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 Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2023 8:56 pm
Fafnir was truly unsure if being tasked to gather quota with one of Faustite's other subordinates was a help or a hindrance.
Granted, he had yet to even see how Borax's skills stacked up, but with a double quota hanging over his head, there was a measure of stress behind the need to be quicker and more efficient than ever. That, or have to start messing up his normal day schedule to fit in more energy draining, and the thought of the mess that would cause was surely worse than any slap on the wrist Faustite would have given him.
Standing on top of the old fashioned candy store at the corner of Freemont and 12th, Fafnir resisted the urge to tap his boot in an outward show of impatience as he waited for his partner for the evening. It would have been unbecoming, since he'd arrived early and barely been there two minutes... and in theory, pairing a super and a lieutenant together should raise efficiency, since no one would have to come collect the energy. Turning his thoughts away from the time, Fafnir focused instead on where he should take this Lt. Borax. He didn't know much about him beyond that his answered to Jadarite. He seemed keen and focused, from what he had heard. Possibly someone worth actually knowing, if he was more inclined to how Jada worked than someone like... Albite.
Just the thought of trying to do this with Albite along made him shudder, goosebumps along his bare arms.
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Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2023 7:35 pm
He had gotten sent on a team-up assignment with another member of Faustite's team. This one was Fafnir, the man with a draconic name that looked like a dragon in outfit, too. The blue was particularly eye-catching, sure, but what he noticed was the horns on his tiara, and the scaling designs on his outfit -- from what he understood, Fafnir was the senshi of blight, and while he wasn't sure how that sphere ended up being the senshi of draconic appearances, he'd let it go. That wasn't the most important part. He was increasingly noticing that while they all had military uniforms, or at least inspired, the senshi could truly have almost everything. Borax, despite being a professional in banking, generally preferred his punctuality. There was no point in being early, not really. It just meant more of his own time wasted either waiting for the other party or miring in small talk, which for as much as he was skilled at small talk -- he didn't prefer it, barely wanted it, and would rather do anything but indulge it. Perhaps that was why Borax lept onto the roof of the candy store just on time, not before it. "Fafnir?" Borax's smirk was all charm as he walked up behind the man who hardly looked patient. "Lieutenant Borax checking in for a patrol."
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2023 7:36 pm
The energy signature, cool and comfortable, warned him of the approach of someone. Immediately, he forced himself to relax, loosening the tight muscles in his shoulders. Coming across as up-tight and anxious was not how he wanted to start off a meeting with someone new.
He turned when he heard his name, the energy signature resolving into a young man in a kilt and... pom pom shoes. Interesting. Not the strangest outfit he'd ever seen in his powered or civilian life, and there was something about the shapes that just fit with the rest of the outfit. The cut of the sleeves emphasized wide shoulders while the kilt itself called attention to long legs. Blue eyes swept back to his face and Fafnir flashed his own smile as he stepped forward to offer a hand out.
"Lieutenant. Its nice to officially meet. Jadarite is your superior, I believe? I look forward to getting to work with you." He said, his head tilted just a little to the side with a carefully cultivated, friendly, inquisitive air. "If you're ready, we can move to our target location and discuss strategy along the way?"
It would be interesting to see how this man went about energy gathering and compare it to his own methods. Things had become so much easier when he'd been promoted. No longer needing to touch someone, and draining multiple people at the same had greatly increased efficiency on this otherwise distasteful chore.
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Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2023 5:23 am
Borax wasted no time in accepting the hand offered to him, shaking it firmly in a show of confidence a lieutenant may not have deserved. The way his smile tugged at the edges of his lips echoed that, especially as he settled with his arms back at his side, his back straight, his stance open. "She is. Captain Jadarite recruited me." And it had been the best thing he had accepted in his life. To believe he had thought it was a multilevel marketing scheme when Eion Risk had approached him in his office and when Jadarite originally proposed it. These days he would laugh at himself, although he admitted he could see through the delight to recognize that was the sound the proposition had. He had to wonder how many desperate stay-at-home mothers were brought in by that original proposal... "I would love to," and Borax was serious about that. Evaluating the strategies of other members of the team would help him figure out where he could best fit and take advantage, gaining the advantages he wished. If he could torment some people in the process? A bonus.
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2023 6:58 pm
He had a firm, confident handshake and it said something of the man. Fafnir soaked in the smile, the way Borax treated this like business as usual despite what they both wore, where they were and what they were going to do. Interesting. He certainly stood out already among the people who answered to Faustite.
Waving a hand to invite the man to follow, Fafnir filed away what he'd observed and took the lead, taking their pace to a smooth trot. A few streets over, the super paused and stretched his senses, making sure there wasn't any of that too-sweet sense that warned of Order getting nosy.
"Where do you prefer to gather your quota?" He asked before turning his eyes to his partner for the night, his tone conversational. "Do you have a particular strategy you gravitate to? I can imagine, with your uniform, you also have some issues passing yourself off as a regular citizen." Blue eyes glittered as he waved a hand at his own outfit, horns and all. If he had to pick between the two, Borax would still win as 'closer to normal' than he did. Overcoming that handicap was an exercise in creativity and resourcefulness.
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Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2023 11:20 pm
When Fafnir waved his hand as an invitation to follow, Borax took it, keeping an even pace just slightly behind him. It was different than the approach that Miyamoto took, letting him lead the charge. That let him know a few things about the way Fafnir operated, at least. He appeared to be a bit more rankings-conscious than others had been. Borax was learning, though, that the rankings were deeply important to the Negaverse's general operation. He kept his eyes out as they walked, looking to see if he spotted anyone worth pursuing. It may have been nice to spot a senshi or a knight, especially; as a team, he predicted there would be little issue in "defending the world," as it were, or taking another soul into his hands without a second thought. He didn't see anyone readily or feel anyone readily, but a silent walk with a stronger person than him was likely to leave a good impression. "I don't exactly pass, no. Does help when I gather at busier times of day; people are less likely to actually bat an eye when there's plenty of people on the streets anyway." His height did grant him a disadvantage in that he was sometimes accidentally eye-catching, but so long as he acted like he was supposed to be there, no one really stared at him. "I lean pretty heavily into the concept of act like you're supposed to be there. If you're not glancing around in a suspicious manner, or acting suspicious, most people will shrug and leave you alone." Especially in an area like this, where he understood that people in their formal garb or fancy garb were not uncommon... "I prefer to patrol around busier areas because of this and slip behind restaurants or alleyways for actual murder." Borax was certainly casual about what starseeding actually encompassed. "Though at night I will usually keep to the shadows, wait until someone is alone, and then strike." Violently or withdrawing their starseed without a word? Hard to say.
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2023 7:53 pm
Murder earned Borax a quick glance from Fafnir, but he chose to let that slide with no comment.
Despite considering himself above the unpowered peasants of the city, Fafnir never pulled a starseed unless he had to. The idea was distasteful and the sensation... Laby had made sure he knew how to do it well, but he had never gotten used to the feeling of reaching into empty space inside of someone, and pulling out the small, hard gem that sat there. He had to wonder if Borax's recruitment had been voluntary, so he carried no trauma around starseeds, or if he just didn't care if he did. It wasn't Fafnir's place to say anything about it, if this was a regular thing Borax did. He wasn't the man's captain, or general.
Tonight though, he was determined starseeds would not be involved, at the least.
"I tend to frequent places of entertainment. Clubs, theaters, things like that, where my outfit stands out less and people are more inebriated, making them easier to handle." He said, finding he was hesitant to actually go into his methods. "Its true, I have found acting confident in my fuku does help. I get more questions about it than anything."
Like that man in the park watching fireworks... Another example of Fafnir's preferred method. At least knowing how Borax liked to operate, he could manage something in between... And he knew a place where the parking liked to spill out onto the side streets where there were far less cameras to deal with.
"How do you tend to deal with the after math?" He said as he turned that direction and began to move. "The unconscious civilians you're left with, possible witnesses or surveillance footage?"
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Posted: Fri Apr 07, 2023 12:01 am
Borax caught that Fafnir's eyes had slid toward him, but as he had no comment, Borax chose to discard the look as irrelevant. Fafnir's approach, while not quite what Borax's usual preferences were, was not bad. He nodded appreciatively, at least, to the concept of choosing places where his presence was not really obvious. A club or a theatre or a dancehall or any place that was similar all qualified under the same paradigm of picking a place that was so crowded it would be hard to pick him specifically out as someone suspicious. It did make it harder to murder, but it didn't exactly make it impossible. Just... harder. "That's a valid approach, I think. I am at least passingly familiar with a few clubs. Haven't gone in years due to life," a life he found more important than partying for sure, "but it might be worth giving another swing by those every once in a while if just for an easy draining source. And if people are drunk anyway," his voice dragged off as his eyes slid to the side. Who would notice someone mysteriously passing out from something not drunkenness when drunkenness was the easiest possible explanation? The secondary question Fafnir had was a good one, and he hummed under his breath for it. "My captain, Jadarite, gave me some advice earlier on that helped. Keep to people society doesn't care about as much. Their disappearance won't mean terribly much, then." He shrugged. "But other than that, I try to find alleyways without cameras, or in busy areas sometimes someone is just mysteriously laying on a bench. Nothing terribly questionable, even if the ambulance comes by later and notices yet another person had gone into yet another coma." His lips lifted in a smirk. "Good to finally know the causes of the increased coma rate here..." Borax cracked his knuckles as he added, "And if I have a witness? If they could really recognize me ever again, I've discovered another person to remove. Easy enough."
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2023 4:43 pm
Well. This Borax was certainly forthcoming about his methods and their results. So upfront about them, Fafnir found himself with a growing wariness of the man.
He was certainly not blind to what the Negaverse was and did. It was hard to be tasked with stealing energy from an unsuspecting populace and still believe that the organization as whole had the wellfare of the city in mind. 'Good' and 'Bad' were useless classifications, really. No one in life was truly good or truly bad. There was always things that they did that were either of those things. The Negaverse was like any big corporation; more interested in their own bottom line than in the lower people they trod on to get there.
But. Even knowing and accepting himself as part of that all-devouring machine, he found Borax's approach distasteful. There was a difference between taking energy someone would recover, and ending their life. There were times it was necessary, to safeguard the lives he did care about, but random citizens? Murder, truly. A horror he did not like to associate himself with, and unfortunately, not something he felt comfortable discussing with Faustite. Would the general agree with him, and seek to curtail the lieutenant? Or, would he agree with his actions? Did Fafnir really want to find out the answer to that?
"Perhaps we can work on that together and I can give new suggestions." He offered, keeping his voice light. He did not care to give away his inner thoughts and kept his face carefully composed as he picked up their pace.
Downtown was easy enough to navigate. People were abundant, and before long, Fafnir had ferreted out a drug deal in an inconspicuous spot in time to drop down on them while they were engaged. He left Borax to cover their retreat as he subdued the dealer, who swung at him when he appeared. Fafnir knocked him out neatly as the buyer ran, then darted after him, catching him by the back of the coat and throwing him to the ground hard enough to knock the air out of him. One booted foot pressed to his chest, he held the man down as he began to drain both people, gathering their energy into the palm of his raised hand. It was over rather quickly, all things considered, and that just left the clean up afterwards.
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