Justin had never been much into "boy" things. While not necessarily the sensitive cliche, he had always been an artist, and his mother had fostered that identity. His interests had always run less rough and tumble than the other boys his age, but one thing he'd always been decently interested in was popular culture.
If you asked someone, theoretically, If you were to meet a Jedi, what do you think it would be like?, you'd probably not get a single person who would imagine up a scenario involving urging a butterball of a bird to flight.
Justin knew Qui-Gon, in that way that he couldn't help, both because he was Liam Neeson and forever iconic in spite of George Lucas' dubious return to the Star Wars series. He also knew him because while he seemed to keep mostly to himself, he was one of those constant island presences you couldn't help but notice. So it was that when he walked by, he couldn't help but boggling, just a little.
Admittedly, Qui-Gon would never have imagined this scenario for himself, either. Obi-Wan had always accused him of collecting strays of one sort or another, but he had rarely taken his apprentice's irritation seriously. What harm could a single helpless creature do, after all? Especially one in need of care.
"Hello there," he said to Justin, aware of him some seconds before he glanced away from Teek. "I don't suppose you have anything with you that might tempt a particularly stubborn bird?"
"Sorry, no," Justin replied with an apologetic smile. "Are you trying to teach it to fly?" he asked, stepping closer now that he felt comfortable enough to do so. "Was it abandoned?"
"She was a gift," Qui-Gon replied. "Or rather, the island's peculiar idea of a gift. An egg in a wrapped box." A very round egg, that had hatched and grown into a very round bird.
Teek bounced a bit, tilting her head and looking at Justin from one side, and then the other. She spread her wings and gave a little flutter, but settled again.
"No, she does not," Qui-Gon replied with just the hint of a sigh, but he glanced over to give Abby a wry smile. "Perhaps I have--for lack of any better term--mothered her a little too much." Chirping, Teek hopped up and down once, apparently disagreeing, but still clinging to Qui-Gon's fingertips nevertheless. "Dare I hope you have any suggestions?"
"I've never tried to teach a bird to fly, no," she admitted. "I guess it's a matter of patience. Eventually she might feel secure enough to fly. Or you could bribe her, that works on most creatures."
Qui-Gon considered the matter for a moment, and then searched for the bit of bread left in his pocket after the midday meal. Teek eyed it with some interest.
"Perhaps if you hold this," he said to Abby with a narrow curve of his lips, "she might be sufficiently tempted."
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If you asked someone, theoretically, If you were to meet a Jedi, what do you think it would be like?, you'd probably not get a single person who would imagine up a scenario involving urging a butterball of a bird to flight.
Justin knew Qui-Gon, in that way that he couldn't help, both because he was Liam Neeson and forever iconic in spite of George Lucas' dubious return to the Star Wars series. He also knew him because while he seemed to keep mostly to himself, he was one of those constant island presences you couldn't help but notice. So it was that when he walked by, he couldn't help but boggling, just a little.
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"Hello there," he said to Justin, aware of him some seconds before he glanced away from Teek. "I don't suppose you have anything with you that might tempt a particularly stubborn bird?"
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Teek bounced a bit, tilting her head and looking at Justin from one side, and then the other. She spread her wings and gave a little flutter, but settled again.
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She'd been taking a break from building and was instead having a nice wander, looking for plants.
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"Perhaps if you hold this," he said to Abby with a narrow curve of his lips, "she might be sufficiently tempted."
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