Summary:
July 23rd, 2014: Phobos and Starfire encounter one another.
Metropolis
The City of Tomorrow.
Characters
NPCs
- <Name of NPC or "None">
- <Use same pattern for all npcs>
Mood Music:
When Worlds Collide by Powerman 5000
Every city needs a place for its citizens to get away from the chaos that torments the citizen from day to day. Every city can use some place where a hint of nature grants some small measure of solace from the demands the city places upon them. For Metropolis they have the Chinese Gardens. For Portland there are trees and parks lining the streets. Yet Manhattan has the largest source of nature central in that city. Central Park is a beautiful wide swath of green amongst the doldrums of black, white, and grey that makes up most of the rest of the city.
It's in that Park, this late in the afternoon that there are people moving through the sidewalks and paths. Some students are having a sit down discussion of a reading project next to the lake. There are some elderly New Yorkers practicing Tai Chi in a grassy clearing. Children rush about and play.
Yet from above for an otherworldly visitor something else might catch her eye. It's the line of armored figures all in black with facemasks standing in pairs as they raise what seem to be swords and strike out at each other. To a casual earthling it might become apparent that one of the local Kendo clubs is enjoying the weather and practicing outdoors… to a strange visitor from another world it might look like something else entire.
The view from above may have a vantage, but from below if you looked up….
Children wandering with their parents stopped, one person on a pedastal preaching to the masses silenced in his 'sermon' only to pick back up. /"And see?!? The Lord seeks to strike us down now for our disbelief and sins!"/
Across the open blue sky a ball of flame streams across like a meteor, one lone stone zipping towards the small lake and stopping just before impact to hover.
As the streak of flame dissolved and the glow from around her dissipated Starfire remained there, not even a ripple formed over the lakes surface as the purple metallic boots begin to whir and fold back away from tawny skin, leaving it bare to the beautiful clear day, a single toe touching down upon the waters surface now, making it ripple outward, her pupilless emerald eyes narrowing as teeth flash in a smile of glee - not even a glance given to the onlookers that stared at the fire maned alien.
There was that subdued shock that rippled out from all of those who could espy the flaming meteorites plummet to the ground. So many eyes followed her approach that when she stopped and hovered there for a time… the shock broke into abrupt panic. Not wild screaming panic, for New Yorkers are made from sterner stuff. No it's the slightly more controlled flight as children are scooped up by their parents, as people flee almost soundlessly with silent whispers hoping, 'dear god don't let it look my way!' The students all break and run, beating feet. The Tai Chi practicioners as well. Even that armorde clad security detail with the swords and armor? They turn and break for it immediately.
That is, all… save one.
Clad in that black armor with a heavy helmet blocking his face with a wire frame mask, the lone figure advances on her with an easy step. That dark silhouette shifts the bamboo shinai to hold it reversed in his off hand as he closes the distance with her.
The bustling is what brought Starfire to look up, blinking and drawing her foot from the waters surface with a tilt of her head. Her presence is not completely unknown here, but the reactions are unexpected, making her float barely over the waters surface as if she is walking upon it until she reaches the edge and stands there, clad in that armor that is suited more for swimwear than coverage, but for a being like her, what wounds more?
Starfire almost looked stricken as a mother tucked her child behind her and raced off, though the glance to the approaching armored man from woman and child as well gave Kori someone else to possibly blame for a moment!
A shift in her stance has her back to the retreating family as well as the 'preacher', setting narrowed gaze upon the approacher, the pupil-less stare only giving a reflection and shift as she guages his stance and hold of his weapon, one foot sliding outward and that armor she had shed to leave her legs bare surfaces and snaps back into place like an ethereal ripple, coveting her to mid thigh.
Nothing need be said yet though fingers in her right hand slowly begin to fold in while her chin rises, further inspection and a show of minute indignant.
Then a voice lifts from that armored individual as he pauses some twelve feet away, offering calm words given easily. "Try not to hold it against them. There was a man some weeks ago who threw flaming boulders and led some armored warriors in a brief attack." Then, perhaps to ease her guard some he sets the wooden weapon down and then pulls off his helmet with one fluid motion.
That young man straightens up, gaining his feet and then turning his gaze upon her, chasing it with a hint of a smile. Then, there, in that glance he is simply… beautiful. The young man's pale features are angellic, sharp and defined with a mane of golden hair that frames those gleaming red eyes, eyes that leave faint trails of light in the air as he moves. And though those eyes gleam like those of the Morningstar, his smile is the downfall of saints.
"My name is Alexander. You aren't here to attack, are you?"
Starfire listens and watches the man, a statuesque woman in her own right it is hard to read what passes through the mind of a woman who stands in an unmoving manner and her eyes cannot be so much as followed unless the rest of her moves to give way. The only time she moves is when he sets his weapon aside, not so much a fear of it as its symbolism and the user.
Alexander finally garnered her full attention, his eyes captured and lingering that locked moment with her own, each movement calculated as she finally cleared the distance between them with a grace that told of her 'weightlessness' here, though the rustle of alien armor still sounded through the grasses in a whisper.
"Where are you from?" Now that cautious nature is thrown to the wind as she lifts from the ground just barely, enough to circle him like a child in wonderment upon a newly discovered 'species', even so much as daring to reach out and touch his hair, tugging as she closes and pops his proverbial personal bubble to lean in and sniff.
With each flitting movement that small tracer of flame trails, dissipating quickly as soon as it comes.
"Why would I hurt them? This is my home, they are mine to protect."
The blonde young man had such a calm way about him. He did not fidget, his stance was at ease, and as she moved about him he merely followed her with his eyes. When his eyes could not suffice he'd turn his head, just so. Though there was one moment where he wiped his brow with the back of one armored forearm, the gauntlet wiping the beadlets of sweat from his brow. Kendo is energetic work, and the armor was not light.
"I am from here. Or rather from across the river," He gestures with one hand in he directionof Jersey of all places. Yet in fairness he knows that is not what she means. "My father is from Olympus, however. In Greece." It is not perhaps the complete truth, but to be fair it is a goodly bit of it.
Turning to look on her, there was the ghost of that smile again, as if greeting her and telling her that her curiousity is acceptable. "Tell me your story, traveler, and I shall grant you mine if you so wish." He turns only then to face her evenly, looking up to those eyes, even if she were not floating she would be taller than him. "Is that not a fair bargain?"
Starfire is not jumpy, not in the slightest, even though she has spent quite a bit of time here prior, left and returned under new circumstances she still attempts to look at everyone and everything under a new light, one that sheds over her facade more like a childish curiosity. His gauntlet then becomes the object of her attention when he rises it, flicking it to test its metallic depth and durability, her nose wrinkling slightly.
"I do hope you have more than that, though hitting with a meager stick that suffices." Another idle tap and she backs off of his personal space, allowing arms reach between them, landing back upon her feet.
"Greece? Is that close? I have never been there." Though when he asks her for her story her stoicism returns, it is a matter of one single blink and she is bearing no expression that makes her readable. "I am from a place that is no more, so this is my home." Starfire reiterates, though closing it with an introduction. "I am Koriand'r, called Starfire here. From Tamaran."
As she moves close to him she can almost taste the faint scents on the air that surround him. There's that tang of sweat and exertion, the subtle copper of blood, the hint of steel, and almost something of ozone. What is mre he seems to be terribly warm, moreso than a normal earthling at the least.
Lifting his chin slightly, those gleaming crimson eyes narrow slightly, his smile still there though faint. His nostrila flare slightly as he takes a breath then he murmurs, "The armor and weapon are for training and instructing." He lightly lifts a long-fingered hand and plunks a fingertip against the chestpiece. A small shrug is given.
"Greece is across the ocean." His eyes shift towards the East, then back to her. "Far off."
Then as her demeanor changes she can tell he gauges her, her reaction. "You have my sympathy, Koriand'r." He chooses that name in preference, perhaps enjoying how it rolls from the tongue.
With a steady deliberate movement he begins to undo the straps of those gauntlets, undoing a clasp with his teeth and all the while holding her gaze. "If there is aught you would ask of me, I shall strive to fulfill your request." There's a pause as the gauntlet falls, "I am not without resources and I find my curiousity piqued."
"And your name…?" Starfire inquires, still watching him closely, as each second ticks by she is closing that gap again, hardly noticable but enough so over time to realize she is just about to capture his gauntlet before he can even discard it from his person, holding it up by a strap even if it is still in his grap and poking it moreso, bending it at the joints where it will bend and flipping it back and forth like a lame fish.
"Do you train so lightly all the time? That will prepare you for nothing, not even men who throw flaming balls at the humans. It would break you." Though as she said the final words her gaze slides back to him, watching him from periphery as a knowing smile slowly spreads. She is prying, pushing, and it is not all that child like anymore - bordering on how a warrior would greet another without a sudden clash of interests and bodies.
"Forgive me," The young man says, as amusement lights upon his features as she liberates him of that piece of armor. He continues with the movements to undo the other gauntlet, not undoing the leather straps with his free hand. "My name is Alexander Aaron. My father is known as John Aaron, or Ares if you so wish." He is loathe to trade on his family, so he offers her that satisfied in that he can give the truth but with her background the significance might not be realized.
But then she makes light of that training regimen and equipment and his mouth opens faintly, the smile growing and turning a touch lupine with the faintest hint of fangs. "Oh, I find my training is sufficient." There's a tilt of his head as he considers her and then with that same teasing smile he asks her, "If you wish to test me I will stand against you." And then a hint of playfullness lights his eyes as he adds calmly with a small step forward, this time he breaks her personal space as he adds, "Very closely, in fact."
Starfire returns his lupine smile with her own as he breaks that personal bubble in return for once, though his challenge of attempted arsenic laced in honey is more of what has her attention, while quaintly sealing the gap between their proximity with the simple touch down of her hand upon his chest. Tawny huen fingers spread, splaying outward along fabrics that rest there, testing the give in smoothness or hardiness - perhaps even to that beneath if it can be felt.
"I wouldn't have it any other way." The amazonian alien almost breathes those few words to him, looking down from her height and those emerald eyes smile all on their own. There is no connection made for her, unknowing of Greek gods and their relativity to the one she is currently standing all /too close/ to.
A swift motion sets them in motion if it succeeds, her feet not even lifting from the ground, but the swift motions made seemed to glide even in the brutality she steps and spins, her splay of hand upon his chest turning into a grip that is attempting to sweep him off his feet and throw him at a nearby tree.
"You just have to work to stay /very/ close."
As she converts that grip she's able to lift him, turn him, that strong grip holding and tearing the armor upon his chest. Yet she'll feel his hands lace her grasping wrist, his own touch warm as she moves to hurl him through the air. And as he's twisted in that smooth gyre his legs scissor, twisting in the air as he turns his body just so, bringing his feet down to /slam/ into the dirt and suddenly kick up two furrows of spattering earth when her hand releases his chest to throw him in that direction.
Only his hands still hold onto hers, her throw converted into a chaining maneuvar that has him converting her throw into him twisting just enough, then arching his back to in turn throw /her/ towards that tree. And all the while in that split second their eyes will be held in the other's gaze and the smile does not break. She is stronger than him, and she is well-trained. But his own breadth of knowledge about conflict might grant him some edge… but one thing is sure. They will truly test each other in this match.
Warmth is felt, but an utter rising -heat- is emanating as their conflict grows and shifts from what almost looked to be a /friendly/ meeting to that of violence. One that could easily uproot the serenity of the plantlife here in the park, the presence of the Tamaranean alone already making some back off, this show clearing an opening by any who had remained - even a hot dog vendor sealing his cart and quickly pushing it down a path, paranoia keeping him looking back…
Ot is it that sudden arch of red flame that emits in an arch as her body is lifted, rising over his with his reaction, his smile met with her own, but that lightness that she had held at first; a child like glimmer is now long dead and as if non existent completely, the grappling hold never released from him and his throw to put her into that tree is likely met by them both if he does not find a way to remove her grip from him.
whether he comes with or not a thick low hanging branch does not break the momentum of the attempted throw used against her, shattering the wood into splinters that spray outward, as well as the faint smell of… Something singed.
With her he is not going to be able to rely on natural superiority, for she matches him and matches him well. As she brings him with her he realizes he only has a moment… two at the most to try and break that grip of hers. His own arm twines with hers, pressure placed against that thumb of her hand holding him so firmly. He slams his other fist into the grip and tries to break the hold. The first strike is not enough, the second frees him…
Only for it to not matter at that point as they both crash into the tree at varying points, wood cracking and shattering, splinters being hurled almost like a natural shotgun blast.
Pushing out of some of the debris, Alexander grimaces, shaking his head as he tries to recover quickly enough. This armor only encumbers him, serves to slow him and won't protect him from her. So with no qualms for tradition nor the history of the ancient armor he wears he /tears/ it off with a rip of torn leather and fabric. He turns towards her now, his lithe muscular form breathing deeply as his focus remains upon her, sweat glistening upon his bare chest as he takes a stance awaiting her approach.
Each hit, each firm meet of his fist into her hand loosed the grip. Powerful. This returns a smile upon her features, but it is unseen beneath that mane of red hair that is fallen like ribbons over her face as she slowly rises from the debris of tree, tossing her head back to finally reveal the facade of a warrior at play. If that can even be had, it is within her, a glint emanating in the depth of pupil-less gaze. Her hand that he had hit shakes it off, a few quick snaps of motion, the final one making armor click back and away from skin, a mechanical motion of smoothness that leaves more revealed in turn for his own molting of protection, leaving feet and legs barren as that metallic second skin whirrs into nothingness, purple overlay that sought to protect no longer a presence, moving like a waters ripple against the sunlight along hands, forearms, shoulders until there is nothing but thin stretches of cupping hold over her chest and hips.
"So now, son of Ares. Are you truly prepared to hold yourself against me?" Not even the break of that smile, no hinderance as bare feet barely touch the ground in a blurring dash forward that carry her at a dizzying speed towards Alexander, seeking to clothesline him in a grip that hopes to slam him into the earth.
As she stands revealed before him she can see his eyes match hers. Her green gaze glimmers with that challenge, answered by the calm red glow of star trails that wend their way from his own eyes. His gaze is heavy upon her, like the weight of several anvils dropped from on high and she can /feel/ his attention as it drifts over those svelte curves, those firm warrior's muscles, those lovely long limbs that promise a conflict that will task him entire.
Yet his gaze is not alone one of a man considering a beautiful woman. His eyes measure the reach of her arms, the length of her legs, the shift and turn of her stance, the weight of her form. All information used, all gathered with the purpose of her defeat. At her words she will see him redouble his focus, his jaw setting and he snaps in reply, "Come to me then.s
And she does so.
She is fast speed twinned with power as the world seems to swirl into a vortex behind her powerful charge. That arm outstretched to crush and to grasp. He cannot let her get him in her grip, at least not too easily. Instinct and muscle memory scream for him to act and he is only barely able to do so. His taut dancer's body twists back like some limbo dancer avoiding the bar. The wind whirls around him, his body buffeted by that charge, causing him to spin around. It is to his credit he is able to use that added momentum as his body /whips/ around and his leg slashes out seeking to crash his shin into the back of her knees to take her down. And if he is able to do so he will follow up quickly to seize her from behind.
Alexander Aaron pages: that s was to be a ", sorry
Where he has agility, flexibility, almost moving like he is in a dance Starfire is more like a brute force, a mac truck headed for a willowy wall to enter a debate of if she will be whipped backward or break that resilient branch. A good match of opposing sides of a similar coin, a challenge it is apparent she has ached to have, and one there is no holding back, save one small aspect - for now.
Her miss has her coming to a star-seizing halt, one that gains Alexander the advantage of landing the blow to the back of her knees as she sought to backpedal, bringing her down to her knees, almost a form of supplication that triggers a reaction that lets loose what she had held back.
His weight upon her back when he closes in can feel that bubbling rise of a ethereal heat, perhaps akin to his own but quickly on the rise to one nigh untouchable - discomforting. One hand snaps upward and behind over her own shoulder, knotting her fingers into his hair if he does not dodge, tugging him close to her profile so he can see that eclipsing smile just before the other hand seeks to reach back along his side, hands and fingers clutching into his bare sweat slicked flesh.
No words uttered, just finally those eyes open and she glances at him, holding his gaze as her jaw firmly sets… Not even a breath can pass though in that moment brought to slow motion before she bursts backwards, carrying him with her in now flight, one that will carry his body first into what remained of that tree and then up…
As the statuesque woman falls the lithe young man continues that same smooth motion, darting to the side to bring himself to stand behind her fallen form. And in that moment time seems to slow down, becoming a hazy blur of sensation and intensity.
She'll feel his strong arm snake over her throat, the swell of his bicep along the firm yet supple line of her muscular neck, the rage of battle drawing their bodies taut against each other. His bare chested form melds itself to her back, that wild hair of hers frayed and beside his head as the choke locks into place. His skin against hers is so terribly impossibly warm, and so close she can /taste/ the scent of sweat, exertion, and steel upon him. His heart races…
And then she is a cascade of heat and touch, her hand drifting through those seraphic locks and looking into those crimson eyes as she'll feel a low rumbling challenge that is almost a growl surging forth. For now he is able to endure the burning intensity… and then she is flying slicing through the air, the branches of the tree, then upwards. And all the while those strong arms tighten, one leg curling over hers to hook an ankle upon her inner thigh as he dares to defy her.
The tree bursts into shrapnel, what remains of it a stump of spiked wood, branches fly akimbo, and for a moment it rains a mix of sawdust and splinters from small to large. The fight is no longer on the ground, Starfire is taking it to the sky, the slender column of her throat braceleted by his pale arm's tightened wrap can feel her swallow against it, recognition of that tight grip. This earns him a release of his silken hair to in turn wind fingers around his wrist, /squeezing/ into those tiny bones, seeking for him to be forced into release though all the while that mane of red hair pressed between them is heating more and more as she takes towards space, towards home at a pace that has the tail reappearing, akin to a comet though bearing an extra body, a hitch-hiker that is contoured to her body - dangerously so.
The grip at his side releases as well, only to slam back, reaching up and over to hook fingers beneath his shoulder, between his arm and his chest, her upward flight ceasing to where the park looked like a small square beneath them. The stop is like a sudden application of breaks, a jerky motion intentionally used to dislodge his defiant grip upon her like a constrictor.
Another burst of movement, instead of up she cuts horizontally while she neds at the waist and tries to pull him up and over her head to release his tightening grip upon her.
This may have been a mistake as she rapidly ascends and swirls through the air. And all the while they hurtle through the sky she can feel his breath against the curve of her cheek, arms locked in place and terribly strong… yet not as strong as her. She gets a grasp on his forearm, can feel the bones shift and grind under the pressure of her strength, can feel that gasp and growl of pain as she starts to break his grip,
There's that first maneuver that jinks to the side and he starts to slip. So high above he knows his time is short. Yet there is a freedom in realizing one is doomed. That freedom such as one dangling over a bottomless pit by the branch of a tree, a tree with a panther stalking closer on that branch, and like the man doomed in that scenario he reaches for that peach that hangs just within reach.
In that moment she'll feel his teeth upon the curve of her ear, feel the caress of his tongue as he /dares/ to taste her flesh in that instant… before she throws him off and he finds himself falling from the sky.
Sudden motions of fighting force to release this strong 'human' from her finally grant her what she wishes. Starfire felt freedom swiftly approaching once again from the encumberance of limbs but not before there is that sensation that makes her blink and then her eyes widen, shock and curiousity…. That expression visible as he is descending, her grip having slipped from him in that toss up and over her head.
Starfire did not mean to let go, but… What the hell was that?? A sudden shift, a moment just enough to where his features were becoming a blur in the falling distance and she blinks, shuddering and bolting down in a jet stream of descent to find his falling speed and match it. All the while he is falling she is flying just over him, now smiling as if this is a conversation over coffee.
"So, son of Ares… Alexander. Are you liberated? Did you find what you desired?" There's a lightness, almost a laugh to her expression, and yet her curiousity is piqued. She is not going to assume, let him answer her question and feed her curiosity, all the while he plummets towards the ground with her just out of reach above him.
And as he falls she will see him go ease outwards, stretching his limbs as if the fall towards earth and eternity was just the most relaxing of things with the wind rushing past and his body cushioned by the air. His glowing eyes close slowly, then open so they are hooded as he looks across the small distance between them.
"A small taste of it, but I am left seeking more. Yet I am filled with a bliss knowing of what I have had." As those words are given to her, loud and shouted with a hint of laughter he reaches a hand out towards her as if to touch her cheek with a fingertip, but the winds washing past him do not allow so gentle a touch. Yet the sentiment is there, in those blazing eyes, and in that devil's smile.
Alexander Aaron pages: -go
In that moment he can see that trail of fire fade, she is no longer flying, she is falling with him, her own hands spanning out with his as the red hair lashes up and out in replacement of the heated tracer that once was, but this all too humanistic. It is the model of a slow motion swan dive taking place, she is listening, but taking in the entirety of the fall, the sensation of freedom she refuses to let go of ever again.
The ground closes in quickly, her eyes opening as the winds change with the rapid approach, his outstretched hand gripped by her own, jerking him into her armor clad body, tucking him along the front of her in an embrace.
You can hear the yelling, the murmur of exclamations when people notice the rapidly approaching bodies, yells as people clear this area of the park, picnicking blankets left behind…. Only to flutter upward as the reverse pressure of wind kicks in and Starfire jets across the park just above their heads, taking flight once again, staring ahead with a smile, lifting her chin and enjoying the moment once again before she turns her gaze back down to Alexander, and narrows her eyes slightly while that smile darkens. Not even a breath left between them, her face hovering just above his only to lower along side, cheek brushing cheek in a slow and deliberate stroke of matching heated flesh. "Do that again, and next time I will let you fall."
Withdrawing back though there is something in that grin, something in the reflection he can see of himself on those eyes, her own devil borne on her own promise.
It's there and then… The flying halts, their horizontal position above the ground now a matter of two feet where Starfire… Let's him go, to fall that small distance.
The young man doesn't look away as he's let fall safely those last two feet, that wild cocksure half-smile upon his lips that turns those angelic features of his into something akin to a Fallen amongst the host.
"Ah!" He says, holding a finger up as he steps forward, standing terribly close but not perhaps as close as when she gifted him those lovely words, "So what you're saying is there will be a next time. I see."
And with that he smiles to himself, half-expecting her to take one final swing at him. But in the back of his mind, the roiling writhing bestial side of his psyche whispers quietly to him that it would entirely be worth it.
"Perhaps." Starfire's eyes fall and rise upon him, one final slow inspection of the man, her hovering form unmoving as he steps forward again, that red hair spilling down along her spine at a rest that eminates only a low pulse of warmth and not that extreme heat of flight. But when he took that step the whirring sounded, low but it reforms armor, purple metal snapping in place from a small surfacing pinpoint to spread out and mold over exposed skin, strapping up to mid thighs and returning as simple vembrances over her wrists and forearms.
The smile she offers him now holds a silent promise, her figure rocketing up into the sky suddenly, out of view in the matter of seconds.
"K'tten… Who is Ares? Look it up… No.. I'll be home soon, one more round…I know, yes my wrist hurts.. Tell him I don't need doctoring."
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