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Star Pox (10) : Genetically modified fruits arenāt exactly new but every now and then something seems to be going on with them. This year, itās star fruit. The entire batch from Destiny Cityās largest supplier has a strange side effect; a few minutes after eating one, star-shaped āfrecklesā will begin to cover the skin. While this has been colloquially dubbed āstar pox,ā it appears to be a harmless allergic reaction. The freckles fade after a few hours and pose no actual health risks; theyāve become quite popular across social media. This might be your only chance to experience the strange trend! ā¦Unless sales are good enough to bring them back.
Summer was evil and an unforgivable crime against Preston Horatio Burroughs personally. He had thought so even as a child, and if anything, this had only become more true as heād gotten older. The heat was oppressive. The humidity was hateful. Practically nothing that he liked to wear worked under the weather conditionsātoo much covering and not enough breathability, too many layers, too heavy a weave of fabric, the litany of complaints went onāyet very few things that did work for the summer weather left Preston feeling comfortable in his own existence as a person. He only barely tolerated wearing some of these items of clothing at the gym, where pragmatism won out over all else, never mind wearing themā¦ā¦anywhere else.
Plus, there was the matter of how many times lately Preston had thought heād seen Brother Horaceās white Bentley. None of the evidence actually suggested that Brother Horace had been lurking around in Destiny City. Perhaps he had heard whisperings of Prestonās research and how he had been in touch with former members of the flock, with some of Brother Horaceās old colleagues, with people who had known Brother Horace at one point or another. Plenty of things could have motivated him to venture away from the compound and into town. Plenty of things could have motivated him to come near Purple Haze, the university, or Prestonās apartment, whose location Brother Horace knew because he had a right to know places he was being ordered to avoid. Plenty of things might have motivated him to step outside the bounds of Prestonās order of protection to come see him and express whatever might or might not have been on his mind.
But all of that was circumstantial and suggestive, at best. Prestonās own feelings of uncertainty and anxiety didnāt mean that Brother Horace had actually violated the restraining order. For both their sakes, Preston hoped that heād only imagined things, thinking that heād seen his alleged brotherās Bentley following him around town. He had other things to worry about, things like making enough time between his research to hit the gym and navigating around the cityās annual Star Festival celebrations without getting too swept up in them.
Indeed, Preston was leaving the gym when he saw the first signs of the Destiny City Star Festival blossoming around him. The heat and humidity only made these signifiers feel so much more offensive. As soon as Prestonās sneakers hit the pavement, he wondered why heād even bothered taking a shower after working out. Outside might as well have been a sauna, and immediately, the humidity clung to his skin as though it wished to smother him. Mere blocks away from the gym, Preston rolled up his sleeves to try and help with the heatāsomething that frankly felt as though it ought to have been gratuitous, considering that he was already wearing a DCU t-shirt instead of something heavier, longer-sleeved, or more professionalāand he found it didnāt help as much as he would have liked. Honestly, doing that helped about as much as Preston ever felt he helped Dr. Sturm by covering lecture sections, running interference with other members of the faculty, and pretending with everyone but Dr. Rokugin that he didnāt know his primary faculty advisor was hungover.
Deviating from his usual route home, Preston went through one of the city parks. He paused only briefly, picking up something shiny and purple off the ground. Someone must have lost their star charm. The shade from the trees helped somewhat, he guessed. As much as he generally preferred to avoid the Star Fest celebrations, Preston found himself suckered in by one of them: namely, a cart selling something called star fruit. Preston didnāt know if these had anything to do with actual starfruits, but they tasted decent enough and they also somewhat helped with the heat. At least, it felt a bit more bearable as he proceeded through the park.
He didnāt know why so many people he passed seemed to be taking selfies, nor why some of them seemed so interested in their skin when it did not look any better or worse than (Preston presumed) normal human skin tended to look. Well, whatever the issue was, it wasnāt Prestonās problem. Pausing beneath a particularly shady tree, he let himself enjoy both the shade and the star fruits.
Noir Songxxbird
