The five days spent in hyperspace from Antaeus were horribly boring for Eden, but he managed to keep from further pissing off Eeth; something of a feat, he thought to himself, given the crap he'd landed himself in since meeting the Knight. The issue of who Eden was going to stay with once they were back was not brought up for the time being. Eeth hoped that the boy's padawan sibling might be available; that would be an ideal solution. However, when Eeth and Eden exited hyperspace on the fifth and final day of their return trip to Coruscant, they were informed that Anthia, said padawan sibling, had returned to the Temple and then left again while Eden and Jay were still on Antaeus. That ruled her out as a prospective caretaker.

"I really don't want to go back to the crèche," Eden grumbled as Eeth piloted them through Coruscant's heavy noon traffic. The boy was fed up with spaceship travel, tired of school work, but most of all, he felt he was too old to require supervision whilst at the Temple.

"Unlikely," Eeth commented a little absently while manually steering the ship towards the Temple's landing pad. "They will find someone to look after you exclusively."

That someone turned out to be him. Eeth was to move into Master Jayside-Wex's quarters since his own were too small to accommodate a padawan. He truly and honestly had not expected that. It was not that he minded looking after Eden; the boy's behaviour and level of skill were acceptable for an eleven-year-old padawan, and even if they were not, he could deal with it. He just had thought that his babysitting days were over now that he was knighted, and he had rather hoped for a mission that would allow him to exploit his full potential for once. Yet, it seemed as if that was not to be, or at least not for the next three days. Arguing would be futile, and therefore, Eeth merely bowed silently before Master Aaraan and the clerk on duty who had just told the two of them of the Council's decision.

"If that is all?" he asked Master Aaraan. "Come, Padawan Eden."

"Wait," Eden, who had held his tongue until this point, spoke up, ignoring Eeth's order for the moment. "I have lived at the Temple since I was a baby. I don't need a sitter! It's only three days," he said, trying and failing to keep the hope from his tone. Eeth had said earlier that he needed supervision to keep him from slacking off, among other things. Eden hoped the Council would think him too old for such temptations.

Eeth was rather surprised at Eden's cheek and, if he was really honest with himself, a little hurt as well. Had he not taken good care of Eden? He had certainly never complained about this mission, even though it had not been the demanding task that he had hoped for, now that he was knighted. Then he looked at the expression on Eden's face and realised that this was not about him; it was most likely about the boy's pride. Eeth could relate to that. But pride definitely had no place in a Jedi's life.

"That will be enough of your backtalk, padawan Eden," he said firmly. "There is no need to argue the Council's decision."

"Indeed," said Master Aaraan drily, leaning back in his chair.

Backtalk? It wasn't backtalk, it was a request, or at the very worst, a statement! Eden looked from the clerk with whom his gaze had rested last, to Eeth and then back to Master Aaraan. He swallowed, nodded at Eeth's reprimand, bowed to the two Councilors and left with Eeth. Well, that hadn't gone over as he expected. Sure, he was no coward, but taking on three Jedi superiors was a battle he was destined to lose.

He strode beside Eeth, doing his best to hide his brooding but his clipped gait would have telegraphed his displeasure to just about anybody. Eeth being a Jedi knight would have picked it up a mile away. Of course, this had nothing to do with Eeth personally; it was all about the fact that he had spent his entire life at this Temple. He also did not like the fact that Eeth had predicted this outcome. It was rubbing salt into the wound.

"Stop sulking," Eeth told the boy firmly. "We have been through this. The Council would leave no eleven-year-old padawan to his own devices. This is not a rule they created for you, specifically, nor will they relax it for you, specifically."

"I know," came the curt reply. "That doesn't make it any easier to accept. They're treating me like a child. I'm well able to conduct missions so I should be trusted. I find it insulting. Wouldn't you?" Eden looked up at Eeth as they walked, his ire ebbing slightly at the hopes that Eeth would agree with him.

Eeth thought about this. "I might have, at your age," he finally conceded honestly. "But I know now that the Council are right. They want you to continue with your routine. Even if you are perfectly able to go to class on your own, you will still need someone to meditate and work out with you. And to reduce the temptation of getting into mischief."

Okay, so Eden had to admit that having Eeth around to meditate with was something he didn't want to lose. The workouts? Those he could do without. He snorted, but the edge of his lip curled into a smile as they walked. He couldn't argue with any of that, after all, and he had grown fond of the man's presence.

A few minutes later, Eden palmed the door plate to the quarters he shared with Jay. It was a standard team's quarters, that being, it was modestly furnished with the basics, contained two bedrooms and in this case, a single shared bathroom. There were no windows or outside areas as this room was pretty much smack bang in the middle of the Temple. It was, however, climatically comfortable and the lighting was adequate. Eden tossed his pack on the couch and headed directly for the cupboards. Unsurprisingly, he didn't find much. "If you want to go and pick up your stuff, I can stay here and order some food," he suggested, flinging open the cooler door to find it, too, was pretty much empty.

Eeth glanced at the chrono and considered for a moment. Then he said: "Let us go to the dining hall. It was mid-afternoon on the ship, but here, it is just about lunchtime. It usually is helpful to adapt to the local time as fast as possible. We can buy food on our way back, and I will pick up my things then, too. My quarters are not far from here."

It didn't bother Eden what time it was; he would eat anyway. Shutting the cooler door, he turned to meet Eeth's gaze. "Lead on, Fearless Leader," he quoted, but despite his effort at humour, there was a hint of resignation in his tone.

Eeth frowned slightly. This was probably an allusion to something, but he had no idea to what. Deciding to ignore it, he led the way to the dining hall which was packed at this time of the day. Eeth did not really look around; he rarely actively looked for company. His master, Fenya Jaa, was currently on a fact-finding mission. In the message Eeth had received from her during his trip to Antaeus, she had claimed that it was closer to a vacation than an actual mission. She had also said that she could really use a vacation, now that Eeth had been knighted. Eeth had not quite understood what she meant by that.

"Alec!" Eden shouted upon spotting the Zabrak boy across the hall seated with his Iktochi master, Azimech, and a few other people that he knew. He had not seen his friend since the week before they had left for Antaeus and was eager to share stories of the adventure they had had getting back here.

"Eden!" Alec mouthed, his expression clearly happy to see his friend. However, he was not willing to try shouting over the packed dining hall, at least not while his master sat right next to him. He stood and waved them over.

Eden looked up at Eeth and took hold of his sleeve in case he did not have the man's attention. "Let's get food and go join them?" It had started out as a statement but morphed into a request by the end.

Eeth saw no reason to object. He was aware, after all, at least in theory, that most beings were more sociable than he was and that this was not a bad thing. Eeth served himself to noodle soup, crackers, a salad and a piece of fruit. He kept an eye on Eden's tray, too, pleased that the boy's choices seemed reasonable. Eden had picked a dessert, then hesitated a bit, his hand hovering over a piece of cake. When Eeth shook his head, though, Eden withdrew his hand without complaint.

When they had thus finished loading their trays, they made their way over to Eden's friends. Eeth let Eden pick his seat first, deposited his tray and waited for introductions.

"Knight Koth, this is Master Azimech" – Eden gestured to the middle-aged Iktochi female seated by Alec – "and her apprentice, Alec. Alec and I met during junior crèche but in the last four years we were assigned different crèche masters, and we didn't see much of each other. When I became a padawan we met again in the padawans' lounge," Eden explained.

Once the formalities were over, questions started flying around about the hows and whys of Eden's last mission which the boy answered. He explained what had happened, why Eeth had been sent to collect him and then went into details about how they had such a hard time getting off the planet. Naturally, being an eleven-year-old padawan, he exaggerated the amount of blaster fire, how long the boat ride was and how hard they had worked on Fann's long-haul ship. "But then I met some really great people too, Sage and Taram, then Elis who rode with us on the trip to Taktaw. Jay should be back in three days, although apparently, the council do not trust me to look after myself, so Eeth was asked to watch me until he gets back." He paused there to eat some food; he had not eaten much since sitting down, having spent most of the time talking and catching up.

Eeth had remained silent during Eden's account although his eyebrows went up a few times at some of Eden's more glaring exaggerations.

Azimech, who had already raised a padawan before Alec, grinned. She knew to take these stories with a grain of salt. "So, you are Eeth Koth?" she asked. "You were knighted very recently, weren't you? I heard of you from my first padawan."

"You did?" Eeth asked, somewhat surprised. "Was it someone in my year? In that case, you must have taken on a new padawan very fast."

Azimech laughed. "No, Laya was several years older than you and knighted two years ago," she clarified. "But she lost against you in the sparring competition twice, and it grated on her. You must be very proficient with a saber."

"I do my best," said Eeth diplomatically, knowing perfectly well that his best was a lot better than just about all other young Jedi's best and that nobody liked him to point this out.

Eden snorted at Eeth's remark, accidentally sending a piece of food flying onto his plate. He covered the peccadillo, though, quickly swallowing and commenting. "Yeah, you do your best," he said. Then he turned his attention to the others again. "But I got some new tricks to try out on Jay. It might have just been worth getting my ass kicked up one side and down the other. Maybe," he said, taking another bite of his meal

Again, Eeth merely raised his eyebrows but did not comment.

Azimech did not bother to hide her amusement. He would not make a bad master if only he loosened up a little, she thought.

After lunch, Eden and Eeth shopped for groceries in the Temple stores and Eeth dropped by his quarters to fetch some spare clothes. By the time they arrived back at Eden's and Jay's quarters, messages from Eden's teachers had arrived that detailed what they had done in class during his absence. Eeth made Eden sit down with him and compare it to the work he had done during the trip. Fortunately, Eden was up to scratch in most subjects and ahead of his class in two. "Alright," said Eeth, putting the data pads aside. "Let us go to the gym, then."

"Really? Can't we skip it today? We only just returned. I'm tired and I want to finish working on my biology." Eden wasn't enthusiastic. Then again, he rarely was when it came to working out, especially so with Eeth.

"No, we cannot skip it," Eeth said sternly. "Neither today nor on any other day unless you are ill. Fetch your gym bag."

"I am ill!" Eden countered testily, but what had started out as a retort, had turned sheepish by the end.

Eeth decided to ignore this rather silly outburst. For now. However, the look Eeth gave Eden told him he was treading on thin ice.

Eden dropped his gaze, turned and ran for his room, quickly palming the door closed behind himself. He stood frozen in the middle of his bedroom for a moment, just staring at the door. When Eeth did not come thundering through it, paddle in hand as he'd half expected, he scrambled for his gym bag and started shoving stuff in.

Once they had arrived at the gym, Eeth started on a warm-up that made use of a number of things that had been unavailable in their starship or on the beach, such as skipping ropes and weights. Eden was at an age where Eeth thought it was important that he put on more muscle mass. He also needed to increase his stamina, seeing as he was going to leave on more and more missions in the near future.

Skipping ropes, Eden was familiar with. Weights? Not so much. Like Eeth, Jay pushed weights that Eden could not fathom ever lifting; his own paled in comparison and, despite knowing it was arrogant of him to look at it this way, it made him feel inferior.

They ended the workout with sparring, and as usual, Eden was about ready to toss his saber by the time he was done. He was sweating, sore and had not gained a single point against Eeth. He was getting tired of being bested, he really was. There had to be a way to beat this guy!

Eeth gave Eden the rest of the afternoon off, and the evening, too, since he had no homework and there were no chores to be done. However, he told the boy to be back by seven thirty at the latest. It had been a long day due to the time lag and Eden was due to go back to school tomorrow, after all.

The afternoon off was unexpected, and Eden accepted it gratefully. He did what he knew Jay would expect of him, that was, he loaded the washing into the machine and helped to prepare dinner. For most of the remaining time, he was crashed out on the sofa with his holo book. After dinner, he helped to clean up. Then, knowing that most padawans would be congregating at the lounge soon, he got permission and took off.

When Eden entered the padawans' lounge none of his friends had arrived. It had just gone six-thirty, after all. He sat down and continued reading his novel until…

"Eden! Get your nose out of your datapad! Don't you get enough of that during classes?" Alec jibed, poking the boy's pad and deactivating it.

"Alec, hey," Eden smiled, happy to ditch his datapad. Just then, Brin and Atlas entered and sat down in the small circle that was fast growing as his friends continued to filter in.

Eden was not the only padawan to have just returned from a mission; Atlas had also. Thus, they each had a turn at describing their adventures. Eden's was met with more questions, however, especially about the knight tasked with his continued care.

"Eeth Koth, he's a Zabrak guy, right? I know of him. He assisted with my master's advanced lightsaber class a few times. I did not do the class, obviously, but I watched. He's good, but someone inserted a hot poker up his ass at birth and never removed it," commented Brin, drawing smirks from some and confused looks from those who had no idea who Eeth was.

"Yeah, he's a bit rigid, not to mention unbeatable."

"Nobody is unbeatable," Brin snorted confidently. He was the only one of their group standing and was twirling his saber above his hand as he often did. Brin was by far the best fighter in their age range, which meant he often competed against opponents several years his senior.

"Trust me. Not even you could win a trick with this guy. I've tried everything," Eden replied.

"I hate to point this out, but your 'everything' is not exactly all that much."

Eden frowned, but before he could defend himself, Alec spoke up.

"He has a point, but you're good at other things," he placated. "I questioned my master about him after lunch today. He agreed; apparently, he flattened her first apprentice, Laya, a few times, too. I asked her about him later. She says he was entirely too full of himself."

Eden smirked at that. He could see how Eeth would come across that way in short doses, hell, even in longer doses! He was irritatingly good. "Yeah, he is. Oh well, I'm stuck with him for another two days, and I'm certain he's not suddenly going to start cutting me slack just because we are back home."

"The guy is twenty-two and a brand new knight. How bad can it be?" challenged a Nautolan girl named Fin, whom Eden recognised from some of his classes.

"He carries a paddle around in his belt." The statement was left hanging as all eyes turned on Eden, each expressing a different level of surprise.

Eden coughed. "And he's not shy about using it! I caught it a few times for testing him." He had to admit that telling that story had him feeling prideful over his battle wounds.

The group exchanged glances for a moment. "For real?" Atlas asked.

Eden just looked at him. "No, I made it up… Of course for real!" He went on to explain about their training sessions and how hard they had been. Most of the others were intrigued, a couple winced, but Brin just rolled his eyes.

"Bet anything a few of us could land a hit, especially if he's surprised. No one is that good," he stated boldly.

"Bet anything he'd kick your ass all over the gym. Then, when he's finished with you, he'll start on the rest of us," said Eden.

Spurred on by Brill, this conversation went on for quite some time until the group had worked themselves into a dare. Eden knew they would be training at three tomorrow afternoon and in what room; Eeth had told him so he might be prepared. They were going to be using the junior aerials room, a room that was often taken up by several teams. Therefore, the presence of a few onlookers and solo padawans would not look out of place. He was going to meet Brin and Alec there tomorrow. Both boys were going to observe for a while. Then, when Eeth least expected it, they were going to jump him. Not maliciously of course, but just to see if he really was all that and perhaps to prove a point: no twenty-two-year-old knight could fend off three padawans, something had to give. Besides, Eden wanted to get a bit of his own back for once.

Eden was still grinning when he entered his quarters at precisely seven-thirty that evening. It was early, and he'd copped flack over the curfew, but he'd taken it in stride; he really was tired, and he was glad to have Eeth to use as a scapegoat there. "Evening," he greeted the man politely and tossed his cloak on the sofa.

Eeth had busied himself reading up on galactic events. He looked up when Eden entered. "Good evening," he said formally. "Please get ready for bed. After that, we will meditate." He did notice that Eden seemed to be in a good mood, but he put that down to the fact that the boy was back at the Temple and had seen his friends; he was bound to be pleased at that.

Yes, Eden was in a good mood because almost without any effort on his part, he'd managed to get his friends onboard. It would be satisfying to see Eeth get a taste of his own medicine, for a change. There was a lingering doubt that this might backfire, though. Eeth really was good, and there was a possibility that he might just wipe the floor with them and then paddle what was left, or worse, set them to do some sort of horrific muscle-building exercises. That thought had Eden spitting toothpaste, and he quickly grabbed his face washer to clean it off the mirror.

By the time he had changed into his sleep pants and emerged, the boy had himself collected again. He was possibly a little more guarded than usual during this meditation, but not to the point where it would draw Eeth's attention. When he opened his eyes, the kid yawned; it was early, but he had to admit he was tired. He sat back on his heels and looked over at the knight. "I guess this wasn't what you imagined for your first mission. To be honest, it wasn't how I saw it ending either. I didn't want to leave. It made me feel like a youngling being escorted off-planet," he said. Eeth was not the easiest person to talk to, but he felt like trying to converse with the man, so he did.

Eeth recognised the attempt at conversation for what it was. He was not a talkative person, but his master had done her best to teach him not to rebuff such attempts without good reason. Today was one of the days on which he managed to remember that lesson. It probably helped that Eden's statement was not forcing him to become overly personal.

"That is understandable," he replied. "I would have felt the same way at your age. And, yes, I had imagined my first mission as a knight to be different from this. But this is where duty placed me and I can accept that. Since the whole affair did not turn out to be as straightforward as the Council had hoped for, it did help you gain some experience. And me, for that matter."

"Yeah, experience driving kick-ass boats, that part was awesome. You can keep your boulders and hellish workouts, though," the boy stated.

Eeth raised his eyebrows. "You need to build muscle," he pointed out, "and improve your endurance. Both are extremely important, now that you are being sent on missions. I might have done you a favour there, even if you cannot see it that way right now."

Eden snorted, but if he was honest with himself, he didn't actually hold any grudge there, and so he let it drop. "I hope Elis got on okay. Sage and Taram, too." He looked reflective. "I left them a note with the clothing shop lady but I doubt they'll understand why we couldn't just hang around. I wouldn't. Undercover work is harder than I thought it would be. Trying to hide being a Jedi and all."

"Yes, it can be," Eeth agreed. "We usually try to avoid forming friendships when working undercover. It will only create awkward situations and possibly the necessity to lie. But it is not always possible or sensible to stick to that rule; I have been on a few missions where the close connections that my master forged to some locals helped us achieve our goals faster and more effectively." Never had it been Eeth who had actually forged such connections, and he was painfully aware of his shortcomings in that field although he saw no need to voice these feelings.

Making friends had never been an issue for Eden. It just seemed to come naturally, and it didn't occur to him to question Eeth over why he'd said it was his master who had done this and not himself.

He let his bum slip through his heels to sit on the floor. He wanted to talk, but he didn't know what to talk about, and Eeth wasn't the best at keeping conversations running. He scratched his head and then yawned. "So, you still planning to carry that thing around, or was that just for the mission?" he queried, gesturing to where he assumed Eeth still had the paddle tucked beneath his tunic.

"I plan to carry it around for as long as I have padawans or initiates to look after," Eeth replied evenly. He was well aware that this might make him unpopular, but he felt a need to be prepared for everything. And expecting misbehaviour from an eleven-year-old was not all that far-fetched, in his experience. He was honestly not waiting to pounce on the next opportunity to swing his paddle; he was merely trying to be realistic.

Eeth was correct, that news did not make him popular, at least not with Eden. He didn't get the impression that the knight was waiting for any excuse to use it, but neither did he like the fact that he was prepared for such occasions. The boy shrugged. He supposed it wasn't much different to Jay who had his belt most of the time. Granted, his belt served another purpose and did not stand out as an object specifically put there to spank him.

"You should go to bed now," Eeth told Eden. "The day has been several hours longer than usual for you, and tomorrow you will need to go to classes."

"I'm not tired," Eden replied in a deadpan tone. "Maybe we can watch some holo?" It was a long shot but one he thought worth taking.

Eeth was good at recognising lies; he always had been, even before he had known that he possessed Force awareness. His master had told him that there was more to it than Force awareness, anyway. He was also simply very perceptive. In some cases, where emotional issues were involved, he had difficulties making sense of his perceptions, but when people lied, he always recognised the signs. Besides, he had just meditated with Eden, and he knew the boy was tired; exhausted even. "Go to bed," he said firmly. "You need your sleep, and your claim not to be tired is a blatant lie."

Eden gave him an indignant look and sat up a little taller. "And how do you know that?"

"Because I nearly always know when someone is lying to me," Eeth replied rather sternly. "And you were, weren't you?"

Eden wasn't sure where to go with that. He didn't exactly want to confess to lying, but neither did he think he'd get away with telling another lie. Hmm. He jutted out his chin and settled on ambiguity. "Maybe."

Eeth's eyes narrowed. He was vaguely aware that he might be overreacting, but he was quite allergic to dishonesty. "That kind of evasiveness will not buy you any favours," he snapped. "It was a yes-or-no question. And since it was your lie we are talking about, you are bound to know the answer. Was it a lie, yes or no?"

By now, the look on Eden's face was more piteous than indignant, although his arms were still folded firmly about his chest. "Yes," he answered curtly, his gaze dropping for a second before he looked up again.

If this had been Eeth's own padawan (not that he was remotely thinking of taking a padawan!), he would probably have felt compelled to punish the lie by way of his paddle. As it was, he had no idea how strict Jay was on such matters. Therefore, he contented himself with saying sternly: "Don't do it again. And the next time, follow my instructions without an argument, especially when it is an argument that you cannot win. You are tired. Therefore, you will go to bed."

Eden's jaw clenched, and his back stiffened. Sure, he had expected to be told off for that, and perhaps a bit more, but he was tired and not taking this as well as he ought to. Besides, he had his boyish pride to preserve – not that pride had any place in the life of a Jedi… He knew, yeah, at least in theory he knew. "Good evening," he said stiffly, and with that, he stood abruptly, turned and strode grumpily towards his bedroom.

"Good night," Eeth said calmly, refusing to rise to the slight provocation. He could sense the boy's fatigue; he would hopefully be in a better mood for a night's worth of sleep.

That night Eden lay there staring up at the ceiling for a long time. It wasn't that he was angry at Eeth, not at all; he was just overtired and missed his master. The meditations he'd been doing with Eeth had been enough for him to almost connect with Jay this evening. It had been a little over twenty minutes since he'd been sent to bed, but his mind was still racing despite his fatigue. He could no longer hear the knight in their common room, so he risked sitting up. When nobody stirred, he threw his legs over his bed and crept to the door. Unfortunately, since his door was automatic, there was just no way to open it just a little; it was all or nothing. That thought had him hesitate; did he dare? No, and so he dragged his feet back to his bed.

Eeth heard or sensed Eden moving around in his room. He stood up and walked over to the boy's door. "Go to bed and stay there!" he called. "You need your sleep."

"Go to bed and stay there," Eden mimicked in a mock-Eeth voice, and forcefully pulled the covers around himself. He tossed and turned for another half hour before exhaustion eventually won out and the boy fell asleep.