Oh so conviently NFB clearing in the woods [morning]

[emo_padawan]

Anakin woke up with a small groan, reaching out to touch his swollen face

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[auroryborealis]

Rory woke a few moments later, flinging an arm out to snug around him and coming up empty.

She blinked sleepily and pulled the blanket around her more. "What are you doing?"

Then she caught sight of some wavy blonde hair out the corner of her eye and began to softly headpillow as she remembered.

[emo_padawan]

"Building a place to live," Anakin said, coming back into view.

Well, sort of in view. There was a giant pile of sticks floating in front of his face.

[auroryborealis]

"I thought you didn't want to sleep on sticks," she murmured, pulling the blanket over her head.

[emo_padawan]

"I'll deal," Anakin muttered. "I don't want to see other people a lot more."

[auroryborealis]

"I know for a fact you weren't," Rory said with a tiny smile.

[emo_padawan]

"Other than Parker?" Anakin amended.

[auroryborealis]

"...well, Sam and Charlie are friends, but what about Dean and Ivanova?" Rory pointed out.

[emo_padawan]

"I'm not sure they even know each other," Anakin said, frowning. "But I bet they didn't wake up wondering if gargling with bleach might be worth it."

[auroryborealis]

"You can meditate in your nice, air-conditioned room," she wheedled.

[emo_padawan]

He kissed her on the nose. "Outside for a while first," he decided, "but I'll scrap the plans of becoming a crazy hermit, okay?"

[auroryborealis]

Rory sighed. "Should I even be here?" she asked, annoyed. "Or is my presence going to distract you?"

[emo_padawan]

"Stay," Anakin murmured, eyes serious. "You're...soothing."

He bit his lip. "But I understand if you're tired of dealing with me."

[auroryborealis]

Rory concentrated on his words and stayed quiet, focusing on her breathing.

She let go of the frustration and annoyance she was feeling, especially towards him and his...hut.

And she tried to force any and all thoughts of her humiliation the day prior, but that was slightly more difficult.

[emo_padawan]

Anakin, for his part, had reached into the Force, focusing on his connection to the universe around him--the thousands of ways everything connected to everything else and his place in it.

His voice was tentative in Rory's head. Want to see how I see the world? he asked.

[auroryborealis]

Yes, she answered softly. Can I?

[emo_padawan]

Anakin smiled and lowered the barriers he erected around his thoughts and emotions as a matter of course, then showed Rory a glimpse of the world the way he saw it as he meditated--strands of light connecting everything to everything else.

She could also see the way that Anakin's emotions colored his view of her: in his mind, she glowed.

[auroryborealis]

"I don't get it," she said.

[emo_padawan]

"Don't get what?" Anakin asked.

[auroryborealis]

"How can there be the Force and something else at work?" She sighed. "Furthermore, how can there be anything spiritual at work? It defies everything I believe about...just about everything."

[emo_padawan]

Anakin shrugged. "From what I've been taught, and I have to warn you that I was never big on the philosophy classes, the various deities were a way for beings to explain the Force. To define things that they saw as mysterious and didn't have a name for. God, the Great Orb of Destiny, whatever--it was a search to find greater meaning, to not feel so incredibly alone, to believe that there is more than just what you can feel with your normal senses."