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 Posted: Sat Jan 27, 2024 9:44 am
Faustite’s youma had told him to reach out to Albite to collect the General King’s gifts, and while it might have been easier for him to just leave the tea and cane there, he instead took it as an opening to make a new introduction.
He’d found Albite through the tablet and asked if he was able to meet up for just a moment. His message to the Eternal had been brief, expressing only that ‘I need to drop off something for Faustite and was advised to seek you out. Please let me know when you’re available.’
Timing had apparently been in his favor; he received a message shortly after and now he was waiting for Albite’s arrival.
Rather than meet in an office, he’d just requested one of the meeting rooms on the first floor of the castle–easy to find, easy to get to. Still private enough that he didn’t have to worry about an audience.
Lopezite had taken a seat at the conference table and was scrolling through his tablet to check for messages; the door was open and he had two gifts on the table–one, a pretty red box, wrapped with only a ribbon. The other, a sleek, black cane. When it caught the light, it had a distinct gold undertone. The handle was rounded and had been carefully designed to fit comfortably in the palm. It was an aged gold, classy without being gaudy. A matching vine with several leaves wrapped around the shaft from the handle to the tip.
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Posted: Sat Jan 27, 2024 1:00 pm
A meeting room, a meeting room, a meeting room--
"Which meeting room exactly..." and he'd almost forgotten that they had these down here! Was so used to bamphing places both familiar and strange that the idea of something as mundane as seeing someone a meeting room had scarcely crossed his mind!
He could count on the one hand---
Okay, he could try to count on the one hand the amount of times he'd seen the inside of one. Kept losing the count and feeling like he was coming up shy of it so stopped bothering with it altogether once he passed an open door with a whole a** aura spilling out of it. Walking his way back to peer inside, to scan the whole scene over before deciding this was the room for him! Even as he completely spaced on the Generals name, though even if he'd had a name? He'd been unable to put any kind of a face to it. At least not until now! And now? Well, he was still going to utterly butcher the name, but the face stood out.
Or, moreso, the outfit stood out. The whole vibe of 'Metallia does ten-thousand Arabian knights' in dark mode, but a far cooler version of it than Albite could've ever envisioned.
It was a funny thing, all the people he kind-of knew, if only in passing. All the ways it'd taken him far too long to realize that the number of people he'd seen on one mission or another had grown over time. People long-served as Faustite, longer even? With connections that ran deep enough that they met in rooms and exchanged gifts. People with names worth knowing. Who deserved to be more than a passing thought that began and ended with a mission. Like how he should've greeted Miyamoto of the misty step (or whatever) better, and done so way, way, waaaay before he'd walked both in and out and then back into their teams lives--
Like how he'd already met Lopezite, sorta, kinda? In a really roundabout way if he squinted at that way juuuusssst right; back when he'd still been a barely clothed basic and proper introductions had been beyond his care. Especially not with how Kamacite had shone so bright he'd pulled all his focus, and any thoughts that remained had belonged to General Titanite during that trek deep down into the scar...
"Lopez-right? M'Albite! S'good to finally put a face to the outfit...." good natured and bouncy as he slid all the way inside and shut the door. Letting the privacy consume the space even as his curiosity grew. His eyes on the cane so fast -- surprised by it's presence -- and not only because it looked too beautiful to hold. He had to force himself to look at the other present; that pretty as a picture box. To look at Lopezite and make himself keep his focus there before cheekily asking--
"So--what's in the box? Promise I won't ruin the surprise if you gimme a hint."
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Posted: Sun Jan 28, 2024 5:07 pm
Lopezite’s brows lifted in something perfectly mixed between amusement and delight. And he thought it had been interesting to meet Faustite’s youma, but this Eternal Senshi was apparently close enough to Faustite to be trusted with a delivery?
What an eclectic group of personalities Faustite surrounded himself with.
He closed his tablet and rose to greet Albite.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Officially, at least; Albite’s appearance was somewhat familiar, but in the distant recesses of his memories he felt like he’d heard that voice before, too.
“I appreciate you coming to meet me. Especially on such short notice!” As he stood by the table, his fingers rested lightly on the box. “It was for a gift exchange, we were paired up. I don’t think it’ll be much of a surprise. It’s just tea.”
He offered a nearly apologetic smile, if only because supposed that wasn’t much fun. “I don’t suppose he said anything about that to you, did he?”
Not that he was prying! Faustite’s youma had been just a bit evasive, but Albite had an aura about him that just screamed honesty.
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Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2024 7:47 am
The pleasure was all his, he acknowledge as much, made the barest bit of a bow, a half-assed attempt at showing respect, but full of attention for the man before him.
He was listening.
Watching.
Dared not touch a single thing just yet, even as he skirted the edges of the table where the items were so neatly placed. He treated the cane like it was neatly disguised viper that waited only for his notice to snap out and bite him, and the box of tea as though it contained three kings worth of gold. The only thing worth giving attention to other than Lopezite himself!
At least for the moment.
"Tea's the safest bet with him, huh? I mean, getting paired up with a General King of all people! Man, s'rough. Like, seriously? What else is there to do but go for the obvious! S'ah smart a move as getting Axinite a bag of sugar...or, like, some cute, expensive cookie cutters, yeah? Unless you know the person well enough to get 'em something more personal-like..." his fingers made the shapes as he spoke about the gifts casually, friendly like, while imagining Justice slaving away over pressing out perfectly shaped starseeds, Christmas trees, everything methodically themed and decorated to the 'nth degree.
All this while wondering how well Lopezite knew Faustite, which details of his boys life he was in on---
Because Tea was the obvious choice, the safe bet, an easy enough buy, exchange, appease move! Waru himself would've would've done it. Top three gifts for his boy on any given day? Metal nibs for the pens, loose leaf tea, fine china and stoneware mugs. Everything Office friendly, and if the exchangee hated it? Easy enough to trade off on someone else---
If only Lopezite had just brought the tea? He wouldn't've looked twice at things, but the cane was ******** there, chekoving around, leaving Albite to wonder what sort of details were worth sharing with this particular General: how much he knew, how much he didn't know, how close he was to Faustite?Which flavor profile of words would be best suit this encounter, here and now. Unsure of if he should ask the most obvious of obvious questions, or hold his own damn tongue.
There was a flicker of thought as his gaze ticked once more between the long, beautifully lacquered, elephant in the room. Auburn toned gaze tucked beneath lowered lashes, briefly before settling on Lopezites face, holding all the lines of a smile that would leave him with crows lines in some distant future he might not live to see, "Not a word--But that's what I love most about my husband, yeah? He's always surprising me. Never a dull ******** moment with him."
"Or, maybe some dull moments? But it's the unexpected s**t that makes for spice in life, things sensible as tea---and wild as a cane--" the curiosity burbled off his tongue as he gave leant his hip against the table casually, giving it some of his weight, gesturing over the centerpiece. "******** beautiful by the way---hand made? Store bought? V'gotta know if I should step up my own game cause that--that is just stunning."
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Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2024 3:06 pm
Albite had such an honest way of speaking.
Maybe he knew what he was doing, maybe it just came naturally. Unlike so many others in the Negaverse, Lopezite didn’t feel like he had to walk on eggshells or wonder if every sentence had a hidden double meaning. Nothing against anyone else, he just preferred to operate on a more straightforward line of communication. Sometimes it felt like there were others waiting for you to slip up, looking for some unraveling thread to tug at until they could unravel something ugly.
Lopezite had no pettiness, carried no grief. He wasn’t wearing a mask, not for the sake of himself or anyone else.
He’d known Albite for only a moment but felt like there was something good about him. Lopezite hadn’t been tense before, but he found it easy to relax.
And learn more about Faustite. For a second time that day, he found himself surprised. He hadn’t known Faustite had a husband, but then–he really didn’t keep up with gossip.
“You sing high praise, thank you.” He looked at the cane with a reserved fondness, like it would be arrogant to think too highly of the piece. And yet, he was proud of it. “I made it, I’ve got a forge back home. I met with his youma when we were swapping gifts, but he seemed eager to send me your way. I got a mountain of scrap metal in exchange, so I’m a bit excited to go play with it.”
There were a good few pieces there that had seemed unique and maybe he was just simple to please but he found himself thinking he must have gotten the better deal out of this exchange.
“I confess, if it weren’t for the information provided in the exchange, I really don’t think I’d have known what to get him at all. Our circles don’t often cross. But the more I hear, the more interested I am. Respectfully, of course.” He didn’t want to give Albite the impression he was after his husband; Lopezite was already very happy with his life as it was.
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Posted: Tue Feb 27, 2024 9:44 pm
The mention of Headache; that cheeky little buzzing s**t—It was a necessary piece clicking into place, a lightbulb turning on. Settling the anxious, circling snake of warning that had squirmed in his guts moments before. With something like a physical sigh, Albite relaxed into the moment right alongside Lopezite. Feeling some hidden line of tension run slack between them, as his own features eased into being far more genuine.
There was nothing malicious behind the gift, then. No ill intent, and Schorl’s ghost wasn’t about to leap free of the well polished steel on the table side to strike his head from his shoulders in the next breath.
One less thing to worry about for now—
Though it bred in him an unscratchable itch to get to know the man more. Like miniature hydras they sprung forth! For every new answer, a lopped head from which three new questions grew back.
What’s with the Arabian knights motif? What else can you craft?! What will you use the scrap for!
The myriad of mental lists ran on — torrented off the Niagara falls heights of all the ask’s that could’ve been onto the rocky outcropping made up of his tongue and teeth below.
"You could always stand to be a little less respectful. In that one, single, regard. I promise.” A bit of tease, a wink, the vaguest, lazy motion of pretending to cross his heart. “He probably wouldn't mind, n honestly? Neither would I." Threw the playful ebbing of innuendo across the table like a dart lobbed in the dark, aimless, lackadaisical. Knew the man would take it one way or another—
Knew that someone like Lopezite would probably never take it too far. All the ways there were to be respectful that Faustite needed, had earned. As King — as an agent in service to Metallia. All the ways Waru sought to preserve that necessary sort of reverence—and then balance it out on the backend with smatterings of fun! A little swooning speculation had never hurt no one — a good time wouldn’t cost them the kingdom — <********, with Lopezite around? They’d probably never lack for nails, shoes, or even the youma type horses to tack them onto!
They’d never lack for canes—
How much better it’d be than the crutches Faustite struggled with? Than the chair he loathed? The poisonous symbol of power and pain that lay before him, all the promise that he eyed keenly, like appraising whether a fruit was ripe or not, before finally giving into the urge to touch the thing at all. To feel the smooth, sleek, coolness in his grasp. It’s well defined lightness, the sturdiness melted into its core. He tested the thing cautiously at first— all fresh wonderment and hints of consternation.
It’s a mother ******** of a double-edged mental sword to bring home… and Waru wasn’t sure who wild bleed worse for its existence. If anyone would bleed at all.
“S’random, but can I ask—Did Headache happen to mention *why* Faustite needed a cane? The, ah, the youma—“ the question he settled on even as he wondered what sort of scrap Lopezite would find enticing. How little he knew about metals or gems, it would’ve been something fun to learn!
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Posted: Thu Feb 29, 2024 8:42 pm
“Headache? That’s quite a name.” But then, maybe it meant more than he understood. “No, though I’d been curious, myself. I didn’t want to pry, but then, I had intended to ask the General King when I saw him.” He smiled, polite. Respectful.
He might have recognized the teasing but it didn’t affect his demeanor much at all.
“It seemed a personal thing to ask for. The sort that needed measurements or customization. If it was meant to be a joke, I’m afraid I took it very seriously, instead. It won’t offend me if you think it best to go with the tea, instead.”
He’d always meant to play it by ear, anyway. Even if he had been very proud of the cane’s turnout, best not to anger or humiliate a General King, even if accidentally and with good intentions.
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Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2024 8:11 pm
Knowing that Headache had gone so far---
To make a point? A sharp one. The kind that put blood in the water and names on the knives that'd drawn it.
Or maybe not---
Because the cane was perfect in every aspect. No average, mass-consumed item picked up from some general store. And because Faustite would need one. The time for it ticking ever closer to 'now'; loathe to admit as Waru secretly was! It was the reality of the matter. One far harder for him to face than it was for the bugs Faustite called 'pain in their collective a**'--
He wondered if Headache was being pragmatic somehow? An emotionless realist where all those around it were incapable of managing the same. It was certainly something he aimed to ask the bug-pile later on.
"It is," emphasized with a sigh, with an easy smile as he set the cane back down with the utmost care. Feeling far less wary of it than before, but still aiming to be gentle with Lopezites hard work.
"N'I'mean--don't all officers name their Youma? Er'like---do the Youma come with names all their own? S'not something I'll ever know--" a chuckle for that, knowing that the closest he'd ever come to having anything like a Youma all his own, was his connection to the more fire-riddled parts of his husband. All the ways it'd been explained to him that his connection to a Mau, and his connection to whatever it was made Cerberus from wisp-orbs into silent sentinel of an tribis from hell, was so different and far removed a thing as to be incomparable. "Cause I had to name Cerbs myself! And of course my Haybaby-bonded came with a name already." Shrugging as he prattled things off without context, without reason. How easy it was to tag on tangents as if the information was common knowledge as much as it was bait for future questions. How little the answer to those questions actually mattered as long as it extended the time of their interaction--
"N'honestly....I think he'll come to appreciate it more n either of us'll ever know." And for what reasons, for the why? Albite wasn't eager to elaborate on, didn't aim to throw Faustites weakness of the moment out into the open aired, red'purple hued dimness of the underdark for all the world to speculate on. If and when the man was ready to make an appearance, to make his own state of being known, to thank Lopezite personally -- with cane in hand -- or without it -- Waru had decided that was up to Faustite and Faustite alone.
That until he'd been given permission to go the ******** off about his boys misstep into a princesses debilitating line of fire? Well, that he could keep the whole of it to his own damn self. Didn't mean he couldn't coo at Lopezite appreciatively though! The man deserved all the thanks for his hard work -- for more 'n just the tea.
"Something made with this much care--Damned sure he won't be mad at you for making it at Headaches request. N'if he is? The tea'll soothe alluv-that right the ******** over. He seriously loves this stuff. S'nice set of gifts on your part. I promise." crossing his heart n hoping for eye needles n knives n all the jazz that came with those sorts of things!
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Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2024 1:53 pm
Without context, Lopezite amassed a collection of information with no proper way to sort it in his mind. He smiled politely regardless, because even without proper understanding, Albite was easy to listen to. He had a sort of easygoing charisma about him, and he seemed the sort who could walk into any room and make friends.
No wonder Faustite had taken an interest.
Albite didn’t seem like he was being performative, or putting on some act. He struck Lopezite as being very genuine. He considered himself a fairly good judge of character, but that came from being surrounded by all his dogs–who were very judgmental, and made it very loudly known whether they thought someone was worth being around, or worth chasing off the property.
His dogs would like Albite. So, he liked him, too.
He wondered if he had to spend a lot of time reassuring others about all manner of things related to Faustite, if maybe that was why this seemed second nature to him. Or, maybe he was just like that in all things.
Lopezite rested his hip against the table and placed a flat palm atop it to keep balanced while he relaxed. “I suppose we’ll know soon, then. But I apologize in advance if it causes any trouble. I give you full permission to present him with it or not, now or later. You know him better than I do. But thank you, your words are kind. And the tea is good, that much I know. Even to a picky drinker. I got an assortment so I hope there’s something he’ll like.”
Maybe he’d run into Faustite eventually and find out more about him from himself and not just word of mouth. He wasn't complaining; a General King was busy. He took no offense. He didn’t want to keep Albite all night, though–especially when he was doing a favor.
With his free hand, he extended it to the Senshi. “I suppose I should start clearing out the gifts he left me before someone else gets to it first. I’ll show you what comes of it the next time I see you, if you’re interested. But it was nice to meet you, Albite. I appreciate you meeting me here.”
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Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2024 10:31 am
"I'm interested--" taking Lopezites hand in turn and shaking it firmly, two peers reaching an accord. Him beaming for being given leave to deliver his gifts freely -- for thinking about how sweet Lopezite was in some ways. That the guy wasn't just cordial for propriety's sake, he was also nice. "And I promise to let you know how it goes, yeah?"
They would know, and? If the building he lived in didn't catch fire in the aftermath of him showing his husband--
If some massive massacre didn't follow that left his most beloved boy maimed and the rest of the city razed to the ground--
He'd tell Lopezite how it all went, then. Knew there was no point in hiding such things from Faustite, in lying to soften the blow. All the ways that bred contempt and insecurities. Stirred up poisonous stews of mistrust in places it wasn't meant to brew.
"I'll see you round Lopezite~"
Gathering his boys gifts before blipping outta the place leisurely, with a half-serious salute and a tilt on thick heels; all the while hoping the man wouldn't make a stranger of himself. Not to him, at least.
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