TITLE: IN THE HOT SEAT
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Four.
The chrono on the wall said it was four. Qui-Gon's stomach said it was at least two hours later than that. The truth of the matter was that he couldn't be bothered to fix himself any food, and anyway, knowing who he was living with made the chances of there being any food left in the place rather remote.
Sighing, he let his tall frame sink into the chair. HIS chair. The really comfortable one that molded itself around your body. The master's chair.
The one that everyone wanted to sit in.
Recently it was becoming a power struggle to see who would get to sit in it. Usually he won. Obi-Wan tended to defer to his master anyway, but Jemmiah would occasionally make a run for it and get there before he did. Once, when she had considered herself to be safely in possession he had picked her up using the force and deposited her on the carpet.
"That's not fair!" The ten-year-old had growled at him. "You're bigger than me!"
"Tangles, I promise you faithfully that when you are bigger than me, you can sit in the chair all you want."
She'd stalked off in disgust.
Well, today was different. Today he deserved this rest in his comfortable seat. He'd spent the last seven hours teaching the initiates how to swim. Not an experience he was keen to repeat in a hurry; infact he would be quite pleased if he never set eyes on another child ever again…
The door chime went.
Groaning, Qui-Gon pushed himself out of the chair's comfortable embrace and made his way to the door.
"Hi, Master Jinn!" beamed Jemmiah as the door slid back. Her eye quickly caught sight of the vacant seat at the same time that Qui-Gon realized what she was thinking.
"Oh, no you don't!" Jinn raced her back to the chair and got there just hundredths of a second before she did. He threw himself back down with an extremely smug expression.
"Better luck next time, Tangles." He smiled.
She wore a hurt look. "You're supposed to let me win now and again." She mumbled.
"Not a chance." Qui-Gon shook his head. "Humility is a very good lesson for a child. Just think of it as another part of your education. Talking of which," he watched her walk into the kitchen area, "how was school?"
"Good." She replied airily. "We started this mural on the classroom wall." Jemmy frowned suddenly in thought. "Then the teacher came back in the room and we went back to drawing on the desks."
Qui-Gon folded his arms. "Are you aware of the money that goes towards getting you an education?" He asked her.
She spread her arms in a generous sweeping movement. "That's OK. They can take it back. I don't want to go anyway…" She stopped when she saw his annoyance. "Why don't I find something to stuff my face with before I say something even more likely to get me murdered?" Her hand reached into the refrigeration unit and came away with something extremely chocolatey.
"Put that back!" He scolded. "That is for after meals and not before…"
Too late.
"Mmmm!" Jemmy walked back through and perched on the edge of the dining table, swinging her legs back and forwards. "This is REALLY good." She said between mouthfuls of cream, chocolate and pastry.
Qui-Gon looked at her. "Is it?" He said under his breath. His stomach began to growl ominously.
"There's another one in there." She said before taking a second bite, pausing only to lick the cream off her fingers whilst watching him out the corner of her eye. "My word, this is good!"
"You are an evil young lady." Qui-Gon grumbled.
"Yes, but I'm an evil young lady with a double chocolate Corellian pastry!" She grinned at him.
"That's not fair." He said.
"Well, all you have to do is go over to the refrigeration unit and…"
"Let you have my chair? I don't think so." He was adamant. Jemmiah shrugged and made a great show of enjoying the last few mouthfuls of cream.
"Oh, well. I had to try." She smiled cheerfully at him. "I suppose when you get to your age and your body starts slowing down and falling apart all the time, it's understandable that you'd want to do a lot of sitting about."
Jinn's jaw dropped indignantly. "I do not do a lot of sitting about. I'm just enjoying the time I have to myself."
"That's what they all say." Jemmiah replied. "But it's only one stage away from the thermal bed socks and the giant slippers…"
"Nice try, Jemmiah but it won't work. I am not moving out of this chair for the next hour at least."
"I bet you do!" She laughed.
"How much?" He sat forwards, challenging her.
"Two hundred credits."
"Done." Jinn smirked. "I'll have that money by tomorrow, shall I?"
Jemmy stared balefully at him. "You haven't won yet."
" There's no way I'm getting up from here under any circumstances."
"None?"
"No."
The holocom terminal started to chirp to let Qui-Gon know that someone wanted to speak with him.
Damn, thought Qui-Gon!
"Aren't you going to get that?" Jemmiah asked. "It might be somebody important. Or maybe somebody's trying to inform you that Obi-Wan's broken his leg. Again." She sniffed.
"You get it." He refused.
"Why should I?" She asked.
He shot her a warning look.
"OK, OK! I'll get it!" Jemmiah walked over to the terminal and activated the voice controls.
"Hello, Qui-Gon Jinn's massage parlor, how can we help you? We cater for all kinds of life forms including…"
"Jemmiah!" Qui-Gon was out of the chair and besides the holo terminal in a split second.
Jemmy had already run to the safety of her room.
"I'll have that money by tomorrow, shall I?" She shouted as she closed the door.
Qui-Gon looked at the surprised features of the person trying to communicate with him.
"Er… I'm very sorry about that, Chancellor Valorum."