|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2023 6:42 pm
"Oh hey," said Nectaris, stopping short in the middle of a step to rock back on her heels and squint at the name of the building they were standing next to. It was Augusta Bank, to be exact. The name was written on a shiny metal sign on the front of the bank, which had bricks and columns and all that stuff that these kind of businesses liked to slap on their outsides, to try to make them look all formal and fancy. In this case, it worked. Nikki was pretty impressed. She turned to Anser, who she'd ended up on patrol with. She'd decided she didn't know the other girl nearly well enough, for two reasons. One, she was Encke's sister, and Nectaris was also Encke's. Okay, so it was sister-in-law, if you were getting technical, but she didn't want to get techncial considering he was probably the one that she was closest to in the family. Anyway, maybe that relationship would mean something between the two of them? The second reason? One day, Nectaris was going to beat her at Mario Kart. It hadn't happened yet. That meant that Nikki needed to size up her opponent, see, like, her strategy in the field or something. There might have been better ways to work on that, but that was okay. Nikki liked patrolling with someone else, anyway. She looked at the bank. She looked at Anser. "I think this is the bank the Negaverse is taking over," she said, all causal, and then she puffed air into her cheeks and let it out.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2023 6:57 pm
Anser liked Nectaris. For one, they were actually relatively close in age, which she found was rare considering her brother was so old he was kind of dusty (okay, maybe that was a bit extra, but he was going to be 31 in like what? a month?). For another, Nikki liked playing Mario Kart against her, and while she was Superior it was still fun to have competitors! And finally of course, that moon power was ******** badass. Burning people with moonlight? Badass. She was happy to walk along with her, eagerly waiting to kick some a**, when suddenly her patrol partner kind of stopped and just observed. Her brows raised as she backtracked. She hadn't felt anything, didn't think there was a youma around, was there an agent she wasn't feeling? A guardian cat sealing up how they felt? No. It wasn't that. It was something considerably more nefarious. "This is?" The Negaverse had a whole damn bank? Maybe Encke was right to be paranoid of anything new after all. Though was Augusta even new? How entrenched was this? "Didn't know the Nega assholes were taking over finance now." But why wouldn't they be? They seemed ******** inescapable. She had been dealing with their bullshit for literally more than a decade now... "How did you find that out?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
Codebreaking Conversationalist
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2023 7:25 pm
Nectaris read the sign again. She read it a third time, just in case she'd gotten mixed up. That happened a lot. She thought about stuff and then she got ahead of herself. This time, though? Yeah, no. It still said Augusta. "Yeah," said Nectaris, "It's this one." Her voice was still bubbly as ever, almost a chirp. She didn't go to move, though. She spent some time actually looking over the building with Anser. Although, as she saw the look in Anser's eyes, something shifted in her head. Without Fulgurite to distract her from her thoughts with cuddles and kisses, it was easier to admit to herself that this might be pretty bad. "So, uh, don't put your money in here?" she said. "Fulgurite told me," she told Anser. "He's my, uh, not my boyfriend exactly? I mean he's in the Negaverse so it can't work like that, we're not dating. Talking, I guess?" That was the slang for when you were basically dating but didn't want to call it that, right? Also, the two of them definitely talked.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2023 7:39 pm
So this was it, some Negaverse op out in the open. How many more of these things did they have? How many of the places around them were just Negaverse owned? ... See, this was why her brother was so damn paranoid-- Anser spent some time observing the place, wondering how many people who worked there didn't know any better, and wondering how many people were just agents in disguise. Or civilian form. Or ... Adjacent to the Negaverse, anyway. Perhaps it didn't matter. Either way this was some damn Negaverse bullshit and she should definitely not deposit anything there-- Had she seen an ad for something they were doing recently? -- Wait. "Not your boyfriend but you," Anser's brow quirked, " talk?" Relationships were so damn messy. She didn't understand them. She guessed Encke's and Cybele's arrangements were fine but why would she want to get involved with anyone, especially someone of the other side? "Sis, you gotta get better taste in men."
|
|
|
|
|
|
Codebreaking Conversationalist
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2023 7:57 pm
"Talk and also, uh, kiss?" said Nectaris, her cheeks going the same pink color as her dress at the quirked eyebrow and also being called out about her taste in men. Not that she thought Fulgurite was bad! He'd always been nice to her, it wasn't like Albite who was always being weird and talking about her inevitable death, and all that stuff that she'd been having to push down and ignore. "I mean, I'm trying to get him to purify if that helps?" she said, still blushing. She didn't look away but she did start to rock side to side on her heels, her body fluttering with nervous energy. Sis. Anser had just called her sis. She didn't want boys to mess something like that up. "Although I don't know if it's gonna work," she said, because of course once Nectaris got on a subject she couldn't stop talking. Fulgurite had gotten caught up on the idea of her saving him with the power of love, but when it came down to it, he kept backpedaling at the idea of actually leaving. He was so caught up on his family. "And I really don't know what I'm gonna do if it doesn't work," she said, quieter. "I just broke up with one chaos dude. I don't wanna go through all that again already." Plus, she liked Fulgurite. Loved him, really.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2023 8:08 pm
She had a feeling there was more to the talking thing considering she said that he was her not-boyfriend, but she resisted the temptation to roll her eyes. Relationships were so messy and this definitely qualified as the top level of messy. Like they couldn't even be on the same side or like, hang out as civilians. Big yikes. The attempts to get him to purify did help a bit, she guessed. Maybe it would stop being a big yikes if she actually got him to get out. Then they could just be... Normal blech and not especial blech. Wait, she broke up with another chaos dude? What was with her taste in men-- "I mean, could at least take advantage of the situation. He won't leave yet but he sure seems chatty." Anser's gaze shifted back to Augusta. If he had told her about this, what else could they get out of him? Was he a leaky faucet or was he a whole damn hose? And if he was the not-boyfriend of Nikki, it seemed to be making him more inclined to tell her things-- She cleared her throat. "If he's stuck, he needs something that'll unstick him, I guess. Also, what other chaos boy were you dating?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
Codebreaking Conversationalist
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2023 8:21 pm
"I mean. No?" said Nikki, brows starting to squish together. "I don't wanna take advantage of the fact that he loves and trusts me to, like, try to get information out of him to get an advantage in the war. I don't think that's how healthy relationships work." No, she was not taking any questions about if their relationship as it stood was healthy. He was nice to her. He didn't want her dead. He was trying to keep her safe, and that was sweet. He'd told her some stuff about Faustite's team that had helped her know more of what to expect in case of an attack, which had helped a little bit in that whole ambush situation. Like, yeah, it had sucked for Faustite, and gotten Encke all freaked out, but at least they'd had enough backup of their own that nobody had died. It didn't mean she wanted to start pushing it, though, to start using him as a tool instead of as someone she cared about. "Albite," she admitted, to change the subject. "Which! Before you judge me too hard for that one, we got together before I purified. I was trying to see if I could still get it to work, but," she shrugged. "Nope. The answer is nope. Also he wants me dead now."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2023 8:44 pm
It probably wasn't how healthy relationships worked, but what about two people on opposing sides in a war over literal souls read as healthy? The whole thing was giving... disasters, at the very least. Anser was going to open her mouth to lay down some commentary about what actually qualified as healthy, but she opted to let it go, especially as Nectaris had more to say. About... Albite. That a*****e with the damn strangle tattoos, that b***h who insisted on fighting both her and Cybele? That guy who delighted in being happily violent for some damn reason? It wasn't like she was having fun-- "Well, you tried," which was the best Anser could give that decision. "He's a douche beyond any useful repair. Glad you got out of that one at least." Her sigh was elongated. "I've fought him before, Albite? He likes being violent too much. I'm not violent because I like it, I'm violent because I have to be to make this s**t stop." Like the bank. Anser found herself eyeballing the sign again. Augusta Bank. She'd have to memorize where this thing was. Maybe she could get some eyeballs on it and figure out how people were coming in and out. So much banking was electronic now which would make it harder to trace... "Fulgurite isn't as violent as Albite, right Sis?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
Codebreaking Conversationalist
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2023 3:51 am
Albite liked being violent? That was a new tidbit that Nikki could shove into the folder on Why Albite Sucked So Much. "I haven't seen him fight too much," she admitted. Even when he'd called all his friends on her, he'd just been kinda lurking around in the back. He'd gone after the Court during the whole Faustite situation, dooming his husband, which was another thing in the folder, but he hadn't looked happy then. He'd looked literally every feeling except happy then. "But yeah. He's the worst. You can question that decision all you want." She questioned it every day. "Fulgurite, he's different. He's happy for me that I purified, and he's trying to keep me safe. All of our conversations aren't about how I deserve to die for being a traitor and it's gonna catch up with me one day, which, like, massive red flag. Bad decision. I know, I know." She was still blushy, still fidgety. "But Fulg being different kind of showed me that it could be better? Also he hates the Negaverse, which is probably a plus. He feels trapped, the big thing is that he doesn't wanna leave his family if he purifies." Nectaris glanced down. "Which, like, we've talked about it but I'm probably not the most helpful 'cause every time it comes up I start crying 'cause I miss my mom so much." She wasn't gonna think about it now, wasn't gonna cry now. "It's really hard, Anser. I do miss them."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2023 4:33 am
"Well, I patrol with Cybele a lot," which probably wasn't ideal to mention considering Nikki and Cybele didn't have the best history, but she'd let that one go for now, "and he really wants her dead. Like, goes to fight her all the time levels. I saw him aim for her at another battle we were all at, but I think he was like. Playing a game." Anser pinched her nose. What a pain in the a**. Anser would ask why the Negaverse was like this, but considering her experience she already knew. Corrupt from the top to the bottom. She would probably question the Albite decision, but her thoughts on romance boiled it down to a simple thing. Nectaris got too distracted by the romantic picture without questioning what else could be behind it. Honeymoon or s**t? Fulgurite could be the same, but he sounded like an improvement, at least. Was he an improvement intended to lure her back since he couldn't leave, or was he being serious? Anser would have to go squint at this Fulg character a bit. "I mean, I guess I kinda get that a bit. Family's a big thing or whatever." She reached up and tossed her own hair. "But Chaos has still been murdering people since forever. Like we got those aliens chased off by Chaos, right? Like Encke, Basi, and Vi helped with that alien's chaos planet, he mentioned that before..." She may have also vented about Albite at Encke and Encke had his own opinions and a whole database. Maybe this wasn't the time to rant about that. "But I get that it's hard, too. Understand that you miss them, and that you did make the decision to leave that all behind." Anser fidgeted, playing with her hands as if they provided an answer. She didn't have the best relationship with her blood family, though she couldn't imagine leaving Mamá behind... "That sucks. I'm sorry. It'd be hard to get that relationship back without putting you and them at risk, right?" If they even recognized her as Livie Bell. "You're making the right choice."
|
|
|
|
|
|
Codebreaking Conversationalist
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2023 1:25 pm
"I mean, doesn't Cybele have a lot of fight to the death things going on?" asked Nectaris. She'd met the woman, and seen that spark in her eyes. She'd read the database entries that she'd written. "She's got the traitor title, too. Uh. Kinda my fault." Anser had to know about that whole thing, right? If she patrolled with Cybele a lot, if they were friends, there was no way it hadn't come up. Nectaris started pacing back and forth over the same three steps and she didn't look at Anser right then. "She's also really mad all the time. I mean, unless she's just mad at me 'cause I corrupted her." A beat passed. Nectaris squinted at one of the bank's columns. "Okay, so she's mad at me 'cause I corrupted her." Although that didn't mean she couldn't be mad at other people. "Not that I'm trying to defend Albite at all, and I'm really not trying to defend Chaos. Gross. It's the opposite. It's more like, I have these relationships from when I was a General, right? Maybe I can use those to help get people out. She wasn't going to talk about her family right now. She wasn't going to think about them. She wasn't going to cry.
It's worth it, she told herself, mentally. It's worth it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2023 7:20 pm
Anser noticed the shift in the subject just to talk about Cybele, but that was fine. She'd talk about whatever worked for her patrol partner. The last thing she needed was her patrol partner getting upset and the two of them getting jumped by an opportunistic agent... It had come up a few times, the reason why Cybele and Nectaris remained awkward around each other. If Cybele had still been chaotic, it was hard to say if Anser would be calmly walking with Nectaris. As it was, Anser figured that Nectaris was her sister and she had to treat a lot of it as water under the bridge. Nectaris was no longer corrupting people and fighting at least alongside those who wanted humanity dead, and that was an improvement. Plus, Cybele had broken out of it. "Yeah, definitely mad at you," Anser followed Nectaris' gaze to the columns, "though I'm not sure mad is the right word anymore. Awkward? Hard to talk to someone who doesn't even remember changing the trajectory of your whole life, ya'know?" Anser swung her arms back and forth, trying to look up and down the columns to see if there was anything interesting about it. Looked like a bank just trying to look all fancy and s**t... She stopped swinging her arms and looked back toward Nectaris this time. Tapping her chin, she offered, "Well, do those relationships still seem to like you?" Obviously, Fulgurite did if he was happy she got out. Did that really count, though? He was her whole boyfriend. Well. Not boyfriend. Relationships were strange and she didn't know why anyone really got in them at all... "I've heard the Negaverse goes after those they consider traitors, right?" Traitors. Like anyone could ******** betray a place that ate souls and turned people into monsters. "If you got some that kinda listen to you, maybe? But you gotta look out. Some of them might just be looking for an opportunity to--," she cut her hand across her throat in a rapid motion. Anser thought that was pretty self-explanatory.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Codebreaking Conversationalist
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2023 7:50 pm
"Yeah, it's weird," Nectaris agreed. She had a bunch of feelings about the Cybele situation. Bad feelings, mostly. She wasn't sure how many of them it was a good idea to dump in front of someone who was clearly Cybele's friend. "I'm just giving her space for now. If she ever wants to talk about it, we can, but that's her choice." She might have already tried to push the issue and gotten punched in the face for it. It had bruised. She didn't wanna go through all that again. "The others, I do still have a connection with some of them, I think. Like, some of my old team is really mad at me, but there's Fulgurite and this one other guy who I've been talking to, who it's been really easy to talk to about stuff. They're both really questioning the Negaverse, too." Unlike Albite. The more she thought about it, the more she couldn't see that relationship as anything other than a dumpster fire.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2023 8:15 pm
It was weird. How would she even deal with that kind of situation other than avoidance herself? Anser was kinda grateful she'd never be in that kind of situation herself. Or, she noted as she eyed the markings on her arms, ever. Her planet had said she had done the work so she deserved to get paid. As she should! Anser had done the work! And her planet was pretty cool actually! The sky looked really different out there than it did here and she pondered on occasion making some new star charts. Or at least constellations, constellations were really cool... "Best to leave it up to her. She'll discuss it if she wants to," her gaze flicked back up from the feathering and swirls on her arms. Well. Maybe. Might have been easiest to just avoid the whole situation. Anser would do her best to not make that awkwardness or anger any worse-- The others? Good to know there were others to worry about beyond Fulgurite. Was that other guy trying to pull the wool over her eyes too? Comfort her with some s**t before trying to murder her? Anser's first assumption was always violence. "You got another who's listening to you?" She sounded curious, anyway. "Is he another boyfriend or whatever or?" And would she need to watch him carefully too--
|
|
|
|
|
|
Codebreaking Conversationalist
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2023 8:55 pm
Nectaris couldn’t help but shaking her head with a small giggle when asked if the other, if Ransomite, was also her boyfriend. Like, it wasn’t that weird of an assumption considering everything, she did have a tendency to romance Chaos boys, as it was turning out, but no. “Nah. He’s a priest,” she managed in between giggles again. Although she found herself squinting again, even as she started walking circles around Anser in an attempt to not have to stay still. “Although I mean Fulg does have another boyfriend if you’re asking. That’s someone else who I’m gonna work on, yeah.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
