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 Posted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 12:36 am
With the absence of both Gale and Nevada, as well as her need to not be around Candace too much this week in case it set off the hunter's suspiciousness about those awesome shiny shoes she stole, Stormy was left with a lot of pent energy. This was unusual, as normally she struggled to get the willpower to do something that required her to get up and do something at all. Candace's training had only been a brief vent for it, but she needed more . . .
Bother Jake? No, she didn't want to interrupt whatever would be going on with him and Sherry, not yet--even though she was dying to know if Beauty and the Beast had really gotten their happy ending. Ami? Mmmf, Cap'n probably didn't like being bugged for random interactions outside of work. And she wasn't sure whether to poke either of her brothers, especially knowing one was in a relationship now. Soon, she told herself.
It was while she was walking to the training fields that Stormy was struck with shower brilliance--ideas that came simply because she wasn't thinking about them at all. She whipped out her phone and scrolled through her list of contacts, pausing for a moment to divert to Twitter. D'aww, Candace~ One week it was.
But for now, she had a different mission in mind.xMiliardo Kason Text to RolandHi, this is Stormy! Are you busy right now? I sort of need a sparring partner and everyone is busyyyyy!
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Posted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 7:27 am
Round and round the curved head of his scythe spun through the air on its chain. Again he leaned forward leading with one arm letting the chain feed through it as he tossed the weapon towards the dummy crashing the blade through an arm before snapping the chain taught yanking the blade back. Again and again he repeated this, sometimes he missed, sometimes the blade got stuck. Over and over he tried what Heidi had suggested about using his arm to lead and guide.
He only stopped when he felt his phone buzzing against his chest.
With another snap of his wrist the weapon retracted snapping back into a single piece as he browsed the text. He sighed. Why did everyone want to spar him lately? Heidi had gotten him to agree, he didn't feel right using Sylvia against other trainee's lately.Text To Stormy Already at the training grounds. Bring runic bandages if you can.
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Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 1:44 am
Ngggg went the phone shortly after she'd fired the message off. Excellent! Less time on his end.
Roland got a series of pings as Stormy updated him every minute or so, a clear sign of her eagerness to get to him as soon as possible and, well, let him know every step of the way.
Miliardo Kason Text to Rolandokay hold on let me just Quote: Text to Rolandwait it's the other way ONE SEC Quote: Text to Rolandokay got them Quote: Text to Rolandalmooooostttt
"There you are!" Stormy glided over to him, looking a little out of breath (she'd probably ran or jogged most of the journey) and with a roll of runic bandages under her arm. "Hi! Heya! Sorry about the wait, but you can never be too careful, right? Plus I feel bad we haven't actually done something together since we're Mists and all and I totally want to bond with more people, not that other divisions are bad or anything, but, like, Mists forever and all that, absolutely--"
She was . . . supposed to be panting by now, right?
"So!" She clapped her hands together and smiled. "How are you, firstly and foremostly?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 3:57 pm
Roland had taken to sitting on a small ice box while his phone went off over and over. A towel was wrapped around his neck as he cooled down some from all the throwing and retrieving he had done with Silvya.
Each time he put the phone down it would buzz a moment later.
Eventually he looked up to see another Mist scrambling towards him, it took him a moment to place her, but it was the girl who had spoken to him during Mimsy's little baking explosion.
"H-hey!" He said tilting his head slightly at how much she was panting. He was kind enough to let her finish before he stood up, fishing through his small ice box pulling out another apple juice box holding it to her. "First. Have a drink before you pass out. Did you seriously run all over the labs to get those bandages then over to here?" Weapons where great, but even a mad dash like that could leave him feeling tired.
"Well you could have texted any time ya know." Sitting on his ice box he shrugged a bit, "Okay I suppose. I've been trying to work on using Sylvia more efficiently since she's changed so much it seems." He pointed his juice box at her, "And how about you? You seem winded...."
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Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2013 10:00 pm
". . . Nooooo?" she replied to his first question innocently, thanking Roland as she took the juice box and sipped.
Maybe.
Probably.
Yeah. Shhhhh.
"Don't worry, I have lots of energy! I might be going a little manic even!" Stormy added happily as she caught her breath, like these episodes were commonplace and not at all a byproduct of nervous energy about Nevada versus ffff about Gale being out on a mission versus sldkfjslakj Candace don't find the shoes. "I'm not very good at socializing but I think I'm getting better, or at least I like to think so, because I didn't have friends the first few months in Deus, and now I have friends, and now I want to make more friends!" This was punctuated by another long sip of apple juice.
Oh maaaaan, it'd been a while since she had stuff like this~
Stormy wiped at her brow and smiled brightly. "I've been okay, all things considered. I actually want to talk to you a bit, if you wanted to do that first instead of spar? Or we could practice a bit more, because I wanna know how you're handling your charge--er, if that's okay. 'Cause I have one that's a little damaging too, and I know it can get kinda hard to adjust to . . ." And she just, like, really wanted to help okay.
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Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2013 8:15 pm
Roland made a squinty face at Stormy.
He was onto you Stormy. He knows that you're faking it right now. He continued to study her sipping his own juice box slowly as if drawing on a wood pipe like a great inspector as she continued to reassure him that this was indeed the average setting for her.
"You kinda don't have a choice but to socialize. Hell with a weapon stuck in your head you aren't ever more then a thought away from a conversation." He tilted his head as she took another sip of juice. "Starting with your division is always good since you'll be seeing them a lot so I guess it's inevitable we're here like this?"
Again Roland shrugged, he wasn't really sure what to do, Stormy was so.... hyper? Energetic would be a more polite term for it. She was practically bubbling over with ideas. "Well we're talking now. So lets go with that?" He finished his box of juice and gave it a few squeezes for the last few drops.
"As for my charge..." He sighed, "Well it's weird. I used to be able to hold the charge. It was a barrier. Now before I can even decide how to use it, the moment I get enough charges Sylvia just," he waved his hand, "Pops off. She lets loose a howl of noise and I can't aim it to save my life. What's yours like?"
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Posted: Mon Jul 15, 2013 10:30 pm
Keep squinting, Roland; she'd happily keep smiling back because totally nothing wrong here. "You'd think so, huh? But mine's happy to stay silent unless it suits him, and that's okay by me--there're lots've times we don't really communicate. Just a presence, you know?" Was it like that for everyone? Thane carried himself in a way that felt like the air had to be forcibly parted to fit his existence (or at least that was the feeling she got the one time she used a w-type golem), and the same could be translated into her mind: a being forcing itself into a niche in her head that might or might not have always been there, ready to accommodate. "He's not good at it either, I think," Stormy added cheerily. "Two awkward ducks sitting in a Misty pond. But hey, any friend of Nevada's is a friend of mine~"
She said that as casually as one could.
Stormy tapped the straw to her lips in thought, taking a deep breath through her nose and exhaling it out slowly. "Sylvia? What a pretty name~ So your charge changed when you hit intermediate, huh." She took a thoughtful sip of her juice, lamenting how quickly it was running out. "Hmmmm . . . You know, something shifts in them the better we get. Gale explained to me that we get a new attack when we move to the next rank--sort of the manifestation of you and your weapon bonding a little more--and sometimes the weapons change looks too. Thane's attack was always a little volatile, though, so I know where you're coming from: originally he'd coat my greatsword with this oily substance and when I struck something it'd ignite into an acid explosion--now we skip the prep part and I have to deal with a weapon already mostly on fire before the hit. I think I only know about bandaging people as much as I do 'cause've it," she joked a little softly.
"I'll start off with one question then." Stormy plopped herself down in front of Roland, scrunching the juicebox for the final vestiges of juice to suck up. "Is this howling thing a new attack, or did the shield one suddenly change? If it's the former, then practice is the only way to go (and lucky for you, I'm a happy volunteer!). If it's the latter, though, I'd have to ask if something has affected either of you recently, enough that it'd warrant a big change like that."
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Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2013 6:28 pm
Roland squinted harder. You where being watched Stormy, very, very, closely. "Most of the people I know their weapons are fairly social. Or at least like to chime in a bit. Sylvia is more talkative then most or usually is." He frowned, "She's been a bit more quiet since she changed though." For Roland it was a space in his head that might have been small, but was quickly cut to fit a larger piece when Sylvia moved in. She was like a phantom filtering through file cabinets viewing his life like a movie and constantly poking about where she wasn't wanted.
He reflected on that for a moment before his eyes shot to the ground. "Yeah, two awkward mists alright..." He looked up sadly to the other hunter, "I guess I'm still friends with Nevada, I mean I hadn't spoken to her since well... she paid me a visit and I told her if she needed me I was here but she never came back. Then the whole thing with Tuck and Heidi at the baking thing... yeah I don't know, what kind of friend I am to her now."
The talk continued into weapons and he knew exactly what to point towards. "She always manifested her powers through sound. She's a banshee. The shield was a wall made of noise compressed to protect. When it's hit it shatters blowing who ever attacked back with noise. I think she can still do that, but I never have the time to find out because the fear of the new attack is already bubbling over once I get the charges. As for bandages..." He tapped a pocket that held the spares he carried, "I've been patching people up since the island was invaded weeks after I woke up. Just seemed a better use for me then trying to fight when I had only been awake long enough to get a weapon and a slight run down."
At her only question he could only frown, "It was a new charge, the old one I think is still there. We just can't use it right now. As for changes." He shrugged, "I'm sure Nevada has talked to you about it..."
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Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2013 8:11 pm
A banshee! Nice~
Hmm . . . So something's happened in the development of hunter-weapon bonding. Disrupting? Did it have something to do with Nevada, or something else entirely? Stormy hummed softly, cupping her chin in thought. "I know pretty much what happened with you guys," she told Roland with a little nod, the implication of knowing he'd hit her remaining silent. "And I can only imagine what's been on with Tuck, because he's . . . Tuck. But, um, the only reason she's not been around lately is because she's in the infirmary--something in the Haunted House put her in a coma."
She was speaking as levelly as she could.
"If you want, we could practice your charge a bit first and you could come visit her with me?" Stormy suggested. Focusing on one thing at a time would be best, especially given the delicate natures of both. "If it's just a new attack and sort of like the one I have, then it's just a matter of willpower and control. Sylvia's the one who releases the Fear, but you're the one in charge, Roland." She paused, then added a bit hesitantly, "If I can be a bit forward, ah, how's your relationship with your weapon? Has everything been going okay?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2013 9:26 pm
"Ah.. I um... I see." He looked ashamed to know it was common news, that Nevada had told others. He had been rather silent about it except when Candace had found him wallowing in self pity and rage. It wasn't till he learned about why she was so absent that he looked up.
Worry was written across his face. "A coma? But... was that why Candace sent that text?" He was clearly worried at this point, weapons be damned now. "No it's a new attack, I know... I know it's going to backlash, I just need to control when it happens. As for our relationship... it's just strained right now. Because I've had a lot on my plate." He was grabbing the ice box shaking his head.
"We can train later. Take me to her. Please."
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Posted: Tue Jul 16, 2013 9:38 pm
At the look of shame on his face, she opened her mouth to try and put words to what was amounting to a rather difficult time settling on how to feel--but at Roland's request she shut it and nodded. "No problem."
Simple as that, Stormy pulled herself up from the ground, still clutching her now empty juice box as she led them to the infirmary. "She's the reason why, yeah," she continued a bit softly. "Something attacked her, but I don't know why she didn't just pendant out before it got so bad . . ."
That was a lie: she had a strong theory. But she wasn't sure it was best to share it at that moment.
"Whatever happened, Candace had to go get her. Nevada's arm is broken and her eye's all scratched up, but--but we have Fear shields, those things can be mended." She offered him a little smile, praying it looked hopeful. "She's just resting is all."
Resting for several straight days, and looking to continue that trend.
The infirmary wasn't far from the training grounds, and Stormy had been visiting so often she moved through the place on autopilot, letting her feet direct them to Nevada's little niche. Upon pulling the curtain back, not only was the sleeping Nevada revealed, but a few possessions of Stormy's as well: namely that there was a red panda plush sitting at her side, a half-eaten sandwich and a bottle of soda on the bedside stand, and several books atop the stool pulled up beside the cot.
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Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2013 6:58 pm
Roland barely remembered to grab the ice box as he stood up to follow Stormy. His brain was on auto pilot following behind her as she spoke. His own theory forming in his mind and likely not far off from Stormy's own ideas.
He didn't respond to most of what she said, a terrible guilt was building up in his gut, the look of her smile felt forced, his own face dark and worried as they finally reached the room. "I don't think... a coma counts as resting..." It was the only thing he said as they moved through the labs to the infirmary. Roland had no trouble following along, he had spent a fair bit of time in the labs thanks to his Mist duties, but it still pained him to see just where they where going in the intensive care section. When they finally arrived Roland froze looking at the figure in bed.
She almost looked at peace, her expression completely neutral marred only by the patches of gauze wrapped over her face to cover the wounded eye, the way her arm was locked in a cast.
"It's my fault..." He said quietly after a while as he moved to check all the monitors hooked up to the hunters body. His fingers traced the heart rate, the brainwave activity. "If I hadn't called her out about Tuck..."
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Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2013 8:04 pm
No it didn't count, but she had tried her best to soften the blow. Stormy kept a little off to the side, a bystander to a moment she wasn't sure she should leave for or not; it would be up to Roland to push her out if so. "She didn't go to the haunted House for you," she said with a shake of her head. "Why exactly did she go? I don't know. But she was happy to run to our room when things got awkward at the bake sale Mimsy had, so I don't think you should be blaming yourself . . . It's a bad route to go down when you can't talk it out with her."
She paused, folding her hands before her. "She's been stable, though," Stormy offered, trying to sound optimistic. "So I think she'll make a full recovery within the week; I've been watching her daily and all, so . . ." There was no credit that amounted from that, but she made it sound like it did: that by virtue of being visited, clearly Nevada would have to wake up.
"I'll be level with you, though: you had a right to call her out on that. How you did it, I would disagree with--but there are a lot of nuances I probably don't know about that went down." She watched him trace the monitor, her brows knitting just a bit. "Did you guys ever talk after she left?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2013 8:12 pm
As private as his thoughts and feelings where, he didn't push Stormy out. He needed something or someone besides himself and his weapon to hear his thoughts and worries. "No, not then, but everything I did.... she did. When we broke apart." He shook his head, "It's throwing yourself into danger, into your work. I spent weeks in the labs... what if she just did something over her head because she wanted to forget about it all? Or was it a mission? She would have come to me, or Tuck, but she went alone because we all pushed her away."
The idea she was stable was somewhat relieving but it still did little to solve the guilt and worry that ate at him. "I'm glad someones keeping an eye on her at least..." It was true, someone had to, Stormy was likely the only person Nevada was trusting at the time.
"I didn't have a right, I made a mistake with how I acted... and I regret that because it's just made things worse." He looked at stormy running a hand through his hair tugging out the pony tail letting it sit loose over his shoulders as he started to pace. "We did, I offered to be there for her. That if she wanted, or needed someone I'd be here. I never left, I just... she was always worried about being second place, and now here I am, Tuck breaks her heart and she's just there. I know how she feels now and I want to make it better but I can't help but feel.... I don't know I just... I don't know about anything anymore."
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Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2013 9:02 pm
"Hmm . . . Maybe so." His theory earned a nod--it made sense, as Nevada had looked overworried in that encounter and had tried to play it off when Stormy went by later, as she always did. Her bestie had an issue with pandering to other people first, much as she herself did. "I try my best," she said simply. "It's what I'd want if something happened to me; it's awful being alone. It'd be worse if you knew you were but couldn't ask for someone to stay . . ."
But had Nevada really left on a mission? If it had been, why didn't she mention it? She might have pushed Tuck and Roland away, but Stormy liked to think she would be informed . . . No, it was probably impromptu, or prompted by something else they were yet unaware of. Otherwise, when Nevada woke up she'd get to be treated to a pouting Stormy.
Pulling up the stool she often sat on, she settled on it; it seemed Roland preferred her to lend an ear rather than be alone. It was a little odd, but Stormy made a tiny inward smile when Roland ran a hand through his hair. They even have similar tics, she thought. And then a vague sense of deja vu hit her as he spoke, not so much from his words but from the posture, the positioning, the quiet worry and the unknown mingling.
"And how do you feel about that?" she heard her therapist ask in her head from beyond the stretch of memory.
Insecurity was an awful, awful knot to try and untie. "Second place" . . . Ah. That also made sense. Nevada had told her about previous boyfriend, about how one wanted both twins, as well as about how she had confessed to someone else and watched them run to another girl and how she had preferred letting herself think Roland hated her than to let him sit in torment over her affair. Moving attention away from herself, thinking she wasn't worth it, wanting others to be happy instead of herself . . .
Stormy realized in that moment that they thought just a little too much alike.
"Take a breath and think about it." She clasped her hands in her lap and looked to Roland. "Little by little. I don't doubt that you offered to support her; but I think it was also done when she was in a place no words could reach." That was vague. Don't be vague, Stormy. "What I mean to say is, she probably was too busy feeling bad to hear you. Were you guys communicating well before all this happened?" she asked gently. "From what she told me, Nevada originally was withholding the fact that she didn't feel whole without her twin and was afraid that liking you too much would replace her? Something to that effect?
"I don't know why she kept it from you but, for the record, that was a stupid reason. So was going to Tuck to try and fix the twin issue, and so was you hitting her."
Her gaze had flicked to Nevada briefly, as if waiting for her to sit up and argue. Her tone remained soft in spite of it.
"Nobody can ever really be replaced; you'll always have memories that make their mark, good or bad. But your heart just makes room for someone else, that's all. I think she was afraid of being second place for someone again," she went on to say, "because that's just how Nevada thinks: 'Did wrong by Roland, struck out with that other boy, and indulged with Tuck. Who would want someone like that? This tree only grows rotten apples and should be cut down.'"
She paused, wondering if she was talking too much--but the words kept coming out anyway. "I also think that before Alaska came, she wasn't sure how to be her own person without her; and I talked to her about that too." Ice cream trees and evil fish and two Mist sisters forming a bond over dirty laundry. Stormy couldn't help but smile to herself a little, even if it leaned towards bittersweet. "I guess the question you should both ask yourselves is, 'Do I want to keep punishing myself for something I did wrong in the past, or do I want to move forward and try to be better?' Because if you keep thinking about the past, it's like walking backwards: you'll see what you left behind clearly, but you won't be prepared for what's ahead."
Wow, though, she could have just asked that in the beginning. Christ, why did she always go on rants?
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