milliways_bar | (no subject)

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The Vala looks much improved.

Well, at least where his face is concerned. A full day's rest and the bruises have healed, and his lip only has a small cut in it.

Can't say the same for the rest of his wounds. But no one can see those, and he is careful about moving.

At the moment, he is sitting in a booth -- stiffly sitting, must be careful of the stiches ... he's a bit afraid of Martin -- sipping tea and reading a book.

He would not mind company.

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"That I cannot help you with, meldis. While I have my brother here, he is ... much changed. It brings me pain now to see him."

The memory of sharing a booth with his brother -- a child in form while he was a cat -- burns inside him. The pain is palpable to him.

"I wish I could help you with this."

She nods, then presses her hands to her eyes.

"Sorry. I'm a weepy drunk, I guess."

He chuckles, kissing her temple without thought.

"'Tis better than landing in someone's bed. Weepy now is far better than weepy in the wake of a very big mistake."

She's a teenage girl who has never been so much as kissed. She just shrugs,

"I don't sleep."

"Sleeping is not the only thing that occurs in beds, meldis."

And he does not elaborate.

"I did not sleep until I became a cat and learned how. Can you shift your form?"

"If I could, I wouldn't look like this."

Her voice goes dull and pained,

"And I haven't done anything else in beds either."

Námo resists explaining -- as was explained to him -- what goes on in beds. Or on moss, for that matter. She seemed very young, very sweet, and very drunk. Now was not a time to discuss such matters.

"Well, I am sure you will find such opportunities here, Hel. There are opportunities for all sorts of trouble in Milliways," he murmurs.

She knows about sex. Loki is her father, it would be hard not to know about sex growing up in a house that had him visit. Norse homes didn't have terribly many walls.

"No, I won't."

And Námo would blush to know such a thing.

"Why do you think that?"

"Because,"

She says it patiently,

"I'm too big, and I'm not the kind of person that people have sex with. Even mother was prettier than I am. And my friends can say they think me pretty, but you're all homosexual."

Bisexauality (and slang) escape Hel.

He coughs a moment, the action making his chest hurt.

"Hel. Gorlim has a wife. He sleeps with both males and females. While I do not actively bed women, it is not something that is off-putting. If Gorlim had no objection, I could see trying to maintain an intimate relationship with a female."

If Gorlim had no objection? Ha. He would be lucky if the Man even glanced his way again.

"And since Random has a son, he has to be with a woman at some point, which makes me believe he has also been with a woman before Ramon. I think it is safe to say, Hel, that all the men about you find women as equally attractive as sex partners as men. So, when we tell you that you are beautiful, we are not doing it simply to make you feel better. We do it because it is the truth."

She has to think about that. And, being Hel, says so quietly.

"'M sorry if I embarrassed you."

She says quietly,

"I just. Don't understand you. Any of you."

"Not embarrassed ... well, yes, a little, but it is all right. What do you not understand? Perhaps I can try and explain it."

"Just...any of it."

Now she's embarrassed. At least she isn't crying any more?

He looks at her.

"My relationship with Gorlim? Or Ramon's relationship with Random? Or the relationships we all hold with women? Or was there something more? I cannot explain if I do not know what it is that confuses you. At least, what is foremost in that confusion."

She mumbles for a few moments in Norse.

Oh!

That was far easier than explaining the ins and outs of intimate relationships.

"I cannot speak for them, but I can tell you why I do. You are very kind. You are sharp and quick to learn. You are very compassionate, listening as you did the other night to my woes, reassuring me that all I needed to do was give Gorlim time. There is a sweet sadness about you, much like Gorlim, that makes me want to hold you close and promise that -- should you ever need someone -- I will be there to be that someone. Sometimes you care for someone because there is something about them that just ... calls to you."

She nods again, and if she were mortal (or slept more than once a decade or so) she would start to fall asleep,

"Oh. Thank you, Námo. That is very sweet."

And he does not think she believes him.

Well ... in time, he hoped she would.

"Do you have a room here? Somewhere you could rest?"

Maybe not sleep, but rest.

"Yes."

She says softly,

"I should go there, I think. Thank you."

"Would you like help?" he asks kindly as he slides out of the booth, offering her his hand.

"I can make it."

She says quietly, letting him help her up,

"I can climb stairs."

He smiles, leaning upwards to place a soft kiss on her living side, remembering how she told him she does not feel much on her other side. He thinks kisses feel nice, and he wants to be sure she feels it.

"Then I wish you a good evening, Hel, and I look forward to our next meeting."

Another smile, a squeeze of her hand, and he limps off, looking forward to his own rest.

She nods, and nearly smiles before retreating to her room.

"Good night, Namo."

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