Room 618 at the Arms Hotel, Friday Early Evening

[firstofitskind]

His relationship with Verity might be intact, if a little fragile, but there was still some shit going on in his head that Liam needed to figure out. And there was really only one person on the island who had a chance in hell of helping with that.

So it was that he was knocking on Ghanima's door at the hotel, box of pastries from J,GoB in hand, to ask for her assistance.

[ooc: that he went to her for help is okay to mention, but details of their conversation NFB, please!]

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[atreideslioness]

Her cards had told her someone would be visiting today, thought not who, which had Ghanima vaugely bemused. She wasn't exactly receiving many visitors lately, aside from Leto when he chose to come to town.

"It's open!" she called out, walking out of her bedroom towards the living space. Ghani-at-home was a far cry from the Imperial Princess she wore in public. Today she was simply wearing a Fremen tunic & leggings, hair loose, which made her fit right in to her surroundings. "No one is stupid enough to try and rob me."

When (if) Liam opened the door, he wouldn't find the usual hotel suite. Ghanima had sent all that furniture to storage years ago, and it was furnished more like home, like her classrooms. Something of the desert in this ocean place.

[firstofitskind]

Ghanima had cards, Liam had runes and the Sight. So inherited memories weren't all they had in common.

"Sorry for just... dropping by..." he trailed off, looking around the suite. It somehow both was and wasn't what he was expecting. "But I need your help," he managed, recovering.

[atreideslioness]

Ghani's mouth quirked up into a half smile. "Come in then, please. I don't bite without provocation, despite my brother's jokes or the rumors of students.

"Please, make yourself at home," she said, gesturing to the many cushions or low couches or chairs. "Would you care for some tea?"

[firstofitskind]

"That'd be great," Liam said, visibly relaxing.

"I brought a bribe," he offered, holding out the box as he stepped inside.

[atreideslioness]

"Openly bribing an Imperial official!" she laughed, walking over to accept the box. "Oh, the Landsraad would be horrified. It's a good thing I already scandalize them on a permanent basis."

[firstofitskind]

"Wouldn’t be me if I wasn't scandalizing stuffed shirt types," Liam grinned. Inside she'd find a selection of moddable pastries of all types.

[atreideslioness]

"If either of us starts acting respectable outside our normal behaviours, we'll check the other one for being an impostor," Ghanima promised. "Although acting in our official capacities sadly does not count; I leave the official pranking of the high ranking official to my brother's paramours and his daughter."

"Now, shall I open this before or after you tell me what has brought you to my doorstep, beyond socialization," she asked. "My cards were infuriatingly vague on who was stopping over, or why, but they do that on purpose to keep me guessing."

[firstofitskind]

"I need help," Liam repeated. "Last week, I did something- and it, it scares me, and you said before that you can shut the others in your head out when you need to. I need to know how. I need to make sure he can't hurt anyone." The words tumbled out, desperate, and he followed it up with a small: "Please."

[atreideslioness]

"Ah." Ghanima closed her eyes for a moment. "I know something of that."

There were many, many monsters in her bloodline, and Ghanima counted herself in their number.

She set the pastries down on one of the low tables, moving towards the kitchenette to start the tea. "What is it that happened to scare you so?"

[firstofitskind]

Liam took a deep breath.

"The Kimera- they were energy-based, lacking corporeal form of their own," he began, figuring he ought to start at, well. The beginning. "In order to study other races undetected, they developed a way to... copy... a host body. DNA, memories, everything.

"I never thought- I mean, I'm flesh and blood- mostly- it never even occurred to me that it'd be possible for do anything like that. But there was a fight, and I was angry, and afraid, and I guess instinct? Took over. Because suddenly I had another man's face."

It sounded fucking bizarre, he knew. But Ghanima had been living on Fandom Island for years. Surely this wouldn't be the thing to throw her.

[atreideslioness]

Hell, she'd been abducted and impersonated by Skrulls. Shapeshifters were not new.

And while Ghanima herself could not shift her shape, the taking of memories was nothing new. She had done it once before, after all. Because Skrulls.

"Unpleasant, isn't it?" she asked rhetorically, starting the kettle and then getting out two mugs. "When you take their memories. I have only done it once, and I was not particularly careful when I did it to her. Had she lived, I'm rather sure she would never have had a coherent thought again."

"No, that is an untruth. I was very careful with how badly I hurt her, and exactly how much pain I caused, because I was so very angry. We call it The Sharing. When done between two willingly, it can be a source of joy and knowledge. Unwillingly? Well. The stronger will prevails."

[firstofitskind]

Liam looked down at his palms, the red mark of the shaqarava there.

"It wasn't like any Sharing I'd ever experienced," because of course they'd have the same name for a similar concept. With everything else they had in common, why not this too? "I don't know if it hurt him," Liam admitted. Then, fiercely: "I hope it did."

[atreideslioness]

"It can be a wonderful tool," Ghanima agreed. "Though having unpleasant people rattling around in your head until they sit down and behave is maddening on a good day."

She prepared the teapot, as the kettle started to whistle. "He is the one you're afraid of...taking over? Getting out?"

[firstofitskind]

Liam nodded. "I can't stop reliving them, his memories."

[atreideslioness]

"Yet here you are, and that is not a decision he would have made," she pointed out, pouring the hot water into the teapot, then bringing it and the mugs over to where she had left the pastries. "You are in control, in this space, and that is a very good first step."

[firstofitskind]

Another nod. “Verity said something similar,” he acknowledged. She’d reminded him that what he felt about Robert’s actions was the polar opposite of the Covenant agent’s.

[atreideslioness]

"Perhaps simply reminding yourself to ask why if you start to agree with them on anything may be a successful solution," Ghanima suggested, settling down and pouring herself some tea. "I cannot imagine that the Kimera would have used that ability so frequently if there was the chance of madness or getting lost in your host."

"As I cannot Share with you to check... I believe the next best option for your peace of mind would be training."

[firstofitskind]

You’d be surprised, Ghanima. The actions that caused the eventual split between Taelons and Jaridians had been caused by a Kimera who had been so caught up in his host’s existence that he’d altered the evolutionary path of an entire species. Liam himself had been created in an attempt to heal that wound. Not that he was going to get in to that just now.

"Training?" he asked, curious.

[atreideslioness]

"Mental discipline, to start. Meditation, puzzles, that sort of thing. And if it helps--" Ghanima couldn't help the slight flicker of a playful smile "--physical training and sparring."

She sees your face, Liam. And the rest of how you're moving.

"To better help you know what thoughts come from you, and what comes from others within you, and to let them pass by with no urge to act."

[firstofitskind]

Liam’s smile at being called out like that was somewhat sheepish, but also the first genuine one he’d managed in days.

“I think... I think that I’d like that,” he said, after mulling it over for a few moments.

[atreideslioness]

"If you're too tired to move, you're too tired to take your murderous voices seriously," Ghanima said cheerfully. "Trust me."

[firstofitskind]

“It seemed like a good idea at the time?”

[atreideslioness]

"If it helped, then it was," she agreed. "Though if you'd like some ice for your face, you're more than welcome to make use of my freezer."

[firstofitskind]

“Yeah, I’m gonna take you up on that,” Liam nodded. Painkilllers weren’t an option, so numbness would have to do.

[atreideslioness]

"Pour yourself some tea," Ghanima said, getting up to go back to the kitchenette. "My mother says it fixes many ills."

Chani was hellbent on adopting Liam. Ghanima knew better than to argue with her mother on this sort of thing.

"--and tell me what set of stairs you threw yourself down to get that face."