Welcome to Gaia! ::

From the twisted branches above there was a noise, not a caw, but a scrabble of heavy claws along a branch and the sight of wings spanning out to hide more of the nights moonlight from the chill of fresh frost and coating snow below -- the scrabble became a snap -- of branch and bark and full-a** bird flopping into a heap -- six bright eyes staring at Pendour, blinking...

The nice, peaceful silence broken by Albite', loud with his steps as he was with his voice, calling out 'wherever you are's'. A fat, white, packed snowball in hand, in search of bird. Albite was hunting -- but not for Senshi, or Knights, or --- ******** -- if other people wanted to play? They were surely invited, the way he was abs out, aura ablaze carelessly strolling through the woods tonight.

"C'mon Cerbs -- I know you're out there --" and tag was sometimes most fun to play with someone who lacked an aura he could sense, with his bonded, who could skip time n space entirely n leave him feeling foolish for it at the end. It never made it any less fun to do though, especially not tonight!!

“Hah! She ratted you out!” and yeah, maybe there was a Kapital K of a Knight right there for the taking! But there was also Cerbs, sprawled out and a perfect gawping target for him to aim at, which Albite took with great pride—

And his snowball thunked empty air and alligator-barked tree. Where Cerbs had been, nothing, some scattered feathers an imprint in the snow of thick, leggy, clawed feet and a winter fat form—

“Oh you son of a-brat!! Cheater!!” And alright, maybe he’d been cheating by letting the knight n her aura n her call out give Cerbs away, but? “M’sorry Mrs. Uhm…m-mermaid? Mnnn…” and he was totally going to apologize to the nice lady for his birb having scared her, course then he realized the lady’s as a fish — fishy? No, that was rude. Mermaid was the better term to go with by far.

Oh, s**t, maybe he should've? Sir -- was Sir the? No, wait, Pendour! Cool, very cool, he could get with that!

"Awh, ********, sorry Pen. Pendour! Pendour," and he tried the name on like tasting a new flavor of ice-cream. It was nice, smart, purpousful. Easy enough to memorize even though he knew he'd butcher it at some point, default to something that made him think of pearls, merpeople, the vast sea and all that nautical nonsense. For the moment though? He could chew on Pendour and lock it down. "I can do that easy as breathing, promise! People ain't always first with the names -- it's usually powers this -- punching that. Uhmn, I'mma just go-head n'blame all these impressive glamour's for the ******** on my end tho. Kay? Kay!"

And Pendour'd asked him something right --- he blinked through that. Scrambled to remember what'd only been asked mere seconds ago, and looked forlornly at the space in the snow where his coward of a pet'd once been.

Oh! Right, right, about Cerbs!

"Nah, aint interrupted nothing much! I was just out playin with Cerbs, yanno?" gesturing to the absences of the spirit-bound-birds presence as if that was all the explanation needed in the world; all while brushing the remnants of snowmelt from his cupped hands. "Just the usual, tag, freeze tag, target practice--He can be a real s**t sometimes, but I still love him..." speaking of questions "...which...So-as-not-ta-be-rude. M'Albite, Senshi, clearly, and I gotta ask----" and maybe if he whispered it while he eyed her, flowing teals to tousled curls "are you -- are you a real mermaid? A snow mermaid!! Or just, like, a Knight pretending to be a mermaid? Anydamnthings possible yanno. Like real a** Aliens---"

There we go, that made sense. Complete, total, coherent sense! Sowhat if Cerbs had ditched on snowy good times! He could chat up Pen n make up for the missed moment of romping.

Nectaris's what? He let the pause sit as he listened on, blinked for the stalled out ask with owlishly bright eyes while turning the 'um' at the end over in his own head. He couldn't offer up any better words than 'um' himself. He was definitely something: traitor, friend, enemy. Her lover of the hands n hugs only variety.

There was some excitement for the Mermaid aspect of it all though. The fact that Pendour knew him through---

Through Nectaris.

Pen knew Nectaris. An old friend, a new one, didn't matter. Pendour knew her all the same. Normally that would've been all kinds of exciting! If it didn't make the hairs on the back of his neck bristle n his spine straighten outta the naturally relaxed stance he typically held, because he sure as ******** had not ever met this person before, n yet?! Here they were, knowing him, knowing him as a link to her....

There was no point in worrying about someone else getting his team messily dead, about there being a mole, not when it was him. He was it. If all of order knew him via an association to her -- then oh so easily strung him to Faustite, to his team, to a bloody, messy, red n dead bit of string that he'd noosed them all to, while making sure to leave extra heaping lengths to hang by.

It was just a little bit terrifying to think of. He could've been overacting though, he knew, he'd done that before and more than once because sometimes he got paranoid over nothing.

"So -- firstofall -- Pendour? M'sorry, but ******** the hoodie n a haircut routine. You're gorgeous," hands up as he ticked off points over the simplest count of fingers, grinning all the while, dead serious to a fault, because even if he ended up fighting her tomorrow he was the sort who had to say what was true. N truly? Pen was beautiful.

"Secondly? You're absolutely, totally, completely, a mermaid. A mermaid Knight even, which is even more badass if you ask me. Not that you are asking me, but if you were..." he had no fondness for knights, but Pendour didn't look like any Knight he'd ever had a problem with, so she got a solid pass on that one. It was easier to think of her as a mermaid too, made the interaction simpler by all sorts of degrees if he was just chatting up a Mermaid on a snowy evening.

"Thirdly! N'I've gotta make this clear as the ice they put in the McDonalds drink machines. So we're talkin' crystal as glass here, just, the clearest s**t on earth, but - - - You can't know me," his smile twisting even as he said it because he wasn't sure if that made any sense to say. He'd just introduced himself, so obviously she knew he was Albite now, duh, but that wasn't the point he was trying to make.

"N I get that the face doesn't mean anything till I attach the name to it, but you can probably see from my end how -- ahm -- the existence of any attachment at all in relation to a certain pink moonbeam is a little terrifying. Unless, is it a thing with you guys? S'there some kinda -- dossier -- type stuff, files n things, profiles n things? Or maybe 'Albite n Praxidike' are just popular enough on that sideah the moon to get gossiped about. Tell me it's interesting gossip at least, like, the exciting kind."

He'd sidestepped the 'Define your relations with Nectaris' aspect wholly, mostly by being so easily distracted by his own run-on thoughts and sprint-on sentences that he'd just zoomed past it all. He coulda asked how Pen knew Nectarine~ If they were close, or good friends, or if she talked about him, or if she missed him, because he knew she did he got the notes!

"********," and his excitement for her declaration waned with a surprised squawk, "Ah, hey! That doesn't mean ignore me entirely!! C'mon!" it was laughable, he was laughing, the way she suddenly switched from talking to him to looking through him. Oh, s**t, he liked her.

"Lissn', lissn.......I'm not worried about any of that. The only thing's gonna pry me away from Nectaris is death itself; mine, hers, some other unforeseen bullshit. Like me catching sense in a 'brick to the head' sorta way. I've always done my own thing though, Pen. I'll suffer the consequences of it one day, I know...." and his smile was sad for it, because he knew Nectaris would suffer consequences too.

Knew now that she knew that back then and hadn't expected at all to survive her own harrowing rescue. Viciously daring for someone who liked gummy-candy and peach-pink. He admired her for it, and in the same breath? Wished she'd done anything other than be herself and followed her heart.

It was bitter-sweet and thorn-filled, all those feelings.

"I wanna promise I wont ever hurt her, not in any way, but the world doesn't work like that, n I don't wanna lie....So instead? I'll say that I'll do my best to not, yeh?" tilting on his heels n leaving goughes in the fresh snow layered over the rough earth, grinning fool looking not nearly cold enough for the weather. Nectaris hadn't mentioned having a support group, good friends, pepole who would defend her. Hearing now that they did indeed exist -- meeting them -- knowing they were real, and physical and could probably throw a punch? It eased something that sat heavy in his core. "Now! What exactly's got you out tonight? You looking for a spar? Hoping to chat up a handsome stranger~" the wink he threw on was teasing at best, no seriousness to it, but he couldn't ever help himself.

“Issat so? Yanno Pen, Cerbs is a pretty friendly bird if ever you two wanna chat it up — maybe even with me nearby? He gets out n away from me often enough, who knows, could be a whole entire deal,” Albite met all of Pendours soft with his own bombastic joy, greeted Pens shy looks and singular words with many and much more than she’d probably asked for. He didn’t know about them being friends just yet, but for the most part he was always friendly! Least he was until he had any good, given reason to be otherwise. In the case where she threw the first punch? It was a reasonable thing to do!

Or if he had orders — or….

No punches had been thrown yet though. They’d simply had a very polite chat in the snow. Like two ships passing bye one another passively n all that other poetry sounding stuff—

“You just gotta keep your eyes up— n next time you meet me? I’ll know you’ve met me because I’ve finally gotten to meet you, n you can call me Albite — n I’ll call you Pendour. It might even be a good time,” at least he thought it might be, even if all they did was smile n wave across a field. He’d never have a problem admiring a proper mermaid. Maybe he could even ask her knight questions!! Like why? And of what? And the hows of being such a thing! Ooh maybe she could teach him the secret to breathing underwater, that would be cool!

Next time…

"See-ya Pen! Be safe out there--" waived off as he trotted after Cerbs with ease. Albite didn't do poetry, pretty words were never his thing. Words were sounds he used up to try and bide time, convey meanings he couldn't express physically, but feelings? Feelings for him had always been expressed as actions, passing Pen by, evermore delighted by her amusing expression likely for the uncanny-valley of a way Cerb's ******** with planes of existence like the veil between here-there-other meant nothing at damn all.

The way he looked not of this world.

Albite kinda wished he did do poetry. That he got it so he could say something more unique then 'be safe', which was it's own kind of funny, cause knights, senshi? Youma. No more opposite of safe existed.

But he still wanted ---

Thought of Haru n Sy n Emmy -- little books on shelves -- some one or another by a snow-dude about roads diverging in piss colored woods. That description didn't do it justice at all, not the way he misremembered, the poem was pretty, impactful, and watching her go he couldn't help but wonder which one of them was taking the road less traveled by? If he was cheating as a Senshi in ways she couldn't. Feeling like he had access to all the roads in the world, traveled and not, both the well maintained and thornily untrodden, so long as there existed time and his Starseed remained intact.

Ahwell, maybe he'd figure it out next time! Tonight he n Cerbs had a game of snow tag to finish, n he couldn't abide the bird already taking a head start.