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 Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2023 8:00 am
Takes place after One Abyss but before the debriefing.
“You’ve slept… how much in the past couple days?” he asked, and he shut the door behind him before Eion could decide it was a bad idea to subject himself to Ren’s obvious concern.
He paused for a moment, let out a tired sigh and ran his hand through his premature white hair in frustration before asking, “Want something to drink?”
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Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2023 8:10 am
The coal-haired boy was bouncing on his heels when Ren opened the door to him. As was usual anymore, he wore a combination of at least five of six layers, composed of jackets, sweaters, and coats. His leggings covered a pair of UnderArmor, bought for him with the help of Waru's bank account. Fur-lined boots came up past his ankles, but left something for him to desire insofar as keeping his calves warm. His hands were in his pockets, too, and he struggled to free them to hug Ren on his way in the door.
The question surprised him. Eion looked up at the boy with bright eyes. "Mm… None?" Not for the past 48 hours, anyway. "Feel fine, though."
Eion released him to go about his business. "Surprised you wanted me over. Seemed good to have a break, too. Hit a snag," he explained as he shirked the outermost coats. He hadn't quite acclimated to the chill of the human body, but he had developed a tenuous acceptance for it after so long with Eion's skin.
He didn't need any time to consider beverage options. "Tea. Red rooibos?" If Ren had it. Not that he couldn't procure it with a wave of his hand, considering how ridiculously wealthy he was.
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Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2023 9:17 am
Ren was ridiculously wealthy. Which was why he was comfortable in short sleeves and lounge pants and barefoot while inside on a rather chilly day. He obviously had no problem spending extra to heat his house.
Just like he had no problem with not just stocking up on the various teas Eion had mentioned over their friendship, but also made sure to have someone go in and replace anything fresh every six months or so.
So the loose leaf red rooibos tea was in a fancy little container, imported directly from South Africa.
An electric glass kettle was already plugged in when Ren lifted the cabinet door to reveal a hidden alcove for appliances, and once it was turned on it only needed about a minute to reach boil.
“You don’t look fine,” Ren scoffed as he pulled a couple of tea cups from the cabinet and placed them on the counter.
In the meantime, he measured out a few scoops of the tea for the other glass pot, placing the leaf into the center clear chamber that would allow it to steep.
“Met, uh… Helio-- trope… Guy seems like a p***k. Why do you keep him around? That good in bed?”
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Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2023 1:36 pm
While the house was warm, Eion was still chilly. Once he'd removed his shoes at the door and gotten inside proper, he followed Ren to his mystifying science project of a kitchen (because Eion was never good with electronics, and Ren's hidden appliance holes always left him wondering how many trick windows and walls he kept in his house, and surely these two things combined constituted a science project). Once the boy held still enough that Eion could catch up to him, Eion slipped his hands up Ren's shirt to rest ice-cold hands on his abs. Eion thought it the best way to warm up after the algidity outside.
"Sorry I don't look like a model," Eion tried to joke. It sounded flat and lifeless to his own ears, so he tried a different approach. "It's just a cough."
Though what astonished him more was that Ren admitted to meeting Heliodor, and that they'd gotten off on the wrong foot. Though — perhaps it wasn't that surprising, what with Heliodor's proclivities toward jealousy. He'd seen it the worst with Albite, but Albite had such a golden character to him that hardly anyone — except for Jadarite — could stay mad at him. Even Faustite had the damndest time staying angry with him when he found out Albite had been seeing Nectaris.
But Heliodor? Eion looked up at Ren's face. No black eye, so Ren must've dodged. "Mm. Sometimes he is," Eion admitted. "He's very emotional. Fiercely loyal if you can get that far. Probably hates you because we've been sleeping together." Eion clicked his tongue.
Then coughed against his shoulder. "He got conscripted because of me. We'd been dating, my identity got compromised, had to kill or convert him to clean up part of the mess. He was sweeter back then. Think conscription soured him for losing so much of his old life. Was my first subordinate, too."
The more he thought about it, the more Heliodor constituted a myriad of firsts. "Take it you two got into a spat?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2023 4:14 pm
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Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2023 4:49 am
A good boy was a warm boy, and Ren was indeed warm. Eion was happy to shiver in his arms for the time being until he was warm enough to stop shivering. Then he would consider letting a boy go to do as he pleased. Until then, he was content to stay snug against Ren's chest.
"Impulsivity makes him a liability. He's been getting better on that. Don't think he'd sell me out to the White Moon for meeting you." Ren had a point about losing his old life, however. Heliodor never took well to the idea of being poor and having to make it on his own, though he seemed to be ambivalent about it now. Maybe he'd settled, or he simply stopped seething at Eion about it. Better that he checked in with his boy once the debrief was given, see that he was still doing okay. Maybe ask Waru how he should handle all of this if his boys were going to start getting into fights. There had to be something else he could do.
"Didn't know Aquamarine was only in this for Jet. Explains his sourness." Explained why he went along on a mission to the Rift, too, considering Aquamarine never had any interest in youma that Faustite had seen. Must've only been there to safeguard his interests.
He snorted at the comment about Tama. "It worked," he admitted. "Always having a fight with that cat. Have half a mind to put a postage stamp on his back and return him to the Queen, if I didn't think she'd end me for my insolence." Eion sighed; he could never figure out that Mauvian in particular. None of them were good company, but they more or less made sense. Tiberius was only out for himself, just like Haymitch (but in a different manner) and all the other felines he'd wrangled to get his shield glove bracelet in working order. But Tama didn't seem to know what he wanted, like he'd forgotten it in the transition, so Faustite had no bead on that one.
Didn't help that they were always at each other's throats.
"Will it work?" He asked, looking up at the offer of medicine. "One of the youma specialists told me not to bother with medication. Said I'm too hot for it, something like that." But he didn't give a ******** what they said half the time, it was all postulation. If Ren had some, he'd try it.
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Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2023 7:23 pm
“I’m not worried about him selling you out,” Ren scoffed as he continued to rub Eion’s back, but he shifted a little, making Eion waddle his way with him to the open living room where there was a throw blanket over the back of the couch. He grabbed it when he was close enough, and wrapped it snuggly around the slighter boy’s shoulders.
“I’m worried about him losing his objectivity and putting you at risk. It was easy enough to get him riled up during the mission. If he’s pushed, there’s no telling what orders he’d break, despite loyalty.”
As for Aquamarine, Ren just shrugged. “Seemed obvious.” He had no proof that Aquamarine was there just for Jet, but he hadn’t exactly put himself out there to do anything that wasn’t following in Jet’s wake.
“Could put him in a bag for you. The cat,” he half joked, but he said it through gritted teeth like he was considering it. “A few bricks and an icy river should do the trick. Besides, the Queen wouldn’t end you. You’re too valuable. You’ve led missions and solved problems others couldn’t. Like this one you’ve got now. You’ll figure it out, but if you need a sounding board, I’m good for more than just warmth.”
Whether the medicine would work or not, he had no idea. He nodded his head back to the kitchen and started waddling in that direction once more. “Try it and find out,” he said. “Supposed to convince your brain that it doesn’t need you coughing, or something. I’m not a doctor,” he shrugged, and pulled an orange bottle from the cabinet in the kitchen where he kept various medicines. “Keep it, in case it does work. Was the youma specialist part youma?”
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Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2023 8:25 pm
"Can't discount that," Eion sighed against Ren's shirt. "Still love him, though." Even through all the shimmying and awkward mobility, he was glued to the boy. He didn't know how much he should say, or how much he should leave unsaid, or if there was truly a difference between the two. He didn't want to dismiss Ren's concerns because he understood their validity, but he was also going to marry the boy of which he spoke. To lose either one of them — or, heaven forbid, both of them — to misspeaking would be murder to the shorter boy.
Eion slumped against Ren. "Surrounded by too many lovable boys. It's the worst problem." It would be the death of him, too, as Ren feared. Faustite was certain of that.
He did chuckle, however, when his boy mentioned how to dispose of Tama for good. "If not the Queen, maybe one of her subordinates. Know cats are in short supply. Supposed to be useful, too, but I've yet to see it. All self-serving, fur-covered rats. Worse than Headache."
Eion hummed at the thought of the crucible. The blanket given to him was a comfort helpful in warming him up. "Seems like a complicated problem. Know about youma, but not about tech. Have to rely on others to figure the other parts out, then volunteer what I know when it seems like a good time to say it. Don't like it much. Youma part of the problem's easy — everything else has been the challenge."
Then he was being tugged toward the kitchen, and Eion gave a soft oh when he realized he should move with Ren again. "Mm, thought that's what alcohol's for." Not that he should be drinking that normally, either. He looked at the bottle offered to him — something dark and grape-flavored with a name he could never pronounce with something more manageable — and briefly read the back of the directions. Seemed easier to take a swig, so he did.
"No," he answered after he swallowed bitterly. "Most of them aren't. Tastes like hell, by the way."
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Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2023 7:43 am
Ren scoffed at Eion’s admission of loving someone who was equivalent to a cocked and loaded gun. Albite was trustworthy at least. Even with a lot of energy, Ren didn’t have to worry about him going out of control in a way that would put Faustite in danger. Not like he expected Heliodor to do.
He didn’t let Eion pull away after slumping against him, but he did grumble to himself about how Eion loved too easily, and how it was likely a merger of affection and lust that tricked Eion into thinking anyone who gave him the time of day was worth more than a one night stand.
“I saved those pages, expecting everything to be destroyed,” he admitted with a frown as he thought about how everything in Galvorn’s chamber went down. “Got some notes about transmutation. Includes weapons and youma, almost like they’d want to put them together somehow, but organic and non-organic substances together sound like a bad time for the organic. Wonder how many youma he killed with all of those broken weapons he had stockpiled.”
As for his medicine tasting like s**t, Ren just shrugged. “I don’t hear you coughing yet. Just be careful, Ei. I know a lot about backstabbing from doing it myself,” he admitted and paused to give Eion a look and another shrug because it was inconsequential.
“How much do you trust your team? They seem shady as ******** and will throw you under a bus as soon as it is convenient, holding on to declarations of love as a reason for you not to drop them.”
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Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2023 6:48 am
Eion listened, quiet for a moment. "The ones in that hidden chamber suggested he was looking at youma for inspiration. Wanted to turn a weapon into something benign, like a ring, as a disguise. Lets the wielder deploy it on an unsuspecting victim." Wasn't all that different from how Negaverse agents' weapons changed over time, which led him to wonder if Galvorn's research was prototypical to anything else, or if the changing nature of chaos established a similar pattern by sheer chance.
With Galvorn's research being effectively buried for so long, he doubted that he was the progenitor to anything. More likely that Metallia's power was headed that way despite whatever he determined.
"Don't think he ever intended to put them together. But…" He dwelt a while longer in silence on this, before finally answering. "Think it might be possible to do something like that. Won't be impossible for a youma, either." However, it would take reframing their investigation. Finishing his research at a different angle than what was originally intended. Would be more in the favor of the Negaverse as it existed today, too.
The topic shifted back to his team and Eion's brow furrowed as he was collected against Ren. "Trust most of them. Might seem motley and rancorous, but they follow orders when things get serious." Most of them had climbed their way up the Negaverse ladder system with little need for his support. Some of the ones he'd picked up along the way should have made it to a rank equal to his long before he met them, but strange circumstances had kept them down. Eion still had his suspicions about Netherite for keeping such a capable Super under his thumb.
"Have a leak, though."
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Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2023 12:28 pm
Ren wouldn’t attempt to convince anyone that he knew anything about youma. Not really. He could only offer what information he’d uncovered and hope it was useful. Especially if Eion had hit a snag with things.
Anything else he would have suggested was momentarily forgotten at the mention of a leak.
“You’re sure?” he asked, his voice lower than before. But of course Eion was sure, otherwise he wouldn’t tell him.
“What’s the plan? Who else knows?”
Ren was not oblivious to the fact that he was just a Super Senshi and Faustite was a long-time General. He was outranked in that regard, so his suggestions and concerns could only go so far. But the idea of a mole in Faustite’s team made his blood boil in a way it usually didn’t, given his typically carefree nature.
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Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2023 7:21 pm
Eion nodded against Ren's chest.
"Albite knows — he discovered it. Brought it to my attention. Now you." No one else was aware, not even the Sovereigns. Faustite intended to keep it that way until they could narrow down the list of suspects to a more reasonable number. Ten amounted to half the team, which was in no way helpful — especially if their mole was a smart one.
Could've been Lilith. Could've been Tama. Could've been Albite himself. Eion found it ever harder to prove innocence over guilt, and he had reason to suspect a majority of the ten.
"Important that we don't give the mole reason to believe that we're aware of them. Easier, then, to slip a tantalizing lie — something different for each one of the suspects — and play the long game. Let the White Moon tell us who their informant is. Know that Albite's had his playdates with the enemy; going to test his loyalty by seeing what facts he filches from them whenever he's feeling friendly and charitable.
"Long as we know which 'fact' was given to which agent, we'll identify the leak. Then we let the Sovereigns hand down punishment."
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Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2023 6:31 pm
Ren clicked his tongue to the roof of his mouth. He hated that he didn’t know what to do in a situation like this. He wasn’t high enough in the ranks to be able to decide on anything for himself. And he was a Senshi, which complicated things.
There were plenty of things that he wanted to suggest. Disbanding the team and having a third party investigate. But if the mole fled, who knew how much information could be leaked. Maybe they could just lock everyone in Faustite’s team in a dungeon somewhere. Keep them where they couldn’t teleport.
Sure, some of them might not like it, but if they knew why they were being locked up, surely they would understand and want to find out the culprit.
“You know better than me,” Ren admitted. At least when it came to dealing with traitors. “If you want to set up a canary trap, tell me how I can help. I have too much invested to let some assholes ruin everything. Ah, ********, the tea is probably getting cold.”
Not that it mattered to Ren. Not when Eion could be in danger. He removed his arms from around him, placed his hands temporarily on Eion’s shoulders, and pushed him back--
Just enough so he could lean down to kiss him.
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Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2023 5:41 am
Eion would know better than Ren? Eion was supposed to know better than Ren. Eion was trained by someone who specialized in this kind of people-reading and the rehabilitation that came thereafter. He was trained to imprison people. He was trained to break them.
The problem was, it had been years, and he hadn't needed to use those skills. He'd been allergic to becoming Schörl for so long that he could only be some half-assed alternative at this point. Eion was supposed to know more than Ren about these strategies, but he truly didn't.
"Will let you know when I find someone willing to inform. If I do. Then we start."
What a bitter thing to think about in good company. Still, it had to be done — everyone needed to pass the test, but for the culprit. He would need help — people who wouldn't be suspected for knowing about this problem, people who could tell a more convincing lie than Faustite. And Faustite had to pick truths that were worth leaking, yet didn't put anyone at undue risk.
Eion huffed when Ren's arms left him, but was pleasantly surprised by the alternative. Eion smiled into the kiss. It was ever a warming feeling whenever he gleaned those fleeting passions from others, ones that gave him a lightness in his chest to which missing organs couldn't compare. Eion was happy to frame Ren's waist with his hands, as long as the boy stuck around before returning to the tea.
"If it helps," he added afterward, "tea's always cold to me." He smiled coquettishly, knowing the bast part was yet to come.
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Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2023 10:47 am
“Always cold, huh?” Ren snorted in amusement, and then did pull away so he could return to the tea. He poured a cup for himself and sipped it, tilted his head back and forth as though deciding if it was good enough, and then pushed it over to Eion.
“Drink it anyway, you’ll need to be hydrated,” he said. He waited until Eion had at least picked up his cup before moving closer to scoop him up with his arm across Eion’s chest and under his arms. It was probably very silly to witness, but good thing they were in the house alone. Besides, Ren needed his other hand to pick up his own cup.
“This conversation is making me cranky, so we’ll need to fix that first,” he explained, very obviously carting Eion down the hall to the bedroom. “Unless I hear objections.”
It was a lot to think about. A lot to not talk to Axinite about. Because while Ren wanted to do right by Faustite’s plans, it seemed wrong to not immediately talk to the General King. But… for Eion’s sake, he would keep his mouth shut until a time comes that Eion needs his help.
And then he would personally murder anyone who risked Eion’s life by leaking information to the White Moon.
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