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 Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2013 2:10 pm
The days following the carnival disaster had been less than Zia's favorite. The fact that her boyfriend considered privacy invasions and control synonymous with being protective was heightening her claustrophobia, and it hadn't even occurred to her she was 'sneaking out' until she was slinking over what used to be a bordering fence. But Chester had been weighing on her mind so it wasn't like backtracking was an option. She had every intention of watching his show at his grand opening before she found herself held captive by a killer drop tower, and she had no idea what had becoming of the carnival owner.
Seeing the carnival empty after dark seemed to add to the feel of desolation, and she ended up utilizing that ever tricky animal form to slink through it until she popped up, fully human outside of Chester's office.
A quick check of her reflection to fix her hair and tweak the bandages around her arm and she ended up tapping on the side. "Knock knock. Anyone home?"
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Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 11:31 am
Chester stayed here, every night. He lived here, where so many people had died, connected to this place in a terrible way. It had been his sole focus, for a long time, his every energy poured into this place to try and make it as fun and carefree a place as possible. Somewhere for families to come to spend an evening, for friends to hang out. For relationships to start or end. But not lives. He had never thought something so terrible would happen in a place that was meant to be so good.
He was inside his office, an empty glass in his hand. How recently he had emptied it, and how often it had been refilled, was up for questioning. He looked tired, like he hadn't been sleeping since the disaster, and he had a stubbly beard growing in from lack of attention to things like shaving.
Hearing the door, he got up slowly, wobbled, but managed to make it in one go. He walked toward it and peered through the small window to see Zia standing outside. It was probably the only company he actually would allow to see him at this point.
Opening the door, he watched her without any emotion on his face, his expression wholly blank. Or so he was trying. His eyes, though, held the depth of his sadness.
"Hello."
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Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 5:31 pm
Zia caught the glimpse through the window and raised one eyebrow, but she didn't take it too personally. His unwanted publicity probably had equally unwanted guests at his door at all hours.
But when it opened she was hit with his unkempt appearance and the stench of alcohol, which was unsettling enough because in the short time she'd known Chester, she'd never seen him be anything but clean cut and upright.
There was a quiet moment where she just sort of stared. It wasn't a pause by any means because it was more than obvious things were happening just a thin level below the surface as she untangled what seemed to be contagious, overwhelming grief.
She didn't return his hello. Instead she demonstrated a severe lack of thought as she threw herself at the poor, wobbly ringmaster and latched two arms around his torso as tightly as she could manage.
The following was less than coherent and devolved into rapid speed babble the longer it went on, "Oh baby, I'm so sorry. I can't believe this happened, you worked so hard, it was so beautifulyoulooklikesuchamessareyouokay?" And she finally ended up choking on her own words to at least bring it to a halt.
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Posted: Fri Jun 21, 2013 8:53 am
Chester watched her with a heavy air about him, a weight on his shoulders that, though invisible, made his shoulders sag and his eyes dark. He was not anticipating her movement, and his reaction time was considerably slowed by the alcohol he had already taken into his system that moment.
So he was standing like a slightly wobbly statue when she wrapped her arms around him, and for the moment it took his brain to catch up he was stiff and still, unsure how to process it. He did not feel like he deserved sympathy or care, following the events of the Carnival, following how horribly he had failed everything he had ever worked for, everything he claimed to love.
And all those people.
After a moment, though, his body relaxed a fraction and he lowered his head, resting his chin against her. It was the closest he could come to a hug right now, but it was also the most affection he had shown anyone or any thing since the tragedy.
After she forced out a sentence all at once, he drew back to look at her, nodding his head slowly. His eyes were downcast after a moment, though, shamed and full of sorrow.
"I'm alright. I made it out alive. Were you there? Were you hurt?" He could see that she had been, and that just added to his guilt. "I'm so sorry."
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Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 9:20 pm
"Well of course I was there, I was coming to see you," Zia announced, leaving out the part about how she had allowed herself to be talked out of it because the group she was with preferred to go on the rides.
She glanced at her arm before she snorted and rolled her eyes derisively at the apology. She hadn't meant to be so flippant, but she didn't think the wrapped stitches up her forearm and the bandage slightly higher was anything for him to apologize for.
"Oh please it was just a youma bite and some clumsy medical work," She said, deciding the fact she reacted badly to a nurse's attempt to administer a vaccine directly into the muscle like a petty child afraid of needles was a story best left untold.
"You smell like cheap liquor, maybe you should sit, or lay down, or something..." She mumbled, glancing around the office before reaching up to pet his hair. "Oh poor baby," was mumbled under a heaving sigh.
"You're just as much a victim in this as anyone else, you really shouldn't attempt to carry so much unnecessary responsibility."
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Posted: Sat Jun 29, 2013 11:19 am
Chester nodded his head, putting his hands in his pockets. He was still worried about her despite her efforts to comfort him, thinking there was no reason for her to have been hurt. For any of them to have been hurt. It was all his own fault, in some way. He had to have failed for Chaos to be able to get so firm a hold on his carnival, make it their own. It made no sense, but it had happened.
"I am not a victim," he said, though he moved to sit down. He was dizzy, the alcohol having time to settle without his body having to worry about processing more coming in. She had provided it a much needed break.
He ran a hand through his hair, which was washed a soft but messy, without its usual gel in it to keep it back and immaculate. His eyes were bleary and unfocused. He closed them to take a deep breath, trying to clear his mind at least a little bit. Not that it was possible at the moment.
"I let all those people come to my carnival, thinking they would have fun. They were defenseless, everyone was unprepared. I took no precautions against Chaos, even though I knew it existed. I knew it could have been there.I should have checked, I should have done something."
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Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 9:24 pm
Zia quirked one eyebrow, eyes half lidded and unconvinced at his insistence and she watched him sit before following him, and cramming two more hands into the 'running fingers through Chester Riley's hair' party, completely uninvited.
"And what precautions are there, against monsters and villains on a mission?" She asked as she pet him. There was a noted lack of gentleness. Though the affectionate gestures were obviously meant to be calming by nature Zia was executing them with an almost pushy insistence, like she was demanding or trying to force a comforting air she didn't think she was capable of creating organically.
"It's no one's fault but theirs'."
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Posted: Wed Jul 03, 2013 11:36 am
Chester looked at her, wondering why she was trying to pull his hair out with her heavy handed petting. He did not make a comment on it though, as he was no more capable of comforting someone than she was, so he had no tips to give her. He was the type to stand nearby in silence, let someone talk about their problems, and nod along. He listened, but he did not do the speaking, comforting part very well.
She had him beat in that regard.
"I'm going to make them pay for it," he said lowly, eyes dark. "I am not going to let them get away with it, thinking they can just do something like that whenever they want. I'm going to make them pay for it, and give them something to think about next time they try it. I want them to question if it's worth it."
He would make them feel like they were at risk any time they lashed out against the White Moon. Maybe not now, in his first stage, but he would work as hard as he knew how to make it a reality. Chaos was going to get a taste of its own medicine.
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Posted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 6:13 pm
Zia's motions slowed to a stop as he spoke. Revenge was a touchy subject, and if she had learned her lesson by now then she should've been against it, by all reasonable counts.
Nehelenia and Ares both fell to overzealous missions of vengeance and justice, and her brain was struggling to reach this conclusion as she toyed with the very beginnings of the notions in her head and her fingers subconsciously traced the brand on her chest.
But she never reached that conclusion, and if she did, she didn't care. As a guardian cat, her servitude was always to causes of vengeance. It was a dark sort of familiarity she found comfort in knowing still existed in the world. That this drive existed in people, no matter how destructive it could be.
And she shouldn't have been finding comfort in his pain for that matter, either.
Completely disregarding that her current form was a girl, and not a cat, she moved to his side and ran her hand along his arms as she dropped to her knees on the floor. There she pulled up his palm to play with his fingers and nuzzle his hand.
"Okay," She half whispered and just sort of nodded. She was there for service and support, but where words failed, there was body language.
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Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2013 11:12 am
Chester watched her and imagined he should be confused by her actions, maybe weirded out, but he wasn't. With her his rather short patience was extended in the sense that he took her for what she was. He did not find himself needing to explain her actions in any way. She was his friend, and she had explained things to him that seemed impossible.
So if she had a few quirks he could accept them without much trouble.
He touched her cheek lightly, nodding his head slowly. He would have her help in his efforts, and that was all he needed. Maybe it was bad to be making revenge plans when he was drunk and sleepless, but he hardly cared. Probably for those reasons. He was set on this path now, and he was going to work in any way he could to make sure he was capable of the revenge he wanted.
Chaos would have to learn, one by one, that they were in the wrong field. They were doing the wrong things. And there were consequences for their actions. How could they just slaughter and hurt, and other White Moon people decided that that was okay? That it was more fair to talk to them and try to convince them they were wrong, instead of putting a stop to them? They were given very obvious power, meant to aid them in their fights, not their conversational skills.
They were made to end Chaos directly. There was no reason to have magic and physical strength boosts if not for that.
"Thank you," he said softly, scooting off the sofa and slipping to the floor with her. He was on his knees, angled so he could fit between her and the sofa. He looked at her for a long, heavily silent moment before he moved to put his arms around her, hugging her to him.
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Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 12:20 am
Zia's shoulders tightened at the hug. She never did well with hugs she didn't initiate and control. It took a long moment before she gave in and slumped against to him, and even hugged back.
"Don't thank me, your resolution came at a terrible time," She half laughed after a while and pulled away, shifting so she wasn't sitting on her knees anymore and they were both on the floor. She picked up his hand again, and focused on how she was playing with his fingers as she spoke.
"There's a huge outcry for mercy and understanding right now. A lot of people aren't going to like your idea," And then she pressed two of his fingertips against the rough scar tissue that had replaced the catastrophic burn from Ares' branding ceremony.
"But some people just don't deserve mercy," She muttered in a quiet snarl. She caught herself staring into space down at the floor until she shook out of it and took stock of what they were doing, and where they were.
"You should sleep. You're tired. I'm tired. We're both tired people," She said in a forced chuckle and got up, trying to pull him up off the floor by the arm with her.
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Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 10:05 am
He let her pull back, not one to cling. He was quiet, nodding his head and letting her play with his fingers. The scar made his expression flicker a little bit, into more of a frown, though it was difficult to see as his face was generally expressionless and he was bad at putting his motions on his face in accurate levels. He never looked as sad as he felt, or as happy, or anything like that.
He gripped her hand and watched her anger, nodding his head. It did seem that most of the White Moon were more interested in talking to their enemies, or finding a way to peace that involved sparing those on Chaos' side, but Luxor did not see how that could possibly be the answer. From what little he knew of Chaos, corruption ran deep.
Most of them were already lost, and their deeds were too heinous to let slide, to blame on anything but their own decisions.
"You're right," he said softly, thinking he could probably use some sleep before really starting on this likely suicidal crusade. He stood with her, though he wobbled a bit. He managed to get up though. "You're welcome to stay here, if you'd like." Because who wouldn't want to sleep at a Carnival where people were murdered?
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Posted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 10:57 am
Zia's motions were all to futilely attempt to get him off the floor so he could collapse somewhere nicer. Maybe the sofa. His offer to let her stay had been acknowledge until it finally sunk in, and then she just stopped.
Caught between the implications of rejection and the consequences of acceptance, she looked around a bit, almost nervously before she forced out a laugh. "I can't stay that long. I'm kept on kind of a short leash."
She shouldn't even be here, she realized. She had to sneak out, after all, and that, to her, said she was probably doing something wrong. On some level, she had normalized the jealousy, anger, and control back home she had kept trying to appease, and was more concerned about igniting it by not being there in the morning.
"Actually, I should probably go..." She looked at him directly and cringed. She didn't want to leave him like this. "I'm... I'm sorry."
She exited the office as fast as she could.
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