[Text]

[defibrillating]

Yo! I'm Zian, the new School Nurse, here to fix all your boo-boos and your sniffles. I just arrived Friday night and I'm still a bit turned around, but I know where the infirmary is so I'm at least easy to find!

I've been leaving some fliers for flu shots all over the school, but so far only a few people have signed up. I don't blame you, it kind of sucks to get a shot, but it would suck even more to get sick.

...seriously, I have like ten more boxes of sweet bribes for everyone, come get tortured and leave with a chocolate-dipped marshmallow ghost. (Don't tell your dentist.)

Comments

[defibrillating]

Oh no, better polish my CV in the future then! Wouldn't want to be replaced by the younger generation! Being all ancient and stuff.

...it's good that you don't want to be a fighter. We can be heroes in other ways.

XD that's a good one! Most of the time it's just like a static shock for small things... maybe like a taser if you break a bone or something. Not sure why, it seems a bit redundant but hey, it works. Rather be zapped than bleeding, IMO.

[theveilisin]

I've seen people die like heroes. I feel the somewhat obvious problem with that sort of thing always is that heroes or not, they stay dead regardless. Not even people like us can change that.

[It sure is easier for him to express anything even close to feelings in text than in words. He has already pressed 'send' before he realizes that this is somewhat risky. Probably good to be more careful from this point.]

And, well, it makes as much sense as me having to take someone else's wound, I guess? There's probably a deep philosophical lesson about maintaining equilibrium, and how there must be a price to pay for every good thing, something like that, hidden in there. Personally I try never to touch philosophy, though. It's not good for my digestion.

[defibrillating]

[The kids in this place has really gone through a lot, and it still made the young medic's heart ache to hear things like this... that they'd been around people who died.

That their view of the world had changed to something other than bright and hopeful.

Zian sighs, looking at the screen before replying.]

I hear it can give you indigestion!

What's your name?

[theveilisin]

[Luvander still has no way of telling exactly how alarming his must be to anyone with a normal concept of reality. He can only compare himself to some of his comrades - Rook, Ghislain, Jeannot, Al Atan, Anastasia - and assume that all things considered, his life hasn't been that bad.]

Exactly. And obviously I don't touch religion for similar reasons, although I'm fairly certain the effect is more the opposite.

I'm Luvander. I don't actually remember my last name, but I was kindly allowed to choose one for myself. Therefore, I'm written as Páwa, after an old nickname of mine.

[defibrillating]

Luvander Páwa, eh? That's a really nice name. Unusual, too! Where are you from? Does it mean anything specific?

I'm from Russia. Moved here when I was ten.

[theveilisin]

[And this is the sort of traps small talk can drop you in, of course. For all that he's prone to hyperbole and occasional obfuscating, Luvander is not much of a liar, not even in text. But... well, is there really any harm in it?]

It's Volstovic. It's a small country squeezed between Ukraine, Hungary and Romania, though our language has more in common with our Polish and Slovakian neighbors. Most people haven't heard of it, but if you're from Russia then I suppose that ups the chances.

It means peacock, and was originally an indicator that I'm somewhat of a show-off.

[defibrillating]

Oh, right! Pavlín. Pretty similar!

...unfortunately I can't say I've heard of it, which makes me feel kinda bad. I'll blame it on being home-schooled and my mom failing me in geography twice. Harsh woman.

[Only harm it does is to Zian's academic pride... which is, unless you count medicine, kind of lacking.]

[theveilisin]

Would you look at that. And our neighboring countries like to claim that our language is completely incomprehensible! They're obviously not trying hard enough.

[Or it's the wealth of more Middle Eastern words mixed into Volstovic that does it, who knows?]

And I wouldn't worry too much - like I said, it's not a big country. [And it's been in lockdown for more than a decade - though he's heard a few things about the civil war on the radio.] And considering how I couldn't name more than five American states if I tried, I am in no position to judge.

[defibrillating]

Slavic languages unite!

Hey it's worse when it's right underneath your own country rather than way overseas. Still, it's pretty cool to hear of all these small countries, like Latveria and Genosha.