The Calling (7) : A beautiful melody drift on the air from somewhere far away. The vocals are in a language you don’t quite recognize, but feel somehow familiar to you. Something about the song calls to you, but no matter where you go, the song seems to sound the same distance away. The longer it goes on, the more emotional the song becomes--and the more emotional you become. Something about the song is possessive and consuming, like it’s all you can think of. Something resonates in you as the song crescendos, and the feeling is at its strongest--be they good, bad, anything, but suddenly the song fades, and there’s only an emptiness inside of you. The feeling of loss is strong, and can leave someone feeling emotionally numb. Someone out there was calling to you, and you couldn’t find them.
He always preferred being deliberate — thought it more professional to be deliberate — but Axinite cut his office from the cloths of comfort and familiarity, which spoke more to his impulses. Lately he'd been thinking of Axinite's cookies, warm and delectable, buttery soft with a crunchy outside, each chocolate chip stubbornly holding its shape until it made contact with the roof of his mouth. He knew he could always go back for more, which perpetually haunted the back of his mind. This time, he wondered if Axinite had a recipe on hand for some peculiar, if equally mouthwatering cookies that augmented the partaker's eyes.
Thinking he'd evaluate Axinite's patience for drop-ins, Faustite augmented his usual route through the Citadel to pass by his boss's office. Easy enough to loiter by the door for any voices — Axinite's signature often blew out any others in his immediate vicinity — and if he heard anything, he'd save this excursion for another day.
As he reached the correct hall, he caught sight of a familiar someone exiting the office. The abs-on-display corrupt by the name of Taenite, he remembered, who'd have received a medal from him by now. Headed his way, too.
"Taenite." Faustite slowed his approach. Cute thing, if frustrating for all his taunt. Sphere left more questions in his mind than most; did the fire vortex behind the grate count for a fire whirl? Could Taenite make something of that, pull it from his being and use it himself? And was it too I-read-vampire-romance-novels of him to think it implied any sort of predestined feelings?
Probably. Steeling his jaw, he mentally dumped those thoughts behind the grate. "Need to talk to you."
guine
Posted: Wed Jun 30, 2021 6:16 pm
Helping Axinite with paperwork wasn’t all fun and games. Sure, he got any number of baked goods that he could imagine, and he got to pick Axinite’s brain for random bits of information, especially about himself outside of being a General King. (This was a lie. Axinite didn’t seem comfortable with telling Taenite about himself for whatever reason.)
But he also had to actually do paperwork. And it was boring. And tedious. And something that someone else should be doing, but he definitely wanted to make a good impression, so he stuck it out and did all the menial tasks that gave Axinite just a little more time to wallow in self pity.
He was done with paperwork for the day, and was getting ready to head back to the city (after finding someone to hop a teleport ride with) when he caught sight of General Faustite in the hall.
Taenite winked, pointed a finger gun at him, and then stopped dead in his tracks.
“Me?” he couldn’t help but question. Why would he need to talk to him? “Sure, what’s up?”
Alas, there were still no s'mores.
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2021 4:50 am
Faustite wasn't even sure what that gesture was supposed to mean, or why anyone would use that gesture on him or any other superior, so he stared at Taenite's hand for a hot minute, then promptly decided to pretend it never happened. And the wink? It all probably meant Taenite was weird, or he was making fun of Faustite in a way he hadn't comprehended yet.
The latter was usually the case with recruits. His last meeting proved as much.
Hand on his half-gone hip, Faustite stood to the side and waited for Taenite to catch up before he started walking. Angled his head toward one of the lesser-used hallways (probably because the stairs were crumbling and no less than three lieutenants bruised their egos on the way down). "Need to ask you something.
"At the meeting — you were teasing me when you winked, right? And just now?" He was certain those statements were true, but he had to prove to himself that he had no chance. Had to, or he'd be stuck on this pretty boy with his ab window and his stupid, ridiculous gestures.
He lingered at the head of the stairs, waited for that answer. He was so, so sure of it. So convinced of it. He needed only hear it for his own good, then he could push Taenite down the stairs, be mad about it for a few days, and life would return to normal.
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2021 1:15 pm
General Faustite was definitely an interesting one. Taenite knew very little about him other than that he led the operation to try and collect more energy and starseeds and then ended up out of commission for a bit. Those details he didn’t know much about.
“Teasing?” he asked in surprise, and then frowned. He supposed his winks could be considered teasing, but it was just habit by now, he didn’t even realize it. “Not at all. I suppose it was a bad time at the meeting, but you seemed interesting so… I haven’t exactly met many people who were on fire. I didn’t mean to offend you. And if I just offended you again, I won’t do it any more,” he promised, holding up his hands as though that would somehow prove his trustworthiness.
“You’re cute. No offense,” again he held up his hands. “If you’re not into that, consider it never happening again.”
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2021 1:33 pm
"There aren't any others." Better to put any potential hunts for more perpetually burning people to rest. Faustite found it enough of a time waste to find any other half youma, let alone those like him.
"You think I'm cute." Not what he expected. Found a ********> Shame the Negaverse wasn't full of people like Taenite, if he wasn't leading Faustite down a gullible path to making a fool of him. Seemed sincere, though. Could still be lying. The cindered General felt well enough to roast him, by now, if that were true.
He blinked up at Taenite, thought about how to say his piece. How to explain that he didn't care about his gestures if they weren't aiming to get under his skin, and how Taenite struck him as different from the rest of the crop that showed at the meeting, and that he was glad he didn't eat the boy when he had the chance. But all of that seemed extraneous. Why would Taenite care about any of that?
"Not offended," he shook his head, "I —" oh, ******** it, "— can spare a couple hours if we go to your place." Couldn't help the flush afterward; he hoped the room was dark enough that it would pass off as firelight glow.
guine
play that funky music, he doesn't deserve nice things
Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2021 2:10 pm
“Good to know,” Taenite nodded, a mental note that the only one capable of making s’mores on his own body was General Faustite. Of course, he was preparing to have to defend himself when Faustite repeated Taenite thinking he was cute. In all of his experience, Taenite found that some of the worst company were those who focused too much on their appearance.
Which probably didn’t say much about himself, although he hadn’t cared when his hair went white at an early age, before it became a trend.
His eyebrows raised with surprise with how forward Faustite was, but couldn’t help the slow grin on his expression at the sight of Faustite blushing.
“Just a couple hours? I guess being on fire has something to do with it? I’d be up for th--”
But something pulled his attention from finishing his sentence. Somewhere, up the crumbling stairs (maybe?) there was someone singing.
“Do you hear that?”
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2021 2:35 pm
At first, he didn't know what had him looking away while his face flush lingered. He wished it hadn't, and he thought his embarrassment over his lack of self-control was the cause. But, he realized as Taenite's grin unfolded, that it was how he was being observed. Not as a specimen, or a creature to fear or hate or deride. He was apprehensive to like it, being seen as something else, though he didn't quite know what Taenite saw him as.
He nodded, feeling a little less catastrophically awful. "Can't fake human for long —"
It was his turn to quirk a brow at Taenite. Hard to focus on his face and not his abs, but Faustite looked for where he was watching. "Mm? No, nothing." He admitted. He shifted, looked about. Saw nothing. Heard nothing. His hearing was decent enough, he thought.
Was someone trying to sabotage him? Who did he have to kill? Was it a youma? Those little b*****d rats knew better after he pinned every one of them. If it was a recruit, he could shake n' bake a few before it tarnished his record. Disappeared into the Hall of Shadows, the lot, wouldn't heed his warnings. But, for the fact that he heard nothing…
Was he being let down? "You're not…" Maybe he shouldn't have asked.
guine
Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2021 8:21 pm
“I swear I heard something. Like some creepy siren… which… is probably a horrible idea to try and find in Negaspace,” Taenite frowned and then cringed at the thought. He could still hear the singing, but… there could be other singing that he was already more interested in. Creepy Negaverse sirens be damned.
“You’re not bailing on me, are you?” he asked, lifting a hand to wave by his ear as if he wanted whatever music he could hear to go away. Of the two things he could choose from, he would much rather focus on the physical than some disembodied voice.
“I mean, you can change your mind at any time,” Taenite clarified, holding up his hands to show that he was unarmed, for whatever good that did. Nothing, really. “But I’ve already made up mine. If now isn’t good for you…”
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Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2021 2:25 pm
Regardless of how he tried to obscure his thoughts, Faustite had a very legible face. As he watched Taenite paw at his own ear, his face read plainly, oh, that's cute. But the expression was a fleeting one, for Taenite brought to his attention much more pressing matters.
Faustite started toward the main hall again (where he hoped they'd distance themselves from the siren song, as Taenite spoke nothing of it there), caught the corrupt's sleeve in his grip, and pulled. "No, we're going," he insisted. Sure, they both had an out, but Faustite didn't want an out — he wanted an in. Taenite was the first person to be receptive to that.
He didn't like the way it left his heart racing, but Faustite tolerated it. The flametongued General glanced back at him once they reached the main hall. He had forgotten to let go.
Hard to look at his face, all that shame from admissions, but he forced himself to it. "Street or landmark — something a couple years old." He'd been all over the city; shame if they had to play guess-and-check for them to find somewhere near Taenite's home. Worse if they had to travel far for it. Each passing second was another second closer to the cloud-haired recruit changing his mind.
Because he would, eventually.
guine
Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2021 7:29 pm
Not looking for some disembodied voice in the pits of Negaspace was perfectly fine by Taenite. There were much more interesting things to do, after all. And he couldn’t stop himself from grinning in amusement as Faustite took hold of his sleeve and tugged him along.
“Yes, sir,” he answered, not quite respectfully, but also not mockingly. “Know where the Heartwood district is?”
Also known as the Historic Heartwood District that boasts some of the oldest, and largest, homes as close to downtown Destiny City as one could possibly get. Queen Anne style houses on surprisingly spacious lots for being so close to downtown, and large, mature trees were characteristic of the neighborhood. The whole neighborhood had seen its share of gentrification and modernization, but kept all the characteristics of the older, historic homes.
He lived there for the convenience. Not that he was there all that often.
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Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2021 4:07 am
Faustite knew he wasn't much of a sir — while a General, he still wore the face of a teenager, and hadn't done much to earn respect among the ranks. It hadn't bothered him when Taenite used the term out of turn, though it reminded him that he needed to somehow become a better leader.
But not right now. Definitely not right now.
He quirked a brow at Taenite, studied him, though he nodded at the name. Heartwood was full of those age-old, multimillion-dollar homes perched on prime real estate. Despite the money involved, the Historic Heartwood District wasn't immune to Destiny City's powered problem. Faustite had been there before, though not in recent memory.
His most recent visit had been as Elex, he knew. Family friend owned a house right on the district's cusp, on a smaller plot, nearing the arts district. Friend of his dad's, the guy was a landscaper, but married into good money. Their house acted like a gateway drug to the Heartwood district — iconic, well-kept, beautiful, don't you want to live here. He remembered the back garden most distinctly, used to hang out with one of the suns around a great stone fountain, where verdant fronds and deciduous trees lent a little privacy. The house was a Victorian, not quite a Queen Anne, which made for an easier time with the roof.
"Alright." In a breath, they were there, surrounded by brilliant flowers and freshly-quenched garden. In another breath, they stood at the apex of a steep roof, and Faustite caught his breath as a dizzying drop passed through him. "You lead, Moneybags."
Another few breaths and he would follow after Taenite.
