Wrote this ages ago and had posted it on the LJ boards. Never bothered to put it up here until now. Thanks to Lady Xianghua for the beta!
For all Kavar lovers, ENJOY!
ps: All stories are on hold. I am NOT going to stop them. Just been really really busy with college and all that stuff. Hopefully will be able to post some updates again soon.
"I had advised you to at least remove your outer robe before starting the practice, hadn't I?"
The young girl grunted back at the mockery as she tried to free the stick from her robes. Giving the Jedi Master a scowl, she straightened the robes huffily and resumed her battle stance.
Kavar chuckled and shook his head lightly at his Padawan. "Stubborn as ever."
"Laugh all you want, Master." Kas'shen pursed her lips briefly. "You can't expect me to remove my robes every time I fight! I've got to learn to be used to it." She pushed away a platinum-blonde lock of hair from her face.
Her master chuckled again and leaned on his stick while he watched his Padawan with an extremely amused expression on his face. "To learn how to be used to a certain thing, Padawan, you have to do it slowly." He paused for a moment to keep his face straight, and continued. "And you have to learn from the start. It's just like being a beginner in Pazaak and then advancing into becoming a master. You cannot expect to perfect a skill without learning the basics.
And you are having a lot of problem with your robes." Kavar said with a small laugh. "You've never bothered much about that before."
Kas'shen rolled her eyes at him and pulled at her sleeves. "Okay, I'll admit. Under normal circumstances, yes, I'd remove this blasted robe. But practising here," Her eyes swept over the Dantooine fields; a frown grew on her face. "I…I don't think it's such a good idea."
The Master's eyebrow rose at that and he looked at his bare chest first before scanning the area. He then turned his attention back to the blushing Kas'shen. "What's wrong with practising with minimal albeit decent amount of clothing on the fields on Dantooine?"
"You're thick when you want to be, don't you?" She said as she chewed on her lower lip. She reached a hand to her neck to scratch the rashes caused by the heat and sweat, Kas'shen groaned and peeled off the outer robe before rolling her shirt's sleeves up to her elbows. Kavar gave her a "See" look and she narrowed her eyes at him.
"Don't tell me you can't sense them." Her voice was set in a perfect irritated tone.
"Sense who?"
Kas'shen's eyes widened disbelievingly at him and she shook her head. Lifting her hand, she pointed towards the enclave entrance.
Kavar caught a glimpse of several young female Jedi watching them before the heads vanished behind the wall...
"Your fan club, Kavar." Kas'shen said deadpanned.
The young Jedi Master chuckled and moved towards her. Kash couldn't help but chuckle along with him. Sure, Kavar—the Master Kavar—was the idol of many adolescent and adult women Jedi. And as if the Force was trying to pull her leg, she was assigned to him as Padawan.
This resulted with her being hounded by the "fan-girls" and becoming the enemies of those who were extreme in their holy quest of gaining the Master's attention. It was getting frustrating getting asked almost everyday of Kavar and his daily routine. Like she'd know what he'd eaten that day and did in the evenings. Hell, one even asked how many times the man shaved in a week!
"It's not funny, Kavar." Kas'shen gathered her hair and tied it into a messy bun. "I'm your Padawan, not your PA."
"And why do you let these kinds of things get to you?" Kavar knelt on a knee to gather his robes and lightsabre.
Kas'shen sighed and stabbed the stick into the ground. "As if I have a choice. Want to bet that once I get in there, and once you move away from me, I'm gonna be surrounded by those damn Kath Hounds! They ask me questions I can't answer! Praise the Force that I've been able to keep quiet about this for the past five years!"
"Watch your language, Kash." Kavar handed her things. "I cannot help it if their masters cannot make them control their interests."
"Oh, yeah. It's not their interest that needs to be controlled, Kavar, it's their lusts!"
The man stopped abruptly at his tracks and his wide green eyes were focused on her face. Kas'shen cursed in her mind as she felt a blush crept up her neck. It had been happening recently. Whenever her Master would look at her intensely or even the slightest contact of their skin, Kas'shen would start blushing. It never happened before.
And she didn't know why it was happening now.
"Repeat that again." It was an obvious order from him, and remembering what the girls had been saying the other night her face grew redder.
"Uh, nothing. Must be the heat. It's hot, isn't it?" Kas'shen quickly backtracked and fanned herself with her hand while trying to turn her gaze from Kavar.
"Now, Padawan." It was that kind of tone that made her become afraid of him. It was that kind gaze that made her stomach churn discomfortingly. It was that kind of situation that made her want to go back to Coruscant and throw herself into the deepest depths of the city.
Her last master never made her feel that way. Rais-Kell never had such an effect on her. The fifteen-year-old had never felt so awkward and yet so comfortable with someone eighteen years older than her, ever.
Why is this happening to me?
Her attempts at backtracking were futile. But that didn't stop her from trying again. She wiped away the sweat on her forehead with her outer robe and began to stutter. "Eh, well. What…what was I saying again? Heh."
Kavar reached out to her and placed his hand on her shoulder to stop her pace. The emerald green eyes were fixed on her again and she felt as if her face was going to burst at any moment. "You were saying about lust, Kash. Tell me, this is serious. Minor infatuation is fine, but lust?"
"Eh heh." Shit. I'm so dead. How the hell do I tell a man that some other girls are speculating on how hard his abs are? Kas'shen gave him another awkward smile before spilling out everything the girls had made her swore never to tell. I'm so dead, I'm so dead, I'm so dead… "Theyweretalkingaboutyourmarvellousphysiqueandwhatthey'ddoiftheyeverhadthechancetogoverynearyou."
"In Galactic Basic, Kash."
"I was talking in Basic." She stopped immediately when she saw the stern look. "Aw, look. It's hard to tell you these things without, you-know…"
Kavar sighed and patted her shoulder. "Kash, for these girls's sake," his lips twisted upward. "Tell me."
Kas'shen sucked in a deep breath and held it for a while. Yup, I'm officially dead, and Revan's going to have to scrape me off the floor. "They were talking about your-" Kas'shen stopped there and gestured at Kavar's bare chest before continuing. "And what they'd do if they ever had the chance to go very near you.
There, I've signed my death warrant, Kavar. Please remember to visit my grave."
What surprised her wasn't the sterner look she had expected to get but the sight of him bent over and laughing. And the feel of his warm hand on her shoulder. And how happy she suddenly felt having this man so close to her on the fields, with the sun setting and the cool wind blowing.
"That Revan has too much influence on you, Kash. Your way of speech is beginning to sound like hers." He shook his head and started his way back to the enclave. "I guess I'll have to talk to the masters again."
"Hey, at least it's not bad influence. And one thing, I don't sound like her."
"Right." Came the mocking reply.
Kas'shen glared at him. "I really don't!"
"You never were one to understand when someone is pulling your leg, were you?" Kavar turned to smirk at her.
The girl pursed her lips at him. "I didn't expect a joke from my master, Kavar."
"Is your master not a friend?"
Kas'shen gave him a small smile and walked by his side. "Yes, he is." I don't know, Kavar. I don't know when I feel so weird being near you…It never was like this before…it never was this perfect…