It was perhaps inevitable, that the culture of another dimension, planet, or parallel world- he is still debating that- would stand between the understanding of Sansa Stark.
Honestly, Nezu had expected such an obstacle to be a probability of nearly 90 % of all conflicts to arise with the Pup. They did not know anything of her previous culture, which in his mind meant that there would always be a barrier to understanding the Pup because of it. It was worse because they could not know that culture easily, either. Nezu was fascinated with the unknown, with the sheer thought of magic, but he also acknowledged that his entire mind turned in displeasure at the fact that his usual method of research was completely and utterly useless. 'Earthos', from his primary searches to check if anyone else had ever come to this planet, really only existed in the fragile traumatized mind of his four-year-old Pup. And as far as they were aware, and he had looked, the only one on Earth to have a confirmed case of reincarnation. At least in any way, he could completely confirm. Some various candidates had been found from his searches, but nothing as concrete or trackable as Sansa Stark.
This was a new frontier, and they had only the bare references of what lay in front of them.
From what he had gleaned, Earthos was a middle-aged society akin to ancient Europe and parallels most all feudal periods of Earth. War, strife, and high tension abound, with a good dose of 'evil' in the form of a being that Sansa had only called Ancient and 'Other'. Magic, in the near pure sense of the word, was abound in that place. Sansa's Westeros was a continent of feudal war and conflict, highly patriarchal, highly nuanced between the seven kingdoms with distinct cultures that they had no reference beyond her vague and off-handed descriptions. Sansa herself was a product of three of the seven kingdoms, of three great Houses -As High as Honor, Family, Duty, Honor, and Winter is Coming- though her chief culture had been the North. She had encountered strife in her chief culture for appearing too much like the culture beyond the North, being raised by a Riverland mother, and being held hostage by others in her previous life. In the end, she died at sixteen and was thrust into a completely different world from her own.
But, he supposed her life on Earth had only confirmed that the Uniserve, or multi-verse, was constant. Pain was universal. Cruelty was universal. Her new life had already started off wrong and her captured by cruelty. And now here they were, blundering their way into a field of high contention for humans.
Nezu was not human.
He could never be, for all that he had 'gained sentience'. That meant, no matter his knowledge, no matter his sense of self, he was not one of them.
He was an animal.
He was a genetic chimera, a hodgepodge of several different animals spliced together for the sake of human curiosity. He was a series of contradictory instincts, carnivore and herbivore behavior, predator and prey actions, lone creature and pack mentality, a beyond intelligent mind, and a savage survivor of brutality at human hands.
However, in all that, he understood humans all too well.
Part curse of it, part advantage, he knew what was driving his human pack members.
The chaos that they threw about was a product of their fear, their righteousness, and their own certainty of what they thought was best for their Pup. Dismissal of her beliefs. Immediately believing that modernity equated not only to superiority but to supremacy over anything she knew. Despite himself, his maw curled over his teeth, exposing them in his sheer wish to make them all stand down. He was in charge, something in him growled- yet his mind was telling him to wait, to listen, observe.
Much like what Sansa was doing.
She watched the chaos with careful eyes, flickering quickly across every one of their pack.
Her little face was still and composed. The only indication of her distress was her flower crown. He knew it was a combination of her actual distress, and her own purpose to display those flowers. Many in the room knew nothing of the meaning, but it was enough of a display of her loss of control to show her distress. He applauded her for it, even if it left something sour in his stomach, and made part of him want to root out the source of his Pup's distress.
Shouta-kun, especially, seemed to be of the same mind.
The usually laid-back father was wired tight, his dark eyes locked on Sansa, his jaw clenched tight, his leg bouncing up and down. Poor Hisashi-kun was the opposite, quiet, observing, and seemingly unable to look at his daughter because of his own failure. Nemuri-chan was over compensating by trying to be the loudest and 'best' voice in the room. Mirai-kun was pensive and confused. Toshinori-kun had taken Sansa's 'side' and stood like an errant knight between her and everyone else. The only person that was calm was Chiyo-sensei.
Nezu sipped his tea.
His pack was unruly, and out of order.
He hummed.
"Enough," he said simply.
The chaos of his initial words settled into a tense, tense silence.
Nezu sipped his tea.
"Sansa, Pup, I apologize. Adults tend to talk over each other when they think they are right."
She sips her own tea. The picture of composure. The custom tea set of her mother's House, what would have been a gift was a now peace offering and message to be patient with her pack. Not optimal, but needs must, and Sansa was quick to take a message even if she wasn't pleased about it.
"Of course, I know that all too well," she said simply.
"Now," his maw did pull back over his teeth, exposing each one slowly as the room's tension grew and grew, "No more of this chaos. Sansa, Chiyo-sensei in exact words, define a mental health professional."
"Thank you, dearie. Sansa-Joo, a mental health professional is a health care practitioner or social and human services provider who offers services for the purpose of improving an individual's mental health or to treat mental disorders."
Sansa's only sign of any emotion was the slight twitch of her fingertips, the way they minutely curled into half a fist. He commended her ability to temper herself at such a young age. He attributed it to the Stark Queen's influence.
"What does-" Nezu sent a single look Midnight's way, and that led to the young lady shutting up quite quickly.
"Sansa-Joo?"
Sansa frowned.
"I don't understand… Is not having a mental health disorder the same as having ill mental health?"
Shota-kun went still. His eyes widened slightly. Nezu felt his snarling smile ease.
Progress. Perfect.
"No, Sansa-Joo," said Chiyo-sensei gently, "Not at all. Mental health is a person's condition with regard to their psychological and emotional well-being. A mental illness, on the other hand, is a health condition involving changes in emotion, thinking, and or behavior of the patient due to a variety of factors."
Sansa's eyes went wide.
"I do not- I do not understand. Is not madness- Is not madness a blight on the mind!? When someone acts cruelly with no measure, no reason?" she asked.
Chiyo-sensei shook her head, brows frowned.
"No, dearie. Madness, as you call it, is not the correct way to refer to any mental illness. That's stigmatization that breads negative connotations. Mental illness is not madness. It is an illness. It can be tempered in most cases and treated as any sort of illness. And it does not mean that the behavior of the individual is violent or cruel… Mostly, it is self-cruelty that is a large concern."
Her hands curled in her lap. She took a deep breath.
"There is much I must learn, that much has been made clear to me," she says measuredly, but her eyes narrow as Midnight opens her mouth, "But so do all of you. Let me tell you what Madness is in Westeros, and why it hurt me to think you were calling me such."
Sansa tells them.
Of a wicked king that burned the innocent. Of prince's obsessed with his own self-importance and magic. Of a boy that beat innocent girls with glee because he could. Of a cruel queen that crushed an innocent beneath her heel because of her delusions. Of a woman that clung to delusions of love and was murdered for it. Of a man that made chaos to climb it amongst the ashes it wrought. Of another queen with weapons of mass destruction that spoke of breaking the wheel while she forced it to keep it spinning for herself.
Sansa said it all with the eyes and voice of someone who had seen it all unfold before her.
And Nezu knew that 'madness' had haunted her for far, far, too long.
SO.
I've been MIA. As ya'll know, I was sick a couple of weeks ago, and I still posted. I was giving myself a week to get back into the swing of things after my illness-
AND Long story short I finally got Covid.
Woof.
I'm officially out of the dodgeball game, after nearly 3 years of working high-risk.
I'm okay, by the way, very mild symptoms, mild fever, coughing, body aches, ect. It's generally been only a little worse than the flu I had a couple of weeks back. It just sucks 'cause I JUST got back to work. I haven't been able to really concentrate and mostly have been watching all my comfort media on a loop and sleeping a LOT.
*Chugs Dayquill*
I took a while for me to write this chapter, and it didn't help that this chapter was freakin' NEZU. You know that saying you can't write smarter than you are?
I felt that.
So much with this chapter. I'm gonna avoid this POV so freakin' much, I'll tell you what. I am not dumb, but I really felt it when I tried to think on how this hodgepodge sentient being would actually think and then write that with the actual characterization that we've seen in the manga/show… And then felt how little focus I had as I stared at my document and sobbed quietly.
*Chugs more Dayquill*
Gosh, ramble over, I'll see you my lovelies.
I promise.
#notdeadyet
