InsaneJournal

Who: Padmé Amidala Skywalker and Anakin Amidala Skywalker
What: Freaking out Anakin with awful SW toys.
When: Wednesday, August 23, 2012 (backdated)
Where: In the city
Rating/Warnings: Low, unless you are frightened by unseemly toys
Status: Complete/Closed

Padmé may have been stuck with someone far worse than Peter, but no matter how harmless she had still been stuck with an awkward teenager. It had been right after her honeymoon, amidst the time when her desires was to spend time with her husband. The honeymoon mindset had yet to truly end; things were still misted in blissful happiness. The awareness of the problems in life were secondary. Because of that, and since they were finally disconnected from their random castle-paired partner, Padmé wanted to spend a day with Anakin doing relaxing things.

Between people watching and trying local foods, they had eventually started to window shop. This was how they had found a store with a large display of toys. Star Wars toys, specifically. The husband and wife duo looking through the Star Wars themed toys might have been an amusing thing to anyone who paid extremely close attention, given their physical resemblance to the figures sitting right in front of them.

Padmé picked up a toy blaster and pointed it toward Anakin, playfully, before pulling the trigger and listening to the toy light up with an electronic, notably softer sounding facsimile of a blaster sound. “No blaster mark in the wall.”

Anakin found their current adventure someone unsettling. He might even gladly take back that constant companion he was forced to deal with the past week over this predicament. Not that he didn’t enjoy spending as much time with Padmé, he would just rather do it without a cut-out display of the monster he would turn into when they returned to their home world hung ominously along the wall behind her head so that the sight before him appeared to be that dark vision of the future he couldn’t escape, reaching for Padmé’s neck. But Padmé seemed to be absolutely oblivious to the image right now. And what did he say to stop this from unfolding? Watch out, the ghost of my future is about to choke you?

His brow knit closer together and he accepted his discomfort.

“Oh, safety blasters,” he said, he might not like the environment, and his eyes might be continuously glancing back at the Darth Vader image, but he saw the humor in Padmé quip. “Just what you need.” He smiled at his own comeback.

“Can we go-?” He pointed to the other side of the aisle where there wasn’t a big, black shadow looming over them. He reached for her hand and started taking a step back. They just needed a bit of distance between them and that thing, until it no longer looked like it would come to life and reenact those scenes from the DVD… Yes, Just some space separating them.

“What are these?” he was pointing at a case of some blocky shaped models of some common spaceships from back home. They had ridiculously tiny and not well defined figures placed in and around them. Anakin was somewhat intrigued by their simplicity. He also needed something to look at that wasn’t a portend of the future.

Padmé was fine with going, though she really didn’t notice the source of Anakin’s discomfort. Vader, and subsequently the image of Vader, was something she had yet to really psychologically address. She tried not to think of the future, of her death, upon return to their galaxy. As she saw it, she had every reason to make their time in the Land of Make Believe count. Still, once she had the detail pointed out to her, she mentally chastised herself for her lack of awareness and felt a minor sense of discomfort. It was partially for Anakin’s sake; she didn’t fear the image as far as her own well being, she knew it was just a display. She feared the idea of losing Anakin to darkness. As things were, in the Land of Make Believe, she knew that wouldn’t happen. She saw such good in Anakin. The progress he had made due to separation from the Jedi Order, too, had been remarkable.

“I - hm?” Padmé looked at what Anakin was indicating, a rather familiar image jumping out to her after a few brief moments of staring. “That’s my spaceship. Are these -” she glanced around for a very brief moment, readily realizing that the context of items was (more or less) toys, “- toys? Toy ship models of some sort?”

Another toy nearby caught Padmé’s eye and she edged toward it, letting her fingers stray over the boxes and various items as she took a few steps away from Anakin and toward the toy that had caught her eye.

Anakin stalled at the display, curiosity driving him to take in the small details. They were somewhat fascinating, and he had time to spare if he wanted to invest in these models. But as Padme edged away from him he reluctantly pulled himself away to follow her.

“What’s this?” he asked, stepping up next to her again. His hand sought out hers and he threaded their fingers together.

Padmé, after a moment, wordlessly took her free hand and picked up the toy. She held it out to Anakin's free hand, putting herself in front of him to see his reaction. Padmé wasn't sure if this was unsettling or amusing. She certainly didn't imagine she would find it enjoyable if it was a miniaturized version of her, and she didn't want to make Anakin feel uncomfortable if he didn't like it, but it was difficult to find it entirely worrying. It was too cute for that.

"That's supposed to be you, isn't it?" Padmé finally asked, smirking faintly as she looked from the toy to the life-sized version. Even if she hadn't paid heed to the Darth Vader print earlier, she noticed a plushie of him and part of her picking up and moving the toy with her free hand was removing it from the display. There were other people/characters there as well, though she didn't recognize all of them. "It's cute, but I'm not sure they captured you fully." She kept their fingers interlocked, for the time being, enjoying the contact. "He needs a bit more expression."

Anakin was sorry he’d asked, he was sorry he’d pulled himself from the display of blocky models (though not sorry to be at Padmé’s side…) but witnessing this thing in her hand was a steep price to pay for the desire to be close to the woman he loved. Just looking upon it was an offense to nature, the Force, to everything. He was sure of it.

Gently he took the stuffed toy that was trying desperately to look like him (if he ever in his life had looked like a lumpy blob) and placed it back on the shelf. He pushed at it twice, to make sure it was secure in its spot and would not jump back out at him like the unholy abomination it was.

“No,” he said simply, shaking his head and not giving into the smile on Padmé’s face. He would not be persuaded to find that thing endearing. What was wrong with Earthlings? Anakin was no stranger to fame and popularity, the holovids back home, news and dramas alike, had found much about him broadcast-worthy, nicknaming him the Hero With No Fear. He was recognizable most everywhere he went. However, he was sure nothing like that stuffed toy existed anywhere in their home-galaxy.

“Just no,” he reiterated, because he was sure there was a plot formulating Padmé’s head, or the thing had infected her brain with its nefarious desire to be purchased, taken home, and placed lovingly in a spot of honor. And Padmé being of a diplomatic constitution, would cast a sympathetic eye on the wretched thing’s wants. Which would clearly disrupt the peaceful balance they’d achieved for their lives here in the Land of Make Believe.

“Let’s look at lightsabers?” he asked, already drawing back further down the aisle.

Padmé couldn't help but find the thing endearing for the simple fact that it did, in some way, remind her of Anakin. It was a poor facsimile, but the expression on his face as he shoved it back onto the shelf made the (attempted?) scowl on the stuffed toy seem a bit closer toward resemblance. She simply raised an eyebrow as he expressed adamant disapproval. It was, if anything, an attempt to feign innocence. If anyone could see through such a charade on her part, it was Anakin.

"No? Just no?" She echoed, giving the little plush toy one last glance before following after Anakin. "Safety lightsabers?"

"I take it one of these lightsabers wouldn't be to your satisfaction." Padmé questioned, freeing her hand from his to reach for one of the handles. Plastic tubing slipped out as she picked it up and formed a three-tiered reproduction of a blade. The noise the tubes made when they slipped out made the action sound a tad comedic and, when Padmé pressed the slide-button to turn the weapon on and it made the lightsaber light up with a faint glow and no noise sound effects, it hardly completed the picture of fierceness that usually could be accompanied by a real lightsaber.

She, somewhat sheepishly, held it out for Anakin to take. "I think I like the safety blaster better."

Anakin was thoroughly unimpressed with the cascading plastic, utterly fake lightsaber. The moment he took it in his hand just a small piece of him may have crumbled from disappointment. It wasn’t even balanced. The manufacturers, while lacking the ability to craft a true lightsaber, could have at least made a replica that set right in a person’s palm.

He twirled his wrist, arching it down and around. Then shot Padmé a pained look.

“The safety blasters are more impressive. I weep for the children who believe the lie they are sold when they purchase one of these.” He shook his head sadly. He was not an ideal candidate to press on proper saber maintenance and care. His blades rarely lasted longer than two years, which was not exactly something a Jedi would brag about. But he was just arrogant enough about the blades he made to find these toys insulting poorly made copies.

“Have you indulged your curiosity,” he ask Padmé, “or were there more things you wanted to look at? We could buy you a safety blaster, in case we want to reminisce.”

Padmé had fully intended to pose with the lightsaber up until she had touched it. She had seen the weapon, of course, and it was a subject of mild curiosity on the pure basis of it being such a notable thing to Anakin. The hollow tubes didn't do anything for her. She was content to go with Anakin once he finally asked. That didn't mean she didn't send one last glance toward the little Anakin plush, but overall she had her fill of their world in toy form.

"I know I can reminisce without a safety blaster. Do you need a safety blaster for it?" Padmé teased, walking over to Anakin and giving his arm a slight tug to get him to lean down, all the while leaning in to give him a kiss. She wanted to have him feel free to have a small hint of appropriate-level personal affection in public. She also wanted to express her appreciation for his patience in having a day out like this, just indulging in spending time together. "Curiosity has been indulged. If anything, I think we need something to cover the blaster mark, but - that can wait for another day, another store. I'm happy now, just spending time with you."

Anakin was not used to public displays of affection. In his time, he and Padmé had been so careful one might imagine the dance of being in each other’s presence in public but never quite looking at each other, or never touching, just so as not to arouse suspicion, to be unbearable. In some respects, it was. In others, the idea of never having even stolen moments together was more wretched. They had both been willing to take the few, fleeting opportunities that were presented to them.

Still, it had been Anakin who’d wanted to reveal their relationship and let other react how they may.

He wanted this, what he had with Padmé right here. With only the briefest of hesitations Anakin leaned down to acquiesce to Padmé’s entreaty for what would have been forbidden back home. His lips claimed her for what he would argue was too short a time, but she was pulling back and he did not push for more. It seemed right that he let her gauge how much they expressed in such a setting.

“With a safety blaster,” he raised an eyebrow, “to always remind you to not shoot me?” He let that joke sink in.

“Where to next?”

Padmé smiled at the joke, reaching for Anakin's hand to intertwine their fingers again. It was another of many small motions showing affection, but doing it in such a manner that it was just normal everyday interactions building up to making their romance normal. Padmé knew their lives were different here and she lacked memories that Anakin had, but regardless they had to rebuild from a certain point onward. The circumstances were so different that it was necessary they build their marriage as something entirely new. Their vows had been not only a declaration of their love for one another, in front of friends (who were like family, in some instances), but they were a declaration of a new start for a new marriage. A new journey together, where their essentially doomed future nor the judgments of the Jedi or general public mattered.

"Are you expressing your objection to me getting a working blaster, again, then?" Padmé asked, taking a few steps toward the direction of the exit, but pausing before they reached it. "We could take a walk through the park, then ride the trolley back to the castle - but -"

She took her free hand and reached down into a small bin, lifting up a toy about half the size of a candlestick. It was a tiny lightsaber! "This is, perhaps, a bit better than the large-sized one. It feels like it weighs more." Which was saying something about the larger toy.

Anakin was ready to leave the store gladly behind. He would follow Padmé anywhere, and while perusing the aisles of this store had not resulted in bodily injury, it was more than mildly unsettling. Much more. Immersion wasn’t always the best option when getting used to an idea. The quicker they put distance between them and that life-sized cut-out of Darth Vader the better.

But when Padmé drew up short, Anakin followed suit.

He looked down at the bin, grabbing one of the smaller ‘toys’ with the truncated blades. The proportions were all off. But the bin was full of blue and green representations of Jedi blades, and red for Sith. They were packaged completely, and the print on the outside was small, but Anakin could still make it out.

“They appear to be made from sugar of some kind.” Well that was interesting. Anakin eyed the product closer. Hardly nutritious if this list of chemicals was to be trusted, making it something that would never have been Jedi-approved for consumption for Temple-initiates. Which made Anakin want it all the more.

“I don’t think it’s a toy, unless Earthlings eat their toys.” Which was highly probable in Anakin’s estimation of Earthlings, weird humans that they were.

Padmé stared, assessing the item, as Anakin remarked about its toy status. "It may well be a toy. It would be a clever idea, to have edible toys, on some level. It's allowing the opportunity to play with food without causing a mess - though not hygienic if it's dropped or if it touches something."

"And let's be honest, Anakin. Of all the things we've seen so far, this is probably the least absurd... unless you would like to revisit the little stuffed character of you, which I didn't think was that bad-" Padmé teased, looking over at Anakin to see if he wanted to get one (or two, more accurately) of the little food-based toys. "Should we get a few, or would you rather wait and get a snack that isn't sugar based once we return to the castle?"

“That is, assuming you wish to try out an ‘earthling’ custom.” Never mind the fact they weren’t on earth and it was a planet that just seemed to share a good deal of, if not all, customs with this planet that couldn’t be visited and explored.

Anakin shot Padmé a look when she mentioned the stuffed toy. One that said there was no chance in hell that thing would be allowed admittance into the quarters in which he closed his eyes to sleep. And he felt that that was all that needed to be ‘said’ on the matter.

Anakin wasn’t so much interested in trying different customs of different cultures. Curiosity in that area was greatly underdeveloped, thanks to his upbringing. But he did find the almost jewel like appearance of the edible blades oddly alluring. Which, he supposed, was the point of the product. He never thought he’d reach a point where he wanted to put his mouth on a lightsaber. Today, apparently, was that day.

“Sure, we can get a few,” he said as he carefully picked out green and blue bladed lightsabers. He didn’t want the red ones for what they represented. A handful grabbed, he nodded towards the register. “Lead the way.”