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 Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 12:35 pm
It had been an impulse, and a poorly controlled one he thought as he made his way with the best 'secrecy' he could muster up the back stairs of Adira's apartment. As... Zac...he had no reason to bestow on her any such gift having had met her only once at a christmas party, as Zink, she had helped him enormously.
So it was from 'Zink' that this gift would be from, though signed only with a small sliver of his own mineral that he had taped to the card.
He owed her SOME thanks didn't he?...of course he did... and it wasn't as though no one -else- had friendships with civilians, just look at Wolframite.
He took a deep breath and then hooked the loop of ribbon over the door knob to her apartment. He did not knock, or wait around to be found, he wanted out of there as quickly as he could muster. He very nearly ended up falling down one of the flights of stairs in his hurry to depart but caught himself on the railing.
She probably HAD a chess set...he told himself as he opened the door and peered cautiously outside before slipping out into the snow. She was clever, she read many of the same books he did, quick witted and polite she was... something apart from the irritating tittering twits in tiny skirts that graced the malls and sidewalks.
He wanted to play chess with her, as Zac...or Zink, he didn't care... he just...wanted to. The urge was ridiculous, almost more so than the impulse to buy it for her but it was as persistent as the song from that infernal snow globe that Fayalate had entered him for at the 'Mall'... He wondered how she was fairing against his yoma and gave a small satisfied smirk. He HAD of course told it not to do TOO much damage... a few snowbanks never hurt anyone...
He took a deep breath and made a jump for one of the fire escapes on a near by building meaning to escape the press of late night shoppers.
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Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2010 7:46 pm
Perseus had just waved goodbye to Rosalind and split off onto her street. Normally she de-henshined behind the building in the landscaping, away from prying eyes and security cameras. She was just about to do just that when something caught her attention. Perseus stopped, silver blue eyes searching in the darkness for any sign of movement, and cue of intruder. The sound of boots catching the metal of a fire escape caught her immediate attention, as did the flash of bright blue piping.
The original attention catch had been the energy signature of a Captain. Her eyes narrowed as she pursued, using a nearby dumpster to swing up onto the fire escape with relatively no noise, just a shake of metal. Her mind was racing...what kind of business did Zinkenite have near her apartment? Barring the singular time of him recuperating on her couch, Perseus had never known him to be in the area at all. It wasn't normally where he targeted, it was abnormal and therefore dangerous.
She followed him up to the roof, heels clicking only slightly against the dirty grate of the metal. Once at the top, she stood near the ledge, cape and hair blowing in the wind. "What business do you have here, Zinkenite?" Perseus was scared as to what she would find upon return to her flat. She couldn't really think of anything that he would do, but Perseus hadn't had much interaction with him since his 'upgrade'.
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Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 2:16 pm
He froze, not quite a child with his hand caught in the cookie jar but more a pause for calculations, he turned his head with an almost casual air, more confidant perhaps than when he had been a Lieutenant.
"Perseus, It's been a while... did you stop by for another dance?" He flashed her a teasing smile and moved forward with an even gate, glancing her over, taking her in inch by inch and not a jot of it was 'sexual' the way some men might have stared at anyone so lovely and wearing so little.
Honestly sometimes he wondered that certain members of the Negaverse could function at all in the face of what they might have called 'bounty'.
"I wasn't aware that you maintained an study of this area... should I ring ahead next time?" He said evasively. He did not want this senshi paying too close attention to Adira, it would be inconvenient at best and might lead her far too close to his 'civilian self', hard as it was to make the connections he didn't want the senshi to have ANY such advantages or leads if he could avoid it.
"Season's Greetings to you too..."
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Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 4:20 pm
"Maybe you should. This whole section, down to Calico Lane is patrolled by Vogue, maybe you should take note of it next time." Her eyes narrowed a bit, taking in his new attire for the first time when she was not in a rush. This time, however, she was without a team. Hopefully if she needed it she could call Rosalind who should be relatively nearby. Hopefully she wouldn't need it.
"Seasons Greetings to you as well, but my question still stands, Captain." Perseus took a casual step off of the ledge, boots crunching in the snow that was scattered among the pebbles on the roof. "What business do you have here?" While it was true he'd gotten an upgrade, she hadn't exactly been slack herself. If it came down to it, Zinkenite would find her a much better and stronger fighter than he had seen her last time. Not only that, but he wasn't walking into a fight in progress either.
Also, if questioned Perseus was without a doubt Sherlock. There was no way she would be considered Moriarty when the alternate of their duo was corrupted, it would be a blow to her pride.
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Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 6:57 pm
He rolled his eyes and sighed. "Yes...yes, I will be very mindful of your 'team'" He said with a wave of his hand. "And so long as I am not here to collect star seeds, I hardly think it's any of your business what I'm doing here...unless you think I should have brought you a christmas gift." He folded his arms with an arched eyebrow.
He flourished her a semi mocking bow, he wasn't trying to pass off the Mona Lisa to some unsuspecting buyer under the nose of -this- sherlock...
Nor was he likely to tussle her off a waterfall. "If I swore to my lady...that I have not taken star seeds in quite some time, would you be satisfied? Not even those whom I would argue, if removed from society would benefit it as a whole."
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Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 12:10 am
Oh how she would laugh at the irony of his statement later on when she discovered the small gift hanging from her door. Not brought her a Christmas gift indeed. Unlike their first meeting, she watched his bow with a bit of disdain. This wasn't the same boy who'd talked with her about the morality of war. He reeked of ambition and corruption now, and Perseus doubted if he held the same views on life and war as he did back then. It made her incredibly sad, to see his change. Zinkenite had the potential for much more than the Negaverse, and she was sure whoever he was as a civilian was the same.
"To your lady? It seems as if the times have changed, Zink, and you with them." A touch of remorse sunk its way into her voice, face remaining detached as ever. "To kill...to steal energy to feed an organization whose only goal is to bring about the corruption and death of the earth... what is the difference?" Perseus looked sad. "One just takes longer than the other." Her eyes never left the Captains, icy blue orbs seeming to try and stare into his very soul.
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Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 2:00 pm
"How strange... these things they say to you to make sure we fight." His voice was even and he tilted his head again to assess her. "I suppose it's much the same in any war... As for change, we all do I'm afraid, each of us are shaped by our duties, as we must be as our lots are cast." He waved a hand with a small shrug, if I could reduce our fights to a chess board, I would...though I don't imagine your cohort with the coins would fair nearly as well as you."
He offered a hand, was it a mockery? Or did he truely offer her a dance again as they had when they first met. "You too have changed, you look... as though you yourself were feeling the age of war..." there was a hint of regret there. "I hope it won't pull you under."
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Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2011 2:58 pm
"The weight of the world changes everyone." Perseus's eyes flicked to the offered hand and looked confused. "It's how you manage it that keeps your head above water. Being 'pulled under' isn't an option for me." If there was one thing she had, it was drive. Her drive hit many different things, but most of all she had one to simply survive. It had never been an issue before, but since she had become a senshi it had moved to the front of the line.
"I cannot dance with you anymore Zinkenite. Not in good conscience anyways. The chessboard we live in does not allow us to move out of place, not anymore." They were bound to the diagonals, horizontals, and specific movements that had been set upon them from the beginning. Only recently, however, had Perseus felt them in full. As much as their first dance had been awkward and non confrontational, any dance they would have now would be a battle veiled under pretenses. It wasn't something she wanted to deal with now when she was tired and felt like nothing more than curling up at home with her studies.
The offered hand went unanswered as Perseus stood on the roof, gazing a little less intently at the person in front of her, who was both the same person and a very different person all at the same time. "I hope you understand." It was said softly, with much less of an edge as before. She felt bad that their lives had taken the opposite courses that they had.
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Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2011 3:04 pm
The hand dropped after a moment and he glanced away over the roof tops, an odd moment of trust perhaps between two on such opposite sides of the chess board.
"No... we are still dancing. We have just changed the music." He said and turned with a small, sad smile.
"... I think that is quite what I admire about you... perhaps more than any other. I think if they were looking for a princess... a real one, they would not do ill to turn to you Lady Perseus." He said with a small bow.
The threats, the unspoken dangers had fallen away to show what remained of the same stumbling young man she had met before, what armor he had drawn around himself with hard and dangerous words and piercing eyes drawn back like the curtain of Oz.
"But my opinion weighs for little in our mutually violent worlds... we can do little but play the hands we are dealt can we."
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Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2011 5:54 pm
Her eyes followed his. If anything, Perseus at least trusted him to attack only when honorable. For some reason, if it proved to be not the case the Negaverse would have had a more profound affect on Zink then she'd originally estimated. "I'm no princess...I do what I can to protect what I love."
The talk of violent worlds made her think of the heart of Perseus, the destroyed home world she'd visited in what felt like a dream. She wondered just how violent her world had been, and exactly what kind of violence destroyed it. Snapping out of her revelries, she turned back to the matter at hand. "There are those who rise above the card games Zink. Stacking the deck is common in real life... simply playing with what you are dealt is more of a choice than a necessity." Perseus had no doubt at this point that he was a willing participant in this 'card game'. His promotion pretty much had sealed that in her mind- those who didn't strive to please weren't normally promoted.
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 4:52 am
Amusement sparked in his eyes again at her words.
"They tend to call those who play with what they were not given...cheaters. They can be very hard to spot as well, sometimes rising or... falling to places one did not expect long before they are discovered." He flashed her a grin.
"And... be honest... what would you have a princess do, but what you just stated." He gave a small shrug. "The purest action perhaps, weather it is deemed right or wrong by the masses, as you -are- still called terrorists, is to fight for what you most believe in. Your fight may change as you grow and learn but the fact that you fight for it... I think that is something far too easily dismissed."
He could never deny that there were...dark thoughts in his mind. Could not honestly say that he would, if he was able steal all those people whom he truely admired, though they were few... to 'his side' to keep them 'safe'. It was a selfish want... and strangely one he could not envision thrusting upon her. No... she would forever be the other side to their chess board.
So yes... he was a willing participant, but you could never truely strip that down to black and white in his mind.
He could no more stop being part of the Negaverse, than she could stop being a senshi, she could at least be...oh what was that bothersome word... purified. He however, he could not be corrupted to their side... maybe that lent conviction to his faith, or perhaps it was the doubt that still lingered deep in his eyes almost obscured from view.
"The day you Senshi, can do as Queen Beryl does, and sway a piece from their place on our chess board, then we will talk again of choices." He nodded solemnly.
"Till then...'princess'... though perhaps one day you will tell me of your planet, the one far beyond this world...if you have one that is, if so I hope it's in far better state than the last one I saw."
He started to back up, just a few steps, clearly preparing to leave.
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 11:25 am
"Certainly by now you have to realize that even Queen Beryl is only a card in someone else's hand." After meeting Kurma, the space mambo-ing guru, it was hard to believe anything otherwise. Perseus was beginning to realize more and more that there were things way out there, things that neither side had even began to understand. The ice princess on Christmas Eve had been a prime example of such a thing.
Her eyes narrowed at the talk of planets. Certainly Kurma couldn't have shown the Negaverse as well! She couldn't believe that, but she certainly wasn't ready to give up her information of the cryptic space-walker. It was too important for someone like Zinkenite to know, he was an agent who knew what to do with information, regardless of how small. "Really now, so whose planet did you happen to visit then?" Perseus took a step forward to match his own. She wasn't about to let him reveal a bit of information and then disappear into the night.
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 4:05 pm
"Why... would you like to dance now?" He teased and took a step to one side.
"Where I went, and with who...and our subsequent... arguments..." he said saying the word arguments with a delicacy that left them utterly up to her imagination, but hinted at full out fights. "I can assure you it was NOT my idea... " he added, though it was no help at all to have said such... really he could have been so hurtful with that knowledge, accusations about not being able to do well on their own planets and the like.
"Clearly all of us made it back in one piece, else I'd still be stranded on some floating rock with crumbling architecture and rotten flooring."
His face went suddenly serious. "Or will you try and beat the information out of me... princess. I'm sure you're capable... if I didn't simply leave."
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Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 11:48 am
"I'm a bit hurt that you think I've turned into someone so brash and uncouth apparently." Perseus didn't like the switch of calling her 'princess' before and how it was used now, almost derogatory. It was as much of a slap in the face as anything physical, and it stung her pride instead of her cheek. "Besides, information isn't so hard to come by anymore that I would need to beat it out of you."
She could always just check the new database at some point and see if someone mentioned something that involved the Negaverse and planet travel. And if that didn't work, there was always a good amount of foot travel and talking to people. A Negaverse agent traveling to a planet would certainly be something gossiped about, if the original senshi had told anyone about it.
"You also say that as if it didn't totally fascinate you." Perseus smirked. "I would think I know you well enough at this point to know that you were completely baffled and thrilled to travel to a different planet, crumbling or not." It was something that he couldn't just brush off and she knew it. He was, after all, all about information. And the fact that senshi could travel to their own planets of origin was a HUGE chunk of information that he had to be intrigued by. Perseus hoped that his upgrade to Captain had not robbed him of his intellectualism, at the least.
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Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 6:28 pm
He let his poker face slip, waved a hand very casually though it didn't match at all the spark of interest in his eyes.
"Only as interested as Steven Hawking is about black holes..." He said sounding dismissive though his eyes said she had hit the nail on the head.
"Pardon... for my accusation of brutality." He added as well with a small nod. "I... have been unpleasantly surprised by far too many of late. I let myself grow lax and trusting of far too many..." he added his tone growing soft and strangely ... wounded though it was just as quickly brushed away.
"How strange people are..." he said almost conversationally. "That...we try so hard to place our hopes and hearts in the hands of others, and so often end up..." he stopped and gave a short laugh.
"Well... yes." He shook his head. "I should have brought you something for christmas." He teased. "Perhaps I could have seen your world... I think it would be the one thing I would allow myself to be placed...at the mercy of a Senshi to see... it was... beautiful, strange but beautiful.... I will perhaps wonder for the rest of my days what could have destroyed it...and what strange twist of fate brought you all here... will that be the fate of earth or will we reach something better than even your strange worlds I wonder."
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