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 Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2014 4:04 pm
He’d sort of somehow ended up attached to Astrophyllite for most patrols, which he didn’t actually mind. She was sweet and good-hearted and always offered a new point of view on things, even if she wasn’t exactly bright. But intelligence was a vastly over-stated asset; who needed it when there were other people to think for her? People like him, who wanted only the best for her?
This, unfortunately, did not lend him to knowing how to fight. In fact, it was his place to hang back anxiously and sometimes absorb spells as Astrophyllite whacked a sailor-level senshi with her ouija board. He watched the senshi do something, something that made her go faster than his eye could follow, and called out, “Behind you, Astrophyllite!” Hopefully the girl would whip around and slam that ouija board into her face, scaring off the senshi. He had little desire to see blood tonight, after all.
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Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2014 4:10 pm
Having Melanite around was kind of like having a big brother, Astrophyllite thought. Or… a tremendously low-key coach. Or a something. Someone who cared enough about her to want to help her get better, even if he seemed way too cool for school, like, all of the time. He wasn’t Avalon - not by any means - but he was older and he was cool and he was handsome and, for reasons completely unfathomable, he was nice to Astrophyllite.
So, like, she was totally cool with doing all the hard work while he stood back and supervised! After all, Melanite was older than her and smarter than her and that translated to being better at their job and needing less practice. At the other lieutenant’s instruction, Astrophyllite raised her board and spun, bringing her weapon around hard at the order signature behind her. “Ha!” she shrieked as it connected. “Take that, alien scum!”
Maybe - maybe she would take the senshi’s starseed and bring it back to Natron! She bet he’d like that a lot!
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Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2014 4:11 pm
Astrophyllite did not have time to go for a starseed grab. The senshi took the ouija board in the face and gave a short, abortive scream before doing that thing again. Melanite could hear her crying as she retreated, and wondered if he should be feeling nauseated. He did feel nauseated, but he wasn’t sure if that was the correct response.
“Good job,” he said, not moving to pursue the senshi, who was already rounding the far corner of the street. With that blinking speed-step, he didn’t doubt that they’d have a rough time catching her. It was better to continue their rounds and get more energy. “I am sure Miss Avalon would be proud of you for this, Astrophyllite. How is your energy collecting going?” He tried to smile, but it didn’t really work. Zircon’s threats still hung heavy over his head, but… that wasn’t enough to compel him into obedience. Not yet. For all he knew, the Negaverse had standing orders from Laemmiline to not ******** him up too badly--or from whoever Laemmiline reported to, he didn’t know.
He offered her a hand, because ******** it all if he knew why she liked holding hands with him. It made her happy. That was all that mattered. If she was going to get dragged into this gang war, he was going to make sure to look after her.
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Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2014 4:11 pm
The senshi got away, and Astrophyllite’s heart sank. She’d yet again failed to bring an alien invader to their knees - but at least she’d gotten closer this time than she had previously! And Melanite didn’t seem like he was upset with her, so maybe there wouldn’t be hell to pay when she reported in next. Natron could not be upset with her for things he didn’t know about, after all. “Thanks,” she said quietly, taking hold of his offered hand. He had long fingers. He’d told her he was a painter, and she could imagine him in his civilian form, knuckles all covered in acrylic.
“My energy collecting is okay,” she said bashfully. Since following his tip to switch to the financial district, she’d had an easier time of finding and draining targets - even if she had been very nearly caught once or twice. Her skills as a pickpocket were coming in handy, and there was something more noble about stealing from the rich. She felt a little like Robin Hood. “I’m meeting my quotas.”
Mention of General Avalon left a bittersweet taste in her throat, as it always did. “Do you think there’s, like, a heaven or something for people like us?” she asked. “Do you think she’s there now?”
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Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2014 4:11 pm
"I am glad to hear this. Natron is pleased with you?" He didn't want to talk about heaven and hell. Nor about where people like them might be going. If you want to see Jana, you should just die! But you might be going to a bit of a different place than she's gone, Irisha... He shook his head sharply, knocking Revaillite's voice from his head. "I am sure she cares for you, where-ever she is," he assured Astrophyllite.
They walked for a time longer, hand-in-hand like siblings. He wondered, but didn't question, what faith she subscribed to, if any. He wasn't sure he didn't believe in God--but if he did, that god wasn't just or merciful. "Do you go to church, Astrophyllite? I have never asked."
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Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2014 4:11 pm
Natron was pleased with her progress, but he wasn’t Avalon, and as a result, he simply didn’t have the same effect. She would never forget that first scrap of kindness shown to her, even if her mind had stretched it into hyperbole. “He’s a good teacher,” she said, after a long moment considering the question. “Better than Bischofite.” Granted, any teacher was better than Bischofite. No teacher at all would likely be better than Bischofite.
She did sometimes worry that she was a burden… but that wasn’t something she needed to trouble Melanite with, Astrophyllite decided. He’d changed the subject, anyway, to something she could comfortably talk at length about. “Saint Magdalena’s is a Catholic school,” she said, glancing around. “So I have to go to Mass, and when I get in trouble the nuns make me go to confession and then the priest is all so what did you do this time but more polite and official than that and I’m like Father, I did a bad thing and I am very sorry and he’s like, okay, do like three Hail Marys and I don’t want to see you again for at least two weeks, stay out of trouble.”
She shrugged. “I’m not really sure if I believe in God,” she said. “But I do think there’s such thing as miracles, and, like, saints who do ‘em? And there’s definitely such thing as magic. What about you?”
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Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2014 4:11 pm
Melanite had opinions, such as: perhaps a flying monkey would have been a better instructor than Bischofite. A rabid dog would perhaps have been able to match his talents. From what he had heard from the Lieutenant he walked alongside, the only way a commander could be worse than Bischofite would be if they were completely incompetent and wantonly cruel at the same time. For all he might hate the man on principle, he could at least realize that Astrophyllite was a talented fighter. Part of that was probably due to Bischofite’s instruction.
He didn’t know much of Catholicism, but that sounded… like some sort of self-flagellation bullshit. “I am not sure I believe in God, either.” He looked down at her, though there was not far to look; she was tall for her age and her gender. “But a world built on necessary coincidence seems very fragile. I am not sure I believe in that, either.” Miracles, too, seemed like only so much bullshit to him.
Magic at this point was indisputable.
“How much more do you need,” he asked.
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Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2014 4:12 pm
Astrophyllite touched a hand briefly to her coat’s hip pocket, feeling the energy that pulsed beneath the cloth. “Um,” she said, glancing off in the direction the senshi had gone. She’d managed to skim some from the girl, even with the fight that followed. “I’ve got enough for tonight.” Or close enough that she could make it up tomorrow and still be on track for the week. She didn’t really want to fight anyone else tonight, anyway. It was getting late, and there was always the risk of bed checks.
“I need to go home, anyway,” she said quietly. “If someone looks for me and I’m not there, I’ll be in lots and lots of trouble.” Her roommate thought she was out meeting up with boys, said in a tone of voice that almost definitely involved sexy shenanigans and by default made for an incorrect assumption. Melanite was a boy (well, no, he was definitely a man), but Astrophyllite didn’t think he’d have any interest in a stick-figure, awkward girl like her - and sex only lead to bad stuff, right? “Your quota’s okay?”
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Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2014 4:12 pm
“Yes, of course,” he said, by which he meant I’ve not collected energy a day in my life. “Let us get you home before they start wondering where you are.”
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