The Beach [Thursday afternoon]

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

Max had decided that with the weather beginning to shift he should enjoy the beach as much as he could. Not that it wouldn't still be nice when it was cold, but it wouldn't be the same, and that was a shame.

So he was sitting on the sand with his feet resting on that transitional zone where the waves washed up and then flowed back out.

Life? Was good.

[It's an open beach!]

Comments

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"But both are risks, right? People are always hesitant to admit their weaknesses."

[trigons_child]

"A risk of rejection is not the same as a risk of death," Raven said. "I have sought help and been refused, I know what that is like." The Justice League had chased her away, after all. If they had known she was Trigon's daughter, she might have been imprisoned or worse.

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"Agreed. But it's still a risk." He cocked his head: she saw that, right?

[trigons_child]

"Yes," she agreed. "Of different degrees, but both are risks."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"That's why people don't ask for help. And, for most people, it makes them uncomfortable if you know they need it when they didn't want anyone to know that."

He pursed his lips. "Imagine how you'd feel if someone you didn't want to know who you were, did know that."

[trigons_child]

"I would be afraid," Raven said. "But there is no reason to be afraid of the healing I offer. And there are those whose distress is obvious; there is no point in hiding it."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"They don't know that. And fear tends to make people irrational." He snorted. "Emotions in general make people irrational." She knew that by now.

[trigons_child]

"Yes," Raven sighed. "I wish there was a way to only feel love and compassion and joy and not feel anger or fear, but I know that is not possible. Azarath proved that."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"Feelings are part of being human. Both the good and the bad." Max smiles a bit sadly. "You just have to work to make one outweigh the other."

[trigons_child]

"I do not think I could ever return to my home now," Raven said. "Now that I have begun to feel, I cannot simply turn it off."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"Do you wish you could go back?"

[trigons_child]

"I do not know," Raven said, looking down at the sand. "I miss it sometimes. It was easier for me there. But many feared the danger that I brought to Azarath, and I feared it as well. I did not want to see my home destroyed. That is why I left."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"Do you still fear it?"

[trigons_child]

"Yes," Raven admitted. "I fear my father coming to claim me. I fear that he will harm those I have learned to care for."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"That's one reason we're doing this, isn't it?"

[trigons_child]

Raven nodded. "Karla looked into the future in her web. She saw one future where I was claimed by my father and served him. In the other I had friends by my side was was able to fight him. It seemed Azar was wrong, that suppressing my emotions was not the key to fighting my father. Learning to feel and care and love may make me stronger...though it may also open the door to anger and fear."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"To be human is risk." Max heard someone say that once. It had actually seemed true enough for him to remember it. "We'll work to make sure the risks are are low as possible."

[trigons_child]

"I must learn emotions," Raven agreed. "But I must also prevent them from controlling me."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"Do... do you feel like meeting with me is any help?"

[trigons_child]

"I think so, yes," Raven said. "But I have not truly been tested recently."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"That'll come," Max said softly. "That's how life goes." No matter how much you might try to avoid the hard stuff.

[trigons_child]

"Emotions are so wondrous," Raven said. "But so confusing as well. Even ones like love."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

Max didn't even try to suppress a laugh at that. "Especially ones like love." There was a reason Max tended to avoid the complicated stuff.

[trigons_child]

"So it is not just me then," Raven said, feeling a little relieved.

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"No. It's not just you." Max grinned. "I bet that if you talk to some of your other classmates you'll find they're just as confused by it as you are."