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Obi-Wan hated shopping for gifts. For any of the adults he knew and was close to, he always got them a gift card to their favorite store. It might not be the most thoughtful of gifts, but shopping for others seriously stressed him out.
But he couldn't really give his four year-old niece and nephew gift cards for their birthday.
So he made sure, two whole weeks before Luke and Leia's fourth birthday party, that he left his Saturday morning free from any appointments, chores or errands.
That morning he woke up, dressed, made sure he had his wallet and keys and headed to... the mall.
Of course Luke had been simple to buy for, and Leia was incredibly difficult. That mirrored their entire beings. And the reality was, Luke would be happy with whatever you brought him, but Leia rarely liked gifts she hadn't picked out herself. She was far too much like her father in that regard.
Luke loved to build. He loved to make and tinker and construct and destroy. He loved to create. So Obi-Wan went to the first toy store in the mall he saw and found a couple of fun-looking lego sets that he was sure Luke didn't already have.
So then there was just Leia to get for. Obi-Wan had finished finding Luke's gift within 10 minutes of getting to the mall.
So Leia's gift shouldn't be too hard to find, right?
Of course, those were his famous last thoughts.
Leia was currently obsessed with Penguins.
Padme and Anakin often took their children to the local zoo for weekend outings. The family owned a yearly pass, and both children loved to see the animals.
A new exhibit had opened six months ago: a new penguin exhibit. Padme had taken Luke and Leia the weekend after it had opened and Leia had fallen in love with the flightless birds.
Ever since then, everything she talked about was penguins. It was always “Penguins waddle like this and it is so cute” this, or “Unca Obi, did you know that the Emperor Penguins are the biggest? They're not my favorite though. I said they kind of look like Mommy's boss, that scary Palpa-tin man, but Daddy said that wasn't nice”, that.
Everything was about penguins to Leia. She begged to see them every weekend, and had started printing pictures of them off the internet and taping them all over the walls of her room. Penguins were all she drew, and even her parents were only able to get her to eat if they could justify a penguin would eat that food too.
So naturally Padme had suggested that Obi-Wan give Leia something penguin related. Maybe a toy set or a stuffed animal.
But there were no penguins anywhere.
He'd now been at the mall for hours. This was the fourth store he'd had to try. He'd even gone to Target before heading to this expensive, booshie toy store.
Apparently, there had been some dancing penguin film that had come out in theaters recently and small children had gone wild over it, which meant anything penguin was difficult to find.
Obi-Wan was worried he'd have to result in buying something online. Perish the thought.
Obi-Wan hated online shopping more than shopping at the mall! He hated relying on computers and the internet for anything. He hated giving out his personal information online, he hated the anxiety of waiting for his purchase to be delivered, and he hated not being able to pick up and see the object he was going to buy. He hated online shopping.
But Obi-Wan was also a realist. If he couldn't find something that would suit here, he would look online. He loved his niece too much to give up if there was nothing at this last store that would work.
Having to purchase the gift online wouldn't be the ideal solution, but at least he still had 2 weeks to wait for shipping if this last store was a bust. It would be nice to find something and just have this ordeal over with.
He walked around the store, looking at various, overpriced, toys. There were beautiful, detailed dollhouses and massive, realistic farm sets that looked like they wouldn't be out of place in a millionaire's home.
He would have never thought to step foot in a store like this before, but the aesthetics of some of the toys actually quite suited Leia's tastes (who seemed to be endlessly enthralled with anything her politician mother's well-dressed, rich, politician friends liked).
Most of the toys were too expensive for his under-paid university-professor salary. But towards the back there was a display filled with different sized, beautiful stuffed animals.
The display was set on a layered circular-tiered pyramid. Different types of animals decorated the different levels, the very smallest of toys at the top and the larger ones at the bottom.
He circled around the display and caught sight of a soft, fuzzy, realistic-looking stuffed penguin. It was beautiful. It was sitting in the middle tier, so would probably be priced around fifty dollars, which felt expensive, but not completely out of his price range.
He reached out and grasped the penguin's head, just as another hand closed around the penguin, two hands suddenly clutching at each other.
Obi-Wan blinked and turned towards the other person who was also looking back at him in surprise. “Sorry,” Obi-Wan said uncomfortably, not able to move his left hand from where the other man was grasping it with his right.
“I'm—I'm sorry as well,” the man said in utter shock, in a cheerful-sounding New Zealand accent.
For a moment they stood there frozen, both caught in each other's gazes.
Not that anyone could blame Obi-Wan for his sudden speechlessness, the other man was gorgeous.
“I haven't been able to find any penguin stuffies anywhere,” the other man smiled softly at Obi-Wan.
“Me neither,” Obi-Wan smiled back.
Finally the man seemed to come back to himself and realized he was still clasping Obi-Wan's hand. He let go of Obi-Wan's hand, his own swinging down by his side. “Sorry. Is it for you child?”
“What? No,” Obi-Wan shook his head enthusiastically and lowered his own hand from the penguin. “I don't have any children.”
There was something about this man that drew Obi-Wan in and made him feel tongue-tied. Maybe it was his smile, maybe it was his brown, gentle eyes, or maybe it was the intriguing scar curling around the left side of his face and up around his eye.
“Are you looking for something for your child?” Obi-Wan asked, suddenly concerned.
He didn't see a wedding ring, but that didn't mean the man didn't have a family or significant other.
“No,” the man gave a soft, depreciating laugh. “No, I was looking for something for my little brother. He's been having a rough time lately. He misses New Zealand. We used to take family trips together to go see the penguins on Stewart Island every spring. I thought maybe something like this would comfort him, even if we can't make the trip anymore.”
“That's really sweet,” Obi-Wan bit his lip to keep from smiling too widely.
“What about you?” the man asked with interest.
“What?” Obi-Wan blinked, too busy staring at the other man to make sense of the question.
The other man chuckled. “Why did you want to get the penguin?” He flicked his head towards the realistic-looking stuffed animal, it's tiny black eyes seemed almost as if it was interestedly watching their conversation.
“Oh.” Obi-Wan blushed and tucked his unruly side fringe behind his ear nervously. “My niece's birthday is coming up and she really loves penguins. I thought this would be a really nice gift... But you should take it, I'll keep looking.”
“No, if it's for your niece's birthday, you should take it,” the other man motioned to the penguin. “I can always find Boba something else.”
“But your reason sounds far more important, I'm sorry your brother is having a hard time,” Obi-Wan's brow wrinkled in concern and empathy. “I can always get something else. Your brother sounds like he needs this more.”
The man smiled and looked down, he seemed pleased with Obi-Wan's concern. “He'll be fine. It was just the first thought I had. Maybe I'll take him out for ice cream instead...” He paused for a moment, thinking. “How about this: you buy the penguin, and I get your number?” He asked, putting on his most charming smile. “Then we both get something we need.”
“Th-that works for me,” Obi-Wan stuttered awkwardly, his heart racing in his chest.
The other man got out his phone, opened contacts and handed it over to Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan wrote his name and number down, saving the contract before handing it back to the other man. Their fingers brushed and Obi-Wan felt like his heart was going to burst out of his chest, it was beating that rapidly in excitement.
“Obi-Wan?” The other man looked down at the contact and smiled up at him, “That's a nice name. I'm Cody.”
Obi-Wan tried to keep himself from grinning too widely and was sure he'd failed. “It's nice to meet you Cody. I'd better get this penguin then, I've got another errand to run.” He motioned to the toy, not wanting to leave, but knowing he needed to. He wanted to go home with Cody right now and never leave. But Obi-Wan knew that was a foolish thought. He barely knew this man. There just something about him that made his gut clench in anticipation and his heart race in his chest.
“I'll call you later,” Cody said, taking a step back so Obi-Wan would be able to grab the penguin and head around him, towards the register.
“I'd like that,” Obi-Wan nodded, staring at him for one long moment, so he would be able to remember what he looked like after they parted ways.
He was just about to reach out for the penguin, when a bored-looking retail employee walked by with a few more stuffed animals in her arms and began adding them to the display. One of the animals she added was another penguin that was identical to the one they'd been eying.
They both laughed and each of them picked up one of the penguins.
“I guess this is my lucky day,” Cody grinned, “I get the number of the most gorgeous man I've ever met and I'll be able to get a gift I came for, after all.”
Obi-Wan felt himself blush. “I feel the same.”
Cody put out his hand for Obi-Wan to go ahead of him and they walked over to the register together.