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 Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2023 8:51 pm
Ah, so that time had not been a pleasant one. He wondered how it compared to his own. Differently, that much was sure. Labyrinthite had never really beaten him, for example, but he'd always made sure to be too good at his job to ever earn punishment of any sort. He shuddered to think of what punishment from Laybrinthite would have been like.
"I can see what I can do. I'll remind him that he told me you were the only reason he came through all of that alive, and perhaps you deserve the benefit of the doubt now. " He said with a smile smile behind his glass, his lashes lowered to shadow his blue eyes. He watched Faustite from under them, considering how it might have been, if he had been switched with his brother.
"Maybe I would have been boring for you, in contrast. I would have been a different person, without Labyrinthite. I was softer and more trusting back then, and more prone to seeing the shiny side of things, rather than the reality. I would not have given you nearly as much entertainment, I'm sure. I was still too far up my mother's a**." He laughed as he turned the glass over in his fingers, considering. Fafnir was not nearly as inebriated as Faustite was, but that wasn't such a bad thing. It certainly loosened his fellow's tongue a bit. All this was more than he had heard before... and he was glad he knew of it now.
How different things could have been... how complicated they were now. No easy solutions, too much trauma almost to bear on all sides.
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2023 9:16 pm
"You sell yourself short." Faustite sighed wistfully. "Wasn't looking for entertainment. That was the last thing I wanted." He smiled, but it was more a set of teeth against pain than something expressive. Even talking around what had happened was a struggle — one that demanded he exchange the wine for something harder. A good whiskey, or a vodka strong enough to kick his teeth loose. He needed to stop caring, rather than diminish it.
"Needed help surviving," Faustite admitted, and the smile vanished. "Might not have known how. We were all kids when we were brought in, right? Maybe didn't know how to think for ourselves, or be independent, or make the best of a s**t situation. But we had to learn. With whoever we could. No options but to survive."
Though Heliodor still tried to take the easy way out — twice. Faustite still seethed for it and all it yet stood for. Still wondered if Heliodor was going to return to such behaviors as a way to spite Faustite or escape dealing with Albite. From the way Fafnir framed it, it was a selfish choice born of an inability to see how others might have felt about those same circumstances, something that could be solved with more maturity and more situations that provoked maturity. But Faustite still wondered if Heliodor had a shot at progressing past all that, and if he did, how was Faustite supposed to know how to deal with it?
Or would he be forced to do as his General did? Faustite's lip twitched at the thought of force-feeding Heliodor cat vomit for refusing to use a starseed. He lacked the iniquity to do such deeds and stomach them well.
His lips brushed the rim of the glass, uncertain whether he would drink again or speak instead. He was silent for a time as he weighed his options. When he spoke, his attention drifted to Fafnir. "How'd you get past that, then? Your naiveté."
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2023 9:36 pm
"I don't know how well I would have helped you survive, honestly..." Fafnir said, letting some of the levity fade. He was nearing the bottom of his first glass and the warmth of the alcohol inside of him was comforting.
They had all been kids, as Faustite said. Trey had been nineteen, but that was barely an adult. He'd lacked any sort of real world experience to deal with what he had been thrust in to. The wine circled around the bottom of his glass as he swirled it, playing with the last few sips.
Fafnir grimaced at the question, an expression he rarely allowed himself.
"I didn't have a lot of naivete left after my corruption. Chase did not ask me, he simply took, and when he couldn't, he went into a rage. It was terrifying, in all honesty." He said, allowing for probably one of the first times ever, to say what still weighed heavy on him. "Suri had to explain it to me after, how much he hated senshi and how close he'd come to outright killing me because I wasn't the officer he expected. He was never really cruel to me, once he got past that, but it stayed with me."
He shrugged, raising his eyes to his general-turned-general-king. "I can't invalidate how Helio feels or what he's been through. I'm sure its all very intense for him. But it doesn't stop him from having a job to do and needing to do it, and as much as we might like to shelter him, there are others who won't and could make his life very dangerous for him. So I don't know... perhaps it is better for us to be the hard, but loving, task masters rather that some senshi b***h with a bow. We can do better than our generals did, at least."
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Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2023 3:56 pm
"Even if you didn't, it wouldn't have been that much of a waste." Faustite examined his glass, the wine inside it, the boy across from him. It was a dreary conversation, to be certain, but some part of him felt inexplicably relieved to be talking around the issues that were left buried for what felt like decades. While not the events themselves, for he wasn't sure he could ever put voice to those, talking about his survival of them was almost vindicating.
Faustite was quiet for Fafnir's answer, only nodding afterward. "Sounds like the Negaverse. Sounds like Labyrinthite, or what I knew of him." He knew the man as authoritative and averse to being challenged. He disliked surprises, and finding he had a senshi on his hands? That had to be one of the worst surprises the man could weather. Not only was this boy something to loathe, but Labyrinthite was powerless to finish corrupting him and had to rely on the outside assistance of a General-Sovereign, which meant he was beholden to their timetable. And while Faustite hadn't known any of the Soveriegns, at that time, to hold their authority over anyone's head, he imagined that Chase chafed at such an idea.
Then what? By the sound of it, Fafnir was a walking reminder of that which he hated and how far Labyrinthite still had to go before he had total control over anything that he intended to do. There was still that one last promotion to chase.
Perhaps learning to cope with it was a move to try to prove himself worth a promotion. Faustite wasn't that familiar with the General's achievements, for being acquainted with them would require a deep dive into records that weren't a great use of his time, but he knew Labyrinthite was involved in multiple projects while Faustite was struggling to cope with his own reality. If the General had remained active in DC, it was likely that Fafnir would have been stuck under him without ever finding the chance to escape. And what sort of impact would that have had on Fafnir? Faustite couldn't imagine; it would be like being moored under Schörl to this day.
"He's got a penchant for invalidating what other people went through," Faustite observed before he took another sip of his wine. "Not safe for me to mention what I went through in training, but… His mom's still alive. ********, he can talk to his brother. Would've killed a hundred senshi to be that lucky." Instead, he got Heliodor's attitude, a sense of desolation, and innumerable reasons to bury himself in his work and keep moving forward. It got easier, he told himself. Easier to push it all away, that is.
"Glad Labyrinthite disappeared, though. Like you better over here, in this office, wearing all that power." He gestured to the boy's stunning outfit with his free hand.
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Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2023 9:14 am
The corrupt smiled in self-indulgent pleasure as he ran a hand down over the front of his uniform. He still felt that thrill of knowing he had finally obtained when he had been working so hard for. No one could take it from him any more, unless he made some critical blunder, and the chances of that were next to zero. He no longer took orders from anyone below the rank of General Sovereign, and even then... he had Faustite.
"I like it here too." He said, his grin turning sly. Fafnir had found freedom and the training he needed under Netherite, but that's all that b*****d had given him... Hopefully, the man was wary now that he'd been promoted, realizing someone had probably seen through his attempts to hold him back. Maybe he'd already been wary of that when Fafnir had been transferred... and some day, Fafnir hoped he'd be able to visit his revenge on the man. Something small maybe... not overly damaging to his person, but maybe he could manufacture something that would destroy his reputation or credibility. That would be very satisfying.
"I am very pleased as well, if I haven't made it clear before, that I still answer to you as my General King." He tried to project his sincerity into his voice. It was hard to formulate just the right words to convey how he felt about it... something that didn't devalue Faustite in favor of his position. "We would have made fine partners as Generals, but I enjoy the chance to continue to serve you."
It was an odd thing, to realize the truth of it when so much of himself was wrapped up in having control over every aspect of his life.
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Posted: Sat Aug 05, 2023 11:18 am
"Would've liked to be partners." And maybe, in certain circumstances, they could still be partners. It carried the same burdens as when Jet joined his mission into the Rift, and they would face the same conundrums where training would butt heads with the idea that he was joining as Fafnir's equal or under Fafnir's command, but perhaps such problems could be avoided if they laid out the rules easily and concisely. Would've been a nice break, too, for he tired of taking point sometimes.
That Fafnir was okay with it — with him — was a measure of assurance. That, despite everything, it was still worth answering to him. That he might be able to grow enough to fit the mantle he was gifted.
He considered his glass. "But if you keep flattering me, I'm going to forget any professionalism." Not that he would have minded, what with everything being a mess of emotions lately. What was one more entanglement going to do? Especially when he and Fafnir already had some history —
"Leading is ******** difficult," he said after a beat, "but I think you'll be better at it than most.
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Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2023 8:59 pm
Fafnir tilted his head as he considered the idea of Faustite as his equal, rather than superior. It would have been pleasant, of course, to work in tandem with him, to have one less person he had to answer to. But really... if he had to answer to anyone, Faustite was far and away the more desirable choice. There was a hint of something in the man's voice that said he was not comfortable with this new rank and the corrupt wondered at it. He didn't feel like he could ask, but... did Faustite regret his elevation?
It was hard to fathom. All that power in his hands now... Maybe it was just the newness of it, the added responsibility. The former would fade with time and hopefully he'd get accustomed to the latter. How could he not? He had everything a man in the Negaverse could want... setting aside the fact he no longer had all of his humanity. It seemed almost a trivial concern, next to everything he did have.
A slow smile spread greeted the last of Faustite's words, the feeling of pride tinged with regret that he had to hold them both back from what they really wanted. He could have given Faustite a place to work off some of his frustration at Helio, if only Helio himself hadn't stood in the way. Such a shame...
"I hope to make you proud." He murmured as he lifted his glass to the other man. "And I hope we figure out what to do with my ******** brother."
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