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Quinlan first notices the hand holding his, then the murmur of voices, then the light shining through his eyelids. He twitches, and the voices go quiet, before the hand grips more firmly.
“Quin? Are you awake?”
Obi. Bright. Quinlan pushes the thought down their pairbond, and his wonderful husband squeezes his hand as he dims the lights.
Quinlan blinks his eyes open and smiles at Obi-Wan, a little surprised but pleased to see his boyfriend, Fox, standing at Obi-Wan’s shoulder.
“Fox,” Quinlan says, reaching out with his other hand. Fox smiles, the real one that he only does in private, and comes round the bed to take it.
“How long have I been out?” Quinlan asks.
“About a month,” Fox replies, and Quinlan can tell that the shared glances between his partners contain a whole conversation. “A lot has happened. We- we’ll get you up to speed, once Bant has looked you over now you’ve woken up.”
Quinlan nods, then regrets it. Obi-Wan winces in sympathy at the pain shooting through his head.
Quinlan endures Bant fussing over him, all the while watching his husband and boyfriend interact. At last, Bant declares him healing well and allows them to keep chatting. Quinlan thanks her, and she smiles and leaves him with Obi-Wan and Fox.
Looking at his partners, Quinlan wonders. Obi-Wan and Fox have been communicating with just a look and they seem physically comfortable with each other, he remembers Fox leaning over Obi-Wan’s shoulder when Quinlan woke up. If they’ve both been staying with him in the Halls as much as they can… it’s very possible they've spent a lot of time together over the past month.
“The two of you seem to be getting on well?” Quinlan probes, one eyebrow raised and a smile drifting about his mouth.
Fox and Obi-Wan share a glance. “That was one of the things we wanted to talk to you about,” Obi-Wan agrees.
Fox squeezes Quinlan’s hand, and reaches the other one across the bed to take Obi-Wan’s. “We’ve seen a lot of each other the last few weeks,” he starts.
“And we’d both already heard a lot about the other from you,” Obi-Wan continues.
“And we’ve concluded that you have good taste in romantic partners,” Fox grins. “It felt odd to do it without talking to you, but we’ve started dating.”
“If it’s okay with you, we want to have a conversation about the three of us as a triad, now it’s not just Fox and I sharing you.”
Quinlan grins, basking in the knowledge that the two people he loves love each other as well. He brings both his partners’ hands up to his mouth and kisses them, before saying, “That’s very okay! Not having to split my time and getting to see you both at once! Sounds good to me!”
The three smile at each other, gripping their hands securely, then Quinlan pulls back.
“So, what’s the other thing you were going to tell me?”
Obi-Wan winces. “Right. Well, I’ll warn you, it’s good that you’re sitting down for this.”
Quinlan blinks, a little surprised, as Obi-Wan knows how high Quinlan’s threshold for things being crazy or upsetting is, but he trusts that he’s not exaggerating.
“The leads you found- well, we investigated them further, and discovered, among other things, chips in all the Vode’s heads. And I don’t mean tracking chips or explosives, I mean mind control. Luckily we discovered this before Darth Sidious tried to activate them, which means we were able to disrupt the connection. We’re still working our way through the millions of surgeries to remove them all, but the command class and the Guard went first.”
Fox pushes aside the hair on his forehead and Quinlan can see a fresh scar. He squeezes Fox’s hand, and Fox squeezes back.
“You mentioned Darth Sidious - he’s the Sith Lord? You discovered his identity?”
Fox and Obi-Wan share another heavy glance.
“Yes. Quinlan- Quin, Darth Sidious was Palpatine,” Obi-Wan admits, quietly.
“What!” Quinlan exclaims. “Fox, are you- Well no, I guess that’s a stupid question. How are you doing, and how can I help?”
Fox smiles softly at him. “I’m doing all right, Quin, I promise. The Guard always knew he was a scumbag, if not a Sith, so it wasn’t a betrayal for us like it was for some others.” Quinlan watches Fox’s eyes flick towards Obi-Wan and back to Quinlan. “And I’ve had Obi-Wan here to lean on, and as a shoulder to cry on, and the Jedi Mind Healers have been doing their best to help the Vode as well as the Jedi. Yes, my mind is still fucked up, but I’m doing all right. And of course, all the better now you’ve woken up!” he ends with a grin and a kiss to the back of Quinlan’s hand.
“I’m glad. And- you mentioned betrayal. Obi-Wan, how’s Anakin taking it?”
Obi-Wan grimaces. “Not great. You know he became a Jedi so he could Free slaves. That his vode have had slave chips in their heads all along was difficult enough for him, never mind that they were put there by his mentor, who always told him he was trying to help end slavery. On top of that, Padmé’s pregnant, and he’s had dreams of her dying in childbirth. Apparently they’re the same as dreams he didn’t tell me he was having of his mother dying, just before she did then die. I have hope he’ll get back on an even keel, but it’s going to take a while, and some marriage counselling. Apparently he and Padmé got married just after Geonosis!”
“Wasn’t he a Padawan then?”
“Yep! So in the meantime, Ahsoka has been removed from his care and placed into mine. But as much as I’ve tried to make time for her, I’ve been dealing with the fallout of the Chancellor of the Republic being the Sith Lord. Instead,” he smiles, “Aayla’s been looking after her.”
Quinlan smiles too. “I’m glad, good for her. So who’s the Chancellor now?”
“Well, it’s all very complicated. Palpatine suspended elections until the war is over, but the war can’t end without the Chancellor’s signature, and there are various legal procedings-”
“Obi-Wan, you’re obfuscating,” Fox interrupts. “Just tell him.”
Obi-Wan winces. “Okay, so. Do you remember when we were Padawans and I read all the old versions of the Constitution?”
“Yes,” Quinlan agrees, wary.
“Well,” he winces again, “when the Order handed over the leadership of the Senate, they made sure it was written that if a Chancellor had to be removed because they were compromised by the Dark Side, they were replaced by a Jedi.”
Quinlan blinked in surprise. “Okay, so the Order held an election for Interim Chancellor?”
“No,” Fox refutes with a small smirk. “The Constitution stipulates that the Chancellorship goes to the youngest Master on the High Council.”
Quinlan blinks. What?
“Doesn’t it, Interim Chancellor Kenobi?” Fox finishes.