ioduanlogs | How do You Solve a Problem like Meira?

Entry tags:

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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You don't believe me. she commented, rolling to an upright down, her tone slightly teasing. People who do 'right' aren't always nice about it.

She looked past him to the bedroom, then back over her shoulder at the couch, thinking. Dogs were allowed on couches, right? Meira rose and padded over to the couch, gently maneuvering past the table and jumping up, curling up as small as she could so there was room for the nice man if he wanted to sit.

I like to read, draw, dance, go on adventures with Michael and Gabriel. Gabriel is so nice! He's Michael's friend. I don't like playing the princess so he'll do it sometimes.

Devin couldn't help but burst out laughing at the image of a young angel pretending to be a princess for his friend's sister. It was a far cry from the stiff image he held of the heavenly hosts.

"Quite a confident young man," he said with another chuckle. That was a good distraction from the concerns of child-rearing and the various problems of righteousness versus justice. ~~Bakura would have Words.~~ "Well, reading I can definitely help with." He gestured vaguely in the direction of his bookshelf with the wooden spoon being used to scramble eggs. "I work in one of the larger libraries in the city. Drawing may be a challenge, but if you'd like to explore Aifaran we can certainly do that. It's a fairly welcoming place."

...Would it be inappropriate to get her a leash?

Meira lifted her head, tipping it as he laughed, not quite sure how Gabriel playing the princess warranted such laughter. But it seemed to lighten his mood, so she scoured her memories for other fun instances that might draw a laugh.

He is nice. She quipped, jumping off the couch to go look at the bookshelf. Won't wear a dress, says women can wear whatever they want, especially princesses.

She poked one of the books with her nose, scenting it, then reared up on her hind legs to check the next shelf up, placing one paw on the shelf to balance herself as she looked. It wobbled slightly when she came back down.

Lots of books. she commented, jumping back on the couch to look out the window.

The sun was up now, casting shadows on the ground and the city started to wake.

I don't think I know this place, but I also feel like I do.

His kingdom for an angel in drag.

"Most of my free time is spent reading."

Devin took a moment to summon a reply to her last comment. He couldn't be sure if Meira learning more about her existence here would be a negative trigger, or if she would just stolidly carry on as though nothing bothered her. She definitely had not been a Hound as a child and seemed to be handling that well enough.

"This a strange world," Devin allowed. She would know if he were lying; the omission of the truth was not technically a lie, and it was done with the best intentions in mind. If Meira panicked she as much as anyone else could be in danger. "A lot of people come here from other places and live here for a while, like me. There are connections to all the places we've come from."

He retrieved bowls, and silverware for himself. "As long as you feel safe, that's what's most important. The rest of the details will sort themselves out."

Odd to be telling her that, given his own anguish of late. Seeing like this has certainly changed his perspective.

She looked over her shoulder at him, leaning away from the window to get a better look at what he was doing. She sneezed at his explanation, almost falling over, but managed to catch herself. Stupid paws...The eggs smelled good, however, so she decided to pay attention to that instead.

Why wouldn't I feel safe? Meira asked, jumping off the couch again and wandering over. She poked him in the knee with her nose before circling to the side. This place is big, yes, but not scary.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

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!

No matter her willingness to stay with him, Devin was probably going to have to figure out some ground rules about also staying within line of sight or... something. He needed to do research.

"Alright, alright," he said, faintly amused by her enormous amount of energy. "We're going." Devin hesitated and then gently patted between her shoulder blades. "Just promise me you won't run off where I can't find you, okay?"

Once that was agreed on, Devin opened the door and released her into the urban wilds. There were some pedestrian-only streets nearby and a decent-sized park they could visit for a start.

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How do You Solve a Problem like Meira?

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