Obi-Wan
bounced on the balls of his feet, preparing for take-off. But a hand on his
shoulder made him freeze and relax, allowing him to delay his task for a few
moments more. He looked over and grinned. "You've got good tibig,
Badt."
Bant
grinned back, pulling her hood up over head. "Good? No,
coincidence more likely. It seems like I've been here thirty times today
already. You?"
"Fifty at
least," he grumbled. He sighed and looked out of the glass door directly in
front of him, though he could not see very far. It was a blinding white
outside, with the whole of the city blanketed by a raging snowstorm. Violent winds. Feet of snow. Inhuman temperatures. They had seen all the complications
and catastrophes associated with such a storm... and then some.
Then his
eyes slammed shut and he just managed to raise his arm to bury his nose in his
thick sleeve. "uhhh-Schhphhhh!
KuhShhphhh!"
Bant
clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, dug a handkerchief out, and
handed it over. Her silver eyes flashed with sympathy. "Bad
timing, catching a head cold in the middle of all this madness."
He nodded
and rubbed his nose, knowing from experience that it was now his handkerchief
as she wouldn't want it back. He tucked it away and raised his hood as well.
"Ready?" He saw her nod just before he ducked his head down. Then he crossed
his arms over his chest, letting his long sleeves cover his hands and arms so
that the only part of him exposed to the elements was a bit of his face. Then
he purposefully walked into the door, pushing it open.
The walkway
hadn't been shoveled recently, as the droids assigned to such work had to be
used sparingly as even they froze up or rusted if they were out in the cold for
too long. But frequent traveling from the padawans
today kept the walkway somewhat clear of snow, though slippery with ice. The
wind pushed them this way and that, slamming them against the side of
snowdrifts with only their Jedi powers to help keep them on their feet.
By the time
they reached the end of the walkway and had shut the door, their faces were
stinging and their limbs felt frozen. They stomped their feet and shook the
snow off. Obi-Wan immediately took out the handkerchief again. "ehhh-Uhgschhh!" It bent him practically in half, and
he stayed that way as he continued to sneeze. "huhhKSchhh! uhhhChooo!"
The data
chips in his inner pocket clicked together as he shook with sneezes, so he kept
his free hand against his chest until the sneezes passed. He straightened with
a cough and many weary rubs to his still tickling nose.
"You look
exhausted, Obi-Wan." Bant said, pressing her hand against his forehead to feel
for fever. It was still too cold from the trip outside.
"I ab," he replied weakly, stuffing the handkerchief into his
other inner pocket while pulling out handfuls of data chips from the other. He
sorted through them, selected one, then put the others
away again. "They've got all the badawads out curryig dow
that the lides are dowd.
But they still exbect us to
go to our classes add do our traidig add work..." He
sniffed hard and rubbed his nose into his sleeve, too tired to bother with the
handkerchief.
"Of
course," she said with a smile. "We're padawans.
We're expected to hold down our usual responsibilities, even in times of
crisis. And, frankly Obi-Wan, I'm surprised to hear you of all people
suggesting otherwise!" she laughed.
He smiled
back, nodding. "It bust be the head cold clouding by judgbedt." She laughed again.
"Padawans?" They both winced
slightly, looking over at Master Windu who had just
rounded the corner a few doors down the hallway. "Surely you are not wasting
time? With the power down in half of the temple, whole sections inaccessible,
and communication down throughout the temple and city, there are important messages
that need to be delivered."
"We
understand, Master Windu," Bant said quickly and
apologetically. She flashed Obi-Wan a smile. "I will see you later tonight to
study for our mechanics drills tomorrow." He nodded back. "May the Force be
with you both," she said, waiting for them to reply in kind before heading
quickly down the hall.
Then Mace
turned to Obi-Wan. "You do not sound well at all, Padawan Kenobi. Have you been
to see the healers?"
Obi-Wan
shook his head. "I did't wadt
adyode there to catch this frob
be." When the power outage had hit, many residents of the temple had been
relocated. Many of the Senate dignitaries had been moved in with others
Senators and senior, padawanless Jedi. However,
others were assigned to stay at the healing dome where there were many
available rooms and beds. "But Baster Qui-God took by
teberature. This is just a tidy head cold," he
explained, holding up two fingers to demonstrate how small a head cold he
considered it.
As Master Windu regarded him skeptically, Obi-Wan's expression
changed. He felt a sneeze coming and was not about to sneeze openly in front of
a Jedi Master. Well, excluding Qui-Gon, of course. He turned to the side a
little and dug around in his pocket to retrieve the handkerchief. He cupped it
to his face as securely as he could with one hand, not wanting to get the data
chip anywhere near his sneeze either. "uhhh... huh-ChshhhhChuhhh!"
The double had been strong and, with his nose tickling so much, he was forced
to blow it a little to stave off a full-blown fit of sneezing.
After
Obi-Wan had straightened and apologized, Master Windu
looked much more forgiving. Obi-Wan could see in his eyes the same sort of
kindness his own master showed him. "How many more messages are you to
deliver?"
Obi-Wan
took a mental tally, trying to recall the feel of the chips in his hand just
minutes before. "Odly six," he explained. "But I'b slated to be od currier duty
for adother three hours. I dow I soud sick, but I wadt to do by bit to helb."
Mace paused
for a moment, thinking. Then, "I think we can do without one padawan's assistance during this shift. When you finish
with your current assignments, I want you to return to your quarters."
Obi-Wan
hesitated, then nodded obediently. "Thadk you. Sniff!
I should go dow, though. Baster Biddow id dext od by list."
"By all
means," Master Windu said, gesturing down the
hallway. "Oh, but will you do you me the favor of relaying a message to Qui-Gon
for me?" Obi-Wan, of course, replied that he would. "Tell him that he needs to
take better care of his padawan."
Obi-Wan
smiled sheepishly. "Thadk you," he repeated, feeling
the need to get done with his duties so that he could return home as soon as
possible. "Bay the Force be with you, Baster Widdu."
"And you,
Padawan Kenobi. Feel better."
Obi-Wan
nodded and hurried along, turning the corner before Mace opened the door and
let in a blast of cold air.
The first
five messages took nearly a half an hour to deliver, even with Obi-Wan
hurrying. He nearly gave the wrong chip away once, but loaded its contents into
his datapad to double-check before he left and caught
the mistake in time.
The sixth,
and his last, chip was to be delivered to Master Nu, who
had recently taken over the position of Chief Librarian of the Jedi Archives. He
paused outside the library to blow his nose as thoroughly as possible before
entering.
The library
was dark and the only retrieval stations lit and ready for use were the two at
the main desk. Obi-Wan guessed they were running on back-up power as the
library was quite an important tool but certainly took a back seat to the
cafeteria, healing dome, and council chamber. Nonetheless, the library was
spacious and he could see that several sections of it were currently being used
as makeshift classrooms for the younglings. The whole of the library still felt
as quiet and peaceful as ever.
He spotted
Master Nu behind the main desk and headed over. He
decided not to address her by name. Despite his attempt at clearing his nose,
it still felt rather stuffy and runny. And, as he approached her, it started
tickling. "Dot dow!" he whispered to it under his
breath.
"Did you
say something Padawan Kenobi?" Master Nu leaned
across the desk to hear him better. Her hair was tied back in a bun and she
wore a no-nonsense expression.
He shook
his head and surreptitiously gave his nose a rub. He held out the data chip.
She smiled
and took it. "Thank you, Padawan."
"You're wel... wel... huhh..." He tried to finish and fight back the sneezes. He tried hard.
And he failed. "hihhhChoo! hehhChoo! hihhSchuhhh!" He quickly buried his nose into the
crook of his arm. "HEHChphh! HIHShmmph!" The sound
echoed throughout the nearly silent library.
But the
damage was done. He was shushed by practically everyone there. His cheeks
flushed and he muttered an apology through his sleeve. Master Nu looked concerned, but Obi-Wan shook his head. "I'b headig back to by quarters right dow," he assured
her.
She nodded
and thanked him again in a dismissive sort of way. He quickly took his leave, sneezing
a few more times as he headed down the hallway.
Obi-Wan
swung by the communications relay station on level 24 on his way back to his
quarters to find that they were no significantly closer to fixing the problem,
which meant much more use for the padawan learners. By the time he reached his
quarters, he'd been outside three more times and was shivering terribly.
He caught
sight of Qui-Gon sitting at the desk on the far side of the common area as he
entered. The Jedi Master was surrounded by books, papers, datapads,
and chips, and he smiled when he looked up and saw Obi-Wan. "Padawan, I didn't
expect you home for another two hours at least." He smiled but the sentiment
was brief as he returned to his work immediately.
Stripping
off his cold, soaking wet cloak, Obi-Wan decided that their customary kisses
could wait until later. Qui-Gon was so far away and the couch so near. He sat
down upon it and in a minute had slouched to the side against the cushions. "I rad idto Baster
Widdu, who gave be a bessage,"
he said tiredly, looking over at his master. Qui-Gon seemed swamped with work
and Obi-Wan didn't have the heart to relay the message exactly. "He told be to
go hobe to you add rest idstead
of fidish by shift."
Qui-Gon
paused, then set the datapad in his hands down on the
desktop with a sigh. "He thinks I'm not taking good enough care of you, doesn't
he?" Obi-Wan sniffled so he would not be required to answer. Qui-Gon pushed
away from the desk, rolling backwards in his chair a foot or so. Then he
stretched thoroughly and Obi-Wan thought he could hear a few joints cracking.
Tired,
Obi-Wan's eyes were trying to close, even as he was protesting and digging out
the handkerchief again to handle his runny nose, then tucking it back away. "Baster, you dod't--"
"It's about
time I took a break, anyway," Qui-Gon admitted. "And I think Mace might be
right."
Obi-Wan
didn't know if Qui-Gon used his Jedi powers or not to help but before he knew
it, Qui-Gon was sitting next to him with a steaming hot cup of herbal tea and
Obi-Wan's blue blanket. There was a snuggle and the
sensation of beard against his cheek, and Obi-Wan found himself grinning
despite his cold.
"Wait," he
whispered, as Qui-Gon kissed his forehead tenderly. Obi-Wan turned his head,
nose wrinkling, breath hitching. "Bad... tibig..." He fumbled for his handkerchief, unable to get it
in time.
Fortunately,
he felt Qui-Gon's handkerchief against his nose and he leaned into his master
as his eyes closed. "hehhChuhhh! huhhhSchhhhh!"
Obi-Wan
sighed, feeling the handkerchief gently drying his nose. Qui-Gon kissed Obi-Wan
and then rubbed the back of the young man's head. "Fortunately for you, Padawan,
I have excellent timing."