Spitefic: First, Do No Harm
Jan. 25th, 2011 01:56 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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twispiteficTitle: First, Do No Harm
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
das_mervin
Fandom(s): New Moon
Rating: G
Word Count: 1,067
Inspiration: Written in response to Bella essentially telling Carlisle that she can’t understand why they bother not killing people just because it looks a little difficult to resist the blood in chapter two.
Warnings: NONE
Summary: Carlisle tries to explain his beliefs to Bella.
Carlisle glanced up at her, working quickly and with a slightly raised brow. “Obvious way?” he asked calmly.
“Well—yes,” Bella muttered, not wanting to have to spell it out. “You know—you’re a vampire.”
He slowly slid his tools and equipment back into his bag, snapping it closed very deliberately. “There was only ever one obvious way, Bella,” he replied. “To do everything I could to not give into the abhorrent instincts that had suddenly taken over.”
Bella huffed in frustration. “That’s not what I meant—” she began.
“I know what you meant,” Carlisle interrupted gently. He pulled out the alcohol again, dousing some gauze thoroughly. “Let me ask you this, Bella—if you were faced with the same choices, what would you do?”
She stared at the floor, watching him begin to wipe everything down again to clean it. “I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “Just…watching what happened just now…it looks so hard to do what you do.”
Carlisle gathered everything up into the bowl with the glass shards. “And what is it I do?” he asked.
Bella looked up at him, not sure what he was asking. “What do you mean?”
“What do I do, Bella?”
She waffled for a moment, and finally blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “You…it’s like I said. You just seem to torture yourself, all trying to make up for a perceived flaw or…” She trailed off as Carlisle just calmly shook his head.
“I don’t torture myself any more than you do, Bella,” he said softly. “I am simply doing what is right, and killing people for my own selfish reasons is not right.”
“But it’s not the same for you,” Bella pointed out.
“Why shouldn’t it be?” he asked. “Even if I did not have my own personal convictions, I live in a world where there are many laws against murder, do I not?”
“You’re a vampire,” she continued to argue. “Vampires and humans don’t have the same laws.”
Carlisle was staring hard at her now, his expression more serious than Bella had ever seen it get—not even right after Jasper had nearly attacked her. “Bella, just because I am a vampire does not give me leave to toss aside my moral compass and violate humans’ rights,” he said gravely. She was rather startled to see his expression lift again. “Besides—when you move to another country, you live by their laws. I live among humans, so I constrain myself to their rules and regulations.” He smiled. “Is that perhaps a clearer analogy?”
“Well, for why you do it now,” she mumbled. “But that still doesn’t explain why you even though to do it—a lot of other vampires didn’t.”
Carlisle sighed, and Bella did not miss how sad it sounded. “No, most vampires do not even consider attempting another lifestyle, let alone take it as their own and persuade others to it—hence the reason I just happened upon it. There are many who didn’t even know a vampire could subsist on animal blood, and those who simply see no reason to try it in the first place.” His voice was thick with regret as he spoke of his species. “It has been my experience that…many of my species seem to believe that humans are somehow beneath them, so they see no difference between their diet and mine.”
Bella stared at him, confused. “But…you are better. I’m so pathetic compared to you—all humans are.”
Carlisle hesitated a single beat before responding. “I do not feel that way,” he said quietly.
“Why? There is nothing I can do that you can do a million times better! You’re faster, stronger, smarter, immortal—you’re so beautiful, you have no flaws!” she said, everything coming out in a rush, almost all of her reasons for wanting vampirism so badly tumbling out of her now that she had a more willing ear. “Everything about you is—is just perfect!” Bella gestured towards her bandaged arm. “That would never have happened to you. Humans are inferior.”
“But you are still human—as are all humans. They are people. Even if I were indeed superior, I would still have no right to take their lives. There are so many reasons against it—legal reasons most assuredly not being the only ones. Killing living, thinking human beings is wrong, Bella.” He looked at her, and his smile was a trifle more brittle. “I do not kill for the same reason you don’t. Because it’s immoral. Because it is perhaps the largest and most serious infringement of human rights imaginable—all feelings of justice, compassion, and devotion to God forbid it.”
Bella shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. “You aren’t human, though,” she repeated. “It’s different.”
Carlisle seemed to deliberate for a moment, and then his mouth twisted slightly. “Then I ask, Bella—was it wrong of us to stop James from feeding on you?”
Bella’s eyes went wide. “What?” she gasped.
“He was a vampire—and as you said, things are different,” he elaborated. “We had no right to stop him. He wanted to kill and eat you, and he was hardly constrained by human laws.”
“But—he was going to kill me!” she almost shrieked. “He was torturing me—and think of how devastated that would have made Edward, he said he was going to kill himself if I died, and what about Charlie and—” She snapped her mouth shut when Carlisle smiled triumphantly at the look of dawning realization that slowly spread across her features.
“You are no different than any other human, Bella,” he said gently. “Just because I am a vampire does not mean I am suddenly granted the right to execute and feed off of whomever I choose—nor does that apply to any vampire in existence. People have families. People have friends. People have hopes and dreams and desires and loves and souls. The death that vampires deliver is a slow and agonizing one, one that ensures the last moments of a person’s life are not what they should be, but are terrifying and painful and devastating to all who know them.”
Carlisle snapped his bag shut. “I do not work as a doctor and abstain from eating human blood because I am soothing my conscience or trying to make up for my vampirism, Bella. I do it because it is right.”
Author:
das_mervinFandom(s): New Moon
Rating: G
Word Count: 1,067
Inspiration: Written in response to Bella essentially telling Carlisle that she can’t understand why they bother not killing people just because it looks a little difficult to resist the blood in chapter two.
Warnings: NONE
Summary: Carlisle tries to explain his beliefs to Bella.
Carlisle glanced up at her, working quickly and with a slightly raised brow. “Obvious way?” he asked calmly.
“Well—yes,” Bella muttered, not wanting to have to spell it out. “You know—you’re a vampire.”
He slowly slid his tools and equipment back into his bag, snapping it closed very deliberately. “There was only ever one obvious way, Bella,” he replied. “To do everything I could to not give into the abhorrent instincts that had suddenly taken over.”
Bella huffed in frustration. “That’s not what I meant—” she began.
“I know what you meant,” Carlisle interrupted gently. He pulled out the alcohol again, dousing some gauze thoroughly. “Let me ask you this, Bella—if you were faced with the same choices, what would you do?”
She stared at the floor, watching him begin to wipe everything down again to clean it. “I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “Just…watching what happened just now…it looks so hard to do what you do.”
Carlisle gathered everything up into the bowl with the glass shards. “And what is it I do?” he asked.
Bella looked up at him, not sure what he was asking. “What do you mean?”
“What do I do, Bella?”
She waffled for a moment, and finally blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “You…it’s like I said. You just seem to torture yourself, all trying to make up for a perceived flaw or…” She trailed off as Carlisle just calmly shook his head.
“I don’t torture myself any more than you do, Bella,” he said softly. “I am simply doing what is right, and killing people for my own selfish reasons is not right.”
“But it’s not the same for you,” Bella pointed out.
“Why shouldn’t it be?” he asked. “Even if I did not have my own personal convictions, I live in a world where there are many laws against murder, do I not?”
“You’re a vampire,” she continued to argue. “Vampires and humans don’t have the same laws.”
Carlisle was staring hard at her now, his expression more serious than Bella had ever seen it get—not even right after Jasper had nearly attacked her. “Bella, just because I am a vampire does not give me leave to toss aside my moral compass and violate humans’ rights,” he said gravely. She was rather startled to see his expression lift again. “Besides—when you move to another country, you live by their laws. I live among humans, so I constrain myself to their rules and regulations.” He smiled. “Is that perhaps a clearer analogy?”
“Well, for why you do it now,” she mumbled. “But that still doesn’t explain why you even though to do it—a lot of other vampires didn’t.”
Carlisle sighed, and Bella did not miss how sad it sounded. “No, most vampires do not even consider attempting another lifestyle, let alone take it as their own and persuade others to it—hence the reason I just happened upon it. There are many who didn’t even know a vampire could subsist on animal blood, and those who simply see no reason to try it in the first place.” His voice was thick with regret as he spoke of his species. “It has been my experience that…many of my species seem to believe that humans are somehow beneath them, so they see no difference between their diet and mine.”
Bella stared at him, confused. “But…you are better. I’m so pathetic compared to you—all humans are.”
Carlisle hesitated a single beat before responding. “I do not feel that way,” he said quietly.
“Why? There is nothing I can do that you can do a million times better! You’re faster, stronger, smarter, immortal—you’re so beautiful, you have no flaws!” she said, everything coming out in a rush, almost all of her reasons for wanting vampirism so badly tumbling out of her now that she had a more willing ear. “Everything about you is—is just perfect!” Bella gestured towards her bandaged arm. “That would never have happened to you. Humans are inferior.”
“But you are still human—as are all humans. They are people. Even if I were indeed superior, I would still have no right to take their lives. There are so many reasons against it—legal reasons most assuredly not being the only ones. Killing living, thinking human beings is wrong, Bella.” He looked at her, and his smile was a trifle more brittle. “I do not kill for the same reason you don’t. Because it’s immoral. Because it is perhaps the largest and most serious infringement of human rights imaginable—all feelings of justice, compassion, and devotion to God forbid it.”
Bella shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. “You aren’t human, though,” she repeated. “It’s different.”
Carlisle seemed to deliberate for a moment, and then his mouth twisted slightly. “Then I ask, Bella—was it wrong of us to stop James from feeding on you?”
Bella’s eyes went wide. “What?” she gasped.
“He was a vampire—and as you said, things are different,” he elaborated. “We had no right to stop him. He wanted to kill and eat you, and he was hardly constrained by human laws.”
“But—he was going to kill me!” she almost shrieked. “He was torturing me—and think of how devastated that would have made Edward, he said he was going to kill himself if I died, and what about Charlie and—” She snapped her mouth shut when Carlisle smiled triumphantly at the look of dawning realization that slowly spread across her features.
“You are no different than any other human, Bella,” he said gently. “Just because I am a vampire does not mean I am suddenly granted the right to execute and feed off of whomever I choose—nor does that apply to any vampire in existence. People have families. People have friends. People have hopes and dreams and desires and loves and souls. The death that vampires deliver is a slow and agonizing one, one that ensures the last moments of a person’s life are not what they should be, but are terrifying and painful and devastating to all who know them.”
Carlisle snapped his bag shut. “I do not work as a doctor and abstain from eating human blood because I am soothing my conscience or trying to make up for my vampirism, Bella. I do it because it is right.”
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no subject
Date: 2011-01-27 04:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-27 05:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-28 08:21 pm (UTC)Yay for assertive!Carlisle. This is something that Bella definitely needs to hear from one who knows.