Work Text:
“Do we really know no details about this mission, Master? Surely they can´t ask us to come like this without even a single word of explanation,” Obi-Wan huffed during their speeder ride, playing with his braid absentmindedly. It made him feel uneasy, the reality that they were going in utterly blindly.
Qui-Gon on the other hand seemed completely unbothered by it, maybe even excited that there was a surprise waiting for him. “No, they didn't specify. You read the report, my very young padawan. They only asked for our help since it's, and I quote, ”A matter of life and death.” Relax, you´re too tense about it. You need to be able to stay calm in situations where you don't have things completely under control. Don´t center yourself on your anxieties, it will cloud your mind.”
He knew he shouldn't be like this, but it was simply how he was. The unpredictable was scary for the teenage boy, and running around with a Master who preferred to act on a whim and what the Force told him rather than based on a plan was already enough. “I´ll try, Master, I´m sorry. It's just that I have a bad feeling about this. It's not like we can help them properly if we don't know what's happening, who we need to keep them safe from,” he tried to explain himself, letting go of his braid when he realized he had been tugging on it for quite a while now.
But then again, saying they were there to keep the senator safe from someone could be completely wrong. He just presumed that since, well, what else could a senator need? If it was diplomatic aid, surely they wouldn't be this secretive about it. But then again, that could just be him being naive. Maybe they needed to keep this all a secret, one which only they would know of. He stilled his tapping foot, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes to try and let go of the nervousness building up inside of him.
If nothing else, the reality that they would most likely stay on Coruscant this whole time should calm him down. Because that way if anything bad happened, they could easily contact the Order and someone would soon be there to lend a helping hand. But he hoped it would never come to that.
´Wait and see, Obi-Wan, wait and see,´ he thought to himself, concentrating on his breathing and the Force flowing through him to prevent becoming even more on edge. The future would soon reveal itself to them.
Arriving at one of the high-level luxurious apartments, they parked their speeder by the little landing platform, a protocol droid already on its way to greet them as they were getting out of the vehicle. It looked very blingy, polished so well that light reflected off it right into their faces. Obi-Wan squinted at it, somewhat amazed by it because he could swear he had never seen one bedazzled like this. Their client must surely be a wealthy one. He also now expected them to be a very ridiculous person because why in the Force would you want to put gems all over your droid?
After a proper welcome, the duo were brought inside. Stepping into the hallway, the protocol unit was suddenly the least strange thing around. The walls were covered in the wildest colors and patterns, lots of bizarre looking objects lying around. Obi-Wan had the hardest time trying to figure out what they could be for. Several fluffy balls on springs, colorful strings hanging from the ceiling, small plush toys scattered on the floor. What was all this? Why did they have a set of miniature houses set at different heights here, some even hanging above their heads? All of this was, of course, also made from seemingly expensive materials, sparkling under the artificial lights. It was almost making his head hurt, how bright it all was.
Taking in their colorful surroundings, Qui-Gon gave the little ginger a wild grin. He himself was not yet sure what exactly they were expected to do here, but unlike his tiny padawan he had a very good feeling about this. The whole place radiated craziness, no boring mission could be hiding here. He also sensed a surprising number of life forms here, most of which certainly weren't sentient. Actually, none were, except for one.
Walking further into the apartment, the rest looked just as crazy, and it made Obi-Wan wonder if the residents here were colorblind. Because for him this was certainly too much, it was almost offensive to look at. Giving off the impression that someone had taken a whole catalog of wallpapers, furniture, and decorations of wildly differing styles and proceeded to randomly pick out items, chucking them in here without much thought.
They were asked to wait in what seemed to be a living room, which was also full of peculiar looking gadgets. Standing awkwardly around, still examining their surroundings, the teenage boy was fishing in his memory, trying to remember what species could have any use for small tunnels on the ceiling. Surely these weren't just for aesthetics, right?
They only had to wait for a little bit before they would finally get answers to all their questions. Just as Obi-Wan was about to give in to the temptation to sit down, the door opened and a Rodian senator came in, colorful robes flaring dramatically behind him, their plentiful jewelry clinking as they walked. Trailing behind them were five tookas of different colors, the bunch chasing the tassels on the man's cape.
“Oh finally, Jedi Masters, how great it is to see you!” he exclaimed, immediately up in their personal space to energetically shake their hands. “I am utterly helpless, Masters. You have no idea how glad I am that you answered my request. I was starting to think there would be no way for me to solve this. It would be the biggest tragedy, the biggest I´m telling you! And I´m not exaggerating, I swear. I am in terrible, terrible trouble, really,” he began, the energy of his speech matched by his wild gestures.
“Please, explain what's bothering you and we will solve it for you as quickly as possible. You can count on us, sir,” Obi-Wan said quickly once he had the chance, the senator only stopping his rant when he needed to take a breath.
“Right, of course, of course! Please, sit down, please. Make yourself comfortable, I´ll tell you right away,” the Rodian gestured towards the opulent sofa, sitting himself down in an equally flashy armchair. Qui-Gon noted that while everything was made from expensive materials, a lot of the furniture here wasn´t in the best condition. A lot of it was scratched and there was quite the amount of tooka hair already sticking to his robes. The fluffy quintuplet slowly raised suspicions in him, their owner obviously letting them act as if the apartment belonged to them.
“The thing is, Masters, there is a very important ball happening tonight. Or well it's from today's afternoon till tomorrow´s forenoon to be exact. I wouldn't want to confuse you… Anyway! You probably already know all this. And surely you´re also aware that everyone of importance on Coruscant will be attending. So of course I can´t be missing,” the senator started rambling, one of the tookas jumping on his lap as he went on. Wiggling around, it eventually laid down, curling up on top of his legs.
´So we will be his bodyguards. I was right,´ the ginger thought to himself, proud of making a correct assumption. It only made sense, after all, during big social gatherings such as these, there was always someone being targeted and in danger. They were ideal environment for an assassination since the crowd provided great cover.
“And you see, there we have the problem. Since so many will be coming, there are a lot of strict rules and that messes things up for me. I can't take my babies with me and their usual babysitter is off planet currently. So surely you understand I can't just leave my precious children here all alone. They need very specific care, only the best in the whole galaxy. Who else can guarantee that to me if not the Jedi? I could never entrust them to just some random person. Never!” the senator continued, confusing Obi-Wan with every new word he said. So, they weren't here to be bodyguards?
“Please, excuse me, senator, but… are you asking us to keep your children safe while you are at this banquet?” he asked carefully, looking then up to Qui-Gon to see if his Master was just as lost as he was.
He was indeed alone in his confusion because the older man knew perfectly well what the Rodian wanted from them. “No, padawan, that's not why we are here. The senator is kindly asking us to look after his precious tookas. Am I correct?” he smiled, his eyes sparkling with amusement. He’d expected a lot but not this. But he should have figured it out based on all the strange contraptions around the apartment immediately. They were toys for the cats, how had he not realized right away?
“Yes, yes exactly, Master Jedi, that's exactly what I need! Surely you understand I can´t ask just anyone to take care of my babies. They are all so dear to my heart, my little sunshines. Only with someone like you watching over them can I be calm while away from them.”
Once they were briefed on the actual nature of their mission, an introduction to all the tookas was in order, as well as being given a very long list of what they needed to do in order for the cats to feel comfortable in their owner’s absence.
There were six of them actually, not five, the sixth one was sleeping in one of the ceiling houses, not bothering to come down to greet her new caretakers. The two orange ones were called Tuff and Fluff, and Obi-Wan was having a hard time telling them apart since they looked nearly identical. Then there was a black, gray and white one, all three looking at them rather indifferently, seemingly not caring much about who was around them as long as they were fed. Their names were Twinkle, Pearl, and Snowball. And the last one, the lazy sleeping star of the show, was a kitten with surprisingly bright blue fur called Lil Treasure. The teenage boy mentally rolled his eyes over all these names, each one sounding ridiculous, especially the last one.
All the introductions and explanations took way more time than they should have in Obi-Wan´s eyes, but eventually they were over. About an hour after they started, the Rodian told them some last few tips and then left for the banquet. Though not before saying individual goodbyes to all his cats, cuddling them and kissing them on top of the head. The teenage boy watched silently, having a lot to say, but he held back until they were alone, certain that the senator couldn't hear him anymore.
“He can't be serious! Is this some sort of a test, Master? Surely people can´t ask the Jedi to just look after their pets. That's not what the Order is for,” he protested, folding his arms across his chest, looking almost offended. Sure Qui-Gon brought animals into their quarters all the time, but that still didn't make them babysitters for all the critters on the planet. It felt like a weird joke to him.
“The Jedi are here to help people, my very young padawan. This man cares dearly for his cats and needs someone to take proper care of them while he can´t. It's certainly an unusual request but there is no reason we shouldn't take such a mission. Keep your mind open to what the galaxy offers you. Even a strange mission like this can teach you many things, it's certainly not a useless experience,” Qui-Gon shook his head, taking off his cloak before making himself more comfortable on the sofa.
He saw this as a great opportunity to teach the boy that Jedi weren't there just to fight those with ill intentions or help solve large interplanetary conflicts. They served the people of this galaxy, individual people as well as the masses. Here to not only solve things of great importance, but also small seemingly meaningless ones.
Throwing his cloak on the armchair opposite them, the black tooka jumped onto it right away, clawing at it for a while before flopping down and falling asleep within a single moment. ´Well, it was full of fur already,´ the older man just shrugged it off in his mind, resting his hands on his stomach and closing his eyes.
“Relax, Obi-Wan. There’s no point sitting there like a statue the whole day. Ease up, enjoy the peace while it lasts,” he hummed, sensing how tense the boy was sitting. Not that he expected him to listen, he knew his padawan too well for that. He was probably running twenty different scenarios in his head right now, trying to figure out what sort of strange test this was.
And he was right. Unlike his Master, the ginger wasn't taking this lightly. First of all, he was still sort of offended that they had been asked to do something as silly as this, but at the same time he was reading through the manual they were given, not wanting to do anything wrong. Because what if disregarding the instructions could result in hurting one of the cats? Maybe it was a very ridiculous task, but he could never consciously cause harm to a being, and he would have the hardest time forgiving himself for doing it accidentally. Also, he didn't want to disappoint Qui-Gon in any way.
Over the next two hours nothing much happened. The tookas were all either sleeping or playing by themselves, not really interested in the Jedi. But that changed when Obi-Wan got up to look for the kitchen, wanting to make himself some tea. The moment he was up on his feet, the heads of the orange duo perked up and they trotted after him, curious about what he would do. Soon they began meowing at him, rubbing up against his legs and generally making it hard to walk without risking stepping on their little feetsies or falling over them.
“What do you want? I have nothing to give you,” he attempted to shoo them away but it did nothing. Shaking his head, he sighed heavily, trying his best to dance around them as the search continued. The two stuck to him like glue the whole time.
And even when he got to the kitchen, they didn't leave him. Jumping on the counter, they watched him curiously as he rummaged through the cupboards, looking for a tea set and a kettle. Finding them, he put the cups on the counter, grabbing the kettle to fill it with water. Just as he turned around, he heard the sound of porcelain sliding across a wooden surface and before he could react in any way, one of the cups was falling to the ground, shattering on the floor right in front of his eyes.
He stood there, staring dumbfounded at Tuff, who was looking back at him as if nothing happened, idly licking the paw he’d used to push the cup. “How did you… No! No, bad kitty! You can't do that!” the ginger yelped when he got over his shock, suddenly realizing that Fluff was nowhere in the room even though he was there a second ago.
Carrying Tuff out of the room, to prevent him getting hurt on the sharp shards, he began cleaning them up. Collecting them all into one neat pile, he planned on finding some glue and putting the cup back together later.
Afterwards he searched for the other orange cat, but she was nowhere to be found.
Not in the kitchen, not in the living room or anywhere else for that matter. Maybe she ran off, scared by the sound of the breaking porcelain, and now she was hiding in one of the ceiling houses? All the doors and windows were closed so she couldn't have gotten outside. Surely she would appear sooner or later.
With that out of the way, he finished making the tea like he’d originally intended. Sitting down with his hard-earned cup of steaming tea, he realized Qui-Gon was actually sleeping next to him, totally unaware of what had just happened. Though he would later insist he was merely meditating and knew about everything. The light snoring was definitely part of a very advanced meditation technique Obi-Wan was yet to learn.
Things went quiet then, but it was naive to presume it would stay that way for the rest of the day. The pocket-sized kitten was the one who decided to make things more interesting this time. Sitting down by the ginger´s feet, they pawed at his legs while meowing softly. Looking over the edge of his datapad at them, he raised his eyebrow, having no idea what they wanted. Quickly scrolling through the manual for answers it was, but sadly that yielded no results. The whole document was actually quite a mess, talking more about how awesome the cats were than about how to take care of them. It left Obi-Wan clueless as to what to do with Lil Treasure.
Getting no real reaction from him, the kitten didn't stop with their nagging. They only grew progressively louder, even trying to climb up his shoe. “Okay, okay. You have my attention, what do you want?” he asked in defeat, reaching down to pick it up. But the moment he did that, the little one ran off. Were they trying to show him something? He better follow them.
“Don't. You do that once and they will keep bothering you for the rest of our stay. They´re just seeking attention, they don't actually need anything,” Qui-Gon hummed in his half-asleep state, perfectly content with his current position. He was laid comfortably on the sofa, Tuff sleeping on his chest, purring quietly. Having plenty of experience with animals, tookas included, he knew better than to give into their every meow.
“But what if they actually need something? I can´t ignore them,” Obi-Wan argued, getting up to follow the kitten. But just like his Master predicted, the little one just flopped onto their side, looking at him all cute and innocent. Qui-Gon had to resist saying ´I told you so´, instead just snickering silently. Tookas could be the biggest bastards if they wanted.
Having this happen once seemingly wasn´t enough of a lesson for the teenager. The kitten was soon pawing at his leg again and it only took a few minutes for him to give in. To give him credit, he tried to ignore them at first, but after some time he simply couldn´t. “It will be the same as before,” Qui-Gon warned him, shaking his head.
“But they sound so sad, what if this time they really need something? Maybe they're hungry.” That obviously wasn't the case. Making him get up, the little one just made a few silly hops before hiding under the conference table. And now knowing how to get Obi-Wan´s attention, they went back to nagging him several more times. And against the boy's better judgment, he fell for their adorable lies again and again.
It continued like this until evening, Obi-Wan being chased around by the cats, the pack having great fun toying with him. He told himself each time that he would ignore them from that point on, but he always failed. Qui-Gon on the other hand didn't have to move an inch, happily acting as a pillow for the tookas who were not bothering his padawan. He got to laze around, they had a comfortable place to nap on, it was a perfect symbiosis.
Eventually dinner time came for all of them, the older Jedi getting up for the first time, urged by his own hunger as well as the meowing that even he couldn't ignore anymore. The whole fluffy pack chased after him, running as if their lives depended on it. “Now don´t look at me like this, I know you haven't been starving for a week,” he laughed, shaking his head with amusement.
Once in the kitchen, the hungry horde impatiently paced around their bowls, staring at their human servants intensely. “Want to cook something or shall we order take out, padawan?” Qui-Gon asked as he pulled a big can of cat food out of the fridge, fetching himself a spoon. All five cats now swarmed around him, wailing loudly as if the loudest would get fed first. They kept nudging him with their bodies, trying to shove their faces into the can, managing to almost knock it out of Qui´s hand in the process.
“Take out will do just fine. They would probably get in the way of cooking,” Obi-Wan answered, watching the commotion from a safe distance. Soon realizing that there was one cat missing. Fluff still wasn't here! Did she somehow get outside despite there not really being a way? Did he already manage to lose one of them!?
He was just about to start panicking when a ton of loud banging came from inside one of the cupboards caught his attention. Opening it, Fluff burst out of it, jumped over him and sprinted right over to her bowl. When did she get there? How did he miss it? How did she even manage to fit between all the pots and pans?
“They are very curious and playful creatures. You need to learn to expect the unexpected with them,” Qui-Gon smiled at him, now sitting on the ground and petting Twinkle while she ate her portion. When each of the tookas were done with their share, they began sticking their face into the other bowls, trying to snatch an extra bite.
With feeding time over, the two could sit down to eat once their own food arrived. And somehow Obi-Wan still didn't learn his lesson, expecting the tookas to leave them be since they’d just had dinner. That was truly naive of him because the second he opened his box of noodles, he had the orange duo rubbing up against his legs, purring loudly, looking up at him with sweet pleading eyes.
“If you want to wait until they stop, you will be eating your dinner cold, padawan. Better just try and avoid their little hungry mouths and eat now,” Qui-Gon grinned, picking a piece of chicken from his box, breaking it into small pieces. He sprinkled it on the ground for the fluffballs to enjoy, buying himself a short moment of peace. “Or you need to bribe them, that's your other option.”
“But it's my dinner!” the ginger argued only to have Tuff jump on his lap, sticking his face into his box. “No! That's mine! You just ate!”
“It's their apartment, Obi-Wan. So their dinner as well. But you can try your best to explain the concept of money and ownership to them,” Qui-Gon laughed, picking Tuff off his lap and giving him a bit of chicken too, so his padawan could get himself at least a few bites. “You better share. Shouldn’t be greedy and possessive of your meal,” he teased him.
“But they would never share with me and I'm really hungry,” Obi-Wan insisted, now fighting off Fluff while trying to get at least one scoop of his noodles. In the meantime, his Master was having no trouble eating his dinner.
“Then you have to be the bigger man. Would you not give a piece of candy to a youngling just because they would most likely not share with you in return? Also no one is stopping you from tasting the cat food. Or do you really want to have your meal full of fur that badly?” He kept teasing, freeing him from Fluff then as well. He was fine with half his dinner ending in the cats´ stomachs.
Obi-Wan ended up giving in after that. Breaking off pieces of his meat between bites for the fluffy horde, he managed to actually finish his food before it turned cold. A small victory that took way more work than it should.
Their dinner finally taught him that there were three important things in the life of every tooka: food, being cute, and most importantly being a bastard. So when the time came for them to go to sleep, he already expected to be woken up every two hours because these furry children craved attention.
It started with Twinkle pulling him out of his dreams by attacking his toes on a whim, biting his heel for good measure. Nudging her off the bed and hiding fully under the blanket was an easy way to end her attacks, but it definitely wasn't the end of it. She left him be for a while but then decided to start pacing between rooms. Scratching his door to get out, ten minutes later wanting back in, repeating that five more times before finally settling in the living room, letting Obi-Wan go back to sleep for good.
To his surprise, he got a decent amount of rest after that, but he was eventually woken up again, this time by quite unpleasant sounds. Sitting up in bed and rubbing his eyes as he looked around, he couldn't really see what was happening. Though he could smell something equally as nasty as the noises he was hearing. Turning on the light, he almost wished he hadn’t done that, because now he had the pleasure of seeing how Lil Treasure finished barfing on his folded cloak. And quite frankly at that point he didn't even bother to tell her off.
Sighing heavily he just got up, grabbed the dirty piece of clothing and headed to the bathroom to shove it in the washing machine. He did all that half asleep, on his way out almost tripping over Snowball, who’d decided to wait for him in front of the door, being a very social loaf. “Well at least you don't want to play with me… Off to sleep, hm? What do you say?” he just muttered with a yawn as he picked her up, heading back to bed with her.
Passing his Master's bedroom, he was surprised to see the light on. But not surprised to see that he’d kept the door open, no doubt having the same troubles as him before. Deciding to take a peek, he found Qui-Gon sitting on the ground, entertaining Pearl and the orange duo with a laser pointer. “I thought you said not to give into their nagging for attention,” he chuckled, stepping inside after the other gave him a little nod, inviting him in.
“Sometimes one has to break their own rules. Always do as I say, Obi-Wan, not as I do,” Qui smiled at him sleepily, leaning back against his bed. “It was a little hard to ignore them with one deciding to suffocate me by sleeping on my face. What can you do?”
“At least your cloak isn´t in the washing machine. I’ll gladly switch that with you if you want to, Master,” the ginger said as he sat down next to him, putting Snowball on the ground. “What's the plan now? Tire them out so we can go to sleep again?” he asked, watching the bunch run around like crazy, trying their best to catch the shiny red dot.
“I had one of them stuck in my sleeve. No idea how he got there, but he couldn't get out without my help. Force knows what he would have done if I hadn't fished him out. I would probably be doing the laundry with you now… Also yes, that's the plan. Feel free to join me.”
Obi-Wan was given a long stick with feathers and tassels at the end, and Pearl and Snowball immediately took interest in it. And so the two Jedi sat there, entertaining the four. The other two soon joined them, Twinkle bringing a ball in her mouth for one of them to throw. The kitten was instead after pets, lots and lots of pets, four hands almost not enough to satisfy her. At some point the bunch began demanding food again as well and then playing once more and their poor human servants soon lost track of time.
When the Rodian senator returned the next day, the whole apartment was quiet. Only the protocol droid was there to welcome him back. They were hidden till now to avoid having to help out with the cats, having an endless hate for fur getting stuck between their gears.
The Jedi duo were laid together on the bed, Qui-Gon spread across the whole thing, arms and legs twisted awkwardly, with Obi-Wan curled up in the corner, resting his head on his Master´s calf. The fluffy six slept there with them, generally being an adorable nuisance. Twinkle was draped over the older man’s arm, Pearl trying to suffocate him again while Tuff was kneading his stomach in his sleep. The ginger was fighting with them for space instead, the remaining three laying all around him, taking up as much of the bed as possible and forcing him into his curled-up position. Even asleep he kept holding onto the feathered stick, his hand still vaguely shaking it like he’d done the whole night.
One would expect their client to be angry that they ended up sleeping on the job, presenting themselves in such an unprofessional manner, but the Rodian was anything but that. Seeing that they put so much work into taking care of his babies, keeping them company even at night so they wouldn't feel lonely, he was overjoyed. He even let them sleep, catching Qui-Gon slightly off guard when the older Jedi woke up around noon.
Receiving many thanks from the man, Qui reassured him that they were more than happy to help out. Though he really hoped they wouldn´t be asked to do this again. Not that he didn't love taking care of all sorts of critters, but six tookas at once were a lot to handle for anyone, even for a Jedi. Quite frankly he wondered how the senator did it. He really had to love them with all his heart and beyond.
When they got all that out of the way, he collected their things, bringing them over to their speeder before coming back to get Obi-Wan. Seeing his padawan still asleep, he simply carefully scooped him up, seeing no point in pulling him out of his dreams. After saying goodbye to the senator, he loaded the boy into the speeder and rode with him back to the Temple.
Once parked in the docking bay, he gathered everything together and brought the sleeping teenager back to their quarters. He took him to bed, laying him down gently and tucking him in.
Obi-Wan woke up a little just then, squinting at his Master half asleep, questions in his eyes. “Relax, little one, we´re back in the Temple. The mission is over,” Qui-Gon smiled at him, ruffling his short hair gently, his voice nothing but a whisper to not disturb him.
“Did… did I do good?” the boy asked, trying and failing to suppress a loud yawn. It was hard enough to keep his eyes open.
“You did. I'm very proud of you. Now get some more sleep, you had a very long night, my little tooka,” Qui reassured him, pulling the blanket up to his shoulder. He closed the window blind to keep the room dark before leaving to let his padawan rest, heading to bed himself.
Their quarters soon fell silent, the dreams of the Jedi duo filled with nothing but fluffy tookas.