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 Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2014 4:20 pm
This RP is backdated to July 16th.
Astrophyllite was probably going to make herself sick on Oreos, if such a thing was possible. She’d already had… it felt like far more than her share, coming from a schooling situation where anything more than two, and half a cup of apple juice, was a luxury reserved only for the best behavior. Gemma couldn’t keep her hands on her own belongings and she was always zoning out in class, so she was never qualified.
But still, she reached for another Oreo, carefully cracked it open, and licked birthday-cake flavored frosting from between the halves. “Thank you,” she said timidly to Avalon, smiling up at the general. “Are you sure I can have as many as I want?” What if she ate some that the general had wanted?
“How long will you be gone for?” she asked quietly, more seriously, staring down at the twin black halves of her Oreo. And, even more quietly than that, she asked, “I didn’t do anything wrong, did I?” What if Avalon was being sent away because Astrophyllite had been a bad lieutenant?
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Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2014 4:26 pm
“You can really have as many as you want,” said Avalon patiently, settled on the green green grass of the field at Regent’s Park. She had a thermos of tea pinched between her hands, and had never really liked Oreos anyway, and she felt terrible for sending Astrophyllite to just another General, like the poor girl hadn’t endured enough of that. It felt like the worst kind of abandonment, to leave her behind, but Avalon could not drag a child along to England; it wasn’t that kind of reassignment.
She reached over the space between them and ran a hand down Astrophyllite’s long, pink hair. “This isn’t your fault,” she told the young Lieutenant. “This is the furthest from your fault. They need me to go to England to study something that only I can study.” She was alone of all her kind, in the whole world there was not another corrupted Earth Knight who could possibly reach her Wonder; which was the only reason she was being sent away for observation, rather than simply disposed of as they’d done to Wolframite. Stabbing one’s peers was, apparently, punishable, but less so than saying aloud that she would not accept punishment for her actions if it was imposed upon her. “I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, but I’ve spoken to General Natron about taking responsibility for you. You and Kerberos will still be partnered up, so listen to him. If he says General Natron is being an idiot, then he’s right, Astrophyllite.”
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Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2014 4:27 pm
Astrophyllite nodded, and leaned back against Avalon’s hand. What she lacked for in physical affection, she’d been recovering lately from Avalon and Kerberos. It wasn’t a secret that she dreaded the general’s departure. No one else had ever believed in Astrophyllite’s potential the way Avalon had, and she doubted that anyone ever would again. “I don’t want you to go,” she said, in a very small voice, knowing it would make no difference. She was being stupid and selfish: Avalon was a grown woman and not servant to Astrophyllite’s childish whims.
At least she and Kerberos were being kept together. “I like Kerberos,” she said, smiling tightly. “He’s pretty. And he’s nice. And he smells good.” She trusted him to take care of her if Avalon couldn’t. After her rough start, the Negaverse had given Astrophyllite the family she’d been lacking.
“Do you think General Natron will be good to us?” she asked, curious about Avalon’s suggestion that he even might be an idiot. Astrophyllite trusted Avalon’s opinion over anyone else’s - perhaps too much. “Will you be able to call or anything while you’re away?” Avalon being gone would be terrible, but not being able to talk to her at all would be even worse. Who would tell Astrophyllite that she was okay if Avalon wasn’t allowed to still talk to her?
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Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2014 4:27 pm
“All important considerations,” said Avalon, and she lowered her hand from Astrophyllite’s head. She set her hand palm-up between them, an offer implicit in the simple gesture. “I am sure he will be.” That was why she’d picked Natron to watch her two while she was gone; he was the one who seemed… mostly to fall in line with Avalon’s thoughts. He was going to be one of her mentors, when she had come up with the idea for the Hellfire Club. It seemed natural to pass her two to him.
She shifted her posture, held out her hands between them. “I won’t be able to call,” she said, “I wish I could. You’ll be alright, though, Astrophyllite. I believe in you, Lieutenant, you are an asset to us and our cause, and you will be alright.”
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Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2014 4:27 pm
Astrophyllite stared at the general’s offered hand for a moment, and her heart did a funny little leap. Then, she settled her palm against Avalon’s. “Oh,” she said, sad for a moment at the thought of being cut off from the one superior officer who believed in her, and for an indefinite amount of time at that. But Avalon believed in her! Astrophyllite’s spirits soared.
“You really - you really think that?” she asked, her smile growing. “No one’s ever thought that about me before.” She turned in her seat to face the general, and with the hand that was not holding Avalon’s, held up her pinky finger to swear. “I’ll be good, I promise. I’ll do my very best and when you come back, you’ll be proud of me. I swear.”
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Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2014 4:27 pm
Avalon nodded, no smile on her face, but her shoulders were relaxed and her posture was easy. After a moment’s displeasure, she linked her pinky finger with her student’s. If it would give her a boost to the ego… well, that was a thing that Astrophyllite definitely needed. “I really think that.”
She had no doubts that when she came back, Astrophyllite would make her proud. She was already proud. But that… oh, that would go without saying for now, she thought.
Time to go, she thought, shifting to her knees and leaning over to kiss Astrophyllite’s forehead, gently. “You keep these,” she said, patting the box of Oreos. “We’ll have another box when I get back.”
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Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2014 4:28 pm
Astrophyllite savored the touch of the general’s lips to her forehead, like it were some kind of holy sacrament. She came from a world where physical affection was extremely rare, so whatever her new family offered she had to savor. “You promise? Okay,” she said, picking up the box and hugging it to her chest.
She watched the general go, hanging onto the hints of permafrost, steel, and fermenting fruit that her aura left in her mind for a long time. When they finally faded, Astrophyllite pressed a hand to her forehead.
She was going to make Avalon proud.
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