Office hours [all day]

[sith_happened]

The poster of Farrah Fawcett stared down at Vader as he banged things around in his office.

The Emperor had been in touch ridiculously early that morning.

Now Vader had some contractors to scare as soon as possible. He'd argued that if he didn't hold office hours, young Skywalker might get suspicious.

It had nothing to do with his thought that building a second Death Star was pointless. And that he really didn't want to fly all the way to freaking Endor.

Really.

The door to his office was cracked open.

[OOC: Contents of conversation with Rory NFB, please and thank you!]

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[sith_happened]

"Miss Gilmore prefers it this way," Vader replied.

[can_be_more]

"Her preferences don't necessarily reflect mine," Aeryn tells him.

[sith_happened]

Vader paused. "I know that," he said. "You don't bring me pastries and demand that I remember prom."

Another pause. "Right?"

[can_be_more]

"No," she says. "But if you'd like to talk about it, you can."

[sith_happened]

"Not today," Vader said, sounding...almost sad.

For him.

If you were listening for it.

[can_be_more]

"Maybe next time," she says, trying to sound as non-pressuring as possible. "How have you been?"

[sith_happened]

"Busy," Vader said brusquely. "Mister Madrox paid another visit to my class. And I still am not allowed to do anything about it, other than detention."

[can_be_more]

"I admit that there has been a time or two I wanted to beat him with a Klondike bar," Aeryn admits. "But he is a good person, under the... behavior. He introduced me to old movies about teenagers in detention."

[sith_happened]

"He mocks me," Vader said.

And that settled it, as far as he was concerned.

[can_be_more]

"He shouldn't," she says. "Though to be fair, I think he does that to everyone. And my bet is you have a better reaction to it than most people."

[sith_happened]

"Deadpool says Madrox lives to be an adult," Vader mused. "This surprises me."

[can_be_more]

"Perhaps he's got hidden survival skills you haven't seen yet," she suggests. Secretly she's glad to hear that, because there are times she'd wonder.

[sith_happened]

"I'm not allowed to kill even one of him," Vader griped.

[can_be_more]

"Good. If you were allowed to kill people who annoyed you, they'd have to let everyone do it," she says. "I wouldn't have time left in my day if that happened."

[sith_happened]

"I have a list ready just in case Zoe ever changes her mind," Vader said. "It's alphabetized."

[can_be_more]

"Do I want to know who?" she asks, trying not to remember a similar conversation last summer. There won't be any joking agreement about hiding bodies this time.

[sith_happened]

"You'd know them all," Vader said.

Which was a telling statement about how much Aeryn probably still understood him.

He was still pretty shaken from his encounter with Rory. Hid defenses weren't as high as usual.

[can_be_more]

She really could list them off. It's comforting, in a really weird way. "Probably best not to do it, then. Even if the administration allowed it, things would be messy," she says in a lower voice.

[sith_happened]

"Even John Connor?" Vader whined.

Yes. Whined.

[can_be_more]

Aeryn's quiet for a moment as that little internal battle rages. In fact, a minute later she's still considering it.

[sith_happened]

Force, but he'd missed Aeryn.

"I won't notice if he...disappears."

[can_be_more]

She actually smiles a little at that. "I'm sure there's some moral reason not to. He has parents somewhere, or something. Or someone he's irritated more, which is likely..."

[sith_happened]

"You think he's irritated someone more?" Vader asked incredulously. "He doesn't even have a compelling reason to give me attitude."

[can_be_more]

"Yes, he does. You react to it," she tells him. "It's like... It's like John and Greg and Peter tortmenting Callisto until the next thing you know, we're chasing Greg through the woods as part of an assignment. They get punished but feel it's worth it. I know, I know, memories are bad, but that's the best example I can come up with. If you didn't react, he'd probably get bored and move on."

[sith_happened]

"I do not allow people to defy me," Vader said. "You might not be able to tell here, but at home...I wield power."