Second Chances [MR AZ]

[MRAZ]

“And you smell better too, also looking good.” Aedan said with a grin before jumping into a standing position again and offering her fist to Meike. “There you are dude, nice to see you again.” The brunette girl just stared at her, seemly confused by her greeting and somehow apprehensive of how close the dark haired girl was to Lenara, so the shifter just shrugged without caring to wipe her smile of her face. “Aw, left me hanging there, not fair, M.” She gave the other tall woman a light punch on her shoulder in a sort of teasing way.

The room’s scent was better when they two were together; it smelt of leather, of iron and, in some strange way, it also reminded the goddess of war of the scent of snow, which mixed to the wild flowery scents instead of the plastic ones that at times invaded the place.

Weird shit right there. But it wasn’t as if she was going to get to find out why either way, it was simply a welcomed change. “So, Lennie, I was wondering, you seem the type to know every little detail of the place you are, there’s already people whispering about you in the halls and it’s just the second day of classes.” A bit of flattery usually worked with this kind of people, at least it had worked once or twice, back in the war. “You surely must know if there’s any place to have some fun after classes, somewhere you’ve been invited to today?” She noted how the teal eyed girl tensed slightly and took note of it.

A weak point or did I hit a nerve?

“If not then you could let me borrow M over there, quite frankly, for how wild I had heard this place was it has turned to be somehow lame.” Not really as heard, but she had seen a few things going on the TV about it, shown as a forever partying and sexing place, it hadn’t seemed so bad back then.

 

[Domovoi]

An expressionless gaze traced the interactions between her pet and her problem. Their familiarity wasn't unusual, with Meike being a frequent guest in their room, but the overt friendliness of the strange dog-tag clad student put her at a sense of unease. Smiles hid things. Bad things. Usually intentions.

Self-conscious in her new form, she felt a bit defensive at the mention of gossip around her name. Were they good whispers? Bad? Neutral? Based in jealousy, or maybe curiosity? The lack of information bothered her more than not knowing at all, but asking would mean she cared, and she didn't need to care. She was beautiful and perfect without trying. Right?
Aedan needed to believe so, at least.

"I'm no socialite, dear," Lenara said simply, leaning back on her hands as she finished her preening. "I've not been invited anywhere," Her resting bitch face kept most away, if truth were told. Looking to be in the mood to disembowel struck fear into their very souls, but the queen didn't particularly mind. She had Meike for company, and befriending mortals was such a lowly concept. Why attempt to form lasting friendships when her time in this world was so limited? The co-dependent pair would be back before they knew it, she was sure.

Her frown deepened at the mention of taking her pet. Though she would've dismissed her soon anyway, being alone was difficult. Meike was to her what a heat sink was to a computer; she absorbed her stress and kept her cool, and it was difficult not to overheat without the quiet brunette's calm energy.

Lenara sighed. Well, she'd be sleeping soon, at least. "Your choice, Meike," She offered, blue eyes reflecting that she honestly didn't mind either way. Despite thinking of the girl as a 'pet', the goddess truly wanted her happy. They were friends, first and foremost... She'd just never really learned how to show it, having been expected to act a certain way towards her companion from the moment they met.

It was tempting to add a quick 'only if you take care of her' or 'get her back at a decent hour', but she wasn't her mother. It was odd, even with others knowing they were friends from before, and appearances were important - literally and figuratively.

 

[MRAZ]

“Could’ve fooled me, Lennie. I thought you were going to be the Queen Bee around here.” The muscular woman commented.

More tension. Aedan noted to herself as she watched the brief confused look that the minion gave the spoiled woman when told she could go if she so wished and for a while the athletic looking brunette seemed to ponder about it, which made Aedan add something more in order to convince her. “Don’t worry; I won’t hurt her… too much.” A jab to the pride of a warrior. And this gal really smells like a warrior. It worked right away, for the green eyed girl frowned at her and seemed as if she was about to attack.

What are you thinking, M? Don’t wanna play?

…

Too bold, this woman was too bold, so, for a moment, Meike feared that if she saw her as weaker than her, this muscled woman might try something with her Queen. Her green eyes narrowed and she nodded softly. Wanting to prove her as the weaker warrior, just as she had once done with others in the name of her Queen.

Everything was always done in Lenara’s name.

“I’ll go, we did agree earlier on after all. I’ll meet you tomorrow, Lenara.” She had to force herself not to say “your highness” or bow, still, the once protector of the goddess of time half wanted to do so, to not to care about the mortals around them. Why should they care either way?

…

What? Today? I was meaning tomorrow or something. But backing down was not an option, with a wide grin she nodded towards Lennie and led her companion out.

They began with training, comparing knowledge and such, but bit by bit it escalated into something more, a mock fight, and more. The brunette girl had more speed, but Aedan fought dirtier, the green eyed minion fought… more ancient, they both were bruised and tired at the end, but hell, it was fun, it was great, not even the pain that that the shifter knew would last a week or so deterred her from enjoying it, and it seemed to give the other girl some relief, some way to blow out steam.

"Good fight, M, very good fight."

…

The next day Lenara was met with her pet meting her in their room, with some bruises hidden under her clothes and dark circles under her eyes due to the little slept she had had, but at least looking more alert and somehow even calmer than usually, as strange as that combination was.

"Good morning." She greeted her queen with a nod, ready to help her get ready for whatever the goddess wanted.

…

Aedan, for her part, decided to skip classes and stayed in her bed, she would roam around later on. Damn, that smarts.

 

[Domovoi]

Two weeks passed silently at Landon University. A status quo formed and was maintained; students filed in and out of classrooms as scheduled. The buses weren't seeing much in the way of patronage, to the point where running them was costing money - but such was the same every year. Before long, bus tokens would be falling out of nearly every student's pocket.

Olivia Labrie decided to lead the pack, albeit unintentionally. The delicate, innocent girl made her way through the crowds of people that made her feel like a dwarf, having just gotten off the bus in town. She knew she was trapped for at least three hours before the next bus arrived, so she decided to make the most of it. First, to the flower shop! She bought herself a tiny sunflower in a pot and carried it through the streets against her chest, holding it close like a precious artifact.

Elsewhere, Kimira Beznik was sipping a smoothie she only bought because of its impressive size. The cup's height matched the length of her forearm, and the four inches of whipped cream on top made it the most decadent thing she'd known to exist. With a dollop of white on her nose - one she was marginally aware of but ignored - she casually plucked the maraschino cherry from the top with her teeth and watched the civilians walk past on the street, getting a touch of amusement that they had no idea they were in the presence of a goddess. A ex-goddess. Almost a goddess.

Back at the university, the purple-haired bombshell known as Faron Alwell decided her time was best spent practicing on the Badminton court; her skills were lacking, disappointingly, and she worried she might not be able to enjoy the sport. Time was running out to drop the class for another. If she couldn't start hitting some birdies soon, making the decision to swap it seemed ideal.

 

[MRAZ]

A free day, away from boring classes, away from lectures and from nerds that did not really care about the campus’ other hunters.

So, she was out to hunt? Nah, just out to explore, it seemed to be a nice town after all, but, of course, it had its secret places, and Aedan was up to find them. As a dog people tended to ignore you… or usually they did. On her way she bumped with a tiny girl with an even tinier sunflower and enjoyed of her scent for a moment, it was a wild aroma, of forests and plants, of wilderness and untamed creatures. A scent she missed but one that she couldn’t stay all day to enjoy, the hound turned and cantered towards another direction for a while, she passed by a few adults, more students, children, a strangely distracted girl who seemed to be about to commit suicide by sugar. All interesting and nice, but not enough as to make her stay.


After a while, however, the scent of blood called her attention and made her stop, ears in attention, tongue hanging out, and tail rigid. There was something there.

She turned to the alley near and sniffed the air, blood, alcohol and something else. A smarter one might have turned away, but it had picked her curiosity enough as to make her walk towards it, and for a while the German shepherd navigated around a kind of maze of alleys, one left to another, all filled with closed doors and tall walls. Finally she reached the source of the scent: there, some meters away from a dead end was laid a dog, from which a pool of blood had formed, and near it was a girl.

A rather strange girl, with wavy dark hair that reached her mid back, dressed in tight pants and a hoodie, cute as a button but not enough as to call Aedan’s attention, she looked more… childish in a way than she looked sexy. In her hand there was a knife, in her other hand, a bottle of alcohol.

Was she curing the dog or damaging it? Didn’t matter, really, humans were not known for being peaceful and delicate creatures, they were sadistic at times, and their curiosity made them dangerous. Usually the goddess of war would let them do whatever they wanted, she could not die before and pain was laughable, she was powerful, able to help them, and able to guide them, but now she did not have those powers. Those sons of a gun had left her without regeneration when bringing her here.

In fact, why had they left her keep the shapeshifting? Was this a game for them?

Another scent came, mixing with that of thrash, blood, alcohol and dirt, it crossed the air and soon became prominent all over the place, sending a shock of warning all over her body, her nails dug into the ground under her, her fur rose and, unwillingly her lips parted away from her fangs as a deep growl rose from her throat.

Turning made her dizzy as her mind was trapped in the claws of something she had not felt in an eternity or two: Fear. The newcomer was near, but out of sight, so, logically, the human turned to look at her as if she was a threat, knife tightly held, a dead gaze on her eyes.

All that Aedan could think in that moment was that this was, indeed, a game for them…

Then again, why shouldn’t it be? They were all mortals now, and they loved to play with mortals.

---
Sable Aglaeca was sourly walking towards the Badminton court; mortals were beating her in their stupid ball and racket game about not letting a flying fuck with fake shitty feathers touch the ground, and that was rather humiliating for the once half god. Heck, being there was already bad enough, she did not only lose a lot of her old powers and abilities, but also she had lost the control of her own power, the one that, for some strange reason, they had left her with.

Proof of that was the deformed and burnt handle of her racket, thankfully that had happened while she was out at night, trying to get the hang of the darned thing without making a fool out of herself or waking up her moody roommate. Said racket was now in its bag, which hanged from her shoulder by a cloth strap, with said handle in the air because the darn thing was too big as to enter fully in the stupid bag.

Well, a few minutes more and she’d be where she had meant to be, the place would be lonely, or at least is should, since everyone seemed to have the crave to leave the campus and see whatever weird thing they would be offered in the town nearby.

A voice, however, shattered her hopes of remaining unnoticed. “How did you burn that?”

She felt her body filled with a sharp shot of adrenaline, the better question was how that other student had gotten so close to her without her realizing. Her words came without her even thinking them through. “Left my cigarrete near it.” The dark haired girl said, nearly too quickly, but that earned her a smile from the taller campus resident, who gave her a look that seemed to pierce through her. It was annoying and uncomfortable.

“Funny way for a cigarrete to burn a handle and leave a hand shaped mark.” The blond student mentioned before just turning and going away.

Okay, that was strange, but forgettable, so Sable continued with her day, eventually that was the least of her concerns as she entered the court and found someone already training there, with a nod of acknowledgement she gave the other girl, Sable found herself in a dilemma.

Before she could burn a mother without touching the child she held in her arms, turning full grown men to dust in matter of seconds and all that only to make sure that the sun god was always venerated; now she accidentally burned a fucking human toy, what if that happened again? And in front of this human to add to injury.

It wouldn’t, no, it had not happened since that time a week ago. She was just getting used to it again, and a week was enough as for her to be prepared. What was she going to do? Run away from a human? No way.

Inhaling deeply, the once halfling took her racket and began her training, trying her darned best to focus completely on it and on keeping her power asleep.