Pew Pew! Remember me?~ [Private]

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Could it be any more of a normal day? The above the City of Talonia was shining bright. It’s rays shining down, berating the ordinary citizens below. Despite this, it wasn't really all the hot or heated. Even with no clouds in sight, the weather was warm at best. Heck, it was so normal that no one even complained about it. The people of Talonia were as happy and content as one could be on such a Routine day. Citizens were out and about shopping, gossiping, and going for strolls. Nothing was happening this day and that was alright.

However, something rather odd took place the evening before; something that was anything but Ordinary. A man, who was dressed in a fine black suit, could hear differentiating rumors and stories. One person claimed the explosions were caused by magic, wizards and mages clashing around the lake. One person called poppycock  and pleaded that it was not the case! There was an Airship docked there; parked recklessly so that it caused the loud bang. To him, it  was all non-sense. Who would dock a ship meant for the skies in a lake? a n odd person, that’s who! Explosions and other exploits, it was hard to keep all the stories straight. Fortunately for him, this man would rather go somewhere and think quietly. There was much to think on. The past, future, and the present, they all held issues that deserved some time to sort. Vacationing around the world, it was all just a distraction to get away from it all.

Jaeger, the ordinary mage in question, wandered around the large neutrality. He was searching for a quieter place to relax but everywhere he went it was the same; Citizens clamoring on about last night, their noises and thoughts while walking, frustrated him to no end. The man just wanted one place to think quietly. The man looked around, noticing he had made it to the Trade District. His mind was racing and he hadn’t even realized he was in the busiest of sectors. The well dressed, horned man sighed with dissatisfaction.



With the annoyance of so many voices and noises going on, Jaeger could really use some sort of distraction. His eyes scanned the Marketplace, looking for an out. Sweat beads balled and rolled down the pale like face of his. The man was growing anxious to get out, like a puppy lost in unfamiliar territory. Shifting from side to side, all routes were seen closed and heavily crowded. A sheepish whine escaped his throat just before it hit him. With tunnel vision, The man spotted a somewhat familiar face. Vale. The woman that got away…. With blasting him in the face. He was fortunate that permanent damage didn’t stain his handsome and precious face.

This was his out, a woman he barely knew. He fixed his blackened tie and started his devilish walk over. A lot has changed, especially his appearance. Jaeger still had the medium length dark hair and the accursed good looks. However, his skin was slightly grayed out and horns upon his head.

The commercial district for all its boasted services and entertainments was soon proving to hold little to nothing of interest for the Requip mage. While Talonia could usually be counted on to provide amusement for her, it all just seemed to lack... something. Even the few people she'd borrowed personal effects from held nothing scandalous or overly curious, which was a shame. Feeling quite disgruntled and put out with it all, Vale slipped the wallet back into the bag of a random passerby.

She wanted something more. More shocking. More extraordinary. More inspiring. Like a house made entirely out of oranges. Or a two headed rhinoceros.

Or a horned man.

The thought popped into her head as she spotted one such person a little ways off in the crowd, as if summoned into existence by her subconscious. And just like that, he had captivated the attention of her inner artist. Or, well, the horns had. The person attached to them was just a bonus. Before she could go over to him, however, the man in question began to make his way over to where she stood. It was all very convenient. If only everything else worked that way, then she'd be set for life.

Vale took her time looking him over - not unlike the way one might thoughtfully study a blueprint or design - as he stopped in front of her. A flicker of surprise colored her features at his familiar greeting. Did this person know her from somewhere? She couldn't recall having met him before, though he did seem familiar somehow. The girl tilted her head to one side, openly studying his face for anything that would jog her memory. When that failed, she simply shrugged and gave up on figuring out where he knew her from.

"I'm not entirely sure who you are. I'd remember having met someone with horns."

The air around her shimmered slightly for a split second and then stilled. An expensive looking suit was in place of her regular clothes, matching his to a certain extent. Her long, lilac hair was pinned up in a professional looking updo, not a single hair out of place. The change in attire made her look a bit older than she had just a moment ago.

---

Something didn’t sit right with the man; How could she not remember the duel they shared? Such a momentous occasion the two had shared. The rivalry, the bonding, THE PASSION! It was all they needed to be soul locked for eternity. The man began to think, was it something he has done? It took a moment, longer than anyone would want to admit, but he made a mental snap of the fingers. That’s right, Jaeger’s appearance had changed a bit since the last time they had met. His suit was more professional, black jacket and pants with a white dress shirt. On head, horns had sprouted and protruded from his skull.



How rude! To interrupt a man while he was making an answer and introducing himself! Not only that, that she had the indecency to do that in public. Did Vale have no shame, requipping in public all willy nilly? The woman changed her clothing to that of a black suit, much like his own. What was this, Flattery? Or was it mockery? In his mind, the Gentleman was shaking his head and palming his face. Outward, Jaeger smiled nervously and rubbed the back of his head.



That incident, it was so shameful for Jaeger. It wasn’t that he was beaten by a woman in combat; it was the fact that he could only have taken one hit to the dome before falling unconscious. It was a story he hadn’t old anyone else before for fear of the fun making that’d be had. The man already got enough joking about being a pretty boy or big flirt. Being teased about this failed duel would have just been too much to take. His very being couldn’t have taken it.

After such thoughts, he looked the woman over. The suit was rather fine, quality make and a rather good fit. The color of her hair seemed to really pop and become more noticeable to him. This brought up the question again, why?

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It seemed likely that the man had expected her to remember him without the need for further introductions; as would be quite reasonable for regular people. Vale, however, operated outside the social norms as well as tending to have a one track mind that tossed away introductions and such matters to make room for whatever she considered more important.

"I shot you in the face?" Vale tilted her head to one side and looked at him thoughtfully as he explained the circumstances of their previous... meeting.

That only narrowed it down somewhat. Unfortunately, the Requip mage had a habit of shooting people in the face. After a second or so, she remembered something that had stood out. There was someone who'd appeared out of a tree. It had been a unique enough occurrence that it had lodged in the back of her thoughts, coming to the forefront now that it was prompted.

"Ah! Now I remember you. You're the tree guy. Jaeger Nekros."

Grinning far too amicably for someone who'd shot the poor guy in the face, Vale pointed her fingers and mimicked shooting a gun and made a 'pew' sound.

"You don't seem to have any facial scarring, though." She mused out loud as she suddenly invaded his personal space and took hold of his chin between her thumb and index finger, turning his face from side to side. "You weren't this horny then. Are they real?"

Of course, the sexual overtones of her statement went completely unrealized by the girl.

"Thank you, I like the suit as well. Suits are nice."

People were beginning to take notice, casting knowing looks at the pair and misunderstanding the situation completely. They couldn't have been faulted for assuming that some sort of strange flirting was going on - however far that would have been from the truth.

"You know, people are staring. Its probably because you have horns."

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Jaeger, the forgettable tree man. Vale was having a hard time remembering who he was. How hard could that have been? It’s not everyday that you would get to shoot someone in the face like that. It was a sad feeling, to be forgotten so easily. To only be significant enough to have a moment of their time and no more. The pride of a man, his pride, slowly began to crack as the expression on his face gently shifted. However, his mood wood drastically return to normal as she finally put the pieces together. Yes, he was the Tree Man Jaeger, though, why is it she only remembered his first and middle name? A gentle smile beamed from his perfect face.

Oh, the heartwarming feeling of a pretty womans smile. Vale was grinning at him as she remembered; A gun-like hand gesture pointed at him as she acted to fire. Pew. Pew. Pew. The man was shot again. Every fiber in the man’s suit wanted to fall and play dead. It would have been fun and amusing, but rather inappropriate while in front of this crowd. It was best not to, he has already had a mini panic attack today, calling attention to himself like that would only reignite that anxious flame. So instead, he tried his best to calmly watch what was happening.

The woman was very intrigued in his new appearance. Curious about his face tissue, there was no scar you see. It was only normal, Jaeger was just too handsome to be physically damaged. His polished jaw resisted the burn marks, his luscious lips puckered to the test! Unfortunately, his brain couldn't resist and he passed out. Vale was also interested in his horns, asking a rather inappropriate question. The mage couldn’t resist as his head was being turned from side to side.



The childish man chuckled to himself, looking down to her.



Jaeger waited for his horns to be grasped and tugged on. Before he knew it, a good amount of people were staring his them. Vale, being the Mischievous scamp that she was, blamed him for their idle gazes. It was another chance, he must keep rolling with innuendo.

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The girl furrowed her delicate brows in momentary confusion. She distinctly remembered his lack of horns at their last meeting. Such magnificent horns couldn't have escaped her notice, she was sure. And she found the comment about pants to be just ridiculous. It made no sense. Poor Jaeger was most likely having memory problems as a result of being shot in the head, she concluded. She supposed she should feel guilty about that. Try as she might though, (she didn't actually try all that hard…) she wasn't able to scrounge up even an ounce of guilt. Vale lived her life unapologetically; and irresponsibly, some might even say.

Jaeger's suggestion that they leave the immediate area was one she completely agreed with. The ReQuip mage had begun to feel the slow prickles of boredom and had been looking for something interesting when she'd found him, after all.

“I know just the place we could go. Come on, it'll be fun.”

Without waiting for an answer, she wrapped her glove clad fingers around his forearm and took off in a seemingly random direction, dragging him in her wake. For someone so challenged of height, she could run surprisingly fast. With the sorts of activities she usually partook, she had to be able to make a hasty escape, after all.

Valerie let go of his arm and navigated the streets with the ease and finesse of someone who'd spent far too many times running away from pursuers, dipping and weaving her way through the crowds. She was beginning to enjoy herself and could only hope her current companion wouldn't trip or bump into every obstacle in their way. Taking a shortcut by vaulting on top of a flower cart and then hopping on to the nearby rooftop, Valerie stopped abruptly and quickly redid her hair that had become unbound in her little jaunt.

“We're almost there!” She announced proudly before taking off at a sprint once again.

Pigeons took off in startled flight, filling the otherwise peaceful air with the sound of their wing beats as the lilac haired girl blew past them across the low rooftops. The quirky, explosion loving, gun obsessed artist was unexpectedly graceful when in her element. Vale’s slender frame flowed with her practiced movements as she timed each leap perfectly, her steps sure and unfaltering in her parkour.

“We're here~”

Vale opened her arms wide in a grand gesture. 'Here’ meant the beautiful and well cared for gardens of one of Talonia's richest men. The kind of garden that was definitely closed to the public.

“There's this spot here that looks absolutely amazing the way the light hits it at this time of day. We have to be very, very quiet though.”

She hummed to herself in satisfaction as she looked around, nodding her approval. It looked just as lovely as the last time she'd been here. Though, the roses she had painted on had been removed. It was a shame. She had thought they looked rather nice that way.

"Oh and if you're going to try and get revenge for last time, this would be the perfect place. I shot you near a giant tree you came out of. We're currently in a garden. It has agreeable symmetry."

Her comments were offhanded and delivered with all the calmness of someone commenting on the scent of roses. Vale wasn't ignorant. Most people wanted revenge for things like being shot in the face.

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The joke of the century! Wasted as the young lass failed to understand what he was referring too. Was it him? Was the delivery off? BAH! Of course not, what the man was referencing was plenty obvious. How else could Jaeger state that he’s gone from 1 Horn to three? Should he just bluntly come out with what he meant? No, no. He is a gentleman first and pervert second. With those thoughts, it clicked into his head that Vale had agreed and wanted to move. Stating that she knew the perfect place, the short Lilac Flower grabbed his forearm and began to tug him along.



The lady of purple was dragging him along as a quickened jog. Eventually, should we let go and slip away in the crowd. The slender frame Vale had made it easy to just weave through, Jaeger on the other hand, was bumping into a person here and there. With an apology, he’d just keep on moving. This was getting the young gent nowhere. The pretty thing he was tailing would simply pull away and lose him in the busy streets.



Jaeger wasn’t as nimble as the purple haired one, but he had other talents. Ones similar to that of when they had met. The man’s feet slowly melded to the stone of the streets, merging into the substance the planet below. It was fortunate for him that much of the roads with made of stone, a material mined and originating from the planet. The loud citizens around him took notice, giving him weird looks and panicked expressions about a freak among them. Magic was apart of their world, but even certain aspects, such as this, was rather weird.

The man was fully merged and following Vale. It was much easier and quick to do than mash through the people above. With his magical sensing, he could track his companion easily enough. It wasn’t before long he felt her magical presence stop. His cut scene had ended when he merged to find Vale standing in a lavish garden. It was beautiful and well taken care of by the looks of it. It was a marvel that there was such a great looking place in this city, though given the surroundings, it was becoming a lot less unexpected. The rich often had such grand area’s to their estates.



A rhetorical question given where they were. At this point though, it didn’t matter. The garden was the focus of this moment.



Looking to his height challenged friend, pondering why she would expect a cheap shot in a place like this. He’d never! Jaeger didn’t hold such grudges, especially toward such beautiful women. Instead, another activity popped up into his head. It was something they could do together, gaining a private moment to themselves. Oh the satisfaction to be had. The gentleman wanted to escort Vale around the Gorgeous Garden. So with that thought in mind, the mage shamelessly shifted to her side, extending out his elbow and offering to be her escort.



Smooth Move.

---

Apparently her companion had managed to keep up, though he had used an entirely different method to do so. The ReQuip mage spared Jaeger a brief glance as he appeared near her, being reminded once again of the first time they met. His magic was one of the most unique and interesting ones she'd encountered so far. Someday, she planned on asking him all about it.

However, there were more important matters at hand.

Arching a gracefully winged brow in question, Valerie studied him dispassionately. Her lilac eyes lingered on the arm he offered, clearly a gesture of goodwill on his part. It threw her for a loop how easily and carelessly he'd tossed aside the loaded topic. Were there honestly no ill feelings towards her? The girl had a notion of how normal people functioned. They didn't take kindly to being shot. They wanted revenge and attempted to track her down to soothe their wounded pride - among wounded other bits of themselves - and it was all usually very annoying.

Perhaps he's a masochist.

Though truth be told, the ReQuip mage was curious as to how the fight would go this time. She imagined a dramatic scenario with flower petals flying every which way among a rain of bullets. It was all very artistic. The outcome would probably have been the same as last time, of course.

"Alright." Valerie looped her arm around his without further ado. It wasn't like she wasn't prepared, if this was all just a way to get her to lower her guard.

"Do you have a preference towards a particular type of flower?" Of course, Valerie was the one taking the lead since she was the regular trespasser visitor to the garden.

She knew this place like the back of her own hand... which wasn't exactly something that most people would be proud of, given that it was illegal to be there. Out of all the gardens she had broken in to, this was her favorite. The garden's design was lovely and appealed to her artistic sensibilities. There were also many different types of exotic flowers to be found here that weren't usually available elsewhere in Talonia. Eyes widening slightly as a thought occurred to her, Valerie looked up at Jaeger as if suddenly seeing him in a new light.

"Can you make flowers sprout from your body? Can you turn into a flower?"

Visions of a Jaeger flower danced through her mind.

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Luck was on his side! Glory be to his pride as the beautiful young woman wrapped her arms around his own. The birds that populate the garden could eat their hearts out as he was the one chosen! The tree man gazed around, giving all the creatures a slight look of accomplishment. Jaeger was being a bit… petty? It was all playful thought to him though, the birds likely didn’t know what was going on nor cared. Pride and such emotions were more of a sentient or human concept. Those of a more beastial or instinct based nature wouldn’t get it.

Now there was a question! Did Jaeger have a favorite flower? Could the man think back to all the times he had given bouquets to beautiful women and pick out a particular genus of flower? The question was certainly good for thought as the two strolled around the garden. Though, it was certainly hard to focus on such a thing. There were oh so many different breeds in this floral heaven that would take that focus, even the beautiful flower around his arm was enough to take his mind from the question. A moment of searching and there it was. A flower that he could get behind. The Lily. A breed that had multiple divisions and sub-breeds, but the one he liked the most was the breed that had the pinkish color bursting out of the white. The man was quite sure on its particular name or Genus.



Jaeger replied and began to wonder what the pretty young thing was thinking about. The last question was rather odd… almost specific to something she was imagining.



Better to have asked than not, right?

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