tramitem_comm | Texts sent to Ben Kenobi

For this? As soon as you are and she is.

>> Elizabeth is with me this week. I don't want to assume we can take your Holiday plans, but if you're free before Thanksgiving, so are we.

My plans up until the holiday are wide open. What time and which day?

>> We both have the whole week off
>> Work for me, school for Elizabeth
>> So whatever time and day works best for you

How about Wednesday at 2?

>> That works.

It worked for him, too.

He showed up on time, sans bottle of wine - or other gift, this time - and showed up in jeans and sneakers with a Grpahic Tee and jacket, knocked on the door and absolutely refused to be nervous.

He was nervous anyway, but mostly because what meeting Elizabeth meant, rather than of meeting Elizabeth.

Bail was quick to get to the door when Ben arrived, but not as quick as his daughter. She was just a few seconds ahead of him.

So it was Elizabeth who actually opened the door.

Dark hair, dark eyes, she was very clearly Bail’s daughter. And of course, the same girl that featured in most of the family pictures scattered throughout Bail’s home.

“Are you Ben?” she asked, looking up at him. Was it skepticism in her expression or curiosity? At the least, she didn't appear outwardly hostile.

Bail entered the scene at this point. He pulled the door wider, smiling at Ben to reassure him. “Yes, this is Ben. Ben, this is Elizabeth.”

The look Ben gives Bail when asked if he's Ben is a little bit bewildered, but not in a way that's lacking amusement. He appreciates the introduction, though.

He flashes a smile at her once he's inside. "Yes, I'm Ben. Do you shake hands or would you rather just stick with the contact free introduction?"

Elizabeth, without prompting from her father, extended her hand for Ben to shake. The gesture was a bit sharp, be she looked up at Ben expectantly, still with no malice on her face.

"Once you're both done with introductions," Bail said. "I thought maybe we could go to Rockafeller Square."

Everyone here liked to skate and this was quite a public place with many options for food nearby. In Bail's mind, it seemed like a perfect, low-key way to spend the afternoon getting to know each other.

He's happy to shake her hand, firm and adult but not so firm and adult it was likely to be... overbearing. Just a handshake and a, "It's a pleasure; I've been looking forward to meeting you."

Then Bail got an outright grin from him. "All right, but if you're pulling a limo out from somewhere I need to change clothes." Total tease, that, and he hopes the grin shows that. He's actually really really happy. Skating, food, out, lower pressure for out-

"Oh, that's what I forgot," Bail said, playing into the joke. "I forgot to tell the driver to bring around the limo."

Elizabeth looked from her father to Ben with confusion, not getting the joke. Grown-ups.

"We can stop by your place and you can pick up your skates?"

He looks down and flashes a smile. "Good idea. What happens when I'm using rental skates is almost as embarrassing as when I use new ones." Not joking, actually, though he says it in good humor. "Maybe between the pair of us we can get your dad to keep working on a jump?"

"Go up and grab your skates," Bail said to Elizabeth, and at the same time he waived Ben in. The car was out back anyway so they'd have to go through the house to get to it.

By the time the door was shut, Elizabeth was up the stairs, and Bail felt he could lean and give Ben a kiss.

"Thank you," he said, and then he added optimistically, "It's going well so far, I think." And he hoped Ben saw it that way, too.

He returned the kiss without more than the slightest amount of caution, and that slight amount was probably the appropriate amount to keep it quick and keep an ear open for Elizabeth.

"I think so, too, and I think going out to do something is a stroke of genius." Bail was smart. Really smart. One of many things Ben loved about him.

"Hmm," Bail said, appraising Ben. "What comforts you more? That this isn't my first rodeo or that as a therapist that does work with families, I generally know good ideas for these sorts of situations?"

He stops for a moment and considers that, but without any real discomfort and his smile stays in place. "That it isn't your first rodeo, I think, but you could just let me stick with appreciating that you're smart."

"I wanted to make sure the I'd earned the compliment," Bail said.

But he didn't have a chance to say anything more because Elizabeth came racing down the stairs with the exuberance typical of a child her age. Coat and hat already on, backpack over her shoulder, and curiously, a simple notebook in her other hand.

"Okay, I'm ready." She looked between the two adults, but mostly at her dad.

Bail moved to the entryway closet and pulled out his own jacket.

"Okay," he said to his daughter, nodding towards the way through the house to the back where the car was parked. Elizabeth skipped ahead of them.

Then Bail nodded for Ben to head in the same direction.

He startles a little at the sound of Elizabeth on the stairs, then takes a deep breath and steadies.

He tilts his head slightly at the look, but mostly shuts up and heads out behind her to move through the house and to the car. "Do we have a plan beyond fun and working on your jump?" he asked, at some point.

Only so much silence he could stand without getting tense again.

That was good, because after they pulled out of the driveway, Elizabeth opened her mouth and made the non-silence tense.

"I have a few questions I want to ask you, Ben."

Had she timed it so they were all trapped in the car before she dropped that bomb? Or was it spur of the moment?

Bail's eyes flicked worriedly to the image of his daughter in the rearview mirror and then to Ben, a clear indication that he hadn't seen this coming.

"Uh..." he said, searching for a way to make this not spoil the day. "Only if Ben is comfortable answering questions-" he glanced at Ben. "You can say no."

He gave Bail a mildly alarmed, wide-eyed look but recovered quickly enough and pivoted some to be able to glance at Elizabeth.

"Hit me, but you only get twenty."

"I only need twenty," should have been the first indication this might be a tough interrogation.

"Did you like going to the Olympics?"

Bail had been bracing for something much more brutal. He glanced at Ben, hoping this was okay.

He was prepared for something a lot more brutal, too. This one was almost easy.

"I liked going a lot. It was stressful, but I had a lot of fun and met a lot of really interesting people."

She pulled a pen out of her bag and jotted something down in her notebook, but she propped up her knee so what it was couldn't easily be seen. This had Bail furrowing his brow a bit, but he was trying to be a safe driver focused on the road.

"Why did you quit competing?"

Her taking notes was disconcerting but it seemed so much like Bail - though Bail don't you dare start taking notes of conversations - it was a little bit endearing all the same.

"Because my back and knees couldn't take the rigorous training at that level anymore, and I wanted to quit while I could still skate at all."

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