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 Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2012 6:59 pm
Remarque had been out looking for energy since shortly after dusk; the eternal senshi hadn’t been entirely unsuccessful, though neither had his mirror wraiths been able to get their fill. He wasn’t in any rush for energy; the night was young and he had no one waiting for him at home. No school or work tomorrow, his mother was at another conference and wouldn’t be back for another day, still.
Which meant, he was going to stay out for as long as he wanted. If he didn’t wear himself out—get into a few scuffles tonight—he’d go home, knock around his punching bag, take a nice, hot shower, and then crawl in bed and watch television until he fell asleep. Either way, it sounded like a plan to him, though with the weather being as good as it had been this past week, he couldn’t help but want to spend time outside.
Everything was still fresh in bloom, so despite the park being a little less resourceful when gathering energy, he’d decided to spend an extended amount of time there and appreciate the scenery now that winter was over and there wasn’t so much pollen in the air. He walked at a lazy pace, though by no means seemed out of it; he was keeping his eyes open for anyone that might have wandered out the safety of their home and were looking for trouble.
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Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 6:35 am
Tonight was a night filled with firsts for Sutai. She was trying to run quickly across the rooftops and perform those funny mental scans at the same time. She often found it too difficult and had to stop running before she could make a scan. Concentration was key! And so, every third roof or so, the ice-skater-turned-page stopped, concentrated, and then proceeded on her way. Nothing had shown up on her mental radar until...
...something huge was nearby.
Or rather, something with a massive amount of Chaos energy. Camelot told her to be wary of people who felt like that, but she was curious. Oh so curious, and whoever it was, they were nearby. Sutai trotted to the edge of the building and peeked over the lip, eyes sweeping this way and that to try and find whoever it was. There she spotted a tall blonde man with... wings? He had wings on his back, but they were black. Camelot said black was very bad and Sutai suddenly became very nervous.
One thing the other knights had taught her was that if you could feel someone, they could feel you. Pulling out her telescope, Sutai set herself up like a sniper would on her belly and looked through it. All she could see was a close up of the back of the man's head. But if I can feel him then he can definitely feel me and... oh dear... She wasn't sure what to do! Stay put? Come out and face him? But what if he was really mean and tried to hurt her? All these questions froze her indecision, flat on the roof of a building across the street from one Eternal Sailor Remarque.
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Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2012 1:14 pm
Remarque had paused in his steps when he became suddenly aware of an aura that had not been there a moment ago. That it was moving—and quickly—meant that it wasn’t going to be anything he had to bother with…until it stopped.
For a few seconds he wondered if it was some poor senshi whose shoe-laces had come untied, and then he felt the uncomfortable prickling on the back of his neck that made him feel like he was being watched.
He gave it a few more seconds, trying to play it off cool and pretend like he either didn’t notice the aura or was ignoring it, but as annoyance built up, he scowled and turned to face the aura. At first, he saw nothing. He scanned the ground, level with where he was, and then gradually lifted his eyes upwards. He saw nothing for a very long moment—until a slight glint atop one of the rooftops caught his attention.
Initially he wondered if it could be broken glass or something, though he reasoned that broken glass did not glimmer like that. Though he wasn’t sure what it was, he knew that there—or somewhere around there—was some order aligned individual just creeping. And it annoyed him. If they were going to stay so close to him, he at least wanted to know who it was that was stalking him.
Placing his hands on his hips, he let out a gruff sigh, sucked in a breath, and then called out, “You know, creeping around in the shadows seems like nefarious stuff, are you trying to make a bad name for yourself?”
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Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 5:52 am
The Dark Mirror senshi was greeted by a shrill eeeep!
The glinting object was a telescope, which clattered from the hands of its own down onto the awning of the shop on whose roof she was perched. Sutai yelped about that was well and stood up, revealing herself in all her of ridiculous, ice-skating glory. She flailed a little bit, pondering how to drop down onto the awning and retrieve her beloved object, but oh she was being watched... and gravity did the rest. Sutai bounced off the awning and landed on her feet safely, but the telescope escaped her grasp. The page tossed her head around nervously trying to find it, and when she did, scrambled the pick it up and face who she was watching.
"Umm.... hello!" she said and gave a little wave. What, he's a buy guy! You don't wave at bad guys! What should I doooooo? Could she call Camelot? But she didn't have his number, nor a phone! Did knights even have phones? Now Sutai wasn't so sure. Instead, her indecision caused her to stay put on her side of the street for now, wondering about the intricacies of knight-to-knight communication.
Oh, well... no need to be rude! Maybe he was a nice guy. A nice bad guy, who'll be nice and let me go on my way?
She looked both ways before crossing the street and trotted up to Remarque, giving him a quick curtsy. "Yes um... hello! I um... wasn't trying to be creepy. I've just never seen anything quite like you and you have a rather nice outfit." She thought maybe flattery would get her somewhere, but she really meant it. Her golden eyes traced every detail like an admirer would. It was lovely, really!
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Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 6:51 pm
For a long moment, Remarque stared at the page. It wasn’t just because she had made a rather surprising entrance, but because she was—despite being order aligned—rather captivating. Perhaps it was the flamboyant design on her outfit, or the way she seemed to glitter in the moonlight, but there was no denying that the girl was pretty. Probably way too young for him to have ever taken an interest in, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t stop and appreciate the aesthetics she was born with.
And anyway, if she didn’t want to be seen, she should have stayed in the shadows.
His gaze, while still a bit predatory, was at least appreciative and he didn’t seem to mind whatever time she took to collect herself after her fall. When she addressed him, he looked as amused as he looked smug. That she approached him was gutsy, but he couldn’t help but wonder just how new she was to this whole thing. Perhaps she hadn’t yet learned to avoid agents of Chaos, or perhaps she was just rather friendly.
Flattery was always a good way to go with Remarque. Yes, he knew the colors were a bit tacky and—yes, he knew he looked a bit old fashioned. But he also happened to know that he looked damn good in whatever he wore. And anyone who said otherwise was welcome to a helping of his fist.
“Why thank you,” he said, though hardly sounded grateful for the compliment. He wasn’t a very modest person, after all, and it was hard to offer gratitude when someone was just stating the obvious. Still, he had no problem returning the compliment. “You look lovely, yourself. Eternal Sailor Remarque,” he introduced, extending a hand for her. “Dark Mirror Senshi of Puppetry. And you might be…?”
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Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 7:32 pm
You look lovely, yourself.Oh my! Sutai tittered and blushed and didn't know what to do with herself. She'd never been called anything that nice, let alone pretty by someone other than her parents or close relatives. Now this dashing and rather handsome blond fellow was complimenting her. Sutai didn't know what to do with herself, so she morphed into an old fashioned blushing bride, toying absently with the ends of her poofy skirt. "Oh! I um... um... thank you! Um..." What was his name again? Oh dear. Oh my. "...Remarque! It's very nice to meet you!" Goodness, what was she saying? He was a bad guy, but maybe some bad guys were nicer than others. Diplomacy was an admirable thing to try, and if Eternal Sailor Remarque wasn't going to attack her, then maybe they could just chat! "So um... I've never seen wings like that before. They're very nice. Did you earn them? Can you fly with them?" Being the first Dark Mirror Senshi she'd ever seen, Sutai had no idea what his full title meant. Heck, he was the first eternal senshi she'd ever seen, period! She wasn't sure what to make of all this. "Puppets?" Sutai parroted, cocking her head to one side in curiosity. "Like this?" The Polaris Page went to mimic the puppeteer playing the strings of his marionette, leaning over and bobbing her fingers.
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Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 9:51 pm
Remarque founds himself rather amused by Sutai’s response; it probably wasn’t fair or particularly mature, but he still enjoyed seeing a girl flustered. She was cute—in a way that Raven probably never would be. Raven was too confident, too full of herself to play with her skirt or hair in such an innocent fashion. It was endearing—ultimately not Remarque’s tastes, but humorous all the same. “Yes, puppets,” he affirmed, watching her wiggle her fingers. “Like that.”
He turned a bit, both to display his wings and the array of string that always seemed to collect there. It had annoyed him, at first—the string always brushing against his hand when he walked, or getting snagged on bushes. Never mind the cats that seemed to enjoy a walking cat toy. He’d tried to pull the strings off, tried to cut them, tie them in knots; nothing ever seem to work.
He had accepted, then, that such was the curse for being the senshi of puppetry. If that was the only thing he had to complain about, than he was doing pretty damn well for himself. “I can’t say that they’re useful in flying—and even if they were, I wouldn’t try. I like my feet on the ground, thank you very much.”
He was not a fan of heights—never had been—and that wasn’t going to change for anything. “Why—have you met someone with wings who can fly?”
Ares immediately popped to mind, though in the grand scheme of things, he wasn’t even sure if she could fly with her wings—and hers were much larger and more extravagant than his.
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Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 6:26 pm
"Puppets!" Sutai said again, as if to really solidify that she understood. She leaned forward in pure curiosity, eyes wide with wonder. "So, can you make puppets show up whenever you want? Do you put on shows for people? That would be really nice, I think. I bet people really enjoy that. Do you like puppets? Is that why you're the Senshi of Puppets?" And what was all this business about dark mirrors? Sutai tilted her head and shifted her weight back and forth as she thought about this. Maybe dark mirrors are just dirty and need to be cleaned! Yes, that makes sense. Perfect sense!With a nod to herself, Sutai turned her attention back to the handsome senshi. "Maybe they're just made for gliding?" she mused. Since Remarque had that odd dark feeling about him, she kept her hands to herself. Sutai did however really want to touch those buttwings to see if they were as soft as they appeared to be. "You're the first person I've seen with wings - that's why I asked. Do other people have wings too, or are you super special and only you have wings?" "How do senshi decide what they're the senshi of? Is it just something you like? I don't think knights get to pick either... I mean, Camelot didn't say anything about picking things. I would've picked lasers, myself. Yep!"
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Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2012 9:40 am
To say that Remarque had ever really considered his sphere would have been a lie. Puppetry. Pulling strings. Being the guiding hand to make the players dance. He had never simplified it to real puppets. Perhaps it was only because he wanted to see himself as something great, but considering himself a puppeteer of mere dolls seemed somehow far less interesting than what he'd perceived himself to be for all this time.
The only shows he put on were for her own amusement moreso than others. Sutai had presented him with many questions, and while he could have addressed them all in a lengthy, hard to follow speech, he decided instead to take her most recent statement and work backwards. "I didn't choose puppetry, but I'm not complaining. I like it," he said, shrugging slightly. It was another thing he hadn't put much thought into; it had been something he just accepted and went with. "I guess it just comes to you. Chooses you, maybe." He might have had something more confrontational to say if he'd been, say, the senshi of frills or makeup, but puppetry seemed fitting—comforting.
Maybe because the thought he could pull it off. Maybe just because he'd gotten used to it.
"The wings…" he turned to glance at the wings behind him, as if looking at them would offer some better explanation. Reaching down, he poked one rather unenthusiastically. "…If they're meant for gliding, I wouldn't trust them. I don't think people were meant to fly. Not without planes. You haven't seen wings before?" he asked, wondering how new this girl must be. Sure, he'd only seen a few in his time—Chaonis, Lenka, Leto—Ares. But still—no one? He was impressed. The White Moon was seeming rather neglectful. "…They're not common," he said, unwilling to think that he was common, "But I've seen a few. One of the perks for sticking around and working hard, I figure."
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Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2012 9:05 pm
Perks for working hard?Sutai was visibly excited about the prospect of gaining wings for working hard. "Really? Well then you must be a very hard worker to earn wings like that. You should be proud of yourself! I hope..." The page clasped her hands together, eyes shining with hope beyond hope. Like a princess in prayer. "...I hope I can work hard enough to earn wings! Oh that would be great, wouldn't it? I mean, your wings look so very good on you, so I would think wings would just be fantastic for me! I would love a pair of wings! With little crystals on them! That would be delightful!" The Polaris Page forgot all about how Remarque was, for all intents and purposes, a bad guy. He was on the opposite side of the war. An enemy. But Sutai didn't want to believe that about Remarque - he was being polite, almost cordial. He complemented her and didn't attack her on sight. He must have some good in him somewhere! He simply must! But for now, Sutai was content with dancing in a tight circle, braid and crystals flying and singing through the air as she did so. "Sugarplum wings! Maybe even..." GASP. Sutai stopped, knees together and hands slapped open palm to her cheeks like a demented (and female) Macaulay Culkin. "Dazzling crystal fairy wings!" It sounded like Sutai had a new goal in life.
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Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2012 7:04 pm
Remarque supposed there were worse sorts of people to run into than gushing, gasping pages. She seemed hardly the sort of person that should be fighting in this war—but, then again. Would he have rather her try to attack him?
It was something he pondered, even as she gushed about different types of wings. Of course, the testosterone in him made in crave battle—but even if she had wanted to fight, he doubted she would have been a suitable opponent. She was too happy, to distracted. To new an innocent. "Perhaps," he said after a thoughtful moment, forcing a small still. It was easier to deal with senshi of the white moon than any sort of knights; at least there was hope for the senshi to be saved. This page?
Good God, what were the knights doing?
"…Yes, I suppose if you work hard enough, there's not much you can't accomplish. Though it does benefit to know a bit of what you're doing. Pardon my rudeness," he paused, making sure that he was still wearing his charming smile, "But I haven't seen so many knights willing to talk. You'll forgive me if I have questions?" he prompted, though it seemed rhetorical as he went on to ask, "What, exactly, are you doing here? In Destiny City, I mean. Are you fighting in this war or just here to observe? I only ask given that you don't seem as hostile as the rest of your kind makes you out to be."
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Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2012 8:27 pm
Remarque's question sent Sutai in a tailspin away from her glorious giddy giggling about sparkling fairy wings and into more serious territory. She ceased her little dance and stared at her Dark Mirror companion with confusion in her eyes. Of course she'd never mind questions. She'd answer the best she could! However, the nature of his questions nearly made her cry. In fact, Sutai did somewhat tear up when the gravity of Remarque's curiosity hit her. It was his thought process, his serious demeanor. He believed it. It was all too much. Her heart nearly broke right then and there. "... what?" What was she doing in Destiny City? Was she just observing? Was she hostile? She didn't know what to say. "I... well, I... but you see..." Sutai sputtered in confusion and cupped her face in her hands. "Umm... you see, I was born here and well... bad things happened and then Camelot came and saved me from this horrible monster who wanted to eat me and then... I ended up like this!" She motioned to her outfit, crystals and all. "Am... am I hostile? Why would anybody say I was hostile?" Sutai started to cry. "Am... am I bad person...?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 4:27 pm
Tears were the quickest way to disarm Remarque. Once upon a time, he might have scoffed and jeered, but something in him had been changing for a while now. He'd enjoyed mocking and degrading others for a while now, though it seemed that his cut-throat demeanor had changed significantly now that he had a better outlet.
He'd spent so much time in the past few years making people cry that he wasn't exactly sure what to do to get hem to stop. Sutai had been in such a good mood before; he didn't want her first impression of the Dark Mirror Court to leave her thinking they were monsters. If she got around telling the senshi that he'd up and made her cry, he could only estimate that it wouldn't reflect well on them.
While Sutai herself had not been hostile, Remarque could name a fair number of Knights who had been—and Leto's disdain for them was at least slightly contagious. "…Perhaps I was not entirely clear. I have met many a knight who was more prone to violence than commentary. And you might not be bad—just mislead. You have presented nothing that would lead me to believe that you were an enemy of my cause other than your aura, but I suppose we cannot choose what we are if we are first drafted hmm? The Kingdom of the White Moon is desperate for anyone they can use for their cause, so perhaps you are just one of the unlucky souls that they targeted? There's no reason to cry about it—there is still a chance to set yourself on the right path if you'd like," he tried to soothe.
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Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 8:38 pm
Sutai's tiny shoulders hook with the force of her sobs. She sounded like a brokenhearted child who just learned her precious puppy was run over or something equally as tragic. She couldn't believe someone would call her something as mean as 'hostile' and all those other horrible things. Sutai strove to be nice to everyone. How could they say such things? The crystals that adorned her outfit clinked together as she tried to calm down. No use crying about it for too long but... ...but it was so hard... The Polaris Page sniffed and looked up, rubbing her weary eyes with the heel of her hand. "...misled?" What was that all about? Granted, Sutai was given a very brief crash course before being essentially abandoned but she didn't harbor any animosity towards anyone in particular because of it. The forces of Order were stretched so thin as it was. Sutai couldn't possibly demand that Camelot stick around just because she was feeling insecure... right? Another sniffle. "Misled about what...?" Part of her, somewhere deep in the pit of her stomach, Sutai felt terribly afraid. She nearly trembled when asking, as if she was opening Pandora's Box and wouldn't be able to shut it afterwords.
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Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2012 1:51 pm
Fuuuuck.
And Remarque had thought dealing with a teary-eyed girl was bad—he'd never been able to predict the sobs.
He was not a necessarily nice guy. There was nothing that could come out of him being nice to Sutai. But he hadn't been trying to make her cry. He pondered, for a brief moment, if he ought to have tried to embrace her (no, thank you, he did not want to be getting that close to anyone aligned with order or just placing his hand on her shoulder. That was all right, right? God, if it would just get her to stop crying…
He kept it in mind as the girl tried to conduct herself, glad he hadn't needed to really interfere. "I hadn't meant to upset you," he said, trying to keep his voice gentle as not to upset her again. He was nearly biting his tongue to keep his tone even. Had the girl been hostile, he might have mocked her for her tears, but she seemed even less of a threat than before. "…It's just something I thought I'd noticed in knights. But clearly you're different from them. I don't know what lies they've been fed, but they seem under the impression that we—I don't know—are after some evil cause. World domination or something. Kicking kittens. Or they just like picking on us because there are so few of us. I don't know. And now, I don't suppose you do, either."
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