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π–˜π–†π–‘π–™π–‡π–šπ–—π–“π–™ π–’π–”π–‰π–˜. ([personal profile] saltburnmods) wrote in [community profile] draino2025-03-01 08:00 am
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πŒπ„π 𝐀𝐑𝐄 π’πŽ π‹πŽπ•π„π‹π˜ 𝐀𝐍𝐃 πƒπ‘π˜ β–£ MARCH TDM





MARCH 2025 TDM: RENEWAL


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 (THE REMIX)


CONTENT WARNINGS: drugs.

For once, it's not the pounding hangover that stirs you awake. Oh, it's still there, like little shards of glass being shoved through your skull — but your dry, cottony mouth should be the least of your concerns. When you turn over, it's clear that the glitz and glamor of your room has been ... well, neglected, as of late. The sheets are musty, the furniture covered in layers of dust that sets your nose off, the nightstand decorated with a glass of stale water growing a new bacteria culture. If you're looking for room service to cure your headache, you'll have look elsewhere for painkillers β€” the maid has very generously left you a more traditional form of medicine. A neat little bag of white powder rests at your bedside, for those that need a little extra pep in their step. Don't say the help never did anything for you.

Unfortunately, that's where the perks of your accommodations begin and end. If you thought you had the room all to yourself, think again. Maybe it's a stranger snuggled up to you in bed that first clues you in. Or maybe it's the mattresses laid out on the floor, sleepover style. Complaining to the maid that enters won't get you very far. "We apologize for the inconvenience," she says, clearly a rehearsed script she's had practice delivering. "We're in the middle of repairs. Guests will have to share four to a room." Ask her again, and mumbles out a mousy apology, before scurrying away. Guess you'll have to rock-paper-scissors to see who gets to claim the bed.

Eventually, your curiosity or hunger (or anger) wins out. Entering the corridor, "repairs" suddenly seems like an understatement. A putrid scent sits in the air, maids scrubbing at bits of guts stuck into the carpet like chewing gum. No one looks up from the frantic cleaning as you stroll down the corridors where you might find yourself ending up in the twists and turns of rooms, lost in what they offer. Regardless, seemingly all hallways, covered in priceless artworks that have been ripped from the wall and ancient artifacts knocked down from their rightful places, lead to the dining room in all of its cobwebbed disrepair.

There, Giles ushers guests onto the lawn. "Breakfast will be served outside today," he says, tight lines around his mouth. Traditional gingham blankets have been sprawled out on the lawn, protecting your legs from the thin layer of snowmelt still on the ground, as you're nudged together and urged to share amongst yourselves. Open up the wicker basket to a strange assortment scrounged together last minute by the kitchens: champagne before noon, lobster salad sandwiches, fruit cakes, artisanal cheeses, apples that look questionably rotten, and old Valentine's Day chocolates in plasticky heart boxes to polish it off. Do those taste spiked to you? It's a good thing it's still a crisp day to cool you off, once you start feeling a little warmer under the collar.

For those of you attempting your daring escapes, 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 cocaine is there, just like you remember. The strangers in your room 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. Walk to the estate lawns, and find everyone there eating away at their breakfast.

Welcome to Saltburnt, esteemed guests. Enjoy your treats while they last.




CUPID'S ARROW STRUCK ME

CONTENT WARNINGS: possible sex, violence, a/b/o themes (pheromones, mating, heat/rut), breeding, body transformation/body horror, aphrodisiacs.

They say all is fair in love and war, but making war instead of love is a tiresome sport. While the help mops blood from the floorboards, the Balfours have kindly arranged for a (very belated!) Lupercalia celebration. What better way to distract yourself from your pesky mortality, if not with the life-giving act of sex? Just ask the Ancient Romans.

For those guests who like to watch (we see you, voyeurs), the lawn's knolls offer a perfect viewing. There, you can participate in a hunt of a more innocent sort. Sprinkled throughout the lawn, hidden in flower pots and tree alcoves, are brightly colored plastic eggs. Pop them open, and you'll find hidden trinkets inside. Those lucky enough might win a new pair of Tiffany's diamonds; some, to your annoyance, explode in your face with glitter and confetti. Others contain chalky conversation hearts, stamped with their own sayings. Some lean more innocent, but there's no mistaking the X-Rated hearts in the bunch.

Whether yours are PG or NC-17, they share one thing in common: you're compelled by the spirit of whatever heart you munch on, whether it be embodying its mood or acting out its instructions with a partner.

For those guests who are a little more daring (helped along by the chocolates that might have you feeling bolder than normal), Jonty has agreed to lend his expertise to leading a hunt — of sorts. With his expert knowledge on nature, HALSIN has been appointed to lead the charge alongside him, calmly watching over those who take an interest in signing up. By the edge of the forest, volunteers are divided into various groups and given all they need to transform. Masked hunters browse through an assortment of flogs, bindings, collars, leashes, and riding crops for the pleasure (or pain) of their captured prey. As for guests who draw the short end of the stick? You're the prized catch of the day. You best run, rabbit, and hope the wolves don't catch your scent.

PREY is, at least, given the mercy of a head start — we're not complete animals, here. Stripped naked and vulnerable, with only a mask to protect you, the only goal on your mind is to outlast the hunters. It's all in good fun, at first. Women and men alike are dragged laughing and kicking by their ankles, a reward for their captor to do with as they please. Eventually, the thrill in your stomach turns to dread, and the dread turns into a cramping ache that leaves you gasping on the forest floor, unbearable pain wrenching through your insides. For a horrifying moment, you're certain your bones are going to split apart from your flesh. You burn and burn and burn with no relief, caught between your desire to run and your need to fill the emptiness within you.

HUNTERS aren't immune, either. There's something animal within you, clawing for escape. Instincts overtake all sense and logic, leaving behind the natural, predatory drive to claim. Participants gradually lose themselves in their roles, reduced to nothing more than a mess of base instincts. Your fellow hunters, perhaps once friends, are nothing more than competition to you now; you snap, violent and territorial, at any who cross your path. Your senses grow stronger, scenting the sweetness of your prey on the wind, single-mindedly chasing their trail.

Think that's the worst of it? Think again. You might become so absorbed in your role that your body follows suit, transforming before your very eyes. Furry ears sprout, tails emerge, fangs descend, claws sharpen, mating glands throb in your throat beg for attention, your anatomy grows new changes to accommodate your fun, compatible mates smell especially enticing — all determined by the mask you don, now trapped in your new form.

Happy hunting, dearests. Don't let your prey be the one who got away. You never know who might get to them first.






A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME


CONTENT WARNINGS: nsfw (exhibitionism, ritual sex, orgy), dubious consent via magical compulsion.

After a debauched weekend, the Balfours eventually get sick of cleaning cum and blood off of their expensive Tuscan curtains courtesy of their guests' constant animal urges, and search for a solution. It starts with a magic pull in the pit of your stomach one night, guiding you further into the woods, back to where it all began. The further you step into the darkened forest, the more that feeling unspools, until you find yourself at the base of an altar. Branches and flowers decorate its sides, but it's the whorling sigils that draw your eye. To even the most educated eye, they're indiscernible, like nothing you've ever seen — yet they seem to soothe you, as if you know this is where you were meant to be.

Gentle hands from servants shed your clothing. The night air is a balm on your overheated skin as countless hands paint the same symbols ritualistically over your stomach, your chest, your neck, imbuing you with a sudden overwhelming burst of ... something. Something ancient and powerful, a vessel for magic growing root in your belly. Regardless of gender, they name you LORD or MAIDEN as they step aside to form a holy circle, watching you with reverent stares.

As a Lord, you don't know how you know, but you're aware you must choose your Maiden from the crowd. Maybe it's your mate, if you've taken one; maybe it's a stranger, inexplicably calling to you. But the magic leads you to them, unable to deny the call, as you bed them on the altar for all to see. Others around you do the same, pairing off or joining couples with wandering hands, smudging lines of paint in their ecstasy. Upon completing the rite with your chosen (or several chosens), magic releases itself into the land like a ripple, urging on the fertile beginnings of springtime. Trees sprout full leaves. Rose bushes come into full bloom. Those who suffered transformations come back to themselves, losing all of their animal features, and regaining their minds.

To fully embrace the season's change, you're invited to the lakeside festivities that follow. Several fires flicker warmly, dancers in various states of undress beckoning you to join them as they twirl themselves around. Some call for you to leap over the flames, showing you how it's done with a bit of drunken grace. All guests are urged to "purify" themselves in the spirit of rebirth, starting with your fears and hang-ups and rancid vibes. Choose a sentimental item to sacrifice, and release yourself from the bad memories attached, by feeding it to the flames. Or pen those letters you can't bring yourself to send, pouring out those emotions you've kept inside, and watch the pages burn away the baggage they contain.

Be careful with them, however — those letters are delivered to rooms the very next day, airing out your dirty laundry to their intended (or unintended, oops) recipient. You might even find they've been left in very public view, carelessly strewn onto the dining table or hung up in the corridors, for anyone to read. Those text drafts you also never meant to see the light of day? Fired off to the person you thought better of sending them to. Did you mean for those to stay private? Too bad, so sad. Part of purification is making amends with yourself and your loved ones, so get to it if you want to clean your dirty soul.

More of a "wash that guy right out of your hair" kind of person? Come join the communal bathing in the lake, where you're encouraged to give your neighbor a helpful hand. Is it just the moonlight, or do they look much more irresistibly beautiful? Whatever the case, pouring a palmful of water over each other seems to wash away old pains, whether physical or mental. Scars begin to fade as complexions become brighter. Your anxieties melt away until you can't remember ever having them. Festering grudges disappear. You are well and truly free for the night, unburdened by what came before. Nothing can hold you back.

If you're not looking to get your toes wet, you can participate in love fortune-telling at the seed planting and flower-making station. Individuals are paired off and led to a patch of garden where they can plant new life for the upcoming season, encouraged to write down their intentions and hopes for the upcoming spring, and share them by burying them alongside their seed. In another area, supplies have been left out to twine together your own flowering wreaths, which are then sent to float in the lake. Whoever picks up your wreath is rumored to be your soulmate, and if you didn't believe in them before — you do now. As if struck by Cupid's arrow, you fall head over heels for them, no matter how you felt about them before.

As you sip on tea and munch on sweet dumplings, be sure to make your final stop the Wishing Tree. Ribbons hang from its branches in delicate pastel colors, each of them bearing someone's desire. Blank scraps wait nearby, encouraging you to write and share your own. Who knows? It might just come true.



DIRECTORY


1966: (6.)

[personal profile] 1966 2025-03-10 12:08 am (UTC)(link)
[ it does sound "nuts". adam glances up from the soggy candy heart in the grass to look at the strange addressing him, tongue idly pushing at the roof of his closed mouth in a poor attempt to chase the chalkiness away. he looks at iggy unblinking for a few solid moments, his gaze wandering from the mess of glitter in his hair to the colorful bangles looped around his wrist, very open in the way he looks him over.

eventually, his eyes, big and blue and seemingly a little irritated around the edges, lift to find iggy's, and finally, he blinks.

he doesn't think there's anything appealing about the conversation hearts at all, at least not for the purpose of consumption, so he subtly offers them to iggy by turning his hand out with the remaining two still in his palm. ]


Nostalgia, [ he repeats back to him, his tone close to deadpan. the corners of his mouth turns downward slightly, briefly, disapproving of the filmy texture still coating his tongue. ] For blackboard chalk.

[ not a question. just trying to make sense of why anyone would willingly purchase and eat something so unappetizing, but then again, he doesn't like much of anything that isn't fruit, so. maybe he's a little biased.

after another beat, he simply adds: ]
... Adam. Hello.
rehabitual: (13.)

[personal profile] rehabitual 2025-03-10 12:41 am (UTC)(link)
[ it's not so much that felix wishes the rest of the coven was here, but that he just doesn't like being severed from the rest of them. not being able to leave, not being able to call, unable to reach them in any way feels kind of suffocating - but julian's got a point too, one that felix acknowledges with a subtle nod, mostly to himself.

speaking of lucky — ]


Y'know, not to sound like a shithead about it, but we're lucky Dom's here. If anyone's gonna notice someone's missing, my bets are on Teddie. [ does he need to elaborate? probably not. felix crunches on what's left of his lollipop and tugs the stick out of his mouth, using it to gesture loosely at jules. ] Are we - counting him, by the way? The fake one.
rehabitual: (22.)

[personal profile] rehabitual 2025-03-10 12:53 am (UTC)(link)
[ felix wrinkles his nose a little at the assumption about his character, but it's brief and fleeting. in his opinion, iggy's got him entirely wrong, but everyone's their own worst critic, and felix doesn't want to bring down the vibes with a little self-loathing right off the bat, so he lets it go for now.

flirting is much easier. ]


You think so? [ he laughs a little, almost like he's surprised, but generally and genuinely pleased that iggy thinks so. felix turns, and with one hand he plucks the lollipop out of his mouth. with the other, he reaches out and gently touches one side of iggy's jaw with two fingers, thumb lightly pressed against the underside to try and coax him to open up. if he does, felix puts the candy into his mouth, right on his tongue. ] You know, I was thinking the same thing about you, actually.
dictator: (pic#17216869)

[personal profile] dictator 2025-03-10 12:56 am (UTC)(link)
( it's unavoidable, paul finds himself releasing a bemused huff of air at alina's petulance. of course, if he expected her to fall bleedingly into his palms, he'd hardly understand alina at all. if you tell her to go right, she'll go left just to make a point β€”Β alina goes nowhere, does nothing, that alina does not wish to. your own opinions hold very little weight when it comes to the sun saint.

so, it's expected. not wrong of her. still, paul snaps a hand up and seizes her by the chin, the motion bold but his actual grip soft, holding her in place for him to lean down, kissing her cheek. pining her leg back to her chest, bending her in half.
)

Wrong, ( his mouth moves, not entirely like a man, lips dragging around her cheek, tongue dipping to lick the salt of her sweat, the earthy taste of dirt smudged around her. he nips the lobe of her ear, tongue flicking against the shell. ) it's because you're my mother, and I'm your husband. You're my wife, and I'm your brother. There's no empty space between us β€”Β how could you ever hope to get away? ( leaning back, his hand falls between the break in her collared antlers, a loose grip around her throat. he strokes the bite ont he side of her neck, the sensitive patch of her mating gland reverently, a look across his face of both unparalleled adoration, and brittle frustration, even anger. ) Because you're mine, yes, but I'm yours, equally so. You know it. You will bite me, even if I have to pry your jaw open and make it so, walk you through the steps with your little canines, tie myself to you as tightly as you're tied to me. Why?

( less rhetorical this time β€” he's aggravated, that much is obvious, as much from alina's poking as he is by his own homespun denial. his dick is actively debating annexing and finding someone better suited to the task of fucking its mate, when she's primed and ready and begging for it. it's a different dick than he's used to, anyway. so hard it's purpling, rounded at the base by a thick knot β€”Β and bigger, longer, thicker than usual. it looks obscene pursed against alina's cunt, something so big propped against something so small, a brute at the door looking for entry.

and yet, he doesn't worry about it when he pushes into her, knowing it'll be a perfect fit. he means to go slow, but alina's soaked with slick and he can't stop once he starts, bottoming out inside of her, her tiny hole spread like a painting over his cock, barely stuffed by the beginnings of his knot β€”Β beautiful, textured lines, the sweep of two perfect brushstrokes.
)

Because β€” ( choked out, paul's breath rising and falling. it takes more effort than he's comfortable with admitting not to rut into her like a beast, to make her suffer for it, to have what she wants but not how she wants it. he doesn't move once he's in her, just occupying space, swollen to the point of pain. he teeth are sharp when he snaps at the air, drooling on her chest a little with the different occupancy in his mouth, a little miserable and pathetic when he bends down to nuzzle between her breasts, whining. ) If I think about β€”Β about someone fucking you, cumming inside you, I want to kill them. Slowly. I'd punish anyone who'd touch my wife, I'd β€”Β fuck.

( he rocks his hips β€”Β he can't help it. if he's dangerously close to cumming it's because alina is so tight, so hot, so undeniably his that all he wants to do is give her what he said, a thousand orgasms in her cup until she runneth over, until every space of her is filled up with everything he has. ignoring his needs, he moves his hand down, squashed between their stomachs, thumbing at her clit. )

All those men who want you so desperately. I'd show them this, exactly this, I'd β€”Β I'd fuck my mommy in front of all of them, so they know, they'd know no one else can have you. There's so many places on you I want to bite, and I'm going to bite them all, so no one else ever has the chance. You have no choice but to be mine β€”Β I won't let it be any other way, Mommy, Mommy.

( pinching her clit on the side of too mean, he tilts his head up, sneaking under her chin on the opposite side of her throat, and digging his fangs back into her β€” moaning, fucking euphoric as he accidentally cums deep inside her cunt, with little more than a grind against her. )
thorncombe: (11)

[personal profile] thorncombe 2025-03-10 01:02 am (UTC)(link)
i didn't say i qualified, either.

[ it feels shitty to put ani's naked vomiting fiasco out in the world, so β€” ]

there's always the yard. it's big. bet it's private too, because no one else will want to sleep outside.
doped: (pic#17716445)

[personal profile] doped 2025-03-10 01:49 am (UTC)(link)
( she wouldn't admit it, but it's a relief to feel him hard against her, to have his mouth on her tits β€”Β the obvious, physical display of how she's wanted, proof that this time travis doesn't intend on going anywhere. that is a relief so potent it could bring tears to her eyes, because she needs him, she wants him so bad but she needs him, and she knows if he pulled away she'd have to chase him, she'd have to tackle him down, she'd have to mount him β€”

almost without thinking about it, she has their positions reversed, uncontrollably bothered by his words. trav shouldn't hurt β€”Β natalie has to fix it, make it better. her job and she's happy for the work, perching on top of trav with her hand on his stomach, keeping him pinned down. her body moves instinctively, rolling like she's fucking down on him although she isn't, whining a little in her throat at her emptiness. she's never felt this undone before, this enslaved by her instincts. every time she's fucked travis it's been almost careful, it's been slow and sweet and a little shy. right now? she has no hesitation about reaching between their bodies, squeezing his cock in her grip.
)

Oh yeah? ( mewling, she rolls his thick cockhead against her cunt, slick enough that he slides in an inch without her intentionally doing it, muscles quaking at the small tease. ) How do I make it better, Trav? Like this? This makes you feel good?

( when she can't hold herself up anymore, she sinks down on him, his cock filling her up, some guttural moan vibrating out of her throat. it feels so good, so right, exactly what she wants and yet still not enough, lifting herself up and grinding back down on him with some measure of frustration, needy and hungry and everything else all at once. it marks a first for her among all the rest of it β€”Β she's never fucked anyone without a condom, which means trav hasn't either.

hand loosely on his throat, she rubs her thumb against the bloody bite there, cunt flexing on his dick, wanting to bite him again, again, again.
)

How β€”Β how's that? You still hurting, baby? You like it, right, you β€”Β you wanna cum?
viver: (115)

[personal profile] viver 2025-03-10 01:57 am (UTC)(link)
Of course it was. Maybe not for everyone I met, but...

[ But who cares, is what he means to say. Is Zephir ever capable of feeling remorse? Scholars remain divided. ]

But it was for me.
wicka: n (306)

[personal profile] wicka 2025-03-10 02:12 am (UTC)(link)
[ Oh, he knows those noises, that behavior. It makes him smile for a moment. ]

Sorry, I'm kinda sweaty. I've been danβ€” working out.

[ Smooth save, Dom. He wonders, too, what they'd look like, side-by-side. While transformed, Dom stands taller than the average person on all fours, let alone on his hind legs; mostly wolf-like with certain tells in his anatomy, and then the whole… pink situation, is yet another sign that several somethings are not normal about this particular creature.

After looking over at the stone bench, Dom decides to sit down. He'll keep petting her for as long as she'll allow him. He'll keep talking, too, after lowering his voice. ]


This place removed my curse. L-last month, I mean. When everything went to hell? I stopped being a… [ He shrugs. It's still hard to say it out loud. ] You know. It actually happened during the full moon for me, like this thing had never been there. But now it's back, so.

Guess it was actually pointless to tell you all that, huh.
peasant: (alina36621)

[personal profile] peasant 2025-03-10 02:39 am (UTC)(link)
( of course, if there was ever any proof that paul adores her, it's in his contradictions. his brutish snatching at her throat, only to be as soft as if he were handling the delicate stalk of a flower. the forceful fit of his cock inside the strangling chokehold of her cunt, only to concern himself with the mercy of thumbing at her clit — ensuring he gives back, even as he takes. pleasure for pleasure, water for water. inappropriately, alina smiles lovingly at the menace in his threats, his blood still sticky between her teeth. paul has painted himself with every ugly brushstroke there is — monster, freak, abomination — but alina has her proof, now, of what he truly is. a kiss from a knife that turns against anyone but her. the flame that keeps her warm, even as it razes the earth. an inseverable thread that isn't bound only to her throat — but his own, too. )

I love you. ( choked up, on the wings of a splintered cry — an intermission in their game, a small truce between hunter and prey. because the last man she loved gave her a collar the minute she denied him, and spurred the hold she placed on him. because the last man she loved set her on fire to keep himself warm. because the last man she loved never cared if her teeth were in his throat, so long as he could embed his canines in her soft parts, suck from the marrow until she was depleted. when alina's nails shred down his back, it's a gift, not an admonishment — my blood is your blood and your blood is my blood. ) Mine. My Paul. My —

( it's a cosmic event, like planets aligning once in a milennia — her body leaves no void between his orgasm and her own. her tiny fists yank at fistfuls of his hair as she comes in spasming pulses, milking him, wringing dry the warm spill of his cum — needy, desperate, biological. a vice-grip on his dick all the better for breeding her, all the better for keeping him here, saying see? a perfect fit, tight as a lock sliding home in a key. the slick bend of her thighs quake around his hips, fawn-legged, as alina shakily fucks herself upward — every muscle in her body quivering from the strain of effort. )

Already? You like forcing your cum inside of your Mommy that much? ( a teasing giggle accidentally slips, smokily, free of her. ) It feels good, doesn't it? Making me take it? You're so big, it's too much for my — for my small cunt. It hurts. Please — please don't make me take anymore. ( whiny, played up — her cunt drools around the thick split of him too eagerly, left with only the cramping, aching need in her stomach for more, more, more. through hiccuping breahts, she pushes at his chest, all big wet eyes and feebly helpless shoves, even as she tries to work herself on his dick in small, squirmy shifts. ) Please? You already came.
viver: n (044)

[personal profile] viver 2025-03-10 02:47 am (UTC)(link)
[ A familiar sentence, a language he rarely uses around here β€” more often in his own realm, when he's feeling fully like himself. Something he'd never thought would change, something he had only dreamt about. Now here he stands, presenting himself as a nightmare only a girl can save. ]

Yours will.

[ One hand rests on Lottie's cheek. The other finds a place on her shoulder, and he sees nothing but her. His fangs keep showing between his lips, dangerously sharp. Ready. ]

Are you going to save me?

[ It doesn't matter what she says. He isn't letting go unless something makes him. ]
viver: lady zephir (360)

[personal profile] viver 2025-03-10 02:52 am (UTC)(link)
What a selfish little man.

[ More pieces for her brand new puzzle, a new role for her β€” and him β€” to play. Soothing him, Zephir watches the fire for a while, picturing it all coming together. Her voice is softer still when she asks, ]

What did he do, when he wanted to be tender?
viver: n (040)

[personal profile] viver 2025-03-10 03:02 am (UTC)(link)
[ Looking down at the hand around his wrist, malleable and seemingly dazed β€” made worse by physical contact that feels so damn warm β€” Zephir tries to remember what he's being told when all he can think about is doing something reckless and dumb. Like feeding on Sear. It's like trying to focus on a speck of dust when there's light pointed at his eyes. ]

Tell me why you burn first.
dead_tongue: (hug)

[personal profile] dead_tongue 2025-03-10 03:14 am (UTC)(link)
That's what matters.

[He falls quiet and just stays there, breathing Zephir in.]

I know I'm not one of yours, but... I do love you.
viver: (066)

[personal profile] viver 2025-03-10 03:17 am (UTC)(link)
Because I can. Because I want to. Because I must.

[ Listed like it's been made on the spot but held true to for millions of years, and thrown out there knowing it's nowhere near satisfactory, let alone what Adam truly seeks. Zephir is annoying like that.

The moth takes off to acquire a new place on its creator's shoulder, where it waits. The next time Adam performs one of his designated blinks, he'll open his eyes to find an uncannily fresh apple in Zephir's hand, and he'll find Zephir mirroring everything he's been doing with the sample provided by the manor's staff. The moth now has something to eat, and someone to feed it. ]


You understand, don't you.
flyktig: (pic#17458312)

[personal profile] flyktig 2025-03-10 03:19 am (UTC)(link)
[ he's less quick to respond this time, taking a moment to consider whether he should be honest or not. ]

I'mmmm... the primordial fire deity. [ well, it couldn't hurt. what is anyone gonna do about it here anyway? ] That's why.
missed: (inkonic21)

[personal profile] missed 2025-03-10 03:24 am (UTC)(link)
[ louis would like to think he wandered down to the lake to get some fresh air, but he knew who would be there. he expects to try again to coax armand from the lake, to carefully ask him to join him on shore, to no avail. this time, however, he approaches the water and pauses, seeing armand whole and hale, different from the last time he saw him beneath the moon at this lake.

part of him wants to run to the water, a boyish and relieved thing inside of him that armand has only seen in the quiet dark of libraries and museums where they laid tucked together giggling up at the ceilings. instead he huffs a little laugh, allows his eyes to burn with bloody tears. they don't fall, but they don't have to. he begins to pull his shirt off, tossing it aside, then his pants, then his underwear. it doesn't matter who is there to see. ]


Doesn't smell like the Seine, either.

[ gentle, a smile on his face as he steps into the water, right up to armand. he can see the scar here - the great trial alicent went through - and he can't help but reach to curl his hand around the side of his neck, thumb gently skirting the scar. what does he want to say here? an apology is at the tip of his tongue but instead he takes a breath. ]

It's good to see you. [ because it is. because he'd watched him dying, couldn't help him, couldn't save him. maybe armand lied, maybe the world fell apart around them and he still wants to be angry about it, but not today. not now. ]

Can I join you?

[ he steps into the lake, ankle deep. it’s cool, refreshing. he wants to reach for armand. ]

Please.
Edited 2025-03-10 14:39 (UTC)
viver: (098)

[personal profile] viver 2025-03-10 03:27 am (UTC)(link)
Ah, [ He almost exclaims. Her very first winter β€” and this is the experience she was given. The dead seeking to eat the living before the living starved to death. ] Let's hope your second winter will be a little less grim, then, shall we.

[ Spoken with levity, he crouches down to wait until Alia and her friends are close enough for him to look at. Eyes kept on them at first, he eventually watches her with the same amount of attention as he continues. ]

Only for a few days. My body never made it to these waters, but my name did. I'm sure they kept it safe. They must be used to those by now, don't you think?
involuntary: (lottie-set1-00414)

[personal profile] involuntary 2025-03-10 03:42 am (UTC)(link)
Okay.

[ like it's that simple. lottie's brows furrow but not with worry or fear, it's all soft sympathy and concern, the kindness of a stranger that has only ever wanted to save. maybe this is all in her head and there is a message to be found here, and maybe it's really happening and there is a person in front of her that needs her. either way, lottie's answer remains the same.

her own hand reaches out in answer, touching at the back of his hand with a gentle squeeze, a small nod. even a smile, one that says 'it's alright' and 'i'm here' and 'i'll help you'. ]


Go ahead.
dead_tongue: (smiiiile)

[personal profile] dead_tongue 2025-03-10 04:14 am (UTC)(link)
Yup! [Iggy accepts the candy cheerfully. He holds 'kiss me' up and winks before he pops it in his mouth.] But I was an especially stupid kid, so I probably ate actual chalk at some point.

[He smiles, revealing teeth that somehow call small, bitey animals to mind. A ferret, maybe.]

Hello, Adam with the gorgeous eyes. Are you having fun? Or are you one of those guys who doesn't know what the word means?
dead_tongue: (impish)

[personal profile] dead_tongue 2025-03-10 04:18 am (UTC)(link)
[Iggy is forever malleable - he made a living out of being people's fantasy. He opens his mouth immediately, smiling when the candy is popped into his mouth. He lifts an elegant hand to hold the stick, smiling as he lets his tongue taste the sweet shell.]

Oh yeah? You have a thing for skinny gingers who put out?
morrer: (010)

[personal profile] morrer 2025-03-10 04:36 am (UTC)(link)
How long can you hold your breath?

[He almost offers August advice on how to wrangle the undead Nick too, but he holds back. Apparently his own strategy of letting Zephir roam wild isn't wildly received as the best thing. He does, however, get up and move closer to the water's edge. With a potential idea of how to help.]
morrer: (005)

πŸŽ€

[personal profile] morrer 2025-03-10 04:43 am (UTC)(link)
I don't plan to.

[He instead makes plans to stay close to Zephir whenever possible, breathing him in at every opportunity and reminding himself of what it feels like to be complete again. Those days without him, those days he was just reborn, they still feel like empty slots in his chest, each one a knife wound between every rib. He exhales slowly.]

... Now come to bed with me and tell me everything again. Every detail?
haggle: (pic#17714788)

[personal profile] haggle 2025-03-10 04:45 am (UTC)(link)
What the fuck.

( low, disbelieving, the type of incomprehensible shock saved for world-ending events, or — you know, when someone's shadow impossibly sprouts legs. unfamiliar room, check. unfamiliar face, check. freaky ass shit, check. some shrink would have a field day dissecting whatever nightmare her brain has served up, to process her last (real) kidnapping. unlike this, which can't be anything but a nightmare-kidnapping in her shitty subconscious, dreamed up to fuck with her.

with little ammunition left, her manicured nails fall to the pointed edge of the nightstand, as if she might find the strength to hurl that next, just to snap herself awake.
)

Yeah, ( a drawl, impatient, but no longer aggressively hostile to her (equally startled) dream passenger. ) No shit. Are you gonna tell me where the fuck we are?
docmartens: (pic#17637872)

[personal profile] docmartens 2025-03-10 04:47 am (UTC)(link)
[Julian makes a soft snort - yeah, Teddie'd be the one to notice all his lays went away. He doesn't voice the joke in the moment (but it's always so easily implied,) but his amusement would say he's thought about it. The next question Felix poses takes that smile away briefly, however.]

Remains to be seen. If he's a witch and we end up feeling we can trust him, maybe he can be counted. But I think we need to check that out a little more. That's some comic book level shit, right? A multi-whatever? Universe?
haggle: (pic#17714790)

[personal profile] haggle 2025-03-10 05:08 am (UTC)(link)
( a startled dog will snap at its own shadow, once it's cornered into a cage. ani reacts with the same instincts of a street mutt, watching a stranger barrel headfirst toward her, intentions unknown to her — a snap-decision of fight-or-flight firmly lands on fight. bearing her teeth, she shoves, a surprising athletic weight behind it. not that it's needed — this twink is built like a fucking twig, easy to snap over a knee. nothing as brutish as zakharov's goons, or a client's liquored up god complex right before he gets handsy. )

Don't fuckin' touch me!

( rubbernecking heads snap toward her shrill cry, raw with hysteria, jagged as a splinter of glass. shaky from the anticipation of a fight, ani pushes at the body in front of her again for good measure, a poor outlet for the sudden stab of furious humiliation that guts her, feeling the beady little eyes of judgment aimed their way. his fault for shining a spotlight on her, making her mental fucking breakdown the star of the show, brought to center stage. she sniffles and swipes at her blotchy nose, the teary snot that wants to flow out, wild, dilated pupils glittering like the point of a knife. at her sides, her fists clench until the bones in her knuckles cramp, as if waiting for an excuse to land another hit. )

The fuck is wrong with you? ( spitting, king-cobra venom: ) Mind your own goddamn business.

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