wrongkindofsith | Room 418, Thursday Evening

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Room 418, Thursday Evening

Cara wasn't packing, not really if you asked her. She wasn't really the type to acquire a great many possessions, and she tended to keep anything she didn't want to lose already packed so she could grab them and her weapons without wasting time if there was need. So it should have been easy enough just to leave it at that.

But even without only gathering a minimum of things, she'd been here long enough to collect some, and it turned out there was a middle ground between things that could be easily left without a second thought, and things she needed to keep. Sure she could be ruthlessly pragmatic about what she took, but if she was going to do that... she'd probably have to start taking things out of the pack as well.

[Door and post open.]

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She could pack and upack and repack all she wanted, it could be good entertainment. At least, that was Surreal's feelings on the subject as she wandered in the open door, popcorn stolen from the common room in her hands as she plopped down on Cara's bed.

"What did that poor pack ever do to you?"

Cara was so glad she could provide amusement for her, really she was. "Nothing," she said, glaring at...just glaring in general. "When did I get so much stuff?"

Truly, a few changes of clothing, a couple of books and a handful of trinkets was an overwhelming haul.

"You could get a second pack," Surreal drawled, tossing a piece of popcorn in the air to try and catch it in her mouth. "It's not that much stuff, and you're strong enough to carry two, sugar."

Cara shook her head. "That's not the problem, it all fits." She probably could have just told herself she had no choice about leaving it behind if it hadn't. "But it's just extra weight and things I don't really need." Who exactly were you trying to convince here, Cara?

"Are you telling me, or yourself?" she asked dryly, glancing at the pack. "None of us 'need' most things, they're just nice to have. If it fits in the pack, why bother unpacking just to leave it?"

Oh, sure, use logic you don't you? Cara's shoulders slumped like someone had just cut the strings holding her up, and she flopped face first onto the bed. "I don't know."

Sorry, Cara, but that meant Surreal was going to turn around and prop her elbows on your back and lean on them so she could stare at the back of your head like you were crazy. "Why not?" she asked. "If it's yours, why wouldn't you want to take it with you?"

Not so much crazy as still under the influence of some extremely messed up conditioning. "I do," she muttered, shifting under Surreal and continuing with the evening's theme of sense-making. "Mord'Sith shouldn't care about things like that." Or other things.

"You're Mord'Sith, you care, so therefore Mord'Sith can care about whatever they want," Surreal pointed out, shifting so she could toy with the ends of Cara's hair. "And anyone who tries to say you aren't Mord'Sith will get laughed at."

Again with the logic. "It's not that simple," she countered. As if someone other than Cara cared if she measured up to some impossible standard of Mord'Sithliness.

"Then explain it to me, sugar," Surreal replied softly. "Don't think I don't know you leave things out about being Mord'Sith and what that means."

"What I, what we want isn't supposed to matter," Cara informed the mattress, because that was easier than trying to look at Surreal. "Not compared with what the Lord Rahl wants."

Furthermore it didn't help that she couldn't see any way to reconcile half the things she wanted with the other half either.

"A good Queen - or leader of any kind - male, whatever, doesn't begrudge their people happiness, Cara. They're things that make you happy, why would he begrudge that?"

Cara snorted and shifted under Surreal until she was turned around enough to face her. "Richard wouldn't, he wants everyone to be happy." And Kahlan was even worse. "But he's...not like previous Lords Rahl, and he hasn't even claimed his throne yet."

Unlike when she'd had a variation on this conversation with Clark, she suspected Surreal might pick up on some of the things she wasn't saying here.

A Queen was not a Queen without a people to rule. Surreal was assuming a Lord - which seemed to her like perhaps a Warlord Prince? - was much the same.

"So he is not yet a true, acknowledge, a Lord Rahl?"

Which meant the laws of Cara's previous Lord still stood.

"Richard is the true Lord Rahl, but he doesn't rule yet" Or ever, going off Richard's lack of desire to. "He was unaware he was even if the line of succession until after Darken Rahl's death."

This was the simplified version. Because the political situation in D'Hara and the Midlands right now was something Cara felt even less like talking about than her feelings.

Surreal sat up and swung her leg over Cara so she could straddle the other girl's hips and stare down at her. "Well, why hasn't he taken his seat? I mean, you can't just leave a Territory without a ruler."

Cara shrugged. "That's what I told him," she said, focusing on the warmth and weight of contact, rather than trying to decide if she was criticising or defending Richard. "But then he found out about the rift to the Underworld and he decided that finding the Stone of Tears to seal it before the Keeper killed everyone was more urgent and important than securing power for himself."

"If he took his place as Lord, could he not send your fellow Mord'Sith to deal with the... the rift?" Surreal asked. "I understand wanting to deal with a threat immediately, but, at least claim the title and leave a Steward in charge."

"That might have worked if he hadn't spent the last year as the most wanted man in D'Hara." And suddenly counting the number of stitches on Surreal's pants' leg became incredibly fascinating. "Or if he'd secured the support of the Mord'Sith."

Surreal considered that for a moment, drumming her fingers against Cara's legs. "So, who does a girl have to kill to straighten it out?"

If she didn't already have more than enough reasons too, Cara could have kissed her simply for not following up on what she was doing with Richard if he didn't have the Mord'Sith's support. "I have a list."

Assuming Richard would actually let her kill them.

Surreal just assumed that Cara would do whatever Cara thought was right, and would kick sense into the rest of the Mord'Sith when there was time. It wasn't really that complicated.

She tilted her head and pursed her lips in thought. "How long is said list, sugar?"

Surreal, you are not allowed to skip the New Kid picnic to go kill people for your girlfriend. That generally falls under 'bad plan.'

It mightn't have been the best plan, but it did succeed in making Cara smile, and as tokens of affection went it was better than flowers, since it was useful and wouldn't make her sneeze.

"Long enough, that you wouldn't be back in time for classes." That was even with just the people it wouldn't be that hard to convince Kahlan to help her talk sense to Richard about. Much as she might like to try and fit Surreal in her pack when she left, she exactly couldn't ask her to drop everything to come spent the next few years killing people with her.

Not to mention, Cara wouldn't like her so much if Surreal was the type to person to just agree to that.

Cara bit her lip. "But you could come visit, if you wanted."

Who said anything about telling/asking Richard? Not Surreal!

Her face split into a wide grin. "I think I'd like that," she mused. "Especially if it means I get to have a real challenge."

But otherwise he'd look all disappointed when he found out, and Richard's disappointed face was very hard to ignore.

Not that Cara was really thinking of Richard right now, as she sat up enough to kiss Surreal. "I'd like it too."

You know, in case the offer itself didn't already suggest that.

Karla barely knew Cara. But she figured a goodbye (and a hello) might be in order, after what had happened in the other world with Umbridge.

So, tapping at the door, Karla peeked in, offering a tentative, "Kiss kiss?"

Cara's raised eyebrow and sceptical repeat of the 'kiss kiss?' was...more polite than she might otherwise have been.

"Not a request," Karla said, lips twitching. "In no small part because I'll be lucky to hold my own enough to run if you decide to take offense if it were."

Karla had no illusions about her ability to take out (or even on) Cara, Craft or no.

"May I come in for a minute?"

"I've had more offensive offers." Enough to learn you saved your violence for the annoyingly persistent ones.

Cara shrugged. "If you want."

Karla stepped inside, giving a quick look around, then lounged against the wall. "Glad I didn't wait any longer to come and say goodbye," she said. "Mother Night, I hate this week."

"At leat you've got the picnic to look forward too?" Sorry, Karla, but some people failed at small-talk.

Karla just shrugged. The picnics held a lot less allure for her these days. "I know we don't know each other much, but I wanted to come and say thank you," she said, pushing away from the wall. "For what happened in the other Fandom and your help there."

It wasn't like Cara had ever been much of a fan of them either. "Don't mention it. Just come up with a better plan next time."

Because that had been a terrible plan, Karla.

"It worked, didn't it?"

That was her way of agreeing it had been terrible.

Cara raised an eyebrow again. "That's no reason to repeat it."

"I don't know about you, but I'm hoping not to be in similar enough circumstances where it comes up again," Karla drawled. "But we needed that information."

"I'm pretty sure there were ways that didn't involve traumatising half the people we were trying to save." Not that Cara necessarily objected to traumatising people if it was needed, but you could at least do it properly instead of accidentally.

"...Fair." Karla was willing to bet that most of her trauma had been lost beneath the tide of Raven killing Sookie, but was that really an argument she wanted to get into?

No. Because, for one thing, it didn't absolve her any. For another, there were some like Rapunzel who'd gotten traumatized by her and her alone.

"Can I ask why you agreed to it? Or, rather, the other you?"

"The same reason I agreed to help Kenzi with Bo, it needed to be done and I was in a position to do it." Which was true enough. Karla didn't really need to know how (and more importantly why) dention had made that other her's skin crawl, or the dark nagging fear if she spent too long there she'd start breaking people properly because it was the only way she knew to stop their misery.

"It worked, which I guess is the most important part. And I learned a few things on the way. And, like I said, hopefully won't have to try a plan like that ever again."

Like she could be a dark and horrid bitch if she wanted to. Not Cara's level, surely, but a gifted amateur nonetheless. That knowledge (less the stuff about Cara) was unsettling, to say the least.

"You know what comes next for you? I doubt it's college."

"Or at least remember to have Ghanima put limits on your actions." For Karla's sake as much as anyone else's.

"Home," she said. "I have duties there." Provided Richard actually let her fulfil them instead of finding somewhere else to send her.

"That would have been a good idea, yeah," Karla reluctantly admitted. "Or I could just become a better actress and pretend like seeing something like that didn't bother me."

Ha. Hahahaha. Like that facade would have lasted more than ten seconds down in detention, no matter how fabulous an actress she'd been.

"Well, uh, like I said. I just wanted to say thank you," she added. "And good luck. With everything at home, I mean."

This was awkward. They'd barely ever exchanged words and this was the worst time to try, but Karla owed Cara her gratitude.

This was Cara, it'd be awkward even if they'd had regular conversations. "You're welcome."

It was probably just a natural happenstance with all that warmth that Cara displayed. Trufax.

"I'll leave you to your packing then," Karla said, offering her another smile. "And if you come back for alumni things sometime, drinks are on me."

Cara would have you know that some people thought she was very personable...that these people tended to be as damaged as she was was a coincidence.

"I'll remember that," she said, nodding. "Goodbye, Karla."

"Goodbye, Cara," Karla said with a wave. "And best of luck to you."

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Room 418, Thursday Evening

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