Hmmmmm,,, might we consider... Quinlan and Obi-Wan, being buds, li’l Padawan dorks? ~🐙
“I told you we should’ve stayed in the vents,” Obi-Wan pants.
Quinlan would roll his eyes if he wasn’t so focused on running, “Yeah, yeah, you were right! Can we focus on getting away now?”
“What do you think I’m doing?” Obi-Wan retorts, “Sending up a smoke signal for Master Koth?”
Quinlan can’t find the breath to shoot anything back at him. They swerve sharply to the left, leaving the shouts of Master Koth and his padawan behind. Obi-Wan grabs his arm and pulls him into an alcove behind one of the many tapestries lining the hall. They’re somewhere close to the middle of the Temple.
Footsteps thunder past them, fading into the distance. Quinlan’s breath comes in short gasps and Obi-Wan’s hardly in any better shape.
“You’re-” Obi-Wan says, glaring, “-an idiot.”
Obi rolls his eyes, “The prank was my idea, carrying it out on Master Koth without more preparation from the doorway of his quarters was not. You nearly got us caught!”
“I’m going to be on kitchen duties for weeks!” Quinlan groans, “You’ll just get off because everyone will think I was the one corrupting you.”
“Oh shut up Quin,” he aims a weak punch at his shoulder, “Master Koth didn’t see our faces because I made you were the stupid mask. Even if he suspects it was us, he has no proof! Besides, Master Koth is usually a pretty good sport. He thinks we’re clever.”
“He thinks you’re clever, he thinks I’m a menace.”
“You are a menace, that doesn’t mean you aren’t clever, idiot.”
“Did you just call me clever and an idiot in the same sentence?”
“Shut up,” Obi-Wan says again, then stiffens, “Master Tholme’s coming!”
“It was a good prank,” Tholme says, watching Qui-Gon over the rim of his cup.
Qui-Gon laughs, “It was. I think I might be corrupting Obi-Wan with my usual rants. He’s usually so strict about following the rules and respecting Master’s.”
“Oh, no,” Tholme shakes his head, “That boy has been making trouble since he came to the Temple. Him and Quinlan have been trying to sneak out since they were three and five. And they succeeded when they were four and six. They’ve been pulling pranks together since they knew what a prank was. He didn’t need any corrupting. Obi-Wan Kenobi has been a menace wrapped under a veneer of innocence and politeness since he was born.
“I knew we’d get caught!” Quinlan groans, grumpily stacking dishes in the sonic washer.
“It was only by Master Tholme,” Obi-Wan says, “And it’s only two nights of kitchen duty. It could’ve been a lot worse. Besides, I’m here with you!”
“Yeah, I guess,” Quinlan smiles, watching as he determinedly scrubs stubborn bits of food off plates before he gives them to Quinlan.
He’s so short the kitchen staff had to get him a stool just so he could reach the sink properly. Obi-Wan approaches his punishment the same way he does particularly difficult assignments. With determination and grit.
Quinlan is glad Obi-Wan is still here, rather than on a farm somewhere far away from him and all their friends. It would be a crime to deprive the Temple of Obi-Wan’s sunny smiles and ingenious pranks. Not to mention Quinlan would be without his partner in crime. Now that would be a true tragedy.
