The park [Sunday night]

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

Four hours in the gym wasn't enough to calm him down.

Meditation had been a complete waste of time.

He stalked through town, the last thing Drusilla had said to him echoing in his mind. "Rage. Anger. Fury. The moon grows dark as night. Dark as your soul."

He shook his head. "Nothing is certain," he whispered out loud.

He just wished he could believe it. Wished he could forget the anger that had rushed though him--the way he had used that emotion to throw Drusilla with enough force to knock down a wall.

Wished he didn't feel guilty that dropping a wall on Drusilla still hadn't been enough to kill her.

He walked towards the duck pond lost in thought.

Comments

[lesssexthanmiho.livejournal.com]

A light flickered in the dark, followed by a stream of smoke as Becky stepped out of the shadows, arms crossed as she took a drag on her cigarette.

She tilted her head, watching the boy curiously.

Weird haircut. Probably a monk or something. Goldie'd have a field day.

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

Anakin spun, his hand going to his lightsaber.

"Rory?" he asked. "What are you doing out here?"

[lesssexthanmiho.livejournal.com]

Becky sighed.

"Not Rory," she said, sauntering a little closer and allowing more light to fall on her. "I mean, honestly. I don't understand how people keep confusing us."

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

Anakin blinked for a good minute before he could come up with something remotely coherent to say.

He gestured uselessly with his hands. "The resemblance is, um, striking," he finally stammered.

[lesssexthanmiho.livejournal.com]

"No, really?" Becky asked, approaching closer and taking another drag on her cigarette. "You'd think the color thing'd tip people off. If not the whole thing where I dress better."

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

"It's definitely different," Anakin replied diplomatically. "I'm Anakin." He ran a hand through his hair. "And I'm normally better at recognizing my friends. It's been a long couple of weeks."

[lesssexthanmiho.livejournal.com]

"Becky," she replied, looking bored. "Are you a monk?"

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

Anakin came fairly close to stomping his boot on the ground. "As a matter of fact, one of my teachers is little and green," he shot back. "He's also 850 years old and one of the best fighters I've ever seen."

[lesssexthanmiho.livejournal.com]

Once again with the pitying look.

"Right. Sure."

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

"I'm not lying," Anakin said, yanking on his braid in frustration. "And I'm not crazy. I'm from another planet and I'm training to be a diplomatic monk with superpowers."

He figured mentioning that he was also spoken of in prophecy might not make him sound less insane.

[lesssexthanmiho.livejournal.com]

"Right," Becky nodded. "Sure you aren't. You don't seem to be a dangerous person, in any case. Just a little touched. Nothing wrong with that."

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

Anakin stared at her. "You don't think I'm dangerous?" He ran a hand through his hair. "You might be one of the first beings I've ever met who didn't look at me like I was an armed missile heading for a school full of younglings."

He gave her a wry smile. "Well, you and Rory."

[lesssexthanmiho.livejournal.com]

Becky raised a brow. "You like her, don't you?"

She didn't wait for an answer before continuing on. "I don't see a gun. You're not that big." She shrugged again. "Then again, I guess you could be carrying concealed. I mean, I'd bet you're not afraid of me. Most people aren't. And that's how people wind up dead." She smiled sweetly.

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

"Just because she doesn't go around throwing knives at people doesn't make her passive," Anakin replied quickly. "There are other ways to solve differences, after all. Like, say, not throwing knives."

Yeah, he's a little upset about that.

[lesssexthanmiho.livejournal.com]

"Right," Becky said, examining her nails. "Try living where I used to. See how people like it when you try to talk out your differences and play nice."

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

"But Rory didn't live where you lived," Anakin argued. "She lived in Connecticut where apparently people don't need violence to solve their problems." He shrugged. "Which would be nice."

[lesssexthanmiho.livejournal.com]

"See, I just offered you an out in the conversation, and yet you continue to talk about little Rory." Becky shook her head. "You completely like her. How cute. Were you ever a rabbit?"

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

Anakin's cheeks went red. "Of course I like her. She's a good friend. And I've never been a rabbit."

[lesssexthanmiho.livejournal.com]

"God, you probably think you're in love with her or something," Becky muttered. "No rabbit, then? Squirrel? Chipmunk?"

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

"Well she's still around somewhere," Anakin replied. "Throwing her through a wall didn't kill her."

His fists clenched. "More fun?" he asked carefully. "You're kidding, right? He tried to kill..." he trailed off. "People I know. He did kill a student I went to school with. He was evil. Not fun."

[lesssexthanmiho.livejournal.com]

"You threw her through a wall?" Becky asked curiously. "Impressive."

"He was fun with me. Sure, he hurt people. The girl who died was in the wrong place at the wrong time," she said, crossing her arms. "It happens."

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

"The girl who died was fourteen years old," Anakin snapped back. "And he killed her because he thought it was fun."

He shuddered slightly, remembering the voice on Logan's iPod. "Angelus was evil. No mitigating circumstances. No 'but he seemed like a really nice guy.' No," he gave Becky an appraising look, "'he was really good in bed.' Evil. Full stop."

He met Becky's gaze full on. "And yeah, I threw her through a wall." He dropped his eyes. "She made me angry."

[lesssexthanmiho.livejournal.com]

"Hmm." Becky shrugged. "It happens. Death happens. Killing happens. But he's boring now and there's nothing to do about that." She rolled her eyes at him. "And am I supposed to be offended that you picked up why I had a good time with him? It doesn't take a genius, given things."

"Are you like, the Hulk or something?" she asked curiously, eyeing him.

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

"Angel who's not out killing other beings is a definite improvement over Angelus. You'll just have to deal with him being boring," Anakin said. He rolled his eyes back. "And like I give a damn how you make a living."

He leaned against a tree. "What's a Hulk?" he asked.

[lesssexthanmiho.livejournal.com]

"And I will deal," Becky replied, amused. "There was an odd guy who came into the Sin a little while ago, telling me how much he misses Angelus." She smiled. "But I'm not stupid. I don't want him back."

"A guy who got very big and strong when he was angry," she added in response to his question. "I could see some people have delusions like that."