(due to the Faewildes' space-time distortions, timelines across countries are neither linear nor consistent)
Gene: [chilling on the couch, bundled in soft blankets and hugging his legs, his chin on his knees. Using his magic to keep his book floating less than a foot away from his face—]
Zenebe: [grinning widely, suddenly says as he bursts from the hallway) "so!" >;D
Gene: [jumps up, tensing and looking up with wide eyes—]
Gene: [distorts, then reforms on the other side of the room in a defensive stance, the handle of his cane held out and warped into a cross-guard]
Zenebe: [at the same time, amusedly) "for this whole—"
Zenebe: [but freezes, tensing and emitting steam to envelop himself in—)
Both:
Both: [realize Gene had just been startled, and had gone on the defensive—] 😅😓
Zenebe: [chilling the steam into a circle of water around him, with an awkward voice and wink to match it) "… for this whole 'roommate' thing, yeah?" >;'D
Gene: [slowly eased as he'd realized it was just Zenebe, warping his cane into its usual form and shifting to lean against it]
Gene: [turns his head away and stares at the floor; voice awkward and slightly strangled) "… yeah?"
Zenebe: [chuckles awkwardly, lifting a hand to rub at the back of his neck]
Zenebe: "ha… well. I was just thinking—"
Gene: [cautiously looks back up at Zenebe, though his head is still lowered, and heads to sit back down] :')
Zenebe: "—for, uh, that exact kinda reason… we should probably announce when we're going to be coming around, yeah? Don't just 'pop into' the room, don't just kick down the door… knock, or wait for acknowledgement, before we come in, yeah?" >;'D
Gene: [having plopped back down on the couch—his legs crossed, cane propped against the cushion beside him, and hands flat in his lap—lets out a slow, heavy sigh and turns his face away]
Gene: [raising a hand to bury his face in, embarrassment clear in his voice) "… yeah."
Gene: [except, feels like this is just a little bit more of a jab at him, with all of Gene's habitual teleportation] :'D
Zenebe: [… though, had thrown in the whole joking 'kick down the door' as something he'd do, albeit for comedic effect]
Zenebe: [paces to plop into the couch across from Gene, then cross his arms and give his wide, obnoxious grin]
Gene: [slowly, hesitantly looks at him, anticipating—] >:/
Zenebe: (purposely drawing out his words, suggestively) "besides… I'm sure there's plenty of things you don't want to see of me." >;DDDD
Gene: [loudly groan-growls, warping to his feet—and his cane into his hand—before stomping off into his room]
approx. 400 AA
(Glavni timeline)
approx: 640 AA
(global timeline)
(due to the Faewildes' space-time distortions, timelines across countries are neither linear nor consistent)
(features tAR spoilers)
Gene: [in his eighties; has been busy carrying out Magic's work]
Gene : [… and recently, it's found him in one of Water's regions, digging up details about its history and magical artifacts.]
Gene: [head low, eyes on the ground as he thinks… but very much 'keeping an eye' on his surroundings through his aura]
Gene : [and, miraculously, not running into a single person despite being in a crowd. They always find one excuse or another to move out of his way, giving him his well-deserved and much needed space]
Gene: [except… finds his feet stalling—coming to a stop—as he was going to go past a building]
Gene:
Gene: [hesitates, heart twisting, as he tears his eyes from the ground to look at the building]
Gene: [skims the title painted across the side {some cliché, punny bar name}]
Gene:
Gene: [throat swelling, clenches his jaw and tightens his hands into fists]
Gene: [scans the area around him, where people continue to walk around him absentmindedly—completely ignoring him, and yet giving him a wide berth because he's magically hiding himself, but emitting vibes of "don't walk here" to get himself personal space]
Gene: [sighs slowly, looking back to the bar's doors… and heading inside]
Bar: [almost an entirely different vibe the moment he opened the door. One that got all the worse as he stepped inside, chewing his lip and eyes immediately finding the powerful soul seemingly minding its own business, sipping at a drink while sat at the bar]
Bar: [incredibly loud, way too hot from overcrowding, and overwhelming—]
Gene: [but just anxiously adjusts his earmuffs on his head as he magically muffles the sound of the area directly around him]
Gene: [—and makes his way to the bar!]
Zenebe: [as Gene approaches, spins in his seat to grin at him—but very subtly tense]
Gene: as if I couldn't notice, [he thought, almost wanting to roll his eyes]
Zenebe: "hey! You're Gene, right?—It's been a while!" 😉
Gene: [stops, surprised, a few feet away from him]
Gene: [glances away for a moment before meeting Zenebe's eyes again]
Gene: (hesitantly) "you… remember me?"
Zenebe: [face flickers ever-so-slightly—so quickly that even Gene almost missed it—but quickly returns his charming grin to full force, lifting a hand to rest his cheek against his knuckles!]
Zenebe: (voice light and amused) "of course I do! How could I ever forget?" 😉
Gene:
Gene: [fighting the urge to roll his eyes, sighs slightly as he shifts his satchel into his lap, slips his cane into his essence, and sits down beside him]
Gene: [mirrors Zenebe's position, meeting his eyes with quirked eyebrows]
Gene: (slightly sarcastically) "because it was only a few times. And the last time, I'm pretty sure you wanted to kill me."
Zenebe:
Zenebe: [visible confusion flashing across his face and eyebrows furrowing, glances away as he clearly struggles to remember—]
Gene: [sighs slowly, turning away from Zenebe to dig into his bag; defeatedly) "literally or metaphorically. Sorry, sometimes I forget how seriously avatars take that stuff."
Zenebe: [hesitates, frowning and eyebrows furrowing further as he scans Gene's face, struggling to recognize him]
Gene: [draws a sketchbook and pen from his bag, immediately settling to sketching the bar in front of him]
Zenebe: he really is familiar, so why am I—?
Zenebe: (suddenly) "Oh!"
Gene: [looks at him, still half-hunched over his sketchbook]
Zenebe: [grinning a bit more genuinely, the tension in his shoulders slowly disappearing]
Zenebe: (voice warm and slightly amused) "I remember you now—you're Gene, that abstract Tazin brought around, like, 30, 40 years ago? But not Order's." [waves dismissively] "Some family business."
Gene: like I didn't notice you eyeing my cane… >:/
Gene: [offers a dry smile] "you got it."
Gene: [lets out a slow sigh, tearing his eyes from Zenebe to return to drawing]
Gene: … why did I even come in here. Of course he doesn't care to see me. I'm some random avatar he doesn't even know… he expected a fight from me. [Remembering how tense Zenebe was] … even though I explicitly came in peace… >:|
Zenebe: [runs his hand over his hair as he watches Gene awkwardly, admittedly a little guilty—]
Zenebe: (awkwardly) "you know… I didn't want to kill you."
Gene:
Gene: [turns as little as he has to to meet Zenebe's eyes, an eyebrow quirked slightly] :|
Zenebe: [sighs, but offers an apologetic grin as he curls a hand around his jaw… and cradles his drink with his other. Can't exactly keep his eyes on Gene's, though he tries to]
Zenebe: (voice still awkward, and slightly strangled) "it was a really bad time, and I couldn't really—but yeah, that's on me. Sorry to have acted that way."
Gene: [evenly, fighting the soft smile that wants to come to his lips]
Gene: (voice light, almost sounding absentminded) "it's over now. Decades ago."
Zenebe: [chuckles slightly, though it's obviously forced to Gene]
Zenebe: (faux-amusedly, an edge to his voice) "ahhh, yeah. That's how it goes, isn't it?"
Gene:
Gene: [just silent, filling in more lines in his drawing]
Zenebe:
Zenebe: [awkward, but watches Gene draw for a second as he sips his drink]
Zenebe: [after setting his drink down, awkwardly) "… so, you're an avatar now?" [knows it's true. Asking how.]
Gene: [not looking at him; dismissively) "yeah… for about…"
Gene: [pauses, looking at the ceiling as he does the math]
Gene: [and glances to Zenebe for a moment—and only a moment—as he answers matter-of-factly) "thirty-four years now."
Gene: [then back to sketching!]
Zenebe:
Zenebe: [watching him; voice genuine and sad) "I'm sorry to hear that."
Gene: [freezes, caught off-guard]
Gene:
Gene: [hesitantly looks over to Zenebe]
Zenebe: [yep, watching him with a compassionate, sad look as he sips his drink again]
Gene:
Gene: [tears his eyes from Zenebe's to stare blankly at his drawing]
Gene: [bitterly] "… better than being dead."
Zenebe: [grins darkly, fighting a snarl] "ah. So that's how they got you."
Gene: [half-scoffs, half-laughs in agreement, only giving a slight nod as he shades the bar] "they never mention 'the death clause' when you sign the agreement."
Zenebe: [grins bitterly] "don't they?"
Gene:
Gene: [spares him a glance, eyebrows furrowed] "what do you mean?"
Zenebe: [waves his hand slightly, face half-hidden behind his glass as he prepares to take a drink]
Zenebe: (dismissively) "you know. In the fine print. It's definitely in there somewhere. Everything is. They just make sure you don't read it."
Zenebe: [and finishes off his drink!]
Gene:
Gene: [face flashes between uncertainty, anger, and… defeat.]
Gene: [finally looks down at his art again]
Gene: (exhaustion and sadness leaking into his voice) "… I was seven when I signed my first one."
Zenebe:
Zenebe: [bitter smile] "… same."
Gene:
Gene: [fighting biting his lip, glances over to meet Zenebe's eyes again]
Zenebe: [wide, bitter smile!… his own exhaustion visible for once]
Gene: [gives a hesitant, slow nod… understanding]
Both: [silent]
Gene: [awkwardly looks away again, staring down at his drawing... although he isn't really looking at it]
Gene: (voice quiet, unable to help it) "… sometimes, I think I was always doomed to end up like this."
Zenebe:
Zenebe: [gives a slight, dark smile as he puts his elbows out, lays his cheek against his arms, and watches Gene's face]
Gene: [uncomfortable, but… not going to mention it. Just carefully controls his expression as he returns to drawing]
Zenebe: (voice bitterly amused, but genuinely curious) "what do you mean?"
Gene:
Gene: [awkwardly spares Zenebe a glance, but quickly drops his eyes back to his drawing; matter-of-factly) "… as an avatar."
Gene: (voice going bitter) "no matter what I did… I was going to end up here. Zhrizn—"
Zenebe: [pauses, genuinely startled to hear Gene say his god's name so easily, but stays silent, simply observing]
Gene: "—stacked up a lot of favors from me when I was young, before I could know any better… and then, when I died, came up to me all—" [rolls his eyes, but actually accidentally magically distorts his voice to sound like Zhrizn's… and says sarcastically, even mimicking Zhrizn's mannerisms) "—'it's time for you to pay up, Yevgeniy. Oh! Looks like you're dead! I know how we can fix this.'"
Zenebe: [admittedly very amused with Gene's imitation, though he has no idea how accurate it is—]
Gene: [face twisted in anger, gripping his pen like a knife… and one he wished he could jab into Zhrizn's eye—]
Gene:
Gene: [suddenly blinks in surprise and looks to Zenebe, remembering where he is—]
Zenebe: [gives a dark, bitter grin]
Zenebe: [starts taking a deep breath and about to respond, but—]
Gene: [tears his eyes away to stare at his drawing, forcing himself to continue shading it]
Gene: (defeatedly) "but… it was going to happen regardless… if I died of old age, or to something else. Or…" [gives a broken uneven, sharp laugh] "—I guess I really didn't even need to die at all. He just wanted me to need him—so I had no room to argue with him on the terms."
Gene: [stares blankly at the drawing, eyes unfocusing as he starts to space out]
Gene: (ruefully) "… at any moment since I was young, he could've roped me into that. I had so many favors—"
Zenebe: [lets out a heavy sigh, sitting up and stretching an arm over his back]
Gene: [and quickly looks to him as he does—]
Zenebe: [gives him a wide, bitter grin as they lock eyes… and stretches his other arm as he says) "listen, kid. With your blood? That family you were born to? There was no way you'd escape your life without becoming an avatar. Too many gods want access to that sweet, sweet chaos magic." >;'D
Gene:
Gene: [face twists—]
Gene: [sighs, turning away and burying his face in his arm]
Gene: [wants to mumble, but actually raises his voice slightly so Zenebe can hear him) "… I know."
(part 1/?)
(prob ~4 or 5 lol)
ALSO, LOOK!
IT'S @the-letterbox-archives'S BOYS!
also-also, istg I gave Zenebe a last name, but I can't find it anywhere... >:/
approx. 350 AA
(Glavni timeline)
approx. 600 AA
(global timeline)
(due to the Faewildes' space-time distortions, timelines across countries are neither linear nor consistent)
(features tAR spoilers; scene is technically from what'll be book 5)
(yes, I have planned THAT much of tAR LMAO)
Gene: [in his mid thirties—]
Gene: [dragged into the bar with Zenebe]
Zenebe: [casually flirts with him] 😘
Gene: [closeted gay panic of "fuck, hot guy flirting with me—"]
Gene: [face flushes, but goes stony]
Gene: (voice cold, almost offended) "I have a boyfriend."
Zenebe:
Zenebe: [genuinely taken off guard] "oh!"
Zenebe: (amusedly, with a wink) "good for you!" >;D
Gene: <////////<
Gene: Tazin, are you sure you can't fight this guy?
(shitpost + another bonus scene after "read more")
Gene: Tazin, are you sure you can't fight this guy? <////<
Tazin: yea, why?
Tazin: you want me to try?
Gene: wh—what? You literally just said—
Tazin: [already on his way to Zenebe!] what did he do? I can kick his ass. :]
Gene: TAZIN, I CHANGED MY MIND—
Tazin: usually you're so much better of a liar, Gene. 😘
Zenebe: oh, hey, Tazin. Didn't I tell you to fuck off? :>>>
Tazin: why does Gene want me to kick your ass? He's too much of a pussy to tell me. :P
Zenebe: [eye twitch—] :>>>>
Gene:
Gene: [lets out a heavy sigh, putting his head in his hands]
Zenebe: [an ominous smile on his lips; voice amused and yet subtly threatening at the same time) oh. I flirted with him. ;D
Tazin:
Tazin: [FIGHT TIME—]
Zenebe: [heavy, angry sigh; easily navigates them out of the bar before absolutely kicking Tazin's ass]
Tazin: [KO'D!!!!!!]
Zenebe: [standing over his near-unconscious body, foot against Tazin's back; darkly) you know, you're lucky you keep picking fights with me. Any other avatar would've killed you by now.
Zenebe: [glances over at Gene]
Gene: :'D
Zenebe: [and back down at Tazin] and that he wants to keep giving you a chance. Get your act together before you lose him, too.
Zenebe: [looks back at Gene] you need better friends.
Gene: (awkwardly) he just needs help. ;'D
Zenebe: [sighs heavily, rolling his eyes. But just goes back to the bar to help himself to far more alcohol]
Gene: (voice cold, almost offended) "I have a boyfriend."
Zenebe:
Zenebe: [genuinely taken off guard] "oh!"
Zenebe: (amusedly, with a wink) "good for you!" >;D
Gene: [face goes from pink to red, yet twists in anger—]
Zenebe: [hesitates as a thought comes to him, face emptying]
Zenebe: [brings his drink to his lips, but speaks dryly from behind the glass) "wait. You're not dating Tazin, are you?"
Gene: [freezes, blood going cold—] :'D
Zenebe: [quirks an eyebrow as he takes a drink]
Gene: "what—? No, he's—he's just not here right now."
Zenebe: [sets his drink down to ask dryly) "why do I not believe you."
Gene:
Gene: [sighs heavily, but looks away]
Gene: (voice exhausted and yet hard at the same time) "look, it's really none of your business. But I'm not. Tazin and I—..." [hesitates, but defeatedly finishes) "—... I'm just trying to help him. Something's wrong, but he won't tell me what."
Zenebe:
Zenebe: "hm."
Zenebe: [not his circus, not his monkey! Drinks more!]
Abdiel: "oh, yeah. My son? Is autistic weird as fuck."
Abdiel: "not that I don't love him or anything, I would sell my soul for his happiness. I've literally fought senselessly against my greatest fears for him, and I would fight God all over again if it meant he had just a little bit more joy in his life." :>
Abdiel: "but, anyway, I'm not weird, lol"
Abdiel: "I'm completely, perfectly normal." ;D
Abdiel: [meanwhile, vibrating in poorly-contained autism "weirdness", unable to have ordinary interactions because he has no understanding of other people without literally magically being in their heads]
Abdiel: "ain't that right, Vic?" ;D
Victor, his brother who knows him better than anyone:
(due to the Faewildes' space-time distortions, timelines across countries are neither linear nor consistent)
{several years into Avatar!Gene and Zenebe knowing each other}
Gene and Zenebe: [while they're in the same areas, have generally stuck around one another as (genuine, not euphemistic) roommates to watch each other's backs during their 'time off' of being avatars]
Gene: [has been working on his endless magical studies!]
Zenebe: [on the other hand, has been sticking around the area, hanging out with one of his partners and learning yet another fighting style from a local master]
Gene: [now, is laying against the couch, cheek pressed against the cushion and wrapped up in a bundle of blankets. Has a book levitating a foot away from his face and is silently reading it]
Zenebe: [knocks on the front door!]
Zenebe: [had established a rule between them to always announce before barging in on the other. Y'know—casual roommate stuff. Not that Zenebe had let the subject drop without a suggestive joke or few]
Gene:
Gene: [sighs, turning his face to bury it in the couch cushion… but—]
Essence: [swells around the door to open it; an open invitation for Zenebe to enter]
Gene: [preparing himself for the peace and quiet to give way for Zenebe's noise and energy—] :'D
Zenebe: [except… strangely quiet as he steps in and closes the door behind him]
Gene: [hesitates, focusing on him through his aura]
Zenebe: [had started setting his stuff down quietly, but—]
Zenebe: [pauses himself, then gives a weak laugh having noticed the shift in Gene's essence, and figured out that Gene was watching him through his aura]
Zenebe: (awkwardly) "I'm going to be leaving soon."
Gene:
Book: [snaps closed, then drifts to set itself on the table]
Gene: [at the same time, twisted and leaned against the back of the couch to look up at Zenebe, his face empty]
Zenebe: [awkwardly glances at Gene over his shoulder]
Gene: (evenly) "okay. Everything alright?"
Zenebe: [gives an awkward chuckle, turning to look down at his roll-bag]
Zenebe: (voice empty) "yeah. Just… mentally preparing for it. Off to the family… youngest right now is fifteen, so… you know." ;'D
Silence: [hangs between the two]
Gene: [doesn't know exactly what Zenebe's deal is with his family, but… knows enough]
Zenebe: [loves his family more than anything, yet… dreads and actively avoids seeing them]
Zenebe: [as the best avatar of {Water}, the Existential of Water, was often pulled away to train his siblings and not-quite-sibling recruits in both water magic and general combat]
Zenebe: [hadn't quite said it, but… had mentioned the mutual distaste between himself and {Water}]
Gene: [figured well enough there was tension in the fact that Zenebe had to train his siblings… that {Water} wanted to replace Zenebe. Making it dangerous for him to help the others close the gap between themselves and him]
Gene: (voice slightly soft, but otherwise even) "okay. I should be fine by myself here. I'm just about done with my research, so I—"
Zenebe: [back still to Gene, before he can think better of it, blurts) "do you want to come with me?"
Zenebe: [winces—]
Zenebe: [shoulders tense and head droops subtly, but otherwise doesn't move—]
Gene:
Gene: [frowns slightly, but takes a slow, deep breath as he tilts his head to press his cheek against the back of the couch]
Gene: (uncertainly) "… where are you going?"
Zenebe: [swallows] :')
Zenebe: [forces his signature smirk onto his lips and eases his shoulders, then flips on his heel to face Gene. Crosses his arms and loops one leg over the other's knee as he leans back against the wall]
Zenebe: (voice casual and faux-amused) "Minogua. You ever been there?" ;D
Gene: [face empty as he eyes Zenebe, analysing him]
Gene: (with a tone to match) "no. Haven't even heard of it. What's it like?"
Zenebe: [smirks all the more smugly—almost sincerely—as he lazily slumps further into the wall]
Zenebe: (amusedly) "tropical. Next to the water, obviously."
Zenebe: [gives an overdramatic sigh, looking away to wave a hand dismissively to the side]
Zenebe: [at the same time, derisively) "because, you know, where else would Water have territory—" [meets Gene's eyes again with a smirk, re-crossing his arms] "—besides in coastal places, am I right?"
Zenebe: [gives another overdramatic sigh, closing his eyes, slumping his head against his shoulder, and lazily throwing out his opposite hand]
Zenebe: [snapping his eyes back open, voice equally amused and obnoxious) "but, hey. Works out well for us, yeah?" >;'D
Gene: [hesitates, eyes darting away and a slight frown twisting his face]
Both:
Zenebe: [growing uncomfortable—and his grin anxious—as the silence stretches on]
Gene: [form warps, then distorts to reform several feet away, in the kitchen]
Gene: [suddenly has his research spread out across the countertops. Shuffles through each of the pages, looking over his notes and the raw data]
Zenebe: [watches silently, awkward and uncertain of what Gene's doing—] :'D
Gene: [finally, sighs, brushes his hair out of his face, and then looks up at Zenebe as he tucks it behind his ear]
Papers: [distort to reform in a clean pile in front of Gene… then disappear into the Gene's once-again-swollen-with-papers bag]
Gene: [at the same time, his voice soft and matter-of-fact) "I have enough for a while. I can go if you'd really like."
Zenebe:
Zenebe: [can't help it. Perks up, standing up and grinning brightly as he brings his hands together with a clap]
Zenebe: (brightly) "awesome! I can bring you to the beach!" >;D
Gene: [eyes narrow and his face flushes pink, suspecting—]
Zenebe: (joke-teasingly, with a wink) "and I'm sure there's some sights—"
Gene: [half-scoffs, half-groans, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms as he looks away]
Gene: (raises his voice to interrupt him; annoyedly) "I've already been to the beach before!"
Gene: [carefully steps back—arms still crossed and cane sitting at the foot of the couch—to lean back against the counter and pierce Zenebe with a sharp look]
Gene: (sharply) "remember? {The capitol of Glavnran} is literally a port city. I lived there for half of my mortal life!"
Zenebe: [snickers, grinning widely, as he crosses his arms again. Then, strides forward to stop a few feet in front of Gene]
Zenebe: [all the while, amusedly) "oh? But have you been to a tropical beach before? Ain't Glavnran arctic?" >;D
Gene: [face twists, flushing darker, and jaw clenches subtly—]
Gene: [huffs, looking away to glare into space]
Zenebe: [chuckles, and leans to the side, trying to catch Gene's eyes again]
Gene: [seeing it through his aura, looks back at him, jaw still tense]
Zenebe: [smirking and voice amused at first, but his face and voice both soften as he says) "seriously. The weather makes a big difference. I've been all over the world, remember?"
Gene: [face empties, turning unimpressed, but he quickly tears his eyes from Zenebe's to stare into space]
Gene: (grumpily) "I've been all over the world.—"
Gene: [was going to say more, but—]
Zenebe: (slyly interrupts) "but not to a tropical beach?" >;D
Gene: [words get caught in his throat, face twisting like he just swallowed a lemon—]
Gene:
Gene: [clenches his jaw and swallows, looking away in frustration]
Zenebe: [busts out laughing… a bit harder than usual. Faker.]
Gene: (to himself) more nervous…
Gene: [forces himself to let out a slow, heavy sigh and relax. Still leaning back against the kitchen counter, warps his cane into his hands to fidget with the handle as he eyes Zenebe carefully, eyebrows furrowed]
Zenebe: [calming down his laughter, lets out a faux-happy sigh as he levels his eyes on Gene's with another smirk]
Zenebe: [… though his expression eases as he sees the serious look on Gene's face]
Gene: [eyebrows still furrowed, gently) "how long until you leave? Should I expect Water to bring me with you, or should I get—Magic to take me?"
Zenebe: [hesitated, face turning subtly tense at the first question and growing moreso as he continued]
Zenebe: [finally, as Gene finished, let out a slow, heavy sigh and looks away, jaw subtly clenched]
Zenebe: (voice slightly thick, in a mixture of anger and awkwardness) "probably less than an hour. M—Water never really gives me much warning. Just tells me to get ready to go, and comes back soon after."
Zenebe: [half-laughs, half-scoffs, jaw clenching and face twisting into a snarl as he turns his face away from Gene]
Zenebe: (darkly) "Water's not really the patient type."
Gene: [all the while, has eyed Zenebe carefully, watching him and analysing his every action]
Gene: [as Zenebe finished, once again speaks up gently) "right. Do you need to go get ready? And—you didn't say if they'd bring me." ;'D
Zenebe: [froze, tensing slightly and quickly looking over to Gene having half forgotten he was there as he spoke up—]
Zenebe: … :'D
Zenebe: [sighs, lowering his head to massage his brow]
Zenebe: (voice thick, awkward and irritated) "right."
Zenebe: [finally, straightens, puts a smirk on his lips, and crosses his arms as he looks down at Gene as haughtily as usual… although it was much more obviously forced than it usually was]
Zenebe: (voice starts amused, but it soon softens along with his face) "not much to do. I travel light; you know that. But… I can try to negotiate you tagging along for free, but we both know how likely that'll be." >;'D
Gene: [still meeting Zenebe's eyes—watching him carefully—gives him a slight nod]
Gene: (gently) "right…"
Gene: [his turn to sigh and look away!]
Gene: [fidgeting with the handle of his cane; awkwardly) "… well. I've got to get my stuff together. We'll see what Water wants when they get here, but—…"
Gene: [hesitates, then turns to meet Zenebe's eyes again and force a slight smile]
Gene: [except… it comes out looking dry and sarcastic, as it often did when he tried forcing them]
Zenebe: [hey! At least knows that much by now, and doesn't take it personally]
Gene: (voice awkwardly gentle) "—worst comes to worst, I don't mind asking—Magic about it. I know they wouldn't ask for much for something like this. And—"
Gene: [sighs a little overdramatically, rolling his eyes and looking away with the faintest of smiles]
Gene: (a hint of amusement leaking into his voice) "—besides. It'll be interesting being in a whole new place."
Gene: [and looks back to Zenebe, head subtly shrunken into his shoulders as he offers an awkward, timid smile]
Zenebe: (to himself) who gave him permission to be that cute? <.<
Zenebe: nah, lol, I got over being attracted to Gene YEARS ago
also Zenebe: bro's so cute 🥺
Zenebe: think he'd be up for a hug? 🥺👉🏿👈🏿
at this point, im just going to straight-up make an "avatar nonsense" intro/navigation post lol. i was already leaning toward posting all of my genebe (what? nooooooo, they're not a shipppp,,,) stuff and the amount of posts everything will turn out to be will probably necessitate one lol
uhhhh... anyone interested in getting tagged for avatar nonsense? or just these totally-not-gay guys?
(tbf, zenebe's bi. gene's demi-aroace with men lol)
