Office hours [all day]

[sith_happened]

After a week spent with Rory's family, Anakin was a little bit grateful for the solitude that his office provided.

He chose against sitting at his desk, at least for the moment, and found a spot on the carpet to meditate instead, trying to cleanse himself of the stress of the upcoming holiday season, students worrying about finals and the other various emotions that had battered against his shielding over the last few days.

The door was cracked open.

[OOC: And details with Jaina are NFB, please!]

Comments

[trigons_child]

Raven was of mixed emotions as she approached Anakin's office. On the one hand, she was still practically floating after the weekend in London with Jono, though she was not planning on going into any real detail about that, thank you very much.

On the other were her nightmares about her father and the difficulty she was having with healing now, something she was utterly loathe to confess because denial was so much better. She wouldn't lie to Anakin, but she could skirt the truth.

She knocked softly on the door.

[sith_happened]

"It's open, Raven," Anakin called back, starting to stand up from the floor.

[trigons_child]

Raven pushed the door open and slipped inside. "Good morning, Professor Skywalker," she said, pleased to see him. "I hope you had a pleasant holiday."

[sith_happened]

"It was uneventful as these things go," Anakin said with a small smile. "Everyone is still talking to everyone else, we made a heavy dent in Rory's grandparents' alcohol stash, Juliet didn't break anything that was an heirloom. I was pleased."

He sat down at his desk and gestured for Raven to take a seat. "How was your week?"

[trigons_child]

"I attended the Thanksgiving dinner the student council prepared," Raven said, settling into a chair. "And then I spent the weekend in London with a friend." Her smile and the blush she was unable to stop from creeping unto her cheeks was probably more than enough to explain what kind of friend.

[sith_happened]

Anakin's eyebrow arched up. "A very good friend, then."

[trigons_child]

"Yes," Raven admitted, blush deepening. "Jono. He is taking your Ethics class this semester."

[sith_happened]

"I'll be sure to harass him in class, then," Anakin said.

He was probably joking.

[trigons_child]

Raven's eyes widened. "There is no need for that," she said hastily. "It was a very good trip." And Anakin needed to save his harassment for people who deserved it -- like Max!

[sith_happened]

He smiled. "I just want to ensure that he realizes how important you are."

Welcome to the overprotectiveness of being on Anakin's short list of people he chooses to care about, Raven!

[trigons_child]

"He knows," Raven murmured. This really wasn't helping her blushing, but the protectiveness gave her a warm feeling.

[sith_happened]

"Good," Anakin said, nodding firmly. "It upsets me to see people together when one is not appreciating the other."

Anakin Skywalker, Relationship Expert!

[trigons_child]

"That is one of the benefits to being an empath," Raven said. Or curse, depending on the situation. "My gifts give me that insight."

[sith_happened]

Anakin's eyes looked inward. "Even empaths can deceive themselves," he said quietly.

[trigons_child]

Raven nodded. "I know that is possible," she said. "But in this much I am certain what I feel is real, both from him and from myself." She frowned slightly, thinking of how Max had tried to make her doubt her own feelings.

[sith_happened]

Anakin caught the frown. "Something else troubling you?"

[trigons_child]

"Professor Maximus attempted to convince me that I would not know my own feelings," Raven admitted. "He implied I am too easily influenced by the emotions of others and would not know if my feelings truly came from my own heart. But I am certain I know my own heart."

Except for denying the badness she could feel in it.

[sith_happened]

"Well, I'd sooner cut off my own arm than agree with Max on anything," Anakin said dryly, "and it's not exactly like he's an expert on picking up signals for when he's unwanted. Ones that an empath never needs."

There was always time to be petty.

[trigons_child]

"I think I made it very clear to him last week that his guidance was not needed," Raven said firmly. "I feel foolish for believing he would help me, but I now realize that is not true. Attempting to make me doubt myself and accusing me of being overconfident is not help."

[solo_sword]

Standing at the door, Jaina tried to get a read on her grandfather before even entering the room. If he was already in a bad mood, she wasn't going to do this today, because that would just lead nowhere good. Satisfied that she could chance it, she pushed the door open and felt momentarily bad that she was going to ruin his meditation.

Momentarily. "We need to talk," she announced.

[sith_happened]

"...overconfidence?" Anakin repeated, looking dubious. "I don't see that."

[sith_happened]

Anakin's eyes popped open as he reached into the Force for a little bit of guidance into Jaina's mood.

"It's generally what happens when you stop by," he agreed neutrally, standing up. "What's on your mind?"

[solo_sword]

She was a lot calmer than she had been when she first found this out, which had a lot to do with having a week to deal with it before finally babbling to John. If she felt guarded at all, though, it was partly because she still genuinely didn't know how she felt, except that she didn't expect this conversation to go well. "You remember those recordings on Artoo I told you about?"

[trigons_child]

Because Anakin was smart and Max was dumb!

"I have struggled a great deal with confidence," Raven said, happy that Anakin agreed. "I am proud of my gifts and how I can help others with them, but that does not make me overconfident."

[sith_happened]

"I've met overconfident before," Anakin replied, privately thinking that Max would have a holo next to the definition of the word, "and you aren't it. You can have faith in your abilities without pushing yourself to to forefront of every conflict that comes around."