OOM: Kidlets

[iprotectyou]

Young Baze was never the most patient of people. That award belongs to his friend, Chirrut--or so Baze thinks. So when the elders of the Temple of the Kyber told him that he would be the one running the children's martial arts class, he balked.

"Hello," Baze says, entering the class where the children--ages anywhere from six years old to nine--are waiting for him. He steps lightly despite his massive bulk, and stands at the front of the lined up students. "My name is Baze Malbus, and I'll be teaching you today."

"Hello, teacher Baze," the students say in unison. Sort of. There are a few stragglers.

"It's time to learn how to breathe. First, make sure you're standing up straight," Baze says, clasping his hands behind him to keep from fidgeting. "Next, we'll draw a breath. Pretend you're sucking air in from the bottoms of your toes to the tops of your heads..."

Comments

[iprotectyou]

"Oooh," the girl says, stroking the top of the frog's tiny head with her thumbs as she cradles him close to her chest. "Thank you!"

The other students surround the girl. "My turn next!" one says.

"No, pick me!" says another.

Baze wanders over to Chirrut and the children, getting a good look at the animal as he approaches. He watches for a little while as the kids crowd around the girl in the center, and then sits on Chirrut's shoulders, ruffling his cropped hair.

[idontneedluck]

Chirrut pulls a face to hide the grimace of strained muscles. He braces his hands against Baze's knees, supposedly to help support the weight more evenly, but also to covertly pinch the inside of his knee fiercely.

"Do you think I've kept us out of trouble?"

[iprotectyou]

"Ow," Baze says, managing not to jerk his knee and whap Chirrut in the head with it. "No, if anything you've brought more. The elders will never let me teach this class again."

[idontneedluck]

Chirrut, who was privy to Baze's reluctance to teach this class in the first place, laughs at his mournful tone.

He only laughs harder when one of the smaller boy pats at Baze's knee worriedly and asks,
"You're not coming back, teacher Baze?"

[iprotectyou]

Baze smiles down at the boy and claps a meaty hand on his tiny shoulder. "I will if the elders let me," he says honestly, his eyes twinkling as he looks the boy over. He taps his nose, the universal gesture of secret-keeping. "Don't worry. If you won't tell them what happened here today, I won't either."

[idontneedluck]

This idea seems to catch on fairly rapidly, Chirrut is pleased to note. After the frog has been petted by enough little hands, he rescues the creature the next time it comes within reach, cupping back between his palms. There is a disappointed chorus of voices around him.

"The frog only came for a visit - perhaps you may see him again one day."

[iprotectyou]

"Class dismissed," Baze says, standing from Chirrut's shoulders so he can put the frog away. "Remember what we learned today. I look forward to our next class."

The students file out, some of them waving goodbye. After the last child is gone, Baze sits down on the ground, stretching his legs out. "I hope they don't have nightmares."

[idontneedluck]

Once the frog is returned, Chirrut pads back to the practice mat and does his best impression of a throw rug, groaning.

"They will. You left a dent in the wall." He grouses, somewhat inaccurately.

[iprotectyou]

"You helped," Baze says, scooting within range of Chirrut to nudge his side with a foot. "Oh, my aching head. I bet I have bruises."

[idontneedluck]

"Your head? Your head cannot be hurt, it is steel. My chest, however..."

He sighs, stretching cautiously.

"At least they were not bored."

[iprotectyou]

"My head is not steel," Baze harrumphs, rubbing his temples. "We traumatized those poor children. I'm surprised they didn't start crying. Kriff, I need tea."

[idontneedluck]

"Mmmm, that would be good." Chirrut agrees, but he makes no effort to rise from his sprawl on the mat. "And of course they didn't cry, they thought it was exciting."

[iprotectyou]

"Exciting." Baze grunts, hanging his head. "Right. Terrifying, more like. That was less a demonstration and more a brawl. Starting with that kick you gave me."

He pokes his toes into Chirrut's bruised ribs. "Tea. Tea is a necessary thing. Right now."

[idontneedluck]

"Ugh, you are demanding." Chirrut huffs, batting at Baze's foot - but otherwise failing to move. "And if we're going to put any start to this, how about that punch? You could have taken my head off!"

[iprotectyou]

"You managed to dodge it just fine, so I don't know what you're complaining about," Baze says, with a delicate sniff. "Come on, Chirrut, let's get some tea."

Seeing that his friend is unlikely to get up of his own accord, Baze stands himself, reluctantly pulling on his sore muscles. He grabs Chirrut's hands and side and hoists him over his shoulder in a fireman's carry.

,

[idontneedluck]

Chirrut yelps in surprise at his new-found ability to fly, huffing when he lands on Baze's shoulder. A few seconds of struggle proves that unless he wants to risk falling on his head in an all out escape attempt, he's pretty much stuck.

"Baze? Baze. This is ridiculous, put me down." He demands, tweaking Baze's hair. "Or at least grab my staff."

Re: ,

[iprotectyou]

Baze grunts. He begrudgingly stoops to pick up the staff, keeping a tight hold on Chirrut's waist to keep him from escaping. "We need tea," he says again, droning like a zombie and stomping off towards the kitchens. "Ssh, Chirrut. Stop wiggling."

[idontneedluck]

"Shush? I will shush you once I get down." Chirrut gripes, but settles once he finds a spot that doesn't jar the forming bruises. They pass a fellow Guardian on the way out the door, and Chirrut waves at him (he hopes, his sense of direction is a little off being carried like this).

"May the Force of others be with you!"

[iprotectyou]

"You can try," Baze says dryly, stomping his way down the hall with staff in one hand and Chirrut in the other. "But you'll probably fail. Your previous attempts did."

[idontneedluck]

"Merely stepping stones on my path to victory. I won't fail again." Chirrut promises dourly, "They will take to calling you Baze the Silent."

[iprotectyou]

Baze snorts, stepping through the open doorway to the kitchens. "Baze the Silent, huh? Has a nice ring to it. What will they be calling you? Chirrut the Triumphant?"

[idontneedluck]

"I don't see anything wrong with this." Chirrut sniffs, and then smiles when that sniff is rewarded by the smells of the kitchens. "Mmm, curry tonight, that will be something to look forward to."

He's still being hauled along like a sack of potatoes, so he twists again, trying to loosen Baze's grip.

[iprotectyou]

"Quit wiggling," Baze harrumphs, eventually setting Chirrut down next to the tiled island. Baze places his friend's staff in his hand, and putters about making tea. He's about to say something else to Chirrut when Elder Koroban enters the room.

"What sorts of trouble have you gotten yourselves into this time?" Koroban says, folding his arms in his voluminous sleeves.

[idontneedluck]

"We are making tea, honored elder." Chirrut's tone is innocence itself, as he rises from the stool he just managed to seat himself on to bow. He hopes, fervently, that he managed to hide the stiffness of his movements - sometimes that doesn't come off as well as he thinks it should have. "No trouble here, unless Baze ovebrews the tea."

[iprotectyou]

Baze resists the urge to bury his face in his hands. His face, which is red and swollen and starting to turn purple with bruises.

Koroban regards Chirrut with a suspicious squint. "I'm keeping an eye on you," he says, and turns on his heel to exit the kitchen.

Baze holds in his laughter as long as he can, and then cracks up.