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 Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 10:25 am
 Genesis was sulking, though she didn't let it show. Internally, she was battling her insecurities and trying to be a better squire. There were several times she had thought about going back to the location that they were supposed to gather information from... they had been so close. If she messed up again though... everything would be worse. The silence that had seemed to settle after the failed mission was concerning and only made everything feel more tense and burdensome to Genesis. They had messed up. Though, some things had been beyond their control, Genesis was always thinking of ways she could have handled things better. If only, does the caged bird sing...if only.Genesis felt like a caged bird right now, that was certain. Right now, she wandered aimlessly through the halls of the keep... where she chose to cage herself.
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Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 1:29 pm
 Still panting from a late afternoon private workout, Lailah slipped beneath one of the archways to find refuge from the heat of the sun. She wasn't quite ready to call it a day, but she preferred to finish up here in the shade rather than out in the open. She pulled out a whetstone, setting to work with one of her blades, sharpening and smoothing the edges of any unseen nicks or marred areas for her workout. Then, she polished the blade to shining perfection, holding it up to look at her reflection. She smirked, ignoring the strands of hair that had come loose and hung in her face, then sheathed the blade to begin work on the second.
Only after her weapons were cared for and put away did she decide to tend to her appearance. Though she was on the way to the baths to get clean anyway, she pulled her hair out of the traditional bun that kept it out of the way as she practiced. The long crimson locks spilled free with a shake of her head. Normally quite straight, her hair fell in loose waves from being tied up so tightly for so long; the humidity probably wasn't helping either. She only left it down for a moment though before she started gathering it back up, twisting it round and round, preparing to put it back up again.
A movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention and she turned her head to note the fellow Squire heading her way. She wasn't normally one to go out of her way for interaction with the others, but lately such interactions seemed to irritate her less than before. Well, with some Squires at least. Some slackers she could do without, but others had started to prove that perhaps there was something to this whole 'teamwork' idea.
Guardians help her if she actually started...enjoying their company. A recent encounter with the little one bubbled up in her memory, unbidden.
Casually, not going out of her way, only responding to the other's presence, Lailah offered a nod and a quiet, "Hey," as Genesis neared, before finishing putting her hair back up again.
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Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 3:05 pm
Genesis turned her head with raised eyebrows. "Lailah," Genesis said simply, a bit of chipper in her voice, "salutations." There was something about Lailah that Genesis admired, even if it seemed like they were quite the opposite most of the time. Though perhaps that was what made Genesis admire her, Lailah had what she lacked, as much as Genesis was hesitant to admit that she lacked anything. "To where are you going?" Genesis asked, genuinely curious, though it might seem like she was prying.
For a moment, distracted by the fellow squire, Genesis stopped thinking about the events.
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Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 6:48 am
"Genesis," she answered evenly with a nod. To be quite honest, Lailah had little issue with the other female. She seemed level-headed and good in a pinch, so she'd never had much issue with her before. After the incident in the swamp, well...she'd had less issue than before. If anything, she gave the other quiet sort of respect.
The question seemed a bit odd at first; the earthen-colored angel had never seemed all that nosy before. After a beat, Lailah shrugged and answered, "Gonna' get cleaned up, I suppose. A bath would be nice about now." She rolled her right shoulder, reaching across with her left hand to rub the area between her shoulder and neck. It'd been a bit stiff since she'd tried some new exercises earlier that week. After a moment, she added, "I dunno, I've heard some good things about the bath house in the City."
Normally, she'd just take care of herself here in the keep. They had what they needed here, afterall, and she didn't really go in for the whole 'pampering' and luxury thing. On the other hand, just like one's weapons, one needed to take care of one's body. Perhaps a single trip to be taken care of for once wouldn't kill her.
After a moment, she turned her gaze on Genesis, curious as well. "And you?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 7:55 am
Genesis' head tilted only a few degrees, and she slowly nodded her head in understanding. "I have not visited, I am certain that it is relaxing though." Genesis said thoughtfully. It wasn't too often she ventured outside the keep to begin with. Most things she needed were right here. "I was simply strolling about, attempting to clear my head." She gave Lailah a curt smile, "Enjoy your bath." The angel began to head down the hallway again, but only made it a few steps before she stopped and turned her head to look at the female behind her. "Wait, Lailah. How have you been handling? The events that transpired back in the forest?" Her sentences were broken and full of her insecurity.
Normally Genesis acted like an adult, or at least what Genesis thought an adult acted like. Now, all the insecurities and uncertainties that were part of being a teenager were starting to break through her shell.
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Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2013 1:01 pm
Any sort of lax atmosphere that had existed between the two was immediately shattered as soon as the topic changed. Tension seemed to settle over Lailah's shoulders and she halted in her progress, eyes narrowing. "Handling? Me? I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be fine?" Her tone was even, but it was a deceptive calm; one that would fool no one if they were looking at her posture, her fist clenched at her side.
The only way she'd been able to cope with their failure had been in convincing herself that they hadn't failed at all. They had been sent on a mission for information. As long as one brought back information that hadn't been possessed previously, technically, one could not fail an information-gathering mission. Technically. Even if what was learned did not apply to the subject one wanted to learn about, or if that information was far less than desired.
For Lailah, though, anything less than perfection was still failure.
And that failure ate at her, silently, incessantly, until she thought it would drive her mad...so she'd had to find a way to convince herself that the mission had not been a complete failure, to cling to what success they may have had. No matter how little. For now, she told herself that it wasn't over yet. She hadn't failed because she hadn't given up yet. She could still succeed. It would just take a little longer to complete successfully, that's all. The mission was still on-going. Even if the others gave up and accepted failure, she wouldn't. She'd get stronger, faster, better, then finish her duty no matter what it took.
Nevermind that the obstacles that had gotten in their way were more complicated than something that could be physically fought and overpowered. That would be so much simpler, she thought. Especially dealing with those troublesome, pesky Fae. How much easier would it have been to show those rude, irreverent peasants the error of their ways with the business end of one of her blades? Delivering righteous retribution for their heresy, at the same time, removing them from barring the path of those doing the proper work of the Guardians.
Shaking her head, Lailah nearly growled as she hurriedly crossed her arms and started drumming out a staccato rhythm on her arm with her fingers. Her irritation was plain in her quick movements, the tense way her feathered wings seemed eager to flare and contract all at the same time. Calm, Lailah, calm...remember your breathing exercises... She closed her eyes, taking a couple of deep, slow breaths, and letting it them out in a controlled fashion. Far from soothed, but seeming less likely to go flying off the handle any moment, the angel continued drumming her fingers against her upper arm as she turned and shot a sideways glare in Genesis' general direction. The irritation wasn't aimed at her, only the situation as a whole, however that tension was palpable in her short summary of her thoughts.
"This isn't over."
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Posted: Sat Dec 14, 2013 8:38 am
"Well that is what I was meaning to say." Genesis quickly shot out. She hadn't been able to frame that meaning well in her questions, she knew that. She had been so nervous to ask, it was lucky that Lailah had understood anything she had said at all. Genesis was now worried she had implied the opposite of what I meant. "You just seem to be handling yourself favorably... you are tenacious..." Genesis spoke. Certainly, Genesis had her own strengths as well, but they didn't seem to be doing her any good right now. Genesis was starting to be able to tell that her question had put Lailah out of ease and she began to feel regret for asking. "I apologize, I should-" Genesis cut herself off as Lailah stared at her. Genesis put a hand on her sword hilt, more out of comfort then anything, she didn't plan on using it. "I know." Genesis responded to Lailah's statement. But it didn't change the insecurities she felt. She was going to have to do something to make up for this failure, something great.
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Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 7:23 am
The rhythmic tapping of Lailah's fingers abruptly stopped. The angel blinked a couple of times at the sudden compliment, having not expected such a thing in their current conversation. Tenacious? Yeah, she supposed she could be. But, the other thought she was handling herself well? The truth was, she wouldn't have agreed with that, knowing how hard it had been to cope with the aftermath of their last mission. And yet, to hear another say that she believed it? For some reason, it took some of the tension from her shoulders.
Her eyes followed Genesis' movement towards her weapon, yet her stance continued to relax rather than tense. Heh. Supposed she still caused some of the others unease. Good. It meant they recognized how dangerous she could be. Not that she was planning on taking any action towards the other Squire at the moment.
She turned her hard stare back on the other, searching for resolve in her stare. "So...now that that's established, what do we do differently next time?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 12:12 pm
Genesis took a deep breath, grateful that there seemed to have been some sort of recovery from her lack of tact. Was figuring out how to make it better next time how Lailah coped? "It seems like a mere justification to claim that the mission was a misadventure before we even began..." Sometimes when Genesis replayed the events in her mind it had seemed like things were out of their control, that their wasn't anything they could do differently to make things go better. Genesis' eyes furrowed, the blame could only be on themselves, it was too easy to blame others. "Perhaps next time if we were more forward... more aggressive..." Genesis didn't like the answer, aggression was not easily in her nature, but it seemed part of their personal failure was they they had wasted too much time. Genesis raised her golden eyes at Lailah, "What has been your understanding?" She allowed her hand to fall off her sword hilt and instead folded her arms across her stomach, standing in a more relaxed position.
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Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 2:13 pm
While the expected answer from Lailah might have been 'aggression', her Knightly training had taught her that it wasn't always the answer. Much as she might still wish it to be. Still, that didn't make it the wrong answer here either.
Nodding once, Lailah crossed her arms over her chest. "Aggression might have helped. We let ourselves get sidetracked for far too long. We should have pushed through and moved ahead before we drew so much attention to ourselves. We lost focus and we lost time. Next time, no wasting time on fools preaching heresy. When they first admitted to following us, we should have had them locked up on suspicion of colluding with the savages."
She paused before she got too worked up, closing her eyes with a sigh. "However, our real problem came before that. Aggression wouldn't be necessary if we'd not been detected in the first place. We've got to be smarter about this next time. For a secret mission, there wasn't a lot of stealth going on. If those dimwits could follow us, anyone could."
She pondered this for a minute, then continued. "Look, I get it was supposed to be a whole 'working together as a team' exercise...but maybe we went about it all wrong. Next time, we need a better plan before we ever start. We all have strengths and weaknesses," much as it pained her to admit, she thought to herself. "Twelve trainees stomping through the forest does not a stealth mission make."
"Specialization," she said with a nod. "We split up jobs and move in waves. Like we did once we reached the target. If our cover hadn't been blown before that, it might have worked. I mean, I can scout ahead on the ground quietly...Katya's got the sky. Nephi's not so bad either, I suppose. We make the first wave, get a clear picture of what we're working with before the later teams follow. We can work together without everyone doing the same damn thing."
She had to admit, this was a strange topic of conversation for Lailah. She generally preferred to work alone. She was quieter, stealthier, and got more done on her own. Usually. But against overwhelming odds? Well, most of her fighting techniques relied on the element of surprise and speed. In a straight out brawl of brute strength? Even Lailah had her limits, much as she hated it.
Still, she was faltering now, frowning and opening her eyes to look back at Genesis. "Look, strategy isn't really my thing. I just don't think what we did was right. We need a better plan and that's what I'd rather do, personally. Take that and make of it what you will."
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Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 2:46 pm
Genesis raised her eyebrows, surprised that Lailah was not completely convinced by her response. In the moment, it had seemed to Genesis that Lailah had wanted to take care of things more... aggressively, and it seemed like the rest of them had tried to stop her and move along. If they had just let Lailah do as she would, things might have ended differently. Or worse. At least, this was how Genesis had observed that particular scenario. The teen wasn't quite sure what had happened with the second team that had aroused suspicions, she was part of the group looking for the cave. She had no idea how they truly lost the element of surprise. Genesis looked deep in thought, but at the mention of a plan, her head shot up. She felt like that was her own personal failure. That sort of thing had seemed to be her specialty in the past, thinking things through before acting... but those had been different circumstances. The times where her plans had worked to her benefit she had been under a spur of the moment sort of pressure. This mission was less that way. "I don't know why I didn't see this before..." she admitted in her moment of vulnerability. Genesis had been so focused on the larger picture that she hadn't seen how this time had been truly different. The conversation with Lailah was proving to be a good change in perspective. Genesis had thought she was beginning to understand team work over self-reliance, but she was still barely grasping it. "It is a brilliant perspective. You may be wrong in saying that its not your... 'thing'. " Of course, hindsight was always 20/20.
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Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 8:42 am
Lailah snorted at the notion, waving it away like a pesky fly. "Don't be absurd. I told you, I don't do the whole 'strategy' thing. I just know that what we did didn't work. And I know what'd I'd rather have done, at least for my part. I got no idea what to do after that; that's up to the rest of you." To be honest, the notion had flattered her for a moment, and she had no idea how to deal with the feeling. She enjoyed praise from her instructors, but her peers? She was more used to fear than admiration.
This was a bit unnerving.
She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, trying to appear nonchalant rather than flustered. "Anyway, so it didn't work last time. We'll do something different next time. Gotta' work better than that mess did." She'd had enough of the current conversation, but aside from business, small talk wasn't exactly her strong point. On the other hand, for some reason she didn't want to just...cut the conversation now and walk off. After a moment's hesitation, she glanced to her side at Genesis and said, "Look, I'm going to go get cleaned up real quick, put my weapons away, then go grab something to eat."
Was that...an invitation?
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Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 11:01 am
Genesis couldn't help but laugh lightly at Lailah's insistence that she didn't do strategy. It was a strange noise for Genesis to make, she was so serious most of the time. She gave Lailah a graceful bow of her head. "Of course." Genesis had also determined that there was not much more she could reap from the current conversation. Perhaps it was time for her to head to the library again, or if she really wanted to improve upon herself, to the training yard. Genesis could not help but hold a friendly admiration towards Lailah, despite their different stances on many things, Lailah's way seemed to work for Lailah. When Lailah began talking about her plans for her time, Genesis did not catch that it was a possible invitation, but she did remember that Lailah had initially been on her way to clean up. "Right, my apologies for interrupting. Thank you for your insight on the matters." For a moment, Genesis wondered if it was time to put her mind at ease about the past and set her eyes to the future. She quickly shook her head at the notion, it was always important to learn from the past.
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Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 11:34 am
Lailah quirked an eyebrow at the laughter, noting it was...an odd sound for some reason. Then, she dismissed it with a shrug. More important things to worry about than that. Besides, she was getting pretty hungry after that workout, then all this standing around talking.
"Welcome," she said shortly, then added, "But I meant...uh..." She hesitated. Why was she even doing this? She liked being by herself. Why would she invite someone to intrude on that quiet time when they were so willing to go and leave her alone? She wasn't even sure of herself anymore, which was an unnerving feeling. Yet, some part of her training pushed her to at least try...much as she didn't like it, in the future, she'd need to rely on her comrades at some point. It was unavoidable. Might as well get used to some of them now. Besides, Genesis was easier for her to tolerate than many of the others.
Seeming quite awkward about the whole thing, but determined to push forward, she continued after the long pause, "Look, you got anything planned? Cause if not, and you haven't eaten yet, I dunno...figured you might want to get something before going to do...whatever you were going to do today." She dropped her eyes, not meeting the other's gaze, but still seeming to wear a determined stare, while trying to seem nonchalant. As if she didn't care one way or the other what Genesis said.
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Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 11:54 am
Genesis' head tilted so slightly, that it might be hardly noticeable at all, but she was truly surprised by Lailah's invitation. Even more surprising was the fact that it was directed at her. Genesis did not consider herself to be one to have friends to spend time with doing fairly normal things, like eating a meal. Sure, she had been more friendly and open to interacting with her peer upon the first event that had caused her to realize that teamwork was important. Still, she mostly remained independent when it came to her daily routine. "No... nothing definite at least." Genesis tried not to sound as surprised as she felt. "Perhaps it would be logical to eat before I do some training of my own. Sustenance does provide energy after-all." The teen gave a decisive nod of her head. "Yes, I would like to join you." Lailah had mentioned cleaning up first. "Perhaps we shall meet at the dining hall when you are finished with your tasks?"
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