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A hint of honesty without him using his magic was interesting.

It made it easier for further questioning, at least. If this mirror twink knew anything about how Faustite was suddenly not the person they knew magically, Promethei figured that might need more ... easing. This line of questioning, which clearly hit at something that mattered to Hybris?

They could work with that without magical urging.

Promethei let Nectaris take the lead as he had successfully pulled the conversation away from Faustite's apparent prowess. (Unfortunate. There was a part of him that screamed to know if it was really that prowess that was so talented at keeping people in.) Of course, the reveal that he was an artist with an incisive way of seeing through the dimensions of people was interesting on its own.

Faustite, even if not charismatic innately, sounded like he was anyway.

Nectaris was right, though. There was an extra dimension to the picture. For as nice as he was to Hybris and Chaos, he also wasn't.

"Is that how he shows his creativity?" Promethei quirked a brow. "Trying to literally destroy someone's insides to see what lies within?"

This was getting more and more interesting now. Like, better than the drink, no matter how much cotton candy was piled up around the bottom. She rested her chin on her hands.

"Okay, so this is the part I get kinda caught up on," she said. "'Cause, like, I think I've heard similar rumors from other people? But, for you, specifically? He burned off your hair and was doing the mean stuff, and then suddenly you decide to kiss that actually?"

She squinted. "I wouldn't kiss him, after all that. I mean, I know he's not into girls, but, like, hypothetically."

Or, like, whatever they were doing besides kissing. She was pretty sure this dude and Promethei were still talking in innuendos, and she was doing her very best to ignore it before she had to start hiding her face again.

"It was Albite," she said to distract herself. "It was a whole thing, we'd been dating before I purified, and, like, yeah. But, long term it turns out he was the worst, actually."

"I was really scared of him for awhile," Hybris admitted easily. "But I can't say it didn't instill a certain attraction. Just that I would have never thought to willingly get in his line of sight again, let alone act on it." With a sigh, he took another sip of his drink.

"But now? We met as civilians, and when he's mean to me it's in exactly the way I like, because he paying attention."

The mention of Albite had him laughing again, "You can't judge me for wanting to bang dangerous when you wanted to cuddle up with crazy. that man is a piece of work. He tried to take out my starseed! it was so super mean of him!" Which, he supposed, also but Albite in the dangerous category.

Well. That was a situation for a very different time, place, and company.

"That's when he first powered up," he explained to Mr. Mercury, nodding at the mention of the corrupt's eye. "Before that...well, I had been injured. And my boy just..." he sighed, "he made a deal with a negaverse general, for an item to heal me. I wasn't there, so I can't be sure, but he mentioned the general reaching into his chest with some sort of dark ichor spilling out with that touch."

Hybris's eyes turned a little distant and pensive. "He got scared of what happened and escaped with an item I'd given him, just in case. I suppose that was when he became corrupted once more?"

With a shake of his head, as if to get rid of the upsetting memory, he took another drink and cleared his throat. Then looked over at the Fairy Knight with a smile that, while sincere, was clearly trying to change the subject to something more pleasant, "You purified? My Big Bro, Murikabushi, purified last year and seems so much more happy for it. Sometimes the group you wake up with, just isn't where you belong, right?"

Hybris admitted something that if Promethei was allowed to talk about it, his fellow professors in gender studies would absolutely eat up. Perhaps his fellows in psychology, too. He was drawn to the monster? He enjoyed when the monster was mean?

It was unfortunate, then, that this bit of juicy news had to be kept to himself with magic being an undercurrent that couldn't be known.

He sipped again.

Nectaris was taking a different approach to her responses. She went for ripping Albite a new a*****e, or perhaps a new eye hole, which was honestly fair. "He doesn't understand how hierarchical arrangements should work," noted Promethei, with a shrug. "That by itself was a red flag."

And it remained so. Perhaps a missing eye was the lesson that Albite needed.

He doubted it.

He also doubted that a general casually reaching into Faustite's chest would recorrupt him so simply if he hadn't immediately powered up. Promethei had seen forced corruptions. He had been surrounded by them when the aliens were making that failed attempt at whatever they were doing that got purposefully hijacked. "Corruptions of someone who is already powered require a lot more force than that," noted Promethei, tilting his head.

There was a small push of his magic as he asked, smoothly, "Do you know what really happened to Faustite to create this captain anew?"

Oooh, a movie? Three movies? That would be fun. Probably not, like, smart, because while this stuff wasn't a secret, she probably shouldn't be making it even more public. Still, she was honored he wanted to watch stuff about her life.

"I dunno," she said, about the casting choice. "I know a really good actor, but I don't think he could pull of my vibes quite right, y'know?"

Also, now they were getting into actual new information about Faustite. Nikki went quieter for a second, not wanting to interrupt this stuff. It was great. It was working.

She and Promethei really were the best detectives ever! Encke was gonna be so happy when she came home with, like, actual answers.

"He got zapped by the snake, huh?" she said, still a little quieter. "That's how he got all reset?" It made sense. She didn't understand, but that was because the Dark Star and the Herald and everything were forces that none of them really understood. It wasn't like Faustite had sneaked in a purification and a corruption without anyone noticing.

"There was some stuff going on there with, like, disintegration, souls getting pulled somewhere else and then put back, that kind of thing. Pendour keeps saying they died," she said, mostly to Promethei, but not, like, quietly. "I guess Faustite could've gotten hit with it even harder."

She shrugged, still trying to play it cool. "That dude needs movies about him, too. For sure."

"The Dark Star was so wonderful," Hybris sighed, still feeling that thread of longing, though nowhere near so insistent and pervasive as it had been months ago.

Deciding that the drink was good and he wasn't really prone to bad hangovers, he took another sip. With a nod, he reassured Fairy Knight, "Oh we've made a couple videos. There's some really-" he considered the wording and then forgot what he was going to say under the new set of questions.

"I don't think...I don't think half youma work like that? But if they do..." Hybris gave a careless shrug. "Who knows?" Certainly not him and definitely not Eles.

The mirror senshi scrunched his brow with a frown. "He has gotten his power back. He's just not...burning alive for it anymore."

That wasn't the entirety of the answer Promethei was looking for.

Sure, whoever this was was Faustite again. But he was captain Faustite, which was considerably less of a magical threat than a General-Sovereign Faustite would be. A captain he could take out on his own. Was Faustite aiming for that ascendence to the stars again, or was he content to stay put with his similar Twink of a boyfriend?

Fiance. Husband. Whatever.

Promethei caught the signal well enough, though. Nectaris was telling him to hold back more questions, or at least ease him off his lack of ease.

"Look, maybe this plays more into the queer attraction to monsters," offered Promethei, flippantly. "There can be something attractive about an overwhelming power. Of course, that's not my angle, but."

He sipped at his beer.

"Get the sense it might be his."

Promethei winked at Hybris.

It seemed like Promethei had gotten the hint about not pushing too much more, which was good. However, it also seemed like she wasn't the only one here who could use flirting with Chaos boys as a distraction technique.

Woah. He was good.

"Oh, are you guys gonna start making out now?" she asked. "I mean, that's cool. You totally can. I can go, even."

'Cause, for all she supported this, she didn't exactly wanna watch. She started to stand up. Then she saw her drink, half-finished, full of sugar and sparkles and all of the good stuff in the world that she liked.

She sat back down. "Let me just, uh-"

She started to sip faster.