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 Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 9:20 pm
The sun wasn't even up yet, and Elke and Capricorn were heading out to recon for bullets.
See, the only way they could go out at the same relative time was if they went out early. Elke didn't quite understand the whole thing, but apparently there was a schedule, which was weird, on account of her not knowing about a schedule. The look on Capricorn's face was very foreboding, though, so she had sat down and agreed. Plus, it would be nice to see if she could cheer her fellow Zodiac up.
So she was out in the pre-dawn twilight, shuddering with cold, hands tucked into her sleeves, whining: "Capricorn, it's really, really cold. Aren't you cold? I'm freezing. Let's hurry, okay?"
Then she paused, absently removing one hand from its warm hiding spot to fluff her blue hair. "When am I allowed to give you a hug again?"
A long time from now, she remembered gloomily. She hunched her shoulders and hurried after Capricorn.
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Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 10:21 pm
Sailor Capricorn, nee Aurelia Thorne, was clinging to the only thing that made sense to her in this crazy, post apocalyptic zombie world.
And that was her beautiful, shining schedule. Hero was having no part of it, nor her, for the time being. While they were still completely civil to one another, well, as civil as two people determined not to make eye contact or be in the same room for more than five minutes at a time, there was definitely some tension going on. Elke had been, thankfully, out of the room at the blow up; and Elke was such a simple child that she probably didn't even notice that the two were on the outs.
Or maybe she did, she was mighty determined to get her hug.
"Its at 10:45 Elke, right between searching through the Dormitories, and scouting for food," Aurelia's tone was clipped, "derailing the schedule will not be tolerated, Miss Arma."
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Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 10:42 pm
If Elke knew everyone thought she was simple and would follow a candy trap off a building, she would have been in quite a hurry to correct this opinion. Elke was smart, she just wasn't as smart as everyone else. Unfortunately, she had long ago conditioned herself to ignore bad things, and arguments and cold-shouldering had long ago become bad things. She knew something was up with Hero and Aurelia but she didn't know what, only it'd started when Aurelia became Capricorn.
"Oh," said Elke, sounding pouty. This was appropriate because she had the biggest pout in the history of pouts on her face and was directing it at Capricorn's back. "That's a long time. How come we have to follow the schedule, anyway?" She kicked a rock she saw in her way. It skittered a few paces ahead, and she followed it to kick it again.
Like Kick the Can. Only, you know, with a rock. At least she had good quality boots to kick rock-cans with.
Seriously, though, how come all the senshi except Serenade were all... anti-hugging. It grated on her nerves.
"...is it 10:45 yet? How long do I get for hugs? What happens if I hug you now?"
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Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 11:37 pm
"If you hug me now," Sailor Capricorn said icily, nimbly stepping over the remnant of some poor scourge's arm, "I will be forced to shuffle my schedule. Which takes time Miss Arma, time that we just don't have. We're in a war, Miss Arma, and that takes detailed planning and preparation. Which is what we are doing right now. Preparing for said war."
Aurelia was thankful that her dress was insulated with thick, warm wool. It was the only thing that she was thankful for at that moment. It made her hips look wider than usual, "Good hips for bearing sons" if you wanted to be crass, and it just annoyed Aurelia to no end that her skirt was, well, a short skirt. It was mortifying to be caught outside with half a skirt! Why must all the Senshi outfits be designed with showing off their curves? Couldn't they have all worn a... a... burkha? Or something that covered her derriere, for gods sake!
"No, Miss Arma, it is nowhere near 10:45; we have just rounded on to 6:45, and we have many hours of surveillance at hand. I believe that looking in Del Rockham's room for bullets might be a good plan-- that beast of a child was practically part magpie in nature. Specifically concerning items to maim."
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Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 12:01 am
Elke kicked her rock into the body's arm and didn't bother trying to free it. She covered her mouth delicately and skirted around it. There were many rocks. Elke could procure a new one. Touching dead (dead?) bodies was not necessary.
"Four hours," she said, sounding quite put out. "That's forever."
Well, in Elketime, five minutes was forever. She could emphasize with people who felt four hours was no time at all, but seriously, who could wait that long for anything? Except plane rides. She could wait that long. She'd have a long one to go home after this. "Didn't the dormitories burn down, Capricorn?? Because I was there when they did. It was very firey." Pause. "Also I died."
Pause.
"Do you think bullets melt?"
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Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 12:06 am
Aurelia paused for a moment, mortified. Of COURSE the dormitories had burnt to the ground, she had been told, and she had even seen it-- but it was difficult to remember these things in times of desperation. Or Aurelia was losing it.
Either or.
"My apologies, I meant her stash; she told Miss Petrova about it once, who relayed the information to me a few weeks ago. Have you ever been to the burial mound, Miss Arma?"
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Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 12:12 am
"Oh," said Elke, who felt rather enlightened and left in the dark at the same time. "No, I haven't been to the burial mound. What's that?"
Frankie had had a stash. This was news to Elke, who had always assumed Frankie to just be... crazy. Especially after calling out scary staircase-lady and standing there. Scarryyyyyy... "Do you think Frankie is watching the... the burial mound?" You could hear the 'D:' emotes in her voice as she spoke. Clearly she did not want to interact with the scary inhabitant of the third floor.
Of course, Aurelia was also scary and had also dwelt on the third floor, and Elke was fine with her. "So," said Elke after a minute, "I think Hero is mad at me. Do you think she is? I think she is. I am worried. Did I do something? Was it going out to find Giselle?"
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Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 12:26 am
Aurelia was an ice sculpture. Aurelia was not exactly touchy feely at the best of times, and these were the worst of times, and she was not entirely feeling up to discussing why Hero was bitter.
Then again, Elke Arma worried at thoughts like this like a puppy and new shoes-- if Aurelia ignored her, which is what she was naturally inclined to do, Miss Arma would most likely annoy her for the rest of the day. Worrying. Ceaselessly.
And then hugging Aurelia. Aurelia momentarily shuddered.
"Miss Barrett's not angry at you Miss Arma," Aurelia wasn't about to make any more comments on the matter. Miss Barrett didn't deserve much kindness from Aurelia at the moment, "but the burial mound is just the ancient grave of a nobleman long dead. Simple, really-- and Frankie Del Rockham is hiding around here somewhere, though I don't really believe she's dead. I don't think anything can kill that child. Perhaps a nuclear explosion."
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Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 1:23 am
"Oh," said Elke, who seemed to do that a lot when Aurelia was involved. If Aurelia said that Hero wasn't mad at her, it must be true. Everyone knew that Aurelia and Hero were tight, like a braid or a rope. Thoughts of braids led to Avery, and Avery led down a dark, dark road she couldn't afford to go down right now. (Regardless, she followed the dark dark road a few meters and confirmed it as Not Something She Could Worry About Now. Then she forced herself to turn around, but too late. Good mood: Destroyed.)
She found a real can and kicked it. It was not as satisfying as kicking a rock.
Ancient nobleman graves. That sounded romantic. Like something you'd see in some kind of super scary horror psychological thriller! "I wonder why I never heard of it," said Elke, who had socialized with everyone. Even Frankie. "That's weird. Also if we find Frankie can I hide behind you, because she is kind of scary."
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Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 3:10 am
"I'd say that you are being silly, that she's harmless, but we are searching through the woods for a stash of weapons. Trite, but its the truth. I do hope she's collected some bullets," Aurelia started to walk in to a thicket of trees at the edge of Barren Pines, "as I'm fairly certain there is but a single bullet in the chamber. This is Miss Barrett we are speaking of."
Elke Arma probably had no idea what Aurelia was talking about. Aurelia was not about to explain the importance of a single bullet.
"I only knew about it because Frankie took Tara there-- you remember her, astronomy bent, liked discussing our celestial neighbours in the sky? She brought her to the mound and was rather... disquieting. I remembered it."
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Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 2:04 pm
Aurelia was right. Elke did not have any idea what the heck one bullet meant, except maybe then Hero would stop shooting any zombie they came across. She was still a little bit (well, a lot of a bit) put out over the shooting-her-zombie-self-in-the-foot thing. Even though she'd come out of it okay. It was uncharitable for her to be mad at Hero for shooting her. After all, she had been about to try and take a bite out of Hero (but only after she got shot, so go figure).
"I know Tara, she, um, helped me and Giselle with something once. Um."
Elke found a new rock to kick. Okay, that was boring now. So, instead, she asked: "Why d'you think Hero's being all angry? She wasn't always all angry. Well, except at me, but not before I went running off half-cocked. What does half-cocked mean?"
If Aurelia was not going to try and carry the conversation, Elke would. With questions. Many questions.
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Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 8:25 pm
For all the people to be stuck with... Aurelia sighed grievously, wishing that the burial mound was closer so that she could distract Elke with something. Preferably something shiny, the girl chattered like a magpie. And asked disquieting questions that Aurelia dearly did not want to have to answer or explain-- but until she did, Elke would keep nattering on about it.
"Miss Barrett is a doer, Miss Arma. She's always been the most capable wom- person that I know. So for her, she is in a situation where she can't do anything, not really. Not like she wants to," They were almost to their destination, thank the lord. Next thing Elke would want to know was an explanation on something ELSE unsavoury, "Half cocked means that you keep running off without thinking, just barreling straight in to situations when you should possibly take a moment to actually PLAN something. That's why I'm here. That is why schedules are important."
The trees began to thin, and both Senshi and student stepped in to the clearing, the large mound (probably just dirt from construction that had become a hill years before, but with Frankie around simple things become devious devices of destruction) rising up in front of them.
"Miss Del Rockham is not the sharpest; I don't believe it should be hard to find her stash. Look for something... ominous. I'll be surprised if we don't find signs written with blood red paint telling us to BEWARE! Head back! or something juvenile."
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Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2009 5:51 pm
"Oh," said Elke of Hero, tapping one finger on her chin. She supposed if she was used to doing stuff about stuff that bothered her, she might also be frustrated. Well, Elke was kind of already frustrated, because of the whole my-arm-is-a-giant-patchwork-of-teeth-and-claw-marks deal. But it wasn't like she was unprepared or-- Huh! From that description, Elke spent a lot of time running off half-cocked. Did Capricorn and Libra coordinate lectures?
She looked at the mound. Then she looked around for signs written in bloody (ew) red paint. She didn't see anything from where she was standing, so Elke stopped to think out a plan. Well, maybe she'd start over there, and work her way back?
Sounded good for her. Elke started off, circling the mound with a Considering Look on her face.
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