text | un: fotia

[burningfree]

[It was like, 3 in the morning, and Lio was laying in bed while restlessly typing this on his phone, the subject of the post laying next to him and almost certainly drooling in his sleep.]

To whom it may concern.

If you see an idiot firefighter running around the city shirtless at any point, look with your eyes, not your hands. Actually, I'd prefer if you kept your eyes above the chin.

He's mine.

[Happy first day of Sanguis!]

Comments

[thetaintedsorrow]

Given how people like to call me small when they see me in person yeah, I guess so.

Sounds hard to keep up with. Glad mine lays down most of the time.

So do I. I have yet to find a shampoo as good as what I used at home though.

[burningfree]

Oh I understand that sentiment. I'm short too.

I'll use anything, but now that I actually have the luxury of choice, I prefer rose scented products - for my skin and my hair both. Despite having lived in pretty dire conditions in the past, it was my one thing I remained diligent about.

Call me vain, but I care about personal presentation.

Particularly since people have the same sort of reaction to seeing me in person as well.

[thetaintedsorrow]

Yeah? Well then, guess we have more in common than I first thought.

Rose-scented stuff, huh? You have good taste. I like the smell too. That and sandalwood are my favorites. And I know about roughing it from growing up on the streets, so I get you. Didn’t matter how poor I was, I always managed to keep clean and smell nice. Except right after a fight, of course.

That makes two of us. But hey, that just means we gotta be twice as loud and flashy as everybody else, right?

[burningfree]

Can't say I'm loud, but flashy has always been my style.

I didn't really think I'd run into someone else here that I shared so much in common with. You remind me of one of my generals, actually, if he were slightly more refined.

What's your name? I'm Lio Fotia.

[thetaintedsorrow]

Nothing wrong with that.

Always a surprise when that happens. Can’t say I’ve met too many people here that I have much in common with either. But a general, huh? That must make you some kinda leader then, right? If so we’ve got even more in common than we thought.

[Being called “refined” makes him preen though. Not something he hears very often, actually.]

Chuuya Nakahara. You can call me Chuuya if you want. And Lio, huh? Sounds kinda regal.

bff material right here

[burningfree]

The coincidences are stacking up. You're right, I'm the leader of Mad Burnish, a resistance group that was fighting the government's systemic oppression and imprisonment of our people.

[If Chuuya preens at being called refined, Lio snorts and feels a little pang of undeserved pride at being called 'regal.']

It's a nice thought, but I can't claim any sort of noble background. I was born in Detroit.

[A short pause.]

I have no idea if that means anything to you. It means something to people in my world.

Truth

[thetaintedsorrow]

Really? Holy shit. I hope you guys were able to come out on top. The kind of leading I do is totally different.

Detroit, huh? I’m from Yokohama, Japan, myself. Never been to the U.S.

It’s a city that exists in my world. Why? Is it gone in yours or something?

[burningfree]

It took a lot more than I thought it would. To be frank, I wasn't sure we'd ever actually be free from them, but in the end their ambitions outgrew their ability to sustain them, and an opportunity to take them down presented itself.

I couldn't have done it without Galo.

No, Detroit is just considered a relatively poor city. I don't remember much about my family but we certainly weren't well-to-do, so calling me 'regal' is kind of ironic.

Of course the stereotype could apply to most of the cities in my world after the major disaster that wiped out over half the population thirty years ago.

[thetaintedsorrow]

I've known a few people like that in my life. The bigger they are the harder they fall. Glad to hear it worked out though. Stuff like that tends to make people grow closer, so it's no wonder that you care about this guy so much.

Oh. Well, you don't gotta be rich to be regal. And I grew up on the streets, so I know the feeling. I had to work my way up to becoming an executive.

Damn. Something like that almost happened in my world too.

Say, do abilities exist in your world? Like powers?

[burningfree]

Probably doesn't help that he saved my life.

[With a kiss, no less. Lio really hadn't stood a chance, had he?]

Huh. That's uncanny. It's unlikely, but I'm starting to wonder if we come from the same place, or at least very similar worlds.

I guess you could say that we had powers. The burnish were part of the human population that could wield fire. I was one of them.

It was originally thought to be a mutation, but the truth of it is a little more complicated than that.

[thetaintedsorrow]

Oh yeah? Sounds like a real love story.

[He knows the feeling of being saved by someone and maybe kinda sorta developing feelings for them. In Chuuya's case it's extremely complicated though, and the guy is kind of an asshole. If only Chuuya had a guy like Galo around.]

It's possible. The world is in danger pretty fucking often where I'm from. Or at least Japan is, but it could easy spread outward.

Fire, huh? Nice. I can manipulate gravity myself.

Yeah? Mind if I ask what the truth is, then?

[burningfree]

That's a bit of an exaggeration.

[It wasn't, actually, but Lio wasn't ready to throw the L word around, so he was going to put a stop to that right away.]

Gravity. You can still do it?
I lost my powers, before I came here..

You sure you want to hear about it? It's kind of insane, and hard to believe.

[thetaintedsorrow]

Is it? Coulda fooled me.

Yeah, I can still do it. Maybe I’ll show you sometime if we meet in person. Sucks that you lost your powers though.

Try me.

[He fought actual Cthulhu, he’ll believe just about anything at this point.]

[burningfree]

Trust me.

[Don't trust him, he's totally lying.]

It was more than just my powers, a lot of aspects about me changed. My body temperature used to run as hot as a lit flame, I could touch open fire without it burning me, and my wounds used to heal over instantly. I'm still adjusting.

I also used to hear the voices of the flames.

Apparently our fires weren't a mutation, but rather some humans were just prone to synchronizing with interdimensional flame creatures called the Promare. I was always aware of them, but didn't know *what* they were until just a few weeks ago. Their existence was a well kept secret.

[thetaintedsorrow]

[Oh wow, that’s...a lot to take in, but Chuuya finds himself believing Lio regardless. This sounds way too specific to be completely made-up, after all.]

I can see how adjusting to life after that would be tough, yeah. Especially not being able to heal anymore. Do you get colder easier now?

So like...

Aliens?? I gotta say that’s weirder than anything back in my world, but I believe it. They’re gone now though? That’s a shame.

[burningfree]

I'm cold *all the time* now.

[It was awful.]

Yeah, aliens. Apparently they were kind of stuck in the planet's core, coming through some sort of interdimensional rift there, and it prevented them from being able to fully combust. To try and help them burn hotter, they synchronized with humans to use them as conduits. I can't tell you exactly how it worked, I didn't have enough time to talk to the researcher that figured all of it out.

I helped them burn completely, though, which allowed them to go back home and sealed the rift behind them. So I can't synchronize with them anymore.

[thetaintedsorrow]

[That...is A Lot to take in, even for someone like Chuuya. Who knew such things were even possible?]

That sucks. I guess there’s always sweaters and blankets and stuff.

Oh wow...at least you helped them out and sent them home. It’s gotta feel weird missing something that was a part of you for so long like that though.

It’s not exactly the same, but there’s something not quite human sharing my body too. Luckily the power only activates when I call on it.

[burningfree]

Hah, that's an understatement. I'd been hearing their voices since I was a child, so now that they're gone, my head feels too quiet.

I'm not sure if they could hear me, it really felt like more of a one way street communication-wise, though apparently they could feel whatever I felt, so if I was unhappy or in pain they would be as well.

For most burnish we could try to suppress our flames, and some people had better self control than others. But the Promare would push us to burn. Some people would have uncontrollable fits, especially when first awakening, which is what got us pegged as so dangerous to begin with.

I'm more interested in hearing about this power of yours though. You're sharing your body with an entity?

[thetaintedsorrow]

Losing your fire powers is one thing, but that just makes it even worse. I tend to just blast music when shit gets too quiet. Not the same as what you’re going through, but still.

I guess it would’ve been bad for them if you got hurt, so makes sense that they’d feel your pain and stress. Sucks that they pushed you to burn though. People without those kinda powers always look for any excuse to call people with them monsters and shit.

Yeah. I guess you could say I’m some kinda science experiment. The thing sharing my body is supposedly some kinda god or something. Using its powers is a last resort for me though. It takes control and I end up destroying everything in my path. It takes a toll on my body, and if the ability isn’t cancelled I’ll just keep going till my body gives out and I die.

[burningfree]

Blasting music doesn't sound like a bad idea, but it's the worst at night when I'm laying in bed. Probably can't get away with that anymore.

[Since he was, well, sharing a bed now.

He tensed up at the mention of 'science experiments', scrunching his face in an almost pained expression, though Chuuya couldn't see it.]

I'm sorry. That sounds horrific.

I don't trust scientists. My people were dissected and experimented on by scientists, and one of their god awful machines forced me to burn so hard I almost died.

So trust me, I can relate.