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 Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2013 5:56 pm
"Get their s**t together for what?" Zia said with a snort and a laugh. "You don't buy into that stuff Natron does with the aliens here to take over bullcrap do you? They aren't a ******** army, they just kind of..." She stopped and frowned at the space in front of her face,
What did they do? Except fight Chaos and monsters, but given the present company that sounded a bit insensitive to bring up.
"Anyway," She took advantage of her close proximity to him to lean in and mostly show off.
"I don't know. I saw one awaken, you know? It was a while back, but it was confusing and weird and I always just seem to understand weird s**t better when I can put it in numbers." Her tone and tempo seemed to pick up the pace as she rattled off trivial numbers, "I used to think they were one per planet but there's more than one for several and I found a few that weren't attached to planets at all! There's Cosmos and the Zodiac and even Polaris. Earth seems to have the most ranking in with four knights I've documented, plus another one rumored, Jupiter knights seem to have a naming theme, and men dominate the entire faction according to my small pool with only about 1 in 8 knights being women. Negaverse officers seem to be cut off from their memories and wonder name and travel, I'm not sure if they suddenly remember it on purification but so far no one's been willing to turn traitor for my scientific curiousity."
She meant to end on a joke, but her incessant babble cut itself short and she was back to frowning to herself again. What was she going to do with it?
"...I guess it's pretty... pointless..."
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 5:10 am
"It's not pointless, how's anyone supposed to find out the truth unless someone's looking at things without the bullshit filter? And you're right, they're hardly an army, they're mostly a bunch of dumbass kids. He fell mute for a moment, studying his boots as she talked about Negaverse agents and purification. "And probably no one will because it's ********' dangerous. I mean mostly you risk a broken nose or some creative magical whoosit if you tangle with a Senshi. Whoopdah. If you start talking about side swapping and someone finds out you are seriously going to get fed to something that probably hasn't seen daylight in the lifespan of civilization as we know it. Or if you're really lucky they'll just rip your starseed out. And God know's there's plenty of chances for someone to find out since you have to hook up with a goddam Space Princess for any of it to go down at all, and in a faint glimmer of common sense, first said space Disney Twerp has to decide it's not a trap... and then you still loose half your memories apparently, because pissing off the entire negaverse didn't lower your survival chances enough; but hey! Plus side, your one legged dog on a eight lane freeway convert can't be summoned directly to the Negaverse by a superior officer anymore, they've got to actually go find them. It's sorta like giving someone a five second head star before you unleash the chainsaw wielding maniacs in the name of Metalia." Oops, did that sound a bit bitter? "...That being said I might know a guy who'd thought about it, but... uh... nothing concrete. Just sort of kicking things around..." Yeah... that was it. Kicking things around....
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 7:38 am
Zia was dead silent. At first she tried to look like she wasn't listening and kept her focus down on her phone, but towards the end of his description, she did turn just slightly to the side to look at him. She felt guilty, like she'd been caught making an offensive joke which was an appropriate analysis in her mind. It was a cringe through and through, putting all the apologetic guilt she felt out on her sleeve.
"It sounds more like a hostage situation to me," She murmured, and then went back to trying to shut the discomforting thoughts out by focusing on her phone screen. She had to type in his name and weapon and all the other stats she tracked, so she felt like it was a good excuse to detach.
She wasn't doing a very good job of detaching, though, since she couldn't seem to crash her various trains of thought. Absentmindedly, the fingers on one hand slipped under her necklace to trace over Ares' branding.
"Well I guess being a nobody isn't so bad," She said with a distasteful laugh at both their expense.
"So what kind of bike is that, anyway?" Rapid subject change ahoy.
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 8:30 am
The pulled pork sandwich had suddenly lost some of it's savor, and was sitting heavily in the pit of his stomach, but he ate more anyway, interjecting a quiet "...Sorry." between a few bites. "That?" He glanced over at it and snorted. "That is a prototype Pieceacrap built lovingly from mostly scavenged parts on the off chance someone decided to say... take down a plate number or try and track a part. I've had to fix more bits than I care to admit, but it runs, it runs pretty fast, it doesn't eat starseeds to keep running, and SO FAR it hasn't shaken apart in the middle of a run. I built it."
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 8:51 am
"Wait, like... you built that all on your own?" Zia's dedication to a whiplash like subject change had her full on in a state of wonderment and awe that he had the capability to conjure up a fully functioning machine.
She wasn't a gearhead, she just liked to go fast, and had grown up in an environment with people who actually cared about that stuff and a daddy that mysteriously eliminated all moving violations princess could rack up.
"I dunno too much about mechanical stuff," She admitted, even though she was currently suffering the repercussions of a restless engineer leaving prototypes and parts all over her living space. "My brother's got an old Honda VTX, I dunno what the model is, but he doesn't shut the ******** up about it." They were very spoiled children.
She reached for one of the sodas, pausing for a beat when she looked at the can. "I would think beer would go with this picnic a lot better, but okay..."
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 12:27 pm
"You're right about the beer I just.... I dunno. I figured I'd be doing more driving tonight so..." Was that ridiculous? A Warrior of chaos who didn't want to risk drinking and driving? Maybe so but he was afraid to crash, regardless of his powers. "Sounds like a nice machine. Does he drive it or just look at it?" He joked. "Yeah I kinda got into repairing them when I stopped..." He glanced at his own bike."...racing them. Kind of figured it was the natural thing to do. And I have relatives in the repair shop business so...hey. New job. Yay." He flashed a slightly wry smile.
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 2:05 pm
"Very responsible," Zia said in a tone that sounded more like a dig than a compliment as she cracked open the can.
"If I ask why you're not a racer anymore, is it going to make you emotionally choke on your words more or less?" She asked before chugging down half her soda to wash down the long devoured sandwich. If she was efficient at anything it was eating crap in record time.
"You're obviously still zooming around, so obviousl-- wait, what runs on starseeds?"
Delayed realization was delayed.
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 3:05 pm
"Ah..." He cleared his throat and gave a short, embarrassed laugh before continuing. "...More probably, but you can ask." He noted. "Youma. Youma eat starseeds and energy. I... don't think that's the only reason they're being collected though." Dulynoted. Do not introduce Zia to Redline, she is unlikely to think it is 'awesome'. Even though it kind of totally is. "And" Another awkward pause and he rubbed the back of his neck. "There was a crash. And I mean... normal bike accidents are bad, and... you wear extra gear for racing because of that s**t... but this was... bad bad. A couple people didn't make it out alive. I did but I was in the hospital for a long time and in rehab longer. Lots of surgery. Internal crap." He grimaced, not sure if it would sound like he was fishing for attention or if it was legitimately just an important detail. "At the time it... actually wasn't even clear if I was going to be able to walk again so I am actually really goddamn lucky I just..." "It's pathetic is what it is. I can go fast, I can ride a motorcycle, but I haven't been able to get back on a real track and drive. I just... ... I can't, and it..." He waved a hand, jaw set, as though he were trying to grab something from the air to express what he couldn't in words. "It's goddamn pathetic." He finished, frustrated.
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 3:46 pm
She pursed her lips and gave him some suspicious side eye at his starseed spiel. The way he'd brought it up earlier ignited some questions, but she didn't push them, since he actually opened up about a very personal story.
Her mind rushed with what was possible exaggerated images of him lying in hospital beds and imagining the mental scars that kept him off the track and a million over over dramatic things she could only make up to fill in the blanks.
She hugged him. He did not get a say and it was a very unfair hug, taking advantage of his relaxed position on the bench and probably the element of surprise.
"You didn't have to share that, baby, oh my god," She wailed, pushing his hair away from his face and very invasively 'doting'.
"Are you okay now? Do you still have to go to rehab? Should you be out doing this?" She ended up pulling bother of her legs up on the bench to accommodate the way she'd shifted, hijacking on of his arms and squeezing it with both of hers.
"You shouldn't be out fighting, it's dangerous!"
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 4:22 pm
"Guh??" Apparenly 'Hug and petting' was not the reaction Realgar had been expecting when sharing his private (and impressively deep) well of existential angst, which showed when he blinked at her, eyes even wider and more surprised than when she'd surprise photomugged him. "I'm fine!" He promised, still staring a bit like a startled deer in the headlights. "I swear to God... freaking... Moon Queen or... whoever you want. I. Am. Fine." Of course fighting was dangerous. That was sort of the point, but he had the feeling he should not tell her that, lest he be kidnapped to some... he wasn't sure... padded room full of teddy bears around rounded edges. "At least I'm... -doing- something. I'd go around the bend if I just sat back and... I don't know... put on a suit and did nine to five in a cube farm. I do enough of that to pay rent. If I wasn't allowed to ride again..." He actually shuddered at the thought. He'd rather live through a hundred crashes than fade into that gray blurry mundanity.
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Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 5:04 pm
"You are not fine," Zia insisted back, but he had also seemed to dig into something that confused her.
She had been trying so desperately to pull her life together so she could work a nine to five in her pretty little Prada business chic fashion and was absolutely angry about the loss of that option recently.
He was talking about it like it would be absolute death.
She let out a long drawn out sigh interspersed with whimpers and a noise that had a pitch like a complaint but was far from being an English word as she kept one arm wrapped around his in her clingy fashion and kept moving strands of his hair around.
"Do you enjoy it? What they have you doing for the negaverse?" Other realizations that were less realizations and suppressed knowledge for personal convenience dredged themselves up against her will. "Do you take starseeds often?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 3:16 pm
That was a question that didn't have a happy, convinient answer. Or at least, there was no version of the truth that she was going to like, and any flavor that was left in the meal turned quietly to ash. "I..." He debated carefully. How best to phrase this. "I enjoy the fighting." Maybe he could just... avoid part of the answer. "Not for the reasons you probably think. It's just..." God. He didn't think he could handle being hugged again. It felt awkward, like someone giving hugs to a kid who'd scrapped his knee on the playground. She felt sorry for him, and he liked her, but it rankled. He didn't want pity. "Zinkenite recruited me. He knew exactly what he was doing when he asked. He came to me when I was living on being mad at the world like some people live on food. I was pissed as hell because everything I used to think was a given was gone, and here comes Zinkenite and says "Hey, I can give you power, and you can be a part of something again." And he lays it out and presents it like you're some kind of lethal Batman. And that's great, except the funny part with Chaos is that it's..." He was explaining wrong. "You don't notice something's wrong until you notice one day that the thrill of fighting someone doesn't really carry you over very long, and you've been hitting people that might not deserve to be hit as much as say, those kids you knew were torturing small animals or doing... things that are better off not mentioned, and you start to realize that the only thing that's going to happen when you get a promotion is that you get more angry and more numb until we loose everything left that right now you care about, and someone asks if you're happy, and it -actually- makes you think you might be better off being that one legged dog on the freeway." He didn't have much left to loose. Josephine, Mac Daddy and Thingie... he cared about them. Everything else could go to hell. Teaching at Hilsworth, the job at the garage, he could take it or leave it but they needed him, and everything he'd been before Zinkenite was slowly being erased, and he wasn't sure, looking back, that there had been much there to erase. "Short answer yes. I've taken star seeds, but it's not my primary job right now, and that's all I care to mention on the subject."
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Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 4:02 pm
Something had changed in Zia's expression. It was a small twinge of a change, but it was not wide eyed concern anymore. She still stared at him intently as if non verbally demanding eye contact, but it wasn't quite the same.
"I think about it a lot," She said, shifting and reasserting her grip on his arm, "Of what I would do if someone would offer me that kind of power."
It was wistful, almost envious. Zia was not all snuggles and kisses and childish demands for treats. Somewhere in the back of her brain was a destructive longing for power and the ability to dole out death again.
I used to be something, you know, She fantasized about being able to tell him. I once came to earth with the intention of drowning it in darkness. And I could, if no one was there to stop me...
But she couldn't. He was on the other side of the barrier. Someone was always on the other side of some barrier, and she couldn't say these things that occupied her darker thoughts.
"Is it exhilarating?" So jealous, but after a pause, "I don't understand your freeway analogy. Do you think you would somehow be weaker as a knight? Or do you think Chaos' soldiers are that inescapable?"
She seemed like she was cycling through something, a few thoughts, a few realizations being puzzled out. "Your power is yours, you know. Imagine what you could do with it unrestrained, with no one telling you what to do or who to fight. Pick your own."
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Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 5:06 pm
"Heh... sorry. I guess with me it always comes back to the rubber meeting the road, huh?" He appologized. "... I guess it just feels like they might well be inescapable. I mean... Some girl called Linarite went knight I guess. Zinkenite was as mopey about that as you can get being a General King. Now she's back, or... whatever's left of her. I can't imagine what that would do to your head." He hadn't had occasion to talk to her and find out, so it was left to his imagination. "And...I dunno. The Order side is disorganized, they're a mess. I beat the s**t out of at least one member of their goddamn royalty with a folding chair... not that I came out looking like roses... but I was a Lieutenant at the time. I should have gotten my clock cleaned and handed back to me as small, polished pieces. I guess it makes me worry that they're all that weak, and I would be too if I switched." He chewed his lip thoughtfully, though the spark was clearly catching timber. What would he do, if he could fight whoever he wanted, whenever he wanted, for only his own reasons. No energy demands. No starseeds. No Leash. "It is pretty damn exhilerating, at least at the time. Although my frozen vegetables spend a lot more time getting used on my bruises than on my plate. "Lady, you're a bad influence." He noted, though there was a bit of a hungry grin back on his face. "Hell, only a hand full of 'em probably even have a learning permit to drive." Maybe it was the chaos in him but there was a little part of him that figured he could practically own the damn city if he slipped his lead. If he were so inclined. How was that for a shiny little bauble?
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Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 5:47 pm
"You could be so much more if you weren't focused on who you were following," Zia almost cooed, completely ignoring the bad influence comment. She would never comprehend what anyone thought they were doing. They were certainly no army, but everyone seemed to think they were.
They all had something to fight for, or thought they did. She was too far removed from anything but personal gain and revenge to remember what that was like.
"I've always wanted to hold one in my hands," She said with a sigh, her mind wrapped up in herself as usual. "A starseed, I mean."
It would be a brilliant specimen to study, but fortunately for any would be victims of such studies, she lacked the ability to remove them from anyone.
She let him go and stood up to stretch before adjusting her dress, musing on how nights even in the summertime were way too cold to be running around in a skirt that didn't even make it to her knees. She might've had a serious power craving, but she was glad she wasn't stuck in a fuku.
"Well, Cowboy, I would say thanks for the sandwich and go but I'm kind of stranded. You got enough room for two on that bike?"
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