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 Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2022 11:07 pm
His head hurt. Monoceros was pretty sure it was because of the way he was still avoiding thinking about anything too much, too deeply. He still had a promise to fulfill, but he couldn't find Lysithea, and he didn't want to be too suspicious. He Wasn't sure what way to go, what was best, and thinking about it made his head hurt, just like not thinking about it did, so what was the point in the mental torture? He sighed, sitting down in an eating area in Negaspace and opened his packed lunch. He was too tired to do basically anything, exhausted from all the things constantly happening to and around him. All the information to be taken in and thought over, and he just wished he'd never become magical at all. None of the stories he'd ever read had been realistic enough; everything was always happy in some way, but this just sucked. Whatever. At least he still had a nice lunch to eat. He was very proud of his cooking, leftovers or not. And of course the universe couldn't just leave him alone for a few minutes. Someone spotted him and started making their way over, and Monoceros just wanted to take a forever nap. This sucked.
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Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2022 11:13 pm
Alkmene didn't often seek people out in Negaspace. It just wasn't worth it to spend too much time down there, unless he had to; even if he wasn't near the Rift or the Hall of Shadows, he sort of felt perpetually menaced and unwelcome. His usual response to the feeling was to straighten his back and sashay harder, but it was still a feeling.
And yet, as he crossed the communal space, his eyes fell on someone familiar.
There was no way he was ever going to forget the Senshi that had helped put Faustite together again. An enemy, technically. A friend of Lysithea's. But here he was, corrupted, and Alkmene broke into a grin. He strode over, and plopped himself down next to the other Corrupt, crossing one leg over the other.
"Hey," he said. "You might not remember me, but I very sincerely owe you one."
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Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2022 11:19 pm
Huh? Monoceros blinked at him in confusion, nodding slowly. "Yeah, I can't remember anything," he murmured with a slight frown, wondering... wondering what this person was going to say to him. More lies? Some more bullshittery about who he'd been, what he'd done, the things he believed? He didn't want to believe everyone was so cruel, but between Arsenolite, Ashanite, Michel, and honestly, probably Marialite, too, but God, he didn't want to believe the worst of any of them without proof. He had proof from Arsenolite and Michel that they were b*****d-coated-bastards with a little nice streak in there somewhere, but Ashanite, Marialite, and this guy hadn't done anything yet... Still... He just shrugged. "So, you gonna tell me what happened?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2022 11:24 pm
Didn't remember anything. Alkmene frowned, faintly. That was....not what he wanted to hear; he knew that his own memories of being a Senshi were gone, but he'd kept most of his life as Malachi, and that the relative lack of loss came from his willing acceptance of Chaos.
Which meant that Monoceros hadn't been willing.
Tragic.
"You saved my General's life," Alkmene said, honestly. But there was something about the way he said 'my General'--some deeper affection that he put into the title that made it sound much more intimate. "He's...important to me. And you've probably heard about a massive battle, a few months back? He was assigned to guard a piece of magic machinery, and when it blew..." Just remembering it brought back the feeling of wet, black blood splattered on his body.
He reached down to smooth his skirt and remind himself that it wasn't there.
"....When it blew, he blew. But you had some kind of magic item, and you used it on him, and put him back together. So....thank you."
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Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2022 11:28 pm
Monoceros raised his eyebrows, resting his chin in his hand and humming. "Saving a life, huh? Guess I'm some kind of good person," he said, staring into the distance. "Or was, anyway." It was probably really stupid to be so vulnerable around someone he knew nothing of. But he couldn't bring himself to care. He wasn't sure he'd care if someone stabbed him or something right now. Empty. "Your General, huh? Sure he's not anything more special? With the way you said that..." He trailed off, giving a tiny, teasing smile. "I'm Monoceros, by the way."
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Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2022 11:37 pm
Alkmene blinked.
And then, like an idiot, he reached over and put a hand on Monoceros's shoulder. It sucked, seeing him look so lost. Alkmene wasn't exactly one for inspirational speeches, or anything, but if there was ever a moment, this was probably it.
"You still can be," he said. "Look, there's some pieces of s**t in the Negaverse, for sure. arguably, I'm one of them. But there's pieces of s**t on the other side too, yeah?" He shrugged his shoulders. "What color you wear doesn't determine who you are."
And then his cheeks went very red at Monoceros's insinuation, and he looked away, bringing his arm up to cover his face.
"I'm Alkmene, and no, it's not like that, okay? Like I said, he's important to me. He's been decent to me since I came over from the other side, helped me get settled, made sure I was connected with a Captain...." He shrugged his shoulders. "It's nice, but its not..."
Sure, Faustite thought he was pretty enough to ********, and worth being vulnerable with to an extent. Didn't mean that there was anything romantic between them.
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Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2022 11:59 pm
Monoceros liked that idea. That it didn't matter. He was pretty sure it did matter, but it was a nice thought to distract himself. Still... he'd done that while he wore white, and now... But he accepted Alkmene's comfort, enjoying the hand on his shoulder more than he thought he would. Damn, he was so touch-starved. "Okay, okay, sorry," he said with a small laugh, "It's good that you like him some, though, yeah? Ashanite's nice and all, but...ehh? I probably wouldn't go to him for anything personal." Or anything at all, really. But it would be stupid to say that aloud, so he kept it down, like he did with everything else. Keep it down. Conceal it. Don't feel it. ...He ate a bite of his food to cover up his laugh at his own dumb joke.
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Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2022 12:08 am
Alkmene shrugged his shoulders. "It worked out pretty well, yeah," he said, and he patted Monoceros's shoulder, and moved to stand up.
"Anyway, that's all I wanted, I'll leave you to your lunch. But, uh. Thanks. Again." It was genuine, and genuinely meant, he just wasn't sure he could handle much more of this conversation. There was far too much coming out that made him desperately uncomfortable.
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Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2022 12:46 am
He nodded, smiling a bit. "I'm happy to help," he murmured, unsure of how true that really was. Lies. So many lies. He shoved the thoughts away and focused on his lunch again.
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