|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed Dec 23, 2015 3:15 pm
The rooftops in the shopping district weren't actually the best place to go searching for a fight... not normally anyway... though sometimes you got lucky... but he wasn't looking for Lucky. He was looking for action still. Something to help cool his temper on after his trip to his wonder, and on a night when he was still too damn worked up to feel safe driving, this was as good a way to go as any. The presence of a power signature was of interest, somehow a little more... defined... than some, but never the less... distinctly order. That part was a little disappointing, but only in the sense he couldn't go in swinging. Hver would have disprove of that tactic anyway, a thought that made him sigh an little inside and try and soothe his own bad mood as he closed on Celsus, slowing from an sort of jogging run to a walk, lifting a hand in greeting to show he was friendly, though he figured his aura said as much anyway. The other knight's costume wasn't quite familiar, hard to place at first. Uranus? No... not quite. Wrong symbol. Oh wait... he knew where he'd seen it. That other knight that had been to Mistral with him. The uh, damn... right that was it. Chronos. Hard to entirely forget someone who'd dropped a battery pack that blew a hole in the floor and dropped you and your broken collarbone a through it. "Hey. Any action around here, or is it a dull night?" He called.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2015 8:41 pm
He felt like breathing was an effort. A chore, something that was not easy, nor secondary, but necessary in order to survive, something he couldn't avoid. The ache in his chest was growing deeper and deeper, spreading out until it reached his lungs, until a sensation of cold had overtaken his entire torso, tightening the area around his heart.
Running was all he knew. Celsus did not know how long he had been doing so, and his legs were burning with the effort of continuing. He slowed his pace, panting raggedly, and though it was winter out, the night air chilly around him, sweat was beaded on his forehead, sliding down the side of his neck. The tendons stood out, dark circles rimming the space beneath his eyes, face several shades paler than it should have been.
It took him a moment to realize where he was. He was somewhere on the rooftops of the city, the sky an inky black above his head, dotted with stars, and he was not alone. There was another power signature, close enough that he should have noticed it by now, but dragging his head out of his thoughts was difficult.
Movement ahead indicated the presence of the knight, and Celsus lifted his gaze, his chest heaving. Swallowing was painful; he had to attempt it twice just so he could form the words that sluggishly made their way into his head, his mind hazy.
"It's...." His voice came out ragged and unsteady, Celsus swaying slightly. "No. It's - it's quiet. Nothing coming out."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2015 6:22 am
Holy s**t, that... didn't really sound like someone for whom nothing was going on. It sounded more like he'd just escaped a run in with Tanzanite or one of the other GKs. "Doesn't sound a lot like nothing..." He couldn't feel anything, but there were threats out there that wouldn't give off a power signature. Had the cops suddenly stepped it up? Was someone shooting at either side, or both sides? "You sure you're ok?" He felt on edge himself, but the kind of on edge that he was half sure would have told him something was coming from an extra half block or so away.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2015 11:22 pm
The knight was vaguely recognizable. It took Celsus a moment to place him at all, finally realizing, in his muddled mind, that he had been there at the amusement park when he'd failed to rescue Tolliver. Yet another one who had seemed to have a good head on his shoulders, who probably did a great deal more than Celsus ever could hope to.
His heartbeat refused to settle, tapping out a rhythm far surpassing calm.
"I - " The words caught in his throat again. Celsus shook his head, a little too violently, and dizziness slipped through his vision, which wavered unsteadily. He forced himself to stand still, but was unable to subdue the consistent tremor in his hands, instead tucking them out of sight beneath the draping folds of his cloak.
"I'm fine," he said, which was some semblance of calm and entirely fake. "Sorry, I didn't mean to...that is, I've seen you be - before, haven't I?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2015 5:28 am
"OK sit down." Kairatos demanded, worried now about the behavior of the other knight. "Do you need to power down? We can go have this chat over a plate of bad eggs or something if you need." He pointed out. There were all night diners and fast food joints, something had to be open..., and he stepped forward, offering an arm just in case. "Yeah... I mean... probably. I'm Kairatos. Pretty sure any reputation I have doesn't exactly include being reclusive and quiet." He joked. It never really had. "You're with Chronos right? Met one of yours on a mission with Mistral..." Celsus was trying his best to sound calm, but Kairatos at best sounded, concerned and unconvinced.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2015 8:54 am
He couldn't help but smile slightly, though the thought of eggs made him queasy, and Celsus shook his head once more. After a moment's hesitation, shame welling deep within his stomach, he reached out and grasped the knight's arm, allowing himself to be led over to the edge of the parapet and took a seat, closing his eyes briefly.
"It's all right," he said, and exhaled a long breath, visible in the chill air. He tugged his cape a bit more securely around him, the hot burn of embarrassment on his cheeks. "I'm Celsus, of Chronos, yes." Though how much of that was worth mentioning remained to be seen. "I...remember you, and Mistral, though I haven't...met her in person yet, only seen her and talked to her briefly."
Talking was helping to ease the consistent thrum of anxiety through his chest. Celsus glanced up at Kairatos, at the expression on his face.
"Do you like being a knight?" he blurted out, the question bursting from his lips, and he pushed past the swell of mortification at such a stupid question. "That is to say...is it something that you...that you feel compelled to do?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2015 10:08 am
"Compelled... that's not an easy one..." He frowned, thoughtfully, and sunk down to sit next to Celsus, ignoring the cold stubbornly. "... I... guess... but not for the reasons some do I think. I didn't start out a knight, not even sure it was an thing at first... so I do it for me. To give a big ******** to the Negaverse, my bad decisions and to their mantra that there's no getting out. Doesn't probably help I've got more memories of being powered than not... but that's me. My reasons. It's not for anyone else to decide. Yeah there are people out there that need help, but... say... you and me... we're not the only ones out there. We're not the only ones awake and fighting, and that's good cause otherwise I'd be up a goddamn creek every time I broke something." He joked, weakly, but the intent was there more to suggest that needing time to heal, your body or your soul... that was fine. It wasn't a forced march, no one would be force feeding you starseeds or the like to get you back in the game. "That's a heavy question though. What's got you asking?" He was damn poor clergy to anyone seeking absolution, he was pretty sure.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2016 9:12 am
While Celsus' outfit was conducive to the cold, Kairatos' was not. Under normal circumstances, he would have made a joke of it, even helped if he could, but there was nothing he could do now, and his fingers curled around the edge of the parapet, digging into the brick and stone.
His head snapped towards the other knight, startled at the revelation that he had not been a knight. From the little that Celsus had seen of this one, he seemed perfectly capable; had he not always been this way?
Kairatos was strong. He'd gotten out of the Negaverse, forged a new life for himself as a knight, and what was Celsus doing? Nothing at all except running away, because that was what he was good at. Disappointing others and letting everything fall apart because of him.
Celsus let out a small laugh that was weak and shallow, his throat feeling as though he'd swallowed sawdust.
"Just...seems like every choice I make is the wrong one, somehow," he said, looking away, a strained smile that did not reach his eyes on his face. "I wasn't even in the Negaverse; I was awakened in the midst of a battle and became a page immediately, and yet..."
He shook his head, a jerky motion. "And yet I seem to be...incapable of even the smallest things."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2016 1:06 pm
Oh. Ok. ...That was a punch in the gut huh. He hadn't been awakened in battle. He'd been given power in a darkened warehouse and asked to use it over someone else's life... but nothing like that. He bit his lip thoughtfully, maybe just to make sure it was still there in the damn cold, and then patted Celsus lightly on the shoulder. "Try me. What are you having trouble with?" Celsus didn't strike him as a weak knight, he -felt- like they were comparable in power, but he also knew the very sharp difference between what certain knights were armed with, what their purpose was, and how it could leave them better equipped for some situations than others. None of which made it easier, when sometimes it felt like those intended roles no longer applied.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2016 8:04 pm
The touch made a flinch pass across his face briefly (unclean, unworthy, pathetic), but Celsus did not draw away. His shoulders were tense, his fingers gripping the edge of the parapet so tightly that his knuckles were white, head hanging.
A hollow laugh escaped, twisting his stomach painfully.
"It would be easier," said Celsus tightly, "to say what I'm not having trouble with. I can't...there is simply...I fear I am not...suited to this position."
An understatement at best.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2016 5:18 am
"No one is suited to this position." Kairatos's tone turned a bit sharp at the edges, but it wasn't directed at Celsus. "This wasn't even the job we were supposed to be doing, way the hell back when. No one's supposed to be suited to being a soldier in a war, especially not one with no clear end in sight. Not even the negaverse. The best chaos can do is warp it's people to what it wants... and if you've seen the youma you know what's way down the end of THAT road. I'm more worried about the people who don't have trouble getting out there every damn night. It's hard, it's thankless, and for most of us, it's not even a little bit what we were ever meant to be doing. We were given our wonders and powers in an age when there was mostly peace. We weren't trying to keep the last living place in the galaxy from being snuffed out, we were just... we were peace keepers, entertainers, wanderers, judges. Things we could be suited for rightly. Of course we aren't goddamn suited for it. Hell I'm not even suited to the climate." He offered, with a tight lipped, grim smile from which the humor, if not the determination, had faded. "If you're not made for this it's cause you're not a monster, you're a guy trying to do the best he can because you've got tools that other people don't. Doesn't mean it's easy, doesn't mean it doesn't hurt... but it's why we've gotta be there for each other when it hurts. It's what we've got." Who else would understand them? Who else could you turn to when you lived two lives? You had to turn to each other, no matter how much pride demanded that many of them go alone.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2016 10:05 am
He felt the words stab into him painfully, and Celsus closed his eyes against the sound of it, against the feel of it, his heart twisting agonizingly in his chest. He was not meant to be this, to be anything more than just a bystander, and yet he'd been thrown directly into it, without ever being given a choice.
A hollow laugh escaped Celsus once more, and he rubbed a hand across his face, trying to ignore the way that the air around him seemed to be suppressing in on him, cluttering his lungs, causing his throat to constrict.
"What do you do, though?" said Celsus hopelessly. "If you don't have anyone?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2016 10:37 am
"Well, this is a good start..." He realized that while Celsus had introduced himself, he'd forgotten to, and changed the position of his hand to offer it in introduction. "Kairatos of Mars. Nice to meet you. Xanthus if you prefer." He wasn't sure what had happened to Celsus to make him feel this way, but he had a... reasonable idea that this was where to start.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2016 11:14 am
He opened his mouth and then shut it again, his chest tightening as he looked at the knight's outstretched hand. Celsus' own was trembling a little, and he hesitated, wondering if it was all just some cosmic joke meant to remind him of just how alone he was.
Tolliver had Hitch, and Celsus - Fritz - had nothing at all.
Celsus reached out shaking fingers and wrapped them around Kairatos' tentatively.
"Fritz," he said quietly. "My name is Fritz."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2016 8:27 am
"See, there, now you've got a new friend." He offered, giving Celsus' hand a firm, but not harsh shake. "And I can introduce you to Themiscara too. So that's two." maybe you never should have left said the code, at his wonder. ******** that. He'd never have done this then. He'd been too damn angry. He was still angry, but it wasn't the same kind of rage. Angry at circumstances... well that had barely changed, but these at least felt like the kind of bad ones you could actually take a kick at. "It's a quiet night, let's take it for what it's worth, maybe I can help with something."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
