RP:Don't Be A Stranger

Summary: It has been a long time since Meri has seen Emilia, but it is good to see the face of an old friend.

Wishing Well

Emilia had become the ghost she was once rumored to be over her looks only now it was from her lack of presence in the lands. Perhaps the citizens that once flocked to her door for healing remembered her or perhaps in the many months of her absence they had forgotten the frozen woman. Sitting with her legs hanging over the edge of the stone forming the well the Genasi stared down into the pools of blue at her own dancing reflection. Skin hugged tightly over those metal coated bones dusted with a layering of new scars from head to toe leaving the healer looking as sickly as ever even though she was in perfect health, for once. A soft hum of a long forgotten tune once sung by a bard friend leaving her lips into the otherwise almost silent area.

Meri has also been absent from the lands, but not for nearly as long as Emilia, not long enough for people to forget about her but long enough for some to whisper rumors about what had happened to her. Emilia and her absence probably afforded her a lack of knowledge in these whispered rumors and Meri was just fine with that. Looking at the blonde, she looks to be in fine health herself, just dressed a little bit more lazily than she has been prone to in the past. Her corset is gone, and the woman is wearing a button down flannel and her hair is pulled back into a lazy bun. The black pants and the boots are still the same though, those are probably never going away. Meri's wander into the area is a listless one. She was planning on having a sit on the edge of the well, and a long think, but she was not anticipating the space to be occupied by someone she knows. It was relatively quiet so Meri felt comfortable enough to approach Emilia and have a seat on the well's ledge next to the Genasi. Emilia is greeted with a nod and a quiet, "Hi."

Emilia felt the approach of another long before they graced her side, but the woman never made a move to acknowledge that she knew another was there until after Meri had taken a seat and spoke first. Lifting her head those never brushed wild curls now longer than the small woman was tall fell into her freckle dusted face hiding those dazed blue eyes, almost glazed over with sleep deprivation. If asked the healer would be able to give an answer as to when she actually last slept. Frosted lips formed a most brief of tired smiles at seeing the blonde haired woman, “Miss Meri, pleasure to see you alive and well.” The words a soft whisper spoken in a tone laced with sluggish lack of sleep. Another but brief half smile, “Long time….how have you been?”

Meri has not seen or heard from Emilia in such a long time that she can't quite place if this tired expression is the norm or if something is wrong with Emilia. There is a shrug to answer how she has been, where did Meri even begin? Did she even want to begin? No offense to Emilia, who has usually had a good run at getting Meri to actually find and use her words (she's not always the best about talking about herself), but it did not seem like that was going to happen today. "I've been. I am sitting right here next to you, still alive, that's all any of us can really ask for at the end of the day, right?" Another shrug is given, Meri's own blue eyes temporarily turning away from Emilia. Well. Technically not temporarily. Meri's gaze does not find focus on the Ice Genasi herself, but the reflection of both women in the water of the well. That is how she was choosing to peer at Emilia. "You have been away for awhile. I hope everything is aright with you...?"

Emilia stared at the real Meri for a moment before her gaze too well to the reflections of the woman wiggling in the water. The dark blue circles beneath her eyes, the pink streaks in the whites of her eyes, the fresh scars along her flesh in the most expert of lines across her figure all staring back at her as a reminder of her time away from the lands. A sigh, "I am here sitting next to you, alive," the Genasi played the other's words back in her direction, yet how truly alive was Emilia? or Meri? What defined alive anymore. An idle finger traced along over a burn like scar on her opposite wrist bone, the flesh had a strange feel to it almost like old feeling a dried orange rine, "I am fine." A half-truth, or a lie the Genasi couldn't be sure anymore. As usual the frozen woman turned the subject off herself, "Take a vacation to come back to what feels like a whole new land, as if nothing is close to what it was when I left."

Meri was not sure what constituted alive anymore. Physically they were both still alive, yes, emotionally both women were clearly feeling a little numb. In a strange way Meri found comfort in that, at least sitting next to someone who was coping with their own inner demons just like Meri was. There was a strange comradery in their silence, the understanding that they were both working through their issues but neither of them wanted to talk about it. The gesture is observed, the burn is noticed. It is fairly obvious that it is noticed for Meri looks away form the well's glistening water and shifts to the burn on the Genasi's wrist. "I know the feeling," Meri reflects. "I think you have missed a lot in your absence from the lands. There is a war going on." When is there not some sort of trouble being wrought within the lands? "I am sure they will need your services soon. If not the services of others like Sabrina and Thamalys. I have not seen Sabrina in some time either."

Emilia could never say that in any moment she never enjoyed the company of Meri, even on a day like this when neither wished to talk, but found some form of comfort having silent company of a familiar face. "I have not seen her myself in a time...not since the....er, well, now in awhile anyways. I suppose that there is always some sort of war going on. A never ending cycle, as life likes to have its way of being a pain in the rear end. In fact, I haven't seen Thamalys in a time either....What a slacking leader I am to the healers and in a time when there is a calling for them. I suppose you are most right, as always, my services will be needed before long..."

Meri did not mean to infer that Emilia was a slacker of a leader! That remark earns Emilia the briefest of frowns to express that Meri disagrees with Emilia's stance. "It is a cycle. I guess that is probably half the point. I try and convince myself sometimes that if there were no downs, how could we appreciate the ups? If there was not tragedy, how could we value the good things in our life that we have?" Meri is frowning again, once more letting her baby blues settle on the rippling water. This time she is staring more at herself than she is Emilia and the psion must not like what she is seeing in the water. A subtle push, and the water ripples just enough to blur and distort Meri's face. "Your services will be needing. Is that not the curse and the blessing of being a healer? You're always needed, just sometimes not for the reasons you would prefer."

Emilia shifted her sitting so that her legs were criss-crossed instead of dangling freely. The old ragged pants that barely clung to those bony hips losing thread against the stone as it rubbed. Hey, at least she was clothed today, even if it was in over sized ragged clothing like a homeless person. Resting a hand in her lap she reached with the other, ever chilled, one to tuck a stray blonde hair behind Meri's ear, "Life is a cycle of chaos and bliss, nothing more and nothing less. That is true, but in that same blurred mess of life how long can one go doing what is not their intended nature? How long can one keep monsters at bay before the arrive once more? How long can one keep happiness before it vanished into the darkness? Perhaps the ups are just false hopes given by the darkness for its own sick form of entertainment. I will find way into healing others again before long. People have a way of finding me even when I try to not be found. I've nearly healed all the way I am sure a bigger return to the public for me will happen soon." Healed on the outside, the nightmares still plagued the Genasi, but she'd never admit that aloud.

Meri frowns despite what seems to be a comforting gesture from Emilia. The Genasi's words seems to contradict the comforting feeling that one might have gotten from a strand of hair being tucked behind their ear. "I don't know. I don't think any of us know. But I think if we're real and honest, no one can keep the monsters at bay forever. One day they surface, they always surface." Meri's lips turn down into a heavy frown as she mulls over this realization. It was heavy enough that Meri was not so quick to return to the subject of healing, she almost loses herself in thought...but she finds her way back to the conversation again eventually. "When you are ready, you may want to consider speaking with Lionel. Someone by the name of Kahran is intent on destroying the lands. Lionel is intent on stopping that from happening. So when you are ready, they will need you."

Emilia enjoyed the silence for the moment, just thinking after such a heavy topic that had surfaced for a moment of time. Returning to the world around her the Genasi nodded, "In the morning I shall send word toward Lionel. I feel like the name is familiar. I am most sure that the Guild can be of aide to the cause, we are always there when we are needed. I don't like the sound of that name. Something about it seems like I know it personally." Shaking her head a moment the Genasi laughed a fake laugh for a moment, "Having been gone so long I am most happy to see you still breathing and being able to spend some time with you, even if you seem more lost than I do lately."

Meri gives a slight tilt of her head at the laugh that she is able to discern to be fake, she has known Emilia long enough. The tattooed woman cannot fully make heads or tails of how she should read that laugh, was Emilia really glad to see her? Or had Meri managed to say the wrong thing? Maybe that is why the laugh was fake? Doubt starts creeping up into Meri's mind, the woman certainly is lost, for there was a time that her mind would not have been clouded with this doubt. Her confidence is obviously lost. "Yes. It is good to see you too. I hope that we won't be such strangers to one another anymore." If Emilia is able to be around a bit more, that is. "I guess I should probably be on my way, but if you ever want to pay me a visit again? I am out in Larket these days. At least for the time being."

Emilia smiled with a real smile across those frosted lips, "It would be a wonderful pleasure to spend more time with you. Perhaps we can fit in an inking session or two." The Genasi was lost, the artist was lost, the entire world of Hollow was lost in war. "I shall surely remember to send word and find my way back into the public. And if you ever need to talk my ears are always open to you as is the house of Ara if you need a place to stay with peace of mind. Take care, my friend."

Meri was lost enough that the thought of tattooing, even one of her most loyal clients, was enough to inspire dread within the artist. There was this underlaying concern that her work would be subpar. She did not express this to Emilia. Meri just smiles, a sincere but hesitant smile (hesitant because she wanted to tell Emilia she feels like she lost her muse, but she clearly is not). There is a quick hug, the same one armed-slightly awkward hug the few people who do get hugs from Meri get, and then Meri was abandoning her post on the well and off into the night. "Don't be a stranger."