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 Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2024 6:01 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.
The fireflies were flickering as they slowly walked through the park. Patrolling or whatever. There were no Chaos auras around, and it wasn’t so hot that they needed to seek shelter.
Before it had been a question directed at Yvoire, and he’d been honest and open with Reims about how he felt. He thought it was only fair to offer the same to Yvoire in return.
“A while ago… A General tried to get me to join the Negaverse,” he said quietly, pretending to be very interested in the fireflies so he didn’t have to immediately see Yvoire’s reaction. Maybe he wouldn’t care, and that would be fine. At least he would have told him.
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Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2024 6:01 pm
Yvoire drew to a stop. He hadn’t been moving too fast to begin with, watching the fireflies dance more than he was searching for trouble (they’d sense it before they saw it anyway), but the stillness after was almost uncomfortable—the thread of tension that seemed to wind around him, tightening his shoulders and straightening his back, so that he stood almost rigid.
He turned to look at Reims, unable to disguise the concern in his eyes—or the fear deep down, the apprehension, that something could have happened, that Reims could have been hurt, or worse.
“Who?”
He knew it was a pointless question as soon as he asked it. Yvoire didn’t know any Negaverse Generals, and so the name wouldn’t be familiar no matter what Reims said. It was instinctive to ask, to put names to faces and know exactly who he should be reserving his hatred for.
Yvoire had his hat in his hands. It got heavy sometimes so it felt nice to have it off in the heat, even if his outfit generally wasn’t all that uncomfortable in any weather. He fiddled with the brim, and the beading he liked to think was a match for Reims’.
“But… you got away,” he said, trying to focus on that.
Reims was okay. He hadn’t been hurt. Not badly. Yvoire would have known about it if he had been.
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Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2024 6:02 pm
Reims felt his ears burn when Yvoire stopped. He sounded so worried, and for a moment Reims felt his heart flutter. Not because he wanted Yvoire to worry! He felt bad about that! But it was sweet that he seemed to be so concerned.
“Oh, just some guy named Zinkenite. I could have handled him, no problem,” he insisted, puffing his chest out a bit and trying to seem more impressive than he was. He was still growing! He was getting the height naturally, but he still needed to make sure he worked out when he could. Maybe he could find something to start lifting when he went to Ganymede.
“He was saying crazy things like how we are just as bad as them. Started saying how we recruited children, but then got kinda pissy when I pointed out it was the Mauvians who awakened elementary school kids, and it’s probably just to give them a chance to fight on their own, right?”
Some of it wasn’t exactly what Zinkenite said, but it was close enough, and that was all that mattered for the story.
“Anyway, he said I’d be able to protect you and our friends if I joined and I said I’d think about it,” he shrugged, because it was totally not a big deal. It was just something that happened and now he had it off his chest.
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Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2024 6:03 pm
“Oh…” Yvoire said, trying to think through his fear and concern enough to sort out what Reims was saying.
From the sound of it, Reims had met a General who preferred lies and deceit over action. Whoever this Zinkenite was could have easily forced the decision onto Reims instead of giving him a choice, or they could’ve brought in someone else who could, but for some reason the General had thought coaxing Reims into it was the better method. Yvoire didn’t understand why since the Negaverse was obviously evil and he couldn’t imagine anyone falling for it, but maybe they’d had success with it before.
Reims, of course, had been smart enough to play along and get away unscathed. Naturally, Yvoire was worried that they might come after Reims again, but he managed to relax a bit in increments.
“He must not’ve been a very brilliant General if he believed you,” Yvoire said. A small, almost humorous smile twitched onto his face. “Unless you’re just that good of an actor. I’m glad you got away. Obviously they’re not all like that. Willing to talk or… take you at your word. So you should still be careful,” he added, unable to stop worrying entirely.
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Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2024 6:04 pm
Reims was partially relieved that Yvoire didn’t get upset about what he said, but then he realized that maybe he didn’t quite understand what he was trying to confess.
“Oh, uh,” he mumbled, digging his foot into the ground a little. “Yeah. Well, I did kind of stand him up. I was supposed to meet him two weeks after that. Like, it could be useful, right? To have someone on the other side and keep an eye on things? He said that his family and friends were definitely protected so…”
He knew he was rambling and probably not making any sense. Maybe he should have just accepted that Yvoire didn’t really understand what he was trying to say and call it a win. But now he was making things weird.
“I’m… I’m not gonna, you know? I thought about it, but I guess I’m just too naive, thinking it would solve more problems than make.”
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Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2024 6:04 pm
Yvoire visibly shrank. He curled in on himself a bit, arms folding close to his chest, clutching at his hat as he ducked his head so some of his hair fell into his face.
He felt… conflicted. A part of him was glad that Reims was alright, that he hadn’t gone back to… to talk to the General, or… or take him up on his offer, if that had ever been a possibility. Another part of him was… hurt… angry that Reims would consider it at all, even for selfless reasons.
Yvoire didn’t know how to reconcile it all, so he withdrew emotionally and stepped away.
“How would it have solved anything?” he mumbled, not putting much thought into what he said before he spoke. It was easier to say whatever came to mind than it was to parse through the conflict. “You’d just be evil, like them. You wouldn’t care about us anymore, not like you do now. We wouldn’t be protected. They hate us for what we are, and that wouldn’t change unless we joined them too, so why would they let us live just because you—...”
He stopped himself. Yvoire swallowed heavily and forced himself to look up at Reims, eyes blazing, shiny with unshed tears, searching Reims’ face for something to ease the anger and resentment slowly building within him.
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Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2024 6:04 pm
He could hear the hollowness in Yvoire’s voice. He could see the way he seemed to curl in on himself. And then the way his eyes were shining with tears and anger when he looked up at him.
Reims wasn’t sure if telling Yvoire -- or anyone -- his thoughts was a good idea. He tended to mess things up more than he could fix them.
“It was before I got to know you better. Or know any of our friends. Before that issue with the Code pieces, and before Fang, and before Daedalus. I mean…”
He paused and sighed, knowing there wasn’t a good excuse for it.
“I didn’t know that I might lose my memories,” he admitted, his ears burning because he was ashamed for being so gullible. “I thought then, with everything he was saying, that being able to change my identity and keep an eye on everyone from the shadows was a good idea. He promised you’d be safe. And I guess I felt more of a burden than someone you could rely on. And I wanted to be someone you could rely on. To make sure what happened to Stirling -- or your dad -- never happened again. But, I talked to a guy I know. Uh, he’s a Senshi and has been around for a while. He was turned into a youma at one point, crazy, right? But… yeah I know I was stupid for thinking it would be that easy. Especially since I didn’t know how much I’d end up liking you and everything we’ve done together for our Wonders,” he shrugged helplessly, fiddling with the buttons of his jacket over his arm to the point where he was sure he could snap one off.
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Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2024 6:05 pm
“Right, okay,” Yvoire said, even if he didn’t know what he was accepting, parts of it or all of it or none of it at all.
The rational part of him understood what Reims might have been thinking. Obviously they both knew now that it would have been a terrible idea and never would have ended well, but maybe, at the time, it had been easier for Reims to see the few imagined positives than the very real and very numerous negatives. Yvoire knew that some people in the Negaverse could be persuasive, that Chaos itself was seductive, that they had to guard themselves against it at all times or risk losing themselves before they even realized it was happening.
The more emotional part of him wanted to blame Reims since he had nothing else to blame. Yvoire knew he couldn’t do that. He shouldn’t. Reims had come to his own decision and it was the right one. Holding it over his head wasn’t going to solve anything. Berating him for it wouldn’t make either of them feel better.
Yvoire turned away for a moment, showed Reims his back so Reims couldn’t see how he struggled. He took a couple of breaths and tried to settle his pounding heart, tried to get his thoughts to stop swirling around about how much he hated the Negaverse and how they’d killed Daddy and how Reims could have willingly gone to them without even considering… without even knowing…
“Okay,” Yvoire tried again. He dragged more air into his lungs, blinked until he thought he might not actually cry. “Okay, but you’re not—... You won’t think about it again. Not even to protect us, because you wouldn’t really be protecting us at all. You’ll be careful, and… and the next time someone lies to you and tries to talk you into it, you’ll tell them to go to hell and punch them in the face.”
Of course he realized that punching someone in the face wasn’t being careful at all in a situation like that, but Yvoire could only be rational for so long before his emotions got the better of him.
“And you’ll make it hurt, because it’s what they deserve.”
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Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2024 6:05 pm
Reims felt awkward and out of place. He wanted to be honest with what happened, mostly because he wanted to make sure Yvoire knew that he trusted him with the truth of things. He did! He just didn’t know if he was ready to admit everything yet.
“Yeah, definitely,” he quickly agreed, although he didn’t think he needed to point out how it would probably be a very bad idea to punch someone who could easily take his starseed. Especially if he was that close to them.
“I am sorry, though. I didn’t tell you with the intention of making you upset,” he tried to explain, watching as some fireflies blipped in and out of the darkness. “Mostly I wanted to let you know I would rather figure things out together. With you and the others, I mean.”
He shuffled uncomfortably, not sure if Yvoire was going to start crying, but he hoped that he wouldn’t. He just didn’t know what to do with stuff like that.
“I’d rather see you happy. You’ve got a pretty smile.”
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Posted: Sun Jul 21, 2024 9:54 am
Yvoire waited until he had better control over himself, until his eyes were no longer as wet and he could talk without his throat threatening to close. He clutched at his hat so hard he might have ruined the shape of it if magic would have allowed it, breathing in as much of the warm, humid air as his lungs could feasibly hold.
When he was sure he wouldn’t cry, Yvoire turned back around.
He still looked sad, maybe even a little lost. He couldn’t smile, even if he liked that Reims said it was pretty. He couldn’t stop worrying, even though Reims had reassured him, because everything was too uncertain. The war was all around them, and it had never seemed so dangerous as it did right now, with the knowledge that Reims could have been lost to it.
“I don’t know how to be happy,” he admitted and felt guilty for it. Daddy would want him to be happy. Dad tried his best to help him find it again. Reims wanted that, too. “But I feel safe with you and I don’t want to lose that, so…” Yvoire swallowed again to soothe his aching throat.
He shrugged awkwardly when he could think of nothing more to say, merely stepped close again to take one of Reims’ hands in his own.
Yvoire squeezed it desperately and refused to let go.
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