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 Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2011 12:14 pm
Remarque was restless.
Not the sort of restlessness found after having too much sugar before bed, but the type of restlessness that went beyond that and was just downright uncomfortable. There was a small pain in his chest and a tingle that extended to the tips of his fingers, like tiny electric jolts. There was a tickle down his spine and his body felt obnoxiously heavier than usual—though he figured that last one may or may not have had something to do with his fast food addiction.
He hadn’t intended to go out patrolling tonight; he thought he’d take a break from senshi and pages—and even have the night off from draining energy. Apparently it was a plan destined to fail; the sleep he thought he’d been so desperate for apparently wasn’t as important as stalking the city after dark. After spending close to an hour lying in bed, tossing and turning, he’d given up, transformed, and mirror-walked to the park.
He didn’t entirely have a purpose, but at least being out here had to be more productive than lying in bed. Already he felt a bit more achieved just by being out here. At the very least he could strive to steal some more energy from some homeless person or someone out too late in the park.
Remarque stretched a bit, cracked his neck, his back, his knuckles, and decided to see where his feet took him. At least this way he could wear himself out before trying to get back to sleep again.
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Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2011 3:43 pm
The night was a cat's time to prowl. For a magical cat, touched by chaos and in charge of a group that used the guise of the night to do their work the fact was all the more true. Days were fine, of course, and had their own charm but the night was so secretive.. and with a pair of eyes that could cut through that darkness well... how could she not feel like it was 'her time'?
The park was a common spot to wander, one that Dahlia visited at least once or twice a week. She'd met Hygeia there, and Albireo too. She'd run into allies, enemies, and those yet undetermined there too. It seemed somehow the place of innocence and youth was a drawing point for people. Of maybe it was just a natural need and desire to escape the metal and stone city, even if only for a little while.
Whatever the reason, Dahlia didn't really care to ponder over it, simply sashaying her way across the street and towards the large and stretching Destiny City Park. She could feel someone else around, the aura faint simply from the distance but obviously one of chaos.
Did she feel up for hunting down whoever it was? She paused a moment, seeming to actually ponder over not going for a few seconds. She did have some other things she could be doing after all. Grooming herself... catching herself a nice dinner before her belly began to protest.. or maybe just flirting with some alley cat for fun. But then....
In the end her paws once again began to move forward.
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Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2011 4:04 pm
Auras were still peculiar to Remarque; it wasn’t that he didn’t notice them, just that sometimes he chose to ignore them. He became distinctly aware of one after only a short time of being out, though it hadn’t necessarily been his top priority to investigate. He’d met those aligned with Chaos that he both liked and disliked, however the likelihood that it was someone he either didn’t know or didn’t like was enough of a deterrence to keep him relatively stationary.
Relatively.
Curiosity was something Remarque had been battling with for a while; there were times when he knew he should have just taken the safe route and laid low—minded his own business and went on his merry way. When the energy signature grew stronger, so did his curiosity.
This particularly part of the park had a fair share of mirrors in the area, so on the off chance it was someone he didn’t want to deal with, he could always just pop in and be done with them. He walked a bit, until the aura felt like it should have been right in front of him.
…Except, he didn’t see anyone at all.
At least, not in the sense of what he was looking for. He was vaguely aware of the cat that had come into view, but out in the park, at this hour? There were plenty of stray animals and he was far too preoccupied looking for a person with an energy signature that the prospect of the energy could be radiating from anything else never even crossed his mind.
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 8:02 am
Dahlia however was quite a pro when it came to auras. It came with the territory and job description. She didn't have to waste time with gathering energy or messing with youma.
Of course the one she felt, the nearer she drew, grew just a little stranger the nearer she got. It was a strange feeling... one that seemed both foreign and familiar. It was like something she should remember, but the memories were covered in a hazy at the back of her mind.
It only made the creamy cat all the more curious and driven to figure out the sensation tickling her and messing with what should have been a regular aura. Well.. as regular as a Dark Moon senshi was.
He did not seem to lock on her presence when they finally drew close enough to see each other, which could only make her assume that he didn't really know about mauvians. It had to be that right? Why would anyone want to avoid her? Even if he didn't know though hadn't he noticed just how lovely she was? Well.. perhaps his eyes had just traveled over her too quickly to notice her magnificence.
"Remarque...?" She called out as the name came to her, having paused in her path, all except for the slow swish of her fluffy tail. Dual colored eyes watched him carefully, curiously. Why did he feel different...? It was at the tip of her tongue.
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 11:22 am
Not quite midstep did he pause; his foot came down and he simply stopped walking, eyes immediately shooting towards the cat. His expression was indifferent, but it was merely a close save so he didn’t lose face; he’d actually been a little surprised that someone—no, wait, it was that cat—that had addressed him.
He glanced down at her, trying to assess what was so special about her. Sans the fact that she could, you know. Talk. And knew who he was. And had an aura like that.
Remarque turned to face her, brow raised. “You seem to have an unfair advantage over me,” he noted, slightly suspicious of anyone who knew him when they’d never met. “I am Remarque, yes. Who are you?”
On the bright side, at least he didn’t have to wonder about where that aura was coming from, now, though he was exceptionally impressed by the talking cat. He’d only met two before—once in the Surrounding, and once with Lenka. His opinion of them was still forming, though he had an obvious bias towards any Chaos aligned cat and wasn't about to let ********* sully his opinion of them.
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 2:59 pm
"I do, don't I?" The smile of her maw seemed to upturn a little more when he finally addressed her, along with her playful tone making it very clear that she was perhaps a little amused by said advantage. She was powerful and clever, oh yes. Whether he meant it as a compliment or not she'd happily take it that way, her tail continuing it's lazy swishing as she took a few more slow steps towards him.
He wasn't an unattractive young man, she had noticed right off, which made the meeting all the more pleasant for her and when she finally stopped again, she almost seemed to pose. Puffing up her fluffy chest in a way that made her necklace clank and clatter, tilting her head just a bit before she could offer him a batting of her dual colored eyes. "Dahlia, guardian mauvian of the negaverse. Ally of your kind." Her tone was almost musical, playful.
And in fact she was playing a game of sorts, making the most of a night that might otherwise be unexciting. Might as well show him all she could do. He was Remarque senshi of Puppetry. Or wait... was he a super senshi? The power signature was strange.. just a little off... Her ears flicked a little, and then suddenly she realized why and what it was. She was being quiet now far too long.
A senshi... a senshi on the cuff of going super. The power was flowing through him just waiting for that little extra boost from someone with just the right touch. And Dahlia had never heard any complaints about her brand of touching.
The spark of excitement was evident even as the cat remained terribly vague, kneading the ground excitedly with her paws. "Oh my... I just realized I have something I can give you."
"Would you like it? I might have to ask for something in return though.." She purred playful.
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 3:41 pm
Remarque watched her curiously, the smallest of smirks twitching onto his face. ‘Mauvian’ sounded so much better than ‘talking cat,’ so it was a phrase he was grateful to have learned. He didn’t know whether to kneel to speak with her better or to stay as he was, so he simply crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at her. “All right then, Dahlia,” he said, sounding at least slightly amused.
If all cats could talk, he imagined they’d be like this. Sophisticated, coy, manipulative—it seemed fitting. Her vagueness only spiked his curiosity, so it hardly mattered if she had intended to ask something of him, he could play along for long enough to find out what she had and wanted from him.
He tilted his head just slightly before prompting, “What is it you have that you can give me?”
…And where was she hiding it?
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 6:31 pm
"Power." The statement was matter of fact, without any other explanation.
Explanation wasn't really necessary though. There were a few things that were universally sought after and common motivators that ran the world. Love and Lust. But mostly lust. Lust for attention. Lust for money. Lust for power.
Kingdoms and societies rose and fell as people and groups scrambled for power. Really who wouldn't want to be stronger, better, and grander than they already were?
"I can make you more powerful. Strengthen your attack."
She was perhaps.. making far too much of a production of it all, acting like the serpent that dangled the apple to Eve when truthfully it would take little more than him asking pretty please. But one couldn't say that Dahlia wasn't occasionally dramatic. "Interested?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 6:56 pm
The delivery was perfect; it had done more than tempt Remarque. He wasn’t one to turn down any chance to grow stronger, though a part of him still questioned how much power could be achieved from such a tiny creature. He watched her for only a second before he nodded slightly and into a crouching position in front of Dahlia. He rested his elbows atop his knees to give himself a bit more balance before he spoke, “Very much so, yes, I’m interested.”
He was half tempted to reach down and scratch behind her ears, if only because clearly that’s what you’d do for a normal cat, though refrained and just seemed expectant of her. “How do you propose to do this?”
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 7:13 pm
Success! He had bit AND she was going to get the oppurtunity to stretch her paws again in a way that was useful. It had been awhile.. but it was instinct right? Surely she couldn't have forgotten how or gotten to rusty.
As he crouched she waited expectantly for some sort of affection. A pat, a stroke, a mild scratching. She was quite accustom to it and also fond of it, her back arching a little in expectation. She was actually a little surprised when it didn't come, but with her mind already on business the cat let it slide.
"It's one of my special talents really. All I need is your pen."
"You know, the one you transform with" Settling back on her haunches she reached out with her front paws, waiting with a mild purr.
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Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 11:50 am
Though he couldn’t help but be suspicious, Remarque assessed the situation and then decided that the worst that happened was that she ran away with his pen and he had to go chase her down to get it back. He drew out the instrument she called for, gave it a look over.
“Special talent? And here I was, thinking your only special talent was to sit there and look pretty. Here you are,” he said as he offered her the pen, gently holding it out for her.
The whole thing seemed odd to him—watching Dahlia pose herself like that. Never mind that she was talking—that wasn’t so odd once you accepted that, while she looked like a cat, she certainly wasn’t one. It was still odd to see—she was so poised and composed that, if she wasn’t a foot tall and covered in fur, he could have easily pictured her to be some aristocrat or royal.
His lips were still quirked in the slightest of smiles and he watched Dahlia with interest. It wasn’t that he wasn’t trying not to take the whole thing seriously, but there was such mystery in the air that it felt like it could have been some play or game.
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Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2012 8:32 am
"Good boy.." She mused with a purr, obviously delighted with his own little compliment and teasing. Her tail could be seen swishing back and forth even as she seemed to focus on the pen now that it was between her paws.
It was a little different then she remembered, or at least what she thought she remembered. But Mauvian technology was mauvian technology and desire and drive did a lot to one's confidence. The first step was energy exertion of her own, giving a little of her own power to help unlock what she felt was just waiting to be triggered. As her paws tinkered she made a few light hums and noises of concentration here and there, and when finally she 'finished' it seemed that the very pen itself had changed a little bit.
Giving him a proud little kitty smile she held out the pen once more for him to take, waiting with soft anticipation. Despite her excitement her tail rested this time, a soft weariness on her shoulders. It had been awhile, and she'd forgotten just how draining the whole ordeal could be.
Even the weariness couldn't dim the look of excitement on her face. "Well let us see then! Hold the pen and try to power up again."
He'd soon be very impressed she was sure and Dahlia was pretty excited to see how the menshi would change.
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Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2012 11:15 am
Remarque reached for the pen and looked it over; there was no denying that whatever Dahlia had done, there was physical evidence of change—though what else she had done was entirely unknown to him. He stood up as he analyzed the pen, taking in the differences before he cast her a glance. “If you say so,” he said with an almost indifferent shrug; it was all he could do to hide his curiosity—and excitement.
He held the pen up, as if he were powering up—and waited. For a good few seconds, he just waited, before he let his eyes drift back to the cat. “…Is there more to it, or am I doing something wrong?” he prompted, lowering the pen so he wasn’t stuck in some awkward pose. He doubted Dahlia was playing some sort of joke; she looked more eager than he did—or so he assumed, anyway. It was somewhat difficult to judge a cat’s expressions, so he was mostly leaning towards assumption.
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Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 1:45 pm
He spoke the words and she waited with baited breath for the show. Only... nothing did happen. A few seconds went by and nothing. An uncomfortable pause of time before he asked his questions, and Dahlia gulped, aghast.
What in the world HAD happened!? She had definately put her energy into it.. the pen had changed.. her body felt weaker. And the words.. they sounded just as they should have. Maybe.. maybe she'd been wrong in that he hadn't actually been ready? But.. how could she have messed up that badly? Could she even change a pen before someone was ready? Maybe she'd just messed up technically.. it had been awhile after all.
Dahlia was frusterated, confused, and terribly ridiculously embarrassed and ashamed in her apparent failure. Despite her efforts to stay puffed her uncertainty was easy enough to see as her ears began to lean, her tail becoming flat and limp against the ground.
When she finally spoke he words were softer then before, still unwilling to take ALL the blame, even if it was all hers. "Maybe I was mistaken.. maybe you aren't ready yet." A soft frown, and then the cat quickly turned, taking off as if she'd been startled by a loud noise or angry chaser. Really she just couldn't stand the idea of failing.. and of having someone actually witness such a grand failure.
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Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2012 3:28 pm
Remarque blinked, obviously confused, and stared after the cat for a long moment. He stood only when she was far enough away that he couldn’t see her in the distance. Maybe he wasn’t ready? Well, bull s**t, that wasn’t what he wanted to hear. Once more he directed his eyes to the pen in his hand and gave it a good look over before he just scoffed and tucked it away.
Dahlia hadn’t given him the impression that she was going to be coming back, and he really didn’t have any reason to stick around. It was a disappointment, really; he felt like he’d gotten his hopes up for something novel and unique, though the only thing that seemed to change was his pen. Lingering for only a moment, Remarque figured he’d done enough for one night, and the weirdness of this evening was enough to make home sound like a good idea.
There were mirrors all over—one of the many convenient things about the park—and so he meandered to the nearest one, all the while considering the strange exchange he’d just had with the cat. He reached a hand up to rub at the back of his neck in an almost awkward gesture as he meandered towards the mirror he’d arrived through.
Though he hadn’t gathered any of the energy he’d intended—nor really done anything to dispel his restlessness, after the exchange he’d had little motivation to actually go out and collect energy or find some senshi to pick a fight with.
It took only a moment to reach his destination. Remarque saw his reflection for a very brief moment before he begrudgingly walked trough the smooth surface.
He hadn’t been aware that was going to be the last time he saw himself like that, or he might have paid a bit more attention.
When he stepped through the other side mirror and out again, in to the confines of his room, there was an immediate change. A rush of warmth flooded through him, leaving him momentarily confused. He blinked his eyes closed for a moment and shook his head before opening them again. Lifting a hand to his temple to try and shake off the very slight dizziness that had flooded through him, he noticed the sleeve on his arm.
Which hadn’t been there before.
Pausing as he examined his hand, he turned to face the mirror he had just stepped out of. As his eyes locked on this reflection—this new one—his mind momentarily flickered to Dahlia. She was forgotten as he admired this new outfit—this new power that had flooded through him.
He had seen Lenka upgrade—seen the way the cat had changed her pen, and the way Lenka had changed right before his eyes. This had been differently, but his mind equated it to the same thing. Why it had happened now and not when Dahlia had handed him the pen was a piece he hadn’t quite figured out, but there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that this couldn’t have been achieved if not for the cat.
Remarque’s eyes lingered for a bit longer as they needed to, but then again—he’d always been a bit narcissistic. The new power flowing through him practically forbade him from powering down—and with all this fresh energy, how could he even think to sleep? A satisfied smirk rest on his face as he stepped through the full length mirror once more. He didn’t think he’d be able to find Dahlia again tonight, though made a note to find her. She might not have known exactly what was going on with all of it but she had still unlocked this power for him, and for that she deserved thanks.
After he tested it out.
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