tag : #deepspace:mt ( #deepspace:open for open starters ! )
the candlelight vigils in azure square , where masses huddled together and sniffled in unison , were for the public . this event is for a select few — the movers and shakers of linkon city , people whose pockets run deeper than the deepspace tunnel and who are not afraid to spread their wealth around . the hunters association is an organization of heroes , and unicorns symbolize the virtues of purity and grace , but pretty words won't kill a wanderer . and neither will guns five years out of date , or flux stabilizers with faulty parts . the association needs funding , ever needs to save face . the surviving hunters of unicorns are expected to make the rounds for sympathy points — and leadership is especially pressured to do their fair share of schmoozing . “ this whole thing is crass , ” linkon's mayor succinctly mutters , unaware her mic is still hot , and any objective observer might be compelled to agree . but some things just need doing .
✷ happy opening and welcome to our first event ! it will run for 4 weeks , with a plot drop in the middle somewhere between 02.27 - 03.06 .
✷ on exactly the one-month anniversary of operation pandia , the municipal government and ever group have organized an art auction fundraiser both for the families of teams charlie and echo , as well as the hunters association as a whole . contributions have poured in from renowned artists all across the world , including linkon's own maestro of mo art studio . attendees of the event range from city officials to wealthy socialites , and ever's reclusive chairman has sent his granddaughter wang yitong to oil the machine . attendance is mandatory for all remaining unicorns agents to open more sentimental pockets and prove that the hunters have not lost their bite .
✷ the schedule for the event is as follows:
17 : 00 — guests begin arriving
18 : 00 — early bidding begins
18 : 30 — the captains of unicorns ( or vice-captain , for alpha ) give speeches about the squadron and eulogize their fallen comrades .
20 : 00 — rooftop viewing of the drone lights piece
21 : 30 — final winners of each art piece are announced
22 : 00 — event ends , all guests required to vacate the premises
✷ during the auction , the following events occur :
19 : 37 — agent i gets into a bidding war with the director of akso hospital .
19 : 58 — agent ii jung haejin overhears a terse , whispered conversation between the mayor and wang yitong .
20 : 26 — after the drone show finishes , wang yitong pulls agent iii li ruo shui aside and says ever would like their assistance in testing a new line of evol weapons .
21 : 45 — the director of unicorns rewards agents iv jin yuri , v shim eunho , and vi han haena for getting the 1st , 2nd , and 3rd highest donations of the night , respectively .
✷ these roles can be applied for here and will be assigned first-come , first serve .
✷ some suggestions for thread settings can be the gallery floor , the open bar , the rooftop garden , the ( smokers' ) stairwell , and the sculpture rotunda . also , feel free to come up with pieces of art to bid on ! the majority of pieces should focus on the fallen unicorns teams , but other famous contemporary artists' regular works were also accepted .
✷ please do not hesitate to ask us any questions you may have . once again , we cannot state enough how grateful and excited we are to have this amazing batch of writers working together to bring our story to life . happy writing , and happy hunting !
paper, plastic, cardboard, and electronic signs cover doors and windows and streetlight poles; their myriad and colorful messages announcing the candlelight vigils and early closures to accommodate a city set to mourn. and jung haejin wonders, not for the first time, if this had been intentional. support a public event, sway those public hearts and keep the gala and its inhabitants away from the public eye.
it is so quiet that each of his footfalls echo across those empty roads. his voice too. a subtle introduction to the evening's coming symphony.
"i know, meimei. i won't."
the world glitters in heaving petal pinks before falling back to a rumbling aquamarine, metaflux forever in pulsating motion. its nebulous movement one he tracks across his destination's visible floors. but there's nothing amiss. so far. he keeps watching as jung jaehee's stern tone continues to fill his ear, demanding promises he won't be able to keep now. haejin waits for the moment she has to breathe. and when she does —
"i've arrived. i will text you when i get home tonight. call me if there's any trouble at the vigil. have a good night, meimei."
hour: 16:03
"but sir, you're early."
pearl white teeth shine in the auction house lights as delta's captain smiles at the guards before him. it is a warning unheeded.
"yes. intentionally so. have you called your manager yet?"
the dim bulbs lighting their brains visibly flicker before one guard breaks from the pack. jung haejin waits. until, white-faced, wide-eyed, and breathless:
"open the door."
hour: 16:10
bare fingertips drag along the final table set up in the rotunda.
( cold dishes hitting its surface, idle gossip whispered nearby as decorations were hung into place, a layer of dust from too many months ago, scissors, a vigorous crayon ripping through paper and — )
as unremarkable as the rest despite faint concentrations of metaflux along its edges. black leather slips back over his hands while he weighs the options. an evolver? older materials? metaflux infused tools?
only, there in the distance: a form he recognizes eating up the distance between them. his contemplations hide themselves in the shadows of his mind as the mantel of captain hangs itself across his shoulders. dark eyes fall to the ground for a split second.
"watch your step," he calls. "there's a hidden sunken hole in the path by your right foot."
𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗻, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗱
where? flux arts' open bar
with who? @inawildflower / choi yeonghwan
decorum is a word decidedly absent from eunho's vocabulary. it isn't to say that he's a brute or a slob — he's softspoken, not rude, and he knows the value in appearances. he can endure waddling around in a constrictive suit for hours at a time. it's just … he sees little point in it. it's as expected a social more as bowing. maybe it's another instance of absent willpower, that he'd lower his head and shuffle off to these events with nary a whimper. or, maybe it's that these events are no longer as unbearable as they could be. it used to be about finding haena's eyes from across a room, stifling the smile she would reel out of him to avoid any observers' questions. eunho has learned his lesson. separation between work and personal life is paramount, even though this would normally be his off-hours. it does get a bit harder when work follows him home, though that's a bit of an exaggeration. work lives one floor down.
the more poetically inclined might indicate how art imitates life — the delineation between teams alpha and bravo made manifest through architecture. and, in truth, eunho hasn't given much thought to his sister team. the question is not of his dislike of the members (since at least one still has fond memories attached, as much as the painful ones still linger), nor any disdain towards their lack of skill. rather, it seems just a sign that eunho doesn't think. so maybe he hasn't learned all that much after all.
eunho's tolerance has gone up quite a bit since his friendship with yeonghwan began. an embarrassing amount of time passed before he realized they were neighbors, but the subsequent nights of drinking and shooting the shit (wallowing, if he wants to be honest, which… he doesn't) have closed the gap. “i could use my evol to swipe the cognac they've got over there, you know,” he whispers, nudging yeonghwan's shoulder. “that makes me sound like i have a problem… doesn't it?”
like with most things, it's his fault, and it's because he didn't think things through. it wouldn't do to skulk to the walls, because there are precious paintings on them and he doesn't want to inadvertently knock over something fragile, especially if someone's already bid on it. neither does he want to hop into the stairwell, because what if someone is looking for him? (they're always looking for him. everyone wants something from the captain of team alpha.) when people call him shadow lumiere, it's inaccurate in multiple ways — for one, he's nothing like lumiere, who is as elusive as he is powerful (and okay, maybe eunho can see where people are coming from now), and secondly, his powers have nothing to do with shadow. they're about light, about the way it bends, not the absence of it.
so, in conclusion, he does not have to find darkness to hide. he can disappear just by standing in the middle of the room and using his evol.
frankly, it's a miracle this is the first time someone's run into him. the other unicorns agents must be able to at least sense the evol energy at play, but the regular fundraiser attendees would have no idea a giant roadblock is right in their path. eunho's trying to be cognizant of his surroundings, mindful of who's coming close so he can sidestep them without the pedestrian any the wiser. technically speaking, one might be able to spot two floating dots shifting around the space, right about where his eyes would be, but they don't take in any information coming in from behind, and so it seems both of them are equally as helpless as they collide.
“ah,” is eunho's response to the crash, a staccato half-word. he drops his evol and his whole self comes into view, earning himself a more appropriate squeak of surprise from nearby. he leans over his temporarily-fallen comrade with outstretched, uncertain hands. “sorry. are you all right…?”
