Office hours [all day]

[sith_happened]

Now that he knew that Drake's time left alive was short, Anakin felt a little bad--maybe--about yelling at the guy for his taste in earwormy pop tunes.

Which was why, after his weekly spar with Ben, he came into his office and shut the door.

But the damage was already done: when he wasn't paying attention, he found himself humming along with Lady Gaga.

Stupid everything.

Comments

[carpe_demon]

As if closed doors were a deterrent to a demon who could shimmer.

Drake shimmered into Anakin's office in a cloud of bubbles, an homage to one of his favorite outfits from the woman whose song he now...creatively edited.

"You know that I love you boy
Hot like Mexico, rejoice
At this point I've gotta choose
Nothing to lose
Don't call my name, don't call my name
Anakindro
Anakindro
Ana-Anakindro
Ana-Anakindro"

And then he shimmered back to his office, leaving the bubbles behind. His work here was done.

[trigons_child]

Raven was a little surprised to find the door shut and wasn't sure if Anakin was really there for a moment especially after her planned time with him on Tuesday had been cruelly STOLEN by a power outage, woe!. She knocked on the door.

[sith_happened]

"You're not planning to sing, are you?" Anakin checked.

[trigons_child]

"...that was just the one time," Raven said, unable to stop herself from blushing.

[sith_happened]

He smiled. "In that case, come in, Raven."

[trigons_child]

"Are people singing again?" Raven asked, stepping inside. She paused to shut the door again, since Drake had moved on to "Paparazzi."

[sith_happened]

"No, just him," Anakin said with a wry quirk to his lips.

[trigons_child]

"How are you?" Raven asked, taking a seat. "You were not here Tuesday."

[sith_happened]

"Pediatrician appointment went over," he said, making a face. "In my day, doctors did not keep me waiting."

Because keeping Vader waiting was lethal. Sometimes it was hard giving up the random smiting.

[trigons_child]

"Juliet is all right, I hope?" Raven said, concerned. Because she was Raven, after all.

[sith_happened]

"Perfect," Anakin said with a proud smile. "It was just a check-up. I apologize for missing our appointment, though."

[trigons_child]

"That is all right," Raven said with an answering smile. "I am pleased that Juliet is well. Did you wish to wait until next week or try something today?"

[sith_happened]

"Let's try today," Anakin decided. "I feel badly that we've missed this for two weeks."

[trigons_child]

"Please, do not feel badly," Raven said. "I do not mind." She was still nervous about the idea so it hadn't bothered her much at all that they hadn't started.

[sith_happened]

"You're nervous," Anakin observed. "Do you not want to attempt this?"

[trigons_child]

Raven shook her head. "I will do this if you think it will be helpful to me," she said, "but I cannot help but worry about losing control."

[sith_happened]

"It's better to lose control where I can help," Anakin declared, "than somewhere among people who might not be able to react as well."

[trigons_child]

"I trust you," Raven said, nodding. She couldn't live with herself if she somehow caused him harm, but she trusted Anakin implicitly.

[sith_happened]

"Good," Anakin said, giving her one of his rare, real smiles. "Now tell me what it's like just before you lose control."

[trigons_child]

"It is when my emotions are strongest," Raven said, suppressing a shudder. "When I am afraid or angry or feel hate. I cannot control them and they change me."

[sith_happened]

Anakin nodded, taking mental notes. "And your father definitely knows that, so it's a weakness we need to fix." He smiled a little wryly. "Not to mention whatever random events the island might toss at us. Being controlled by emotions can be...uncomfortable."

[trigons_child]

"That is the danger that my mother and Azar always warned me of," Raven said. "And when I was with him, my father tried to incite me. He destroyed an entire world before my eyes."

[sith_happened]

Anakin hissed in a breath. "Can you keep a secret?" he asked softly.

[trigons_child]

"Of course I can," Raven said, puzzled by his reaction. "I would never betray a confidence."

[sith_happened]

"My daughter will face that same image in a short time," Anakin said, then paused to clarify. "The older one--not Juliet. The one from a different timeline. People will destroy her home planet in order to get her to release information. She doesn't know it's going to happen."

Anakin was devious. This was partly an exchange of information and partially a test to see how Raven would react emotionally--to see if he would get something to work with.