Work Text:
The sun was barely visible over the buildings of the city-planet Coruscant. Its glow had not yet reached the top floors of many of the tallest structures, the Jedi Temple included. Trouble the Loth cat didn’t need to see the state of the sky to know the time.
The Boy was gone. He had gotten up early, too early for Trouble to also get up, and he had not yet returned. This was inconvenient as it was now the breakfast hour. Trouble sat on the galley counter and stared at the door which led out into the Temple, willing Obi-Wan to return. She stood vigil for several long minutes but soon concluded the activity was not going to fill her belly.
New plan. The Man was still in his bedroom, presumably sleeping, and thus able to be awoken in order to feed her. Trouble leapt down from counter silently and trotted off towards the Man’s room. The door was conveniently ajar and Trouble slipped in easily. She had recently been banned from entering this room- her plant destroying antics had not endured her to Qui-Gon- but, an open door was an invitation in her book.
With a big leap Trouble jumped up onto Qui-Gon’s bed. She landed at his feet with a soft thump and a tentative burr.
Trouble’s arrival stirred Qui-Gon from his dreams. Even as he awoke he knew the cause of the disturbance. Who else would dare to jump on his bed so early in the morning? Obi-Wan weighed a lot more besides. No, somehow he left the door open just enough for the little pestilence to get in….
There was another soft burr of inquiry as Trouble threaded her way along his legs and closer to his chest. Stalking was her favorite part of hunting.
Qui-Gon lay very still. He knew if he so much as took one breath too deep Trouble would know he was awake. Controlling ones breath and heartbeat was easy for a Jedi Master, but not normally a skill one would use while avoiding a Loth cat who wanted breakfast. It was handy though.
Trouble scrutinized Qui-Gon, waiting for any little flicker of consciousness. She felt he was awake but…humans were tricky creatures. He could just be playing dead. Gently Trouble reached out and tapped the Man’s arm with her clawed paw. Nothing happened.
Ignoring the claws being carefully plied to his skin Qui-Gon waited. Perhaps Trouble would get bored, or Obi-Wan would call her….which really begged the question of why she would even seek him out in the first place if the boy were around. Now, as he considered it, his Padawan had mentioned (complained) about having to get up early. Would he really run off and not feed his own cat?
Trouble made another friendly but more insistent sound which confirmed Obi-Wan had in fact done just that. She was very hungry, why wouldn’t the Man wake up? Making the soft chittery sounds sweet little Loth kittens made when wanting to be fed, she leaned down to sniff the Man.
Qui-Gon knew he was done for when the soft snuffling sounds started working their way up his arm. It was game over when a puff of Trouble’s warm breath hit his cheek and he flinched ever so slightly.
Burr?! Trouble stared intently into Qui-Gon’s face, mere centimeters away. Her long halo of whiskers tickled and he finally caved opening one eye. Trouble’s whole body poofed in excitement and she showed her fangs. Qui-Gon did not have Obi-Wan’s skill or love of reading the body language of Loth cats and he hoped loud purring coupled with a somewhat toothy expression was a good sign.
“Hello.” He said softly.
Trouble answered by head-butting him full in the face with her hard little skull. Qui-Gon grunted in disapproval and was pretty sure one of her giant cone ears went in his eye. The cat continued to nuzzle her face in his beard and chitter happily.
Yes! The Man was awake, now she could eat! Trouble paused in her outpouring of aggressive affection and stared down with her round, flat face still too close for comfort. She continued to knead Qui-Gon’s chest with her excited paws- and he was very thankful for the extra protection of his blankets. He had tended Obi-Wan’s arm in the aftermath of a too spirited play session and he distinctly remembered how long it had taken them to get the bleeding to stop. Of course Trouble didn’t mean it then, and she certainly meant no harm now- but she had destroyed that MSE droid after all. Caution was always best practice with wild animals.
“Can I help you?” it was a rhetorical question and he expected no humanly interpretable answer. Besides, Qui-Gon knew what she required of him.
Trouble knew that he knew but she yowled at him just to ensure the proper sense of urgency. Qui-Gon chose not to receive the memo and instead rolled over, toppling Trouble and effectively removing her from being in control of the situation.
Even with his back to her now, he sensed this wasn’t over. He was a Jedi Master on his third Padawan after all- he had played the waiting game before. What Trouble didn’t know (yet) was he always won.
Stunned by the literal turn of events Trouble glared at Qui-Gon’s back. This had never happened to her before- she was never denied by the Boy. Ever. A moment or two passed while she formulated a new plan. Perhaps she had not shown the Man enough love? Did he require more before rewarding her- or paying her to leave- as the case really was.
She stretched up and peeked over his shoulder, burrt?, she enquired again. Qui-Gon ignored her and kept his eyes closed. Fine, Trouble saw how it was, time to bring out the heavy artillery. Purposefully she stepped onto the Man’s ribs without her usual and natural grace, exerting her nearly twenty pounds of dead weight, on her way to the tiny space between him and the wall.
“That was rude.” Qui-Gon muttered threw slightly clenched teeth. This was 100% Obi-Wan’s creature for sure. The move had smacked of Kenobi logic. Was it possible they shared a Force bond he couldn’t sense? That would be beyond disturbing.
Trouble took his speaking to her as a good sign and she began rubbing her head against his stupidly left vulnerable hand. The Jedi Master was being slowly out maneuvered by vermin from a back water Outer Rim planet! Qui-Gon slowly curled his fingers in the intent of removing them to safety but Trouble was too fast and playfully grabbed his hand in her claws.
Finger nibbling was one of her favorite games, usually only played by the Boy and Other Boy…she was surprised the Man wanted to play! With an eager grunt Trouble flopped down on to her side and held Qui-Gon’s hand captive.
The small aftershock of Trouble flinging herself down startled Qui-Gon into opening his eyes again. Her wild expression held an invitation to something he strongly felt he did not want to participate in. He also wanted his hand back, but it was obvious any move on his part would end in gleeful bloodshed. What in the hells did Obi-Wan see in this beast?
They were in a standoff. Qui-Gon calmly sizing up his soft, furry opponent; Trouble purring so hard in elation her sides heaved and her tail thumped wildly on the bed. A Master and a predator locked in silent battle…this was not what Qui-Gon had anticipated would happen if he let himself sleep in an extra hour. He should have just gone and meditated in the garden as planned.
Trouble didn’t know what was taking so long for the Man to make the opening move in the game. She felt he might not know the rules after all so she decided to teach him. Keeping steady eye contact Trouble opened her toothy maw and her surprisingly long pink tongue poked out and she stuck it to the side of one of the Man’s fingers. She gave it a little lick, just a little taste…mostly out of curiosity.
“Please, no.” Qui-Gon warned. Trouble’s wide eyes maintained innocence as her weirdly rough tongue sampled her prey. It only took a heartbeat before his finger tip was passing over the edge of one of Trouble’s fangs headed for certain destruction. Enough was enough.
With his free hand, which Trouble had totally forgotten about in her intense focus, Qui-Gon reached over and booped the Loth cat on her soft flat nose. “I said no.” he repeated.
Trouble’s eyes crossed for a split second and the man tapped her nose again- the audacity! While she was still surprised Qui-Gon took all his digits back. Trouble grumbled at his cheating, this was not how the game was played at all.
This morning was disappointing all around; no food and no fun! Trouble’s ears drooped to the side as she pouted and Qui-Gon was reminded slightly of Master Yoda, he couldn’t help but smile at her. “You are something,” he told her chuckling. “Just like your master.” Trouble’s purring got a little louder; at least they were friends again.
Suddenly Trouble sat straight up, all her whiskers straining, her ears now as long and tall as they could go. She peered over the Man and back into the common room. Qui-Gon felt Obi-Wan’s presence in the Force, and again wondered if Trouble could too.
The door from the hall had barely whispered open before Trouble was airborne, then gone. “Hey…what were you doing in there?” Obi-Wan asked her. “I told you I would be back for breakfast….were you bothering Master? Naughty girl.” Trouble yowled and chirped incessantly.
Naughty indeed, Qui-Gon mused. He didn’t have to see with his eyes to vividly picture the scene in the other rooms. With a sigh he stretched and contemplated how most days he regretted allowing Obi-Wan to purchase that nuisance cat, and this was shaping up to be one of those days; but their sounds of life and joy brought him contentment. Even this ungodly early in the morning.