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 Posted: Wed Jun 21, 2023 11:08 pm
Quote: The Lantern Festival (9) : Scientists have been hard at work trying to understand the strange, glowing qualities of the luminescent caterpillars found in the caves by the reservoir. The caterpillars still shrivel up if they are taken out of the caves but their glowing secretions have been processed into an organic paste that can withstand the outside world. The city is selling paper lanterns infused with various seeds. The glow paste is full of minerals to support healthy plant growth without risking damage to the environment; all lantern purchases come with a small packet of activating power that will heat the paste up enough to mimic the effects of a candle without the concerns of flammability. When the glow paste loses its heat, the lantern will return to the Earth and upon the first rain (or any contact with water) the paper will dissolve and the seeds may begin to grow. All proceeds from the lanterns are put right back into the community to support local conservation and environmental protection efforts. Noctua herself did not have a lantern this evening, but she was rather enjoying herself watching them go up that evening. It was all fairly... romantic. The dark of night wrapping itself around her like a friend rather than a threat. Sleepiness lighting on her shoulders to remind her that her bed called to her instead of dancing outside of her grasp.Around her cicadas sang, their low drone lulling her into semi-sleep as she lounged beneath the soft glow of the lanterns as they rose around her. Not for the first time, Noctua was actually overcome with relief. It swelled in her chest and threatened to erupt from ther lips as a laugh or a song or a sob. God knew she'd done enough crying into Benitoite's shoulder as she realized the extent of her recovery since her youmaglia implantation. She was also struck with the thought that Meridiana might like this. She might enjoy a picnic on the grass with the lights above them. Noctua might even find the courage to finally tell her that she was cured. That she wouldn't be a burden to Meridiana any longer. That she could be her equal and not need her to put her to sleep. Maybe she could even tell her... Noctua shook the thought from her head. No. Don't be foolish Noctua. One thing at a time. Be a good friend, and then move form there. Meridiana deserved that much. She deserved an equal and a partner. Noctua couldn't ask her for more. And besides, there was still no guarantee that Meridiana would even want her when she found out that she was better. No promise that she wouldn't find her less interesting now that she wasn't a haunted pile of bones at her feet. Which was as preposterous as the idea of confessing her love to the other senshi. Meridiana was better than that. She was better than most, actually. She wouldn't lose interest in Noctua simply because she was better. No, she'd be happy for her. She'd want her around more now. She'd throw her arms around Noctua and pull her close and... Noctua cleared her throat, again shaking her head as though she could physically dislodge the thought before it took root. Again. Because now that her health was in check it was getting harder and harder not to miss her friend. Not to imagine the way she would stroke her head and sing to her while she took her fill of energy so that Noctua could finally sleep. The soft feeling of her lap under Noctua's cheek and the scent of her skin... "God... damn it Noctua, lock it the ******** up for four seconds," she scolded herself as she rose, brushing the stray grass from her fuku. Maybe it was time to go home. Time to sleep and gather herself in the morning. Her thoughts were always easier to control when she was rested... rested... still so new a concept that to brought a smile to Noctua's lips. Made her anticipate the dreams she might have, whether they'd be pleasant or frightening, knowing that she'd be able to escape whenever she wanted and wake to a fully aware body and mind. No more paralysis... Yeah, sleep sounded so good. And yet, as she turned to leave, the cloying feeling of an order aura caught her attention at the edges of her awareness. She sighed deeply, deciding that sleep could wait if this order soldier wanted to start a problem with her.
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Posted: Mon Jun 26, 2023 3:00 pm
Liánlí Huang was no stranger to lantern festivals. Maybe Zhìháo had been the one who went with his family into Boston’s Chinatown every Lunar New Year, without fail, for the Shangyuan Festival and its associated activities. Yes, that had been Zhìháo’s experience, which made it Very Different from Liánlí’s because obviously, that just made sense.
But Liánlí still remembered things like clinging to da-jie’s leg and hiding behind her skirts because one of the Lion Dancers had frightened Zhìháo. He still recalled Qiang-er Qiang-ge Qiang-er, in one of his precious rare moments of actually acting like a gege instead of acting like some kind of vaguely brother-shaped tyrant, conspiratorially batting around the idea of “forgetting” Xiuying somewhere because she was being really annoying that day, and his, hers, and Zhìháo’s parents might not have noticed that she wasn’t in the car if someone didn’t tell them.
He remembered everything, and flitting around the lantern festival as Kāifēng didn’t banish the memories, either. It did, however, give Kāifēng other things to focus on. Aside from the lanterns themselves, which looked lovely all lit up with glowing paste or whatever (Kaifeng hadn’t really paid attention to any of the “how these things work” summaries that he’d read; his brain had kept getting partway into things and then shorting out due to boredom), the lantern festival had people going every which way. Where there were people, there was a need to look out for them, which was part of Kāifēng’s job, now, given the magical knight business.
The feeling of a Negaverse aura set his nerves on edge, initially, but that feeling disappeared almost entirely when he found the girl who seemed to be radiating said aura. Dark brown-skinned, with the telltale cracks in her chest and forehead, her long Negaverse hair done in dreadlocks, and a fuku that honestly looked really stylish in a very neon punk kind of way—a really pretty girl, too. But more than anything else about her, Kāifēng noticed how the girl seemed downright exhausted, like it might’ve been a miracle she was still on her feet.
“Hey,” Kāifēng said gently, tucking his folding fan into the sash around his waist. There, weapon put away. Approaching her slowly and carefully, like trying to calm a frightened rabbit, he held his hands out in the open, too. So she could see that he wasn’t trying any funny business with them. “Hey, are you okay, meimei? D’you need help, or some water, or anything?”
Yeah, she had a Negaverse aura. Yes, it felt more powerful than Kāifēng’s own. But she was also out here by herself, looking more than a little worse for wear. And didn’t “protect people” include people in the Negaverse, too? Especially when they weren’t doing anything except existing?
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Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2023 6:17 pm
The Ordered soldier made no move to hide themselves, which Noctua had noticed was a common flaw in their kind in general. All too trusting and open. Too ready to befriend and approach with softness... a misstep Noctua was all too happy to exploit. It fell under the ever-relevant heading of "******** around and find out." If Order Soldiers wanted to give her and her ilk the benefit of the doubt then fine. But she was getting something out of it. Even if the intrusion on her solitude and hopeless pining still irked her more than a little. Noctua held out a slender hand to the side, her palm up, resting in the air as though waiting for a hand to settle in her palm. And if the Page was stupid enough to take that hand then fine, it would only make her next move that much easier. Not that the act of energy draining was particularly hard for her any longer. No, in fact it was as natural as calling her magic to her. As easy as breathing, and soon a small, glittering orb of energy rested in the palm of her hand. She drew it to her face, finally turning to present her profile to the Page, and inspected the energy, as though evaluating it's quality before she snapped it away, off to do it's job for Metallia and the Negaverse. "You should know better than to be minding someone else's business," she finally spoke, her voice soft enough so that the page would have to strain to hear her. "As it stands though, maybe you could help me... you see I am dreadfully behind in my energy quota. Been sick a long time before my General could heal me. I wouldn't mind take more of that from you." It wasn't a lie. Not technically. Noctua had fallen behind during her leave of absence, deciding to give herself a few weeks to adjust to the youmaglia in her brain and allow her body to recuperate from her chronic illness. The deficit, however, wasn't nearly as tragic as she led the Page to believe, nor was it something that she couldn't recover in a few weeks time. As though to punctuate her meaning, she drew another orb from the Page, allowing it to hover over her pointer finger before snapping it too away. "Won't you help a poor, helpless, scrambling Lady," she pouted, pushing her lower lip out as she poured as much honey over her words as she could. Asking the Page to just give himself over to her like butter would melt in her own poisonous mouth.
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