C’est Simple Comme Bonjour - [Meridith]

[Lyra d'Aiglemort]

Leaning back in her chair, Lyra flailed as gravity shifted and the entire thing tipped. Grabbing hold of the armrests, she stilled her rabbiting heartbeat and glanced covertly from one cubicle to the next. Mark was eating mini carrots while scrolling through his emails and Susan was elbows deep in some financial document.

She sighed at the near-miss; grateful no one had seen her newest office blunder. Lyra pushed her boot against the carpet and watched as her chair swiveled to the left. This seemed an unsteady form of seating.

A few weeks earlier Lyra might have assumed there was a joke here – or rather, that she was the joke, and precarious furniture was a method of testing whether she knew that yet or not.

Except everyone else had the same chairs. Lyra had checked. Coming in super early to sneak around and look at the labels hidden beneath the chair bases wasn’t the silliest task she had ever completed but it did make her feel a little flustered throughout the rest of the day.

Lyra had a new theory. It was formulated after she had tracked down the instructions for putting the chairs together. (The internet really needed a filing cabinet for all the old information it kept sitting around.)

Putting it to the test, Lyra wiggled with the lever on her chair only to frown as the seat sunk. Thankfully there was an easy fix to regain its earlier height and Lyra made a note to avoid that lever from now on. After a bit of poking around, she found the right knob and triumphantly reclaimed her seat.

Leaning back the chair moved as a single piece, no sudden shifts or falls.

Success! It was nice to start the day out with a good outcome.

Smiling to herself, Lyra rolled closer to her desk and looked things over to be sure everything was in the right place. She had to adjust a pen that had strayed too close to the keyboard. Straightening the curling cord of her ancient-looking phone, Lyra blinked once, and then again just to be sure she wasn’t seeing things.

A little red light burned merrily next to the receiver.

Scrambling, Lyra opened a drawer and pulled out her work manual. She flipped towards the end with unerring precision and located the page detailing phone usage. A light meant that someone was calling, or on hold, or that they had called and left a message.

That was a lot of options. Lyra traced her finger along the lines on her sheet until she got to the end of the table. The light held steady, no flickering, so it had to be a message!

Lyra followed the instructions to get to her voice mailbox before she could pause and consider. Who would be calling her?

[Meridith Sheppard]

"Um...hey?" The voice on the other end of the line seemed uncertain, maybe a little curious. "Oh gosh, I hope this really was your line Lyra, this'll sound crazy to anyone elese." The tone and the giggle that followed probably made it clear who was calling from the other end. "Listen, if you're not Lyra hang up okay? Or at least understand that this whole thing is a joke, okay?"

A momentary pause, maybe they weren't terribly used to talking to people on the phone, let alone leaving messages. "Anyway, it's Meridith. I bet that's a big surprise. I thought I'd check in, though to be honest, if you call me back I'm not quite sure when I'll get it. I set up a little answering machine thing and I'll leave my number at the end so, grab a pen if you want it okay? I'll do my best to check it regularly!"

"Anyways, oops said that already. Anyway again. I'm not sure if you heard the news in Paris, um, I get the feeling you seem like the type to keeps tabs, haha, sorry if that's rude, but the destruction of those buildings and stuff um, I was involved in it. There was-and I mean it, this is all a big joke, anyone not Lyra."

"There was a second Hollow. And that would have been fine, but there was someone else. Oh gosh, how do I explain this? Do you know what Shinigami are? If you do, maybe just tune out the next 15 seconds."

There was a faint sound on the other end as she seemed to take a deep breath. Then the message cut out ominously.

As the second one played.

"Sorry, gosh, guess there's a time limit. Sorry. I'll keep it quick this time. Um. Shinigami suck. Black pajama-wearing murderers who have a history of slaughtering Quincy. So, this one was fighting the Hollow and absolutely about to die, so I decided to step in to help him and offered him a hand up because I'm a big gullible idiot and then he tried to kill me."

Another sound of a breath. "...He's the one who caused all the destruction, he um...shot me too. But I'm okay now! It really hurt but I got some help and I'm all better now, promise. I'm actually really good I uh... this is a lot more than I need to share huhn? I just wanted to say everything is going good now. And I don't use a bow anymore! It's a long story, but I'll have to show you sometime. Hehe."

A sigh came through the receiver, long, content. "I'm going to be travelling around for the next bit, I'm looking for some things I need. Thank you for your time in Paris. It really meant a lot, even if it was silly and small, and for giving me this space to leave a message. Let me know if it's bothersome or whatever, maybe a girl my age should still keep a journal huhn?" She giggled again.

"I hope everything's going well with you too, Lyra, I hope to hear back from you."

A long pause as if she was about to hang up.

"Oh crap the tim-mynumberis01133165784930-" and the line cut off.

[Lyra d'Aiglemort]

Listening with slowly mounting distress, Lyra dug through her drawers frantically in search of a pen before remembering the one right beside her keyboard. Worry simmered at a steady roil and yet Lyra smiled as well. Meri (Meridith?) sounded exactly the same.

Vix had been right after all.

Assuming Meri was still in France, the time difference didn't exactly favor a conversation. Lyra called anyway, tapping in the sequence of numbers with a resolute frown. Going directly to voicemail was a little concerning -- perhaps the Quincy hadn't had the chance to charge her phone recently? She did say she was traveling.

The beep sounded and Lyra dropped her pen, clutching the phone to her ear. Ah, she should have planned her message before calling.

"Er, hello. This is Lyra, leaving a message for Meri. I hope that this message finds you well and safe."

Okay, that was a pretty good start. Lyra nodded to herself.

"Thank you for letting me know about the event and your current plans. I'm glad that you're leaving Paris, it sounds like our run-in wasn't an isolated event -- I know you want to protect people, but protecting yourself has to come first. Otherwise you won't be able to save anyone."

Lyra hesitated, glancing around at her neighbors. Stacy had looked up at the sudden stream of French but Lyra knew the other woman didn't speak the language so they were safe. Not that this was a clandestine conversation -- Adimus Industries was well aware of the supernatural, at least in her division. But it felt a little dangerous to air her attachments so openly.

"Um, sorry about that. Listen -- I believe you when you say you're doing better, but please do take care of yourself. It's all right to ask for help. I'm sure local hospitals won't understand the source of your injuries but they can still assist if you need urgent care."

A thought occurred out of nowhere. "You do have money, right?"

"Right, um, my point is -- you are very important and you can't win every fight so maybe run away the next time you see a Shinigami. Congratulations, though! If you're not using a bow anymore then I'm sure your accuracy is less of an issue. Train hard, okay? It's difficult to change fighting styles all of the sudden."

She exhaled, laughing awkwardly. "I don't want to bother you. I'm sure you're asleep right now. If you can, please tell me where you're going next. You never know, maybe I'll be headed there too for work. I don't have anything much to report on my end -- I finally figured out how to use the printer on my floor. Oh! And I haven't killed my pet cactus yet... plant? I'm not sure what you call it."

"Well! Good luck, Meri. Please call when-"

There was a loud beep and Lyra pulled the receiver back to stare blankly at the phone. Hm. That really wasn't a lot of time. Ah, but calling back would be rude. Meri likely needed to preserve her battery.

Lyra set the phone down in its cradle. She clapped her hands silently, pushing to stand (without her chair wobbling all over the place!), and reached for a close by folder. There were some forms in here that she'd been meaning to take to Stacy -- who happened to have one of those little calendars with nice sayings on it for every day. Lyra needed to stock up in case Meridith called back any time soon.

[Meridith Sheppard]

Meridith didn't turn her phone on again until she was well out of the woods. She made her way back to town and tried to orient herself towards her next destination. It was kind of funny to think about, the direction of her life that was. Right now, it was aimless and yet determined. She knew she had a destination in mind and she was doggedly pursuing it, but that involved a lot of wandering.

Her phone was well out of its service range, she wasn't entirely sure what the range might have been but she was grateful that despite all of the recent modernizations there was still room for contactless and relatively traceless phones. Burners, she might have called them if she was a little bit cooler.

She would check her messages infrequently, like the dog-eared pages on a favourite book to check in infrequently to see if anything new had come up. This was the shape of their little game, only one person had the number after all.

A little glass box in a city on the other end of the world in a place she never thought she'd be. She leaned against the dingy transparent wall and fished between her growingly heavy bag, and the coins, and the receiver and fed in the necessary coins to dial her mailbox and put in the password and wonder with growing anticipation.

She smiled with delight.

"You have one new message," a voice informed her. She fished her bag back up off the crook of her elbow and over her shoulder and pressed the two resulting in a pleasant tone followed by a beep as the message began to play. She sighed and listened to the message and felt at once a sense of inexplicable relief wash over her. She grinned at the matronly concern that Lyra showed for her and laughed as her accuracy was chided once more.

She listened with the receiver sandwiched between her neck and shoulder and waited long after the message ended and the voice informed her of her options for a second time before pressing the number four.

"Message saved."

She hung up and exhaled sharp and opened the door and stepped outside to the cool night air and the beautiful stars. She could see the same ones, but from here they still felt so alien, and strange and wonderful.

She leaned back into the booth and set her back down, lifting the receiver and sliding in some more change into it before dialing.

Ring.

Ring.

A moment of trepidation hit her, what if she picked up?

She wondered what she might have to say then. What if they met again? Would she be proud of how far Meridith had come?

The message played and then the beep indicating it was time the record.

"Hey Lyra, got your message, very sweet thank you. I appreciate the contact, it gets a little lonely out here but, everything has been going well." Her voice warmed. "Don't worry about waking me, the number won't probably ever get used beside the mailbox, with all my travelling it's hard to keep a number someone can call in service, so call me whenever. The mailbox'll get it and I'll try to check it regularily."

"Congratulations! On the printer, I mean, and um, the cactus plant. Do they call them succulents? I don't have much of a green thumb, unfortunately." She turned her gaze out of the booth and around the quiet street. "Oh I do have money, my family hasn't opted to cut me off yet, haha. And I have my own savings for when I do. I wonder if anyone pays for Hollow bounties...?"

She lingered a moment. "A-anyway. Update. I managed to find a place from my people's history I got some things I needed. I'd love to try to explain it but I doubt I have time. I'll keep it quick! It was this cool old castle and there was a vampire in it! Well, not really a vampire, um, probably. He was testing me and well, I guess I passed! Seemed nice but, honestly, I'm not really sure what's going on with them. I think they're a friend though, I think they're a little troubled."

"Gosh that sounds crazy now that I said it out loud. I guess that's just life now huhn? Anyways, I don't quite know my destination next, I was thinking...Italy? Maybe work my way back out west, maybe London ultimately? Sorry I'd tell you if I knew for sure, I'll try to update you soon."

She sighed contentedly. "It was really nice hearing from you, I hope work is goi-" The phone cut off again and she just stared at the receiver and shook her head and hung it up. One of these days they'd finish a message in its first go. At last she gathered up her things, gripping the strap of her bag in a gloved hand, and made her way out of the booth and onward.

[Lyra d'Aiglemort]

Lyra sank into her office chair, sitting quietly in the gloom of an empty office. It was late at night, not exactly working hours, but she had to catch up somehow.

Tapping her computer to turn it on, Lyra stared blandly at the blank monitor. She was tired. Away from all the spying eyes of her co-workers, there was no reason to pretend otherwise. Lyra had thought coming in after midnight would have felt like a relief – to not have to think about anything other than getting her tasks done.

Instead, it reminded her of how long tomorrow would be. The floor held an eerie static silence as if she had encroached on a tomb full of desktop computers and flickering fluorescent lighting.

With a wordless sigh, she pushed her curls back away from her face and pivoted to grab a nearby notepad. Only then did Lyra notice the steadily blinking light on her phone. Her brain was slow to connect the dots, but when she did, Lyra felt a curl of warmth bloom deep in her chest.

It was too early to assume – it could have been anyone leaving a message. She had learned that the phone was the preferred method to avoid leaving electronic traces of a conversation in a corporate setting. Not that anyone called Lyra, really, but the possibility remained.

Lungs tight, Lyra scooted closer and carefully cradled the receiver against her ear, following the prompts to her voicemail as her heart rate quickened.

Tension melted from her shoulders at that familiar voice. Lyra clung to the phone, ducking her head and pressing her ear closer as she listened. Meridith had called her back. She sounded so young like this, with thousands of miles separating them.

Lyra dialed the return number before she thought to construct her own reply. Red-faced, she straightened like that would help in her presentation, and spoke into the phone: “Hello, Meri. It’s nice to hear your voice again.”

“This is Lyra, by the way. Sorry, I should have started with that. I’m glad you’re all right, and it does sound like your adventures have been proceeding apace. Don’t worry about filling me in, I’m just happy for you to check-in like this.” She smiled, twining her finger in the phone cord.

Perhaps it was the late hour, or maybe the fact that she was all alone, for whatever reason Lyra felt compelled to a raw honesty she normally avoided. This was Meri, after all, it wasn’t like Lyra would actually see her again. There was no harm in sharing her feelings – it was almost like speaking into thin air.

“May I tell you a secret? I suppose you can’t answer that… so please forgive my forwardness, but I will tell you anyway. Lately, I’ve had to spend a lot of time by myself, and I keep thinking about your journey. It’s an exciting one and I know I should be doing something more productive, but that’s what I’ve ended up musing over.”

“So, yes. I believe what I mean to say is thank you for calling me back. I don’t know about Hollow bounties though I imagine there are corporations who would pay you for something like that. I could inquire here if you’d like. Perhaps the people you’re meeting would have a better idea, though.”

Lyra jotted a line on her notepad, mentally reminding herself to check the corporation bylines. Being gainfully employed would be good for the Quincy. In case anything went wrong, as well as to build up her resume. There was no telling what she might want to do once she was done adventuring.

“I would warn you to stay away from vampires but you’re right – that does sound like someone who needs a friend. I’m glad you found them, and I’m happy that you’ve connected with your heritage.”

"In other news, I actually ran into a Shinigami the other day as well. It didn't become violent, thank goodness for that. Though I believe he was quite disappointed in me. I learned many things, however, especially about how Shinigami operate in the mortal realm. I think some of that may be of interest to you, so if you ever know where you're going ahead of time I could send you my notes."

"Maybe that's a sign of serendipity. Would you believe me if I told you I've also run into another supernatural individual that I met the day we crossed paths in Paris? This past week has been eventful in that sense. I hope that doesn't mean I'll be meeting the same Shinigami as you. I'd rather chat with a vampire, truth be told."

"Ah, it looks like I'm running out of time. Please take care of yourself, Meri!" She said the last in one full breath, just getting it out before the message ended.

It was such a small thing, but hearing from the Quincy buoyed her spirits. No doubt Father would say she was being overly sentimental, and yet Lyra didn't wish to shove the feeling aside. There was no one here to see her, anyhow, so as she dragged her folder closer and settled down to work Lyra began to hum through the smile stretched wide on her face.