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 Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2020 1:07 pm
Quote: Prompt 1: Destiny City has its fair share of infestations--rats, youma, seasonal monsters...There's no shortage of unpleasantries. But, for the first time in a while, there's a pleasant sort of infestation: along with the winter chill and a steady stream of snow, it seems like a herd of small, fluffy white rabbits have overrun the city. They aren't menacing or evil, they're just everywhere. They seem strangely domesticated; they are sweet, curious, and friendly creatures that will eat anything you give them. They always seem cold to the touch, and when they shake, little snowflakes sprinkle off of them. They can show up just about anywhere, either alone or--often--in pairs. They tend to wander off on their own but they seem to appreciate anything warm and will cuddle up to steal body heat.
They were as weird as he’d come to expect from things in Destiny City, cold and shedding snowflakes, but they seemed harmless for now, and after their experience with the strange abandoned village and the creature that haunted it back in October, Lovely would take small, harmless balls of white fluff over anything more vicious any day.
Not that he liked the rodents. Lovely didn’t care for animals much at all. But these ones were small and seemed unlikely to hurt him. If they tried, he could easily kick them away.
After long weeks of recovery, he and Ilian were bored at home, tired of seeing the inside of their apartment, so now that they were completely healed, they’d gotten into the habit of walking around town together, slipping into a few stores to check out the holiday wares, sampling food and drinks at some of the street stalls, and checking out a few light displays.
If Lovely was asked, he would insist that these outings were not “dates.”
Even if they kind of were.
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Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2020 2:20 pm
They really kind of were dates, even though it was never and would never be discussed between them. If anything, their lack of public displays of affection proved these outings were not dates. Because that's what people did on dates, right? Ilian wouldn't know.
"No idea," was Ilian's less than helpful reply. The Negaverse had already confirmed that these creatures did not belong to Negaspace. So they were either magic from the White Moon, or magic from some other source, neither of which put Ilian in a good mood.
He had both hands shoved into the pockets of his new jeans. Not because he wanted to get new jeans, even if they suddenly had the money to get new clothes if they wanted, but because his ankles would have been cold otherwise.
At some point over the last few months, Ilian had grown a couple more inches, and while he would have liked to wait and see if he was done growing before wasting money on new clothes, he couldn't exactly ignore Lovely's nagging about how he looked in clothes that didn't fit.
"I'm planning on going into the Rift for a while in the new year," he said, now that he was thinking about the Negaverse and their lack of help with what these rabbit creatures were. If not youma, then they should clearly be searching for the magic's source, right? They might be harmless, but whoever had the power to make them might try to attack at some point.
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Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2020 3:40 pm
Lovely thought much the same way Ilian did: These things were obviously not normal rabbits, and if they weren’t the result of some Negaverse operation, then they should figure out their source and deal with it, in case things changed from harmless to harmful.
But he was also lazy and didn’t want to assume the responsibility for doing so. If he had recruits, he’d make them do it.
Jet should clearly make his recruits look into it.
Just when Lovely was going to share this idea, Ilian had to hit him with some bullshit about going into the Rift. Lovely stopped petting the weird rabbit and glanced over his shoulder, frowning up at Ilian.
“Sorry, you’re what?” he asked.
Was it the dumbest thing Ilian had ever said? No. Was it the most dangerous thing Ilian had ever suggested? Also no. But hearing it so soon after they’d recovered from their ordeal in October was not exactly comforting. What sort of an idiot went into the Rift anyway?
An idiot who wanted something, of course.
“Care to explain why the ******** you’d want to do that?”
Lovely already had his own ideas, but figured he’d give Ilian the chance to explain himself.
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Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2020 5:02 pm
Ilian expected the response from Lovely, although it was perhaps less hostile than he'd prepared himself for. If anything, he was surprised Lovely was giving him a chance to talk, rather than shutting the idea down right away.
"I've been doing research. For a couple years now. The books in the castle explain some of what to expect, but since the Rift always seems to be changing, it might be completely different by the time I go."
That didn't really explain why he wanted to go, but he wanted Lovely to know that he hadn't just decided. This was something he'd been planning and preparing for.
"Sometimes when officers enter the Rift, they find a youma that will bond to them. I wanted to find a youma that would bond to me. I have no idea what it will look like or what abilities he would have, but I feel like it's the next step I need to take."
He didn't expect Lovely to understand. He fully prepared himself for an argument about it, and in the end he would have to decide whether or not he would go with or without Lovely's blessing.
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Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2020 6:33 pm
A few months ago, Lovely would have argued against it. Heatedly. He would have called Ilian all manner of mean names and questioned Ilian’s intelligence for taking on something Lovely thought was completely unnecessary. A part of him still wanted to argue. Going into the Rift was inadvisable at best and downright idiotic at worst. It didn’t matter how much planning and preparation Ilian had done. Any number of terrible things could go wrong while he was in there.
But their ordeal in the abandoned village had changed things, even if only slightly. Lovely was much more inclined to listen when Ilian started to discuss Negaverse business. At this point, he knew there was no way he was ever going to get Ilian out of the Negaverse, so his next best option was to stick by him and offer him support, even if that support was often accompanied by a few vehement insults.
“I know about personal youma. I was at that stupid seminar,” he said.
One of the strange rabbits nudged against Lovely’s hand, encouraging him to pet it again even as he continued to stare up at Ilian.
“Why do you want one?” he asked.
Lovely was concerned, but not surprised. Ilian hadn’t shared any of his research with him, but Lovely had always known Ilian would eventually want a youma of his own. It was what officers did, wasn’t it? They wanted authority and recruits and youma, for the sake of gaining power and becoming something greater.
Or some such bullshit. Lovely couldn’t pretend to understand the motivations of the average officer.
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Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2020 8:44 pm
Ilian shrugged when Lovely reminded him he was at the seminar. “I wasn’t sure if you were actually listening,” he said, which was entirely true. Even if Lovely commented on what was being said then, he could have easily erased it from his memory if he wanted. It wasn’t as though he was ever all that enthusiastic about the Negaverse to begin with.
“Might be useful to have one,” he shrugged again, this time digging his toe into the melted snow where he’d been standing, ignoring the little snow bunnies. The fact that Lovely wasn’t yelling at him, and actually asking him for his thoughts on the subject (more or less) was throwing him off. Did these rabbit things have a calming effect on people? Is that why Lovely wasn’t yet calling him names?
“If something happened and you weren’t around, wouldn’t it be better if something was there to help me? I think you should get one too, actually,” he added, but that was even less likely than Lovely agreeing to let him continue with his plans.
“I know it sounds stupid, and it probably is stupid, but I’ve been thinking about it for a long time. Even before the seminar,” he muttered, not making eye contact with Lovely in case that would prompt the yelling to start.
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Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2020 10:03 pm
Damn it, but Ilian had a good point.
Lovely didn’t care for youma. He didn’t care about a lot of things, such as corrupt Senshi, and other Negaverse agents, and those Dark Mirror things, and guardian cats, whether Chaos aligned or not. He did what he did because he was devoted to Ilian. Everything else could rot. The whole world could descend into Chaos, or go the opposite way and suddenly be a gross haven of sunshine and rainbows, and Lovely wouldn’t care as long as Ilian was alive to see it.
But he couldn’t always protect Ilian. Their time in the village made that obvious. If he was hurt, or captured, or dead, there wasn’t anything or anyone else he trusted to watch after Ilian. Just Jericho, but Jericho couldn’t always be around either.
A youma, on the other hand… Jet could summon one of those whenever he needed one, couldn’t he? And if it was a personal youma instead of one of the random dregs, wouldn’t its devotion to him be even stronger?
Lovely released a heavy sigh that sent his bangs dancing out of his face, then rolled his eyes and turned back to the weird bunnies so Ilian couldn’t see the light flush on his face as he gave in without a fight.
“I don’t want one,” he said. “That’s too much effort for me, but… for once, you’re not wrong. It would be good for you to have one.”
He shrugged like he was trying to make light of it. It wasn’t often that he agreed to something so easily, especially when that something was Negaverse related.
“But I’m not letting you go into the ******** Rift by yourself,” Lovely warned him. “I’ll be going with you.”
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Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2020 9:52 am
Whatever Ilian thought Lovely would say, it wasn't that. Lovely agreeing with him when it came to the Negaverse was so obscure that Ilian blinked and looked up to stare at the back of Lovely's head, trying to determine if his tone had been sarcastic, or if maybe he hadn't really heard what Lovely said.
But what was even more surprising was Lovely deciding he wanted to go with him.
"What?? I don't know how long I'd be gone. It could be days… weeks. And you have your job. I can't imagine they'd want to give you more vacation time after taking so much time already," Ilian reminded him, standing more tense than he was before, because now he was confused as to why Lovely was not only agreeing that he should try to find a personal youma, but that he wanted to go with him into the Rift.
Not that Ilian didn't want the company, but it was dangerous and he didn't want Lovely putting himself in danger. He knew Lovely wanted to go to help protect him, but part of the reason Ilian wanted a personal youma was to protect Lovely.
"Love, you can't really be serious about going with me… You hate this kind of stuff…" This kind of stuff being anything Negaverse related, but Ilian wasn't going to say that.
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Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2020 2:17 pm
Love.
The reason Lovely still didn’t know what Ilian meant by using that name (other than the fact that he just hadn’t bothered to ask), was because Ilian didn’t use it enough for Lovely to formulate an accurate guess. It made its way into their conversations more often than before, but it was still rare enough that it left Lovely a bit dazed and confused every time he heard it.
Lovely’s hand twitched against the rabbit, which looked up at him with dark, beady little eyes.
Gross.
“The fact that you could be gone for weeks is all the more reason for me to go with you,” Lovely decided, satisfied with the easy tone of his voice. “I’m not going to leave you alone in there for weeks. Are you insane?”
He would barely accept a day, much less any period of time longer than that. The Rift would be dangerous enough for the two of them together. But alone? ******** that.
“I don’t care about work,” Lovely insisted, even if he kind of did. He liked his job, annoying as it was. “If they have an issue with it, they can fire me and I’ll look for another job. I’d like to see those ******** try. That store would be a disaster in less than a day without me around.”
Eventually, Lovely shooed the rabbit away and stood to his feet. The rabbit scampered off a few hops but didn’t go on its merry way, hopping back toward him to rub up against his ankle.
Lovely sighed. What was it about him that made these weird rabbits think he wanted their attention?
“So what if I hate this kind of stuff?” Lovely said, glancing over his shoulder so he could frown at Ilian. “You know what I’d hate more? You, dead in the Rift. Jericho and I would have to go look for your body, only we probably wouldn’t even find one. If you’re going in there, you need me with you.”
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Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2020 3:49 pm
Ilian continued to frown, but stopped trying to come up with reasons for Lovely to let him go by himself. Especially after Lovely brought up how he and Jericho would have to try to find his body if he never returned.
Did he like it? Not really. He didn't want Lovely getting hurt in the Rift either, but he couldn't argue that there was safety in numbers. Especially when those numbers included two Negaverse Generals.
"Okay, then… We'll make plans to go at some point," he relented, but still felt a bit weird about Lovely letting him do something so dangerous in the first place. He supposed it had to do a little with what happened to them in October. He definitely didn't want to be in that situation again.
"Thanks," Ilian muttered, and despite not being one for public displays of affection, he took a step forward to take hold of Lovely's hand to give it a squeeze, and leaned in to press a quick kiss on his cheek. Luckily it didn't seem as though there were anyone else around, so maybe Lovely wouldn't harass him about it too much.
Or maybe he wanted Lovely to harass him, if only to make things feel normal between them.
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Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2020 5:05 pm
Lovely agreed because it was easier than arguing. If Ilian had been planning this for a while, then nothing Lovely said was going to change his mind, much less stop him. He’d rather go with Ilian to keep him safe than wake up one morning to find out Ilian had snuck off into the Rift without him. Ilian wasn’t doing much sneaking off anymore, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t if he thought the ends justified the means.
No, Lovely didn’t like the idea of going into the Rift, but he liked the alternative even less.
All thoughts of what awaited them in there fled Lovely’s mind as soon as Ilian took his hand and kissed his cheek. Lovely’s face grew warm enough against the cold air that he knew his cheeks had probably gone bright red in response. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, ducking his head to hide the flush behind his hair and directing his disgruntled frown at the ground.
“What the ******** are you being so gross for?” he grumbled.
The rabbit brushed up against his ankle again, shook itself to scatter a few more snowflakes, then seemed satisfied with the attention it got and finally hopped away. Lovely watched after it as an excuse not to look Ilian in the eye. Once it disappeared into a snow covered bush, Lovely snatched his hand away from Ilian, but only so he could grab onto Ilian’s arm.
“Come on,” he said, changing the subject before Ilian could answer and directing him further down the sidewalk. “Let’s go get coffee or something.”
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