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 Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2023 8:09 pm
Quote: Radio Waves (14) : In the ever-expanding metropolis of Destiny City, there’s always a need for more cell towers. Ordinarily this wouldn’t be a problem, except since the last batch went live, some people have been reporting an increase in weird messages to their phones. Strange, nonsensical texts, or voicemails, or even a few shadowy video calls have been reported, but the evidence never lasts. Almost immediately after receiving the message, it disappears. Prank calls–sure. But the weird thing is that some people have been reporting getting weird messages without their phone, like they’re being transmitted directly into their brain. The messages are always in another language and it always feels like someone is yelling at you. If it’s a practical joke, it’s a good one.
Lovely could’ve thrown his ******** phone. Two and a half hours in a movie theater and he left with seven missed calls with no collar ID available, nine texts from similarly nonexistent numbers, and three voicemails in languages he couldn’t even recognize. That the experience wasn’t unique and seemed to be happening more and more often as summer brought its heat and humidity to Destiny City led to daily rants and the temptation to cut contact with the entire world for the foreseeable future.
Sighing heavily, Lovely deleted the texts and voicemails and left his phone on Do Not Disturb.
The only person he cared to be disturbed by was already with him anyway.
“I swear one beamed directly into my ******** brain at work yesterday. ******** this city. Every time there’s a holiday coming up, we should skip town, avoid all this ******** nonsense.”
Summer had technically only just begun, and yet it seemed to be in full swing already. A heavy, cloying heat hung over them, aided by an unobstructed sun. Lovely compensated with track shorts and tank tops. His overgrown hair—long overdue to be cut the next time he got fed up with it—sat in a pile on top of his head. A few stubborn strands kept escaping, frizzy from the weather.
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Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2023 8:13 pm
Ilian couldn’t agree more. The spam calls were definitely annoying, but he couldn’t stop being amused by how aggressive Lovely was about it. If it was the result of some prank someone was trying to pull to annoy people, it was certainly working on Lovely.
“Things do tend to get a bit crazy around holidays,” Ilian agreed.
He dared to reach for Lovely’s unoccupied hand. They generally weren’t very open about public displays of affection, but sometimes he couldn’t suppress the urge to touch Lovely, even if it was only something as simple as holding his hand. If Lovely pulled away, Ilian would take the hint and not try again.
He wore clothes to compensate for the weather, too, but his shorts weren’t nearly as short as Lovely’s, stopping just above his knees. He wore a graphic t-shirt instead of a tank top, and his curly hair had been pulled back into a small half ponytail to keep it from getting in his eyes.
“Okay,” he decided. “Next holiday we can travel somewhere, how about that? If you can get time off work,” he added. Ilian knew Lovely liked his job, but it meant he was usually pretty busy around holidays.
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Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2023 8:15 pm
Lovely jerked to a stop. He kept his hand in Ilian’s, even tightened his grip to make sure Ilian stopped with him. A few people scoffed in annoyance and gave them dirty looks for getting in the way in the middle of the sidewalk, making a big to-do about having to move around them. Lovely would’ve glared at them, maybe told them to go ******** themselves, but he couldn’t’ve cared less about strangers or their opinions right then.
“Are you serious?”
Lovely didn’t wait for an answer. He could tell by the look on Ilian’s face that the answer would be affirmative anyway, so he pushed Ilian out of the way, shoved him against the facade of a nearby boutique, and kissed him.
All aggravation instantly forgotten, Lovely wore a rare smile when the kiss broke.
“That’s the hottest thing you’ve ever said to me,” Lovely said. “We can travel somewhere. Do you know how long I’ve wanted to get the ******** out of this place every time there’s a summer festival or a ******** Halloween party? <******** they couldn’t do it because Lovely didn’t have access to his trust fund; traveling when they were living on minimum wage didn’t seem feasible. Then, when they couldn’t use his lack of trust fund as an excuse anymore, Ilian was too devoted to the Negaverse to be coaxed away. (Not that Lovely had tried too hard. Maybe a part of him wanted to avoid what he assumed would be a disappointing conclusion.) They talked about it sometimes, but never made plans. There were always missions to be led, responsibilities to see to, training to be done…
“What, a certain someone gets promoted and you decide it’s time to kick back and take it easy?”
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Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2023 8:16 pm
Whatever Ilian expected, it definitely wasn’t for Lovely to push him against the wall. A kiss maybe, but the enthusiasm had him chuckling quietly, amused by Lovely’s relief as much as he’d been amused by his aggravation.
The smile on Lovely’s face quickly sent a rush of color into Ilian’s ears, which he couldn’t even hide beneath his curls, given how much had been pulled back.
He couldn’t avoid a slight stab of guilt. The excitement in Lovely’s voice made Ilian wonder if he’d been neglecting Lovely’s wants and desires this whole time.
“I’m sorry,” he tried to offer him a small, sympathetic smile. He didn’t move away from the wall, but he lifted his free hand to place against Lovely’s arm, smoothing his palm up and down.
“I didn’t think about that,” he admitted, although he wondered if subconsciously his agreement was due to having some of the work split. “He’s very popular. It’s a good thing,” he decided. Ilian knew he could be a bit of a stick in the mud when it came to following the rules. The opinions of others didn’t matter, usually, as long as Ilian was able to do his duty however he could.
“Where would you like to go? I don’t remember ever traveling outside of Destiny City.”
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Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2023 8:17 pm
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Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2023 8:20 pm
Lovely never rambled like this, with excitement instead of ire. It was cute, and Ilian couldn’t stop himself from leaning close to press another kiss to Lovely’s lips while he wrapped his arms around his waist.
Ilian laughed, unable to get rid of the smile on his lips even if he wanted to. “Noted. No Paris,” he grinned and smoothed his hands up and down Lovely’s back as he thought about it. “I guess I’ll have to look. I don’t have a passport, so we’d probably have to stay in the States. I hear Niagara Falls is a big tourist destination. I don’t think I’d want you to suffer the Grand Canyon in the heat. What about the mountains? We’re pretty close to the Parkway. Maybe an amusement park? I’ve never been to one, so I don’t know if it’s worth it. I’ve never been to the beach, either. At least not from what I can remember,” Ilian hummed thoughtfully to himself as he tried to think of where he would want to go. It wasn’t really something he expected to happen, so he didn’t really think about it.
“Maybe Idaho,” he teased, still grinning. He knew how much Lovely loved potatoes, so it would be the perfect place to visit, right?
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Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2023 8:21 pm
“You’re a ******** comedian,” Lovely said, deadpan, but with amusement in his eyes.
The possibilities were endless. Hell, they could drive across the country and stop at whatever random places happened to look interesting, pick a point on a map and see what they could find. Picky as Lovely often was in their everyday lives, he didn’t have much of a preference when it came to destination. All he cared about was that they left, got out of this ******** city and did something for themselves for once.
The Negaverse took too much from Ilian, and in taking too much from Ilian it took too much from Lovely, too. If they could leave it all behind and never look back…
Lovely knew that would never happen, so he never expressed the thought, never dared to hope for it. But a week or two away, slipping out just before the nonsense started, leaving it all for someone else to deal with, then coming back when it was over, refreshed—Lovely would consider that a win.
“Next holiday’s Halloween,” he said.
Lovely stole one more kiss, then pulled himself out of Ilian’s arms, took Ilian by the hand again, and pulled him in the direction of the nearest restaurant. He only gave half of his attention to the obstacles in their path, already searching for ideas on his phone.
“We could go north,” he suggested. “Supposed to be nice up there in the fall. We could hit Niagara, and New York City. There’s museums and shows and all the touristy s**t. Google says there’s a Six Flags in Massachusetts if you want to do an amusement park. Salem’s there, too, if we still wanted to do spooky s**t without all the ******** up s**t Destiny City usually throws at us.”
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Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2023 8:22 pm
Ilian was content to watch Lovely as they started walking again, although he kept Lovely’s hand in his. Besides, he was making sure no one got in Lovely’s way as they walked.
It was a little strange thinking about leaving Destiny City, even if it was only for a short time. He would have to get permission from the Queen, of course. But she seemed to want them happy, as long as they weren’t neglecting their duties.
But seeing Lovely this giddy about things? Of course Ilian would want to go on vacation with him. Maybe once Lovely came back relaxed and not as high strung, it would be even more obvious how much they needed the break.
He didn’t say it out loud, because he thought Lovely might not be ready for as much open affection, but Ilian knew he would be happy going anywhere, as long as they were together.
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