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 Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 8:41 pm
Anxiety was not something Ganymede was generally all that adept at dealing with. It made him uncomfortable, and when he was uncomfortable he either felt awkward or angry—and when he felt awkward he usually ended up feeling angry anyway, because hell if he liked the awkwardness any better.
There were plenty of reasons for him to be angry at the moment. Over fifty civilians had somehow ended up in space, and still no one knew how or seemed to have any idea of how to get them back to where they belonged; youma were attacking, innocent people were being injured—or worse, dying—and nothing they did ever seemed to be enough to prevent it; and now there was the DMC to worry about on top of all that. It was a long, continuous list of things that he was quickly beginning to become overwhelmed by.
He was barely any more comfortable with this magic business now than he’d been all those many months ago when he’d first awakened. The only difference between then and now was that now he was trying harder to cope with it.
Ganymede paced around the ground floor of Virgo Outpost after getting the word out to as many of the Jovians as possible, after leaving Valhalla to all the organization and planning—two things he himself was never very good with, though he did try his best. If he had a niche anywhere, it was relaying the information to the people who knew better and had the most experienced, like some sort of senshi gopher.
Part of him didn’t mind. The other part simply continued to think that he could do better, but never quite knew how.
The only thing he knew for sure was that something had to be done, and quickly, and if he had to be the one to rally the troops, well… at least he was getting better at this team work thing.
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 9:18 pm
Sailor Europa's first official act on Surrounding soil was to wrap Ganymede in a hug. And why shouldn't she? She was exhausted and he was a familiar face, not to mention her most trusted deputy on the Jovian court. She was grateful for his phone call - even as Europa had wrestled with the question of coming to the Surrounding versus remaining on the home front, fate in the form of Ganymede had conspired to bring her to the edge of the Solar System.
Breaking the embrace, she shrugged her heavy backpack gingerly off her shoulders. "Oh, you're a sight for sore eyes, Ganymede," Europa sighed, dropping her bag to the ground. She'd figure out where to take it later - for now the medical supplies wouldn't be harmed if they sat still for a while. "Thank you so much for the heads-up about the DMC. You're a lifesaver. Literally, if we get this taken care of."
The senshi of the deep stretched, rolling her shoulders for a luxurious moment before she hefted her backpack back onto them. "Anyways, I kind of raided my dad's stash of emergency medical supplies-"
For once, Angus Cowden's rather boring middle-management position had turned out to be useful. Europa gave Ganymede a weary smile.
"Anyways, show me where to take this year's supply of codeine and hydrogen peroxide, and fill me in on the situation while we go," she said, looping a tired arm through Ganymede's - at least partially for support. It was late at night on Earth, and Europa had traveled an awfully long way with a pretty serious injury.
She didn't want to be a burden to any of the senshi working hard here at the surrounding, but at the same time... she did consider herself something of an expert on the Dark Mirror Court. Between herself and Kallichore, the Jovians had some of the best information on the DMC's inception. Furthermore, if the DMC had penetrated the surrounding, that meant Leto might be lurking around somewhere.
Europa wanted to get to Leto before anyone else did. She wasn't certain what she'd do once she found her, but that as a question for later. It was neither here nor there and a part of h dopelganger er hoped to never find Leto, because she doubted she could kill the that was wearing Kat's face.
Actually, Europa didn't think she could kill anybody - but your arrival on the battlefront wasn't exactly the time to admit that.
"It's really good to see you," she emphasized to Ganymede, pressing her free hand to her wounded side. The stitches seemed to be holding finally - the wound had wept for days.
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 10:00 pm
At first, Ganymede wasn't sure how to respond to the hug. Europa had never hugged him before. Then he remembered he liked physical contact, and he liked Europa, too, so that made it okay. Slowly, his arms raised to hug her back, and if he didn't grip onto her that tightly it was only because it seemed as if she had some sort of injury or ailment and he didn't want to aggravate it even more.
Because, really, he liked hugs, especially since he figured that getting a hug from her meant she really did like him, and being liked by Europa made him feel just a little better about what he termed "The Senshi Thing," because it meant he had to be doing something right.
And then he couldn't help but smile just a teeny bit. Honestly, hugs were more magical than any senshi magic could ever be.
"I can take the bag for you," he offered even as she looped her arm through his. "We set up a sort of infirmary right here when the civilians first got here. A lot of them were injured, some of them pretty bad, so..."
He eyed her cautiously, noting the way she clutched at her side. "Are you hurt? Why don't you sit down? I can sort through the stuff and get it all organized. It'll give me something to do, and believe me, I really need something to do. I've been feeling kind of useless. You can sit and rest for a bit. This place has got some sort of wicked fast healing power. Some people felt better in a matter of hours."
Dutifully, he led her to a place where he thought she'd be comfortable to sit. There were still plenty of cots laid out, given the number of people who were still coming around injured for one reason or another.
"It's been sort of wild up here. First the civilians went missing from Earth and turned up here. There've been youma popping up left and right. Hell if I know where they're coming from. And then earlier Val came rushing in, saying they'd caught a member of the DMC at Chronos Outpost," he said, sparing her another cautious glance, remembering that her cousin was one of them. "I don't know who it was, but they're getting in somehow. The mirrors, probably. I figured you'd want to know. I called as many of the others as I could reach, too. Val and I have been here since the beginning. I've seen Babylon, too."
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:05 am
"Hurt?" asked Europa, wincing slightly. God - was it really that obvious? "Maybe a little bit," she admitted, handing Ganymede her backpack and allowing him to lead her to a cot. She eased herself into a sitting position and pulled her hand away from her side.
Looking down, Europa hissed through her teeth a single, long "God damn it." There were pinpricks of blood forming on her bodice, no doubt bubbling up from some re-opened part of her axe wound. "It's healing, I swear," she assured Ganymede, trying to ward off any temptation he might have to tell her to go home. "Captains with axes. Not like there's anything I can do about it now."
Not without peeling her uniform off like a bathing suit, anyways, and she wasn't much in the mood to strip in a public infirmary and show Ganymede her scar. "It'll be a fun story for future boyfriends, though. 'Oh, what happened there?' 'Psychopath with an axe, don't let it ruin the mood.' Except you know it will."
She made a face and took the backpack back so that she could lay out its contents on the cot. It was all pretty standard first-aid equipment, probably nothing Ganymede had never seen before even if it was more heavy-duty than what might be kept in the average two-car garage. Then she got to the three rolls of duck tape at the bottom of the pack.
"Something of a last minute addition," said Europa, pulling them onto her wrists like bangles. It was as good a segue as she was going to get. "It is probably the mirrors." It left an icy sort of feeling in the pit of her stomach, knowing that not even the Surrounding was safe from the DMC's bad behavior and magic tricks.
"Unless one of the Zodiacs is bringing here, but-"
No. Europa shook her head. It was a stupid idea. "Forget I even said that," she said. "Has anyone decided what to do about it yet?" She needed a situation room and a cork board and post-its and yarn. She needed a crack team of senshi to bounce ideas off. She needed Mulder and Scully, a tin of jammy dodgers, and a fez.
"Sorry, Dad's had me on medical lockdown," Europa confessed. "I need you to get me up to speed before anyone realizes I've got no idea what's going on."
Now that was trust.
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 12:10 pm
"Just sit for a bit and take it easy. Let the magic work," Ganymede replied, wincing at the small traces of blood that were beginning to show through, as well as her story. Yeah, that didn't sound fun. Somehow he was glad he hadn't been there for that, though maybe if he had he could have helped somehow.
He let her take the backpack back and start sorting through all the supplies she'd brought, helping her out and taking some of them to a nearby table where they had more boxes and first aid kits stacked. "No, I definitely don't think any of the Zodiacs are bringing them here," he reassured her. "Of course, I can't speak for all of them, but Virgo at least seemed pretty pissed that they were getting in. I don't think that'd be something she'd tolerate, and she seems to be the one in charge. Sort of..."
He knew there were others, even if he hadn't seen very many of them. He had vague snatches of memory from fighting the youma here, and a girl with butterfly wings he thought someone had called 'princess,' but since royalty had never really meant much to him he hadn't really paid much attention. Virgo had been the one to bring him here, and it was Virgo he saw most.
"I don't really know what we're going to do about it just yet. I know Val wants to set up a meeting, try to gather as many senshi and knights together as we can to get everyone caught up and start planning. I don't see how we have very many choices," he said, continuing to organize the supplies while eyeing Europa and the rolls of duct tape on her wrists.
"We've got to do something about the mirrors for starters, and then decide how else we're going to fight back. If there were a handful of them before, who knows how many there are now, and with all these civilians here... someone's going to get preyed on..."
Enough had already happened. They'd been working so hard, too. He didn't know how much more he could bear.
With a sigh and slightly sagging shoulder, he moved over to sit down beside her once he'd gotten as much of the supplies as organize as possible. "Why does it always seem like we're floundering around in the dark when this stuff happens? I felt useless enough before as it was. Now I just wonder... you know, what am I even doing?"
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 3:15 pm
"What magic?" asked Europa, scowling once more at the bloodstains on her uniform. They certainly weren't getting smaller, but the underlying gash seemed to smart less. Adrenaline? Or...?
"The tape's for the mirrors," she explained, digging her thumbnail under the loose end of one of the rolls. "I've got no idea if it actually works or not but it's what I've been doing. Leto knows every mirror in my house - I can't go and let her think my parents are easy energy, right?" The last thing in the world that you wanted was a psychotic Dark Mirror senshi sneaking around your home late at night - especially one that was still ostensibly related to you.
"Has anyone figured out yet how the civilians got here in the first place?" Europa asked, picking the end of the tape apart into sticky tassels. "I'm sorry, I trust the Zodiacs, but I'm not about to overlook the possibility that this is another Elysion." The Negaverse had gotten a jump on them then, and the Dark Mirror had got the jump on them now.
After a long pause, she thought she had an answer for Ganymede. "Because we're not organized," Europa sighed, sliding the rolls of tape off her wrists and dropping them back into her backpack. "You said Valhalla's organizing a meeting?" She was certain he'd mentioned it - things like that didn't escape Europa's notice. She was doing her best to trust the Jovians to behave responsibly, so hearing that one of their knights was trying to grab the bull by the horns was encouraging.
"We should bring all of these matters up with the other senshi." Europa zipped her backpack and shouldered it once more. It was manageable when it only had her personal supplies and the tape in it. She pressed a hand to her wounded side again - it felt tender, but not nearly as bad as it had been.
"Things heal faster around here, don't they?" she concluded, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 4:49 pm
"Yes, Europa-darling, things heal faster here. There's magic, just like a told you," he said with a bit of an exasperated huff, but it was mostly feigned. He could let her momentarily lapse in focus slide if only because he knew this was a lot to pile on her all at once, and as she had a personal stake in the DMC business, it was obvious that she'd be somewhat distracted when the topic came up.
"But I think it's only in Virgo, since this is usually where they send all the injured people, so sit for a little bit and wait for your wound to heal enough to where it's no longer threatening to bleed all over the place," he said with another look toward the spots of blood, making a half-disgusted, half-pained face as he did so.
He was sure it was uncomfortable, and he was sure she was trying to ignore it. He was sure she wanted nothing more than to jump up and get started on the precautions against the DMC. He couldn't blame her. He was impatient, too. He wanted to get things done, faster, sooner, now if possible, but he also knew she wasn't going to be any use to anyone bleeding all over the place.
"Let Val take care of it for now. You might be the leader of this whole Jovian operation, but a leader's only as good as the people she has following her. If you can't rely on us to take care of things when you're down for the count, then what are any of us doing here?" he asked, eyeing her seriously, before going on to answer her question, though the mention of Elysion made him wince again. He tried not to think about Elysion if he could help it.
"No one knows about the civilians as far as I'm aware, and the civilians don't have a clue. I know they were attacked by some sort of a youma when they first turned up here. Some of them keep mentioning something about a space whale and bats, and there's been youma turning up every once in a while ever since. There was a giant spider youma that turned up here. Me and Val and Babylon were here for that one. It was... sort of strange. Smart for a youma."
He shrugged, not sure how else to explain it. "Anyway, I figure it's time to do something. It's bad enough that youma were already getting in. If the DMC's turning up, too, it can only get worse from here, unless we stop it."
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 7:04 pm
"I've missed enough already. I want to be where the action is!" protested Europa, though she remained seated as she was told. Even now she was certain she could feel the flesh of her side knitting together, leaving the inevitable scar - but it was vastly improved over bleeding a little every time she breathed too deeply.
"Has anything else weird happened with the civilians?" she asked, trying to run through possible causes. Alien abduction? The senshi and the cats were the only aliens she saw, and the assumption was that neither party had any idea what was going on. Nervously, Europa bit her lip, dreading the answer to the next question. If Civilians had been attacked... "Did any of them die? Or awaken?"
Either was possible, given the nature of youma and also the nature of super-powers. Neither answer was likely to get her much closer to where she needed to be, though. The fact of the matter was that Europa had no idea how these civilians had gotten here, and likely never would. She wasn't here to figure that out - she was here to protect them.
"I really think I'm okay to move," Europa assured Ganymede. She felt better than she had since her injury - perhaps not a hundred percent, but she'd been out of action for long enough. A senshi lived for duty (or at least she did) - forced medical leave was as harsh a punishment as she'd ever gotten.
"A smart youma?" she asked in alarm. "That's a new one."
It was worrying. Europa got to her feet and nodded at Ganymede. "Feeling much better," she assured him. "Take me where the action is, and you can fill me in more on the way over?"
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 9:40 am
"Now that you mention it," Ganymede looked at her curiously, "one of them did awaken. Here, during the spider youma. Another knight. I don't really know of what because by that point I was kind of... um, tired," he said, rather than admitting he was incapable of coping with death, though he supposed 'tired' was an even more pathetic excuse. "But there was a lot going on with some girl with butterfly wings people were calling 'princess,' so who knows."
He tried not to let his facial expression change as he answered the question as to whether anyone had died. He still didn't like to think of those sorts of things if he could help it. "Yeah, uh... a couple of people have... died. One that I know of from seeing it, and... some other people have gone missing, so... it's not exactly all that great up here all the time, but we're trying, I guess."
Could they be trying harder? He didn't know what else to do for the moment, except fight and face what problems arose when they happened, although he wished they could catch the problems before they became problems. He always felt like they were struggling to keep up.
He looked to her again when she insisted that she was fine to start moving, and he sighed lightly to himself before standing to his feet to join her. "Alright, but if you need to rest, don't keep forcing yourself. I don't really want to see you bleeding everywhere."
Regardless, he turned to begin leading her away, heading to where Val had said he was most likely going to hold the meeting. "It's this way. Let's see how many of the others are here."
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