『 ☆ LIGATURES 。』！！•• - [ in character. ]

[m i s s __ m e r r y]

_______team sexy beasts.
____▬▬▬ ♔jevin
x
______❛ ★ avatar. ◟
x
_______________________________________________TIME ONLY CAN LEAD YOU ON STILL IT'S SUCH A BEAUTIFUL NIGHT.
_________███ █ █████████████████████ ████████
________ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯



Jevin tilted his head for a better view as he watched Eli's mom walk away after giving him the greatest hug he'd ever received in his life.

“...Your mom is such a MILF.” He murmered to Eli, eyes still trained upon her lady bits like the hormonal teenager that he was. “I want to bang her into next week.”

"What was that dear?" Eli's mom turned around and asked.

“I said I'd like to hang out here until next week." Jevin clarified in a louder voice. “You have such a lovely home..."

"Aren't you sweet?" Eli's mom tittered.

Jevin smiled.


***


Jevin wondered exactly what twists and turns his life had taken in order for him to be currently riding ontop a horse with Eli pressed up against his backside.

When Eli suggested they ride on horseback to get to Fa'Diel where Sekundes dwelled – he'd thought Eli was joking. But then Eli had come out dressed like a super flambouyant musketeer – complete with riding boots, a feathered hat, an ornate saber(that he couldn't even swing without poking himself in the eye), a cape, and a fake moustache.

“So. Gay.” Were the first words out of Jevin's mouth.

And then he had to watch as Eli put one foot into the stirrup and hoisted himself over his chosen horse with artful ease.

Eli had bragged to Jevin before of his experience riding horses but Jevin had always thought it was just Eli blowing smoke up his a** like he always did. Turns out that Eli was, in fact, a really good horseback rider.

Better than Jevin. Actually, Jevin had very little experience with horses (make that zero) and large animals in general made him cautious and skittery.

Scratch that – he was downright scared. When it became apparent that they were going to have to share a horse and ride together, Jevin tried sitting behind Eli in the saddle at first, but he kept cutting off his friend's ability to breathe with the strength of his tight grip around his abdomen. Jevin also kept complaining about how he was going to fall off the horse and that Eli wouldn't be able to catch him. Also, the stupid feather on Eli's hat kept brushing against Jevin's nose and Eli point-blank refused to take it off.

Which was why Eli finally leaned back in the saddle and scooted until his back hit the cantle, and then patted the empty space in front of him.

Jevin tried not to think about how gay they inevitibly looked as he sat very still, as not to fall, but also because he could feel the steadily line of Eli behind him. Eli's arms formed a sort of cage about Jevin, hands resting lightly on the reins. Eli's thighs also pinned him in place and kept him from slipping whenever the horse adjusted its speed.

“This is the worst idea ever.” Jevin spat, death grip on the saddle. “Horseback. In a world of cars. And trains. ******** genius, you are.”

Whatever fantasy Eli was trying to fullfil, Jevin was swept helplessly along with it. Longingly, he wondered -- not for the first time -- what his life would be like if Eli was less weird.

“My a** hurts.” he also added. Horseback riding was definitely harder than it looked. It was a wonder how Eli of all people could pull it off so easily.

[farewell sweet prince]

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x I AM A SEXY BEAST!
x x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x HEY, HEY — LOOK x x ♛ x x IT`S ELI. !
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x xMOOD ( TIRED - TO THE EXTREME )x x x x x

x x x x x x x x x x x x x▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x★ x x xTRUST YOUR FEELINGSx x x x x x xGOTTA LIVE AND LEARN




"Oh, QQ some more, Jevin."

But Eli was in high spirits and there was nothing Jevin could have said or done that would have put a damper on the brunette's mood. Hell could have flipped over and Eli would still be on his horse, whistling a tune - like a boss.

For starters, they were finally starting to look like real travelers - heroes, even! And, secondly, Eli finally got to try on his new riding boots - his new sexy a** riding boots. They were polished so thoroughly that he could see the passing scenery reflected in them and, more importantly, himself.

"Heh, I look ******** good." He winked at his reflected image and grinned, completely ignoring the rocky terrain they had landed in.

Naturally while Jevin worried about practicality (and various other necessary matters), Eli spent all his energy admiring himself - feeding his ego compliments it didn't need. He also didn't seem to register how bumpy and uncomfortable the riding had become. "God, I would ******** myself."

And so the awkward commences. This was, without a doubt, going to be a long two hours - perhaps the longest two hours ever experienced by man.

* x * x **

"Hey, is your back okay?"

Resting his chin on Jevin's left shoulder, the brunette closed his eyes and leaned against his best friend's neck, breathing in the scent of sweat, sand, and soap. "We can take a break. I have some oils that, if applied, will make the soreness go away. It's homemade."

Even though he was well-accustomed to horseback riding and often lost sight of reality, he wasn't oblivious to how painful it could be for beginners. In fact, he can still remember his early days - the bow-legged walking, the pain of sitting down, the pain of just existing. And, at times, he had just wanted to saw off his legs because, honestly, it hurt that much.

Which begs the question: Why did he push horseback-riding so much?

Oh, yeah, so they can look like heroes. Of course - how could he have forgotten?

[m i s s __ m e r r y]

j u s t x w h e n x y o u x t h i n k x t h a t x y o u ' r e x i n x c o n t r o l . ↺
✩✩ K Ａ Ｎ T Ａ
━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━

║▌│█│║▌║││█║▌│║║█║█║▌│█║▌│║║█║

The music was so loud in his ears. He couldn't think, couldn't breathe. Her voice was hypnotic. Carrying him. Leading him. The need to follow that voice was unbearable.

Then, through the pounding chorus in his ears, he heard it – a distant voice shouting. He vaguly felt cool wetness being splashed at his face.

Kanta's mind rebelled against itself, the raw, yearning hunger warring with reality. The melody in his head, clear and captivating, entranced him, threatening to sweep away his only remaining discernment in a tide of ecstasy....

The fog seemed to lift from his gaze a little. Blinking, Kanta came face to face with Mir's.... face.

“Son of a – !!” Kanta jerked away, the feeling of euphoria immediately draining from his body upon Mir's face shocking him back to reality.

“Siren's song...” The boy acknowledged, a faint blush rising to his cheeks as he rubbed a hand over his face to try and clear his head some more. He still felt rather lightheaded but he was in more control of himself now.

Bending down, Kanta splashed more water against his face. Part of him knew that many males were affected by Siren's influence, but the other part of him screamed he should have known. He should have fought harder, recognized the signs –

The singing gradually increased in volume. Kanta gritted his teeth; the atmosphere was suddenly stifling, and he couldn't seem to get enough air.

“How come you're not affected by Siren as I am?” Kanta glared with resentment at Mir's lean profile.

But one thing was for certain. Kanta needed to distance himself as far from Siren's song as possible, before he gave in. It was taking everything in him not to respond to her. His body already felt heavy with need, every move strained and seemingly harder than it should have been.

The last thing he wanted to become was a drooling, mindless slave under the mercy of Siren's powers.

Groaning, Kanta plugged his ears and squeezed his eyes shut in vain. Everything was spinning. Kanta tried to ignore the unearthly music, but whatever influence she had over him was stronger. Her song lapped at his awareness, leaving him flushed and disoriented. He needed to fight it, to fight her, but it was difficult to think, to even remember why he was fighting.

Not knowing what else to do, Kanta mentally recited a random question from his graduation exam in an effort to distract himself.

“What is standard procedure for an unauthorized entry into a civilian establishment in an emergency situation?”

A.) None. Always obtain required paperwork before proceeding.
B.) Enter, leading right, using rules of Tri-D – disturb little, be defensive, and deliberate all procedure beforehand.”
C.) Enter through the back, two at a time, leading continuously in one direction until all rooms are cleared.

It helped. A little.

(And C. The answer was C.)

Just as soon as Kanta began focusing on another question, the singing abruptly stopped.

The Summoner looked around uneasily. He wasn't sure if the sudden quiet was a good thing or not.

He would soon get his answer when he spotted a far off figure emerge from the lagoon in a movement full of grace and fluidity.

“Siren.” Kanta whispered and felt himself back away and position himself slightly behind Mir. He figured his Avatar would be able to knock some sense into him if he started acting up again. Hopefully.

[farewell sweet prince]

How come you're not affected by Siren as I am?'

Mir didn't say anything because, honestly, he wasn't sure of the answer himself. Why wasn't he as affected?

Because you've already encountered this before. He blinked at the thought. It did make sense. For starters, he wasn't a freshly graduated teenager and he already knew what to expect - already knew to have his guard up.

"Careful."

He didn't draw a weapon, but stood more protectively in front of the summoner. He may not have liked Kanta, but he wasn't so petty that he'd leave the boy in harm's way. "Stay behind me."

But his worries were miscast as the figure of a woman emerge from the waters, her face as beautiful as back then. Nothing has really changed and, for some reason, Mir smiled at the idea. "Siren," he greeted, closing his eyes as he bowed - slightly. "I wonder if you remember me - ten years ago."

It wasn't likely, but the fluttering of memories in his mind's eyes made him nostalgic.

[The Night Owl]

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx❛ Your ｐｒｏｍｉｓｅｓ, they look like ｌｉｅｓ. ❜
┏━━━━ xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Nadia huffed and rolled her eyes. Fleur was such kill joy. What was wrong with a little revenge?Especially when one of the little ******** spit at them. "What if he had AIDs or something?" She said, dramatizing the spit incident. "Then we'd be dying." The avatar finished somewhat childishly. Then her gaze turned a dark serious as she looked from Fleur to the other group. "I'm not going to let anyone walk all over me like that." She almost growled, falling silent after that. There was nothing else that needed to be explained. Fleur and Nadia wouldn't agree on the subject - not that that little tid bit mattered to her anyway. It was two against one on the revenge situation (Fleur being the one) so the dark haired girl didn't get too hot and bothered about it.

“My condition is as follows – destroy that vehicle. Render it broken, by any means possible so that no one may ever use it again!” The smile that spread across Nadia's face when Martel spoke practically tore her head in half. It was just too funny - too perfect. Mona's ShitUV was going to get trashed by them. Hell, Nadia expected to turn her head and see the summoner bolting for her vehicle, determined to reach the piece of crap before they did.

"Forget the crap on wheels." Nadia spoke up, hoping to keep the summoner from leaving. "Now's our chance to talk to Martel." As the other team disappeared from view, Nadia stepped into view of the esper. She didn't look to see if the other two had followed suit behind her. She had her own agenda.

"Oh! Martel!" Nadia feigned excitement though her voice did have a touch of admiration. The avatar stepped before the tall woman's view. "It's been a year since I came to your beautiful forest." She said, a sparkle of something heart-felt and sad in her voice. The last time she'd come with a male summoner. At the time the pact was made with Martel, she hadn't been dating him but the idea was being tossed around. "This time I'm here with a new summoner." Nadia smiled at the tall, too-green woman then lowered her voice, "The last one . . didn't work out." There was a flicker of sadness in her face as she refused to say that he'd actually died.

Deciding that this little bit of idle chatter was enough, she got to the point. "What are your pact conditions this time?" Nadia looked eager to please, eager to gain the pact. She wanted - no, needed - this ability to help show that she was strong enough for phoenix to appear before her.


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ━━━━┛

[farewell sweet prince]

Dante coughed as something rushed down his throat (no, that is not a "that-is-what-she-said" moment).

"Nice... to be back," he rasped, coughing even harder now. He couldn't remember the last time he had suffered so much, but, considering what happened to Aries, he should consider himself lucky. At least every part of him stayed big. And, yes, it is big. "G-Good..."

After another few seconds of wrestling with his voice, Dante settled with a universal thumbs-up - grinning widely at the girl and silently conveying his joy. It was good that Rem made her first pact and he could only hope that Kanta, wherever he was, was suffering more than him (because the idea cheered him up slightly).

Hey. He tapped Aries on the shoulder and leaned in close - so close that he could taste her skin. And god, what he would give for that right now. Let's go somewhere tonight.

He didn't say anything, but he figured he wouldn't need to. After all, he was Dante and she was Aries.

[m i s s __ m e r r y]

_______team sexy beasts.
____▬▬▬ ♔jevin
x
______❛ ★ avatar. ◟
x
_______________________________________________TIME ONLY CAN LEAD YOU ON STILL IT'S SUCH A BEAUTIFUL NIGHT.
_________███ █ █████████████████████ ████████
________ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯



"God, I would ******** myself."

“Yeah? God knows no one else would.”


***


"Hey, is your back okay?"

******** genius, Eli was. Really.

“No.” Jevin said shortly, tone sharp. He'd been complaining since they'd started their trek to Sekundes. “It hurts like a whore after labor day.”

It made Jevin come to the realization that he deserved ******** canonization as a saint for putting up with so much of Eli's crazy s**t over the years. That or a Wikipedia page. Hell, he'd settle for a Facebook group.

“I'm getting you back for this by the way.” Jevin warned. “You're gonna look so nice face down where you belong while I pound your a** into the ground..” Once again, the blonde had no idea how unintentionally gay he sounded.

"We can take a break. I have some oils that, if applied, will make the soreness go away. It's homemade."

At this, Jevin's ears perked up. And Eli had just told him now? Mother of ********... But he kept his mouth shut. Time to play nice...

They stopped for a break and Jevin eagerly took his shirt off before turning around and displaying his back towards his friend. “Rub some on me would yah?”

He trusted Eli to get all the hard-to-reach places.

[farewell sweet prince]

With the jar in one hand, Eli watched as Jevin stripped and complained.

Honestly, it wasn't even that bad. Most of the journey had been crossing flat plains and when they did enter bizarre terrains, Eli had moved at a baby's trot. It had been an easy trek - easy even for beginners.

"You're such a ******** baby."

But even though Eli was busy mouthing off, he had already spread the oil to his palms. It had been a while since he's used it, but it smelled just as herbal-y as it did then. "Better appreciate, bro."

Jevin's skin was hot to the touch and smooth like a baby's - soft like quilted blankets. It actually felt kind of nice, but Eli would sooner eat s**t and die than tell Jevin he had nice skin. "Oi, what happened here?"

It was a tiny nick on his lower back - barely even noticeable, but as Eli ran a finger over it he couldn't help, but think: I've never seen this before. When did this happen? Why have I never noticed?

"It's kind of cool - shaped like a moon."

For a second, his mind flashed to the idea of Jevin spending a wild night - drinking and partying with pretty girls who wanted nothing more than to get laid. They'd have done body shots - the kind where a trail of salt and lime juice was spread over the girl's bodies. He'd-- But then he remembered the stack - the amazing stack - of pornos stuffed and hidden in Jev's room. There was no way he got that scar from a girl. Not unless it was during training and she threw him across the room.

"Also, for the record, that's never going to happen. Body shots and all."

Some times, Eli comments on things he doesn't actually talk about.

"Oh, and, for your a**, does His Highness want to take care of it himself or what?" Playfully, he tapped (read: smacked) Jevin's lower side and laughed because, now, there was a big, giant yellow handprint smacked center of Jevin's pants. Heh. Juvenile humor.

[m i s s __ m e r r y]

xx xx❜martel◟xx xx

xx xx█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █

Martel breathed a sigh of relief as the Summoner left to fulfill her condition. She truly was grateful for what he and his Avatars were going to do. Sometimes she lost faith in humankind, since they were the main contributers of destructibe habits against the earth. But once in awhile, a group of humans with the proper set of values would come along and restore her faith again.

Martel looked down at a rainbow of flowers carpeting the forest floor and the brightly tinted leaves drifted from the green canopy overhead. She focused on smelling the earthy, woodsy scent of the forest and felt the softness of green moss cushioning her steps. Yes, Mother Nature needed to be protected at all cost, for without it, no living creature would exist.

Blinking out of her reverie, Martel's gaze lowered to rest upon another newcomer. It was a friendly dark-haired Avatar who the Esper honestly couldn't remember but listened politely to her introduction nonetheless.

That was, until Martel's superior nose caught a whiff of car exhaust in the young girl's scent and the Esper could tell that the Avatar had been one of the ones riding inside the vehicle currently parked right outside the edge of of the forest.

Martel shook her head sadly.

“I am truly sorry young one, but I cannot, in good conscience, make a pact with you.” Martel looked genuinely troubled at this and bowed her head in regret. “You bear the lingering odor of what I consider poison in your scent and that is unforgivable.”

The normally cheerful Esper now looked rather reproachful. Because the forest was not the sole propety of Martel and it was free for anyone to come and go as they pleased, Martel could not stop the girl and her team-mates from veturing further into the forest if they wanted to. However, she resolved to keep a close eye on their activities while they traveled inside her home.

“You may explain yourself to me if you so wish, but please know – if you knowingly and willingly entered that air polluting device to travel here, you are better off seeking a pact elsewhere.”

[Kabuki Doll]

At the rate they were going, it was very unlikely that Team what's-its-name would even be halfway prepared to enter the 53rd Kamisad tournament.

Anita having lost concern for team names several minutes ago had been sensing skepticism from Livadia the moment she had suggested not making pacts with water espers to avoid losing the possibility of making a pact with Ifrit, for blue eyes had momentarily met her apathetic teammate's green ones that had glinted with a moment of doubt before she left to find herself something to eat. The older blonde sighed, trying her best not to discourage the redhead while she packed up her map, deciding it was best if they simply just started moving. It seemed wherever Anita and Liv would go, despite being the one would initially be making the pacts, Clover would simply follow them.

"Let's avoid Han Dana for now and get a move-on to Byzel. Empyrea's been known to reside in the Navarre Mountains, too. We'll be able to tackle quite a few espers once we get there."

Yes. Best avoid going in circles, and avoid the middle of Izona ocean as much as possible. She wasn't exactly fond of the idea of crossing Leviathan's path before they even had any decent pacts under their belts.

She spent a few moments letting the other two sit in awkward silence as she sifted through the contents of her backpack, making sure she didn't forget anything so that they could take a bus down to the docks and board a cruise to the west as soon as possible. The only question was...


"Have you guys packed and got ready to go? Because, if not, you should probably try and get as much as you need within the next hour so we can catch the next bus down to the docks and board a ship to the West. A trip across the world isn't exactly a picnic, but the essentials are all that's necessary so that we can move quickly and have time to train before the actual tournament."

Keyword: essentials. Anita knew Liv would have no problem packing light and roughing it for the next few months, but Clover had just graduated, and she wasn't exactly sure if the young summoner had ever gone a day without a hot shower, a warm bed, or a well cooked meal. Sure, it wasn't like they were fugitives on the run from the feds, but they weren't exactly traveling with comfortable amounts of cash, either...Or, as far as she herself was concerned. If this was anything like last time, there would be instances in which they would have to survive in less-than-pleasant conditions.

But that was part of what would make it an adventure.

[m i s s __ m e r r y]

xx xx❜siren◟xx xx

xx xx█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █

Her visitors were made of tougher stuff than she'd given them credit for.

She glided over, taking her time, feeling annoyed that her music had not enraptured them like so many had before them.

The older of the males inclined his head and greeted her with respect. Siren was slightly mollified by this gesture.

"I wonder if you remember me - ten years ago."

Truthfully, she didn't, but Siren's hand was suddenly on Mir's face, her fingers just behind his ear, thumb delicately tracing the line of his cheekbone in smooth, languid motions.

“Ten years you say?” Siren said softly. “What has kept you away from me for so long?” She leaned in closer, and began running her fingers lightly through his hair. “I am still the most beautiful Esper you have ever met, am I not? Much more beautiful than Shiva and Martel combined...” There was a certain edge hidden underneath her soft voice and Siren's gentle fingers on Mir's hair tightened to an almost painful grip. “Tell me I am beautiful.”

Her attention was soon diverted to the other male present at the lagoon.

“Such a young boy... handsome boy...” Siren let go of Mir's hair and reached over to glide a hand unabashadely down Kanta's body. The effort of battling her will was evident on his face. She smiled as if his predicament seemed only to amuse her.

A sudden glint near his hand caught her eye and she peered down at it with curiosity.

“A ring? Oh...” She recognized the placement of it, remembered the silly human traditions she'd learned over the years, and laughed. “A married man! Tell me, is your wife half as stunning as I am?”

The boy shook his head, and continued to gaze at her with awe.

Good answer.

Siren's lips brushed his cheek, her lashes fanning his skin…

“I want to – I want to make a pact!” Kanta stammared, face heating.

Siren drew back and eyed the Evokers contemplatively. “Of course you do.”

“All right.“ She folded her arms and coolly gave them her one condition –

“I want the head of Aska brought to me on a platter.”

[m i s s __ m e r r y]

j u s t x w h e n x y o u x t h i n k x t h a t x y o u ' r e x i n x c o n t r o l . ↺
✩✩ K Ａ Ｎ T Ａ
━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━ ━

║▌│█│║▌║││█║▌│║║█║█║▌│█║▌│║║█║

"Stay behind me."

Kanta didn't need to be told twice. He cowered behind the older male with ease born out of practice.

As Siren appeared, Kanta couldn't help but marvel at how totally calm Mir remained towards the Esper. Kanta on the other hand, reverted back to being slack-jawed and mesmerized. His face was a permanent shade of red upon seeing upclose how very little Siren truly left to the imagination. She was basically naked, save for some strategically placed feathers on her body... (And what a body that was).

She reached towards him and his pulse leaped at her nearness. At her touch, Kanta felt all the tension in his body melt away. Kanta swallowed. To be honest, he forgot all about Rem until Siren mentioned his marital satus. It was that reminder that finally broke through the mind-numbing shock and immediate longing her touch ensued as Kanta stammared that he wanted to make a pact.

“I want the head of Aska brought to me on a platter.”

Aska..? Wait a minute... As in, the Esper Aska?!

“WHAT?” Kanta choked and reeled back in shock. “That's insane!”

They were hardly ready to defeat Aska in a battle, let alone murder him.

Siren's hands found him again, her soft voice making sympathetic sounds to calm him. But he was on a roll. Kanta tried to lurch away, managed little more than a feeble jerk of the head. “Get your hands off me!"

With an angry shriek at his rebuff, Siren slapped Kanta clear across the face; her talons leaving behind deep scratches upon his left cheek. Kanta fell backwards, cursing and clutching at his bleeding face.

“Aska has spurned my advances for the last time!” Siren hissed and spat; no longer looking very Goddess-like in Kanta's eyes. “He and he alone, remains immune to my charms!”

Oh great. So it was a vanity issue. Something that Kanta could relate to – only not this particular brand.

Plus, the b***h marred his face. His face. Kanta hoped to Zeibel that there wouldn't be any scarring.

“That is my condition and if you cannot fulfill it, then begone!” And with that, Siren angrily left the lagoon in a flurry of feathers.

Kanta got back to his feet. This was a shitstorm just waiting to happen – and over something so trivial.

“So. Any bright ideas?” He grumpily questioned towards Mir, gazing at the water with ill-disguised frustration.

Of course his first pact condition would have to be something so crazy and impossible as this one. Life sure sucked.

[m i s s __ m e r r y]

LIV --- AVATAR OF TEAM ????

The crack of a baseball bat was Liv's favorite sound in the whole world.

Smiling, she threw a rock up high in the air, hit it with her bat and watched it soar far off into the distance before repeating it again.

"19."

Crack.

"20."

Crack.

"21."

Crack.

Resting her bat against her shoulder, Liv finally called it quits and turned back to her team's makeshift little campsite. They'd just arrived to Navarre Mountains last evening and had immediately set up camp for the night. Now it was morning and Liv had decided to hit a few "pitches" to start off the day.

Poking at the remains of their fire, she set about starting up a new blaze. It wasn't long before she was roasting a few rabbits she'd caught in a trap they'd set up overnight. They weren't exactly strapped for food --- they still had several nonperishables in stock but they were rationing their food supply because in the long run, it'd probably be awhile before they'd have to stock up on supplies again.

Besides, rabbit meat was pretty tasty. To Liv, anyways.

Humming as she removed one of the skewers, an immediate check of the meat told her it was still pink-tinged and slightly raw. Just the way she liked it,

Sinking her teeth into the rabbit, Liv licked at the juices dripping down her chin and left the other two skewers of rabbits in the fire, knowing her team-mates probably enjoyed their meat a little more cooked.

[farewell sweet prince]

"The most beautiful," he breathed quietly, eyes momentarily phasing out at the proximity. "Of anything in this world."

Evidently, while he aged and scarred, Siren remained beautiful - ageless, forever frozen in state of youth. And, if she hadn't left when she did, he would have been equally taken as Kanta. Even now, so many battles later, he was still weak to that type of allure.

It wasn't until she shrieked that Mir's attention returned - completely. Instinctively, he turned back to Kanta. Marks ran across his cheek as blood spilled from them and he stopped, mind flashing through a thousand and one scenes. The pain... the burn... the...

"Aska has spurned my advances for the last time!"

What?

But before he could ask any questions, she was gone, and the lagoon was still once more.

"So. Any bright ideas?"

"We should take care of your injuries first," Mir whispered, eyes cleverly looking at something else. "I have some gauze, if you would let me?"

When he turned around again, his face guard was up, and only his eyes remained visible - cool and reflective. He kept his thoughts shuttered, his tone neutral, and his body language distinctly unreadable. He can't let these other things get in the way - not when there was something more tangible to deal with.

"If you still want Siren, we should see Aska."

Mir didn't think they needed to fight the man (much less kill him), but it was a good idea to at least pay the Esper a visit. Might prove useful and, who knows, maybe they'll get to pacts out of this.

[m i s s __ m e r r y]

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXLadies and Gentleman, introducing...

REM ! !
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxXX...Summoner of Team Epic.

❝Once, I watched two birds doing it.❞




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Exchanging a thumbs-up with Dante, Rem proceeded to do a victory shimmy. Which, given her still naked status, looked even more innapporpriate than was necessary.

While Team Epic basked in the afterglow of a successful act however, Nariki had log-rolled herself back into the water. A loud splash drew Rem's attention to the mermaids and she saw with horror that they had joined hands and that the water in the spring was whirling again.

"Time to haul a** guys!" Rem yelled, grabbing her stuff and making a run for it.


* * *


Speeding down the road in a Honda Civic, Rem tapped her fingers idly on the steering wheel in front of her. Dante and Aries were sitting in the back seat.

“Guys know any good car games? How about I Spy With My Little – oh – “ Rem glanced up at the rearview mirror and shot her team-mates an apologetic look.

“Sorry, you guys probably want some sexy time alone.”

Zipping her mouth shut, Rem turned on the radio and started humming along to Vanessa Carlton.

“Making my way downtown, walking fast, faces pass and I'm home bound..."


* * *


Witreas Mountain was very windy.

Licking her dry lips, Rem wished she had some lipbalm with her. Her lips were getting so chapped.

Knotting her long hair into a bun to keep it away from her face, she stared down at Sylph with a skeptical look on her face.

“I shaved my legs for this?”