ioduanlogs | How do You Solve a Problem like Meira?

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How do You Solve a Problem like Meira?

Characters: Valdis and some open
Date: August 2018 (ish)
Location: Around Aifaran
Situation: Various
Warnings/Rating: In Headers

Valdis was tired. Between the return of the Narrakra and the discovery she could return ruins to complete something would have been bad enough without the memory of the visions or what she had seen soul-walking inside that corpse. Aside from that, the knowledge that she could move the Void with more power than she believed had sparked a new determination to harness its power without fear. The events of the last week had been eventful, what with the short term Dreamfolk that had arrived only to vanish once the damage had been done. Admittedly most of them hadn’t left much of a mark, but some had. She hoped that things would calm down for a few weeks at least.

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She didn't seem to want to settle anywhere. If this was a decent prediction of what she would be like going forward, Meira was going to be a handful. Not an unpleasant one, just much more than he was accustomed to. If he could take down a nest of vampires he really ought to be able to handle this, right? The nudge was surprising but not unwelcome; he and Valdis were hardly ones to express physical affection.

"Sometimes big places and big changes can be frightening, but it's good to hear it's not for you," Devin replied, glancing down at her and considering the wisdom of patting her between the ears. He turned the stove off while the eggs finished and pulled the toast out to butter it. "When I was your age, I don't think I'd have been nearly so cheerful." He smiled mirthlessly to himself. "But I'm not an especially cheerful person by default, so there is that."

Once the toast was ready, he tipped the eggs out of the pan and into the bowls, laying the toast across the edge. He carried the bowls out of the kitchen and, after a moment's thought, went to the couch. A low coffee table stood in front of it, of a height that Meira ought to be able to eat from the bowl comfortably. She might look like a Hound but she didn't have to eat off the floor. "Here. It's nothing fancy but it'll do."

This place was so big and there was so much to see and do that Meira couldn't have settled if she wanted to. She bounced back over to the couch, circling the coffee table twice before dropping to the rug and watching again. He seemed uncertain about many things, things she didn't know and couldn't see. She dropped a paw over her nose, thinking about her senses and knowledge.

Devin had no sooner set the bowl on the table when she was by his side, poking his knee and jumping back to the couch. It was springy, so jumping on and off was fun, even if it is unladylike. Meira sniffed the bowl, lipping the toast for a moment before biting into it, trying to keep the bigger piece in the bowl. The toast flipped up over her nose and she jerked her head back. Luckily it fell back into the bowl instead of on the floor. This was going to be more complicated than she thought.

She'd been spending lots of time at the various parks, bouncing around and following the bibiru between playing with Devin and exploring the city. Meira currently entertained herself by tossing a ball into the air and trying to catch it. When she missed, she simply chased after it and tried again. She smelled rain on the air, but rain was fun, unless it was the heavy cold stuff that had fallen yesterday. That hadn't been fun. She tossed the ball up higher than she'd managed before, but unfortunately for the man walking past, it was also further than before.

X watched Valdis toss the wooden blade up, and smiled. "You're showing off," he said, but sounded impressed and thrilled nonetheless. Showing off or not, that was some impressive skill she showcased. And she wanted X to learn how to do that?

Somehow, he doubted that all Valdis talked to Bobby about was normal girl things. But it was hard to ask when he wasn't completely sure how seriously Valdis wanted to take this sparring match, and he stared at the wooden tip of her sword pointing right at him, wary but unafraid.

"Isn't that my weapon?" he asked.

"Of course I'm showing off," Valdis quipped, "I don't get to do that nearly as often a I would like."

There were certain societal norms that one had to bow to in order to fit in, to survive, to not intimidate or be seen as a threat. These were simple enough tricks, but fun ones, harmless ones. Unlike the tricks and tactics used against Bobby. Valdis smirked, gesturing to the blade still leaning against the bench.

"Lesson number one," she said, "Never surrender your weapon to an enemy."

"Flekk," Kit answers her, smiling crookedly. He reaches out a hand to soothingly stroke the little bibiru from head to tail, which goes a long way to coaxing away the last of his reservations. Flekk perks up his ears and takes a cautious little hop closer to Meira, giving her nose an investigative sniff-sniff.

"A friend named him," Kit goes on, even though he grimaces a little, having said the words. Friend. Are they still friends? He rubs his jaw in thought, feeling conflicted but not wanting to communicate it too clearly.

She sniffed the bibiru's nose, trying not to wiggle in delight as it sniffed back. She couldn't pet it, her paws were too big, but she wanted to. Meira whined softly, but the sense of pain, or at least, a type of pain, drew her attention to the short man. Her green eyes settled, trying to figure out why the pain accompanied the mention of his friend. The name of the pain came a moment later, a sort of concern, an uncertainty.

There must be a lot of trust if she gave you a name, she replied absently, Even if it is an unimaginative one...humans name dogs 'spot'.

Meira slowly rose, sniffing the bibiru and gently nuzzling its head with her nose.

He's so cute.

Frowning, Trahearne sank down to sit next to her on the sand. He's trying to choose his words carefully, because he just can't claim to know very much about losing one's memories. Certainly some of his earlier memories had grown dim by now, but that didn't sound at all similar to having an entire gap of time gone missing.

"Is it some form of amnesia? I've heard stories about the damage that a blow to the head can cause. Warriors have lost track of their entire lives that way." Trahearne pauses and then adds, "I also know that age tends to wear away the details. I tried explaining that to a sapling once, and I unintentionally frightened her into thinking that time would 'steal' her experiences from her."

"You're an enemy now?" X asked, a small smile on his face. He didn't move for the other weapon right away, too wary of another trick or a trap. "Thank you for the warning."

Bobby wasn't Valdis. All of X's fear of Bobby came from Devin, from Devin's memories and Devin's perception of her. If Valdis ever decided to trap X in a room and break his wrist, he knew intimately why he'd be afraid of her, and it wouldn't have anything to do with anyone else. Yet, Bobby was gone, Valdis was the one pointing a sword at him, and X wasn't afraid. It was funny, sometimes, how things worked out.

He moved slowly toward the bench, his eyes never leaving Valdis, and picked up the other wooden sword. "I should warn you," he said, "you're not the first person to try teaching me this sort of thing."

Valdis sighed, lifting one hand to brush her hair behind one ear, still staring at the sketchbook. She didn't look at him when he sat, opting to disappear into her own mind as she considered what to tell him and how.

"You could say that," she replied, "But it's not that I don't remember. You see, I once lived by another name, but something is blocking the memories of that person...I don't know why it keeps them."

A breath before opening the sketchbook and pointing at one of the faceless figures. She knew his face, knew his voice, knew that he couldn't have always been filled with sorrow and hatred; but she couldn't remember a single instance of his kindness or his love.

"This is my father...I only recently learned of the connection." Or at least, compared to her life, "In all my memory, he had been my enemy, and I killed him as one."

The mishap in eating her toast drew another quiet laugh from Devin, but it quickly turned apologetic. He put his fork down and reached for the bread. "Let me tear that up, it'll be easier for you. Sorry. Having hands is a hard habit to break."

Devin pulled the toast into approximately bite-sized pieces for Meira and piled them at the edge of the bowl. Luthien reappeared from the bedroom and decided to sit on one of his feet, chirping. "You don't eat food," the vampire reminded his inan fondly, scratching between her ears.

He was going to have to take this minute by minute. After breakfast, he'd call X and buy supplies and meanwhile do his best to keep Meira out of too much trouble. Rather without his notice, Devin's own troubles were becoming secondary to the situation at hand.

Meira hummed happily while Devin broke the toast into smaller pieces, unconcerned by the change and her current lack of hands. She waited patiently until the man had finished, and then a moment longer to make sure he was done. She chirped at the Inan before digging into the eggs and bite sized toast bits. It didn't take long for her to gobble it all down, it wasn't as good as what Marta made, but good enough and it helped that she turned out to be hungry after all.

Anani chose this moment to saunter out of the bedroom after Luthien, still holding her toy in his mouth. He purred through it, waiting until he sat next to the Inan before dropping it. Meira stood up, balancing on the couch so she could sniff Luthien's ear.

Why doesn't she eat food?, she asked, Anani eats food.

Valdis inclined her head at X's joke, moving counter to him, keeping the tip between her and him. The point of the exercise was to teach, not to keep him from a weapon. She smiled at him, but her amusement faded to a sort of aloof seriousness.

"I'll admit there's much I don't understand about your ability or your world," she said, letting the sword drop to her side, "But you told me that you regretted sleeping, that you were sorry, and you didn't mean to. If all that is true, then there's no reason you shouldn't be able to learn this."

She took two steps back, lifting the blade again, "If you don't want to read people, to tread upon what is sacred to them, then learning to protect yourself is logical. You won't necessarily need to read others to save your own life."

"That's a mouthful," he said dryly, tipping the collar back and forth till he could see all the information. "Mind if I stick with just 'Meira'?"

Would be kind of a hassle if he had to go through all the titles all the time. His brow creased faintly at the name Devin. That would be the jackass, right?

If Zephyr was interested in being fair, he could admit that Devin had been having something of a trying time when they met. "I'm Zephyr," he said, letting go of the collar. "Just Zephyr. You need me to call Mr. Parker, or just go inside and find him for you?"

A man more inclined to fighting might take advantage of Valdis lowering her sword, but X's gaze doesn't even flicker to where it hangs at her side. The weight of any kind of blade in his hand is too unfamiliar, and addressing the topic Valdis raises is too important.

"I agree with you," he says simply. "That's just not how it works. The moment someone decides they want to kill me, that's it. I can't control it. I wouldn't have time to defend myself first."

But, he'll admit, there's something familiar about the way Valdis is so intent on helping him learn. It reminds him of Szandor. The fact he raises his sword in turn, awkwardly, but readily, says he's not opposed to learning how to use it.

Titles are only for introductions, She quipped, waiting patiently for him to check the name. She wiggled away when he released it, tail waving, panting happily.

Just need to call him and tell him I'm here! came the trilled reply, I came for food! But I wanted to let him know when I got here and I know any Dreamfolk can call.

She reared up to put her paws on a table, trying to figure out how she was going to look through the menu.

Valdis sighed, "You could have lied you know."

She drops the blade to the ground, walking over to correct his position. Arm up, slightly bent, sword straight, shoulders back, left foot slightly forward.

"Is it only based on desire to kill?" she asked, moving back to pick up the practice blade. Based on how awkwardly he moved the sword, perhaps it was best to show him the movements and slowly work up to speed. Knowledge was clearly not anywhere near what was needed. So much for that theory.

"Or is it based on a sense of danger?"

Trahearne's expression and mood sobers considerably when she elaborates on the problem. He just spends a moment looking over the drawing before turning his gaze back to her, his concern nearly palpable.

"I imagine that there's little chance that a spell or curse is involved. It... very well could be that there's a deep part of your mind that doesn't want to remember. That fears the pain involved from knowing it."

Trahearne reaches out to tap the edge of the paper. "None of the stories I read about parents loving their children unconditionally ever addressed the darker side of the issue. That people are people, and are capable of being terrible even to their own flesh and blood. If he was your enemy, then you did what you had to do."

Valdis laughed softly, "Well, at least I know my brother loves me. He wouldn't jeopardize himself so much if he didn't."

Her gaze shifts back to the sketchbook, deciding to turn a few pages back. Sketches of Pepper, Devin, Anani, scenes of the city, the ones connected to the visions, the vast darkness. All the way to the first sketch of those she had lost so long ago.

"I'm sure there is pain and fear involved with the memory loss." Valdis sighs, "And yet it is far more complicated than that. Still, it's frustrating to only have bits and pieces that vanish as if they were never there. Hence the sketching."

She wasn't sure of much about her father, but the time she had met him after regaining her soul, he hadn't been the most loving person in the world. She managed a smile.

"Being crazy doesn't really have many perks."

Although he'd never owned a dog nor spent time with children, Devin was at least marginally aware that both had a tendency to scarf down their food like they were starving, especially when something more interesting was at hand. At least she ate without issue, which suggested Valdis had been eating properly of late.

Luthien's ear twitched and she turned to look at her new friend, ignoring the toy for the moment. "Her species doesn't require physical nutrition. She feeds off energy, magical energy in particular," Devin elaborated. "The person who gave her to me thought I needed something low maintenance to take care of."

Which was true. Leo had made a good choice, and someday Devin might admit that to him.

Meira's head shot up and she scrambled backwards, flipping over the arm of the couch with a startled yelp and a small crash. Anani jumped after her, mewing loudly. She sat on the floor, a very confused look in her eyes, as if she wasn't entirely sure why she had panicked, but she glanced at Luthien. The small creature didn't look like a demon, she was fluffy and Anani liked her, but she fed on energy like ones her father had spoken about when he thought she wasn't listening.

Anani purred, arching his back and rubbing against her side, but she just sat and stared at Luthien, trying to decide if something not a demon could feed off a life force. There were many stories about monsters that fed on energies, scary ones.

X shook his head. "No, I couldn't have. I know everything about you. It's only fair that I return the favour."

It was a decision X didn't even realise he'd made, but nevertheless, he'd made it. If he didn't think too hard about what Valdis was like before she got her emotions back, before she got her soul back, then he could easily answer all of her questions with full honesty. It wouldn't be the first time he'd trusted someone who was a member of a police force -- and this time, he had more to go on.

"Both," X answered, trying to hold the position Valdis put him in, frowning in concentration. It felt both completely familiar and utterly foreign. "It's a misconception, in my world. Someone published a theory that readers read other people constantly, and that's how we know the moment someone wants to kill us. But that's not true." He exhaled, a little amused. "I'd go mad. It's not just people, it's anything. Poison, weather, magic, accident. The moment my life's threatened, I go into that trance."

Her gaze narrowed, "You don't know everything about me, X. You only know what I know."

And there were people back on her own world that knew more about who she was and what part she was supposed to play. Yet right here, right now, none of that mattered. Valdis moved several yards to his left, taking up the same stance she had put him in.

"While I appreciate your honesty, it does make what I'm attempting to do rather useless."

She went through a block, letting him watch and then reset her position so they could do it together.

X nodded in concession. "True. Still, for thousands of years, that's an unfair advantage."

Thousands of years. The most unfair part, X felt, was that he finally had an inkling of what it felt like to be Luci, and he didn't have Luci around to talk about that with.

The next thing Valdis said made X laugh, and he forgot his stance for a moment. "Yes," he agreed, "a little. But you've made me curious now. I still want to learn, if you're still willing to --"

Ah. She was. With another smile, X copied her block, as exactly as he could manage. It wasn't perfect, but it wasn't the unsure and stiff movement of a beginner either.

"It's only an advantage if you sought to use it against me," she replied, moving through the block again and resetting.

Clearly he didn't, and barring some sort of personality shift, the chances of it were unlikely. When she next moved through the block, she added another step, a short counter, then paused for him to catch up.

"I know what it's like to lose yourself in the lives of others," she said, "Not to the extent that you do, and it isn't exactly the same, but close enough that I can...empathize to some extent."

Once he had joined her, she repeated the movement, adding a third step, then moved back a few paces to reset.

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How do You Solve a Problem like Meira?

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Miles | 11th of August | A Park Near the Bridge | CW: None

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