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 Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2022 7:21 am
The jacket was finally finished, and Lionel was pleased with how it had turned out. Thick black wool lined with satin and stuffed with goose down. It was sure to keep Eion warm without him having to layer in five or six other coats. The edges were embroidered with small designs of flames in silver thread. Simple and elegant, not even that noticeable unless you were looking for it. The buttons were a deep red, covered with a fabric that almost, but not quite matched the color of his pants when he was Faustite, and it was good enough that Lionel didn’t think it would be noticed.
Eion’s name was embroidered in the inside of the jacket, right at the neck, and over the i was a small flame instead of the traditional dot.
All in all, Lionel was prouder of this jacket than almost anything else he had created thus far, and he could only hope that his General would feel the same.
Swiftly, he folded the coat and put it in a box which he wrapped in silver wrapping paper and left the house, heading to the park before he pulled his powered form on like a jacket of his own.
Celadonite slipped the package into his subspace pocket and drew out his tablet, sending a message to Faustite.
Quote: General, I request a meeting with you, if you have the time. Please summon me to you so that we may talk.
Hopefully, this gift would bring a little bit of joy back to his General’s life. He had been so...off kilter after losing Lysithea.
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2022 7:50 am
Headache, who was Nembus again, waved an insistent hand in front of its General. Silently, it turned the tablet about to face its rightful owner, displaying a text onscreen.
Faustite, who was in the midst of examining some old maps of the Sunken City, shot his youma a half-lidded glare. Words died in his throat as quickly as they rose; he needed only a moment to read the message before he realized it wasn't worth chiding Headache. It was rare for Celadonite to address him so formally. It was unprecedented that Celadonite addressed him so formally on the tablet ********," he murmured.
Nembus!Headache nodded once, then turned the tablet back toward itself as it slowly, determinedly hunted and pecked each letter. It had gotten to the C before Faustite punched through its arm, sending the tablet clattering on the glass tabletop.
It was Headache's turn to shoot its owner a baleful look. Nembus!Headache's arm was still extended, though there was a gap between its upper arm and lower arm where the elbow once was. A scattering of fireflies reclaimed their spot in the complex illusion, and the arm was continuous again.
"Don't send that. Don't send anything." Then he sighed something smoky, rested his elbows on the glass, then parked his face in his hands. He lingered there for a long moment, then rubbed his face.
Any more of this, and I'm leaving for the Rift.
Faustite drew another breath to relax himself, then gathered his fingers through the air in a beckoning motion. Dread set his jaw tight as he waited for his subordinate — Albite's subordinate — to appear.
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2022 10:01 am
Celadonite gave a small smile as he vanished from the park and reappeared in Faustite’s office. “I can’t wait until I can just teleport myself. It would make it so much easier to come and see you.” He paused and blinked at…at Nembus?
For a moment, he just stared, and then broke into a smile. “We’ve been missing you! Where the hell have you been?”
…It seemed a little odd that Faustite would have summoned him with Nembus here but…that was…well! It didn’t matter. He didn’t wait before he threw himself at her, hugging her tightly, only to find that…she wasn’t actually there. Red fireflies swarmed out of where Nembus had been and Celadonite backed up quickly, eyes wide. “...Oh. That. Oh.”
He cleared his throat, turning back towards Faustite, disappointment in his eyes as his cheeks flamed from embarrassment. “I’m just going to pretend that didn’t happen and…go from there…anyway…”
Wow, that was enough to throw anyone off kilter, but he shook his head, trying to clear it and pulled the package out of his subspace pocket, placing it on Faustite’s desk. “I made this for you. I hope you like it.”
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2022 1:52 pm
Hearing Celadonite speak of the future brought Faustite such necessary relief that he hadn't thought to warn his Lieutenant about the impostor to his right. It wasn't until he watched his subordinate reach for Nembus that he realized the impending disaster, and by then, Celadonite was already in the thick of it. His arms closed around nothing, his balance suffered for it, and Headache exploded into a cloud of offended fireflies that strobed him for his insolence.
"Desist," he told the youma as he waved an arm at it. The bugs relented their torment of Celadonite, though they immediately swarmed over their owner and began landing on him.
And thus, a line was ******** off!" He hissed at the fireflies, swatting at them, teeth bared in a mix of rage and disgust. "Absolutely not, back to the ******** Rift, get out!" Blessedly, the flies were gone in moments. No dust, no violence needed, no repeated orders.
Faustite sighed. He looked up at Celadonite, who seemed to be okay, and nodded when he decided to cut the last minute from their lives.
Seeing a box come out of nowhere, intended for him, was a surprise he seldom encountered. He looked at it quizzically, and the elation came automatic — Celadonite made this gift. And while Faustite would've been perfectly happy to receive a gift like Waru's failed attempts to make tea sachets, Celadonite — Lionel — was a trained professional. What was inside interested him greatly.
First, Faustite borrowed his cincher from his own nowhere storage. Once he was sure it wrapped about his grate snugly and sat secure, he reached for the package. Long nails made short work of any wrapping, and he lifted the lid deftly, spun it upside-down, and set it next to the box. Tissue paper was likewise discarded, and inside —
Oh, a coat. He raised it up, unfolded it, inspected it. Terribly soft it was, well-made with hidden seams, and — his name was in it. Unconsciously, he tried to hide his smile.
"Must've underestimated how much my coats offended you," he teased. "It's beautiful. Very thoughtful. Would try it on now, but. That's better done somewhere brighter."
He rose, draped the coat over one arm, and offered Celadonite the other.
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2022 2:26 pm
“I figured it would be warmer than the five you wore to my place last time. It’s good wool too, so it’ll keep you dry if it’s snowing or rainy. Stuffed with goose down to hold in the heat, and it’s stylish, if I do say so myself. Which. I do.” It wasn’t that the other coats had offended him…but…at the same time, they really had. Celadonite looked extremely pleased with the fact that Faustite truly seemed to like it, and took his arm, leaning to press a seemingly careless kiss against his General’s cheek.
“It’s only the best for the best, you know. And I agree. You should have more light when trying it on. The embroidery at the edges is stunning in the right light. But still subtle enough that it isn’t gaudy. I did think about adding some gems to it, but I wasn’t sure how you’d take that. The next thing that I make you, though..I can just cake that in small crystals. You’d simply shine.”
As he should.
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2022 2:56 pm
Boys. Just. Boys. If he was ever undone by any weakness, that weakness would be boys.
Worse was how Celadonite endeared himself all the more to Faustite when he took up the offer for a free ride as an invitation to kiss him. On the cheek. How ******** maddeningly chaste and adorable. Faustite sighed something deeply exacerbated at himself.
He took up his Lieutenant's arm in his, pulled him around the side of the desk, before the pair vanished.
Where they reappeared was brighter, with the sky limned in roses and oranges, softened by retreating cloud cover. They appeared in a lush space of considerable size, something of a mini conservatory at the back of a recently defunct apartment building. Sprawling plants over trellises and hoisted skyward by stakes, still glistening from earlier rains, had just begun their subtle takeover of the space. Dandelions crept on the edges of meandering concrete while ivy overtook their wooden arches. The focal point of the area, a handcrafted fountain surrounded by concrete pedestals, sported a green-woven pergola overhead. The pair had reappeared near the edge of the garden, where a lock on two wrought-iron gates had begun to rust.
He donned his guise as Eion, skin mapping over his unyielding metal grate. Then he leaned up, pressed a quiet kiss to the sweet boy's lips as a more eloquent means of thanking the boy.
Then the invariable shiver for the elements set in; the weather warmed, but it wasn't warm. He donned the coat then, over top a black tank with a bold Italian statement and a pair of leggings screenprinted to look like birch bark. It fit perfectly; as he buttoned it up, he noted how the silvery embroidery caught the liquid gold from a dying sunset. He smiled.
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2022 3:42 pm
Celadonite watched, pleased as Eion tried on the jacket, as Eion kissed him. He let his own powered form fade, leaving Lionel again, a pleased, not quite smug look on his face. “It looks better on you than I could have imagined. It’s hard to really remember how extremely handsome you are when I haven’t seen you in a day or so. God, Eion. Meeting you is literally the best thing that has ever happened to me.”
He drew Eion into his arms and kissed him once again, eager and pleased that he was allowed to do such a thing. “I want to take you to dinner. I know you’re always hungry, so let me treat you, Eion? Let me give you a proper date. Get your mind off of everything. Then if there’s time left…”
He grinned suddenly. “You can come over for a bit. If you’d want to, that is.” Hesitating for a moment, Lionel drew away, taking Eion’s hand. “Or we can just order food in and you could come over right away. Your choice. This is your night, and I’m all yours. Forever.” It was a promise, maybe even a vow, but it was the truth. There would be no way he would willingly leave Faustite.
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2022 3:57 pm
When he was human, when he was Elex, Eion had dreams of growing to six feet. He thought that, if he took gym his junior year, he could start on a sculpted body. That had been one of the few things he'd been looking forward to before he was youmafied — that, and spending his time on more literary electives.
Standing at a forgettable 5'6" and damned to the same scrawniness he had years ago, Eion knew he couldn't hope to match his old goals. He'd spent some time letting go of that, moving on to acknowledge the otherness that was Faustite's appearance, but.
Compliments to his appearance nevertheless caught him off-guard. He flushed, and he fumbled for words, but nothing truly came to mind.
He let the comment slide as Celadonite faded and Lionel stood in his place, as Lionel drew him up close in an echo of what Faustite had done minutes ago, and he reciprocated — always, forever — the affection entrusted to him. Slipped his hands into Lionel's as he began walking backward, toward the rusted gate. "Imagine that," he responded with a smirk, "restaurant's half a block away. One of Waru's shitty dives, but the food's good, cheap, and plentiful." Javanese, he half-remembered.
He weighed his options, collated them. "Get takeout, go to your place." Then he smiled enigmatic, huffed something exasperated. "Forever's only three hours, you know."
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2022 4:13 pm
“Perfect. You always know what’s best, General.” Lionel grinned, though his eyes flashed for a moment as he contemplated the fact that forever was only three hours. That never seemed to be enough time for anything. And perhaps…he could figure out a way around that. Perhaps if he rattled his brain, thought about something other than fashion for half an hour…he could figure out a way around that sometime soon.
But for now, three hours would simply have to be enough.
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