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 Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2019 2:22 am
It was time.
Winter season had swept through Destiny City faster than Akio Yoshida had time to realize. While the young man normally was forced to bundle up tight and layered to combat against the snowfall that overtook the parks and sidewalks, tonight his counterpart was enjoying the lonely streets and the quiet crunch of snow beneath his sandals.
A fresh layer of snowflakes had gathered, his shoes leaving behind the only tracks one could find in the park - that is, if anyone cared to actually look. The homeless had taken shelter under better coverage, the bare trees up above exposing the vast night sky and the millions of stars twinkling above.
He was much later in his visit than he had planned but after giving time for his wounds to heal and to assure his beautiful beloved that he was safe from any further danger -- well, time had slipped away from him.
Seal's Eye could only hope that his companion had not given up on him.
Eyes closed for a moment as he neared the fountain, the water silent and frozen over. How many times had they met here before? How many times had they spent hours of the evening talking, ignoring the obvious lines the war had tried to draw between them? That aura of Chaos which fueled her power - a poison he'd otherwise been obstinately staying away from, along with the battle he refused to take part in.
Elysion was his duty. Elysion was his to protect, along with the other Guardians, wherever they lurked. The rest fell at the wayside... most evenings, at least.
Tonight, his precious world was set aside for one of the only individuals powerful enough to draw him away from his task.
Seal's Eye had returned to find his best friend.
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Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2019 11:43 am
She was always looking for him.
Hydra couldn't help herself when it came to Seal's Eye. Separation was largely necessary and it made her heart ache for it, but his safety was more important to her than just about anything else. Akio was the love of her life, she was certain of that the longer they were together, but Seal's Eye had carved himself a seal-shaped hole that she knew would always be there.
And after that stupid bird had attacked him, she found herself always looking for him, worried that he was hurt or putting himself in danger and the mere thought had her fearful.
Yet, she was still seeking to meet him because she had promised.
A part of her was fearful of the lengths she was willing to go for him, if only he'd ask them of her. She tried not to think of it too much, even as she approached the fountain and felt the crisp evening air burning her lungs when she gasped. Tears pricked at her eyes, but she found herself running to him anyway, throwing herself into his arms almost immediately.
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Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2019 1:54 pm
He heard the soft crunch of the snow about the same time the aura registered itself. Blonde hair turned, his ponytail falling over his shoulder as sandals did a one-eighty, blue eyes wide and hopeful as the Negaverse presence could either end very poorly or as exactly as he'd hoped.
His breath caught in his throat as he saw her standing there, pausing for a brief - so brief - moment. She looked smaller than he'd remembered (had it really been that long since he'd seen her?) but it was easy to think such when the small turquoise and black senshi was surrounded by the winter's white covering the park. She gave him little time to prepare before she started running, the crunch of snow under her boots kicking the white into blurs behind her - airborne, he had just enough time to open his arms before she came sailing into them.
"My Lady."
The words were soft and murmured, hand enveloping themselves automatically around the young woman. Her familiar scent immediately eased his troubled thoughts, soft hair brushing against his chin as he leaned down to press a chaste kiss against the top of her head.
Pulling back, he refused to let her go, choosing instead to beam down at her with a grin unlike any he'd had since... well, since he'd been with her.
"I'm sorry I'm late, my Lady. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?"
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Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2019 1:57 pm
My Lady.
Those words hurt her heart even as the warm of his embrace comforted her. His touch was familiar, ever welcome despite the distance she'd tried to place between them. It hurt, in a good way, to be with him now even if her pesky heart sought to betray her.
She still loved him, so strongly it was almost palpable in the space between them.
Hydra was grateful that he didn't pull away, that she was allowed to keep fistfuls of his tunic because it meant that everything was real, this wasn't a dream and they were together.
She was surprised that she hadn't started crying.
"I forgive you Sealie," she made herself say and, when she stretched to give him a kiss, she resisted the desire to press her lips against his and settled for his cheek instead. She loved him like that, he didn't love her like that.
"I missed you," she admitted, gaze dropping as her cheeks tinged pink from the confession instead of the cold.
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Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2019 2:06 pm
Warm, soft lips found the chill of his cheek and the young Guardian failed to resist the smile tugging his mouth even higher up. The nickname he'd grown fond of was like music to his ears, the word having gone unspoken for much longer than he'd like.
No one else knew him as Sealie, no one knew him at all, frankly. As much as he kept to him by choice, there were only two souls he'd venture out to see, one a small princess who thought of him as nothing more than a dream and Lady Hydra, the maiden who'd he'd stolen into the dreams of.
"I have missed my favorite dreamer quite terribly. I'm afraid our last meeting wasn't in the best of circumstances."
One gloved hand moved up to brush away wayward strands that had loosened themselves from her long braid during her excitement, his cheek still tingling from the ghost of her kiss.
Up above, a pair of birds scattered from the branches suddenly, causing the young man with elf-like ears to jerk with the unexpected noise. An unfortunate side effect, it seemed, after coming face to face with a monstrous bird large enough to kill him - with the intentions of killing him.
The grip on her arm loosened as blue eyes returned to her face, his expression sheepish. "Would you.... like to continue our conversation elsewhere? Perhaps somewhere far away from potential birds of prey?"
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Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2019 2:14 pm
Hydra offered him a weak smile, her heart twisting as she looked up at him. Neither of their last two meetings had been in the best of circumstances and the eternal wished, dearly, that things could be better between them.
The selfless part of her knew that if she was smart, if she truly loved him, then she would insist that they stayed apart but somewhere alone the way, Hydra had grown terribly selfish. She barely got him back, she couldn't give him up so readily again.
"But you're alive." Safe. For now, anyway. "You...you look like you've healed well?" Hydra wet her lips and slid her hand into his.
"Somewhere safer, if you know of a place."
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Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2019 8:02 pm
"I know a place," he agreed, almost a little too confidently as he couldn't help but smile down at the young woman who'd captured his attention... was it years ago, now?
How time flew, whether one wanted it to or not.
"You could even say that no one would dream of finding us there...."
Squeezing her hand, they were by the fountain for one more brief second and then the crunch of the snow beneath their feet was replaced by the grainy, coarse sand of Elysion's beach.
His beach.
His hand moved from hers to wrap around her waist, bracing them both as they transitioned from somewhat sturdier grounding to sand that sank beneath their feet as they walked. He didn't seem to mind the change; in fact, his expression was welcoming of the return to his home, like a burden was slowly being lifted from his shoulders the longer they lingered in its presence.
"I am doing better, thanks to you," he mused softly, not wanting to dwell terribly long on the... incident but knowing it needed addressing.
"I would have been in trouble, had it not been for you, my Lady."
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Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2019 1:59 pm
Her brow furrowed, crinkling with confusion as he made allusions to things that Hydra thought she ought to understand but was failing to do so. It wasn't until the scenery shifted around her and she found herself transported away from the still chilly nights of Destiny City and into a realm she'd only seen once before. She hadn't expected the ground beneath her to be so soft and she nearly lost her footing had it not been for the dream guardian she allowed herself to cling to.
He was able to navigate it easily and Hydra was jealous, struggling with the slight heels of her boots against the softness of the sand. Had he not been holding her, she would have certainly fallen.
Seal's Eye spoke and Hydra wanted to bury her face against his chest. "I'm glad you're safe," she said instead, keeping her green-eyed gaze straight ahead of her instead of doing what she actually wanted.
She still had the shape of his face memorized, the curve of his jaw and the way his ears pointed instead of curved-- and it was difficult not to stare at him and keep her adoration off her face.
"I-- I'm only going to put you in more danger if you stay friends," she swallowed harshly when she said friends, "with me."
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Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2019 2:04 pm
He grew quiet at that, almost pensive as he walked them onward, guiding both towards the wet, more dense sand as it appeared his companion was struggling with her heels.
Finally, once he was satisfied with their grounding, he turned and collected both of her hands within his before squeezing them tightly.
"My Lady, I'm going to be in danger regardless of our friendship. That bird was trouble and had eyes on me even without you being around."
The memory of the multiple eyes that had stared at him was shudder worthy but Seal's Eye remained steadfast, his concentration and focus on his worried, fretting senshi companion. "Had you not, things could have ended even more poorly for me than they had -- if anything, you being there for me is what saved me and for that, I am grateful."
As if to show his gratefulness, gloved hands released hers so that he could step forward and collect her once again into a hug, dry lips pressing a kiss against her forehead before engulfing her in his robes.
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Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2019 8:43 am
Hydra allowed herself to be led, taking small comfort in being able to spend time with her best friend like this. Guilt spiked through her, unprompted, because she began to think of the other most important man in her life and she wondered if she could keep herself true and loyal.
"But--" She tried to protest, already feeling tears starting to creep up. "Sealie, it's-- it's different."
He didn't understand the people that she was around when she was like this and there was Bob. Bob who had threatened her when he'd caught her canoodling with Seal's Eye in the park. What if it had been Obsidian, or worse still Angelite?
What General Labyrinthite's bird had done was nothing in comparison to what those two could do.
But he kissed her forehead and despite her efforts, she found herself crying, pressing her face against his tunic and letting him hold her. She didn't know how she had ended up this person who wanted to cling so selfishly to people who would only be hurt by her love and friendship.
Everyone else left her, so why did Seal try to insist on staying?
"Please. I-- If I ended up being the reason you..." Hydra trailed off, unable to finish as she hiccuped and sobbed.
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Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2019 11:59 pm
If her voice had been wavering before, now it was breaking up completely. He could feel her body quivering from the crying she was starting to do and --
--- crying?
Her words were a mess and soon her poor face followed suit, hot tears streaming down pale cheeks as she cried for him, of all people. Of potentially being the cause to lose him, to be the reason he faced dangers of the Negaverse and Cosmos only knew what else.
"My Lady --- please. Every tear you cry for me, I..."
Words were failing him, so he took to actions instead. Cradling her against him, they slowly sank down into the sand until the corrupted eternal was cradled against her best friend, his face etched with worry and concern for the young woman. Gloved fingers pushed her long hair out of her face, trying to sweep away the surplus of tears pouring out for him, of all undeserving people.
"Elysion will protect me, just as I protect it," he murmured quietly, trying to comfort her with soft words and even gentler strokes through her hair. "As you do - I believe it was destiny that had you find me the other night, with the bird. Lady Hydra, if I was meant to die, I would have died. You live in so much fear of the possible that you're forgetting to actually enjoy the times we do have together. I am here, I am alright - that is the important thing, isn't it?"
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Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2019 12:47 pm
Hydra hiccuped, scrubbing at her face with the palm of her hands as if it would stop her from crying.
Sealie's words only made her cry harder because he was so charming, so wonderful, and she hated that she felt selfish, greedy, and overall terrible in comparison. Fathoming why he cared so deeply for her was difficult, with Hydra wondering more and more what kept him coming back when so many moved on with their lives without her.
"It's-- Sealie, please, you don't--" She struggled to speak, each word interrupted with a hiccup or a sob, a hitch of breath or a sniffle she couldn't control. What she wanted to say, she didn't know, but there was something.
"Why do you stay? Why do you insist on staying with me?" She finally managed, voice trembling the whole time. "N-no one else does." Except Akio. Bob, sort of. And Otto to some extend but he didn't know. He had know idea what she'd done, the choice she hadn't given him and she lived in terror of him finding out and hating her for it.
"You don't love me--" Not like that "So why do you stay?"
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Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2019 1:00 pm
Her words stung. You don't love me.
She said it in such an accusatory way, as if he had a choice in the matter from the start.
Did he?
His heart was true to one woman and while he loved Hydra as though she were a part of him, he didn't love her like the way she craved, the way she apparently needed to be loved. It broke his heart to know he was found lacking in her eyes -- the sweet girl who he'd fished up from a tumultuous sea one evening when he invaded dreams he should have quelled and left be.
He still held onto her, though, as she clung and cried. As she hiccuped and sniffled, broke down in his arms.
"You're my best friend," he said quietly, the hurt raw and obvious in his words, as if he didn't understand her question as to why he would ever choose to leave or exclude her from his world. "Y-You're my best friend, Hydra. I've missed you. How could I not?"
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Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2019 1:18 pm
She knew that she was being selfish. Her words were hurtful and pointed, all of these emotions she had as a result of her relationships with other people bubbling over and spilling out until she took it out on him.
He didn't deserve the way she kept trying to push him away.
Hydra knew that her dream prince loved her but she said he didn't because part of her wanted it to hurt him and she hated herself for that.
You're my best friend.
Sealie sounded as wounded as she felt and if emotions manifested as physical ailments, she was certain they'd both be bleeding in their pain.
"Because!" Her voice shook even as she raised it. She wasn't yelling yet, but almost. "Everyone leaves! No one stays! I'm not enough. I've never been enough!" Her grip on him slacked and Hydra collapsed to her knees, long braid pooling against the sand and around her feet.
No matter how hard she pushed herself, she never met Obsidian's ridiculous standards. Everything was always just out of reach.
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Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2019 1:57 pm
Her voice kept growing louder and louder, the intensity in her tone startling him. She released her hold of him and took to the sand, beautiful hair getting swept into the golden grains as knees scraped against their roughness.
Everyone leaves?
I've never been enough?
She was clearly inconsolable but not for the lack of Seal's Eye attempts of trying, the older boy failing to calm her down -- if anything, he seemed to have exacerbated her emotions, creating a storm within her.
Hands found his own knees as he sat there, quietly, letting her sob out her anguish and her tears. She had clearly been hurt -- many times, from the way she was overwhelming herself -- and he knew she needed to release this pain. These cries.
Finally, he offered gently:
"My Lady, I'm not going anywhere."
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