snowblindrpg | [network] @ADMIN; Arrival

Any of it. All of it. And if any of them do have homes to go back to, they'd likely regret leaving them eventually. This is an awful place to be making big decisions.

It is. It might not be better back home for them, though.

[She shrugs a shoulder, pulling the coat over herself a little tighter.]

In the end,we're not sure we can even make that kind of choice. And if we can, well, it's theirs to make. Are you worried for them, Mr Solomons? More soft spots?

I don't know any of 'em well. But I hear whispers from time to time.

This one man - a boy, really - he talked about taking one of the kids home. I suppose he didn't mean it how it sounded, but that's alarming to hear, innit?

Hm. [She tries to think it through, imagining circumstances. She's heard doctors and nurses before talking about taking kids home with them, taking them from their families - often with good reason, but still. She gets where Alfie is coming from.]

Might have been with the best intentions in the world, but yeah, it'd worry me, too. At the end of the day, it depends on what the kid wants, if they're old enough to make that decision. It's not something to just toss around lightly, that's for sure.

Children belong with their families.

I agree, to an extent. What about orphans? Abusive households? Street urchins?

[She bites her lip.]

I don't know about this particular kid, so I'd expect letting them go back to their own world is the best option, but. Some families are broken.

So you break it even more? No, no; that's not a solution.

You'd rather leave a kid with a parent that beats them?

[Her curiosity shows in her voice; she wants to understand his thinking more than she's judging it. It's not the first time she's heard this argument, but he doesn't sound like someone who'd appreciate abuse, either.

But then again she could be wrong about that, since he is from the 20's, after all.]

There's usually others in the family who would intervene; sort things out. If not, then that's a special case, innit.

Indeed, it would be. I've seen a lot of different scenarios at work. But whatever the reason is, it's terrible and tragic to take a child away from its parents.

[She's pretty sure the emotions are showing on her face. She's never been very good at poker.]

You do it often?

I, personally, don't. It's not my job, nor my place. I have had to contact child services before, though. They're the ones in charge of finding other family members, or other solutions if necessary. But it's only in extremely rare cases, and it always requires an extensive investigation. Child services do their very best to keep children with their families.

[It's a heartbreaking process. Claire could never do what they do.]

Mm.

Well, I've torn families apart myself, in my own way.

Do you regret it?

There have been times when I wished things had gone a different way, but I still made the choices I did for a reason. If doing something is gonna make me feel regret, then I do not do it.

I wish things were always that simple.

[She's not thinking of herself, but of Matt. He might not regret everything he does, but she knows he does, some of it; guilt eating him up until he can't take it anymore.]

But then again, I was raised Catholic. Guilt is one of their core mechanics.

I was raised Jewish.

[And he's sure she's heard jokes about Jewish guilt, if they still exist in the future.]

Well, aren't you full of surprises and contradictions.

[She grins again, softening the tease.]

I'll have you know I go to temple regularly. My rabbi loves me.

[And he doesn't approve of the criminal thing in the least, but eh.]

Well, you are a real charmer, aren't you? I can't see why your rabbi wouldn't.

[A devout criminal is not all that surprising to her. She's seen many praying to themselves in a multitude of languages while she was applying pressure to their wounds in the ER. Religious rules can be easier to follow than the law.]

Charming, yes, hm. But I'm not at my best at the moment.

[His friend - or possibly more, has died very recently. Of course he's not.]

I'm sorry, Mr Solomons.

I remember being new, and looking at the people who'd been here for months, being worn down day by day.

[And now he's one of them.]

Some still have hope. Do you?

Odds are we're not gonna see our homes again. But low odds are not no odds, and I'm the sort of man who'd rather die fighting, if it comes to that.

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