#and since I binged the Gobbelino London books that means vegetables

[shadowmaat]

Mischief and Misinformation, part 4

(part 1) (part 2) (part 3)

Quinlan Vos was exhausted. His whole body burned with it. Even his locs were tired. But at least the training mission had gone well. There'd barely even been any explosions.

Of course just because the mission was over didn't mean his headaches were.

"But why?" asked an entirely-too-chipper voice behind him.

He bit back a groan. Somewhere in the Temple, he knew his Master was laughing at him.

"Because," he growled at his Padawan.

"Because why?" Aayla asked, unrepentant as always.

She was too old to be in the why stage, but that wasn't stopping her. When he'd asked her why, she'd quoted Master Yoda's bullshit about how Padawans learned from Masters, but Masters also learned from Padawans. The next time he saw the little troll he was going to punt him out the window.

"Because the Force wills it," he said. He couldn't even remember what the original question had been. All he wanted was bed. And a shower. Or maybe drag his bed into the shower.

"Why-"

"The Force wills many things, Knight Vos," interrupted a voice from his nightmares, "But some of them are entirely the fault of younglings with more hubris than sense."

He snapped upright, putting on his best smile.

"Master Nu! What an absolute delight it is to see your lovely young face out of the Archives."

Her look could strip the paint off a star destroyer. He tried to get his sluggish brain to work; had he forgotten to return something? Had Aayla?

"If you'll excuse us, Padawan Secura," Nu said, favoring Aayla with a frosty smile, "I'm afraid your Master and I need to discuss something."

Warning prickled in the Force.

"Actually, Master..." He started to back up. "Aayla was just asking me about some important after-mission procedures-"

"I asked if I could have a tooka," the little traitor interjected.

"Right, the Tooka Initiative, and I was just-"

"QUINLAN VOS YOU ABSOLUTE BAS- BROCCOLI!"

Quin had never been so relieved to see Obi-Wan, even if his friend looked like a human thundercloud.

"Obi-Wan!" Grinning, he made straight for the little storm, preferring it to whatever cataclysm Nu had planned. "Right on time! Always good to see you! Come along, Aayla," he stage whispered before continuing to address Obi-Wan. "Why don't we go catch up over lunch! Dinner? Breakfast! Whatever meal it is!"

"Do NOT think you can charm your way out of this, Vos!" Nu warned behind him.

"Quin, do you have ANY idea how much trouble you've caused me?" Obi-Wan snapped, coming to a halt in front of him.

"Uh, I'm sure this is just some misunderstanding!" Quin raised his hands, his smile growing a little strained.

A crinkle of cellophane had him glancing aside to see Aayla sat on the floor of the hangar, munching from a bag of poppers. Traitor.

"Knight Kenobi," Nu said. "While I appreciate that your grievance is a personal one, may I remind you that it started because Knight Vos sliced my Archive and altered my information?"

Adrenaline was working wonders for his thinking. Slicing the Archive? He hadn't done that since...

"Oh, shit, someone finally found that?" He burst out laughing, ignoring Obi-Wan's hiss and hand-flap at Aayla. She'd heard worse language. Hell, most of it she'd learned from Anakin.

"I'm glad you find the matter of the Archive's security so amusing, Knight Vos."

Nu's tone was so chilly he half-expected his breath to fog.

"Look, I'm sorry, Jo- Master," he corrected, seeing the look in her eye. "That was ages ago and I honestly forgot all about it or I might have corrected it myself."

Not likely, but it was what everyone wanted to hear.

"This isn't about correcting it," Nu said, "it's about you doing it in the first place!"

"Why?"

The question was barely a whisper, but it cut right through his amusement to hit him in the heart. He looked at Obi-Wan and fought the urge to look away again.

His friend's renewed grief was his fault; even if he hadn't intended it, even if he couldn't have known what would happen, he had to own that responsibility.

"I'm sorry, Obes. Truly. I had no idea my little prank would remain undiscovered for so long, or that..."

"Half the Temple now seems to think Master Jinn was some kind of- of irresponsible monster."

Quin winced, moving forward to hug Obi-Wan. "I never liked him, but yeah, he was really good for you. Like, tooth-rottingly good."

Obi-Wan snorted into his shoulder.

"That was half the joke, you know. Everyone back then knew how amazing the two of you were together. If my edits had been found back then it would've been obvious something was wrong."

Small arms hooked around his waist and Obi-Wan's as Aayla joined the hug, her poppers abandoned.

"Life is always in motion, Knight Vos." Master Nu's voice was softer than it had been. "It's always changing, as are we, and what was once common knowledge becomes obscure." She sighed. "It's why the accuracy of the Archives is so important."

Obi-Wan took a shuddering breath and stepped back, looking Quin in the eye. Quin mouthed another apology and he nodded.

"You're assigned to the Archives until I say otherwise," Nu continued. "The damage you did has been fixed, but we're going to go through the whole Archive to see if anyone else took advantage of the security flaw to change our records."

Quin made a face, earning a weak smile from Obi-Wan. Going through the Archives would be so boring, but while he'd never admit it, Master Nu was right; accuracy was important.

"Understood, Master Nu," he said. "I think I may also write up a more truthful account of the Jinn-Kenobi Power Partnership and get it put in the Temple Tracker."

Everyone kept up with the Tracker; the fastest way to disseminate information in the Temple. Other than rumor, itself, which clearly had its downsides.

Nu made a sound of approval. "An excellent idea. See you first thing in the morning, Knight Vos." She paused. "My morning."

Bootheels clicked as she left.

"You know her mornings start at-"

"I know." Quin sighed the sigh of the doomed.

Obi-Wan's smile was a little more solid this time. "I'm still mad at you, you know."

"I know," he said. "And I'm grown up enough to admit I deserve it."

"You? Grown up?" Obi-Wan looked down at Aayla. "Is this true?"

She shook her head. "On Zug he got his head stuck in a-"

"Hey, now," Quin put a hand over her mouth, which did little to stifle her giggles. "Don't listen to her, she thinks black melons taste good."

An indignant squeal answered this.

"Oh, I think the two of us could share some very interesting stories," Obi-Wan said, winking at Aayla.

"No, you couldn't," Quin said, alarmed at the idea of them comparing notes, but relieved that for now, at least, his friend had recovered some of his equilibrium.

Aayla pulled his hand away from her mouth, careful not to touch skin.

"Wanna eat with us?" she asked. "We just got back and I'm tired, but also hungry, and so's Master even though he won't say it."

"Tired, yes. Hungry?" Quin shrugged, but the gurgling of his stomach betrayed him.

The hesitation on Obi-Wan's face melted into amusement.

"I was on my way to grab some caf and a muffin," he said.

"Oh, good!" Aayla reached up, taking his hand and leading him away. "I can tell you all about the tooka Master promised I could get."

"I promised nothing of the sort!" Quin caught up, draping an arm over Obi-Wan's shoulder. "Like I said, nothing but lies from this kid."

"Gee, I wonder where she learned that?"

They were teaming up against him. That spelled trouble for the future, but right now, he was happy to be with two of his favorite people.