2.26 Nightingale

This won't work, he warns her telepathically, not trusting himself to speak.

"I know that," she says. "But it's okay to pretend for a little while."

Meela leans in closer to him and abandons her voice as well. You'll help me out of this stuffy cheongsam, won't you?

Not here...

The gutted house with the dungeon below holds too many nasty memories for both of them, that's true, so Meela creates a portal to somewhere else entirely.

Junpei looks nervous about it, but that's his default expression. 

He tried to learn a portal spell like that one and it went poorly.

That awkward moment when you realize you're in China.

Junpei thinks these windows have to be magic. Light is getting through, but it's not bothering Meela.

Junpei is so bad at being romantic, let's take a break to admire this picture of robins. I found the nest outside just a day before these little ones fledged.

It was less awkward than it should have been, Junpei reflects. Telepaths have no need to guess what the other person wants. They'd left their minds terrifyingly open and vulnerable.

He let Meela have what she wanted. That's all. The circumstances might not have lived up to her fantasy, but the realness of it makes up for that, sating her curiosity.

Meela has been with humans this way before, but never as an adult vampire. She is disturbed by the thrill of feeling blood rush under thin and breakable skin. The impulse to harm Junpei is almost too much to overcome. Her thumb digs under his chin painfully. "I'm... s-sorry..." She's distressed and sincere in her apology, apologizing for her violent thoughts, but still, Junpei is amused about how the 's' sound falters and lisps over her fangs.

He says nothing, trusting she won't follow through with what instinct wants her to do.

They smell like hygiene spells.

"You should put more thought into a longer lifespan," Meela suggests quietly.

"I'm not that kind of mage," Junpei answers.

"But there are ways..."

"No matter what method..." and there are many, "...the price is too high."

Just out for a little walk while Meela snoozes. The outskirts of Shang Simla are worth seeing.

Water falls from the sky.

Life as Junpei knows it can't exist without water, but it's still scary.

"You'd like to go home," she guesses, before he's said anything.

"I don't belong here."

"You could if you wanted to."

"I'm only human, Meela," he tries to steer her away from her train of thought. "I've seen the dangers of trying to be something more."

"You are already something more," she protests. Deep down she knows, even if she turned him, there's only a slim chance it wouldn't completely destroy the life she has here. The life she wants to keep, despite its limitations. 

The clans would scorn a turned human.

And he wouldn't be the same.

They're never the same, after they're turned.

Meela gives up and throws her arms around the mage one more time. I will miss you. Talking! It's so inefficient. So comparatively lacking of depth and sincerity. Also difficult mid-kiss.

So she made another portal. And they never saw each other again.

"Oh... you're not dead," Finley half sits up to greet her brother when he locates the place they're staying for the night. Reve is already asleep, and she should be too, but a nagging sense of something being wrong kept her from it.

"You were concerned?"

"I had no idea where you ran off to." But it felt like somewhere far away. "Wipe that stupid look off your face."

"Not to sound like a child, but are we going home soon?"

"I have a few more interviews scheduled for tomorrow. Then we can go."

"Copy that."

"Speaking of child, though," Finley adds, "I want you to take Reve tomorrow, and get as far away from the more populated parts of the city as you can. He's struggling to handle so many people's thoughts at once."




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Etc.: I installed University Life very recently and am still discovering its features. I don't know why the UL "heat of the moment" kiss included the broken heart speech bubble from Meela, but it was too amusing not to use.