The Fireflies (6) : In the warm summer nights, little glowing lights begin to bob and dart through the city. Fireflies are mating, so this isn't uncommon in itself; in the past few days you've probably seen hundreds of fireflies. What makes these lights so unique is that they seem to change color; you might see a blue one, a green one, a red one. They flicker randomly, and something just seems off with them. If you come into contact with one, you will find yourself with a strange electric jolt. They cannot be caught, and will flicker away if you pursue too aggressively. This isn’t the first time they’ve appeared in Destiny City, but no one’s been able to tell where they came from or where they’re going. No matter how quickly you chase them, they always seem to disappear before you can find any answers.
"OUCH!" The pale senshi gasped as he jerked his offended fingers back from the tiny little bug light that danced before him.
All over the park's lawn, similar little lights bobbed and danced above the grass. Cernunnos had found them fascinating the first time he'd seen them after coming to Earth. He'd had no idea what they were, of course, and had spent a good amount of time chasing them down to try and catch one. But with how they flickered on and off, it had been surprisingly difficult... when he'd managed it, he'd been surprised to find it was some sort of Earth insect. Those had all been one color though... these?
There were every color he could imagine. Was that normal for them? Was all the solid colored ones an oddity, or the norm? Or something else? He'd made a note to ask Hati about it later... both the same colored ones and the colored ones. Maybe Hati would let him use the computer so he could look up information about it.
The other odd thing was the electric jolt he'd gotten out of these ones, versus the others. The same-colored ones had just been bugs... no sting or bite to them. These... these had a nasty sort of defense when you tried to catch them. It put Cernunnos off of trying to repeat his dashing about to catch another one and he stood watching them as he sucked his fingers, pale brows drawn together in a small frown.
tatterpixie
Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2024 8:06 am
Parsifal simply adored fireflies. They were one of his favorite things about summer. Often was the time when he was an aspiring jockey living in the stables at the racetrack that he would go and lay on the grass of the infield and watch the fireflies rise and begin their evening dance. They were amazing little bugs, with their glowing butts winking off and on. Just lovely, and so summery.
So when he saw the pale stranger chasing fireflies in the park, he decided he had to join them.
Giggling, the Senshi of Alternatives ran into the blinking swarm, arms spread wide. That was when he noticed two things: the pale Senshi had horns, and the fireflies were winking in colors! He wasn’t even that high tonight, only having done a small amount of mushrooms (after that incident with the corrupt Senshi and her strange joy juice, he’d avoided getting stoned for a few days). So these things, both of them, must be real!
“Hi!” He grinned at the pale person, who was giving off Order vibes. “I’m Parsifal! These are so cool!” Reaching out to touch a blue firefly, he yelped at the electric jolt he got. “Wow, rude bug. I like your horns, they’re so neat!”
Soft, pale ears flicked forward towards the bright voice and then tucked back into his hair as Cernunnos turned towards his assailant, dark eyes wide with suspicion. For all of a few moments.
"Thanks..." He murmured around his fingers as he frowned at the strange senshi, both strange in lack of familiarity and strange in his exuberant nature. It left Cernunnos stuck somewhere between fading suspicion of a stranger, and a growing amusement at the erratic way he went from greeting to trying to touch the bugs. The zap he got for his troubles did pull a smile onto his lips and he tilted his head coyly, nibbling on the tip of his finger.
This cute guy was only a little taller than Cernunnos was, something of a relief after all the towering people he'd met so far. It put them more on a level, more eye to eye, and the pale senshi gave him a look up and down, noting the distinct lack of features that would make him not-from-Earth. Human then? One of the senshi from this world, like Hati.
"Yeah, they don't like being touched. Are these normal around here? I've only ever seen the ones that are all one yellow color. And those don't shock you." Might as well get some questions out of the way and save him having to go hunt down Hati to ask about it. This guy seemed friendly enough, not at all inclined to hurt him or otherwise make a problem, so why not? It might even be fun.
Posted: Thu Jun 20, 2024 3:43 pm
Parsifal almost squee'd out loud when the small, clearly alien person's ears flicked out briefly, but he managed to hold it together, just barely. This fellow was smaller than he was! Only just, maybe about five foot even. Still, that was enough novelty to keep the Senshi of Alternatives' scattered, mushroom-sullied attention.
He was so cute too! Just adorable, with his wide eyes and the little horns and those ears omg.
"These guys?" Parsifal reached out reflexively for a red firefly and was zapped in the palm of his hand for his troubles. "Ow!! No, they're not," he shook his head, rubbing his wounded hand. "I think they only come around during Star Fest? I've never seen them before, and a lot of weird, crazy things go on during Star Fest. The yellow ones that blink off and on and don't zap you are the normal ones. They're all over the place at night during the summer."
He sighed and smiled. "I just love fireflies."
Looking at the stranger, his smile warmed and he stuck out his hand. "I'm Parsifal, like I said I think. What's your name?"
A pale eyebrow lifted as the other senshi reached out, again, and got himself zapped, again. Choosing not to comment on the oddity, he tilted his head instead and considered this 'starfest' concept.
"I saw signs about 'Starfest'. Is that some sort of Earth festival? A lot of the shops and business are advertising things for it, and people have been a lot more active than I've seen them before..." He said as he let his fingers fall away from his mouth and touched his forehead with them instead, flicking them outwards. "I'm Cernunnos. Kinda new to Destiny City, if that wasn't obvious. Its my first time with this Starfest... stuff."
This happened every year? Great... He was going to have to bug Hati about it and find out what other sort of weird stuff usually happened. Was Earth some sort of like... weirdness magnet? It had dragged all of these non-earth senshi here, after a thousand years of dying worlds.... what about it was so attractive to this sort of stuff?
"I guess you're used to it though, huh?" Cernunnos said as he looked over the other again, his focus sharper this time.
tatterpixie
Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2024 8:16 am
"Yeah, I kinda am used to it," Parsifal grinned. He'd probably have a harder time dealing with it all if it wasn't for the magic mushrooms. "Destiny City is full of weird s**t. Things. Stuff. It happens all the time, though it seems weirder during Star Fest."
Pulling back his hand, he watched Cernunnos – what a cool name! – gesture with his hand, and he clumsily imitated it. "I'm really happy to meet you, Cernunnos! Welcome to Destiny City! I grew up here, so yeah, it's my home. Hey, if you ever need anyone to show you around or explain stuff, I'd be super happy to help out!"
He blinked and brightened even more. "Oh yeah huh, Star Fest! No, it's just a thing that's done here in DC every year. It's a festival that the city puts on to celebrate community – it just happens to be star-themed. Little star charms, lanterns, a wishing tree, stuff down at the reservoir, that sort of thing. Kinda brings the city together. It's one of my favorite things we do here!" Who was he kidding, Star Festival was his very favorite thing that the city did for its citizens.
A blue firefly lazily drifted into his view, and he almost almost reached out again to try to catch it. "These fireflies, though… they're some of the weird s**t that only happens during Star Fest for some reason." With a shrug, he gave Cernunnos a happy grin. "I like them, even though they hurt!"
The longer Parsifal talked, the harder it was to keep up any sort of suspicion around him. The poor guy just seemed so harmless... and kind of helpless, really. Cernunnos wasn't really the white-knight type, but it was really hard to keep up what defenses he had around such a person. Even as the senshi had a look in his eye like he wanted to touch another firefly...
Cernunnos gave him a lazy sort of grin and shook his head.
"You're kinda weird, you know that? Even for a human. Must be because you've lived here so long." He said as he began to wander through the grass, kicking at it to chase up more of the bugs. Soft, deer-like ears perked forwards as he watched them wink on and off as they flew up into the trees.
"We didn't have bugs quite like that, back on my world. But there are a lot of things we used to have there that don't exist here. I guess that's what happens, between different worlds. I miss that stuff though... your world is full of interesting stuff, but a lot of weird stuff too. I don't know how any of you keep any of it straight. And that's even before you add on the Negaverse, and their weird stuff... like the corrupt senshi." Those put his hackles up and his nerves on edge. They felt dangerous, even when they were acting nice.
"Hey! What's your favorite Earth food?" He said abruptly as he spun back to face Parsifal, settling his hands on his narrow hips. "Did you know people have to make food before you can eat it?"
