genessia | Gift Exchange

Burning gas... Hm... American? [These are terms she doesn't understand. What does burning gas have to do with it? Gas is a combustible substance, that much she knows, though admittedly only because of Jude - combustion wasn't in any of the books she cared to read back home.]

Such odd words. [She sits back with a bit of a grin.] If you're... "American," as you say, then I'm... Reize Maxian! Though it seems either way, humans will be humans. It's so interesting that you're one of the few creatures in nature that will act this way towards your fellow human. It's so very... unique. So human. [She's grinning like an idiot, as if she finds it far too adorable to stand.]

[Reaching up, she runs her fingers through her hair and shakes it out. She has to be careful not to sit on it, after all.] I'm sorry, I'm being so rude. Thank you, Harry, for helping me. And this... vehicle you have is very interesting.

[Weird. The way Milla talked about humans was like she wasn't one herself. He gives her a careful, sidelong glance, looking her over carefully. She sure didn't look like anything particularly non-human and he wasn't getting that telltale feeling of something more but... well, appearances could be deceiving.]

Well, we humans do like our special clubs for all our friends. But before we get caught up talking about the human condition, where are you headed?

[She certainly doesn't look like much, does she? Her form of magic is so different from Harry's, he probably couldn't even sense that she was a talented spirit channeler... But then, perhaps magic has some kind of similar wavelength between worlds. Perhaps there was something there.]

Clubs? I never thought of it like that... I wonder if Jude and the others were part of a club? [She pauses.] Oh, I presently live in a rather small-scale home. A... motel, I think you call it. It's... quaint. I've determined that if I were to get a home, it would be like my old home in Nia Khera... a shrine, very... rustic. My shrine, in fact.

[It seemed to depend on the person and the magic. He still had a sense for energy in motion, even if it wasn't the same kind of magic he used back home. He isn't getting much from her right now, but if she started flexing those mystic muscles there might be something to pick up.]

[She sure sounded homesick to Harry's ears anyway. Weird girl. She talked like she was way older than she looked but still seemed kind of young in a few ways.]

A motel it is. Which one?

Motel... Motel... [Now she's racking her brain, which seems to have remembered that it's floating in a bottle of orange liquor somewhere.]

I... don't seem to be able to recall which one... Was it... the sixth one...? No... Motel... Six. I believe it was called Motel Six? [Such a terrible name. Who names these things?]

I'm sorry, I'm feeling rather... Nn...

[She kind of rests her head against the window of the truck, and then...

Thennnn...

... Oh she's dozed off.]

Which Motel... Six damnit.

[And she's out cold. Harry's been around the block a few times and he knows he isn't getting anything close to directions out of her any more. Sigh.

Maybe she had friends in town, somebody with a place she could crash for the night... no, no probably not if she'd spent Christmas drinking alone. Which all of a sudden was just about the saddest mental image Harry had had all year.]

Great.

[He stops the truck for a second at a light then heaves another sigh and takes a right in the direction of his place. And a few minutes later, the door will open up, just carefully enough so she doesn't tumble out and Harry will just pick her right up out of the seat.]

[Well, at least he was out pretty late and there was nobody around to grievously misread the situation. It wasn't like he could just leave the poor girl out in the cold, damnit.]

[Milla's out like a light until Harry's shuffling her about in his attempts to help her.]

Mm...? Uh...? Oh! [She snaps awake, which is good because that means she can get out of the truck on her own. But she's still braced against Harry for support.] Where am I? This... doesn't look like a motel. Did you bring me to your home? [Well now she feels bad.] I'm very sorry for this, but I'll have to ask you to let me stay here tonight. I'll be on my way in the morning.

Edited 2013-12-29 08:07 (UTC)

[Oh, good, she's awake. That makes things easier.]

That's the plan.

[He'll keep the coat around her shoulders while he helps her shuffle up to the door, disabling the wards on it with a quick effort of will and unlocking it. He yanks the door open and releases another burst of power with a muttered phrase and the dozens of candles around the room light up, illuminating the place.]

It isn't much, but there's a pretty decent couch you can sleep it off on.

[It really isn't. It's a basement apartment which pretty much already guarantees it'll be at least slightly gloomy. It's small, just a large living room area with a kitchen just off it and two doors to the bedroom and bathroom respectively. It's decorated pretty sparsely too with only the aforementioned couch, a couple of chairs and a coffee table in the living room.

More impressive however are the bookshelves. Three of them taking up most of the wall space and loaded up with just about anything you can think of. From fiction, to encyclopedias, to a few dusty old tomes he brought home from work.]

[Drunk or not, Milla notices his movements. He's disabling wards so that she might enter - not that wards would work on her... And when he opens the door and enters with her, he lights every candle with what is no doubt magic. Not a single electronic device, it seems... Honestly Milla wasn't used to things like televisions and the like, so Harry's bare place is cozy to her.]

Harry Dresden, I do believe you are a magician of a sort. You must be a talented spirit channeler. [She looks to him with a sort of interested smile. Now that she's inside, she sees fit to remove his heavy duster and return it to him.] Though... upon arriving here I've noticed things about people... I don't think you perform magic in the same capacity that I do.

[She gestures to her head.] I have a mana lobe! [She almost sounds proud. That's the drunk talking.] A good one, too. Though that is to be expected as my form has been designed to be very efficient.

What gave me away? Was it that magic? I bet it was the magic.

[He chuckles though, taking the coat back and tossing it onto a hook while guiding her over toward the couch.

He's not even going to ask about the mana lobe comment while she's still in this shape. He's also not going to comment on anything about her form. Which does look... pretty... efficient.

....

WHOAH OKAY NEW TRAIN OF THOUGHT PLEASE.]

A wizard, actually. Think a jack of all trades. Give me enough time and resources and I could probably manage most of the tricks you could pull off. Probably not as easily or naturally as you could though.

[Harry, are you watching how her legs move as you guide her to the couch? You dirty old man!]

[Settling down on the couch, she sat proper as one would expect a lady to. She's an eloquent sort, and he's noticed that... though perhaps a little less refined when properly intoxicated.]

Well, yes... As Maxwell's human form, I am very gifted in the art of spirit channeling. Spirits answer my calls quite readily, you'd find. Why, I was even raised by the four Great Spirits - the four prime elementals that help maintain my world. They're... interesting creatures. They have a lot of... character.

[She lifts a hand to stifle her laughter.] Why, Efreet gets so worked up that Undine often douses his flames with water, and then the arguments they would get into... They almost never cease!

[She laughs a little more, and then calms with a sigh.] I realize all my talk does nothing to assure you of my abilities, but my... magic is mostly for combat use. I wouldn't want to damage your home, especially after you've been so generous.

[Of course not. Nope, not him. Not no way, not no how. Definitely no-- wow, that skirt is just barely there at all, huh?]

[It's been awhile. Shut up.]

[He's already starting to head to the kitchen to get her a glass of water to ward off the hangover in the morning, when she's already going off on another story. He stops and leans against the doorway to the kitchen, hands in his pockets while he listens. A few things catch his attention, namely the line about being the human form of whatever a Maxwell is and... well, everything about "four Great Spirits." He could almost peg her as some kind of religious icon, but the way she's talking about them doesn't sound like worship or belief.

It sounds like family.]

Sounds like quite a group. I wouldn't mind seeing some of this spirit stuff in action, but I think demonstrations can wait until another time.

[It's okay, Harry. She finds her body is particularly effective against male adversaries. It's not like she doesn't know it - she just doesn't KNOW it.]

[Family is just how she sees The Four. She's never had to articulate it into words before though, so if he asks he probably wouldn't get an explanation like that. They were her care-givers, overseeing her development from birth until recently.]

Oh yes, another time indeed. Fireball, Arrivederci, Thunderblade... There are many I could show you, certainly. Another time though... It's not something I'd want to use if I didn't have to, of course.

Edited 2013-12-29 10:19 (UTC)

[Effective against male adversaries, huh? You don't say.]

[He can't help but chuckle a little bit. Partly because, wow, what a naming scheme for those spells. Arrivederci. What were the odds that a different world would stumble across a single word of Italian? ... Actually, probably about as good as English being the same spoken language across the cosmos apparently. Huh. Weird.

But the rest of his amusement came from just watching her. They'd spoken over the communicators briefly and at the time, she definitely hadn't seem like the type to gush away about family and better times.]

[Booze and homesickness. A winning combination if ever there was one.]

I'd appreciate it, I don't think the building could take it. [He pushes away from the wall, heading toward the kitchen.] Hold that thought, I'll get you some water.

[Water... was water really important? She doesn't understand that drinking water would help combat the unfavourable events of the morning following excessive indulgence of alcohol. She's just never encountered it.]

Yes, water. Very well, I won't be going anywhere.

[So she sits and waits... She waits for a bit longer. Then she finds herself leaning aside and thumbing over the texts Harry seems to have all over the place. She wasn't even sure when she started looking through them, she just... was. Surely if he has so many, he must have interesting books.]

Edited 2013-12-30 04:40 (UTC)

[Boy was she ever in for a treat tomorrow morning.]

[Harry comes back a minute or so later, blinking at seeing Milla flipping through his copy of Salem's Lot.]

Horror fan?

[He sets a glass of water down on the table in front of her before backing off a bit to sit in one of the big chairs.]

Reading fan.

[Since harry's kind enough to get that water, she's going to drink it. She's none too delicate with it either, no dainty sips.]

I've read a number of books. I find it a most useful tool for understanding the world around me. Literature, be it fact, or fiction like this book appears to be, is a window into the habits and culture of any race.

[She used books to study the interactions between humans - from their social habits and group mentalities to even the science and theory behind their intimate relationships and bonds.]

I've spent days at a time reading before. Have you read all of these books?

Ah.

[He cracks open a Coke he'd grabbed for himself, taking a gulp of his own and setting it on the coffee table. It was true what she said. Literature and writings were a great peek at the culture that produced it.]

It's fun too.

[He grinned a little and then turned his attention to the packed bookshelves around the apartment.]

Just about. I usually pick up a bunch at a time and work keeps me busy so there's a lot of stuff here I haven't gotten to look at yet.

[And then he nodded toward the book in her hands.]

Actually, since you mentioned it. If you want to get a good grasp of a culture through literature, horror's a good place to start.

[And her water's already finished. Harry's comment about horror being a particularly insightful genre catches her interest though.] The horror style of novellas have almost always been about fictitious creatures born of the human subconscious, or so I've gathered. It certainly is a look into what humans are afraid of.

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