|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2016 11:19 pm
There were a million things Adria could have said when he learned that the senshi that had saved him was Cambria, but it was too late for any of that.
She had just rescued him from certain death, and she had powered down and he trusted her—and started powering down, too. She had finished before him, and if he's just waited, he never would have powered down at all.
Standing before Cambria was not Sailor Adria, Senshi of Sunsets, who she had never met before.
It was Malcolm.
Malcolm Everly, who she had met not so long ago at during a Christmas Break at his parents house, where she had spent the holidays. With her boyfriend—Zack.
As in, Zack, his older brother, who he spent most of that 'holiday' avoiding. And not just because Zack was an a** who kept picking on him, but because he couldn’t look him in the face after all that noise that kept coming from his bedroom after everyone had gone to sleep.
"Uh," he said, face beet red as he stood before Cambria. "M-Malcolm," he mumbled softly. "…But I think you might have already known that. I—You…You're a…? —Is Zack?"
He fumbled over words somewhat desperately, half trying to distract that he was socially awkward (more so now that he wasn't powered up), and half trying to get over the fact that he almost died.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 12:13 am
Well now. This was not something that Cambria had been expecting. She hadn’t been expecting Malcolm at all. In fact, the fact that it was Malcolm made her slightly nervous and…sheesh. First she let Evan know who she was, and now Malcolm…
Thinking back to how the boy had hid all during Christmas…and what she had been uh…doing all during Christmas she felt her face heat up and she laughed. “Well, small world, hm? I uh. I don’t think Zack is, at least if he is we haven’t bumped into on another at all…um…” She laughed, trying very hard to stay positive and not be awkward and not be…
Well. Just not be how she was feeling. “Anyway, I can walk you home…are you still staying at Zack’s place? Or where are you staying now?”
She took a few steps away and paused. “So…how long have you been…uh. How long have you been…Adria?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 9:16 am
"N-No, I still…" He was quiet and even more awkward. "No, I stay at home, with my parents." It wasn't like he had anything to be ashamed of; he was only seventeen and currently homeschooled, but for some reason he felt like he should be ashamed of that fact.
"It's…I mean, you know where it is, you were there."
His head was swimming again, but he already knew that was from embarrassment and not any damage he'd sustained. He took a few steps with her, but kept his head somewhat down. "Not for very long," he finally confessed, as if she wouldn't have been able to see that herself.
"It was early in December. But then I got distracted with, you know…Holiday stuff. "
AKA having company staying for a few days and not being comfortable sneaking out. Not being comfortable staying in, mind you, but at least he could put on headphones and pretend like the walls weren't so thin.
"Uh…I was trying to pick back up, but I…" Shameful, now, and disappointed, "I guess I'm not doing so good. I might not be cut out for this. I think that cat made a mistake…"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 10:03 am
Cambria nodded, setting off in the direction of his parent’s house. “Early in December, hm? That’s not long at all…and you’re going out all on your own? That’s, and I’m not trying to make you feel bad, I’m really not…do you have any people you could patrol with? Have you made any friends yet?” She watched him for a moment and finally shook her head, stopping in her tracks.
“Don’t you ever think that, Malcolm. You were chosen for a reason, you’re special, you have the ability to help change the world and shape the future and make things good again.” The woman poked him on the shoulder and seemed a little upset. “You’re a protector of the light, and all that jazz, I promise you the cat who awoke you did not make a mistake. You’re just not in practice, you’re still very new to this, and you’ll get better with time. I promise.”
She resumed her walk and sighed. “I’ll patrol with you, if you want. We can keep each other safe, and that’ll be great…so, what do you say? Want to team up or something?” It seemed like a good idea…and if she had something to do, maybe she wouldn’t be so tempted to just give herself over to chaos.
It was a win, win.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 10:29 am
Malcolm was glad when Cambria kept talking; he would have been even more ashamed to admit that he hadn't made any friends (and didn't really know how to go about doing so while powered up). She probably thought he was weird enough already, what with how he'd just avoided her during Christmas. He wasn't really avoiding her, though, he and his brother just really didn't get along and it seemed like it was just going to cause trouble if he was spending too much time with Zack's girlfriend because then he'd just find something else to pick on him for.
Her words were even slightly reassuring, but he didn't have that confidence in himself that she seemed to have.
When she stopped him, he sort of shifted on his feet and crossed his arms over his chest as he listened. Slowly, he looked up at her. "…You really want to patrol with me?" he asked, having a hard time just trusting her. He wanted to, but he'd been the butt of a lot of jokes. A lot of Zack's jokes and pranks. He didn't want to be at the butt end of another one.
"…Are you sure that's not going to upset Zack or be awkward or anything?"
...Like things could really get more awkward, but he was just a little hopeful that maybe this could be a good opportunity. Maybe they really could be friends.
The last time they had met, she seemed nice enough—just really, really preoccupied with her boyfriend. But she was polite, and kind, and friendly; he'd seen that much even just from how she'd interacted with his parents.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 10:44 am
“I really want to patrol with you, and there’s no way this will upset Zack, he doesn’t even know about any of this. With me at least…he’s no part of any of this, and honestly…I don’t want to tell him, and I don’t plan on it.” She didn’t want to ruin that…and she really didn’t want to ever have to explain to Zack why she was going around crushing on people and kissing people and whatever else she was doing.
But…that was not something that Malcolm needed to know…just because she wanted to patrol with him and befriend him…that didn’t mean he needed to know everything about her powered life.
…maybe later down the road when they got closer.
“I’ve never really had someone that I was patrolling with on a regular basis…so I think this will be pretty good for the both of us…truth be told, I’ve been blundering through all of this…one time a cat even yelled at me because I was such a loner…but when you think about it, aren’t unicorns normally on their own?”
Cambria gave a little laugh and sighed a moment later. “It’s scary sometimes though. Being alone out there. Thank you for the opportunity of being with someone else. It actually makes me feel a lot safer.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 11:00 am
Malcolm chanced a small smile. "Well, you never see two sunsets at once, either, so…"
He seemed shy still, but at least a little bit optimistic.
She was just like him, then, if she had been bumbling around. He was worried he was going to get yelled at and let everyone down, but if she could help…
He could really use a friend.
"Maybe we can work out some time to meet up, once or twice a week? —If that's not too much!" he hastily insisted, not wanting to be too overbearing. "I can give you my phone number and we can plan things out. Oh, but…"
He seemed sheepish again and looked down at the ground while they continued to walk ."…Don't let my brother find your phone. He'll know it's mine immediately. It—" he sighed. "…The last four numbers are 8008, so he's been calling me a boob for years. And the last thing I want is for him to come pounding on my door, hounding me and trying to figure out why I'm hanging out with his girlfriend. He's such a drama queen," he muttered, a clear bit of disdain in his voice.
…That he regretted, and looked up at her quickly. "Please don't tell him I said that."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 11:39 am
“No, that sounds great!” Once or twice a week was better than she had been hoping for…she didn’t think Malcolm was going to have been so interested in getting together! But she was terribly pleased.
“Yeah, your phone number sounds great, thanks!” She drew out her cell phone and paused, listening to him say that Zack had been calling him a boob for years, and before she could stop herself, a laugh escaped her throat. “Oh god, he doesn’t, does he? I’m sorry, Mal…but that is kind of funny. I can see him doing it too. Your brother is such an a**.”
But she loved him…so she wasn’t going to let the fact that he was an a** get in the way…not now, at least…so long as he was nice to her, that was what mattered.
Cambria opened her contact list and typed in the name AdriaN. “There, now it looks like a normal name, but I’ll know it’s really Adria, which is you, which is not what Zack calls you so it’s all good. Right? And you can put me in your phone as…I don’t know, Lyssie or something. Just something that…nobody will know, and you and I can text and Zack will never know!”
Because that made perfect sense.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 11:57 am
If Malcolm had ever found any amusement at the nickname, it was long gone and his pursed lips and disinterested, slightly embarrassed expression showed it. He grumbled a bit but was quick to brush it off.
"I guess," he said; he typed in 'Lyssie' and they did a quick swap of phone numbers and gave her his full one. They were getting nearer to his house, and he wanted to talk but he just felt so disgusting after that Negaverse agent had her hand in his chest. He figured they didn't have much time, so he went back to the questions that kept raging in his head.
"You've…been doing this for a while, haven't you? You're a lot stronger than I am. Uhm," he crossed his arms after he tucked away his phone. "…You're positive that they couldn’t have made a mistake with me? I kinda…am pretty happy just staying in the background and, you know, not getting my starseed pulled out and my head bashed in. I'm just worried I'm not going to be the…you know, hero, or whatever, that they wanted. I can't even…I mean, I don't even have my personal life under control, how can they trust me to do anything more?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 1:40 pm
“I’m sure they haven’t made a mistake with you, Mal. You’re a great guy, and you’re going to be a great senshi. You just need practice, that’s all. It’s going to be great, you’ll see. One day you’ll be as strong as me…and if you have any work ethic at all, I’m sure you’ll become even stronger than me if you work hard.”
Or work at all, to be honest. If she would buckle down and work on being a good senshi, she would have been stronger already. But…hey. That hadn’t happened yet.
“When you work on using your attacks, or maybe if you could join some sort of martial arts class or boxing or something…just in case your attack doesn’t…do anything, like mine. You’ll have the benefit of having some physical power to add to your fearsome aspect. But I get it. Our spheres are not really…fear inducing. I mean, Unicorns are the things of dreams, and sunsets, well, those are always hopeful and good and pretty and…and all that jazz.”
Cambria sighed heavily, stopping right outside of Malcom’s house. “We got the short end of the stick, I guess…so now we just have to stick together, right? We’ll get there. You and me, together we can be unstoppable.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 1:49 pm
Malcolm just couldn’t see himself in some fighting class; the moment he signed up, his parents would find out—his brother would find out…ugh, he'd never hear the end of it. And he'd wind up making a royal fool of himself. But Cambria was encouraging, and he figured that the least he could do was take some time to Google some things. At the very least, It might give him some ideas for things to get involved in.
"I'll look into it," he promised, though with dubious certainty. "Uhm…Thanks again, for—you know, for saving me. I'll text you later and we can figure something out. Or—uhm, well, no. You text me when Zack isn't around. Just in case. Are you sure you're going to be okay going home by yourself? Do you want me to call a cab or something…? Well, no."
He faltered and shook his head. "Obviously you can take care of yourself. Sorry, I'm not thinking so clearly. She hit my head really good. I kinda just want to go in and sleep for uh. A day, at least." He rubbed at his chest; he wore a distant, thoughtful expression for a second, but was quick to suppress his thought from the fight. He could think about those things—worry about those things later.
Much later.
"Uhm—but, thank you again. I'll see you around?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
