"I can't believe they let you teach."

Anakin had gotten up, gone through his normal morning routine and was heading towards the shuttle to meet Rory before it hit him: she wasn’t coming.

The realization was almost enough to send him back to bed under the guise of recovering from his wounds for the rest of the day.

But the next thought he’d had, he was beginning to realize, was probably even dumber. A flying Papillion puppy zipping around the cockpit of the shuttle, as Vladdie was doing now, was a recipe for flying straight into an asteroid at the worst possible moment. Not that, Anakin reflected, there was ever a particularly great moment to fly into an asteroid.

Anakin reminded himself that he’d had stupider plans that had worked…it was just a matter of training.

“Come on, Vladdie,” he said for the seventh time, “it’s just like being in the car.”

Vladdie, flitting through the air hyperactively to sniff at Shiny, Very Shiny, OMG SHINY, and Another Vladdie, Maybe?, was paying no attention at all to what Mommy Rory’s Friend was saying.

Anakin sighed and walked over to pluck the dog out of the air. “She’s not here to talk to,” he said softly, “so you’re going to have to do, okay?”

He paused, listened to what he just said, and sighed again. “This is beyond pathetic,” he groaned, walking over to his chair and flopping into it, then scratching behind Vladdie’s ears. “She hasn’t been gone more than a day, Skywalker. Snap out of it.”

Vladdie whined and rested his head on Anakin’s arm for a split second before struggling to get away again. Anakin released his hold on the puppy and stared out the viewport for a long moment before letting him loose in the rec room while Anakin took off.

And if Anakin’s approach to the atmosphere happened to swing a bit over Stars Hollow, well, these things happen.

How Strong Do You Think I Am - Alexz Johnson

He wasn't even sure if she was going to be coming, but Anakin was back at the shuttle at their normal time.

You know, just in case.

He had his robe folded neatly on the ramp and had popped one of the control panels open and was keeping his hands busy as his ears listened for approaching footsteps.

Desperado - Johnny Cash

Well, his date with Rory had been called on account of dinosaurs, you know, as it so often was, and Anakin'd had to go kill a T-Rex (he'd looked it up when he'd gotten home, just so he could brag about it tell people later) who'd been silly enough to try to mess with his family.

Now he was humming happily to himself as he washed the shuttle down. It had been far too long since he'd gotten to really cut loose like that.

[ooc: WE HAVE NO CONTROL OVER THESE TWO. Not so much with the worksafeness now.]

After a phone call earlier, Anakin was running just a bit behind in meeting Rory for their lesson.

He took the stairs two at a time, looking around anxiously to see if she'd beaten him there.

Storm - Lifehouse

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

Anakin had spent a good hour staring at the shuttle, a can of paint and a brush in his hand.

Finally he bit his lower lip, painted over the name Tydirium and rechristened the ship the Virgo in Basic and English.

Then he stood back and waited to see if the only person who would understand the name change would actually be arriving for their lessons today.