Tea For Two

Chapter Five

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He was not going to kiss her. Dormé had completely given up hope of that happening. Oh well, she thought. Perhaps another day. She was hot in the cloak, so she took it off, draping it across her arm. They had seen the exotic birds, the reptiles and tried again to see the large cats. The cats were all mating, so they'd decided to skip them completely.

Obi-Wan wanted to see the arachnids. Dormé wasn't particularly thrilled with the arachnids until she noticed how dark the building was. Inside, she snuggled close, ignoring the spiders for the most part. Obi-Wan put his arm around her and she sighed, resting against him. There was such a lean strength to his body. She could lean against him all day and not tire of it.

Dormé stared at the glass cage at the end of the row, wondering just where the spider in that one was. It had to be a strange kind of spider because she couldn't see it in there. Maybe it was one that changed colors? A chameleon spider. She squinted, and felt the tickling of Obi-Wan's fingers on her side. He touched her waist, slid up to the lower edge of her shirt, then along the strip of fabric that connected the top and skirt.

She smiled. Maybe she shouldn't give up hope for a kiss just yet. The movement of his fingers was soft and tickling. Teasing, she decided was an apt word for it. There was just enough pressure for her to feel it, yet not enough that it was groping. Dormé imagined what would happen next as she continued to stare at the glass cage. He was going to slip his hand beneath the fabric, then turn slightly, managing in the process to encircle her with that arm. His other arm would go around her or perhaps he'd touch her face like he had before those children had come along. That would be nice. And then....

She blinked, squinting at the cage again. It looked like the lid was off the top of it.

Oh well, no matter. Obi-Wan was going to kiss her. She could tell by the way his fingers stroked her side.

"That is one huge spider," he said, bringing his arm from around her and pointing at the glass where a particularly ugly and furry brand of arachnid rested. "I don't think I've ever seen one so ugly."

Okay, his arm was no longer around her, so how come she still felt his hand on her side?

She gulped. "Obi-Wan? Is that a spider on my side?" She stayed very still. She wasn't close enough to read the description of the spider in that last cage, but with her luck, it was poisonous. "Tell me it isn't."

He turned his head, immediately looking for the cause of her distress. He found it as soon as he stepped behind her.

"Oh dear."

The words did not put her at ease. Nor did his cautious tone.

"All right, Dormé, don't move."

"Get it off me," she squeaked out.

"I'm working on it. Patience."

Patience? Was he crazy? She had a spider on her, as in touching her skin, and he wanted her to be patient? "Get it off me, get it off me."

A minute later, she was out the door, clinging to him and crying, her body shaking. He found a bench and pulled her down onto his lap, holding her close. Dormé buried her face in his neck, sniffling and gulping as she tried to calm down.

"Shh. It's okay." She was shifted on his lap, his efforts to tug her closer scrunching her skirt up on her leg. He grasped bare leg, squeezed. A tiny almost pained noise left his throat as he maneuvered her and Dormé was further mortified by the idea that she must be too heavy for him. The idea was enhanced when he touched her leg again and readjusted her some more.

I'm fat, aren't I, she thought. I'm probably crushing his legs and he's not saying one word about it.

"It wasn't poisonous. It didn't bite you."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive." He examined her side anyway, sweeping his fingers along the skin for several long minutes and pronouncing her bite free. "No bite. You're fine."

For the next half hour, she wondered just how idiotic she'd looked, getting so worked up over a spider. His suggestion of food gave her plenty of time to calm down and regain her composure. He had to think she was a silly typical female, screaming her head off over a simple spider.

By the time it was their turn to order food, she decided there was no point in eating a dainty salad or sandwich. She'd already squashed his legs, so he probably wouldn't be surprised by her appetite. Dormé ordered the biggest burger she could, one that came with all the trimmings and enjoyed every bite.

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Obi-Wan had seen many spiders in his life, but never one quite like that one. It was the size of a man's hand and had inch long fangs. He didn't take the time to read about it, except to note it was extremely poisonous and the venom caused death within seconds of a bite. He was very impressed with Dormé's reaction. She didn't lose her head or anything while in the building, but rather announced fairly calmly what needed done.

The spider, luckily, had dropped from her and scurried into the shadows before he had a chance to squash it. Just as well he hadn't had to touch it.

He settled her onto his lap, accidentally touching her bare leg and 'accidentally' touching it again when she didn't slap his hand away. Accidentally, he thought. Get a grip on yourself. You're truly pathetic, Kenobi. Absolutely and utterly so. Any excuse to get close to her. She sees right through you. Why wouldn't she when you're mewling like a contented kitten when you come into contact with skin?

For that matter, why shouldn't he make such noises? Her skin was silky and smooth. What would it feel like to run his hands all along her legs, from thigh to ankle and back up? He glanced down, noticed he could really see down her shirt the way she was pressed against him. The curve of her right breast appeared about to slip from the confines of the top. If she moved a little more towards him....

Obi-Wan swallowed hard and smiled pleasantly at two women walking by them.

Once she began to calm down, it didn't take long. He felt her relax, the tension slipping away from her. She was rather concerned about being bitten, so he checked her side for bites. Or, far more accurately, he used the excuse of checking for a bite to touch her side. To linger and stroke her skin as he wanted. It was an excuse too. Poor and transparent. She had to be thinking he was being creepy. She was being polite again, not mentioning that he must be making her uncomfortable.

Obi-Wan lifted his hand from her, telling her she wasn't bitten. He hadn't wanted the moment to end, but what could he do?

"Shall we stop and have something to eat? I'm a bit hungry after that adventure." How stupid did that sound? Was she really going to be in the mood for food?

To his surprise, she agreed, and polished off a sandwich of such large proportions that even Anakin would have had trouble eating it all and that boy could eat. He was in awe of her appetite and the fact that she didn't order something small, like a salad. He'd noticed that many women tended to order very little food. Did they think men would think they always ate so little?

Obi-Wan watched her relish the burger as she usually did her pastry at the café. He liked a woman that was not afraid to eat well with him. He liked her more and more.

Briefly, he wondered if Anakin was getting anything done.

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"What do you mean it won't erase?" Padmé's words carried enough panic for about ten people.

Anakin shot his beloved a sulky glare. What did she mean what did he mean? He'd said it plainly hadn't he? The stupid camera wouldn't erase the stupid pictures. They had a full memory card of risqué photos of both of them and the camera wasn't erasing any of them. Nothing he did made them go away.

"Follow the directions."

"I am following them, Padmé. Push this button, highlight delete and click it. It should be working."

"You must be doing something wrong then."

With a snort, he shoved it at her. "Fine. You try it."

"Fine, I will." She didn't have any luck either. "It's stuck or something. Can't you fix it? You fix everything."

"Got a manual for it?" He didn't miss the look of panic on her face. It was almost identical to the one Obi-Wan had gotten when he'd been reading him the funny bits from the holovid manual a couple weeks earlier. He frowned. Why did everyone have that reaction when he had a manual out?

"No. Well...I think Dormé does somewhere."

"Dormé?" He took the camera back and shook it, though he knew very well that shaking it wouldn't change anything. "Why would she have the manual?"

Padmé shrugged miserably. "It's her camera. I just borrowed it last week and hadn't returned it yet."

He blinked, laughed with disbelief. "And you couldn't mention this before we started taking pictures?"

"It worked fine at first." She put her hands on her hips. "It worked fine until you started snapping pictures every two seconds."

"You were snapping pictures just as fast or don't you remember that, milady?"

"Don't put this on me, Anakin. It was your idea."

"You didn't say no," he shot back, then amended, "well, after the first no, you didn't say no." He knew nothing about this brand of camera except the usual point and click. Still, how hard could erasing a few pictures be? It had to be a simple thing that they were just not doing right. Didn't it? "We'll figure it out."

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Once more, Dormé was bored. The zoo wasn't as fun as she remembered it being. The refreshments they'd had made her feel faintly ill and she still wasn't feeling normal after that run-in in the arachnid section. Obi-Wan had been trying to cheer her up since then. They approached a Simian cage. Several of the creatures were close to the bars, jumping about and screeching as they approached. As they watched, the creatures would wait until a person was near and then try and startle them.

Squaring his shoulders, Obi-Wan stepped to the cage, keeping eye contact with one of the creatures. Unlike the previous person, Obi-Wan didn't fall back startled. He turned the tables, taking a stomping step to the bars and growling.

Dormé laughed.

The creatures squawked. He repeated the sequence several times, until none of the animals would return to the bars. Dormé giggled more.

"Um...Excuse me, sir?"

She glanced to her right. Two men stood there. They wore Zoo uniforms and had grave expressions. She exchanged a glance with Obi-Wan, who straightened and smiled. "Hello."

"We're going to have to ask you to leave."

"I beg your pardon?" He tilted his head as though he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Why?"

She didn't believe it herself. Were they really being kicked out of the zoo?

The men looked at the creatures, then at him. "You're scaring the animals. We're going to have to ask you to leave."

In five minutes, they were out the front gates, the two security guards watching them until they'd turned the corner.

"I've never heard of anyone being thrown out of a zoo before," Dormé remarked, resettling her cloak into place about her and realizing, in the process, that she was dangerously close to popping out of her shirt. As quickly as she could, she half turned from Obi-Wan and shoved her curves back under the fabric. They, of course, didn't cooperate, and she was afraid she looked like she was having a seizure as she struggled with the top.

Obi-Wan glanced askance at her and straightened his tunic. "Me either. Apparently it is possible." His glance swept her. "Are you all right?"

"Fine." She dragged the edges of the cloak over her and tried to think up something else for them to do.

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This day was not going well. Suffice it to say, it was the worst date he'd ever had. Dormé was a trooper though. She wasn't nearly as embarrassed about getting thrown out of two places in a single day as he'd thought she'd be. Unfortunately, he couldn't think of another thing for them to do. They'd pretty much run out of options in this area and he didn't think they'd better stop for a few drinks. Who knew what would happen if the two of them got even the slightest bit tipsy. Her dress could start a riot in the bar. He'd have to defend her honor and get them thrown out of a third place in one day. Or worse, Anakin would show up with some of his friends after having snuck out of the Temple and see it happen.

No, that wasn't the worst thing that could happen. The worst thing that could happen would be for all of that, and for a tabloid reporter to be there along with Mace Windu. Obi-Wan's fertile imagination churned out horrible images of that happening. The humiliation would be excruciating.

As he straightened his tunic, he noticed she appeared to be having some sort of wardrobe malfunction. He caught sight of her curves overflowing her shirt before she turned her back. Perhaps he should pretend he didn't notice that she looked like she was having a seizure as she fixed it. Really, did it matter if she overflowed? He certainly wouldn't mind any. But of course, she might be worried about modesty....

In that dress, he drawled to himself. You've got to be kidding, Kenobi.

He held out his arm for his companion. "Shall we stroll for a bit? The evening is warm still."

"A stroll sounds wonderful." She placed her hand in the crook of his arm and they headed for the park nearby.

The park was nice and safe. There was nothing that could get them thrown out and no one to bother them. It would be the perfect place to finally kiss her.

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"You broke it." Padmé hit the on/off button several times, shaking her head as the 'on light' remained on. For the past five minutes, they'd been reassembling the camera and now the power light wouldn't turn off. He thought they'd put it back together right. Guess he was wrong.

"No, technically, you're the one who broke it," he returned, assuming she'd agree with that assessment. After all, it had been her bright idea to take the camera apart in the first place.

Boy was he wrong.

Her glare was icy enough that he felt a cold chill in the air. "How do you figure that... Anakin?"

"Because...." Uh-oh. Angry wife high noon. He took in her darkening expression and decided he'd better diffuse her fast. Come up with something .... It was admirable to tell the truth, but somehow he knew that reminding her it had been her idea would get him in bigger trouble than he'd ever been in. And he might lose his other hand. Or something else. She had that dangerous gleam going on in her eyes. Not good. Not good at all. He had a bad feeling about this. "Because... it...uh... took pictures of you and wants to hold on to them so much that it's fighting losing them."

Her eyes narrowed, lips tightening.

"Because you told me...."

Now she was reaching for her real robe, that big heavy fuzzy one that covered her neck to floor and made her look twice as wide as she really was when she had it fastened. Once she got that on, he knew there'd be no coaxing it off of her.

Suck it up, he thought. Just admit it whether it's true or not. You did it, it's all your fault. Spit it out before she decides you shouldn't bother sneaking in the next time you're back on Coruscant. "Okay, I broke it, but it's nothing to worry about." He smiled at her, turning on the charm as best he could with that sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Come on, Padmé, cut me some slack here. Relax. Come back to bed. Let's get rid of that cold chill in the air.

"What if she sees the pictures?"

Yeah, that could be embarrassing. Thank heavens he wouldn't be here when that happened. "Then we come clean and admit to it. She knows we're married. She won't think a thing of it." He hoped.

Gradually, Padmé relaxed, climbing back on the bed and against him. "I don't like lying to her."

"We won't lie," he told her in a soothing tone. "We'll just...not tell the entire truth unless she asks." That was okay, right?

"Okay, but I'm buying her a new camera. First thing tomorrow."

Whatever makes you happy, he thought to himself, running a hand along her side. Her skin was so silky. Anakin could run his hands over her all day and not get tired of it. His glance turned across the room to the refresher. They should take a shower. They were all sweaty. A shower would be good. He could slide his hands over her some more and make the last little bit of her irritation over the camera melt away.

Shower, here we come.

Padmé readily agreed with that plan and he made sure to spend an extra long time smoothing the soap over her body. It wasn't until they were drying off that he realized it was the exact same scent as her perfume. He had it all over him too. Anakin sniffed at his arm. The delicate fragrance smelled sinful on his wife, but it didn't smell that good on him. Oh great. How was he going to explain that to Obi-Wan? He could almost see his Master's raised brows and hear him asking what in blazes he'd done this time?

His beloved distracted him with a kiss and he followed her back to bed once more, banishing the image of Obi-Wan from his mind.

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The park was dark, with lovely shadows to linger in. Dormé was pleasantly surprised when Obi-Wan tugged her into the first shadowed copse they found and drew her close.

"Have I mentioned how pretty you look today," he asked, maneuvering her in his arms so that she was embraced quite snugly.

The heat from his body washed over her and she slid her hands up his arms to clasp behind his neck. She let her thumbs ruffle his hair a little as she waited for him to go on. If they didn't kiss soon, she thought she'd explode from wanting. "Oh, you mentioned it once."

"I must say it again, Dormé." There was a grin on his lips and an intriguing twinkle in his eyes. It was mischievous and warm. "You look absolutely lovely."

"You're not so bad yourself."

"Are you saying I look pretty?"

She smiled, tilting her head a fraction in invitation. His glance dipped to her lips.

He kissed her.

It was everything she had dreamed of.... Well, it could have been if not for the voice she heard just as he began to deepen their kiss.

"All right, don't move. Here's what's going to happen. Give me all of your valuables and don't try anything stupid."