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 Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2015 12:24 am
Destiny City's theater district might've been small, compared to the likes of Broadway or Hollywood, but even in their little city, with all its socioeconomic problems, the arts still tried their best to thrive. Several theaters competed for attention, here in the heart of things -- but of them, only one - The Nina - boasted the little tourist feature that gave the street its appellation of The Avenue of the Stars. Underfoot, Hvergelmir could see the big bronze stars cut into the sidewalk, squares cut out at the center of them to make room for celebrity handprints, just like in other cities. Mostly B-list celebrities, but it didn't matter to The Nina or to the tourists who came here to take pictures and fit their hands into the prints: they were all memories, preserved in cement. Hvergelmir only patrolled for youma about once a week, nowadays. Tonight, though, she'd felt the itch to do it, and she knew why. She'd met Sarras here, once, long ago -- when they'd both been young knights, and new, and had felt a camaraderie just in discovering each other: two knights of the Cosmos. She'd patched his wounds, he'd promised to take her on a vacation to Texas someday. He'd thought well of her, then. Now she stood before one of the big bronze stars -- Judy Garland had apparently been here once, long ago -- and looked down at the handprints etched unevenly with both of Garland's hands. She knelt slowly where she stood, slipping her own fingers into the shapes that the actress had left behind, and wondered -- not for the first time -- whether or not she was charting the right course for herself. Her past self had left no handprints for her to fit her work into. Nothing but the far-off words of the oath her last self had sworn. I will seek no refuge in convention, but strive always to move forward with honor. I will not rest on my laurels. I will not venerate the past for its own sake. Tradition is the enemy of progress and of free thought. Doctrine is the tool of oppression. Was she on the right course? Had she done the right thing? Was it ever possible to know?
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Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2015 4:30 am
Small or not, Destiny City's theater district was home to a great number of devoted artists and performers that devoted much of their lives to keeping it going and making sure that those coming to visit left with lasting memories (of a positive sort). It tended to be fairly busy during the daylight hours and into the early evening when most of the shows took place, but later the streets cleared of all but the most dedicated (or intoxicated, as well) - dancers and vocalists, musicians and managers, technicians and ticket-box agents that came in early and left late not because it was their job (or at least not just due to that reason) but because they had a large amount of love for it too. Of course, there were also other people that would wander the theater district late at night and into the early hours - those locked in the eternal war, powered individuals from any of the factions were just as likely to be seen as scraps of playbills, ticket stubs and stray kernels of popcorn. It was for the protection of this beloved place that had the senshi of silence traversing Destiny City at least once a week to patrol the area and while he'd not bumped into many others during these times, he was always on the look-out for friend or foe. And - to his optimistic delight - tonight seemed it would provide opportunity to befriend yet another of the Knight faction! A bright aura like shining, only familiar in that he could identify faction but otherwise wholly new. Aegir bounced along the rooftops in the darkness, his eyes bright as he came close enough to see what appeared to be a beautiful woman kneeling at one of the handprints. "Judy's spot, right?" He dropped to the ground some distance away, not wanting to scare or surprise, hands palm outward as a sign of no ill will. "I've done that myself. I'm Aegir." Would he never learn that giving his name wasn't always the smartest means of addressing a new person, a new situation? Probably not - in civilian life he gave folks the benefit of the doubt and it carried over into his super secret senshi life too. "You're a Knight, right?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2015 7:16 pm
An aura approached, sweet and small: a sailor scout, still basic. Hvergelmir looked up, surprised -- she had gotten used to encountering mostly knights, in her work. All the sailor soldiers she ran into tended to be veterans, all eternal, all in this war for so much longer than she was. There was something a little weird about finding one which she presumed was still in the first flush of sailordom. She stood up, feeling a little awkward about what she'd been doing. "Hi," she said, her blush shifting into a startled smile. She pressed her hands awkwardly to the sides of her thighs, then dusted one off and presented it out for a handshake. "Sorry you caught me slacking off on the job! Hvergelmir Knight of the Cosmos. Have you . . . " She tilted her head inquisitively. "Have you been in the business long?" She looked Sailor Aegir over. Her own outfit may not have been built for combat -- like, not remotely built for combat -- but it was fair to say that, where Aegir's costume outstripped hers in terms of maneuverability, it also outstripped hers in -- well -- outstripping hers. It was built for neither modesty nor inconspicuousness. At best, he could pass for a very lost ballet dancer who'd gone out the stage door and had it lock behind him. "Are you cold?" she asked, flicking a hand through the air and pulling out a very large, very sparkly rainbow cloak that she held outstretched between both hands. "Warm up a little, spring's still not all the way sprung."
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Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2015 3:34 am
The curly-haired senshi smiled at Hvergelmir warmly, she looked a bit embarrassed at having been caught 'communing' with Judy's hand-prints. The woman was quite beautiful, even without the shimmering lightness of her clothes. "It's very nice to meet you, Hvergelmir - you're the first Cosmos knight I've met." Not that it said much, honestly. Aegir had only met a small handful of Knights total, with a heavy sampling of Saturnian sorts. Oh, and Mistral, the very sad Mercury Knight. He cocked his head a bit but accepted the offered hand in greeting. Great sign, probably not going to end up fighting her, which is really good for me 'cause I don't feel comfortable attacking the knights. "I have, actually. But I took some time off for civilian-side reasons...so I've still got the look of someone freshly kicked off the normalcy wagon even though I've been doing this for some time. What about you?" The woman's perusal of his rather brief costume didn't phase him, though he did pink slightly when she asked if he was cold and magicked out a very shiny cloak that he would take sheepishly. "Thank you. I know, my outfit's kind of ridiculous. I would have picked something with a little more coverage if it had been possible." But he was pretty well used to it by now and much better able to make a joke of it's brevity than he had been initially. With the rainbow hued cloak around his body it was immediately warmer and he gave a quiet sigh of contentment. It was large enough they both could have shared it's warmth if they came together closely; he reminded himself that many women were suspicious of guys offering to basically cuddle and kept his mouth shut for the moment. He absolutely did not want to upset the gleaming lady in any way. "So...do you come here often? I haven't seen you here before but I only patrol around the area once in a while. Pretty sure I'd remember your face." Hvergelmir reminded him somewhat of Ash - she held herself well, was graceful and something about her made you want to stick by her side and help.
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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2015 12:29 pm
Hvergelmir blushed visibly at I would have picked something with a little more coverage and looked down at her feet. "Well, you wear it well, at least," she said, pushing the tips of her shoes together. Her own dress might not have been the height of modesty, but she didn't think she could manage running around in a glorified swimsuit all the time. Then again, she wasn't made of every kind of muscle like pretty Aegir apparently was. She was instead made of every kind of Funyun. (Hvergelmir assumed there was only one kind of Funyun. Except for that spicy version. Maybe, she decided, there were two kinds of Funyuns, and she was made of both.) Desperate to recover from this awkwardly blush-inducing topic, she dug into the other questions he'd presented. Have you been a knight long, do you patrol here often. Those were easier. Safer territory. Just regular knight stuff. "I'm like you, actually," she answered the first one. "I was a page for, like, about a year before I ever made it to squire. After that, it was faster, but I just , , , I couldn't really get my stuff together. I was kind of a train wreck." She shrugged, amending, "Well, I mean, I still am. I can't fight well for love or money, I think I've fallen over or tripped on my clothes about a million times -- I've actually killed youma by accident a couple of times -- " Hvergelmir was rambling. She trailed off, trying to rein it back in. "I don't really patrol a lot. This is my usual beat, though -- I'm through here about once a week. My outfit blends in a little better than if I went tromping through Fishtown. What about you?"
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Posted: Sun May 03, 2015 9:43 pm
She blushed prettily and offered a compliment that set pink flaring in his cheeks and set him rubbing at the back of his neck, embarrassed but also pleased. "It's not so bad, now that I'm used to it. I mean..it could have been worse? I could've ended up in a bikini." Aegir offered Hvergelmir a cheeky grin and a wink - he could not help himself, could not help flirting with the pretty lady knight. It was like breathing. Also, he had no shame. He did his level best to show he was listening attentively, but she was clearly nervous (or perhaps just flustered?) and rambling so he made up his mind to stop her and remind her that breathing was a good idea when she trailed off herself. Only to restart, calmer and with a bit more cohesion. Adorable, she's adorable. A woman this pretty shouldn't be adorable, should she? "Glad to know I'm not the only one on our side that couldn't get it together for a bit, though I am sure you do just fine. You may be better for support on a team, y'know? Pretty sure I'm supposed to work on a team, but I'm stubborn. And fight dirty." He brought a hand up and clenched it into a fist, "Uh...can you...I mean, how do you kill a youma by accident?" "I ask, 'cause I won my first 'fight' by accident too...some lieutenant got spooked by an alley cat, thought it was a Guardian cat with me and went flying." He still thought that was hilarious. "Mmm, I patrol all over the place...it's not really a good idea to stick to just one place, I've been told. I do swing by here once in a while, but I'm all over the place."
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Posted: Mon May 04, 2015 12:47 pm
Aegir definitely seemed less embarrassed about the topic of his own costume than Hvergelmir felt. She pressed her hands to her own cheeks to try and stop the stinging in her face, but it was no use -- being flirted with always seemed silly and embarrassing, like an obvious joke at her expense. She was not the sort of girl people wanted to flirt with: she was the weird girl who sat by herself at lunch and acted out scenes from show tunes well into her teenaged years. She had believed in unicorns until -- well, she still believed in unicorns. (The belief was just more reasonable now -- she had the friendship of a teleporting caribou. Unicorns were totally still on the table.) Flirtation was hard not to interpret as, at the very least, good-natured but self-aware teasing. He seemed friendly-enough-disposed, though. Rather than reacting with scorn to her confessions that she'd proven a repeated mess as a knight, Aegir was instead stepping in to offer her advice. Trying to see potential in her. She felt guilty for interrupting, just for the sheer fact that it meant she'd be invalidating his attempts to help. "Oh," she said bashfully, "I -- actually can't join a team. I'm a non-combatant . . . I swore an oath. I, um -- I only patrol for youma. Everyone else I just talk to -- if they let me. That's why I keep such a consistent patrol route . . . I'm not looking to not be found."
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Posted: Thu May 07, 2015 6:26 pm
Watching Hvergelmir placing her hands to her cheeks to try and cool them was unfairly cute, in his mind. His fingers itched to touch but he only stepped in a bit closer and schooled his wont to attach bodily to a person once more and easily kept a smile for her. Had they spoken of civilian lives past, he could have commiserated with her about being the 'odd one out'...or being teased and generally ill used for just being himself. Being interrupted didn't seem to bother him either, he just kind of got this soft and almost indulgent look on his face (it was in fact the same look he'd give his little sister when she was verbally cutting him off to say something). "You're a non-combatant?" That made very little sense to him - how could one go without fighting in this war, wouldn't the Negaverse do their best to end her life or worse? "That's...I'm sorry, but isn't that like suicide? I know a handful of Chaos agents that'll talk before trying to yank your star seed, but more will pull first and ask questions never." Like Moonstone. That psychotic b***h wouldn't talk to Hver, she'd just pounce and bash her skull in before taking her star seed...and that just made him feel sick. "I don't understand." Aegir shook his head, expression troubled and also curious. His curiosity would get him hurt someday, but not tonight! She'd sworn an oath? That could be useful to know about...and hell, he should let Hvergelmir give her side of things - maybe it wasn't suicide, that oath of hers. "Would you mind, um...explaining? I honestly can't see how to survive if you don't fight the others too." Shazari Congratulations you have confused him mightily! Marvel as he forgets how to treat a lady!
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Posted: Fri May 08, 2015 9:08 pm
Ugh. This part. She hated this part. This was the part that ended in people informing her that she was foolish, stupid, probably going to die -- naive -- not committed to the cause -- selfish -- This was the part where people looked at her differently. Hvergelmir sighed, already deflating visibly, and looked down at her feet. "I can still defend my own life," she mumbled, looking uncomfortable. "Just not anyone else's. I-i know it may seem unconventional, but. They don't have to be our enemies, if they'd just talk to us. But you have to be willing to disarm if you want someone to sit down and negotiate with you." She wrung her hands together. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained."
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Posted: Fri May 08, 2015 11:44 pm
Hvergelmir's attitude had changed, she'd gone tense and was clearly uncomfortable with his unthinking criticisms. Aegir felt like a heel and had the good sense to look ashamed at having been the cause of her discomfiture. He did perk up a bit when she said that she could defend herself - that was important. If she didn't want to fight, that was her choice and maybe it wasn't what he would do - did do - but that didn't mean it wasn't right for Hver. Aegir reached a hand out hesitantly, wanting to touch her shoulder but instead going for a light touch to her forearm. She had been so nice, letting him use her big cloak thing...talking to him so nicely, it was the least he could do to apologize. "I'm sorry Hvergelmir, I...shouldn't have said it like that. It just...well, knowing you can defend yourself makes a huge difference. To me at least." Aegir ducked his head a little bit, lips curved back into a slight smile, "I usually try to talk with them first, too. Fighting isn't...I do it, but... I don't really like hurting people." Especially when they seemed to think they were protecting the Earth too (or some of them did). "Not everyone has the same role to play, I know this better than most probably." He wanted to do something to put a smile back on her face, to get her blushing or laughing again or anything but looking like she was a child being scolded. "You probably get a lot of flack for your oath, huh? Sorry I added to it." Aegir just liked to take care of people, he couldn't help himself and Hver seemed like a kindred spirit in that regard...what with the whole trying to keep him warm thing.
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Posted: Sun May 10, 2015 11:22 am
Hvergelmir shook her head, holding up both hands. "It's okay. I understand your reaction. I'm no use to my own allies, or to completely innocent civilians. You're all out there doing what you can to protect the city, and I'm taking advantage. You have a right to disapprove. But I can't go back on it now even if I wanted to. And . . . " She looked up, her tone a little stronger. "There really are good people in the Negaverse. People who are trying to do the right thing. They just need someone to give them a chance. Someone to listen to them and make them feel safe." She shrugged. "Most people react like you did. It's okay. Only one person ever really didn't."
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Posted: Sun May 10, 2015 7:02 pm
Aegir reached out to take at least one of her hands, concern creasing his brows under his diadem. "That's just not true - you can help defeat youma and help get people out of a combat zone, right?" Boy did he feel like he'd shoved his slippered foot in his mouth with this one. Good job, way to make a lady feel bad about herself, jeeze, mom would kick my a** if she knew... "There are. I know that. There are awful people in the Negaverse, but there's also good people that just want to protect their home." He gave her another small smile, "I almost went over once. All I want from all this is to keep this planet safe, keep everyone safe...talking to some of the Dark Mirror Senshi and Obsidian, I thought maybe they had the right of it." But he'd learned better, he'd met some truly horrible people working on Chaos side..and now? He was staying right where he was. "I'm sorry I couldn't be someone like that." He would have loved to have someone like Hvergelmir to talk to back when he started out. Within the cloak he shifted his weight, fidgeting with his discomfiture at having been a judgmental jerk. "We need more people like you, I think."
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Posted: Mon May 11, 2015 1:48 pm
At Aegir's admission that he'd considered Chaos -- that he'd nearly gone over -- Hvergelmir squeezed his hand reassuringly. Though he'd been quite clear in saying he was no longer considering it, she couldn't help commenting anyway. "You made the right choice in staying," she said. "A lot of them mean what they say -- they care about protecting the Earth -- but they're not going to get there in the Negaverse or the Dark Mirror Court. Giving your power over to Chaos won't help you. Chaos won't ever love you back." After a moment, though, she stared at him, scrunching up her nose in what was obviously either disbelief or confusion. "Wait. Obsidian tried to woo you into protecting Earth?" This was definitely not the impression she'd gotten of the man who's enraptured Titan's heart and then broken it. The man Titan had warned her would not talk to her or respect her oath, just kill her. Were she and Aegir thinking of the same man? Had the starseed addiction Titan had described altered his personality drastically over some short span of time or something?
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 3:31 am
The contact was nice and he returned her gentle squeeze, nodding and smiling a she spoke. Her genuine concern made him feel all warm and fuzzy. "I agree with you. It feels like...the longer someone's with Chaos the less they care about protecting the Earth or their loved ones...even if they were the reasons to join in the first place." It scared him, quite frankly. Aegir could not imagine a version of himself that didn't put his loved ones being safe way up there on his list of priorities. Aegir blinked a bit, curious as to her reaction to the General that had talked to him. "Mmhmm...well, it was more a 'we have the ability to protect the Earth, not senshi'...but it was definitely Obsidian. Red hair, kind of crazy gleam to his eyes?" The kind of guy you know would break you apart for fun? Or just to see what you looked like on the inside? "He didn't talk to me powered up, maybe that's the difference? He...I was coming home and he was there...creeping in the shadows." "He seemed really weird and scared the hell out of me, to be honest. But he did answer my questions and didn't try killing me, which was nice." That last part was a joke, son. Ah-say , a joke.
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 9:11 pm
Hvergelmir giggled, amused by Aegir's matter-of-fact humor on the subject of people trying to murder him. The knowing, cheeky vibrance was a welcome breath of fresh air, when so many of them were so often feeling grim. "Oh, no, I meant -- that is, I've never met Obsidian," she clarified, since the physical description therefore couldn't help. "But his reputation's not exactly . . . it's more in the, uh, the Shoot 'Em All, Let God Sort 'Em Out vein of things, if you get me. I guess I didn't assume he'd bother with recruitment attempts." She shrugged. "Maybe it does make more sense that you weren't powered up . . . you got away safely, presumably? Or did he just let you leave?" It was, maybe, selfish to want to know more about this strange, offscreen figure in Titan's life -- this person who'd meant so much to him -- but surely there was no harm in asking. It was only a few questions among allies, after all.
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