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 Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2018 6:33 pm
Quote: Ice and snow? Fine. Hail? Slightly less fine. Large, icicle-like shards of ice falling from the sky? Horrifying. For no apparent reason, Destiny City is plagued with another strange phenomenon, only this one can strike at any time. The icicles plummet from the sky with no warning, regardless of a clear or cloudy sky. The spikes range in size from a few inches up to two feet. Sometimes only one might fall, or sometimes a torrent of them, but they never fall far longer than a minute at a time. So far, injuries and damage have been reported across the city. How are you faring? Christa had a very correct notion that the gingerbread-based auditory hallucinations she experienced earlier in the week were not the only oddball things to be happening to her or to the rest of Destiny City. Indeed, just the week before, the strange rainbow of an aurora was keeping people up at night with its strange spell. It forced them to chemical alternatives in some cases (which was part of the reason why she tried to sleep on her Moon instead, whenever possible), and this was initially what brought Christa to check up on someone she considered a dear friend and inspiration - Jada. Thankfully, Jada was fine (though exhausted at the time). The aurora dissipated a few days later, bringing relief to the city once more. However, when auroras weren't enough, count on Destiny City to make sure your holiday season was ripe with all manner of unexplained phenomena the likes of which traditional news outlets would have a field day. Fortunately, only the local news seemed to pick up on the latest round of meteorological happenings - giant ice shards falling from the sky at seemingly random intervals. It was during one of her visits to Jada and her family that the icy death-cicles nearly impaled one of the family vehicles on Christa's way in. Quickly did one of the drivers move the car into the garage, but the damage to the driveway was impressive, to say the least. The icicles had been of such thickness and speed that the sudden shower made gouges in the pavement. They were small, though the pitting was noticeable, and Christa knew Jada wouldn't be too pleased with it. She probably had insurance to cover it. Over a light lunch, the two discussed their goings-on, the senshi ins-and-outs since their last get-together. Being able to spend time with Jada was an incredible blessing to her companion, and Christa appreciated whatever time she could get with the busy, jet-setting heiress. Luckily, none of the children in her family were injured by the ice, though she'd heard Giulia had been upset about being forced indoors. Giulia also mentioned meeting someone who "looked like you!", which Christa found to be very odd indeed. She'd have to speak to her brother about that sometime in the future. After lunch, the gray-haired young woman retreated to the library to place the precious books she'd borrowed back to their proper place (and yes, she read each cover-to-cover, twice.) Jada was kind enough to let Christa borrow several at a time, knowing full well her companion's literary appetite was incredible. It brought an unusual smile to Christa's face, being in a private library like this, where the books were treasured for the incredible works they were. Her thoughts were interrupted by loud, sudden splash! splash! noises coming from somewhere outside. The library had its fair share of windows for naturally light and, rolling her eyes, Christa quickly trotted over to one. Yes, just as she suspected, another ice storm. This time, it had been aimed at the pool. With a sigh, she pinched the bridge of her nose. "...better than those lovely hedges..." WC: 521
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Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2018 8:28 pm
Jada sighed heavily, staring morosely over the reported damages. Oh, the inside of the mansion was fine, but this winter had been going after just about everything outside like there was a personal vendetta against her property. Actually, that had been a little bit of last winter too, but this winter brought with it random icicle spears that were half the length of her younger siblings bodies. This winter brought with it a crazy aurora that had turned Aidan into a raging insomniac bear with a virulent distaste for skittles. This winter brought with it magical champagne, and multiple icycle storms, which obliterated the gazebo in the garden, and tore apart the roof of the porsche while Lucas was driving and them almost took out the jag, for good measure. Oh, and also the entire driveway needed to be repaired. And they had lost some of the bushes to frost, and they'd had a hard time finding a new gardener since the last one was murdered on the job.
Then Giulia was on about magical people again, and Jada knew for a fact she was sneaking out and had met some magical people in the garden, and the second to last thing in this world that the senshi of the Kraken needed was to have her little sister get eaten by a youma, again, on her watch, with Yvaine not able to henshin and cover her a** like she had the last time Giulia had almost gotten eaten by a youma in the garden. Or the first time. Or- sweet lord, how many times was Giulia going to almost get eaten bu youma on their own property. It was like having a nest of rabid raccoons wandering around, that didn't announce themselves like proper trash pandas. Yeah. This... this was fine. This was just another year in the saga of why Jada had left this town in the first place.
Giulia had latched onto Christa as soon as the other woman arrived, of course, and Jada had stood behind the bored child, glaring death-knives at her head. That was her friend, thank you, her very adult, unpaid actual friend. A friend she had made without mon- okay, with expensive books- but still hers! And yet the seven year old had latched. And talked. And talked. And... stayed there, stalking them. Until finally Jada had practically let her go outside to play if only to get her away! And as the young child had scampered out of the library, still talking, Jada had slammed the library doors behind her and snarled through gritted teeth- “And stay out!” But fairly... there was no chance of them escaping this room and not opening the door- a door, any door, all the doors- and Giulia with her all knowing hell ability to know everything not being at that door, at that moment, mouth already opening to talk again.
As she left her seat to go stare out the window at her freshly wrecked pool, she heaved a sigh. “At least it is just the tile. Probably. It could have been the roof.” It probably would be the roof, next. “Yay, winter.” she leaned heavily on her friend, crossing her eyes at their reflections in the glass. “How are you making out? You and Genevieve doing okay? Do you two want a seven year old?”
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Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2018 5:06 pm
Christa tried stifling the chuckle under her breath. Jada had money, but that money didn't eliminate the stress of running a mansion with its family and staff, plus upkeep, plus a job, plus senshi duties. How Jada hadn't dropped from exhaustion during a patrol was a testament to her inner strength and fortitude. At least, that's what Christa thought. She leaned her head towards Jada, cheek nestling in her long, cascading locks. "As well as I could be, all things considered." she breathed, eyes narrowing as the icicle spears slowly tapered to a stop near the pool. Thankfully, most of the shards landed in the water itself, doing little more than sending water every which way, though some of the tiles managed to get cracked from a wayward chunk or two. It could have been much worse. "Genevieve is doing well, though her house took more of a beating. The roof over the garage received the most... attention from the sky. None of the cars have been damaged but they've already hired a contractor to come out once the storm eases. They had some lovely topiary in the front yard that her father was rather proud of. One was an elephant. It's been beheaded, and the giraffe looks like it got into a scuffle with a hedge trimmer and lost." It was her sad, sad attempt at humor. The joke about the seven year old made Christa smile. Jada had a way with words, in that she simply said what was on her mind. "I could read her a book for a little while, if you like. You could use some rest. I could make you a cup of tea?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2018 3:48 pm
Christa tried stifling the chuckle under her breath, but her glorious failure earned her some strong side-eye from her short companion. But she made up for it with a hug, and so Jada didn't go for a tickle. Clunk, clunk, clank. Icicle and overpriced tile made it into the pool, which wasn't yet iced over thanks to her hard-working pump and saltwater's lower freezing point. Still, the icicles would do no favors- and probably not melt until Spring. Or at least vacate their new residence very, very slowly. And the water that had splashed up? Aha, yeah, that was going to be ice shortly. Oh well, not much to do about it now except continue to keep the twins inside and away from the pool.
"I'm glad to hear she's doing well. Less glad to hear about her father's little grass menagerie." her small wince hopefully went a little more hidden than Christa's chortle. "Good job on the contractor. Luckily we haven't had any direct roof connections, and-" she rapped sharply on the wall next to her- "Knock on wood we won't have any at all." The pool, the gazebo, and the small mess being made out of her pretty driveway would be bad enough to deal with. At least she didn't have a topiary. The loss of her garden would just be too much.
Against Christa's shoulder, she gave a half-shrug. "Giulia doesn't mind being read to. I've been taking care of them mostly alone since Amelie..." died? Terminated her employment with Jada in one of the worst possible ways and then died? "Well. Cookie's helped. And their father's family." Minus Giovanni, who only got glimpses of the children. And minus Maria. And minus... well hell, there wasn't much left on that side. "Lucas and Zora have been doing some. He's talking about switching to DCU to help out in his spare time, plus the hospital's always in need, so..." well. She was babbling now. "Basically I'm getting to a nap sounding great, don't spoil my children, and tea is probably the last thing I need unless it is laced with something to help me sleep."
She stepped away, stretching arms up-and-up, spine cracking. "How about I lay down on the couch and you read to me until I fall asleep? That would be a nice change of pace." It was half a joke, and half unfortunate levels of serious.
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Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 5:17 pm
Infinities Back from honeymoon! Sorry about the wait!! ILU The side-eye Jada unleashed would make even the greatest of men tremble. Christa suddenly found something interesting in the ceiling to her left. Destiny City didn't seem too kind to Jada and her estate, and with each chunk of tile slipping into the pool, Christa cringed. It was a relief to know Jada and her family had plenty of cash to take care of things like this, but that didn't relieve the stress of these events happening in the first place. "If anything, I'm sure I could have my brother assist in fixing up the grounds. He's good with his hands, and could use some physical labor. It helps him feel... needed, if that makes sense. I'm sure he wouldn't mind at all. He's usually complaining about cashiering at the grocery store, anyway." Christa was quiet for a few moments, listening as her companion explained how her life had become upended so many times in Destiny City. Senshi life and the city itself had a way of doing just that. "You do a great deal for this family singlehandedly, Jada." came a even, quiet reply. An arm wrapped around Jada's shoulders in an attempt at comfort. "...I hope you know that I'd do whatever I could to help you. Lord knows you've helped me so much throughout the years. It would be the least I could do. Here, you lay down and I'll go grab a book. Do you have any requests?" Joking or not, the exhaustion - both physical and mental - was obvious in Jada's voice. Christa even had half a mind to track down a blanket and pillow for her, if she intended to nap in the library. "Don't make me tuck you in."
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Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 3:00 pm
Her lips quirked. "I bet I'd pay him more for his help than the grocery store," she told Christa wryly, "but not sure what we'll need fixed around the place- unless he happens to be a good gardener. My last one lost his starseed, and I haven't bothered to replace him on a permanent basis. Other than that, any job I could offer would be go-fer kind of work. We have someone for the windows. I haven't seen my mechanic in a while. Cookie's been a blessing at keeping the housekeepers in line." She still needed a new nanny.
The arm that wrapped around her was returned, the short woman leaning into her taller friend easily, lips quirking. "It's my job. I took this little family on, I should stop complaining about it." Especially with the fact that one day... one day she would have her daughter back, and all of this would be even more hectic. She almost couldn't wait. "I haven't done that much for you," she told her friend, bumping into her with a widening smile. "But I know you would. You're a good person, Christa. I appreciate everything you do for me. Everything you have done."
She uncurled her arm, sliding across the floor to the chaise and plopping down onto it with a deliberate lack of grace. "You can tuck me in if you'd like," she said generously, "But I'm not sure I'll need it. Fifteen minutes will do me, probably. As for a book- something ridiculous."
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Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2018 8:09 pm
Infinities hue hue hue, and I think we can probably wrap soon if you wanted to! Christa chuckled and, with a reassuring squeeze of Jada's upper arm, turned away to find the book she had in mind. "I'm sure he'd be a quick learner when it came to gardening, if you needed that done. But, he'll be incredibly grateful for whatever gainful employment you can give him." She gave Jada a wink over her shoulder. "I'll be sure of it." She understood the facade of impenetrability, of strength displayed that covered inner weariness. For too long, Christa draped herself in the trappings of what she thought was strength, perhaps in Ares' image by accident. "You've done much, Jada. Even if it doesn't feel like you have, you have." Scylla's example, even years ago, was something that spurred Kallichore into action. It was because of senshi like Scylla that she wished to become stronger and wiser. Even though the two young women didn't spend much time together in the past, their friendship now meant the world to the younger of the two. Christa was fairly certain Jada didn't have the book she had in mind, but in a joke, her brother had sent her the PDF form on her phone. Trying to keep her mischievous smile hidden, Christa pulled up a chair near the chaise and took the blanket from its back to drape over Jada. Sitting back down, one leg over the other, phone in one hand and reading glasses in the other, the title of tonight's bedtime story would be announced. "And now, Adam Mansbach's magnum opus, Go the ******** to Sleep..."
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Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2018 1:43 pm
"If he wants to consider the position of gardener, he'll have to come and meet me, it seems. You can tell him I'm a senshi, if it will help. It'll save some of the problems up front, I think. But don't let him think I'll be an easy boss just cause he stays up all night fighting the minions of evil."
Jada took compliments rather awkwardly, when they weren't about something superficial and vague, like lovely cheekbones or well-done makeup, or knowing something ridiculous that she'd picked up out of a book somewhere. Emotional conversations had backfired enough to leave her awkwardly floundering, an almost panicked insecurity bubbling up in her chest at the thought that someone might find her competent- pride, that she was faking it so well, and anxiety, that her little secret would be discovered. Well-- her other little secret. She still lived in a half-fear that the wrong person would find out she had magic and next thing she knew the city would be suing her for damages or some s**t.
Go the ******** to Sleep.
Seven blessings. Thank everything that Jada hadn't been drinking, because her laugh was a choked cough, and she buried her face in a throw pillow, smothering her howl of laughter. "You have to read it like Samuel L. Jackson," she informed her friend firmly, and rolled onto her stomach, tucking her pillow carefully between arm and cheek. She really was tired.
Christa's book choice only made the Jada appreciate her friend more- her sense of humor continually managed to keep Jada on her toes, and while there was plenty in Jada's life to fill that role, it was nice to have a friend over the age of 12 who did it too.
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