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 Posted: Sun Dec 17, 2023 10:43 am
Quote: Prompt 1 (Diamond Dust): This time of year, snow is common. What’s uncommon is the single, strange snowfall where each snowflake that fell glistened like tiny diamonds. For the most part, the snow seems fairly normal—it’s cold, wet, and melts just like any other snow, it just also happens to look like tiny little gems are falling from the sky. Depending on who you’re with, it’s either incredibly strange, or incredibly romantic. When the snow is coming down at its strongest, crystalized snowflakes trickle down with the rest of the snow. These are roughly the size of a quarter and are light and hollow. They are fragile, like glass, but glisten like a fine cut gem. No one can explain this anomaly, but these small snowflakes won't melt. And they are all over Destiny City. You can find them gently falling to the ground, or lying in the fresh fallen snow. There doesn’t seem to be anything particularly magical about them, but they are beautiful and make pretty keepsakes.
He didn’t mind the weather. Colder temperatures were better than sweltering heat, and something about the magic of his uniform kept him warm enough without too many bulky layers. He only worried for his hands, which had no such protection from the elements, but which he made do by shoving into his pockets.
His quota didn’t change with the time of year. They didn’t change with his mood either. His obligations didn’t matter. His quota was constant and unending, a tedious necessity he didn’t always have to accomplish on his own, but easy enough to do that he felt guilty for leaving the task to Roselite’s ceaseless generosity.
So he walked, stealing energy from a few passersby, then kept walking even when the number of people dwindled. The night was dark and cold, the stars and moon blotted out by thick cloud cover, dropping snow onto the city — not heavy, but consistent. A couple of inches already coated the ground, crunching beneath his feet. Jasper wanted to hate it, but the city seemed peaceful for once, and the weather meant there were few others out to bother him.
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Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2023 8:22 am
The snow coming down was strangely beautiful. Little gems that twinkled and sparkled and glistened. Kamacite didn’t usually make it a habit to linger out in the cold, especially since he was often chilled quickly, despite his robes, but tonight he couldn’t help but look up at the sky and the gentle flurry of white falling around him.
Perhaps he was becoming too comfortable as an Eternal Senshi. He knew he could escape situations he didn’t want to be in easily but just teleporting away, although he didn’t want to make a habit out of that. He hadn’t actually done it often, but knew it was an option in the back of his mind.
At least that was the excuse he gave himself when he felt the aura of a Lieutenant much closer than he’d realized before turning to see who it was. Kamacite had already been standing in the snow for a few minutes, so while some of the snow that had accumulated in the river of black hair and bright robes had melted, the sparkling gems still remained. His cheeks and nose and ears were red from the cold, and if he took a moment to process his discomfort, he would realize that he’d become numb to it.
Not knowing what to say to this Lieutenant that he couldn’t recall ever speaking to, Kamacite gave a small nod of his head in acknowledgement. Perhaps that was all the interaction they would have.
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Posted: Tue Dec 26, 2023 1:11 pm
Normally, Jasper would have given a nod in return and been on his way. He didn’t need conversation. He didn’t need companionship. He wasn’t so invested in the Negaverse that he cared to impress anyone of a higher rank.
But he recognized the Senshi.
More recently, Jasper had seen him across the room in the Dark Kingdom during the Thanksgiving party. Before that, Jasper was sure it had been this Senshi in the shadows over the summer, stealing energy while he himself laid on a bench in the park, unpowered. Jasper recognized the long fall of black hair, and the billowing robes over a slight figure.
So Jasper returned the nod, then came to a stop. He eyed the Senshi with mild curiosity, though his own expression didn’t change much. Jasper’s eyes were shadowed with fatigue, his mouth set in a neutral frown.
“You were sitting with Aquamarine during the Thanksgiving party,” Jasper said, voice as calm and impersonal as his expression. “Are you a friend of his?”
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Posted: Tue Dec 26, 2023 8:17 pm
For a moment, Kamacite thought the Lieutenant would continue on their way. But when he spoke again, he found himself freezing in place. More than what the snow was already doing.
He pressed his lips together as he turned to glance over at the Lieutenant once more. He wasn’t familiar. Or rather, if they’d crossed paths, they hadn’t been introduced.
But that meant he could be friendly with Aquamarine (unlikely, since Aquamarine was an unlikable b***h), or could use Kamacite’s opinion against him in some way. Possibly to gain favor with Aquamarine or someone else to rise in the ranks.
“The General and I… it is unlikely that there is compatibility for friendship,” he said, his voice softer than usual with the snow falling around them. “I did not see you there. Do you know General Aquamarine, since you are asking about him?”
This was awkward. If this guy was a friend of Aquamarine… Kamacite hoped he hadn’t found someone else that would throw him in front of some crazed monster…
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Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2023 8:01 am
Jasper hardly reacted. One brow lifted ever so slightly, but other than that his expression remained neutral.
The Senshi seemed as if he were being careful with his words. He was quiet, timid, maybe a bit nervous, but he had risen to Eternal somehow, so Jasper knew not to underestimate him. Jasper, for his part, was unsurprised by the polite denial.
Flakes of snow glittered in the Senshi’s hair like stars in the night sky. He seemed cold even when cloaked in power, unsuited to their surroundings in his bright robes. Warmth and light would have suited him better, though the crack over the place where his starseed would be proved that he was no stranger to the dark.
“He’s my brother,” Jasper said.
The words fell from him like stones made rough with regret. Jasper’s frown deepened. The years certainly hadn’t made it any easier to repair what had broken within his family, but it wasn’t this Senshi’s burden to bear.
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Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2023 8:21 pm
Momentary surprise betrayed Kamacite’s otherwise emotionless expression. It wasn’t as though he felt nothing. He felt a lot. But he’d learned a long time ago that it was safer not to reveal his emotions to others. He wasn’t always successful in that regard, but he was doing his best.
Surprise quickly shifted to mild disgust, although that didn’t have anything to do with the Lieutenant, and everything to do with Aquamarine.
“My condolences,” he said before he could stop himself. He pressed his lips together, as though that would reverse time and remove what he’d said from existence.
“You don’t seem to be anything like him,” Kamacite quietly observed, although he’d said it in a way that it was just a passing comment. If the Lieutenant wanted to ignore him, then he was welcome to do so.
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Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2024 7:36 am
Jasper laughed—a short, quiet chuckle that would have gone unheard in a crowd, but which fell between the two of them like a secret in the dark.
Years ago he might have been offended, protective of a brother who relied on him for guidance and security in the shadow of an unknown father and a frequently absent mother. That time had ended when Aquamarine left home, leaving Jasper steeped with regret and slowly dawning comprehension. Care and concern had not abandoned him, nor had the protectiveness, but he was forced to swallow it down and come to terms with the differences between the boy he’d once known and the young man Aquamarine had become when Jasper hadn’t been paying close enough attention.
“You say that like you know anything about me,” Jasper said, voice casual, conversational, threaded through with amusement.
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Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2024 6:09 pm
”Perhaps not,” Kamacite agreed, still watching the man curiously without making any movement towards him. But he also didn’t make any movement to retreat.
If anything, the quiet laughter and amusement in his voice seemed to ease any lingering trepidation Kamacite might have had.
“But I do know General Aquamarine.”
Despite not knowing Aquamarine well, he knew Aquamarine was highly unlikely to find amusement in things like his apparent brother. Kamacite was certain that a brother of Aquamarine should know exactly what someone could pick out as differences between them, and thus didn’t go into further detail.
He was also cautious about offending him. He didn’t have a relationship at all with his half-sibling, but the way Lev doted on Misha and Misha seemed to adore Lev in his own way was enough for Kamacite to sympathize with the complexities of sibling relationships.
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Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2024 8:52 am
Jasper accepted the counter with a brief tip of the head in acknowledgement.
A part of him was curious. He knew so little of Aquamarine’s time in the Negaverse, despite the rumors that tended to spread around the castle. He wasn’t the type for gossip—certainly not with a Senshi who was little more than a stranger. The Senshi in question didn’t seem indignant or hostile (far from it), but he did seem humble and reserved. Jasper thought it would be unfair to pry, that this Senshi hardly deserved to be interrogated for the simple matter of knowing Aquamarine.
So Jasper once again fell into motion, continuing along at an unhurried pace, cold hands still buried within his pockets.
As he passed the Senshi, Jasper said in a purposeful voice, “I hope you enjoy the rest of your night.”
Perhaps the Senshi wouldn’t remember. Their last interaction had been so fleeting. Jasper hadn’t even been powered up at the time. No doubt this Senshi had drained the energy from countless civilians. A strange man on a bench at the park probably didn’t earn much notice among them.
But Jasper parroted the Senshi’s own words from that night back to him anyway. “Stay safe.”
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