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It took all the effort in the world to not balk at the captain with his whole ‘I’m a higher rank’ bull s**t. But his blatant disrespect or quip comment would indirectly reflect poorly upon his general, Rakovanite.

Vaux was already on his s**t list after the situation at the Star Festival with Riley and his sister. The last thing he needed was to be on the receiving end of more ire especially when he was trying to make amends for his ******** up. Rakovanite did not trust him and made it quite clear what kinds of repercussions would happen if he displayed any more disobedient behavior.

Still, while he could manage a civil reply, the lieutenant could not bring himself to offer up a smile to play the part of looking friendly.

“Vauxite,” He replied. His eyes narrowed skeptically as he took in the Captian's appearance. The man, assuming that’s what he was since the black sclera, sharp teeth, pointed claws, and dark iridescent scales really threw him off. “No disrespect, Captain.” Truly, Vaux meant no offense when asking. “What are you?” The uniform and title suggested he was an officer, but the other little details genuinely had him confused.

His knowledge only extended as far as the information that could be gleaned from the tablet he carried. As of yet, he had not encountered one face to face, nor had he been inclined or invited to venture into the Rift either. Nonetheless, this meeting was definitely a first for him.

“Sounds like the risks outweigh the rewards.” Even with their shift in power, it seemed as if there were some serious fallback; perpetually on fire could be quite limiting and he supposed that this captain would likely become dormant and hibernate come winter. How useful of an officer would he be then?

“I don’t think this is an option suited for myself. So if you have any words of wisdom on how to avoid these kinds of changes then I would like to know now before it’s too late to make changes.”So serious and straight-faced. There wasn’t even a glimmer of intrigue in his stormy grey-blue eyes. “Please,” he added, after realizing that his statement had come off more of a demand than a request.

Something about this half-youma made Vauxite feel uneasy but he try as he might, he could quite place why.

Don’t eat the starseeds. Sounds easy enough. He knew of what they were but as of yet, he hadn’t taken one from someone to actually know the weight of one or this life-saving power they possessed. Hopefully, he’d never find himself in a situation where one would need to be used.

“Weapons?” Like Celadonite, his own were more like toys than things to actually fight with.

Vauxite raised his arms and as he close both hands two icicles appeared, tips pointed downward. At a brief glance, they might have looked like sharpened glass but in actuality, they were merely made of cheap plastic. Didn’t matter if either of them broke since resummoning them to his person would make them whole again.

“They’re not exactly something worth writing home about.” Not that there’d be anyone there to read a letter from him, but that was beside the point. Unlike the other items he had, these were more of a cosmic joke.

Vauxite caught the warning, but his movements were slower than the Captain, mostly because of rank. Normally he would have jumped back or ducked out of the way to avoid being punched in the face, but at this range, it didn’t matter what he did it was inevitable that he’d get hit.

Both arms came up, one to deflect the incoming punch and to push Celadonite’s arm to the side, while the other came up just beneath it. Icicle heald tightly in his fist, Vauxite extended his arm so that the tip of his weapon was pointed at the half-youma’s throat.

Knees bent, he braced himself for a potential follow-up maneuver; a kick to his side or for the Captain to try and swipe his legs out from under him. “Like daggers? Not really-” Vauxite grit his teeth as a dull pain shot down his left arm to his elbow from the strength behind the sudden attack. “I prefer to use them like throwing knives.” A distraction that allowed him to close the distance between him and his target.

Only when the Captian moved a step away did Vauxite allow his stance to relax. However, he was not quite convinced that this test was over and continued to eye the half-youma skeptically. Rarely did snakes strike only once

Although, Celdonite was being considerably forthcoming with his own weaknesses; specifically cold. It made him wonder if when he earned his own promotion, would these icicles he wielded become like true ice and offer him an upper hand? Or would they change into somethinging more akin to daggers that offered little advantage when pitted against someone with scales?

Things to consider if they ever sparred again.

“It is an interesting theory,” Vausite agreed while taking another step back. Only a fool would turn away from a potential threat, to leave themselves exposed. Behind that friendly smile, there were a row of teeth that could likely rip his throat out if he so much as misspoke or refused to indulge in the half-youma’s curiosity. And those claws-

Absently he pressed the heel of his palm against the claw marks on his chest; a phantom ache, a reminder that someone had been angry enough to leave him with this row of scars. Any attempt to remember who he had been fighting always resulted in the onset of a migraine, and at the end of the day, the memory of when this would have happened always remained a void in his mind.

“I’d like to believe that these changes were your body’s way of protecting you from whatever danger you were facing.” If he was truly sick with cold, or flu-like, symptoms then chances are the aversion to cold and love for heat were influenced by his core temperature at the time. A theory of course and one that would remain untested simply because Vausite was less than inclined to subject himself to a similar scenario for the sake of science.

“Pick a target, unless you’d prefer I throw them at you.”

“That’s fine,” Vauxite replied with a casual shrug. It took more than a flirtatious comment to offend him. A suggestive wink was nothing compared to a slap on the a** or an abrupt first kiss, which he expected neither of since Celadonite had no reason to believe he was gay.

“I don’t usually take the time to talk to anyone when I go out on patrol.” The exception was with Rakovanite since he was his General. Several times now he had gone out with Vauxite, kind of anyway-

They had used the earrings he’d been given so that Rakovanite could keep him in check. Too often he found himself in situations that he should have run away from. Or he had been a bit too aggressive with someone that could have been used to glean information through tactful interrogation, or conversation….

However, every time he encountered a White Moon Senshi or Knight, Vauxite couldn’t contain his anger. They were the reason his identity had been compromised, the reason he had to assume a new civilian name. It was because of them that he had to fake his own death so that his family could remain safe.

But was it really their fault? What if he was the one to have made that fatal mistake?

Honestly, there was no knowing since every time he attempted to recall even being a part of the Negaverse, missions he might have been on, or other agents he felt like he should have known, his mind came up blank. There was nothing there, no names, no faces, nothing. Just missing memories; holes in the timeline that he could not recall.

“You can consider this me trying to hone those skills.”

For the first time since their conversation started, Vauxite tore his gaze away from Celadonite and focused on the tree. As he took off towards it at a sprint, with his right hand, he threw the first weapon. It flew true and hit the target easily. Then, with his other hand, he threw the second plastic icicle. This one traveled about a foot too far to the right but before it could travel past the tree, he was quick to resummon it to his right hand and throw it once more.

The third attempt hit. If they were truly sharp then they would have likely stuck into the tree, but given what they were made of, both clamored to the ground where he retrieved them a moment later.

“They’re too light to always be accurate,” he explained since even the slightest wind would send them off course. "That, and I could always use more practice with them."

“I appreciate the referral,” and truly he did. However, he wasn’t certain how much weight it would hold. After all, he was still a Captian and this was the first time that they’d met; this evening had gone well, but it almost didn’t.

“I’m sure whatever you might say of me would help. However, my General will need to have the final say.” Vauxite dismissed both weapons before crossing his arms over his chest and leaning his back against the rough bark of the tree behind him. “I made a decision that if it had gone any other way it would have endangered my team.”

Giving his sister the hope that he was in fact still alive went against many rules. But his own ability to stay away from his family, to watch over them in the shadows, was becoming more difficult. Even as he stood before them as Reyes, neither Jenna nor his mother recognized his face, his voice, there was nothing about Aiden that still existed.

But now Jenna knew and fortunately she was a Dark Mirror Senshi, a member of an allied faction.

Still-

“I need Rakovanite to know that he can still trust me.” How long that might take was uncertain, but on his own, Vauxite would refuse a promotion until that trust had been regained. “But if you would like to do this again, we can make plans”