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 Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 9:34 am
It was getting late. Babylon had been just about ready to call it a night and head home, but he felt an eternal senshi in the area. His social life had been lacking lately, and the chances of running into an old friend seemed decent, so he pinched himself awake and hopped after the signature - if it turned out to be someone he didn't want to talk to, he could always bail at the last second. Nothing could have prepared him for who the senshi was when he caught up to her. "Ch-Chariklo?" Babylon stammered. When had this happened? How had this happened? Last he'd heard, corruption into the dark mirror was a one-way street. Had something changed? Why hadn't he been informed? "I mean," said Babylon, course correcting. "Not that I'm not thrilled to see you - just - Let's start that over. Wow, you look great. How long's it been?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 9:45 am
A restless energy had driven Chariklo out into the night to patrol. A quick glance up at the sky reassured her that R'lyeh had indeed faded and she allowed herself to relax slightly. Still, it wasn't something that she wanted to think about. And as luck would have it, distraction arrived in the form of a Knightly aura.
Finding a quiet enough place to sit and wait, she decided that if it was a friendly or neutral party, she could gossip. If not and it was a Knight who couldn't look beyond her past in the Dark Mirrors, well... she'd deal. What she had not expected was that the Knight would be Babylon. Or that he would be so completely caught off guard. Really, it was actually kind of funny.
"It's me," she said with a slight smile, reaching into a pocket of her fuku and withdrawing the tiny light that he'd given her over the winter. "Don't think that there're too many be-mohawked blondes running around with these."
She tucked the never-go-out back into her fuku and grinned outright.
"Thanks. You, on the other hand, look like someone just snuck up behind you and clubbed you with a two by four. Last time we talked was last winter, so I guess it's not fair of me to laugh too hard at your shock. How're things for you and your lady?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 12:48 pm
Babylon laughed - did he really look that tired? Or was his hair just that bad? "Yeah," he said, "I don't give those out to just anyone." Which didn't explain how Chariklo had come to be a member of the white moon, but he figured they'd get to that. He was glad to see she still had it - hopefully it had proven useful as more than just a trinket. "Avalon and I are doing great," he said, and considered, not for the first time in a while, that for them to have a three year old child five years from last summer, they would have to get started on that soon - but so many things had already happened to put them off that path, so it wasn't like he was expecting it at this point. "No wedding plans yet, but I guess I can put you on the guest list for when we do get around to it?" He sighed, a sheepish smile crossing his face. "I've gotta ask - how'd you get out of the Dark Mirror? And when? Last I heard, that court was a black hole." They hadn't seen each other in about half a year - that left plenty of time for him to be out of the loop. "How've you been since you left?" He added. "Getting by okay? I have a bit of a network for helping people after they purify - I'd have offered if I'd known. Do you still need any help?" Better late than never, right?
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Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2015 6:17 am
Smiling a little and nodding as Babylon spoke, Chariklo was suddenly struck with shock when he mentioned wedding invites. Blinking a little, she realized that here were other considerations she'd never thought of when she'd so desperately been hunting Zirconia down.
"I... guess you could," she replied slowly. "I'm not exactly a liability anymore if it comes to identities and s**t, huh."
The thought pleased her. She didn't have to worry about hiding who she was from her friends anymore. She'd have been perfectly happy with silly chatter along those lines. Except Babylon asked the questions she'd been hoping he wouldn't. BUt had known he would anyway.
"Couple of months now, I think. Umm... a cat lady who stopped being a cat lady did it for me. I honestly still can't be sure of how exactly it happened. But she pulled some stuff out of my starseed."
She left out the part where Zirconia had passed right the ******** out after. It wouldn't add any clarity to the story and wasn't all that pertinent. She smiled again, touched by the knight's concern.
"I've been adjusting. I still try to walk through mirrors out of habit, you know? It's a wonder that I haven't broken my nose yet. But other than that, it's been all right. Ida let me crash on her couch for a few days until I got my affairs in order. Benefits of living in a computer age and having money, I guess. I had to move out of my old house though. I'm pretty sure the Negaverse was watching it somehow."
Flinching away internally from the thoughts that brought of that stupid mountain ride and the beating she'd recieved, Chariklo reached out and patted Babylon's arm.
"You're a good guy, you know? But I think I'm all right. Found a nice new house and moved in. It's just trying to tell myself that I don't have to be paranoid that's giving me any issue these days."
She was silent for a moment before bursting into laughter.
"Okay, and the one bathroom's plumbing. I don't suppose you know anyone who can fix that for me?"
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Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2015 8:18 am
Babylon nodded - "Yeah, I think i know who fits that description. Mutual friend." He was worried about Zia - she'd gone dark. He hadn't heard from her in a few months, and trying to contact her was getting him nowhere. In Destiny City, that tended to make him assume the worst. "Have you heard anything from her since? She's been out of touch. I'm worried." Anyway, it sounded like she was getting along just fine - Babylon felt a little bit silly for offering. Chariklo had a lot of friends on the Order side, of which he was probably one of the less important ones. Of course she'd been taken care of. He laughed sheepishly. "Seems like you're all set - oh?" Maybe he could be of use to her after all. "I actually do know a fair amount about plumbing, seeing as I manage a building in my spare time," he said. "I can probably help, or at least get you in touch with people who can. I'm not licensed in anything, but I know the building codes and, I don't mean to brag, but I'm a bit of a jack of all trades."
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Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2015 9:42 am
Shaking her head regretfully, Chariklo felt like a heel for not hunting Zirconia down sooner.
"Not since that night. Though Hver might know more. She took Zirconia home after she passed out."
It was the best she could offer information-wise. And in spite of the gloom of not knowing what had happened to the sorceress, she had to smile a little at Babylon's offer.
"Dude, if you can figure out why the shower turns on every time I flush the toilet in there, I'd be thrilled. As it is, I'm about ready to start advertising as a haunted house and see if I can't make some extra cash over Halloween. I'm just a spoiled little rich girl in my spare time, so I am not nearly so useful as you."
She laughed a little, her merriment clearly aimed at herself and the public face she wore when not out being a warrior of love and justice.
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Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2015 11:02 am
Babylon sighed - Hvergelmir was an easy enough person for him to talk to, being one of his best friends and all, but he still didn't like the sound of that. If Chariklo hadn't seen her since... well, he had a really bad feeling at the bottom of his gut. "Thanks," he said, trying not to show his nerves. "I hope nothing bad's happened to her." It wouldn't be the first time Zia had disappeared for a while, but just because she had a pattern didn't mean he had to be any more at ease. As for her shower, "Yeah," said Babylon, "I definitely don't think it should be doing that, but I can take a look. Just probably not tonight - don't have any of my tools." He dug around in his coat pockets for a bit before finally producing a pad of sticky notes and a pen. He scribbled something, ripped the top note off, and held it out to Chariklo. "That's my number. I work full-time on top of the building management thing, but we can figure something out. Maybe a night or a weekend." He paused. "I'm really glad to see you wearing white for a change," he added.
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Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2015 4:20 am
Accepting the slip of paper, Chariklo carefully tucked it into her fuku and smiled.
"I will definitely be calling," she murmured with a grin. Though the grin faded with his next words and was replaced by a slight grimace. "I think you are one of a handful who feels that way. Best I've been able to tell is that everyone else thinks a a ******** traitor. Which.. I guess i am in a way, huh?"
It hurt to think about it. It would probably always hurt. And there really wasn't anything she could do about it. It still sucked.
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Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2015 8:58 am
Babylon frowned, his brow furrowing deeply in concern. He certainly hoped it was no one on their side who was treating Chariklo as a traitor, but he wasn't nearly so naive as to believe that instinctively. There were plenty of purification-skeptics in Order's ranks. Of course, if Chariklo was still mostly talking to her old friends, then of course everyone thought she was a traitor. From the Dark Mirror's point of view, she very clearly was. It didn't take a genius to figure that out. "Who's been bullying you?" he asked. "I'll beat them up." He was joking. Mostly.
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Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2015 9:14 am
Quirking an eyebrow, Chariklo shot a half-grin at Babylon before replying, "Oh, so you're gonna taken on the whole Dark Mirror Court then? I'm impressed. No one's ever offered to walk into an a**-whoopin' for me before."
Reaching out she gave the knight a gentle, playful punch on the arm to show she was mostly joking around. Then, her expression became serious.
"They'll either get over it or not. It can't be an easy thing to be confronted by something that you always believed was completely impossible. Much less that the person who's done it did it willingly and with both eyes wide open. It has to come as a terrible shock, I suppose."
It was clear that she'd spent time considering this. And equally clear that she did not regret her decision in the least.
"It is what it is," she whispered.
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Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2015 1:07 pm
Babylon pursed his lips together and nodded slowly. He'd made an offer, but they both knew he wasn't in a position to take on the entire Dark Mirror court. He wasn't even that good a fighter, when it came down to it - he could swing at things awkwardly with his lantern and hope that rescue came before he died. But what he was was a good friend, and a good shoulder to cry on. "Yeah," Babylon whispered back, holding his arms out to offer Chariklo a hug. "They're gonna be bitter, but you did what was right for you, and you don't have to apologize for that. Not to anyone."
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Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2015 6:00 am
For a moment, Chariklo stood there, not sure whether she should take the offered comfort or not. But, like Hver and Ida, he seemed to understand and wasn't going to hold it against her. Stepping into his arms, she rested her forehead against his shoulder. She couldn't help the tired tears that managed to ooze out and hoped that she wouldn't get his shoulder all soggy.
"Not much in the habit of apologizing for anything I choose to do," she murmured. "Not even sure I would know how to apologize."
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Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2015 4:35 pm
Babylon laughed and patted her on the back a few times. "There you go," he said. "They wouldn't deserve it, anyway, even if you knew how." Breaking the hug, he took a step back from her Chariklo but continued to smile brightly at her. "Their loss is my gain," he said. "I'm glad you're on our side. And I'll fix your shower - just say the word." He was glad to see she was getting along so well. It was hard to leave your whole life behind, but Charklo seemed like she'd stuck the landing.
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Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2015 4:41 am
If Ares could see me now, Chariklo thought, her head'd ******** explode. Still, Babylon had a point. Wiping the back of her hand against her eyes, she smiled back and even managed to laugh a little.
"I'm glad I'm on your side too. And because we're friends and all, I'll even refrain from bein' a wiseass. Even if you did leave yourself wide open for it just now."
Crinkling her nose at him, the tall senshi winked and seemed to actually relax. Giving her fuku a pat to make sure the slip of paper with his number on it was still with her, she flashed another grin his way.
"I will most certainly be calling," she said as she touched her fingertips to her forehead in a casual salute. "It was good to see you again, bro."Silverah I am such a lazysaurus :<
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Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2015 9:32 am
Babylon returned the salute, and he smiled at her, but if there was one thing to be said about Babylon, it was that he smiled easily and often. "You too, bro," he said, turning to leave. Yup. Everything was going just fine tonight.
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