video; un: lady

[dohaeris]

[sansa is once again on her couch with lady and her large direwolf-and-weirwood leaf tapestry. she wears a charcoal linen dress embroidered with ravens and her feathered collar with direwolf caps from madame generosity, her needle necklace tucked in the elaborate chatelaine hanging from her wide leather belt. lady wears a matching collar and stretches into sansa's lap, huffing reassuringly.]

Hallo, this is Sansa Stark. Many of you know by now Sasuke and Sakura have returned to the sea in the hopes of having children.

[they were very certain they were going back to their world, sansa thinks it's equally likely they'll end up hatching baby cephalopods.]

I promised them the Sanctuary will keep the Wellness Center in Darcmouth open. If anyone else should like to work there, we would be grateful for their assistance. I also intend to provide space for Night Walkers to provide different modes of therapy, such as talking and making art, that anyone of any age might find helpful.

[it's been largely down to word of mouth for local parents and young sleepers to find age-appropriate therapy, and sansa intends to provide a permanent location for night walkers to provide these services.]

We should have the Wellness Center back open within the fortnight. Of course it is difficult to do anything at all in Darcmouth with the lanterns as they are. I imagine it is Riteoir's influence preventing the patrons from repairing them, but if it persists I should be glad to speak to The Tower myself.

[she smiles faintly and sadly.]

Sasuke also wanted everyone to know that his dojo remains open to any that might like to use it.

private to Sanctuary and Painted Turtle Clinic staff

I thought it might be nice if we met to discuss our plans for the Wellness Center in its hot pools. If anyone doesn't have your waterproof robes from the Wakers, I should be glad to find you new ones.

private to Jin Guangyao and Lan Xichen

Greetings, Lords Guangyao and Xichen, it is my honor to offer you the use of Sasuke's dojo for lessons in the cultivation and use of qi. I know that not everyone may achieve mastery by your methods, but there may be techniques that can aid them in learning to use their own magic more effectively. I hope that you and Li meimei are well, and I look forward to discussing this matter at your convenience.

Comments

Video | un: mister_hatter | private

[payingfordeliverance]

Making art can be therapy...? I was under the impression that "therapy" had to do with telling people about the most awful bits of your life so they can ask you how you feel about it, as though it weren't obvious.

[Local Victorian man who likes Celine Dion asks local medieval woman who likes Taylor Swift about modern mental health techniques, because he was listening to this video in passing while finishing up one of Black Alice's smartass needlepoints to make himself feel better, as he intends to give it to Ruby and she will love it and Ange will scream, and he sort of feels like he has been caught.]

private;

[dohaeris]

[sansa smiles wryly.]

Sometimes it's nice to make art about the awful bits. It makes you feel as if something beautiful has come of them.

Sometimes children find it easier to draw the awful things that have happened to them, instead of talking about it.

And sometimes it's just easier to talk about the awful bits if you have something to keep your hands busy.

[sansa finds sewing very therapeutic!]

[payingfordeliverance]

Oh.

[Break is somewhat bemused by this. Truthfully, he is not entirely clear on the finer details of therapy at all, and has concluded that it's for "problems that a delicious cup of tea with a favorite person will not solve". Sansa makes it sound like one should have tea with one's therapy actually, and he is not sure what to make of this.]

And here I’ve been letting people in on this and that in the hopes of getting ahead of Trench before it can inflict any more of its stupid curses on me, the ones where you've got to talk about your feelings or be locked in a tomb forever or some such. Perhaps I’d do just as well for myself if I bothered to attend the local knitting circle.

[dohaeris]

[her mouth curves to one side.]

I think it all helps. All good feelings go some way towards treating corruption. Do you like knitting very much? I never learned. Ochako was going to teach me.

[payingfordeliverance]

Was she? I can certainly teach you in her stead. I've more time than I know what to do with, these days.

[Grateful for the quick change of subject, Break sets the needlepoint down and leans out of the frame for a moment; he can be heard rummaging around offscreen in the lidded basket he keeps some of his knitting in, where the batcats can't get at it. When he reappears he brings a pair of fingerless gloves with him for Sansa to see, one completed and one half done and still on the needles.]

I find it pleasing for little things like these, that one can easily cart about the house or town. It keeps one's hands occupied when waiting on the bread to rise, you know? Mm, cables would suit you, I shouldn't wonder. They make a good, thick fabric that does well against the wet weather here.

[dohaeris]

[sansa beams.]

Thank you, Break. That would be very kind of you. We didn't have knitting in Winterfell or anywhere that I was, but that looks a bit like what my sister was wearing in Braavos. She seemed to like those clothes better than what she had at home; perhaps I could make her some if she ever comes out of the ocean. And perhaps some of the other chickens might like their own hats.

[she pauses carefully.]

You're always welcome to come pass the time at the Wellness Center, of course.

[payingfordeliverance]

If you ask me, this is entirely the sort of place where the chickens ought to have little hats. The more people who can knit them, the better.

[The lamp friends in his foyer have tiny top hats and cravats. Probably this surprises no one who has ever encountered Xerxes Break for anything over six and a half seconds.

He does pause in turn when Sansa extends her invitation-of-sorts. There are two ways to take it, really -- he can pass the time making use of the center's services, or he can pass the time helping out. Break isn't offended by either notion. Heaven knows he's been held together by spite for most of his life, and most of the people he's met here in Trench are just as battered and bruised. Then, too, with corruption always waiting to sink its claws in, there's really no one who wouldn't benefit from the Wellness Center in some way.

It's just that he's been muddling along with his heaviest feelings held close for so long that the notion of easing them just makes him feel as though there wouldn't be much of him left after, and surely someone as big a mess as he is doesn't have much he could contribute in a setting full of professionals who are doing exactly that.]

I don't know that I'd be of real help to you. Unless you've a need to have heavy things picked up and put down again, or a kitchen going unused.

[The truth, of course, is that Break is someone who believes he is terrible with children despite getting incessantly adopted by them in three different lives, and his blood relic is a magic teapot that makes anti-corruption tea. Deep down, the awkward young thing he was half a lifetime ago is still there, and Break hates himself enough that at times like this it's the only part he sees.]

[dohaeris]

[sansa absolutely needs help carrying heavy things and probably shouldn't rely on vi's perceived enthusiasm for carrying heavy things (and ezra's telekinesis) alone. however, there seems to be something else here.

her mouth quirks to one side.]

It sounds like we might have need of a knitting circle.

[sansa doesn't actually know what this is but she assumes it's a group of people who knit. she doesn't know if they actually need leaders, but there are probably other people who'd like to learn and there probably should be someone around to teach them and correct their mistakes.]

I certainly couldn't lead one.

[she doubts there's anyone she can poach from the sanctuary in crenshaw for this, either.]

1/2

[payingfordeliverance]

[Ah.

Break has been had, he sees.]

2/2

[payingfordeliverance]

[Break makes a face of cantankerous resignation. But, he gives in with virtually nothing by way of a fight. Of course all the young ladies he respects most have Rainsworth airs about them and Sansa Stark is no exception. At this point getting bossed around, by her or by Ange, is just pleasantly nostalgic.]

Arts and crafts, then, is it? I'll see about learning to conjure glitter.




[Literally no one needs a Break who can conjure glitter in their lives, so he is sure to have great success at this.]

[dohaeris]

[sansa beams (she has gotten quite good at using dark bloodstone to get things out of her clothes, and she also knows a cantrip for cleaning).]

Well, I very much look forward to our lessons, and I'm sure the chickens will be very grateful when they all have hats, thanks to you.

[they can be jealous birds...]

[payingfordeliverance]

They can show their appreciation by laying plenty of eggs. When it's such a vexing task to get a hold of suitable breakfast meats, I really can't spare too many eggs for really rich baking, you know?

[Xerxes Break, Pandora's Strongest, and his Trench problems.]

You'll let me know when I ought to drop by? Your schedule is a great deal more hectic than mine.

[And everybody else's, honestly.]