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 Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2022 8:25 pm
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Quote: The Caves (5) : To any explorers visiting the new Reservoir, they may find that just a bit away from the sandy water are a set of caves. Some of these connect back to the lake, but others rapidly plunge into darkness. It wouldn't be hard to get lost in here, but thankfully there are some very odd lights to help guide you out. If you turn off your light down some of these dark paths, you may find yourself surrounded by glowing pastel lights. A closer inspection reveals that you seem to be looking at some sort of glowing caterpillars. An internet search will reveal that Destiny City scientists have been researching the strange, unnamed creatures, but the articles are very limited. If you take them out of the cave they seem to shrivel up almost immediately. They’re neat, but clearly meant to be stay in their natural habitat.
The caves by the Reservoir were not everyone’s cup of tea. Lev vehemently refused to enter, concerned that Misha may hurt himself in the dark, until Misha smiled sweetly and did a little manipulating to convince his brother they’d be in and out in a matter of minutes. Yuuri didn’t refuse, but he was clearly cautious, anxious in a way he could sometimes overcome as a Senshi.
(Then again, as a Senshi, he could light up the dark fairly well.)
They began with flashlights, creeping through the darkened paths. Misha let Lev lead the way, if that’s what it took to make his brother feel better. With his ever present camera, Misha captured what footage he could, explaining their quest to his viewers as they went.
“We just need to go far enough to find the lights,” he said. “Apparently there’s some glowing caterpillars in here. I don’t know. Research is limited. It’s kind of spooky, don’t you think?”
He didn’t actually find it spooky. There were worse terrors to be afraid of than the dark.
“You okay, Yuuri?” he asked, swinging the camera around to get a brief glimpse of Yuuri’s face.
Yuuri was cute. Misha’s fans liked when he made appearances.
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Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2022 8:33 pm
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Of course Misha would want to go into a spooky cave where he might get hurt. Okay, he didn’t think the cave was really spooky, but he’d heard about the weird bugs, and he was not a fan of really low ceilings. For a very good reason! He was taller than his companions by nearly a foot, and Lev was already grumbling about how he was going to have a sore back once they were done there. He wasn’t claustrophobic exactly, but… anyone should dislike being in a space too small for them!
“Kind of spooky, ooh,” Lev muttered in a mocking tone, but not loud enough for Misha to think he was being serious. He just liked to complain. And he definitely didn’t want to step on any of those bugs.
And yes, it absolutely made Lev feel better now that he was able to be in the lead. And he had his flashlight out too. He had no intention of them getting lost in the dark.
Yuuri wasn’t sure why Lev was being so grumbly about the whole thing. Yes, Yuuri was being cautious too, but only because he didn’t want anyone to slip and get hurt. If they were desperate, he and Misha could just power up and teleport them out. Maybe it was because Lev hadn’t been promoted that he didn’t realize how easy it would be for them to escape, but he kept his mouth shut.
“I’m okay,” he said quietly as he watched his feet for where he was stepping. At least until he realized the camera was on him and then he felt his cheeks turn red. He glanced one way and then the other, before shuffling his feet awkwardly again.
He knew Misha liked including him in some of his videos, but… maybe Yuuri would just edit himself out later.
“Maybe they’ve been eating some bioluminescent plant,” Yuuri suggested, hoping it would be enough for Misha to focus on finding the caterpillars instead of filming him.
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Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 6:09 pm
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“Biolumi-what?” Misha asked, playing dumb.
He took pity on Yuuri and turned back around, trying to get a good shot of Lev hunching down to avoid smacking his head on the ceiling. His fans liked when Lev made appearances, too, even if he rarely had anything nice to say about anything.
The brooding was probably the appeal for them. They got sweet and bubbly from Misha, cute and shy from Yuuri, and surly model behavior (and an excellent profile) from Lev.
“You didn’t have to come,” Misha reminded him. “Yuuri and I have gotten into worse things than some creepy cave.”
He would leave that in for his fans, hook them into the mystery of what he and introverted Yuuri could have possibly done together, other than hunting for monsters throughout the city.
They went a little further, following the path around a corner. The cave floor was slippery in spots. Every once in a while, Misha heard the drip drip of water from somewhere, but never found the source. Their flashlights cut through the darkness, guiding the way forward.
Eventually, he came to a stop and said, “Turn your lights off.”
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Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 7:17 pm
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Lev bristled at the thought of Misha getting into anything worse than some creepy cave. Sure, there was the Rift, but what if there was more? What if that General King of his was making him do more horrifying missions that could endanger his life? Had Misha ever stopped to think about how he would feel if something were to happen to him?
He didn’t like the cave. He had to duck. He had to watch his step. He was taller which meant if he fell it would be with more force that he hit the ground. It was a bad time all around, in his opinion. He would have liked to just maybe look around and say ‘Ah yes, a creepy cave’ and go home to watch a movie or something, but nooo, Misha had viewers to please.
So when Misha told them to turn their lights off, he almost refused.
Almost.
He grumbled about it, because it seemed like a perfect way for them to get hurt.
But…
He drew in a deep breath and turned off his light.
Yuuri wasn’t sure if Misha was joking with him, but since he didn’t really wait for him to answer he assumed that he knew what he was talking about. Either way, he was grateful that Misha decided not to film him at that moment, although he knew he would probably give in and keep himself in the footage anyway.
Especially since he knew that Misha’s viewers tended to leave more likes if he or Lev were in the video.
As Misha instructed, Yuuri turned off his light.
In the pitch dark, it was impossible to see anything right away. But after a little while of letting their eyes get used to it--
“Oh!” Yuuri gasped and pointed to one of the creepy crawlies-- no, they were caterpillars… still gross. And moved closer to Misha, even if they weren’t going to leap out at him.
He hoped.
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Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 7:49 pm
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Misha generally didn’t care for bugs. Like, they were fine; he wasn’t gonna freak out about them, but he also wasn’t all that interested in them besides “oh, that butterfly looks pretty” or “wow, that beetle’s huge.”
But he could play it up for his fans. “Oh, wow!”
They were caterpillars, and they were glowing. Pretty pastel lights all around the cave. Misha panned around with the camera and captured what he could. He didn’t expect any of the footage to be good, but that wasn’t always the point. Sometimes it was the experience, the knowledge of what he was seeing, and his viewers living vicariously through him.
“Not so bad, huh?” he said, giving Lev a jovial slap on the back.
He tried to get both their reactions on camera, too, but seriously doubted he managed to capture much, even with his camera’s fancy settings.
“So the glow bugs are real! Imagine that! Destiny City sure is amazing! And look at how cute they are!” he gushed, moving closer to one to get a better view.
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Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 8:08 pm
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Lev grunted when he was slapped on the back, and crossed his arms so he could scowl at all the creepy little creatures that were crawling around on the floor. Sure they weren’t so bad until they found out later that they were clogging up the water supply or poisoning the soil or turning into creepy radioactive butterflies, but that was fine. Destiny City was full of weird and strange things.
It probably didn’t help that the Negaverse had such a huge presence there, what with their youma prowling around the place.
He grumbled about how they were just bugs and rubbed at his chest, and then the scar from a wound that had nearly killed him. Sure he was still alive, but only because Misha’s General’s boyfriend or whatever seemed to show him some pity.
Lev still wanted to break Aquamarine’s nose, but he wasn’t a bad General. He let him do what he wanted at least. He hadn’t been harassed about too much.
Although he was pretty sure the other person under Aquamarine had already been promoted. Maybe Aquamarine was just pissed at Misha for being as adorable as he was.
Yuuri stayed near Misha as he panned the camera around to try and capture as much of the cave as he could. The bugs were pretty to look at, but he couldn’t say he was all that excited about being down there.
Still, Yuuri was pleased to have a friend like Misha. He certainly wouldn’t have thought about going into those caves by himself. And Misha was always so nice to him.
In the dark, Yuuri gently wrapped an arm around Misha’s back and gave him a gentle squeeze. It wasn’t much, and it was too dark to really see anyway, but he wanted to make sure Misha knew he appreciated him.
Yuuri held out his hands after a few moments so he could take the camera from Misha. It was important that he got the lighting right, what with it being so dark.
“Get a little closer. I need a good thumbnail,” he said as he held up the camera, his lip twitching at the corner as he watched Misha with amusement.
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