It had all started with Allison noticing Sammy was a little twitchy.
Truth be told, the taller Sabre wasn't exactly fully composed herself at the time. The war with the Praetorians had opened hard and fast, and Demo had been on the front lines since it hit. And found herself working harder than she ever had simply to stay alive. But at the end of it all, battered but victorious, they'd stumbled out of the rift portal to Praetoria, the reinforcements that Neuron had had prepared smashed and both he and Bobcat battered and beaten for the moment, though the feline Praetorian had taken a chunk out of their strike force before she went down.
The reaction on the other side of the portal had been incredible. The Praetorian War had hit worldwide, with more force than anyone could have predicted, targeted primarily on centers of superhuman concentration. Emperor Cole's forces had obviously intended to take out as much of their opposition in the first strikes as possible. Incredibly, barely, the combined forces of Primal Earth had thrown his invasion back, albeit with significant casualties and damage. Allison had barely had time to contemplate the damage to King's Row when they'd been defending the PPD precinct against an armored column of War Walkers and Clockwork to take down a rift generator construction site, but the Row would doubtless take months if not years to fully recover, if it ever did.
In the face of such an implacable and dangerous enemy, the PR machine under command of the Vanguard Herald division and Incandescent had already begun circulating footage and information about the "Alpha Strike" into Praetoria, the first thrust back towards the enemy that had caused such devastation. Allison and the rest of their team had been instant war heroes, with Vanguard operatives, Longbow troops, and almost any citizen they came across cheering them on on sight.
For her part, Demo was fairly sanguine about this. Such things didn't ruffle her much. But she had noticed the increasing frequency of the moments of tension in Sammy, and felt it would probably be best to give the girl a chance to decompress. A few of the others had held similar sentiments, leading to the group currently ensconced at Fernando's in Faultline, hidden away from the crowds of well-meaning revellers for a little while at least, while the group took advantage of the good stocks that the restaurant kept in the back.
"Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!" One more pair of reinforced mugs slammed down on the table as Demo and Sachie yet again broke even for how long it took them to finish off what was, by any other definition, a tankard each. It was cheap beer, and neither of them were really all that affected by it, but the pleasant buzz and warmth was there, as well as the companionship. Off to one side, Evangelia was bemoaning to Alice about the fact that she was apparently old enough to get involved in an inter-dimensional war and still not old enough to be allowed a beer, while Sammy was practically curled around a pitcher of something that Remy'd brought out from the back end and Allison couldn't quite identify. Gamma was nursing her beer with the pacing of long experience, apparently settling in for a long night's drinking, or perhaps to be ready to cart the drunks home afterward, while Shizuru was being perfectly elegant, respectable, and blatantly pretending like she wasn't mixing in a little something extra with her tea, courtesy of the house.
A few of the group weren't there, either having other plans or recuperating from the thrashing both Battle Maiden and Bobcat had delivered upon them over the course of the operation. It was a sobering thought...or it would've been, if Allison had been more than three-quarters sober at the moment. As another round was rolled up and she raised her glass in salute to the white haired ninja who grinned back at her across the table, Demo felt that perhaps, they'd pull through anyway, because if anyone could push this back, it was the people around her.
***
Nene bolted right for the door as soon as the knock came, having taken the later shift of hours to be awake when, not if, the group that even now she was regretting not being with came home. It was much to her surprise and considerable relief that the first thing she saw when she opened the door was a statuesque white haired figure, who Nene only realized after a moment had a slightly drowsy catgirl over one shoulder.
"What the hell?" she asked, because there were few other relevant questions at the moment as that.
"Demo's idea. Had a couple drinks," Sachie said, smiling in a way that worried Nene that her lover had taken one too many hits to the head. Sachie never smiled for that long a period at once just at random. "Great night."
"Oh, hi, Aunt Nene," Sammy slurred from the ninja's shoulder. "Didjyaknow Sachie can do a trick wiff cherry stems an' her tongue an' its really weird but kinda coolzzzzzzzz...."
Nene blinked, before looking back at Sachie who just chuckled as she stepped inside and set Sammy on one overstuffed chair and tucking a blanket over her. Nene raised an eyebrow at that as the taller woman turned around. "You're in a really good mood for some reasmmrph?!" she started, as her ability to speak was impeded by Sachie suddenly deciding to verify the contents of her mouth by tactile inspection. A few seconds into it, Nene's higher brain functions wrestled free sufficient system resources to break the kiss and look at Sachie clearly again, while simultaneously noticing that at some point they'd relocated to the couch with the white-haired woman underneath her. "Not that I'm complaining, but isn't this a bit out in the open?"
"Ifrit's sleepin' upstairs."
"Yes, but Sammy's sleeping right over there," Nene pointed out with a motion of her head at the recliner. Sachie gave her a devilish grin as she pulled the smaller woman down closer, so Nene didn't need to strain to hear the husky whisper of her voice.
"Let her watch then."
And those were the last words said for some time.
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."
Truth be told, the taller Sabre wasn't exactly fully composed herself at the time. The war with the Praetorians had opened hard and fast, and Demo had been on the front lines since it hit. And found herself working harder than she ever had simply to stay alive. But at the end of it all, battered but victorious, they'd stumbled out of the rift portal to Praetoria, the reinforcements that Neuron had had prepared smashed and both he and Bobcat battered and beaten for the moment, though the feline Praetorian had taken a chunk out of their strike force before she went down.
The reaction on the other side of the portal had been incredible. The Praetorian War had hit worldwide, with more force than anyone could have predicted, targeted primarily on centers of superhuman concentration. Emperor Cole's forces had obviously intended to take out as much of their opposition in the first strikes as possible. Incredibly, barely, the combined forces of Primal Earth had thrown his invasion back, albeit with significant casualties and damage. Allison had barely had time to contemplate the damage to King's Row when they'd been defending the PPD precinct against an armored column of War Walkers and Clockwork to take down a rift generator construction site, but the Row would doubtless take months if not years to fully recover, if it ever did.
In the face of such an implacable and dangerous enemy, the PR machine under command of the Vanguard Herald division and Incandescent had already begun circulating footage and information about the "Alpha Strike" into Praetoria, the first thrust back towards the enemy that had caused such devastation. Allison and the rest of their team had been instant war heroes, with Vanguard operatives, Longbow troops, and almost any citizen they came across cheering them on on sight.
For her part, Demo was fairly sanguine about this. Such things didn't ruffle her much. But she had noticed the increasing frequency of the moments of tension in Sammy, and felt it would probably be best to give the girl a chance to decompress. A few of the others had held similar sentiments, leading to the group currently ensconced at Fernando's in Faultline, hidden away from the crowds of well-meaning revellers for a little while at least, while the group took advantage of the good stocks that the restaurant kept in the back.
"Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!" One more pair of reinforced mugs slammed down on the table as Demo and Sachie yet again broke even for how long it took them to finish off what was, by any other definition, a tankard each. It was cheap beer, and neither of them were really all that affected by it, but the pleasant buzz and warmth was there, as well as the companionship. Off to one side, Evangelia was bemoaning to Alice about the fact that she was apparently old enough to get involved in an inter-dimensional war and still not old enough to be allowed a beer, while Sammy was practically curled around a pitcher of something that Remy'd brought out from the back end and Allison couldn't quite identify. Gamma was nursing her beer with the pacing of long experience, apparently settling in for a long night's drinking, or perhaps to be ready to cart the drunks home afterward, while Shizuru was being perfectly elegant, respectable, and blatantly pretending like she wasn't mixing in a little something extra with her tea, courtesy of the house.
A few of the group weren't there, either having other plans or recuperating from the thrashing both Battle Maiden and Bobcat had delivered upon them over the course of the operation. It was a sobering thought...or it would've been, if Allison had been more than three-quarters sober at the moment. As another round was rolled up and she raised her glass in salute to the white haired ninja who grinned back at her across the table, Demo felt that perhaps, they'd pull through anyway, because if anyone could push this back, it was the people around her.
***
Nene bolted right for the door as soon as the knock came, having taken the later shift of hours to be awake when, not if, the group that even now she was regretting not being with came home. It was much to her surprise and considerable relief that the first thing she saw when she opened the door was a statuesque white haired figure, who Nene only realized after a moment had a slightly drowsy catgirl over one shoulder.
"What the hell?" she asked, because there were few other relevant questions at the moment as that.
"Demo's idea. Had a couple drinks," Sachie said, smiling in a way that worried Nene that her lover had taken one too many hits to the head. Sachie never smiled for that long a period at once just at random. "Great night."
"Oh, hi, Aunt Nene," Sammy slurred from the ninja's shoulder. "Didjyaknow Sachie can do a trick wiff cherry stems an' her tongue an' its really weird but kinda coolzzzzzzzz...."
Nene blinked, before looking back at Sachie who just chuckled as she stepped inside and set Sammy on one overstuffed chair and tucking a blanket over her. Nene raised an eyebrow at that as the taller woman turned around. "You're in a really good mood for some reasmmrph?!" she started, as her ability to speak was impeded by Sachie suddenly deciding to verify the contents of her mouth by tactile inspection. A few seconds into it, Nene's higher brain functions wrestled free sufficient system resources to break the kiss and look at Sachie clearly again, while simultaneously noticing that at some point they'd relocated to the couch with the white-haired woman underneath her. "Not that I'm complaining, but isn't this a bit out in the open?"
"Ifrit's sleepin' upstairs."
"Yes, but Sammy's sleeping right over there," Nene pointed out with a motion of her head at the recliner. Sachie gave her a devilish grin as she pulled the smaller woman down closer, so Nene didn't need to strain to hear the husky whisper of her voice.
"Let her watch then."
And those were the last words said for some time.
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."