Luke watched her move closer, warily, like an animal willing to be tamed but allowed to run feral for years and uncertain whether he was facing friend or foe. At her question, he laughed shortly, surprised into the sound.
"That's one way to put it," he said slowly. He wondered, absurdly, how Ben would have reacted if he'd said these things all those years ago on Tatooine. Not that it had ever occurred to him to do to--Obi-Wan Kenobi had been a crazy old hermit, not a legend, and had meant something more like a father to him than anything else. He wondered why Rey was different. He wondered if it was something he should worry about. He certainly wasn't going to give in, because he was the adult here and he knew what happened when Jedi gave into their emotions.
Or was it that he knew what happened when they didn't?
His brow furrowed at the intrusive thought. Not that he'd encountered this exact issue before, but what was the lesson to be drawn? Which experience was the right one to look to, the one where denial of connection led to anger and loss of compassion, or the one where being too close to a person blinded him to the complexity of their darkness?
"But that, I can almost understand," he spoke, mouth deciding for him not to think about either. "No matter how inappropriate, no one could ever call me crazy for thinking you beautiful or... or blame me for, however unconsciously, desiring a connection." He shook his head. "My pulse notwithstanding, why yours should be affected is a mystery."
no subject
"That's one way to put it," he said slowly. He wondered, absurdly, how Ben would have reacted if he'd said these things all those years ago on Tatooine. Not that it had ever occurred to him to do to--Obi-Wan Kenobi had been a crazy old hermit, not a legend, and had meant something more like a father to him than anything else. He wondered why Rey was different. He wondered if it was something he should worry about. He certainly wasn't going to give in, because he was the adult here and he knew what happened when Jedi gave into their emotions.
Or was it that he knew what happened when they didn't?
His brow furrowed at the intrusive thought. Not that he'd encountered this exact issue before, but what was the lesson to be drawn? Which experience was the right one to look to, the one where denial of connection led to anger and loss of compassion, or the one where being too close to a person blinded him to the complexity of their darkness?
"But that, I can almost understand," he spoke, mouth deciding for him not to think about either. "No matter how inappropriate, no one could ever call me crazy for thinking you beautiful or... or blame me for, however unconsciously, desiring a connection." He shook his head. "My pulse notwithstanding, why yours should be affected is a mystery."