The Fireflies (6) : In the warm summer nights, little glowing lights begin to bob and dart through the city. Fireflies are mating, so this isn't uncommon in itself; in the past few days you've probably seen hundreds of fireflies. What makes these lights so unique is that they seem to change color; you might see a blue one, a green one, a red one. They flicker randomly, and something just seems off with them. If you come into contact with one, you will find yourself with a strange electric jolt. They cannot be caught, and will flicker away if you pursue too aggressively. This isn't the first time they've appeared in Destiny City, but no one's been able to tell where they came from or where they're going. No matter how quickly you chase them, they always seem to disappear before you can find any answers.
Traditionally, Alex only went to see the fireflies with his sister. But now apparently she was 'too old' for that and it was 'lame' and 'cringe' to go with your big brother. This made Alex very suspicious - if he found out he was getting stood up because of a boy, he was going to be real pissed about it - but in the end their mama made him promise to let it go - she just wanted to have fun hanging out with her friends, that was all.
Ugh. Teenagers.
Well, the fireflies were still pretty, goddammit, and just because his sister was being a brat didn't mean he had to miss out. So off to the fireflies he went, down to the little hillside by the creek, where they were always especially numerous. He smiled to himself as he approached; there were families, people of all ages setting up to enjoy the show. Cringe, huh? Man teenagers were dumb. Alex shook his head to himself and set about finding a place to toss out his blanket, pop a beer, and settle in for the lights.
He had just found his spot when he noticed a now-familiar outline of a woman, not too far away from himself, standing and watching.
"You know," Alex said as he approached her, blanket under his arm, "we've got to stop meeting like this." Alex grinned at Halia and quirked an eyebrow. "But 'til we stop...wanna sit with me? These little bugs can put on a heck of a show."
lena roze
Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2026 6:41 pm
The night was quiet, blessedly, and Halia for once didn't mind the solitary alone time with her thoughts. It was refreshing to not have any pressing matters to attend to, no new monsters to worry about, no crisis either at work or as Aruna. And the view? Utterly stunning.
Lost in thought, she didn't notice when she was approached. The voice right beside her made her nearly jump out of her own skin, though she let out a small laugh when she realized who it was. "They definitely can. And they can also give one heck of a shocking bite too if you're not careful." With a wry smile, she stood on her toes to gently brush one off his shoulder. Purely so the little bug didn't give him a zap. That was absolutely all. Clearly.
"I don't want to intrude or anything, but if it's really no bother, I'd be happy to join you."
"Nothing to intrude on," Alex said, grin sliding into place as her fingers brushed his shoulder. He made a mental note to thank his sister for being the queen of brats - later. Way later. And that was the last time he was going to let himself think about his sister when he had this girl in front of him.
"I heard that it's like mosquitos, they can like - smell you or something," Alex said. He'd been chasing after them since he was a kid, and then watched his sister do the same, and neither of them had ever managed to land one. As far as he knew, nobody had, which was a little comforting - made him think it wasn't just his failure at bug-catching, which was a skill he had moderate ability in otherwise. But still, he couldn't wait for someone to finally nail one, if only so somebody could put one under a microscope and figure them out...
"Why do you think they flash all those different colors?" Since nobody knew, it was fun to see what everybody's theories were. And if she didn't have any theories, well...well, he hoped she did.
lena roze
Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2026 10:24 pm
"Magic." There was a sparkle in her eye as she said it. Because really, with everything she had seen, it really could be as simple as magic. Holding her hand up, she let one land on her finger. She was fully ready and braced for the shock, should it decide to give her one, but for the moment she just admired it before lifting her hand a bit higher for Alex to see.
"These ones only ever come out during the same time as the meteor shower, which is also multicolored. Makes you wonder if there's some sort of connection, right?"
Alex raised his eyebrow as she let one of the little guys land on her - he knew that those suckers could sting when they really wanted to. "Magic, huh? I think magic is just science we haven't fully understood and explained yet, so...sure, yeah, that fits the brief," he decided with a grin. She was cute enough that he'd let it slide.
"You think they're from the meteors?" Alex asked, turning his gaze to the sky above them. "That'd be crazy. Alien fireflies. If they are...wonder where they come from, huh? Like, I wonder what they've got in them that makes them light up those colors. Regular fireflies, it's this thing called luciferin, a chemical, they mix it with oxygen and an enzyme called luciferase, and it's actually one of the most efficient ways to make light that exists, 'cause it doesn't produce any heat, basically. Nothing to do with fire. Or like, Lucifer, which is what that stuff sounds like," Alex added with a laugh.
"They're part of the Lampyridae family, beetles, which comes from the Greek word 'lampiris'. It means 'to shine'." Alex smiled as a firefly circled around his head, flashing green-blue, green-blue. "They do that to communicate and find mates. Or, at least normal ones do. These ones could be plotting to take over the world for all I know." Alex paused, then smiled a little sheepishly. "Sorry. I never really grew out of my 'bug phase' when I was a kid."
lena roze
Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2026 10:59 pm
Some of the words Alex said absolutely made sense, what with root words and all that. But even so, she really could listen to him talk for as long as he wanted to. On top of being cute, he really did have a nice voice.
Letting the firefly take flight from her finger, she took a seat and settled in the grass to watch the little colorful bugs. "No need to apologize. I was enjoying listening. I know more about animals than bugs, but I get it. As for alien fireflies, that's....honestly that's about as reasonable as anything else I've experienced here in this city." For all she knew, maybe they really were alien. She surely didn't know, but she wasn't about to rule it out.
"Maybe whatever it is is somehow connected to why the meteors this time of year are always so colorful. Or maybe they're just reflecting the colors somehow. Either way, they're pretty. If not bitey."
"Bugs are animals," Alex couldn't help but say, but he said it with a smile and no mockery whatsoever. He chuckled and shook his head. "I think it must be some kind of other enzyme or something, like how different minerals give off different colored flames? Something like that." He let his eyes wander over to the flashing colors, smiling in spite of himself.
"But...you're right, in this city? It could be anything."
lena roze
Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2026 2:11 pm
"Oh excuse me, mammals versus insects. Is that better?" She gave him a teasing smile as she looked up at him. "My grandpa has a farm and I grew up helping out with various things."
Leaning back on her hands, Halia nodded. Minerals and chemical reactions did seem highly possible. ""Well whatever the cause, it sure is pretty. And the company is pretty nice as well."
Alex grinned in spite of himself - usually girls started looking glassy-eyed at this point, after being subjected to a scientific rambling about something that couldn't matter less. He'd learned that girls didn't usually take kindly to being corrected, even when they were wrong, but...well, Halia hadn't run screaming. Yet. So that was a good sign, right?
"Yeah," Alex agreed, scooting a little closer, so their hands, resting on the blanket, were almost touching, but not quite. He didn't want to freak her out. "The lights are almost as pretty as the company, too." He gave her a winning grin, then turned back to watch the show. He let the silence stretch out, pleased to find it was a nice one, not uncomfortable, just - easy. Relaxed. He let out a soft, happy sigh as the sun sunk further down beneath the horizon and more fireflies woke up and began their nightly dance.
"People think art and science are like, opposites," he said musingly, looking back at Halia. "But I think they're kinda the same thing. This - this is beautiful, si? And science made it happen." Alex smiled and shook his head. "Same with magic. Magic's just science with a different soundtrack."
lean roze
Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2026 8:33 pm
A light pink dusted Halia's cheeks at the compliment and she smiled shyly up at him. This was... Definitely uncharted territory for her, but she didn't dislike it. "The company looks pretty good from where I'm sitting, too..."
"I'd argue that quite a lot of science goes into art, even just for the components. Chemistry for different pigments and mediums, at the least." The comment about magic made her laugh softly. If he only knew. "True. People do say that magic is just science that hasn't been figured out yet, right?" She turned her gaze skyward, looking up at the stars. "Though I like to think there might be real magic out there. Somewhere. Keeps the whimsy alive." Her pinky rested against the side of his and she risked a glance over at him.
Hadn't he himself just said that? Alex opened his mouth to say so, but turned to look at her and immediately thought better of it, because her little finger was touching his little finger and the sun was setting and...
And easy, buddy, easy...
"Whimsy, huh?" Alex said, voice dropping to a low, husky whisper all on its own - he wasn't even trying to make it do that. "I could get on board with whimsy."
lena roze
Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2026 8:44 pm
"Whimsy adds much needed levity to things. If you lose that, everything becomes far too serious and heavy, I think." She thought of her experiences as Aruna and how, despite everything she had seen and experienced, she still allowed herself to see the wonder and awe of it all at times. If she didn't, she worried that it would drag her down, make her feel burdened by such a duty. Not that she could tell Alex that, of course.
She let the silence sit for a few moments before speaking softly. "You're ...really easy to talk to. Anyone ever tell you that?" She smiled softly at him, giving him her full attention now. "I feel.....really at ease when I talk with you. And that's not something I feel often."
"Yeah?" Alex smiled in spite of himself. "Not - in so many words, one on one like this, so...thanks," Alex said, meaning it. He hesitated a moment or two, and when he spoke, it was a strange mix between shy and proud. Halting, but pleased with himself.
"I--I have a Youtube channel," he confessed, a light blush coloring his tan cheeks. "Where I--do science experiments. Teach people science, 'cause most people--they're curious, they want to learn, right? So it's like - the way science should be, for adults. So--so sometimes Youtube comments or whatever say that sorta thing. But that's--you know, that's like, a performance. This is--different. So...thanks," he finished, a little lamely. "You're really easy to talk to, too."
lena roze
Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2026 1:21 pm
"You'll have to show that to me sometime. It sounds like I'd enjoy watching it. I think one of my friends might too, knowing him." Mason, in all his curiosity, came to mind immediately as someone she thought might enjoy such a thing.
"I'm....really glad you think that. I'm not always good with words, and I don't always know what to say, but I always try to be someone people can talk to." This helped immensely, she thought, when it came to talking to adversaries.
Turning her head to smile at him, her little finger hooked around his. "I'm really glad I ran into you again tonight, Alex."
Feeling her finger slide over his - it made his heart do what he could only describe as a pitter-patter. In that moment, he felt like a little kid again, not a grown man, and that was - well, that was kind of amazing.
And he meant to say something like that aloud. Something romantic. Something that would for sure get him a kiss, or at least a real, on-purpose date.
What came out instead?
"Don't forget to like and subscribe."
...but he laughed, because he was joking, oh god did he say that out loud, he was joking, he definitely wasn't blushing darker, and he definitely didn't tighten his grip on her pinkie, just in case she tried to pull away from him, turned off by his entire lack of rizz.
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I'm--I'm really glad we ran into each other again too, Halia. I think...maybe...if that joke wasn't too cornball...would you wanna run into each other again...again? On purpose this time? Maybe at a pre-determined time and place?"
