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Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 8:52 pm
Virgo knew where she was.
Well, okay, she didn't know the street or the part of Destiny City. She did know that she was with Atlas, who appeared to be totally awesome, and that she was safe. Safe as you could be, anyway, which was very safe indeed as she was currently the recipient of a piggyback ride. Now, normally, Virgo and piggyback rides were like bees and flowers. Whales and krill. Flowers and sunshine. Hot chocolate and hugs. Point was, she really really liked piggyback rides, in senshi form and out of it.
This was not a normal situation. That was why Virgo was chanting "Put me down put me down put me down," hands clenched tightly. She felt nauseous--the blood, not from the jerkiness of the ride, because Atlas was actually pretty good at giving piggyback rides. Explaining that, though, would take time and air she didn't have. Throwing up on the senshi who had saved her--and the kittens riding on their shoulders--would be incredibly, incredibly rude. Bleeding on him was rude, too, but she was trying not to think about that.
With Virgo, this was like trying not to talk about an elephant in the middle of her dorm room.
"Please put me down," she said.
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Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 9:40 pm
Usually Atlas would have been powerless to say no; normally he would have heeded Virgo's pleas the very second they left her lips, stopped and put her down. But that called for normal circumstances, and normal circumstances did not involve being terrified he was going to look behind him and see that he was still being chased by a crazy little girl in a kimono. So he kept running, for quite a while.
When he finally did feel like it was okay to slow down and let Virgo off of him however, he handled it very politely -- he was still shaking like a leaf, but he gently knelt down on the ground, let her crawl off of him, put a gentle hand on her shoulder to keep her steady and gave her a once-over to make sure she was alright.
She looked like she was about to pass out (he felt like he was about to pass out) and her hand looked awful, but she didn't look like her life was in danger.
He heaved a sigh of relief that ended up not doing much for the trembling. Maybe now they could rest a little.
"I'm s-sorry... are you okay?"
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 12:49 pm
Grayson was on his way home. To be more appropriate, Leo was on his way home, as he was still fully henshined, but he was already thinking in terms of getting in the shower, getting ready for bed, going to sleep. The night had been uneventful for him, no sightings of youma or officers of the Negaverse, and so he wasn't expecting much as he strode along the sidewalk. No one was milling about, or they certainly would have been surprised to see such a flashily dressed young man walking around in the middle of the night. Leo was as relieved as he was disappointed; while he didn't want to fight, really, he was also ashamed of himself for the thought.
He was part of the Zodiac Guard. He had a duty and a responsibility. Even though things went terribly wrong sometimes, and the guilt of them was like a constant weight on his heart, he had to keep trying.
So he kept going out. He ought to go out with a partner, someone who was better at patrolling and fighting, but he hadn't asked yet. Maybe he would ask Taurus. They were friends, and they'd work together well, he thought.
He rounded the corner, fingertips brushing his chin, when his gaze fell on two figures. One was familiar to him, enough so that he immediately stopped, the ribbons of his bow swinging forward with the halt in his momentum.
"Virgo?" There was surprise and concern in his voice, and he immediately hurried over, expression unreadable behind his mask. He knelt, giving the other senshi a brief look, before placing his hand between her shoulders, leaning in as well.
They looked like a trio of football players going in for a huddle, almost, except one of them was a slender, pretty girl. Who was injured.
"What happened?" His voice was calm, as it always was, but this question was for the male senshi.
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 2:27 pm
She quite happily knelt on the sidewalk, fumbling at her gloves until she had both of them off. They were discarded off to the side; she bent over, forehead on the ground. Deep calming breaths. Someone had told her once, deep calming breaths and the sick feeling would go away. But there was blood all over her and when she looked up, on Atlas too.
Deep calming breaths.
"Desole," she said. Her words came out muffled because her face was pressed against her knees, hands pressed tightly together. It wasn't so bad, right? There couldn't be as much blood as she thought there was. Could there? She should look, but... Virgo would honestly prefer not to.
A familiar voice? She straightened up and, upon catching sight of Leo, turned a peculiar shade of humiliated red. It was more than just the blood, it was the fact that her brother was going to see her trying not to puke at something as simple and common as blood. "Leo," Virgo sighed, dropping her forehead back to the sidewalk.
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 8:36 pm
Atlas had knelt down next to Virgo and had hesitantly kept a hand on her shoulder in some attempt at being comforting. Part of him really just wanted to pull her in, be more comforting than a couple of lame pats on the back, but... he barely knew her, and he'd already invaded her personal space enough for one evening. So he begrudgingly resigned himself to the couple of lame pats on the back, anxiously chewing on his lip.
At least both of the hands together made sort of a makeshift chair-back Virgo could lean against if she wanted to.
Leo's voice was calm, but still startling to be heard so suddenly and so close -- Atlas jerked a bit, then looked up to see... well. This very well might have been the 'shiny' person Virgo had mentioned she'd been looking for earlier. His fuku was certainly something. And shiny. His violet eyes had a way of standing out against all of that white and gold.
"W-w-we just g-got here a c... c-couple of m-m-minutes ago," he mumbled, by means of explanation. "S-someone from the N-nuh-n-negaverse s-saw us right after I ran into her, and..."
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Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 8:35 pm
Concerned for Virgo, Leo hesitated a second, unsure if he should lift her up from her prone position or leave her be. She'd gone very red, something he couldn't understand at all, and seemed to be waging a small war with herself. Was it best to leave her alone? It was hard to say. So, he kept his hand on her back, resorted to rubbing it soothingly while he glanced back to the other senshi.
Almost immediately, he felt like he should reach over and begin rubbing this guy's back, too. His stutter took Leo completely off guard, and for a moment, he actually found him difficult to understand. Once the gist of the comment set in, however, he frowned deeply, the corners of his mouth clearly displaying his displeasure.
Negaverse. Someone from the Negaverse had been after them. All the blood over them seemed to make sense, and his palms suddenly went damp, panic seizing his heart for a moment. His breath stilled, and he had to take a second to calm himself, reign his fear in.
Virgo was here. She was all right. God help him, if she hadn't been..
"Are you two all right?" There was concern, and an undercurrent of something that it wasn't quite easy to identify. Gently, he placed his hands on Virgo's shoulders, murmuring, "Come on, honey. Lean on me."
He began to help her rise despite her protests, and when she did, he tucked her against his side. His gaze flicked to the other senshi, and he offered his hand, voice kind. "Here, I'll help -- are you all right? Both of you?"
He'd already asked, but his concern was getting the better of him.
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Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 9:15 pm
Virgo wanted to reassure her brother, say something about it only being her hand and she'd only scraped her shoulder a little bit, but she was worried that if she opened her mouth she really would vomit. Should she drop her henshin? She wouldn't have to deal with the blood all over her fuku. (The bleeding had almost stopped; it was barely even a trickle anymore.)
Rational thought was a little bit beyond her, though. She just wanted to stay right here on the very cool and very solid ground. Yep, right here--"No," said Virgo, "No no no--let me stay--" but she stood up anyway; she was shaking like a leaf, but Leo seemed pretty indomitable at that point in time, so she gave up and buried her face in his jacket. Her fuku was clinging to her by virtue of her blood. She was going to be sick, she was sure of it.
By some miracle, she wasn't.
"'m okay," she said, "s'just my hand." Pause. "Atlas... you're okay?" She looked away from her contemplation of one of Leo's buttons for a moment to offer the brunet senshi a sickly-looking smile. "Thanks," she added, closing her eyes and resting her head on Leo's chest again.
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Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 3:56 pm
"I'm f-f-fine," Atlas said, slowly working his way back up to his feet. He stood in a tensed, nervewracked slouch, chewing on his lip, his hands wringing themselves against his chest. "I... I'm fine..."
Really, he was saying that to push attention away from himself -- he was shivering from a combination of the cold and nerves, but other than that he was completely unharmed. There wasn't a scratch on him, and every hair on his head was out of place in the way it was supposed to be -- it was Virgo who needed to be worried about, she was the one who'd gotten battered and had bled. In his place.
Her injuries were all his fault. It took all his willpower to even be able to look at Leo, he felt terrible.
His jaw clenched for a moment and finally, strained, he stammered, "I-I-I-I'm s-s-sorry, it-- sorry, it's all my f-fault, I-- I l-l-let her get hurt, and I sh-should have done s-something, but -- I'm sorry. I... s-sorry--"
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Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 7:03 pm
What a mess he had on his hands.
Virgo tucked firmly against him, he glanced around, seeing no signs of danger. Well, that wasn't likely to last if they all remained gathered, blood all over two out of three of them. Decision made, he touched a hand to Atlas' elbow, hoping not to startle him too much with the contact. The poor boy looked like he would shatter at the slightest provocation.
"Come on, let's find somewhere safe." He began to walk, making certain to support his sister as he went, and gave Atlas a serious but not unkind look. "It's all right. You're here, she's here, and everything will be all right."
Though it was highly hypocritical of him, he added, "There's no point in blaming yourself. Just be thankful that you are both able to walk away." Mostly.
It was a good thing neither Virgo nor Atlas were aware of how he'd broken down after his fight with Uranophane, how he'd sat for hours on a cold street corner and cried until he had nothing left in him. It was good that Sagittarius wasn't present to remind him of his weakness, to inform the two of them that he was merely a hypocrite in brightly colored clothing.
Because that wasn't what they needed just then. They needed someone to get them to safety, out of the open, and take care of them. He could manage that, probably.
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Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 12:11 am
She shook her head; it would have been more emphatic but she still felt rather queasy. Atlas hadn't 'let' her do anything, she'd gone off and done it herself and good thing she had, too, or else he would have been hurt! "Wannagohome," Virgo mumbled. It took a conscious effort not to say it in French. Why didn't Atlas understand that she wouldn't have used her powers if she hadn't wanted him safe?
Boys could be so dumb. She would have to explain that later.
It was only because Leo was guiding her and she was quite comfortable right there that she moved when the boys did. (There was a momentary protest--"My gloves"--but she decided it was probably a lost cause. They would come back, maybe.) Virgo was doing extraordinarily well, all things considered. She hadn't puked on anyone and hadn't fainted, although it was looking to be a close thing. Then again, Atlas had hit the wall pretty hard... But Virgo wasn't dazed enough to be concussed. Probably it was just the blood, and the terror of the blood.
Losing the gloves would help with that, at least.
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Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 3:02 pm
Atlas was still stammering out apologies even as Leo approached him and touched his elbow; he sounded like a broken record that was skipping terribly at the start of each word. If either he or Virgo had been in a state to talk more clearly about the incident it was very likely they would have never stopped talking, each insisting without end that the blame belonged on themselves and not the other.
"I'm sorry," he said, for the hundredth time. "I-I-I should have done something s-sooner."
But he hadn't, and no amount of apologizing could bury that fact, no matter how hard he tried to erase his feelings of guilt and worthlessness by keeping on with it. After a while he stiltedly trailed off, clenched his jaw and quietly followed Leo, the lack of speech ending up not much better than allowing strings of useless words to tumble out of his mouth.
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Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 8:08 pm
By the time Leo got them out of the middle of the city and into a more residential area, he was well and tired of the silence. He couldn't blame either of them for being quiet, considering it looked like they had gone through quite a bit, but it worried him. Virgo was not quiet by nature; he didn't know Atlas, but what he knew of Virgo was enough.
It wasn't far from his home, which Virgo would know, but Leo wasn't about to reveal that to Atlas. He seemed to be a friend, but one could never be too careful.
"Here, now." Shifting so that he could look at Virgo clearly, Leo smiled, brushing her hair from her forehead to get a good look at her face. "Tell me where you're hurt, won't you?"
Briefly, he gaze traveled to Atlas again, long enough for his violet eyes to warm in reassurance. It really was okay, he seemed to insist, though given the way Atlas had responded earlier, he doubted he would believe it.
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Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 8:26 pm
She blinked, slowly, looking around. Yeah, Virgo knew where she was now; this was the way they walked to the grocery store. She liked the grocery store, it was clean and well-lit and they only chopped meat in the back. It was a good store--
--why was she thinking about a grocery store?--
--Virgo tuned back in to look back up at her brother. She wanted to wear his hat really bad on it.
"J-just my hand," she explained. "A-and I used my powers, so. I hit my head."
She lightly tapped the back of her head, fitting actions to word. Light biff of impact, really, she was a wimp, but she still winced a little. "Mmokay," said Virgo, "Atlas, you're okay?"
It seemed like she was not going to say anything else until she got a response.
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 3:33 pm
The reassuring look, as Leo had guessed, didn't do very much to make him believe everything okay. Atlas's hands drifted up in front of his chest, where they wrung together, his fingers pinching and pulling at the fabric of his gloves. The cold was enough to make his hands numb, and the fact that they were covered did near nothing to help.
"Sh-she used her powers," he quietly added, "on m-m-me... and I... I-I got hit into the wall a few times."
And 'a few times' was a few times too many. He could have stopped Virgo from getting hurt at all if he'd used his attack sooner. Atlas averted his gaze, hanging his head, the fog of his breath trailing out in a long sigh.
"I'm fine," he answered, his hands balling into loose fists on top of each other. "Really. I'm okay."
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 5:19 pm
Once they were illuminated by light, Leo could survey his sister more closely and see for himself if her injuries were more severe than she was saying. He didn't like to see her hurt at all, but he understood that she was a senshi just the same as he was, and sometimes it would happen. He'd rather he was always there to protect her, but considering her ability was what it was... that was a futile wish. If he was determined to make certain she didn't get hurt, she was just as determined to take the pain away from those she cared for, and so it fed into a vicious cycle.
He was reckless with his body in battle even if he wasn't reckless with his mind, and it would only cost Virgo more if she fought alongside him. He clearly wasn't the best one to defend her, but she couldn't go out alone.
"You're coming home with me," he said to Virgo, and though Leo rarely told anyone what to do, he considered the circumstances appropriate. She was badly shaken, hurt -- he couldn't just take her back to Crystal Academy and dump her there knowing that. To soften the words, he stroked a hand down her hair, smiled a little bit.
Then he glanced to Atlas, and the smile fell a bit. "It's good that you're all right as well. It isn't your fault," he added, tone still soft, but firm. "Virgo used her powers because she wanted to, and you should be grateful she did and not blame yourself. She doesn't want you to feel guilty, do you, Virgo?"
He looked to his sister again, and the smile was back, albeit tight around the edges. "Though I do wish.." but that was useless.
Wishing her powers were different was useless. He would just have to take care of her the best he could.
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