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 Posted: Sun May 21, 2023 4:16 pm
The worst of his recovery had passed, not that Faustite was awake to know it. Debridement proved easier both for the patient and for the medical team when the patient was knocked out, and so he remained through the dressing process, until at last they only needed to wait. Once he was awake, Faustite had little idea and even less interest in knowing what transpired, for medical was a mystery that he did not care to unravel. Even when one of their infirmary staff stopped by to check on him, his head was too filled with cottony thoughts to come up with anything more than asking for water.
Yet the nurse did not leave at Faustite's request. She lingered, watching him for a moment before stating that someone wanted to visit him. Someone being General-King Axinite. And while Faustite needed a moment to process the information, he grunted his assent nonetheless. "Let him in."
There would be a lot to say. He wasn't sure the particulars yet, so soon after rousing, but there would be a loto f words. Faustite sat up slowly, wincing slight at the blanketed pains that arose when he bent his arms or his legs, then rubbed his face gently with his palms. Even at that, his fingernails needled his scalp gently; they must've gotten longer during —
Oh, ********>. He was Axinite's rank now, wasn't he? That made them peers. Then he shuddered, bodily, because the implications for that realization ran rampant — it meant having to be responsible, it meant working on projects together with the other Sovereigns (though hopefully he could dodge desk work as long as possible), and being responsible for an entire branch of gremlin officers that he somehow had to support and keep alive, when he wasn't even sure how his team managed to continue breathing for how feral it was.
Maybe he should've asked the nurse for some whiskey before she left the doorway. Or, maybe Axinite understood what sort of fun awaited him and brought the whiskey instead.
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Posted: Sun May 28, 2023 10:14 pm
Axinite must have rested at some point recently because the circles beneath his eyes were lighter than they’d been in weeks. He didn’t quite look rejuvenated, but he looked to be in good spirits all the same. He was meticulously groomed, like the care he’d taken to tend to his hair or keep his uniform might somehow negate his tired state. The most rejuvenated thing about him was his smile, and for as tired as that was it still reached his eyes. He entered with a wooden box roughly the size of a shoe box. It had no lid, and within was a small cardboard box–something baked, no doubt, two ceramic cups, and a teapot. Axinite briefly stood in the doorway–a polite gesture to give Faustite a moment to settle, and then he entered. “I hear you’re very in demand these days. The nurses have been very protective of you and your well-being. I didn’t think they’d ever decide I could come visit. How are you feeling?” He set the wooden box down on the bedside table and picked up the chair nearby so he could move it closer to the bed without scraping it along the floor. He kept a bit of distance from Faustite, not because he had any issue in being close to him, but because he seemed to feel a bit smothered in any medical environment and wanted to do his part to keep Faustite as comfortable as possible.
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Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2023 6:50 am
Faustite grunted at Axinite's words, mainly for the effort for remaining upright. He tugged with his rather less burnt hand at the black shirt, hoping to get it to line up perfectly with the top of the corset, but found no such luck; a thin strip of charred skin remained visible. He gave up on the idea of modesty as he settled back against his pillows.
He nodded to Axinite's observation. "No assassination attempts yet. Guess I should thank them for their overprotectiveness." It was mostly jest, but Faustite might have hoped for something like it to occur for the simple fact that it would be something to do, to fight against, to engage with when all he had to do otherwise was wait. And perhaps that was why the nurses were so excruciating about screening; if anyone came through that could encourage Faustite's bad habits, he would be out of there in moments.
"Don't know how I'm feeling yet." While not quite the truth, it wasn't said with the intention to lie. Faustite wasn't sure, yet, how to reduce his multitudinous feelings into a word that would adequately convey their meaning. Either he didn't know the word, which he considered eminently possible, or the word didn't exist.
He would try. "Tired," he began as he counted off absently on each finger. "Sore, pained. Shocked that it turned out this way. Annoyed that I'll have more paperwork. Apprehensive about all the extra… stuff that that comes with being a General — ********, I can't even say it. What the ********. This has to be some feverdream, right? This what it was like for you?"
To his knowledge, Jet was the only recent General-King. And that was Fine by Faustite; he didn't know that they needed more and hadn't particularly thought much about what the higher-ups handled. He knew Axinite had a lot of business behind the desk, which he preferred, and for good reason. He knew Hessonite preferred to talk private lives and make memories over discussing their work, and she'd been busy enough — or he'd been busy enough — that they hadn't reconnected much. He still didn't know anything about Lepidolite, or met him (which would ultimately be a disaster, he supposed). Now that he thought about it, the original three still seemed busy, and Jet was now largely preoccupied too, though Faustite wasn't sure if that was because he aimed for golden retriever levels of overachievement or if there was truly that much work on his shoulders.
And if it was the latter, well… That meant there was at least that much work to redistribute, if not more that simply wasn't getting done before with the numbers they had.
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Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2023 12:27 pm
Axinite laughed softly and shook his head. “I was a teacher’s pet my whole life, earning my rank was no surprise to me. I’ve always been passionate about the Negaverse. I’d probably be working this hard even if Metallia hadn’t seen fit to promote me. But I’m sure she saw my work ethic and wanted to guarantee I’d always have enough to do.” He could speak in jest about it, but despite everything Axinite seemed to love the Negaverse enough that he was willing to devote practically all of his life to it. “You don’t have to worry about the paperwork so much,” he reassured. “I’ll help you. I know it’s a bit of a change. It’s not as scary as it sounds, honest. But you can’t tell me you never considered what it might be like before now?” He propped his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward a bit, and laced his fingers together to create a hammock for his chin. “Doesn’t everyone wonder what it would be like with more power?”
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Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2023 4:34 am
"Huh. Aren't you lucky." Axinite got to see it coming. The teacher's pet angle fit, too; Axinite always seemed more concerned with others than with himself. Now he was here, in Faustite's hospital room, which probably meant he burned the candle at both ends for a few days to stay caught up or something like that.
Faustite paused, considering the question. "Thought about it briefly when Jet got promoted. Mainly to wonder what he'd be doing now — if I'd see him on any more missions. Never considered it for myself, though. Prefer being in the field to sitting behind a desk." He was more suited to that, too. Rather, he was far less suited to paperwork with all his restless energy, and the poor but notable quality that paperwork was eminently flammable and he was eminently on fire. It had seemed to him that, of anyone in the Negaverse, he would be the last person to be promoted if the job of a General-Sovereign relied on paperwork.
But maybe Metallia had a sense of humor. Maybe Laurelite wanted to burn all the hard copies and go digital.
Faustite huffed a puff of smoke and ash. "Be nice to set all my problems on fire though. Immolate a few Royals." That was what he could get behind — the promise that Ida or Ganymede or Castor couldn't tower over him anymore. The idea that no one could surpass him, only meet him where he was.
"Is that still a thing I could do?"the space cauldron this one snuck away from me, sorry!
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2023 10:56 pm
Axinite eyed the smoke and ash that fell from Faustite’s lips like he was trying to determine how much he could burn before he should call in a nurse. Faustite seemed fine, so he didn’t let himself get too worked up. He didn’t necessarily feel lucky, not considering everything he had behind him, but this wasn’t about him. He offered a kind smile to Faustite. “Of course. That doesn’t have to change. You won’t have to spend much more time behind the desk. I’ll help you, so don’t waste energy on worrying about that. You’ll still be free to immolate as many people as you like. When you’re feeling better, though. I don’t want you to get out of here and rush right into work.” Axinite rested a bit heavier on his elbows, perfectly balanced on his knees. “The important thing to do right now is rest and recover. Which must sound very boring to you, I know, but your body might be a bit fragile while it's recovering. You’ve been through a lot, I want you to take it easy. At least for a little while.”
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Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2023 8:35 am
"But I finally have energy to waste," he huffed, though he did not feel genuinely affronted. Rather, he saw the comment as an opportunity to rustle about in t he bed and pitch a fit for the simple reason of burning off some restless energy. He'd rather have gotten up, paced, fought down some senshi, spent time with his boys — anything but lay dormant in a hospital bed, though he had gotten every warning that he should rein it in and wait for the rest of the old ash to clear away.
"It's boring," he confirmed, defeated. "So ******** boring. Would rather cut my own legs off with whatever that thing was than lay in bed longer. Been laying around like a dead fish for months," he whinged.
But it wouldn't do to keep stewing in his feelings about it. Nothing to do for it but to wait for however long the medical staff instructed him to wait, then go into the training that was looming over his head. He had Axinite to teach him, but there was something undeniably daunting about this rank in particular that had the boy intimidated. Worse yet that he had to lay with his intimidation and get comfortable with it, lest he tear the skin where it had pulled taut from immolation.
"That whole endeavor ******** sucked, though." He rubbed his eyes wearily. "Never want to do that again."
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Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2023 7:17 am
It probably didn’t help that Faustite still looked so young to Axinite, but he understood this was more dramatics than an actual fit. He almost smiled, maybe almost laughed, but he understood the restlessness that came with being bedridden. “I have much faith that you will never have to. I am sorry things came to pass in such a way, but I am glad you are still here with us. You’re a General King now, though. If you get too bored, you can summon someone to keep you company, you know.” That shouldn’t have taken too much energy. And, maybe Faustite would enjoy seeing who he could pull from what task to surprise them with his summons. “Is there anything I can do to make this more bearable? Anything I can bring you?”
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Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2023 7:01 am
Oh.
Oh.
Axinite made a superb point. No longer would he have to denigrate himself by whinging at his boys until someone came to do something about his eternal boredom, he could summon whoever he desired, from wherever they were, and make his expectations known to them. It was an utterly phenomenal concept. It was an assurance that there were perks that went along with all the responsibilities expected of him.
It also meant that he could summon the entire team when he went up against the likes of Ida again. No more ******** around with a group of Supers and Captains until the Eternals had a minute to get their s**t together and arrive. That was a promising turnabout.
Faustite was delightfully pleased for the moment, thoroughly entertained by this revelation to the point that his aches no longer had all of his attention. He didn't think Axinite had it in him to make such devilish suggestions; turns out his boss wasn't all work and no play as he thought.
The offer had him pause, for his first thought was alcohol, but they'd already had a whole problem with an oxygen line and an open flame, and Faustite got the idea that his nurse would end him herself if he instigated another clear and present fire hazard. And Faustite could summon his own boys, practically pick from the ******** personnel list of the Negaverse if he so wanted, so the next best thing that was unique to Axinite was: "Cookies. Those, uh…" He swished his fingers together as he tried to recall the names. "Stroopwafels? And the laceys, those are good. Great in tea."
The tea he could make himself, provided he could get Albite to rub his brain cells together and fetch a kettle with some loose leaf. It'd keep him busy for a moment, too, so the nurses were less liable to be at their wit's end with him.
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Posted: Tue Aug 01, 2023 10:47 pm
Though Axinite did not seem surprised by the request, he still lifted his brows in interest. He hadn’t been expecting it, but of all the things he had expected, this seemed rather easy to achieve. “I can do that,” he reassured. “I’ll fetch some for you as soon as I head out. I can’t bake them that quickly, so you’ll have to settle for something store bought for the immediate present. I’ll bake you some fresh ones, though. Shall I put together a good blend for your tea? I’m sure I can get you something you’ll enjoy.” He knew Faustite well enough to know he was a bit precise with how he liked his tea, and given that he hadn’t asked for a book or a television, Axinite could only assume that he might like something to fiddle with. He wanted to bring him something to keep him distracted and to pass the time, but he supposed that might be best left to Faustite to determine–especially because he could just summon company to fetch him whatever he had a taste for.
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Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2023 8:34 am
Faustite was naturally impatient, as Axinite was well aware, but there was very little else he could do but wait. Wait to be healed, wait to be cleared by medical, wait for the waiting to pass.
Faustite considered the offer, not that it needed much considering. He didn't know what Axinite's tastes were for tea, or if they matched his palate, but Faustite would even take a mediocre tea if it provided him something else to focus on during the stay. "Tea's good. Take anything that'll overpower the hospital smell."
For it was strong, and stronger still was the smell of burnt that wafted from his own body. The smell of healing was itself similarly disgusting, for the smell of new cell turnover kept pace with the smell of rancid, dead material. And now, however many debridements later, the smell had begun to recede but it had not yet completely vanished. And gauze only held back so much of it.
"Fine if you need time. But if you take long enough, you might walk in on something you wouldn't like seeing," he warned, only half in jest. Now that he could call a boy whenever he liked, he had full intention of taking advantage of it to while away the recuperating hours. However, some of those boys weren't aware that there was a time and a place for certain activities, and would indulge him whether there was privacy available or not.
But, luckily, Axinite was good at announcing himself before busting in.
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Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2023 9:43 pm
Axinite did his best to hide the twitch of his lip when Faustite mentioned the hospital smell. He wasn’t any fan of it either. He didn’t have the chance to lose himself in any foul memory brought back by the thought, and a quick, if not exasperated smile returned to his face. “I’ll make sure to knock.” Faustite’s warning might have been a joke but it was certainly one that Axinite was going to take to heart. He didn’t bother to remind him to be mindful of the nurses, or the other patients. He was just glad Faustite wasn’t in a miserable mood right now. But then, maybe it wouldn’t take long for him to learn how to appreciate his new powers. The responsibilities and work load could come later. The important thing was that for right now he healed up. There were a lot of people rooting for him. “I suppose I should head out now, before you’ve got a line outside your door waiting for some time with you.” He didn’t rise, not just yet. Instead, he sat on his thoughts for a few seconds before he said, “I just want you to know that I’m glad you’re still here with us. I know things haven’t been easy, and I know they won’t be easy, but you’re important to me. I’m very fond of you. I’ll talk to the nurses and see if there’s anything we can do to make this room a bit less dismal while you’re recovering. They’re stubborn, though, so I hope you feel better soon.”
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