Rue listens. Their paws are gentle against Steph's as they work, cleaning the blood and bandaging the broken skin, and then carefully wrapping the whole hand to keep anything broken or fractured together. That piece will have to be done by Dr. Carter himself, with more advanced tools and experience, but Rue can at least do this, to tend to Steph's broken hand now.
And all the while, they listen.
It's true that they are missing much of the context, there are pieces of what Steph says that just don't make sense to the owlbear, but the core of it eventually comes together. A mistake that led to dozens of deaths, a mistake that sent a whole city tumbling into chaos, a mistake that cost Stephanie absolutely everything. Even with their own past fuck ups to compare to, Rue can not even begin to imagine the gravity of such a thing weighing on anyone, but especially someone as young as Steph.
She's basically an infant in fey terms, a mere comma in the long life of a faerie. But she is just as haunted as Tim and Peter and all of the other troubled teens that Rue has taken under their wing in this realm. It is entirely unfair, to think she was under such devastating pressure, so desperate for validation, enough to cause such a tremendous harm across her city.
How could anyone truly think it Stephanie's fault?
Once bandaged, Rue's paw carefully engulfs Steph's, simply holding it close, while their free hand slips up to very carefully tuck her hair behind her ear with a talon.
"I hear you. What else? Speak of your fears, your old hurts, your past memories. Whatever you feel you need to share. Pray, leave it here with me and I shall carry your burden for the both of us."
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And all the while, they listen.
It's true that they are missing much of the context, there are pieces of what Steph says that just don't make sense to the owlbear, but the core of it eventually comes together. A mistake that led to dozens of deaths, a mistake that sent a whole city tumbling into chaos, a mistake that cost Stephanie absolutely everything. Even with their own past fuck ups to compare to, Rue can not even begin to imagine the gravity of such a thing weighing on anyone, but especially someone as young as Steph.
She's basically an infant in fey terms, a mere comma in the long life of a faerie. But she is just as haunted as Tim and Peter and all of the other troubled teens that Rue has taken under their wing in this realm. It is entirely unfair, to think she was under such devastating pressure, so desperate for validation, enough to cause such a tremendous harm across her city.
How could anyone truly think it Stephanie's fault?
Once bandaged, Rue's paw carefully engulfs Steph's, simply holding it close, while their free hand slips up to very carefully tuck her hair behind her ear with a talon.
"I hear you. What else? Speak of your fears, your old hurts, your past memories. Whatever you feel you need to share. Pray, leave it here with me and I shall carry your burden for the both of us."