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 Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2015 8:36 am
It'd been longer than intended since he'd last seen Hvergelmir. He'd kept in touch, though, shooting her messages here and there in case she happened to be worried - the last thing he wanted was for anyone to fret unnecessarily over him. Some things had happened, yes, some things had changed, not the least of which was the page of Saturn was a page no longer, but instead a squire. Not that he'd gained much confidence for his upgrade, with all the good it'd done him - that it'd done Ploutonion.
Really, Mont Blonc's situation was a little bittersweet. On one hand, he was still terribly worried for Ploutonion, and it'd be a lie to say his thought didn't drift to the lost knight at least once a day. Then there was Archer, another situation that had yet to see any resolution, that still hung over him each and every time he went to class at university. Sometimes he swore he saw him, but...
... then again, there was everything with Aegir and Methone. The sweet to the bitter and then some. And at least with Mistral, he'd finally made something of the blueprints, so there was that.
It wasn't much. But he was getting somewhere, at least.
Tonight was the night, and he settled to wait on some bench at the park, feeling the chill of the autumn nights licking at his face as he waited. Not that it bothered him. The cold never really did when he was powered, which had been very fortunate back when he'd been a page. At least now his stomach was covered (even if Methone had made it very clear how displeased she was about it - he smiled at the thought).
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Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 3:43 pm
There was always a great deal to be done in the life that people like Hvergelmir were living -- as a result, it was never that alarming when weeks passed before she saw someone again. In this case, there was even less reason to worry: Mont Blanc had been careful to keep in touch, which was a welcome change of pace. For the most part, only Teide, Babylon, Ida -- and, of course, Tara -- were in regular contact. It had been nice to get the regular little messages, and nice to send a few back. Nicest of all, though, was arriving with two steaming paper cups in hand to find Mont Blanc, not a page anymore, but a squire. This was good progress, and promising for his safety. Knights were most vulnerable before they'd come into at least some of their magic. She held one of the cups out, thinking of Thraen. He'd been so thoughtful, always, for all his outward dryness. It made an impression. "I brought you hot apple cider," she offered. "I don't know if you like it."
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Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2015 2:43 am
Mont Blonc had sensed a knight's approach before he had seen her, and assumed that he would not be alone for much longer - however, what he did not expect as he heard her approach, as he readied himself to rise and greet her, to be greeted with a paper cup smelling warmly of apples. His yellow eyes widened, his surprise evident.
It quickly ebbed into delight, radiant and bright, reflected clearly on every inch of his face as he reached out and accepted the cup, carefully cradling it between his fingers. He did not quite feel the cold when he was powered, not in the same way, but the warmth of the cider was no less appealing or welcome for it. "I happen to love nothing more on a night such as this, " he said quietly, clearly touched by the gesture.
This was like something Colin would have done - and he didn't know whether it was sheer coincidence or the shift in their relationship that had him thinking of his friend more. Probably both.
"Next time I'll have to bring cocoa. Aegir always has a lot of it in stock - i-if you still want to keep meeting, I mean, " he stumbled out, because that was awfully assumptive of him. The squire half-made as though to rise, then seemed to think better of it and patted the space beside him on the bench. "Please, sit. - are you cold at all?" He had more clothes and was less bothered by the cold, sure - but she had less, and who really knew if that was a Saturn-specific resistance or not? "You could borrow my jacket? I-I mean, if you wanted - I don't really need it?"
He bit his lip for a moment and inhaled the scent of the cider; admittedly, he sort of wanted to be able to do something nice back. It was awfully nice of her to go to the trouble. "Oh, and - how have you been? Well, I hope?"
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Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2015 7:13 am
Hvergelmir came over and plunked herself down next to Mont Blanc like there was nothing she was better at in all the world than sitting down (which, in her private opinion, there probably wasn't. She had a lot of expertise in sitting around). She pulled her cloak up around her shoulders and shook her head. "Oh, no need to put yourself out -- this thing's a lot warmer than it looks. It can pretty much get me through all but the absolute dead of winter -- and I'm pretty sure only Mercury knights really weather those months well." She crossed her legs, relaxing so that one of her shoes hung loose off her foot, dangling casually off her toe -- obviously settling in to get comfortable. "To the second of many fond meetings," she toasted, clinking her paper cup against Mont Blanc's before sipping. "And to my friend, who's become a squire! Congratulations -- you have to tell me everything."
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Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2015 4:02 am
It was comfortable - more comfortable than he was using to being as Mont Blonc, really. Not a bad thing though. So often he was rushing around patrolling, battling, training, doing meet and greets... basically trying to better himself as a knight. Frankly, it got exhausting, in a lot of ways. It'd been especially true lately.
After all of that, this felt good. It felt good to sit here with someone nice on a cool night with a hot drink.
He grinned shyly at her toast, blushing even as he lifted his paper cup to regard her. "Santé," he murmured back, mirroring her and taking a sip for himself, humming pleasantly, musically, as the warm liquid touched his tongue and slid down his throat.
Everything.
His blush darkened, and his gaze dropped. His smile didn't exactly drop, but it faded a little. "Thank you, I - uhm - " The squire cleared his throat. "I don't really know why it happened, I - I don't know what I mentioned him last time, but, I - I had a friend. I mean, another Saturn knight. He was a page, like me, when I met him."
Mont Blonc stared down into the recesses of the cup for a long moment before taking a sip. "His name was Ploutonion. H-he still is, but the negaverse, they - uhm, corrupted him, a few months ago. N-not by choice. I- I felt terrible, because I couldn't help him then, but - a-anyway, " he took a deep breath. "I don't know if you heard much about the whole youma-train fiasco that happened, b-but - well, I was there, and - and it turned out he was there too."
He smiled brighter, then. "He was the same as he'd been before. I was worried he'd forget or change, but he didn't. He was still Ploutonion. I tried to apologize to him for not helping more, but he wouldn't have it, and - I was just so happy - "
If only the story ended there. His grip on the cup tightened a bit, but not enough to do more than imprint lightly on the paper, still aware of how delicate it was. This was one thing Mont Blonc was very good at, being aware of his own strength and when not to use it. "He was hurt, though. They haven't been taking care of him, and - and when another officer came over, I just - he was so scared of anyone getting hurt for him, that they'd come for him if he came back to us, so I - "
It almost made him laugh as he looked back at Hver, quickly, a short flash of yellow through his bangs. "I've always been kind of - ridiculously attached to other people who have to do with Saturn. I'm not exactly sure why that is, but it's - especially knights. I'd wanted to meet other so badly, and he was the first I'd seen since I came back from France. So I - we weren't insanely close or anything when they took him, but - it really hurt, Hvergelmir. Seeing them take him. I'd give anything to be able to get him back. I just wanted so badly to protect him that - that this happened."
His smile was gone completely as he stared down at his lip, shoulders slumping. "For all the good it did. In the end, a general and a captain took him. I'm almost sure the general's the one that hurt him - he looked so scared. I - I know there's nothing I could have done, but..."
But of course he couldn't help regretting it, couldn't help wishing.
"Sorry." The squire gave a slight smile then, albeit a sad one. "It's not a very good story."
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Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2015 12:52 pm
Hvergelmir sighed, feeling her mood drop along with Mont Blanc's. She leaned her chin on her hand thoughtfully. "In my last lifetime," she began slowly, staring down into her cup, "I was born on a -- " Slave planet seemed too dramatic. This was not a sad story about her. " -- work planet. When I was still very young, a Cosmos knight visited our planet for a few days. When he left again, I stowed away with him. His name was Dionysia." In her memory, she could still recall the festival island, vaguely: it's colorful banners rippling in the wind, sunlight gleaming off of the white lotus atop its high tower. "He raised me -- he gave me a chance. I'm a knight because of him. Because he helped me." Her brow furrowed. "He's with the Negaverse now, too. They took him against his will. I never even met him before that happened, but -- all the same. I owe so much of who I am to him. He did so much for me. It hurts not to be able to do anything for him in return. So I think I know, a little, how you feel." Hvergelmir reached out for Mont Blanc's hand. "I was there when your friend, Ploutonion, was corrupted, I think," she confessed. "I couldn't do anything for him either. I'm sorry."
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2015 4:44 am
Mont Blonc did not know what to expect from her story, although part of him was both surprised and intrigued to hear that she seemed to know so much of her past life.
When the negaverse came up, though... then, then he knew exactly why she was telling him this story. His shock and sadness for her sake in that moment were etched too clearly across his face. When she reached for his hand and gave her apology, he shook his head furiously, squeezing her hand tightly, warmly in his own. "No, no, don't - please - thank you, but you don't need to - thank you, " he breathed out, taking in a long, deep breath as he kept a hold of her hand. "For telling me that story. I'm - I'm so sorry, Hvergelmir, I - that much be so painful."
He bit his lip, harder than he had to really, but he wanted to say, "Thank you, too, I mean for... I know everyone means well, and everyone cares, I really do know that, but... " His gaze dropped a bit. "Everyone keeps telling me it's not my fault. Even Ploutonion said that on the train. I - I just - " He smiled in that strained way that said Mont Blonc simply just didn't know what other expression to make. "It doesn't really make me... feel any less bad about it."
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Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2015 9:18 am
Hvergelmir returned Mont Blanc's reassuring squeeze of her hand. They were not, after all, competing for who had the maximum amount of sorrow . . . and if they were, she wouldn't have chosen herself by a long shot. Dionysia, for one, was the one who was actually suffering -- she was just sad about it. That didn't require co-opting his pain for her own. And she hadn't actually known him in this lifetime: only in nostalgia for a lifetime a thousand years ago. Mont Blanc had known Ploutonion. Had lost Ploutonion. It was different, and worse. "Sometimes it's hard for people to see what it is we're really upset about," she said quietly. "Our hearts don't only break because of the things we did wrong, the things we feel guilty about -- they also break, sometimes, for the things we want to do but can't. People want to address guilt because sometimes, you can assuage guilt -- and you can do it just through words. It's harder to help people with grief. Grief isn't always something there's a fix for. But he's alive -- and there's hope in that. Let's make a promise to each other . . . if either of us sees Ploutonion again, we'll do what we can to try and help him find his way back to us, even if it's just making sure he knows he still has a place here, and people who care about him. I won't be able to . . . talk about it with you, if I do see him, but -- I'll try as hard as I can. I promise you that." She squeezed his fingers between hers again. "Deal?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2015 1:37 am
Mont Blonc's face began to burn... and that was a direct result of the burning he felt in his eyes at her words, as desperately as he tried to keep it at bay. He bit hard at his bottom lip to try and ground himself, but it did little good, and he saw the world begin to warp and distort beyond a veil of tears.
He shut his eyes, for all the good that did him, and briefly fumbled to set the cup of cider on the bench beside him before pressing the palm of his hand against one of his eyes. "Sorry, " and his voice was a little choked, a little strained.
Was that what this was? - grief? - his brushes with grief had been so - there'd been his grandfather, and that had hurt, of course, but it hadn't been - it hadn't been like this, it hadn't been the same. He knew regret, he knew it from Archer, and he'd been drowning in that too, feeling a twinge of it every time he saw that man's name flash on his phone via calls or texts he tried to ignore. "Sorry, I just - "
The last few months had been wonderful for him. But they'd also been terrible. They'd been so much of both that sometimes he just - "I'd - yes - I'd - " He'd composed himself enough to look at her, to smile even though his eyes were still misty, damp at the edges. "I understand, and thank you - really, truly, Hvergelmir, thank you."
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