Office hours [all day]

[sith_happened]

Anakin was in his office--which he'd carefully sterilized by removing family photos, just in case he had a certain visitor--putting together a new radio.

Um. No reason.

The door was open, and Anakin certainly wasn't plotting anything that would involve Leia, and a giant nunnery with a tower that she wouldn't be able to leave until she was 45. Really.

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[solo_sword]

Jaina knew full well that her first office hours visit of the new semester would be pretty much all about Leia, and that there was likely to be raging and her having to be the rational one.

Which was part of the reason why when she stopped by the office, she held up her left hand to show the simple band on her ring finger and greeted him with "Guess what!"

See, she was just trying to put things in perspective. Or see if Ben was right about that head popping off thing. If anyone was going to manage that, dammit, it was going to be her. She had dibs.

[sith_happened]

Anakin's eyes grew very, very, very large. "You didn't."

[solo_sword]

"No, I completely didn't," she said, taking off the ring and putting it on her right hand where she always wore it before taking a seat. "But there's absolutely no fun in starting off with 'happy new year'."

[sith_happened]

Anakin beat his head gently against his desk. "I am not going to survive to see my birthday," he declared. "You're all going to give me a heart attack."

[solo_sword]

"Sorry," she said, though she looked way too amused for that to be entirely true. It was like her revenge for preemptively telling her not to elope all those times. "Though, uh, it should probably make the news that we are trying to work things out a little easier to take in comparison."

The funny thing was, people didn't seem surprised by this, or just jumped to the conclusion that they were back together anyway. One person knew about the divorce. Jaina had no idea what this said about people's impressions of her.

[sith_happened]

Anakin's eyes narrowed. "He's married, Jaina. Don't be Rory in season five."

[solo_sword]

"Adds to the intrigue," she said dryly. "Please. He's not that kind of guy and I'm not that kind of girl. He was married."

[sith_happened]

"I've seen many people do many a stupider thing," he replied, "so I had to check."

After all, he'd done many a stupider thing.

"Are you sure this is what you want?"

[trigons_child]

Raven had missed coming by to talk to Anakin over the holidays, so she was in a good mood this morning since she got to resume her visits. "Good morning, Professor Skywalker," she said as she came by. She paused and looked around. "Where are all your pictures?"

[sith_happened]

"There's a bit of a timeline snag," Anakin admitted. "There are pictures of people that someone shouldn't see quite yet. How was your break?"

[trigons_child]

"It was very quiet," Raven said. "I found myself missing people who were away and being envious of them for having families to return home to."

[sith_happened]

Anakin nodded, looking sympathetic. "And all of the new students. Are they overwhelming you much?"

[trigons_child]

"I avoided the picnic and have not ventured into the common areas," Raven admitted. "I was waiting for their excitement and anxiety to die down, but I have not been overly troubled by them."

[sith_happened]

"Good," Anakin praised. "It can be a little much even for my shielding."

Though it doesn't help when a relative arrived who seemed bent on driving him right around the bend...

[trigons_child]

"There is something I did not have the opportunity to ask you before the holidays," Raven said. "Did you...speak to Professor Maximus?"

[sith_happened]

"I did," Anakin said, nodding.

He saw no reason to lie about it.

[trigons_child]

"The radio said you struck him," Raven said. "Because of me?"

[sith_happened]

Anakin nodded again. "You are a youngling," he said, "and he should not have said what he did."

[trigons_child]

"I do not wish violence to be committed on my behalf," Raven said, "but...it also felt strangely pleasing to me."

[sith_happened]

"That's why violence is so attractive," Anakin said. "It touches on something very primal within us, and gets us to a resolution much faster than hours of discussion about feelings. Max knew exactly how I felt."

He gave her a satisfied smile.

[trigons_child]

"Then I thank you," Raven said, "but I do not think I wish you to do it again. It felt pleasing, as I said, but distressing at the same time."

[sith_happened]

"Assuming that Max has learned his lesson about being an idiot, it will not happen again," Anakin replied.

[trigons_child]

Raven shook her head. "He has kept his distance from me," she said. "But Lady Aphrodite is close to him, and she told me he was very upset about what happened. She has also encouraged me to confront my fears of him." She didn't look entirely thrilled with that idea.

[sith_happened]

"Do you feel ready to do that?" Anakin asked.

[trigons_child]

"I am not certain," Raven admitted. "How would I know if I was?"