Nazo stands on the edge of the shoreline, far away from the city. As the waves crash against the shore, the masked man feels an overwhelming sense of peace, a rare commodity in the recent days. His eyes are drawn to his hand, as he looks for a moment. The Senshi and Guardian Knights had promise, but without effort it was for nothing. So far things have proceeded well, but there was a long road ahead until victory. Then there was Valdis...the Soldier of Silence. So far, she has proven to be mostly good, but at the same time he was still concerned about her potential to go the other way as well. At least, no matter what, she would have her place in this world.

The masked man looks at his hand, covered perpetually in steel and leather. What was it like, to live like them? Free of the overbearing responsibilities that came with his own position. Inside but outside, right but wrong, there, but not there. In a sense, he was envious of their freedom. They might look at him with his considerably higher raw fighting power, but what was that really meant for? The sensation of family, the promise of innocent but mundane goals to accomplish, the future of a career, the many things that make a human, human. Was it really worth saving this miserable little rock for? The problem got to this point from weakminded humans giving in to a promise of ease and strength with no effort...was the balance so completely lost that human souls would give them up for the Dark Kingdom's lies and greed?

Many questions, no answers. Then there was Soldier of Silence...something about her made him want to talk to her when he could, it was why he even bothered to respond to her pages and the fact he acknowledged that there was a name for him given by her. He still questioned the meaning of such a tradition. But he wondered...would she want to come out here? Surely she never saw the beach very often with her job, position, and family deal. He decides to at least try...holding his hand out and causing a piece of paper to appear, teleported from another place...magical lines forming words along the script, and then beaming it to wherever Valdis happened to be and able to see it, or somewhere out of obvious sight if she was otherwise busy.

Val sat lounging in her tub after getting home from the game; she inhaled the fresh scent of lavender. Her hair was braided and pinned up on top of her head, after about a twenty minute soak she got out and drained the tub wrapping a towel around herself. She went to her mirror and began to blow dry her hair when she felt a sudden odd prickling sensations between her breasts. She pulled the towel away looking down at her breasts. Her eye brow quirking at the site of a piece of paper materializing there.

”What the fuck? Now I know I didn’t miss scrubbing there…

She pulled the note out laying it down on the table….it was damp and the ink was running, and the persons handwriting was less the legible. While she tried to read it she finished drying her hair, leaving the soft tresses to cascade down to her hips. Picking up the note she traveled bare butt into her room searching for her clothes. She wasn’t about to ask Nazo out loud until she was FULLY dressed this time. It had been highly chilly when she was topless and outside. Val picked out a long sleeved black sweater tunic shirt with a deep v neck that was strung shut via lances; she left the strings loose to hang allowing a decent about of cleavage. She also pulled out a pair of black skinny jeans the clung to her like a second skin. She shoved her feet into wool socks and placed her knee high boots with the dark grey fur trim on. Grabbing her jacket she deemed herself save enough to beam up.

”I can’t make heads or tails of what you wrote, so you might as well pop me where ever you are….”

She waited, she was sure he’d teleport her where ever she needed to be…then she would ask him what he wanted….and to also tell him his penmanship and aim needed work.

As expected, Valdis would find herself pulled out through a probably familiar teleportation sensation. When she reappears, she will see the beach had a number of torches in the sand, with some tiki lights hung by a few palm trees that were mysteriously present, a handful of lounge chairs, and the entire beach area within five hundred feet thawed out. There was a large bonfire going with roasted shish-ka-bobs while cheezy Hawaiian luau music was playing from a speaker nearby. Nazo meanwhile was crouching on top of a wooden pillar in the sand, looking out at the water. Solstice was curled up in a chair, asleep as Ferrets often were when not otherwise occupied. When Valdis manifests, he turns to her.

"Ahh, welcome. I happened to be at the beach and felt a little want for company. I figured I should make this place a little more accommodating..." Nazo says, hopping off the wooden pillar and then comically plopping down in the sand. "As I said before, this is where I like to spend my time, when there aren't any world saving related tasks to accomplish." Nazo states, acting a little too casual for the eccentric surroundings.

Ahh and there was that oh so lovely weird sensation that accompanied being teleported; it still made her stomach do flip flops but it she figured she was actually getting use to it. Suddenly her feet landed in unfamiliar and unexpected squishy stuff, causing her to roll her ankle and land on all fours. Valdis blinked, taking in the scenery. She blinked again, her face a blank besides for one eyebrow arched and slightly bugged out eyes.

”What the hell….”

Her eyes traveled from the mood lighting, to the speakers playing the cheesy music, to the food cooking by the fire, random trees that she was sure were extinct in the wild now…. Her eyes traveled to Nazo; who just casually dropped down and started talking. Wait all of this was just because he wanted company. Were there more people coming? She stood up brushing the sand off her pants…unsuccessfully that stuff stuck like a second layer. Slowly she walked over to him still taking in the whole view. She was blown away; people expected this sort of eccentric from her, she just never had to take it from another person….so this was how normal people felt… Valdis looked down at him…unsure if she wanted to sit in this stuff it felt weird.

”How….”

She was a bit speechless; she pushed her hair behind her ear because it was blowing into her face.

”You just wanted company? I wasn’t able to read your note...are other people coming?”

Valdis was still trying to make sense of all of this….other than her most people wouldn’t go through all this set up for a simple get together.

"My secret." Nazo says in response to the question of 'how?'. Truth be told, he had to break a couple of rules to set it up, but the look on Valdis' face was priceless. He then shrugs when she mentions the question of whether others were showing, with a brief shake to his head.

"Why, am I not enough company for you?" he says, feigning a hurt tone of voice as best he could under the mask's muffling. He then looks at the water, stretching his hand out and rotating it from palm up, to palm down, and back again. "Actually, yes I simply wanted company, and you are the only person that I can truly relate to. Nothing against the rest of the team, but they are too normal for my liking outside of the ending the Covenant business." he says, absentmindedly looking in the direction of the ocean.

"I envy them for that sometimes. The normal life doesn't seem so bad." he says, pulling back the sleeve of his outstretched hand and casting a small spell, as a magic rune deactivates, and several metal clicks could be heard as something mechanical was released. The heavy armor falls to the side, leaving an unusually big indenture in the sand. A light colored hand stretches out in the dim light.

"In spite of my power, this is about as much of my body as I can expose to the open air without drawing the eyes of the Dark Kingdom in my direction...it is quite stuffy having to wear this outfit all the time. Eventually, I'd like to actually take this armor off and feel the open air like you and your friends do." he says, chuckling slightly, before then facing Valdis.

"So, that sums up my night, philosophical ponderings and setting up a direct assault on your brain. What about yours? I hope that my remote teleportation wasn't a problem with the note...it was programmed to seek you out when convenient and out of sight." he says, honestly not aware of the cleavage express.

Valdis shrugged might as well roll with it then; she was slightly surprised that no others were coming. This was impressive though; she finally decided she might as well sit down, so she plopped down next to him. The fire was warm enough for her to feel comfortable enough to un zipper her jacket.

”I enjoy your company, I was just wondering cause of the number of chairs..that and this seems excessive for just one person.

She poked the sand with her finger…trying to figure out whether she liked the feeling of it. Surprised yet again she didn’t expect him to admit to relating to anyone much less her. Although it would be a lie if she didn’t feel the same way, she had thought that much the other day at the shrine. Valdis began to start to push the sand into a mound; for some reason it was amusing.

”I’m glad to see you taking time to enjoy yourself when you’re not called to your higher calling…though I suppose I’m thankful you decided it was just you and me tonight, I’ve had enough socializing with the others for a good bit.”

Valdis shrugged about his comment about normal life; she supposed it had its perks and its downs but it would seem that it probably had more perks then his own. The mound she was forming was quickly turning into a very crude castle. When she saw the glove dropped Val grabbed it and placed it on top of the large mound.

”Taddaaa”

She looked proud of herself for all of five seconds until part of her castle collapsed leaving the loved hand tilting at an odd angle from the half still standing castle. Her nose wrinkled up as she tilted her head sideways and squinted….it looked…passable if you couldn’t see it clearly. Her eyes glanced at his hand…surprised to actually see skin.

”Ah so your white; but is that really all you can take off at a time is just one glove? What about taking other pieces of your armor off…instead of one glove perhaps a mask. Or pants…what ever floats your boat.”

She grabbed a handful of sand and placed it on his outstretched one….it looked like it needed something put in it. Valdis chuckled when he asked about his note and her night.

”My night started off with fore filling a social obligation only to end with my face getting slapped and being blamed for causing a scene which for once I did not start. I went home took a bath and was drying off when your tit seeking missile found me.”

She pulled the note out from in-betweens her breasts, it was still a bit soggy but obviously the note was illegible.

”By the way, when normal boys send girls notes then take them to a beach with just the two of them its usually because said boy wants to date said girl.”

"Variety...nothing more/" Nazo says simply in response to the remark about the chairs. He wasn't certain what type of chair would suit her style better, so he decided that he would simply bring in a few, or perhaps the extras can be used as a leg rest of some sort. The chair thing didn't seem that noticeable when Nazo was setting this scenario up. The remark about higher duty made him roll his shoulders. The weight of duty was always oppressing.

"Duty...is duty. I can perform my main duty remotely. Are you not getting along with the others?" he inquires innocently. While he had his own visions and other abilities to gain information, he didn't always see everything or pried into the personal lives of others. Only when there were things that required life and death matters did he use his abilities, or he got unknowing visions. He faced Valdis and watched when she made her sand castle, take the temporarily removed glove and placing it on top, then watching it collapse.

"Yes...my skin I suppose is what you'd call white, though it's not really white so much as a darker shade that I believe is called Caucasian. And that is correct...if more of my armor comes off, then the power that is contained in my body is too easily seen. My mask especially cannot come off for that reason, due to the crest on my forehead that is the primary link to my host." he says calmly, then blinking when the sand is put on top of his hand. The sensation was a little odd, but he let the grains wash over his hand, spinning it around to get the grains off.

Nazo has a bubble of sweat go down his head when she mentioned the 'tit seeking missile. It certainly wasn't his intent that it land...there.

"Well, that type of teleportation isn't always accurate...the conditions were vague enough I suppose that could happen." he says, before a slight laugh escapes his lips.

"Who said I was normal? But I do want to spend time with you, call it what you will." he says nonchalantly, looking at the roasting shishkabobs over the flame. "If you want to eat, you should do it soon." he mentions with a light shrug.

That earned a laugh, she had taken Nazo to be the practical type but apparently they had more in common then she had first thought. He elicited another chunckle at the word duty…that word just sounded funny.

”Hehe you said duty”

When asked whether or not she was getting along with the others she just shrugged.

”Out of the girls I find Pushy cat the least taxing to be around, Little Mouse she is a bit tiring with her ideals of friends….I can’t exactly crush whomever I want with her around otherwise she gives the kicked puppy look...Kails more of a toy then anything, without poking him with a stick his personality is about as exciting as a wet sponge and Ama is just boring.”

She began to attempt to get the sand off her hands with little success.

”And it’s just taxing to have to explain my actions all the time; with you and Rosa chan I don’t have to do that, you guys just get it. You don’t assume I’m just being a bitch to be a bitch….which sometimes that’s true just not all the times.”

Valdis frowned as she continued to try to get the sand off her hands, her eyebrows knit in concentration.

”How can you know you have a crest on your forehead if the mask can never come off?”

Now she was just asking questions to be a nudge. Her face was set in a frown as she was trying to brush the sand off, no matter what she did it wasn’t coming off!

”Holy crap this sand is like herpes!”

Valdis shrugged when he tried to explain away the teleportation mistake, she really didn’t care where the note landed…but since she kept all her other stuff in her bra normally it wasn’t too surprising to find the note land there.

”It probably ended up there cause I keep most of my possessions in my bra anyways, see”

She proceeded to dig out a wad of cash, credit cards, a bus pass, and her id.

”I call it my bra of holding”

She gave a goofy grin at him which then turned into a frown as she felt the grainy sensation inbetween her breast…HERPES THIS STUFF WAS OFFICALLY LIKE HERPES. With a huff she pushed herself to her feet and headed straight over to the water. Freezing or not she had to get the stuff off her hands. Valdis paused when she got to the water’s edge; it seemed alright she placed her hands down only to find the water had pulled away. She took a few more steps forward and tried again. The water washed over her boots up to her ankles, luckily her boots were water proof. She scrubbed her hands, suddenly all the water was gone…..She frowned she wasn’t done yet. She looked up to see it pulling back…what she failed to see in the dim light was where it was going. Valids stepped forward, only to notice there was a wall of water that was almost as tall as her.

”Ohh fuck”

She spun around and began to run, but it was too late, the large wave hit her and sent her under. When it was gone Valdis was left on her hands and knees sputtering and shivering. Valids got to her feet and stomped up the bank, hopping along while yanking off water soaked boots. She dropped them by the fire and plopped down on a chair with her feet pulled up to her chest shivering.

”Nazo the water hit me”

She pouted. She was cold and she was wet now. Luckily the fire was warm. She leaned forward and yanked a cabob out.

"I know. There was a time before I had to undergo such heavy cloaking that I know what I look like, and I know that the crest is prominent on my forehead, radiating enough power that it would instantly appear on the proverbial radar of the Covenant." Nazo says with a shrug. Did Valdis assume he has never seen his face? It didn't matter...it was probably a weak ploy to get him to take it off.

"Herpes? You sound like you have some kind of experience with that. That must be unfortunate." he says in a serious enough tone that he might have believe it to be true. Or perhaps Nazo was simply choosing to mess with her. Regardless, the reaction should be amusing.

"I would probably try to wait until you reach a shower.." Nazo says when Valdis complained about the sand in her cleavage...but Valdis as always was off and away on her own mission to cleanse herself of the feel of sand. Needless to say, the sea took a feel of Valdis, and she ended up coming back to him wet and cold, causing a bubble of sweat to come down the side of his head.

"...Consider using a normal method of carrying in the future..." he says, as he stands up and walks over to Valdis...looking at her. This was unfortunate...she was likely to suffer hypothermia if nothing changed. After a moment's thought and with a bit of reluctance, he pulls the cloak that garbed his body off and then held it out, facing away from Valdis.

"Strip, and use this to cover yourself until your clothes dry." he says calmly as if it were nothing.

When Valdis looked, she would see that his entire body was covered in the same colored armor that his gauntlets and boots were made of. The metalworking was elegant and intricate, interlocking perfectly in each joint. A slight glow radiated in lines along the armor's length, pulsing in and out every so often. Symbols were engraved periodically, reflecting no known characters in the world's languages. From the looks of the heavy armor, it seemed to be sealed off from the environment normally. The armor cuts of at the bottom of the neck, raised to cover the bottom quarter of his neck, while a green shell of energy formed a type of barrier around it. The mask he wore seemed to wrap around his head, with silver, platinum colored hair covering most of the non-face parts. The hair was loose and messy, and reached down to the bottom of his neck around the back. His overall build seemed powerful and strong, based on the proportions of the armor.

"I can't have you dying on me, I admit I hadn't anticipated you would have gone straight into the sea like that." he says, facing away still.

[”Now how long ago would that be?”

At the mention at her having experience with herpes she laughed and grinned; leaning up close to him.

”Would you like to find out whether I have it or not?”

She fluttered her eyelashes at him, really she knew about it from the water cooler talk at work. She was in the entertainment industry….some of those people shared WAY to much. She herself however was clean as a whistle. After all she didn’t even have her first kiss yet, so to think that she would have gone any further was a far stretch. But she could give a rats ass whether people thought she had gone all the way or not.

When she came back and was sitting on the chair Nazo made a comment about her way of carrying things. She looked up at him a blinked, wrapping her arms around herself while nibbling on a Kabob.

”Why? I never lose my cash this way and I would defiantly know if someone was trying to pick pocket my cash. Can’t exactly go fishing in there without me noticing it. Pretty sure I would catch someone groping my boobs.”

She wasn’t expected to be told to strip or have the large cloak handed to her. Hesitantly she reached up taking hold of the cloak her chilly hand lightly brushing his.

”But I thought you were only able to take off one piece of your clothes armor whatever you call it, at a time?”

Valdis wasn’t really jumping at the chance to strip though; she was a bit distracted by looking him over. She giggled slightly as she noticed the pulsing lights.

”hehe your like a giant glow stick”
Though when he said he hadn’t anticipated her to go straight into the sea she stuck her tongue out at him.

”Its not like I meant to do that, it was only going up to my ankles and then BAM wall of water…..”

She glared out at the sea….Valdis looked back at the cloak in her hand; she felt a new but yet slightly familiar feeling was this modesty again? ….It just confirmed it was troublesome, pushing the feeling aside she began to peal her sweater like shirt off.

”You know when I asked if you wanted to check if I had herpes or not this was not my plan.”

She tossed the shirt over to the edge of the fire, soon followed by her bra, pants, and lacy underwear. Soon she was snuggling in the giant snuggie, she was still a bit cold though but it was much better.

Nazo doesn't respond to the remark about how long ago it was. Time was a difficult thing for him to keep track of, he kind of shrugs and then with body language expresses a response to the effect of 'not sure'. When she leans forward and offers for him to find out about it, his eyes narrow behind the mask.

"...You don't. If you did you'd likely be more defensive. That or you are far more promiscuous than I originally thought." he says nonchalantly, letting Valdis have her amusement. It wasn't an entirely unexpected reaction. When she took the cloak and asked him about his exposure scenario, he shrugs a little.

"It's a calculated risk. I don't anticipate any youma or Zodiac will bother to come out here." he says calmly, but Valdis likely knew even if they did come, his power would be more than a match for them. He ignores the comment about being a glowstick and then shrugs as he sits in the sand again while Valdis was warming up.

"...The Ocean is not my area of expertise. That would be Mercury...maybe Neptune if that power ever reawakens." he says nonchalantly, then looking as the waters continue to bob up and down.

Valdis let out a deep chuckle that almost sounded like a purr, she was having a little to much fun with this. But Nazo’s reaction was cute, it sounded like he had to think about it for a second. It was cute to make him stumble a bit. She shrugged her shoulders with her arms out slightly, a comical site in Nazo’s large cloak.

”Saaa you caught me, I’m as clean as a whistle. But I’ve already told you I haven’t even had my first kiss, so I’m far less promiscuous then I lead people to believe. People are usually to creeped out by me to take me seriously.”

Val frowned a little, so it was a risk for him to take the cloak off. As soon as he plopped down Val got up and sat right in his lap, snuggling up and getting comfy; as much as the armor underneath her would allow.

”There now you’re not as exposed and I’m still in something dry.”

It wasn’t like she hadn’t been this close to him before, she did use him as a giant snuggie while walking to the creepy cave pet that the priestess kept underground. Valdis leaned her head against his chest and chuckled when he mentioned mercury.

”Mercury got awakened this afternoon, his names Kenny. I got buried in his igloo today cause he was busy groping little mouse’s ass and asking her to bear his children.”

"I don't get the creeped part, but most people are exceedingly judgmental." he says, hinting at a potential annoyance at the human race in general. Or perhaps it was a generalized comment that almost anyone in society could make. After all, was it not a human nature to make broad generalizations about each other?

When Valdis walked over and sat down on his lap, he didn't move for a moment. He keeps his hands in the sand, before his mask turns slightly.

"That can't possibly be comfortable." he says, not remarking about the fact that she was concealing his presence. It wasn't a physical presence so much as a power presence. Yet to bring up such a fact would probably dampen Valdis' good mood she was in. Yet the fact that he thought to take into consideration her mood was a small bit of a bother in it's own right/ Why? Why did he worry about that? He had his mission to take care of. His attention gets snapped back to the present time when she mentions Mercury being awakened.

"I see...well, this one seems to be a complete 180 from the original Mercury senshi..." he says, a bubble of sweat running down his head. "I sort of feel bad for Venus, her innocence would likely be confused by such lewd behavior.

”Creeped out part most likely comes because most people especially ones in the Japanese culture wouldn’t suddenly throw themselves onto someone….its really hysterical watching people in this polite culture to react to such behavior. Although I love it when a rare someone plays along, it makes the performance that much better.“

She giggled, Rosa was one of the ones that played along with her, she and that girl could make so many people feel uncomfortable. Valdis dug her toes into the sand; funny thing was this wasn’t actually too uncomfortable.

”Actually it’s not too bad, even with your armor you’re warmer then that chair. Plus your giant snuggie cushions it a bit.”

She wriggled a bit then looked up into his mask, a big grin on her face. Happy that for once her actions weren’t rewarded with an ofuda or a random port away. She actually was comfy and would hate to have to move.

”I wouldn’t remember what happened after, I was kinda knocked unconscious…..I have no clue how long I was buried…But I wish I could have seen her reaction…now that I think about it today was sort of busy…I’m hopping nothing pops up in the next couple days. I plan on helping out at the cemetery, old man must be exhausted. I feel sort of bad I haven’t gone to help out the past couple weeks.”

Valdis occupied herself with burying Nazo’s one hand that didn’t have armor on it.

”So Nazo, what do you normally do when you find yourself wanting for company?”

"I should be curious to find out what this 'Rosa' is like, since you seem fond of her. She must be at least mildly interesting if you are speaking highly of her." Nazo says, calmly listening to Valdis while looking out at the water. He shrugs when Valdis protests that it is comfortable in spite of the fact she was sitting on hard metal. But when she mentions that she was knocked unconscious, he unburies his hand that was buried and taps Valdis in the back of the head.

"Bad, no getting yourself in dangerous situations." he says with a slight sigh, knowing that Valdis was probably going to yet again get involved with the next youma she has to deal with, regardless of the boops on the nose. He then feels a little weird from touching Valdis' hair. It was the first time he ever really had contact with another human being. When he makes contact with her though, Valdis would have a vision of a time when things seemed completely normal...where Nazo was even outside of the armor, wearing a trendy young adult outfit. His back was to Valdis, but just as he starts to turn to her, the vision also abruptly ends.

Nazo is quiet when Valdis asks about what he normally does when he is wanting company. The fact of the matter is, he never once before wanted any company. In general, he found most humans to be ill natured and almost not worth saving.

"...This is possibly the first time I've actually wanted company. I had no interest until recently." he says calmly.