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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


chokedout: (127)

[personal profile] chokedout 2024-10-21 04:17 am (UTC)(link)
Isn't everything complicated, if you really think about it?

[He laughs.]

It could mean I'm just here for fun times. Maybe I might be seeing someone. Maybe they're okay with my reckless good times. A whole lot of things.
sterilize: (pic#17474878)

[personal profile] sterilize 2024-10-21 04:39 am (UTC)(link)
( still not able to see it, eunyu does him the favor of pushing her rare smile into the heel of his hand, not so privately enjoying the sway she has over him. she likes that hyunsu is easy, to her β€” that he lets himself be. maybe it's not impressive for someone so much stronger than her to give some semblance of vulnerability, but eunyu is satisfied, even humbled by it. how bad can this place be, really, if they can relax this much in the middle of nowhere, with no one knowing where they are?

leaning in, she presses her forehead against his shoulder, rolling her head forward until she can nuzzle his throat, smelling the chlorine and sweat off his skin. every time she's hugged him, she's gone face first into his chest β€” it's nice to be up closer, to feel the heat from his bobbing throat on her mouth. she's seen him sport dozens of wounds in the exact place she's nuzzling, but the skin is perfectly mended now, a flat surface for her to press her mouth on, in a small kiss.
)

I used to think I'd never be happy again. ( her arms wind around him, pulling herself closer to him in a cling. ) Then you came back to me.
longlegs: s (014)

[personal profile] longlegs 2024-10-21 07:23 am (UTC)(link)
[ Okay, so the burst of fire and all that follows catches a tipsy Cellar by surprise, eyes wide and skin suddenly hot. She doesn't think about stepping away for a while, the cold of the night streaming back as a pleasant relief after the flame is gone. Couldn't this have been the strangest discovery of the evening? She would've taken it over being tricked into cannibalism any fucking day of the week. ]

Holy shit.

[ Arched brows, a small movement with her head, Cellar takes the cue. Her turn: she reaches out to her shadow on the grass, watching it snake up so fingers, knuckles then fist are covered in darkness. This is mirrored on her other hand, both elongating until she has ten claws, each deliberately reminiscent of spider legs. They move like it when she wiggles them, too. ]

And that's me.
longlegs: ? s (057)

[personal profile] longlegs 2024-10-21 07:27 am (UTC)(link)
Yβ€”

[ Shoulders inch up and eyes shut tight. Covering her face comes in too late and laughing is too risky, so Cellar waits until she's safe to wipe excess paint from her cheek. Then she rubs that off her palm on Amanda's knee. ]

I thought you meant it like, 'it's a kid thing, how embarrassing for you'.
longlegs: ? n (104)

[personal profile] longlegs 2024-10-21 07:29 am (UTC)(link)
That's a lot of maybes. [ She holds her hand up to show the one around her wrist. ] Wanna guess what kind of complicated mine is?

[ Maybe she wants to get a sense of how good he is at reading people, too. ]
leavening: (pic#17466702)

[personal profile] leavening 2024-10-21 08:08 am (UTC)(link)
[What happens upon feeling her smile against his hand and then hearing those words is strange for him. An unfamiliar warmth blooms in his chest followed by a sort of giddiness that he doesn't have a proper name for.

He's not even sure which him she's talking about. He's come back to her more than once now, both as a human and a monster, so maybe it doesn't matter. All that matters is the way it feels when she nuzzles his neck.

He leans into her, instinctively wanting to be closer but hesitating to put his arms around her becomes something in the back of his mind is telling him he doesn't want her to feel trapped. But when she presses her lips to his throat he realizes that maybe there is a word for this feeling, after all.]


This is a happy memory.

dwelt: (Default)

[personal profile] dwelt 2024-10-21 04:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[luckily for Theo (or not) August is primarily unaffected by obsessive behavior. his head tilts lazily to the side while he looks up at him. the tension between them still feels electric, a shuddering beast beneath skin.]

I don't really smoke.

[as in he might smoke when he drinks, but never has a hankering for it.]
dwelt: (pic#17455695)

[personal profile] dwelt 2024-10-21 05:05 pm (UTC)(link)
[entranced, his stare follows from the shadows on the ground all the way up to her fingers. he knows shadow manipulation exists, but he's never seen it in action as blatantly as Cellar is demonstrating. magic never fails to leave him absolutely enthralled, and she earns a rare grin. that is so cool.]

Cellar Spider. [now it makes sense!] You can do some serious damage with those, can't you?

[as if to test her, he brings the now near empty bottle up to tap at her claws.]
longlegs: ? n (129)

[personal profile] longlegs 2024-10-21 06:52 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The lopsided smile has a hint of wonder β€” people often hate the spider aesthetic and rarely think about touching it, even if it is just through a bottle. Clink, it goes, so yes: they're pretty damn sharp. ]

I guess I can.

[ She moves the fingers on the other hand some more, palm facing August like she's checking her own nails. The darkness then snakes up and away from her skin, a black replication of extinguished fire. ]

How long've you been able to do that?
dwelt: (Default)

[personal profile] dwelt 2024-10-21 07:22 pm (UTC)(link)
[a huff through his nose. she guesses - yeah, right. judging from the look of her, she knows exactly how much she can do. the view of her admiring her work -- because that's how he sees it -- is hilariously morbid and feminine all at once.]

Since I was around... [he shrugs, taking a step forward to start their stroll up again.] fifteen, maybe sixteen. You?
longlegs: ? n (051)

[personal profile] longlegs 2024-10-21 07:37 pm (UTC)(link)
[ She's quiet for a fond and amused moment. Some of the other agents were around that age when RaΓ­z approached them. They've kept their appearance ever since, even though the majority of them are older than Cellar, just like she'll look the same even decades from now.

Both hands go in her pockets. ]


I'd just turned twenty. Did someone teach you?
dwelt: (Default)

[personal profile] dwelt 2024-10-21 08:06 pm (UTC)(link)
[peering at her out of the corner of his eyes, the energy shifts from a potential familiarity back to a lull between strangers. sure, they'd promised a secret - how far that secret goes is unknown to him. he's wary.]

You could say that.

[how does one casually drop witchy boarding school? you don't. diverting the attention back on Cellar-]

You weren't born with that power?
longlegs: n (140)

[personal profile] longlegs 2024-10-21 08:25 pm (UTC)(link)
[ There's something to put a pin on. ]

No. Kinda had to learn this on my own. [ M…ostly true. Some things are universally applicable, she supposes, which is where senior agents stepped in. Provided they had any patience for the new girl. ] Does that mean you wereβ€”?
dwelt: (pic#17455927)

[personal profile] dwelt 2024-10-21 09:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[something isn't adding up about her. silencing himself with deliberate sip, then gulp of alcohol, a wet pop from glass when he finishes it off. his eyes water from the burn.]

Jesus, this is bad.

[wiping the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, her question is answered as an afterthought.]

Yeah. Kind of normal, where I'm from. Can you do anything else?
sterilize: (pic#17471249)

[personal profile] sterilize 2024-10-22 03:42 am (UTC)(link)
( this is a happy memory. sluggish, like she's reluctant to do so, eunyu pulls back from him, her hands back to cupping his cheeks, now infinitely closer to him than she had been before. there's less mystery in this β€” no real question. his eyes are closed but she's still looking between them, staring hexed at his mouth. he isn't mysterious either, much as he'd like to be. the lines of his lips are perfectly legible to her, saying kiss me, kiss me, kiss me.

she doesn't. not yet. instead, and so low he wouldn't hear her if he was any further away,
) Open.

( she wants to see if happiness makes a difference. if this is how she gets hyunsu to be hyunsu then it's easy, even enjoyable β€”Β he can be soft for her, and she'll change the world for him. )
leavening: (pic#17140920)

[personal profile] leavening 2024-10-22 04:11 am (UTC)(link)
[Really, it's not impossible that this could be enough. This side of Hyunsu has never felt quite so close to his humanity before, but at the same time, this is new and exciting, and the monster is selfish. He's not sure if he goes to sleep now, if he'll ever get to experience anything like this again. Why should the human part of him be the only part of himself that gets to feel warm?

So, stubbornly, he stays. And when he hears her whisper for him to open his eyes, his head tilts slightly, and he opens them slowly. They're still blue and not quite human, though perhaps the expression behind them is a little less sharp and hard than earlier.

He blinks a couple of times as his eyes adjust to the lights again and he focuses on her face. She's...so close to him. He knew that she was, of course, he could feel it, but seeing it is different. His breath catches as his mouth goes dry again. His gaze flickers quickly to her lips and then back to eyes.]


Eunyu?

[That's all he can bring himself to say at the moment. Her name with a question mark, because he doesn't want to ask the question that's really on his mind. If she's done, and is this where the memory ends.]
sterilize: (pic#17471250)

[personal profile] sterilize 2024-10-22 04:33 am (UTC)(link)
( no dice.

it's a confusing moment β€” not because his eyes are blue, but because in the breath of time before he opens, she has no idea what she'll do if they're brown. rehash this entire conversation? try to explain why her legs are nearly around his waist, her breath on his lips? she's not sure she could explain it, if she tried. a failed experiment, or a successful one. hyunsu's monster hands are still not on her, and she likes it a little too much β€”Β not because she doesn't want to be touched, but because she likes that he's waiting for her. that if she doesn't give the green light, he won't go any further. like he, as he's always felt, is something that was made just for her.

even the monster.
) Stay still.

( pausing for a second, she leans in and kisses him. it's not an especially bold kiss β€” more light, dipping her toes into frigid water to see if she can stomach it. she thinks she can. she knows she can, but she doesn't push it, pressing their foreheads together and sucking on her lower lip, eyes falling closed. )

I have to talk to him before I do anything else. ( deep breath. pretending her heart isn't racing. ) Maybe that's how I'll win our bet.
thenovice: (pic#12682951)

[personal profile] thenovice 2024-10-22 05:50 am (UTC)(link)
Diarmuid smiles.

"A wonderful coincidence, then. I was done with the festivities myself." Basically, Daniil, don't you even consider that you've pulled him from anything he'd prefer to be involved in. But after a moment, he adds, "Of course, if you prefer to have time to yourself, I would not fault you; do not let me be a bother if a moment of quiet is what you seek."
leavening: (pic#17303517)

[personal profile] leavening 2024-10-22 06:30 am (UTC)(link)
[The kiss is a surprise, somehow, and just brief enough that he doesn't really have time to respond properly, to kiss her back the way he'd like to.

But maybe she didn't want him to. His head is spinning when she presses her forehead to his and once again it takes a few seconds for mind to catch up with her words.]


Him--? Cha Hyunsu. [He sounds...bemused actually. Like he's not sure how offended he should be, or if he should be offended at all. They did make a bet, after all, and she seems to be playing to win. He can respect that. Still, he sounds more sullen than he really intends to when he continues:] Would you want to talk to me if it were reversed?
unconscionable: (099)

[personal profile] unconscionable 2024-10-22 12:46 pm (UTC)(link)
[ What a question! He does briefly consider lying. ]

Nah, I wouldn't do that to you.

[ Like, the brief consolidation of his power wouldn't be worth the consequences when she starts to find out what "here" is like. Spoilers: it's not sensory friendly. ]

This manor is sort of like if Third House got to design its own dream bubble.

[ Gore and glitz in equal measure, and plenty of sexy parties. Not the kind of place John would pick either, but to him it's definitely a leg up from the last place which was more like if Eighth House got to design its own dream bubble, complete with outer planet austerity and a real lack of hot showers. ]
scaphoid: marceline2174 @ twitter (007)

[personal profile] scaphoid 2024-10-22 02:36 pm (UTC)(link)
[ it's a shame, really. everything would have been so much easier if she could have just chalked it up to God's Great Design and moved on with her life, but well. nothing else has ever bothered to be so neat and simple, so it stands to reason that time-travelling, interplanary fuckery wouldn't be either. would hae been nice, though. ]

That sounds awful.

[ maybe on a better day harrow might have attempted a less critical response, certainly in front of him she would have tried, but it's been a long day. she's suddenly very aware of the decision to go scrabbling back to whatever black clothes that she could find, wonders briefly if it's--offensive, or something close, that at the first sign of strife she runs back to the habits of the ninth, but it's been too long of a day to dig into that, too.

instead she just clasps her hands in front of her β€” even half-baked lyctors probably shouldn't fidget β€” and tries not to look too much like she's waiting for john to provide the answers to the universe. ]


And I suppose it's a pointless question to ask how we get back?
sterilize: (pic#17471250)

[personal profile] sterilize 2024-10-22 06:09 pm (UTC)(link)
( she makes a tutting sound, as if hyunsu is being especially obtuse on purpose. leaning back, her eyebrows meet together in a small knot, mouth pouty. )

Who do you think I am?

( sighing eye roll, eyes going up to the sky, annoyed she has to pull her heart out for him to look at. then again β€” this is hyunsu. he’s worth it, isn’t he? every time. her eyes find his again, with intention. hyunsu never gave up on her, and she’ll never give up on him. )

I want Hyunsu. You’re part of that. I just kissed you β€” don’t you think that means I like you?
longlegs: ? n (020)

[personal profile] longlegs 2024-10-22 06:22 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The longer he sticks to drinking, the more she looks out for all the different paths he might take to avoid answering. A bit like she did. ]

As long as there's a shadow, I can use it for just about anything. [ Shrugging, ] I could make you a new bottle. Maybe not fake whiskey, though.

[ A chuckle. Can shadows even taste like anything? ]

So, how's it work? You wake up one day and whoosh, [ Mimicking his movements, ] Fire?
leavening: (pic#17144232)

[personal profile] leavening 2024-10-22 08:47 pm (UTC)(link)
[He blinks at her, tilting his head. He never said she didn't like him...but he supposes he was thinking it, in a way. That's always his assumption, he's the part she doesn't want. He's essentially all the worst parts of Hyunsu concentrated, so what's there to like?

But it's interesting that she could tell he was feeling that way even when he didn't say it. Even more interesting that she's trying to soothe him.]


Yeah. [and then after a moment he adds:] I always thought he was stupid for wanting you, but never doing anything about it.

[But he's sort of starting to get it now that he's in the driver's seat. She was always waiting for Hyunsu, but he has to wait for her, too. He can't act on what he wants until they're both ready.]
sterilize: (pic#17474843)

[personal profile] sterilize 2024-10-22 09:08 pm (UTC)(link)
He’s not stupid. ( vehement β€” she pinches the high point of his cheek. ) Just nice. You could be nice, too. Then you’d get kissed more.

( at least by her, probably. other people … well, who knows? she wonders if this is the closest a person has ever gotten to a monster that wasn’t killing them. the thought makes her thrilled again, the borderline between fear and excitement. pressing her lips together, she leans back, tilting her chin to stare at him a little imperiously. )

Let’s make another deal.