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 Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 10:32 pm
”Who can leap tall buildings in a single bound?” came a voice out of the alley. It probably would have been scary, or maybe even just a little freaky, if he sounded at all menacing. Instead, Ashur sounded like a little kid who was trying to imitate the low voice of those guys that do movie previews. He was even smiling. ”Ashur can!” and, as he said this, he did. Soon enough he was hanging off the side of the roof -- he missed and kind of ended up dangling there -- his smile faltering only slightly.
”Or maybe he can’t!” the page laughed, swinging his feet a little to see if he could land on the ledge just below. The guy had found a multitude of ways to goof off while on “patrol” at nights. He found it a good enough reason to power up to his knight form, and it really got him out of the house. Sure, he was in an odd costume and carrying two rather useless sticks that were supposed to be his “weapons,” but that didn’t bother him all that much. Just knowing that he had what seemed like those super powers he saw in movies all the time, it was worth it.
Although, at present he kind of needed a helping hand. ”Hello?” he called, still not even a little worried. His arms were starting to ache and he was beginning to wonder what the repercussions would be if he fell. On that thought, he looked down and...realized that he probably shouldn’t have. ”Yo!” the page called out a bit more urgently this time. ”Anyone up there? Y’think you can help a guy out?” Ash was hoping there was someone around -- hell, even a baddie would do, so long as they helped him up before beating him into a stain.
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Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 11:29 pm
There were a few snickers slipping from the rooftops. Sandals skid and slipped and smacked over concrete and tiling. The winter air didn't particularly bother the Grecian garbed young woman. So long as she kept moving. That was the key to this wardrobe. Keep moving, keep her blood pumping, and the weather wouldn't bother her. Much. It was one of many excuses she used to 'practice' her raised agility, strength, and all around physical prowess the magical mantel granted her.
Classes weren't going to start back up for another few days. She had time to spare before the new semester began. No being out running around like a powered idiot was not abusing this fact. She was on patrol. She was just making the most of her patrol.
Leaping onto the roof of one building apparently put her into that particular, invisible range of... that sense. One minute it wasn't there, the next.... ding! Powered. Someone else. Somewhere... near-ish. Red irises flickered, head turning this way and that as she tried to determine the exact direction. Didn't feel like one of those senshi... definitely wasn't that weird sense. The uh... Negaverse guys. Knight then. That made her grin, taking a few rushed steps in a few different directions before she felt confident one was... a bit stronger than the others.
Her sense proved right. After a little while. But for a moment, she stood confused. There wasn't anyone there. Down below then..? Sandals hopped and slammed against a new rooftop, landing after yet another leap across an alleyway. Which was when she heard a voice.
A male voice. From... uh.
Themiscyra darted across her building, onto the next, and didn't skid to a halt until she hit the other side. She could hear a guy calling for help. Could feel that other sensation getting stronger. One in the same..?
Apparently, yes.
Crouching down, only vaguely keeping in mind she was in two layers of dresses, she peered over the edge. And laughed. "Dude. Climb much?" Grinning wide, she bent to offer her hand, shifting her feet a little to give herself better leverage to help pull him up. "Gimme your other hand, you're probably too heavy for me to just pull up without help."
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Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2014 12:10 am
So there he dangled, a little nervous, a little worried, a lot amused. Between wussy screams for help the teen whistled a pleasant little tune to pass the time, all the while feeling the muscles in his shoulders starting to protest. He’d never been any good with pull-ups and other forms of strength training, so the strain was starting to make itself known.
In the moments where he looked down to see exactly how far he had to fall if he did happen to fall, which was probably likely if no one came around to help, the young page couldn’t help but think that this was a prime opportunity for him to actually start thinking about his position seriously. As a knight, that is. He was given these powers for some reason or another, right? It wasn’t just because he happened to be in the right time or place, or that he met the right people. There was probably some kind of reason…
But. Before his thoughts could go any deeper, he felt...something. It was an odd sort of sensation, not unlike his other five senses but at the same time not like them either. Even though this was the first time he’d actually noticed it, it was an oddly warm, oddly familiar feeling. It somehow reminded him of chicken soup on days when he got a cold. Which was weird, but never mind that tiny detail. His shoulders were too tired for him to pay any attention to this weird, tingly feeling he was having. He was hanging off a roof, so he had to keep to his priorities. Get out of the situation first, then the chicken soup feeling he would worry about afterward.
With his priorities straightened out and whatever else was going on in the back of his head, Ashur was about to cry out for help again until he heard someone coming. Help, finally! He hoped...so he screamed even louder. Who cares if there was someone down below who could hear him or if he woke up the neighbors? ”Yo! Over here!” the page cried, a smile soon cracking his features when he saw someone lean over the edge of the building.
A strangely dressed someone, though he didn’t really care who helped him. At her question, his expression happened to mirror hers. ”Not enough,” he said, a wave of relief washing over him when she offered her hand. The guy doubted he was all that heavy, but he did as he was told and soon enough, with a bit of work, the Uranus Page was safely seated on the roof.
”Thanks,” was about the only thing he could say for a little while, then when he caught his breath Ashur gave his savior a once-over. ”I’m--” and he caught himself before he said “Dominic,” not really sure what all this identity stuff was about but deciding he’d take the Superman route with it. Better safe than sorry, anyway. ”Ashur, and I guess I owe you one.”
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Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2014 12:57 am
There were untold number of jokes and puns she could make about not leaving someone hanging, but her laughter drifted in and out of the air nonetheless without her even having to voice them. Just the situation in and of itself deserved a healthy laugh. He was really just hanging there. Exactly what would he have done if she hadn't come along? Hope he'd sprout wings or Spiderman's finger fibers?
Once he was safe and sound on solid ground, the young woman dropped from her crouch into crossed legs, propping her chin in one hand with an elbow digging into her knee. She didn't even attempt to hide the fact she was looking him over. Intently. The cut and style of his layers intrigued her, trying to place a cultural reference. Outside of Star Wars. She'd seen a few of the comics, and who hadn't seen the movies, so it was hard for her to not start asking to see his lightsaber. A thought that inspired a whole new wave of snickers.
Her gaze caught on the symbol engraved and glistening across points of his uniform, lips pursing as she tried to place them. Not a Martian. Most definitely not. Not Jupiter. Not Chronos. She really needed to spend more time memorizing the different symbols for times like this---
"Themiscyra." The introduction was simple and off her tongue before her eyes finally dislodged themselves from the metal symbol on his belt to his own. With a color she couldn't fully place in the limited and colored light of windows and signs and street lamps. "Martian. And I guess you do," she agreed, flashing quite the cheeky, if not borderline wicked, grin. It simmered back down as her expression softened into one of soft reproach. "Careful on rooftops. Or anywhere you're going that's not normal. Trust me, patroling with a cast isn't that great. It doesn't stay on when your uniform pops on." Something she'd found out the hard way. Her wrist had healed over a month ago, but it hadn't been the most pleasant experience trying to make make-shift replacements.
The metal of her bracers flashed, the light catching the red gem embedded in a raised symbol of Mars over the back of her hand, as she flicked a finger towards his own symbols. "So where're you from? Haven't seen someone with that symbol yet." Was she allowed to set up a BINGO game, knight version? She was certainly forming a 'collection' of sorts with the ones she'd been running into.
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Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2014 2:10 am
He didn’t have a backup plan, unfortunately. His only other option was to fall, but he wasn’t about to go sharing that information. It was probably obvious enough without him having to confirm it, so he was glad she’d come around to help.
His once-over garnered little information, mostly because of the light. He could tell that she had dark hair and dark colored eyes, but that was about it. And that she was a girl, obviously. For a girl, though, she didn’t really act all that girly, Ash noted as he watched her from where he sat. Not that he had a problem with that. He preferred less girly girls actually, believing that if a girl were to forget for long enough that she was one he had a better chance at getting into a pleasant little wrestling match. Provided, of course, that she wasn’t an actual wrestler.
Those thoughts aside, he leaned back and propped himself on both arms. He’d never been much of a comics guy, so aside from movies like “Troy” and “300,” and games like Travian for some reason or another, nothing else came to mind that helped make a bit of sense out of her uniform. He would have thought a bit harder if she hadn’t started laughing. ”What?” the teen asked, brow quirked in the way it usually did when he was curious.
He let it go, though, when she returned the introduction, ignoring the thought that she’d been looking slightly downward right before. ”Themiscyra…” he repeated, albeit slowly since he had a bit of trouble with the pronunciation. He said it once more to make sure he had it right, then snickered a bit when she said “martian.” The image of little green men had popped into his head a bit suddenly, so he couldn’t help it. Her warning didn't really get him to stop laughing, but he calmed down right as she finished speaking.
”I hardly think rooftops are out of the norm, but I’ll take that bit of advice anyway.” All of DC didn’t seem out of the norm, actually, but he assumed she was referring to unique situations involving these order and chaos characters. He wasn’t that dense, no matter how often he goofed off while on patrol. The way she talked about casts got a smirk out of him. ”Since you sound like you know a bit about it.”
He, on the other hand, was still relatively new to all the knight business. Given that all he’s done since being awakened is goof off while on patrol and occasionally run into some sticky situations that didn’t really call for his attention as a knight, it wasn’t all that surprising that he knew so little about any of it. The war and other things had mostly been mentioned in passing, and this was his first run-in with another knight since he’d become one, himself.
Her question distracted him from his thoughts again, so he looked down at the symbol on his belt and connected it with how she might have been looking elsewhere before she introduced herself. ”Uranus,” came his reply, the memory of his awakening still pretty freshly ingrained in his mind. It made him smile. ”After I was awakened I had to look it up to be sure. I’m not really familiar with the signs of the planets and stuff,” he said with a sheepish grin, then soon followed up with a sigh.
”I don’t really get any of this, to be honest. I mean,” he went on, looking past Themiscyra and at the waning moon just behind her with his expression shifting to one of frustration. ”What the heck is a knight, anyway? All I can think of when I say that word is those Arthurian badasses with the horses and that round table. There was even a wicked cool movie that came out a few years back, right?” The irritation about the topic had become obvious in his tone of voice at this point, and he pushed himself up and straightened his back.
”But I’m dressed like a jedi, for cryin’ out loud!” Not that he had a problem with them, mind. He'd just prefer not to look like them is all. This was definitely something he’d thought about for a while, and aside from the costume he’d had other things to think on like his purpose and whatnot. All of that, however, seemed a little less important and could be put off when he had more information with which to formulate some kind of an answer. ”I mean, c’mon! A jedi?!”
Yeah, well. He probably could have lost his cool about less important things in more embarrassing ways.
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Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2014 12:13 pm
Who was she to share her smiling secrets? Indeed, when he'd questioned her laughing--not in an unkind way, she noted--her eyes had crinkled at the corner and she'd kept her relative silence. Wasn't entirely sure yet how he'd take something like, Oh just wondering where your lightsaber is or... other such lines. But her adoration for fashion had given her plenty to distract herself with, and his repetition of her name firmly squashed all sense of her previous thoughts.
As did his own laugh at how she'd phrased her planetary alignment, but that only served as a success to her. She'd had more than enough thoughts of green men and Martian Manhunter when she'd first understood she was of Mars.
Her mouth opened to clarify her advice--fighting youma was hardly normal, nor was jumping around rooftops with increased jumping capabilities--but her teeth clicked shut when he cast that smirk her way. Oh. Her own came up slowly in challenge, slick and confident and more than willing to play. She lifted her left hand, the free one, and made sure the limited lights caught her bracer. "You see that lunar eclipse back in early October? Ever hear about the weird doubles running around?" Leaning up from where her other arm supported her chin, she jostled the bracer and pulled until she eventually got the silver thing off her wrist. Barely visible in that light, pale scars marked where the metal had dented and impaled into her skin. "Was with a mass of other knights, senshi, and even those Nega-dudes when everyone was fighting the Shade Queen. She sent out these damn maces and one caught me when I was beating the crap outta my double. Bracer was good to keep it from moving much, but added to the damage." Her smirk didn't waver in the slightest as she spoke, nor did it dwindle as she replaced the piece onto her arm. One might have called her proud of her first battle scar. Of course, she wasn't even going into all the casts she'd had from hockey and her own antics before becoming Themiscyra. "Just make sure you've got plenty of stuff to brace your injuries going from normal to super powered."
Of course, no one had really given her a warning about how serious some of these fights could become. Fighting monsters trying to eat you... had seemed more like a movie or a comic to her than anything she should be worried about. Realizing something out there could actually hurt you had been something of a wakeup call. As had Ganymede collapsing, and the way everyone freaked out--
Keeping a simple smile on her face to block her more troubled thoughts, it took her a moment to catch back up with the present conversation. "Uranus..? Oh! So that's not a trident." She'd almost thought it was Neptune or something... god of the sea and all that. Made much more sense, giving he didn't look an inch a sea sailor or... fishy. For a moment, she laughed, about to assure him she didn't know much of it herself beyond the comics... till he kept going.
And in a much less cheery state.
Red eyes trained on distant blue, she took in his expression and tone carefully. Absorbed the questions and statements. Her own face took on a look of sympathy. Jeeze. Sounded like he hadn't had a Valhalla around. Or maybe he had? Built up frustration nonetheless. But since he said it... "Ok, so me laughing before about if I could see your lightsaber is justified." Her brows raised, smirk dancing a playful edge along with her words. She was trying to lighten the mood. It was probably for the better she knew nothing of his thoughts of wrestling earlier. She'd have a few words and possible winks for that one. A girl could translate rough housing and hockey to wrestling, surely.
"Jedis can be knights though. If they get past the Knight Trials when they're done being Padawans." Now seemed like the perfect time to draw on her nerdly ways. "Least that connects more than a Roman Spartan.... attempt," she finished, glancing down at her own attire. "I haven't seen anyone yet who looks like Arthur's knights... though one Knight I met--not a Page like me--looked like he stepped out of a viking story. Valhalla of Jupiter--actually all those Jupiter knights looked more viking-esque."
The thoughts occurred as she spoke, leading to a slightly disjointed almost personal conversation. Shrugging, she looked back to Ashur and pursed her lips. "How long have you been at this? Hasn't anyone talked to you about everything going on?" Her voice made her assumptions clear--he should have had someone talk to him about everything.
_ p a o cx "A pleasant little wrestling match" is now my new favorite line. Omfg. Careful what you wish for with this one, Ashur.
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Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2014 10:34 am
Eclipse? Doubles? Shade Queen?
The more Themi talked about the incident involving her reason for winding up in a cast -- and he did visibly grimace at the sight of that scar -- the more lost he started to feel. Thinking back, October had been as uneventful as the rest of his life post-graduation. Nothing really happened, save maybe a dare or two and moving into his new apartment. He hadn’t seen his doppelganger, and certainly he hadn’t heard about a big gang of curiously dressed superheroes, good and bad alike, teaming up to beat the snot out of this so-called Shade Queen. Why wasn’t this stuff on the news? Though...well, he didn’t really keep up with the news anyway. But still! If it was in a paper or something he would have at least known that it happened. The Uranian listened intently, trying to keep up with what she was saying and epically failing. It took all he had to look as though he even remotely had a clue, though his furrowed brows and confused expression probably gave his company enough hints to figure out that he wasn’t following.
In the end he just watched as she put her bracer back on and tried his best to save face. ”Cool scar, though,” he said with a little nod, his smile now small and somewhat lopsided. He wasn’t really sure what else to say, really. How exactly is one supposed to react to that kind of a story, anyway? If he’d been told something like this before he probably wouldn’t have believed any of it, but now...well, now he didn’t really have a choice. ”So I’ll definitely be taking that advice.” The page laughed at that, cooly letting the previous topic go in favor of pursuing another topic for their little conversation.
Like his symbol, though that somehow segued into something less pleasant and he was off on a tangent soon enough. When he stopped talking, finally, Ash heaved a sigh and leaned back again, offering nothing more than that same sheepish look he wore just moments earlier. No, he didn’t have anyone else to talk about this with. At least not anyone he could just...go to whenever his thoughts started bugging him. He appreciated her attempt at lightening the mood, though, and he even managed a small smile.
”Justified, I guess,” the teen said before closing his eyes. He wasn’t in much of a laughing mood anymore. It was weird how this knight stuff got him to be so moody, actually. Before hardly anything bothered him or got him to think seriously; he was happy-go-lucky and content with his various projects and the stupid dares he’d take on just for the sake of experiencing something new or winning a new puzzle. Ash listened carefully as Themi tried to straighten out his thoughts and expanded on the idea of Jedis being knights in a sense, and when she went off to mention other knights in funny costumes he just...couldn’t help it. He had to smile; hell, he even chuckled at the idea of someone in a viking’s outfit. At least her efforts weren't totally in vain.
”There’s Camelot,” he said, suddenly remembering his first incident with a youma. It’d been hiding out in a cat form, or he thought when he was a civilian. Camelot had jumped down and landed himself in a dumpster in an attempt to keep him from getting himself eaten. ”He’s dressed exactly like one of those Arthurian knights. He’s even got this wicked shield.” And his voice trailed from there. Compared to him, Camelot seemed to have this knight stuff pretty well handled. Even Themi here had more of a grip on it than he did, and they were more less on the same level. She had more experience with fighting, apparently.
Her question didn’t exactly throw him off, but he still hesitated to answer. How long had it been, exactly? Months, for sure -- it happened just before graduation -- but he honestly hadn't bothered to keep count. ”I’m...not really sure, actually,” the words tumbled out, and he sat up straight again and looked at her curiously. ”I remember what happened the day I was awakened, like where I was and stuff, but not much else. It’s like some hazy, distant memory. Like everything else about that day didn’t matter so my brain didn’t bother to register anything else.” With a scoff he continued. ”I was too busy having fun and messing around with these powers to ask any questions, I guess, so by the time I realized that there was more to this than just having 'fun' I couldn’t figure out how to get in contact with any of them.” Somehow he'd overlooked all the important things and jumped straight into what he thought would be something "fun" and would keep him entertained. It took him a little longer to figure that there was obviously more to it than just that.
The conversation had, oddly enough, turned to something a bit more personal than he would have liked. It was the first time he had talked to anyone about any of his more serious thoughts on the matter though, granted the more serious part started out with a silly comparison between Arthurian versus Jedi Knights. He wasn't exactly a "sharer," so it wasn't at all surprising that he'd suddenly just start telling all this to some random stranger once he reached his limit on bottling such thoughts and putting off having to deal with them.
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Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2014 11:07 pm
In a way, telling her tale, showing off her--rather unimportant in the grand scheme of things--scar, she felt like a warrior of old. Boasting about battles and triumphs. Of course, she'd only fought some of the Shades, hadn't even gone up against the Queen. She hadn't been one of the heavy hitters of the fight. But he didn't need to know that specific detail. Nope. Least not from her mouth.
He hadn't looked especially interested though. The grimace had her puffing her chest and sitting all the straighter. Smugger. But his expression made it clear. She'd lost him. Not that she had a sense of how badly... but her intention was dead and flat. No enthusiasm or side-aching laughter. Not even a scold for being reckless--well. She did find him hanging off a building, so maybe that was the last thing she'd ever hear from Ashur. Themiscyra propped her chin back up by her palm, listening anew to the words trickling from the boy's mouth. Exchanging battle stories usually went a lot better in the comics... Well. He'd need stories to exchange, wouldn't he?
The more she listened, the more she began to doubt he had any of his own. At least not yet.
But she got him to smile. Her own flashed, winning and bright and proud. Laughter always made things better. Such a thought brought her to make a rather exaggerated pout, lips pursing and brow furrowing. "Camelot? You're kidding. There's a serious Knight of Camelot? Well s**t." Her red eyes narrowed. "I need to meet this guy for myself. How haven't I heard about this guy yet?" There was a mantel for ya. Did the guy ever get intimidated by his own wonder? Themiscyra briefly pondered how she still felt incredibly tiny amongst her city on Mars.
She wasn't able to dwell long--this was hardly the place anyways--and Ashur's not-really-an-answer to her 'age' question made her wince. Openly. Even sucking in a sharp breath between her teeth before grimacing and offering a clearly sympathetic look. "No one... said anything? Did you wake up alone?" That had to be it. She'd woken up with a kid her only guide and she still got an info dump. Then a week or so later, Niflhel had sent out invites to the Ledges of the Knights Temple games. She got teamed with Valhalla. Rest was living history. She'd never really stopped bombarding him with questions. He shouldn't have let her see who he was unpowered.
Lifting her chin out of her palm, her fist clenched loosely and darted across the distance between them. A light punch--for her--and Themiscyra laughed lightly. "Dude, I still haven't stopped messing around with all this stuff. I mean, I woke back up summer. School was out... perfect time to goof off and pretend I was Wonder Woman." She didn't stop herself from snickering, knowing she still did that.... "But guess I got to cheat. A Saturn Knight brought a bunch of knights together and we did... I donno, team-building games. That's how I met Valhalla. He gave me a crash course on s**t. Even showed me how to get to my wonder---" Her words sputtered to a stop, staring with wide eyes at Ashur.
There she'd been, prattling away, understanding he didn't really know anything. But the weight of what he likely didn't know came crashing down around her head. She had cheated. Hadn't she? Gotten the info almost right off the bat. Hell, Hugbell had told her about the Negaverse right after they'd killed the youma. How much of a step up was that from his information thus far?
Well. She couldn't just sit there and let it continue.
"...oh ******** me. I'm making no sense to you, am I? Ok. Easy solution. Right." Themiscyra's shoulders set, squared and confident. Before promptly wrestling with her ring finger on her left hand, pulling off a signet ring. Holding the ring out towards Ashur, she figured she had to start somewhere. Why not her own partial tale? "I got this when I went to my city on Mars. My wonder. The city of Themiscyra. Big. Stone. No people. But lots of statues form what I've seen thus far. This ring was just... waiting for me to wake up and grab it." Her smile returned, calmer than she felt inside. Inside, she wondered how Valhalla had been so calm and collected. Inside, she wondered if she was just blundering into something that didn't concern her. Outwardly... well. She'd had enough practice wearing fake smiles.
"So what's your poison? Learn about knight junk, or this war? Or you can just tell me to screw off. It's all a bit of an info dump however you want to take it."
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Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 10:58 am
Themi was doing a good deal of cheering up for the guy, and her reaction to learning about a Camelot Knight was rather priceless in his book. He offered her a cheeky little grin and shrugged at her question about why she'd never heard of Camelot. That wasn’t something he was likely to know, though it made him feel less stupid that he at least knew about someone that she didn’t. Ash, at the time, hadn’t really known to ask more than why the little kitty he thought he was saving turned out to be something that wanted to have him for dinner, so anything about the details around Camelot’s name had been overlooked. However, he still thought the shield was pretty awesome.
He laughed a little at her reaction to his kind-of non-answer, soon rolling his shoulders in a slight shrugging motion. That was actually kind of why he felt so down about it. He hadn’t woken up alone. In fact, he’d been surrounded by quite a few other individuals -- the problem was that he simply didn’t ask. His smile went lopsided again, and he ran a hand through his hair before scratching the back of his head. It was only then that he noticed how much he’d let slip out; her reactions had been amusing, however he wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about her knowing this much about him in such a short period of time. Normally, after one meeting they’d get his name and a general feel for his personality -- they definitely never got to see any of his problems.
”I woke up with a group of order peeps around -- it was paintball and some kind of a coincidence, I guess -- so I know some things…” he started, though he stopped when she shot a light punch at his shoulder. He didn’t expect it to actually hurt, but he couldn’t act as though it felt like anything more than a light punch from a 5-year-old...so the teen did his best to smile it off as best he could. ”Which is exactly why I wasn’t paying attention when people started talking about the serious side of this whole...war...thing,” he continued while rubbing the now sore spot on his shoulder. ”So right about now all I know is that I’m a Page of Uranus with a relatively vague purpose of helping the Order side of this war...thing.” Meh. She already knew he had problems now, so he might as well be honest about the whole thing.
He retained the same unsure look he’d been wearing a bit earlier, though it hopefully didn’t look as troubled as before, listening with curiosity as she explained how she’d been whisked away and joined up with other knights on some team-building trip. Well that was rather convenient; no doubt something he could use right about now. Themi, in some psychic sort of move, caught on to the fact that he knew basically nothing about knights besides the fact that they wore funny costumes and suddenly offered some help of her own. Blinking, he watched as she struggled to get something off of her ring finger -- probably a ring, duh -- and leaned in to take a better look at it.
”You found a ring...on Mars?” he said finally, cocking a brow. The idea that someone was willing to help him out had done loads for his mood, so now he wasn’t feeling quite as helpless about his little problem. He probably should have searched someone out ages ago so he could ask the questions he was now currently formulating in the back of his mind, but better late than never. With a smirk he leaned back again, a more relaxed expression crossing his features; meanwhile, Themi seemed to take on a more serious tone, so it was his turn to take a shot at lightening the mood some. ”Meanwhile the Rover can’t even find any significant evidence of life on the Red Planet.”
Ash considered her offer, glancing up at the sky for a bit as he did so. There was no way he’d say no, obviously, but he still considered how much they’d get to talk about in the amount of time that they had where they currently were. After a few seconds he looked back at her and nodded. ”I’ll take all the help I can get,” the page said as he straightened himself out. He already knew exactly where to start.
”Forget the war for now," he continued, waving his hand as if to dismiss the idea entirely. Really, he was kind of curious about its origins and all that, but he could figure that out after he learned more about knights. "I’ll be useless in it if I don’t understand what a knight’s supposed to be or do or whatever,” Ash said, his blue eyes settling on her red. ”A crash course about what I am, exactly, would probably be better. At least for now.” For serious, this time. He could do something about the rest later.
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Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 11:36 pm
"A badass round of paintball and no questions might be a tad less ego-shattering than a pre-teen Eternal Senshi telling you she's got the youma... and then said youma tries to eat your face off." She stated her awakening circumstances--only after he'd explained his own and the extent of his knowledge--so straight faced, lacking any real form of inflection, that for a moment she seemed to stare at him as if daring him to tell her otherwise. Until her face broke back into a grin and the tip of her tongue caught between her teeth. She did think he got the better awakening deal, so kudos to him on that regard.
Themiscyra thought zip of him rubbing where she'd punched. This was typical behavior for her around people. What was remotely out of the ordinary here? Hearing the vast differences between his time spent after his awakening, and her own as she told her tale, all together helped to ground her. She did get to cheat. At least he knew about being on the Order side. She wasn't sure what she'd do if he thought he was fighting for the other team.
Her smile brightened when Ashur took a jab at NASA's missions. A sliver of her internal tension slipped away, and she was grateful for that. It was a rather cool ring to find on Mars, if she did say so herself. "If you see any photos of a girl wandering around Mars' surface online, lemme know. I will totally go on TV talking about being a Martain." Just kidding. Sort of. It'd probably cause more drama than it was worth in the long run. On a more serious note, she added, "I'd said something similar to Valhalla. Think all the wonders and planets are covered in the same magic that keeps people from seeing us as our usual selves. I can breath on Mars, so could he. When you go to Uranus, bet you'll find solid ground no problem. Not sink through all the gas science says is there."
She wasn't mentioning past lives or previous knights. Not yet. That still threw her for a loop she wasn't sure how to classify.
Silence took for a moment instead, watching as he observed the starry sky. Would have been content to just sit there for a while, giving him the time he needed to figure out what he wanted. If he wanted anything from her. They were on a rooftop. Even if it was cold out that night, it wasn't horrific. Though she was probably worse off than he was, far more skin exposed. It was these thoughts she'd begun to lose herself in when Ashur finally spoke up, smile snapping back into place on painted lips. He'd take her help. Dark locks waved as she nodded her head. Starting with the knights then.
The corners of her eyes crinkled, keeping a lock on his own. "Crash course it is then." If he was willing to bite the bullet, Themiscyra had no difficulty assisting him. "Disclaimer. I'm no expert. Just telling you what I was told, what I've seen. Limited seen. But still should give you a helluva better concept than running around hanging off buildings." A wink accompanied the jab. Glancing down at the red stone of her ring, she replaced the item back to its place on her hand. Gave herself the moment to try and recollect her thoughts. Where to begin...
"Ok. You've got your senshi, right? They've got magic. I've seen some of them fight. It's... legit magic. They can summon random bursts of things, some of their magic can hurt opponents or help allies--ok that's a shitty explanation but you get the drift, right?" She paused for a moment, frowning a tad. "But knights are different. We get weapons. We get some magic later on--as we get stronger. Our weapons get better, too."
Again she paused, this time turning her head and angling it to hopefully allow the light to catch on the chain clasp earring and red crystal drops hanging from her left ear. She pushed her hair away with one hand, using the other to point to the accessory. "That's the so-called weapon that appeared to me when I woke up. I've been told it'll probably get better as I get stronger." As she turned her head back towards Ashur, her expression was sour. Her dislike for her 'weapon' was monumental. Folding one hand into a fist, she hit her open palm with a smirk. "But that's why knights gotta know how to swing punches. Least that's my view. Fits me just fine, being a knight from Mars. God of War and all." What was Uranus again? Sky, heavens..? Something like that. Themiscyra cocked her head, eyes scanning over his attire. "What about you? What's your weapon?" It could not be more useless than hers.
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Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2014 10:27 am
From the look on her face while she shared her own awakening’s details, Ashur didn’t even want to ask for some kind of confirmation. It was such a deadpan expression that the question wasn’t required, so he didn’t ask. Instead, he snorted through an amused smile that had slowly spread itself across his face. Okay, maybe not the greatest reaction, but it just wasn’t something he could let go without reacting at all. Thankfully she seemed to find the same sort of humor in the situation, and in the back of his mind he noted that her expression -- with her tongue out a bit while she smiled -- was something worth seeing again.
”Guess I win that round,” the page said, again having to fight back a little laugh because of the picture in his head of a pre-teen telling her to back off. His awakening had definitely been better, even he had to admit it although he hadn’t taken advantage of the fact that he’d been surrounded with people who could have answered his questions if he’d just asked.
The way she added on to his little quip about NASA seemed to lighten the mood significantly more, and Ash was glad things were starting to go in a more pleasant direction again. ”I’ll keep an eye out for that, sure,” he replied while propping his chin in his own hand and mirroring her position. ”I’d need a cut of any money you’d make from that kind of publicity, though, if you want my help.” His tone was all serious and business-like, but the look on his face was obviously hinting at the fact that he was still joking. Something about telling the general public that you were a magical being with powers that allowed you walk all over a planet in outer-space and defying the laws of science...yeah, that doesn’t sound like it’d go over very well.
Things eventually quieted and he was left to his thoughts, which soon led them in a more serious -- but still pleasant, thankfully -- conversation about knights. It was a conversation that’d been a long-time coming, so the months-old page listened carefully and, using the bit of his brain that he usually reserved for what he considered more important business like his projects and things, tried to process and retain as much of the information she was shoving at him. Even her little disclaimer and jab at his earlier antics was met with a serious, although grateful, little smile.
Alright, so far, so good. Senshi equals the good guys -- he knew that. They had magic -- he also knew that...kind of. He didn’t really get it, but he knew they had magic at least. Knights were different -- alright, well he could deal with that. Ash was doing pretty good with everything she’d told him thus far, but when talk of what their weapons were supposed to be his expression suddenly dropped and his mouth twisted a bit in annoyance.
Yeah, he was pretty familiar with this “weapon” business for knights. Painfully aware of it, in fact. As he was about to go on a bit of a mental rant concerning his own non-weapon weapon, the Uranus Page was kind of blindsided when his teacher showed him her own weapon.
An earring.
He blinked for a moment, blue eyes settling on a little piece of jewelry, and again the page had to resort to snuffing out the sudden desire to just burst out laughing and failing ridiculously. What came out was barely-stifled laughter, his shoulders shaking as he lowered his head and leaned forward, trying -- and obviously not succeeding -- to hide it. The look on her face was obviously of displeasure, but...well, it was funny! He thought so, anyway.
”I--” he started to say, then stopped for a second when the urge to burst out laughing came anew and he had to try his damndest to keep it together. Once he’d gotten himself under control, Ashur sat up straight, a bright and significantly broader smile on his face that he hoped would at least get across the fact that he didn’t mean anything by his laughter. It just kind of took him off-guard…
”I’m sorry,” Ash finally managed. ”I’m in the same boat, obviously,” and he paused to smile rather smugly at her -- though it was more jokingly than anything. Another thing he could probably poke a bit of fun at if they ever ran into each other again. The raven-haired teen again tried to pay attention to what the Martian was saying, nodding a bit to acknowledge the fact that it’d probably be a good idea to learn how to properly fight. The sticks really were useless, though less useless than earrings.
”Sounds like that makes sense,” he said slowly, putting on a thoughtful expression. Honestly he’d never really give it much thought, what Uranus stood for. Someone like him, who only knew the more common gods and goddesses and wasn’t really interested in mythology in general, had absolutely no idea. He could probably do a bit more research when he got home, though, so the conversation went on without him commenting. Ash's cheeriness dissipated somewhat when she asked about his own weapon, but they were definitely not more useless than an earring. ”These are what I’m stuck with,” the page said while presenting his flimsy pair of sticks. Suddenly he didn’t feel so bad about the things, so there was another thing to be grateful to Themi for.
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Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 11:31 am
She liked how easy it seemed to be to get Ashur to laugh, crack a smile. There were serious things to discuss, yes. But it didn't mean they had to be bitter and stone the whole time. Not to mention...
Watching him mirror her pose, Themiscyra couldn't stop the laughter that popped from her lips. One that she tried to smother instantly, trying to match his serious tone. Failing. Failing horribly. "You mean my life-long adoration and assistance with anything wouldn't be worth it? ********. There goes that bribe idea then." Bribe? What bribe? She was just throwing words out, having fun, enjoying the fact he was fun. He knew how to play along, throw out words. Someone she wouldn't mind running into again. Or save from more ledges.
The basics of being a knight could only be so basic for so long. She'd have to bring up starseeds, past lives... thing she didn't understand enough herself yet. But there were still other topics to bring up. Ones she swirled around in her head. Ones she lost the moment flashing her earring-weapon had resulted in laughter. Ok. She was withdrawing her earlier opinion of how good it was to make him laugh so easily. Her eyes narrowed, shoulders hunched, and Themiscyra cast Ashur a wicked glare before throwing herself up onto her knees--an act that brought her a lot closer to the other knight.
"It ain't funny," she snapped--and laughed, despite herself--shoving at his shoulders with both hands now that he sat up straight. She'd intended to stay miffed that he was laughing at her expense, but something about that smile of his tripped that up. Made her laugh. Made her anger simmer down rather quick. Good vibes were infectious. She still shoved him though.
So she sat back on her feet, the distance bewteen them still closed considerably due to her move. Got back to her topic of knights having to know how to fight. Asked him what his weapon was.... only to find herself presented with a less than pleased expression of his own. And sticks. Seeing the weapons Ashur had, Themiscyra sighed. "Looks like that's two rounds you win," she grumbled, referring to his earlier comment towards her awakening. Yeah, he'd gotten the better deal on weapons to be sure. Even if they weren't... uh. The most useful things either, they were better than an earring without a doubt. "You could probably poke someone's eye out with them at least."
Her lips pursed, toying with her earring's chains while eyeing his sticks. "They'll get better, apparently. Everyone I guess starts out with.... crap. But they get stronger. Become real weapons. Least Valhalla had this gyro.... gyro... something," she huffed, the name escaping her much to her annoyance. "But it was a lot more impressive than what we've got. So there's hope yet." Her hand rose, tapping her lips as her gaze drifted upward. What else... oh!
She flicked her eyes back to his, a sympathetic smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Wonders. You ever look up your name, Ashur? Themiscyra's the name of a mythological city of the Amazons. Greek warrior women. Wonder Woman. All that fun stuff." She paused, raising one of her bracers to point to the symbol of Mars. "I've got that name because I'm of Themiscyra. Themiscyra is my wonder. My... not really my home, per say--though it kinda felt that way, going back there. It's where I get my power. Themiscyra is a real city. On Mars." Earth? Not so much. Distant planet? Yep! "Your wonder is your place of power, you can say. It's yours, and only yours--well, yours, and all the past knights of Ashur. But there's only one at a time. I think. But what about it? What's your place, far as you can tell?" She was doing a lot of talking. She knew that. But she wanted to hear more from him. Infodumping would only be so effective. She had to make sure he was actually getting it....
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Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 8:11 pm
”Obviously not,” he retorted with a tone that was more than a little shocked that she’d think just gratitude would be enough for his help. Of course, he was just joking. Still joking. Nothing better than having someone to mess around and have fun with, and she seemed more than happy to oblige. He definitely wouldn’t mind running into her again…minus the ledges, preferably.
Though he might have pushed it a bit with his reaction to her weapon. Her shove, like her punch earlier, was not quite as light as she might have meant it to be. It surprised him a bit, and sent him back to leaning against his arms to prop himself up. The teen laughed lightly as he pushed himself into an upright again, amused that she’d closed the distance between rather effectively just for a bit of retaliation. Not that he minded at all. ”Some crappier than others, apparently,” he continued to jab, still grinning. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could poke fun at that. ”They should have some sort of equivalency test or something for these, don’t you think?”
Not that his weapon was all that better, as she pointed out with a suggestion of their possible use in a fight. Ash gave a shrug and put his sticks away as she continued to explain more about their weapons. ”See? There we go. So you won’t be stuck with an earring for the rest of your life,” he said, all smiles and trying to be a bit nicer about it. Not that the teasing would stop until her weapon did get an upgrade. What? There was something about that look she had on when she reacted…not the glare, obviously. Maybe it was that laugh.
Talk eventually rounded to back to knight business, and Ash was back to paying close attention to Themi -- which he absolutely had no problem doing -- and what other information she had to offer. Even if there were things that she had yet to figure out for herself, he was still glad for her help.
And it was back to being slightly annoyed that he hadn’t asked about something so simple. His name aactually had its own meaning and was tied to a specific place on Uranus. All his science classes back in school apparently were all put to shame in the face of magic and anything magic-related, and he tried to wrap his head around the fact that he’d be able to visit a gas planet and actually walk around on it. Blue eyes caught red again, reflecting a bit of uncertainty as he tried to relate everything she had to say about her name to his own. ”I haven’t,” the page admitted, sighing again. He wasn’t as upset as earlier, but his smile had faded now. ”So I don’t know anything about it -- no surprise there, I guess.”
Not wanting to linger in that mood, however, he added, ”Maybe Ashur’s a city somehow related to young, soon-to-be Jedi such as myself?” with a bit of a snort while pulling at a section of his vest. What else was he supposed to think, anyway? He was dressed like one, after all. ”Sans a light saber, though.”
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Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 1:20 am
Themiscyra was laughing outright, head thrown back, amazed and amused at the twists and turns their conversations seemed to take. Even if he took his own jabs and pot shots--actually, she liked that he did that. Least he hadn't yet complained about her hitting him. Another bonus in her book. It was all harmless.
Seeing him fall back when she shoved him made her snicker, her tongue once again peeking out between her teeth in joking triumph. Maybe she couldn't win in knight milestones, but in physical altercations she seemed to be gaining the points. "Crappier than-- oh screw off," she laughed again, this time shoving at his chest. Not as hard as her previous ones--she was laughing too much for it--and her head hung, laughter continuing when he mentioned a equivalency test. "I will kick your a**, I swear to god. Screw weapons, I don't need 'em." Not that she had any idea of his combat abilities. But it was a necessary threat nonetheless, seeing as he could now hang her pathetic accessory over her head.
He still at least had more uses for his than she did. Hey, they could even double as chopsticks. She gave a snort, throwing him a dry smile on the topic of improving weapons. Hers had better get better. She didn't want to be stuck with ear accessories for the rest of her life. Was there a way to complain to someone, get an upgrade? Return fail weapons? "Think we can file weapon complaints to anyone? Some galactic police? Er. I hope that's not we're supposed to be. Or senshi for that matter." That was a strange thought. One that sobered up her laughter for a moment as she stared wide-eyed at Ashur. Were they? She kept referring to everyone as superheroes due to it all... but how much of a ring of truth there was there in that reference?
Aha. She'd hit another bad spot. Her lips pressed tight, thin and understanding to hear Ashur hadn't yet looked up anything on his namesake. Not thinking anything of her actions, her hand moved to rest her fingers lightly on his leg. An absentminded gesture of sympathy. "Homework? All the more reason to go-- mm." Her teeth clicked shut on her own words. Though just in time to hear his own tidbit to lighten the mood. Themiscyra grinned. "If you can use the Force or anything, I vote you go pay a visit to George Lucas and demand some royalties. But hey. Maybe your sticks will become lightsabers? Some of them used two, or dual-bladed ones." That would be a badass weapon.
That was an easier topic to run around on. Rather than trying to figure out how to tell a stranger that he might be reborn, or something like that. She'd at least had some concept of it due to all her comics. Didn't sound like this guy had the same frame of reference... "What do you know about fighting, anyways? Ever do sports, get into some brawls... anything?" Her brow was raised, genuinely interested. Beyond just the initial scope of their conversation.
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Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 2:46 am
Yeah, that was definitely it.
Her laughter was infectious, and what started as a light chuckle soon turned into outright laughter as well. ”Obviously not,” he repeated himself, smile bright and wide. It was rare for him to find a girl to have this kind of conversation with. He wasn’t really known to hang around girls all that often to begin with...or anything actually. He was mostly on his own, doing his projects, when he had free time. ”We’re talking lifelong repercussions if you really want my help.” He was trying to look serious again, but the smile just wouldn’t fall.
Ash found her reaction to his teasing particularly...cute...in a way, even if she was back to shoving him again. The Page’s reflexes kicked in this time, though, and he tried to reach out to grab her hand to keep from falling back again. Her threat fell on partially deaf ears; she wasn’t kicking his a** yet, so he was probably still safe.
He calmed down a bit, finally, when she posed a rather curious question, his own laughter dying down as well. Galactic police? Maybe the occupation existed and neither of them had met one yet. He certainly didn’t think it was their job, though. ”It’s possible, I guess,” he offered. ”Think they’d take outfit complaints, too, this ‘Galactic Police’ of yours?” and his smile was back to one of a joking manner, similar to what he’d been wearing earlier.
It was gone by the time she mentioned “homework” -- yeah, he had plenty of that. She gave him a sympathic look, even went so far as to rest her hand on his leg to maybe comfort him, which didn’t go unnoticed. He didn’t comment, and in fact the contact tugged the corners of his mouth up a tad. He was glad she didn’t go much further about the "homework," though, and instead decided to jump at his little quip. "I’ll text you if I suddenly use the Force to dust a youma,” he said, the look on his face a bit brighter now. Talk of his sticks eventually turning to light sabers also helped. "That sounds cool, though, yeah," And, while they were at it, he added, "Ever think about what your earring could be?”
But she was full of questions that he didn't have very good answers for, apparently. Ashur -- rather, Dominic -- had been in a scuffle or two before, but nothing major. A punch here, a kick there, he once actually resorted to poking his assailant in the eye, but there was never a definite victor because they were always pulled apart before things got too bad. He’d never broken his nose before, though a black eye wasn’t nonexistent in his history.
”Eh,” was his reply, with a matching sour sort of look. ”Nothing, basically,” came his quick answer. Yet another thing he probably needed to learn; that list just seemed to keep on growing. ”You?” he asked, but he felt he kind of knew the answer from back when she punched him. Also, she basically said as much when he'd been poking fun at her earring-weapon.
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