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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.
Jayce let out a long sigh, perched on a hill out in the suburbs. The sun had set some hours ago and the air was still trying to cool down. He liked the summers best, when the heat of the day and the sun could soak into his skin and bones. The cold messed with his joints, and his hands cramped up so often it made working out difficult. But in the summer, everything felt loose and warm and— that may have been the alcohol, he conceded. He took another swig from the handle of some cheap liquor he took from the bodega owner he’d drained from earlier in the evening.
He scratched at his beard and watched as the multicolored fireflies rose from the grass around him. The fireflies had been here for as long as he could remember, which to be fair, wasn’t particularly long. But the little bugs with their weird coloring somehow helped him think. That might have also been the alcohol. Or the whole ‘uh, so Jormangr but not tried to bring about not quite Ragnarok, your boss is missing? Oh and you have a giant serpentine scar down your spine, g’luck!” thing.
By Odin’s missing eye, that whole thing. A giant ******** snake from space tried to eat the Earth. A world eating serpent tried to eat the Earth.
He didn’t remember how he’d gotten back to Earth after the lightning struck him. He didn’t really know how Faustite had gone missing, only that he was. He also hadn’t exactly gone around trying to… figure out what happened. Or do anything that wasn’t his normal routine. Work out, help people work out, pet cats at the cat cafe. Meet a very cute boy outside his work and absolutely rock his world…
Jayce took another swig of the bottle, feeling the world sway.
He’d felt so damn useless fighting that serpent. He didn’t have magic or the ability to summon a ******** cannon - Odin preserve him, he’d never considered a woman hot until he watched his Queen step into the air like she owned it, and then summoned a giant cannon from the Rift - but he’d tried to do his best with his scythe. He protected his team, he followed orders, he helped Faustite handle the load of the spike. But it seemed so… pathetic in the face of that beast. Or maybe it was the fact a bolt of lightning took him out that had shattered his damn confidence about the whole thing.
A red lightning bug floated in front of him, blinking a little. It seemed to split into two for a minute before his vision recentered again.
He ran a hand through his hair. Eles was… He didn’t really have a word to describe him. A little dangerous, incredibly coy, a delicious temptation that made Jayce want to pin him down and ravage him like a beast. He wanted to crack him open and find out what was behind the Victorian vampire aesthetic and silent words. To see what made him tick, how far he could push, how far he would be pushed. It was exciting and new and probably doomed to fall apart the minute that Jayce got too attached. His mood soured rapidly and he took two large swallows of his drink.
It wasn’t like he was looking for a partner, he just… The way Eles had looked at him, like he wanted to eat him alive? ******** if that wasn’t one of the hottest things done to him in a long a** time. By Odin, he wanted to find Eles and teleport into his room and shove his tongue in his mouth and—
The little red firefly fluttered away as he groaned and ran his hand over his face. He was too drunk for this. Too drunk to be seeing Eles’ teasing face in his head. Too drunk to be wondering where Faustite could have gone. Too drunk to worry about how he’d handle the hangover in the morning.
He stood, swayed, and slowly made his way home, to crash into bed and hope that maybe Waru would pay him a visit.
[ wc: 717 ]
