Lessons In Living

[valerie_vause]

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.

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[valerie_vause]

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.”

[primordial_visitation]

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?"

[valerie_vause]

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?

[primordial_visitation]

"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.

[valerie_vause]

“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.

[primordial_visitation]

"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?"

[valerie_vause]

“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.

[primordial_visitation]

"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."

[valerie_vause]

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.

[primordial_visitation]

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."