All in a day's work?

[sensiblesusan.livejournal.com]

((Closed to Susan and Elle))

It was another quiet morning at the First Aid station, conveniently a day off of lessons for the children, and Susan was relaxing with a book of poetry borrowed from Psyche. She'd grown accustomed to the relative peace and quiet of the park and of her daily routine, and of late she tended not to expect anyone to show up with the occasional minor injury.

It never did to become complacent, though, and sometimes even Susan needed a reminder of this fact.

Comments

[elle-sparks.livejournal.com]

Upon waking up after her night with Spike (http://community.livejournal.com/dizzy_land/243028.html?thread=14502740#t14502740), Elle realized that her arm was still bleeding on and off and she probably needed it properly bandaged.

So she set off to track down the First Aid station.

"Hello?"


[link mildly nws]

[sensiblesusan.livejournal.com]

Susan set down her book and went into the reception area.

"Ah, good morning, V—" No, hang on, her hair's cut with a fringe, which means that per Logan's account she's not— "I don't think we've met. I'm Susan."

[elle-sparks.livejournal.com]

"Hi, Susan, I'm Elle," she said. "I need someone to bandage up my arm."

She held out the arm that she had cut the previous night. There was a very ragged bandage on her forearm, a couple inches above her wrist.

[sensiblesusan.livejournal.com]

"Hello, Elle. Come back here and let's have a look."

She led Elle back to the examination room and, while she got out fresh bandages and disinfectant, indicated for the girl to sit where she liked.

"So when did you arrive? I gather you're new here."

[elle-sparks.livejournal.com]

"The other day," Elle said, having already lost track of time. "Have you been here a long time?"

[sensiblesusan.livejournal.com]

"A very long, unfortunately indeterminate amount of time," Susan replied. "Long enough to recognise most of the faces, in any case. Now then—" She took Elle's wrist gently and removed the old bandage.

Her eyebrows went up slightly at the sight of the injury. "It looks like a clean cut, in any case," she said. Not to mention a deliberate one.

[elle-sparks.livejournal.com]

"Should be," Elle said. "And I didn't cut very deep."

[sensiblesusan.livejournal.com]

All right, that earned a double-take.

"You did this to yourself."

[elle-sparks.livejournal.com]

Elle nodded. "It was to help a friend."

[sensiblesusan.livejournal.com]

Susan set about cleaning up the injury (determining that it would probably be all right without stitches) and putting a clean bandage on before finally speaking again.

"May I ask why? You don't have to answer, of course."

[elle-sparks.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, Elle had no tact.

"He needs blood to survive, so I gave him some," she explained.

[sensiblesusan.livejournal.com]

Slow blink.

"He what?"

And of course, Susan knew what that probably meant about Elle's friend. There's scarcely a person on the Disc that doesn't know what a vampire is.

[elle-sparks.livejournal.com]

"He's a vampire," Elle said, matter-of-factly.

[sensiblesusan.livejournal.com]

"...I see." She checked the bandage to make sure it was secured to her liking. "And his name is?" She wondered if Sunshine knew...

[elle-sparks.livejournal.com]

"Spike," Elle said, smiling at the memory of the previous night. "He's pretty cool."

[sensiblesusan.livejournal.com]

Susan was about to ask Elle if she minded her new friend's nutritional requirements, but ... well, the girl had cut herself, which meant either she had no problem with it, or—

Well, if she'd been compelled to, she might still be under the compulsion, considering how cheerful she was about the whole thing.

"And how did you two meet?" She put away the disinfectant and began putting extra bandages and medical tape in a small bag for Elle to take with her.

[elle-sparks.livejournal.com]

"Just wandering around the park," Elle said. "He took me to ride the Matterhorn. I've never been to Disneyland before, so I was pretty excited."

Poor Elle. She seriously lacked social skills and didn't realize how unusual her attitude was.

[sensiblesusan.livejournal.com]

"There aren't too many people who are excited about being here, it must be said," Susan said dryly. "I suppose it's good to have a positive attitude. And did he mention right away that he was a vampire?"

[elle-sparks.livejournal.com]

"Not right away," Elle said. "He didn't think I could handle letting him have some of my blood."

She pouted a little at that. She hated when people thought she was incompetent.

[sensiblesusan.livejournal.com]

"Well, many people do object to that sort of thing." She sighed. She had to ask, as pointless as it might be ... "And he didn't coerce you, or try to force you into it, did he?" Her expression and tone were graver and more serious now.

[elle-sparks.livejournal.com]

"No, I had to convince him that I could handle it," Elle said, looking a bit confused at the notion of being forced to do something she didn't want to do.

Granted, she obeyed her father without question, but that was different in her mind.

[sensiblesusan.livejournal.com]

Susan frowned.

There were so many pear-shaped things about this whole scenario that she couldn't even begin to start—and as intimately familiar as she was with the supernatural, vampires weren't really her realm of expertise.* She really wanted to consult with Sunshine on the matter.

"I see," she said finally. "Well ... look, take this with you." She handed the little bag to Elle. "And if it doesn't seem to be healing properly, come back. And ..." She paused. "Look, if there's anything you need, or any help, in any matter, don't hesitate to talk to me, all right?"

*Not to mention that apparently vampires across different worlds, like unhappy families, all seemed to be unhappy—or vampiric—in their own way.

[elle-sparks.livejournal.com]

Elle smiled. "Thanks. Everyone here is super nice. I really like it."

She took the bag. "Oh, this will be helpful in the future," she said, assuming that there would be future situations where she would need to bandage herself.

"So do you have a special ability?"

[sensiblesusan.livejournal.com]

Susan's mouth twitched, but didn't quite shape itself into a smirk. "I have the ability to teach and wrangle small, intelligent children with enormous amounts of energy," she said. More than that would definitely be telling.

"I suppose you've noticed a great many of the people here are ... exceptional in one way or another."

[elle-sparks.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, it's pretty cool," Elle said, creating a small energy ball. "I'm guessing you don't mean students with this kind of energy."

[sensiblesusan.livejournal.com]

"...no. That's definitely—what is that?" She resisted the urge to poke it with a finger; she damn well knew better than that.

[elle-sparks.livejournal.com]

"A ball of electricity," Elle said. "I can generate it."

[sensiblesusan.livejournal.com]

Electricity wasn't unknown on the Disc*, and Susan had been around roundworld technology for long enough now that this wasn't entirely as whacked-out to her as it might have been otherwise.

Still, it definitely merited a certain amount of respect.

"That's ... quite impressive," she said.

*Although it was generally associated with terrible things happening to large, bearded men who wore pointy hats and carried staves with knobs on the end; or with the sorts of people who lived in castles on craggy mountaintops, had an Igor, and generally came to bad ends involving pitchforks.

[elle-sparks.livejournal.com]

Elle looked pleased with what she was taking as praise. "Thanks. I can generate it at different voltages and direct bolts of it and everything."

[sensiblesusan.livejournal.com]

Well, this was going to make things around the park much more interesting, and no mistake.

"Well, hopefully there won't be too much cause for you to use the bolts around here," she said, slightly at a loss for anything else to say.

[elle-sparks.livejournal.com]

"It's the happiest place on earth," Elle said. "So I can't see why I'd need to, unless it's just for fun."

[sensiblesusan.livejournal.com]

For some reason, that was actually funny to Susan. She chuckled. "Indeed. And, as you pointed out, most of the people here are quite friendly."

[elle-sparks.livejournal.com]

Elle nodded. "So you like it here?"

[sensiblesusan.livejournal.com]

Susan looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Yes and no," she said. "I have many good friends and people I care about very much, and quite a lot to do with my time. But I do miss my home."

The thing was—and there were perhaps three people to whom she might admit this—she was always ready, any moment, for all of this to dissolve in her hands like so much fairy gold. And so, unusually, she found herself living rather more in the moment than she was accustomed to doing.

[elle-sparks.livejournal.com]

"That's cool," Elle said. "Well, thanks for the bandages. It was nice meeting you, Susan."

[sensiblesusan.livejournal.com]

"A pleasure meeting you too, and you're welcome," Susan said. There might have been just a touch of worry in her expression. "Good luck, and again, don't hesitate to visit if there's anything you need." Such as help.

[elle-sparks.livejournal.com]

"See you around!" Elle said, grinning widely as she headed out with her bag of supplies.