I9DT - End of the summer

[Ross Jacobson]

Classes soon. Ugh. But people would be back. And they'd been happy with the progress he'd made since getting there on his combat training, so... well, he guessed it wasn't right to hope that there would be an emergency, but Ross was pretty stoked about (now being 18 and all) being old enough to actually help out. Still, life seemed to be crawling by like normal, even on nice days like this, where Ross found himself walking through the quad, sunglasses in place, seeing what was up.

[Isabel Galen]

One thing he'd see was Isabel, looking more Goth than was usual even for her, kickin' it under a tree.

[Ross Jacobson]

Well, at least it's... usually a look that works for her...

Still, it was a nice day, so Ross headed on over there. "Hey," he said, smiling. "How's it going? Everything quiet in the infirmary?" Of course, it had to be. He hadn't seen her in a couple weeks, even though he'd been faithfully (or pitifully) showing up at the coffee shop every day when he was supposed to.

[Isabel Galen]

"Same as usual." Isabel said, with a dismissive shrug.

[Ross Jacobson]

"Oh?" he said, frowning a little. The hell? "Oh. Well, I mean, I just figured that you hadn't had anything big to treat, since you hadn't... well, y'know..." As he said it, Ross became acutely aware of how pitiful he might be sounding.

[Isabel Galen]

"No, I just didn't see the point." Isabel said "Why should I try to sugar-coat what I am and what I do."

[Ross Jacobson]

He blinked. "Um... what you do is heal people," he said, a little taken back.

[Isabel Galen]

"Thats part of it." Isabel said.

[Ross Jacobson]

"Yeah, and you pass it off somewhere. So?"

[Isabel Galen]

"So, I pass it on." Isabel said "Why pretend that I don't?"

[Ross Jacobson]

"Well, we're not," he said. "But why pass it to someone that can get hurt by it?"

[Isabel Galen]

"Because if I do that, the pain doesn't exist, and no one can learn from it. Benefit from it."

[Ross Jacobson]

What?! Ross frowned, looking down at her, a look of growing concern on his face. "Izzy? What's wrong?" he asked.

[Isabel Galen]

"Nothing is wrong. I've just started to understand and accept who I am."

[Ross Jacobson]

He looked at her suspiciously. "So... you're just dropping the stuff on other people now, because it's going to make them stronger." The hell?

[Isabel Galen]

"I do what needs to be done." Isabel replied.

[Ross Jacobson]

"Yeah, but... why does it need to be done?" he asked, a bit lost now.

[Isabel Galen]

"To separate the weak from the strong, and to make the strong even stronger."

[Ross Jacobson]

"But..."

"Izzy, what happened? This doesn't sound like you."

[Isabel Galen]

"Its the first thing I've said that sounds like me." she replied.