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 Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2014 11:32 am
Emily was always content after a run to the gaming store. Although normally it was to look into PC upgrades for her gaming rig or old games, tonight was scoring a copy of a D&D 3.5 Player's guide, something to look into for a boring Saturday night and something some friends online spoke highly of. Thus, Wren was walking home a bit late, enjoying the cool night air and enjoying the feeling of the stars above and the moonlight around her washing the otherwise fluorescent light in a pale glow. Emily herself of course got more than a book - a new game, a motherboard and CPU she saved for only to find on sale, and a content expression wrapped itself on her face, the contentment of a cat gracing her face as she walked along, headphones on her ears for the time being before she glanced around, and eyed an alley. Climbing a wall was easy, and it would enable her to take a shortcut home, something she decided to want, and slowly the headphones came off as she turned, slipping in to walk towards the wall, and grabbed the top to pull herself up, humming along to the faint, quiet notes of VNV nation.
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Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2014 12:03 pm
The light pooling from street lamps, floodlights, and headlights afforded a new aversion in the creature. He surmised it due to his long stint spent in the Rift, where little more than a hazy, ubiquitous glow lit the gaping caverns. Nights in Destiny City felt almost too bright, and he shuddered to consider the lurid beams of the sun beating down on every scrap of shadow littering the alleys. He knew his intentions were folly, in some avenue of his mind, but he often found himself so divided between different schools of thought. Now, as he looked toward the myriad stars speckling the sky, he grimaced with the unnerving notion that he was perpetually observed - either by the Negaverse or its nemesis.
Alleys afforded some comfort in their lack of human presence, and the robed and masked agent sought the company of solitude for now. The city still felt utterly new - vibrant and appealing and a welcome balm to his curiosities, as even the most drab of objects drew the creature's feverish attention.
Two scraping cones of light jutted out from a passing car, and Alois ducked from surface streets into an alley, with some coverage afforded by a large dumpster beside him. The creature breathed a strained sigh, nerves already alight with trepidation toward wandering the city alone. He knew it as nothing more than a fool's errand to take a walk through its premises, not when he broadcast the dark auric energies of a general at all times. No longer would this city afford him the peace for a stroll, for a call to old friends, for a moment to observe the turn of spring into full summer. Had he truly enjoyed these affairs so? ... Yes. Yes, he had.
Straightening up, Alois ensured that his wings found proper tuck against his shoulders. If nothing else, he appeared a disfigured hunchback with the intent to hide his atrocious appearance. It might afford him some leeway in the human populace, but he needed to know for certain - he needed a simple test, an individual who might study him so and provide either lukewarm acceptance or abject terror at his visage. Even if the latter happened, he knew well to tear the starseed from chest and prepare himself with his findings that night.
As he heard the clamor of hands and feet against a wall perhaps twenty feet behind him, the cloaked creature half-turned to regard his impending company.
A girl, no older than he, sporting merchandise bagged from Games of Destiny. She appeared to possess only a tepid awareness of her surroundings - the humming indicated that a song drew her focus far more than her forays into a potentially dangerous alley. I shouldn't be doing this on my own, venturing out into the hostilities, but... I have to know. Finally he stepped out from the shadows between dumpster and wall, crossing to the opposite side in a manipulation of attentions.
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Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2014 12:15 pm
It was a fleeting fraction of a second as Emily perched on top of the wall, more befitting her middle, nickname, Wren, rather than an Emily, and she paused to look, climbing down and clutching her bag carefully as she followed the movement carefully. She knew her father didn't like her out alone at night on the street, but it had been too nice a night to drive, and really, she wasn't one for common sense, simply because she did not frighten easily. Then again, Emily wasn't exactly girly, and she dusted her suit off as she studied the area, then looked towards the figure with curiosity, eyes flashing calmly. Was it a mugger? Well if so, she had no problems fighting back if she could get herself positioned to try breaking his wrist or slamming his arm away. Maybe. "...Hello?" She asked calmly. "If you're going to mug me, let me be the first to tell you if you're going to try it, if you break my things, I'll break your face." Her tone was calm, even conversational. "But if not, I do hope I'm not intruding."
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Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2014 12:43 pm
The audacity of her phrasing, or maybe only the relief stemming from interaction to an extent far removed from Negaverse duties, wrenched a laugh from the creature. It bore no hate, no malice or derision, no disgust toward her lack of knowledge pertaining to any power he might've held. It felt good, strangely enough, like days when he woke to Quenton's presence beneath him, always reading with a book pressed to the misanthrope's back.
Luckily, in pinning his wings to his shoulders, they uttered no noise to amplify his mirth.
"I'f no reason to mug you, child." The pained hunger in his gut provoked an afterthought, tacked on neatly after a span of silence. "Unless you haf' food." I haven't eaten in ages... Outside of the Rift, lethargy threatens to claim me in little time. I need to eat.
His gaze darted toward the street in another fit of wariness, and found no blossom of auric energy or trawling ghost of headlights. "You are not intruding. Moreover, your presence could not come at a better time. You see, child, i am disfigured. My visage is likely harrowing to zose around me, but... I cannot be certain. And, dispite my misgivings toward humanity, I find no inclination to slink srough ze shadows for ze rest of my days... Not when my current condition stems from zis wretched war." If you're even aware of such supernatural affairs.
"I am... Alois," he finished, opting for a name he rarely heard of late. He offered no motions to remove the blue and white theater mask covering his features. Instead he leaned against the wall in a less oppressive disposition, despite the pain that emanated from the long fingers of his wings. If nothing else, his time spent in the Negaverse taught him to suffer, and to suffer exceptionally well. "Who are you?" Tell me who crawls through these alleys alone, at night, when so many nightmares pour from their midst.
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Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2014 12:52 pm
Emily watched, surprisingly unbothered. Was that a costume? hiding things? Well, she didn't know, but she did smile finally. He wasn't attacking and her guard lowered. "Well, I don't mind offering an opinion - though mine tends to be skewed, to be honest." She smiled, then regarded his question about food. It was one she didn't meditate on long, though. "And if you're uncomfortable going into a restruant, I can get you some? Not going to leave someone to starve. I'm a jerk, not a dickhead." She leaned readily a bit into her pose, arms crossed but muscles relaxed, before they unentwined to turn her music off, offering a handshake warmly. "Emily Wren. Can call me emily or Wren, whichever you like. It's nice to meet you alois." She didn't ask about the war - she had no idea such things happened, not yet - but if one occured, it was likely undercover, and she didn't want the man uncomfortable. Even if most did dislike the fact she wasn't tactful. "Nice mask, by the way. did you make it?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2014 1:43 pm
Skewed - a word ostensibly fitting for those who think along similar wavelengths to my own.
I am in no condition to corrupt, not now. Possibly not ever.
The offer of handshake posed an interesting conundrum. Take the hand, and risk exposing the warped nature of his body. Deny it, and come off disinterested in the one blissfully unaware creature that offered interaction that he desperately craved. Another mind absent hate toward him was a rare phenomenon, one he wanted to prolong if possible. Finally he took her hand in a firm shake, hoping her attention never drew southward toward the cracked hand with veritable talons. At this point he understood the necessity behind polite trifles, the kind of vapid phrases that others spoke at dinner parties and social functions. They were, effectively, a desperate attempt to stave off isolation. "And you, Emily."
Wren felt far too similar to the very bird-creature that cursed him to this form.
"Skewed or not, I need a second set of eyes. No - a differing opinion to my own." She mentioned food. A restaurant. How long had it been since he ate at one? Certainly not with Quenton - between the two, he hardly had enough money to fund his studio. Likely that arrangement fell by the wayside; Quenton neither needed it nor afforded it on a college student's wage. "We all meet misfortune from time to time. Zis disfigurement is... A little different from ze rest." Finally he worked apart the clasp at the base of his hood before discarding the whole of the black material in a heap around his pooling, tattered coat. He never ventured to unfurl his wings - not yet. Beyond their strange addition, the most prominent feature across the expanse of exposed skin was the healing wound near the center of his chest. Even now, he hid it with a palm pressed over the maw.
"Zis mask... was given to me. However, zere is one zat I'f made, in times when I could afford such idle fancies." Alois retrieved a half-mask reminiscent of a plague doctor from his sash, composed entirely of bone save for the red ribbon tied to one empty socket. He held it outward for her to take by the beak. "It's important zat you don't try to wear it - I suspect ze results will be regrettable at best."
"I could make you a deal, Emily Wren - if you can manage some food for me, I could ward away ze shadows from your pas'. Zat is, if you're aware of zem."
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Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2014 2:18 pm
Aeeth I have no idea what's going on anymore excepting that I doubt whenever Wren becomes a senshi she'd change her opinion. She's sort of true-neutral to 'I do what I want' in some ways. Emily styudied him even as he shook her hand, taking him in even as she accepted the mask, and smiled warmly. She admitted - some would run, and some would offer pity, the rare few who would coddle him and deride him in secret - and she considered her wording as she studied the plague-mask, heeding his warning, though a smile crept across her face warmly again. "A plague doctor. They used to hide herbs and good-smelling things in the beaks to ward off sickness. It didn't work well, but the look is popular." She said calmly, gently. "I like your mask. It's very good." She looked up, offering a warm smile to him directly. "I think there's those who would be afraid, but there's others who might think you looked interesting. Does it prevent you from changing clothes? there's some clothing - usually found in cosplay - that can help hide some of it, if you feel self concious." She offered his mask, smiling still. "I don't think you're terribly frightening, myself, but my perception like I said is... Skewed. I mean, my brother and I do tend to like some pretty different things. I don't mind helping you get food to eat. You don't have to offer anything." Nobody deserved to starve or want for what they need not. All she could see was a hungry person, who just wanted a good meal and maybe company. Then again she persistently had her brother fretting over his albinism, her sort-of-mother enjoying being mistaken for a demon, and her father who was his own breed of special.
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Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2014 3:28 pm
"Many sings we do are ineffectual, as time shows." Admitting his faults in terms of generalizations felt easier. He blinked slowly behind the mask, gaze cast down toward the bone half-mask in her hands. "To be frank, I am surprised zat you aren't revolted by my appearance." She warned of a skewed opinion, but would others react similarly? Many still remain blissfully unexposed to this war - her included. Surely there are others of similar frame of mind? Or is that, too, overstepping into assumptions I can no longer make?
"I am not prevented from changing, but..." The creature tapered off, spreading wings in an echo of gasps across their breadth, as if spanning out drew in air to the drowning. A host of whispers spilled out afterward, each as acerbic as the last. "I know of few items zat would fit over zese." Am I self-conscious? For at least a solid year, I dressed head to toe in black as a means of obscuring all those stretches of flesh that I always despised. Quenton helped somewhat, and due to his careful conditioning, I managed shorts sleeves on occasion. Now this scrap of coat bears far more than I ever would've considered beyond the bedroom, and I found no bother with it until now. I never considered it, despite my numerous appearances to Negaverse agents.
Am I self-conscious? Curiously... I am not.
"I suspect it's only necessary to obscure wis' cloak toward zose unsettled by ze... abnormal." Strangely, you are not one of them. Tell me, Emily Wren, what do you know of this war? Of youma? Of officers, of knights, of senshi?
And if she is so willing to donate food without want of recompense, then perhaps I might find her useful for other affairs... No, it's still too early for that - you can't be certain of your own aims, not when Iscariot's blade is not yet a scar on your chest. You haven't earned the right to manipulate when the ends hardly justify the means. "Anysing would be appreciated. Yogurt, fruit, meat... I haven't eaten in a long time." I fear that if I so much as stand straight now, I might pass out. Strange how the systemic pains of hunger managed to supersede the fading threads of Iscariot's betrayal.
"Perhaps, afterward, you can help me in a different way."
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Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2014 3:38 pm
"Well, the closest I have to a mother tends to be facinated with some pretty dark things. i'll be honest, I'm not somebody who frightens easily." The gasps surprised her and for a moment she listened, studying his plumage carefully, turning out what she could, well used to doing so from online gaming and running through MMOs. She studied him a moment. "A trench coat might work, or a long cloak." She admitted. "You could hide them with something like that and let them have air when you're someplace private." She looked him in the eyes, expression calm and quiet as she smiled again. Was the Government just - experimenting on things? first a strange talking cat, now a man disfigured by... Something. some war. She wished she understood. "But a cloak would help with the squeamish, like you said. I know some places, or, well, I can sew, unless you know someone." Did he? She hoped so. "And shoot, there's someplace closeby. Good portions, pretty decent food. I don't mind buying you a meal. No sense letting someone go hungry if I can help. I mean. You seem like a pretty okay person. Most people seeing someone jumping a wall assumes that someone stole something, not that they took a shortcut to go home. ....Help?" Oh dear. Was he okay?
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Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2014 3:59 pm
That much is evident. Were you one to scare, or possessed of a second identity affiliated with mine in even an arbitrary way, you would know better than to befriend so easily. I wonder, then, what your mother is attracted to so readily that you're desensitized to the human-youma conglomeration before you. I suppose I should thank her. Her idea proved valuable enough - the buttoning of a trench coat afforded the flexibility necessary for his extra appendages, and if large enough, could obscure the wings to some meaningful degree. In essence, a second iteration of his general's uniform.
It feels like I'm going in circles now, forever damned as the snake who swallows its own tail.
Alois scoffed, touched with a small laugh. "I'm usually ze person jumping walls because I stole somesing. Or I was." I hadn't even considered the notion until she voiced it. Thieves sound utterly benign in comparison to youma, senshi, agents... How long it's been since I knew normalcy. I wonder if she appreciates it, or laments the banal portions of her life. But how would I pose such a question? 'Do you ever wish you could teleport instantaneously from one side of the city to the other? Have you ever wanted to command creatures of nightmare, or weave magic out of thin air?' How trite and fanciful. "Besides, your grocery bag... Unless you're particularly deft, it defeats ze assumption of shoplifting when you haf' a bag, and likely a receipt, to proof' ozzerwise."
Basic human compassion... Like Thraen, in a way. Her hands aren't around my neck, not yet. Straightening up carefully, Alois strode toward the mouth of the alley to look out toward the street. Not many stirred; a car passed eastwards and a couple strolled with hands clasped in one another. They meandered far from the alley, much too distanced to notice the conglomeration eyeing them. Finally he half-turned toward Emily. "It would be best if you went in alone, zen. I can watch from abof'e." He gestured skyward to the rooftops. "We can meet in ze alley afterward.
"Zat somesing else can wait until I'f eaten."
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Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2014 8:52 am
Aeeth SORRY NOTIFICATIONS FRITZED ON ME "Valid point."Emily remarked on wall jumping. "People have a reason to do things - usually. Some don't. But it's not my place to judge people, unless they actually do something to hurt me or mine. Noone's perfect. Perfect's boring." Emily shrugged, nodding. "Yeah, I can get stuff alone, if you're more comfortable." And in a moment, Emily turned, moving for the restaurant calmly as she moved to go inside, deciding to look things over before making a selection, returning with a carry out container and a fork, just in case as she walked for the alley. Admittedly, some of his deformities were confusing, but she didn't want to ask, pressure him into anything he wasn't open or comfortable with. They just met, and, after all, she understood that trusting a stranger brought risk. At least he didn't know her online as Loki or any other of the screen names she used. Then he might know better. That reminded her, she had payback to take when she looked on... Payback with her computer freshly upgraded to a monster of another sort, and she grinned faintly. "Hey."
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Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 6:36 pm
Alois watched the young girl depart from the alley, gold eyes settled on her fading form feverishly, before he leapt the distance to a slanted tin rooftop. Initially he wavered on landing, as his center of gravity hadn't fully adjusted to include the wings, but he caught himself without incident. Afterward he peered into the streets below to watch the meandering entities resume nebulous lives.
And Emily wasted little time.
His nerves never fully settled into their usual festering when she drew back out again; hardly had he embarked on the topic of his mutation when her visage crossed his line of sight once more. At least she's quick about it. Strange... Here she is purchasing food for some monstrosity out of a nightmare, an act of good will extended toward someone whose past is entirely black. I suspect she doesn't care; to do for others is already a selfish enough act meant to instill pride. She's offering a service to the unfortunate. Misfortunate? Likely she already pats herself on the back. What a shame, what a pity; if I ruined this world as I intended, such acts would be but a fanciful dream.
Already we wallowed so harshly in excess.
When she meandered back into the alley, Alois slipped from perch to land just next to the dumpster. A long, gangly finger struck its lid, scraping across the surface before folding against his body once again. He winced, a hand straying back to massage the injured appendage. The scent of food struck him soon afterward, and his mouth started to water in anticipation. You said I don't owe you anything. "Tell me, Emily - how much do you know about ze strange phenomena laced sroughout zis city?"NovaCracker omfg i am so sorry i missed this
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Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 7:06 pm
Aeeth It's fine! Things happen! Emily handed him the take-out calmly, and regarded his question as she moved to sit, visibly thinking on the answer. "To me, it;'s interesting." She admitted. "I don't know ******** beyond the fact we have some sort of ******** up terrorist group running around, but other than that? I guess I have to admit curiousity. I grew up with a lot of sci fi and my brother's kind of into burning s**t and my cousin and I are adrenaline junkies. so something of interest is better than boring." Emily admitted, and looked skyward, sucking on her lips thoughtfully. "It's strange, you know? There's not much information out there, but there's weird stories every day." She looked back to Alois. She shrugged. "But my breother and cousin... I guess we'll jump on anything interesting. Flynn and I got homeschooled with my cousin. Dad was paranoid when we were kids. I guess it does a number. Especially with my Dad." She rolled her eyes.
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Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2014 9:22 pm
"Zere are more zan a few conspiracy seories around, yes." Alois figured she spent much of her early life indoors due to homeschooling, leading to a lust for novelty or truly anything that might garner her curiosity. He knew little of the act, as most schools in his home country offered quality education, so he offered no further comment on that portion of her life. "However, I would not consider zis war as sci fi... More like fantasy. Classical fantasy."
A grin bloomed on the creature's face when he concocted a peculiar idea.
"Emily... Is zere anysing you'f always wanted to do, but considered impossible? Haf' you ever wondered what it might be like to teleport to ze top of a tall building, or anysing of ze sort?" I can't take the leap to corrupt her, but the Negaverse never enunciated any qualms against fraternizing with civilians... Surely there's no reason to shut that down so long as I might use her for positive means. Draining energy, or at worst, another starseed to add to the repertoire.
I am so tired of thinking this way, of... Devoting all of myself to an organization that cares little for my existence. I doubt my deepest sacrifices merit any attempt to revert my form to something more... human. To live as such again, or even to recant my existence as an officer altogether... That sounds worth pursuing.
"Zis war is a culmination of dreams and nightmares, often set against each ozzer when cut of ze same clos'. Here we are, calling each ozzer aliens, traitors, terrorists... We are no different from one anozzer but in philosophy alone. I wager no one is looking to drive zeir opposition out of zis planet, but to assert will and reasoning over ze rest." That includes myself. Or it did... for a time. Now what point is there in explaining my beliefs? To find only s**t and piss in response... I can't chance it anymore. I have to abandon everything.
I have to scrap it all and start fresh.
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Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2014 9:34 pm
Emily listened with rapt attention, nodding a bit to let him know she was listening. "So, more like tolkien or something, I'm guessing. High Fantasy, in some respects... Interesting." She thought on this, mind coursing. What was going on? did he mean magic? Wat repercussions could this mean? s**t, I should've paid attention when Dad asked about trying something for Battle Bots. She sucked her lips, thinking before looking up, brows raising curiously. "Teleport? That's possible?" She blinked, genuinely curious, even surprised such a concept existed. "I mean- sure. What kid doesn't dream of that kind of thing, but- it's possible?" She paused, then actually looked somewhat bashful. "Well, honestly, I used to kind of want to fly. But besides that... I kind of wanted to make my Dad proud." And her Mama ri. Never her birth mother. Wren felt the woman could drop dead, and left it at that, very frankly. He described the war next and Wren listened carefully, thinking quietly and contemplating. A war? But... She was silent for a time, mulling over it before looking sad, looking him in the face. "Nobody tries to mediate? Ever?" Her expression twisted to sadness. "That's... Kind of awful. I mean... There's nothing wrong with diplomacy.. But, maybe I'm not seeing everything as they are, either."
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