(Untitled)

[andromynous]

WHO: Andromeda Tonks and you!
WHERE: Outside the MAC, inside the imPort clinic
WHEN: Sunday afternoon
WARNINGS: None so far!
SUMMARY: Heading to work, then ... being at work ... then possibly Damian's.
FORMAT: Quick, will match whatever's in tags!

Comments

[xuffasch]

( Damian is outside on the lawn, when she arrives. He looks well enough, but there is a certain gauntness to his face that hints at the amount of food he's actually eaten and the amount of sleep he's gotten since Dick's death. )

[andromynous]

[See, this just confirms that she does need to be coming over with these things!]

Hey.

[She walks over with the food once she spots him, sporting a sort of sympathetic-but-attempting-to-hide-it smile.]

I made far too much stew last night, and I didn't want it to sit at my place.

[This is actually true; she has not yet mastered the art of single-serving meal preparation.]

It's edible, at least.

[xuffasch]

( Damian isn't in the mood for sympathy. What he is in the mood for is action, and revenge. However, his medical state means that these aims are impossible to pursue, and that makes him frustrated and irritable. )

Is there some sort of inane custom about bringing over food as a condolence?

[andromynous]

Sort of, I think.

[She shrugs her shoulders, then adds after a moment,] When my husband was confirmed dead, I didn't want to cook for days. I didn't really want to eat, either, but I think it just made me feel worse in retrospect.

[xuffasch]

( damian looks at her, and shakes his head. it's unclear what, in particular, he's responding to with the gesture. )

I know how to mourn without killing myself, you know. Absorbing nutrition isn't an impediment to honoring loss.

[andromynous]

I'm just trying to explain my reasoning.

[There's another reason, of course -- because Dick had seemed to really want Damian well-taken-care-of, and that was something she was pretty sure she could take a stab at.]

I guess you can always give it away. Anyway, I wanted to see you. We don't even have to talk if you don't want to; I'll probably just ramble on about work. I know you said you don't mind that, though.

[She knows what wanting to act and take revenge is like. Oh, she knows.]

[xuffasch]

( for a moment he looks like he's going to completely write her off, then his shoulders just sag and he lets out a huff. )

All I've been doing is nothing. It doesn't help.

[andromynous]

[Phew, so close. She can tell that look, and she's glad it doesn't last.]

You want to go out and do something about it.

[She's not going to tell him that revenge is a terrible idea that just continues to make things worse -- not when the wound is this fresh. In fact, she's not actually sure how to go about this -- she's never really been on the other side of this, surprisingly. They'd all been upset when Sirius had been killed ... and the Potters, so many years before that.]

Just because you can't be as active as you want to be right now doesn't mean you can't do anything. I'm sure there are things that can be done to figure out some ... probable causes.

[Ugh, that sounds so terrible. She closes her eyes briefly and then reaches out to give his shoulder a brief squeeze.]

If there's anything I can do to help with that, I'll do it.

[Hopefully that sounds less lame than she thinks it does.]

[xuffasch]

( he manages not to edge away from her touch, but she'll probably notice the way his entire body tenses, his tendons standing out and his fists clenching almost mechanically. )

This isn't simply a way for me to process grief, or whatever else everyone seems to think. I don't need to process, I need something to be done about the fact that he's dead and even if he's coming back someone still needs to pay for it.

[andromynous]

[She does notice -- it's not her intention to make him uncomfortable, so she drops her hand after a moment.]

[Andromeda is very much a product of her house in some ways - she is of the Slytherin mind that it's best to deliberate on serious decisions in order to make sure the correct choice is made.]

I'm not saying that nothing should be done -- I'm just hesitant to leap straight into revenge.

[She chooses her words carefully; he's still young, but she doesn't want him to think she's treating him as if he is.]

Planning is required, even if immediate action seems like it would be more gratifying.

[xuffasch]

People always say that, but it's just a way to stall. If the trail goes cold--or, heaven forbid, if we leave it to the police--nothing will come of it. There's no getting around the fact that horrible things keep happening here and no one does anything about them.

[andromynous]

It isn't always a way to stall. [She'll be insistent about this. She knows -- plenty of Slytherins who'd spent months or even years planning revenge. We're looking at you, Voldemort.]

But -- you're right. Do you have any leads?

[Not that she supposes he'd necessarily want to share with her.]

[xuffasch]

( it's at this point that damian realizes he should probably be acting less like robin and more like a civilian. he allows his face to fall a bit, still annoyed but now also with a bit of sadness. )

The police have declared it their territory. Apparently there's nothing someone like me can do.

[andromynous]

"Isn't that what we're here in this place for, though? Or did I misread the pamphlets?"

Not that she wants to actively encourage Damian to go out and fight whatever ate Dick hand-to-hand. Hm.

[xuffasch]

That's what they said. But when was the last time anything--even a pamphlet--said what it meant?

[andromynous]

Well, we have some pretty informative pamphlets at St. Mungo's -- but magical accidents are a very serious matter.

[She shrugs, though.]

You just have to be careful about who you're letting know that you're doing some ... supplementary investigating to, that's all.