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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2020 8:38:26 GMT -4
feel the light shining in the dark of the night | Toma threw on his coat and locked up his new apartment. It was a small, but nice place, easily affordable by someone being paid by the government. He probably could have stayed at the house, but he felt awkward when he was there. The small apartment was perfect for him anyway.
He rode the elevator down and replied to Elena "I'm on my way." It was a quick ride down to the parking garage to get his car but it gave him time to think. He was glad he was going to get to see Elena, other than his sad little conversation with G he hadn't spoken to any of his friends in a while. Whether that was out of a sense of protecting them from observing eyes, or personal protection, he didn't know.
Those thoughts still milled around his head as he drove to the restaurant she worked at. It was a brisk morning, the kind you get when winter is trying its damndest to fight spring for the last time. At least it was sunny, and the streets were clear of most traffic since everyone was at home watching UA's sports festival on TV or in person. That made his trip short and cut off his constant internal stream of thought.
He parked in the mostly empty parking lot of the new Italian place and strode on in like he owned the place. He was probably both over and underdressed for the occasion. He would fit in nicely with the nice restaurant in his sports coat and slack, part of his government worker cover, but it was way too uptight for hanging out with Elena.
The place was dead inside too. A few people were sitting in booths but he couldn't tell if they were employees or customers. He let one of the hosts seat him at a table before he spoke up. He wasn't here to eat so he got straight to the point.
"Hey." He gave the young waitress his signature pirates smile as she walked over to get his order. "I'm here to meet with your cook. Just go back and tell them that Toma is here." The young girl looked a little confused, but bowed and said she would go get them. "Tell her a Mr. Junji is here to see her."
TAG ■ WORD COUNT ■ ] |
MADE BY VEL OF GS |
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236 Posts
1 EP
EXP
Total
19 Years
Female
"Blue Blitz"
Watchdog-Rank Quirk:
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Post by Elena Strike on Feb 24, 2020 20:06:24 GMT -4
- I can pick good food, but I can't pick a good man -
Slow mornings were the norm for most restaurants, especially those whose big selling point was their hearty lunches and dinners. That didn't mean there was nothing for the chefs and cooks to take care of, of course. With their boss on a trip to the merry old land of England--everyone was mumbling that he was seeing a hero, or that he had a secret kid at UA, and Elena just pretended to not be listening or noticing the irony--the head chef was in charge, and he was a pretty cool guy. A fellow Spaniard and a thorn in the boss' side in the way only a friend could be. He wasn't going to let anyone slack off just because Giovanni was out of town, though. Not that Elena had anticipated that he would. As such, she was milling about the kitchen in her work clothes: a chef's coat and apron, sensible non-slip shoes, her hair tied back in a thick ponytail wrapped in netting or kept under a hat when she was working with food.
There were sauces to prepare, expiration dates to take note of, meat to move from the freezer to where they'd be for cooking purposes today, pastries to bake...it was nice having a job where she was busy and doing something that she enjoyed, and all without the torture of hosting for scummy low-life criminals in Kabukicho.
Alas, all was not a calm and happy morning. The other night Toma Junji has decided spontaneously to log back into the channel the Storm Knights were using for their inter-personal communication. Elena had been shocked. He was still a pro hero, he was no longer one of their little vigilante circle. The fact that he had waltzed right in and been cozy and, hell, even welcomed back by G was...astonishing. As much as she liked the guy because he was one of her best friends' boyfriends, he was still a hero. Just like how her current boyfriend was also a hero. Heroes and vigilantes did not get along very well. Elena wished that they did--or at least that more vigilantes were open to the idea that heroes were good guys and just them, but paid for their "work"--but it felt like she was part of the minority. So why had he come back?
She actually had no idea. It hadn't been very clear. What was clear, though, was when he singled her out in a private message asking about their mutual friends.
Ah. Right. This was why she was extra hesitant to call him her "friend". The whole "I'm dating you, and taking care of a kid with you, but nobody can know about it or know I'm gay" thing that he did to Kohaku for the entirety of their romantic history.
Toma was a nice person, but...when it came to how he treated Haku, she was of two minds. He clearly had loved the bastard but he was also more concerned with keeping up the image of, well, a straight man with a girl at home than who he really was, and no doubt the strain had finally gotten to Haku because he'd left him. Quite suddenly as well. And taken Yui with him. Elena had understood, and yet it still hurt.
She missed them. But she respected his choices.
Y estaría mintiendo si no sintiera cierto alivio de que no tengo que ser su niñera constantemente. Solo espero que estén comiendo bien. Debería llamarlo pronto...
Elena was less respectful of Toma's own, and she'd let him have it in the chatroom. It felt mean to call out somebody on being afraid to come out, because that was totally their choice to make and not hers, but forcing their partner to pretend to be a woman to keep their "image" and being paranoid to the point of ridiculousness wasn't okay. To her mild surprise Toma had agreed with her, sending her a message while she was on the train in from Tokyo early this morning. She'd considered asking him more, but decided quickly that if they were going to really get into this, it shouldn't be in text. Thus she'd sent him the address to the restaurant and waited.
A couple hours passed. Time for getting things ready, time for cooking, time for her to do her actual paying job before, lo and behold, the young new-hire waitress came bumbling into the kitchen telling her that a Mr. Junji was here for her. Elena snorted. "Antonio, el amigo que mencioné está en. Te importa si tomo treinta? Quizás más?"
--
Elena exited the kitchen, removing the netting from around her hair and letting it fluff back out into its natural shape as she crossed the floor towards where the familiar man was sitting. She flashed him a bright smile--for all things considered--and held out her arms to snap him into a hug because it had been goddamn ages since she'd seen him in person. For a moment, bygones could be bygones. And it was funny that to him her body temperature probably felt average. Heat Quirks. Hah. "To-chii, I've missed you! Look at you, Sr. pez grande~" She released him from her embrace, hands dropping to her hips as her smile turned teasing. "What, I don't get to see you in your full regalia? Shame on you. I was expecting a cape at least. Laaaaame." WC: 931, @aster, Sup you shiny bastard
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2020 9:55:17 GMT -4
feel the light shining in the dark of the night | He didn't have to wait long for her to show up and when she did he stood up, to be polite. That may or may not have been a mistake, because as soon as she got close she trapped him into a big hug. At first, he felt a little weird about it, but eventually gave in to the pleasant warmth and hugged her back.
The pleasant hug quickly turned to tease, which it always did with her, as she made fun of his job. He couldn't help but laugh for a second, a little chuckle, at the thought of wearing a cape. He'd burn that thing up to cinders in seconds.
"Capes are so last century hot-head." He motioned at the seats in the booth he had just been relaxing at as he sat down. "I'm not Wonderman or something." He got relaxed, legs crossed and hands interlocked behind his head. "The new chic is frilly lace and pink butterflies." He shot her a mocking pop star kiss and covered his eye with a peace sign.
"It really is nice to see you, Elena." He went back to relaxing and grabbed a menu to browse around the food. "It's good to see you making some money and getting more comfortable here in Japan. It can be rough for foreigners to find a place here."
TAG ■ WORD COUNT ■ NOTES |
MADE BY VEL OF GS |
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236 Posts
1 EP
EXP
Total
19 Years
Female
"Blue Blitz"
Watchdog-Rank Quirk:
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Post by Elena Strike on Feb 29, 2020 20:08:31 GMT -4
- I can pick good food, but I can't pick a good man -
Elena took her seat opposite Toma, legs tucked under the chair and her elbows on the wood--definitely not abiding to the "elbows off the table" rule but there wasn't food here yet, so whatever--propping up her chin on her knuckles. She snickered at him. "Hey, don't mock the the cutesy heroes! They're just living up to their memories of magical girl shows. At least I'd assume that's what somebody would wear something like that to beat up criminals." Elena leaned more onto one knuckle than the other for a moment, musing, amused. "Though now I'm picturing you in one of those Sailor Suit costumes. Your name is a star after all. You'd fight right in with their theme."
She grinned wider and leaned back, gesturing her arm toward the kitchen. "I know, right?? This place was a goddamn godsend for me, let me tell you. The boss can be strict but he's not a creep, just, like, a legitimately sane person?? How many of those are actually in Japan, for real. And I'm doing something I love! It's..."
Despite her wide smile, Elena trailed off for a moment, lowering her hand. Her smile dulled a little. Huh. She was having a strange moment where she wasn't sure how much she could really say. Giovanni was a good boss and this place was good for her, but she also knew it was run by an illegal immigrant. An illegal immigrant who had forged papers for himself, his people, and now her as well. Whether or not her was a villain he was still a criminal. And on top of that, there was a pit of conflict in her gut when she talked about loving this job, when she knew Toma knew what else she did.
But he was back in the Storm Knight channel. He was still her friend. If he'd wanted to turn her or G or, hell, the whole gang in then he would have already. So then this wouldn't sound...bad to him, what she was about to say, would it? Maybe he'd even relate to it. Elena sighed, lowering her arm and leaning back into her chair. "...it's honestly what I do more of these days than anything to do with the Knights. I feel bad about that. But it doesn't pay, and I've got bills and food and a life to live in. And if I could make a living doing it I would, but I still can't. It's a rough place to be in. Especially with you-know-who making me his second. I haven't gone out on the street in weeks. Not to to look for trouble or anything. Luckily it's been quiet, but..."
"...I feel like I'm becoming so boring these days. Save my love life," she scoffed and waved a hand near her face, "But even that's kept under wraps on his request." WC: 507, @aster , let me hang this lampshade right here
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2020 23:11:48 GMT -4
feel the light shining in the dark of the night | "Mhmm...." Toma peeked around and waved down one of the waitresses that were standing around the register. He gave them a nice smile and waited for them to come over. He wanted something to drink, and even though he had a can of coffee in his bag it would be rude to drink outside drinks here. "It feels like we all have to keep a bunch of secrets lately."
"We shouldn't have to though." The waitress came over and he ordered a glass of water and a black cup of coffee to go with it. "I wish we call to be more open about everything without risking our freedoms and the lives of the people we care about."
"You know." The waitress came over after a moment with his drinks, the water was ice cold and little bubbles of condensation were dripping down the side of the glass. He folded up one of the napkins at the table and set the glass down on the napkin to avoid getting the table wet. "I've been thinking about coming back to the gang...."
"In a provisional sense." He made sure to cut any weird hopes or expectations right out of the gate. He didn't want the guys to think he would quit the Hero gig. "I am still nervous about a lot of my other coworkers. I'm not the same as them. I don't trust them either."
TAG ■ WORD COUNT ■ NOTES |
MADE BY VEL OF GS |
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236 Posts
1 EP
EXP
Total
19 Years
Female
"Blue Blitz"
Watchdog-Rank Quirk:
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Post by Elena Strike on Mar 18, 2020 8:53:41 GMT -4
- I can pick good food, but I can't pick a good man -
A nasty little thought tugged at the back of her head when Toma said that. It wasn't like she wanted to keep her relationship with Mikhail a secret. Hell, on Valentine's Day she'd all but screamed into the crowd how much she loved him--she hadn't said his name, though, because it would have hurt him. At least that's what he would say. In a cruel twist of fate she'd wound up in the same position as her best friend, but at least she wasn't being told to lie about it. It was just a secret. She could tell the ones she trusted not to do something stupid (which was, unfortunately, none of the Storm Knights) and he'd told a couple of his close colleagues. It wasn't a lie.
What Toma had done to Kohaku? That was making him lie to make himself happy. Out of fear or out of worry or out of something; she didn't care because at the end of the day he'd up and left. He'd gotten out of that sham. If they were still together...
Very slowly her smile continued to recede. Not into a frown or scowl, but just into an expressionless, watchful gaze. It only flickered into a slight smile when the waitress--a new hire, a sweet girl if not a little awkward--came and went. Then back to Toma. And as he continued, he'd see that, while her expression wasn't changing, the light of the eye hidden behind her bangs was beginning to grow brighter and brighter, until it dyed the bleached white hair hiding it almost as blue as the iris itself. And she smiled.
There was nothing friendly to it. Not at all.
"...okaaaaaaay. Well. Can I just--" she raised her hands in front of her, not hiding her face but creating a little wall between the two of them atop the table, "--remind you that you, right now, are everything I want to be? You know, a hero with a paycheck and the law on your side, instead of whatever the hell I am right now? So your being all cría y borde and saying you prefer to be around the Storm Knights instead of your actual hero buddies is going to get no sympathy from me. Ni una lamida de eso."
"That bullshit about not being the same as them. Uh, yes you are! You're a hero now, remember? That little badge or license or whatever the hell they give you for passing wasn't just dropped onto your lap. You had to sign papers and do a test and, oh, right, have me get you a tail in the door via my boyfriend. My boyfriend, who you might well recall, is also a malditos dioses hero? Are you telling me that you regret me risking my relationship--hell, all of our lives in that moment--to get you an in? To dance merrily around the 'oh we're vigilantes' thing for a couple hours while we got him to vouch for you? Because if you think I'm going to let you shit what I risked and what he's said for you and, hell, all the work you've put into becoming a hero in the first place, you've got your head so far up your ass you're looking at your tonsils."
"You're a hero, big boy. A fucking hero. You know what that entailed, right? Legality. Law. You're a glorified cop with a fancy costume instead of a uniform. And you were the one who wanted this life. And I don't know what the hell's gotten into you, but I would still much, much rather be on the side of the law than risk being around a bunch of wannabe vigilantes who might snap at any second. Or did you forget that they're not so safe and sane and trustworthy either? Remember Yuri, who would go out of her way to kill villains? Or G, who, while I'm now on better terms with him--" she waved her hand back and forth dismissively, "Was and still can be totally unstable and very, very dangerous if he's not in a good headspace. He wouldn't ever become a hero if that shit keeps up. And he knows that. You know what I've never seen in the news? Heroes killing villains. Heroes killing people. Heroes having breakdowns. Why? Because I assume that screening process is worth something, as opposed to the 'ven tal como eres' attitude we kind of have to take with the Storm Knights."
Elena drew in a breath just deep enough to keep going, without giving Toma a single second to butt his way into the conversation. With each word her lips curled up and her calm, tranquil fury became less and less subdued. She was right scowling now.
"And, and, if I might remind you: what fucking trust? You didn't trust anybody in the Storm Knights with probably the most important part of your life. You know, your boyfriend? The one you were living with and raising a kid with? You made him lie to everybody's face and you lied to everybody's face, including the Knights. If I hadn't already known Kohaku was a guy, I bet you would have lied to me, too. The only reason you didn't was because you couldn't. So take that shit and shove it out of your argument--you didn't trust the Storm Knight. Not with you. You might have believed in them, might have believed they'd have your back, but you didn't trust them at all."
By the time she had finished, steam was pooling out from the corners of her mouth, and she took notice. As the did the waitress who, like clockwork, had returned with Toma's coffee and an extra water that she placed on Elena's side of the table without so much as a glance in her direction. Elena sighed, picked it up--the condensation on the glass turned to white clouds in a moment--and downed several icy gulps until the steam stopped coming out of her, and the light behind her bangs had weakened. She set the glass back down without force, but definitely without care to avoid making the glass clank loudly against the nice wooden table.
"You wanna rethink everything you just fucking said, or are you going to lie to me."
WC: 1072, @aster , ...oh
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Post by Deleted on Mar 18, 2020 10:06:03 GMT -4
feel the light shining in the dark of the night | Toma let her roll. He refused to break eye contact during her explosive rant because that was admitting he was ashamed. Sure, she was right about some of it. He should have been honest about Haku. He shouldn't have kept him hidden away like a toy a child doesn't want his friends to steal from them. He should have treasured him more, and been honest about who he was. But hindsight is 20/20 and Toma never spent a lot of time looking back.
Even after she ended her rant, and chugged down the water he had ordered, he didn't say anything. Not right away. His brow was furrowed as he silently sipped his coffee, staring daggers at the brown ambrosia that could cut a man in half. He wasn't going to blow up, even though it was hard to resist., because he knew she didn't understand his life.
'She doesn't know what it's like to be me.' He had to remind himself. 'Would you trust anyone if every person in your life had betrayed you? Would you be so open with yourself if you were labeled as the human time bomb your whole life? Would you be ok being you if you knew you were the failed experiment of a psychopath?'
"You are not wrong." He tried to keep from sounding angry, from letting her know she had wounded him. He had no emotion in his voice as he quietly and slowly sat his coffee back down on the table. His hand trembled for just a second as the ceramic touched the table, making it clink erratically for a second. "I know that I screwed up. That it's my fault he left. That I failed."
He sighed and stared out the window of the booth they were in. It looked nice outside. The sun was shining and the early birds were chirping and calling to one another. It felt wrong. Today felt like it was overcast.
"I have always had a problem with people." He turned back to look at her, a little more relaxed. "I know I have been going about things the wrong way. It's just hard, ok? I have spent my whole life feeling alienated, and that's a difficult thing to get over. Especially when it's screwing your life up."
"You know, this is the first time I have left the house to do anything other than getting necessities like myself in a long time." He picked his coffee back up and took another sip, calmer this time. "I spend so much time in that damn suit that I don't spend enough time trying to fix my shit."
TAG ■ WORD COUNT ■ NOTES |
MADE BY VEL OF GS |
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236 Posts
1 EP
EXP
Total
19 Years
Female
"Blue Blitz"
Watchdog-Rank Quirk:
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Post by Elena Strike on Mar 22, 2020 18:51:36 GMT -4
- I can pick good food, but I can't pick a good man -
Lord Almighty it had been a while since she had fully gone off on somebody. When she and G had finally had their "talk"? Did that count? No, that was more sad than angry, even if there was a lot mixed in that mess emotion-wise. Elena fanned away what remained of the steam around her face and ordered Toma another water. Even if she was literally fuming at the man she wasn't going to let his time in the restaurant be afflicted by it. Sure, he wasn't out as a hero right now, but if anyone did spot him and went "Oh wow that's a hero eating at that restaurant" it'd be great for business.
Now if only she could keep from wanting to punch him. Especially when he had the good graces to not immediately go off on her as she went quiet again. He didn't look unaffected--far from it--but he hadn't snapped at her in return. He was thinking on it.
Good. That was a start.
Elena exhaled a long, mostly silent sigh, the cold water helping to keep it from looking like a dragon's breathing. Stupid steam. Or was it smoke? Whatever. Toma said her words were right. Well, yeah. Duh. Of course they were. Him admitting that made him look better by a fraction but it did nothing to change that those things happened. Those mistakes were there and weren't going away. He'd have to live with them. As he got into the why, though, of the lies and distrust and bullshit fear-of-making-real-friends, Elena's eyes stayed on his face, trying to read him to be sure of something.
"Not to belittle your experiences, but you're the second person at this table to bursts into intense burning bad shit when upset. You don't keep a lot of friends that way. But, again, you're not the only one." Her eyes slid closed as she forced her tone to sound less irritated than it still did. It took a while for her to chill out--pun intended--and even while actively trying to she still couldn't get it completely under wraps.
"Hell, I bet most heroes feel the same way. Look at how extreme some of their Quirks are and tell me you think they had an easy time making friends or keeping a happy family. And then tell me if you really think you're the only who who holes away when not on patrol. Cause there's a lot of heroes who just straight-up vanish off-the-scene. Witch Doctor straight-up vanishes, Yellow Jacket avoids publicity like a plague. Even Mikhail is so..." she went quieter, eyes opened, a weird sort of shine to them that didn't portray tears, but it was dimmer than her usual glow, "...different when he's not acting the part. Only the one I know who's apparently the same on or off the clock is the number one and, like, she's totally manic. You don't have to be like her. Just."
Elena smiled slightly at the waitress as she came back and set another new cup of water in front of Toma before, apparently reading the moon, fleeing like a rabbit. "Maybe if you realize you've got a problem like that, you can work on fixing it. And I really don't think getting back in touch with the Knights is a step in the right direction. I know we're awesome--otherwise I wouldn't be part of them." She grinned as cheekily as she could muster right now, which was still pretty cheeky. "But it'll cause so many more problems than just 'you need friends' if you're caught connected to us."
WC: 629, @aster , I know we're cool but stay away plz
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