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 Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2025 11:25 am
It was another day, another outing, with nothing to set it apart from the last. When every day brought a new experience, they began to blend together — even something as simple as novelty for its own sake began to lose its flavor.
But Eles wasn't bankrupt of hope. He assumed this newfound weariness was from the condition of never remembering himself. How it got tiresome to look at a stranger in every single mirror in Malory's house, yet expecting to find someone familiar looking back at him. But no matter how many glances he chanced, he only saw the stranger that he called Eles. Whatever hint of familiarity he expected in those odd moments between moments just evaporated.
Each day, he decided to visit a new part of the city. He had no means of looking up any police precincts, but he made a deal with himself to stop at one if ever he saw one.
This time, his feet led him into some up-and-coming area, some gentrifying place for young professionals where rent wasn't yet too high to afford a living. Mostly he saw people around his age, maybe older, milling about as boyfriends and girlfriends or friend groups galore. Mostly in good spirits. Mostly staying out of trouble.
As he walked beneath the summer sun, silently cursing the white linen shirt with its frilly cravat, he took in every shop along the street: restaurants upon restaurants, yoga studios, fitness gyms, nail salons, hair salons, clothing stores, cafes, and all manner of shopping. Was this what people were supposed to want? Seemed shallow and vacant, so he set his sights on the people he saw dodging from shop to shop or weaving between couples.
Seldom did he pay heed to where he was going, else he might have spotted the gym door before it opened right in front of his face.
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Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2025 6:42 pm
He had finally fallen back into his regular routine of personal training, gym, cam work and cat cafe visits. The weeks following the fight were spent staring into nothing, or going full training mode in the Rift. The serpentine tattoo down his spine was a constant reminder of the horrors he’d witnessed in that space between realities. The monstrous serpent that tried to swallow the world, the giant cannon of Chaos that his Queen summoned to blast it. The shield the Vanguard had created.
The way the lightning had slammed down his spine.
The fact that Faustite was nowhere to be found once they’d finally gotten out of that space. Apparently, he’d been taken out by lightning but it had destroyed him in the process. No one really knew if Faustite was saveable or recoverable; he was half youma after all. It couldn’t have done good things for him.
Still, it left a hole in Jayce’s chest, and not just because Faustite had been wrist deep in his chest some months earlier.
Yet, somehow, Jayce started doing the things he’d been doing before the Hallow fight. He took more clients for training, he lifted heavy objects and put them down. He pet a hell of a lot of cats. Today, he’d had back to back clients for six hours and needed air that wasn’t recycled and thick with sweat. He swung the door open as he squirted Gatorade into his mouth and stepped out of the gym.
A body collided with his and Jayce’s reflexes had him half catching the man and deftly swiveling to the side to avoid the door smacking either of them. He blinked at the young man and frowned.
Huh. He looked vaguely familiar. Maybe someone he knew before he became Litharge?
“Hey man, sorry ‘bout that,” he said with a jovial grin. “You good?”
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Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2025 6:52 pm
The touch at his waist took him by surprise; he drew in breath like a gasp as easily as he was spun to the side and out of the way of the door that he overlooked. Instincts conflicted, with one warning to get away before he hurt this stranger and the other urging him to enjoy a little closeness. He felt baffled, but there wasn't time to sift through that feeling.
Pushing it away, Eles looked up at his captor-savior. Buff boy, so well-muscled that his biceps must've been the size of Eles's waist. Sucking down Gatorade like he earned a spot on one of their commercials. Smiling like he knew precisely what he was doing and how he looked.
Or perhaps Eles was applying to this man what he'd picked up on from Malory. Didn't discount the fact that this was a gorgeous piece of man, however.
Eles could've sweat straight out of his stupid, frilly shirt in that moment. But he stayed calm, offered a cockeyed half-smile and gave the boy a thankful pat on the arm. Pointing to his throat, he shook his head and mouthed the words 'can't speak'. Most people, he found, didn't understand sign language. It left Malory looking so much more suspicious for knowing it, but that thought was far from his mind for the moment.
Thanks for the save, he mouthed as he signed. Got some to share? Eles pointed at the bottle of Gatorade.
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Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2025 6:52 pm
His eyebrows shot almost to his hair, reading the very adorably dressed boy’s lips for a moment before following the signing. He was in a frilly shirt but hot damn did it do lovely things for his shoulders and throat. Jayce was not one to judge someone based on their clothing choice - hard to do that when one of his crushes essentially wore a two frilling bathing suit when he was powered up. Damn boys and showing literally all the skin, all the time!
This boy not doing that was rather refreshing, and honestly made Jayce wanna pick him up all cute like. Or maybe that was just how Metallia damned gay he was. Probably both. The fact he could sign reminded him so much of Faustite it was almost uncanny. Except this young man was closer to his own height than Eion was.
He grinned at him and offered the bottle to him. “No worries! I can understand enough sign language to get the point usually,” he said, signing with one hand as he did. It was crude - his chunky fingers weren’t the best and he sometimes ended up spell signing because he couldn’t remember the actual sign, but it was good enough to be understood and to understand.
“I just got the one bottle, but feel free. I don’t care ‘bout backwash or any of that. Oh, I’m Jayce by the way,” he added, guiding himself and Eles out of the main doorway so people could still pass around them if they needed to. He gave the other man an appraising look.
Oh he was so Jayce’s type holy ********. Which was to say: male and attractive as hell.
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Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2025 6:58 pm
Oh, this one looked so taken aback. It was rather cute, the way his eyebrows teased upward and folded his forehead into little wrinkles of consternation. Eles din't think that anything he had to say was that bizarre, but maybe this boy thought it a little too forward to be asked for his drink so soon.
Well, if that was his opinion about it, he could blame himself. Just looking at him left Eles parched. Clearly he was owed a drink for such troubles.
Thanks, he signed quickly as he accepted the bottle. Didn't matter to him what was on it or in it. He teethed the lip of the bottle first before wrapping his lips about it, squeezing some of the too-sweet beverage by the middle. Not to his taste, decidedly, but maybe it tasted better secondhand when watered down with a little spit and interest.
Handing the bottle back, he explained himself somewhat. You don't have to sign for me. I can hear.
E-L-E-S, he added, spelling it out with one hand as he stepped back against the building to admit more space for passers-by. The heat wasn't all that terrible in the shade. Was it business or pleasure? Eles pointed at the gym.
Maybe Jayce worked there. Or maybe he dropped by twice a week to shop for pick-ups, though Eles didn't see anyone with him.
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Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2025 6:58 pm
The way Jayce watched him drink from the bottle, mouth fully on the lip, was incredibly indecent and ******** if he wasn’t glad he was wearing the baggier gym shorts today. He swallowed, thickly, as the other man gave the bottle back to him.
Oh! Right! He didn’t have to sign to people if they were mute. He was just so used to it because Faustite and Albite did it all the time, especially during missions. Granted, ‘all the time’ was not a lot given the relative short time he’d been in the Negaverse, but that was neither here nor there at the moment. He watched as Eles signed his name and grinned.
“Ah, sorry ‘bout that. Habit I picked up from my gen— from my buddies. One of them also can’t speak, and we use sign language a lot when together,” he said, catching himself before he said ‘general king.’ Jayce spent most of his life around his team - he lived with one of them after all - it was sometimes hard to forget that normal people didn’t run around stabbing people. Or saving the world from a giant space snake.
He glanced back at the gym for a moment and then back to Eles. “Business, mostly. I’m a personal trainer,” said Jayce, mouth breaking into the easy grin he usually reserved for his cam shows. “Pleasure is usually a little more… intimate, ya know? Mood lighting, something with a bit more kick, if ya know what I mean.” He winked.
Jayce was, by his own admission, not strictly a dominant person when it came to pleasure. He was someone who catered to his partners wants and desires. Most of the time that meant he was the flustered one, the one who gave when others demanded it. That didn’t mean he couldn’t do the opposite though. Many of his viewers actually requested it these days, and something about having a man shove his hand into his chest and literally remake him had made it feel more natural. Eles just happened to be the first he’d really tried it on, since, you know, the whole world eating space snake s**t.
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Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2025 6:59 pm
Briefly, Eles wondered who Jen was. Must've been quite lucky to be owned like that. Good for them.
Hearing a story of learning sign language surrendered so freely like that brought a half-smile to his lips. The story told enough, but its negative spaces were more interesting — the lack of judgment, the easy acceptance for learning another way to communicate, for the sake of someone else. Implied like it was the most natural thing in the world. An automatic if-then.
Sweet of you to do that, he signed easily. All that work for someone else. Shows you care what they have to say. That he wanted to listen. And that, Eles learned, was astonishingly rare in this city.
Eles conceded his next point to Jayce easily. Right, of course. Something with more kick. Stated like he knew what that meant. Like it didn't just conjure a mental image of a car battery hooked up to the boy by some n****e clamps while he bench-pressed a b***h or two. If that was right, he wouldn't judge; he hadn't tried it himself. But, then again, maybe that meant alcohol. Actually, he hoped that meant alcohol. He rather liked wine, after all.
Sweet and receptive. He smiled at the wink — something smug, something satisfied — like Jayce rolled out a red carpet in an invitation addressed specifically to him. Wild and tantalizing. Like something out of a fairy tale, but they hadn't a fairy ring to make that last step into the beyond. Uber didn't have the same sensuality to it, but he supposed it would have to do in a pinch.
What's next for you, then? Heading home to shower it all away?
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Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2025 6:59 pm
He felt his cheeks heat and Jayce chuckled, a little bashfulness breaking through his charm. It really wasn’t that big of a deal; anyone who gave a crap about their mates would do the same, right? Though he guessed the Eles didn’t have the same experience. Jayce rubbed the back of his neck.
“Just ‘cause they can’t speak - for whatever reason, I don’t judge - doesn’t mean what they have to say isn’t worth knowing. To be honest, I hate people who dismiss someone just because they’re disabled or struggling with mental illness or even like what society counts as ‘unhealthy’. They’re still ********’ people, ya know? Just because they’re different from you doesn’t make them any less worthy of happiness and life and respect,’ he said. His eyes widened as he realized he went a little on a soap box there and he blushed harder.
“Whoops, got on my soap box there a little. Uh, for what I’m doin’ after this?” said Jayce, taking the moment to look away from the very handsome man - good grief, his whole face brightened when he smiled - next to him to check his phone. The rest of his day was empty of things until his stream later that night, though he was probably going to go check in on the team at some point. “A shower, at some point. There is this really nice cat cafe down the street I frequent for lunch. They have this one orange tabby with a stubby tail and most of his ear missing that reminds me of a friend of mine. Kinda grouchy, sounds like his voice is made of gravel.
Do you wanna come with? They have some really good sandwiches and coffee.” His teal eyes glanced back at Eles with a smile as he pocketed his phone. He usually wasn’t one for spontaneous dates but man if there wasn’t something that drew him in. Plus, maybe having a friend that wasn’t part of his team or the Negaverse was a healthy thing.
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Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2025 7:00 pm
Eles watched Jayce knowingly while the boy got comfortable with explaining himself. A bit of a passion flared up there, didn't it? Was that what this little dance was about? A little support for the disabled, a little love for the invalid? Was Jayce showing him the happiness and life and respect he deserved, since he had only his hands to do the talking for him? Well, far be it for Eles to turn down another freebie offered up to him by the selfless and saintly people of Destiny City.
Doesn't it feel like being let in on a secret? Eles asked in kind. We could talk s**t on everyone that passes us, and how many would even know? I think there's power behind controlling who can hear you.
This boy was quite cute, after all. He deserved a little something for all his hard work. Why not a touch of empowerment?
Eles chewed his lower lip when musclebound Jayce mentioned a shower in his future. He refused to believe it was the simple, straightforward kind of shower that Jayce was probably implying. That wasn't as fun. He was such a pleasant, normal guy; the barest touch of imagination might liven up his routine considerably. And even if Eles had no money to his name and nothing on offer, he could at least contribute that.
After a moment's mediocre impression of deliberation, Eles responded. Why not? Haven't spent much time with cats before. Then, mind on a dark-haired boy, he held his hand out in expectation. Just to see what it was like.
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Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2025 7:05 pm
He chuckled and smiled at the boy biting his lip and holding out a hand to him. Jayce wasn't exactly sure who was flirting with who anymore, and quite honestly he did not care.
He slipped his much bigger and chunkier hand, callases all over his palm, into Eles'. He leaned over, lips just barely brushing his ear.
"Actually...." he said, whispering something to him that had absolutely nothing to do with cat cafes and everything to do with what else Eles' slender fingers could do.
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