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.

Comments

[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."