Ye olde shuttle parking [late morning]

[sith_happened]

Anakin, if anyone was paying close attention, was banging parts of the shuttle together with slightly more than necessary force.

And was fixing something that 1) didn't need to be fixed and 2) for the fifth time that week.

He was sporting some pretty serious circles beneath his eyes hidden under the grime on his face.

Oh, yeah, he was going to be a joy to hang around with today.

[OOC: For the one what goes on shuttle rides on Mondays.]

Comments

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"Did you break something?" she asked, poking her head around.

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"Not yet," Anakin muttered to himself, "but give me a minute."

He shook his head instead at Rory, then ran a grubby hand through sweat-curled hair. "I wanted to take apart the hyperdrive."

Which was what he'd done last week.

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"How come?" she asked curiously.

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Uncomfortable pause.

"I wanted to take something complicated apart."

That? Wasn't a good sign.

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Rory bit her lip. "What's wrong?"

She knew him a bit well, yes.

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Bang, bang, slam.

"Nothing," he grunted. He still hadn't poked his head up to say a proper hello.

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"Anakin. This is me," she said quietly. "Something's wrong."

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Something important hit the ground and shattered. Anakin let out a vicious stream of Huttese profanity, and stomped over to finally stare up at her.

He looked terrible.

"You don't want to hear about it," he said shortly.

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"I want to hear about anything that makes you look like that," she said, immediately worried. "You need a nap. And like...food. And a shower."

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"I'm not a youngling," he snapped, though he was certainly doing a hell of an impression of a four-year-old. "I don't need a nap."

He ran a hand over his eyes. "I don't need much sleep anyway."

Which was practically an admittance that he hadn't been getting any.

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"You look like hell," she said mildly. "Why?"

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"Because the hyperdrive won't work!" he ranted.

Which was true, but, yeah, not why he was upset.

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"You don't get like this over hyperdrives," she said.

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"I do when it means we can't leave this frelling planet," Anakin said, kicking the hydropsanner.

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"Was it working before you took it apart?" she asked.

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Loooooong pause.

Finally: "...yes. I can't do anything right this week."

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"Anakin," she said softly, reaching out to touch his arm. "What happened? Come on."

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Anakin flinched away. "I'm fine," he insisted.

He paused. "But I understand if you don't want to be here."

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Something in Rory cracked a little more when he flinched.

"...oh."

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Anakin finally met her eyes. The expression in his was just about as hopeless as when he'd arrived back in February.

"It's not a good day," he said quietly. "I'm sorry."

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"What happened?" she asked again. "You're starting to scare me."

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Anakin recoiled like she'd slapped him.

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"I mean, I'm worried," she corrected. "I'm not afraid of you."

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...I was so worried about you...Obi-Wan told me terrible things...

Anakin fliched again and turned his head away. "Maybe you should be."

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"If you don't want to tell me what your problem is, fine," she said softly. "But I don't trust you when you're like this. Last time this happened, you flew too fast."

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The muscles in Anakin's jaw clenched. "Fortunately I've eliminated that option," he said sourly, gesturing to the mess he'd made of the hyperdrive.

Being sarcastic was easier than letting her know that had hurt him.

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"Lucky us," she said crossly. "What did I do?"

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That brought him up short.

"...what?"

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"If you're mad at me, I want to know what the hell I did," she said.

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Anakin ran a hand through his hair--which didn't improve it at all--and shook his head. "It's not you," he said.

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"Then what is it?"

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Anakin crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly. "You don't get to know all of my secrets, Rory," he said snappishly.

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"Fine. I'm done," she said, trying not to cry. "You can stay here with your parts and shut me out, and I'll just...go find something else to do. Fine."

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Anakin could fix this.

Instead his eyes filled with hurt just before he nodded and turned away, shutting her out.

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Rory bit her lip and stalked off. It was easier to be angry than to deal.