Welcome to Gaia! ::

It had been a few weeks now since she had been brought into the Negaverse. A month, maybe? Two? Time blended together when there was no context to time, and Nembus had been starting to develop a context for it, but it was slow-going.

Marcasite was helping her get adjusted, talking to Stillwaterite had helped too, since she had been at this longer with the same problems that Nembus had come in with, learning about the world through the internet was helping--but man, the world sucked, didn't it?--but considering she had twenty years to make up, it was likely going to continue to be slow-going. It was hard to throw herself into things. Still seemed so confident, so able to do it. Maybe it was her personality? Nembus was jealous of that bravery, but she was trying.

Throwing herself into things seemed to be the only real way to experience the world now, she supposed. Or she could just keep reading, but--

She had thrown herself into her first real significant energy draining, at least. She sized up a woman who had been wearing a rather nice summery shawl, and determined that they were of a similar size. She pulled out enough energy to make the woman fall to sleep, and then snatched the shawl off her back. Easy. The woman wouldn't miss it when she woke up. Probably would be more concerned about the fact that she was waking up in an alleyway for some reason.

Nembus was now wearing it as she walked around the city, despite being still very clearly powered.

Nembus felt like she shouldn't have been particularly adept at sensing auras yet, though for some reason she had a pretty good idea of what each one was. She had a sense that it might have just been innate from before, from whoever she was before she was brought into the Negaverse.

Therefore, she noticed when there was another small aura nearby hers, and it was another small aura she was able to pick out as one of a corrupted senshi. That aura felt comfortable and familiar in a way that no other aura really did at the moment, not even the aura that radiated off her General, Marcasite. It was because the corrupted aura was the same sort of aura she gave off, she thought, but it was also because she knew they were all in this together.

Initially, she figured the corrupted senshi was just passing through and would continue on on her own patrol, and Nembus, who was quite concerned about making a good first impression, would let them continue on because introductions were still difficult.

But the aura wasn't leaving.

It took a little bit before Nembus realized that the aura was following her, but when she noticed, she took a wary glance over her shoulder. Was she doing something wrong? Maybe she just wanted to be friends like Stillwaterite did? Hm...

"Hello?" asked Nembus, calling out to the other corrupt. "I don't bite!"

Nembus flushed at being called out, before saying, quietly, not quite defensively, "I mean, I didn't," she coughed, "bite her, really. Just ... took her energy. And her shawl."

She watched as the other corrupt came up to her. Did all the corrupts just have long hair? It would fit, considering her hair seemed to magically disappear when she dropped to her civilian form, and Stillwaterite had such long hair too, and so did this one. Why did Metallia curse them with something that was so annoying to manage? She missed her shorter hair--

At being asked if the shawl meant anything, she reached up and rubbed her neck awkwardly. "Ah, no, I just liked it..." Just wanted it. Just had to have it for herself. Just had to get it on her body and wrap herself up in it and enjoy its beauty as hers--

Amazone? And she was new, too?

Nembus' eyes lit up.

"I'm pretty new too," replied Nembus, dropping her hand from her neck to offer it to Amazone instead. "I'm Sailor Nembus! I've only been here for a month," a pause, and she squinted, "I think." Time made no sense. She saw in some writings somewhere that it was just "timey wimey wibbly wobbly stuff," which might explain why time felt like it flowed so oddly to her. Some days it blew by. On others, it dragged. "Before then I was on the other side, but I don't remember any of that."

Hm.

"How new are you? Like a few days, or?"

Would some people call that biting? Nembus wasn't sure she would, but she guessed in the figurative sense that might make sense. Wait. Was Amazone implying she might like having her things stolen? That was a strange thing to be uncertain if she'd want. Nembus definitely didn't want her stuff stolen...

She fidgeted with the shawl as she listened to Amazone talk. Who was her general? It definitely wasn't Marcasite, or Nembus assumed she would have heard about Amazone by now. Right? Nembus knew there were other generals, like Labyrinthite, but she hadn't exactly met many of them. To the Negaverse, she was a baby. She couldn't imagine there was much point in her meeting any of them--

Why did she look so devious?!

Nembus stuttered out an, "A-ah," when Amazone told her she wasn't supposed to ask a lady her age. Was that a law? Nembus hoped she wasn't breaking anything. There was a moment when she thought of apologizing, but Amazone spoke again, and Nembus felt some relief. Oh good. She hadn't really made a bad impression--

Lied to?

Nembus blinked. The other side had tried to take her? That was interesting. That was what wiped out memory? Had Stillwaterite been kidnapped? That didn't seem to match up with what she was saying, but then again, Still couldn't exactly remember anything either--

"Ah, I'm not sure," admitted Nembus, uncertainly. She hated the shakiness in her voice, swallowed it down. "Marcasite, my general, she's told me that they're the enemy. I don't really know much else about my arrival to this side..."

Having how anxious she felt stated aloud brought a bright blush anew to her face. She tried to stumble out a response, but nothing came, and her words died in her throat as she glanced away from the woman who was now hanging on her arm.

How was Amazone so confident? How was Stillwaterite so confident? It was hard to project such confidence without the context to do so. She needed to learn more. She needed to know everything.

Stillwaterite just said to throw herself into things, and that was why she was draining people, but--

Gave her a name?

She glanced back to Amazone in surprise. "Oh, she named your civilian side?" asked Nembus, curious. For the moment, her nerves were derailed. "I chose my own name. I got it from a book I was reading?" She bit her lip, before continuing, "And Nembus is my senshi name, yeah. That was already there too..."

After clearing her throat, Nembus added, "But for things my general has given me, I live with her at the moment."

Rebellion Media had also helped with some of her expenses, but it wasn't necessary to bring that up. Talking about things she had been given wasn't a way to get people to like her, and right now, Nembus wanted people to like her. It was bad enough she had already been called out on being so anxious--

Wait, Amazone still wanted to be friends?

Another connection with a fellow senshi was an exciting one, and Nembus grinned. "I like the idea of girls' nights!" She wanted to focus on that, but Amazone mentioned the concept of her memory playing catch-up, and she frowned a bit. Should she bring up what Still told her, that the memory never really ... caught up? That seven months later, Still still couldn't remember anything from before?

If Amazone was so new, maybe it wasn't worth bursting her bubble yet. Hm.

"We can make some new memories, to make up for the missing ones?"

Omorose? That was a pretty name. It was definitely different from anything she had heard before...

... Of course, so were most things ...

"I think so? It was interesting, at least," replied Nembus, biting down on her lip slightly. "I think it was a religious text of some sort?" Honestly, Nembus hadn't exactly been sure until she had started reading it. She picked up the first book she saw online, the book that was apparently the most common in hotels in the States. "I was reading some stuff from the older parts."

Living with Marcasite was pretty nice, Nembus would admit. It was nice to have that support system right there with her, even though she worried she was a burden, even though she was envious of the ability to own her own place, even if she wished she was capable of being on her own. She would bury that thought down with a smile and the distraction to the next topic, quite eager to take it.

The concept of giving up on trying to remember the old stuff altogether was strange to her, because she felt like she needed to know everything, but that was similar to what Still was suggesting, too. Throw herself into the new. Stop thinking about the old.

The concept that she didn't want to think of the old because it was bad was interesting, though. How could she know?

Quietly, Nembus looked down at her own chest after Amazone touched hers. "We come with missing pieces, don't we? Maybe we could try to fill in the gaps. Could be fun."

She offered a grin.

"According to what I've read online about girls hanging out, I think it depends on what exactly we're looking to get out of it..."

She wasn't about to suggest playing any of the ... questionable games she had seen.

Did they have an advantage? She wasn't sure if she could really think of not knowing anything as an advantage, even in that context, though she did appreciate Amazone's enthusiasm...

Appreciate it, yes. Did she embrace it herself? The concept of going forward and learning new things in itself was something she could get used to. Filling in the gaps. Embracing the newness of everything. Jumping in and trying it. She still wasn't sure if that was an advantage, though.

Still, yeah, they had to trust their generals, right?

Marcasite had been the only one she had recognized upon awakening for the first time on the new side she had found herself on. That had to mean Marcasite was trustworthy, right? Why wouldn't she be? That concept made sense. And meeting other corrupts like them could help, too. Stillwaterite had so many insights even though she had only been on this side for such a short time, too...

Of course, when a month had no context, everything felt like a long time.

"I love books!" said Nembus, suddenly coming out of her own head, with a grin. That much was true. Nembus adored reading. It gave her stories to sink her teeth into, characters she could become, characters that perhaps she herself could become as she understood more about what she was-- "It'd be super cool to read books in a different language! I don't think I know anything in any other languages. Or if I do, I don't remember."

And from what Still had said, she may never remember.

"I like flowers too!" exclaimed Nembus, mostly because she was worried saying she didn't like something would make Amazone not like her. Of course, she wasn't sure of her opinion of flowers. They were pretty enough but she hadn't seen enough of them yet... "I assume you like flowers? What kind of flowers do you like?"

Maybe she would pick some flowers Nembus had some nonsensical Wiki knowledge about...

Was this how people made friends? Did people just ask each other if they wanted to be friends now? Was it like asking someone if they wanted to date now? Nembus knit her brows, tossing this over in her head.

She supposed Amazone didn't know too much better than her, considering that Amazone was even newer to this reborn life than she was.

Well, what Nembus wanted was friends. And Amazone seemed enthusiastic about friendship. She had mentioned the idea of doing girl things together, and she was mentioning reading, and she was mentioning reading in a garden which honestly sounded amazing. Aesthetics, much? She'd have to bring a camera, too! She could take some gorgeous pictures and maybe get one printed as a tapestry for her room--

Oh, wouldn't that be super cool?

Excited by the idea of doing something aesthetic and also the idea of making another friend, especially considering friends were few and far between for her, Nembus nodded rapidly. "Yeah! That sounds super cute! I would definitely like to read in a greenhouse! Maybe we could brew some tea? I love tea. And it would set the scene even more don't you think?"

Maybe she sounded a little overexcited now, but.

"I'd definitely come over! We should set up a time. It'll be like a," Nembus scrunched her nose, "a friend date!"

Did friends have friend dates? That sounded like something she had read...