Strays (1) : Destiny City News reports several sightings of ‘feral dogs' appearing throughout the city. Those interviewed claim that the dogs would surround them and chase them down the streets, seemingly popping in and out of sight until the person finally found themselves in a well lit area. You have the misfortune of running into these same dogs.
They cling to the shadows as you go about your way at night. Seemingly at the corner of your vision, one flickers by, and you turn and see nothing. Again and again it happens. They are trying to drive you into the darkest corners of the city, herding you away from the light. In the nearby distance are the lights of the city: streetlights, signs, traffic. You have to do something to get there, to escape these creatures. When you make it to any significant light source, you hear a low growl, a wailing hiss; the dogs have vanished.
For now.
Cryolite was running -- out of breath -- out of time -- sick of feeling hunted enough to be haunted, but what little could he do against something he couldn't seem to touch!? Ragged and worn he slipped round a balustrade, ducked an adjoining awning, made for a ledge --- light fixtures around him seemed to crackle and pop -- shattered and died -- the second he thought he got away his unseen nemesis drove him deeper into, to where exactly?
He didn't know. The citie'd become a maze he couldn't slip free of, the darkness coalesced no matter which alleyway he dropped into, no matter whether he was Senshi or man!
So he made a call --- not to his boy-toy, nor his boss, nor his friend -- Well, maybe to a friend? The jury was still out on where this one fell between acquaintance and useful ally, but the tablet was already buzzing through -- it was somehow less embarrassing to ask Fulgurite for help than it was the other members of the team. He couldn't place the why, though he supposed once one had seen someone soaked in muck and ooze? Once someone'd been in his home? Well, wasn't that some measure of close -- while still being distant *enough* that the revelation of him still being so weak as to need aid would sting far, far less than Waru's knowing eyes or the others softer smiles.
"Fulgurite, if you get this -- I'm in dire need of a dog catcher," Cryolites breathless voicemail before it cut out to the sound of trash tipping over and iron-wrought rails creaking with the weight of shadows. He left his location on a roaming blip of red -- he moved -- hoping Fulgurite could find him before the sightless hounds did.
Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2022 3:50 am
There were relatively few people that Fulgurite might loosely consider a friend in the Negaverse.
Was Albite one? He wasn't entirely sure. They were equals now, and Albite had arguably been the first one to advocate so directly for his promotion. Sylvite--Nectaris--had been helping him that way, but she hadn't submitted him for his promotion yet. He respected Fulgurite's boundaries well enough, and even among his fumbling he had managed to not ******** that up. Albite tried to be close and friendly and helpful. But was he a friend?
Cryolite was a bit easier to answer that question for. Felt like it was a bond forged through the bad luck of being endlessly entangled by the same person, forged further by getting stuck with those ridiculous ******** blight monsters and then running away together at the end, but all the same.
All the same, it felt like a friend was a more accurate moniker for Cryolite than Albite. But was it? Was it just an acquaintanceship of convenience because each other was better than dealing with whatever chaos was set to follow with Albite and his burning husband?
Maybe it was because Albite had been another one of his endless chain of bosses until a couple of weeks ago--
So when a certain senshi made a call, a certain senshi answered, and even as Fulgurite wondered what the hell he needed a dog catcher for, he had teleported in with his new wings and his newly fancied outfit, following the source of magic that was much easier to track than it had been.
Much easier, actually.
"Cryo!" Fulgurite shouted, running over. He'd explain the wings later. Or never. That was fine too-- "Where's the dogs?"
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Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2022 7:42 pm
"Fulgurite!?" Cryolite nearly flinched at the sudden and swift approach of 'familiar enough' -- because the *face*-- ah -- the face was one he knew all too well. He could place the man over the Senshi at this point even, but the Aura:expansive, crackling, new. To top it all off, it came with a wardrobe change. How exciting. Cryolite wanted *that*, felt the faint crawl of jealousy in his bones, accompanied by a widening of eyes, the flit of surprise that stole his attention Fulgurites way, his mouth running on without his minds consent.
He'd been spending too much time around Albite...
"Albite went for be-corseted Chernabog, and I see you've gone the route of -- a Crobat? Do you get a speed boost, or are the a**-wings just added drag...." breathless words clipped-quick like grassblades beneath a mower, Syrus still had enough bitter vinegar and vim in him to tease, to smile like an afterthought, because he wasn't at all unthankful for the aid.
He hadn't actually been sure Fulgurite would come....
He almost wanted to ask 'why?'
But then the baskerville beasts snarled in the darkened distance, followed by the creak of tin and scruff of refuse along walkways -- shingles clipping off darkned rooftops n crashing down into alleys not far off enough for him to be comfortable -- broke his urge to ask, made him heave a sigh.
"Nevermind -- I expect details -- " a flip of blond and sharp motion to follow, if down hadn't worked so far then maybe going up would, "once this is dealt with -- if it can be dealt with? They've been trailing me, I expected youma, but every time I turn a streetlight, a lit window, a---they fall off my tail. Then everything shutters black and their back on me like -- like -- dementors? Those haunts from that cursed set of die..." and he couldn't exactly have gone running about lit up like a jack-o-lantern dressed like the worlds cheapest hooker, and coldest Senshi.
Attracting the dogs attention was bad enough, he didn't also want to attract actual enemies.
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Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2022 6:55 am
Cryolite of course noticed the damnable change in his outfit, calling him a Crobat before he could even quite protest the attention paid to it. Yeah, he supposed he was a Pokemon in their final evolution now. That was what eternal was for them, right? The third stage in their evolutionary chain? He was at his end, the maximum health points, the final powers, the final appearance first--
"Faster, yeah. Better control over the teleport, too."
Not that he hadn't had years to train that s**t.
He would have begrudgingly given more details--and begrudgingly because he barely wanted to--when he heard the snarling in the distance. Ah. The dogs. That seemed to be in a surprisingly literal sense, considering he didn't feel a youma aura heading in their direction. Dogs. Cryolite was being terrorized by feral actual dogs.
Alright.
"I got this--" what was he talking about with the die reference? Maybe Cryolite owed him his own story. Perhaps he could use that story to distract from his own eternal status. "Hey! Dogs!"
... Maybe there were a few advantages to his new abilities.
"Spring of Decay!"
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Eternal Sailor Attack: “Spring of Decay!” Fulgurite throws his arms over his head and spreads them out as he screams his attack. Phantom rushing water fills the surrounding 15ft radius. All enemies in this radius begin to feel slowed down and sluggish as if their energy is being sapped from them, leaving them feeling exhausted and making their injuries feel harder to fight off. Physically, they feel like they are doused in very cold water, causing them to feel the symptoms of being rapidly cooled--perhaps causing them to shiver, slowing down their movement, weakening their pulse, causing lack of coordination, or other early symptoms of hypothermia. The symptoms will fade if someone fights their way out of the radius. Any residual effects after the duration of the attack are up to the player’s discretion. (Uses: Once per battle. Duration: 45 seconds Range: 15ft radius)
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Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2022 3:14 pm
Well ******** yes, Fulgurite had always seemed powerful -- for all that he rarely showed it off -- but now?
Cryolite couldn't have begun to swallow the unexpected surprise that swept his features, the abject awe, facing down Albites magic was so different than watching this --- torrential tidal rushing down on phantom specters and howling shadows. The way it filled a space after and made everything quiet for brief seconds -- like he'd drowned the world.
"Do remind me, Fulgurite, to never piss you off..." and if he worked his jaw he could absolutely get his mouth to close, and blink into the dark heavens and ask *why* he'd been so cursed and blessed at the same time, "Also? ******** you for getting a promotion. You stunning b***h."
He'd deserved it, long deserved it, of this Syrus was sure beyond words. Knew that resigned look and tired sigh. Knew how time turned on a person and ground them down until they acquiesced to things they would've rather not.
Syrus wasn't sure whether or not the dogs had died, but?
"One more ask of you my friend -- while that all holds -- for however long? Do you mind getting us the hell out of here. Your choice, my treat?"
If it was his own adrenaline burning down until he was overtired, or simply the rush of having expelled his own magic and then the startling awe of having to jealously watch Fulgurites own rain down with such power -- knowing the ******** had more to spare even after -- Cryolite was tired just then; tired of his hooker heels, n holy attire, n flesh all on display.
What he wouldn't've killed to have been handed a sweater just then, and a fireplace.
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Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2022 1:28 am
"You do a better job than most," because a lot of things had pissed him off. A lot of things pissed him off even still, but Fulgurite had stopped having the energy to do much about it. Beating people to a pulp like he was in a deranged version of Fight Club had lost its appeal.
He lowered his arms and let out one of those tired sighs that perhaps Cryolite knew him for. Were the dogs gone? Maybe. He didn't feel like giving the time to determine if they were gone or not, turning away from where they were trapped in the waters and keeping his attention on Cryolite. "Thanks." What a dubious thing. He didn't want it. Fulgurite didn't want a second of it. Didn't want the attention, didn't want the power, didn't want the reinforcement that he, Sailor Crobat of Springs, was trapped there, forever.
At the same time, it was a compliment. Perhaps this was the start of simply being respected and left alone.
Cryolite was also offering to treat him to something. He did know an Indian place that tended to be open late that may have a good curry option or three.
"Deal."
Fulgurite grasped Cryolite's arm, and they were on another block before the radius dropped the remnants of the spirit dogs.
"You can get me curry. To-go is fine." Fulgurite dropped Cryolite's arm and rolled into stretching his arms over his head. When they made a loud crack, he let out a sigh that sounded a bit more satisfied than usual. "This place is open until like two AM, so we're not even pushing closure time. After you."
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Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2023 5:10 am
He did better than most at what, exactly? Pissing him off, not pissing him off, pissing him off in exactly the right ways?
He had little time to question it.
Not the tired sigh. Not the way that same sigh sounded much better satisfied in a stretch, than edged with notes of 'dear god why me'. Certainly there wasn't time to ask whether or not Matt was going to find the extra burden of responsibilities that came with the drag of those wings too great a burden. Whether he felt drag already, if he always had?
Maybe later. Since 'To-Go' had so many connotations tagged onto it. There was a fresh spark of interest in his icy blues for the now-eternal. The sort Cryolite knew best explored in the quiet of his mind; somewhere safe, brightly lit, with four solid walls. Far away from the unfilthed surroundings they'd fled courtesy of Fulgurites saving his a**. Maybe while also trying what sounded like a delicious bastardization of some traditional cuisine?
"To go? You just saved me and already you're in such a hurry? At least let me use the time you saved us by doing all of that-- to thank you properly." He twisted to eye the around the corner glow of a nice, welcoming, not shack. Shuttered his surprise for that, and all these new little things he was learning. That Fulgurite liked Curry, was an Eternal, had taste in eateries. He was so used to Waru's more eclectic venues that he sometimes forgot what a real restaurant looked like. "I don't like leaving my debts underpaid -- especially not the life kind, you know?"
And he was not going to debase himself or the establishment by ordering anything dressed like some half chewed upon ice-stripper fresh off the streets. Plus? Fulgurite was fielding all their rides tonight. Here. Home. Etcetra...
It meant he could ditch the guise. Power-down out of deep-blacks and overweighty blond lengths like so much snowmelt shedding off a sheer metal roof.
"Because if it has to be to go---I can think of a place to take it?"
Seiana_ZI
Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2023 5:19 am
Fulgurite rolled his shoulders, allowing them a satisfying pop as glanced Cryolite's way. Thank him properly for saving his life; the concept brought the edges of a smirk to a typically exasperated expression as he thought about it the way it was proposed. Did Cryolite want to sit down inside? It would be an interesting thing in their guises, but perhaps it was Destiny City and it didn't matter. Perhaps, too, they could find a way to hide away and quickly drop the guise.
There were plenty of alleyways. Plenty to leave behind what weighed on him constantly; the Crobat wings Cryolite had named were just another signifier of how much was expected of him.
There was always something else.
"Didn't mind bailing you out, for what it's worth." But for Cryolite, it had been a bit easier to answer that something else. Perhaps it was a debt all the same, but it rounded back to what had Fulgurite answering much quicker than he was usually inclined to.
He considered Cryolite someone he would call a friend.
It was strange to consider, especially after he had lost the team that had formed with Nectaris at the head. For a while, Fulgurite thought he had entirely lost the chance at those deeper connections, at least ones that were a bit more accessible. It felt easier to stand near his side in bigger meetings, in smaller ones, to bail him out and away, even away from the phone calls they had mutually ignored.
It was something to think about when the smells of the restaurant he was eyeing didn't smell so appetizing. He didn't mind the concept of Cryolite paying him back, because being treated to curry he had suggested wherever Cryolite wanted to head sounded like a perfect option. His brows lofted as he glanced Cryolite up and down, taking him in for a moment before glancing back to the restaurant he had proposed.
"Where're you thinking?"
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Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2023 3:05 am
Syrus hung his suspense for what came next on the hint of mirth that clung to the edges of Fulgurites smile: a dim yet pleasant thing that he matched with ticked -p wattage and batted eyelashes, playing at coy. He was sure Fulgurite didn't mind, but an inconvenience was an inconvenience still -- even if done out of necessity.
"Of course you don't mind, but? I've been trying to get into the habit of getting myself out of the troubles I get into." and he staunchly repressed the memories of that thrice cursed dice game from hell, the shudder that had nothing to do with the brisk air and shadows of the alleyways and side streets that surrounded them. "Plus, you're aware I've -- we've -- any of us, really? No end of 'heroic' acquaintances we can reach out to when weirdness strikes."
Their team was in the double digits. Albite loved to punch things. He'd simply wanted---
The hint would lay there, like a very shiny puddle, to be stepped in or avoided. He wasn't going to say it out loud, that Fulgurite hadn't been the first person who'd come to mind, he'd simply been the person he'd most wanted in the spur of a moment, reflexively, almost. Silly as that seemed with hindsight and hounds far behind him.
The next ask got a brow raised in turn, a roll of his eyes, because this -- this he knew must've been obvious as neon in the dark. Where, he asked? Really.
"My place, of course. Unless you've better places to be? A garden to water, a pokeball to dodge?" and he enjoyed teasing him like this, a gentler bit of a nudge with a knife meant for spreading butter instead of drawing blood. He always wanted to be gentler with Matt, it was the strangest ******** feeling. Going on even as he moved with his back to the restaurant's glow, heel to toing his way closer to it's warmth, step by step.
"I'm not going to thank you publicly after all-- We're not quite there yet, Fuloffight. Besides! To-go boxes are best eaten at home, where we can relax, and not -- hopefully -- be chased by wild dogs, or droves of zombies, or -- do I need to say more?" as if he expected the next words out of Matt's mouth to be yes, at speed, it didn't take long to get curry into a box right? To teleport out behind a tree, or a dumpster, or another alley...
Seiana_ZI
Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2023 3:57 am
The batted eyelashes had a way of increasing the smile on Fulgurite's lips, a soft, nearly muted whuff of air under his breath upturning his smile further. It was followed with an implication that matched what Fulgurite said. He didn't mind coming to bail Cryolite out. Cryolite had wanted Fulgurite to be the one to bail him out.
He ... liked that, really.
It was warming in a way, radiating out from his gut to his fingers, and he wasn't quite sure if he could describe why yet. As someone who wrote, he had some theories. He could associate it with other things he felt, too-- "It's true, you could've reached out to anyone. But you didn't." He wasn't going to blatantly say it because that wasn't the point of Cryolite's hints, but the message had been received.
It had been received loud and clear.
He snorted again, a bit more than a breath this time, as he followed up with, "Perhaps I should go hide in some tall grass." He didn't have a Pokeball to dodge and he wasn't needed in a garden. Being thanked somewhere more private where they could just eat their curries and talk as wanted felt nice. He had a feeling Cryolite was going to suggest his place, and to hear it confirmed made it even easier.
It was fortunate his place was never suggested. Fulgurite wasn't sure how he'd explain the teleportation to Dad if he ever figured it out.
The further he could keep his family from this s**t, the better.
"I'd rather hide out at your place, though. Let's get some curry?" He jerked his head toward the restaurant. "Not sure how much you've had Indian-style curries but I do have some good recommendations. If you're not used to the spice, keep it to a lower level or you'll probably regret it. If you're at all vegetarian I highly recommend any paneer varieties..."
Until interrupted, Fulgurite was happy to wax poetic about curries and other Indian foods. Samosas, for one, were quite nearly brought up in the same breath.
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Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2023 10:15 am
No I didn't, did I.
The thought for that was soft as the blush that graced his cheekbones; an edge of pink on pale skin for the act of being acknowledged without feeling caught out in the nude with his own burgeoning feelings. Tentative things with no clear path, just a new line of 'something' to explore.
"Oh, you---" and he was glad Matt saw it his way, because there were more than enough bushes and trash bins to rustle around in where they were at. They could've made a terribly macabre game of it even. Hell, he could've invited Albite's bird to use 'peck' too. He wasn't grinning like an idiot for the joke, the eye-rolling thoughts of his own that followed. He definitely wasn't warm from feel of joy blooming up easily in his chest.
It was just residual adrenaline from all that running -- jumping -- senshi-ing...
He was however, sidling up against Fulgurite, and taking his arm up like the man attached to it owed him a debt. Possessive where dark nails found blue swaths of water patterned cloth, clingy enough to seem like he was stealing warmth as much as he was walking alongside the slightly taller man.
"I've had little enough of it that you'll be doing the ordering and I'll be handing you money. If they ask which of us is the escort? We're going to tell them I'm paying you, generously, at that." offered lightly, because Syrus didn't have boyfriends he could often do this with. He had acquaintances, one night stands, and carefully scheduled part-time lovers. Maybe even the occasional nuisance of a friend who insisted he turn his hunt for a bad time into a much safer, far better time; the sort his control-freak of a self held the reins of. Made the dates for. Planned extensively.
"Their confusion will be palpable...and so long as it comes with those flat breads and doesn't set me on fire? I'll consider your wise suggestions as explorations of flavor," encouraging Fulgurite to keep talking even as he tugged him along. He hadn't listened to someone talk about their love of food so much since...
Except Fulgurite wasn't Albite in the slightest. Hell, he wasn't Albite, either. He didn't want to literally kiss fire and romanticize his own survival, but a little heat couldn't hurt any more than listening to Fulgurite speak in sonnets about the stuffing of a samosa. While Syrus also wasn't vegetarian, he did enjoy how clean and flavorful the food of that variety was from places that made it properly. He certainly wouldn't discourage Matt from ordering him some if Paneer was half as delicious as it sounded.
"Now explain to me the rice? It's the one thing I know is good, though for the life of me I cannot pronounce it's name properly."
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Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2023 11:03 am
Fulgurite caught the way icy cheeks seemed a bit rosier at his response -- not so rosy to imply extreme embarrassment, but maybe the same sort of warmth he felt in his gut. The first thought that bubbled to his mind was that it was cute, and he almost wanted to poke at it further, but perhaps he didn't need to.
"Me, hmm?"
Cryolite was on his arm, and as Fulgurite leaned toward him as they walked, he was quite happy to keep him right there. Perhaps it could have been interpreted as possessive, but to Fulgurite it felt close. Nice. He had been missing this kind of closeness, but it wasn't just the general closeness of it all he has been missing. There was something very specific.
Very specific to this.
"Oh, I've always wanted to be a high-value escort." Fulgurite actually laughed for that. "The kind that people pay thousands just for a night on a date with. Could really do my gardening in peace then; wouldn't truly need the money that I earn from it." Of course, being the escort with Cryolite on his arm had something comfortable about it, more comfortable than just being some person's interesting candy of the night. There was more to it.
"Oh, the flat bread? Naan is delicious. Have you ever tried a garlic cheese naan? Fascinating little Indian fusion dish, highly recommended." He'd have to order Cryolite everything he thought the other deserved to try. Fulgurite loved the cuisine of his heritage, and getting to share it with someone else who seemed so interested in his words about it?
That was exciting.
"Basmati rice," he snickered, "a long grain frequently grown in that area of the world, often seasoned with saffron and anise. It's very good. Like an aromatic but a rice you can actually eat. I recommend merging it with the curry if you can. Don't have to, but it absorbs some of the liquid and can elevate the whole meal in my opinion."
As they neared the door, he murmured, "I'll have to show you."
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Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2023 4:53 pm
Even as things began to bustle with life, the soft noises of patrons and the smells of spices that came filtering in. All Syrus could really hear, pressed close as he was, was the tone of Fulgurites deep cadence; pleased notes that resonated out like little ripples in a struck pond. Not so much a discordant splash as a skimming of drifting leaves --- an expertly skipped stone --- and he could humm happily in reply to the laugh he dredged up because it felt right to do so. Felt easy, even, especially when it let him soak up fresh knowledge about the man.
They differed in some ways like that. Fulgurites past meant he would've likely enjoyed the amount of downtime that an endless supply of money would bring. An ease of life. Syrus wasn't sure what he'd do once he got his hands on just enough -- more than enough -- the kind of prosperity that meant he could have things beyond 'commodities' that the daily grind allowed. He survived by being busy, to suddenly not be that--
Of course he'd have to familiarize himself with gardening now, as being something more than just a backyard hobby, as a profession. Maybe it was work enough and not just so much idling between sun and rain and seasons. The same way he was going to familiarize himself with Indian cuisine. The names and annunciations because he hated to be lacking for knowledge.
A good enough start would be to taste it all---
"It looks like I'm going to try it tonight, aren't I?" hint and demand in one, he curled his nails and inhaled, realized how starved he actually was this late into the night. There was no point in eying a menu when Fulgurite was going to manage this part for him, he could look up into the guise of blues that hid deeper greens beneath them, paint Matt's face easily over that. Promise himself it'd be worth the wait once they got home. "We'll get to take it home, where I can indulge in a private demonstration from my favorite high end escort no less. However did I get so lucky."
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Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2023 9:57 am
Walking into this place was a comfort to Fulgurite. Even in this form, it felt familiar; the sounds of the restaurant, the murmurings in Hindi he recognized at some tables but couldn't quite understand, the smells of the spice and the aforementioned saffron and anise. Even if they were just coming in here to order, sit for twenty minutes while it was prepared, and take it immediately back home, it was nice.
To introduce Cryolite to this part of his life brought some warmth into his body. Perhaps keeping everything divided had never been his best idea. Perhaps it was okay for the right person, who didn't use that access to figure out how to make his talents useful for something instead of just letting them be. Letting them exist. Fostering them.
Asking questions, but not to reveal the next op.
"I'll have to get you an arrangement." He'd think about what would be a good sampler to a cuisine Syrus wasn't necessarily used to. He was also going to make sure they got plenty of basmati rice too -- delicious with curry on its own, but also a fantastic leftover to have for all of its utility. "You'll have food for days. Or I will, courtesy of my high-class sponsor."
He laughed, a sound that trailed off when Cryolite asked the next question.
"It's a good question," rumbled Fulgurite, below the din, "when I could say the same to you."
