IC Contact

[baruthumos]

You've reached Omega.

If this is a medical emergency, leave your location and the nature of the emergency, any allergies or conditions, and I will be right there.

If you need someone to have a medical emergency, leave your name and a way to contact you.

And if this is about a child, leave your location, the nature of the problem, and tell them I will be right there.

Comments

[baruthumos]

With Tex's?

[the_informant]

With Beta's as well. I would. In a heart beat.

[baruthumos]

Then I will talk to her.

[the_informant]

Thank you. Who knows, maybe she can even hook you up with a good medical training group or something. Help you get ready for the other aspect of your work.

[baruthumos]

Yeah, she offered. I was going to take her up on it.

How do you and Tex do this?

[the_informant]

Do what in particular?

[baruthumos]

The thing where I talk to you and then you make everything better and then there's a way to fix it.

[the_informant]

We had to learn to survive, Omega. It gives you experience when you have to do that on your own. She can do it because she's lived a very hard life. I've learned because I've got a good number of years under my belt. Time is a good teacher.

Plus there's love. I'm starting to realize that it does great things. She loves you very, very much. And I care about you, kiddo. I care about you being calm. I care about you being strong. And I care about you getting good with yourself.

Because in a way you're like me when I was your age. So angry at the world, so driven. But you're powerless to do much about it. Speaking as someone who had the power to do a lot, who did a lot to lash out at the things that hurt me... I'll be honest and tell you that it doesn't help. At all. So you learn other ways of coping.

[baruthumos]

I, uh.

I don't know what to do with this information.

[the_informant]

Know that you can do this. I believe in you. I... you take strength from what you've been through. Nothing anyone can do to you can be worse than what was done to you as a child. And it definitely can't cut through the strength you had to make it this far.

Trust me. I know. I've been through a lot too.

[baruthumos]

I can't stop fighting with my brothers. That's all I'm good for. Fighting and cleaning up after a fight.

[the_informant]

You are a warm, nurturing man, who knows how to sacrifice everything, but you only do it for the IMPORTANT things. Which is what matters.

You understand priorities.

[baruthumos]

Oh, you mean triage? I'm great at that.

[the_informant]

Yeah. Sure. Let's go with that. And not how you've spent your life putting the vulnerable people you are responsible for before yourself.

[baruthumos]

Isn't...that what I'm supposed to do?

[the_informant]

You could have walked away. A lot of people would have.

[baruthumos]

I feel like we've had this conversation before. I couldn't. My name's on all the paperwork.

[the_informant]

You could. That's the thing. You could have walked away.

There was more strength than you realize in staying.

[baruthumos]

I don't...you make it sound like...where could I have gone? I was eighteen, I didn't have a job or a safe place to stay, at least the Counselor fed me. Staying was easy.

I thought, I was afraid he'd kick me out. He'd mostly stopped by then, the damage was done, was it fair to do what we did to the twins and Theta because of what he might have done?

[the_informant]

Staying is never easy in that circumstance. You could have run.

[baruthumos]

But I wouldn't be able to support them without the money from our parents, let alone if the house wasn't paid off.

[the_informant]

I mean you. I mean you without them. I mean you on your own out in the world to be away from the burdens.

[baruthumos]

I have been staring at this for eighteen hours and it still...do people do that? Live with others for nearly twenty years, protect them, promise to take care of them and then just...go?

[the_informant]

Yes.