howl

Bitten wolf, librarian. florist.

[aurelienpatenaude]

A sort of simplicity had followed them and though Aurélien would have liked to take some spec of credit for that, Etienne seemed to calm the more exuberant parts of the eladrin, too. Wild and unruly, the Donor lived on the precipice of many dangers purposefully; life hadn't been kind to a scrawny little halfblood and so he attempted, in every aspect of his life, to turn such table upon it's axis. Etienne was a reminder to slow down, grasp the bigger picture, and bask in such simplicity for life truly had been sweeter when the other had been around. Perhaps that's why everything had felt so ass backwards since the brunette, now given that mid-twenties crisis bleach job, had disappeared and it said plenty of Auri that he stood here chasing such feeling even when something within him screamed to be angry or disappointed.

Auri slipped behind Etienne, light as a feather the lanky eladrin perched himself on the landing of the deck, though he was tall enough that the soles of his feet rimmed the floor. "I guess the most obvious question is what happened?" It's quiet, nose scrunched as he peers up at Etienne with a litany of understanding; he'd undergone his own surprise transformation recently and there was growing pains. "I mean, besides the obvious bite trauma."

[etiennedemaury]

"I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was that weekend my sister visited." That's still a bit of a soft spot, that she'd wanted to go back to the dorms and he'd wanted a nightcap at an unfamiliar bar. He remembers afterwards, claiming he was going back with her to France when instead he was going to Eleanor. "I should have told you the truth." Etienne hands Aurelien a cigarette, mouth twisted into a frown. It's something he's come to terms with, that Auri of all people would have understood what was going on. There'd been a lot of conflicting emotions regarding the whole thing, regarding his roommate. If Mal hadn't taken him in, if Eleanor had turned him away, they might still have something between them. "I'm alright now." Adjusted, supported in ways he never thought he'd be. "It's probably the best thing that's ever happened to me." He didn't feel like he was on the outside looking in anymore, felt like an active participant in his own life. He lights his own cigarette, he looks over at Auri as he takes a slow drag from it and can't help but feel guilty.

[etiennedemaury]

Person: @eleanorxvalter Location: Watching the strength content Note: 'i think you're neat wolf mother' He's got a lot of reason not to like her. That first year of bones constantly breaking and reforming only to break again for the next full moon had all but beaten the quieter, polite university kid he'd been right out of him. It'd been a good thing, he didn't feel all that different and yet he did at the same time and he was still trying to figure out how that could be. But ultimately, her bite had moved him to action, woken him up that he couldn't just let things happen, be a bystander, forever. Maybe he'd think differently about it all if Malachai would have turned him away, if Eleanor would have. But she'd seem invested after sinking teeth into him and he'd survived to find her, to shift again and again. "I thought this would all be more of a Napoleon's thing." He didn't know the owner of the Waffle House all that well, but he had heard stories from other wolves.

[veneriovescovi]

Maybe scratch Emily. Venerio wasn't even sure if that was her name, but there was someone else he'd fed from recently who was beyond perfect. "Hm, you've got a point, actually. Lets do Harry instead, we had a much better connection. He had dark hair, he was one of the fey. Kind of skinny like you, actually." Venerio pointed out as he brought his thumb and forefinger to his chin before he tilted his head casually towards the side, inspecting the blonde bottle as he did. "What rhymes with bones?" Roams, homes, loans...

[etiennedemaury]

Behind the counter there is a list of names that Venerio gave him, he writes down each one. If he comes in and bothers Marius or anyone else, he tries to remind them to write it down, too. It's a running gag at this point but mostly he just doesn't want to send someone the same flowers twice, it's the least he can do. "You know, some people consider French the language of love." It's definitely less personal if he starts just writing something and yet it maybe it would help. Shaking his head, Etienne dismisses the thought and resigns himself to once again just standing there with a pen and paper behind the counter. "What's the context?" Actually he doesn't think he wants to know.

[xmalachaix]

The touch of lips had been brief, but the affection nestled within his cold heart remained all the same. There was a reason that he came home each night, or morning, to the lycan. To the former thrall that had taken root within his life. A hand lifted to rest against the side of Etienne's neck, fingers gentle as they curled against the back, "If I were capable of getting a headache, I believe I would have several." Most days consisted of skirting around the new rules the Senate had enacted, of acquiring blood from willing donors. Rather than simply taking what he wanted, what others needed. But were there not an understanding, that what they didn't know couldn't hurt them? "Have you at least eaten?"

[etiennedemaury]

There's something particularly sappy about the way he rises up on his toes once more to kiss at the vampire's temple, as if such a thing could take the phantom headache away. "You work too much." It's become a bit of a running gag, affectionate and not a complaint. They both know that and yet both know that Malachai takes business very seriously, it's just how he is. Feet back on the floor and face tucked back against the taller man's neck, he nods, cheek rubbing against cool skin in the process. "Have you?" Pulling away just a bit, Etienne raises a brow because he figures the answer is yes, it's more of a matter of who has been being snacked on. It feels masochistic to an extent, it's not like he isn't jealous. But he can't be snacked on anymore and at the end of the day, Malachai comes home to him.

[etiennedemaury]

Valentine's Daay Scrapbook: Malachai & Etienne

"Bedsheets, no clothes Touch me like nobody else does Lovely to just lay here with you" - "Ceilings", Lizzie McAlpine @xmalachaix

[etiennedemaury]

Valentine's Day Scrapbook: Etienne & Auri

"You're kinda cute, and I would say all of this But I don't wanna ruin the moment Lovely to sit between comfort and chaos" - "Ceilings", Lizzy McAlpine @aurelienpatenaude

[kat-luv]

Daily Song Recommendation #766

[aurelienpatenaude]

It's everything it used to be yet not; fragile touches, frivolous grins, eyes that don't quite meet each other -and that's all conjured from Etienne slipping just past Auri for a bottle of gin. There's this twinge of despondency as he takes the other in for the first time in a long while; bleached hair, long eyelashes, still borderline irreverent in a way just akin to Auri. It doesn't mask the changes Etienne had obviously endured, that distinct smell of wolf is overpowering in a familiar sense; Auri had come to know it considering all the lycans he'd come to know when the fey forest and Lupercal were buddy-buddy. It's not the time to speak on it, maybe it never would be, so Auri tucks a shaggy curl behind his pointed ear and grins a little wider; all that mattered was now.

Etienne nudged him, his lanky frame curled within the confined space as something of a snort escapes him, "Fuckin' fates." His eyes drift to Etienne's, amusement evident; whatever happened it's as though someone had come and rearranged the room, it's similar, familiar, nostalgic; but it's different in ways that count and Auri is trying to navigate that with the other. His own drink was refilled before Etienne slipped forth and the Donor nods to a less crowded place as though less proximity would flood relief in his heart currently, "Do you have a smoke?" A segue way to the outdoors that's not littered with thrumming music or partygoers.

[etiennedemaury]

"Of course I do." And just like that any of the anxieties or 'what if's completely go out the window because they're fine. When he'd first met Auri, when he'd moved into his university dorm and hadn't been paired up with any of his friends, he'd been nervous, had felt left out even. That'd kind of been a running gag, he was always there but he was the one left walking behind everyone on the sidewalk. Not with Auri though, the friendship or whatever they'd wound up being towards the end there, had proven better than any secondary school relationship he'd made. Things had fallen comfortably into place then and they did now. He takes a sip from the solo cup before nodding towards the sliding door in the kitchen leading to the deck area before he's moving towards it. Stepping onto the softly lit deck and fishing the cigarettes from his back pocket, he knows out there, there's bound to be questions. He owes Auri an explanation, he still owes that to most people nearly two years later. "Go ahead and ask, I know you want to."

[veneriovescovi]

Venerio was hard at work, scribbling a quick plagiarized sonnet for his latest love interest when Etienna approached with an appropriately coloured envelope. "And neither the angels in Heaven above....Nor the demons down under the sea.... Can ever dissever my soul from the soul.... Of the beautiful..." Damn, what was her name again? Venerio knew it wasn't Richard, and it wasn't Cherissa.... Right? "Sofia." Close enough. Venerio finished the card before sliding it towards Etienne and offered the florist a curt white boy smile and a nod. "Red is for romance," Venerio said with a dreamy sigh, "which makes it perfect."

[etiennedemaury]

"Right." He's got a lot of thoughts about Venerio and his various partners. However the other thing is that he doesn't ask about them, not too much anyways. The days are slow sometimes, he likes to make up his own scenarios based on just a few minor details. The dreamy sigh, the red for romance, this was someone new or perhaps an old flame that had rekindled something. Or at least that's what he'd think about next week when he was sending this 'Sofia' apology flowers. Still, Etienne sets the red rose assortment on the counter with a bit of a playful flourish. "What else do you know about her aside from the fact she likes 'romance'?" For the recipient's trouble (Venerio), he tried to include something a little personal to what would otherwise be an arrangement that seemed decently generic. Or maybe he just didn't think too much of roses.

[aurelienpatenaude]

Lupercalia was sort of football for lycans, it was how Aurélien rationalized it anyhow; he'd been granted access into the fey forest when Meryasek was still King and as a result had inadvertently been around the lycans as they were pushed to the outskirts of Rome. A malicious piece of him, that impish ounce of fey blood that resonated within the now eladrin, wouldn't miss this Lupercalia for the world. The lycan population seemed to be teeming at the seams of Lupercal and were yet again without an Alpha; the Donor had no personal investments within the game, but just had to see where this was going to play out towards.

"What's mine is yours," Auri extended the glass to Etienne, a brow raised as though he hadn't been blowing up Etienne's phone since the other had gone rogue, disappeared from their shared room, the university as a whole, and from the eladrin's life. Infrequent text messages hadn't cut it, but Auri got the picture; he'd drifted to his own quotidian life until here Etienne was, patched up with a home dye job and smelling heavily like dog. Auri blamed where they were, the festivities; everything was lycan heavy, dozens of lycans mingled around them currently. "I may know a wolf or two," Auri half-turned, busying himself with scanning the rest of the drinks, "What about you?"

[etiennedemaury]

"You could say that." He's still grinning, turning to he can lean against the counter, practically attaching himself at the hip as he grabs for the glass of gin. "The host is a regular at the flower shop." They don't have to get into it, he won't bring it up if Auri won't and maybe they can skip that part. Just pretend he never left and that their friendship wasn't just sending memes back and forth in between jobs for him now. The hardest part of all of this for Etienne had been leaving behind his sister who is very much in the same boat as Aurelien. She was family, the man beside him was somewhere between friend and lover, that grey area young men found themselves in.

The eladrin smells like home in a way Malachai doesn't. Malachai is death and blood, hints of leather, traces of whiskey, but Auri is different. Auri is smells like a vanilla bourbon candle they used to sit on the windowsill of their room, cigarette smoke, cinnamon. Etienne wouldn't mind wrapping himself up in any of that, there's comfort in both men. "I knew fate would draw us back together again." It's playful, his elbow nudging the taller man's side gently as he swirls the gin around in the solo cup.

[xmalachaix]

The concept of hours had long been gone from the depths of his mind, judging the day only by where the sun and moon positioned themselves within the sky. It had been months since the farm had been shut down, stripped from his business. Yet blood was easy enough to come by, with the right suppliers and such. Though it had crippled him for a moment's time, business had always been within his own blood. The comment draws him from his thoughts, of what the next day of business will bring. Malachai knows what he'll see even before he turns, a set of perfected puppy dog eyes. Designed specifically for him to give in to whichever new want is on the other's tongue. "Have you not slept yet?" The vampire already knows the answer, but the question is spoken all the same. His jacket is discarded as he draws himself closer to the lycan, the scent strong, yet familiar and welcoming.

[etiennedemaury]

He offers a slight shake of his head before he closes the distance in between them to press a kiss to the edge of the vampire's jaw. "I'll be fine." With everything in the air around Lupercal, he's restless anyways, sleep was something that was becoming hard to come by. Etienne almost feels like a kid at Christmas at the mere thought of Lupercalia. "How did it go?" He knows the farm shutting down had been rough, that Malachai took work seriously. The last thing he wants is for him to get too involved with work, he's tried to be a good advocate for leaving work at the door but he knows it's something easier said than done. His fingers follow the lines of Malachai's shirt from his collar down to the first button on it, an idle way of keeping close.

[etiennedemaury]

Etienne, Lupercalia

“To tell you the truth, Dad, that sounds boring. It’s okay if you’re into boring, but I’m not.” – Bobby Hill, King of the Hill

[etiennedemaury]

Person: @aurelienpatenaude Location: A PreGaming Lupercalia Party that I Can Transition to Lupercalia When the Time Comes note: that homoerotic friendship went crazy "Is that the last of the gin?" Escaping the throng of people in varying states of inebriation, he'd made his way back to the kitchen area and someone has beat him to the liquor on the counter. Etienne has had a bit already in the spirit of the upcoming practical holiday. It's the house of a wolf and her witch girlfriend, supposedly they'd chosen some big house in the city than in Lupercal to be together. They were sweet, both of them frequent flyers at Thistle House, he'd thought it'd be rude not to attend and it wasn't like he didn't know people there. He didn't expect to see that person he knew. The alcohol turns what would be shock into almost giddiness, he doesn't stop moving into the kitchen as Aurelien turns around, gets right into his personal space. They're French, he grins, he rises up on his feet a bit to kiss at two high cheekbones before he's stepping away and just looking at him. It'd been about two years, he texted, but he hadn't actually seen his university roommate since the whole bite situation and that was his own fault. "What are you doing here?"

[k-wame]

sαndєr · rσввє ᴡᴛfσck · skαm вєlguím · 2019 · s3·є07

[etiennedemaury]

Person: @veneriovescovi Location: Thistle House He is minding his business, he is minding the flowers, and he hears the bell on the door ring and he smells the wine and the some kind of cologne and Etienne sighs. Putting the shears in his hand down, he goes immediately to the counter and pulls the arrangement of roses out from behind it. It was Tuesday, which meant Venerio was sending something to someone on the rotation. From what he had surmised, Tuesday meant they weren't apology flowers. Most of the time anyways. Sometimes he was scribbling a message entailing 'the burning in both of our loins does not compare to the burning in my heart' on a card. Which was kind of both an apology and a romantic sentiment. Kind of. "The red this time?"

[etiennedemaury]

Person: @xmalachaix Location: The Abode "You're back late." It's quiet, more of an observation than an accusation as he slinks off of the couch and makes his way towards the door. Etienne can't bring himself to hang around the blood bank of all places, not unless he's asked. They go through this every time, the vampire comes home, smelling of death and blood and he can't help but pause in the doorway to the kitchen, assess that everything is alright. Malachai is fine, he can more than handle himself, and yet he still seems to wait for permission to approach every time. He's got the puppy dog eyes thing down, he looks to the taller man with them. "Sun's gonna be up soon."

[etiennedemaury]

Tattoo Tour: Etienne

1. The freshest ink he has on him but also his favorite. 2. Eiffel Tower stamp, his mother was born in Paris. 3. 'stay you stay true', his first tattoo after the bite on his inner right wrist. 4. 'cry later' on the back of his left hand. Done by an art student friend in their university dorm. 5. Pawprints indicating the stray cats that hung around the university courtyard.