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It was fine to go out as - well - did it matter anymore? Albite, Waru? One in the same on any good day, and he felt like, if he dressed up a bit more? Played up the fantasy aspect? Then it was just fine to slip by, bat-winged, be-jewled, dusted in makeup grade glitter and cowry scarf in one. Hair all bound and tinkling as it dragged by behind him, all accompanied with the shiff n shimmer of shells shaking with each extra movement he took to get through to the better parts of the park.

It was summer time after all, less was more, and better yet? He could let his best borb strut along - peacock of the walk - and if the occasional person oohed and awed? All part of the scenic rout, some animatronic whatchamacallit, far more easily played out by the fact that Cerbs didn't squack a single bit. His partner from another plane of existence hardly needed sounds when it had all the hooked looks n extra sharp talons to express itself with.

Though mostly? Cerbs seemed interested in finding the glitzy little bits of hidden shinnies tangled up amongst the brambles....

Which was fine, Albite had a whole a** atmosphere to immerse himself in, n nothing was gonna ruin his good time!

*No*, he was seeing things! These were some shitty fairy tricks of the mind's eye, because it couldnt’ve been, it wasn’t! It — “Bindngh—-!” albite nearly bit through his own tongue. Let the sharp pain shunt his Magic’s flow; the way his binds flared across his flesh, died, and almost seemed to punish him for the absolute denial of what he clearly wanted to do!!

‘Never use your magic on me, okay?’ those wide eyes and a soft yet serious ask on the edge of a malls concrete ledge.

He’d ******** *sworn*, though! He’d *promised* Sylvi— Alexa— he...And what about Jet? Who’d suffered only to have been repaid with betrayal? How they’d suffered the *same*. Him, her, all because a Princess couldn’t give up her glowy ghost and die quietly!

Albite felt the crawl of guilt, and stood in it, had earned the bits of wet that beaded at the corners of his eyes from the utter backlash of feelings that assailed him suddenly.

“Ch-chilling..ahre youh, uhm..” cause maybe he was mistaken? The scenery could have been ******** with his eyes by superimposing a bouncy pink general’s face over a candy stripped butterflies “…s-sylvi?” ********, but he almost hoped she said ‘no’? Was that too much to ask for? Just a nice easy ‘no’, and he could pretend for three minutes more that his eyes were telling him straight up lies!

——

Somewhere under a bush — Cerberborbus tucked strings of shiny bits into its feathers, hidden beads, star charms, and then coughed up the same exact stag beetle, three different times. Very much aware of its bondeds plight, but it didn’t *do* drama, so!

"M'not, nope, no freaking here, just me Albite--just--" and he looked for that recognition in her eyes like a lifeline; hunted down that glimmer of panicked remembrance he'd gotten with Thor -- Amsv, couldn't remember if that'd made it better or worse? Better, probably, casue then he *knew* for sure he wasn't just some piece of s**t basic who'd left his best friend to die screaming in the Rift while he saved his boss and bossette and -- okay he could only fit three people on the goat! It wasn't his fault! But!! But-but-but--seeing him alive and getting that recognition? That reasoning? Good, great s**t, meant he could go on living with himself and his team and knowing that Amsv had just made a different choice for his life, guy wasn't hurting anyone - *except for when he probably was* - but that was war! S'fine, wasn't hurting anyone Albite knew.

Was just trying to live his best life...Which meant, What Exactly, for Sylvite! It Didn't matter! He was fine, everything was fine.

"I'm just gonna -- sit here --- on the ground with all the fairy rings. Yeah? Yeah, and just...get whisked away into some other magical land!" Albite found a nice mushroom-shaped bit of masonry to plant his a** on, was careful of the carved fanciness and tiny ceramic fairies, the itty bitty rings of blinking lights that were supposed to bring magic and majesty to the whole of the place. It was much easier then to breathe, and bury his face in his hands while he hissed rapid-fire questions through his splayed fingers that, really, in the grand scheme of it all? Didn't matter. Not to anybody but him at least. Wasn't like Cybele hadn't told them that Sylvi'd hop-skip-jumped into white lace n pink brocade.

He hadn't been expecting the whole butterfly motif though. That she'd be a Knight! Sweet glowing Aura and all. That she'd be cute -- traitors weren't supposed to be ********> Why're you a butterfly? Why'd you leave? Did the princess do it-did---did-I-do-something!?"

Nothing was fine!!

"Tah-be-fair?! They kinda started things, on that one, when they captured --- our friend -- tortured him first, and they? They tortured you! Not, not this time, not right then, and -- and you told me...." and he wasn't going to pull his hair out, needed it, maybe, apparently, possibly? Still didn't trust how much exactly all the magic stuff did or didn't transfer over to him in his daily average joe style life.

So -- sooo -- Albite merely clutched his dreads, ran his fingers till he hit rings he could play with while watching *Nectaris* with wide wide wide eyes, not panicking, nope, not hyperventilating, nah! Because he was F.i.n.e. Totally fine. Just a normal guy doing some normal, average, everyday breathing - like he was impoverished and air was his main export for earning dollars.

So much breathing.

"Do you even remember me?!" oh, and that felt selfish even as he spat the words free like they were too hot to keep on his tongue, "Or Swirls, n playing tag, n the Rift? N the rooftop of the mall, and..." felt better to mention the others. Other places and things. Good times. Even if he was rambling on because clearly she didn't know what he was saying! He could see it, the way she couldn't say whether it'd been him who'd done something or not. The way she seemed so gung-ho about the princess and Cosmos, and he was sure as hellfire that Gany had said something to convince Sylvite to make a change. Some secret magic word that made people throw away their lives, careers, and friends - even long-term.

"....Wh-whats the last thing you remember? Cause I'm not gonna lie n say I'm happy that you got ten times more *cute* - if you can't even remember that you were perfectly cute before! Twenty times cuter even!" he blamed the secret ninja powers and knives, blamed himself for sitting on a literal toad stool and having a moment when he should've been -- ******** -- what exactly? Hauling her in. Committing a murder?

It was different if she remembered everything and had done it anyway, but if she didn't? Maybe there was a chance they could talk before things went full on sideways beyond the point of no return.

Albite didn't think there were any bad guys, not like a Saturday morning cartoon - with ridiculously obvious villains in top hats, and do-gooders wearing capes and shouting a public service announcement at the end of rescuing some poor soul from the train tracks they'd been tied to. There were just -- people with powers, making choices, taking sides -- not always by their own will -- not always to their own benefit, either, but sometimes? Maybe?

He knew he'd met just as many lovely people woven into white as he had on the opposite end of the color spectrum. Didn't get all the fuss about one person, another; except for those occasions when he agreed, wholeheartedly, that someone causing harm maybe should just -- stop existing -- and all the ways that applied to either side.

All the ways that applied to him.

If he was being any kind of honest with himself.

"That, you mentioned it, once, and we -- we were totally friends, best friends, more than friends! Just -- your team misses you," he missed her too! "But you don't remember us enough to miss us, do you?" he could see it on her face, knew she would've said she did, knew she would've meant it. "How could you -- ******** - fourteen? Awh, girl...I'm so, so, sorry you had to leave us. Whatever line got crossed..." albite stalled out over a sigh, not seeing any ways to uncross it.

Cause they were the bad guys, now, n she officially, of her own will, <******** --

"C'mere Nectarine - " and Albite could scrub his face n man the ******** up long enough to open his arms and ask for a hug. Knew the name felt just a smidge off as he said it; was that what Cyb's had called her? Something that sounded like syrup, or sugar, or the stuff butterflies drank? Oh, no, wait, Nectaris. Now that she confirmed it. All quiet n sweet n offering to be friends, still, even if it'd get her killed -- hell -- get him barbequed.

He'd deserve it, hesitating the way he was, knowing that what she'd done was one step too far. Something he knew he couldn't ask the others to forgive unless they showed up with one missing Princess on a silver platter; starseed in hand.

Cause Jet deserved his retribution, same as Laurels, same as Aqua...

Maybe he could just get one last hug, and then?

"I want one hug, to make sure you're really you? Yeah? N then I've got an idea - that'll solve everything." he felt his own hesitance like a weighty thing, guillotine heavy n headache inducing; watching her with big somber eyes that screamed 'pound puppy for sale', he felt selfish even now, guilty, asking for assurance when he didn't know how to offer her anything but warnings.

More Than Friends

And he was nodding along for the most part, agreeing, except for the slight squinch to his features when she mentioned how cool she was with purifying and all that, but of course he couldn't stay upset with her for that. Not when she felt bad about the people she'd left behind in the process! At least, he couldn't be mad about the part where she did what she felt was right for her.

That felt right.

His secret abs ninja chick in pink staying true to her own code, whichever path that ran ---- whatever sacrifices came up along the way...

If only she could've given up something else! Chocolate, carbs, gluten! But no, it just had to be Them. A Them which included Him, and suddenly Albite wasn't sure which part of himself hurt more, his heart, his head? Found that it didn't matter one single iota once he had her in his arms, because Cybele'd been right about all the ways Alexa was still the same - herself. Hugging Nectaris was like mapping out the familiar frame of an old home; a fresh coat of paint and new furniture didn't undo all the memories that shared the address's space, didn't change the bones of the place or it's foundation.

"Ohmygosh Sylvi, noo---" and that wasn't the name to call her, but he couldn't' figure out a shortening for Nectaris that didn't sound like a bad trip or fruity bar drink. Left it be. N squeezed her doubly tight just for asking. "Mh'not gonna, not like this, jeeze. ********, that not long ago it woulda been me sayin that to you? Not like my s**t ain't on display twentyfourseven-threesixtyfive," though it got him thinking, in-between huffing a huge shuddery sigh and finding himself pleasantly surprised with how firm a hugger she was beneath all the fresh pink lace and poofy sleeves. <********, was he supposed to be snatching her soul outta her body? No, surely not, that seemed - that had to be - wrong? Right!? Except for the alarm blaring in the back of his brain that screamed how he should've been.

Definitely should've been. Element of surprise s**t. Any day now. Just - s n a t c h i n g...... . . .
"Just, no snatching tonight, kay? You're good," Not safe. That wasn't the sort of lie he could've spun and sprinkled any amount of sugar on, but good? Definitely. He could tell her that much, could smother the words into the fluffy tops of her boundless pink curls and shut the world out behind closed eyes a minute more, "N' you're right too, good n right. It matters, cause choices have to matter, else it wouldn't mean anything to make 'em, to give things up in the process of making 'em...." and his fingers felt clumsy as they tangled in sheer folds of cloth, the soft thickness of her winged cape.

If he could just hold her forever, or ten more minutes, or ten more seconds, or...

"Dunno bout friendship, but there might be hide n seek in our future?"

stari_maga

"Not unless you let me -- not unless I catch you --" and hadn't every chase become a game, become -- He thought of Amsvartnir, stunning with that cane and blaze of rainbow. Good enough to spend a night out under the stars with. Different. Oh-so-different when the context of the leaving was applied. The young Lt and the General with abs of steel were not comparable beings. Even if their beauty was, the brightness of theirs miles, the softness of their tears. ******** but he'd miss them always. Even when they were just at arms reach ---- it couldn't be the same as it had been. "And Don't you dare ******** let me, Nectaris."

She was beautiful. He was sure her starseed was too, that it's shine reflected the heavens and hues in her eyes. That it was oh so warm and not in the same way as fire. No. She would've been warm on the inside like a cozy heating blanket. Like a Sherpa lined coat. Something boundless and enjoyable for all. All the guilt he felt for her betrayal, for being part and party to it, right in this moment via the act of not doing a murder---

The whole of the Negaverse deserved better than him.

Jet deserved better for his sacrifice.

He'd have it. *They* would have it!

His Princess of a Star-Sisters head, his beloved Nectaris's heart. At a cost beyond his own measure, but still? It was an assured thing, a lingering future 'someday' that would eventually become 'right ******** now'. But Albite knew the worth of a fight. Of a worthy opponent and vicotry paid in blood, how those kinds of enemies? Those kinds of friends!? They were the absolute best of all. He never wanted anything less in his life than the best; exactly as Nectaris was, or Cybele, or Gany - Lysi - Nembus!.

"Don't let any of them."

Grit there, a manic grin that was far too many clenched teeth and a laugh that snagged burred on the end of hissed words. He loved the way she hugged, returned it with fervor. She fit so ********> He couldn't stop himself from pressing a kiss into the tops of those pink butterfly curls, a quick chaste thing given while trying to crush the air from her lungs ever so slightly --- before setting her free. Butterflies needed their wings right? Wings were important. Not to be touched, only ever admired from afar -- less all that pretty cease to fly. Couldn't have that.

Nectaris needed to fly. To the moon. To the stars.

"Now!! Let's see how quick you are? You might not remember this -- but I sucked at hide n seek the first time you, me, n swirls played it. I've gotten better since then, though...So...I count to ten...you run. Trust me girl, it'll be so damn fun! I promise." whatever lingering wetness got roughly wiped and burried, hurt muddled up and shoved down beneath all that happy for being allowed to pretend at playing for a good time!

His girl was always better than he'd deserved.

"One --"