Office hours [all day]

[sith_happened]

Anakin was standing on a chair in the middle of the room trying to attach what looked like a very complicated disco ball to the ceiling.

He was very interruptable.

[OOC: Contents of conversation with Alanna NFB, please!]

How Many Hearts - Travis

Comments

[can_be_more]

"Nothing I couldn't handle," she answers honestly. Which is mostly true. She feels physically okay and most of the bruises that no one can see have faded. "It wasn't really him."

[sith_happened]

"Nothing I couldn't handle" was a long way from "he didn't hurt me" and Anakin's expression darkened more.

"Explain that," he said, crossing his arms over his chest and looming.

[can_be_more]

"A cycle ago Scorpius put a chip in John's brain. It took over," she says, almost too easily. And avoiding the 'nothing she couldn't handle' bit. "He's apparently aware of his actions, but was unable to stop them, and couldn't fight Scorpius off."

[sith_happened]

Anakin's mouth gaped open.

"He had a chip in his brain?" he repeated.

[can_be_more]

She nods. "When it first happened, we took some measures to get it under control," she says carefully, not wanting to share Isabel's involvement if that was a bad thing. "The last few months it started getting bad again, but he had as many good days as he did bad. I don't know if Scorpius did something to him last weekend, or..."

[sith_happened]

"...he just snapped?" Anakin said, trying to finish her sentence. "And he decided to hurt everyone he cares about?"

[can_be_more]

"I don't think he was purposely intending to hurt anyone," she says. "For instance, he wanted to get to my Prowler and I wouldn't have let him, even if he was himself. I was in the way." It's not the entire truth. He didn't have to knock her out. And she's still not sure whether there's any real damage to her Prowler.

[sith_happened]

Anakin gave her a flat look. "Don't sugar-coat things, Aeryn," he said. "I can tell."

[can_be_more]

"I'm telling you what I think," she says simply.

[sith_happened]

"You don't want me to hurt John," Anakin said sharply, "so you're trying to put the best face on what he did."

[can_be_more]

She doesn't want to get angry. She's been that way all week and it's been much easier to stay shut down and not let anything bother her. "Don't tell me what to think or what I'm supposedly trying to do. Mind-reader or not, trust me when I say you have no idea what is going on inside my head right now."

She can't even sort it out yet, and it won't be pretty when she does.

[sith_happened]

Anakin made a visible effort to remove his head from his ass to get a grip.

He clenched his hands together and blew out a long breath. "John had a chip in his head. The precautions you took to stop its effectiveness wore off, leading to violence and him--or whoever was controlling him--trying to take your ship."

His eyes locked on hers. "What happened next?"

[can_be_more]

"We got him out of the Prowler, and Jamie knocked him out," she reports. And it is almost like a report, and this is a Bad Thing. "He and Molly agreed to come with me as I took John back to where I'm from, attempting to find someone who could tell us what could be done. We found a Diagnosan, and the chip was removed."

[sith_happened]

The hair on the back on Anakin's neck began to stand up.

He knew better than most what kind of pain could be hidden by retreating into official language.

"Aeryn," he said quietly, moving closer, "I'm not a commanding officer. It's okay to use adjectives."

[can_be_more]

"I'm just telling you what happened," she says just as quietly. She's skipping a lot, but it's all stuff that could potentially make her cry like a little girl.

[sith_happened]

Anakin reached out a hand to touch Aeryn's shoulder, eyes sympathetic.

"Tell me more?" he asked carefully.

[can_be_more]

"There were two separate run-ins with Peacekeepers, and it was three full days of being on a very small transport pod with three other people, one of which was a bastardized version of John," she says. Still leaving out details and the entire surgery.

[sith_happened]

Anakin's hand squeezed her shoulder, offering wordless support.

"And the surgery?" he asked quietly.

[can_be_more]

"They removed the chip without a problem."

Difficult? Who, Aeryn?

[sith_happened]

Anakin stared at her. "Aeryn, it's me," he said finally. "Telling me you were scared isn't going to make you think any less of you."

[can_be_more]

"Once all of this happened, I was never scared," she says quickly. No, she'd actually accepted everything that could possibly happen, up to and including her own death.

[sith_happened]

Anakin closed his eyes.

"How's John?" he finally asked.

[can_be_more]

"Said maybe two sentences the whole trip back. He's not really talking now, either," she says.

[sith_happened]

Anakin had been there not so very long ago. "It takes a while to find words," he said, staring far away.

He moved his hand away from Aeryn's shoulder. "For you, too," he said, looking at her.

The invitation to talk to him he left unsaid.

[can_be_more]

"I should go," she says, but the reason's that she doesn't want to leave John alone too long. "Just... remember what I said when you see him next."