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 Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 1:48 pm
Belmont had been sticking to his school things for the most part. He’d been powering up on and off, but he didn’t really feel committed to it. He was doing his best! But he wasn’t strong enough. It didn’t seem like it was worth the risk. He knew he was only going to get stronger if he kept working at it, and he’d done other things to improve.
Kept up with his schoolwork. When to his self defense and training classes. Worked out.
Sometimes he patrolled the area to make sure it was safe. Sometimes he chased off a youma.
He hadn’t gotten into any more major battles–but he hadn’t met anyone new, either.
It had been a long time since he’d run into anyone on his side so how could he be blamed when he was interested?
“Hey,” he greeted, hoping it wasn’t creepy that he’d just shown up behind her. He hoped she wasn’t weirded out, he hadn’t tried to sneak up! She could feel him! He hoped.
“Jupiter, right?” He knew those symbols! “Hi, I’m Belmont. Nice to meet you.”
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 7:46 pm
Targovishte paused and it took every ounce of self restraint not to turn around and deck whoever had just spoken behind her but…she didn’t. She didn’t and instead, after drawing in a long breath, she had the presence of mind to turn slowly and nod, working on restarting her heart just a bit. “Ah. Targovishte. Yeah, Jupiter…um. You too?” They looked absolutely nothing alike, but he had the same symbol that she did so…it was a guess that she hoped wouldn’t make her sound too stupid.
“You know, maybe you should like, not be so close when you talk so loudly behind someone, I need to warn you that it was every instinct of mine to just punch you right in the mouth so…I’m sorry for the violent thoughts but you scared me.”
She gave a little, uncertain smile and shrugged.
“...You are the first other Jupiter anything that I’ve met though. So that’s…cool.”
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 7:54 pm
Belmont opened his mouth immediately but found that the words sort of just died on his tongue. He stood there for a second and then nodded. “Yeah, um. Sorry.”
His enthusiasm had faded somewhat and he seemed like he was making an effort to keep his voice quieter. He took a step back to give her a bit more space and folded his hands across his chest. “Guess I just got excited. It’s been a while since I actually saw someone, didn’t mean to give you a hard time or scare you. My name’s Belmont.”
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 8:06 pm
Targovishte hesitated and shook her head slowly. “I know, you told me your name, I was saying that I’m Targovishte, and don’t take my words to heart. You can be excited just warning you that some people…me people can be jumpy. I don’t want you to be on the receiving end of a punch you don’t deserve, that’s all.”
She felt a horrible sense of guilt…watching someone literally shut down because of something she had said was…definitely not a great way to feel.
“It’s really nice to meet you, Belmont. I’m…still really stupidly new at all of this and getting my bearings is hard. Do you have any tips?” Maybe…maybe she could salvage this. He had been so excited and she did not want to be the reason someone lost their passion. In her life, Targovishte had known way too many people that got joy out of smothering peoples passions and that…had never been the path she wanted for herself.
“I’m sorry that I upset you, Belmont, I really am. I was just scared, and I lashed out..”
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 8:16 pm
While Belmont kept a bit of distance still, it seemed like he was just trying not to take up too much space and give her the chance to be a bit more comfortable. He didn’t want to crowd her and wanted to make sure she had a little time to relax after he’d accidentally startled her. “No, you don’t have to apologize. I understand. I’m sorry, I felt your energy signature on my radar so I thought you would too. I didn’t want to surprise you, I thought it would be bad if I just showed up and said nothing. I’m okay, it’s fine.”
He flashed a quick smile to try and make it a little more convincing. “How long have you been doing this for? I was fortunate enough to have someone there with me to explain things when I first started, but if I’d have been on my own, I don’t even know if I’d have been able to figure out where to begin.”
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 8:46 pm
Damn. She hadn’t reassured him at all.
“Ah. I don’t know. A few months maybe but I can count the amount of times I’ve been out on one hand, if we’re being honest. I don’t…pay enough attention to the signatures, I should. It would have saved me a lot of grief in the long run but…I’m. Really bad at this. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t cut out for it and it was a fluke that I ever got dragged in to begin with.”
Hesitating, Targovishte gave a smile. “I’d love to have your help if you wanted to be friends. You can be my mentor or something if you’d be up for it.”
She half hoped he’d be up for it. That would be nice. Having someone to help her out would be nice…especially if they were the same…what? The same flavor of Knight?
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2022 9:36 pm
Belmont nodded understandingly. “It’s all right. I didn’t come out for a few months after I’d awakened, too. I knew it was dangerous so I promised I’d take some self defense classes before I tried to do anything. It’s probably not a fluke,” he tried to reassure, “I just don’t think that we have the resources we need to get proper training. And we have to keep quiet about what we’re doing or else there’s the whole Negaverse coming after us, so. Yeah, let’s stick together. I’ll try not to sneak up on you.”
His smile was a little more relaxed and natural now. “If you want, I can get you my phone number. Maybe we can do some patrolling together? If we’re being honest, I’ve been doing this for too long to be where I’m at. I think I must be doing something wrong. I know we’re supposed to get stronger, but. I don’t know. I’ve been slacking a lot. I should go to my Wonder more often, or practice training, but–yeah. I’d like to stick together. I mean, this whole thing is too dangerous to be doing alone.”
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Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2022 4:33 pm
“I’m just jumpy, it wasn’t your fault at all…ah. What’s a Wonder?”
Targovishte gave a rather apologetic smile, obviously knowing she wasn’t good at this, and she wasn’t…but she was trying. Or…she wanted to try. It was important to try at the very least, and if she could get better…
“I doubt you’re doing anything wrong, and I’d love to have someone to patrol with, I’m…to be honest, I’m not really sure what we’re supposed to be patrolling for? I mean, I’ve seen the monsters and met a rather unsavory girl once but…is that the norm? Is this city really so awful that we have to have…legitimate super heroes running around to save the day? Because…I don’t really feel like much of a super anything, I feel like a clown with a windsock…and that doesn’t do much good for anyone.”
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Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2022 5:03 pm
Belmont’s expression shifted immediately and he looked sympathetic when he heard her story. “I guess it’s even more confusing when you put it like that, yeah. It’s really complicated, do you want to walk and talk? I can fill you in on everything I know. It’s kind of a lot, but–yeah. There’s a lot of dangerous things in this city. Monsters and unsavory people.”
He rubbed the back of his neck and seemed like he relaxed a bit more, now. “I’ve got a glorified stick, so,” he held out his broken sword handle, “It definitely feels like a bad joke. Especially when you’re fighting people with magic and weapons. It’s supposed to get better, it just takes some hard work. Come on, I’ll fill you in on what I know. We can power down and I can get you my phone number, we can take a walk around and try to keep the place safe. Or…maybe we can go up to my Wonder some time, I’ll show you what it is. It’s just a magical place, we get our magic from there.”
Well, eventually, whenever they did get their magic.
He gestured for her to walk with him, just because he always thought it was easier to process something when they were moving.
…He had a lot to fill her in on, but he was optimistic.
If they did patrol together, maybe they could both get stronger.
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Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2022 6:32 pm
Targovishte nodded, giving a small sigh, feeling a bit of relief and not entirely because he seemed to be in a better, calmer mood. He had a point. They would be safer if they patrolled together. They would be safer, two clowns with useless nothings to fight monsters and crazy people but. It would be easier to do with two clowns instead of one.
“Perfect. If you want, I’m happy to buy us food if you’re hungry, we can stop somewhere to grab something and then talk and walk? I know a really nice Greek place a few blocks away. It’s normally very chill so we can be private and talk?” It seemed like a fair exchange. Knowledge for dinner, plus there was nothing better than a good meal to seal the deal on a new friendship.
And obviously, that was what this was going to be.
She hoped.
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