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 Posted: Thu May 12, 2011 8:14 am
 -It had been a long night. Well like.. hours wise a long night. It was a rarity for Corey to leave the arcade, Electric Dreams, feeling drained or tired. If anything he usually felt exhilerated and peppy, high on a day of excitement and blood pumping music and action. Giving a child a prize they'd been saving tickets for for weeks, finding an extra quarter in the soda machine, watching a thrilling battle for the oppurtunity for new initials to crown the winning game screen. It was hard to find a day when Corey couldn't find atleast one super wonderful bright spot! It was going in in the mornings that one usually found him yawny and droopy.
He was closing a little later than usual, having stuck around until 1am instead of the usual weekday midnight closing after letting a small group of players finish their prospective games. Never turn out a customer, that was rule number one for a successful business! But they were gone and the sounds and lights of arcade were finally put to sleep for the night. Only a soft glow from behind the concession stand and the crisp lights of the large and stylized sign above the door gave him light as he locked the door and fumbled with trying to stick the keys into the pockets of his hoodie.
If one listened close enough they'd even hear the low words of an obnoxious tune as he turned to leave.- "Gotta get down on Friday. Everybody's looking forward to the weekend, weekend."
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Posted: Thu May 12, 2011 9:26 am
There was a bar a few blocks down; at 1am, during the height of late-night business, Corey could probably hear the sounds of drunk twenty-somethings shouting to each other in the street, laughter and conversation, even at this distance. That was also probably the only sound he heard, right about now. His prospective customers gone, the streets were fairly deserted at this hour...
Generally a good thing, as far as Ilmenite was concerned. Moving briskly away from the direction of the bar, certainly not wanting to get caught by angry friends of the particular drunk twenty-something he'd left slumped unconscious against a dumpster in the back alley, Ilmenite was the only other person on the road when Corey looked up from locking the door. His own attention was split between an attempt to light the cheap cigarette perched between his lips and shooting careful looks back over his shoulder to listen for the sounds of concern and anger...
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Posted: Thu May 12, 2011 9:46 am
-It was never completely quiet in the city. No matter what time of day or night some sound of life usually found it's way to anyone willing to listen. Animals rummaging through trash, cars in the distance, and people of course. The sound of people in the distance received a mild glance from Corey a whistful smile touching his lips for a moment. He didn't get drunk very often.. far too expensive a pass time. But the occassional summer cook out that ended in a drunken stupor.. that was a fond memory and one he was hoping to repeat soon enough now that the weather was warming. His eyes were caught by the tiny speck of light. Someone lighting a cigarette. Someone headed his way, lighting a cigarette to be exact.
One hand was fished out of it's place in the hoodie and lifted to the sky in mild greeting, beginning to lesiurely brace the distance between the two of them.- "Hello there fellow creature of the night"
-His grin was jovial even from a distance, his choice of clothing and hairstyle making it a little hard to decipher the fact that the two were perhaps similar in age.- "Heading home for the night?" -Luckily Corey was plenty old enough to be talking to strangers if you wanted to be. Perhaps not smart enough, but old enough.-
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Posted: Thu May 12, 2011 11:00 am
The approaching young man got a twitch, a start, Ilmenite's eyes finally coming up to register on him. For a moment, there was something worried about his expression; then the end of the cigarette caught and behind the glow it relaxed into something easier, more friendly. His goal was never just to fill his quota, but always to surpass it, and if apparently willing targets just landed in his lap...
"...soon, probably." A smile, bright. He looked punk, much more comfortable in his new uniform than he'd been in the old one. Long pants and battered boots were more his style, only the jangling of chain across his chest an annoyance he couldn't overlook just yet.
"Kinda late, huh? Going to the bar?" It was a cheap lighter. Absently, he tossed it toward a garbage can on the curb -- and missed. Plastic rang against metal and he winced.
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Posted: Thu May 12, 2011 1:31 pm
-Corey hardly had a place to talk when it came to clothing. His clothing was sometimes outdated, other times quite juvenile,, always casual and worn far past their prime. If anything the stranger looked kind of stylish army surplus store to him, but Corey had never been one to judge by clothing anyway. He was more concerned with the expression hidden behind shadows and a cigarette, disregarding the rattling ting of plastic on metal that quickly subsided into the darkness. Not annoyance, not anger, but a friendly return, and that was enough for him.-
"Nahhh, not the bar. I just got off of work." -One might question what sort of work one DID at 1am.. but by his clothing the obvious choice was.. obviously not it. Drugs maybe. Technically there were studies around now a days that claimed videogames sort of did the same thing to your brain as some drugs did. But Corey ignored that kind of thing. It was the same defeatist attitude that had tried to pull him down all throughout highschool.-
"So just home really, unless I get distracted along the way." -That happened sometimes, which was hardly good news in a town full of terrorists tromping around freely. But why worry about that kind of stuff you know? Don't worry, be happy.-
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Posted: Thu May 12, 2011 3:06 pm
It was a terrible theory, and one that Ilmenite was almost certainly going to tear down. He grinned at Corey, his last mark already forgotten -- might be ten minutes before they found him anyway, and then how would they know which way the officer had taken off? Relaxing already, he tipped his head to blow smoke away from Corey. Polite, at least.
"Um. There are all kinds of distractions, yes." A pause, and then he offered his hand to shake, his expression still as open and friendly as he could possibly make it.
"Ilmenite." Definitely an introduction, even if it was a strange name for a person to have. His eyes were bright as he said it, expectant. If Corey knew anything about the underground goings-on, he might recognize the feel of it, the mineral sound. Ninety percent of them, it seemed, ended in 'ite'.
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Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 7:32 am
-The hand was taken as it was offered, his own shake firm and awfully chipper for so late at night, and for a moment the captain might have wondered if he had run into a certifiable idiot.- "Ohhhh... Is that a last name?"
"If not you must have had some real artistic parents huh? Name's Corey anyway. Nice to meet you."
-If Ilmenite had hoped to instill some fear or excitement he'd unfortunately failed. In Corey's defense he was oblivious.. and naive.. and probably even a bit of a coward. All the senshi and negaverse stuff that had been going on within the past year or two well.. he didn't have time to invest in that kind of stuff. He had a business to run and self preservation to worry about. All those strange 'terroist' activities he'd heard small blips of, he didn't read the paper very often, they were just street gangs right and with gangs it was better just to keep your nose out of it.-
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Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 8:18 am
Ilmenite didn't wonder if he'd run into a certifiable idiot, no. He knew he'd run into a certifiable sucker, and the very fact made his grin widen, like he was helpless to do anything about it. As far as he was concerned, this was just about the most perfect reaction Corey could have offered. One of his favorites.
"Mm. You too." But he didn't let go of Corey's hand. Instead he held onto it, with a quick look up the street again. Alone. Which meant he could slowly start to draw the energy out of the young man, harvest past his quota tonight...
"Bit late to be out alone?" He watched the young man's face for panic or realization.
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Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 9:19 am
-Corey needed an adult. Or maybe a rape whistle.
These were the weird and disjointed thoughts that flitted across the back regions of his mind as things went from a randomly pleasant moonlit rendevous into something... different?
Having never had his energy drained before he had no way to explain or understand what was happening. But something had happened. Some self preservation switch had finally been flicked in his brain, alerting him that something wasn't right.
His stomach was turning, his head becoming a little light. Was he feeling more tired then he'd been before? Why hadn't Ilmenite let go yet...? His eyes tried to focus on other man's face in the dim streetlight. Why was he mentioning the time again...? Alone..? it was cryptic to say the least. At last the captain received some kind of realization, some brief look of fear.
Maybe he was.. imagining things though..? It was what kept the normally friendly guy from attempting to deck the guy when it all could have been bad chinese food and late night weariness that was messing him up. Nonetheless, Corey attempted to reclaim his own hand, using a strength he didn't even realize he had to jerk and potentially stumble backwards.-
"I'm... not alone"
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Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 4:18 pm
"Might as well be." It didn't seem like it was going to be strong enough. As Corey pulled back, Ilmenite huffed out a frustrated noise, smile wilting just a touch, and his fingers curled tighter around the other man's hand. He was already wishing he'd gone for his usual, someone too drunk to worry about the sensation of it, somewhere a little more private...
He might have done worse, except for the raucous laughter of two DCU girls leaning on each other, drunk, meandering their way down the street. As they approached, Ilmenite looked up and his grip faltered, his attention wavering. It meant that if Corey had the balls, he might be able to get one good, solid blow in and run four steps to the nearest side street.
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Posted: Sun May 15, 2011 10:53 pm
-Don't talk to strangers Corey
He could hear his mother's voice in his head. And in his head images flashed like some gruesome version of CSI. He could see his mother crying because he'd talked to strangers in the middle of the ******** night and ended up gutted like a fish. Gruesome pictures. Yellow tape outside the arcade as they tried to figure out who the sick ******** was.
The pressure on his wrist lightened, just barely, some part of him lashing out as if it knew it might be his only chance. His hands pushed outwards attempting to shove Ilmenite back while at the same time speeding his backward retreat.
It was barely enough, but somehow it was, and Corey took no time to try and get away, slipping around the corner of the alleyway before he could even manage to take a breath.
Something caught his feet, and he tripped, his shoulder crashing into the brick. Pain shot through his arm and his fingers clenched finding themselves stopped by... something...?
What the....?
Where the bowl of water had come from... let alone the ridiculous sash that had been the cause of his shoulder full of wall he couldn't begin to imagine. So instead he stood flabbergasted, frozen like a deer in headlights in that dark alley facing the street.
Had someone been following him or attacking him? Who knew.. he was more distracted by the fact that he was suddenly and inexplicably sparkling.-
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 8:02 am
Ilmenite wasn't planning on giving chase. As nice as the energy was, now that Corey had been clued into the potential danger, it was too much work. Instead he stumbled back, rubbing at the sore spot where the young man had shoved, faintly amused and a little bit frustrated -- he'd been sloppy. Stupid. He was too arrogant right now, and eventually it was going to come back to bite him in the a**.
But then things changed.
The power signature touched against the edges of his senses and made Ilmenite pause. It came across as weirdly familiar and yet something new, something strange. If nothing else, Ilmenite had to explore it -- and if it was dangerous, he had to test it. That was part of his new credo, wasn't it?
As the newly-awakened page lay sprawled, recovering, trying to figure out what had happened, Ilmenite rounded the corner into the alley. There he paused, frowning, considering, and then shrugged. Okay. There was white. The outfit was ridiculous. He was going to go with senshi.
"Where'd you come from, then?"
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 9:40 am
Oh wait, there he was!
As his attacker rounded the corner it was merely a bit lip that kept Corey... no Bimini from giving a terribly girlish eeep of surprise. And like any little girl he responded with what was at hand, thrusting the bowl in Ilmenite's direction. His fingers remained taunt on the small metal receptacle, leaving only the water inside to continue the trip. If it hit it would be harmless.. it was nothing but a few cups of water. But maybe it'd be a little distracting maybe. "Go away!"
He used the moment to steady himself standing, fingers gripping his tiny shield/weapon/saving grace/piece of crap like his life depended on it. The energy that had been taken was replaced in the transformation.. or maybe it was just adreneline. In the back of his mind he thought he heard things.. strange things that made very little sense amidst the pounding beat of his heart... and that gave him the idea to try to out nutjob the murderous nutjob.- "Don't come any closer. I am the PAGE of the Cosmos"
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 10:42 am
...wet. He was wet, shirt sticking to his chest and the hem of his jacket dripping a puddle near his feet. The fact did slow Ilmenite down, blinking owlishly and going very still. The last time one of them had splashed him like that, it had been red wine, and as the booze had sank into his skin he'd slowly become more and more inebriated.
This time, he was just wet. Bimini bought himself enough time for a self-righteous proclamation, to stand and glare and cling to his now-empty bowl. Not enough time to run, and as Ilmenite recovered, the bolas tumbled down into lightly-curled fingers, duct-tape covered ends spinning in slow circles around each other.
"What the hell is a 'page'?" He shook himself off, some, shifting his pace. At least he was between the young man and this end of the alley. It was a long run to the other end.
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Posted: Wed May 25, 2011 6:45 am
If he'd had more of a grasp on the situation he might have laughed as Ilmenite inspected his wetness. But luckily for him, he was too frightened and confused to really recognize the situation. If he lived perhaps he could giggle about it later but for all he knew that was an incredibly large IF at the moment.
The question threw him for a momentary loop. But the answer was quickly recovered, dug out almost instinctively from a lifetime of role playing games and fantasy storylines. "A page is a knight" Duhhh. Though.. why hadn't he just said knight in the first place? The word page had seemed on the tip of his tongue.
Bimini was less than pleased when a weapon appeared and began to be swung at that. He debated just checking the bowl like a frisbee at the man's head and running like mad, arm flailing and the whole nine yards.
But what if he tripped again? Or just wasn't fast enough? Instead he stood his ground, taking a step forward as he shifted his bowl to one hand. It'd make for one hell of a b***h slap.. if he could get close enough that was. If only he'd ever even had any experience slapping someone around before. Corey was definately a lover, not a fighter.
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