"Do I dare ask why you look so mad?" Mandy asked him only ten minutes later.
The two of them were in her cabin/infirmary, and Ian was on the stool once more, his shirt off and holding still while she checked the sunburn on his back and shoulders.
He scowled – she didn't see it – and hesitated. While it wasn't any of her business, and he didn't normally confide in strangers, he was also smart enough to know that he was truly in for a shitty rest of the week if he couldn't figure out a way to make things better. The other counselors were pissed at him, and although it was hardly going to break his heart to have a bunch of people he couldn't give a shit less about mad at him, he also knew he wasn't going to be able to just up and leave – which meant he'd have to put up with dirty looks and lectures for the rest of the week. Not something he was looking forward to.
Maybe Mandy would have a suggestion on how to make things a little better. Ian didn't have a clue.
"Everyone's pissed at me."
"Oh?"
"Yup."
She had a feeling that he wasn't all that concerned about that. Which meant there must be more. So she did a little fishing.
"Why?"
"They were telling stories up in the field last night, and Hines forced me to tell one – even though I told him I didn't know any good ones."
"And…?"
"Apparently I scared the kids or some such shit and they didn't sleep last night – and kept their counselors up all night."
"And the counselors are blaming you?"
"Yeah."
She couldn't help but be curious.
"What story did you tell them?"
Ian told her the story in the exact same words that he'd told the camp the night before. The nurse listened with amazement, wondering where he'd even come up with something – and someone – so awful – and why he'd ever think it was a story to tell little kids.
"So now…" Ian said, once he was finished, "they're all pissed because their kids are having nightmares or not sleeping – and they say it's my fault…"
Well aware that he was more or less whining, Ian couldn't help himself. It was all so unfair that he had to tell someone or he was just going to pop.
"It's not a very… child friendly story."
"I told them I didn't know any."
Mandy finished putting the aloe on Ian's back in silence, but as he was putting on his shirt, she came around to look at him. Which was much better than watching his back.
"So what you need to do is calm the little ones down a little… Once the kids are okay, the counselors will be, too."
"I asked if they just wanted me to say they didn't exist, but-"
"But that wouldn't work, I'm afraid." She smiled. "It wouldn't work with my children – and my oldest is ten."
Ian sighed.
"You know… I didn't even want to come here."
She nodded. It didn't take a genius to figure that out.
"You're doing okay, though, you know? Your boys seem genuinely fond of you."
"Joy."
She smiled, wiping her hands on a clean towel. There was no missing that sarcasm was there? She didn't mind, though. She was used to it. Her ten year old was just getting into that stage.
"You want my advice on this Wraith thing?"
He nodded. He'd take any advice he could get. For that matter, he was half tempted to call Sam. Mandy seemed to be fairly intelligent, though, and she mentioned she had kids – which would give her more experience with them than Sam had – Jake was hardly much of a problem yet, after all – so she might be just as good - if not better in this instance.
"Find a way to make them less scary. Find something the Wraith are afraid of."
He frowned. As far as he knew the Wraith weren't afraid of anything. Of course, he couldn't tell her that, now could he? Then she'd think he was nuts.
"Like what?"
She shrugged.
"Come up with something. Something simple, though. These are little kids, and they don't need complicated. Just sincere."
"Huh…" It wasn't a question, it was an 'I'm thinking about what you just said' noise.
She smiled, and resisted the urge to reach out and touch his cheek. For one thing, he wasn't her ten year old (she wouldn't have hesitated for a moment if he was) and for another, there was a bruise on his cheek.
"Just think about it. You'll come up with something brilliant, I imagine."
He scowled.
"You have more faith in me than I do."
Instead of arguing, though, he stood up and tucked his shirt in. There were activities he was sure he'd have to join in on – although Mandy was easy to talk to – and not at all angry with him like the rest of the world seemed to be.
"Your sunburn is fading nicely," she said, moving back to their original topic. "We'll lotion it again after lunch, but then it should be fine. Especially since there's no sun out today to make it worse."
Ian nodded, and reached for his damp sweatshirt.
"Thanks."
She smiled.
"That's why they pay me the big bucks."