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 Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2022 4:33 pm
"Got more than that."
When the horns were thrown at him, Fafnir's double scattered in a glittering shower of retreating fireflies. Faustite hadn't dodged the horns, yet the horns didn't hit him — they went through him, and clattered on the floor before skating away from the pair.
Faustite was fire given form. He retained his own shape, composed solely of flame, and floated inches above the ground. The youma had done their part in distracting him, Faustite witnessed — even if they unwittingly drew themselves into the cone of Fafnir's attack — and the Super's tell was large enough that the flaming thing flattened into a few gouts of braiding flame that stayed low to the floor.
As flame arced across the floor beneath the expanding cloud, Faustite witnessed the pair of youma get dusted in tandem. An unfortunate demise; Faustite expected that the draining effect would delay their regeneration in the Rift.
While the youma scattered into ash, a pillar of fire sprung up at Fafnir's six. The burning thing reached to cover Fafnir's eyes with infernal hands, knowing full well that it would leave no trace of burns, much like the thousand flavors of transient senshi magic.
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Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2022 5:15 pm
The horns clattered across the floor unnoticed, though that was more of a boon to Fafnir than anything else. He was too focused on activating his magic to see how Faustite had changed, or how fire now moved like snakes across the floor to avoid his attack even as the youma he had called shriveled to ash. The roiling vapor hid everything, exposing the weakness in it that it obscured Fafnir's vision and broke his eye contact with his targets...
And when it cleared, there was nothing there but ash.
Fumbling in confusion, he'd expected... something to be left. Had he... dusted the half-youma general? Was that possible? It left him standing bemused, searching for some explanation, before light closed over his vision and he flinched, throwing hands up towards his face as he squeezed his eyes shut.
Fafnir froze, completely taken aback and unsure what to do, thrown entirely out of his element.
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Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2022 5:25 pm
This stunt had cost him his weapon, but he wasn't much for it. Gaining the upper hand through shock was more than worth the cost. And the follow-up —
Were it any enemy, Faustite would have settled for cooking their eyes until they popped. Debilitate them, press his grate to their back, cripple them so permanently that they wouldn't think to stand against the Negaverse twice. But this was Fafnir, and while the pain wrought by fire in this form was fleeting and illusory, Fafnir had asked to keep the repercussions to a minimum.
So the guise fell away, and light went black for the boy whose eyes he obscured. Replacing the searing feeling was a feverish warmth, but nothing so dangerous as the General at his usual temperature.
With no more he could do that would leave no traces, Faustite stood on the tips of his toes and muttered near Fafnir's ears.
"Checkmate," he said.
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Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2022 5:54 pm
His hands, after a moment, finally settled on something solid as the light faded past his closed lids, turning the insides green, then blue, then black. Faustite's breath was heated against his ear and he crooked a half smile, the corner of his mouth tugging up.
"I surrender." He said as he pulled his hands back, holding them up away from himself. He made no move to remove Faustite's hands, remaining still and acquiescent beneath them.
This had been a good exercise in combat, as he had hoped it would be. Faustite fought differently than his own general, had different abilities, tactics and strengths. The youma had added another layer to it, and he'd even discovered something new about his own magic. He had not come out the 'victor', but he had still gotten what he had wanted. Victory hardly mattered, past greater experience. This was not something he could have gotten with Netherite, as he had known.
It was an exercise he would need to repeat, and hopefully, he could continue to rope Faustite into obliging him for it. Perhaps next time, they could add another body to the mix and rope in someone else, maybe Albite? Likely he'd do even worse against two human opponents, but it would be just as instructive, or more so.
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Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2022 6:12 pm
Faustite chuckled something quiet and raspy. Fafnir was always so serious; seeing him act like this had caught the General off guard. He assumed it meant Fafnir was in good spirits, and hoped that implied he'd gotten something useful out of this practice round. Faustite had tried to leave him intact, though youma seldom heeded such specific instructions when called from the Rift on a whim. He looked fine, though.
Well — Fafnir always looked fine.
It was curious, though, experiencing him fight — Faustite hadn't been trying every trick he knew, but Fafnir didn't seem overwhelmed by any of it. He handled himself well, stayed active, stayed moving, and Faustite had few criticisms for him. He was more reactive than Faustite would have liked to see, and hadn't yet learned how to lead his opponents into a more favorable grouping, but those were all tactics that could be learned with experience.
At present, Fafnir had a firm grasp of combat fundamentals and youma capabilities. Perhaps not so much half youma, or Faustite in particular, but Fafnir likewise wouldn't be fighting against half youma in the battlefield. Certainly he'd need to bring in some senshi if Fafnir wanted any future bouts.
Faustite let his hands drop, then encircled Fafnir's waist from behind. "Said you'd make it worth my while," he reminded.
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Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2022 6:32 pm
The corrupt laughed warmly as he dropped his own hands to ones around his waist, finding the touch... pleasant. Even with Faustite hot against his back. He was surprised how hot he felt in this form. They'd never been this close before, without a glamour between them. And no one ever... hugged him, not like this.
"You won, so I suppose its up to you to decide what I have to pay for it." He said as he half turned his head, sliding a blue-eye gaze over his shoulder. He had a good idea what would be worthwhile to Faustite, but he was comfortable enough with this, and with what they had done in the past, to allow some of that control into his occasional-partner's hands. At least, enough to decide what they were to do.
"Tell me what you want." He said, his voice growing warmer, sliding lower. "And I will do my best to repay you."
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Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2022 6:43 pm
Could've thanked Almadel a thousand times for that cincher, and it still wouldn't have belied the depth of his gratitude for it. That cincher allowed Faustite to hug the boy without griddling his back into bacon strips, and it allowed Fafnir to touch him without flinching away or suffering burns.
Ever hypervigilant for foreign touch, Fafnir would have felt Faustite's hands twitch the moment they were brushed. But Faustite remained silent about it, instead focusing on just the treat he wanted for such an occasion. Granted, a training win wasn't much of a win, and the odds were stacked against Fafnir both in rank and in number. If anyone deserved a reward, it should've been that boy.
But Faustite wasn't about to give up his rights for a good time. He hummed instead, pretending like he hadn't already figured out what he wanted and for how long.
"Think I know," he said at last. "Better we go to your place."
Trey's mouth may not hope to outpace Waru's in words per minute, but Faustite knew exactly how to put it to use.whimsical blue fin~ thanks for shotgunning this one with me!!
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