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 Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2012 6:46 pm
Zia Connolly had gone from being worst guardian cat ever to moderately functional human being in the last few weeks, but moderately functional was apparently too sucky for her as a youma managed to wriggle away before a proper dusting and the 20-something looking girl kicked a garbage can in frustration.
Yes, she was throwing a tantrum.
It wasn't fair, in her opinion, that the boy next door, her cousin, her best friends since high school, and the guy who ran the library were all super powered behemoths and her only ability given by sheer chance was turning into a house cat. And then catching flak for not fighting monsters anyway!
But, after a brief groan of frustration, she bolted in the direction the youma went in, only to collide with someone.
"I'm sorry!" She said immediately, stumbling back.
Pleeeease don't be anybody hyper-super-danger-powered
"Like, really, I didn't mean--" But it looked more like a knight than anything nefarious. And Zia reacted by instantly pulling out her phone and snapping a photo. Because was totally not a weird reaction to seeing a knight on the street.
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Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2012 9:23 am
Shalott was not anything that could even be remotely considered scary. Unless you happen to threaten her husband or child, then she could be downright terrifying. But Zia was doing neither of those things. So far as the Squire knew her husband, one of the super-powered behemoths, was doing his nightly patrol. She'd meet him when they were both finished and they'd head home together.
All in all she was not someone that could intimidate anyone right now so it was with some confusion that she was collided with and subsequently had her picture taken. It took her a few moments to catch up and she blinked helplessly while trying.
"I'm going to need you to erase that."
She wasn't an expert at this whole dual life thing but it probably wasn't good to have you picture out there somewhere on someone's cell phone, especially if you don't know them. The girl looked agitated in general and the knight wanted to help with that as best she might. It was instinct, to nurture.
"You don't look like you're in the best of moods. Is there something on your mind? I can be a good listener if you'll let me try."
She looked around for something convenient to sit on and motioned for her new friend to do the same.
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Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2012 6:52 pm
Zia heaved up her shoulders and sighed, well practiced at this speech by now. "Don't worry, Official guardian cat database business. It won't be used for nefarious purposes, nor will anyone recognize your secret identity, it's just going in the pokedex," She said in a total deadpan, turning the phone to show her the phone screen, though the profile being built for the knight in question was still being built. She didn't even know her name!
"Oh... no, I'm just... I'm just cranky, I guess. Youma got away, no powers, typical college kid problems. Or... not, but, yeah," She said with a small shrug before going back to her phone. "What's your name? Oh! Are you a page? You look really fancy for a page. Sorry if it's obvious, I'm energy signature blind with the whole human deal, yanno?"
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Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 9:31 am
She wasn't sure how she felt about there being a "pokedex" (what the hell was that?) of knights out there. She knew enough that she was supposed to trust guardian cats but her experience with them was limited...very limited. When the girl turned the screen she saw a profile page plain as day and though she didn't feel better about that she did relent and leave it alone. Who was she to say what was official and what wasn't?
"Alright."
And apparently there were a lot of things she didn't understand about guardian cats, like that they had no sense for the energy signatures when in human form. Or that they could take human form. The Squire frowned ever so softly.
"I'm Shalott, a Squire." Of Earth would be a bit obvious.
And she was a bit concerned about that flippant phrase "youma got away." Her instincts said she needed to go after it but she didn't feel it in the area and, as the cat (er, girl) said she didn't have senses to follow it either when in this form. She was stuck in inaction she guessed.
"Must be rough. This isn't always the easiest lifestyle." And the squire couldn't imagine what people would do if they didn't have a support system like she had with Camelot.
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Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 6:31 pm
"Cool. Weapon?" Zia asked as she text texted away on her phone. She tried to at least keep an 'all business' demeanor, even if she just looked like a barely out of high school girl standing there in ripped jeans and a few bruises.
Though when she mentioned 'the lifestyle' she kind of swallowed and glanced to the far left. "I guess. Ha! Try not having any powers, man. Makes hunting Ares down kind of difficult. Or maybe I'm avoiding her, I can't remember any more."
And then she glanced at the Earth symbols and input them, and then frowned a little at her screen. "There are two Earth knights?" So far the knights she 'collected' had each had a different planet. The fact there could be more than one was new. Interesting.
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Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2012 6:28 pm
"There are at least 4 of us." Shalott responded, surprised. "My husband Camelot and our friend Avalon make up the entirety of the Arthurian knights."
She looked awkward for a second. Was she supposed to mention that they were married? Did it matter? She was impossibly proud of her husband and anyone who asked could freely know. Being a newlywed she was certainly proud of it and she was still in that glowing newlywed phase.
"My weapon?" She gestured to the garland. "This."
She must not be very far in this pokedex to not know there was more than one Earth knight. Suddenly Shalott was wary again, tensing a little.
"What do guardian cats do, exactly?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2012 7:03 pm
The corners of Zia's mouth turned down sharply at the prospect of four Earth knights in an almost comical display of fear her scope of knowledge was smaller than she imagined. "I... I only have Camelot." She thumbed through the various pages in her little app. "Uh... I don't know until now I've only had one per planet so far. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Jupiter, Uranus, Cosmos... I don't know, the list goes on." And then she added almost defensively, "Cavaliers are only one per planet so... I mean... i-it was a reasonable assumption!"
She was stammering now. Like her massive insecurities needed further confirmation. "Your weapon is very pretty?" She said almost like she was asking if they could please change the subject. Though part of her brain did click to the fact she was Camelot's wife and wondered if she should now move very far away from her to avoid getting her caught up in any messes on behalf of poor Camelot who was starting to seem like he always got caught up in her messes. She was starting to think her brother's dubbing of her 'Hurricane Zia' was not entirely inaccurate.
"Guardian cats? Oh." Her lips pursed in thought for a moment. "Well they awaken and guide senshi and provide technology and act as information hubs. I, on the other hand, fail way too much and mostly just collect information so it can rot because I don't know what to do with it and all of my senshi are dead. Also, I'm not a real cat, as you can see from the distinct lack of energy signature and fluffy ears. And also I can't use their technology because I got saddled with, like, the one cat in the universe that uses old magic instead." Hearing it all come out of her mouth made her wish there was a process that allowed you to double check things going from your brain to being articulated before you could say weird or stupid things in a confusing infodump and elected to end up rolling back on her heels looking like a guilty child glancing to the far left with a, "It's a really long story." Yeah, she clearly had no idea what she was doing.
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Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2012 9:46 am
"So you've met him? Camelot, I mean."
Though, of course, who hadn't? It seemed like Shalott could not find a person that hadn't met her husband at some point, Order or not. She smiled to think of him and wanted that much more just to finish her night and be home in his arms. Kyndall was uniquely qualified, it seemed, to handle the occasional awkwardness of her husband's personality. Glass of wine, an old movie, and relaxing cuddle times.
The woman was startled out of her thoughts by Zia's answer to her question. It was longer than she expected.
"I've never met a guardian cat before."
But then, she wasn't a senshi either. The girl could have told her anything and Shalott would have no choice but to believe it but instead a long list of frustration seemed to come out and Shalott wondered if that was why she had a long face. She could relate to a certain feeling of impotence in this war sometimes, being unable to do what you know you ought to be able to do. Right now, as a matter of fact, she felt a very large amount of frustration at her own situation. Having power and wanting to use it were two different things apparently. Shalott was very much at a loss of how to continue.
"I know how you feel, though. Even having power doesn't guarantee to make you feel like you can do anything worthwhile."
Though it was probably a big help, anyway.
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Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2012 6:24 pm
"Yeah, he kind of helped me stop... I dunno, ignoring everything? I'm still trying to deal with the Dark Mirror Court... thing... and I still don't know what I'm doing. But at least I'm trying and not hiding out at home."
Zia was not good at sincerely talking about feelings and had zero confidence, making her resort to lame tricks like typing away at her phone to have an excuse to keep eye contact broken and fidgeting nervously on her heels.
"I dunno, he's kind of cool, I guess, the way he keeps going even if you knock 'im down."
She cleared her throat awkwardly. "You still kind of haven't. I wasn't born a cat or anything, I got my starseed messed up and fused with someone else's. And she's the cat. But it lets me do this," In a sudden wave of uncorrupted parallel energy, the barely drinking aged kid in ripped jeans and a sweater was replaced by, well, someone identical, save for the flowing dress, fluffy ears, and tail. But luckily aware of the intense aura she gave off, she powered back down quickly. "It's pretty useless, other than freaking people out. I was supposed to be babysitting the parallel senshi for Nehelenia but... they're dead now."
More awkward fidgeting.
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Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 11:30 am
"Well, hiding isn't particularly helpful, I'll give you that."
She'd be lying if she said she didn't have the urge to do it herself sometimes, though. Shalott took in all the signs of nervousness and files them away, coming to a few conclusions based on her character studies and her own experiences in class with stage fright and awkwardness. She chuckled good naturedly when she mentioned her husband's uncanny ability to continue to rise to any challenge.
"That's one of the reasons I married him, to be honest. I knew no matter what we faced he'd be up for the challenge."
And marriage was its own hotbed of challenges without trying to add super hero to the list. And, thankfully, he mellowed her out - the yin to her yang.
"Wait, you got powers from someone else?"
Was that even freaking legal? She didn't have enough to worry about with her daughter now she knew it was possible to get them from other people? That just didn't seem fair, pulling someone in without their consent. And the aura the guardian gave was overwhelming.
"That's some power there."
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Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 4:45 pm
Zia's lips pursed and she glanced away at the comment about hiding. "It could be," She mumbled. At least, she thought it could be when everything you touch turns to death. "I didn't ask for it," She sounded almost offended, reading something into the squire's words that probably wasn't there. "I didn't. I didn't get a choice." And now she was defensive, and she didn't even know why. Her lost humanity buzzed in the back of her brain, burning to be acknowledged and stuffed back into denial. Either way, Zia had gone from awkward and uncomfortable to upset and the conversation was already weird. "I... I should go. Thanks for the interview," she mumbled, briskly turning on her heel and walking away.
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Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2013 10:45 am
"Oh, wait!"
Shalott didn't want to keep her if she didn't want to be there but she didn't want her to go away angry either. She jogged the few quick steps toward the cat and touched her shoulder lightly to detain her. The girl was clearly trying her best and she didn't know what she'd said to upset her but clearly it was something.
"Please don't go away angry. I'm sorry I offended you. I think it's great the work you're doing."
She shifted a little, looking a bit out of her element.
"Anyway, I should get home to my husband. Goodnight."
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Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2013 6:12 am
Zia was already full of regret from this conversation and it was just barely approaching over. She didn't want to be seen as a cat, she didn't want to be defined by that one day she was mirror tweaked and followed by death and destruction. But she was, and she'd already gone and totaled this encounter.
"Yeah," She just muttered, hugging her arms and glancing over her shoulder at Shalott. "Bye."
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