Fates - How Squicky can it get?

by Leandra

Rating: PG-13

Category: Qui/Obi, Humor, AU

Archive: m_a, nuttersinc

Disclaimer: I don't own Qui-Gon Jinn, nor do I own Obi-Wan Kenobi. I wish I would. But Padawan Jinn is mine, mine, mine... *clutches Quiggs! muse*

Summary: Quiggs comes home from a mission and he brought a souvenir...

Notes: This is an instalment in the Fates-Universe. You might want to read (in the following order):
Fates Clotho
Fates A fading state of innocence
Fates A loss of innocence
Fates How Squicky can it get?

More fics in that series to come.

Thanks: To my Partner in Crime Raina for loving the idea of Qui-Gon having a pet and for the endless hours of musing in Scotland and to my beta-reader Tem-Ve for doing a great job as always.

"I want you to read the files X34-O7 to X35-O8 until our next lesson and prepare a paper that discusses the questions which will present themselves during your reading of the texts."

A collective groan went through the assembly of Padawans at Master Ri'tuan's announcement, as the Master was energetically scribbling the assignment onto a board at the front of the study room.

"Stop fretting, Padawans. You have enough time to fulfil my demands. See you all in a week," he said, grinning, and released his students to their afternoon occupations with a dismissive gesture of his hand.

Obi-Wan groaned and suppressed a sigh of annoyance. The last few days had been horrible as far as he was concerned. The Masters seemed to have synchronised with each other concerning the assignments they had given them and the sheer thought of all the books that awaited him in his room gave him a splitting headache. His whole life seemingly consisted of studying, re-reading ancient texts and writing discussion papers for his numerous classes. His social life was non- existent, Master Yoda drilled him in 'sabre practice in every spare minute and as if that wasn't enough, Qui-Gon had been sent on a mission with Mace Windu to the smuggler planet of Kessel 5 cycles ago and he missed him from the moment he got up in the morning to the moment he was forcing himself to sleep at nights. The rare times when Qui-Gon's heavy schedule had allowed him to contact Obi-Wan were too few in Obi-Wan's opinion and he was impatiently awaiting Qui-Gon's return. More than once had he been distracted during his training lessons because his mind had dwelled on Qui-Gon. In such a short time the other Padawan had become as important to him as the air to breathe, and without him around he just didn't feel whole. Without Qui-Gon's companionship and love around, something was missing from his life.

He was roused from his musings when a heavy hand patted on his shoulder. "Stop daydreaming, Obi-Wan," Dun said, grinning from ear to ear. "I know you can't get your mind off all the dirty things you want to do when Qui-Gon returns, but this boring lesson is over and I don't think you want to spend another hour listening to Master Ri'tuan's explanations on Kalarbian warfare during the fifth Kalarbian war against the royal planet of Druckenwell."

Obi-Wan, short of a snappy retort, just shook his head and rose from his chair, gathering his data pad and the pile of papers. Dun laughed at the clouded expression on Obi-Wan's face and grabbed Seda by the hand, dragging her towards the door. She smiled up at him, a look that did nothing to hide her affection for him, but he didn't seem to notice her adoration.

Obi-Wan took his time in stacking his papers and pad into a neat pile, tucked it under his right arm and trailed after them lazily. He was in no hurry to get to his next class. His stare fixed on his toes, his depression evident in his slow stroll, he walked out of his classroom, neither looking left nor right.

"Obi-Wan, you moody pile of a Padawan, look who is here to see you, " he heard Seda's happy voice piercing his perception. Lazily he raised his head and looked over to the group of Padawans who were standing on the other side of the aisle, gathering around a tall, familiar young man.

"Quiggs? What are you doing here?" he asked, confusion evident in his voice. "I didn't expect you to be back until next cycle..." he continued, his face splitting into a huge grin. With two huge steps he had crossed the aisle and stood in front of his boyfriend, still not quite believing his eyes.

Qui-Gon's mouth quirked into an affectionate smile as he looked down at the smaller man whose eyes reflected his own feelings of warmth and affection with quite the same intensity.

"Huh... suddenly there is so much tension in the air...," Dun joked and poked Obi-Wan in his side, without getting a reaction from his friend who was in too much bliss to even react to Dun's teasing.

"Dun..." Seda chided and knocked his hands away with a pat of her hands, "...stop being such an idiot. It's a pity you'll never get the concept of true romance."

She pushed the snickering Twi'lek aside and took the data pad out of Obi-Wan's hands before he could drop it to the floor. She placed it into Dun's hands, who almost dropped it himself, and grabbed one of his tentacles, pulling him away with her. He winced and started to mutter violent curses, but had no other option than to follow her as she led him away from Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon.

"You are so going to pay for this..." Dun complained and winced again when Seda dug her sharp nails into his left headtail with a little more pressure than before.

"It's bad enough that you can't see love when it's standing right in front of you, now you are denying others the love they have for each other," she said sharply.

"What do you mean?" he asked, confused, then muttered another curse when Seda pulled his head down using his headtail as a leash, so that he ended up being on the same eye level with her. She pulled him closer until their noses almost bumped and looked at him pointedly. He blinked, confused, and tried to shut out the pain she was inflicting on his headtail with her hard grip.

"What do you mean, Seda? Ouch, that hurts..." he whined again. Seda rolled her eyes at him and suddenly released him, causing him almost to tumble backwards.

"Oh... damn you," Seda cursed, losing her temper and stomping away, leaving an utterly confused Dun behind, who was staring after her, open-mouthed.

"Human females will always remain a mystery to me," Dun sighed and reached up to tend to his bruised headtail.

"Do you want to stay there at arm's length and keep staring at me like I'm a ghost?" Qui-Gon finally asked, amused.

Obi-Wan answered Qui-Gon's grin with a grin of his own and shook his head. "No." A pause, a breath. "No...," he repeated, his voice husky and low, "I have a far better idea."

Qui-Gon quirked an eyebrow questioningly, but he couldn't prevent a shiver surging through his body at the tone of this beloved voice that he had missed for too long. The next moment he found himself pressed to the wall behind him with his arms full of Obi-Wan Kenobi, the familiar warmth and closeness of his lover's body surrounding him. He lowered his head and let his lips be captured by Obi-Wan's as he was squirming his hips urgently against his own. A quiet moan escaped him when a talented tongue demanded entry to his mouth and wiggled its way past his teeth. The cherished taste of his lover exploded on his tongue and he reached out with his own to welcome the intrusion. His head started to swim with the nearness of Obi-Wan, and the sound of his own heart beating like mad rang in his ears.

Suddenly, reluctantly, Obi-Wan pried himself away from his lover's body and took a step back, causing Qui-Gon to almost tumble over. A polite cough made him open his eyes. Obi-Wan was standing in front of him, panting, face flushed, eyes sparkling with desire. Next to him stood Master Ri'tuan, tapping his foot on the floor impatiently, regarding him sternly.

He swallowed audibly and felt his face heat up with embarrassment under that scrutinizing look.

"If it is possible for you to continue your activities somewhere else, I would be immensely delighted. I'm trying to hold a lecture here, but I find it very difficult to lure my students to come to class when they are distracted by such an openly immoral display in front of my classroom," Master Ri'tuan said, his tone somewhere between amusement and threat.

"Yes Master," Qui-Gon said, taking in a deep breath.

"I'm sorry Master," Obi-Wan murmured, then added, looking at his teacher with a mocking smile, "... we will continue our ..." he paused theatrically, "...activities... somewhere else."

Qui-Gon almost saw the shift in Master Ri'tuan's mood following Obi- Wan's cheeky response, and without awaiting the explosion that would surely come, he grabbed Obi-Wan by his sleeve and dragged him around the corner, not even looking back. He shoved him against the next wall and hissed, "Are you crazy? Do you want him to report this incident to our Masters? I bet Master Yoda would be delighted to hear that we are putting on a show for the junior Padawans..."

Obi-Wan was merely smiling at him. "I love it when you push me up against the wall..." he said sultrily, accentuating his remark with little nips at Qui-Gon's exposed throat. "That makes me think of so many other things we haven't tried yet..." he continued whispering and bit down hard, sucking blood towards the surface of Qui-Gon's skin.

Qui-Gon groaned at both the images that were provoked by Obi-Wan's suggestions as well as the sharp teeth worrying his skin and closed his eyes in surrender. Arguing with Obi-Wan Kenobi was a bad idea, especially when the other Padawan tried to distract him with his skilful ministrations. For skilful he was indeed. Just when the pain became too sharp, Obi-Wan released the bruised skin from between his lips and soothed it with his tongue.

"Don't you have another class?" Qui-Gon asked in between delivering small kisses to his lover's chin, his hands sneaking around Obi-Wan's hips to draw the other Padawan closer to his body.

"Mhmm...mhm..." Obi-Wan said, his confession muffled by Qui-Gon's lips who gave him no time for an answer but demanded immediate attention to the here and now. And Obi-Wan was determined to live up to this demand. He opened his mouth willingly when Qui-Gon's tongue teased his lips open. He moulded his body into Qui-Gon's taller frame, pressing their hips flush together, rubbing his groin sensually against the other man's apparent arousal.

When they broke apart, panting, harshly sucking for breath, he wriggled his hips, brushing his own erection urgently against the answering hardness.

"Is that a lightsabre in your pocket or are you happy to see me?" he demanded to know, his voice a bit strained with the effort to draw in as much air as possible.

A throaty laugh answered him and he let his own happy laughter mingle with that of his lover.

"Well, if I might say so myself, your lightsabre is quite impressive as well, " Qui-Gon answered in mirth, then drew Obi-Wan close to him again, suddenly growing serious.

"I missed you..." he breathed into the fine hairs at Obi-Wan's neck, causing goose bumps to break out on the sensitive skin.

"I know..." Obi-Wan answered softly and wound his fingers into Qui- Gon's robes, wanting to feel warm bare skin under his hands. He worked his hands into Qui-Gon's tunics, parting them at the juncture, and touched the other's naked chest, softly letting his hands glide down towards his stomach. Qui-Gon's breathing was laboured in his ears, the little puffs of warm air he exhaled teased the fine hairs at his neck and he shuddered with desire at the thought that Qui-Gon was his and that he could bring this proud tall man to such exquisite pleasure.

His hands continued their journey over the hard planes of Qui-Gon's stomach to his sides when suddenly he brushed against something strange. He blinked in confusion and was about to say something when he felt it again. With Jedi reflexes he grabbed for the unfamiliar "thing" and pulled it out of Qui-Gon's tunics.

"Wha..." he started and held the thing up in front of his eyes. Sharp yellow eyes were staring at him him angrily as he found himself face to face with the ugliest little creature he had seen in his whole life.

"This is Squicky," Qui-Gon came to his aid.

The creature regarded Obi-Wan with sparkling eyes and let out a dangerous growl.

"Squicky?" Obi-Wan asked, turning the rat in his hands. "The swamprat?"

Qui-Gon nodded, smiling like a proud father. "He is a little bit on the disgusting side, but very loyal."

In the same moment the rat snarled at Obi-Wan and showed its sharp fangs. "It's unbelievably ugly..." Obi-Wan said.

"He is not ugly," Qui-Gon defended his pet.

Squicky used the moment to surge forward and dig his sharp fangs into Obi-Wan's palm. With a curse Obi-Wan jumped aside and tried to shake the little rodent that had attached itself to his hand off. The rat gave another hiss and was thrown off. It hit the floor and vanished from their sight immediately.

"You scared him!" Qui-Gon growled and went down on his knees to search for his pet.

Obi-Wan winced and raised his hand to suckle on the place on his palm where Squicky had left his bite marks.

"Loyal, huh?" he asked, his voice muffled by his own hand.

"Squicky?" Qui-Gon called, trying to lure the rat back to him.

"Tell your little rodent friend that it isn't loyal to bite his owner's boyfriend, would you?"

Qui-Gon looked up from where he was crawling around on the floor on his knees and gave Obi-Wan an annoyed look.

"Help me find him, would you?"

Grumbling, Obi-Wan went down to his knees next to Qui-Gon and started to look for the rodent.

"Squic...Wait!" He stopped himself, then turned towards his boyfriend, who was searching the space under the cupboards that were aligned along the wall next to them. "Why should I look for him? He bit me."

Qui-Gon stopped his search and looked at Obi-Wan, scowling. "Why?! Because we will not continue our 'activities' unless we have found the poor little creature. You scared him to death!"

"I sca... Force, HE scared ME to death! You have to decide, the rat or me," Obi-Wan countered hot-temperedly.

Qui-Gon gave him a long smouldering look. "You are not serious, are you? The rat. Now come and help me find him." With that he returned to his search.

Obi-Wan sighed deeply. "You certainly have a love for pathetic life forms...," he commented dryly but was wise enough to not argue further with a stubborn being like Qui-Gon.

Together they managed to locate the swamprat after a bit of a search. Squicky had hidden under one of the larger shelves, but it seemed like he had had enough of his freedom. As soon as he spotted Qui-Gon, he surged forward and landed in his lap, snuggling into the folds of the Padawan's robe, shivering all over.

"Ssshhhh..." Qui-Gon tried to soothe his trembling pet and stroked its mousy grey fur.

"He is still ugly," Obi-Wan murmured and rose from the floor, wiping the dust from his knees.

Qui-Gon rose as well and hid the rodent in the sleeve of his robe, where it rolled into a ball and started to make little contented noises.

"Not everybody can compete with the legendary Kenobi beauty, " he said and smiled.

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. "As if he was competition...," he muttered under his breath.

"Jealous, love?" Qui-Gon asked and regarded his boyfriend with an amused look, his eyes twinkling with mirth. Obi-Wan shook his head defensively.

"Just promise me you won't pick up pathetic life forms on every mission. I might be able to share your affection with this ugly rodent..." His ramblings were interrupted by a low hiss coming from somewhere out of Qui-Gon's tunics and Obi-Wan frowned, "...but not with a load of other pathetic creatures without a home. What disturbs me most is that he has permanent body contact with you... might be the only thing that gets me jealous..."

Qui-Gon laughed out loud and slung an arm around Obi-Wan's waist. He leaned in and kissed his boyfriend briefly.

"Now let's go somewhere else, where I can tell you about the rest of my mission in private... and maybe we'll manage to indulge in other things without corrupting Junior Padawans...is that an idea?" he whispered into Obi-Wan's ear, accompanying his words with a lick to Obi-Wan's earlobe.

Obi-Wan merely nodded and dragged Qui-Gon with him to the nearest elevator.