[ ...He's getting advice from Rezo like it's the old days. Encouragement, even. It's surreal.
He can see the logic behind Rezo's advice; doctors and healers need to maintain a degree of detachment in order to effectively carry out their work. Though, pretending it's all hypothetical sounds a little too dissociative for Zelgadis' taste.
Maybe every wise healer has this skill in their repertoire. Maybe only Rezo does this and it's revealing of the great dysfunction in his psyche! Zelgadis does not have the medical credentials to say one way or another.
Ultimately, it takes time to develop that detachment whether you're dissociating over it or not. Ironically, it's a bit like learning to get comfortable with taking lives. The first time he ever killed a bandit, his hands wouldn't stop shaking. Now it's easy.
So, okay, he's not getting much out of this advice, but Rezo is trying. Zel can't find fault with that.
And... it does make him feel a little better, that assurance that his efforts aren't in vain. He struggles with how he should respond to that. After floundering for a few long seconds, he manages to say, to his own disbelief: ]
...Thank you. I'll... try to remember that.
[ He rubs the back of his neck. Old memories of demurring from praise, self-conscious yet grateful, stir from where they've slept. They don't hurt as much as they have in the past. ]
no subject
He can see the logic behind Rezo's advice; doctors and healers need to maintain a degree of detachment in order to effectively carry out their work. Though, pretending it's all hypothetical sounds a little too dissociative for Zelgadis' taste.
Maybe every wise healer has this skill in their repertoire. Maybe only Rezo does this and it's revealing of the great dysfunction in his psyche! Zelgadis does not have the medical credentials to say one way or another.
Ultimately, it takes time to develop that detachment whether you're dissociating over it or not. Ironically, it's a bit like learning to get comfortable with taking lives. The first time he ever killed a bandit, his hands wouldn't stop shaking. Now it's easy.
So, okay, he's not getting much out of this advice, but Rezo is trying. Zel can't find fault with that.
And... it does make him feel a little better, that assurance that his efforts aren't in vain. He struggles with how he should respond to that. After floundering for a few long seconds, he manages to say, to his own disbelief: ]
...Thank you. I'll... try to remember that.
[ He rubs the back of his neck. Old memories of demurring from praise, self-conscious yet grateful, stir from where they've slept. They don't hurt as much as they have in the past. ]