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 Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2025 12:11 am
Snowy Sneezes: (7) : Small custom shops and stalls always seem to open up this time of year, and Destiny City has no shortage this year. Several seasonal themed shops have already received raving reviews, and among them is a small cafe. Outside it looks like a cute vintage cafe, but inside, the shop has been decorated so convincingly that you feel like you've just stepped into a snowy northern forest. They have an array of delicious, cold drinks, and the trip would be worthwhile for that alone--except, shortly after the first sip, anyone who has ingested the drink will find that they sneeze a flurry of tiny snowflakes. The more drinks consumed, the longer you will find you are sneezing little snowflakes. It feels like there is a tickle up your nose for an hour or longer, depending on player choice; drinking more can also lead to longer effects. There are no negative impacts--just the need to sneeze often, and a little burst of cold snowflakes along with each one. Surprisingly, the shop still doesn't have any bad reviews.
The little flurry of snowflakes that followed the sneeze was quickly followed by another small fit of giggles. As itchy as her nose was, Ekstrom was fascinated by the symptoms she was experiencing from she wasn't really sure what, though she had a sneaking suspicion that it was the drink she got from that cafe that had been getting rave reviews of late. The drink, true to the reviews, was delicious, but it wasn't long after she started drinking it before she started sneezing out these little snowflakes. It actually seemed like it matched the cold-themed aesthetic of Mercury, and if it weren't for the fact that her nose itched so bad she'd be tempted to get some more another time.
The Mercury Knight was seated under a lamp in one of her usual parks, waiting for Solaris. She had messaged asking to meet some time ago and they agreed on a time and place. Her magic didn't seem to be getting better, and she had yet to go back to her Wonder out of a baseless but still growing fear that it was some kind of punishment being doled out to her by her Code Piece for some reason or another. Maybe she'd lost touch with it since their last exchange and it was getting tired of her, or maybe she was just going too slow for its liking and it was just trying to nudge her forward. Her ideas about it were getting more and more pessimistic by the day, and she knew she would have to visit soon and face it just to stop herself from slipping into another one of her episodes from the stress of it.
"Please, god, no," she murmured, sniffling a few times to try and get rid of the itch in her nose. "I just got finished with the school stress, and now this."
Ekstrom sighed, looking up and around in hopes of spotting her friend.
And then, having failed to rid her nose of the itch, she sneezed again.
Out came another flurry of snowflakes. Out came another fit of giggles.
She actually looked pretty happy despite the stress, which was probably a good thing.
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Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2025 10:23 am
Winter was certainly, biasedly, her favorite season on Earth. It marked another year of freedom from the tomb-like state her world had become, another year where she got to see life thriving once more. And another year her world still was plagued with Chaos. But she was working on that. And now wasn't the time to dwell. She focused instead on her location in reference to the agreed upon meeting spot. Sure enough, she was close enough for the other energy signature to ping off her senses, so it was easy enough to pick up her pace to join the Knight. Her assumption that the statistics were pretty low for it to just happen to be a different Knight than the one she figured was proven accurate enough in short term. Just in time to see the other woman sneeze out.... snowflakes? That got her brow furrowing in confusion. But she was laughing so... yay? "That some new Mercury magic trick?" Her voice rose only slightly to reach the other on the off chance she hadn't realized Solaris was in the vicinity, lifting a hand to wave lightly as she closed the distance. "Sneeze out a winter wonderland or something? Guess that's better than sneezing out germs." So she said, but Solaris came to a halt a few feet away, hands on her hips as she squinted at Ekstrom curiously. Genuinely unsure if she could risk getting sick if she got closer. "You okay? I know a good place for warm soup if that'll help out."
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Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2026 8:26 pm
Ekstrom looked up at the sound of a familiar voice, smiling before screwing her expression up in the way only an oncoming sneeze could. Out came more snowflakes a second later, and a bit more giggling as she rubbed at her nose while shaking her head. "No, but it's pretty fitting, right?" she said, patting the spot next to her to invite the senshi closer after noticing she had stopped some feet away still.
"I don't think it's contagious, if that's what you're worried about," she went on, still smiling. "I have a feeling I had a funny drink at a popular shop earlier." She named it, and explained the sequence of events and why she thought she'd gotten it from there. "The itchy nose is the worst of it, but it's harmless enough considering the other kinds of things that can happen around this time of year." She sighed at that, her thoughts briefly wandering back to previous holiday seasons she'd spent in DC and all the incidents and weird goings on that she forced herself to simply excuse as "weird" or "a DC thing" because there simply had been no other explanation for any of it that satisfied her curiosity. And the less she understood, the more irritated about it she got...and she didn't want to ruin the holidays for herself, so she forced herself to let go.
Now? She was mostly just accepting "magic" as the main culprit, and that was enough for her.
Maybe back in the day that wouldn't have been enough, but now with all that she had on her plate..."magic" was more than enough.
"But yeah, I'm... well. I'm...tired." She paused then, worrying her lower lip for a second before adding, "In the 'kind of not fine' sort of way."
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2026 12:33 pm
It was an extremely fitting side-effect, though Solaris tilted her head somewhat this way and that as she considered the sneezing snowflakes came from some odd drink. "What shop? Can't tell if I want to avoid it, or try it myself," she admitted with a bemused hum, letting her arms fall back to her sides as she made her way over to the Knight. At least now that her concerns about anything being contagious were mostly assured--ish. If she got sick later, she'd likely just text Ekstrom with some whining. There were enough genuinely weird things around DC that it really could have just been some magical mishap or whatever caused all these oddities, rather than a sickness the alien needed to be concerned with. She swept aside the trailing layers of translucent, sparkling cloth in order to sit down without feeling weird yanks or tension anywhere from her uniform, leaning her shoulder against the back of the bench to sit somewhat sideways and face Ekstrom. "Tired and 'not fine' varieties seem pretty common this time of year around here, from what I've seen. A lot of holiday, religious, educational, financial, and other high-stress social responsibilities all seem to cluster into one insane timeframe. I'll admit, I do not miss what I remember of those sorts of days." Solaris propped her elbow up on the top of the bench, angling her fist to rest her cheek against it as she observed Ekstrom. Her breath came out in a fluffy puff, a sharp exhale through her nose. "And that's all ignoring all the other s**t you and others deal with. So what's going on? Anything I can help out with?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2026 7:41 am
Ekstrom summoned her cell phone from subspace and navigated to the cafe's website before offering it over to her once she was close enough, all the while rubbing gently at her nose and wondering when the itching would subside. Hopefully soon, even if it did mean the inevitable end to the very apt and appropriate aesthetic given her knightly station.
"This one," she said, sounding like she was doing her best to hold back a sneeze. "And the drink was so good! Enough that it's tempting to go back just to taste it again, but this itchiness is driving me crazy so...probably won't. But I don't regret trying it."
The Knight turned to face Solaris in turn, leaning sideways against the bench much in the same way she was, and letting out a little sigh. "I don't know, honestly. The holiday stress is probably just piling on to it, but it's been–" She turned abruptly to sneeze, and despite her doubts about it not being contagious she had put her arm up to block it from Solaris as best she could. Just in case.
More snow, though this time it wasn't accompanied by any giggles. She was still smiling, though, and perhaps biting back her amusement due to it warring with her thoughts about the current events in her life.
"Sorry," she sniffled while straightening up. "Uh, so besides the holiday stress it's just been...this weird magic thing. It's been way more draining than to actually use my magic, so I haven't been. And between school and all, I haven't gotten a chance to even try and ask the Code Piece on my Wonder." The last bit was a half-truth at best, because she had been busy. Just not so busy that she couldn't make time if she really wanted to.
Biting her lip to consider for a moment, she quickly came to the decision that she didn't want to hold back from her friend. So she added, "I guess I might be a little scared about what it might tell me, too," in a very quiet voice.
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2026 10:37 am
Magic as more draining than usual? That got her attention. Sure, Solaris had laughed and taken note of the shop Ekstrom had gotten the drink from, curiosity certainly burning in the back of her mind after the high praise. Minus the itchy nose. But the magical discrepancy had her refocused in a heartbeat. "Do you know when it started?" She could recall Ekstrom using her magic in the fight on Dagon's world, but for all she knew that could have been part of the strain period. Solaris took a small breath, hesitating slightly on the next logical jump of hers. Especially given the Knight's reluctance to speak to the Code concerning all of it. "So--what I'm going to say, I'm prefacing with the fact there can be a lot of factors when it comes to magic and connections to it. I'm assuming knights are no different from senshi in that regard. So what I'm going to tell you now is only my experience, okay? It might be unrelated to yours." She paused briefly, gaze roaming over the other's face before tentatively continuing onward. "I... don't know if I mentioned it, I might have, sorry if this is a repeat. But I had been an Eternal Senshi before my world lost contact with the rest of the galaxy due to the Chaos attacking. Over time, I lost my power, and with it my rank. Using my magic even as a basic senshi was a strain and a risk because of how unreliable it had become. During all that time, my world was fading into the state it is now." She still had... moments. But Solaris could hazard a guess on that. "I don't think you're in the same position I was in, I'm making that clear now. But... you should speak to the Code. Your wonder might be having a problem, and it's reflected in its inability to maintain the connection for you to draw your magic, like my world wasn't able to maintain my connection." Another hesitation, barely a breath, before she added, "I could go with you? You don't have to deal with this alone. Besides, I recall an offer to help look at the files you've got that aren't in English."
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2026 11:11 am
The Knight kept her eyes fixed on Solaris as she spoke, though her worries were quickly rising in her the more she listened. Sure, the reassurances that it could literally be anything, and that she wasn't likely to be in a similar trajectory as Solaris had been when things were happening on her world, and that she was only speaking from her own experience...but hearing yet another person she trusted tell her that she should be concerned, and that she should talk to the Code, added on to it anyway.
It wasn't so much a bad thing, because she acknowledged that it was a problem that she had to eventually address, as it was a reminder that she needed to stop delaying. Because at this point that was what she was doing, and she knew it.
"I noticed it for the first time on Dagon's world," she said, eyes cast down at her hands. She had taken to fiddling with her signet ring, twirling it in a nervous gesture. "And...I mean, I will talk to it. I've just been busy. School, y'know, and then the holidays here are also just..."
She looked up, smiling as she gestured at her own face. "I mean this is harmless enough, but who knows what else is going on out there. There's some kind of wolf that's been randomly showing up places and attacking people. There's the flock of sheep in the snow, and the snowbunnies. The random wildflowers just growing right out of the snow. So. Kinda hands full, but..." She bit her lip again, then finished lamely, "yeah, maybe delaying a little."
And then her voice became very small, and she looked down at her hands. "What if it's disappointed with me or something? Like I failed it and my Wonder somehow, and that's why my magic is doing whatever it's doing?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2026 11:44 am
Solaris' expression morphed from firm and concerned, to smug and bemused the longer Ekstrom listed out first normal human concerns, then the magical concerns that rose up around Destiny City every year give or take. An expectant brow lifted as she hummed in agreement to the delaying comment. "Last time I checked, we've got a whole bunch of people throughout the city who can pick up the slack for you to focus on yourself."
But the smile and humor evaporated into concern once more to hear the genuine fear. Understandable, valid. Solaris felt her shoulders slump nonetheless to see Ekstrom under that burden. "Not possible," she said in a firm, yet gentle tone, straightening where she sat to reach out a hand to rest on Ekstrom's. "You put so much into your life as a knight, never mind any responsibilities you've got outside of that. You've done everything right as a knight, far as I can see things. You protect the city, protect other worlds, help people whenever you can. I'd probably have been dead if not for how much you shielded us in the fight against the Calamitous Hollow." She couldn't stop the slight wince as she spoke that--the reminder of the terror seeing Ekstrom fall then, the overwhelming sensation that she'd failed again to keep an ally alive. Someone so young they shouldn't have ever seen the burden of war before---
Her voice sharped before she registered it, "It can't be anything like that. I'll rip the Code a new one myself if there's even remotely a suggestion you haven't been exactly the person the Ekstrom site needs."
There was an irony in her words, she knew. And somewhere else, deeper in the back of her mind, an itch. The Ekstrom site. Why did wording it that way ring a bell? She shoved the thought aside, trying to soften herself again and give the Knight a gentle squeeze of her hand. "Even if something is wrong, if there's been some mistake, you can't start to fix it without knowing what happened."
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2026 12:36 pm
A wave of guilt crashed over her as the Code's words from the day of her transcendence echoed in the back of her mind. It had warned her, told her what she ought to prioritize next. There had been a sense of urgency in its words, but she'd taken her time to process everything. It had been, at the time, a purposeful delay. There were other aspects of the conversation that she had to sort through, and by the time she finally had...six or so months had gone by, and she found herself busy with the other aspects of her life. Which was still a fair enough reason! She had life beyond knighthood, after all, but all the same...
"Maybe," she started, then cut off, chewing on her lower lip as she carefully sorted through her thoughts, quickly deciding on how much she felt she could share before continuing. "But it told me something, the day I transcended. And it kind of...gave me a task that I still haven't gotten around to." She frowned, wondering if that was enough for Solaris to understand where her concern about being a disappointment was coming from.
"So when this started happening, that was one of the first things that made me start...worrying." Her brows were still furrowed slightly even as she sighed, but she looked slightly more relieved than a moment ago, as though finally admitting things out loud had eased a little bit of the burden away. "But you're right, and I do plan on going soon. Maybe after I get back from visiting family..."
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2026 12:49 pm
Solaris couldn't have stopped the humorless laugh that bit out of her if she tried.
"You've been living your life for how long since then? I still haven't found the damn Chaos on my world and I've been doing this s**t for centuries." Her smile was wry, tired, bitter. But it had the clear edge of empathy. "If my record's anything to go off of, your wonder won't cut you off for not getting an important thing done for... ah.... at least another thousand years or so, give or take."
She was being flippant, sure, but she also was sitting there as Sailor Solaris yet, despite how her world still was plagued by Chaos.
"I get why you're concerned, and I get why your mind would first go to the delay.... but your wonder isn't abandoning you because you live your life. I can only imagine how few senshi and knights we'd have around if that were the case...."
She did cast Ekstrom a rather judging look, though, at that last bit. "You want me to set a timer to nag you about it? If you're really that concerned." Which... to be fair? She probably uh. Should be. With her powers getting affected and all.
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2026 1:37 pm
It was hard to bite back a wince when Solaris very pointedly poked at what was apparently a gaping flaw in her logic. She felt the heat slowly creep into her cheeks, embarrassment momentarily waging war with the currently settled concern about her magic and her Wonder and all of that. It was a bit hard to hear—not to mention, she had left out details that might have very drastically changed her friend's reaction to it—but the Knight gave a little bobble of her head.
"Yeah..." she sighed, "you're probably right about that, too." And then she flashed the smallest of smiles up at her, not minding the expression on her face when she offered to nag. "Thanks, but I think I'll be okay. I gotta double check something on my calendar first, but I think I can manage a trip by New Year's."
And then, as if it was ready to interrupt her again now that she was starting to relax the slightest bit again, Ekstrom suddenly turned her head and gave another great sneeze and accompanying outburst of snowflakes.
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2026 4:23 pm
It wasn't that Solaris was heartless to Ekstrom's plight--her concerns were understandable, her apprehension was understandable. Solaris' blunt retorts were meant as reassurances, and thus, she was relaxed as she sat there, lips pressing together in a tight, yep I get it sort of smile as she caught sight of the bit of color on the other's cheeks. "Got it. Let me know if you need anything?-- ah..." The renewed sneezing made Solaris laugh outright, needing to turn her head away to snicker. "Alright, that's it--where's that place again? I need to try this for myself. You can decide if you want to suffer another round of itchy nose for a second drink." The change in topic seemed appropriate at this point, not wanting to push things when Ekstrom at least seemed set in her next steps. She'd keep an ear out, at least, just in case any support was needed in whatever those next steps were.
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