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π–˜π–†π–‘π–™π–‡π–šπ–—π–“π–™ π–’π–”π–‰π–˜. ([personal profile] saltburnmods) wrote in [community profile] draino2024-09-07 10:00 am
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𝐈 πƒπŽπ'𝐓 ππŽπ‘πŒπ€π‹π‹π˜ π‹πˆπŠπ„ π‚π‡πŽπ‚πŽπ‹π€π“π„ π‚π€πŠπ„ β–£ SEPT TDM





SEPTEMBER 2024 TDM: LUGHNASADH


Welcome to SALTBURNT, a panfandom smut/thriller game based off the film Saltburn, where characters are encouraged to indulge their deepest desires. The money never runs out and the liquor never stops pouring, so you may as well indulge from the bounty. Of course, things are rarely what they seem, and the manor itself seems to have a consciousness of its own. Throw parties, trash the house, engage in youthful merriment, but remember β€” dangers come out at night, and no one, no matter how rich you are, is safe from demons lurking in the shadows.

Threads can be considered game canon, provided the players agree. Players can also start fresh upon acceptance into the game. In game characters can post to the TDM directly, using Β« NEW CHARACTER/IN GAMEΒ» in the header. There will be a spot below for new characters to link their toplevels for easy access. Alternatively, prompts on the Test Drive can be used for in game logs.







WELCOME TO SALTBURNT


It's the hangover more than the light streaming in through half drawn curtains that wakes you up, your brain rattling in your skull, your mouth dry and cottony, your stomach churning with whatever it is you drank last night. If self preservation is your strong suit, you might turn over in bed and see a few painkillers laid out for you on a silver dish, accompanied by a glass of water. If it isn’t, stay in bed and wallow β€” eventually a maid will be in to tear your curtains open, saying, "Breakfast is served," and scurrying out quietly, invisibly. Breakfast? Maybe it’s normal for you. Maybe it isn’t.

You're drawn from the room, either by the mystery, or an undefinable urge that could be supernatural in origin, or could be your hunger catching up to you. It's almost nostalgic, the walk to the dining room β€” have you been here before? Were you drawn up to this estate in a car? Haven’t you done all this already? Maybe you mosey around a library, maybe you run into your suite mate in your adjoining bathroom. Regardless, seemingly all hallways, covered in priceless artworks and ancient relics from times long past, lead to the dining room, where a comically long table houses the Balfours and their many guests, some who seem just as disgruntled and confused as you. No matter. "Breakfast will be out in a minute," they say. What's that?

EDIT SEPTEMBER 2024: For those who have attended breakfast with the Balfours before, a change in routine might come as a shock, given how rarely they stray from form. However, as of September, CARMY BERZATTO has taken over Head Chef position, alongside his cousin RICHIE JERIMOVICH and always the bridesmaid never the bride, SANJI. In place of the self-serve style breakfast, there is an elevated menu, including: a self-serve juice bar, with pitchers of various juiced fruit and vegetables, shaved ice, coconut water, green and black tea syrups, potted microherbs, sliced whole berries, and finger limes. There is also, naturally, liquor and champagne available. Guests can make their own drinks, or ask the allocated staff member to serve them one of the "specials" if they're feeling adventurous.

That said, these are world class chefs, so the gold is really in the menu:
THE EGGS

𝐓𝐇𝐄 π‰πŽππ“π˜: one runny boiled egg shelled and recoated in edible gold leaf, seated on a throne of fried bread soldiers, plated with whipped butter and italian parsley.
𝐄𝐆𝐆𝐒 ππ„ππ„πƒπˆπ‚π“: vinegar poached eggs with hollandaise foam on a bed of toasted freekah and baby spinach.
𝐄𝐆𝐆𝐒 π’π‡π€πŠπ€π’π‡πŽπ”πŠπ€: two eggs poached in a ramekin of pureed tomato, served with a crispy grilled cheese cut to dip.
𝐓𝐇𝐄 π’π˜πƒππ„π˜: french omelette with a light cheese filling, topped with crushed potato chips and chives.
πŽπ„π”π…π’ ππ‘πŽπ”πˆπ‹π‹π„π’: fluffy scrambled eggs in brown butter, served on sourdough.
π’ππ€ππˆπ’π‡ 𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓: mini-quiche made with caramelized red onions and jamon pata negra ham.
𝐄𝐆𝐆 πŒπ‚π’π€ππƒπ–πˆπ‚π‡: bacon, egg, cheese and sausage breakfast muffin that tastes weirdly like it was made at a popular chain with golden arches.

THE SWEETS

❖ momofuku's "cereal milk" ❖
❖ fette biscottate with a sour cherry jam and peanut floss ❖
❖ a warm cinnamon bun served with a shot of espresso coffee for dipping ❖
❖ a macadamia-marzipan croissant with a wattleseed and burnt-honey filling ❖
❖ poffertjes with a liquid nutella injection ❖


If you want to leave, you’ll have to tell Giles, the housekeeper, who will arrange a car for you that mysteriously, or perhaps suspiciously, never arrives. Unfortunately, confronting Giles about it is near impossible, as he’s as good at being invisible as the rest of the house staff. Of course, there’s no reason why you can’t just walk out. The front gates are easy enough to jump over, even if the walk towards them gives you a strange sense of foreboding, or just outright discomfort, as if the ground itself doesn’t want you to leave. Those more sensitive or fragile might find they can’t make the jump, no matter how physically able, or desperately wanting. Still, a strong person could continue on, over the fence and into the lush English countryside. The feeling doesn’t dissipate, though β€” this sense of wrongness, almost sickness, like a weight on your back. Walk into the evergreen, carry on, but the strongest will make it perhaps a mile or so before the weight of dread and paranoia brings you to your knees, and then to your face, flat in the middle of a dirt road. What were you thinking? Is this really better?

Wake up with a hangover, in a bed, the curtains drawn, the maid saying, "Breakfast is served," before scurrying out. The painkillers are there, just like you remember. In fact, it’s all exactly how you remember, as if you never left an imprint the first time, or any mess you made was cleared away while your back was turned. Walk to the dining room, find everyone there eating away at their breakfast.

"We dress for dinner," says Portia, with a kind, if discerning smile. "Black tie."




ITSY BITSY TEENIE WEENIE

CONTENT WARNINGS: drugs, alcohol, nudity, potential for nsfw.
POOLSIDE PLAYLIST courtesy of Robin

It's an innocent enough, offhand suggestion from the mouth of one (1) DIARMUID about wanting to learn how to paint, and honestly, the house couldn't agree more: a party is necessary. As August winds down, it's important to go out with a bang, and what better way than through an explosive end of summer pool party? To say goodbye to the waning summer nights, the manor is throwing a pool party with an artistic neon twist. Per the growing complications of everyone's relationship status in this new age of bisexuality, polygamy, and pegging, glow-in-the-dark bracelets with matching solo cups have been set out with the appropriate labels β€”Β TAKEN, SINGLE, OPEN, and IT'S COMPLICATED, depending on your interest. Lounge by the water in your cutest bikini or trunks or nothing at all and engage in some very relaxing full-body painting using the supplies provided β€” that is, the paint is supplied, though brushes and sponges are few and far between. Better just to use your own body to paint your masterpiece. Put yourself on display as a model by the pool, or engage in a brutally competitive game of chicken fights, wherein the loser loses their clothes and the winner gets to keep them.

Not your style? Sneak off somewhere more private like the twinkling gardens illuminated with multicolored tiki lamps, lakeside decorated with bio-luminescent rocks, or the (perfectly safe, wolfless, we promise) maze to indulge in your inner desires. You might find that certain colors glow beneath the moonlight and unlock desires you’ve kept tightly under lock and key. It's hard not to feel impulsive or unrestrained under the full moon's light, with your body paint as armor. People might appear more attractive to you under this witching light like a magic spell cast β€” but really, you haven’t had any trouble with that, here. Have you?

If you’re thirsty, the house has tasked RICHIE, CARMY, and SANJI (dressed as cabana boys) with an extensive poolside drinks menu, since they’ve been so helpful with breakfast. Thanks, boys. Ask them for anything. In fact, ask them for everything. They're here to serve.

As the night closes out, turn your eyes heavenward for a spectacular fireworks show. Many apologies to those of you who suffer from PTSD; you can head inside for an early night and cover your ears with a pillow, but do be careful not to suffocate yourself, unless you're into that. The fireworks shimmer and shatter, and those watching closely might start to see hidden messages written in the stars for you, though is that your eyes playing tricks? Better ask that friend you’re snuggled up with. As anxiety weighs a little heavier on your heart, you might feel compelled to confess a few secrets on this last night of summer, big or small, something loving or not. Seek out that destructive habit, or take some steps toward healing. Let the fireworks drown out the noise.






FRUITS OF LABOUR


CONTENT WARNINGS: body horror, gore, cannibalism.

Saying goodbye to summer means welcoming in the new season, and as August nights turn into September mornings, the landscape of the grounds changes from verdant greens to egg yolk yellow and sunburnt orange, a gradient of autumnal colors. To that end, a week long festival erects outside to enjoy the last of the year's good weather β€” a generous harvest bounty fills up tables and tables of ample displays, full of ripened fruits and fresh baked breads, baked potatoes roasted in the coals of a bonfire, sausages, wheels of cheese, marshmallows, cider and apple juice, tomato soup, apple and blackberry compote, rhubarb crumble, all richly decorated in sunset hues. Among the servings, anyone with a birthday in August or September will find themselves a individualized cake, perhaps with some motif to define them, otherwise just with the harvest decorations of gourds, leaves, wheat, and fruit. Alongside that, a new smaller maze has been made from hay bales on the lawn. During the day it's just a silly and fun maze, but at night it takes on a new form and characters can easily become lost and find themselves in a maze that seems to go on forever, with the ominous lowing of a bull somewhere in the distance. Luckily, everyone is released at daybreak, maybe a little traumatized, but all in one piece.

What would a festival be, without some games to indulge in? Around the celebratory grounds, there are four pumpkins painted gold, hidden around the festival. Anyone who finds one is entitled to a boon from your very generous hosts (join the race HERE). Hunting not to your tastes after the last few goose chases? No worries, there's plenty still to do β€” from apple bobbing, jumping over bonfires, throwing discus/shotput, horseshoes, and more, it's a festival jam packed with games and prizes to be won, from little jars of handmade jam from France, to stuffed chicken plushies, to tin cans with the labels ripped off, full of ... well, it's anyone's guess, really. Crack it open and find out!

In honor of the handfasting ceremony, characters are selected at random and tied together at the wrist, much to everyone's amusement. Once knotted, the ribbon will not give way under any physical or magical duress, meaning you'll be stuck together until the tie undoes on its own. It could be day, a night, two nights, or more, but it seems like the ribbon is waiting for something in particular β€”Β a genuine heart to heart, maybe? Consummating the marriage? Hopefully you like the person you're tied to, because you're going to be spending a lot of time with your temporary spouse, in immediately close quarters.

At the end of the week, there's a final end of summer ceremony, wherein the vampire ARMAND is given special homage for being an especially adored guest, donned in floral regalia and ordained with crowns of flowers, much to his growing malcontent. In fact, he and all the vampires present in house seem to be given the regal treatment from the staff with less grand flower crowns of their own, honored at the head of the festival's final gluttonous table, lined with naked, giggling bodies covered in autumnal produce, sprouting mushrooms, blooming flowers, and distinctly meaty dishes β€” steak and kidney pie, blood sausage, pumpkins stuffed with zebra meat. It's only after you drink the wildflower tea and locally (Very, Locally) crafted beer that things start to feel a little off. The happy bodies used as serving platters look sometimes, between one blink and the next, like masticated corpses, the gourds and fruits set more deeply in the cornucopia their opened chest cavities make. Despite that, there's no real sense of death in the air β€” get a better look, and you might find the veins of the dead work more like the vines for the plants, giving them life.

The question becomes: which is the hallucination? The smiling faces or the blooming corpses?

Though hysteria rankles through the crowd the more people come to terms with the visions they're seeing, given the population at the head of the table, it's a fairly easy riddle to crack. Can vampires eat the cursed food? In short: yes, they can. Sorry we made you eat people again.



DIRECTORY


longlegs: s (004)

[personal profile] longlegs 2024-10-20 05:00 am (UTC)(link)
[ Cellar's hand is in front of her mouth as she thinks she's just endangered Saxcise's life and/or dignity), taking a moment to let the tension off her shoulders as soon as the next battle becomes fighting off an apologetic urge to laugh. Oops.

At least she got an answer. ]


Okay. Ass it is. I'll be right back.

[ And right back she is, neon paint in a bottle with a coveted sponge to complete the set. ]

You're painting me. [ Shrugging, ] Unless you want me to paint you. Either's fine.
dwelt: (Default)

[personal profile] dwelt 2024-10-20 05:17 am (UTC)(link)
[a soft hum in response, not quite satisfied by her answer. he knows arachnids, has used venomous ones in spells. he can tell she's steering him away in an obvious manner. or maybe closer - he wants to know which.]

I did know that.

[he's scrutinizing her, trying to figure her out and being obvious about it. he should probably drop it, her name isn't his business, but he has a hard time dropping anything and he's itching for something interesting to happen that isn't eat-your-neighbor interesting. his tone is nearly teasing when he decides to pry further.]

You didn't answer my question.
unconscionable: (050)

[personal profile] unconscionable 2024-10-20 05:28 am (UTC)(link)
[ John does his best to stay sunny rather than let her see that the question pains him a little: where to even start? With the simple before-her-eyes truth? Harrow is smart, though, he hasn't forgotten that. ]

England, about forty years pre-Rez.

[ Rueful, aware that he's already speaking in impossibilities. ]
longlegs: n u (113)

[personal profile] longlegs 2024-10-20 05:29 am (UTC)(link)
[ Oh, no. That's the type of stuff that reminds her of Great Dane. ]

Fine. [ Damn it, why did she drink the whiskey.

Oh, right. ]


It's a secret. So you should tell me a secret first. Like why you smell like you just burned something.
scaphoid: (037)

[personal profile] scaphoid 2024-10-20 05:45 am (UTC)(link)
[ there's no point in questioning the answer, if he says that it's the case then it must be true. it also dissuades her from the carefully held theory that she's having some very complex hallucinations β€” harrow doesn't expect that she could conjure up quite so accurate a portrayal of the necrolord prime, but then it's still no guarantee.

still. she doesn't smile because harrow never would, but she thinks that maybe if she were the type to, she might be doing it now. ]


How are we back here? I thought- [ a frown, which is much more becoming of harrowhark, furrows her brow, and her eyes dart minutely at their surroundings. ] Did you bring me here?
dwelt: (Default)

[personal profile] dwelt 2024-10-20 06:01 am (UTC)(link)
[he scoffs. busted! but fair. she's officially got his attention now. he'd been right to lean on the topic more.]

I show you mine, you show me yours.

[he's kind of a clichΓ©, talking like how they do in movies or books, but it's part of his creepy charm. his idle walk slows to a stop. he holds out his left hand - the hand not holding the whiskey, furthest from her - palm up. a blueish-orange flame begins to form, but it isn't dancing as flames would in a fireplace. its movements are violent, raging, soon licking at the rest of his hand and fingertips, engulfing skin. and it is hot. the small burst creates a wide radius of heat and power, lighting up the angles of his face. she'll feel it, too, hot dry waves pulsing around him. all gone with a flourish of his hand as quick as it appears, traces of smoke left as evidence.

once again he's lacking in explanation. that's just one of his cards, no need to show all of them.
]

That's why.

[part of why. she doesn't need to know the rest, doesn't need to know what kind of fire it is, where it's coming from, or that he's become so involved in dark magic that it's tainted him for the rest of his life.]
swimfan: (🐴 010)

[personal profile] swimfan 2024-10-20 11:15 am (UTC)(link)
Of course it's a compliment.

[ No warning this time, Amanda volleys another splurt of paint at her. This is a long one: it sprays from her stomach up to her face. She watches a blob of green collect at the tip of one of the strands of her hair. ]

It's literally an award.
sterilize: (pic#17471254)

[personal profile] sterilize 2024-10-20 02:22 pm (UTC)(link)
( it feels a very adolescent thing to do β€” she felt like a girl the last time she crossed pinkies with hyunsu, a hundred years younger, willingly accepting her world was the lobby of their apartment building. compared to where she is now, her younger self almost looks idealistic, optimistic. dreamy, soaked up in some dumb crush. she frowns and looks at their hands, bringing her free one up to manipulate hyunsu's thumb to press against hers. this is familiar, too. reliving some memory. she almost expects eunhyuk to interrupt them and ruin the moment.

he doesn't. it's just them. eunyu is in hindsight a little thrilled at what she might've done if eunhyuk didn't interrupt their first promise, and likewise a little affronted by her current self showing restraint in going forward. anyway, she's not giggling or laughing at him now β€”Β her expression is serious and intense and a little watery, like she forgot how to be charming, if she ever was.
)

It means ... ( there's little appeal in hiding secrets from hyunsu now β€”Β anything could happen tomorrow, and he'd never know, and she'd have to hate herself for it. ) When I'm ready to take what I want from you, you'll let me have it.

( her free hand moves up and catches his face, holding him in place. with intention: )

You know what I mean, right?
ghostface: blood quantum (2019) (pic#16841422)

fruits of labour

[personal profile] ghostface 2024-10-20 03:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Not very, ( danny says, honestly.

the girl beside him is β€” to danny's knowledge β€” a stranger, his miniature shadow in all black barely tall enough to clear his shoulder, staring sulkily at their bound wrists. if looks could kill or set shit on fire, they'd either be free by now or she'd be lugging around an oversized corpse, burnt to a well-done crisp.

danny gives her a second, on the off-chance she really can set shit on fire with a brimstone glare. no such luck. he pulls forward, his little shadow lagging behind him like a glitchy tv screen, tugged in line by the ribbon around their wrists pulling taut. on a small table, danny lays out their hands side-by-side, pinky kissing pinky, and with his free hand unstraps a bone white knife from a beat-up leather holster on his thigh. god's knife, god's hand. god's little blood bag here to spill blood, even if it's his own, especially if it's his own.

the knife's toothy, jagged blade dents into the junction between his wrist and the top of his hand, curved kitten claw hugging his tattooed skin above the ribbon, like it was made to take hands.

danny looks at her sideways and smiles.
)

You wanna do the honors, or should I?
scaphoid: (023)

[personal profile] scaphoid 2024-10-20 04:04 pm (UTC)(link)
[ it's not exactly the answer that she is expecting. most people tend to balk at the concept of disarticulation at the very least, but if there is one thing that harrow appreciates, it's a pragmatic approach. not that any of that appreciation will extend as far as the person, but still. it's a nice change of pace to see someone being sensible for once.

if there's any hesitation when she sees the knife, harrow thinks that she manages to have the good sense to hide it. any surprise, or curiosity, or any other annoying inquisitive response is quickly squashed back into her typical default surliness, a scowl for good measure, because he's smiling and that-for some reason-annoys harrow almost as much as the ribbon looped around their bound hands. ]


I am more than capable.

[ debatable, actually, she's only really done this once before. but that's not the point. she holds her hand out, palm up expectantly, and tries not to wonder if her skin will crawl when it's given over. if, she should say. there's always the chance that this is a particularly effective game of chicken.

well. harrow certainly doesn't intend to be the one to blink first. ]


You should find something to bite down on. I'm told screams don't add much to a party atmosphere.
swimfan: (🐴 090)

[personal profile] swimfan 2024-10-20 04:56 pm (UTC)(link)
Okay.

[ She's not saying it back. It's just the principle of the thing. ]

So why are you talking to it? Are you one of those 'thinking aloud' people?
Edited 2024-10-20 16:59 (UTC)
leavening: (pic#17467220)

[personal profile] leavening 2024-10-20 10:25 pm (UTC)(link)
[If Eunyu forgot how to be charming, Hyunsu doesn't seem to notice, because he is, in fact, thoroughly charmed. He stares at her, searching her face, his eyes bright and blue and intrigued.

He does know what she means, because this part of Hyunsu manifested from three things: Trauma, rage and desire. Sure, the desires that created him weren't necessarily this type, but still, on a fundamental level he understands wanting. There are things he wants right now. Running his fingers through her hair, for instance, or pressing their bodies together, maybe to bury his face in her neck.

But he doesn't do any of that, because that's not what this is about. It's about what she wants. When he first woke up and asked her what she wanted, he had been honestly curious. Unfortunately for him what she wanted at that moment was apparently to hit him in the face. Now she's talking about something different and it's interesting and new. Fun in a way that he's unaccustomed to.

His gaze flickers to her lips and then back to her eyes and he hums softly, affirmative.]


I'll give you whatever you want.
sterilize: (pic#17474878)

[personal profile] sterilize 2024-10-20 10:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh whatever I want? Really?

( she scoffs, maybe the closest she's gotten to a laugh in any time recent, immediately thinking a palace, a million dollars, my brother back. part of her wants to say something ludicrous just to listen to him tell her no, but the bigger part of her knows that as much as he's taking care of her safety, she should look out after him, too. not make a joke of the offering, but put it in her pocket like a coupon for a rainy day.

viper quick, she pushes up on her ballerina tip toes and presses a kiss on the underside of his jaw where she can reach. eunyu drops their pinkies and immediately pretends like nothing happened, taking back her seat and digging into the salmon with a kind of hunger that can only be born for apocalypse settings and the general additive of feeling at ease.
)

Hm. We met on the roof of our building. I was dancing β€” I used to be a ballerina. You were going to kill yourself. ( she says this a little crassly, with nonchalance. his monster side surely must be aware. ) I asked you a bunch of questions, and you only ever said, "No." Did you make a mess up here? No. Do you want a cigarette? No. Are you a loner? All silent. ( a knowing look. ) I said handsome men shouldn't be loners, or something. You didn't take me seriously. ( she juts the fork in his direction again, more for emphasis than stabbing. ) I was serious. If you were a little more charming, I would've waited until my brother left and brought you back to my apartment.

I'm not bragging, but it would've been better than killing yourself.
Edited 2024-10-20 22:55 (UTC)
leavening: (pic#17310194)

[personal profile] leavening 2024-10-20 11:10 pm (UTC)(link)
[Between her near mocking words, the kiss on his jaw and then the sudden absence of her as she pulls away it takes a few seconds for Hyunsu's mind to catch up with what's going on. He blinks rapidly a few times, confused, as the words she's saying starts to sink in.

She's recounting when they met, something he doesn't quite remember, although as she describes it he can see flashes of it, distant though they are.]


I didn't kill myself.

[He points out, because he didn't. Whether he remembers clearly right now or not, that much is obvious. What she had said and done on the roof that day had been enough to stay Hyunsu's hand at least for awhile. Whether she took him back to her apartment that day or not, he lived. He's still alive.

He tilts his head as he watches her eat. Beyond the reminder that he didn't actually commit suicide, he doesn't argue that the human side of him can be pathetic and lame, he's very aware. He's even pointed out to her himself that he's weak, but she stood up for him.]


You say all that like you're complaining, but that's the Cha Hyunsu you want back, isn't it?
sterilize: (pic#17471251)

[personal profile] sterilize 2024-10-20 11:33 pm (UTC)(link)
( there's a thoughtful wait, eunyu sucking contemplatively on her fork while she considers the question. there's nothing about hyunsu's tone that suggests it's a particularly pointed question, but she feels the importance of it regardless, the weight that it holds. eventually, she leans back on her palms, eyes going up to the ceiling, pulling her words right out of the fluorescence. )

Yeah. ( she can't deny that. ) Ah. Well.

( but it's not the full truth of it. she thinks about the paper eunhyuk wrote when he started having symptoms, and thinks about what she would've done if he went through them with her. she wouldn't have been reasonable about it β€” she wouldn't have killed him, not in a million years. the monster still would've been eunhyuk, the way hyunsu is still hyunsu. )

They say monsterization is a curse. You're not a parasite or an infection, or anything new. There isn't anything in you that wasn't already there to begin with. Isn't that the truth? ( the science of it is all a little over her head and out of her expertise, if she's honest. but the point, ) I think ... all I want is Hyunsu. And I think you're a part of that. You're just β€” repressing the softer half of you, maybe. I don't know how it works. ( with a huff of a breath. ) I'd be happy if I could have both. I won't stop fighting for that.
leavening: (pic#17469376)

[personal profile] leavening 2024-10-20 11:55 pm (UTC)(link)
[He almost didn't expect her to answer. He wouldn't have been surprised if she'd gotten defensive and yelled at him. But she doesn't do that. She gives it real consideration and responds honestly.

And he listens, watching her, taking in her body language, the subtle ways her facial expressions shift when she speaks. She may be on to something, whether he wants to admit it or not. If Cha Hyunsu represses the rage inside him to keep the monster at bay, it's possible that the monster is simply doing the opposite. But even this part of Hyunsu doesn't feel any real rage toward Eunyu the way he does at the rest of humanity. He feels frustration sometimes, maybe, but it's different. It comes from a different place.

His anger is a result of mistreatment and neglect, the fact that no one helped him when they should have. But Eunyu is different. In her own way she's always tried to encourage him and be there for him. She did what she could with what she had and that was more than anyone else had ever done for him.

Finally, after a moment of reflection, he responds:]


I could be soft. For you.
sterilize: (Default)

[personal profile] sterilize 2024-10-21 12:57 am (UTC)(link)
( it feels like some bargain he's offering β€”Β i can be like him, so you don't need him, really. it's interesting, if only because it shows hyunsu's hand so obviously, and that the thing he wants is apparently her. she debates what to make of that, flickering her eyes all over his expression, eye to eye and nose to mouth. honestly, soft isn't exactly the right word for him, any of him. he's just β€”Β kind. not nice, not sweet, but bottomlessly and endlessly kind. enough that he followed her around in the shadows for a year, like he somehow knew her greatest fear was being left behind, and he didn't want her to be afraid. even his monster doesn't want her to be afraid, she thinks. )

I thought you would say that was weak.

( eunyu doesn't think so. if anything, hyunsu is the opposite.

clenching her jaw a little, she gestures him over to her with grabby fingers, encouraging him to stand in front of her, between her legs bent over the edge of the table.
)

Prove it. ( how soft can he be? eunyu doesn't think it's wise to tempt any kind of monster, but hyunsu is different for all the aforementioned reasons. having him close isn't anything but a comfort. ) Stand here and close your eyes.
leavening: (pic#17153581)

[personal profile] leavening 2024-10-21 01:50 am (UTC)(link)
[It's not weak when he's the one choosing it, obviously. Or something like that. To be honest, he's not really interested in examining it too much. It doesn't matter, really. He meant what he said and he's not interested in taking it back.

He watches the muscle in her jaw clinch as she makes her decision and when she tells him to prove it he pushes himself smoothly away from the counter, moving to stand between her legs just like she directed.

The hardest part is closing his eyes. Not necessarily because he's afraid (even if she decided to stab him, it's not like it would kill him), but because he likes looking at her. In the end, of course, he obeys, and closes his eyes. If nothing else, he's curious.]


Now what?
chokedout: (065)

[personal profile] chokedout 2024-10-21 02:13 am (UTC)(link)
[Theo is fundamentally fucked up, case and point being the little buzz of a thrill he gets from August hinting he doesn't mind him beginning his obsessive little dance routine with him, every step to come to continue to be just as catty and sensual if he has his way. Theo walks toward August, but it's to move aside and look at the mirror, once he wipes it clean with his palm to better look at his own reflection. He combs his hair back, then looks at August with a soft snort.]

So now it's on me to go find a cig to share?
sterilize: (pic#17474843)

[personal profile] sterilize 2024-10-21 02:18 am (UTC)(link)
( he's just hyunsu with his eyes closed. the same guy who almost killed himself on the day they met, the same one who made a pinky promise with him in a stairwell at the end of the world. the same one who protected her for a year because he didn't want to disappoint her with the reality of who he is. he's on a level with her now, his face right there. small hands reach up and palm back his hair, thumbs following the hollows of his cheeks. stroking over the dips and heights of his face, the tip of his nose, his soft eyelids, the pink smudge of his mouth. she lets out a thoughtful hum while she strokes at him, a little like she's wielding a paintbrush in had, coating him in her affection. )

You like it when I touch you?

( her voice is low, suggestive. testing the water. )

Keep them closed.
leavening: (pic#17139603)

[personal profile] leavening 2024-10-21 02:38 am (UTC)(link)
[He can't really say what he expected when he closed his eyes, but he's not disappointed in what he got. With his eyes closed, he's completely tuned into how her hands feel when she pushes his hair back and when her thumbs stroke his face. His lips part instinctively and his breath catches as she traces his mouth.]

Mmm.

[The hum comes in response to her question. Low in his chest, a sound of agreement that that's bordering on needy. She's touching him the same way he's been tempted to touch her. This may be better, though. He's not sure. No part of Hyunsu can remember ever being touched like this before, but he knows he likes it, and the temptation to completely melt into her touch is so powerful it makes him feel a little lightheaded. His pulse has kicked up in speed again, but he still manages to keep his eyes closed.]
sterilize: (pic#17471251)

[personal profile] sterilize 2024-10-21 02:59 am (UTC)(link)
( she steadily builds confidence, happy with hyunsu's response. with his eyes closed, he can't see her dumb smile, amused at the thought of taming a deadly monster with a few well earned pets like some overgrown dog. her hands fall down, tracing his jaw, the column of his throat, the curve of his neck. in the space of his open shirt, her fingers flare out on his chest, tracing his collarbone and lower, the cut of muscle between his pecs. )

And this?

( hands flatten on his chest, through the opening in his shirt. she lets out a soft breath, her fingers slipping inside to outline where her eyes can't reach. )

I was trying to sound cool, before. I wouldn't have invited you to my apartment. I've never done that kind of thing before. ( softer this time, ) Don't open.
Edited 2024-10-21 03:09 (UTC)
leavening: (pic#17139602)

[personal profile] leavening 2024-10-21 03:16 am (UTC)(link)
[He licks his lips, his breath hitching again as she slips her fingers inside his shirt. He sways just a little, leaning forward into her touch to encourage her. He swallows thickly.]

Yeah.

[He likes this too. It's obvious, isn't it? He's sure she can feel the way his heart is pounding with her hands resting on his chest.

He gives a lazy shrug at her confession, an offer of reassurance. Or an attempt at one, at any rate.]


I haven't either.

[He's endured a lot more violence than he has affection or tenderness or sex. They're on equal footing there, more or less.

He huffs softly, his lips twitching upward, though his eyes remain closed.]


I won't open them until you tell me to.
Edited 2024-10-21 03:16 (UTC)
sterilize: (pic#17471250)

cw: self-harm injury

[personal profile] sterilize 2024-10-21 03:37 am (UTC)(link)
( he probably wouldn't know, if hyunsu had β€”Β it stands to reason it would be a good memory, unless it wasn't, which isn't something she wants to think about. much better to imagine it the other way, of giving hyunsu something he hasn't had before. a worrying thought to imagine what his human self is thinking, if he can see this, feel it, hear it. if he wants it as much as the monster is telling her he does, or if he's some bystander to a more impulsive persona. eunyu sinks her teeth in her lip, wondering.

a hand slips to the side, over one broad shoulder, down his arm. it's the one that's sometimes a wing, but it's normal now β€” except for the bumpy scars her fingertips trail along, mapping out the roadwork of hyunsu's pain. if he cast his wing out now, she'd be down a hand. the thought is terrifying, enthralling.
)

You won't, huh.

( she lifts up his arm, hesitating a second, before licking across one of the horizontal scars. her cheek settles in the center of his wide palm. )

Is it a good memory, Cha Hyunsu? Do you feel soft?

( asked, while her spare hand slips under the hem of his shirt, laying flat on his abs. )
leavening: (pic#17467219)

[personal profile] leavening 2024-10-21 04:11 am (UTC)(link)
[Oh. He wasn't expecting that. Her tongue against his scar, the flesh there more sensitive than normal because it's the source of his transformation. The spike of arousal that comes with it is so strong it startles a strangled gasp out of him. It's almost enough to make him open his eyes, but Cha Hyunsu has always been obedient, even the monster does what Eunyu asks of him.

And then her cheek is in his hand and she's asking him a question and he's so overwhelmed that it takes him a moment to make sense of what she's saying, let alone find a way to respond.]


I'm...[He falters a little, licking his lips and swallowing again.] I don't think... "soft"...is the right word.

[Or, not entirely, anyway. The throbbing between his legs is not soft. It's the opposite of soft. But the instinct to lean into her touch, to pull her closer, to wrap his arms around her...those are soft. They're probably the softest thoughts this part of him has ever had.]