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 Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2023 6:33 pm
Remarque still had his doubts. He’d made some calls, reached out to a Mauvian. The best Mauvian he could think of? No. But one he knew, and one who was available, and one who could be kind if he had to say ‘sorry, you’re just not there yet.’
One with a little meat on his bones, too. Just in case Arawn was inspired to see how far he could chuck him in a bout of anger.
Laon was, unsurprisingly, a mess. He tried to hide it, but Remarque could see the way he kept wringing his hands together or shifting on his feet, or the way his brows pressed together with worry. Laon had insisted that it was okay if he wasn’t ready–like he was trying to prepare himself and Arawn for disappointment. He’d thanked Remarque, thanked the Mauvian, and seemed genuine when he asked what he could do to help prime his starseed for more power.
The Mauvian had asked to see his pen, and he handed it over. He hadn’t had any expectation that he’d have been able to access any more power tonight, so he was ready to put in the work to earn it.. He wanted it, sure, but he had spent all day preparing for bad news.
For nothing, apparently. The cat hadn’t even told him that he’d earned it, he just looked at his pen, fiddled with it, and then said they should spend some time in Mirrorspace.
Which was fine! Remarque had even planned to take them tonight. He’d thanked the Mauvian and tried not to be too smitten by the fact that it was another talking cat. Tried not to be too anxious about not knowing what he needed to do to be better.
The Mauvian had asked for an update, which Remarque promised, but their time together had been brief. So, Remarque took them into Mirrorspace.
He wasn’t surprised when Laon came through the mirror as a Super Senshi; he’d had his suspicions when the Mauvian offered little advice and offered to look at his pen. Honestly, it was a relief. He didn’t want to deal with Orien having a meltdown.
Laon didn’t seem to recognize that he’d had an upgrade; as soon as they stepped into the vast whiteness of Mirrorspace, he’d gasped and gripped Arawn’s arm tightly as he pushed against him.
Remarque half-turned to face him; he’d felt his energy change before he saw him. Laon was staring at the corner of the room–a place Remarque hadn’t been looking. Mirrorspace could be jarring or overwhelming so he’d at first just assumed that Laon was impressed by the massive doors to the Throne Room, but he was wearing an expression of shock and surprise–like he’d seen something.
Laon could have blamed it on his imagination, but he was so sure that he’d just seen someone darting through the room, but–no, he must have just caught a reflection in the mirror. Still, it sent a shiver down his spine.
It didn’t help that Orien had held his arm a bit roughly when they were passing through. Absentmindedly, Laon rubbed at his arm. It didn’t really occur to him that Arawn had been holding his hand the whole time.
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Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2023 6:36 pm
Maybe it was because he was expecting bad news. Maybe because he was so stressed about Laon being stressed that Arawn was making himself physically ill. Maybe it was something that he did wrong, or something that Mirrorspace didn’t like about him.
Whatever it was, he couldn’t even feel grateful that Laon seemed to be ready for more power too, or grateful that Remarque was there with them and had brought a cat along to make sure Laon’s starseed was given the boost it deserved.
Instead, Arawn just felt… exhausted.
More than that, he felt like he’d been punched by something in the gut, taking the wind from his lungs. <********>” he muttered to himself, holding tightly to Laon’s hand and looking in the direction he was when he gasped.
A chill ran through him, the hair on the back of his neck rising. It felt as though something was there.
“s**t… sorry, hold on…” he winced and had to lower himself to the ground to catch his breath.
“Is this normal?” he grumbled, glancing up at Remarque who’d come with them to… probably make sure Arawn didn’t wreck Mirrorspace after Laon wasn’t given more power. But he had been, so all was well.
Except he felt as though he couldn’t breathe easily.
And something was watching them.
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Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2023 6:50 pm
Laon turned quickly to face Arawn because being in pain was not normal. A thousand ideas ran through his head about everything that could have gone wrong. He was already half-turning to face Arawn. “Are you okay?” he asked, quickly maneuvering so that he was on the ground next to Arawn.
Remarque’s eyes narrowed; he caught something out of the corner of his eye but when he looked, there was nothing there.
Arawn’s current state of things was of far more importance than some stray wraith, anyway.
“What happened?” he asked, kneeling in front of him. He didn’t touch Arawn, didn’t poke or prod, but he waited for an answer. “It’s not supposed to hurt coming here, if that’s what you mean.”
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Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2023 7:01 pm
“I’m fine,” Arawn insisted breathlessly, rubbing at his ribs that felt raw and bruised for absolutely no reason. He couldn’t remember getting into any fights, and he was pretty sure his memory wasn’t that bad yet.
“I don’t know. I just… feel like I got hit by a car. And yes I know what that feels like,” he snapped, misdirected frustration caused by the pain. He didn’t like this. He especially didn’t like the idea that Laon could get hurt.
“What was that?” he asked, nodding to where he thought he saw a shadow. “Wraith?” he guessed, but… it didn’t seem like it.
Not wanting Laon to worry, Arawn forced himself back up to his feet and gave Laon a sincere smile, despite the pain in his lungs and ribs.
“You look amazing. I’m really proud of you. I knew you were ready,” he beamed, doing his best to hold his breath so he didn’t start panting.
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Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2023 7:12 pm
Laon’s brows knitted together tightly when Arawn said it felt like he got hit by a car, and his worry instantly worsened. He could see Arawn pushing himself too hard, and it made the sinking feeling in his stomach grow.
“I–what? Don’t tease me,” he said, and maybe he really was oblivious to his transformation. It was easy to be caught up with whatever was going on with Arawn. Or here in Mirrorspace.
Remarque didn’t interrupt the two, but the strange sensation of someone watching them was undeniable, and it wasn’t normal to have such a reaction to traveling to Mirrorspace. It was cold, maybe, but it didn’t feel like getting hit by a car.
“I didn’t see a wraith,” he answered after a moment, but he scanned the room again just in case. “Arawn, sit down for a minute. Really. It’s not normal for anyone to get hurt coming in here. Did you see anything, or what? Don’t play coy. You either, why are you rubbing your arm?”
Laon blinked and seemed alarmed because he hadn’t even realized that he was, but he instinctively reached a hand to his elbow and–
There was a paper thin scratch through his clothes, and the soreness in his elbow seemed to explode when he realized that it was more than just a bruise. He had a thin, shallow cut over his arm. He spread the fabric with a frown and looked a little alarmed because he hadn’t run into anything. It had been a seamless travel, no different than any other trip.
…Right?
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Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2023 8:05 pm
When accused of teasing, Arawn pouted. He looked like a puppy that had just been kicked with his tail between his legs and ears drooped. He wasn’t teasing him! If he was teasing, he could have said a lot of other things! But Laon was clearly too distracted to even notice the change he went through. That had to be it.
But when Remarque told him to sit down, he clicked his tongue to the roof of his mouth and scoffed rebelliously. He didn’t need to sit down! He was fine! He was--
He was going to sit down. But not because Remarque told him too, but because he felt a little dizzy from standing anyway. Oh, and Laon was hurt too??
Arawn bristled, even as he lowered himself to the ground again.
“So what’s happening? Why is Mirrorspace doing this? We didn’t do anything did we?” he asked, assuming that Laon would blame himself before he had a chance to get an explanation, so Arawn asked before he could start being worried about those things.
“Let me see,” he insisted, holding out his slightly trembling hands so he could reach for Laon’s arm. The shaking was normal. He was used to it. He wasn’t at risk for dropping or breaking anything, so it was fine to ignore.
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Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2023 8:15 pm
Oh, Laon absolutely, immediately noticed.
Not himself. Just Arawn. And the way he was pouting. Oh, he looked so sad. Laon couldn’t help himself and reached over to give him a quick, loving hug in lieu of the apology he’d most certainly give him later. He settled on the ground next to Arawn with great worry and immediately extended his arm.
His eyes darted up to Remarque, obviously worried, but…
Remarque looked like he was thinking. His expression was stoic; his brows were knit and his lips were pressed together but he shook his head.
“You didn’t do anything. I’m not sure what this is. I’ve been in and out of Mirrorspace a thousand times but I’ve never had a reaction like that. It might have been a fluke, it’s not supposed to happen like that.”
He went back to the mirror they’d stepped out of and rested his hand on the surface. The glass rippled and he pushed his hand through. He moved it around slowly, like he was looking for something.
Laon was briefly glad Remarque seemed distracted by the mirror; he reached out to take Arawn’s trembling hand and gave it a quick, gentle squeeze. He drew it to his lips and placed a small kiss on the back of it before freeing his hand and peeling back the fabric of his uniform so Arawn could see better.
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Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2023 8:23 pm
Oh, the hug was nice. The kiss to the back of his hand, too. He didn’t want Laon to feel bad! He just wished Laon saw himself the way Arawn saw him. He could have -- should have -- scared him away years ago, but Laon was still there beside him.
Going on this new adventure with him. Maybe they were drawn to each other because they were both Senshi. Maybe not. He wasn’t sure how that worked. But he was grateful that they both were, because he absolutely wouldn’t be doing any of this without Laon.
When Laon pulled the fabric back, Arawn immediately took the time to look and gently turn Laon’s arm to see the scratch better.
“Do you think he could have cut it on broken glass?” he asked Remarque, although he didn’t bother looking over at him. He was too focused on Laon. Of course, that didn’t explain why he felt so winded and achy.
“You think those other Senshi and… what are they? Knights?” he scoffed at how ridiculous that sounded. “Think they did anything to cause this?” He had no idea. He was just throwing ideas out there.
He hoped it was someone who made this happen so he could go punch them in the throat for Laon getting injured.
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Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2023 8:35 pm
Though it seemed to be a personal moment between the two, Remarque was at least somewhat aware of how tender Arawn could be when he wanted to. At least, for Laon. He really didn't expect that kind of softness towards anyone else but it was still nice to see that he was capable of it. Laon seemed receptive to the attention, if not a bit nervous about being under scrutiny.
It wasn't because of Arawn's scrutiny, he just didn't want him to be upset or worry too much. His eyes drifted to his injury, but Laon's attention was mostly on Arawn. He was more concerned about how his boyfriend was taking in all of this, and he was trying to read what was going through his head so he could reassure him.
"I doubt it was the Senshi or Knights," Remarque finally answered. He spoke with a bit of a sigh in his voice, and shrugged. "I can't be sure, though. I try to keep a good reputation with them so if someone was up to something, I like to think I'd hear about it. But if it's not a deliberate attack on us, that means it might be something going on with Mirrorspace."
He glanced around again, but nothing really seemed out of place right now.
"I'll check it out and see if I can find anything, but until I have answers, you two have to be careful. Keep your eyes open and tell me if you notice anything strange. Which includes getting hurt while you're Mirrorwalking. Don't brush anything off. Getting injured isn't normal. So if it was a fluke, good. But if something else is going on, I'd rather n** it in the bud quickly."
Things like this didn't happen often but he didn't want to chase anyone away from the Court just because something odd was going on. He wanted to have all of the answers, but there was still so much unknown about Mirrorspace, it made it hard to pinpoint what this meant, if anything.
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Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2023 5:44 pm
Arawn clicked his tongue to the roof of his mouth, and grumbled under his breath about how they didn’t know if there were enemies out there trying to hurt them. And he would really like to give them some payback for Laon getting hurt.
“Yeah, we’ll tell you,” he agreed, although he would much rather get Laon somewhere safe. He was going to believe Remarque in that this was just a fluke, but he didn’t want Laon getting hurt in Mirrorspace.
“I think we should go out to celebrate, first,” he suggested, glancing somewhat hopefully up at Remarque, but also not wanting to push his luck. He didn’t like having to beg for food, but he also thought Laon deserved a reward for being amazing.
Oh, and he was kind of hungry, too. And Remarque usually got them food, and it would be a good chance to get patched up.
But for the meantime, Arawn lifted Laon’s arm to his mouth to give it a little kiss. That should hopefully make it better for the time being.
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