Prompt 11 (Marshmallow Snow): Fresh-fallen snow coats Destiny City. It’s pristine and crisp, and it crunches as you walk through it. It may be a few inches deep, but it doesn’t seem to go above your calves when walking. At first, it’s easy enough to walk through, but gradually you realize that it’s getting harder to move. Every step you take feels like the snow is pulling you back in, and if you get a good look you might realize that sticky white fluff is clinging to you. The more you walk, the more it pulls, until you’re almost completely stuck. Something about the snow smells oddly sweet, and the tacky, marshmallow-like snow seems like it’s suddenly become a prison. The more you try to break free, the stickier it gets, and you’d better hope you don’t fall down. The more you struggle the harder it is to escape, but if you manage to stay still for a few minutes, the marshmallow will freeze and crystallize. When you move again, the snow will turn into a powdery dust and you can break free easily. The only good thing about this is that you won’t starve if you get trapped–the snow tastes just like marshmallows.
Last time she saw Sapphirine, her friend had earned a promotion. It was a heartwarming thing, seeing that, knowing that Sapphirine had to have deserved it. That she served the Negaverse to the best of her abilities and came out better for it.
Psilomelane followed a similar path, having finished her condensed studying of the myriad skills and perceptions that comprised a legitimate therapist. She would be an LCSW, which, to her understanding, was covered by most insurances. It was the credentialing that best fit what she wanted to do for the Negaverse. Afterward, once she applied and received some grant funding from Negaverse coffers, and pulled a few favors from a few people who identified themselves as resources, she began the long road to opening up her own practice.
It was only after her doors opened for the first time that Haspira was summoned, and granted new power for her accomplishment. It was a warming thing — power. Where it warmed, it also burned; she hadn't escaped that office feeling good for it, but she felt better. She felt that she could stand on even footing with her friend.
So she arranged to meet Sapphirine near the lakeside, where they first ran across each other. Only now, heavy snowfall rendered the lake nearly unrecognizable, but Psilomelane was stubborn about trekking across the lot of it to meet her friend. She told herself that it didn't matter that she hadn't yet figured out how to teleport — even if she knew how, she'd have marched across all that snow to meet her friend the old-fashioned way.
Except… As she trudged through the thick banks of snow with her newfound power, only moderately bothered by the cold, she found herself struggling to move. At first she thought she was going hypothermic. Then, she realized the snow stuck to her. In chunks. Was that why no one else was out in the cold? If only she'd known snow was like this…
orangeish sherbert
Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2021 11:19 am
Sapphirine had arrived early this time. She had wanted to make a good impression on Psilomelane, especially since her friend was looking to her as her…mentor? Leader? Whatever.
She had arrived early, and the snow had been so beautiful, it had seemed like the perfect chance to make a quick snow angel before her friend arrived…but she hadn’t counted on getting…well. Getting…stuck.
It had been almost twenty minutes now, or so she thought, and she was laying in the snow, her arms and legs spread where she had left them to make the decoration but…well. She was here. That had to count.
When Sapphirine felt the presence of another corrupt nearby, she smiled, though shivered as she lay there. If this was Psilomelane…she had gotten stronger too! If it wasn’t…well. Whoever it was could at least help her up, so that would be good. She wondered what to do about this, and finally called out. “Hello! Whoever’s there…I’m a little bit stuck. I think something’s wrong with the snow~ If it’s you, Psilo…I was here early for once!”
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Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2021 4:26 pm
"Wait," she called back over the snowy embankments. "Sapphir? You said something's wrong with the snow?"
As in, snow isn't usually like this? Her brows furrowed, and she looked at her legs where they were caked to overflowing with snow. She couldn't say she ever remembered the stuff, so she assumed this first experience with it was exactly how snow should be, and exactly how it has always been. But if it wasn't —
"Do you think this is a trap?"
Psilomelane squinted, then cast her attention this way and that over the long, rolling hillocks of snow. She saw nothing of interest — only more buildings, more empty streets, more parked cars presumably glued to the ground for how sticky the snow became.
She wondered, though: "can you teleport?" Psilomelane was too new to know how, but Sapphirine had been a Super for a while longer than her…
orangeish sherbert
Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2022 6:38 pm
“Something’s really wrong with it. It doesn’t normally get you…stuck like this…this…isn’t anything even close to what it’s supposed to be like.”
Trying again to get loose, Sapphirine grunted and then sighed, panting slightly and pondering if it might be a trap. “It could be I guess…but I don’t know who could have set it…like. If it’s magic, it’s pretty powerful and I don’t feel any senshi nearby or anything…ah…”
The next words made the corrupt pause and color with shame and utter embarrassment. She could teleport..why hadn’t she thought about that? Now that the idea had been spoken, it was the most obvious on and she felt like an utter fool…so much for being a good leader for Psilomelane…
Closing her eyes and focusing, Sapphirine did manage to teleport, landing the few feet away right next to the other corrupt and grinning as though she had just been given the world’s greatest gift. “I was so caught up in…being caught in the snow I didn’t think about that at all, and I feel a little silly…but. No. Snow’s supposed to be soft and fluffy and like, not sticky. This reminds me of…”
Sapphirine turned to stare at the offending snow and huffed. “...Marshmallow fluff? Which…sounds so stupid.”
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Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2022 6:27 pm
"… Oh." Now she knew.
She hadn't tried to move just yet. She didn't think it wise to expend energy wriggling around before they had a solution to try. While Sapphirine spoke, Psilomelane wondered about her magic, but her sphere had little to offer in this sticky situation. Really, none of her magic helped much here.
Sapphirine concluded that it likely wasn't a trap, owing to the fact that there were no other senshi around, which led Psilomelane to hum thoughtfully. She wasn't panicked about it, but she was curious what they could do.
Her musing was interrupted by Sapphirine popping into existence near her, and she startled within the confines of the cement-like snow. She chuckled afterward. "Marshmallow fluff?"
Psilomelane rolled her shoulders and felt the snow pull and give. Maybe Sapphirine was right? Leaning down, she gave the snow a sniff. "Actually…" She sniffed again, brows furrowed. "You might be onto something? It smells sweet." Which lent to a much stranger idea.
"Should we eat it?" She looked up at her comrade quizzically.
orangeish sherbert
Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2022 6:54 pm
Sapphirine was mildly annoyed that she seemed to be sticking in the snow yet again, but at least she was vertical this time, when Psilomelane’s suggestion nearly caused her to laugh so hard she would have no doubt fallen once more. “You…are truly full of interesting ideas today, aren’t you?”
Now the the suggestion was out there, and the thought that they could be just…wading into marshmallow fluff made it so that Sapphirine very much wanted to eat it, thank you. “If it is a trap, or if it’s poison, maybe one of us should test it first. And since I’m your mentor, I don’t want you to get hurt, even if you have risen to my level! I’m still responsible for you, even if it’s just in spirit, so…” She leaned down carefully and took a large scoop of the snow into her hand, sniffing it before licking it with a slightly concerned, slightly excited expression.
“...it tastes like marshmallow fluff…”
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Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2022 12:39 pm
"It seemed logical…" She felt a little embarrassed for the suggestion, but let it go. Even if Sapphirine was laughing at it, it was good to see her happy.
Then she went with it, which led Psilomelane to believe that she wasn't laughing at her so much as the idea of it. An idea that she took seriously enough to try, which Psilomelane watched with owlish eyes.
And then…
And then…
She confirmed their suspicions. Marshmallow fluff. They waded into a minefield of marshmallow fluff. "I wonder if their factory exploded?" Because why else would there be chilly marshmallow fluff sticking to soldiers and catching them unaware?
Come to think of it, Psilomelane couldn't say she'd ever tried marshmallow fluff. It took effort to crane her half-stuck neck over to her shoulder, but she managed it, then licked the fluff covering part of her uniform. Sweet, light, kind of tasteless in a weird way. She liked it again. It melted in her mouth, similar to cotton candy, but not as quick. A third time told her it tasted different than sugar, though she couldn't say how or why.
"What if we took some handfuls, teleported out of here, and jarred some? And then we each took showers because I can't abide being this sticky…"
orangeish sherbert
Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2022 7:45 pm
Sapphirine looked pleased and laughed. “That sounds like a great plan. We can jar it and I’ll make us some sandwiches with it while you shower, if you’d like? We can head back to my place, have a party.”
Or at least dinner. And a movie. Snuggle with her cats? It all sounded like a good time to her, at least.
“You remember where I live, yeah? Why don’t we teleport into my living room…I know it’s dangerous and like, not recommended, but if we do it and drop our powers super quick, I don’t think it would cause too much trouble. And we just won’t do it often, yeah?” This was a special case though. This was…them covered in marshmallow fluff and cold and…just.
Uncomfortable. Anyway, rules were made to be broken, and even if Psilo was now the same level as her…she was still the mentor so…it had to be okay! Seriously!
“You know, if we do that, we might not even need the showers, but you are still more than welcome to use mine! We have all the fancy stuff, of course.” Sapphirine grinned and scooped up two handfuls of the stuff and nodded to the other corrupt. “See you at home!”
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Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2022 4:34 pm
Psilomelane considered questioning Sapphirine's judgment, but that was as far as she'd gotten, for two reasons. One, Sapphirine teleported out before she could finish a thought, and two, Sapphirine had all her experiences and memories intact, and Psilomelane often defaulted to people like her, as she trusted their judgment more than her own. All of this left Psilomelane staring at air, mouth open, and index finger raised, as if she was requesting a pause. Then she felt very foolish.
Her hand dropped. It was Psilomelane's living room, after all. Who was she to tell Sapphirine what to do with her own living room?
Then she shut her mouth. Even if she wanted to protest right now, she'd have to call Sapphirine to complain.
"Okay then," she confirmed to the air, as if her friend still stood before her, "see you at home." Then she closed her eyes for a moment, gathered herself, and vanished from the marshmallow snow.
