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 Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2022 7:05 am
It was a terrible thing to ask of Axinite.
Since the battle on the hill, Faustite had very little to do with his boss. He knew, secondarily, that Kamacite went to see him frequently. he suspected Albite did, too. But since he engaged those generators, Faustite hadn't quite understood what he felt when his smoldering gut wrenched at the thought of talking to Axinite. Was it shame? Did he let his boss down? Was it a bastardized anger for Axinite's reluctance to come to his aid? Had he thought that Axinite should've been the one to help him, when Taenite's Hail Mary came from Axinite's office?
It was too much for the flameborne General to unpack, so he hadn't bothered. There was much to do after he'd survived that demanded his attention: settling Lysithea, conducting an orientation for all the new recruits, getting coached by Fafnir's contacts, teaching new subordinates, training the expanding team, joining Jet on his endeavor, learning about a bothersome Saturn knight through Alkmene.
Too much that demanded his stress. Faustite walked swiftly, jogged up the steps toward where the Queen spent her time of late.
He'd heard of Jet and the Queen often enough; he couldn't pretend to have the same welcome in her presence, but he could think of no one else to see — not when the simple possibilities of Axinite's responses troubled him, and when he hadn't shared a word with the others.
He stood at the doors, stared at them, contemplated what he was supposed to do. He wasn't great at formality since his hiatus in the Rift. He thought, then, that it was best to knock. A couple raps on the door, and he added, "Faustite here. Need to ask you something."
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Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2022 8:18 am
The door opened, and some invisible thread seemed to pull him inside. Maybe Laurelite’s will was so strong that she could move her agents, or maybe she was just magnetic in that way. “General Fasutite,” she greeted. It was never easy to tell what mood she was in when her smile was always so perfectly in place, but she seemed pleased. “What a surprise. You’re welcome in my office whenever you like.” She did not rise to greet him, but she did direct all of her attention towards him. She lowered her tablet and looked up at him. There were chairs, and a silent invitation that he could make himself comfortable. Her chairs were crystalline, as if the Rift itself had donated its finest specimens to decorate her office. She didn’t seem to worry that he could damage them. “Ask away.”
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Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2022 7:04 am
As he approached, Faustite kept his gaze low. Something about looking directly at the Queen struck him as wrong. Wasn't sure if he thought he hadn't done enough to warrant looking her in the eye, or that by virtue of asking for something, he needed to perform deference, or if there was simply such a gap in their qualities of personhood that he necessarily looked down. Maybe there was no reason.
But it felt more appropriate than looking up, so he paced up to her desk and saluted, stiffly, before he took a seat at one of the chairs.
He could've hugged the chair for all that it wasn't ******** flammable. But that, he thought, was as inappropriate as the thought of sidewinding across her shoes, or rubbing on her legs when they'd run across each other in the Rift. He hoped that was his youma, and that the impulse would forever remain in check.
So he fidgeted, couldn't find a satisfying way to sit, and his hands felt wrong when they were left to languish in his lap.
"Wanted to switch branches." And there they were — his hands went up, followed his words with gestures. Index finger looping around as it pointed from one concept to the next. "Can't abide collecting information anymore as officers leave the Negaverse. Wanted to do something about it — switch to Special Operations."
He paused, then added, "Sir."
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Posted: Mon Jan 17, 2022 9:43 am
She did not question his use of the title Sir, but even through her mask she seemed a bit perplexed. There was something obviously untouchable about Laurelite, human but not. She was the shell of one, at least. There wasn’t really any way of telling what was underneath that. But, she listened and considered and watched. “Understandable,” she said easily. “I am sure General Queen Hessonite would be glad to have you. Axinite’s said he was sure you’d succeed in any branch, before. I’m inclined to agree. I can make the transfer now.” She reached for her tablet and pressed a few buttons as she prepared things. She noticed his posture, his tone. She thought he looked nervous, maybe worried. Or guilty? “Of course, Axinite could have done this, too.” She spoke as if it were an afterthought and a question; she didn’t look at him while she worked. “But you’re here with me, so I’m assuming you haven’t spoken with him yet.”
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Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2022 12:11 pm
He'd never met General Queen Hessonite. He'd seen her a grand total of twice, both times with a room full of distance between them. They hadn't exchanged a word. Thinking that he'd never have cause to interact with her, he hadn't bothered to watch her body language. Now he had to meet her, work under her, and he wondered: what was she like? What was he supposed to bring to a meeting like that?
But before he could further partake of that bouquet of panic, Laurelite offered another, more pressing one. This one, he found, was full to bursting with sprays of suspicion and blooms of a known incomplete story. Eion chewed his bottom lip.
He hummed his assent to her statement. He hadn't breathed a word to Axinite. Hadn't determined how to talk to Axinite, how to say anything without spitting fire at his boss for taking actions that Faustite didn't understand.
He kept his gaze trained on the desk before her as he spoke. His hands wanted to follow along, wanted terribly, but he wadded them into fists at his sides. "Axinite saw we were getting overwhelmed. Knew ours was the last generator. Saw what happened, too, but he kept standing there.
"The person who saved me used something he'd taken from Axinite's office. A White Moon senshi used something similar, might've been the same. Took both of them to put my body back together.
"While Axinite stood in the distance. Don't know what to say to him, now. If I can say anything."
He felt cheated, too, but that was a problem that he could keep quietly compartmentalized, boxed away with all the rest that would never again be known to others.
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Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2022 12:15 pm
Laurelite watched him curiously, but that was all that she displayed. Her thoughts, her feelings, were as shrouded in mystery as she was, and it seemed so rare that she ever let slip. She let people see what she wanted them to see, and she was something of a fortress now. It wasn’t unfriendly, and it didn’t seem as though she was criticizing him or trying to make him feel as though his thoughts were unwelcome. On the contrary, she seemed very interested in this. Her smile was in place, but she let him see that there was something serious about it. She didn’t treat this as some flippant excuse, she cared about what he was thinking, what he was feeling. “Do you resent him?”
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Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2022 5:28 am
Faustite grew silent. He didn't look teh Queen in the eye, but he didn't fill their silence with wasted words.
Axinite stood on the edge of the battlefield, looking on as Faustite should've gotten himself killed. He remembered the pain, remembered the violence he felt toward everything. Remembered wanting to burn the whole world down, starting with the White Moon present on the hilltop. Memory grew a margin less sharp when he recalled the rest — Taenite and the other senshi showing up with strange, old bones, expecting him to breathe what came loose from them. The strange sensation of limbs anew. He couldn't recall Axinite coming up to see him.
Couldn't recall Axinite in the affair after, either. Axinite hadn't summoned him, hadn't sent him a message by way of a subordinate, nothing.
"Yes," he answered finally.
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Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2022 8:46 am
Laurelite smiled. It was a simple, knowing smile, because she’d already figured out that much. She was just glad to hear him say it. “I suppose I should apologize, then. At least in part. I can’t speak for after the battle, but if you have hard feelings for his behavior during it, I’m afraid you’ll have to take that up with Metallia. We went with purpose. It was clearly understood that the four of us needed to maintain the barrier. If we moved, there would have been a break in it. They could have escaped. Don’t think Axinite didn’t try, though.” Her smile might have had the briefest shadow of disappointment, but it was fleeting. “It would have been bad form for a General King to disobey an order. Afterwards, though. I suppose that’s all on him. You can blame him for that. Although, if it’s any reassurance, he has asked about you. Take it as you will. I just want to know that you’re changing branches because it’s what’s best for you and your skill set, and not because you think it’ll be easier to avoid him.”
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Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2022 9:04 am
Would've been nice to know, he thought. Nice to, but Generals weren't on the need-to-know list for that information. Given the influx of turncoats in the middle of the ******** operation, Faustite couldn't fault that decision. Still couldn't believe that two of the escapists shared his rank.
Faustite grunted his acknowledgment, gave a perfunctory nod. He hadn't looked directly at her face, and hadn't seen any influence on her countenance.
It was too much, he thought, to look at the Queen. It already tested his self-restraint to be in her presence, to be so close to the epicenter of her domineering aura. He tried his damndest to stay, and listen, and sit still, but the urge was ever there — thumbs brushed over his knuckles endlessly as a poor substitute for pacing.
It would've been easier to understand Axinite, knowing that he was held to orders. But afterward? Not so much as a hello or an are you okay. Not a word said to him.
His anger hadn't abated. He wasn't sure it ever would, knowing the nature of his youma half. Forgiveness was tempering, and he hadn't the tools for that just yet. Had to let flame run hot, grill Axinite with a few necessary questions, then he could let his boss quench.
Old boss. Whatever.
"No." Not that it was hard to avoid Axinite, holed up in his office as he often was. "Not doing this to avoid him.
"Seen enough people leave. Spent enough time gathering information on them. I need this change for myself."
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Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2022 1:36 pm
Laurelite seemed content with this answer; she smiled again. Maybe it was reassuring, or just affirming. “Then, I am proud of you for making this change. I look forward to seeing what you do with it. You have my full support. General Queen Hessonite will help you settle in, but if you need anything you can come to me as well.” But, the smile said other things, too. “I hope you and Axinite will make up at some point in the future. There’s no point in having a good Information Branch if you aren’t able to fully utilize it. But I won’t push that now, just take some time to get settled in. I look forward to seeing what you can do, Faustite. I know you’ll make me proud.”
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Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2022 3:34 am
He was dreading that. She said it so simply, yet the statement carried a weight that dragged his spirits down. The Queen's hopes weren't requests; Faustite would have to deal with his superior sooner than he expected (though, really, he hadn't expected to sit down with Axinite at all, ever again).
He didn't trust himself to make appropriate words for that, so Faustite nodded. It only occurred to him afterward that he should say something of expedience.
He hoped actions would make up for that.
"Thank you, Queen." He hated the formality, thought it tasted strange when so many youma paid it little heed, but the subordination was the same. He still didn't look at her. It was safer to avoid looking directly at the Queen.
As long as he stopped making mistakes, everything would be fine.
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