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Quinlan guided Aayla through their morning meditation together. She did pretty well on her own, but she still needed guidance on how to start it. But she was doing well for a twelve year old padawan. He was proud of her.
There was a frantic knocking at the door. Quinlan reassured Aayla and got up. Aayla reluctantly kept meditating.
Quinlan opened the door.
“Master Quin!” Anakin Skywalker stared up at him, eyes wide. “Master Obi wouldn't get up. Said I was too loud but I was whispering and he covered his head when I turned on the lights and I can feel that he's in pain, I think? Or I did but then he closed off so I can't feel it anymore. What do I do?”
“Nothing, you do nothing, Ani. I'll take care of Obi. He's got a migraine and you don't need to worry about him. Why don't you meditate with Aayla, and I'll go take care of Obi. When you're both done, come join me and we'll see what we're doing today, alright?”
Anakin pouted at the idea of meditation. At ten years old but not quite a year in the Temple, he was still adjusting to a lot of things. And he really did not like meditation. But it was Master Quin asking him, and he would be meditating with Aayla so with a heavy sigh, he trudged over to Aayla and knelt down.
Quinlan waited a few minutes just to be sure that Anakin settled into meditation. Then he grabbed what he would need for the day and hurried off. As he walked, he sent off some required messages. The padawans at least had classes later, so they would be out for part of the day, but with Obi-Wan out with a migraine, he wouldn't be able to teach his class that day, and neither would Quinlan since someone had to take care of Obi-Wan.
When he entered the room, Quinlan made sure his gloves were in place and he was ready. He knew, with years of practice, how to help Obi-Wan with a migraine that laid him out like this. He walked over and sat down with Obi-Wan.
“Hey Obes, tell me about it?” he requested softly, quieter than even a whisper, using the Force for half the communication.
Obi-Wan poked his head out, squinting in the dim light of the room. “Ow.”
“Ow isn't sufficient, you know that.” Quinlan started rubbing his shoulder gently. It wasn't sufficient but it did tell him that Obi-Wan truly was miserable. He didn't describe pain as ow unless it was at least a seven, and even a seven was rarely called 'ow'.
“Too loud, too bright, ow.” Obi-Wan mumbled, huddling deeper into his blankets.
“Number?” Quinlan asked patiently.
“Eight. Right side. Mostly right above my ear.”
“Okay. What do you need?”
“Water. Painkillers. Caf. Salt. Dark”
“Alright, I can go get those for you.” Quinlan leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss to his temple before getting to take care of things.
He started with closing the black out curtains and blocking out any light, including the digital clock. Then Quinlan got water and the chips he knew would help with any nausea. Once he was sure Obi-Wan had eaten a few of the chips he handed over the painkillers. Only then did he get the caf.
Once that was done he joined Obi-Wan in bed and wrapped an arm around him. Obi-Wan leaned in miserably. He really didn't like being out with a migraine, but at least that didn't happen too often. Most of his migraines were possible to work through, though he really shouldn't.
With everything, Obi-Wan started relaxing. Half an hour after Quinlan arrived, he looked up at his friend. “Where's Anakin?”
“He's the one who came to get me. Kind of impressed he asked me before anyone else. I would've thought he'd go for Bant or Luminara. He actually likes both of them.”
“He likes you. He just doesn't like that we're together,” Obi-Wan chuckled, then winced at the sound of his own voice.
“Could've fooled me. He didn't like me from the start, before he knew that. Anyways. I left Ani meditating with Aayla, once they get here, I'll sort out breakfast and send them off to their classes.”
“You're staying here, aren't you?”
“Of course I am. I'm not going to leave you with such a bad migraine to fend for yourself all day, and I'm not going to have your ten year old padawan take care of you either.”
Obi-Wan hummed. “You can put on a movie... you know what I like.”
“Of course I do.” Quinlan kissed his cheek then got the movie on.
At that point, their padawans arrived, so Quinlan disappeared to take care of them. And their breakfast.
The day progressed well. The padawans did their classes and had lunch with their friends. Quinlan took care of Obi-Wan. It was good.
And then Obi-Wan's comm went off. Obi-Wan whimpered and burrowed into the blankets at the sudden sound.
Quinlan grabbed the comm and left the room. “Kenobi's comm, Vos speaking.”
“It is Master Valka. I need to speak to Obi-Wan about his padawan.”
“I'm afraid Obi-Wan is unavailable on account of a migraine.” Quinlan relaxed. At least Je'Andra was one of the better masters. Quinlan didn't need to worry so much about being careful with his words. He glanced into the bedroom. “He's currently hiding under the blankets after the noise of his comm startled him.”
“Ah, my sympathies then. I take it I should direct everything to you?”
“Yep. What's the problem?”
“It might be better if you come see the problem.”
“A boredom problem?”
“Yes, very much a boredom problem and a mistake in allowing Padawan Skywalker access to craft supplies.”
“Oh no. I'll be right there.”
Quinlan hung up and poked his head back into the bedroom. “Obes, gotta go take care of Ani. I'll be back later.”
“What did he do?” Obi-Wan groaned.
“Don't worry about it, I'll take care of it.” Quinlan smiled at Obi-Wan. “I'll be back later once I'm done.”
Obi-Wan waved, sinking back into his pillows with a sigh of relief when the door closed.
Quinlan braced himself. He was still surprised Anakin chose to get his help. He probably didn't realize that whoever was in charge of taking care of Obi-Wan would be in charge of Anakin while Obi-Wan was unavailable. This was not going to be fun.
Anakin was struggling enough with the idea of consequences (compared to punishments) enough with Obi-Wan. With someone he really didn't like that much like Quinlan? It was going to be rough. But someone had to deal with the kid.
At least Quinlan had been helping Obi-Wan strategize on consequences. Anakin preferred one and done harsh ones, like spanking because even if it hurt it was over with quickly. Few Jedi liked causing physical harm so it was never on the table. Especially since if a padawan (or initiate) got in trouble, they needed to learn why it was a mistake so they didn't do it again.
But Anakin mostly was getting into trouble for two reasons: Boredom, and being used to different standards, including people not caring about what he did. With the boredom, it was often because the subject was too easy, too hard, or not interesting enough.
With his upbringing, Quinlan rather suspected that history (as that was what Je'Andra taught) was too hard. He doubted that it wasn't interesting enough. Je'Andra was good at keeping things entertaining for more hands on learning, often through reenactments or art, as arts and crafts was another subject she taught typically.
Quinlan took care of it as quickly as he could. He set Anakin to cleaning up the mess he made, but they allowed him to keep what he made. And, with Je'Andra's agreement, Anakin was set to take art lessons with her every other evening for an hour for the rest of the class cycle. So he could actually learn how to use those materials, and it would double as a tutor lesson.
Once that was decided, Quinlan had to go collect Aayla for getting in a fight. Anakin was not the best influence on her, but then, it did not help that several of her fellow padawans were not happy about her friendship with Anakin. Who was getting special treatment as it was rare for anyone to become a padawan under the age of 11. And he'd never even been an initiate.
She knew the consequences. Namely; if she dealt out a broken bone, she had to be restricted like she had that broken bone, and a lot of meditation to work on her emotional control. Plus some essays about what to do better in the future. This time, because it was the third time in a month, Quinlan was pretty sure he was going to set her to practicing her lines verbally so that they came easier.
With a bruised and chastised Aayla in tow, he found Anakin just finishing up under Je'Andra's supervision. She was working her magic, at least, and teaching him about the different tools and how they came to be, different history facts being slipped in here and there. Anakin was enthralled with the story, and Aayla sat down to listen.
Quinlan leaned on the wall and waited. He just wanted to get back to be sure Obi-Wan was still okay. It hadn't been that long. Obi-Wan should be fine. He had admittedly been alone with migraines that bad before, even if no one liked to leave him alone if they knew. But the padawans came first. That they had always agreed on, even though it put further plans for their relationship on hold.
They had both planned on doing the proper bonding ceremony, essentially being married as soon as Obi-Wan was Knighted and before either of them took on a padawan. But then Naboo, Qui-Gon dying, and Anakin happened, and they agreed to put everything off to the future, when there was a better chance.
So they were still dating, but prioritizing their padawans as they should. And would have if they had bonded and moved in together as they planned. But it would work out. When Anakin was ready, or Knighted, whichever ended up happening first.
Finally though, Anakin was done cleaning up, complaining a bit about how long it took.
“Well, you shouldn't have made such a big mess,” Quinlan responded as he started herding them. “The bigger the mess, the harder it is, and the longer it will take.”
Anakin grumbled. “Do I have to clean up every time?”
“Would you rather leave all that to Master Valka? How do you feel when people leave a mess near your workspace with the mechanics and you have to clean it up before anything else?”
“I hate that,” Anakin made a face, “but I still don't like to clean up...”
“Better to clean up your own messes. That way you don't do that to others.”
“And if you don't make a big mess you won't have to clean up as much!” Aayla piped in.
Quinlan smiled. “That too.”
Anakin was still pouting. “I don't like that punishment. Why does all the punishment have to be lessons?”
“Did you learn from your punishments?”
“No...”
“Did you do the thing that got you in trouble again with punishments?”
“Yeah...”
“How about since getting to the Temple? Do you learn from the consequences?”
“Yeah,” Anakin grumbled sulkily.
“Do you do the trouble again?”
“Not usually... and usually in a different way.”
“Good. That's the goal of punishments and consequences. We want you to not do those things again. And consequences with lessons are a better deterrent to trouble than the punishments you are used to.”
“I know... I don't like it. And I don't like you doing it. I want Obi. It's not fair!”
Quinlan shrugged. “Life's not always fair, kid. Obi is out with a migraine and he can barely leave the bed, so you're stuck with me.”
“Fine.” Anakin continued pouting, glancing at a quiet Aayla. “Why is your arm in a sling?”
Aayla huffed. “I broke someone else's arm. This is my consequences. I have to treat my arm like it's broken without help, only using it if I absolutely have to, until the arm I broke is healed.”
“Could be worse,” Quinlan responded cheerfully. “Could be a concussion which means no screens but still having to figure out homework. Or a broken leg which means limping around for no reason. I did both of those at the same time when I was your age.”
Aayla and Anakin stared at him.
“What did you even do, Master?” Aayla asked.
“Oh, I was attacked on the obstacle course when I ignored a bully and rather than do anything reasonable, I just pushed him off and he was too slow to catch himself. There were better ways to handle that, if a bit less efficient. I definitely deserved that, and the bully got off worse having to actually deal with the injuries and a ton of consequences.”
“Whoa...” Anakin gasped, looking up at him with wide eyes. “That's so cool. Why are you so boring now?”
Quinlan almost stopped dead in the hallway to gape at Anakin. He was most certainly not boring, thank you very much. “Probably because you don't want to see me much.”
“What does that have to do with you being boring?”
“Obi keeps asking you if you want to hang out with Aayla and I and you keep saying no, so we've been doing awesome things without you. Like going to the zoo or seeing a movie.”
“He never mentioned that!” Anakin was scandalized.
“It's more important you be comfortable with others around you than to get the things you're excited for right now. You're not comfortable with me so it doesn't matter what things we're doing, there's no point if you don't trust me or like me.”
“I trust you! I came to you this morning, didn't I?” Anakin pouted.
Quinlan ruffled his hair. “You did, and I'm happy you did, but it was not something I expected from you. I thought you would go for Kit or Bant over me. You let them help Obi train you in stuff that needs extra spotters, after all.”
Anakin stared at him like he was a puzzle. “...you could still help?”
“You said no and set a boundary. Boundaries are not to be crossed,” Quinlan responded seriously, “not pushed, and above all else respected with little questioning. You don't trust me to help, so Obi and I have been respecting that.”
Anakin crossed his arms and looked away. “That's dumb.”
“How so?”
“How do you prove you care if you don't push?”
That. Explained so much. Quinlan took in a deep breath. “How do you prove you care if you push someone to a breakdown?”
“What?”
Aayla was listening with wide eyes.
“Sometimes people have a good reason for not talking. If they say no, and you keep pushing... they might get so distressed that you won't take no for an answer, they break down or lash out. I don't think they will see care in you pushing them to that point instead of backing off.”
“But then... how do you prove you do care? How do you know someone else cares?”
Quinlan hummed as he opened the door and ushered the two of them in the room. “A lot of it... trust when they say they do. And let them show their care in other ways.”
“Like what?”
Quinlan pulled out their snacks and sugar free drinks. “How about knowing their routines and being a step ahead?”
Aayla beamed and snagged her favorite snack. “You never forget my favorites!” she gushed. “Thank you, Master.”
Anakin hesitantly took his own favorite snack and started drinking his favorite juice. “I suppose...”
Quinlan hugged Aayla and then smiled at Anakin. “The people who truly care will not just respect what you want or don't want them to do if you articulate it, they will also take the time to remember what you like and don't like in general, making sure you get the sort of comfort you need when you're down.”
“Oh.” Anakin made a face. He didn't want to think too hard on it.
“Now you two should get a start on the homework. Complete one assignment and spend at least thirty minutes working, then you can put something on to watch.” Quinlan watched them hurriedly pull out their work. This was standard for both of them, at least. So Anakin had no reason to complain.
Once he was sure they were settled in to work, he turned and started preparing Obi-Wan's favorite tea for when he had migraines. There was caffeine, and ginger, and it was also strangely sweet on its own. Once that was prepared, he checked on the padawans once more, and then he brought Obi-Wan the tea.
Obi-Wan smiled at him. “Thank you, Quin. How much trouble is Anakin in?”
“He made a mess of some arts and crafts supplies during history. He'll be taking lessons with Je'Andra every other evening for the rest of the class cycle to keep that from happening again.”
“Tutoring in history and teaching him how to avoid the mess in the future, good plan.” Obi-Wan closed his eyes and breathed in the scent of the tea before he started drinking.
“Yeah. How are you feeling?”
“A bit better, though the pain has not gone down yet. Just not as sensitive to things. I'm fairly certain it would be worse if I had not taken painkillers.”
Quinlan leaned over and kissed his forehead. “Alright. Let me know if you need anything. I am going to keep an eye on our padawans and hopefully they stay out of trouble.”
Obi-Wan chuckled. “Hopefully.”
There was the sound of crashing and yelling. They exchanged looks.
Quinlan left the room to find Anakin and Aayla wrestling on the floor. He stared for a moment, taking in the mess of their assignments, discarded snacks and a spilt juice strewn across the floor beside the couch.
He stepped up and pulled Anakin off of Aayla. “Alright, what happened?” he asked.
“Anakin was making fun of me for struggling with one arm!” Aayla protested. “So I punched him and then he jumped me and yeah.”
“Ani?”
“Yeah, I was making fun of her one arm but she told me that 'everyone' knows that Romeo and Juliet die! I didn't!” Anakin glared at Aayla, kicking and trying to get away from Quinlan.
“Well, Anakin is just too sensitive!” Aayla shot back angrily.
Quinlan winced. “Aayla, never call someone too sensitive. People cannot control how strongly they feel. Some people feel hurt by things others don't. Anakin, just because you feel upset doesn't mean you should act on it. You can't control how you feel, but you can control how you react. You are a Jedi. You need to be the bigger person, no matter how difficult the other side makes it.”
He let go of Anakin. “Both of you, start cleaning up. Yes, Aayla, with one arm. You punched him first. Yes, most people know that Romeo and Juliet die, but not everyone does. Anakin grew up on Tatooine. He didn't know how to read basic when he arrived here. How could he know that Romeo and Juliet die?”
Aayla kicked the floor grumpily but joined Anakin in cleaning up the mess.
Quinlan watched for a bit.
“Why are you so upset by me not realizing you didn't know and had no way of knowing yet?”
“'cause everyone expects me to be a perfect Jedi already! I'm not! I don't know all the ways of meditating, I barely even know how to shield! I didn't grow up here like you did! I'm trying but it's never enough. Teachers always think I should know stuff but I never needed to know history or actual math or politics. I never even knew I had the Force until right before I got here! How am I supposed to know to that stuff?”
Aayla stared at him, then looked back down to the floor. “Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't think about it like that.”
“I'm sorry for making fun of your punishment. It's not fair to do that when you're already upset.”
“Okay.”
Quinlan smiled and turned to go collect what they'd need to clean up the crumbs and the juice spill. He yelped and jumped back, lifting up his bare foot. There was a large piece of glass stuck in it, plus a few smaller ones. He sighed. He would have to clean up the glass himself. At least the padawans hadn't noticed he got injured.
He retreated to the bathroom and took care of his foot, wincing at the way it bled with the glass removed. It wasn't the first time he'd had to do something like this, though, so he had his foot cleaned and bandaged in short order. Eecognizing the pattern on the glass, he was a bit relieved but also horrified to realize it was one of Qui-Gon's vases for holding flowers that had gotten broken. On the ugly side, but Obi-Wan refused to let go of it before this. If they had to break something, it was better than some of the other Qui-Gon breakables scattered about.
Hopefully Obi-Wan wouldn't be too upset. Quinlan brought out the cleaning supplies and took care of the glass himself. As he worked, he listened idly to the padawans bicker about something innocuous. Something about whether one flavor of juice was better than another. He rolled his eyes and finished picking up the glass, then swept up the shards. Once the padawans were done cleaning their mess and the floor was vacuumed, there should be no shards of glass left to stepped on.
The bickering continued as they resumed working on assignments, past the minimum required amount of after class time. Quinlan was okay with that. It meant less trying to force them later. He was sure they didn't even notice because they were bickering over everything. Including Aayla's mechanics course. Anakin was actually a level higher than she was, since mechanics was a talent of his. It was entertaining.
But... an hour later and Quinlan could only take so much of their 'no, this is the way' 'you're wrong' and 'nuh-uh' and 'ya-huh' -ing. It was getting on his nerves. He stood to get dinner ready, wincing when he found that his foot was sore and difficult to walk on after stepping on the glass. To be expected. That sort of thing could be bad or good, after all.
So he stepped carefully, favoring the foot to keep the pressure off, and started pulling out ingredients. The bickering got louder. Quinlan grumbled and pulled out his favorite citrus flavored carbonated drink from the fridge. Something nice to enjoy while he made their dinner.
At the first sip he paused. It didn't quite taste right. Then he shrugged and continued drinking it as he started prepping the meat. He had just set the meat aside to marinate when a stabbing pain hit him out of nowhere. So strong that he staggered, hand flying up to his head.
“Ow...” He frowned in confusion and rubbed the spot on his head. It did not alleviate the pain. He went to start prepping the veggies, but his vision was blurry in one eye, and the other had spots. “...oh no...”
Now Quinlan was getting a bad migraine. Which was weird. There was really only one reason he got migraines. He grabbed the bottle. He squinted at it. And cursed. He'd grabbed the sugar free variety that was one of Anakin's favorites. He should've been paying closer attention.
Quinlan got severe migraines from artificial sweeteners, and he'd had more than half the bottle. This was going to get terrible. He took in a deep breath and set the bottle down. He moved to the living room.
“Anakin, I'm sorry, I drank some of your favorite. Aayla, you know what it means when I have something sugar free.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh no! ...what about dinner?”
Quinlan gave her an annoyed look; migraines made him so irritable. “I'll call someone to take care of everything before I join Obi.”
He stepped away and commed the first person that came to mind that he knew should be available.
“Hello?”
“Hi. This is Quinlan. Obi-Wan's been out with a migraine today and I just realized I drank half a bottle of something sugar free, so I'm about to be out with a migraine too. Can you come make sure Anakin and Aayla don't get into trouble? I started marinating some meat, but didn't get any further.”
“I'll be right there. Take care of yourself.”
“Thanks.”
Quinlan followed orders and grabbed what helped him with migraines, stumbling along as the pain flared up. Struggling to see what was in front of him. But he made it to the bedroom, took his own painkillers and crawled into bed with Obi-Wan, snuggling up miserably.
“Quin?” Obi-Wan whispered. “What happened?”
“Drank half bottle sugar free,” Quinlan mumbled.
Obi-Wan barely made out his words, then nodded in understanding. “Ah. You get a migraine too. What about our padawans?”
“Mace is on his way.”
“Good. Now what do you need me to do?”
“Cuddle. Volume low.”
“Cuddling I can do, Sweetheart.”
“Thanks, Charming.” Quinlan closed his eyes and waited for the pain to subside or sleep to take him.
Obi-Wan cuddled with him the entire time, smiling at his boyfriend when he finally fell asleep. He kissed his forehead, running his hands through Quinlan's hair. Obi-Wan was far more functional with migraines than Quinlan was, but he was still miserable.
Mace poked his head in an hour later. “Are you two hungry?”
“A bit, yes, can you make me some tea to go with dinner?”
“Of course.”
“Are the padawans behaving?”
“Yes, though they're both sulking a bit. Don't worry about it. I can handle any trouble.”
“Good.” Obi-Wan relaxed, leaning back. He woke up Quinlan.
“Wha?” Quinlan yawned, blinking with bleary eyes. At least the migraine symptoms affecting his eyes had faded away.
“It's time for dinner. Thought you might want to be awake for that.”
“Oh. Yeah. You're the best, Obes.”
“So are you Quin. Taking care of our padawans on your own, when Anakin has been so hostile.”
“Yeah...” Thinking a little clearer with some of the pain having subsided, Quinlan remembered the earlier conversation. “Ani thinks that pushing boundaries shows you care. Gonna be difficult to teach him otherwise while making him feel loved.”
Obi-Wan groaned. “That's the piece I've been missing... Well, that's a future me problem. I'm not going to solve it with a migraine.”
Quinlan nodded. “Yeah. I hope you can get through to him now that you know.”
“Me too. I want you to be able to be around more so we can raise our padawans together like we'd planned before.”
“I know.” Quinlan kissed him. “But I can wait a bit longer.”
“Me too.” Obi-Wan kissed him again.