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You Look Like A Girl ! [REG2]

Matthew woke up in his bed, comforter carefully tucked over his sleeping body, with no recollection of how he'd gotten back home at all. That was always fun. Though, this was odd, he rarely slept with his comforter on... And the window was closed. He always opened the window of his room for air circulation unless it was in the middle of winter. Matthew Desmond was a creature of habit, so this was rather odd. To say nothing about sleeping in his jacket.

What the hell had happened ?

Had he gotten drunk last night ?

...What day was it ? The young man grumbled, reaching out for his cellphone on the nightstand nearly blindly, and pushing the button to turn the screen on. The results were surprising, and brown eyes went wide as a result.

1pm. Monday.

There went his morning classes. “********.” He moved to sit, but the room started spinning – one hand went to his head in reflex, but... No, he didn't have a headache. He just felt like he'd gotten run over by a truck.

Last night... What had happened last night ? He never drank at night when he had classes the next day... But yet it seemed like a nebulous fog, like his mind was a dark room and he couldn't find the light switch to make it all clear. He remembered school... What ? Why was he at school on a sunday ? That made no sense... No, wait. The computers. Right. There was a bunch of computers that needed fixing. He spent the whole evening with Mr. Grant going though everything... Then left to go home. And then... A giant, walking stuffed bunny ?

No, Matthew, that made no sense. What had he done to hallucinate a giant walking stuffed bunny ? That was just downright ******** up. Nonetheless, this was the last thing he remembered before now.

...It was tempting to just conk right back out, really. He felt dizzy and... really, really weird, and he'd missed his morning classes anyway – might as well take the day off, since he was gonna get counted as absent anyway.

His bed was so nice and warm... But at the same time, he was so hungry... The apartment was quiet, with his roommates gone to class. No one would see him flail about like an idiot. And so he got up, but his legs felt like jelly. It was only after he managed to stand that he noticed a small bit of paper on his shelf, right on his keyboard where it was impossible to miss it. Purple pen, with a very familiar, flowy handwriting.

Call me when you wake up. Or text me if im in class.

....Idiot. =w=;;;;

...Yikes. This could be bad. Had he been with Ashley when he passed out ? Had he said something he didn't remember ? She hadn't told their parents, hadn't she ?!

Damn, damn, damn...

So I heard... [REG5]

Having one's energy drained, in comparison, wasn't so bad. Not that Matthew yet realized this – but it would come, sooner or later.

For now, Matthew wasn't even aware of how he got home. Surely he must have somehow... Or had it been a dream ? Why did he feel so odd, then ? Nothing made sense. His body was screaming for more sleep, more rest, more recovery. His mind was fairing a little better – the haze that had somewhat overcame him was slowly lifting.

And with that, came memory. The alley. The two women. Fluorite. Tanzanite.

And Alunite.

Surely, his mind had made that up. Somehow... It all seemed too supernatural, too unreal. Terrorists he could believe, but a woman with weird a** wings and the freakiest arm he'd ever seen ?

“You're awake...”

The voice came form the door of his bedroom, soft. He turned to look over. Ashley. Ashley ? What was she doing here ? ..She looked like a mess. Puffy red eyes, hair in tangles. What happened to her ?

“I feel like s**t.” Came the oh-so-eloquent reply. He patted the side of his bed, not feeling like getting up at all. His little sister understood the message well enough, and came over to sit. She looked relieved, yet completely shattered all at once. How confusing.

“Ashley... What's up ?”

She looked at him just like if she had grown another head. “You don't remember ? Yesterday...”

Yesterday. And now it was dark outside. How long had he been sleeping ?! “I, um...”

She sighed. She really looked like crap – the beginning of dark circles under her green eyes. Something in them was missing. A light that usually was there was missing. “I know, Matty.” She reached down to push some stray bangs out of his eyes. “I was there. I..” She hesitated. “Im Fluorite, Matty.”

It was like being smacked in the face with a sack full of brick. Suddenly it all made sense, and suddenly it seemed so stupid that he hadn't recognized her. But... “What ?”

“It's the glamor.” She started to explain. “When im Fluorite, no one can tell that she and I are the same. Same with you and Alunite.”

Alunite. “So... It was real, then.”

“It was.” She sighed again. The tension was thick enough in between them that one could have probably have sliced through it with a knife. Matthew didn't like this. “How are you feeling ? I mean... beside the obvious. Remember everything ?”

“Im... fine, I guess ?” Was the answer he gave, after a few seconds of thought. Remember everything ? That was an odd as hell question, wasn't it ? “I just thought it was some sort of crazy, ******** up dream, really... Why should I have forgotten anything ?”

“That's what happen.” She said, her voice wavering. “To chosen senshi. The ones that get pulled over to us after they're awakened, that is. They lose everything. Their memories. Their life. Their very being. Everything. She told me you'd be fine, but I... I..”

It all happened so fast. Next thing he knew, Ashley was clinging to him, face buried deep against his chest, sobs running though her. Just like when they were kids, though back then, Matthew had always been standing and glaring at whoever had did this to his sister, not slumped into bed with his body feeling like a solid block of lead. “Im sorry, im sorry, I just... I...”

“Shhh.” Matthew started combing though her hair gently. It always seemed to calm her. The true impact of what could have happened to him was sinking in, and it felt like a pit in his stomach. But yet... It was irrelevant, now. It clearly had not happened at all. “It's okay, Midget.”

“Im not a midget...” Came the grumbling, and he grinned. “I just... I hated keeping this from you... I need you, Matty.”

“It's okay. Shh...”

“Just the idea I could have had to fight you makes me want to hurl.”

“But you won't have to.” It would take awhile for it to sink in. It always was this way.

It seemed like forever before the moment passed, and Ashley let go, and wiped the tears away from her eyes.

“Does... mom and dad know any of this ?” The question came to him, suddenly. He honestly doubted so, if he hadn't before now.

“No.” Was the predictable answer. “Not a thing. I just told them I was spending the night here, or they just never caught me sneaking out yet.” She shook her head. “They don't know about yesterday, either. I just told them you were lonely without your roommate around.”

...Excuse him ? He couldn't help but frown. “Hey !”

“Hah.” The sound lacked in true humor, and she got up from the bed. “Try to rest some more, okay ? I'll have something nice cooked up when you wake up again, alright ?”

He wanted to argue it out, but he didn't – Ashley looked worn ragged enough as is. Food would be nice, but in the end, more sleep won out first. His sister was barely out of his bedroom that he was out like a light again.

Corrupted Curiosity [REG8]

Story Time [REG10]

After his impromptu lesson from Captain Ilmenite, Alunite felt like he at least had a better idea how to proceed. With what he had learned in mind, he was out the next night, and he waited, crouched on a rooftop overlooking a rather popular bar. It was almost closing time – people would start leaving soon.

He had to be even less direct than the other agents were about this, which complicated things slightly. This was also probably why chosen senshi like him did not have energy quotas to fill, per-se. They just didn't blend in very well. The hair and the holes did not help. At all. Watching someone's starseed though a hole in their chest wasn't exactly the definition of subtle.

So why was he doing this ? Well. Mostly he just had a need to feel useful. Most nights he was just... there. Moving around, watching, meeting the odd senshi and agent here and here. This was better than doing nothing at all, and having energy on hand could come in handy...

Alunite was a patient hunter, perfectly still until he saw movement and focused on it. A woman, on the older side as far as club-goers went – and she clearly wasn't sober. How... careless, in a city like Destiny City, he couldn't help but think. Did they not worry about what they only knew as monsters ? Had the steady death roll that had only started to go down a few months ago already been forgotten ?

Some people, he decided, where just a little slower than others, to stay polite. Before this, he had been rather careful, save for a few run ins there and there. But now... now there was no such need for carefulness. He had the power to defend himself, and the youmas would recognize him as one of their own.

The woman was making her way toward him, rummaging through her purse for something. Makeup ? Smokes ? Alunite didn't especially care what she might be looking for. The important thing was that she kept coming his direction... Which she did.

He jumped down as silently as possible once she had passed him, graped her, one hand solidly on her mouth, and dragged her back into the alley. She struggled, but it didn't do much to aid her. Ilmenite was right, and he was noticing now – he was stronger. There was no way Matthew would have been able to drag a fully-grown woman like this. This was rather amazing, really. And exciting.

When in the alley, he pulled his back to the wall and pulled his hand close like he had watched Fluorite do so many times, used her tricks and Ilmenite's and did his best. He didn't find it that easy – perhaps it was inexperience, or maybe it was because he was a senshi ? No, probably just inexperience. It just was an odd concept for him. The first few attempts didn't work at all, which made him tense. It wasn't like he could just let her go ! But then, finally, her struggles eased up, and something was forming in his hand. A small ball, glimmering like a tiny pearl, getting bigger and bigger by the second. Finally.

He had to be careful, through. Too much would kill the woman, and he didn't want that. Why would he ? Her only factor in this war was her... current donation to the cause of the Negaverse. Other than that, she was rather irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. She had no reason to die. She slumped down in his hold, suddenly losing consciousness, and this was where he stopped – earlier than most agents would have. His sleeves, he found, made handy pockets – the orb went right in there, and he scaled the building again to perch, this time looking down in the alley. Now this was pure, dumb curiosity, but he wanted to see how long it would take her to wake up.

Though now what had happened to him that one night made perfect sense... The bunny. The flash of pink hair. Fluorite had taken him home. It was easy enough to figure out, now. While he waited, he took the orb out of it's hiding place and observed it. It was... oddly beautiful, in a way. And extremely fragile. What was it made of ? Glass ? No, probably just solidified energy ?

How... odd.

He was careful, his senses alert – it was a good thing, because it wasn't long before a senshi aura came into range – a rather strong one, at that. Definitively something he didn't want to tango with, for sure. So he didn't get an answer to his question – he left as quickly as he could, hopefully before the senshi could home in on him, hopping a few buildings over before jumping down and powering down, his new found prize now safe in his subspace until he powered up again.