hadriel | video

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Hello- everyone. Whatever we are.

My name is Doctor Bruce Banner. I'm- [not that kind of doctor, actually, but not going to overcomplicate this with semantics when the reality is he's perfectly capable.] -collecting medical supplies, and a record of who here knows what amount of first aid.

If any of you have any untreated injuries that you'd like to be seen, please let me know.

And a message, for going forward. One of the serious issues that we're going to have with this place will be dealing with the possibility of infection. Individually tailored cocktails of antibiotics are just not a reality right now. The supply of ointment is low.

That means that when you get cut, you need to take it seriously and you need to treat it immediately. Use soap, and warm water, and scrub your cuts. I know it's painful, if it isn't painful you're doing it wrong, but you need to take a soft clean cloth or a soft-bristled medical brush or sponge, and you need to scrub, with soap, under as steady a stream of hot clean water as you can get your hands on. Especially if there was dirt in the cut, or if you were bitten by some kind of animal. Obviously wash your hands as well before dressing a wound. So, that's the bad news, I guess?

If you need help, you can always get in contact with me. If you've got any first aid training, please get in touch here so we can pool our resources. Same thing if you'd like to get training.

If you're interested in helping, or learning to help at all, I have a building with electricity that I'm trying to clean and disinfect to the point where it will serve as a makeshift clinic until we can all get out of here.

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[He has a sudden terrible mental image of Arya running up to and beheading some perfectly benign but haughty blonde celebrity, and decides that he will maybe leave this one to Steve, bring it up with him later.]

You said that in your world, you know about magic?

[ Oh, Bruce. Needle can't behead anyone. It doesn't slice through bone. Picture, instead, Arya stabbing a large, drunk, balding blond man over and over until he bleeds to death, then leaving his corpse to rot by the river.

Beheading is for executioners. Arya just wants revenge.

She nods. ]

Yes.

This is not exactly that, but it functions a lot like it, so it's the easiest way to explain it.

[Again, filing all this stabbing firmly in the category of 'Steve is better equipped to handle this.']

When I fight, I can't always control myself. Anger has a physical effect on my body. I wake up after a battle is done, and I don't remember what I've done, or always who I've hurt.

It's very important to me that this not happen, so I try to avoid any situation where I might lose control. I'm telling you about it, because even just walking together, if we're attacked and you see my skin begin to tinge green, you need to run.

I will.

[ She believes him completely, and knows this is serious. Magic, or things that act like magic, are not forces to tamper with. She's a little unsettled, though. Arya isn't afraid of Bruce -- who you turn into is not who you are, any child should know that. But Arya turns into a wolf when she sleeps, and it's never occurred to her that she could hurt anyone. Until now. ]

I won't make you angry. Or, I'll try, really hard. I think I'm likely pretty good at making people angry but that's because I get into places I shouldn't be and I yell sometimes and I'm not a good lady at all and --

You won't. It's been happening long enough that I have a very cool head.

[He promises, and on that subject;]

I'm sure you've worked this out already, but anyone who ever tells you anything a lady should or shouldn't do is utterly mistaken. The important thing is to be a good person, and sometimes that just means going somewhere someone says you shouldn't, particularly if they're wrong.

The people who told me that are all dead.

[ Arya is very matter of fact about it. She ran away, they didn't. That's how the world works. All men must die. It's nothing to get worked up about. ]

I am not a very good lady, but I am a good survivor and I know how to use a blade. That's enough.

That's more than enough. That's exactly what we need in a world like this one.

[He says, sensibly.]

[ That's what you need in any world, as far as she's concerned. She hasn't known anything different. Not for a while, at least. ]

The people in this world are far gentler, though. It'd be nice here if it weren't for the bears.

[That startles a laugh out of him, because honestly;]

You have a knack for truth, Nymeria.

[ A girl is a terrible liar, the Kindly Man told her, and she can hear him now. She wishes she still was. She wishes Bruce didn't think so highly of her, because she's not a good person, she doesn't tell the truth. He is a doctor, but she is a killer, and they are much, much too different.

She squirms. ]

That was an easy truth to tell.

Not for all of us.

[But, because she's a little bit obvious when she's uncomfortable.]

So what advice do you have for a middle aged pacifist and vegetarian?

[ Why wouldn't it be easy to tell? It's glaringly obvious. Things like names and histories and fears -- those are the hard truths to tell. ]

People don't always tell their truths with words. Sometimes it's in their eyes, or their shoulders, or their feet.

[ She had to learn all about lying and truth-telling from the Kindly Man and the Waif. They made her learn more about truth than she could ever imagine, than she ever wanted.

That last sentence didn't make much sense. Bruce is like Steve, Arya reasons. Talks about things that aren't real in her world. ]

What's a vege--vegetoriang?

A vegetarian is someone who doesn't eat meat. People are vegetarians for personal preference, by religious custom, for ethical or environmental reasons.

Instead, you eat other sources of protein- like beans, eggs, sometimes milk or cheese.

[He can gloss over vegans for now.]

So vegetarian like vegetable, right?

[ That makes sense. ]

So if I ate nothing but acorn paste for a month, am I a vegetarian?

[ That was by necessity, not choice. Do vegetarians have to choose to be one? ]

You were eating a vegetarian diet that month. But really, you shouldn't do it that way if you can help it. That sounds like an emergency, but I eat a lot of variety in my diet to stay healthy.

[ She nods, thinking hard about what her advice should be. It has to be really good, since Bruce is very smart and likely knows a lot of things already. ]

Don't get too attached to anything. Not even ideas, not even yourself. People come and go and die and betray you and nothing is fair unless you're evil, which you're not. Do not get attached to yourself or your name. They can take that from you, and it will hurt unless you don't let it. Do not get too attached to goals; they will consume you and you will do things that you can't undo, even if you really, really want to.

[ She's quiet for a moment, and then: ]

And it might be a good idea for you to get a haircut. It looks like it could get in the way.

[ There, perfect. ]

[Oh God, Arya. He tries very hard not to let it show that he thinks she is adorable.]

Thank you. If we can find scissors, I might do just that.

[ It's a good thing Bruce is good at controlling emotions, because Arya isn't cute. She's hardcore as hell. She gestures towards her sword. ]

I have a blade.

Oh- I think we can wait and see.

[And maybe leave it at that, for now.]

[ She shrugs. Suit yourself.

Arya is silent for a long time, thinking. Her gaze will flicker over to him once or twice, quick and sharp. She needs to be watchful.

Eventually, she speaks: ]

Steve said you studied why. Why things are and why they happen and why we're all made of little bits. Things like that.

That's true. I'm very interested in what makes the world into the world.

[He says, with a nod.]

Do you have things you're curious about?

[ So many. But she'll start with the most important question. ]

Why do people break promises?

[ Because that's at the root of everything, isn't it? Cersei promised she wouldn't kill Lord Stark. Yoren promised to take her to the wall. The Kindly Man promised her shelter, but none of them, none of them meant anything they said. Not really.

So why did they say those things? ]

Three reasons; they're liars, they're thoughtless, or they're being forced by circumstance and conscience.

Evil people break promises because they offer them in a false spirit, to soothe you when they need your cooperation. Thoughtless people break promises because they weren't serious in giving them, because they've forgotten or else never understood what they meant to the promisee. Good people break promises when their hearts are twisted, conscience nagging them, where making yourself a liar is better than whatever it is you'd not be doing. Lies that save lives.

[ Is that what it means to be a liar? That your heart is twisted? Arya isn't so sure. ]

Or they don't have a heart at all.

[ Enough lying kills the heart. Arya's life has been a lie ever since Joffrey took her father's head. Small lies, like Arry the orphan boy, turned into larger and larger ones, until she was riding with the man she'd meant to kill. Until she gave it all up at last and became no one.

Nymeria is the worst lie because she's lying to the honest. ]

Lots of people don't. [ Including herself. ]

I know they sure act like they don't.

[He agrees, quiet, and meeting her eyes. It hurts; he knows. Life has kicked him in the teeth a few times too, so he recognizes, and is sorry for her.]

Maybe Hadriel will be a less cruel world. There are so few of us here, in a sense we get to decide what to make it.

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