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 Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 1:48 pm
Tate stepped out of the little bakery where she had her second job, hands wrapped around her third coffee of the day. She looked at the outside, dark brows plunging over darker eyes. It was a winter wonderland, fluffy white flakes drifting down gently, a light wind fluffing the snow around her ankles. Her boots ended at her calf; she stepped back up the small set of stairs to avoid any slipping in between the gaps of her jeans and boots. The socks she wore left a good inch of her ankle exposed inside them, and she had no desire to be cold and wet. Tate considered going back inside, but she'd just spent six hours in there decorating cupcakes and making coffee, and... well. She had no desire to head back in.
Still, it was a really nice day, considering the weather. Tate shoved the free hand into the front pocket of the apron she still wore, and made her way to sit down on a bench beside another girl. Only after sitting down did she realize she knew the girl.
"Tallulah," she said, ice infusing her tone.
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Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 2:33 pm
Tallulah had Tate beat - the steaming paper cup she held in her mittened hands was her fourth cup. Even if it was winter break, she couldn't allow herself to slow down - there was still Christmas shopping to do, a trip to plan, patrols to go on... When the other girl addressed her, Tallulah jumped reflexively and it was only the wonder of lids that she didn't douse them both in coffee.
"Oh," she said, deflating somewhat. "Hi, Tate." Her first thought was that this was awkward, because she'd never been good friends with Tate, for whatever reason. Her second thought was that this was doubly awkward for her, because she'd seen Tate over the summer and Tate hadn't even realized it.
"Hows--"
She wracked her brain for memory of what Tate was doing after high school. Unable to come up with any meaningful information, she settled for a lame, "How's life?"
In the street, the wind kicked up, blowing loose snow into a miniature whirlwind. Tallulah glanced cautiously at it while she waited for Tate's answer.
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Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 6:21 pm
It amused Tate for a minute that Tallulah was so jumpy. Rarely was the dark-haired underclassman--well, Tate was a graduate, so couldn't she call the younger girl a high-schooler? She decided she would, in the privacy of her head--anything but impeccably put together. It was one of the reasons she had so disliked Tallulah, besides the fact that the younger girl fancied herself a rival for Giselle. Even when she hadn't seen Giselle for months and months, she still felt reflexively that her best friend since she was five was definitely better than the girl sitting next to her...
She looked over to Tallulah. "It's been fine," she said, "Lost my job during that coma epidemic, but managed to find two more to replace it. Fine, really. How's high school."
The question was asked, but Tate wasn't listening; she was staring with rapt attention at an icy, impossibly lovely female figure emerging from the miniature whirlwhind.
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Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 9:04 pm
"It's high school," shrugged Tallulah, lamely attempting humor, and after a moment solemnly added, "Mr. Gordon died over the summer." In case Tate hadn't heard. Maybe she hadn't. It was hard to tell how much of what seemed important at Meadowview was actually important outside the school walls.
She was about to make another lame attempt at wit and witicism, when she looked once again to the snowy whirlwind, and saw the exact same thing Tate did. Except now there were two icy, impossibly lovely female figures, and the whirlwind was dying down.
The figure on the right turned to the figure on the left and said, in a voice like tinkling icicles, "Oh! Greetings, sister!"
Tallulah could only blink. She turned to Tate and gaped at her as if to demand some confirmation that she saw it, too. The girl was tempted to henshin up, but then the snow-creatures didn't seem to have noticed them yet, and, well... Tate. Tate was Tate.
Tallulah looked back to the ice dancers and made a face. If it came down to it, she would let them have the first move.
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Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 9:22 pm
Tate hadn't liked Mr. Gordon all that much. It wasn't a big deal to her that he was dead; just one more name on a long list of names. A long, long, long list of names. All the same, she was stricken with a moment of sadness. Whatever this stupid mahou shoujo war was, it was definitely claiming more lives than had ever been hinted at in her manga.
Then the spectacle of the two ice beauties began, and what she said to Tallulah was: "Holy crap, they're like ice ballerinas. Those better not be monsters. I'm sick of having things ripped out of my chest."
...say what?
"Greetings, sister!" This one had a voice like a winter wind, and she was clasping her hands before her bust with a wind-eyed smile. Tate winced at the way the figure balanced on her toes. "How do you find yourself this lovely, cold day?"
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Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 8:09 am
Tallulah tried to keep her face neutral, but when Tate mentioned having things ripped out of her chest her eyebrows couldn't help but relocate themselves an inch higher on her forehead. She bit her tongue to keep from saying anything, or else she was pretty sure she would have. But then, how would Tate have known that unless she'd gotten up close and personal with a negaverse officer?
She looked back to the figures, who were indeed ice ballerinas and balanced precariously en pointe. It would be time to obsess about Tate's weird knowledge later - for now she was still trying to decide if they were Youma or not.
"I've never heard of the monsters talking before," she said thoughtfully, hoping this was vague enough to keep Tate off the scent of Europa.
These ice dancers, however, were definitely on the chatty side.
"I find myself feeling most marvelous, sister," replied the first dancer, and turned a neat pirouette. "This weather is certainly simply spectacular! And how are you doing, sister?"
Tallulah blinked. What was this? She didn't even...
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Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2010 7:49 pm
"Yeah, neither've I," agreed Tate. She was quietly envious of the effortless grace exhibited by the two... monsters? dancers? They acted like ballerinas, sort of. Okay, so they definitely acted like ballerinas. Look at those outfits! Hadn't she seen something like that in a ballet-centric manga?
She wanted to turn around and go inside, maybe come back out in summer. This was not an option. There wasn't even a couch back in the bakery.
Meanwhile, the second ballerina was watching her slightly taller sister with wide, colorless eyes. "I, too, am most marvelous, sister! Shall we proceed about our duties together?"
That didn't sound good to Tate, who took a compulsive sip of her coffee as if she'd just realized the significance of its presence in her hand. But she relaxed a little when the shorter ice dancer performed a neat grand jete over a snow drift to sprinkle the stairs to the bakery with a neat covering of frost. "The old man is gonna be so pissed," said Tate.
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Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2010 8:13 pm
"If he doesn't break his hip first," frowned Tallulah, also sipping her drink as she watched the dancers twirl about the alley. The taller of the pair took a graceful leap to paint the fire escape ladder in a coating of ice, then twirled back to her so-called sister, extending her hand in an invitation to a pas de deux.
"May I have this dance, sister?" she asked.
Tallulah blinked, watching the dancers twirl around their improvised stage. "They haven't noticed us, have they?" she asked Tate. Forget Youma, dream worlds, and other planets: this was pretty strange, even by senshi standards.
"You twirl beautifully, sister!" cried the taller dancer, pulling the shorter into a lift. "You have been practicing!"
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Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 2:25 pm
Tate's boss wasn't that old, but she was so amused by the mental image of him hopping around with a broken limb that she didn't bother correcting Tallulah. It was true he'd probably break something, though. Or they would--where the ice ballerinas were dancing, a thin but noticeable coat of black ice was spreading.
The shorter ballerina took her sister's hand and they delicately leapt and spun through the air. "It's like watching the Nutcracker. But with better special effects." She considered them for a long moment; the pair danced on, unaware of the presence of the two humans.
"No, they definitely don't know we're here," she surmised. "And if they do, they don't really care."
There was a laugh like the rustling of leaves from the smaller dancer, a joyful laugh. "Thank you, sister! You have improved, also!"
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Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 2:52 pm
Having finally ascertained that the ice dancers were actually not a threat (for the moment - there was no telling what this would mean from a Senshi point of view), Tallulah relaxed and allowed herself to smile. "And with a lot more banal dialogue," she agreed.
The dancers for their part did not seem to notice the girls or their disparaging remarks. "It polishes my heart to hear you say that, sister!" preened the taller dancer, gently rising into a series of fouette en tournants on a patch of black ice. "I have been practicing since we arrived."
She moved out of the turns, into a careful arabesque. "Have you found good places to practice and spread wintry chill, sister?" she asked, and grinned. "I have."
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Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2011 4:42 am
"I dunno, it kind of reminds me of, like... drones. Maybe they're drones." Tate could definitely see them being something like Borg drones. Which one was Seven of Nine? She had the taller one pegged for it, personally. Or, hell, Akuma. Maybe there was a Millennium Earl of snow dancers somewhere around here.
...Did that make senshi ******** this, she thought, I'm getting a headache. "They're boring enough to be drones," she said finally, narrowing her eyes. "******** this, I'm going home."
Despite saying that, Tate didn't stand up; largely because the smaller dancer was pulling the elder past Tallulah and Tate, directly in the opposite direction of the subway stop. "Yes, sister! I have! It is past this way!" And off they went.
"Okay," said Tate. "Now I am seriously gone."
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Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2011 5:45 am
Tallulah could only blink, and maybe frown a bit. Tate's proclamation that they were drones was giving her ideas, but then the dancers didn't seem at all sinister. In fact they seemed quite simple minded. But at any rate they'd gone, leaving two very confused teenaged girls in their icy wake.
"Yeah," she said awkwardly to Tate. "I guess I'd better be going, too."
If she tried to explain this to anyone later, they'd never, ever believe her. Her only consolation that she wasn't bonkers was that Tate had seen them, too. But then, knowing the other girl-
"We're never going to talk about this ever again, are we?" asked Tallulah. But Tate had already left, and that in itself was a kind of answer.
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