exsiliumlogs | (no subject)

Date & Time: 7/15 evening
Location: the streets of Exsilium
Characters: LEO and MERA
Summary: they were just trying to protect kids, jeez.
Warnings: considering both their histories, potential mention of infanticide.

Almost every Exile who ventured into the streets daily knew Mera was anything but human. She walked under the rain without breaking out a shudder and sometimes when she was moving wreckage for the people she moved piles of it with very little trouble. Because of that fact, the ones who had been taking care of the orphanage told her she was not welcome back. She presented a threat to them -- which didn't come as a complete shock to her. She had always been an outsider, even back in her world. But there she had Arthur.

She was lonely here. She couldn't fight the ache in her heart.

Again she stood in the rain, contemplating what to do next. Efforts to talk to the Exiles hadn't gone so well today. Perhaps she would try again tomorrow. She refused to give up just yet. She thought about heading to the lake to clear her mind. It was the only body of water that provided her some calm while she swam.

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Trying to get back into the orphanage proved to be futile, even if it was only to drop off some books and then be gone again. He'd gotten the kids into a book series and it felt only right to get them the last of it when he didn't know when the hostilities would die down or if he'd ever be allowed back, but he was turned away even before he could even get to the doorstep. Not by the children or the matrons, after all those months he knows they would always receive him with open arms regardless of his status, but by other natives who knew what he was.

So it was with a heavy heart and anger that he made his way through the streets of Exsilium. Luckily Leo has been wearing the same clothing as the natives for a while now so he didn't immediately stand out as a Transport, making the walk an unbothered one (save for his own quiet seething.) He was on his way back to the library, books clutched close to his chest under his cloak, when a glint caught his eye.

A glance from beneath his hood made his steps turn to faltering ones as he came to a halt. The trident alone was familiar enough, but so was the woman holding it. She'd helped that day, catching the sleeper agent. He probably still owed her a thanks for that.

"You'll stand out if you keep carrying that." So he called out with cautionary words to get her attention instead, blunt as ever.

Leo had almost slipped by unnoticed by Mera, successfully blended into the crowd of Exiles. Only his words caught her attention finally and she turned her head to make out who it was who had spoken to her until she recognized him as the least friendly boy from the orphanage. As far as she knew, he had been the "least" dangerous, but he was defensive when it came to the children. She thought she understood why, however.

"I have no desire to blend in," she said, tucking some wet locks behind her ear.

At least his demeanor and attitude wasn't as hostile as it was then, but at the time he'd had good reason for it what with all the children getting sick. It had brought back unpleasant memories of his siblings getting 'sick' and mysteriously dying which hadn't helped either. Now, despite being angry with the natives, he was calm and composed as he faced her, shoulders loose and relaxed. Personally he thought it stupid to stubbornly stick with things that clearly marked them as outsiders. It essentially made them targets, really.

"Your choice." He shrugged, it wasn't like he cared either way. More important was the reason he stopped, he wasn't entirely rude and he certainly wasn't ungrateful. "Thanks for helping out in the orphanage back then."

She made a beeline for him, ignoring the look of another Exile passing through the street who stepped several feet aside to avoid her, warily watching where she put that trident of hers.

In all fairness, she hadn't used her trident in battle much. She had been threatened not too long ago by a group of people, but she never once harmed them even if she stood her ground.

Leo was young himself; not as much as the children in the orphanage, but he was still a child in Mera's eyes.

"There's no need; those children didn't deserve to suffer and I wouldn't allow harm to come to them." Mera's soft spot for the children was evident. But really, anyone who harmed children were deemed monsters in her eyes. "Unfortunately, they have also requested that I don't return to the orphanage. Do you know if the children are recovering well?"

The unfortunate Exile was spared nothing but a mere glance by Leo. The entire thing was almost amusing in its patheticness, but right now he couldn't even really find some petty satisfaction in their fear. He was just angry. Angry to be torn from something that he might have started considering as 'home' a little despite his best intentions and efforts not to get attached. It had been similar to the House of Fianna, but with some fundamental differences that set it apart enough that it didn't serve as a constant reminder of what he'd lost.

He nodded in agreement, the motion making his hood slide back slightly. They hadn't deserved to suffer, certainly not when they'd suffered enough just by being what they are: orphans. He was so used to people not caring that he could appreciate her obvious love of children. It reminded him of the matrons. He wasn't surprised that she'd received the same treatment as him though, but it brought back the bitter feeling strongly.

"Yes, they're doing better. But that's all I can tell you." The way he ducked his head, unable to keep his face from contorting with quiet rage, probably made it obvious that he was no longer welcome either.

Most of her feelings varied between dismay and frustration; an outsider she always was. It didn't bother her as much as it did in the past, but it made it difficult to accomplish anything. Didn't the Exiles understand they had to work together to survive and win this war?

She tilted her head and droplets of rain trickled down the glistening tiara and her trident. In such melancholic weather Mera really stood out, like a drop of colour in a sea of grey.

She pursed her lips. "They banned you as well." She sighed and shook her head. "Really, they're more ungrateful than I thought."

His grip on the books tightened for a moment, pressing them into his chest as he nodded again. He took the moment to compose himself before he raised his head again with a noise of dissent. She was right that he was banned as well, but it wasn't that the ones at the orphanage were ungrateful. They might have been wary when he'd shown up on their doorstep the very first time, but he'd won their trust by now and he'd come to spend his time there even outside of his community service.

"No, it's not the orphanage. It's just— others." Others who didn't even have anything to do with the orphanage, people who just posed as 'concerned' fellow natives as an excuse to go after a known Transport. It was ridiculous. His probation officer had warned him not to go and he probably should have heeded his warning. It would have saved him from feeling even more bitter about the entire ordeal, bitterness that he was unable to stop from spilling out.

"This entire thing is ridiculous, it's not like it's our fault."

"I've heard — and seen it for myself."

She tilted her head toward the other Exiles walking by on the next street, occasionally stealing a glance at Mera and the boy she spoke to before pretending as if they had never noticed her at all.

"My own experiences have taught me people will fear what they don't understand." It seemed true no matter what world she found herself in, so she wasn't floored by the reaction from the city. But then she waved a hand as if to dismiss the topic. "You shouldn't be out in this rain. What is your name?" she added.

Leo paid them no mind, entirely too used to this kind of treatment from back home. It was familiar, almost nostalgic in a way. It reminded him of the days he'd spent with his mother before she died, furtive glances from villagers and hushed whispers behind their hands as they passed by. Nothing new at all.

He knew from his own experiences as well (story of his life really) so he nodded. He understood, but that didn't make it any less frustrating. Not when they hadn't given a damn about the children before this. Her abrupt change in subject caused him to look up in some surprise. Ah, he hadn't even given her his name back then, had he?

"It's fine." He tugged on his hood as if to make a point. He was used to the continuous rain by now, he hardly noticed it anymore. "I'm Leo."

She didn't think it was fine; that hood wouldn't protect him from the cold for long. A rain like this soaks you and the cold travels down in the bones. She may not be bothered much by it, but she would assume Leo, who was just a human as far as she understood, would eventually be.

"Mera," she nodded in lieu of a smile. There didn't seem much to smile about lately, even if they were alive and they had been able to fend off the attacks. "Are you headed back to the MAC?"