|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2023 5:48 pm
When Yvoire pulled himself away, Reims didn’t try to keep him in place, but he did glance over to him with concern. Had he been holding onto him too tightly? Maybe he was being annoying? Or too overbearing?
Reims frowned to himself. He didn’t know what he did, but he tried to go through everything he had done to try to make sure he wouldn’t do it again.
He’d actually liked holding Yvoire’s hand, but he wasn’t going to force him to hold his.
His attention was back on the skeleton though, noting the ring that it was wearing. That was probably why he felt a pull to this room.
Stepping closer, Reims could feel some kind of energy from it. It was definitely a magical ring. Maybe even the one he was looking for, although it seemed a little different in shape from Yvoire’s. More broad. Probably wouldn’t even fit him.
It didn’t fit the skeleton.
“Sorry bud, you probably don’t need this,” he grimaced as he reached down to carefully wiggle the ring over the bones--
“Oops,” he hissed as he broke off a couple digits, but quickly dropped them in the skeleton’s nonexistent lap so they were all together.
“Okay cool, you think this is what I need?” he asked, turning to Yvoire again with the ring, and standing between him and the skeleton so he didn’t have to look at it.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2023 5:49 pm
If Yvoire were in a better state of mind, he might’ve thought Reims was very brave for handling the skeleton without obvious fear or disgust. Yvoire didn’t think he would’ve been able to do so as easily. He would’ve cringed away or freaked out and embarrassed himself.
At least he had the ring to focus on now. With Reims blocking his view of the skeleton, Yvoire had a moment of relief to turn his thoughts away from it.
“I think so,” he said.
He held out his hand to compare it to his own. The pale gold ring sat on his middle finger — a little too large for any of the others, except maybe his thumb. The ring itself was rather plain, with a flat, oval face and the symbol of Ganymede etched into the center.
“You can try it to make sure,” Yvoire suggested. “There’s plenty of paper around. Maybe there’s something to write with in one of the desks.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2023 5:50 pm
“Oh, that’s a good idea,” Reims agreed as he admired Yvoire’s ring for a few moments, and then glanced around to the desk. “Let me see if… you know what? I don’t know what happened to that guy, so let’s go back to the other room in case this one is boobietrapped or something,” he cringed, now looking around for tripwires and strings attached to spikes that will fall from the ceiling or something like that.
Was that normal for a cathedral like this? Probably not. Maybe he had too active of an imagination.
But Yvoire also seemed uncomfortable, so any excuse to leave the room seemed good.
A little hesitantly, Reims held out his hand for Yvoire. If he didn’t take it, that was fine, but he wanted to at least make sure he didn’t trip over any of the old flooring.
Once out of the hidden room, Reims went to the more boring desk to rifle through. He found what looked like a graphite pen, and scribbled on a loose piece of paper.
Hi!
“Just stamp it like this?” he asked and pressed the flat part of the signet ring onto the page, obviously with the intention of it being sent to Yvoire.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2023 5:52 pm
Yvoire took Reims’ hand. He thought maybe it made him seem pathetic — that he was so willing to grasp it — but Reims kept offering, so he must not mind. Yvoire hoped his own hand wasn’t too sweaty. He hoped the tremors caused by fear and sadness had gone.
He followed Reims to the other desk, pointedly ignoring the skeleton as they passed, blinking until the wet haze of building tears left his eyes. He only released Reims’ hand to allow Reims to collect the needed tools and write out his brief message, which appeared before Yvoire within seconds.
Yvoire took it and held it with careful fingers, like he was afraid of ripping it.
“Now you can message whoever you want,” he said. Another small smile twitched onto his face. “Have you met a Mauvian yet? They’re magical cats who can talk. Ganymede knows one. She upgraded my ring so it can send texts to Senshi phones instead of paper. I think there’s a talk-to-text function, too. I…”
Don’t have many friends, he didn’t say.
“I haven’t had a chance to test it out. I know you, and the others, and Ganymede, but…”
I don’t want to be annoying.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2023 5:52 pm
“Well that’s handy,” Reims exclaimed with pure sincerity. Knowing both a Princess and a talking cat who could upgrade rings to send texts instead of writing on paper was super convenient.
“I’ve heard of the talking cats, but never met one before. You could always test it with me. Whenever you want. I don’t mind. My schedule is pretty clear. Oh, except for when school starts back up, then I’ve got base--”
Reims paused suddenly, his ears turning a darker shade of red. He’d found it was so easy to just talk to Yvoire that he forgot that he was doing his best to keep his identity secret.
That was okay. He hadn’t told Yvoire where he went to school. And he followed what he was going to say with a mumbled, “Sports… to do.” Because that definitely made it super difficult to figure out what he was going to say.
He coughed awkwardly, turning his head away from Yvoire so he wasn’t rude about it, but also so he could make a grimaced expression at his own expense.
“But yeah, I’ll write back. No problem,” he concluded once he was able to control his expression. “Have you met the Code? It lives on the Moon. Or one of them does. A big piece. I guess we’ve got little pieces of the Code hiding somewhere around our Wonders.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2023 5:54 pm
Yvoire couldn’t help but be curious. The magic that protected them made some things difficult to discern, but he knew Reims had to be close to his age, which meant there was a chance they were in the same grade, whether or not they went to the same school. If sports were involved, Yvoire assumed Meadowview; the sports program at Azure wasn’t exactly the main draw of the school.
He wanted to ask, but the cautious voice in his head that had been planted there by Ganymede told him that the less they knew about one another, the safer they’d be. Maybe one day, if they developed the sort of deep trust he knew Ganymede had found in others, they could reveal themselves to one another. For now, Yvoire was content to keep it secret, even if it meant he only had friends when he was powered up.
“I haven’t,” he said, choosing to focus on the Code rather than Reims’ slip about which sport he played, though he filed the information away in his memory. “I don’t know where the Code would be at Yvoire. I haven’t done a lot of exploring.”
A castle seemed expansive. Reims’ Cathedral did, too. Their pieces of the Code could be anywhere. If they were hiding, Yvoire assumed it might take a while for either of them to locate them.
“We can look whenever you want,” he offered. His smile remained small, but there was something hopeful about it. “I can help. And… if you ever want to see Yvoire, or… meet Ganymede… She said she’d show me other places here, like the castle where she—… Well, she doesn’t live there now, but it was her home in the past. And… maybe we’ll see memories. Eventually…”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2023 5:55 pm
Meet Ganymede.
A strange feeling roiled in his gut that he couldn’t explain. It wasn’t as though he was against meeting Ganymede. He just only knew what he’d been told about her. He’d been around two other Princesses before, and neither of them were useful (in his eyes), so maybe he just didn’t want to be disappointed by the Princess whose world housed his Wonder.
But Yvoire seemed like he liked her.
And Reims enjoyed the time he got to spend with Yvoire.
“That sounds like a good idea, Evie. And we can explore whenever you’d like, too. Memories sounds… a little chilling,” he made a face, glancing back over his shoulder to the room with the skeleton, but shook his head to let Yvoire know it didn’t matter.
“Thanks, I’d like that a lot.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2023 5:56 pm
Yvoire’s cheeks went a little pink; with the lack of any significant light, he hoped it went unnoticed. He didn’t mind the nickname. He even sort of liked it, even if it seemed a little cutesy and childish. He knew it probably had more to do with Reims not being entirely confident in pronouncing the full Yvoire, but Yvoire liked to think he would’ve earned the nickname even if that wasn’t the case.
“Me, too,” Yvoire said, mumbling a little — not timid, but certainly a little shy.
He wasn’t used to having friends. There were people he talked to at school. There were people he talked to at his dance classes. There were people he knew through social media. But there was no one he spent time with consistently outside of structured environments, no one he would call when he was lonely at home and wanted company, or bored and wanted something to do. Ever since Daddy died, he hadn’t felt comfortable around others. Getting to know someone seemed like an insurmountable task.
Maybe things would be different now. Maybe, despite the pain and tragedy he knew came with this magical war, he could find some good in what had become of him, too.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
