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 Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 9:02 am
Sweet Spoonfuls was a quiet, out of the way place that was one of the lesser known cafes of Destiny City, not as heavily populated by students than the more renown Shufflepuck. The comfortable booths, slightly more formal atmosphere, and dimmer lamps gave an air of privacy where people could talk privately, work without much distraction, and enjoy their beverages while looking up at the windows that showed a view of the street. Ladon appreciated the fact it wasn’t crowded, as most cafes around this time were past capacity from a sudden boom of customers wanting something to keep them awake after long, restless nights. He also liked that they didn’t restrict their menu only to coffee, something he only recently tried but couldn’t get past the taste, not to mention he still saw it as a potential harmful substance that you could get addicted to. Being punctual, he bought a hot chamomile tea, something that would give him some pep and also hopefully sooth any nervousness he had, then added honey.
He had only a small idea of why Mrs. Killingworth wanted to talk to him, and he didn’t know if he wanted to say much at all. The first time he had seen her, she had taught him to steal starseeds, which started him off in the act of killing. The second time, most recently, was with him witnessing team Tra-La fall to Wiseman. As of now, he didn’t associate Ursula with good experiences, and he felt slightly miffed that when he had wondered what reason there was for Wiseman to kill, she had only kept quiet and taken him home. Still, she was the Queen, a word that still brought respect and a sort of noble magic.
With mixed feelings, he mixed his tea, watching little crystals of sugar float at the bottom, yet to be dissolved.
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Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 10:25 am
She'd never been to Sweet Spoonfuls before.
Ursula had passed by it on more than one occasion. In fact, she passed by it nearly every morning on her way to Shufflepucks to retrieve her own daily coffee, pre-work. Now that coffee was off limits, however, Shufflepucks had been banned from her daily routine. Thus, when she decided that a meeting with Ladon was in order, Shufflepucks had been quickly (and mournfully) struck off from the potential rendezvous points and she opted for a less than normal hot spot to chat at.
Staring up at the menu, the names of various coffee drinks called to her. They beckoned to be drank, beckoned for her - Ursula, driiiiiink meeeee. Had she been Alice, she'd have already been towering over the city, Godzilla size. As she was not Alice, however, but instead the three month pregnant wife of the General-King of the Negaverse....she decided to opt with tea. Herbal tea.
Once retrieved, she made her way over to the table Ladon had already reserved for the two of them. She'd arrived only moments after him, but her indecisive nature with a new restaurant's menu had placed her several minutes behind him in ordering.
Sliding into the booth parallel to his, both hands wrapped around the cup before she drew the tea to her lips. They sat in silence for a few moments as both individuals sampled their drinks, until finally her cup found its resting place on a cozy little coaster provided at the table.
"So. Ladon."
Her voice gave away no hints of what to come, though her eyes never left his.
"How are you doing?"
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Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 12:32 pm
He glanced up when she went over, sliding into the booth with her own cup of tea, the light from the window shining down on their matching cups. It went quiet again, each of them taking a sip, knowing now that tea was not going to fix the knot in his stomach. If the silence went on longer, he might have talked just to break the tension, of whatever this was, when she first spoke. It wasn’t a out of the blue question, but he didn’t know what she was getting at. ‘How are you doing?’ as in ‘How’s life been treating you? Excited about summer? Got any plans?’ or ‘How are you holding up, kiddo?’ Since it was left up to him to decide, he took the safer route.
“Okay. Bit tired, but schools almost over. I can finally sleep in then.” Nightmares were assaulting him each night, and with fresh materials, it often landed on the same topic. It wasn’t till recently that they swirled in a complete different direction of off-the-wall-crazy, making him wonder if it was an improvement or not. They felt real to him, vivid and intense, and he was always waking up thinking he was still there, trying to throw off some danger and feeling the phantom pains of whatever happened to him in the dream. If he dreamed about pushing through icy waters, he’d wake up freezing and shivering as if he’d been outside in winter in nothing but his pajamas. It was hard to stay awake these days, and his face reflected it. His already pale complexion was lacking color despite the sun of spring shinning outside, and he lacked any sort of skip to his step that he usually had when he could finally spend more time outside. Now he barely wanted to be outside.
He took another sip of his tea, and looked up at her. It was hard. He still felt like a failure of a Lieutenant, and he wondered what she thought. Did the high hopes she might have had for him during starseed training vanish now? Questions, many questions, danced on the very tip of his tongue. But he was a coward, wondering if he even wanted to know and still slightly bitter about not being in the loop. He didn’t say any of the many questions he had filling up his head, giving him a headache.
His eyes dropped back down, and he stirred his tea with his spoon. “How are you doing?”
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 6:25 am
"That wasn't what I meant, Ladon."
He had a feeling he knew what she meant. She clearly knew what she had meant, but she waited until taking another sip of her drink before continuing, her fingers wrapping themselves around the cup.
"How are you after... the other night. I've been worried."
Her words were hesitant, as though she was still attempting to figure out the most eloquent way of phrasing what she was trying to get across. This wasn't how the Queen normally acted. Was she really concerned? For him?
"I figured you may want to discuss some of the, erm...details of the situation. My darling's not a very big believer in divulging information, but you have a right to know, so I'm putting the offer on the table."
Setting her cup back onto its coaster, manicured hands folded together on the table as orange eyes never left his face.
"So, I'll ask again. How are you doing?"
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 9:01 am
Seemed he was right in assuming they were going to sit down for this sort of talk, and dodging was something he wouldn’t be able to do. This meeting had a purpose, and he doubted the queen of the Negaverse would just go off topic when she had other things to do. She seemed honestly concerned too, and it meant a lot to him for someone so far on the top of the pile to come here and meet up with him. It reminded him that this was the sort of people he was working with, fighting with, and fighting for. Good people. For someone who had an entire Kingdom to look over, she was here to check up on him. Clamming up wasn’t polite after the measures she was going to sit here and talk with him.
Looking back, he felt embarrassed for how shaken up he was when he meet the royal duo at their home. Crying and shaking, he wanted to sink down into his seat at the image of himself he presented to his superiors regardless of how understanding they were about why he’d been that way. He wondered if he let on in any way that he wasn’t thrilled about not knowing what was going on, but she surprised him by offering, causing him to look up from his cup. “Really?”
With such a tempting offer and a expression on Mrs. Kilingworth’s face that said she was only here out of deep concern, he opened up. “I’ve been doing okay, I guess. Haven’t been getting much sleep, but that’s fine.” He had homework he could always work on. “I've just been thinking about a lot of things. About the team that died, and not knowing who they all were, and for not being able to help. I know it’s not my fault, but, I still don’t like that I couldn’t do more.” He let his thumb rub the handle of his cup. No one aside from him had been saved, and he hadn't managed to save a single person from Wiseman. “I don’t know if I’m good enough to be a Lieutenant if I can’t handle myself or protect other members of my team, you know? I don’t want to be the weak link.” He didn’t want to be weak at all. “I don’t even know why I was left to be the messenger. If anything, he should have kept the Captain alive.” She was stronger than he was.
He looked up as far as her cheeks, but didn’t meet her eyes. “I know it’s a risk to tell me. I haven’t done much to deserve being told anything. I know you two have a lot you can’t tell us, but I know you both do it for the safety of everyone and what’s best for the Negaverse. But if you’re offering, I would like to know why he went after them. Why they died.”
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 11:25 am
She adjusted herself in her chair, her legs crossing themselves beneath the table as she attempted to make herself more comfortable. Her hands had returned to gripping the mug, her eyes still trained on his face, even as he asked her directly why his peers had been murdered.
They remained silent for a few moments, long enough for Ladon to grow anxious and wonder whether or not he should have been bold enough to ask such a question, regardless of her offer.
"Reasons won't always be clear to us," she finally began, leaning back against the cushioned booth, "Sometimes it's hard to determine. I don't think he chose you because of you being weak - all Lieutenants are weak."
Her words were blunt, but not intend to hurt. It was a simple fact. "I was there, before. All of us have been where you are now. Unless you're a special exception, like Drew, we pretty much all start off on the same, weak footing. He was a fighter - he was able to use the toys we were given and make a name of himself. I had to use my brains, had to think plans through since a mirror is a pretty useless weapon, after all."
Hands moved out to retrieve her cup, memories of her own failures and successes as a Lieutenant under Charonite still fresh in her mind. They would always be fresh. "You were no match for Wiseman. She was no match for Wiseman, Captain or not. None of our Captains would be powerful enough to take him on and I truly think that you being spared as opposed to the others was just Fortune favoring you that night. He didn't choose based on any criteria that I can think of, dear. You are of equal standing as most of the Lieutenants that were on that team."
Another sip and the cup was finally empty. The warmth of the drink slowly made its way down her throat, lingering as she continued to watch him, pausing only for a brief second before explaining.
"I found Wiseman's princess. We fought and I spared her life, as pitiful as it was. It seems he didn't appreciate me having touched his precious little worthless twit, so decided to take out his anger on some of my own darlings."
The smile she gave him was grim, "We're a threat to a lot of people, Ladon. There are many others out there who would do the same as Wiseman did, if given the chance."
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 5:38 pm
It was upsetting to be called weak, but it was a feeling he’d been having in and out of his uniform now. Since becoming a Lieutenant, he had a false sense of his own power, and now he was more wary about just how little he had. It wasn’t exactly inspiring to be a weak Lieutenant that was not exceptional by having a great skill or natural talent, and he started to critique his own abilities, finding he really lacked any great asset that would rise him up above the rest. For now, he was left at the starting point that everyone else started on, with the only hope that his constant diligence, loyalty, and work would pay off. It was the tactic he always used, as he never had an edge before. It still amazed him that Mrs. Killingworth was once a Lieutenant, and it only backed up the fact that she must have been REALLY smart to have gone so far. It was hard not to listen to her.
While he had been told there wasn’t anything he could have done, there wasn’t any reason that Ursula could think of about being left to live. Just luck. All of this together did make him feel a tad bit better.
When it went quiet again, he waited, wondering if this was his queue to continue, until she started with her explanation. THE explanation as to why everything had happened.
“You let her live and he did that?” Well, he guessed being forgiving was not Wiseman’s style, even if their queen had let his princess live. There seemed to be many forces working against them, to which Ursula made clear along with the threat they posed to them all. “I thought the senshi were bad enough, but more and more people from different kingdoms or …whatever they are, are showing up. It’s why I want to do my best. I don’t want our world to fall to them, but I don’t want to see repeats of what happened either. ” Ursula had been kind to let Wiseman’s princess live, and yet he still killed 5 other people. Then again, he let HIM live, yet Ladon did want revenge back. Seemed to be the wrong cycle, but there were reasons. “I’d rather they were all gone. What is going to be done about Wiseman? He killed 5 people when you let his princess live. It’s not right!”
He quickly looked about and flushed. “Sorry.” He whispered, apologizing for rising his voice and causing a commotion. He look the last sip of his own tea, the last taste of lukewarm honey dissolving on his tongue.
“I want our side to win so we can change our world for the better. To improve it.” It’s why he killed, took starseeds, and put so much effort into what he did. To gain power, to be respected, and to see results. So far, he wasn’t doing any of that.
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Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 1:52 pm
She laughed at that, her chuckle low, amused.
"I want that too, darling, more than you'd ever guess. And we'll get there. In time."
Leaning back, one hand absentmindedly moved to rest on her stomach, though her eyes never left the young man's face.
"To improve our world, however, we first have to improve ourselves. If we're going to return the world into the hands of its rightful rulers, then we must better ourselves and then we will take our stand. I know there are more enemies. There will probably be many more to come."
Her smile faltered slightly at his question, her eyebrows furrowing slightly as though her mind was in deep thought and she was attempting to turn those thoughts into words. "I don't know what is going to be done with Wiseman right now, but I do know that I refuse to lose more of you. Not like this. We wouldn't be where we are today if it weren't for those that support us."
They fell silent, then, the conversation taking a more awkward turn. How could she ensure his safety if she couldn't even ensure Wiseman's demise? The smile returned, however, as thoughts brightened.
"You're sweet. I hope my little one turns out to be as sweet as you are, Ladon." Lifting the empty cup, she shimmied herself out of the booth, then reached out to take the teenager's empty cup as well. "I'd like that very much."
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Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 4:35 pm
It was sound advice, and it did prove that right now his chief concern would be to make sure he tried to become stronger, keep his nose to the grindstone, and continue with his duties. While he might be just a lieutenant, he was the foundation, the building blocks that helped the Negaverse stand on it’s own, and while a small piece, it was a piece of something he felt proud to be involved in. All signs pointed to the path that this was right and this is where he should be, even if he wasn’t good at it. At least not yet. From all the people he had seen who started where he was at, and all the people who relied on everyone for their safety and future, he was here to help.
The world that had been turned on a tilt since Wiseman had started to level again, settling back into place. As long as he was needed, he would he here. It wasn’t just a desire now. It was a necessity.
Moving off from his seat, he rose up and smiled at her. “With you as a mother, I'm sure you kid will be. Even better than that.” If she was this good as a leader and pulling him out, then her child was more than blessed to have Ursula as a mother.
“Thank you, for the talk.”
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