Ye olde shuttle parking [early afternoon]

[sith_happened]

After hours of sweaty work, Anakin had finally gotten the hyperdrive working again.

He's slept through most of Sunday--he'd needed the rest--and was looking almost like himself again.

Except for the nervous twitch he was developing as the time Rory normally showed up got closer.

Blurry - Puddle of Mudd

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[sith_happened]

Anakin's expression softened as he handed her the mug. "You like it?"

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"It's beautiful," she breathed, taking the mug.

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"The name kind of jumped out at me," he said as he stared out the window, sipping from his mug.

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"I don't know this one," Rory admitted. "What's it called?"

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Anakin's cheeks flushed red. "They're the Heart and Soul Nebulae," he murmured, not making eye contact.

Subtle like a Skywalker.

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"...oh."

Rory bit her lip. "That's a nice name."

She didn't know what else to say without getting her hopes up again.

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Anakin took a step closer, brushing his hand against her shoulder as he leaned against the back of her seat. "I thought so when I saw it a few weeks ago," he said, careful to keep his tone casual.

And totally losing at casual.

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"It makes me think about...stuff," she said shyly.

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Anakin's hand stopped moving, but his heart started beating faster. "What kind of stuff?" he asked.

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Rory looked up at him. "Us stuff."

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Anakin didn't look away. "Past or present?"

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Rory swallowed. She didn't know present was really an option to him.

"What do you think?"

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Anakin looked into her eyes, a little desperate to see some glimmer that she'd figured out what he was trying to tell her.

He couldn't find it, and his heart cracked just a little more.

"I don't know," he said honestly. "Our lives have become an asteroid field I can't find a way to plot a course through."

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"We're a little complicated," she agreed with a tiny, tiny smile.

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He reached out to play with a strand of her hair. You know. As friends do.

"And the sun's a little warm."

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Rory bit her lip. "It's just...you and I? We're...it's big."

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"And complicated," Anakin said, because repetition was good when you were trying to convince yourself to believe something you didn't want to.

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"And a lot," she said softly.

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And I don't want to scare you, he whispered in her mind, sounding more uncertain than he ever would aloud.

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You don't. It's just...you're grieving, and it's all so strange and...I don't want to overwhelm you, she replied.

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Anakin leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. You don't, he said softly.

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It'd be so easy, she sighed, reaching a fingertip up to touch his jaw. But...I can't.

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He closed his eyes a split second too late to hide how much that had hurt to hear.

I know, he said, sounding resigned. There's too much...past in our past.

Ah, Anakin. Such a way with words.

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"We're different," she said aloud, softly. "I can't risk us falling back into everything when we're like this. It's too new and too different and too big. I can't. Not yet."

[sith_happened]

Anakin forgot about breathing as he watched her eyes. "...yet?" he repeated.