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Post by skyeknight on Jan 15, 2017 18:21:50 GMT
Aqua felt drained after what happened the last few days. Riku was turned into a rabbit. Namine had been kidnapped, only to be released by her kidnapper. The person who knew what happened to her partner was in a holding cell at the BPD. Aqua was trying to avoid going into the office because she knew that if she was in the same room as Vanitas, she might just try to kill him. Seelie faery or not. So she took a few days off. She was sure Riku would understand she needed time to get over what... Shadow had insinuated about Terra's disappearance. She didn't want to believe it.
"A peppermint hot chocolate and a crepe?" Aqua requested.
Nevermore. Not exactly police HQ but it might as well as be the second point of interest for them. Even when she was trying to get away from the police, she was still surrounded by them. A sad little irony about her. Her life circled around the police it seemed.
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Post by Zuyuri on Jan 15, 2017 20:10:51 GMT
"Okay, that'll be..."
Sunshine was at the cash register, typing out the customer's orders. Her eyes were downcast, not full of their positive luster. Everything was seeming to go so fast. The Gray Dawn was taken to custody. Vanitas was finally thrown into a cell after baiting them with kidnappings. More intense, though, was Shadow's descent into rage. He had blown up the offices during a fight with Pitch. She had seen him mad, but never as angry as he had been.
She looked up, trying not to think about it. The bad news was her customer was an officer. The good news was it was a friend.
"Oh, hey Aqua." She tapped the discount key.
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Post by skyeknight on Jan 15, 2017 20:46:38 GMT
"Sunshine," Aqua breathed.
She was kicking herself for not realizing the blonde was behind the counter. She paused and laid her money out on the counter. She didn't take her eyes off Sunshine now that she was aware the officer was on bakery duty. Something about Sunshine had her fingers itching to do something for the blonde, a usual Seelie reaction for her when she found someone down on their luck. Maybe it was just the Vanitas case. That took a lot out of everyone, especially now that the media had gotten their hands on it and were starting to dig into Vanitas' past to find more out about the mystery demon that went toe to toe with the whole department. Then there was Grey Dawn. Stopped in the nick of time.
"Hey," she said gently, "Are you okay?"
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Post by Zuyuri on Jan 15, 2017 22:02:56 GMT
"Tired."
Sunshine couldn't lie to Aqua. That was because there were two reasons. One, she had no friends to really talk to about this; true, Yang was at the bakery, but talking with her could have set the bakery on fire. And two, who else was she going to talk to about it on the team that was a girl? Esmeralda was busy babysitting, Pocahontas was someone she was deathly afraid of, and Korra and her...didn't exactly see eye to eye.
"Just...there's so much going on in so little time..."
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Post by skyeknight on Jan 15, 2017 22:39:20 GMT
"I know what you mean..." Aqua said softly.
There was so much at once that Aqua felt numb, completely and utterly drained. She didn't know what to do in a situation like this. It just hurt. Even when Aqua didn't think she could hurt anymore. She was afraid that it had something to do with the fact she chose to associate with humans. Things always hurt when humans were involved. Terra was human and she had clearly known that she was going to outlive him. Then Riku and the curse. Her human partner looked before he leaped into trouble. And Namine... her poor roommate was now terrified of anything that made noise.
"I can grab a table if you want to talk?" she offered.
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Post by Zuyuri on Jan 16, 2017 3:05:19 GMT
"...Yeah. I'll just get your order started and I'll meet you over there."
Both green and blue eyes were showing pretty much the exact same picture. The picture of how much it hurt to think about what all had happened. She wasn't sure how a Seelie felt when it came to getting involved with human affairs, but she knew Aqua well enough to know that she was the kind of Seelie that didn't take no for an answer when it came to getting to the root of the matter. She accepted the payment and punched it into the cashier. The coffee maker hissed as she poured the dark brown hot chocolate and stirred the peppermint flavor. The crepe seemed to crawl through the warmer before plopping onto the plate. After drizzling it with chocolate, Sunshine trod over to the table, setting everything down.
"Here you go, peppermint hot chocolate and crepe complete with police discount." The chair screeched as she settled in.
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Post by skyeknight on Jan 16, 2017 4:27:58 GMT
Aqua nodded, suddenly feeling mute. She stepped over to the side, finding a secluded table. Not normally this easy at the cafe, but it must have just been one of those off days. At least the two of them would be able to talk in relative peace. Her mouth felt dry and she felt heavy, even as she sank down into the seat. She could feel her weariness in her very bones. It took thought and concentration to keep her glamour up. She smiled as Sunshine set down her cup and a plate. It was an automatic response and it didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Thanks Sunshine." she croaked.
The food looked phenomenal. It always did. But Aqua wasn't hungry, or thirsty. She was trying to make herself go through the motions of cheering herself up. Chocolate was supposed to do that. Or so studies said. Maybe it was just a human thing. She didn't know. She had never spent much time in the faery courts. Supposedly, food from the faery courts was to die for. Humans got addicted to it, starved themselves when they were cut off. It was dangerous.
"How are you holding up?" she asked, putting food as far from her mind as possible.
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Post by Zuyuri on Jan 16, 2017 16:59:58 GMT
The croak in Aqua's throat betrayed the words she was really speaking. Sunshine had never seen her acquaintance in this bad of a predicament. She was used to seeing the happy Seelie, the one who went through fire and flood to ensure that someone who was upset came out okay. She played with a blonde hair, casting her green eyes to the steaming crepe. She should have cut her losses and made herself one.
"To be honest, not all that well. I want to do something, but I just don't know what."
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Post by skyeknight on Jan 16, 2017 17:11:33 GMT
"Something about what?" Aqua asked.
She looked up at Sunshine in concern. It was plain to see both of them were tired, perhaps hurting. Aqua could push past her own pain. She had to, for Sunshine, to see what was bothering the blonde officer. There were a number of things that came to mind that could bother her, but Aqua could really only hazard a guess at this point. Something was leaving Sunshine feeling rather powerless. They had just made two really big arrests in just the span of a week. She should be feeling proud. Then again, Aqua didn't either.
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Post by Zuyuri on Jan 17, 2017 0:38:07 GMT
"It's about Shadow. He's on edge, more so than usual.He's pissed off at the world, I can see it in his eyes. I..."
Her eyes welled up with tears. She replayed the scenario in her head like a movie over and over again. How she and some officers were alerted by an explosion going on in the Other Unit's offices. When she ran in, the smell of burning g smoke and one wall had been destroyed; contractors were there now repairing the damage. It would cost the Others Unit a major dent in budget cuts. Since Guerra was no longer mayor, there was no way they could be protected by the law.
But then there was Shadow, glowering at the damage he had done. Sunshine didn't want to say anything, but it came out.
"I'm scared, Aqua."
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Post by skyeknight on Jan 17, 2017 1:15:06 GMT
Aqua's heart nearly thudded to a stop. The odd behavior, the anger at everyone, the terrified gaze in Sunshine's eyes. Exactly what Aqua had gone through with Terra. She had tried talking to Terra. He hadn't listened. She tried justifying his anger. She defended him. He was just tired, she'd say or he was having a bad day. Then she would go home, try not to cry and curl up into a ball, telling herself it would get better tomorrow. She would get through to him tomorrow. Now, Sunshine was going through the same thing.
She probably wouldn't be able to eat now.
"Oh mercy," she breathed, "Sunshine, do... should I - what can I do?"
She didn't know how to fix this. Things had blown up in her own face when she tried to save her own partner from that route. She couldn't save Terra. She didn't know how to save Shadow. It left her feeling rather dizzy and even more helpless.
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Post by Zuyuri on Jan 17, 2017 5:26:14 GMT
The look on Aqua's face said it all. She had been where Sunshine was now. There was no need to pry any further as to what had been going on. Aqua was here to chat, not be berated on something that happened in the past. Terra's potential killer was now behind bars, for now, and once he was away from the officers, the better. In answer to Aqua's question, she shook her head.
"I wish I knew. But if we're going to help Shadow, we need to be discrete about it. You know how stubborn he is."
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Post by skyeknight on Jan 17, 2017 14:09:02 GMT
Discretion hadn't worked in helping Terra. She had tried pulling him aside to talk privately, but he wouldn't listen. She tried pointing things out and she had been ignored. She had all but begged for him to pay attention but perhaps it would with Shadow? Aqua didn't know. She was very afraid for Sunshine and her partner. At one point, she might have said that she and Terra would have made it through anything, but then... they didn't. She didn't know if the same could be said about Sunshine and Shadow. They had gone through their own trials and tribulations yes, but this was just the same as it was for Aqua. It made her chest ache with a familiar pain.
"Let me know," Aqua said slowly, "If there's anything I could do."
She meant it when she said anything. Aqua didn't want Sunshine to go through what she had. Sunshine might not have loved her partner the way Aqua had, but it was still a pain she would wish on no one. At least she hoped Sunshine didn't feel that way. Nothing good came from falling for your partner. Aqua learned that lesson the hard way. She was still trying to pick up the pieces after Terra's disappearance. She was only so lucky her second partner didn't crush on her and was giving her time to pull herself together. Just talking about this made breathing painful.
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Post by Zuyuri on Jan 17, 2017 17:05:23 GMT
"I do have a question."
Sunshine's voice became serious. The kind of serious no one expected from her. Her green eyes became lit with determination. She was going to figure out what was going with Shadiw, and in truth, Aqua was a good place to start.
"Did Terra snap out of his, er, darkness whenever you came to him?"
Loyalty to a partner was one thing, revelation was another. She had seen something in Shadow's face when she saw his rage. He had shown, just for a second, remorse. Remorse he lost control in front of her. If the rumors said about Terra being off his rocker were true, Aqua would know.
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Post by skyeknight on Jan 17, 2017 17:35:12 GMT
"No." Aqua said.
Aqua wished with every fiber of her being that he would have. She had tried everything that she could possibly do to bring back the man she knew and had fallen in love with. But she knew now, he was beyond reaching. Her partner, her love was lost. He never came back and he never would. It wasn't too late for Sunshine to save Shadow but Aqua couldn't bear a second failure to save someone from their own 'darkness' as Sunshine had put it. Aqua wasn't that strong anymore.
"He didn't."
She didn't know how she wasn't crying. Perhaps it was because she had simply cried so much she just couldn't anymore. She didn't doubt the possibility. Humans really were bad for faeries. Terra was the one person she had opened up to and fully trusted. With everything. Including her heart which for a faery it could have been dangerous. Some faeries were known to die if their significant other did. Fading away. Aqua realized after Riku sat her down and told her what was what, she had been going down that route. Just slower. It didn't make it any easier.
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