[A huff of a laugh through her nose.] Two humans go into the woods and one gets badly hurt. The other one carries him to a Keeper and he says, "I think my friend is dead!"
The Keeper tells him, "All right, stay calm. First, we have to be sure he's actually dead."
The human slits the wounded man's throat with a knife, turns to the Keeper, and cries, "Now what?"
[ He laughs—mostly silent, mostly air, but his chest shakes—genuinely startled by the punchline, and shakes his head. ] Now you've made it mean, [ he says, without fire, because he understands social dynamics well enough to know that elves are a little entitled to Stupid Shem jokes. After a moment he adds, ] Thank you, [ and throws another pinecone. ]
[She giggles and affectionately touches her cheek to his shoulder. But his thanks catches her off-guard enough that she almost forgets to zap the pinecone. And for a second, she wants to blurt out foolish things. She wants to tell him she will always put him first, but that sounds besotted and it's also a promise she might not be able to keep. Maybe. Would she? She can't always tell when something like that comes from the heart and when it comes from that destructive place Keeper Deheune raised her in. The question she has found is this: will this bleed her dry, like she bled for her clan since she was nine?
No. This evening, she has listened. She has related. And she has laughed. She feels renewed, not drained. This is how it's meant to be done, not the other way.]
It cost me nothing, [she says quietly.] And I want you to know that if you need me, I will be here. It doesn't matter if I'm working. If you need me, you can find me, and I will stop whatever I'm doing and help you.
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The Keeper tells him, "All right, stay calm. First, we have to be sure he's actually dead."
The human slits the wounded man's throat with a knife, turns to the Keeper, and cries, "Now what?"
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No. This evening, she has listened. She has related. And she has laughed. She feels renewed, not drained. This is how it's meant to be done, not the other way.]
It cost me nothing, [she says quietly.] And I want you to know that if you need me, I will be here. It doesn't matter if I'm working. If you need me, you can find me, and I will stop whatever I'm doing and help you.