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 Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 5:00 pm
Remarque might have been a Dark Mirror Senshi for well over a few months now, but that did not—by any standards—mean he had experienced everything. He might have been comfortable with mirror walking, but every now and then, of course something would be there to make him reconsider.
He had fully intended to keep to his own affairs this evening; he had only been interesting in powering up, going out to gather some energy, and maybe clear his mind along the way. For all the nights he would have loved to stumble upon a peon of the White Moon, tonight had not been the night.
But of course, he’d have walked right into one—almost literally.
He was using a mirror he almost always used when coming to this part of town; it was nestled on the edge of the park and the mirror, well hidden, seemed to escape public eye more often than not. He had expected a clear pathway—like always—and when he stepped through the mirror was initially surprised by the darkness—and the very close order-aligned energy.
Right in front of him.
Clouds covered the sliver of the moon on an already dark night; it wasn’t his fault he had no idea who was standing in front of him. He saw a dark figure, pulled his arm back, and aimed a hasty—albeit still powerful—punch right towards the figure’s face.
Remarque was not one to overreact or take such an action without really considering it, but to be fair, he did have a lot to think about, already. Between Benitoite and Leto and work, it wasn’t his fault that he was a bit high strung and reacted without his usual cool.
His fist had collided most effectively—he could feel a slight sting on his knuckles and retracted his hand, ready to take another blow if need be.
Thankfully the clouds decided to drift from across the moon just in time for Remarque to realize who he had hit—and he stared at the Squire with a blank look.
Of all the knights that deserved a good knock to the face, Valhalla had not been one of them.
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 6:41 pm
Staying out and about was the best way to clear his head, Valhalla figured. It was better than staying inside his... not stuffy apartment, but it was quite lonely with just his dog. He and Annabel had already gone to the dog park and now that she was too exhausted to stay up and keep him company, the only thing he could figure to do was hit up the town... Powered, of course.
He did his best to stick to a decent patrolling schedule. With the Negaverse and DMC activity apparently on the decline, he didn't want to spend too much time drawing their attention to his energy signal, but at the same time, he wanted to make sure that they, and youma especially, weren't going to be wrecking havoc or stealing energy or anything crazy like that.
The park was one of his favorite and least favorite places to patrol. He liked it because it was a nice scene. It helped him forget that he lived in the city for a while at least. But he disliked it because, well, everyone else seemed to like it as well. It meant that it would be the most likely place to find some kind of nefarious activity going on.
Valhalla hadn't even realized he'd discovered a mirror when he thought he saw a glimmer of light shine from in some nearby bushes. He's thought it was someone on a cell phone rather than a reflection. Wanting to be sure they were okay, he'd approached the area, only to be startled with the sudden presence of a chaotic energy signature right in front of him. He did his best to back away before anything could happen, but as his luck would have it, he ended up getting socked hard in the jaw.
The same jaw where there was already a large, but fading bruise from getting punched just earlier that week.
His hand reached up to shield his face from any more blows, as his free hand fumbled for his compass hanging by his side, only to sputter in surprise at his assailant.
"R-Remarque?" he stared with wide eyes, feeling hurt in more ways than just his face. He hadn't thought he got off on the wrong foot with him, but... maybe today was just a bad day? "What are you doing here?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 7:15 pm
Remarque stared blankly at the male for a moment longer and then shook his head. “—My bad,” he started with—the closest thing to an apology he was willing to give. “I couldn’t see who you were, you were standing right in front of me. Freaked me out. Thought you were somebody else,” he said—not entirely a lie given he hadn’t known who the hell had been in front of him.
He gestured towards the mirror he had just stepped out of. “Usually I just step out and go do my own business, I’ve never. Well. Well, you were standing right in front of it, what was I supposed to do?”
Though Remarque seemed grumpy about it, there was a small fraction of concern. Valhalla had been an interesting sort of character, and knight or not, Remarque figured he could be of use in the future. Provided he didn’t give him a brain hemorrhage first. Quick to deflect the blame, Remarque instantly shifted the attention from him to Valhalla. “—You could have dodged, you know. Or blocked. You’re not bruising that fast, are you?” he asked, noting the bruise Valhalla already sported. He knew he hit hard, but not that hard.
Which meant that he wasn’t the first person to slug Valhalla recently.
“…Scratch that. Who hit you? I mean. Before me,” he clarified, tilting his head to look at the bruise.
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 8:07 pm
Valhalla grinned weakly and shook his head. "Do all of your kind attack before seeing who it is?" he wondered, before experimentally opening his mouth to stretch his jaw, and make sure there weren't any loose teeth. Ugh, that would just... not be fun at all. "Al-Janah attacked me, too..." he explained, wincing as he pressed against his cheek a little too hard and finally lowered his hand entirely.
"It's fine," he said, accepting the excuse and semi-apology, not sure if he should be amused by the fact that Remarque seemed to be showing him any kind of concern. It wasn't really concern, but he didn't seem intent on punching him again... yet.
He did laugh lightly and take a step back when it was pointed out that he could have dodged. "Maybe..." he mumbled, shifting uncomfortably. "Can't say I'm very good at all that, though. I've been told I'm sucky at self-defense." His older brother told him that before on a handful of occasions when they would get into playful scuffles and he would always be the one to end up on his a**. He just said it was because he hadn't had military training like his brother, but he knew he'd never really tried to learn self-defense.
Of course, that probably wasn't a good thing to tell someone who may or may not decide he wasn't worth it and beat him up or kill him, anyway.
The squire blinked curiously when the subject shifted, and his hand lifted back up to cover his cheek as if that would somehow defend it. "Uh... I... might have had a disagreement with another knight...?" he said with another weak, embarrassed grin. He wasn't proud of that at all. He hadn't even landed a hit on the other guy. Instead, his face and abdomen had sustained rather large bruises..
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 8:44 pm
Al-Janah? Well, that wasn’t a name Remarque had heard in ages. He had promised Veer that they’d go wreak havoc on the city months ago, though hadn’t even happened to run into the male at school again in that time.
Whereas Remarque would be quick to point out and focus on another’s weaknesses—particularly when his own were being examined—he found that he was far more interested in dissonance between the knights.
He took careful note that Valhalla had mentioned his defense was shitty; though Remarque’s defense was not the greatest aspect of his fighting, that was because it was a sacrifice he willingly made. He preferred to get in good, strong blows, and sometimes you had to take a blow to get one in.
Valhalla hadn’t even tried to knock him back, and for that, Remarque had to wonder if Valhalla even knew how to fight. “Got into a disagreement? –Hold that thought.”
He turned towards the mirror and stepped back into it. He was gone for only a few seconds before the surface of the mirror was rippling and he stepped back out.
Clearly Remarque had not intended to punch Valhalla, and he made sure to prove this by offering a token of sympathy. He handed out an ice pack that he’d snagged from his freezer and continued, as if he hadn’t just left Valhalla standing there alone, “—Who’d you piss off?”
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 10:16 pm
Valhalla stared at Remarque in surprise when he disappeared through the mirror, leaving him to stand there for a bit, wondering if he was going to come back. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't tempted to break the mirror so the senshi wouldn't be able to get back through so easily... but that just seemed rude.
Not that Remarque didn't just punch him, but... he wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.
To his surprise, Remarque did reappear only seconds later. Not only that, but he had an ice pack with him. If this wasn't turning into a rather strange meeting... He just didn't know what to expect any more.
"Thanks," he mumbled more meekly than he intended as he took the icepack and held it against his face. Ah... that was better... At least he wouldn't have his cheek swelling up like a balloon... again.
"Oh... Uh, it was stupid, really," he tried to explain, wondering if it was weird that Remarque would be interested in something like his disagreements with others. "Um, Sessrumnir... another knight of Jupiter... I didn't agree with what he was doing, he used his magic on me, I tried hitting him but missed and got hit instead," he said, figuring the short version was the best. "It was really stupid, though... Like, I'm not mad at him..."
Was it a sign of weakness that he didn't hold grudges? He didn't know... but he hoped none of what he was saying would come back to bite him in the a** later.
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 10:52 pm
Sessrumnir was a name Remarque was not familiar with, and as much as he would have liked to pry, he mostly knew when not to press his luck. He and Valhalla might have left on friendly terms last time, though punching the guy in the face was not a good way to start this conversation.
“Oh, no. I hear you,” he said, nodding his head in understanding. “Sometimes there are just team mates you don’t get along with. Or you do things to piss each other off. Happens. Even if the Dark Mirror Court.”
He paused for a second, considered his team mates and his recent run in with Leto, and then clucked his tongue thoughtfully before just shrugging the matter off.
“…Is that…the result of most of your battles? –Because, if you—A, can’t land a blow, and B, can’t dodge one, you’re screwed. I can think of a handful of people with a vendetta against you knights. Powerful people, mind you. I know a girl,” he said after a moment—and paused.
It might have been for dramatic effect, or it might have been him very carefully considering his words, but either way, this was already in motion. “Not throwing out any names or anything, but shall we say, she serves a rather high position in the Court. Under Ares, but above me. Used to be one of you. White Moon, I mean. But I guess camouflage was a sphere always best left sided with darkness.”
He feigned a look of surprise, as if he had just realized he had said something he shouldn’t have. The overdramatic gasp and mockingly wide eyes made it clear that it had not been a slip of the tongue. As if the sarcasm in his voice wasn’t enough. “Oh, dear, I think I’ve almost said too much. Well. You didn’t hear it from me, but I heard that she’s vowed to kill every last one of you. I also heard that she already got her hands on one. Just a Page, though. The poor thing. Probably didn’t even stand a chance. I mean—how could they? She was an eternal. Absolutely merciless. I mean. Or so I heard. Not,” Remarque gave Valhalla a very serious look, “That you heard anything from me. I just figured—you know. You ought to know. You seem like such a nice fellow, Valhalla. As much as I hate knights, myself, it would just devastate me to think of her getting her hands on you, too. So you’d best buck up and work on your defense unless you want her to be the last thing you ever see.”
Remarque was one to hold a grudge. Remarque was one to play dirty. He was one to be bitter—especially when some five and some odd food girl had the nerve to talk down to him.
Leto was Vice Captain of the Dark Mirror Court. And she was a big girl. He was sure she could stand up for herself. Or maybe stand to be knocked down a peg. If she couldn’t, then she never deserved that position in the first place.
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Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 9:38 am
Valhalla stared in confusion and quickly growing frustration as the senshi pointed out his assumed flaws. He wasn't sure if he should be more angry or embarrassed and went with some kind of awkward, uncertain expression instead of either. "I-I can too land blows! And I can dodge just fine!" he stammered, standing a little straighter and trying to look as dignified as possible with the pack of ice against his face. He had to be able to dodge otherwise Painite would have skewered him dead months back.
"Sailor Leto," Valhalla finished for him, his frustrations ebbing into something close to hopelessness. Remarque didn't need to hide that name from him. He'd never met her, but he'd heard of her from both Europa and Kallichore. Zirconia knew her as well, but he didn't think she was ever going to be in a mood to talk to him about them. It depressed him to know that his best friend was slipping away from the rest of the world, but if it was what she needed to do to protect herself, he would do whatever it took to make sure she was safe and hidden.
He shook his head sadly, no longer knowing what to think about this conversation. He'd felt a sudden need to prove himself earlier when Remarque issued something of a challenge for him to show he could defend himself, but now...?
"Why?" he asked, looking up at Remarque, confused and disparing over the fact that nothing they did seemed to be helping. "Why kill? What's the point? For fun? Is that what's going to happen to all of us? We're all just going to turn into thieves and murderers? And those that refuse will be either cast out or killed? What is the point??" He could feel his temper starting to build, angry that it was okay for others to kill and take and not give a damn about anyone but themselves.
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Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 2:32 pm
Remarque watched the squire and clucked his tongue. “Well. The conversation I had with this girl—you said Leto, not me—said it was a promise for a friend. My best guess is that she let herself get a little roughed up by one of your more violent allies. Now, I suppose I could understand, I mean—let’s be realistic.”
Remarque looked to Valhalla and stated, very bluntly, “You are of no use to my Court. Knights in general. They typically just stand in the way. You can’t be converted—but to me,” he shrugged. “To me, you’re still valuable, you know.”
Which was most definitely a lie; Remarque hated a large percentage of knights and with his recent encounter with Camelot, there was now only one that he found he could tolerate—and he was standing right in front of him.
“But it still stands that you cannot join our ranks, and the majority of you knights just get in the way and attack without provocation. We can grant more leniency towards White Moon Senshi—there’s still hope to save them. She intends to clear the field of those that are only ‘in our way’. So you’d be wise to watch your back. And maybe practice that dodge of yours.”
He was eager to change the subject, perhaps because he was having second doubts about sharing this information, though more likely because he wanted to give Valhalla something to dwell on, not spell everything out for him. “Though, I’m not so sure you can throw a blow any better than you dodged mine. Want to give it a try? I’ll do an eye for an eye. Let me see if you’d stand a chance against her.”
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Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 11:50 pm
Who was this guy trying to kid? Of course he was talking about Leto... He was certainly doing a bad job of trying to hide her identity if that was his intention.
Valhalla frowned at the senshi, although his interest piqued a bit when Remarque told him he was valuable. But why? How? For whatever reason, it had Valhalla shifting awkwardly from one foot to the other, not sure if that was a compliment or what. If it wasn't then he certainly didn't understand what Remarque was playing at, so... maybe it was?
He couldn't help but let out a small laugh at Remarque's comment. "Who is attacking who, unprovoked?" he wondered, keeping the icepack against his cheek. If anyone had attacked him unprovoked, it was two DMS and a Negaverse General. Although, he had to admit, he'd gotten pretty lucky with his encounters... They could have all been a lot worse. "I was joking," he added after a few moments, not wanting to upset the senshi when it was obvious that he felt bad for punching him. At least that's how it seemed to him.
"I can hold my own," he mumbled when told to practice his dodge, glancing off to the side and feeling embarrassed and a little... pathetic for being hit. In his defense, it had been dark and he hadn't realized what was going on. How was he supposed to know there was a mirror and a senshi about to jump through it?
Of course, when it was offered that he punch Remarque, Valhalla shook his head. "Not really my thing. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, or something like that, right?" he tried, never quite confident enough in his words to get quotes or sayings right, but he was pretty sure it got the message across. "It's fine. I'm not upset about it," he added with a small grin, idly playing with the chain attached to his compass with his free hand.
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Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 9:58 am
“Hell if I know,” Remarque grumbled, though he didn’t seem convinced. He gave Valhalla another look over and just shook his head. “All right, well I’ll keep my eyes and trust that you can you’re your own. If you change your mind,” he shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest. “You should say something. I’m just saying, if you’d wanted any pointers I’d be just fine to share a few things. Because, you know—I’d really hate to hear one day that you were the next knight that got dropped. You don’t seem like the sort that would jump to violence, anyway, so I figured I’d just throw it out there.”
Valhalla had the option to retaliate after being hit—and what did he do? Just stand there with a confused look on his face. If someone had attacked Remarque like that, he’d have spared no expense to repay them. The knight didn’t seem interested in fighting and all—which was good and bad.
Good, because Remarque figured if it ever came down to it, no contest. Bad, because Remarque couldn’t very well make use of a dead man.
“Whatever you do, just be careful,” he concluded; there was only so much he’d be able to do, and he’d already snitched on Leto’s latest actions. He probably shouldn’t be volunteering to teach an enemy ‘a thing or two’.
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 11:07 pm
It was strange... to have Remarque offer to help him with pointers if he ever needed it. But it wasn't a bad thing at all. In fact, it made Valhalla smile just lightly. It made his heart swell to know that even though they were on opposing sides, there was someone who wasn't going to try and kill him right off the bat. Yes, he realized that this could be a huge trap he was falling into, but... at the moment he was willing to let that slide.
He was about to open his mouth to thank the senshi for his offer, when another energy signature suddenly came to his attention. "A youma?" he asked out loud, turning to glance around the park to see where the source had come from, before suddenly catching sight of a strange creature swinging through the trees ahead.
As it got closer though, Valhalla nearly jumped back and into Remarque in disgust. "Uggghh," was the only way he could describe it. It had the body of a squirrel, but its head was more... plant-like... a Venus flytrap?? "What the hell??" he groaned, reaching down to detach the compass from his belt. Apparently the youma had picked up on his energy and decided it wanted to have a go at him.
Well, he wasn't going to let it have that pleasure.
It dropped out of the trees once it was close enough, its strange mouth-like head opening wide, its razor sharp teeth ready to sink into whatever it latched onto... But with a decent amount of aim, Valhalla shot a beam of magic at the creature. He couldn't reverse the fact that it was flying through the air, since that was all gravity's doing now, but he did manage to make its mouth snap shut. And as it dropped to where it would have attacked him, Valhalla wound back to... punch it out of the air and onto the sidewalk. Stunned from surprise and meeting a surface it wasn't expecting, the youma flailed around for a moment, just long enough for Valhalla to swing his leg back and punt it across the walk way, watching as it burst into dust against a tree.
That was certainly annoying...
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 10:56 pm
Initially, Remarque had been interested when the energy signature appeared, though when he eyed the youma, it was with a look of mild disgust.
He had always hated youma. He had no reason not to like them; they’d never done anything for him. Sure, he knew they were technically on the same side, but Ares had never told him not to. Besides, Virtus had said she had offed one, so worst comes to worst, he could always blame her for putting the idea into his head. When Eos had been attacked by a youma, he had intervened—and found that he rather enjoyed the battle.
This little piece of s**t wasn’t even worth his time.
Thankfully, Valhalla stepped up to the plate and got rid of the little pest before Remarque could even be too annoyed—or consider walking over and squashing it.
Remarque had watched with interest as the Squire took care of the situation, and at the end even nodded approvingly. It was a plus to get to see what that compass could actually do (and, oh, Remarque wanted to play with it again even more now that he knew it could shoot lasers).
When Valhalla dusted the youma, Remarque felt only necessary to give him a round of applause. He had really been convinced that Valhalla had been bluffing about taking care of himself, but he hadn’t thrown a half-bad punch. Remarque wasn’t sure about the kicks—cheap shots—but he couldn’t complain about that punch. He clapped at a leisurely pace, not quite slow enough to be mocking, and flashed a grin. “All right, so you proved me wrong. You’re not so bad at all. You work so well against bigger targets, too?”
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Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2012 12:22 am
Valhalla turned to blink in surprise at the applause, before blushing just slightly. He didn't feel as though he was being mocked, but he didn't think Remarque should clap. It made him feel a little pathetic. After all, it was only a tiny youma.
"Uh, I think I can handle bigger targets," he mumbled, his confidence slipping now that he was put on the spot. Or maybe it was humility. He really didn't know most of the time. He still had the icepack to his face, although he pulled it off and awkwardly held it out for the senshi to take. "Uh... thanks for the ice... You're... not going to be going around, collecting energy tonight, are you?" he asked, wary of his answer because... it was late, he was tired and achy and really didn't want to spend several more hours, following this guy around making sure he didn't harass any civilians or senshi.
"Don't worry about me, though," he said, feeling a little funny telling a Dark Moon Senshi something like that. "I won't go looking for a fight with Leto... I think there are a few others who'd like to have a go at her, first..." Ah, that wasn't meant to be a threat, and he shuffled his feet awkwardly before taking a step back.
"Maybe we can meet up to spar sometime...? I can show you I'm not a pushover, then."
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Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2012 1:46 am
The faint blush only amused Remarque, who had perhaps always taken at least a slight satisfaction in making others uncomfortable. He reached out to take the ice back and said, “Sounds like a plan. I’ll bring a few of these. Next time we run into each other, you can show me what you’re made of. After you heal, first. I don’t want previous injuries slowing you down.”
He looked up at the sky; it was late, but he hadn’t gathered any energy and he wasn’t exactly willing to go home empty handed. He was glad that Valhalla was taking his warning about Leto seriously; there was an undeniable thrill in pressing his luck. He wondered if she’d find out he said anything.
It’s not like she had said it was a secret. Maybe if she had stuck around for a little longer, she could have clarified.
For whatever reason, Leto had been in a rush, and Remarque had yet to forgive her for any of her recent actions. “If you’re in the area next Tuesday, we can plan for then. If not, we can just wait til we cross paths again. But I don’t mind laying off the energy and heading home now if it makes your life easier. Catch you later,” he said, offering a slight wave before he made his way back to the mirror.
Valhalla could have assumed that he just tossed the ice pack back in the freezer and went to bed—and Remarque would have been fine with that. It was half right, anyway. While Remarque did mirrorwalk back to his place, it was only to discard the ice pack. He promptly made his way back to the mirror and stepped through, across town and far away from where he’d left the Squire.
There was no harm in letting Valhalla think he’d won, tonight.
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