#oathclad

Calm down, cupcake. I’m-- I’m not short. This is what perfection looks like.

Aranea was by no means one to wear her heart on her sleeve, but she was a lover all the same; she wasn’t simple and subtle, she was eager to dote, and laud her beloved dramatically. She was also one to be spontaneous, and rather than plan things meticulously in advance, she had, in some sense, intended for their day to proceed intuitively. When she senses a familiar presence (as Kelly was soft and silent like a cat), her lips twist into a smile, and she leans backwards so she might brush delicately against her towering girlfriend.

Jotaro’s expression remains characteristically vacant (not that he would know it) at the sudden, unexpected suggestion from the stand user he considered his equal in prolonged, introspective silences. Though their first encounter hadn’t been altogether pleasant, they had found a common sense of understanding in this quietude (although, his thoughts were a tempest in comparison), over the days they had travelled together. Apologies were not made, but nods and glances had largely sufficed, and exchanges since were usually of accord and single-minded. Jotaro shrugs. Whether she advised as much out of consideration, for herself, or for some ulterior motive, he could not quite decide.

“Didn’t have a good night’s sleep?” He inquires, his voice torn between derision and actual concern. “Anyone else need a stop?” 

“ Come on, hang in there, you hear me? ” The desperate plea falls on deaf ears, her eyes vacant and staring into a void as someone pulls off her helmet. The idea of death was so welcome now, so comforting. She’s so tired of fighting. She’s so tired. It’s okay to close her eyes now, she thinks. There’s nothing left to do now, and she falls back into the darkness reaching for her.

– Only to jolt awake what feels like moments later, expecting to feel her organs leak out of her abdomen, but no such thing happens. Her vision is clear now, her ears functioning fully, her lungs expanding and contracting with regular, measured breaths. It was bizarre, and it shouldn’t be real, but she knows all at once that she is, for a fact and beyond a shadow of a doubt ALIVE. It’s only then that she notices Josuke in the corner of her eye, and she turns her head to look at him.

“ How? ” Her voice cracks – her throat was raw and dry. Not only that, but she’s tired, she realises. Her body is perfectly intact, but she is exhausted. “ What happened? ”

      It wasn’t like he hadn’t expected -- or even prepared himself -- for the query, but there was still a nervous clench of teeth as he realised there was no simple way to explain how he had quite literally tugged on the wisps of the soul leaving her body and shoved it back in with unyielding concern. ( Given how readily she had been willing to sacrifice herself for him, he’d almost say unceremoniously, but his stand’s healing touch had always been gentle ). Of course, the thought of simply leaving her for dead to avoid raising suspicions about him never even crossed his mind. even if kelly were a complete stranger to him -- and she was not -- he wouldn’t have hesitated.

      A nervous chuckle traversed the marine’s lips, his arm reaching to rub the back of his neck as he fidgeted in discomfort.

      ❝ It’s a long story, ❞ his eyes darted between her and the battlefield, ensuring nothing else crept up between them in the split-second he allowed her to come to her senses. luckily, as soon as all his attention had zeroed in on her at the urge of john’s cry, her team members closed in on the raging brute, giving him the cover and time necessary to give her immediate ministrations. ❝ I’m sorry I didn’t mention it earlier. It’s just ... too much to take in. ❞

      He didn’t necessarily mean to lie. he couldn’t just bring it up in casual conversation; how would that go? that a form invisible to the naked eye -- to the eye of any non stand user -- inhabited his body, and was some sort of physical manifestation of his fighting spirit, and oh, by the way, it can heal any wound so long as the person wasn’t dead yet? Sounded a whole lot like overkill, like he was just flexing his muscles. Even if he could simply show her -- 

      ❝ Let’s just chalk it up to family genes for now, ‘kay? ❞ his eyes narrowed.  ❝ I should thank you for saving me. This thing I can do -- it doesn’t work on me. I’d have been a goner. ❞ he gulped, biting his lower lip in fear.

Orders came directly from the top of VigilCorp. The chairman of the board wanted what was here and was offering Raifer plenty of incentive to get a job done right. This was a joint venture, and the UEG wasn't just going to allow some third-party in their business like this private military corporation without some assurance. He felt he could've handled fine on his own, no matter how unknown the enemy or territory.

Everyone so far here had been similarly enough to humanity of his own. Maybe less cybernetics, visible ones, anyway. Everyone still looked rather average, all shorter than he was. It did have him wonder, just how in the hell did they plan on keeping up with him around their colonies with regular human soldiers. They couldn't possibly keep up the pace, right?

The first destination was a forward operating base on some outer colony world where he was to deploy and reinforce UNSC troopers with "potentially" hostile militant rebels. Yeah, that's what the Australian prick piloting the condor had mentioned.

It wasn't too long of time spent sitting. The dropship's rear door lowered out as sunlight broke through the dark interior, and the sounds of yelling voices filled the silence, all competing to be heard. His boots made contact with dry, cracked desert ground. He looked to see the source of voices, and all were outside the base being kept back by recently set up walls and heavy duty fences. Right, potential militants.

Raifer got to walking, knowing he was an easy target at his stature around here. He glanced around behind his visor for whoever he was meant to report in with. The one to keep up with him. It wasn't long that in a sea of drab camouflage uniforms, he found someone a more stand-out blue set of armor.