By the Spiral

His cloak sweeping behind him, Saesee Tiin strode swiftly down the stairs from the main quarters of the Jedi Temple towards the flight hanger, his head ringing with the arguments- sorry, heated discussions, Jedi don't argue do they now? - of the Jedi still up in the Temple corridors. This war was getting to everyone's heads, but Skywalker…that boy is concerning, Saesee thought, rubbing his left horn absently. To see him so aggressive, so vicious, even verging on vengeful when in debate with a council member was clear proof for the Iktochi that even the Chosen One was not invulnerable from the burdens of war.

Rounding the corner towards the hanger that held his personal starfighter, Saesee halted in his tracks. He could hear…voices. Very familiar voices. His heart began to thump in his chest; he had come here for a break from people, and the last thing he needed right now was for those two to find out more around that starfighter than they had to. But he was too late; as the Iktochi approached further he could hear their voices.

"Why does it have those thin hairs coming from its face?"

"I think they're called whiskers. I have no idea what they are for."

"Maybe he can sense things like you or Saesee can?"

"She."

Saesee stopped in the doorway of the hanger to see his two fellow Masters sat on the storage boxes around his starfighter. A tiny furry creature with pointed ears and those whiskers was sat between them, reaching up with a clawed paw to try and bat at the green tentacles it could almost reach. "It's definitely a she." Kit Fisto chuckled at the creature's antics.

"Very well." Agen Kolar was watching it intently, and did not look up. "Is she yours, Saesee?"

The creature had abandoned its game upon seeing the Iktochi and sprung off the crates, choosing instead to gambol up to Saesee and push its head up against his legs with a purring sound beginning to grow in her throat. His cheeks burning but his lips set in the typical frown, Saesee dared to look up at the other two; Kit Fisto was beaming broadly, his gaze on the animal, while Agen Kolar was unsuccessfully fighting off a smile as well, looking instead at the Iktochi.

"How can she be mine?" Saesee walked towards his starfighter, trying to avoid an undignified trip as the creature followed suit and attempted to weave around him. "Jedi have no possessions." He deadpanned. Kit's smile did not lessen as he hopped off his seat on the crates. The Iktochi wavered, his arms folded defiantly, but the animal made the decision for him. She bounded forward and jumped back up to where she had been sat before, and looked back expectantly. You sitting or what? Her eyes seemed to say. And so Saesee sat down on the crates where the Nautolan had been; Kit himself moved so that the trio of Masters were in something of a triangle and made to perch down too. "Don't sit on my starfighter." Saesee glanced up sharply as his hand had made to stroke the creature's nutmeg-coloured fur.

"I wouldn't dream of it." Kit quipped, instead sitting cross-legged in front of the ship. Agen was watching the creature with curious eyes as she nuzzled into the Iktochi's hand, her purring louder than before.

"She may not be yours." He commented, "But I think you are hers, my friend."

"I found her taking shelter in the cockpit. She was cold. And thin." Saesee said. He remembered it well, the rain outside had been drumming on the metal roof overhead, and had almost drowned out her mewling cries when he had lifted her out of his pilot's seat. How quickly she had quietened though, wriggling and turning only to snuggle into the surprised Jedi's thick robes. She was doing much the same now, crawling onto the Iktochi's lap and trying to get comfy amongst the folds of his cloak.

"And so you adopted her." Agen finished, an amused smile twitching on his lips, "Or perhaps the other way around."

"Something like that." Saesee muttered, returning to gently stroke the animal's head. Purring again, she settled down on his lap but pushed her head up into his hand, seemingly unbothered by the Iktochi's claws. "What are you two doing here anyway?" Saesee looked back up at Agen, who held his hands up in mock surrender.

"Ask Kit, he was here first."

"Now don't go accusing me of anything!" The Nautolan laughed. "I came looking for you, Saesee, I thought you might be fixing something. Then this friend of yours leapt up out of the cockpit and came to say hello!"

"When I arrived they seemed to be getting on quite well." Agen said amusedly. "Getting on meaning she was sat on his head."

"She was comfy! Who was I to move her?!"

"Why did you look for me, Fisto?" Saesee interjected, frowning in confusion. There was a pause, and Kit cocked his head in some thought. His head tresses twitched independently.

"I'm not sure." He replied mildly, "I just sensed you might need-" The Nautolan broke off as the furry creature stood on Saesee's lap, stretched, then leapt onto the ground and padded over to him, sniffing at his outstretched hand curiously. "Hello, little one."

"Be careful. She's looking to pounce on your tentacles." Saesee warned, sensing the animal's intentions. Kit chuckled and nudged his tresses over his shoulder and out of sight. Dejected, the animal licked at his hand then padded back over to the boxes, jumping up again and fixing lantern-like eyes on Agen. The Zabrak looked more than a little apprehensive as she advanced unblinkingly.

"What is she doing?"

"Smelling you." Saesee's words did not seem to reassure Agen, who seemed more alarmed at the tiny creature. A minute smile twitched on the corner of the Iktochi's lips. "Relax." He said.

"She has claws."

"So do I, you do not fear me."

"That's different." Agen muttered. Yet the little creature had no such reservations and was quickly nuzzling up to the Zabrak, the purring sound recommencing as she found a comfier seat on his lap.

"Agen, I think you've made a friend!" Kit laughed at his gobsmacked companion. Saesee nodded.

"She likes you." He agreed. Throughout all of this, the impossible had happened; his two fellow Jedi and his little friend had succeeded in making him feel better. The weight of the argument upstairs felt as light as a cloud that rolled off his shoulders as he watched Agen tentatively begin to stroke the creature's soft head and he listened to Kit's cheerful chatter. In the past, he never would have imagined companionship such as what he shared with these two to be so pleasant. So useful. And something so… treasurable.

Maybe friendship isn't so bad after all, Saesee thought, and the strange fluffy animal with pointed ears and odd 'whiskers' just yawned.