Welcome to Gaia! ::

Hybris took that weight, soft and firm, warmer than himself, and melted against the press of it. Reaching up, he stroked the back of Eles’s neck as he took the words in along with that weight. The motion stayed steady even as his boy rewrote a piece of their reality.

And between us, it never existed

It really needn’t have. The assurance of her absence had been gained. His own warnings to Eles’s past had been made. There was no need to cling to something that they didn’t need to have happened, that hadn’t made him love Eles any more, or any less. So Hybris decided that he’d never met Faustite after all. Maybe he would in the future, but that was for a future in a malleable reality.

“You’re spoiled,” Hybris laughed, thumb sliding down that delicate neck and just under the collar of Eles’s shirt. “And you don’t care about the one thing you lack for.” Another slow breath as the other boy’s washed across his skin, “I’m spoiled too. So maybe we just exist in your paradox, and be happy, and get spoiled in comfort, until the tide rises high enough to drown us. Then we’ll drown, or struggle, or swim like big fishes.”

“Noooooo,” Hybris groaned in protest. Giving him? Work? Homework? He rocked a little, from side to side, in lieu of thrashing about in a full tantrum. Reaching down, his hands found bare thighs and delivered a series of small, biting pinches.

Eventually, the attack faded as Eles went on to describe what sounded like some sort of Non-Apology Tour to Faustite’s surviving enemies and victims. Which sounded awkward in a way that likely wouldn’t phase his boy a bit, the gremlin. As well as kind of dangerous. And funny. Especially after watching him interact with the knight earlier.

Growing a little more delighted in the project, even though he’d have to go to some effort, Hybris gave a low hum before finally relenting entirely, “Okay, I’ll find someone who agrees with me.” He paused a moment before adding, “One who Faustite wasn’t married to.”

Resting on his elbows, Hybris gazed up and admired the shift in person, from one treat to another, slightly more dangerous treat. Thinking over the bits of information he was able to get out of Muri, he offered up a smile that was absolutely making fun of his boy.

“You’d think that being on fire would have made him less popular.” Bringing up his foot he prodded one of those mismatched boots with a toe. “But I guess it made him more exciting? Or maybe a bit more sad, for people into that sort of thing.” Namely Murikabushi.
Finishing off his drink, Hybris dismissed the glass back into subspace, then proceeded to roll onto his stomach and continue speculating. “But it might have been a power thing too? Like maybe the Negaverse structure is all about building your own tiny army with intermarriage and accruing some kind of military harem?”

The Other Chaos seemed like such a weird and secretive place, making it so fun to just make s**t up.

“I wonder how many people burnt their eyebrows off for a little taste of power?” Hybris’s feet were kicking in the air now, fingers idly twirling his hair, all he needed was a phone in hand and someone named Becky on the other end of the line. Honestly, he was going to miss chatting with Albite on the phone.

“”I asked Big Bro about him.” Hybris offered, then clarified, “Murikabushi. They were friends, complicated friends.” Which would be inherent to any White Moon senshi and Negaverse general King, even without Muri’s wistful little meow meow perspective in regards to Faustite.

“If you ever cross paths with him, in white, purple, and magenta with sleeves you could make curtains out of? With glasses, perfect skin, great lips, long ponytail, and wonderful shoulders? And talks like the world’s tallest waterfall? That’s Murikabushi. If you don’t try to fight him, he might buy you a milkshake. Or tell you about a tv show. Or explain his extremely strong opinions on various philosophers.” Which his boy would probably enjoy very much.

But it didn’t look like Cadmium was listening, the reason why coming out soon enough. “Oh, it’s just taking things in and out of subspace. You have it too, we all do. It’s not infinite, but it’s useful. Just reach into like a pocket. You don’t have to see the pockets of your jacket to know to reach into it, right? It’s the same.”

Watching the other boy with morbid curiosity, he pulled out his piece of crystal, just in case a grenade or something was pulled out and they needed to get out of there, fast. Generally, they couldn’t put things perceived as real weapons in there, but who knew what someone who was magically on fire would see as a weapon. Maybe dynamite was the equivalent of a massage wand.

Or henshin pen, an internal voice that sounded very much like Eles sneered, to a small laugh Hybris couldn’t fully hold down.

Is this the sort of curiosity and excitement people felt over those little blind box toys? Or maybe the excitement was due to the feeling that they were about to rob Faustite of his most treasured valuables.

Nothing too dangerous came out with the first pull, but Hybris still took the item in hand with care. There was a certain, solid, weight to it. A suspiciously timeless quality, not unlike a dark gemstone pendant he kept in his own little space.

His fingers traced over those engravings thoughtfully for a quiet stretch before he handed it back. “Hold it again, think about using it.” Just in case. Otherwise, he’d just have to commend Faustite on his commendably pretentious taste in drawing equipment.

The journal was enough to sit up and crawl over for. After a few pages he gave a gusty sigh, “And here I was hoping to read some of your scandals and dirty secrets. Seems you liked youma too, though.” Hybris sounded smug about it, as if youma very likely didn’t feel the urge to eat agents, or at least not nearly as much as they wanted to eat a tender, succulent mirror senshi such as himself.

He ignored the marks on the pages that were clearly not an intended part of the sketches. The result of those molten, clawed hands? Singing sweat? Ah…oh yes, he’d never met Faustite. Barely even glimpsed him across that battlefield. The notes were terse and efficient. Was it interest or necessity? Considering the rough but compelling artistry, interest had to at least be part of it.

With a low hum, Hybris shook his head. “You were exploring it.” And exploring the Dark Star…how could one ever come back from such an experience, when just a single, ghostly glimpse was near overpowering. “Maybe it was another world. One in space, or another dimension.”

You were the monster people wanted to ********, my dearest, my darlingest. But Hybris couldn’t help but give the sketches of certain youma a second look once the journal was passed over into his greedy little hands. Most were very…animal. In much the same way nearly all of the youma he’d crossed paths had been. Animal shape, animal intelligence, animal innocence. But some…

So caught up in the journal, he didn’t notice the other’s sudden movement until the cry of alarm sounded throughout the warehouse. Jumping up, crystal in one hand, other arm reaching for Eles, it took even longer to register that the burning just kind of sat there. Not at all exploding. Going a little limp with relief, he dropped his arms and instead moved toward the item. For all that it was mildly on fire, it was very much a crown.

“Well,” Hybris observed, with every bit of his overly high IQ on display as he nearly nudged it with a bare foot, “...this one is magical.”

Hybris leaned into that spin, balanced his weight against the hand at his waist, and only belatedly realized he'd been removed from a danger. Then he took a moment to bask in the, potentially more dangerous, warmth and security that was Eles's concern for him.

Giving his boy a bright, utterly satisfied smile, Hybris eventually remembered that he should be at least a little stunned and scared. "Oh! Goodness." He patted his chest in a very belated fluster.

The bit of uniform got a curious look. Which was stronger? The magic of a uniform that was a little more durable, a little more able to resist temperature shifts, or General King Faustite's spare Hell Lord crown?

"You should put it on...someone else, first." Hybris advised, "Just in case it was used for torture. Or beheading." There was, at the very least, no judgement in the speculation. And the fear that might have shaded it had faded off long ago.