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 Posted: Fri May 20, 2022 6:23 pm
Monoceros wasn't sure exactly why he was being called to Ashanite's office, but he was sure it wasn't anything too bad. He'd finally been selling in remarkably well, and he loved being who he was now. It had been so much hard work to get him where he was, feeling content and carefree, but it had been so worth it. The struggles and pain sucked massively, but ever since he'd had that initial meeting with Ashanite a while back where he'd done some kind of thing to help him overcome his own crossed wires? Pretty much smooth sailing, outside of the odd brain skip and empty aches that were ready to brush aside instead of focus on them like he did before. It felt so nice. So it was with a bounce in his step that he approached the office and knocked, humming happily and already planning to tell Ashanite how awesome he felt he'd been adjusting. The feeling of being cared for was wonderful, and he didn't want to put that in jeopardy.
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Posted: Fri May 20, 2022 9:18 pm
Ashanite sat behind his desk, frowning. The entire situation had him tied up in knots, and he hated it. If not even a youmaglia could conform Monoceros's thoughts....perhaps he might be more useful as a youma.
The thought was disgusting. Ashanite had only made one from a person once, and that had been someone who....well. Ashanite felt quite confident in his assessment that it was an earned punishment.
"Come in," he said, when he heard the knock at the door, "and please close the door behind you."
He knew that how tense he was had to show in his voice. Good. Perhaps it might begin to convey the seriousness of the situation.
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Posted: Fri May 20, 2022 9:39 pm
The terseness of Ashanite's voice, the intensity of it, like his very words might shatter at the slightest touch, brittle and dangerous, had Monoceros's mood doing a complete 180. He opened the door with wide eyes and shut it, moving in tiny steps over to the desk and sitting down across from Ashanite. "Sir? What's this about?" he asked, refusing to let himself bite his lip like he wanted. His heart was starting to race, and he just... he had no idea why Ashanite might be upset. Maybe Ashanite wasn't upset with Monoceros, but somehow, he didn't even have a shred of hope for that scenario. But he thought he'd been doing so well? Preemptively, his eyes watered, and he coughed ever so slightly and valiantly ignored it. Ashanite being upset with him upset him greatly, and he couldn't bear the thought of being even more useless than before. Or even a hindrance instead! But he still didn't know anything, so he quietly waited with a burning throat and watering eyes.
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Posted: Fri May 20, 2022 10:00 pm
Monoceros was....truly a pathetic sight, when he started tearing up. It made him take a deep breath, and then let it out, and he gestured for Monoceros to sit.
"I spoke to a Sailor Ingrid, a few nights ago." Ashanite kept his voice measured, his tone serious but not accusatory. "She told me that you had discouraged her from joining the Negaverse. Monoceros, why--?"
He needed to know. He needed to have answers.
"You must know that the Negaverse needs more members, and that it's better to turn our enemies into our friends when we can."
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Posted: Fri May 20, 2022 10:13 pm
That made Monoceros blink, and he stared, slack-jawed for a moment. What? "No, I—Well. I suppose it could've been interpreted that way, I didn't exactly phrase things the best in the moment," he said, face flushing. "She said she was going to join us, and I was like, all excited right?" He started talking rapidly as he explained, hands flapping about in the air for emphasis and gesturing things that really only he could understand, anyway. "And then she was all 'ooh I'm thinking of kidnapping my sister unconscious and forcing her in' and I was like, uh, excuse me?" he continued, slapping one hand into the other. "I would like her to come with her sister, of course, but my God, lady, take a minute to try and get other people to help you convince her to come over instead of, like, just being unable to do it yourself and then going 'oopsie, teehee, guess the only option is to force this on her without her consent!'" He snorted angrily, his mocking voice of Ingrid getting higher and squeakier in pitch as he went on, breathing uncontrolled. "I was just so angry, like? You know what I've been through, General Ashanite. And how much everything sucked for so long. You had to do something special to me to get my brain to finally settle, and I've been super happy here ever since, but man? The pain and suffering it took to get there sucked massively. I didn't want anyone else to go through that, yeah? So... I, um." He ducked his head in shame. "I may have yelled at her a tiny bit. I just... I can't watch another family get torn apart in the same way mine did," he said in a whisper, "I'm, like.... okay with Arsenolite, most days? But I don't think I'll ever consider him my brother the way he does for me. I just don't want Godiva and Ingrid to deal with the same s**t." Rubbing the back of his neck, he glanced up to Ashanite's unreadable expression, and rapidly continued, "But! I talked to Valjean! He's not favorable to the forced thingy either and I've been talking to Godiva and I think I'm convincing her to follow her sister without needing to be forced! Valjean said he'd be doing so, as well." He sighed a bit as he wound down, needing to just breathe instead of talk like his life was in danger. ....It probably was.
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Posted: Fri May 20, 2022 11:00 pm
Ashanite listened. He let Monoceros talk, and he listened, and he felt a sort of sense of relief. At least it hadn't totally failed. Perhaps it was a lot to expect that all the shaking around that had happened to Monoceros in his corruption would be completely erased.
Still, this couldn't stand. Forced recruitment was a tactic the Negaverse had at hand--one that had to be done, no matter how unpleasant, when an enemy was too belligerent but displayed potential use.
He stood up, and moved around to the other side of his desk, leaning his back against it and reaching over to run his fingers through Monoceros's hair.
"I see. She was quite upset when she spoke to me--and still seemed determined. It's true, that sort of thing sohuld be a last resort. But you must understand that it is a resort. That sometimes it is necessary. I think you can agree that it would be better to bring Godiva over, if she cannot be persuaded, than to be in a position where she might have to be..." He took a breath. Frowned. Made it clear, in tone and posture, how unpleasant he found the option. "Eliminated."
He twirled Monoceros's hair around a finger.
"Their older brother is already with us. He's been one of my subordinates for many years. My hope is to reunite them, and I would like to do that with as little friction as possible. So, if you can persuade Godiva to come over, that would be greatly beneficial."
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Posted: Sat May 21, 2022 1:08 pm
Monoceros wanted to nod, but Ashanite's hand was in his hair and he didn't want to shake it out. It just felt so nice, to be... physically acknowledged. He abruptly wondered when the last time he'd been really hugged was. If he was just... starved, deeply, for attention, if a little hair petting was enough to bring tears to his eyes again. He swallowed, eyes shutting as he leaned into the touches. "I'm gonna do my best. I don't want more people to die than necessary. More people to suffer than necessary," he whispered, unconsciously nuzzling towards Ashanite's hand. "Being in that position... I don't want to wish it on them, but I understand the need. I do." He took a slow, deep breath. "I hope that they can reunite well with their brother. Maybe it will go more smoothly for them than it did for me," he said with a small laugh, finally opening his eyes again to look up at Ashanite with a sweet smile. "Current company notwithstanding, of course."
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2022 1:20 am
"Good boy," Ashanite said, and there was something almost purring in his voice. Poor, sweet Monoceros. It seemed that there were certain parts of him that simply would not be bent. But that was alright. They would make it happen eventually.
"I hope to make sure everything goes as smoothly for them as possible. And I need you to help me in that, Monoceros. So, please...be careful what you do."
Ashanite did not want to have to have a conversation with Faustite about why his subordinate had gotten in the way of one of Faustite's, in doing a corruption. That seemed like a gratuitously unfun conversation with someone Ashanite was actually quite fond of.
He bent, and kissed the top of Monoceros's head.
"I'm trusting you with this," he said. "I expect you'll live up to that trust."
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Posted: Mon May 30, 2022 3:45 pm
Monoceros shivered a bit when Ashanite called him a good boy, though he wasn't quite sure why that made him feel so... good, but in a strange way he didn't understand. But he liked it, and then Ashanite kissed the top of his head and Monoceros really thought his heart would just explode or something. His face was surely on fire, right? Maybe he would explode. "I... Yeah," he said, stunned, "I'll do my best. Thank you."
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