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 Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2019 8:19 pm
Stealthy as a peacock, Pavo felt her own obviousness descend on her as she took a seat on one of the nearby park benches. It was one of those wooden, slatted ones fastened to a wrought—iron frame, possibly donated by some wealthy philanthropist, possibly made by a local artist, but old enough now that it was moss-stained and lightly rusted and long forgotten in origin. It gave her a brief repose, however, while she dug her fingers into the back of her shoes to feel about sore skin. A blister started to form on her left heel. On her right, the skin peeled into a flap.
She'd been powering up more lately. Traveling more. Watching and waiting more. For all the months she spent seeing and tutoring them, Jon and Anette were coming upon some milestones in their translation careers and in their relationship. It looked, at the outset, like an undercurrent of tension formed between them. Anette lessened her expressions of affection. Jon became withdrawn and occasionally combative. They spent more time apart, forcing Pavo to spend more time playing guardian angel around the city. Last week, she dusted a youma that stalked Anette. The week before, Pavo was chased half a mile by a captain that targeted Jon for draining.
Now she watched a largely empty park in the crook of evening. A wide, grassy field opened out in front of her with a slight but perceptible grade as it neared the distant forest. In the summer months, people laid down their large blankets and had picnics or shared stories or made smores out of Sterno cans. In winter, that field sat empty and dormant while the paths saw jogger after jogger through their year-round health commitments. Jon was one of those, Pavo knew. Anette often joined him.
"Hey," someone called, just behind her and to her left. Pavo looked over a henna-fraught shoulder. A chasm opened in her core and all her sense dropped through.
There Jon stood, or rather bounded from foot to foot, not really going anywhere yet not sitting still, breathless, sweaty, and staring at her without the faintest spark of recognition. Like he never met her previously. "Have you seen a girl jog by here? She's yea high, brunette, wearing a bunch of black and blue?"
Anette? She wanted to say, but dammed the words. "No, I haven't. Do you need help looking?" Paranoia set in; that chasm opened further. She lost herself in thought again and hadn't checked for auras. Had they split off from each other again? Was Anette in danger? Jon gave no explanation. He only nodded to her, and as she gathered her concentration for an auric search, he broke that attempt by shouting Anette's name only feet from her ear.stari_maga sorry this got so long, but feel free to use anette / manipulate the situation as you see fit
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Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2019 7:07 pm
After a string of nights that were both kinda cold and really boring, Sylvite was finally about to find something interesting. She'd checked the college campus once or twice since she'd found Suttungr there, since it seemed pretty likely that there was more than one college student senshi kicking around, but winter break had cleared the place out, so she'd started looking around in other parts of the city when she wanted to do more than just draining. That was then, this was February. She figured the new semester had to be starting soon if it hadn't already, which would make things more interesting, and she was right! Actually, she wasn't totally sure if she was right. The aura she felt popped up before she even got to the actual campus part, when she was passing through a park a little further out, but that was fine. The college student part didn't really matter. The senshi-or-knight part did, and it was totally a senshi that she was feeling. It was a basic one, too, so that would hopefully keep this from getting too crazy. Now, she just needed her bargaining chip. That also turned out to be super easy. As she got closer to the aura, she saw a lady jogging right past her. Perfect. She couldn't think of a way to be clever about it this time, so she just darted out of the trees and snatched the starseed out of her back, hopefully before she knew what hit her. It didn't need to be a bad experience for her. She caught her, too, and then knelt down, putting the lady's head in her lap. The senshi had to be pretty close, so it couldn't be long. She heard someone calling out in the distance, which was kinda creepy but also not her problem right now.
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Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2019 1:10 pm
Blooming in a westerly direction, like a cloud of smoke over the horizon, was a discernibly stronger chaos aura. Something that felt like venom and malice in all the unidentifiable ways that frustrated Pavo in both her unfamiliarity and her preference for the analytical. Anette may well be dead, victim of a Dark Mirror or corrupted senshi or Negaverse agent. It hadn't been long enough since they left Ayesha's office, either; she had to investigate.
Without Jon, if possible. Straightening, shoulders back despite the biting cold, Pavo cleared her throat. "I'll help you look. We should split up given the size of the park. Meet back here in an hour no matter what, okay?" Her tone, stern and unwavering, invited no questions.
Jon nodded once, his neck stiff with uncertainty, then nodded once more with a margin more confidence. Color returned to his cheeks in part. "Okay. Thank you. I mean it, thank you, thanks a million. I'll see you back here in an hour." Legs started up in a pumping rhythm before he began his trot down trails untraveled.
"Wait," Pavo held out a jingling hand as she rose. "I'll check that way. The trails that way are easier for me to walk."
Jon paused, his confusion plain, then an abject survey of Pavo's outfit informed him of the rest. "Alright, I'll check back the way I came." Still jogging, he rotated in place, then shot back down the other path with Anette's name still on his lips.
Pavo loosed a deep breath. With Jon heading in the opposite direction, she started down the quiet paths towards the chaos aura, announcing her presence with each sonorous step.
The venture took minutes at a brisk jog. When she finally came to a stop, conversational distance from the black and pink girl (teenager? She looked young and impressionable), she noted the body on the ground. On her lap. Even in the low light, Pavo knew that face. "Put her starseed back and go," she ordered, steps firm in approach.
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Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2019 7:25 pm
Then, there was nothing to do but sit and wait and see what happened with the aura. She brushed the girl's hair out of her face and then stroked it. Like, she was unconscious, it was fine, but Sylvite didn't want her to have be uncomfortable or have a face full of hair or anything when she woke up. She perked back up, though, 'cause the aura was getting closer pretty quick. It wasn't too strong. She was pretty sure it was from a senshi, and just a basic one, but weak or not it was still so bright that it felt like it was about to give her a headache if she thought to hard about it, which she had to do if she wanted to know where this senshi was coming from. In this case, it wasn't too hard. There was a clear cut path through the tree part of the park, and she was starting to hear someone coming down it. That was more than footsteps. Something was jingling for sure. Huh. Then, she came into view. Oh, she was super pretty! Like, a lot of senshi were super pretty but this one seemed particularly decked out. Sylvite went wide eyed and grinned. She waved, too. "Hi!" The cheer only lasted for a second. The senshi seemed kinda mad and demanded the starseed. At least she wasn't a total jerk about it, but Sylvite's shoulders still drooped a bit. "Okay, okay," she said, holding a hand out with the gem cupped loosely in her fingers. "Just tell me your name first, and what your magic does, okay?"
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Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2019 8:33 am
"Wh… What?" All the bluster left her figure. Her shoulders dropped, her hands dropped with a low shrug, her feet joined each other. Pavo rubbed her forehead with one hand while the other braced on her hip. How was this supposed to make sense? This girl is taking the lives out of people's bodies just to ask senshi what their name and powers were? That was it? Was it a ploy? A trap?
Time ticked relentlessly for every second that starseed spent outside its home, however, and she would fast have a case of unsolved (probably) murder on her hands as Ayesha. "Fine. I'm Pavo of Mirages. My magic just makes me look more hurt than I am. That's all." Any Negaverse agent would've figured that out eventually. It wasn't much of a sacrifice to make if it meant Anette would be getting back up before the night was over.
"Are you going to put her starseed back now?" The question lost her previous venom, having made the trade of information.
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Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2019 8:38 pm
Was this lady who was both really pretty and who had the fun bells on her outfit also gonna turn out to be okay in general? Like, she hesitated, which was fair, and she was giving Sylvite a bit of a look, but she didn’t just start screaming about it right away like the other guy had, which was a very good sign. Sylvite tried to smile the right amount so that she didn’t look scary but she didn’t look goofy either and she looked between the starseed and the lady. She actually felt the tiniest bit bad, like yeah borrowing people’s souls was probably a little extreme, but it didn’t hurt anyone in the end and also a surprising number of Order people were jerks about basic stuff like introductions. In the end, this lady, Pavo of Mirages, okay, she could remember that, turned out to be one of the few who were actually kind of nice. At least, not tying to hit her yet. To be fair she still had the bargaining chip but it was a good sign. Sylvite let herself grin bigger again. “Thank you! It’s really nice to meet you, Pavo!” She wasn’t lying. Her sphere sounded really interesting, and if she was listening to reason now, maybe someone could try bringing her over later? That would be nice. For right now, Sylvite just lowered the starseed back into the other lady’s chest. “Obviously,” she said. She could keep a bargain. She did keep a close eye on Pavo, though, even as she grinned, just in case she was gonna want revenge or something.
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Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2019 10:53 pm
Pavo's expression hardened at the smile, and colder she grew when this Negaverse agent greeted her so enthusiastically. That suspicion festered in her, gnawing on her gut and forcing bile up her throat like she needed something to swallow for the next fifteen minutes. As she watched the girl, even younger than Anette, return that starseed with a smile and a flippant response, Pavo dropped her hand from her forehead. She shifted again, legs shoulder width apart, one arm in front with the other behind, and every expectation at the fore that this officer would rip the seed back out and teleport away victoriously.
There was nothing stopping her, after all. Pavo couldn't apply pressure with her magic. She could've lied, but any followup ask for a demonstration of said magic would oust her and cost Anette her starseed. At any point, she supposed, she could cost Anette her starseed. And Jon's, too, if Pavo couldn't send this agent on her way before the restless lovebird returned.
Even a Negaverse girl was human at heart. She had likes, dislikes, favorite people, hated foods, and everything in between. She had subjects in school that she did terribly with or excelled at, and now she sat with a life in her hands. She held the keys to an abstract death that she probably didn't fully understand. There was no blood, no finite crunch of bone, no death throes, no bodily disfigurement, nothing beyond a simple limpness and a heavy slumber following that betrayed their actions. No one who pulled a starseed got arrested, she imagined. Not when scientific tests never identified a starseed. So to this agent? Anette was just asleep. She was asleep and she'd either wake up or she wouldn't, but if she didn't, that agent was already far and away when that heart rate finally stopped. She probably never knew her surname, let alone another friend or family member.
And she didn't know Jon. Didn't know how he'd react. But Pavo did, and she knew Jon's quick call for action would prove fortuitous for this Negaverse girl.
"It's nice to meet you too," she wrenched from herself through gritted teeth. "If you enjoyed meeting me that much, will you let Anette wake up on her own? I'll tell her she hit her head and we'll avoid the mess this would cause." Pavo didn't need integrity — Ayesha did. And Anette needed life. And they both needed a moment before Jon came.
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Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2019 10:31 pm
Sylvite wasn't stupid, and she wasn't a bad soldier, either. Not anymore. Even if she had been, she probably wouldn't have missed the way that Pavo was shifting. It was pretty hard not to notice, with all the jingling and jangling, but the new Sylvite, the Information officer who paid attention to stuff, saw the way she was shifting into a textbook fighting stance. Her smile faltered, and she let out a sharp breath through her nose. She was trying to be a good person and keep her promises and get what she needed without hurting anyone, but it seemed like even this nice senshi was gonna try to attack the moment that she let go of her hostage. Sylvite stiffened, putting a toe to the ground herself in case she had to fight again. Slowly, keeping her eyes on the senshi, she put the lady down on the ground, being really careful that she didn't hit her head or anything. Maybe not the smartest, since she was the only security blanket Sylvite had left, but also she was about to wake up anyway and then who knew what would happen. She was the one who probably had a right to be mad about this. Plus, Sylvite needed to move. The attack from Pavo didn't come. She just wanted Sylvite to leave Anette alone. Anette, huh? Did that mean she knew this lady? The other stuff was good, but that seemed like it could be a really juicy tidbit. It was almost something she wanted to push, but probably not now. She didn't want to make things weird when Pavo actually was being pretty helpful. "Yeah," she said, her voice a little quieter than usual. "Yeah, of course." She squeezed her eyes shut and was gone.
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Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2019 8:21 am
Pavo let out a breath. The starseed was back in Anette's chest, she hadn't woken yet, the officer was gone in a blink. "I found her," she called to the ever-growing noise of Jon's jogging approach. "I think she hit her head!"
She expected Jon to call back to her, ask how she knew that, how she found her, why she cared. She expected that mild stint of belligerence he often got when up against a grammar rule he didn't understand. Some snarked remark or suspicious side-eye that told her he didn't trust what she had to say. Maybe those behaviors were for Ayesha, for he said nothing as he sped into a run and slipped pat her.
Just in time for Anette to wake. She groaned, then let out her pealing distress, her realization that she didn't know why she blacked out, didn't know why Jon was so worried about her, so relieved to see her, relieved as if she died or disappeared or left him.
But Pavo couldn't explain why, and neither could Jon, yet both for different reasons. So while Jon encroached closer, promised her she was safe, Pavo backed away toward the park edge where trees grew thickest. Her jingles betrayed her, however, and Jon tossed a broken-voiced thanks back at her to see her off. So much for sneaking out unnoticed.
So much for protecting the pair from ever having that experience.stari_maga fin — and thank you for the rp!
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