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 Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2026 7:30 pm
Ziuhoi was starting to think that his week was just cursed. First, he'd run into that weird wolf beast, and now it was....a sudden wave of exhaustion that had no cause. Ziuhoi liked to think he knew his body's limits fairly well; he was used to pushing right up against them, and knew exactly how far past he could go without it going spectacularly wrong.
And yet, on what should have been a perfectly fine night, he found himself plopped down on a bench after going for a jog to clear his head. Maybe the problem was that he wasn't usually a "jog to clear his head" person, he'd just....had a lot on his mind lately, and his coworkers tended to swear by this type of thing.
Maybe they were all jackasses, because Ziuhoi's head did not feel clear. if anything, it felt hazy, and he even briefly considered laying down on the bench. Stupid idea, given the weather, but.....ugh.Tonight, Prismatine did not want to be around his fellows. He'd said he was taking a walk; that was, in fact, true, he just hadn't mentioned what form that walk would be in or how long it would take. He planned to be back before too late, but there was something comforting about the second skin of Prismatine when being Vasha felt...overwhelming.
Everything was happening all at once, and he had a whole new world to get used to. So he might as well start learning.
He hadn't had any particular reason for selecting the man he was draining; he was simply an easy, convenient target, made easier when he sat down. But something felt odd--perhaps the "aura sense" he'd been told to expect. Not that he really knew what any of it meant.
Oh well. Maybe he would find out. Or maybe he wouldn't.
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2026 8:06 pm
Dunnottar hated that damn ice wolf. He liked winter and he wanted to keep it that way, and that stupid thing was making it really hard to enjoy winter! He'd gone out tonight to intentionally seek it out, hopefully kick its a** before it did any damage to anyone who were unable to protect themselves, like the... kind of cute... Ziuhoi guy he'd met the other day. Then, depending on how you looked at the situation, he either fortunately or unfortunately ran into some punk of a Lieutenant using his draining powers on Ziuhoi. And that just wouldn't do. He stepped forward from the shadows, deciding to give the Lieutenant a chance to leave on his own first. "If I were you," he said coolly, not risking a glance to Ziuhoi—it was better if they came off like they didn't know each other, after all, "I would back off and leave him alone."
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2026 8:27 pm
Ziuhoi swore he recognized the voice behind him, and he started to perk up, turning to look...and frowned. Yes, that was definitely Dunnottar, but he wasn't looking Ziuhoi's way--he was focused on some blond in black and galaxy, who looked incredibly bored by the proceedings before him.
Ziuhoi had no idea who that was, but he did know that he didn't like the situation. And he knew that the strangeness of the blond's outfit meant that this was probably more magic s**t that he was deeply unqualified to deal with--so he kept his mouth shut, drawn tense and panicky.
He really, really hoped whatever was going on didn't spill any closer to him.Prismatine kept his expression as bland as possible, looking the man in front of him up and down. Tacky, frilly pastels, and holding a cane--that was probably the most worrying thing here. Prismatine could compensate for a lot, but a real weapon as versus a silly little glitter stick didn't really seem like a fair fight.
It wasn't meant to be, he supposed. The scales were tilted, and he would just have to deal with that. They would tilt in the opposite direction eventually. He was certain of that.
"And if I don't?" He asked. "I do have a job to do, you know. My superiors are very adamant about turning in my quota. And it's not like he can't sleep off a little energy draining."
Honestly. If this was what the other side had to offer--posturing and threats--maybe Prismatine didn't have much to worry about. The ice wolf creature had been far more intimidating than the man before him was.
Perhaps that was overconfidence talking. Perhaps it was something else. Either way, Prismatine twirled his glitter stick between his fingers, waiting for anything approaching an answer that actually impressed him.
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2026 8:47 pm
Dunnottar shifted his weight, lifting his cane into the air in preparation to slam the butt of it into the ground and call upon his magic. "I suppose you'll have to decide just how worth the trouble your job is," he said evenly. "You are facing someone who is factually stronger than you are, magically speaking. You don't know what my magic does. You've never seen me before. Do you really want to take the chance of severe injury, based on my whimsical appearance?" He smirked, tilting his head forward slightly. "I'd just prefer it if things didn't have to get messy, but if you're going to insist on this going poorly, I will happily show you what my magic can do, young man."
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2026 8:57 pm
"Is that so," Prismatine replied. Okay, well, that did explain some things. But he intended to continue to act unaffected, it would hopefully belie that he was, in truth, completely inexperienced and fumbling in the dark. Never, ever let them see you sweat. Never, ever show fear or weakness.
He'd learned plenty of things, over the years, and all of them, he suspected, would come into play in this new adventure of his, especially since it was a certainty that he would have to spend at least some time clawing his way up the ranks before he could be anything approaching useful.
"You seem pretty confident, old man," because if that was the game they were playing, Prismatine was going to play it, "so why don't you just show me. Maybe it'll even teach me a lesson." Unlikely, of course, but the prospect of it was amusing enough that he was willing to issue the challenge. What could magic possibly do? Perhaps it was better to find out firsthand.Very, very briefly, Ziuhoi considered speaking up to intervene, to warn the cocky little blond that Dunnottar's magic was, in fact, actively dangerous and would, in fact, wreck his s**t, like Ziuhoi had seen it do to the wolf monster Dunnottar had saved him from. Really, he thought about it, about doing the charitable thing, but...well, Ziu was not always a charitable person, and maybe he wanted to see the bored expression wiped off the little s**t's face, especially since he was beginning to gather that he was, in some way, actively in danger form said little s**t.
It seemed Dunnottar was saving him once again, and this time he hadn't even realized he was in danger. He really did need to learn more about his mysterious two-time rescuer, because that was the sort of thing apt to make a boy get swoony, even someone who was nominally very much not the swooning type.
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2026 9:15 pm
Dunnottar briefly thanked his ancestors for the fact that Ziuhoi was being incredibly smart and staying quiet as the two magical beings clashed right near him. The last thing he needed was the man he had a maybe-crush on getting in the way and deciding to be his own hero. "If that's your will," he finally said evenly. He waited for one heartbeat, just to see if the Lieutenant would change his mind, and then slammed the butt of his cane into the ground. Instantly, the unicorns appeared, whinnying up a storm, and charged the Lieutenants with their horns forward. They rushed around himself and Ziuhoi, keeping the two of them safe, solely focusing on the bratty upstart Lieutenant who thought to put his hands on what Dunnottar was already considering his (and that was ******** terrifying, thanks, he was not going to think about that ever again). Noir Songbird Squire: A cane. Dunnottar stomps his cane on the ground. A swirl of silvery glitter appears and a small swarm of unicorns about a foot tall rise from it, rushing out in every direction to charge people with their horns. People Dunnottar trusts will not be targeted, and those who are will feel the sensation of being slashed or stabbed by the unicorn horns. Lasting damage is up to player discretion. This attack can be channeled for 30 seconds and the unicorns will lose their form, returning to glitter upon reaching 8 feet from Dunnottar.
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2026 9:31 pm
The risk Prismatine had taken was calculated.
........Apparently, he was very bad at math.
In his defense: how the <********> was he meant to have predicted that the magic he was being threatened with involved being charged by tiny unicorns that were apparently little ******** ankle stabbers. He started moving backwards as fast as he could, but they were persistent, and he knew those horns and hooves had slashed and battered his legs--it was a good thing it was winter, and thus long pants and tights season regardless, because he was going to have to cover those while they healed.
"I'll remember you," he promised the man in front of him, venom dripping from his voice.
And then he turned tail and ran. It was the only smart option--and he'd gotten his energy anyway.Ziuhoi waited in tense silence, watching the magic unicorns flow around him and chase down that weird blond, and he didn't say a word until he could be fairly certain there wasn't anyone else lurking. No sense in ruining his hot streak of not digging himself a deeper grave by running his mouth too early.
"So," he said, once he was sure they were alone, "I'm going to assume you just saved me again, from something I've got no comprehension of?" Not exactly a pleasant thought. Apparently, now that he'd stumbled into Destiny City magic, he was going to see a lot of it.
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2026 9:48 pm
"I tried to warn you," he called out after the Lieutenant, shaking his head slightly. And he really, truly had! He'd not exactly wanted to hurt the smarmy little s**t, but some people insisted on learning the hard way. With a little huff, he lifted his cane, the unicorns evaporating with no enemy to turn to anymore, and sat next to Ziuhoi, hand on fist, elbow on knee. "Unfortunately. Try to avoid people dressed mostly in black and sort of vaguely military looking," Dunnottar advised. "Of course, not everyone on our side is as colorful as me, but if they're mostly not-black and/or their torso is mainly white? Safe to be near if something magical is going on." He took a deep breath and let it out in a slow sigh. "What just happened was a Lieutenant from the Negaverse—that is, the Agents of Chaos—stole life force from you. That's why you feel exhausted out of nowhere. They use it to feed the seed of Chaos that's on Earth. It's an evil force."
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2026 10:00 pm
Having Dunnottar so close was maybe making Ziuhoi feel a thing or two. Maybe that was stupid and ridiculous. He didn't trip over himself falling for people. He'd had a boyfriend or two in the past, but they could never really handle him; most people couldn't, after long exposure. It made him treasure the few friends he did keep, and or course his family who tolerated his nonsense so well.
"Right. That should be easy enough," he said. He stared down at his hands, unsure what to make of everything he was learning. "Honestly, I'll probably mostly be looking for you if I get into magical messes. This is twice now you've shown up to pull me out of one."
He gave a small smile, and wished he didn't feel so ridiculous.
"Okay, so. I'm tired because the actual life was sucked out of me. That's...alarming." He paused, for a long minute. "...Can that kill people? Is that why we sometimes get calls about people who've just...dropped dead, with no actual cause?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2026 10:12 pm
Dunnottar blushed when Ziuhoi said he'd seek Dunnottar out, specifically. Oh. Oh, ******** this the feeling people talked about? It really ******** sucked having his heart go all floppy and his stomach all twisty and his palms all sweaty. Gross. Why. s**t. He's so cute. Oh my God.Swallowing, he straightened up and nodded. "Yeah. This is going to sound ridiculous, even next to everything you've already heard? But guys like the one I just chased off?" He reached forward and pressed his hand to Ziuhoi's chest. "They can reach right into your chest and steal your starseed—your soul itself—from your body. People who are randomly dead from nothing have had their soul stolen. Permanently removed from the reincarnation cycle."
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2026 10:18 pm
Probably, that should have been terrifying to Ziuhoi. Probably, to a normal person, it was.
But he thought of that arrogant little twink with his bored look and his sparkly little glitter wand, and thought about the idea that someone like that could have the ability to rip out a soul and end someone's life forever, and it made him angry.
"What the ********," he said, fiercely. "So they can just...end someone? Pull out a soul and it's lights out forever? And me and everyone else is just left guessing and wondering? Their families never get any answers unless they happen to find out about this?"
The thought of it--Ziuhoi hated this.
"I'm glad there's people like you out there, fighting. And I'm glad I'll know what to look for, if I see something like that."
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2026 10:41 pm
Dunnottar was filled with the overwhelming desire to kiss Ziuhoi, and he swallowed heavily, just nodding in response for a moment so he could have some time to sort out exactly how to feel about that. Or to box it up to examine later. Ziuhoi's sense of justice appealed to him greatly. "Yeah. It's not pleasant," he said softly, looking out into the distance. "Maybe if you're lucky, you'll turn up powered one day. And uh... If you'd like, we could trade phone numbers. I can tell you more details if we meet up in person without me being a glaring beacon of 'I'm magical, come kick my a**'."
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2026 10:45 pm
Oh. Well. That brought a whole set of other feelings rushing up in Ziuhoi--the handsome savior wanted to exchange numbers?
He coughed, feeling his face heat up.
"Yeah, that sounds great, I'd like that," he agreed, easily.
And not just because he wanted to understand the world he'd suddenly found himself in.
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