Welcome to Gaia! ::

It wwas time. The paperwork had been submitted, and the response came swiftly in the form of a lightless black crystal entrusted to Tama. The process was itself familiar, though not overly so for Faustite; despite being at the head of a team chock full of senshi, witnessing a Mauvian (especially Tama) upgrade anyone perturbed him.

For one, it was a strange subversion of the strong rank system he had come to know over his years with the Negaverse. Cats had no rank assigned to them, nor did they meddle much in the day-to-day lives of officers. That Tama cursed Faustite with his presence as much as he did was an oddity in itself, for no other officer he knew had to suffer a Mauvian as thoroughly and constantly as him. It reminded him of Tiberius, when that fat, self-serving sack of technical knowhow extorted him for favors and coerced him into scamming concerned old ladies who 'rescued' a cat that was much too big to fit into narrow Eion's arms. His Mauvian affliction had grown almost comical.

Faustite wasn't necessarily prepared to become a decoration in the room for another promotion, but he understood it was happening, whether he felt ready for it or not. Alkmene had made strides over the last months — had been on a brace of missions that took him into careful, tactical situations in which his interpersonal wit and his command of exceedingly helpful magic had proven his worthiness of another rank. That he had done so without needing the express oversight of his General was beneficial overall, though, given the team's recent trials and tribulations, Faustite would have rather been at Alkmene's side to watch the endeavors unfold personally.

Instead, he was there to witness the fruits of that hard work — the submitted forms had been approved with Lepidolite's approval, and he now awaited the boy of the hour and the emergency rations that was to promote him.

"Headache." As Faustite spoke the name, a group of fireflies fluttered into life from their roost on a crop of glowing crystal. "Send a message to Tama and Alkmene. Tell Tama to get his a** to my office. Tell Alkmene I have good news for him." He saw himself to his stool, then cleared his desk of all but a pair of cups, a platter of teas and other sundries, and the kettle that would soon be brought to boiling in his lap.

Headache, however, had other plans.

GET YOUR a** TO MY OFFICE.

If Alkmene hadn't known that Faustite was 1) an infrequent texter, and 2) somewhat eternally irascible, he might have taken offense to such a vulgar demand. But, well, it was Faustite, and as ever, Alkmene came when he was called. Besides, teleportation made arriving easy and quick, and so he telpeorted outside the office door and opened the doort with a sashay and a wry smile.

"My a** has arrived, and so has the rest of me," he teased.

Tama's presence was a welcome sign, and he perked up, seeing the familiar crystal.

"....Is it time? Already?"

The prospect seemed insane. He knew he'd put in the work, and he knew that he was impressing his superiors, and that since he'd bent his magic to his will, everything was generally going a lot better. But the idea of actually getting promoted to Eternal....had only sort of been on his mid.

Well, hell.

Tama smirked at Alkmene’s entrance. He was glad the whole of the senshi was here. Although, he wouldn’t have minded if it was just the a**.

“Oh, no good news then? Why would I have thought you’d tell me anything good.” The Mauvian said as he jumped off the desk. Clearly, the same rules did not apply in Faustite’s office as in Hessonite’s as far as whose a** could go where and in what form. Well, if he was going to sit in a chair for a human, he might was well be human-shaped and so he transformed putting one leg over the other in the chair.

“Here.” He popped the crystal out of subspace and held it in his human-shaped hand. “And you thought I’d come without bringing the goods. Unlike you, I come bringing gifts.”



☆

"Swarm of ******** bottom-feeders," Faustite muttered under his breath.

Returning his attention to the two, Faustite heaved a sigh. "Better." As things always were when Headache wasn't around and being a ******** nuisance. Perhaps if it behaved or listened to him, the youma would be allowed to stay in his office for longer. But at present? Faustite would rather it live in the Rift until it went inert and faded away.

Before he could continue, though, Tama was a boy again and whipping out his crystal. Sassy ********, too, and Faustite stared at him with a slightly slacked jaw. Did the ******** Mauvian just show him up?! Letting out an exasperated huff, Faustite kicked open the bottom drawer to his desk and took out the french press with its filtered water. He went to work measuring out coffee into the damned thing, retrieved the kettle from its corner, then held the kettle of water to his stomach while he waited for it to boil.

All because of the ******** cat. Cat had to open his mouth and remind Faustite that he shouldn't be a feral boy all the time.

Fine. Whatever. He could provide coffee, even though it smelled terrible and tasted worse than Tama's furry butthole, probably.

When he was ready to stop being so curmudgeonly, Faustite addressed the ceremony at hand. "You deserve it. Been working hard, undertaking missions, putting your magic to use. Sovereigns have noticed it, too. Wanted to pass along a token of their appreciation," he continued as he gestured to the crystal on Tama's palm.

"And I thought —" He hesitated as his own uncertainty caught up to him. "We could go celebrate after."

There was something exciting about the whole thing, really. About earning his final promotion--or the final one he was likely to see, at least. Alkmene didn't have any particular delusions of his own grandeur--this was more than enough, in his humble opinion.

"It means a lot to me that you think so," he said, significantly. The General-Sovereigns were all well and good. Alkmene wanted to impress them. But truth be told, Faustite's praise mattered more to him than that of a distant Geneal-Sovereign.

He produced his pen, and offered it out.

"And wherever you want to celebrate is good with me." He smiled, wryly. "Whether Tama comes or not."

The process was similar to how he had upgraded Alkmene before. The Mauvian held the pen in one hand and the crystal in the other. He focused his mind, the star on his forehead glowed and black energy flowed from the crystal into the pen.

Except, it was a lot more energy.

The stream of pure Chaos flowed from the black crystal in cracks, popping and sizzling like bottled lightening. The pen vibrated as if it were trying to resist. But there was no use in denying the energy that flowed into it. As if finally accepting, the pen glowed in the senshi’s colors, ending in a whimper of a purple haze.

“All finished.” He handed the pen back to Alkmene. “Now where are we going to eat?”



☆

It was ever a strange delight to watch a senshi's outfit change before him — to watch Alkmene's grow more complicated with another tier of skirts, with black bat wings unfurling at his back. That tattoo was more readily on display now, for Faustite could see all of it, and as usual, kept quiet that it existed.

Its acknowledgement was saved for quieter, more private moments. Moments where they could speak to each other without voice.

For all he remembered of his promotion to General, there was an enormous amount of pain that did not seem to touch Alkmene's features quite so much. Maybe his senshi had a higher pain tolerance, or the rigamarole of growth was more systemic for a half-youma, whose body changed as much as his uniform changed. Either way, Alkmene seemed to be spared some of the familiar pain of promotion.

And a good thing, it was. Pain spoiled the appetite.

"Always better than the last," he mused over Alkmene's outfit. The brambles truly suited the buns, and echoed the lace around his midriff.

"You didn't ******** it up," he said to the little cumstain sitting on his desk. "Guess you can come too, then.

"We're getting all-you-can-eat pasta," Faustite decided after a beat. Italian was good, tasted rich, and he was looking forward to seeing what mischief Haru could get up to with alfredo sauce. He held his hand out to the pair, waiting for the moment that he could vanish them all to the rooftop of one of DC's busier restaurants.