[[Sunday, June 26th, 3571, Early Evening]]

"I'll have... a loaf of bread, and three apples." Avetea reached into the pockets of her faded jeans, fishing for the appropriate coinage, before pulling the smooth, albeit dirty currency out and handing it to the middle-aged man from whose cart she regularly bought her necessities. She had bought almost exclusively from him, as much as his limited merchandise allowed, for a little over a year now, both for herself and as a representative of the soup kitchen for which she worked. In gratitude for her faithful business, he regularly gave her a discount. And with the pitiful salary she made as a waitress, a few food discounts went a long way.

Accepting her freshly-purchased food with a smile, she slipped them into her battered tote bag, bid the man goodbye, and made her way down the side of the street, which was largely a pedestrian walkway in the middle of a vast shopping center in one of the busiest cities on the planet. It was a far walk to the metro that would take her back to her apartment, which was located most unfortunately in Treq. But she didn't mind the exercise. She rarely got out in her own neighborhood, as a walk for fresh air wasn't exactly safe.

Out of nowhere, two teenage boys whizzed through the area on hover scooters, buzzing around and round, in some kind of rough game. Avetea's blue narrowed, and she tried to duck out of the way as a third boy appeared, sensing some kind of injury or damage impending. She wasn't too fussed - that is, until the third boy slammed straight into her, knocking her backwards. With a thump, her head head the pavement behind her, and the last thing she saw before blacking out was the distant image of a man with fair hair.

Images of sleek tuxedos and elegant ballgowns danced before her in a myriad of colors, moving in time with an elegant blend of piano and string instrumentation. She descended the staircase with uncharacteristic grace, fluffy ballgown swaying around her ankles, gloved hand running slowly down the grand banister, made of soft, white gold.

Somehow, despite the lingering sense of peace that permeated the atmosphere, she felt an unwelcome tension building inside of her. The enjoyment of prosperity was well-earned, but she didn't trust the feelings to last. Experience and education advised strongly against such an allowance of trust.

But something in her heart changed as she looked down the staircase, regarding a young man in a tux, whose face was blurry to her. And yet, for him, she felt a deep, abiding sense of warm affection. Love, even. In those moments of regarding him, all feelings of unease flitted away, and a small smile crept onto her face...

With a groan, Avetea opened her eyes, and found herself blinded, at first, by the day's last hour or two of strong sunlight. She was vaguely aware of people hovering over her, of discord and confusion, but her head was pounding too hard for her to concentrate on determining what, exactly, had happened.

He had never understood Terrestrial summers, though Khonsu loved them so. The warmth was a welcome change, enveloping him like a heated blanket as he left his home that day in nothing more than a pair of shorts and a short-sleeved shirt. The white material of it had been pristine, so nice...

Before he'd literally biked all the way to the mall. Now, drenched in sweat, he imagined he smelt pretty darn terrible. His hair was matted to his skin as he perspired, the wet splotches on the form-fitting top all too telling of a man who had overestimated his own physical ability. "I need to... to remember that exercise... is so dangerous for my health," came the wheezing plea as some woman in the mall skirted away from him, muttering something about dirty Venusians.

Wait, Venusian? Venusian?

The blonde shook his head with a disappointed frown, watching the brunette disappear. Had so few people really seen a true Lunarian before? In his years on the Earth, he had come to realise it had been more his accent and hair than anything else that tipped them off. He was, for the most part, rather capable of blending in with the crowds.

Speaking of crowds, this one had been parting like the Red Sea since he got there! It was probably, you know, the smell... maybe the sweat or the fact that he looked like he had just come from a sewer. For whatever reason, people were leaping this way and that to avoid the man.

Khonsu grinned impishly to himself, making a mental note to avoid bathing when he wanted some solitude. If he was capable of working up a stink like this just biking from his home to the mall, imagine what a few days of sitting in this sort of funk could do!

He gave an experimental whiff of his armpit before pulling a face, deciding that he really shouldn't have, and setting off at a brisk walk as he attended to his business. There had really only been a few items he was after (soap was, ironically, one of them - the clerk seemed all too enthusiastic to sell it to him), and the trip was short. Pleased with the day's excursion, he decided to head on home.

That was when the heavens dropped a woman at his feet, though. Literally.

"Thank you, Regime! This is just what I've always wanted!" he exclaimed, watching a few shocked heads turn his way. Oh, right, the filth. They were probably judging him for that. "Right, what I meant to say was: step back, everybody! I'm a doctor!"

Had he been a doctor, that would have been excellent timing. Several people now stared at him again, this time expectantly as he stood with his armful of things. "What are you all looking at - oh, right, the saving!" The Lunarian deposited the few things he had collected rather gingerly to the side before making a great show of ripping off his shirt (which was really a shame, he had liked that shirt), releasing enough funk to push the crowds back a little farther, and all but leaping on top of the woman. He placed his hands on her chest and, with a war cry, screamed, "Live!"

This was probably why people actually got degrees to be a doctor.

Sad to say, Avetea was assaulted first by a rather pungent smell before her senses were able to register that there was a strange person more or less crawling on top of her. She gave a short cough, and heard someone screaming at her from above, and then, finally, registered that there was a young, blondish man on top of her. For a moment, as the crowd tentatively gathered around, she was unable to speak, though she was certainly able to register extreme discomfort.

Personal space. Invaded. Avetea did not like.

"I'm conscious," she croaked, surprised by the amount of effort it took just to speak. But as she was slowly regaining her senses, she waved an arm feebly as if to push the man on top of her off. She wasn't actually able to shove him off, though, so she was mostly just hoping that he would get the hint and roll off himself.

But as her vision was slowly coming back into focus, her features - already pale, but whitewashed from the momentary loss of consciousness - registered immediate surprise to find that the person whose face was floating above hers looked familiar. Her mouth vaguely opened as if to form a question, but nothing came through, as she didn't realize what exactly she was supposed to ask.

Having completely forgotten that she saw him shortly before slipping into unconsciousness, Avetea could not for the life of her remember where she had seen him before, and yet, at the same time, she was convinced that she not only knew his face, but knew him. But that seemed silly, right? She could not recall a name or any memory of ever having met him.

She must have hit her head a little harder than expected.

Defiantly, she pushed up slowly with her hands, her head rushing with dizziness as she did so. Although she couldn't quite see them clearly yet, she was aware of the crowd of people still watching her, partially out of some genuine concern, and partially because she was making quite the spectacle. The brunette looked down to see that her baguette and apples had spilled all over onto the pavement.

On her budget, meh, she'd eat them, anyway.

He stared down at the woman beneath him as she began to move, stroking the stubble on his chin thoughtfully. "You're conscious? That's terrible!" he groaned, before catching a few incredulous stares in the crowd. "What I meant to say was that that's great! Really great!"

Someone sighed loudly, but as he rolled to the side and dismounted the lady he'd ripped off his fine white t-shirt for (thus letting loose a wave of funk unmatched on planets the likes of Uranus or Mars), he spared her a second glance. There really was something familiar about her, he could've sworn that there was.

Green eyes focused just a bit more on her face as he offered a half-hearted smirk, dusting off his knees. He had rolled onto his rear, sitting with one hand propping him up. "Just so you know, and I mean no pressure or anything here, but it is customary to show some gratitude for the person who just saved your life. No big deal or anything, just doing my duty as a concerned citizen..."

And with that thought, all seriousness faded from him once again. It came in short spurts, not unlike being winded by a smelly gentleman jumping on top of you.

He sniggered at his own, private joke as he got to his feet, groaning with the action. Khonsu waved off the remaining bits of the crowd lazily, a hand on his now-bare back. "Nothing to see here, folks, nothing at all. Move along and enjoy your days."

His gaze shifted, spying the remainders of what had been his shirt at one point in time. "You'll have to get me another of those sometime," he stated like it was the brunette's fault, though his grin told a different story. She apparently had ruined some grocery items during her fall too, something that made him frown just a touch. "Come on, let's go back and get you some fresh bread and apples."

And the way he said it, there was almost no question about it. A typical Lunarian, assuming people would want to spend time with them. He offered her a hand nonetheless, fingers curled slightly upwards as he motioned for her to accept some help to her feet. "I'm Khonsu Bjoran, and I'll be your saviour and personal shopper today, it seems."

How hard had she hit her head? As she tried to determine whether she was hallucinating or the man above her was just that crazy, she concluded that one of them definitely had to be suffering from a head injury. All that remained was to determine which of them it was.

As her senses rushed back to her, she became even more aware of the repugnant smell drifting from his half-naked body in the intense, Telordyan summer. Because of the cluster of tight-knit buildings and the thick congregations of sweaty, overworked people, Telordya was kind of a bitch around this time of the year. The sun beat high overhead, long into the evening, coaxing perspiration from its unlucky residents. Even Treq, whose citizens were a little more scattered and who frequented the shadows by night, tended to be a little cooler.

Blue eyes gazed up at him in confusion, trying to determine whether or not he was serious about having saved her life. Had something of consequence truly happened while she was unconscious? How long had she been out? It had seemed like a fleeting moment, but how could she know for sure? Had she stopped breathing? He seemed quite serious.

Then again, from life experience, she knew that there were plenty of crazies out there. The most beaten-down and forsaken people tended to be the most dangerous. Avetea had learned this, fortunately, in a relatively painless fashion. She had always had a good sense of self-preservation, as well as the good sense to know when to either keep her mouth shut, or to walk away.

Most importantly, she knew to always be skeptical.

As the crowd began to disperse, going about their evening activities, Avetea accepted his hand up without some small degree of reluctance, which she did not bother to hide. "Avetea Kaiz," she offered simply. "Look I--" have to get back for the evening, as I have plans. That was what she was going to go with, anyway. But her intrigue stopped her, and she couldn't bring herself to form the words. "--you look very familiar. Do I... oh, you know, nevermind, I must have hit my head a little harder than I thought," she finished a little lamely, rubbing the back of her curl-covered head gingerly.

And yet, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't quite shake that sense of familiarity.

Khonsu blinked once, twice, thrice. And then he just stared, because what was happening here was kind of impossible, wasn't it? This girl didn't seem to be getting his humour. Or, if she was, she certainly wasn't responding super well. But that was impossible! He was cute, had she taken a look at him? He was cute, and he was oh so charming, and she wasn't even cracking the tiniest of grins!

"On second thought," he began, stroking the stubble on his chin once again, "Maybe we should just get you to a hospital. You took a pretty hard hit to the head there..." She was sort of pale, come to think about it.

A hand ran through sweaty, matted locks, not caring that they stuck out awkwardly from his forehead once the action was through (he looked like a total dirtbag, but how was he to know?). He had a name now, and she had bothered to touch him - a terrible decision, really, because Khonsu could smell himself and it was terrible, just terrible - but he had the sneaking suspicion now that she was someone important.

He couldn't let her leave, that was that!

"Hm, well, you do look rather familiar, Avetea! Perhaps we can discuss where we might have seen one another as we go back to get you a new grocery order, hm? Do you like fresh stag? They have whole stag cutlets out right now, if we hurry we can add some choice meat to your diet!" He examined every inch of her face along the way, reaching for her hand once again. He'd lead her through, if it took that.

He was sincerely hoping it wouldn't.

Although it was true that she was somewhat shaken by what had happened, and therefore in no mood to appreciate either humor or boyish good looks, the simple fact was that, had she been in any other situation, fully able to give a member of the opposite sex attention, she wouldn't have given this Khonsu Bjoran a second look from the moment he opened his mouth to speak. He wasn't just goofy. Goofy she could handle. Goofy could be endearing and cute. He was unapologetically arrogant, and possibly blissfully unaware of the terrible odor emanating from his bare upper half.

Avetea was accustomed to dealing with people like them, although they were usually homeless men who were overcompensating for their own self-loathing, which stemmed from feelings of inadequacy related to an inability to provide for oneself. At least homelessness would explain the smell or something. However, looking at him, she could tell that he was far from that sort of station in life. Now that she regarded him a bit more closely, she could see that he was clearly Lunarian, and she had never met a Lunarian who was anything but privileged. He wasn't even dirty, per se, and there were certainly no ribs sticking out anywhere. Indeed, apart from the terrible scent wafting from his direction, he appeared to be altogether... comfortable.

So, not homeless. Just odd. Possibly unpleasantly so.

"No, no, I'm fine, just a residual headache," she insisted. There was no way she was forking over what little cash she had on her to receive treatment when she was probably fine. If there were any neurological symptoms lingering by morning, she'd consider the possibility of seeking treatment. But even if she had the money, she hated doctors for a variety of reasons which she cared not to go into at that particular juncture.

The young woman allowed him to grab her hand, and for that moment, at least, she seemed willing to allow a bit more fro him than she normally would a stranger, albeit not without obvious discomfort. However, the clear markers of unease quickly evaporated from her facial expression, replaced by wonder.

At his physical contact, a series of images flashed through her mind. The first was an image of what she thought was the Moon; she'd never been there herself, but she had seen pictures in books, and regardless, instinct insisted the image was of the Moon. But instead of gleaming towers of progressive technology, there was an ancient palace, set in a beautiful, elaborate courtyard.

In the next image, debris was flying in every direction as the grand palace fell apart, top to bottom, and a sense of dismay and panic welled inside of her.

Totally bewildered, Avetea glanced down at their hands, finding that she felt a slight tingling in hers, and then back to Khonsu.

She hoped that he felt that too, somehow... or maybe she'd need a trip to the emergency room, after all.

There was a level of comfort that came from holding her hand that stilted his response to her little speech. He had learnt long ago that, generally speaking, those who declared they were fine were not. But it was something that moved to one side as some sort of... he couldn't even describe what, exactly, this thing was, went shooting up his arm.

Having never experienced this sort of thing before, he did what any sane person would do. He gave her hand a little reassuring squeeze, more for his benefit than hers, and pulled her forwards just a touch. This whole experience was becoming a rather sobering thing, honestly, and he'd never intended for it to be.

Find them.

With the hand not currently connected to hers, he took a moment to grab his face, running the appendage over his features in animated exasperation. How was he supposed to find all these girls when he didn't even know what they looked like? When he could have very well have been standing next to one right here, and he wouldn't have had the slightest clue? His gut churned at the thought, and he dropped the idea like a hot potato.

So perhaps she wasn't one of the soldiers destined to fight this thing. Then why did she seem so damn familiar? Or, for that matter, why did she make his arm light up like an electric eel with a simple touch?

"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked lowly after a moment, moving in front of her without breaking their contact to check her head for himself, calloused fingers moving to her forehead. He went to push back some hair, trying to get a better look of what was going on there. The Lunarian knew very little about health beyond 'head injury bad, Mercurians will fix'. There was a hospital not too far from the mall, he knew that much. His bicycle... he could fit her in front of him, and take her there. "I'll take you to the hospital. I think this should get checked out. Then we can come back and get you more groceries, alright? My bike's not too far from here."

Because there was still that something in Khonsu that said he couldn't let her go, even if this was nothing, and have a clear conscience. He needed to stay near enough to figure out who she was. If it was nothing, he could leave her to her own devices again.