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The Beach [Thursday afternoon]

Max decided that the weather was nice enough to meet outside today. A little rain, if it came, never hurt anyone. As far as he knew.

So Max was out at the beach killing time. It had been a while since he'd done much direct earthcrafting, so he was concentrating in order to compress areas of sand enough to make them solid, then reversing the effect.

Really, someone ought to suggest he use his powers for ~~awesome~~ building sand castles.

[Open!]

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And there was Raven~~, once she finally saw the post, wtf eyes~~. She paused to watch Max at work on the sand. "How are you doing that?" she asked.

"Furycrafting," he answered after taking a moment to widen the space he was hardening. "It's another application of the skills I have."

"That is where our gifts differ," Raven said. "I cannot use my abilities to make something hard."

She really had no idea she'd just said.

"Actually," Max said after a long pause, "I would not be surprised that there were some aspects of your... gifts ~~or whatever euphanism the kids were using these days~~ which you have yet to explore which might surprise you. But I'm not really in a position to teach those." Qualified? Yes, Max was qualified. But she was his student: so.

"Sand has no emotion," Raven said, not even glancing up as Max's meaning went over her head. "I cannot affect it the way you are."

"That may be true. You're more familiar with what you can and can't do than I am. Though you could probably do it indirectly: convince someone to do it for you."

He shook his head. That wasn't what she was here for. (Which was too bad.)

"That would be an abuse of my gifts," Raven said. "I cannot!"

Tempting as it was.

"That's very ethical of you," Max nodded. "So what have you learned since last week?"

"I decided to speak to Lady Aphrodite," Raven admitted. "As she is the goddess of love."

"I don't think I've met her before," Max admitted.

Well, he didn't know he had, anyway. And done more than meet her.

"She runs the" -- blush, blush -- "shop called Decadent Delights," Raven said. "I thought perhaps it would be wise to speak to her because that is her realm."

"Oooooh, I think I may have met her after all." He'd have to talk to her again sometime soon.

"And do you think you learned something?"

"I think so, yes," Raven said, nodding. "We spoke of taking things slowly and making sure I am comfortable."

"And do you think you might be? Some day?"

"I cannot deny that there is part of me that longs for affection," Raven said. "It would be nice to fulfill that desire."

"That's a natural human reaction. And as long as you understand it, as long as you're careful, you'll have that eventually."

Max made a mental note not to let her play with any affection in their exercises for a while.

What danger could that be? Surely it would be perfectly safe!

"I cannot deny I am afraid of being hurt again," Raven said. "I do not wish to rush things."

"Patience," Max smiled a bit fondly. "You're young yet."

Precisely! She was a teenager with teenage hormones!

"I know," Raven said. She hesitated a moment, then asked, "Without empathic gifts, how does one recognize affection from a boy?" Maybe it was a little awkward asking Max the question, but she was curious as to what signs to look for rather than possibly misreading the emotions she picked up on.

"It depends on the boy." Max cocked his head. "Usually the best sign of interest at the age you're at now is that he'll be more socially awkward around you than he is around most people."

"More awkward?" Raven repeated. "Why is that?"

"If they like you they'll want you to like them too. And that means they'll be extra worried around you. They'll be afraid that they'll do something to make you dislike them, to look silly. And so in their overzealous attempt to be likable, they'll be awkward."

Max was glad he was past that stage in his life.

"That is good to know," Raven said thoughtfully. "I would not have assumed that love and anxiety and awkwardness to be so linked together. Does that mean if he is confident his feelings may be false?"

"Not always, but for what it sounds like you're looking for in a relationship... it often is. The anxiety is over losing your affection, or alienating you. That is more and more of an issue of the boy can't stand the thought of not having you."

Max rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Someone who's looking for something more casual won't feel as great a risk. Which," he pointed out, "isn't necessarily false. Simply different. And by the sound of it, not what you're looking for."

"I suppose that makes a certain amount of sense," Raven said. "And...yes. I think if I were to engage in a romantic relationship, I would want it to be emotionally fulfilling."

Max could have argued that you could have a rather fulfilling relationship without the level of commitment Raven seemed to be concerned with, but he doubted it would help.

"So you know what you might want emotionally, and you've determined that caution is an important part of attaining. That's quite useful."

Please. She was an empath, she wanted an emotional connection!

...okay, so the physical sensations were nice, too. But still. Emotions! Catnip for an empath!

"Unfortunately a lesson helped along by being hurt," Raven said. "I would rather have learned it without making such a mistake."

Hey, Max appreciated an emotional connection. It was just that he didn't feel that commitment was a necessary component.

"Few lessons are learned without making mistakes," Max shrugged. "And it could have been much more painful than it was."

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The Beach [Thursday afternoon]

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