Bad Choices

A Qui-Gon/ Obi-Wan story

Obi-Wan was in a very bad mood when he left his chemistry class. Why, why, why did Master T'rr'vynn have to hand them back the graded test today, of all days?
//Yes, I know I should have been studying harder for that exam, but chemistry is so boring!//
Obi-Wan was certain that not only would his Master not be happy about his results, but he would also ask a number of awkward questions about his studying habits and, if he was very unlucky, about the astonishingly small amount of chemistry assignments that Obi-Wan had seemed to have to do during their last mission. Perhaps it wasn't such a great idea to pretend to Qui-Gon that he was so good at chemistry he didn't need any more assignments - but it had been so easy at the time, slacking off in the certain knowledge that Master T'rr'vynn never checked anybody's assignments. Who would have known the old lizard would set them such a stiff exam?

The problem was, as soon as Qui-Gon would find out about this, Obi-Wan would probably be grounded for about ten years, regardless of the fact that tonight, he had scheduled a practice combat with Sekit. Sekit was two years older than he was, and Obi-Wan had felt greatly honored when the older Padawan had praised his skills and had asked him if he would like to engage in a friendly combat against him. Both their schedules had been so busy that they had had to wait for weeks to find a suitable time. If Obi-Wan told Sekit he couldn't come because he was grounded, he could just imagine what Sekit would think of him. He probably wouldn't go to the trouble of fixing another date, too.

Obi-Wan had nearly arrived at his door and was still at a loss what to do. He stopped, drew a deep breath and made a decision. He was in trouble anyway, so one more day wouldn't make such a great difference. At least he would be able to meet Sekit tonight.

Unfortunately, that night Obi-Gon was so worried about what Qui-Gon would do to him once he found out about all this chemistry stuff that his fighting was way below his usual standards, and he lost to Sekit squarely. Sekit didn't say anything about it, but Obi-Wan knew he was disappointed and regretted having wasted the evening for this. Qui-Gon, on the other hand, was concerned and asked him if anything was wrong with him. He just shook his head and fled to his room, pretending to be tired. He didn't want to look anybody in the face tonight.

When he came home from his classes the next day, he had his chemistry test with him. The plan was to pretend that he had received the results today. Perhaps it would work. HOPEFULLY it would work.
Qui-Gon was sitting on the couch, his legs on a chair, reading a pad and frowning slightly. Obi-Wan hesitated and wondered if there was any possibility of delaying this further, but Qui-Gon had already looked up and noticed him.

"What is it, Padawan?" He had that neutral voice that meant he suspected his Padawan had something unpleasant to tell him, but that he wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Obi-Wan swallowed. "Master, I got my chemistry paper back, and I'm afraid it's not very good."
Qui-Gon raised his eyebrows. "Oh? I wasn't aware that you had problems in this subject." He considered his apprentice for a while. "In fact, I seem to recall that you told me you were practically brilliant at chemistry?"
Obi-Wan blushed. "Ummm... We've been moving on to a new topic, and it's been much harder lately," he said awkwardly.
Qui-Gon stretched out his hand wordlessly, and with considerable trepidation, Obi-Wan handed him the pad.
The Jedi master read it, and his face darkened.
"Tell me, Padawan," he said in a level voice, fixing his blue eyes on Obi-Wan, "how long have you been knowing that you weren't up to standard in chemistry?"
"I... I haven't realized it until quite recently, Master."
"Is it possible that you have deliberately been ignoring it before that, Padawan?"
"I don't know, Master."
"Oh yes, you do know, and I want you to answer my question."
*sigh* "Well, I suppose I could have known it for quite a while."
"I see."

There was a moment's silence. Obi-Wan stole a quick glance at Qui-Gon's frowning face and decided that the carpet was a more pleasant sight.
Qui-Gon sat for a while, deep in thought, and then rose from the couch and went to the comm unit, his movements graceful as ever.
"What are you doing, Master?" Obi-Wan asked apprehensively.
"I'm going to pay a call to your chemistry master," Qui-Gon said calmly. "Something is wrong about the fact that you obviously haven't the slightest clue about chemistry, but have had a ridiculously low number of assignments during our mission, supposedly due to your advanced level in this subject. I want to clear that up. Either your chemistry master has been very negligent in his teaching duties, or ... " He didn't finish the sentence.
Obi-Wan knew he was busted. If his master found out from his chemistry teacher that not only had he been lying about his assignments, but had also turned in the paper to Qui-Gon one day late, he would be in even more trouble than when Qui-Gon heard it from Obi-Wan himself.
"Master," he said desperately. "I have a confession to make!"
Qui-Gon turned swiftly from the comm unit. "Is that so?" he asked, his mouth quirking slightly.
Obi-Wan nodded miserably.
Qui-Gon considered him for a moment and then sat back down. "In that case, I suggest you take a seat and spit it out, Padawan."
"Yes, Master. Ummm... You see... I don't know how to put it..." He drew a deep breath. "My chemistry classes this year have not exactly been thrilling, and the assignments have been... well, to be frank, they have been quite boring, and Master T'rr'vynn has never even thrown a look on them. So, I've..." - now this was the difficult part - "I've not been telling you about all of my assignments during our mission." He closed his eyes and waited for the outbreak.
"Do you mean to tell me," Qui-Gon asked in a dangerously low voice, "that you have lied to me about your assignments, and deliberately failed to do a considerable part of what your teacher asked you to do?"
"I'm sorry," Obi-Wan said quietly, close to tears. "I didn't realize this would put me so far behind in my classwork!"
"Oh, you didn't, did you?" Qui-Gon asked sarcastically. "Is there, by any chance, anything else you'd like to confess?"
Sith, why did he have to ask? There was no way he could lie to Qui-Gon's face in this situation.
"Yes, Master," he said quietly. "We already received the results of the exam yesterday. I.... I've been postponing showing it to you."
There was another momentary silence.
Then Qui-Gon said slowly: "Let me make a few wild guesses. You assumed that showing me the paper would result in a punishment that would prevent you from taking part in your long-awaited practice combat, which, I might add, was a correct assumption. But your apprehension of your upcoming punishment made you so preoccupied that you lost the fight, displaying a combat style a twelve-year-old would be ashamed of. Wasn't it so?"
If Obi-Wan could have bowed his head even lower, he would have done so. "Yes, Master," he whispered.
"I see," Qui-Gon said again.

He drew a deep breath. "Padawan, to your room. I suggest you take the opportunity to meditate on your attitude towards your studies, towards your teacher and towards your master. I will go out for a while. When I come back to talk to you, I want you to tell me about every single thing you did wrong and suggest an appropriate punishment for it."
Obi-Wan's head snapped up. "Master?"
"You heard me, Padawan. Surely you know me enough by now to have an idea of which kind of behavior warrants which amount of punishment. Now, to your room! I'm not going to ask you a third time."
"Yes, Master."
Qui-Gon decided to take a walk in the gardens and try to release his anger and disappointment into the force. It was not the bad exam result in itself that he was angry about, neither was it the fact that his padawan had slacked off in a subject he didn't like. Those were things he couldn't let pass, but they were to a certain degree natural in teenagers and wouldn't have caused more than mild annoyance in him.
No, what he was really upset about was the fact that Obi-Wan had lied to him, and lied deliberately and over a long time. During their mission, they had repeatedly talked about Obi-Wan's assignments, and Obi-Wan had requested Qui-Gon's help in some of them. Qui-Gon even remembered asking Obi-Wan if he really didn't have any further chemistry assignments, and Obi-Wan had denied this question, although he knew perfectly well that Qui-Gon didn't take kindly to lying.
Another thing Qui-Gon didn't take kindly to was the attempt to postpone a deserved punishment, no matter for what reason. He suspected that Obi-Wan had hoped to get away with this one. Who knew if Obi-Wan had done similar things before, without arousing suspicions?
Qui-Gon had trusted his padawan and had expected him to repay that trust with honesty. When he had talked with Obi-Wan about his lessons, his assignments and his exams, he had always taken everything Obi-Wan told him for granted and never checked with the boy's teachers. Now he felt as if his trust had been taken advantage of.

When Qui-Gon came back to their quarters an hour later, he had composed himself and was a picture of perfect calm and serenity. He went into the kitchen and made tea. After he had set the table, he walked over to his padawan's door and knocked.
Obi-Wan opened immediately. He had been expecting this knock in considerable apprehension ever since he had heard his master's steps back in the living area.
"Yes, Master?"
"Let's sit down and discuss the matter at hand, Padawan", Qui-Gon said, pointing to the table.
"Yes, Master."
They took their seats at the table. Obi-Wan didn't dare raise his head.
"Look at me, Padawan."
"Yes, Master."
"Padawan, you have exploited the trust I have put in you. What have you got to say for yourself?"
Obi-Wan swallowed. "I'm sorry, Master. I know my behavior is inexcusable. I deserve to be punished." He had memorized these words, but in this moment, looking into Qui-Gon's unyielding blue eyes that showed no anger, but deep disappointment, he meant them.
"You do indeed, Padawan. Tell me what it is that you did wrong, and tell me what kind of punishments you propose."
Obi-Wan briefly closed his eyes. He had had more than an hour to think about this, and Qui-Gon was right, he actually had a pretty good idea in which way Qui-Gon would want to punish him for each of his misdeeds. But this was so humiliating!
He started: "I didn't do all of my chemistry assignments during our mission, and I lied to you about it." Obi-Wan was sure that there were better ways to phrase this, instead of actually talking of "lying", but he was equally sure that Qui-Gon would disapprove of any attempt to replace the unpleasant word "lying" with anything else.
"One at a time, Padawan. First, you didn't do all of your chemistry assignments. What punishment do you suggest for this?"
//Sith, this is horrible! Better pick a hard enough punishment for the first one, perhaps that will make him relent a little later on.//
"Well... as our mission lasted four weeks, I could do an hour of additional chemistry assignments every day for the next four weeks?"
"You could and you should, Padawan. I'm sure if you explain the matter to Master T'rr'vynn, and ask him for additional assignments politely, he will be more than happy to give them to you."
"If I WHAT?"
"Padawan, I think you heard me quite clearly. Master T'rr'vynn no doubt deserves an explanation for your appalling results, and you will go to him after your next chemistry class and explain yourself. Or do I have to go with you in order to make sure you don't forget about it?"
"Ummm... no, that won't be necessary, Master."
"Good. Now, you mentioned lying to me. What punishment do you propose for that?"
//Please, please, pretty please!// "You could ground me, Master."
"I don't think so, Padawan. Try again."
//Nice try, Obi-Wan. Did you really think he would buy that?//
"I could be grounded and work in the laundry room in my spare time, for the next four, no, six weeks!"
"Padawan, you are testing my patience."
Obi-Wan's shoulders slumped. He hadn't really thought he could pull this off, but he had thought it might be worth a try.
"You... you should spank me, Master."
"That I will do, Padawan. After we've discussed the rest of your punishment."
//The rest? What does he mean, the rest? How could I be dumb enough yesterday to think the trouble I was in couldn't get any worse?//
"Go on, Padawan. What else have you done wrong?"
"Welllll... I failed in the chemistry exam?"
"That is hardly a punishable offense in itself. However, you might want to elaborate on the reasons for your failure, apart from the negligence of your assignments during our last mission."
"Ummm... well, I didn't really study for the exam."
"That's certainly true. And what should you have done when you realized that you were having problems in chemistry?"
*sigh* "I should have talked to you, or to my chemistry master." //Yeah, and that would have meant confessing that I didn't do all of my assignments during our mission. What does he think I am, suicidal?//
"So, you didn't do anything to catch up when you realized you'd fallen behind in chemistry, and you didn't even study for the exam. What kind of punishment do you think would be appropriate for that?"
"Well, normally I'd say additional assignments, but ... I'll already be doing a lot of them!"
"That's right. One hour daily for the next four weeks, wasn't it?"
"Yes, Master."
"Why don't we make that one hour and a half for the next six weeks? What do you think?"
Obi-Wan cringed. This was going way, way worse than he had hoped. Resignedly, he said the only thing that was really safe to say at the moment: "Yes, Master."
"Very well. There remains one other thing we should talk about. Do you know what I'm thinking of, Padawan?"
//Couldn't he at least have forgotten about that one? Sith, I'll regret my stupidity till the end of my life!//
*BIG SIGH* "I postponed telling you about my results in the exam because I didn't want to be grounded yesterday, Master."
"Right. You know my opinion about trying to get out of a deserved punishment or to manipulate it in your favor. Not to mention the fact that you tried to pretend you had only received the results today, which amounts to lying a second time. Any suggestions for how I should deal with this matter?"
"You could ground me, Master?"
"Padawan, we've already been through this. Don't annoy me any more!"
"But Master! I will receive a spanking for lying to you anyway!"
"So?"
"So you can't spank me twice!"
"Padawan, I don't intend to spank you twice today. However, as you saw fit to postpone telling me about your exam, it would be more than appropriate to postpone the second spanking until tomorrow, don't you think so?"
//He wants to spank me now, and give me a second spanking tomorrow? I don't believe it.//
Obi-Wan choked back a sob when he answered in a very subdued voice: "Yes, Master."
Qui-Gon considered him for a moment, his features softening a little. "I'm glad you agree with me. It shows me you have accepted the gravity of your transgressions, which makes me inclined to be lenient in this respect. I give you the choice to replace the second spanking with four weeks of grounding. What do you say, Padawan?"
//FOUR WEEKS? I mean, it's not as I will have a lot of spare time left with all these additional assignments, but still... Well, anything but a second spanking!//
"I chose the grounding, Master."
"I thought so. One last thing before we proceed to your spanking, Padawan. You took advantage of the trust I put in you, and that makes it difficult for me to maintain that trust. How am I supposed to be certain that you didn't deceive me in other matters? No, don't say anything, Padawan. I have decided to continue putting my trust in you for the time being in the hope that you have really learned a lesson today. However, I won't tolerate another breech of trust quite as easily. It would not only result in a much harsher punishment, but it would also mean that I would not be able to trust you any longer, and that I would have to control anything to do with your studies very strictly instead. Do I make myself clear?"
Obi-Wan felt miserable. He had never regarded the whole thing from this angle.
//How could I be so stupid? I've known all along that I shouldn't do this! It just seemed so easy. Sith, I couldn't even blame him if he started to check all of my homework now, as if I was a six-year-old! I won't ever do something like this again, never ever!//
"Yes, Master."

Qui-Gon had put his empty tea cup aside and pushed his chair away from the table.
"Come here, Padawan."
Obi-Wan complied, blushing. Without being asked to, he lowered his pants and got over his master's lap. This was so humiliating! But he certainly wasn't going to argue right now.
Qui-Gon rested his large hand on his apprentice's upturned bottom. "Tell me again why you're receiving this spanking, Padawan."
//Umm... which of my offenses was it again? Oh, yes!// "Because I lied to you, Master."
"Correct. Will you lie to me again?"
"No, Master! OWW! I'm sorry, Master! OUCH!"
"Not as sorry as you're going to be, Padawan."
Qui-Gon spanked slowly and methodically, covering all of his apprentice's bottom and his upper thighs. He effortlessly held the kicking and howling Obi-Wan in place and spanked him until he was sobbing and his bottom was bright red.
Then he stood the boy between his knees and carefully pulled his pants up. "It's over, Padawan."

Obi-Wan threw himself against his master's chest, crying. "I'm so sorry, Master," he brought out between his sobs. "Please forgive me!"
Qui-Gon stroked his padawan's back comfortingly. "Shhhh. Calm down, Padawan. You've taken your punishment, and you are forgiven. I'm not angry any more."
Obi-Wan's tear-streaked face looked up at him uncertainly. "You aren't?"
Qui-Gon smiled. "No, I'm not." He patted the boy's head. "Now, Padawan, I think another hour of meditation would be in order. In the meantime, I'm going to make us some dinner. Okay?"
Obi-Wan sniffled and nodded. "Okay, Master."
He turned to go to his room.
"Padawan?"
"Yes, Master?"
"I'm free tonight. How about I get us some snacks, and we have a quiet evening together?"
Obi-Wan smiled shyly. "I'd like that Master. Thanks. You're the best."
"I thought the spanking I gave you would rather qualify me as an ogre," Qui-Gon remarked, amused.
"Oh no, Master," Obi-Wan replied seriously. "Compared to an old lizard like Master T'rr'vynn, you are really quite bearable."
Qui-Gon failed to suppress a broad smile. "Brat! To your room!"
"Yes, Master," Obi-Wan said, grinning.