Another spell, and the furbag was back to being a furbag. Faustite wondered if they were connected — if hunger, perhaps, starved Tama of the resources to remain humanoid and slightly easier to take seriously. Now he was ******** meowing. Faustite stared.
"You're ******** serious. What the ******** is this." He thought he was there to watch Tama do a consult on magic, but the little rat b*****d was here asking for cuddle time? And Murikabushi was just giving in like it was his oathsworn duty to do whatever a cat wanted, whenever a cat asked for it? Was it because he's a senshi? Were they all that way? Was that why Albite was ever answering to Haymitch's every beck and call, and offering his ******** shoulder to every cat who looked in his direction?
Faustite sighed, buried his face in his hands. Everything about this was a disaster. These two were the disasters that spawned more disasters with their every action.
That was it. He was surrounded by disasters being disasters.
And yet, as he kept listening, it found ways to get worse. Tama spent about a handful of seconds being sensible about the Mirror Maid's so terrible magic, disparaging Faustite as always, up until he admitted what type of hunger he suffered first. That's what that was. "You wanted to ******** me," he muttered into his hands. Then, dragging his nails down his face, he stared skyward. "What I'd give for a Princess to come smite me right now."
But, naturally, the heavens didn't oblige. He was stuck there, in hell, with a self-effacing moron and a thirsty cat. How was that even — no. No. He wouldn't think about it. Never again. He was going to bury that thought, pour concrete over it, build on top of it, build a dome over that, and seal it in another ******** dimension. He. Heard. Nothing.
Faustite missed Tama's Look when he stared up at the sky. At least the mangy little puffbucket went back to sounding reasonable again. Sighing, he added, "Forgot to tell him that I'm part youma. Magic affects me differently sometimes. Gets more pronounced." And when he was particularly unlucky? More permanent.
meighei
#tortured
amorremanet
Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2022 11:15 am
Any exasperation from Faustite about how Murikabushi responded to Tama’s request to be held sounded, frankly, like Faustite’s ******** Problem, rather than any concern of Reiki’s. Yes, the General was gruffing, and grousing, and acting all exasperated—but Tama only wanted to be held for a few short moments. He wasn’t asking for the world on a platter or anything similarly absurd. Just a little time to be held and, apparently, reassured that he was okay? No one got hurt by showing him that tiny kindness (barely even big enough to be counted as a kindness, really).
Maybe it wasn’t called for or appropriate, but over his shoulder, Reiki shot Faustite a flat, deeply unimpressed Look.
“Why don’t you go ask Albite if you want to be held so badly,” he muttered to Tama, even though Faustite was the target. If Faustite wanted to act that way, then it just seemed fair for Reiki and Tama to have a (semi-)private titter between themselves about judging him for it (while right in front of him, but at least Reiki wasn’t doing it in Japanese.…… For one thing, he wasn’t sure how well Tama spoke the language just because he seemed to understand what it meant to be addressed as “Neko-sama” or “Tama-sama,” and for another, if he was going to judge Faustite in front of the General himself, then he’d at least do it in a language that he knew Faustite understood).
When Tama wriggled loose and went his own way physically, Murikabushi folded easily and let him; he knew all too well that maintaining contact with a cat who didn’t want it only ever ended badly for him. Aunt Satomi’s Duchess had scratched him up more than enough for one lifetime because Reiki had tried too hard to befriend her. Besides, there were more important things to deal with, like listening to Tama about his magic, and trying his best to ignore Faustite’s continued grousing. Sure, he made one important note about what, exactly, he was—half-youma, which raised so many questions in Reiki’s mind and made him wish that the Dark Mirror Court had had some kind of way to pool information between themselves, like a Wiki that only they could update with intel about people from the White Moon and the Negaverse, and maybe the sci-fi alien faction to which Lysvi and Vaylin seemed to belong.
But most of Faustite’s complaining seemed like just that: complaining, and a distraction, and firmly Not Reiki’s Problem, at the moment.
Nodding along with what Tama said, though, Reiki found himself both understanding and full of yet more questions. “Does age have something to do with magic going all wonky? Like, I’ve gathered that I’m older than a lot of senshi tend to be when we get Awakened? Soya……” Tucking his bangs behind his ear, Reiki huffed softly. “Soyala, the Mauvian who found me and helped take me to the Black Mirror? When she found me, she acted like the Order Mauvians had abandoned me or something by letting me wait so long. Which—I’ve gathered that that’s not entirely fair to pin on them? It was just……bad luck of the draw, really, that I had to wait so long, and if we’re criticizing the Order Mauvians for it, then we’d have to criticize Chaos Mauvians like you and her as well, and that doesn’t sound fair to me? From what I’ve seen, you all keep pretty busy and you have a lot of duties, and one individual senshi slipping through the cracks doesn’t mean any of you were being negligent? It just……”
Reiki shrugged. “It was just bad luck. Nothing to actually blame anyone for.”
Dimly, as he worried his fingertips through his bangs again, he realized that he was saying more now than he had since getting here. Acting more like how he usually did. This, he supposed, was something that might catch either Faustite’s or Tama’s attention—but on the other hand, Reiki’s questions were important to him personally, and since they were discussing his magic and its ins and outs anyway……
“Then, last time we all got together? Space Buns’s sister said something about his magic being wonky and needing to get fixed, and then there’s……” For a moment, he hesitated about bringing up Kerberos’s friend whose starseed had been left too long without Awakening. Mentioning anything about them around a Negaverse operative like Faustite could’ve been dangerous, no matter how helpful Tama was being or how much Faustite was allowing him to help. But on the other hand, Reiki didn’t even know that friend’s name, and if he just……left Kerberos out of the discussion entirely…… “Not someone I’ve met, so much as vaguely heard about? But according to the senshi I heard about them from, they’re a senshi who’s apparently gone unawakened so long that their starseed has kind of festered? And with Faustite…?”
More guiltily than he wanted to admit, Reiki glanced over his shoulder and up at the General. But turned back to Tama to explain, “When I used my magic on him, I half-expected it to not work at all. I talked a big game to him, yeah, but I wasn’t sure that my magic had actually worked on Kerberos, not until I threw it first at Faustite and then at another White Moon senshi whose reaction was……panic-inducing? But not in a way that put my starseed in immediate danger.”
That was probably fine, as a description of what had happened to Fang. As far as either Tama or Faustite needed to know, Reiki had attacked Fang entirely on purpose.
“So, most of the time, my magic’s actual success rate was……other than good. Not the reliable functionality I gather it’s supposed to have. Then, when it has decided to work, it goes as ham as it did on Faustite and the others. Maybe him being half-youma also factors into it, but……the way it sometimes feels so radioactive and explosive? Could it have anything to do with Awakening so late?”
Reiki sighed. God, he hoped the answer was “yes.” If he could figure out how to turn the volume up or down on his magic? How to modulate it so he might hit someone with less than its full power? That would’ve been the ******** dream.
Why couldn’t Faustite just keep his mouth shut when he was explaining?
Tama didn’t remember asking for commentary. It was debatable what look was more disappointed in Faustite. The Mauvian had a good disappointment face, but Murikabushi’s gave him a run for his money.
“Yes. I’m entirely serious. And, yes, this is a magic lesson. And, yes, to that other thing, too. Apparently even you can look attractive sometimes. Too bad you have an awful personality. Not sure what Albite sees in you.”
Now he could go back to ignoring the general, except for one thing.
“He does manage to have a point though: magic does effect half-youma differently which can, at least partially, explain Faustite’s reaction compared to mine.”
Tama paused as Murikabushi gave some background. It was just what he need and he didn’t even have to ask.
“Soyala, yes. A fabulous Mauvian. Introduced me to your kind.” Chaos Mauvians never failed to impress. “Order Mauvians aren’t negligent, per say. But they something allow their senshi’s lack of discipline wear off on them.”
He pivoted back to the main question.
“Does your age have anything to do with it? Quite possibly. Humans who awaken past their second decade tend to have a more difficult time of it.” He was so used to seeing those younger than him that he sometimes forgot their was a variance in how young. Faustite looked to be in his teens and Murikabushi in his early twenties and yet Tama would call both of them kids to him.
“When did you first awaken?” Tama questioned. It was much more polite to ask when it happened than to ask how old he was now. That would just be rude.
Idly, Reiki supposed that it was probably polite to remember that Faustite was technically still part of the conversation. But on the other hand, griping about how Tama chose to do his job felt singularly unhelpful. Plus, it made Reiki waste time on rolling his eyes and throwing Looks at Faustite.… Perhaps the solution here was to do what one needed to do with Cersei when she tried too hard to beg for food off the table.
Namely, focus solely on Tama and pretend that Faustite didn’t exist until he started behaving in a more constructive, sociable fashion.… Not that Tama was entirely helping by snarking back at Faustite for more than the one comment.… Honestly, both of them had behaviors that Reiki didn’t want to reward or see continue very much, but he couldn’t quite ignore Tama as easily as he could Faustite. Not when Reiki so badly needed Tama’s expertise on senshi magic, and to heed what Tama was telling him, work on learning from it, get all of this nonsense with his magic figured the ******** out.
Then again, letting Tama just insult Faustite could have served to reinforce that behavior by not challenging him. If Faustite needed to learn that he wouldn’t get anywhere good by snarling at Reiki in the same way he did all his minions bound by a formal chain of command, then Reiki also had to let Tama know that he did have a limit for how much pointless cruelty he’d tolerate. Sure, he’d made his point about Faustite asking Albite to hold him, if he wanted to be held so badly, but there was a line between that and implying that Faustite didn’t bring anything to the relationship at all.
So, Reiki crossed his arms and pointed out (a bit too gently to be a proper reprimand), “Tama-sama doesn’t need to be rude about Faustite being cute.”
Eugh.… As soon as he said it, Reiki wrinkled his nose—not because he had to stand up for Faustite, even in a limited capacity. But……eugh, why did he always forget how weird reverting to a respectful third-person address sounded in English until he’d actually said the thing? Sure, it made sense in Japanese, with all its nuanced rules about pronouns and how often they were entirely optional, but—ugh ugh ugh. ******** verbal communication, he swore to god—“Don’t need to be cruel about his relationship with Albite, either. Considering how intense and passionate he was about defending and avenging his Sun-and-Stars? I don’t think Albite would appreciate that kind of talk.
“Moreover? Kicking Faustite like that only seems to piss him off unnecessarily.” Fidgeting with his bangs, Reiki sighed. “So…is there some secret Mauvian knowledge that will help me get my s**t together? And I can only access it by listening to you pick on him? Or can we stay relatively focused, please?”
Fortunately, the approach he wanted to give Faustite went hand-in-hand with that idea: continue pretending that Reiki could neither see nor hear him while telling Tama, “Soyala and the senshi from my Court took me to the Black Mirror around the end of May. And I’m twenty-six, twenty-seven in a few months. I was twenty-six when Soyala found me too, but closer to twenty-five, then. Does—would a specific date make any significant difference in your estimations? Or is that enough to guess from?”
Faustite froze at Murikabushi's snide comment about Albite holding him. A numbness hit him, followed by a chill that reminded him of the night when he fell through the ice on a rooftop pool. It stole his breath away in the same manner — he remembered wanting to gasp, and feeling like someone had sat on his chest or tried to crush him.
Faustite disliked feelings he didn't understand. He didn't want to understand this one. He didn't need it.
After that comment, Faustite's physical restlessness had ceased. He'd gripped the lip of the parapet too hard, but his knuckles never betrayed a whiteness the way that skin normally did. He hadn't noticed — wouldn't notice — until he felt a sharp pain shoot down the tip of his finger. Startling, Faustite raised his hand for inspection. One long fingernail had broken off at the edge of the nail bed, now beading up with black blood. His hand was trembling. Faustite set his jaw.
Returning to holding the parapet as he sat upon it, Faustite allowed himself a few breaths of time. It didn't banish anything, but he was able to listen again. Able to tune into Murikabushi's Merciless Motor Mouth at work, this time on Tama. Asking anything that didn't matter about magic.
Asking about Alkmene. And someone else that this one refused to name.
Faustite felt uneasy, like he wasn't himself, but he understood that he was himself, and he could only be himself, but this was like he was trapped behind a bell jar, looking out at a muted, stunted world.
Of course, Tama had to piggyback that snark. He shot back a belated repartee. "Know I'm ******** ugly, ******** off." But his voice sounded off — wooden.
Something had gone very wrong. He couldn't say what, or why, or how he was going to fix it. Couldn't determine what the root cause was. Couldn't feel his hands, either. Some rushing sound kicked up in his ears, but he knew there wasn't a river for miles. Oh, he wasn't breathing.
Oh, didn't that just fix everything.
Faustite didn't feel right, but he no longer cared. He dragged himself up off the parapet, straightened, approached the pair at a walk. He didn't feel right, but he supposed he'd feel better once he barbecued that ******** cat and that miserable pile of senshi.
meighei
amorremanet
Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2022 5:40 pm
Tama pouted, whined even. He was clearly being scolded by Murikabushi. And he didn’t like to be scolded.
“I didn’t say he was cute.” The cat’s cheeks blushed a little bit. “And I wasn’t being cruel. I wouldn’t do that to Albite. He clearly likes that one for… reasons.”
Tama was still only addressing Murikabushi and failed to notice any of Faustite’s reactions.
“Twenty-six? Well, yes. That will do it. You are on the back end of when starseeds tend to awaken. All that time dormant will have an effect on your magic. Sometimes it may work, sometimes it may not. But the more you practice, the better it will get. I know of senshi whose magic eventually settles down with just a little experience.”
It wasn’t until then that he heard Faustite’s voice. “I never said you were ugly, just that you had an awful person —”
Tama stopped mid-word as he realized the general was heading towards them. He didn’t know what Faustite was doing. And even less of what he was thinking.
But something about the half-youma had the fur on the back of his feline neck raised.
Maybe Tama didn’t like being scolded, but……well. The way to avoid that in the future seemed pretty simple, to Reiki. Just, like, don’t be a jerk to Faustite unnecessarily. Don’t fold for him like so much tissue paper, certainly not, but also don’t pick on him. Honestly, what was so difficult about that? Reiki’s instinct in basically every situation was to be sarcastic and even he could play by those rules.
……He’d need to start doing a better job of that, overall, but aside from getting frustrated once, Reiki didn’t think he’d done a terrible job of that, tonight. ******** A, he hadn’t even talked that much, since Faustite apparently found the sound of his voice and what he usually had to say about anything so inherently offensive. (Not that trying to avoid upsetting Faustite had been the why behind Reiki’s relative reticence tonight, but—tedious semantics, that whole discussion.)
In the meantime, Reiki meant to tell Tama that it didn’t matter why Albite liked Faustite; it mattered that Tama and Reiki didn’t treat Faustite like s**t for no reason.
Reiki meant to continue ignoring Faustite until he decided to act right—or at least not act like a jerk for literally no reason. (None! Whatsoever! What was the problem with giving Tama something as simple as a cuddle! ******** seriously!)
Reiki meant to do a lot of things—but that deadened response wracked him with a chill.
Turning to look at Faustite exacerbated that cold. Approaching like he didn’t know how to move. Hands—one of the claws had gotten ripped out somehow. If another magical signature had popped up anywhere—some new destructive monster from nowhere in particular, maybe—Reiki would’ve tried to cover Faustite, but……oh, no. Faustite was literally on fire, and looking at him, Reiki had the same leaden feeling he’d had, reading some parts of Ojiisan’s memoirs, stories from before he’d stayed sober. The dread precipitating a disaster that one is powerless to stop.
“Tama,” Reiki told him, reining his voice into a façade of calm. “Get out of the way. Another roof if you can.”
Regardless of who managed to shoot first, Tama didn’t need to get caught in the crossfire.
The dread precipitating a disaster that one is powerless to stop. German probably had a word for that.
Someday, when Reiki didn’t have any power, maybe he’d learn it.
A complicated calculus rattled itself off in his head as he raised his hand. He didn’t know what Faustite hungered for besides starseeds. Didn’t know how much damage he could cause. Didn’t know how badly he might trigger something in Faustite. But if Reiki didn’t do anything, he’d be dead meat and there was no way Remarque could let that slide. No one would take him seriously as the Dark Mirror Court’s Prince if he didn’t answer when a Negaverse General killed one of his senshi—never mind what Haruhi might have done to someone over losing nis cousin like that.
No good option presented itself, really. But Reiki could probably get his magic off one last time, and he <******** had to. That idea made something surge up within him, the magic all a wild rush.
Radioactive feeling bubbling, simmering right at his fingertips, Reiki snapped off the gesture. “Gnawing Hunger!”
Quote:
Enemies within 10 feet of him begin to feel a powerful hunger or sense of craving, one they feel cannot be sated, and yet, they are compelled to try. This craving can be for anything—food, drink, affection/intimacy, alcohol or narcotics, the answers to the math homework, etc.—but it is quite distracting. This spell lasts for 25 seconds, and Murikabushi can use it three times per battle.
Strickenized_
Meighei_
Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2022 8:21 pm
He'd already decided. They didn't need that Mauvian when they had another. And they didn't need that Dark Mirror Senshi when he met another, nicer one earlier. Maybe that would have repercussions, but in the moment, he didn't care.
Let Remarque kill him. Let Laurelite reanimate his corpse as a youma. What did it matter if it got him a scrap of satisfaction.
So they noticed him coming. He didn't make a secret of it. So Murikabushi blew his few seconds of forewarning on sending the cat off. Faustite didn't give a s**t. He could summon that furbag a dozen times, let him get away, then summon him for the last time and incinerate him. Let that awful ******** thing learn what torment meant before he reduced it to kitten tenders.
Oh, so Murikabushi was whipping up the energy to cast something. Good for him. Let him feel like he did something to defend his own life. Faustite didn't care.
Soon as he saw Murikabushi shift his arm, Faustite vanished, leaving only smoke behind. He reappeared instantly, having cut all distance between them, and his hand surged upward as the Mirror boy snapped off a gesture. Hand met —
pink, satiny ribbon. ********>. Jet's bracelet —
There it was. The name of Murikabushi's loathsome attack. That domineering sense of doom. He wondered if his brain would fry, if he'd be left in the Rift to chew the bracelet off his hand so he could touch starseeds again. He waited for that desperation to turn the whole world inside out for just one more starseed —
But it was a different yearning, this time. One so quiet and kept close to heart that it absolved him of all his anger. It was all he could do to reduce himself to fire, to part and wend around Murikabushi as if to get behind him without shoving him out of the way. He managed a couple uncertain steps away from the boy, toward the other ledge, when his breath hitched and a bark of emotion left him. He snorted back the sinus pain, the fresh tears, as he spared the seconds for illusory flame to fall away from him. Now whole, he vanished with a thought. Tama knew how to return, even if Faustite was gone. Even if Faustite had nowhere to go.
There was no home to hunger for anymore.
meighei
fin on my end~
amorremanet
tactical chest slap!
copying this in but he mainly uses it as a travel form
Hellborn ;; (Enhancement) Range: Self Duration: Up to 1 minute Use Count: Up to 3x Miss Chance: Escaping his reach Effect: Faustite's fire expands and engulfs him, transforming him into a living embodiment of flame. For the duration of this magical ability, he appears fully youmafied. When he moves, he moves amorphously as a gout of fire. Faustite can pass through or over nonsolid surfaces, and cannot be hit by physical attacks. He becomes highly susceptible to magical attacks and enchantments, however. Any attacks he makes toward others will be fire property, and will provide the illusion of being burned.
Getting attacked back made sense. Faustite had been going for that first, and considering what Murikabushi’s attack <******** did to him—of course he’d act in self-defense. Of course it was justified.
Except he didn’t.
Not really.
Definitely not as clear-cut as setting Reiki on fire or reaching for his starseed.… More like dodging around him, heading for the ledge. Everything flared up hot around Reiki, but that only meant he was close to the flames. ******** Faustite was going elsewhere……if he wanted to head out and hurt someone else…… Well, Reiki didn’t have any magic, but he’d kneed Faustite in the d**k once already and he knew how to throw a brick like any other self-respecting queer.
Then, as quickly as things had escalated, Faustite disappeared.
His own breath hitching, Reiki went to the ledge where the General had been. Looking around, he called out, “Tama? Are you…… He didn’t get you either, right?”
He’d need to look for Faustite. He’d made another ******** mess, so of course, he’d have to do something about it. Look for one of his myriad cute sluts, if he didn’t make himself apparent. But—first thing’s first (or at least “only thing about which Reiki could currently do something first”). As much as his picking on Faustite had been uncalled for, Tama had only come here to help. Reiki had to make sure he was okay.
Meighei
Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2022 9:03 pm
Before he could do anything more than simply get the hell out of the way, Muri cast his spell. It was the last casting the senshi had, too. He used the last two on the Mauvian earlier. But all that didn’t seem to matter now.
They were no longer practicing.
Faustite did what Tama had seen him do before. He was quick. He could teleport. And he could run rings around a basic senshi if he needed to.
But he stopped on the edge. Didn’t even look back at Murikabushi. Much less Tama. The cat thought he saw something in his eyes, could hear the emotion. Something was wrong. But then he turned to flame and left them both.
“No. He didn’t.” Tama replied as he turned to leave the senshi behind. Then he muttered under his breath. “But I’m sure I’ll get what’s coming to me later.”
