Session 2: Vrey Hallinel

[Mr. Blackbird Lore]

Lady watched, her stoicism reorganizing into repressed motherly concern. As Vrey finally forced out the words, the counselor smiled. Slowly and deliberately she raised and extended one hand out to the young girl, palm up and empty. "Take us wherever you would feel most comfortable-- in this realm, please." That last she added in realizing Vrey was often quite literal, and any room for misinterpretation could be dangerous for both of them.

[Gwathdraug]

Vrey looked at the offered hand but never took it. The teen quickly lead the two of them through the halls until they reached a side door that opened out into a small courtyard centered around a single tree and with flower filled planters all around it. The bald grey squat in front of the nearest box and her face became set into a look of concentration as she looked at the leaves and the petals. Slowly unbuckling one of her gauntlets Vrey let her bony, scar crossed hand pass over the plant - green tendrils snapping out to catch aphids and other pests - before stilling as her face fell slack once more.

"They can not remember me." Vrey did not look up or toward Sumedha as she spoke. "The flowers. It is nice."

[Mr. Blackbird Lore]

Lady worked silently as Vrey struggled to find her comfort zone. She had reassessed and chosen a new tack- a slower approach than she had originally intended. "What about your friends and the memories you've made with them?"

[Gwathdraug]

Vrey gently touched at the leaves surrounding the flower of a pink rose. Probing and testing the health of the plant by touch. "I cannot remember most of them. Everyone from today is there, but yesterday? There are entire people - whole groups - I have related to that I have as many memories for as I do for tomorrow."

The bald teen let her hands fall down between her legs. Her gauntlet covered hand grasping her bare one. "I write to my guardian everyday and she writes back everyday. She believes it will make my memories harder to swallow."

[Mr. Blackbird Lore]

Fascinating. "Your guardian is wiser than she cares to let anyone know." Then a pause as she shifted back to the topic of memories. "Do you remember your friends when you see them?"

The course of conversation made Lady realize she had established several blatantly erroneous assumptions when embarking upon this endeavor to help her student. Now she was having to make major course corrections as they spoke.

[Gwathdraug]

"I am well equipped to remember everyone here." Vrey stated plainly. "Loss takes years of time." The bald teen looked up and watched a cloud crawl across the afternoon sky. "I have been here for decades."

[Mr. Blackbird Lore]

Now this was a puzzle, and Lady's own mind was eager to dive right in with no guidance to try and put it all together. But this wasn't about her. She had a student and her job- her mission- was to help her be the best student she could be. "That must be difficult to navigate sometimes- remembering much about some things, and nothing about others. Do you have any favorite memories?"

The concept was plainly horrifying to Lady personally, but she continued to provide the maternal and professional appearance that she had cultivated for more than a decade. This wasn't about her. She did find it a small tragedy, though. Her mind truly was her greatest asset and ability-- the only one, if she was being perfectly frank with herself. If she lost even element of that potential, it would have drastic repercussions for everything in her life. It couldn't be so much different for others, even if they weren't psychics. And despite any tenuous philosophical arguments, Vrey easily met Dr. Sumedha's definition of personhood, despite her many differences from her peers. Her memories were just as important, just as valid.

[Gwathdraug]

"I like this one." Vrey sighed and relaxed. Her body going lax and falling from her crouch to sprawled on her back. She could see both the sky and Doktor Sumedha above her now. "You asking me about them. Me their protector."

The teen's gaze dropped down towards her arms where they rest against her stomach. One armoured and covered and the other boney, pale, and scarred. She reached her bare hand out above her with fingers splayed wide.

"I do not want them to be my treasures." Vrey's face was set with steeled concentration as she watched the clouds drift between her fingers. "If they could be my sky I would like that."

A small smile broke across her features as her arm dropped back down and she clasped her hands together.