|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon May 05, 2025 7:50 pm
Aruna had been patrolling more, after the battle with the Calamitous Hollow. She had been hyper vigilant and had been working hard. So when she came across a familiar face, "conflicted" was easily how her feelings could be summed up. She had met Nagyagite twice before under poor circumstances, once with him going so far as to pull her starseed, and had shared a battlefield with him against the Hollow without knowing it until she had turned and saw him vaporized. So to see him now, part of her wanted to attack on instinct and out of habit, but the greater part of her wanted to talk with him, to maybe get answers.
She approached slowly, lifting her hands in a gesture of good will to show she wasn't there to fight. "I'm glad to see you made it back to earth safely." Her voice carried to him easily and she gave him a small smile, hoping he didn't immediately attack, though if he did, she wouldn't fault him for it.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 05, 2025 8:33 pm
Nagyagite was not exactly pleased to be...run into, as it were. He'd have been happier never seeing this particular Senshi again, all things considered, because he did not want to think back to his nasty little breakdown over pulling her starseed.
Ideally, he'd like that night to disappear into the abyss of memory. Alas, here she was, and he would have to at least acknowledge her.
"Yeah. Glad you're alive too. Would have been kind of a waste otherwise."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 05, 2025 8:38 pm
A hollow laugh escaped her, making her sound tired and empty. "Yeah. My....friends and family are too. I.....saw you there, at the battle. Right before.... y'know." Because how did someone casually say "right before you were vaporized by a giant evil space snake" anyways? "Can we.....talk? Just as two magical people rather than enemies?" She knew it sounded a bit insane, but her decisions lately hadn't been the most sound, and if anyone asked, she could just chalk it up to yet another bad choice.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 05, 2025 8:47 pm
"Oh." Oh, she didn't want to like...talk about that, did she? Nagyagite hadn't even really told Simon about the whole "I died for a minute and definitely stared into the actual literal abyss" thing. "Yeah, well. I'm fine. So don't worry about it."
If he was flat, she'd go away.
"But sure. We can talk. Why?" Better to satisfy her curiosity and be done with it. And it wasn't like he had to answer any questions she asked. At worst, it'd be a few minutes out of his night,. and if he got tired, he could probably make her go away.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 05, 2025 8:55 pm
Aruna gave a small smile but kept her distance, both out of knowing there was mutual physical discomfort caused by their opposite factions, and out of respect for his clear distaste for company. "I....wanted to say thank you properly for....y'know.....not ending my life. And....wanted to ask you why?"She looked up at him then, pale eyes made paler by the dark shadows beneath them, searching his face for anything that might answer her question. "I... Just want to understand, I suppose. And...I was shitty for attacking you off guard, so I want to apologize for that as well." She sounded tired beyond what someone so young should feel, but she seemed honest in her apology and inquiry.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 05, 2025 9:21 pm
Ugh. Of course she wanted to ask. Nagyagite wasn't exactly feeling like being open, so he just shrugged.
"Because I felt like it," he said. "Killing you for being monumentally annoying would have been a waste."
Hopefully that would do. She didn't need to know he was having a crisis. Didn't need to know that he was thinking of leaving.
"And also, you weren't shitty, you were ******** smart. I can teleport. I spit venom. I've got a couple other surprises up my sleeve. Don't apologize for treating a foe like a foe, or you're going to get yourself killed. Which would be no skin off my nose, but seems like something you ought to give a ******** about."
Honestly. Ridiculous.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 05, 2025 9:29 pm
"I.....feel like it's more than that, but I won't push. Whatever the reason, I'm thankful for it." She shrugged a shoulder and offered a tiny smile. Even if her bullshit meter was absolutely screaming, she doubted he would appreciate her prying too hard. "Enemy or not, there's still something to be said about integrity. And ...I haven't exactly had a lot of that lately, I don't think. So I do feel like I should apologize, because it was underhanded of me. And.....you aren't the only one I've done it to." Guilt briefly flashed across her face as she thought of Ako and the agent Fang had saved her from. It was really becoming quite the nasty little habit of hers. "I.....know it's not like we're gonna be friends or anything, but...I really am relieved that you're okay. Y'know. Physically speaking." Because God knows, it would be a miracle if anyone had walked away from that battle mentally okay.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 05, 2025 10:15 pm
"You can feel however you want," Nagyagite said, "but I don't feel obligated to spill my guts to you just because you have big sad eyes." Honestly, what did she expect from him? Some kind of absolution? A feel-good story? Either way, Nagyagite wasn't exactly interested in giving it to her. He was not going to be someone's happy little inspirational piece.
"And if you want to give up a tactical advantage because it makes you feel icky inside, you can do that, but I'm going to tell you that I think it's a stupid idea." Because it was. Factually. If she wanted to be all full of honor and integrity, that was good for her, but it was probably going to be a massive waste of her life. Oh well, that was her problem.
He pushed a hand through his hair, and shrugged his shoulders again.
"You're right. We're not friends. But it would have sucked to put your starseed back and have you wind up dead anyway, so that's something for me." Not much of something, but something. "And I was only out for a little bit, anyway." And he'd walked away from all of it with a big dramatic scar on his back, but that was details.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
