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The Lantern Festival (10) : Scientists have been hard at work trying to understand the strange, glowing qualities of the luminescent caterpillars found in the caves by the reservoir. The caterpillars still shrivel up if they are taken out of the caves but their glowing secretions have been processed into an organic paste that can withstand the outside world. The city is selling paper lanterns infused with various seeds. The glow paste is full of minerals to support healthy plant growth without risking damage to the environment; all lantern purchases come with a small packet of activating power that will heat the paste up enough to mimic the effects of a candle without the concerns of flammability. When the glow paste loses its heat, the lantern will return to the Earth and upon the first rain (or any contact with water) the paper will dissolve and the seeds may begin to grow. All proceeds from the lanterns are put right back into the community to support local conservation and environmental protection efforts.
When Basyl had returned home one night with a little package of lantern, seeds, and powder, Nataniel had expected it was an activity for them to do together. It seemed like the sort of cute, standard couple thing that would happen on a television show or something; go out into the backyard and send the glowing object up into the sky to make a wish on or some such like that. Basyl had probably been conned into buying it because of his goodness, and Nataniel had to be the one getting roped into completion of the activity. His boyfriend really should learn how to properly communicate disinterest...
Honestly, the way people peddled him things like booklets, green star charms, candy, and activities that Nataniel then had to secretly throw away- because Basyl's troublesome hoarding tendencies wouldn't allow him to discard anything himself- It should be more upsetting...
Imagine his surprise when he was informed, no, it was not for them to do together.
...It was for Nat and someone else.
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"You should invite him over again to hang out for a little while. He's j-just a kid, Nataniel, and it sucks to only be called on when there's something b-bad happening, or when there's chores to be done. You'll make him feel unincluded if you talk to everyone else more than him... Don't you think?"
And Nataniel didn't know how to argue against this. He did spend personal time with Tanwyn, Gideon, and Zaidyn that didn't always involve Negaverse obligations. They were friends that he could play games, eat dinner, have a drink with. And Mier was- a teenager.
Nataniel wasn't very skilled at dealing with teenagers.
But he spoke often about how he wanted to be able to trust the people he worked closely with. He held little reservations about keeping his identity, and even the rest of his teams' identities, close to his chest. Mier already knew most of them, putting him in the possession of actual life-changing information, if he wanted to do anything with it. Despite already giving him such power, it was hard to have any real trust or sense of camaraderie with someone he spent little time with.
Nataniel allowed Basyl convince him to invite Mier over to their house again, and let himself be coerced into doing a silly activity he was sure the teenager would have no interest in- but wouldn't be willing to say as much, since Nataniel had suggested it. If he looked a touch sour as he stood across from Mier in the backyard, holding the little lantern as he waited for the other boy to "activate" the powder or whatever, there was nothing to be done about it.
He puffed out a quiet sigh, expression once more sliding into perfect neutrality. "Do you think you would stay in Destiny City a while?" Nataniel asked after a moment. "Or is there somewhere else that calls you?"
He didn't know what exactly prompted the question; maybe it was just because Mier was young, and it seemed to Nataniel like he was just now reaching an age when he could decide where exactly his future would take him. He'd known a handful of people who'd wanted out once they were of age, and Nataniel didn't know enough about Mier to tell one way or the other how he felt. Or what his future goals were. Where he wanted to be in one, five, ten years.
xshiningamisgirl
Quote from Basyl by Moxie!
