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 Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 7:10 pm
"Tethys no!!" Deimos complained as she savagely beat the fluffy-haired Rocket. On the last blow, at the sight of blood, the little Galactic boss tensed. He balled up his fists and inserted himself between Tethys and her victim. "I order you to stop!!" He barked at his second in command, face set in an uncharacteristically serious expression.
Star's eyebrows climbed upward. This was a thing no one had seen happen before.
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Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 7:27 pm
Tethys was about to bring her staff down on Nyx in another blow when Deimos - an angry Deimos - inserted himself in her vision. She managed to veer the weapon away from him but her eyes remained wide and staring.
It wasn't that Deimos was intimidating. He wasn't, and that was the point. On the whole it was rather like being savaged by a rabbit - you didn't fight back while your brain scrambled to catch up.
"Sir," Tethys managed. "Sir, she's-"
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Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 7:41 pm
"She's done nothing wrong!" Deimos finished Tethys' sentence, single angry eye still fixed on her. "Put that away." He pointed at the bloodied staff. After another moment of glaring, his eyebrows relaxed into a look of general upset. "She's our guest." He insisted in a smaller voice before turning around to kneel beside Nyx, face filling with worry. "..can you get up?"
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Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 7:50 pm
Nyx was still for a moment, save for the slight shaking of her shoulders; She said nothing as she started to push herself up, slowly, into a kneeling position. Her head was spinning, and getting up any further seemed like it would just make things worse. Deimos was answered only with pained gasps.
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Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 8:01 pm
"Wh-" Tethys found herself taking a step back and made an inarticulate noise of protest. "Sir- sir, she-" The commander forced herself to take a deep breath and calm herself enough to get words out, "It's not possible this isn't a setup; this world doesn't work like that! She was so easy to capture, she barely fought back, there's been no contact about her return, you're doing exactly what she wants you to, she-"
The staff hung loosely from her hand, bloodied tip resting in the grass.
"Sir.."
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Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 8:49 pm
"She's our guest." Was all Deimos would say as he attempted to haul Nyx over to Phillip. He wasn't strong enough to lift her on his own, so the giant bat moved closer to help. Without looking back at Tethys, he got Nyx situated on Phillip's back, climbed on after her, and took off back toward the ship.
Star watched this without saying anything, eyes slowly drifting from the retreating form back to Tethys.
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Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 9:06 pm
Tethys shut her eyes so she wouldn't see them go.
For a long time she stood there, breathing carefully, unmoving. Her features were locked in an unreadable expression, brow knitted and jaw tight.
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Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 9:15 pm
Star stayed where he was, watching her for a while. He considered trying to use the rare moment to get in Tethys' good graces, but decided this was not the time. If ever she was likely to shoot him in the head for saying the wrong thing, it was now.
"...I'll have a crew dispatched to clean this up." He said simply, climbing back on Scream.
Meanwhile, Phillip landed at the hangar with his battered passengers. In a few moments Deimos had whoever was nearby help carry Nyx to the infirmary.
- - - - -
The rest of the day at Galactic HQ was awkwardly quiet. No new orders were sent out. People carried out existing tasks and minded their own business. Everybody knew something serious had happened outside and that was about the extent of it.
The infirmary staff saw to Nyx. Her wounds weren't serious, but she still needed a lot of care. Deimos came and went, not sure what to do with himself. He was of no use in the infirmary, as much as he wanted to be. He was good at fixing machines, not people. Nyx needed rest and spent a lot of the evening asleep. After a few hours spent watching her, he returned to his quarters. He did have work to do, after all. The trip upstairs felt strange without his second in command looming over his shoulder. Deimos wasn't sure where Tethys had gone or how to feel about her absence. Picking at one of his gloves and looking generally upset, he rode the glass elevator upstairs.
When he arrived he was a little surprised to find his studio currently occupied. "..Star?"
The lanky Galactic looked up from examining one of Deimos' prototypes. It looked like a mix between a toaster oven and a table saw. He arched an eyebrow and set the device down, turning to face the much shorter man, "Hello, sir. I hope I'm not intruding." Deimos didn't realize it, but Star had been intruding for quite some time. He'd been waiting for Deimos all evening. Team Galactic's boss was never without his second in command. Ever. Except today. This had always been a point of frustration for Star. Despite all his genius, Deimos was about as easily manipulated as silly putty. If only he could get him alone.
"Oh.. no." Deimos shook his head and continued on into his quarters, looking distracted, "Did you need something?"
Star followed after him, hands clasped behind his back, "I'd actually come up here to ask you that. Today's tragedy was so awful. If it hadn't been for your bravery.. well I don't like to think what would have happened. I'm sure this has all been very stressful for you. Is there anything I can do?"
Deimos sat on the edge of his bed, looking upset. The bed itself was covered in a comforter decorated in little Galactic G's. Star had to make an effort not to wince at it. "No.. I don't think so." He answered, eye passing around the room. It seemed strangely empty without Tethys.
"Mmm.." Star nodded, watching Deimos search for something clearly not there, "..may I ask where the Commander is?"
Deimos blinked, "Tethys? ...I'm not sure."
"I see." He nodded again, more slowly, "It's a shame.. she wouldn't be here for you at a time like this."
"I'm sure she's just busy."
"Of course. You know.. I wasn't sure if it's really my place to bring it up.. but....." Star trailed off.
Deimos stopped searching the room and looked back at Star, "What?"
"Well. It's just that.. I think she's been busier than you realize."
"Oh. Probably." Deimos shrugged, "She takes care of a lot of things."
"..yes but, I think she may have made an effort today to take care of things you didn't want taken care of."
Deimos' brow furrowed in mild confusion, "Huh?"
"Well sir.. I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this but the Commander approached me recently about modifications to the Braviary."
"Oh, I know about that." Deimos nodded, "She was trying to make the day perfect for us."
Star sighed, "I'm not sure that she was, sir. The modifications she inquired about had to do with the power system."
Deimos tilted his head, still not catching on, "She's very thorough."
"I'm sure she is. But these modifications weren't in the best interest of the aircraft's safe function. In fact I'd say they were completely contrary to that. They were dangerous."
Deimos didn't look at all phased by this. In fact, he rolled his eyes and chuckled, "Well that's not surprising. Tethys isn't an engineer, Star. She wouldn't know the first thing about power systems."
For the love of.. "Yes I know but I think there might be more to it than that."
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Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 2:07 pm
Lurking just outside the door of Deimos' quarters stood a likely unwelcome eavesdropper, leaning against a wall. An unusual frown etched upon his face as he listened to the words being said between Star and Deimos. While the "boss man" wasn't really getting Star's subtle hints, Orion did.
He had just returned from a long mission, and came back successful. He had intended to report to Deimos, and hopefully find Tethys. This was something he had not expected. A smirk then played across his lips. Well now, how interesting.
Tossing a ball into the air and catching it again, Orion decided he could report to Deimos later. Right now, there were more important things to be had! Like flirting. Folding his arms behind his head, the green haired man casually sauntered back to the elevator and began his search for Tethys.
The fact that she was not at Deimos side was certainly odd, not that he was complaining. Plus he had heard murmurings of something catastrophic going down before his return. He could only suspect that she was upset about whatever had transpired. Orion had a good idea of where to find her.
Some minutes later, a yellow streak shot out of the massive airship and lazily circled in the air, searching. Upon spotting its target, the Dragonite quickly descended until touching down in a grassy field with a soft thud and flapping of tiny wings.
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Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 2:33 pm
Tethys hadn't responded when Star left, and it had been a good quarter of an hour that she stood still, doing nothing more than breathing. The salvage crew hadn't set foot in the field yet, finding it prudent to wait until it was clear. Eventually the commander opened her eyes, but what they saw was something far away, past the smoking wreckage of the jet.
Guest.
She inhaled deeply and tightened the grip on her staff.
- - - - -
Now she'd been drilling herself through attack forms for however long; she'd lost track of time, putting all her focus in the movements of her body. Grip, step, spin, thrust, block, breathe, strike, over and over, filling her ears with the slap of the staff against her ribs and the snapping of her coat as she spun. As Orion touched down she paused, breathing hard. Her cheeks were flushed and wisps of hair had worked free of her ponytail, but the exertion had helped.
And then there was orange and chartreuse in her peripheral vision. Tethys' expression immediately soured. Wonderful.
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Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 2:49 pm
Standing in the grass, Orion slipped his hands in his pockets and watched Tethys do her routine. So breathless, so flushed... damn that was sexy. There was a smarmy look on the man's face when he finally started to approach the blue haired beauty.
He lifted one hand out of his pocket and held it up in greeting. "Yo babe! Long time no see. Didja miss me?" His expression then widened to a grin before he took the ultra ball he'd been holding in his hand and swiftly tossed it toward her.
"I brought ya something. Consider it a souvenir from Unova!"
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Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 3:04 pm
Tethys didn't turn around; no doubt the look she would see on Orion's face would prompt her to break his nose. She did stick out an arm and catch the ultra ball as it whizzed past - and pointedly let it drop.
"What do you want." Her words were a question, but her tone said Go away and die.
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Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 3:13 pm
Eyes followed the ball as it dropped to the ground, but the man was unfazed by the rejection of his little gift. Sometimes the male had to do a dance and woo before she would accept his dead rat. Tethys was a particularly hard sell, but he always did like a challenge.
With both hands in his pockets again, Orion gave a shrug and his grin widened. "A hot date would be nice, just you and me alone-" Apparently Tethys' cold demeanor and death glares were not very effective against Orion.
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Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 3:19 pm
"Never," she cut him off. The commander kept her replies laconic and flat; Orion could find encouragement in something so small as an extra syllable. "Leave."
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Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 4:22 pm
That answer was of no surpise. He'd tried many times and she'd turned him down. That didn't mean he would stop trying. His smirk still remained.
"Okay," he said, raising both hands in the air with another shrug. He then turned his back to Tethys, starting to walk away.
"I guess you don't want to hear about Star and Deimos, then."
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