Video

[darkforcerising]

[The image is shaky as Anakin props the phone up. Once it's in the right spot Anakin steps back until he's in view about waist high on up.

He looks really excited.]

So get this! I noticed I was moving my pen on my desk with my mind yesterday at work! So all last night and all this morning I've been practicing this.

[He lifts up his left hand - real hand - and he's holding a tennis ball. At first, but then he opens his fingers and the ball slowly rises, when it's about six inches about his hand, it starts spinning slowly on a tilted axis like a mini-planet.]

It totally my mind- see-

[The ball pauses its spin and drops to Anakin's hand. He takes it with his right hand and the ball repeats its maneuver. Rising and then spinning on a tilted axis- though this time it's spinning in the opposite direction from before.]

Comments

[darkforcerising]

"Ya," Anakin nodded, smiling. "After seeing that- there really wasn't anything else that compared. From then on I wanted to be a pilot. My mom did her best to help me achieve that."

His smile fell a bit then. "...Then I screwed it all up."

[neverjedi]

He instinctively and immediately wants to protest the idea of Anakin screwing it up, but he doesn't. "How do you think you screwed it up?"

[darkforcerising]

Anakin gave Ben a pained look. Because it was quite obvious.

"I crashed," he sighed. "Lost my arm. Medically discharged. Can't fly... currently, but I can only get a personal license. No more career. And it's not like I'll ever have enough money to own my own plane."

[neverjedi]

"Does your therapist know you see the crash as a screw-up?" He was pretty gentle in asking it, but there wasn't really anything in his tone to indicate that he was kind of horrified by that view.

[darkforcerising]

"I'm pretty sure I can characterize my mistakes how I want to," Anakin said. "Any way you look at it, it's a screw-up. There's no fixing it. I can't glue my arm back on, re-enlist, get my post back. It's..."

No, it wasn't okay, but maybe someday it would be? Or maybe it wouldn't be. It would just be what it was.

"It's reality."

[neverjedi]

He's pretty sure that the therapist wouldn't approve of that being considered a mistake or a personal failing, but he is damned sure positive he is not a therapist and he is not going anywhere near that one.

"Yes," he agrees, "it is." There really is nothing else he can say to that, but it isn't said without sympathy or with any harshness. Just... agreement.

[darkforcerising]

The look Anakin gave Ben was softer than before.

"I don't... need you to... make me feel better about it. I just..." He shrugged. "Wanted someone to finally know about the accident. Someone not my therapist. I make jokes about it all the time but that's just so people don't really ask what happend... Which... I guess telling you does make me feel better about it."

[neverjedi]

"I'm glad you told me." He means that, completely and totally. "And I'm glad having someone hear you helps." He's heard of some of Anakin's other encounters and they frustrate and upset him.

[darkforcerising]

"Ya," Anakin shrugged. "Talking does that." If you trusted someone.

He then looked down at Ben's skates.

"Why are you being so weird on your skates?"

[neverjedi]

He still wishes he could do more, but is smart enough to recognize that being there, listening, and caring was all he could do--

and also that it helped.

He looked down when Anakin did and then back up with a laugh. "They're new and really stiff. My ankles don't want to bed at all."

[darkforcerising]

Anakin thought about saying more. But stopped himself, he didn't want to push it by dumping too much on Ben.

"Huh," Anakin said, looking down at his skates. "I guess it makes sense they don't all come like this. How long does it take to break them in?"

[neverjedi]

He gave Anakin a quizzical look, but he wasn't sure he could push Anakin so he just went with what was asked. "Depends on how much time I spend in them. Usually about a week they're pretty good."

[darkforcerising]

"Does it hurt?" Anakin asked. Because they had been skating for a while and he could be done.

[neverjedi]

"Nah." Because he's fucked up, but still. "You wanna go grab some coffee at my place. See the cat for a while?"

[darkforcerising]

Anakin smiled, nodded, "Ya, that sounds good." He'd almost backed out, out of fear that he was imposing too much on Ben. But Ben had been the one to ask, clearly Anakin's self-doubt was misplaced if Ben was the one asking.

He let Ben take the lead off the ice.