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One year and a bit more than a half a year since he had first been captured. About half a year since he had given up of escaping. So much had changed. Quinlan was drastically different now.
He was Prince Obi-Wan's pet and didn't flinch away from the title. From the truth.
Half a year of good behavior and they had switched out his cuffs and collar for slimmer versions. They still blocked out the Force, but with him well behaved, there was no need for so much of the other features. So he was allowed to wear the less equipped versions.
Adjusting to the new weight was a shock, but it was a good shock. He hadn't realized how used to their weight he had become. Plus Obi-Wan's surprise had been nice.
Quinlan walked behind Obi-Wan as he had become used to. It was where he belonged. It was time for lunch with Obi-Wan's family. They didn't always eat with Obi-Wan's family. His parents were the rulers, and he had several older siblings. Obi-Wan preferred breakfast in his rooms. And if he was going to have any meal with them it was almost certainly lunch. Like today.
He sat with the other pets and listened to their discussion with half an ear. He was more focused on Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan's eighteenth birthday was just one month away, and Obi-Wan was clearly very anxious. Quinlan wanted to know why, but he wasn't going to push.
It was towards the end of lunch that he heard anything interesting. It was so interesting he stopped watching Obi-Wan.
"-Wan might not get the usual birthday celebration."
"Really? But he'll be eighteen, that's a big milestone."
"I know but I heard them talking about it. Obi-Wan is too different."
The rest of the conversation was about how Obi-Wan was different, about different ways his older siblings bullied him.
"I swear those rumors are true. He must really be Cursed."
Quinlan had heard it before. But he hadn't really considered what that meant. Being Cursed meant being Force sensitive. Obi-Wan might be Force sensitive. He resolved to put the theory to the test that night. It was a huge deal for Stewjon to be 'Cursed' and it would probably be better for Obi-Wan to know for certain. Quinlan knew how to help him with that.
He spent the rest of the day mulling over how Obi-Wan's family treated him, over all the little signs of Obi-Wan being Force sensitive.
Quinlan thought the most obvious one was how well Obi-Wan could read his emotions. He hadn't noticed it really, especially not when he was already emotional. Not after being raised by Jedi, who were all basically empaths. But in hindsight... Obi-Wan shouldn't have known some of those feelings. There was no way to know, outside of the Force.
That night it was time to put his theory to the test. He used a variant of a test Jedi used on children when they weren't at a Temple. Obi-Wan passed with flying colors.
Normally, Quinlan would be thrilled to meet another Force sensitive, but he knew this was a bad thing. He leaned back and sighed, rubbing his forehead as he considered how to tell Obi-Wan. Considered how to help Obi-Wan get it under control when Quinlan couldn't access the Force the way he needed to for teaching.
"Quin? What is it?" Obi-Wan asked nervously.
Quinlan looked at him seriously, a bit sadly. "I'm sorry to say, Obi, but you're definitely Cursed. You just passed a variant of a Jedi test used to pick out younglings."
Obi-Wan stared at him and swallowed. "I see." He stood and went for his bookshelves.
Quinlan followed and helped him pulled down every book that mentioned the Force or the Curse. He waited for Obi-Wan to be ready to talk. Obi-Wan always liked researching something first before saying anything. It seemed to help him process and work out his feelings.
It took most of the evening, by which time they were cuddling. Quinlan was reading a book on the Curse he hadn't read before. It was fascinating. It seemed that the Force interacted in interesting ways with some Stewjoni rituals and adversely affected Force sensitives. They sometimes even died from it. And at best, they appeared possessed.
With that in mind, some of how Stewjon treated the curse made a lot more sense. But, it wasn't an excuse. And no one should have to suffer through that stigma.
"I'm supposed to have a ritual on my eighteenth birthday. Pets are supposed to be involved. How do we keep this from going bad?"
Quinlan straightened. He wondered what the ritual even was. But he put it out of his mind because he wanted to help his friend.
"We'll have to spend some time training your Force abilities. Starting tomorrow. I need to think on how to approach this since I can't help the way I normally would."
"Oh. You really think you can help? And with the Force blocked, how can you be ready?"
Quinlan grinned. "I was raised a Jedi. I have a pretty good idea of how things work. And I'm blocked from doing anything external with the Force. I can only sense the Force within me. I can still use it to enhance my limbs if I wanted to so I can be stronger or faster. I can still meditate the way they taught me. So, I can prepare that way. If you could let me know what the ritual is for, I can better prepare."
Obi-Wan blinked. "I don't know what the ritual is beyond it is a coming of age thing. I'll see if I can find out. Thank you, Quin. I don't want to die to this ritual, and I don't want you to die either... I'm going to shower." He stood, bending briefly to kiss Quinlan's forehead then his hand.
Quinlan felt his face heat up as it often did when Obi-Wan showed such signs of affection. Of interest.
He knew what would come next. Obi-Wan would get ready for bed, and they would share his bed for the night. For half a year they had hardly spent a night apart and Quinlan found that he didn't mind.
With this shower being Obi-Wan's way to have some thinking time with minimal distraction, Quinlan decided this would be a good time to meditate. So he rushed his own nighttime routine quickly, ducking in and out of Obi-Wan's room. Just about all of 'his' things were in there now.
Once he was ready for bed, he climbed onto the bed and crossed his legs. With a last look around the room, Quinlan closed his eyes and meditated.
Was he really falling in love with Obi-Wan? With the one good person in this place? It seemed he was. At least Obi-Wan was nice. He could do worse. but why? Why was being interested in Obi-Wan so comfortable? Why was he so concerned for Obi-Wan? This felt weird. Half a year ago he was still trying to escape. And these sorts of feelings had started long before that.
Then it hit him. Stockholm syndrome. Named after a moon called Stockholm.
It was a common misconception that Stockholm syndrome was about falling in love with one's captor. No, that wasn't the case. Even if Quinlan was actaully falling in love with Obi-Wan.
Stockholm simply was growing to feel sympathetic for one's captor, for the reasons they had chosen the route they went down.
Obi-Wan wasn't his captor, but Quinlan had to live with him. Quinlan answered to Obi-Wan, no one else, at least since he stopped trying to escape, and this place had felt like a prison sometimes.
And Quinlan was sympathetic. Obi-Wan did not have a good life. He was lacking companionship. His older siblings seemed to bully him. Not in any obvious way. They were all royalty after all. But they would get at him in some little way.
Obi-Wan was left out of family activities. He wasn't given much royal duties that weren't visible to the people. He was lonely before Quinlan showed up. He was so innocent and adorable those first few months. And while he had come to terms with how Quinlan felt about the situation, in those early days he would not leave Quinlan alone.
Quinlan was in love with Obi-Wan, but his interest in Obi-Wan, and his concern, those had started up right away.
Stockholm syndrome... he'd been warned against that many times since he started training for shadow work. He hadn't thought he would be affected by it. Yet here he was. At least no one else was here to see how fall he had fallen.
With that, Quinlan decided he had gone that path long enough. He needed to think about how to go about teaching Obi-Wan. Meditation was the obvious place to start, but that was just the start. There was so much more they had to do before Obi-Wan's birthday.
.
Obi-Wan appreciated all the hard work Quinlan had put in leading up to his birthday. He still wasn't certain of what he wanted to do about the Force. Wasn't sure how he felt about the rumors being confirmed.
He was Cursed. He had the ability to use the Force.
And oh. There were so many things he did without a thought, so many things he had accepted, that he hadn't realized that they weren't normal.
No wonder his siblings hated him. He was, to them, always eerily accurate about their feelings, even when he was little. And they couldn't imagine why. He didn't understand why they were freaking out, but had learned to keep what he noticed to himself.
He hadn't been able to learn about the ritual. It made him more nervous. These rituals killed the Cursed. No wonder everyone was watching him and Quinlan the days.
But Quinlan was smart. Quinlan was the best pet. He was helping Obi-Wan learn the Force. Helping him learn things he should have learned a long time ago. Obi-Wan loved him for it.
Oh. Right. Love. He had fallen in love with Quinlan. Or at least he thought he had. He didn't really have much to compare the feeling to.
Quinlan had always been perfect, but now that he wasn't trying to escape anymore... Everything was better. Things had relaxed, and they truly were close now. Everything Obi-Wan had wanted in a pet.
But it had come at a price. Quinlan had so many scars now from his escape attempts. And he wasn't the same. When he gave up, it was like he had lost a piece of himself. He was rebuilding himself around who he was now, who he had to be. But it was clear, especially when he talked about the Jedi and growing up and the Force that he had lost part of himself. A part that seemed rather mischievous based on the teasing he still did on occasion, and the pranks he bragged about pulling off. About how he got people hard to catch, even if he was in trouble for it.
Obi-Wan wished he knew more about that mischievous side, but it wouldn't fit well here. It wouldn't work well for them. Neither of them could afford to be noticed that much. Neither of them needed the attention that would bring.
So he put it aside though he still sometimes mourned what Quinlan had to sacrifice to be with him.
But now it was his eighteenth birthday. They had started before the dawn with breakfast. Then Obi-Wan and his pet were herded to the ritual room for the ritual.
Obi-Wan was incredibly nervous about this ritual. He had done some looking, and Quinlan agreed with his assessment. It looked like the rituals called on the Force in small ways, using old conduits put in place by a Force sensitive. Which would then interact badly with Force sensitives.
Even if they didn't know the ritual, they had been able to prepare for that. Obi-Wan was nervous, but knew they would live. There was no way they would fail, after all.
But what was the ritual?
He arrived to the room where his parents were waiting. His father took Quinlan to the other side of the room to explain his part in the ritual, leaving his mother to explain it to Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan swallowed nervously as his mother studied him. He didn't want to do wrong, didn't want to make her upset. but he wasn't sure how his parents truly felt about him. He just had the knowledge that they had always treated his siblings worse.
"Are you ready, my son?"
"Yes, Mother, I am." Obi-Wan straightened, trying to show that he was confident. That he wasn't nervous. "I just do not know what this ritual even is."
"That is by design. You are of age. It is time to determine your path in life, what area you need to focus in. This ritual determines that."
"Then why is Quinlan needed?" Obi-Wan glanced at Quinlan. Quinlan was nodding seriously, fidgeting in that way that betrayed his anxiety.
"Because there is more than one aspect to this ritual, it is a coming of age ritual after all. First, you will be inducted as a Kenobi, with your pet as your anchor. Then you will do the part that determines your path in life, the rest of the ritual depends on the answer there as we will do one that will prepare you for that life, and end with a final ritual that will bind you to that path."
Obi-Wan wasn't sure he liked that, but it explained how Sosa had ended up in charge of everything to do with flowers. Though there was one thing...
"Why do I need an anchor for these rituals? Did my siblings need one?"
"Everyone needs an anchor for these rituals. It is far too easy to lose yourself otherwise. Even if your pet had not been claimed as a war prize when he was, at the latest you would have been gifted a pet now, for this purpose."
Obi-Wan nodded, deciding to shelve that and consider it more seriously later.
"What do I need to do?"
"You don't really need to do anything, Obi-Wan. You will start by putting on the ceremonial gown, and drinking the ritual potion. Then you will kneel in the spot indicated and we will activate it. After that, the ritual itself will guide you."
"Understood." Obi-Wan took the simple gown and found a place to change into it. He glanced at Quinlan and wondered what he was being told about the ritual.
.
"Do you understand what this ritual will do to you?" Obi-Wan's father had just finished explaining it.
Quinlan nodded anxiously. "I believe I do."
"The more you fight it, the worse it will be."
"That makes sense. I will do my best not to fight it then."
"Good. Now, you need to put this on, then drink the ritual potion, and then I'll point you to where you will kneel. The ritual will guide you from there."
Quinlan swallowed, then followed the instructions without comment. Before he drank the potion, Obi-Wan's father removed the cuffs and collar. Quinlan didn't even think about trying to escape, just followed through with the rest of the preparations. His position in the ritual put him behind Obi-Wan and slightly to the right. He placed his hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder.
He was still dealing with feeling the Force fully when the ritual took hold. The guiding of the ritual was the Force itself. It was nice. Quinlan liked feeling the Force again, and didn't fight it in the least.
His role as Obi-Wan's anchor was to keep him grounded, keep the ritual from burning him out from the inside. No wonder Force sensitives tended to die during the rituals. Their usual sort of anchors wouldn't know what was going on, and Force sensitives would try to help the ritual.
But Quinlan was trained. He knew how to handle the Force. He kept Obi-Wan grounded and pulled him back when he tried to go too deep in to the Force.
Obi-Wan was inducted as a Kenobi, which didn't mean much to the Force. What that part of the ritual really did was familiarize the Force with each member of the Kenobi family when they did the ritual, and it would likely lead to some interesting rituals, with the Force being aware of who each person was. And each person having a minor connection to the Force, to be able to listen for these rituals
Quinlan continued to listen to the Force, guiding Obi-Wan through the next steps. It was fascinating, how this worked. Though the side effect of standing in as his anchor made it apparent why pets were a thing, why the pets were always the anchor. Quinlan wasn't sure how he felt about it but he wasn't a Jedi anymore, was he?
Obi-Wan's path was decided. The path of the helpful scholar-warrior. Quinlan was amused when he saw the very confused looks the Queen and King exchanged. But that fit what a Jedi was, mostly. They tried to be peacekeepers first, but fighting often was inevitable. He wondered if Obi-Wan had been meant to be a Jedi, but his path had changed. This almost seemed like it was accurate.
But if Obi-Wan couldn't be a Jedi, this was the path that would work best for him. Combining learning more with his fighting skills, and the opportunity to do good was the best thing for Obi-Wan.
The next part of the ritual was about letting the Force enhance a person's natural inclinations so that they better settled into the path and grew into their role. Quinlan was finding it more and more ironic that they despised Force sensitivity and yet relied on the Force for their rituals. He was not going to be the one to point it out.
By now, Quinlan could feel a growing bond between himself and Obi-Wan. He had been warned by Obi-Wan's father. There was some sort of connection between anchors and their person doing the ritual, binding them together forever. That was why pets were a thing. They would never be separated.
Quinlan had given up months before. But it was still a blow to agree to this whole thing without a fight. If he hadn't already, he was basically giving up his position as a Jedi for this. He couldn't be bound to Obi-Wan, not the way they were truly about to be, and be a Jedi. It would go against the vows Jedi take.
Especially since final part was basically just a vow. And as Obi-Wan proudly declared his intent to be a helpful scholar-warrior, as he vowed that he would live up to certain values, Quinlan was giving his own vows. He would help Obi-Wan in any way he could, and protect him above all else.
That solidified the bond between them. Quinlan gasped softly when it clicked into place. Obi-Wan gave him a concerned look, but then felt the first shared emotion creep over the bond and his eyes widened. That was amazing.
The ritual was supposed to end there. But then the Force took Quinlan and Obi-Wan into a deep meditation. It wanted to communicate with them further.
Quinlan wasn't sure how he felt about it. But he was going to do his best to help Obi-Wan with this. He was now Obi-Wan's protector. They were forever bound together. Quinlan was going to do his best to ensure Obi-Wan knew this was for the best. He had a greater purpose than before.
The Force brought them into some sort of room. Quinlan was pleased to learn that this was intentional. The Force wanted them to know more.
Obi-Wan was nervous, sticking close to Quinlan. But soon his curiosity overtook his anxiety and he was poking around the Force. Quinlan 'watched' with amusement, just enjoying the feeling of fully being immersed with the Force once more. It was wonderful after so long without.
The Force showed them visions. Visions of Obi-Wan's childhood, of Quinlan's. Quinlan noticed that they mirrored each other in a lot of ways. The Force showed them working side by side in the future, helping those who needed it. With the Force, a lot of times. Quinlan was happy with that. He might not be a Jedi anymore, but he still held to their values.
There was a warning too. Something bad was coming in the future, and the Force couldn't adequately warn them of it. It couldn't help them. They had to do the best with what they had.
A few more visions, and they came back to their bodies. Quinlan slumped, rubbing his head as he considered what had just happened. Considered the visions of what was, or what could be?
Obi-Wan was laying down, staring up at the ceiling. That was a bigger interaction with the Force than he was used to. It was no wonder he needed a moment. He had a lot to think about.
"It is done." Obi-Wan's mother left, to attend 'better' things.
Obi-Wan's dad stayed behind to check on them. He was the better of the two, but neither were good parents at all, and especially not to Obi-Wan.
Quinlan didn't move, poking at the bond curiously. After a moment, he sent reassuring feelings Obi-Wan's way.
Obi-Wan sat up and stared at him, surprised. "What was that?"
"Seems we got a Force bond now. means we can share our feelings if we want to."
"The connection between one and their pet is from the Force?" Obi-Wan's dad asked curiously.
Quinlan sighed. "All of your rituals are involved in the Force. That is why it's dangerous to those who can utilize the Force, if they are untrained."
"And what happened at the end?"
Quinlan shrugged. "Force wanted deeper meditation. We compiled."
"I see. So the vows you spoke were bound by the Force. What will happen if you break them?"
"I will get the backlash from the Force and likely die."
"Hmm. So you won't attempt to escape?"
"No. I can't."
"Good. Then I see no more reason to keep you from the Force. Obi-Wan, pick out your pet's new accessories when you go get your final fittings."
Obi-Wan beamed. "Yes, Father."
"Good. We will discuss how to start your training tomorrow."
Obi-Wan nodded. "Of course."
"We will see you at lunch."
.
Quinlan was reeling from the decision to let him have full access to the Force. They had no idea what they had allowed by letting Quinlan keep the Force.
Quinlan was now Obi-Wan's sworn protector. He would defend Obi-Wan from anyone, including his own parents. Quinlan decided it was wise not to let anyone in on that secret. He didn't want to make them wary or put the collar and cuffs back on.
But he would do his best to live up to expectations. At least he actually had more of a purpose now. At least he could fully access the Force again. And properly teach Obi-Wan how to use it.
Obi-Wan needed all the help he could get with the family he was born into. It really was too bad he wasn't a Jedi. They would've gotten along great growing up.
Obi-Wan poked at him in their bond tentatively with questions.
Quinlan pulled himself out of the contemplating. "What do you want to know?" he asked.
"Everything. But for now... are you okay, Quin?"
"Just a little thrown off. I wasn't expecting a Force bond out of your ritual, nor was I expecting your father to decide it is safe for me to go without any form of Force suppressants. Thought I'd have to have them the rest of my life."
Obi-Wan laced his fingers with Quinlan's. "Well, I'm glad that's what happened. You can help me get better control of the Cur-Force. And you look way better without that collar."
Quinlan felt his face heat up. "Uh, thanks, Obes. So... what kind of accessories are you thinking?"
"I really like the necklace and pendant option, and there's a hair clip I think would look pretty in your hair. There's still some monitoring equipment in them, they never entirely trust pets, even the ones who have been around for decades, but I think that those will look really good," Obi-Wan explained earnestly, face a pretty pink.
Quinlan smiled. "Alright, if you say so. I trust you."
Obi-Wan beamed at him, feelings of joy reaching Quinlan over the bond.
Quinlan knew without a doubt that he would never regret going along with the ritual. Obi-Wan needed to be protected at all costs. He didn't care about this being related Stockholm syndrome. He just wanted Obi-Wan happy.