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 Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2011 11:57 am
Anthony Darrow was exhausted. He hadn't slept very well since coming back from that dream world. If 'coming back' was the right phrase for it, as he hadn't exactly left any place... or he had, but had woken up right back where he should have been? Or... something. He didn't pretend to understand it, though he was very interested in learning more about this whole thing.
He was putting his research on hold for the moment, though, as he decided he should probably be a bit more healed before he went out looking for senshi to ask questions to.
Though, apparently he wasn't so bad off that he couldn't come to work.
Truth be told, he felt more comfortable at work than he did in his apartment. Even with other things going on, like being in the process of buying a new place nearer to the park, away from apartment complexes, being away from work just did not offer enough distractions for him. He couldn't sleep for fear of more terrible things happening, on top of the difficulties he had already been experiencing in that department.
His eyes were dark, but when he was at the counter he was still all smiles and warmth. His face was bruised and his body was battered and broken after his run in with that Nega, but he blamed himself for most of it. Not being good enough. His hero complex just wasn't enough. He needed to learn more, and from there, he might be useful in different ways. He had to change his tactic.
Of course, that wouldn't stop him from getting into trouble.
For now, he was leaning on the side of the library, eyes closed, taking his fifteen. He didn't smoke, but he was still standing outside like he might be lighting up a cigarette, down the alley to the side of the library.
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Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 1:39 pm
Super Sailor Themis had a whole lot to think about, really - there were way too many things on his mind to be remotely considered comfortable, still.
The breakdown he shared with Europa at least helped in one way - he was patrolling. It was more than he was doing, even if his current 'patrol' was more like yet another escapism attempt - he'd thrown himself into work and school and his girlfriend as distraction, but now it felt like he was drowning, and so he fled that.
It was a never-ending spiral.
He jumped from rooftop to rooftop, on the lookout for anything suspicious - when he leaped off and landed a few meters from Tony, not expecting anyone to be here to see him. The boy had barely landed that he started to head down the street to climb the next building.
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Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2011 1:24 pm
Tony nearly jumped out of his skin when something landed in the alley nearby. He let out a less than manly cry and shoved himself away from the wall and the source of the sound before stopping himself and, because his instincts were terrible and his sense of self preservation was constantly at war with an idea to protect others first, heading back toward the shadows.
He saw the senshi and was immediately relieved.
"Hey, wait!" he called, seeing that Themis hadn't noticed him. He stumbled after the senshi, wincing as he went, his bruises burning from the activity. He looked around, half thinking there was a youma around. Senshi usually appeared when there was trouble.
The librarian was well familiar with that by now.
"Are you hunting? Looking for something? How are you doing?" He had a lot of other questions, but he might have just been leaping at the first distraction to come his way. Whatever the case, he was glad, almost relieved, to see Themis.
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Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2011 12:15 pm
It was the scream that stopped him - and made him turn around, turning on his heels as quickly as possible to see who was there, and what kind of monster lurked...
But there was no civilian in distress. There was no youma. Just Tony. And it was only with that realization that Themis relaxed. Hunting, hm. "I guess you could say that." It sounded much better than just cutting through traffic to go home. "I guess I just needed to get my mind off things a little..."
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Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 11:44 am
"Oh?"
Tony was still struggling to get his panic in line. He cleared his throat, smiling thinly, pretending that someone else must have made those pitiful, non-manly sounds of surprise. It clearly hadn't been him, because he was friends with this senshi. Duh.
"You're looking well," he commented offhandedly, though now he noticed some things were... off? Different? He didn't know how to put it, so he tried not to call attention to it. "What do you mean, if you don't mind my asking? Is everything alright?"
The thing with Tony was when he asked something like that he always did so with genuine interest, rather than the detachment that came with conversational obligation. He wasn't the kind of man to say 'hi, how are you' on instinct, but rather always attached a real want to know. Some more than others, but at the moment he was truly concerned about Themis, just in case something was bad in the young man's life, and he might be able to help.
That's what friends did, after all.
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Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 5:29 pm
At least one thing would be obvious, even to Tony's mostly clueless view on things - Themis was in fact, different. His coat seemed to magically have turned from black to white, save for the inside and noise lines details. There were transparent epaulets on his shoulders. His hair was tied back with a long length of powder-blue ribbon.
If Themis knew where the scream came from, he wasn't showing it. That, or he just didn't care. It was a fairly standard reaction to strange things in this city.
Tony didn't need to know he shieked in an all too similar way when startled. He was fairly comfortable keeping that knowledge for himself.
The way the older man spoke, though... He really wasn't sure why. Maybe because he was older, probably about as old as his father was. Maybe it was his open disposition, his willingness to just listen. Maybe it was the many times they had ended up as makeshift fighting partners.
But where Tony was willing to listen, Themis found himself oddly willing to speak. What harm could it do ? He'd spoken about all this, multiple times, and while it made him feel better...
But again, what could it harm ? Tony didn't know who he was. He walked, separating the distance in between them. "Trust me." He said.
It was all the warning he gave before Tony found himself lifted up and carried by a teenager. A teenager who then proceeded to jump his way, from trash can to window ledges, hop-hop-hopping all the way too the roof.
This was when he let the librarian down. The view was pretty nice from here, he had to admit.
"...It's complicated." He started, deciding it was probably best to let the man recover a bit. Unless senshi made an habit of carrying him, it was probably a little startling.
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Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 6:16 pm
Tony was sure Themis' outfit was different, though he wasn't the kind of man who went around taking note of what other people, particularly other men, were wearing. Still, senshi had distinct outfits, and this one was now different. He didn't know what that meant, exactly, because he only knew most of the basics about senshi.
Not that the visual difference was what he had noticed and was trying to ask about, of course.
"Trust...?"
That was all Tony was able to get out before the senshi picked him up like he weighed nothing at all. He let out a yelp, grabbing on to Themis for dear life when he realized they were now jumping. Up the building. Themis was probably lucky Tony didn't have claws, or even relatively sharp nails, as they would have been embedded in the younger man's shoulders at this point.
He stood once he was put down, looking stunned, eyes wide. He cleared his throat, though, smoothing his shirt and trying to look like that hadn't been as terrible as it had at first felt. He looked around, peeking over the ledge before moving further into the middle of the roof. He tilted his head at Themis.
"Complicated?" He prompted, his voice only slightly higher than it would normally be if he hadn't been terrified moments earlier, putting his hands in his pockets. "What's the matter?"
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Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 6:30 pm
While waiting for Tony to gather himself, Themis had made a few steps toward the edge of the roof, looking in the distance. For what reason, it was unclear.
He lacked pockets, though it looked like he would have put his hands in them if he had any. The boy was silent for a few moment more, as if mulling his thoughts over in his head.
"We're not..." He started, hesitating mid-sentence. "We're not just senshi." He had no idea how much Tony knew, or what he thought the senshi were. "There is magic protecting us. Concealing us. I look exactly the same than I usually am as Themis, but yet no one can recognize me for who I am. I might very well be someone you see everyday, but there is no way for you to be able to tell." It wasn't exactly accurate, though Xavier had started showing up at the library more often, if only to make sure Tony wasn't getting his face chewed up by something or other.
"I am a 18 years old. I go to Sovereign Heights. I work part-time. I moved to my own apartment for the first time in my life in august." He continued. "Im not superman - behind all the fancy magic trick, im nothing but a 18 years old boy facing the hardest thing he'd ever had to face."
He decided to leave out the whole centuries-old-soul-from-space part - Tony was probably having information overload at is. "I can't tell anyone who I am, because they would become targets. My life is falling apart around me like dominoes and im not sure how to pick up the pieces. If they can even be picked up at all."
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Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 6:46 pm
The librarian watched Themis with a frown, head canted to the side, following him at a distance. He didn't draw too near to the edge of the roof right away, pausing as he listened.
He nodded his head.
"I realized that. I think about it every day, wondering who might be a senshi and why I can't tell. Whenever I think too hard on it, it just seems like... I don't know. I can't remember what senshi look like, or I can't recall the faces I want to. It's magic, then? I guess that makes sense. But that has to be difficult for you..."
He drew a bit closer, thinking Themis was more important than worrying about falling over the edge. Anyway, he was sure Themis was not orchestrating some over the top assassination plot.
He thought about Elke, Sailor Virgo, whose identity he had learned some time ago. He never spoke of it, and wouldn't do so now. It was ironic, really, how much he cared about these kids, these people forced to fight and lose their childhoods, and how badly he wanted to help them. Ironic because he had no idea his own son, who he was not particularly fond of and thought more and more of a lost cause, was one of them. And jealous of the attention they got from him, to boot.
"I feel so terrible for you kids, sometimes," Tony admitted, leaning on the rail. "A lot of the time. Not just because you have to fight and it seems like... die... for people who don't even appreciate you. But because you have to sacrifice your childhoods to do it. Your teenage experiences, growing up carefree. You don't get that chance. It can't be easy. I don't envy you for it, I'd take those responsibilities from you if I could. But... I, at least, have faith in what you senshi do. You save lives. You protect the world. That's such an incredible weight, but an amazing calling. And you do it, you've saved me more than once. You are stronger than you know, I think, in character. Just for braving this impossible situation, and struggling through it as best you can. You have such an incredible strength in you, and I know it feels impossible, but as I just said, you deal with those situations a lot."
He looked at the senshi, finally drawing his eyes away from the oblivious. largely ungrateful city below.
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Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2011 7:02 pm
Themis certainly wished that he could be as certain as Tony was about this whole thing. He really wished he did, but he might never be again. But the dice had been cast, and there was no going back to being truly normal. Sure, he could stop powering up, but then people would get hurt.
Tony could get hurt, and Themis couldn't turn a blind eye on that. Fight for those you care for. More and more it seemed the way to go.
"It's the only thing that can truly protect us, and our families." He said, softly. "But my protecting my family, I also harm them. I keep getting hurt and into the hospital, and my father trusts me less and less." He canted his head to look at Tony. "But if I told him the truth, and someone found out... He would probably die. By protecting the ones I love the most, I also harm them." He looked older than 18, when he said that, lips pulling into a tight line. Older and weathered, and yet fragile and vulnerable.
It was an odd mix.
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Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2011 9:32 pm
Tony watched Themis with a sad expression, shaking his head. He knew he couldn't fully understand what the poor senshi was going through, but he also knew that sorrow and doubt had a way of blinding someone to the important things. It was easier to dwell on the bad than notice the good. That's why it was so easy to take things for granted.
"Sometimes," he said slowly, thoughtfully, "you have to hurt the ones you love to protect them. You have to sacrifice of yourself, to keep those that can't be involved free of it all. Your father would certainly understand if he could know, but you understand the risk. He doesn't. He can't. Unfortunately, that's the world you live in, and the world the rest of us must dwell in, unaware."
He leaned on the railing heavily, keeping the weight off his bad leg. He was also favoring his side, his ribs having suffered some abuse in Elysion, when a Nega had beaten him nearly into a pulp. At least the bruises were healing well, and easier to hide with make up.
"Listen," he said softly, offering a smile. "A lot of people don't understand what you do, and aren't even aware that you're the good guys. That you save lives every time you power up. But that doesn't mean they don't appreciate it, and aren't worth fighting for. You family, as well. They don't know, can't understand, but they'll love you anyway, regardless of what they think or what you do. You're a good kid. You do an amazing thing, and you live in such danger. But I, at least, know you're making a difference, and it means something."
"Finding the balance between two worlds is the tricky part, I'd guess. Doubting yourself will only make it harder."
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Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 1:28 pm
He really wished he could explain... truly explain. Everything he'd learned, everything he had seen in Elysion. But such a thing was impossible, he knew. He didn't even truly understand it, so could Tony ? And it would put him into as much danger, if not more so, than if he had known who he was. Simply just being seen with him like this was most likely a danger, though thankfully, he couldn't feel a negaverse power signature anywhere near.
"I know." He conceeded. "I've... always been this way, I think. It's nothing new." He shook his head.
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Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 1:34 pm
Tony patted Themis on the shoulder.
"Just take care of yourself, okay? Everything gets jumbled up, and you might lose your way more than once, but you need to remember to think about yourself every once in a while. No one expects you to be infallible, and you are still a teenager. Everyone deserves chances to clear their heads. You're as human as I am, despite the ability to, uh, jump up buildings while carrying librarians on your shoulder."
He smiled, trying to lighten the mood a bit, and also offer him some comfort.
"You might not be able to let anyone know your secrets, but I'm always here whenever you need someone to lean on, or to just listen. I don't have to understand everything. I understand enough. If you need to talk, I'll listen. If you want to just... take it easy, you can do that here, too."
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Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2011 4:27 pm
"Jumping up buildings while carrying librarians on your shoulder requires a lot of technique and finesse, I admit." He chuckled, in spite of himself.
Tony would probably never be able to truly know everything he did... but in a way it was better that way. It was good to know he had someone who would listen no matter what, and not ask questions.
Someone who would listen and yet had an outside view of the whole thing.
"...Thank you. I really means a lot to me."
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Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 6:41 pm
Tony grinned, nodding his head. At least Themis was making jokes, even if he did still look sad. And Tony understood why he did, of course. There was still such weight on his shoulders, and while having an outlet to talk about it would be healthier, it still did not make dealing with these issues any less of a reality.
He smiled and patted the young Senshi's shoulder.
"You're welcome," he said simply, offering a warm smile, as always. He felt so guilty, and for nothing. Not for his own actions, at the very least. Perhaps it was just the idea that he could do little more to help the boy, troubled young man than listen. If he could change the world around, he would do so, for Themis and for all the senshi like him.
"Just promise me you'll make sure to stop by when you need to, or want to. And that you won't do anything reckless out there. I worry about you, when I hear about people in the hospital, people dying. You never know if it's someone you care about."
And by 'you', of course, he meant himself and anyone else in a similar place. Knowing, but not knowing, people who fought and struggled and sometimes lost.
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