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 Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 5:50 pm
Zia was in a mood. Life was not going the way it was supposed to. Or rather, it was going exactly the way she had been taught it was supposed to, and in spite of this, she was incredibly unhappy with it.
Good girls settled down and didn't play super spy in irrelevant wars. Good girls were supposed to be, she had been told, excited and happy about some prince charming bursting into her life and telling her not to worry, he will take care of everything. So the fact she was reacting terribly compounded by the crushing way her father humiliated her for her lacking ability to 'get it together' was going over as well as a lead balloon.
She wanted out. She wanted to have fun. And she was regressing in her maturity over the matter pretty badly. So she busted out tonight intent on finding someone who would have fun with her.
Luckily her particular target had been kind enough to share his favorite way to drain energy and after a stroke of luck with her fishing scheme she decided to power down and go see what's what when an aura on her radar lef her to a crowd of street racers.
He wasn't hard to find. Those recognizable racing leathers were showing off for the crowd she so rudely invaded after powering down to her unassuming ripped jeans and zip up hoodie ensemble.
"Hey green eyes! Spare a little time?!" She shouted, waving her arms in an attempt to flag down some attention.
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Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 6:19 pm
Realgar's motorcycle growled and popped and stopped, and he waved a hand in salute and acknowledgement, picking his way through excited people and walking his black cycle over. "Hey, Curly. What can I do ya for?" It was actually good timing. Things she had said had been percolating through his brain, coming together slowly. "I was actually going to go looking for you. You reading minds or something?" He joked. Her body language was sending some mixed signals, and he was leery that she might be angry at him. Was she going to frisk him for starseeds or something? The jeans were cute though. He wondered if she thought they looked as nice as that tiny dress had, and suspected the answer was no. Could people who really liked dressing up flashy appreciate the merits of the perfect pair of battered jeans? He wasn't sure, they didn't go together in his head, but who knew.
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Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 6:50 pm
"I would say yes, but that would be unfair. It's a common condition when you can't get me out of your head. Very unfortunate, not surprising," Zia said with a joking tsk tsk and she shook her head and bounced on her feet.
"I'm bored. And I have something fun to show you. Come on, let's get out of here," She waved her phone in his face with the GPS coordinates up. "Take me to here!"
At one point, Zia had been a mess. Thir first meeting, when she would wear a legitimately old piece of clothing and not care about how she looked. Those days were somewhat past, though, and while she kept her curls pinned up and out of the way and wore a practical tank top/hoodie/jeans ensemble, it was still overpriced. Those jeans were pre ripped for fashion reasons even before she got her leg chewed on through them. Oh Realgar, if only you knew the nuances of fashion hijinks.
"It'll be way more fun than hanging around with this losers, promise!" Unfortunately for whatever he wanted to tell her, Zia's telltale sign of depressed emotional distress was a slight personality change. Everything was shallow and all about her. A coping mechanism, but an inconvenient one if you had something to get through her head.
Without even waiting for him to agree she shifted from bouncing on her sneaker heels t hopping on the back of the bike he was riding.
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Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 7:27 am
"Fun huh?" Realgar raised an eyebrow at the suggestion... or rather the demand. "Well the competition is a bit underwhelming tonight." He concluded, deciding it was probably sanest to play along. He might understand some aspects of Zia as well as he understood fashion (Which was to say... not at all really...) but that didn't mean he couldn't like what he liked just for the sake of liking it. Besides some conversations you couldn't really have in the midst of a bunch of kids, any of whom might turn out to be Negas, or Knights, or Senshi... "You gonna tell me what's at our destination or is this a surprise? And should I trust your surprises?" He asked, as they pulled away and headed toward where she'd told him to go.
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Posted: Sat Oct 05, 2013 10:54 pm
"You don't trust me? I'm hurt," Zia said with feigned sadness before she snorted and waved him off. "Don't be a p***y, I just wanna show you something shiny and cool. I'm bored! Now let's go."
Her phone GPS ended up taking them, via the demanding robotic lady voice insisting which turn to take at every street corner, to a ritzier neighborhood that looked like it was inhabited by a class of people who would not appreciate motorcycle engines puttering down the streets at night.
But luckily the large houses were separated by generous yards and Zia pointed one out rather quickly. She hopped off and typed in the security code to the front gate with easy familiarity. Obviously she knew what she was doing on this lavish property.
"You like bikes, right? The old a*****e who lives here has an awesome collection. Mostly old cars, but some bikes too. And he's busy showing off his new gold digger in the Bahamas."
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Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 12:01 pm
"I love motorcycles." Realgar confirmed, though this was hardly a secret, though he looked around at the expensive homes with a slight skittishness, aware that there was pretty much no level at which he fit here. "If I didn't trust you I wouldn't ever take your suggestions." He pointed out, though this, as far as she knew, was one of the few times he had. "I take it you know this guy?" That seemed a reasonable assumption. She knew he had cars and motorcycles. She knew he'd gotten hitched and was off crisping in the sun like an coconut oil basted turkey. Hell. She knew the security code. Not that he couldn't have hopped the fence but still. He had to admit he was just a bit impressed. "Not my normal haunt." he admitted, looking around as he stopped the bike, stepping off to roll it through the gates. "Hey so... I... am going to try and catch back up to Tin Man... you know... Camelot."
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Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 6:58 pm
"Hmmm?" Zia absentmindedly questioned as they made their way in. Around the side was another entrance, but this had an old fashioned lock she had to maneuver a bit more to get past, not having a key and all, but it was obvious she'd done it before.
"Why?" She finally had the thought process to question while she was looking around for a light switch. "You guys aren't going to fight or anything, right? Oh, here it is!"
CLICK!
This was a pitiful garage but a decent show room. The shiny stone floor as obviously kept in pristine condition, for the sake of showing off the toys inside. If this garage was ever used for garage purposes, it was clearly cleaned up quickly.
Two short rows of automobiles lined the walls. Some were classics, some were just rare acquisitions or simply expensive modern models. This was a room for showing off toys, obviously. Which was what Zia was doing. 'Hey, look what I can do, be impressed!' was all she was doing here.
"He never even does anything with these!" She announced. "Barely even comes around t'look at them anymore. It's awful." She grabbed a bottle of something dark sitting on a small bar built into the corner and passed a 1956 KH model Harley to flop into the cushy back seat of an open convertible, her legs still hanging over the side of the door. "******** crime."
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Posted: Mon Oct 07, 2013 11:54 am
"Eh, probably not. I pranked him the other day but I bought him a beer afterward and I think we're ok now. You do mean TinMan right?" He noted, following behind her, though his eyes were getting bigger with every step, taking in a treasure trove of vehicles he'd laid hands on only in his dreams, all gathering dust. "...Damn straight it is. Look at these things..." He drifted easily into the conversation about the bikes, pausing to gently run his gloved hands over the Harley. "This is like locking a VanGogh in a wall safe." On the one hand, it was better for the bike to be here than rotting someplace where it could not be cared for, on the other hand... it should be out running.
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Posted: Mon Oct 07, 2013 7:03 pm
"Well you said Camelot after you called him Tin Man so I'm guessing you mean the old timer earth knight with the chain mail and the shield and..." Zia, who was mostly just visible as a pair of sneakers and jeans hanging over the car still, paused to take a swig out of the bottle she'd grabbed and make an oddly lustful gesture at the open air at something she was visualizing, "The uh... crystal in the shield."
It was incredibly fortunate for Camelot the thing was embedded into his magic weapon because she very deeply wanted it. Probably enough to even steal from Camelot. Maybe. It wasn't an issue as long as it was stuck, though.
"You're a nega, mid-stage. It's not unreasonable to assume there might've been conflict, I dunno your beef with the old man," She concluded, tapping her sneaker heels on the silver finish. "But, I mean, I'm glad it's not like that."
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Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2013 7:02 am
"Well to be honest..." Realgar paused, letting his hands linger on the paint and chrome of the old motorcycle. "He can be a bit preachy with his 'let me save you' routine. First time we met he didn't catch me with it at a good time. You can't save someone who doesn't think there's something that needs saving." He wasn't sure how much she actually wanted to hear about it, but he'd certainly done plenty of thinking on the subject. "I'm going to see if he can hook me up with that 'purification' shtick you guys have been on about, I just gotta make some plans first, especially with that whole memory Roulette s**t." She was here for fun, she didn't need, and probably didn't want to hear about the parts where he had, and parts of him still did, enjoy the liberating parts of Chaos. It was like someone handed you a ticket to do whatever you wanted to the people who had pissed you off, and the knowledge that none of them would find out that it was you unless you told them. People learned things like cooperating with other people and being sympathetic on a long, frustrating struggle as they grew up, and it was almost intoxicating how easy Chaos made it to unlearn that. He wasn't even sure if he'd remember the things he'd done if he uncorrupted, or if he did, would he feel guilty about them after the fact? ...And if he were really meant to have been a Knight, if the universe wanted him to be one... why hadn't he awakened as one, as some people apparently did, before Zinkenite and Dahlia had approached him? Maybe the universe DIDN'T really want him to be a Knight. Maybe he wasn't supposed to awaken that way at all. Maybe it wouldn't work. Then what?
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Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2013 7:42 am
"He is sooooo preachy," Zia groaned out in over dramatic agreement. Which was a tad unfair, considering her last meeting with Camelot involved some very justifiable complaints on his part since he was almost skewered on her behalf and he still focused on making she she got an appropriate amount of sleep rather than her flippant and unconcerned reaction to nearly ending both their lives to get the last word with Painite.
Either way, she half listened and drank and counted the lights on the showroom ceiling until what he said fully processed in her brain.
It was such a shock to her system, she needed a second. She tried so hard to push the idea of purification out there, all this time. It had become an accepted fact in her subconscious that no one really bit at it and that the sides stayed the same at all times. Even people who were willing to consider it seriously were ones that didn't have the option due to the nature of the mirror walkers.
And now someone who was capable was expressing they were also willing and the rut Zia had come to just accept as reality got turned on its head.
With no warning, Realgar was tackled from the side and grabbed in a hug as tightly as Zia could manage-- and while she was no physical match for a mid stage nega she had been boxing with Pascal for a year now so she has some upper body strength to squeeze him with-- and she wailed.
Tears out of nowhere.
"Really?!" She sobbed. Her brain wasn't quite able to comprehend why what was supposedly good news was making her cry uncontrollably but that would probably he sorted out later. Or not.
"What about all that stuff about being hunted down and your civilian life and your friends and your family I'm not trying to talk you out of it I'll shut up I just don't-- I-- oh god, really?" Her rapid talking broke through the sobs for a bit before it devolved into stammering and stuttering and a need to breathe.
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Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2013 9:27 am
Realgar grunted in surprise at the impact,putting an arm out and around her more out of instinct than anything else, tough once he was able to stop reeling in confusion, the emotion was replaced by a mix of guilt and uncertainty. "Yeah, Yeah really. Not too worried about the family part. Haven't been on great terms with them for a few years. I don't think they'll actually be surprised if I do vanish. As far as hunting... I mean... yeah... it'll probably happen." He doubted that 're-convert' was even going to be on the table. Zinkenite didn't value him in the way he seemed to value his little treasures. What were the names again? Lina, That one senshi, the boy with hair that reminded him of a Q-tip. Zinkenite's favorites were clear and the list was short. His own value was more to the level of an untrained dog. "Zinkenite underestimates me.He thinks that I'm stupid. He can only advise his agents based on the facts he thinks are worth having, and last I knew, I'm the only one who drives a motorcycle. I'm also probably the only one who can do what I can do with a motorcycle." He set his jaw for a moment before adding. "I'm not stupid and he can use a reminder that the rest of us aren't as stupid as he thinks."
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Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2013 2:41 pm
Her death grip on him loosened just a bit as she listened. Meaningless names she either couldn't or didn't care to place were discussed, but whoever they were, it didn't matter.
Hope had become so rare she had forgotten what it felt like and the entire thing was overwhelming her emotions to the point where she concluded her listening by bawling out, "I don't think you're stupid!" And clinging as hard as she could again to cry into his uniform for a few seconds.
Yes, Zia, obviously his self confidence in his intelligence was what was important here.
In an attempt to get something of a grip, she pulled back and inhaled with a sniffle. "Do you need help? What are you gonna do afterwards? Do you need cash? A place stay? I can help, I'll do what ever you need," She babbled in this brief interlude of not crying like a baby. Back our regularly scheduled programming, the tears came back in full force, and so did the hugging.
"Thank you," She whined out, even though it was muffled by the aforementioned hugging and sobs stuck in her throat. "I mean, I know you're doing it for you and not for me but you'll never know what this means to me.
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Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2013 5:03 pm
"Damn, are you alright?" He hadn't been expecting her to react so strongly to the idea, having had no idea how often her pleas against chaos had fallen on deaf ears, or the way others had blamed their fall on her.
"I uh... I don't know honestly. I haven't gotten much past the first part. I guess it all depends on what I remember and what I forget... I mean... ******** it, any of my relatives can take care of themselves... it's... I've got cats."
In the face of everything else, he did realize how ridiculous it sounded to be worried about a couple cats with his life potentially on the line, but it wasn't like they understood what was going on. They were just normal cats, not guardian cats, and some of the twisted members of the Negaverse might well do something to them if they even thought he remembered them.
He patted Zia gently, and gingerly, not really sure what the protocol in comforting someone under this circumstance was.
"...Was kind of thinking I'd write myself a cliffs notes version of things just in case... maybe I could have someone hold onto them, then collect whichever version is appropriate... That's... probably a dumb Idea or everyone would do it."
Maybe the universe was so against that sort of thing that it would make the note catch fire? Maybe it would become glamored and he'd loose the ability to read it?
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Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2013 9:37 pm
"No, I'm never okay," Zia said in a weird hiccup that made it hard to tell if it was a joke or serious whining thanks to all the gross tears and sniffling.
She was not happy with herself. But it was okay, because at least right this second everything had the potential to be okay and it wasn't just waiting around making the best of things until the apocalypse hit.
"Oh," She said and sniffled again as she tried to stop sounding like she was choking on a frog or something. Pets always complicated things. She still had no idea what to do with Harley-- the dog, not the bike. She tried giving him away but the pathetic mutt always ended up back under her ownership, which was pretty unfair considering the frequency with which she found herself either homeless and/or emotionally unavailable and depressed.
"It's not dumb," Zia said, shaking her head. "You're not stupid. You're not. But... I-I... um."
She needed a second to remind herself to breathe.
"Negaverse things, as much as I'd love to read them, probably shouldn't be put down on paper." The last time they'd talked, he was the one who was convinced plotting to defect from the Negaverse was such a solid death sentence, and here he was blowing it off with one sentence of acknowledgment and it hit her like a rock as she registered what his memories would entail and contain.
Her arms had released him from the hug, but grabbed on to his uniform and were shaking with an obvious tremor from the emotional overload.
Everyone was always taken away from her, she reminded herself. Everyone. Her fragile spark of hope and justice could be extinguished in a heartbeat.
She didn't make eye contact with him, but kept her gaze on her own hands to keep reminding herself that he was here, and solid and real and breathing. And she kept her focus fixed on this as she swallowed a gulp of air and asked in an almost bitter tone, "Are you going to be okay?"
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