Fire Opal ( 8 ) : On a cold winter night, there’s nothing nicer than burning a nice log in the fire. Looking like any average piece of lumber, the neatly chopped log you selected has no clear indication that there’s something special about it–until the fire gets to it. A typical fire should be red and orange and yellow, and yet this one circles through all colors of the rainbow. It smells fragrant and pleasant, and there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with it–it just burns in beautiful, vibrant colors. As the wood burns, opalescent cracks appear through it, casting a shimmering light enhanced by the flames. By the end of it, only rainbow embers remain, sparkling like dark opals, and even they eventually lose their color and crumble away.
He wore (Muris) years past gifted scarf with shameless pride, it’d become his winter staple. Never quite tied around his neck but always hanging about his shoulders as if it wanted to be. His mustard yellow jacket of cool autumns swapped out for a sleeker black puff jacket supposedly ‘in trend’ as knock off jenko jeans with deep pockets and winter lining.
He didn’t keep up with much, not nearly enough, maybe. Especially when his phone chirped and it was Noa of all people on the other end of the line. He’d been ready to roast some Ai-caroler or get into it with some sales peddling boggart.
But no, it was just Noa.
A tiny part of his heart caught fire and soared; the same parts that did for every familiar face he bumped back into after what felt like too long a time — the lovers who never we’re and women he made his mentors and older sister types. Except Noa had always had little sister energy in a bratty baddie body. He swore to her he was laughing at himself over the line, not at her suggestion to go out to a bonfire. He made it insistent, clear as day, warm as cacao on a frosty night how in he was for this!
He wanted to know everything—
And with the fire blazing in the center full of stones and hollowed logs made into benches; set up far away from the shoreline of the reservoir that the fish smell and wicked wind didn’t catch anybody. He thought it was looking to be a nice night — even if he spaced out looking at her and missed every other word for his avid staring. He didn’t even notice the rising flames and or peculiarity of the remaining firewood; something donated by the city, left on side stalls and in the little racks for people to use? Very 'Christmas Cheer' like, not that he had the mind to focus on that.
Because it was Noa!
Speaking, talking, here!
Posted: Tue Dec 24, 2024 2:34 am
Today was the day Noa was going to go meet one of her long time best friends and catch up. A lot has happened since she last saw Waru and a bonfire was the perfect set up to go roast marshmallows or even just to sit by and get warm. She brought some hot cocoa that her mom made her to share along with some snacks and candies. When she arrived she found that Waru had already started the fire, thank god it was away from the reservoir, but then again...That made her think of that Senshi. What was his name? Haik? She hoped to meet him again and learn more about his planet.
The fact that there were actual aliens on this planet was just fascinating!
She was currently updating him on some stuff that went on when she noticed the staring. "Waru! Really?! Here I am updating you and you're not listening are you?" She raised her eyebrow, giving him a bit of a pout. "Woe is me! Is my life so boring that not even my best friend will listen?! Oh the humanity! Clearly I should go and take my snacks with me!" She gave him a gentle smile, taking out the portable thermal and some cups so she could pour the cocoa. "How about this? Why don't you tell me what YOU have been up to and then it'll be my turn to zone out yeah?"
His eyes snapped up, from the space over her shoulder, and the clothes she wore so well, and the way her lips gleamed in the firelight -- the way it caught her eyes in particular was some manner of mesmerising -- of course he clued back in just to catch the tail end of dramatics. The way she reeled him easy as a lazy fish with the sort of gentle scolding he deserved, truly!
"Huh-ohshit-wh-NO!" Sheepishly he cleared his throat, dragged his tone down to about a three from where it'd wanted to rise up to an eleven. "I mean, no, no, uhm -- I'm listening -- totally listening -- looking -- uh -- please don't take the food with you!" What came out of his mouth in a blurr, the way they sounded versus what he'd intended; words that crossed paths and didn't so much as nod in agreement at each other. Because what he'd meant to say was 'don't go I've missed you!' or 'I got lost staring in your eyes!' or ---
How she was more than a free snack cart in a warm coat and a well painted pair of lips.
"I'm here, totally here! And I swear I caught part of that---" Her smile had him laughing at himself as he reached to take the steaming mug of caocao she poured for him without so much as his asking. "It's just...it's so good to see you again that I kinda? I got lost in wanting to--" he wound on, watching the marshmallows soak up the dark liquid and the steam rise out of his cup before shifting his gaze back to her with purpose instead of lost, dogged appreciation. Easier to start over than run on--"This is so normal, yeah? N'I just wanted to thank you! And tell you that you look good and ---"
"I almost don't know where to start..was I married when we last hung out? Hell...So-- My mom's still good, has it easier now that the girls are basically all grown. I have two husbands in every sense but the legal kind...I'm still a....uh...freelancer? Is that the way to word it? In body, and spirit, and livelihood. Odd jobs n'barely tied down t'anything concrete, though a new friend of mine has tried to convince me into...hell -- the one suggested a wrestling career? Cam-girl s**t? Jeezus...maybe it's because I've got more my own space now. I finished redoing my place awhile ago! Took the last two years, but it's ********' liveable now in a real sense, even if it's still kinda shoe-boxy in size." He wasn't living out the back of Lina's alcove in a bar, or crashing constantly on other peoples couches (save by choice!)
"I feel like the worlds best dressed mess and *you* -- you sound so put together --" A sip of caocao warmed him, made him humm as he quieted that thing inside his chest that wanted to dump a thousand tangents on the floor and leave her to help him work through them like rebuilding a large puzzle into ten separate pictures. "Tell me more about that, yeah. Your fam' -- a new boo? I'm listening for real this time.."
Viva Viola
Posted: Tue Dec 24, 2024 6:37 pm
Noa raised an eyebrow, leaning in, "Lost in what Waru?" she gave him a knowing grin, having known him well enough to know what he was going to say, but she got a kick in making him admit to it. She always did love how she could get him all flustered like that and she missed it dearly. Then again, when you just disappear off of the face of the planet or even move to a strictly phone friendship, you miss out on all the in person interaction. She crossed one leg over the other, giggling at the compliments. "Totally normal! Thank you! I took on pole dancing classes in addition to yoga and regular dance." she moved some hair behind her ear, "You STILL look good yourself! How do you even keep up with it all?" Noa smiled and sat back as she listened to him speak about all that's gone on since they last talked, rather fascinated by it all.
Chaotic is what that sounded like, but if everything was in order, she would be worried.
Ah so it was her turn now hmmmn?
"I'm not as put together as you think, but I will say I'm most certainly better at hiding it." she would start with her family first, "Mom and Dad are fine, still living, still being cute." Her parents were adorable to her and she hopped that she could find someone like that one day. Finding Idri made it seem like that could very well be a possibility. It was too early to tell though. "Ryu is still himself as well but sadly he's getting like a big teenager instead of a kid and I'm just like...Whoa buddy you're not allowed to grow and get facial hair and just not be my adorable baby brother anymore you know?" She was a little sad that he hasn't been that kid that would ask for uppies and piggyback rides all the time or want to follow her everywhere. Now, it was just 'ew Naoko don't hug me in front of my friends!' especially the times where he would make fun of her for being shorter than him.
But that was okay, she still loved her baby regardless.
The last bit is what she was blushing about.
"Y-Yeah. His name is Idirian." Looking to Waru with a smile she couldn't help feeling like a stupid teenage school girl. "He's like....Tall. And I know that's the best description ever, but that's the first thing you would notice about him when you see him." She blushed slightly, "But Waru....He's just...Like you ever meet some one and something just clicks?" She was sure he felt something similar with his husbands, who she wanted to see one day, "That's totally not what it was at the beginning. I helped him find some clothes for his sister and he was totally a grumpy a*****e. But then his sister apparently thought we should be set up so she sent a text from his phone to mine and well...Things just kicked off from there."
She wasnt going to tell him about the other factors of their relationship.
"So I have something to tell you and please keep it to yourself." She looked him dead in the eye before continuing, "I have an Only Fans. Now I've had it since I was 18 but I added Idri as my manager and did not expect to bring in so many people. He also participates on my content too. I know you mentioned cam girling but I think you would be perfect for it! I could help you if you want to start an Only Fans? Its where 90% of my income comes from anyway. Ross is just....money for emergencies." she looked down at her lap, "Ummm....If you want to see, my name on there is AnonyBunni. My subs just call me Bunni though. Idri is called manager."
Noa knew Waru was the last person to judge her but it still felt weird to admit stuff that she usually keeps hidden aloud.
He wouldn’t say what he’d gotten lost in, letting the warmth on his face speak for itself. As he sympathized heavily with her story, his soul pulsing with longing for home. To be teased by his sisters in person instead of over a screen; to do the brotherly heavy lifting required of an oldest with a gaggle of girls and steel-enforced mom. Young women— he had to remind himself — because that’s what they were by now, right? If he did the maths on his hands — but oh — they would always be babies in his heart in so many ways. Little sisters, even the oldest of them.
The one unchanging constant. As true a norm as he could hope to count on. His mother and his sisters, no matter how far apart. He could at least count on them to be there with each other — for each other — even when he couldn’t. He envied their strength just as he envied Noa’s life; just a little bit. Her parents still adorably in love, her family growing up around her. He cooed in all the right spaces, ashes at the appropriate parts; he could hear it in his head ‘Naoko’ — wondering what it would’ve been like if their ties had been wound a little more tightly around each other instead of an amicable looseness.
Not so much a love lost as a natural distancing that came with — ******** — growing up? Wanting more? Needing stability? A drift not so much continental as it was lazy river in its stylings.
“For someone who claims to have mastered faking it till you make it? You sure could’ve fooled me, but then again I’m easy.” Soft spoken praise heaped in layers, because he couldn’t help but whip one more thing even as he put his listening ears on.
And if that was not the most adorable meet cute baby sister got her big bro the hookup story Waru had ever heard! It melted all the parts of his heart, the rising fire and caocao hadn’t already warmed. Had him nodding fervently, leaning into the fervor and hushed demands for privacy; because he got it, like a concussion, like a disease he never wanted anyone to find a cure to. When something clicked just ******** right and the sink hooks and sunk cost felt negligible because — holy ******** — that person was wveything and the rightness was as pure a relief as setting a bone he hadn’t known was broken! Mending it right the first time!!
He got the *click* — and he ******** beamed for her, a grin that touched his ears because he was happy for her beyond longing, or ego, or pride! Because I’m his mind Nao deserved something real enough to look radiant for. A long-haul partner, not a part time hookup and long-term phone-friend.
And then the other shoe seemed to drop, and his eyes got impossibly wide as he leaned closer in —
Nowaynowaynoway—no way!!!
He flinched as a log crackled over the heat of the fire; the bark cooking off, its center splitting open as the flames hissed and popped with glittering sap and colorful sparks. Were the logs putting on a show? Or was that just the heat of his face lighting up; blush running dark across his features and down his chest as Noa made her big reveal.
It was fine! He could be normal about this! He was normal about this!!
It was such a godamned lie he’d never been ‘normal’ once in his entire life!
“Icantjustlookyouup—“ a rapid fire hisst that he quickly culled, because it was fine! Right!? Definitely normal if she was inviting him to see it! “Here — in the — uh — prying eyes of nature…and…in front of all the owls and fish and s**t. No….I’d ehm, have to do that at home. Privately.” Holy s**t he got the words out he was amazing!! “Out of respect for your craft! Naturally—-“ puffing up as he slowed his own roll, proud of himself, because he was nothing if not respectful of other people’s wishes!
“But— then —he’s okay with this?“ ********’ obviously! As this Idri should’ve been, as she deserved someone to be, as —“He’s a good guy then — heh — your tall, hot, accepting Idirian,“ And the question on his lips became a gentle tease. His eyes were soft as they lingered on her face, full of awe. “And lookit’chu! You’re glowing, Nao! All lit up for Idri — which means he’s perfect for you, doesn’t it? Probably the luckiest — okay — not a b*****d, yeah? But definitely one of the luckiest guys in the whole world!”
“You ********’ remind him of that while you’re teaching me how to — uhm — not that I care about the money, but?” And this was pure ego, he knew, the way he didn’t need much or want much but — that thing in the back of his head that always wanted a little more. To give back in his own ways rather than simply lie back and take it; he wanted to be an active participant in giving gifts, and buying his friends things, and so much more! “It’s just — if I’m gonna be like ‘me’ anyhow, it couldn’t hurt to — learn things — right?” The way Eros was on his mind as he said it, her words in his ear like the worst kind of encouragement; maybe even the best kind? And if it’d only been her!! But he’d be lying to say she was the first to ever suggest such a thing.
There were ways to make a living beyond the traditional and it wasn’t like he cared for the civilian world — what it thought any of that — b u t —
“Like how you and your Manager have managed to keep this show so hush! I feel like I’d know you if I heard you?!” Overwhelming curiosity as he held her gaze, matched that intensity with his own. It wasn’t a bridge to far to promise to keep this sorta thing to himself. Wasn’t like it was his business to spread anymore than it was his right to throw boulders in his shambles of a glass house.
Viva Viola
Posted: Fri Dec 27, 2024 12:38 pm
Well, he said it first right?
Noa snorted at the easy comment, figuring it was slightly true. She didn't want to just label her best friend as someone that was loose but then again, Waru just...He went wherever the wind took him and that was something she figured she didn't want when they first begun their little situationship. Despite the fact that she was somewhat a free spirit, Noa did crave stability. She wanted someone that would be capable of taking care of her when she needed it, could help her maybe raise a kid or two in the future if that is where she is heading, and be okay with what she actually does for a living. "Mmmmn...Sure we could go with that. I just feel like I'm stumbling around in the dark sometimes. Like when I was in and out of college for instance. Mom and Dad wanted me to be some one in the medical field and I just wasnt feeling college in general. I didn't have the balls to tell my parents so I just went with the standard degree in business."
In reality, she loved doing OnlyFans. It gave her a sense of control and liberation that she knew she wouldn't get if she worked a standard 9-5, which is exactly what she is doing while working at Ross.
The pop of the log caused her to jump just slightly, the colors coming from it gave her pause. Wow that was...Beautiful. She's never seen firewood do anything like that before! She would have to ask Waru just where he got the firewood from at some point so she could totally take some and burn it at home. Her attention was brought back to him when he just word vomited after she admitted to what her actual job is. Wait...He thought she wanted him to look her up in public?! The laugh that came from her sounded like it could be from deep within, with her setting down her cup of coco she was laughing so hard. "N-No Waru! When you have free time and you're you know...Not in public?" She whipped a tear from her eye, looking at him with all the mirth and affection in the world.
"Trust me, I don't want you to scar the wildlife either okay?" There was a blush at the comments made and she looked down at her hands. "I dunno what you're talking about. Pft! Glowing? Me? Clearly not~" That blush was apparent the entire time and she knew she wasnt fooling anyone. "Of course I'll remind him. But I think you should meet him first yeah? I can show you how to use the equipment and where to buy it if you want to remain anonymous as well as different ways to promote yourself as well. I'm not like...In the top 1% but I still do make a bit from donations and whatnot. I can invite you over sometime and we can go over vids and whatnot to make sure you're prepared."
"And it definitely does not hurt to learn things! I was not...Perfect when I started out and I don't think anyone was. I have found my niche though and that's where you should start." Finding a niche is pretty important, especially when doing a non-traditional job. "I'm....Popular, but like I said. Niche. I do cosplay, solo stuff, erm...Strip dancing, and uhhh...Other stuff I can show or text you about." She wasnt comfortable voicing all that she did out loud and she figured if Waru was going to be her pupil he might as well know everything.
"It didn't turn out to be a waste though, did it? All that stumbling -- and m'betting that business degree's coming in pretty handy now that you're kinda runnin' your own thing, yeah? Maybe not the way you'd have expected it to..." His smile soft for a moment, bordering on shy as he glanced between the fire and back to the way it reflected off Noa; she must've been glowing from the inside as well. He was so sure of it. The way she blushed so prettily and looked happier than he thought he'd ever remembered seeing her with himself, all while thinking about this other guy.
He thought it must've been kismet, the way some things worked out in the world, a door closing and a window opening. That sometimes it was worth it to jump through and pray for the luck of a soft landing! On what must've been an eight foot tall dark as night dude named Idris---
Waru could see the appeal.
"Heh -- but now you can be a doctor, or a nurse, a sexy-fairy! Just -- minus the massive debt n'helluva long time wondering if you picked the right career path. It's worth it to be happy...." Gentle tease as he snickered for the way her blush spread dark as his own, the way her laugh was infectious, his eyes bright as he waved off the idea of *actually* looking anything right here and now!! "With him. Doin' what you love." He said it like he was proud of her, like she deserved it; sobering up from his own little fit of giggles and flustered nerves to find the rest of the words that boggled around in his mind.
"Cause I think --- I think I'd really like that. T'see your place n'meetchur man. Means this doesn't have t'be a one time thing, right? I can just -- keep catching up with you." As if that were paramount, most important, a need of a thing that squirmed warm in his heart. One more Christmas gift the world had given him, this kind of reconnection that had a happy ending all bowtied and waiting to be cherished! "I can keep being happy for you -- and -- ah -- not try'n burst into flames when I look at your next text. Or -- yanno -- th'rest -- can't learn anything if I die over having had the hots for teacher, can I?" Falling back into being utterly unserious with ease, while swirling what had slightly cooled in his hands idly.
Viva Viola
Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2024 3:29 am
Oh! A fairy! That was something she hasn't tried yet.
"Thats....Very true. I dont think I would've been happy in the field my parents wanted me to go into." Truth be told, she was so happy it was scary sometimes. It made her wonder when the other shoe was going to drop or when she would just go to sleep and everything would be a dream. She'd be 18 again with no sense of purpose, struggling to figure out what she wanted while trying not to disappoint her parents or god forbid, her grandparents on BOTH sides. Chatting right now reminded her of how much she missed Waru...His big personality, his laugh, and his constant support.
At his question she nodded enthusiastically. "Of course! Waru you will be welcome anytime I promise! All you have to do is text and you know Ill answer right away!" She wanted to be there for him just as much as he had been for her in the past, present, and hopefully the future. She laughed with him, shaking her head. "Of course! I can keep being happy for you too and falling for the teacher? That is such a common anime romcom troupe! Gotta do better than that and fall for the teacher's man instead!"
Imagine the twist!
She took another drink of her cocoa, sighing contently at the slightly warmness of it all. Standing up, Noa walked over to where Waru was sitting, giving him the biggest hug she could with a kiss to the cheek. "I have to go but trust me when I say I want to hear from you more often even if its little s**t." She smiled up at him, reaching up to pinch his cheek. "You are the only best friend I have other than Bets and I love you to pieces....Try not to be a stranger okay? Ill be sad." Noa gave him a pout and stood up. "In fact, as an excuse, keep the cup, wash it and bring it back to me. Ill text you my address okay?"
Her mother wanted to go shopping for her brother and drag her along with so she supposed she would have to get going if she wanted to be on time. "Oh! Here!" She gave him the bag of candy with a white teddy bear and a card. "Merry Christmas bestie! I love you and Ill see you again soon alright?"
