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 Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2011 11:19 am
Paris wandered through the park and found an unoccupied bench to sit on, making himself comfortable as he waited for his companion to arrive. Chris needed to walk his dog and Paris, still reeling in response to the events that had ended his first camp experience, felt that he could no longer put off talking about it. He hadn’t even wanted to wait this long before doing so, but with children to look after and cleanup to oversee, the opportunity to bring it up in relative privacy had never presented itself.
He looked back on the battle with a sense of accomplishment. For the first time since all of this began, he thought he’d done well. He didn’t like it, and he was still angry and a bit sick that a group of kids had been targeted, but he could at least be satisfied with what he’d done. He’d stayed in the thick of things the entire time, had helped protect the children and destroy the monsters that had risen from the lake. Once it was over and everything went back to normal, he hadn’t even need to run as long as he usually did to clear his head the next morning, and as soon as he’d returned to Destiny City, he’d gone to partake in his own form of celebration, rewarding himself for his efforts and good behavior with a tiny, sparkling crystal stud on the right side of his nose.
Of course, his success and his willingness to fight might have had more to do with others than it did with himself.
Chris was Valhalla. He was still having trouble thinking of the two as one person, though he thought that may well be a good thing. Better to keep these two lives separate than cause things to become even more complicated by allowing them to intermingle. Even still, he couldn’t deny that knowing someone, both as they were powered up and as a normal person, made him feel tremendously better. He’d gone months not telling anyone, not even his best friend, that finally having that connection – even if he had no intention of telling Chris that he was Ganymede – was a huge relief.
Paris had a smile on his face as he waited, crossing his legs and bobbing one of his feet. He wore or pair of shorts today, with a long shirt that nearly covered them over top, and matching flats with bows decorating the toes. The weather was nice and the world, for once, seemed as if it were making a little more sense.
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Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2011 12:17 pm
Camp had been... different than previous years, to say the least. Chris had thought it would be difficult with his brother there, but that was the least of his worries. There had been swamp monsters and fighting that he hadn't been expecting, although he would have been surprised if anyone had been expecting it. Or maybe it was just a normal occurrence in and around Destiny City?
He'd ended up revealing his other identity to his now girlfriend, and while he had meant to explain things to her before, he hadn't found the time to actually sit down with her. He knew she probably wanted to know more, too... Really. It wasn't every day your new boyfriend ended up being a superhero, right...? So hopefully he would be getting the opportunity soon.
Chris smiled when he saw Paris ahead of him, sitting on the bench. Annabel, of course, was excited too, and pulled on her leash to try and get Chris to hurry up. As soon as she was close enough, she tried forcing her muzzle between Paris's knees as she sat down in front of her. But since her legs were crossed, she settled with laying her head on her thigh, her curled tail flopping furiously from side to side. She obviously loved the attention she got from the blonde.
"Hey," he greeted with a smile, leaning down to give Paris a small peck on the lips, before moving to sit down beside her. Of course, he did blink and frown a little when he noticed something shining on her face, and lifted a hand to scratch at his own nose. "You, uh... got something... right there..." he half-teased, not sure what he thought of her having a nose ring, but... If it was something she wanted, then he couldn't stop her.
He already knew about the tongue ring, anyway...
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Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2011 2:40 pm
He would have gotten up to join Chris if Chris hadn't seemed intent on sitting with him, and if the dog hadn't immediately tried placing her head in his lap. Paris returned the brief kiss before turning his attention to Annabel, smiling at her and giving her a few good pets and scratches. "Hi, there, pretty puppy. Did you miss me? Of course you missed me. You haven't seen me in, what? A day or two? I'm sure it was very tragic for you."
Anna yipped at him happily and began licking wherever she could reach -- his hands and forearms, missing a few times and getting slobber on his knees and thighs. Paris laughed at her and let her, not too bothered by it so long as she didn't start trying to lick at his face.
He looked back at Chris, still petting Anna, and smirked at his comment, turning his head so his boyfriend could get a better look at the tiny piece of jewelry on his nose. "Hush. You like it," he said. And if Chris didn't for some reason, he was going to have to deal with it. "I wanted to do something for myself. You know, sort of as a reward for toughing it out at camp. I thought this would be a little more discrete than an eyebrow or lip, but still more fun than if I just pierced my ears again. And it's tiny!"
He faked a pout, though he wasn't really worried about Chris not liking it. Chris had never really said anything about his tongue ring except for "well, that's interesting" once when they'd kissed a bit deeper than normal. Either way, Paris was intent on doing what he wanted when it came to things like piercings and tattoos. He happened to think he was pretty tame with it all.
"Live a little, Chris! It's not like it's bad or anything. Besides," he continued, eyeing him as he switched to the topic he'd wanted to talk to him about in the first place, "it's no worse than what you do."
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Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2011 5:42 pm
Well, that was only because Annabel had jumped her already, so... why not sit down?
He ignored his dog as she tried to get more attention, and although she eventually settled down and just sat to be petted, he continued to hold onto the leash. It wasn't as though he had a problem with piercings. It just wasn't expected. Paris dressed nicely and she didn't seem all that rebellious, so of course he'd been surprised about her tongue ring, and then the nose ring. It didn't make her any less beautiful, or her legs any shorter... So why not?
Chris frowned a little when he could tell the topic was being turned to him and the secrets he didn't always hide. "Ah, well..." he started, shifting uncomfortably on the bench. "Why don't we walk for a bit?" he wondered, standing even though he'd only just sat down and offered a hand to Paris to help her up as well.
He waited until they'd moved a few yards down the path, double checking to make sure no one was too close to them to say anything else.
"What you saw..." he started, a bit nervously. Even though he wasn't great at keeping his secret, there were still only a few who knew about it. "I was going to tell you..." he explained, hoping she would believe him. "I'm... uh... not really a super hero..." he continued, keeping his voice to almost a whisper and tugging on Annabel's leash when she spotted another dog and wanted to be friendly. "There are three kinds of these... superheros. Senshi, who use magic and generally try to protect people, the Negaverse, who have weapons and steal energy, and... Knights... who... are new to this and don't really know what they're doing." He figured he should go ahead and get everything out while he could, not wanting her to sit around being confused any longer.
"I'm a Knight.... Valhalla of Jupiter..."
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Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2011 9:29 am
Paris allowed Chris to help him to his feet so that they could begin to walk along the path. Instead of letting go of his hand as soon as they had risen, Paris held onto it, not for any sentimental reason, but because it simply felt comfortable to do so.
He listened as Chris explained, not sure if he should be frowning or if he should be wearing some other sort of expression. How did Chris expect him to react to all of this?
Chris turning out to be Valhalla was more of a relief than he'd thought. He'd never wanted anyone to find out who he was, and for the most part he hadn't been very concerned with who other people were outside of their powered identities. He thought it would be safer if no one knew. One's civilian identity seemed a pretty valuable piece of information to him. Chris didn't appear to be as concerned, and though Paris felt he should be, he couldn't stop himself from feeling as if things were going right for a change.
He knew someone now, whether or not that someone knew him, and even though they weren't both senshi, they still had some sort of connection, didn't they? He, Europa, and Kallichore were moons of Jupiter, and now Chris was a Knight!
Still, he had to pretend as if he weren't pleased. "You really shouldn't have transformed in front of me like that," he said, looking up and Chris and forcing his expression into something of a concerned frown. "These people are dangerous, aren't they? What if I was one of the bad guys? I could have killed you! I hope you're not in the habit of doing that in front of other people."
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Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2011 10:17 am
Chris held onto Paris's hand as they walked, keeping hold of Annabel's leash with the other. He glanced over at his girlfriend, giving her a weak smile at her comment.
"You would have killed me...?" he wondered, knowing he shouldn't get cocky with his luck of not powering up in front of people with evil intentions, but at least he knew her well enough to trust her at this point. Otherwise he wouldn't have asked her out like he had. Yes, he knew he needed to be more careful about things like that, but he was rather fond of Paris by this point, especially after she toughed it out and went to camp with him.
"Have you seen us before? Senshi or knights, I mean," he explained, curious about how Paris thought of all this. He hadn't known of anyone until he'd first powered up. Well, aside from the cat that had snuck into his window. But if she hadn't been there, the monster would have probably gone unnoticed. And even if he had noticed it, he probably wouldn't have been able to fight it off on his own.
He ducked his head down a bit sheepishly. "Thanks for staying out of sight, by the way. I don't think I got the chance to thank you, before. It saved me a lot of stress." Because if Paris and Peter had been running around during that battle at camp... He would have been freaking out.
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Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2011 7:01 pm
"Well, I wouldn't have killed you," Paris corrected himself. He honestly didn't know what he'd do if he were in a different role in this war, but he thought he liked Chris enough to not kill him if circumstances were a bit different. Their relationship might be based on a huge lie, but that didn't change the fact that Paris liked him, and that he didn't want to see him getting hurt.
"But that doesn't mean the next person you transform in front of who may or may not be a bad guy won't be as supportive."
He walked a bit closer to Chris, still keeping a hold on his hand. They were walking close together to begin with, but Paris inched more into his side, moving his free hand to hold onto Chris's arm.
"And I thought I told you I saw some of these people before," he said, thinking back over their previous excursions. "Maybe I didn't. Though I thought I told you about the monster on Christmas. Maybe I just mentioned the monster and not the other people around. There were definitely senshi and Negaverse people there that night. That was the first time I ever saw any of them. There were a few other instances after that," he said, thinking of Elysion but not wanting to go into too much detail. There'd been normal civilians there, but if Chris didn't know about it, Paris thought it'd be a bit hard to explain.
He paused to frown lightly, taking a moment to rest his head along Chris's shoulder, making himself comfortable as they walked. He was probably being a bit clingy, but he didn't really care. "You should be more careful," he reiterated. He didn't know how he was supposed to get 'you don't transform in front of just anyone' through Chris's head without letting on that he knew more than he should. "This is all pretty dangerous to begin with, isn't it? I mean, just because you're a knight or something doesn't mean you're running around the city in a full suit of armor on some sort of a war horse. Sure, you got different clothes, but you sill looked like you could have been hurt pretty easily."
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Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2011 9:44 pm
"I didn't think you would," Chris said with a small shrug, although being careful not to disturb Paris as she leaned against him. He couldn't really help who he trusted sometimes, even if it was probably going to bite him in the a** one day. But at the moment, he couldn't find much reason to care. All those he'd transformed in front of had ended up being helpful and friendly.
"I'll be careful though, okay?" he said, wanting to reassure her. He didn't want her to worry and couldn't help but feel guilty for already doing so. "I needed to... do that, anyway... There were others fighting and I needed to make sure no one was getting hurt," he tried to explain, not knowing what else he could say. "But... I'll be careful."
He didn't mind the clinginess. Not yet, at least, and he didn't expect any time soon, either. It was kind of nice and relaxing... To just have someone there to hold hands and such. Nothing serious, just walking.
"Me? Hurt easily??" he almost laughed, casting a glance down at Paris as he flexed the arm she was holding on to. "I might not know how to fight very well, but I think I can take someone just fine in a fight. I don't work out for nothing." Even when it wasn't baseball season, he did his best to stay in good shape, going to the gym and lifting weights and running and all that. It was routine, really...
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Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2011 2:23 pm
Paris snorted and laughed at Chris's little demonstration, giving his arm a squeeze in response. "Yeah, but physical strength isn't going to do much against magic," he tried to reason. His own magic might not be very dangerous, but he knew there were others whose powers could cause far more harm to people. "You can work out all you want, but that's not going to stop you from being injured."
The relief he felt in knowing who Chris was didn't prevent him from also feeling worry. Now that he knew, he didn't want anything to happen that would cause things to change. He needed this, needed someone who knew what he went through, even if Chris had no idea who he really was. If he had that support, if he had Chris to rely on -- to help in battle and to be normal around when powered down -- he knew he could get better, be stronger, and deal with whatever this crazy war threw at him, as long as he had someone there to keep him grounded.
"Do you know anyone?" he wondered innocently, lifting his head to look up at him. "There are plenty of others. Do you know any of them? Well enough to trust them if you ever needed someone to depend on? You probably shouldn't be fighting alone. It's much safer for you all to band together, isn't it?"
He thought briefly on the irony of his questioning. He was the last person who should be lecturing other people to stick together, when he tried so hard to avoid as much as possible, yet in his head a little voice whispered, 'Trust me. Stay with me.'
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Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 5:44 pm
"You don't know that," Chris said with a small shrug, not wanting Paris to worry as much as it seemed she was starting to worry. His magical side wasn't something she needed to bother herself over. "Being a brainless jock has some advantages," he joked, flashing the girl on his arm a grin. He might be a jock, but he didn't really think he was all that brainless. Of course, he supposed he should leave that up to others to decide.
He frowned lightly when she asked him about those he knew, thinking about it for a few moments. "Well... The fluffy purple cat was there when I first changed into, uh..." he paused, not deciding not to finish the sentence since Paris already knew who he was, and he didn't want to give Zia's identity away. "And then there's a couple more knights... Camelot and Babylon... I trust Camelot more than Babylon, but only because Camelot knows my identity and I feel like I can trust him," he explained, hoping Paris wasn't going to scold him again. "And then for senshi... A girl named Sailor Kalichore knows who I am... But that's because we'd powered up at the same time when a youma attacked. There was no way around it!"
Er... maybe it was bad telling his girlfriend about how horrible he was about keeping his identity. "And then there's Sailors Ganymede and Maenelus and Themis," he finished quickly. "I've worked with Ganymede a couple times, too. He's pretty useful even though he's tiny... like your height," he further explained, "Looks like a showgirl..."
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Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 6:23 pm
Paris did his best to keep a straight face when Chris mentioned him -- or the other part of himself Chris didn't know was him -- but he couldn't help being somewhat pleased at being described as "useful." He glanced away as his lips twitched into a small smile, pretending to be examining a passing flowerbed as they continued to walk, and he didn't look back toward Chris until he had his facial expression back under control, settling for something that resembled budding concern and mild interest.
"Ganymede? Like Zeus's lover?" he wondered, and smiled as he recited in a simpering voice, "'I would have a jewel for mine ear and a fine brooch to put in my hat, and then I'll hug you a hundred times over!'" Paris clung to Chris's arm, and then lowered his voice to imitate an older man, "'And shall have, Ganymede, if thou wilt be my love.'"
He'd done the barest amount of research into his name, and most of it had come after his jaunt to Europa with the senshi of the same name. While Google would not prepare him for whatever his world may look like whenever he made up his mind to go, the stories behind his name were interesting, to say the least, and some of the art that had been produced with the story as inspiration made him feel wistful, in certain ways. To be carried off and away by someone who treasured him above all things had a certain appeal to it.
"Dido, Queen of Carthage by Christopher Marlowe," he revealed the origin of his recitation before Chris could question him, continuing to smile up at him as they walked. "I had to read it once. The beginning's the only part I really remember. Zeus seemed pretty enamored of him. Or Jupiter, whatever you want to call him."
He didn't miss that Chris had met Kallichore as well, but then he knew that already. He didn't mention it this time, seeing as he wasn't supposed to know very much about it, but the more he thought about it and the more chance encounters he had with other moons of Jupiter -- and now a page -- he wondered if they were, perhaps, connected in some way. It almost made him regret the manner in which he'd spoken to Kallichore, but then he remembered their differing points of view and her insane outlook on things, and he thought he'd reacted accordingly. Although, perhaps he could have been a little more welcoming...
"If he's useful, you should stick with him. The others, too," he said. He didn't recognize some of the other names, but Maenelus and Babylon he easily remembered from camp. "Just don't keep going around letting everyone know who you are, okay? I'll start to get worried."
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 7:52 pm
Chris blinked, impressed when Paris started quoting the play. Not that he'd ever read it, but he was going to assume that she knew what she was talking about.
"Yeah he was," he agreed after a few moments, trying to think back to what they were just talking about. Chris had done a bit of research on both Jupiter and Valhalla when he'd bee awakened, but he wouldn't try to say he knew everything about either of them. Even if his name and the planet had nothing to do with the mythology surrounding them, he still wanted to know more about them.
"I don't want you to worry," he said with a small frown her way. "And I'd stick with him if I could. When I power up I can't exactly pinpoint where others are. Or who they are. It's strange," he tried explaining, wanting Paris to understand at least a little bit about it. "Even if I want to find someone... it really just depends on being in the right place at the right time. With the other knights... I haven't met more than a couple, of course, but I'm trying to get something set up so we could talk to each other. It's dangerous not being able to call for help." He knew he definitely didn't want to end up needing help but unable to actually get any...
Chris paused in walking as Annabel went to sniff at a tree and relieve herself. "Don't worry, though, okay?" he tried reassuring again. "I'm a big boy... I can handle it."
At least he hoped he could.
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 8:09 pm
Looking at Chris curiously, Paris mulled over what he was saying, only to come to the conclusion that these knights -- whoever and whatever they were -- seemed to have no means of communication, between themselves or with anyone else. He stopped himself before he could immediately start firing questions at Chris, wary all the while of giving himself away. He did not, however, like the idea of anyone walking around without being able to get in touch with their allies. He didn't especially like talking to very many people, but he did like being able to if he ever happened to want to.
"How did it happen?" he asked, pausing with Chris as the dog did her business.
He knew very little about anything, and even less about the knights. How were they awakened? Did the cats get to them, too? Chris had mentioned one. But surely they'd have been given some way to talk to one another if that was the case. That left him to assume that was very much not the case, and he grew even more confused by what their purpose was. He liked that Chris had the same sorts of experiences as he did, yes, but the 'why's and the 'how's and the 'what for's were continuously building up, and he didn't like that he didn't have any of the answers.
Keeping himself as removed from everything as possible was beginning to make things difficult.
"When did it happen? I mean, I never even suspected until you just... changed right in front of me," he said, trying to fish for information while acting as if he was less informed than Chris. He still had a hold on Chris's arm, and he squeezed it again, more to comfort himself than anything else. This was the first time he'd talked about these things this much in the normal half of his life.
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 8:31 pm
No, the knights didn't have any way of communicating. Or at least they hadn't learned a way to do it. Which was why he was buying them phones to use. Hopefully the account he'd set up would hold up and not put any of them in danger. He didn't think it would be a problem, though... It was more or less like a pre-paid thing, so... He just had to worry about the others being stupid and leaving their phone for others to pick up.
Chris blinked curiously down at Paris when she asked about... it, almost not realizing what she was talking about at first.
"Two nights before prom," he said easily, since it was kind of easy to remember. He was lucky he'd had a day to rest before worrying about taking Paris out. "When we went out to dinner the first time," he continued, wanting to be sure Paris remembered. Chris smiled weakly, feeling guilty for being such a moody person at that point in time because of it.
"There was a monster... outside my apartment. I went out to see what I could do and... it attacked me," he said with a small shrug. "It didn't really hurt me. The worst that happened was me cutting my palm on some glass... I showed you that, I think," he said as he remembered their dinner date.
"Anyway... I didn't know what I was going to do... and suddenly my compass appeared out of thin air. I grabbed it and turned into... you know..." It happened in a bit of a blur. He was surprised he could remember that much. "There was a cat there that saved me. The purple fluffy one. She used her magic..." He paused then, deciding not to give away the fact that Zia was the cat in question.
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 8:46 pm
'Two nights before prom...' he thought.
Unbeknownst to him, Chris had been involved in the secret part of his life almost as long as they'd known one another.
Paris listened carefully, not wanting to miss anything, but Chris's explanation didn't seem to make much sense. He didn't understand how a compass could randomly appear out of thin air and provide Chris with the opportunity to transform. Now that he'd been exposed to this world, he was sure anything was possible, but he didn't like how random and disorganized parts of it seemed. Paris often felt as if he'd been forced into this, but at least he'd had some level or awareness the first time he'd transformed. Chris didn't seemed to have even had that.
Talk about unfair...
"Do you want to do it?" he asked, glancing down at the ground as his thoughts began to spiral and his mood took a minor dip. "Do you want to fight monsters and deal with this... mess? It's a war, isn't it?"
He wasn't sure what he intended with this line of questioning. Part of him would like to talk Chris out of it, try to get him to live a normal life instead of worrying about things that shouldn't even involve him, but there was still that other part of him that was desperate for companionship, for someone to understand, for some means of support, and that part of him was stronger than the other side, louder and more urgent.
"I don't know what I would do, if it was me," he said, tilting his head to look back up at him with a sad, tired frown. It was as truthful as he could be without telling Chris what he was, and sharing his bitterness with him.
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