Office hours [all day]

[sith_happened]

Normal people would use a week off of classes as a reason not to hold office hours but Anakin had never been accused of being a normal person.

He was in his office as usual, working on ideas for his new class.

The door was open.

Comments

[sith_happened]

Anakin nodded curtly. "I met it in the other universe," he said.

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"Well, I met it last week."

And while he felt responsible, Max knew that it wasn't even his fault.

[sith_happened]

Anakin reached up to rub the bridge of his nose tiredly. "What brought it out?"

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"Something was wrong with Aphrodite. Karla came up with a plan," which Max hadn't raised enough of an objection to, "and Raven joined us in attempting to execute it."

"Things didn't go as planned."

Why hello there, understatement.

[sith_happened]

"You let two teenage girls come up with a plan and you're shocked it didn't work," Anakin said dryly.

Long experience with Ahsoka's plans--ranging from harebrained to suicidal--were dancing through his brain.

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"Worse," Max corrected. "I let Karla come up with a plan." See? Anakin was being generous in his assessment. That must mean he was feeling friendly!

[sith_happened]

"Did she hit you with something heavy? Like a boulder?" Anakin replied.

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

Max had been trying to figure out why he'd gone along with things for a week now, and he thought he knew.

"You didn't see Aphrodite, I take it. Things were... desperate." Which was still no excuse.

[sith_happened]

"So you took two teenage girls with you to face off against a goddess," Anakin said. "What am I missing here?"

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"The lack of better options." Look, he knew it sounded lame. He wasn't entirely convinced that he was wrong, though.

Except for not demanding that Raven stay home.

[sith_happened]

Anakin sighed heavily. "Because the Force knows you three are the only ones on the island who know how to fight. Oh, wait, Raven doesn't do that. What was the plan that Karla came up with?"

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"First of all, you don't fight a goddess. Not directly. And the outline of Karla's plan was pretty good. Deception. The problem was with the details."

Max scowled slightly. "Raven never mentioned the... other."

[sith_happened]

"Because unless she is very, very stressed, it's not a problem," Anakin said, eyes narrowing. "What went wrong?"

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"There were too many emotions flying around the room, and Raven was absorbing too much anger and rage." They had been dealing with a goddess. That was stressful, you know.

[sith_happened]

"And why are you in my office and not her?" he demanded.

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"Because I'm not sure she'd tell you how I stopped her," Max shrugged. "And since you're the closest thing she's got to a trainer when it comes to this sort of thing, you need to know."

Duh.

[sith_happened]

Anakin had a very bad feeling about this. "What did you do?" he asked.

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"I used what happened to her last year. In that other Fandom."

Max wasn't exactly eager to say more than that.

He also braced himself for a face-punch. It wouldn't surprise him from Anakin.

[sith_happened]

When Anakin was as motivated as he was right now, he could move quickly.

One fist, in-bound!

"You kriffing bastard," he snarled.

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

Max didn't even move, letting the fist land right in the center of his face.

That... felt like a broken nose. Hopefully Anakin didn't mind blood on his floor.

"Feel better?" Max asked, voice neutral, but somehow managing to convey disapproval at the outburst.

[sith_happened]

"Not even a little bit," Anakin replied. "Do you?"

Because he had a feeling Max had expected that reaction.

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"Not especially." Max shot Anakin a hard look. "You think you're beating me up anymore than I've spent the last week doing?"

A broken nose was nothing.

[sith_happened]

"I can hit you again."

So helpful, that Anakin.

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"If it'll help you feel better so that you can help Raven when she eventually shows up, go for it." Max put slight emphasis on Raven's name, hoping Anakin would remember who this was about.

[sith_happened]

Anakin's glare was blistering.

And then he hit Max again--harder, this time.