After Hours (Vivian)

Maria sighed a breath of relief. Despite what she went through, there was a kind of innocence to her. It was a great conflict with her more brooding self. Instead she would more or less would just die of embarrassment if she just waved her derriere a bit to some tunes in some scant clothing in front of everyone. Heavens no, that will not be a thing. Embarrassment aside, Vivian did seem to be quite the ambitious businesswoman. After a bit of thinking and drinking from her cup, she finally suggested to her, "Maybe you could do something that's important or useful for the Cadets, like Chee does with her own services."

The Cadets aren't exactly a big customer-base compared to the rest of Endymion. But having access to their interest was a potentially stabilizing factor in any business given they do get paid for their work and there can easily be a demand for services that makes their jobs easier, like Chee. After experiencing how dangerous things could be lately, such services would be a great boon for not only their survival, but also success in carrying out their missions. "I'm sure you'll figure something out. But do you have any skills that could be useful to them?"

Speaking of which, what was Vivian exactly capable of outside of the supernatural side of things? That was something she began to wonder when she thought about it.


Maria winced as a trail of lightning shot through her spine, clutching her heart while dropping the glass with a shatter. There was that sensation of pain beginning to come back again. A sense of panic began to flash on her face and then grimacing while leaning over the table. It was getting hard to breathe, but she managed to spit out, "I'm... fine. Don't worry about it. Sorry... about the glass."

The color on her face was paling despite her effort to keep an even smile at Vivian. She gave an apologetic look at the bartender who, despite his neutral expression, did have some concern. He gave a silent glance at Vivian, as if asking her if she could handle her.

It hurt all over. Nerves wracking and veins surging with agony, Maria was starting to feel the attack strongly again. She couldn't think, everything felt like a blur to her. Nothing was comprehensible or coherent. The will could only be as strong as the flesh, that was the case for many and Maria wasn't any different. She felt herself begin to move, led away by someone. The nun was sure to grab and drag the coffin with her. Her lips continued to spill out in murmurs, "I'm fine... I'm fine... I'm fine..."

It was dark, but it was also bright with the evening lights burning incandescently in the night. The blur of light and dark was almost hypnotizing. In her stupor, she could begin to hear someone familiar speaking. But from whatever force of will she could muster, Maria was able to make out most of what the speaker was saying. It was the words that emboldened her to get a hold of herself, with some success.

She made shallow breaths and then gulped, I'm fine... there's nothing to worry about..."

Maria tried to disengage from Vivian, pulling herself from her and leaned on a nearby tree to keep herself standing. Her lips curled in dissatisfaction. These constant attacks were becoming cumbersome. At this point, there was no need to hide it. She made a stupidly bungling job about it, to shrug it off. It was rather mortifying despite those years trying to toughen herself up.


She nudged her head towards the coffin near her. Vivian deserved to know at least this much, after risking her life with her tonight. But to be so transparent on her weakness hurt any confidence in herself. What did all these years of training like a moron amount to? She had this much trouble defeating these fodder demons and had to rely on someone who wasn't even suited for the role forced on her. There was a long road ahead, but... it seemed awfully far.


To make good on her promise, she even left the tree to stand on her two feet. But the barely hidden painful expression was still something she needed to work on.

Maria wistfully replied, "Thanks... It... It would be nice. Ha ha... I could really use one."

She could feel herself begin to relax as her lips begin to smile. Hearing Vivian agree to her request lightened her worries. There were so much danger in a Cadet's day that they didn't need someone holding them back. In many ways, Maria was really fortunate someone was this willing to go along with her selfishness. This only meant that she needed to try harder to make sure Vivian and the others wouldn't regret this decision. But to refuse Vivian at this point would just cause more problems in the long run, it was just better to give in at some points.


She began to actually focus on walking and keeping herself conscious. They were small and slow steps, but they were steady if anything. Maria didn't want to show Vivian the Church at this evening. Is it anything new that there was a branch of the Church focusing on Isla? No, but there was something in it that she didn't want anyone to see. But most importantly, she could begin to feel it begin again. She needed to leave. Now.


Maria made a friendly wave and would begin to leave, hobbling along the way. But she was alright and wouldn't accept any help along the way. But what the remaining night had in store for her was something she had to grit her teeth tighter than before.

[Exit, unless stopped]