Could This Be Home? (Beyril and Lani; Private)

Evelyn held up her hand, middle, ring, and pointer fingers held up. "This many."

Tien nodded, cheeks brilliant red, "This sounds good."

Evelyn nodded in return, straightening and motioning once more for them to head out. "It's going to be very confusing outside. Do not lose me." The words sounded more demanding than she had intended, a side effect of both her up bringing and her general detachment and apathy.

Tien followed her outside, physically overwhelmed by the sheer number of people alone. She held her breath, trying to focus on Eve and follow her footfalls alone.

"Do you need to take my hand?" Evelyn voice was strangely far more soothing now, her arm stretched back behind her in the hopes that she could offer some level of comfort or aid.

Tien didn't hesitate to take her hand, the crowds making her more anxious by the second.

Evelyn tugged her forward, stepping closer to her to act as a sort of root and shield, attempting to act as both a grounding mechanism and a shield. "It won't be long and the crowd will be over. I parked close."

Tien nodded, looking quite like a deer in headlights, and equally silent until she reached safety.

Evelyn clicked the lock for her convertible, opening the door for Tien. "It's okay," she murmured.

Tien's knuckles were white where she gripped the shoulder straps on her backpack, "I am sorry... I have not seen so many in one place..."

"It's alright." She assured her, nodding towards the inside of the car, "Cities can get really bad. Death City isn't as populated as this. It'll be alright."

Tien nodded, tearing her eyes from the crowd and gripping her bag in her lap, "How far?"

"Not very," she explained, waiting for her to enter the vehicle. "I can get you there shortly and we can get everything sorted out for you."

Tien nodded, "I did not bring sheets... how much is blanket here?" she asked, looking shyly at her bag as though she should have thought to have packed blankets.

"Furniture, sheets, curtains, and various other supplies are provided. They're free, Tien."

Tien sat in a sort of silence, feeling little else but embarrassment since the moment she landed. She fidgeted with her hands, idly plucking at her own dirty fingernails that she was afraid to wash because they still smelled like the fertilizer they used back on her farm at home and she missed the smell. She was afraid if the smell washed from her hands, then she'd forget it, and forget the farm where her family lived. She thought back to her lucky cat with the chipped smile, but she knew that leaving had been her only choice. Once the transformations started, then the way time jumped and skipped erratically when people touched her for too long, or when she was upset.... It frightened her. Much in the same way this woman kind of frightened her. She hated sitting in silence though, even with her English so bad that she was sure it drove the woman mad, "So..." she stammered, trying to think of words, sort of speaking Thai in her mind and translating it into the words she thought meant similar things in English, "Are you.... like me?"

"A weapon?" She asked, knowing little else besides the woman's class, "No. I am a meister. I wield weapons, train with them. I am a weapon partner." Her eyes stayed steady on the road. They were nearing the city by this point, though there was still a good bit of distance. "What do you want to know?"

Tien paused, briefly wondering if she was to train with this woman, but unclear as to whether or not it would be pretentious of her to ask in the first place. She brushed a strand of her long black hair from her face, "Are there weapons like me? I was told that I am 'weapon' but that there are lots kinds."

"Like you?" Evelyn inquired, tapping against the steering wheel while she drove, "What is your weapon form?"

Tien paused, words not matching up well. She muttered in her strange dialect and pointed to the meister' swatch, "Like this... But more big. It... Makes fast or not... Or stop things." She struggled, her English words not equipped for explaining things like this.

"Fast? Stop?" Evelyn's eyes flickered towards her, confusion evident. "I apologize, Tien, but I do not understand."

She fished through her bag for the delicately folded letter from the academy, even if she couldn't read it, and handed it across to Eve. The words, "first recorded time weapon" had been underlined in excitement from the admissions office.

Blinking ensued, and Evelyn pulled the car to the side of the desert road, rereading the letter time and again. "You're a... time weapon?" She asked, curious, eyes not once leaving the paper in front of her.

Tien nodded excitedly, just glad she found the English word again, "Yes! Coffee man said that was what letter said."

"How?" Evelyn asked, taken aback by the concept itself. "What would you... even turn into?"