( closed ) kept warm by the light of the lantern

[ewenique]

WHO: Sheep Vengeance and Dragon Justice (MK and Dany, but whatever.)
WHERE: a small cafe in Nonah.
WHEN: AN EVENING. ON A DAY. IN A WEEK.
WHAT: tech talk, security savvy and oh my god a dragon???
WARNINGS: my lack of knowledge about MK's area of expertise may be a significant problem, I'm so sorry


( As promised - to herself, not to Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen - the place feels secure. Low lights, she knows the fastest routes to the exits (official and non-official) and there are enough people to feel anonymous without being unable to spot the arrival of her apparent student. This seems like a questionably good idea, but she needs to scrape together money for somewhere else to live, and she hasn't attended a single day of her student role as a stunt double. (Why.)

MK is there a long time before she is meant to be there. The blessing of her powers means she can exist in shadows, invisible, intangible. Hidden away, and so she lurks and she watches. Shortly before Daenerys is due to arrive she claims a table, and so when the strange woman from a land that sounds like something from a story or history (so cool but like, weird, right? she could imagine Niki saying) she will feel a pull. Not at herself, but at her shadow, a tug that is intended to draw her attention in a particular direction - to an empty table. MK isn't actually at the table, yet, standing between it an Dany, in a shadowy corner that conceals her.

First she wants to see what Daenerys will do, if she will go to the table, or do something else completely. )

Comments

[jalan]

[ Daenerys enters the cafe, alone as promised, and dressed about as inconspicuously as a pretty girl with a head full of silver-blonde hair can get. Intricate braids tuck fly away strands behind her ears, a larger plait hanging down her back. Her coat is green wool, her jeans fitted, boots practical. She seems shorter in person, given her high sort of diction, only just hitting 5'2".

Also conspicuous is the dragon she's brought with her.

Ordinarily immensely large, Drogon has been shrunk down to a size more fitting of the plastic toys that have been made of him. He rides halfway down her shoulder, tail lazily swaying, claws snagged in green wool, and his wings folded up where his clawed elbow joints likewise grip her lapel. He twists sedately to watch their journey, and opens his little maw to hiss at anyone who comes too close.

Finding herself pulled in a certain direction, Daenerys heads for that empty table without really questioning her actions. Gently, she detangles Drogon from her shoulder and sets him down, where he crouches and watches as the Mother of Dragons takes a seat. He gives a little, higher pitched him as she touches her fingertip down the curve of one wing.

Next, she takes out her phone, the little hologram casting dim light as she depresses a button. ]

[ewenique]

( MK has a flare for the dramatic; she steps from the shadows a few moments after Daenerys sits - she would make her wait longer, but she wants to see the dragon, and she's still learning how to be her more creepily evolved self. Her skin is pale, her hair dark and messy in its waviness. She is equal parts shy teenager and awkwardly hanging marionette, a mismatched creation who treasures friendship and did not have it for so long, who is made up of parts in ways she does not yet understand and who under all that has a resilience and fire in her that will not burn out or be dismissed. In a faded purple hoodie and converse sneakers and with a oddly cute backpack, MK doesn't necessarily scream "security" any more than she seems to spell out "bloody vengeance," but that's just MK. Her fingers twist around the straps of her backpack, and she has to make herself look at Daenerys and not the table or the wall or the dragon. )

I'm Marja.

( Her accent is Finnish, her voice soft and quiet, and she pulls her hair forward to cover the burn scars down her cheek. There's an awkward pause - she's not good at this. )

We spoke.

[jalan]

Marja.

[ Dany likes to think she has her face under control at all times -- but she startles slightly with dark eyebrows twinging upwards, and then her green eyes flick MK up and down with an appraising look that at best communicates that this young girl in front of her was not at all what she was expecting.

Not that she knew what she was expecting. Not that she thinks young girls can't be of value, given givens. She doesn't, however, linger on the presence of burn scars. ]

You know my name, [ is dry, good humour, and she gestures towards the opposite chair. ] Please, sit.

[ Drogon, at the prospect of company, wheels around to plant himself between his Queen Mother and this stranger. There's a battish fold to his wings and a feline swipe of his tail, and an uncanny intelligence in his little eyes. Daenerys doesn't touch him, but has a hand resting nearby in silent assurance. ]

[ewenique]

Daenerys Stormborn.

( Quiet, a confirmation. MK nods, but her gaze is tugged to the dragon - there's no hesitation to her conclusion of what he is. Maybe some could claim to call him a lizard, but for all her logic and reason and lists and rules, MK has always held the fantastic dear to her heart. Strange animals, depictions of friends she did not have, they were tangled together.

This is a small friend, but he is not her own.

MK takes the seat, but her gaze rests on the dragon a moment longer, a very slight smile quirking the corner of her mouth, before her gaze lifts to watch Daenerys, and the brief hint of a smile gone, sunk to the depths as though it was never there. )

What is your friend's name? ( She does not offer a reprimand for not coming alone, but she does lean away as a waiter comes over to ask if they'd like to order anything. MK's hand slides over her scars, as if she were propping her face off and not hiding the marks. )

[jalan]

Drogon.

[ As the waiter nears, Dany herds the shrunken dragon a little away from him. She asks if they have red tea. They do. For two, please. That would be everything.

It's hard to miss how the girl seemed to diminish in presence when company approached, but Daenerys doesn't call attention to it. This is all mystery to her, intangible and inexplicable, but she knows a thing or two about wishing not to go noticed.

Drogon settles into a crouch, and Dany runs the back of a finger along his tail. ]

I've two others, where I come from -- but only he followed me to America. And as yet, my most reliable source of security in this world.

[ewenique]

( MK keeps watching Drogon with a sort of delighted focus, once the waiter has moved away, but only for a moment does she allow herself the indulgence. First she dips her hand into her bag, pulling out a laptop. There's a cookie in there, too, which is briefly considers seeing if Drogon would like, but there are rules about not offering food to other people's pet, and she should try to have at least some sort of semblance of professionalism. )

If he learns fast I could try to teach him about IT as well.

( It is a quiet and very awkward joke, verging on "barely audible." Her hands move fast across the keyboard, and the back of the screen already has a couple of bright, cartoonish stickers plastered on it. One is of a bunny, bright pink and bubbly, and the other looks like some sort of cactus, if cacti tended to be smiley and adorable.

Then she stops. )

One of my powers is of technopathy, so my abilities to understand and manipulate technology of this world is extremely advanced. I can teach you how to protect things yourself, but if you require additional assistance in the future, I will help.

( Mostly because dragon, and because Daenerys hasn't made a spectacle of her — yet. )

[jalan]

[ It's a joke that is rewarded with a smile, genuine and pleased to see that glimmer of mirth. As Marja gets out her laptop, Daenerys retrieves her communicator from her coat pocket. It has a few nicks and scrapes but is otherwise unadorned, and she places it on the table. ]

Thank you. Short of extracting all of my fortunes from their accounts and converting them into gold, I'd rather explore a more modern approach.

[ The tea comes by, and Daenerys takes it upon herself to check its dilution and pour two shallow cups worth of it. She adds a heaped spoonful of sugar to her own, and then goes about pouring a shallow serving into her saucer.

This is given to Drogon, whose drinking is more like curious tasting. ]

Is that how you were able to access my information? With your power?

[ewenique]

It is a good idea to have some reserve funds available on hand. If you need to be untraceable, or a purchase to be untraceable, or something like the blackout should occur again, having a reliance on electronically controlled funds can leave you vulnerable.

( MK takes her own cup of the tea and sips it, before concluding it requires sugar. Two or three teaspoons - she's not sure. Her tastes run to salt or sugar, and anything in between is less enticing. She sets down the spoon at the question about her power, shaking her head just a little, and there is a very very slight smile, a faint hint of pride. )

I was able to access your information because I am clever. There is always a way. My power just helps me find certain ways quicker. Adapt better to technology from a time that is different from mine. ( A glance to her bag, and she winds up relenting and pulling out a chocolate cookie, stored in a ziplock bag. ) Can Drogon have sugar?

[jalan]

[ It's difficult to say whether this is a good thing or a bad thing -- that these vulnerabilities can be exploited by mundane means, no matter how clever, or that there are those with powers that can circumnavigate it regardless. But the cookie is a distraction for all involved -- at the sound of his name, Drogon turns his head, and tastes the air by opening his mouth, tiny nostrils flaring.

Daenerys smiles at that. ] Just a piece, [ she says, vaguely maternal. It won't smell like meat, so he likely won't attempt to set it on fire. ]

Does the same hold true for private messages? Or calls?

[ewenique]

( The small dragon is delightful. If she were a sailor senshi, this is where MK would get giant heart eyes and gently sparkle. Alas, she is not, and so her hearts and sparkles are limited to a little tug at the corner of her mouth, short lived as it may be. But she should focus, and she so glances from Drogon to Danerys, although her gaze drops easily. Skittishly, really. )

Anything that goes through a machine. Phones with landlines, they can be tapped. Devices like these can be hacked - even if people are not able to otherwise tamper with the the messages and adjust them, reading them would be not so hard.

( MK breaks off a piece of the cookie, and slides it across to Drogon, stopping a respectful distance away before drawing her hand back. ) Most people do not know how to look deep, though. There is a lot that can be buried, or takes a long time to find. Some things will never be found because of chance - if you do not draw people's attention, they cannot look for you.