fandomhighdorms | The Garden, Sunday Afternoon

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The Garden, Sunday Afternoon

Karla was feeling moody. Maybe it was knowing that shes was moving out of that cabins and back to the dorms with a roommate she didn't know. Maybe it was homesickness, stirred by her booth at the Multi-Cultural Fair. Maybe it was knowing this next week was going to be filled with a lot of anxiety that few people could actually know about. Whatever it was, she was a mess of different emotions, most of them unpleasant.

And so, she did what any Kaeleeran Queen would do: she found a garden and started working on it. Queens needed a connection with the land; it soothed them, help them think, and, in return, they made the land healthier and stronger. It was a nice trade-off.

Today, however, Karla wasn't concerned about making the land better. She just wanted somewhere peaceful to work while she sorted through her odd jumble of emotions. So she spent the afternoon weeding, thinning, watering, and just basically getting good and mucky.

[Establishy but open]

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Before fight club Leto had roamed the island. He hadn't visited the garden before, but took some time to wander through it aimlessly.

Then he noticed Karla, clearly at work, and he stopped at a distance, not sure if he should approach and address her. Their last meeting hadn't gone to well, after all, but that had been his fault and if she wanted an explanation he owed her one.

Karla finished a row, glancing up to see what she should work on next. And then she spotted Leto. She stood, awkwardly, trying to figure out what to say, to find out what happened. In the end, she settled for a nod. "Leto," she said quietly, half in greeting, half a question.

"Hello, Karla." He took a few steps forward. "I didn't mean to interrupt your work."

She shrugged. "I'm mostly working just to be working, so it's not a problem." She paused. Small talk was difficult with near-strangers, especially when she really had questions she wanted to ask. "How are you today?"

Edited 2009-05-24 17:35 (UTC)

"I am fine," he said, adding quietly: "Better than last time we met. And yourself?"

"A little more relaxed," she said. "The booth took a lot of work."

She was being less than truthful, but Karla had little desire to talk about emotions she didn't really understand with someone she barely knew. And presenting a strong front to strange males was more of a safety measure than anything else. "I'm glad to hear you're feeling better."

If Leto wanted to expand on that, he could. That'd be fine. Just sayin'

Leto hesitated for a moment, then said: "I owe you an apology. You were not aware of how... some of my memories might interfere with yours. It was not your fault, and I didn't mean to frighten you."

Karla looked up, just a wee bit skeptical. "You're going to have to explain that a bit more," she said. "How could your memories interact with mine like that? Look, if you're just trying to make me feel better, I appreciate the sentiment, but..."

"It's... rather private," he began, considering what to say. It shouldn't have to be a secret here, and Ghanima was quite open about her Pre-Born nature. There was no Bene Gesserit to fear; and really, most of the danger came from within himself.

"I was born with all the memories of my ancestors within me. Should I let down the barriers, one of them could possess me. The illusion you created... it was like a vision. I lowered my guards. I couldn't keep them out."

That was as honest as he could be.

Karla pondered that for a few moments, trying to make sense of it all. "Tell me to back off and I will," she started. She understood the value of privacy more than many. "But I'm just trying to make sure I understand. When you say 'memories,' you don't mean the occasional picnic or Windsol with the family, right? You mean something more akin to whole personalities, with their memories intact? Strong enough memories to take you over? And to experience my memories, you made yourself vulnerable to them?"

Karla could kind of grasp what Leto was saying, mostly because of some of the conversations she'd had with Jon. Still, this was a whole new level. Hellfires, Mother Night, and may the Darkness be merciful. Karla couldn't even imagine what that might have done to her web. But she couldn't deny a sense of relief knowing that it hadn't been her Craft that failed.

"I appreciate you telling me. Is...there a reason you must carry such a burden? And no ways to make that burden less...burdensome?"

Not that Karla was going to volunteer to take care of that or anything. She was asking out of pure nosiness. She most certainly did not help random males out of the goodness of her heart, or anything nice like that. However, that didn't mean she couldn't think about ways to do so. In a kind of thought-experiment kind of way.