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 Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2022 5:43 pm
Alastor was content to meet Nembus in an out of the way corner of Destiny City; her request was simple enough, and given that she’d been so willing to meet with him, he was happy to oblige and see that it happen somewhere where she could be comfortable. Cybele had helped connect the two, and Alastor was grateful to have someone speak to him about the Chaos here, as they’d experienced it.
He was careful not to be followed, mindful not to bring any extra trouble to her when she was already going out of her way to meet up with him. Alastor didn’t imagine it a comfortable subject, so it meant all the more than she was willing to talk about it.
Alastor arrived early, just so he could make sure the area was safe, and when he felt the pinprick of another energy signature nearing he immediately sought it out to make sure it was her.
Truthfully, he didn’t know who he was looking for, so as soon as he saw her, he raised a hand in greeting. “Nembus?”
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Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2022 5:59 am
She was nervous. But really, when wasn't she? There had been a few times on simple grocery runs that Loren had to take the time to pull Dahlia aside and patiently walk through a panic attack with gentle reminders neither of them was about to be discovered. Neither were they about to be at imminent risk of an agent deciding they were a delicious sweet starseed snack like she had seen created and youma partake in. She often felt if she breathed too hard, she took up too much space. She took up too much space, and she would be too obvious, and the length of time she hid made it worse because as much as she hoped she was simply presumed dead at this point, she doubted it-- Nembus did not henshin up until she was close, looking around fervently as she did so in case someone was stalking to murder her or anyone but especially any senshi. She slipped in and out of the shadows, staying against a wall once she was close enough. It wasn't until she heard the eternal senshi that she revealed herself. She trusted Cybele, truly. Trusted she wouldn't introduce her to someone who wasn't to be trusted. Everyone else could have been outside who made her walk like if she took up any more space, the ground might sink underneath her. "Alastor," she quietly confirmed. "Yes, I'm Nembus." She cleared her throat. "Nice to meet you."
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2022 3:47 pm
“The feeling is mutual,” he assured, but he couldn’t help but take note of how uneasy she seemed. He glanced beyond her instinctively, as if in doing so he might spy whatever shadow clung to her.
There was nothing there, only the predictable darkness.
She seemed nervous. Uncomfortable, even.
It wasn’t something he was unused to, but it had been a long time since someone seemed so fearful standing before him.
In the past, he had a reputation that had followed him from one life to the next.
But then, he doubted he was the cause for her unease. She didn’t know him. She was fulfilling a favor, a request from Cybele. Alastor wasn’t so ungrateful that he wouldn’t immediately consider her own comfort in all of this.
His questions were important, but he wasn’t going to jump right into them when she seemed like she was ready to crawl out of her own skin. “Is everything all right?”
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Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2022 4:10 pm
"Everything's alright." It was a lie and it wasn't. It was the truth and it wasn't. It was reality and it wasn't. It was fantasy and it wasn't. Everything was alright and everything had no chance of being alright ever again. "It's not your fault, for what it's worth." Her voice was thin and airy, and she looked around one more time as she attempted to bring her heartbeat under control. She felt no one else, but they could teleport. She remembered so easily when she could, back as a super, back even when the black wings adorned her back and she could zap away whenever she sensed an aura while she had been hiding, and it felt so close and yet so far and she knew feeling no auras truly meant nothing for a chaotic presence and-- "I've seen with my own eyes what is done to traitors. They likely know I left. Don't think they think I'm dead." She wished they did; it would make all of this easier-- Or perhaps that they'd find her and end the ruse-- She cleared her throat, even as her gaze turned out and elsewhere, even as her fidgeting increased and she seemed unable to quite settle. "I want to help you. Let me know what I can do."
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2022 4:25 pm
Alastor’s expression settled into a frown, not because he thought in any way that it was his fault, but because she seemed scared. Terrified.
Traumatized, maybe.
He’d heard stories of the Negaverse. He’d never been on the receiving end of their attention directly, but he’d seen what they were willing to do–kill children, harm innocents. Destroy lives.
And those were just civilians, not even people involved in this war.
He nodded, grateful for the offer, but there was something to her words, her demeanor, that didn’t sit well with him.
“I appreciate it. I hope you’ll excuse my concern, but…If they scare you so much, why are you still powering up?” he asked carefully. It was an honest question, like he was trying to understand why she was doing this to herself when she seemed like she was ready to jump out of her own skin. “No one’s pushing you to do this, are they?”
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Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2022 8:33 pm
It was a hard question to answer and it wasn't. "I don't," it was a soft airy admission, one that she was uncomfortable with. She spent a lot of time in the guise that was supposed to be a civilian self, not just a story she had put together for convenience, based on what little Delilah managed to create. She swallowed her discomfort with the partial truth. She continued. "But my powered life is important to me. To who I was. Twice." She paused. "Thrice." Because the Nembus of one thousand years ago was yet another person, another past self. Another past self that had perhaps also been robbed, in the same way Chaos had robbed her in this life. "And I feel more like myself like this, no matter how much I try to stay away from it. I spend a lot of time on my homeworld. It feels... Familiar, at least. I have memories there." Sometimes, more than she had here. "No one's pushing me to do this." She smiled, even if it was weak. "It just has to be." In some ways she felt guilty, too. She wanted to save her old team. She wanted to help them out of the dark, out of Metallia's cold, unfeeling grip, out of the sinking influence. Part of her hoped she saw them. It was just as quickly squashed by the thought of a blade swinging through the air and--
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2022 7:14 am
Alastor nodded as he listened, but he wore a contemplative expression for a moment before he spoke. “I don’t know if I agree with that. But I haven’t walked in your shoes so I can only speak for myself. There have been days where being a Senshi has been too much for me to get much done. Sometimes you accomplish more when you have a chance to be yourself.”
But, things were different on Earth. Things were different now, too. He couldn’t just live in the past.
“Would you feel more at ease if we went to your homeworld? I won’t presume to invite myself, but I’d rather you be comfortable if we’re going to talk. I don’t mind powering down and going somewhere we could blend in more, if that would work better for you. My curiosity doesn't outway your comfort.”
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Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2022 8:40 pm
A chance to be yourself was a funny statement in a dark way she couldn't quite comprehend. Their experiences must have been different; they almost had to be by the way Alastor had been introduced to her. He was a senshi who had been isolated in space for an untold amount of time. She? She was a gossamer thread claiming ownership of a human body that had already been twice evacuated. Nembus let herself take a shaky breath as he offered something that was appealing to her. Her homeworld had become something of a sanctuary, a place she could blank out the world and come as close to a living person as she possibly could. She still grappled with humanity. Whatever Nembus had been was not human. "We can go to my homeworld." She offered her hand. "It's peaceful there. You might like it."
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2022 10:08 pm
“I might,” he agreed. “Peace doesn’t come easily to me.”
It was something he was willing to reach for, though. She offered her hand, and he took it without hesitation. For all the strength he had in him, he took great effort to take her hand with only gentleness. His eyes lingered on the horizon, as if he needed to be extra vigilant.
Not for himself, for her. He was cautious on his own, because he’d promised. On a world where he was more comfortable, he could have afforded to be reckless, but Earth was dangerous.
She seemed to know that better than him.
“I’d like to see it, please.”
And, he’d like to see her find whatever peace and comfort she could manage.
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Posted: Sat Sep 24, 2022 2:45 am
"Same," she murmured, and there was a sense of understanding there even as vastly different as their experiences were. A ghost of a smile crossed her face for a moment when he agreed, but it was gone again as she focused on her phone and focused on making sure he was close enough and focused on getting them out of there before an agent thought better of their presence-- Where they ended up was inside an open-front building that seemed almost mystical with its high, curved arches and the seemingly endless clouded coverage at their feet. The light seemed softer here than it did on Earth, and it always helped her relax. She studied the star she had seemed to be named for and figured if that was the same star, it being a red giant explained the different feel. It was more than that, though, more than the gentle pastel marble walls and the clouds that never seemed quite white in the way her human eyes saw them. It fit what she saw in her mind when she was here. It fit a third of her memories that even as piecemeal as they were, were at least whole. There was nothing to the second third. There was only half of the third. She padded through the cloud coverage, making her way to a small table and sitting down on one of the chairs. She waited for Alastor to join her, noting quietly, her voice still carrying over the silence of the world, "Don't be surprised if the ground shocks you a bit. Nothing bad, but I think Nembus took the electromagnetism thing to heart..." It was nothing severe. It had just surprised her at first, and fairly so. Nembyssians were considerably more able to handle it. "Guess my planet figured I was bringing someone with me..."
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2022 9:57 pm
Alastor followed carefully, mindful of every step. There was a lot to take in here, and it was obvious that while he was used to absorbing as much information as possible, he was taking the time to let it sink in.
To enjoy it.
To appreciate it.
When he walked, it was in her footsteps. He was mindful not to disrupt her world in any way.
He didn’t mind the silence, not when she was next to him. The quiet was interesting–different from Destiny City, that was always loud and moving, but different from his own quiet world, too. When it wasn’t thundering, it was just eerily silent.
This was peaceful.
When he sat, he seemed to ease into the chair immediately and continued to observe all that he could see.
“Oh, I’ll be mindful of it. I spent a lot of time on Jupiter, a little spark here or there won’t kill me. It’s beautiful up here, I can see why you prefer this to Destiny City.”
And, no Chaos.
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Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2022 4:34 am
Alastor was respecting her world, and she appreciated that. Her smile was gentle as he settled into the chair, not tinged with the anxiety and nerves that seemed to haunt her every moment on Earth. "Oh. I've never been to Jupiter. Are there a lot of storms there?" It was nice here. Quiet. Peaceful. Removed from the thoughts of Earth and the Chaos that haunted it and tormented it. Tormented her. This was a place she could lose herself in a way she couldn't on Earth. It was a place she could regain a sense of person, a sense of being. She always felt fake. She always felt like an impostor. Here, though, on Nembus, it was less. The anxiety that came with being on Earth was less. She didn't want to be a senshi some days, but she never wanted to be anywhere else. "I'm glad you agree." She swung her legs and giggled softly as she felt a shock run up one. It was a considerably lighter sound. "I don't know what I am, but I think I feel more of it here." Maybe she would find it someday. Maybe she would just find the first Nembus--
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2022 7:10 pm
“Oh, it’s almost always storming on Jupiter. It’s beautiful, though. You should go if you ever get the chance. The thunder can be a little jarring, but if you’re inside it’s harmless. The buildings are made to last, so you’ll be safe. It’s worth it,” he said, with full conviction.
Here, Alastor had an easy going demeanor, and he had a subdued pleasantness about him. His lip half curled into a smile at her laugh, and it was like he could relax seeing this side of her.
The one not looking over her shoulder and expecting the worst.
“You seem happier up here. Have you done a lot of exploring?”
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Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2022 2:52 am
"I'd like to, I think." Nembus giggled. "As the senshi of electromagnetism, I can appreciate a good storm." She honestly could. Her general had been something of a firestorm. It felt nice sometimes just to sit by the window and acknowledge things that were far out of her control, but also remained that way to everyone. Not a single person could claim to control the lightning. Not a single person could claim to harness the power of the weather to any meaningful extent. And she took comfort in things that were out of anyone's control. He was right, and she confirmed that with an easy, "I am. Not as afraid anyone will find me here." And that was that was that. "Every two weeks or so I try to explore what I can. I've discovered a few things--these grand places, for example. I believe these places were intended for quiet meditation, and I think my world has held to that the best it could." Her gaze turned out toward where the clouds seemed to reach into infinity. "I've seen some creatures too. Perhaps one will visit us."
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2022 8:42 am
“Oh, that would be nice,” he agreed. “Earth is the only place I’ve seen any living thing in a while. Makes me miss everything I used to have back home. But the weather’s bad, I don’t blame them for hiding.”
He was being optimistic. Or, maybe he just didn’t want to admit that there was a very slim probability that there weren’t any left around. He stayed in a good enough mood, though–and, it was easy when she really did seem so much more relaxed up here.
It felt like getting to know her. He understood being guarded, though. Keeping up walls. Staying on edge. He appreciated the trust she showed him while they spoke.
“I wish I’d visited before so I had something to tell you. I’ve got a lot of books back on Alastor, maybe there’s something. Of course, the real library’s at Sessrumnir, but. I hope it comes to you. The rest of Nembus’ mysteries. There’s something exciting about discovering an old world and uncovering all its secrets. You know, there are still places on Alastor I’ve never been. I hope I still get the chance to.”
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