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NEVER IN HER LIFE HAD SHE BEEN MORE BABIED IN HER LIFE, and that spoke lengths as she was literally royalty. It was humorous, yet very irritating how, ever since they had got back to Coruscant, Anakin refused to let her do anything with that arm.
Cooking? He was fine doing it by himself. Cleaning? They no longer shared chores, it was all on him. Even just taking a shower? He was in the bathroom, or in the shower with her—however this was partially an excuse to see his girl naked.
"Need help?" Astrid asks, masking the chuckle that threatened to break through her lips. Her elbows lean against the kitchen counter across from Anakin, her chin resting on her palm as she sat on one of the seats of their breakfast nook.
His lips were pursed as he stirred the sauce on the portable stove. It was too thick. His arms strained as he leans the wooden spoon against the side of the steel pot and puts his weight on his arms. The blue of his eyes meet Astrid's amused green one, narrowing slightly, "I'm doing fine."
"Really? Is that why the sauce looks like dough?" Astrid snickers, rising to her feet and making her way to the other side of the island where Anakin and the stove was. Her right hand gently touches his bicep, signaling him to scoot over.
However, instead of scooting over, he steps back and when Astrid moves in front of the stove he wraps his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. The girl made no attempts to push him off, she in turn melted into his hold.
He was the embodiment of comfort. Every time Astrid felt off, he was the person she'd go to. When she had left Clovis, the Scipio Senator had left a hole that seemed to be unrepairable. She struggled to trust anyone romantically, but when she met Anakin, it was like all of that had blown away in the Nabooian breeze. He was easy to trust and to love. He had made her whole again.
Astrid goes to grab the heavy whipping cream from the counter nearby with her left arm, but Anakin stops her. A small breathy giggle falls from Astrid's lips as she uses her right arm this time to grab the carton, "you do realize I can still use my arm, right?"
"You could break your stitches," Anakin counters, a small doting kiss pressed on the skin where one of her arteries sat in her neck. His minty breath fans on her neck as his hair tickles her cheek.
"I could also lose the muscles in my arm if I don't use it," Astrid rolls her eyes despite the small smile playing on her lips. Using the injured arm, Astrid pours the heavy whipping cream into the sauce as she slowly stirrs on a high heat. Anakin clearly didn't like that gesture seeing as he pettily bit down on her shoulder. "Ow, what the fuck was that for?"
"You know why," Anakin responds, watching slightly amazed how Astrid fixed his botched sauce with one ingredient.
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THE COOL GRANITE BITES ASTRID'S ASS AS ANAKIN SITS HER ON THE BATHROOM COUNTER. It was time to clean and rebandage her injury. Astrid had been avoiding showing Anakin the actual wound itself because he definitely would become much worse. On the first day back, she was busy helping the Duchess in the Senate that she did it herself and without Anakin seeing, but now that she was at the apartment, it was inevitable.
"I'm serious, Ani. I can do it myself," Astrid huffs, wrapping her arms around Anakin's neck. Pulling him closer to her body, her legs spread so he can stand directly in front of her. No matter what she did, Anakin never deferred on cleaning the wound—which was quite impressive. He was determined, and when he put his mind to something, it would happen.
Anakin chuckles, pulling only her left arm away from his neck, "not happening, baby."
His hold was gentle as he pulled off one end of the bandage. The gauze tugged lightly at her marred skin, a light hiss falling from her lips. Anakin's worried and apologetic eyes reach Astrid, immediately stopping himself from pulling the dressing.
"It's okay," Astrid's right hand moves to cup the man's cheek, rubbing soft circles on his cheekbone. Her voice was but a mere whisper, "keep going, I'm okay."
Anakin reluctantly nods, pressing a light kiss on her forehead before looking down at the bandage. The gauze comes off smoother and Astrid felt nothing but a slight sting. However, as more and more of the wound became visible, the more angry Anakin had become at himself.
How could he have let Astrid get hurt? He should've been there to stop the stupid assassin droid from attacking her. Why did it have to be her of all people? Why not Orn Free Taa or one of the other senators? Why did she always end up getting hurt at the end of every mission?
Astrid was aware of the growing self-loathing that had begun to grow inside of Anakin. It had begun since the whole Clovis incident. She tried to reassure him and keep it to a minimum but it only seemed to stay that way when she was with him.
It was only then, as Astrid watched Anakin gently wash the wound with a wet, soft, and lint-free rag, she realized that there was also something else growing inside of him. Something so much more than hate or anger. Deep inside his heart, a small seed of darkness had begun to grow, and with each passing day, it seemed to grow more and more, contaminating what was once Anakin's pure soul to something so sinister and angrier.
There was a slight shadow in his once purely vibrant eyes. They had become dull, like it was fighting something else from taking its place. Something small was going on between them, despite their strong and unequivocal love towards each other, there was something unrealistic about how Anakin was to react over small things about her. It was like a third party was somehow making his love for her stronger—into an infatuation.
She needed to figure out what was going on before her nightmares turned into a terrible reality.
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𝐢 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐢 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐲 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬, 𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 <𝟑
𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐟𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐭
𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬, 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡?
𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐨, 𝐢 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐲'𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝!
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