office hours: round 1.

[foo_bar]

office hours daily. i'm here to help... i think.

(screened PCs with han)

Comments

[foo_bar]

[he's still... fuming. He's at the window, but. you know. sure.

He glances back at her, and forces himself to be calm.]

Hey, Max.

[reshoot]

[yikes. he's like an angry teacher. wait, he kind of IS an angry teacher in a literal sense, so.]

...You know, I can leave if now is too much of a--yeah.

[foo_bar]

[he's not THAT angry teacher ok.

He runs a hand through his hair, and then moves to sit down at his desk]

What can I do you for, eh?

[reshoot]

[ (☐) "Something has been bothering me, and I wanted to talk to you about it." - "Wait did you just say 'eh'? (O)

(☐)]

Something has been bothering me, and I wanted to talk to you about it.

Since...you know more than I do, even if I'm sure you can't tell me everything.

[foo_bar]

[He's Canadian-- but it's ok, they can just rewind this conversation. :)]

Sure-- what exactly's been bothering you?

[reshoot]

[if only.]

Do you know what happens at the end of the semester?

[foo_bar]

I-- assume everyone graduates, and we're supposed to beat whatever it is we're training you for.

[he pauses. that's a good question. One he should... maybe be more concerned about.]

[reshoot]

"Everyone."

[Mm.]

Are we really going to be "trained" in...what, two to four months? This isn't like, a four year program or anything?

I guess you don't have a timetable, huh?

[foo_bar]

You're all supposed to be, yeah.

But Vivienne would know better, wouldn't she?

[he sighs a little, rueful.]

[reshoot]

[Mm. That reminds her.]

Actually, speaking of Vivienne.

...Did you know the whole time?

[foo_bar]

No.

[without hesitation, and he looks a little... hurt? but it's hard to tell.]

[reshoot]

[Did she not trust him...? Max purses her lips.]

Ah.

[Maybe it's best not to tell him that she knew.]

...Do you think Hale is gonna get rid of her?

[foo_bar]

I hope not.

[he's pretty sure she didn't, but honestly, he's... a little out of his depth now.]

[reshoot]

[How reassuring.]

I don't see why he wouldn't just kill her and replace her--or not replace her.

Unless she serves some sort of purpose that we don't know about...

I'm getting off topic--I think it's pretty clear that you don't have much to say on this matter.

Or you just don't want to talk about it entirely, so I'm going to ask you something else, instead.

How much do you know about the entrance exam?

[foo_bar]

The one that you were in?

[admittedly, he welcomes a change in subject. The motives of the administration are... hard for him to understand, admittedly.]

[reshoot]

Both.

What qualified me to continue? Why didn't so many of the others have to go through that? What was the point in waiting so long in between? There were...plenty of other people in that exam more worthy of being called a "hero" than me...

If there were other entrance exams before ours, what made ours different?

[Sigh.]

Sorry I'm––I know I'm throwing al ot at you but, think of my position, here.

[foo_bar]

... It's not as clear cut as that. There was something about you, and about your group, that was special enough for you guys to move on.

[he smiles a little apologetically, because honestly, what good is "moving on" here?]

You've got what they think it takes to be a hero.

[reshoot]

["You're a real everyday hero, Max."

She shudders. Is that true? Is that what this is all about? Seems pretty...silly, honestly.]

So...I was a better hero than everyone else that ever took the exam besides Akira, Tess, Henry, Maya, Terra and––

And Yoosung...

[foo_bar]

... I don't know. I honestly don't. But... that you're here? Implies so.

[reshoot]

That's fucked up. I don't know what measuring stick they're using, but plenty of us were...

[Mmf. Max has to catch herself before she totally flips out.]

God those freaking trading cards, they're all I can think about lately. It's not that I think I shouldn't have gone on, I'm glad to be alive but...I just don't understand why they had to do that. What makes that horrible french murdering fuck any better than Jake or Gladio or Kaoru?

[oh gosh, she's totally flipping out, her hands are shaking and she's probably starting to channel chloe a little too much.]

Yeah, yeah, I KNOW. I know he was probably justified in his own mind, I know he probably didn't deserve to be freaking BEHEADED in front of all of us.

"Cool motive, still murder." And you know what, Han? It's going to happen again. It's going to keep happening and happening so forgive me if I think this whole "hero" concept is bullshit.

[foo_bar]

[han is a little taken aback by Max's outburst, and also, he doesn't entirely understand what she's referencing. but at the same time, he realizes that... honestly, fair.]

Hey-- look, look. I wish that hadn't happened. [he hesitates here, like he might say something else, and then settles on] And I'm sorry it did. I didn't think someone would follow through.

But-- I don't know. I've already pushed Hale to stop this.