|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri Aug 23, 2013 6:56 am
Orin was not often happy to hear that his father had to work late and was hiring a babysitter, but when Juniper's name came up in conversation, he was ecstatic. He and the older girl had briefly discussed powering up and patrolling together, so when they had the opportunity he was delighted.
She'd gotten over and they'd spent a few minutes conversing before they'd slipped out to the park. Orin had insisted they run behind separate trees to power up—something about modesty and flashing colors and not wanting to see anything he shouldn't have—and meet back in front of the fountain.
As soon as he had finished powering up all the way he ran back to the fountain, bouncing on his heels as he waited for the other senshi. "Hurry! It's going to be dark soon!" he called, bursting with too much energy already. He wasn't sure exactly where she was, only that she was somewhere in the area. He continued, loud enough that he hoped she could hear—wherever she was, "I wanna chase away some youma or find some people to protect! Or maybe just climb trees, I don't know! What do you usually do when you patrol?"
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 23, 2013 7:09 am
To be honest, Tortali thought it was kind of silly to power up separately, but she did it anyway, since Orin had seemed so adamant about it. She finished powering up and smoothed down her shorts, grinning at how they felt, it was so nice during the summer…but boy was she dreading how winter was going to feel in them. Hopefully she would be getting some new type of clothing by then, or she was going to be inside all winter.
She moved towards the voice and poked her head out from behind a tree. “Is that you, little buddy? What did you say your name was, Goretti? Goat ready? I don’t know. I’m Tortali myself, but I’m hoping you’re the little rascal that I’m supposed to be babysitting.”
The senshi winked then laughed. “And what do I do on patrol…? Hoenstly, I like to explore. I think getting the chance to look at the city at night is just fun…and I like climbing onto roofs. Or at least I did. I almost got thrown off of one the other day. It was…” Terrifying. To be honest, but she didn’t want to seem like she was that weak.
“It was pretty scary, to be honest…but hey. What are you going to do, right?”
Tortali gave a little laugh then stretched. “So, tell me. What do you want to do right now? I’m here to protect you, after all.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 23, 2013 7:22 am
"Goat ready?" the chibi huffed, though his eyes were sparkling in amusement. "I'll only be goat ready if you're tortoise alley. I kinda wanted to go climbing, but," he trotted over to her, "If you don’t like roofs, I don't want to make you uncomfortable. But I'd like to go exploring! Especially if you're here to protect me! Can we go play in abandoned buildings? Or sneak into the school? Or go find a youma? I mean, not that I want to fight."
He paused and then shook his head. "No, I definitely don't feel like fighting, I just want to play. Can we start by looking around and finding somewhere neat? I wanna keep asking you questions. Like, why'd you almost get thrown off a roof?" he hesitated and then asked, "Are the bad guys really so bad that they…really want to hurt you?"
…Because falling off a roof sounded like it was going to do a little more than just hurt, and if the enemies were so strong that they could hurt Tortali…then there was no way he stood a chance. He didn't want to wind up in the hospital—or worse. How was he supposed to explain that to his father? Why couldn't the bad guys just magically get their dues—like in all the cartoons? Why couldn't they just magically realize the error of their ways and then come over to the side of good—and they'd all be friends and live happily ever after?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 23, 2013 7:37 am
Tortali snorted. “Oh very funny, ‘Retti.” She shook her head still grinning. This kid had some gall and she liked that. “Anyway. Don’t worry about it, just…there was a guy who was trying to be a jerk, and I used my attack and it didn’t go in my favor this time, that’s all.” She made a face then shrugged, trying to play the whole thing off as some sort of joke, even though it really had been freaking her out a lot.
“Some of them are, yeah. So just please be careful. Make sure you don’t patrol alone. I don’t want to see anything bad happen to you, okay kid? I like you a lot. I’m glad your dad keeps calling me to babysit you.”
She reached over, ruffling his hair, then took a good look at his sneshi outfit. “You really just look like a big ol’ bottle of Elmers Glue, do you know that? Of all the colors to get you seriously got orange and blue? That is too funny. And kind of adorable. And, why don’t we go on top of a roof? We can look out at the city or something. I love doing that.”
There was no way she was going to let one Dark Mirror Senshi stop her from doing something she loved. No way at all.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 23, 2013 1:35 pm
"I won't go out without someone else!" Goretti promised; he might have been more worried about the prospect of running into danger, though Tortali's face had made it absolutely impossible to dwell on anything negative. "I don't want to get hurt. Sorry that guy was being a jerk to you. I'm glad you got out okay. Of course—what was that about Glue? I look like Elmer's Glue?" he paused and glanced down at his outfit. Slowly, a fresh grin spread across his face at the realization that she was right. "I do! Maybe they saw a picture of me and got their inspiration," he laughed. "…Or maybe whoever designed my outfit likes Elmer's Glue."
He smoothed out his outfit before looking back up at Tortali. "…Who designs these things? Where did they come from?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Aug 27, 2013 9:58 am
Tortali shrugged. She had been wondering that herself truthfully. “I’m not sure, Goretti. But from what I’ve been told…we’re reincarnations of people from space or something. I’m really not sure at all, and I’m not going to lie but the whole thing only left me more confused when I heard that. We’re from space number one, and number two…we’re reincarnated people from space. So I guess the outfits were designed by space people a long time ago…in our other lives.”
She gave another shrug and tugged at one of the ribbons hanging down on her front bow. “Anyway, getting off of the subject of reincarnation and all of that heavy stuff…how about you and I go play on some rooftops, and then I can get you back home before your dad gets there, deal?”
The senshi stuck her tongue out at the younger boy and took off. “I’ll race you, glue boy!”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Aug 27, 2013 10:12 am
His mind translated 'people from space' as aliens, so he was a reincarnated alien, sent here and reborn on Earth to be a superhero? He wasn't old enough to worry about death or what happened when people died, but it was strangely reassuring that it wasn't something he had to worry about. If something happened, he could always come back!
…Not that he wanted to be reincarnated right now, he was actually pretty happy. And he couldn't stand to abandon his father!
He looked up to ask Juniper a question but she had just taken off—and declared a race.
All thoughts of death and concern fled from his mind—he couldn’t lose a race! It would be disgraceful! Grin splitting on his lips, he charged forward after her. "You're on!"
His speed, as a chibi, had increased massively from what he was used to—which made this race all the more fun. He caught up quickly and seemed to enjoy the extra speed…though he had no idea where they were going.
"'Tali!" he called and jumping topics almost as quickly as he was jumping obstacles said, "How do you get up on the roofs? —We should get pizza later. I'm winning the race, just so you know!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2013 8:38 pm
This little guy sure knew how to run! Tortali was going as fast as she could, and seriously, she had thought she was in pretty good shape, but she wasn’t going to lie, she was working hard to keep pace with Goretti now he was running too.
“Clearly, ‘Retti, we have to jump up onto the rooftops. It’s pretty fun ocne you get going. If you need a boost though, I’ll be glad to help you out!”
Right now she needed a boost. A speed boost ugh. She tried to go faster but her legs were already starting to burn with the effort of the hardly used muscles. “Pizza sounds good too. I’ll order it when we’re on our way back to your place…and no, you’re not going to win this race you little turd. Now slow down and let me pass you.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2013 8:58 pm
Goretti paused when Tortali called him a name, blinked, and then burst out laughing. He slowed down, partly because he was laughing so hard that he couldn't see where he was going anyway, and partly because she seemed so enthusiastic about winning the race. "You shouldn't call your friends that!" he said, though didn't sound offended. He just hadn't heard a lady ever say words like that before.
Even the girls at school were conscientious about their vocabulary (or, at least, he'd never heard a girl say a bad thing). "You must have one heck of a boyfriend if he kisses you with that mouth!" he added; he had to force his eyes open after almost stumbling over his own two feet. He didn't mind letting Tortali lead—especially when he didn't know where they were heading.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2013 9:17 pm
Aha! There it was. He was losing now. She put on an extra burst of speed and laughed when she heard him laugh as well. He was such an adorable kid! Though, when he mentioned her having a boyfriend she chose to ignore the comment, instead leaping onto the nearest building and then peering down at Orin from over the edge. “Come up here and I’ll tell you all about who I kiss with this mouth of mine kiddo.”
She stuck her tongue out at him then moved back, laying down and just staring up at the sky, really enjoying her babysitting gig. This was so perfect, she almost though that maybe she should offer to pay Dresden for watching Orin instead of the other way around.
Then of course, she realized how silly that sounded, and that only caused her to laugh some more.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2013 9:28 pm
"I don't know if I wanna know who you're kissing!" Orin laughed; he followed her example and tried to jump up onto the nearest building, though he wasn't as graceful as the older senshi. He just barely jumped high enough to grip the edge of the building and yelped, hastily throwing his leg over the edge and pulling himself up all the way. He rolled a bit to ensure that he was actually on the roof—and laughed when he rolled right into Tortali.
"Sorry!" he said, inching away just a bit as he lay down next to her. He sucked in a breath to try and calm his heart, slowly released it; his calm didn't last long and he couldn’t help but laugh just thinking about Tortali laughing—even if he had absolutely no idea what she thought was so funny. "That was fun, Tortali. You're my favorite babysitter ever. I've never gotten to have so much fun or be friends. It's really nice. It's nice up here, too. And pretty. We should come watch the sunset sometime, I bet there's a really great view from up here. And we can bring cards and play Go Fish!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 12:36 pm
Tortali didn’t enjoy the fact that the boy nearly rolled right off the roof, but she wrapped an arm around him when he moved next to her, giving a friendly squeeze. “I think that sounds like a great idea. So long as you let me win, of course. I think that’s my rule for everything, I like winning.”
She ruffled his hair after a moment and just stared up into the sky. “I don’t know, ‘Retti. All of this is just crazy. But I’m glad of a lot of things, and I’m glad I got to meet you. You’re like the adorable kid brother that I’ve always sort of wanted but never had. So, thanks for being awesome. I hope you don’t get stupid as you grow older like most kids do. Seriously, when they hit their teenage years. It’s brat central.” She looked at him, then grinned once again. “So stay wonderful and I’ll stay your friend.”
Slowly, Juniper stood, stretching. “I’m starving now though, so let’s head back and get that pizza. I know we were going to do more…but I don’t want all of the negaverse agents in the city to hear my stomach roaring like a beast.”
The senshi held out a hand for the chibi. “Ready?” She was. She was ready for just about anything and everything that life could throw at her.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 12:42 pm
While Goretti still had a lot of energy to spend, he couldn't resist the allure of pizza. Just thinking about it made his stomach growl—and Tortali had a good point. They couldn't exactly fight on an empty stomach, anyway! What kid was going to turn down pizza for a fight, anyway? He took the girl's hand and pulled himself up, saying, "I won't change if you don't, 'Tali. So I hope you're ready to stay friends forever!"
With her watching his back, how could anything go wrong?
Tortali made a great senshi--and an even better babysitter. Goretti still had his fair share of fears about powering up, but when he was with her, everything felt safe. Nothing bad was going to get him while she was around, and as long as he could help it, nothing was ever going to get her either.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
