"Ain't no one gonna make me pay for this damn game." The Mauvian huffed and drew himself up. He fancied that he looked quite intimidating with his chest puffed out and spine as straight as he could manage for a seated postured, but most of the 'security guards' (ie teenagers in fake uniforms) orbiting the football field only ignored him or attempted to shoo him away. Faust stood his ground most of the time, while he sat steadfast on the side of the long pavement walkway that led to the booths area. It wasn't much compared to a legitimate stadium but enough people filed into the bleachers to render these off-season football games as something worth checking into as a guardian.
Another teen passed in a white tee with puffy painted, shaky letters labeling him as 'SECURITY'. Faust snorted but the boy took no notice. He only went on, and told one of the smaller children that they weren't allowed to watch due to height restrictions at the bleachers. The child started to cry, but their marginally older friend stood up for the pair and eventually jockeyed to watch. "Damn straight, sister, you tell that b***h who's boss."
Overall, though, the number of interested parties filtering in slowed to a trickle and Faust hadn't discovered anyone of merit. He even took to lying down across the cool concrete where the roof kept it mostly shaded, and considered napping through most of the game. Of course, he could covertly sneak through the bleachers stands and attempt to dodge around people's feet, but between the likeliness of getting kicked or the possibility of capture and keeping, Faust decided that idea should be left for smaller cats. His large stature did not afford him any way to sneak in without attracting too much attention.
So the guardian cat finally wriggled around on the floor until he lay upside-down on his back with his legs spread apart in typical cat lounging fashion. Large paws folded down up near his chest and Faust shut his eyes to black slits among already black fur. The breeze kicked up, brushing his hair about slightly, but he found it refreshing. It was hard work to survey every teen that passed him by for any indication of the potential, and he hadn't found a single one.
He hoped he found more success after a quick rest. Maybe then he'd try breaking onto the field.
litian
your start! sorry it took so long!
Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2015 3:49 pm
Football or as Athene called it American Football, wasn’t something that Liryn could say paws on heart he was particularly interested in, however that didn’t mean that the stadium itself wasn’t worth checking out.
After all for a start, it wasn’t a place that he’d managed to - prior to today - nose around check out.
And for a second, he thought he could catch a whiff of some interesting smells coming from somewhere relatively close by.
It hadn’t been too difficult for him to pad his way over to the small line of people awaiting entrance and slip past the bored-looking man checking tickets as he made his way in.
He had slipped away from the moving line of people as they made their way towards the bleachers, purplish eyes taking in his surroundings in cheerful fascination as he padded around.
It was big - okay not as big as some of the ones that he had seen on the television back at the apartment - but still big and whilst he didn’t particularly feel like playing ‘dodge the foot’ aka exploring the bleachers there was still a fair deal to see.
And his explorations such as they were had netted him a bit of hot dog, the meat lukewarmish and cooling.
After batting at it absently for a bit, he had picked it up and looked for somewhere where he could settle down for a bit whilst he ate it before eventually deciding on padding down some concrete paving that lead off and towards some booths.
It seemed however that he hadn’t been the only one to think of heading this particular way however, as after padding along concrete for a bit he came across a large black cat lying lazily on their back.
Faust didn't start when he heard the telltale pads of cat's feet. In fact, he was quite surprised he heard them at all - with all the roaring monotony of the game, he found it difficult to hear himself think. The Mauvian wriggled slightly on his back, shifting into a position considered spine-breaking by humans, and shot a cockeyed glance toward a silver tabby walking in his direction.
Faust looked this way and that before proceeding with his normal voice. "Sheeit!" The words peeled out in his usual sass. "You snagged a hotdog? Damn, man, that's some good eats right there! Wanna jam up the condiments booth for some ketchup or somethin'? I hear they got sauerkraut this year." Smelled felt more accurate, but the method of this deduction seemed pointless to add. As his eyes traveled the cat, he noticed the telltale star that marked him as one of their own - which meant his words weren't falling on some dumb alleycat's deaf ears.
Not that Liryn looked like an alleycat. His coat looked far too well-kept for that role.
"Name's Faust," he finally offered while the large black cat wriggled to sit upright. He shook vigorously to dislodge some of the dirt and errant wrappers stuck to his long fur. One stubborn ketchup packet clung to him by the virtue of its crusted condiments but Faust paid it no mind - even as it stuck to his shoulder. "Guardian Cat extraordinaire. Been followin' Thraen around for a while, too. So i guess that makes me a senshi babysitter on top o' that s**t. Who're you?" It felt a bit awkward to ask the cat questions with a hot dog stuck in his mouth but he'd need to drop it eventually.
"Did you come to awaken senshi here, too? I thought this place'd be damn nice with all the people runnin' around. 'Course, I was jus' takin' a break there. Lookin' for potential tires a cat out." Faust nodded sagely.
litian
Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2015 3:29 pm
Liryn had thought the other cat asleep at first. At least he had up until the point where the larger cat had wriggled over slightly and graced him with a somewhat squinty-eyed glance.
It would have been hard to miss the gold star adorning the other cat’s - well other mauvian to be precise - forehead and so Liryn wasn’t surprised when the other started talking.
Having a piece of hotdog in one’s mouth wasn’t really conducive to giving replies though and so he dropped his future snack carefully close to his paws.
“It was just lying there” he said in answer to the other’s comment about the hot dog “And it seemed a shame to leave perfectly good food just lying going to waste” especially when he could just eat it instead.
“It’s nice to meet you Faust - I’m Liryn” he said before continuing on to add “And I know Thraen” he said. “From the Black Watch” before thinking about for a moment as the other mauvian wiggled up into more of a sitting position, ignoring the stray ketchup sachet as he amended it to “Well kind of know Thraen” because truth be told he’d only seen the tall blond eternal that looked like a walking garden - complete with flowers - on a few occasions. “Athene and Ida know him better.”
He lazily waved his tail as he admitted in answer to the awakening senshi comment “No,” because he hadn’t come here with the specific intention of looking to awaken senshi. “But I did come by this way to check this place out.”
"Aw sweet, you know the Blackwatch and Ida. Girl seemed pretty nice when I uh, went goin' through her things and saw her henshin pen. She been doin' ok?" Faust hadn't seen much of the girl since - or at all, come to think of it. Perhaps they both got too busy with their own respective duties to intersect again.
"Well, Liryn, we got tons o' s**t we could be doin' here. I mean, with all the people and the free food and the yellin' we can definitely Check Some s**t Out. And if you keep at it, you can find more than jjus' hot dogs. Beer, too. Ever tried that s**t? Tastes worse than your own a**, but if you drink it enough, you start to feel pretty good." Not that Faust understood why, or even cared to - it was enough that he connected cause with effect. Liryn himself didn't appear particularly disturbed with visiting the mock stadium, either.
"So tell me 'bout yourself, Liryn - I don't see too many Mauvians. Last one I met was kind of a b***h, but I don't think I'mma be runnin' into Ash anytime soon." The large cat stood and proceeded to walk in direction of the bleachers, hoping the other cat might follow.
"There ain't a ton goin' on here." Faust looked toward the fake security guards before he glanced toward the field. "I mean, there's kids runnin' around kickin' and throwin' balls at each other, and a bunch o' people screamin' 'bout it, but it don't seem like anything's goin' south here. No youma, no agents or mirror senshi. Looks boring as hell to me, though. Sheeit, I'd rather nap. Oh, but people like to try to pet you when you shoot under their feet on the bleachers. You should try it sometime. Then the guards get all weird and pissed off and try to catch yo' a**. I got caught once 'cuz I ran into this one fatass boot blockin' me, then I got thrown out, but it's pretty easy to get back in." Faust wanted to ask if Liryn was game, but the Mauvian didn't know him well enough yet.
litian
Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2015 10:16 am
Powered business sometimes felt like such a small world sometimes, even though Liryn knew that it really wasn’t.
After all there were senshi and knights to meet and different Home worlds and Wonders to angle invites ask said senshi and knights to show him.
There was also the Negaverse to work against and Order people to protect and keep a paw (or in some cases several paws) out for and Liryn was a mauvian who took said duty to protect very, very seriously.
But at times like this, when he came across others like Faust who knew of both Black Watch and his friends then yes powered business seemed kind of small - particularly as Faust also seemed to know Ash.
At Faust’s question, he cocked his head so that he could look up and sideways at the larger cat “Well I work with the PSSG mainly” he said. “So with Athene, Ida, Tsui and Chaonis and I actually live with Ida and Athene. We have Vespa living with us too until he can finish sorting things out.” Or at least that was what Athene and Ida had told him, although truth be told Vespa had been with them for almost a year now and had done so pretty much since his purification.
“I know Ash - she taught me how to do the senshi smartphone upgrade and she's really good with tech stuff - and I know Snowball. I’ve met a few other mauvians too, although Ash and Snowball are probably the two I know best. I also help out with the Black Watch like Ida and Athene and I like reading and I like to tinker with stuff. That’s pretty much me in a nutshell.”At least it was mostly him in a nutshell.
He continued “And I’m game for checking stuff out” he said in between another roar from back in the direction of the bleachers. “And I haven’t had beer before - Athene kind of gets all...” for a moment his voice trailed off as he tried to think up the best word, before settling for continuing with “He gets all funny about alcohol.”
If he just so happened to come across some, then he came across some - after all in this case what Athene didn’t know wasn’t going to hurt him.
Besides it was kind of quiet. Or it felt like that way given that he hadn’t exactly been picking on shed-loads of auras.
Okay if he was being honest then he hadn’t picked up on any other aura so far, not Order, Dark Mirror or Negaverse.
Strickenized
I'm not sure if Ida is still officially kidnapped so I'm kind of going to skirt around her a little, hope the tag is okay despite that. Also apologies for the double quote - the firt post was missing a paragraph which I've fixed
"Sheeit, I wish I lived with multiple senshi! Makes it so much easier to whip their asses into shape." Faust stood tall and proudly. He liked to imagine that his harebrained schemes that often netted him annoyed and incredulous people, fresh fish, and plenty of exercise often benefitted his Mauvian duties. As a result of some of his trash diving, Faust sported some serious legs for running and jumping. Street fights lent to his combat abilities. And perhaps most importantly, his thick and luxurious coat doubled as liberal protection against gripping hands and short claws. None of these fabulous traits were possible to pass on to senshi, but he liked to think he had more than a few tips to offer the average scout.
Now if only Thraen could get on with taking people home and installing them in his apartment.
"Never met Snowball, but Ash is hella conceited. Won't lift a damn paw on her own, either. Ain't worth her own a** in a fight, I bet. Damn pain in my a**. Gave me that fancy cat communicator, though, so I can't complain too much. Makes it hella easy for me to phone Thraen and tell him my food bowl's empty. But a smart phone upgrade? Never heard of one o' those. Wanna show me how to do that after we're done here?" If it was an upgrade, then it was an improvement worth passing on to any senshi he came across. He helped with Hyperborea's ring once, but the technical knowhow to make active improvements over simple networking begged learning.
That, and figuring out how to read.
"A'ight!" Faust leapt to his feet and about-faced toward the dirt path that led to the bleachers. "s**t's decided then - we gonna bust our furry asses through that damn bleacher stand and see what we can find! There's almost always some a*****e who leaves his beer cup down by his feet, and since they're all starin' at the game you can run up and take a sip like it ain't no thang. Then you jus' run like hell when they notice and hope you didn't git'cho a** drunk." Unfortunately, Faust lacked awareness that since this was an off-season game with no official sponsors, beer only flowed as readily as the rednecks sporting their Natty Cubes. Canned bears lacked the friendliness of open-mouthed cups for feline instigations.
"We'll jus' consider this a friendly exploration to get an idea of our skills. You jus' gotta follow me through the stands. If you see anythin' worth lookin' at, kick me or somethin' and we'll take a look. You game?"
litian
Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2015 10:11 am
To be honest the Ash that Faust described didn't really sound like the Ash that Liryn had come across.
Well at least not the 'won't lift a paw part'... After all Ash had helped him and Sheena check things in the Destiny City park on that night last year when the meteor shower fell and she had helped out with aura-blocking the ferry point on the night that the Black Watch had been set up, which had also been the night when she had shown him how to do the smart phone upgrade.
There was the cat communicator too in fact all and all, Liryn's experience of Ash had been that she had been pretty helpful - particularly with tech stuff... But then again perhaps Faust was thinking on a different Ash.
Although that brought on other things to ponder given that Liryn only really knew of the one Ash. Then again it wasn't as if he knew that many of his fellow mauvians.
'Sides that sort of pondering was better left for later or another day given that exploring the bleachers and the potential bits and bobs left by the crowd sounded a lot more interesting - even if it did lead to having to foot dodge.
"I'm game" he agreed cheerfully. "And sure I can show you the phone upgrade. We can hole up somewhere afters or even make it over to HQ if that works."
But that was something for afters - once they'd finished checking out over by the bleachers.
Strickenized
Sorry for the delay with this Strick, work is kind of crazy atm
"A'ight! Follow my lead, Liryn!" Faust puffed himself up to great height before he started marching toward the bleachers section. Evading the 'security guards' proved much too easy for agile felines, and he spared hardly a glance back to confirm if Liryn followed. Faust sprinted, then darted up the center strips of the bleachers that allowed most people to mount them, where several people remarked in awe that a cat was now charging through the crowd.
Faust took no more notice than to figure out who would try to make a grab for him. Naturally the security present tried to chase him down, and the rest of the crowd either tried to grab or shoo him away. Mostly they proved older folk watching their kids play, so darting out of hand and carefully skirting a few stray cups of beer left Faust in pretty good shape for finding the good stuff. At once he sprinted beneath a large pair of legs and laid in wait for a few moments while the rest of the crowd died down. Security continued to look, but after a while the heads returned to the game. He hoped Liryn fared better in navigating the bleacher stands.
Near Faust was a single, crumpled-looking cheese puff so coated in powder that it looked nearly red. When Faust leaned forward to sniff it, he detected nothing out of the ordinary. It actually smelled somewhat delightful, and Faust considered eating it on the spot. With no one around to stop him, he found no reason to leave it there unconsumed.
Faust took the puff in his jaws and crunched down on it immediately. Lack of lips left him crunching loudly, so he attracted some attention from the people sitting above him. They leaned down and looked at the feline with beady eyes, an eight-year-old girl and her six-year-old brother, both blue-eyed and all too excited to spy their first furbag in the stands. Faust waited only a moment before shooting off, and ran back down some of the bleacher stands in hopes of meeting up with Liryn once more.
"Meow!" He belted out, hoping the other guardian would hear him.
litian
Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2015 5:28 am
Given that Liryn was a cat who on occasion could (and did) play dodge the youma, evading first the security guards and then the occasional grasping hand from the spectators watching the game as he made his own way through the bleachers turned out to be pretty much kitten-play.
Or perhaps it was the fact that they had been distracted by the commotion caused by the larger mauvian.
Liryn very much preferred to think it was more the former however, because whilst he was no longer the stray that he had been prior to first meeting and awakening Mizar and then later finding Athene and the other PSSG members, he certainly wasn't a slouch.
He had also found that he was small enough, with a bit of careful manoeuvring to squeeze into the space along the row that was underneath the seats and was happily investigating some of the bits and bobs of discards for anything useful and whilst a part of him was a little disappointed that there was no food, he took the opportunity whilst out of sight from prying eyes to slip a few bits into his subspace pocket.
In fact he had just finished up slipping the last such bit away when he heard the sound of Faust meowing with the agreed 'found something interesting sound' and answered it with a meow of his own, the sound echoing about and around in the space.
Unfortunately getting back out was not quite as easy as wriggling his way in had been, although after a bit of effort - a fair bit of effort - he finally managed it, plopping back on the centre stair-strip in time to land in front of a pair of legs ascending the stairs.
It was perhaps the man's surprise that saved him from being grabbed and Liryn took the opportunity to dash under the nearest row of chairs, his small size - in this - to his advantage.
