{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

[38thdefender]

Kurtis watched as the woman dispatched the Mannequin. He was out training and exploring. He was prepared to run into members of Chaos, but he hadn't been expecting this. Could this be the woman Chris had described?

Kurtis stepped around the corner, out into the open.

"Not bad."

[zerosuitjill]

Jill was quick to turn at the voice, but the automatic tension that shot through her was subtle and she didn't turn her weapon towards the source. She blinked when her eyes fixed on what looked like--a bird?--and she glanced behind and around it, making sure it was the one who had spoken. It seemed the two of them were alone, however, and so she was left to assume that it--he, by the voice--had indeed talked.

"...Thanks," she replied after a moment of recovery. An oddly normal reaction, but after meeting Boy and Shadow and witnessing the dead walking, talking animals were no longer that much of a shock, even if they hadn't fallen under Jill's range of relatively normal just yet.

She lowered her gun, but it remained in her hand at her side. "You're one of the newer arrivals?" she assumed.

[38thdefender]

"Arrived just before the kidnappings," he explained.

Cautiously, he took a few steps forward. There was no sense in shouting at each other across a room, but he wanted to be careful in case she decided to attack, after all.

[zerosuitjill]

Jill nodded, and then after a moment more holstered her weapon. He probably wouldn't have announced his presence if he planned on attacking her; if he was strong enough to do so even with her attention caught, well... she'd color that unlikely for the moment, and depend on her reflexes.

"Not long, then. I'm Jill," she offered after a brief pause, decidedly closing some of the distance with a few steps of her own. "Jill Valentine."

[38thdefender]

"It's nice to meet you, Jill," Kurtis said, nodding politely. "I'm Kurtis, Defender of Earth. Chris told me about you."

[zerosuitjill]

Her next blink was one of surprise. "You know Chris?" Which implied that Kurtis was likely on Cosmos--not that Jill had any particular concern for the fact.

[38thdefender]

"We met about a week ago. He made a transmission over the crystals introducing himself, and describing your world," Kurtis explained. He was starting to relax. It didn't seem like she would attack him.

[zerosuitjill]

Jill couldn't help a small smile at that, only able to imagine what Chris' reaction must have been. "It sounds like he left a good impression," she said good-naturedly. "On both of us."

[38thdefender]

Kurtis chuckled. "My appearance surprised him at first, but he's a good man. He really cares about you."

[zerosuitjill]

Jill nodded in agreement to the first two comments even as she acknowledged the last, which softened her smile even further. "...He cares about everyone," she replied honestly. "He's... a bigger heart than you'd think from appearance."

[38thdefender]

"It sounds like he has the spirit of a Defender of Earth." The tone in his voice makes it clear that he has a strong respect for people like that.

[zerosuitjill]

Well, it was a title that certainly applied to Chris from her experience. "What you are," Jill recalled. "Is that like a police force on a global scale?"

[38thdefender]

Kurtis had to think of how to explain it for a moment. "Something like that. We protect the Earth from those that threaten it. Whether they're invading aliens, or mad scientists bent on world domination."

[zerosuitjill]

Jill nodded again, honestly--strangely--able to identify. "Chris and I do something like that ourselves. No... aliens, but... some of the things we've seen could pass for them," she added in a lower tone, glancing aside with a reminiscent, less-than-fond look.

Now curious--she didn't often ask about others' places of origin, not wanting to pry, but Kurtis seemed willing and open--she inquired, "'We?' There are more like you, then?"

[38thdefender]

"Over the years," Kurtis explained, "39 people have held the title of Defender of Earth. Normally, a new Defender is only named when the previous one dies. But the 37th Defender, Gordon, bent the rules a little, and named me the 38th Defender when I died. Shortly afterward, he named is partner, Jennifer, the 39th."

[zerosuitjill]

"Died?" Jill echoed, but it was surprise and remaining curiosity, not skepticism. "So you... were dead before you arrived here?"