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 Posted: Sat May 07, 2011 6:31 pm
Chaonis stared at her.
He was very used to pissing people off, of course. Most of the time, that was his main purpose in life. But this? This seemed to happen completely on accident. Either he was getting so good at it that he no longer had to try, or she was taking offense to something that he had no idea about. Some issue of hers that he hadn't picked up on, and was poking at a raw nerve without even realizing it. Until now, at least, when she snapped at him.
His own grumpiness seemed to be forgotten. It was mostly brought on by her anger and his inability to read her, anyway. He didn't know what was going on with her, but he found he was more interested than angry about it.
"Am I at least all that?" he asked, tilting his head to the side, offering her a grin. He wasn't taking her too seriously, even as she chided him for his flippant attitude. Well, he had been on to something, after all, so he might as well not let his accidental off-pissing go to waste. "I don't have to be the bag of chips."
He watched her, letting her get the tension out. Everyone needed to yell sometimes, and he was very often in the same place she was. Yelling and mocking someone who didn't deserve it, taking out anger on someone who was not directly related to the problem. It had happened a lot when he was first looking for Tony, after all, and hadn't really ebbed since. Even as a Senshi, he used civilians as scapegoats.
He shook his head, shrugging his shoulders indifferently.
"Forget it. You're not the first person to yell at me. Won't be the last. I've got an appointment for more in an hour or so," he grinned at her, an offhanded joke that might have been aimed to disarm her, ease the anger out of the air and restore some peace. Or maybe that was giving him too much credit.
"Yoda's good. There is no try, right? Only do."
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 10:05 am
It took several moments for Tara to fully calm down, even after she had apologized and tried to make amends. That was partly because, even though she had apologized, she knew that nothing she said was wrong. He was still, in her mind, a naïve novice who was lucky not to have gotten himself killed. Most senshi were. She might have even classified herself in that way, except that she was definitely missing the luck.
But it was neither the time nor place to be talking about such things, and certainly not in a tone that would have deafened him had he been any closer to her. This time last year, Tara might have gone on as if nothing had happened, but now she could see her error and try to correct it. It was funny how things changed. She would have to thank Yvette sometime; being friends with the terminally shy girl was one heck of a sensitivity class.
Not that her captor seemed to be all that sensitive. He brushed off her criticism with ease, quips, and... did he just quote Yoda? Tara grinned, fishing out the appropriate bandaid. It was as easy as that to change her mood- which was why she went from scared to defiant to curious to angry in five minutes flat.
And now? "Wars not make one great," she quoted back. "Don't get me wrong- what you're doing is important, and we'd all be screwed if you stopped." Especially her. "But that doesn't... I mean, it isn't..." What was she trying to say? Respect civilians? Don't overestimate yourself? Yoda's cool?
After a moment, Tara shrugged and gave up trying to finish her sentence. "You'll figure it out on your own, right? Nothing I say will mean that much to you anyway." If the tables were turned, the roles reversed, nothing he said would mean anything to her. As far as he knew, she was a total nobody who was making this stuff up as she went along. Considering her recent course of action, she couldn't really say he'd be wrong, either.
Which left her fresh out of things to say.
"I like you," she announced suddenly.
Now she was fresh out.
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 7:42 pm
Despite his caustic attitude and his desire to piss people off for the fun of it, Chaonis was a fairly chill person when it came to most things. He could be impossibly aggravating when he wanted to, and when he didn't considering how natural it was to him, but he did not let much get to him.
He treated most fights with people in the same light: they were mad at him, but he didn't have to care about it.
At her counter quote he laughed, nodding his head. Out philosophied, but that really wasn't surprising.
"Damn right it's important. This place could be overrun with those monster dogs and bad guys, you know? Don't question what we do, because we're going to keep doing it. You worry about what you do. I dunno your story, but when someone gets grumpy at me for saving their life I have to wonder what's going on. And you're right," he said with a laugh, "I'm pretty set in what I'm doing. I mean. I think. So! No point trying to babble at me. I'll cut it out, too."
He inspected his bandage and nodded his head in approval, then looked at her, arching his eyebrow. He shook his head and clapped his hand on her shoulder.
"Don't get mushy on me now." He looked around, shrugging his shoulders. "You're not so bad yourself, though, for a non-terrorist."
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Posted: Wed May 25, 2011 3:19 am
"I do know," Tara said solemnly. "Can't pick up a newspaper or change the channel without seeing a new report. Terrorist activity, monster sighting- what else is new? Apparently you can't even walk around without running into trouble anymore. Without you guys, this place would be a ghost town. Literally. I mean, we've got monsters and superheroes, aliens and zombies. Who's to say ghosts aren't next?"
It was all terribly confusing for Tara. On the one hand, if senshi were so badly needed, she had no right to take a vacation. On the other hand, if all youma attacks were being so quickly and easily stopped, surely they could do without her for a while. On the other hand, it was possible that this incident was a fluke. It was impossible to tell without further study. On the other hand... Tara stopped and decided that unless she decided to mutate into an octopus, it was time to stop counting hands she didn't have and do something. But if she knew what, she wouldn't be counting hands in the first place.
"Not everyone wants their life to be saved," she mused, "but I'm not keen on dying anytime soon." No, she'd definitely had enough of that for a while. "So thanks. And don't worry- I'm sure you'll learn soon. You seem to be doing a pretty decent job so far, so thanks for that too. I hope that when the lesson does come around, it's as painless as possible."
She was letting on more than she meant to again, but she couldn't say that she wasn't enjoying it. There was something to be said for playing the Obi Wan. Even if her supposed student suspected her secret, or thought she was downright nuts. Tara was used to it all.
Grinning, she stuck the bandaid on the wound with a bit more force than was really necessary. "I wouldn't dream of it," she said airily. "And you, sir terrorist, need to learn how to give a compliment. Unless you're suggesting I take up your line of work or something."
... he wasn't, was he? Tara certainly hoped not.
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Posted: Wed May 25, 2011 2:09 pm
Chaonis nodded his head slowly, thinking about it. It was rough for a civilian, as much as it was for a senshi. Of course, he didn't have to worry about not being able to protect himself. Even when he was in a tough fight, he had confidence to spare. More than that, he had the power in him to keep fighting.
Maybe that was why he stuck near his dad or the library, even without Tony knowing about him. He knew his father could easily end up one of the casualties of the fighting.
He watched her, interested in her words. More than what she was saying, though. He wondered what her real story was, what she wasn't telling him. Still, he shrugged it off and grinned at her, lifting his hand to rub the newly placed bandage but not losing the cocky look.
"Hey, I'm just saying," he waved his hand dismissively and made to head out. His method of escape was scaling the nearest building and going up and over the people below. Easier not to get spotted, though there were often other powered up people doing the same thing up there. It was like their own little highway, sometimes.
"If you do ever take up terrorizing, I'll have to look you up."
He grinned and then nodded his head, a small sign of respect coming from him, and then he was gone, hurrying up the side of the wall, his head bouncing with thoughts on the whole encounter, on being a senshi and a terrorist, on helping and harming people. It wasn't often he walked away from something and actually thought about it later.
He might have learned something.
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2011 12:49 pm
Had she misjudged him? Yes and no, Tara decided. He was still cocky, still a naïve novice, but maybe not as naïve as she had thought. He had some skills to back up his confidence, so his cockiness wasn't too bad. And of course, there was the little point about him doing her job. What right did she have to judge? That was a question for the ages, but it wasn't going to stop her anytime soon.
As he scaled the building, Tara watched. She hadn't caught his name, but maybe that was for the best. It wasn't like she could look him up in a senshi phonebook or anything. And she would certainly recognize him if their paths crossed again. Judging by his parting comment, it seemed like she wasn't the only one.
"I'll keep that in mind," she called back. "Take care out there."
That was mushy even for her, but it was sincerely meant. If there were cool senshi out there- and this guy counted, if only for letting her yell at him and not getting mad- she wanted them to stay safe. Not that she didn't want all senshi to stay safe, or that she wanted any of the bad guys to die either...
"Okay, enough thinking for one night." Shaking her head, Tara picked up the remains of her ruined scarf and headed for home. She was out a Yoda bandaid and a pack of M&Ms, but in return, her savior had given her plenty to think about. Whether she wanted it or not. Still, she figured, it was an even trade. If nothing else, she learned one thing very well.
From then on, Tara put two packs of M&Ms in her first-aid kit.
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