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 Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 1:32 pm
It had been a somewhat forward and impromptu first meeting in the Negaspace, mostly fueled by Renna's curiousity over the hole in her chest and her position in the Negaverse. But as strange as it had been, Naomi would be lying if she said she wasn't grateful to know someone beneath their glamour and their uniform. Chase didn't really count, he was her officer, but it was a big scary world out there and she just really wanted the support and comfort of knowing she wasn't alone. The Negaverse were her family now, and it was nice to sit down and have a normal family meal every now and again. And that was exactly what Renna had planned, judging by the texts she'd received. Naomi had come with an empty stomach and a bottle of wine, actually quite excited to be out of the house and doing something social. It had been three weeks since her corruption, three weeks of getting used to her new life and enrolling for university and finding hobbies to amuse herself with. Finally it seemed her determination was beginning to pay off, and this was the reason for the bright smile on her face. Checking her phone again, having forgotten the address already, the blonde quickly crossed the road and turned left, counting the houses and triple-checking the address against the one she'd been given before ascending the stairs and ringing the doorbell. She strived to appear casual but friendly, smiling and ready to hold up the wine she'd brought when someone answered the door.
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Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 2:17 pm
In all of the information sessions Renna attended to learn more about the Negaverse, she had been most interested in the corrupted senshi. And why not? They have amazingly long hair, giant gaping holes in their chests and foreheads, and, if they had been senshi before the Negaverse found them, they lost all their memories. ALL their memories. Renna tried to imagine what it would be like to forget all about her mother and aunt and Eden. Just thinking of it brought a p***k of tears to her nose. How tragic, she thought, to be a corrupted senshi. It was for that reason that she pitied them, few as they were, whenever she saw them in Negaspace. Some of them seemed especially aloof, and who could blame them? They were basically orphans overnight.
Renna noticed Eos in Negaspace after she heard two lieutenants whispering about her. Apparently she was new, someone that they had gotten during the scary battle at the senshi meeting -- the first real battle Kyanite had ever been in, and the one she would have died in if not for the intervention of some Dark Mirror senshi. It bothered her to hear two people being so sneaky while Eos was still in earshot so, to prove a point, Kyanite had marched right up to her and introduced herself. Hell, if anyone needed friends, it was a freshly corrupted senshi!
As it turned out, the two girls got along quite well, and after a quick conversation, Renna invited her to hang out as civilians. She was definitely not as careful as she should be about her civilian identity, but Renna trusted the other Negas -- why would they betray her? They hung out once or twice before, and now the girls planned to have some dinner together.
Renna was an okay cook, but she played it safe that night, ordering Thai food from a local restaurant. Her roommate, Bernadette, had gone out for the night, and with her brand new living room freshly furnished by IKEA, Renna was ready to entertain. She nearly sprinted to the door when she heard the first knock.
Pulling the door open, Renna was all smiles, a smile that got bigger when she saw the bottle of wine. "Naomi, come in!" she said, stepping aside for the other girl to enter. "I hope you like Thai food. It just got here -- pad thai, pad see yew, spring rolls, and a red curry." She paused. "Do you know what kind of foods you like, or is that something you forget too?" Renna blushed. "Sorry if that is rude, I don't mean to be rude." She couldn't help it! The corrupted senshi were just so fascinating.
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Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 2:40 pm
An invitation was all the blonde needed, gratefully stepping into the building and dusting her shoes off on the mat. She tried to sneak a glance at the dark-haired girl's feet to determine whether it was a shoes-on or shoes-off household, but in the end she kicked her ballet pumps off anyway just to be on the safe side. Naomi turned and opened her arms to go in for a hug, still smiling after the quick squeeze as she offered her friend the wine. "Hey! Thanks so much for inviting me over!" Thai food? Naomi frowned a little, not because she didn't like it but because she honestly wasn't sure. Renna seemed to catch her expression however, either that or she was just talkative, but Naomi grinned and shook her head as she shuffled forwards, not sure which room she should be entering. "Ha, not rude at all! I'm pretty...well, pretty cool about it all. Don't be afraid to ask questions." She didn't mind, and if she had an answer she was happy to give it. It was just...well, she didn't really have many answers right now, not if Renna was wanting to know about her past. Still, she was just curious, and Naomi wanted to help in any way she could. In truth she was just desperate to make more friends! "I've never tried Thai, that I can remember, but I'm willing to give it a shot!" She knew full well that even if the first bite was enough to make her gag, she'd still force the meal down anyway. She was a guest, and that meant being polite, even if it caused an anaphylactic shock.
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Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 2:53 pm
A hug and wine? Renna was already winning. Naomi's instinct to take off her shoes was correct. The dark-skinned hostess had bare feet, but it wasn't a rule of the house. On or off, it really didn't matter. "I'm so happy you could make it," she said, the South African accent rolling over each syllable. It tended to thicken when she was speaking with excitement.
Her cheer was intensified when Naomi put her worries to ease. "Sorry," she said again. "Your the first corrupted senshi that I have spent time with, and I just don't want to make you uncomfortable." Another pause. "I hope that didn't make uncomfortable -- oh god, I'm just putting my foot in my mouth. Let's eat and find out!" Renna took the bottle of wine from Naomi and set it on the counter. The Thai food was still in the containers from the restaurant, but two plates had been laid out for each girl.
Fishing in the cabinet, Renna located a bottle opener and made short work of the wine. "I miss wine," she said, pouring some into two clear glasses. "I could drink it with every meal, but the drinking age is different here." Not that it had mattered much. Renna's mother was a big believer in wine with dinner and had been more than happy to let her daughter indulge in one glass a night once she turned 15.
Renna carried the glasses and the bottle to the table, setting a glass in front of each plate and the wine off to the side. She cracked open a few of the containers, releasing long trails of steam. "This one is the pad thai," she said, tilting the peanut-sauce noodles toward Naomi. "Pad see yew is the brown one with the broccoli and flat noodles. It has chicken in it. And then this," she said, opening another container, "is a red curry chicken. I love it over white rice. Oh, and I almost forgot the spring rolls." With all the boxes open, the table steamed with the spicy tang of Thai food. It was way too much food for two people. They could comfortably feed four with the amount she had purchased -- apparently Renna had been a little too excited.
"So it's good because you will have plenty of time to figure out what you like and what you don't like. And if you don't like any of this, we can just order pizza or something... if you like pizza." A smile crept across her lips. How strange! It was like Naomi was a baby all over again, having to figure out who she was. It was both fascinating and sad to Renna. In any case, she planned to cheer up the girl as best as she could.
To start, Renna helped herself to a spring roll, white rice, and some red curry. She'd hit up the noodles next. "How do you like the Negaverse so far?" she said, stabbing a piece of curried chicken with her fork and lifting it to her mouth.
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Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 3:19 pm
Naomi could tell the girl was excited by the fluctuations in her accent, and was pleased that she seemed to be able to bring such a smile to another's face. Even if it was because she was a mess of a person at the moment - but she was getting better! She was still talking, and Naomi even brought her hands, flattening her palms towards Renna in a 'calm down' sort of action. It was making her a little uneasy, although not in a bad way - she was more embarrassed that Renna was so conscious of her words. Laughing to try and take the edge off, Naomi shook her head again, "Renna, you're fine. Seriously, don't worry about any of it." The blonde followed the hostess and stood beside the counter, leaning on it lightly and smiling warmly. Talk of the drinking age brought colour to Naomi's pale cheeks, and she chuckled a little sheepishly as she reached around to scratch her neck. "Yeah, I sorta stole it from the pantry." She didn't know whether to go into detail about her current situation of bunking with Chase - although she knew Renna was Lieutenant Kyanite, she wasn't sure if Chase was quite as forthcoming about his alter-ego, and it wasn't really her secret to tell. The bottle of wine had been long forgotten and wouldn't be missed, she'd had to give it a good dusting to make it look presentable. "Twenty one," she confirmed with a slight sigh, wrinkling her nose. Really, it seemed too high for her liking. Most kids were drinking by eighteen anyway, so why not follow the example set by Europe? Some places you could even start at sixteen! Following Renna to the table, Naomi took a seat and looked on in interest as each dish was pointed out to her. The pad see yew in particular looked delicious, and it was this she helped herself to first, followed by a small amount of rice and a spring roll. She had a mouthful, chewing carefully, and the big smile and murmurs of approval that followed made it quite clear that she was a fan. "This is delicious!" She took another mouthful - there was a mountain of food to get through so she might as well start! - finishing it off before speaking. "I definitely like pizza," she grinned, "Who doesn't?" It seemed incredulous that anyone could hate pizza - she'd only been around for three weeks and she'd already had it at least three times. She was a sucker for simple pepperoni. "It's...okay I guess." What was there to say? She'd been back to the Rift on a few occasions, and that horrible corridor scared the living daylights out of her. Apart from that she hadn't really experienced much though. "I've been concentrating more on civilian things I guess - I'm enrolled at DCU now." Another delicious fork-ful of food. "I dunno, I'm sort of wary. Zinkenite said not everyone would welcome me."
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Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 3:28 pm
Renna was delighted that Naomi liked the Thai food. She had begun eating it pretty regularly since she moved to the city, and she felt like she had done a community service by helping a newly corrupted senshi rediscover something that she liked. Really, it was be so hard. Renna felt like a fish out of water in the Negaverse, and she wasn't a blank slate mentally. What must that be like? It was a question itching at the back of her throat, but she had enough sense to keep it inside. Instead, she distracted herself with another bite of curry, eyes flickering between her food and her guest.
In her Negaverse instruction, Renna had been taught to accept the corrupted senshi, but that was alongside instruction for how to 'handle' them. It seemed like anything that needed a handler was not precisely the same as the rest of them. This didn't evoke fear in her thought, just curiosity. "Being wary is probably the safe thing to be," she said, chewing on a piece of chicken. "As far as I am concerned, once you are with us, you're with us though. We can't very well go around blaming our allies for things they did before they were even on our side. Where is the sense in that? You don't even remember it." Quietly, Renna wondered if Eos had been one of the senshi for her cousin, General-King Marthozite's death. It was an unpleasant thought, and it brought a flicker of darkness to her eyes. She quickly pushed it away though -- Naomi was too nice to have done that, right?
"I like General-King Zinkenite. He was the one who corrupted me," she said, pushing some veggies around on her plate. "They got me into Horizon Institute through some Nega connections, so that's been good. The training schedule has been killing me though. Is it the same for you guys? They have all the new lieutenants in classes almost every day. Every day I train, and I still don't think I'm any better." Renna frowned and took a sip of wine.
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Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 1:37 pm
Mouthful after tasty mouthful found it's way to Naomi's lips, so much so that she was soon helping herself to more. This time she went for the curry, with a little more rice - she was an oddity, preferring to drown any accompaniments in the sauces. Pasta dishes were usually weighted 25:75, with the sauce occupying most of her plate. It was the tastiest part of the meal after all, anything else was only there to bulk it out. Taking a bite of her spring roll she turned back to Renna, smiling as she chewed. She nodded in agreement as her fellow agent spoke, a wider smile blooming at Renna's kind words. "That's what I figured. I can't remember a thing. It doesn't mean I didn't do it, so I suppose I understand still having to repay my debts, which I'm fully willing and almost excited to have the chance to do. But Zinkenite spoke as if some might actively hunt me." The thought scared her, as much as Labyrinthite had tried to put her mind at ease. Chewing on the last bit of her spring roll, Naomi savored it's delicious taste and swallowed. She'd definitely have to convince Chase to order in Thai food sometime soon. "Oh?" For a moment she was surprised that Zinkenite had recruited a regular officer, but that she realized that actually that made perfect sense. Why wouldn't he? Recruitment was one of the most important jobs in the Negaverse, and not one to be taken lightly - thinking about it, it didn't surprise Naomi at all that the General King took such a responsibility upon himself. "They managed to get me into DCU," she offered, smiling. Naomi had to admit, she'd been immensely impressed with their dedication at reintegrating her, and the strings they'd pulled to get her a place at such late notice. The mention of a training schedule caused her to frown, though, and the blonde shook her head. "I haven't had a training schedule, but the General-King seemed more concerned with helping me settle down. Apatite suggested capoeira - a martial art - and I've been to a few classes, but it's all been pretty chilled at the moment." She stabbed a piece of chicken with her fork and ate it, washing it down with a gulp of wine.
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Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2012 9:25 pm
It had always been important for Renna to make people happy... and also to be honest with them. Her closest friends were privy to her best sides -- loyalty, support, love -- and also her worst -- nagging, worrisome, critical. Right now, Naomi was floating in the comfortable euphoria of first-meetings where Renna was on her best behavior. But this did nothing to diminish the pleasure that the teenager felt realizing she had helped a girl without memories figure out something she liked: Thai food. Look at her, being a great Negaverse support!
The Thai food was making Renna happy too. She was working her way through the curry and eyeballing the pad thai as if there was a bullseye on it. Reaching forward, she snatched up one of the spring rolls and bit into it with a crunch, sprinkling crispy fried pieces onto her plate. "I can look out for you," Renna said, smiling. "Well, we can look out for each other. I'm no good... I was assigned extra training because of my poor performance at the senshi battle -- I think it must have been the one where you came over to our side." She had been present for the corruptions, and she thought she recalled the girl, though it was hard to say.
"If it wasn't for the Negaverse, I would be back in Baltimore now," she said, setting the spring roll down again and lifting her fork. "My mother let me come down here temporarily to look for my cousin. She was dead set on me coming back -- DC doesn't exactly have the best reputation -- but then the Negaverse got me accepted into Horizon Institute. My mother was so charmed by the brochures and the prestigious reputation. Now I just have to... actually pass my classes." A nervous laugh rattled out of her. Renna liked science, but she had always been more of a humanities kind of girl.
Distracting herself by pushing some rice and chicken around her plate, Renna let her mind wander to how senshi training might be different from hers. They seemed like superheroes with magic. Well, if they were Superman, then she was Batman -- just a human on a mission, armed with less flash but more savvy. She enjoyed romanticizing her unexpected occupation in this way. "I haven't met Apatite, but I have seen her. General-King Zinkenite has been great, much nicer than I would expect a boss to be. We could train a little, if you wanted. I'm not very good, but maybe we could help each other out." It was an idea!
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Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2012 6:34 am
Smiling gratefully when the offer of protection was made, Naomi swallowed her mouthful before beginning to respond. "Yeah, I was corrupted at the ambush. I don't remember it, though." She rolled her eyes with a grin, hoping to lighten the comment (and the topic in general) as she used her fork to mix the rice and curry on her plate. She didn't want Renna to be afraid to ask her questions or to mention certain topics for fear of offending her. Naomi was still feeling a bit delicate, but not to the extent where she burst into spontaneous tears at the mere mention of her corruption. "You didn't get hurt, did you? I heard a few officers did." There was concern etched on her face as she awaited an answer, emptying yet another forkful into her mouth.
Baltimore? Naomi's eyebrows rose in surprise and she waited patiently for the explanation, taking a sip of wine as she did so. The mention of Destiny City's reputation made her smile, and she nodded in agreement, giggling on cue as Renna laughed. "It's weird for me, going back to school. It's DCU, so I guess it's different...but I can't remember any of my previous schooling. I have the knowledge, I just can't remember it." She paused to eat, chewing and swallowing before she continued, "But it's a classical literature course, and I'm a sucker for old romance novels, so I'm looking forwards to it."
She wasn't sure what she wanted to achieve, ultimately. At the moment her sights were set on some sort of career in journalism, but really she was just looking to enjoy herself for the time being. She deserved that much, surely? "Apatite's lovely too." She smiled reassuringly, nodding when the General-King was mentioned, "No I totally agree, Zinkenite's been amazing. They're a lot more...involved than I'd expect. I always thought those in charge sort of sat in an office and answered phone calls all day." That was how it worked in big offices, right? "Train?" The offer was extended, and Naomi responded with a wide smile, "Ohh, that'd be great!"
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Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2014 7:45 pm
When she was pulled into the Negaverse, Renna had not known what to expect. But it was strange how close she felt to so many of the people she met there. (Though the opposite was also true -- many of them were downright scary.) Spending time with Naomi felt so deliriously normal. Renna found herself desperate to bask in this normalcy, to close her eyes and pretend that she was still her old self.
At the mention of "romance novels" Renna broke out into a massive smile. "I knew there was a reason I liked you!" she said. "I have a passion for many things, but romance novels are high up on that list." Specifically, she loved stories of tortured men rescued by nurturing women. It had influenced her horrible dating habits, unfortunately.
Throughout dinner, Renna loosened up more and more (wine helped). It felt so good to laugh and carry on as if nothing in her life had changed. So what they were discussing their military leaders instead of their favorite reality TV shows? For once, Renna was starting to believe that the Negaverse might not be as life-ruining as she feared.
Hopefully, this dream would be confirmed -- but for tonight? Tonight, there was good food, decent wine, and solid conversation. Renna couldn't think of a better way to spend her evening.
((Suuuuuper belated wrap up for this, whoops!))
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