milliways_bar | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

There wasn't a yoma in Milliways the other day. The humans who encountered it did so elsewhere; there's no yoma aura anywhere that Clare can detect.

And the humans survived. Somehow, they even killed it. That means it was a weak yoma, and a slow one, but still. For two humans, it's still impressive.

It makes Clare think of things. Of Galk and Sid; of her world, and the villages there; of Raki.

She's outside, standing by the lakeshore, watching the bar ~~blankly~~ thoughtfully. Maybe later she'll go inside.

[OOC: If you'd rather, your character can also encounter her inside, where she will be standing near the lake door watching the room.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From atop the spiky roots of a fallen tree, Ambriel raises a hand in greeting.

"Hello, Clare!"

"Ambriel. Hello."

Clare will never not be glad to see her friend.

Because she's her friend.

With quiet, unhurried steps, Clare picks her way along the shore towards the fallen tree Ambriel has chosen to perch atop.

"I am pleased to see you," Ambriel says. "It has been some time, by the calendar of this place. Have you been with Teresa, all this while?"

Clare doesn't really... keep track of time, as a rule. At least, not for time longer than a few days.

"Mostly."

She's a little surprised by the question, but that's mostly because Clare is still easily surprised by any question that betrays an interest in what she thinks and feels and does.

Because it's Ambriel, she feels vaguely as if she ought to elaborate. "We don't have to be together to keep track of each other. I can feel her aura anywhere in this place, and she can feel mine. So we aren't always together. But we do spend most of our time near each other."

Codependence? What's that?

"I see. Your senses are strong in such interesting ways. I could feel you too, if I was looking for you, here. But not constantly."

Ambriel tends to keep closer tabs on dangerous foes than friends. Friends are nice surprises.

"I always feel you too."

It's pretty much impossible not to. Ambriel is strong.

Clare doesn't monitor Ambriel in the same way, but still -- she always feels her presence, as it moves around the grounds of Milliways, and any particularly strong surges of emotion or power use.

"One of my kind might be able to suppress her aura enough to go undetected for a time. But not from such close range, or from someone who was very good at aura detection." Which both Clare and Teresa are. "Not without aura-suppressing drugs. And those have other effects too."

They suck, man.

"You mentioned them once. Do you use them often?"

Ambriel guesses only if Clare has to.

Or if the Company tells her to.

Perhaps those are the same thing. Clare's sense of self-importance is a little...lacking. Or non-existent.

"No."

Ambriel's guess is correct!

Ambriel smiles.

"I am glad we can sense each other. But perhaps here, you could find another solution to dim your aura.

"Or at least, better drugs."

Clare looks a little startled.

"I can -- dim it." She says that carefully; it's not her usual terminology, though it makes enough sense to go on with. "I can show you if you want. But I couldn't hide it entirely."

"The drugs would hide it, but they also inhibit my ability to sense any other auras. That's the price of such things. In order to hide, a warrior is made blind."

"I was only thinking that there might be a different way you could learn, here."

Milliways does contain infinite multitudes.

"Unless it would not be safe for you."

"I don't know." She says this thoughtfully. "I hadn't thought about it."

There's a lot Clare doesn't think about without prompting. Ambriel may have noticed.

"Most people's powers don't seem to work the same way as yoki. But I suppose it's possible."

"It would be difficult to research," Ambriel admits. "Especially because to find someone with a similar power, you would have to sense it. And if they were skilled in suppressing their aura, you would not."

The angel gives Claire a small smile. "I will think on it."

Clare smiles back, tiny and unpracticed, as if the expression was surprised into existence.

"All right."

Ambriel likes researching things.

And she's much better at it than Clare. (Clare has visited the library twice now. She had no idea where to start, either time.)

"I find myself rather at loose ends," Ambriel says after several minutes of companionable silence.

"Do you become uneasy when you do not have an active mission?" Outside, that is. Clare has not seemed out of sorts here since Teresa appeared. She hardly sleeps and barely eats as well.

How does she fill the time?

Clare glances over. "No."

She looks for more words; Ambriel can have more explanation if she wants, and Ambriel always wants to understand things.

"I'm used to not having a great deal to do. Most of our time is spent in travel. The actual jobs are usually over very quickly. It's only in unusual circumstances that a warrior needs to spend time in searching for a yoma, or to make any special preparations. In between those fights, we wait for our organization contact to bring us supplies and a new mission, or we walk. A warrior's life is generally solitary."

"Here at Milliways, there are no missions from the organization. I suppose I would become restless if I were in my own world without jobs. But here, there's no need to travel. If I saw a monster that needed to be killed, I would do so. My inaction doesn't mean humans are dying."

It's... a nice change.

"And time isn't passing in my world while I'm here. So the same is true. I'm not leaving anything undone."

"My sense of time makes things different for me. I came to Milliways from outside the front door, so there is no time to 'pass' while I am here.

"But the bar has a time of its own, and I feel it dearly sometimes, when I am surrounded by mortals."

Time doesn't feel so urgent when you are alone in space.

"Because we die?"

Or something else about Ambriel's senses?

"Partly. Because most mortals are in a hurry. They want to do as many things possible in the short time that they have. The attitude can be contagious."

It isn't a bad thing. Just a frustrating one, when you have all the time at the end of the world, and little to fill it with.

Ambriel will need to figure out a few hobbies.

"That means it makes you impatient too."

Clare wants to make sure she's interpreting correctly. Contagious isn't a word she knows.

Do humans have the same effect on her? No, she thinks. Their bustling hurry for minor matters just confuses her.

"Yes. Which reflects poorly on my will," Ambriel says with a wry smile.

"I have spent far more time than this seemingly idle, and with far less...immediate stimulus than Milliways."

"I don't think that will has anything to do with it," Clare says slowly.

"Unless it's important for your work that you don't want to do too many things. If so, you should keep control, of course."

Self-control is vitally important for one of Clare's kind. Their yoma halves are always waiting.

"But if it doesn't matter, then you should do what you want."

"It is sometimes important that I not be distracted. But I can easily accomplish my task here even while doing other things. So I suppose I am safe. Thank you, Clare."

Ambriel smiles an amused little smile.

Awkwardly, "You know what tasks are important for you. I wouldn't worry."

Clare has faith in her.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only