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frell_this_dren → Crichtonvalaunbound → ValaPetra has met River once thus far, which in the grand scheme of things doesn't necessarily mean much - although her day at the beach with Cordelia was similarly memorable for totally different reasons, but this is not about Cordelia, it is about River. The point is that River has certainly left an impression.
The appropriate response to having somebody invade your home and your privacy, when you are Lady Petrana of Gatas, is to scream blue murder for the guards. Although the Extras could probs throw someone out if she needed them to, she's sort of wary of how useful they actually would be in that respect (more on that if requested), which is part of why she opted to handle it more delicately. Other factors: River is clearly nuts and Petra is a terrible bleeding heart in some ways. The picture that had fascinated her also played a part; sentimental value temporarily bestowed on somebody who just admired the sentiment.
River strikes her as actually being very steady and steely- mad, yes, really obviously out of her ridiculous mind, but in a way that Petra feels like she can almost relate to. River seems to have a certainty about her that Petra finds sort of soothing at the same time as wanting to take an interest and maybe take her in hand a little. She thinks she's sweet, and intriguing, and she'll probably be pleased when she puts together that River and Dawn are friends. It will strike her as wholly appropriate.
I enjoy the continuation of Petra's lady-fest - a lot of my female characters previously have ended up surrounded by dick, and while I do not object to dudes on principle, I like my ladies to have ladies. For Petra it's very IC for her to be wary of strange men and to reach out as a caregiving figure to young women; if she were less isolated, she would probably be the kind of noblewoman who cultivates a group of younger ladies to guide and teach and steer. What she's doing in Taxon is not unlike an attempt at that, success levels naturally varying.
Also, she will be giving River away at the wedding, just saying.
Okay, so, River doesn't exactly have a good track record with maternal figures. Mainly this is because her own mother, while normally just severe and decidedly emotionally distant, abandoned her to a torture pit for three years. River doesn't get moms at all. Most of the ones she encountered during her formative years were just different flavors of the same yogurt: severe, distant, and uninterested. Considering River was kind of a horrible brat, very smart, and not about to let decorum stand in the way of making cheeky remarks at the expense of her friends parents' intelligence, this isn't really hard to understand. Some were more tolerant than others of her keen observations, but it was still just tolerance and River was enough of a smartass to figure she didn't need mothering or guidance anyway. Her mother agreed and just kind of left her to her own devices.
SO, maternal figures in her life that were positive = um, Serenity? Seriously, her most positive maternal figure is a spaceship. Possibly also Inara but that's a whole 'nother can of pretty worms.
But then there was Taxon! And granted, most of River's opinion on Petra is gleaned from Dawn's view of her motherly-ness, a huge chunk of why she decided to break into the woman's home (which she still doesn't consider breaking in because the gates were open) was curiosity about how a woman like that, with all her mothering vibes, works. That her first real introduction to Petra was through a painting and the memories it holds, River gets to kind of ease into her presence by being familiar with just how she progressed to who she is now. It also got her acquainted with the concept of Petra = artist.
This is important, actually, because that means Petra has automatically gained a certain level of River's trust just by that one thing alone. She figures that if Petrana understands art and that innate need to just do something that most other people can't (and also isn't some kind of lucrative trade, like doctoring), she will understand her. And the dancing, and that her observations are less just insane strings of words and more a very liberal interpretation of the things around her. If they can be equals and kind of get each other in that capacity, it makes River much more willing to submit to guidance and mothering and all those things she actually kind of needs, despite whatever assertion she may make to the contrary.
She will... Probably break into Petra's house more often. Though she'll announce it politely next time and possibly set up camp in there those times where she can't be around Simon for the suffocating brotherguilt or Dawn for the eventual natural fights that friends have. (Or when she's making out with Xander.)
IT'S NOT THEIR FAULT HUMANS AREN'T BUILT WITH HOODS OKAY?
(Also, one day there will be no pants at all. Just because. Blame Enfys.)
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