004 ♦ [text]

[cruelcurse]

I took a little trip, but I`m back now. You haven`t forgotten me, have you? It hasn`t been THAT long. I think I should be upset if I`ve been forgotten already, or something!

In case we haven`t met, my name is Henry. Since I already graduated and all that, I`m gonna be a teacher this time! Won`t that be fun? If you take my class, I`ll teach you all sorts of neat stuff. From how to turn your friends into slugs, to granting sentience to a dismembered chunk of flesh, to plotting out an episode of magically-induced hives for an entire army, I can teach you anything about sorcery and dark magic. (What if the hives were SO itchy that the soldiers started flaying off their skin just for relief? That would be something to see...)

Juuust so you know, I`m not responsible for any accidental injury, disease, or death experienced in my class. Neither`s the school, more fine text, blah blah, risk of possible and permanent side effects from malevolent spiritual interaction, your responsibility... you understand. Keep it in mind, okay? Bye!

Comments

Re: [Video]

[golonghorns]

Might work differently in this world, but in mine, you'd at least have to make them sign a waiver. And the waiver would have to be approved by lawyers and written up by lawyers and conform to regulations based around the industry you're working in.

[Or, at least, in his world twenty or so years ago.]

Just saying that the school isn't responsible probably ain't gonna hold water.

[Video]

[cruelcurse]

[It goes over Henry's head. His head seems to loll to the side until he nods slowly.]

Wellllll... I'm not good at the technical stuff. I was just reading what was on my paperwork. They said it's been taken care of? So I'm sure it'll be alright~.

Re: [Video]

[golonghorns]

So long as your paperwork lines up... I guess.

[Joel was INCREDIBLY DUBIOUS at this point.]

Hope the school hires on a new nurse soon at least.

[Video]

[cruelcurse]

Me too! I don't like getting hurt very much. Having healers and nurses around sure is a blessing. It gets pretty annoying, performing a rewind curse on an open gash just for the skin to bust right open again in a number of hours~. I don't think that's EVER a good idea, so I'd rather just see a nurse.

Re: [Video]

[golonghorns]

I'm a pretty experienced do-it-yourself-er when it comes to wound management in the field.

[Alcohol and rags will heal any wound. For real.]

[Video]

[cruelcurse]

Really? Hmmmmn...

[Henry taps his jaw while he smiles at the ceiling.]

I could stand to be useful like that, too. I've been in a few wars. On both sides, too~! But the second army I joined was more focused on, uhh... unit preservation, if you catch my drift.

You know. Not letting their soldiers die. They're not expendable and stuff? I don't get it either, ahaha~! But they valued their healing time. Maybe I could learn how to do something more than just tossing a vulnerary at an ally.

Re: [Video]

[golonghorns]

Where I'm from, the Military run things. Mostly. And they don't really see their soldiers as expendable.

[Which was why they tended to get so bent out of shape any time Joel had to kill a couple.]

Knowing how to patch up your own wounds or the wounds of an ally comes in handy. It's not rocket science. I'm sure you can learn how it all works, here.

[Video]

[cruelcurse]

Right! I'm more worried about allies than I am myself, though. I don't feel pain all that well, so I'm usually good to go. But lots of people need medical attention, and I could learn ways to help for once!

[golonghorns]

Whether you feel pain or not, you ain't going to be much use to anyone if you bleed out and die or fail to get somewhere on time because you don't know how to splint a messed up leg. Taking care of your own wounds is important.

[Joel understood not feeling pain. Well, that wasn't entirely accurate - he felt it. But he'd grown used to it over the last twenty years. That was why he could take a few bullets, wind himself up in whiskey soaked rags and keep going. It was The Usual as far as he was concerned.]

[cruelcurse]

Ohhh, right... Well, haven't had it happen yet. This body's been pretty good to me! One time, I had this huge gash in my side from an axe, and I didn't even notice~! Cool, huh? Ahaha, it was bleeding everywhere, and I lasted until after the battle was over.

...Then I started feeling a bit woozy. Juuust a little~

[golonghorns]

Really? Damn, son. That's actually pretty impressive.

[If Joel was more of the sharing, caring kind, he'd talk about the time he fell off a balcony and had a bit of steel reinforcement go right through his gut.]

Taken my share of blows with an axe. They ain't any fun.

[cruelcurse]

Uh-huh. Axes, right?

[Henry shrugs his shoulders.]

I just try not to get hit by them if I can. Sometimes you're lucky and it doesn't hurt so bad, but when you do feel it, they really hurt. My nerve sensation's flat-out dull, but otherwise, I don't think I have much tolerance for pain~.

[golonghorns]

Any reason you don't feel pain so well? Just born that way?

[cruelcurse]

It's nerve damage~ I went to this facility when I was a kid, right? And we used to get harsh punishments when we misbehaved. Ooor just whenever the people felt like it, ahaha~ Those hurt a lot, and now I don't feel it so well when I get wounded anymore~

[golonghorns]

[....sweet jesus. OK. That was a lot of kind of personal information. Joel balked at the idea of telling people which town he was from in Texas. Let alone 'I was permanently damaged by physical abuse when I was a kid.'. How was he even supposed to respond to that!?]

...oh.

Uh. That's... really kind've terrible. Rough deal. Sorry.... Y'know.

[cruelcurse]

[Somebody has no filter when it comes to personal history, especially when he should practice discretion...]

It's fine~. It made me who I am today, and I think I turned out pretty well~!

[He opens his mouth to describe himself, but he finds that he doesn't really have the words anymore. Somebody he knew told him they didn't think he turned out as well as he said he did, so maybe he was wrong and just couldn't see it... He laughs sheepishly. It was hard to evaluate yourself when everybody said you were wrong.]

...Or, at least I'm trying to get better, ahah. But it's fine!

[golonghorns]

Right. Sure.

[So how was it that this guy seemed to smile so much and talk in that happy, sing-song kind of voice? If he was really that mistreated, shouldn't he be a bitter, grizzled asshole like... well. Like pretty much everyone Joel knew back home? Still. Smiles could hide a lot.]

Good... luck. Getting better. This place seems to be kind've a second chance for a lot of folks.

[Heck, Joel himself almost felt like a regular person sometimes because of this place. He'd managed to claw back some kind of normalcy. If he could do it, there had to be others who could do the same.]

[cruelcurse]

Huh? A second chance? Why do ya say that? A second chance for what?

[Henry doesn't know the meaning of normal, so he doesn't know where to look. It doesn't immediately occur to him that many people pursue a quiet life without war, pain, or killing. Twisted is all he knew, unfortunately. ...Save the valuable time spent with the Ylissean army.]

[golonghorns]

A chance to live a good life. I mean, where you come from sounds kind've shitty.

[cruelcurse]

It wasn't so bad~ Realistically, if you only live one way, how are you to know any differently? Hmm? My life was my life, and things go differently from place to place~ But I think I've got it. I'll look out for my second chance.

[He tilts his head at the monitor.]

Good luck to you, too~ Finding your second chance.

[golonghorns]

[Well, he had a point. People from shitty places only knew shitty places. Maybe THAT was why this guy seemed so casual about sickening stuff. He was really an OK guy who just so happened to grow up somewhere terrible. Joel could empathize.]

I, uh... I appreciate it.