#priorities

[t65]

Who: Anakin Skywalker sandhate & Luke Skywalker crudematter
Broadcast: nah
Action: On the Paisley probably. ISKAULIT whoops.
When: The literal second the latest shuffle happened.

[Luke doesn't actually know where his father is. Most people would text them to figure it out. Luke sits down and closes his eyes. A few minutes later, he has... a feeling. A feeling's enough.]

[A little while later, he's managed to get his butt on the Paisley. He doesn't know what the ship's called, of course, but he can sense through the Force that this is where his father is. He finds his Father's quarters and gently knocks on the door.]

Father?

Comments

[t65]

[Oh, good, another easy answer.]

[Luke does his utmost to be kind to all people, not hold grudges, be forgiving and believe the best of everyone he meets. He thinks it's his duty as a Jedi, and the least he can do to even the scales, having so much powers where others don't. It's kind. It's what his aunt and uncle would have wanted. It's what he wants.]

[Just, not for Palpatine.]

No, dead. You killed him, it- it saved my life.

[He hopes that will, in some way, reassure his father against future trespasses. You can always come back from the edge-- from the abyss, even.]

[sandhate]

[ Hope. He doesn't know how to suppress the sudden surge of it and he doesn't bother to. Even if there's a sadden thought in the back of his mind, that it took hurting his son to make that happen, it doesn't compare to the desperation he has for that hope.

Outwardly, Anakin breathes deeply. ]

Good.

[ He rubs his hand over his eyes. Had he just say that? Palpatine was his friend a month ago. He changes the subject abruptly so to avoid it. ]

How did you get the holo of me and Padme? We never took one.

[t65]

[Luke can feel the hope, and it continues to bolster his spirits. He smiles fondly, and that makes the record scratch of a question he can't answer even more obvious. He was hoping to wait a few months before having to explain the CDC. Things are too complicated right now to begin another story.]

[He scratches the back of his neck.] I, uh. Found it in a pawn shop. There were a lot of strange things there. [He's still not sure how he feels about that Authentic Luke Skywalker Rancor Skull he saw.] You really never took any holos?

[He sounds very genuinely sad about that.]

[sandhate]

[ He frowns, suspicion growing. He's not sure what kind of pawn shop fabricates things from thin air. While he ruminates on that, he answers Luke's question. A repeated conversation but he doesn't mind. ]

No. Our marriage was a secret. If it came out to the public, my life as a Jedi would be over and Padme's work would be tarnished by "An Affair with a Jedi". We couldn't have any solid evidence that we were together.

[ He doesn't look happy about it but he dismiss it with a wave ] That holo and finding it in a pawn shop... It's not possible. It shouldn't even exist.

[t65]

[Luke listens, quietly and sadly. He wants to ask more about that-- why can't Jedi marry, when, to him, love is such an important part of being a Jedi?-- but he's not sure his father would tell him.]

[Maybe he'll ask someone else.]

It was... a strange place. There were many things that shouldn't have existed. There was something signed by me, when I'd never signed it. [Now he's nervous, and it gets him rambling.] I wasn't even sure it was her, I just recognized you...

[sandhate]

[ Maybe he should ask his father. ]

[ Anakin thinks on what Luke says for a moment. There isn't a lie in there but why is he getting that spike of nervousness from him. He cross his arms. ]

I see you're familiar with telling certain truths. Did Obi-Wan teach you that?

[ Redundant question. He speaks before Luke gets a word in. He's not happy about it but he's had enough truths lately. ]

I'm sure you have your reasons.

[t65]

[Luke should have expected that-- Anakin Skywalker was Ben's old friend and pupil, after all; they must have known each other very well-- but he wasn't, and it brings him up short. His shock is obvious through the Force, obvious from his face, and he'd stumble if he wasn't seated.]

[He doesn't have any defense or backup plans. Maybe with someone else, he'd be able to think something up, but with his father- Luke sputters-] I- I didn't- I- what didn't he say? [No, no, that's not-] I'm sorry, that's none of my... [He shakes his head, and takes a moment to regain his composure.]

[With a sigh,] I think I've proven I'm no good at lying. I was going to tell you that eventually, but everything's been so chaotic... not even Leia knows. I don't know. I am sorry, Father. [He look up to meet his father's eye.]

[sandhate]

[ He shakes his head to brush off Luke's apology but his frown, tinged with disappointment, doesn't go away. ]

Don't worry about it.

[ He's not the first time he's been lied to and he's getting quite familiar with it. But saying that would just be whining at that point. ]

It's not an interrogation. I don't want to pressure you to answering anything you don't want to say.

[ He changes the subject before Luke calls him father again. ]

How's your hand?

[ Note that he's not asking how Luke got the prosthetic ]

[t65]

[Luke doesn't know what to do about the disappointment. It seems to clash with everything he's ever expected, ever wanted from this scenario, but then, hasn't he learned by now that expectation never matches up with reality? Especially where family's concerned.]

[He just says,] I'll tell you one day, [and lets it drop.]

[He looks down at his hand. The burn in the back of the synthskin has ripped, slightly, and spare wires coil out. He's cut most of the power reserved for feeling, meaning the wires no longer spark, but it's made other functions jerky and irregular.] It could be worse. There are probably supplies to repair it on the station.

[sandhate]

[ He's not sure he wants to know. Luke might be his son but the mistrust and paranoia infesting him lately, in others and in himself, has taken a hold. He's not sure if he wants to hear anymore from the people from the future.

Luckily for Luke, he still as his Jedi belt on him. He unclips a pouch and hands it over, quite literally grabs Luke's flesh hand and shoves it in. ]

It's my tools for fixing my mechno-arm. Take it, do your repairs. You can return it to me when you're done.

[t65]

[Luke accepts the loan with barely-hidden reverence; it's the sort of thing he'd always imagined fathers and sons doing. Except repairing droids and speeders, not prosthetics, and helping each other, not loaning tools, but... he'll take what he can get.]

Thank you, Father. [He tucks it away carefully.] I... do have a question, though. Your arm, why didn't you ever put synthskin on it? Or did you not have access to any...? [Why would someone want it to look obviously robotic?]

[sandhate]

[ Weird kid.







Son of a hutt, this is his kid. Anakin sighs and his brow wrinkles slightly. ]

Because that would be pretending. I lost my arm in a duel against a Sith Lord. Having synthskin to pretend I didn't fail then would be like saying I didn't accept a lost for what it was, an opportunity to be better. And it's a cosmetic luxury. I know it'll never be my own arm, why pretend it could be.

[t65]

[Luke considers this with a faint smile. He loves his father's legacy, but this is something Luke can't hold himself to. He stares at his hand, covered quite clearly in synthskin.]

I just don't like scaring people. [He chuckles softly.] Or being asked the same question over and over. [How did you lose it?]

[He stands slowly, having guessed by their traded questions that the meeting is over. He doesn't want to crowd the man.] Thank you for seeing me, Father. [As though this were Luke's idea in the first place.]

[sandhate]

Maybe those people aren't worth it.

[ He holds up a hand, stopping Luke from going. He wants to ask that question, how he lost the hand that he obviously is self-conscious over but he hesitates in asking. Maybe he'll ask Leia; there's no way Luke's sister would lie about such a thing, even if she doesn't like him. ]

Luke, before you go, I think you should know you're not ...obligated to call me that.

[ He means father; because if it's uncomfortable to hear it, maybe Luke just feels obligated to say it. ]

[t65]

'Those people' are mostly children. [Luke says with obvious fondness. It isn't as though he was the only person with a missing limb in the Rebel Fleet, after all.]

Oh, I know, I... [This realization dawns on him for the first time, in slow motion and possibly technicolor.] Would you prefer I call you something else? [Look, here, he'll try to be accommodating,] ...Anakin? [Oh god that was so awkward it was like pulling teeth.]

[sandhate]

[ He stares at Luke for a moment, his mouth does a weird smile that's half way a pull to distaste and the other to sympathy. The ultimate "you tried" smile. ]

I think you could trust your instincts on that one. I'll leave it to you.

[ He relaxes from his rigid pose and curtly nods to Luke as a way of goodbye. That's as good as it's going to get for now. Anakin steps calmly out of the meditation room, his pace increasing as he goes.

Son of a hutt, fatherhood is dumb. ]