saltburnmods: (Default)
π–˜π–†π–‘π–™π–‡π–šπ–—π–“π–™ π–’π–”π–‰π–˜. ([personal profile] saltburnmods) wrote in [community profile] draino2024-11-09 08:00 am
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ππ‹πˆπ’π’, ππ‹πˆπ’π’, ππ‹πˆπ’π’ β–£ NOV TDM





NOVEMBER 2024 TDM: RENAISSANCE


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."




2 GIRLS 1 CUP

CONTENT WARNINGS: nudity, potential for nsfw.

Over the past few days, a bit of construction has taken place on the grounds of the Saltburnt estate, and while it's difficult to piece together what exactly is being built, it's clear to see: whatever it is, it's massive, taking up a huge percentage of the grounds with multiple included structures. On the outside it seems almost like a neighborhood is being sprung up β€”Β new houses for people to live in, maybe? New shops, disconnected from the manor at large? All is revealed on opening day, when upon entry all are greeted with cheery hellos from jauntily clad persons shouting, "Huzzah!" and "Hail and well met!" For the more medieval and fantasy inclined among you, it might feel like stepping somewhere familiar and homey. To the rest, you know β€” you've just walked into a Ren Faire. Costumes are expected.

Not sure what to wear? Those born between SEPTEMBER to FEBRUARY are dubbed part of the Unseelie Court, which is associated with darkness and decay, generally dressed in deep, dark colors. Those born between MARCH to AUGUST are part of the Seelie Court, which is associated with stars and sky, in lighter, brighter colors.

On either side of the split path, you're assaulted by the scents, sights, and sounds of any ordinary Ren Faire. Vendors pawn off garlicky mushrooms and full turkey legs, or flower crowns and juggling sticks in exchange for a kiss, a secret, a lock of hair, or something of equal nonsensical value. Step inside a shop and see sellers offering crude jewelry and satchels of loose leaf tea, fudge sold by the ounce and porcelain ocarinas. Essentially, if it's kitschy and thematic, you can find it here, being sold to you by people in costume who refuse to break character.

Shopping not quite your style? Fear not! If you're lucky in your wanderings, your might spot the Unseelie Queen ALICENT HIGHTOWER or her counterpart and opposed Seelie Queen LAURALAE carried on palanquins towards the very back of the faire, where the real heart of the show takes place in a small stadium for entertainment purposes β€”Β a tourney for distinguishing yourself as the best among your peers in the manor. Prior to the tourney, all characters are given a favor of some kind ( an embroidered handkerchief, ribbon, garland, or piece of jewelry ) to give to a person of their choosing, be they a competitor or not, to show their support. Strangely, this favor seems to link them through an empathetic, sensation-based bond, so they feel everything their chosen competitor experiences. Mutual favors result in a mutual bond.

The challenges are set: ARCHERY/KNIFE THROWING, SWORDFIGHTING/HAND-TO-HAND, and a BARD'S TOURNEY. In addition to the more ye olde flavor of competition, there are also challenges for COUPLE TENNIS, HORSE POLO, and CHESS. And, in true Saltburnt fashion, there is also a somewhat lewd display of voyeuristic NUDE WRESTLING, where the first person to have an orgasm loses. (You can sign up for these competitions HERE.) To every challenge there is dubbed a winner, who in the old Westerosi tradition gets to crown a chosen "maiden" with the title THE QUEEN OR KING OF LOVE AND BEAUTY and an extravagant wreath of flowers, their victory dedicated to the lucky lord or lady. These wreaths are both fashionable and functional β€” while wearing them, no one can resist following whatever queenly command your character gives. Additionally, winners will receive prizes courtesy of Saltburnt, all to be determined upon victory.

Whichever queen has the most winners at the end of the tourney is crowned HIGH QUEEN OF THE FAE. The Queen is paraded around and celebrated by all, and while tribute is not necessary, it certainly is appreciated!






RING AROUND THE ROSEY


CONTENT WARNINGS: potential for nsfw.

The Ren Faire fixture runs adjacent to the tree line of the forest, which one can enter through a booth manned by THE GREAT WIZARD ARCHIBALD, who warns you to be prepared to enter the Realm of the Fae beyond his backdrop curtain, before handing you a flower and a pair of antlers (or a head piece from your fauna choice) for your journey to the beyond. Upon entering, you are greeted by a forest that bears no resemblance to the woods you've grown to expect in your time at the manor, everything more exaggeratedly lush than it had been even a day or so prior. Plump fruits with slightly glimmering skins grow fat on the vine, every leaf on every tree vibrant and healthy despite the changing of seasons, gone orange and red with the cold. Despite that, it's surprisingly balmy in the forest, everything illuminated by glimmering fairy lights and strung up lanterns. Flowers bloom under your feet, alongside perfect little red mushrooms, everything so idealistic it almost borders on discomfort.

Despite any reservations, there is a wild compulsion to everyone who enters the forest. The flower the wizard gave you is pungent enough to dizzy your head, leading you to the instinct of frolicking β€” or if you're not the type to frolick, then wandering β€”Β through the woods, to find some counterpart to your particular flower in a very innocent (or not so innocent) game of cat and mouse. Once you find them, a simple kiss will serve as enough to claim your prize and ease the compulsion. Unless, of course, you want to give a little more. It couldn't hurt, right?

Wander further through the seemingly never ending woods, drawn on of the beauty of faerie, and find yourself at a somewhat rundown chapel surrounded by foliage, the roof and walls broken down with age, invaded by exploring plant life that crawls and vines through every crack and opening. While the stone altar of indeterminate denomination seems like it hasn't been seen for hundreds of years, let alone cleaned, there's the distinct impression you are walking on hallowed, sacred ground when you move to inspect it. Those clever among you might note different runes etched on what appears to be a wooden tabernacle on an ancient pillar at the back of the chapel. Looking into it, there's a word from an unknown language carved inside, complimented with a cheat sheet bit of yellowing paper which reads F. M. K., with further explanation: FRIENDS, MARRY, KINK.

What could it mean? Well. You and whoever you entered the chapel with, or whoever enters next, are stuck until further notice unless you complete one of the proffered options. FRIENDS, it's time you bury the hatchet, let bygones be bygones and accept our faults moving forward, together, to the future. MARRY, let's seal our bonded union with the trees as our witness, in a church of our own making. KINK, if the altar can't be used for the former, it can certainly be used for the latter. Nothing vanilla will do β€”Β kink up or shut up.

Once completed, you're free to leave and roam around the forest at your leisure. If you wander far enough you might hear a distant, organic sound whirring and clicking from the trees, but don't worry. Whatever is watching you probably doesn't bite.




DIRECTORY


homebird: (s o f t)

welcome!!

[personal profile] homebird 2024-11-12 11:56 pm (UTC)(link)
[ she's late to breakfast today. she considered waiting until the very end, in the hope that most everyone would be gone. but she will not give in to that weakness, even if she feels it. she's dressed as much like herself as she's been able to achieve here. her hair is gathered in a half-braid, rolled up behind her head, in the Northern style, or as close to it as she can manage by herself. she does not entirely feel like herself, even so; she never would have called herself comfortable in this place, but she's much less so now than she had been before. nothing here is familiar. nothing about it is home.

so when she hears that voice, and that accent, she stops short, and turns to stare at him. she can't believe it. she last saw him in king's landing, boarding a ship to the north. she had not thought to see him again so soon, and certainly not here. yet there he is, looking as out of place as she feels.
]

Jon?

[ she moves forward to his side, pushing her way into the seat beside him and reaching for his shoulder. her voice cracks when she says it again. ]

Jon? I can't believe it, it is you.
scone: (Default)

[personal profile] scone 2024-11-13 12:03 am (UTC)(link)
CHARACTER NAME: sanji
SEELIE/UNSEELIE: seelie
swans: (Default)

[personal profile] swans 2024-11-13 12:03 am (UTC)(link)
CHARACTER NAME: adam
SEELIE/UNSEELIE: unseelie
dictator: (Default)

[personal profile] dictator 2024-11-13 12:08 am (UTC)(link)
CHARACTER NAME: paul atreides
TEAMMATE: jace
SEELIE/UNSEELIE: unseelie for both
homebird: (s w e e t)

faire

[personal profile] homebird 2024-11-13 12:09 am (UTC)(link)
[ sansa has been watching aegon with some trepidation. another targaryen - plain enough to see from his hair. not for the first time, she wishes she knew better the full history of that house. she wishes she knew exactly what to expect from this one.

she's wary, but she steps forward, hands clasped before her, red hair spilling down over her shoulders. she wears the dark colours of the unseelie, and incidentally also the dark colours of sansa stark. to her great pleasure, she has found among the costumes a cloak lined with fur that might be passable, and with that, winterfell feels just a shade closer than before.
]

I have seen worse jousts, [ she says, with a bare glance at the games. ] I suspect they mean to make fun of us. But if they will make a game of that rather than murdering us as they did last month, I'll accept it.

You are another Targaryen, are you not? I've met others of your family here. I'm Sansa Stark, Queen of the North. Not that it matters very much in this place.
ruralize: (✞ 024.)

ring around the rosey (cw religious tradwife vibes??)

[personal profile] ruralize 2024-11-13 12:22 am (UTC)(link)
Invited? No.

[ Dawn isn't sure why she's whispering, justβ€” it seems like good practice in the presence of a chapel, even if she's all but certain these must be pagan ruins. All the more reason not to go inside, even though some part of her is curious. ]

Invited by what?
ruralize: (✞ 002.)

ring around the rosey

[personal profile] ruralize 2024-11-13 12:22 am (UTC)(link)
A snack?

[ Dawn pats her hips as if expecting to find the fanny pack she typically wears, in which a few well-balanced snacks β€” hardboiled eggs, carrot sticks, apple slices, peanut butter crackers, granola bars, etc. β€” are always kept in the event of just such occasions as this. It's reflex, mostly, the part of her that's been conditioned to be nurturing and maternal, yet it's disappointing nonetheless to be reminded that she's currently empty-handed, save for the flower she was handed before entering the woods.

She kneels by the woman, inspecting her the way someone might do a long lost hiker who's been surviving in a cave eating insects and bark.
]

I don't have anything. Can you stand?

[ She's felt... strange ever since entering these woods, herself, but hopefully that won't matter. ]
homebird: (s t a r k)

rosey

[personal profile] homebird 2024-11-13 12:25 am (UTC)(link)
[ he had looked unwell, at first, his hand pressed to the tree like that. she's about to enquire after his health, but then he turns wearing such a smile that it stops her short. she watches the way he puts the flower behind his ear, blinks her surprise away, and returns the smile with a fainter one of her own. ]

It is. Let it not be said that the manor is not capable of wonder. Of beauty, of...magic, perhaps.

[ it's certainly capable of magic. that it seems this sweet and wondrous is as much a surprise to her as it is to him. after last month's depravity, this feels a world apart. ]

I cannot bring myself to trust it, entirely.

[ she looks down at the flower in her own hands. she hasn't pinned it to her dress or put it in her hair. she just holds it, clasped between her fingers. ]

It's supposed to have something to do with faeries. I don't really know what those are. There are tales where I'm from of the Children of the Forest, and I've never seen them, but this makes me think of them.
dwelt: (Default)

[personal profile] dwelt 2024-11-13 12:34 am (UTC)(link)
[he lets her alone, hand moving out from the water to rest on the tub's edge. whether she wants his hand back on her or not will need to be requested. he's gauging her reaction to the absence of touch.]

Maybe. Maybe I just wanted some of your hair.

[he arches a brow at her.]

Would that bother you?
pronounce: (Default)

[personal profile] pronounce 2024-11-13 12:40 am (UTC)(link)
CHARACTER NAME: luci
TEAMMATE: adam
SEELIE/UNSEELIE: luci: seelie, adam: unseelie
dwelt: (pic#17448135)

[personal profile] dwelt 2024-11-13 12:43 am (UTC)(link)
[since they're pushing boundaries...]

Can I tie you up?

[sounding a little too hopeful there, August. he and Pierce never really met on an even playing field. Piece is larger, stronger, and more brutal than August could ever be. he also knows he'd never let him do that, but he's asking anyway. they'd fight before they fucked, and August, regretfully (or maybe not so much) always ended up having to submit.

he hated it almost as much as he liked it.
]
godspark: (s w e e t l y)

rosey

[personal profile] godspark 2024-11-13 12:44 am (UTC)(link)
[ his head feels lighter than before he walked in here. he feels lighter, too. maybe it's just because the seelie he's apparently affiliated with have deigned to dress him in lighter colours instead of his usual black. but there's something else, too. the sheer life here sets something bubbling under his skin. the warmth, the light of the sun. dani could live right here in this little grove and be happy.

something about that light seems stronger around him, as though it's bending around his limbs, making his skin glow a little. he feels so light and free that he doesn't really notice it. at the touch of another hand on his, he turns with a smile, which widens when he sees who it is.
]

Francesca. Yes, of course. Isn't it beautiful? I wish the sun always looked like this. [ his eyes lift back around to nature's abundance, the flowers and fruit. the glow of it all. ] Apollo is kind to us today.
chokedout: (107)

[personal profile] chokedout 2024-11-13 12:48 am (UTC)(link)
We're gonna put the friends in friends with benefits.

[And somehow they've averted crisis without even knowing it.]

Mmm, we should definitely still fuck.
rationalism: (8)

[personal profile] rationalism 2024-11-13 12:50 am (UTC)(link)
[ he doesn't need to ask her again, grace relents as soon as he says he won't fuck with her. ]

Lauralae. She's an elf, a warlock. [ a beat. ] Actually I think you would really like her.

[ grace does. ]
godspark: (u p)

wildcard?? lmk if this doesn't work for you!

[personal profile] godspark 2024-11-13 12:56 am (UTC)(link)
[ the fae grove with all of its light and warmth and life was so viscerally perfect to dani that he almost forgot to be wary of what the house might have in store.

but the chapel is swift to remind him. he stumbles in there, not really knowing what to expect. frankly, he hasn't been paying attention to the game. he couldn't say now whether he was the hunter or the hunted. he'd been lost in the magic of it all, his own skin literally aglow with sunlight as he gave himself over to it.

he walks through that door, and for a moment that glow is still there. he is glowing, faintly but truly, like the light from outside doesn't want to let him go. then he sees koby, and it blinks off, as though he's flipped a switch. it makes the absence of that light somehow obviously, and dani glances down at his own hands, as though he hadn't noticed it before.

it's a brief distraction. he looks back up at koby, presses his lips together. then says:
]

I thought you were sick. In bed, being watched over.

[ he never answered that message but he did take note of it. ]
dwelt: (Default)

[personal profile] dwelt 2024-11-13 01:05 am (UTC)(link)
Then, let's go.

[he agrees with her there. her curious eyes are met with his own. two creatures watching each other. archery can wait, leading a pretty girl around a faire seems like more fun. he steps forward, offering his arm to her to take before beginning a stroll without a true endgame in mind. ]

The beer is okay, chocolate is just as okay. Kind of part of the experience, I guess. [he wasn't ever big on festivals, drawn more to the underground, instead. he's steering them in the direction of some of the vendors.] The people-watching is pretty good, don't you think?
godspark: (s t a r t l e)

i

[personal profile] godspark 2024-11-13 01:10 am (UTC)(link)
[ dani halts where he stands, eyes wide, eyebrows slowly lifting. he lifts his hands, too, just to demonstrate that they aren't about to touch anything. ]

I won't.

[ a beat.

then, carefully.
]

It's alright. You're alright, it's just the shock. You're new?

[ he glances at the open door she's in front of. ]

It's happened to us all. Go sit down, it's alright. I'll get you some water.
breeding: (pic#17404160)

[personal profile] breeding 2024-11-13 01:25 am (UTC)(link)
[ She makes him giddy. It's a blessing, in a way, that she can't hear the jump of his heart as she takes his hands, as she smiles at him, as whatever relief he feels at her acceptance of his favor is replaced by a childish kind of pride. He's not the type to initiate the what are we conversation (well, he is, but under more dire circumstances/mental stress) but some kind of distinction is important to him nevertheless, and this feels solid, concrete, a sign not just to him but to others that she's the object of his affection. (After all, he's never played particularly well with others, nor has he really been the type of guy to share anything, let alone the spotlight of attention.)

Whatever fears she holds of him judging her any differently are (idiotically) absent on his side of the mirror; everything he's done, he feels to have been justified, not failures so much as proof, over and over, that people have been trying to take advantage of him, or catastrophe as incurred by their own foolishness and the audacity to be so weak. His recent death, for instance, he explains away as the actions of a jilted ex. Naturally, the prison he'd kept her in does not come up.

But she's right, at least, in thinking that he would never abandon her side. He's not made for scheming, not really; he's made for total, abject dependence, and scorched earth otherwise.
]

The honor's all mine, [ he says, his delivery only a little stilted by the flush of excitement. (He thinks of the bandaids, too, the tiny thrill of seeing that she'd actually used them, perhaps less for the sake of her own good than physical markers of his care for her.) Still, he has the presence of mind to keep one palm open, under the assumption that the soon-to-be empty jewelry box is probably the best place to keep the earrings she's presently taking off.

A little more quietly:
] Having fun so far? I don't know, I wondered if it might feel likeβ€” [ a slight shrug, as he remembers a revolving door of Vought press conferences ] β€”work.
thirsted: (Default)

[personal profile] thirsted 2024-11-13 01:37 am (UTC)(link)
[ Astarion doesn't look shocked, per se, but his eyebrows do rise at her brief transformation. The way it comes and goes β€” it's certainly not the same sort of circus he has to deal with, not to mention different (as far as he can tell) from what Armand, Lestat, and Louis go through, too. ]

Ah, [ he says, deliberately enunciated so that his fangs are briefly visible, too β€” clearly permanent fixtures in his mouth rather than features that come and go. ]

How do youβ€” do that? Turn it on and off?

[ Wait, no, Astarion, be polite. Extending his hand: ] Astarion. Though I suspect you already know that.
dwelt: (Default)

[personal profile] dwelt 2024-11-13 01:37 am (UTC)(link)
[Theo will only find his own reflection in his eyes, sultry and deep. August has one too many ideas, but he wants to keep playing hard to get and Theo is making it exceptionally easy for him to. how far down the rabbit hole will he fall with him?]

What do you know about sex magic?

[his lips quirk. if Theo's fingers are still dangling into the water, it'll feel hotter. but there isn't any more running from the faucet, and aside from the ripples made by small movements, it's completely still.]
onlyvibes: (pic#16987666)

[personal profile] onlyvibes 2024-11-13 01:42 am (UTC)(link)
The horses seem good at their part.

[He's joking. Though it's true, the horses are very good at being horses. He can't blame her for her disinterest, though. He was falling asleep for a reason.

Well, for more than one reason, really. But one of those reasons was definitely related to the sport not being able to hold his attention.]


Are there any events that do interest you?
dwelt: (Default)

[personal profile] dwelt 2024-11-13 01:52 am (UTC)(link)
[he'd laugh if it wasn't so morbid. he knows death; seen it eat people alive and nearly been eaten himself. he's touched that point one too many times, crawled out of the welcoming darkness against all odds, but he's never died.]

I can make you something if you ever get in trouble again. Kind of a last resort deal, though.

[deal being the key word. they make it to a vendor, and August has to pause briefly to decide what to give. he's handed out a secret here and there, but refuses to give any of his hair - he knows what can be done with that. a kiss it is.

ugh. these kinds of exchanges leave a sour taste in his mouth. he hands her another beer, takes one for himself, washing down the taste. the beer isn't much better.
]
hymen: (215)

[personal profile] hymen 2024-11-13 01:52 am (UTC)(link)
My tastes haven't been known to be discriminating. [ embry moore will fuck an entire town if you give him a chance, especially as a measure of avoidance. ] At least until recently.

[ but he does remember everything about her prior to his death β€” specifically, their illuminating conversation with the shimmer of fireworks reflected upon the lake. there are far more people here now than before he kicked it, new faces, new family for her. he's just glad his stepsister hasn't shown up. ]

Before the king took you to wife, you and his daughter were inseparable. [ a casual paraphrase, as he sips obnoxiously at his sherry. ] Once, you even kissed in her chambers. You're telling me you haven't tried anything since your rival got here?

[ the family dynamics are especially confusing, all of ash's debriefing to catch him up on weeks of missed time feeling dangerously like a boring work meeting. ]

If you say you haven't, your self-control goes way past impressive and into disturbing levels.
thirsted: (pic#17360793)

[personal profile] thirsted 2024-11-13 01:55 am (UTC)(link)
[ As tempting as it is to laugh at Gale's floundering, to do so would rob him of the pot of gold at the end of the chatty rainbow: the favor, promised out of guilt that cannot actually be assigned to Gale at all, but that's for Astarion to know and for Gale to put together. ]

A favor, [ he agrees, feigning magnanimity.

He pauses, looking down at the bracelet he's still just holding in his hand β€” gold thread intertwined with a few glass beads β€” hesitating only a moment before holding it out to Gale. Is it partially a distraction, a way of attempting to ensure Gale doesn't think their circumstances through to their fullest extent? Maybe.
]

Here. Return it to me when we're square.
homosexuals: (pic#16916428)

[personal profile] homosexuals 2024-11-13 02:01 am (UTC)(link)
No need to stick it anywhere, either.

[he mimes the racket nudging forward as if it were a sword, digging in past flesh. it's not mocking, moreso a commentary on the equal measure - if not moreso required for such a feat.]

Few weeks ago I would have said it was absurd to need one of those around here. But it's good to keep up with it. And - thanks. For running Tim around. I know he appreciates it too.

[he turns a bit more to face aemond, dipping his head in an amused acknowledgment at "not so terrible" being the extent of his expensive years of private tutoring and cross-country matches to land some of the highest awards available for his age. there was a time when thinking about it brought an ache to the chest as if it had been the thing penetrated by aemond's blade itself. it's a melancholy relief to only feel a dull ache in its place and a cool regard for his father where once there had been shame, disappointment, and anger.]

But ah, I'm nothing to write home about. Your mother dispatched me in the end.

[an adamant shake of his head.]

Never any doubt.

[he's pretty sure tim has already bitched his frustrations to aemond about "losing" to embry. it wasn't about that.]