August Catch All

[entitles]

[Bexley]

Balem was absolutely one to wallow in his victories for a long, long time. He sat alone on a bench in a park, his cloak glamored to look like a regular business suit. He held a small bag of popcorn, and appeared to be trying really hard not to burst out laughing.

If one sat beside him, they could see various people wandering through the park, only to disappear for a brief moment and reappear somewhere else in the park. Some of them walked right into trees. They all looked around confused.

Balem may be fifty-thousand years old but he wasn’t above playing silly tricks on humans, it would seem.

[Other Realm - Observatory]

Balem rarely ever went long stretches of time without his collar – his magic was much more difficult to control without it and he couldn’t disguise himself as well – but it was the night of the Perseid meteor shower, and on nights like this he preferred to just relax and revel in the beauty of the cosmos.

So he lounged about in front of the observatory, clothed in flowing white fabric and appearing in what might be called his ‘true’ form. His skin ranged from light blue to bright white (where his freckles were), and his hair was dark navy. He emitted a soft, warm glow all over, strongest in his eyes and his chest. The atmosphere around him was noticeably warmer, and sparks of white-hot fire danced across him every now and then. It was a good thing his clothing was enchanted to be fireproof.

Having just recently been crowned Lord of Autumn and devoured a soul, his power was strong and his spirits were high. He had a glass of deep red wine with gold flakes swirling around in it like tiny galaxies, and welcomed any visitors.

[Anywhere in London] - Open to first responder only

Unfortunately, all of his magic was harder to control, including his basic fae abilities, so as he strolled around outside his observatory he managed to slip out of the Other Realm and into London proper.

He turned sharply, realizing that he had been spotted. Fae rules were…well, complicated, and if a human saw him in his true form he’d owe them a favor (within reason, of course). If they ran away and didn’t claim their favor, he’d have the misfortune of being summoned to their side the next time they vaguely wished for something, and he certainly didn’t want that.

“Who’s there? Stay where you are!” he said, hoping it was a stray animal or something equally harmless.

[Wildcard]

[Write your own prompt!]

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[entitles]

"I used to when I was younger," he said, "But they know who I am well enough now, and the last thing I want is a bunch of celestial gossips chatting about me all night."

[detectiveofthewest]

Oh? Oh? Heiji turned back to Balem, suddenly interested.

"So ya have made a couple!" And it sounded like they were potentially embarrassing wishes, which were the best kind of wishes. "Tell me one! It's not like it matters, right? It happened way back, after all!"

[entitles]

"Well..." he glanced up at the stars as if to make sure they weren't listening in right now, "In my younger years, I did fall in love every now and then. But I hope you didn't wish for anything like that, unless you'd like to be the subject of their jokes for the next century or two."

[detectiveofthewest]

Heiji looked suddenly (and uncharacteristically?) flustered all of a sudden, though he was keeping quiet about that wish. Stupid stars. Stupid Balem. How dare they.

"W-well, that's nice to hear. What was it like?"

Shut up. No.

[entitles]

Balem chuckled. Heiji did wish for love, didn't he? Better hope that one landed in the void...

"Difficult. I don't know how mother managed to court father," he said, and he'd never asked because who really wants to hear about their parents making out, "But there was another star that caught my eye, and I tried, but alas I wasn't impressive enough. I was only a few thousand years old, then."

[detectiveofthewest]

"Your mom was the one hitting on your old man, huh..." Wow, how forward. Also a little bit disappointing, because it would have been pretty romantic if one of the stars in the sky just spoke up and told you that you were super cute.

"You could always try again if you're still interested! I mean, maybe she felt like she was robbin' the cradle at the time." Young love...

[entitles]

"Mother had to be the one to initiate. Stars don't notice us unless we get their attention. We're just too small," he said, "It'd be like noticing one ant in particular, although of course we are still superior to ants, even in the eyes of stars."

He thought on it for a minute. He wasn't the romantic that he used to be, not since his mother's death.

"I might try again, perhaps, once I've grown stronger," he said, and by that he meant 'once he became king', although he was mostly keeping that plan under wraps for now to spare himself humiliation if he failed.

[detectiveofthewest]

If Balem did fail, surely he could pretend it was what he meant to do all along? Or maybe that was just for cats.

"Well, what does she like? Maybe you could start off with that, too." What did stars like? Hy...drogen? Not getting sucked into black holes? Maybe a nice, steamy solar flare every once in a while? An immense gravity well?

Sadly, it looked like Balem was out of luck on that last count, but...

[entitles]

"Power. General impressiveness. Someone who commands the attention of all they meet," he said, "Mother was the head of a very powerful house, and no one stood above her. I thought my heritage would give me an advantage, but I'm afraid not."

Not getting sucked into black holes was pretty great too, though.

[detectiveofthewest]

Heiji shook his head in sympathy. "Not interested in your background, huh?" Alas, poor past lovestuck Balem.

"So what happened? She end up picking someone else? Or was she more interested in pursuits that didn't involve romance?" Maybe she was a career star, someone who didn't want to be held down by a star-boyfriend.

[entitles]

"I have no idea," he said, "We never spoke again. When you're that long-lived, things tend to be awkward for quite a while. I've had others since then, though, although not of the celestial variety."

He has had human lovers over the centuries (and might be responsible for a few metahumans, although not nearly as much as his brother), but never for very long term.

[detectiveofthewest]

Never spoke again? Balem, no wonder you didn't get together with Ms. Cute Star. You needed follow-through! Maybe to show up under her window with a boombox...

"Well, at least you picked yourself up and kept going. So what were the others like? Do you have a type?"

[entitles]

"Artists. Nobles. Especially if they're very fond of me," he said, because he didn't get all those sculptures and paintings of himself for being a really nice guy.

[detectiveofthewest]

Oh, well -- it had seemed as though that one painter had been rather taken with Balem's profile. Among other things.

"Ever think about settling down?" Balem was rather old, after all, though he supposed the fae was still quite young for a star.