Dei Tinomeril smiled her thanks as she accepted the carefully-wrapped package from the salesclerk, only to violently stuff it in her bag, jogging out of the building into the crowds of the market. Thin braids whipping unsuspecting passerbys as she rushed by, Dei ignored the odd looks she was attracting.
I should have found a gift earlier, She mumbled internally. Leave it to me to put this off.... But what do you get the boy that wants nothing? A personalized infirmary, that's what...
Almost missing her target, Dei skidded to a halt, steadied her breathing, and sauntered (or maybe more like stumbled) into the arcade where Bant and Obi-Wan were waiting, most likely in the back corners.Dei stalked through the crowds of teens, scanning for her friends, who were easy to spot in their less-than-inconspicuous robes. Seeing his shorter of friends nearing, Obi- Wan twisted in his stool to face Dei.
"I swear on my most valuable possessions, the Crèche couldn't possibly need you so badly that they need your advisement every ten minutes, Dei," Kenobi stared sternly at Dei.
"Not that you have anything of any particular interest in the first place, SgueakyPants?" she shot back.
Resisting the powerful urge to make a nasty face, Kenobi turned back to his previous engagement: a now-paused holobattle with Bant. "Of course you wouldn't find anything; anything to my liking would never be found interesting with your low-level appreciation of culture." He fluidly whisked his drink from the table and threw back his head, taking in the last of the juice. "You so stuck your tongue in this."
Never taking her eyes off the frozen images in the Panel in front of her, Bant attempted to make it worse. "Obi-Wan Kenobi, I've told you before, your porn collection does not qualify as Cultural research or anything of the likes. It's just not lady-like to bring it up."
The last of what had just gone down Kenobi's throat immediately did an instant playback, spewing through his nose and lips, splattering on the still-paused viewscreen. "Remind me to (sniffle) hunt you down if I ever turn to the Sith."
"Not if I beat you to it." Spat Dei, flicking an insistent fruit fly out of the air.
"As if you could even try."
"Is that a challenge?"
"Enough, children," Bant laughed over the arcade's noisy setting. "Don't make me publicly embarrass the two of you."
"As if I'm not enough already-ik!" Kenobi slapped a hand over his mouth.
Dei's jaw dropped from her previous grin while Bant merely raised her equivalent of an eyebrow.
"How much have you been drinking?" inquired Dei, "I want to see a drunk person. I've never seen a drunken person. Does anyone see a drunk person?"
Sucking in yet another hiccup, Obi shook his head with annoyance. "Far from it. Maybe I'm just allergic to you. You make me hiccup."
Dei huffed and turned away, grabbing the nearest cup, only to have it snatched up by Bant.
"What is it with you and taking drinks? At this rate the only drunk person you're going to see is yourself, you lightweight, snapped Kenobi, grinning though his spasms.
Dei, not being able to put her response into words, twisted her face into a grotesque mask, which was only bettered by Kenobi's own, which was soon interrupted by yet another hiccup.
"What time is it? Maybe the healers can get rid of (ek!)... These."
"Hey!" snapped Bant, shoving Obi-Wan, spending him spinning in his stool, "they couldn't help you anyways. There isn't a cure for hiccups. Give them time, don't think about them, and they'll go away."
"How can I not think about them?" Kenobi shot back. "I ca-hEI!-n't think of anything but them. Isn't there anything I can do?"
"Well, there is that drinking water upside-down thing I've heard," offered Bant.
"I wouldn't mind seeing that." Dei added, handing Obi-Wan his own drink. "Try it."
Obi-Wan only shrugged, took his drink and stood from his perch on the stool. " Here goes." He faced Bant to lean all the way over.
"Mm... Bottoms up, as it seems." Murmured Dei from her view across from Bant, knowing Kenobi could do nothing from his current position, though she was sure he had heard her, from the startled (and wet) snorting coming from within the boy's robes. Bant quietly observed the next few seconds in silence, until Obi-Wan quickly whipped his head back up, spraying her with water, as his face was drenched from the mouth up.
"Hey!" Bant protested, wiping her drops of water from her tunic, before they soaked in.
"It didn't work."
"How would you know?" Inquired the dry Dei.
"They're my hiccups."
"Ahhuh."
Tossing down the controls to the game they had left off, Bant finally broke in. "Well it's obvious you won't beat me, let's get out and do something else."
"How about we g(hic!)o back to the temple?" Obi-Wan scrubbed at his damp braid with a corner of his more-dry robe. "I'd like to suffer in peace, thank you."
"I can't let you do that." Bant countered. "We get you for the day, and I'm not going to let you get out of this. I don't care if you're bleeding profusely from a head wound, you're having fun today."
"Yea." Dei could only add.
Obi-Wan could only stare, interrupted only with an occasional hiccup. "I... How... Head wound? I'd like to enjoy my time out of the Healer's clutches doing things that keep me o-Hic!- Out of their hands.... Present company... Slightly excluded." He glanced back at Bant. His stern look melted only when he saw the pleading look in her huge eyes, "All right. I'm sorry. Wha- Hic-tever you want to do, I'll do next. Where are we going?"
"Tattoo parlor." Dei whispered a little too loudly.
"No." Whispered back Obi-Wan.
"No fun. No fun whatsoever."
"You'll live. It seems our table's last owners left us a gift." Kenobi held up a hardened crust of... something, bite marks still evident. "Speaking of which, I'm hungry."
"Is that drool?" Dei pointed out a string connecting the mentioned breadstick to the table. Hiccupping in disgust, Kenobi quickly dropped the food.
"Still hungry. We can stop in the temple cafeteria so we don't have to spend any money."
Dei proceeded to make the most twisted face she could muster. "I thought you were enjoying your time away from the healers? I'm certainly not poisoning myself." She accented her words with a flick of her hand, snatching at the growing number of flies that populated the gaming area. "They probably would consider this bug a member of a food group. You think all those specks in your eggs are seasonings?" She opened her hand, only to realize the fly she had attempted to squash was safe. "Nope. Flies."
"Any better ideas?" Bant and Dei answered Obi-Wan's question not with words, but with each displaying a handful of credits.
"Well then, my wealthy comrades, lead on to the feasting." Kenobi swept off of his stool, allowing Bant through with a sweep of his arm. Dei got up to follow, but froze as she felt her comm shiver, a sign she had come to recognize in anticipation for an incoming call. Smiling sheepishly at the other two, she shuffled towards the back of the room as she activated the device, immediately recognizing the unique voice.
"Hey Dei, it's Urkdt. Master Yoda is, uhm, tied up in the crèche for the rest of the evening. The door is jammed."
"Is everyone OK?"
Minutes later, Dei trudged back to her friends. Ignoring Kenobi's demanding stare, she could only walk past them holding back all but one comment."I hate children." The group laughed nervously as they strolled through the crowd.
"Hate leads to suffering."
"Stuff it."
*********************************************
This interlude post is totally by sguid. I didn't want to add and ruin the great ending she had going.
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