The Beach [Wednesday morning]

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

Max was not pleased about being on the beach today. Not because he didn't like the beach, but because he was pretty sure it was going to be a disaster.

He looked out over the water, pondering just how bad an idea this was. Really, he should know better than to let his pride push him into things. But after dealing with Anakin's idiocy last week, and then having Raven accused him of abandoning her, he'd been upset enough to agree to... well, this.

Well, at least there might still be time for the weather to turn bad. Maybe there'd be a tornado or a hurricane or something. Even if it didn't look remotely likely, this was Fandom, so it could totally happen!

But for some reason Max rather suspected it wouldn't.

[Expecting one, but open to anyone who wants to distract Max from the upcoming disaster... Or just hang out on the beach.]

Comments

[trigons_child]

Raven shook her head. "No. I do not agree with that."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"So why not just take all the pain? All the suffering?" Max wondered how she'd answer.

[trigons_child]

"Because that would make people angry," Raven said. "I do not agree they should wallow in their pain, but unless it is harming them, I will not take it away without permission. Professor Skywalker taught me that."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"Couldn't you just take away their anger?" Yes, ladies and gentlemen, for tonight the role of Devil's Advocate will be played by Antillar Maximus!

[trigons_child]

"I could," Raven said. "But I will not, so that does not matter."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"Why not?" Max pressed. "If pain is bad, surely anger is as well?"

[trigons_child]

"I take it from those who threaten me," Raven said. "To stop them from harming me or others."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"But why limit yourself to just those people?" Max was trying to figure out precisely where Raven drew the line... and why she chose to draw it there.

Some part of him was worried that the line got drawn where Anakin said so because he said so. Which was a dangerous precedent with someone as powerful as Raven.

[trigons_child]

"I do not like anger, but if it is not causing harm to another or to one's self, then I do not need to intervene," Raven said with a slight shrug of her shoulders. "I would prefer a world where there is no anger or sorrow or pain, but that is not truly possible."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

Max was silent for a few seconds as he considered that answer. "No," he agreed softly. "It isn't."

After another pause he asked, "Would you take away a positive emotion if someone asked you to? Love, for instance?"

[trigons_child]

"I would, yes, if that love was causing them pain, which I know it can very well do," Raven said.

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"Why does pain concern you so much?"

Max pursed his lips thoughtfully. "It seems that whether or not something is causing pain is your primary criteria for deciding what you will take."

[trigons_child]

"I do not wish to see people suffer," Raven said. "There is usually no need to take away such things as love and joy." Even if she was tempted sometimes to claim it for herself. "And ever time I take away someone's pain, I defy my father."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"I suspect..."

Max sighed and shook his head. He was pretty sure that Raven didn't want to hear what he was thinking.

[trigons_child]

She was going to ask anyway. "What do you suspect?" she said.

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"Before I answer, I've actually got a quick question," Max decided. "When you take someone's pain... what happens to it?"

[trigons_child]

"It depends on the writer is banished to the netherverse," Raven said. "I take it into myself and then purge it." At least that was how it was supposed to work. She'd been having a few issues since Kaeleer, but none she was ready to admit to yet.

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"So you only feel it for a brief time?" Max asked.

[trigons_child]

"It depends on the severity of the pain," Raven said. "But eventually it does pass, yes."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"What about your own pain? If you are injured does the same thing happen?"

[trigons_child]

"I am able to heal myself," Raven said, wondering what Max was getting at. "Sometimes it is harder because my own body is in shock and not prepared for the pain, but I am able to purge that as well, yes."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"Is the same true of emotional pain?"

[trigons_child]

"That has proven somewhat difficult for me to rid myself of," Raven said softly. "When I began to learn emotions, I could not merely learn the good and refuse the bad."

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"Good." Max actually found that reassuring.

[trigons_child]

"Why do you ask all this?" Raven had to know.