|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2021 6:46 pm
“So he’s your house boy,” Celeste said.
It was a statement, not an inquiry. There was nothing to question. The situation seemed pretty damned clear to her.
August found himself a sad, lonely kid (who wasn’t really a kid, but that was neither here nor there), someone who, somehow, wasn’t afraid of August’s perpetual resting b***h face despite being afraid of nearly everything else, someone who August had just enough of an interest in to offer his guest room for the foreseeable future, in exchange for help with housework and emails and scheduling nonsense, which August didn’t really need help with, but happily foisted off onto someone else all the same.
Celeste stared across the table, blank faced and completely unimpressed.
They were at a bar (because they couldn’t drink and talk at August’s apartment anymore, what with Jonah always lurking around), sitting at a small table in the back corner where they would hopefully remain undisturbed. Since they both had weird schedules, it was a weeknight, but neither of them had work in the morning. This was something of a benefit, as it meant the bar was relatively unpopulated.
“You’re paying, by the way,” Celeste added.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2021 7:49 pm
In August’s defense, Celeste would have found out about the arrangement he’d made with Jonah at some point or another. She was welcome at his place as often as she liked. Although now that Jonah was staying there, she didn’t seem as inclined to visit. Which was why they were at a bar instead.
“Does that bother you?” he wondered as he sipped at his drink, not bothering to deny it. Jonah got him coffee when he needed it, and answered his emails that he didn’t want to bother with, and made sure his schedule was organized. It worked out well enough for August, so why did it matter?
He didn’t respond to her comment about him paying. He could have pointed out that he made more money than her anyway, but decided against it.
“There’s an organization I’m a part of,” he changed the subject instead. He’d told her he wanted to talk to her about it anyway. “I want you to join it with me. It’s been a very… unique experience.” He had to keep his voice low because of where they were, but they were isolated enough in the back that he didn’t worry about being overheard.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2021 2:53 pm
Celeste rolled her eyes at the question, but didn’t have time to answer it when August quickly changed the subject. She took that to mean that the topic of Jonah was off limits.
Which obviously wasn’t going to stop her from pressing the subject at a different time, or prevent her from letting Jonah know how little she thought of them both. Not that Jonah was a bad kid, he just… wasn’t what she imagined August would be interested in, and she had no qualms about saying that to either of them.
“What sort of organization are we talking about?” she asked, raising a brow in vague curiosity.
She hadn’t forgotten that he meant to bring something up with her, but she also hadn’t been so intrigued that she was impatient to find out. Celeste generally trusted August’s judgement (the situation with Jonah notwithstanding), but a “unique experience” could mean pretty much anything.
“I thought we put all that club and intramural s**t behind us after college,” she said.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2021 3:38 pm
“It’s not a club or intramural,” August said, his voice still low. “You’ve heard of the strange things happening around the city. Monsters in the shadows, people in costumes. What if I told you it’s all real?” he wondered as he paused to take a swig of his drink.
Luckily for him, he wasn’t exactly known for his sense of humor, so convincing Celeste that there really were monsters and magic shouldn’t be too difficult.
“I can show you if you want. Once we leave. I wouldn’t trust just anyone to know about this,” he said, although he paused to frown, suspecting he knew her next questions. “No, Jonah doesn’t know. But he did help me when I was attacked while on the job.”
He’d been lucky that Jonah came across him. He hadn’t bothered trying to reach out to Celeste for help. Maybe if he was still alive by the next morning it would have, but at the time he just didn’t care.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2021 1:33 pm
Celeste snorted, unimpressed by the topic.
“What does it matter if it’s real or not?” she asked.
She’d heard the rumors but had never seen the proof, but she trusted August. He didn’t have a sense of humor, so either his new, nervous wreck of a roommate convinced him he had to develop one, or he was telling the truth. Celeste chose to believe the latter only because she’d never known August to want to change for anyone, and she didn’t expect that to start now.
That didn’t mean she immediately wanted to jump on board.
Celeste swallowed the rest of her drink and set the empty glass onto the table with a thunk.
“So you’re saying you’re one of these people in costumes,” she observed, “and you think I’d be interested… why? We’ve long established that I’m an awful human. I don’t care if there are monsters attacking people. What, did you get on the wrong side of one and suddenly decide you needed to defend the innocent? That’s not the August I know. You didn’t even become a doctor for any noble reason, so what’s in this organization for you?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2021 2:04 pm
August's lip curled up into something of an amused sneer when Celeste asked more questions about the organization he was advertising.
"No," he said, taking another drink from his glass. "I was being hunted by a defender of the innocent as you say." Unfortunately, the Knight in question had a large ethereal wolf at his disposal that managed to chomp down on his leg.
"I get to do things normal humans can't. I can disappear from one place and appear in another in an instant. I get power and a weapon and get to fight whomever challenges me. Better than in the ring, I think."
It was difficult to explain, especially in a bar where other people could overhear. His newfound power as a Captain was definitely worth telling the only other person who could tolerate him and didn't think less of him for being just as horrible as a human as she was.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2021 2:47 pm
“So sorry for the confusion,” Celeste said, all deadpan sarcasm and absolutely no shame. “After the house boy, I was beginning to think you’d gone soft.”
It was clear to her that August hadn’t brought any of this up simply to brag. He might be confident in his abilities, but he wasn’t the bragging type. Bragging was a means for the less fortunate to make themselves feel better about their circumstances, by drawing attention to the things they had going for them. Neither Celeste nor August cared for it.
She twisted her empty glass around on the table, considering August carefully even if her expression didn’t change.
He wanted her to join. That much was clear. Either he thought she would find it entertaining, or he required her assistance. Celeste couldn’t say she was completely disinterested. She didn’t care if people were being hurt, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t something intriguing about it all. Monsters and magic and costumes — it all sounded so ridiculous. Still, maybe she should see it for herself.
“Show me,” she said.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2021 3:26 pm
August decided to ignore the comment about Jonah. Although he supposed he was kind of like a house boy, August wanted to make sure he wasn't left out in the cold by an uncaring grandfather. Well, and also because he seemed to tolerate August like Celeste did.
He didn't have to be told a second time, and stood from where they were seated. They'd paid their tabs already, so it was easy for them to slip out of the bar and down one of the dark alleys.
Once he was sure no one else was around, August powered up to show Celeste exactly what he was talking about.
From subspace, Bloodstone pulled his weapon, allowing the horseman's pick to appear in his hand, although he held it out for Celeste to inspect if she cared to.
"Better costumes than the other side, I think." At least from what he'd seen.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2021 5:45 pm
Out of the bar and into the alleyway, Celeste followed August. If he had a sense of humor, now was the time she’d expect a prank, but as she knew better than to think that of August, she waited patiently for him to show her whatever it was he had hidden up his sleeve.
The transformation was seamless. He was himself, and then he was… not someone else, but another him. The uniform was a bit over the top, in Celeste’s opinion, but the weapon was… intriguing.
She took it into her hands, testing the weight of it while it was stationary, before making a lazy swing through the air.
“Is this for the monsters, your enemies, or both?” she asked, handing the weapon back when she was satisfied with her examination.
It seemed real enough, despite the fact that it materialized out of thin air.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2021 6:21 pm
"I guess that depends on what you'd consider monsters," Bloodstone said, not really the poetic type, but he certainly considered the Knights and their summons as the monsters.
"The monsters that are reported about belong to us. Sometimes they escape from where they're kept, and other times we let them out to hunt. Those monsters are loyal to us. I could summon one now if I wanted, and it would obey me, but doing that would be a bit superfluous, don't you think?"
He took the pick back and let it disappear from his hand, back into subspace. But when he opened his mouth to talk, someone, obviously drunk and in a bad mood, stumbled into the alley.
Before the man realized what was happening, Bloodstone teleported the short distance to him, and grabbed him by the collar, letting his hand sink into his chest. The man collapsed onto the ground and all that was left was a starseed, which he turned to show Celeste.
"He's not dead. Technically. There have been a lot of reports of coma patients, and it's true. There's a whole ward that is filled with them. They're all missing this. A starseed," he explained, inspecting it. "This one is just common. Those with powers have stronger starseeds. People who are trying to slowly take over the Earth, when they never belonged to Earth to begin with."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2021 6:48 pm
Someone with less self-discipline would let their surprise show in the widening of their eyes or the gaping of their mouth, but Celeste turned to follow August’s movements (beginning with the teleportation) with her usual cool collectedness. She glanced down at the inert body with little more than a slight lifting of her brow.
“You make more work for yourself when you do that,” she observed, heartless and uncaring toward a man who simply wandered into the wrong place at the wrong time.
He probably had a family. Parents or siblings or extended relations that would miss him, friends who would be shocked and saddened by his death, but Celeste felt nothing, no concern or compassion, just a sort of cold curiosity.
Was that a sign of psychopathy or sociopathy? She tended to confuse the two. Or was it both?
Not like it mattered.
“Who is us?” she asked.
The demonstration was illuminating, but August still hadn’t named the organization he worked for.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2021 7:04 pm
"Lucky for me, it's not my department," Bloodstone said as he pocketed the starseed and turned back to move further down the alley in case anyone else decided to make their way.
He had long moved past being heartless about most things, bordering on cruel. Jonah was the strange exception, which was no wonder why Celeste voiced her disapproval about him.
"More commonly, the Negaverse," Bloodstone said, "But it is also called the Dark Kingdom. Remnants of an empire that once ruled over the Earth over a thousand years ago. I was skeptical at first, but a lot of the old city is still intact in a subspace layer of reality. You'll be able to see it for yourself if you agree to join."
He trusted Celeste, so even if she decided it wasn't for her, Bloodstone doubted she would give his identity away. It wasn't like either of them had any other friends, if that was even what they were.
"Soon it will be six years since I was recruited. My work at the hospital kept me busy, but I'm looking to rise in the ranks." More power was always good. He only wished he'd been able to devote as much time to it as he had to for the hospital.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2021 7:21 pm
“That’s a long time to keep this a secret,” Celeste said.
She was not quite angry, but not quite pleased either. She thought they were close enough friends that August would have told her about something as significant as a double life sooner than five years into it, but the reasons for the secrecy were obvious. In a world of magic and monsters, it must be difficult to know who to trust.
Celeste regarded August carefully, taking in the uniform again, and processing the information as it was shared with her. She would be lying if she claimed to care about the Earth. No matter who inevitably controlled it, she doubted there’d be much of a difference. Life was dull at best and infuriating at worst. The world was rife with stupidity and unfairness. It was easier to go with the flow than to try to change it.
Still, she was a bit fascinated by the idea.
She might not care, but… a certain amount of fun could be had.
In the shadows, the smallest of smirks twitched onto Celeste’s face.
“Fine,” she decided. “Count me in.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
