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Quinlan watched Obi-Wan sleep, ears twitching.
They had finally recovered from the Sith ritual.
Mostly.
After some experimenting, they discovered they could go full tooka, or remove tooka parts, but it was uncomfortable to go to their bodies as they used to be.
Soulmate swapping felt different, but it was still possible. They just had so much going on in their own bodies that they were not ready to learn how things felt and worked in the other's yet.
Quinlan wasn't looking forward to that day's plans.
In order to be cleared for the field again, they had to go through an examination.
The last time they were examined, they were still in shock, and being poked and prodded with new appendages and it was not a good memory.
They didn't really go through any examinations after that, just left alone to recover from the shock.
But they were recovered, and they did need to be examined.
At least they'd already had their (separate) mind healing appointments to deal with some of the aftermath, and they had some soulmate sessions scheduled, since it was a shared trauma.
Quinlan ran a finger down Obi-Wan's cheeks and smiled. It was always nice to see Obi-Wan slow down and get rest.
He thought over what had changed since the change. Since the ritual.
Since Dooku had broadcast it to the galaxy and then died for it.
Quinlan sighed. With that broadcast, his face was now everywhere. The only way to be a shadow was to only do deep undercover, and he barely liked doing regular undercover if it took more than three months.
Which meant he would be taking a different role in the war than he had taken before.
Quinlan didn't know what that meant, but the Council had been discussing having him work with them when he wasn't working with Obi-Wan.
...he was pretty sure that if he said he was ready, the next time there was an open seat, he would be appointed.
Because of the nature of bodyswapping, it wasn't uncommon for members of the Council to have overlapping times with their soulmate. It was simpler to let them be on the Council instead of trying to make sure they never swapped (emergencies existed after all), and if they were learning things that were Council only business that way, they might as well have the excuse of being on the Council for knowing things, particularly those that did not have known soulmates.
It wasn't something everyone did, people did have different experiences with their soulmates after all, and not everyone was comfortable switching even for emergencies.
At least the war was a bit more manageable with Dooku gone. He was a driving force, both politically, and as a fighter.
The Separatists seemed a bit more disorganized.
Which left figuring out the Sith. Quinlan had a feeling that things wouldn't truly be over until they found the Sith.
At least people were talking more positively about the Jedi.
Dooku had probably been expecting something like a Nexu to be their true selves.
Nope. Tookas.
Which had people on the holonet cooing over what people saw of Obi-Wan and Quinlan before the livestream was cut.
And now they knew that one of the Jedi who was most well known, a good general and negotiator... was a tooka at heart.
And so was Quinlan.
They were never going to live that down among their friends. Once their friends finally got over the shock of Quinlan and Obi-Wan not only being soulmates but knowing each other so well they could act perfectly as each other without ever being noticed.
Quinlan shook his head. They were still adjusting. They were ready to go back to the field, if the examination went well.
Quinlan was going stir crazy. He didn't like downtime. It had been a whole month.
But the examination... he hated the idea. All the poking and prodding and curiosity. It would all be people he knew but it still wouldn't feel great.
Obi-Wan stirred, then opened his eyes with a yawn. "Morning Quin."
"Morning, Obes." Quinlan smiled softly. "Are you ready for the day?"
"What time's the examinations?"
"Two hours from now... we have time to eat and cuddle."
"Good." Obi-Wan sighed, snuggling. "I'm not looking forward to it. I trust Vokara and Bant... but I can't help but feel like a lab specimen."
"Me too." Quinlan sighed. "I'm sure everyone will tell us we're being ridiculous."
"But anxiety isn't about being rational."
"You're right." Quinlan kissed his cheek. "Ready to answer all the endless questions?"
"Such as keeping the ears is the simplest, least intrusive way to not feel discomfort by trying to remove all signs of tookas?"
"And questions about how we feel about the other physical changes."
"I don't mind the tattoos. The eye color swap is a bit weird, one of each. What about you?"
"Eye color is really weird, looking at you or the mirror, but it affects nothing. My hair going reddish is really weird though, and I can't get used to it."
"I do like the look on you."
"It clashes with some of my favorite outfits."
"Now you know why I don't like branching out beyond what I know works," Obi-Wan teased lightly.
Quinlan huffed and shoved him lightly. "Other than that, I just keep getting surprised when I see myself in the mirror.”
"I don't blame you, Quin. It is an adjustment."
"Because Dooku had some sort of point to prove. I can't decide if he was expecting us to be more dangerous animals, or if he was trying to undermine his master's plan."
"Could be both," Obi-Wan mused. "It's possible he figured that either outcome would be a win. He gets to turn people against us? Great, his master won't be mad at him for it. We turn out to be something cute that people adore and don't think of as dangerous or bad? Great, his master's position will end up being less strong and it'll be easier to turn on him."
"Only, he didn't count on the livestream being tracked to the source. That's the one part that surprises me the most. He was smarter than that."
"We may never know the truth, but he did confirm one thing."
"What's that?"
"That the Sith is trying to turn the galaxy against us. We should be looking at who is behind some of the images of the war that people are using to support the idea that we're warriors, that we want the war."
"Oh... good point Obes, I'll look into it."
"Now let's get some food."
.
Knowing how nervous they both were, the healers opted to examine one at a time with both in the room.
That way they could comfort each other and make sure they were okay.
Obi-Wan felt guilty for being unable to trust their healers, and he hoped that would pass in time, as he adjusted to the unnatural changes.
Quinlan used talking as a way to distract himself and Obi-Wan, sometimes bringing up the little things they had noticed as they adjusted.
Their hearing was better. Their sight was better. Their noses were even better.
The tooka instincts that came and went were disturbing, though they were never so strong they actually acted like a tooka unwillingly.
They did find time to curl up together in a patch of sun. Things were getting knocked off of counters more often, though nothing ever breakable (they had some control after all, it was just oddly entertaining).
Finally, the examinations were over, and they were asked to let the healers know if there were any changes.
Quinlan and Obi-Wan were just glad to escape, and be cleared for the field.
Providing they made sure to communicate with medics and the mind healers cleared them.
Which the mind healers already had. They definitely had work to do, but it wouldn't interfere with their duties.
Quinlan and Obi-Wan were both relieved to get back to the field.
They were not so relieved when the first mission back in the field went sideways.
And suddenly they were being hunted.
They ended up separated from each other, running through a forest, resorting to full tooka in order to be smaller targets hard to catch.
Especially with how they could jump from plant to plant and tree to tree and squeeze into spaces the hunters could not.
Quinlan spotted a cave with a small opening and squeezed into it, relieved that the hunter was nowhere near close enough to see where he went.
"Quin!" Obi-Wan whispered. "You okay?"
"Yeah, a bit out of breath," Quinlan responded as he caught his breath.
"Good, I didn't get hurt either. Why are we being hunted?"
"I heard the hunters that followed me say something about tookas that can be people being good prey, and there's bounties on us."
Obi-Wan grimaced. "Just when we were getting used to it."
"I know," Quinlan groaned. "It's not even that bad, just... weird. A bit unnatural, and I never feel right, but not that bad at all."
"Yeah. So... what are we going to do now? We can't hide until they're gone."
"Good question." Quinlan huffed. "At least this cave is big enough for us, but too small for them to squeeze into."
"We have to figure it out. The 212th need us, and I refuse to go down to hunters, of all people. Not even bounty hunters! They're just using the bounty as an extra incentive."
"Right?" Quinlan thought about it for a bit. "We need to figure out the fastest way back to the 212th, and I think... I think we might have to let them think they're winning."
"Let them hit us, think they're about to capture us, yes, that might be the only way we can make it back. But it will come with great risk."
"It's either risk, or we stay stuck here for days, I think," Quinlan said quietly.
Obi-Wan looked at him and nodded. "You're right. Let's take a bit of time, maybe they'll be out of the area by the time we go."
"Let's do that." Quinlan leaned on him, closing his eyes. "Is this going to be our lives from now on?"
"I don't think so. It's one instance of being hunted. Once people realize that we are still Jedi, that we can still fight, it won't interfere with our ability to be Jedi."
"And yet we're running."
"There's more than five of them hunting us at once. I think running until we have a strategy against them is viable."
"Maybe we should think about setting traps. If none of them are in this area when we leave the cave, maybe we should set up some traps. Lure them in and stop them. If nothing else, we can reduce the amount of people who will hurt us."
"You're right. We can do that." Obi-Wan kissed him. "For now, we'll take a break, think about the best way to lay traps, and then we'll prepare for hunting them."
"I like that. Go from prey to hunter. They won't know what hit them."
.
By the time they made it to the 212th, they were both limping and bleeding, but there were only three following them.
They watched the 212th take the remaining three out smugly, even as they were ushered to go see the medics.
Worth it.