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 Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 12:15 pm
The senshi of feathers skidded backwards, arms up in a defensive position. The white fabric on her arms was torn and spotted with crimson blood from the couple of cuts she had sustained during the fight There was a light layer of grime from the ground where she and the youma had rolled around on her skirts. Grus grimaced behind her arms as a couple new cuts were opened up.
The youma she was battling was tall, and thin. She thought it would be an easy target. Something to get back into the swing of donning her magical alter ego after an extended absence. It just looked so willowy. But she soon found out that from it's hands extended claws. Sharp claws that curved at the ends. It was also exceedingly quick, and was testing her abilities as a senshi.
But she wouldn't call for help. Who was supposed to call anyway? The person she normally would have reached out to was...well, she wasn't sure. She just knew that he didn't have time for her. A flashback to the night that changed everything, and the youma managed to shove her backwards into a trash can. Refuse fell out in a debris flow, and her nose wrinkled. Gross.
"Ok I am getting tired of this." she said, getting to her feet while the youma growled, teeth bared. It was hunched, breathing hard from the exertion of the fight. They were battered opponents facing eachother again. And neither was going to back down.
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Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 2:09 pm
The Eternal Senshi of Danger had no business being out of the hospital, let alone powered up and pretending his leg was not killing him in protest of being walked on and used like it was not broken by a General King. He was trying to ignore everything that had happened a relatively short time ago, in fact.
There was a lot to go through and he was not really in the right state of mind for it. He had just found out his father was a knight and, on top of that, turned into a super knight while protecting him.
And almost got killed in the process.
Chaonis felt guilty and thankful, and neither were emotions he was good with. So when he spotted a senshi in danger he was fully inclined to bury those feelings and leap into the fray, until he saw who the senshi was. Then he felt his guilt double.
Great.
He saw she was fighting a youma and had a moment of brilliance. He could make up for the guilt he carried toward the last time they met by saving her in some kind of gallant way. Then she couldn't be mad at him, because he was still clearly a good guy. He hated the idea that he had lost his friend, and he wanted to prove that he still cared about her, regardless of what she thought. Or if she wanted him to. He took a breath, pushed the pain in his leg out of his mind, and leaped down at the youma. He landed near enough but had no chance to attack, falling over immediately as that pain refused to be pushed aside and assaulted him in a terrible and sudden way.
So all he managed to do was leap down and then fall directly in front of the youma.
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Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 2:28 pm
Grus was about to lunge at the youma when another power signature made her pause. Both she and the youma looked up in time to see something fall from the sky. There was a resounding whumph, and Grus tilted her head to look at the person who was less than graceful.
Her heart did a flip, and her stomach lurched. That armor was not hard to recognize. Neither was his face. It was Chaonis.
But he didn't seem himself. Normally he could easily make that jump. Something was seriously wrong with him. She wasn't sure what to do. Part of her wanted to run to his side and help him up. But the memory of the past encounter gave her the urge to kick him where he lie, and leave him for youma bait.
But of course she wasn't going to do that in real life.
Grus forgot the youma for a moment, who was frozen in confusion at the entrance of another senshi. Two Eternal signatures had it skittish, and it took a step back, growling not only in anger, but with a high note of fear. Grus bent down to Chaonis, asking "Are you alright? Are you hurt?" He looked to be in a large amount of pain, and she wondered who or what had hurt him this badly.
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Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2013 1:13 am
"Goddamn it, I was supposed to land that. I was supposed to be a hero and impress you! I was going to dust that thing in one blow but I missed the ******** thing and landed on my stupid broken leg!" He spoke without really paying attention to his words, everything spilling out of his mouth in a very angry and frustrated rant.
He took a breath and looked at her, then realized what she was asking him, and that he was spilling all his secrets in his anger and looking like even more of a loser for it. He had messed everything up from the get go, and that was just pathetic.
"No!" He said a bit too fiercely, like an embarrassed kid who did not want to admit they had hurt themselves, "I'm fine! I just wanted to help."
He struggled to get up to his feet, leaning on his good leg and doing his best not to grab on to her for support, though he felt like he desperately needed it.
There was not much left he could do, really. He had lost all good face here, and was scrambling to make up for the terrible entrance he had just made, while at the same time trying to deal with the rush of emotions that came flooding to him.
"Look, I'm sorry, alright!" he blurted out, though for what was kind of unclear, in context.
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Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2013 9:00 am
Grus blinked a couple of times after his outburst, then went from bending to sitting on her knees. She had never heard him rant like that before.Her eyes wandered to the broken leg. It looked normal, covered in armor. But she knew powering up didn't magically heal wounds.
When he insisted he was ok and tried to stand, she almost smiled. THAT sounded like the Chaonis she knew. But how did he think he was going to fight a youma like this?
Oh right. The youma.
It had decided that two senshi wasn't enough to keep it from attacked, and snapped it jaws. Grus sighed, and pushed herself up faster than the struggling Chaonis could get to his feet. She looked at him, and put a hand on his chestplate.
"Look, whether you like it or not, you are hurt. I'll take care of this, and then we can...talk." she said the last word with hesitation. Was she ready to talk to him about this?
He apologized suddenly, and that actually made her smile just a little. She knew it took a lot out of him to do such a thing.
"I know." she said, feeling something squeezing her stomach. "Just...gimme a minute." The youma demanded her attention, and the break was long enough that she figured she could let off one more attack.
The youma came at her, and she answered its run with a Feather-Fall Strike. It hissed and swung its claws around, trying to dispel the feathers that were causing it pain. Grus ran in, and kicked the spindly legs, knocking it to the ground. She kicked its head, and in a moment, it was dust.
Panting, Grus stared at the dust, not wanting to look back at Chaonis. There were nerves bubbling in her stomach; butterflies that were shaken loose by his appearance.
Finally she couldn't avoid it anymore and turned to walk back to where Chaonis stood.
"You need to sit down." she said, more of a statement than a question.
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Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2013 11:35 am
Grus frowned at her when she tried to stop him from getting into the fight. He looked down at her hand and then up at her face, his expression petulant and frustrated. The pain was evident and he was struggling against it, looking annoyed by it as well.
He wasn't sure he wanted to talk, either. But he supposed they needed to, after everything that had happened and his less than successful effort to impress her back into friendship with him.
Watching her, he resigned himself to playing back up, if necessary, though he was tense and in pain and would likely not be able to do too much. He could at least use his magic if necessary. It did not seem to be, though, and he watched the other Eternal senshi dust the youma with ease. Sometimes he forgot that his friends were just as capable as he was. He liked to think he was the hero, but they could get along without him. Maybe that scared him.
"Yeah, I guess I do," he said, when she told him to sit down. He plopped down on the ground for that, looking up at her. He wasn't sure what else to say. "Uhm. Thank you, I guess. I could have had it but..."
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Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2013 12:30 pm
Grus rolled her eyes, sitting next to him with a couple feet of space between them. She draw her legs underneath her, looking down at the ground. Cue awkward moment.
"Oh, it's no big deal. I mean, I had it worn down pretty far when you showed up..." lame response to a lame start to the conversation. She inhaled, and held her breath for a few seconds, hoping to release the nerves she felt.
"So, uh, other how did you break your leg?" she asked, totally aware of how dumb she sounded. She reached up to fiddle with her hair, a habit that beat out her usual of biting her nails because her hands were covered in dirt. She noticed that her hair buns were horribly lopsided, one was almost completely out of its fastening. To avoid looking over at the senshi of danger, she busied herself with taking both of them out and running her fingers through the mess.
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Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2013 12:59 pm
"A General King snapped it," he said, frowning at his leg. He had to keep it out in front of him, and he was not very happy about that. He hated that it was broken, and that he had needed to be saved. He nearly died, and on top of that he had nearly gotten his father killed for him. What if he had survived, but Tony hadn't?
He was not sure he knew how to deal with that, and that made everything else so much worse. He was so grumpy and furious with himself, but he did not have it in him to take it out on the others any more. His parents, or his friends. He was putting them in danger and he could not keep risking them.
"I fought him but I shouldn't have. Then my dad had to come in and save me. Apparently he's a knight. Didn't know that. He's something else now, I don't know what. We both could have died. Anyway, I'm sorry about before. What happened... you know. With... when you saw us."
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Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2013 1:15 pm
The librarian? He was a knight? Huh. But the last time she saw him, he walked with a cane. How could be fight if he couldn't walk properly? And which knight was he?
The General King made her shiver. She had run into him once, and was glad to make it out alive. She felt bad for Chaonis. It had to hurt his pride to be broken so easily by that guy's power.
Then came the heart of the awkwardness. Her fingers stopped moving, and wrapped into fists on her knees. She felt a jolt as she remembered what had transpired. How she had acted. It killed her to think that she could have seriously hurt them.
Her voice faltered when she first tried to speak, but she coughed and tried again. "Why....why didn't you say something?" Well that was a stupid question. Probably because he knew how she felt about the DMC. "I mean, it would have sucked, but...at least you woulda been honest. If you liked her more, you coulda just told me..." her voice trailed off, and she felt a blush reach her cheeks. She sounded like a child.
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Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2013 1:27 pm
Chaonis watched her and his expression softened. He even looked guilty, which was not a familiar look for him. He shook his head and struggled to find something appropriate to say. How did he explain what he felt for Navi? What their relationship was? He did not even know the words for it, let alone how to say them to someone else.
He watched her quietly, then heaved a profound sigh.
"I guess I just didn't want to upset you... and I didn't want to make it... I don't know. More real than it was. I guess I had this feeling like if I didn't talk about it and no one knew, then it didn't really count for anyone but me and her." It was a pitiful explanation, really, and he knew it didn't make sense. It was an immature thought, and a selfish one. He hated being aware of when he was being selfish.
"I didn't want this to happen. Where we got weird and stopped being... you know, close. Like we were before. It just all sort of happened, and kept happening. I don't know. I'm... I am sorry about it."
He looked at her like a kicked puppy left out in the rain might, pouting but painfully optimistic, like something might turn around for him soon.
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Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2013 1:38 pm
She felt guilty for making him explain, but she knew she deserved an explanation. She waited, and looked over at him when he started to speak. The more he talked about, the more pain she felt. But it was necessary. She had to hear what he said, or she would go out of her mind wondering.
He finished speaking, looking at her with a look so sad, she felt tears spring to her eyes. In thinking about the pain he caused her, she forgot about the pain she was causing him. In her mind, she was betrayed, she was cast out, it was her problem.
He wasn't the only one being selfish.
She felt a mixture of feelings rising up in her. It was uncomfortable to sit still with so many things rushing through her. She locked eyes with him for just a moment.
Without warning, she closed the gap between them, wrapping her arms around his neck in a strange seated hug, trying not to get near his broken leg. She shut her eyes tightly, feeling the tears closer than ever.
"I'm sorry too. I'm really sorry I attacked you. And that I ran off. I was just so sad." she said quietly. "I was so hurt to see you guys... see you guys that way." she took a shuddering breath. "But I never should have reacted like I did. I was being dumb."
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Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2013 1:56 pm
Chaonis hugged her to him as she put her arms around his neck, closing his eyes and breathing a slow breath of relief as she risked getting close to him. Her apology meant more to him than just the surface level 'sorry for attacking you' bit. He did not want to lose her, and for them to be talking about it now, for her to hug him instead of punch him in the face and walk off, meant they were making the kind of progress he wanted.
Needed, really. He just could not lose her, not after how long they had known each other, and everything they'd been through. Good and bad, he could always count on her and he would always be there for her. That was just part of the world they had built.
If he suddenly had to deal with the fact that she was well and truly gone, unable to forgive him, he was not sure he could handle it. Not right now, and even if he was feeling better about other things in his life, he doubted it would ever be something he could take.
"You weren't being dumb. I would have done worse, in your place. I don't know... how everything got so complicated and stupid. I'm not the kind of guy who likes this kind of stuff. I might play that guy on tv, but I don't know. I don't want to lose you like that, Grus. It didn't feel right, and I don't like it."
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Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2013 2:13 pm
Her heart was beating a quick rhythm in her chest while they sat there, trying to make amends. Despite his choice with the DMC-er, Grus didn't want to lose him forever. He was the first senshi to help her when she started out. He had come to her when she needed him most, and saved her life. But more than that, they were friends out of costume as well. Chaonis was part of both sides of her life, one of the only people in the world she could say that about. He was someone she didn't have to hide things from.
She didn't want to lose him forever.
She let out a quick chuckle. "You would have punched someone. Hard." Hearing him say such serious things, things about feelings. This was strange for her. He never talked about his feelings, not in this manner anyway. She could tell he was really shaken up about the whole thing.
"I know what you mean." she said, drawing back from the hug to look at his face. "It was weird not having you around." she blushed again. "I didn't like it. But..I figured that you had her, and me being around would make things complicated and hurtful."
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Posted: Mon Oct 28, 2013 12:33 pm
Chaonis nodded his head, thinking he would have punched someone, for sure. He was not known for keeping his temper when his emotions were at their highest, as he tended to lose control of himself. He was not proud of it, not any more, and he was actually making a quiet effort to better himself in some small way. He had been for a while, as if he were finally growing up.
Which was strange for him, to be sure.
"I didn't mean to make you feel that way. I mean. That you are not supposed to be around or... or whatever. I want you around and I'm stupid. I don't know how to do things like this because I just... I'm bad at caring about people. And taking care of them..."
He took a breath, his broken leg still causing him pain.
"I don't know how to make things work... but I don't want to lose you. I mean. I don't know.." he was giving a valiant effort to put his thoughts and feelings into words, but his ability was still fairly limited.
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Posted: Mon Oct 28, 2013 1:25 pm
"I don't think you are bad about caring for people." she said, removing herself from Chaonis and sitting down next to him. "I think you really DO care about people. You just..have a hard time showing it." Other than anger of course. He was good at showing that. She thought it strange that he thought of himself as someone who had difficulties caring about people. It was obvious he cared about Navi, and he always came to help when Grus needed it. And she seriously doubted that she was the only one he rescued.
No, he didn't have problems caring about people.
"Look, I won't go anywhere if you don't want me to." She said, fiddling with the ends of her hair again. The bands that normally held it up were around her wrist still unused. She took a deep breath. "I'll still be around, even if things didn't go my way. As long as you promise not to turn all Dark Mirror on me because of her."
She sincerely hoped that wouldn't happen. But love was strange, and their's was closer to Romeo and Juliet than anything. As long as it didn't end up like the end of that story, she would be ok.
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