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 Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 2:46 pm
Lately, Midgard had felt like sleep was not obtainable for him.
With his subconscious filled to the brim with monsters he would rather leave behind him, locked away behind some door, the man behind the squire often found himself out at all hours of the night, simply because he couldn't sleep. Tonight was one of those nights, with the cold air clinging to his skin and chills running up and down his spine.
In the aftermath of what he perceived to be a panic attack, he had started running with his legs pushing him harder and faster and the change had happened without much thought or consideration. The park he had ended up in had been empty, it was unlikely that someone would have seen him. He wasn't sure he cared if they had.
No one knew, or really cared, about a man named Tristan Lestrange.
But someone might care about Midgard.
His squire's coat is so much warmer than the simple hoodie he had pulled on before he had left and the pull of the hood is warm against his neck. It's a strange mix of suffocating and freeing, being in this state that feels more natural to him.
The park he's found himself in is smaller than the city's central park, which is nice, and there are no other auras pressing on his senses and he's grateful for that, really. At least this way, if he loses it, there's no one around to witness him as he walks along the worn dirt path that loops through the park.
Or at least anyone that he can see.
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Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 10:39 am
Alexei had been convinced he was in the park alone, until a flurry of movement had caught his eye from his peripheral. Thinking the worst, as one should do in the late hours of the night, he expected some sort of attack. It didn't come, despite what his paranoia told him to anticipate, so he chanced a glance in the direction of his accidental company. Alexei was taking a shortcut to the nearest coffee shop; the ones nearest to him had already closed for the night and he'd misjudged just how much caffeine he'd need to feed his addiction as he worked through the night. He looked nothing but proper; he wore an expensive suit and coat, and even his scarf had the look of money about it. He had left his briefcase back in the office, but even without it he looked like he didn't know how to be anything but professional. Not that eyeing strangers in the park was probably professional, but he thought he had a good excuse. Mostly, that outfit. Midgard's outfit was just outlandish enough that Alexei was confident it wasn't some new fashion statement or costume--and i it was a costume, why would anyone want to wear it out in this weather? The man across from him seemed to be caught in his own thoughts, and for a split second, Alexei thought he might let him be. He surprised himself, however, when he cleared his throat. "Your outfit," he said, instead of a proper greeting. "Is a bit odd, isn't it? Are you on your way from some costume party, or am I simply so out of the times that I cannot recognize fashion when I see it?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2017 10:41 pm
He was not as alert as he should have been and it showed in the way his back went rigid when he heard the clearing of a throat. Green eyes went wide, his heart a hummingbird flutter in his chest when his chin snapped up and he searched for the source. First, he registered that there were no other auras in his vicinity, that he could feel anyway, and secondly, he registered that it was a finely dressed man who was addressing him.
The squire's body language read as tense and he likely looked like someone who would go either way, stuck in a state between fight or flight as he regarded the other man.
Slowly, Midgard was swallowing, tongue working in his mouth before he decided how he would respond. "Some would say," he began, speaking slowly if only because his brain wasn't at quick at processing the right words from French to English as he would have liked, "that you are the oddly dressed one." His gaze swept over the man's suit again, lingering on the scarf with his brow crinkling in concern.
"It's rather late for a walk in such...rich clothing." Midgard made no move towards or away from the man, uncertain of how to approach this. In all his time adjusting to this new life, this was something he had yet to experience and even with his memories of his life as the sinful captain, his encounters with civilians had been few and far between.
He couldn't shake the paranoia that perhaps this man was just an agent in civilian garb waiting for him to slip up so they could drag him back into ruin.
But he wanted to believe the best in people, so he tried that instead.
"Isn't fashion subjective?"
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Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2017 11:56 pm
Alexei hummed thoughtfully. "Subjective, perhaps, but at the very least we should agree that your attire is uncommon. Myself," he gestured, "Is what should be expected of a business professional. I'm only out this late because I require coffee. And the shop I want to visit is," he pointed in the direction he had been walking, "Over there. Easier to just walk instead of drag the car out."
Satisfied with his own explanation, he shrugged.
"Though, at least I can explain what I'm wearing. What is that?"
He tilted his head, eying the symbols that kept popping on on the other's outfit. "What are those? Gang symbols?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2017 9:26 pm
He picked at his bracer, averting his gaze because he didn't know what to say. Strangely dressed people weren't that uncommon in DC, when one considered the 'gang' factor, but he couldn't deny the point the man was making. "N’importe quoi," he mumbled beneath his breath, adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed.
"It's...a - " Midgard hesitated, glancing up then down that the symbols emblazoned on his uniform. He didn't know how to explain the symbols to someone who wouldn't recognize them or what he was. If he said Chronos, it could mean anything while also giving too much away.
In the end, he settled on the most basic of explanations.
"No. Not a gang just - a symbol of protection." Not his strongest explanation but he tried and he supposed that count. "I - " Again he trailed off. Why was English so difficult?
"Sleeping is hard and sometimes, you want to pretend to be someone else." He offered, shaking his head at himself. He probably wasn't making any sense, but how could he, when he was only half a person who was still figuring out who he was in the aftermath of everything.
At least, as Midgard, dressed like this, he was somebody that he remembered instead of trying to navigate false waters.
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Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 10:18 pm
Alexei was silent for a moment, eyes on the man in front of him. He was in deep thought and didn’t seem to mind the silence that developed as he contemplated the answer he’d been given. He couldn’t claim that the man seemed like he was being influenced by drugs, despite the oddity of the answers.
Despite the strange attire, he didn’t seem to carry the presence of someone trying to represent a gang.
Alexei liked to think he had a good ability to judge people; he wouldn’t have chosen a career as a judge if he thought he was bad at it.
“I suppose,” he replied noncommittally. He had only ever imagined himself in the role he wanted to be in; he had never needed to be someone else.
Until recently, at least. He’d become familiar with the thought, nagging at him in from the back of his mind.
“Perhaps,” he suggested, “The next time someone asks what you’re doing out in that getup, you tell them you’re doing a school project. I’d have believed you if you told me you were filming something for a class. You can play any character you want. Though.” His eyes were on Midgard’s face again. “Who do you want to pretend to be?”
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Posted: Thu Apr 06, 2017 11:33 am
Throughout his entire powered career, Midgard would not have considered himself as someone who came off threatening. He knew how to fight, the training pressed upon him until he thought he would break beneath the weight of it, but he had never really been someone who would instigate. Even now, with paranoia keeping him on edge, he didn't hold himself like a man ready to attack but one ready to defend and flee if he needed to.
Alexei did not look like anyone he might have recognized from the negaverse, but he could not shake the fear that they were watching, looking for him now.
Midgard blinked slowly at the other man, who didn't appear to be too much older than the age he thought he was, mind a whirl as he tried to keep up with what he was saying. Surely, as time went on he would stop having so many issues with communication. "Ah, could you...speak slower?" He asked, green-eyed gaze dropping in embarrassment. Keeping up with someone who talked with certainty as his companion did was not helping.
"English isn't..." He trailed off again, trying to reign in his desire to sigh. The question finally registered and Midgard looked up again, nose wrinkling when he shrugged. "It does not matter. Just - someone."
He couldn't even begin to think about how to answer that when he knew so little about himself.
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Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2017 11:55 pm
Alexei watched with the same attentive gaze. He was used to projecting an imposing image and he rarely did anything to disrupt that persona. He preferred it, most of the time.
Now, it was not so helpful, but he didn’t drop it. He nodded, though, and for a moment looked sympathetic. “Then, I hope you figure out who you want to be. English isn’t your first language?” he prompted after a slight pause. “You were doing a good job keeping up. Though, I suppose it is getting late and you do seem like you’ve had a rough night. Perhaps you should head home?”
It wouldn’t fix all the wrongs in the world, but he couldn’t imagine a better place to be than the place that felt most like home. Except, in his case, the office felt like home, but the man in front of him didn’t seem to be working, specifically. “I appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions.” He extended a hand, clearly intending to shake. “I do have just one more, though. What name are you going by? I hope you’ll forgive the intrusion, I don’t mean to pry. I should have asked at the beginning of the conversation but my curiosity distracted me. I am Alexei Marcellus, I work down at the Courthouse.”
It was more information than was necessary, but he wasn’t concerned with his identity or his occupation. He was a private man with a public career and he might not have understood much about Knights but he was trying, in his own way. Maybe he was just looking at a man in a costume, or maybe he was looking at a Knight. Maybe, it didn’t matter.
He was still curious, though.
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Posted: Thu Apr 20, 2017 2:19 pm
Fidgeting under the weight of an intense stare was more natural than he would have liked; the squire having flash backs from his days beneath the harsh thumb of General Labyrinthite and his imposing force and teaching. It did not matter that he was several inches taller than the other man.
Alexei held himself in a manner that imposed authority and something Midgard was mistaking for threat.
"C'est la vie," he retorted, doing his best to keep his shoulders from hunching and to stand with the confidence he used to have, a long time ago. In a life he couldn't remember. "Not...exactly," he admitted, unsure of how best to explain it. He knew English and should have been fluent in it but his brain was a scrambled mess of things trying to piece itself back together.
Perhaps you should head home?
Something about that made him flinch, because what was a home when you didn't know who you were or who you cared about? Fiona was kind, certainly, but he didn't think he could call her house home. It was all temporary anyway.
Green eyes blinked at the offered hand and he took it tentatively. "Midgard." The name and alignment were the only things that he definitively knew. "And, ah, I am sorry that I do not have very many answers."
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Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2017 11:26 pm
Alexei gave a firm handshake but offered a polite smile. “You have enough of them. Thank you for your time, Midgard.”
A name he would have to research later, if only to try and understand the naming mechanics of the Knights. So far he hadn’t found any similarities between them, but his research was still in infancy and there was too much he didn’t yet know.
“I hope I haven’t inconvenienced you too much.”
After a few seconds, he withdrew his hand and bowed his head just slightly. “Whatever the rest of your evening entails, I hope you stay safe. Perhaps, should our paths cross again, you’ll have the answers you seek then.”
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Posted: Mon May 01, 2017 11:09 am
This man, Alexei as he'd called himself, was interesting.
What did a normal man, one who dressed in expensive suits and talked like someone with Ivy League education, want with someone who couldn't communicate effectively and had offered nothing of substance to the conversation.
"No, sir. S'no trouble." His words slurred together slightly as he rushed to say them. Alexei hadn't been an inconvenience, if anything it was the other way around.
Shuffling off to the side, leaving the man ample room, Midgard found enough of his voice and confidence to say, "Be wary of the things people might tell you." He didn't offer much more than that, or even why he said anything in the first place.
If Alexei was willing to engage in conversations with awkward and clearly suspicious people such as himself, who was to say that the Negaverse wouldn't try to sweet talk him. "There's more bad than good these days..." He shook his head, choosing to leave it at that, before he made to go about his way.
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Posted: Fri May 19, 2017 11:32 pm
Alexei watched as the man moved out of his way; he didn’t expect that Midgard was going to suddenly become hostile and give him cause for concern but he couldn’t help but be curious. The warning was a bit ominous, but it was fair.
“I trust only the facts, Midgard,” he assured. “People are deceptive. All we can do is collect evidence and make an educated decision based on the facts. But I thank you for the warning, I appreciate it.”
Good and bad were subjective, but at its core it was a sentiment Alexei could agree with. There was a severe lack of justice in the world and there was too much corruption for anyone to make a difference if things stayed the way they were.
He bowed his head slightly to Midgard. “Good luck in your fight,” he said before moving past him.
He still had much to do tonight, and he suspected the same of Midgard. Their talk may have been brief but it had given him much to consider. He hoped Midgard could find what he was looking for, just as he hoped the same for himself.
Nuxaz I think we can call this finished if you are ready! <3
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