The Perk, Saturday afternoon

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

Plus side: when Anakin woke up in his office, he knew where he was.

Minus side: He had no idea what he was doing in a teacher's office and so bolted out of there before Principal Washburn could discover him. He went into town for recon--he couldn't feel the people he normally could, and it was really, really bothering him.

Lightsaber at his hip, Padawan braid over his shoulder and a pinched look on his face, Anakin stalked through the park and ended up at the coffee shop where he demanded coffee: black. Like his mood.

[OOC: Behold Anakin and all of his 2006 glory. Open!]

Comments

[saddeserthermit]

Obi-Wan had a communicator full of distressed messages from Ahsoka, and Anakin had not felt right that morning. Or rather, his Force presence had given Obi-Wan a constant sense of déjà-vu that left him with an epic headache - and a desire to hunt down his missing former Padawan.

He stepped into the Perk. Stopped. And sighed.

"Of course."

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

"Master?!" Anakin stood up, looking shocked. "What are you doing here?"

[saddeserthermit]

"Anakin," Obi-Wan echoed mildly. "You look... young."

Was he dodging the question? Duh.

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

Anakin glared a little at him. "I'm not young! I'm 17!"

So there, Obi-Wan.

[snipsnspecks]

Once they'd gotten to the dorms, Ahsoka had managed to get Caleb settled relatively easily, mostly because he was pretty much dead on his feet, and started sending messages. A lot of messages. In fact she was composing one right now very politely suggesting he check his kriffing comm even as she tracked down his Force presence.

She hit send right before she caught sight of him and stared. "...Master?"

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

Anakin glanced behind himself, looking for a Master. "Me?"

[snipsnspecks]

Yes, him. "Master?" Ahsoka repeated. "Why are you...?"

Maybe the stress was getting to her.

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

"I'm not a Master," Anakin said, eyes huge. "I'm not even a proper Jedi yet."

[saddeserthermit]

"Yes," Obi-Wan sighed, at low volume and a little bit later. "You see what I've been dealing with."

[snipsnspecks]

Oh, thank the Force, Obi-Wan was old.

"Why is Anakin?" she said before pulling herself together, because there was something more important right now.

"I found Master Billaba's Padawan." Ahsoka gestured in Caleb's direction. "Caleb with the questions? It's only been a few days for him."

[saddeserthermit]

"I see," Obi-Wan said, heaved another sigh, and then shook his head. "Apparently something has turned some of us back into children."

A pause.

"Where did you find him?"

[uncertain_dume]

Caleb had slept last night. Actually slept! In a bed! After eating! Food! That he hadn't scrounged from a dumpster!

... But he was still lost and dazed and more than a little traumatized, to say the least. So he wasn't about to let Ahsoka get too far out of his sight if he could at all help it. He shuffled into the Perk not far behind her, and then oozed into a seat and just kind of stared blankly at the pastry display. His thoughts were working on catching up to the situation, please hold.

[saddeserthermit]

And that... was most certainly Padawan Dume, as Obi-Wan most vividly remembered him. He sank into a seat opposite the boy, somewhat composed now that the first shock had passed. "Padawan Dume," he greeted gently. "Hello."

[uncertain_dume]

Caleb's gaze snapped to Obi-Wan, his eyes wide in... Shock? Relief? Maybe shame. There was at least a hint of shame in there, behind the rest of it.

He'd been told to run. Caleb had listened. Master Billaba was dead.

He should have stayed to fight alongside her.

"Master Kenobi?"

And then, for what was possibly the first time in his life, Padawan Caleb Dume sat there trying to figure out what to say.

It was getting increasingly difficult to not just start crying and be done with it.

[saddeserthermit]

"Yes."

Obi-Wan affected the calmest tone he could think of, and accompanied it with a little nudge in the Force filled with much the same calm, and some comfort. "I see you've already found Ahsoka. Good." A pause. "Are you all right?"

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

"I didn't know there were so many other Padawans here," Anakin commented with a little frown.

He'd liked being special, all right?

[uncertain_dume]

"That makes two of--" Please excuse the traumatized kid, Anakin. He didn't mean to just kind of stop and gape at you, but, well... "Uh."

Ahsoka had warned him about weird time things. She didn't mention a Master Skywalker who was maybe a couple of years older than him at best.

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

Anakin blinked at him, visibly impatient. "Something I can help you with?"

[snipsnspecks]

By some miracle they'd actually had some caf today, so Ahsoka brought over two mugs as well as a large plate of pastries.

Making sure Caleb had food was much easier on her brain than dealing with Anakin right now.

[uncertain_dume]

Yeah, Caleb had so idea what to make of Anakin, himself. Ahsoka made sense. Master Kenobi made sense. Anakin... Did not make sense.

Of course, the smell of the caf was an excellent distraction. And the pastries had him stomach growling pretty emphatically. He practically dove on them, but at least he managed a "Thank you," before doing so. Progress!

[snipsnspecks]

To be fair, Ahsoka hadn't expected Anakin to be that obvious an example of time weirdness, though between that and some of what Obi-Wan had said, she'd finally managed to figure out a few things.

But that was a conversation that would wait until she could have it with Kanan.

"You're welcome," she said, clinging to that normalcy and snagging a flaky pastry layered with meat and cheese for herself.

[solo_sword]

Stillon a mission, Jaina had too much time just waiting in a queue to be given clearance to land on a planet, so she got bored and picked up her phone.

Anything interesting going on?

[Hell no I'm not missing this.]

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

Anakin stared at his comm for a long moment before writing back:

Who are you?

[solo_sword]

Jaina frowned.

Jaina. Did you get a new phone?

Did people usually get 'new phone, who dis'-ed by their grandparents?

[emo-padawan.livejournal.com]

Anakin looked at the comm. It did look updated.

I guess?