Lost Pieces - October Catch-all

[hearuthinking]

Who: Jason Kolchek + semi-open. See prompts for details
What: October Plot Prompts
When: Throughout October
Where: Various locations. See prompts for details
Content Warnings: Vivid hallucinations, memory loss, the usual profanity, possibly violence? IDK

(To make this clean and organized for myself, the prompts are going to be in individual comments. As always, I'll match whatever style the other person sets)

Comments

[hearuthinking]

Jason brought his own piece closer to compare them. His eyes widened as he saw the pieces glowing even brighter the closer they got to each other.

"What do you make of this?" he asked his new companion. Jason was still on the fence on whether this object was going to help or hurt them.

[facultative]

Except Anakin isn't the best person to ask something like that to. He's flippant and doesn't really consider the question.

"I don't know. This place does stupid things all the time."

He has three grandchildren here despite being in his early 20's. He knows just how nonsensical things can get.

[hearuthinking]

Jason was pretty flippant sometimes; he recognized the tone at once. And normally he'd feel the same way, but this object was definitely something.

"Whatever this thing is, it led me right to you," he pointed out. He turned one way and then another, noting how the glow brightened or dimmed depending on where Jason was facing. "Maybe it'll lead to more people, or a way out," he suggested. It was better than standing around in the middle of the forest.

[facultative]

Anakin just wants to get out of here and offers his piece. "If you want it, be my guest."

It didn't hurt to let someone fiddle around with it as long as he wasn't expected to do the same. He also doesn't sense anything out there so it did feel like they only needed to figure out which way to go.

[hearuthinking]

It was a little weird to be on the other side of this sort of discussion. Jason was usually the one asking for the person's thoughts on the subject, not coming up with theories. He took the pieces and watched with wide eyes as they fit themselves together seamlessly. He moved around until it started glowing and figured that was as good a direction as any.

"Keep close," he warned the other. "There's bound to be some bullshit along the way."

[facultative]

This man clearly seems to know what he's doing. Everything laid out logically and he's able to back up his ideas with reasonable evidence.

"I don't sense anything out there." But he follows nonetheless, it would have been stupid to immediately strike out on his own and he doesn't have any better ideas.

[hearuthinking]

The words made him pause and he considered Anakin again. The weird sword of light, the comment about sensing things...

"You're a Jedi," Jason realized. "All right then, sense away. Let me know if there's any trouble ahead."

[facultative]

Anakin stiffens. "I'm not."

He doesn't elaborate any further, instead moving ahead without checking to see if Jason was coming or not. It's a sore topic and one where he came to the conclusion that he couldn't possibly still claim to be one. He'd done too many things, it wouldn't have been right.

[hearuthinking]

It was obvious enough that Jason touched a nerve. "All right then," he shrugged, letting that subject drop. "You at least know how to use that lightsaber?"

[facultative]

Anakin isn't the type of person who would be grateful over a person's tact. He expected his boundaries to be observed, demanded it even. "Better than most."

And yet they were using it as a light instead.

[hearuthinking]

A light was what they needed now. Jason let Anakin go ahead while he hung back, weapon poised in case they got jumped by something. The usual woodland noises were all around them but Jason knew there could be things even worse hidden in the thick foliage. Jason hadn't gotten to see Force abilities in action much, but he trusted them to alert if anything dangerous was close.

"So are lightsabers a common weapon where you're from?" Truth be told, Jason didn't know a lot about it outside what he learned from Obi-wan.

[facultative]

Anakin shoots him an incredulous look without stopping to think about how their galaxy was represented in Trench with almost exclusively Jedi and Sith. "You think most people could use this without hurting themselves? Only those that are Force-sensitive get the most use out of these."

That instinctive awareness of where it was went along way to mitigate accidents.

[hearuthinking]

"Most people can't use any kind of weapon without hurtin' themselves," Jason reasoned with a shrug. "I don't know a whole lot about Force-sensitive except what I learned from Obi-wan. He's a Jedi I know."

[facultative]

He pauses briefly. "He's never mentioned you before."

He doesn't know if that means they don't know each other that well or he never thought to tell Anakin. He wants it to be the former, but he knows that's unlikely.

[hearuthinking]

Jason hasn't really mentioned Obi-wan to his friends, either. Not by name, anyway. So it didn't bother him much that Obi-wan hadn't mentioned Jason. He shrugged, checking the strange compass thing to make sure they were still going the right way.

"I guess he will when he's ready to." Which was more or less Jason's own attitude about it.

[facultative]

"He tells me everything important." His tone is haughty, but a part of this is trying to convince himself that it is true and not letting his insecurities show.

Obi-Wan cared about him just as much as he did and no matter what happened, nothing would come between them. Not even himself.

[hearuthinking]

Jason frowned at the words, but then it clicked. "You're Anakin," he realized. He figured he would have to meet this guy eventually, but thought Obi-wan would be introducing them. "I'm Jason," he offered, holding out his hand. "Obi-wan told me a lot about you."

He was a little confused, though. Why wasn't this kid a Jedi when he and Obi-wan were practically family?

[facultative]

"Yeah..." When Jason explains how he knows him, his thoughts immediately change track. That was one way to change the topic, make it all about him again. Now he's more preoccupied with how he's been introduced to other people. Anakin's brow furrows and he doesn't take the offered hand in favour of asking, "What did he say about me?"

Would it be good? Bad? Embarrassing? There was a lot to examine in how he was talked about to others.

[hearuthinking]

"Just that he raised you since you were a kid, and he loves you and worries about you." Which was true, but it wasn't all Obi-wan had said about Anakin. He noticed how Anakin hadn't taken his hand yet and let it drop after a moment.

"Good to finally meet you," Jason said.

[facultative]

Worries about him covered a lot of ground and was less informative than he thought it would be and Anakin knows most of the time that he's loved, but it was always good to hear it.

"Well he shouldn't. I'm not a kid any more."

Never mind Obi-Wan not worrying about him is one of his worst case scenarios. It does however make him feel a little better that he's never heard of Jason until now. If it was important, then it would have been brought up just like how he had heard about Anakin.

"How do you know him?"

[hearuthinking]

Jason had to think of how to answer this question. At least Anakin was an adult; that made this a little less awkward than if he was meeting a little kid.

"We're seeing each other," he finally answered. "We're takin' it slow." He hoped that explanation would be enough for why Obi-wan hadn't mentioned Jason yet.

[facultative]

Anakin stops moving and slowly turns to face Jason fully.

"Oh, really?"

Unfortunately Jason not being Force-sensitive won't be able to pick up on the warning signs coming off of Anakin. Outwardly, he's a little stiff, but nothing revealing the extent of how he actually feels right now. The temperature seems to drop a bit, something easily attributed to the woods.

[hearuthinking]

Jason didn't have Force powers, but he was pretty good at reading people. And he figured that telling Anakin that Jason was dating his father-figure might not go over well. Especially since Jason wasn't that much older than Anakin. He also knew that Force-sensitive people could sense emotions, so Jason kept his own in check.

"Yep." He waited a few heartbeats, then added: "I can hear you thinkin'. Not literally, but I can tell your brain's tickin' away. So just spit it out."

[facultative]

Spitting it out for Anakin involves taking a step forward and a hand extended to lift Jason off the ground. He's not intending on killing him right now so the grip against his neck is only tight, not crushing.

"I don't think you want me to do that."

He spins the blade in his other hand in a lazy circle.

"But I'd be happy to."

[hearuthinking]

Well, now Jason knew why Anakin said he wasn't a Jedi. Jason's weapon and the compass-thing slipped out of his hand as his body lifted into the air. It was the weirdest feeling that Jason couldn't spend much time on as he felt pressure on his neck. He instinctively reached up to fight off whatever was choking him but of course nothing was there.

Jason had been expecting anger and some variation of you're not good enough for him, but not this.

"Go ahead," Jason hissed between gritted teeth.


[ooc: just sliding in here to grant permission to toss Jason around and get him injured. Life and limb intact please]