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 Posted: Sat May 27, 2023 4:28 pm
Niter decided that, after that fight over the bank, he really didn't like the White Moon. He really didn't like getting shot, either, even if it was some kind of imaginary thing. It was temporary in the way that Niter's magic was temporary, but it hurt for much too long, and it left Niter exhausted past the point of needing a nap. He actually needed an entire sleep after that, lasting a solid twelve hours.
Since then, he'd been more on edge than usual. He didn't know if he'd run into that same Princess on a patrol, get his a** absolutely demolished, and have to sulk home to Jet about what happened. He didn't know if he'd run into some of the other White Moon juggernauts that were there, saturating the battlefield in Eternal- and Knight-level auras. Because there were so many, the rest of Destiny City suddenly felt very unsafe. Niter already disliked the idea of running into someone, but now? That run-in came with a price he may not be able to afford paying.
Since his most promising job yet got blown to hell, Niter stuck to the outskirts of anywhere he could find. The edge of the theatre district, the edge of a street full of bars, the boundaries of a club where everyone was too drunk to care about anything aside from not vomiting on themselves, it didn't matter where — as long as no one noticed him.
And with his hoodie on and the hood up, most people just… Didn't. He could pass them by, bump shoulders if he had to, and collect little orbs of energy into his kangaroo pocket without pulling his hands out. He kept his head down, his earbuds in, his feet moving, and tried his best to channel two ships passing in the night. It's what got him by before, and maybe it'd let him dodge any other genki do-gooder with way too much emotional baggage to let Niter be.
He told himself, one more person — just a little more and he'd be set for his quota. It could even be a drive-by, so Niter stepped out of the alley onto a larger street with every aim to skim some energy off the poor sot at the bus stop.amorremanet pardon the mediocrity, but it's a start
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Posted: Sat May 27, 2023 6:26 pm
“You need to take it easy,” they’d said.
“As part of recovering from this, you need to take some time to not constantly do things,” they’d said.
“Goddammit, Líanlí, get back here, you still haven’t explained to me how the ******** you got stabbed, or WHY the ******** you got stabbed, or excuse me WHAT in the <********> is going on here,” Hayden specifically had said, because he worried so much and about many things, usually things that directly pertained to some aspect or other about Líanlí’s health and well-being, for which a reassurance of “I’m okay, it’s fine, I promise” generally didn’t suffice.
…………The problem was: taking it easy was sooooooooo boring.
Nothing he could get his hands on from either his apartment or the library had anything that Líanlí actually wanted to know about Saturn. He knew that was far from likely—because who in their right mind would know something about gorgeous pastel aliens, then write about it openly and put it online as a genuine statement of fact instead of selling it as fiction?—but sue him. If Hayden, Qi-jie, and Ming-er all wanted him to sit down, behave, and not do anything crazy after getting stabbed, then Líanlí wanted to try finding out something about the hot alien from that, like? Flashback thing to someone else’s memory? That had happened at his Wonder?
Trying out the different dramas people online paid him to cover songs from had provided the Last Straw after Hayden’s insistence that Líanlí extend another shot to the one with the deeply unfortunate-looking gege character. Sticking out another several episodes with Hayden only made it worse, really, because when it came to Mandarin, he only knew the snatches of nonsense he’d picked up over almost thirteen years of friendship with Líanlí. Added all up, that nonsense wasn’t even enough to ask where the restroom was or if anyone around here spoke English (though it was generally enough to call someone a ********, describe summer heat as “scattering sweat like rain,” and know that, in certain Special Adult Contexts, “líng” meant Líanlí himself, not the number 0).
Not that Líanlí didn’t appreciate Hayden’s attempt at enthusiasm or spending the vast majority of a day together with Lola and Táotáo—he did appreciate it, even if he would’ve had more fun watching something else—but ugh, the subtitles nearly killed him. How many times did Líanlí have to hear someone say “jiejie,” then look down and see the lady character’s whole-a** name? He didn’t think he was expecting too much, here.
After Hayden went back to his place, Líanlí powered up into Kāifēng and snuck out his own window. He didn’t need to stay out very long, probably. Do a few quick rounds of the neighborhood to check for trouble. Interrupt any that might have been going down. Maybe test out the signet ring he’d found up at his tower, or chat with any fun people he ran into. Quick, two minutes patrol, nothing that anyone who cared about him needed to worry over because everything would be fine!!
Good thing he wandered out on this adventure too, because Kaifeng hadn’t been out that long before he felt a Negaverse aura pop up, somewhere close by. Following it as best as he could—in a concession to how much concentrated Worrying About Him had happened since that whole “got stabbed” thing, Kāifēng stuck more to the alleyways than the rooftops tonight—he soon found himself at a bus stop. And okay, the hoodie didn’t look like how senshi usually looked or like what Kāifēng would’ve expected from one of the Lieutenants, Captains, or Generals? But there was no mistaking that aura, nor any mistaking how out-of-it the nearest person—by aura, a civilian—seemed to be.
So, Kāifēng swooped in behind the Hoodie Person and gently rapped on their shoulder with his fan. “Hey there, excuse me?” Putting on a bright smile, Kāifēng rapped on the Negaverse Hoodie’s shoulder again, just in case they might’ve gotten ideas about ignoring him. “What’cha doing there, friend?”Strickenized_ you’re all good, it was a lovely start! heart
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Posted: Sun May 28, 2023 5:53 pm
Okay, this was the worst quota gathering night ever for the simple fact that someone was touching him. Twice, even, and trying to get his attention like a tone-deaf foreigner looking for directions. Niter's skin wanted to crawl off of his body and into the quiet safety of the gutter.
"Um, waiting for the bus," Niter answered once his tongue unstuck from the back of his mouth. He shuffled a few paces away from the stranger-slash-knight, enough that he thought the fellow might pick up on the hint that he was standing too close. "Do you mind? I'm just. Um. Now's not the best time to talk."
That was probably the meanest he'd gotten toward a knight, but honestly? They deserved that. Especially since the last time he ran into anyone from the White Moon, he got shot with invisible arrows and had to take like six naps and a few baths to recover from that. Which was, in Niter's opinion, revenue lost since he could've spent that time playing Tears of the Kingdom and making his pittance off of Twitch. But no, he had to spend it curled up like a Cheeto on his bed while he waited for the pain to die down.
Yeah, they didn't deserve his politeness anymore.
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