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 Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2015 9:27 pm
He'd grown up going to theater as a child, but Auguste had not been back for quite some time. Almost two years had passed since he'd been able to sit for a play or a dance or a show, and most of that time had been taken by his schooling, moving, trying to figure out a new life living on his own - and then apparently moving in with his new roommate, as well as taking care of a new puppy.
Not that he minded, however. But he did enjoy going out every now and then, and it seemed for the first time in a long time, Auguste had an evening to himself to spend how he pleased. He'd taken a look at the schedule of the Destiny City Ballet Company, and, pleased to see that they were doing Cinderella, had gotten himself a ticket for that particular day.
Dressed in clothing appropriate for a night at the Destiny City Theatre, Auguste got there early and slipped into a seat near the front right, settling down comfortably. He tucked one leg over the other and opened the program he'd been given, eyes scanning the elegant script on the front page.
None of the names were recognizable, but this was to be expected; Auguste, after all, knew hardly anyone in Destiny City except for Nadia, and his own family, and that didn't quite count, seeing as how Nadia was his roommate and his family was...well, his family.
But he wasn't going to think of them for now; he was here, taking a break and relaxing, and it had been so long since his last relaxing evening that Auguste was quite looking forward to it. The lights above his head dimmed, the room grew quiet, and a spotlight flickered into existence, directed on the stage in front of him.
Cinderella was starting.
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Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2015 10:26 pm
Prokofiev's gorgeous score started the opener; Act I was Cinderella's Kitchen and though there were no voices or words the story was easily understood not only because it was such a well-known fairytale, but also because the ballerinas were excellent and conveying emotion. Action rose and fell with music and dance, from Cinderella's slavish life to her step-family's excitement over the invitation to her broken heart at being rendered unable to go. The second part of Act I was in the family's garden, of course - where the Fairy Godmother would 'transform' Cinderella's ragged clothes into a beautiful gown fit for the prince's ball. Mazurka and Entrance of the Prince brought Act II up, with the Prince's jesters dancing for the amusement of the Court; it was then that the audience would get their first look at the Prince with his queued blond hair and extravagant costuming. White tights and slippers with a white and gold brocade 'jacket' made to look like a vest and waistcoat, with a silky white cravat at his throat. His expression is tolerant but bored as the various marriage prospects dance to lure him, but he declines. Until a transformed Cinderella comes in, whereupon they share a dance together. The story progresses are per usual, with Act III signaling the start of the 'hunt' for the owner of the glass slipper and ending with the marriage of the happy pair (in brilliant white costumes with small bits of blue-white and gold for accents). From start to end the program ran two hours and thirty six minutes, with two intermissions; after it was over some people stayed to wait, perhaps to get an autograph from some of the dancers on their programs or to speak with someone they knew. A few even were allowed back to the dancer's dressing rooms to offer flowers or whatnot, but only for those dancers that actually had their own small dressing rooms. It was safer that way. kuropeco As a note, they are doing Profokiev's Cinderella specifically. And I've left it kind of open in case you wanted to have him do something like get autographs or whatnot before stepping out~
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Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2015 11:10 pm
As the music began and the curtain rose Auguste found himself fully and totally immersed in the show, sitting forward a little in his seat, eyes wide, his fingers still absently holding his program. Everything about the way the dancers moved was fluid, graceful, arms extended outwards in long lines, legs bent elegantly to all but glide across the stage. There was something so very mesmerizing about the ballet, and the music filtered through Auguste's senses like water.
The prince was beautiful, all golden hair and white brocade, defining both extravagance and royalty. Auguste watched him pirouette across the hardwood, as light and nimble as a butterfly, Cinderella spinning around in a wide arc to grasp his outstretched hand. The music dipped, then rose again, soft and sweet to signal the romance, and Auguste sighed alongside those next to him, eyes fluttering half shut.
It took him a few moments to drag himself out of the show by the end. Auguste was deep within the emotions and the music of the ballet, and returning to the real world after such a delicate, outstanding performance was not only difficult, but reluctant. He debated asking for an autograph from the prince and Cinderella, but a glance towards the front stage saw them surrounded by others excitedly talking, offering flowers, words of excitement.
Next time, Auguste thought, a little ruefully, as he exited the theatre's main room, program still clutched in hand. I'll come back and see it again.
Instead of going through the front doors, Auguste slipped through the back. It was faster this way, an easier path to his new apartment, but it also meant ducking into the alleyway behind the theatre. He tugged his coat more securely around him, white hair shining like a beacon, and wished he thought to bring a scarf, or perhaps a hood.
Something moved behind him - a scuttling of feet, a low growl, and Auguste frowned, picking up the pace. He glanced behind him, heart pounding, and something black and goopy oozed outwards from behind a dumpster, slapping wet feet on the gravel ground.
Auguste gave a yell of surprise and terror, scuttling backwards, and ran into the wall behind him.
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Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2015 4:27 pm
It took a bit of doing, but Colin and Jess (the dancer playing Cinderella) were able to make it through their admirers fairly quickly - they were old hat at this, after all. He stripped out of the extremely hot costume, wiped his make-up off, and got redressed in street clothes. Leaving the building was always done via one of the back doors, otherwise he'd be caught by god only knew who trying to exit via the front. As the blond neared the doors, he felt a chaotic signature and slowed. Right outside? It's not an officer...must be a monster. Well monster, you picked the wrong place to haunt tonight. With a quick turn he bolted towards the stairs leading to the roof; transforming inside the building was far, far too risky - he tried as much as possible to protect his workplace from the War...and having him constantly powering up inside would be like lighting a signal fire. Transforming on top of the building was bad enough, but one could play that off as being in the area, right? The blond burst through the door to the roof and skidded to a stop - no one was up there. Good. He dropped his dance bag (never leave home without it!) and yanked his henshin pen out at the same time the Youma's feet were making creepy noises skulking in the darkness. "Aegir Planet Power, Make-up!" Once again he was pleased that no one but his ex had ever seen him transform; moments later Super Sailor Aegir stood on the roof, ready to go. From behind the dumpster more of the youma swelled into the slice of illumination, seeming to build on itself until it curved back down to hiss at Auguste. Food. There was food here. There was often food to be found in alleys, it had learned. Had been told and sent. Several limbs seemed to form from the undulating, black-green slime until the beast had a semi-centipedal upper shape. Thick globs of some ungodly, unknowable slime dropped to the cement before sliding back to be reabsorbed into the beast's lower body, which was still mostly in shadow. It clacked at him, a sound something like bones being struck together. The food was putting out the reek of fear and trying to escape. But it would not, no. One of those insectile, oil-sick looking limbs reached for the white haired man, a second following a moment later as though powered by individual thought and means. Aegir looked over the roof ledge and saw a head of ghost-white hair - a civilian, of course - being menaced by a youma. A slimy, gross one. Of course. I only ever get the slimy ones. Ugh. "Hey! Ugly!" As the monster half tilted it's misshapen head to look up towards where it thought the voice came from, Aegir had backed up to get a running start. He vaulted over the edge of the roof and landed between Auguste and the creature, after having knocked the offending limbs out of way using his feet and gravity. It hissed in pain and retracted both damaged limbs, the pieces left by August and Aegir crumbling to dust and then blowing away. It knew. This was a senshi. This was better food, if it could devour it! Losing a few limbs was an acceptable risk, pain was nothing compared to what might await it should failure become an option. Auguste was safe, for the moment, as it contemplated - as much as it could - how to best get the senshi and then the first food. kuropeco let me know if I should change anything for you, ok? :3
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Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2015 3:26 pm
Auguste wondered if, perhaps, he'd stepped into some sort of nightmare.
Strangely, he wasn't terrified as he probably should have been, in spite of his initial yell. Maybe because his body had started moving on autopilot, mind frozen in state of suspended disbelief as he stared at the horror in front of him. It was enormous, towering over him with more scuttling arms and legs than any living thing should have had. A clicking noise was emanating from its pincers, a low hiss of hunger, slime dripping along the majority of its body and splashing disgustingly on the cement.
He was not normally one who swore - that was quite ungentlemanly, as his mother would have reminded him - but right now Auguste was seriously considering it.
Inching along the brick wall of the building, he tried to see if he could possibly sneak away without it noticing - but the beast turned its head towards him, snapping and clicking and dripping and Auguste felt his escape route dissipate. His fingers were clenched so tightly together his knuckles were white, even paler than his normally light skin, and ironically, his last thought was - I wish I'd asked the prince and princess for their autographs - before Auguste closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable bite.
It never came. Instead there was a shout and a thump, and something - or rather, someone had landed in front of him, and Auguste opened his eyes again, staring. They were unfamiliar (he gave the outfit a questioning look), and Auguste was fairly certain that they were both about to die, but within seconds the young man had knocked off several of its limbs, withering them away into nothingness.
Auguste scrambled along the wall, simply trying to get out of the way, and tripped over a broken cardboard box, falling and scraping his palms on the rough ground. He hardly noticed this, however, in his haste not to be eaten, hair falling across his face - and now the fear was beginning to settle in, stomach twisting.
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Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2015 11:57 pm
If he had stepped into a nightmare, it was one that served as the curly haired senshi's waking world...which really didn't say much for the way things worked in Destiny City. Aegir couldn't afford to look back and check after what the civilian was doing lest the youma attack, but he could hear the pale haired person frantic and trying to escape...which was probably not the smartest thing because the goddamned monster had two ends and was quite capable of swinging either it's pincer-bearing head or club-ended tail at them. He blocked a heavy swing of the tail with crossed arms and was sent sliding back into the brick right before Auguste's bent form. Aegir's teeth clacked as the air was forced from his lungs, but he only glowered and pushed from the wall as the beast's limbs twitched at them in a considering manner. "Try to stay down, I've got this." Lying to a civilian again? Tsk tsk tsk... But it was for the best, wasn't it? Whoever this was, they'd react better - think more clearly - if they thought he had a handle on the monster situation. Even if he didn't. Yet. Aegir lept right for the oily-looking beast's head as it snaked down for a bite, fist connecting solidly with one of the pincers, breaking part of it and turning that to dust. Using some of the insectile limbs for leverage, the senshi of silence went from monster to the dumpster. "That's right, good monster. Keep lookin' at me." Aegir made kissing sounds at the hissing, clacking youma, taunting it; when it dove it's head down to bite, the blond launched himself into the air again as though gravity didn't apply to him, flipping once to land before Auguste again. "You make too much noise, let's take care of that!" Light swirled around the senshi, golden and glowing. "Aegir Golden Mute!" A wide band of energy snaked towards the youma, winding around the main part of it's body and pulling the darting limbs flush to it's slimey body segments. No sound came out as it thrashed wildly, but the golden binding solidified into rope, binding the creature and limiting at least some of it's movement. Man, but he was tired already! Adrenaline from the show and the present danger would only last so long, then he'd be down to grit. Sweat ran down the back of his neck and pooled in the fluffs of his collar; he needed a short breather - a good chance to make sure the civilian was okay. "You okay? So far?" Aegir flexed his fingers, the bared knuckles already scraped raw and stinging. Thank god I'm stubborn. This ******** is going down.The youma continued thrashing, slamming it's head and tail sections against the brick and the dumpster, flecks of black dust filling the air as it damaged itself and caused already damaged parts to further degrade. It could not escape. It wanted blood.
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Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2015 11:54 am
His palms were bleeding, but Auguste was more focused on trying not to be eaten than this fact. He scrambled along the brick wall, heart hammering against his chest, and brushed his hair away from his face, the long white strands having fallen free from his usual neat braid.
The - well, Auguste thought he was a human, he just looked a bit different than what most people would, what with that outfit he was wearing - had shouted for him to stay back, and Auguste complied without arguing, because he sure as hell wasn't about to get involved. He skittered sideways, hearing the sickening clicking noise of the creature, and saw shadows moving, silhouettes against the moonlight, and there was too much going on to make sense of what was happening.
A yell, a flash of light, and a shout - Auguste gave a nod, realized he probably needed to formulate words, and said quickly. "I'm all right!"
There was a crash; the creature had slammed its head against something (the dumpster, Auguste realized belatedly), and a horrible screeching noises, clicking and clacking, many legs sliding and rustling. He shifted again, creeping sideways, keeping his back against the wall.
"Erm," he said, feeling as though he should at least return the favor. "Are you all right?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 3:00 pm
Aegir flashed Auguste a grin and a wink while he had a moment to breathe, "Yeah, but it's not over. Try to stay low and still, moving around's just gonna make it chase you." The beast flailed and started to break free from the ropes holding it - just as Aegir had known would happen. "Oops, thirty seconds in... Back in I go~" Despite how confident he sounded, the super senshi wasn't entirely certain how he would pull off destroying the beast. But maybe, if he used some of the broken bits of concrete...or something. He'd just have to think on his feet, that was all...it was good he was accomplished at doing such a thing. And jumping, which is what he did, driving himself right back at the beast's snapping maw and slamming a fist into it to knock the clacking head back into the brick wall before it could get entirely free. As the last bit of his earlier magic frayed and dissipated, Aegir sent a shard of concrete into the creature's head with a spinning kick that was half ballet, half bullshit and surprisingly effective. "Yes!" It's head was crumbling to dust, body falling apart in a sort of domino effect that crept along like the striations in marble all along it's segmented body. But it could still attack and hurt and it's near-death throes sent the arse end of it swinging into Auguste and the senshi, flinging both into the dumpster and wall once ********>" Aegir didn't appreciate the bruising he'd gotten and summoned up his magic again, " Golden Mute!" Instead of one thick band this time two smaller ones flowed from the senshi and solidified on the youma's body; Aegir held the ends and yanked back, eyes narrowed with concentration. The faster it turned to dust, the better off Auguste was. "Die already, you b*****d!" The bands tightened, cutting into the already crumbling flesh; Aegir's muscles tensed as he lept backward once more, yanking both lines and ripping the beast into three dust-crumbling pieces. It died with no sound, just a black particulate that seemed to be blown about by a mysterious wind. And Aegir? He stood with his bleeding hands and tired body, proud and fierce and looking like he'd like nothing better than to spit on the thing's grave. kuropeco lmk if you would rather keep auguste from being flung!
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Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 3:48 pm
The grin and the wink did serve to at least put some of Auguste's nerves at ease, though dismissing them entirely was impossible in this sort of situation. It was mostly because he had little idea of what was happening, other than the fact that a handsome man in a curious, slightly fluffy-around-the-edges uniform was fighting against a creature a little too reminiscent of an enormous, slimy insect.
Auguste tried to do what the other was saying and keep out of the way (out of sight, out of mind, right, he thought); but a few seconds after the man had not only crushed his fist into the creature's head, as well as kick it (with what Auguste did have to appreciate was quite a graceful move), it swung its tail out, and hard. It caught Auguste around the stomach, and with a gasp and a half-strangled wheeze, he found himself flung entirely into the air, crashing painfully into the side of the dumpster.
He crumpled to the ground, gasping and winded, trying to get air back into his lungs. Auguste was dimly aware that things were still going on around him, that there was yelling and a golden light, but he was clutching his side, a massive bruise blossoming unseen against his skin.
He looked up just in time to see the man yanking on the strings, the crumbling dust of the creature dissipating into the air, and then all was quiet.
Auguste was momentarily speechless. Then -
"Ce que l'enfer était cette chose , il a essayé de me tuer, chers cieux , je ne sais pas ce qui est arrivé , je pense que je suis presque vient de mourir , ce qui est arrivé sur la terre - "
The rapid-fire, flustered French eventually gave way to English once more Auguste wiping his brow with the back of his hand.
"Are you - what happened?" he asked shakily. "What was that thing?"
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Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2015 9:54 pm
The white-haired guy was okay. Aegir had been about to wheeze out a question as to whether or not he was okay after being slammed - because that had hurt and he was powered, which made him tougher - but the rush of French outrage that poured from him said it all. "Well..." Aegir went over to help Auguste stand, offering him a partially gloved hand, "Honestly, you don't really want to know. But uh, it was something called a youma. Monster works really well though, and they're always hungry. Dumb ones like that guy are, anyway." "I'm Aegir, by the way. I fight those things and protect civilians from their masters too. Are you okay? I mean, this is not normal for you...or you wouldn't be surprised it tried to kill you." Yes, he understood French, even spoke it fairly well, but whether or not Auguste would catch that with how rattled he was...well, it was iffy. The blond smiled brightly at his companion in the low light; he was exhausted now, but they were alive and that was important and also enough to keep him standing tall and straight, despite the heaviness of his limbs.
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Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2015 8:29 am
When Auguste got stressed - or just overly emotional in general, which didn't happen a lot, but upon occassion - he had a tendency towards bursting out into his native language of French. It was a habit he had yet to actually break, and a lot of the time, it was simply just nonsensical, but admittedly this was one of those times where it was very stressful.
He glanced at the hand offered to him and then, after only a moment's hesitation, Auguste reached out, sliding his own fingers into the man's and allowing himself to be pulled to his feet. He winced a little, glancing down at himself, and then frowned.
"Youma?" Auguste repeated, and then shuddered. "It was...well, as unpleasant as can be, I have to admit. I've never run into such a thing before. I didn't even know they existed in the first place, but it seems like I've been much mistaken in that respect, no?"
Aegir. A name for the face, which seemed a very nice face, at the very least. Auguste took a little breath to steady himself and then gave him a wan smile.
"I'm...well, I supposed not all right, exactly, but I'm not terrible - " His eyes cut to Aegir, the smile turning a little less wan and a little more amused. "Vous comprenez français," he said, and it seemed he had noticed the little quirk after all. He swept an idle hand across his hair. "That is nice to know, or it would be, if I were not so...well, you probably know." Auguste waved a hand, exhaling a breath, and glanced at the other.
"Thank you," he said sincerely. "Very much. I appreciate it a great deal."
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Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2015 9:24 pm
His gloves were shredded, knuckles bloody, but he still smiled at Auguste as though he weren't knackered and hadn't been knocked about. The smaller man winced - after the knock and the scare he'd had...well, it would be unsurprising that he'd end up bruised the next day. "Mmmhmm, that's what we call them." Aegir released Auguste's hand and placed his own on his companion's shoulder lightly. "They're horrible, they don't always look the same either...but they're always nasty." Truly, he felt bad that this civilian had been unwittingly pulled into this world. "Unfortunately. In Destiny City such things exist....but there are also people like me, who fight them." 'You'll probably feel like crap tomorrow, be all bruised up." The curly-haired senshi seemed saddened by this, but then responded to Auguste's wan smile with one of his own. "Oui, je comprends le français. Il est très pratique. Je parle aussi Klingon et Vulcain, mais ceux qui sont moins utiles." He glanced about, frowning as he realized that this fellow...still needed to get home. Preferably unmolested. "Do you live near here? I can escort you home, if you'd like." Aegir was doing his best to not sway or appear tired, but he really was quite exhausted - but that didn't mean he would have felt right about leaving Auguste on his own.
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Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2015 1:08 pm
The other man - because in spite of...well, wearing what he was wearing and the fact that he clearly had some sort of strange, mystical power about him, he was still undeniably a man - was looking very worse for the wear, and Auguste's gaze automatically went to his hands, a worried expression on his face.
"Are you all right?" he asked in concern, his head full of things like youma and horrible and nasty. "And you - you fight these, ah...youma, it sounds..." A shudder ran through him, up and down his spine, though Auguste's expression remained relatively calm, except for a flicker of his eyes and a tinge of a flush to his cheeks. "It sounds as though things are a lot more...different than I thought, here."
Aegir's smile, though, was reassuring and warm. Auguste's eyes widened briefly at the French and then he let out a little laugh, lifting a hand to curl his fingers over his mouth to muffle the sound, eyes lighting up a little, bright against the darkness.
"I'm not so sure how helpful Klingon and Vulcan would be, but it's very cool that you know them, anyway," he said, and then blinked, and the hand at his face extended as he waved it hastily.
"No, no," he said quickly. "I live around here, I shouldn't - I shouldn't take up your time, you've done a lot for me already, I don't want to inconvenience you."
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Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2015 1:41 pm
Sweet of the guy to worry about him, even if this bone-deep weariness was the whole aim of his patrolling when he was already exhausted. Aegir would be fine - and maybe he'd get some actual sleep for a few hours thanks to the wide-eyed civilian! "I'm fine, just a bit scraped up is all. Nothing to worry about." The senshi frowned a bit at the tightness in the other man's tone, the way his gaze flit about. "Mmhmm, I do. More often than I'd like, truthfully." But their a helluva lot easier to deal with than the Officers, that's for sure. Not gonna scare him with those bastards though. Not his problem yet, hopefully never."Oh, are you new to Destiny City?" Tired or not, he was interested. Besides, Aegir could lean against the bricks and take some weight off his aching legs and feet. And watch the civilian's expression light up because of something as simple as his being conversational in French. "Yeah, no. It's weird here. Nice too, but weird." "More helpful than you'd imagine, online or at a convention. Here? Not so much, really." And then the guy was waving him off and Aegir decided he was having none of that nonsense - he understood not wanting some weirdo in sparkle-sash knowing where you lived, but White-haired Guy wasn't about to escape having an escort to his street, at least! "Considering I offered...why not accept? I'll escort you to your street, just in case there are more lurking about. You should be fine at that point." He flashed another tired but amused smile, "Besides my friend, you're screwed. I'm stubborn as hell...and if you say no, I'll just follow you on the rooftops to make sure you're safe anyway. Which will be more work for me." Give in, I'm too tired to want to argue but I will do it.
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Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2015 9:51 am
"You should take care to get those looked at," said Auguste, in spite of being told not to worry, and he gave the scrapes on Aegir's hands a concerned look, eyes heavy with worry. This man had just saved him, after all; he couldn't really return the favor, but he could at least make sure that he was going to be taken care of.
His head of white hair nodded. "I just moved here from France a few weeks ago," said Auguste, with a little smile. "It's a bit of a change, but it's been nice. Well..." he amended, with a glance back into the alleyway and gave a minute, almost invisible shudder before hastily returning his attention back to the blond. "Nice, and a bit strange."
Not to mention lonely and a little exciting and a little frightening and a little interesting all at once. Auguste opened his mouth to protest the invitation to accompany him - but the way Aegir was sagging against the brick made him close his mouth and just accept it.
"Okay," he said softly. "But, um - "
Auguste's eyes were still worried, but this time they were laced with a certain amount of gratitude.
"Thank you," he said. "If - I mean, I suppose the chances of us running into each other again are slim, but if we ever do, I'd like to make it up to you somehow."
He wasn't exactly sure how, but somehow, someday, he would.
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