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 Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2012 9:49 pm
"What are you doing?" Zia yelled out loud to herself as she paced frantically across the border ledge of a building she wasn't entirely sure she could get down from. Typical cat behavior. Climbing to heights you can't get down from. However, in her frustration she had shifted to her civilian form, but still lacked any sort of fear that she was essentially walking on a balance beam a story up from cement sidewalk. In fact she paced downright aggressively.
"Please? Come on." Zia had become so used to Zirconia running things, she couldn't remember the last time she was quiet. In fact, Zirconia hadn't been quiet since she was injected into her body. Until now. Zirconia had been lethargic, only mustering up the occasional enthusiasm for Aquarius, but after an inner spat tonight, the straw broke the fat cat's back and she had clammed up, retreated to the very back of Zia's mind. And hadn't come back for hours. Zia suddenly felt empty and stupid, like she had just woken up from being lobotomized and it was not a good feeling.
"Uggh, you're being such a brat. And I know you can hear me," She snarled, removing her hands that had wrapped around her torso in an attempt to keep warm in her not especially smart choice of outfit to grab at her head as if she could beat Zirc into reacting. Then again, she wasn't expecting to react to the quiet by not being able to sleep and prowling around on an autumn night in her pajamas and a t-shirt. Leaving the house in full fur leads to absentminded choices.
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Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 6:18 pm
Michael wasn't entirely sure he'd go with 'absentminded' when he happened to catch a glimpse of the show just above. More like 'crazy lunatic'.
The shout had caught his attention as the high school teacher made his way home with a pack of beer under his arm. Dealing with a stressed out housemate was bad enough, but it was even worse when there was nothing to counter his own stress. At first he thought it might have been Pasiphae stalking him again, but he was quickly corrected with just a glance upwards.
Nope. It was some chick who must have escaped from the psych ward. Talking to herself and everything. Probably about to jump and... it would be very doubtful that she'd kill herself from a story up, but broken bones was almost guaranteed.
"I'm sure half the street can hear you," he called up in response to her ramblings, hoping to at least distract her enough to get her to back away from the edge.
He was definitely not paid enough to deal with this s**t. Oh, wait... he wasn't paid at all to deal with this... actually, he didn't need to be paid much anyway, what with his trustfund... but the point remained that he shouldn't have to deal with this nonsense.
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Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2012 6:17 pm
Zia glanced down and quirked on eyebrow at the snooty man who had butted in on what she thought she was handling like quit the private conversation, even if it was full of frustrated pleas and annoyed snarls. Oh, and that the other party was in her head.
"I doubt that," She said, one hand on her hip. How rude. Though she was admittedly detached from realistic social protocol at this point and looking down on someone from a rooftop didn't exactly register as normal. Especially when in pajamas, which, by the way, were totally not giving off the vibe of escaped mental patient. Or maybe they were, but in her ribbed tank top and baggy fleece bottoms with little cartoony cupcakes on them she was the most adorable mental patient.
"And I don't see how it's any of your--" Her eyes narrowed in an attempt to focus. He did look really familiar but she couldn't place where. Nevermind the fact she was still a Crystal girl the last time she'd seen Michael, sifting through such a vague memory amidst hundreds of years of others was difficult. But his identity was just taunting her just beyond her grasp.
"Who are you?" She asked, point blank, leaning far over the ledge as she stared down at him, bare toes curling against the corner drop.
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Posted: Sun Oct 28, 2012 4:05 pm
Michael raised an eyebrow at the crazy chick on the ledge, his free hand shoved into the pocket of his leather jacket, tilting his head to the side as she seemed to hesitate upon seeing him. She looked vaguely familiar, but then again he was used to seeing people he sort of recognized all the time.
Maybe she was one of his one night stands, and he certainly hoped she wouldn't flip out on him for not calling her back. "Who are you?" he parroted back, trying not to seem too amused in this sudden game of trying to remember the other. It was obvious that she recognized him from somewhere, and he her, but from where...?
"Michael," he decided to throw caution to the wind and reveal at least his first name. If she turned out to be some crazy stalker, he was lucky his name was rather common. "What are you doing up there, Rapunzel?" he asked with a smirk, although in the dim streetlights, it might be difficult to determine his exact expression.
"Perhaps I can coax you down?" he wondered, shifting the pack of beer under his arm to indicate that he was willing to share as long as she didn't do something stupid.
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Posted: Sun Oct 28, 2012 4:22 pm
Zia quirked an eyebrow at his actions. He was at least being entertaining and his face looked so familiar, it was frustrating not being able to place it. If only he didn't have such a common name. "I don't know, depends on the brand," She joked at the implication of being lured down by his beer.
"Aw, don't like being on the bottom? Why don't you come up?" She countered, gesturing towards a rickety looking fire escape ladder on the side of the building.
"Nicer drinking under the stars."
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Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 3:35 pm
"Oh, but I love being on the bottom," he grinned, his bright blue eyes practically twinkling in amusement. He'd let her decide if he was teasing or not, used to his dead pan sarcasm confusing others on numerous occasions.
Even still, he glanced towards the fire escape and let out a small snort before accepting the invitation. While ladders and heights may bother some, climbing up and down on his ship had been second nature, and with little effort, he pulled himself up the rungs and onto the roof, pack of beer still under his arm.
"Catch," he warned, pulling a can from the case and tossing it towards the girl. "So...? Do you have a name...? Or names, as you were talking to yourself..." he joked with a shrug and made himself comfortable on a metal box that was probably an air conditioning unit. "What's your story? All I've got to do tonight is some grading, so I've got time."
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Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 4:03 pm
Zia laughed, but honestly was ready to applaud his bravery for accepting a clearly crazy girl in pajamas' invitation to drink on a roof. She caught the can effortlessly, and once he was on her level, even in the dim light of streetlights, it suddenly came to her.
Even with her muddled memories it was hard to forget the distinction with as much time as her teenage years were spent around his brothers.
Sher shoulders almost deflated and the corner of her mouth twitched up in a wry half smile. "Michael Gallo," She sighed and popped the tab on her beer. "I'm Zia. From next door, once upon a time," She introduced, or rather reintroduced, and flopped to sit on the ledge with her bare feet hanging freely over the edge. And then she laughed at the prospect of 'her story'. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you," She said, laughter clear in her voice from the absurdity of even beginning that long and convoluted thing. "What about you? I thought you went off to be a good sailor and all that."
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Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 5:36 pm
Michael popped open a can for himself and took a swig as she revealed her identity. Ah, so that would be why she looked so familiar.
"Ah, I remember your mother," he said with a small grin, although he didn't elaborate. Not that anything had actually happened... he was newly eighteen when he left for the Navy, and after that there wasn't much interaction with Zia or her family.
"Trust me, I can believe more than you can imagine," he said with a small wink, but the rest of his face looked serious. If only she knew what he knew about the goings on in the city. And then who would believe any of it if they weren't involved, themselves?
"I was," he said with a shrug, "And then everyone started comparing me to my father and I decided I'd rather not spend the rest of my life in the Navy. And so... I'm now teaching little brats how to build robots and."
He respected his father and all, but when people knew him as "Gallo's son" he realized he would rather be another face in the crowd than a shadow.
"So go on... enlighten me," he said with a casual flick of his hand, "Tell me what I wouldn't believe and I'll let you know if you're right or not."
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Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 5:51 pm
"Mm," Zia mumbled and stared down into the can between swigs. She could definitely relate, walking through the halls of her office as 'the daughter' and various whispers that accompanied that reputation.
"Eeeeveryone does," She muttered and chugged her beer when he mentioned remembering her mom.
She accepted his challenge, though. That was a challenge, right? "Hm... Well! I have an interdimensional soul that's roughly a hundred years old fused into my starseed and sometimes I turn into a space cat all because I bought a moon queen in disguise lunch."
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Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 6:07 pm
There was a hesitation in which Michael stared at her as he lifted the can to his mouth once more. As amused as he might have been if he knew she really was joking... there three words in her quick ramble that brought him down to a level of reality that was... much more believable than she might have realized.
'Starseed' and 'moon queen' jumped out in stark contrast to the other nonsensical babble she threw out. Unless she'd just picked up words like that from others, he was fairly certain she had to at least know something...
But even if she was his little brother's friend, he wasn't willing to risk his life in gambling on whether or not she was on his side, or on the other...
"Sounds like a bunch of bullshit to me," he shrugged and took another swig. "You've been watching too many sci-fi flicks," he grinned, although the glimmer of amusement was gone from his eyes.
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Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 6:20 pm
"Exactly," Zia said, giving him a wink and a point before she polished off the can in her hand and tossed it away. Though she was feeling especially ornery and jaded, especially since Zirconia was refusing to come out and be a voice of reason. Or at least defensive aggression.
"Except for the part where whoops, I'm a cat!" She shifted to her fluffy four legged self and then her humanoid Mauvian form in her pretty little Black Moon dress.
"I swear it's like a body swapping, memory jumbling nightmare. Can I have another beer?" She asked like a kid only paying half attention to the conversation. "Oh, and, 'Gee! I sure hope you're not an agent of Chaos~!'" She added that on in sarcastic worry and rolled her eyes at the thought, because really, who cared anymore? Well her bodily roommate might, but not Zia.
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Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 6:45 pm
Michael's eyes widened slightly as she shifted, although he kept the can at his lips to keep himself from giving away his surprise even more. He didn't know whether is was more shocked that she was a cat, or the fact that she was that cat. The bitchy one with the attitude problem.
Still, he tossed her another can when it was requested, finishing his own. "I hope you don't wander around the city like that," he said with a small snort, even as he tried to make sure her energy signal didn't suddenly alert others to the area. The last thing he wanted to do was give his identity away to his baby brother's little friend.
Speaking of...
"Does Chris know about this?" he said with a gesture and glance from her ears to the fluffy tail. "And is it weird to hack up furballs? Because that's just gross," he added with a wrinkle of his nose. Maybe he should be acting more surprised than this, but after seeing youma and magical warriors of both sides... the 'surprise I'm magical' factor wore off rather quickly.
It was probably rather dangerous, going around revealing identities to others... he wouldn't know... he kept his to himself... but he wasn't about to start lecturing her on what to do with her life.
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Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 6:53 pm
Zia was well aware of her energy signal, not to mention inherently feeling uncomfortable in 'Zirconia's skin. Soon she was back to a normal...ish 21 year old in pajamas. She was reaching 24 but still looked the same age as she did when Nehelenia popped out in front of her. She was cringing at the thought of explaining that away when she reached her 30s.
She caught her can, and then ended up scooching closer so she could punch him in the arm at the hairball comment. "I've only been a cat for two years, jeez. Besides, the b***h just lives in my starseed. Apparently bodies have trouble crossing inter-dimensional portals or something," She gave a lax shrug. "I don't talk to Chris anymore. I figured it was better to not have friends around when one of her senshi decided she was the God-Queen of All~ and I needed to corrupt or die." She popped the tab on her new can and shotgunned the entire thing just because she felt like she could.
"So now I just party and decay and wait for the world to blow up already."
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Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 8:01 pm
"You sure are trusting for a space cat. I'm guessing you don't go to therapy for that sort of thing...?" he half teased, although he had to wonder what this meant for him now that he couldn't claim he had no idea Zia was really Zirconia. It made sense now that he thought about it, at least in terms of how they looked... minus the fur.
As for him, he'd take Sessrumnir to his grave if he could. Hell, that might not be that far in the future, either way.
"Her senshi...?" he wondered curiously. "Those terrorists that run around destroying city property?" he prodded, curious for information, wanting her to keep talking, but playing as dumb as he reasonably could... While he could make assumptions about her, he liked knowing the truth beyond shallow opinions. This was a bit more than her frumpy appearance or 'don't give a s**t' attitude.
"Sounds like a life well wasted," he said with a frown, not because he cared what she did with her life, but because it was a waste of time to bother with people like her. If she didn't want to talk to Chris any more, that was no skin off his nose, and probably better for his brother in the end. He didn't want his kid brother getting caught up in that kind of mess.
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Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 8:11 pm
"Well, dude," Zia snorted, "I've been almost eaten, corrupted, killed, tortured, forced into the back of my own head while a supernatural force took my body out for a joyride like it was car, and my odds of living long enough to deal with the fact I stopped aging are pretty much nil. Worrying about something finally succeeding in taking me out isn't exactly high on my priority list. You know what was a waste? Spending 80% of my life in goddamn school. And then not being able to get the ******** out of here." She rolled her eyes at all that wasted time she spent trying to be so perfect and follow a rigorous life plan that would have her in Manhattan by now.
"Oh yeah that's what senshi are I guess. And these like, weird a** wannabe-Cavalier knight things with the most useless weapons ever. But nah man, I think Zirc had about two left when she body-jacked me, the rest all died," She was awfully casual about the whole thing, though half out of spite, hoping it'd wake Zirconia up to put her in her place.
She didn't.
"I dunno, man," She said, staring into an empty can with something resembling an exhausted smile. "I guess I'm just tired." She spent so much time hiding and fighting and it only made life more miserable to deal with.
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