Weak To Fire

19

Mereoleona was pretty certain that someone had been following her for a while now. She just knew that there was someone there and she didn't really know who it was or whether they were friendly or not. But Mereo wasn't worried. Not for herself, anyway. The only person that should be worried was the person following her, because if they had any bad intentions towards her they'd be in for a surprise. Mereoleona was ready to kill them if she had to, but she hoped that wasn't going to be necessary.

Currently she was trying to get them to a more obscure part of town where a quick fight wouldn't draw too much attention. And the fight was going to be quick, that much Mereoleona was sure of. She had gathered that whoever was following her was much smaller than her and that they seemed a little cautious, but at the same time somewhat clumsy. Mereo didn't think they wanted her any bad, but she was still going to be suspicious of them.

Mereoleona turned around a corner and stopped right there, pressing her body tightly against the wall to hide and wait until her follower made their way around the corner. It didn't take too long for them to appear around the corner, looking around a little confused. Mereoleona wasted no time grabbing them by the throat and pushing them against the wall, holding them there, barely able to move. Their hood fell off their head and revealed... Y/N. Y/N had been following her.

"What the... how did you get here?" Mereo asked, completely taken aback. She hadn't expected Y/N here at all. Y/N looked at her with widened eyes, before glancing down at her hands around her neck. It was really only then that Mereo realised that she was still choking her. She was so in her survival protocol that she hadn't realised that there was no danger at all coming from Y/N. She immediately let go and held up her hands, hoping that Y/N wasn't freaked out or anything.

"Sorry, I just... I was on autopilot, I guess." Mereoleona said. God, she felt bad about this. She really hoped that she hadn't scared Y/N off or anything. Still, what was she doing here? How did she get here? Mereo watched as Y/N rubbed her neck and coughed a little, before looking up at her, a smirk on her face and a strange little twinkle in her eyes, before she wrapped her arms around Mereoleona, hugging her tightly and burying her face in the crook of her neck.

"It's okay. It would have been kinda hot in a slightly different situation." she answered, before letting go of her and giving her a wink. Mereoleona was still confused. She was glad to see Y/N, but she was confused as hell. How had she made it here? Where was she staying? And why was she following her like that and hadn't just told her that she was around? She took a deep breath.

"What... what are you doing here?" Mereoleona managed to say. Y/N grinned, as she sorted herself out - straightening her clothes, rubbing her neck and brushing through her hair with her fingers.

"I'm here to see you, of course! What else would I be doing here?" she replied, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. It would have been the most normal thing in the world, if she hadn't been a water spirit and was supposed to be near water at all times. Ideally, at least.

"Yeah, I get that, but how did you even get here? Isn't it really difficult for you to travel?" Mereo asked. She really hoped that Y/N hadn't put herself in some sort of danger just for her sake. If she had done that... well, she'd have to make sure that Y/N was okay and that she was taken care of until she could safely make it back somehow. And Mereo would be mad at her. Why would anyone risk their health or even their life just to be around her? It made no sense.

"Yeah, it's kinda difficult, but it's alright. I just really wanted to stay in the capital with you for a bit." Y/N answered with a shrug. It wasn't really the answer that Mereoleona was looking for, if she was honest. She wanted a little more than that. A proper explanation, she needed to know whether Y/N was okay or whether she just seemed to be okay and was playing it all off, so Mereo wouldn't worry.

"But how did you do it? Are you okay? You're not like... dying on me right now, are you?" Mereoleona asked her, as she was brushing a few strands of hair out of her face. Y/N shook her head with a big smile.

"Wow, you really do worry about me. But no, I'm fine for now. I made sure I had enough water on the way to recharge. I took kind of a detour to get here, following the river, so I could spend some time in the water during the day and travel at night when it wouldn't take up so much of my energy." Y/N answered. Mereoleona breathed a sigh of relief. She knew that Y/N was smart, but she would have thought it well possible that she had disregarded all safety measures just on a whim. For a water user, Y/N was incredibly impulsive. It was a little surprising for Mereoleona, because she knew that fire users were usually the impulsive types, but it wasn't something she couldn't live with. She was incredibly fickle and impulsive herself at times, so she really couldn't blame Y/N for it. Still, it could mean that she just did something stupid once in a while.

"Okay... okay, that's good. But where are you staying now?" Mereo wanted to know. She had to had some place where she had access to water. Mereo could imagine that there were places like that around the city, but they had to be pretty expensive. This was the capital after all and any kind of luxury would cost her a good sum of money. Money that Y/N didn't have, because... well, what would a water spirit need money for? Mereoleona was both curious and worried about how she was managing living in the city, even if it was just for a few days.

"Yeah, that's kind of the thing. I might need a place to stay. I've only just made it into the city, so I really need a bath really soon. That's why I've been trying to find you and that's why I needed the hood, because the sun is pretty damn hot otherwise. I kinda need a place to stay. One with a bathtub, preferably." she answered. Mereoleona sighed. She could have guessed something like this. Well, at least she had gotten an explanation for the hood and for her acting all mysterious.

"Right. Okay. I can arrange that for you. How soon do you need one?" she wanted to know. Her mind was already racing with all the possible places she could send Y/N. Her own home was huge and even though Mereoleona would have preferred to keep Y/N close to where she was staying, she also thought that maybe... maybe she could be somewhere close to Fuegoleon. Mereo was sure the two of them would get on well and if he woke up while she was away somewhere else, at least he wouldn't be alone. And there were definitely bathtubs all over the place.

"Not that soon, but... I'd say within the next two or three hours it would be good." Y/N answered, rubbing the back of her neck nervously. Mereoleona sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Of course she'd leave it that long until she actually asked for help from her. It was such a Y/N thing to do - not draw any attention until she had to, acting like her asking for the bare necessities to survive was making her a burden on everyone else. It was a little concerning.

"Right... okay. Look, just come with me, I was on my way home anyway. I'll get you to my home and set you up with a nice room, close to a bathroom with a bathtub in it. I'm fairly busy with my duties here, though, so I won't be able to spend that much time with you." she started, but Y/N waved her off

"That's okay! Don't worry about it, I can keep myself busy." Y/N answered with a smile. Mereo nodded.

"Would you mind staying close to where my little brother is? I was thinking you could maybe have an eye on him, you know... just so he's not all alone all the time."