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 Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 12:57 am
Fritz was taking his guard duties very, very seriously.
He had never actually been into the kitchens Virgo held. They probably weren't as large as the ones in the outpost Leo held were, but they were still relatively decently sized, if not a bit in shambles.
And filled with, quite possibly, the strangest assortment of food Fritz had ever seen before.
The senshi - soldiers - zodiac - whoever they were, kept making trips back and forth to retrieve more supplies, the logic being that since they couldn't take the civilians home, they would just have to bring home to the civilians. Each senshi had brought with them supplies of one kind or another, from food, to sleeping materials, to clothing, to medical supplies. Everyone had compiled things together in one big heap.
In Virgo's kitchen, where Hug-bell had directed him, there were plastic bags filled with bruised peaches (clearly they had had a bumpy ride), peanut butter and fluff sandwiches in baggies, some smushed bags of salt-n'-vinegar chips, a carton of Whoopers candy, a bottle of Sunny-D, some Saltines, a package of marshmallows, a handful of onions, and what appeared to be a can of sardines.
...where had that come from, anyway?
Fritz sat on one of the counters, absently munching on one of the sandwiches, swinging his legs back and forth against the dirt streaked cabinets. He wasn't sure why all of the outposts were so chaotic inside; all of them had some sort of destruction or debris within them, though their outside appearances were impeccable. What caused this sort of mess, anyway? And why had it not been cleaned up?
And exactly how young did the senshi people start recruiting, anyway? Fritz wondered, thinking of the two little girls, who probably weren't older than about ten at the most.
So many questions, so little answers.
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Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 1:21 am
The older and more experienced of the two cats strolled into the kitchen, still taking advantage of space to prance around in her humanoid form with the ears and tail. Up until now, only Babylon and her old compatriots had seen it, but it felt good to walk around with her own face, and not be stuck as an animal 24/7 or hide behind a human facade.
But she had ulterior motives for going on this 'stroll' around the outpost and it wasn't to sneak that can of sardines away.
She walked right in, head held high like she owned the place-- Zirconia really didn't know any other way to enter a room-- and leaned her elbows on the counter near Fritz at a slight angle.
"So," She started, yellow eyes looking him up and down and a lilac ear flicking in mild interest, "You've been pretty friendly with Sailor Chibi Hug-Bell." Nothing like getting straight to the point.
She was here to babysit the chibis, and Hug-Bell was her baby cousin when they were being civilians. This guy she'd befriended was on her list of things that required checking out.
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Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 1:44 am
Fritz, a sandwich in his mouth, looked up as a lavender haired woman entered the kitchen. He raised his eyebrows slightly, but other than that said nothing as she approached, trying to remember which of the cats this one was.
Zirconia, was it? he thought, glancing at the fluffy tail. That's what Smarts said; no tail is *********, tail is Zirconia.
He chewed slowly, then swallowed. "Yep," came the cheerful answer as Fritz lowered the half-eaten sandwich, brushing crumbs from his worn jeans, spilling them haphazardly onto the floor. He supposed he ought to clean that up, but the floor was already strewn with rubble that he had planned on removing later, and he might as well do it all in one go.
"You're Zirconia, right?" Fritz said brightly, and held out his hand to her. "I'm Fritz. Miss Bear and Smarts told me about you. They're pretty good kids; definitely keep me entertained when the rest of the world seems to be going crazy."
He gave a small laugh, shaking his head as he took another bite of his sandwich, seemingly unknowing that he was being interrogated by the guardian cat who watched over the two younger girls. "They remind me of the kids I watched on my street a long time ago," Fritz said, almost wistfully.
Then he swallowed again and looked expectantly at Zirconia. "So what exactly do the cats do with the senshi? You guys are sorta like their bodyguards or something, right?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 2:10 am
"Yes," Zirconia rested her chin in her hand and quirked one eyebrow at all that unfaltering cheerfulness and wondering if this was a task better suited for the lighter dispositioned *********. Then again, ********* approved of everyone, she was sure of it.
"And you're Fritz?" It didn't hurt to double check.
She nodded a little, her expression softening to the point there was even almost a hint of a smile making it's way up. Too often she heard about how they got in the way or were incapable, it gave her kind of a warm, fuzzy feeling to hear someone appreciate the kidlets.
"Oh, you watched kids?" She asked, managing to avoid the barrage of weird, almost entirely out of context questions she usually threw around in her less than helpful 'interrogations' of various victims all about Destiny City.
"Not really, the senshi are stronger, both physically and magically. We awaken their powers and offer guidance, though," She said, answering his question as straightforward as possible and cutting out her staring at him long enough to graze, grabbing one of the smushed chip bags and picking up shattered potato chip pieces to snack on. She was awfully casual about, knowing many people disapproved of awakening kids that young, but Zirconia didn't see the problem, and she wasn't doing many awakenings these days anyway.
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Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 5:22 pm
Fritz had long since learned that keeping himself cheerful and unyielding towards the more negative dispositions was easier than succumbing. He would much rather have made a joke out of something, turn a situation from tense to lighthearted than let himself wallow in self pity and anger. It wasn't to say he never felt them, since clearly he did at times, but those sorts of emotions took a great deal more effort, (at least in Fritz's mind), and usually did not do anyone any good. So instead he plastered a smile on his face, had a dorky joke ready for any situation, and did his best to remain optimistic.
Needless to say it didn't always work, but for the most part Fritz stayed his normal cheeky self.
"That's me," he replied, pleased as he smiled at Zirconia. "Fredrick St. James, also known as Fritz. Or, if you're Smarts, FredBob."
Taking another bite of his sandwich, he looked curiously at the young woman. Zirconia seemed perhaps one or two years older than himself, maybe in her early twenties. But the confidence she exuded made her seem wiser than just that; it was ingrained in her eyes, a sort of intelligence that implied she was aware of more than what she gave off.
It was rather a nice thing, Fritz thought. He liked her already.
"I used to live in a very small, close-knit neighborhood," he answered her, taking another bite of the slightly mushed sandwich. "The kind of neighborhood where everyone knows everyone. Since I was the oldest, I used to be the one that everyone brought their kids to for watching."
He shook his head, laughing a little at the memories, then slanted a gaze back towards Zirconia, brows lifting slightly. Nodding as she spoke, Fritz lapsed into a comfortable silence for a moment.
"So you're sort of like the Obi Wan Kenobi to their Luke Skywalker, is what you're saying."
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Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 6:52 pm
"Ha," Zirconia had to at least react to the nickname he'd let Hygeia give him. If nothing else, she still found it charming he respected and entertained the often overlooked chibi senshi.
"Aaah, that explains it," She nodded in regards to his experience dealing with kids, no long keeping a suspicious eye on him and focusing more on what snacks she could steal. She liked to think she wasn't as big of a glutton as her other feline friend, and she might not have been as big of a food monster, she definitely always had a portion of her brain in her stomach. She was just sneakier about it, eating in daintier portions more delicately, but if left unchecked, the guardian cat's grazing might actually end up making a dent in these food supplies. And that would be bad.
She was trying to restrain herself! Kinda sorta.
"Sort of, I guess," She said flatly, needing a quiet moment to mentally confer with her human counterpart on Star Wars trivia. "Though Sailor Hygiea is ********* girl," She half wondered if she could lay claim to Hug-Bell as her own 'girl'. But then, she hadn't awakened her, or upgraded her, or trained her really at all. All they had were human bloodlines connecting them and maybe, she wondered, it should stay that way.
"So no one's figured out what all you humans are doing in space yet, eh?"
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Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 8:30 pm
Fritz was learning quite quickly that it was difficult to please Zirconia. Or, at least, his first impressions of her were such that she was the type who did not give her approval easily. And he did not need her approval, of course, but it would be nice to have all the same. Not to mention that he would probably be spending a lot of time with the little girls, if only because they would keep him entertained and he rather enjoyed their company. They were much different than interacting with the older senshi, with whom Fritz still felt a wary sort of inexperience when talking with them. He could relax around Hug-bell and Hygeia.
And hopefully Zirconia and ********* too.
His brows rose slightly, Fritz tilting his head as a vaguely bemused expression flickered across his face. "********* girl?" he repeated. "I'm not sure what exactly that means...although you did say that you guys give them guidance. Does that mean you each have specific senshi you watch over, then?"
The last question she asked made his lighthearted demeanor falter just the slightest. Fritz did not want to think about that; thinking about that made their situation all the more real, the idea that they were never going home just a fraction more believable. But he answered her question anyway; it would have been rude not to, and she was not asking out spite or anything near that.
"Not..yet," he replied quietly, a small smile still on his face, though there was a clear hesitancy in it, the sandwich lying forgotten in Fritz's fingers. "I guess we'll just have to all just make do with what we've got for now, right?"
He let out a little laugh, though it sounded weak, almost forced out.
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Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2011 5:09 pm
"Pretty much," Maybe more so in Zirconia's mind than anyone else's. "I raised my senshi team through several decades, I would be offended if another cat decided to horn in on my duties," Definitely an almost exclusive Zirconia thing. She was a touch possessive and way too set in her ways to take any guff about being unreasonable.
Which also made her a flawed source of answers.
"Ah, well," the forced, uncomfortable quality of his laugh was definitely noticed and while Zirconia wasn't exactly the most loveable or affectionate cat, she did give his shoulder and awkward little pat in some attempt to be reassuring. "Now that the senshi are aware of your predicament I'm sure it'll all be sorted out relatively soon."
She tried to leave out her other thoughts like they'd be swarmed by Chaos monsters first and whatnot, keeping in mind she was making an incredibly forced attempt to be comforting.
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Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2011 8:16 pm
"Several decades?" Fritz repeated, astonished. "But you're not...I mean..."
Then he remembered what Virgo had said about how the senshi and zodiacs were all reincarnations, and added teasingly "You don't look a day over two decades."
There was a pause for a moment as he considered what she was saying. "So how many guardian cats are there, then?" Fritz asked, pushing back a few stray strands of hair away from his face, the faintest hint of a frown of concentration on his face. "Is there a cat for like...every two senshi or something, or are you guys more rare than that?"
He gave a rather noncommittal shrug, the expression on his face almost sheepish as he said "I find it all fascinating, really I do."
Another pause. When he spoke again his voice was gentle and quiet, filled with an understanding that he did not want to have.
"I know what's happened," Fritz said, and there was still a small smile on his face, though he wasn't looking at Zirconia. "I know people have been attacked and that things aren't nearly as safe as they've been thought to be."
His eyes flickered towards the young woman's face, his shoulders rising and falling again, lips quirked up ruefully. "Just hope for the best, right? And fight til the death."
This last part was said in an almost cavalier tone, Fritz's attempt at being lighthearted only mildly passing.
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Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2011 9:22 pm
Zirconia let out a snort and then a laugh. While she wasn't a reincarnation, her past was kind of tricky and being a vain old lady deep down, flattery would get you everywhere, even if meant in a teasing fashion.
"Well guardian cats live longer than you'd think," She pointed out. And she was also a parallel soul in a much younger body. "I'm older than most humans live to be and still look pretty good, if I say so myself." Probably more thanks to the fact she was hijacking someone else's body. Not that she'd admit that. She liked looking twenty-two, damn it. And also the last person she told that to called her a parasite. Well, second to last, but ********* was not a good baseline for reasonable people's reactions.
She sighed a little and toned herself down to a much more serious demeanor and glanced in another direction, towards the exit. "More and more senshi are arriving to help," She told him. "They're very capable. So really, there's no reason not to hope for the best," She attempted half a smile. Zirconia usually wasn't the first to jump in defense of the senshi faction as a whole's competence, but there was no reason for morale to be low. "And, of course, fight to the death," Also she sucked at lifting morale.
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Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2011 10:58 pm
Fritz made a mental note:
Made Zirconia, the guardian cat smile. Check.
"So wait," he said, struggling to comprehend this bizarre turn. "Are you saying you're not reincarnated? You just sort of...don't age like proper humans do? Not that you're not proper," he added, and then grinned cheekily. "And you do look quite lovely, whatever your age."
Fritz had the feeling he was making her uncomfortable; her glance towards the exit was not missed by him, and he gave a small, short sigh, reaching up a hand to absently rub the back of his neck.
"That's good, then," he replied, hoping he sounded relieved. He did not want to admit that his stomach had not settled since hearing of the attacks, that his chest felt tight with the anxiety of what might happen to him - to all of them. "I have good faith in them as it is; they have already proven themselves to be quite capable."
A small laugh escaped his throat. "I will fight as valiantly as I am able," he said, and this time the strength (and yes, melodramatic air) in his voice was solid, Fritz posing briefly as if he were a knight in shining armor. After a few seconds he settled back down and gave Zirconia a smile. "You're quite interesting, you know."
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 11:06 pm
Making Zirconia smile was a rare accomplishment indeed, one that was impossible for most, but Fritz apparently had a gift for getting along with people, or maybe he just hit all the right notes with the usually impossible to please guardian.
"Well, most people are, here, I guess," Zirconia said, having to roll her eyes as it brought up a usual thought that ran through her head about this Moon Kingdom's incompetence. "I'm a special case," She added, honestly preening now as she gave a wink in his direction. She wasn't going to give him a whole run down on where she came from; Not only was it very personal, it was a migraine inducing infodump even for experienced senshi, and she could only imagine how much of a pain it would be to a simple human still barely grasping that senshi and talking cats existed.
She was amused at little showing and she responded in a mock, sweeping bow as if she was back in her Queen's castle, "I'll loyally be standing by to... well I suppose I'll just watch," She snorted, standing up straight and tapping her cheek with one finger. She wasn't exactly combat oriented, she had to admit.
"You're pretty interesting yourself," She countered with a thoughtful nod, "You know, for a human native to Earth," But ah, old prejudices don't die easily.
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Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 12:42 am
Fritz did not know how Zirconia felt, but he felt quite satisfied that he had managed to get a smile out of the guardian cat. From what Hug-bell had told him - or, at least implied from her words, Zirconia was unlikely to ever show such emotion, which meant that her smiles were rare, few and far between.
Fritz felt quite accomplished.
"Oh?" he said, brows lifting as an amused tone entered his voice. "Do I detect a hint of a caveat in there somewhere? If I didn't know any better, I would think the lady is a little wary of the senshi's abilities."
Catching the wink, Fritz said cheekily "I can see that. But, then again, lovely and interesting ladies such as yourselves are always special cases; though some much more than others."
He winked at her, quite aware that he might be treading on a fine by playing so openly with her, but his teasing was all in good fun; Fritz did not ever intend to be too serious, and most of the time his teasing was good-natured, without any sort of ill intention to it.
"What, you're not going to jump into the fray and fight with us, all Xena, Warrior Princess style?" he asked her, pretending to be aghast. He couldn't hold back the smirk, however, and added "Well, like I said - you're pretty interesting. You know - for a cat who can talk."
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Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2011 6:04 pm
"Are you kidding?" Zirconia asked with a snort and a scoff, though it was meant in a lighthearted and teasing fashion. She gasped at the purple overlay draping over her black skirt for emphasis on her attire. "I think it's obvious I belong in the castle, not the battlefield," She said with a little harumph in her voice.
She was a bitchy, princess type who didn't like to get her hands dirty, but, at the same time, she didn't mind parodying herself all in good fun. When she was in one of the rare moods for fun.
"Well, Fritz, I sincerely hope you manage alive," She added, giving a bit of a sweeping, gentlemanly bow before she was a cat again, leaping on the counter to grab the sardine tin by the corner and bound off as fast as she could.
She approved; Fritz seemed to hit all the right notes to get around her usually suspicious and presumptuous nature. He was a suitable friend for Hug-Bell, and one who she wouldn't mind having to deal with, at least, without the usual hint of disdain that seemed present when she dealt with 60% of society.
And she apparently got a tin of sardines out of the deal. Obviously, this interrogation had been win-win.
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Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2011 11:02 pm
Fritz had decided he was rather impressed with Zirconia. She was a woman perfectly capable of taking care of things herself, strong and confident, and with an air of elegance to her. Perhaps there was a bit of something else as well, something a little less highly thought of, but for the most part, he had enjoyed her company more than he had thought he would.
"I'm sure you know quite well where you belong more than I," Fritz responded with amusement, tilting his head to the side. "Though I'm slightly sorry to not be able to see you kick some serious space monster arse; I'm sure you would manage to do it with style, after all."
There was a cheeky grin on his face, which widened at her comment. Within seconds Zirconia had vanished, replaced by a beautiful, thickly furred lavender cat, which bounded forward and snatched up the can of sardines. Fritz made no movement to stop her, but lifted a hand as she left.
"I hope to entertain you again, Xena," he called after her, the teasing clearly evident in his voice. After a moment he gave a small sigh, pulled his paper and pencil towards him, and resumed his doodling.
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