"Mmm..." Anakin thought about how to explain it. His mom knew what he could do. So could Watto. His mom only encouraged him. Watto exploited him.
"I don't really know... but I just know things about machines and electronics... like, they tell me what's wrong with them and how to fix them. Even things I've never seen before. Like- Oh! I haven't shown you Threepio!"
"Just machines?" he asked, though he was getting a pretty good idea in a hurry. And if he'd wanted to help this sweet kid before, he wanted to help even more now. Even though the idea made him tired.
"Threepio is the droid I'm rebuilding," he said shooting to his feet. He held his hand out for Obi-Wan.
"Come, I'll show you! I found his parts in the gutter and mom and I picked up as much as we could before other scavengers got to him and carried him home. And I've been putting him back together. I have to wait for parts to come into Watto's shop before I can finish him, but I'm getting there."
He took the small hand offered to him, but he pushed himself up to stand without help and with only a minor tightening of his jaw. "What are you going to do with him when he's done?" Just keep talking about stuff you love, Anakin.
Anakin dragged at Obi-Wan's hand, anxious to show him his prize project. He pulled him into the room Anakin slept in, and there, laid out on the table was the protocol droid. Or the inner workings of one. Anakin hadn't found many shell parts yet, and besides, he was still working on the insides.
"I'm rebuilding him to help mom because she has to do everything for Watto and there's no one to help her."
He looked over what was there. He was not particularly force gifted with mechanics but he'd been decent once upon a time - just like once upon a time he'd enjoyed flying.
"That's really kind, Anakin, and you're doing a really good job with him." Real pride, there, and a lot of encouragement, he hoped. "Does anything besides machines talk to you?"
"I just want you to be careful." Why? How to explain without being doom and gloom with a kid who was more sunshine and light than his circumstances should have allowed. "Do you know what a force inhibitor collar is?"
"There are some people who can sense something called the force. It can be used for lots of things, but one of the things it can be used for is knowing something that's about to happen right before it does. It scares some people, especially when a slave can do it, so they came up with a way to take it away." He's calm and steady about it, because he - Okay he does want to scare Anakin enough to make him careful. Not enough to terrify him.
Had Obi-Wan missed the part of the conversation where Anakin excitedly talked about risking his life on a regular basis? Scared into 'careful' was not a concept easily applied to the child.
But he still remained more sober.
"What's the Force?" he asked, "That's what the collar takes away?"
Risking your life was one thing. Risking loss of more liberty when you were already a slave was something else.
"The Force is an energy field that binds everything together. Some people can feel it and use it." He paused and gently lifted the protocol droid Anakin was putting together off the table a few inches before settling it back down. "Being aware of it or using it is what the collar takes away."
He'll get back to the seriousness of what Obi-Wan was showing and telling him, he just needed to get over how awesome this very much was. He didn't have a lot of good in his life, so when it came along, he took hold of it with all his might.
"Maybe." Not everyone could do everything, or was good at everything, but he had to adjust because truthfully what he'd done was far easier than staying alive during one of those races, at least from what he'd heard. "Probably. As long as no one who can stop you finds out."
"That is a horrible idea." On the other hand they were in Anakin's own home and - "Do you have something small and light?" Helping him a little might... help him be less likely to try on his own.
Anakin turned back to the work bench where all his mismatched, patched together tools and spare or discarded parts lay and fished around for something small. He came back with a bolt, a piece of wire, and a small stone that he'd dug out of C-3PO's torso but had forgotten to throw out. He figured options would be good.
He took all three of the objects and weighed them in his hands, turned them over a few times and settled on the bolt. He kept it in his palm and set the other two aside.
"Now, you see if you can 'feel' the bolt - and focus on it. After that you should be able to sort of... push or pull the threads around it." It was hard to practically explain metaphysical stuff, ok?
"Okay," Anakin said, both sure and unsure. He wasn't that he'd never tried to focus more on machines in that way the let him know what to do with them. He just now had an audience. And he'd never tried to move anything before, so that was... different.
He looked at the bolt in Obi-Wan's hand, resisting the urge to grab it. Obi-Wan had lifted C-3PO without putting a hand on it so that clearly was part of this skill.
At first, it felt like nothing was happening. He just felt like he was staring at the bolt. But then he idly thought about how to use it in a droid and something changed. Purpose help him focus on the bolt in a way that was separate from seeing it or touching it. And for a brief moment, what Obi-Wan said made sense - there was something around the bolt, something around it and in it, and he could nudge those threads.
And he thought he almost pushed hard enough to make something happened.
But in another heartbeat he lost grip on the sensation and it felt like everything fell apart in his mind.
He stared determined at the bolt. "I want to try again."
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2020-02-25 05:28 am (UTC)"I don't really know... but I just know things about machines and electronics... like, they tell me what's wrong with them and how to fix them. Even things I've never seen before. Like- Oh! I haven't shown you Threepio!"
no subject
Date: 2020-02-25 05:30 am (UTC)"You haven't. What's Threepio?"
no subject
Date: 2020-02-25 05:36 am (UTC)"Come, I'll show you! I found his parts in the gutter and mom and I picked up as much as we could before other scavengers got to him and carried him home. And I've been putting him back together. I have to wait for parts to come into Watto's shop before I can finish him, but I'm getting there."
no subject
Date: 2020-02-25 05:38 am (UTC)Better yet? Keep loving it.
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Date: 2020-02-25 05:50 am (UTC)"I'm rebuilding him to help mom because she has to do everything for Watto and there's no one to help her."
no subject
Date: 2020-02-25 05:52 am (UTC)"That's really kind, Anakin, and you're doing a really good job with him." Real pride, there, and a lot of encouragement, he hoped. "Does anything besides machines talk to you?"
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Date: 2020-02-25 06:13 am (UTC)"Umm..." he thought about the question. He did have something to add but it was weird saying it like this.
"Pod-racing is kinda like it, too. Humans can't usually do it, but I just... know what to do. .. Sometimes before I should know."
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Date: 2020-02-25 06:15 am (UTC)"Who else knows you can do that? Does your Mom?"
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Date: 2020-02-25 06:19 am (UTC)He looked at Obi-Wan curiously, the man had gone awfully serious all of a sudden.
no subject
Date: 2020-02-25 06:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-02-25 06:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-02-27 04:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-03-02 01:22 am (UTC)But he still remained more sober.
"What's the Force?" he asked, "That's what the collar takes away?"
no subject
Date: 2020-03-02 01:26 am (UTC)"The Force is an energy field that binds everything together. Some people can feel it and use it." He paused and gently lifted the protocol droid Anakin was putting together off the table a few inches before settling it back down. "Being aware of it or using it is what the collar takes away."
no subject
Date: 2020-03-02 01:41 am (UTC)"How did you do that?" he said. It was taking him a moment to catch up and process what Obi-Wan was saying.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-02 01:43 am (UTC)"The same way you know what's going to happen in a pod-race before you should know. The Force."
This kid better not get Obi-Wan put back in a collar.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-02 01:50 am (UTC)"I could do that?"
He'll get back to the seriousness of what Obi-Wan was showing and telling him, he just needed to get over how awesome this very much was. He didn't have a lot of good in his life, so when it came along, he took hold of it with all his might.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-02 01:52 am (UTC)"Maybe." Not everyone could do everything, or was good at everything, but he had to adjust because truthfully what he'd done was far easier than staying alive during one of those races, at least from what he'd heard. "Probably. As long as no one who can stop you finds out."
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Date: 2020-03-02 03:26 am (UTC)And to give Obi-Wan a heart attack he said. "I want to try!"
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Date: 2020-03-02 03:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-03-02 05:07 am (UTC)"Okay, what do I do?"
no subject
Date: 2020-03-03 03:15 pm (UTC)"Now, you see if you can 'feel' the bolt - and focus on it. After that you should be able to sort of... push or pull the threads around it." It was hard to practically explain metaphysical stuff, ok?
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Date: 2020-03-05 04:44 am (UTC)"Feel it...? Like how... I can 'feel' machines?"
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Date: 2020-03-06 08:34 pm (UTC)"Yes! Exactly like that."
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Date: 2020-03-07 02:11 am (UTC)He looked at the bolt in Obi-Wan's hand, resisting the urge to grab it. Obi-Wan had lifted C-3PO without putting a hand on it so that clearly was part of this skill.
At first, it felt like nothing was happening. He just felt like he was staring at the bolt. But then he idly thought about how to use it in a droid and something changed. Purpose help him focus on the bolt in a way that was separate from seeing it or touching it. And for a brief moment, what Obi-Wan said made sense - there was something around the bolt, something around it and in it, and he could nudge those threads.
And he thought he almost pushed hard enough to make something happened.
But in another heartbeat he lost grip on the sensation and it felt like everything fell apart in his mind.
He stared determined at the bolt. "I want to try again."
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