Conversations
—
Rolling the waxy texture of an appa between his palms, Subaru glances behind himself at Rem. The teen had returned to the appa salesman and apologized profusely for dumping his merch, and ended up buying a few more of the red fruits(?) to munch on.
Rem turns her eyes up when she notices Subaru looking back at her and smiles. Subaru feels his lungs quickly pull in air as he hastily turns back around.
...
So that's how it is now.
The teen looks to his side at the shorter blonde. He is dressed in clothing not uncommon in this world, very different from his alien black long-sleeve shirt and jogging pants from two loops ago. A simple beige long-sleeve shirt and grey pants is what he wears now. His face is also partly covered by shoulder-length blonde hair. Subaru rolls the appa in his hand into his tracksuit pocket.
"So, averagely clothed-san. Mind helping us with a little problem?"
The blonde raises an eyebrow as he looks up at Subaru.
"Awfully classy of you to ask a random stranger for a favor... I guess it depends on your problem."
"Have you heard of the Hakugei, averagely clothed-san?"
The blonde closes his eyes and tilts his head up.
"Can't say I have. I'm Meiss."
Subaru stops walking and looks at the blonde with a confused expression.
"Miso?"
"What? No! What's your IQ stat? That was obviously my name! MII-SUH. Just without the -UH."
Rem comes up to stand on the opposite side of Subaru from Meiss. Her hands are clasped in front of her as she looks at Meiss curiously. She does not understand this 'IQ stat' so she doesn't realise Subaru was just insulted.
"Ok then Mice-san, mind helping us kill it?."
Meiss puts his hands up defensively and raises an eyebrow.
"I'm gonna need a bit more context. What is the Halugei again?"
"Giant flying whale. Which we can so conviently track... with this!"
Subaru fishes around in his pant pocket for a second before he pulls a flip-phone from from the depths. He brandishes the nigh outdated technology like a magical item as he waves it around.
"Pffft!"
"Huh?"
Meiss hides his snicker unsuccessfully as he laughs at the 'magical item.' Of course it's pretty obvious that Subaru is from beyond the cascade, even more so for Meiss. Of course nobody really cares since the tales of the land beyond the cascade are surely myth...
"Heheh, pronounce it right. MII-SUH, without the UH."
"Miisuh? Meissa? ... Meiss?"
"Yup. Also, on account of the fact we're from the same-"
Meiss glances at the silent Rem, her maid front being strongly upheld around the stranger. She is representing Roswaal after all.
"-distant country... you've got yourself a bit of ingrained trust. So sure, I'll help you."
Subaru takes a tentative step back and raises his brows. His clothing in that loop could be explained as him just being rich, but plainly stating that he and Subaru are the same is quite the shocker. Especially because of how nonchalant he was about it.
So it's not just Al and I? This guy as well?
Meiss slids his hands into the pockets on his pants.
"So where is this whale going to be?"
"By the Flugal tree, somewhere around midnight."
"..."
"Why would you come to me specifically with this? Plenty of capable people around."
"Uh... because you... have..."
Meiss narrows his eyes as he watches Subaru struggle for an answer. The teen is suspiciously looking around as Meiss' eyes bore into him. Rem feels the mounting tension and stares hard at Meiss before stepping in front of Subaru protectively. This altercation happens in the span of a few seconds, going unnoticed by the citizens of the capital passing by.
Subaru blinks when Rem steps in front of him. A sound finally draws his attention to Meiss. It's a sort of su su su sound, like a lighter failing to ignite. Could he just be seeing things, or are the arms under his shirt softly glowing? It only lasts a second though, the blonde's icy blue eyes softening as the soft glow fizzles out. Rem doesn't give any indication she saw the color surrounding Meiss.
"I don't believe I got your names. Mind sharing as we walk?"
Rem doesn't lower her guard, staring hard at the blonde even though he was hostile for about a two seconds. Reasonable, he could become hostile again for any reason. A hand on her head calms her though.
"Don't worry Rem, he's on our side."
"Subaru-kun? Did you not see his eyes?"
"Trust me Rem."
Meiss blinks a few times before stepping out of the way, opening the sidewalk ahead. He brandishes his arms in a 'go ahead' gesture.
"Sorry about that. People tend to not like what I can do when they find out I can do it, so I was just curious why you would want my help."
Subaru looks at the blonde for a second before smiling wide and raising his hand to shoulder height. The teen flashes his pinky to the blonde while grinning.
"I just had a feeling. Maybe we're connected by a string of fate."
Meiss snorts.
"Not the red one I hope."
Rem looks behind her and up at Subaru. The tension seems to have died down for now.
"Subaru-kun, what is this string of fate?"
—
The sun is setting, a few hours have passed.
The blonde left after learning where they are currently lodging. He said he had to run to his place and grab a few things. Lo and behold, he beat Rem and Subaru to Crusch's mansion. Mostly because Subaru and Rem were out setting up negotiations. Then they planned some strategies to combat the Hakugei and gathered the forces to carry out the subjugation, which took up more time.
Meiss had been given permission to enter the multi-building compound when he was brought here to know where Subaru and Rem were lodging, that was before he ran off to his temporary residence.
Now, Meiss is leaning against the wall next to a set of double doors. Doors that lead to Crusch's guest housing. The doors are facing the streets if the capital, insuring nothing would bother from the preperations going on inside the complex.
Upon seeing the teen and the maid, Meiss waves his left arm. To the approaching duo, his wave seems stiff, and his fingers never fully extend. The blonde pushes off of the wall and enters the moonlight, intercepting Rem and Subaru as they walk towards the doors.
Subaru raises an eyebrow as he realizes the blonde has changed into the clothes he had worn two loops ago. A black long-sleeve shirt and dark grey, almost black, joggers.
"Subaru-kun, Meiss-san has the same style of strange attire you do."
"Yeah, he does. Mind letting us talk for a few, Rem? There are some things I want to ask him."
Meiss raises his brows at Subaru from under his long hair. The boy is curious and wondering what Subaru could want to talk about. Rem walks past Meiss and into the building, turning around to let Subaru know she will be in her room if he needs anything. The maid really pressed the point, as if teetering on the edge of asking him to come to her room.
Once Rem turned a corner out of sight, Meiss crossed his arms. Right over his stiff left.
"What exactly is it you wanted to talk about?"
Subaru cuts right to the meat of the talk.
"How did you get here and how long have you been here?"
The blonde finds the ground very interesting for a second. He then raises his face and succinctly answers Subaru.
"Blinding light; two weeks."
"Two weeks? I've been here for about a month... Wonder how long Al's been here..."
That last part was a whisper to himself. Subaru put a hand to his chin as he once again wondered how exactly he was spirited to this world.
"What language do you speak, Subaru?"
"Uhh, Japanese. Why?"
Meiss closes his eyes as he thinks out loud.
"Beamed into our heads then, huh. At least the spoken language... I can still write in English, so I'm assuming you can still write in Japanese?"
"Yeah."
"From another world, language beamed into our heads, and powers. What ability did you get?"
"Ability?"
"Yeah, what mystical hero's journey kickstarter did you develop? Please don't tell me I'm an outlier and you got nothing."
Subaru glanced away, rubbing his chest.
"Uhh... Let's change the subject."
Meiss uncrossed his arms and sighed, repositioning them to rest in his pant pockets.
"I can understand not wanting to discuss it. From what I've learned so far, people aren't really fond of my ability."
Subaru took a deep breath, secretly thankful that Meiss didn't press for more of an answer. His face visibly relaxes as the talk concludes and Meiss walks into the building. The blonde turns around and beckons Subaru to follow him.
They walk down the spacious corridor before coming to a T junction. Left is where Rem went, right is where Subaru's room is located. Just before the two turn right, they encounter an old man.
"Wilhelm!"
Subaru enthusiastically calls the man's name and waves to him.
"Subaru-dono."
The old man replies respectfully.
Meiss stops for a second, slightly leaning back to look tall Wilhelm in the eyes. The blonde holds out a hand.
"Nice to meet you, my name's Meiss Rhen."
Wilhelm grasps the boys hand in a firm handshake. Meiss tries to return the firmness, but isn't sure how much force to use and ends up using too little for a formal handshake.
"I am Wilhelm van Astrea, pleasure to make your acquaintance."
The two conclude their handshake, with Wilhelm raising a brow at Subaru. No doubt wondering where the blonde came from and what he's doing here. He can trust the teen's judgement though, his eyes look focused and clear. Whatever role Meiss has to fill, Subaru must have felt he would do well in fulfilling that role.
The duo continue on their way and Wilhelm continues on his way. Meiss and Subaru only make it a few meters into the right turn before Meiss stops Subaru. The blonde points behind himself with a thumb, gesturing to the left hallway.
"Subaru, correct me if I'm wrong to assume, but the blue girl likes you, right?"
The sudden question catches Subaru off guard.
"Wh- yeah..."
Meiss raises a brow in questioning, before turning to face Subaru.
"You should go say goodnight to her. Simple things like that can mean more to a person than you think."
"Suuuuuure."
Subaru draws out his word as he slowly pivots on his heel. Meiss has a playful smile on his face as he lightly bumps Subaru's back with an open palm. The blonde's eyes are creased in something more than playfulness, as if he is trying to fix something.
"This may be the last time you say goodnight to her. Go, please."
Subaru furrows his brows in confusion as he starts walking. The blonde rolls his right wrist in a 'get going' gesture when he looks back. The teen chuckles wryly to himself.
"Was that pseudo-love advice from someone almost two years my junior?"
Subaru does go say goodnight to Rem though.
Meiss also learns he was never actually given a room, so walks around until he finds a cat-woman. She's kinds cute, but not anybody Meiss would be interested in. The woman guides him to a seemingly random room that is still open.
Meiss also learns the woman is a man.
—
I thought for a bit about how heavily to change things, and decided to make Meiss a little more friendly, at least to Subaru. I know his attitude will change a bit from here to the un-rewritten chapters, but it was a nice little flair to write Meiss being kinda positive.
Also rewrite, so expect quality to drop at least a little from here before gradually picking back up around the start of Arc 4.
Old A/N :: Ska here, and I would just like to inform that, unlike my other story, I am writing these Chapters in advance then releasing them on a weekly schedule. I do this in the hopes that I stick with this story, and not rely on spontaneous bursts of energy for my writing.