Afternoon tea ought to be a ritual, not something that just happened every few days and was therefore deemed special. Every day, a few hours after mid-meal and a few before evening meal, Obi-Wan thought he ought to be able to sit down with his master and discuss his day over tea. And possibly biscuits, depending on what the refractory had served for lunch that day. However, more often than not, when there were at the Temple, either he or Qui-Gon, or both of them, were too preoccupied to come home in the middle of the day. It was a shame, as afternoon tea was quite nice. Obi-Wan had already placed two mugs, honey, and a plate of biscuits on the table in the common room and was looking forward to curling up on the couch with his mate.Today was special enough to merit tea. Qui-Gon had taken on a teaching rotation that would start in a few standard weeks, allowing Obi-Wan the required time at the Temple to complete a few of his own courses. He had gone to a lecture that morning, but skipped his training session that afternoon. As a result, both he and Qui-Gon were home. Tea had sounded like the best idea after Obi-Wan had finished his reading and Qui-Gon, the first part of his lesson plans.
"I made lemon tea. I hope that's all right."
Qui-Gon made a vague sound of agreement, still distracted by something on his data reader. Clicking the device off, he looked up at Obi-Wan and smiled. "Lemon tea sounds nice; it'll be good for your throat, too." He poured tea into one cup, added honey, and handed the cup to Obi-Wan once he sat down. "How are you feeling?"
"Not so �" Obi-Wan stopped when Qui-Gon gave him a rather knowing look. "Tired. And congested."
"Hm. Is that better or worse than you sound?" Smiling a bit, Qui-Gon put his own tea aside to brush the back of his hand over Obi-Wan's cheek. "You sound very stuffy and as if your throat is sore."
Qui-Gon's touch had the right combination of concern and affection in it to make Obi-Wan lean in closer. While he was in class and while he was sitting at his work desk, the cold had been at the periphery of Obi-Wan's senses. He had not felt as alert or active as usual, but he had been able to keep the illness from slowing him down too much. The training session Qui-Gon had scheduled for him was too much; it had been his master who had decided that Obi-Wan ought to use the afternoon to rest, not practice light saber technique. It was not until now, however, that Obi-Wan allowed himself to stop concentrating on not feeling sick. He had tea and the comfort of his mate's touch to warm him. "I feel like I'm fighting a bad head cold."
"Sore throat, stuffy nose..." Qui-Gon stroked Obi-Wan's face and thought for a moment. "What about headache? You were sneezing and coughing, too, yes?"
Nodding, Obi-Wan sighed quietly. "My head aches somewhat, but I think it might be from the congestion.' He pulled away from Qui-Gon's touch to rub his nose, but leaned back in after sniffling. It felt too good � not too warm, not too cool � to want to be away from it for very long.
Another little smile appeared on Qui-Gon's lips. "A stuffy, itchy nose, it looks like. Do you have tissues if you get sneezy?"
Obi-Wan nodded again, this time in the direction of the box of tissues on the table. "Not 'if', but 'when,' he murmured. Qui-Gon had been correct about his nose feeling stuffed up and itchy at the same time � each time he tried sniffling, the itch would increase. Rubbing his nose had helped for a while, when the tickling sensation had been at the tip of his nose. Now Obi-Wan could feel the urge to sneeze building from the back of his throat to the edges of his nostrils. "When might be ... might be very soon, actually."
Before he could ask for them, Qui-Gon fetched the tissues and plucked out a handful from the box. Just when Obi-Wan thought the sneezing fit would start before Qui-Gon could finish pulling tissues from the box, Qui-Gon pushed the tissues into his hand.
"huh, huhChhoo! CHushhoo!!" Obi-Wan sneezed strongly into the tissues and sighed with relief. Short lived, relief, however, as the ticklish urge came back after a series of stuffy-nosed sniffles. "uhhh-huhffCHshuhh!"
"Bless you!" Qui-Gon's hand rested on Obi-Wan's arm and patted him lightly. "You really are stuffy�"
"Thank you." Obi-Wan snuffled into the tissues as he rubbed his nose. Trying to blow his nose had resulted in a few hoarse coughs; he would have to sneeze the tickle out of his nose before he could clear it any better. Obi-Wan wiped his nose once more in the used tissues, balled them up, and placed them down on the table before grabbing a few clean ones. He waited, tense, and in a short time the tickly, twitchy sensation filled his nose again. "Huh! Eh, heh, eh! EhCHshhh! Chishhooh! HihCHishhihSHH!" The second set of sneezes was wetter and softer. Catching them in the tissues let Obi-Wan turn the last sneeze into a nose blowing. He filled the tissues with the long, gurgling blow, wiped his nose on another clean tissue, and then sneezed a quick, sudden, wet "Chshhhsss!" into that tissue.
The hand on Obi-Wan's arm tightened. "Bless, padawan."
"Chsssshoo!"
"Bless you!" Qui-Gon repeated and took up the job of handing Obi-Wan tissues again.
"Thank you, oh." Obi-Wan blinked and sniffled carefully. "I'm all right," he said in reply to Qui-Gon's offer of another tissue, wiping his nose into the one he was already holding.
"Or as close to all right as you're going to be with a heavy cold." Qui-Gon patted Obi-Wan on the arm once more. "We should drink this tea you made while it's still hot." The tissues got transferred to Obi-Wan's lap and Qui-Gon reached forward to retrieve the two mugs of tea. "This is very nice," he added and took a few sips from the mug.
"We ought to have tea together more often."
"Yes," Qui-Gon said thoughtfully. He placed his arm around Obi-Wan's shoulders, pulling him into a loose embrace. "Perhaps this rotation we'll be able to fit in an hour between class and training, at least a few days each week."
The thought made Obi-Wan smile and settle down next to Qui-Gon happily. The mug was warm in his hands, the play of steam over his eyes and nose as drink was nicely warm, and the comfortable hug Qui-Gon had given him was even warmer. If every afternoon tea could be like this, then he would try his very best to make sure he had that hour free each afternoon to spend with Qui-Gon.
Not exactly like this, he thought and lowered the mug to sniffle into a tissue. After every few sips, the steam would make his nose start to run enough to be a bother, but not quite enough to allow him to clear it thoroughly. Sniffling harder resulted in a snuffling, congested sound that earned him a concerned look from Qui-Gon.
"Are you all right?" A frown, then a small kiss to Obi-Wan's forehead.
Obi-Wan sniffled thickly in reply, the nod he had started to give got cut off by the need to hold back the ticklish feeling snuffling set up in his nose. He rubbed his nose into the tissue and held there. Obi-Wan's breath caught with a little helpless sound and he held the tissue just a little more firmly to his nose. "Heee...ihYEHishhoo!"
"Bless. Let me take that � " Qui-Gon slipped the tea cup from his hand and started giving him tissues once more, "now, sneeze?"
"YeeISHheee!" All the snuffling and rubbing had filled his nose with tickles and sneezes so much that, even without a half dozen tissues one hand and with a mug of tea in the other, he would not have been able to stop. "Hishh! hISH! eiihISH! eeiihhSHOO!"
"Bless you!"
Obi-Wan looked up over the edge of his fingers, the 'thank you' he gave Qui-Gon muffled by the damp tissues. A few tentative, little breaths had him leaning forward with a good, strong "ISHH! ihhhSHHooosh!" The two sneezes shook the tickle out of his nose and immediately led to good, strong nose blowing. "Force," Obi-Wan muttered, "I keep needing to sneeze."
"Poor padawan." Qui-Gon took the opportunity to nuzzle Obi-Wan's hair gently between snuffly nose-rubs and coughs. The nuzzles were soft and slightly teasing as they drew Obi-Wan back into his mate's arms. "Finish the rest of your tea, then you can stay here and rest for a few hours. It's tiring having such a cold in your nose, hm?"
"A bit. I think it's the going to class and keeping up with my other tasks while having a cold that's tiring." Obi-Wan drank down his tea quickly as the few remaining sips were not as hot as when he first filled the mug. With a shiver, he moved in closer to Qui-Gon and rubbed his face against his mate's shoulder. "You're going to stay and finish your tea, master?"
"I don't think I could escape. I practically have a lapful of warm, sleepy, sniffly padawan. Not that I have any complaints." A kiss to Obi-Wan's hair added to the reassurance and Qui-Gon chuckled quietly. "None at all."
"Even if I keep sneezing at you?"
"Hm. I'll just have to keep handing you tissues and blessing you, I suppose."
"You're so good to me, Qui-Gon." Obi-Wan nudged closer to Qui-Gon and rubbed his face against his shoulder again, then kissed Qui-Gon on the neck. "And I suppose I shall have to keep making you tea."
"Oh, I do like tea." Qui-Gon leaned into the kisses and sighed happily. To get Obi-Wan to settle back against him, he petted Obi-Wan's hair soothingly. After a few moments, he refilled his mug and started to drink again. "Are you sure you don't want more tea? It's good for your cold."
"Mmm. I'll have more later." While more tea probably would have been beneficial, especially for his sore throat, Obi-Wan had decided he was too cozy to move. The way Qui-Gon stroked his hair was relaxing and spread a warmth and ease throughout his body. He especially liked the way Qui-Gon would hug him closer or kiss his hair every once in a while when he coughed or sniffled. The coughing had not yet become bothersome. The sniffles, on the other hand, did keep bothering his stuffy nose. Rubbing his face into Qui-Gon's tunic made him feel less itchy, but once the sniffles started he had to start using the tissues again. The idea of moving away from Qui-Gon was still an unhappy one and Obi-Wan did his absolute best not to sniffle too much and to hold back the sneezy feeling.
It would have been easier if his nose had not been so congested. The sniffles prevented his nose from getting runny, but did little else. In fact, they encouraged the buzzing, tickling in his nose that set his nostrils twitching. The tickle was too far back to reach. Rubbing his nose, pinching his nostrils, pressing his nose into the tissue helped keep the sneezes at bay for a short time. Obi-Wan's nose still ended up full and tickly. Nudging Qui-Gon gently, he made a move to pull out of his lover's arms.
"Stay close," Qui-Gon said softly, "you don't need to move away."
"But, my nose," Obi-Wan mumbled between sniffly breaths, "sneezy again�"
"Shh. that doesn't mean you need to move away from me. Here." After rifling through his tunics, Qui-Gon exchanged Obi-Wan's crumpled tissue with a handkerchief. "This might help."
Although he did not move way, Obi-Wan could not help but curl in on himself closer when he felt a sneeze coming. Both hands cupped the handkerchief over his nose, holding it more tightly as his breath hitched. "Hih... ih! ihhhep!HeptISHH! Shhih-ISHH! YeiiSHHoosh!" Obi-Wan caught the three wet, full sneezes in the hanky and let loose a lusty blow after the last one. He could still feel the buzzing at the back of his nose. Drawing his head up, he inhaled carefully, held the breath for a moment, and buried his nose in the hankie for another fit. "Ishh! ihhSHH! Yishh! Hiihh..." The tickle faded for a moment and left Obi-Wan's nose trembling. He rubbed it into the hanky, taking little, coaxing pre-sneeze breaths, until his nose twitched. The little movement seemed to be what just what his nose needed. "hihSHOO! oh, ahh, ah'ISHHhoo! hihYish-YIhshhh! ISHHeehh! oh, ahh..."
"Bless you!" Qui-Gon rubbed Obi-Wan's shoulders. "My goodness, such sneezes."
Obi-Wan let the relief fill him for a minute. He blew his nose heavily and strongly into the handkerchief, paused to cough a few time, and gave another blow. When he was finished, he allowed Qui-Gon to tug him back into a warm embrace.
"Your nose is getting pink," Qui-Gon said after kissing Obi-Wan on the forehead, then tenderly on the nose. "Try and get some rest, love. I have some reading to do, but you can stay here. I'd like for you to stay here." He kissed Obi-Wan once more.
With a small sigh, Obi-Wan relaxed into the soft kisses and warm hug for a nap on the couch, curled up next to his mate. Afternoon tea, he thought once again, really ought to be a daily ritual.