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 Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2015 12:44 am
Being a senshi was a strange thing. Supposedly there was this big war going on, and that wasn't hard to disbelieve when your awakening to it was literally being eaten alive by a monster. What was harder to believe is why someone with no fighting ability or experience, or even just very good physical fitness, would be tasked with being a soldier for the Good Guys. Everyone loved an under dog, but this was a bit much. Eros didn't patrol so much as just... go out and experience the city in a new and unusual way. She prowled roof tops, raced the train, and once, broke into a liquor store to swipe a small bottle of brandy just because she could. It had been thrilling and offered new and exciting opportunities for the young woman. She didn't want to make it a habit, it was good to know she could. Perched on top of the bank on the corner, it's windows dark for the night below her swinging feet, Eros sat on the ledge of the roof and watched the people go by between her cute boots with their kitten heels. Who decides how these outfits turn out? Is it just a random thing, or does it have a purpose or a design? Does the cloth cover more as the temp drops, or will I need a winter coat eventually? Her mid-riff baring ensemble, leggings cropped above the knee and arms bare, promised a cold winter. Oddly enough, she was pretty sure sitting here powered down would have seen her chilled by now, poor circulation and low body fat sending her scurrying for the nearest coffee shop to warm up outside and in. Did the power come with cold resistance? If it did, she'd be tempted to stay powered up all of the time, just to feel warm. There was a nagging sense of unease suddenly, barely noticed until it grew strong enough it couldn't be ignored. It set Eros to shifting in her seat, but she valiantly attempted to ignore it. There were no threats in sight, no reason to feel like the mouse with a cat looming over it. Maybe cutting the night short would be a good idea though... getting home before it got too late, even if she was used to being out far later than this. Maybe she could get dressed quickly and catch the tail end of a party at a bar, or something. Maybe she'd find a hottie to take home and then the party wouldn't matter at all, or the creepy 'cold fingers up my spine' feeling she was getting.
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Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2015 11:29 am
Perched as she was on the top of a bank, kicking her feet, Eros should well have been on her own for the evening. It wasn't an easy place to access without being seen -- and there didn't seem to be anyone in the vicinity, just the senshi and a few idle city insects. The voice in the darkness, then, was a low whisper: a man's voice, hushed, coming from someplace slightly distant. " Pssst...." it came gently, emanating from over Eros's right shoulder. " Over here... this way..." One of the small bugs glowed in the air. A lightning bug, perhaps. Unusual for city life, probably. " Go this way..."
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Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2015 1:02 pm
Probably the worst thing you could hear when you thought you were blissfully safe and alone was someone whispering to you. The gaunt woman on the ledge jumped at the sound, feeling her heart trip up into her throat. Her fingers clawed at the stone work as she rolled into bare knees and pushed herself up onto her feet. It felt marginally safer there, if you could call putting your back to empty air safe. "Who's there?" She called out, echoing countless other souls searching for life in the dark unknown. Magenta eyes stood out from their sockets, bright and pupil-wide as she searched the the source. There weren't many people who could make it up here. Doing so had required a measure of her new strength. If there was someone out there and not just her wind-teased imagination, then they were probably not overly normal either. More of those monsters from the train? Some new horror? Eros had no idea what to make of it. Light bloomed nearby and she started, until her eyes caught it and her mind said 'firefly'. She had a spark of childish wonder seeing it, calling up old memories that hadn't been repeated in the greater part of her life time. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen a fire fly. "Hey, uh... I'm not looking for any trouble ok?" The small senshi called out into the dark, trying to ignore the pretty bug as she displayed empty hands. "I'm just passing by..."
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Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2015 7:41 am
A few blocks away, Quartz set on a fire escape, looking at a small insect perched on his hand. It glowed periodically, and echoed with a woman's voice: " Who's there? Hey, uh... I'm not looking for any trouble ok? I'm just passing by..." His mouth crinkled up thoughtfully, lips pursed. This part, he suspected, would always be the hardest: making a friendly overture without endangering himself. Controlling the situation, but ensuring it was friendly enough that a knight or a white moon soldier would be willing to follow it. He held his hand near his face, watching the glowing bumblebee crawl curiously around it. "I'm not looking for trouble either," he said, trusting the insect on the other end to carry the message. "I want to talk. I just wanted to be sure you were safe to talk to." There were little flickers of light here and there down the alley -- All-One had ranged itself wide in a path, spaced out idly between Quartz and the first Order aura it had found. "Lead her here, if she'll follow," he instructed the youma. Practice had shown that All-One was clever enough to understand what it was meant to repeat and what it wasn't. A few blocks away, a sporadically glimmering bumblebee buzzed a lazy circle around Eros, then started attempting to move away, waiting to be followed. " I'm not looking for trouble either," it spoke in a man's voice. " I want to talk. I just wanted to be sure you were safe to talk to."
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Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2015 11:08 am
The glowing bug tugged at her attention as it buzzed towards her and at first, she dismissed it as before. It was a firefly, it wasn't as important as the hidden the stranger... But then the man spoke again with that deep, rich voice, and it was not coming from the shadows around her. Eros stared with wonder that bordered on fear as the little creature moved away from her, lazy in its dipping and bobbing path. "What are you? Are you one of those... Things. Youma? Or something else?" Her hands clenched defensively into fists at her sides as she drew them up near her bare stomach. Youma were horrible, terrifying monsters. She was wary of getting tangled up with anything that smacked of magic because of it... Eros was loathed to have a repeat of that encounter. "God, now ******** talking, glowing bugs, Jesus Christ..." She mumbled as she reached up to shove her hands through her multi-colored hair. What next? Real fairies under the hedgerows? At this point she wouldn't even be able to claim surprise. She sort of wished she'd gone out with Puck tonight, but he liked to lead with his fists and that often meant she got drug along for the ride whether he meant to or not. Sort of a toss up at that point whether or not it was safer to be alone.
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Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 6:52 am
Quartz sighed. Like any approach, this one wasn't foolproof. Well, he'd work out the kinks in the plan after a few tries. "What you're looking at is a youma, yes," he confirmed. "But it won't hurt you." The bee floating in the air in front of Eros dipped in the air briefly, almost like it was sulking, before resuming its pattern of trying to lead her along. "I'm a Negaverse agent. I'm a few blocks away from where you are. All-One can guide you. I don't mean you any harm."
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Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2015 7:39 pm
The short senshi frowned at the bug, bracing her hands on her hips. It didn't exactly look all that dangerous... it was tiny. Even compared to her. It said it (he?) wanted to talk... which didn't seem too bad. There were a lot of things that Puck didn't know about the war and the Negaverse. He didn't know why they were all fighting like the were. This could be an opportunity to find out more and fill in the missing gaps. There was so much about all of this she didn't understand... Why it was all happening, why she had been chosen to fight. Eros took a step forward and then another, starting to walk after the glowing youma. "If you try anything, I'm so out. I'll be watching for shadey business."
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Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2015 2:23 pm
"Same here," Quartz said, completely seriously. This one, at least, had the sense to be cautious. Then again, from what Quartz had seen, that was one of the few things knights and senshi seemed to be consistent on: they looked at Negaverse agents and saw Bad Guys. That was fine. All of them were. What they usually failed to see was the reality of the situation: that the Negaverse's victory was inevitable. That all their bravado and determined willpower was about as useful as jumping up and down to try and knock the Earth off of its orbit. However canny they were, they tended also to be naive and impractical. Poor fool kids. Thinking about any of them made Quartz want a drink. The insect that Eros was following was not alone. Dozens -- hundreds more were visible at intervals, the closer Eros approached: glinting off of dumpsters and old phone booths and fire hydrants and brick walls. As she passed, the ones behind her fluttered away from their perches and joined the precession, lighting around her in a delicate, glittery path. They were keen, though, to give her some distance -- never trying to settle within her direct personal space, just flanking her: like corgis herding sheep, anxious that she should follow where they led. Around the last corner, the insects detached from their ushering positions and flew on ahead, trusting Eros to make the last of the distance on her own, or else cut and run. Quartz hopped down from his perch to the ground to wait for her -- and as he did, the youma swarm met him in place, and settled in -- all of them coming to land along the trailing fabric scarves hanging from his twin arm cuffs. There they settled, mostly fading into the night-black fabric, except for their periodic glowing as they crawled idly about. The effect was of a live night sky, full of pinprick stars, twinkling and moving strangely across night's dark canopy. Quartz waited, hands folded in front of him. "I apologize for the theatrics," he said. "I try to be cautious."
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Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 6:31 pm
The further she went, the more the glowing bugs gathered around her, until she walked in a cloud of light. It was really hard not to find the small swirling lights enchanting... The way they dipped and swirled about, drawing her forward. Then suddenly they were gone, flowing away from her and forward to some place ahead of her. Their motion drew her gaze up and she slowed as she approached, finally coming to a stop at a distance that felt safe. Her first impression was tall, and dark. A little cliche maybe, with his cheekbones and cut jaw and shoulders wider than she could probably wrap her arms around. Oof... Were all the dudes on the other side hot? Or was he an outlier? He looked like a fairy prince with the bugs settled in his clothes, twinkling like stars, and his half-on, half-off clothing. Hardly fair, really. "That's okay... I suppose if I looked like you, I might use a little theatrics myself." Eros braced her hands on her hips as she eyed him up and down, something of a playful tilt to her head even as she remained cautious. "So. Who are you, exactly? You'd... actually be the first of your kind I've met. If I'm being honest."
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Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2015 1:37 pm
Quartz did not have to manufacture the concerned frown that crossed his face. In this case, it was entirely genuine. He was a little sympathetic to people like this -- newcomers who'd been thrown into the thick of things, with no friends and no idea what they were doing. Probably her only experiences had been with youma, like Dionysia's had been. Probably she'd get destroyed by a Negaverse captain of any significant caliber, like Dionysia had been. Thinking about it brought on the slight pangs of a headache. "I'm called Quartz," he said quietly. "I have the rank of a captain -- that's a middle ranking, in the Negaverse. I was captured by them and forced into their service shortly after I awakened." His gaze went out to a point on the skyline high overhead, imagining some far-off rooftop where Schörl had thrown him down into the gravel to wait for Laurelite. After a few lingering seconds, he looked back. "The Negaverse is an efficient military organization," he said, "and just by existing, you're a threat to them. You should know that you're in incredible danger."
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Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2015 6:24 pm
She watched him as he looked away and his deep blue eyes went distant. It was a 'seen some s**t' kinda look if she'd ever seen one, but Eros supposed she shouldn't really be surprised... not when you considered this was supposed to be a war. s**t happened... bad s**t. She'd seen that first hand. "I know about the danger." She said as she shifted. There was a restless sort of energy in her, standing here talking to one of the 'enemy'. It felt weird, even as she questioned why it should. She hardly knew this guy and thus far, he didn't seem the least inclined to participate in this war. "I got a pen thrown at me after the train I was on turned into a big a** youma... with me still inside. Funtastic way to wake up to your senshi powers. Really drove the danger point home." The senshi waved a finger cockily in the air before she dropped her hand again and shrugged. "I'm Eros. I'd shake your hand, but you know." Teeth worried her lip before a small metal ball appeared between them, sliding through the seam as she played with it. "I'm sorry you were forced into this s**t, for what it's worth... I didn't know they could do that. You don't seem brain washed or anything... And you don't act like you like it. Why don't you leave? I don't see chains on you... Then you wouldn't have to worry about whether people like me are going to hurt you."
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Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2015 8:33 pm
"No," Quartz said immediately, vehemently. "You do not know about the danger. You know violence. Youma are just creatures, they just want to kill and eat people. That's like saying you know about murder because you fought a bear." He shook his head, serious and stern. "I'm not saying this to mock you -- I'm trying to help you out." He looked at the brick wall across the street -- an old painted advertisement now mostly faded into silhouette, advertising a business that had probably been there decades ago. "This organization isn't something you can just leave. The woman who keeps me -- she'd find me if I tried to run. Punish me. And if I still didn't come to heel, they'd turn me into a youma, too." Quartz gestured between them, indicating their conversation. "This right here, this chat we're having? This isn't normal. If someone talks to you, you can't trust them. And if they don't talk to you, it's because they're trying to kill you. They will do everything in their power to end you."
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Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2015 6:36 pm
Magenta eyes widened at the man's outburst, eyebrows sliding up her forehead under rainbow bangs. Danger, violence... those words were not so far off, but the way he explained it, she got the gist of what he was trying to convey. Thoughtful and planned, versus random and impersonal. Right. It was not something she had faced yet, but it was not outside the scope of her belief. This was a war, wasn't it? People did horrible things in a war, to win it. Retaliated against attacks with more of their own. It was why she was less than inclined to get included in it... she had enough of her own problems, enough of her own dangers to watch out for. She didn't much care to add to it. But this raised questions about this Quartz, who claimed he only wanted to talk and then warned her about the dangers she faced. "So then. Why are you talking to me? You just told me I can't trust you... Though I'm clever enough to realize you wouldn't go about warning about yourself. And it sounds like they have you under their heel pretty good. What are you trying to accomplish by warning me about danger?" Her eyes swept up and down him as her hips cocked, a slim shoulder lifting and falling. "I know everyone has an angle... that's how life works."
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Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2015 1:36 pm
Quartz laughed, guttural and bitter. "Now that's the spirit," he said with charred humor. "And too right you are, I'm afraid. Life is full of people who want something from you -- self included." He held up a hand, idle and thoughtful -- a few of the insects clustered on his sash fluttered up to settle on his fingers, meandering about. "I'm a member of the Intelligence branch within the Negaverse. That means I have to turn in a certain amount of information each week if I don't want to find myself punished, killed, or turned into a youma." He gave her a forlorn glance, his midnight blue gaze on her through thick, black eyelashes. He was capable of cutting a sympathetic figure when he needed to. "This world is ugly and ******** up, and nobody gets ahead by playing by the rules. We both know that." He paused. "We could help each other out, you and I."
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Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2015 7:00 pm
Eros's chin lifted, her eyes narrowing at the roughness in his laughter. It bothered her, some timbre of it setting her nerves on edge. It was how you laughed when there was nothing to laugh about, and everything to laugh about. "So we come to it, hmm?" She hummed, breaking into restless motion. She didn't approach him, not quite ready to trust that he wouldn't try to hurt her if he got a good enough chance. Rather, she paced from one side to the other, her hands braced against the backs of her hips with boney elbows out. The blue, puppy-dog eyes he cast her way weren't completely ineffective, but she had spent a lot of time herself making eyes like that. <******** if he didn't have pretty eyes though. Unfair. "I assume, Mr. Intelligence, you want that information that keeps your finely toned butt in one piece." She said as she spun on a heel, swinging a leg to tuck one foot behind the other. "So what exactly are you asking for and what are you offering in return?" Not that she knew a whole lot that would be of interest to anyone... she was so new and inexperienced it was laughable. But he didn't necessarily need to know that, yet.
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