exsiliumlogs | [Open]

Entry tags:

[Open]

Date & Time: January 2nd, forward dated to nighttime
Location: All over the city
Characters: Adam Park and YOU
Summary: There's a ranger running around the back ends of the city for training purposes. Bug him?
Warnings: None (will update if it get to that.)

[For someone who has the ability to morph now, Adam hasn't been using it so much when facing down an enemy. Not in this new place and certainly not back on Fortuna despite the coin being fixed. Rather, he used his own strength to figure things out and only used his power if it was an emergency. But tonight...is different.

Using it to fight off zombies is one thing but to do it otherwise sounded like a bad idea. Using it in the training area sounds logical but Adam is still unsure about exposing his ranger self to the people here. He could picture the lecture he'd get from Billy if he ever finds out about his little run. It still didn't make him flinch at his decision. If he needed to use it more often, he has to start training his body again and get used to it once more. So after he found a small area where it's pretty isolated, he pulls out his morpher and transforms quickly.

He did have a plan after all: stay in the areas where less traffic occurs such as alleyways and the like. Did anyone have to question someone running in spandex while on the main roads? Yes they do, which is why Adam came to the conclusion he did. He'll be staying cautious given the setting but there's also the chance that he could be spotted by a random person.

Besides, it's good exercise.]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Billy is walking back toward the Hold, finding that his backpack is disappointingly light. He'd been hoping for a bigger haul, but everything is slim pickings around here. He'll just have to be selective with his repair projects.

He has these thoughts in mind as he catches sight of a familiar uniform running across the next road. Adam? Morphed? And running somewhere? If he's morphed, that probably means he's on his way to a fight. Naturally, Billy takes off after him, flicking on his tablet and pressing the voice button.

Adam, what's going on? Do you need backup?

He is right in the middle of a jump over some rotted fence when he hears Billy's message. Adam mentally lets out a swear at the fact that Billy saw him AND contacted him through the tablet. Thank the Power his concentration is pretty good otherwise he'd fall down on that rubble and let out some more colorful words out.

He retreats to a secluded area of the alleyway and pulls out his tablet and replies back.

"I'm ok, it's...just training." he speaks a little sheepishly.

Billy still runs to catch up. It's not long before he makes the proper turns and arrives, staring at Adam in wonder. "So...there's no danger, and you're training while morphed?"

Dammit Billy don't sneak up on him like that!

"...not many other places where I can without being seen or questioned."

If he saw him, who knows who else did. Lucky he still had his helmet on so less for others to spot him.

Billy tilts his head. Huh. "But...huh. We never did just training while morphed before, but I guess I can see why it's a good idea."

He looks around and lowers his voice. After a moment of thought, he jumps behind a nearby pile of discarded goods. "Uh...if we're seen together like this, people might figure you out," he explains.

Sound carried well in the concrete city, through alleys and under high-rise, covered walkways that made ominous silhouettes in the dark, outlines glowing gold and blue where the evening lights flickered. Sound was carried well along the path the wayward ranger took, but it was no city-sound.

It was no soundtrack for a training session, either. A somber, mellow melody pervaded the air, bouncing off high walls and giving faint ripple to lingering puddles close-by. Foreign words blended into familiar feelings.

Definitely not Eye of the Tiger. Or Eye of the Frog, as the case rather was.

The alien lullaby came from her, of course – as much of the melodic echoes in Exsilium did in those days. The change of scenery (of time, of space) had never deterred her in that. She had no fear of looming buildings (castles of a new shape) or figures in the dark (there had been so many before)...for that moment, it was night, and she gave her voice to what the night dictated to her.

Weary things, reflection, loneliness. The suggestion was in her song as she stopped to linger at an empty, lit street corner:

Is there no one here to come to me?

You're getting faster Billy. Be lucky you don't see Adam's expression underneath the visor because it was something expressing 'that was quick'.

"Can't be too unprepared."

Wow, this...is really awkward talking like this. People are going to think he's more nuts by talking to a garbage pile.

"I think it might be the other way around."

Music?

It's been awhile since he heard anything of the sort. It was remarkable to hear such a voice around these parts. A part of him wanted to find out who is the one who sang but the other logical part is telling him to stay hidden and go further away. What if it wasn't what it seemed?

Adam made his decision: he peers around the corner where the woman is waiting but doesn't move beyond that. Just what is she doing?

There's a strange mix between a chuckle and a gasp from behind the pile. "You're right. This is a bad idea in more ways than one."

A few seconds later, Billy shamefully slinks away from the pile with his coat's hood drawn tightly over his head. Luckily he hadn't actually entered the pile.

"I guess you're expecting some really tough fights."

Simmaeri's voice seemed to echo back to itself in the empty street, and she let the latest note out in a sigh. This place sings little to me. Even the people, diverse as they were, seldom sang for any reason at all, save the select few. What a sad thing! To know there were people out there who either didn't grow up with song in their mouths or had lost the heart to sing.

That train of thought emerged in the melody, where she freely wove small spells of understanding within. It was a good habit to have in Exsilium, where the many languages she knew had no familiar ears but her own.

No one sings to me.
Is there no one here to come to me?

She lifted a hand in a beckoning gesture, out to the open air. The suggestion was very clear, the spell only making it a demand.

Come to me.
Find me.

What the...?

What exactly is this woman doing? He had no thought of doing anything other than training tonight. But now, it's far off his mind. There was no way Adam would go to her while in Ranger form so he moved further away and powered down before stepping out slowly.

He doesn't speak but he's watching the place, unsure if this is a trap or something else completely.

Yeah Billy, the smell might make it worse. It's ok though and Adam will put a hand on his shoulder.

"You always expect a tough fight, but the key is not to overdo it before you break down."

He's grinning underneath that helmet.

"...want to go for a run?"

Billy smiles faintly, bouncing from foot to foot. He's feeling a little better, as reluctant as he is to admit that.

"All right. Guess I'm going for the run of my life against a powered Ranger."

That's okay, though. He needs to push himself and crouches in preparation.

There was a definite shift in tone when Simmaeri saw the ranger incognito appear, only feeling the faintest sense of a power discharge somewhere, somehow. Magic and such forces were foreigners in Exsilium; it only made those fleeting instances all the more poignant to those who knew what to expect...or hope to encounter, if only a little.

That flicker did not connect to Adam in Simmaeri's mind, wrapped up as she was in her own atmosphere. Her eyes crinkled a little with her smile once she saw him for a real shape, not a shade of her memories.

A stranger in the dark.

There was a note of amusement in her voice, changing those words from accusations to light inquiry. The last word of it dropped to a hum, breaking off into a beat of silence to free her up to speak at last, using those words she's learned well in Exsilium.

"I called," she said, and dipped her head, giving him an approving look. "And you came."

He wanted to ask if it was obvious that he only stepped out because of that nagging thought in his head. However, this man actually had manners so he left that to his own mind.

"Were you just out taking in some air too?"

Yeah...Adam wasn't going to mention the training part to the nice woman.

"Hey, don't sell yourself short. I'm not the only powered one here."

Billy, the more you keep thinking that, the more Adam will drill the thought into your head. Do you really want to keep going? He chuckles slightly as he takes his own stance.

"One...two...three!"

And now the training really begins.

What a strange turn of phrase it was. Strange, but not unwelcome. Simmaeri's eyebrows lifted, mouth puckering just enough to pass off that air of amused interest.

"You mean to take air somewhere?" she asked, her tone not giving away that amusement quite so readily. After all, the words here were shifty, fluid, like many languages she'd known before. He could very well be meaning something she had yet to comprehend.

And she was always up for the challenge of a new understanding.

"You know I'm not using that as an excuse to hold back though, right?"

Because he isn't. Billy takes off at a carefully calculated run---not a full sprint, he really needs to conserve his energy and concentrate on endurance, but enough that he never loses sight of Adam. He takes on the obstacles with his usual gymnastic grace, bouncing and flipping over the mounds of debris in their way.

That just gets a chuckle out of him. Different worlds could have different meanings so if there was any confusion, he could understand a little.

"Ah, no. I just meant if you were outside just to be outside."

Outside to be outside? Simmaeri gives a faint hum of thought, turning the phrase over in her mind. Her face mimicked some of the warmth he himself had expressed to her in his reply, comfortable with the thin air of polite kindness.

"Few can hear when I am inside," she explained, mildly, methodically. Some words she had gotten from one kind of voice, others from another. It was a patchwork of influences, her English, but none of it said faltering. Even in their strange cadences in places, it was always with a comfort and certainty in what she said.

"When I raise my voice out here...it will go far. It will reach ears of peoples who listen." Her head tilted a little as she smiled, giving a quick, appraising glance up and down. "As you have come. Yes?"

"Wouldn't expect it."

And honestly, he doesn't want Billy to hold back either. The point of training is to increase strength and stamina after all and it wasn't like someone is going to attack them soon. Or at least he hopes not. And there is a reason why he chose the alleys to start off: in a fight, sometimes things can get in the way and someone would have to maneuver through all of them, right?

It also reminds them of those fights with the Putties on the playground and using the equipment to their advantage. That was fun.

Billy keeps pounding at the pavement, bounding off the walls to avoid an obstacle once or twice. He pushes himself as hard as he ever has, rebounding from a scrape or two as quickly as he can.

He finds a steady pole above them to swing from and makes a small noise of delight as he swings. "Having fun yet?"

So...she did that on purpose. For some reason, it reminded him of the weapons the Initiative decides to give to people. He still needed to figure out what exactly they did to him since he refused to take one right off the bat.

And what was that look? Thank the Power Adam shoved that thought off to the side and decided to focus on the important matters like that she pretty much put thoughts into his head. Or so he thought.

"I can guess that wasn't practice was it?"

He's keeping the polite tone but mentally thanking that he didn't show up in his Ranger gear. How was he going to explain that one?

"Practice?"

The word had most of its context within and around the training hall, she found. Hearing it beyond that place meant there was more to it than she had already learned...a thing quite common in this English, she found. It was nice in its challenge, and she was fond of things that were such. All the more value to a sound, then, that could span different places.

Practice. Study. Fight. The words were looped together from what she'd learned. Why would it not be the case still? Hmm...

"Do you ask if my voice is a weapon to practice?"

Edited 2013-01-27 13:57 (UTC)

...why is he getting the sudden feeling that he might have insulted her? Don't mind if he pinches the bridge of his nose at that.

"Sorry, apparently I seem to have a case of 'insert-foot-into-mouth' syndrome."

He might need to explain that one too.

"Just getting started."

Actually, he's more watching Billy having fun playing around than training. It's been such a long time since he saw something like that.

Not that it's distracting him as he leapfrogs over several trash cans.

A soft smile played at her lips, empty of insult, but certainly not a bland courtesy. His demeanor was interesting to her – a puzzle she had to piece together with what context she had to work with. And more curious was his turn of phrase: surely he couldn't mean to actually try and consume his own foot!

It seemed to her he was a touch awkward – for her sake alone or in all instances was not within her means to assume, but she had encountered his like hundreds of times over. It just took gentle probing, feeling out that personality to find the answers she sought. And he, in turn, could be coaxed to relax a little more if she...struck the right chords (best to treat these things in a musical sense, given her nature).

The direct route was out, then.

She gave him a faint sound in reply to that, allowing a small bit of silence pile between them. That was her point of transition, bowing her head slowly.

"I am called Simmaeri," she said, her eyes crinkling with her smile. "Do not say sorry; I feel no offense from your words." Her roundabout way: "I have never heard them in that way before."

One would think after going through his teenage years, he would be used to talking with women. The teenagers he could handle just fine: those his age however...well, not so much. (Not that he knows about the woman beside him.)

"Simmaeri..." he repeated, letting the name sink in and pray that he didn't butcher it. Adam felt a little relieved to hear that he didn't do anything completely stupid. That and he could picture Marco or Conan in the back of his mind say something that involved teasing him.

"I'm Adam."

Billy responds by flipping over several of them, twisting higher in the air than he has in months. He pushes himself hard, as if they're really fighting, but this is all play. It's just fine.

"Did you have a training partner where you came from?" he asks on a whim as he swivels around an old lamppost.

"Adam."

As always, care was taken to match his enunciation. She looked thoughtful, the smile still lingering as her eyes narrowed a little more for a moment.

"I have heard this name before, here," she said, nodding slowly, recalling. "Name of first man, one said. Is it true to you?"

So someone has told her about that particular story. Adam wasn't one to assume things and stories where other cultures differ from others after his previous experiences told him about other worlds and possibly other timelines.

"Yes, there is a story about someone named Adam as the first man created but now it's a fairly common name. I never saw it like that before."

"No?" The word was a note, a kind of melody-in-question. It opened doors. Simmaeri leaned a little, peering. "What is the name to you, Adam?"

It depends on which world he's referring to but Adam chuckles as he jumps on a wall, flips over a dumpster and steadies himself on a fence.

"Back home, I ran a dojo before being called back in. When I arrived in Fortuna, I became a part of the Watch. The commander was alright with sparring if I didn't accidentally slam him into the blacktop like that one time."

Lightly, Kresnik was alright and he did respect him.

This woman is really making him think tonight. To be honest...

"I...never really had any thoughts on it. I haven't been a religious person in a long time and just thought of it as a name and not the meaning behind it."

Since she's asking about his, he's going to ask about hers.

"What about your name?"

"Slam is a strong word. Did you think he was a criminal, or...?"

Billy kicks off from his perch and flips back down to the ground, following with a confused expression.

Her eyes crinkled a moment with a silent kind of laughter at his reply. Hardly mocking; she deemed his reply as honest as any, and there was no shame in one not putting much thought in a name. It only spoke to the vast differences between their experiences: Where a name had such value to her, that same value could shift to something other in his own. Actions, perhaps. Or something attained or used.

As for hers? Simmaeri folded her hands behind her for the length it took her to lean and find the pole behind her. Safely situated, she drew them back in front and folded them again, nodding.

"I have spoken to many peoples here," she said, nodding. And, with a quirk to her smile, "Other Adams. I have learned the words...My name, Simmaeri. An echo. Vast sound. Big.

"You understand, yes?"

"More like got a little too excited."

No really, Adam got a little too happy about sparring and he accidentally slammed the man. It...also didn't help later on when he carried Kresnik to a bar one night for a distraction. And we mean carried him from one town to the other.

Billy stared openly as he ran after Adam, distancing himself a few steps.

"...a little excited? Adam, did you become a hulking superman over the past few years? Do you bench-press trucks?"

Ok, he had to admit that made him laugh a little. Ranger turned Hulk...yeah, sounds like fun.

"No, I can't do that but I could guess a blue phoenix I know might be able to."

Well, he doesn't know for sure that Marco really could but you never know.

He understands that part. Honestly, he's glad that he's not being so awkward with her now. Who knows in the future.

"An echo...I do understand."

It may seem like nothing but echos can be rather powerful given the situation.

"A phoenix could smash people into the pavement? Wow, I'm impressed."

Billy moved just the slightest bit faster. Wow, outdone by so many? He'd have to step up his game.

"Good." Simmaeri's smile grew fonder, pleased to make herself clearer by the sentence – testament to her loving learning of the language. "I have taken time to learn these words – English. They are beautiful. It will take much time to know them all."

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

[Open]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

/dies

no subject

no subject