fandomhighdorms | South Attic, Early afternoon: after Study Hall

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South Attic, Early afternoon: after Study Hall

For the first time in what seemed like weeks, Beka smiled. Really smiled. Not the smile that lit her face but not her eyes. No, the real one that Illyana had said she was missing.

She had a Weekend Pass. She could come and go off this muddy rock as she pleased for 48 beautiful hours. Sleep, rest, stargaze...do a little piracy...

Maybe find someone to play with who didn't have fangs, throw fireballs, or otherwise want to kill her.

First she had to do some work for newspaper, though. She had enough for the ABC portion of the article anyway, thanks to Anders, and maybe Cally could fill her in some. So she flopped down on her bed to work, keeping thoughts of murders, vampires, promises to demons who wanted to kill witches, witches who might want to resoul vampires, and pretty much everything to do with Kitty Pryde as far from her mind as possible.

It wasn't far, but it was far enough to let her work.

[ooc: Though this post is more intended for mood-setting, door's open, water's fine - particularly for Buffy, Illyana, Bel, or Phoebe. Please ping me first if you want to come by and get in her face. I'm willing, but I'd like to know first.]

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Anakin rapped on the door.

Beka went to the door and cracked it open. Anakin was about the last person she'd expected to see. "Hey, Anakin."

"Hey," he said. He had stopped scuttling from place to place, but he was still hearing students snickering at him, if nowhere else but in his head.

"Haven't had a chance to chat since last weekend, with the"--his hands moved uselessly in the air--"stuff that's been happening."

His eyes were very serious. "I think there was a conversation we didn't get to have at Mr. Phale's store."

"Stuff. Yeah." She grimaced, then waved him in. "C'mon in, sit or pace. Whatever suits you. ~~Annie.~~"

He walked in and flung himself down on a chair. "This week should be pushed out an airlock," he muttered. "All of it."

"I'd go with pushing this entire month out. Why stop at a week?" she said agreeably, still happy with her weekend pass. "What's got you so growly?"

"Angelus," he said shortly, then began ticking points off on his fingers. "Padme going home. Gremlins stealing my damn bell. Fucking cross-dressing in front of half the school." He looked at her. "You not telling me how you'd managed to bruise your own ribs."

"Gremlins stole your bell? I missed that part. Got some nice pictures of the slaying costume though." Beka coughed at Anakin's glower. "Right, ribs. Well, it's kind of a funny story..."

Anakin looked at her. Blinked. "I love how everyone was so concerned for my wellbeing that they immediately went for their cameras rather than someone from the medclinic." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Right. Funny story. Go."

"I was thinking of you, Anakin, really. Figured you'd want proof."

Beka sighed. "OK, it's not a funny story. Not really. I was trying to stop a friend from doing something stupid, and that friend, who wasn't exactly in right mind at the time, tried to throw me off. It was an accident. Plain and simple."

"Suuure you were," Anakin replied.

His eyebrows raised. "You have a friend who's so strong that trying to throw you off bruised your ribs." He glared. "Accident or no, unacceptable."

He stood up and began pacing. "Does this friend have a name?"

"I was. I'll even give them to you," she teased. "For Christmas."

Beka crossed her arms over her chest. "Anakin, you're my friend. Not my keeper. I have another friend. That friend was in a bad way. I helped. I got hurt. End of story."

"Really not necessary," he replied.

"It's really not the end of the story, Beka, and you and I both know it. Friends don't give friends bruises." He stared at her. "At least not where I come from."

Beka didn't back down. "Suppose you were drunk and angry, An. I would get between you and anything you were angry at. Because come morning, you'd hate yourself if you hurt someone. You might easily hurt me, but it wouldn't stop me from trying."

She met his gaze, no anger in her eyes or her tone. "You know me. I'd much rather I got hurt than someone else. Please. I'm asking you to respect that."

"Uh-huh." Anakin was in no way convinced. "There's a difference between being helpful and being foolhardy. I'm fairly certain you leaped over that line. I'm pretty sure you know that, too." He stalked towards the door. "But you obviously don't trust me enough to tell me about it."

Beka sighed. "Anakin. It's not that I don't trust you. I protect my friends. I'd do the same for you." In a heartbeat.

"Don't go. It's been such an awful week already... Please?"

Anakin leaned his head against the door and sighed. It really had been a long week. He turned around and looked into her eyes. "This friend of yours..." his voice went flat. He had no idea who she would think would need protection against him. "Fine. I'll drop it. For now."

He ran a hand through his hair. "I have a bad feeling about all of this. It feels like...darkness." His eyes looked haunted for a brief second before he regained control. "Deception. Anger. None of it good."

Beka smiled, softly, appreciatively. "Come back in, An. I'm a terrible hostess, but I'll get you something if you want it."

He looked so impossibly conflicted. And so hurt. Like she felt. "There is a lot of darkness." She sighed and asked the one question she'd been avoiding all day. "Do you think he did it?"

Anakin looked deeply uncomfortable and didn't move from his spot by the door. "I don't know. I'd like to hope not. Because if I missed something that evil when it sat right in front of me..." he made a face. "I'd be the worst Jedi ever."

Beka frowned at him. "If you're the worst Jedi ever?" She shook her head. "If you're the worst Jedi ever, then they must be impossibly good people."

A long sigh, and then, "I don't believe he did it. Vampire or no, it just doesn't seem like something he'd do. Not here."

Anakin stared at the floor for a long moment. "I hope he didn't do it. I like him. But if he did, justice must be served." He looked very young, and very sad. "Emotions have no place in that."

For the first time since she'd heard the news, Beka allowed herself to think how she'd feel if Angelus had done it.

"I hope so too, Anakin. A lot. Because I really don't want to think about what it would say about me that I... " She looked away. "I just hope he didn't do it."

Anakin looked at his hands. "Obi-Wan said..." He sighed. "Obi-Wan said a lot of things. Especially after the JA meeting." He looked out into the distance. "And we spent a lot of time this weekend discussing darkness. Its appeal. Its power." He stared at Beka. "Its absolute ruthlessness."

Beka nodded, gaze clouding. "It pulls at me so hard sometimes. The darkness. The desire for power."

Breaking away from Anakin's laser gaze, she stared at the floor, the worn rug frayed by so many crossings. "That's what I wanted to see Mr. Phale about." She brought her chin up, almost defiant. "Finding my way. He's an angel."

Moved here. (http://www.livejournal.com/community/fandomhighdorms/272525.html?thread=10122381#t10122381)

"An angel?" Anakin smiled softly. "When I first saw..." He stopped. That wasn't a memory he was willing to share with anyone.

"The darkness, when it's just you and it..." He looked very serious. "Not even an angel can help you then. That's all you. Inner strength. Guides can help, but when it comes down to it, it's your choice." He shuddered and yanked at his braid. "And the fall...it's forever."

Anakin's smile felt good. Like she'd given him something, even if it didn't last long. "Yeah," she said, mouth quirking into a half-smile. "An angel. I know it's up to us to make the choices. I've made plenty of bad ones." Pain and fear flickered in her eyes for a half-second before she brought her emotions under control.

"I'm trying, though. And I thought it might not hurt to have a powerful teacher... you're the one who made me think of it, actually. You and your Jedi training."

Anakin bit back a remark about how his fall might be a little more catastrophic. No need to get into the long history of the Sith and their thing for galactic domination.

"I'm glad it gave you an idea. I might have to stop down there a little more often. Obi-Wan's nagging can only do so much from far away."

Beka was almost sure Anakin was holding something back. She'd been a con as long as he'd been a Padawan, longer, if she remembered what he told her correctly. Still no need to remind him of the things he wanted to know that she wasn't telling.

"Want me to call the next time I'm going? I'd love to have your company. I'd probably learn more with you to ask some questions."

Anakin nodded. "Sounds like a plan." He reached for the door knob. "I have to head down to Caritas before taking my shift at SafeWalk, so I better be heading out."

"Little Bunny Foo-Foo wasn't enough of a singing career for you?" Beka grinned. "I'd go just to see it if I didn't have a Weekend Pass and plans to go flying."

Cally knocks on Beka's door, smiling happily.

"Hey, you in?"

After Anakin left, Beka began packing up her stuff for the trip. She was surprised to hear another knock at the door, but she went to it.

Cally! "Hey, you!" She pulled Cally through the door and into a hug. "I thought I was never going to see you alone again."

"Hey," Cally says as she hugs Beka back. "Anders and I aren't actually attached at the hip, you know."

She peers over Beka's shoulder. "You goin' somewhere?"

"I know. I actually talked to him without you in Study Hall today," Beka teased.

"Yeah." Brightness sparkled in Beka's eyes. "Yeah. I got a Weekend Pass, so I can come and go as I please for 48 hours. I'm going flying."

"Awesome! This means you could show me your ship... wait, frak, I'm busy tonight actually. D'oh. And sorry, as much as I really, really want to see your ship, Official Date Night totally takes priority here." Cally bites her lip and shrugs. "Really awesome you get to go out and about, though. You must be really excited!"

"See? Anders gets preference." Beka mock-pouted. "It's OK. I'll probably come back tomorrow morning and then leave again. Maybe you can come flying for a bit tomorrow. Not sure if the pass covers you, but it would work. Time's different out there."

Since it was only Cally, Beka didn't bother making a fuss. She just slipped out of the shirt she had on and put on a black turtleneck. "I can't wait. I miss it a lot. And, omg, do I need it."

"Oh?" Cally scratches her forehead. "Been having a rough week? We've not really had the chance to talk, so, I guess I've been kinda the worst Best Friend ever, lately."

She scuffs the floor with her toe. "Erm... anything you want to talk about? Or will it ruin this awesome happy mood, cause I really don't want to do that, either."

Beka smiled at Cally. "Pumpkin, you're the best best friend ever, really. I've been busy too."

She patted the bed. "Come, sit. Tell me what's up with you. I don't want to talk about the bad stuff. I'm leaving to get away from it for awhile."

Cally plops down on the edges of the bed and shrugs. "Well, let's see... I'm TA for Shop class now. That's kinda fun. Erm, I'm part of a three-way partnership in a really awesome repair business. Oh, and then there's the whole me and Anders thing that kinda takes up most of my time, now. And most of the hours I'd normally be sleeping." She blushes a little, and scratches the back of her head. "If you know what I mean."

Beka sat down next to her. "I knew about the business, silly. I'm supposed to interview you. So you should tell me about that maybe. But first, you wanted to talk about 'stuff'."

Beka grinned. "Stuff have anything to do with not sleeping?"

"Oh, that stuff... Heh. Yeah. Definitely has to do with the not sleeping. I was kinda hoping you might..." she fidgets a little, blushing again. "Hoping you might have a few... pointers, you know?"

Beka cocked her head at Cally, smiling. "What sort of pointers, Pumpkin?"

Cally fidgets a little more. "Well, you're like... more experienced than me, you know? I was hoping you might have ideas on how I could make it more... special."

Special? Sex? "What kind of special do you mean?" Beka turned her head to look at Cally. "Like kinky? Or like...connected and intimate and stuff. Because really? I'm much better at the first."

"Oh, like... the latter, actually. Not really so sure about the first. But it might be nice to surprise Anders, I guess." Cally fidgets a little more.

Beka ran a hand through her bangs and blew out a long sigh. It was hard to think about sex. Especially loving sex - since, she could count the times that had happened on one hand - in the midst of all the chaos that was Angelus and Kitty Pryde. But for Cally...

"Have you tried making the setting special? Candlelight, music? Setting the mood first can help."

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South Attic, Early afternoon: after Study Hall

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Post-Anakin, but Pre-Math Class

Re: Post-Anakin, but Pre-Math Class

Re: Post-Anakin, but Pre-Math Class

Re: Post-Anakin, but Pre-Math Class

Re: Post-Anakin, but Pre-Math Class

Re: Post-Anakin, but Pre-Math Class

Re: Post-Anakin, but Pre-Math Class

Re: Post-Anakin, but Pre-Math Class

Re: Post-Anakin, but Pre-Math Class

Re: Post-Anakin, but Pre-Math Class

Re: Post-Anakin, but Pre-Math Class

Re: Post-Anakin, but Pre-Math Class

Re: Post-Anakin, but Pre-Math Class

Re: Post-Anakin, but Pre-Math Class

Re: Post-Anakin, but Pre-Math Class

Re: Post-Anakin, but Pre-Math Class