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 Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2024 9:02 am
Quote: The Tickets (1): Entrance to the Crystal Hearts Gallery is $50 per person, or $75 per couple however there have been a surprising number of businesses, big and small, offering free tickets. These can be won through raffles, games, loyalty programs, promotions, or just by being in the right place at the right time. Even if you hadn’t planned on going, can you really turn down a free trip like this? Access to an exclusive venue, a scenic trip through a crystal garden, an art gallery, and a free buffet? Not to mention the advertised lottery program, where just showing up grants you a ticket to win a souvenir. Plus, vendors–just in case you wanted something a little extra special for Valentine’s Day? The Crystal Heart Gallery claims to be for a good cause–all proceeds are going towards Destiny City charities. The event is open from 10AM to 10PM so there’s plenty of time in the day to visit.
Taking a friend was always an option, she supposed as she strolled through Ramsett Park? But she didn’t have very many of those to begin with. Most of the friend-adjacent folks in her life were probably best called “work friends,” and that felt like an overly generous description of the ones from the theater. If she were honest—something she felt compelled to be with herself right now, not least because nobody else was around to judge her and it wasn’t as though the barren trees had telepathy—she could only stand spending so much time with any of them.
As for the Negaverse, well……it felt like “work friends” was doing a lot of heavy lifting there, too. Two of the people she could think of, Generals Ashanite and Arsenolite, were actually her superior officers and inviting them would have been both weird and probably inappropriate. On top of that, General Arsenolite, perhaps, would wish to take General Sakuraiite for the three hours she could spend passing for human every day. The grapevine said one of the other people Andesine liked had Ascended a few months back, which, while unquestionably admirable of Niter to have committed to doing for Metallia and the Negaverse, probably made it difficult for him to do normal human things like go to cutesy Valentine’s Day events.
The one person who’d genuinely been Andesine’s friend—the one who’d first brought her into the Negaverse at all—had turned traitor and gone running for the White Moon. Ostensibly, Monoceros was still hiding behind some trash-garbage princess’s flowy skirts or something. At least, Andesine hadn’t seen or heard anything from him since General Larimar had spotted him last spring, during the battle at Augusta Bank, so she felt inclined to think that he was hiding.
As her slinking brought her to the basketball court, though, another name finally came to mind.
Maybe they hadn’t dealt with each other very much before, being on different teams and all, but the lieutenant she thought of had a good attitude. Seemed like a team player, which made Andesine feel inclined to like him and extend him the benefit of the doubt. Sitting down at the picnic table on the sidelines, she pulled out her pad and fired off a quick message.
Vesuvianite,
Are you free and near Ramsett Park? Something (hopefully) fun came up and I’d like to share, if you’re interested. I’m at the picnic table by the basketball court, if yes.
—Andesine.
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Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2024 9:23 am
Vesuvianite didn't often make friends. He was typically quiet, kept to himself. Didn't do all that much. But he had been getting bolder, lately. So when Andesine's message came through, he took a deep breath and told himself it would be okay. They were on friendly terms, after all. Andesine
sure thing, on my way!
- VesuvianiteAfter sending the message, he hurried over as quick as he could. He didn't want to keep her waiting long. He did take some time to breathe a little, calm himself down—he didn't want to look too eager, either. "Hey," he greeted as he came close. "Nice to see you again, Captain Andesine."
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Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2024 12:16 pm
“Nice to see you too,” she said, greeting Vesuvianite with a little wave, then patting the bench beside her to welcome him to come sit. Yes, she was a Captain while she was still a Lieutenant, but……she really didn’t want him to stand on ceremony or anything, right now. Technically, they were on the job, so he probably should have, but Andesine was also coming to him as a friend, rather than a superior officer. It just………felt nicer. To not have her rank attached to her name, or to have him standing up like he might snap to attention at any moment.
“How have you been lately,” Andesine asked with a small smile, because it felt polite to ask about that before jumping into the thing that she was interested in. “I hope people out here haven’t been giving you too much trouble or anything?”
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Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2024 12:20 pm
Vesuvianite sat, a bit cautiously, but this didn't feel like some kind of... trap, or something. He'd heard things, of course, of people who were friends or at least very nice acquaintances, one of which who'd risen up faster than the other and became some sort of... jerk. Reporting things that didn't really matter. That sort of thing. But he didn't really get that vibe—Andesine just seemed a touch awkward. "Hah, just the Order folks," they said with a rueful smile. "It's not going too poorly, though. I'm keeping up on energy quotas. I'd love to get my hands on a starseed that I keep someday, instead of having it snatched back, but, well, you know how it is. They're determined."
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Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2024 12:29 pm
“Isn’t that always the way with ignorant people,” Andesine said, more than a bit commiserating. How could she, or any other officer of the Negaverse, not find it in themself to commiserate? All of them had dealt with the operatives of the White Moon, and all of them had had to navigate dealing with the pushback from these idiots who thought themselves big, damn heroes. “Even if they don’t have magical power from outer space to back them up, ignorant people are always so confident about the areas in which they’re ignorant. They love to tell everyone what’s what when they don’t even know. Then, you give the Order folks their magic on top of that ignorance and it’s just……a mess.”
By way of emphasizing her point, Andesine shook her head and rolled her eyes.
But, with a sigh, she tried to move on: “Even if they’re a known job hazard, I’m sorry they’re so determined to obstruct you. For what it’s worth, I believe you’ll get that starseed someday, and no doubt more.” As much as she personally thought starseeding too many people seemed like a waste of resources, Andesine couldn’t deny that there were times when it was appropriate and very called for, and that starseeds had more power than the usual energy orbs. Tucking some hair behind her ear, she tacked on, “Unrelated to work……have you seen the stuff out in town about the Crystal Hearts Gallery?”
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Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2024 1:15 pm
Vesuvianite nodded in agreement, sputtering his lips a little. Order was indeed quite the mess. Funny, that they called themselves that, and yet had one of the most loose organizations he'd ever heard of. "Crystal Hearts Gallery? No, not really. I tend to avoid this sort of thing, you see. Not very fun when you've not got someone to share it with," they remarked, shrugging. It would never occur to him to think she was asking him on a date or anything like that, not when he was quite sure they wouldn't be compatible in that way.
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Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2024 10:21 pm
“Honestly, same,” Andesine sighed, “and it’s been a while since I had someone to go with, y’know?”
Shaking her head, she tried not to think too much about Helena and……whoever she was. The skinny little white blonde she’d traded Sable in for, practically half Helena’s own age, and ostensibly every bit as much of a sugar baby (and arguable gold digger) as Sable herself had been, except that what’s-her-name had gotten an engagement ring.
(Was it Mallorie, with an I-E? Was that the new girl’s name? Andesine felt like that was it, or might have been, but she hadn’t thought about those two in………wow, ages, it felt like.)
Still, regardless, Andesine reached into her subspace and produced the tickets. “Then I won a pair of tickets in a raffle at my civilian job, and……” She quirked her shoulders. “There isn’t a romantically special lady in my life or anything, so……I thought I’d ask a friend to come with me instead? If you want to, maybe?”
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Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2024 11:43 am
Vesuvianite could understand that, they thought. Even though they'd never been on a single date before in their life—too quiet and strange for most people back in high school, and then college too. After that, they just... never cared to pursue it, believing the chances were all gone. Everyone seemed to do it all in high school or college, and he was long past that prime. Which kind of sucked, yeah, but oh well. What could he do now? Well, at least he was making friends. That was something he could do. At the offer, he blinked, startled for a long moment—because seriously, who would ask them even as friends?—but then they settled into a soft, shy smile and nodded carefully. "Yeah, uh, yeah. That would be nice. I mean, hey, a free fancy dinner, and a good night with someone I actually like, even if it's not in that way? Sounds good to me," he enthused. "After all, it's not like they're gonna do a silly couple's quiz on us to make sure we're dating before benefiting or something, right?"
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