birthright_rpg | Lessons In Living

Entry tags:

sabra,
valerie

Lessons In Living

Sleep hadn’t come easy when she finally returned home at six in the morning. A lengthy patrol had seen that four of the undead returned to the earth as nothing more than ashes. Classes went by in a blur, her mind had been elsewhere, lunch had been skipped. Though she returned to her room to change, leave her books behind, then left again. Wandered, preoccupied, through shops. Picking up a few things of interest then off in search of something new to fill her mind. By the time she showed up outside Sabra’s door it was seven.

Bags sat at her feet so that she could knock while the other arm clutched several to her chest. The same routine had been needed at the desk, another month paid for. She either had to sell a few pieces of art or get a job soon. The prospect didn’t feel pleasant so she shook her head to clear her thoughts.

“Sabra, it’s me. Are you in?”

Valerie bent to pick the other bags up. They weren’t heavy to her, just awkward to manage all at once. A couple filled with clothes, others with books, one with toiletries, and one with food. At first it had been odd, bringing things to the woman, but over the weeks it gradually felt less peculiar. Perhaps slowly becoming a new normal, that only applied to the situation.

If she didn’t answer the blonde would have to walk back to her dorm with everything. The thought made her cringe and she sighed at the door.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Considering the type of entity who now resided there, the room in which Sabra resided was turning more and more different as time went on. The difference made by the young Slayer was, however, a marked one. Without her, the creature hosted in a human female's body might have done anything. Gone anywhere. Met with anyone. With her, there was at least a form of... They didn't frequent one another's company enough for Valerie to be an anchor, exactly, but she was a form of guide. Brought her things. Showed her how they worked. Informed her about... Boundaries. Something with which Sabra still appeared to have issues.

So it was that the announcement was answered with what sounded like a slam of books to the floor. An accurate sound, as it happened, because by the time Sabra showed herself at the door, several of them seemed to have landed unceremoniously on the living room carpet.

"I was learning."

Sabra often sounded annoyed, somehow. Unavoidable, because a lot of what she had to say were observations spoken in matter-of-factly tones. Still, at least her vocabulary had expanded beyond the basics.

Rather than politely invite the girl in, Sabra's eyes fell to the carried bags. No waiting. She simply grabbed them from the girl, assuming they had been brought for her own use. Taking them inside.

Sabra's layout had proven... Interesting. Furniture having been rearranged into odd combinations and an increasing amount of ectoplasm dripping from the walls, smearing over carpet.

Just before turning, however, Sabra paused. Sensing something. Looking the girl up and down with a momentary flicker of eyes. "You're different," she told her.

Edited 2013-11-16 05:55 (UTC)

Valerie turned, ready to walk home, when the thump was heard. With Sabra it could literally be anything. Last month she’d walked in to find the lamp in pieces. Not smashed, literally taken apart to see how it worked. The next day Valerie had made sure to drop off a book about electricity. Either that or inevitably find the demon half fried from an attempt at re-wiring the building. It’s was hard enough convincing the cleaning staff not to enter due to the, well, slime. Personally the blonde could have done without it, certainly didn’t touch it. Every time she glimpsed the stuff upon entering she had the urge to sing the Ghost Busters theme.

“Oh. What’s been the topic of choice today?”

The questions was asked sincerely even as the bags were all but snatched from her hands, almost along with a few fingers. Valerie sighed, she wasn’t annoyed, just a little… Underwhelmed. “Nice to see you too.” She mumbled under her breath and stepped inside to close the door.

Eyes took in the varying sights of, not destruction or mess exactly, more of a random assemble of things. Okay, that would have to be dealt with, again.

The blonde caught the look from Sabra, gave one back in confusion. “What?” She asked, only to frown at the answer given. Different how? That restless feeling from last night snaked through her guts and she smoothed the material of her shirt. “No I’m not.” How could she be? Nothing new had happened. A bad dream didn’t count.

Valerie shifted, cleared her throat and moved forward to snag one of the bags back to open up. The scent of burgers filled the air and she reached in to take one of the smaller bags and handed it to Sabra. Trial and error with food had been interesting. “If you don’t like it, don’t waste it, because I’ll probably eat it later.” She shrugged lightly and opened her own bag to pull out a few fries to chew on. She’d been raised with the notion of waste not want not. It had proved a valuable lesson with most things. She hated wasting things when she didn’t have too. Granted, that went far beyond eating, but it still applied.

For a moment, Sabra just stood there. She rarely ignored speech, even if sometimes finding it somehow irrelevant. This was one of those times where she was silently processing; deciding how to proceed.

Her reply came in the form of stepping into Valerie's personal space, giving her a long, audible sniff. No physical contact, but it went from somewhere in line with the girl's throat to forehead. If there was one thing to be learned about Sabra, it was that, while she may have struggled to comprehend the world through relatively limited human senses, they were several times more sensitive than an ordinary mortal's. Keen.

"You've been touched..." The human-hosted demoness corrected. Lower lip hanging loosely before Sabra gave a tilt of head, curving mouth into a grin. "It liked you."

Then, before clarification gave way to elaboration, Sabra turned away, taking the offered food in the process. Didn't bother to sit at a table, though. Was rifling through the contents, deigning to remove the sandwiching bun. "This has no life..." Human teeth sunk into the burger, carving out a mouthful of flesh and Sabra registered it with a look somewhere between confusion and distaste. It was genuinely difficult to figure out which.

A look to Valerie's fries, then back to the dead meat. Up and back, again. Another bite. Another, eventually finishing it. The expression written upon Sabra's face, however, was one of severe uncertainty.

"The books showed me many things. This shows me only falsehood..."

If it had been possible Sabra would be standing in Valerie’s aura, the surprise reflected on her face as she froze. The sniffing, although the blonde understood it, still felt strange when it occurred. Though by now it didn’t alarm her in the slightest. While the potential for danger lurked with such a creature the fear from first meeting her had subsided. Gradually. Enough at least for her to stand there without any worry that her throat might get ripped out for no reason.

Colour tinged her pale features and she stated indignantly, “I have not! I mean that’s the kind of thing you remember.” Valerie gave the brunette an odd look, took in the grin, and felt a shiver crawl down her back. “Sabra…” She began slowly, mind whirring over the choice of words used. “When you say it liked me what do you mean by it?”

In the back of her mind Valerie thought of Beth. Could she have done something? If she had why hadn’t she noticed? What did that even mean? Valerie felt like the bun Sabra seemed reluctant to touch and equally offended to have to deal with. Lifeless.

“You’re right, most of our food is like that but our bodies get the nutrition it needs from a variety. This isn’t considered terribly healthy but it’s quick and affordable.” For a split second she let her mind wander. Imagined what life had been like for mankind before fire’s could be hand made. Did early human’s feast on raw meat or did they scavenge for plants?

Absently the blonde ate the rest of her fries, half watching Sabra as she ate her own food without any complaints. Valerie was torn between impressed and thankful. She unwrapped her own burger and took a bite. “The food shows you falsehood?” She managed to ask between a confused chew. “What did the books have to say, anything you liked?”

"The burning.. The surge. The absence. Where once I dwelled... One was sent on its behalf. She tasted of you... Your flavour was appealing. You would not carry the stain, were this not so."

But sabra's visual attention seemed fixed upon the remnants of the food offering. It had more immediate relevance to her. "Yes," she agreed. "Because it is. There's no hunt here... It reeks of convenience." Then she eyed Valerie with logical suspicion. "Your trophy wall must be poor, indeed."

Because these items of human food were all the same, weren't they? No challenge involved. No hunt. No capture. Hardly worth even qualifying as prey.

"Keep the next for yourself. I prefer the undead."

Green eyes watched Sabra curiously as she spoke. Chin lifted slightly to consider the information given. “The Deeper Well.” So, whatever Beth represented it certainly appeared ancient. Which begged the question as to why something ancient would show the slightest bit of interest in her. Valerie experienced nausea as it sank in. There were powerful beings and then there were powerful beings. If they had some sort of stake in your future it spelled trouble. They didn’t trifle in things that held no interest. No value. So what value did the blonde possess? More importantly, did she really want to find out?

The smart answer would be no, but the clever one would be to find out exactly what those forces were planning. Perhaps Beth counted on that. Which meant it would be better to keep contact to a minimum. Unless being kept in the dark was actually part of the plan. Valerie’s stomach twisted into knots. This wasn’t something she could afford to mess up, one wrong move and she could be up to her eyeballs in danger.

“In what way am I stained?” Julianna’s words came back to haunt her about psychic attacks. Honestly she didn’t feel any different. Other than the few nights she’d woken up, heart racing, covered in sweat, unable to recall exact details of what she’d been dreaming. Just the unease that lingered behind to taunt her. “Do you know who the girl was, can you tell me her name?”

“My tro-” Valerie cut herself off and let out a breath, left hand raised to rub the side of her face. “Okay. I don’t keep trophies, but I do like camping and have hunted for food. Many people do when the season allows for it. If it interests you maybe one day we could do that.” Truth be told she wasn’t big on viewing it as a sport but for actual sustenance she could get behind. Thankfully her father had taught her survival skills on those trips. Stressed the importance.

Though when Sabra spoke of the undead Valerie rolled her eyes and said wryly, “Speaking of no life and falsehood.” For the most part the blonde managed to understand Sabra, however sometimes the woman said something so mind boggling that she had to find the funny side. Cooked food is disgusting, but walking corpses demonically possessed were scrumptious. Well, as long as Sabra didn’t try to take a bite out of her she wasn’t going to complain.

Edited 2013-11-17 02:40 (UTC)

Unfortunately, the young Slayer's train of thought was derailed with a simplistic, "No." For she was not that insightful. Just happened to know when another of a high status had been sniffing around, proverbially or literally. Knew the what of it, not the who. "The stain has always been there... But some now how to wake it. Nurture it."

The proposition, however, caught Sabra's attention. Camping... If Valerie had a fraction of the idea of Sabra's true form, the mental image of sharing a campfire with it, like a school outing, would have been equal parts startling and amusing. Mostly the former, though. There was a reason she was not yet used to moving around in a human vehicle.

So, true to form, Sabra gave her answer in the most direct, forthright way: And stuffed Valerie's mouth with the uneaten remnants of what she had been passed. Telling her to shut up or just trying to make a point? Or was it more to do with experimentation? The way in which she attempted to get Valerie to chew, like a puppet, suggested it might have been.

"You already hunt. Their skulls turn to ashes... Nothing to take. Your victories are fleeting."

“The demon essence.” The very thing Sabra had picked up on when they’d first met. The stirring inside, the reaction it had obviously had around Beth had awoken it? Valerie didn’t panic even if she did realise that potentially, at the very worst, she was walking around with something positively volatile inside her. Entwined with her very being. Did that make her at war with herself, or with it? Too many questions ran through her mind. Inevitably she would need to talk to someone who hopefully knew about such things. If the Watcher really wanted to work together then this would be a great time for it.

Valerie had great patience at the best of times. She had used it with Sabra through quite a lot of awkward interactions. However none were so invasive as this and she felt her patience stretch to near breaking point when the demoness literally smothered her with a mixture of salad inside a bun and fries. Some of which weren’t so forgiving as they were forced past her lips to stick into her gums. Which, coupled with the way the brunette tried to make her chew, only served to aggravate her further.

It was with a throaty sound of anger and a slap of hands as she took a step back that Valerie managed to resist the urge to push Sabra away. Instead turning to spit and cough the mixture into the empty bag with a shout of, “What the ffrraghh!”. Wilted lettuce stuck to her cheek, she had crumbs stuck up her nostril, the taste of blood on her lips as she wiped her face with the back of her right hand. “How would you like it if I did that to you?”

Valerie asked, grabbing her own burger to unwrap. No hesitation, no thought, just quick reflexes as she smooshed the whole thing against Sabra’s face in a ridiculously childish yet ultimately satisfying moment. Valerie didn’t care if she even got any in her mouth as she threw the remains into the bag with a sigh of, “Not so great, huh?”

For something which had a capacity to stretch its jaws into some obscene portrayal of spider crab, it was a potentially dangerous move. Sabra, though, didn't seem to know what to make of it, frowning, rearing head back with an expression of distaste, like an aggressive puppy being forced to play with a toy it did not want.

Snort.

Lowly mortal guides were not meant to do this. Not... Permitted.

"Are you trying to mate with me?"

She was wiping away the food from mouth, not at all grasping the lesson which had been attempted. Head quizzically tilting, as Sabra attempted to provide her own interpretation to the mystifying return of her own gesture. What Valerie had tried to force into her mouth, being casually thrown into a small pot with soil in it.

"It would be... Difficult."

Satisfaction melted away to leave behind horrified confusion as the question was asked. Of all the reactions she expected, that was not one of them. Violence, anger, annoyance, a combination of them all? Sure. At least that she could handle. This? Valerie literally blinked, took a step back, and tried to articulate the noise that escaped. A sound of frustrated bewilderment that cut off so she could huff a breath. Arms being thrown outward to motion between them, voice raised as the blonde shot back, “No I’m not trying to...”

She shook her head, clearly at a loss for words. Arms flailed at her sides as if that could express clearly how she felt. “That’s not even mating behaviour, why would you even think that?”

Pale fingers soon found themselves buried in blonde hair. She had to take a moment to just breathe when the demoness stated difficulty and she mumbled under her breath, “Sweet baby cheeses.” Okay, that was just downright bizarre. Why say ‘difficult’ when she could have easily stated not interested. It implied a certain amount of possibility. As if she didn’t have enough to worry about.

Valerie raised her right hand as a signal, whether Sabra picked up on it or not was entirely different. Her other hand splayed across her forehead while she shut her eyes. “Stop. Stop trying to work out how to mate with me. That wasn’t what I was doing. I don’t want to know what scale of difficulty it would involve, don’t even think about explaining it.”

About to answer, Sabra was given an entirely new dimension to think about with Valerie's exclamation and frowned, simply replying, "Cheese is not birthed."

As a matter of course, the hosted entity cast a vaguely curious gaze down to Valerie's lower quarters, now having been given reason to ponder the human reproductive system. The girl was not exactly making this easy and her latest comment drew a raised brow of puzzlement.

Head tiiiiilt...

"Then what were you doing?"

Another pause as Valerie shook her head, bewildered. “I know, it’s an expression.” The topic of mating had seemed peculiar enough, she had no desire to discuss any kind of birthing, cheese or not. Was it her imagination or was Sabra actually looking somewhere she shouldn’t be? Blatantly so, actually. The blonde used the crumpled up bag of rubbish to shield herself as she cleared her throat.

“Hey, my face is up here.” She added with a snap of her fingers, as if to try and divert the brunette’s attention to safer territory. Valerie caught the raised eyebrow, took in the head tilt, and tried not to show how uncomfortable she suddenly felt. Sabra’s attention could be quite intense without her actively being curious, which might explain the rush of colour to Valerie’s face.

“Evidently failing at teaching you a lesson, that’s what.” It was said through a sigh, the kind that said she should have known better. There were positives, she hadn’t been attacked, she still had all of her limbs, but that wasn’t quite as comforting as before given the new idea’s in the elder’s mind. “Okay, listen, the whole mating thing is something two consenting adults do when they are equally attracted to each other. Usually for fun more than reproduction. So, now you know.”

There, nothing could be twisted around with that, could it?

"Your species has too many hidden meanings," observed Sabra and turned, making her way to a bag and retrieving the batteries she had requested. Curious things... But upon asking how more could be procured, she had wanted them. Sabra removing the metal cylinders from their cardboard prison cells and going to the middle of the room, sitting cross-legged. Adding them to an ectoplasmic-slimed pile of others, attached to a garbage can lid by means of coathangers.

"These will do," she told the girl. "More would be better."

Saying she relaxed her posture might be technically incorrect. Relented, maybe... Sabra straightening spine, looking straight ahead at the opposite wall.

"Mating doesn't need consent."

The return to that earlier subject of conversation came out of the blue, as so many things did with Sabra. Someone had raised her. An organisation, perhaps. maybe not. Whoever it had been, they would probably be disappointed to see the fruits of their labour occupying a common motel room, chatting about sex to a vampire-hunter.

On the floor, the books which had landed with a thump, from earlier, now showed subtle signs of animation. Moving of their own accord, albeit just slightly. Sabra not looking at the girl; appearing to have adopted a meditative-like pose. The books starting to flip slowly through pages, as if coming awake. One or two of them rising from the floor, levitating. Hanging in the air. Not being read with eyes, but the mind.

Talk about multi-tasking... It was quite the unique learning system.

“That’s probably true, the point I tried to make was don’t go around shoving things into other people’s mouths. It’s not appropriate.” The tone was light as Valerie watched yet more batteries end up in a pile of… Well, she didn’t know what to call it. They certainly weren’t being put to any kind of use they were intended for. Though she heard the request she ignored it. How many times had she brought things over that ultimately ended up being wasted? Not to mention the cost.

It was moments like that that had the blonde question what she was doing. If she weren’t so naturally optimistic she’d have felt a bit melancholy right then. Trust had been built but had anything else? Did Sabra grasp the attempt at friendship? Valerie couldn’t tell, and it made her feel oddly alone.

Sabra’s words startled Valerie, who in turn added quickly, “Well it does with me, so don’t get any ideas.”

When the brunette began to read in her own way the blonde internalised her frustration and picked up two of the bags. Busied herself by hanging up clothes while scanning the room for any that needed to be cleaned. Those were tossed into a pile near Sabra, who could carry them herself down to the basement. She’d brought plenty of quarters for the machines, the demoness could work them but it was always better to make sure she did it right, than end up needing to buy new things for her to wear.

Once done she grabbed the other bag and went about exchanging empty bottles of shampoo with full ones, bars of soap and another tube of toothpaste. Occasionally Valerie wondered if the woman actually used them or simply added it to the odd cluster of objects she enjoyed creating.

"If I desired you, I would take you."

And that was that. Like so many apparent compliments from Sabra, it was a back-handed one. At once, an assurance that she was safe, but with the disclaimer of making it clear that consent was not exactly a prized concept in her world. Then again, a declaration like that probably explained a good deal of why Sabra found it so difficult to avoid instinctive violence; why Valerie had to give her little signals to hold back from taking comments, jokes or the body language of others' too literally.

Sabra was no homeless pet. She was undeniably dangerous. But if a Slayer could do the world a favour by ridding the world of undead killers before they struck, then she was doing much the same by preventing this ancient being from simply being unleashed. By teaching her about the world of mortals.

"This one bores me," she said and the book was slammed against the wall, discarded from the bizarre levitating merry-go-round on display. Little wonder, though... The cover revealed it to be a telephone directory.

"Do they milk lions?" She asked, suddenly thinking of the kind of question few others would. The query provoking enough interest to demand Sabra look the girl's way, again. "In the zoo... Where they farm the animals. Do they milk them? Like the cows?"

“Great. Lucky for me I’m undesirable.”

The tone was flat as she rounded the sink to get to the bin. Discarding empty bottles before washing her hands perhaps with more vigor than needed as she tried to clear her mind. Breathe. The book narrowly missed Valerie as she stepped out of the bathroom, hands still wet because she’d forgotten to grab a towel. She watched it hit the wall, then tumble to the ground. Pages fluttering like a dying butterfly.

“No, the lions don’t get milked like cows.” Valerie replied, her attention elsewhere as she walked by Sabra to grab the laundry basket.

“Animals in the zoo aren't farmed like cattle or sheep. They’re put on display for curious humans to gawk at under the name of protecting them since most things are being hunted into extinction. We don’t eat them and we don’t drink the milk they produce for cubs.”

Armfuls of clothes and towels were gathered up and stuffed into the basket. The goal had been to get Sabra to do this herself. However the blonde wasn’t in the mood to coax the demoness. So much so that she didn’t say anything else as she walked towards the door, fully intent on doing it herself.

"Compassion and frivolity... You are a curious breed, indeed."

The observation was remarked upon with near-contempt, but a few seconds after, Sabra made the spontaneous decision to declare, "No." A pointed look being cast at the basked in the blonde's arms. Books flipping faster around her, before falling back to the floor. This time, softly, not abruptly. "You will not."

It came across like the order it was. Sabra waiting only moments before rising properly to feet, once again. The way she approached the Slayer seeming confrontational, but that was just her default body language. Unavoidable, for now.

"There will be somewhere else. Something bigger. I will have it."

Green eyes were shut as she reached the door. Sabra had a way of kicking the ego until it curled, shrivelled and bruised, into a pocket sized mess. “Sure. Lets add frivolous to my list of traits you can’t stand. Fantastic.” On the surface what the demoness said shouldn’t warrant any kind of emotion. Though, given the months that had passed, the regular visits along with providing the shelter the creature craved and the things it needed, it was difficult to keep emotions out of it.

Valerie chewed the inside of her lip, winced when her tongue touched a sore spot on her gum thanks to being force fed, and opened her eyes again. “What?” The blonde asked, turning to view the brunette as she got up. “Somewhere else? What will you have?”

Honestly, sometimes talking to Sabra was like trying to solve a bunch of jumbled riddles. Language skills had clearly been picked up on quickly, but there were still more things to learn, correct phrases, structure. Though Valerie had been impressed to begin with she kept it to herself, something she did right then as she searched inside herself for the usual calm she felt. The only possible conclusion she could come to was the washing basket, so she handed it over and pulled open the door to step into the hallway. If Sabra wanted to wash her own clothes then she wasn’t going to argue. Just like she wasn’t about to leave the brunette to handle it herself. Supervision in that department felt crucial.

Mechanical seemed a good way of describing Sabra's social skills, such as they were. Had no reason to care that Valerie's feelings were hurt, beyond rare curiosity.

A ghost of a smile briefly visited those lips and Sabra stepped, cat-like, in front of the girl when she attempted to remove herself, blocking the girl's path.

"Your city," she stated, matter-of-factly. "It will be an acceptable start to my kingdom."

How did one even begin to deal with a declaration like that? To just be told by an ancient being that they had simply decided to take your residential district for its own? And for a Slayer, someone duty-bound to protect the very innocents who would presumably fall victim to servitude - how would she react?

"You will be my executioner, once my armies have been gathered and united the nations as one."

Sabra’s smile held a haunting tone as the woman invaded her space and blocked the open door. Momentarily the blonde expected some sort of confrontation. Actually tensed, ready for it. Perhaps that came in handy, for the words the demoness shared left a sickening chill through Valerie. Lips parted to exhale a shaky breath. In her mind, she pictured destruction, a blackened, smoke ridden sky that blocked out the sun. Buildings on fire. Masses slaughtered and positioned into twisted piles similar to the ones scattered around the room Sabra had set up with specific intent.

Valerie’s eyes widened briefly at executioner. Morbid curiosity took over her mind before she could stop it. Now she pictured herself, no humanity, primal in ferociousness, feral in spirit, cleaving those in two who stood in her way. It was beyond horrifying. And yet, the smallest part of her rationalised that even though it was utterly mad, Sabra had hypothetically not only spared her life, but appointed her more or less like a right hand man.

Disturbed, the blonde forced a smile and held her hands up. This had to be shot down straight away, but in a way that didn’t cause anger. Diplomatic, even though Valerie had no idea how to defuse the bomb of a statement. “While I admire your ambition and thank you for the offer I don’t support or suggest that you claim a kingdom. I’m here to teach you how to fit in, you wouldn’t fit in at all if you started taking over with armies. I couldn’t be a part of that.”

Sabra's head tilted, registering, processing the reply. Valerie seemed to have a knack for knowing what to say and how to say it, at moments like these. She was appointed to act in the capacity of a guide. It made the demoness pause in consideration.

"Why?"

Which was just as valid a response in its own right. The Slayer was fast, agile and, most of all, strong. Capable.

"You serve another?" She asked, frowning in suspicion. "You would rather take another station - a concubine?"

It had a form of logic to it. Especially when Sabra could not understand why the offer would be logically refused. Was she seeking a more applicable role?

Valerie tilted her head in turn. Eyebrows arched ever so slightly as she waited for the inevitable questions. Deceptively easy and innocent on the surface like a child questioning the order of things. The trouble however was that the questions were never easy to answer. Complicated, complex explanations were required to justify her own answers and it was difficult to gauge what would be accepted and what would be scoffed at.

“No, no, I serve myself.” Valerie’s words were soft, not coaxing, just gentle. A way to convey that she wasn’t trying to upset Sabra. Then just like that, they were back to the earlier discussion, and the blonde felt her mouth hang open for a second as she tried not to think of what being a concubine would truly entail.

“Oh, well that’s, tempting.” She said, tense, trying to pick her words carefully especially since Sabra was so close and still blocking the exit. “But you don’t find me mating material and I like to snuggle so that would just be…” She swallowed thickly. “Odd.”

Lips pressed together as Valerie took what she hoped wasn’t going to be her last breaths and added, “I just think it would be best if you didn’t limit yourself to that idea so soon. Experience the world, mingle, learn to adapt before you decide to destroy the world as I know it. I can’t help you otherwise. I mean look at it this way, you’re not dying anytime soon, perhaps ever, so there’s no rush for any kind of apocalyptic refurbishment. Right?”

There was an addition to the list of awkward moments when Sabra queried, "Snuggle?" Like an insect or bird, upon each fresh question; eyes wide with curiosity and head being given to quick, darting little movements.

Again, though, Valerie's instincts proved correct and her logic was met with Sabra's gaze trailing to the floor, weighing up options. Considering. This was, after all, a completely different species. Something very much alien to this world and a living fragment of somewhere far more terrifying and dangerous. A proverbial dragon in paradise and potentially capable of subjecting the mortal creatures of this realm to unknown horrors. Something dark and old, risen from the primordial.

"Your words have value," Sabra replied, after a fashion. Score one for the Slayer... Prospective city-wide - perhaps even planet-wide - destruction had been headed off at the pass. Who said befriending ancient powers of death didn't have benefits? "You prove your wisdom."

Nodding silently, Sabra moved, allowing the girl to pass if she wished. Was satisfied by the answers.

"My past is still lost to me... I should discover this," she observed with a glance at hand, opening and closing the palm. The hand of a woman once named Sabra, now apparently consumed and adapted for a hellish being's vehicular purpose. "There lays a skeleton. In the desert. Will you help retrieve it?"

It was a toss up as to whether the question itself caused the most embarrassment or the proximity it had been asked at. Sabra’s wide eyed curiosity combined with the light scents of cleanliness left Valerie feeling very much like the rabbit about to be run over, startled but frozen to the spot. “It…” She bit the inside of her lip and cringed. “Okay affection can take many forms. It’s considered intimate when two people like to snuggle, which is like a longer version of a cuddle together, kissing is sometimes involved.” How did she get herself into these conversations? “You know what a cuddle is, right? A hug?” Don’t make me demonstrate.

Stunned came close to what Valerie experienced when Sabra not only decided to scrap her plans of world domination but actually gave her a proverbial pat on the back. So it happened to be incredibly peculiar, in that moment the blonde didn’t care, she’d take it. Earth wouldn’t be swallowed by an army of supernatural mass destruction. A moment of silence to take it in, feel relief flood her veins, warm her blood.

Valerie watched Sabra curiously as she spoke. The woman could be intensely frightening one second, then honestly open in such a way it almost appeared vulnerable. A glimpse to the creature she’d empathised with, confused in a world where it didn’t quite belong. “I agree.” The words were quiet but held a resolve, they needed to know where Sabra came from and if there could be a way to send her back. Even if it meant discovering that they couldn’t. After all, how did you take a demon out of a body once it had been fused with it? If they could even find out what primal entity it actually was.

The impending headache quelled when the question was asked. Valerie actually smiled, crooked but genuine as she savoured the fact that Sabra had asked for help instead of instructing her to do something. It was nice, albeit over a skeleton somewhere in the desert, but still. The blonde checked her watch, barely quarter past eight. “Yes.” She said with a nod. “I will. In fact, we can skip laundry for now. Dusk is close, we can leave right now if you want to get the next bus, we’ll need to make a quick stop for shovels, though.”

Given that the end of the world was no longer nigh, digging up a skeleton seemed like a pretty fair trade, especially if it gave them insight into how Sabra came to be. More importantly, who had been responsible for it happening. “So where in the desert is it and what was it when it was alive? Wait hold on, how do you know there’s a skeleton out there?”

Cuddles and hugs? Fortunately, Sabra's silence made it ambiguous. Perhaps she was aware of the gesture, but even if she was, it didn't sound like the kind of thing she had personally experienced or tried to elicit. If she had demanded a demonstration, it would have been awkward, to say the least. A cynic might be tempted to say this was Valerie's lucky day.

"Dangerous," she replied, answering the girl's initial query. "How do I know?" A fleeting smile... Slight, but it was there. But that indicated fondness. Pleasant nostalgia.

What did a demon find enjoyable to remember?

"I witnessed its exile."

Silent was the sigh of relief when the topic of affection simply dropped off the proverbial path to be replaced with something honestly sinister. Well, the smile wasn’t entirely bad. Sabra clearly enjoyed the fact that she had watched a demon being banished to this world. Perhaps even found a sense of satisfaction in the things demise, but couldn’t the same be said for her? Every fight Valerie won, every kill she had to make, they granted a fleeting sense of satisfaction. They evoked a form of pleasure because ultimately she had survived. Grim perhaps to find enjoyment from anothers demise, but when it was a fight to the death anyone that didn’t enjoy the fact that they still breathed must have a death wish. Frankly the blonde didn’t, even when the odds were stacked against her Valerie survived because of one thing. She wanted to live and had nothing to lose. Did that make her ruthless in combat or simply tactical? Both, perhaps, a creation of all that she was.

“Oh, well that sounds fun, in a Roman-Gladiator-spectator way.”

Though the tone was light it was hard to tell whether sarcasm had been involved. Valerie shrugged lightly. The mystery now solved. “So these bones.” She began breezily, stepping into the hallway so that Sabra could follow. “You want them for decoration, right, or to learn something about your past? Not for some kind of ritual to unleash…”

Valerie’s left hand raised to wave between them like a snake as they walked down the corridor and out of the front exit. She held off from finishing until they stepped onto the street, after purposefully ignoring the curious glance from the woman at the front desk. “Well, anything, actually. Decoration I’m fine with but I’m not helping you if it’s to do some kind of hocus pocus spell to cause havoc. I have a test next week, I’d like to have slept at some point before it. You know, rather than spend every waking hour hunting it, or whatever, down.”

Digging up bones in the desert would cause any normal person to frown disapprovingly at the very least yet the blonde was looking forward to it. It spoke to that child inside that had wanted to go off in search of buried treasures. Skeletons weren’t quite what she’d hoped for when she was five but right now it didn’t seem so bad. Curiosity to discover what exactly the thing looked like, how big it would be, these were as good as gold to Valerie. Thirst for knowledge, you either had it or you didn’t, and if you did you knew it would never truly be quenched.

“What did it do?”

The question came from seemingly nowhere as the blonde side stepped a guy on a bike to glance up at Sabra. “To get exiled. What did it do?” Valerie held no remorse for it, if Sabra claimed it to be dangerous then she was quite glad it had met its demise rather than it roaming the earth.

"It will be a gift... You will like the reason."

Sabra's walking posture had improved from the relatively primtive gait of before. Still, though, she gave the impression of being both watchful and... Entitled might not be the most accurate term, but someone self-assured. Confident. Looking left and right as she came to corners; looking for threats, but not in the least afraid of the potential challenge.

"It..."

But the question made her falter. Gaze trailing down until it hit the ground, searching for answers and ultimately finding none.

"It was disagreeable," she settled upon and continued on. "It is difficult to know of things, but... Not remember. To only have stirrings. I should have eaten their minds... Those who summoned me. Perhaps they would know."

At that, Sabra halted her step and turned suddenly the Slayer's way. Yeah... She was considering it. Thinking about eating Valerie's brain. Wondering if it might help. Then recalled the girl hadn't been at the ceremony.

"You have..." A look somewhere between distaste and confusion. This was a concept Sabra still didn't understand and wasn't sure if she wanted to. "Compassion. What would you do to help me remember?"

Edited 2013-11-25 05:11 (UTC)

The idea of a gift left Valerie perplexed. Mostly because it had been unspecified as to who or what might be receiving it. Mixed with a hint of suspicion and a twist of intrigue that the woman understood the practice of gift giving. The question was on the tip of her tongue, but she kept it behind closed teeth to swallow it back down. When they found it, Sabra would tell her. Whether or not the blonde would be pleased for the reasons behind it were unclear, and though she knew better, the smallest part of her wanted to believe the brunette was right.

Exiled for a disagreement. Some things never changed, and apparently transcended human nature at its most brutal. All through the ages people had been shunned and banished for all kinds of things. Some peculiar and frankly petty things. Take away technology and the human species really hadn’t changed much. Sometimes Valerie wondered why the world hadn’t burned already. Then there was her, and eight others, fighting to maintain a balance that never stopped trying to tip in the demonic favour. Insanity was doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. Valerie didn’t feel mad, so concluded that she wasn’t looking for any results, just watched the scales as they tipped back and forth.

Only when Sabra halted did the blonde break out of her thoughts. The woman’s words catching up to her as she noticed the look and held up her hands. “No. This mind is mine, I’ve looked after it my whole life, you go get your own. Wait...” Valerie paused, made a face as she heard her own words and shook her head. “You know what I mean, no eating me. Not even a nibble.”

A golden eyebrow lifted quizzically as Sabra said compassion. The way it fell from her lips you’d think it was putrid. For that reason Valerie pitched in with mild sarcasm simply to give herself a smile. “I do so enjoy it when you talk dirty.” Before Sabra had a chance to ask she added, “That’s a joke, because you said the word as if it were something filthy.”

Though she started walking again the blonde fell silent for a moment. What would she do? If she had no memory… “I’d go back to the first place I woke up with amnesia.” Valerie glanced towards Sabra, held her gaze for a second before she spoke.

“Now that you’re more accustomed to what things are, learned language, it makes it easier to find the place where you were summoned. I say we start there. Find the people who did it, question them. If they don’t know what you are they should at least know where you came from. Then we take it from there. Once we know that it’ll make it easier to piece the puzzle back together.”

It went unsaid but she hoped they could at least find out something.

Valerie found the nearest superstore, because you could always count on them for having the things you wanted fairly cheap. Two shovels, a rucksack now packed with flashlights, bottled water, garbage bags (because who knew how many bones there would be) and one trowel later, and they had left the store in reasonable time. The bus journey had gone in faster than she’d expected, which sounded funny since they’d walked for what seemed like ages through the desert until finally she found herself asking, “We’re close, right?”

The allusion to dirty comments earned the girl a scowl. An unintentionally comical one. Sabra was learning, slowly but surely, not to instinctively lash out with violence or threats of the same and her attempts at what passed for subtlety could seem a little child-like and unsure.

"Yes... Close," the demoness now answered. Then stopping suddenly, looking down. "Here."

A few scuffs of boot and Sabra began to dig. A mechanical, unfeeling motion. Robotic, yet strong. Whoever Sabra had been in her human days, what inhabited her body now was giving it quite the work-out and not seeming to care. No instructions. Not seeming too bothered as to whether the girl assisted or not.

Then came a shift in tone as the shovel hit something.

"This..."

Sand was dusted away, revealing a stone coffin-like contained. A harsh thud of the shovel's blade and the cover shattered. For a few moments, nothing. Then, from the shadowy interior... Something grabbed the side with a taloned, skeletal hand, pulling itself up.

It was a skeleton, alright. It just happened to be animated.

At the time Sabra’s scowl had evoked a bright toothy grin from Valerie who appeared to take some delight in being able to cause a brief sort of mild aggravation like an itchy sweater. After she’d wasted her burger for nothing, it seemed like a fair consolation prize. Now she was the one scowling, as the demoness stopped to declare they were exactly where they needed to be. Really, she couldn’t have said they were close before they were on top of it?

Valerie sighed, rolled her eyes, and set the backpack down. She took out one of the flashlights, clicked it on, then sat it on top of the bag to give them a better view of the hole Sabra had already started. The blonde joined in with relative ease, unbothered by the sailing dust and clumps of dirt showering over them with each toss of the shovel. In fact, she hummed to herself, a ghost of a smile curving her lips at the corners. Minutes passed before Sabra struck rock and announced they’d found what they were looking for. Well, a makeshift grave meant no excavation of the bones, the trowel had been a wasted purchase.

Hands worked with Sabra’s as the blonde cleared the top, an odd sense of pleasure felt at being able to touch what they’d been looking for. Valerie was ready to grab the shovel to wedge the lid off when the brunette hit it so hard the clang echoed like a gunshot and the stone shattered to bits. Impressive, the blonde had to admit, though all she said was, “I declare this the perfect time for a water break.” Then hopped out of the two foot shallow grave to rummage for a bottle. She’d just finished half, re-capped it and tossed it to Sabra with a gentle, “Here.” When she saw it.

Green eyes widened, Valerie froze for no more than a second before pointing incredulously, “It’s still alive Sabra?! You said this thing was dangerous!” And all she had was a shovel for protection. In the middle of nowhere. With a demoness she currently confronted. “You never told me it would still be moving!”

It was safe to say, as the thing began to get up, that it was for all intents and purposes still very much dead. Chunks of stone rattled and fell out of bones as it emerged with a shake. Valerie peered into the darkness behind half closed lids, torn between wanting to see and pretending it didn’t exist. Fear of the unknown won out in the end and she picked up the torch to send the bright beam of light into the grave. Dull grey bones looked akin to prehistoric, teeth still intact were viciously long and no doubt just as sharp. Talons much larger carved a path in the dirt as it climbed free and then it turned to look with large empty eye sockets at Valerie. Who stood gawking at the other side of the hole.

“Sabra? What’s it...”

Valerie’s whisper trailed off as a long skeletal tail swung from side to side, then stopped. It hit the ground with a thump, much like the flashlight that fell from the blondes fingers.

Sabra had countered the accusation with a puzzled, "It should matter?" The bottle, however, remained caught in hand. Sabra seeming to react to it like just another tool. Her expression, however? It was ridden with confusion, as if the very notion of her appointed guide getting cold feet, just because the monstrosity still lived, was insanity personified.

And from the darkness, the beast did step. An ancient from the shadows, a creature from the maw... A draconian tyrant from the primordial age, bones propelling it forth without reliance upon muscle or sinew as it roared. Sabra momentarily unhinging jaws to spew verbal fury, right back.

Two titans from a time long past.

"Remove its head!"

The display would have been impressive, were Valerie's new opponent taller than mere waist-height...

“Ffft.” Was the only response Sabra got as Valerie lifted her hand to motion towards the thing. Waist height for Sabra meant it stood on all fours and reached the blonde’s ribcage. If it were a dog, she’d have barely blinked. However, a dog it was not, and dead it already was. It could do a lot of damage with those bones and she took a step back as it let out an ungodly roar that shouldn’t have been possible. While Sabra distracted it with one of her own in retaliation, like a pair of bickering rivals, her fingers scraped at the dirt until she found the shovel.

One thing was for sure, Sabra didn’t have to tell her twice.

Valerie swung the shovel above her head and leapt across the hole, bringing it solidly down at the back of it’s neck as she landed. The sound as metal cleaved bone made her ears want to bleed, or maybe that was the things last shriek as it’s jaw fell off, the skull dropping the next second to bounce once while the body crumbled like a house of cards. Bones clattered together into a jumbled pile and the blonde wiped a dirty hand across her forehead.

“Okay.” She breathed, turning her attention back to the brunette. “Who is getting this gift, and what’s the reason I’ll be pleased about?”

Edited 2013-11-27 02:37 (UTC)

From a casual visit to an ancient demon's motel room to dispatching a prehistoric horror in the Nevada desert... Not a bad evening's start.

"Good," Sabra simply replied in approval, moving to collect fallen remains into bags. Nothing ceremonial about it. No respect or delicacy. Just a look given to the bottled water of before when she was complete, uncapping it to liberally spray over the elderly-looking sarcophagus. Nothing but pure, clean water... But because of that, it had an instantaneous effect upon what had been housing the creature. The moment the liquid came into contact with it, the container began to hiss, crack and act like it had come under attack from pouring acid. Sabra watching on at the stoney remains which were rapidly crumbling to dust. Soon, there would be no evidence it had existed.

"You..."

A direct answer and probably a surprising one, too. Sabra eyeing the girl expectantly, perhaps with a view to some sort of gratitude. Perhaps not. Ultimately, it didn't really matter. She was still machine-like and registered the need to clarify matters a few moments later.

"A museum... Their historians make false assumptions. They will call this a 'dinosaur'. They will reward you with payment. A great deal of it... This one was rare."

A beat.

"We could steal money, if you prefer it?"

Valerie had been too engrossed in watching the crude coffin disintegrate from nothing more than bottled water to really pay attention to what Sabra said . Momentarily she paused, as if to check that her internal organs weren’t currently liquefying, and sighed with relief when she concluded she felt just fine. She flashed a grin towards the brunette as she helped collect the bones into the bags they’d brought. Other than the surprise of being faced with the moving skeleton of a beast she was glad didn’t have flesh, Valerie was actually enjoying herself. It showed, in the way she went about doing things without any hint of frustration, occasionally humming to herself.

“Me?”

The blonde stood up after tying a bag shut to blink at Sabra, taken aback by the revelation. Eyebrows arched ever so slightly as if silently asking why, and the brunette gave an answer that stunned. Valerie wasn’t sure why she moved, just that one minute she’d been standing there, wide eyed and the next she’d invaded Sabra’s space to wrap her arms around the brunette. Silly perhaps, and in hindsight frankly embarrassing, but she was so caught up in the moment that words failed her. Gifts of any kind weren’t something she was accustomed to, especially of such magnitude. “Thank you.” She mumbled against Sabra’s shoulder, then promptly took a step back as rich laughter escaped her throat.

“No stealing, even though I’m pretty sure between us we’d be able to pull it off with ease.”

Valerie couldn’t help it, for the first time in a long time the world didn’t feel like it was crushing down on her shoulders. Whether Sabra understood friendship or wanted it was too bad, the blonde gave her a look that said they were, even if it happened to be one sided. Though from the gift, Valerie suspected it was a two way street, no matter how tentative.

One of the best methods for confronting demonic activity was said to be by using love. It didn't always work, of course, but it was a valid countermeasure for anyone. Perhaps partially because of that, the infernal entity just stood there with a wide-eyed expression of surprise etched upon her face, like Valerie had just told her she had been pissing in her morning cereal.

For all the world, if someone had taken a feral cat and dunked it in water, the result was not unlike what showed now. No matter how many ways it was spun, this was something which was born of primal hatreds and spite. Giving it a hug was the last possible thing expected.

Sabra had half a mind to query if this was about mating, again.

"Yes," she replied, succinct and confused. How was she... Meant to react to such an unnatural-feeling gesture? Mouth opened and she took in a breath to say something, but while mouth parted, no words emerged. Sabra repeating the attempt a second time, only to end up with the same result.

She looked back in the direction they had walked, then back to the Slayer. Back and forth, again. Just as suspiciously. Cautious. Hugging was... Strange.

"We should go back," she said and began, with unsure footing, to make off in their worn direction.

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