flowerbandits | closed to imri

This world was just as puzzling to Kara as Earth had been. Traveling has been an absurdity to her- though, that makes sense, with this being her first jaunt. She has understood the rules of traveling- but that was all forgotten the moment that a knife had flashed.

So, here she stands- having wrapped her fist around the knife the man had been holding. The entire tavern gawking at her- probably because she's not bleeding, and the knife isn't so knife shaped anymore. Or maybe it's the knife from the other man, awkwardly clattered on the floor after it had quite literally bounced off of her body. She doesn't seem to notice too much though- she's busy peering at the boy who had almost been caught literally in the fight. "Are you alright?" She asks- face creasing with concern, hoping she didn't just scare the shit out of him.

Adrenaline pumping through his veins, Imri stares with very wide eyes at the girl from his crouch on the floor that he'd dropped to when the knives had been drawn. It's his first jaunt too, and though Traveling doesn't make any sense, it's worlds better than Darsanga, even now. Still, there are too many memories associated with hard steel - Fadil Chouma, Lord Death, Jagun the Tartar. He legs quiver, and he feels trapped by the stares of the tavern - even though most of them aren't staring at him.

He's so pinned by fear and emotion, and he's seen so much in the past few days, that he barely even registers the girl's strength or her seemingly impenetrable skin. Instead, breathing fast, he simply nods wordlessly - and glances longingly at the tavern door.

Something about the way he looks wrenches her heart. He reminds her a little of how she had expected Kal to be at his age- maybe that's why, when he nods, she drops the knife in her hand. She's not bleeding, and the tavern visitors are still in too much awe, or perhaps too much fright, to do anything. So, she bends and scoops the boy up. "I've got you. Let's get out of here." She's take him by the hand, but she's afraid of hurting him- while his eyes remind her of how Kal-El should have looked, he's still a human. Fragile.

She strides out of the tavern calmly, though it would be faster to fly, she doesn't want to frighten him.

He startles a little when she picks him up - had she been a man, he would have run away, or gone kicking and screaming had he been caught. Thankfully, she is not, and no woman had truly threatened or scared him in the months since he'd been kidnapped and sold into slavery. Instead - holding him, and with the men present too awed or frightened to approach - she represents the closest thing to safety he's felt since he left the sanctuary of Elua, nearly half a year ago.

Unthinking, he wraps his arms around her neck, leaning into her - and closing his eyes, so no-one will see his tears.

Even if she wasn't holding him close enough to hear him cry, she would have sensed it- she can hear his heartbeat. Not just the heartbeat, but the cruel murmurs, even after she's strolled away from the Tavern. She has to be careful- gentle, so as to not accidentally crush him with her still newfound powers, but she manages to hold him well enough, softly humming a Kryptonian lullaby to try and soothe the frightened boy. She's probably frightened him even more with her powers, her strength, and she can't help but feel the guilt of it.

Even after they're safely ducked down an alleyway, away from the scene before, she doesn't set him down. She will when he's ready- but she'd been prepared to be a surrogate mother at this age- no matter how fumbling and mistake ridden she may be. If she can give him at least some sense of comfort...

He tears are nearly silent - a normal human would be unlikely to hear them, even at her range. And though his relief comes from far more than the scare at the knife fight - something she can likely sense as well - even so, he recovers quickly. Not three minutes have passed, and he's trying to discreetly dry his eyes before looking up at her, eyes grave and voice quiet.

"Thank you." Though he has never in memory felt the touch of a mother, being held by her stirs something in him, and he is comforted - but he is also proud, and she is still a stranger, if a kind one. He climbs carefully out of her arms and takes a step back - but it's not a big step, and though his eyes are a little uncertain, they hold no fear for her now.

"Are you a Traveler?" You could only hear the capital 'T' if you knew enough to listen for it.

She allows him his space- taking a step back. It's still hard to walk on the ground, after learning to walk on air, but she doesn't want to scare him even worse. His heartbeat has just calmed."I couldn't leave you there." She says, softly- hating herself a little for imposing upon this boys personal space the way she did. He is not Kal. Kal-El is grown, grown while she slept.

"That's what they told me." She was a traveler before she was a Traveler, so the title doesn't bother her too much. "I know we're not supposed to draw attention to ourselves- but someone had to stop them." There's a brief fierceness to her eyes, an anger at the people of this world.

"You could have." It's whispered, almost to himself, as a nameless hurt and anger move quietly in his eyes - but it's a brief moment, before the look is gone.

"Well, you definitely did that." He looks up at her with something that's almost a smile, before he tilts his head quizzically. "Are you wearing armor under there? It didn't feel like it, but..." But that knife had definitely bounced off her when it had hit. Something had to have caused it, and he didn't really know about aliens or superpowers yet.

She shakes her head- she couldn't have, even though she knows other people could have. She hates that look to his eyes- the way his heart sounds- all the things she can now tell about a person that she wishes she couldn't.

He asks about her armor, and she can only smile gently, now more than ever, not wanting to frighten the boy. "Something like that." She says, casually brushing hair behind her ear. Hopefully he doesn't ask to see it, because he'll quickly find out that the armor is nothing more than her skin, strengthened by the sun of the planet. "The rest of the Travelers have set up a safe place in the inn. I can get you there, if you need me to, but I can't stay."

closed to imri

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