At What Price Respect

[brave_heart_verity]

Verity in the forum? Not a strange sight. Verity without coffee? Rather less common. Verity slumping, exhausted, into a couch? Unusual. Verity covered in scrapes, bruises, and dust? Definitely strange.

"Help isn't if it's forced on someone. This is true. Someone not in possession of all of the facts cannot give fully informed consent. This is also true. But nobody can be forced to listen." Of course Verity has things on her mind. Who here doesn't? "How do you reconcile that? Is ignorance truly bliss? Or do you do what's needed to save someone despite their choices?"

((A note before you come to play with Verity: she's got a magic spell stuck in her that lets her always know when someone is lying to her. This includes sarcasm and knowing when someone believes something to be true when it isn't. This doesn't include lies of omission. She can also see through illusions. Please respect this; if your character is trying to lie to her, please make that known so she can react appropriately. [I completely understand this isn't going to be everyone's idea of fun.] Thanks.))

Comments

[aw_hawkguy]

Here, Verity, have a Hawkguy, his arms and face (and possibly parts of his skin that aren't visible) sporting an abundance of bandages and spots of burn cream. He'd been looking for her, but taking in the state she's in, he sets what he'd been about to say to greet her with, "hey, Verity. You okay?"

[brave_heart_verity]

Verity gives him a once over and then one of those looks of hers. "Could ask you the same. Demons?"

[aw_hawkguy]

He starts to shrug, winces, and thinks better of it. "Yeah. Things got a little bad, around the end. Thanks for takin' care of Jim, though."

Don't think he's lost track of the original question, though--Clint in bandages is much less of an aberration than Verity scraped up. "How about you?"

[brave_heart_verity]

"I'm bad at caves." She shrugs. He's pretty much the last person she wants to tell about what's really happening. (Jim being second-to-last because he'd go and tell Clint.) "It's not serious, just some bruises. You don't have to thank me for looking after my friends. Speaking of, he's looking for you."

[aw_hawkguy]

"Need an aspirin?" He's got a bottle in his pocket, and offers it readily.

"I'll catch up to him. But first, uh... look, I kinda had some time to think about stuff, and... I can't remember if I said this, but, it was a crap thing, hittin' on you that time. I'm sorry. Won't happen again."

[brave_heart_verity]

"Thank you." What does it even say that she can swallow pills without water.

The apology has been long enough in coming, but she won't point that out. Baby steps. "Thank you. I appreciate that." He'll know he's forgiven when she pats the cushion next to her. He must want to sit down?

[aw_hawkguy]

She doesn't chew them up first like Clint, so she's not that bad. What does it say that he has half a bottle of painkillers in the pocket of his relaxing-time pants?

He definitely wants to sit--he almost throws himself into the couch, but catches himself before he can do his burns another bad turn, and just sits carefully instead. "So, uh... new hobby?"

[brave_heart_verity]

That he's well-prepared for the day-to-day demands of his job. This is something she can respect.

He should maybe upgrade the relaxing-time pants before going out in public.

"No. It. Wasn't fun. Should you even be out of bed? Or the hospital?"

[aw_hawkguy]

Relaxing-time pants fit over the bandages better. "Why would I go to the hospital? I had plenty'a burn stuff at home, and Barney helped with the stuff I couldn't reach. I'll be fine." He really believes it; this isn't even his bravado talking, he's just had enough burns and injuries to know how these are going to heal.

"You, uh, wanna talk about it?"

[brave_heart_verity]

"No. You need to see a doctor." Secretly she's very grateful he gave her something else to focus on. "I don't care that you're sure you're going to be fine. You're going to see a doctor."

She looks prepared to drag him to the hospital by his ear if she has to.

[aw_hawkguy]

"Aw, seriously?" He sighs. "The insurance forms're always such a pain in the ass. And he's just gonna tell me," he clears his throat and affects a deep, solemn doctor-voice, "'well, mister Barton, you have an awful lot of burns and bruises. You should probably stop doing things, and also put on the ointments and bandages that you're already wearing. Only with help from Nurse Coldhands.'"

[brave_heart_verity]

"I'll come with you. I'm good at paperwork. And you can get your girlfriend to come help with the other stuff." This is a perfect plan. He should agree to this plan before the ear thing comes into play.

[aw_hawkguy]

"We're, uh, still kinda takin' a little break," he admits. "But fine. I'll go."

[brave_heart_verity]

"The flowers didn't help? I'm sorry." She gives him a sympathetic look before standing up with a sigh. "I'm going to get cleaned up first. Meet you at your place?"

[aw_hawkguy]

"Well, there's still, y'know, trust issues." He's glad for the change of subject. Even a hospital trip is better than talking about his relationship. "Yeah. I'll meet ya there."