auroraexpress | (no subject)

[Eliza is fully healed, freshly showered, and wearing a cute new dress because that's what trauma winnings are for.

[she's dragged a chair all the way from the Lounge to the garden car and is sitting in the sunshine with Lori in her lap and her dragonwolves at her feet. she's staring into the middle distance and muttering something to them in Latin.]

[Loki's out a ways from the train, fighting Demon Solar with magic blasts!

[Except "Demon Solar" doesn't move like she should, or talk. Or bleed. "She" lumbers around trying to grab Loki, and when his blasts hit, pieces of gingerbread go flying.]

[After retiring to his room to sulk (because seriously that endgame left the worst taste in his mouth) he tried to nap but found too much frustration burning in him for that. After trolling around on his Chain to pass time he found there was a notification for a memory token.]

[Up until this point he hadn't had much reason to care about his memories. Why should he? They held no baring here, and he had been doing just fine without. But now, he wondered. Would it make things easier if he just took the time to get to know himself? To have a name? To start being who he once was instead of just tagging along with anyone for the heck of it? He didn't really have an answer, but as always, curiosity won out over apathy and Klarion made his way to the viewing area of the Lounge.]

........

[Oh. Well. That was unfortunate*.]

[At first, he didn't show any sign of distress other than the tapping of his foot as he looked at the ground in front of him. But then his fists clenched against his knees, right about where the pants met the boots. And then he was up and pacing, rubbing at his face as his eyes darted back and forth.]

... I need that cat.

[[ooc: Please heed the warnings. Also, there are links directly to the comic pages for tl;dr]]

[Loki's blown off most of his anger on fake Demon Solars, but that memory is reminding him of a host of other things to be angry at. Poor kid. His people might even be more narrow-minded and judgmental than humans and Asgardians put together.]

That is... an unfortunate way to start to learn about who you are.

Do you know how you could reunite with the cat?

[There was so much there, and after this morning he didn't really want to deal with the emotional upheaval that he should be experiencing. Should be, but other than the reminder of fear, wasn't. Because he had someone else to worry about and they were more important right now.]

[He shakes his head, biting down on a knuckle as he tries to piece together more information about the cat. Unfortunately, this memory is all he has. The rest is blank.]

No. No, I do not. But the cat is very important. I need it. I need it now.

Edited 2020-04-23 04:29 (UTC)

Hm... [He pulls his Chain out of his magic storage dimension and flips through the menus, looking for anything that could be relevant.]

You may be able to buy it as a pet.

Could I? [The immediate spike of hope threads into Klarion's words, making him sound every bit the lonely child he is.]

I won't be able to stand it if I can't have that cat with me!

It is worth trying, once you have enough sparks.

[Speaking of, have a hug to help with gaining sparks.]

I'll definitely--oh!

[Well, that's surprising. He isn't sure what to do at first. A part of him knows what this is, if only physically, and another part of him, the most logical part, is screaming at him about how this person isn't someone he should allow this close just yet. But after a morning like that... a little physical comfort is more than welcome.]

[It still takes a moment, but he slowly relaxes into the hug and eases his own arms around Loki's slim form. Then he buries his face against him for good measure.]

[Words he mumbles against Loki's jacket are hard to hear but not impossible to make out:] ... Why did she have to be so mean?

[Loki wasn't expecting such a strong reaction, but he really should have. He also wasn't expecting to have a strong reaction of his own to the reminder of what Solar was like now, particularly as he was also reminded of the times she had comforted him like this.]

...I wish I knew. I must only hope that it is not permanent.

[If Loki didn't even know, then what hope did Klarion have to figure out what happened to their teammate? He just shook his head, fighting back angry tears.]

She said she didn't hate me. But how could she hurt me if she didn't have a reason to? I don't understand.

[Oh. That he can answer, and it hurts, too.]

Some people, when they hurt, they only wish to hurt anyone available. It does not matter who they hate, as long as they do not care about their target.

It would be easier if she did hate me. Because then I wouldn't have to care anymore.

That... is tempting. But when you give up on caring, you end up like that as you no longer care about anyone other than yourself.

[Since this fresh memory was all he had other than his experiences on the Aurora the last two days...]

... Perhaps that's not all such a terrible thing.

[ Meri can be found in the lounge, watching a memory and completely unaware of any and all trauma shenanigans that just went on. She ... uh, might be a little sticky? Or at least, her hair is. Why does she smell so strongly of honey this afternoon? ]

[ The memory itself is super dumb:

Meri's in her "house dragon" form, which is to say, she's the size of a decently-sized dog.

[Mao] is busy at his desk, doing research and typing notes for a piece of coursework (in advance, because he's a good, dedicated student). He's been busy for hours. He has been busy all day. And he's not paying her nearly enough attention.

She winds around the chair. Leans against his legs. Nudges his arm. Drops her head into his lap. Cheeps, chirps, and squeaks, because while she can understand him when he speaks, she hasn't quite gotten the hang of doing it herself just yet. She drags over a squeaky bone toy he bought for her and drops that into his lap. Pulls off his slippers with her teeth. She'd have knocked over his glass of water if it hadn't been empty for the past hour already. Nothing seems to get through to him. [Mao]. [Mao], please. [Mao]. Pay attention to Miya, [Mao].

In the end, there's only one thing for it. She steals the mouse right off the desk while he's distracted scribbling on a post-it note, and — shrinking herself mid-leap — hops up to take its place.

[Mao]'s warm, human hand cups over her back, pulling her here, pushing her there. A finger taps her head. She starts to purr. He wiggles her again, taps, taps, makes a quietly confused noise because why isn't his mouse working? She purrs louder.

And that's finally when it clicks. "Miya??" ]

[Loki shakes his head.]

It may seem that way, but it is not. When you stop caring about others, you stop considering them, for good or ill. You make mistakes that will bring you down, mistakes you would not have made if you had listened to others. And you can cause a lot of harm.

[That only made Klarion feel more powerless in this situation. He couldn’t respond with apathy this time but he was still frustrated. At least he knew he wasn’t alone in this, not like he had thought before when Solar had been so dismissive.]

So... [He pulls away a little to look up at Loki] ... What do we do now?

[Has been to one of the pods so not looking quite so frozen anymore but he is bundled up in a nice warm sweater. Oh wow he must have been really focused or really tired to not have paid attention to any of that. Ah, he said her name!]

. . .

Miya.

That's my name! Mao! Mao I know my name!

[Pen does; guess who is aware that some parts of his own world would burn him for sorcery and heresy, and would only not consider it because Des would survive?]

I'm reminded of one of Desdemona's previous riders. Umelan was nearly killed by her own people for being a sorceress. Put to sea on a cushion, so Des wouldn't jump to any of Umelan's killers.

[Pen is, as he said, letting Des make trees explode]

THis is going to be very sticky.

[Loki doesn't give in to powerlessness. Another hard-learned lesson.]

We learn what we can about what happened to her and use that to find out how to cure her. If it is Malice, the Star Prince may have all the answers. If it is caused by pony magic, the library might have books from her world with useful information.

[Pen will get a little salute from Loki.]

I am not certain how to rectify that if you cannot already use shields to protect yourself.

Are you here to take me up on my offer of illusions?

Well, Des is. And just for observation's sake. I've adapted magic from other traditions before. Once. Not efficiently, but it did give me some useful tricks.

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