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 Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2025 8:09 pm
Quote: Even when you thought you’d seen the last of them, it seems like you’re never really in the clear. A while back, there was an infestation of awful gargoyle creatures–and while every Star Festival had its fair share of oddities, this one seems to have introduced a permanent infestation upon the city. Maybe you see them perched on the roof, or hiding in the shadows, but not all of these grotesque creatures are satisfied with just escaping their interdimensional prison–some of them still have a bone to pick. They seem stony; some of them will watch with a penetrative gaze and never strike to attack, but some of them will dive down to target anyone who gets too close. The monsters come in an array of sizes and shapes, but they are no more than half the size of their target. Their goal is uncertain, but they will crumble into a pile of rocks and dust if struck hard enough. Another date night, another patrol together afterwards. This time, they'd gone to see a movie, and they'd held hands. Leandro hadn't been able to stop blushing the entire time, grateful his darker skin didn't make him glow in the dark. It made it a little hard for him to focus on the patrolling afterward, because all he really wanted to do was hang out with Fionn as Leandro, but the world didn't stop turning just because of a budding new romance. Lionel and Laeradr had duties to attend to. "I hope tonight is boring," he said with a little sigh. "I'd like to be able to go home and sleep without bruises." And, just like saying "it's quiet tonight" in an empty ER, disaster struck immediately afterward as they walked near a low ledge. A few stony somethings leapt from the ledge and started wailing on Laeradr. "Oh, what the ********!" he shouted, trying to pull them off. "Help!"
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Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2025 8:44 pm
"Boring is the ideal, isn't it? There's a reason I hope you live in interesting times is a curse," Lionel sighed.
Honestly, going back to Leandro's place sounded great. Or something similar. Just...more time with the nice guy who genuinely made him feel like he might be able to fix things with his life. That there was something worth turning around.
Of course,t hat was never how it worked. Not as Senshi. Boring wasn't possible, Lionel was pretty sure--or at least, not for long.
The creatures had swooped on Laeradr--and honestly, Lionel was glad it was creatures, plural, not creature, singular.
"Get down," he said, "I'm gonna distract them. Fangs of the Betrayer!"
A quick gesture, and two spectral lions leapt through the gargoyles.
Now, Lionel had to hope they could understand betrayal. And also maybe paranoia.Quote: Super Sailor Scout Attack: Fangs of the Betrayer Lionel speaks the name of his attack and gestures to up to three targets, and spectral red lions leap forward, passing through the targets and leaving them with a stronger stinging sensation and a feeling that any companions with them are going to betray them. The feeling now comes with a compulsion to turn on them first, to preempt the clearly inevitable betrayal. It is possible to resist the compulsion, if the character is strong-willed or has a very strong bond with their allies. The sensation lasts for 35 seconds, and Lionel can use this attack two times per battle.
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Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2025 7:31 pm
Laeradr would have liked to agree with Lionel, but one of the gargoyles had shoved a finger up his nose, so he was rather distracted in the face area. He did manage to duck and swing the thing into Lionel's lion. The second the lion passed through the gargoyles, he leapt backwards as they both let go of his face and leg and turned towards each other. "Holy s**t, thank you," he wheezed, rubbing his nose hard. Ick. He reached into his subspace and pulled a tissue out, blowing his nose hard. That stupid rock had knocked more than just his brains loose, apparently. Soooo ******** gross, and in front of Lionel! Aw, man, now he was blushing again. He stuffed the used tissue back into subspace. He.... really needed to clean that thing out. The gargoyles now seemed to be at each other's throats, making threatening gestures and circling each other. The sound of grinding rock indicated they were... growling at each other? Or something like that? Laeradr wouldn't pretend like he knew the intricacies of gargoyle to gargoyle communication. Or... grotesque? He couldn't tell if they had the water spouts; they were moving too much for him to get a good look. Wait. Why did he care? Ah, ********' ADHD."So, uh, what do you say we get some dinner to go?" he said, turning to Lionel with a half-crazed grin on his face. "Y'know, before those things decide we look good to beat up again?"
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Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2025 1:14 pm
Lionel let out a breath of relief when the gargoyles pulled off Laer--at least his magic did, in fact, work on them. Sure, the aftermath wasn't exactly the sexiest, but at least Laer was okay, and "a little unsexy for a moment" was better than "actively being attacked."
They had a little while for the creatures to circle up on each other, but not infinite time.
"You okay?" He asked, reaching out a hand in case Laer needed help, or someone to lean on, or whatever after getting knocked around. "You know, for the most part." Obviously "fully okay" was not happening here, but that was the nature of the job, sort of.
Either way, though, they couldn't hang out.
"To go sounds great. Let's get out of here and find somewhere decent enough, fast, before my magic wears off and they remember they hate us more than they hate each other."
God, sometimes Lionel wished his magic did real damage. But then, that wasn't the nature of it,w as it? He was the Senshi of Betrayal, not of Kicking Infinite a** Forever.
...As cool as that would be.
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Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2025 1:57 pm
Laeradr reached out and took Lionel's hand, feeling better almost immediately. God, he was falling for this boy, and fast. Wait, was it appropriate to still say boy at their age? ...Now was not the time to debate semantics in his own head, though. "I know a great place near here," he said quickly, tugging Lionel along down a couple of alleyways, until they were long out of sight of the gargoyles. "As long as you like Japanese, anyway," he finished with a sheepish little grin. "I'm kinda craving fried chicken katsu."
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Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2025 2:13 pm
Although Lionel could hear the sounds of rock crashing against rock petering out behind them--a sign of his magic starting to wear off--he honestly wasn't too worried about it. They were booking it fast enough that it seemed pretty unlikely the gargoyles would catch up.
And anyway, he was holding hands with a cute guy, and if they did get swooped on again, he knew that he could handle it now, so it felt like way less of a threat than it might have initially.
"Chicken katsu sounds great," he said, genuinely. Honestly, any food with Laer sounded good, but saying that would probably make him sound ridiculous, so mouth shut for the moment. Getting mushy about it could come out...later. Maybe. Possibly with a little bit of alcohol.
But, really, at least their exciting night was going to come to a nice, pleasant close. That, Lionel thought, was really all you could ask for--monsters defeated and a promise of a nice dinner with someone he wanted to spend as much time with as possible. The good s**t.
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