Archive: M/A. But if anyone else would like it, please ask.
Category: Very mild angst, Point of View
Rating: PG
Series: #3 in The Rubaiyat of Obi-Wan Kenobi series, following
Jedi and Roses, not that it's required to have read (or
remember <g>) any of it.
Summary: "What comes with the wind, disappears with the rain."
Feedback: Yes, please.
And thanks to elynross, for once again doing the beta for me.
The news flashed through the dining hall quicker than a saber
could ignite. Every initiate, every Padawan in that room,
gulped down the rest of the meal as one and headed out to the
posting board to see the exam results.
With all my heart I focused myself on pulling strength from the
Force. Please, I thought. Let me have passed.
As I said before, poetry has never been my strong point.
Qui-Gon and I were due to leave the temple soon. We'd rushed
this exam, talking Master Hui'ta into letting me take it early
so I wouldn't have to take it remotely. Considering that the
rest of the classes were only a few weeks beyond where I was in
my independent studies, Master Hui'ta had agreed and bundled me
into the poetry and literature class, provided that I did extra
work to catch up.
I have never seen Qui-Gon look so pleased. He was no longer
responsible for that part of my lessons. I made him suffer,
though, reading each poem aloud to him as it was composed.
I guess I have something of a sadistic streak in me. I'd never
want to see anyone come to actual harm, particularly not
Qui-Gon, but if he was going to give me extra meditation time
for breaking a jar of honey I was going to force him to listen
to my poetry, bad as it was.
Besides, it was his fault I'd broken the jar. How was I
supposed to concentrate when he was standing right next to me
and almost naked? I wanted to do him right then, I swear, and
instead I got to do concentration meditations and poetry
lessons. *ugh*
At least if I screwed up badly enough, he'd read the poem aloud
for me, and that always added to my fantasy life. Some of those
things I'd never imagined him being able to say -- like 'my
love,' for example -- I now had a mental holograph of that I
could just reverse and play.
For my fantasies, I still preferred 'suck my cock,' even though
I had never heard him say that.
The crowd around the reader board was incredible. I couldn't
see a thing through all the other bodies, so I decided to step
back a bit and wait; the crowd would thin soon enough.
Bant was standing at the back and waved me over when she saw I
wasn't going to try to shoulder my way through the crowd.
"We're going out tonight," she said loud enough to be heard
over the rumbled mutterings of the group clustered around the
reader board. "There's ten or so of us. Ask your Master if you
can come."
"Sure." I grinned at her, stepping in close so neither of us
would have to shout. "What's the plan?"
"Well, it's either celebration, or drowning your sorrows time,
depending on marks." She looked at the reader board and
squinted as if trying to read what was displayed. "Looks like
Celat will be coming. She's finally passed linear math."
Celat? My ears pricked up at the thought. She was D'aman, a
bi-pedal humanoid, dark brown eyes, soft lips, and from what I
could see, a curvaceous body covered in short, reddish-gold
fur.
I wanted to know if that fur covered her everywhere.
Bant whapped me lightly on the arm.
"Hey!" I jerked back from her. "What was that for?"
"I know you, Obi-Wan Kenobi." She smirked -- well, it would
have been a smirk if she'd been human. "You were thinking how
far that fur went."
"Have you picked up mind-reading lately?"
"No, but you have a one track mind. I wonder how your Master
manages to get you to do your lessons at all."
"We do all right." Her words stung. I wasn't that obvious, was
I? I thought about other things than sex...sometimes.
She poked me in the ribs. "Good thing he's so focused, that's
all I can say. My Master would never let me get away with what
your Master does."
I poked her in the ribs. "Well, if my Master is too focused,
your Master is too sympathetic. He spends all his time
listening to other people problems."
She blinked. "Are you saying he's a gossip?"
"Are you saying that my Master is oblivious?" I countered.
She shrugged. "Maybe a little."
"Well, there you have it." I folded my arms. "Your Master is a
little bit of a gossip."
"Oh, yeah?" She poked me again.
"Yeah." I poked her back.
Poke and counter-poke; she cracked first, the skin around her
nose-slits wrinkling in pleasure as her eyes sparkled with
amusement. "Come on," she said, gesturing at the reader board,
"the crowd's gone."
We found a space up front, and each of us looked up course work
and title. Bant found her course rankings quickly -- top third
in each of her classes. A new group surged around us just as
she found her last one and pushed her aside in their haste to
get to the board; she gestured that she would meet me at the
back when I was done.
The poetry and literature class was larger than most; I found
my name about halfway down. Not distinguished, but not failing.
Good enough.
I felt the crowd around me parting, and then a firm hand was
laid on my shoulder. "Well done, Padawan."
I turned around and met my Master's eyes, a small smile gracing
his lips. "This calls for a celebration. Why don't I take you
out to dinner?" He held up his hand to forestall my comments.
"Don't worry, any place of your choosing. I won't subject you
to my tastes tonight."
I glanced over at Bant, who was giving me the 'ask him' signal.
"Uhm, Master...." for some reason, my chest felt tight, and my
throat was dry. Qui-Gon never offered such things, yet...Celat.
How could I... "Bant asked...I mean, that is, a group of
us...."
The light in his eyes died, and he stepped back putting his
hands in his sleeves again. "Your friends. Of course, I should
have thought." He straightened again and looked over to where
Bant was standing. "If she is your partner, Obi-Wan, I would
appreciate knowing that."
My jaw dropped. "Bant?" I looked back to where she was
practically bouncing on the balls of her feet, waiting to hear
whether I could go with them tonight or not. Pale-skinned and
gangly, her silver eyes wide with excitement, Bant wasn't quite
what I wanted in a partner. I liked women with curves and men
with planes, and Bant had neither. She was more than a brief
flirtation to me; she was my best friend. "She's like a sister
to me, Master, that's all. A younger sibling. Not my partner."
I shifted uncomfortably. "I don't have one at the moment,
Master. I'd tell you if I did."
His voice was distant when he responded, a teacher's voice, not
the one that had asked me to dinner. "It's important that I
know these things, Obi-Wan. I wish to treat your partners with
respect, and I'm afraid...I might not be as aware as I could be
of what your relationships are."
Something about the way he said that shook me. What could he
be--?
Oh.
The sheets. I could feel myself blushing and could not look at
him. I'd had lovers, yes, but I had none at the moment. They
weren't really what I'd call partners, anyway; more just
friends with whom I happened to fool around. Most of the time,
it didn't last beyond the first couple of weeks; I wasn't
looking for more than a bit of fun, and all of
my...lovers...understood that. I'm sure my Master would, as
well.
It wasn't the sex that made me uncomfortable...okay, maybe it
was, just a bit. Something in Qui-Gon's attitude had changed,
and I wasn't sure how to deal with that. He seemed to be
distancing himself from me, and I wasn't sure what that meant.
Maybe he was just trying to give me my privacy. I don't know.
I knew that I fantasized about him so often, and it
seemed...disrespectful, I guess. He was my Master. He had no
business being part of my sex life.
Yet he was. Whether he knew it, or not.
I really didn't want to think about that.
"Don't stay out too late," Qui-Gon said, his voice more
informative than prohibitive. "There's a rumbling from the
Chancellor's office about trade disputes near the Galma
territories, and we are due for the next rotation. We may leave
as early as tomorrow."
"Yes, Master." I nodded my head in agreement. "I will be
ready."
"I know you will, Obi-Wan." His eyes shown briefly, his gaze
meeting mine, and then he turned and nodded his head toward
Bant. "You had best go meet your friends."
He turned and left the area, his head and a part of his robe
sticking out above the crowd swirling around him like a river
around a rock.
It was funny, but even as Bant teased me about Celat, I
couldn't shake the image of how isolated he'd looked. Somehow,
thinking about Qui-Gon, I found I wasn't that interested in
Celat anymore. I had been treating him the same way I treated
her in my mind, as an object of fantasy and not a lot more.
I grinned at Bant as she poked me again. I had a lot more fun
with her than I had with my sexual partners, that was for sure.
I frowned suddenly as I realized something, erasing the look
before Bant caught it and asked me what was up.
I had just figured out I wanted....to make my Master into my
friend.
Archive 