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 Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 11:58 pm
The night was full of excitement. It wasn't enough that a guardian cat had claimed both himself and Orion. Not was it enough that said guardian cat granted him the ability to turn into super sailor Merope. He was already repeating the words in his head: Merope Star Power, Make-Up! Merope Star. Home star. His star.
But in the end, Merope couldn't tell whether he was giddy off of power or nervous for what was to come. He had spent the night sleeping on the Pleiades Couch (as he called it) in the Pleiades Base (as they call called it) with a guardian cat curled up on his stomach. Somehow he managed to sleep while staring at the wooden cabin's ceiling (he really needed to get that fixed), only to awaken to Poseidon's questioning eyes. They had to go back. There wasn't a way around it.
Besides, it was early morning and the Pleiades base had yet to get any sort of refrigerator or microwave. He was hungry, and breakfast was back in the apartment.
Carter wished that he remembered to bring his skateboard before leaving the house. Running back to the apartment as Super Merope was out of the question, and walking as a civilian wouldn't have been as bad if he didn't insist on carrying Poseidon across his shoulders. The guardian cat wouldn't have any of that, however, and was quick to jump down and follow the bluenette back to the apartment instead.
At the door to his shared apartment, Carter couldn't help but pause and stare at it. Was Damian up? Did he drink any alcohol? Would he be sober? Would he get thrown into something again? Standing there on the front porch wouldn't help it. "You ready, Po?" He asked, looking around for the guardian cat. Carter reached into his pocket and withdrew his key, unlocking the door and stepping in first and waiting for Poseidon to enter before closing it. He resisted the urge to call out that he was back, not wanting to accidentally wake Damian up if he was still asleep. "Well, we're here."
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 12:22 am
The night before Damian had felt the cat, not that he knew it was a cat. He had just felt the extra power signature. And then Carter's energy signature had swelled when he became Super Sailor Merope. The redhead hadn't paid to much attention to that part though. He was exhausted, and embarrassed and didn't want to think about what had happened.
It wasn't until he felt both power signatures leave that he put on a pair of boxers and went into the living room. The coffee table was righted and slid back into place, and Damian cleaned up as much as he could. He felt horrible every time he looked at the hole in the wall where he had thrown Carter. His drinking was beginning to scare even himself.
When the clean up was finished Damian laid himself out on the couch, burying his head in a throw pillow. Carter would show up eventually and then he'd apologize and everything would go back to normal. Hopefully.
Poseidon looked up at Carter from his place at his feet and nodded. He was ready, he had to be because there wasn't anything else to do except confront him. Before he had fallen asleep he had been thinking over the situation, and when he woke up he put his mind back to the same task. Unfortunately he hadn't been able to come up with anything.
He followed the bluenette into the apartment glancing around. It was...well nice wasn't exactly the word he'd use. The beer stains on the walls definitely cut the nice factor.
It didn't take the cat long to spot the half naked Damian asleep on the couch and he sighed. Looking up at Carter he inspected his face. The other teen seemed to be hesitant about waking his teammate up. Luckily for them both Poseidon didn't have those kind of qualms.
Padding across the living room he stopped at the end of the couch where Damian's head was. Lifting himself up he put one paw on the couch, lifting the other to bring it down on Damian's cheek. When the boy only shifted he did it again only this time he spoke too. "Wake up! You lazy boy."
The second slap of the cat paw had Damian jerking awake and he looked around, putting one hand on his head. "Uggggh, I have the hangover from hell." He groaned, then stared at the cat. "What the hell?!" He sat up staring at the Guardian Cat. "Who're you?"
The cat sighed and backed up, putting all four paws on the ground. "I am Poseidon, yours', and Super Sailor Merope's, Guadian Cat." He sighed a bit as if he had to explain this a hundred times.
Damian just blinked and then stared at Carter. "What the hell, man?"
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 12:33 am
Damian was still here -- that was good. Very good. He didn't know what to think or do if Damian wasn't here. The fact that the Jeep was still parked out in front reassured him a little, but if it was gone Poseidon would probably have been accidentally left outside while Merope henshined up and went to go look for him.
At least Damian was home. Carter allowed himself to relax slightly, offering a grin and a nod to Poseidon at Damian's questioning look. "It's true. He's our guardian cat. Or at least," he began, "He seems to be? I dunno, he found me yesterday and powered me up. We have a guardian cat now, Damian."
He shrugged, then turned to enter the kitchen. Maybe there was a hot pocket left? "And no, what you're seeing isn't a hallucination," he called out, retrieving his prize from the refrigerator door. "He's real. And also pretty soft, too."
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 9:04 pm
Poseidon stared after Carter and sighed. "I am your guardian cat.We've been together for a long time." It was obvious that he wasn't talking about their present life, but instead their past. While he couldn't remember specifics, he knew in his core that he had spent his past life with Orion and Merope.
Damian just rubbed his head, trying to wrap his mind around having a cat. "...The landlord doesn't allow pets." The landlord probably didn't allow holes in the wall or beer stains everywhere either. Slowly the redhead stood up wincing. He really hated hang overs.
The cat watched Damian and shook his head. The nineteen year old was a mess. "I am not a pet, I'm more than just a cat. I'd show you, but that would bring too much attention and you two already attracted enough of that last night." Contradicting his words Poseidon twined between Damian's legs in a very cat like manner. And then he was running across the room to put his paws up against Carter's thigh. He stared up at him and mewed. "I'm hungry." It seemed confrontations of alcoholism weren't going to be done on an empty stomach.
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 9:11 pm
Carter paused, looking at the guardian cat over his shoulder in puzzlement. "A long time?" He didn't think a night counted. Did it? Was that a long time? He tried to figure out what a week would be like in the guardian cat's view, then decided against it as soon as his head started hurting. The thought of Poseidon being their guardian cat in the past life as well as the present hadn't crossed in mind.
He placed the hot pocket into the microwave and started it, shrugging in response to Damian's question. "What the landlord doesn't know won't hurt him, I think. Plus Po's right. He's a guardian cat. I'm sure if any surprise check-ins conducted," Will have more attention on the walls than a pet. And the bathroom window. Has anyone else noticed that it was smashed? Should they report it as an attempted break-in in order to avoid getting damaged? Could they write the beer stains and dents in the wall as a robber confrontation too? "Well. I'm sure Poseidon knows better to make himself scarce during those times," he finished instead, leaning against the counter.
Posiedon drew his attention downwards, and Carter frowned. "Er," he began, "I don't think we have cat food. Or fish. Maybe we have something in the fridge...?" He began to move away, opening to refrigerator door to look inside. "What do guardian cats eat, anyway?"
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 10:19 pm
Damian looked over at his best friend- could he still call him that? He was unsure after their fight- gesturing towards the cabinets. "There should be a can of tuna somewhere in one of the cabinets. I think it's still good." For a long moment he stared at Carter, he felt horrible for what he had done, and he wanted to apologize but...Silver eyes flicked to Poseidon. The sudden presence of a third party made apologizing awkward.
"Just make sure the landlord doesn't find out, or whatever. I'm going to go take a shower." Maybe the cat would be gone when he came out, or at least thing might be less awkward. At the very least a shower would make his body feel better. He didn't know how Carter had been able to sleep on that couch, his feet had hung over the edge. Then he remembered that Carter was shorter than him.
He shuffled out of the living room, through their bedroom and into the bathroom. He had cleaned up the night before and covered the window with a big piece of cardboard and duct tape. Stripping down he got into the shower, turning the temperature to hot.
Poseidon just sighed as the redhead left the room, and then looked back to Carter. "Tuna will be fine. Or some cheese." He moved closer to the fridge, examining its contents. There wasn't much. "...We'll have to go shopping." Stepping away from the fridge he jumped onto the counter top so it was easier to look up at the bluenette.
"I'll talk to Damian after I eat. Hopefully things will go well." He began licking the paw that wasn't adorned with a bracelet. He paused after a moment and looked up at him. "Have you been to Merope yet?" He was curious about going into space, it wasn't something he could do on his own, but now that he had a team it was possible for someone to take him with them.
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 10:42 pm
In the cabinets? Carter's back was turned to Damian, hiding the wince that crossed his face. In the cabinets was where he had hid most of Damian's beer. He simply nodded, taking his time to answer the beeping of the microwave.
"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled, "I don't think the landlord'll show up immediately when you're in the shower, unless someone else reported the window. Have a good shower." Wait! Should he have said that? He wanted to kick himself.
Carter didn't move until the bathroom door closed and he heard the water running. He sighed, carefully closing the refrigerator door after Poseidon had inspected it. "Ye-eeah. Shopping," he said gloomily. "Damian's the one with the car, and when he shops... well." He absently waved his hand towards the ice box before turning, hunting through the cabinets hesitantly for the tuna can.
"To Merope? Not recently," he answered, pulling down the can. He opened it and set it next to Poseidon, shrugging. "I haven't really thought about it. I've been worried about Damian. He's getting a bit better, but lately..." Carter trailed off, picking up his hot pocket and taking a bite out of it. "'M afraid something bad'll happen behind my back, y'know?"
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 10:56 pm
Poseidon lowered his head to the tuna can, digging in. It was marvelous to be eating something out of a can and not off the street. Being a stray hadn't been fun, especially a stray with gold adornments. He'd had more than one person try to steal his shoulder guard and bracelet. His ears flickered, listening to his charge talk while he ate.
It wasn't until he had eaten half the can of tuna that he sat down, licking the fur around his mouth. Once his face was clean he looked up at Carter, examining his face. "It sounds like you really care about him." He tilted his head to the side slightly, still staring at him. He was unfamiliar with such a close bond, but then he hadn't spent a lot of time interacting with humans.
He looked away from Carter, beginning to clean his paws again. He spoke in between licks. "Don't worry, I'll set him straight, and then we can go to Merope."
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 11:11 pm
He was surprised by how much Poseidon was eating. And how quickly. They definitely needed to get more tuna. Or should they get cat food? Was cat food just as good as regular tuna? Would Poseidon become insulted? He hoped he didn't. Speaking of, did catnip work on guardian cats? Carter forced himself to finish his hot pocket in order to avoid asking him right there.
Poseidon's next words nearly made him choke on his hot pocket. "Erk! Wh-what?" He swallowed the last bite of his hot pocket, staring at the cat. "Well yeah! He's my best friend, teammate, and roommate. It'd really suck to lose him, y'know? It's not like... like..." He could feel the heat creeping up his cheeks as he looked away, mumbling,"It's not like that, I don't think he'd even consider..."
Carter looked back to Poseidon, his cheeks still hot. "Go? To Merope? Ah... You sure you wanna go there? It's... It's definitely not like Earth. At all. Unless there's something specific you're wanting to go see? But," he broke off, thinking. "Maybe we could take Damian, too? Could be a distraction from... this, y'know?"
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Posted: Mon May 09, 2011 11:40 pm
Poseidon looked mildly surprised when Carter reacted so oddly to his words. Was it a bad thing? Human customs were foreign to him. When his paws were clean he just sat, staring up at Carter. "Like what?" He didn't quite understand what he meant, although the bluenette was beginning to blush and seemed embarrassed. The guardian cat thought for a moment remembering seeing a girl at the outdoor mall with her friends. A boy had walked by and the girl had began blushing and acting embarrassed and her friends had teased her. "Oh, you...what's the word" He paused for a moment trying to remember what the girl's friends had said. "Oh yes, you're totally crushing on him." His words were a bit awkward in his mouth, like an older person trying to use the current generation's slang. His curiosity satisfied he let it go, it wasn't like he could give him advice. Poseidon himself had never been in any type of relationship that he could remember.
He easily moved to talking about Merope. "I do, I haven't been to space, I'd like to see it." He couldn't remember anything specific, he just remembered that he'd been around for more than this life. He didn't know if visiting his team's planets would make him remember, but it was worth a shot. If he could remember he'd be a better help to his team. "He could come too, we could go to Orion as well. It would probably be good for him. "
Damian's shower had been quick, while he had boarded up the window as much as he could it still let all the steam and hot air out of the room which didn't make for the most comfortable shower.
After he stepped out he toweled himself off, wrapped the towel around his waist and headed into the bedroom. He had gotten his boxers and jeans on when he heard Carter sputtering about something in the kitchen.
Not bothering with a shirt the redhead crept towards the door, staying out of their line of view, but standing close enough so he could hear them through the opening. His eyebrows burrowed in confusion at his roommate's words. It wasn't like what? He hadn't been able to catch the tail end of the bluenette's words.
Poseidon's comment made things clearer though. Damian felt a blush rise to his cheeks, Carter liked him? Liked him, liked him? He wasn't sure how to feel about that. Maybe he had heard wrong. But what if he hadn't? Carter was his best friend, sure, but more than that? He didn't know. The idea didn't outright repulse him, but it didn't immediately excite him either.
He knew he should step out and make his presence known, but he was too curious to how Carter would answer. So, he stood listening to them talk about him.
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 12:10 am
The cat's words only made Carter's blush deepen. "I am not!" He protested, "It's just that, I mean, it's like --" he broke off and began to pace, agitated. Finding the words were difficult; he never expected to be in this sort of situation, much less be interrogated by a guardian cat. "Damian's quite easily my best friend," he began, "I mean, yeah he's not bad to look at and he's an awesome person to hang out with, even if he does have a terrible temper. But come on, it's Damian. without that temper it really wouldn't be him, y'know? I mean," he stopped, then suddenly turned direction to pace the other way.
"I mean, I'm not gay or anything. I think. Am I? ********, I don't know. Everyone makes such a huge deal out of it to the point where it's seen as being a bad thing to swing that way, and others are so flamboyant about it to the point where even if you don't swing that way it makes you stop and go Damn! I'm glad I'm not gay, that person makes it out to be SO damn embarassing! Y'know? And there's still others who cringe at the very thought of rainbows and seeing two people together that they make you go Damn! I'm glad I'm still not gay, I wouldn't want to put up with their hostility towards the concept!"
Carter stopped again, running both of his hands nervously through his hair. "Look, it's like... It's complicated, y'know? Look, yes, I am crushing because I got to know him and I think he's awesome and I don't want to see anything bad happen to him, and it really tore me up inside when I found out he was dating someone I really disliked and couldn't stand right from the start of meeting her before I knew she was dating him, okay? I just... I don't want him to act badly towards me, y'know? I... I just want to stay his friend. I don't want to jeopardize that."
He leaned against the counter, running his hand through his hair again. "Just... yeah. Anyway. Space. Space, space, you'll see a lot of it on Merope." He latched onto the topic change quickly. "All I've seen of it has been a ship. It... It might be boring, just as a head's up." He shrugged, then bit his lip. "Hey, Po? Can you... Can you not repeat anything I said to Damian? I... I don't know how he'd react, and I'd rather not accidentally push him away, y'know?"
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 12:42 am
Poseidon listened attentively to Carter's words. He had no idea human relationships were so complicated. Were they all like this? It was a wonder they managed to reproduce at all if that was the case. The bluenette's speech did teach him a lot though.
In the bedroom Damian's eyes were slowly widening the longer Carter talked. His roommate was gay? Or confused, he wasn't sure which. He was absorbing a lot of information. He did pick up on Carter calling him awesome which made him grin, but then he was talking about his temper. His ******** temper, it always bit him in the a**. It didn't seem like the bluenette was too upset with it, or at least he had accepted it.
And then Carter admitted to crushing on him and for a moment he was frozen. Carter did like him. He wasn't sure how to feel about that, or how to react. His mind started going back to things that had happened, like when he'd wake up with Carter pressed against his back, or the way Carter worried about him. Was that all because he secretly liked him? Or was liking him a recent development? he had so many questions, but he knew he couldn't ask them. He wasn't supposed to be listening after all.
Poseidon stood up when the bluenette had stopped talking and slowly, making sure the boy had a hold of him, he crawled into his arms to curl against his chest. "I won't tell him, but maybe you should. He could feel the same way." In Poseidon's mind there was no reason he wouldn't. He didn't know Damian well in this life yet, and he didn't know about the stigma of being gay.
Damian still hadn't come out of hiding, and he wasn't sure if he should. It would be awkward to come out now. And Po's words had him thinking. What if Carter had told him, how would he have reacted? Probably in the same way he was now, shocked silence. But then he really started to think about it. He tried to forget about the fact that the bluenette was a man. The two usually always had fun together, and Carter was a good person. He definitely wouldn't go off and start torturing people, which was a plus. But still, even with all that Carter was, in fact, a man and that was something Damian was still wrapping his head around.
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 1:00 am
Poseidon curling up in his arms and offering him a cat-like hug helped immensely. "I... I can't," Carter said quietly, shifting Poseidon around in his arms so that his metal accessories weren't digging into him. And so that he could scratch his ears. "It's just that... I don't now how he'd feel, y'know? I don't want to make things awkward between us, and..." He shook his head, placing Poseidon back down onto the counter. "I just... Now isn't a good time."
He tapped his fingers on the counter, shaking his head. "I just... It's something that's not important right now, y'know? Right now, I'm worried about him yeah." He waved his hand towards the refrigerator. "He's been... drinking a lot more. I don't know why, and I'm scared that if he finds out that might make him want to drink even more, you know? I... I just want to see him get better. Cut back. Go back to his old self."
Carter stopped, freezing in place. "...Po?" He said slowly after a pause. "How... How long has the water been off?" He really hoped Damian was still in the bathroom. If Damian was listening in... Carter didn't want to think about it, to consider the possibilities and the what if's about what Damian would do if he knew.
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 1:16 am
Poseidon's eyes closed as his ears were scratched and he couldn't help the chirp of pleasure that escaped him. Carter was very good at scratches. When he was back on the counter he was able to focus again. For a moment he didn't speak, he wanted to say that if Damian felt the same then maybe he would drink less. But it wasn't his place to argue with Carter about his own feelings. So, instead he just nodded. "Well, hopefully he will after we talk."
The bluenette's question caught him off guard and he tilted his head slightly thinking about it. "A few minutes I think. Why?" The concept of eavesdropping was another foreign one to Poseidon.
Damian frowned as Carter went on. He felt like a jackass. Overhearing how much his best friend was worrying about him affected him more than any guilt trip, or pep talk. Closing his eyes he sighed quietly, maybe he did have a problem.
It wasn't until Carter was asking Po about the shower that the redhead realized just how long he had been standing there. Moving to the dresser he threw the rest of his clothes on and then looked around. Should he just step outside? Or should he wait a little longer and then come out? He had no idea.
Not wanting to sit and fret about it longer he just walked out into the living room. "We really need to get the window fixed in the bathroom. Showering with an open window sucks balls." Nice and natural, at least until he mentioned sucking balls, then a dark blush began to spread across his cheeks.
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Posted: Tue May 10, 2011 1:31 am
Carter stared at Poseidon. The cat looked so innocent, so... cat-like that he couldn't fault him for it. But a few minutes?! This wasn't good. This was worse than the moment the dragon-bird-youma chomped his skateboard. This was worse than the moment he realized that just by being a senshi he was putting his family in danger. This was ranking high on his most awful moments. What if Damian heard him? What if he knew? If he knew, if he knew, if Damian knew...
Damian showing up didn't help matters. Carter didn't want to move, didn't want to turn and face Damian. Not after he all but confessed to liking him -- what if he knew?! He gripped the counter's edge, taking a deep breath. "I-Y-yeah. Gottagetthatfixed and looked at before someone breaks in. Or something."
He looked at Poseidon, a look of panic crossing his face. There was no way they could go into space now. That would be far, far too close to asking him out on a date. And for all he knew, Damian... What would he say? One little misstep could very well change their relationship forever. He didn't want to give up his friendship. What if getting rejected changed it? Carter bit his lip, indecisive.
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