|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2013 9:49 pm
Tara could barely contain her excitement. Zia had found something. Somewhere, somehow, she had found... something. Tara didn't know what; the text had been really really vague and just mentioned a need to get together. While she suspected Zia was really fishing for another trip up to the outpost, she really couldn't handle another one so soon after her last less-than-successful visit. So instead, she offered a movie night at her place. Something simple, fun, and with plenty of room to gossip. Perfect! Almost.
Problem #1: Tara's collection of movies was pretty much limited to films containing "Star Wars" in the title. Hopefully Zia liked science fiction, and didn't find it too close to the mess that was the nightlife in Destiny City. If not, maybe they would be able to stream something enjoyable. So, problem solved, or at least able-to-be-averted.
Problem #2: Tara's collection of everything else had taken over her room. It took the better part of the day to get everything cleaned up- or, more accurately, stuffed into her closet- and she was exhausted by the time she'd finished. Her reward was juuuuust enough floor space to squeeze an air mattress into, and they kept just such an item for when people stayed over... in her closet. Maybe Tara would just offer Zia the bed and take the floor. Problem successfully ignored.
Problem #3: Kent wasn't going to be working late that night. He was making dinner, watching Tara watch him and trying hard not to laugh. "You're not a kid anymore, Tara, even though you act like one sometimes. I have no problem with you having a friend over. I won't even get in your way- though I would like to meet her."
"Yeah, fine." Tara figured they could do a quick introduction, and then she and Zia go into her room and get to work. Kent so did not need to be a part of her senshi activities, and hopefully she'd already made that clear to Zia. Otherwise they were about to have problems 4-10, which mainly consisted of Tara's impending explosion.
The doorbell rang, and Kent moved to open it. Before he got very far, Tara yelled "It's open," earning a mildly disapproving look that she chose to ignore.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 5:48 am
Zia was living like a stray cat lately, but she didn't mind. Mostly because sleepovers were fun! And tonight was Tara's turn to host the wayward girl.
She adjusted the strap on her messenger bag, before fiddling with her messy updo. Spring was here, and she was dressed for it, and she was practically bouncing in excitement to show Tara her treasures from raiding her brother's wonder. They had so many new things to talk about.
"OH, OKAY!" She shouted through the door, taking an extra moment to untangle her fingers from her hair before letting herself in. "Heeeey, Tararara," She greeted, obviously giddy. "Who's the boy toy?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2013 8:38 pm
For a moment, Tara and Kent were frozen, identical expressions of shock on their faces. Then Tara began cackling from her perch on the sofa, holding her stomach and kicking her feet into the air. "Oh, that is too funny. You have to warn me before you say stuff like that, or I'm holding you responsible for the medical bills."
Kent was still not quite sure what to say. Tara, who'd had some experience with Zia's unique brand of humor, eventually settled down. "This is my brother, you goofball. The paranoid one." The one she would rather die than see dragged into this mess, and considering her fears, that said a whole lot. "Zia, Kent Kavanaugh. Kent, Zia... I have no idea what your last name is. Zia Something, I dunno."
"Uh, right. Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Zia Something." Kent was clearly not convinced, but was trying really hard not to make his discomfort obvious, in a way that was totally obvious. "I'm glad you could come over for, what, movie night?"
Tara rolled her eyes. "We are so not doing the whole 'big brother vets the friends' thing, so don't even go there."
"I had no intention of going there," Kent claimed, holding his hands up in an expression of innocence. "If you ladies will excuse me, I should check on dinner. Zia, I hope you like lasagna." Despite his claim, he still waited a few more seconds before heading back into the tiny kitchen, where the clanging of pots and pans made it pretty clear that he was doing something cooking-related.
Once he was out of earshot, Tara patted the couch next to her, which was about as close as she got to offering engraved invitations. "Sooooooooooooo, what did you find? I want to know everything!" Sure, they probably would be better off waiting until they moved into her room, but patience was not exactly her strength.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2013 8:33 pm
"The paranoid one? There are more?" Zia asked in sweeping mockery, one hand to her chest.
She totally shrugged off the last name bit. "Connolly." It was said in a flat monotone, and even Zia probably couldn't tell you why.
And then reached one arm out, calling after Kent in his departure, "She lies, you can vet me all you want, baby!" And the act was dropped pretty quickly for a flippant, "Oo, lasagna."
She seemed to be done trolling for the most part because she never flipped back to it. Instead she glanced back towards wherever Kent walked off too before sitting on the couch, pulling her messenger back on her lap. "Is this seriously an okay place to be...? Or? Nevermind." Tara usually outranked her on the paranoia scale, she decided the question was stupid to finish.
"I found lots of stuff!" She announced, pulling out her cell phone and flipping past knight derps and embarrassing selfies with other people before she got to her set of photos from her fabulous vacation in the stone city. The towers, mostly, but then she got to a wall with some carvings you could actually make out. "The entire place is amazing."
She held up the stone pendent held around her neck by a piece of twine with a distinct Celtic knot carved into it.
"Oh, and I matched some symbols," Maybe she should've led with that.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2013 11:01 pm
"Brothers? No. Paranoid ones? Yes. I think it runs in the family." Or it just spawned in the family after Tara had been missing, presumed dead, for a year. She wasn't really sure, and she didn't really care, because it was damned inconvenient regardless of what the cause was. "You don't have to meet them though, so don't worry about it." Though the thought of Tara's proper Southern Belle mama meeting Zia was kind of funny in its own way.
Zia's question made Tara nervous, and she looked around a bit, out of habit. "Why? You weren't followed or anything, were you?" And then her paranoia, whether genetic or trauma-induced, kicked up a notch. Or five. "Wait, you talked to me like this- not as a cat or whatever- so do you do that with those Negaverse people you said you were talking to? The ones with the spears and stuff? Do you think they're following you? Why would you lead them here?"
Kent poked his head out of the kitchen, frowning. "Is everything okay?"
"Yes. I mean, no. I mean... I don't know, Kent, just... I'll let you know when I figure it out."
"Are you sure?" Kent took a couple of steps forward, the wooden spoon in his hand dripping tomato sauce onto the floor, but then he stopped. He didn't totally trust this new friend of Tara's, especially not now, but making her leave would probably just make the situation worse.
Tara looked panicked, but she waved Kent away. "Just... I'll be better after I eat something, okay?" She waited until he went back to the kitchen, took a deep breath, and looked Zia in the eye. And then lit up slightly as Zia described what she'd seen. When she mentioned matching characters, she even cracked a smile, which she quickly bit down on.
"Is there any reason why this would not be an okay place to be?" Tara asked, rather evenly she thought. Almost calm, if not for the wild look in her eyes, and the way her voice rose at the end, as if she was working up to another shriek.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2013 5:08 am
Zia went wide eyed at the onset of panic her question had brought on. She really hadn't meant to imply there was any danger outside of nosy brothers and the discovery of any secrets Tara was keeping in her own family.
"Oh, baby, no," She cooed, reaching out to touch her hair. Kent was paid almost no mind over than a flippant wave over her shoulder with the other hand acknowledging she knew he was there and asking if everything was okay.
She waited patiently for him to leave, trying not to encourage it since that had a tendency to make people stay of all things. And then she raised and dropped her shoulders in one quick motion.
"Tara I would never do that, I was asking if it was okay thanks to Mr. Nosy over there," She said with a point vaguely towards the kitchen. She did her best to form a stubborn frown, which was really hard without any proper anger to motivate it. "You need to know that. You're always safe with me."
Which was an exaggeration to the fullest, no one could promise that, especially Zia, but the merits of the promise hadn't even occurred to her when she made it, because all that mattered in Zia's mind was that she would if she could.
She flopped her hands on the messenger bag in her lap with a light huff. "Now do you want to see or not?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 9:44 pm
Deep breath in, deep breath out. Rinse, repeat. Tara sat still, with one hand over her chest, until her heart stopped threatening to make an escape. "Okay. Okay. Right. I'm sorry, Zia, it's just... yeah. I don't even know. I mean, I know you wouldn't bring anyone like that here." Zia had been to hell and back too. That was one of the reasons Tara felt comfortable with her. So there was no way she'd bring along someone from the dark side.
At the mention of Kent, she looked towards the kitchen, then back. "Hmmmm. If it's just about language and stuff, I think it's okay. He knows I'm looking into dead languages, but not why. If we're going to talk about the, uh, nightlife, we should wait until we get to my room." At which point Tara would put on a movie and let it drown out their voices. There was no way Kent was getting involved in this, not if she had a say in the matter.
That decided, she looked more eagerly at Zia's bag. "Your necklace is gorgeous! Is that one of the things you found? And you really found characters? How many? Where?" This was the kind of breakthrough she'd been waiting for!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 6:08 am
"Oh, okay!" Zia would have to make careful note not to babble off on tangents and stick to language stuff, but she could do that, she figured.
"Yes! This too," She said, slightly raising the finger the ring Alfheim had given her was on.
First she pulled out the piece of paper Tara had given her at Aquarius Outpost and then flipped through her phone. Thank god for technology. She had rubbings and a few things she transcribed to a notebook, but the inhabitants of Alfheim apparently had a really big thing for stone carvings and those were hard to retrieve.
"See, here, along the lines, the symbols," She said, zooming in. "That one looks a lot like this one, and these are always clustered together."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2013 8:10 pm
While not a girly-girl, Tara did like jewelry. Most of hers reflected her interests, and so she had atom-shaped pendants, and a cuff bracelet printed with the Periodic Table, stuff like that. Zia's finds were not what she was used to, but they were awfully pretty, and she ooh-ed and aah-ed appropriately.
"The ring is nice too," she said, taking Zia's hand and turning it over so she could examine it better. "Kind of funny, how it's all engraved on the sides and not in the middle. Do you think there was a stone there that fell out, or something? It doesn't look like a setting, though. Huh."
Jewelry, while fun, was nowhere near as interesting as the language. Tara dropped Zia's hand and looked at the phone eagerly. "I've seen that set a few times up there myself. These must be words. Or phrases. I'm still not sure what kind of language it is- if each symbol is a word or a letter, or something in between, like Japanese. Apparently they have three alphabets, did you know? That's crazy! I hope this isn't something nutters like that."
So saying, she squinted at some of the pictures. "The question is, why are these things there? I'd almost expect papers- the old you-know-who wrote a lot of letters, 'cause really, what else are you gonna do up there? But stone carvings suggest something more than that." Tara bit her lip. "Where did you say your brother's place is? He's not one of Chronos', is he?" If he was, she would feel kind of silly for not remembering him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2013 9:01 pm
"Actually, he's an earth knight," Zia stated and pondered on this for a moment. "So I would hazard to say his wonder's here on this planet? But far away."
She had instinctively gotten the feeling it was far, but it took her a moment to figure out why. "Because it was night time here but when he took us, it was daylight there."
She tilted her phone screen and frowned at it. On a personal level she wanted to learn this language. It had to do with her ancestors, her family. But if it was going to be ridiculous and have three alphabets she was giving up.
"It is a bit strange. There are letters and stuff. At least I think they're letters. I didn't bring them them," She flicked the screen to move on to photos she'd taken of the parchment, which was carefully laid out on a table back in her rigged library/base.
"The fact it would be integrated with the art and stone carvings is a little funny." Zia was assuming that had significance, and her mind was buzzing with the various, complex social reasonings this could be. If she ever found out the answer was a simple 'the Alfar like their poetry' she was going to be severely disappointed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2013 9:27 pm
"Really? Earth has them too?" Yep, it was official: Tara was clueless about knights. Now, however, she had incentive to learn more about them. Now they weren't just teammates, they were friends. "So how- no, don't tell me now. Save it for later."
"Save what for later?" Kent was back, peering over the back of the couch to see what they were working on, earning his nickname of Mr. Nosy. "Oh, are you helping Tara with her language project? I have no idea when she got so interested in this sort of thing, but it's nice to see her expand her horizons a bit."
Tara rolled her eyes. "I'm right here, Kent."
"I know." He ruffled her hair before turning back to Zia. "Dinner's ready. Will you ladies be eating out here, or-"
"We're gonna eat in my room, Kent," Tara interrupted quickly. She wasn't sure they would be able to keep aspects of senshi and knights out of their conversation for long, and she was dying to dive into the details. Except not, because dying sucked.
For a moment it looked like Kent was going to object. Then he sighed and nodded. "I get it- I'm not cool enough to hang out with you guys." Before Tara could object, he winked, to let her know he was still playing around. "Fine. Go set the table up in your room. Zia can help me bring the food in."
This thrilled Tara even less, and she tried to protest, but Kent wouldn't budge, and soon enough she was moping off to her room. She did trust Kent not to be too overbearing, and Zia not to blab anything important, but they were both occasionally difficult to deal with, and she worried anyway.
"So, Zia." Now that it was just the two of them, Kent was just a little more serious. "You did say I could vet you, didn't you? So, how did you and Tara meet? If you don't mind my asking, that is."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2013 10:07 pm
Zia could ramble about Earth knights for days. She knew so many of them! But when she opened her mouth, she closed it right back up to look at the intruder. She managed not to frown at his presence cutting off the babble she was dying to get out, and instead smiled and waved her fingers at him and his attempts to be nosy.
"Oh, sure!" Zia didn't see the problem with helping bring the food in, but of course she wouldn't.
Not until she caught the increase in seriousness when Kent spoke up after they were alone. She paused what she was already doing, which was not so carefully going at the food, to glance at him and his question before absentmindedly licking sauce off her finger and shrugging.
"And here I thought you were going to get me alone for other kinds of examination!" She announced and winked at him before she answered in dead seriousness. "Oh, you know, in space."
She let that hang in the air for a second before adding, with laughter. "With her nose in a book, typical Tara."
She picked up her share to help with a dramatic, mockery of a huff. "Honestly, Kent, the secrecy, the sidelong stares, the stolen glances. It just isn't meant to be, I'm sleeping with your sister, darling, I'm sorry," She announced with overblown flair as she moved for the kitchen exit.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2013 10:26 pm
Kent busied himself with the food as he waited for the answer, slicing lasagna and putting it on sturdy plastic plates, adding corn on the cob and a single chocolate chip cookie to each plate. "If you girls want more cookies, they're in a tin on the top shelf. I'm telling you that, not Tara, since if I tell her all they'll be gone before dinner."
The response to his question was not what he expected, but he laughed uneasily, not sure how seriously to take it. It clearly wasn't the whole truth, but maybe they met at the planetarium, or something like that. "Space. Tara has always wanted to go to space." Though less so recently, which surprised him. He'd always suspected that space was a sort of escape for her, and though that if she ever wanted to escape, it would be now. Then again, if she had more friends like this one on Earth, maybe space was less important to her now. "And yeah, the book is totally like her," he added, smiling fondly.
The further comments made him frown though, and he reached out to prevent Zia from leaving. "Wait, I think you've got the wrong idea." And then he blushed, not used to those sorts of cracks. "Hey, if that's what the situation is, I don't mind." He really wasn't sure he wanted to know about his sister's sex life; while he was protective of her, she was an adult and could make her own decisions. At least, those kind of decisions. Ugh, now he would be imagining all sorts of freaky things.
"Look, Tara's been through a lot in the past few years. I don't know how much she's told you, but she's had to deal with things that nobody should have to deal with. I'm not going to go into detail, partly because it's not my place, but mostly because she hasn't told me anything. And I don't want to pressure her, to ask her to relive things she'd be better off forgetting. If she's found it easier to talk to you than to me... well, I'm glad she has an outlet for those feelings. But I worry about her, and I just need to know what she's dealing with, so I can help her better. That's all."
Kent tried to smile, but it was more of a grimace. "And if you don't know anything, that's fine too. I'm just chasing whatever leads I can, that's all." And didn't that sound pathetic. The whole situation felt kind of sad to him, that he was reduced to interrogating Tara's friends for scraps of information that she refused to give him. But if it paid off, the personal cost to his pride wouldn't matter.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2013 10:58 pm
Zia was all laughter and smiles as Kent reacted. "Well, sometimes spacing out can be a nice vacation, as long as there are no monsters."
She did pause her escape, though, at Kent's heartfelt explanation and pitiful attempt to get to know his sister. Her back to him, she drummed her fingers on the plate in her hands.
She felt bad, and on some level, she felt jealous. She knew Noah cared about her, but she also knew he dismissed a lot of her quirks and hints to her anxiety as either overreaction or traced it back to a mental breakdown he had imagined over college stress. Was it his fault she hadn't ever shared her trauma with him? Definitely not. But the fact Kent knew, in some way, that Tara had been to hell and back and was desperately trying to connect with her had a strange way of cutting deep into Zia's jealous tendencies.
"S-sometimes it's just easier," She said, clearing her throat, "When it's not with family."
She tried her best to push back any emotional crack in her arrogant, joking facade and glanced back to Kent with a smirk. "Come on, I'm starving already."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2013 11:23 pm
It was impossible for Kent not to know that Tara had been through terrible things, considering she'd been missing, presumed dead, for over a year. She wasn't the only one who had suffered during that time. While he never claimed that his problems were on the same level as hers, he did have his own share of trauma from that incident. The fact that he hadn't been there to protect her from something awful still haunted him.
Aside from the obvious, all Kent had to work with was conjecture. The fact that Tara had cut off all ties to the outside world for months. The fact that she woke up screaming more nights than she admitted, not knowing he could hear her. The fact that the mere mention of monsters in the city sent her into a panic.
And now Zia was mentioning them, and he frowned. "You know," he mentioned casually, "she said that she was attacked by a monster last year. I figured it was just a euphemism for a mugger or something, right? It's not like actual monsters exist."
The possibility that she wasn't talking to him because he was family was both reassuring and disturbing. At least she wasn't against talking to him, personally. But he'd tried to differentiate himself from their parents, who each in their own way had the tendency to be overbearing. Wasn't that why she was there with him, and not back in their hometown? Or was that more because of her friends, like this one, and he wasn't important? Just another obstacle, like their parents?
"I'm glad she has someone she can talk to, then," he finally said, feeling discouraged and disoriented and just plain awkward. "Just... if you know something important, something that I should know, please tell me. Not just now, but in the future. I don't want her to be hurt any more than she already is."
With that, he grabbed the other plate with one hand, two empty cups with the other, and tucked a bottle of seltzer under his arm. He followed Zia out, gesturing to the door on the right as being their destination. "Could you knock? My hands are full." He shrugged apologetically.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
