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 Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2012 6:33 pm
"It's coming up to the right!" Valhalla called from where he stood on a fire-escape landing, keeping a look out for the snake-like youma that was giving him and his boyfriend a difficult time that night.
So much for having a relatively peaceful evening of dinner and a movie and maybe end up sitting around talking for hours into the night or who knew what else... Whatever made Ganymede happy, he'd be willing to do for him.
But right now, it was whatever kept them both, and the city, safe.
"Against the wall!" he called, aiming his weapon and magic at the creature's head, shooting out a beam of green light to stop the youma from lunging forward and instead flip half-way back on itself. It would have been comical had he not already had his leather vambrace punctured by its many fangs. For Benitonite's claim that youma didn't hurt people, he must not have taken those with higher-ranked magical starseeds into account. This youma seemed more eager to rip them apart than just peacefully take their energy.
Thankfully... it didn't seem as though the fangs were poisonous... or if they were, he didn't feel any side-effects, or maybe it just didn't puncture all the way through. Either way, he wanted to end this fight quickly.
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2012 6:46 pm
Ganymede was more than happy to oblige. Short and sweet was definitely his idea of a manageable battle.
It had been a couple of weeks since he’d truly taken time to patrol. After the ambush and everything that had followed, he hadn’t been too keen on skulking around the city, choosing instead to focus on himself for a while. Selfish, maybe, but sometimes it was necessary. He’d taken one brief trip to his moon, but other than that he’d held off on jumping head first back into his powered life. He was still working on the civilian half of it—and that was often difficult enough these days.
Of course, such things couldn’t always be avoided.
“Got it!” he said from his position on the ground.
The good thing about patrolling as a pair—or coming across a random youma as a pair—was not only safety in numbers, but they stood a much better chance of getting through the encounter swiftly. The fact that they knew one another so well and worked together often was an added bonus. They’d been able to match their fighting styles accordingly and learned to use their magic in tandem.
Eternal Sailor Ganymede kept at a safe distance as Valhalla made use of his magic, darting forward to strike only when the youma was too busy writhing and twisting around trying to find some way to gain its proper mobility to notice that it’d left itself wide open. The piping he’d found in a nearby ally made a decent enough weapon, and he brought it down onto the youma’s scaly back with a loud ‘thwack.’
“One day we’ll actually manage a peaceful date again,” he called up to his companion.
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2012 6:58 pm
The squire of Jupiter tried not to snort in amusement at Ganymede's call up to him, shaking his head just slightly instead. He needed to keep his focus on the youma, and on his own magic. "Maybe if this damn city wasn't crawling with these things," he grumbled instead, eventually having to break away his magic when the strength started to dwindle.
"Get back, it's coming around again," he called down, just in case Ganymede didn't notice how his magic had stopped affecting the youma. Luckily, it still took a few moments to be able to reorient itself, hissing and spitting angrily at its attackers.
Now that it was trying for another attack and slithered out of his line of sight, Valhalla jumped down from the fire escape to try and get a better shot at it. Some unseen bottles and bags from a nearby overflowing dumpster caused him to land unevenly, and he lost his generally good balance. He stumbled into the dumpster in the darkened alley, dropping his compass as he threw his hand out to catch himself.
The youma, hearing the commotion, shifted its game plan and slithered into the opening to lunge at the knight instead of going after the senshi. After all, Valhalla had been the first one to show weakness of the two. Easy pickings right?
"Use your magic!" he shouted for Ganymede, throwing his arm up to try and stop the snake from hopefully biting his face in the meantime.
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2012 7:08 pm
Ganymede hesitated for little more than a second.
Had his boyfriend not been in imminent danger, he might have hesitated even longer. He didn’t like his magic. He never had. Now, of course, it was for an entirely different reason. It used to be because he found it useless, because it was just as likely to enflame a youma’s desire as it was to distract them with it. He’d rarely used it, only relying on it when he absolutely needed to.
That part hadn’t changed, though the effect of it certainly had. Now it wasn’t so much useless as it was undeniably harmful. Before the meeting had been ransacked and he’d used his magic with the intention of saving one of his friends, he’d never used it on another human being. That experience had been… well, there’d been some good in it since Kallichore had been safe, but the effect it’d had on that boy… Ganymede didn’t like to remember it any more than he had to.
But it wasn’t such an easy thing to forget.
He took a quick, deep breath, sucking air in on a gasp and shouting “Searing Passion” with a hint of anxiety in his voice.
The youma stopped and turned from Val to Ganymede at the sound of his voice, distracted by the initial pleasant feeling his magic caused within it, before it began writhing again. This time it was not because it wasn’t able to control its movements. It shrieked and hissed in agony, flinging itself around and twisting on the ground.
Ganymede brought his hands up to his ears, though it didn’t block out the noise, just muffled it a little. He watched with wide eyes—no longer in awe of the power but in fear of it—as the youma made one last turn and then burst into dust.
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2012 7:21 pm
Once Ganymede called out his attack, Valhalla lowered his arm enough to see what was happening, and then jumped up to join his companion, although he was not able to stop him from watching as the youma basically burned up from the inside... At least that was how he assumed it worked, having heard Benitoite's screams during the meeting's ambush.
"Ganymede," he tried to distract him, grabbing onto his arm and forcing him to look away from where the youma had been, taking his other arm to wrap around his back and pull him close, as if to hide him from whatever horrible thoughts that were currently plaguing him. "Stop... look at me. It's better than just beating it down, okay?" he tried to convince him, although he wasn't sure Ganymede would ever be comfortable with his magic...
Hell, Valhalla was fine that Ganymede would never be comfortable with it. It meant he was still able to empathize to the pain of others. It's what made Ganymede... Ganymede...
But it made sense to him. The faster they killed it, the less it would be suffering... if it suffered at all.
"You did fine," he tried to console again, doing what he could to distract him. "We should hit up a batting cage some time... work on your swing," he joked, and while the intention was light hearted, he hoped it didn't sound too insensitive.
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2012 7:32 pm
He tried not to let it bother him too much. A youma was a youma. They preyed on innocent people and attacked others who may well be his friends, and it had been lunging at his boyfriend. He’d only been defending them both. It should be okay—it was, mostly. He was doing what he needed to in order to make the city as safe as possible. What was a youma, really? Just a monster, and monsters needed to be done away with.
It wasn’t enough to end the war, but by doing it maybe he’d saved one extra person.
Once it was gone and its screams had become little more than another terrible memory, Ganymede lowered his hands from his face and looked up at his boyfriend. He nodded to agree even if he still felt terrible. He had to keep telling himself over and over that this was what he had to do, that this helped even if it didn’t seem like it did. At least it had ended quickly—no more than a few hits, a couple of uses of Val’s magic. The youma was dead and gone and wouldn’t live to hurt anyone else. No one had to suffer—not it or some innocent civilian.
Ganymede tried to smile and let himself laugh lightly, looking around them to make sure they were alone before dragging Valhalla into the dim recesses of the alleyway where they could power down. As Paris again he felt slightly better. He felt a little more normal, even if he was anything but.
“Didn’t we try that before?” he wondered. “A year ago? I think I’ve gotten a little better since then. It doesn’t have to be perfect.”
Whatever got the job done.
Of course, he could never truly believe in the notion that the ends justified the means.
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2012 7:49 pm
Chris grimaced as he thought about their last attempt at playing ball. "Yeah, well... I didn't know you were, well... like me back then," he pointed out. He had no idea that Paris was Ganymede... or a guy. But that mattered little right now as they were happy and healthy and safe at the moment.
"We should try it again... or maybe just work on technique... Make a date out of it and go play lazer tag or something. Have you ever played before? I know I never took you like I meant to..." he said, trailing off and finally looking down at his arm that had been bit.
"Ugh..." he groaned lightly to himself at the sight of a bit of blood, but it wasn't anything a bandaid wouldn't fix. "You know, this probably wasn't even from its teeth... it was probably the damn leather..." Which was fine with him. He stuck his hand into the pocket of his jeans — as per Paris's request — and took hold of his boyfriend's hand with his other.
"Are you going to be okay?" he asked, glancing down at him in concern as they made their way to the entrance of the alley. "We can get ice cream... or doughnuts if it'll help any." There had to be some place in the city still open... It wasn't all that late yet.
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2012 8:03 pm
“Lazer tag was never really my thing before, but we can do whatever you want,” Paris allowed.
He took Chris’s hand and walked with him to the mouth of the alley, trying to keep his eyes from straying over to the space where the youma had been dusted. He inevitably found his gaze sliding in that direction anyway, and he swallowed through a sudden wave of revulsion. No matter what he told himself, it still made him feel uncomfortable. Experience and a boost in power was one thing. There was no arguing against the fact that it came in handy, but actually being able to hurt people? And so easily?
Paris didn’t think he could ever learn to like that.
For the most part, thoughts like that reassured him. He didn’t want to be like some of the others. He didn’t want to forget or overlook the fact that the people they fought against were still human—and if they weren’t really human anymore then at least they’d once been. He didn’t want to become so lost to the war that hurting other became easy and death grew to be even more inevitable than it already was.
Maybe some people might call that a weakness—and maybe it was. Paris didn’t like to think so. He liked to think that it was a form of strength in its own right. Perhaps not the most impressive strength, and maybe it wouldn’t make a difference in the end, but he couldn’t go back on his principles even after everything he’d seen.
Someone had to believe that peace was possible.
Winning the war with violence and savagery and death? That wasn’t a real peace.
“I think… I think I’d rather go back to your place,” he decided, tearing his eyes away again to look back up at his boyfriend. His mouth quirked into another tiny smile. “Have some tea, maybe. And then curl up in bed.”
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2012 8:20 pm
Chris tugged on Paris's hand when he felt him turning away to glance back to the alley, but he didn't know how much of an effect it had. He didn't like that Paris was so caught up in what his magic could do if only because he could see the fear on his face. He didn't want Paris to be afraid of himself... what good would that do?
He would be the first to admit that he found the power to be able to dust a youma so quickly as a bit of a relief. No more whacking at it and feeling revulsion from beating something to death. Yes, the screams and noises they made would always be haunting, but... it had to be better...
There had to be a way to harness Ganymede's magic into something useful for them... something that wouldn't cause pain, but would help them end the fighting. While he wouldn't want to harm someone unless in selfdefense, he wasn't about to fault Paris for being able to use that magic in a pinch. It had saved Kallichore, hadn't it?
"That'd be fine with me," he agreed, returning the small smile. After a long day, ending with a random youma fight... laying around and doing nothing always seemed like a nice idea. He gave Paris's hand a gentle squeeze in reassurance as they turned down the street towards where he'd left his car parked.
Things would get better... they had to.
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