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[notsonewbie]

derringers

derringers#1225

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ABOUT ME

Meryl Stryfe, at your service!

NOTE

(Unless it's about something Vash did)

Message @username

Comments

willowwwwwwww 😍

[notsonewbie]

Hi, Willow! I think I should be able to track some information down, yeah! Who are you looking for?

[livlaughlove]

you're going to be awful busy with everyone else, right? or were you going to use that as a cover...

shit, just tell me what you want and i'll do that

[notsonewbie]

It's a cover!
Pretty clever, huh? Now he won't know if I'm asking for me or for someone else.

[livlaughlove]

you're real clever, miss meryl!

i mean just meryl

god

[notsonewbie]

And you're real cute, Mr. Livio.

[livlaughlove]

HEY NOW

[notsonewbie]

[Meryl does flinch, but it's only out of surprise at the thrill that runs through her. To her credit, she does quickly correct herself, dipping her chin enough to initiate the contact once more. Her lashes flutter dreamily, like she's in some vapid romance novel. She'd be embarrassed, if she weren't on cloud nine.]

You - [She squeezes her eyes shut, as if it might block out what an absolute embarrassment she was becoming.] You're just as good at this as I remember. Thought it might have been a dream, honestly. Or the magic messing with my memory.

[notsonewbie]

0:)

[livlaughlove]

what is that

are you ok

[notsonewbie]

[This is... the most ostentatious assortment of pens, ink, and paper she's ever seen in her life. Never would she be caught dead purchasing something like this of her own volition. She could only imagine the humiliation that would have come with using these around her former colleagues.

... but they're really cute, the most she looks at them. And even if they weren't, the fact that someone had gone out of their way to get them for her, based off of her own vague and barely described interests? She's touched to say the least.

Which is why they all end up front and center in the middle of her desk. Meryl even spends the night transcribing some of the notes from her current notebook into the new one. And once all is said and done, she makes sure to send a voice message over to Grog.]

You have really good taste, you know that? Thanks a lot for the gifts.

[wildwarden]

( Were it not for that quick correction, Night Sky would be muttering an apology and retracting her hand. Instead, she was shifting to cup Meryl's cheek, and laughing. )

It certainly felt like it at times, but it was real, and I meant everything I said. ( her hand dropped after a few gently strokes of her thumb under Meryl's eye. ) Come here. Let me give you your gifts before we get distracted. ( there was a nearly imperceptible lilt in her voice- hopeful that they might very well get distracted anyway. )

[notsonewbie]

It's. It's a smile.
With a halo.
I'm innocent!

[livlaughlove]

[Give him a few minutes to squint and turn it around in his hands...]

OH

haha you sure are

[notsonewbie]

0:)

[scads]

( this place has been a sort of … lesson in anger management, one could say, with regard to just how well he's been able to control his own temper since his arrival; a lot of it has to do with the fact that he still feels empty without the powers that had defined him as an independent, and pile the need to do things like eat and sleep and perform other human bodily functions on top of that —

it's been an adjustment, to say the very least of it. but narration is pretty sure that everyone that knows him more than just in passing would say that he's made more than just a little bit of progress.

so don't scowl too much, small one. your face is too pretty for things like that.

who the fuck said that!?

he's never been very good at sitting still, it's true, even when vash has always been the one brimming with restless energy; having always had an outlet for it before, his day-to-day in this place can sometimes feel … mundane, more than anything else, but he supposes he could chalk all of that up to it all being so different. and maybe it's part of the reason he'd been focusing on connecting with others more than he would have otherwise.

he picks up his mug and blows absently at the steam swirling upward, gaze flicking briefly down to meryl directly and then settling somewhere off-center. not looking at her, but keeping her in his periphery. )

I don't see it as going out of my way if I wish to do it. ( he says plainly, the implied duh lingering on the back of his tongue as though it might actually come out of him. it will not. that's more of a vash thing. ) There is also gardening … Cain has given me something to take care of and I would prefer not to disappoint him. ( he gave the plant a plant.

he and vash are gonna make a plot for him to do his own gardening … probably … in the very near future. and then this one is going to learn how to take care of plants that don't produce anything but what you get from photosynthesis. novel concept, innit. )

[anything_grows]

Arilanna Tayrey. I'm supposed to give them a present, but I don't think I've ever met them before.

[notsonewbie]

[Somewhere in Somnius, Meryl puts her head in her hands and screams. This is karmic punishment.]

Arilanna Tayrey! Got it! I'll be sure to gather some information and get back to you!

2/2

[notsonewbie]

[Aaand one unproductive conversation (on Meryl's part) later, someone comes dragging herself back.]

Soooo she's a little more secretive than I would have liked, but I do have a bit of information! She runs Sidra, which sells candles and other fire-starting supplies. I think there's also a vegetarian stall around somewhere, so I'd imagine she likes those things? Maybe Raven's Quill has a book or two about specific recipes?

One thing to keep in mind with her is that she's a little... touchy when it comes to receiving gifts. So I'd do my best to make sure it comes off as mutually beneficial. Or you could keep it anonymous.

Sorry I couldn't give you much more...

[notsonewbie]

[Meryl shivers at the mere thought of getting distracted with Sky. She's thought about it the last few weeks, that much is for certain. But no, she'll stay focused and -

Nope. Immediately distracted.]

Gifts? But I didn't get you anything. That isn't fair, you know! You should warn a gal first!!

[wildwarden]

Wouldn't be a surprise if I warned you though. ( She turned away from her just long enough to rifle around the area she clearly used for a bed - soft moss and a few blankets tossed into a pile - and pulled out a small box and a bouquet of chrysanthemums. She offered all of it to Meryl when she turned back toward her. )

Being able to see you again is enough for me. That you came here without any odd magic or influence tells me a lot. ( Inside the box, whenever Meryl did open it, was an assortment of blue toned rocks and a hand carved wooden crescent moon pendant with a black cord attached. )

That wood is from my homeworld. More specifically it's from the Everliving Tree. It's... very important to my people. It's what the entire forest sprang from and what we pray to so. Keep it safe, okay? No one else should ever have it.

[notsonewbie]

[In those few seconds, Meryl seems to forget how to use her hands. She holds them out limply, not quite shaking, but definitely loose in their posture. Vacantly, she stares at Night Sky, confused and awestruck all at once. She doesn't deserve gifts of this caliber, not ones that are so obviously thoughtful and catered specifically to her.]

Night Sky - [Finally, she remembers how to move her body. She takes the box first, in favor of opening it. It doesn't help matters, considering how she was already reeling from just a passing glance.]

This is... so much. [She closes the box in favor of holding it close to her chest with one arm. The other hand takes the bouquet and then does the same. Maybe if she buries her face in the flowers, it'll keep Sky from seeing how flustered she's become?]

[notsonewbie]

[With the mug now filled, Meryl gladly lifts it up. She pulls it upward and inhales, drawing in the heated vapor. Just as she had said before, the smell of the tea is divine — perhaps even better now that it's begun to bloom beneath the boiling water. Like him, she blows delicately against the liquid, before taking a sip.

It still burns, but with it comes a taste that makes her eyelids flutter shut. Maybe it's just been awhile, but it would seem she's thoroughly impressed by the offering.]

It's good. [Her tone is almost dreamy, and the words little more than a whisper. She seems to realize how embarrassing she sounds after a moment, and swiftly twists her head away.] I mean. Thank you. You did really well.

[She swirls the mug idly as he speaks. He might not speak the duh, but she can definitely feel it in his words. It gets him a narrow-eyed look, but she says nothing more. Someone's been thoroughly pacified by her offering.]

It sounds like it'll be a good thing for both of you then. And I'm sure Cain will be happy to see his gift to you flourish.

[wildwarden]

( Night Sky hadn't been nervous while thinking up the exact gift she wanted to give, nor the entire process of finding the right colored stones that reminded her of Meryl's eyes, not even while she was carving the pendant from the strong wood of the Tree. But watching Meryl and hearing her speak, she felt almost nauseous. )

Too much? ( Said softly, her eyes glancing down to the box and flowers, back up to Meryl's face while she tried to hide it. ) I know we just met, and a lot of magic shit was messing with us, and if it's too much I won't - I understand. I just... thought about you a lot since that night and I wanted you to know.

[notsonewbie]

No. No, no, no! [She doesn't have free hands to wave about, but the waver in her voice certainly implies the level of flailing that she wants to put forth. She settles for shaking her head furiously, to the point that she almost stumbles from the dizziness.

Or maybe that's just all the blood in her face.]

I just - how can I ever get you something as well meaning as this. Something carved from a tree that means that much to you? I don't see how I deserve something like that.

[She looks down to her feet, watches as her shoe presses a little furrow into the earth.]

But I like it. It's perfect. And - you're not the only person that's been thinking of someone. Pretty sure I might have dreamed about you. [Wait. She should not have said that outloud.]

[wildwarden]

( Night Sky could safely say she had never seen someone shake their head so aggressively, and stayed close in case the poor woman did actually fall over; a hand hovering just at her shoulder. )

You... dreamt about me? ( Sorry. She would have to circle back to the gift giving bit, because that last part was what really stuck out to her. Night Sky felt a fluttering in her chest and that same nauseousness, only for an entirely different reason now; a blush creeping along freckled cheeks and up to the tips of her pointed ears. ) The fact that someone like you would even think twice about me is gift enough, I think. What more could I ask for?