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 Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2026 1:07 pm
He was tired. There was so much to catch up on after his long absence, and it was up to him to learn what had changed and what remained. Importantly, as well, who had changed, though from some files that was harder to keep up with than others. Weary and needing a break from reading through files, scanning profiles, and cross-checking ranks and status had both given him a pounding headache and led him to wander through the rift- just something, some time to clear his head and stop staring at the tablet. Shuffling through the rift just to see it smear over the toes of his tall boots had led him to find the stash. The change in sound from sand and stones to... a glassy, grinding clink underfoot had stopped him in his tracks; he'd stood for a moment, pondering the earth beneath his feet before stopping to brush away a mound of earth that revealed a bottle neck. Unearthing that, by digging deeper, had revealed several bottles. Liquors of various types and quality buried like sunken treasure. It had made him laugh softly, wondering if some young Captain, not yet of age, had stolen them and buried them for later consumption. He brushed off a bottle of tequila and winced slightly at the selection before shrugging. With the quantity and variety here, a little robbery of his own would do them no harm. He found a seat near the stash and sat down, summoning his thermos and using the cap to pour himself a healthy 'shot' before downing it in a wincing gulp and exhaling. The heat of it warmed his throat and chest, and he exhaled some of the stress he'd started carrying. "Better...."He murmured, and poured another.
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Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2026 3:30 pm
Wolframite took stuff. It was just a rather logical way to go about shopping when you really couldn't have a normal 9 to 5 considering you had limited human-looking time. It was rather easy to energy drain someone you trailed from a grocery store to drain them, drop them inside their car, and take their groceries. Other times, you just happened to see someone not filling their bags with meat and vegetables, but with liquor and red solo cups. The General was sure he must have ruined a few parties from the drink supplier never making it to their destination.
Mugging was a easy cover that the police would jump to in order to explain when people woke up the next day thinking they were hit by a truck, had none of their bought stuff, and cash taken at night. No fuss for the Negaverse and full pantry back home. That did however mean he got way more bottles of assorted alcohol that was too much for the bar they kept at the house. Too much that he decided he'd just store it elsewhere for later.
Under normal circumstances, anyone would just put a shed or some kind of storage near their home. In a back yard or some kind of dug out cold cellar.
Wolframite could dig. His claws, while deadly, were also useful for tearing at the unforgiving Negaverse ground. If anything actually grew around this place, he would have had a lovely garden.
Instead, his mind jumped to the most secure way to keep something. Digging a hole. It was both something he realized was unorthodox, and in the same thought, the best idea ever! This had resulted in him having several stashes littered about the Rift, which he found the best as many youma cared nothing about the bottles of alcohol, would smell him on the mounds of earth, and were more interested in energy than liquor.
He'd been doing some cleaning up back home when he returned, noticed the surplus, and decided it was about time for a new hiding spot. He'd buried the stash a ways in but knew it wasn't quiet up to feeling finished. Taking a few spare bones from the various animals he had cleaned along with a bunch of those mini booze bottles that had been taking up space, he headed off to finish and fully cover the mound to complete it.
As he got into the rift, his hair stood on end. From tail ridge up his back, he felt the aura of a General King or Queen - right at the spot he had buried the stash. Tense, he shoved the items into his subspace and headed off. Any sane agent might not go to the area at all, dust their hands of any claim, and be absolved of any possible repercussions. That as not Wolframite. He knew he was forever in debt for his re-corruption and second life as a agent. That meant any mistake, any deviation, and any crime he had to own. Anything less would be another lie, another turn of deceit, another failing of trust, to those who allowed him to be here.
Tail down, he slowed his approach as he got nearer, not sure how to explain himself but hoping for leniency. If this was somehow against the rules, he'd have to dig up a decent amount of holes to get everything unearthed.
But as he neared, and the shape of the person came into focus, his glowing eyes shot wide. It looked like seeing a ghost. He'd managed to avoid the man all this time.
Ears back, he slowly approached. "General King." He said, his voice tight, the delivery one of strained professionalism and respect to rank.
His eyes went to the uncovered stash and the bottle by the officer. "I....Am I in trouble?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2026 3:51 pm
He felt the General before he saw him, freezing him in place, not out of fear, but out of curious caution to be caught in so, compromising a position. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, tasting the tequila and rolling the moment over his tongue as he considered who stood before him so transformed. His thoughts danced over events long past. Lips smacked together for a moment, and he glanced down at the bottle, swishing it in his hand as he considered his answer for a long moment before he glanced back up at Wolframite and shook his head in a negating motion. "Not unless I am in trouble for robbing you." He replied quietly, before offering the bottle butt-first towards the Half-Youma. "It's been a long time.... drink?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2026 4:47 pm
They hadn't spoke. They hadn't talked. They hadn't so much as been around each other since his attempt at killing Leto where he had her starseed snatched from his grip and was dragged back like a disobedient child to be punished.
Long were the says when they were together as Team Enterprise. Long were the times when they were just two agents under Linarite. Too much had changed. And with that in mind, he wasn't sure who Zinkenite even was anymore. They took their paths. Zinkenite had gone to be a General King. A shining example of the proper path a agent took, excelling and then being recognized by the Queen for his dedication and service to accend to his current rank.
And Wolramite. He had strayed. A disobedient mutt that dug under the fence line and ran off to get filthy with the other strays with no direction and chew garbage and kill vermin in the alleyways. Only to be left injured and whimpering, crawling back with his tail between his leg and hoping to be taken back with whatever collar they would offer. As much as he was a General now, it felt like the lowest rank in that position. He'd done the tasks. Did whatever dirty work that would be asked. Went on excursions out into the wilds for months on end. Dutiful. Obedient. But he knew he had bite the hand that fed and that trust would never fully return like it had. The memory would forever be there. That he had a temperament. A history.
A flaw to his character.
They were worlds apart now. Wolframite wasn't even fully human anymore.
The bottle was offered, and they carefully walked the few steps to cross the distance to take it, before taking a step back awkwardly. They didn't understand exactly what Zinkenite intended, but he had to remain respectable and was in no position to decline an offer.
"I have too much." He corrected.
Opening the bottle was somewhat difficult with is claws, but he wound up just using his teeth and turning it before getting the cap off. Taking a drink, he shivered at the burn that went down before offering it back.
"Yeah......a long long time." Somehow it felt too long and not long enough.
"Should I - go?" He asked. Usually when someone was in the Rift drinking, they had things going on and wanted their privacy.
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Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2026 5:01 pm
For a terrible moment, 'I have too much' wasn't an answer to if he was robbing the other; time and thought twisted it into another kind of answer. A reply to a statement he hadn't made.
'You've changed'
And hadn't they both done just that? Time and pain and loss and growth had reforged them. He almost pinched himself to reset the reality of what the statement answered, that he hadn't done any great disservice in taking what he had. Not with the assortment that the other had brought with him.
Wolframite had always been the one that should have stood at the prow. Not him.... Wolframite had always been bolder, braver.... rash, the memories reminded him. 'Warf,' he had been in their team, and you couldn't have asked for better back then.
"No, you don't have to go." He replied after a too-long pause where his thoughts turned like the alcohol in his nearly empty stomach. "You can have a seat if you wish."
He shifted, dropping from General Sovereign to his General uniform and waved to a rock nearby. "... consider it informal."
That was if the other wanted to stay; there was that rift between them now; gods only knew if time or talking would ever bridge it.
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Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2026 5:30 pm
The powering down alleviated some of the tension brought on by the overpowering aura that sat so close to him. Somewhere inwardly, there was a nagging allure to do whatever they said, but it was only a subtle nudge than any unbreakable urge.
Their glowing eyes looked about to the sharp, hash landscape of the Rift and then back at General King ZInkenite before looking at the rock, debating with themselves as the best course of action.
The door was open. He could even leave through it or close it.
Cautiously, he sat down, not on the rock but on the ground. It was easier and felt more comfortable in moments like this, and there was something uncomfortable in sitting at any height near or above the other office. It felt - disrespectful.
They opened their subspace and took out the small pile of mini bottles. It there was ever a time for a drink, it was now. It certainly was one way to sort out the overstock issue.
"It's - better I changed." He paused in though before adding. "I needed to change."
He regarded the other again. "You've changed."
It felt strange to find anything to talk about. How did they even approach the gap in time. The last left taste of betrayal between them. They fiddled with a tiny bottle, not bothering to even check the label of what it was, and tried to get their long claw tips over the teeny tiny screw cap.
"Do you......drink out here a lot?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2026 5:44 pm
"No, I don't drink exceptionally often. Normally, I prefer company when I do. I... drank more when I was with Ilmenite." He admitted. Memories of vodka, sometimes flavored, swept through his mind for a moment, a tangle of better and worse. "You're right though, I've changed too..." He admitted, swirling the liquid in the bottle and considering the small struggle that Wolframite was having with the tiny bottle.
"Do you need..." he almost offered a hand and decided that the wording was unkind. "Help?" He finished the thought instead.
It felt like a minefield, the conversation. The longing for something familiar, the memory of their faults and their choices.
He should have brought a blanket, he thought, the warmth of the alcohol starting to spread in his chest, the warm feeling it gave a deceptive comfort all its own.
"I'm sorry that I broke Linarite," he said after a moment. It was an awkward, terrible bit of history, but he thought it might still be important to them both.
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Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2026 6:55 pm
Drank. Past tense.
"Is Llmenite gone?" They asked out loud, struggling still at the small bottle until Zink offered help. They stared back and only pushed the little bottles away. Instead, leaning over to the unearthed bottles and picking up the first neck he saw. The larger bottles he could ate least bite into to twist off.
Looking at the label said Birthday Cake vodka with fun confetti sprinkles decorating the bottle.
Well, it was still liquor.
He bite down on the cap and twisted it until it went loose. From there, he could pop it off and took a drink. It was - not good.
Sticking his tongue out at suck a awful flavor, he popped it back into his mouth when a confusing statement was made.
"What?" He hadn't spoken to Linarite in decades. "You did what?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2026 7:04 pm
"I haven't seen him in some time or heard from him. So... I'd say he's gone, yes, or on a mission; even I haven't been briefed on which is possible."
He watched, allowing himself to be, for a moment at least, bemused as Wolframite swapped to... Birthdaycake vodka and made a curious face, arching one eyebrow as the other man bit the cap off and drank.
The face suggested that it was approximately as 'good' as it sounded.
"As for... Linarite, I brought her back to us after she defected; she... didn't handle it well." He bit his lip, eyes narrowing at the memory of it.
"Howlite would have killed her; I stopped her and brought her back to us, but she was never the same after. I thought it was a better choice than death; I might... I think I was wrong."
He took a hard drink of the tequila and shuddered.
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