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 Posted: Sat Aug 26, 2017 9:44 am
As soon as Sinope was left on his own in his new room, tentatively tested a bed to make sure it felt like the ones back on Earth and there was nothing unexpected or weird about them. Once satisfied, he flopped onto his back upon one of the mattress, sighing deeply. What a day.
The rest of the questions he had managed to filter out of his mind before when he was trying to focus began to crash down on him now. Were they stuck here, then? And who knew for how long? It was like those stories where people went to kingdoms under the sea or to a magic land and time could not be measured in the same way as it was back where they came from. Sometimes people tried to return home and found that no time at all seemed to have passed while others discovered that everything they had known and loved had been devoured by centuries. He sincerely hoped they wouldn't be subjected to the latter fate.
Ugh...was he really going to have to stay in these clothes for a day or more? It would have been nice to at least be able to change into some more comfortable sleepwear, but to his great irritation, he wasn't able to remove his fuku. An attempt to power down was met with some magical resistance and he groaned. Did people not take showers here? Or maybe the queen and her servants could, but not the Dark Mirror Court. Maybe they'd just have to try to wash themselves as they were, clothes and all. Provided the castle even had restroom. Maybe these Solamnia people didn't need to use the toilet or worry about personal hygiene for whatever reason.
Upon forcing himself to get up and check out the room some more, he discovered that it did, indeed, have a restroom of sorts, so that was a relief. Though there was another bed, he doubted anyone would care to use it when they could have their own room to themselves or share with someone else they were more buddy-buddy with, which suited Sinope just fine. He preferred being alone so he could collect his thoughts and not have to worry about putting up with any sort of roommate. Being an only child, he was used to having his own space to himself and deeply valued his privacy.
That didn't mean he wasn't curious about where everyone else had ended up in regards to rooms, however. Was there anyone he knew staying in rooms near him? Going back to his door, he opened it and peered out. Hopefully the servants who had escorted them there wouldn't have been waiting outside. He didn't think he would have been able to sleep knowing that they had guards posted at their doors as if they were there to prevent escape. Queen Altea already seemed enough like a prisoner in her own castle. Sinope didn't like the idea of being even more of a captive than she was.Sweenys_Revenge ((Hope this is okay~! As usual, please let me know if there's anything I need to change. ^_^))
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Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2017 11:46 am
To say that Acubens was restless would be an understatement. She felt like a wild animal, suddenly caught in a man-made trap while people suddenly surrounded and contained her further. She didn't know their intentions. She didn't know their plans. All she knew was that she had been free and then suddenly she was locked up and cornered. And you never cornered a wild animal. So Acubens exercised the only level of freedom she had. She left her room almost as soon as she found it and pattered around the first floor, avoiding the passive eyes of the armored crystalline servants. There had to be somewhere that she could go. Somewhere else. Somewhere with answers. In the privacy of the empty hallway, Acubens had more difficulty keeping her temper in check. She cursed herself hoarse at locked doors. Broke her nails as she tore at crystals on mirrors. She bloodied her fists on the walls that kept her contained. Once that was out of her system, however, Acubens flipped her hair back over her shoulders and took a deep breath. She had to regain her composure. What if someone who needed help found her like this? She needed to be a fixed point. She needed to be something that they could depend on. She needed to be better. She would be.
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Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2017 10:07 pm
When Sinope looked out of his room, he heard someone cursing vividly before he saw them. The voice was familiar enough by now, though, and as he opened the door wider to slip out, he spotted the eternal senshi in what appeared to be a less than stable mental state. Her outfit already seemed disturbing enough with its ragged design, but her broken nails, disheveled hair, and bloody knuckles only added to the image.
"Uh...you okay there?" he asked once she seemed to have calmed down a bit. He supposed he shouldn't have been surprised if it was him she had been thinking of when she'd been releasing all that anger through profanity and violence. Thus, for the time being, Sinope kept his distance, watching her warily.
A lot more than he would have guessed of the older and more experienced senshi seemed to have tempers that boiled close to the surface. Weren't you supposed to get calmer and wiser with age and experience? Then again, maybe with all that powered beings had to face, those things just made them more paranoid instead. He couldn't say he blamed them, what with all the random and unexpected stuff that went on. It was likely hard if not near impossible to get used to no matter how old or experienced you were.
Eyeing her nails and bloody hands, he murmured, "I wonder if they have some sort of infirmary here..."
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Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2017 7:03 am
The voice worked miracles to soothe Acubens' frayed nerves. It was interesting, and Acubens would examine it later, that all of the pep talks in the world would only do so much. Performance time was what she really needed to shape up. So with Sinope slid around the corner, Acubens hid her hands behind her back, certain that he had already seen them but wanting to try all the same. The smile that slid over her face came easily as well, her nerves simmering back down into worried little coals beneath her skin. "Sinope, right," she chirped brightly, albeit a bit out of breath. "Good thinking back there... very impressive. And informative." She tossed another wink at the younger senshi. "Sorry you have to see me like this," she admitted, trying to laugh off her minor break down like it wasn't the big deal that it might have been had Sinope not found her. "I feel a little like a caged animal here. Wild things don't do well behind stone walls, you know."
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Posted: Wed Sep 06, 2017 10:24 am
The moment he noticed Acubens conceal her hands behind her back, the line of his lips tightened. The sight of her smile hardened his gaze; he knew what she was doing. He had practiced it all too many times before.
"Yeah...thanks," he answered flatly in response to her praise and her wink, unwilling to be buttered up this time. Sinope got the impression she was trying to distract and misdirect him with her compliments. At least she didn't seem to be avoiding the topic of her state altogether, though, when she apologized for him having had to see her like that. He studied her seriously for a minute or two before answering, contemplating the shakiness of her forced laugh.
"I understand that," he said finally. "What I don't get is how you go on like you're part of some big family, but then you try to shoulder stuff like this on your own." He approached with direct, purposeful steps and reached out in an attempt to tug one of her hands out from behind her back.
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Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2017 7:01 pm
Acubens smile fell, but she didn't fight when Sinope tugged at her arm. Her hand looked about like it should after she's been beating up walls and crystals. Bruised and cut, thought probably not permanently damaged. Her smile returned, but smaller this time. She was right, of course, and Acubens had to give him that. "Clever fox," she mused gently, curing her fingers around his hand. "People like you cut deep and close. Don't lose those astute eyes of yours..." She was avoiding the question, and it was obvious. But it wasn't because she didn't want to answer... she didn't know how. The words didn't come. They left her body, taking her voice with it. Her throat was left try and her mind searching for something to grab on to. "You're right... but... doesn't everyone in a family want to keep the others from worrying about them? Same basic principle. Especially since I'm..." her free hand brushed back over the wings hinged at her back, "supposed to be more experienced. But the best I can do is try and keep it to myself and not burden the rest of you with my... crazy..."
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Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2017 8:19 am
He inspected her wounds for a moment or two before tearing off strips of cloth from the coattails of his senshi outfit and using them to wrap her hands. When her fingers closed around his, he stiffened for a second before continuing as best as he could with his task, his hazel eyes trained on her makeshift bandages. Sinope was silent as he gave Acubens time to think of what to say...or if she wanted to say anything at all.
The teen's patience was rewarded with a verbal counter that drew a lop-sided half-grin from him. "Yeah, people like keeping people they care about and those who care about them in the dark. But when you think about it, if those people really care about you, they'll find out eventually, and it'll hurt them all the more that you didn't want to rely on them or trust them with the truth. That's what family is for after all, isn't it? How would you feel knowing someone you hoped to rely on you decided to keep things from you because they didn't want you to worry?"
Once he thought he had bound and tied the cloth tight enough, he gently released her hands and looked away, shifting his attention to a pretty painting off to one side that had managed to avoid being a victim of Acubens' frustrated rage. "You're right; the more experienced you are, the more others will end up looking to you. But you can't be the sort of guardian or 'parent' who says 'do as I say, not as I do' because they won't be able to respect or relate to you that way. You've been in their shoes before. Don't forget what that was like. If you want to lead, try leading by example, not just talk." He shrugged lightly and glanced between her wings and his shoes.
"We're all a little crazy, aren't we? We all have flaws and triggers and fears. Just because you're a little higher in rank doesn't mean you have to pretend like you don't. The ones who look up to you are also probably grateful for all that you do for them, so if there's something they can do for you, even something small like giving a bit of comfort when you're in pain, I'm sure they'd be grateful for that chance in itself.
"Not that I know much, but seems to me like family's about equal parts giving, taking, and trusting each other. Your weakness might be someone else's strength and vice versa, so it seems the most practical solution to help one another out, don't you think?" The hooded senshi turned his back to her and crossed his arms over his chest. "You all become stronger as a whole that way." Ugh. He was talking too much again. Worse yet, he was ranting about things he himself didn't partake in. She had no reason to put stock into anything he said, especially since he was the lowest rank of senshi and she was one of the highest. Sinope knew he was embarrassing himself with his big mouth. It was probably time to walk away.
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Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2017 7:58 am
Kitomyx Acubens has a new nickname for Sinope and it doesn't matter if he likes it or not sorry i don't make the rules Acubens could not stop the smile stretching steadily over her face. Despite the panic slowly rising in her stomach, there was something warm and familiar spreading over her nerves. He was right, after all. She had been trying so hard to mimic Remarque who kept his head so cool and collected under pressure when that wasn't how she operated. Not at all. While she might not have been as... explosive... as Leto, she definitely tended to wear her heart on her sleeve like the other royal did... but then again that wasn't event he point either? Whyw as Acubens trying to mimic them anyway? She wanted to be a leader, not a carbon copy of the leaders that she followed, right? In the end they both had their flaws, and Acubens saw them in a breif moment of crystal clarity. Leto would always be explosive. She would always carry a chip on her shoulder and if no one knocked it off for her, then she would toss it aside and fight anyway. Remarque may be been collected, but what good did bottling the anxiety and worry up? If he never allowed anyone to shoulder part of his burden, in the end it would hurt him, right? And Acubens saw her own flaws in that same, exact and stunning precision. She talked too much, she was abrasive. But she loved. She loved to the fullest extent of her being and when she devoted herself to a cause, she devoted every single part of herself. But she couldn't do it alone. She would end up ruining herself if she tried... and... maybe not importantly... she was setting a poor example. "Such a clever fox," she mused again, resisting the powerful urge to fold Sinope into the most aggressive bear hug he'd ever had in his whole life. "You're right. I'm sorry. I just feel so... useless. I was to serve the court, I want to protect you but I can't... this stagnation is making me... twitchy..."
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Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2017 3:15 pm
Acubens' silence began to worry Sinope, making him wonder if he might have said something wrong and upset or angered her even worse. When he finally decided to steal a glimpse over his shoulder out the corner of his eye, however, her rapidly-growing smile disconcerted him far greater than any other expression he had expected to see on her face. Was it something he'd said after all? Or was this simply a continuation of whatever meltdown she'd been having before he'd made himself known?
"...Acubens...?" he began warily, turning back around to pay her his full attention, "You doin' okay, there?"
But then she spoke again, complimenting him, and he felt his face flush with embarrassment. "Yeah..me too," he agreed, doing his best to act as though her praise hadn't affected him as much as it had. "It sucks not being able to do anything. And it must be way worse for you than me because I'm generally pretty lazy and selfish, so I don't tend to worry about our court or protecting anyone other than myself."
Slipping off his hood, his scratched his head, casting her a smirk as he did so. "I know it's hard to just wait around and do nothing, but everyone's already doing everything they can to search. I'm sure something will turn up and there's no use stressing yourself in the meantime, right?
"Maybe you should try to make relaxing your top priority right now if you're having such a hard time with it, especially because no one really seems to be in immediate danger or requiring help at the moment. I know that might sound silly or lazy or stupid, but even just conserving energy can be tough, especially at times like this when you feel more desperate than ever to do something.
"Still, if you can stay calm and just take it easy for a bit, when something does turn up or someone does need you, you'll be able to help instead of having exhausted yourself being out of sorts. Focus on what you can do instead of what you can't." Sinope blinked. s**t. I'm telling an eternal what to do. "Uh...that's just my take on things, though. What do I know? I'm just a basic senshi." And possibly the youngest in the court. Way to go, know-it-all. Your head must have gotten too big with her praising you so much.
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2018 10:57 am
Lazy and selfish. What Acubens had seen so far showed that Sinope was anything but lazy and selfish. And then he chided himself for being just a basic senshi. It caused Acubens to frown slightly and resist the urge to reach out to the younger senshi. How could he think that after everything that he had done and tried? When he was right here right now speaking so much sense that Acubens had no choice but to listen? And then to hear him say that he was just anything when he was acting like a lifeline for Acubens... well it broke her heart. " Just," Acubens' voice broke despite her best attempts to keep it steady, "Sinope you are not just anything. And you certainly aren't lazy or selfish. At least not from what I've seen. You were the only one to think to try and drain the queen. To notice that the mirrorwraith didn't affect her. And who knows how important that information is going to be. That kind of initiative isn't lazy or selfish. I would know, I've been my fair share of both. And... besides that... if you were lazy or selfish... you wouldn't be here with me now. Helping me feel better." Acubens finally related to the itching in her arms and rested an affectionate hand on his shoulder. "So I don't know where you're getting this idea that you are lazy and selfish because I just don't see it. And no one in this court is just anything. Everyone has a purpose. Everyone has a place. And most importantly, everyone has a voice. So don't ever feel bad about making yourself heard. Besides, you got some good stuff to say." It was strange because Acubens knew she was talking, and she heard her own voice, but she had planned on saying almost none of what had come out. Something had taken hold of her then and given her words that she hadn't known how to say. She felt... in control... in that moment. Not necessarily of the situation or of Sinope... but more of herself. Of her command of her own emotions and her own understanding. It was... a nice feeling... a great deal better than the wild, flailing madness that usually gripped her heart.
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Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 11:41 am
The break in Acubens' voice caused Sinope to visibly start and he wondered if he'd said something wrong again. Evidently, he had, but not in the way he'd presumed. This lady...she really did care. Not just about their court, but about him personally. Her sincerity was so evident, he could do nothing to mentally deny or reason it away.
Sinope didn't understand why she would, but she did, and that was enough to unsettle him. He already felt moved by her kindness and compassion to others and now it was being turned and focused on him specifically. That was dangerous. Though he did his best to avoid making bonds with others, had no defense against that direct sort of assault.
"Yeah, well...if she'd noticed, we also could have been in a lot of trouble, so I was taking a risk and putting everyone in danger," he countered, looking away uncomfortably. "As for being lazy or selfish...I'm lazy because it's easier to talk to you than to bother trying to help with a search everyone else is racking their brains over, which is why I'm here. And I'm selfish because I'm bored and making you think I'm smart and getting you to shower me with compliments boosts my ego. If I just so happened to make you feel better in the process, that's not my fault."
There he went, talking s**t out of his a** again. He may not have had a proper defense against her arguments, but he felt a feeble attempt was better than none at all. He couldn't just succumb to this sweetness of hers. It would have gone against his principles. Who knew? She might even have bought into them.
He was horrified, however, at the warmth that the touch of her hand on his shoulder brought because it seemed to paralyze him. Sinope told himself he should have brushed it off or at least stepped back or twisted away, but he couldn't bring himself to. The reassuring contact along with the sentiment attached to it was too precious to him. Another sign he was in danger of succumbing to emotions over logic. He was already too worried about hurting her feelings when that shouldn't have meant anything to him at all.
Well, whatever. Maybe it was better to just get along with people he would be stuck in a castle with for who knew how much longer. Especially an eternal in his court. "...If you say so, mom" he murmured, hazel eyes darting everywhere but at Acubens as his face continued to heat up at her words. He had meant the term as a taunt, but his heart wasn't really in it. Only after did he recall that she might have actually appreciated being called that rather than have been heckled by it. "Anyway...I better go. Clearly I've got to work on my reputation of being lazy and selfish if you're getting the wrong idea. But..."
He put his hand over he bandaged one on his shoulder and kept it there for a moment before gently removing it with a heavy sigh. "No more of this, okay? We don't know how long wounds take to heal here or if they even do. And don't know if we can trust what they have to treat any sort of injury."
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Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 11:14 am
Kitomyx Sorry it's so short, my brain is dead ;; "Sometimes the risk is worth the benefit. We learned something valuable. We won't waste energy using wraith to defeat her if... when... she turns on us. In reality, being out of our rooms puts us in danger -- hell, being here at all puts us all at risk. And who knows what else. There is no safety except for in understanding right now, and you brought us closer to it." But he kept explaining her away. Acubens stood back on her heels and smiled, crossing her arms over her chest as she did so. Clever fox... silly fox... frightened little fox. Who had hurt Sinope to put him on such a defensive path? Who had convinced him that he was worth nothing at all? Something fearsome and protective rose in Acubens' throat, but she swallowed it back down. No use making Sinope think she was crazier than he already knew she was. "Alright, Sinope," Acubens finally relented with a small amused sigh, "you are whatever you say you are, and I'll promise to take better care of myself." She rubbed her own bandaged hand and drew her notebook out from subspace and flipped to a spare page. "But for what it's worth, Remarque thought that what you found out was valuable. And asked me to thank you." Another small smile before Acubens opened the tattered notebook back up and drew the pen from the same pocket of subspace. "Whatever you say Little Fox," she finally said, ignoring the name which was no doubt intended as a jab at her sensitivities but warming at the name all the same, "make sure you take care of yourself too. And come see me if you need anything."
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Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2018 12:05 pm
In the fashion of a sunburn, embarrassment ripened Sinope's complexion with raw, vulnerable reds. Despite his implication that he had deliberately attempted to earn her praise in order to boost his ego, he was certainly not used to being spoken well of. This resulted in his being at a loss for how to respond to such genuine commendations despite his best efforts to take them in stride and deflect them.
Caring, unintentionally expressing that he cared, being cared about in return, being showered with kindness and compliments...it all became too much for Sinope to handle just then. Horrified at the exposure of the emotions painted in bright crimson, he hurriedly whipped his hood back up over his head and pulled it as far down over his face as he could manage.
He was surprised about Remarque, but wondered at the notion that the royal had asked Acubens to pass on his gratitude. Perhaps she was making it up, but he dared not challenge her on it in case it had been true. Anyway, it was hard to argue with someone who kept agreeing with you and he made a dismissive gesture at her request that he come see her if he needed anything. "Yeah, yeah..."
You've got enough to worry about without me adding to your plate. You're going to kill yourself helping others with that attitude. An exasperated sigh left him as he pivoted on his heel to go. This is why I can't stand kind people. They never know what's good for them. "Don't forget your promise, Acubens. I'll be holding you to it."Sweenys_Revenge ((You're perfectly fine heart ))
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