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.
Lanting did not like anything about what had happened in Almadel's museum.
Sure, okay, getting to stick close with Corvina and fight together--that had been cool. Having Crovina protectively save him from floating off into space, also very excellent, rewired his gay little brain, so on and so forth.
However.
Lanting was absolutely not a fan of what had come with that--of Corvina shoving Dunnottar away, risking the poor Page getting sent off into space, when Dunnottar had been reaching for Lanting, looking for help. Lanting had hoped, for a moment, that it might mean a mending of what had frayed between them. Had hoped it would start them down a better path. But Corvina--
Honestly, Lanting still didn't feel like he understood what the ******** Corvina had thought he was doing. And as new as their relationship was, as loathe as Lanting was to test it for fear that Corvina would decide that Lanting standing up for himself was just too much pain in the a** to bother with, he couldn't just...go home and cuddle and go back to the (admittedly very nice) routine they'd found themselves in since the battle on Daedalus's world. Nit without Corvina making some effort at amends.
So, there they were--Lanting had sent a Knight note to Dunnottar, asking him to meet them in the same park where he and Lanting had met to go to their world.s It was probably inauspicious, considering the fight that had come after, but it was also a location both of them knew, so it felt like a good choice.
There were fireflies, filling up the park--and Lanting was trying not to be distracted by the fact that they seemed to be glowing in a full rainbow of colors, rather than the traditional firefly yellow. That was...not relevant right now, no matter how pretty the display was.
"I expect you to be polite," he told Corvina, "and at least pretend you're actually sorry for doing something that could have gotten Dunnottar killed."
amorremanet
genovianprince
Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2024 7:28 pm
Throughout his life, Corvina had held a variety of differing opinions about his father and, more specifically, about his father’s irreparable despair over having lost Corvina’s mother. Not to death, which would have been one thing and been mourned in some other way, but to her having left them. All too well, Corvina knew the story. Knew how a mere five days after she’d given birth to him, his father had caught his mother on her way out of the palace with all her things. He had carried Trystane with him at the time, held close to his chest, and with very little expression on her face, she had told him that he could hardly have expected her to stay among savages like his people for too much longer.
(Just as his father had never forgotten those words, Corvina had learned them and likewise couldn’t forget them. True enough, he’d heard Lanting insisting that the new Murikabushi and his unimpressive, unpointed ears were different from the one Corvina had known about during the Silver Millennium, thanks to the reincarnation cycle. Maybe Lanting was right. Maybe the new Murikabushi was different. But the thought of dealing with the senshi of hunger in any capacity, regardless of how new this one was, made Corvina’s stomach turn. Made him think of where his mother had come from, and how long her blood had been held against him as though he’d ever even visited that world or learned their customs, and how could any senshi of theirs possibly be worth anything.)
More than anything, though, Corvina recalled the desperation. The despondency. The way that his father hadn’t recovered, but had instead fallen into recurring black periods, during which he hadn’t had the will to do anything at all.
Corvina had hated those periods with his father more than anything they’d ever put each other through. Even trying to rouse him by deliberately flouting his authority wouldn’t have gotten the man to pay attention to him. Back then, Corvina had sworn that he would never allow himself to fall so far over something as transient and easily snatched away as another person’s love. If he were ever to love another, then it would always be actively. He would pursue, he would work, he would always do. something. to prove himself worthy of that love, never simply give up and slink away into darkness as his father had.
Ever since the misadventure up at the Almadel’s, Corvina had finally understood his father’s despondency over his mother leaving. Every day that he’d had to spend in the guest room, it had felt like he was just waiting for Shuangxu to throw him out. Corvina barely left the room at all. He certainly hadn’t gone out “patrolling,” because what if he’d returned to find that Shuangxu had decided he was more trouble than he was worth to keep and unworthy of staying there, or of doing anything further with Shuangxu, exactly like Zhiheng had known. And it didn’t even make any sense to Corvina. All he’d done was try to save Shuangxu from certain danger, and if Dunnottar had perished, then why would that have been a bad thing?
Coming out here tonight felt like an intense and deliberate indignity. If Lanting wanted Corvina gone, then he only needed to say so, not waste any time on the pageantry of making him vomit out some apology to Dunnottar. The little bugs lighting up in different colors likewise felt like they were mocking him. The promise that an apology would help earn Corvina’s way back into Lanting’s good graces felt like little more than a fantasy—a pretty lie, yes, but not something that anyone could trust—but Corvina stood here with Lanting anyway, arms folded over his chest and wishing they could have just approached this situation like normal people.
Armed combat to either death or dishonor. Between Dunnottar and Corvina, obviously.
“Demeaning myself in this way isn’t going to fix anything,” Corvina pointed out bluntly. He had been doing that a lot since getting to Earth. He didn’t enjoy being blunt with someone as gentle and delicate as Lanting, but sometimes, he understood even less about the universe than the average child, which was both extremely confusing and beneath him. “If it is what you truly want, then consider it done. But no one in their right mind would take home a warrior after watching them deliberately humiliate themself like this. Everything worthwhile about the warrior would fade beyond the realm of memory and show their true color as worthless. And that will be the case here, too.”
After all, how could it be anything but? Corvina hadn’t stayed alive thanks to offering anyone apologies. He’d stayed alive because he had fought and bled and proven that he’d deserved it, entirely the antithesis of what Lanting wanted him to do tonight.
That night in the museum had scared Dunnottar more than anything. Jarred something loose in his brain. In the moment that he and Lanting had been floating away to certain death in space... Everything became clear. They were just two men. With so much burden on their shoulders from the people that came before them. Whether that was from reincarnation or from any of the sick ******** that either of them might legally have to call family. Both of them about to die. He didn't want to let anything else dictate him anymore.
Not like that, anyway. Lanting had needed his help, once. A memory of a different man, back when they were both very different men, shouldn't... Shouldn't mean anything to who they were now. It should have been a clean slate. They deserved that.
Dunnottar saw someone who didn't want to be lonely, reaching out for someone who also didn't want to be lonely. And he hated admitting that. Hated it! But.
The memory of that ******** up ghost of Avery, back on Daedalus.... It reminded him how much he really did ******** miss having a friend to rely on. Show him just how starkly alone he was. He'd always felt better when laughing with Avery about something stupid. He wanted that again. Desperately so.
He came to the meeting spot and almost turned away when he saw Corvina, but he inhaled slowly and made his way over, nodding to them both.
"Hi," he said quietly, ignoring the bugs that flitted around him. "It's, ah... Good to see you."
Despite how he was sure he sounded like an a*****e, he did mean it. He wanted to fix this. His nightmares had thoroughly convinced him of that.
amorremanet
Noir Songbird
Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2024 7:48 pm
It was impossible for Lanting to miss how upset Corvina had been. How he'd spent more time shut up in the guest room than out of it. And how awful that made Lanting feel--that the rejection he'd thrown up had hurt Corvina so badly that he was retreating like this. But the thing was, Lanting also knew that he was probably, at least to some degree, right.
Dunnottar had looked scared. Had reached out to Lanting for help. And Corvina had pushed him away.
"Maybe it won't fix anything," Lanting said, arms crossed, and he frowned up at the tall alien Senshi next to him, "but it's worth it to try. Honestly, I think it's much braver to open yourself up to rejection and make the effort of apologizing than it is to simply be a stubborn jackass when you were definitely wrong. But yes, I do want you to do this."
Not that Lanting entirely felt like Corvina understood that he was in the wrong, here, but....they were working on it. Apparently.
Dunnottar arrived, and while Lanting didn't entirely relax, he still nodded in greeting, and smiled, even if it was a bit strained.
"Thank you for coming out tonight, Dunnottar. I know you don't like me very much," which seemed like an understatement, "or at least, I think so?" He supposed it was right to leave the door open for changes of opinion. "But what happened at Almadel's museum....that wasn't okay, and Corvina owes you an apology for it. If you're willing to hear him out."
Corvina frowned right back at Lanting, albeit in abject confusion.
“I meant between us,” he said, vaguely waving a hand in the air, gesturing toward himself, then Lanting, then back again. “That……that’s what I said, yes? I don’t care if it fixes anything between me and Dunnottar; his rejection or not means less than nothing to me. I care that this pageantry fixes things between me and you. Which it won’t. Asking me to pull out my own starseed would be kinder. Everyone knows it’s impossible, so if I managed it, it would be a genuine accomplishment. And until such time as I did, you could do whatever you pleased with me or send me wherever you wish.”
He huffed. “You can ask whatever you please and do whatever you please with me regardless of anything else. I fail to understand why you want me to humiliate myself to your enemy instead of demanding a show of strength or cleverness, or asking me to do something that might bring you honor and glory.”
Nothing in creation had ever worked the way that Lanting was suggesting, at least not as far as Corvina was aware. This was basic stuff: apologizing was a weakness, and nobody wanted their partner to be weak. Nothing of this proposition made any logical sense, regardless of which angle Corvina tried to consider it from.……
Unless Lanting wanted to see Corvina pathetic? Like all of the stories Alys had gotten flustered about liking (usually followed by her blushing and screaming and throwing things)? The ones where some delicate-seeming, fancy lord or lady hid the true steel beneath their façade of silk and made a game out of breaking down the ferocious, formidable Corvinate warrior who had sought to win their hand with strength, but the warrior loved them and this hitherto unseen strength so much that even being so degraded had felt like a blessing?
Not that Corvina had ever borrowed any of Alys’s books and read about such things. Obviously.
Either way, it didn’t matter. Dunnottar had shown his face after all, instead of staying gone like Corvina would have wanted. Well, at least he had some solid nerve, but at the same time? Ugh, disgusting. Corvina hated this entire idea.
Corvina didn’t know if Dunnottar had heard any of what he’d said to Lanting, but if he had, then that didn’t matter either. None of this was about Dunnottar. None of it had ever been about Dunnottar. Corvina simply did not care one way or the other about Dunnottar. Either way, he didn’t care. It was probably better, in that regard, if Dunnottar had heard him, Corvina thought. At least they could be on the same page about how it was only by Lanting’s grace and generosity that Dunnottar had been invited, and Corvina just wanted to get back to things being normal, where things were good between Corvina and Lanting, and Corvina didn’t need to waste a single moment’s thought on Dunnottar.
Maybe this was a good time to say something to Dunnottar, but on the other hand, he hadn’t confirmed that he would hear Corvina out. So, for now, Corvina simply nodded to acknowledge the Lysithea Page’s presence and waited silently.
Noir Songxxbird
genovianxxprince
Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2024 8:35 pm
Dunnottar only heard some of what was going on, and he honestly tried very hard not to listen—it sounded like some kind of lover's tiff, and that was definitively none of his business. He also really didn't want to apologize here, in front of Corvina, but... Well. Lanting had asked to meet. And Dunnottar's honor was on the line, here. Sure, he had said the words "I'm sorry" while floating into space and possibly dying, but that didn't meant much. Not when he had to expound. And, given Corvina's silence, he didn't particularly care for whatever bullshit apology would come out of his mouth. At least this time, he was justified in not liking someone for (almost) killing him. He'd experienced that very directly, thank you very much.
"Lanting. I owe you an apology. A real one." He paused to clear his throat and adjust his glasses, briefly recalling the relief when he realized he hadn't lost them after all. "You did not deserve the way I treated you for crimes our past selves..."
He trailed off a bit, unsure how to proceed, and stood there awkwardly silent for a long moment. "Whatever it was, it's not fair. Once we've drunk Meng Po's soup—or... been dunked in Cosmos' cauldron..." He tilted his head at that, suddenly realizing he had to sort that out. "It shouldn't matter what happened, before. The way I treated you was completely disrespectful. And I would like it, if we could try to be friends."
Lanting exhaled. Okay. Corvina was allowed to not care about Dunnottar. But maybe he could do to make his point clearer.
"Dunnottar is not my enemy," he said, and he didn't really care if Dunnottar heard, since that was the central point of the evening, "and so it matters to me that you treat him appropriately, when I care about both of you." Which was the central point, wasn't it. "But you have not ruined everything forever between us because you acted inappropriately. You can fix that kind of thing. Which is why we're here."
Still, he was a little surprised by Dunnottar's apology. People didn't....apologize to him. Mostly because he was usually wrong, or dramatic, or overreacting, or otherwise Too Much to deal with.
So. Everyone got to be confused, tonight.
"It's okay," he said. "You were upset. But I appreciate it anyway. We...we're new people, yeah? So I would really like to try and be friends."
He turned to Corvina.
"There, see? Not my enemy. Which means you hurt my friend, which hurts me, but you can mend that by apologizing to him."
amorremanet
genovianprince
Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2024 11:51 pm
Corvina was also surprised by Dunnottar’s apology.…… Well. The Lysithea Knight clearly had the good sense enough to humiliate himself after committing the unforgivable sin of Making Lanting Sad……something that Corvina was apparently also doing, so Lanting probably did want to see him pathetic and crying.…… But as willing as Corvina was to give him that, Corvina didn’t want to do so in front of Dunnottar or anybody else. Exposing Lanting’s private, intimate desires in such a manner would have stood to humiliate him and reveal things that he probably didn’t want to have revealed.
Unfortunately, Dunnottar offering an apology without any prompting was going to make it that much worse for Corvina if he didn’t apologize in kind. He still didn’t want to. Inhaling deeply, he couldn’t really see the point of pretending to care about how Dunnottar felt when Corvina didn’t care about that. He also just……didn’t really know how to do this. His people had cared little and less for the practice of apologizing when one’s strength in battle mattered more than any pretty words one could throw out at anybody. Words were naught but wind. If you couldn’t back them up with the ability to defeat your opponent in the ring or on the field, then what good were they worth? None whatsoever? Yes, exactly.
But……Lanting wanted this. And Corvina didn’t want to hurt Lanting, which he’d apparently done, so……he took another deep breath.
“………I’m sorry?” The words sounded as if foreign to Corvina, largely because they were. “Sorry for……shoving you? Off and away from Lanting? While there was an open hole and you and others were being thrown out into the void? Which I exacerbated for you and helped make happen?” …Dunnottar had gotten to explain himself in his apology, though. Or at least Corvina felt like Dunnottar had done more explaining than was necessary when he had unquestionably been in the wrong with Lanting, and Corvina’s own perspective merited consideration, he thought. It was only fair. “And I’m sorry for acting like I didn’t care if you lived or died? It’s just that I didn’t care if you lived or died. I thought you were trying to drag Lanting with you and if the cost of saving him was letting you die, then I accept that cost. I would expect no different from you if I were grabbing at your partner in a similar situation.”
Corvina didn’t really know who would want Dunnottar as a partner, but saying that out loud probably would have upset Lanting instead of making him happy. And the entire point of this stupid conversation was making Lanting happy.
Dunnottar blinked in surprise. Lanting was demanding Corvina apologize, as well? ..... Huh. He'd... he'd really thought that was not going to be addressed. Ever. But Lanting pressed for it enough to be the cause of this tiff, and... Corvina actually tried to give something resembling a human apology.
"Well." He paused. "I'm not sure I would assume you were attempting to carry my lover away into the void of space to die, but... I can't say I'm sure I acted in a way that..."
He trailed off, shook his head, and focused on Lanting. "That was unnecessary, but thank you for fighting on my nasty behalf." He gave a brittle, wry smile.
amorremanet
Noir Songbird
Posted: Fri Jul 05, 2024 1:06 am
Oh, that was...a giant relief. Yeah, okay, Corvina's apology wasn't great, but at least it was an apology, which was honestly more than Lanting had expected. Part of him felt weird about how much power he could wield over someone like Corvina--over another person in general--but if it was making him behave more sociably, surely that was a good thing? Probably?
"Thank you, Corvina. I appreciate that. And...your honesty." In a more genuine way than it might have seemed, otherwise. At least there was no artifice or manipulation with Corvina. He said what he meant at all times. And not appreciating that...Lanting wouldn't be a very good partner to him if he didn't accept that kind of thing.
"And it really was necessary," he said, firmly. "But I appreciate you both very much." He paused, thoughtful. "Did you have any other plans tonight, Dunnottar? We could patrol together. Or not, if it would be awkward."
It would be, Corvina thought, but kept to himself for fear of upsetting Lanting all over again. He didn’t want to be around Dunnottar anymore than he absolutely had to be. If Lanting wanted to make friends with him, then fine, he was allowed, but Corvina had no use for someone who’d needed to be literally dying before he’d recognized that Lanting deserved better than being treated as terribly as Dunnottar had done at first. Nor did he have any desire to see a better side of the Lysithea Page.
Two lifetimes, now. Over two of this little Knight’s lifetimes, he’d put himself into a position where he could too easily obstruct Corvina from being able to pursue Lanting and try to make him happy. Hopefully the new Dunnottar didn’t make good on that unspoken threat, but as Corvina hugged himself and looked anywhere but at Dunnottar, all he could think about was how more time spent with Dunnottar was giving him more opportunities to cause problems.
At least the little pink charm he picked up off the ground seemed unlikely to cause trouble.
Noir Songxxbird
genovianxxprince
Posted: Fri Jul 05, 2024 2:11 am
Dunnottar's eyes flicked to Corvina, and back to Lanting. This whole night had been very... unexpected.
"Perhaps another time," he suggested. "I never bothered to block your phone number. We can... we can text. Or something. I didn't plan to stay out of my home for long, tonight. But. Thank you. For the offer."
God, he felt awkward. But he didn't want Lanting to feel bad.
