Bed Balls
by ardavenport
–o(((O))) Part 1 (((O)))o–
Qui-Gon opened his eyes.
The ancient, high ceiling above was dimly illuminated with pale, orange light. He gazed up at the chipped tiles in an ancient mosiac of flowers and vines and random shapes, their scratched and faded colors dulled even more by the early morning gloom.
He inhaled the cool scents of the garden outside, the polish of the furniture in the guest room, the fibers of the bed clothes, the bedding itself. Each new planet touched the senses in unique ways and Master Qui-Gon Jinn used his waking time to note them.
He swallowed and wet his lips; the aftertaste of the previous evening's meal had gone stale overnight even though he'd cleaned his teeth and mouth before retiring. He lay on his back, under a plush blanket, in a Yurthaki bed bin. The squashy bedding balls yielded enough to his weight so that they were not quite lumpy, but still supported his body and head. They had retired early the night before, so he felt quite rested.
A breeze outside rustled the trees and bushes by their window and a large insect buzzed, bumping its body on the window screens. Qui-Gon closed his eyes and cleared his mind; his awareness of the Force, always a presence in the back of his mind, sharpened. Other persons, the staff, the other guests, stirred in the ancient, converted fort. This place had its own routine; it moved with the rhythm of the days, the people and machines slowly inhaling and exhaling the ever changing guests that came and went from the hostel. Touski was already up and moving about in the fresher.
He wore only his long nightshirt under the soft blanket; his body had formed it's own cocoon of warmth around him. He sensed his Padawan in the bed bin next to him, unmoving, but wakeful. Qui-Gon turned his head and opened his eyes.
Even in the low light, he could see that Obi-Wan was gone.
In his place was a long, low lump of the multi-hued bed balls that filled the bin that they had slept in. A flap of white blanket poked out from them.
Qui-Gon frowned. Obi-Wan had never slept in a Yurthaki bed bin before and Qui-Gon had told him that if he moved about too much in his sleep that he might get buried. Suppressing motion while sleeping was a minor Jedi discipline that hardly lessened one's rest and his nearly twenty-three year old Padawan had mastered it years ago. Qui-Gon lifted his head, sensing Obi-Wan's wakefulness.
Touski, their Yurthak roommate, exited the fresher.
Obi-Wan was hiding.
Qui-Gon had enough time to get his arms up out of the way before an enormous, four-fingered hand reached down into the bed bin. It felt about before identifying him and then the fingers, two pairs of opposing digits that were as thick as his own thigh, encircled his chest and pulled him up.
"Ooooh, you [b]are[/b] a big one." Touski's wide lipless mouth grinned under her one, huge eye. Despite her protestations about how heavy he was, she still only used one of her two massive arms to lift him up over the edge of the bed bin.
"Good morning, Touski," Qui-Gon said pleasantly as she set him down on his bare feet. Behind her, Obi-Wan popped up out of the bed bin with his blanket. Spherical bed balls scattered out after him. Touski didn't notice. She was a huge being, over three meters tall with dark, mottled skin; her normal, healthy purple hues and her emerald green eye looked gray in the gloom. The slowly increasing dawn light was just enough for the Jedi to see by, but it was more than enough for the Yurthak's sensitive eye. She wore a long, loose, sleeveless gown, as big as a tent, over her huge, neckless body.
"You are rested then, I see, for your pilgrimage, today?" she asked in her lilting, feminine voice. She released him, but her great hand remained on his side.
Qui-Gon didn't think of this trip as a pilgrimage, but it was not too inaccurate a term. He had brought Obi-Wan to further his training amidst the ruins of a Jedi Outpost, many thousands of years old and a long walk up into the hills over the hostel.
"I am," he nodded his head. "As is my apprentice." He nodded toward Obi-Wan who was clearly hoping to be ignored by the intrusive Yurthak. The great eye turned toward his Padawan.
"Oh!" she cried out before hustling toward Obi-Wan, who lifted his arms just in time before her long arm reached out and caught him about the middle. Touski held him up off the ground as she turned her body to either side, her eye surveying the mess at their feet. Qui-Gon smiled.
It was terribly careless and sloppy to dump out one's bed balls when getting up in the morning.
They had rolled just about everywhere, multi-colored, Human-fist-sized spheres on the floor, under the tables, next to the bed bins, lined up along the walls.
"Oh, stay right there. I don't want you to trip," she told him. While she held Obi-Wan up away from the floor with one arm, she began gathering up the stray bed balls with her free hand. Her huge, meaty fingers were remarkably dexterous, their smooth ends concealed sets of muscles that let her corral the wayward spheres and scoop them up into the pocket of her palm. All the while, she held Obi-Wan up as if shards of jagged silicate had been strewn about, not soft, squishy, round bedding. Obi-Wan had an expression on his face like a wet, long-haired cave-cat and his bare legs dangled from her huge fist; his nightshirt was scrunched up on his torso.
While Touski retrieved the bed balls, Qui-Gon activated the room's overhead lights and illuminated the carefully designed, primitive decor of their room. He peacefully ignored Obi-Wan's glare toward him.
Qui-Gon had befriended the lonely Yurthak on the transport on their way to this world. Touski's traveling companion had backed out at the last minute, leaving her to handle the family business trip alone in a galaxy where everything was too small for her. She'd been quartered in the cargo hold, since the transport didn't have any cabins big enough for her. Qui-Gon found that she had a very sweet and generous nature and thought it was cruel of the ship's crew to isolate her for their own convenience and he had spoken to them about it. After this first kindness from Qui-Gon, she had promptly attached herself to them. Obi-Wan had not been pleased.
His Padawan had been horrified when Qui-Gon had accepted her invitation to stay with her after the hostel staff 'lost' their own room arrangements. Qui-Gon was fairly sure that the hostel had let their room out to higher paying (or bribing) tenants. He might have influenced the manager to remedy their 'mistake' (Obi-Wan had certainly been eager to), but it was far simpler to accept Touski's offer rather than displace the other guests from their ill-gotten room.
Touski had collected all the bed balls in one hand and took them to a wall-mounted receptacle hanging high up over the table between the two bed bins.
"There. All cleaned up," Touski assured both of them. "I'll make sure that they're cleaned while you're out today, before they get put back in your bin." She set Obi-Wan down. Her club-like, but velvety fingers gave him a pat on his head.
"He is a young one, is he not?" she asked Qui-Gon.
"Yes he is," Qui-Gon replied. "Thank you for your assistance." He glanced sternly at his Padawan.
"Yes, thank-you." Obi-Wan spoke clearly, but his eyes were stricken. Their days would be spent alone together among the ruins in the hills, but they would return in the evenings to gigantic hugs, being picked up in the morning and put to bed at night.
Touski looked down at Obi-Wan, then her body swung around so her great, green eye, both sad and yearning, rested on Qui-Gon. She scooped up Obi-Wan and then two steps later had Qui-Gon, too. Despite Obi-Wan's misgivings, Qui-Gon had found that Touski knew her own strength very well and had never once applied too much pressure in an embrace.
"I am so very glad we met, Qui-Gon Jinn," she declared as she clasped them both to her enormous body. Qui-Gon's toes just barely touched the floor and his shorter Padawan was held up off the ground again. "It will be so nice for me to look forward to our evenings together while I settle this awful custody business. We shall all be three bed balls together." Obi-Wan's eyes widened, his face pressed up against the crinkled white fabric of Touski's gown, but Qui-Gon knew that this was just a Yurthak euphemism. Besides, it was physically impossible for all three of them to fit into the same bed bin together. At least, not comfortably.
Finally, reluctantly, she let them down and the Jedi went to the fresher to start their own morning routines. Touski soon left to go find some breakfast on her own, but she promised to see them again before they set out for the day.
They were both dressed and Qui-Gon was tying his hair back when Obi-Wan bent down and came up with one last bed ball that had rolled all the way into the fresher and been missed. He squeezed the soft, purple sphere; it deformed, then resumed its shape as soon as he released the pressure. Finishing with his hair, Qui-Gon smiled down at it. He took it from Obi-Wan's hand.
"You do not wish to be a bed ball, my young Padawan," Qui-Gon stated. Now Obi-Wan looked embarrassed about his earlier discomfort, and Qui-Gon sensed that as disconcerting as their enthusiastic Yurthak companion was, his Padawan cared about her feelings and did not wish to be rude to her.
"No, Master. Touski is...too affectionate for me. And I don't like being picked up," he admitted.
"Ah," Qui-Gon nodded his understanding. He held up the purple bed ball. He drew gentle energy from the Force, to his hand. Obi-Wan's eyes were drawn to the simple sphere. From the fresher door, Qui-Gon tossed the bed ball up into the air. It sailed freely across the high-ceilinged room and landed with its mates in the wall receptacle. He laid his hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder.
"Perhaps as we visit the Jedi ruins here, you shall also learn to be a bed ball."
–o(((O))) End Part 1 (((O)))o–