raisetheearth | 039 ♦ mostly open

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039 ♦ mostly open

[A | action: open ocean off America's west coast | closed: Lily, Jasmine, Rakka, Marina, doppels to taste | 7/25, morning (NZST)]

She'd thought it would be like any other day. When she'd seen the story about the cruise ship burning for no apparent reason in the middle of the ocean, she'd figured they could go and help, and she could go home and sleep with another successful rescue mission under her belt. So she'd assembled her team, transformed, given everyone their wings, and they'd opened a portal into what sounded right. Really, the smoke was easy enough a marker. And there was even another ship already there.

In her best official tone, Winter clicks a button on a headset she'd put on before they left, connected to a radio attached... somewhere. She's trying not to think about how belt clips work with her costume. "Attention, vessel near the accident site," she starts into the headset. "My name is Winter Tsukuyomi, alias Cure Diamond; my team and I are here to assist in whatever capacity we're able. I expect that will be via flying victims off the wreck, since we have wings. I'll stay on this frequency; designate me-"

She's cut off as something dark blue and fast jets past her, taking time to stick out a tongue on the way. "Less blabbing, more work, honey. Daylight's wasting!" The voice - her voice - comes over the earpiece. Summer's flight continues as she reaches the cruise ship, before she disappears from sight into a doorway. Winter is silent for a long moment as she watches the girl disappear, her hand falling to her side, before she starts to squawk. "How dare she!? Come on, let's go!" All thought of introducing herself to the other ship present falls to the wayside, as she jets off in a streak of blue, and possibly cursing.

((Mostly just a set piece for the slime to be discovered, and for shenanigans. Jump in and do whatever~))

[B | network: video | open | 7/25, late morning (NZST)]
[At the conclusion of the mission, Winter returns to Shepherd's Haven, thoroughly annoyed, but also concerned. She absently slams the door shut as she pops her laptop open and kicks the network on. She looks a little disheveled, but not particularly worse for wear, if hastily dressed in a T-shirt and a pair of jeans. Although... there's a worried look in her eyes.]

What's going on? There's... something's happened. This... weird green stuff... it's almost sticky. And it changes. [She holds up a pink plushie, kind of like Raquel, except with a heart motif, and looking mildly like a bunny.] This shouldn't exist. Not in this world, not without a certain person that isn't here. I-

[She looks lost for a moment, staring into the plushie's eyes, torn. After a second, she looks back up at the camera, a helpless expression on her face.] I don't know what to do. This hasn't happened before.

[C | action: Gateway City | open | 7/24, early evening (local)]

At some point, Winter decides that getting out of the house and doing a little walking might be a good thing. That brings her to take the teleporter - which is, itself, a surprisingly novel experience; when one can teleport at will, using a device with restrictions feels different - to Gateway City, and just walk around the city a little bit. She's changed out of the things she'd thrown on this morning, into a dark top, a light jacket over it, and her usual long skirt. As she roams, she keeps looking back at the odd pink plushie - Cheryl, her mind supplies; Raquel wouldn't like being called hey, plushie all the time - and wondering why it's here. If her being here means Mana is here somewhere. And that's enough to throw her seriously out of whack. Enough to probably run into someone or something, with a brief and stammered apology, before she ends up in much the same state a few minutes later.

Eventually, she ends up sitting on a high ledge, looking up at the night sky. The stars are hard to make out from here, but... it's still kind of comforting. Even when everything else changes, there are certain things that stay the same... and she has to cling to that fact to keep herself steady as the waters of life get rough.

This is about the time Cheryl returns to slime once more, and Winter lets out a loud shriek in shock. Oops.

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Raquel is unsure how to handle being cuddled, particularly by someone other than Winter, and especially when Winter isn't actually complaining too much, let alone when she's giggling at his plight. He's feeling exceptionally betrayed at the moment.

"Raquel is a fairy, a magical being from another world. As far as I know, there aren't any more like him, specifically; there are two other fairies in our world at the moment, and they both belong to friends of mine. Raquel is part of a set of five; they're different colors and genders." It's a fair amount of information, but it's also all she knows. "I think there are unofficial Raquel toys on the market, though."

Blaise gives Raquel a squeeze in delight before setting him gently on the ground.

"I'm so going to buy one when I get my allowance this week. Any chance I can meet your friends' fairies, too?"

He looks up at Winter with a sparkle in his eyes.

"I'm sure they live far away, too. I can't exactly pay for them to come up here. But, it'd be so cute. Especially having all three together. I could die happy!"

He stands up and dusts himself off, happy as a clam.

"Uhm. I can't do much, but I guess it's something. Let's be friends."

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his bunny-shaped rock, holding it out to Winter.

"I found this earlier, I thought it looked cute. But, you can have it, since you were so nice to me, and let me pet Raquel."

Edited 2015-07-29 06:28 (UTC)

"I... hmm. I don't know. I'll have to ask them." Which is not exactly a get out a cell phone kind of thing - she'd rather use the network, and if Blaise doesn't have numbers, it's going to get very awkward very fast. So she'll hold that concern for a little later. Meanwhile, Raquel, now set down, immediately takes flight, hovering a few feet over Winter's head, but not doing much else aside from glancing warily at Blaise, between glaring at Winter, who pretends not to notice.

Thinking about her home miles and miles away, Winter's smile turns warmer without her really noticing. "Mm, we live far from here, together. We'll come back. It just might be a little bit before that happens." Making trips to New Zealand and back isn't exactly a quick process. "But you'll see them, someday soon."

When he stands up and offers her the rock, though, she blinks. Having a new friend was nice, but somehow she felt like she'd fallen into an RPG, getting something she had no idea what to do with that apparently held personal value. Still, she liked being able to meet new people, so she accepted it in the spirit offered with a grin. "Thank you, Blaise. I'd like that." Reaching out to him, she clasps her hand around his, shaking it, palming the rock once she releases it.

Blaise laughs a little, somewhat apologetically, at Raquel, before turning back to Winter. Winter's smile brings a bigger smile to his already smiling face.

"I can't wait to meet them. I bet they're all as nice as you are."

As she takes the rock from him, letting his hand fall back down to his side, he tucks his thumbs into his pockets, a kind of casual stance.

"If we're going to be friends, do you want my number. The time zone difference might make it difficult for calls, but I can text whenever I can. Next time you're here, I'll take you for soda, my treat!"

As nice as her...? Well, generally, though Lily could get mildly possessive if the whim struck her. Almost as bad as Rose over Summ- Summer. "Yeah, they are. I'm proud to know them. And I think I'd like that... ah, I don't know if my phone still works where I live now, but you're welcome to the number, and we can try." Part of her really wants to give him her network number, but that'd cause all kinds of chaos if he couldn't actually use it... and special headaches if he could. Better not to poke that dragon.

She frowns as she continues. "I meant to ask, though - how do you know Summer, anyway?" Because that could be a potential problem.

"Oh, I met her a couple of months ago. I fell on the ground, and she made some backhanded comment to me. We started talking about echoes, and I hugged her much like I did you. She was really nice, I liked talking to her."

Blaise pulled out his phone, pulled up the contacts section, selected new, entered the name 'Winter' in the space, and moved it to the number section, handing it over to Winter.

"Go ahead and put your number in. Even if it doesn't work, I can still send you text so you have mine, when you come back. I've never texted too far, so I don't know, either."

She can't help it. Winter gawks at Blaise when he mentions Summer being... nice. It's impossible. She doesn't do nice. The nasty comment makes sense and is her general MO, but how did her duplicate get from there to being friendly? It's... weird, and she shakes her head hard to force herself to start processing it. That's about when she accepts the boy's phone, putting her cell phone number into it.

After a moment, she passes it back, but adds, "Take this number, too; it might not work right, but it's worth trying in a pinch." She waits a moment for him to be ready, then rattles off her network number; there's a brief sense of the world leaning in to listen as she finishes it, but as the echoes of her voice fade, sound returns to her. It doesn't exactly look like a normal number, but... eh. If he figures it out, all the better.

"Please understand," Winter continues, "I'm not used to Summer being anything other than dangerous. If she's nice to you, I'm happy to hear it, but that's not exactly normal. So... good luck, I suppose is what I want to say."

Blaise stares at the number he copied down as Winter said it. It looked really weird.

"Is this like an area code to a foreign country?" Well, even if it is, it still seems like an off the wall number. Nothing he would ever recognize. But he briefly thinks back to a number he had in a dream some time ago. He furrows his brow in confusion, hoping this isn't one of those fake numbers girls give out to people they don't like, then puts the phone back in his pocket.

"Dangerous?" He tilts his head in thought. "Nah, she seemed as harmless as a grumpy kitten." He laughs a little as he says that. Then he nods his head. "So, does this number go directly to a phone you have at your home?"

Edited 2015-07-30 06:13 (UTC)

"It's... special." There's really no other way to explain to someone that hasn't figured the network out yet. "If it's truly an emergency, you can find both Summer and I with it. That's a promise." A beat. "Though I can't promise Summer will actually pick up. It rings a bunch of phones at once." Her cell phone, Summer's cell phone, her Kindle, her laptop...

"I'm still not sure how to react to being told Summer's harmless." She'd seen a very much malicious Summer just that morning, so either Summer was putting on a special act just for her and Lily, or Blaise had done something to endear himself to her. She wasn't sure which option she liked less.

Blaise looked like a happy puppy at the promise of being able to reach Winter and possibly Summer.

"It rings a bunch of phones? Can I text to it? But I guess that means if I text you, Summer gets it, too? Does that make private conversation a problem, like if I just want to talk to you? I guess I can still try your personal number. Emergencies only, you said? How come it connects both of you? Will my name appear with the number so you know it's me, or should I call it right now so you have it?"

Blaise stopped at her last sentence.

"Why, is Summer not nice to you, or something? I can talk to her, if you want. Try to make her play nice."

It's a torrent of questions, but she's keeping up. What gives her pause as she starts to answer is the last offer of help with Summer, and her gaze becomes a little more distant, a little sad, almost. "She and I are like fire and ice. It's... not often that we agree on anything, and most of the time, she doesn't want anything to do with me. It's a very long story I won't bore you with. Suffice to say- well, I don't mind if you're friends with her. She needs those. But bridging the gap between us takes a disaster, or an alien invasion. I'm happy you want to help, but I think we've learned to just agree to disagree." She'd like to be friends with Summer, but there's just no way it's going to happen. Not as things are now, not while Summer is a free spirit that answers to no law beyond her own.

A little happy to have another subject to talk on, she continues, "You can text it, though the number itself can be a bit picky. No, you can't keep messages on that number to just one or the other of us, and we'll see each other's messages, too. Of course, that means that if a problem needs both of us, use that number, and we'll be there." She pointedly doesn't answer the question about his name; she doesn't want to see what happens if he tries it right now. At the moment, this feels like the long, ultra-beginners' version of how to use the network, while not actually talking in those terms.

Blaise stands there, unsure of what to say for a moment. He'd like it if all of his friends could get along. But, obviously, Summer and Winter have known each other longer than he's known either of them. You can't really kindle something that isn't there.

"But the fact that you two can rely on each other in disasters means something right? Even if she doesn't want to admit it, maybe she really does care about you somewhere. You guys are related, it's only natural. Maybe she'll come around someday. No, I'm sure she will."

As he says this, he wraps Winter in a much more compassionate hug.

Winter is less sure of that. By design, Summer is someone that isn't as compassionate, isn't as patient. Something in her says that their opposite outlooks aren't going to mesh anytime soon; true to her word, she'd like that, but it's a pipe dream.

Still, clearly Blaise cares enough to help reassure her. Openly, she smiles a little bit. "Maybe someday. I'll keep trying. Wisdom and malice are- well, they're not quite two sides of the same coin. But they're close enough. And fighting together with her will go a long way to making her trust me, too."

Which is probably not a reasonable sentiment for a twenty-year-old girl to be making, but that's what she's got. And what she's not really thinking about.

Blaise gives a warm smile as he steps away.

"I'm here if you ever want to talk, okay? If Summer's mean to you, I'll try my best to help."

Blaise looked at the clock on his phone. His mom is probably going to be getting worried soon.

"Are you sure I can't walk you anywhere? We've been out here for a while, we should probably get going."

He wasn't trying to sound hurried, but, he didn't want the embarrassing phone call from his mom, wondering where he is, to happen right in front of his new friend.

"I appreciate that, Blaise," she chirps. Really, she does. There are... certain things she can't talk with Lily about. It's kind of always been that way. And Summer is occasionally one of them. If he gets to be friends with Summer, all the better - for all her complaining, Winter does worry about her mirror from time to time. Not that she likes to admit it to her other. "Not that I think I need protecting from Summer, of all people, but stranger things have happened." Much stranger. Like this morning, when Winter gave real consideration to ending her on the spot.

The sudden need to get moving, however, gets her attention; checking her phone, she notes the time with a nod. "Sorry, am I keeping you from something? It is getting a little late... maybe I should be getting home after all. Don't worry about me, though. Is there somewhere I can walk with you to?" She's well aware this is kind of backwards, but, well. A lot of what she does is backwards, sometimes on purpose.

Blaise flusters in embarrassment for a moment. It was weird for someone to offer to follow him, much less a girl. He figured it was just kind of the default for him to follow anybody, or get rejected for the offer. Winter was... definitely different. Blaise chuckles a bit. Maybe showing her where he lived would be okay, in case she ever needed someplace to find him at.

"I don't think I've ever had anyone ask me that before." He smiles a little helplessly. "I actually kind of like it. I can show you where I live, if you're ever in town and need to find me quick."

Blaise thought for another moment. It's also weird because he's never brought anyone home before. If she ever did come over and one of his parents answered the door, he'd hope that they wouldn't think she was his girlfriend. That would be a hard explanation for him to fix.

At that moment, his phone rang. His face flushed red again as he freaked out a little, getting the phone out of his pocket as quickly as he could without dropping it. Sure enough, it's his mother.

"S-sorry, one second!" He gives Summer an awkward smile as he answers the phone. "Hi, mom. Yea, sorry. I was... on my way home when I lost track of time. I'll be home soon, I'm not far away."

Haa, she threw him off balance, huh? Winter giggles softly, turning to face the rising moon, hair streaming behind her in the breeze. "You'll find both Summer and I don't really give a damn about what society thinks we should do. I'm a nice person because I want to be, but I have limits. Summer is... forceful, but that's because she has things she wants that she won't let anyone get in the way of." It's how Winter herself is, too, but she tends not to think about it too much.

"So, yes, I'd like that. Gateway is safe enough, but you can't be too careful. And..." It'd be good if I can find you quickly in a crisis so I can save you isn't really a good conversation piece, is it? "Maybe we can talk again, another day. I don't have so many friends that I don't enjoy making new ones, you know?"

She's about to go on when Blaise's phone rings, and she lets herself fall silent so he can answer it, taking a little private satisfaction that hers isn't the only mildly overbearing mother in the world. She'd have gotten much the same treatment from April, ages ago, before she could demonstrably snap wood with her bare hands while not transformed. When he finishes, she quietly adds, "Sorry. Should we go, then?"

Edited (we didn't need that space time continuum anyway) 2015-08-07 20:37 (UTC)

Blaise smiled and nodded.

"Yea. If it gets too much later, mom might send out a search party." He says the last part rather jokingly. His parents trust him to a fault and he's usually good to what he says. "I'll show you something else on our way there. If I'm not home, I'm most likely at the soda shop. Come on."

He walks her downward and toward the streets. He turns a few corners, keeping his pace slower so she wouldn't have to fight to keep up. He stops in front of a small shop amidst a strip, the windows and signs all dark, indicating it's after hours.

"This is my favourite hangout. They have lots of amazing flavours. Maybe I can take you here when you visit again." He looks at her curiously a moment. "Do they have anything like this where you live?"

When they get back to walking. He leads her back a few blocks the way they came before taking a well-lit side street all the way down.

"Let's make haste, then," is Winter's immediate response. Nope, not gonna be the cause of somebody getting grounded.

But along the way, her curiosity is piqued as they pass the soda shop. In a modern day, a place like this is a rarity, and she smiles. "I'd like to try it, sometime. There's nothing like this where I live, or in Locke, come to think. So it'd be neat!" She really means it, too, as she picks up when Blaise starts walking again. It's not far to their apparent destination when the side street they're on comes to an abrupt end. He knows the streets pretty well, it seems; if anything goes wrong in future operations, she'd have to remember to ask him for some help if something went weird later.

"Is this it?"

Blaise gives a warm nod.

"Yup, home sweet home. Haha, don't tell anyone, but you're the first one to see it since we moved here."

Some time had indeed passed since they came to Gateway city. Bringing friends, or anyone, home was a foreign concept to him, and it caused a mildly concerned look to cross his face as he looked up the lit driveway.

"I, uhm... can't promise I'll be a good host or anything, but feel free to come over anytime."

He smiles at Winter a little.

"You be safe on your way home, okay? I hope we'll meet again soon."

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