[Nova/Irena] - Far From Home

[shardstorm]

Who: Nova, Irena (With guest appearance by Harriet)
When: Wednesday to Thursday, 27 & 28
Where: Irena's apartment, outside and then inside
Before/After: UH After the email to Irena but before the other emails in the same post. 8D
Warnings: Nova's an emo brat :(

The ride to Irena's apartment had been awkward, to say the least. They passed the time with Harriet answering a stream of Nova's questions about basic alchemy, which he had forgotten when he became a berserker and not automatically regained. The knowledge came back easily enough; it felt like it had been forgotten, not unlearned.

But there was still a great deal of tension between them, and they would be very happy to finally be rid of one another.

When the construct -- a strange, intimidating creation that combined pieces of scorpion shell and geometric planes of scrap metal -- rolled to a stop outside of Irena's apartment complex, Nova fumbled at the door and let himself out quickly, looking around for Irena.

Harriet waited in the minivan, ready to scram as soon as Irena claimed him.


The half-beast contraption caught Irena's attention instantly, and she readied a spell just in case. When it did nothing more than slow to a stop and allow someone to escape, she calmed, but still kept the spell ready, eyeing the thing warily.

That was when she caught sight of the driver.

The Khshathra.

Blinking, she turned her attention to the man who'd exited the vehicle. Nova had said he was riding with the Khshathra, but the hair was all wrong!

The face seemed right, though, and Irena stepped forward to meet him, still wary, though mostly because of the proximity of the Khshathra and her car-beast. It was a little unnerving, and left Irena wondering what other monstrosities the woman might make. She didn't trust the Khshathra at all, less-so now after her conversation with Marlene. Her mistrust had been waning until then.

She focused on Nova, head cocked to the side as she examined his hair. It was shorter! And a lot lighter! "Are you okay?" she asked him, a hint of concern in her tone.


Nova had gathered his composure enough to give her a small smile when he spotted her. It was good to see her, and he knew it would be a long time before he could see most of the people he knew. He was glad that she was around.

"I'm all right," he said. He was far from enthusiastic, but found himself able to be pleasant, at least. Irena hadn't done anything to deserve a sour mood aimed her way.

Inside the construct, Harriet looked sheepishly back at Irena. Then, in an eyeblink, she and the construct vanished completely from sight.

It hadn't been built to do that...


"You changed your hair," Irena commented, before the sudden disappearance of something the size of a vehicle caught her attention, and she turned to where the car-beast had been just a moment before.

And a moment later, she glanced at Nova. "Can alchemists make things that teleport...? Or... Or turn invisible?" Even not knowing he'd gained back his alchemy, he had known alchemy before, and she just assumed he'd be able to answer.


"I did, it's sort of a disguise because-"

His back had been to Harriet's construct, and when Irena visibly reacted to its disappearance, he turned to look. He saw the space where it had been a moment earlier and looked at Irena for confirmation, and then back, his mouth hanging open.

"It didn't go to Zenderael," his voice was soft, stunned, at first, but getting progressively louder. "It didn't, did it?"


She'd never actually seen it happen before. Except when it had happened to her, but then she hadn't been a witness so much as an active participant. Seeing it happen to someone else was a little strange.

Still, she wanted to be sure it wasn't just invisible. Tentatively, Irena stepped towards where the thing had been, and reached out as if to touch it. When her hand met nothing, she turned back to look at Nova. "I think so."


There went his composure. He bowed his head for a moment, putting his face in his hands, and then let out a scream of frustration that eventually changed into more of a groan of disbelief as he calmed.

He looked at Irena plaintively. "What could I have done to make the gods angry with me? I'm not even real."


Having no idea how traumatic this all was to Nova, Irena could only gape at him as he screamed, concerned but too shocked to do anything about it.

She stared a moment longer after the question, then finally walked up to him and reached out to touch his shoulder. "You are real," she said, voice firm. She could only assume this had to do with having been created, but even if he, like she, had only been written for someone's amusement, he was real now. "If... If the gods were angry, I do not think they would just send you to Earth." Truthfully, she wasn't even sure they could.


Her earnest reassurance was touching, but a little confusing, as it seemed to come from a bit of a misunderstanding about what he was upset about.

"Ah -- no, I mean it's as if I'm being made fun of, somehow, and I can't imagine what I did to deserve it if I hadn't been able to really do anything until I woke up." He felt a little silly trying to explain his tantrum, and sighed. Even if he was the butt of some enormous joke, he could almost see the humor in it.

Almost.

"So this is earth, I guess?"


She wasn't sure she understood the explanation. To her, it didn't matter which world you were on, because both would be one eventually. But, she could teleport between them. It was difficult to imagine being trapped on the one when you wanted to be on the other.

"Yes," she answered. "And this is the building my apartment is in." She nodded up to the complex, an average-sized building by Earth standards. "I had a key made," she added, digging out her own keys, which dangled from a little cartoon pony keychain, so that she could pry the spare off and offer it over. "So that you can come and go when I am not here?"


The complex seemed to lack either the personality of Paris's buildings or the grandeur of New York's, but he wasn't blind to the fact that he was lucky to have the chance of any place to stay at all in this new world.

"Irena, you're my savior!"

He took the key gladly. Maybe he wasn't being made fun of after all.

A low rumble of thunder sounded in the sky.

"Ah, could we go in now?"


Oooh, thunder. She gave the sky a glance, then turned to head into the building. "It rains a lot here. Most days." When it wasn't snowing in the middle of the summer, anyway. "You'll need an umbrella."

That was just one thing he'd need.

"Ah. And if you need anything from your place I can get it?"


Of course it rained every day on earth. That didn't surprise him at all.

"That would be an enormous help! I left everything behind." He supposed that sort of went without saying, but it was just so very true that he couldn't help saying it anyway.

"You really can't take people across at all?"


"No. Only small animals." Like Bunny, who was in her bedroom, likely napping.

Duncan had asked her the same thing. She assumed because he'd wanted someone brought back, and now Nova wanted to go home.

Irena felt a little bad for that.

"But your house will be here eventually?"


It would probably get dropped into the ocean...

He forced a smile. "It will. Eventually."

He followed along after her, curious to see where she lived, and where he would be living for the time being.

"Is there an elevator?" he asked, his tone bordering on hopeful. If he was going to try to face the future, or the present, at least, he was going to have to re-teach himself how to find the bright side of things.

Elevators were interesting...


"Yes!" And they were just around the corner, too. Two of them, side by side, with the button between. "You've been in an elevator?" She was a little surprised, despite how much of Earth was on Zenderael. He'd said he'd grown tired of Earth. Maybe he'd used one before then...?


"A city called New York sprang up in Mianeh, and a friend of mine decided we should go see it. We rode an elevator up the tallest building."

He wondered how long it would be before he could see Chisaki again. Oh, only FOREVER...


She pushed the button and waited for the elevator. It wasn't a long wait, thankfully, and when the door opened, she stepped inside and waited for Nova to enter before pushing the button.

"The big green lady?" Irena had gone to see it. It was rather impressive, certainly not something she'd expected out of Earth.


Nova stepped inside, peering at the buttons and the little lighted panel that showed what floor the elevator was on.

"No, it was a building like this one, just much taller. The Empire State Building, it was called. I'm not quite sure what it's used for, other than the view at the top..."


"Oooh." Hearing the name of it reminded her of the tour she'd taken through the building, but it hadn't been as interesting as the big green lady. She'd almost forgotten they were in the same city. Mostly because she'd gone to so many cities looking at so many things in such a short amount of time that some of it got jumbled up in her head.

Which was annoying.

The elevator stopped on the third floor, and Irena lead Nova to her door, her keys jingling in her hand. Mostly because she had a few different keychains on the thing, little trinkets she'd picked up that were just too cute, since she only had two actual keys on there. She unlocked the door and pushed it open, holding it for Nova.

The kitchen seemed well furnished, with various small appliances across the counter, and a quick glance would show plenty of baking supplies in the cupboards and fridge, if not much actual meal food. The living area contained all the basics, along with shelves covered in various enchanting ingredients, many of which could double as alchemy ingredients, and a desk containing her laptop and a pile of books.

Overall pretty clean and organized, nothing overly fancy, except the door plastered with various cuttouts of cartoon ponies and other animals. (She'd taken care to take down any butterflies, though.)

"This is my place!" Irena announced, giving Nova a wide smile.


Nova followed her into the apartment, looking around at everything he could see from the entryway. There were no great surprises, except that it was noticeably smaller than the residences he'd seen on television programs and movies. He found himself glad to see the ingredients on the shelves; that much seemed like a touch of home.

He continued to stand just a few steps inside the door, unsure what to do next, either in a small, or large scale sense.

"It's very nice," he said.


She let the door close behind her, tucking her keys away. "Bograak comes over on the weekends," she mentioned. It seemed considerate, if he was going to be staying there, to warn him ahead of time. "He uses the kitchen to bake." There's a motion towards the kitchen, as if he needed to be informed of where it was.

"And Marlene comes over sometimes." In typical Irena-fashion, that reminded her of something else she'd wanted to tell Nova about, and she lead right into it without much thought. "I met her player. He seemed okay but did not expect me to understand genetics."


Nova nodded as Irena filled him in on helpful details.

She knew Marlene? He hadn't realized. It would be good to see her, it had been a long time... if he counted only the things he'd done after awakening, he'd actually never seen her.

The next part threw him, and he tensed in the moments it took him to recall who Marlene's player was.

"He said the same thing to me," Nova replied, more bitter than the subject seemed to merit. "He... doesn't come here, does he?"


"He does not know where I live," she answered. At least, she assumed he didn't. she didn't think Marlene would've told him. "But he was telling me about what he does without telling me what it was so I told him it was genetics and he was surprised." She sounded a little smug about that.


"Good, I hope he felt stupid for underestimating you," Nova said.

Deciding not to murder the players didn't mean he had to like them.


Irena felt a little awkward talking about this stuff, with Nova on Earth, and not really giving much in return, but she just figured he was uncomfortable. Dropping the subject, she took his hand and tugged him towards the couch. "Are you thirsty? Tired? You can rest and then I can show you where things are later, yes?"


He let himself be led to the couch, and sat down on it. Was he tired? Drained would be a better word. He had been using his revenge wish to make sense of his second life, and now it was gone. That left him without a plan. What did he even want, other than to be his old self again? There didn't quite seem to be space to want other things.

"Maybe a little thirsty," he said, subdued.


Thirsty was good! In that Irena knew how to fix it. She made off to the kitchen to pull a jug of apple juice out of the fridge, poured a glass, and brought that back to Nova, sitting next to him before offering it. "There is not much food but when you get hungry we can order something. Lots of place deliver here!"


He thanked her and sipped the apple juice, thoughtfully. Delivery food seemed extravagant. But earthers were very business-minded. If people wanted it, probably someone would come up with a way to do it.

He'd need to get work, here... The merge might not finish for months, years, or even ever, in the worst case scenario. But that seemed like too much to think about, just now.

"It's hard to believe there's no way back," he said.


She understood wanting to go back, but she could go back. Other mages probably could, too. "A warp mage might be able to send you? But I do not know if any are here, or if a portal can go to Zenderael from here..." Teleporting was different, it was like your magic drawing you to a marker you'd specifically set somewhere. She wasn't entirely sure how warp portals worked, or if they used bind points like teleports did.


"Ah, maybe I can ask around about that," he said, brightening a bit. He set down the juice on the nearest side table, and proceeded to do just that, taking out his phone and navigating to the forum to type out a query. He had yet to acquire a sense of cell phone manners.

If he could get home, there was no sense in waiting to find out... ... was there?

"I tried the forums," he told Irena.



Irena had no comprehension of cell phone manners, anyway, so she didn't think anything of it when Nova pulled his out and started making use of it. When he explained, she smiled and nodded. "I hope someone can help."

She really did, if only because she could just go see him at his house anyway. Even if it was nice to have him visit her for a change. "Ah, but if not, I can bring you things? From Zenderael." Maybe she could make him feel a little more comfortable that way.


"Yes, please! I haven't got a change of clothes, even." He still held the phone in his hands, refreshing it intermittently in hopes of a reply.

He got one!

Not gonna happen, guy. Sorry!

His expression darkened, and he typed back furiously. WHY DID SOMEONE HAVE TO WRITE BACK JUST TO SAY THAT.

"People on the internet are jerks," he told Irena.


Clothes would be easy! ...Maybe. Irena had no idea how many clothes Nova had at his place, but it shouldn't be too difficult to figure out what to bring. And if he didn't like what she did bring, she could just go back and get more, right?

Her head tilted at his comment. "Sometimes," she agreed. Like that person who'd claimed her unicorn photo had been fake! Just because you've never seen a unicorn doesn't mean they aren't real! "Is someone being mean?"


"As soon as I asked, someone said it was impossible!" he grumbled. He kept on typing. After a bit, he peered at the screen incredulously.

"Oh. I know him from before I woke up. What a small alternate world."

The internet certainly made it a bit smaller...


"Ah?" She blinked. Not only were they mean but they were someone Nova knew? "They may not know how but that doesn't mean it's not possible..."

Maybe she shouldn't be getting his hopes up, though. Maybe it wasn't possible...


"Exactly -- that's why he shouldn't have said it!"

He sighed, leaning back against the couch and exchanging a few more messages, until the conversation had concluded. The only one who'd replied had been Tyrus, to say it was impossible, although it had only been live for a little while...

"Well, nobody came forward with any ideas, but I guess someone still might...eventually."

He smiled at her sheepishly. Would she be hurt that he was so intent on escaping? Well, it was a lot to process. Maybe he just needed time.

"I'll be a better guest tomorrow," he promised, unprompted. Following his most ingrained pattern of behavior, he had seen a potential wrong he had done, and skipped over feeling sorry for it to whatever he thought the solution might be.


She smiled to him. "It's still new. Someone might?" Again, she felt a little... wrong trying to encourage that hope. But what else was she supposed to say?

After the promise, she smiled and leaned over to hug him. "We can go out tomorrow! I can show you where I go. There's a library and lots of good restaurants." She'd have to find out what sort of places Nova would like to visit, but there was no rush. Unless he did find a way back to Zenderael. But even then, he'd come back eventually once the merge finished.


A library and good restaurants. Maybe he could just pretend he was in an unfamiliar city... or a vacation, like Tyrus had said. But the idea of a vacation seemed to presuppose an ordinary life somewhere to go back to.

He nodded past her as he returned the hug, then pulled away. "Yes, it will be fun," he said, more to convince himself than her.

"Ah... what should I do, while I'm here?" He supposed he would be able to claim this couch. Had he ever slept on a couch before? Perhaps it was divine retribution for consigning Iravati to one.


Irena thought it would be fun! And she smiled wide at him saying it would be.

"Ah..." She glanced around the apartment. "I don't know what berserkers do...?" It was more question than statement, and she looked back to him quizzically. "There is not much to fight unless you go hunting... But you could bake?"


"..Oh. Yes, I guess I could. In an earth oven, too..." Those seemed interesting, with all the control they gave you over the heating. "And find some kind of work. I'm an alchemist again."

An alchemist who had forgotten most of his knowledge, and who lacked a lab, but an alchemist nonetheless.


Fortunately, she still had the books she'd acquired to help Bograak learn how to use Earth ovens. Nova might find them useful.

Before she could mention it, he mentioned his guild affiliation, and she leaned back to look at him with wide-eyes. "You are?" Her eyes squinted and she leaned closer to inspect him, as if somehow she could see it, but she couldn't. "You let her make you an alchemist again?" Had he wanted it? Had she just forced it on him so he wasn't a berserker anymore...? ...Was that even possible?


He nodded. "Fury wasn't... agreeing with me," he said, quietly. "And maybe it would be safer. I don't know -- talking with her was difficult, I'm not sure I was thinking clearly. But I needed to change guilds, I think I was dangerous that way."


Irena nodded slowly. She didn't understand fury. She didn't understand berserkers, really, outside of that they beat things up. And the two she knew could bake- well, that was down to just one, now. "How many berserkers can bake?" she mused, voice quiet, a vaguely distant look in her eyes.

She pulled herself back quickly, smiling to Nova again. "Ah... If you are happier as an alchemist, then you should stay an alchemist. You can use what I have, if you want!" She could always get more!


"Maybe," he said. It was generous -- almost too generous -- but he'd need more than components if he was going to set himself up as an alchemist. He'd need equipment, and space, and time to relearn what he'd lost... and something in him certainly rebelled against going to all that effort on earth, even if rationally it wouldn't be wasted, since he could probably ask for help in transporting lab equipment back to his house, whenever (if ever) it came over.

Starting over... his player was fond of saying that was what he needed to do. And this time, that's what he had told himself he was going to do. But it just seemed impossible.

"I think maybe I'd like to sleep a little," he said. It was still daylight, but being pulled into a new world, meeting your terrible creator, and giving up the mission you were using to motivate yourself was a lot to experience in one day.


"Sleep is good!" She said that possibly a little too cheerfully. Sleep would be good, she hoped. Maybe he'd feel better come morning, more like himself! (His old self, not the self he was now, since she hadn't been around much to realize the mopey-Nova was his new 'normal'.)

Irena stood. "My bed is really comfy," she said, expecting to share it with him. It would be like a slumber party! She had the cutest pajamas and everything!


Nova didn't draw the same conclusion, assuming she was offering it up entirely. Too generous, Irena! He was surprised when that brought back a flicker of (false) memory from very long ago. While she was still in training, he used to challenge her about how unsettlingly kind she was, trying to find what thread of self interest might motivate her selflessness. He'd stopped doing that after she'd been broken, for a number of reasons. He'd been posing as someone who didn't know her well enough to be so familiar, and besides that, it would be cruel to suggest to someone whose mind had been damaged that there was a problem with their thinking.

But it would be too uncomfortable if he let her give him everything she owned.

"I'm not taking your bed from you!" he said.


She grew confused, evident by the look she gave him. "N-no?" Where would he even put it...? Then it dawned on her that he thought she was going to let him sleep in it without her. But then where would she sleep? "I thought we would both sleep there?"


What! Both of them!

He reddened. Of course he knew she meant it completely innocently -- but was that even a thing adults did? When they weren't... together, in that particular way?

He had no idea! Nothing in his memories or knowledge of the world equipped him to deal with this question.

Perhaps it was a very large bed? If it was very large, maybe it wouldn't be too strange -- no, it would definitely still be strange!

Would Chisaki be mad at him? That was an interesting question...

No, he should definitely not try to find out.

He thumped a hand down on the arm of the couch. "I can sleep here. I would relentlessly steal your covers otherwise, I'm sure."


She looked down at the couch. "Ah..." It was strange, having him refuse the bed. Not that it bothered it, but she'd just sort of assumed- it was a fairly large bed (because she'd never had a bed outside of the mage dorms and she'd bought a queen size just to feel special), but if that was what he wanted...

With a bright smile, and a bouncing nod, she said, "I will fetch you a blanket and pillow," and then rushed off to her room, vanishing for only a moment before returning with a large, pony-print fleece blanket and a fluffy pillow with a matching pony-print pillowcase. They seemed new, or at least barely used, and the blanket even still had creases from being folded.

As she returned with them, she paused. "Did you want a blanket to sleep on top of, also?"


"If you have one to spare," he said. Meanwhile, he took the offered blanket and pillow, puzzling over the cartoon ponies printed on the fibers. He'd never seen that sort of design on fabric before. It must be an earth thing. Maybe for children? It looked warm enough, anyway. Earth -- or at least this part of earth -- seemed to have a damp chill in the air, even though it was summer.

Maybe it wasn't summer?

"Is it the same season here as in Zenderael?" he asked.


"Yes. But it rains here always." At least it seemed like it, sometimes. "Ah, when it is not snowing, but that was only Keidra making it snow. It was very pretty."

She vanished back into her room and dug around for another blanket, checking on Bunny while she was there. It took a bit because she didn't have any that matched the set she'd already given him, but she found one close enough- the same cartoon, a slightly different style. (It was more difficult because a few of them had butterflies on them!!!)

When she brought it out, she continued what she'd been saying as if she hadn't left. "Their winters do not get much snow, but some parts of Earth get lots. Earth is very big."


"It is... I've seen maps," he said. He set about tucking the blankets around the bed, not failing to notice that she had gone to the trouble to find an additional pony blanket. That seemed very Irena. Well, alternately she had no other sort of blankets besides pony blankets, but that would have been very Irena, too.

He stretched out on the couch, pulling the topmost blanket up to his chin. Some sleep, to help his mind process all that had happened today, and then he would definitely be up to of facing a stay on earth and a directionless, finite future.

"Goodnight, Irena," he said.


She had other blankets! They were only mostly ponies. Which meant ponies were easier to find an available set of.

"Goodnight, Nova~!" Irena returned cheerfully, and then went back to her room to read and snuggle with Bunny until it was her bedtime. It was too early for her to sleep yet! But she didn't want to disturb Nova! He could come bother her if he needed anything.

Eventually she wound up going to sleep, and come morning was well rested and eager to drag Nova out to see the city. She exited her room fully dressed, Bunny hopping along at her heels, and crept over to see if Nova was awake, peering down over the back of the couch. "Noooovaaaaaa~"


Nova barely slept when Irena left him -- really, it had been far too early to turn in, and he had wanted to disengage, more than anything else. When he woke up after an hour or so, not much had changed. He found himself unready to get up, or to broadcast that he was awake. He sent messages to let people know where he was, and checked in on his question on the forums, without success. When that was done, his options seemed to be to get up and go find Irena, or to force himself back to sleep. He opted for the latter, drifting in and out of sleep throughout the rest of the day and night, and spending the intervening time staring at the ceiling, the wall, or the back of the couch, and mulling over his thoughts.

He was awake when Irena came to find him, but no particular burst of courage or enthusiasm had been granted to him with the rising of the sun, and he did not want to talk and smile and explore the world. He closed his eyes and pretended to still be asleep, a ruse that would have worked a little better if she hadn't already been looking at him while his eyes were open.


Irena pursed her lips, watching Nova silently. She wasn't sure what to make of him closing his eyes, not aware that he was feigning sleep and didn't want to be disturbed.

She reached her hand out and poked his nose, then said, "We should get breakfast."


He closed his eyes tighter and rolled over.

"No thank you. I'm still tired," he said. Though he'd turned in for the night more than 12 hours ago. .

Had he said something about being a better guest today? Well, it was her fault if she'd believed him! Obviously he hadn't been thinking straight.


Still tired? How long had he slept? She hadn't checked on him after going to her room, wanting to give him some space and not be a bother, now she wondered if maybe she should have at least peeked in now and then.

"You aren't hungry?" she asked, a hint of concern in her voice. "When did you eat last?"


"Yesterday," he answered. There was nothing wrong with having eaten yesterday, he thought; it was breakfast time now, so when else could he have eaten?

He opened his eyes to look at her. "I'm not really hungry, and I don't want to go anywhere right now. That's all right, isn't it?"


She'd meant what time yesterday, and was about to clarify that when he asked her a question, and she hesitated. She couldn't very well say it wasn't. Nova was an adult, he could make his own decisions. And if he wasn't hungry, she couldn't very well force him to eat...

"Ah... Yes? But you should eat soon, okay? I can bring something back for you..."


"Okay."

Good! He would... go on doing nothing, then. Since he didn't belong here, he doubted earth would particularly miss him.

He pulled the pony blanket over his head, trying (and failing) not to be dramatic about it.


Not what she was hoping for, nor expecting. Actually she was a little worried he might be coming down with something. Being sick made people sleep more and eat less, didn't it?

She moved around to the front of the couch and knelt in front of it, lightly tugging the blanket down to try and see his face. "Nova?"


At having the blanket pulled down, his expression was so sulky that he was almost cringing. Was she going to make him go outside after all?

"...Yes?"


Irena frowned at him. He looked to pitiful! What did she even do!

All she did was press the back of her fingers against his forehead, then turn her hand around to use her palm. Satisfied he wasn't burning up, she gave a soft nod, then stood and walked back around the couch, fetching up her back and getting ready to go out.

Maybe if she brought him food from Safta he'd be more inclined to eat it...

She hesitated at the door, not wanting to disturb him, but... "I will be back," she said softly before leaving, letting the black rabbit get through the door before shutting it quietly.