Office hours- Thursday

[solo_sword]

As usual with vacations, Jaina had had to be talked into going on the trip next week. It helped that things were quiet enough at home for everyone to be doing their own thing, true. So today, since she didn't have a class to plan, she was doing her research online to find out some things about where they were going and how they were getting there.

And if she kept checking her comm as if waiting for a message that she was needed at home instead, well, old habits died really, really hard.


[Open, with SP!]

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[nonelikemesince.livejournal.com]

Anakin still had to stop by the weapons locker on his way out, but he had a small bag over his shoulder when he stopped by a little past midday.

"Hi," he said, sticking his head through the doorway. "I'm heading home for a bit. I just thought you'd want to know."

See, some people in their family thought about things like checking in, Mom and Dad.

[solo_sword]

"You were right," Jaina said. "Wait, are you leaving now?"

[nonelikemesince.livejournal.com]

"Uh huh," Anakin replied, nodding. "I know, there's the spring break trip coming up. I may be back in time. Who knows?"

Who ever did, with them, really?

[solo_sword]

"You've got like three days," she told him. "Is something going on?"

[nonelikemesince.livejournal.com]

Anakin shrugged. "Reports of a possible Yuuzhan Vong spy. Uncle Luke wants me to go with Aunt Mara and check it out. It shouldn't take that long."

[solo_sword]

"We always say that," Jaina said. "I do hope you get back in time, though." Especially since she didn't know from that what he was heading into.

[nonelikemesince.livejournal.com]

And they always managed to jinx themselves by saying it, too, or at least a good percentage of the time.

"I could end up having just as much fun at home as I would on some boat," Anakin pointed out (it wasn't quite insistent enough to be arguing).

[solo_sword]

"Different kind of fun," she told him, because she knew better than to insist he'd have fun.

[nonelikemesince.livejournal.com]

"Nobody ever specified which kind," Anakin countered. Don't look so smug about that, Anakin.

[solo_sword]

"Because you'd find some way to argue it either way," Jaina told him.

[nonelikemesince.livejournal.com]

See what the narrative meant about the smugness? "You know me too well," he pretended to complain.

[solo_sword]

"Yeah, well, how long have I been dealing with you?" She wasn't about to say how long she hadn't been dealing with him.

[nonelikemesince.livejournal.com]

Good call, Jaina. "Not long enough," Anakin decided. "Maybe I'll send messages to bug you constantly the whole time I'm back home."

[solo_sword]

"You should. It'll keep me from getting bored." And she got bored easily. Plus then it'd be like she was checking up without checking up.

[nonelikemesince.livejournal.com]

Would it be cheating if he came up with a bunch of messages in advance and then rigged his comm to automatically transmit them to her every so often like a Tumblr queue?

"Nothing going on at home for you?" Anakin asked, frowning slightly.

[solo_sword]

"It's disturbingly quiet," she complained, sort of. "Everyone's off doing their own thing, Jag's busy, Zekk's out of contact, so there's not much for me to do back there."

And it was weird to think that after six years of doing everything with Zekk, she'd be on her own when she did go back. Huh.

[nonelikemesince.livejournal.com]

Anakin shook his head. "I know it hasn't been that long, for me anyway, but it feels like it's been so long since things have been quiet that I forget what it's like," he admitted.

[solo_sword]

"Yeah. Wars- especially this one- get to be a little... all-encompassing."

Said she who hadn't been able to let go of that war even a little while it was going on...

[nonelikemesince.livejournal.com]

"Even when I'm here, I keep looking at everything to see if there's some kind of new idea or solution here that no one at home's thought of yet." Anakin smiled slightly. "I'm just glad Yavin's safe, so far."

[solo_sword]

Oh, sweet summer child.

"I get it. I did the same thing," she said. "Trying to figure that stuff out helps."

[nonelikemesince.livejournal.com]

Hey. He did say 'so far.' Way to jinx it, Anakin.

"Did it help you keep from climbing the walls some days?" he asked.

[solo_sword]

She nodded. "Especially as I got more involved in things- not to spoil anything. It helped to feel like I was doing something to help, even if I had to be stuck here."

[nonelikemesince.livejournal.com]

"As if I'd expect anything less from you," Anakin said, seriously. (Which was his default mode, granted.)

And, not to ask for spoilers, but he did want to know: "Did you ever find anything that helped?"

[solo_sword]

She considered it, and said, "Validation? After a while of obsessing over it, I started making a real difference. And knowing that everyone back home was spinning their wheels just as hard as I was and where I was didn't really matter on that front."

[nonelikemesince.livejournal.com]

Anakin wasn't really sure what to say to that; on one hand, it made him feel better to know that he wasn't the only one getting nowhere. On the other, all the baggage that came with his name and family reputation had left him saddled with unrealistic expectations for himself, and he felt like he should be finding the things they weren't.

So instead, he dropped his bag on the floor and went over to give her a hug. "Thanks. That's plenty to think about on the trip."

[solo_sword]

"I want updates, I okay?" Jaina said, hugging him back. "Especially if you're not back before the trip."

[nonelikemesince.livejournal.com]

"You'll get them," Anakin promised. Real ones, too, not canned ones for auto-transmission. "Who knows? You might not get any news more interesting than how Fiver's new programming turned out."

Famous last words.