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Mary has a milkshake, a Latin textbook, a Latin dictionary, and a half-written translation done in neat round lettering. She squints over all three for quite a while before she writes down anything new. (Mary is a perfectionist.)

Mary also has a knife, but it is sheathed and tucked in a pocket of her skirt, and is therefore not visible to the public.

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"That's the point, Mary. You're going to hurt yourself learning how to use knives. It'll be by accident, and it'll hurt, you'll feel stupid, and it's over. It's not a big deal." He waves one scarred hand at her.

"It makes me feel like shit to hurt other people. Even if they're trying to hurt me. It sucks. I never want you to have to do it. But if you want to learn, you learn it all."

"I told you," Mary says, fighting back furious tears, "if I am going to hurt someone I am going to mean it. I told you! You maybe do not remember when I hit you - it was long ago now - but I remember! I learned! That taught me better about hurting people than you sticking yourself with a knife because you think it will make me feel bad - I am not responsible for what you just did, I do not feel anything but angry at you! And," she adds, glaring at the open wound, "worry that you will get tetanus if you do not do something about it!"

"I didn't do it to make you feel bad!" Oh boy, this is going downhill fast. "I don't want you to grow up like me, okay? So I'm a moron. Prove me wrong by never being as dumb as me, and you'll never have to use this." He wipes the knife off on a handkerchief, and hands it back to her, sheathed.

"I've got my shots," he adds, shaking his head and cleaning off his arm.

Mary snatches for it hastily and slides it back into its sheath before Duo can take it back and do something else lunatic.

Stubbornly: "You did, you said you did! Not in the way of being cruel, I know, but - it makes you feel terrible to hurt other people, you said, and you said I had to learn - you said that was the point."

"I meant-" Okay, Duo. In a conversation with a twelve year old, try to be the mature one, okay? Okay.

He pinches the bridge of his nose and shakes his head. Deep breath.

He takes a deep breath.

"Obviously we have some underlying issues that we should talk about sometime. But that time is not now. How about we start over?"

"I do not know what you mean by underlying issues."

Mary is still wary.

"I do not know what you mean by starting over, either. If it is from before the part where you cut yourself with my knife, we are not doing that again."

"...like I said, later. And no." She's getting to be a wise-ass! He is so proud. Duo tries to explain again, this time without dumping his worry in there too.

(She's right, he did want to scare her a little. He just doesn't want to admit it.)

"Look. You remember how hard to had to practice your punches. And even when you hit someone, you're not going to hurt them so bad they won't be walking around the next day. With a knife, it's different. I hardly used any strength at all. Just...think about it, okay? That's all. Moving on?"

We all know very well who's responsible for that!

"I still practice my punches," she tells him, chin jerked high - she's calmer now, but still clearly upset - and then jerks her head down again in a quick nod.

"If you tie that up with a bandage or something like, we can move on. Else," she adds, her sharp gaze almost a dare, "I shall start thinking I do not have to do anything about it when I am hurt, won't I? And we should not want that."

Duo manfully does not roll his eyes. He succumbs to the obvious manipulation anyway, in an attempt at peacemaking.

"Then let's go inside. I'll show you how to fix up a cut and tell if it's serious. And then, we'll talk about different kinds of knives, and the pros and cons of both, okay?"

Mary knows that knowing how to fix up a cut is useful information, if you're going to be using a knife.

(Or, apparently, if you're friends with Duo.)

Knowing the weak points of her own weapon, that's useful, too.

"Next time," she says, turning - and keeping an eye on Duo's cut, just in case - "will you start showing me how to use it? For real?"

"Next time, we work on how to carry and sharpen," he tells her, trying to sound stern. "In your pocket is not the right place, and you have to learn to take care of the knife before anything else."

He's still got the handkerchief on it as he gets up and leads the way toward the bar.

"It will do me no good to have it sharp and carried somewhere properly if I cannot use it -"

The argument undoubtedly goes on for a bit longer.

But there's probably some first aid instruction in there eventually, too.

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