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 Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2022 11:46 am
Takes place up until the pause in this RP.
Aquamarine sat at his desk, heart so far up his throat he could choke on it.
Jet wore one earring and Cymophane wore the other. Aquamarine had only one way of knowing what was going on topside, and that was to have Jet relay the information to him. When Jet left, he would have nothing until Cymophane returned.
But if Cymophane didn’t return…
There were too many variables. What if Ganymede and her allies didn’t believe Cymophane? What if they had some sort of test for him? What if they hadn’t bought into his innocent act the entire time, and this was all some elaborate trap? What if they took Jet and Cymophane both, or killed them as soon as Jet showed his face?
Jet had a team. Jet had Arles. Jet had something like a plan, but that plan relied on too many unanswered questions, and a great deal of luck.
At any time, their luck could run out.
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Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2022 1:33 pm
He could see the others waiting at the gate, could see where they were. “Try to do some research on the building once I’m there. There might be some old blueprints or something that will help,” he said to Aquamarine.
He was counting on Aquamarine to notify the rest of the team, of course. They couldn’t do anything yet, but once they figured out what they were dealing with, it would be another story entirely.
As Cymophane left the park and made his way towards the building, Jet shared the details he saw to Aquamarine in as careful detail as he could manage. He told him the direction they were heading, what Cymophane saw as he passed. Old buildings and a gate which behind stood Ganymede.
“Only the Jupiter Knights and Ganymede with them,” he confirmed, although there was no telling if any others waited inside the building.
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Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2022 1:52 pm
Aquamarine didn’t want anything to do with a team. If they couldn’t figure s**t out from what Jet told them and do whatever the ******** Jet already asked them to do, then they weren’t worth anything. They could all die saving Jet and Aquamarine wouldn’t give a s**t, so long as Jet survived in the end.
If Jet didn’t survive but the team did, Aquamarine would kill every last one of them, then sacrifice himself to the Hall of Shadows or throw himself off the highest part of the castle and hope the rough terrain below did its job better than half the agents in this s**t organization ever could. Maybe he’d let the Princess kill him, too, or have Sessrumnir finish what he started in her place. Maybe he’d let the Queen turn him into a feral youma or something, so he didn’t have to remember s**t, but he could still be useful to an organization Jet loved so much.
An organization that didn’t deserve Jet’s loyalty, much less his sacrifice.
“I know what building it is,” Aquamarine said, voice rough through a tight throat, unable to explain further than that.
The building might not even matter much. They could take Jet anywhere, if they let him live. Hell, they could take him off Earth if they wanted to, couldn’t they? What the ******** were any of them supposed to do then?
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Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2022 2:10 pm
Jet looked up at Aquamarine when he said he knew what building it was. "Anything useful you know about it?" he prompted, not expecting much, but any little bit helped.
"They might be using whatever they've got already. Cymophane can't feel their auras and--" he paused, frowning as Cymophane showed him the image of a cat with them.
"They have a cat," he said quietly as his mind raced through the possibilities-- the probabilities that it was the cat keeping the aura field dampened.
That was fine then. It meant they would still be able to teleport. Nothing about their plan was ruined because of a cat.
He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. He flexed his fingers, wondering if he would have them all by the time the White Moon was done with him. Would they torture him more than they did the first time they had him? Retribution for what he did to Ochre?
Ochre deserved his fate. It had been more merciful than he deserved. Quick. Probably painless, thanks to Jet's weapon's magic.
"Okay… I think it's time," he said to Aqua, and he reached out to give him one last hug. "I'll be okay. I'll come back," he promised again, because he was fairly certain he could read it on Aqua's face that he had his doubts.
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Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2022 2:32 pm
Aquamarine wanted to call the mission off. Jet told him he could, if he thought it was too dangerous, if he thought they weren’t prepared enough.
Nothing would make it less dangerous, not with a Princess, two Knights, a Page and a cat against one General. They would never be prepared enough. No amount of information gathering, no amount of clever deceptions in the form of a sweet face and big green eyes was enough to prepare them for what Jet wanted to do. The outcome relied on whatever choice the Princess and her minions happened to make. If they let Jet live, there was a chance this mission might end in success, but if they thought him better off dead…
If Aquamarine was in their place, he would think Jet better off dead.
But if he called the mission now, they’d fail before they were halfway done. He’d make a fool of them both in front of the Queen. Because he didn’t trust enough? Because he wasn’t willing to sacrifice enough? Because he didn’t care enough about the Negaverse, or the Earth and its people? Either way, they might never recover from a willing failure.
It seemed like an impossible choice. A part of him hated Jet for putting him in this position, for giving him the power to end things.
Aquamarine’s heart beat so fast he couldn’t tell one beat from another. He swallowed to loosen his throat, but that only made it tighter. Jet hugged him, and Aquamarine could only return the gesture with a loose embrace, gone tense and numb from fear.
Jet was leaving. Aquamarine might never see Jet again. They had seconds left at most, and it wasn’t enough.
This was it, the moment time ran out.
Aquamarine stood and nearly knocked over his chair. He grabbed at the first part of Jet his hands could reach — an arm with one, the sash over his jacket with the other. He stared into Jet’s face and tried to burn it into his memory, but his brain was working in overdrive, consumed by fear and dread and the one thought he never let pass through his lips, until it was spilling out in a panic.
“I love you.”
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Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2022 4:19 pm
Jet straightened as Aquamarine stood hastily from his chair, but he didn’t pull away when Aqua grabbed his arm and sash. He thought for a moment that Aqua was going to decide to follow through with Jet's promise to let him decide whether to call off the mission or not. But instead he got a--
"I'm sorry, what?"
His eyes were wide with disbelief, not because he didn't believe that Aquamarine loved him, but for those words to be uttered meant--
Aquamarine must really think he may never be able to say it to him.
Jet felt his cheeks darken and he grit his teeth in frustration as he grabbed hold of Aquamarine’s arm in return.
“You’re saying that now?!” he gaped at him with quickly increasing distress. “I’m literally about to leave, and you decide now??”
Aquamarine had never said it before. Jet knew, but Aqua never said it. His heart was suddenly racing, as though he realized just what he was stepping into. Before it seemed just something he had to do, but now it felt very real, very dangerous.
The likelihood that they wouldn’t kill him immediately was slim.
The likelihood that they would bother to try and capture anyone else was also slim.
The likelihood that they captured someone else and they were still able to figure out what weapon the White Moon had? That had even worse odds. No one else had Arles. No one else had trained with the sole purpose to try and subdue and capture a Princess.
He couldn’t stay, but he could see in Aquamarine’s eyes that he wanted him to.
“Aqua, I have to go.”
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Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2022 4:35 pm
“Just give me two seconds!” Aquamarine snapped, because now that the words were out he thought he was going to throw up what little food he was able to eat that day.
Or maybe he’d throw up the words again. Anything was possible at this point.
Okay, so he was going to need more than two seconds.
Whatever. If Jet’s little blond thing couldn’t keep the Princess and her Jupiter cronies hanging for a little longer, then what good was he? (No good at all, in Aquamarine’s opinion, but that wasn’t the point right now. The point was what he just said. He couldn’t take it back. He didn’t want to take it back, but <********> he thought he was going to die now that it was out there. Not from embarrassment, but because he couldn’t ******** breathe.)
“I love you,” he said it again, like he couldn’t stop the words from coming now that he’d said them once. “I’ve loved you for years. I might’ve loved you when we met, I don’t ******** know. I don’t know what the ******** I’m doing, but I know I don’t what to do any of this s**t without you, so I love you, and if you let them kill you I will bring you back from the dead so I can kill you myself!”
That was totally possible, right? Just take Jet’s body and merge it with a youma or something? Probably not, that sounded awful, but the point he was trying to make still stood. Jet was not allowed to die.
Aquamarine threw his arms around Jet and smashed their mouths together, hard. It was probably the worst kiss they’d ever shared, but he had too many thoughts and too many emotions building up inside to make it any more elegant than that.
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Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2022 5:09 pm
It probably was the worst kiss they’d ever shared, but Jet’s mind was swimming with everything that had just been dropped on him! He was about to possibly get himself killed, and Aquamarine had to throw him a curveball telling him how he felt. Actual feelings. Aquamarine didn’t share feelings!
’You know I love you, right?’ received an ’...okay…’ in response from Aquamarine. And any time Jet tried to show affection, Aqua would usually respond with disgust (even though Jet knew he didn’t mean it).
But now...??? Aquamarine was telling him now.
He didn’t let the desperate gnashing of lips last very long, and he pulled himself away to stare down at Aquamarine with desperation in his own eyes.
“I know! I’ve always known. I love you, too. But I have to go, Love!” he practically pleaded. He didn’t want to leave Cymophane there on his own for much longer, not when they didn’t know how long it would take for the White Moon to get suspicious.
“I’m not going to let them kill me,” he insisted, reluctantly prying himself away from Aquamarine so he could get ready to teleport. “So just breathe. I’ll make it back, I swear.”
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Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2022 5:24 pm
Yes, now. If not now, when?
Maybe he could have done it better, made it all gross and romantic or whatever. Flower petals in bed or… what did normal people do when they confessed their feelings? Hold hands? Exchange gifts? Make grand displays with fireworks and banners stretched across the sky from the backs of planes? Why did people have to make love so ******** cheesy?
For a second or two, Aquamarine refused to let go even when Jet was prying him away. If he let go, he’d lose Jet forever, a voice in his head told him. Paranoia? Or Metallia? Did she put voices in their heads? No, he was definitely just losing his mind. Jet was leaving and Aquamarine had no way to stop him that didn’t involve hanging their heads in shame in front of the Queen.
Alone, Aquamarine would do that gladly.
He couldn’t ask Jet to, not when he knew how much this meant.
“Okay… ” he said, forcing himself to choke it out, forcing himself to let go, even if it was the worst thing he’d ever done. “Okay, but I love you.”
Maybe if he said it enough before Jet left, he’d somehow have the power to call Jet back when he needed to.
What good was love or power if he couldn’t use either of those things to bring Jet back where he belonged?
“We’re gonna catch a ******** Princess,” Aquamarine concluded, even if he didn’t believe it.
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Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2022 5:39 pm
It was a relief when Aquamarine let him go, if only because Jet didn’t want his resolve to start to waver. He needed to do this. They’d planned as best they could, and they only had one chance.
If they didn’t take that chance, what if the White Moon really did have a way to cripple the Negaverse with their secret anti-teleportation weapon??
Aquamarine had let him go, but he lifted his hands once more to place his palms against Aqua’s cheeks. This time he kissed Aqua. And it was softer and not as desperate, despite the desperate undertone it still had. His hands slid back a little and fingers pressed a quick massage against the back of Aqua’s head and neck, trying to ease him of the tension that was obviously there.
“We will. And I love you, too,” he said as he pulled back.
He made sure Aqua’s eyes were the last thing he saw as he teleported.
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Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2022 5:45 pm
After watching Jet disappear, Aquamarine stood in their office, alone.
He wanted to scream. Aquamarine waited one second, two, but the only thing to break through the silence was the sound of his erratic breathing.
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