bravelittlehero | Musebox!

A place for random threads with Clementine for practice! Hit me up with any prompt you want!

[Those days on the boat are like a distant memory. Clementine came back to the time she was in and was forced to endure her usual life.

For her, it's been awhile. She's taller, more like her pre-teen self. Her hair is the same, kept short just like Lee taught her and when she appears, at first she doesn't realize her scenery has changed. She turns, to snap a retort.]

Still. Not. Bitten.

[Her voice is lower, her expression one of unbridled anger. Her left sleeve was caked in more blood than the rest of her, as though she's injured.]

[He's seen that look before in a child just as young as this one. The familiarity of it makes him pause when she turns, not sure if the anger is directed at him or at the world.]

I can see as much.

[His voice is gentle and calm and he fully expects her to get even angrier for it.]

Is that blood your own?

[He asks, because he knows it's very likely that it's not.

Since, after all, the last time he'd seen a child like this was in a mirror.]

[Clementine isn't locked in the shed anymore and he's not who she was expecting. She takes a step back from him, watching him carefully. Her eyes leave his for a moment as she glances at her arm and back at him.]

It's mine. It's not a bite!

Have you tended to it?

[He doesn't move to touch her or even close the distance between them at all. He doesn't quite understand what her worry about bites is, but that can wait until he's sure she's not too badly wounded.]

[Clementine shakes her head.]

I need a bandage. Do you have any?

[Luckily, he does. It's a habit he's never shaken, though it's useful enough, considering the people he usually has to look after.]

I do, but you'll need to wash the wound out first so that it doesn't get infected. We'll need to find some water.

[If she rejects him, he'll give her the bandage, of course, but he can't bring himself to just leave her.]

I poured peroxide on it already.

[Clementine holds out her right hand for the bandage. She seems a little less guarded.]

I just need some help and I won't bother anyone else.

[He's not sure what peroxide is, but she seems to have the situation well enough in hand. He reaches into his robes and pulls out a small, neatly tied bundle of fabric, removes a few strips and hands them to her.]

I'll give you any help you need. Don't worry about being a bother.

[And since she's at least not openly hostile--]

My name is Ja'far. What's yours?

[She takes the bandages from him and pushes her sleeve up. The gash in her arm is brutal. A gaping wound that's been stitched with five loops, poorly spaced apart. It's going to leave a huge scar. She starts wrapping it with the bandage.]

I'm Clementine.

[He nods and watches as she bandages herself.]

That's going to leave a very big scar. What happened?

[She's not eager to speak, but he's afraid that she'll go off on her own if he doesn't keep her talking.]

[He's not wrong. She needs to regroup, and she hasn't had a chance to do that in a little while.]

I was bitten by a dog. Just a dog.

[She finishes and uses her teeth to tie the knot.]

[That worry about being bitten again...]

You seem very worried about being bitten. Does that mean something different in this place?

[It's not something he's noticed himself since waking up here, but that doesn't mean he hasn't missed something. He's not sure if she's one of the other people who's been magicked here or not. Her clothing isn't the same as what he's seen on the townspeople, but that doesn't necessarily mean she's not from another island.]

Zombies. I wasn't bitten by zombies.

[Clementine drops her sleeve and glances at him again.]

Thanks. For the bandage.