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 Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 2:22 pm
It probably would have all felt a little less ironic if the song "Pink" hadn't come on when he turned on the radio to fill the awkward silence following the most awkward, embarrassing battle in the history of Senshi.
It was just a little too much on top of wandering home with bits of pink... fluff, still stuck in his hair, and down his shirt... and pretty much every single place it could reach, and Bell had gotten it worse.
Her Uniform didn't really cover that much at all, and he couldn't imagine how miserable she had to be after their plunge into itchy pink insulation. Hell, he was almost willing to put money that her case of the itches was worse than his burns and bruises.
He eyed the radio for a moment as though it was capable of sentient thought and therefore had chosen the song maliciously, before waving in the direction of the small apartment's bathroom and breaking the silence.
"So um, the bathroom is in there, I'll get a trash bag and we can just... pitch the towels. I don't wanna find out if that stuff washes out of terry or not."
Doing his own laundry was already enough of an occasional adventure, though he'd only flooded the laundromat with bubbles ONCE and that hadn't entirely been his fault, which was the main reason he was allowed to go back.
The small apartment had one bedroom and a sort of combination of kitchen and living area, separated by a low counter with a set of bar stools he'd bought at a big box chain and put together himself. The couch and arm chair he'd had to bribe the neighbors for help with, costing him fifty at the thrift store, and then four pizzas and two packs of beer, and a bottle of ibuprofen for his back afterward. It was pretty sparsely furnished, save for his long standing collection of stuffed lions, which now included a slightly odd looking one holding a heart printed like a British flag which read "I Heart the London Zoo" ((Lily had sent it from England.)).
Otherwise the walls were decorated with some mixed posters, including a classic Nospheratu poster and one for The Lion King musical.
"Do you want to borrow some clothes?" He offered, trying to resist the urge to fidget for fear of grinding insulation into his burned arm or just into his skin in general. "I need the aloe from the cabinet but otherwise I figured you might want to get the insulation off."
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Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 2:57 pm
Bell had been considering the issue of clothing for a moment or two now -- if she stayed powered while she went in to the shower, barring the issue of even figuring out how one went about getting out of a fuku with no obvious zippers, and came out powered, and then de-henshined, her civilian clothes would technically still be dry, clean, and insulation-free, right? She'd never been in that predicament, but.... Honestly she was hoping that her aura wasn't already causing a problem. Luckily none of the neighbors seemed to be around to see the senshi enter the apartment in the first place. Perhaps because it was night.
BUUUT back to the issue at hand. The very itchy horrid issue.
"Thanks again for the use of your bathroom. Some clothes for back up in case my little de-henshining plan doesn't work, aaaand I'll grab that aloe for you."
She'd spare a glance later at the apartment, for now getting clean and free from this terrible pink stuff was a priority.
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Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 4:46 pm
"No prob, I hope it works." He offered. He remembered still the time they'd had getting exploded goo monster off their heads, and having been grateful that at Hillworth people just sort of guessed what the answer might be for why you were covered in charred glop. He wasn't sure how the insulation thing would go, but if magical dry-cleaning got it off, it would be amazing.
"I'll um... put on some coffee or something." He offered. This again wasn't one of those things that came with a guide book, they'd both separated from their partners, and both of them had found the whole senshi experience... less than glamorous.
He wanted to ask her thoughts on the pair they'd run into, (which surprised him a little, he had been expecting to want to cut and run, not ask questions.) but that seemed like something that could wait until no one wanted to itch their skin off any more
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Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2012 4:51 pm
That was the most uncomfortable, awkward, shower ever, Bell decided, although not as uncomfortable as being covered in insulation had been. Thankfully her assumption about her civilian clothes still being clean and cry when she de-henshined after her shower had been correct. She didn't want to make things more awkward than they had to be, but then of course, fate seemed to have a horribly sadistic sense of humor.
Bell was in the midst of rebraiding her hair - a full braid this time so that her wet hair didn't dampen her shirt by being all over the friggen place - when she exited the bathroom.
"The shower is all yours. Thanks again," she said, then detoured to get that cup of coffee.
Simple patrolling...it had turned in to such a mess. Literally. But that apology could wait till later.
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Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2012 4:45 pm
Jaimie lined up the carton of cream and the sugar bowl on the counter in a gesture that was owed a fair bit to anxiety and embarrassment.
"Great, I'll go get cleaned up. There's some leftovers in the fridge too if you want anything. Nothing exciting. Pizza, some chicken curry I was experimenting with."
He cleared his throat again in embarassment and added. "...Sorry for blowing stuff up again." Apparently there was just something about being around Bell that made things explode, usually in the most humiliating way possible. Like tonight.
Technically it could have been worse, and he wasn't looking forward to taking a shower with the burns he'd taken, but they might make the bruises feel better. At least as a senshi he healed pretty quickly.
"Hell of a night."
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Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2012 8:27 pm
Bell stuck to her coffee and sat on the couch, biting her lip, "It's not really your fault. I'm the one who asked you to patrol with me, I'm sorry. I shouldn't of dragged you in to this."
With that, conversation fell as Jamie went to shower. Bell glanced around from where she sat, taking stock of the little personal touches and listening to the radio as it played. Her thoughts eventually began to wonder to random things - senshidom, her current personal situation, school...
She had thought patrolling tonight would take her mind off of things, but 'patrol' hadn't really gone as it usually did for her. She'd gone nights without finding a single Chaos agent or Youma, but tonight just had to be different. Of course things went differently when she was trying to escape.... And now she felt guilty. In her little whim she'd dragged Jamie in to her problems, and gotten him hurt.
Bell just wasn't the type to do the depressed thing, but she was probably in the worst spot of her life right now. Trivial as some of it was. Bell couldn't help but feel like somewhere down the line she'd royally ******** up, and now things were falling apart, scattering, and getting away from her. As if she'd ever really had her ducks in a row at all...
Getting over Xavier wasn't exactly the hardest thing in the world - he'd been abroad for about five months now, after all. Sure, he'd been her first boyfriend and all, but she'd spent the better part of the week since receiving his letter thinking about what had been their relationship. At the time it had seemed pretty good. She had been happy, however it had been a delicate dance to maintain. In the end, they were both too shy to ask what they wanted of the other. They'd mostly been brought together by their perceived duty as senshi. Bell had thus quickly accepted the loss, although it didn't stop the feelings of inadequacy and insecurity that had just as quickly festered.
On the senshi front, she'd taken a backseat for so long that she felt like a bit of a failure, but the only way to fix that, she knew, was to jump back on the frontlines, however now she'd not even really begun that and she'd wound up in a literal mess. She wasn't even really sure what she stood for as a senshi, or what they fought for anymore. She wasn't even sure if they - the senshi - were right, or if Chaos was, or if they both really were just pawns. As the senshi of Fortitude, these feelings tore up her very sphere of power. She felt unsure, imbalanced, and just all the things she shouldn't be.
And school was just aggravating because it was school and damnit if half the cast for the fall semester production weren't all freshmen or just simply not showing up at all. Sure, the fall production was their childrens play, and those were often the ones that took the least work as far as costumes, set, and rehersals, but Bell took theatre <******** seriously, and she'd be damned if some stupid freshmen, straight-out-of-high-school, dumb asses were going to mess it up. The play was Beauty and the Beast, a play Bell had been in before, so it wasn't even like she was worried about her part, but the guy who had been cast for the Beast hadn't even been there sense auditions, and the director hadn't cast any understudies...
Stress mingled with depression, and it wasn't pretty. Bell was overwhelmed and she wasn't sure where to go or what to do first. Or at all, really.
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Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 8:07 am
Jaimie emerged a short while later, his wet hair toustled from a rough toweling off and making the collar of his shirt damp, something he ignored as he wandered back over and poured himself a cup of coffee, adding sugar and cream. The creamer pitcher he'd picked up out of a burst of whimsy, and it was shaped like a cardboard carton but made of porcelain.
"You didn't do anything wrong by asking me." He assured her, wrapping his hands around the coffee cup.
The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up and his arm looked a bit green from aloe, but looked a little less uncomfortable from the application.
"Truth be told I've been avoiding it because I didn't want to..." He shrugged, embarrassed by his own reactions. "I've been trying to avoid running into Tallulah or the Jovians. They're mostly who she was hanging out with last time we talked. I think they're even calling themselves a court.
He grimaced, remembering past battles, including Europa charging around concussed and yelling Sorry about New Years while he was more concerned with not dying from the arrow through his shoulder. That had been way worse than you'd think from watching TV.
"That's totally childish of me isn't it?" He admitted.
"I kinda forgot what it felt like to power up." He admitted. He forgot that it felt strangely natural, something he'd never quite settled his own conflict with.
"So um, how goes. Other than the crappy thing with Xavier I mean. Sounds like things have been a bit exciting, getting your little sister dropped in your lap and stuff."
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Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 8:32 am
"Hmn, not childish. It's healthy to avoid things that are bad for you," it was a light attempt at a joke, and Bell kind of felt sorrt for whatever 'court' Tallulah had wrangled up. To have a leader like that... Bell was still pissed that she'd had her senshi identity outed to Tal's father, a man she didn't even know. Much less her actions in Elysion....
"Things have been....well, pretty monotonous - day in day out same old. Ainsley arrived... Honestly I don't remember how long it's been. Was the Snow Queen, snow globe, things two years ago, or was it last year? She was there for Elysion, I know that at least..."
Bell couldn't quite recall how long it'd been. She'd just sort of rolled with it. She had a guardian cat babysitting her sister, who was a super chibi senshi, and she really didn't worry about it too much. Sure, things were dangerous and all with the war, but there was somethign about the chibis that just seemed...well, invincibble despite all odds.
"Either way, it's been a while. I got back to school last fall - Education and theatre major. I'm hoping to teach high school theatre," she then sighed, "but most of the other theatre geeks," a term she affectionately shared with those as emmersed in the subject as herself, "graduated back in spring, and now there's a whole slew of freshmen straight from highschool and I just want to strangle them." She completed her statement with a strangling motion.
"They want to play, not work, and they think everythign is just going to be all fun and games. Oh, that's not even to mention the ones who think they are all that because they got a lead role in their last high school play. HA~"
Bell had a huge amount of theatre under her belt. Enough that her theatrical ego was well justified -- three plays every year from the time she was six years old, until she was eighteen and senshidom threw things out of wack. That was 39 plays in her lifetime, not counting her recent college productions. And none of those, sve for the college ones, were school plays, nope.
Bell was still a card-carying member of the local theatre arts center. Most of these students were there because, 'OH MAI GAD, I did so spectacular in that ONE high school play, I must be a natural and liek, tooootally meant for the stage! Oh, but I don't want to put in the hard work or practice or help build set or make costume. Nope, I just want to flaunt myself!'
If Bell didn't fly off the handle at rehersal one day, it would be a miracle.
"So, what about you - what have you been up to?"
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Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 9:02 am
"I... would honestly have to check my diary, I've been trying not to think about it." Although that reminded him of the unexpected explosion of his 'claws' into fireballs. He still wasn't sure what, or who, had triggered that, but was glad it hadn't happened tonight. He had almost forgotten about Angus Cowden knowing about them... almost. One more reason for him to avoid the Cowden's, who may have told his own parents, if they had, he hadn't heard of it at least. Not being on speaking terms had that effect.
"I've been working to pay for classes. It's slowing down my class schedule but can't be helped. I'm taking classes in literature and theater, trying to do some play writing actually... and stories. I actually sold a couple shorts.Nothing exciting but helped pay the bills... and hey it's further than some people get." He shared this with a touch of pride, as an embarrassed defense for the slightly nerdy hobby he hadn't told most of them about. Tal knew about the fan fiction, and had gleefully mocked it.
"Sorry about the headache, hopefully it will all work out in the end. Anything I can do to help out?"
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Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 9:15 am
If Bell had the script with her, she probably would have thrown it at him in a fit of exhasperation and glee. Lucky for Jamie she didn't. Although it was probably in the car...
"Audition. The director sgoing to have no choice but to find a few more people to replace all the no-shows and flakes that are currently on cast."
It certainly wouldn't hinder his course of study, although it might hinder work, but Bell was well equipped to help with that. Her own family situation had it's similarities to Jamie's, only her father didn't even know her age, and could care less, so long as he had a child to inherit his business. Although given Bell's war with technology and lack of a mind for business, a software firm was not on her list of 'do want.' That baby was getting sold as soon as the old man died.
There really was no love in the McMahon 'family.'
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Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 10:08 am
"You want me to audition?" He liked acting well enough but his credentials were all unprofessional, living room performances, as he would put it. "You ARE hard up!" He insisted. "Are you sure I'd be of any help?"
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Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 10:55 am
"Right now we're just lucky if we can get people who show up. Any aspirations I had for this play turning out well died about...three weeks ago."
Bell could put the prima dona's in their place, but she couldn't do anything about people plain not showing up.
"Besides, with my recommendation, I'm sure the director would take you in a heartbeat. Bonus points for you taking theatre classes, too. Oh, and congrats on selling your work, by the way."
The director could probably use a creative hand.
"I make no guarantees about role, but..." she shrugged, "It's Beauty and the Beast."
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Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 11:02 am
"Well if it will help out I'll definitely apply." He promised. "Besides I could stand to get out more." He admitted. "If you want I can help put an ear out and see if there's anyone else who might want to get in on it, help fill out some of those slots."
He grinned jokingly as an amusing thought occurred to him. "Too bad those guys from earlier would never do it. I think one of them would make a fabulous beast... at least on the being beastly front."
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Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 11:14 am
"That'd be great," Then she laughed, "Yeah. Though who knows, with the way glamour works an' all. We could probably walk by them every day and never know it."
It was always an unsettling thought. One she tried not to think about. It was the main reason why they all safeguarded their identity. She was reluctant to share hers with other senshi, even.
"But I'll pull some strings and light a fire under a few asses and maybe this production will go alright after all."
Bell could certainly take charge when she needed to. It often resulted with a bitchy reputation, but it got things done.
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Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 11:26 am
"Well you know where to look for a light." He grinned, taking a sip of his coffee. "...I think that's the only reason none of us has gotten friggin arrested yet. I mean even though Tal pulled a stupid move telling her dad, he can't even go to the cops because he can't prove any of us are actually senshi unless we power up, and so far I haven't met anything short of a universe level power that can force a power up."
"...Course now I've jinxed us all by saying that." he added, uncomfortably. What the hell would happen if something like that did come along? He could imagine the chaos if people couldn't control their henshin powers. Lives could get ruined like that in a hurry.
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