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 Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2024 2:27 pm
Quote: 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. Staring out the window, Sasha still found it hard to sleep during the night and often spent time watching the city lights flickering farther off in the distance. Even if he’d slept for a few days after getting back from Daedalus, he still wanted to go to Chaldene but with Ian sleeping, he couldn’t go now. Fiddling with his hands in his lap, he perked up as a new and different kind of flickering seemed to happen out in the yard of the property. Sneaking out of bed, he pressed his face to the window, looking down towards the ground and garden where the flickering lights seemed to be. They reminded him of the wisps, the ones he remembered from Chaldene but how were they here? Then there were the other colored flickers which had him curious enough to pull his tattered shorts on under the hoodie he’d been sleeping in and creep downstairs. With how small and light Sasha was, the creaks and groans of the wooden floor weren’t as loud as when Ian walked around so hopefully it wouldn’t wake them. When it came to opening the front door, that was when he worried about waking the other but he was already moving and starting to move slowly towards the lights after closing the front door behind him.
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Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2024 2:28 pm
Only it did wake the dark haired male, he was a light sleeper, and rolled over he sat himself up and moved to drag himself from his bed and follow the other. Dressed in nothing more than boxers, and a pair of shorts, he kept his pace slow due to sleep.
Rubbing his eyes, and yawning, he heard the door opening and closing and wondered what was going on. It wasn’t until Ian reached the door, and could look outside, that he had his answer. “Fireflies…” He whispered and shook his head, how was he not surprised. He’d forgotten to mention the lightning bugs to the other. Opening the door he stepped outside and headed for the other, glad he’d gotten his slippers on the way, as the grass was damp from dew.
“Lightning bugs.” Speaking up as he closed the front door behind himself, his eyes focused on Sasha and the flickering bugs dancing about the night sky. “They aren’t normal - not these though. The color is wrong. But lightning bugs are normal in the summer…” Children ran about catching them, putting them in jars, it was a summer time past time for most children…or at least it used to be.
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Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2024 2:29 pm
Sasha jumped, startled from hearing Ian’s voice and immediately feeling bad for waking them and potentially worrying them. Then jumping again, he felt a small zap from the small flicker of light he had tried to catch between his hands. Shaking his hands, he frowned and moved after the things even as the other told him they weren’t normal.
Wanting to follow them, to see where they led, Sasha continued through the wet grass. It felt squishy beneath his feet but he didn’t mind it, it honestly felt kind of nice to feel nature. Something that he was realizing wasn’t as common in the city.
As long as he didn’t stray too far, it wouldn’t matter that he wasn’t in his glamor. Antennae moving slightly in the breeze, he tried to catch another one and found himself jolted again and gasping from the shock of it. “Ouch…” It just made him more determined as he stood among the flickering lights, looking between them all and deciding which way to go next.
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Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2024 2:30 pm
“They do that as well, - zap people. Normal lightning bugs don’t do that. These are a summer surprise, something which magic brings here somehow every year. I don’t remember them being around when I was growing up but they’ve become a fixture every summer for the past few years.” He was certain if they had been around when he’d been growing up he’d know it, he’d have seen them, and he had never. They were a more recent thing though where they’d come from he didn’t know, and he doubted anyone else did either, like all the other odd magical things which happened every holiday season.
“I wonder if there are any normal ones amongst them..ones which won’t zap you.” Stepping closer, slowly, he kept a distance from the flickering bugs as he tried to look at them as best he could. They certainly were a good many of them…and none looked normal, like the childhood ones, this city has become a magnet for magic in the last… ten years or so…with it steadily growing. Even I can’t deny it, or avoid it.” Like he avoided powering up, and going to his planet, all this magic in the city was impossible to avoid.
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Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2024 2:31 pm
“Oh…” Looking back at Ian he shook his hands again since they tingled slightly from where he’d been zapped. “Look like… wisps…” Pointing at one of the flickering ones that looked blue, he knew now that that wasn’t what they were but he sounded sad as he’d trailed off.
Moving a bit closer to them he held out his hands, little burns from where the things had zapped him. “Sorry…” He knew they worried when he wasn’t doing well, something he both appreciated and felt bad about at the same time. Feeling something beneath his foot, he looked down and saw he’d stepped on one of the things and now he had another little mark on his pale skin.
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Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2024 2:32 pm
“I imagine they do…but these things sting. I’m not sure what they are.” Maybe they were some sort of insect from an alien world and had somehow gotten here? Magic did have a way with this city…nothing surprised him on the news anymore. He really wouldn’t be surprised if some giant insect spitting acid was on the news walking through the city - tall as a building.
Taking both their hands he held them close, inspecting them. “We can get something on your hands to help with this.” And looking down, noticing where their gaze had gone, he nodded. “Your foot too. I’ll find a real firefly, not one of these, to show you.” He’d just need to find one…which he suspected might not be all that easy, given all the flickering bugs in the air. “How about we go to space tomorrow evening…” To make up for this, for the zaps. He knew the other had to be thinking of the wisps and of Chaldene…and his past self. If a trip might help…might soothe the other some. “Let’s go in and I’ll handle your hand and tomorrow night - space.”
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Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2024 2:33 pm
Nodding, he didn’t really know what they were either, and if Ian didn’t know then they were just a mystery for now. Maybe he’d ask Julienne later what she thought but for now, he was rubbing his hand softly after they let go of him. “Okay, fireflies then.” Something that he was certain was similar to the green flowing insects that had once floated around his planet in the warmer months. They didn’t have the same name but he was certain they were probably similar.
Blinking, he looked back up at them and nodded excitedly. “Yes, please!” He’d been wanting to go but then he’d slept for so long he wasn’t sure if they were still going to bring him. Walking back towards the house, he stepped a bit gingerly with the foot that had been zapped but he’d still moved pretty quickly.
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Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2024 2:36 pm
“If I can find a normal firefly to show you.” He’d try and find one and put it in a jar, or something, so Sasha could see what one of the real ones looked like. “Fireflies, the real ones, are something little children every summer run around and try to catch and collect in jars to look at. I’m fairly certain they feature in romance movies, songs, music videos and other things as well. Don’t ask why, I don’t know why they become some sort of romantic thing, but somehow it seems to fit.” When they’d become part of a romantic theme he didn’t know, but it seemed to fit somehow, they just stuck though.
Watching the other trying to walk Ian took a moment to contemplate if he could do it, before he went to scoop the smaller up and carry them inside. He wasn’t that strong, never one to participate in gym class, but the other was just small enough that the weight wasn’t as bad as it could have been for him. Once inside, having to shift the other in his arms in order to open the front door, he carried them to the kitchen counter and set them down. He wasn’t going to try and carry them up to the bathroom.
“Stay here and I’ll find something in the bathroom.”
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Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2024 2:38 pm
“In jars?” Tilting his head he was a bit concerned if the things could breathe if they were bottled up. He had a bit of an idea why they might be romantic but not as much as he thought wisps were with how they lead people to where they needed to go or where they belonged.
Making a surprised noise as they picked him up, he tried not to squirm out of habit. He felt like a toy almost, with how they shifted and held him to get inside and he puffed his cheeks up as he pouted at the treatment he was getting. Wiggling as they set him down on the counter he huffed and his antennae vibrated almost frustratingly along with his mood. “Fine.” He wasn’t going to move though because his foot did sting a bit but he still felt a bit embarrassed and annoyed at being picked up so easily.
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Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2024 2:38 pm
“Yes, little children I think have a fascination with fireflies and like to put them in jars to look at, to watch them flash without them flying away. Children let them go.” At least most did, most didn’t kill them. He’d heard of people keeping bugs as pets, especially tarantulas, but he did wonder if fireflies could be kept as well? It might be something for him to look into, when he could without Sasha catching him, because it might be something the other would like.
“I don’t want you hurting your foot more…and I can’t manage the stairs carrying you - I’m not that strong.” Ruffling the others hair he headed off to the upstairs bathroom to get what he had, or rather he’d grab what he thought might help. If nothing else there was a fruit bowl on the counter near the other, he’d been keeping it full since the others arrival, with various fruits to offer Ian was certain they’d help themself to some food while waiting for him. It was, in a way, like having a moth in the house…the other was nocturnal it seemed just like a moth was. It meant their sleep patterns didn’t match and he wasn’t always awake to help the other with things.
Coming back downstairs he had a lidocaine cream, some bandages, as well as some other products they could try…something for burns, because he wasn’t sure if they were actually burnt at all. They hadn’t seemed it.
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Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2024 2:39 pm
Nodding, a bit relieved that the children of this world let the insects go instead of suffocating them, Sasha thought he might be alright with seeing the bugs here if Ian promised to let them go free after.
Puffing his cheeks up more as they ruffled his hair between his antennas, he went to grab one of the oranges from the bowl and peeled it slowly as he waited. The fruit was a bit sour, maybe not completely ripe but he didn’t mind because it was still pretty good. The bowl had frequently rotating options for him which he looked forward to and appreciated because he could snack on them without having to try figuring out the things used to cook in their kitchen. Only recently he felt comfortable enough poking around the fridge to snack on some of the cold options and little jello or fruit spreads.
Looking up as Ian came back down, he finished with his orange and wiped his hands on his shorts, getting that bit of sugary stickiness off of them.
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Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2024 2:39 pm
Ian did keep rotating fruits, adding in new options here and there, he took note of what the other ate and anything he might leave behind and not finish off. He’d buy more of what they ran out of, especially if vanished from the bowl quickly, he was keeping mental notes on what they seemed to really like and keep that in stock all the time. He did wonder if they shouldn’t be eating other things…if they needed other things in their diet, it was something he was going to ask at some point…or maybe have Xander check out seeing as they were a doctor.
“I don’t think that was ripe…” The oranges he were certain needed another day, at least, but if it wasn’t that bad and Sasha was willing to finish it. “I think the dragon fruit might be good though…” And he’d added a few different kinds of berries this time…including goji berries and elderberries. Both of them were new this time around.
“Let me see your hands…and then I’ll take a look at your foot.” Setting his supplies down on the countertop.
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Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2024 2:41 pm
“Oh… hrm sour but okay.” He’d tried the other fruits later to see, though he wasn’t sure why one was called a dragon fruit because it didn’t look like a dragon, like Daedalus. It was all pink and green, reminding him of watermelon but if it was inside out and angry looking.
Holding his hands out for them, he looked out the kitchen window as more of the flickering lights floated in the night air. “Chaldene….” Thinking to himself, it felt like only a few years back that he’d been there. “Thousand years…. Since…” Shaking his head a bit, he couldn’t wrap his mind around that fact, the fact that he’d been sleeping for so long and was still around.
“I’m okay.” Pulling his foot up to look, it didn’t look too bad compared to his palms but even they weren’t that bad either. They just had stung in the moment and there were little marks almost like he’d touched a hot bulb, like the one that had been hanging out on the porch until Ian had gotten a cover on it so the bugs weren’t getting hurt.
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Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2024 2:42 pm
“I know, and I wish I could undo whatever happened then. But we’ll go there tomorrow and you can see Chaldene again.” At least the planet…not the former senshi of the planet - not Amel. Looking over the others hands he went to find something to treat small burns, with lidocaine in it, and went to apply it with a q-tip and bandaids to keep things in place and clean. “You won’t feel the sting now.”
And the others foot got the same treatment from the dark haired male, as he knelt on the floor to look over the bottom of their foot. “Did you want to eat more before bed…or stay up for a while? I got to get some sleep but I can set something up for you on the tv or the computer if you want.” A movie, or something he’d like to watch, or even a game to play on the computer. He’d find something for the other to do if they planned on staying up late.
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Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2024 2:43 pm
Feeling a bit bad, he leaned forward and pressed his face into their hair as they knelt on the floor. “Amel gone but you’re here.” And that meant that Chaldene was still here and maybe in better condition than his own planet. Bringing his hands up he poked their cheeks. “I’ll sleep too.” Mostly because he didn’t feel like staying up more right now after the zaps and also because he wanted to spend time with them to try and find out more about this new person they were.
Swaying his feet slightly, he went to hug them slightly. “Bed time?” Echoing their need for sleep with a yawn, he figured it might be best for them to help him off the counter so he didn’t jar his foot on the floor.
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