etraya | un: hidden

( cw; drug use—marijuana )

[ The woman's voice that scrapes through the network's channel keeps low and calm, with a vocal fry that is uttered in a distinctly English accent. ]

The dragon of recent arrival, whom I believe to be named Zhaera, wishes nothing to do with us, and so I would suggest leaving her be. Her only concern seems to be in mothering, and the power she wields would be no small thing if she feels the need to defend her nest. Best not to invite her ire when she has yet any cause to make of herself a monster.

She knows even less than we do about her sudden appearance. Perhaps if she did, she would not be so willing to keep to her singular cause.

I should also think that the serpents deserve no ill will en masse unless they become an immediate threat. I'm of no mind to make demands, but perhaps they can be herded into the woods where they can better find the prey they likely crave. A task I am willing to take on should any with the skill wish to assist.

Aurora has given us few choices aside from what we do with these trials presented.

[ The pause that follows is not from hesitation, but a drag that includes a whispered exhale of smoke that remains unseen on the network. Should anyone happen upon where she's seated on a bench near the café and bookstore, Vanessa—in all of her black-laced glory—is smoking a joint.

The rasp softens with her murmur. ]

We are all outsiders, after all.

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Conversation was a bit thin, I'm afraid. What I gathered was more from lingering memory. Emotions. Intent.

I could understand when she was sharing her name, at least I believe so, but her language is yet unknown to me. Someone else with more experience on the matter may fare better.

So is that you're dragon-psychic, or that she's telepathic?

She may have such a skill, but that has never been required for me to read someone.

I can't go about listening to anyone's thoughts on a whim, if you are concerned over the matter. It isn't so simple as that.

Usually isn't, is it? I just didn't realize your skills extended to creatures.

[ Partially true: she didn't realize Ives had such skills at all. And in deference to both Ives' clear desire for ~~secrets~~ privacy, and her own desire to not let on too much about her own skills in a public post, she won't push for more details. Better to try that in person.

To wit: ]

You over in that city right now?

[ Her skills specialize in certain creatures, but that's neither here nor there. In this case, it was a mixed bag, given the dragon's sentience. ]

Not at the moment. I was planning to return a bit later.

Did you wish to meet?

Yeah, before you get eaten by a snake or something

My own personal guardian? And I have nothing to pay you with.

[ She should think Johanna would have more faith after the way she stopped Ethan and Heine, but then they had some human in them... ]

I am outside the café at the moment.

I didn't say I was going to go with you, did I?

[ It takes her a bit to find her way to the cafe. She has a decent sense of the geography around here after a few days of exploration, but the abrupt changes from city to transplanted compounds and back throw her off sometimes. Still, find her way she does.

As she approaches, she sniffs the air and raises the eyebrows. ]

You smoking?

[ Johanna can't see it, but the text response draws a smile and a silent breath of a half-chuckle. Hoping to get her curiosities out before Vanessa gets herself killed, then?

By the time she's found seated on the bench, Vanessa's smile is gone, but there's still an amiable neutrality to her tone when she glances up and nods. ]

It can be helpful when I need to focus.

[ There aren't too many other (easy) ways to quiet all those voices.

After a moment, she'll offer out the joint. One doesn't want to be rude. ]

Funny, I've never found it terribly conducive to focusing.

[ She takes a seat beside Ives and accepts the joint. ] Cheers, luv. [ The drag she takes is deep, and she holds the smoke in her lungs with the ease of experience before letting it go. One more puff and she passes it back. ]

Where do you get it?

[ This may not be as strong as what Constantine's generation is more accustomed to, but for Vanessa it was always just enough to calm her and make it that much more difficult for that pesky Devil to wriggle in—or for her Monster to crawl back out. Less likely to be bothered by spirits or demons or by the personal ghosts that follow everyone.

Much more conducive to her focus. ]

My former place of residence, or a mockery of it, was here on my arrival. And all that entailed.

[ Mimicry or not, it smokes just fine. ]

I had some in the City, as well, but my supply had been running low near the end. I had been fortunate in one way by arriving with the luggage I had been carrying at the time, on my way back to London.

[ She certainly doesn't expect to get stoned off two puffs. A contact high might be nice, though. Take the edge off of, you know. Everything. ]

Hang on. [ She ticks off questions on her fingers. ] Your home is here? What, to motivate you to save it, I suppose.

And are you saying you grow weed?

[ A soft, husky sigh of a chuckle escapes Vanessa's lips, her eyes glinting with amusement at Johanna's assumptions. ]

Not quite.

[ She takes a slow drag from the joint, holding the smoke for a moment before slowly exhaling. Home. A word weighed heavy in her longing. It was perhaps the closest to a physical home she'd ever had, even if it never truly counted. ]

The house isn't truly here. It's merely a facsimile, a shadow of what was. As for motivation...well, that remains to be discovered.

[ Her gaze drifts momentarily, as if lost in thought, before refocusing on Johanna. ]

And no, I don't grow it. These were part of a supply I kept within the house. A small luxury.

[ There's scarcely a pause before she carries on. ]

But I suspect that you wished to meet so as to ask me something else.

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