Tea For Two

Chapter Four

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Mean old Jedi. He'd fix him good.

Kidik ignored his sister Kedek as he plotted out the perfect revenge. That Jedi should have shown him the lightsaber. He'd show him. Uncle Sarat would be along any time now looking for them and he'd make sure that Jedi got in trouble.

He reached for one of the glass objects Uncle Sarat told them never to touch and snatched it from the exhibit, throwing it as hard as he could at the wall, just as Uncle Sarat came around the corner. As he'd hoped, the Jedi stopped the object with those awesome powers a Jedi had and Uncle Sarat saw him.

Kidik smiled a smug little smile and watched the show.

Mean old Jedi. Now he was sorry.

~~~~~~~~~~

It had been a very long time since Obi-Wan had found himself scathingly reprimanded and not long enough. Once, he had been embarrassed by a lecture such as he was receiving from a museum administrator, but as he was not in the wrong this time, he was more annoyed than anything else.

The man giving him the dressing down was small in stature, barely reaching Obi-Wan's chin when on tiptoes -- as he was spending most of the lecture. He went on and on, scarcely pausing to take a breath and Obi-Wan had the idle thought that he must be a relative to some of the more long winded politicians.

The man stopped suddenly, leaning forward and peering at him closely. When he continued, his voice held a tinge of outrage that had not previously been present. "I certainly remember you now, yes I do. I should have known."

"Me?" Obi-Wan pointed to himself.

Dormé was behind him now, not saying a single word. He had the feeling she was greatly embarrassed by this turn of events. She'd been silent since the appearance of this man.

"Of course I remember you. Those Jedi...teenagers a couple years ago. There were two or three of them and the tall one had a smart mouth on him that wouldn't quit. Quite impertinent."

Unease trickled over him, growing steadily into an ocean. This man did look somewhat familiar. He thought back, endeavoring to place him in memory.

"Causing trouble in my museum. Playing with the artifacts. That tall one showing off. For his friends. For the girls that followed them around. You're the one we contacted about them. The teacher or guardian or whatever you are. You tried to keep it quiet."

Uh-oh. He remembered now. Anakin and two of his friends had gone to the museum on an assignment for a class and unwisely let their inner mischievous imps have free reign. They'd gotten caught and Obi-Wan had been contacted about it, a museum representative showing up at the Temple with security holos of what had happened. The incident had prompted Anakin to be a model student for an entire six days without mishap. Obi-Wan remembered speaking to some officious little jerk who'd railed and screamed for nearly an hour before they'd agreed to simply restrict Anakin and his cohorts in mischief from the museum -- probably Anakin's plan in the first place.

That jerk was this man. Obi-Wan had tried to block the incident from memory and succeeded remarkably until now.

"You sir, are old enough to know better than to show off like that for your girlfriend. Although I suppose I know where that tall boy got it from, don't I?"

"I wasn't--"

"Don't I?" The little man drew himself up taller, the top of his head almost at Obi-Wan's chin now.

"I beg your pardon," Obi-Wan exclaimed. "I would never play around with priceless and undoubtedly expensive artifacts. I have a bit more respect for the work it takes to--"

"Guards!" The man wasn't listening to him. "Escort these two from the building. See to it that they are not allowed back inside." He pointed a finger at Obi-Wan. "Your image, sir, will be up at the front doors. Do not expect to ever gain entrance to this museum again."

If he really wanted, he could take care of this situation with a pass of his hand, but the damage was done. At least, he consoled himself, he had an excuse to never come here again.

The two children were by the door.

"Bye pretty lady and Jedi," she girl said, waving cheerfully at them as they passed by.

The boy stuck his tongue out and crossed his eyes.

Obi-Wan managed to resist the urge to make a like face and walked from the museum with as much dignity as he could muster under the circumstances. With a turn of his head, he saw that Dormé had drawn her cloak up so that the hood completely hid her from view. Somehow, he didn't think he'd be getting a kiss any time soon.

~~~~~~~~~~

Luck was certainly not with her. First, those wretched children interrupted what Dormé was sure would have been a wonderful kiss and then to have Sarat show up right when Obi-Wan was trying to save that artifact the little boy had thrown.

She edged behind Obi-Wan, slowly drawing up her hood to cover her face. Please, she thought. Don't let Sarat recognize me! She'd never live it down if Sarat told Padmé and he most certainly would. He'd consider it his duty to inform his Senatorial acquaintance what her employee had been up to.

But, Sarat was too busy chewing out Obi-Wan over the artifact to even glance at her. Still, it might be better if she just didn't say anything. Sarat had a memory for voices that was phenomenal and he'd heard her voice several times. It was a relief when they were out of the museum.

After a while of strolling, she stopped him, lowering her hood. "You were far more diplomatic than I would have been after being unjustly accused. You didn't have to be so calm."

"Of course I did." His smile was slow and gentle. "I could do nothing else. What use would it have been to become angry? I knew I had done nothing wrong."

"I probably would have begun arguing in earnest with him." She threaded her arm once more through his and they strolled slowly along. She was reluctant to give up their time together. So where, she wondered, could they go? It was the wrong time of year for the exotic gardens and would he really want to look at flowers anyway? In her experience, men didn't usually enjoy flowers.

How about the costume museum? Dormé quickly discarded that idea after having been thrown out of the Museum of Coruscant History. Two museums in one day was a bit much, even if there was an exhibit she really wanted to see there. For years, the costumes of her favorite holomovie adventure series had been scrutinized and reproduced by the fans, but now the actual costumes were on display. Thirty of the beautiful costumes were in a lavish, elaborate and well-publicized exhibit that had visitors coming to it from all over the galaxy. Dormé was dying to go to it and had been working for years now on a costume in her spare time -- which meant progress on it was really slow. She was excruciatingly slow at both embroidery and bead work and the costume she'd chosen to reproduce had both in copious amounts. She wondered where she'd put the costume when she put it away last.

Oh, she'd love to see the dress Amé wore when she first realized her love for Ken! Or the nearly see-through dress Amé had worn for the first kiss! She'd even like to see the sexy black number Amé had worn when denying her love for Ken, though in Dormé's opinion, anyone that wore something like that to turn a guy down didn't know men very well.

Dormé sighed. Such pretty costumes. But....she doubted very much that Obi-Wan would be interested in looking at clothes. She'd probably bore him with her enthusiasm over the embroidery and bead work. So, no costume museum today. She'd just plan to have Moteé go with her later this week.

Back to square one. What about the historical home of Coruscant's first restaurant owner? No, she decided. She was the only person she knew who'd enjoyed that tour. Ellé still rolled her eyes when it was mentioned, though the teasing remarks had long ago faded. Besides, it was getting late and the home was clear on the other side of Coruscant.

A show perhaps? No, she couldn't be out all night even it Padmé and Anakin would like the time together. Late nights and early mornings didn't mix and she had to be up early. Padmé had an early meeting, as in the crack of dawn and Dormé had drawn the lot to go with her. Sometimes she wondered if Ellé and Moteé had that fixed. They almost never had to go to the early meetings with Padmé....

So what was left? The zoo. They could go to the zoo. The more she thought about it, the more the idea appealed. It was late enough in the afternoon that parents would be taking their children home and still early enough that those planning an evening excursion would be eating dinner first. They'd have the place to themselves and she knew what that hinted at. Dark buildings they could snuggle in, secluded places where he could finally kiss her, and plenty of privacy.

Dormé turned her head, smiling up at him. "I haven't been to the zoo in years. Would you be interested?"

She waited for his answer.

~~~~~~~~~~

He wasn't particularly interested in the zoo, but rather in the opportunities it would present. Obi-Wan greeted her suggestion with enthusiasm, hoping it would turn out better than the museum. He hated to think their luck ran to horrible encounters with children twice in one day.

Once inside, he guided her towards the large cat cages. Dormé slipped her hand into his. They gave the cages a cursory glance, then a longer glance when Obi-Wan didn't see any of the animals there. "That's odd," he remarked. "Usually these animals are right up close to the glass."

"Maybe it's time for their dinner," Dormé suggested, tugging him along the walkway. "Oh, no, look! There they..." Her smile faded as quickly as it had formed. "Never mind."

He couldn't not look after that, could he? Obi-Wan searched for the animals and found them. Well now, he thought. Isn't that nice. It must be mating season. Boy, they're really energetic. Did I ever have that much energy.... He let Dormé tug him away from the cages.

~~~~~~~~~~

Padmé was getting bored. What in blazes was Anakin doing? He'd left the bedroom to get them something to drink about ten minutes earlier and not returned. Heaving an impatient sigh, she found her robe, a flimsy square of fabric that would provide no coverage if anyone suddenly walked into the apartment, and left the room in search of her beloved.

She found him in the kitchen, elbows on the counter and attention on a datapad, two drinks forgotten by his left elbow. "Ani?"

He didn't move, tapping one finger on the pad. Padmé struck a pose, artfully arranging the sheer material. "Oh Ani?" He still didn't move. She changed poses and tried again. "Oh Loverboy?" His attention remained on the datapad. What was so interesting about it? Padmé frowned. She thought she'd put away anything close to a technical manual before he'd arrived.

"Hmm." Anakin tapped it again.

"What are you doing," she asked. "I thought you were bringing the drinks back."

He held his hand out, wiggling a finger at her. "Come here. Listen to this. It's fascinating--"

Going to him, Padmé wrenched the datapad from him, gave it a glance and sent it sliding along the counter away from them with a flick of her wrist. "You do not need to know how to repair the refrigeration unit."

"But," he began, stretching a hand out. She knew she had to act fast or he'd have that datapad back in a second and would be reading to her. Not that she minded listening to the sound of his voice, but he never read anything actually interesting to her. She'd much prefer a legal paper or something in that vein, but Anakin always picked out the driest, most boring technical manuals.

Padmé put her hands on his face, moving it so he was looking at her instead of the direction of the datapad. Then, for added measure, she thrust her chest upwards and wiggled. "Anakin."

He stared at her a moment, his glance going up and down her. "Hey."

"Drinks?"

"Yeah," he smiled, hands on her waist. "You look really good naked. You should be naked more often."

"I don't think that would be appropriate in the Senate." She placed her hands on his chest.

"You'd probably have lot more support on some issues."

Padmé didn't have an answer to that. He was right. That would bring about support. Some of her fellow Senators were a lecherous lot.

His hands squeezed gently. "This room has possibilities."

"Possibilities?" Padmé shook her head. What was he talking about? It didn't need redecorating. She'd just had the kitchen updated.

Nodding, Anakin looked around. "Uh-huh. I've been doing some reading and I think the counter is just about the right height...." She found herself back up against the counter and lifted onto it. Anakin grinned. "Perfect."

"Perfect?"

Anakin stepped back, looking her up and down again in a way that was making her feel very warm. "Okay, now don't move. I'll be right back."

"But--" He was already through the doorway, muttering to himself. Before she could jump down, he was back, holding a camera in one hand. "Oh no! Ani you are not!"

"Come on, Padmé. I'll erase it immediately. Let me take one, please?" He gave her that adorable sad longing expression.

"No!"

He walked over and set the camera down on the counter. "So, you'll undress before security cameras, but you won't let your husband take one little picture?" Raising a finger to punctuate, he repeated, "One little picture."

"That's different," she protested, though she couldn't really see how it was different when he put it that way.

"I won't put your face in the picture." His hands were warm on her arms, lips pressing kisses across her cheeks, with an occasional brush to her mouth. "Please? I'll take one picture and you can erase it. Okay?"

What would be the harm, she thought. One picture....

An hour later and back in her bedroom, Anakin sat up, frowning at the camera. "Hey, uh, Padmé? I think we used up the memory card...."