we've got friends on the other side

[nymeriarya]

Who: Arya Stark and Stiles Stilinski
When: Monday, June 10 after dinner
Where: Sharpshooter Bucks cabin.
What: The first of many mediumship tutoring sessions between these two.
Warnings: None!


After Basic Braining today, Arya'd thought she'd be tired out, but the practice has the little girl itching to go and go and go until she conks out, as usual.

Thank god Stiles was her teacher for mediumship. She'd be scared of it, had it been anyone else, b but when Stiles guided her through things - like the Basic Braining course today with Aggie - it felt easy, natural.

She moves from her table sometime after dinner, Nymeria slinking out from under the table, full and happy from the scraps she'd been slid, and makes her way to the Bucks' cabin, her little stolen sword clunking along at her side.

She's never been inside a boys' cabin before. What did one even do? Could she just come in? Maybe no one was even there.

She jiggles the door handle, just to be safe.

Comments

[mediary]

"That's the thing about mediumship, Arya. There's always someone there." Moving his Mac out of Nymeria's reach--the last thing he needs is for it to get covered in wolf drool--Stiles comes over and sits cross legged in front of her, putting his hands on his knees. He's never done this teaching thing before, and to be perfectly honest, he has almost no idea what he's doing, but he just has to channel his mom and his dad. Think about what his mom might say, the way his dad might address a problem.

It comes pretty naturally, after that. "Using your medium abilities is about really, really noticing everything around you. For me, it started out by noticing simple stuff--objects getting moved around the house, mostly. If you're not perceptive enough to catch up on the minute changes in your life, then it's really difficult to be able to connect with your medium side."

Stiles is gesturing a little with his hands as he speaks, thinking over his lessons. He's got this. He's totally got this. "There's a ghost in this room right now, and she's going to be doing some stuff around the cabin, since she kind of does that all the time anyway." There's the sound of a laugh somewhere from behind him, and Stiles rolls his eyes. "In order to find these things, you have to stop thinking about everything else in your life--literally, everything, and just focus on the task at hand. At the risk of sounding like some crazy Kabbalah chanter, take a deep breath and open your mind."

[nymeriarya]

"I would say that that was a bit scary, but I've already figured out that much." She follows his example and places her hands on her own knees, looking up at Stiles and trying to take in as much as she can of what he's telling her. She's never noticed objects moving, though - and that scares her for a moment. Does that mean that she won't be able to do this well enough to actually achieve the goal she set out to do with Mediumship in the first place?

She puts on a brave face, though, and pushes past that. Still, she's not really sure how to go about being able to see the ghosts, so she does what Stiles told her to do. She breathes in as deeply as she can, and tries to focus on imagining something expanding. That's how someone opens their mind, right?

She greets Laura the only way she can really think to.

"Hello, ghost."

[mediary]

Hey, squirt.

Stiles rolls his head backwards, careful not to look directly at Laura--the idea here was for Arya to find her by herself. Even so, the look of "seriously" is clearly directed towards her. Laura starts to shift around the room behind them--there's a poster on the wall that peels down just a little, shifting an inch to the right. Stiles turns his attention back to Arya and puts his hands over hers. "Stop thinking so much. I know it's really hard, oh my god, trust me, I know. Don't think about what she's going to look like or where she might be, just--follow your senses. And don't be scared. I'm right here, okay?"

[nymeriarya]

Arya faintly hears Laura, and she actually does look around the room for a minute, just before Stiles tells her not to. Still, she pouts, and answers the ghost girl right away.

"I'm not a squirt. Bun says I'm growing up tall like a little tree."

Focus, Arya. Stiles said to follow her senses. She continues to think about something expanding, and feels a little niggling hint just outside her consciousness.

"I feel like she's a very tall person. Is that right?"

[mediary]

He can't help the little grin that quirks on his face--the fact that he can hear her already is impressive, and he squeezes her hands. "Dude, you're gonna be taller than me someday. But come on, don't think about that. Think about the ghost--not quite. I'd say she's pretty tall for a girl." Tall like her brother, his brain reminds him, and Stiles shakes his head, keeping his attention firmly on Arya.

Laura, behind them, moves away from the poster and unplugs an alarm clock, so the numbers go out. "Focus on your surroundings. Try to pick up on what's different."

[nymeriarya]

Arya squeezes his hands back, and grins when she finds out she's right about Laura's height. Still, she searches around some more in her brain, trying desperately to pinpoint Laura's location. She knows there's a ghost in here, Stiles has told her and she's definitely feeling something...but her brain won't pinpoint where she is. She hasn't grasped the concept of the 'mind's eye' yet, or the fact that with mediumship, she will be able to tell when things are behind her.

Nymeria rolls over in her sleep and makes a little snort, and Arya takes that as some sort of sign.

"Is she on your bed? By Nymeria?"

[mediary]

"Nope." He can hear Laura shifting even further across the room behind him--she's probably messing with something on Bun's side of the cabin. Turning his attention back to Arya for a second, Stiles exhales, trying to think of how to explain this. "As smart as Nymeria is, Nymeria's ghost sight probably isn't that great, and that's kind of the problem. The things that you see aren't going to be hinted at by anything except for your own senses. I want you to really look around the room--really, really look around the room. Try to pick up on something that might have changed. Don't even think about the ghost yet, just follow what your head's going to tell you."

He pauses for a beat, gives her a crooked little smile. "You can do it."

[nymeriarya]

Arya's looking a little more frustrated now, and she shakes her head after she listens to everything Stiles has told her. Come on, Arya. She tries to take her lessons with Syrio and apply them to this, too. They've got to be worth something. Quiet as a shadow. Calm as still water. Fear cuts deeper than swords.

She takes Stiles' words literally this time, and stands up. She takes a deep breath, in and out, and scans the room, turning herself in a full circle, looking for anything that might be out of the ordinary.

"Why bother having a digital clock like that if it's not hooked into the wall?"

[mediary]

Now, he can't help his face, cracking into a grin. Arya's getting it. "I dunno. Why would we?"

[nymeriarya]

She sees him smile, and grins wildly back. Finally, she's hooked onto something again, and her posture straightens - anyone looking at her can tell she's proud of herself.

"Yes, yes, this is it! This is one of the signs I should look for, right?"

She decides to ask Laura, too, partly to see if she's right and partly because she's worried that hearing the girl might have been a one-time thing.

"Er...Lady Ghost, did you do this?"

Ordinarily, she wouldn't be that polite, but this is a ghost she's dealing with. Even though she's Stiles' friend...well, ghost stories still exist for a reason.

[mediary]

Damn, that's really cute. Arya's seriously one of Stiles' favorite campers--especially when she catches on quickly like that. He's not too surprised, Arya's a quick learner, and he shares a little smile with Laura.

"Sure did! That thing's beeping is obnoxious, anyway." Laura waves her fingers in Arya's direction and takes a couple steps forward, standing directly in front of Arya and leaning down in front of her.

Stiles leans backwards on his hands, watching the two through careful eyes. Laura's not a malicious ghost, at least not towards him (then again, he'd seen her face in Beacon Hills when he mentioned that Kate Argent was on trial), but it's always good to be careful.

[nymeriarya]

Arya positively beams when the ghost talks to her again, and it's all becoming a little clearer to her. She can kind of make out a shape right in front of her, farther and then getting closer and closer to her. It's hazy, but she tilts her head to the side and waves a hand in front of her, to check if she's right. She's not sure, but she speaks back to the ghost anyway.

"I know what you mean by that. I don't like waking up early in the morning, either."

[mediary]

"Hey, watch where you're waving!" Laura takes a step back and laughs--when she reaches out, she places her ghostly hand just an inch above Arya's head. It's a definite presence thing--even if she can't really continually understand her, if her senses are attuned right.

Stiles laces his fingers together, hiding his grin behind his hands. It's kind of exciting to see his teaching actually working. He doesn't want to say anything to break Arya's focus, but he can hardly keep his excitement to himself, and Laura glances over at him, shaking her head.

[nymeriarya]

[Arya's focus is going in and out. She knows the ghost is near, judging by where her voice seems to be coming from. She can't put her finger on it, though, so she moves to get up - and when she does, her head passes through Laura's hand, and she feels a chill go over her and a presence.

This was it.

Arya looks upwards, wide eyed, and sits right back down. The ghost was right here, right in front of her, and she can sort of make out her shape - not her features, but she does know that she's tall.]

"I found the Lady Ghost. She's right in front of me. Is that right?"

[mediary]

"The Lady Ghost makes me sound like a princess, but I'm pret-ty sure that's my mom."

[Stiles presses his lips together to keep from grinning any further, reaching over and pressing a hand on Arya's shoulder. It can be exhausting trying to maintain focus, particularly with a ghost--Stiles of all people knows it--and he gives her shoulder a little squeeze as Laura recedes back towards Stiles' bed, sitting beside Nymeria and eyeing her curiously. ]

Yup. That was awesome, Arya, especially for your first lesson. You are going to kick butt at this. That's probably enough for tonight, I don't want you to pass out or anything...

[nymeriarya]

So then you're not a princess? You're tall and, well, I think you're beautiful, like all the highborn ladies in the stories.

[Not like her - not like her at all. But that's something for a different time.

But now Stiles is shooing the ghost away, and - no! She was just getting good at this!]

Stiles!

Wait, ghost! What's your name? I'm Arya!

[mediary]

[He chokes back a snort as Arya whines at him and lets Laura answer.]

Laura Hale.

[And then, just like that, Laura's gone. Stiles drops his hand from Arya's shoulders and holds up his hands, innocently.] The more you use your mediumship abilities when you're not used to them, the more tired it'll make you. It's kind of like trying to run a marathon when you just binged on twinkies. You okay?