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"On every diplomatic mission, and indeed, every mission; it is of vital importance that you familiarize yourself with the native culture and customs. What is of utmost importance on one planet, may be a dire insult on another. There is no ignorance, only knowledge—while we will discuss the most common cultural practices of the planets most often in contact with our Order, it will be up to you to continue the practice of preparatory research on your future missions."
The Mirialan clicked a remote in her hand, and the holo display in the center of the classroom began to show a slow progression of still images of various courtly gestures common in the Core worlds.
"We shall begin on Coruscant. In the Senate, it is expected that all adults…"
"Alderaan, huh?"
Obi-Wan jumped out of his skin, scrambling to catch his flung datapad with the Force before it came to an ignominious end on the floor.
"Quin! I hate it when you do that."
Quinlan's grin was all teeth as he dropped his shielding and threw himself into the grass next to Obi-Wan, arms folding behind his head casual as you please.
"It's so easy though, and you know I need the practice."
Obi-Wan grumbled something less than flattering and Quin laughed. He suddenly lunged to try and snatch the pad out of Obi-Wan's hands but he'd been anticipated and Obi-Wan stretched it out of reach.
"Will you grow up? Diplomatic relations is a really important course."
"Oh yeah, especially on the planets that use kissing as social language."
Obi-Wan felt his ears go hot but he sniffed and lifted his chin in the air. "They use Galactic Basic, thank you. It's important so a Jedi doesn't misunderstand, just like all of it's important." Obi-Wan twitched with a sudden surge of nerves because Quinlan's smirk had faded in favor of a thoughtful look. "What? What is it? I'm not helping you prank Master Windu's laundry again, Quin—he'll never believe me a second time."
"Welll—" he stretched the single syllable out, sitting up so they were facing each other, Quinlan's left hip bumping Obi-Wan's knees. "We could help each other study. If you wanted. 'Cause it's so important."
"You want to study diplomatic courtesy with me?"
Quinlan didn't bother pretending to take offense, shrugging a too-casual shoulder. "Yeah sure. Here, what's this one mean?" He took Obi-Wans free hand, the nearer one, and paused with only the space of a breath between his mouth and Obi-Wan's skin, dark eyes flicking up to watch Obi-Wan's blush burn.
"Informal greeting, polite between two people of opposite gender who are not yet acquainted."
"And if it was this instead?" Quinlan brushed a featherlight kiss on the back of Obi-Wan's hand, ears pricked to the hitch of Obi-Wan's breath.
"Uhm, greeting from noble men to noble ladies that are members of their family?"
"You asking me or telling me?" Quinlan didn't bother lifting his head, letting his words move his lips against Obi-Wan's skin.
"Telling you." Obi-Wan's answer firmed, getting his back up at Quinlan's tone but he ignored the snippy attitude.
Quinlan changed the angle, kissing the knuckles of Obi-Wan's fingers. They were rough from his last mission still. A little thrum of pride warmed his chest at thinking Obi-Wan was using what he'd taught him about throwing a punch when he had to.
"A greeting from noble men to noble ladies that are not part of their family."
"Mhm." Quinlan turned Obi-Wan's hand over, taking his time to press the next kiss into Obi-Wan's wrist. He savored the push of Obi-Wan's pulse racing against his mouth.
"A greeting between—ah, between a courting pair." Obi-Wan's voice had gone a little tight and Quinlan pushed up Obi-Wan's sleeve, dropping one just below the bend of his elbow.
"Trick question," Obi-Wan didn't pull away though.
"Correct." He scooted a little closer, pausing when Obi-Wan's eyes met and held his for a long, liquid moment.
Quinlan leaned in—he could tell when Obi-Wan held his breath—and kissed the air near Obi-Wan's temple, savoring the frustration he could feel coming off Obi-Wan.
"Greeting between individuals of the same gender who are not yet acquainted."
To reward him Quinlan pressed a little closer and finally dropped a light kiss on his right cheek.
He didn't bother pulling back very far.
Obi-Wan's throat clicked when he swallowed. "Ah, greeting between noble men or ladies to other nobles of the same gender with whom they share no relation."
Quinlan hummed an affirmative, but he pulled back just enough that he could see Obi-Wan sway with the motion before kissing his left cheek.
"The same but for family."
"Right." Quinlan reached up to cup a hand around Obi-Wan's ear, and gently nudged him to tuck his chin so he could brush a kiss to his brow.
"That's from senior family to junior family members."
"See? You're already a natural." Obi-Wan's breath huffed against the side of Quinlan's neck and the full body frisson was delicious. "There's one more though."
"What? No there's not."
Quinlan smirked, pulling back enough to lift a provocative eyebrow. "Sure there is. It's when they kiss on the mouth."
Obi-Wan's flush stained the crests of his cheekbones, and only deepened at this pronouncement. Still he hesitated. "No, I don't think that's Alderaani."
"And what'll you do if I'm right, huh? What if some Alderaanian princeling kissed you on the mouth and it meant you were engaged to be wed and you didn't know and it caused a whole scandal?"
Obi-Wan scoffed, and Quinlan knew that he'd failed his bluff. He started to draw back and open his mouth to demur, to lie; say something, anything, to throw Obi-Wan off the scent that really he just wanted an excuse to kiss his best friend.
Obi-Wan threw his own hand over Quinlan's mouth to shut him up, but before Quinlan could push him off, Obi-Wan leaned in. He tensed, waiting for a lecture about attachment or hormones or whatever.
Obi-Wan tilted his head just a little, their noses brushing as he slowly pressed a kiss into the back of his own fingers.
A kiss placed directly above Quinlan's mouth on the other side.
Immediately Quin's lips parted, pressing back into Obi-Wan's skin and wanting more.
Obi-Wan drew back, his entire face gone flushed and pink with the stain spreading down his throat as he snatched up his datapad and jumped to his feet. "So that's—I think I'm done studying. For today." He must've used the Force because in a flash he was across the little field he'd settled down to study in and was rushing out the doors of the Room of a Thousand Fountains.
Quinlan's mouth tingled, and he licked a taste of salt off his lips.
All right then. Challenge accepted.
Quinlan took his time studying his target, observing his movements, his habits. When he saw the opportunity, he struck with devastating accuracy.
His thigh was never going to be the same from where Obi-Wan kicked him.
"Re-lax would you?" He pushed more of his weight into Obi-Wan's body, pinning him against the door of the dusty crusty old disused room on Obi-Wan's usual route leaving the Archives.
"Quinlan Vos! You know I hate it when you startle me, what stroke of genius gave you the bright idea to snatch me out of the hall? What if I stabbed you?"
"You'd never stab me, I'm too pretty."
"Don't count on it."
"That's not what's important here." One haughty eyebrow went up and Quinlan wished he could steal it to wield against this slipperiest of best friends when he was being a pain. "Don't look at me in that tone of voice Obes, I'm trying to do you a favor!"
"I thought one was supposed to ask for favors first, what is it you think I need doing, then?"
"Well you see, I was thinking about that diplomacy assignment, about cultural mores and greetings and stuff." From the pink tinge in Obi-Wan's ears and the way he suddenly began avoiding eye contact, he figured Obi-Wan knew exactly which assignment he was talking about. " I'm thinking you definitely left one out, I'm almost positive."
"Positive for something contagious, I'm sure."
But Obi-Wan wasn't exactly pushing him away, in spite of his shirty tone.
"I looked it up even. There totally is a kiss on the mouth there, it's for married couples."
Obi-Wan squirmed, but for someone with the Force as an ally he didn't try all that hard to escape. "Quin, we definitely don't need to know that one. No Jedi is going to have a spouse on Alderaan greeting them with kisses on the mouth."
"Yeah but what if a Jedi traveled to Babylon Peth and they kiss on the mouth there and then had to go to Alderaan and forgot?"
"Babylon Peth isn't a real planet, Quin, that's a movie."
"Come on Obi-Wan you know I'm right."
"I think you're just trying to sneak kisses."
This was deeply unfair because it was true so Quin scoffed extravagantly at the accusation.
"I don't need to 'sneak' kisses, I can get all the kisses I want, that's not even hard."
Back up went Obi-Wan's eyebrow, thick with doubt and Quinlan really kind of wanted to bite it. "So why are you chasing after me hoping for a kiss because of homework? Go get one of your easy kisses then." Obi-Wan's blush was gone and he was starting to push Quin away properly now.
"What are you jealous?" Force, Quinlan sort of hoped Obi-Wan was jealous.
"No!" The reply came that little bit too quickly and Quinlan got a brilliant, fool proof idea.
"I don't need homework to trick you into kissing me, I bet I could get you to kiss me all on your own."
"You're gonna lose that bet," Obi-Wan countered, his pride stung.
"What'll you gonna give me if I win?"
Obi-Wan rolled his eyes, voice scathing, "You'd get a kiss, that'd be prize enough."
"Fine." But if he could get Obi-Wan to start kissing him, he felt pretty confident it would be easier to get a second, and a third.
"And if I win," Obi-Wan leaned back into Quinlan's space, filling his vision and making him go warm all over. "What do I get if I win your bet, Quin?"
He couldn't offer anything too good, or Obi-Wan might get too hung up on the bet part and not realize the opportunity for attachment free kissing they could be getting up to instead. It had to be something Obi-Wan would still want though, or else he might walk away and not take the bet at all.
"If you win, I won't set any pranks on the Masters for a month."
There was a heavy pause as Obi-Wan weighed risk and reward before leaning back and shoving his hand in between their bodies to make Quinlan step back so they could shake on it properly.
"You're on."
Step one in Quinlan's foolproof plan to convince Obi-Wan to initiate a kiss first is to get Obi-Wan accustomed to physical proximity. He already often pounced or tackled the other boy, frequently threw an arm around his shoulders and they certainly got sweaty enough sparring. Now he tried increasing the frequency, the intensity. He leaned over in class, "Obi-Wan, pass me a stylus would you?" He made sure to whisper, lips brushing Obi-Wan's ear and keeping his voice low. Obi-Wan shivered but ignored him. Walking in the halls he started draping himself on Obi-Wan's shoulders, tucking his head close.
"I'm not suddenly hard of hearing Quin!"
"But Obes, it's so busy, I don't know if you want me to yell what I have to say."
That was indeed a dangerous proposition, so Obi-Wan suffered his blush everytime Quinlan ducked closer just to have a little chat about nothing.
At mid meal he started reaching for Obi-Wan's hand under the tables. This didn't work well, as they needed their hands to eat so he adjusted. Next he tried when they were studying, hidden by archive desks. This was better, but Obi-Wan quickly got impatient and flustered. "I need to focus on this assignment Quin, keep your hands to yourself." At least it was gratifying to know he was distracting.
The next time they were sitting in the Room of a Thousand Fountains while Bant got a nice soak, Quinlan slid his hand over so their little fingers overlapped. Obi-Wan didn't pull away, huffing a soft breath, but then he leaned his shoulder back into Quinlan's.
Quinlan's suddenly racing heart was surely due to his sense of nearing victory.
It was truly a stroke of genius to go back to the beginning, and try kissing Obi-Wan on the right cheek when they ran into each other the next day. This first time he offered the greeting, Obi-Wan snorted a laugh, primly identified it as the Alderaani greeting between two persons of the same gender and social status, then leaned in to kiss the air by Quinlan's temple in return. Affronted, as they were most certainly already acquainted, Obi-Wan just smirked into Quinlan's frustrated face.
"Something the matter?"
Quinlan flicked one of his braids off his shoulder to show how nonchalant he was. "Oh no, not at all. It's all going quite according to my plan." He'd rather let Siri try to braid his hair again than admit he didn't think it would take this long.
Now he took advantage of this implied permission, and kissed Obi-Wan's cheek as often as he could manage. He'd check to make sure nobody was around to see them, as Obi-Wan was petrified of Jinn accusing him of attachment. Quinlan's favorite was when they were concealed under the cover of the Archive shelves, and Obi-Wan might hold still long enough for Quinlan to linger over it.
The sword cut both ways though, so he had to make sure he drew back first and wait, hoping today was the day Obi-Wan would finally break and get it over with.
It was taking forever though, and they hadn't quite set a time limit on the bet.
What if Obi-Wan would've kissed him by now but wasn't because of the bet? Kriff.
Thank the Force for Siri Tachi.
"Why don't we play a game?" She looked around the little group draped across the living room of the quarters she shared with her master. Master Gallia was having a little meditative retreat with her pillow partner and gave permission for the sleepover. Garen, Reeft, Obi-Wan, Quinlan, Bant, and Siri made up the party, all in pajamas and an already destroyed blanket fort in the middle.
"What sort of game?" Bant perked up, but Quinlan wasn't paying too much attention, he was trying to figure out what he could offer Garen to swap bedrolls so Quin could be next to Obi-Wan instead.
"A kissing game, I heard the senior padawans talking about it."
Siri had Quinlan's complete attention, he even ignored the flicker of unease coming from Obi-Wan's side of their crèchebond.
"What're the rules?" Reeft looked a little uneasy, but Bant's big silver eyes practically sparkled, and with the way Siri smirked back at her Quinlan figured there was more than one ulterior motive at play in this room.
"Everybody sits in a circle, and we take it in turns to spin a bottle," she snagged the closest empty bottle of fizzy glug and demonstrated. "No use of the Force, that's cheating!" Siri pointed at each of them, forcing Garen to nudge her to get back on topic. "When the bottle stops the person it's pointing at, or is closest to pointing at has to go with you into the other room for five minutes."
Quinlan should give Siri more credit, she really was very smart more often than she looked it.
Reeft glanced at Garen, then Obi-Wan, clearly anxious even without the Force. "Do you have to kiss?"
Siri started to roll her eyes but Obi-Wan butted in, declaring firmly, "No. Nobody has to do anything." He glared right back at Siri, "Consent is important, Siri Tachi."
To her credit, she wilted back immediately and nodded. "Right, that's right."
Bant piped up, "What if that's part of the game? The rest of us try to guess if you kissed or not, and if you can fool us either way you'll earn points?"
Garen sat up, much more interested. "That sounds even better. Person with the most points gets to ask a favor from the rest!"
They all shook on this and Quinlan very politely ignored the suspicious glare aimed at the side of his head. Siri went first as it was her apartment and her idea. Quinlan didn't bother taking offense when the bottle stopped on him and she looked visibly disappointed.
"Lucky day for you Tachi, get ready to learn a thing or two."
She rolled her eyes as they stood up, and Quinlan savored the hot and sour burn across the bond, though it was quickly shielded. Oh this was excellent for his needs.
They closed the door to Siri's bedroom and he laughed. Her face had it plainly written that if he tried to kiss her she'd sock him. "Don't give yourself constipation, Siri. Here." He reached for her hand and kissed just her knuckles, surprising her. "There, they'll never guess it after the look on your face." She offered a sheepish smile and a quiet apology while their five minutes counted down.
Finally someone's comm timer went off and there came a knock. "Time's up!"
They strode out looking serene and cocky respectively. Bant voted 'no kiss', Garen squinted waffling a little while Reeft voted 'no kiss' in solidarity. Quinlan let his smirk grow at Obi-Wan's narrow eyed look. Garen shrugged and declared 'no kiss'.
"C'mon Obi, you have to guess," Bant urged him, and Obi-Wan, clearly suspicious, finally made it unanimous.
"Ha! You lose!" Siri laughed at Quinlan's declaration as the other four erupted in outraged accusations. Obi-Wan suddenly went all quiet and shielded and Quinlan had a moment of doubt. When Bant started getting a little too loud, Siri confessed it was just a kiss on the hand and Garen said that didn't count.
Quinlan didn't care that much about the points so he shrugged, so Siri let it go. "Fine, that's a point to you guys then." Next was Bant's turn, and when the bottle landed on Siri all four boys groaned. The girls disappeared with entirely too much giggling and then the door slid shut.
Reeft and Garen got up to make more snacks and Quinlan turned immediately into Obi-Wan's orbit.
"Did you put Siri up to this just to try and win our bet?"
Quinlan blinked, and shut his mouth because he'd been about to try and needle Obi-Wan over the jealousy, and quite frankly, Obi-Wan was giving him way more credit than he deserved. Bless the paranoia of others for being the most creative stuff he'd ever heard, he'd have to write that down for his next scheme. "No, that one was all Siri. Worked out for me though, didn't it?"
"And what happens if your spin does land on me?" Obi-Wan asked, as Quin was next in line after Bant's turn.
"We'll just have to find out, then huh?" Quinlan felt his smirk come back, leaning in close to lower his voice. "Live in the present moment, yeah?"
Garen's timer went off, and he yelled across for Quin to knock since he was making bangcorn. Quinlan jumped up, and gleefully smacked the door—of course this startled the girls whose yelps were deeply amusing. The second the door opened all four of the gents yelled 'Kissed!' Siri glowered but Bant flushed a lovely pink that suited her coral skin as they crossed back to sit down. "Hurry up, Garen, Quin can't go if you two aren't sat down." Siri accepted the ice cold fizzyglug Reeft passed her, gulping with satisfaction. "And he better not land on me or we're skipping his turn."
"Don't rush me, Siri, I don't wanna burn it." Reeft hopped back up again to help, snacks were deeply serious business after all. It took no time at all and yet it also felt a little bit like forever to Quinlan, who ignored the bowl when it passed him by in favor of spinning the glass bottle. It took every ounce of finesse he had to both use the Force to help it slow down how he wanted, and also hide it from the others.
He didn't bother hiding the triumph when it landed on Obi-Wan, just stood up and held his hand out. An electric tingle raced up his palm when Obi-Wan took his hand without making a big deal out of it, mixing in his chest with a dizzy sort of anticipation. The door slid behind them and he turned that smirk's wattage up to max. "So Obi-Wan, what're you gonna do? Point of the game is to kiss you know."
"You're an asshole, Quinlan Vos." Obi-Wan was scowling, and his telltale blush was turning his ears pink, but Quinlan hesitated before doubling down. Obi-Wan had his arms folded close over his chest, fingers tucked into his ribs and glaring miserably past Quinlan, and avoiding eye contact. The Force whispered careful and Quinlan let his smirk fall away.
"Obes, what is it? Hey, if you don't want to do anything you know I wouldn't really make you, right? It's just a game." Oh kriff, was it just the light or did Obi-Wan look like he might actually cry? "It was just a stupid bet, we can call it off if you want."
Obi-Wan worried at his lower lip with his teeth, picking at a bit of dry skin, and the motion kept drawing Quinlan's attention to Obi-Wan's mouth. Something he'd have to build some discipline around going forward. Obi-Wan finally took a deep breath and blew it out, not quite a sigh but obviously trying to release a difficult emotion.
"I appreciate you saying that." Obi-Wan's fingers started picking at a loose thread on his pajama sleeve. "I think—I think maybe we don't think about kissing the same."
Quinlan frowned a little, tilting his head as he tried to really listen and hear what Obi-Wan was saying. "Are you not interested in kissing? Like Reeft? You know I respect boundaries and stuff, I won't make fun."
Obi-Wan's impatient huff was not what Quinlan expected. "No, not like that. I'm just not interested in kissing just anybody willy nilly no problems." His blush spread and he looked miserable, but Obi-Wan refused to hide and he was just so brave sometimes Quin couldn't stand it. "I don't want to kiss somebody if it's not going to mean the same thing to them."
Quinlan stepped a little closer, and was gratified when Obi-Wan didn't immediately back away. "So you wouldn't mind kissing me if you knew we were on the same page?"
Obi-Wan flashed him a sour little suspicious look. "Quin, you already told me you had lots of people to share kisses with, 'easy' you said. I don't have that. I don't want that."
Quinlan had been creatively embellishing the truth a little bit at that time, and he nodded to show he was listening. "Okay, I hear you. I don't need to be able to kiss random people you know." The shy flick of Obi-Wan's eyes from under ginger eyelashes sparked hopeful butterflies in Quin's belly. "I'd be pretty happy to only share kisses with somebody who cared about me, too. That sounds kinda nice, actually."
He reached for Obi-Wan's hand, running his thumb over familiar callouses. Every time he did this he remembered that first day they met, where he explained his powers and Obi-Wan had immediately asked if shielding helped. He knew that part of why Obi-Wan's shields were so good wasn't just that he practiced, wasn't just that he had to keep them up to prevent his nightmares from leaking everywhere. That part of it was Obi-Wan kept them up all the time, so that he and Quinlan could touch at any time, and Quinlan wouldn't get hurt.
Quinlan lifted Obi-Wan's hand, the sleeve falling down a little, and bent his head. He looked up at Obi-Wan through his eyelashes as he slowly, deliberately, pressed a gentle kiss over the pulse racing under the thin skin of Obi-Wan's inner wrist.
"Oh." It was just a breath of sound but he savored Obi-Wan's eyes going wide, the blush spreading all at once over fair skin.
"Glad we understand each other." He let go of Obi-Wan's hand, in the main room he could hear the comm timer going off. "That's us, then." Obi-Wan's hand suddenly darted out, grabbing Quin's shirt and pulling him back around from the door. "Huh?"
Then Obi-Wan was in Quinlan's space, the smell of his shampoo in Quinlan's nose and all he could see were determined blue-grey eyes and then Obi-Wan was kissing him. It was just a light thing, a shy press of lip against lip. It was over way too soon, but Garen was smacking the door to yell at them to come out.
"You win." Obi-Wan might still be blushing but his dimple came out when he grinned into Quinlan's dumbstruck expression and pushed out back into the common area.