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 Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2024 9:53 pm
Spring was on the way, that much was clear. There were a few daffodils that were starting to try to poke their way through and bloom, and she adored daffodils. Mechelen was at the park, inspecting a small group of the flowers, poking them slightly and wishing that they would just bloom.
The photos she would be able to get would be amazing, as they were every spring, but…
Her head snapped up, like a deer smelling a hunter, but it was the feeling of another Squire, and of course her mind immediately jumped to Halle, and she stood, brushing her knees and dress free of the dirt that had collected there and made her way towards the aura.
She could see that it wasn’t Halle, and the dark color of the outfit made her pause for just a second, but…she continued in her approach and finally her eyes lit up as she realized she had seen the person before. Briefly.
“Pinstripes! You got stronger! That’s amazing! I’m Mechelen, Squire of Lysithea, it’s nice to actually meet you! I’m sorry I couldn’t stay and talk the last time!”
There was a smile on her face, and Mechelen held her hand out towards the other Squire, excited to meet a new friend.
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Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2024 10:29 am
Reims, Squire of GanymedePinstripes?
Reims bristled at the sound of a voice he’d heard once before. He’d felt the aura and seen a flash of color as he walked through the park. He was hoping it was Dering, but instead it was this loud girl who had run up to Dering and confused him for someone else.
He hadn’t even meant to go that way through the park. He hadn’t meant to run into anyone.
There were scratch marks down the side of his face. Enough to just barely draw blood, but not enough to take long to heal. He’d noticed that bruises and scrapes healed a lot faster now that he was a knight than they had before.
“What a weird way to greet someone,” he frowned at her. At her outstretched hand. He kept his distance and even took a step back. Not that he was afraid of her, but he was clearly wary, and his heart felt like it was racing with sudden anxiety.
Enthusiasm like hers without knowing him usually resulted in a trap or set up of some kind.
He didn’t bother telling her that he remembered who she was. It was basically all she said to him and Dering, anyway. Other than commenting on his pinstripes. He didn’t even have a say in what he wore, so he couldn’t claim that he was proud of them.
“Reims,” he finally introduced, and then after a moment. “Of Ganymede.” He supposed not everyone knew the different symbols. There weren’t many other Ganymede knights he’d met anyway. Just Yvoire. And Ganymede herself.
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Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2024 3:21 pm
Mechelen hesitated and kept her hand outstretched for a moment, until he took the step back, and she allowed her hand to drop, keeping a smile on her face. “I didn’t know your name, and I really liked the pinstripes! I think stripes are fantastic, they’ve been a big part of my outfit since the beginning and they make me happy.”
Her smile brightened when he gave her his name and she nodded. “Reims! It’s very nice to meet you…Ganymede? I haven’t met anyone from that…planet?” She wasn’t sure, but it was a good enough guess, she supposed.
“I’ve mostly met other Lysithea Knights, and one Cybele, I didn’t get a chance to talk to Cybele during her event, but she seems really nice!”
Drawing in a breath, Mechelen toed the ground. “What’s Ganymede like? Have you been there?”
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Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2024 6:28 pm
“Yeah, because you ran off after introducing yourself before we could say anything in return,” he pointed out as he lifted his arms to cross defensively over his chest. He didn’t know what her game was, but it made him suspicious.
“It’s a moon that orbits Jupiter. Just like Lysithea,” he frowned.
His jaw hurt, but he did his best to ignore it. If he messed with it, it would just get more agitated. He wanted to believe that she was just being friendly, but why? It made him anxious and uncomfortable.
“She’s fine-- oh.” Reims frowned, realizing too late that Mechelen wasn’t talking about Ganymede Ganymede. “Yeah I’ve been there. It’s… also fine? I don’t know what you want me to say about it. Or why you’re interested when you have your own Wonder.”
A voice in the back of his head was telling him he was being mean. He didn’t want to be mean. But he was on edge and she was just too much energy.
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Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2024 6:45 pm
“I apologize for that, there was a lot going on, and I wasn’t looking to interrupt you, I should have stayed and talked, but we get to talk now!”
A moon that orbits Jupiter? That…she hadn’t known that, not really…maybe she just hadn’t thought about it but. That was cool.
“You’ve met the person too? I haven’t met Lysiteha yet, but I keep hearing that she’s nice, through the grapevine. And, Wonders are all unique, from what I’ve seen, I just…want to know more about the…”
Mechelen looked up at the sky and gestured upwards.
“Space? The other places up there. It’s nothing that…I’d have ever really thought about before, and I just…want to see and learn as much as I can.”
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Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2024 7:54 pm
“I’ve got too much to worry about on Earth than to bother with space,” Reims frowned, although he avoided looking at her when he spoke.
He was cleaning up his Wonder, of course. But she didn’t have to know that. She also didn’t have to know he’d met Lysithea. She hadn’t asked, anyway.
There wasn’t much he felt like he could say. He didn’t know what she wanted from him, and he was still waiting for a group to jump out from behind some bushes.
“What are you doing out here, anyway?” he asked, in case he could trick her into giving herself away.
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Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2024 8:00 pm
“No, that makes sense to me. It’s hard to find a balance between…all of that and normal life. I was talking to a friend of mine about that, actually.” Mechelen stretched slightly and then shrugged. “I was looking for flowers, the daffodils are starting to come out–I like to photograph things, and new flowers are some of my favorites.”
She hesitated. “Do you have any animals up on your Wonder? I’ve got some bugs up there, but…I’m hoping that I can get like…rabbits one day. I love rabbits.”
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Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2024 10:25 am
Looking for flowers to photograph seemed reasonable enough. If there were actually any flowers to take pictures of.
Reims glanced over to where Mechelan had been before she went up to him to see that there were no--
Oh… it did look like there might be flowers coming up. That didn’t mean anything though. She might still just have that as part of her story.
“Bugs?” he repeated with confusion. It seemed like a strange thing to ask about. Should his Wonder not have animals? He was pretty sure he heard birds through the broken windows on one of his visits, but didn't bother looking for them. As for that he'd seen...
“I… I guess? Is that not normal? Uh, but my Wonder is kind of like a cathedral. I’ve been outside but other than, like… moths and bats, I haven’t paid attention.”
He gave her a strange look, and then looked around the park again. Was she actually looking for rabbits to bring to her Wonder…? He’d brought supplies to his Wonder, but not animals.
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Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2024 3:28 pm
“I don’t really know!” Mechelen shrugged and looked a bit wistful at the fact that he had bats…that was cool. “The first time I went up, there wasn’t anything. No sounds, no…nothing. But then it seemed like the more I visited, the more…”
Her nose wrinkled slightly. “...I hesitate to call them critters, but all of the bugs that I’ve seen are almost…jewel like? They’re pretty but…” She shrugged again. “I’m not a girl who enjoys bugs, especially when they fly at my head and are loud...like, I think it was some kind of a beetle but it was like, one of the loud buzzing wings when it flew at me…” She grimaced at the memory but perked up at thinking of his Wonder.
“I bet it’s pretty! I would love to see it sometime, if you’d have me. Mine…is kind of like an old castle? A palace? I don’t really know the difference, it seems more for splendor than for defense so that’s why I think palace, but…the big feature is a large ballroom that I’m really working to get cleaned up! I want to have a party up there! Would you like to come visit it sometime? Just to see somewhere new?”
She hoped he would agree. She enjoyed making friends and it went back to what Pendour first told her. Find more Knights. Meet them, get to know them.
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Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2024 8:08 pm
Reims continued to think back to his Wonder. Sure, it had been quiet there, but he just assumed it was because it was inside. Outside though… it was very much alive. Yvoire mentioned how he met Ganymede and she explained things to him but… Reims would admit that he was probably distracted looking at Yvoire’s shiny hair or trying to figure out the exact color of his eyes.
Not because he thought he was cute or anything like that! He was a boy! And Reims was a boy! He just looked pretty. Or something. Mechelen was pretty too but he was still trying to figure out when the gotcha moment was coming.
He frowned at her suggestion of visiting Reims. Of her suggestion of visiting her Wonder.
“We just met. You don’t know me,” he continued to frown. “What if I go and break everything in your palace? Or set loose a bunch of bugs there?”
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Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2024 8:15 pm
“I mean if we’re being honest, everything’s broken already so there’s not much harm that any of us could really do…unless you brought like, a sledge hammer and went for the walls? But that’s just…not safe to do and I don’t think you’d put yourself in danger of like, a building collapsing just to cause destruction…”
Mechelen wrinkled her nose at the thought and looked him over again. Thinking. “That would be like, very Joker to do, but you don’t have Joker vibes, so I think it’s safe to invite you up there.”
The thought of bugs though, that had her pausing and she shook her head slowly. “I don’t think you’d…want to mess up the ecosystem? Honestly, I had thought about like, bringing plants up but a friend of mine mentioned that it wasn’t the best idea for like…you know, one pest could wipe out everything when introduced to a new…place to live? That didn’t come out right, but I hope you understand what I was trying to say. Anyway, I really like meeting new people, and I’ve never met a Ganymede Knight before, so…this is just super neat for me, and I hope that we can be friends!”
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Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2024 6:38 pm
It still felt like a trap to him. Maybe he was just too on edge at the moment to accept that someone had a bubbly personality, but he found the more forcefully cheerful someone was, the less he could trust them.
“Yeah sure,” he said, if only to appease her. Did he think they could be friends? Who knew. Maybe he just wasn’t used to her enthusiasm. Maybe he was just tired. He felt like he needed a break from all of this.
And his jaw ached. He couldn’t tell if it was because he’d been clenching it shut, though.
“Well… it’s getting late and I was on my way--…” he paused to gesture broadly in the direction he’d been walking. “Good luck with your bugs.”
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Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2024 7:20 pm
Mechelen nodded and gave a small smile. “Stay safe. If you ever need backup, don’t hesitate to write to me, if you need extra help. I have…interesting magic, and am always willing to lend a hand!”
She would write to him at some point…one of these days she would write some letters to all of the friends she had made so far. It…sounded fun, and maybe she could get some glitter pens to do so. Might be fun.
“See you around, Reims!”
Giving a slight wave, Mechelen turned and went back the way she had come, happy to have gone out tonight. Flowers or no flowers.
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