Métro, Boulot, Dodo [Closed; Meridith]

[Meridith Sheppard]

Is she looking down on me? The question popped into her mind without realizing it. No, she thought. This is what it feels like to be taken care of? It's not pity right? It's...

Come on, can I blame her? Look at me. Look at my performance there. Am I not Meridith Sheppard? Am I not the rogue scion of the noble house, of the Sheppard family? I am Quincy. Hunter. Time to pull it together and act like it!

But it's probably okay to accept some help right?

She reached out and took the handkerchief with a little laugh. "You don't need to have a purpose to the conversation. That was pretty intense back there...it's nice not to pretend that it's normal. Thank you," she said sincerely as she moving as Lyra directed to remove the stone dust. She wanted to tie it around her knee but didn't want to bloody up the handkerchief she was offered like that. It wasn't too bad, a few thin trails of blood that wound down towards her socks. Meridith was blessed with all sorts of knowledge like how much blood a healthy young woman could lose before it would be a problem. She wasn't even close. After cleaning up the dust she went to offer it back to Lyra.

"Oh, I'm actually pretty good at that sort of thing, but I left all my supplies on a rooftop a few blocks...somewhere," she said casually. No big deal. "I'd love the help, but, surely you have something to get back to? What brings you to Paris?" Perhaps they'd move towards the restroom so she could clean herself up. She was fairly certain no one would stop them once they saw her.

The calm had returned, it was a mask of sorts, but sometimes you had to apply a tourniquet and deal with things when you had the means to.

[Lyra d'Aiglemort]

Her head tilted in the opposite direction as with a metronome and Lyra studied the Quincy like a raven alighting beside something shiny.

She tried her smile again. Was that an American convention? Should she smile less? Ah, but she didn’t know what nationality Meridi was and mentally doing the math for cultures that smiled openly versus those that didn’t was an awful idea. Even assuming she knew that much.

“That’s alright. My flight isn’t for 8 and a half hours.” Lyra accepted the handkerchief, folding it neatly so that the dust particles were trapped inside the fabric square.

She switched her briefcase to the other hand, pressing the handkerchief beneath the lip of the case’s pocket where it lay flat after a gentle tug to one corner. “I’m visiting on a business trip.”

Lyra looked up. “If it isn’t too much of a bother, I would like to assist you.”

There was no polite way to tell someone you wanted to observe them to make sure they didn’t collapse or exhibit signs of distress. Or she didn’t know it, if there was, and Lyra had to default to her middling tact. “Just to be sure there are no other Hollows around. I’m not sure I could handle that on my own.”

[Meridith Sheppard]

What an enigma. Meridith was about to give up trying to figure her out. She was right, something was very off, but it no longer felt like anything malicious. No, this was just an odd interaction. Yeah! She returned Lyra's smile warmly but it did little to ease her nerves. No, Lyra wasn't the threat it was something else...

"Oh, goodness, here on business of course. I guess-" Was she off to catch her flight eight hours early? Wow! Another piece slid into place. She watched as the woman carefully folded the handkerchief and placed it away.

She was quick to try to offer the reasons that she was lingering around, but Meridith could tell which one motivated her. She processed it for a moment.

"It isn't a bother at all it's just that-" I'm fine, I don't need help, I have to do this on my own. "I guess I want to make sure you know that I'm okay too. Everything that happened back there, it's not new, it's um, not even the worst of it." She tried not to think about the worst. "But, if you have the time, maybe it would help if we had a seat and a drink. I wouldn't mind getting to talk. I'm going to go clean up, you can come help or if you could grab us a table?" She left it up to her.

She was sweet, and Meridith was lucky. She was alive and...

Am I in over my head? What am I even doing out here?

She let the smile linger a moment longer and pivoted making her way to infiltrate the cafe.

[Lyra d'Aiglemort]

Lyra was quick to nod -- yes, yes, she understood. Meridi was perfectly whole. The possibility of strain was not the confirmation of any particular outcome. Lyra couldn't presume. It was wrong to label before giving the Quincy a chance to make the necessary edits.

Guilt curled through her intestines. A seed of shame. Is this what she was supposed to be doing? No one had told her what to do once she had finished her work assignment. Lyra could presume, from previous interactions with supernatural entities, but that would all be based on what Father expected. Why wasn't this in the new employee's handbook?

She opened her mouth and nodded again, dumbly, as if trying to cling to those last seconds where a physical reaction could cover for the fact she hadn't yet responded.

"Yes, I can do that." Lyra blinked. The redhaired girl turned, moving away, towards the restroom, and Lyra froze.

Was she meant to follow? Lyra was good at helping and she was especially good at cleaning. Helping to clean was probably a task she could manage adequately. 

Meridi didn't look back nor did she move with any coiling tension, there was no flick of the fingers or tightening of the jaw, nothing to indicate Lyra was failing to do something.

Indecision made her feel ill. Lyra swallowed back bile -- she needed to make the right decision (she didn't have any hints to anchor herself). Had the Hollow struck her after all?

Not making a decision was a decision in and of itself. Lyra didn't like to think about that. It was the sort of tricky thought that led nowhere good. Whether she was right or not, all she had to offer was follow-through, so Lyra walked away to find someone she could ask for a table through numb lips.

She was seated and waiting by the time Meridi resurfaced. Not that Lyra had counted the seconds, that was rather extraneous information, and she had more important things to keep track of. At least she had managed to get them a table on an interior angle to the floorplan, within the first ring of tables, so that they would be surrounded on all sides with a human buffer. Privacy seemed the kind of element the Quincy prized in her scenes.

Lyra perked up, hands dropping away from the curving loops of metal that framed the tabletop, and waved at Meridi. "Over here."

She slid a glass of water towards the girl to excuse how her eyes were trained on the table because Lyra wasn't very brave even when she was contrite.

[Meridith Sheppard]

To her credit, Meridith didn't miss the signals! She never had a chance to notice them. She had already turned and went to move. It was a simple request to her, so the ensuing trouble that went...well she couldn't have known. She stepped into the restroom alone. Two sinks, and stalls with plain tiles and some nice overhanging life. Cozy and chic and, well she didn't care. She peered around for paper towel but found instead a small stack of cloth towels in a basket along with the half-room length mirror.

She paused when she caught her reflection in it. She lingered on the sight. A collection of red hair, pale skin and bright eyes. She smiled at the sight and wondered briefly about the thought she just had. Was she in over her head?

If she hadn't been here today, would Lyra? Who knew...but what about the next person? Or the one to come after that? She was starting to worry that she was battered by this, broken, that she might have proven that she wasn't capable of doing and yet...

Her eyes traced down to her knees and further along the quiet streaks of blood.

Just a scratch.

She ran the water, she cleaned the wound. Washed her face, refreshed by the coldest water she could manage. She tore away at her sleeve and tied it off around her knee in a way that looked more like an ostentatious accessory than a bandage and nodded in affirmation.

Under heaven, she was right where she needed to be.

She headed back out having taken care of it in a number of minutes. She offered a polite wave in return to Lyra and moved casually to sit across from her. There was a different air to it now, having been given a chance to catch her breath Meridith seemed at peace again. "Oh thank you, that's exactly what I needed," she said cheerily moving to take the water and take a long sip of it, looking down to make sure that Lyra had something for herself too.

"Thank you, for staying with me. Um, I wanted to know. Is any of that common for you? You could see it, so, have you always been able to see...Them?"

[Lyra d'Aiglemort]

The dam broke and relief came crashing through; Meridi appeared rejuvenated after her break, her head held high, and the smile back in her eyes where it belonged. This was good. No one was angry.

Lyra had made the right choice.

She ducked her head at the gratitude, fingers curling in her lap as a different sort of warmth bloomed in her throat. Lyra hadn't done anything really -- following basic instructions wasn't noteworthy -- but she couldn't deny her pleasure at Meridi's reaction.

"Yes, of course. I'm glad to be of assistance."

Catching the Quincy's eyes, Lyra stared for a moment as she processed the interesting question. "Hollows?"

"Yes, ever since my birth I could see them. I don't know much about them though, my family isn't terribly concerned with the world beyond mortal affairs."

Lyra had fought Hollow only a handful of times. It was never an enjoyable experience and she did her best to avoid them. Luckily, Father had never felt the need to converse with one so as long as she was careful she could slip by them whenever they came hunting.

"You seemed quite adept when handling that situation." She nodded firmly, approval lilting at the edges of another declarative statement. Lyra had a habit of speaking blandly though now that they were sitting down some of that reserve had worn off. "Do you have much experience with them?"

[Meridith Sheppard]

She felt a twinge of guilt when she saw the relief reflected in Lyra's eyes. That's it right? It wasn't enough to throw yourself into the fire, if you're going to save people you have to come through the other side tempered, not scorched. They needed to know that you didn't martyr yourself for them, they needed to see you stand tall.

You had to end the day with a smile.

She'd never be able to fake it, never be able to pretend to be strong for long. She was a terrible liar. She wasn't capable of smiling through the tears. So, what did that leave as an option?

Just be strong.

Simple as that right? If she needed a reason to do it all she'd have to think of is the look of relief.

She nodded at her use of the term 'Hollow', sparing a brief glance to the humans seated near them and then back. Unnoticed for now.

She wasn't surprised that Lyra had seen them for a while, but it was an instant relief to feel like she wasn't alone in that regard. The question lingered, did they stumble upon a Hollow's hunting ground? Or was it drawn to Lyra's spiritual pressure? Or perhaps to Meridith's? Or...both? The uncomfortable caveat to any of her efforts would be the stark reality that as much as she sought to protect people, her presence would invariably draw trouble to them. She just had to make sure that she was worth the trouble.

"I'd say it'd be nice to be in a family concerned with mortal affairs but your expression makes me think it wasn't terribly pleasant. Especially if you've been able to see them." She paused for a moment. "Hopefully you got the information you needed about it. I can't imagine how bad it'd have been if my family didn't know what to tell me when I told them I could see spirits," she said. Her tone was low and quiet but cheerful.

Meridith's expression brightened with the compliment. She was certain Lyra didn't really mean it! Adept was far from how she'd describe her performance but she soaked up the praise nonetheless. She nodded once. "This is the first time I've been way out of my own, but um, throughout my life they've shown up. When I'm at home, usually it's handled, they know better than to go there anyway. But when I was off at school sometimes I'd be the first one there. A handful of them, always scary but it seems to get easier."

She quietly adds, "It helps to be able to summon a mystical bow out of energy to fight them."

[Lyra d'Aiglemort]

“Hah-hm,” Lyra swallowed back the surprised exclamation, doubling over in a cough that sufficiently silenced her initial reaction but expelled all the air from her lungs. Chest spasming, she straightened sheepishly and reached for her glass of water.

Several sips later and Lyra had collected herself physically as well as mentally. She had never heard a critique against her family before – not from anyone outside the house. It left her off balance, tripping over her desire to explain why Meridi was wrong, and the need to conceal as much of her personal details as possible.

Father hadn’t told her to talk to anyone in Paris.

But Lyra was working. Adimus Corporation sent her to many different places and she was expected to talk to the people around her. To behave normally. Father wanted her to succeed at her job.

So, this was okay – this conversation. It was work related. She would include it in her after report just to be clear.

“My – my family is very knowledgeable. It’s only that Hollows aren’t particularly interesting to them.” Belatedly Lyra thought about the Quincy’s wince and made a note to avoid specific terminology in the future.

She hid her wonder at the fact Meridi had dealt with Hollows before. Maybe it felt different, being alone, or in a new environment? Lyra had struggled the first few times she needed to use her skills outside the familiar confines of her Father’s home. Nerves were understandable in that context.

“That’s impressive. Were you responsible for guarding your school?” If so, Lyra should adjust her mental calculus of Meridi’s value. The girl could have been holding back. Lyra was supposed to notice such things but she was hardly perfect.

"I imagine having such a weapon would make it easier. My briefcase was not very efficient."

[Meridith Sheppard]

Oh goodness, did she have a storied family too? There was so much here by chance that they shared, how much else did they have in common? She wanted to launch into a battery of questions right off that moment but held back. "I think mine's the exact opposite," she said with a grin. "Oh Hollow's they know a lot about, but other matters?" She smiled mischievously as if they were both sharing a little dig at their homes oblivious to the lack of intent on Lyra's part.

She took a long drink of the water and looked for all intents and purposes like any of the internal workings of Lyra's complicated clockwork-like machinations went completely unnoticed. Because they did!

She set the water down and shook her head. "No, goodness. I was just there to learn. My family had people to look out for me, but, circumstances arise sometimes even with precautions." And sometimes circumstances arise when you create them. It wasn't like she hadn't at times gone out to seek trouble.

Meridith leaned over to examine the briefcase and wondered for a moment before speaking aloud, "Perhaps we could improve it? Tape some swords to it or something for next time?" she offered helpfully with what otherwise looked like a sincere expression.

[Lyra d'Aiglemort]

Lyra nodded sagely. It made sense that Meridi was the one being guarded. She was clearly powerful but young. That sort of potential wouldn't go unnoticed, so she had to be someone's project. It sounded like the Quincy was good at it too if she was allowed to go to school away from her family. Had she graduated from that to travelling on her own?

"Did you go to a boarding school?" The question popped out before Lyra could control herself but curiosity was a life-long bane. She flushed, clapping her palms to her cheeks to leech some of the embarrassing heat away.

"They sound interesting," Lyra murmured. She couldn't say that boarding schools featured in all of the shows and books Yael's friend was always talking about -- but Lyra enjoyed imagining what that sort of setting might be like. And to be a Quincy at a boarding school! That was almost like the books, right?

Mind made up -- Meridi was the prototypical main character -- Lyra smiled back. Protagonists could be excused their absurd and whimsical notions. They were special, and afforded special rights accordingly.

"I don't think work would like it if I modified the briefcase. Maybe I could ask the R&D department. Plus, it might be hard to fly with swords attached."

She didn't mention the lack of aerodynamics or style. It was one thing to be inept and another to be gauche.

[Meridith Sheppard]

She nodded to the question. "Yep! A few years ago. I kind of had to maneuver my way to getting my parents let me go. It was my way out getting out of my house for a bit. I like home but...I also like getting a chance to stretch my legs." She gestured in a way that suggested that Lyra might know what she was talking about.

It wasn't a Quincy Boarding School (gosh how dreadful would that have been) but Meridith didn't even know the assumption had been made to clarify it. It was a nice enough school, obviously, a boarding school was a far cry from a normal experience, she was privileged enough to have access to it for one. But it was a further step closer to normal than she'd had any chance to up to that point.

Meridith grinned wide when it seemed clear that Lyra had taken her quite seriously. Perhaps some mercurial nature from her previous nature had rubbed off on her. She nodded in earnest. "Well, air travel would definitely be a lot trickier that's for certain. I'd like to think even if it's not terribly common it'd be good to have some means to protect yourself." It wasn't like she could count on either the Quincy nor the Shinigami to be around when she needed it.

"R&D though, who is it that you work for?" She asked, leaning forward with a curious glint in her eyes.

[Lyra d'Aiglemort]

She eyed the briefcase consideringly. “I suppose you could reinforce the corners with some type of metal but even if it were heavier I doubt blunt trauma is going to take down one of those types.”

It was an odd conundrum – Lyra was used to picking her fights. She wasn’t particularly skilled in combat but it was rarely a surprise event. And anyway, fighting humans just made more sense. Could that all have been a luxury she wasn’t aware she benefited from?

Her water tasted like iron. Lyra forced herself to drink more.

What if she needed to protect an objective from Hollows? Even supernatural humans were limited as to how much damage they could wreak in a public space. She knew how to draw that out, to keep to the margins, and finish things quietly.

Hollows didn’t seem to care when or where they attacked.

She frowned and shook her head. This wasn’t a problem Lyra could solve on her own.

Worry melted away at Meridi’s inquiry and Lyra straightened, pride all but rising off the small woman as she chirped: “Adimus Industries! They are an internationally recognized corporation stationed in New York City with the mission of improving the lives of all people across the globe!”

[Meridith Sheppard]

She nods. "Sometimes you can scare them off with enough force. They don't get very far by picking fair fight," she adds. After all, it was her job to destroy them right? Someone like Lyra, all she wanted was to make sure she'd be safe if Meridith wasn't around. What a sorry state of affairs, her people could have done so much more to protect people like her. "I've been trying to think of a suitable weapon, but honestly you and that briefcase strike such an intimidating figure it's hard to think of anything better."

She leaned back and set the empty glass aside content and satisfied. She felt like she can take on another hundred hollows! Bring 'em on! She folded her hands on the table and regarded Lyra fondly as she recited the company profile as if she was reading it directly from the main page. "Of course I know about them!" She replies cheerily. "They've done a lot of amazing work," she said. No wonder she was so keen about her work. ('My paperwork!', she stifled a giggle).

"What's your role in the company then? CEO? Vice-president? Oo! Are you a secret agent?" She leaned forward conspiratorially, voice dropping to a low whisper by the end.

[Lyra d'Aiglemort]

Lyra preened at the attention. It was rare to have such an opportunity and this was a topic she was pleased with. Her job was complicated and at times difficult, almost always confusing, and some of the most exciting work she had the pleasure of being assigned. Best of all, no one had written her up or complained about the quality of her work! She was an actual employee.

There was even an ID card!

Whenever she was home, Lyra would remove her ID from her pocket first, and wipe it off (just in case) before setting it on her desk. That way she could look at it whenever she wanted and be reminded that 5 days out of 7 she had a real job outside doing important things.

She smiled at Meridi's well aimed dig. Not as far off the mark as the girl's arrows had been. Lyra wasn't sure whether to be proud of Meridi or to express embarrassment over her awkward presence. In the end, her happiness was difficult to dissipate, and Lyra's smile warmed like sorbet melting in the sun. "I have a knife, but it's not much use against big opponents like that. And less discrete than the brief case, of course."

Getting that through security had been a hassle. No one had warned Lyra that airports had the obsessive nosiness of a new mother-in-law. In the end, she'd had to slip her knife into a pocket of Shadows. Without physical contact she felt adrift. Her loadstone swallowed up by the Void. And yet the security Lyra felt in holding her knife seemed to bubble up from within her chest now that the blade was sheathed in the Abyss.

Lyra hoped the Darkness would give it back when she asked.

"You know about them? Yes, their work is very important! I'm honored to be employed by such a corporation."

Beaming at full-watt, Lyra curled her fingers under the table in a testing way, mentally tugging at the abstract notion of her knife.

"Oh, no. I'm very new - my title is program analyst." She nodded twice in quick succession, eager to impart on Meridi her precise station in life. That, and no one had told Lyra what a program analyst was so she figured if she brought it up a lot in introductions eventually she would hear an explanation -- or at least opinions. Opinions were often more useful than the definitions themselves.

Her hand felt chilly, as if she had dipped it into a lake all of the sudden, but nothing materialized.

"Do you have a job, Meridi?"

[Meridith Sheppard]

If there was any malice in Meridith's words her tone certainly did nothing to prepare them, but that's the thing about careless people, they seem to find the places to strike where malice is far from necessary to strike. Whatever the result, Meridith didn't notice anything amiss. "Whoa! That's pretty neat, probably a little easier to wield than the briefcase at least," she said earnestly. A knife! Just who was this Lyra anyway! Travelling around to foreign countries, she could see ghosts...she had a knife! And a briefcase! Probably some quarterly reports!

She nodded to affirm that she did indeed know about them listening with great interest as she explained her role. "Program Analyst?" Meridith's expression instantly conveyed how she had absolutely no idea what that was far far quicker than word ever could. She lingered on it for a moment and thought about it. "So...you analyze programs? What kind of programs?"

Before they got too far the question landed and she shook her head. "No, not unless you count Quincy as a job. Really more of a role. I'm um, trying to live up to the old standard. You know, wander the countryside, eradicate Hollow. Not much pay in it," she paused a breath to let the joke land. "But thankfully my family is well off, and I've never really been interested in that kind of thing anyway so it works out." That thing, you know, a home, and food and security and stability and...

If her youth wasn't obvious yet, she made sure to demonstrate it.