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 Posted: Sat Mar 04, 2023 5:57 pm
Niter didn't like being the cause of someone passing out. He made it a point to take such a scant amount of energy from someone that they should hardly notice it, especially if they were out with friends or distracted in some other way. Most times, he could cut his hair, wear his hoodie, and drain people with his hands in his kangaroo pocket as he walked through the busier parts of town. It was a way to clear his head. A way to pay his dues back to the Negaverse for giving him a job and some way to continue living under a roof with stuff like heat and running water. Which probably didn't seem like much to them, but… It was a lot more than a few extra energy orbs to him.
But there were still times where he lost control of the pull. He likened it to trying to aim a finicky gun with a controller's analogue stick. Any twitch of a muscle, moving it just slightly further than that single millimeter, and suddenly he's shooting off into the sunset. And while it wasn't as bad as it used to be, Niter still had that experience with draining energy sometimes. It was, he felt, the most common reason that a normal, quiet night got completely out of control.
And it happened that night. Like, while he was following behind a couple and draining the girl. He felt the speed at which he drained her shift just as his mind started to wander, and in hardly a moment, she was collapsed on the ground and her boyfriend was clinging to her like she just dropped dead. Calling her name, too — Niter remembered that distinctly — then started shouting at him to call 911. As if Niter was going to do what the guy who was ordering him around could be doing. Like, she wasn't awake at that moment, so it wasn't like she could hear him anyway…
Distinctly displeased at the thought of taking part in that socially awkward affair, Niter chose to split. While the dude was shouting at him, Niter doubled back and shot down an alleyway that was distinctly narrow and distinctly moist, and the ground beneath his feet sounded softer and wetter than pavement had any right to sound like. He ran only enough until he was sure the boyfriend wasn't following him, then breathed a sigh of relief around his friends, the old-fashioned fire escape stairs. Confrontation averted.
For now, at least.
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Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2023 2:56 pm
At first blush Myrrha had ignored the tableau that was on display before her. A guy that took off running, perhaps to get help, for the couple that seemed to have one supporting the other like an injury had been sustained. But even as she walked past on the other side of the sidewalk there was another piece of the puzzle taking shape as the aura of chaos pinged off her radar. That just set her teeth on edge. As much as she wanted to go over and check on the civilians Myrrha knew her duty was to at least figure out what was going on. Turning on her heels the purple-haired senshi took off in pursuit of the chaos aura that was rapidly putting distance from the pair on the sidewalk. There was one drawback to her plan of chase and that was that if she could clearly sense this aura of chaos that the owner could also sense her own aura of order. Pausing to hash this out Myrrha decided that maybe the best idea was not to be confrontational this time. She still regretted her actions against that lieutenant that she had met.
If this chaos-aligned individual had taken a starseed then it might draw her wrath but if it was energy was there anything really wrong with that? The civilian would eventually recover the lost energy after a good rest.
Knowing that the aura that she was following had ducked into an alleyway Myrrha sighed before venturing inwards to at least initiate conversation. "Hey, I know you are there and you know I'm here so there's no real need to hide or run. I just want to ask a few questions."
Myrrha hoped that she wasn't leaving herself open to attack but she'd be ready if she needed to defend herself.
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Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2023 3:26 am
Was this what it felt like to get arrested? Niter definitely felt like he had the 'fugitive from the law' thing going on, between having to run away from an accident. hide, and then get called out of his cozy, incredibly narrow gap between two old office buildings to answer 'a few questions'. A cop could've been waiting for him with a gun pointed at the gap just as well as a senshi.
The only difference was, he could feel her aura. Thick with saccharine brightness, but also like the itchy feeling his teeth got if he ate cake and drank an energy drink at the same time. She felt like she was his level? Which meant, he didn't really have any advantages here.
Niter had to decide if he wanted to have a conversation. On one hand, it would probably spare him from getting beaten on? But on the other, it was a conversation with a stranger and that was like getting mentally beaten up. So was there really a difference? And would the conversation actually go anywhere? Cuz worst case scenario would be that Niter would just get beaten up afterward anyway. Like, that was an actual, real possibility. It happened with that brightly-colored Squire with all the crescent moons on him, hadn't it?
Niter peered out from the gap that he couldn't quite walk into without turning sideways. He'd seen her before — there was an entry on her in the Database. He'd seen an entry for a senshi that looked like that in the 'low level threats' section, which meant maybe he wouldn't get beaten up today.
Finally, Niter stepped out from his hiding hole, though he lingered near it in case of an emergency. "Um, okay. What were you going to ask?" Niter waited, but he was already sweating.
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Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2023 12:32 pm
Myrrha hadn't really decided what would have needed to happen if the owner of the aura hadn't come out and while she could sense that the power level of the individual was the same as hers there was something in the way that that her cornered target was at first refusing to emerge that spoke of guilt over having done something wrong. At the sound of rustling coming from between a gap between the buildings and the sight of a slight figure emerging to stand there did the purple-haired senshi sigh. The sigh was a mixture of relief that she'd not have to fish anyone out of a hidey-hole and also exasperation because she didn't know what she should do next. Gathering in the appearance of this individual Myrrha pursed her lips together before mentally piecing together what they were. Corrupt senshi, flitted through her mind and she added the rank level comparable to hers before adopting a more relaxed posture.
At the other's inquiry of what she was going to ask Myrrha glanced to the mouth of the alley before going straight to the point, "What happened out there? All of a sudden there's people collapsing and a powered aura running away. Care to explain why you're running away from the area if you aren't the guilty party?"
It was more just curiosity at this point that had Myrrha even bothering to follow up on the situation at hand but she had already stuck her nose into business that may or may not concern her so at least it was prudent to at least see if this individual would play ball and answer her question. Strickenized I'm so rusty with Myrrha, I apologize.
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Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2023 8:21 pm
"Oh." Niter looked away, shoved his hands into his pockets where he could shiver more comfortably. He could understand why she was asking, and honestly? He thought she was doing a good job by asking instead of assuming the worst out of him and then trying to beat the hell out of him. Which, he didn't really enjoy the idea of having garbage thrown at him and then getting hit with an attack that would blow the trash smell up to nauseating proportions (as Niter was reasonably sure he would spew everywhere, then spew more because he could smell it, and it would just be an endless positive feedback loop of projectile vomiting until either his stomach was empty or the magic wore off or the walls were painted all the colors of bile and chyme).
"Well? Whenever I have to go energy draining, I try to drain only a little from each person I pass. It seems, um, better that way? Like, I know people aren't about that sort of thing, just like how they're not really about taxes, but spreading taxes among a bunch of people hurts them each a lot less than taxing one person a whole bunch? Um, I'm talking too much, sorry." Niter's head drooped.
"A-anyway, draining energy isn't super easy. Like, it takes a lot of concentration. So when I meant to take a little from the couple in front of me and move on, but then someone honked right next to me and it startled me and I lost control of what I could take? And then one of them fainted.
"And I definitely didn't want to make it worse, so I thought leaving was the nicest thing I could do?" Niter knew he was a problem. HIs parents were treating him like a problem lately, too, by cutting him off. He guessed that he never really outgrew being a leech, and he was always going to get busted for it, whether it was his parents getting tired of paying for his gaming habit while he spent all of his part-time minimum-wage money on new games, or it was a senshi scolding him for draining energy.tefla no probs! some characters take longer to percolate a tag for than others!
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Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2023 3:10 am
The fact that this chaos-aligned senshi was more prone to talk bode well for Myrrha. She wasn't really in the mood to have an all-out scuffle over what seemed to be an accident of draining too much energy from one target. Her stance relaxed a little more as the unknown senshi explained what had occurred and how it might have happened. Well, besides the draining of energy, which was still frowned upon, Myrrha could not fault this individual, could she? After making sure that the incident was fully explained the purple-haired senshi bit her lip in deep thought.
"I really should make you go back out there and return the energy that you took from that girl but that would probably lead to more questions that you don't want to deal with at this current time, right? I would assume that your kind prefers to not have to explain themselves to civilians about what has happened and I can sympathize with you on that account. I hardly like talking to those that aren't a part of this war we find ourselves fighting; because they can't seem to understand."
There wasn't much that Myrrha could do to change the fact either. Glancing back to the senshi Myrrha gave him a once-over before sighing, "I'm curious if you'd offer up your name. I'd understand if you decline to do so," she paused before adding, "also, if it makes you feel better ... I'm not feeling inclined to attack you. You've made it a point to be honest with me and well, I respect you for it."
Even if she mentally frowned at draining civilians, she couldn't fault this unnamed senshi for it, could she? She had once needed to do the same, quite a while ago now, but she had limited it to taking her own energy at the time.
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Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2023 3:05 pm
Niter was glad that most of her questions were the rhetorical kind. It meant he didn't have to talk about it, didn't have to explain to her why he didn't explain himself to anybody who had the energy he needed. He didn't even have to explain why he did what the Negaverse told him to do, or why he ran, or what his civilian identity was if he wanted her to let him go. He enjoyed the remarkable flood of relief that came with it.
But she wasn't exactly letting him go just yet. For as much as she was talking about how she should compel him to do things, she didn't tell him he could go home now. That flood of relief was incredibly transient in that regard.
The respect was nice, though. As was the statement that she wasn't thinking about trying to magically gun him down. Niter wrapped his arms about himself, feeling cold for the first time in a few hours, as he considered what he should do. She'd asked for his name, and Niter knew that some of the Negaverse looked at giving them any scrap of information as a sign of weakness, or letting them win, or something along those lines. But, Niter didn't see what the big deal was about a name. Niter was as much a name as Feathers, if she was just looking for a way to identify him.
Maybe that was naïve of him. Niter liked to think he still had some time to make naïve mistakes.
"Um. It's Niter." Or, as an afterthought, he could've said Nycticorax. Neither one was wrong, per se. Maybe she'd have identified better with the other one. "What's your name?"
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Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2023 1:30 pm
Niter, interesting name. Wonder if it's short for anything, was the thought that went through Myrrha's mind before she made a note of the senshi's demeanor. Nite was almost looking like a kicked puppy in a way and there was a sudden flash of guilt that went through her. Even though she hadn't physically laid a hand on him it still made her feel like she had. In the back of her mind Myrrha knew she should be tougher on all chaos-aligned individuals if she really wanted to make a name for herself but really, what was the point in doing so if those that she looked up to weren't around to see it?
Taking a more relaxed stance Myrrha gave a soft exhale at Niter's request to learn her name and she almost shook her head before figuring what would it hurt to do so to offer the name up freely. Besides there was probably that lieutenant who already knew who she was and what she could do. Her voice soft as she gave her reply, "Name's Myrrha," and she tilted her head to the side before studying Niter once more. "Like I said before Niter, I'm not mad with you so you can relax a little. I was concerned at first: about the civilians out there," and she jerked a thumb in the direction of the street before sighing, "and maybe just a little concerned about you as well."
Myrrha rubbed the bridge of her nose before studying Niter more carefully. Was there a way that she could show Niter that she wasn't going to hurt him after all? Perhaps there was a way. Finding an old, but sturdy, box to sit down on Myrrha made the slightest gestures to beckon Niter forward before breathing in deeply to steady her nerves, "I'm probably insane for even suggesting this but it might work for both of us. I'm willing to offer you the chance to gather a little more energy if you need to, without resorting to picking on civilians. Maybe that will convince you that I truly mean you no harm," in the back of her mind Myrrha added mentally, and if he doesn't drain me dry, maybe I'll be able to trust that he's as cautious as he says he is and that this truly was an accident. Not that I don't think it wasn't already. Instead she reached out one of her gloved hands to him in offering before sighing, "just take some if you need to."
This was probably a foolish thing to do leaving herself vulnerable but maybe it'd help both of them.
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Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2023 4:57 am
For all the ways the White Moon liked to jump to conclusions around him, Myrrha seemed kinda nice? Like, she wasn't assuming he was lying or deciding that, since he was chaos, he still had to die for all the sins he may or may not have committed. She was even concerned about him — most of the Negaverse officers this side of the war couldn't claim that.
His hands were starting to build up lactic acid, so he let them fall to his sides with a small huff. At this point, he just wanted to go home and turn his brain off to, like, Subnautica or something. Maybe even distract himself with a resource management game. He still had Factor.io installed, though he was thinking Oxygen Not Included was a better choice as long as he modded it to absolute hell and back. But those were decisions for when he was, like, not here. Not staring down someone who was supposed to be his enemy while she basically met him halfway.
Which was, again, way more than her allies ever did for him.
It would be rude to turn down her offer, anyway. "Um, okay. I only need a little." And he didn't need to touch her to gather that energy, so Niter assumed that was a plus for all parties.
He approached until he was just in range, then held his hand out while he concentrated. Gathering energy reminded him of this old video game whose name he forgot, where the world was populated with different elements in different areas and he had to draw on those present elements to make weapon attacks on enemies. They sort of just drew the chi into themselves, and Niter liked to think that energy draining was something similar.
Niter stopped when he accumulated two small orbs in his hand. "Are you, um… Still good? I can disband one of these if you need the energy back?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2023 1:42 pm
Myrrha was understandably wondering if she had put herself in a worse position in this situation by allowing herself to become part of an experiment of her own design before relaxing. Someone had to trust someone else first and she was willing to be a guinea pig if it meant that she could earn Niter's trust in the moment then so be it. Watching as the corrupt senshi moved in closer was in its own sense, alarming. But there was no way that she was going to walk back the offer she had so willingly put into the open. As Niter moved in closer Myrrha was surprised to feel a sudden amount of trepidation settle about her shoulders. By then though the process in which Niter spoke about seemed to already be happening.
Rather interesting feeling I'm getting here. I swear I can feel the energy leave my body ... and oh, is that what it looks like?
Myrrha's gaze slowly rose to find the two small shimmering orbs that Niter held in his hand. That was an interesting display. She was feeling a little tired, which was to be expected, and she thought about the question that Niter had put across to her. "I think I'm alright. I'm more surprised that the process seems that easy," Myrrha shook free the tired cobwebs that had formed in her mind before putting a hand to her head as if to help hold it up. At the offer of having a little bit of what Niter pulled from her Myrrha returned gave the question it's due diligence in thought before even attempting to answer.
Was she tired? Yes. Was it truly affecting her? She couldn't really say. She'd settle for the truth then, "I'm kinda surprised. That seemingly small amount can change how one might feel by leaps and bounds. I think I could be fine if you kept both but maybe if you unbind half of one I'd be better," Myrrha wasn't entirely sure ... she didn't want Niter to lose what he'd taken entirely but she probably needed a little of the energy back.
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Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2023 8:14 am
Niter's instinctual reply to Myrrha's observation was bitten back; she didn't need to know that Niter thought it had to be that easy for a few choice Lieutenants and Basics among their rank. Even if he wasn't naming names, or had even really run across a Lieutenant or a Basic who found it exceedingly difficult, Niter believed one had to exist. Processes at workplaces often got dumbed down because something happened that encouraged the process to be dumbed down. Instead of responding, he managed a wavering, if shy, smile.
He also didn't want to mention that, sometimes, no matter how good a person was at draining energy, it was like the whole process slipped from their fingers and gained a life of its own. It wasn't an experience that he cared to repeat.
What Myrrha had allowed him to take was free energy, so when she said it was a little much, Niter simply nodded. It was easier to focus on holding one orb's form, anyway, so he let the other one disperse and retreat back to the body from whence it came. That made his take a little lighter, but all things considered? It was still a net positive compared to a few moments ago.
"Well, um, thanks for the energy. A-and it was nice to meet you," Niter added as he gave a short bow. He didn't want to leave her with too much time to change her mind about not beating his face in, or about the lone orb he still had, so he sent the orb to his subspace and started to sidle out of the alleyway and toward the larger streets. "And stay safe, I guess?" He wasn't sure what else to say, but people were always goading him to say more words, so he left it at that.
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Posted: Mon May 15, 2023 2:17 am
Myrrha watched as Niter undid one of the little orbs of energy that he'd collected from her and watched, amazed, as it floated back to her and disappeared inside. It's return allowed the super senshi to perk up a little in time to catch Niter's apparent need to leave. The bow was a nice little touch of formality that Myrrha thought wasn't needed but then again the sign of respect was unexpected. Perhaps as unexpected as her offer had been of allowing Niter to take a bit of energy from her.
Maybe that was the reason for the bow.
Even as Niter edged out of the alleyway and expressed that it was nice to have met her she piped up suddenly with a short, "take care of yourself," before sighing. This encounter had not been at all like the one in which she'd sort of roughed up that lieutenant and at least if Niter knew about what she'd done, he didn't seem at all interested in retaliation. Figuring that she'd call off the rest of her patrol in order to head back towards her home Myrrha rose from the seat that she had taken before heading towards the easiest direction in which one could travel ... up. She'd take the skyline route this night.
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