{004: Respite

[zerosuitjill]

Who: Jill (zerosuitjill) and you~
When: Present
Where: God of War's Lair, Tiffauges Castle (Neutral Territory)
What: Otherwise restless, Jill checks out one of the newer territories.
Type: Starting as a log, but either's fine.
Notes/Warnings: None.

Comments

I DIDN'T, ACTUALLY... but I can wrangle up someone...

[lightning_fists]

"I don't know, it keeps moving." Judging by the shape of the crater that was left behind and following the angle of the blast, Tifa had a general idea of where it had come from. But by the time her eyes zeroed in on the mannequin -- because, indeed, the monotone coloring indicated that it was one -- it had darted into another direction. And continued to do so with amazing speed and acrobatics before she could shout out a location for the other woman to focus on.

"If they're mannequin's like this, remind me never to go up against the real thing," the young barmaid murmured in frustration. And then moved to dodge again as another blast of energy was sent her way.

It was a lot like catching a fly, she thought: It sounded simple and easy upon conception, however, it was a lot more difficult in executing. But the longer her eyes followed its movements, the more she began to realized that there was a pattern. And then it was only a matter of time before Tifa was able to memorize it. All the while, she left the task of keeping it busy up to Jill. "How fast can you shoot that?"

...SOUNDS GOOD TO ME :D

[zerosuitjill]

Dodging, Jill could do. The Mannequin was fast, no doubt, but Jill had fought faster. Even if she'd never won against that breed of faster, the element of surprise wasn't here, at least--but she was still forced to haul ass to avoid more of those blasts, usually by quick sidestepping or ducking behind a pillar, occasionally by diving to the side, and once by a one-handed somersalt of sorts that was a too-narrow miss. All the while she was unable to get a visual lock on their opponent long enough to aim, forced to keep moving and hoping that Tifa would get a better idea of its movements.

And apparently she did. At the question, Jill didn't look over. "Fast enough!" she called back. This wasn't the time to be modest--if she got just a second of opportunity, she'd make the shot.

:Db

[lightning_fists]

That was all the answer she needed.

With two targets moving in separate paths, it was easy for Tifa to slide into position. Easy to stand still and disappear into the background when the mannequin had someone else to focus on, someone who kept moving and drawing its attention as the greater potential of causing damage and the fact that Tifa was wearing rather dark clothing was a big help too. It was all about timing, after all, and the element of surprise. Otherwise the both of them would be in trouble.

Peering out from behind the pillar, she spotted the white gleam the mannequin's crystal form in what seemed like an impossible stance on the side of the column. It was as if gravity had no effect, and for a brief moment, the young barmaid wondered just who held this same sort of power in real life. But all that was quickly and instantly pushed aside when her moment came finally came. Quick as she could, stepped out from behind the obelisk and smashed a lightning-charged fist into the pillar, watching attentively as the stone crumbled and cracked all the way up. Then the mannequin was falling, just as planned. And Tifa was ready for it.

Palm stretched outward, she waited for the very second when it touched down. And it was in that instance that she called on her Time Materia, making an illuminated clock face appear under it's feet. And as the hands of the watch-face turned, the mannequin's movements became slower and slower. Refusing to take her eyes off of the spot, she called out to Jill. "Now!"

[zerosuitjill]

When she heard the pillar crack, Jill peered out from behind her cover in time to see the Mannequin drop. Even as she swiftly stepped into the open to take aim, she didn't yet attempt the shot, instead watching the other woman in her peripheral vision, waiting for either a signal to act or a sign that the other was acting herself--

And then the command came and less than a second later she fired once. The bullet struck without a hitch, hitting the doll square between the eyes and knocking its head back on its shoulders in the instant before it suddenly disappeared. Jill was used to the flash and eerily human cry that always followed, the sound fading with an echo that didn't seem to come from the structure of the castle around them, but it still disturbed her every time on some inner level. These weren't zombies, even if they weren't human--not even like Ganados or Majini--but they were still too close to being real. Coming across faces she recognized didn't help.

Letting out a heavy breath, she nodded her gratitude, but her gun remained up and close to her chest; with all that noise, there was no telling who else could be on their way. "Thanks for the assist."

[lightning_fists]

The use of the Time Materia, she realized afterwards, was probably unnecessary given how quick Jill had been to react to her quick command. But there was no room for taking chances or regret. And while the two of them did fight against each other in the last battle, there had been no opportunity to gauge the speed of the other's trigger finger. So Tifa had taken her chances. And with it, came the destroyed screeching of another Mannequin.

That part, Tifa decided, would never get easier to bear.

Hands held at her side, fisted and prepared to attack if need be, she let out the breath she had been holding before facing the other with a faint curve of her lips at the irony. They had fought long and hard against each other in their first meeting. And only a few days after speaking with and making a promise to Chris, they were battling alongside each other in their second. Life was certainly full of surprises, Tifa thought with a laugh. "I could say the same to you."

JSYK, Jill calling someone "partner" is a huge compliment by RE standards. |D & U CAN HAS SMILE!ICON

[zerosuitjill]

Jill couldn't help a good-natured chuckle at that. She'd learned to laugh in the oddest circumstances; it was a quirk, but a necessary one. Being able to laugh during some of the missions she'd had in the B.S.A.A. alone was a quality that had probably helped to keep her sane--and before arriving here, she hadn't laughed at all in the last few years. Doing so now didn't hurt; if anything, it felt good. A relief and a reminder.

This was probably one of those odd times, coming out of a neck-risking fight while working alongside someone who'd been her opponent only a brief time before.

"Looks like we make a pretty good team," she commented, finally lowering her weapon some when the silence went undisturbed. "I don't think I ever caught your name, though, partner."

I figured. 83 And yay, Smile!Icon~! ♥

[lightning_fists]

She hesitated for a second or two before realize that, yes, Jill was right. Tifa hadn't introduced herself. In having Chris reveal the other's name to her as well as the awkwardness of meeting up with the other woman so soon after they fought so hard against each other, the thought to do so hadn't crossed her mind. And then after the Mannequin appeared, all other thoughts or considerations to the usual customary etiquette had flown out the window in favor of surviving long enough to make them.

Well, no time like now to fix that, the younger thought with a small quirk of her lips.

"Tifa. Tifa Lockhart." And after another moment more, she held out her gloved hand to her. She had trusted her life to Jill in helping to destroy the Mannequin. Tifa could trust that a simple handshake would go without trouble. "And it looks like we do. Not bad for our second meeting, huh?"

Where, she couldn't help but wonder for a brief instance, would their third bring them?

\o/ ...and all the foreshadowing in this thread rocks.

[zerosuitjill]

Jill switched her gun to her left hand to offer her right. "Not bad at all," she agreed. "It's nice to have that power of yours working with me this time around."

fo'srs, foreshadowing is what i do~ and guess what? they're the same bloodtype too. donar buds! :D

[lightning_fists]

"Just like it's nice having that gun pointed at someone else, this time around," she quipped with a soft chuckle.

Indeed, the cut across her cheek had mostly faded by that time. But it still didn't take away from the memory of feeling the bullets whizzing around her while she tried to dart around and dodge them. All for the protection of the Crystal. Always in protection of the Crystal.

Smiling a bit wider, she gently pulled her hand away after the handshake. "Chris will be glad to hear that we fought together this time."

HA awesome XD Except...Jill doesn't trust her own blood after Wesker played with it for so long :|

[zerosuitjill]

Jill nodded. "He will be. It sounds like you two hit it off pretty well," she observed, pleased by the thought. Only natural, she figured; besides Chris' talent for making friends, he'd obviously earned some trust from Tifa when he'd said Jill and Billy were victims of circumstances--that trust might have been the only reason the two women, in turn, had hit it off themselves today. Chris had already done the hard part for both of them: establishing some understanding.

...Can has Tifa blood. They match. Sort of. 8|

[lightning_fists]

She tilted her head a fraction to one side, and after a short moment, shifted the other way. All the while, there was an expression of thought and consideration playing across her face while Tifa recalled the entirety of her conversation with him. Indeed, she had found that they held a lot more in common than their positions among Cosmos' ranks. Discussing the details, though, wasn't her place to say. "More or less. We're kinda in... similar situations. That usually give a good foundation for... making friends."

Whether intended or not, Tifa shifted her glance to the other woman, seeming to hold an untold question. Or perhaps even a quiet statement of where the two of them stood in all this. After all, with all the years she had spent living with someone like Cloud, the young barmaid had grown exceedingly good at having wordless conversations.

She appreciates it. :| & should she find that her own is NOT dangerous, she'll return the favor.

[zerosuitjill]

Jill's next smile was less polite and more personal, warm and friendly. "I can tell," she replied. "Overlooking the side I'm on--the fight we were in--it's something Chris would do in a heartbeat."

Simply put, she was used to unnatural acquaintances, both willing and no. Gaining one from the opposite side of a war no one wanted to be in? Primary circumstances aside, it wasn't the strangest prospect Jill had faced. "I guess there's a pattern to those Cosmos chooses, after all," she half-joked, keeping the warmth in her voice. "Either way... thanks." She didn't specify just what the gratitude was for, but maybe she didn't have to, going by Tifa's look.

np; and Tifa would not oppose to that, thx >>

[lightning_fists]

She smiled at that. And it was true, Tifa supposed. There seemed to be similarities between those of Cosmos, at least from what she had been able to see. But then, there had to be some linking factor for why the two sides were decided the way they were, right? Character traits could very well be one deciding factor.

"Yeah, I guess so." - A quick shift to meet the other's gaze. - "And you're welcome."

And at the thought of Chris, there was no helping to think about what the two of them had talked about. That he would confess such a thing to her after only having met minutes before was something Tifa could never have done. Or would've expected of anyone. Still, in applying what she knew of Jill and what she had been able to witness of her now, the barmaid couldn't help but see why he felt that way. "He's a good friend to have. You're lucky."

Good, good. ....Jill should probably get that checked out, really...

[zerosuitjill]

That actually earned a low laugh. Distracted, reminiscent, but genuine all the same. "That's an understatement," Jill admitted. She'd insisted before that she and Chris not keep track, but even if she'd tried, she would have lost count by now of all that she owed him. Her life more than once, and in more than one way.

"You're equally lucky to have him as a teammate; he's a real fighter. Hardest man to kill that I've ever known." More or less. Wesker was dead, after all. Technically. Her smile softened. "And he'll never leave someone behind. I can promise you that much."

Well... not like there's a place here she could go to have it checked ne ways >>;

[lightning_fists]

The words and the sentiment behind them were familiar, so much so that she had recognized them almost instantly. For an instant, she considered closing her eyes to the other's voice as it continued to sing Chris' praises. And if she had, Tifa knew, she would've thought Jill had been talking about someone else. That alone was enough to bring a softer smile to her own lips at the thought.

"Sounds like someone I know," she commented with a glance, "Maybe we're more alike than I thought."

At the light scrabble against her foot, the young woman bent down to pick up one of the gil that had dropped from the Mannequin's demise with a bit of disinterest. (MAKING USE OF LATER GAME INFO FTW!) She had yet to see a place where they would be of use, but there must've been a reason for them. "To the victor go the spoils, right?" And with little more than a flick of her thumb, the coin came flipping towards the other in a graceful arch.

True. We needs a scientist up in hur.

[zerosuitjill]

Jill caught it easily with a smile and examined the strange currency (OH, YOU OPPORTUNIST, YOU ♥). She'd seen them before and had put half an effort into collecting the "victory money," as it were, only out of the knowledge that the gods seemed to have an affinity for anything shiny. One never knew. Of course, she had nowhere to keep it in this damn suit, and she'd just been lucky that her crystal fit conveniently into her holster--or had she? It was hard to tell if anything was a coincidence here.--but the dresser back in her quarters served well enough.

Normally, she would have rejected that notion and insisted that they'd both taken the Mannequin down, but Jill had seen that disinterest in Tifa's expression, and it seemed a moot point to reject the offer. "Heh. It was an equal effort. But I'm not sure whether to hope or dread that these things have a use in the future." Because in the Arklay Mansion alone... nothing was ever there for the hell of it. Every damn thing had a use and to get through the place, you had to find each and every said use.