Double Dare

"One thousand credits? Sure, I'll take you up on that Mira. You're going to lose, but I'll play along," Atton said under his breath to Mira as they hiked through the thick Dxun jungle. Ahead of them walked Cerys, who was deep in conversation with Mical. Atton watched her move, her long legs taking careful strides through the underbrush, her arms gracefully swatting low branches out of her way, the way her curves undulated as she squeezed through tight passes.

"Oh, I don't think so. There's no way you'll be able to resist. This'll be the easiest money I've ever made."

"Says you. What did you make a bet with her too?"

"No, but that's a pretty good idea, thanks." Mira strode off to catch up with Cerys and Mical. Atton groaned, but kept following the group. His thoughts lingered on the message they had received from the Mandalorian camp. That Jedi Master, Kavar, needed help, and Cerys rushed back to Dxun without so much as a word to anyone. There had to be a reason. His attention returned to the group when he heard his name called.

"Atton, hurry up, we've got to get to Onderon."

........................................................

General Vaklu was defeated and led away from the palace throne room. Master Kavar placed a hand on Cerys' shoulder and led her away from her companions to talk. Atton kept his eyes on the pair. He saw the way Cerys' hand slid up Kavar's arm, how the Jedi placed his hand on the small of her back and leaned in close to whisper something to her. Atton's eyes narrowed. Cerys stood too close to her old master for his sanity. There was obviously something there, and he could tell he was being shoved to the side by the beautiful woman.

When she left Kavar's side to return to her companions, she glanced back at the master and smiled.

"I'll see you on Dantooine then."

"Good talk?" Atton asked.

"You could say that. Enlightening would be a good word I think. Come on, we've got to get back to the ship. We're going to Dantooine to meet with the masters." With that, she walked off. It took Atton a minute to realize that she meant right this moment and ran to catch up to her. Whatever Kavar had said to her obviously meant a lot. The woman was still stealing sidelong glances at the man, a smile on her face.

.....................................

"Enlightening I would say. Yeah, I'll bet. Here I thought we had something, but no, instead it's all about that Jedi Master of hers." Atton muttered under his breath. He was still mad about the way Cerys, had fawned over that Jedi Master, Kavar. He was mad that she seemed so interested in the older man, and even more angry that it bothered him so much. He didn't turn at the soft footfall in the corridor, nor at the gentle pair of hands that rested on his shoulders.

"Atton, are you going to keep hiding from me?"

"If you found me, I'm obviously not doing a very good job." Cerys raised an eyebrow, and then moved around the seat to face Atton. When he wouldn't meet her eyes, she placed a hand on his face and turned it until he was looking at her.

"Atton, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm just trying to stay out of the way for you and that Jedi, Kavar." For a moment, Cerys began to laugh.

"Oh, you have it all wrong. Kavar is a friend, nothing more."

"It didn't look that way to me."

Cerys knocked his feet off the console before him, and sat on his lap. Atton wrapped his arms around her and began to nibble on the side of her neck.

"You are all I want, you stubborn ronto. Let me explain about me and Kavar." She closed her eyes.

"Fine, you explain and I'll keep myself busy." Atton moved from her neck to her shoulder, pushing her robe and top out of his way.

Cerys sat in the Room of One Thousand Fountains with Revan and Malak. She stared jealously at the pair as Malak held Revan close to him, occasionally kissing her cheek or lips.

"You two are so lucky. How did you get special dispensation to marry?" Cerys asked. Revan smiled as she settled her back up against Malak's chest.

"Well, it helps when your mother is the ruler of an entire planet." Revan murmered. "We were bonded shortly after I was born. The Council kind of had to let us have a hand fasting."

"It's not fair, I mean personal relationships are forbidden." Cerys pouted. Revan just began to laugh at her friend.

"Still in love with Master Kavar are you?" Cerys looked shocked. She nervoulsy pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I am not! He's my master, and sure I care about him, but, come on." She wasn't very convincing. Revan and Malak smirked as Cerys' face began to color.

"Okay Cerys, I'll make a wager with you." Revan began. Cerys groaned inwardly, knowing this couldn't be good. "You find a way to get Kavar into bed, and I'll run through the temple naked."

"Oh, this I'd love to see." Malak grinned. Revan shot him a dirty look.

"Yeah, well, you'll be joining me Mal. You don't think I want to be the only eye candy here, do you?"

"Revan, you can't be serious. This isn't like some tumble with one of the other padawans. He's my master."

"Even the masters can be persuaded given the right circumstances. Now are you in, or not?" Revan looked at Cerys intently. Cerys hated that look. When her friend wore that expression, there was just no arguing with her.

"Okay Rev, but what if I can't do it?" Cerys asked, knowing full well what the answer would be.

"Then you'll forever be known as the Jedi Streak."

Cerys nodded, determined that it would not be she running starkers around the temple. She left her companions and began contemplating how to accomplish this wager.

That evening, Cerys sat with Master Kavar in the dining hall. Kavar was looking over some datapads as he sipped on a glass of water. From across the room, Cerys could feel Revan and Malak look at her as they sat with the rest of 'The Kinrath Pack'. She took a deep breath, and then plunged forward.

"Master Kavar, what do you know about sex?"

The Jedi master spat water across the table. Across the hall, Revan and Malak were snickering. Cerys spared them a quick glare, and then returned her attention to her master, a look of curiosity on her face.

"Why in space are you asking me about this? Did that Kinrath Pack of yours put you up to this?" Kavar wiped up the water with a cloth napkin.

"No. I was just curious, because, you know, with Revan and Malak..."

"Uh huh. I suppose I understand your curiosity on the subject. What exactly did you want to know?"

"Well, the council forbids emotional entaglements, so no relationships, but what about using intercourse as a stress relief? Is that permitted?" Cerys could feel Revan's eyes on her and was desperately trying not to blush.

"Why would you want to know about that?"

"How am I supposed to learn about it?"

"I'm sure there are datapads on the subject."

"You wouldn't expect someone to know how to use a lightsaber if they only read about technique, would you?"

Kavar narrowed his eyes at Cerys who was doing her best to maintain a serene expression. Kavar moved his gaze out, settling on Revan's table. Everyone there was engrossed in his or her own conversations.

"Why would you need to be experienced? There would be no need for such knowledge."

"I told you already, stress relief."

"That's what meditation is for."

"Could you at least find out if it's allowed please? I'd ask myself, but I don't want to bring this up in front of Master Vrook."

"Oh no. You can fight your own battles for this one."

"Master, please. I'm really not comfortable with the thought of consulting with Master Vrook about this. He doesn't like me anyway."

"Fine. I'll ask on your behalf." His expression was stern. Cerys gave him her best smile, and then left him alone. Kavar watched her leave, relieved when she didn't stop by the rest of 'The Kinrath Pack'. At the entrance of the dining hall, Cerys turned to look one last time at her master. She met his eyes, then exited the room, heading for her quarters.

Revan stopped by Cerys' room that evening, bursting through the door with a large grin on her face.

"Oh Force, that was brilliant. What did you say to make him spit water everywhere?"

"I'm not getting into it right now, Rev. Just give me a week, and if I still haven't, you know, then I'll let you know."

"Well, whatever. I'll know if you're lying or not anyway. You're a terrible liar, you do know that?"

"I think I did a pretty good job of it today."

"How did you even get through that conversation with a straight face?"

"You certainly didn't help staring the way you did. He was suspicious immediately."

"Really? What did you say? I couldn't hear over the rest of the Pack."

"I told him I wanted to learn whether or not it was a good stress reliever."

Revan laughed until tears began to stream from her eyes.

"Oh Force, that's brilliant! Can't wait to find out what your conclusion is." She left Cerys alone in the room as she continued, laughing down the hallway. Cerys just groaned and fell face first onto her bed.

The next day, she met her master for some light saber sparring. The two exchanged blows, matching each other counter for counter, until Cerys backed herself into a corner. She placed her sabers up in a protective gesture, allowing Kavar to keep her pinned there. She could feel her body pressed up against his, and pushed into him. With a start, Kavar pushed away from her. He took several steps back to allow her enough space to move away from the wall.

"You don't seem focused on your training padawan." Kavar swung his saber at her, and she blocked it with her blade.

"I appologize Master. I'll try harder."

Again, they danced, their blades meeting again and again as they blocked, swung and dodged each other until Cerys cornered her master. Their blades hummed and crackled as he held her off. With a swing of his saber, he knocked her out of the way, giving himself enough room to escape the tight quarters. As he did so, she brushed his hip with her own, purely by 'accident'. Kavar moved away from her, his saber held defensively before him.

"I think we've had enough of this for today. You just don't seem to have your mind on the lesson. Maybe meditation would be the better course for you."

"Of course Master Kavar. Will you be joining me?" She wiped a drop of sweat from her nose, then clipped her lightsabers to her belt.

"No, not today. I have to meet with the council on some matters." Kavar abruptly left the sparring ring. He didn't like what was going on, but didn't know if she was sparring badly on purpose, or if her mind was truly elsewhere. He needed to think about it, to meditate on it, but not around his padawan.

The next day found Cerys in the archives, looking over datapads. The day was hot, and she had abandoned her robes to the back of her chair. Her tunic was untied, and the undershirt skimmed her athletic, well-formed frame. She couldn't concentrate on what she was reading because her attention was focused on Revan. The girl was cornered by Kavar, and seemed to be cool under his line of inquiry. Great, Cerys thought, he's checking up on me. When Kavar looked in her direction, she pretended not to notice and stretched, the snug undershirt stretching tightly on her frame. Kavar left the archives after that, and Revan looked over at Cerys and grinned.

At the end of the week, Cerys paced in her room, her robes wrapped tightly around her body. She didn't know how she had survived the week without cracking. After his interrogation of Revan, Kavar had spoken to every other member of the Kinrath Pack in an effort to find out what was going on. Luckily for her, the only two who knew of the bet were Revan and Malak, and neither of them would talk.

"I am so going to get in trouble for this one." She muttered, then set out into the hallways, walking quickly until she reached Master Kavar's door. She hesitated before knocking. The entire week, she had used every opportunity granted her to throw herself at the master without being too obvious. She had projected inappropriate emotions during meditation, had datapads on the issue conveniently laying around, and even managed to trip in such a way that Kavar had to catch her. She felt a little sick with herself, but would much rather stand a little embarrassment in front of her master than in front of the entire Jedi Academy.

Finally, after steeling herself with a breath, she knocked on the door. For a moment, she thought he wasn't there, then the door opened.

"Padawan, what are you doing here?"

"Do you mind if I come in?" Kavar stepped aside and allowed Cerys to enter.

"What is this about?"

"Have you heard back from the council Master Kavar?" She walked over to his bed and sat down.

"I'm sure this could wait until morning."

"I just wanted an answer to my question. Is it wrong for me to be here?"

"No, just not expected. I spoke to the council on the matter. Their advice was that, while not forbidden, it is strongly discouraged."

"So if someone wanted to pursue a study of mating rituals, it wouldn't get them into trouble?"

"Not necessarily, no. Like I said, it's discouraged."

"But not forbidden, yes, I heard. I only have one other question for you then, Master Kavar."

Kavar opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't form a sentence as Cerys climbed off his bed, then dropped her robe to the floor, revealing the nothing she was wearing underneath.

"Would you teach me?" Cerys looked at him as he began to mutter the Jedi code under his breath.

"The man was a fool to turn you down." Atton said, his eyes wide in disbelief.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you had to feel terrible when he rejected you right? I mean, there you were, in all your glory and your master turning you down."

"I never said he rejected me."

"YOU ACTUALLY SLEPT WITH HIM?"

"It was a great two weeks of research."

"Research? You said there was nothing between the two of you!"

"There isn't, not anymore. I told you before Atton, there's only one person for me, and I happen to be sitting on his lap."

Atton looked at Cerys. It was then he realized that her bare legs were hanging out from under her robe. Was this a repeat performance? No, he wasn't going to fall prey to this.

"Well , that's good to hear. I was getting worried for a minute."

"I was thinking that maybe we could do a little...research of our own." Cerys let her robe slip off her shoulders, revealing a lacy, red nightie. Atton gently removed Cerys from his lap. He stood, and then smirked at her.

"Research, huh? Well that will have to wait until later, 'cause I'm really exhausted, you know, from saving a planet, so if it's all the same to you, I'm going to bed." Atton left the cockpit, heading casually toward the men's bunks. When Cerys got over her initial shock, she ran after him, not bothering to cover up her outfit as she passed the others in the common room.

Mira looked at Canderous as they heard a pounding on the port side dormitory door.

"What the hell was that about?" Mira asked. Canderous just shrugged.

"ATTON, HOW DARE YOU REJECT ME! NOW OPEN THAT DOOR."

"Wait, did Atton actually turn down that little tart? I didn't think he was fool enough to do that." Canderous chuckled. He looked at Mira, who just shook her head in disbelief.

"Shocked you too, eh?"

"Yeah it shocked me. Now I owe that scruffy nerf herder a thousand credits."

"Owe him for what?"

"I bet him that he'd never turn down an offer from her, especially if she threw herself at him. That ronto scat actually did it."

Cerys stormed into the room, pausing only briefly to glare at Canderous and Mira. Mira opened her mouth to speak, but closed it at a look from Cerys.

"Don't. Just don't. This never happened. I never got out of bed this evening. You never saw any of this."

"You just go on believing that Sweetheart." Canderous guffawed. Cerys threw him a scathing look and stomped off to her bed, muttering the Jedi code under her breath.

A/N: Thank you to Freesourceful and WinterOnasi for their great beta work. I hope you enjoyed the fruits of our combined labor.