Vesuvianite enjoyed the crisp, cold air of November—at least, when it actually decided to be cold. This week had been unusually warm, and tonight was the first night that it actually dropped to just under fifty degrees Fahrenheit in about ten days.
This was the weather they lived for. They loved the chill on the back of their neck and the subtle taste of something in the air that they could only describe as
cold. They hoped that meant it was finally going to get even colder sooner rather than later. ******** global warming.
The cold also meant most people were in a hurry. Huddling into themselves or each other. Not wasting energy on being boisterous and looking around. It was the perfect time to siphon energy off of folks.
He didn't notice the aura headed for him until the senshi stood in front of him, large, intimidating in a way that kind of stirred some interest down south, but Vesuvianite pushed that away, staying in his lean against the wall, and looked Lionel up and down. Damn, he really was gorgeous.
Too bad he was one of the traitors. Vesuvianite tended to spend a lot of his time keeping track of missing agents. Sometimes agents and corrupts just deactivated one day and never came back, or got killed.
Or purified.
The last reason was exactly why Vesuvianite paid very close attention to his personal list of those who'd not reported in for months at a time. And this one especially got under his skin, given they'd been on the same team.
"A traitor's words don't mean much to me, Sailor Lionel, Senshi of Betrayal," he said casually.
True, he very well could've been wrong, but he felt quite confident he was correct. White hair with a subtle red streak and yes, the outfit certainly got quite a bit fancier than was last known, but the large amounts of purple and red remained the same, and the patterns were largely similar enough that Vesuvianite was sure they weren't wrong at all.
"I suppose we should've seen that one coming," they said with a wry laugh, drawing their sickle and casually checking their reflection in it. "But, well, hindsight is 20/20, after all. Who exactly will this get messy for, again? You ought to know how the Negaverse treats turncoats, Sailor Lionel."
