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Posted: Mon May 27, 2013 1:37 am
Aegir was as good as his word, the next day he texted all relevant information to Thraen via the 'cat-phone' and confirmed that they were still on for a training session that afternoon - or evening, depending on whichever the other youth preferred. The abandoned industrial park wasn't hard to get to - many bus routes went right by it, one even still had a stop two blocks over, from the days when people had worked there, but few Destiny City citizens ever unloaded at that location - nor was it overtly dangerous, despite being abandoned for some years by that point. There had been talk of renovations more than once, crews had even come in to clean some of the spaces in preparation for renewal...but in the end, nothing ever really changed. No one moved in, nothing changed. It was as if there was a spell over the place that kept it empty (there wasn't) but it was simply too expensive to buy space there, let alone renovate it. Someday, some rich company or person would come in and sweep everything up, whip it into shape...but for the moment the various buildings and warehouses stood silent and empty - a perfect place for magical men(shi) to practice being magical men(shi). Colin had set their proposed meeting for 3pm, before dinner and long before sun-down. When the sun went down, the chances that the Negaverse might come around and disturb them doubled. At 2:30 that afternoon, Colin was transformed and waiting in the emptied warehouse that he'd singled out to Thraen. He had brought some bottled water and, as he had said, some granola bars (with honey!) and a bag of home-made trail mix (yum yum). He'd gone early so that he could try finding some old boxes or bags to lay over the concrete, something to pad the floor so that if they knocked each other around, it might not hurt quite so bad. All that was left, was to wait.
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Posted: Tue May 28, 2013 11:17 pm
3pm was a okay for Quenton- he'd stayed up all the night to get his work done in the labs and that was late enough that it let him catch a few hours of sleep from 10-1:30 so as not to be a complete zombie. Just....half zombified. So while he'd texted back that 3pm was the target, and hot gotten on the right bus line, he got off at the wrong stop initially. It involved a exchange back on a separate bus and his tardiness by fifteen minutes. He dashed across the pavements from the bus stop to the abandoned buildings and found a secluded corner in a hurry, setting down his backpack and transformed. Oh nooooooooo.....Aegir was already here! This was going to be a terrible impression. Thraen scooped his backpack up again, with its stuffing of pistachios, olives and salmon jerky and a few bottles of grapefruit soda which clinked with his strides. He ran and jumped some fences, stumbling on landings and stutter-stepping to avoid falling until he rounded and pulled up, panting, in sight of the other and walked the last few feet to catch his breath. But talking couldn't quite wait until he had it. "I'm so sorry." "Wrong stop." "Wait long?"
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Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 2:29 pm
Colin - Aegir - wasn't the sort to be tapping his foot or anything like that; the time he spent awaiting Thraen's arrival was spent scouting around the area a little bit more and then practicing the newest dance routine he was supposed to work on as a civilian. So really, it was kind of nice that he wasn't there right on time (or early) because otherwise he wouldn't have had the "extra" time to work on the damned thing; Quenton wasn't the only one that had classes and homework that needed taking care of! With his attention focused on dance and not watching for his company, it took a few extra moments before Aegir felt the power-signature of his companion flaring to life - he was able to stop and seek him out visually just in time to see the poor, harried senshi nearly take a header before stagger-stumbling with a backpack of clinking stuff front and center. Poor Thraen! The guy was clearly winded and had apparently gotten off at the wrong stop - not surprising, if you didn't know the area, the stops could be really confusing (and not just in the abandoned industrial area, either!). Aegir smiled and put his hands up in a placating motion, "Don't worry about it man, catch your breath and we'll get started." He chuckled a little bit and toed at the ground in what was pretty clearly a ballet move, "Gave me a chance to run through a routine I'm supposed to know two days from now. I should be thanking you."
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Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 4:55 pm
Thraen crouched, resting elbows on his own thighs and cradling his forehead in his "You...really like dancing?" Maybe that would have some use in dodging and maneuvering. Thraen himself was certain without doubt that he couldn't dance his way out of a paper bag. He never danced. Not fast songs, not house mix, not slow, nothing- not even at home by himself with no one else around. He was like the anti-fancyfeet. He had rhythm fine, needed it even to play instruments. He could make music, not move to it. It was enough of a moment to catch his breath, and Thraen let his backpack down and slowly stood straight again, "I brought some snacks and drinks for after. Hopefully something there is edible."
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 12:19 am
The blond grinned, "I love dance. Except certain really narrow "types" that make no sense or are like...ridiculously awful. Like daggering. If you've never heard of it, good. Don't. You're better off never knowing. I wish I didn't know." But really, Colin did love dance (and too dance, for that matter) and if Thraen ever became more than "just a comrade in arms" and met "Colin" he'd find that out. Having a background in dance gave him a little bit of an edge in maneuverability; being a "sissy dance-f**" had to have some perks, right? Perks beyond being "handsy" with the female dancers when one lifted them (Colin had done it a few times, but not as often as his purely straight companions - the guys seemed like they just couldn't help themselves!) or having a pretty nice body from all the exercise and whatnot or even beyond being (depending on the amount of effort one put into such things) extremely flexible. "Awesome, I did too. Between the two of us, we should be able to find something when we're done." He gestured over to his own bag where it rested upon the dusty ground; Thraen could set his bag there if he liked. "I'd ask if you wanted to warm up, but I think you're probably okay after that dash." Aegir shifted his weight back and forth, ready to get down to business and work off some of the nervous energy coursing through his veins. "I know you wanted to get some basic idea of what your magic attack is, but did you want to try a little hand-to-hand type combat first?" Castor had found and captured a youma for him to fight with, tossing it at him with almost no warning - which had been fine, worked just fine for Aegir, really - but although he would have liked to do the same...he hadn't found the time to fetch one, disable it and then lock it away. So it was just him and his fellow man, senshi a senshi. But maybe next time, if he were lucky...
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 1:09 am
"To be frank I have no idea what daggering is." Not any polite version of it that would have to do with dance. The impolite version didn't, so far as he knew, and he wasn't about to bring it up either. He thought he remembered it being a sewing or embroidery term, too, but that was beside the point. "I'll take your word for it." "Hand-to-hand.....combat?" Thraen's brow furrowed, looking immediately uncertain. "Well, 'trying' would be exactly all that I would be doing. I've never gotten into a fight in my life. I don't know a thing about it except if anything can be learned seriously from movies. But I doubt that even, since I usually don't have a lot of time for more than a couple a year or as background when I'm working at home instead of at studio." "If we have magic, do we end up doing a lot of physical fighting? Have you?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 1:42 am
Oh, the version referring to dance wasn't polite at all. In all honesty, Colin would have much preferred that someone shove a dagger or dirk into his gut than be subjected to watching - let alone participating in - the dance version; his expression would infer at least some small measure of that. But in the hopes that saying just a little more would keep his new 'friend' from Googling the damned act, Aegir enlightened him just a little. "It's as unpleasant and violent as it sounds...I'd rather have dental work done than watch it, and I hate the sound those drills make." Eh hem. "Yep. The magic we have is kind of...one-shot, as far as I can tell. At least...at this point? Maybe later that changes, but for you and me, right now, we get one chance with the...spell or whatever. So unless you've got a team behind you or are lucky enough to K.O. the b*****d straight off, you'll probably end up face-to-face with your opponent. I've had it happen more than I'd like to think about." "And believe me, they usually know how to fight." The blond frowned a little bit, but then shrugged. "So okay, we'll figure out how hard you hit with magic...and then I can try to help you with the melee side of it too. I don't mind." Just because he didn't look like he could throw a punch didn't mean he couldn't. "I've gotten into a lot of fights over the years...being a short guy that loves to dance'll do that to you."
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Posted: Wed Jun 19, 2013 7:09 pm
"One shot? That's not very encouraging." He hoped it was something useful. What if it was something distinctly not battle oriented? Like what if their magic was to make cupcakes appear out of air? Or synthesizing magical advil? Or making golden clothe out of sheaves of wheat? "Your magic ...is it battle useful? " "You're not that short. Though I can see how dancing would give you problems in regular public schools. There's a lot of stereotypes." He couldn't pretend that some of them didn't come to his own mind, looking at Aegir's uniform. But that was equally preposterous- and something bigots and stupidity would uphold as facts based on other stereotypes. It didn't matter what Aegir's personal life may or may not be. They were soldiers with duty to perform, and private life was private. It did beg questions about how much of personal lives any of them managed to lead, but Thraen suspected that was as individual as each person and not easily fit to statistics and math. It didn't need to be. He needed to keep focus. This wasn't all about figures and statistics. "Alright...so...magic. By the power of greyskull, and all that."
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Posted: Thu Jun 20, 2013 12:44 am
Aegir's smile and laughing manner fell, a serious tone taking over almost immediately. "No, it's not. But the alternative is even less so.' Having one's star seed ripped forcibly from one's chest was actually quite encouraging, in a manner of speaking: no one wanted to die. You learned fast, learned how to make that one shot count or you likely weren't going to live to see another day. Unless you were lucky or had something to fall back on, like team mates. But Colin wasn't the sort to dwell on the darker side of being a senshi, especially not when he was supposed to be helping Thraen figure out his magic and all that fun stuff...not whimbling about how dangerous things were or crying over the fact that they only got one chance to whomp on a youma or the Negaversian agents with magic. There were always fists, right? Or maybe a good "old fashioned" piece of rebar, chair or anything else that one was lucky enough to find/pick up. "I used to be really short. But yeah, most guys do baseball, football or track...wear jeans and a lot of black...and I was off doing routines and stuff. It made me a target." Aegir shrugged; if he'd been bothered by the teasing and such before, it didn't seem to bother him now. Some of those stereotypes were quite true where he was concerned, but Thraen wasn't going to know that without having been told and the blond wasn't about to hand out that sort of personal information just yet. By the power of Greyskull? Yeah, he could come to really like this guy. Aegir winked and chuckled a bit, "Okay, so I guess you can just take a shot at me whenever your ready. Think about what you want to do and kind of let everything go quiet inside. However your magic comes for attack or whatever, it should just come "natural", nice and easy. Our magic is innate once we're awakened, so it should just happen when you focus and want it." He wasn't sure he was doing a good job explaining it, but...whatever. He hoped Thraen would get the gist of his rambling words and figure out what needed to be done. "And don't worry about hurting me, I'm pretty good at dodging and even if that's not possible, I'm not afraid of getting knocked around. So come at me like you want to hit me." Aegir took a few dancing steps backwards, away from Sailor Thraen; giving them both more space for their little exercise.
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Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2013 2:45 pm
"Have you known someone who's died?" Thraen asked quitely, hearing the chill to the other's voice and the initial shift in manner. "OH, you don't have to answer that, actually. It's really personal. I'm sorry, I should be more sensitive. " It wasn't appropriate at all to just say things or ask things like that out of the blue; excuse of being new was no excuse at all. And that was a part of gang wars,or terrorism, or whatever one wanted to refer to the world they were part of now as. People died fighting. Senshi means soldier. "Focus and want it, huh? I wish it worked that was for groceries. 'I want miso', pouf, a bowl of miso with shiitake and seaweed, " Thraen heaved a long breath, trying to follow his cousin's methods of deep breathing and emptying his mind to start with. Good blooming luck, at first. It took some handful of breaths before he felt even marginally not distracted by everything and anything- leotards, backpacks and rotting industrial aside. I want to cast magic. Senshi....magic. How do I magic.Thraen cupped his hands together as though to pray, Like this. It goes like this. Gardens. Keeper of gardens, the art of their design and care, the meditation and beauty of that which grows. Miegakure, hide....and reveal. " Thraen Annual Planting !" He opened his hands, surprised to see seeds filling his palm and blew over them- dispersed to the ground around them and blooming quickly into a kaleidoscope of flowers. "It really is magic.....where did they come from..." Thraen turned in a circle, looked around at the strange flowers flabbergasted. They smelled strong and pleasant, anyway?
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Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 10:11 pm
"I uh, yeah...umm-" Aegir didn't want to answer - couldn't really answer Thraen's question. Not because he didn't know someone that died (well, he assumed that Eternal Sailor Castor had died, how else to explain such a powerful soldier just disappearing off the face of the planet without a trace?) but mostly because it was such a personal thing. "Let's just say that most Negaverse agents have no problem tearing your heart - or your starseed - from your chest and leave it at that." Whether he'd seen it himself or knew someone it had happened to, Aegir couldn't stress enough the dangers inherent in being at "war" for them, especially when you were alone and just learning how to do things. Not to say that every single Negaverse agent was interested in tearing their lives from them; Colin/Aegir knew that very well for himself. "On the other hand, some of them will actually talk to you, instead of trying to kill you. It's kind of the luck of the draw, really." He shrugged a little bit. "But basically, we're soldiers. It's a war and anything can happen. You just have to try and keep your head above water." So serious; tension that could be cut with a knife practically - until Sailor Thraen mentioned poufing miso soup into existence. The curly-haired senshi blinked a few times at his companion and then burst out laughing; dropping his hands down for a second to try to regain his composure so that he didn't mess up Thraen's concentration. "I'm going to try that, sometime..." And then they were back to being serious; Colin watching the other youth as he seemed to settle into himself and concentrate. He could feel it - the rise of Thraen's power signature, the strange ozone-but- not, pressure-but- not sensation that came over him whenever someone was doing a powered attack; Aegir shifted his weight forward so that if he needed to bolt in one direction or the other to dodge, he could easily do so. "Thraen Annual Planting !" Seeds went from palm to air, scattering over the ground and bursting into a riot of flora where he had been standing moments before; Sailor Aegir wasn't sure how badly - if at all - the "attack" would have hurt him, but he hadn't wanted to stand around and find out. Safely aside, he was able to inspect the magic-borne flowers with a sort of wide-eyed interest. Wide-eyed for about...three seconds, that is. Three seconds was all it took for a strange sort of...sleepiness to hit him like a brick wall. Aegir didn't even have time to say anything before his eyes shut and he fell over like rag doll, all the wind knocked out of him; and his companion? Would be left with a bunch of pretty-smelling magical flowers and one deeply-sleeping curly-haired senshi.
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Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2013 7:20 pm
Talking to one's enemy actually on the field, without them safely neutralized, contained, or otherwise yielded and in power. "Why would you talk to the enemy in a war? Other than if discussing terms? No one discusses terms anymore...not since even the Revolutionary war and the end of facing off in lines."
He was glad to have gotten a laugh out of the other. It helped break some of the new-kid anxiety that was already part of this Sailor of Gardens business.
The magic felt strange. Right, but strange. He took a long breath, looking at the flowers in amaze when they sprung out from the ground in quick succession, sharing Aegir's surprise and interest. Then he heard the telltale 'fwump' of a body collapsing, and startled, hurrying over to the other, "Aegir?! What-"
He was still breathing. Gods breath, at least they aren't poison. Aegir is...asleep? The perfume? Thraen scooped the other menshi as best he could to cradle him out of the bloom, looking around at the flowers that shivered in the slight breeze- looked serene and harmless. Disjointed, manicured bed of colour and nature in the middle of the desolate, industrial grey.
Would they stay there? That would be awkward, just making flower beds wherever he was. He tried shaking the other youth gently in his arms, "Aegir? Aegir wake up? "
He didn't seem to respond at all. Was he going to sleep forever like sleeping beauty? Maybe there was some stupid, fairy tale magic trick to waking them- them the talking cats business. He tried a quick peck on the other boy's lips. Nada. Not a stir.
The seconds ticked by. Fifteen slow, worried seconds of gentle shaking and calling. Wondering if maybe he should try to drag Aegir out of the blooms? Was being in them still keeping him asleep? Maybe? Maybe it was the touch of the flowers? or the scent? But the magic itself after so long faded on the other senshi, even if the flowers hadn't yet.
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Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 8:39 pm
Again he shrugged a little bit; how to explain that sometimes - just sometimes - the Negaversian agents were willing, for whatever strange reason(s) they might have had, to talk to the senshi? Aegir had come into many encounters of that nature...more with the Dark Mirror Senshi than the Negaverse, but as both were chaos-aligned and worked together, he figured that counted. "Sometimes it's just to move away from heavily populated areas, if the agent still has some humanity left to them...but I guess sometimes they just...want to talk? See if they can pump us for information, or if we can be lured to their side or god only knows why." What he wasn't going to say was that he'd found a great many of those he'd spoken to seemed to want the same thing he did. If one day Thraen found himself chatting - warily - with either a Negaverse Agent or a Dark Mirror Senshi then he could draw his own, informed conclusions; Aegir wasn't going to offer up what might be construed as 'traitorous' thoughts onto any "newly-minted" soldiers...especially when he wasn't entirely sure of them himself. If someone had told Colin that while helping his new comrade he'd be collapsing to the ground a la Sleeping Beauty because of some super-effective magical date-rape flowers, he would have given them quite the long stare, asked if they were pulling his leg and then believed them. Of course he would have - Colin was a gullible guy! But in his heart of hearts, he wouldn't have really expected it, mostly because up to the point that Thraen produced magical, super-effective date-rape flowers that knocked him out faster than the Maleficent's spindle...he'd been pretty sure nothing of the sort existed. He probably should have, but that's neither here nor there. Thraen's attempt at waking him with a kiss failed, but it would have amused Aegir to no end if he'd known about it! Nothing Thraen tried was able to rouse the sleeping Senshi of Silence; luckily after fifteen seconds his lashes began to flutter as he woke from the magic-induced slumber. "Wh..oah." Colin found himself cradled in the other boy's arms with magical flowers still around them. "Those flowers have some kick! " "Um...how long have I been out?" No, really. How long had he been 'sleeping'? He had no idea, but hoped that it hadn't been too long; it didn't really look like he'd been out for more than a few minutes, at most, but one couldn't be too careful when it came to senshi magic!
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Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 8:50 pm
Thraen visibly relaxed and heaved a long breath of relief as soon as he saw Aegir's eyes flutter, "Oh goodness, I thought you'd be stuck like that..." "You're awake...uh...forever? No.." No it wasn't forever. It hasn't been that long at all. I feel like I just had a heart attack. "Maybe....a quarter of a minute? It just felt like forever. " With that, the passing of extra seconds, the flowers around them faded from view and existence, the last traces of perfume but a dream, leaving them with the dull industry again. Thraen squinched a nostril distastefully, looking at the empty ground around them. "And your little dog toto, too?" "My magic is seriously to make flowers that put people to sleep in them?" "I wonder if they have to be touched? Or if it works just near them....or is it that really strong perfume? " but his brain was immediately distracted again to his companion, "Are you okay? You went RIGHT over. No other ill effects? Do you feel alright to get up? Nothing I did would wake you. "
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Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 10:20 pm
He managed to give his companion a reassuring sort of smile; clearly he was shaken up by having caused Aegir to fall into a seemingly "unending" slumber...until he actually woke. "Hmm...that's not bad. Pretty handy, actually." He watched the flowers fade from view with Thraen, but he was really doing a mental check of his condition as well as considering his comrade's magic. "Think of it like slipping the Negaverse a really powerful roofie and giving yourself some time to do major damage?" Aegir shifted so that he could get to his feet slowly, taking further stock should there be any side effects he couldn't feel while cuddled in his wannabe 'Prince Charming's' arms. "Um, I'm not sure, but I think its that perfume. I think I'm okay though, doesn't seem to do anything other than knock me out." He stretched his arms over his head and dusted industrial grit from his costume and legs. "Wow, I'm kind of glad I was asleep for all the 'excitement'." Poor Thraen, he must have been scared spitless - thinking he'd really screwed the pooch when he was just trying to figure this whole magical soldier deal out. Sleep-inducing flowers, huh? He thought it was probably the scent that doubled as a knock-out gas, but they couldn't be certain unless they tried it again. "Pretty sure that the flowers touched me first, but I don't think I fell until I got a whiff of 'em. But you know, it'd be best if we tried again...see what part really causes the target to fall asleep."
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