|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2012 9:29 pm
The brand on her chest made him flinch, not wanting to imagine the pain she must have gone through. But there was something else that caught his eye.
"What the hell is that??" he sputtered, pointing at the revealed hickey, completely talking over her claim of him keeping secrets. "What is that??" No, he knew what it was. He didn't have to be told. She was seeing someone too.
Valhalla lifted his hands to crack his knuckles as faceless men she must have been seeing popped up into his thoughts. "Depends on when you say we stopped speaking," he glowered, his anger stemming more towards the fact that there was some jackass sucking on his best friend than the fact that she was accusing him of keeping things from her. "We broke up after the camp and didn't get back together until Christmas. After that, I don't think we spoke much, so there really wasn't any point in telling you," he explained.
But that wasn't the point of the matter right now. He had seen her. It wasn't just him making things up. "If it doesn't work like that, then explain why I saw someone who looked just like you stand from that chair! I've had these memories before! You might not be able to see it, but it's real! Or... had been..."
They'd all died a long time ago, after all...
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2012 9:38 pm
Zia was interrupted from her look of 'I'm not buying it, you're in so much trouble' to clasp a hand over the bruise, face flushing red. She wasn't sure she had the capacity to be embarrassed anymore but there it was. "Oh, that," She said, glancing in the other direction like she was afraid to make eye contact. Did she want to admit she'd been with Pascal? Probably not, she wouldn't even consider him her boyfriend, though he was definitely a friend. She figured he met the quota of 'doing random bullshit together' to be a friend. And he did lay all his cards on the table when they stopped fake dating that he wanted a real date.
But at the same time, with all the things she considered positive about him, something about him unsettled her. His reaction to her frazzled state post-DMC encounter and the fact he went ahead and took her back to his place when she was too trashed to figure out what was going on left a bad taste in her mouth she didn't want to talk about with Valhalla.
"That," She said again and cringed. "Are you going to be, like, super judgmental if I tell you I have no idea what his name was?" Because that was so much better.
His insistence she had a past life seemed like a much better thing to harp on.
"...Well even if you're right what am I supposed to do about it?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2012 10:00 pm
"Yes I am!" he bit out, staring at her in horror. "I hoped you used protection! God, Zee... If you don't even know the guy!"
He was totally allowed to be judgmental when it came to relationships. No, he couldn't claim he had a lot of experience in them since he'd only been in a couple, but he was pretty sure his holding out for the right person to come along was a lot smarter than sleeping around with random strangers!
Valhalla scowled at her, although he hoped she knew he wasn't upset with her as much as he just... wanted to beat up the jackass who had given her a hickey. What if it had been more visible and people had seen it at her work?? Talk about unprofessional! He sincerely hoped this jerk knew better than to have Zia risk her job!
"Get you to awaken, of course!" he scoffed lightly, as if that was the obvious answer. Really now, what else were they supposed to do. "You were there when I awoke. There must be some kind of... trigger to get you to awaken," he insisted, still rubbing at his fists menacingly as he grumbled to himself about how he'd like to get his hands on the guy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2012 10:22 pm
"Of course I did," Zia said, trying to get back to being all irreverent and annoyingly cheeky, but she was pretty sure every ounce of blood had rushed to her face. Especially at that question. God. Although it did remind her she had no idea considering she had been completely shitfaced and didn't remember much beyond drawing star maps in the planetarium.
Maybe because Zia didn't have much experience either way in dealing with the social side of romance, and other than a short boyfriend in high school had become too absorbed in studies to even pursue anyone, but she was so intensely embarrassed she wasn't sure if she should hide under that cape or punch Valhalla again. Of course now that she was neither in school or the pillar of self esteem it didn't take much to end up hanging around with a guy who was just as ******** up as she was.
"I'm an adult, god," She tried to argue without very much volume, still not entirely sure she didn't want to just go find a place to hide. She probably wasn't making her case since she still couldn't peel her eyes up from the floor.
"Okay..." Getting her to awaken sounded much much much easier said than done. Especially when she still thought Valhalla was full of false hope. Though she couldn't say she hadn't done a suitable amount of research on the subject of knightly awakenings. "You don't use a cat..." She stated. "I think you need like... a sense of urgency? Something to protect? Feels? I dunno."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2012 9:44 am
"I know you're an adult," he said, staring at her and flushing lightly as he realized how blunt he'd been with her. He couldn't help it... part of him still thought of her as the sister he'd never had, his closest friend through his younger years. The only friend he'd had from back then, really, since Daniel had moved back to Germany to be with his mother.
But maybe that was a good thing... Once that door of his life was closed off to those who knew him now, then there was no excuse but to keep moving forward.
He didn't want to do that without Zia, though. Despite her pushing him away and avoiding him and probably thinking he was crazy for dragging her to the fortress in the first place... But how else would he have gotten her to talk to him?
Valhalla shifted awkwardly, his frustration settling upon seeing Zia's embarrassment. "No, we don't," he confirmed, although she already seemed rather sure of herself about knight awakenings. "It's not even that... a sense of urgency, I mean. It's just... kind of like a self awareness. I wasn't even in danger when I became a squire, and again when I became, well... this..." he mumbled, gesturing to himself and the layers of armor and fur and feathers. "It's... different for everyone, though..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2012 10:03 am
Zia was trying to unknot her stomach and get her complexion back to normal, and in doing so was pretending she was really concerned that her pedicure was chipped to keep avoiding eye contact.
"You were trying to protect me when you awakened, though. And I've heard similar stories. Wanting to fight things, wanting to protect things, feeling helpless, needing power... but nothing seems consistent." She thought back to senshi upgrading, trying to reconcile it somehow. "...When a senshi is ready to upgrade, most of the time it's during battle. But sometimes it's not. It's just like... like you know they've grown, and you just know they're ready..." She rooted around in Zirconia's memories, though they seemed faded and less vivid than her own. "Awakening senshi seems the same. Maybe you just project the assumption that they awakened to fight or protect but really, all you had to go on was a feeling."
She groaned and grabbed her aching head. "Everything's always so stupid and complicated."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2012 10:44 am
He didn't know how to think of a way they could get her to awaken at the moment, but he had been certain he'd seen her in his memories. There was no mistaking it — she'd looked exactly like Zia, give or take a few details.
As for some kind of consistency to look for... he wasn't sure what to tell her. He'd been there when other knights had awakened, and when he'd upgraded, he knew it had been because he'd allowed himself to move on with his life. For the longest time he thought there must have been something he was doing wrong. So many others had passed him in rank, and while he didn't believe rank was the be-all, end-all of everything, he did feel like something of a failure for a while.
Hell, he still wasn't sure he deserved the power he had now, and was even hesitant to use it... but that would be for another day. Right now he was trying to help the young woman he still thought of as his best friend.
Valhalla cautiously reached out to fondly brush at her messy hair, though poised to pull away if it seemed as though she didn't want the physical contact. Things had changed so much between them, so he was unsure what was now okay and what wasn't. "I know what I saw, Zee... We'll figure something out," he promised.
After a few moments of letting her collect her thoughts, he offered a hand for her to take. "I'll bring you home... Just please let me help..." he requested, begging with his eyes and hoping that would be enough to get her to concede.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2012 11:11 am
Zia flinched at the physical contact, but it was par for the course in general, not just because it was Valhalla. She still touched people with free abandon, hell, even worse lately since she was trying to split apart socially appropriate behavior for cats versus humans. Using one or the other in the wrong way made it all seem awkward. But she didn't like people reaching for her. Ever.
She pursed her lips, messing with her nails as if she was mulling it over. Her logic at the beginning of all this was to separate herself from people she cared about for their own protection, so she was free to destroy herself or let herself be destroyed without any consequences, and by that logic her brain strictly said accepting his help was disgustingly selfish.
But she was also sick of being an island. She wanted real friends again. She wanted to be around people she could be weak with and they wouldn't pounce on her. She didn't take his hand, but she did grab him into a hug, confident in the fact he wasn't going to tell her to work it out and shut up.
------------------------------------------------
Once back on Earth, she managed o be docile just long enough to write down her new contact information, including her personal cell phone, but with the warning that she'd cut him if her dad ever got a hold of it. And then she slammed the door in his face.
She did have work in the morning.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
