The Perk [all morning]

[sith_happened]

Anakin was in the back corner of the Perk, holding the World's Largest Cup of black coffee between his hands and staring at the snow outside.

Maybe his arrival had gone unnoticed and he could have a quiet morning by himself to acclimate.

[OOC: But of course I'm not expecting that to happen. Chat away!]

Bent - Matchbox Twenty

Comments

[bruiser-in-pink.livejournal.com]

Molly frowned. "He said I had 'an attitude' or something," she said with a roll of her eyes. "But he totally started it!"

[sith_happened]

"I'm sure he did," Anakin said. "Evil overlords tend to be...a bit twitchy."

He took a sip from his mug. "How have you been?"

[bruiser-in-pink.livejournal.com]

"Pretty good!" Molly said. "We went to a cheerleading competition this weekend and we won! It was so much fun!" Even if... stuff didn't actually let me play a lot.

It was only then that she realized she didn't have a drink. She looked confused for a moment. "I had some hot chocolate, didn't I?" She turned to look back at the counter and caught the glare of the employee now cleaning up her dropped cup. "Oops! I'll be right back," she told Anakin with a blush and went to go apologize and buy another hot chocolate.

She returned to Anakin's table quickly and sat down. "So, um, yeah. Cheerleading."

[sith_happened]

"How do you compete in cheerleading?" Anakin asked curiously. "Measure for height in the air you can throw people?"

[bruiser-in-pink.livejournal.com]

Molly giggled. "Kind of," she said. "We put together a routine and we get points on the difficulty and how well we perform it. We did impress the judges with our throwing skills though. What with me and Pippi, Buffy and Alec on the team"

[sith_happened]

Anakin let out a low whistle. "Anyone still in orbit?" he teased. "I didn't see them when I was coming in last night."

[bruiser-in-pink.livejournal.com]

"Ha ha," Molly said distinctly. "We practiced enough so that that wouldn't happen."

[sith_happened]

Anakin smiled again. "Good to hear. Did the other competitors run in terror at the mighty Gremlins?"

[bruiser-in-pink.livejournal.com]

Molly waved her hand dismissively. "Some of them thought they could intimidate us, if you can believe that."

[sith_happened]

Anakin gave her a deeply skeptical look. "A school that has dealt with zombies? Please. We could eat cheerleaders for breakfast. Hell, for some of our students, that might be a balanced meal."

[bruiser-in-pink.livejournal.com]

Molly laughed. "Totally. They didn't even know what they were up against."

[sith_happened]

"The Gremlins," Anakin deadpanned. "The mighty, mighty Gremlins."

Smiling, he asked, "Speaking of which, is Hamlet still a cheerleader?"

[bruiser-in-pink.livejournal.com]

Molly nodded. "He is! Amazing, huh?" She grinned.

[sith_happened]

"Very," Anakin said, the slightest trace of his old humor back in his eyes.

"Anything else I should hear about?" he asked.

[bruiser-in-pink.livejournal.com]

Molly thought for a moment about what might interest Anakin. "Your swoop bike is still in one piece, I've met your son, all of my classes are interesting-- even Ethics-- and I'm dating a boy named Ray."

[sith_happened]

Too many choices..."Ray, huh?" Anakin finally settled on. "Does he make you smile?"

Woe be it on Ray if the answer was no.

[bruiser-in-pink.livejournal.com]

The long answer to that was complicated, but the short answer was simple.

"Yes, he does," Molly said, smiling.

[sith_happened]

Anakin smiled back. "Sorry," he apologized belatedly. "It's easy to fall back into old habits."

[bruiser-in-pink.livejournal.com]

Molly looked at Anakin, noting the changes: his hair, his face. His eyes. Her gaze settled on the scar.

"It's looks you've had other things to worry about," she said gently. "I'm surprised you'd even want to go back to worrying about me."

[sith_happened]

"You're Molly," he replied, and to Anakin that was actually a reason. "It'll be a nice change to focus on something that's not me."

[bruiser-in-pink.livejournal.com]

Molly blushed a little. "You don't need to worry about me so much, you know."

[sith_happened]

Anakin gave her a small smile. "I can stop if you'd prefer..."

[bruiser-in-pink.livejournal.com]

Molly tilted her head and thought about it a bit. "Well, I guess it couldn't hurt if you worried about me a little," she said with a grin.

[sith_happened]

"Then I'll just keep doing it," he said. "As a teacher now."

[bruiser-in-pink.livejournal.com]

Molly couldn't help it, she stood up and went around the table to hug him again. "I'll put up with anything if you promise to stay," she said.