intheblanks | ➹BEEPER

[He isn't gone long, returning with a bag and a glass of wine. Water isn't going to take the taste away.

He's had a glass of his own. One won't make his hand less steady.]

So you're a woman who turns into a spider.

[She takes the glass and drinks]

Some people might say I am a spider who turns into a woman.

[Pause]

They wouldn't be correct. I'm neither, really.

[He unpacks as she speaks, preps her wounds as he does - the blue of the sterile wipes only a slightly different shade to the smears on her skin.]

You're just capable of both. What are you?

Ananasi.

[She pauses and just lets him do what he's doing]

In the most laymen of terms, I'm a werespider.

[He can probably live with being a layman in this arena.]

Is your sister Br'er Rabbit?

No, that's Anansi. He was an Ananasi.

[She seems to be relaxing even more]

My sister - Daisy - she's more like...Sobek. Since we're dealing with secrets.

[And he is a gentle worker. Careful, methodical, the light touch comes with skill.]

You're stretching my knowledge of foreign... [And there's the thing, what's the term.] myths?

She is, I suppose, a werecrocodile.

But she is more human than I could ever be.

[It seems pain softens Saya a bit, or maybe this is revenge on Daisy for sending Chase here]

[If it is revenge, it's not vicious. Chase won't do anything with the information.

(He'll perhaps be more careful of startling the girl sleeping on his bed)]

What makes her different?

[Not the reptile, the humanity]

Her mother.

[Saya hisses a little - just a little - when he cleans one particularly large cut]

Her mother has to have been the crocodile.

[Or that is a really strange skipped generation. He doesn't apologise, or ease up - there's nothing he can do about the peroxide sting and, after her leg, he's sure she's not delicate enough to complain.]

Yes. Our father was human.

[She keeps her eyes on him]

You're aware that doesn't follow.

Of course it does.

Crocodiles aren't quite as prehistoric as arachnids, but I've never looked one in the eye and marvelled at the humanity.

We're different.

[Quiet, because these are secrets.]

The others, they kept more of their humanity. The other breeds. Not us.

[The door is still closed. Chase says nothing for a long minute. He opens a new suture pack.]

If there were ever a place where being something other than human was the norm...

It's not the norm.

There are only 10,000 shifters in the world or so. We don't have a census, but that's a rough estimate. Most of them are not breeds like mine, or Daisy's.

[Most of them are wolves]

I mean here.

[And it's still a secret.]

There are more humans now than there were when I was here the first time.

[She stays absolutely still as he sutures her]

You won't tell.

I still hold clinics in the underground. [This is his secret. It's also an answer of sorts.] Most of those patients don't choose to live there because they're afraid.

I'm not afraid.

[There's a pause]

I'm private.

That's my point.

[There's always a reason. He might judge, but he'll keep his own counsel.]

You don't need to worry. I like my job.

[Also: breathing.]

Edited 2012-02-05 23:01 (UTC)

[It's just how things are]

Thank you.

[She pauses]

Is Daisy asleep in your bed?

She was planning on it.

[He knots, cuts and leans back. Most of the rest can be taped rather than sewn. Less itchy.]

Give her a break.

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