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 Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2013 11:11 am
Most of Remarque—that the senshi had seen, anyway—was as close to Utopia as he could imagine. Seeing the Outskirts always made him wonder if there was a place that was truly perfect. The natural curve of the asteroid was only just slightly beginning to hide sunlight; it seemed as though night was closing in. The dust clouds in the atmosphere certainly didn't help, but it was an unfortunate side effect of being in an area notorious for rock slides and earthquakes. Remarque himself shifted positions, wrinkling his nose; he wasn't even sure if the girl he'd met earlier was going to show up. Smoke from what he supposed had been another underground explosion was pillaring only a few yards in front of him, and a few dirty, yet surprisingly shiny stones were spattered on the ground. It was a purple one which had caught his eye, larger than most and as large at least half his fist; he stepped deeper into the Outskirts (certain that every step was going to be his last) to pick it up. Holding it up to the light, he figured that even if Iris didn't show up, he had a nice souvenir.
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Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 7:49 pm
Costumes were not meant for exploring. They were meant for fancy decoration and needed to be treated with the utmost care. It had required Iris to get out of her Show Clothes, and to don something that was a bit more "down to business."
A senshi's fuku was the way she showed how serious she was about this excursion. She also wore something a bit more native to her own world. Considering they were going someplace dark, it might eventually make her stand out.
She wandered in the direction which Remarque had told her, eyes wide as she took in every sight there was to see. Though the notion of one portion of the world being dark was not foreign to her, this place was not like her home at all when it came to actual environment.
Eventually a familiar form came to view, and with her usual stage-side manner, she waved to him in a cheery manner to signal she was there.
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Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2013 7:39 am
Movement out of the corner of his eyes initially made Remarque think he was under attack; he took a step back even as he jerked his head towards the attacker. In the brief second it took to identify that he was being waved at by a friendly looking girl, a smile flashed onto his face and he trotted over. "Hey, you made it! And there's something different about you!"
He looked over her senshi garb and gave her a scrutinous look, lips pursed, before the grin was back on his face. "Well, anyway—I'm glad you're here! I was afraid you'd gotten tied up in stuff. Here, you want a souvenir?" he asked; he might have gotten attached to the pretty gem he'd found, so he tucked it away in a pocket as he simultaneously withdrew a handful of somewhat smaller, glistening stones. "I picked these up on my way over, they were the prettiest. But I mean, there's stuff all over the ground, so if you want any of them, feel free. Oh—but be careful, because this place is…rough. And it doesn't get any easier from here on out."
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Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2013 4:55 pm
For many, taking home a souvenir would have been a splendid thing to do. For an Iridian, such would have been looked down upon. Hoarding was something Iridians did not approve of, and even after her exposure to the many other worlds where such was an okay practice, she still could never willingly allow herself to follow such practices.
So the offered stones would receive a simple wave of the hand to signal she would not be taking it. "I would have no place to store such lovely little things. Though if you like them, you should probably keep them!" With both her hands, she held onto the one he had extended to her and guided his fingers into curling around the small objects.
With that, she pushed the wrap she wore over her shoulders up a bit. "Well, the girls did want to go out on the town, but I told them I made a date with someone special... so they let me go on my way!" She smirked, since she really hadn't told the girls such a thing. "Anyways... I didn't want to get my stage clothing all messed up... it wouldn't look good in the next performance if I had tears all over!"
With that, she turned to look towards the direction she assumed they'd be going in. "So... it's that way, right?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2013 10:43 pm
There were many things about Iris that had confused Remarque before, and now she'd only added to the mix. He had been a bit confused when she declined, though she had reason enough (he would have carried them in a pocket for her if she'd asked!). He had collected many of the gems in his life, and while their beauty was not lost on him, he found the audience it attracted was always better than the actual gems. There were some who would never get to see the Outskirts, never get to see the mass of pretty little rocks scattered about. Children cared little for value or worth, and while the gems were pretty, while uncut most of them had little value.
Children, in many ways, were Remarque's favorite.
He didn't have time to dwell on the reluctance for Iris to decline the gemstones because then she was touching his hand—and what do you do when a girl touches your hand and it's not a handshake—and then she said she made a date with someone special and—whoo, Remarque was feeling a little light headed. His cheeks felt warmer, though the lack of lighting made things a little more difficult to spot.
He didn't know if he was flattered or embarrassed or just giddy, but he had to struggle for words and wound up sputtering for a second before he managed "—Oh! Oh, yeah, definitely, absolutely. That," cue awkward laugh, "Yeah, that…that would be the direction. Let me just. Uhm."
He hastened past her, moving into the lead. Sheepish from the moment before, he couldn’t look her in the eye as he beckoned her to follow; he gestured with his hand and basically trotted deeper into the Outskirts. "But quickly! It's not the safest place to observe the scenery—and stay close! It gets dark pretty quickly. Five, ten minutes of walking and everything starts to just blend together into the darkness. So ah…yeah, that's…that's the important part, stay close."
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Posted: Wed Apr 24, 2013 4:58 pm
Being the visitor, Iris easily waited for Remarque to take the lead, but soon enough she was following along rather easily. Though he had told her to stay close, she didn't seem to be doing such very well at the moment. There was a good 5 foot gap between them as they walked.
"... I do have ways of dealing with bringing light to dark areas... I just can't believe that your darker portion of the world is a continual thing. For my home world... it's a seasonal thing... Summers it gets constant daylight, Winters it gets constant night..."
Her eyes easily wandered about, not seeming to even notice the odd mood she had put her traveling companion in. She might have been a tease and potentially a flirt, but she didn't seem to notice the effects of such. In all honesty, as they walked closer and closer to the dark part of the world, the foreign senshi couldn't help but think of how it almost felt like the sun was setting like it would on other worlds.
In a light sigh, she commented "...it's so different..." in a rather pleased tone.
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Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 10:08 pm
Talking about his home planet was one of the easiest ways to put Remarque at ease. "Is it?" he asked, tone light. "I haven't gotten to visit a lot of other planets. Yet. And the ones I have been to, I wasn't there for long enough to really make good comparisons. From what I gather—and I'm not scientist," he insisted, very much emphasizing the point, "It's got something to do with magnetic poles and something. Some other asteroids, satellite objects. Gravitational pull. Oblong shape. Yep."
He didn't have much more description to get; the further they walked, the more anxious he was growing. It wasn't that the darkness innately scared him—it was what was lurking in it. He was eager to cross the Outskirts, to get away from the trembling earth, but the Dark Side wasn't exactly safe. He slowed, making an effort to stay in front without getting too far away from her.
"So, like…how deep are you thinking you want to go?" he asked, eyes already straining to adjust to the change in lighting. "Because I really don't even recommend staying for too long. If something comes sniffing around, it's…I mean, it's basically game over. Can't outrun most of them—definitely can't fight. Not it its territory. So we probably shouldn't poke around or anything, but—Hey, Iris? Do you always charge into dangerous situations like this or did you get into some bad wine or something?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2013 6:27 pm
A lot of his attempted scientific babble went over her head, but some of his later comments did manage to catch her attention.
"I don't drink wine. I drink water. Call it a habit of my home world!" Despite his warnings about the danger, she let out a light little laugh at her own comment. "I don't really know how far I want to go in all honesty, but I can't say I truly go looking for trouble. I just want to learn about the different worlds!"
It was indeed starting to get darker, and once it seemed too dark for Sailor Iris' tastes, she balled up one hand into a fist and soon enough it started to glow. It wasn't an overwhelmingly bright glow, but something gentle, almost comforting.
In a whispered tone, she called out "Iris Rainbow Ribbon!" and immediately a small pale rainbow seemed to sprout from her hand, fluttering back like an actual ribbon.
With a smile, she mentioned "See... a way to deal with it!"
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Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 11:01 pm
Remarque's eyes immediately widened and fixated on her ribbon. "How did you—"
He seemed torn with being fascinated or horrified; on one hand, he was thrilled at the idea of actually being able to see what was out here, but on the other hand…everything else could see where they were.
Hopefully they had all turned in for the night—all the monsters and nasties. The light would prove to be an extreme advantage; the ground beneath them was no longer trembling or threatening to explode, but the surface was quickly shifting from decently solid terrain to a dry, crumbling sort of ground. Remarque seemed to be choosing his steps very carefully, hopping close to Iris.
"—You know, most people around here would be scared of the dark. I mean," he scoffed, "not me, but. Most people. You're kinda strange."
He was quiet for a moment. "I like it."
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Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 8:49 am
Now that she could see a bit better where she was stepping, she too found herself minding her step a bit more. There was less of an excuse to misstep and accidentally twist her ankle. That wouldn't be good since she was expected to perform the next day.
"I am sure most people are scared of the dark because they have a negative thing to associate it with. It's just what they know in all honesty. I've been around a bit... so... I've seen different things. I'm not so much strange as I am... different..."
As if to accent her point, she seemed to take a few playful hops forward, rolling her wrist in a manner which made the ribbon twirl in the air, mirroring a part of her routine in the show. For the show she used real ribbons and scarves, but like this, she could use her natural abilities to pull off the same effects, even in the dark.
Fortunately for Remarque, she didn't go too far before stopping and turning back to him. "See... just different."
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Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 8:38 pm
Remarque had been half a breath away from requesting she slowed down when she stopped, so he held his tongue and smiled, hastily returning to her side. He watched the ribbon fondly, finding it rather enchanting. It was in his nature to be attracted to pretty, fascinating things; he didn't think twice about keeping his vision on it at all times. Of course, there were plenty of things he could be looking at—like where he was stepping. "I guess," he replied; in the distance he could still hear the grating and exhaust from the Outskirts, but ahead of them, there was only silence, and an occasional odd whistle. It was the wind—at least, he hoped—that reminded him to watch his step a little more. "But I'm not scared of different. I like different. I mean, I don't even think the darkness is so scary. It's just what’s in the darkness that gets me. The things you can't see, can't prepare yourself for. The things too devious to meet you on your level—that like to watch you, stalk you, and just hide…Oh!" he shivered just thinking about it. "Gave myself goosebumps! But you know what I'm saying, right? That made sense?"
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Posted: Wed May 15, 2013 7:22 pm
"I can't say I understand."
Iris' response was brutally honest. No matter how many worlds she went to, and no matter how many worlds she tried to understand, there would always be a small gap of her understanding capabilities of the smaller nuances. She had experienced such failures of understanding on other worlds, such as Eunomia and Victoria.
However, seeing Remarque acting in such a way made her pause and ask "...are you comfortable with even continuing? Or did you want to go back? I mean, if you are that afraid of the 'monsters' out here... I can't in all good conscious ask you to take me any further." She might have been curious, but that didn't mean she had to drag others down with her.
Carefully, she took the ends of her rainbow ribbon and wrapped them about her hand, so her whole hand seemed to glow gently like a lamp for a bit.
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Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 2:37 pm
"Of course I'm comfortable!" the male replied almost instantly; he couldn't afford to lose face on his own asteroid! "I've been further than this before!"
Once. Once, he had been further than this, and it hadn't ended so well.
"I'm not afraid, don't be silly. We can go to the drop off, how's that? I mean, it's coming up. You have to watch your steps because it literally just…ends. I mean, monsters aside, there's no telling how far some of the drops go. You could probably fall forever."
Senshi or not, he didn't think there was any coming back from that.
"—Not that falling would be bad. But, you know. The landing would be bad. Plus, there's basically no way up, so far as anyone around here knows. It's too steep to climb back up. And down there—who knows what's waiting to eat you? And I'd feel just awful if I was responsible for getting you eaten. I'm sure your circus would miss you dearly, Iris. You seem like a nice girl, so—"
He paused again, quite content to ramble. Constant talking was the easiest way to distract himself from the fact that any second now they could be eaten alive. Except, he'd heard something. The whistle he'd heard before was a bit louder now—and he grinned hopefully. "Oh—do you hear that? The wind? It means we have to be close. Are you afraid of heights?"
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Posted: Mon May 20, 2013 6:26 pm
With all the mentions of falls and drop offs, a pair of golden eyes soon enough found themselves paying more and more attention to her feet than the things in front of her. There was one place popping to mind for the Iridian, and it wasn't her home world. It was another world within the allied territories that was mountainous in nature. Though she had never fallen, it was still very humbling to look over the edge and think how small one was in comparison to the side of the mountain.
"...you wouldn't be responsible for my demise. I am responsible for myself, Remarque. Even as tour guide, I am still the one who asked to be out here in the first place."
The question about a potential fear of heights seemed to go unanswered. One might have assumed it was a sort of avoidance, however, it was actually a legitimate uncertainty on her own part. Was she afraid of heights?
Such a momentary switch of attention did cause her to misstep, her foot twisting slightly in front of her, scuffling the rocks beneath her. Thankfully, there was still ground beneath said foot, but a sudden surge of pain did shoot through the spot.
"Aghhh!" she grunted before momentarily cringing forward upon the weakened limb. There was still light for them, but the guest had picked the wrong time to suddenly twist her ankle.
********* wasn't going to like this, not one bit!
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Posted: Sun May 26, 2013 11:00 pm
The cry startled Remarque, who had been so keen on listening to the wind that Iris' grunt completely jostled him. His attention was quickly pulled back to her. "What's the matter?" he blurted—after a quick check to make sure that there wasn't some monster nibbling on her ankle. The idea that she had hurt herself out here was so strangely foreign that he immediately made an attempt to identify what had hurt her. "—Did something get you? Did you step on something? The rocks are sharp here, did one of them—"
And then a new wave of questions—"Are you all right, can you walk? Do you need to sit down for a moment?"
The senshi certainly wasn't shy of concern; albeit first aid wasn't a strong suit of his and beyond fussing over her well-being, he really didn't have the faintest idea on what he could do to better accommodate her now that she seemed to be in some sort of pain.
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