Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was cold.

Far too cold, but he felt a trickle of sweat trailing down the side of his face. Perhaps there was some blood mixed in. There was no way for him to tell on his own. His heart was racing. Arms tingling. Legs aching. Mind nearly blank but for the goal he had set for himself at the start of his evening. His breath came out in fogs as he sprinted across the rooftops, weaved his way expertly into and out of alleys and through small, secluded streets to avoid being seen as best as he could. His own footsteps were about the only sound he could hear besides his own breathing.

He couldn't teleport. Not there. Not now.

He needed to see her.

It felt like he'd been running for hours before he finally came to a stop. Staurolite leaned against the wall of the alley behind him, careful to keep himself in the shadows, and took deep breaths to try and catch up. His eyes were shut and brows furrowed as he let his thoughts flood his mind once more. Did he get careless? Did his guard go down? What exactly happened?

Who saw? Who knew?

"Acrucis…" he whispered almost breathlessly, before pushing off the wall and going right back into the sprint. He had to find her.

Stepping out from the nook in the wall where a recessed door was hidden, the Senshi of Prayer approached the general cautiously when he paused next, “Staurolite?” Her voice was as hushed as his had been, calling to him softly as her aura guided him to her like the north star to lost travelers.

It didn't take much longer for him to find her, thankfully, and when her voice reached his ears he turned, orange gaze settling on her form and a rush of calm suddenly washing over him. She was safe, at least, though enough of the Negaverse was aware that she wasn't to be harmed. He was another story altogether.

The general walked towards her, breathing still unsteady. He wondered in passing if she could see much of him with the lack of light; might have been a sight, but he didn't care. Soon enough he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer; more for his sake in that instance, but it was the calmest he'd been since the start of his night. He wasn't sure what to say now that he'd found her, and again he didn't care so much. Not yet. For now he was content with the silence. The contact. The bit of certainty that she was there with him, right then.

Confusion was written all over her features but the manner in which he held her begged for nothing but a reassuring embrace and so she rested her head against his collarbone and wrapped her arms around his waist in return. Times like this she wished her transcendence also allowed her the ability to give him some of her energy instead of an extra use of her eternal magic since her healing did little to replenish someone who seemed otherwise exhausted.

After several moments passed Acrucis loosened her hold around him and began running her open palm across his back in a soothing manner. “Talk to me?” She finally spoke. Tilting her head back she looked up at him imploringly. “What happened?”

He held her in silence for as long as she allowed it, and when she loosened her grip and spoke he simply followed suit. His eyes caught the worry in hers but he knew he couldn't say anything yet, so he gave a slight shake of his head as his hands found hers.

"Not here," he said in barely a whisper, then teleported them to a more secluded part of the city.

Their spot. Their sanctuary, almost.

It was there that the lighting was more adequate, and evidence of a struggle was more apparent on the general. But there were more pressing things on his mind, and immediately upon arrival he took a breath and a step back, though he kept his eyes trained on hers.

"I think.. I think someone knows…"

Thought he sought to put a small amount of distance between them Acrucis held fast onto his sleeve as if she feared he would teleport away without her if he were to become spooked. “What do you mean?”

Her eyes were searching as she looked up at him trying to read his expression “Staurolite?” she spoke his name softly. One hand loosened its hold on his uniform and slowly rose so she may brush stray strands that had been tussled by the wind as he ran through the streets. Gentle fingertips traced the contours of his face from his brow to his jawline as means to try to calm him.

He sometimes did wonder if her powers extended to being able to simply calm someone with a touch, as she always did with him. As effective as it usually was, though, it wasn't enough to calm him completely. He closed his eyes and breathed in deep, his brows furrowed still. It was easy enough to explain, but if they were outed it would be even more of an impossible situation than the two of them simply falling for the other.

So he spoke slowly, eyes remaining closed as he sorted out his thoughts. "Someone knows about us…" he paused to open his eyes and meet her gaze once more. "And I think they plan on doing something with it, though I can't say exactly what."

He swallowed the small lump in his throat and let out the breath he'd been holding, then leaned down and rested his forehead against hers.

“You can’t go back there. If someone does know they will kill you for being a sympathiser.” She had heard of it from other agents she had tended to who had abandoned the Negaverse; sympathisers were treated the same as traitors. Unspeakable tortures to retrain them and establish their loyalty and those who were resilient enough to withstand were either youmafied or killed.

“I can’t lose you.” Though the last words were spoken upon a whisper there was an unmistakable need in her voice. A desire for him him to stay safe.

He knew that well enough. He'd seen his fair share of dealings with the sort, though he'd never imagined he'd be the next one on that particular list. His breathing had steadied since, his thoughts settled on her last words. "I'm not going anywhere," he said quietly, tried to sound as reassuring as he could muster.

"So that limits our options to...ones I honestly can't think of right now," he said, and even managed a stifled sort of laugh. "But I imagine not a lot, and not ones I'll enjoy…"

Running away, although tempting, was not an option. Destiny City was the last stronghold for the resistance, the rest of the world had already been overrun by the Negaverse, there really was no place for them to go.

The only other option was not truly an option at all, to refuse to power up again would cost the lives of many who got tangled up in fights with more unsavory and less sympathetic agents of chaos. Every day she used enough of her magic that it was hard to stand by the time night rolled in and the stars hid behind thick rolling clouds.

From where her hand rested against the side of his face, Acrucis slid her hands back into his light cream colored hair and leaned forward. So ever gently she pressed a soft kiss to his lips “I would sooner take you to my homeworld where you would be safe in Va Lenna just so they could never reach you.” Her home was meant to be a sanctuary, a refuge for people who sought shelter from this war. But time had not allocated her enough visits to see her home opened up the way she dreamed it would be. And now… now it cost so much to visit herself despite the desperate need to reconnect with the shining star that taking another was nigh impossible.

“Promise me you will not go back.” She looked up at him imploringly. “We will find a place for you to stay, some place outside of the city.” Tears welled up in her eyes threatening to fall. So much had already been lost that she refused to add to the growing tally. Her hands were already stained red from the lives she could not save, he will not be among them too.

Staurolite leaned back slightly and did his best to hide the worry in his eyes as he listened to her speak. Running away...didn't seem like a real option. Not from where he was standing anyway, regardless of what the Negaverse might do to him. He lifted a hand and traced the lines of her face slowly, ready to brush whatever tears might slip past her guard away. "I won't go back," he started softly, "but running would mean living a half life, more or less. I can't do that, especially not while knowing that you're still out here."

He brushed his lips against hers then, then smiled and did so once, twice more before pulling away again. "There must be some other way, we just have to find it."

Acrucis’ heart wrenched in her chest because there was another option, one that hurt to even contemplate.

Her grip on his clothes loosened so she may lace her fingers through his. After a moment she brought his hand up to rest against the place above her heart just under the cross attached to her capelet. “So long as you remain an agent of chaos, we cannot keep meeting up like this. It will only put you in more danger if we have been found out. They will use me against you or vise versa and knowing that as a transcended I cannot be corrupted…” Her words trailed off into silence.There may come a day where he would be forced to rip her starseed to prove his loyalty.

"I know they will," he tried to say, but stopped short when he realized where she was going with her statement. Staurolite drew in a breath, slow and contemplating as he searched her eyes for an answer. Any answer except the one she was suggesting right then. A loneliness crept into his eyes as his chest tightened at the thought, and he took her hands in his own and raised them to his lips.

The general shook his head lightly as he pressed a kiss onto her hands, and then another and another. "We'll figure it out," he pleaded quietly, his eyes focused downward as he spoke. "We will. Please, just don't…"

Her eyes drifted downward then for a few moments then closed all together. The lump in her throat continued to grow to a near suffocating size, and try as she might to calm herself it seemed it would be a battle she was destined to lose. “Stay with me.” She asked upon a whisper. “Just for tonight,” Acrucis then added, her lithe fingers closing around his as if she feared what would happen if she were to let go.

“We can go anywhere, it doesn’t matter where. Just please don’t leave me.” What she was asking, no... begging, was dangerous. But if goodbyes were destined for their future all she asked of him was just one more night.

He lifted his gaze just enough to meet her eye, his breath catching at her words. If it meant spending that much more time with her, if this was going to end, he wouldn't say no. Couldn't say no. He nodded his head slightly, gently squeezing her hands as if to reassure himself that she wasn't going anywhere.

She was there, at least for tonight. Just one more night, for all they knew.

And he did as she asked; he teleported them once more, this time to a place rather significant to him, personally: a family friend's oceanside cabin where he spent plenty of time in the summers before joining the Negaverse, and where he knew they'd have absolute privacy. Where it'd just be them for a while.

"This place good enough?" he asked, though he'd already started leading her towards the entrance.

The east coastal evening breeze danced with her periwinkle hair bringing with it the smell of the open sea. It was like welcoming arms wrapping the two of them in a safe embrace whispering promises of peace and solitude. “Yes,” she replied leaning her head to the left so she could rest her temple against his shoulder as they approached the house. The only signature she felt was that which walked beside her, outside of the two of them there was nothing; not even a gulls cry or a dogs howl.

Acrucis had long since become accustomed to the sensations brought on by being teleported from one place to another thanks to Benitoite over five years ago. No longer did she feel overwhelmed by the sensation of vertigo or that the ground had dropped out from underneath her; and so she walked beside him unphased by their abrupt relocation.

By the time they reached the front door she paused “Should I… I mean, just incase someone else is home, should we power down?” It didn’t matter to her whether or not he saw her as a civilian, he knew who she was and vise versa .

He kept her close as they walked, eyes wandering from one spot to another as if to ensure that they were alone. True enough, the lone house by the shore was secluded enough and there was no one and nothing else around. Her question warranted a quick shake of his head, and he inspected the front porch for signs of where the spare key was being kept that year. It was something his uncle (not by blood) did for fun, and despite his lack of visits in the past several years he was fairly certain the man was still keeping up their old game.

"We're on our own here," he said, and he inspected the nearby window. "This place is basically a summer home, so you don't need to worry about that." Staurolite gave the window planter a bit of a wriggle just as he said this, and the key fell out from behind it, landing with a soft thud on the mat beneath.

With a smile he scooped it up and unlocked the door, standing aside to let her in first. "It's cozy, I promise. I figured you'd like it so I thought I'd bring you here…"

The room was dark as she stepped over the entryway threshold. A problem soon remedied by the flick of the switch on the wall beside her. “It’s beautiful,” warm colored walls with furniture that seemed just as inviting “Thank you.”

As she glanced around memories from times growing up living down the street from her best friend flooded her memories.

Family…

Friends…

Laughter…

Her heart longed for what had been taken and ached just that much more knowing it was not done yet. There were still some left who she cared deeply for and one of them was standing right beside her.

He followed after her and closed the door behind him, making sure to lock it and stash the key where he could get to it easily.

As he walked through and into the living room, the sights and smells within the old home brought him back to his time there as a child. The time he fell down the stairs, or when he got chased in by a bird, or when he nearly drowned... Some of his best and worst memories were made here, and he wondered in passing under which category their night there would fall.

"For me it's more nostalgic than anything," he said as he reached for her hand to pull her back toward him. "You're beautiful, and also very welcome."

He smiled, teeth flashing as he kissed her softly.

Acrucis pulled away just enough for her to look up into his eyes. Pink spread across her cheeks in a sheepish blush; a reaction he skillfully pulled from her each time their lips touched. This was most definitely not the first time and she hoped with all her being it would not be the last one either.

“And you my ‘Star’ are most handsome.” She reached up and brushed stray strands of pale creme colored hair from his face, tucking them behind his ear.

Here, so far away from Destiny city they were actually allowed freedom to just be themselves. There was no hiding or ignoring the events that had lead to this moment. Her only wish was that her parents were still alive so they could meet the man that held her heart so dearly.

The nickname was one he was rather fond of, though he only appreciated ever hearing it from her. He leaned toward her touch, his own hands finding their place around her waist. "Well, I'm glad you think so…" he said before closing the distance between their lips once more. "But I still think you win in the looks department."

A grin split his face just as he pulled away, and he slowly started walking them toward the couch. He wasn't quite ready to sleep, but it'd been a long night and the couch just seemed to beckon.

Taking a seat, Acrucis removed her boots and waited for him to sit down next to her before curling up beside him. “Do you think the residents would mind if we watched something?” she wondered aloud as she tilted her head to the side so she may rest her head on his shoulder.

He followed suit, slipping his boots off and shrugging off his jacket so they could use it as a makeshift blanket. An arm went around her instinctively once she made herself comfortable, and at the question he shrugged and simply reached for the remote.

"Nah, they're probably mooching my Netflix anyway." He turned the TV on and handed her the remote before leaning back into the sofa. "You pick, I really don't care what it is."

A soft laugh escaped her as she accepted the remote and began scrolling through the recently added. There were a few that had come out in the last year or so that seemed interesting but hadn’t gotten the chance to actually watch yet. The new Chris Hemsworth one seemed interesting enough; an action fantasy, something she would have likely watched with Delilah once upon a time before the world fell into chaos.

After clicking okay she set the remote on the arm rest beside Staurolite and settled in more comfortable. Her hand sought out his and once she had ahold of him she brought it up and brushed her lips across the back of his fingers then closed her eyes for a brief moment and pressed a kiss upon his knuckles.

“I love you.” Acrucis whispered, lowering their hands back into her lap.

True to his word, he really didn't care. Staurolite had closed his eyes almost as soon as she'd taken the remote, and he absently pulled her closer as he worked to get comfy. And maybe it was because his eyes were closed that he was acutely aware of when she'd taken his hand. He smiled softly then, as her lips brushed against his skin, prompting him to open his eyes.

"I love you, too," he replied just as quietly, and he kissed her temple quickly before turning his eyes to the TV.

No more than fifteen minutes into the movie, Acrucis’ breathing slowed to a shallow even pace. Day after day she expended much of her magical abilities and no minute seemed to pass that she was not worried about one thing or another; places she needed to be, people she needed to help, the list was endless so there really was no use counting.

Here, however, she could relax fully in the circle of his arms. His aura neither scared or intimidated her and though it should likely bring with it nightmares of the horrors she had seen, it didn’t. She knew him as he did her and so there was peace behind closed lids as she drifted into the land of slumber.

He, on the other hand, managed to last the whole movie, though he'd watched through heavy lids. He'd even dozed off at some point, but being a fan of Chris Hemsworth's work it felt a bit wrong to just completely give up on it. Besides that, he was plenty comfortable with the sleeping Acrucis in his arms, safe and sound and completely at peace. He was more aware of her, it seemed, when his attention was elsewhere; his hands were often absently stroking her hair, or readjusting as she shifted in her sleep. He'd even steal a kiss or two on occasion…

Eventually the movie did come to an end, and he turned the TV off, effectively enveloping the both of them in darkness. With ease he hoisted the sleeping senshi into his arms and, mostly from memory, carefully made his way to the bedroom and he tucked her in. Quietly he slipped in under the sheets beside her, and lay awake for a bit longer. Watching, mostly, for as long as he could before a peaceful slumber finally overtook him, too.