[It takes Nadia a little longer than she would like to arrive, limping the whole way with her right leg bandaged. She's armed with two small, dented tins.
I got hurt when we fell. I didn't want to be a bother with everything going on, but Beast Boy insisted and I'm worried it might be a little infected...
[Nadia does as told, setting the tins beside her and beginning to unwrap the bandage as she talks.
The gash across her calf muscle is deep, but thankfully not horrific. She got off lucky. Despite her best efforts with changing it and using antiseptic, it's starting to look puffy and red, and hasn't closed all the way. There's a little bit of blue blood dotting it and the inside of her wrap.]
I know, it's just... We all had more important things to take care of and I'm not really -- I don't really like going to see healers much...
You and Steve. [The stubbornness is catching...not that Korra has any room to talk, but whatever. Details.] I don't care if there's something else going on--promise me you'll call someone the next time you get hurt.
[Korra doesn't like it when people take chances with their bodies, especially now that the revival machine has been broken. She suddenly frowns at the bandages.]
[Well, that explains it. Korra just shoots Nadia a grin.]
Pretty cool.
[Not when she's seeing the blood because of an injury, though. That is not so cool. Korra reaches for the water skin at her side and draws the water out, placing the bubble against the injury for a scan.]
[It's relaxing, in a way. Better than some of the treatments at home, but the blame mostly lies with the foul smelling potins she has to drink.]
I'll have to tell my sister about it when we all go home. She's an elementalist, but I've never seen anyone doing something like that. Healing has always just been... Healing.
[He's silent for a moment. He doesn't like sharing the details, but-- she's someone that needs it. He can lay down on this wire for her.]
Not at first. When I grew up, it was... normal, not to talk about your problems. If there was something wrong with you, up here-- [he taps a finger against his temple] You were considered weak or sick or insane, and you couldn't show that to anybody if you wanted people to think well of you.
[How many men came back from the war and killed themselves? So many people he knew ate a bullet, or drank themselves to death, or simply disappeared. All so the rest of the world wouldn't have to see them bleed.
The world isn't much better now, but with men like Sam-- it's starting to get that way. PTSD isn't shell-shock any longer, it's a recognizable post-combat disorder, diagnosed and treatable. It's not a perfect system, but Steve's glad it exists, and he's glad it's helping people. But coming to terms with his own biases has been harder. Captain America is a symbol, and no one likes to see their symbols break under strains and stressors like normal men. But Steve Rogers is just a man.
He forgets that sometimes, just like the rest of the world.]
The world I came back to after the war was a lot different than the one I'd left. A couple years in, and I met a man - Sam Wilson? He's been around, you might've seen him - who's a counselor for guys like me, coming out of combat. I think I talked more to him than I had to anyone else in the two years before. He'd been there too, so he knew. Asked me about my bed being too soft.
It's pretty cool, hearing about all the different powers, isn't it? Even if there's other healing powers, I think my world's the only one that uses water for it so far. [Korra smiles as she works. A look at the leg tells her it is a little infected, like Nadia had said, but it's not bad enough to worry.]
So, your sister has do stuff with elements, and you can make illusions. What else can the people in your world do?
Sounds a lot like someone I know. [Korra barely suppresses the smile. She's burned away the infection--so to speak--and now works on mending the skin together.]
[Her leg is starting to feel better already and she relaxes]
Mhm... It's strange if you're born Human and can't do magic, actually. This is the first place I've ever really talked to people who can't or have seen someone who can with red blood...
Conner and I haven't gotten that far-- [Korra clarifies quickly, cheeks heating up a little.] We just talked about it. Um.
I don't think there have been any babies. Not for the people from other worlds, like us. It's different for the natives.
[Otherwise young people like Jessica wouldn't exist. So she's pretty sure.]
There's this one woman who showed up here recently. They brought her here almost right after she gave birth. It's almost like they waited or something.
They seem to manage alright, which is surprising to me... We've always been taught some awful things about those without special abilities, but they're some of the loveliest people I've ever met. [Nadia fully realizes how ignorant that sounds, but she's never been put in a position like this before. If they weren't in a city full of murder, she would probably love it, with all the people, their worlds, and backgrounds.]
I would love to see the places everyone is from, anyway, and what they're like. I bet their homes are beautiful.
[He leans back, frowning. Other than that, his face is passive, even though he knows, thanks to Ken, that it tends to be a sign that he's upset. It's his reflexive response to things he doesn't want to deal with.]
Page 41 of 58