Office hours [all day]

[sith_happened]

Anakin wasn't normally on campus on Fridays, but he'd left his comlink in his office desk last night and so he'd returned to retrieve it.

Getting in early enough to catch Hook's broadcast over the PA system, his eyebrows drew together as he heard the news that Raven had gone over to visit Max. "What was that girl thinking?" he muttered, reaching for his office phone and leaving her a message asking roughly the same thing. Then, to be thorough, he left a very polite message for Max as well.

Only then did he realize his message light was blinking...

Comments

[furnaceface]

It was somewhere after class that Jono made his way to Anakin's office, looking rather like a man on a mission.

//Who upset Raven?//

Jono liked to cut to the chase, so sue him.

[sith_happened]

Anakin glanced up from leaving yet another message. "Max," he said, having no problem selling out a teacher.

"It was on the radio this morning, but I don't have much detail. My message to Raven hasn't been answered yet."

[furnaceface]

Jono raised an eyebrow faintly, and then shook his head.

//Knowin' this place, she hasn't gotten th'message yet.// And probably wouldn't, but Jono figured that Anakin was bright enough to figure out the trouble eventually. //I slept through th'broadcast this morning, but...//

His eyebrows furrowed somewhat.

//What did th'radio say?//

[sith_happened]

"That she voluntarily went over to Max's home to apologize," Anakin said, looking confused, "before 'freaking out.' I'm pretty sure she tries to stay on the opposite side of the island from him."

[furnaceface]

Jono looked a little baffled, himself, at that.

//She doesn't mention him much to me,// he admitted, //but that doesn't sound much like something she'd do. If she was apologizing for something, I mean... she'd mean it, I should hope.//

[sith_happened]

Anakin snorted. "She has nothing to apologize for, regarding him. He's the--" nice words around the students, Anakin, "--unreasonable party here."

[furnaceface]

Jono had gone from angry to somewhat bewildered in about three seconds flat. A new record for him, really.

//I've never had him as a teacher,// he noted. //And... don't know what th'background is, there. But if she's got nothing to apologize for, then what was she doing?//

[sith_happened]

"I've absolutely no idea," Anakin admitted. "I've been worried about her the last few weeks."

[furnaceface]

//Not just me, then...?// Jono ran his hand through his hair, a bit anxiously. //She's been calling it stress. I just... I don't know what there is left to be stressed about, now that everyone's back from that bloody labyrinth.//

[sith_happened]

"She's been stressed since Agio," Anakin said. "Has she told you about her nightmares?"

[furnaceface]

//She's... mentioned them briefly, yes. She worries that they'll disrupt other people, but that's about as much as she'll say about them.//

Jonothon gave his shoulders a bit of a helpless shrug.

//If this is Agio haunting her... I wish she'd say. I was there, too. I understand.//

[sith_happened]

"I'm not sure if it's specifically Agio," Anakin said, wondering how much of his speculations to share, "but it might have been triggered by something she did there. How did she act under pressure?"

[furnaceface]

Jono would have swallowed the lump in his throat right about there, if only he had a throat and the ability to swallow.

//I... didn't see a good deal of what went on,// he confessed. //She was inside, healing, and I was outside. But when everything went to... to pink mist like it did... I was afraid that she'd lose herself.//

He'd gone running. He could have felt that darkness in her from a mile away.

[sith_happened]

Anakin cursed. "Red eyes?"

[furnaceface]

//Her Soul-Self was out. It was... flickering.// Jono's brow furrowed a little more. //She was speaking. To...//

Well. He was certain that after making the red eyes connection, Anakin was bright enough to figure it out.

He shrugged.

[sith_happened]

"Shit."

Well, that about covered it.

"He's getting much stronger."

[furnaceface]

Jono winced.

//I was really quite stupidly hoping that wasn't what you were going to tell me,// he admitted.

Partly because... Trigon. And partly because it meant that Raven had been hiding it.

[sith_happened]

"I'd hoped you'd be telling me I was wrong," Anakin replied.

[furnaceface]

//Bloody hell.//

Ah, eloquence.

//Should I... try to mention it to her? Or... something?//

[sith_happened]

Anakin nodded thoughtfully. "If only to see how she reacts. I've been trying to help her for weeks and she's recoiled every time. I think she believes she's protecting me from Trigon, but fighting both us and him is exhausting."

[furnaceface]

Jonothon nodded a little. That made sense enough. He had his own inner demons, certainly, but they were hardly anything quite so literal.

//I'll mention it, then. Try to ease into it, perhaps. Between her nightmares and how jumpy she's been,// he remembered when her eyes had flashed in the library, //I think she could do to understand that... I can't speak for anyone else, but she's not alone with this.//

[sith_happened]

"He's trying to isolate her by threatening to harm us," Anakin said, making a face. "He's gravely underestimating the strength of her friends, but I don't know how to draw him out without harming her."

[furnaceface]

//I don't know,// Jono replied, looking downward again. //He's not exactly th'sort you want to try to nib on, really. And if she thought that we were about to endanger ourselves for her sake, she'd... run, I think.//

[sith_happened]

Anakin pursed his lips, then nodded. "To stop him from getting his hands on this island."

[furnaceface]

//To stop us from being hurt on her account,// Jonothon agreed. //I wouldn't even know where to start, following her. Not when she can be anywhere, in a heartbeat.//

[sith_happened]

Anakin sighed. "Yeah, me either. Let's see if we can't stop that from being something we have to figure out."

[furnaceface]

//Agreed,// Jono replied with a nod. //As frightened as she might be while she's here... at least she is still here. I'll have to be careful not to say anything to change that, when I see her next.//

Because if he managed to scare her away, he'd never forgive himself.

[sith_happened]

"I will as well," Anakin promised. "Do you think we should warn anyone else?"

[furnaceface]

//I'd be... worried about putting anybody into a panic over it,// Jonothon admitted. //People being normal around her is far less likely to frighten her off. But... Perhaps Karla? She's quite close to Raven, might be able to talk some sense into her, even.//

[sith_happened]

Anakin thought that over. "Raven mentioned that Karla had played a part in her nightmares as well," he said. "It might be a good idea, especially since Karla is also a healer."

[furnaceface]

//Perhaps I'll talk to her about it, then,// Jono decided, crossing his arms over his chest. //If Raven isn't acting like herself, then... I'm certain you and I aren't the only ones who have noticed. Karla might very well be worrying about th'same already.//

[sith_happened]

"It's always nice to have your instincts confirmed," Anakin agreed, "and maybe she'll have a brilliant idea we haven't thought of yet."

[furnaceface]

//That would be nice,// Jono replied, his tone all but a sigh. //I'm growing rather short on brilliant ideas of my own, at this rate.//

[sith_happened]

"Me too," Anakin said. "Especially since Raven seems bent on not letting us help her."

[furnaceface]

//Or even letting us know that she needs it.// Jono's eyebrows furrowed a little. //Who heals the healer?//

[sith_happened]

"I've been asking that question for a long time. The ones I've known always seem to push themselves much further than they'd let the rest of us," Anakin replied.

[furnaceface]

//It's... easier, I suppose, to focus on somebody else's hurt, than it is to admit that there's anything wrong with yerself in th'first place.//

Jono crammed his hands into his pockets again, and felt, not for the first time, that perhaps part of the reason that he was so appealing to Raven was...

He shook his head and cut that train of thought down short.

//I suppose all there is to do is show her. Show her that's not how this works.//

[sith_happened]

Anakin nodded. "It's a common delaying tactic--find someone else's problems to focus on to ignore your own."

His grandson excelled at it.

"But you can't run forever."

[furnaceface]

Jonothon nodded faintly, taking a moment to set his own thoughts back in order, something like the mental equivalent of heaving a tired sigh.

//Hopefully, we catch up to her before Trigon does.//

[sith_happened]

"We have to," Anakin said, "because I have no idea how to proceed otherwise."