When the Fire Works (14) : Innovation is expected in Destiny City, so seasonal commodities are always expected to sell well. This year, the hot new summer item includes some chemically enhanced logs: carefully modified with environmental and health-safe chemicals, these logs are guaranteed to burn bright, burn long, and burn beautifully. It’s not just a pretty flame: each individual log has several rings that will light up like a sparkler when the flame hits. Larger logs will even pop off small, colorful fireworks for several hours while they burn. Though the lightshow is beautiful, it’s also calm. The logs have a pleasant, earthy smell, and unlike the sounds of normal fireworks, these simply sound like a crackling fire. There’s something curiously nostalgic about these fires; they are able to elicit a sort of childlike whimsy, if only you let them. If not, it’s still pretty.
Honestly, Karakorum knew that she probably shouldn't be hovering so near a group of ordinary civilians, but she told herself that she was keeping a watch out to make sure no one interrupted their little bonfire party. Besides, she was decamped on a picnic table with a little box of bao made by Belle, which meant they were ridiculously good because for all his irascible qualities, that man really was the perfect housewife. Shuangxu had it so ******** good (and she knew he knew). So that made her look like a totally innocuous park visitor, obviously, even given her unusual outfit and fancy hairpiece.
Anyway, her motives were totally about protecting people and not at all about watching the cool lightshow coming from their bonfire. She'd heard about the city's firework logs, and she'd meant to get herself one to do a video, but she hadn't yet--so also, if she was watching, it was totally for research. These were the things she told herself.
Really, it was that being Karakorum had started to feel crazy overwhelming. It had been cool in the beginning--be a hero of justice, look cute, fight crime!!--but it had started feeling like resonsibility[ lately, between visiting her Wonder for the first time and the almost end of the world and all of Belle's prattling about duty.
Ugh. Karakorum took a bite of her bao, watching a particularly impressive burst of colorful sparks.
OP-Yuna
Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2025 11:18 am
After an afternoon spent practicing with his squire magic, Hierapolis had decided it was....not very useful. At least he had a fairly useful weapon. Calling training done, his tiny companion decided to see to her home world, and he would wonder about, half looking out for any strange chickens, but mostly just...wandering.
He could have gone home and relaxed, but his grandparents, now happily moved in, were under the impression that himself and Amaranth were out on a date. So..... That is what resulted in him being here, in one of the many parks of Destiny City.
Whether he was powered up or not, Hierapolis had a tendency to draw looks, so it was just as well that he stayed powered. Destiny City as a whole seemed rather desensitized to people in strange outfits. People over seven foot tall was still a bit odd, but he was sure with more and more deep space visitors taking up residence, even that might become less unique. And just as well if it meant more stores with appropriate clothing accommodations. Having to get everything custom-made or tailored really bit in to the wallet....
The dusky light made it easier to observe the quiet little fireworks that came from one group's bonfire, but also made the Cybele knights both a little harder to see as their colors blended in with the cool tones of the darkening skies blending with the warm fading light. Power signatures, however, were not so easily missed, and Hierapolis was aware of the other order signature in the area. He casually cast a glance around to see if he could tell who it was, when the familiar symbol caught his eye.
He approached with effortless quiet, and greeted with an equally quiet voice;
"Hello, fellow knight of Cybele."
It not out of an effort to be quiet, but by the restraints of his own vocal chords. The texture of his voice was neither gravelly nor soft, but more gritty like sand, and the very vestiges of an accent loitering on its periphery.
Oh, wow. Okay. Karakorum thought she knew what "tall" looked like, but the fellow Knight--fellow Squire, even, the only aura she could feel was right about her level and probably coming from him, given proximity--was tall enough that he probably even had a few inches on her brother's ridiculous boyfriend. More slender than Corvina's massive bulk, but honestly, it would have been unfair to be both like a good half a foot taller than Corvina and also built like a ******** refrigerator.
"Hi," she said, and she was pretty sure that her surprise came through in her voice, but she soldiered on anyway, pushing her little basket of dumplings in his direction, "want a bao? My brother-in-law makes them," still technically not true but simpler than "brother's giant alien boyfriend," so whatever, "and he is a fantastic cook."
She took another bite of the one in her hand.
"Oh, but, uh, they're pork, so if you don't eat meat, you know." God, what was it about her lately? She was so ******** awkward. She was never awkward.
"I'm Karakorum. Very cool to meet a fellow Cybele Knight."
OP-Yuna
Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2025 9:05 am
Hierapolis politely declined - perhaps not the most adventurous with food, but thankful for the offer, and returned the introduction.
"I'm Hierapolis. There aren't very many of us around, at least that I have met."
And even fewer that were male. In fact he was pretty sure he was holding that singular number. Not that it was a complaint! Just an amusing statistic Then again, it was possible his statistic were wrong - he wasn't the most social, and didn't necessarily have a lot of time to tend to 'powered duties.'
"Were you at the battle with the big cosmic snake thing?" He asked, gesturing briefly up at the sky, where somewhere up there the Calamitous Hollow was imprisoned, watching them like a threatening knife at their necks.
Things had been so dire he didn't exactly have the frame of mind to take note of everyone that was there at the time. Everyone was more focussed on coming out of it alive, and with Earth still intact.
Karakorum wasn't exactly going to take offense to more Belle bao for her, so she shrugged when he declined and pulled the basket back over.
His name got a little nod, and another to acknowledge that there weren't many of them. "I met one other? But that was a long while ago," she said. And it had been a brief encounter, not long after she first Awakened.
The mention of the extraterrestrial snake that had tried to eat them all made her wrinkle her nose unhappily.
"Yeah, I was there. Saw that whole thing. Were you?" She looked up herself, shivering. "That was...pretty wild. But we beat it, sort of. Sealed it away, at least. And we all got out."
OP-Yuna
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2025 12:28 pm
"I was," he nodded, taking a seat on the edge of the picnic table - it was just easier - mindful of the space.
"I'm glad we managed to do what we could...however we managed to. Still, it does make one a bit nervous, knowing it is still there, lingering. Watching. But...it is also somewhat of a relief be be able to keep an eye on it and know it is still there, still imprisoned."
He tried not to think on it too much. He inevitable leaned towards to 'better to be able to see it is there and imprisoned than to have it sent away somewhere and not know what is going on with it' camp.
"Everyone seemed to work together, for the most part, when faced with a common threat. That is a little glimmer of hope for the future, at least."
He tried to offer a bright spot in it all - it was a common habit from his 'day job'.
Karakorum nodded, a little. "Kjnowing it's still out there is...not great. And it was the herald of something...but maybe stopping it means that thing won't look for us?"
She couldn't help but smile a little, though.
"And hey, yeah, lots and lots of people showed up from everywhere. So I guess if its boss shows up, we'll just have to beat it the same way." That was the kind of hope a girl could hold on to--that things weren't her responsibility alone, and truth be told, most things in this war seemed to be pretty distributed.
And, also, there were nice summer nights and cool giant dudes to chat with, which was a win in its own little way.
(That, and the cute little amber star charm she'd found earlier. Pretty good night, all around.)
