Vermillion and Gold

by Pumpkin

Archive: Yes to m_a

Pairing: Obi-Wan/Qui-Gon

Rating: R

Summary: Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon return from a mission

Feedback: yes, please, to apumpkin@rogers.com

"Thank you, Master Jinn, Padawan Kenobi. A page will be waiting for you; you may be retired." The voice of the Prime Councillor echoed in the large, spare room, their robes, in varying shades of brown, the only colour against the light grey walls.

Obi-Wan and his master bowed to the Council and left the great chamber. The room beyond it was small and round, benches, all currently unused, lined the serviceable grey room. Two pages waited for them, both wearing the pewter-coloured suit of their order and sporting bald pates. They bowed to the Jedi, the whisper of their silk clothing the only sound in the anti-chamber.

"If you would follow me, Master Jinn."

"And if you would follow me, Padawan Kenobi."

"Thank you," answered Qui-Gon. Obi-Wan noted that his master sounded as tired and worn as he himself felt.

He turned to his master and bowed. "Good rest, Master."

Qui-Gon's hand slid across his head in a gentle caress. "And to you, Padawan -- you deserve it, you did good work out there this mission."

"Thank you, Master." Obi-Wan straightened and Qui-Gon's hand slid to caress his cheek in a more personal gesture, though he spoke no words.

Obi-Wan smiled and inclined his head for a moment before taking one last look at Qui-Gon.

He followed the page down a quiet corridor, unconcerned with where or when Qui-Gon's path diverged from his own; they would be one within the Force. He and the page continued on to an elevator.

Obi-Wan was already slowing his breath and lowering his pulse, the beginning mantras filling him with calm and peace, the taxing mission already a memory.

The elevator came to a stop and they exited, Obi-Wan still following the page who remained quiet, respecting his need to prepare. He was handed a glass of clear liquid: water with a meditative agent designed to make it easier for him to go into the trance and stay there until his body was called once again.

The page escorted him down a long corridor filled with resting chambers. There were thousands of them: seven feet deep, two feet wide and two feet high, they were stacked seven on top of the other from floor to ceiling. The hall continued as far as his eye could see and beyond. These were for the humanoid Jedi, there was a floor for every species, each with their own size and shape requirements.

He knew Qui-Gon would have been taken by a different elevator to somewhere else in this long line of vaults.

There were thousands of them, tens of thousands, representing all the sentient species of all the worlds in the galaxy. A glimmer of pride stole through him and Obi-Wan pushed it away. There was no place for pride in the chambers of renewal and waiting.

The page stopped after they'd walked for five minutes or so and opened the third drawer from the bottom, pulling out the padded board. He started to adjust various knobs and buttons as Obi-Wan disrobed.

Obi-Wan set his clothing neatly in the recycling unit on the wall and then lay down on the drawer, crossing his arms over his chest and letting his eyes close. He wasn't embarrassed by his nudity, the order that served them were all but invisible. He wasn't cold, the chambers were kept at the perfect temperature. Everything was perfect, it always was.

"Thank you," he murmured.

"It is my honour and my duty to serve the Jedi."

Obi-Wan lay back and imagined he didn't need to breathe anymore. He was sinking back into a thick, warm pool of water, even the glide of the drawer back into its slot fit into the movements he was imagining. The sound of the latches being set in place and locked were echoes of his own heartbeat, nothing more, nothing less, as he let the Force take him: his spirit and his mind, from the confines of his body.

Blue and green. Vermillion and gold. A riot of emotions. A perversion of colours. I feel them with my mind, let them slide through from spirit and soul to my body.

I shiver and shake, sweet orgasms shuddering through me. I have never experienced such pleasure. But it is not my pleasure and it is forbidden to my kind.

Our task is to keep watch over and take care of the Jedi as they rest within the chambers. It is our duty and our honour to serve them; keep them while they wait, suspended in the Force, wake them when they are called.

We are invisible to them. Once in their chambers, they are invisible to us. At least that's the way it is meant to be; that is the way it has always been.

Still...how can I resist such colours in this shades-of-grey world? How can I ignore the pleasure that is not mine, that is never mine, that never will be mine, how can I turn away from it?

It is wrong to push into their lives within the Force. We must serve -- it is our duty and our honour.

Blue and green. Vermillion and gold. I seek them out now. My honour lost. My duty perverted. My world no longer grey.

End.