Intermedia

[ooeeooahah]

[ Ilsa is tired. ]

[ She's been working the horrendous secretarial job to keep from being droned, using the slack times to type up the history of her world, chipping in to the office petty cash funds to cover the costs of the materials she uses. ]

[ Then it's heading home to deal with the general household maintenance, and try to keep the facade

Comments

action;

[hotfrombehind]

[For all his restlessness, Pyro figures he has to come home at some point. As much as he'd like to avoid people, he knows it's not really good for anyone. He pops upstairs and puts away his briefcase and his suit jacket before he returns to the kitchen where he can hear and smell human activity.

He stands awkwardly in the doorway.] Uh. Need help, or anything?

[ooeeooahah]

Well, the laundry is in the same section, but I put some better storage in that section. Part of it is my office, so people don't have to worry as much about housemates walking in on their session.

[ She smiles a little, ] And since I tend to... gravitate to anyone in the same bed with me, a bedroom suite, so I'm not taking up the "guest" bedroom. From what I've seen in some or the other houses, that room could be another child's room.

[ She frowns, a little worried. ] We haven't really talked about it, but... Mayfield assigned us as partners, and I'm not wanting to cause problems in the house. Is it going to upset you if I have friends stay overnight?

[hotfrombehind]

[He blinks and sits up a little straighter.] No, of course not. Just warn me about it before it happens so I can, you know, duck out of here for the night.

[ooeeooahah]

I had hoped the bedroom downstairs would be far enough away to not be intrusive. That way I wouldn't be... disturbing.

[ Oh, for... is she blushing? Nah, just a trick of the light, right. ]

[hotfrombehind]

[Blink blink.] Yeah, it probably is. But that doesn't mean that I wouldn't know what you were, you know, doing and shit.

[He looks at the table and starts to tap his foot against the floor.] I dunno, it's totally fine. I don't really sleep much anyway; if I need to, I'll crash here when it's morning. Or afternoon. Or, you know, whatever.

[ooeeooahah]

[ She looks as if she is going to say something, and then pauses a few moments. When she finally speaks, she's quiet, but meets his eyes. ]

I hope that you're able to find what you need. I...

[ She pauses again, as if trying to find the right words. ]

If I can help, please let me know.

[hotfrombehind]

[For a few moments, he gives her a questioning stare.] Uh... Thanks? I will when I can? It's not really a big deal or anything.

[Just a look of "what is this lady talking about".]

[ooeeooahah]

[ She smiles, shrugs ] I just wanted you to know I'd help if you needed it. For most things. I guard, and protect.

[hotfrombehind]

[He hums and stares at the table again.] Yeah. Thanks.

[He looks up again and quirks an eyebrow.] Were you anything else besides a shrink where you came from?

[ooeeooahah]

Like I said, a guardian.

[ Her tone of voice says "no big deal", and her smile is serene. She shrugs, and turns her palm up. A pale blue light blossoms over her hand, and forms into a dragon, dancing over her palm before fading out. ]

[hotfrombehind]

Oh shit, you do have superpowers. Woah.

[His eyes flicker from her palm to her face as he chews on his bottom lip, trying to resist the urge to ask a bunch of questions at once.]

So does that mean there were something like fucking monsters or some shit back in your home, or what?

[ooeeooahah]

[ A giggle escapes her, ] We usually didn't catch them in the act.

[ Then she gives a sober nod. ] Sometimes there were things that came to our world to hunt, and people who messed with things they shouldn't. Most of the job was watching out for trouble spots and taking care of the city. But it's a volunteer gig, which is why I have a day job as a psychiatrist.

[hotfrombehind]

[Rolls his eyes.] Hardiharhar.

Always out to help, huh? [Purses his lips for a moment.] So you're not from earth, yeah?

[ooeeooahah]

Hmm... we call it Earth, but honestly - I've met a lot of people who come form somewhere like home, but not exactly the same. It's hard to tell, considering how we usually hide the magework, and sometimes the normals back home just don't see the magic.

But [ she hesitates, biting her lip ] I know a couple of people who travel between the neighboring dimensions. There's a lot of theoretical physics involved in the explanation that I don't totally follow, yet.

So, yeah, I'm from Earth, but probably not the same one you're from. That might come in handy if we can get refugees transferred to other dimensions if they were taken from bad situations.

[hotfrombehind]

So it's kinda like a magical version of the earth I'm from. That shit sounds real fucking complicated.

[Because really, all he cares about is the fancy magic.] What's the worst thing you've encountered?

[ooeeooahah]

You aren't wrong on that one.

[ She rubs the back of her neck as she thinks. ]

Worst thing on my own was the ifrit in the mall, but that was when I was a teenager, and not part of a team yet.

The worst thing my team had to take down was a river shoggoth that was sneaky enough to get a cult going with a bunch of the managers of a hydroelectric dam. Dang thing nearly got deity status before we found it.