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 Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2022 4:51 pm
Truly, Talia hadn’t known what was going to come from speaking with Cosmos, but she hadn’t counted on the overwhelming weariness that seemed to engulf her now that the confrontation was over. She wasn’t sure what she had thought that Cosmos was, some…good fairy who just helped save people because it was the right thing to do, because it was the best way to fix everything that was broken…
She wasn’t. She was honestly some workaholic who focused on something that was so utterly abstract that it made no sense to Talia whatsoever.
Seating herself on a bench outside of a noodle shop that smelled…well. Too good to ignore, honestly, she drew out her phone and stared at it for a few long moments, wondering who she wanted to contact. Zac was at work, and she didn’t want to bother him. Evan…no, Evan wasn’t what she needed either, nor was Malcolm.
Quietly, she opened up Rhiannon’s contact and typed up a quick text. ‘Back from my trip to see Mrs. Wonderful whatever. Feeling rather lousy, if I bring you noodles that smell good enough to make my mouth water, can I come over? If not, do you want to meet me at my place? I just. Don’t want to be alone but don’t want to be crowded if that makes sense.’
It didn’t make sense, and Talia stared at the message, wishing she hadn’t sent it and quickly sent a second.
‘Maybe it would just be better if I go home and go to bed, I’m. Not really making any sense even to me. Sorry to be a bug, Rhi <3’
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Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2022 8:28 pm
Rhiannon set her book down when she heard her phone vibrate. She kept it on silent because the noise bothered her. She was half tempted to ignore it since it was likely some political text, but just in case it wasn’t she picked it up anyway.
She was honestly surprised that Cosmos showed up for Talia. She didn’t have many strong opinions about Cosmos one way or another, but she knew what others’ opinions of her were.
The follow up text had her frowning.
In the time she’d gotten to know Lysithea and then Talia, it was relatively easy to read her. She knew she didn’t know her as well as Malcolm did, or Evan, or whoever that dude who’d passed by without a word, with the blond hair and freckles and expression that made him look like he wanted nothing but murder was... Jack? She couldn’t remember, but he’d had an unfriendly expression when he saw Malcolm, so she immediately didn’t care who he was.
But for Talia, it was relatively simple. She was sweet, she was kind, she wanted to make other people happy. She was also terribly insecure, a bit selfish at times, although Rhiannon hoped that her telling others where she was going was her attempt at getting better with that. She talked about being a team, but then tried to shoulder everyone’s burden by herself, as if that would make them like her more, when they liked her just fine without the extra effort. If anything, taking on so much was more stressful than everyone doing their fair share, because it seemed as though she didn’t trust them to handle themselves.
Rhiannon knew she wasn’t one to talk. She had no friends -- few friends -- for a reason. She was harsh with her opinions and didn’t like to sugar coat things. She overthought things a lot, and knew she was probably overthinking everything about Talia, too. She kept to herself, she got frustrated with a lot of people. She was frigid. Fitting, given her Senshi Sphere, but unhelpful when she actually did want to help people, especially her few friends.
Talia was her friend. Or at least Rhiannon thought she was. The second text had her hesitating, her own self confidence questioning if she should just respond with ‘okay good night’ or not.
Instead she texted back, ‘only if there is a vegetarian option. Where are you i will meet you there or at a park.’
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Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2022 8:30 pm
Lysithea was resolved to get the okay goodnight text and when she looked down at her phone, she couldn’t stop the small smile from creeping over her face.
Getting up, she hurried into the noodle shop and scanned the menu, and then scanned it again before sending another text. ‘...you might want to meet me here, they have vegetarian options, but they have too many options and even though I’m hungry enough to get a bowl with literally everything, I’m not sure what you’d want.’
Glancing at the name of the place and the address, Talia quickly texted it to the other woman and then grinned at herself before sending one last text.
‘I’m half tempted to send you an audio recording of my stomach right now, but I don’t think you need nor want to hear it but it smells even better on the inside.’
After the text was sent, there was another quickly following it. ‘THE STORE. NOT MY STOMACH. I HAVE NEVER SMELLED MY STOMACH.’
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Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2022 8:40 pm
She made note of the address and got up to put proper clothes on, which consisted of shorts and a tank top and ankle boots -- oh, and she grabbed a coat, just in case -- but the only thing Rhiannon responded with was ‘I work with horses.’
Clearly Talia had nothing to be embarrassed about when it came to talking about smells. Rhiannon was surprised none of her new friends made any comments about any lingering farm smell from her, but she was grateful that she had excellent soap.
After texting Talia an ETA, it took Rhiannon several more minutes to first find where the noodle shop was, and then find parking.
Because the vehicle Rhiannon stepped out of was nearly a foot taller than she was, and she had to take a significant step down from the black truck with large wheels that could probably easily crush the tiny sedan she’d parked next to.
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Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2022 8:41 pm
Talia stared at her phone trying to figure out what working with horses had to do with noodles, or her awkward phrasing about possibly knowing what her own stomach smelled like, but. She did appreciate the fact that it wasn’t really…mentioned other than the cryptic message of Rhi working with horses.
When she got the eta, Talia gave a small sigh, glancing at the menu, and decided to take it upon herself to order a few appetizers, cream cheese wantons and some veggie spring rolls.
They had just been brought to the table when Talia spotted the large truck, and then spotted Rhiannon getting out of it.
She put one of the wantons in her mouth backwards so it looked like she had some kind of a mutated duck beak and waved frantically out the window at her friend, feeling her mood shifting from the melancholy one she had been in to one of actual happiness.
…Perhaps she had simply been hangry, but…doubtful.
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Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2022 9:01 pm
It didn’t take long for Rhiannon to find Talia, and she quietly entered the noodle shop so she could take a seat across from her.
“I almost didn’t recognize you,” she said quietly, with no indication that she was joking until she gestured to Talia’s mouth and the weird beak she’d made with the wonton.
Rhiannon wasn’t used to the small talk of social gatherings. She didn’t have much opportunity to practice, and maybe it was perhaps rude for her to skip to the point instead of talking about… the weather or something first.
She reached across the table before Talia could place another piece of food in her ear or something silly, and placed her hand on Talia’s wrist. With her other hand, Rhiannon pulled out her phone and scrolled up to the second text of the night from Talia.
“If you are reaching out to someone, let them decide if they want to accept or decline. Please don’t decide for me unless you’re serious about changing your mind. I will respect your decision to cancel, next time,” she said gently.
Despite the topic, she wasn’t trying to hurt Talia’s feelings. Instead, she was trying to express how her feelings had been hurt. The surprise and happiness she’d felt at Talia reaching out to her, only for that elation to be crushed by Talia saying nevermind.
Rhiannon let out a sigh, and squeezed Talia’s wrist, hoping she understood that she was important to her, but if she was trying to do better, herself, Talia needed to let others take a step forward with her, rather than being forcibly dragged behind her.
“How are you? Cos-- She spoke to you?”
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Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2022 9:25 am
Talia froze and swallowed for a moment, her body going stiff but finally, she tugged her wrist away and instead laced her fingers with Rhiannnon’s instead, holding her hand. “I’m sorry. The conversation with her…really. I’m feeling really messed up and I didn’t want to push myself onto you, that was all…it felt like I was being a bother and trying to shove my issues onto you and…I backpedaled. I’m…” She swallowed and squeezed the other woman’s hand.
“I can’t even really express how happy I am that you wanted to come…I just. Got scared of rejection, I guess. I really am sorry.”
The tender moment was ruined with the question about Cosmos, and Talia nodded, picking up another wanton with her free hand and holding it to Rhiannon’s lips. “She did. I’m…honestly? I wish I hadn’t bothered. It…it feels like she has her priorities backwards and I don’t understand it.”
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Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2022 5:47 pm
Rhiannon gave Talia’s hand a squeeze to accept her apology and try to reassure her, and then shrugged. “You’ll always get rejected if you reject yourself.” And it was true and she thought that Talia knew it.
It was easier for Talia to decide she was going to be rejected than trust in her friends’ desires to be with her and help her. But Rhiannon was also serious about not ignoring Talia next time. Talia’s self decided rejection was a rejection for her friends as well.
At first she pursed her lips together when the wanton was lifted to it, but decided to take it into her teeth at the moment, deciding to trust that Talia wouldn’t be feeding her anything with meat in it.
She chewed thoughtfully, tilting her head one way, and then the other as she mulled over Talia’s words.
“What are her priorities?”
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Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2022 5:49 pm
Talia wrinkled her nose but nodded, it was something to think about but. She could deal with it later. Just another thing to unpack.
“The Galaxy Cauldron, which…” Her voice was low, and Talia was glad for the loud music in the noodle shop. This wasn’t really a conversation for out in the open, but the food was worth it. “Which is…basically where…all of the starseeds go, and get reborn? If there’s something going on there, she can’t come to Earth and help, and…”
She chewed the inside of her cheek for a moment. “While I understand it’s important…we’ve seen first hand what life is like on other worlds…there really isn’t any. Unless she’s hiding a whole other few planets from us that have life and are utterly brimming with…sen–people.”
Shrugging, Talia popped another wanton into her own mouth, unable to scowl as the hot cream cheese flavor hit her tongue.
“...I just. On a world where the enemy has learned how to take the starseeds. How to corrupt them, how to destroy them…why wouldn't that be a priority? If something happens to the Earth that we can’t recover from…will she even have this cauldron of souls to watch out for? I mean…the soup’s gonna be mighty low if something happens here, at least to my thinking…”
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Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2022 5:50 pm
Rhiannon watched Talia with growing concern, and she glanced at someone passing by to make sure they were out of earshot before saying anything in return.
“We don’t know that,” she reminded Talia, keeping her voice low, but she was wondering if maybe they should collect their stuff to go and find a place in a park so they could speak in relative secrecy. “We didn’t know about the aliens-- any of them.” Not the Velencians, not the Senshi that had somehow managed to survive over a thousand years, either awake the whole time or in stasis. She hoped by the way she spoke made it obvious that she was suggesting there could be more out there that they didn’t know about.
Earth was special. It had the Moon Kingdom watching over it. It held incredible influence a thousand years ago. And it was still surviving. And it would survive, even if the Negaverse took over completely. Just… filled with Chaos.
“A corrupted starseed is still a starseed. Didn’t you tell me how youma can be purified? All of those are starseeds. They don’t need to be-- people don’t need to be like us. Civilians aren’t corrupted. Those are starseeds.”
If the Negaverse hadn’t pushed Chaos so far into the world, Rhiannon doubted that Senshi and Knights would have ever even awakened again. They could have lived their lives peacefully for decades -- centuries… had it not been for the Negaverse.
“Is there something going on at the Cauldron? She didn’t come when people tried summoning her when… visitors arrived last year.”
If anything, that was more worrying than the Earth suddenly not having more people being born there, Senshi or Knight or not.
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Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2022 5:51 pm
“We don’t know it, true but…” Talia hesitated and gave a little smile. “That’s what I’m assuming. I mean. No, no I’m…not explaining myself right…ah. Maybe we can just take these and eat in your truck, if you don’t mind? I mean, Or we can find a bench but your truck is so big and…truck like.”
…And it was hard to be overheard from inside of a car, no matter how loud the music in the restaurant was she…
Couldn’t articulate everything that she wanted to say here without…worrying.
“No noodles, that could get messy, but the wantons and spring rolls won’t be too messy and…”
Talia grabbed a handful of napkins, waggling her eyebrows. “I’m a pretty clean eater when I’m not pretending that I’m a duck.”
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Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2022 5:52 pm
Rhiannon wrinkled her nose. She didn’t like to eat in her truck, but it also smelled like horses, so that was probably unappealing. But since Talia suggested it, Rhiannon nodded. If they decided they wanted to get more food, they would just go back into the shop to get more.
So she stood and grabbed several more napkins, and took hold of Talia’s hand, and grabbed everything else off the table, and led the way out of the noodle shop to her truck. She would just clean it over the weekend if they got any crumbs anywhere.
She didn’t go over to the driver’s side though. Instead she went over to the passenger side and held the door open for Talia, holding her hand to make sure she could easily take the two steps up into the… probably ridiculously overlarge truck for someone as slim and girly as Rhiannon.
Once Talia was safely behind the closed door, Rhiannon made her way to the driver’s side to climb in as well.
“Better?”
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Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2022 6:12 pm
“Much! Yes.” Talia glanced around the truck and snuggled down into the seat, sniffing slightly and nodding slowly. “Is this why you mentioned horses when I mentioned the smelling my stomach thing. I get it now, you really had me confused before, I won’t lie.”
She paused. “I don’t smell my stomach though. That just. It came out really strange and I had to clarify, I told you, my brain feels a little like soup.”
Spreading a napkin over her lap, Talia ate another of the wantons, mulling over what she wanted to say. “They are starseeds, and the ones that are corrupted can be saved…but…do we know if the corrupted ones even go back to the cauldron? That’s what I was thinking. And yeah, everyone on Earth has a starseed…but if the NEgaverse keeps taking them and eating them and hoarding them…they won’t ever get back to the Cauldron…so…if she focuses all her time on the cauldron…where there’s life sure…that’s…”
So, Rhiannon knew about Cosmos not showing up? Damn. She wished she had that information before going to talk with her. “What do you mean she didn’t show up when people were summoning her? That was…what, around November of last year when I got…”
When she had called for help with Ilse.
Huh.
“I just don’t understand how…she could let hypothetical souls take priority over living ones…I mean…she said that there were some people here who could do what she does. Purify others. But.” Talia rubbed her face slightly and then winced, getting some grease in her eye. “...It just. I don’t understand the logic.”
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Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2022 6:15 pm
Rhiannon shifted uncomfortably in her seat but nodded, clearly self conscious about the smell, and pushed it back from the steering wheel so she had more room. She was used to it and it didn’t bother her. There were worse smells, but she knew the average city person wasn’t used to farm smells.
She nodded again when Talia asked about if corrupted starseed could be saved. She assumed that, once upon a time, Talia knew all of this, and in her being corrupted and then purified likely lost a good deal of information. Rhiannon didn’t fault her for that, and Rhiannon knew that she didn’t know everything, but she listened and paid attention to those far more sociable than she was.
And it helped that her cousin was a Princess and her Auntie a Knight.
“Starseeds are healed in the Cauldron, from what I understand. Even the corrupted ones,” she said quietly, leaning against the seat in a way so that she was mostly facing Talia. After a little while, she pulled her legs up onto the seat so she could wrap her arms around them.
“The Negaverse can’t eat too many starseeds, or they’ll turn into monsters,” she added, just as quiet as before. It sounded as though she was just thinking and speaking as the relevant thoughts came to her, after being filed away for so long.
“Back when the Velencians showed up. Some of them tried summoning Cosmos. I think Castor was one of them. Instead they spoke to a computer on the Moon that… I guess ended up saving everyone on the hilltop due to some strangely scheduled meeting.” She wasn’t sure how it happened, just that she’d heard for herself when Scylla spoke to the computer there, and how it brought them there.
“How are the starseeds -- the souls in the Cauldron hypothetical?” she asked, genuinely confused, but thinking she might have missed some context. They seemed pretty substantial to her. They were physical things, each with life.
“Being reborn could take… centuries. Maybe longer. But they are very much alive all that time,” she tried to reassure her. Rhiannon paused to pull out a packet of wet wipes from the glove compartment, offering it to her since it would be easier to clean the grease off that way.
“Yes, Princes and Princesses and Royal Knights can purify those who are corrupted, if they want to be purified. There aren’t very many around.”
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Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2022 6:16 pm
“No, no I get that…but…how do they get back to the Cauldron. The starseeds of those who are corrupted, when they die do they just poof back there? I really don’t know if that’s the case…when I was still…I mean. We were told to keep starseeds on us for emergencies, so those are some that don’t go back. I know that most agents keep several on them…and there was. Princess Ganymede was kept hostage and alive so she wasn’t reborn. I was the one who helped keep her living.”
Talia looked rather ill at the thought and leaned back in the seat, her stomach beginning to churn rather unpleasantly.
“I just. If she can’t come when people ask for help…they’ll stop asking for help. If Earth is lost to chaos, to the Negaverse…we don’t know that all of the starseeds here will make it back to the Cauldron. That’s…like billions of lives, of souls that…might not go back. Might not get reborn…and…It just sat ill with me that…the souls in her pot that don’t have a place to be reborn right now are…more important than the ones actively being taken and destroyed…I don’t know why she’s doing it alone for another thing. If her Cauldron is so important, she needs to have someone to help guard it while she helps us, or…give someone power to answer the call of those who need help so she can stay with the Cauldron.”
Rubbing her eyes, Talia gave a little snort. “It just. Sucks. No matter how you look at it, it sucks. And I feel utterly useless. I wish that I could do more.”
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