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 Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2017 5:33 pm
Days and days had passed since the last time Manu had left his home. While he had plenty of hope after having met Malus and Michel not too long ago, it quickly sank further and further down the more he searched for Bazzite. Every youma he met, every Negaverser he encountered, he did his beast to stop, to talk, to try to gather some sort of information that would lead him to the one he sought out so badly.
But sadly, every single one didn't want to talk. They lashed out viciously, seeking blood and the seed that rested deep in his chest. And that pained him far more emotionally that it did physically, for certain. He found himself curled up on his bed, hurting so deeply that it felt as if he couldn't even breath.
Was what he was doing that useless if no one spoke to him? Was there any point in trying to help Bazzite if he could not be found and that no one would help him find him?
No, that was wrong... He did have people. Sweet, dear people who gave him that small bit of hope he had before. Maybe they could help again...
A single text was sent to Malus, hoping just a little bit that maybe they would be free to talk, to do anything that would keep him from feeling so hopeless this point.
Good Evening! Would you and your partner be available to 'hang out' this evening? I'd like to talk some and maybe learn some things with you guys tonight, since, you now, I'm still sorta fresh meat. Let me know, thanks!
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Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2017 5:29 pm
The returning text took a while to arrive; it wasn’t that Evan was ignoring the message, just that he’d been busy cooking and forgotten his phone in the other room. When he managed to locate it, he had texted back, ‘Yeah! We can be there in forty five minutes. Finishing dinner. Are you allergic to anything?’
It was a simple question, and he didn’t think anything odd of it, and had no reason to when Manu texted back, ‘ ‘Nope, not allergic to a thing. Thank you for asking. I'll see you soon.’
He replied, ‘All right, see you where we met.’
He then asked Zac if he could come out with him, to which the older man had agreed without too much question; it wasn’t often that Evan was the one that wanted to go out and power up, so who was he to deny him when he was clearly in such a good mood about it all?
They had finished dinner and then powered up before heading through the park and back towards where they had first encountered Manu.
A part of Malus was hoping that he would bring his dog again, but he wasn’t entirely sure why. Malus was not a dog person, and yet he still found himself scanning the area a bit hopefully. He had brought a bag with him, and while it wasn’t clear what was in it, a few Tupperware containers were visible through the plastic.
They seemed to have arrived a little earlier than Manu, so Malus waited patiently by rocking on his heels while Michel crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against a lamp post.
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Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2017 6:00 am
After the invitation was extended and accepted, It took some time for Roderick to get ready. Having not left his house in some time, he wasn't the most well maintained looking young man right now. His eyes seemed almost sunken in from the lack of sleep he faced, and his beard, while normally well kept and trimmed looked a scraggly mess. Even the clothes he had worn, ones he hadn't been out of for days, were stained and grungy, covered in the occasional grease spot and old Cheetos powder. But he did, in fact, take the time to clean himself up, making sure that there was no sign of the way he lived except for those same, tired eyes that tried to smile back at him in the mirror but just couldn't.
Maybe if he were to see the other Knights, he'd perk up a bit... That he didn't know.
If anyone was happy for the expedition back out to the park, it would most certainly be Staccato, who ever faithfully followed his best friend out into the night. While he had been let out and allowed to wander the yard, it wasn't nearly as wonderful as all the smells and sensations that came with walking to the park. And to him, the best smells came from new friends, and he could just smell that new friend he had made before. The pretty one with the nervous touch. He was a good friend, and with a little more excitement than he had before, Staccato pulled Manu forward.
Upon their arrival at the light post where Manu had first met Malus and Michel, a tiny bit of hesitation filled his heart, if only because he feared for the worst. What if they had said they finally found Bazzite but were forced to dust him again? What if they said that they had a princess kill him? He wasn't sure if his heart could take that sort of pain, not when he hadn't even had the chance to thank the Youma for saving him...
Swallowing his fears, Manu stepped into the light, a small smile making it's way to his lips upon seeing the other nights up close now.
"It's been too long. I hope you two are doing well this evening." Staccato, once let go, made his way to Malus' side and plopped down next to him. It was decided, for now he like Malus best.
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Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2017 7:22 pm
Though Malus still had his reservations about any sort of creatures, he couldn’t help but smile when Staccato made his way next to him. He figured it was probably just because he had food, but he liked it anyway. He knelt down to pet the dog, carefully keeping the bag of Tupperware from touching the floor. “Hi,” he greeted, partly to Manu and partly to the dog. He reached out, hesitant, as always, and carefully ran his fingers over the dog’s head.
“We’re doing well,” he answered, clearly in a better mood than Michel.
Michel didn’t seem unhappy to be there; he nodded to Manu and pshed away from the lamp post when the other Knight arrived. “It hasn’t been too long,” he answered. He was looking at Manu, scrutinizing with silent inquiry.
He noticed the eyes, just before Malus did.
Only, while Michel watched with quiet curiosity, Malus looked with obvious concern. “Are you okay?” he asked, unabashedly, as he pushed himself into a standing position. “You look tired.”
He didn’t want to move away from Staccato, but reluctantly he did so—and held out the bag of food. “If you haven’t eaten already, I made this. If you get time, you should try it. Please. It’s good,” he insisted, apparently either very confident in his abilities, or just desperate to find something he could trick himself into taking pride in.
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Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2017 1:44 pm
Staccato was more than a little content in having Malus pet his head, leaning into the touch, tail wagging and giving a small boof in appreciation.
Manu's own head nodded as well, smiling a bit more genuinely as the two men seemed to be just fine seeing him out of the blue. Not that he would doubt their intentions. It was sudden, that's all. Not everyone had the leisure to take off weeks of work at a time... After a sigh, his smile turned sheepish, hand coming up tho fiddle with the tassel on his hat after having been asked how he was.
"Ah.... Do I look bad? I tried to clean up before I came, but maybe it wasn't enough. Things have been... Rough. Yeah, rough. Sleep keeps avoiding me recently, guess I have alot on my mind." With surprise, he took the bag offered, the remnant smells of the containers wafting from inside, enough to make his stomach growl, luckily only loud enough for him to hear. "Thanks, really. This just smells delicious, and is probably a million times better than the countless Cheetos I've been eating. I'm excited to try it, for sure."
His ever hearty laugh came out in a half hearted chuckle, ashamed that he couldn't deny he wasn't in the top of health right now. He had definitely started to pudge up a little since the last time he had seen Bazzite, the desire to remain fit and work hard leaving him in a strange sort of physical limbo, where he became squishier by the day, but remained energetic by fighting at night. But gods knew he was tired!
"Really, don't worry too much about me, I just need a good night's rest. I was hoping a bit of training could wear me out some... Plus I wanted to ask if you two had heard anything about Bazzite recently, but that can wait."
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Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 9:28 pm
Malus nodded; his brows remained knit with what was obviously concern but he didn’t pry into Manu’s health any further. He’d expressed concern and he doubted he could to more without being obnoxious. Instead, he perked up when Manu mentioned Bazzite.
“We did run into him! He was okay. He talked to us for a while, I mean. When he didn’t have,” he paused for a second and seemed to debate what phrase to use. He finally settled on, “‘Youma brain’. He mentioned you, though.”
Michel, still far less enthusiastic than Malus, added, “Not in the best of ways, though, so you should stop worrying about him. He said to stop looking for him.”
Malus cast the Knight a look and clarified, “Because he was worried he would hurt you. I don’t think he’s all that bad.”
Michel inhaled, as if he was preparing to say something. Instead, he just took one look at Malus’ face and exhaled slowly before shrugging and nodding as if he agreed.
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Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2017 10:47 am
“You saw him?! Thank god…” Every bit of tension in Manu’s body seemed to relax at the very thought that someone knew where Bazzite was, and that he was alright. And even hearing that the youma had spoken of him specifically seemed to raise his spirits up to the point that even his tired eyes seemed to be alight with excitement and eagerness. Yet it seemed to be short lived when Michel spoke up, and he worried, had Bazzite hurt somebody…? No, that couldn’t be it…
“You’re right, he’s not all bad. He can’t control that youma part of him, and he can’t really predict when his stone will help him think. But it’s not his fault. I’m sure he didn’t ask to be turned into a youma. Maybe it was a cruel joke, or some sort of accident or experiment gone wrong, but I know for certain he didn’t want to be like that. I still want to help him, and I’m so very glad he’s alive. I’ll keep searching for him myself, and if I get hurt, then it’s no one’s fault but my own. Thank you for telling me this though, it’s a huge weight off my shoulders.” It was true. Just that bit of news, even if it wasn’t the best had him more alert than he had felt in weeks. The search wasn’t in vain! He would be able to see Bazzite again! Someday, anyway. He really didn’t want to dwell on it too long since talking about his own issues always felt uneasy.
Setting down the bag of food beside him against the lamplight, Manu gave Staccato a look that said no, not for you, not now. then looked back up at Malus expectantly.
“You’ve both been so kind to me since we first met. I’d like to pay it off somehow. Would maybe a sparring session work well for you? I’ve still been rather negligent on training and the like, so I’d love to see your magic to see what it does.”
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Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2017 4:34 pm
Malus opened his mouth and promptly faltered, nearly sputtering to form some sort of response. Helplessly, he glanced to Michel.
Michel was far more wordly than Malus and had no problem volunteering Malus to spar, whether it was against the Senshi’s wishes or otherwise. “He’ll do it,” he said simply. “He needs the experience.”
For a few seconds, Malus looked at Michel as if he were trying to silently read him, and then he drew in a deep breath and nodded, looking back to Manu.
“I can do it,” he assured, partially for Manu but mostly for himself.
His hands clenched into fists at his side as he braced himself and then he nodded once more, firmer. “I’m not very good with my magic yet, so we’ll have to be careful, okay? And if I hurt you, we have to stop immediately.” Almost sympathetically, he looked to Stacatto. “Are you sure it isn’t going to scare him if we fight?”
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Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2017 7:19 am
"You and I both, Malus. I can say I have not been in combat all that often." In fact, most of the time when it came to hostilities between him and any Chaos person he ran across, he hesitated and fled. There was definitely something unappealing to hurting anyone, even if they sought out to hurt him as well, but he knew that there was no avoiding it. Not when there were multiple reports of people disappearing, or dying these days... As much as he wanted to remain the pacifist, there were too many people to protect to simply let that pass.
Manu's expression shifted once it went back to Malus who quietly reassured him, and he gave a thumbs up at it, feeling as if he, too, was gaining more confidence, especially with the overwhelming amount of good news there was to be had tonight.
"Understood. We will stop the moment you are ready. And..." He gaze went over to Staccato, giving him a look as the dog seemed to trek over to Michel's feet and roll over to his side, as if laying there to nap. "I don't think he will mind. I used to wrestle with people all the time, and he knows the difference between truly malicious intent and not."
Staccato was the best boy, that was for sure.
"Either way, we can do this, short and sweet if you'd like either target practice of physical sparring. It's up to you."
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Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2017 8:16 am
Michel looked down at the dog, not quite with disdain but with what appeared to be a vague disinterest. He kept his gaze on the dog for only a few seconds before he returned his attention to the two in front of him.
“’Wrestle?” Malus asked, raising a brow. “Well, I’ve never done that. What I do know is that I’m pretty good at being hit, but I don’t have a ton of strength. But I’m sure that’s not really hard to imagine.” He gestured to himself; he was thin, and small, especially compared to Michel. His experience in fights was mostly limited to getting beaten up, and while he didn’t want to get hit, the thought didn’t seem particularly terrifying to him right now.
Not when Michel was just a few yards away.
“If it’s okay, I’d like to practice with my magic a little more?” Him trying to hit someone like Manu was probably going to wind up with him making a fool of himself, but his magic…
That was something he could do and not look totally ridiculous. Besides—he still needed to learn what of it he could control, and how much power it really had.
Before his life depended on it.
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Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2017 11:45 am
"I suppose that I meant more of.. Physical combat? Though you're right, I'm sure you don't, and that's not a bad thing, I think. From what I noticed, senshi have the magic, knights are more physical... That being said, I know it is a weakness of mine of getting hit with magic, so I think this works out just fine."
Malis being the senshi of glass however, was a bit more frightening than he'd like to admit, however. What did his powers even do? Would shards of glass come out and impale him time and time again? Or would he be made to shatter just like the glass did? The Senshi was rather low powered, just as he was, so maybe it wouldn't be nearly as bad as he thought.
With a nod, Manu prepared himself, bracing for the attack that was coming.
"Go for it. I'm ready when you are."
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Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2018 9:12 am
Malus nodded and drew in a breath. “If it gets too bad, just call my name and I’ll—I’ll come over and do whatever I can to help, okay?” he asked; he didn’t know if he could do anything.
But he could try, and he’d have to—if Manu got hurt, it would be all his fault and he’d have no choice but to try and make it right.
“I’m going to cast it now, so…”
He gave a few more seconds for Manu to prepare and then he called, “Glass Façade!”
Michel watched quietly from the sides; he seemed to have the same general idea as Malus did. If anything went wrong, he was there to make sure it got fixed.
But how much trouble could the two of them get in, anyway?
Kapoodles Sailor Scout Attack: Glass Facade Malus targets one opponent and they become trapped in a stained glass illusion; the world around them seems to transform into a vivid glass portrait. Players may determine if the illusion resembles the world around them or takes on new forms. Colors may seem to blend together and strange light may be disorienting. Attacking something will shatter its stained glass illusion, however the illusion will break into magical glass shards that may cause the sensation of slicing damage. The player can choose to retain physical damage after the magic ends. The magic lasts for thirty seconds and can be used three times per battle.
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Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2018 6:12 pm
"Will do." After the extra moment allowed to gather his thoughts, he was suddenly hit by the magic and the world changed about him.
Endless colors surrounded him, the world becoming more like a gorgeous stained glass mural than real, and for a brief moment, he was stunned. And that moment passed, allowing Manu to reel back his arm and give a powerful punch to the glass Illusion around him. It shattered, beautifully so, but the pain that went through his hand felt so real. He could feel each slice against his closed fist, and... Well, maybe it was real, for the faintest, thinnest of blood streaks began to ad color to his white sleeves.
"Well!" He laughed, shaking his aching hand a few times. Bloodied, yes, but not the worst he had ever gotten. "Have you ever seen inside of there? My gods, it's gorgeous, but such a fragile world. If your magic can do such damage now, I can't help but wonder what will happen if you get stronger!"
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2018 7:26 am
Malus’ eyes widened when red began to speckle Manu’s sleeve. Any reservations he’d had about personal space were lost and he moved quickly to Manu’s side. He reached out as if he were going to touch him but faltered at the last second and retracted his hand.
“You’re bleeding,” he pointed out, worriedly. “If it’s a bad cut, you need to wrap it. I have this,” he said, tugging at his scarf.
Any praise or interest for his magic was lost in that moment; he just wanted to make sure Manu was okay.
Now, Michel spoke up. “I brought a first aid kit,” he grumbled, pushing away from where he’d been standing and casually meandering over to the two. He summoned a small box from subspace and, for as gruff as Michel seemed to be, it was clear that he had come prepared so he could take care of Malus in case anything happened.
“Roll up your sleeve, we’ll get it wrapped up. You should go home and take it easy so it heals up. Glass cuts are a pain in the a**, especially on your hand. So,” he looked at Manu expectantly. “We’ll get you taken care of and call it a night.”
Malus looked up at Michel and stepped to the side just a bit to give him space. He seemed grateful for his friend’s assistance, but also looked at Manu apologetically and insisted, “I’m really sorry.”
He hadn’t wanted to hurt him; his brows were knit and he wrung his hands together nervously.
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Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2018 8:11 am
Rather than recieve a smile or a blush at his praise, which Manu whole heartedly expected, he could see Malus begin to worry, that feeling filling his eyes. It made his own heart hurt a little, as it was all too familiar, having had it happen before with Bazzite after he lost control and bit his arm. This wasn't nearly so bad, and being a generally clumsy man, it had happened. time and time before.
Rather than fight it, Manu allowed himself to be fussed over for a moment, letting the other knight come closer and rolling up his sleeve to be take care of. There were multiple tiny cuts on is arm, mixing with the paint splatter tattoos there, and had he not known any better, he would have almost thought it was just part of the artwork.
"Don't worry too much about it. After it's wrapped up, give it a few hours and it'll be just fine. It stings a little, but about the same as a papercut. Your attack is very impressive, I must say. I'm sure you're going to be one of the strongest of us out there one day." He chuckled lightly, putting his uncut hand on Malus' hair to give it a quick ruffle. This too brought back a memory, one of his own niece and nephew worrying over his own clumsy self time and time again.
"I'll be just fine, promise. I do appreciate you time with me tonight. Both of you. I haven't felt this hopeful and light in a long, long time. Thank you. I owe you both for that."
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