on Anakin's face and realizing how much he'd missed it. Alright, so it's time to get serious.

With a sudden hop forward, he spins for momentum and brings his saber around horizontally with both hands on the hilt. ]

[It's much flashier than their fights ever are. Sparring with Obi-Wan had often been a matter of exhausting himself working his way into the man's defences. Of finally being able to push through only to end up disarmed or spent. It's been a long time since then. But already there are beats of this fight that default to those days. That snapshot of who they were.

He's aware of Obi-Wan as an extension of himself, a movement in two parts, and that must be why he knows where to be. What to do. His friend hops forward, always surprisingly light on his feet, and slashes. Anakin dips, spine bowing as he ducks beneath the blow; the lightsaber cuts through empty air.

But now that he's dropped his center of gravity, there's no reason Obi-Wan shouldn't have to follow suit. Anakin rises just long enough to drop a second time, now kicking out with one foot in an attempt to pull Obi-Wan's weight out from under him.]

[ They've had years of practice together, and Obi-Wan has had the single, fulfilling sensation of watching Anakin improve over time. Gone are the days when Obi-Wan could end the fight in three quick moves — now they are matched perfectly. It isn't a spar so much as it is a dance.

Anakin sinks underneath his saber, drops to kick his leg out. Obi-Wan flips over his lowered center of gravity and lands on one foot, flips his saber over to swing overhead and down onto his friend. They are still in the testing phase, checking one another's guards and nimbleness.

But more than that is the movement of them in the Force. Each time they come together Obi-Wan brushes up against his signature. That alone isn't unusual, they have done plenty of moving meditation together — but they have had so little time to spend in one another's company without something universe ending going on around them. Obi-Wan is keenly aware of the way it is just the two of them in this sparring circle. ]

[He feels his breath, warm and alive inside his lungs, moving though body like water- like a tide that goes all the way to his feet and then goes out. Back into Obi-Wan.

Anakin kicks out at nothing because Obi-Wan has started ignoring gravity again. His friend leaps, nimble and infuriatingly light, and his balance seems to change in the air. Obi-Wan swings down onto him and instead of making any effort to get out of the way, Anakin brings his lightsaber up and meets it. Pushes to his feet and in doing so, forces Obi-Wan's momentum to reverse.

Their signatures connect and just like that, Anakin is a brushfire, alight everywhere.]