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 Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2025 9:29 pm
She ran, breathless and panting, down the empty walking path through the park, gravel crunching beneath her stupid, tight little kitten heels. Diane, also known as Didi by her sparingly small group of friends, cursed herself for trying so hard to be fashionable, when all she did all day was sit at a desk answering the stupid telephone to help stupid people with their stupid questions... And now she was going to die because of these heels, and you couldn't even see them under the desk most of the time!
Today had been the worst anyway... one of the busiest days she'd had this week with two of her coworkers out sick to leave them short handed. Of course everyone suddenly decided they desperately needed help with whatever tiny problem they thought they were having... leaving her strung out and mentally exhausted by the time she'd finally gotten off. She'd had to stay late to catch up on emails, which meant she'd missed her bus and had had to walk to the stop a few blocks over to catch a different one... and in her exhaustion, she'd allowed herself to violate the one rule of life in Destiny City... don't go walking in the dark alone.
Something had been following her... she could hear it growling in a wet, grinding sort of way for a while before she'd finally noticed. Terror had sent her heart up into her throat and she'd picked up her pace, only to have the thing decide then was a good time to make its move. She'd heard it running towards her in a strange, asymmetrical gate and she'd broken into a hobbling run, her chest tight and breathing labored. Running was, of course, not her friend, but fear had given her pinched feet wings.
Hurring down the street, she'd swept left, and the right again, trying to zig-zag in a way that would loose whatever night terror pursued her, and then made the second fatal mistake of deciding to slip into the park that opened up on on her left, thinking the brush would help hide her from... whatever it was. If she'd been thinking clearly, she would have remembered that the park was the big, bold, italic, red footnote to the One Rule; Don't go walking alone at night, especially in the park.
The noises behind her had gotten fainter, but Didi had not trusted it enough to slow down until she had a stitch stabbing her in the side and her feet felt like there were razor blades in her shoes.
"Oh... my... god..." She puffed as she pressed a hand to the ache in her side, gasping in breaths that burned her throat going down. A street lamp lit the curve of the path and she hurried towards it, seeking the false security of the light, and only belatedly noticed there was one of those omnipresent benches there with a young man sitting on it. Relief flooded her when she finally did and Didi nearly sagged with it, dragging herself the last few yards into the pale yellow light. Finally, she was able to stop and slump forward, struggling to catch her breath, and glance behind her to see if the... thing had followed her all this way.
Surely whatever it was, it wasn't brave enough to attack her now that she had back up... monsters of any sort always liked the stragglers and lone prey, evidenced by every horror movie, like... ever.
"Oh my god, I'm so glad to see you... you have no idea." Didi moaned as she reached to grab the end of the bench and lean heavily on it, feeling her silk shirt sticking to her damp spine under her fashionably uncomfortable peacoat.
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Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2025 12:18 pm
Jet had already felt the youma long before the young woman reached the spill of lamplight, but he didn’t look alarmed. Instead, he rose smoothly from the bench the moment her breathless voice reached him.
“Easy,” he said, stepping forward. Not too close, but close enough that she could feel that she wasn’t alone anymore. His tone was warm and reassuring. “You’re alright now. Nothing’s going to touch you while I’m here.”
He glanced past her, toward the dark treeline where something lurked. The shadows seemed to ripple… and then withdrew. No longer a threat. At least not tonight.
He turned his focus back on the woman. “You ran a long way in those shoes. I’m impressed you’re still standing.” A soft smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Sit, if you need to. Catch your breath.”
Jet angled himself between her and the path she’d come from -- a protective gesture without making a show of it.
“I’m Jet,” he added, offering his name like it was something safe to cling to. “And I promise you’re not imagining things. Destiny City is strange after dark. You’re not the first to run into something you shouldn’t have. But you’re safe now. Whatever was chasing you won’t come near while I’m here,” he said with calm confidence. “And if you tell me which way you’re headed, I can walk you there. Make sure you get home without anything else trying to ruin your night.”
He smiled again, lighter this time. “You’ve had enough of that already, haven’t you?”
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Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2025 6:36 pm
She took the offered opportunity to sit and dropped onto the bench with a groan of relief. Both because it got her off her aching feet, and also because the younger man so quickly jumped to her defense. It felt... a little odd that he seemed to calm about it, and so game to play protector without even asking her what it was she'd been running from. Didi might have wondered at it more, had she been in a calmer state of mind.
After all, who'd bother getting all protective over a woman like her? Her mind whispered. She firmly ignored it. A nice person, that's who.
"I'm impressed with me too, honestly, but you know what Destiny City is like." Didi panted. "I guess you've seen something like that before, huh? It must have been closer than I realized..."
A shudder passed through her and she tugged her coat closer around her.
"I appreciate the chivalry. Really. I should have known better than to try to walk home like this. It's just asking for something bad to happen, especially to someone like me." There was a sour note to her voice as she dug her phone out of her pocket and checked the time. She was probably going to miss the next bus too... which was just her luck. Fit right in with her luck the rest of the night.
His smile was cute at least, even if it felt misplaced at her.
"Diane." She said offering a hand out to him. "Most people call me Didi. I'm really sorry to put you out like this, but I really do appreciate the offer. I'm just headed over to the bus stop on 32nd and Lake Street... I missed my first buss back at the last one." She gave a rueful glance back the way she had come.
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