The pie was especially good today.
Obi-Wan took another bite, catching a droplet
of juice with the tip of his tongue as he savored the sweet-tart
flavor of the Bharbur berries that were only just in season. The
diner was unusually quiet for being early evening, only a few people
stopping for a quick meal on their way home, and so there was only
an occasional curious glance cast his way. With the Temple not far
from here, Jedi were a common enough sight but usually they were
doing something...well, Jedi-ly, not sitting quietly in a corner
eating pie.
It was one lesson he had not been taught in
Temple; when it feels like life is taking a turn for the worse, it's
generally a good time to find dessert.
Glancing up, he caught Dex's eye from behind
the counter and Obi-Wan returned his friendly grin easily, if a
little weakly. Dex had been friends with Qui-Gon ever since some
incident that had happen years before Obi-Wan had been born, and
when he'd become Qui-Gon's Padawan he'd been summarily adopted,
which was part of the reason Obi-Wan usually didn't come here. Dex
was all too likely to wave his credit chip away with a look of
wounded betrayal that Obi-Wan would even think of paying for his
meal. It made him feel uncomfortable, even somewhat guilty for no
good reason that he could think of, so he usually just ate in the
Temple. But when one needed a dessert, nothing could compete with
deeply rich, sugary concoctions at Dex's, especially the pie.
He'd only just scraped up the last bite when
another thick white plate laden with pie, crust flaky and gleaming
with the lightest sprinkling of sugar, was set in front of him by
the serving droid. "Here you are, sir."
He accepted it with a silent groan, knowing he
was going to regret eating so much later and yet unable to refuse
for fear of hurting Dex's feelings. "Thank you," he said politely.
The diner had been so quiet that the voice suddenly at his elbow
made Obi-Wan jump slightly.
"Make that two, please," said Qui-Gon, and he
turned to nod smilingly at Dex before settling into the other side
of the booth.
Or at least that was who Obi-Wan assumed had
sat across from him, since he'd closed his eyes the moment he'd
heard his Master's voice, on some likely fruitless wish that if he
didn't look at Qui-Gon then he could pretend he hadn't heard him,
and perhaps Qui-Gon would go away and leave him to eat his pie in
peace.
"And how is the pie today?"
And perhaps Hutts would become the next great
Peacekeepers of the galaxy.
Obi-Wan opened his eyes to see Qui-Gon
watching him with great interest, resting his chin on his folded
hands as if the only thing that could concern him today was the
quality of the pie. As if Obi-Wan could ever be so lucky.
"How did you find me?" Obi-Wan asked
resignedly, tapping his fork idly on the side of his plate.
"Were you any other Padawan, my Obi-Wan, I
would be in the fourth quadrant hunting through bars and earning a
headache searching through all the force signatures for yours. Only
you would come to a place like this for the self-indulgent rebellion
of dessert."
Obi-Wan pointedly took another bite.
"All the other Masters moan to me about their
Padawans," Qui-Gon continued blithely. "And say how very lucky I am
to have such a well-mannered and obedient apprentice and I am forced
to nod and agree with them."
"How very trying for you. Perhaps I'll manage
to do something rebellious for you next week, will that help?"
"You are too good to me," Qui-Gon said
gravely. A plate with a very healthy, or perhaps not so very
healthy, portion of pie slid in front of Qui-Gon and he accepted it
with a smile. He cut off the point with the side of his fork,
tasting it with an exaggerated eye roll of delight and Obi-Wan could
hear Dex chuckle from far away.
They ate in silence for a time, nothing but
the scrape of their forks against the plates until Qui-Gon finally
sighed, pushing aside his empty plate and leaning back in the seat
to study his Padawan. "And what is the trouble of the day?" he asked
evenly.
"I only wanted to get out of the Temple for a
little while and spend some time alone," Obi-Wan muttered, toying
with the last bite on his plate. He didn't really want to eat it, or
really, not yet because then he'd have nothing to look at but the
table and somehow that was more pathetic then he could bear to be at
the moment.
"Indeed." The seat creaked slightly as Qui-Gon
shifted and he'd hardly drawn a breath before Obi-Wan interrupted
him.
"Master, if this is going to turn into another
speech about how you went through the same things when you were
young, I'd rather just skip on to the part where we both smile and
nod, and move on."
"I was forced to listen to the same speeches
when I was a Padawan. One of the delights and privileges of becoming
a master is the ability to torment your own apprentice as you were
once tormented. Believe me, you aren't special."
Silence.
Qui-Gon's mouth formed a silent, 'Ah'. "So
that's the misery of the day."
"Master, please..."
"No, no, I've found you out. It's too late to
mislead me now."
"Qui-Gon, I only wanted to spend some time
alone!" Far louder than he'd intended and Obi-Wan scrunched down in
his seat in a useless effort to hide as the other patrons cast
amused and irritated looks in their direction.
Qui-Gon smiled softly and stood. "As you wish,
Padawan." Obi-Wan had hardly managed to sigh in relief when he
leaned over to whisper into his Padawan's ear. "But when I speak to
the other Masters tonight, I'll be forced to tell them yet again how
well you do in your studies, and how fine a Jedi you are going to
be, if a little sooner than I would like." He squeezed Obi-Wan's
shoulder gently and then strode away.
Patrons strolled in and out of the diner, a
soft blur just on the outside of Obi-Wan's perception, hardly worth
noticing as his hand crept up his sleeve, moving to rest on just the
spot Qui-Gon had touched, a poor mimicry of the brief warmth he'd
felt.
Obi-Wan closed his eyes again, just to feel
it, to remember it, silently grateful that Qui-Gon hadn't guessed
the misery of the day, even if his presence had more than doubled
it. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and raised a hand to the
serving droid.
"Another piece of pie, please."
-finis-
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