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 Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2021 5:47 pm
“He’s a capable General,” Ilian said as he watched Lovely make his way through the room to find his pajamas. “I’ve talked to him a bit before. Seems to have a decent head on his shoulders. Knows how to fight at least. More than I can say for myself.”
He hadn’t had the opportunity to spend time training. He was busy trying to survive, to work a full time job or more just to make sure rent was paid and the lights stayed on. Having Lovely live with him made things easier, but they were both working full time and had the Negaverse, so he couldn’t exactly stop by a gym that taught kickboxing or something else.
The most he had was what he remembered of his brother teaching him how to play lacrosse when he was young, but he hadn’t even thought about playing in years.
Eventually, he followed Lovely into the bedroom. He’d already changed into his own sweatpants and teeshirt, so there wasn’t much he had to do other than climb into bed.
“I wish you would both stop saying that about us being replaceable. Maybe once we were, but we’re Generals. Axinite seemed to think we’re capable, I guess. That has to count for something.”
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Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2021 6:07 pm
Lovely made a face, not terribly interested in hearing about Faustite — or anyone, really, no matter what glowing remarks Ilian had for them.
Even so, he listened and responded with a noncommittal “hmm,” picking up a bit more while he was in the mood to do so. That mood lasted all of a minute, before Lovely sat along the edge of the bed and glanced over at Ilian.
“We are replaceable,” he argued — not heatedly, but firm enough that Ilian should know his mind wouldn’t be changed about that. “Doesn’t matter if we’re Generals. There’ve been tons of Generals since we joined up, and where the ******** are they now?”
Gone. Missing, or dead, or purified. And now here he and Ilian were, taking their place, doing what they could in the short time they might have, before they risked joining those Generals of old.
“Even Axinite is replaceable,” Lovely said. “Apatite was. Whoever came before her was, too. The Negaverse moves on. It adapts. We’ll all die doing our duty and none of us will be missed.”
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Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2021 6:34 pm
Ilian continued to frown. Maybe he was just naive, or maybe stupidly optimistic. He didn’t think he had any reason to be optimistic, what with everything he’d been through. But he’d also survived everything that was thrown at him. A car crash, foster care, being taken by the White Moon… it didn’t matter.
“They weren’t good enough, then,” he said with more confidence than he had any right. “If the Negaverse adapts, then it can adapt to quality of experience over quantity for fodder.”
But he also shook his head, still a little miffed about Lovely’s comments. “If you really believe that, then why bother helping me with trying to reclaim the castle and Negaspace? Why bother at all? We set up a ******** office in the castle so we can get more work done. The Negaverse might outlast us all, but there’s no reason for us to just roll over and accept that.”
He would just make sure that Metallia had no reason to tell him or Lovely to die for the Negaverse. They would be too valuable as officers than starseeds in the cauldron, if they were that lucky.
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Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2021 6:54 pm
Lovely’s brow quirked, not so much puzzled by Ilian’s (potentially misplaced) optimism as he was bewildered by Ilian’s insistence that everyone who came before them, even officers Ilian once respected, simply weren’t good enough.
“I wasn’t under the impression we were supposed to have a quality experience,” he said. “It was fairly obvious when we joined that no one cared about quality, otherwise they wouldn’t have corrupted a sixteen year old, a fifteen year old, and a fourteen year old.”
Maybe they’d each done well enough for themselves since then, but they barely knew what they were getting themselves into at the time. And it wasn’t even an uncommon practice; there was nothing special about Ilian, Jericho, or Lovely himself. Even now, the Negaverse recruited and corrupted people, often teenagers, who had nothing to offer except another warm body on the battlefield.
As a Lieutenant, Lovely looked forward to the opportunity to prove himself, to gain power. Now that he had it, he knew his worth to the General Sovereigns, to Laurelite, to Metallia.
Axinite might care. Axinite might truly value them, but the rest?
Highly doubtful.
“You know why I help you,” Lovely insisted. “I don’t think I need to explain myself. It’s important to you, so I do it. If you want to make Negaspace more habitable, then we make Negaspace more habitable. If you want to recruit more qualified agents, then we recruit more qualified agents. If you want to work, we work. If you wanted to step over Axinite and take his place, I’d help you do it, and if you said ‘******** it’ one day and decided to leave it all behind, I’d follow you then, too.”
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Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2021 7:16 pm
“Maybe they didn’t care then, but things are different now. We’re Generals now, not teenagers who had no idea what they were doing,” Ilian pointed out as he turned to turn off his bedside lamp.
“We’re fighting monsters and White Moon royals. It’s got to count for something,” he said as he pulled at the bedsheets and patted his pillow to get more comfortable.
“I want to make the Negaverse a place that no longer has the reputation for recruiting agents only to get rid of them. We need to give people more reasons than just Metallia. She doesn’t pay the bills…” he said, and then paused to frown. “But she could.”
There would be a lot to work out. He had no idea how to make it work, just that he wanted it to work. People deserved benefits and security. If they had more of a reason to focus on the Negaverse, then they would be able to be more picky with recruits. Make it competitive.
But for now, he shook his head for Lovely to push the thought aside. “Come here,” he said instead, holding out his arm in a clear invitation.
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Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2021 8:21 am
Lovely snorted. The implication that Metallia would ever pay them with anything but a rare bit of praise was laughable. If most agents needed spare cash, they swiped it from their victims. During their dumpy apartment days, Lovely had been tempted from time to time — drain someone dry and steal whatever was available in their wallets — but he and Ilian got by well enough on their own that it didn’t seem like a necessity, and the thrill of it… well, that sort of petty crime didn’t exactly thrill him.
But that conversation would probably lead to an argument, or, at the very least, a heated disagreement. Lovely didn’t want one of those right now. Ilian already seemed annoyed, and Lovely wasn’t in the proper headspace for logic. After the night they’d each had, they were both tired. They needed to rest and regroup. These conversations and their obligations to the Negaverse could wait until morning, when they were clear-headed and (hopefully) in a better mood.
“Hold on,” Lovely mumbled.
He made a brief detour to brush his teeth before returning, climbing into bed after shutting off his own lamp.
It was dark in the room, except for a faint beam of moonlight through a small gap in the curtains. Lovely had no trouble finding Ilian’s mouth in the darkness. He offered a kiss full of remorse (that he’d not been there) and gratefulness (that Ilian made it out of the battle alive), then settled down with his back to Ilian’s chest for the cuddle he wanted, pulling Ilian’s arm over him.
It was nice, sometimes, to do it this way, instead of the other way around.
“I’d do anything,” Lovely said — quietly, almost a whisper into the dark.
The “for you” remained unsaid but heavily implied.
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