Chapter 24 ~ Stitching

"No, I don't believe it would be a good idea to let the girl start fueling her daydreams over melodramatic nonsense," Meus replied to Robin's request. "Especially not in the melancholy she's been in lately."

"But sir, surely introducing her to a new hobby would help to solve the issue..."

"Indeed, but it must be a more productive, extroverted hobby. Her struggles with social mannerisms are only going to worsen if she learns to retreat into fantasies and introspection. Perhaps painting would be a better choice to encourage her to see more of the outside world and replicate it in the arts."

"Yet shouldn't we at least give her the option to choose for herself?"

"When one offers a poisoned chalice to a mare, all she knows is that liquid is in a cup."

"Well... she's not some dumb horse! We can explain things to her and help ease her into it..."

It was at this point the professor's patience wore out, giving way to suspicion. He raised a brow to the younger man's way.

"Why are you so insistent on this, boy?"

"Ah, it's... well, I just h-have some books I really like, and it would be nice to be able to talk to her about them..."

"Robin, did you already give the girl novels to read?"

"What? No! It's..." He already put the books back where they belonged. There would be zero evidence. He could get away with it as long as Kurai could keep her mouth shut...

Oh. This was absolutely impossible.

"...Aha... ha... It's true. Truly nothing slips past your watchful eye, master." His smile was one of absolute defeat.

"What am I going to do with you?" Meus groaned with an utter lack of surprise st this point.

"Of course, I will humbly accept any punishment for this wretched maid's shortcomings," he said with an exaggerated flair.

"Just tell me what the damage is so far with the girl."

"Ah, she seemed very personally affected by the first novel's cliffhanger ending, but her spirits rose high from the second one. Her enthusiasm continued through and after the third book..."

"Out of how many?"

"...I lost count after forty."

"Robin!" he bellowed in a moment of unrestraint.

"This humble maid offers his deepest apologies for this regrettable—"

"Oh, hush it with that! Why didn't you speak to me about any of this before you acted it all out?"

"Well... I thought I could convince you of it, so it wouldn't matter if things were slightly out of order."

"..." Meus could only pinch the bridge of his nose upon hearing that.

"Ah, but in good news, it did seem to work at getting her out of her doldrums!"

"Very well. I'll take whatever silver lining there is to it. No reason to keep up the browbeating you over what's already done."

"You are most kind, master~."

"Yes, well, don't let this happen again. Now do go tell the girl I'd like to see her, then get back to work."

"Yes sir. I will be in the laundry room if you need anything."

One graceful curtsy;
exit stage left.
A brief delay—
arrival: Kurai disheveled, sleeplessness mired by delusional mirth.
There are no cheers save for her own.

"Good day, good day, Mr Meus! Ah, aren't you dressed dashing today! Is there a special occasion?"

"This is my usual suit, Kurai. You certainly are in a good mood today."

"I have never been better! Goodness, you should have been there when Mr Forrester finally gave the ring to his Caroline. You would be so giddy too!"

"Do you mean to say you were there yourself, before your very eyes?"

"Yes! Well, no. They couldn't see me. But I could see everything, sir. Everything! Down to the very last whispered word."

"You saw whispers?"

"Ah, well, I must have when I was reading it, but I could also see it all around me. Oh, if only I knew how to recreate it all! You would be completely... completely flummoxed by how real it looked to me!"

"...I take it you mean your imagination was very active, then."

"It was more than just imagination, sir. I really could see what they looked like before my very eyes. Oh, the way my skin flushed and tingled... I've never felt so... so very much like that!" Her fists were pumped in another display of over-enthusiasm.

"I see..." The professor brought a hand to his chin. "Would you be so kind as to take a seat, my dear?"

"Ah, right, of course."

"You do recall I had once told you to only read what we have provided you, correct?"

"Yes, but that was back when I could barely maintain a human form. Things have changed haven't they? I've taken books from the library before and you never said a word."

"Indeed, because you were obeying when I told you the two bookcases to avoid. The ones with all the works of fiction in it."

"Yes, well, Robin said those were okay now."

"Yes, he did. He lied."

"What...? Wait, but..." His stern fatherly tone finally made sense to the novae. "Why am I getting in trouble over it? I didn't do anything wrong! Not on purpose!"

"I did not say you are in trouble, Kurai. I simply wanted to remind you that such rules were in place, and they were not supposed to be lifted by this time."

"...What's wrong with me reading? I... I enjoyed it. I had a lot of fun! Is that supposed to be a bad thing?!"

"Kurai, calm down. Again, you are not in trouble. I am trying to help you understand the situation."

"It feels like I'm being judged for doing a bad thing though!"

"Let me put it this way. Normal humans do not hallucinate visions as you described after reading a story."

"You all don't?"

"With rare exceptions, yes. You are a person, Kurai, never forget that, but you also are not a human. Your brain processes things quite fundamentally differently. This is why I had wished to keep your understanding of the world simpler by keeping out fictional accounts. Do you truly understand that those stories are only of hypothetical events and not reality?"

"...That’s a loaded question, sir. I don't believe you on that. There's a sort of... its own reality to the things I've read. Nothing about it was fake. Those emotions were real! I felt them too, to my very core. I care about the people I've read as much as I do for you and Robin and Miss I... um..." She glanced off to the side, awkwardly segueing back into her speech. "But they're real to me, sir. They all are. I'll hold those precious memories with me to my grave."

"That is a very unhealthy line of thinking."

"So? I've seen humans in far more filth, both physical and otherwise, and they live just fine with that unhealthiness. Why does it matter that I enjoy things?!"

"Do you really wish to live in that kind of filth, then?"

"I'm not like that! I'm better than those pieces of trash." The sleepless bags under her eyes twitched when she realized what she just said.

"Oh my."

"...I mean, I'm not doing anything that unhealthy in the first place."

"Be that as it may I can see this means a lot to you, more than I would have expected. I didn't think you'd be this defensive over it."

"I'm not being defensive! I just don't like feeling like I did something wrong when I was only enjoying myself and not doing anyone harm in doing so either. I mean... it does mean a lot to me. It really helped me when I needed it most in such a dark time."

"So it helped you cope with what, exactly?"

"I mean I was nearly torn to pieces, sir! I can't... I... uh..." Once again she was hit with a realization over her careless words.

"Oh? Could you elaborate on that?" He steepled his fingers expectantly.

"...I... No, no. I don't want to say anything else." She sheepishly looked away, grabbing one bicep with the opposite hand.

"...Very well, I will not push the subject." He sounded as if he gleaned enough already.

"I just misspoke. Nothing happened."

"Yes, well, at any rate the Pandora's Box for your reading is already open. As much as I wished to prevent you from reading fictional works, it's not as if we can turn back time. With how much it means to you, I can tell it would be torturous to deny you entirely from them. Therefore, and I would like to hear your feelings on this, I would like to set a limit on how much you read every week, starting with three books and seeing what we do from there."

"I... I mean, it's better than an outright ban, but why should there be a limit at all?"

"Because again, normal humans don't hallucinate from reading." He shifted his legs. "And because you shouldn't spend all your time on receiving input from the world. While it's pleasant to absorb a good story, you should also spend your time on your own works. Whether it's an art, a science, a work of labor, it matters less than simply the fact you're producing output to balance the input."

"You mean... I write my own stories?"

"That is an option. Or working on your singing which you had shown interest in. Or helping me in the lab, working on your studies, any number of things. You simply need to commit the hours of the day to them instead of solely to indulging your interests."

"Mr Meus, I'd rather keep reading if I am to be frank. All this other stuff just doesn't sound... sound as..." She couldn't find the word that waited tantalizingly on the tip of her tongue.

"Kurai, you're never going to get anywhere if you only keep running away from your problems." His polite tone was dropped to be more direct. "I understand you don't want my help, and I've come to accept that's just how things are with a girl your age, at least insofar as you act as one would in adolescence. In that case, then you need to address your own concerns. Losing you to escapism is one thing I will not tolerate, not when I know you can do much better, as well as how much a risk it poses to a being as malleable as you."

Kurai kept her silence, signaling it as a confirmation.

"I've had my own experiences, back in the day. There was this one big lad who was always such a bully. I came home moping and crying one day, and my own father put one hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eye. He said 'You get sent home with a letter from the dean tomorrow, or you're not coming home at all.' I was more scared of him than any mere boy. I did as he said and shoved the lad back, then I kept going at him until it came to blows. I got bruised quite badly, but it was nothing compared to what Father would have done. That lad never picked on me the same way again when I finally had the courage to fight back."

"Why does the answer always seem to be violence...?"

"It isn't. This was but one example, my dear. There are many ways to show courage."

"You say that, but humans seem like they're always, always doing that."

"You only see the sights you're looking for, Kurai. Perhaps it's due to your sensitive soul that you notice it far more, but consider how many days you've seen violence take place as opposed to how many days were perfectly peaceful."

"I read it in the newspapers too. There's always something!"

"Yes, we live in a city with half a million people. It should stand out to you that there are only a handful of incidents every day when compared to how many people do nothing like it."

"It could always be that there are so many instances that only a handful make it into the press..."

The professor raised a hand wearily to his brow, sighing deeply.

"Another piece of wisdom, my dear, is that pessimism, especially founded on mere assumptions, can bring no good into your life."

"Well... Fine, I won't belabor the matter any further." The whole talk was inundated with a sour taste by this point. "Can I go now?"

"Yes, yes, I won't keep you any longer. Just... try to think over what we spoke of here."

"Yes sir..." The novae turned to leave, before stopping while gripping the front hem of her shirt. Abruptly, she turned around and rushed forward to give Meus a tight hug. He returned it, keeping silent on the moisture forming in the novae's eyes. She let go and ran off just as abruptly.

Back in her room, she immediately picked back up the book she was reading. A dozen pages in, she flipped back to the bookmark because she wasn't appreciating it enough. It repeated again, then a third time. In a bratty kind of frustration, she flipped back to the start of the book altogether to force herself to focus and stop being distracted by her thoughts. When even that was repeated, she had no choice but to put the book down.

Sitting at her bedroom's desk, Kurai got a pen and ink ready beside a small stack of sheets of paper and an envelope. Each paper was quickly finding itself crumpled and in the vicinity of a waste bin.

'I would appreciate it if you would be so kind as to'

'At your earliest convenience, would you be able to find the time with which'

'I don't know if I should be doing this, but I really want to talk with you but I need some proof that you won't'

'can i trust you to not stab me in the back you have to show up so i can stop'

'Miss Irene,

We need to talk. I expect you will read this tomorrow or the day after, so I will suggest three days from the writing of this letter in the afternoon at the Selland Estate. There will be no foul play on my end, and you must give me your word that the same can be said on your part.

Sincerely,
Kurai, N.V.'