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 Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2013 12:33 pm
The idea of meeting up with several other knights and senshi, unpowered, was probably more appealing to Chris than it should have been. He was always being warned that his casual lack of care for keeping his own identity secret will not only put himself in danger, but those he cares about as well.
But knowing that there were others interested in the people behind the masks, well… it was all the proof he needed that he wasn’t alone in his inherent trust of others.
“Holiday!” he called to her as he shut the car door behind him, leaving it parked in the lot just outside of the park where they were to meet. The moment he’d received notice that she’d like to meet up with others, he wanted to help her in any way possible. The back of his car was loaded up with just about everything he could think to bring, including plenty of blankets and a bag of coal for a fire.
He smiled brightly at her as he approached, reaching out for a hug as he drew close to her. “How have you been? You look good,” he beamed, glancing her over to make sure she didn’t look like she was injured or something crazy like that.
Chris himself had dressed down (as much as he could) for the occasion, which meant dark jeans and a navy peacoat over a red knit sweater, and collared shirt beneath. He wore no hat or gloves, but didn’t mind the drop in temperature too much.
“You haven’t met Paris, have you?” he asked once he’d made sure he got at least a little hug from her, glancing back towards the car and realizing he kind of left her there. His expression adopted a guilty look and hurried back towards the car to make sure the door was opened wide enough to help Paris, and all of her boxes and bags of goodies, out of the car.
“Holiday, this is Paris, my better half. Paris, Holiday is the one who decided to set this up,” he introduced, grabbing Paris’s purse before it could slide off her shoulder and knock everything out of her hands as she got out of the car. “Sorry,” he mumbled, hoping she wouldn’t be too hard on him for his excitement.
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Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2013 1:04 pm
"Chris! Hi!" Holiday flashed a smile far brighter than she had the first time they met, waving as she saw him and the pretty young woman with him. She took the hug he offered gratefully, giving one of her own with a fair go at bear hugging in return. Akido classes had helped give more power to her slender frame, and her delicate frame no longer felt, or looked, somewhere under her winter attire, quite so much like she might break if she were shoved by a stiff breeze. Her own clothes were more casual, outside of the cardinal red wool coat that hung to the back of her knees. It had been partnered with a dark blue and white sweater with a snowflake pattern and a soft cowl in white yarn, with her ice colored hair in a long, relaxed braid down her back. Mittens protruded from her pockets, put aside for mobility over warmth, and her much faded jean were worn with scuffed boots. "Hi, Paris, it's very nice to meet you!" She offered, extending a (admittedly chilly) hand to the pretty young woman she was introduced to.
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Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2013 4:31 pm
Paris gave Chris a look but didn't otherwise comment on how quickly he had moved away from the car to greet... whoever this was.
She was not entirely against this get-together, but still somewhat skeptical about meeting other Senshi and Knights out of uniform. With Chris powering down in front of half the city, however, as well as his penchant for expounding upon their relationship to anyone who might care to hear, it was probably rather useless for her to continue playing coy with her identity. If they'd met Chris even once, it was likely they'd figure it out on their own at some point (if Chris didn't cut them to the chase and blab about it first).
As Paris approached, saddled down with a few boxes she managed to shift into one arm so as to take Holiday's hand, she briefly looked Holiday up and down to determine whether or not she recognized her as anyone powered. She thought Chris had mentioned Holiday's name on the way here, and a name or two might have been passed around in the chain of messages that advertised this party, but it'd already slipped her mind, jumbled up with all the other powered names whose civilian faces she did not yet know.
“Nice to meet you, too,” Paris said, and met her with a friendly smile. There was an awkward pause in which she tried to determine whether or not she should introduce herself by her powered name as well, but by the time she could even come up with a way to do it she thought the moment had already passed.
“I didn't know what you might need,” she said, and made a motion toward the packed back seat of the car, “so I just... brought whatever I could think of. I probably went a little overboard with the food, but at least everyone'll have plenty to choose from.”
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Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2013 6:58 pm
”We brought some card tables too, so we can set the food up on those, and people can sit at the picnic tables,” he explained as he opened the back of the car to start pulling things out, but left the large bin of blankets for the time being.
“Where would you like these to go?” he asked as he pulled out the tables, all four at once, carrying them towards the center of the park where Holiday had seemed to want to set things up. “Do you have any idea how many might show up? Gosh, I think I know of a few that might show up, but I don’t know. Hopefully we’ll have a cat or two around if anyone does show up powered… Can you imagine how that’ll look? But I know some people are really careful about their identities, so it’s okay… We’ll just have to be careful,” he rambled in his excitement, waiting for a few vague gestures as to where to put the tables before starting to set them up.
“It’s kind of amazing how many people end up being like us. Well, maybe not amazing, but it’s pretty surprising to see who is who, and how it really could be anyone fighting… If only we could manage to work together on some things, that would be great, but I guess that’s why we’re trying to get together now, right?”
Maybe he was just a little too excited, but it didn’t even cross his mind that his rambling might be awkward for both Holiday and Paris. All he could think about was who he would meet that he would know on the other side of things.
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Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2013 5:36 am
"Holy crap let me help with that!" Was Holi's first protest as Chris hefted four tables and started walking. Not that she thought she'd be much help, but if she could keep the all too easy to imagine disasters from happening she would. "Just in that nice open space there. I got some little camping heaters I'm going to set up, I borrowed some shepards crooks to hang them on so people could go get warm. Easier than starting a fire I thought... I mean... kind of." She hurried over to try and help with the tables, flashing a smile at Paris, apparently missing the look that had briefly drifted toward Chris. The fact that she didn't think of herself as being in any position to be a threat lately probably contributed to her failure to register that her behavior might be a trigger for jealousy and suspicion. "I really really appreciate you guys bringing food and supplies! It's means so much to me, and I think everyone is going to love it! I... lost track of how many people are coming, and it's probably not everyone but.... I guess a dozen or so?" She paused in her chatter, listening to Chris as they worked. "You know, it is pretty interesting how many people like us are here, in Destiny City... you just don't hear about this kind of thing... at least not to this degree, in other cities... but... I don't know. I wondered if it was a little like the surrounding. Something brought us here... the Universe or... people's wonders and planets or... call it fate if you want... but... the Surrounding brought who it did because of who we were I think. It was... looking for certain people... maybe that's what's going on. I just... don't know if it's found them. I don't know if we'll ever know. Maybe that's a silly theory. Sorry. I just... think about it off and on. Oh and... yeah I did ask people to invite cats. They're fighting just like the rest of us, and it will help protect people..."
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Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2013 10:39 am
Truth be told, Paris was more than a little nervous. She didn't often mingle with her allies (at least not beyond her teammates), a mistake she was trying her best to rectify with varying results. It wasn't in her nature to be so trusting as to power down in front of people she barely knew, and previous experiences around those on her side of the war taught her it was probably better if she kept her mouth shut anyway.
But this should be easy, right? No one actually had to know who she was (provided Chris hadn't told them yet), they just had to know that she was a powered person of some sort.
Still, it was a big change from the norm, and talk of the war in civilian garb left Paris feeling a little unsettled, expecting a youma or a Negaverse agent to jump out at them at any moment. She glanced around cautiously but everything seemed peaceful, so she ignored her unease as well as she could and shuffled behind Chris and Holiday to begin setting up the food once Chris had the tables in place.
“You were at the Surrounding?” Paris asked. She looked at Holiday again to determine if she recognized her from there, but there'd been so many people and so much going on at the time that it was difficult to recall individual faces. From the way Holiday talked about it, though, Paris assumed she had come into her powers there.
“Not really a great introduction to this, was it?” But then Paris was rather familiar with poor introductions to the war. “Sorry. That's a touchy subject sometimes. Um. But I've always asked myself... you know... 'why me?'... and I don't really know that I've figured out an answer, so your theory's probably as good as any.”
Paris could have kicked herself for sounding so awkward. Instead, she looked down at the food she'd spread out along one of the tables and partook in a bit of compulsive organization.
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Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2013 1:12 pm
"I was..." She saw no point in hiding it, may others who hadn't awakened had been there as well, and she couldn't help but wonder how many others might awaken to be other things than she had. "... It... was not a pleasant experience... and I'm still coming to grips with what it means for me. What it means about me... and I still haven't been brave enough to even return to my Wonder." She fell silent for a moment and added. "I'll be honest, I don't even have an answer to 'why me' specifically. Why me when there were people who could fight better, who might be... stronger..." "...I thought I was brave when I was just... just me. After I was awakened as a Knight though... I've never felt so fragile and afraid. The things that happened..." She took a deep, shaking breath, and let it out slowly, forcing a smile that was only as deep as her lips. "But that's really not why we're here. I don't want to bore you."
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Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2013 2:21 pm
”It was no problem,” Chris told Holiday with a grin, helping to shift the table in place, nodding to her suggestion of using the heaters. “It’ll be less clean up, too,” he agreed, stepping back as Paris began setting up the food they’d brought. He was happy to help out, but he knew when to stand out of the way… usually.
Listening to Holiday talk about her experiences at the Surrounding, and then Paris’s response had him thinking more and more that it had been a good idea for people to get together. If this was fate of some sort, then why not form stronger bonds with the people who had been pulled into the war? They’d all had their share of bad experiences, so why not share them and grow from them?
“You’re fine,” Chris tried reassuring Holiday when she voiced her concern about boring them. “Everyone’s different on how they cope, but if you need anyone to talk to about it, or go with you to your Wonder,” he said, trailing off with the hopes that she understood what he was offering. Of course she didn’t have to talk to or go with either of them, but at least she would know she had people who would try and support her.
“It’ll be okay,” he promised, showing her a smile as sincere as he could. “You’re who you are for a reason. Even if you don’t know why yet… Believe me, I don’t know why I’m who I am, but if there’s something I can do with the power I’ve been given…”
Chris looked from Holiday to Paris, before taking a step back to head towards the car once more. “We also brought a cordless water boiler for hot chocolate… and ten, one gallon cartons of water. Hopefully it’ll be enough. If not I can always run out to the store again.”
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Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2014 10:51 am
“You're not boring us,” Paris said, though she trusted Chris to know how to reassure and comfort people more than she did and, indeed, he made a better effort of it through his offer. Paris hardly knew Holiday and wouldn't feel entirely comfortable doing the same, but the sentiment remained. She might not always get along with her allies, but she wasn't going to overlook them if any of them ever needed help, especially if that help was something so simple as company.
“Maybe there isn't a reason that we are who we are except that we were born with whatever soul we have,” she said and continued organizing food on the tables. “It's just a thing that happened and it's up to us to make the most of it or... I don't know, grow from it? It's up to us to find our own reasons. And I don't think that's so bad. Better than someone telling us what to believe and why to fight.”
With Chris momentarily departing for the car, Paris felt her awkwardness creep up stronger, but she pushed it down and raised her eyes to look at Holiday instead of the food.
“Anyway, we've all been there. The unpleasant experiences, I mean,” Paris said. “That's not something that can be avoided, but at least we're not always alone, right? Getting together like this is a nice reminder of that. We're all stuck in this together whether or not we always get along or even like each other, and in the end we're all just people. Kids mostly, which is kind of depressing, but we've made it work this long. We just... have to keep going.”I'm so sorry, you guys! I completely forgot that it was my turn! QQ
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