Sun rises, night falls, sometimes the sky calls...

[demonicbeauty]

Who: Ariadne and various (hit me up if you want a starter!)
What: Ariadne keeping busy and being bad at processing her feelings
When: Throughout January
Where: Various, but mostly Serenity Garden

Content Warnings: Backstory trauma likely to come up, discussion of Jedi/Sith violence, will update as needed.

Comments

[demonicbeauty]

[She immediately looks guilty. Quickly, she presses both hands to her mouth, as her eyes widen.]

I'm so sorry. Shouldn't have done that.

[And she actually means it. That's the thing about Ariadne and anger. It never lasts.

Awkwardly, she reaches to one of the empty tables, grabbing a napkin. She doesn't move forward though. Just holds it out for Anakin. She's in reach. Kind of.]

Sorry.

[facultative]

[He continues to wipe his face with his sleeve at first. Then the napkin is floated over to him so he can rub it through his hair. Being a little bit dirty isn't a deal breaker for him.]

Do you feel better now?

[demonicbeauty]

I don't know.

[Which is an entirely honest answer. Perhaps outside of the Snake Den, she wouldn't. But there is something nice and...final about it. Anakin hurt her. She's expressed her anger. Which is something she was never able to do before.

She sighs softly.]

Sorry. I just...

Please don't hurt him again. Please.

[facultative]

[Anakin stares at her for a bit.]

Who?

[She's going to have to be specific here.]

[demonicbeauty]

[That question is a bit troubling. But she decides to stick to her intentions for now.]

Dean. Dean Winchester. He's...

[How does she even say it?]

He's family. The only one I have.

[facultative]

[His confusion only grows.]

Why? He wanted to hurt you.

[demonicbeauty]

[And now she looks confused.]

Dean would never hurt me. He's saved my life. Twice.

Is this about the sex? Because Dean was literally just explaining it to me. He has no interest in pursuing a sexual relationship with me. He's in love with someone.

[Alastrians take love very seriously. It's sort of the ultimate goal of their existence, in some ways.]

[facultative]

[Flatly:] Yeah. Padmé.

He couldn't have her so he was going to force himself on you.

[demonicbeauty]

Padmé? But she's not...

[She stops herself from pointing out to Anakin that his wife isn't actually here.

And shakes her head.]

Dean is...in a relationship with someone named Castiel.

And he would never force himself on anyone.

[facultative]

[That makes it even worse. How could he be in a relationship with someone else while lusting after another?]

That's not what I heard.

[demonicbeauty]

[She slumps against the edge of a nearby table, still littered with half-finished drinks and treats. There had been a lovely couple there. Ariadne told them to run, when she spotted Anakin.

Suddenly, she just looks exhausted.]

What did he tell you?

[facultative]

He's her friend, someone she trusted with her secrets. And he was pretending to care the whole time because he wanted her.

[There's a distinct possibility that Dean has said none of this and he's making a lot of assumptions here.]

He was going to try and claim you when I stopped him.

[Maybe he went too far in doing so, but he doesn't regret stepping in.]

[demonicbeauty]

Anakin. None of that is true.

[The anger's subsided. She's speaking from a dull, matter-of-fact place.]

He's never met her. None of the Winchesters have. You were set up.

[Which is not an excuse for his behavior. But he ought to know all the same. If only to learn from this experience.]

I don't know why, but you were.

[facultative]

He knew we were married. No one else knows about that.

[It doesn't add up otherwise. He knew too much.]

[demonicbeauty]

Sam knew.

[She presses her lips together, clutching the edge of the table until her knuckles turn white.

Her feelings about Sam are complicated right now. A little too messy. But she can't shy away from talking about him. Even if he is...gone.]

He mentioned it to me once or twice.

[facultative]

Who's Sam?

[They weren't in a position for any introductions the one time they met as Anakin was a little busy killing his brother.]

[demonicbeauty]

Dean's younger brother. He...

[How do explain this story?]

He was hurt, somewhere between Deerington and Trench. And when he arrived here, he arrived without his soul. No conscience, no self-control. He's been doing terrible things for no reason at all.

Lying to a lot of people.

[facultative]

[Slowly:] You're saying he was doing those things and pretending it was Dean's fault?

[demonicbeauty]

[She hesitates. She can hardly say that Sam was ever going to "claim" her, but there were a couple of uncomfortable incidents. Including on the network when he did something...well. Kind of unseemly.

But Ariadne knows it's more complicated than that. She just doesn't know how.]

Dean believes that Sam was using him as bait for something. But he doesn't know what.

And it certainly wasn't me.

[facultative]

[He's upset now in a way that isn't so easily soothed over by the environment and that makes him dangerous. He hates the thought that he's been manipulated all this time and that he'd been pushed and prodded until he'd snapped.]

Where is he now?

[demonicbeauty]

Returned to the ocean.

[Which is a little hard to accept, given everything that she and Dean and the others did to restore his soul.

She didn't even get to say goodbye. That really burns. But then again, when has she ever truly had the chance to say goodbye?

Sighing, she shakes her head.]

There's no excusing his behavior. But you can rest assured it won't happen again.

[Not from him. But Ariadne gives Anakin a curious look. The real question now is if he'll overreact again. And that's really not up to her or any promises she can make.]

[facultative]

[He takes a deep breath. And then another. And another again. With no immediate target for his anger he turns it to himself. What made him such an easy target for people like that? Was it truly like what Maul said? That there was such an obvious flaw to him that draws in those kinds of people?]

Thanks for telling me.

[He doesn't want to be here any more. He moves to brush past her and leave.]

[demonicbeauty]

[She reaches to catch him by the elbow. Not hard or unforgiving. Just in the hopes of stopping him. Keeping him there.

Because this conversation isn't over. And she's tired of being blown off.]

Anakin. Wait. Please, wait.

[facultative]

[Anakin does stop when she reaches out to him.]

What else do you want?

[demonicbeauty]

[She pulls her hand back, a little wounded. Of all the snarly males she's met in Deerington or Trench, he's the only one who's ever treated her like...

Well. Like he does.

It makes it very hard for her to find the right words. So she speaks slowly. Carefully.]

I don't want anyone else getting hurt over a misunderstanding. Especially one where I'm being used to bait you.

I want to settle how we prevent this from happening again.