fandomtownies | The Beach [Wednesday morning]

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The Beach [Wednesday morning]

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.]

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"It does not last," Raven said, shaking her head.

"So we need to find some more permanent solution," Max mused. "Any ideas?"

"It was you -- a version of you -- that put this in me," Raven said, shaking a little as she fought off the memories of how she'd only barely escaped the trap her other self had fallen into, and how part of her hadn't wanted to escape. "I had hoped you could remove it as well, but you said you could not."

"Like I said, it would be dangerous. It would involve... altering the way you think." And no one ever accused Max of having a delicate mental touch.

He raised an eyebrow. "You do realize how risky that is, right?"

"What do you mean, altering the way I think?" Raven asked. She definitely wanted to know more about this before she agreed to anything.

"It's as if... you have emotional scars. The mental wounds that you sustained didn't heal properly."

"Just like you can't heal a wound that's scarred, I don't think anyone can properly heal what's happened to you. Which would mean doing something more extreme."

"More extreme," Raven repeated. She wasn't sure she liked the sound of that. "Such as?"

"It's possible to... forcibly change your thought processes," Max explained. "To find the thinking that makes you crave sensation, and to modify that thinking. But it's almost certain that if we try that, something else will get changed. Something we don't want to change."

"It was easy for the vampire to create the desire," Raven said, still unsure. "Why can it not be undone just as easily."

"For the same reason you can't heal scars. Once things have set, they've set."

Though, really, that was probably an awful metaphor. Max rather doubted it could have been healed even if they'd tried it immediately afterward.

"The wounds...would have to be reopened?" Raven said, a note of fear creeping into her voice despite her promise to keep it controlled.

"No." Max shook his head. "This would be an entirely new sort of damage."

"I do not wish to be damaged further," Raven said, wrapping her arms around herself again.

"That's why I was hesitant to suggest it. I think the risks are far too great."

"Are there any other options?" Raven said, trying not to despair. "Or anyone else who can help me?"

Max thought about that. "Maybe. But they won't make your cravings go away. They might help you control them, though. And perhaps weaken them."

"You'd need to speak with someone who understands this sort of thing, though..." Ghani, maybe.

Raven was reluctant to expose her weakness to anyone else, but she nodded slightly. "That is better than nothing," she said.

"Do you know Lady Ghanima Atreides?" Max asked, slowly, eyes unfocused as he thought about the best way to handle this.

"I do," Raven confirmed. "I have taken many of her classes. I am her teaching assistant this semester."

"I think you should speak to her about this. I would be willing to accompany you, if you wish."

Raven did really like Ghanima and felt a flush of shame at revealing her problem to her. "Yes, please," she murmured.

"Perhaps we could talk to her next week?" Max suggested. That would give him time to figure out how to explain things properly.

"She teaches her class on Wednesday afternoons," Raven said. Today would surely be too soon, but next week, that would be more acceptable. "We often leave the island for field trips, but when we returned...."

Max nodded. "I'll swing by at the end of class, then?"

"That should be acceptable, I think," Raven said. She wasn't going to panic about this. She trusted Ghanima, after all.

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