I'll see you shortly. * * * Regina arrived to pick Arya up not long after she disconnected. Long enough that it made sense if the girl tried to follow it on a map, but not so long that they'd miss Neil and Charlie on the boardwalk. Although instead of coming to the door, she called up to let Arya know she was outside waiting.
Arya looks better than she did the day she arrived; her face is clean, at least. Her hair is...less tangled, but she's always had a problem getting her hair to behave. But her face and her clothes are clean. Needle is at her side, of course (Needle is always at her side, even when she's sleeping).
"Hello Regina," she called with a small smile as she approached.
"Hello, Arya," sweetheart. Regina greeted her with a warm smile and an extended hand, that was her concession to wanting to wrap her up in a hug.
And somehow there just happened to be a brush in her handbag, for if Arya would allow it, but that would wait a few minutes at least. Between Mother and Evie's birth mother, she knew better than to value details of appearance over well-being.
Arya accepted the offered hand, her left hand resting lightly on Needle's hilt, mostly out of habit; she didn't feel threatened at the moment, her posture more relaxed than tense.
"So...who's your friend?" she asked after a few moments of companionable silence.
Regina withdrew the brush from her handbag and showed it to Arya. "Would you mind if I brushed your hair for you?" she asked but kept walking, and also talking. "We haven't talked very much about what our worlds are like. Does yours have magic, for example? That's important, before I explain who Neil is."
Arya winced a little, but she nodded and paused for long enough to let Regina brush the tangles from her messy mop of hair. "Some people say that it's magic that holds up the Wall that the Night's Watch guards," she mused after a moment's thought. "I met a man who could change his face...and a red woman who said she was a witch and could see things in the fire. A long time ago, the Targaryens rode dragons, but they dragons are gone now. Only...there's rumors the last Targaryen princess hatched three, across the Narrow Sea."
Smiling not at the wince but in spite of it, Regina took the brush to Arya's hair, but she did it gently, carefully holding it just above the tangles so the strokes didn't pull. Her own had used to turn into a rat's nest after riding, which was why and when she'd learned to braid.
"I loved a dragon once. A shapeshifter who could become dragon," Regina replied quietly, picking up the thread of Arya's thoughts. "And Neil worked for a dragon king in his world. We're both magic users, he and I. Would you like to see?"
She wouldn't probably have brought it up, but subtle Neil wasn't. If she didn't, he would, and she would rather Arya learn of their magic from her than by dragon mage babble.
It wasn't too bad, thankfully--Arya had been trying to keep it tidy with her fingers. And thankfully, the talk of magic and dragons was a very good distraction. "Yes," she replied with immediate, eager interest. "Yes, I want to see!"
The brush disappeared into Regina's bag as quickly as it had appeared, though the snarls had only barely been banished. This was the most enthusiasm Regina had seen from Arya and she was eager to indulge it.
Because it was her go-to and didn't draw on any tainted spells, Regina bent her arm up and then unfolded first it and then her fingers, summoning well-tamed fire to her hand.
Instantly, Arya's eyes widened with awe and delight. "Wow," she breathed--her immediate, gleeful thought, how much the Hound would hate what Regina could do, and how, for probably the first time in her life, she wished he was here, right now.
Since Neil had reacted much the same way, Regina thought they'd probably get along very well, but for the moment, she just grinned, because she and Arya were making another connection. Closing her fingers, she doused the fire and then held her hand close to Arya's face and conjured a line of pretty snails to crawl along her index finger.
"Not unless you have magic in your blood," Regina replied and sent her magic snails onto Arya's hand where they'd trail down her arm to her elbow and disappear. She knew there were people who'd learned magic who didn't have any innate magic but she didn't have the ability to teach them. "Mine comes from my mother. Neil's comes from dragon fire. That's how we met, because we both do fire magic."
"I don't think I have magic in my blood," Arya lamented with a quiet sigh (and having no idea how wrong she was), though she smiled and giggled softly as the snails moved down her arm before vanishing. "That was amazing. Is it hard to do?"
Her mother and Zelena would know how to test her for that, probably, but Regina would have to do some research. For now, best for Arya to know, "You don't need magic to be special. It's what's in here--" She tapped her own chest over her heart and her temple. "--that makes a person who she is."
Tipping her hand to gesture for them to continue walking, Regina supplied, "All magic has a price, but the cost of that magic is small and worth the effort to make you laugh."
Because she agreed, Arya smiled. "Though magic probably helps," she joked a little, quietly taking Regina's hand as they resumed walking. "What sort of price?" she asked, tipping her head up to look at Regina with concern. "It doesn't hurt you, does it?"
When Arya took her hand, Regina's heart contracted and fluttered with affection for this unusual child. "The price depends on the spell. Sometimes it's an unusual ingredient, a bit of blood, life energy. But for something so innocent, it's nothing to worry over. I promise, it hasn't hurt me."
"Okay." Arya nodded somberly, taking Regina at her word. She'd decided to trust her, so that was that. Maybe she had more of Eddard Stark in her than she realized. "Because I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt because of me."
"We may have to agree to disagree about that," Regina replied after a long moment. "If I get hurt looking after you or protecting you, and that keeps you safe, then I've done what I'm supposed to--" as a parent. "Neil feels the same. It's part of how we became friends. In fact, it's why I wanted to surprise him tonight."
"But I don't want to lose anyone else," Arya objected, swallowing hard as her eyes threatened to water. "I want to be able to protect myself. To protect everyone that I care about."
Maternal reflexes had to be quick and Regina's hadn't dulled. No sooner did that first 'but' make it out of Arya's mouth than she'd turned, gently caught Arya's chin so she could look in her eyes, and then stroked her newly smoothed hair to pull her into a hug. "I know, sweetheart. I know. Believe me." She sighed over Arya's head and was abruptly even more grateful for Neil, and hopeful that Charlie would take a liking to Arya. "I'll teach you what I can, and Neil can teach you more. I promise, you won't be helpless if the people you care about are threatened. I just don't want you to have to protect yourself by yourself. That's what I'm here for."
Arya hugged Regina tightly, giving herself a moment or two just to be held, to swallow past the tightness in her throat and push back the urge to cry. She'd already lost most of one family. She wasn't going to lose another.
"We'll protect each other," she murmured, her voice muffled by the hold. "Okay?"
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sforzinda
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Date: 2018-09-14 12:03 am (UTC)That sounds good. I'd like to try it.
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Date: 2018-09-14 12:17 am (UTC)I'll come get you and we can talk about my friend on the way.
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Date: 2018-09-14 12:29 am (UTC)That would be nice.
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Date: 2018-09-14 01:30 am (UTC)* * *
Regina arrived to pick Arya up not long after she disconnected. Long enough that it made sense if the girl tried to follow it on a map, but not so long that they'd miss Neil and Charlie on the boardwalk. Although instead of coming to the door, she called up to let Arya know she was outside waiting.
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Date: 2018-09-14 03:21 pm (UTC)"Hello Regina," she called with a small smile as she approached.
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Date: 2018-09-14 04:42 pm (UTC)And somehow there just happened to be a brush in her handbag, for if Arya would allow it, but that would wait a few minutes at least. Between Mother and Evie's birth mother, she knew better than to value details of appearance over well-being.
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Date: 2018-09-14 06:14 pm (UTC)"So...who's your friend?" she asked after a few moments of companionable silence.
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Date: 2018-09-15 12:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-09-15 01:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-09-15 01:22 am (UTC)"I loved a dragon once. A shapeshifter who could become dragon," Regina replied quietly, picking up the thread of Arya's thoughts. "And Neil worked for a dragon king in his world. We're both magic users, he and I. Would you like to see?"
She wouldn't probably have brought it up, but subtle Neil wasn't. If she didn't, he would, and she would rather Arya learn of their magic from her than by dragon mage babble.
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Date: 2018-09-15 01:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-09-15 01:45 am (UTC)Because it was her go-to and didn't draw on any tainted spells, Regina bent her arm up and then unfolded first it and then her fingers, summoning well-tamed fire to her hand.
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Date: 2018-09-15 01:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-09-15 02:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-09-15 07:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-09-16 11:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-09-17 05:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-09-18 03:10 am (UTC)Tipping her hand to gesture for them to continue walking, Regina supplied, "All magic has a price, but the cost of that magic is small and worth the effort to make you laugh."
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Date: 2018-09-18 06:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-09-19 04:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-09-20 10:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-09-21 04:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-09-22 10:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-09-23 04:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-09-27 03:16 am (UTC)"We'll protect each other," she murmured, her voice muffled by the hold. "Okay?"
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