[He really isn't, because his eyes go wide in surprise. People getting bounties put on their heads? That only happens in old Westerns, and usually for shit like killing one very important people one time or multiple people in a very short period of time, or stealing something incredibly expensive. He can't see Alayne (Sansa, it's Sansa) doing either.
But then again...she did say her family had been murdered. Maybe these people wanted to make damn sure the whole line had been wiped from the face of the earth.
Still, despite all that understanding—some part of Richie's a little hurt, initially, that she hadn't trusted him from the start. It is, he knows, a stupid thought to have, because she's got a good reason for it, and that's why he keeps quiet as she talks, watching her while sipping some lemonade.]
Holy shit. [Yeah, that's the first thing that comes out of his mouth.] Alayne—Sansa, I mean? That's just really fucked up of them.
[She's, what, his age? Maybe even younger than he is. It's why he doesn't really bother to hold on to the hurt, that, and—he's heard a tale like this before. Ange's story isn't entirely the same, but at the core of it is the same loss, the same all-encompassing heartbreak of all of the family dying, all at once, and in such a violent way.
He reaches his hand across the table, puts it there in the middle for her to take, if she needs it. Venkman hops down from his sentinel position, then gently bumps into Sansa's leg, as if to offer some comfort as well.]
I get it. It's... [He hesitates a moment, then huffs out a breath. When he next speaks, his voice with heavy, not just with sympathy, but with experience.] You had to keep this a secret, 'cause otherwise you'd be fucked. They'd find you and hurt you, or worse they'd kill you, all because of something you couldn't help. Not really. And then you get pulled here, and even though you know it's safer, you still can't help it. Some part of you's still stuck back there, and you can't unstick it, because it's the only thing that kept you alive for so long.
[Doesn't that sound just familiar, to a little gay boy from Derry. His life isn't really anything like Sansa's, he only had to deal with the one monster before he started hopping around the multiverse, but—he gets it.]
...d'you still want me to call you Alayne, out in public? Keep an eye out for the assholes trying to kill you, and—and maybe your family, too?
tw internalized homophobia
But then again...she did say her family had been murdered. Maybe these people wanted to make damn sure the whole line had been wiped from the face of the earth.
Still, despite all that understanding—some part of Richie's a little hurt, initially, that she hadn't trusted him from the start. It is, he knows, a stupid thought to have, because she's got a good reason for it, and that's why he keeps quiet as she talks, watching her while sipping some lemonade.]
Holy shit. [Yeah, that's the first thing that comes out of his mouth.] Alayne—Sansa, I mean? That's just really fucked up of them.
[She's, what, his age? Maybe even younger than he is. It's why he doesn't really bother to hold on to the hurt, that, and—he's heard a tale like this before. Ange's story isn't entirely the same, but at the core of it is the same loss, the same all-encompassing heartbreak of all of the family dying, all at once, and in such a violent way.
He reaches his hand across the table, puts it there in the middle for her to take, if she needs it. Venkman hops down from his sentinel position, then gently bumps into Sansa's leg, as if to offer some comfort as well.]
I get it. It's... [He hesitates a moment, then huffs out a breath. When he next speaks, his voice with heavy, not just with sympathy, but with experience.] You had to keep this a secret, 'cause otherwise you'd be fucked. They'd find you and hurt you, or worse they'd kill you, all because of something you couldn't help. Not really. And then you get pulled here, and even though you know it's safer, you still can't help it. Some part of you's still stuck back there, and you can't unstick it, because it's the only thing that kept you alive for so long.
[Doesn't that sound just familiar, to a little gay boy from Derry. His life isn't really anything like Sansa's, he only had to deal with the one monster before he started hopping around the multiverse, but—he gets it.]
...d'you still want me to call you Alayne, out in public? Keep an eye out for the assholes trying to kill you, and—and maybe your family, too?