Meira deLune

Meira deLune (MHEY-rah de-LOON) is a divorced, 45-year-old Ninetales lawyer, holding a partner position in her firm. She currently lives with her two children, Ruri and Aldrian deLune.

Appearance
Meira has pale skin like her daughter, straight, long cream-colored hair that goes past her waist, as well as ears and nine tails usual for her species of the same color. Her tails are tipped with a darker shade of brown, and her eyes are a bright scarlet.

She often wears a stern expression, and prefers to dress in simple but well-made clothing that both show off her features and are fit for her workplace. A casual wardrobe would usually mean jeans and crisp blouses.

The Ninetales doesn't often tie her hair, preferring to leave it loose, but will sometimes tie it in a high ponytail.

Personality

 * Authoritative: 
 * Strict: 
 * Workaholic: 
 * Vain:

History
Meira was born into a fairly wealthy family, but was far from spoiled. Both parents strove for their only daughter to be excellent in everything she undertook, from school to extra-curricular activities. Meira already had a knack for memorization and public speaking since she'd been young, and as she grew she decided she was going to make her parents proud by becoming a lawyer after her father.

She was so engrossed in school work so often, a social life was nearly unheard of. While girls her age went out to little get-togethers and out of town trips with friends, Meira spend time reading more study material at home, or play the piano as a break. This hardly meant she was unpopular, however; the then Vulpix was very conscious of her looks, taking care of her image as much as she cared for her grades. She gained a reputation for being a beauty with brains to boot, but her rather anti-social nature--born of a preference to be working than to be socializing for fun--meant that most people were downright intimidated to even talk to her.

Instead of becoming conscious, Meira developed a mentality where people simply feared her because they were unworthy. Not once did she admit she was lonely, not when there just too much to do. Once she entered university  majoring in law the work grew that much harder, but her grades soared with her habits ingrained into her lifestyle.

It was during one of her majors that she began to work (not all that willingly) with an upperclassman Houndoom whose internship provided material she needed for an important paper. Though Meira was by no means a weak personality, the overachieving Houndoom found her strong demeanor intriguing, and insisted on her company even after her paper had been written and submitted. Meira rebuffed his advances without pulling punches, but the man was as smooth a talker as he was persistent, and after some time--Meira found herself liking him.

They promised to get together after they'd graduated and found jobs, something Meira insisted as she had no intentions of sacrificing all the work leading up to the career she wanted. Starting as a paralegal before her bar exams, she scored among the top notchers and eventually became a recognized associate in her firm. Her boyfriend had chosen to work in his father's smaller firm, but still they found ways to see each other despite their schedules. By now Meira's parents had known about him, and gave their blessings when they announced they were getting married.

The couple raised their two children in luxury Meira was used to having available, and were happy. They hired a nanny they trusted so that they could both continue working, and on weekends they made a point (upon her husband's insistence) of taking Ruri and Aldrian out so they could spend time as a family.

Meira adjusted with some difficulty, finding particularly hard not to bring her work home with her on those weekends, and would sometimes lash out when she was being interrupted in the middle of something difficult. Still, she believed they were happy, and her children would learn when it was appropriate to approach her. Even though she was a busy woman she never alienated her children, as when it came down to it, she felt they were her biggest accomplishment. It grated on her husband somewhat that the Ninetales hadn't really changed from when he'd first met her in terms of how she regarded her work, but Meira didn't think it mattered so much considering they'd been like this since the beginning and she'd offered no such illusions of change to begin with. She was who she was, and believed he loved her as she was. The Ninetales even learned to cook, and enjoyed doing so with recipes that indulged in a common love of meat between them all. She also moved up her firm's ranks to become one of its senior partners, providing a bigger income, and letting her family enjoy life with it.

Her own beliefs that they were happy were shattered when she caught her husband cheating on her with some floozy. Meira tried to keep it from the children, but when Ruri herself found out, the Ninetales began taking measures. They had the semblance of a family, but never again would she let him touch her. It had been a matter of time before he left them completely, but by then Meira had made sure they were secure without him. The divorce papers were filed. She continued spending time with her now-grown kids and immersed herself even more in work to avoid the lingering loneliness at being abandoned.

That loneliness began ebbing away the more time she spent with Reynolds Sables, a rather known chef of a fine dining restaurant she frequented to treat herself and take both her family and clients to, after she met him at a grocery. The man was as busy as she was, and divorced, too, but since meeting him, he'd been nothing but kind and sincere.

Family Reunion Arc
Meira makes her first appearance when Ruri tells the Ninetales her situation at the Ballast mansion, upon which Meira immediately excuses herself from a meeting with Kara Lindon to fetch Ruri and LeRoux. This led to arrangements that would make the Finneon a resident at their home.

It was at this time that Meira had been planning to tell her children that the divorce was final, having kept them from  the glaring details as much as possible to let them live their lives without as much of the burden as possible. Even though she hadn't done it in a while, the Ninetales attempted to cook a meal for them as a family again, and met Reynolds Sables at the grocery. The Swalot had wanted to cook a meal for Keith after finding out what he'd done at the mansion. They both tried to get the last cut of rib-eye available when Reynolds let her keep it. Meira recognized the man at once, and returned the cut on the grounds that she had enough meat in her basket compared to him already. Delighted to meet a fan and insisting on returning the favor of being given the last cut, the Swalot went so far as to cook the meal Meira planned to in her home.

The Ninetales didn't notice Ruri's reactions once Reynolds had introduced himself, and the Vulpix decided for herself to keep her earlier incident with Keith a secret.

Moves and Abilities

 * Ability: Flash Fire


 * Safeguard
 * Inferno
 * Firespin
 * Flamethrower

Relationships

 * Aldrian deLune


 * Ruri deLune
 * Reynolds Sables

Trivia

 * Meira loves eating meat as much as her children do--though Aldrian simply enjoys eating in general.
 * Her father was born and raised in Japan before moving to Unova, which is why she is both fluent in the language and aware of some of the festivals (that they would visit when she was younger).
 * Meira's skills with the piano are at a level where she's capable of playing a public concerto.
 * She loves listening to Bossa Nova and classical pieces.
 * At one point during her university years, she'd been approached by a company to model their lingerie line. She signed on for the experience, and has kept the catalog that featured her (as well as the clothes) until now.
 * Meira spends about 5 hours every day taking care of her hair and fur.

Quotes

 * "Impossible? Let me start talking."


 * "Mmm... where did I save the shampoo budget..."


 * "Don't waste my time or I'll start billing you."


 * "Good grooming isn't just for impressing clients."