Author's Notes: A short little vignette with no apparent plot whatsoever. Basically just a good excuse to have fun with my two favourite characters.
DISCLAIMER: Star Wars and all publicly recognisable characters, names and references, etc are the sole property of George Lucas, Lucasfilm Ltd, Lucasarts Inc and 20th Century Fox. This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment purposes and no money was made from it. Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Any other characters, the storyline and the actual story are the property of the author. Not to be archived without permission of the author(s).
Obi-Wan winced and grimaced; pulling away involuntarily as Qui-Gon cleaned and applied synth-flesh to his raw back, arms and chest.
"Hold still," Qui-Gon remonstrated, pulling him back and reaching for another strip of synth-flesh.
"Easy for you to say," Obi-Wan couldn't help thinking. "Ow!" he squirmed away again as the burning cleanser set another one of his already painful lacerations on fire.
Qui-Gon's firm hand once more pulled him back in his seat. "For the last time, are you going to sit still, or do I have to tie you down?" Qui-Gon's words were exasperated, but his voice was amused.
Obi-Wan eyed his Master with a scowl. "You are enjoying this Qui-Gon Jinn, and don't you try to convince me that you aren't!"
Qui-Gon smiled slightly when his Padawan was not looking. The boy could be so stubborn sometimes. This really did serve him right.
"Ow!" Obi-Wan gasped again, unable to help himself. He squirmed, but settled down quickly when Qui-Gon sent him a mental picture of being tied to the chair.
He was trying to use the Force to dull his pain, really he was, but every time Qui-Gon touched him the pain flared up again, red hot and excruciating and he lost his concentration.
"Well," Qui-Gon said cheerfully. "Maybe next time you'll listen to me when I tell you not to tangle with a Scorpiolissian." The Master applied a healthy dose of antiseptic to another of the boy's many upraised, bloody, poison-infected welts.
Obi-Wan shuddered and squirmed under his hands.
"I hope you've learned something from this," the Master added. He slapped the synth-flesh on.
"Yes," Obi-Wan ground out through his teeth. He jerked slightly and gasped again as Qui-Gon continued to treat his injuries. "I've learned never to let you be my doctor."
Qui-Gon actually laughed. "There you see?"
Obi-Wan bit his lip as his Master slathered more cleanser on the infected injuries.
"You've learned one important lesson already." Swish, clean, slap!
"Ow!" Obi-Wan was getting tired of saying that, but he just couldn't stop himself. "You think this is funny, don't you?" he said dryly, gripping the edges of the chair tightly.
"No," Qui-Gon shook his head, moving over to a particularly nasty welt on his apprentice's arm. "Watching you get chewed up and spit out by that tentacled terror, that was funny." Qui-Gon was being particularly unsympathetic today. Of course, he hadn't really thought it was funny. Well... maybe just a little bit, but only after he knew Obi-Wan was going to be all right.
Obi-Wan grimaced. "You could have helped me."
"I did help you. I note that you are still alive," Qui-Gon pointed out. "Besides, he didn't really want to kill you."
"No," Obi-Wan's knuckles turned white from his grip on the chair. "Just maim me a little."
"I think he thought you needed a lesson." Qui-Gon moved to his other arm.
"And you agreed." Obi-Wan was not really angry with his Master. He knew what had happened to him had been entirely his own fault, but he was still irritated, and hurting.
"You asked for this Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon pointed out calmly. "You cannot say I did not warn you."
Obi-Wan's scowl deepened. He had been waiting for that. He knew his Master was right. He should have listened to him in the first place. But did he have to rub it in?
"Ow!" Obi-Wan jerked as a white-hot razor of pain shot up his arm. The sudden intensity of it actually brought tears to his eyes.
Qui-Gon's face turned serious as he paused to examine this wound. Swollen red welts traced around the apprentice's arm, twisting their way up from his wrist to his shoulder like a tangle of confused serpents.
The injured flesh was hot to Qui-Gon's touch. He did not doubt that Obi-Wan hurt quite badly.
He probed the injury gently with his mind. Something about it had struck him as slightly different from the others he had been dressing.
All of the creature's stingers left a certain amount of poison in the injuries they inflicted, that's what the cleanser he was using removed, but this one was a little different. Part of one of the Scorpiolissian's gelatinous tentacles had come off, as they were prone to do, and lodged itself deep in the wound. It was going to have to come out.
Qui-Gon winced a little in spite of himself. This was going to hurt Obi-Wan quite severely.
"There's some matter in this one," he informed the apprentice. "I need to remove it."
Obi-Wan had a nasty feeling that was going to mean more pain.
"I'm sorry," Qui-Gon apologized as he picked up an instrument to remove the tentacle remnant with. He honestly did not like seeing his Padawan in pain. "I wish I had something to give you..." they were woefully short of any painkillers or anesthetics.
"Just get it over with." Obi-Wan grit his teeth and hung on tightly to the seat of the chair with his other hand. If Qui-Gon was actually apologizing for this, it must be going to hurt pretty bad. He tried to center himself within the Force. He knew he should be able to, Qui-Gon could. But he was, after all, only 15 years old and only two years into his apprenticeship.
Qui-Gon nodded. Holding Obi-Wan's left arm with one hand, he worked quickly with the other. He tried to be as gentle as he could and sent nerve-deadening messages to his Padawan's body, but Obi-Wan still moaned in pain.
The tentacles had hundreds of microscopic barbs, each one loaded with an ultimately non-fatal, but painfully acidic poison. The barbs caught and clung to Obi-Wan's flesh as Qui-Gon tried to remove it, releasing more of the burning poison.
Obi-Wan's moan turned into a low cry. He bit his lip hard and rocked back and forth quickly in his seat, attempting to distract himself from the pain.
Qui-Gon gave him no hassle over it this time. He knew the boy was being brave. One did not usually attempt to remove Scorpiolissian tentacles without first being fully sedated. The pain would have left most people screaming like babies.
When Qui-Gon finally got it out, Obi-Wan's face was very pale. His eyes glistened, but he had not allowed the tears to fall, not in front of his Master! He breathed rapidly, his aching chest rising and falling shakily with his breathing.
"Okay, okay," Obi-Wan gasped, half joking. "I've learned the lesson. Let's not over do it!"
Qui-Gon's lips twitched. He felt a little sorry for the apprentice, but Obi-Wan was obviously bearing up quite well. Sometime later he would let his Padawan know that he knew how brave he truly had been. For right now however...
"Just making sure you don't forget it," Qui-Gon said serenely, applying synth-flesh to the apprentice's last injury.
Obi-Wan always found it hard to tell when his Master was joking, and when he wasn't. However, he was not fooled. He had felt Qui-Gon reach in to help him when the pain got really bad and had touched the compassion that the Master truly felt towards his Padawan. Obi-Wan knew his Master was still giving him a hard time about this, probably would for a while, but that was all it was.
Obi-Wan almost smiled despite everything. Most people would not have considered his Master a tease. Many would have been utterly shocked at the thought, but Obi-Wan knew better.
"Don't worry Master," Obi-Wan said ruefully, able to breathe easier now that his injuries were all cleaned and dressed. "I won't," he promised with a dry smile. "I won't."
They both laughed.