Chapter Twenty-Two:
Heavens Aligned

by Cres, Sky and Steph

Downtown Roanoke's nighttime face was very different from its daytime face. It wasn't the first time Ariel had thought such a thing, and it probably wouldn't be the last time, either. Daytime was all about business suits getting together and City Hall and bad parking. Nighttime had a totally different crowd and a totally different feel--younger, more energetic, concentrating on having fun.

The parking was equally bad, though they didn't charge you for meter parking at night. If you were lucky enough to find an open meter.

He identified with the City's polarity, though it would have been rather pretentious to actually make the point aloud. Fortunately, he was on patrol alone this evening, and so there was no one to burden with his insights and metaphors. Leo had been so astounded when Amir had said he was going on patrol that evening that the Guardian hadn't even thought to suggest that he take along someone. Azrael, or Metatron, or Gabriel, or something. And Leo was always a stickler for things like safety and teamwork. Maybe the thought honestly hadn't occurred to him, or maybe he was afraid Amir would lose interest in the thought if actual planning and organization had to go into the outing. And so it was that it had been Amir who had left the apartment complex where he resided with the other Virginia Tech students; but it was now Ariel who was hopping from rooftop to rooftop like a crazed Gummi Bear let loose downtown.

When he got back, and it was safe to ask, Leo would probably want to know what had possessed him to actually take initiative enough to go on the nocturnal wanderings that seemed to be pre-programmed into all of the other senshi, but that he had stubbornly resisted as often as possible. And to be honest, Ariel wasn't really sure. Perhaps it had something to do with having discovered Suphlatus the other week. He hadn't meant to use any of his own powers that evening, especially not in some frat house basement with a LAN party going on right over their heads. But what had started out as an unfortunate accident had turned into an intriguing experiment, and Ariel was now wanting to familiarize himself more with his powers. The Angelus who had spent most of his spare time avoiding senshi conflicts was now out scrapping for a good fight, and he had decided that his prey would be the Grigori. He hadn't ever actually encountered one, but Leo had assured him that they were most assuredly evil, and the world would be a better place without them.

Perhaps if Leo knew he had gone on patrol with the specific intention of baiting Grigori, he would have remembered to insist on that teamwork-thing.

Oh, well.

Ariel peered over the edge of a building and watched a throng of people emerging from the Opera Roanoke; their performance must have just let out. It didn't really seem like a Grigori-type haunt, though Ariel wasn't really sure what a Grigori-type haunt would look like, except for maybe a voodoo queen's parlor or something.

Oh, well again.

If he just bounced around enough, the Grigori would probably find him first. And that was just fine.

He checked over the opera-goers one last time, and then made his way towards some local restaraunts down a side street. Surely even Grigori had to eat.

He found himself vaguely wondering if fighting on a full stomach would give a senshi stomach cramps.

Briony was out past curfew. Again. This time she had snuck out this time, rather than just being late getting in as she usually was. She was hoping to run into Francis, some boy her brother introduced her to. She figured that she wasn't very likely too. Francis didn't live in Roanoke and only stopped by occasionally.

As she walked she looked over her shoulders, and around her, and she had Gawain flying over head scouting. Briony didn't feel like a fight tonight.

After a bit Briony found herself near a cluster of restaurants and found herself feeling hungry. She looked at the signs and was almost decided on where she would eat when the hunger passed, so she continued on her way.

Briony was nearing a park when a hand fell on her shoulder. She spun around and took a swing at the person behind her. The clever bugger ducked and tackled Briony into the grass.

"What are you doing out so late. Janey's gonna be pissed," the tall dark haired boy said as he helped Briony back up. Briony glared at him.

"What I'm doing is none of your business," she replied with a huff.

The two siblings began to argue, the younger's accent getting stronger the more her temper rose, the older's lilt slurring a bit more as he became defensive.

Briony just cocked an eyebrow and looked at the girl. She brushed a strand of just barely still cherry red hair from her eye. She had the feeling that she knew this girl from somewhere, but was still a bit too stunned to fully gather her wits. Her brother was a little quicker to get to shake off the stunned feeling.

"Cork? Kerry? No. Waterford actually. Or, to be honest, that's where our mum's from. We were born Dublin. We've lived a few years in Newfoundland as well. That's in Canada, and we came here from there. We've been living in Roanoke for a bit, so I guess that answers your visitors question," Hunter said as he grabbed Rian's hand and gave it a good friendly shake. "Oh, and I'm Hunter. Pretty nice to meet you too, you're pretty cute."

Briony elbowed her brother in the stomach. She didn't say anything for a moment or two. She was trying to figure out where she knew Rian from.

"I'm pretty sure I've met you somewhere before. I'm Briony," she said a fading blue strand falling into her face. She gave a weak smile before turning and glaring hard at her brother who was trying to throw strands of her hair into her eyes.

Rian grinned and shook hands enthusiastically, and a slow blush began to spread beneath her dark complexion at Hunter's comment. Brother and sister, then, the way they were going on! And Hunter had said 'our mum'. "It's good to meet you guys," she said, and her peripheral vision caught a bit of motion in the air above as her ears picked up the sound of pinions. She glanced up at the underside of a big bird circling them.

That triggered a memory, of a big bird at the window of a fast food restaurant the day she'd become an Astronomia, and she looked back to examine Briony closer. She wasn't sure, it was just a flash, but..."I think we've met before too. But I can't place it. I don't mean to butt in, but would you guys mind some company? I really like the sound of your voices. It's like family."

Hunter grinned and Briony rolled her eyes. Hunter draped an arm over Rian's shoulders.

"You can certainly join me, but Briony here should be getting home. It's late ya know," Hunter said, wagging a finger at Briony. Briony glared at her older brother.

"I'm 18, I shouldn't have to adhere to a curfew of any sort," Briony snorted indignantly. She looked over at Rian. "I have absolutely no problem with you coming along with us though."

Rian very gently ducked out from under Hunter's arm with a grin, patting his shoulder as she did. "Well, if you'll excuse my ugly jogging outfit, then I guess we have plans." She side-stepped to walk closer to Briony, and felt that strange moment of deja-vu again, of walking the same path. "Where were you guys headed?" she said, then without even realizing she was going to, she added, "Wendy's!"

Hunter mock pouted a little when Rian ducked away from him. "And here I was hoping I could lead you away, so it was just the two of us, for a moonlit stro-" he started before something vaguely resembling a hacky sack hit him in the head.

"We weren't headed anywhere. I was... wandering... and my brother tackled me from out of nowhere. I was actually trying to avoid him," Briony stated, glaring at her brother. "Wendy's sounds good though, I've been kind of hungry," she said, a bit clueless as to why Wendy's suddenly stuck out in her mind.

"Yeah," Rian said, "Wendy's is open late, and..." She paused, then just jumped in with both feet, the way she seemed to do with everything lately. "You were there, and so was Veta and Rick, and...Kanene. Kanene had Tycho with her, that day. You didn't stay, but I saw you outside." She waited to see if she was right, already knowing she was, but waiting for a reaction. Maybe this girl didn't want to be an Astronomia, maybe her brother didn't know she was, so she would let her pretend she didn't understand, if she wanted to. Those first fifteen minutes after the salamander had addressed her were a jumble of shocked moments cobbled together in her mind. But a girl with blue-streaked red hair was hard to miss, even when you were being told you weren't who you thought you were.

Poor Kanene.

"Their fries suck," Rian finished.

When Rian suddenly put her finger on where the sudden familiarity came from Briony just gave her a small conspiratorial smile as if to say "That's exactly it!". Briony kept quiet about it though as she didn't want to say too much with her brother there.

"Yeah, Wendy's fries do suck. The burgers are still edible," Briony replied.

Briony noticed her brother bouncing around like a rubber ball and hoped she could glare him into settling down. It wasn't working. Instead of settling down he managed to squeeze himself between the girls and link his arms with theirs.

"Instead of burgers how about we go somewhere and get donuts. I like donuts. They're all round and have nifty holes in the middle of them," he said with a grin.

Rian allowed Hunter to get touchy-feely only because she knew who his sister was, now. Not which one, of course, but one of hers. "Um....this time of evening, there's just supermarket donuts," Rian said. "That's probably not what you had in mind, right? I mean, it would be cooler to sit and talk." For more than one reason, now, she thought. And if they could get rid of Hunter, there would be an even stranger conversation than the one they were already having. "'Cause I've been jogging for about half an hour, and I'm tired. No one's got a curfew, do they?"

Hunter grinned at Briony. Briony glared back. She mentally dared him to say anything. He didn't get the hint, or he did and took the dare.

"Briony does. She's not supposed to be out in the middle of the night. She's still got school," Hunter said, moving a bit closer to Rian. "Which means it'll just be me and you! Woohoo!" Hunter thrust his arms up into the air, forgetting that he had them linked with those of the girls.

"I have no curfew," Briony said defiantly. Then she remembered something her brother had been complaining about earlier in the week. "Hunter, don't you have work in the morning?" she asked with a smirk. "Early in the morning? Like six am early?" she watched as her brother stopped in his tracks and became a little pale.

"Er... yes... I do," he said sheepishly, looking at his watch. He inched away slowly. "And I should be going... sleep is important you know!" He turned and ran off in the direction of his apartment, but not before kneeling and kissing Rian's hand. "Goodbye m'lady!" he shouted as he ran.

"Ugh! Finally! No more older brother. So, which one are you?" Briony asked, after making sure there wasn't anyone in ear shot.

Rian grinned at Briony's relief and abruptness. "Aldebaran," she said. "Senshi of pursuit, which is probably as lame as it sounds, since I haven't actually whupped anybody yet. Still, I guess I hold my own...seeing as I'm still alive..." She shrugged. "This is so great, though, not only do you have the coolest accent in the universe, but you're on my team! Which one are you?"

"Phoenix. Fire and rebirth. I make pretty flaming birds. But not that kind of flaming," Briony replied with a laugh. "And I don't think my accent is that cool. Just the thought of me talking sends girls at school into fits of laughter."

Briony adjusted the hem of her t-shirt and then looked up into the sky. She pointed upwards.

"I'm sure if you recognize me you probably recognize him too," she said to Rian, indicating Gawain circling overhead. "Looks like he's caught a mouse or shrew or something."

Rian followed Briony's gesture, catching another glimpse of motion in the darkness above. "You have a guardian," she said, not meaning it to be as wistful as it sounded. She took a step closer to Briony to look close in her eyes. "I met Tycho, that once, but I haven't talked to a guardian since. Or anybody who really knows what's going on. I mean, the Graikos I've run into are obviously mean as hell, so I understand getting into it with them. The Romanus don't act like they want to fight, though, and the Angelus are just retarded...or at least the one I saw was. So I don't see the whole point of being Astronomia at all, do you? Except to make the others stop...killing each other."

Briony thought for a moment about that. It's true really, everybody seemed hell bent on killing each other.

"Not sure what our point is either really," Briony said. "I haven't really taken many chances to get to know what our point is though," she added. She stared up at the sky just in time to see Gawain swoop down on some unsuspecting smaller creature.

"I really wish he'd stop that," Briony muttered before continuing what she was saying. "I've never really been in any battles, I skipped out on the big meeting, I don't even patrol often as I should," she confessed.

"You're not missing out on anything," Rian said. "You're smarter than the rest of us, I mean, not getting into all this. But I guess that means you haven't met Universalis either," she sighed. "She's supposed to be our leader...or that's what Haydn said. You know, Sombrero? Weeds?"

"I don't think I've met Haydn," Briony said as she furrowed her brow. "And I definitely haven't met Universalis." Briony frowned, her lips pouting a bit. It was starting to frustrate her how out of the loop she's let herself become.

"He's something else," Rian said. "Maybe he could introduce us to Universalis, maybe she knows something we don't. Which wouldn't really be hard."

"Gawain could probably find Universalis if we needed him too," Briony said with a sigh. She shoved her hands in her pockets. "Maybe we should go find somewhere out of the way to sit and continue talking about this," she suggested. She was starting to feel exposed walking around talking about senshi stuff.

"Yeah," Rian said. "I wonder if we'll ever need him to." She glanced around, seeing how little pedestrian traffic there was. "You're right, it's kind of...we shouldn't be talking about this stuff out loud like it was small talk. Let's get a snack, my treat." She lightly patted the small black fanny-pack at her hip. "There's still stuff open. The Baskin Robbins is just one street over, ice cream sounds good, doesn't it? Does Gawain mind if you -" she paused.

"Ice cream sounds great. Does Gawain mind what?" Briony asked. She then noticed that Rian had become a bit more alert. Briony tipped her head to the side a bit and raised an eyebrow.

She'd seen something move in the greenbelt between buildings, among a few trees planted far too close together. A couple of kids (well, younger than herself at any rate) on razor scooters were buzzing by on the opposite sidewalk, but they hadn't caught her attention. There'd been something white, almost like a robe. She didn't see anything else, but she realized that whatever she *had* seen made her uneasy. Funny outfits almost always meant less ethnic tradition and more someone wanting to pull her hair. "Did you...see that?" she said, gesturing very carefully and subtly with a tilt of her head toward the trees. "Does Gawain know how to be a watch-bird?"

"I didn't see a thing," Briony replied. "And though Gawain knows how to play watch bird, he doesn't always like to tell me when something's up." She glared up at Gawain and noticed he was circling a bit overhead.

"Let's go get that ice cream," Briony suggested, a hint of concern showing in her voice.

Rian shrugged off her trepidation to pat Briony on the arm in a spontaneous show of appreciation. "I'm glad I ran into you," she said, falling into step with the other girl as they headed one street over. "It seems like a good omen or something, to me."

"A good omen hm? Can't say I've ever been called that before," Briony replied. "I'm glad I ran into you too. It's kind of nice to finally start making connections with the team."

They paused to wait for the light at an intersection before crossing, and it reminded Rian of how she'd met Haydn. She launched into the tale about nearly running a fellow Astronomia down, leaving nothing out and barely bothering to take a breath between sentences. She realized she was talking too much, but she couldn't seem to help herself. Briony seemed like a gift to her, and she let her enthusiasm run away with her mouth.

The Baskin Robbins sat glowing between a Mexican restaurant and a Kinko's that was closed for the night. There were only a couple of other patrons visible through the windows. "I'm partial to the cotton candy flavor, or the bubblegum," Rian said with a grin, opening the door for Briony. "Which one's your favorite? Or do you mix 'em?"

"I've always been partial to sherbets," Briony said. "Cotton candy is pretty good too." She stared at the different flavors as they approached the counter. "Butter pecan looks good, maybe I'll get that," she said, more to herself than to anybody else.

The clerk behind the counter looked bored but friendly while she waited for them to decide. Rian already had her mind made up, but waited for Briony out of consideration. It gave her an excuse to keep glancing out the windows to see if there was anything or anyone out there that she should be wary of. Once Briony ordered, Rian decided on a scoop of bubblegum in a sugar cone, and added a tip to the jar on the counter before leading the way back outside.

They stood in the parking lot just inside the protective glow from the windows, viewing the night with that faint discomfort that only people who've just met seem to have. "Can I ask you a weird question?" Rian said. "I mean, all of this is weird, but I've never had a chance to ask anybody this."

Briony nodded. "Sure, ask away," she said. She sat back and waited for the question.

"OK, then...how do you feel about being a senshi? I mean, do you care and feel like you should do good works like stop crime, or do you just want to avoid it?"

Briony was taken a back just a little bit by the question. It wasn't something she ever expected to be asked. She wrinkled her nose in concentration, trying to sort out exactly how she felt about the situation.

"Well, being a senshi can be the biggest pain in the arse," she started. "I guess sometimes it can probably be fun, and you get all these team mates you're supposed to work with. Lots of opportunities to make new friends I guess. I'm not sure it's really for me though. I mean, I can't stop being what I am no matter how much I may want to. That doesn't necessarily mean it's what I would've chosen for myself. I certainly wouldn't have. But I'm stuck with it and the only choice I have is to either ignore or take my responsibilities and so far I've chosen to ignore them."

Briony poked at what was left of her ice cream cone. She had started to get a guilty sort of feeling in the pit of her stomach, the sort of feeling that you get when you know you're supposed to do something but you don't and then have to deal with a very disappointed parent about the situation.

Rian dribbled a little melting ice cream on the ground and watched the colors mix. "That's okay," she said. "If you're not even really sure what it is...that's not really ignoring it, is it? Paying attention to it seems to be pretty dangerous." She sighed and then decided to lighten the moment by cramming the remainder of her cone in her mouth all at once, making for a ridiculous mess when some of it got on her shirt.

Rian was trying to snicker past a terminal case of brain freeze when she saw movement over Briony's shoulder. That flash of white was visible again, in the shadows of the loading dock of the sports store across the way. "Guhmmph-uh," she said, gesturing toward the motion, which was already gone as Briony tried to follow her finger. Rian had gone on point and become an orange-haired, ice-cream smeared retriever.

"Okay, NOW we're being followed," Rian said. "You don't think...someone can tell we're...maybe we should just check it out. Just in case."

Briony had laughed when Rian shoved the ice cream into her mouth. Now, watching the other girl point towards the mysterious being she kept seeing (that always seemed to be gone by the time Briony looked) was just too hilarious. Briony almost fell over. She sat up straight and tried to regain her composure.

"If you're sure we're being followed then we probably should, she replied, still trying not to snicker. She wanted to be as serious about the situation as she should be, but was having some difficulty. She handed Rian a napkin and pointed to the smears of ice cream.

"You should probably clean up a bit first or I'm going to giggle the whole time," she suggested.

"Bleh!" Rian said, taking the napkins gratefully and wiping her face. "That didn't turn out as well as a I wanted it to." She lowered her voice and turned her back to the direction of the sports store, already sorry she'd made a small scene. No telling who'd seen her. "There's somebody in a robe-thing wandering around out here tonight. I just saw him again. I don't recognize the outfit, but if we're lucky, it's just a retarded Angelus. And he might know where I can find the little yellow kicker that pissed me off. Are you game? You don't have to," she added quickly. "I'm not about the fighting, since I don't do that well, but I do wanna see what I can find out."

Briony finished the last of her cone. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve and looked at Rian. She gave a lopsided grin.

"I'm definitely up for it," Briony said to her team mate. "And if it's not some screwy Angelus kid, and we do get to have a fight, I'll finally get to play with some fire." She got up and started to head in a random direction. She stopped and turned to face Rian.

"Which way were we going again?"

Rian couldn't help it; she grinned, suddenly filled with a rush of confidence. Briony was definitely her good omen. "I knew I was going to like you," she said. She jerked her head slightly in the direction of the darkened windows of the sports store across the way. "Whoever he is, he was over there. So if we sort of walk away like nothing's going on, until we're completely out of sight, no one will see us transform. I hope. So the way you're going is perfect." She followed after Briony.

As they fell into step, heading away from the street, Rian added, "I'm not actually sure it's a guy, I just threw that in there."

"Guy or girl, we'll find out soon enough," Briony replied. She flicked a bit of hair away from her face.

She walked right into an area that felt hidden. She looked at Rian and tipped her head to the side just a little.

"Do you think anyone can see us?" she asked. Briony had her hand on a small feather she kept in her pocket. "More importantly though, do you feel that creep anywhere nearby?"

Rian looked startled for a moment, then said, "I forgot we can do that kind of thing." She glanced around, listening and watching, then exaggeratedly sniffed the air for good measure. She felt like a kid sneaking out after curfew, and she loved it. Despite the element of danger - or, most likely, because of it - she found herself nearly bouncing on the balls of her feet with excitement. The best fun was the fun you shouldn't have. "I think we're okay," she said. "Wonder twin powers, activate!"

Briony grinned and took out her feather. "You know it's too bad we can't hold hands and say 'Shape of a senshi!' to transform," Briony said with a laugh.

"Phoenix Astra Power Make-up!" Briony exclaimed, trying to keep her voice down enough so as to not attract what little attention there was to attract. She let the fire go all swirly around her and stumbled a bit when everything was over.

"Well, transforming's always a blast," Phoenix said, with a small touch of sarcasm. She brushed her knees off absentmindedly.

Rian stared for just a moment, dumbfounded by the display. She meant to say 'wow', but it wouldn't do anything justice. So she pulled her necklace free from the collar of her shirt, wrapped her fingers around her key, and whispered "Aldebaran Astra Power, Make-Up!" A swirl of ribbons later, Aldebaran leveled her Sentinel Key a little further down the street from where she'd gotten the last glimpse of white and said, "_Now_ I know where he is. And he's alone. I say we box him in while he's still back there, and scare the ass off him. Like a citizen's arrest except with no citizens or arresting. I'll go around the left, and you come up behind on the right, and then we can dodge if he actually has a weapon or real powers or something."

"Right, sounds good. And if he does have real powers that's not a problem for me. And if he has a weapon.... well... I'm assuming that's what that key you're carrying must be," Phoenix said with a nod. She started off in the direction Aldebaran suggested before stopping and turning around to face her team mate.

"Alone is he? That's not very bright," she stated with a smirk before sneaking off. Phoenix snuck through the shadows until she found her target.

'Best not to do anything until I know Aldebaran is ready,' she thought to herself.

Aldebaran had crossed the street in a flurry of orange and a flutter of ribbons to stand in the shadows behind the sports store, letting her eyes adjust to the dark. She couldn't see Phoenix, but knew without a doubt she would be there. She could just make out someone in white walking away from her - and she could feel him, too, as a slightly unpleasant humming feeling in the bridge of her nose and forehead. What made her wary was that she couldn't hear him walking, he was so stealthy, but she only let it bother her for a moment.

She came after him, feeling an absurd giddiness at her attempt to creep up unnoticed. This was actually kind of fun in a misdemeanor sort of way. She waited until she was worried the figure might be getting close enough to Phoenix's side of the building to see her before she started yelling the first official-sounding thing she could think of. Sadly, she was unable to keep the suggestion of a giggle out of it.

"In the name of the Astronomia, I order you to leave our territory, or suffer the consequences!"

Ariel had stopped, and was now crouched on the ground, intently drawing something with a piece of yellow penguin-shaped sidewalk chalk when Aldebaran's challenge rang through the alley. He peered through the green haze that floated mistily above his head, and through the shadows of the poorly-lit area, to see who it was who had addressed him.

"Astronomia?" he asked, the disappointment in his voice clearly audible as he rose to his feet, wiping the yellow chalk dust from his hands and picking up his Staff, which had been lying nearby. "Drat. I was hoping to find the Grigori... if you see any, send 'em my way."

He took a few steps in the opposite direction and made another chalk drawing on the red bricks of the wall in front of him. He had been leaving a trail of inverted pentagrams through his nocturnal wanderings. He wasn't quite sure if they'd really attract Grigori or not, but it seemed like the sort of trail one would leave for a Grigori to pick up on.

In theory, anyways.

The green mist curled languidly down the street.

Phoenix had watched and listened to what was going on. She scratched her head and screwed her face up a bit. He was completely unfazed by Aldebaran! What the hell? Phoenix got up and walked out of her hiding place.

She walked up behind Ariel as quietly as possible and just stopped a few feet behind. She put her hands on her hips and looked from Aldebaran to the back of their opponents head.

"Alright, now there's two Astronomia confronting you, that has to concern you somewhat," she said smirking at the guy's disadvantage but annoyed with his lack of concern. "And what on earth is with the chalk?"

Ariel tried not to flinch. The two senshi energy signatures that Taamir had told him about had meant two senshi, of course, but he preferred not to be confronted by a herd of senshi at once. He concentrated very hard on the bricks in front of him and drew another inverted pentacle before turning to Phoenix.

"I eat Astronomia for breakfast," he proclaimed loftily, "But I'm in the mood to fight Grigori tonight, that's all. I'm giving you the chance to escape. If you want a fight, no problem. You could probably find a third friend, and it would be even. You have a cellphone on you, or do you need change for the pay phone?"

His eyes flickered to the green gas which was now languidly curling around both girls. All he had to do was keep up the banter for a few more minutes..

Soemthing about this Ariel guy was getting under Phoenix's skin a bit. He seemed much too confident in his own abilities. She couldn't stand that. She could feel a firebird attack just waiting to get out.

"I don't think we'll be needing any help," she told her opponent. "If you indeed eat Astronomia for breakfast, I think you may find that this one in particular might burn you."

Phoenix thought that was kind of clever sounding. She braced herself and cleared her mind just a little as she prepared for what she was about to do.

"Phoenix Firebird Attack!" she shouted. A bird shaped wave of fire flowed toward Ariel. She didn't realize the subtle leak of energy from her body. She did realize the firebird was quite a bit smaller than she expected it to be. She tried really hard not to look frustrated.

Ariel had turned his back to pretend to concentrate once more on his chalk art. He hadn't imagined that she would have the audacity to attack so quickly--- why, they hadn't even finished their pre-fight posturing!

But as he caught the words that summoned her power, he whirled around. Now was not the time to play it cool, he had to react----

It was too late. There was no time for a counterattack; she was way too close. He tried to stumble out of the way, but didn't manage to totally clear the glowing flames of the firebird as it swept towards him.

The damage was minimal, barely a burn. Disappointing really. She wondered why it was so weak. At the beginning of the fight, having taken absolutely no hits, she should be able to create a firebird just as powerful as she wanted. She wasn't aiming for high damage, just a bit of a scare, but this was ridiculous! She tried to hide the shock/disappointment as best she could. She smirked at Ariel.

"How's that for firepower?" she asked. "And that's only a little bit of what I can do. A very little bit." She silently hoped that her bravado could cover the fact that she had meant for something a little bigger.

Ariel looked at his sleeve, which had sooty smudges left on it as a memento of the attack. The heat had seared him, and had been painful at the time, but he knew it wasn't as bad as it would have been if Taamir hadn't been doing his job.

Thank you, Taamir.

Oddly enough, he felt calm. Adrenaline was beginning to work its magic, and his elbows and knees were almost weak with an excess of pent-up energy and a sudden lust for action.

"Nice," he said, leaning against his Staff, and he was smiling. Fingers twirled through the streamers. "You'll have to show me more. But I'll tell you a secret... I've only met one Astronomia in the past. And I never laid a hand on her. So it's up to you two to help me make up for that."

He lashed out abruptly towards Phoenix with his Staff, if only to do nothing but get some distance between themselves. She was uncomfortably close, and if she did decide to show him more, he preferred it to be from a distance.

Phoenix jumped back a bit. She lost her balance and ended up falling flat on her behind. She was expecting Ariel to do something, but she wasn't so sure she was expecting that.

"Ouch, ground hurts," she muttered. "Remind me to try not to land on it like that again." She got up off the ground and looked at Ariel.

"That was fun," she said. "But this is going to be a lot more fun." She drew energy for another Firebird Attack, this time in an attempt to make a much larger one. She reconsidered and instead went to tackle her opponent.

Aldebaran watched with widened eyes, not realizing that Phoenix's firebird was not up to par with what the other senshi had expected; it had impressed her all the same. She had nothing even remotely as impressive, so she leveled the Sentinel Key in Ariel's direction and let Phoenix do her thing, watching for an opening.

Ariel found himself vaguely regretting that he had joined computer club in high school, rather than trying for, say, wrestling or judo. If he had startled Phoenix, she didn't really show it--- but he hoped he disguised the shock and embarrassment of being tackled by a fuku-clad girl just as well.

It would be too humiliating to have her chasing him around the alleyway, so he braced himself as best he could with what little time he had. He tried to swing at her with the Staff, but either he mis-timed it, or she ducked--- he wasn't quite sure what happened--- but the force of her tackle caused him to stumble backwards a few steps and crack his head against the wall behind him. The pain crackled sharply through his head and everything seemed to go gray and grainy and silent for a few seconds.

He wrapped his right arm, still holding the Staff, tightly around Phoenix. With his left arm, he gathered up a handful of cherry-red hair. He held her tightly, gasping from the shock, his eyes squeezed shut, as they stumbled to the rough asphalt. He just had to keep her pinned so that she couldn't summon anything while he was defenseless---

A large, cold chunk of metal suddenly pressed his upper lip against his teeth, and when he focused upwards, it was to see a lot of backlit orange and a girl with horns.

"You frickin' Angelus are all alike," Aldebaran said, keeping the key leveled under Ariel's nose. "Crazy as shithouse rats. You're gonna lose all your pretty teeth if you move fast, so let go of her and keep your hands where I can see them."

Ariel was breathing heavily, partly from the weight of Phoenix, and partly from the ordeal. Alebaran's voice sounded tinny and distant, and he struggled to clear the fog from his mind. He couldn't be defeated so easily--- especially in a fight with such a distinct lack of superpowers being drawn upon.

He'd die of embarrassment if he had to describe the fight to Seraphiel.

He wanted to make a snappy comeback, but his brain was failing him. He felt as though he had been knocked stupid and hoped it wasn't permanent.

Instead, he gave what he hoped was a wicked grin--- he was afraid it came across as weak and bleary, but hoped it was wicked all the same-- and began chanting under his breath. "Darb il-Habiib zayy akl iz-zabiib. Darb il-Habib zayy akl iz-zabiib. Darb il-Habiib zayy akl iz-zabib..."

The orbs of his Staff pulsed gently. 

::Taamir, I need your energy...::

Phoenix had noticed that Ariel was now somewhat distracted and not paying attention to her. She also noticed glowing. Glowing was bad. Now to get away from Ariel. Hrm. Perhaps she should do as females tend to do and just knee him in the groin. That could work.

Phoenix opted for stomping on his foot instead. She decided it was mean to knee a guy there, enemy or not. She did wish that her fuku had come with boots, or something heeled rather than a pair of sneakers though. It would have the possibility of hurting more.

As Phoenix disentangled herself from the hapless Angelus, Aldebaran kept her key under his nose as he righted himself until they were facing each other again. "Well," she said softly, "wasn't that enlightening. Maybe we should go ahead and get the glow-stick for safekeeping, huh Phoenix?"

Phoenix grabbed hold of the staff. She turned it so that Ariel's arms twisted a little, forcing him to let go or have his arms hurt.

"I don't have any objection to my weapon being taken from me, I haven't got one," Phoenix said as she wrenched the staff away from Ariel. "So I'm able to maintain a certain amount of indifference towards your situation."

He didn't say anything. He didn't trust himself to speak. He watched the green mist slowly evaporate from the alleyway, and knew that the girls would slowly regain their strength. The last thing he needed was to be in a situation where they were at full-strength, and he was powerless. His displeasure, however, was tangible.

"I'm not a big fan of having my weapon taken, either, but it's all fun and games until someone loses an eye," Aldebaran said. "And I like my eyes, and whatever else you might be trying to poke at with that thing. So tell us: why is an Angelus out by himself drawing all over stuff with chalk in the dark?"

Ariel scowled, his cheeks flushed with humiliation, and did his best to avoid the gaze of the Astronomia.

"I told you. I was hunting Grigori," he mumbled at his feet. He didn't care for the situation at all. The wall against his back was a nice, solid, safe feeling, but he felt vulnerable without his Staff, and he felt trapped by the two senshi in front of him. He groped around for some more bravado, but he felt like he was going to be sick. He wished they'd laugh and say, "Haha, we win!" and let him go. He wanted his Staff back to patch himself up. He wanted to sleep and not leave the house for a week. But no, he was virtually captive and being interrogated, and had little patience for it.

"So, are you going to do the usual Astronomia thing, and just kill me? Or are you going to take me back to Astronomia headquarters and use me as a hostage?"

He tried to keep his voice light, as though he didn't really care, but he was worried they might realize he was only half-joking.

"Kill you? Why would we do something like that?" Phoenix replied. "Kill a few Romanus maybe, but that's entirely different." She twirled the staff in her hands, having just freed it from its owner.

Aldebaran's eyes shifted from Phoenix to Ariel and back, still too stunned by Ariel's comments. She'd wanted to ask him what a Grigori was, but that was shoved aside now.

"Ch. Who are you trying to fool?" Ariel looked at her scornfully. "I was there. I saw it happen. She broke the truce. The Graikos managed to keep it. The Romanus managed to keep it. The Angelus managed to keep it. But the Astronomia are different. They'll cooperate as long as there's something in it for them, but they'll stab you in the back the moment they get tired of it."

There was a soft *twang* when Aldebaran let the head of her key rest forward on its own weight and bounce off Ariel's forehead. "Hey, goof, what the hell are you talking about?" she said, too surprised to be angry. "What truce, what Astronomia? It's the Angelus who come out of nowhere and screw things up when folks are trying to help someone else. You aren't talking about any Astronomia *I* know."

"I met her twice. We had a truce-thing going twice. As long as you guys have your friends around to keep you in line, Astronomia can pretend to be decent." He searched through his memory. "Clock-boy... what's his name, Horologium. He was pretty decent. I saw him twice, too. The girl with the skates wasn't exactly the brightest in the box... Sextans? But she was harmless. Met her once." He ticked them off on his finger. "But the one with the claws... she seemed decent, but it was all an act." He pitched his voice a little higher, mimicking her introduction to him from long ago. "'I'm Sailor Draco, Astronomia Galaxia Senshi of Spirits.' There was this Graikos, way back when. If you wanted to measure 'attitude', you'd use her as a scale. Don't remember her name... 'Happyfeet' is stuck in my head. Anyhow, Horologium took her out singlehandedly, so I didn't do much except hang around and watch... The second time, though, it was different. It was the day everything crazy, remember that? A bunch of senshi were investigating, and Draco got tired of waiting, even though we had nearly gotten the mysterious... whoever... trapped... and she thought she'd have a little fun and kill one of my teammates."

The words tumbled out. He felt ashamed of being captured, but there was even more indignity associated with being captured by the friends of Nathanael's killer.

"And so Nathanael's dead, just because an Astronomia didn't feel like waiting another five minutes to find the real enemy. She broke the truce and stabbed Nathanael in the back. And there wasn't a thing I could do about it except stare and call the police so they could find the body and tell her parents. I used my powers to patch her up a bit, but that was all I could do. Now, you tell me how the Angelus have wronged you even half that much."

Aldebaran stared. It was a lot to take in. She glanced sidelong at Phoenix to see if any of it was making sense to her.

Phoenix stood listening for a bit. She didn't recognize the majority of these names. She recognized Draco and Horologium. She felt like she should recognize Sombrero but she didn't.

"I don't know about any of this. I've been very anti social with my team," Phoenix said. "I think I've met the majority of them once though." Phoenix shrugged her shoulders. She looked at Ariel.

"You make us out to be a group of homicidal maniacs. I'm sure it's possible for one person to go nuts one day. That doesn't mean we're all like that," she went on. "Just like there's one Graikos who has a reputation for being an absolute bitch. Doesn't mean there aren't some nice ones." she twirled the staff again.

"The only name I recognize is Draco," Aldebaran said softly. "And when I met her, she wasn't like that at all. I don't think it happened the way you say it did, because she's dead, isn't she? Why would she kill someone right in front of everybody and then stand around to be killed?" She shook her head and stood the key on its teeth so she could lean on it a little. She'd wanted to corner him and get information, and she was getting it, but she wasn't sure how to process it. Not like this. Not as a fumbling, unplanned interrogation in the dark. He knew a lot more than she did, and if she kept him talking...

"The Angelus I've run into like causing chaos," she said abruptly, before Ariel could reply. "Armers and Kokabel didn't do anything but nearly get me and Sombrero killed, when we tried to break up a robbery. Some of us aren't just out running around annoying everyone else or hoping to kill someone, but that's all I get from the rest of you jerks, so it's no goddamn wonder an Astronomia would finally want to get even."

Ariel resisted the urge to snicker. Sombrero? What kind of self-respecting senshi had a name like Sombrero?

"And they said they were Angelus?" he asked doubtfully. "I've never run into them, and I'm the senior Angelus. Not the strongest," he added hastily, lest they think he was the best his team had to offer. "But I've been doing this the longest. What did they look like--- and what did they do?"

Aldebaran found herself stepping back a little to give him some room, encouraged by his sudden interest. "Well, they didn't...I mean, they had angel names," she said. "Not like the Graikos and Romanus with their different names for the *same god*. We're in there tossing a punk with a gun, and this chick in S & M wear, Armers I think, comes out of nowhere and starts giving speeches. She was okay, she didn't really have it out for anybody. She had a goat, I wasn't sure what THAT was about, but whatever. I have no idea where Kokabel came from, I never really got a good look at her face, but she was tiny and all in yellow with a poncho and had blue chains. She chased after us for no damn good reason, howling and bouncing around like a crack monkey. I'm going to wrap this around her head, when I find her." She hefted the key in one hand, letting the teeth drop to the cement with an ominous *thud*.

"How weird. They don't sound normal... and I've never heard of an angel named Kokabel, let alone something as weird as Armers. Armers doesn't really fit the naming pattern, though neither does 'Suphlatus', if you really want to get technical." He looked rather puzzled. "But... the chains." He frowned. "And the goat. I don't think an Angelus in their right mind would have a goat tagging along with them... it's all about the symbolism, y'know." Perhaps it was better to not mention that he had a cat tagging along with him half the time, as it might destroy his budding theory. "Do you know if the goat was, like, a guardian, or just a weird pet or something? Like, did you hear it talk?"

"Yeah, it talked," Aldebaran said. "It was a guardian. And the two girls weren't really working together. So if they weren't Angelus, then we're all in more trouble then I thought, because there's yet another team out there. Um...what's a Grigori, anyway? And why would you be looking for it?"

"Grigori are sort of like Angelus, except they're Evil. And Fallen." Ariel took great care to pronounce the words with Capital Letters, to stress the difference between Them and Himself. "So, for example, we might have a senshi named Michael on our side; and they might have a senshi named Lucifer on their side. We have a historical grudge against each other--- for obvious reasons." He figured it was better to be vague and leave it to their own intelligence to figure out, rather than giving the weak explanation of, 'Because Leo said so.' "But I think all Grigori were originally Angelus... and then they turned Evil. And Fell. So I'm thinking, if you found an Angelus with a goat for a guardian, don't you think chances are it was a Grigori instead of a real Angelus?"

Aldebaran shared another glance with Phoenix, wishing they had telepathy as a standard power so they could talk around the Angelus. He was actually making sense, and she found it confusing that it both relieved and disappointed her. "And that's why you were out looking for Grigori tonight," she said. "Not Astronomia or anyone else, just Grigori, because you don't like them any more than we do."

With her doubts spoken aloud, she felt at a loss for what to do next. They'd been all geared up for hostility, and now it dissipated like that green mist had...

"I guess you're my first real Angelus, then," she said. "There's really no reason for you to lie about it, and there were fallen angels, so fallen Angelus would make sense. What exactly are we supposed to do about them, when we get them?"

She wasn't even quite sure what she meant by 'we' when she said it.

"You smite them," said Ariel, without thinking. It sounded inordinately cheesy, even to his own ears, and he gave Aldebaran and Phoenix a feeble, apologetic grin to split between themselves. "I suppose--- if I had uber-powers that could do it--- there might be a way to turn them normal again. You know, like an ordinary, reasonable Angelus on the street." That safely covered most anyone either of those girls were likely to encounter, barring Seraphiel. "But I would think that in order for that to work, even if I *was* capable of it, they'd have to admit the error of their ways... you know, whatever had caused them to Fall in the first place, or be Fallen from the start. And I've never heard of a fallen angel--- senshi or mythological or otherwise--- who repented enough to be accepted back. So if they can't come back, the only thing left is to smack them around so they don't, you know, interfere with stuff. There's enough senshi business to take care of without having to deal with their idea of fun, you know?"

Ariel could probably count the number of pieces of official "senshi business" he had engaged in over the last three months on one hand.

But it wouldn't do to admit that.

Luckily, he couldn't see the sparkle in Aldebaran's eyes. She liked the 'smacking around' part where the Grigori were concerned. She liked the *idea* of the Grigori, too. They were a less ephemeral enemy, a team (if they could be called that even loosely) that was hellbent on 'fun'. Of course...only one of them had been obnoxious, but neither had helped stop the robbery. They'd seemed focused on harrasing the Astronomia. That still pissed her off.

And of course Ariel was well-spoken, which helped his credibility.

For just a moment, she wanted to pull Phoenix aside and have a huddle, but really there was nothing she would say to her teammate that she was afraid to say right to the face of an opposing team member. "What if our time was better spent keeping the really obnoxious senshi in line? You were talking about a truce earlier, and a 'real' enemy, and I know that was the night a lot of kids were killed...but I never knew what happened." She paused. "What if we had a chance to talk long enough to really figure out what's going on and whether we should be..." she gestured aimlessly with one hand. "Our own team?"

Grigori hm? A bunch of evil angels? Wasn't evil somewhat relative?

"All sounds like a great lot of fun, smacking a bunch of people around," she muttered. She scratched the back of her head.

And Ariel had said something about 'their idea of fun...' What WAS their idea of fun?

"And what kind of evil are we talking about anyways?" she asked. "I mean, are they evil just because they're fallen or are they evil because they actually run around and do things like... I dunno... kill people? And I don't mean kill people as in their enemies, I mean pick a random person off the street and butcher them sort of kill people."

Ariel looked at her with a certain degree of scorn, which was probably not the best path in the world, seeing that she still held his Staff captive.

"The kind of evil that nearly gets two of your teammates killed when they're trying to do something decent with their powers," he told her.

It looked like Sextans had company.

Phoenix caught the look he gave her. She glared back and gave his staff another careless twirl.

"No need to get touchy or anything, I'm just trying to get a feel for exactly HOW evil we're talking. There are many different degrees you know," Phoenix said. She twirled the staff again. She hoped that the careless act would bother him.

"Besides, it's not as though I know anything about these guys," she muttered under her breath. 'Because I've neglected my duties more than just a little bit,' she added mentally. She wanted to give herself a good kick in the ass for that. She turned to Aldebaran

"So, are we going to be smacking these Grigori around?" Phoenix asked her team mate.

Ariel grinned. "How about you leave Aldebaran and I to do the smacking-around-Grigori part, and you can befriend them in a non-judgmental way?"

He had gotten his second wind and was beginning to feel much better, Staff or no Staff. Aldebaran was no longer quite as intimidating, though he knew she could be a formidable opponent... but they had managed to find common ground. And he doubted Phoenix could take him, one-on-one, head butts or not.

Phoenix gave the staff another careless spin, taking care to make sure it hit something. She didn't like the way this guy spoke to her.

"Maybe I should," she replied. She swung the staff around so it rested on her shoulder. "It certainly sounds better than spending more time around you." She looked as though she was seriously considering it. She wasn't, but she wanted to look as though she was.

"But I won't," Phoenix said almost defiantly. "Aldebaran is my team mate and I'll stand by her. If she thinks that these Grigori need a good ass kicking, and if she wants me to help her in that then I will."

"And besides, just because I'm unsure about a group's intent, that doesn't mean I want to rush to their side and give them a chance," she added.

"I know the little one in yellow wasn't good for more than rude bullshit," Aldebaran said. "I'm happy to spend the rest of my days breaking up robberies and breaking Grigori heads...if that's what she was. And I think Ariel was right. So, Angelus, know any other Angelus who'd like to help out? Or will I need to convince them?"

He eyed them thoughtfully.

"The Angelus in general aren't the types who are interested in running headlong into fights with known enemies with unknown allies. It might be better if we gave it a go between ourselves at first, to see how it goes. And then, if we can vouch for each other, maybe we can expand things a bit." He still wasn't sure how he felt about teaming up with any of Draco's ex-cronies, but he certainly didn't want to expose someone like Metatron or Suphlatus to any unexpected betrayals. "My way of finding the Grigori obviously left something to be desired... you think you guys would have any better luck?"

Aldebaran glanced at Phoenix again, keeping an eye on how she was twirling the Staff. If Ariel said anything else to annoy her she would most likely pop him one with his own weapon. And Aldebaran wasn't going to help him. She also didn't want to volunteer her teammate for something she might not want to be part of. She hadn't known Phoenix long enough to tell how she felt about it all.

"I'm not very good in the locating area of things. My powers are offensive and reparative. Gawain however..." Phoenix trailed off as she put two fingers to her mouth. She let out a loud, high whistle and a hawk swopped down and landed on the staff that was resting on her shoulder."

"Gawain is an amazing tracker," she finished. She grinned at her guardian who, if birds could scowl, would definitely be scowling right now. He snapped his beak at her and she stuck her tongue out at him.

Ariel gave a half-wave, not sure if Gawain could speak or not. Its feathers were lovely, even in the darkness when detail disappeared, but it wouldn't do to be caught looking too admiring.

Aldebaran patted her key with one hand. "I'm not sure what my range is, but I can find other senshi with this thing. If they were already nearby, I mean. I've never actually tried it out...really, why the hell would I actually be *trying* to get my ass kicked by looking for other teams? Still...it would be good to put it to use. To put myself to use, in this getup, for once. I need to at least make sure Kokabel knows how bad she almost made things." 

Ariel pulled his attention from Gawain and shrugged. "If you see it as *trying* to get your ass kicked by other teams, just give me my Staff back, and I'll go look for them myself, and tell them you say hi. If you want to write down your feelings, I'll pass the note along as well. Save you thirty-seven cents for as stamp. But if you're interested in putting your senshi powers to good use, and think you're good enough to watch someone's back while you're at it, I'm in for at least a trial run to see how it goes. I'm hunting Grigori either way--- with or without either or both of you. It doesn't matter."

Aldebaran shrugged. "Ok, Mr. Attitude," she said. "I'm in. We'll see how it goes. 'nix, What do you think?"

"Aw, don't think of it as trying to get *your* ass kicked, think of it as trying to get *somebody else's* ass kicked," Phoenix said to her team mate. "And you can count me in," she added, facing Ariel this time.

"I suppose that means you'll be needing you staff back then huh?" She asked. She gave it a playful twirl, entirely forgetting that Gawain was perched on it. She was very soon whacked in the face with a wing by a very unhappy hawk.

"Oops," she said a bit sheepishly. She then turned her attention back to Ariel. "Anyways, yeah. Here's your staff!" Phoenix held the staff out towards Ariel, hesitated and pulled it back towards herself.

"You're not going to try any weird misty tricks on us with this are you?" she asked with mock suspicion. "Because if you are then this whole deal is off." She smirked a little and handed it back towards the Angelus.

He grinned, pleased to have the familiar weight back in his hand. "Nahh. Hopefully next time, I'll be able to see what you guys are capable of--- powerswise, anyways. I'm sure you can give the Grigori guardian a run for its money in the head-butt department." But there was warmth in his smile this time. "So, yeah. I look forward to that. Speaking of which... when you find a Grigori, how will I know? I don't think either of you care to give out your home phone numbers to strange Angelus guys running around at night." He rummaged around and produced a scrap of paper. "Here... you guys can email this addy. I always have my PDA with me, so I'll know the moment you find something."

Aldebaran watched him for just a moment - both Astronomia did - then she relaxed when he didn't take a step back down the ladder they'd been climbing all night and attack them. "I guess that's that," she said softly. "The best thing to do is agree on a place and time, because I'm not comfortable giving my info out...more because you're a guy, but you're also another team. I say one week from tonight, just after dark, right back here. You can bring anybody you like, it won't matter to us. We can handle it."

"I'll probably be alone," said Ariel. He would have preferred to have another Angelus to watch his back--- just in case--- as *he* didn't care to end up like Nathanael either. But he just couldn't drag any of the others into this situation and feel comfortable about it. Seraphiel could probably handle himself in a pinch, but he highly doubted Seraphiel could limit himself to just the Grigori, either.

"I won't be bringing anybody else," Aldebaran said. "We'll be here to give things a shot. In a non-violent way." Then she surprised even herself and put a hand out to Ariel.

He was a little surprised by the formal gesture, and he awkwardly took it and gave it a little shake. "I guess I'm going to call it a night, then... let you guys get back to whatever you were doing... before. I'll see you, one week from tonight, here, right after dark. Maybe on the roof, maybe down here, depending on if people are in the area or not. But you shouldn't have any trouble finding me. And you have-- that-- in case you find something before then." He glanced at both girls and hawk. "So, um. Goodnight, Astronomia."

"Goodnight, Angelus," Aldebaran said, then stepped back enough to give everyone any room they might want. Then she turned, with a wave over her shoulder, and began walking the opposite way down the wall.

Before leaving to follow after Aldebaran Phoenix managed to produce a piece of paper and a pen. She scribbled an email down and handed it to the Angelus.

"See ya later then," she said with a wave as she ran up to her team mate.

When she could hear and feel Phoenix at her shoulder and knew they were out of earshot of Ariel, Aldebaran said, "How'd we do?"

Phoenix shrugged. "I thought it went pretty well, I guess. Considering we weren't planning on being friendly," she said. She waited until they were far enough away from Ariel (and out of view to any civilians) and she detransformed.

Briony looked at her team mate and then to her guardian. She smiled at the hawk. Gawain glared at her.

"I'm not sure whether to say that this is a good idea or a tremendously stupid one," Gawain said to the two girls. "For now I'll give you benefit of the doubt and assume it's a good one."

"Anyways," Briony started. "I'm hoping that this all turns out well. It'd be nice to be doing something at least vaguely resembling my duty."

Rian smiled as she gave Briony a gentle, friendly shoulder-nudge. "Whatever that is," she said with a laugh.

Ohwynge_grl: are you there?
archon3: Hi.
archon3: You are?
Ohwynge_grl: remember the key?
archon3: Can't forget.
archon3: Meant to ask what the lock looks like.
Ohwynge_grl: now that's what i like to hear from guys i've met in dark alleys.
archon3: Weird. I don't normally hang around girls who meet guys in alleys.
archon3: To each their own. Or whatever.
Ohwynge_grl: still thinking about what we were talking about?
archon3: Yeah.
archon3: Any leads?
Ohwynge_grl: several, but I can't tell who's who without really running into them. I think I'm getting the hang og it, tho. There was one that felt an awful lot like the girls at the restaurant
archon3: I guess everyone needs to eat.
archon3: Hopefully not a fancy restaraunt?
Ohwynge_grl: lol
archon3: Can't afford to run recon if it's higher than 2 stars.
Ohwynge_grl : Vietnamese. Different stars.
archon3: Ick. I hate Vietnamese.
archon3: They don't even have real vegetables.
Ohwynge_grl: Tell me about it! Still.
Ohwynge_grl: If you still want to go looking together...I'm okay with that. 
archon3: Sure. I think I'll be free.
archon3: Have you told the other Ast. about it?
archon3: Besides phnx and gawain (sp?)
Ohwynge_grl: No. I'm....well, you're....I don't want to sound stupid
archon3: Be stupid.
archon3: We all are. :-)
Ohwynge_grl: that would make it seem less serious, to talk about it
Ohwynge_grl: I guess I mean to say you're my secret? Except for nix
archon3: Revenge or teamwork?
archon3: Ah.
archon3: Haven't told the Ang. either.
archon3: But will leave a note before I go.
Ohwynge_grl: I'm really not very good with the others
archon3: So they know who the blood feud's with if something happens. :-)
archon3: j/k
Ohwynge_grl: :-)
Ohwynge_grl: Thank you for being willing to talk the other night, it was the only reason we were really hassling you
archon3: Nah. It's OK. 
archon3: No permanent damage. Just bruised ego.
archon3: Would have been better if you'd actually thrown more than one attack.
Ohwynge_grl: You're the 1st member of another team who would talk to me
archon3: Half of fighting is smacktalking. The fun half. :-)
Ohwynge_grl: We maybe could have made it look scarier :-)
archon3: But the other kind of talking is OK too. :-)
archon3: If I'm going to get my ass kicked, I want cool SFX.
Ohwynge_grl: All the way!
archon3: Not getting headbutted and knocking myself crazy when I fall.
Ohwynge_grl: nah, no one knows what to do when a GIRL TACKLES THEM
archon3: Well, most people know what to do.
archon3: But we've already established I don't do that in dark alleys.
archon3: *eg*
Ohwynge_grl: lol See, I said dumb things again
archon3: Nah. That's the third kind of fun talking. 
Ohwynge_grl: I don't mean to keep you, I just wanted to make sure you were still ok with this
archon3: No prob.
archon3: Got to get to class anyways.
Ohwynge_grl: because I'm pretty sure there's a rule against it or something
archon3: Catch you later. Same place, same time, etc?
archon3: Apart from my guardian having a heart attack when he finds out, I think it's OK.
Ohwynge_grl: Same bat channel
archon3: ttyl
Ohwynge_grl: ttyl. thanks...do you just want me to call you Ariel?
archon3: OK
archon3: I guess you're not Aldy or something short and spellable?
Ohwynge_grl: Of course not, not on my team
Ohwynge_grl: You make something up, I don't mind
archon3: Drat. Then I shall maul your name.
archon3: Even when I say it, you'll know I'm mauling it horribly.
archon3: Your fault for having such a hard name.
Ohwynge_grl: I know!! DON'T CALL ME AL
archon3: lol!
archon3: How about we meet at the alley...
archon3: ...looking like normal...
archon3: ...and go to the restaraunt...
archon3: ...and see what we find if we eat there?
archon3: Unless you don't want to be in normal form around me.
archon3: But it might be easier than trying to get a table in full senshi getup.
archon3: Especially if there's Grigori.
Ohwynge_grl: they will call the police again and start throwing the silverware.
archon3: Again?
Ohwynge_grl: They have an awful lot of it
Ohwynge_grl: It's not like you're going to follow me home or anything, so it should be ok. I'll email you directions
archon3: OK. gtg
Ohwynge_grl: Ok. Yu will know me when you see me, I think.
archon3: Wearing orange, or wearing horns?
Ohwynge_grl: You'll see. bye.

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