RP:Meri's Amulet and Meadow's Transformation
Part of the Hungry Like The Wolf Arc
Part of the Through A Glass, Darkly Arc
Summary: A visit between Meri and Alvina ends quickly due to unforeseen circumstances but not before they exchange some important information. Lanara is back and there's a wolf amulet that the Adventurer's guild is researching.
Previously
A letter is sent to Alvina, the short of the note is asking her if she would like to get together sometime. At her convenience. It has occurred to Meri that while she has seen Hudson as of late, she has no idea how Alvina is doing. Lunch? A few dates are suggested, and presumably Alvina writes back to confirm what works for her. Meri also suggests they meet up at her art gallery in Cenril.
The Rebel Room: Art Gallery
On the day of the luncheon, Meri has set things up more casually. Rather than utilizing the dining room table, the blonde has set them up in the living room. Meri does have a decently sized coffee table and couches are so much more comfortable than kitchen chairs. On the coffee table, Meri has purchased a few options for them, all in small servings. This is probably not surprising, Meri has never boasted a love a cooking. Meri’s selections include a small pot of coffee, a small pot of hot water, a couple of cups, the appropriate condiments for the beverages....and finger food from Khitti’s bakery. You know, sandwich bites, mini cookies. It is not a full scale hot lunch, just some options for snacking while chattering away, in numbers enough that it would be easy for both women to fill up on. Meri will be waiting for Alvina on the her turquoise couch, and from here she would be able to easily hear the bard approach so that she can show her in.
Alvina was surprised to hear from Meri. She was trapped in the vortex of the Candice Snow situation and their new daughter (who, very conveniently, decided to be born a wolf and had yet to unshift). It was easy, as Meri knew, to lose track of time when children were involved. No doubt Meri'd seen the papers; that Hudson and Candice both issued a denial about a one night stand that was reported as a blind in the paper. To be honest, she's worried Meri will either 1) know about it or 2) judge Alvina for her choices either secretly or openly. If she was going to do one or the other, since they are in the process of rebuilding trust (that Alvina'd broken), Alvina'd prefer to have the truth. Meri wasn't one to sugar coat things and Alvina'd always loved that about her. She's sure that's what made them such fast friends in the past. That and maybe a magical cloak and a kindred spirit in Khitti.
Alvina arrived with a wolf pup, leashed and bounding to and fro as soon as it's in sight. "Meadow," Alvina whispers, taking the familiar path through the entrance and up towards Meri's living quarters. The living room is less full of labeled boxes and has been for some time now, but it's always what she expects. It was the first time she'd been here. The impression stuck with her and made her feel older every time. She taps her knuckles on the door frame before moving into the living room. She could smell the coffee and goodies from the front door. Alvina's first move will be to try and hug Meri, Meadow permitting. The pup will remain ever curious and energetic but otherwise well behaved. The potty training portion turned out to be a little easier with dogs than kids. Go figure. "Hey, how are you? How's your daughter?" Sweet Fleur! "Is it all right if I have her with me?" She points to Meadow, who is eagerly trying to wedge her head under the couch.
What judgement could Meri truly pass? Just because she might have been privy to what is printed in the paper does not mean that she has any knowledge of any private conversations between Alvina and Hudson. How was she truly to know what she was doing? It was also not one of those topics of conversation that Meri was going to lead with, if she was going to pry at all. It was a sensitive subject. Meadow is greeted with an easy going smile as demonstration that Meri did not mind her presence. Fleur was not present today however, as Meri goes on to explain, “I sent Fleur off with her father for the day. But of course you can have your little one here with you today.” Meri wiggles her fingers to the wolf pup. “Nice to meet you.” Blue eyes soon focus back on Alvina and it is at this moment that Alvina will learn how much of an agenda Meri does not have for this meeting. “She can cruise around freely up here. Not much she could get into.” Maybe some of Fleur’s toys that were laying around. Maybe some of the dogs toys. Mountain, the Great Dane, definitely has an oversized bone. From the sounds of it, the dogs have been contained to the bedroom area so that they don’t cause a ruckus.
“Honestly I invited you over just to catch up. I saw Hudson about Cenril not dreadfully long ago. I thought it might be good to catch up with you as well, since I feel like it has been even longer since I have been able to see you? Things are going...well I suppose they are going well for the immediate moment, but you know how things go in these lands. It all changes on a dime.” A beat. “How are things going for you?” While Alvina answers, Meri helps herself to the snacks she has set up. They have been teasing her for awhile now, she was trying to wait! As Meri leans toward to grab herself a plate of variety of snacks, a gold medallion slips out of the pocket of her button down top, hitting the floor with a clink. The medallion lands face up, showing a wolf head molded into the gold.
Meadow sniffs Meri’s finger inquisitively before giving it a gentle nip of acknowledgement. Alvina has to stop herself from laughing. You can’t laugh at kids and encourage bad behavior. Not that Med is being bad just…it’s a little extra. She unclasps the leash, letting Meadow free while keeping an anxious eye on her. The pup, unaware that either women are discussing her, wiggles half her body beneath the couch and stays there. Her tail thumps contently on the ground.
Alvina’s attention turns back to Meri as she starts talking. “I’m so glad you did,” she adds on to the end of Meri’s reason for the invitation. “I’ve been trapped in mom mode, so it’s nice to get out and have adult conversations. I’m glad things are okay, for the moment.” Was Alvina okay? A more complicated question she didn’t know how to answer. In lue of a proper response, she laughs again. “Did these come from Khitti’s? They must have, they look almost too pretty to eat.” Alvina leans forward to snag one of the treats on display when the medallion drops to the ground with an attention drawing ‘clunk’. The bard blinks at it, tilting her head and squinting to be sure she’s seeing it correctly. “A wolf?” She thinks out loud, looking back up at Meri curiously before reaching down to hand it back to the other woman. Alvina can’t help but turn it over in her hand, feel the weight of it and wonder (maybe even rudely) what it was.
Meri could tell that Alvina was trying to avoid answering how she was. The blonde could tell because she employed this strategy a lot, sometimes with more success than others. The woman considers if she should press on this subject but ultimately decides to leave it be, for this is the avenue that she would prefer someone else to take were she avoiding answering someone's question. The blonde rolls with it, letting her red lips curve up into a practiced smile. "Of course they are from Khitti's. Her bakery is right around the corner and I hate cooking, so it is a win-win as far as I am concerned." This answer comes as Alvina is inspecting the medallion that had just fallen out of Meri's pocket moments ago. The ease in which Meri is able to talk about where she acquired the food while Alvina inspects the medallion shows how unbothered Meri is with this moment. It was perfectly okay that Alvina was examining the little trinket. "It's map. Something the Adventurer's Guild and I are working on together. Of course it took me a little bit to figure out that it was actually a map." How does a medallion turn into a map? Meri is not quick to demonstrate, she is not entirely sure what Alvina's interest level in this little trinket really is...Thus she starts the explanation off with a basic summary to try and gauge just how far in depth she should go. "We're not entirely sure what we'll find if we follow this. I suspect an amulet, one that is probably tied to werewolves. Somehow."
Alvina puzzles over how the coin is a map while Meri explains bits and pieces. Her first love was engineering, tinkering, taking things apart and solving puzzles. It's an understatement to say she's curious. "Cenril's all the better for it -" She says of Khitti's bakery before handing the coin back to Meri slowly. "Where did it come from?" The bard shakes her head softly, curls bouncing against her cheeks. "How is it a map? What's this werewolf amulet?" Her emerald eyes are bright with questions, hands clenched on her lap like an obedient child on her best behavior. Meadow, still under the couch, emits a soft snore. Her back leg kicks, just one, just once. Her attention flickers between Meri and the coin, her mind whirled with answers, theories, guesses, wild imaginations, but none would satisfy her but the truth. Whatever truth Meri knew. Hell, Alvina doesn't even stop to think if Meri -wants- her to ask or be involved. It could be personal but she hasn't reacted like it's private so far. "I-if you don't mind to tell me?" She laughs nervously, averting her gaze to the tray of treats.
Meri reaches out to collect the coin from Alvina. For the most part, the piece is solid metal save for one part -- the eye of the wolf. That is a flat stone that is visible on both sides of the coin. "The eye is the map, except if you were to look through it....it'd be too small to make out. But if light is shown through it then the size of the map is amplified and you can project it onto something. I'd demonstrate but...Well the stuff I would need to show you is not actually here. We'd have to make a trip out to to the Museum for that. But! It did show two points on the map. So we are working on investigating both of the points shown." Meri pauses to take a breath. "As for what the amulet will do? Nothing I have found relating to this actually clearly details what the amulet does. I mean, I am sure that there has to be some record of what it does somewhere...But so far nothing I have seen has shown any hints of who might have had this amulet in their possession in the past and what it might do." Meri gives a shrug of her shoulders at this detail, her eyes fixed more on the medallion in her hand than the bard in front of her. The blonde flips the coin over and over and over again at a slow rate, inspecting each face of the coin carefully. She has studied both the side marked by a wolfs head and the side depicting several strange and unfamiliar runic markers. "As for where it came from? A den. A werewolf den. If you travel through the dragon caverns that are just below Enchantment? On the other side of those caverns is were I found this den." Or...Meri has always presumed it to be a werewolf den, based on the howling of wolves she heard while obtaining this strange coin.
Meadow jams her head completely under the couch after sniffing Meri's finger. Her top half has vanished. Her tail thumps excitedly against the leg of the coffee table. Whatever's under the couch has captured the pups attention. She doesn't stir when Alvina leans down to wiggle the lease free from her child's collar. Parenting was weird. Alvina watches Meri handle the coin while she explains. It's a welcomed distraction. When Meri notes the eye, Alvina takes notice. "I see." She hums as Meri continues. The amulet and it's origins are interesting. What did the map lead to? "Could I possibly help?" She asks, eager to follow the interesting distraction. Partially because it was just that, a distraction, and partially because it seems steeped in the mystery of werewolves. Or just wolves in general. She had a feeling normal wolves didn't make the coin but nothing's impossible she supposed. Meadow's foot twitches in sleep while the two women discuss the odd relic. Near Enchantment. When was the last time Alvina'd been to Enchantment? She couldn't picture any details about the region and wonders what the werewolves of Enchantment are like. Each pack she'd known of had it's own set of rules, it's own hierarchy, not unlike Desparrow's pack. Which, technically, they were all a part of. Except for the part where Desparrow was dead and the pack dissolved. "A map," Alvina repeats thoughtfully, trying to remember who was in the Adventurer's Guild these days. "Who else is working on this with you? In the guild, I mean."
"One point was hitting on an island just off of Cenril." Obviously not Rynvale or Meri would have named it as such. "Brand recognized it. The other point is out in the Xalious Mountains. We are working on trying to conduct scouting missions to see if we can better locate exactly where in that mountain range we should be focusing." Surface. Subsurface. It was a big place to explore, potentially "You're welcome to help however you would like to. If you'd like to join us on any of the scouting missions? Or when we're ready, you can come exploring with us and see what we find?" Whatever Alvina found to be more suitable, Meri was not sure how much adventure the bard was looking to sign up for. "I will be sure to include you in any updates that I send on on this and you can decide when you feel like tagging along, hm?" Meri barely pauses as she goes on to explain who within the guild is helping her, "I think most people who are in the guild have had a chance to learn about the medallion....Khitti, Brand, Lanara, Aira, and Zahrani have all know the same information that you know." Meri smirks down at Meadow when she notices the pup's leg twitching in sleep. If only Fleur would fall asleep with such a quickness, Meri was slightly envious.
Alvina listens intently, trying to follow along with the details Meri unfurls. Scouting missions and islands. It sounded very involved. A lot of cogs in the clock, which was perfect for her current state of mind. Also, she’s still indebted to Meri, in her own mind anyway. Baby shower gifts are fine but money can’t buy sincerity. “I’d love to explore with you.” She agrees, nodding. “My work with the adventurer’s guild was pretty limited in the past. I helped identify a couple relics, read a couple maps, make a couple devices. You know, things of that nature.” The skill set COULD prove useful if they found themselves in a bind. She did so love puzzles. “Please do! It’s nice to get out of the house away from the kids every once in a while.” Work as the Frostmaw Blacksmith had cooled off (lol snow joke) so she had more free time. Meri watches Meadow after providing a list of participants while Alvina’s face freezes. She knew of all these names but one in particular stuck out as impossible. Lanara. Maybe Meri’d mentioned it out of habit. An accident. Still, the bard’s heart raced anxiously. “H-how is Lanara?” Alvina sputters with darting eyes, waiting for Meri to laugh and correct herself with melancholy thoughtfulness. When Meri does not, but provides what Alvina’s writer assumes is a snippet of how Lanara came to be back in Lithrydel, Alvina’s eyes will open wide with alarm. A restless grows in her legs, leaving one to shake. Meri may feel it, the prick of instinct they shared as wolves. It wasn’t fear or anger that hummed under Alvina’s skin. It was concern. A werewolf Amulet, Lanara, the guild…How did Meri juggle all these things at once while being a parent? Alvina’s envious of that. Being a mom isn’t a contest but Alvina sometimes wonders if having her children with a baby sitter during the day might make her less so.
How did Meri juggle all of these things while being a parent? While Alvina already had her answer: Meri would not be able to without the help of a babysitter. Granted, she tended to utilize other options over babysitting. For example, Callum was not often on the adventure's that Meri tends to go on. And if he was? Well she could usually leave Fleur with Aunt Khitti, Uncle Brand, and Dominic. If that did not work out? Then she knew the witch sister's were an option. There were still times that hired help was required, but Meri was never as maternal as Alvina. 'Mother' was not something she was intending to add to her resume of all things Meri, the fact that she was as involved as she was with Fleur might be surprising to some. Meri offers Alvina a reassuring smile when Alvina informs her of her skill set -- Meri was confident that Alvina would do just fine. She did not need much reassuring, plus there would be a team of people to help keep one another safe. The subject shifts from the adventure to Lanara, as Meri is already under the assumptions that they are in agreement. Meri would keep Alvina in the loop with the adventuring. The blonde can indeed sense Alvina's nervousness about Lanara. When the witch had first returned to the lands, Meri had been more keen on keeping mention of Lanara under wraps...but Lanara gradually made her own return known, so Meri feels comfortable enough to speak of her. "She is...about as good as one can hope, all trial things considered. I think that she would be glad to hear from you and speak with you. You should attempt to reach out to her." While Alvina herself might be putting off nervous vibes when broaching the subject of Lanara, Meri seems completely at ease with discussing her. She is still not revealing much in the way of details, Lanara can share those herself if Alvina chooses to speak with her.
Alvina remembered the Meri before her daughter. Hell, before either of them were werewolves. She specifically remembers how Meri said she would -not- be wearing a dress to Alvina's wedding. But the idea that Meri might have chosen to not be involved with Fleur doesn't even cross the bard's mind. Gender stereotypes aside, Alvina knew the pack instinct was strong. Maybe it made all the difference. The adventure takes a temporary backseat to news of Lanara. Alvina's always handy for an adventurer or two but as was the case with her, since forever really, matters of the heart took precedence.
Meadow, oblivious to grown up talk, thumps her head against the couch frame with a whine. She wiggles out backwards, tail tucked, to face Meri first. Alvina's chirping little reassurances but Med isn't paying attention. She blinks at Meri, pawing forward slowly to lick the blonde's hand timidly. "Meadow..." Alvina frowns, a hint of warning in her tone. "Don't bite."
Meadow, it turns out, doesn't want to bite. She whines and stretches towards Meri, looking up, wanting to be held. Alvina recognizes the signs of it. If Meri picks the wolf pup up, Meadow will cautiously give Meri exactly one lick on the face before she starts to shift for the very first time into a human. If Meri doesn't pick her up, Meadow will still shift, but she'll do so snuggled up against Meri's ankle.
Alvina stands in wide eyed alarm, looking at Meadow, Meri, and the wolf amulet. "Meri..." She sighed, all her words catching in her throat.
Conversation finds a lull if only because Meadow is demanding attention. Even if the youngin' were to get a bit nippy, better with Meri than with someone else, because they won't have any accidental turnings with Meri...! But this is not what happens. Meadow wants attention. Even if Meri is not the most maternal figure, she does have a soft spot for puppers, so Meadow ends up getting exactly what she wants. Meri picks her up. The blonde settles her blue eyes back on Alvina, preparing to strike up some other line of conversation without realizing that Meadow has shifted into a human right in her arms. It's Alvina's reaction that brings Meri's attention to the fact that she has a little girl in her arms over a little puppers. "Uh..." Meri's reaction is a mix of confused and surprised. "Well. I suppose you were probably not expecting this....? Isn't this the first time she has done this?" Meri offers Meadow back to Alvina, for she is sure that mommy would like to get a close up look of her daughter. "If not, we can check to see if maybe I still have something of Fleur's that might fit her decently enough?"
Alvina stammers, unfreezing to accept her human daughter like she's made of glass. Meadow is certainly a Landon - no one could mistake Hudson's distinct nose and Alvina's shock of red hair. It was the first of their children to have her hair. "Oh gods, no I can't say I was expecting this..." When Meri hands Meadow off, the babe's chubby arms reach back out for her. "We've been here for two minutes and you're already playing favorites." Alvina snorts a laugh. "This, actually, yeah I don't have any clothes for her. I should have kept some with me. I just, hadn't thought." Look at her little fingers and her little feet! Med got Hudson's fur pattern but Alvina's hair. She can't believe it. "D-do you mind?" Alvina stutters when Meri offers something of Fleur's for traveling purposes. She can't help but feel a sudden relief that Meadow'd taken care of business on the way to Meri's, so they should make it home without incident. Once Meadow's wiggled into whatever garment Meri deems appropriate, Alvina will cast the blonde a grateful smile. "She's never warmed up to anyone that quickly." Maybe it was Meri's werewolf status that marked her as friend in the pups mind. Whatever the case, Alvina's curious about both the Amulet Meri possessed and why Meadow'd picked Meri to shift for. "I guess she really wanted an aunt." The bard laughs, knowing Meri isn't swooning over random babies as a rule. Maybe there was some pack mentality at work, Alvina couldn't say definitively. She hikes Meadow up on her hip, giving Meri an apologetic look. "Sorry to cut our visit short -" Hopefully Meri understood. "- I'll get this back to you in a couple days or so. Thank you, again." Meadow squirms restlessly while Alvina stuffs Meadow's leash and harness into her satchel. "Keep me up to date on the Amulet?" She asks after shushing a discontent Med.
Meri smirks when Meadow tries to reach back out for her, but she does not add fuel to the fire by agreeing to take Meadow again. Instead Meri is on her feet and leading the way to Fleur's old bedroom -- old because she and Callum are back together, thus not residing here. But Meri still has plenty of items here as she works out in Cenril and stays from time to time. After a bit of rummaging, Meri is able to find a dress that no longer fits Fleur, but might fit Meadow. She opts for a dress over a shirt and pant set up because she figures it might be easier for Alvina to wrestle Meadow into it. Meri's smirk falls into an easy smile Alvina explains that Meadow must have wanted an aunt. "Well you and Meadow are allowed to come over whenever you want. Next time I will be sure to have Fleur here so the girls can play. I will definitely be sure to keep you updated on the amulet." Meri did not seem to mind that the visit was cut-short. Alvina had something quite unexpected to deal with. "Take care."