Welcome to Gaia! ::

Encke, wisp hanging out above his shoulder, was distracted from his text conversation with Viatrix when he felt another aura come toward him. He lifted his head, let out a lilting curious note, and couldn't help the smattering of snickers and chuckles that left his lips when he realized what exactly she was asking him about. Eat a bunch of lightning bugs.

It hadn't been the first time he had heard something like that, been referred to as a lightning bug. It was oddly fitting, considering the lightning that sparked overhead on his planet. He knew that lightning bug was usually in reference to fireflies, but--

"No, I didn't have a firefly brunch," his voice was playful, light. "And I suppose you could say this is something that happens when you get more powerful as a senshi, yes, though it doesn't happen without some extra effort. You don't just start glowing when you reach your eternal stage. Not quite how that works."

Encke gestured for her to come a bit closer if she would like, holding out his hands so she could inspect the markings if she wished.

They sat on his fingers, on his arms, on his face, on his shoulders - if she wanted him to, he would pull off his boots too and show how they appeared on his body in an apparent pattern. The pink glow the marks emitted were warm, and if she touched them directly, he would allow a bit of soothing energy to slip from his body toward hers.

"I'm Transcendent Eternal Sailor Encke. The Transcendent part is how I glow. And you?"

The wisp danced around his head, seemingly watching Keiko with its own curiosity.

Encke wasn't about to judge her, but the explanation made laughter escape his lips nevertheless. Wiffleball bats at fireflies hadn't ever been anything he did, but he supposed that would make quite a glowing display. Usually, he just left them to fly, sometimes spinning near them with the delight of a child, but--

He didn't mind the comparison, in any case.

"You're fine," he reassured, and the smile almost seemed echoed in the way his wisp danced behind him. "The space stuff?" Was she referring to Caedus and his fellow aliens or was she referring to her own planet? Presumed it was probably Caedus and his fellow aliens, considering she spoke as if he also knew about it- "Ah, Caedus and Lyndin? I know Caedus from a few years back. He always said he would come back with something that could help us, so I'm excited he came back with a possible solution."

The concept of not waking up worried that someone in his family or one of his friends had been eaten or turned into a monster-

He shook his head out of it.

"Anyway. Good that you mention space. Transcendence is related to space. So far as I've been able to gather, it's a reward your homeworld or wonder gives you for paying attention to it and helping it. You glow and gain the inability to hide anywhere," that was said as a joke, his eyes dancing as he spoke, "but you also gain some other benefits."

He gestured to the marking on his forehead, the symbol of Encke's Comet itself.

"Gained these after figuring out how to get my comet's power back on."

At the concept of Caedus doing that, of all things--

Well, he couldn't help the way he burst into laughter, that time, not at her but just at the imagery of the aliens turning into an actual invasion that belonged in a horror movie-- (Please, their lives were enough of a horror movie already.) "He was, yes. He opened a portal into Negaspace. Allowed us to get in there and make an actual strike against them." His smile was fond. "From what I've gathered, they held him captive in the Rift for close to a millennium. Can't even process what that must have been like, to be honest," couldn't even imagine what trauma that would have been, "but he's definitely not here to lay eggs in our stomachs."

The laughter had calmed, but he still chuckled.

"Here to give Metallia a bad day, though, yes. That's what we're hoping."

You just get everything, don't you?

His comet felt like everything to him, in a lot of ways, the place in space that was fully his, the place that birthed an entire people at one point in the past, a place that had one point been thriving in more ways than just plant life and ghost towns--

"To be honest, to say my homeworld looked more barren at first wouldn't be inaccurate. It had buildings, sure, ruins of the past," a nod to the ruins she mentioned, "but your homeworld resonates with you. I put work into ... fixing the place up. Encouraged plant growth." Even planted some things. "Restored a fountain. Made it into the main city and explored the homes, brought up things like vacuums and paint and concrete and-"

He cleared his throat.

"All places in space look a bit worse for wear at first, but that's because they've been abandoned for a thousand years. You can make it better." He paused. "I don't recommend eating the rocks, though."

Honestly, Encke didn't disagree. When he had told the rest of Richard's family about the truth of the Negaverse, he would always very distinctly remember what Lee had said to him: "Wait, Ig, this isn't just an elaborate prank? Really? The villains are named the Negaverse?" It had taken Ignacio a few minutes to stop laughing when he realized the absurdity of what he had been telling the group of them-- "It worked to a degree. We got hundreds of starseeds back from them." He cleared his throat. "And I believe the knights got a code piece back. But no, didn't eliminate them."

More snickers left his lips. "Not too worried about you coming after me for egg stomach."

This was nice. After everything recently, this felt more like a lighter social call.

And the idea of helping someone with their homeworld--

"Oh, absolutely," she hardly had gotten the chance to finish her sentence. "I'd love to help you out. The more of us, the safer Order is as a whole, after all." He'd explain that part to her next. "And a tent would be a good start. I'd recommend going out and buying some insulated sleeping bags if you can. And it's likely there are settlements on your world somewhere. Finding the remnants of one of those would likely help as well."

He didn't quite let her get a word in as he continued, "It'll probably be something different for you. Seems to be personalized to the senshi or what the homeworld needs from them. In my case, it was the power. In Pendour's case, it was cleaning out the bones and algae and refilling the pools. But I'm the senshi of plasma. Might have something to do with the electricity."

"I'm not memorable enough already?" His tone was playful, even as he played along, leaning to the side and throwing a wink as well as a sideways stuck-out tongue.

The absolute fountain of excitement - or perhaps avalanche of excitement was more appropriate, Luke would have been proud of that joke - that poured from Keiko was enough to feedback into Encke's. To see someone so legitimately enthusiastic about fixing up their planet, even if just to get a glow on their skin; she hadn't even known the full benefits yet, and that made Encke almost certain she would be a dedicated candidate.

There was only more to follow that was beneficial, right?

"I'm serious about the offer to help." Encke grinned, still a bit carried away by the excitement of helping someone else with their place in space. "The size of the homeworlds vary. Mine's a comet, so it's not," he chuckled, "huge, or anything. But my sister seems to have a whole planet orbiting a star in a different galaxy, which is pretty cool."

His eyes widened for a moment. Snowbike. Snowbike -- yes. He had read about snow bikes before. "That'd definitely help you get around the place a bit faster. Snow bikes are usually just dirt bikes with a special kit on them. Not cheap, but you definitely could get one. Recommend starting secondhand or used. Or with a snowmobile."

That was a good question. Was a snowmobile small enough to be teleportable by a senshi? Considering Encke could in theory take a small group of people at this point, surely a snowmobile was manageable, but then again, he wasn't exactly a basic senshi anymore-- "Good question, honestly." He pursed his lips. "Maybe give going to the gym a few times a shot first? Snow bikes are probably lighter weight."

But potentially more expensive.

Now he was thinking about how to price all of this out--

She was planning. Encke liked the sound of planning. Planning meant that she was going to make a project out of this. And a project out of this meant that perhaps she would be more likely to take on transcendence--

"Ah, I'm free most evenings," he offered, with an easy smile. "I'd also love taking you to my comet! Honestly, I quite enjoy showing it off." One of the things he was proudest of in the universe, really, moreso than even his own career or his own recovery.

He paused, thought about it, and asked, "Do you want to know what else comes with transcendence, by the way? It's not just getting some fancy bioluminescence."

Sexy with a little definition? He couldn't help the smirk on his face. Well, if he could sell transcendence on just making someone more attractive, perhaps this would be easier than he thought...

Encke snickered to himself.

"I mean, is the informercial working? Hope I don't sound like that thing you watch when you're an insomniac at four in the morning." Not that he was, ah. Familiar.

He was very familiar.

"The transcendence can come with the ability to transfer energy to someone, so I suppose it could feel different. I'm not sure if tingle is the right word." He held his hands out for her to take if she wished. "I can transfer some energy to you now if you'd like, see how it makes you feel. You can also gain a boost to your magic, so far as I've been able to figure out." That was what Pendour had. "Also," he cleared his throat, "Negaverse can't take your starseed anymore."