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 Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2024 6:01 pm
Belmont stood still for a moment after the youma seemed to have disappeared. The storm faded quickly enough; he doubted he’d need to use his magic again but best to preserve it just in case. He turned to Ekstrom and flashed a quick grin, “Hey, we should get out of here before somebody decides to whip out their phone. Your shield’s pretty neat, I like that. We make a good team, yeah?”
Though Belmont was making light of the situation, he had taken it seriously–and he was already trying to peer into the direction that Mel had disappeared into.
Powered up like this he knew he hadn’t felt a Negaverse agent or other youma nearby so he assumed she was safe.
“I don’t suppose you saw a woman with a dog on your way over here, did you?”
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Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2024 7:39 pm
Ekstrom felt the youma’s aura blip out of existence as she watched Belmont dust it, and when it was all over she sighed and dropped her focus. Her shield flickered away, and she tugged her shield out of the ground before standing and taking a look around as Belmont spoke. So far no one had come running, much to her relief.
“Good idea,” she said, looking back to him for a second before nodding toward the tree line and starting to walk toward it. “And thanks! I think we made a pretty good team, too, though I think you did more of the heavy lifting. You were great out there!. I wouldn’t wanna be on the receiving end of either of those attacks.”
She was mid-step when he asked about possibly his friend, though with the vague but still somehow similar description she nearly tripped over her own foot. What were the chances he was actually talking about her, though? Slim, at best?
He probably wasn't asking about her.
“Mmn...maybe?” Glancing at him curiously, she pressed just a little. “Uhh, can you describe her? Like…what was she wearing? What kinda dog?”
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Posted: Wed Aug 21, 2024 3:53 pm
Belmont debated for a few seconds on how he wanted to answer, or if he wanted to. If Ekstrom hadn’t seen anyone in enough distress to note then Mel was probably fine.
“Are you okay there?” he asked. When she stumbled, he extended a hand as if he meant to catch or stabilize her, and he still held it out just in case. She looked like she’d gotten control of things but if that youma had some slow-acting magic or something he still wanted to be prepared.
“My friend’s a blonde. Pretty, fashionable. And the dog’s–well, not little, but small enough that you could still probably pick up without much trouble. Cute, too.”
He didn’t hear a panicked dog barking in the distance and it wasn’t like Mel would have abandoned Lulu to save herself. If he powered down, he could probably just text her but he didn’t want to ditch Ekstrom immediately after they’d dusted the youma.
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Posted: Thu Aug 22, 2024 1:08 am
She hop-skipped a step or two forward, so took his offered hand as soon as she saw it to try and balance herself out. Once both feet were firmly planted on the ground again, she flashed him a grateful smile.
“Thank you! And…” Well, that description narrowed down the possibilities but still curiously included her as well–a blonde with a small dog. Her curiosity piqued, she looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding slowly.
“I think I saw a pair like that duck behind some bushes over there,” she said, seemingly pointing in a general direction, but actually indicating the exact cluster of trees and bushes where she’d tucked her pup safely away. Now that things had calmed down and she was focusing on the area, she could hear her pup barking. It wasn’t exactly a distressed bark, just the one she used when she was trying to get her attention.
She felt her heart wrench and she started moving toward it, though she paused to turn to Belmont. The worry was plain on her face, that this wasn't just some random dog to her. “C'mon. You hear that, right?”
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Posted: Tue Aug 27, 2024 12:32 pm
In the quiet of the aftermath, Belmont could hear the barking easily. Mel should have gotten far enough away that she shouldn’t have been hurt, but a bark like that…
He didn’t know exactly what it meant but it was easy to assume the worst. “Yeah,” he said. He heard it. Thankfully, it was away from the people they’d left behind at the playground but if anyone came looking, he and Ekstrom would just wind up right back where they started–surrounded by too many people who weren’t supposed to know they existed.
“Let’s go check it out,” he said, though she’d already made the suggestion. He picked up the pace, unwilling to think that Mel or Lulu could be hurt and need help.
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Posted: Tue Aug 27, 2024 7:56 pm
Ekstrom nodded when he agreed to go check it out, and as soon as she was sure he was still behind her she hurried over. She waited until she was safely behind the cover of the brush before she powered down and took a seat, pulling Lulu into her arms and offering her some comfort and cuddles to calm her down. She was fine, thankfully, but a little worked up.
“She’s fine!” she called, sounding far more relaxed than just moments earlier. Quickly undoing the leash from the tree, she soon poked her head out from the little hiding spot, eyes up on Belmont and a small smile on her face. “We both are, thanks to you. C’mon,” she gestured for him to duck into the brush as well, “before someone sees you and wanders over.”
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Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2024 6:07 pm
There might have been an inkling of suspicion stirring in the back of Belmont’s mind but it wasn’t until he saw Ekstrom power down into Mel that he knew for sure. His heart skipped a beat but just to be safe he glanced around before he powered down even as he shifted into a cross-legged position within the brush.
“Mel!” he half laughed, “What is this? What other secrets have you been keeping from me?”
He was glad to see Lulu doing well and reached out a hand to brush behind her ear as he leaned in a little closer, like doing so would further bury their other identities.
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Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2024 2:36 am
Mel giggled at his reaction once Aiden settled down in front of her, her confirmed suspicions a rather soothing new bit of information. She’d felt alone for most of her time as a knight, though recently that feeling was slowly starting to give way to a quiet confidence in simply knowing that she wasn’t. She was on her own most nights, sure, but she wasn’t alone in the war. Having a good friend she could easily reach out to, though, was a very different story.
As for Lulu, she looked just as happy with Aiden’s presence, though that might have more to do with the ear scritches than anything else. The pup gave a happy little yip at the attention he was giving her.
“I could ask you the same, y’know,” she said once her giggles subsided, smiling brighter than usual. “Looks like we’ve got a little more catching up to do than usual. C’mon, I know a place nearby where we can talk.”
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