Archive: SWAL, m_a, WWOMB and JAOA
JAOA Webpage: http://digitalmidnight.simplenet.com/garden/jaoa.html
Category: AU, Drama
Disclaimer: George Lucas is god. I just slip in and play with
the toys when he's not looking.
Feedback: Yes yes yes... always appreciated, frequently
begged for.
Notes: This piece of smarm brought to you courtesy of sa, who wanted
something less angsty and more smutty.
Pairing: Q/O
Rating: NC-17
Series: JAOA
Summary: On a very important night, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan do some
reminiscing and celebrating of their own.
Night had fallen across Naboo with a rich darkness and a canopy of stars the like of which were unseen on Coruscant. The lights of Theed glittered softly, more like a fairytale scene then that of a real city, the lanterns and torches of the square still burning merrily as the celebration continued, the sound of music and laughter drifting up on the evening breeze.
Seated in a window box, his shoulder pressed to the glass as he looked down, Obi-Wan smiled and shook his head slightly. The focus of the celebration had long since departed, both of them radiant and both of them looking just slightly dazed after the early morning hours of preparation and the day of ceremony. Anakin, in particular, had begun to look glassy eyed somewhere in the middle of the feast with all of its dignitaries and formal speeches. Amidala, trained for such things, had held up better; but there had been undeniable relief in her expression when the couple had at last risen to bid their farewells.
Obi-Wan had caught them in the corridor outside the banquet hall. They had broken away guiltily, Amidala brushing in vain at the now quiet thoroughly crushed flowers that edged her gown and her mussed hair, Anakin surreptitiously wiping a smear of the queen's lip coloring from his chin. The Jedi Master couldn't help it - he had laughed, then waved them on. "You're allowed! What else was today for? But you might want to find your chambers first... down the corridor to the left," he'd added, grinning, when neither had immediately moved.
Both of them had blushed. They made an endearing picture, hands clutched together, Anakin's pale head next to Amidala's dark. It turned Obi-Wan's smile gentler and he had quietly urged them off. "Go," he'd told them. "If there's a galactic emergency in the next five days they'll tell you - and if not, I'll make certain that no one so much as taps on your door."
They had smiled then, Amidala reaching out to briefly clasp his hand. "Thank you," she had said quietly, only partially in jest. "Good night, General Kenobi."
"Good night, Master," Anakin had echoed, and then the two of them were gone in a swirl of flower scent and ribbons, their footsteps and laughter echoing down the corridor as they ran for the sanctuary of their chambers with nothing at all resembling royal dignity.
That had been hours earlier. Obi-Wan had felt honor bound to remain at the festivities for a while longer, accepting congratulations and well wishes from those present, exchanging words with visiting Senate members and the local populace, most of whom had turned out to see their Queen's marriage. It had been a pleased but very tired Jedi Master who had at last slipped away, retiring to the chambers assigned to him to watch the continued celebration from the peace of his window.
Quiet footsteps in the darkened room behind him made him turn, smiling as his lover, wrapped in a trailing sheet purloined from their sleeping couch, joined him on the window seat. "I thought you were asleep," Obi-Wan chided gently.
"I was," Qui-Gon replied, voice roughened from that state and with a yawn to punctuate the words. "I heard you come in." He glanced down through the window, brows raising slightly. "How long does this go on?"
"Probably until dawn, or sometime after," Obi-Wan replied. "Or until they finally have all had enough. It's not a common celebration for them."
The older Jedi Master's lips curved in a smile. "No, I suppose not. They outdid themselves. Amidala was lovely."
Obi-Wan chuckled softly. "Anakin was so busy staring at her that he forgot his speech."
Qui-Gon echoed the laugh, shaking his head. "I thought I felt you prod him. Fortunate we've both heard him practice it a million times." He glanced down again at the celebration below, smiling. "He did well. They both did."
"I think I know what being a father feels like now," Obi-Wan said quietly, reaching out to pull the larger man back against him. "I've never been congratulated so many times for something I had nothing to do with."
"Not true," Qui-Gon replied, leaning his head back against the younger man's shoulder. "You raised him, you trained him, you made sure he was presentable and you got him out in front of thousands despite last minute nerves, you got him through his speeches and vows... what else does a father do?" He grinned, the teasing sensation rippling out into the Force around them. "You'll know what it feels like to be a grandfather soon enough."
Obi-Wan groaned softly, tucking his face against Qui-Gon's shoulder. "Not for a few years. They're only just married, they can't be ready for that."
The Jedi Master chuckled. "You'll be holding the first of their children before the year is out," he predicted.
The younger man just shook his head. "They're so young," he said, wondering.
Qui-Gon shrugged slightly. "You were a knight with a Padawan at that age," he responded. "Not a great deal different from being married and with children."
Obi-Wan groaned again. "Don't remind me. I had to be the least effective Master any Padawan has ever had."
"The results came out well enough," Qui-Gon argued. "And we all feel that way." He smiled, glancing back at his lover. "With every Padawan, first or last."
Obi-Wan returned the smile, brushing a feather soft kiss against the other man's shoulder. "Yes, Master," he whispered, the words echoing a younger day but still resonate with all they had meant then.
Qui-Gon smiled, then pulled away, sitting back up. Shaking his hair back, he tilted his head towards the younger man. "Here," he said, briskly. "I didn't want to touch it, for fear of knotting it."
Grinning, Obi-Wan reached out. A white leather cord, threaded through with golden beads, had been woven into the other man's long silvered hair to spectacularly dignified effect. It was slightly the worse for wear, but still a masterful statement of the art of braiding. Plucking the knot from the bottom, Obi-Wan began nimbly unwinding the cord.
Qui-Gon sighed as his hair came loose; sighed again as Obi-Wan's fingers combed through it, massaging scalp and neck. "That's better," he whispered, leaning back again into the other man's embrace. They both sat in contented silence for a time, watching the glitter of lights below.
Obi-Wan felt the subtle change in his lover's mood before the other man drew breath to speak. "Did you... ever want this?" the older man asked, almost hesitant. He nodded his head slightly, indicating the celebration. "We never talked of it."
Startled, Obi-Wan blinked, almost laughing. "Want... what? A ceremony? Why?"
Qui-Gon twisted to see his face, his own expression unreadable. "Why not? It's not unheard of - in fact, it's fairly common and usually expected. I just... never thought to ask. If you wanted one."
That time Obi-Wan did laugh, shaking his head. "No. Force no, Qui-Gon. What would be the point?" He jerked his chin towards the window, shrugging. "That... it's not for the couple. It's for the people and the families and everyone else. You and I have each other - what more do we need?"
Qui-Gon smiled, but after a heartbeat a grinning glint crept into it. "No formal whites in the Council chamber?" he asked, teasing.
"No," Obi-Wan said firmly, holding him tight. "I expect to be able to put these clothes away and never touch them again."
The older man sighed slightly, a theatrical sound. "Ah well. No flowers?"
"No."
"No speeches of undying love?"
"You already have that, but I'm not going to repeat them in front of hundreds of witnesses."
"I'm sure Anakin would be happy to return the favor and prompt you if you forgot what you were saying..."
"Absolutely not," Obi-Wan exclaimed in mock horror. Qui-Gon laughed softly, the sound cut off as Obi-Wan leaned forward to claim his lips.
"There," he said when the kiss broke, slightly breathless. "That is all the ceremony we need."
Qui-Gon smiled softly, reaching out to brush the pad of his thumb against Obi-Wan's lips. "I've never wanted or needed more," he agreed quietly.
Obi-Wan hummed a soft agreement, nipping gently at the thumb. "Still tired?" he asked, eyes glinting slightly.
One silver brow arched up, answering the challenge. "I am rarely that tired," Qui-Gon replied.
"Oh good," Obi-Wan breathed, his lips dropping to the bare skin of throat and shoulder in a trail of small kisses. "You're right, Amidala was lovely. But I was rather preoccupied looking at someone else."
The older man affected a look of surprise. "Really? You waited a bit late to say anything to Ani... Ah!"
The last was uttered as teeth nipped sharply at his shoulder, leaving indentations in the skin. "You'll pay for that," Obi-Wan warned him, smiling.
"Jedi don't seek revenge," Qui-Gon began, but Obi-Wan silenced him with another kiss, pushing his lover's shoulders back against the window and moving to straddle his knees.
"This isn't revenge," he told the other man firmly. "It's justice. And also your reward."
"Ah," Qui-Gon whispered, hands sliding around the younger man's waist. "Then I am all yours."
"I know," Obi-Wan breathed against his lips. Taking the other man's hands in his, he moved them away, stepping back and sliding to his knees on the floor. The sheet had fallen to pool about the Jedi Master's hips, leaving his chest bare to the younger man's wandering attention.
A soft sigh escaped him as Obi-Wan leaned forward, lips tracing the line of collarbone and down, across his chest. He threaded his fingers through the other man's loose hair, touched with iron gray and silvered in the moonlight. "On the windowseat?" he inquired softly, laughing. "Obi-Wan, we're both too old for this."
"You're not old," Obi-Wan replied firmly. His lips slipped across the smooth expanse of white scar, teasing the softer flesh of nipple. "And if you can complain then I'm not doing this right."
Breath catching, Qui-Gon leaned back, fingers cradling the base of his lover's head as lips and tongue played across flesh. "I'm not complaining," he assured.
Shifting, Obi-Wan made short work of the fastenings of his formal tunic, stripping the garments away and tossing them to one side. Qui-Gon moaned softly, a bass rumble from deep in his chest, as Obi-Wan pushed the sheet aside and slid slowly back up his lover's body, flesh and skin pressed tantalizingly together.
Long, lean fingers slipped between them, finding the closure of his trousers and undoing them, thrusting the clothes away. Obi-Wan caught those hands in his own, brought them back around his waist, sighing as they drifted lower and pulled him close, tight against hard hips. "You were magnificent today," he whispered, punctuating the words with slow, lingering kisses. "When Chancellor Organa was making his speech... all I could think about was how I wanted to kiss you, right there on the steps of the palace, and damn them all."
"I think I would have liked that," Qui-Gon breathed. The breath hitched in his lung, skipping as Obi-Wan moved down again, kisses trailing across chest and farther down, along the lines of his thighs. "Ah, love..."
They both drew breath as Obi-Wan's lips closed over him, Qui-Gon's hands tightening for one moment in his lover's hair before releasing again, deliberately gentle. Obi-Wan closed his eyes, letting touch and the small, catching sound of the other man's breath tell him all that he needed to know. Taste, of sleep scented skin and growing arousal, moved smoothly across his tongue.
Qui-Gon shifted, pushing into him, a motion Obi-Wan relished as his lips slid along hard flesh. A soft, toneless hum of pleasure deep in his throat brought a small gasp from the other man as the vibrations slid between them. The hands in his hair grew harder, pulling, and reluctantly he allowed himself to be drawn back.
Large hands pushed him down towards the floor, lips catching his hungrily. "Not," Qui-Gon growled softly, "in front of the damn window." Obi-Wan laughed, a sound cut short as his lover's hands stripped the last of his clothes away and the warm, welcome weight of the larger man's body settled across his.
Arousal pressed between them, caressed in the teasing motion of hip pressed to hip, a slow rhythm that sent shivers up his spine and trembling through his body. "Yess..." he hissed softly, reaching up to tangle his hands in long strands of hair, to rake his nails down across broad shoulders and the smooth lines of back and hip. Qui-Gon gasped, pressing him down harder, drawing moans from them both.
The rough rasp of the other man's beard preceded the touch of lips, the sharp scrape of teeth across skin. Obi-Wan pushed back his head, arching into the touch, urging a faster rhythm with quiet moans and motions. A mouth caught his, rough, a hard pressure he loved that left them both gasping. Release came in a shuddering moan stifled rigorously against bitten lips, Qui-Gon's cry muffled against his shoulder as the other man came heartbeats later.
When he had his breath back Obi-Wan laughed softly, wrapping his arms languidly around the heavy weight of the larger man against his chest. A tendril of weary, satiated enquiry touched him, wordless as Qui-Gon's breath still rasped through his chest. Obi-Wan laughed again, struck by a moment's revelation of hilarity. "Anakin has his own quarters now," he whispered, sharing the thought. "We don't have to be so quiet any more."
His lover laughed softly, choking slightly on the breath. "I'll keep that in mind," Qui-Gon gasped when he had recovered. He pressed a gentle kiss to the point of Obi-Wan's shoulder, where the younger man could feel the warmly throbbing points of teeth marks. "It might spare your skin."
Obi-Wan smiled, drawing the other man down to rest against his shoulder, the two of them tangled on the thick softness of the carpet. Breath slid from gasps to quiet, even intakes, skin cooling slowly in the temperate air of the room. Sleep beckoned heavily at his eyes but after few moments more Obi-Wan pushed them stubbornly open. Stretching his free shoulder slowly, he reached up to tug gently on the silvered hair spread across his chest. "This is lovely," he breathed, "but if we're too old for the windowseat we're much too old for the floor."
Qui-Gon groaned softly, the sound a breath of warmth across the younger man's throat that sent shivers through him. Pushing himself up on his elbows, the Jedi Master regarded his lover through half closed eyes. "The difference between young and old" he pointed out, "is that the young have enough energy to get up and go back to bed. I'm perfectly comfortable where I am."
"You're not the one with an interesting imprint in their back," Obi-Wan pointed out, but he made no real effort to get up. Seeing that, Qui-Gon laid back down, head pillowed on the smaller man's shoulder as he curled around his lover.
"You've slept in worse," he murmured. Obi-Wan chuckled, turning his head to brush a kiss across the other man's forehead.
"I've certainly never slept with better," he agreed, straight faced, which earned him a pinch over his ribs.
"Hush," Qui-Gon reproved. "You shouldn't boast of former lovers on your wedding night."
"Not ours," Obi-Wan objected. "And I wasn't boasting. But that does have a nice sound to it. Formal whites in the Council chamber?"
"For the wedding of Jedi Master General Kenobi to a member of the Jedi Council? Far too small," Qui-Gon replied sleepily. "Maybe on the main steps of the Temple."
Obi-Wan snorted slightly. "Don't you think people would laugh? It's only been a twenty-two year courtship."
"Force, has it been that long?" Qui-Gon pressed a kiss to the shoulder beneath his cheek before settling back down. "They wouldn't laugh. And I'm quite positive Anakin would enjoy prompting you through your vows."
"No," Obi-Wan repeated firmly, but his expression was thoughtful. Catching it, Qui-Gon lifted his head slightly, regarding him.
"We will if you want to," he said quietly, fingertips brushing Obi-Wan's cheek. "I wouldn't jest about it if I didn't mean it."
"I know." Obi-Wan regarded the older man for several moments. The light of the moon beyond the window haloed Qui-Gon's hair in streams of silver, pale and glittering. Reaching up, Obi-Wan twined a lock of it about his finger. "We are together, Qui-Gon Jinn," he breathed softly, almost hesitant, tasting the formal words on his tongue. "For now and forever."
Turning his head, Qui-Gon pressed a solemn kiss to the pulse that leapt in the younger man's wrist. "Together, Obi-Wan Kenobi," he echoed, voice rough. "Forever, always and now."
Reaching out, Obi-Wan drew the other man back into his arms, content in the press of their bodies and the warmth cradled between their skin. "Love," he whispered softly, closing his eyes.