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 Posted: Sun May 01, 2011 12:00 pm
The sun was setting and casting a warm glow on DC when Sova rounded the corner to the library. It had just closed, so she was fairly certain that no one would really be around, and that gave her the confidence to enter the neighboring alley with some confidence.
She looked up the side of the building, focusing on the mottled green fire escape that hung securely on the foundation. The girl fingered the shoulder bag she carried and bit her lip. She'd never done something that seemed quite so... well, cat-burglar-like, but she climbed with the ease of a hiker used to hard trails, and hefted herself over the edge and onto the gritty roof-top, ducking low to avoid being seen from below.
This was the only place that seemed comforting to her, and even here she felt like she was just intruding and making things worse. But none-the-less, it was quiet up here, and she didn't expect anyone to come bursting up here and disturbing her, so she pulled out the pen she'd been given and eyed it uncertainly. Did she really believe that this little pen - given to her by a fluffy kitten - could change her into some sort of hero? It had worked when she'd been attacked... She took a deep break and said with as much conviction as she could - "Nunki power, make up!"
Immediately she felt the power surround her, and when her foot touched the ground again, it wasn't her tattered hiking boots, but something heeled and fashionable. Cords wrapped around her skirted uniform, and feathers tickled her thighs and arms. She looked down and touched a golden cord lightly, and ran her fingers across a feather that felt silkier than any bird she'd ever touched.
The change from her frumpy, covering clothes to something much more revealing seemed to be too much and she sat down hard on the roof, covering her face with her hands. She couldn't be this. She couldn't be meant to protect anything.
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Posted: Mon May 02, 2011 11:43 am
Tony was beginning to feel tired again. That bone kind of tired, where his muscles were heavy and his mind weighed down with too many worries and too much to think about. He was trying his best not to let it show at work, but unfortunately it was becoming one of the places where he did the most of his worrying.
He wondered about all the fights he and others had been getting into around the library. If it was as safe as he liked to pretend. When he walked into the building he always told himself that the world was safe, so long as it was surrounded by those walls, those books. But there was nothing keeping those villains, those monsters, from coming inside. Hell, he had run ins with giant spiders and literal book worms inside the library before, so he knew the idea that it was some kind of sanctuary was wrong.
The librarian still wanted his patrons to feel safe. He knew senshi, the people he believed in the most and deeply wished he could offer some help or comfort to, came there as well, while he wasn't around. He had no idea that it was his own son, breaking in to use the place for space trips, but there was no way he could ever divine that idea out of thin air anyway.
The roof, as well, was a place where he had run into a few senshi for quiet talks and moments of peace. It was one of his favorite places to think and be alone, as well. Whenever he went into the alley next to the library for breaks, it seemed, he was attacked. The roof was safer.
In general.
He often got locked out of the library, forgetting his keys. That was more him being empty headed than a nefarious negaverse plot, of course.
He was surprised and not, then, when he heard the sound of someone landing nearby on the roof. He turned to look, his hand on the doorknob, which wasn't giving way to him no matter how many times he turned it desperately. He looked to see a senshi sitting on the roof, half thinking it might be Themis. But no, it was one he had not seen before.
He cleared his throat, moving toward her.
"Are you okay, miss...?" He asked, trying not to startle her.
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Posted: Mon May 02, 2011 4:40 pm
Nunki took deep breaths, trying to keep back the tears that threatened breaking the threshold. The feel of her gloves on her face felt like too much. The gentle brush of feathers, the crunch of gravel under her boot - an outfit that felt so out of place on her body. There wasn't enough air on this roof to make her feel calm.
Her chin jerked up at the sound of a throat clearing and she gasped, pulling her legs closer to her body, looking up at a face she recognized. She'd seen Mr. Darrow around the library almost as often as she walked in. She hadn't even figured him into the equation. How had she not remembered that Mr. Darrow would probably be around so soon after closing?
"I-I'm okay." She choked out, blinking up at him with wet, owlish, gold eyes. Was it possible for her to feel worse?
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Posted: Tue May 03, 2011 12:50 pm
Seeing her sad expression and hearing her half hearted assertion that she was fine told Tony that she was not, in anyway, fine. He frowned softly, carefully moving a bit closer.
"You look like you're about to cry..." he said softly. It was a cool evening, and he shrugged off his coat on instinct, offering it to her before placing it around her shoulders and then, very carefully, sitting beside her on the roof. He kept his feet away from the edge, however, not wanting to fall off.
It wasn't the highest building in town, but he still didn't want to fall three stories to the cold floor below.
It didn't sit right, seeing a senshi looking so miserable, but he knew they had every right to. He had a few conversations about their difficult lives. He was in no doubt that they all deserved a moment to vent. Still, seeing it, it broke his heart. They were just kids, and they had to bear a lot of responsibility.
Realizing he had just sat down without asking, he popped up and flushed. "I'm sorry. Ah. If you want to be alone, I'll let you. I didn't think, I just. I... saw you were sad and... uhm."
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Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 4:44 pm
It was when he point out the wetness in her eyes that one spilled over, trailing down her cheek. He was so kind. At first his coat felt awkward on her shoulders; uncomfortable because it came from a stranger. But he wasn't really a stranger. She saw him several times a week as she studied. And so she concentrated on the fact that the coat covered her, and that was comforting.
She sighed softly and rested her chin on her knees. "It's okay. It's kind of your roof." She paused and turned her head slightly so her knee pressed into her cheek and she could look at him. "Thank you." He was the first person she'd seen while in her powered form, but there didn't seem to be a threat of him recognizing her. It raised some questions about the powers that made her this... character. But it also made her wonder why he seemed so calm about it. Did he have some answers?
"I'm really new to this." She whispered, shrugging as if to indicate her entire senshi form.
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Posted: Sat May 07, 2011 9:16 pm
"Oh, that's alright. It's a public property roof."
Tony watched her, feeling pity welling in his chest like a weight. A new senshi? He knew that they didn't start out as super powered fighters from birth. He had learned that they did not have a choice in their destiny, and they were called to it at random, as far as he knew at least.
He took a breath.
"To being a senshi, you mean?" he asked softly. "You must be scared. It... it seems to be a lot to take in at once. I don't know from experience, but I have a few friends... senshi, like you. Are you alright? You weren't hurt in a fight, or... or anything?"
He always worried about that first. Senshi lived such dangerous lives, and they could be people he truly cared about and he would never know unless they told or showed him. And he was torn about it anyway. He wanted to protect them, but would do it better by being oblivious, and not risking their identity to the enemies that hunted them. But in turn, he couldn't offer them much assistance when he only ran into most of them when he was about to be killed or maimed by a youma.
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