[With every single crumb that was on the floor now deftly and precisely swept away, he moves to the trashcan to dump the dustpan out. He hears the small essence of a smile in her tone, but he doesn't even bother to hide his.]
Disappointed? I'm the exact opposite of that.
[Away with you, mess!]
I think I'm fortunate to have landed in your lap. Figuratively, of course.
That's... Good. Nice of you to say. [she is a very graceful lady]
[The kitchen has mostly reverted back to an acceptable state of cleanliness and anything leftover can be dealt with magically. Amelia lingers around the sink drying her hands with a dish towel.]
Thanks for cleaning up. I'll take it from here and we'll be ready for the lake tomorrow.
... I think you'll like it. [She looks at him again and there's an actual smile, small and faint as it is.]
[The rest of the evening passes peacefully and the air is lighter than before. When the next day comes, Amelia has left first and leaves Henry a text message that is as follows:]
"River will be picking you up in his truck around 4 PM. He's a good kid so play nice. You don't have to answer all of his questions though. See you later. Please turn off the lights and lock the door behind you before you leave.
P.S. Take the box with you. That's your gift to the Load."
[On the table is an innocuous wooden box that's... coffin shaped. It's a little heavy but carried easily enough when cradled in one arm.
There's not much to do but wait until 4 PM finally comes around. The sound of a loud truck stops in front of Amelia's house and its driver kills the engine before hopping out. In the backseat, is a teen boy and a little girl of about seven years old and they just sit patiently in their place.
Their cousin, River Kwan is not a kid. The built young man rings the bell and then knocks on the door three times.]
[The box is kind of heavy? This is a man with noodle arms, and so he might have to hoist it up with two arms before he cradles it in the crook of one. But he does, as instructed, take it with him; why is it shaped like a coffin? Who even knows, at this point.
Henry opens the door when River literally comes a-knocking, smiling pleasantly, and looking the other man up and down.]
So. Another psychic.
[He steps out and makes sure to lock the door behind him. And yes, Amelia, he's turned off all the lights, too.]
Should be interesting. All the others I've ever met before were only children.
[River Kwan, age 26, stands at about 6'1 and is broad-shouldered. He has his dark hair tied back into a loose bun and equally dark, but friendly eyes that light up in a grin when Henry answers the door.]
Henry, right? Nice to meet you, bro. River Kwan, just call me River. And we got some psychic kids along for the ride, so don't count yourself lucky yet.
[Amelia has told River the basics, mostly stuff he already knows; this was the psychic that appeared out of nowhere and caused a "situation" that had a lot of other espers working overtime when it came to memory manipulation and suppression. Lucinda was haggard from running around to make sure they missed no one.
He also knows that Henry is a psychic from another world so the way things worked there was much different from here. The boy is bursting with curiosity but he keeps it under wraps as best as he can.
So he'll just give Henry a thumbs up and then gesture one of them to the package he's carrying.]
Want me to carry that for you? We got boxes of food but there's more than enough room to cram that in.
[He's a whole inch taller than Henry, but with a lot more sincere energy rolling off of him. He doesn't even need his telepathy to garner this very obvious vibe.]
Nice to meet you, River. [Mildly, automatically. He hands him the box-coffin.] Sure, if you don't mind. I'm not sure why it's shaped like that, though... Amelia doesn't always tell me everything.
[He trails his look towards the backseat of the pickup truck. Psychic kids, he said?]
Yeah, Ms. Steinbeck's like that sometimes. Well, more like a lot but witches kind of just go with their own flow, her more than most.
[River takes the coffin and easily tucks it under his arm giving it a playful shake. Indeed there is a 'thunk-thunk' sound which makes him jump slightly. But then he shrugs. Just witch things probably. He starts towards the truck beckoning Henry to follow.]
My cousins Simon and Emily are along for the ride. They wanted to see the giant lizard, cause kids, y'know? That and the more the merrier.
[He opens the door for Henry so he'll be sitting in front with him, the driver. River hands Simon, the teen boy the box and it sits between him and the little girl, Emily.]
None of us are mindreaders so don't worry about us trying to snoop in your head during the ride. Well, Simon might get a feel for your vibes, but that comes with being an empath. Emily'll give us a heads-up if she gets a vision.
[Emily gives Henry a shy smile and waves at him. Among the three psychics, none of them look or give off any abnormal behaviors or attitudes. And if River is any indication, having ESP is a casual affair. Of course, you only speak of such things when you're among similar company.]
Time to buckle up! Traffic isn't bad but we'll be taking the long way round just in case.
[Into the truck they go, sidling into the passenger seat. Henry fastens his seatbelt in an automatic gesture, though he twists his body to look at the teen and younger girl in the backseat.
For him, it's always been easy to work with younger ones, and maybe that just means his smile comes a little more naturally. Practiced, still, but without hesitation.]
Nice to meet the two of you, too. I'm Henry.
[He turns back to look at River.]
So everyone's abilities are slightly different. That's how it works in my world, too.
[Henry just happens to be the swiss army knife of psychics where he's from, too powerful for anyone's good. The questions keep rolling in, though, because this is a point of intrigue for him.]
I hope my "vibes" are okay. [he's an eldritch monster man don't worry about it] What kind of visions, though?
You know, seeing the future! Precognition or precogs for short.
And for the record, I totally think your vibes are okay. Got a bit of that weirdo outsider energy but hey, you're in a world of weirdos so there's that.
[The siblings are quiet, good kids so they won't be quipping much (Simon may be shifting uncomfortably in his seat after muttering a 'hello' to Henry). To contrast, River is more than willing to chat with Henry, the whole way if need be.
He twists the key, the engine revs up, and off they go.]
Future sight's real neat but it's less about seeing a future that's set in stone and more about being able to hone in on the most likely possibility.
Since you're asking lotta questions, I don't mind answering. Must be something, just meeting a bunch of us like this, huh?
[Oh, he's a talkative one. And he gives information so freely -- Henry wasn't exactly sure what to expect, maybe to be vaguely annoyed at some point during this car ride, but right now he just seems like a promising fount of information.]
Then I'm right at home, aren't I?
[In a world full of weirdos. (No, he doesn't think so. Even now, he has "outsider" energy.)]
Precognition must be useful, still. No one where I'm from has that ability, as far as I know. So, when an esper realizes they have powers in this world, what happens then?
Eh, sometimes. Emily's a squirt though so she doesn't always understands what she sees.
[Emily wrinkles her nose at that remark.
River has the friendliness and enthusiasm of a dog both to his advantage and detriment. It comes with having powers that don't mentally tax him unless he uses it a lot.
He makes a turn onto the highway before responding.]
Well, ideally you're born into a family that has a history of it already. Then they'll be prepared. If not, there's usually at least one other person who's sending out a mind signal. It's like being able to sign into a wifi network after you find it.
[He's been living in this world long enough to figure out the most prominent technologies. Well, "figure out" is probably a stretch, but he's at least familiarized himself with something as pervasive as wifi.]
So then you connect with others who already have a handle on their powers. That must be... convenient.
I'm gonna take a stab in the dark and guess that where you're from, you've been through it buddy.
[wow henry is already buddy status...]
Dunno how Ms. Steinbeck's been painting the Collective but unless you're super involved in the inner circles that are actually behind the scenes, the outer layers are like... A support group? Yeah. A network. You got people who can help you deal with whatever power you're born with instead of having to figure it out on your own. They're not like, extreme. Sometimes. Just gotta keep the bullshit ESP to an acceptable level.
[Emily pipes up.]
"You said a bad word." [River grins and apologizes playfully.]
๋ฏธ์ํฉ๋๋ค.
Anyway yeah. Like, it's common sense though. You don't wanna leave a new esper to their own devices cause they'll drive themselves or other people into a stressful situation they can't reverse. No one's happy that way, y'know?
[Buddy, huh? Probably easy to achieve with this guy, even if that means sitting in a car for him for like ten minutes.]
I was a government experiment.
[He says, lightly, the weight of it contrasted with the simplicity of his smile. Clearly, this is something he's been angry about for a long, long time, but it's almost impressive how much he can couch it in a (vaguely) pleasant manner.
He listens to the rest, though. Quirks his lips a little when Emily pipes up. Just like children to comment on that.]
That makes sense. I guess you could say that happened to me, too.
[When he murdered his mom and sister and framed his dad for their deaths! But that isn't, ah. Child-friendly discussion, is it? And these strangers don't need to know that; not even Amelia knows that.]
[River frowns as he continues cruising down the road.
(And for a brief second, in the back Simon's brow twitches and Emily glances at her brother's way concerned.)
Keeping his eyes on the road, River casually mentions something of relevance. This might be one of those probing questions that Amelia told Henry in her note he doesn't have to answer.]
MKUltra?
[It's another stab in the dark but River could make some educated guesses; Henry was older than any of them and when it comes to government experiments, that one was one of the most notorious. It was brought up as an example of why espers required, no, it was their right to never be governed by anyone but themselves.
So the divergence came down to this particular experiment; MKULTRA was disrupted and all memories of the actual psychics that had suffered through it were wiped, but the information about it eventually got out (on purpose, to divert any knowledge of the real ones).]
[It's a stab in the dark that happens to be correct. Henry's age now (39) does not quite add up to a Cold War era if you do the math from this world's timeline; but back home, it added up quite perfectly.]
Not that the test subjects were ever privy to that kind of data, you know. [Most of the children understood that they were being taught, that they were supposed to learn and supposed to perform to a certain standard -- but the awareness of being part of a government program was far, far beyond their understanding. Not that anyone tried to help them comprehend it. That lab was their home. All they knew.
But not for Henry. And when he was switched over from test subject to orderly, he was privy to a little bit more; not much, but certainly enough to know about program names.]
Huh. [He's able to chalk up his age and the current timeline as... Well, timey-wimey, different universe, magic bullcrap. River doesn't stress the details when it's not needed.
The truck takes an exit and at the redlight, River replies to Henry ruefully.]
And now you're here of all places. Or universes. ESP, magic, giant lake lizards, and more.
[He decides to change to a slightly different topic.]
Lucky me. [Again, that little, hard to read smile.] But it is nice, I think, to be in a world where that isn't so strange a thing that others feel the need to experiment on unsuspecting children.
[The topic changes, though, and Henry can't help but huff out an amused sound.]
I suppose. We've had our ups and downs. I don't think she appreciated me overstepping certain boundaries, but we're past that now.
[...Probably. Only very recently past that.]
But how can I complain? She's giving me a place to stay until I can find a way back home.
[River nods in agreement regarding the immoral experimentation. Though he won't say so aloud if anything like that happened to his cousins it'd probably drive him to desperate measures. Their current lives aren't perfect but they're all doing fine right now.
He listens to Henry's state of the roommate and chuckles.]
She's a hardass, huh? A lot of the higher-ups don't look at her too kindly and she just wants to be left alone a lot of the time. But she doesn't turn away someone in need even if she grumbles about it.
[The young man grins cheekily at Henry as he veers on a road that looks less used. They're almost there!]
Here's your chance to ask us anything about her. We won't snitch to her, promise.
She is. Though I suppose that's why she's also a high school teacher.
[Because she's a hard-ass, he means. And far be it from Henry to deny this opportunity to ask questions about Amelia, even if he pretends to mostly be interested in the scenery as they make their way down a less traversed road.]
Oh, well... I don't know what to ask, really. [liar] Has she always been this way? Someone who just wants to be left alone. I thought it was because she was powerful and could get away with it, but surely she wasn't like from the start?
[River clicks his tongue trying to think of an answer. Miss Steinbeck is way older than he is and could basically be his and his cousins' grandma. They haven't known her as long as her other friends and acquaintances.]
I mean, I'd imagine that a witch of her caliber has a lot of people wanting things from her. So that can probably get annoying.
[He shrugs.]
Sorry man, I'm not too privy to her psychological state of mind. I'm not that kind of doctor.
Probably. But she doesn't seem to be the kind of person who has trouble saying "no."
[He's calling you stubborn, Amelia, sorry not sorry.
But he shrugs, still looking out the window. The lake glistens at a distance, reflecting the sunlight. It's a nice day, at least.]
I figured there was no harm in asking, at least. I'd like to get to know her a little better, but she likes to keep an arms-length, sometimes. [It's said almost off-handedly before he focuses on a new tidbit of info:] You're a doctor? What kind?
[Ohh? And now he turns his head to look at River, eyebrow hitching up. No comment on Amelia. They'll see if she opens up or otherwise; with Henry's gentle prodding, maybe sooner rather than later. (Or not. It's often hard to say.)]
As part of your... abilities, you mean?
[That's not a psychic skill any of them ever possessed back on his world, at least. How strange.]
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sunfloras2023-04-20 07:42 pm
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Disappointed? I'm the exact opposite of that.
[Away with you, mess!]
I think I'm fortunate to have landed in your lap. Figuratively, of course.
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[The kitchen has mostly reverted back to an acceptable state of cleanliness and anything leftover can be dealt with magically. Amelia lingers around the sink drying her hands with a dish towel.]
Thanks for cleaning up. I'll take it from here and we'll be ready for the lake tomorrow.
... I think you'll like it. [She looks at him again and there's an actual smile, small and faint as it is.]
Not everyday you get to see a blue moon.
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I think I'll like it, too.
[Is that a real smile, Amelia? Maybe Henry's growing on her, bafflingly so.]
Looking forward to the view.
[Tomorrow, then.]
time skip;
"River will be picking you up in his truck around 4 PM. He's a good kid so play nice. You don't have to answer all of his questions though. See you later. Please turn off the lights and lock the door behind you before you leave.
P.S. Take the box with you. That's your gift to the Load."
[On the table is an innocuous wooden box that's... coffin shaped. It's a little heavy but carried easily enough when cradled in one arm.
There's not much to do but wait until 4 PM finally comes around. The sound of a loud truck stops in front of Amelia's house and its driver kills the engine before hopping out. In the backseat, is a teen boy and a little girl of about seven years old and they just sit patiently in their place.
Their cousin, River Kwan is not a kid. The built young man rings the bell and then knocks on the door three times.]
Yo! Here for a pickup!
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Henry opens the door when River literally comes a-knocking, smiling pleasantly, and looking the other man up and down.]
So. Another psychic.
[He steps out and makes sure to lock the door behind him. And yes, Amelia, he's turned off all the lights, too.]
Should be interesting. All the others I've ever met before were only children.
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Henry, right? Nice to meet you, bro. River Kwan, just call me River. And we got some psychic kids along for the ride, so don't count yourself lucky yet.
[Amelia has told River the basics, mostly stuff he already knows; this was the psychic that appeared out of nowhere and caused a "situation" that had a lot of other espers working overtime when it came to memory manipulation and suppression. Lucinda was haggard from running around to make sure they missed no one.
He also knows that Henry is a psychic from another world so the way things worked there was much different from here. The boy is bursting with curiosity but he keeps it under wraps as best as he can.
So he'll just give Henry a thumbs up and then gesture one of them to the package he's carrying.]
Want me to carry that for you? We got boxes of food but there's more than enough room to cram that in.
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Nice to meet you, River. [Mildly, automatically. He hands him the box-coffin.] Sure, if you don't mind. I'm not sure why it's shaped like that, though... Amelia doesn't always tell me everything.
[He trails his look towards the backseat of the pickup truck. Psychic kids, he said?]
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[River takes the coffin and easily tucks it under his arm giving it a playful shake. Indeed there is a 'thunk-thunk' sound which makes him jump slightly. But then he shrugs. Just witch things probably. He starts towards the truck beckoning Henry to follow.]
My cousins Simon and Emily are along for the ride. They wanted to see the giant lizard, cause kids, y'know? That and the more the merrier.
[He opens the door for Henry so he'll be sitting in front with him, the driver. River hands Simon, the teen boy the box and it sits between him and the little girl, Emily.]
None of us are mindreaders so don't worry about us trying to snoop in your head during the ride. Well, Simon might get a feel for your vibes, but that comes with being an empath. Emily'll give us a heads-up if she gets a vision.
[Emily gives Henry a shy smile and waves at him. Among the three psychics, none of them look or give off any abnormal behaviors or attitudes. And if River is any indication, having ESP is a casual affair. Of course, you only speak of such things when you're among similar company.]
Time to buckle up! Traffic isn't bad but we'll be taking the long way round just in case.
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For him, it's always been easy to work with younger ones, and maybe that just means his smile comes a little more naturally. Practiced, still, but without hesitation.]
Nice to meet the two of you, too. I'm Henry.
[He turns back to look at River.]
So everyone's abilities are slightly different. That's how it works in my world, too.
[Henry just happens to be the swiss army knife of psychics where he's from, too powerful for anyone's good. The questions keep rolling in, though, because this is a point of intrigue for him.]
I hope my "vibes" are okay. [he's an eldritch monster man don't worry about it] What kind of visions, though?
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And for the record, I totally think your vibes are okay. Got a bit of that weirdo outsider energy but hey, you're in a world of weirdos so there's that.
[The siblings are quiet, good kids so they won't be quipping much (Simon may be shifting uncomfortably in his seat after muttering a 'hello' to Henry). To contrast, River is more than willing to chat with Henry, the whole way if need be.
He twists the key, the engine revs up, and off they go.]
Future sight's real neat but it's less about seeing a future that's set in stone and more about being able to hone in on the most likely possibility.
Since you're asking lotta questions, I don't mind answering. Must be something, just meeting a bunch of us like this, huh?
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Then I'm right at home, aren't I?
[In a world full of weirdos. (No, he doesn't think so. Even now, he has "outsider" energy.)]
Precognition must be useful, still. No one where I'm from has that ability, as far as I know. So, when an esper realizes they have powers in this world, what happens then?
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[Emily wrinkles her nose at that remark.
River has the friendliness and enthusiasm of a dog both to his advantage and detriment. It comes with having powers that don't mentally tax him unless he uses it a lot.
He makes a turn onto the highway before responding.]
Well, ideally you're born into a family that has a history of it already. Then they'll be prepared. If not, there's usually at least one other person who's sending out a mind signal. It's like being able to sign into a wifi network after you find it.
Er. You know what wifi is right?
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[He's been living in this world long enough to figure out the most prominent technologies. Well, "figure out" is probably a stretch, but he's at least familiarized himself with something as pervasive as wifi.]
So then you connect with others who already have a handle on their powers. That must be... convenient.
[Guess whose world has nOTHING like that at all.]
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I'm gonna take a stab in the dark and guess that where you're from, you've been through it buddy.
[wow henry is already buddy status...]
Dunno how Ms. Steinbeck's been painting the Collective but unless you're super involved in the inner circles that are actually behind the scenes, the outer layers are like... A support group? Yeah. A network. You got people who can help you deal with whatever power you're born with instead of having to figure it out on your own. They're not like, extreme. Sometimes. Just gotta keep the bullshit ESP to an acceptable level.
[Emily pipes up.]
"You said a bad word." [River grins and apologizes playfully.]
๋ฏธ์ํฉ๋๋ค.
Anyway yeah. Like, it's common sense though. You don't wanna leave a new esper to their own devices cause they'll drive themselves or other people into a stressful situation they can't reverse. No one's happy that way, y'know?
no subject
I was a government experiment.
[He says, lightly, the weight of it contrasted with the simplicity of his smile. Clearly, this is something he's been angry about for a long, long time, but it's almost impressive how much he can couch it in a (vaguely) pleasant manner.
He listens to the rest, though. Quirks his lips a little when Emily pipes up. Just like children to comment on that.]
That makes sense. I guess you could say that happened to me, too.
[When he murdered his mom and sister and framed his dad for their deaths! But that isn't, ah. Child-friendly discussion, is it? And these strangers don't need to know that; not even Amelia knows that.]
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[River frowns as he continues cruising down the road.
(And for a brief second, in the back Simon's brow twitches and Emily glances at her brother's way concerned.)
Keeping his eyes on the road, River casually mentions something of relevance. This might be one of those probing questions that Amelia told Henry in her note he doesn't have to answer.]
MKUltra?
[It's another stab in the dark but River could make some educated guesses; Henry was older than any of them and when it comes to government experiments, that one was one of the most notorious. It was brought up as an example of why espers required, no, it was their right to never be governed by anyone but themselves.
So the divergence came down to this particular experiment; MKULTRA was disrupted and all memories of the actual psychics that had suffered through it were wiped, but the information about it eventually got out (on purpose, to divert any knowledge of the real ones).]
no subject
Not that the test subjects were ever privy to that kind of data, you know. [Most of the children understood that they were being taught, that they were supposed to learn and supposed to perform to a certain standard -- but the awareness of being part of a government program was far, far beyond their understanding. Not that anyone tried to help them comprehend it. That lab was their home. All they knew.
But not for Henry. And when he was switched over from test subject to orderly, he was privy to a little bit more; not much, but certainly enough to know about program names.]
That's right. I'm a part of history itself.
[Sorid, unethical history. But what else is new?]
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The truck takes an exit and at the redlight, River replies to Henry ruefully.]
And now you're here of all places. Or universes. ESP, magic, giant lake lizards, and more.
[He decides to change to a slightly different topic.]
Been doing alright with Miss Steinbeck though?
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[The topic changes, though, and Henry can't help but huff out an amused sound.]
I suppose. We've had our ups and downs. I don't think she appreciated me overstepping certain boundaries, but we're past that now.
[...Probably. Only very recently past that.]
But how can I complain? She's giving me a place to stay until I can find a way back home.
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He listens to Henry's state of the roommate and chuckles.]
She's a hardass, huh? A lot of the higher-ups don't look at her too kindly and she just wants to be left alone a lot of the time. But she doesn't turn away someone in need even if she grumbles about it.
[The young man grins cheekily at Henry as he veers on a road that looks less used. They're almost there!]
Here's your chance to ask us anything about her. We won't snitch to her, promise.
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[Because she's a hard-ass, he means. And far be it from Henry to deny this opportunity to ask questions about Amelia, even if he pretends to mostly be interested in the scenery as they make their way down a less traversed road.]
Oh, well... I don't know what to ask, really. [liar] Has she always been this way? Someone who just wants to be left alone. I thought it was because she was powerful and could get away with it, but surely she wasn't like from the start?
[But maybe River's too young to know.]
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[River clicks his tongue trying to think of an answer. Miss Steinbeck is way older than he is and could basically be his and his cousins' grandma. They haven't known her as long as her other friends and acquaintances.]
I mean, I'd imagine that a witch of her caliber has a lot of people wanting things from her. So that can probably get annoying.
[He shrugs.]
Sorry man, I'm not too privy to her psychological state of mind. I'm not that kind of doctor.
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[He's calling you stubborn, Amelia, sorry not sorry.
But he shrugs, still looking out the window. The lake glistens at a distance, reflecting the sunlight. It's a nice day, at least.]
I figured there was no harm in asking, at least. I'd like to get to know her a little better, but she likes to keep an arms-length, sometimes. [It's said almost off-handedly before he focuses on a new tidbit of info:] You're a doctor? What kind?
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But trust me, she's probably the kindest person you'll ever meet. She'll open up eventually.
[At Henry's question, River lights up.]
Oh yeah! I'm just a general practitioner.
[Simon remarks sardonically.]
"On paper."
[River pretends to be offended.]
Bro, don't diss me like that! I know medicine and the license is real.
[He clarifies for Henry as they near the lake.]
I'm a healer. I use my energy to patch up people and ease pain.
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As part of your... abilities, you mean?
[That's not a psychic skill any of them ever possessed back on his world, at least. How strange.]
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