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mindglitterTitle: Hypervigilance
Universe: The Academy
Word Count: 1195
Summary: Pari has a long way to go in her healing journey, and the sands of time keep getting away from her...
Notes: Answer to Yahtzee prompt.
Pari slipped out of the house on the lake she and Penny had been renting in the aftermath of the situation she had gotten herself in, and settled into the porch swing with the oversized mug of coffee that helped ease her into the morning.
She had lived so much of the recent years under such extreme stress she was almost afraid to trust in her ability to relax.
The truth of this hypervigilance was proven when Penny opened the door. Peri jumped and splattered some of her coffee on her robe.
Before she could work herself into a tizzy, Penny lifted the mug from her hands and floated it to the porch railing that was wide enough to hold her cup without the risk of it tipping over without help. Then she ducked inside and returned with a cool cloth that not only helped wipe away the worst of the stain, but also eased the burn that was a slight discomfort beneath the surface.
She suspected Penny was pushing the cool so that it was felt beneath her robe long after the remnant of the coolness should have remained.
"I envy you sometimes," she said after Penny replaced the mug with the now-warm cloth.
"Me and my lonely life, filled with ambition and little else?" Penny laughed at herself in a way that made Pari frown.
"Don't put yourself down that way," she mumbled into her mug before finally taking a sip.
What the sharp pain of the burn hadn't done to help wake her, the potent coffee finished.
She sighed contentedly, and leaned against Penny's side. As much as the man who had talked her out of her life had claimed there was no difference, she knew better. There was nothing like witch coffee in the morning.
Penny pressed a kiss against the top of her head as though there had been no interruption in the relationship they had started building in school. No strife between them because she hadn't been able to accept Penny's different choices. No pretty face luring her away from her life and trapping her in a reality not her own. Just her and Penny against the world, and the ability to call Fatima if they ended up in over their heads.
That brought back sharp the memory of her phone ringing, and being unable to do as much as answer it, bound as she had been in her own magic.
She didn't realize someone non-magical even had the ability to manipulate her magic that way. She would know now, and hopefully the classes she was scheduled to teach at the Academy during the next term would help others avoid the same fate.
"We're running out of time," she said, looking at the colors of the trees. "You'll have to go back to your life in the Cities. I have classes to teach in less than a month."
The grief of this moment stolen in time washed over her.
She wasn't ready to face the world on her own. The echoes of her trauma still haunted her nights, and the coping mechanisms she had developed to survive the situation she had landed herself in were still more geared about her isolated from people, rather than surrounded by vulnerable people who might still be hurt by how she still found herself overreacting to things.
Penny cleared her throat, "So, about that..."
Pari leaned back in surprise. "Penny, what's going on?"
It was rare that Penny embodied her full given name, but the dignity she wore like her favorite cloak was far more appropriate for a Penelope than Penny. "So, when Fatima and I brought you here, part of the negotiations to return you to your professorship might have involved me taking leave from the Company so I can help the Academy put their finances in order."
"Penny, everything you worked for from the moment you left school is wrapped up in the Company. Why are you walking away from it now?"
Penny's complexion might not show a flush well, but the way she suddenly wouldn't meet Pari's eyes and shifted uneasily under Pari's regard spoke even stronger to her embarrassment.
"You were more important. Seeing you in the state you were in during the nightmares helped me to realign what was important. I mean, not right away. You know me, I'm stubbornly hard-headed and need to have a point bashed into my skull a few dozen times before any of it penetrated."
Pari stared at her, speechless.
She hadn't been important for a long time. Not to Luc, who saw her as a means to an end until she refused to provide any longer. Not to Fatima, who had washed her hands of her from the moment she had gotten drawn into Luc's orbit. Definitely not to Penny, who had walked away from all of them in favor of the business world and digging herself out of the near-poverty her family had grown up in.
"I don't know that I can believe that yet," she said.
"I know," Penny said. "I have a lot of making up to do for my prior mistakes."
"That's not it," Pari said, but fell silent rather than trying to explain why she was so wary.
Thankfully, it seemed Penny didn't need anything from her. Instead, she let Pari get lost in the coffee and the quiet of the morning while she scrolled through posts on Mythica on her phone. Aside from the occasional nudge when she found a meme she thought Pari would appreciate, Penny left her alone to her thoughts, and she had plenty of them cluttering her brain.
Finally, even the endless supply of coffee ran out, as though the mug was self-aware enough to know when she had enough coffee. Pari felt as though she would start vibrating if she took in more of the rich coffee, so she leaned forward and placed the mug back on the railing.
"Are you ready to start the day?" Penny asked eventually, showing no sign she was going to press Pari for further explanations.
"I think so, yes."
"Good," Penny said, closing her phone and sliding it into an invisible pocket where she would have access to it any time she needed it. "Do we want to take a walk around the lake and enjoy the foliage for the last time before life gets crazy again?"
Pari smiled and rose to her feet, dusting invisible crumbs off her robes. "Of course. Just let me go and find some more suitable clothes for that. Are we heading to the Academy after?" Pari asked, already mentally sifting through the clothes Fatima had brought her for an appropriate outfit.
"I think so. You have that meeting with the Dean this afternoon."
Pari flexed her shoulders as though the power move would help dislodge the anxiety encouraging her to hunch into herself and hide. "Of course. I'll be right back."
She felt Penny's presence behind her as she went to do just that. It remained solid and reliable enough to tempt her into believing she could trust Penny would still be there when she returned.
Soon, she thought. Soon, but not yet.
Universe: The Academy
Word Count: 1195
Summary: Pari has a long way to go in her healing journey, and the sands of time keep getting away from her...
Notes: Answer to Yahtzee prompt.
Pari slipped out of the house on the lake she and Penny had been renting in the aftermath of the situation she had gotten herself in, and settled into the porch swing with the oversized mug of coffee that helped ease her into the morning.
She had lived so much of the recent years under such extreme stress she was almost afraid to trust in her ability to relax.
The truth of this hypervigilance was proven when Penny opened the door. Peri jumped and splattered some of her coffee on her robe.
Before she could work herself into a tizzy, Penny lifted the mug from her hands and floated it to the porch railing that was wide enough to hold her cup without the risk of it tipping over without help. Then she ducked inside and returned with a cool cloth that not only helped wipe away the worst of the stain, but also eased the burn that was a slight discomfort beneath the surface.
She suspected Penny was pushing the cool so that it was felt beneath her robe long after the remnant of the coolness should have remained.
"I envy you sometimes," she said after Penny replaced the mug with the now-warm cloth.
"Me and my lonely life, filled with ambition and little else?" Penny laughed at herself in a way that made Pari frown.
"Don't put yourself down that way," she mumbled into her mug before finally taking a sip.
What the sharp pain of the burn hadn't done to help wake her, the potent coffee finished.
She sighed contentedly, and leaned against Penny's side. As much as the man who had talked her out of her life had claimed there was no difference, she knew better. There was nothing like witch coffee in the morning.
Penny pressed a kiss against the top of her head as though there had been no interruption in the relationship they had started building in school. No strife between them because she hadn't been able to accept Penny's different choices. No pretty face luring her away from her life and trapping her in a reality not her own. Just her and Penny against the world, and the ability to call Fatima if they ended up in over their heads.
That brought back sharp the memory of her phone ringing, and being unable to do as much as answer it, bound as she had been in her own magic.
She didn't realize someone non-magical even had the ability to manipulate her magic that way. She would know now, and hopefully the classes she was scheduled to teach at the Academy during the next term would help others avoid the same fate.
"We're running out of time," she said, looking at the colors of the trees. "You'll have to go back to your life in the Cities. I have classes to teach in less than a month."
The grief of this moment stolen in time washed over her.
She wasn't ready to face the world on her own. The echoes of her trauma still haunted her nights, and the coping mechanisms she had developed to survive the situation she had landed herself in were still more geared about her isolated from people, rather than surrounded by vulnerable people who might still be hurt by how she still found herself overreacting to things.
Penny cleared her throat, "So, about that..."
Pari leaned back in surprise. "Penny, what's going on?"
It was rare that Penny embodied her full given name, but the dignity she wore like her favorite cloak was far more appropriate for a Penelope than Penny. "So, when Fatima and I brought you here, part of the negotiations to return you to your professorship might have involved me taking leave from the Company so I can help the Academy put their finances in order."
"Penny, everything you worked for from the moment you left school is wrapped up in the Company. Why are you walking away from it now?"
Penny's complexion might not show a flush well, but the way she suddenly wouldn't meet Pari's eyes and shifted uneasily under Pari's regard spoke even stronger to her embarrassment.
"You were more important. Seeing you in the state you were in during the nightmares helped me to realign what was important. I mean, not right away. You know me, I'm stubbornly hard-headed and need to have a point bashed into my skull a few dozen times before any of it penetrated."
Pari stared at her, speechless.
She hadn't been important for a long time. Not to Luc, who saw her as a means to an end until she refused to provide any longer. Not to Fatima, who had washed her hands of her from the moment she had gotten drawn into Luc's orbit. Definitely not to Penny, who had walked away from all of them in favor of the business world and digging herself out of the near-poverty her family had grown up in.
"I don't know that I can believe that yet," she said.
"I know," Penny said. "I have a lot of making up to do for my prior mistakes."
"That's not it," Pari said, but fell silent rather than trying to explain why she was so wary.
Thankfully, it seemed Penny didn't need anything from her. Instead, she let Pari get lost in the coffee and the quiet of the morning while she scrolled through posts on Mythica on her phone. Aside from the occasional nudge when she found a meme she thought Pari would appreciate, Penny left her alone to her thoughts, and she had plenty of them cluttering her brain.
Finally, even the endless supply of coffee ran out, as though the mug was self-aware enough to know when she had enough coffee. Pari felt as though she would start vibrating if she took in more of the rich coffee, so she leaned forward and placed the mug back on the railing.
"Are you ready to start the day?" Penny asked eventually, showing no sign she was going to press Pari for further explanations.
"I think so, yes."
"Good," Penny said, closing her phone and sliding it into an invisible pocket where she would have access to it any time she needed it. "Do we want to take a walk around the lake and enjoy the foliage for the last time before life gets crazy again?"
Pari smiled and rose to her feet, dusting invisible crumbs off her robes. "Of course. Just let me go and find some more suitable clothes for that. Are we heading to the Academy after?" Pari asked, already mentally sifting through the clothes Fatima had brought her for an appropriate outfit.
"I think so. You have that meeting with the Dean this afternoon."
Pari flexed her shoulders as though the power move would help dislodge the anxiety encouraging her to hunch into herself and hide. "Of course. I'll be right back."
She felt Penny's presence behind her as she went to do just that. It remained solid and reliable enough to tempt her into believing she could trust Penny would still be there when she returned.
Soon, she thought. Soon, but not yet.
