Welcome to Gaia! ::

For Heather, things had been... better. Well, better was a loaded choice of words. Given what things had been heading towards for her before they left, it was better. Her own business, a new life. One she could have never envisioned for herself ten years ago. God, some days that thought still hit her pretty hard. A decade had passed since things had fallen apart. Often, it felt like some dream. That it had all happened to someone else... but...

The sound of her voice crackling through the static silence of her room was a high energy reminder that it had all been quite real. Demy was yelling about going out, his need to relive the old days still seemed to bubble just beneath the surface. Their time with the Negaverse had been such different experiences. It would be easy to dismiss that the pair would ever have become friends, let alone take to one another as family.

He was family. He was her family, and he always would be.

That ever so...

extraordinarily ...

annoying

younger brother.

When she was younger she had thrown around the word 'adopted' a lot. Not anymore. He simply was.

Heaving a sigh as he continued on, she quietly closed up what she was sketching out in her design pad, sliding it across the desk, and letting it rest just off to the right of her. Raising her eyes to watch toward the door, the brunette considered just staying silent, ignoring his plea. The idea of going out on patrol wasn't something that settled well with her. Never had on the odd occasion he requested before either.

Letting her face scrunch for a brief moment, she sighed and shook her head.

Fine.

"Yes, yes, alright. I guess." the words sounded a pinch annoyed, but... she mostly always sounded that way.

"But only for a little bit."

Heather tried to open her mouth to interject that she needed a few minutes before they went out. It wasn't happening though, he was standing before her, a way-too-tall scrawny General who oozed power. It was risky, it ... always was, but that's why there was a timer being placed on it.

Again, she wanted to say something, but he was already running out the door. A race? As though she was going to run after him. In these heels? Heather moved to push herself up from her desk, stretching out above her head after being seated for so long. As her hands fell to her sides, she spun the dual batons in either hand, flexing her fingers for the familiar muscle memory. It was still something she enjoyed, twirling things in her hands, that was.

Brushing out the skirt, it wasn't long before she was casually striding out to go catch up with Scheelite. It was a strange relationship, given he had been above her... but it was only ever in title alone. The General had never acted as a 'General'. Not toward her, at least. Perhaps because she had remained such a fixture of 'in charge' in their civilian lives.

"Do you even breathe when you speak?" she asked as she stepped out from behind him, looking up.

"Or were you just hoping I wouldn't realize you were intentionally blocking me from speaking?"

"I'm getting too old for that." the woman scoffed, feigning disdain. Of course, he wasn't wrong, a lifetime of dancing around and daily runs, and all that, left her more than capable of doing exactly what he had suggested.

Wanting too, on the other hand, was something else all together. Spinning the batons, she locked them to her hips, then rested her hands just above them on her waist, eying the blond man for a moment.

"And I don't have to admit to anything... did you add more LED lights or something to this? I don't remember it being so damn bright."

Axinite was diligent. He checked over everything, constantly reviewed his tablet, and always, always tapped into his connection with Metallia to make sure he was keeping an adequate eye on things. He would have been a poor branch leader if he hadn’t been keeping up with all the Information available to him.

He thought it was a fluke when his due diligence alerted him of not one, but two distinct energy signatures, of Negaverse Agent, who were otherwise assumed missing or dead.

Assumed, not confirmed.

He checked his records once. Twice.

He debated.

And then, without further hesitation, he summoned both of them to his office.

Axinite’s office was naturally a cozy place--unless you were drawn there against your will with no information or preparation, probably. His desk was neatly organized and before it he had two chairs, upholstered with plush seating. Bookcases lined the room, full of binders and papers and unique little trinkets he had collected. The room was well lit, and strangely soft for a General King’s domain. A pot of fresh tea was resting behind him, and on his desk, away from all of his paperwork, was a plate of fresh cookies.

He stared at the agents, a bit of surprise on his face, and an otherwise unplaceable emotion. Whatever it was, it was concealed with a polite smile.

The silence lingered, for a few seconds, and then he spoke:

“I don’t think we’ve met. Correct me if I’m wrong, is that--General Scheelite, and Captain Paragonite? Please,” he gestured, “Have a seat. I suspect we have a lot to catch up on.”

It was polite, but it wasn’t a request.

Well...that was certainly one way to end his rambling about the LEDs. Being suddenly teleported against his will had a way of making him hush up.

At least...momentarily.

Scheelite's eyes widened as his gaze fell on...the cookies. Awesome! They smelled fresh and this office seemed really cozy and---well that's when his eyes fell on the one at the desk. Though he didn't recognize the other at all, the energy signature was unmistakable. General King.

This was bad. If they made it back out of here he was never going to hear the end of it from Heather. -Ever-.

"Uh...hi! Yeah, yeah...General Scheelite. Definitely don't know you. Can I compliment you on the office? I had to go to General King Charonite's office once and it was...well it wasn't like this. Seems nice in here, the cookies are a nice touch! Really makes it appear friendly!"

Which, unlike Paragonite, he took at face value. Scheelite was a friendly sort himself, and had always seemed to be able to make friends with anyone. Even those he should have been afraid of.

"We...do have a lot to catch up on."
He was moving to take a seat as well, beckoned by both the General King's words and Paragonite's motions. He removed the guitar from his back, not moving to brandish it as a weapon but rather settle it as he sat down. It was positioned in a way he could quickly move it to shield Paragonite, if it came to it.

He'd protect her, no matter what.

"Can we start with your name? Seems unfair if you know us but we don't know you."

No, he absolutely did not need to tell them he was a General-King. If the energy coming from him didn't give it away, everything in this room oozed of it. As her brother spoke, she remained quiet, hands neatly folding in her lap, trying to retain her generally cool and composed stature. High tension meetings were something she was familiar with these days, but this was something else entirely. A different creature of an event. There certainly had been no time to prepare for it.

Scheelite sounded confident as he spoke, it was something she always trusted in. No matter what the scenario, he would make the best of sounding like he was on the ball. Well, in his own way. He was in the moment, so to speak... and the way he placed his guitar had not gone unnoticed by the Captain.

The name cemented that she was unaware of this man when she'd still been an active member of the Negaverse. Was anyone she knew even still around? They'd lost a great number of members even in the brief years she had been there. It wasn't a thought she was able to linger on very long, his question was worded carefully. It's crafting was something she could appreciate. It sounded like it was optional to answer, it sounded passive... certainly, that was not the case. It would be something Scheelite would enjoy and take to heart, she figured.

"No apologies necessary, of course." she offered in an even tone, "You're not wrong, it's been quite some time... almost 10 years, even." she added, not trying to shy away from the notion.

What good would that do anyone?

"That's a very vague question, one I'm not sure how to answer. We have been living in Japan. Destiny City ... was no longer a viable option for some of us. It was a bit of a last minute decision." that was a nice way of putting it. She really didn't want to poke into the why they left. If he was a General-King, it was undoubted he already knew. Scheelite's sudden disappearance, given his unwavering loyalty, may have been more jarring without the context.

That guitar gave plenty of unspoken context though, of that much she was certain.

Axinite’s gaze shifted from Paraognite to Scheelite. He was difficult to read as he thought, and there were many ways he could have approached the situation.

With hostility and reproach did not appear to be one of them.

“I cannot fault one for camaraderie. Loyalty is hard to come by these days. You two are lucky you are so close to one another. I’m sure you two would do anything to keep each other safe?” he asked, in a tone that said it was easy to suspect as much.

In a tone that didn’t sound like a threat, but somehow still echoed like the shadows of one.

He smiled kindly, a juxtaposition of any implications that may--or may not--have crossed his mind.

The question must have been hypothetical, because he continued without much pause, “Ten years is a long time to be gone, though.

“I trust that a General would do what was in the best interest for his Captain. And that a Captain should trust her General. Ten years is a long time to be gone, though. Tell me, what are you doing back now? Have you come back to take responsibility?”