Aim At Me [Closed]

Janus had been cooking random things she could not in fact eat.  Mainly deserts and sauces for some of her more illustrious dishes, and to have fresh and available as she had ducked down to grab a few serving platters as Sasha had walked in, causing her to walk right by Janus.  Though, Janus had up most of her mental barriers and was avoiding a lot of divination possibilities mainly because she was trying to focus on not doing tasks ahead of time.  It made her reactions speed up if she wasn't always reacting on her power.  That and she had most of her divination pointed towards the food preparation where she tried all the things she could not eat without jacking her blood sugar as she looked at her insulin pump annoyed.  She had heard the door open but had not immediately  jumped to her feet. 

That and she saw it was Sasha, and thought that might have been desperate, score Janus nothing.  She mentally took a note as Sasha coughed.  Walking up behind her, as Yuki looked her up and down then pointed behind Sasha at Janus.  "Hi there!" The younger man said as he looked at the book, puzzled.  "Might want to take a bit better care of that." He said and sat back down at the lobby desk and turned on the TV in the lobby.  Janus, on the other hand, coughed into her hand as she looked at Sasha.  She was wearing a skort and a blouse as she tilted her head slightly.  "Welcome back Miss Sasha, How man we be of assistance today?"  She asked with a polite bow.  Janus had no idea what to say and was kind of just, blurting out anything that came to mind.

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295

Oh damn, she had somehow managed to miss her entirely. It seemed that her idea of the building wasn’t quite right. There was no hall where she thought to have to go. So, all she was left with was the realization that there had to be a wall between her and Janus. “Oh, hi!” Noticing the man from before she gave him a smile. It was slightly unexpected, and had caught her a bit off guard. She almost felt ashamed for that. Of course there could have been others inside. What the hell had she been thinking? Apparently, nothing much, she knew. The inward sigh took on the form of a deep inhale. “Yeah, haha, it’s a bit old.” A chuckle, she hid the book partly behind her side. He would probably think that she was embarrassed about him seeing the state of one of her belongings. That was fine by Sasha.

The cough saved her. “Thanks, I was eh, well, I was in the area.” Awkwardly gesturing around with her free hand, she offered Janus a smile. Then, her eyes dropped a little. Briefly they lingered on something that looked like a small cable. Headphones? She saw none when her eyes darted up to the woman’s head.

“One of your amazing deserts would be nice,” she grinned, hoping to talk Janus back into the kitchen and far away from Yuki. Though, he probably knew more than a normal employee would. They had been friends for years had Janus told her, right?

“and then to top it off, I’ve brought this with me.” It was a joke, obviously. Nothing about the old book was sweet. If anything it would have more in common with something burned in the oven, but those were just details.

“Maybe you’ll find it interesting, I don’t know.”


302*

Janus moved around Sasha, making sure to walk close to her as she slid into the small kitchen area and knelt to gab a plate.  "Hot or cold?" She asked as she ran her eyes over Sasha and then went back to looking at utensils in the kitchen as she decided to path walk taking the book and opening it, realizing some of the illustrations were of masks and with magic.  "Well, that's kind of cool." She said to nothing in particular as she grabbed the small burner as well so she could caramelize a piece of sugar.  She shifted and grabbed the tiramisu and then quickly lit the burner and took a small knife and a brush as she poured brown sugar into a small iron in the shape of a heart with an arrow in it, using the knife and brush to get the shape correct.  She then gently lied it down in front of the tiramisu and took her blueberry coulis and slowly drizzled it over the top of both in a sharp crossing design. 

She put it down and then quickly heated up another pan and grabbed a banana and cut it up as she tossed a bit of sugar and butter along with rum into the pan.  She waited with the heat on high for a few moments and threw in the bananas and dipped the pan to catch the alcohol on fire and let it burn off to mix the caramel alcohol flavor into the banana's foster.  She took it off and gently arranged it next to the tiramisu and then topped it with a small scoop of mint ice cream she had made earlier.  Finally she served it to Sasha as she looked at the book, washing her hands.  "Can I read?" She asked and looked at it, and probably Sasha's legs in the process.

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312

“Hmm, take a guess.”

Playfully replying to the question she wondered if Janus would see that she didn’t mind either a cold or a hot dessert. Anything sweet would be nice to have and she was pretty certain that a dish made by the Diviner would be pretty much perfect no matter what it was.

Hanging back a bit as to not get in the way she watched the other woman make some preparations. Unsure if the ‘cool’ comment was directed at her she kept quiet. The book was tugged beneath her arm while she leaned against a kitchen wall and let her eyes follow her friend. Watching Janus work was really something. In a way it reminded her of looking at a well choreographed fight. No motions were wasted, everything fit like a puzzle, and the end result was amazing. It was a joy to witness. And in this case, a privilege to taste the end product.

The tiramisu had all of her attention when they sat down. Placing the book on the side of the table, she carefully slid the plate with the dessert closer. The ice cream would have to go first because otherwise it would melt. Unsure if she could eat a bit of it before turning to the tiramisu, Sasha opted to do it step by step. She didn’t want to come across as a toddler (even if she sometimes felt like one).

“Of course, I’ve brought it for you to take a look at it.” She nodded, got a grip on one of the corner of the book and pushed it toward Janus. ‘Our History - Western Europe. Vol. II’ the thing said in bold letters. “I didn’t take the first part because it’s mostly.. guessing about our origins, I guess. This seemed like a better idea.” Nodding again, she left the book in Janus’ hands and busied herself with the sweets on her plate.

Forming a comment between two bites, she smiled broadly.

“Wonderful, like the last time.”


**
334

Janus read the cover and then opened the book slowly as to not damage it at all she then used her divination to look at pages that she would be exclamatory on, and found to her surprise it was a lot of them.  So she flipped slowly to read as much as she could while Sasha enjoyed her dessert.  To her something like this was perfect.  It drove her curiosity wild and at the same time gave her something to point to or think about.  For that reason she had quickly decided that she was going to learn more and more.  She slowly moved the pages as to not damage anything and read using both her eyes and her Divination.  She was more or less immediately convinced that magic had always been a thing these people just referred to it differently.

So, Janus read the book as Sasha ate, way too enthralled to pay much attention to anything else.  Janus ended up wondering why this book even existed, the damage it could cause could be potentially catastrophic if it was all true, which Janus was pretty clear on these days aside from the opinionated nonsense.  She looked up once or twice just to see where Sasha was in relation to her dessert.

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212

The compliment she had offered barely earned her a glance. It appeared that Janus was sunk in some deep thoughts while going through the old pages. Sasha couldn’t really blame her for that. Remembering the first time she had gotten her hands on things that could give her a more or less logical explanation to why she was the way she was.. well, she had moved to Japan to be able to dig further into the whole Quincy business. Ignoring a comment was relatively soft if you compared it to her move. So, she patiently ate her dessert while checking on her friend as the latter submerged herself further into the history of a race that wasn’t hers.

When, after a prolonged silence, their gazes met, Sasha smiled. The line that formed her lips split further, widening. She could no longer wait for Janus to decide when she was ready to speak, it was now that she would take the reins in her own hands again. It’s why she prodded with words.

“What do you think of it?”

Neatly putting the cutlery onto the plate, she shoved it a small distance away from herself. Using the space she placed her arms on the table after wrapping the slate gray cardigan a bit tighter around her frame. Curiously leaning forward, she traced two fingers over the book and carefully turned it a bit. It was enough for her to see where Janus had stopped her reading.

“I have to admit that it’s a bit odd. The recorded history varies from things that appear to be facts to .. narratives not unlike complete tales. The late middle ages is a origin for our group, I think. Different writers have different opinions on that, so,” she shook her head. “I apologize, haha, that subject belongs to the first volume.”

Leaning back she gave Janus her full space once again. “Actually, I’ve brought this with me because you seemed interested in the Quincy and their abilities last time, but hmm you didn’t really call me or anything.”

There was no accusation in the tone of her voice, only mild confusion.


**
355

It was not that Janus was immune to compliments or trying to ignore Sasha.  Curiosity was dangerous in the hands of Janus, but more than that, she was embarrassed.  "It's really cool."   She said as she looked back down at the page and nodded.  "Yep, I didn't want to sound desperate.  Too embarrassed.  You look fantastic, by the way." She said as she looked over Sasha and put the book down.  She was more or less interested but too much of a pansy when it came to talking to people to not sound desperate.  So she had avoided flooding Sasha with random phone calls that may or may not have had Janus sound like a stalker.

She shifted her skort, which had been riding way too high now that she looked down at her own legs and then looked back to Sasha as she shifted and nodded. "So, forgive me for being a wimp."   Janus pointed out as she rocked her chair back a time or two debated what to say, searching potential futures for anything that made her sound less like a twonk.  Unfortunately, Janus was too pathetic for that and just about anything she said would be along the lines of cat-got-your-tongue or just sound worse than she did normally.

"So, when did you learn to use Quincy powers?  Is it like divination, you just woke up one day and could make constructs out of energy?" Janus asked as she slid herself back up in her chair.  She finally got up and walked to the kitchen and opened the fridge to grab her pair of gifts to Sasha, that she was almost too scared about.  They were a pair of edible roses, one was made with different berries cut and then flash frozen in nitrogen and the other, was made of caramel and chocolate.  She played them on a rectangular plate and then slowly walked them out and set them beside Sasha's dessert.

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325

Blinking she stared at Janus for a brief moment. Thankfully the Diviner was looking down at the pages or she might have found Sasha’s staring creepy instead of only uncomfortable. Snapping herself out of it, she felt a tiny smile form on her lips. While there was no way of saying it for sure, she had the feeling that there was more to this ‘embarrassment’ than being too new to the world of the Quincy.

“You’re fine,” she paused, “and thanks”. Leaning forward a bit, her gaze caught the odd music player again, and the (what she assumed to be) headphones, but before she could comment on any of it, there was a spiritual question being fired at her.

“Well, my case isn’t the standard one for Quincy, I’ve figured. Most learn to use their powers at a young age, around five or six. I’ve discovered mine during my teenage years. It was an accident.” Recalling the moment she could still vividly see the monster in the park. God, it had taken her so long to get over that encounter. She had promised herself to never ever take any hard drugs again. As the images hadn’t fully faded, she had figured that there had to be damage to her brain. Thankfully, it had turned out to be her blood, not a lasting ‘bad trip’.

“It took me quite a while to actually find people like me. Now it’s a bit over a year that I’ve been actively gathering knowledge and training my skills. Honestly, the world is a dangerous place for those like us. We ‘attract’ all types of spiritual creatures and that’s why we need means to defend ourselves.” Finishing the lecture off with a nod she wondered if Janus was tired of her when the taller female disappeared into the kitchen. There appeared to be something nervous about the reiatsu’s vague trace, but Sasha couldn’t really put her finger on what it was. Maybe the idea of being in danger had spooked Janus, maybe not. Sasha would have to wait and see.

“Hey, I didn’t mean to-” she started out when Janus came back, but the plate in her hands distracted her from whatever she had been planning to say. “..scare you.” The words came out too slow, and a bit too late.

“What’s that?” Well, that was a dumb question. So, Sasha tried again, fast. “Eh.. that’s for me?” Looking curiously at the roses she curiously poked one with her finger. It was chocolate! A tiny smear on her finger proved that. She quickly licked it off.

“Do you want a piece of it? Oh, and, what’s with the music?” She wondered aloud while placing the plate in the middle of the table. The other stuff was gently shoved to the side so both she and Janus could reach for a piece of the edible flowers should they wish to.

**
483-

Janus unbuttoned the bottom of her shirt to show off the small plastic tube going into her infusion set which was currently on the left of her belly button. Which was an internal flex if anyone cared that much.  The entire area around her infusion set and on the other side of her belly button was linked with small needle scaring from her time as a type 1 diabetic.  Janus had always been a fan of cooking as a way to escape, but not being able to "eat" her meals was kind of a mental barrier for her.  Janus kept her mind focused by constantly not doing things like eating what she wanted to eat.  Like the roses, she had used her divination to learn if the flavor was right, but she would not actually eat them herself.    "I'm a diabetic, its why you don't see me eat much of what I cook."

She said before she flipped the page of the book again and read something about Quincy making things.  She stopped.  "This, you can do this?" She asked and pointed out.  "Does that mean the Gae, Gungnir, and Excalibur, maybe even the blade of Feirbois were all weapons from Quincy?" She asked as she suddenly shook her head, slightly awkwardly.  "Sorry.  Anyway, diviner, oracle geeky questions." She said flushed and looking back down at the book.  Janus did not really care what she was going to do, she had a lot of weird ideas now if Quincy could just make weapons.  Does that mean humans can use them?  Does it mean they are stronger?  Where all the old legends based somewhat in truth, after all she existed.   So why could they not have existed?

She finally managed to pull herself away from the page and looked up, at a rather generous eye level and realized her shirt was still unbuttoned, she freaked out and scrambled to re-button the bottom buttons, only messing up like once.  She was now blushing relentlessly and decided to end her speech there and look in some general direction that did not make her seem like an idiot.

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354

Trying not to stare as more skin was revealed, Sasha slightly averted her gaze as if that would give Janus more privacy. Not that the latter minded being see like this, obviously. Still, the young Quincy hesitated and only looked up when her friend spoke. The little tube visible connected to the other things turned out to be a part of Janus’ life.

“Oh,” Sasha quietly reacted, unsure about what to say. Diseases and ill people in general made her feel really awkward. It was similar to having to deal with kids. One had to be careful about what they said and basic topics suddenly turned into a minefield.

“I’m sorry,” her face fell a bit, but she didn’t want to appear as if she was throwing pity at Janus. Somehow she doubted that anyone would appreciate that. Hence, she managed to smile and did what she could do best on such occasions. She rambled. “I can promise you that it’s delicious. So no worries there.”

Happily jumping onto the next topic, she felt the awkwardness seep away. Leaning closer she got a better look on what Janus had been pointing at. “I eh.. I’m not sure that I can do that. Some of us can actually make things from glass.. and from steal, I think.” Shaking her head as if mimicking Janus, Sasha laughed. “No, don’t worry about it. I don’t mind answering your questions if I can.”

“I think that a lot of legends might originate from spiritual beings, their weapons, powers. You know, others who aren’t as aware of matters as we are might have misunderstood the sightings. Like, who could blame them for that, right?” She could only imagine what would have happened to her should she have never discovered others like her, or gotten the chance to hear an explanation from one of the other races. A mental institution for a home was the first thing that came to mind.

Noticing the panic on Janus’ face she felt a wave of confusion, then saw the blush. A wide grin crossed Sasha’s lips and she couldn’t help but to tease. “Don’t worry, you have a pretty stomach.” Winking once, she chuckled before turning a couple more pages.

“Do you know something about your family? I mean, not to be rude but have there been those like you among your ancestors?”
**


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