The Lantern Festival (10) : Scientists have been hard at work trying to understand the strange, glowing qualities of the luminescent caterpillars found in the caves by the reservoir. The caterpillars still shrivel up if they are taken out of the caves but their glowing secretions have been processed into an organic paste that can withstand the outside world. The city is selling paper lanterns infused with various seeds. The glow paste is full of minerals to support healthy plant growth without risking damage to the environment; all lantern purchases come with a small packet of activating power that will heat the paste up enough to mimic the effects of a candle without the concerns of flammability. When the glow paste loses its heat, the lantern will return to the Earth and upon the first rain (or any contact with water) the paper will dissolve and the seeds may begin to grow. All proceeds from the lanterns are put right back into the community to support local conservation and environmental protection efforts.
It had been mostly an impulse--Will knew that Eion didn't exactly have a lot of time in the day to be human, and asking him to spend some of it at the Star Festival was probably more than a bit ridiculous. But Will was still getting used to inhabiting brand-new skin, a person with no past and only the future he made for himself. He'd delivered the invitation in hard copy, left on Faustite's desk--Star Festival? I'll be by the lantern booth at 8, signed Valjean.
He huffed, and reached up to adjust his ponytail while he waited--much shorter than his hair as Valjean, but still long enough now that the ends of a high ponytail brushed his shoulderblades.. Maybe it would have been better to wait powered, but there had been occasion for him to power down in front of Faustite before, so it wasn't like he wouldn't recognize him.
It was ridiculous that he was at all anxious about this. Yes, his boss was handsome. Yes, he knew his boss also found him handsome. Thus, it seemed only natural that they do something about it. So why did it feel like there was something electric under his skin, some kind of...anticipation? Stupid.
Strickenized
figured wtf, why not.
Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2022 3:35 pm
Faustite hadn't intended to stop in his office that day, but he stopped by with the intention of double-checking his keepsake drawer for one highly important, highly sentimental item. As he entered, however, the thought fled him as he spied a letter, poised purposefully, on his desk.
Faustite swept it up once he reached it, and browned the thing between his fingertips as he opened the copy to read. Strange that Valjean wanted to meet with him, during a festival. Was he asking what the Star Festival was? Was he asking if Faustite liked such things? Or if he could attend? Maybe it was to see if he wanted to attend?
Whatever. He'd ask if he couldn't figure it out.
At eight, though — "Headache, what's the time?" He asked over his shoulder, and the cloud of bugs formed into a digital alarm clock's display, that flashed 8:10 PM. He'd only just gotten the message and he was already late.
Faustite loosed a dismal, smoky sigh, then vanished.
Having been vaguely familiar with the main streets framing the Star Festival, Faustite burst into existence with a fit of smokeon one of the multi-floored shops with offices on top. It offered him a liberal view of the festivities, and while he lacked a map, he assumed the lantern booth was somewhere near the cluster of glowing paper bullshit that took to the sky in the distance. He hardly spared a thought to running in that direction — a few flips over a few gaps, and he was nearly upon all that sky litter. He hopped down to a single story cell phone shop, and —
Ah. That was the boy.
Faustite vanished into Eion as he walked toward the parapet. "Will," he called, hoping the boy would notice him. Then he called a second time, a touch louder, for he realized he had sprung his glamour too soon.
Faustite was late. Will hadn't exactly put an end time on how long he would wait, though, and it hadn't been that long, all things considered--realistically, he didn't know when or even if Faustite would get his message, so. He probably wasn't stood up yet.
He lingered a while, flipping through Twitter--trying to get reacquainted with the world through social media was....well, it wasn't exactly his best idea, but he had it on hand, and moderating it with a healthy does of "going outside" adn "reading books" was probably more helpful than not.
His name diverted his attention, and he looked, for a moment--before looking up, and ah. There was Eion.
"There you are," he said, lifting his voice up so it carried. "Got plans for how to get down?"
Was he teasing a little? Yes, obviously.
Strickenized
Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2022 9:24 pm
Eion sighed. The chill of a summer's night crept into his clothes quickly, making its home in all the pockets of dead air. His shirt and asymmetrical green jacket hadn't yet been suffused with body heat, leaving them cold against his skin. To say nothing for his leggings — thin things patterned with birch bark that could hardly withstand a light breeze. The temperature may have averaged around seventy, but Eion was far more used to heating up a room than keeping himself warm.
First, he looked at Will, then he stared down at the ground that was woefully far from his feet. Jumping down himself was a distinct consideration, after Will goaded him, but he remembered the gas station by Yuuri's place. Cymophane's place, whatever. He hadn't wanted to sprain his ankles anymore after that.
So he held up a finger, as if to pause the boy, and walked toward the back of the building. Peering over the edge, he found no ladders or other means of getting down — not even some discarded rope. On the roof itself, he found a single hatch that led down into the building, but it was thoroughly padlocked and inaccessible to Eion's spindly little twink arms. Apart from a couple empty chocolate milk bottles and one very unfortunate yogurt, there was nothing else on that flat expanse of concrete.
Returning to the other side of the parapet, Eion once again stared down at Will. He hummed, as if uncertain he even wanted to voice his answer. He climbed atop the parapet. Then, before he could decide against it — "Catch me?"
Will waited, still distinctly amused by Eion's predicament. It was easy, he supposed, to forget that human bodies had limits when you usually didn't have one. A jump like that was no trouble for an officer, but...well, Eion wasn't an officer, right then.
He waited for the determination that, no, there was not another way down, and sighed at the request.
"Of course," he said, though, because...well, obviously. If the only way down was for Eion to jump, then the only reasonable thing for Will to do was catch him when he did. So he moved close enough that he was sure he would be in the right place, held out his arms, and waited, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
There was something charming about the whole thing, really. No way to think of your boss as an infallible terror if he sometimes forgot that human legs couldn't handle an uncushioned fall from a height.
Strickenized
Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2022 11:50 pm
He was gladdened that Will agreed to catch him — as a request from Eion, not a command from Faustite. But while the offer was accepted, Will still had to do the catching.
And… s**t, he wasn't sure how he should get down from there. Normally he could leap with little care, maybe manage an acrobatic flourish, but that seemed irresponsible with his fragile human body. Then it occurred to him that he could simply sit down on the ledge and scoot off of it, though it would be difficult to tuck and roll if Will decided to stand aside instead.
Hard for one's boss to set one on fire if he broke his legs, Eion assumed. But will didn't seem to have any hard feelings after his conscription, so…
Eion sat down, pushed himself off, and hoped Will would catch him.
This was, Will knew, a little bit ridiculous. But, well, he was committed, now, and dropping Eion when he'd been given this fragile bit of trust seemed cruel. He waited for Eion to fully decide on his approach, and then moved just enough to be sure that he caught him.
He staggered, a little, from the force, but Eion wasn't exactly heavy, and he caught both of them with some ease, then turned to set Eion down.
"Alright?" He asked, giving a quick look-over to make sure nothing was too obviously out of place.
Strickenized
Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2022 7:06 am
"Easy to forget these limitations," he muttered with a sigh. He shouldn't have been so distracted that he wasn't thinking about it, however. Likely that left an ill impression with one of his newest recruits. However, it afforded him the opportunity to be caught, which afforded him the opportunity to feel the flex of those muscles beneath Will's clothes and assure himself that, yes, he was touching another perfect specimen of Boy.
So he buried a little smile and let go of the boy. A few glances told him that the festival-goers were too wrapped up in each other to pay attention to them, which was itself relieving. In a place this busy, they could be nobodies together.
"Interested to see what you'd like," he offered as he started into the festival streets proper. It was a rare treat, he thought, to be invited on this small adventure of self-discovery. Eion could only guess that Will had little idea which baubles, drinks, or activities would interest him. And Eion could share some of the things to which he'd grown attached, and be taken exactly as he was, with no expectations attached.
There was one requirement for his attendance, however. "Tea first," the youth declared, pointing in the direction of the festival's beglittered specialty drink shop.
"Mm, spending most of your time superpowered probably does make us frail humans seem a bit silly," Will said, dryly. There was a lilt of humor in his tone, though, and he quickly cast his eyes to the festival, feeling something warm in his chest that had nothing to do with any nearby literal fires.
With no memory of who he'd been, and less than no idea about the type of person he used to be, it was....interesting, to consider the possibility of letting Eion walk him around the festival. So much to see, so much to try, and a good way to immerse himself in a life he'd previously lost.
"Interested to see that myself," he agreed. This would be...an interesting bit of exploration. "Tea sounds excellent. Lead on."
It was an act of trust, he supposed, to let Eion guide him through this, but...well, Eion was what he had. Eion and the rest of their fairly motley team. He would gladly give the lot of them his trust, and especially give it to the man that would be commanding him for the forseeable future.
Besides, he wanted to get to know Eion without artifice, and what better way than by opening with a little bit of trust.
Strickenized
Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2023 7:08 am
"It makes people seem impossible," Eion complained. The more time he spent away from Destiny City, the stranger people seemed. There were all sorts of hidden rules and unmentioned expectations that people placed on each other, and while they often turned vicious, they were likewise far more frail than a half-youma who lost half his guts and suffered through promotions. How they'd survived as a species for this long was a wonder that Eion found as inexplicable as his own survival.
Nodding to Will's suggestion that he lead, Eion was happy to navigate the sea of people and stalls with a boy. Happier, too, that it was packed enough that no one would notice them as they slipped past. But the main attraction? Was that Eion had every reason to lace his fingers with Will's and keep him close as they wandered.
There were so many smells on the air, so many places to visit on this warm summer night. Seemed that most of the festival's vendors had acknowledged that the easiest way to lure people to business was with food, so he and Will had many unfamiliar foods to try. As he glanced over menus in passing, Eion supposed that they would both be trying many of the foods on offer for the first time, which placed them on more even footing. Eion, for one, had never tried 'takoyaki' before, and couldn't begin to guess what it was or what it tasted like.
Didn't matter, though, when it was an opportunity to share a memory with a Boy.
So the pair blended in as they forged on, searching for firsts and worsts in a sea of offerings from a festival that would sooner forget them. It would be a fabulous night for Eion, one worth remembering in the months to come.
noir songbird
i thought a close would free us up for fresh new things heart
