"So are you going to tell me what happened to your face?"
"That's a very special story I save for my closest enemies. I usually like to demonstrate what happened instead of explaining it."
"…..Ah. Point taken."
Drink this."
"What does it do?"
"A little herbal brew I made. It'll boost your immune system a bit–wouldn't want you to get sick or infected while this is healing. Drink it quick, it don't taste great."
The young man obligingly downed the medicine, seeming to be in a better mood than when he'd arrived. "Ah, it's not so bad. One time when there was a drought I had to drink some rain water from a stump. That was so bad I had to barf it back up."
"…Great. I…really wanted to know that."
"I'm taking you in on the condition that you don't interfere, no matter what happens. Agreed?"
I nodded. "With all due respect, ma'am, I've done this before. You won't even notice I'm there."
"Hm. Maybe not….but it definitely will. And believe me, that's what counts."
Would you like a girl's name or a boy's name?"
"A what?"
"'Boy' and 'girl' are two different genders. We assign each name a gender, and usually we stick to it, but not always. By the way, your body is male–or a boy's–so usually we'd give you a boy's name, but I thought I'd let you pick."
"Okay….yes….fine. I don't know what is boy or what is girl, and I don't think I like them. But I will be what you say I am. For now."
"How's it look out there? See anybody? I wanna get this done before it's time to eat."
"Hey, hey, watch your head! They still have a sniper gun, remember? And you're wearing that–oh hell, how'd you get your stupid orange hat back? Ma told you she was burning it!"
"I can't let her burn it! It's lucky!"
"Lucky? Lucky for whoever's trying to shoot you, maybe. And I don't see a soul, since you asked. They must be taking the second or third route."
"Oh, is it Tuesday already? I thought it was Monday. Those snakes aren't trying to break the rules, are they?"
"It's Wednesday, Unc. They're right on schedule. Now stop trying to do my job for me and focus on your own, okay?"