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"It'll be good for you-!"

The way Bäl's eyes snapped to glare in Mavain's direction should've been response enough, but since he didn't want to leave any room for doubt about where he stood in this line of reasoning, he added a clipped, "It is not good for me. Nothing about this is good. I hate this." Which he thought he'd made very clear in the limited conversations he'd had with his brother about 'powering up' and all this stupid 'magic' nonsense, but Bäl obviously hadn't been clear enough. Because here he was, in a relatively deserted area. Just him and his normal brother.

Mavain clapped his hands against Bäl's cheeks, tugging his face in so that they were barely an inch apart. "You. Are. Delusional. Stop acting like you don't know all the fantasy-sci-fi tropes that will get you through this. You said you've been 'feeling unwell,' and all of the magic wizard books I have ever read seem to [imply that it's because you're ignoring a significant, important part of you. The magic part! I'm pretty sure Harry Potter turned into a resentful demon or something if he didn't use magic, or whatever. I dunno. Specifics aren't important. The point is: Do you want to turn into a demon?"

"Well, no..." And Bäl hated that he'd mentioned a persistent, ill-feeling to Mavain, because there was no outcome besides this one, of course. "But I'm pretty sure it's just anxiety, and not-"

"That's fantastic, Alaric, but let's not risk it, hm?" He hummed, freeing his older brother's face from his grasp. "And it's so easy to not risk it, because all you have to do is put on your Magic Clothes and flitter around looking for danger that probably doesn't even exis-"

But the words were barely out of his brother's mouth before something unidentifiable prickled up his spine. He didn't know if it was good or bad- didn't even know how he'd know. "Shut up- Shut up," he snapped, whipping around to stare off into the evening darkness. "I think... Someone is here. I do feel something." Something from that girl, apparently, the one seemingly wandering aimlessly a handful of places away. Bäl wouldn't have thought she seemed to strange at all, but he could feel her presence, which was more than he could say of Mavain.

So... So she had to be something, probably. He just didn't have the frame of reference to identify what it was with any specifics.

Mavain tipped toward him. "Should I call out to her?"

"No, I think it would be best if we didn't attract any attention, and I don't think anyone should see you and know that we have any relation-"

"I'm gonna, though."

"Mavain-"

His warnings meant next to nothing, because Mav threw an arm up into the air and called, "Excuse me, Miss! You, yeah! You've got a weird feeling about you- Wanna talk about it?"

Bäl did not prefer violence, but Mavain did have a way of persuading him as he shouted at some random young woman on the street and called her over. It was only because of the other Senshi's presence that Bäl didn't whack his brother over the head. That and- well he didn't want to hurt Mav, obviously, and he wasn't really accustomed to what Senshi could do with their strength...

"Not weird, necessarily," Bäl practically snapped, attention riveting from the girl- Tea- to shoot an annoyed glower at his civilian brother. "Just... unfamiliar, I suppose. I haven't done this much, yet. I just didn't know what to expect from seeing others like this- I didn't know I would see others like this."

And he might have hoped he wouldn't, since anyone could just see and recognize Mavain being a regular, normal a** man at Bäl's side.

"I'm Bäl."

To his credit, Mavain didn't offer anything about himself besides a smile and a question. "Tea is a bit of a strange name, isn't it? I mean, I suppose Bäl is too." So was 'Mavain,' but he didn't figure anyone needed to know that. "I don't suppose there are any Senshi named Chris or Mary. Tea. At least it's not complicated! So, what do you do while you're out wandering around?"

"Dark feelings?" Mavain parroted, tilting his head in obvious curiosity. As a civilian, he had no way of sensing anything, good or bad or whatever in between.

But Bäl had sensed such a thing once, when he'd been awakened. The monster that had appeared before him- he hadn't felt anything besides his own fear at first, but then that... cat... had spoken to him and turned him into this and he'd felt something he couldn't quite describe. Like a little resounding ring of filth from that creature. The 'Youma,' the cat had called it.

But he'd never felt it from a person. Maybe that was the best he could hope for.

"Ooohoh! A letter! This some spy s**t we're dealing with now!" Mavain was practically bouncing, excitedly clapping his hands as he regarded Tea with what Bäl considered to be too intense enthusiasm from someone who should just be normal and probably not involved with all this- Mavain really shouldn't be telling people his name or letting them see his face, but- whatever. "I'll be M. Honestly, a single letter is easier to remember than my name, anyway..."

M's grin and little nudge of his elbow into Bäl's side was not as comforting as it was intended to be. "So, these names are like... places, huh? That you take care of. So places you can even go. I was figuring everyone would have an obscure mythology name, but there's a space place you can go to!"

"The cat that helped me turn into this might have mentioned something along those lines..." Bäl grumbled, obviously much more disenchanted than his brother. "I was a little distracted." By sheer disbelief and incredulity. "So I can't remember the specifics very well." Even now he wondered if anything Tea said would stick. This couldn't be real, but at least Mavain was here to witness it with him this time...

The tension in his brow continued to grow, his frown pulling further down into a scowl. 'Practie fighting with strangers' and 'having a conversation with the enemy' who COULD be an okay person- or could be straight up evil- none of this sounded like what Bäl wanted to do with his time- ever. He had a business to run and his siblings to care for, and he didn't want to be involved with all this stupid nonsense. He didn't want Mavain to be involved in all of this stupid nonsense-

A sentiment drastically furthered when Tea admitted that her own siblings- three of them. Three siblings- had been abducted. Bäl's hand snatched for Mavain's, curling around his fingers.

For his part, M did look... less enthusiastic at the other Senshi's admission. "You... you've lost your brother and sisters?" He asked. And she was speaking so nonchalantly about it. 'The Negaverse took them.' And all M wanted to do was say AND? And then what? "Can't you find them? Save them? The Negaverse is evil, you said. But you have these powers, so you can find your siblings and help them, right?"