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Post by Myrleia of Bithynia on Aug 2, 2014 22:32:36 GMT -5
They day was going by so peacefully. Mya’s room was lacking most decorative objects that her sisters tended to horde. Once they got to school, a good bit of them started… ‘collecting.’ For some it was clothes, others it was little trinkets, and some even had little reminders of missions. Regardless of what the objects were and who had them, Mya felt no need for any such thing. If it was in her possession, she would have to figure out something to do with it. So what was found in her room was simply a simple bed and a dresser. That’s it. No little make-up containers, no clothes lying around, no little knickknacks. It was perfect and wonderful. It just added to the fact that she was doing absolutely nothing and loving it. For hours, she had herself sprawled out on the bed. Back against the covered mattress, hands behind her head, right leg fully extended while her left bent ever so slightly at the knee. Her thoughts consumed her, much as they normally did. The off-white of the room held no stories of those that lived in the room past, the pale blue carpeting became a reminder of the island. This was not how she had imagined her being gone from that place. She thought she would have more freedom. More time to do and be nothing. It was just as bad here though. Expectations and forcing her to do things. And speak of the devil… a small girl entered her room. One of her sisters had just entered the room, causing Mya to look at her from the corner of her eye. She wasn’t about to shift her head to look at the girl but she could move her eyes to watch her. Mostly, she wondered what was going to happen now. Any time someone came into her room, they wanted her to do something. It’s not like it was hard to track her down, she never really moved. This particular sister was small. It must have been the genes of her father, for her mother was a formidable woman. Not built as large as Mya and her mother, but still pretty strong and big looking, not to mention hot tempered. This midget fire-cracker held her mother’s spirit in a concentrated body. Dark hair and tan skin, she was wearing… a bathing suit. That wasn’t too bad. Last time she came a-calling she had her partner drag Mya off to the pool with them. Wasn’t a bad experience, the guy basically just dropped her down on one of the pool chairs and let her be. Was a different environment to be in, but the nap had been lovely. However, the neon bikini clad child did not seem pleased. Her partner was also in tow, just as Mya imagined he’d be. The two walked towards the bed, her sister basically stomping with fury and the male hesitant behind. Gaze shifting to him, Mya remembered him. His clothes were different than the last time she saw him…. He wasn’t dressed to swim, but in jeans and a white polo. Blonde guy. Nice looking. And BIG. Not that she had stood next to him, but she could only assume that he was taller than her. Seemed like a nice enough guy, though he was probably controlled on all grounds by her little sister. “MYA!”The child snapped, anger evident in her voice. Lazily, Mya shifted her attention back to the girl. Knowing that was all she was going to get, the girl went on. << You’re coming swimming with us. >> Then the child waved her hand towards Mya, motioning for her partner, and scurried from the room. Only when she got out of the room did a smile cross her face. Mya wasn’t dressed for swimming… not that it really mattered she guessed, but why couldn’t they just leave her be? Yellow shorts and a white button up shirt that still had a few buttons undone at the bottom, lazy as always, not to mention the lack of shoes. But, now Mya’s attention was back to the male, but only for a moment. While she didn’t take the effort to shrug, she did roll her eyes and turn her gaze the opposite way of him. She was going to be picked up again. Not a huge loss, she was never really embarrassed by it, but it still meant she was going somewhere else that she’d rather not be. Flung over a huge boy’s shoulder, huge even by her standards, she was taken from her lovely house. Closing her eyes for the journey, she let her thoughts swim in her own head. Looking…. made thinking all that more difficult. Everything reminded her too much of everything. It seemed like no time at all for them to get to the pool. Mya might not even have realized they were there except for the sound of splashing water. Opening her eyes, she found herself somewhat above the water, still flung over a shoulder, but she could kinda see the water from the corner of her eye. Her sister had jumped in the water and was just surfacing. Wait…. why could she see that? She hadn’t been able to see that much of the pool just a half second before. It was movement. Had…. he just tossed her? Sure enough, for a fleeting moment, Mya could see the blonde boy clear as day in front of her as she descended. The chill of the water was felt before the sound of her hitting it, her mind was just catching up. But, even in catching up, the water enveloping her was taking her somewhere quite different. -- Bithynia. It always came back to the island and the water. She was young then and it had been exactly in the middle of April. Mom hadn’t gotten up yet, but one of Mya’s sisters had gotten her out of bed. Gryne. A nasty young thing, dark skin, dark hair, dark eyes, and a sinister look always about her. Mya hadn’t realized her ill intent then, she was too young. Gryne had told her that she would be able to avoid lessons today, that she could hide her so no one would miss her. How could Mya pass that up? No lessons and no moving? Hiding would be perfect. So as much as she hated moving, this would save her from a day of torment. So off the two ran, towards the cliffs of Bithynia. Quite out of breath by the time they got there, Mya looked to the stronger of them. Gryne was fine, grinning ear to ear and moving towards the edge of the cliff. << You have to be here. It’s in just the right spot that no one can see you when coming up the hill. >> Hurriedly, Mya moved to take the spot that Gryne had so wonderfully found for her. And no sooner had she taken the spot just at the edge, she felt two hands meet her back. She looked back, her right arm shooting out to grab ahold of her sister. But her hand met air, her eyes seeing a retreating Gryne. Then, after a few fateful seconds, water. It surrounded her. She couldn’t swim. She had been ‘taught’ but she never paid attention. Someone must have been looking down on her when she missed those rocks as well… Fear gripped her, a cold she didn’t understand. A choking and sinking feeling as her body was swept in a current and dragged beneath the waters. The cold waters… she could still feel them. -- And that’s when her eyes widened. The chlorine stung her eyes, by then Mya had indeed sunk down to the bottom of the deep end of the pool. Her ears ached a bit from the pressure, her skin was cold, she cold feel the clothing sticking to her skin. Yet she still didn’t move. Even as the pressure from her lungs increased, the physical pain beginning where she had no more oxygen to provide her cells, she couldn’t help but wonder… What might it be like to drown completely? Would she be alone finally?
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Post by Alex King on Aug 3, 2014 7:26:53 GMT -5
Alex was hard working. You might not expect that if you looked at his grades or had shared even a single class with him, but he was. He trained tirelessly, hours and hours each day, in preparation for when he would finally get his chance to get out there and start fighting for real. His dedication was paying off, he was getting stronger everyday and his fighting abilities were steadily improving as well; control over his soul purge was still elusive however but that was an issue he didn’t like to think about too much.
Point was he worked hard. So when he got some downtime he liked to go the complete opposite direction and do absolutely nothing; just find a place to lie down, plug in some earphones and ignore everything for a couple hours. The school pool was one of his favourite places for this, which might seem like a strange choice what with all the people, the loud noises and the expectation from people to actually be active there. But it was one of the few places where lounging around in public was socially acceptable, he could drown out all the sounds if he turned up the volume a little bit and the one advantage of not really knowing anyone at the school yet was that no-one really bothered him.
Even if they did, he wouldn’t budge. Once he had properly settled in there were few things that could make him move before he was ready; fire, an earthquake, tornadoes, his father. He was in that state now, lying with his hands behind his head on a sun lounger near the pools edge. He was wearing a white tank top and dark blue shorts, no shoes, in order to give the impression that getting in the water later was a possibility.
His ear phones were turned down enough that he could still hear the activity of the pool; the shouting, the splashing, and the laughing. He opened his eyes a crack, shading them with his hand, at one particular noise; heavy thudding footsteps walked past his spot and he opened his eyes just in time to see a huge guy, tall even by Alex’s standards, walk past while carrying a bored looking girl over his shoulder.
That was… intriguing.
He raised his head to follow them with his eyes. The guy carrying the girl made it to the waters edge and proceeded to toss the girl one handed into the pool with a splash. That wasn’t too unusual to be honest, at least not here; put lots of kids, some of them very strong, around a pool and you were bound to get this kind of horseplay. Something about the situation seemed off to Alex though and he kept watching; the guy didn’t look like he was being playful and neither did the girl, not to mention that neither of them was exactly dressed to swim.
Seconds passed and the girl hadn’t resurfaced. Alex removed the earphones and sat up fully. Still no sign of the girl and was that his imagination or were those air bubbles rising to the surface?
Damn it.
Alex was off the lounger and at the edge of the pool in a second. He looked down through the clear water and could see the girl lying completely still on the bottom. That was all he needed to see and he jumped feet first into the water, flipping himself over so he was pointing down and began to swim to the bottom. The girl still hadn’t moved by the time he had reached her and he began to wonder if she had hit her head on the way down or something.
Now that he was this close he could see that she was almost as tall as he was and probably about as heavy too. This was a problem because while Alex could swim he wasn’t exactly a lifeguard; he doubted he could carry himself and this girl to the surface unassisted.
He reached down and took a hold of the girl’s shoulders, shaking her to try and wake her up. The chlorine stung his eyes and his nostrils and fire burned in his lungs; where was everyone else all of a sudden, why wasn’t anyone else helping? Speaking of the damn lifeguard where was he?
He shook the girl some more, trying to get a response. Her eyes were open this whole time so why wasn’t she trying to swim back to the surface? Even if she couldn’t swim she should be struggling at least.
Come on you stupid girl, get up off your ass and help me before we both drown.
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Post by Myrleia of Bithynia on Aug 4, 2014 15:48:54 GMT -5
Consciousness slowly absorbing back into the reality of now, senses attuning to things around her one by one, her vision settled on a form coming nearer to her. She wasn’t quite sure if it was the water or her mind catching up, but everything seemed to go in slow motion… This male she didn’t recognize was swimming closer to her and he looked worried. By now, the surprise had long left her own expression, the realization that she was still in the pool was long gone. The bored blankness settled onto her face, unconcerned even with the possibility of drowning. Well… it seemed she was unconcerned. But the burning in her lungs and body was starting to get annoying.
This newcomer wasn’t much helpful either. She had learned that drowning was not going to come easy. It was a painful experience and it also brought this man she didn’t even know to her. So much for being alone. But, he didn’t stop with just being there, and he didn’t even help her out of the water! This brown-haired lad had gripped her shoulders and shook her. Well wonderful. If she didn’t feel like she hadn’t gotten far enough from home already, she needed to be reminded of everyone shaking her and thinking that would motivate her or something. Even her mother. What was the obsession with shaking people?
Even through her annoyance, she showed no real response. Sure, her eyes were on him, but it didn’t much matter. She wasn’t going to stop him from shaking her and she still hadn’t yet decided if she was going to try and resurface. The reasoning for that indecision soon showed itself.
Antianeira. The small child in a neon bikini had soon appeared at Alex’s side. While she paid the man no mind, the fury written across her face was beyond obvious. Oh the rage of that girl’s blood… Like mother like daughter. Beautiful women, but oh so angry. Mya watched the girl, no longer keeping her attention on the one who held her shoulders. Antianeira swiftly pointed upwards towards the surface of the pool. Following her own motion and swimming upwards.
Black danced across Mya’s vision by now, pressure becoming nearly unbearable. Then she moved. First her arm. A quick motion. Her right hand shot up, taking Alex’s wrist that was on her right shoulder. Her eyes were on him again, black clouding out some of his face. Tugging lightly at his wrist, she hoped he’d cease with any further want of shaking her and possibly let go. Then her body position shifted next. These movements were a tad slower than the grabbing one, her body feeling somewhat sore or pressurized… Pulling her legs beneath her, settling her feet on the bottom of the pool, and then she kicked off. Swimming towards the surface. It wasn’t so deep that a quick surface would cause any real damage, but the length of time under water had been considerable. During the quick swim from bottom to top, she couldn’t help but take a breath. Some water entered her lungs, a mistake that she couldn’t help, but she repressed the urge to cough for now.
No sooner had she come to the surface did she feel more hands on her. Was she going to get shaken again? Because she certainly hoped not. Antianeira was already out of the water and standing at the edge of the pool, her larger partner was the ones with his hands on her shoulders. Pulled from the pool of water, she immediately began coughing. Getting the water from her lungs was first priority, it was a bit painful and bothersome. After that, she figured she might as well see what position she was in now…
At the side of the pool. Soaking wet, her legs still somewhat dangled in the water as her knees bent over the edge. Her lower back pressed just barely against the ground while her torso twisted to her left side where she made sure she didn’t cough up water over her already drenched self. When… had she let go of that other kid’s wrist? Halfway up her ascent. She remembered. When she sucked in water. That was it.
Eyes darting around, it seemed a few more people had caught onto the situation. Oh they should just go back to messing around. This was done and useless. No worry was even necessary. Antianeira was in front of her. The small girl’s feet just about a foot away from Mya’s face. But she wasn’t looking to her yet, she could tap her foot angrily all she wanted. Straightening out her back so her legs still dangled in the water but she leaned back and let her back settle fully against the ground. Antianeira’s partner was a few feet away on the right, hair all screwed up from running his hands through it, fear and worry written everywhere in his posture and expression. Poor sucker.
A light smile traced along the girl’s lips at the very thought. Nice guy, but oh so emotional and nervous. Speaking of guys…. where was the brown-haired lad? While he wasn’t important enough for her to lift herself back up and locate, she did indeed look for him. This was all so much better to pay attention to then the very loud and angry words of Antianeira.
<<Myrleia! You lazy and stupid bitch. You know I would have been in trouble for killing you!>>
Still Mya had not decided to look to her sister. While she heard her words, she just didn’t feel like seeing the fury of the dwarves. Shifting her hands behind her head, Mya might as well have been settling in for hours.
<< But I’m not dead, Antianeira.>>
The greek spilled lazily from her mouth. She was unconcerned and bored with that. Drowning was painful and someone always had to be around to make sure it was annoying. The silence that followed that did not bother Mya. In fact, she hoped that her sister was done scolding and went back to swimming. But if she knew anything about the angry dwarves, this was just the beginning.
By now, Antianeira had made it her mission to find Alex. While she hadn’t paid much attention to him before when he was shaking Mya, she had known he was there. Now she was finding him. The fiery little girl never took no for an answer. First she had to make sure he got out of the pool, once that was accomplished, the little gal meant to grab his wrist and drag him over to Mya. Directly beside her if possible.
<<This man saved my and your behinds. Tell him thank you!>>
Her words came angrily and demanding, the girl released the boy’s wrist and stood over Mya and looked down at her so she wouldn’t be avoided. Oh the fury child… And then the afterthought came.
<< English too.>> “Thank you.” >>
The hard stare was still looking down at Mya, but the taller girl had shifted her attention to Alex. More bored than anything, she wished they would have just left her in her room… Now she’d be remembering this whole stupid ordeal and adding it to her mind village… Sighing, Mya rolled her eyes and looked straight up past her sister’s face.
“Thank you.”
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Post by Alex King on Aug 6, 2014 16:26:43 GMT -5
Green eyes turning red with chlorine locked onto bright blue and Alex realised that this girl had been looking at him for a while now, focusing on him with absolute clarity in her vision. She wasn’t unconscious like he had thought, wasn’t stunned, she was just choosing not to surface. The realisation shocked him enough that he stopped shaking the girl’s shoulders; there was no use anyway, not if she was already awake.
Alex was aware of another presence in the pool with them, the neon glow in the corner of his vision directing his gaze to a small girl floating next to him. The look of absolute fury in her eyes seemed out of place given the situation. Why was she mad and not concerned? What exactly was this situation he had gotten himself into?
The girl pointed upwards, a harsh stabbing gesture with her hand, before following her own direction and swimming to the surface. Alex watched her go, confusion making him momentarily forget his current predicament or the girl he still held. A sudden, strong grip on his wrist took him by surprise and he nearly swallowed a mouthful or water as he head spun back to the drowning girl with the bright blue eyes; she was squatting on the bottom of the pool now, legs beneath her, and as he watched she kicked off from the tile.
With her hand still around his wrist he got pulled along for the ride, though she soon let go so that she could swim the rest of the way and freeing his own arm to do the same. Alex made it to the surface second, ignoring the crowd around the edge of the pool, silently accepting their help as they pulled him from the water and trying not to dwell on the fact that there was a bigger crowd gathering to help the girl than himself.
He let someone drag him halfway out of the pool before waving them away, rolling over onto his back and breathing heavily. He flopped one arm over his face to block out the sun and focused on recovering his strength; air had never seemed so precious and swimming had never seemed so tiring. His lungs still burned from the strain, as did his arms and legs, and he felt drained of energy beyond belief.
He should probably check on the girl and make sure she was ok, but he couldn’t quite muster the effort right now to sit up and look for her. He could hear shouting nearby, in a language he didn’t comprehend, followed by slower words spoken in a tired voice. He blocked it out.
Far, far too soon he felt himself being moved. Another hand gripping his wrist, smaller fingers this time, wrapping around his arm tightly and dragging him to his feet. He opened his eyes to see more neon and realised he was being dragged by the angry girl from the pool towards a semi-large gathering of people. Despite about a foot difference in height and maybe fifty pounds in weight between them Alex didn’t consider fighting back or questioning what was going on; he just let himself be led.
The little girl pushed her way through with surprising authority and Alex found himself standing next to the prone form of the drowning girl. Those blue eyes found his again and Alex stared back as the neon girl began talking in that other language again. There was no expression on the drowning girls face, no gratitude or relief or annoyance; he had no idea what she was thinking or if she was even thinking at all.
All of a sudden the girl rolled her eyes and sighed, the first real sign of life beyond movement he had seen from her.
“Thank you.”
The words were said like they were being read verbatim off of a cue card, with a lack of sincerity. Even so they broke whatever spell Alex was under and allowed him to look away from the girl’s face.
“Great. Good. Glad you’re ok.” He turned on the other girl now, slight anger born from confusion shaping his expression. “Mind telling me what’s going on here?”
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Post by Myrleia of Bithynia on Aug 7, 2014 13:46:52 GMT -5
Antianeira had indeed found Alex. He seemed to be in a similar situation as Myrleia. Lying on the side of the pool, looking drained of energy, people gathering around him. But the short girl didn’t hesitate for a moment. She wasn’t going to make her sister apologize for making this man’s life all that much worse, even if she wasn’t helping him in the process!
He made no motion to fight against her, the little one half dragging him across to Myrleia and parting the people on her way. If Mya had been watching, it would have been quite a sight. Then again, Antianeira had a way of getting what she wished. By her sister’s side again in no time, she released the male and took a side glance to her own partner. Folding her arms with a huffed expression, she awaited Myrleia’s apology.
If it was at all possible, Mya thought she saw her sister grow angrier after she spoke ‘thank you.’ Did Antianeira really have to get this way? She had done what the child wanted, did she really expect anything more than the absolute minimum? These sisters of her had to get on board, or they would find themselves severely disappointed. Rather than bite some remark at her, Mya was surprised to see Antianeira turn her attention to the crowds of people. Mya had done her best to ignore them, but the angry child was now ‘speaking’ to them.
“See! They’re both fine! Now GIT!” << Useless, nosey pests…>>
The words deterred some people, those less interested in what was actually going on and others who just wanted to make sure everyone was all right. Yet, there were always those few who liked to dwell where anger and activity stayed. Annoying twerps. While Mya’s attention was mostly skyward, she tried to make her thoughts drift but kept getting brought back by her sister and this stranger. Wait… Why was he still here?
The last she had paid attention, he had spoken back to her. It was about as involved as she had been, dismissing her as she had dismissed him. Mya had thought that he had at least understood that it was done. So…. why was he turning such anger towards Antianeira? Bothersome…. Now the angry dwarf would take more fury out on her later.
Instead of focusing on her sister, she looked to the male. Pretty tall, fit, drenched like her (though she certainly beat him in the wet t-shirt contest), and quite expressive with the face. He wanted to know what was going on. Oh great. Explanations and whatnot. With her sister at the wheel, who knew what would come next. She kept her attention on the guy though, it didn’t take a genius to know that Antianeira’s face would brighten up like a tomato, lips in a straight line, and fire basically coming from her eyes.
“I said git.”
The girl snapped, her voice low like a growl.
“You were thanked and should no longer concern yourself with the sister weapons of Bithynia. Unless of course you think you’re wor---”
The short girl looked like she might go on, her mouth open to continue, but a large hand settled on the girl’s shoulder. Her partner. The large man who never seemed to stop looking uncomfortable. The silence brought Mya’s attention back to her sister and off Alex, just to see what had changed the course of fury.
“You should keep swimming. I’ll change and be back in a short while.”
Compared to the fiery girl, he was surprisingly calm and soft spoken. Albeit nervous. He almost looked like he would start shaking and turn into a puddle of mush. However, he didn’t lift a hand from the girl’s shoulder until she nodded with a huff. Sending one last glare in Alex’s direction, her words were spat out again.
“Thank you again.”
Then Antianeira’s eyes settled on Mya. The fire reignited, but she made no sudden moves as she might attack.
“You better go lay in one of the chairs or something. Otherwise someone might STEP on you.”
At the word ‘step’ Antianeira went to step over Myrleia in order to head towards the pool, in the process she purposefully kicked her sister’s shoulder. Of course her sister had to speak in English instead of Greek… She was that mad. Sighing, Mya weakly tried to comprehend the words. If she waited long enough, she would be able to find all the meanings somewhere in her mind village… Oh screw it. If she really cared, she’d come back and make her do whatever she wanted.
Sadly, Mya realized she should move. With all these people here, she was right in the way, Antianeira had showed her that by kicking her. Bored expression glancing once around, her eyes settled on the brown haired boy once again, though only for a second. He should go do what he had been doing too.
Then, slowly, Mya stood. First shifting her arms to lift her torso from the ground and be more in a sitting position. Her legs still hung over the side of the pool, water cooling her legs and bare feet. Tapping her fingers against the edge, gaze dancing over the water, she wondered if she might just sit here for a bit. It was a lot less moving.
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Post by Alex King on Aug 20, 2014 17:38:20 GMT -5
Well, this girl was certainly a bundle of sunshine and rainbows. Was she always this angry? The amount of rage contained in such a tiny vessel caught Alex by surprise. The fire in her eyes and the daggers in her voice would have been enough to send most people running for cover, Alex included, despite her size. However, the fire stinging his own eyes and the gravel currently scratching its way down his throat made him just annoyed enough to stubbornly stand his ground.
Apparently now that his job as lifeguard was done he was expected to just be shooed away like everyone else; tough, he wanted an explanation for why that girl was thrown into the pool to begin with. And another for why she seemed so content to just lay there with water slowly filling her lungs until this miniature hell-beast came down to get her.
He looked back at the soaking wet girl on the ground and was surprised to notice she was looking back at him. Aside from moving her eyes every now and then this girl didn’t seem to move much at all. For a moment their eyes met, but there was no reaction or act of recognition from the girl. The only time he had seen her move at all was when shorty told her to, even when drowning, and she had only spoken when prompted; he was started to think that there was something wrong with her.
Alex’s attention was dragged back when the big guy he had seen earlier stepped forward and laid a calming hand on the much smaller girl’s shoulder. His voice was surprisingly quiet and gentle and his expression was one or nervousness and concern; his presence seemed to at least marginally calm the girl, or at least enabled her to bottle her anger for later use.
She thanked him and seemed to consider their interaction over; Alex didn’t stop her from leaving, he didn’t get the feeling that anything more productive would come from pushing her further. As she left she paused to give the girl on the ground some harshly worded advice, which she punctuated by planting her foot on her shoulder; that seemed uncalled for to Alex and he frowned as she disappeared into what remained of the crowd. She was small, young and wearing the most garishly coloured swimwear he had ever seen, but that girl had some steel to her that you wouldn’t expect from looking at her. Alex really hoped he didn’t end up on her bad side some day.
With her and her partner gone it was only him and the would-be drowning victim left. He could have walked away at this point, should have just called it a day and went back to his lounging; the girl was fine, he was fine, anything that wanted saying was said. Most importantly these girls and what went on between them wasn’t any of his business.
Despite all that he stayed. Some mixture of curiosity and concern made him stick around. While he thought about this, slowly, almost so slowly as to avoid his notice the girl on the ground actually managed to take him by surprise by sitting up. As her first independent action it still wasn’t much, but it was still only the second sign of activity he had seen from her. He watched her as she sat with her legs in the pool, seemingly content to just stay that way, her fingers rapping a steady beat on the edge of the pool.
He probably shouldn’t have been staring at her so much. It wasn’t polite and he was probably coming across as a bit weird, but if any of this bothered the girl she didn’t and most likely wouldn’t show it. He couldn’t help himself; most of what he was feeling right now, his curiosity and concern, was centred around her. He looked at the way her long hair hung damp around her shoulder, the way her soaked clothing clung to her back, the way she didn’t seem to be too bothered by this.
Something the smaller girl had said stuck in his head, something about them being the ‘sister weapons of Bithynia’. Looking at the girls face, her hair and eyes, he couldn’t see much resemblance aside from skin tone and hair colour; maybe they had a shared heritage, possibly they were cousins, but certainly not sisters. As for Bithynia he had no idea who, what or where that was. The only words that made sense to him were ‘weapons’ and ‘of’.
He had a lot of questions he wanted answering and it seemed like this girl was the only chance he had for answers. She had his attention, now he was trying to work out how to get hers.
As always when confronted with a problem without an immediate solution, Alex opted for the direct approach and simply spoke his mind.
“Why didn’t you swim up sooner?”
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Post by Myrleia of Bithynia on Aug 26, 2014 12:37:07 GMT -5
Antianeira off to the pool. Her partner off to another place. This left Mya alone.
Wait. Nope. That wasn’t true. Even though she had chosen not to focus on him, the male from earlier was still there. When she had been at the bottom of the pool, surrounded by water, he had been annoyingly shaking her. The one who brought Antianeira and her fury. It was hard to ignore him when he was still standing there though. What was the point in that? She wasn’t submerged in water now, her sister wasn’t around. Mya was certain that she would be of little interest. It’s not like she did anything, not to mention anything interesting. But here he was.
And then he was speaking. Wonderful. Speaking wasn’t such a bad thing. Talking was one of those things that she actually didn’t mind most of the time. Stupid questions, maybe, but it didn’t require too much effort and was a distraction from her thoughts. However, this attitude was just for the Greek language. Alex spoke in English. That was most definitely more effort. More mental than physical, but still effort. Could what he said really be that important that she should try to translate?
Running his words repeatedly in her mind, she turned her head slowly towards him. Not so much lethargic as reluctant. Taking her eyes off the water meant that she had to be sucked into the social world. Why didn’t you swim up sooner? It still wasn’t locking in. Gaze focused on his face for a moment, her own expression was fairly blank. She was thinking, trying to figure out what he had said. Fingers still tapping against the pool’s edge, the female eventually closed her eyes. Venture through her mind and soul, open the correct connections. Translate English to Greek.
Why
Looking and searching through the little home devoted to language proved too vast and difficult. Why wasn’t readily available, so she left that word be.
didn’t
That barely sounded familiar…. sort of. Maybe. But not enough to go searching through all the nooks and crannies that was her language home.
you
That was right there in front of her. Along with names and identification. ‘You’ referred to Mya. Well… when he was speaking it.
swim
Opening a door for swim took her to another house altogether. Back to memories and away from languages.
--
Held by the shoulders, large hands on a small child. The skin tone of the older woman and the child were the same. The child, Mya, was dripping wet and shaking. The movement partially came from fear and partially from the woman shifting her balance off by going back and forth.
Her mother…
<<What reason did you have for not swimming?>>
The words were a mix of her being frantic and angry. Tense words, jaw somewhat clenched. Her mother wasn’t the only one present. Other children, other women… Not the whole village, but a small crowd. From what she remembered, there were eight. Five kids, two adults, and her mom. Nine if she included herself. She never answered that question though, let her silence prod at her mother’s anger. It wasn’t purposeful in angering her, but she preferred that choice over telling them she couldn’t swim. That just meant that she would have to learn.
Learn to swim.
--
Opening her eyes, she found herself looking at the male once again. That’s right… He had spoken. Mya swim.
<< I choose not to do a lot of things. Sometimes it is merely a delay, other times it is nothing at all.>>
There was that Greek pouring from her mouth. She seemed unconcerned and serious. Mya realized he might not understand her. But translating back was too tiresome. One word brought back details from the past. Translating whole sentences and searching through her mind village again? That would have to be a ‘no thanks’ on her part.
In the time it had taken her to find some sort of meaning from his words, Antianeira’s partner had come back. It appeared her normally had a sort of out of place kind of look on his face. Right hand rubbing at the back of his head like he might be embarrassed, his apparel was slightly different. No longer casual day clothes, he wore swimming trunks with lacking clothing covering his torso. While his partner wore neon pink, it seemed she may have a say in his clothing choices. The male had on the brightest neon green one should ever have to suffer through, with just a bit of black along seams.
“From what Antianeria has told me, Myrleia doesn’t converse well. I could get my partner… If you would like? She’s a bit of a spitfire, but she would probably translate for a little bit….
As the guy spoke, his voice only seemed to get quieter and quieter while his face got redder and redder. While his partner might be ready to take the girl by storm, he looked like he might melt into the ground. Even as he was finishing his suggestion, he was taking very small steps in moving away from both Mya and Alex. An odd mix of wanting to disappear but also assist.
Mya…. seemed unaffected by his presence once she knew he wasn’t addressing her. For the most part, she had kept a somewhat unfocused gaze on Alex.
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Post by Alex King on Sept 12, 2014 19:31:39 GMT -5
The girl didn’t turn to face him right away when he spoke, continuing to stare into the pool like the slowly rippling waters were fascinating to her. At first Alex thought maybe she hadn’t heard him or realised he was speaking to her and was about to repeat himself when she finally turned in his direction.
Her movements always seemed so slow, the languorous way she twisted around to look at him was like watching somebody react in slow motion. She didn’t respond immediately, the slow tapping on the edge of the pool the only sound between them, and eventually she closed her eyes.
Alex wasn’t sure what to make of that. She hadn’t turned away from him, just closed her eyes, so he didn’t get the feeling she was ignoring him; maybe she was just taking her time like she seemed to do with all things? Whatever the case, Alex felt too awkward standing her to just walk away, so he stood his ground and waited. But then her eyes stayed closed, and stayed, and stayed, and it got a little weird after a while.
She had a look on her face like she was in an unpleasant dream and he wondered what it was she was seeing behind those eyelids. When she opened her eyes again it came as a surprise, a shock of blue appearing from behind dark lashes. Although her eyes found his again soon enough it seemed to take her a moment to focus, like she was waking up again.
When a response came it wasn’t what Alex was expecting. He couldn’t even begin to discern what language she was speaking in; Italian, Latin? It was all Greek to him whatever it was.
“Urm… sure.”
It left Alex wondering what he was going to do next. He had thought the girl could speak English, though really she had only said two words which could probably be found in any ‘X to English’ dictionary you could think to buy. Still, that other girl had spoken English to her just before she stormed off, so was that an oversight on her part or could the girl understand it but not speak it?
Whatever the case it left Alex feeling a little flummoxed. There wasn’t really much he could do if he couldn’t get a comprehendible answer out of this girl. He was starting to question why he was even bothering to stick around; maybe he should have listened earlier and not concerned himself with a situation that wasn’t his business. This girl probably wouldn’t mind if he just walked away, right?
“From what Antianeria has told me, Myrleia doesn’t converse well.” Alex jumped at the intrusion of a quiet yet sudden voice into his contemplation. Turning around he recognised the guy from earlier, the guy he assumed was the little hellion’s partner. How Alex had not seen those shorts sneaking up on him he didn’t know, not even mentioning the fact that this guy was one of the few Alex had seen that even dwarfed him in height.
“I could get my partner… If you would like? She’s a bit of a spitfire, but she would probably translate for a little bit….”
Well, that at least sort of answered his question about why the girl hadn’t responded in English; assuming ‘didn’t converse well’ meant what he thought it meant then his idea that she could understand the language but not speak it very well was probably about right.
“No, no, you don’t have to get her.” To be honest Alex was a little intimidated at the idea of that girl coming back. She was unpleasant enough earlier, how bad would she be if he dragged her back just so he could further but into something she had already told him to leave alone? Besides, if he couldn’t get any answers out of the girls then he could always ask this guy. He seemed nice enough; he might even give a straight answer.
“Just… tell me why you threw her in the pool”
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Post by Myrleia of Bithynia on Sept 13, 2014 18:03:58 GMT -5
As far as she could tell, this man didn’t understand her. While that was mildly irritating, outwardly there was no change in expression. They wouldn’t be able to communicate easily, if luck was on her side that meant that he would go away. A lot of people usually left her alone when they knew they couldn’t speak the other’s language.
Silence enveloped the two of them. She wasn’t sure exactly how this might affect him, but to her it was somewhat nice. Being with people didn’t necessarily bother her, just having to do something because there were people was the bothersome thing. Not having to say anything, not having to move, not being told to do something. These were all positive things in her book. Being with him wasn’t too bad if he kept this nothingness up.
But the silence was shattered. Antianeria’s partner had returned, the large man with a soft heart. Her eyes traveled to the male for a brief moment. But upon learning that he wasn’t trying to speak to her, she looked back to Alex as well. Would he leave now? Or would this other male keep him here? Regardless, she wasn’t going to pay attention to this conversation, she didn’t want to risk her mind trying to translate.
The blond man was hesitant sounding as always, rubbing at the back of his head like it might hide him from reality. Trying to get away and help was always a competing hope. His heart was too kind for his own good, even if he had this lingering fear of… well… everything. At Alex’s first words, the man seemed almost relieved. His shoulders had been tensed a bit, but now dropped, along with the hand that had been tangling itself in his hair.
“Oh good. Don’t let them bother yo-”
He cut himself off when he realized Alex wasn’t done with him. He had been about to walk away. Escape and join his partner before her fury struck again. When he heard the question, one could say that panic crossed his face, he may have even paled a bit. His eyes dashing frantically from Alex to Mya to searching for his partner and back to Alex, his mouth hung open slightly with a dumbstruck face.
How did he get into these situations?
Hand returning upward, he rubbed at the back of his neck now, avoiding eye contact with everyone all together now. He basically had looked like he was trying to murder someone by throwing her in the pool… That was never good.
“In the most uncomplicated way possible… you could say we were trying to get her to swim.”
An embarrassed and weak grin on the man’s face, he forced the expression, returning his gaze to Alex.
“The girls are a…. Driven bunch. Mya isn’t quite so energetic? So they often find ways to try and motivate her to be useful. Annie has often said that she’s the embarrassment of the sisters. A strong link apart from the chain? Something along those lines…”
His eyes were back off Alex, focused on his feet. He was a nervous chap.
Mya… still didn’t care. All the English just meant she shouldn’t pay attention. She would like to get home though. Bed sounded like a good idea. Maybe even dry clothes… but then she’d have to change. Oh all this energy.
Standing slowly, she made sure not to fall back into the water. One dip was enough for today. Once securely on her feet, she moved her hands behind her head, lacing her fingers together.
<< I would like to go home.>>
The words were simple and to the point, much like her expression normally was. Looking from the blond to Alex, she waited briefly for a response before she realized that both of them probably didn’t know what she was talking about.
A quick search through her chambers brought a single word. Something she often heard her sisters yelling to one another when she was around.
“Home.”
She said again, a nodding motion towards the pool exit.
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Post by Alex King on Oct 13, 2014 21:11:01 GMT -5
“In the most uncomplicated way possible… you could say we were trying to get her to swim.”
Alex let out a sigh. That was about the answer he had expected when he asked the question, but it was still disappointing to hear it. The whole sink and swim methodology of teaching had never really appealed to him, especially when the ‘sink’ part was literal.
“Yeah, that’s what I figured.”
He turned his head and looked at the pool, the surface of the sun dappled water undulating gently. What was strange was that he had said they were trying to get her to swim, not teach her, like she already knew how to swim but they were trying to make her do it for some reason. Was there a distinction or was he just reading too much into his choice of words?
“The girls are a…. Driven bunch. Mya isn’t quite so energetic? So they often find ways to try and motivate her to be useful. Annie has often said that she’s the embarrassment of the sisters. A strong link apart from the chain? Something along those lines…”
That expression didn’t make much sense to Alex, a strong link apart from the chain? Maybe if they were all non-native English speakers like this girl seemed to be then they got it wrong; did they mean she was a weak link? Or… possibly that she was strong but not really a team player? Not part of the chain? Whatever it was that they meant it seemed a little harsh to call anyone an embarrassment.
Alex turned away from the pool and looked at the girl again, who was in turn looking down at the ground this time. He seemed to be doing this a lot, just looking at her; he seemed to be devoting an awful lot of attention to a girl he really should have left alone after dragging out of the water, even if he didn’t really do any dragging. With this girl though, he didn’t seem to react to anything, he didn’t really feel awkward for looking. Even if he was caught by her it still felt more like observing than anything else; it probably helped that all she did was observe right back.
He could see her sister’s point about this girl not being very energetic though. Throwing her into a pool to apparently try and make her do something seemed unreasonable but when even that didn’t make her act immediately he could maybe start to feel a little of the frustration that they themselves must have felt. He could only begin to imagine what it would be like to try and make this girl train or go to class or go on missions.
Without warning the girl slowly rose to her feet and linked her fingers behind her head. She spoke once more in that mystery language before switching her attention between Alex and the other male as if expecting a response. Alex had no idea what she had said or what she wanted and a glance to his side showed that the other male was similarly helpless. Luckily for all involved a translation was provided, although a single enigmatic word and head gesture still gave him little to go on.
Alex twisted around once more to look in the direction the girl had nodded and saw that the exit lay in that same direction. Was this girl asking for one of them to take her home? Alex remembered the way she had been brought into the pool but surely she didn’t intend for one of them to carry her out as well?
He turned towards the other guys again, expecting him to take responsibility for her, before remembering that he had his own sister to deal with at the pool, one that probably wouldn’t react well if he just disappeared to take this girl home.
He didn’t see why she needed taking home at all, unless she didn’t know the way which could actually e quite likely given the influx of new students. If she was one of them she might not know her way yet. Where would she even live anyway, the dorms? Annoyingly that wasn’t too far out of his way and it was probably about time he left anyway; this diversion had eaten up his time and he had things to do this afternoon.
What it came down to was he didn’t have any good reason not to do this. “I can take her home.” He shrugged at the other boy. “If you’re alright with that. I just need to get my things.”
He walked away, back to where he had lain before being dragged into this situation and thankfully found his possessions unmolested and right where he had left them. Collecting them into his bag he returned to the pair and turned to the girl, trying to catch her eye before speaking. “I’m not carrying you. Lead the way.”
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Post by Myrleia of Bithynia on Oct 19, 2014 22:05:02 GMT -5
Antianeria’s partner looked no more calm than he had most of the time talking to Alex. Whether this was fear of his partner being angry he was delaying pool fun time, because he was naturally nervous, or just a hesitation from Alex’s more demanding nature in comparison to his, it might be hard to figure out. Regardless, the young man shifted weight from one foot to the other like he couldn’t wait to escape, though it only happened every minute or so, the need to get away was pretty obvious.
Alex’s reaction to why he had dropped Mya in the pool made him cringe a bit inside, a slight wince visible on his face. He didn’t speak further on it though, how could one explain the fear and love of one’s partner in addition to the complete lack of caring of her sister? It was probably less complicated than he thought, but he still didn’t want to get into a whole explanation about the girls. The short one he gave should be enough to go on for now, right?
When the other man’s attention shifted off him, the blond’s shoulders relaxed a bit. Hands back at his sides, he shuffled a few small steps away from them. It could only appear cowardly. But from over Alex’s shoulder, he had caught the firey glare of his partner. Time was dwindling fast. Alex might have only had to see her wrath for a moment, but he had to try and make a partnership with the heat of a soul. Taking a deep breath in, he gave a weak smile as he seemed to be about to speak a quick goodbye.
Then a surprising thing happened, Mya rose to her feet on her own.
Having her need expressed in Greek, looking back and forth between the two had indeed confirmed that English was needed. Though, she could have sworn that her sister’s partner looked more surprised than confused. Whatever. At the moment, she couldn’t bring herself to completely care. He would be off to her sister very soon, if she knew anything about the spitfire child.
This other male, however, he had stuck around for who knows what reason. That simple English word should be good enough for him, hopefully the other gesture too. If the blond wasn’t being too dense, he should know right away what she wanted. While her attention mostly remained on Alex, she did see a quick change in the blond’s demeanor. A mix of relief and worry all in one. It was almost amusing, something she could only guess was because of her sister. The poor guy, out of all the sisters, paired with that one.
Letting the blond fade from her attention again, Mya was intently watching Alex. He had looked towards the exit, then the other male. He got it. That kept running through her mind. She would be heading home soon and that was good enough for her.
Her gaze mostly remained on the barely known male, he spoke to the blond then walked away, leaving her sister’s partner with her. He looked more relieved now, even if he kept glancing towards the pool waters. It took barely any time for Alex to return to the two and once he was within a decent distance of them, the blond began speaking.
“That would be great. The sister’s live in a large house in the Residential District.”
A piercing yell caused a few not so pleased looks to show in the direction of the one who caused it.
“Hurry up, Galen!”
The younger sister, not looking extremely pleased but still had an odd sort of smile on her face. Waving for him to hurry and get to the pool, it seemed her patience was gone. The boy rattled off the address quickly as he began moving towards the pool, giving Alex one last thankful glance before taking the last few large steps to jump into the water.
That left Myrleia.
Blue eyes had left Alex by now, drawn by her screaming sister. Her hands still laced behind her head. Familiar words graced her ears when Galen spoke the address to her home. Inwardly she smiled, though outwardly there was no change. She would be going home very soon. Galen’s form entered the corner of her eyes before taking up much of her view then disappearing into the water of the pool. He was gone now, off to join her needy sibling. That left her carrier.
Slowly turning her attention back to him, she still took her time. While she wanted to be home, hurrying there would defeat most of the purpose. Eyes on the male, she heard unfamiliar English. Shrugging that from her thoughts, she wished she could unhear it so her mind would refuse to work at all. Attempting to distract her own self, she looked him over again. Long and thin. Not bulky, but he looked like he might have some power. Maybe. Hidden. His legs were long, as was his torso and his arms. Bordering on lanky she might say. Returning her attention to his face, she found his hair was still somewhat wet from jumping into the pool after her and that bright green eyes were focused straight on her.
Um… was she supposed to answer him or something?
While she didn’t look any different than when she had first turned her attention back to him, she wasn’t quite sure what he had said or wanted. Unlacing her fingers from behind her head, she brought her left arm easily down to her side. The right arm moved with the same relaxed motion but never found its way completely down. Held somewhat out in front of her, the girl was extending her hand to the male. It almost looked as if she wanted to shake hands, but at the very least she wanted him to take her hand.
Mimicking the words like a parrot might, Mya spoke the address to her home exactly as Galen had. She had her doubts about how they might communicate, but as long as he could get her home, she didn’t completely care. The best way for her would be if he took her hand. If he made that contact, she planned on taking her cestus form. Leather form wrapping around the hand and wrist of whatever hand he chose to take her hand with. Taking on the easy and comforting form of her weapon self, relaxing, and if he were a meister, maybe he would be pleased or something to hold a weapon of Bithynia.
But first she needed that hand.
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Post by Alex King on Oct 24, 2014 17:14:15 GMT -5
Like most of the pools residents Alex turned at the sudden screaming; he wasn’t shocked to see who was the source of the noise but he was surprised that someone so small could manage to produce such a sound. Floating in the pool the girls eyes were pure anger while the rest of her face showed a small smile; it was a disconcerting effect that brought to mind mischief and malicious thought.
By the time he realised the other boy, Galen, was leaving he had already missed most of what he had said. He managed to catch a number and part of a street name and realised he was being given the address he was supposed to now go to but the rest disappeared into the water along with their speaker, Alex’s attempt to call out drowned out by the sound of splashing water.
That left him alone with someone who wouldn’t speak English and with no idea where to go.
Speaking of his new friend…
He caught movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to face the girl, quicker than she herself turned so that by the time she was facing him he was already watching her face. Outwardly she didn’t look any different; she hadn’t reacted at all to his words or the fact he was supposed to take her home, or the sudden departure of the one person out of the two of them she was supposed to know.
He was still waiting for her to respond to what he had said, to take the lead and allow him to escort her or whatever his task was so he could go home. She just stared at him and he realised slowly that she hadn’t understood a word he had said; strange, as she had understood him earlier, but it seemed now she wasn’t even bothering to translate his words into something she could understand.
Alex was stuck and the person before him was no use; either he was going to spontaneously piece together the rest of that address, suddenly develop the information himself or the girl before him was going to realise what he had said and lead the way.
He knew which one was least likely.
As he stood there, contemplating on how the nervous guy would react if he just tried to drag Galen out of the water and make him repeat the address again, when he noticed that the girl was not completely still as he had thought. Her eyes, at least, were moving. Up, down, back up and down again; it took him a while to figure out what she was doing and when he did he was hit with a strange sense of discomfort.
She was sizing him up, part of him feeling self conscious and the rest wondering what purpose she had for doing so. She hadn’t shown an interest before now, not just in him but in anything as far as he could see, and he wondered what the sudden fascination was. Finally she looked up and her eyes met his again which seemed to prompt a response from her, as she untangled her hands from behind her head and left one hanging between them.
She spoke, not the same strange language as before but English, of a sort. It was the address again and after a moments hesitation he locked it in his mind and locked it away for safe keeping. The hand still hovered between them and instead of taking it he stared at it dumbly, the relatively normal action seeming out of place when he was interacting with this girl.
It couldn’t be that she wanted to shake his hand could it? This was hardly an introduction, it was a bit late for that and in any case she hadn’t given her name. A moment’s more consideration and another option presented itself to him. Could it… could she really be asking him to lead her by the hand?
By this point, he wasn’t really surprised and simply resigned himself to the act. He let out a sigh and reached out with his right hand to clasp around hers and began to walk away with the intention of towing her along behind him.
“Sure, let’s just get you home.”
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Post by Myrleia of Bithynia on Oct 26, 2014 14:11:26 GMT -5
Be Still.
Words she often repeated in her own mind. It kept thoughts and memories at bay if she tried hard enough. But often that was much too hard. The onslaught of past events that consistently bombarded her mind, of her sisters, mother, elders, Bithynia in general, training days, even something as simple as breakfast triggering some sort of event. The worst part was that it wasn’t finite. As life continued on, memories being relived and moments occurring in the present, she just added onto her forever growing mental archives while she experienced the past mentally.
Remember to Be Still.
Stillness like this moment, they helped. The man looking at her hadn’t really moved and didn’t speak again to make his motives more clear. After her somewhat more dedicated study of him, she easily just looked back at the male’s face. Her hand outstretched, she attempted to keep from thinking on any particular thing. Alex was new, so if anything had to be thought of, she’d focus on him. Chances were less likely she’d trigger thoughts, even if it wasn’t a substantial ‘less likely.’
Calm on the outside and the inside, Myrleia made no hint that she was going to switch position on her own. A sigh came from her companion, another to add to the list of people that didn’t want to deal with her. This didn’t cause Mya to hold any bitterness, she had grown quite accustomed to the fact that anyone who realized how she was would either leave her be or torture her. Either way, no one wanted to deal with the person she was.
The sigh was followed by movement. Her right hand securely grabbing to hers, she just barely felt the tug of the man as he moved to walk away. That contact was what she had been waiting for and needed. Walking? Please. If she could avoid it, she would. Light enveloping the weapon’s body, she took on the form of her cestus self. Leather strands wrapping themselves around Alex’s wrist, back and front of the hand, once or twice over the base of his fingers to cover the knuckles, and the leather continued much looser just barely to his elbow.
The looseness was more of her preparing. A mountain of memories attempted to crush their way to the forefront of her mind. Sisters had held other sisters before. Usually it was a punishment, to take away some of the ego of their weapon blood and pose as a meister. Either way, Mya had experienced wavelengths of her sisters, knew that it could be extremely difficult to not get thrown by the pure difference of their souls. This could even be harder, seeing as she didn’t know him.
Myrleia wanted this ‘ride’ to be as effortless as possible. That was how she was going to look at this. Regardless of what he wanted, of how he felt about her, or who he was; Mya was going to accept him. If his soul wanted to beat at her, fine. If it drew her in, fine. Alex was her route home. Her way to be still and remain who she was with as little effort as possible.
Once their wavelengths settled, if they settled, the cestus would tighten just slightly on his skin and the wraps up his forearm would be secure.
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Post by Alex King on Oct 27, 2014 17:08:27 GMT -5
He hadn’t even gone one step when the weight he was tugging behind him disappeared instantly, but strangely the feeling of holding something in his hand didn’t vanish with it. Instead he felt something wrapping around him hand like tendrils, tightening around him worryingly but stopping well before the point of pain.
It happened quickly and by the time he had reacted, jerking his hand up and turning his head to look at what was happening to him, the dark bands of material had already moulded around his palm and were now working at consuming his fingers as well. He watched as his digits were clothed to the knuckle and silver coloured stones sprouted from the back of his hand. The straps continued up his arm and stopped just below his elbow but these were much looser than the rest, whether that was meant to be the case or not he was not sure.
The girl was gone, replaced by this… glove? It was only know that he remembered she was supposed to be a weapon, all of the ‘sisters’ were apparently, but it hadn’t really clicked in his mind until right now what that meant; knowing it and seeing it, feeling it, were two different things.
And he could feel it; with her transformation came Alex’s first experience of what it felt like to feel someone else’s wavelength, to feel their presence brushing up against yours and encroaching on your personal space in the most intimate way possible. This was probably the closest two people could come to occupying the same space, when done right at least.
He could feel this girl next to him, despite her currently being nothing more than a few straps of what he presumed was leather around his hand he felt her more acutely than he did when she was standing in flesh and blood right next to him. And yet, he didn’t.
She was making no effort to do more than just brush past him and Alex didn’t know how to do more; his training had never covered this, he hadn’t expected something like this to happen so suddenly. All he could do was stand there and experience this strange moment and try to take a few tentative, experimental steps of his own in this situation he did not yet understand.
If he had to describe what her soul felt like, or rather what feeling her soul felt like, he would have to say… it was like staring out at a large and very still stretch of water. Like being on the shore and looking out at the most placid, mirror surfaced lake he had ever seen; there was the occasional movement, gentle ripples of something beneath the surface, but they were few and far between. Nonetheless he got the sense of depth, or there being much more that he could not see deep below.
He wondered at how much this image in his mind seemed to reflect both the nature of her soul and how the girl was herself, at least from his limited experience of both. He could help but be curious about what his own soul looked like to her and what impression she was getting right now, if indeed she was looking for anything at all.
Once again he felt strangely self conscious at the thought, feeling entirely laid bare to this person he barely knew. He understood now what partners needed to be not just compatible with each other, but also trust each other to be able to do this together; he didn’t think he could stand this kind of exposure for too long with somebody he did not trust.
This is the sort of thing he would need to put up with when he himself found a partner and suddenly the task seemed a lot more daunting.
All in all though, the experience was not at all horrible. Somehow he had expected his first meeting of souls to be a little more hectic or fierce, almost like a fight of identities. This however was almost peaceful; he couldn’t help but feel the stillness of this girl’s soul and feel calmed by it.
He had heard that when partners were linked like this that they were able to communicate without words, speaking soul to soul as it were with no need for something as cumbersome as speech. He wondered now if such communication was able to breach the language barrier and if it was worth trying.
Outwardly Alex’s only movements during this experience were to take a deep breath and clench his glove clad fist tightly, the leather squeaking as he pressed his fingertips hard against the covered surface of his palm. Inwardly he took the calm waters metaphor as far as he could and dipped a foot into those waters, poking at the surface of her soul with her own and waiting to see what sort of response he got.
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Post by Myrleia of Bithynia on Oct 27, 2014 18:38:51 GMT -5
The cestus tightened securely around the man’s arm with little more hesitation. Myrleia hadn’t found any part of his soul striking back at her or really any part of him behaving negatively towards her. Settling in for a ride home, this man was a nice change.
In great contrast to her sisters who had very aggressive personalities, this male was much different. She had expected a little more assertiveness from the one who had stood up to her spitfire sister and had jumped into a pool to shake Mya herself. While her first priority had been to stay out of the way of an outlashing soul and keep from being repelled, she found settling with his soul to be somewhat easy.
Alex wasn’t forcing her to do anything, wasn’t forcing his soul through her, wasn’t trying to get her to show aggression back. From what she gathered, he was a less extreme version of herself. While she could be described as one of those legendary seven sins, he was a more normalized version. Calm but not deathly so. He seemed to have a stronger cling to life, a fire for something she couldn’t quite understand. All the same, Myrleia appreciated not being pushed.
Enough focusing on his soul. They weren’t fighting against eachother, so that was good. Taking the time to focus on his physical being, she found no real change. A deep breath where she could only assume a sigh was going to follow. Then he clenched his fist. While she could not find the traces of anger, she wondered if that might mean he was testing out the weapon form.
Well that would be all fine and dandy, if he had actually been moving.
“ Home. “
The Greek speaking weapon encouraged, that simple English word that she had spoken before. Myrleia just really wanted to be home. To walk in that front doorway and collapse onto the soft, carpeted floor of the nearly colorless living room. Something she had done time and time again and would continue to do until they changed the room itself. Then she would merely collapse into the changed living room.
A shift in his soul hit her then. What exactly it meant or how she ‘felt’ it, she wouldn’t have been able to explain. Her reaction was a weaker sort of withdrawal. Withdrawing being way too strong a word. Intention always to absorb and move with, she didn’t want to press back as that took effort, but moving too far away would be too uncomfortable. Form to fit him, because she didn’t really care.
Fit like a glove.
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