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Obi-Wan's comm had gone off just as he was finishing dinner. It was a text message from Quinlan, with enough typos so as to be practically illegible. Apparently, he was in need of a ride back to the Temple, from Obi-Wan and with some speed. It hadn't been difficult to guess why that might be. Sighing, Obi-Wan had tapped back a brief "on my way," put his dishes in the busbin to be washed, and headed for the Temple speeder bay.
Quinlan had shared his location with Obi-Wan's comm: a moderately questionable nightclub a few levels down. The area was sketchy to be certain, but none of the Temple speeders were flashy enough to catch a thief's eye, especially containing nothing of any real value, so Obi-Wan felt alright leaving his on the speeder pad unsupervised. He'd be back soon enough either way. Straightening his robes, Obi-Wan stepped out of the speeder and made his way into the streets.
Obi-Wan tried to hold himself confidently as he walked, resisting the urge to let his shoulders hunch in. Looking like you knew where you were going was a good way to be left alone even without the Force, Obi-Wan knew. Overdoing it tended to make one look stiff and awkward, though, which rather spoiled the effect. Obi-Wan was never quite sure where he was falling within that range but considering the current lack of questioning stares he couldn't be doing too badly. Trying not to run his hands through his hair, Obi-Wan sped up slightly, turning the corner onto the street the nightclub was on.
Sure enough, a bedreadlocked kiffar was standing outside the doors, looking dazed and incredibly woozy as a taller human made his best attempt to flirt.
The kiffar turned away from his potential suitor--it was definitely Quinlan, Obi-Wan could see the yellow stripe across his cheeks-- and spotted Obi-Wan watching. When he recognized him, his face lit up.
"Obi!" Quinlan tried to take a step, seemingly thought better of it, and opted to wave brightly instead.
"Quinlan," Obi-Wan called, making his way over to the other Jedi to help him balance. "Who's your friend?"
"I, uh..." Quinlan giggled, grabbing onto Obi-Wan's arm and squeezing, hard. "I met him here, he was making sure I got home okay. And you're here now! So I will!"
"You will indeed," Obi-Wan replied, patting Quinlan's hand where it was clutching at his elbow near-bruising.
"Thank you," he said next, addressing the human in his most perfectly polite Jedi Voice. "I've got him from here."
The tall human scowled, muttering an "I bet" as he slipped back into the nightclub. The muffled music was bright and clear for a moment before the door closed behind him. Quinlan went limp against Obi-Wan's side.
"Thanks, Obes," he breathed, all trace of bubbly ditz falling away like a dropped cloak. "I--I think he prob'ly drugged me. Worked too fast to filter. 's m'tab'lized now though, so I just haf't' wait it out."
"Of course," Obi-Wan acknowledged. "What were you doing here, anyways?"
"Gathering... information," Quinlan pronounced carefully. "For a case. Gotta drink so they trust you. Usually notice when somethin' gets spiked, but not always. Clearly."
"Clearly," Obi-Wan echoed. Then, "you know what he gave you?"
"Uh," Quinlan hummed, thinking. "Basic roofie and a mild Force-s'pressant, I think. I'll be fine. Your arms are nice, Obes."
Quinlan gave the arm he was hanging from a little stroke with one hand. "Fuck, sorry. High."
"Don't worry about it," Obi-Wan dismissed. Grinning, he added, "and thank you."
"Happy t' please," Quinlan replied. This time, the laugh was a real one.
Obi-Wan was grateful for the short walk back to the speeder. Coruscant was brisk at the best of times, but nighttime was all the colder. Obi-Wan liked to wear layers for just this reason, but judging by the way he was huddling into Obi-Wan's side, Quinlan's thin shimmersilk top was doing him no favours.
"Quinlan, can you stand for a moment?" Obi-Wan asked.
Quinlan nodded and stood up straight, and Obi-Wan shrugged off his outer robe. "Here," he said, carefully draping it over Quinlan's shoulders.
Quinlan smiled, slipping his arms into the sleeves, before latching back onto Obi-Wan's arm. "Thanks, Obes."
"Of course," Obi-Wan replied.
They'd reached the speeder, now. Getting Quinlan inside was somewhat tricky and involved a few near-falls on Quinlan's part, but they managed it. Quinlan spent the ride tucked into Obi-Wan's side as much as he could manage across the center console.
As Obi-Wan pulled into the Temple's speeder bay again, he was struck by how much shorter the ride had felt with Quinlan safely in the passenger seat.
Obi-Wan hopped out of the speeder and walked around to the other side to help Quinlan out. Quinlan leaned on Obi-Wan's offered arm as heavily as he had before.
"Let's get you back to your quarters, yeah?" Obi-Wan prompted Quinlan, who nodded blearily. Quinlan's boots clicked sharply against the smooth hallway flooring, Obi-Wan padding silently beside him, all the way to Quinlan's door, which fortunately wasn't too far away. Obi-Wan tapped in the identification code and went to deposit Quinlan on his couch the moment the door hissed open.
"Do you have any sport drinks?" Obi-Wan asked then, turning towards the kitchenette.
"Nothin' decaf," Quinlan replied. He sounded exhausted. Even if Obi-Wan had been willing to risk mixing caffeine with whatever Quinlan had been given Quinlan clearly needed to sleep and caffeine wouldn't help him with that.
"Alright." Obi-Wan nodded, mostly to himself. "Water then."
The Temple taps always needed to run for a minute to get the actually cold water, so Obi-Wan found some soda crackers in a cabinet while he waited, then filled a (plastic) cup with water and brought both over to Quinlan.
"Th'nk youuu," Quinlan slurred, reaching out for the water and crackers, which Obi-Wan passed him easily, making sure Quinlan had a proper grip on the cup before letting go.
Quinlan went for the water first, overshooting the angle and getting water all down Obi-Wan's robe. He levelled the cup slightly too late to mitigate the mess and looked down.
"Aw," said Quinlan absently. "Sorry, man."
"It's just water," Obi-Wan reassured him, amused. "It'll dry, it's not like it's sticky."
"Guess 's good I didn' have spor's drinks, huh?" Quinlan joked. He looked back down at the cup and made a concerted effort to actually get the water in his mouth on the second attempt, which was mostly successful. He ate a cracker.
"Th'nks f'r savin' me," Quinlan said again, looking up. His expression was painfully sincere. "Dunno what that guy was plannin' on doin' with me. Nothin' good pr'sum'bly."
"Why wouldn't I, Quin? I know you'd do the same for me." Obi-Wan reached out and ran a hand through Quinlan's locs, then sobered. "He knew you were a Jedi."
"Mighta just been careful. Makin' sure I couldn' fight back ev'n if I w's j'st a little Force-s'ns't've." Quinlan suggested. His eyelids were starting to droop at this point. "Either way, shouldn' have Force-blockers t' b'gin with."
Obi-Wan nodded. If someone was out there trying to catch Force-users specifically, that needed to be looked into, but for now-- "You should sleep, Quin. We can talk about this once you're back at full capacity."
Quinlan nodded wobbily. "Yeah." Then, "C'n you stay?"
"I can stay." Obi-Wan confirmed. "Let me comm Master Jinn and let him know where I am."
Quinlan giggled, nodding again. He closed his eyes. "Go call y'r dad," he said, grinning. Coherent enough to tease, good. Obi-Wan pulled out his comm and left the room.
A few minutes later, having secured sleepover permission upon promising to report the incident properly tomorrow (which he would have done anyway,) Obi-Wan bids his master goodnight and heads to Quinlan's sleeping quarters, not particularly fond of the idea of leaving Quinlan by himself, at the moment.
Quinlan was in bed when Obi-Wan slipped into the room, seemingly already asleep. There was a small pile of Quinlan's clothing on the floor, but Obi-Wan's robe had been meticulously draped over the chair at Quinlan's desk, neat and tidy. Obi-Wan smiled fondly, taking Quinlan's clothes off the floor and placing them on the chair as well.
"Obi?" Quinlan's voice came, soft but very much awake, from his bed.
"Oh!" Obi-Wan turned to look at him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."
Quinlan shook his head, then winced slightly when it presumably aggravated whatever he was feeling at the moment. "Was awake already. What're you doin'?"
"Just getting your clothes off the floor. Is it alright if I sleep in here?"
"'Course it is," Quinlan laughed, then: "Hey, no, c'mon. Bed. Since when d'you sleep on th' floor? 'S hard."
Obi-Wan froze midway through lowering himself to the ground. "I- I just wasn't sure you would want me to, after-"
"Nothin' ev'n happ'n'd!" Quinlan insisted. "Besides, 's just you."
"But something could have," Obi-Wan found himself insisting. "What if-"
"What if nothing, man," Quinlan interrupted. "I'm fine. We c'n talk about that shit in th' morning. C'mere."
For a moment, Obi-Wan didn't move. Quinlan was staring at him, though, eyes insistent, and Obi-Wan had always had a very hard time not doing whatever those eyes wanted him to do. He sighed, and began removing his extraneous outer-layers, at the very least to avoid contaminating Quinlan's bed (or his nose) with any more of that cloying Coruscanti smog that permeated everything below a certain floor. Quinlan grinned up at him, and Obi-Wan was acutely aware that he'd really never had a chance at all.
He slipped under the covers with Quinlan, like he had a thousand times growing up, and something inside his chest really did begin to unwind. Tomorrow. They could handle this tomorrow. For now, everything was fine.
Obi-Wan always slept better with someone else nearby, especially when that person was Quinlan Vos. Tonight, it seemed, was no exception. A warm arm curled around over Obi-Wan's shoulder, and he let his eyes slip shut. For the first time in a long time, he had no dreams at all.