[Social] A Small War

[Samantha McManus]

"Aye well... good things come in threes a lot of the time," she smirks faintly.

[Leo Eskandari]

"And is she magical too? The literal kind, I mean. Not in the way all girlfriends are."

[Samantha McManus]

"She's the daughter of the Lady of the Lake."

"I am not making this up."

[Leo Eskandari]

"Uh-huh. Sure. And my dad's... " he began, pausing to think, "Fuck, I dunno any Persian gods."

He looked at her face. "Yer... not kiddin' are ya?"

[Samantha McManus]

"She has a sword," Sam says with a goofy grin.

[Leo Eskandari]

"Wicked," he grinned.

Suddenly his eyes went wide. "Not THE sword?!" he exclaimed.

[Samantha McManus]

"She calls it something impenetrably Welsh that I think translates to that."

"It's a proper magic sword, at the least."

[Leo Eskandari]

"Man, crazy weird and wicked stuff just happens all the time 'round here doesn't it?"

[Samantha McManus]

"You've got a few hundred unlikely occurrences right here."

"And that's just the student body."

[Leo Eskandari]

"In other words, I shouldn't doubt anyone's story here. Like if they're an alien wizard princess or whatever."

[Samantha McManus]

"...I'm pretty sure we've got at least two out of three."

[Leo Eskandari]

Leo laughed heartily. "This place is so friggin' weird! I love it!"

[Samantha McManus]

"It's kind of freeing, aye? That the expectations are that broad?"

[Leo Eskandari]

"It is... nice... that nobody here bats an eye at how I look. I didn't expect that."

[Samantha McManus]

"And you didn't believe it when I told you about it, either."

[Leo Eskandari]

He shook his head, then shrugged. "Guess I had to see it to believe it."

"I'm havin' a hard enough time acceptin' my appearance myself."

[Samantha McManus]

"I'm not saying you have to right away."

"But you might be happier if you can find your way around to it."

[Leo Eskandari]

"I know. Accepting it just... feels like giving up on ever being myself again. Even if that's a long shot."

[Samantha McManus]

"Even if you find a way to be your old self again, you might find you want to be this sometimes, too."

[Leo Eskandari]

"You really think I could actually be a shifter now?"

[Samantha McManus]

"Maybe not a shifter, but I know Doctor McCoy has some sort of wrist-watch thing when he wants to go incognito."

[Leo Eskandari]

"Why doesn't it surprise me that that's a thing? With something like that I could at least go into town without imaginin' everybody starin' at me," he said with a small, relieved smile.

[Samantha McManus]

"I think you'd still be... big?"

[Leo Eskandari]

His smile fell. "Shit. You're right. I'm friggin' huge."

[Samantha McManus]

"I mean, so's he when he uses it."

[Leo Eskandari]

"Yeah but he's just broad. I'm a walkin' skyscrapah"

He sighed, "But, at least people would only see an unnaturally big dude."

[Samantha McManus]

"Why do you use that word? Unnatural?"

[Leo Eskandari]

"Because I was never meant to be this."

[Samantha McManus]

"It's a short hop from 'shouldn't be this' to 'shouldn't be.'"

[Leo Eskandari]

"I didn't fight to keep my mind just to give up, but that doesn't mean I can pretend I'm what I'm supposed to be."

[Samantha McManus]

"Not my point. You're using the same language as the people who hate you. That's not healthy."

[Leo Eskandari]

Leo flinched as if slapped. "I... didn't mean... I just..."

"This body just feels so wrong."

[Samantha McManus]

"Look, I know it's hard. But we hear this stuff every day. It helps to be aware when it starts coming out of your own mouth."

[Leo Eskandari]

He nodded, looking ashamed and somehow small.

"I hid my mutation for a long time," he admitted, "I... guess I never adjusted in the first place."

[Samantha McManus]

"Look, I'm not trying to make you feel bad about yourself, here."

[Leo Eskandari]

"I know that," he said miserably. "I think... maybe I just need to be alone for a bit."