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 Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2022 9:10 pm
Gilbert hummed softly as he wrapped up his shift and clocked out, waving goodbye to the coworker who'd come in to take over. The moment he was out of her sight, they breathed a short sigh of relief and powered up into Vesuvianite. The rush of power was small, but good. They really liked this new thing that a chance meeting had brought into his life. Now all they had to do was meet some energy quotas for a while, and he would be golden. Working like this for a good cause wasn't so bad. It seemed rather dark, but sometimes that's just what needed to happen, right? He spotted someone by themselves in the distance and he grinned slightly, shifting to rush forward as silently as possible. They came up and grabbed the arm of the person out at night all alone and began trying to drain them. Perhaps too eagerly. He hadn't thought about the person fighting them back, after all.
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Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2022 9:29 pm
His eve had been lovely, but difficult for lacking a proper place for Eion to retire his guise and return to life as Faustite. He must've walked for a straight fifteen minutes since leaving Waru's little hovel party, and he still spotted strangers with enough frequency to keep him paranoid and annoyed. As he picked up his pace, he pulled his pocket watch and popped open the clasp: 2:45 according to the face, though it wasn't an accurate indication of the time. Eion had fifteen minutes before his glamour would shed on its own.
He neared a graveyard, which was its own relief. With so many hedges, trees, headstones, and mausoleums, Eion needn't worry about finding cover to start burning again. It wasn't far from the main gate, either —
But he felt something catch his arm and jerk him back, then a peculiar fatigue set in afterward. Eion didn't spare a look behind him to see who it was.
He scoffed at first, then laughed at the incredulity of it. His laughter sounded neither harsh nor pleased — more astounded than anything. "You're draining my energy," he observed, still caught up in his amazement for it. "Of all the ******** encounters…" Then he glanced back, and saw a lovely blonde boy holding his arm like he was going to twist it off if Eion tried to escape.
"Don't think Metallia will fall for it if you gave her energy that's already hers."
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Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2022 9:53 pm
"E-Eh?" Vesuvianite stammered, clearly surprised at having been verbally called out. They tilted their head at Eion before awkwardly letting go and letting the energy return, sucking on his front teeth. "You're, um." He rubbed the back of his neck and gave Eion a very sheepish smile, scuffing the toe of their boot against the ground. "I'm guessing not so much an ordinary person. Ahh, just my luck, I see, that the first person I would pick would be one of us." They scratched their nose lightly. "Um. I'm very sorry. If I'd known, I never would have—um, picked you. Are? Are you okay? Did I hurt you?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2022 8:12 am
Oh, what a sweet boy. Eion smiled despite himself.
This boy was sweet in an honest manner, like all the good hadn't yet been stamped out of him by the wretched life that society imposed upon others. Like he genuinely cared about other agents of the Negaverse, regardless of who they were, and wanted to build those strong relationships that could help the organization succeed. It was commendable — respectable, even. Something Eion himself couldn't manage anymore, having witnessed too many turncoats and underminings. But this one — he was pure. Unspoiled by human filth.
Eion would've given him a kiss on the cheek, but he was reasonably certain, by now, that one did not do that to strangers. Even strangers that were part of the same workforce.
Eion gave his arm a brief once-over, then shook his head at the bashful boy (just watching the way his bangs hung in his face when he looked down? Heartwarming). "Not ordinary, not much of a person anymore. Not hurt, either.
"What's your name?" He asked as coal eyes traced the features of the boy's face. He could do with another boy in his midst. Someone who he could share tea with and realize that he could tolerate this sordid world a little longer.
Then he paused, rocked back on his heels as he looked around the darkened area. Not many people, but not many places to hide, either. "Know this area? Need to find a private spot to be me again. In…" Eion took out his pocket watch and checked the time. "Ten minutes."
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Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2022 1:15 am
Vesuvianite hummed, curious as to what Eion meant by not being human—it was already at least somewhat obvious what he meant by not being ordinary—but then he was asked for his name and a place to... hide? He looked around a bit and then nodded. "I actually work at the graveyard here," he said, gesturing for Eion to follow as he traipsed over to a shed on the property. "I know the person on duty right now; she's already asleep. Everyone knows she does but it's never been a problem.... Uh, before now. If we were bad people, anyway." They chuckled a bit and powered down, removing the key from his belt and letting them into the shed. "No cameras or I would be more careful," they explained as they let them both in. It was spacious, given there was little more than a leaf blower, a rake, and a riding lawn mower inside something meant to hold a lot more. "I'm Gilbert. Two seconds ago, Vesuvianite," he elaborated. Normally he didn't condone too much mixture of work and personal life, especially since this was also bleeding into his other work life, but he hadn't much choice. Ah, well.
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Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2022 6:43 pm
"Like a graveyard keeper?" Eion looked up at the boy inquisitively. He thought he remembered watching Lauri play a game like that before, almost exclusively while being drunk. Eion imagined the real job wasn't quite so embellished, however. He wasn't sure what to say about the coworker, however; surely it was bad for the business, but it was fortuitous to him right now.
Walking with him, Eion held his surprise in watching the boy power down so easily, and give up his names. The implicit trust melted his heart, even as he worried for a boy who was so open to strangers. "Know I'm safe, but don't believe everyone that insists they're part of the Negaverse. Could be one of the White Moon playing civilian."
He smiled, albeit bashfully. "But, thanks for this." Following Gilbert into the shed, he breathed a relieved sigh. "Would've gone badly out there."
As he finished his sentence, his skin began to catch at the ends and slough off in burning swaths. Beneath it grew molten as the magic unraveled, then cooled into the obsidian look of Faustite's hands and claws. As Eion's false skin raveled out, Faustite's heat and fiery crackle became known to the room, and the shed strips of skin soon crumbled into an ash that evaporated thereafter. The flaming Generalhuffed at himself. "Couldn't hold it any longer.
"Faustite. Used to be Eion Risk." Flame eyes met Gilbert's, though this time, he did not smile.
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Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2022 3:39 pm
Gilbert winced a bit at the idea that there could be spies—of course there were, idiot, he scolded himself. He struggled with that all the time. He just... wasn't good at conceptualizing that people would just want to hurt him from the moment they met him. It wasn't very smart, he knew, but so far he'd been pretty lucky! "I'll try to keep that in mind," he said, knowing he would forget almost immediately. As the heat filled the room, he shivered from the sudden warmth he felt straight down to his bones. Oh, that felt good. Traveling furnace... Hm. Oh, it was probably expected of him to—yes. He transformed back into Vesuvianite. "Yeah, no worries, man. Nice to meet you, Faustite. Oh! General. General Faustite. Yes. Hello," he stammered, blushing bright red. He really was not very good at this at all.
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Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2022 7:59 am
Well. That was one of the few times that no one remarked — or intimated with their faces — a state of alarm. Usually there was some level of oh s**t, you're on fire that was had at first meeting him. He didn't realize how relieved he could feel about that one never coming up.
The flaming boy rolled his eyes at the title, then held a hand up to give Vesuvianite pause to that one. "Title's unnecessary." He wasn't commanding anyone in that moment, and titles tended to just get in the way. Too much on the tongue, slowed a sentence down, created a divide between soldiers that was often counterpoint in his experiences.
Strange how titles and rank shifted the conversation between men. Like they weren't the same person in uniform and out.
Vesuvianite was cute when he blushed, though. "Call me Faustite. It's easier." Then he motioned for a boy to come close, for it would fast become stuffy in there if he loitered any longer. Besides, he was ever on the move. Felt strange to stand still.
Faustite summoned a cincher from the ether, which he wore over his flaming center. "Better we don't leave the same way we came in." Then he offered a sootblack hand to the boy. Teleportation was such a prime excuse to hold a boy's hand.
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Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2022 10:56 pm
"Just Faustite, then," they responded, beaming at him. That felt rather lovely. He was definitely a fan of that. They watched Faustite put on the cincher with mild curiosity, wondering how exactly the whole flaming thing worked—obviously magic, but there had to be rules to it. It also obviously wasn't burning Faustite alive from the inside out, so...? But it wasn't really any of Vesuvianite's business. So he took Faustite's hand shyly, blushing again. "Yeah. Cool. Um. Good." Cool??? What's wrong with you!!!
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Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2023 5:05 am
Most people preferred to shriek and run away, so for this one to come close was a welcome change. Faustite squeezed the hand offered, decided he'd pass it off as being uncertain the Lieutenant was going to slip away mid-teleport or something of that nature.
He didn't know this area as well, so taking them back to the street proved impossible. He knew the nearby church, however — churches ever had fine steeples and their belfries offered ample protection from prying eyes with a perfect view to boot. With a thought cast back to that darkened inner chamber, with the great bells hanging over them like a pall, the pair vanished.
Inside the church, they stood upon the top platform, facing one of the several windows looking out at its cross-streets. These bells were affixed to staggered platforms, that each descended in a stepwise fashion, until finally the last one hung above where most people would tread. Faustite liked this one for being suspended higher up, and being accessible to powered folk like him, who could leap a story with ease.
In order to not seem too interested, Faustite let go of Vesuvianite's hand as he descended the staggered platforms like steps.
"Think this is fairly nearby." It might've been the church that owned that graveyard, what was he to say? He just had to memorize what it looked like, not its juxtaposition to other things.
It was clear that this one hadn't been with them long, so the better question was: "Who's your CO?" genovianprince omg finally, sorry that took so long!
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Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2023 7:49 pm
Ooh, this church was the one he worked for. How funny, about that. Faustite must have been exceptional at teleporting. Vesuvianite followed behind Faustite, mourning the loss of the incredibly warm hand in his while realizing it was probably important not to be seen being even mildly scandalous when he was so fresh. "Bellite. She woke me, not too long ago. Hurt like hell, but I made it out just fine. And cute, too. Did you see the inside of my coat?" he asked as he pulled it out, fighting the urge to twirl like he was in a cute skirt. Strickenized absolutely no worries Strick, 20 days is not that long!!
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Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2023 6:42 pm
Bellite. He didn't recognize the name. Negaverse was large enough that some agents went their entire careers without knowing each other, he figured. Certainly there had been a myriad of new faces each time he ran a mission, with only a few being familiar to him from earlier encounters. Without any ability to access personnel files, a name was just a name. Bellite, like the church bells hanging around them.
Vesuvianite, like the molten pattern on the inside of his coat. Faustite tried to swallow his smile for seeing the boy so overjoyed with his uniform. "Best work hard. Then you'll see how that pattern grows with you.
"She was on the nose with that name." It fit, though exploding volcanoes didn't generate the cleanest of thoughts. Faustite kept his childish humor to himself as he stepped down through the belfry, then dropped to the more habitable areas below.
"Had a pattern, too, when I was a Lieutenant. Only showed up on my cuffs," he explained as he pointed to the ends of his sleeves. "Got more and more of it as I earned ranks. Now it's fairly everywhere." He supposed that, if the Negaverse ever had the poor sense to make him one of its sovereigns, he'd be painted in it. Might power up and find a damask pattern tattooed to his ******** face. Well — Metallia didn't need to be told about moderation when she carried enough power to end this godforsaken world.
"What say you to a favor for a favor?" He asked as he half-turned to find Vesuvianite behind him. "Anything you need as a new recruit?" His hand found his hip as he waited for a response.
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Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2023 10:14 pm
Vesuvianite chuckled a bit, scratching at their nose and smiling sheepishly with a shrug. "Eh, on the nose or not, I like it. Makes me feel kinda cute. Thematic. I mean, better than, like... I dunno, 'black-sea-ite'? I don't imagine there's many rocks named after famous bodies of water." He chuckled, following Faustite down and not quite holding in his little gasp of fear and fun, the thrill that doing such normally dangerous moves brought him as he did them safely. "Oh, um. Favor, favor... uh. New friends?" they suggested with another sheepish grin. "I don't really know what else to ask for, but that kind of feels like a tall order."
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Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2023 4:27 pm
He supposed that having a namesake like a town that was obliterated by lava was somewhat better than a namesake who made a contract with the devil. He'd read about some charming bathroom graffiti that seldom failed to rustle a giggle out of him when reminded. Vesuvianite was correct, though; Faustite didn't know of many rocks named after famous bodies of water. Rather, he didn't know of any. Not that he went looking for rock names more often than absolutely necessary.
Which was, unfortunately, becoming slightly more often than never. Not that he should dampen the mood by sharing that information.
Faustite wore a sardonic smile, having been friend-zoned already, but he reminded himself he should've expected as much. Few boys went for boiling-hot fire youma boys, though he had Taenite to thank for starting that small trend. "Easier to be friends with someone who isn't a subordinate," he countered with the flourish of a clawed hand. "Less potential for favoritism.
"Visit my office sometime, then. Look for the one with a forest fire temperature gauge on the front door. Wasn't my idea," he added, almost as an afterthought.
"Be expecting you soon." Then he vanished into smoke, already cursing himself over being friend-zoned by a fresh boy.genovianprince fin! sorry about the wait!
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