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 Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2022 7:45 pm
He was going to go to another world, and all he needed to buy a ticket was some chairs. Or cushions, but he’d gone all out. He had a set of two chairs–fine specimens, he thought. They were old antiques, upholstered with white and pale blue fabric. Arnica thought they matched her uniform rather nicely, so he just hoped she liked the colors. They were strong and sturdy, and more importantly, comfortable.
He arrived early, and supposed he must have been a strange sight–a Dark Mirror Senshi sitting in a chair across from an empty seat in the park.
She’d promised this wasn’t a trick, and if it was there was still a mirror nearby. He could make a quick getaway.
…But, he really hoped that in a few minutes, at their rendezvous time, she was going to show up and he was going to see space.
His jacket was folded across his lap and he had a few extra things in subspace, but he wasn’t going to wear them now. He didn’t want to start sweating here and just be colder up there.
It was his own fault that he was early, he was just excited, and tapped his heels on the ground as he waited for any sign of an approaching energy signature.
When he felt one, he just hoped it was Keiko.
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Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2022 2:22 pm
It was Keiko, and when she saw Arnica sitting there on a chair that looked completely and utterly fancy, with a second one across from him, she let out a gasp of excitement. “Oh my god. You went all out, didn’t you! Are these seriously for me?”
Her expression was gleeful and she had a bag slung across her own shoulder, filled with blankets and a small rug that she thought would make it nicer to put her sleeping bag on…but this? She truly hadn’t expected for him to listen to her and bring chairs…this…meant she could have company up on her Homeworld…it meant she could enjoy having someone else there without worrying about comfort or sitting on the ground or getting frostbite on the backs of her own legs…
This was a game changer. “Thank you! Oh my god, seriously! I love this!”
Keiko took a few moments to inspect the chairs, laughing at how utterly thoughtful he had been with his choice on the fabric that adorned them too. “Wow! Are you ready? I’m going to assume you are but…you know what assuming can do!” She looped her arm around one of the chairs and held her other hand out to him, beaming. “I’m really excited to show you.”
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Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2022 3:47 pm
When he heard her voice he glanced up and grinned. “Oh, there you are. Yeah, of course. I don’t just carry chairs around with me for no good reason!”
He stood up and gestured to the two of them, as if they were some gameshow prize he’d just revealed.
“I wanted to find more but I saw these two and thought about you, so I hoped you’d like them. They’re pretty sturdy, I don’t know what type of world you’ve got up there, but I figured nobody complains about good furniture. Give me just a second,” he said, and tugged on his jacket. He buttoned it with deft fingers before he hooked his arm around the other chair and took her hand.
“So how does this work? Do I need to close my eyes or tap my heels, or do you take care of all the heavy lifting?”
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Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2022 12:02 pm
“Seriously, I love them! You don’t need to close your eyes or anything, but it might feel a little weird, you can close them if you want to!” Keiko squeezed his hand and pressed the button to take them both up to her homeworld. When the familiar chill washed over her, she grinned. “Welcome! This is my base of operations, it’s a lot warmer than it used to be.” She lifted one of the chairs and moved it back against the wall, right near the large spider web that her furry friend had made.
“Goodness, you’ve been busy haven’t you, cutie pie!”
Reaching out, Keiko began to stroke down the spiders back and let it crawl into her hand, moving to show Arnica. “See? Isn’t he just precious?”
The small creature wiggled happily as she pet it. And as she held it out, Keiko glanced back at the web, a little amused with the large pile of spider silk that had been balled up in the corner of his home.
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Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2022 5:24 pm
Oh, it was cold. Oh, that was a spider. Oh, he wasn't sure if it was as cute as she said it was.
Arnica forced a quick smile as he put his chair down next to hers. He shivered only once and thought he might like to grab the gloves he packed up, too. The sensation of traveling had been weird but not uncomfortable--not any more so than walking through the mirror.
“This is warmer than what it used to be?” he asked, glancing back to look at the spider she handled so comfortably.
“It’s–well, I mean, I suppose it is a little cute. Definitely not what I was expecting, but that’s a good thing. He’s…”
He looked at the web and thought it a little strange that it didn’t look gross. It almost looked charming, even. “Creative.”
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Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2022 5:50 pm
“He is creative!” Keiko laughed brightly and drew the spider against her chest, kissing his little head and then setting him back on the web when it became clear that Arnica didn’t want to hold it. “I mean, it’s colder outside. This is my base of operations, like I said so it’s…mostly kind of sheltered from the wind. And there’s a door now so that really helps.”
She grinned and nodded towards the door. “Would you like to see the outside? It doesn’t sound like there’s a blizzard gong on right now, so that’s good. We might see some more bugs if we’re lucky! Maybe something new has come alive again, that would be fantastic.”
Keiko couldn’t help but move towards the door, grabbing Arnica’s hand as she did so. “******** it! I want to see!”
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Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2022 6:52 pm
While she handled the spider, he’d pulled out his gloves from subspace and quickly tugged them on. “I don’t know if I want to see the outside if it’s this cold inside!” he laughed, but it was clear that his excitement was still pretty hard to contain.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever met a girl who was so excited about bugs and spiders. Is that a White Moon Senshi thing, or are you just special?”
He didn’t mind he taking his hand, didn’t protest when she did.
“How do you stay warm up here, can you build a fire or something or do you just rough it? I know you said it would be cold, but.”
It wasn’t the end of the world. Probably. He was too excited to see this one, and now that he’d gotten over the rush of arriving, he was getting a little more accustomed to the chill.
On a whole new world? A whole new world! An alien planet! Oh, ********, he hoped this wasn’t some prank. He was going to look so foolish if it was.
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Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2022 6:59 pm
“Oh, you don’t understand, Arnica! It’s exciting because they’re alive. There was nothing up here, and now there are insects that keep multiplying every time I come, and it’s wonderful! It’s like…affirmation that I’m doing something right. That my being up here, my making a safe spot for myself and trying to find a way to spend time here is actually healing my world.”
Keiko tugged him outside and a cold wind went right through her, but she laughed at it, breaking into a run and pulling him along. “It’s still a lot of ruins, but…they’re my ruins. And…oh!”
A butterfly floated by, easily moving in the wind. Its wings glistened like shards of iridescent ice. “...See? Now that’s something new! There are butterflies now!”
And it wasn’t that she didn’t like her other bugs but…this one was beautiful.
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Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2022 7:14 pm
The cold wasn’t unbearable, just unpleasant, and even then that was quickly receding when it started to sink in that this world was dead, and now had life. He trotted after her and slowled only to examine the butterfly.
That was beautiful. “So your world is–it wasn’t always like this?”
He’d heard that the universe was full of dead worlds, not that they could be revived.
“Things are just showing up here–you can heal your world? How are you doing that, just by being here? Or do you have to do something? Some–Senshi magic, or ritual, or something?”
…Was it something he could do to fix Mirrorspace?”
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Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2022 8:52 am
She shook her head. “It wasn’t! The first time I came here it was just cold and empty. BUt, I don’t think it was all me, but I would like to think that I’ve helped…there was some kind of explosion or something? A friend of mine explained it better but, I’m not going to lie, I was too busy gushing over the spider to listen completely. But every time I come up here there’s more and more little critters…and I guess it’s happening everywhere.”
She grinned at him. “...Do you have access to your homeworld, or just your Mirrorspace place? Where you get chased by giant…things…?”
If that was the case then it seemed like a poor tradeoff. Small, cute critters were much more appealing than monsters who tried to kill you.
“If you don’t, I’m just letting you know now that you’re welcome to visit any time.”
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Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2022 4:12 pm
Arnica listened diligently, collecting every scrap of information that he could from her.
Happening everywhere huh?
He couldn’t quite wrap his mind around that. He wanted it to mean something good for the Dark Mirror Court, too, but it always felt like they were just barely scraping by. Not the White Moon. Not the Negaverse. Not allies, not really enemies. Somewhere in the middle, and yet totally on their own.
Not that he minded. He didn’t know if he belonged in any sort of great war like this.
…But she had life on her world that wasn’t trying to eat her, and all he could think about was how poor Mirrorspace just seemed like it was still falling apart. He wanted to do something to help fix it. To repair it. To make it a place and not just an idea.
“Just Mirrorspace,” he answered. “But it’s pretty cool there. It’s not all bad. It feels like it’s this whole labyrinth of mysteries, and if you look hard enough you’re bound to find something. We’ve got these crystals, like…artifacts from other worlds? Pieces of places left behind? You can like, unseal them. Make your own little world by bringing back parts of others. It’s cool. I haven’t really done much with it, but. I feel like there’s gotta be more, you know? We just haven’t found it out yet.”
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Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2022 4:57 pm
Keiko nodded, looking excited by that. “That’s…pretty rad! If I can ever help you with anything, let me know okay? I don’t care what you wear or what you feel like, you’re a friend, Arnica. And you’ve always got a place up here if you want it.”
She hesitated and made a face. “That came out wrong, like, I care about your feelings but not that you feel like chaos…you know? I’m not trying to be a b***h and I realize that came out really bitchy.” Crystals…well. If she found any crystals here, he could have them for sure. And. maybe one day she could even help him leave the Dark Mirror Court…if such a thing were possible.
“If there’s anything you want to see, let me know! The afternoon is all yours, buddy.”
It was the least she could do.
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