soul_logs | I would walk five hundred miles [OPEN]

Characters:

faintly_smiles & OPEN
Location: The Park
Rating: PG - minor blood
Time: January 19th - Late Morning
Description: Teresa ventured beyond the city walls, and she returned to realize how debilitated she is and how this partnership system requires her participation.

Cross-posted to Dreamwidth

While she had heard the express instructions that wandering beyond the city walls was dangerous, Teresa had eventually given up making constant rounds in the city. There were patrols of people for that, and she had memorized the outside walls protecting the city by now as well as most of the streets. She was nomadic by occupation, and she couldn't well sit around all day. This slow decline into inactivity was unacceptable, and she hadn't found morning training all that interesting. The only reason she went was to observe other fighting pairs and to occasionally speak with Yuuri; his views on life and trust were fascinating.

So, she had finally acquired a large hunting knife and began to walk the desert. It was strange that walking fatigued her now, that while her stamina was great, she actually had to settle down to rest. The desert situation only seemed to compound that realization that she had been reduced to a well-exercised human without any of the benefits she remembered.

The desert was vast, and most of the common animals fled in her presence or watched from afar. When she had finally encountered a creature willing to engage her, she was curious of its healing abilities and the slow grinding drive towards thoughts that were forbidden. Her knife strikes were perfect as always, but it healed with each stroke of the blade for longer than she would have thought was possible. It was resilient, which was a surprise, and she was disappointed to realize that she was forced to withdraw and leg it back to the city walls before her human frailty forced her to deal with a greater humiliation than the deep gash to her thigh.

It was the first time she had ever had to retreat from anything before. It was a serious knock to the foundation of her beliefs that she was just plain stronger than anything she faced.

She had returned to the park lands where she made her 'home', ignoring the blood soaking her uniform leggings and eventually seating herself cross-legged near a tree. It had been a long time since she had bled without it stopping almost right away. This world had made her experience a lot of things 'for the first time', and she wasn't certain that she approved of it at all. Still, it was better than being dead.

Flexing her fingers, she laid a hand over the still bleeding wound, closing her eyes to concentrate on stopping the flow. She was again disappointed when all of her youki was sealed, and her lips down-turned into a frown of displeasure. "How bothersome."

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She knew it wasn't the sun, but she let him think that illusion all he liked. She was just getting ready to go now that she had satisfied the terms of his bringing her here. She had allowed her wound to be fixed, and now she could return to her patrols once she fixed her leggings.

Teresa offered him a clueless look, clearly not understanding the term. "Washing machine? What's that?" She hadn't spent any time in her apartment since she had been told she wasn't allow to put holes in the floor to lean against a sword. Plus, there were no candles to illuminate the room.

"Why would I? The retainers being us new uniforms," she said simply, not sure why he was reacting in such a way. "However, I know how to make repairs, so I'll wash and repair them. It's just a small tear in the material."

"Eeeeh? You don't know what a washing machine is?" He asked with a gasp, momentarily forgetting the fact that she came from a world that didn't have electricity. Shaking his head, Yuuri's grin widened as he said, "It's a machine that washes your clothes in bulk for you."

While he had nothing against fixing your own clothes, she would need more than one set with all the damage clothing went through here. "Aaa well eventually you won't be able to just fix it, so it's probably a good idea to get some more so then you've always got something to wear even if lots of them get damaged."

Teresa couldn't help but stare blankly at Yuuri again at the description of a washing machine. She wasn't entirely certain what a machine was to begin with, but she wondered if it was another crate with lights and lightning veins. "I only have one set of clothes, so I don't need a machine?"

She knew how to purchase clothing, had even been in one of those seamstress houses, but there had never been any need to buy anything for herself. Everything was provided by the Organization and what wasn't, she caught in the wilds. "Hmm, I suppose I'll just have to put more effort into dodging attacks then." That seemed the obvious solution.

He had never really done much washing until he'd come here, but if he ever got anything super dirty, he just threw it into the machine to get it clean again. Yuuri was paranoid about stains and never getting them out, and he didn't want to have to throw anything away if he didn't have to.

"You can't use soap in the stream. If you want, I can show you mine and let you use it? I'm sure that there's something at my apartment that needs washing, unless you'd want to use the one at your place?" Yuuri asked with a friendly smile.

He stared at her lightly at the solution she gave then blinked. Well, he supposed she could do that, but everyone should have to have more than one set of clothes. "Aaa well, I guess that would work, but you'd probably be better off getting something else as well, especially before summer starts!" If, of course, they were still stuck here in summer.

She wasn't used to using soap on her clothing in the first place, so that didn't seem like much of a problem in her mind. If she rubbed the material together or over rocks, it would eventually get clean. "I can use the stream. It seems to be the easiest choice." And the less confusing one as well.

Her place? Oh yes, she had one of those rooms for herself, but it was vacant. No candles, and it was lonely in there. She didn't like it much, so she never used it. She preferred the wilds; it was more natural and like where she had come from.

"I have no currency," she finally said after a moment of thought. "And fashion styles here are vastly different from what I know." She wasn't sure what to make of some of the outfits that people wore around the streets.

"Well... if you're sure?" Yuuri said despite the uncertain look colouring his expression. It was obvious that he wasn't entirely happy with that thought, but it wasn't as though he was going to force her either if she really wanted to use the stream. Still, he let the topic drop as he sighed to himself.

"Some shops you don't even need money. And besides, if you do need any, I can buy whatever you need," he offered with a returned smile. Yuuri didn't mind buying things for others in the slightest. And while his apartment did take up a large chunk of his money, there would always be some to help out someone else in need. "It's not much different from my world with fashion, but if you need any help, I'll be more than happy to help you."

Teresa was certain that she wouldn't change her mind, and she was also certain that she wouldn't regret it either. She wasn't helpless, and the act of cleaning was one she had had to do frequently. There wasn't always a retainer around to provide what she needed, and she was too proud to go looking for one.

She looked at him curiously at the offer of paying for her. She had never had anyone buy her anything, save when the village had provided her room and board after removing their youma because she could. "So... you will take me to a seamstress and provide the funds for that? I have nothing to exchange for that."

"Mmhm that's right!" Yuuri said with a large smile. He was more than happy to buy her whatever she wanted, so long as he had enough money, and knowing that she'd accept made him feel happy. Knowing that his money would go to a good cause always made the young Maou happy.

When she spoke of not having something in exchange had him shaking his head, and while he was smiling, there was a definite 'not taking no for an answer' air around him while he spoke, "You don't have to exchange anything. I'm more than happy to do this for you."

She wasn't so certain about his charity, since she had always worked for the funds that she was provided. She also wasn't used to needing to purchase things in the first place, so both were a rather novel concept to her. She stood staring at the sheet for awhile.

"I will find something to exchange it with. I'm strong enough to provide at least that," she finally replied, nodding her head at how acceptable that sounded to her. "I will contact you if I am in need of anything, yes?"

His smile only seemed to brighten at her reply. While he was happy either way, the young Maou was just glad that she was going to accept his offer. Nodding his head, the king more than happy with the offer, he said, "Yes, that would be great! Don't be afraid to contact me either. I'll be available whenever you need me."

I would walk five hundred miles [OPEN]

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