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 Posted: Thu May 21, 2020 1:15 pm
Pendour had gone out every night this week, and almost every night the week before. Before that, it had been much sparser. Mostly she'd just powered up to garden on her wonder, and before that had been the dark time when she'd barely left her apartment, even during the day. It felt good, trying to be a little bolder. She liked the way the wind picked up her skirt and sent it fluttering out behind her. She liked the way her shoes went click click on any paths and of course she liked seeing the stars and thinking of Neptune out there. The quiet nights were the easiest in that kind of way. She'd taken to walking through the parks and seeing how the flowers changed each day, and it was a nice way to reflect before bed. There had been a few encounters with the Negaverse, too, and that was always a little more tense, but it had gone about as well as that kind of thing could. She'd given some advice and hadn't yet found herself on the brink of death. It had gone well enough that when she felt yet another Chaos aura, she walked towards it instead of freezing, although a cold something still prickled down her back.
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Posted: Thu May 28, 2020 6:51 am
Calaverite was mostly only allowed to go out at night or in the evenings. Earlier this month, he'd been able to find generals to take him back and forth between his room in Negaspace and Destiny City pretty much whenever he wanted. All he had to do was ask! But those in charge of him had learned pretty quickly that Calaverite tended to cause... too much of a disturbance when he was out among others in broad daylight. He wasn't stealthy or secretive. He would cast his magic at any opportunity, regardless of who or how many were around. He wasn't afraid of wasting civilians, and he wasn't afraid of the White Moon popping up to do something about it. He wasn't talented at covering his identity, and he spewed whatever words popped into his head. During the day, when anyone could see him, he was more of a liability than an asset, and since he was only a basic who couldn't teleport on his own, it was easy to keep him in Negaspace. It was fine, Cala supposed. Since he'd taken up residence in the barracks, he could just sleep in his room during the day, while most others tended to their civilian jobs, anyway. And he could come out at night. At first he'd been annoyed, since so many of the shops were closed by then, but now he didn't think it was so bad. He liked the neon signs of movie theaters and the pretty string lights strung around the outer decks of restaurants. And in the park there were lanterns lit. Couples seemed to like the lanterns too. They were Cala's favorite targets. They would wander by the lit fountains, completely oblivious of him, until Cala sicced his magic on them. Sometimes they would run and get separated. But he would catch them. Sometimes they would sacrifice each other out of desperation. On a nice night, he would drain them and be done. On more raucous nights he would take their starseeds. Or just one, to see what the other did. Such fun. He held one now as he strode down the lantern-lit path, twisting it in his fingers and observing the shiny blue glow.
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Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2020 2:21 pm
There was something about the corrupted senshi that made Pendour's heart heavy as stone in the way that the regular officers didn't. Some of the lieutenants could pass as unscathed, but every one of the senshi seemed a little bit broken. This one was no exception. She was good enough at knowing auras now that she could tell he was a basic level and not part youma or anything like that, but when he came into view, he still had those cracks straight through to his heart. He still had those bones in his hair. She moved forwards, her footsteps slow and soft until she found herself under one of the lamps. Light was a small comfort, but it was better than not being able to see at all. The light caught on the white of her outfit, especially the pearls, which was good. Let her be more visible than anyone else around, anyone more vulnerable. It wasn't until the second of third look at him that she noticed the starseed, and she still couldn't be quite sure what it was, even squinting, but she didn't know of too many other small things that glowed. "Oh dear," she said. She summoned the ocarina, since it was looking like she might need all her resources, but just in case she asked, "If I ask nicely, will you maybe put that back?"
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Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2020 6:43 am
Calaverite was easy to keep distracted and preoccupied, and the little gem in his hand managed to steal all of his attention right up until the voice of a girl drifted through the otherwise quiet night. He turned to blink at her, as if startled how she could be here, addressing him as such, but the feeling quickly passed, giving way to a narrow-eyed, skeptical pout. Once not wholly enamored by the starseed in his palm, Cala could more readily feel her aura. It wasn't like anything he was familiar with, certainly not in the same vein as any of the agents he regularly felt, and not as feeble as the lieutenants he bunked near. She was shinier than most of those in the Negaverse, dressed in a pretty shade of teal and adorned in a myriad of glittering pearls. The warm light of the lanterns caught on her and cast her in a warm, faintly orange glow. He took an inquisitive and interested step toward her (he did so enjoy shiny, shimmery things, and she looked like a pretty fish in a glistening pond, good for catching), before the weight of what she'd said dawned on him, and an unpleasant sneer curled his lips. "Give what back?" Calaverite demanded tartly. He shook the hand holding the starseed at her. "This is mine, I'm not giving it to anyone! Don't you know senshi like me can take out their own starseed?" It wasn't like she'd be able to tell if it was his or anyone else's. He could take out his own starseed... He just hadn't this time. But he wasn't about to let go of this one, either!
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Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2020 12:53 pm
There was something odd about the way he walked towards her, some glint in his eyes that made her think he was a predator. She didn't want to think like that, didn't want to judge him right off the bat just because he was a cracked porcelain shell of a senshi, but she'd made the mistake of being too optimistic about agent's intentions a few times before and she still carried those scars. Still, he was not close enough to hurt her yet, not that she could tell, and so she just held her ocarina steady and watched him a little more. His eyes were deep red. That was what she noticed. The starseed was blue as the ocean on Neptune. Eyes are the windows to the soul, she had heard, and although she wasn't sure if that was one of those stories that was a hint to all this magic or if it was just a story, from what she could tell, he didn't look like a boy who would have a blue soul. "Can you put it back, then? Um, into your own chest?" You couldn't put someone else's starseed in your chest, could you? Even if you were a corrupt senshi? If he got any closer, she could see what she could do beyond simply asking.
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Posted: Fri Jun 12, 2020 10:05 am
Who did this girl think she was? Put the starseed back? He'd said it was his. What did it matter what he did with it? Didn't she believe him? It didn't sound like it. How dare she? Calaverite looked at her as if he was studying something: his head cocked, his red eyes narrowed, his posture stiff, his thin lips pinched into a tight frown of thought. Did the people like her usually come out and start demanding things of them? It was no wonder so many agents hated the White Moon, if all they wanted to do was bark at officers for touching peoples' starseeds, like they were told to do. So he sneered at her request, fingers curling in a vice-like grip around his prize. " No," Cala snapped adamantly. "I don't know you. We're not friends. I'm not doing anything you want. It's mine and I will do whatever I feel like with it." Keeping a sturdy foothold so as not to appear daunted by her presence, he lifted the crystal for inspection and saw exactly what he expected: just a small, glowing blue gem. He could take one of these from anyone, so it wasn't like it was very special. Sometimes they were different colors, vibrant and glistening, but that was really the only unique aspect of it. As a senshi of the Negaverse, he was supposed to keep one on him to consume in case of emergencies, but it wasn't like he benefited from more than that. The extras he could turn into his superiors for praise and compliments, or he could keep them just to have a shiny rainbow collection. ...But they were easy to get and could come from just about anywhere. They weren't as special as the shimmering pearls and metallic symbols that adorned the girl's outfit. He couldn't get those anywhere. His red gaze flicked from the gem to her face. "I want your pearls," he stated.
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Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2020 10:53 am
Well, asking nicely had been worth a try. It always was, even with the Negaverse. Often, there were some bits of morality left. Sometimes, they'd even listen. This boy seemed so convinced of his right to own everything he was touching, and then, it seemed, his right to own anything he wanted. She still held onto hope that this one wasn't completely broken, just that making more requests was a lost cause. She took a hand off the ocarina to run it over the string of pearls in her hair. Her brow wrinkled deeper as she looked into his eyes. She didn't think she was imagining the anger there. She gave a small nod, though. The pearls were just part of her magic. They weren't part of her. She stepped forwards, but as she did so, she rubbed her thumb over her signet ring one more time, thinking of the trick that Irving had showed her. The lantern light suddenly seemed to ripple as it hit her, as if she was standing on her wonder under the vast sea of Neptune. She wasn't sure if she felt more graceful, the way she was supposed to, but at least it was some sort of precaution she could take before stepping into arm's reach of someone from the Negaverse. "Um, okay," she said, and she fished the pearls from her hair and held them out him in an open hand. She did grip the ocarina much more tightly, just in case. EchosSweet ASPECT OF NEPTUNE: Light dances and ripples off of Neptune Knights as if they were submerged in ocean water. They can handle combat with the elegance of a sea creature in its natural element, able to rebound from knock backs and falls with ease and grace.
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Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2020 8:44 am
With a final speculative look at the starseed still in his grasp, Calaverite ripped open his space pocket and shoved it inside, out of view of the girl trying to convince him to give it up. Like he would just surrender one of the night's only prizes.
When he turned his accusatory gaze back to her, it was to see a small string of pearls in her hand extended toward him. The mistrust and annoyance was wiped clear of his face, to be replaced by wide eyes sparkling in delight and a very toothy grin. Using two fingers, he plucked the string from her hand and held it up to his throat as if it were a necklace, to mingle with the bone clasps that held his fur collar in place. Cala had never been given jewelry before. It was too expensive and too pretty for him, they said, and it wasn't as if he was going anywhere worth wearing something nice.
He gave a sway in place and hummed out a few quiet notes as if dancing as he held the small glistening orbs against his skin.
It turned out Calaverite liked when people gave him things he wanted without fuss.
He turned his manic smile back to her and snatched for her arm, holding her in place so he could inspect for other things he liked and wanted. The knight's outfit had a lot of little pearls and symbols, and in such pretty shapes. He really liked that dress too. The fabric was soft and slinky, like water... But something else glistening caught his eye, and he turned her hand around in his grasp to eye a silver ring on her finger. "I want this," he told her.
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Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2020 4:10 pm
It was the smile that almost broke her, in the end. At that moment, she thought she could catch a glimpse of the real boy underneath all of the bones. There was a softness to him that hadn’t been there before, and she wondered, after all that taking, how many of the agents had been freely given anything. She wondered if a little generosity could make a big difference to them. Her wondering was cut off by the feeling of a hand around her wrist. She stiffened. Just the feeling of his fingernails was enough to bring her back to another night, another agent with the same kind of hunger in his eyes. She only half-noticed that he was asking for her ring, now, for the one physical possession she had that really meant something. She shouldn’t have been surprised, not really. Chaos took and it took and it took, and too often it left its shells of agents doing the same. This boy had seemingly fallen into it hard That other time, she’d had an eye taken and it hadn’t quelled anyone’s bloodlust. Deep down, she knew a ring wouldn’t heal the boy. She didn’t know what could help him, but that was a question for later, for her friends. She really didn’t like the feeling of his fingers. “You know, at some point you need to learn to be satisfied with what you’ve been given,” she said, voice soft as ever. “Otherwise you’ll just keep wanting and wanting.” Pendour had refused to learn to throw a punch, but she’d picked up a few tricks at the insistence of her friends. She used one of them now, twisting away hard towards the weak spot in his grip. The ocarina was already at her lips. If she could get free, she’d begin to play. She doubted the magic would solve everything, now, but she just needed enough of a distraction to get herself away. EchosSweet Sorry for double quotes, forgot to add magic- Magic - When Pendour plays her ocarina, the negative emotions of those within five feet of her fade and are replaced with a feeling of pleasant relaxation. One can shake the effect with enough concentration, but it can serve as a distraction for those who would do Pendour harm. She can channel this magic for 45 seconds.
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Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2020 12:26 pm
Calaverite didn't think there was anything wrong with wanting. Wanting meant there was something he could go after, something to achieve, something to have. Wanting drove people. Satisfied was for old people who'd already done all their getting and achieving. To be satisfied seemed like a lifeless existence.
With a shrug, Cala turned her hand over in his grasp, eyeing the ring. "I think I would be sad," he replied, mimicking the softness of her tone, unintentional though it was. "It would be boring to just be satisfied." She didn't seem very strong. He bet he could take it from her if he really wanted to. Ivory, his scrawny civilian self, wouldn't have had anywhere near as much luck, but Cala was strong enough to take anything he really wanted!
It had mostly worked so far.
A squeak of surprise escaped him as the girl pulled from his grasp, and Cala staggered a step forward before he fully released her. His eyes narrowed sharply on her, and he moved to follow her retreat. Did she think he would let her run? After he'd said he wanted something from her?
She didn't get very far before Calaverite's hand was on her again, locked around her elbow where it bent as she held- something he didn't know the name of. Like a weird musical shell or something, like the mermaids in the movies. "Oh..." The notes were soft and gentle, flowing in a rhythm like waves with delicate crests and smooth falls. Cala's hand moved from her elbow, up her arm and languidly across her shoulders as he rested his rather diminutive weight against her, with his head falling against her shoulder and long hair spilling to the ground around them. "I like that," he told the girl, reaching with his other hand to prod at her instrument.
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Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2020 3:19 pm
He had a point. Maybe there was such a thing as too much satisfaction, if it got to the point where you no longer wanted anything at all. That could lead to complacency, to stagnation in the bad cases, and stagnation could tip the scales away from satisfaction and back towards something like depression. She did not think this boy was anywhere near that point. He was on the other side of things, on the side of too much wanting. That was no good either. The worst of all was too much wanting of things you couldn’t have. That left people restless, and desperate, and sometimes it left them filling voids with things they didn’t really want at all. Pendour understood that. She’d been there. That was what happened when you lost a part of yourself. There was something oddly familiar about the way he was looking at her, and her jewels, and her ocarina, but still. She did not want to become something filling someone else’s void. She could not say any of that, or anything at all that might nudge him towards balance. She was very occupied with playing her music, which did seem to be working at giving her some reprieve. At least, for now. The seconds were ticking by quickly, and he had not gotten any farther away from her in the meantime. No, his arms were across her shoulders, now. She didn’t mind the contact, as long as his hands stayed away from her ring and her starseed. Maybe this was okay, although she was going to have to find some way out eventually. “Do you like any songs?” she asked gently, letting the magic fade as she stopped playing. There were still a few seconds left, if she needed them. “Um, soundtracks, really. I know a lot of the Zelda ones, some other video games, some Lord of the Rings, some Star Wars, a little Disney.” She glanced over at him without pulling away, voice soft as ever even as he poked at her instrument. The last thing she wanted was to set him off again. “I could play you something?”
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