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 Posted: Sat May 01, 2021 7:19 pm
He knew that most officers kept their paperwork in folders or drawers, tidy or disorganized, filed or not. Maybe they sat in stacks on the officers' desks, where they were accosted with coffee stains and mug rings that gave the paperwork a human touch. And some officers transcribed their works with their tablets and kept an ever-practical digital library. That would be the smart thing to do, he knew, if he could ever type faster than a handicapped octogenarian.
Faustite was, as far as he knew, the only officer to keep his paperwork rolled up in an Ove' Glove. And, that evening, he carried the accursed, gently moldering thing by the very edge of its sleeve, held away from his body, as he traversed the Citadel's mosaic of hallways.
He looked stupid. He knew he looked stupid. If a passerby remarked on how stupid he looked, he'd melt their face in a flurry of unchecked rage. Thus far, he'd met no one, and the few youma whose paths he crossed were too feral to comprehend his situation.
Soon Faustite dropped down another set of stairs, turned a corner, and the familiar smell of melting plastic caused his lip to curl. The (now smoking) Ove' Glove changed hands, and the General quickened his pace. As soon as he found one particular door, he tossed the spot-blackened thing on the ground, rapped his knuckles on the lacquered wood, and waited.
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Posted: Thu May 06, 2021 7:32 am
Currently, the only one inhabiting the office was Roselite. Captain Bloodstone was off doing whatever it was Captain Bloodstone did when he wasn’t at the hospital. Or maybe he was at the hospital, being brilliant and important. Whatever the case, Roselite was alone, which meant it was up to him to answer the door.
He stared at it for a moment, wondering if the agent on the other side would announce themselves, and then wondering if it was rude to make them wait just to see if they would announce themselves. It wasn’t his office; he wasn’t important enough for that, so sometimes it still felt odd to act as if he had any authority here, even if Bloodstone told him to use it however he wished, so long as the paperwork got done.
The paperwork always got done. Filing and transcribing and filling out reports was one of the few things Roselite knew how to do with confidence.
The rest, he did with ever-increasing anxiety.
After finally deciding that getting up to greet the guest would be the polite thing to do in an office that wasn’t his, Roselite left the desk and went to the door, opening it cautiously to peer outside.
“Um…” he said, glancing from the General — bright and warm and… on fire? — “Hello, how can I—” to the smoking lump on the ground. “Are you—? Is that—? Umm…”
Roselite had too many questions and not enough brain power to string words together.
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Posted: Sat May 08, 2021 6:23 am
Like he was told, a human subordinate appeared. Someone petite, shrunken like he was afraid of being noticed, or perhaps he feared being noticed too much. Stammered through a group of sentences, clearly caught off-guard, clearly honest about it. And Faustite could appreciate bald honesty in this duplicitous, conniving organization. He almost smiled.
"Yes, I'm on fire. Yes, it's permanent. Yes, I need your help." If he didn't guess those questions right, it wouldn't matter.
He spoke with a lieutenant — which was useful. "Name's Faustite." He leaned a forearm against the door, which popped and groaned in response as heat expanded the wood. "You're aware that we like to keep paperwork. Paperwork, can you imagine? In 2021…" He sighed, smoky thing through a curled lip that violenced the stagnant air. "And yes, there's paperwork in there."} He finished, nudging the charred Ove' Glove with his foot. While smoking, it hadn't yet caught fully on fire. When it did (as it would be when, not if), all his personnel and draining reports would be gone forever.
Because digital backups were for smart people who didn't hate technology. One of these things proved untrue for Faustite, and he hadn't determined which.
"Need someone to do my paperwork for me. Transcription, dictation. Heard tell you're good for it." He cocked a brow, as if to finish with well? Prove me wrong, prove me right, but prove something.Sunshine Alouette whoops i looked up his profile but totally missed his rank
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Posted: Mon May 10, 2021 6:34 am
“Um…” Roselite began again.
He watched the effect the General’s arm had on the door with wide eyes, first wondering how he was going to explain the damage to Captain Bloodstone, then wondering if it was even safe to allow the General into the office.
Not that he could refuse, could he? The General outranked him, and it wasn’t Roselite’s office to begin with. If Faustite wasn’t safe to have around, surely the Negaverse would have seen that some sort of safety measures were enacted to deal with the issue. Right? They weren’t incompetent, right?
Any existing measures that may or may not be in place clearly didn’t extend to the paperwork. Beneath the initial concern and the shreds of terror that always put Roselite’s nerves on edge, he experienced something like pity. It must be frustrating not being able to do one’s work without… well, without setting it on fire.
“I… Yes, Sir, I can—… Would you like to come in?” he winced. “Captain Bloodstone isn’t… umm… he’s not here right now but… I’m Lieutenant Roselite, Sir. I… help with the paperwork, so… Yes, Sir, I can—… whatever you need.”
Struck by the sudden realization that he was still in the way, Roselite stood aside and opened the door as wide as it would go, allowing Faustite to enter as it pleased him, and praying the office didn’t catch fire in the process.
Did they have fire extinguishers in the Dark Kingdom?
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Posted: Wed May 12, 2021 5:16 pm
So Bloodstone wasn't in. To Faustite's estimate, Roselite had two working hands, had learned at some point in his life to hold a pen, was probably raised in a school system where he was taught to write and read, and had a basic understanding of how to follow orders if he was recruited into the Negaverse. All things considered —
"You'll do." The General played the gentlest soccer to get the glove full of paperwork past the doorframe.
If nothing else, his years of burning taught him how long he could touch a surface without it smoldering, and how long, still, before catching fire. The Negaverse's penchant for stonework was thus an immeasurable boon, and where he could not touch people or wooden doorframes, he would linger on cold stone for as long as he wanted.
That courtesy did not, however, extend to offices. Seemed most people wanted to break away from the sameness of the rest of the Citadel.
"These are draining reports," he explained as he tapped the blackened mess with the side of his foot. "There's a Post-It on one of them with the numbers. Tried to get my youma to write it." Cephalopods weren't terribly dexterous with pencils.
"While you work on that," he hunted for a suitable chair — or any surface that would stand up to heat, "you can tell me how long you've been in the Negaverse. And why your Captain lets you sit in his office without him."
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Posted: Wed May 12, 2021 6:32 pm
Roselite continued to stare, gaping like the unintelligent fool he most certainly was not.
“I… Yes, Sir!” he said, scurrying to do as he was told.
The glove was not quite a lost cause, thankfully. Roselite would hate to see the paperwork go up in flames. Draining reports might not be the most important information to pass through these halls, but the lack of all relevant files would leave them with erroneous numbers, which led to more work in the long run, as agents rushed to fill quotas that might have already been met.
Delicately, trying not to singe his fingers or damage the files as he removed them, Roselite retrieved the papers from the glove and carried them to Bloodstone’s desk.
“Umm… if you’d like a seat…” he began upon noticing Faustite’s search.
Roselite scoured the office for anything that might prove useful, but the most he could find other than the uncomfortable wooden chairs Bloodstone kept around to discourage guests from staying long happened to be an equally uncomfortable metal chair folded up in a gap between the wall and a filing cabinet. It offered an ear-splitting screech when he unfolded it.
“I don’t know if this… umm… it would probably melt, wouldn’t it?” he mumbled, nervously wringing his hands. It did not escape his attention that Faustite expected answers. “I’ve been in the Negaverse for… a little over two months, I think. Captain Bloodstone works long hours. Not here. Or… not just here. As a civilian, too. I… I help where I can. The office is quiet, so… he lets me use it while I work. I've been handling most of the paperwork while he's busy elsewhere.”
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Posted: Thu May 13, 2021 2:39 pm
"Two months and you're alone in the office." Faustite drew out a smoky sigh. Must be some great a**.
He remained quiet while Roselite found him a seat, and quieter still while he watched the way the blonde boy's spine bent and his hands shook under their payload. Nervous thing, always stumbling through his words. Never thinking them through. Stroud would hate this one, find him useless, and for that, Faustite thought he could grow fond of this one. Even if he was someone else's.
Because ******** Stroud. He took his seat.
"The paint will go first," he offered. Some cheap latex base, he would imagine. Its strange rubberized texture would fray off it like a sleeve. It would leave an impression, at least.
The chair squeaked and it felt like s**t, but s**t felt better than the floor. Faustite twisted in it, crossed one leg over the other, rested a forearm over the back of it and tapped restlessly at its curved metal backing.
"So you sit in here, alone for however many hours, doing his paperwork for him." Kept thing. Lucky you. "Then what? He pick you up? Lieutenants can't take themselves home." And reports didn't write themselves, either; he motioned silently to the smoky mess he left in the Lieutenant's care.
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Posted: Thu May 13, 2021 5:49 pm
Roselite scurried behind the desk and took a seat, flushing faintly as he settled into the supportive chair Bloodstone kept for himself, embarrassed to be sitting in comfort while a General sat on that.
Clearing his throat, Roselite shuffled through the papers to see what awaited him, answering as he did so, “There are barracks.” Not ideal, but there were officers who spent more time in them than he did. “But he hasn’t forgotten me yet. And I have snacks.”
Pausing to reach into one of the desk drawers, Roselite pulled out two clear containers — one half full of grapes, and another crammed full of chocolate cookies. He pried them open and set them both near the edge of the desk.
“You’re welcome to some… uhh…”
Roselite stared and was immediately ashamed of doing so, ducking his head again with a nervous swallow.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know if…” He picked at the post-it note affixed to one of the papers. “Umm… with all the fire… if you eat.”
His eyes flicked up to Faustite several times, unable to contain his curiosity. “I don’t mean to be rude, but…” A pause, a forceful swallow, and a determined breath. “How did that happen?” he asked, only for his confidence to desert him immediately. “Obviously if you don’t want to talk about it, I… I don’t want to pry.”
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Posted: Fri May 14, 2021 4:05 am
Interesting to see this one spend the night at the barracks. He smirked at the thought. Though, this one might surprise him — prove more resilient than the average kept Lieutenant. Or this might luck out and find more normal officers.
Looks like he preferred the healthy snacks, too. Faustite never minded absconding with a few cookies; he was ever putting a dent in Axinite's nervous baking supply whenever he visited. Scooting closer (if only for the awful screech), the General collected a handful of cookies.
"I eat," he answered, eyeing one up before he took a bite. He wasn't a b***h who spoke with his mouth full, though. "Have to eat a lot, though. Burn through everything."
That he stared was cute. Not his type, this one, but Faustite liked curiosity in recruits. Best if he could still follow orders, but curiosity begat ingenuity at critical times, where their youma companions only followed orders. Would be good to keep tabs on Roselite, see how he acclimates to the Negaverse in full.
At two months, Faustite hadn't expected him to know about the Negaverse's little secrets. "My first General and I didn't get along. He wanted me starseed addicted. Broke whatever bones he could on me so I'd need them. Ate one too many and," he snapped his fingers, "gone went half my humanity. That was years ago, now." He hadn't felt much about it anymore.
"I'm a youmafied officer. You won't find that in the Handbook."
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Posted: Fri May 14, 2021 7:51 am
Roselite tried his best not to look horrified. He thought it might be rude, and that advertising so much of what passed through his brain was probably a weakness, especially in a place like this. Alas, he was easily affected by the horrors of the world and couldn’t pretend otherwise.
And the horrors here seemed worse.
Often, he wondered what Bloodstone had been thinking when he recruited him. What potential had he seen? Roselite was too afraid of the answer to ask.
“I’m sorry,” he said, soft and uncertain. Some people didn’t appreciate sympathy over things that could not be changed, but Roselite was a sensitive soul and could not let the story pass without offering something. “That sounds… awful.”
An understatement, surely, but Roselite could find no words more appropriate. Clearly he was fortunate to have a superior officer who valued what little he could do.
“I… I didn’t realize there were people like that in the Negaverse.” Perhaps that was foolish of him, given the things he did know. This was a war. They were defending the Earth. However noble their cause, that sort of thing was bound to attract some unsavory characters.
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Posted: Sat May 15, 2021 3:50 am
"It was." The rest needed to be left unsaid; statistics said it would not happen to Roselite, that he would not be able to relate, and that mentioning more would do damage.
His first General had altered his perception on other officers — a trait that his second General solidified. Maybe lieutenants like Roselite who were 'raised better' would be more functional in inter-officer relations, or be able to lead operations without fractious backtalk causing more of a fissure, or falling bait to some officers' heckling. That seemed up to Captain Bloodstone, and Faustite was somewhat relieved that he didn't have domain over Lieutenants anymore.
"There are people like that everywhere. Give them power and their shittiness amplifies." Then they become Negaverse Generals who face few repercussions for what they've done to their recruits, he supposed. Not that Umber had a chance to face any charges.
So maybe that assertion was unfair, but he was still heated about the lack of support.
He didn't want to say that the Negaverse couldn't fix what happened to his body. He didn't want to mention that his second General was worse than the first. He didn't want to give the false hope that there were people in the Negaverse ranks that were inspiring, good leaders, uplifting. He couldn't find a positive to give, so he settled for a non-negative. "Never seen it happen to anyone else, if you were wondering if it could happen to you."
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Posted: Sat May 15, 2021 11:13 am
Roselite nodded, accepting.
He knew, logically, that evil people existed in all walks of life. The Negaverse would be no different. It probably attracted them like flies. There was nothing he could do to change that, or stop it from continuing. It was and would always be the way of the world. All he could do was bear the knowledge, confront it if and when he saw the proof of it for himself, and focus on his duties, endeavoring always to be a better officer, useful to those who required his assistance.
But he didn’t like it. He didn’t want to believe the worst of people. Surely they were the exception, not the rule.
Glancing at Faustite again, Roselite offered him a small, tentative smile. “Fortunately, Bloodstone seems… fair.”
He had the patience to deal with Roselite’s nervous stammering, at least, which was more than Roselite could say for other people.
Unable to come up with further reassurances, Roselite returned his attention to the paperwork, back to fiddling with the post-it. If he could allow himself to be amused by any of this, he might laugh that the writing on it was still somehow almost less atrocious than Bloodstone’s.
“If you want… I’d be happy to handle your paperwork for you on a more permanent basis,” he said, keeping his gaze lowered. Sometimes, talking was easier without the pressure of eye contact. “Whenever you need help. I expect I’ll be spending a lot of time down here anyway, so… if you want to drop it off more often, or… if you have your own office, I can come by regularly and pick things up. I’m… I’m not much for fighting yet, but I want to do what I can, and if that means pushing papers, then… I can push papers as long as I have to. Maybe even get more entered into the computer system so there’s less.”
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2021 1:48 am
The offer of assistance was absolutely perfect, just what he could ask for. What a lovely recruit, offering his not-on-fireness to help out a General. Faustite didn't even have to command it of him. He might even have good handwriting. Faustite might not even need his paperwork redone four times over because of singe marks or illegible scribbles, courtesy of a squid youma with a pen.
What a ******** dream, being able to file inane paperwork without it being rejected constantly. Faustite could almost smile if the entire concept didn't piss him the hell off.
"Thanks." While taciturn, it was heartfelt. Faustite stood, and the burn-scarred, beleaguered chair behind him squeaked again. "Office number's 430. Knock first." Best he didn't just walk into the things that happened to that office. Best that no one did, really, but most of the Negaverse sucked, treated him like burning garbage, and deserved any comeuppance that came their way.
It seemed a good time to leave, with everything squared away. He didn't want to stay too long — no one in the Negaverse was friends, really, and he wasn't friends with this one or his superior. He didn't drop by for a friendly chat.
But one thing harried him. He'd been in Bloodstone's office, knew the location, met Bloodstone's recruit, heard about Bloodstones busy schedule. So he paused, halfway to the door, and over his shoulder, asked, "who is Bloodstone?"sunshine alouette oof, bloodstone living that bad doctor handwriting trend if a squid youma beats him at penmanship rofl
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2021 7:26 am
Roselite nodded again, scribbling the office number down in case his memory failed him later.
He was very pleased with himself in the aftermath, happy to help, especially in a circumstance where help was obviously needed. As much as assisting Bloodstone satisfied the part of him that wanted to be useful, Roselite could not quite convince himself that Bloodstone actually needed him. Perhaps he wanted him there for his own convenience, but wants and needs were two very different things.
“Oh… umm…”
Pen hovered over paper as Roselite paused. He kept his head ducked down at first, a long, drawn out stare at the surface of the desk as he struggled to determine what Faustite was asking. Who was Bloodstone in the Negaverse? Who was Bloodstone outside of the Negaverse? Though Roselite had answers to both of those questions, he didn’t think Bloodstone would be very happy if he ran his mouth and answered the latter.
“He’s… umm… tall-ish? But not too tall. And… he looks angry a lot, even when he’s not. He has dark hair. Umm…” This was beginning to sound like Roselite might have a fascination with Bloodstone’s appearance. He swallowed nervously, and continued, “He reports to General Aurostibite. Or so he says. I’ve… never actually met General Aurostibite. Captain Bloodstone took me directly to General King Axinite when he first brought me here. He works with the Special Operations branch, but sometimes he crosses over to Intel? I think. He doesn’t talk about himself much.”Strickenized Guine read the handwriting bit and was like "Yup, that checks out."
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Posted: Mon May 17, 2021 3:07 am
The description wasn't helpful, but the rest was. Roselite would learn, in time, that Negaverse agents are easier described by their uniforms than by their personal appearances. That was a trait that came with experience, and Faustite doubted that exposure to officers would happen terribly quickly for this one, holed up in the office like this. Tall, dark, and scowling described half the Negaverse, so Faustite expected that he wouldn't know Bloodstone until he introduced himself.
Turning back toward the door, Faustite nodded. "I've seen Aurostibite before." Vain one, hosted the Negaverse tournaments. Thinking about them was a jab under the ribs that took him unaware.
Right. Tall-ish, dark hair, scowling, reports to Aurostibite, very busy, works primarily in SpecOps and secondarily in intelligence. "I'll keep an eye out for him." Faustite would tell him his Lieutenant was useful, if he thought he could trust anyone in the Negaverse.
"Thanks for your help. See you, then." Faustite clapped a hand over the doorframe, eliciting its complaints, as he opened the door and headed out. It left Roselite to deal with that awful chair, though it was probably for the best if the heat mangled it beyond repair. Better that Bloodstone find something more comfortable for his superiors, should they pay him a visit. Though, in SpecOps, Faustite expected that a lot of his meetings occurred in the field.
Strange to keep someone so nervous and delicate, then. Sensible for the paperwork of things, however. Bloodstone must be too busy ramming blades through people's guts and washing up after to fuss with his reports. Faustite could relate to the inconvenience of it.
Only cinders remained of his visit, and they burnt to ash quickly on Bloodstone's floor. It was the only parting gift they needed, really.sunshine alouette fin for faustite. thank you for the rp!
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