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Source of Strength; [Closed]
Topic Started: Feb 18 2014, 08:43 PM (318 Views)
Dante
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WHERE THE FUCK IS MARIO
Ayane sounded out the name as it was spoke. "June Hollyfield? I like that name! Its fun to say!" Of course saying Ayane butchered the pronunciation wouldn't be enough, massacred would be the better word. The rumors she had left the city? No doubt spread by Samurakami's gang. But Nana-chan, she had no issue with her.

Not anymore anyway.

"Nah! I'm Nagashima born and bred. I wouldn't leave this city for love or money. Its just where I belong, y'know? Somethin about the pulse of the streets, the wind in the air... I couldn't leave this place if I tried. I'm a snake with only one home and its right here!"

The question was met with an exaggerated headshake. "Nope nope! That's me alright. The one and only! Infinity because my newest Persona is Ouroboros, the symbol of infinity! That's what's on my back as well, Its my second vow! I think I'll get another one done after I pass this Vet Exam." A pause and a smile. "June-chan! Could you... do this tattoo for me? If I pass the exam that is!" She grinned quite widely.
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The One True Nobody
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"...does this clockwork hand follow you... or guide you?"
That was the second time Ayane had mentioned passing a... vet exam. The Japanese word had slipped by June the first time, but she blinked the second time, finally comprehending its meaning. The vigilante Serpentina was trying to become a... veterinarian? Seriously?

Huh. They came in all flavors, didn't they? In truth, June didn't care for the vigilante types, especially now that she knew about Persona-users. They were all just blowhards, acting high and mighty because some insect had given them powers. Treating people like her like they were bowling pin constructs in a Dynasty Warriors game, or weakling random enemy encounters in an RPG. But Serpentina had been different. Even now June could tell she was different. There was something about the way she acted that just shouted out to June: I understand.

Or maybe June was just so charmed by the tattoo that it looked that way.

"I'm from Osaka myself, and... my mom comes from America," said June in a low voice, turning around. There was a bus stop and a bench by the street, a short ways down... no buses would be running this late at night, but it was as good a place as any to chill out, at least until some bastard cop on patrol came around and decided to make an issue of her existing again. If only she had the same powers Noburu and these others had, she could tell those cops to fuck off whenever they got on her case...

The confirmation that Ayane was a Persona-user wasn't unexpected. The question that followed was. After only three steps toward the bench, June stopped, face blank and wide-eyed. The back with her late-night bento in it swung off her shoulder and to her side. She stood that way for a few seconds, and then looked back at Ayane.

What came out was a faint, squeak-like request for confirmation: ".....Me...?"
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Dante
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WHERE THE FUCK IS MARIO
"No way, Osakan? Nee-chan comes from Osaka as well! Lots of people from there, like some big Osakan evacuation!" She smiled slightly. "Not that I meant anything by that! You're really nice and I wouldn't want to offend you!" As they continued to the bench and June made a really quiet and pretty adorable sound, Ayane bounded over.

"Yeah! You're a tattoo artist ain't ya? I mean, I'm not totally sure on what I even want, so its not like I'm asking you to do it now! You've got plenty of time to think it over and stuff!" She kept that calm smile, like she was trying to put the girl at ease. "I mean, I know you really respect me and all but I think it'll be totally cool! I mean I haven't seen your work.. could I see your work, do you have any work? You told me you couldn't tattoo on yourself so.... you musta worked on someone else!"

Ayane excellent deduction skills aside, she smiled. "But yeah, I'd like to see it, love to see it."
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The One True Nobody
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"...does this clockwork hand follow you... or guide you?"
"Nee-chan?" June asked in puzzlement. "Osakan... evacuation?" She paused. And then she frowned. "I did meet another girl from Osaka earlier... and there's the other other one, you know, her. But... are there really that many?"

The girl shook her head, and muttered "Whatever," in English under her breath. The question of the tattoo was more important. Forever Osaka. That was a shitty city to live in, anyway. "I've done it on practice paper, mostly. Not many people for someone like me to work on out here. But I did give one to my boyfriend."

June rubbed at the back of her head. "It's kind of embarrassing to say out loud, but... well, his Persona. I don't have one, only he does. But his Persona, it's... the tattoo I gave him. Great big old Chinese dragon, right down to the last detail, golden white-yellow... Huang Long. He calls it Kohryu. I'm trying not to read too much into it, but... do you think I really mean that much to him?"

It was the first time she'd voiced the question out loud, one that had been eating at her in a painfully pleasant way ever since her brief time in the ruins. She felt her face heating up against the cold of the night air and hastened to turn around and get to the bench, where she at and unwrapped her meal.

"If you want to see, to, like... make sure I'm the right choice," she said quietly, "I'll, um... I'll get him to show you sometime."
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Dante
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WHERE THE FUCK IS MARIO
She scratched her head. "I dunno, feels like it! Nee-chan isn't like.. my actual sister or anything, its just me and her are so close we're like sisters. She's my little sister and I'm her big sister." It didn't feel embarrassing to say either of those things. It felt natural. "Boyfriend..? Yeah! I guessed since like you said you'd done one and obviously it was special and..." She cut herself off as soon as June started speaking again.

The girl tapped her chin. "Well.. Tattoos are really important right? Like this one on my arm is strength to me. Not many people don't know about the girl with the snake tattoo. Kind of an urban legend I think. But... if he's like... your strength, maybe his persona is.. like... how he feels about you..? You gave him a symbol to focus his strength and his persona is that symbol? I think you do June-chan! I mean I don't know the guy but..."

The snakegirl sat down next to her and smiled. "Awesome! I know you've got to be the right choice though, I mean you only did one tattoo and it sounds like its really special. I'm not sure what I want but every time I make a strong vow, I always get another tattoo. Its kind of how I remember. I think I said that before. See, I can't even remember what I just said!"
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The One True Nobody
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"...does this clockwork hand follow you... or guide you?"
"...W-well, he's always stuck his neck out for me," June admitted, somehow managing to resist the urge to look away while she said this, although she could definitely feel some heat rising in her cheeks at this point. She opened her bento and snapped the chopsticks apart. "There's been times where it feels like he's just humoring me, though." Like, sometimes when we're alone... it feels like he's not really interested, just trying not to hurt my feelings.

Did Noburu only care for her as a friend? He'd said once, that it wasn't about sex for him. Did that mean he wasn't actually into her that way? But on the flip side, there were other times when he just seemed so affectionate, and those time made her feel like melting. Those times made her feel more certain than ever that he loved her like she thought, like she wanted. So which was it? Did he just have "off-days," or were the good ones just... good acting?

"Ha," June laughed dryly, looking over at Ayane from her spot on the bench. "I don't think you really need tattoos to remember the important things, but I guess being able to look at yourself in the mirror every morning and see something that makes you think of it can't hurt. Apart from the tattoo I did for Noburu-kun, I mostly just like 'em because they're cool. Or sometimes, cure... or sexy. Depends on what the tattoo is, or where it's drawn, really."
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Dante
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WHERE THE FUCK IS MARIO
"If he's always trying to protect you and keep you safe, I don't see why he wouldn't care about you. Maybe that's why the dragon is his Persona. You're his strength... in a way. Give him a reason to go on. I'm not good at understanding this stuff but this one seems kinda obvious. You might be a little too close to see it though." She looked up in thought, as if trying to will her brain to turn faster.

"My boyfriend... well, when we were first getting together, he didn't see himself as my.. equal? Like, he called himself my dog. I mean I still call him that now but... there was more of a self loathing kinda... thing to it." She brushed her hair back with her hand, looking back at June. "He uhh.. he wouldn't even say 'I love you'. Said it was a dangerous word that hurts people more than it helps them. Men can be... difficult sometimes."

The Snakegirl nodded slowly. "Oh, I got this one on my arm because my brother had one on his back and I always thought it looked cool, but I thought it would look cooler on my arm like it was really coiling around it." She took her finger and traced the tattoo around her arm. "Lot of people say its cool, I just really like it. Couldn't imagine me without it really. This tattoo and these snakeskin gloves."
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The One True Nobody
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"...does this clockwork hand follow you... or guide you?"
"...Well, mine coils around him, too," June said, a tiny hint of pride working its way into her voice. Around his back, chest, stomach... Chinese dragons can get pretty long, right? Besides, I always felt weird only giving him hugs and stuff when no one's looking, so I figured--"

--this way I'd be hugging him all the time anyway! Oh, God, had she seriously just been about to blurt that out to a total stranger?! June's face was now beet red, and she hoped it would just look like the winter chill in action. Ducking her head, she started to scarf down her meal. While part of her was elated to even be in Serpentina's presence right now, another part of her just wanted to run away before she made a complete goof of herself. Why was she suddenly gushing out all this personal shit?

She thought about Ayane's words about her own boyfriend. He hadn't thought he was equal to her, huh? That was weird. Guys usually felt like they needed to assert authority over them females and stuff. Because manly. It was usually the girl who was the "bitch." Her first thought was of some sort of timid, uke-type dude. But maybe there was more to it. Maybe...

"It's sort of... important to feel like equals, isn't it?" she asked aloud, once she'd slowed in her eating, and gathered the courage to look up again. "To be honest, I never feel like that. He's always been so much better at getting stuff done and keeping his cool, and now he's got those powers... I'm uh... I'm not actually a Persona-user myself, yeah? It's really just him."
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Dante
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WHERE THE FUCK IS MARIO
The girl nodded slowly with a smile on her face. She had managed to work out the next part of the sentence and that was... adorable. A symbol of both strength and the love she had for him. She couldn't laugh at that. What was the symbol of her arm? Was there any love in that? Hate maybe. Hate at everything she had lost.

Her back was made with love. The love of the people around her, the names she would lose if she died. Those bonds unable to be strengthened anymore. But on her back their strength was her own. Instead of protecting them, they were protecting her. 'Watching her back'. It was a silly joke at herself, but she felt there was no better place for it.

"I made it important. He's a little younger than me, but he's still my equal. I love him and he loves me. But... he wouldn't say those words. I think he thought I'd run away from him. Those three words that no-one else ever spoke to me. Well.. that's a lie but not like he did. He spoke them as close as he could, right in my ear..." She shook her head. "Don't matter if you ain't no Persona-user. You're still a person. There's still stuff you can do, y'know?"

She scratched her cheek with her glove. "Well... equality don't come from power, or how better or worse someone is in a relationship. Its all about mutual respect. Ran-kun didn't... think he measured up to me, but underneath Serpentina, the girl with the snake tattoo, I'm just Ayane Hitomi. I'm just like you June. I just want to do all I can."
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The One True Nobody
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"...does this clockwork hand follow you... or guide you?"
There's still stuff I can do, huh...?

June wasn't so sure about that. She couldn't fight off those monsters or help Noburu investigate the ruins, she couldn't fight worth a damn next to him, she didn't have any special talents besides drawing art on bits of people's skin... what exactly could she do? June didn't know. She had no idea. If there were a way she could help with the Black Hood problem she would do that--it would at least feel like she was doing something to keep Noburu safe...

But she was useless against that many people with those kinds of tactics. What could she do? Throw herself between them and the Persona-users and expect them to back off because her sacrifice was just so noble and selfless that they couldn't stand the blinding radiance of heroism? Tch...

"Maybe you're right," June said anyway. "I just... I don't wanna be the stay-at-home princess waiting by the window with my hands folded in prayer for my daring prince's return." Saying that, of course, made her think of her own Shadow, the thing it had become when she'd followed Noburu into the ruins. "...I'll think of something. Yeah, I'll think of something."

The girl with the green mohawk looked back at Ayane and gave a rueful smile.

"Thanks for the pep talk, I guess. You don't need to waste your night picking apart my self-esteem issues, tho'. I'll set something up so I can have Noburu show you what my work looks like, and, get in touch on Bedlam sometime? Sound good?"
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