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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The sudden clatter caused Devin to tense, but he wasn't startled enough to drop his fork when Meira flipped over the arm of the couch. Luthien, on the other hand, leapt up to the back of the couch over Devin's shoulder to get away.

"What's wrong? Are you alright?" She didn't look hurt, at least, and as a Hellhound she would heal instantly if she were. The cause of the fright was more important, if the Dreaming was doing something to her.

Meira's gaze switched to Devin when he spoke, wariness flitting through her eyes. Anani continued to purr, making her wonder how the cat felt so comfortable around the little creature if it was some kind of demon. She'd always thought him a smart cat, he had brought her to the nice man, and the nice man gave her no reason to be concerned about him. But his pet...did people keep demons as pets?

Demons feed off energy, she replied slowly, Off of blood and life force. My dad... she trailed off. Surely the little creature was harmless, aside from eating magical energy. Mr. Parker wouldn't keep something dangerous so close. He wouldn't let anything dangerous hurt her either. That last thought caused her to tip her head in confusion. How did she know that?

She stood up, shaking herself from head to tail. But Anani thinks she's ok, so she can't be a demon.

"And you'd be worried, if you didn't already know I'd never do that," X pointed out. He knew Valdis, now, inside and out, and he knew she was the kind of woman who could identify potential threats in any given circumstance. If X's knowledge was a threat, she would already be dealing with it.

Equally, though, she knew X would never use it against her. She didn't read universes, but she read souls, emotions. She felt safe, or she wouldn't be taking the time to teach X how to defend himself.

"I'm serious, though," he insisted, moving his way slowly through the counter and the block. "I know you don't have much experience with mutual honesty for honesty's sake, but if there's anything you want to know, I'll answer. The offer's open."

"I wouldn't be worried," she replied, grinning at him, "because I'd have already found a way to remove the threat."

A fact he must know considering she'd done it more times than worth counting in her history. Valdis considered the worth of putting aside training in favor of asking questions, but she didn't exactly know what kinds of questions to ask.

"You aren't afraid," she turned to face him, "You know everything, but you don't even flinch when I look at you."

Valdis wasn't the first person to ask that particular question. Silvanes, Szandor, Kassina -- all of them had trouble understanding why X could speak to them, understand them, help them, without running as fast as he could in the opposite direction. They all thought he'd only see the terrible choices, the cons, the murder, the anger. And all X ever saw was the hurt and the pain that drove and forced those choices.

He gave Valdis the same answer he gave them, returning her look, echoing her attention on the subject, but still practising the counter and the block she'd given him.

"I can't be," he said. "I can't be scared of you without also being scared of myself. It doesn't help." He smiled a little. "Besides, I don't think there's quite as much to be afraid of as you think. You're powerful, I know that, but I've also seen all the progress you made, all the people you helped in Keeliai and all the good you try to do here. I have the objectivity to know both sides of you, and I have the good fortune to know who you are now. Or -- at least who you were two months ago."

Valdis resumed showing him different steps, blocks, counters and resets, listening and considering his words, moving through nothing more than muscle memory.

"You are discounting one vital detail," she answered, "The Void. You know more than anyone about how dangerous it is, what it has done, and what it could still do. Even those who have seen it in action cannot comprehend the internal struggle. You know of Dante, Anton, and Wan, of how those feelings put everyone at risk, and yet here you are."

She turned, slashing down at him, more slowly than she was capable of and with the intent to pull it should he fail to block.

Still, X followed Valdis's examples, stumbling a little more now that he needed to concentrate on what he was saying.

"The Void isn't you," he said. "Of course I'm scared of the Void. You wanted to know how I don't flinch when I see you, and it's because I know who you are. If I know what the Void's capable of, then I also know --"

Too late, X reacted to Valdis's slash, blocking awkwardly with his own sword just enough to redirect her hit and get a glancing blow instead of the full strength behind it. It still hurt, and he didn't bother trying to hide that, grimacing and rubbing his bare arm.

"-- then I also know what you're capable of," he finished, checking under his hand to make sure skin hadn't broken. Valdis saw love as a weakness in her struggle, but X saw only the strength and raw potential of it.

He moved to block, so she followed through, though perhaps she should have pulled sooner since she still landed a blow, however slight. Valdis retreated several steps, setting position, still facing him.

"It's threatened Devin, you know," she replied, "He's far too stubborn to back off, and he has certain powers he can use, but you...you are far softer. If it leveled the same threats against you, what would you do?"

It was less a test than sheer curiosity, but she glanced at his arm when he rubbed it.

"I didn't hit hard enough to do more than bruise," she said, "If that."

Trahearne watched her flip through the sketchbook, but he doesn't ask her to linger on anything in particular. There are only a couple of people there he recognizes, and the glimpses he sees of the other sketches include other things that might be considered disturbing.

"Do you think that makes you crazy? Or is there something else?" Trahearne asks, taking care to keep his tone a bit lighter. "You're free to not answer, but - whatever your struggles, I'm sure there are solutions, or ways to manage the burden. Nothing is so complicated that it can't be untangled, even if it's slow going to get there. Those bits and pieces will surely add up one day."

"I don't bruise easily," X murmured. He hadn't even known what a bruise was before meeting his husband, and learning how humans from Earth could bruise off of something as simple as a stubbed toe terrified him. Sure enough, when he inspected his arm, there was absolutely nothing there, and the smarting pain had already subsided. He was fine.

"I don't know," he answered thoughtfully. His stance drifted further and further off-centre as he spoke. "If it threatened you, I'd trust you to know how to handle it, because you're here now when you don't have to be. If it threatened me, I'd... become you, I suppose. I could ask Devin for help, or any number of other people here." He smiled, and it was a smile less like his usual gentle ones and more like the tired, lightly sharp smile of someone who struggled a lot more than they let on. "I've been threatened by a god before," he said. "I'm not as soft as I look."

"Why don't you take your paws off the table," Zephyr said casually, pulling out his own yimo and flipping through screens. "If you need something, I can get it down for you, but you're going to knock stuff off like that."

It both was and was not at all weird having a way to make himself so easily understood to a dog.

He put the call through to Devin, speaking... a little tersely. "Hey, your puppy's here outside the café and she doesn't have opposable thumbs." Honestly, what were they thinking would happen? It would be one thing with Lippy, who had hands whenever he felt like it.

Well, that would definitely explain Meira's hesitation. In the back of his mind, Devin thought the description of demons was closer to vampires; it wasn't impossible for there to be crossover, of course, but Devin and Luthien were both vampires of two different kinds. The inan was much more benign than him, however.

"She's not," Devin affirms gently. "She's just an animal. Some of the native creatures of this place are quite unusual." He twisted and reached for Luthien, who only briefly clung to the fabric of the couch before being gathered into Devin's arms. "Anani has thankfully become friends with her." The two of them fighting would not be pleasant.

Meira's fright did add one more complication: Devin was essentially what her father had described. Omission of the truth was not technically a lie, but no doubt she would feel he was withholding something.

"Come here," he requested softly, getting Luthien settled in his lap. "There's something I ought to tell you."

Valdis paused, considering his reply. Her sword tip dropped ever so slight.

"Become me?" she asked, not certain what he meant, "It's one thing to ask Devin or anyone else that knows, but I don't understand that part."

It was true she knew how to deal with any threats from the Void. It had never been successful before, as much as it had tried in the past.

"And you are as soft as you look," she added, "You are just also stronger."

A low mew from the bushes announced Anani's arrival. The fluffy white cat stumbled through the sand to rub against Trahearne, purring loudly. Valdis looked at her cat, trying to not think about being crazy.

"I suppose not," she replied. It was more the fact that she carried a giant serpent within her, a being of death and chaos that delighted in destruction and kept secrets. "The sketching is the easiest way to manage it, the Dreaming likes to throw things at me from time to time. It left me a crystal unicorn this morning, which triggered memories of my father, but they are quickly fleeing."

Anani shoved his head against Trahearne's hand, demanding to be pet.

Meira tipped her head, listening to more than just Devin's words, absorbing his minor shifts in emotions. He seemed fairly steady for someone with such a strange pet. But he wasn't worried, and Anani wasn't worried and the creature herself had been just as frightened.

She stood up when he beckoned, padding back over to him, slowly as to not startle Luthien. Now that she had gotten past her initial shock, she had few concerns about the animal.

You are safe, she replied, Something tells me that. I'm not sure what. But there is trust and care and security.

She jumped up next to him, flopping down to rest her chin on his knee next to Luthien, as if to prove she had no fear.

The glance she gave Zephyr was something like annoyance, but she obeyed, dropping back down to all fours and then sitting to listen to the conversation. Mr. Zephyr didn't seem to appreciate Devin very much, maybe they didn't get along, because Zephyr seemed grumpy. She reached out to poke his knee with her nose, then sidled closer to press her side against his leg. Waiting patiently for him to do as he said.

Luthien curled closer to Devin but didn't flee when Meira approached. The sound had been loud and startling rather than injurious in any way. She sniffed at the Hellhound's nose and relaxed.

The part that was telling her that was probably Valdis; she seemed to remember things without knowing them. "That's true; I trust you and care about your well-being." That was the case for both Meira and Valdis, which was why he didn't want to conceal this from her.

"Your senses have probably told you by now that I'm not human," he continued wryly. She would hear the absence of a heartbeat instantly. Devin looked down at the inan as he stroked along her back. "Luthien and I are similar in that we both need to... feed off others to survive. She just takes energy; I need-- blood." He was clearly unhappy about this fact, as ever, and shook his head. "I'm called a vampire, if you're familiar with them. But I don't hurt people to live; I only accept what's been donated voluntarily."

His appetite for the mundane food before him was diminishing now; hopefully she would take this in stride, as she had everything else.

Meira responded with the flick of an ear, realizing belatedly that no heartbeat sounded aside from the two creatures and herself. She lifted her head a bit, considering how life might move without aid of such a mechanism. Devin held no lie in his aura, the only shift in emotions was concern. A fear that she might reject him for what he was. The extended explanation, so sincere and soft, caused her to sit upright so her eyes were level with his. She poked his cheek with her nose.

Safe, she repeated before jumping off the couch and bouncing to the door. He needed to hurry up and eat so she could go explore.

Instantly, X became less sure of himself, to the point of his sword dropping all the way down to his side. "You know," he said, "borrow you, again, as soon as my life's in danger." He forgot, sometimes, that not everyone was as comfortable or familiar talking about it as he was. Knowing someone well didn't mean they knew you well.

At the last, however, X laughed, and raised his sword again. "I'll take that as a compliment," he said. "You're right, in any case. I don't have the same powers Devin does. I do have --"

He cut off, abruptly, and shook his head. "Never mind."

Right. She'd forgotten how he might interpret a threat from the Void. The creature used kindness and care against her, against everyone. Emotions were weakness...But the Void couldn't attack him, or anyone without her permission. She'd have to be pretty gone to allow that. Her eyes narrowed at the last, however.

The words had barely left his mouth when Valdis knocked the practice sword from X's hand with a sharp strike near the hilt, dropped to knock his feet out from under him and then pinned his sword hand beneath her boot, sword tip dropping to his throat.

"You want to try that sentence again?"

Devin could only blink at Meira in surprise for a few moments. That was not the response he was expecting; at the very least he thought there would be questions. The nosing said almost as much as her repeated insistence about him being safe. She rolled with the revelation like it was nothing to worry about.

What he wouldn't give to have been this innocent once.

Her enthusiasm to explore was clear, so Devin summoned back his appetite and finished breakfast. Luthien protested quietly at being displaced when he collected the dishes and deposited them in the sink. Maybe going out and about would tire her enough that she would stop bouncing by the end of the day.

"Is there anything in particular you'd like to see?" he asked, grabbing his keys.

What in the --

With a yelp X hit the ground, and then he was pinned and had a wooden sword at his throat, and those three words were all he had time to think. Seeing Valdis's speed and skill from the other end was eye-opening at best, downright heart-stopping at worst.

But -- he still knew where he was and who he was. Of course he did; Valdis hadn't been aiming to kill, just to make a very dramatic point, and it was further testament to her skill that she could take by such surprise someone who'd read her thoughts. Once the shock left X's face, he exhaled a short laugh.

"Next time," he said, "you can just ask. I was going to say I do have my Dreaming talent, if all else fails. It's just that I... don't enjoy using it."

Meira bounced around the room until Devin finished eating, ignoring both his confusion and amusement. She played with Anani, who seemed to be offended by Luthien's abandonment of their playtime, and looked around the books more, trying to figure out which ones would be the most interesting.

She wandered back over to him, poking the back of his knee as he carried the dishes into the kitchen and following him to his keys. His question sent her bounding back to the door, nosing the handle.

I don't know what there is! she chirped, Let's just go!

To be fair to X, chaos had a tendency to be unpredictable, and Valdis was no exception. The look of surprise on his face amused her, but in a friendly way, not in the way that she had treated Bobby. She shifted her weight to step off his wrist, flicking the tip aside and holding her hand out to help him up.

"I'm not aware of your talent, but developing such things can also help you defend yourself. Devin was quite panicked when he heard you had run into Bobby."

Perhaps if she hadn't ignored X, if she had thought to teach him sooner. But she wasn't the only one at fault, Devin could have helped.

"I can imagine," X said, less amused now and more solemn. He'd known the effect sending his message would have on Devin, but it needed to be done, and he hadn't thought at the time that Devin would have to rescue him from Bobby. She was nothing if not persistent.

X accepted Valdis's hand and pulled himself back to his feet, then bent to pick up the practice sword she'd knocked out of his hand. "My talent is from the Destruction tree," he admitted, albeit a little reluctantly. "I've been -- practising, a little, just in case. I can't shake the feeling the Dreaming gave them to us for a reason."

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How do You Solve a Problem like Meira?

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