fandomhigh | Rehearsal #2

"Well, you're handsome even when not compared to the undead," Rory tossed over her shoulder, shimmying with her back to him. "S'all I meant."

"And no, Luke would not like that," she agreed solemnly. "Though knowing this crowd, I wouldn't be surprised if there were some unexpected pyrotechnics."

Anakin blushed to the roots of his hair, staring very hard at the floor.

"Well, Angel's gonna be swinging through the air," he said. "Maybe there'll be fire too?" His eyes gleamed. "Maybe even at the same time?"

"Will be be swinging on a noose?" Rory asked hopefully. "Not that that would do anything, since he doesn't breathe. But it'd be fun for me."

She bit her lip as she shimmied back around to face Anakin. "Hmm. Now, I know none of us would ever intentionally set anyone on fire. But it would be sad if perhaps there was some kind of spontaneous combustion, wouldn't it?"

"Probably not the tone Principal Bristow's looking for," Anakin said with a small smile. "More dancing, less, um, flaming death."

He shrugged. "Not that I'd object too terribly much to flaming death myself." He coughed. "For other beings, I mean. Not for me."

"I don't think I'd wish a flaming death on almost anyone," Rory said, looking thoughtful. "I know that when I die, I want it to be at a happy moment. Fire? Yeah, not so much with the fun, for me. I have bad experiences with it."

She shuddered slightly, though it may not have been noticable due to her continued shimmying.

Anakin, who might be paying slightly too much attention to Rory's body language, caught the shudder.

"What happened?" he asked. He looked around. "I mean, if you want to talk about it here."

"Oh, nothing to me, actually," Rory said, brushing it off. "The inn my mom used to work at burned down. And everyone was okay and everything, and it turned out well because she was able to take some of the insurance money and use it to invest in her very own little inn. But it was still upsetting. I kind of grew up there, and it was just..." She shrugged. "Upsetting."

"That is upsetting," Anakin said. "Fire's not my favorite thing, either." He shrugged. "No real reason for it--just kind of a creeping up my spine that won't go away."

Rory nodded. "I get that way about weird, random stuff. Like falling. I don't really have issues with height or anything, but I don't like the idea of falling. I think it's the control freak in me."

"But the fall can be exhilarating, too," Anakin said with a grin. "You know, if you know someone's gonna catch you on the other end. Or you're with a really good pilot."

He raised an eyebrow. "You wouldn't want to go flying with me sometime, would you? I'm pretty good."

"Flying?" Rory asked, perking up. "In what? Do you have a spaceship?" She blushed. "That's a ridiculous question. Of course you do. But yeah, that sounds fun."

"Well, I was thinking the simulator first because, um,--" Anakin ran a hand through his hair, "my ship isn't exactly mine. Or, um, here. It belongs to the Temple. That whole 'no possessions' thing's kind of a pain in the ass." He scuffed his boots on the stage. "But I made the sim myself and it's almost exactly like the real thing with the bonus of not getting detention for heading out of the atmosphere." He gave her a shy smile. "Plus you could try to fly it, too."

"And the even bigger bonus of, hey, not even possibly crashing," Rory added, grinning. "Not that I don't trust you to not crash. But I could distract you with, I don't know, talking about glitter or Vladdie or something, and then boom. And could I try? Really? I've never flown anything, but I'm an excellent driver. Mostly. Which is...probably not at all the same, but still. Only thing I can think to relate."

Anakin's eyes danced at Rory's enthusiasm. "You can certainly try it. And, hey, even if you do crash? It doesn't count. There's a handy reset button that should really exist in real life."

He ran a hand through his hair. "Plus? Really good for getting rid of some tension. Lots of things to blow up, if you're so inclined. I know I'll need it after a week of tests and papers and holiday pageants of excessive humiliation."

"It's like a video game," Rory thought aloud. "Only I think it could kick an X-Box's ass, in terms of awesomeness. And yeah, reset buttons should exist in real life. Also, delete keys. Just general undoing motions, really."

"And ooh. Tests and papers are easy," she said with a wave of her hand. "But making my debut as Lorelai Gilmore III, the Amazing Talking Tree? Will actually be more embarrassing that my actual night as a debutante was. So yes, blowing things up is good."

"Lorelai Gilmore III?" he said, eyebrow raised. "That's quite an imposing name." He grimaced. "And copies of the 'Chosen One Dances' could probably be sold for enough money to fund the Temple for a year, should it ever make it back home. And that's before they find out about the blue tights. So, yeah, a trip to the sim this week is definitely in order."

He watched as DEATH worked with other couples for the big finale and shuddered. "I suppose I should go dance with my Zombie Queen instead of distracting the Talking Tree, huh?"

"Yeah, don't tell people that's my name," Rory blushed. "There's a reason I go by 'Rory.' Because it's way less scary-sounding. And I didn't even throw in the middle name."

She waved him off. "Go dance with Jaye. Have fun. At least she's probably even less enthusiastic than you." Rory frowned. "Though be careful. There's something wrong with her ears. Makes them all itchy or something."

Rehearsal #2

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