dauntless

find me in the wilds

[msgallo]

sotirisdeleora​:

gloria had a reputation for knowing more than anyone thought she had a right to. the irony of it was, she very rarely sought out any such knowledge these days. most of the information she came across was given to her by her assistant, ivan, who had a penchant for gossip and the uncontrollable urge to update her on every scandal on the island. occasionally, he would also bring her news from off the island, or more recently, off the planet. 

he was a very good assistant, but the councilor rather wished he’d skipped the update on celia. gloria loved her niece, she really did, but finding out she’d had a rather salacious conversation - in public - with tiago ixora - had been something she’d rather not have been appraised of.

jerking slightly as celia’s loud voice interrupts her musings, gloria glowers as some of her drink sloshes onto her hand. sighing loudly, she shoots her niece a withering look as she waves over a white robot. “you did that on purpose you little fucking grindylow.” setting her drink down on the robot’s tray, she grabs the cloth napkin it offers her and cleans her hand off before placing the used cloth on its tray and waving the machine off. 

“and no, i have not done any drugs recently, nor do i intend to. malfeasance for the sake of advancement is not in my nature, and i am not so desperate as to turn to collective drugs when hundreds of our ancestors advanced without the need for such crutches.” a subtle unvoiced yet hangs in the air before the woman continues. “marli woodglade is a brilliant woman but she is also irresponsible and quite a bit more free with her thinking. i have my doubts this dorian will be of any help to leorans without her personality….. quirks. you haven’t done anything quirky lately, have you?”

gloria raises an eyebrow, folding her arms neatly across her chest. “you’ve been doing someone rather quirky, but I do hope you’re not aiming to give me an aneurism by doing two idiosyncratic things at once.”

the immediate insult makes celia realize how rare their meetings have become as her heart is filled with something close to longing. maybe they should hang out again, after all. they’re both busy women (gloria more than celia), but that shouldn’t stop them from a weekly meditation catch up and gossip round session. “everything i do is on purpose.” a wide grin accompanies her words as celia proudly watches the small misery she’s caused, watching the robot with sympathy as it helps out her aunt. 

“marli woodglade is a freaking icon and my absolute idol. if i wasn’t sworn to engineering, i would pursue a teaching career.” while her words are mostly chosen to get on gloria’s nerves just a little more, it’s not far away from the truth. she does consider marli woodglade an icon. and she would lie if she said that the drugs hadn’t sparked her interest, though she would rather not consider taking them herself. “though crutches do tend to be helpful, i’m sure that you are not in need of such thing. given i have only recently avanced to highgold, i haven’t considered dorian yet, but now i know that if i do, i won’t have to ask you to join me. i will be lonely and successful. on my own. the usual quirky things.” 

“idiosyncratic.” she repeats, immediately checking to see if tiago is close enough to hear what she’s saying (which luckily, he’s not), “i wouldn’t label it like that. quirky. also quite the word to use. i would describe them as rather..noticeable. he has quite the connections, no?” sipping some of her wine, she sends an innocent smile in her aunts direction. yeah, she missed her. their therapeutic evening conversations. so much.

“while i do feel a slight distaste for him, he’s so good with words. and their hands. mostly, it’s because i offered him my company in exchange for materials i can use for my work. and it’s not idiotic if i get two things out of it.”

celia taps her wine glass with her finger as she watches the crowd. “i reconnected with amala thevar today. gorgeous woman. would you prefer if i did the quirky things i do with her?”

[msgallo]

tiagoixora​:

“Should I know who that was?” Tiago has some idea, judging by the man’s reaction. But it’s much more fun to assume ignorance and see if Celia wants to tell him herself, or if she wants to curl the secret close to her like a little snail shell, secret and contained. Tiago does like prying those snails out of their pretty shells but not right now, not at this place, when there’s so many more diverting things to keep his attention. 

Like the way Celia’s talking. She’s saying absolutely nothing untoward, not like he does without any shame or compunction, but everything sounds so promising. “I don’t think you’d have any distaste for what I want you to do,” he murmurs, moving easily closer to let her take some of the weight off her leg and lean against him. He’s a sturdy man, and what’s more, he wants her closer. 

–and she gets closer, too, the whisper of her warm breath against his own parted lips, Tiago’s half-slung gaze concentrated on the slight tug at the tip of her lovely nose as she speaks–

But then reality intrudes, doesn’t it. Celia’s finger against his lips, and Tiago would protest but he’s not a callow youth. He’s sharpened as well, and he brings all his senses back online with just a slight crinkle of his brow, listening as those nearby voices resolve.

She’s right, of course. This does come first. But Tiago’s loathe to lose the intimacy right away, and he clasps her hands, brings her fingertips up to his mouth so he can kiss them, briefly pressing his warm tongue to her ring fingertip. “We should follow them,” Tiago proposes. “Let them get into the kitchens, see what they’re planning – slipping something into the food, it sounds like – and then pretend that we’ve been trying to find some inconspicuous spot to be alone together.” 

He lets go of her hands then to clasp her jawline, pressing a fast, firm, close-mouthed kiss against her lips. One tingling with excitement, but of a different sort than a few moments ago; this one is for the promise of what they’re about to do.

…perhaps some promise of what they could get up to, later. But that can wait. They’re Leorans and this is no occasion to allow themselves to be shown up by misguided members of their own.

“flirty idiot.” celia mutters as he presses a gentle kiss against her fingers, but way too focused on what’s going outside of the curtain, she doesn’t pull them away. she’s torn between two options: finding out as much as she can to tell her aunt, to warn the leoran council about the potential dangers that might radiate from these people (though quite obviously fairly drunk, they’re native leoran and their motive is yet to remain unclear) or stick with tiago, because what will he do with this new knowledge? certainly nothing good (knowledge is power, after all).

tiago’s silent hints, promises and kisses are regarded and left uncommented, as she needs to stay clear-headed for what’s about to come. the leoran woman isn’t mean about it, though, given her lips move against his and her fingers linger on his neck a little longer than necessary before she leaves their hiding place. he is a means for the purpose and nothing more at the moment, and she wonders what good she does for him. is there more she helps him with than just the popularity and the connections? this makes her think about why she’s doing something with him that’s so unusual for her, and she thinks that maybe i have been a little lonely lately. even though she knows that tiago is a shrewd businessman and that he does things for a purpose, he does have some good techniques and skills to make her feel special, knows what to do to send shivers down her spine. he provides a certain warmth and some excitement in her life, a thing that she may or may not miss as soon as she decides that she’s had enough, and something she could eventually replace if he’s the first one to decide so.

as she slowly guides him in the direction of the strangers (not quite recognizing them from somewhere), she whispers sweet nothings against his cheek and makes sure to keeps her hands on him - acting all lovey-dovey, though her ears are mostly focused on the drunk leorans that interrupted them just a minute ago.

[msgallo]

russovito​:

he ignores her words out of habit. while he does have a history of verbal sparring matches that nearly matches his list of physical spars, he doesn’t ever do both at once. the way the hunter maneuvers to her feet is unique, and vito notes it for later. he redirects the foot aimed towards his crotch, using the palm of his right hand to push the leg down and to the side until it just grazes the underside of his left thigh.

fighting with leorans was strange. unsouled felt like humans but hunters? once any leoran reached what they called ‘iron rank’ they became incredibly sturdy, and add a hunter’s experience to that? it was easy to walk away with broken limbs if he took any of their hits directly. this was part of the reason he’d turned back to his roots. while the first fighting style he’d learned wasn’t his preferred, its use of the opponent’s momentum and carefully timed redirections were useful against the leorans.

accepting the knee to his abdomen, vito moves with her as their locked knees bring them both back to the ground. her elbow digs into his back and he rounds into the pain, lifting both his bodyweight and her own until he’s on his elbows and knees instead of his stomach. there’s a moment of hesitation - or rather, a pause - and the beastkin uses the opportunity to reach back and pin her right arm between his right arm and torso. 

pushing off with his left leg, he keeps her right arm trapped and moves his upper body underneath hers until he can grab the clothing near her lower back. his right elbow locked around her forearm and right shoulder in her armpit forces her head down, and the grip he has on her lower back keeps her hips away from him. Instead of lifting her right arm and forcing the hunter into a prone position, he lashes out with a booted left foot, aiming his heel towards the side of her leg brace right at the knee joint.

followed by a silent click as a few clasps jump out of place, the leoran woman gasps out an ‘enough’ when his heel comes in contact with her leg brace. the pain isn’t as striking as she expected, though it is quite noticeable, and she has to lay on the earthy ground for a good minute before she can slowly manage to sit up again. “amazing.” still quite out of breath, the woman gets some dirt off of her fingers through wiping them on her trousers, “admirable. your technique truly is something.” dexter approaches her to help and she gently shushes him away, shaking her head. “go get some rest, jonathan has some things planned for tomorrow.” the smile she gifts him is gentle, though there’s some nostalgia hidden in her eyes. what could i have been? she still wonders.

after rolling up her trousers, she slowly undoes all safety measures the brace has, and it comes off so she can place it on the ground. “in my family, loosing was never an option. i think i’m the first one to actually see the truth behind the saying ‘you learn from your own mistakes’. i was forced to make accommodations, quite a lot at that. what keeps me going is that with enough patience i will have an actual chance to regain my ability and i will have knowledge and experience that other hunters will hopefully never gain.” the scar on her leg is prominent, reaches from her ankle to her lower thigh, wide and deep, deep enough to see more movement beneath her skin than you should be able to see. “are you familiar with coleobrizi?” celia asks, focused on checking on her skin and if there’s any heat damage, “i hear some of the other hunters talk about me. i hear them using me as a bad example, telling the younger hunters about my accident and blaming me for another hunter’s injuries. personally, i don’t blame the girl that probably caused all of this. she was young, scared and lacked knowledge and experience, maybe even intelligence, i’m not quite sure. maybe she was simply afraid of the exact same thing happening to her. she quit and never came back, but i made sure to let her know that if she wanted to come back, i would welcome her with open arms.”

holding out her hands after she put the brace back on, she offered him a gentle nod. “come on, help me get up. i’ll show you my workshop.”

[msgallo]

amala-thevar​:

collective date: november 24th, 2022 the allies gala, after dinner @msgallo​

The councilwoman clapped, along with most of the rest of the room, as the band finished their song and this round of dancing came to an end; her smile wide. She added an extra round of applause as the wife of her current conversation partner– a diplomat wearing a smart looking Collective pin on her lapel– came to rejoin their little group. 

Amala had wasted no time since arriving to the gala earlier that evening in making sure that she surrounded herself with a mix of faces that she knew, and ones that she didn’t. Yet. Networking had always one of her strong suits, and this show of friendship and unity was like a gift from the gods of old. But as she turned to complete the circle, she caught eye of a face she had only once known, many moons ago, and only barely recognized now. She wasn’t surprised to see her here, not exactly. As the niece of a sitting councilor– practically a daughter, really– she had more than every right to attend. Some might have even expected it. Judging by the surprised element to her smile, Amala wasn’t one of those people– certainly not with the woman looking like that.

She politely excused herself from the small group of diplomats, and crossed the room. The approach was slow as Amala allowed herself the time to properly admire the dark dress the other was wearing (and the form beneath it); her eyes following the thin crisscross of fabric cutting across her otherwise bare back. 

“Celia Gallo.” She started with a nostalgic lilt, her eyes darting back up and settling on the gathering of curls instead. Her smile grew as she waited for Celia to turn around. “Seas, it’s been ages! Look at you; you’re a vision!”

being left alone by tiago was both a blessing and a curse, given that she now felt like shark food thrown off a boat in the middle of the ocean. it wasn’t that she disliked connecting with new collective members, he just protected her from every conversation she really didn’t want to have. celia was having one of them right now - of course he had been invited. he just had to be. doomed to meet not one, but two of her ex-boyfriends in one evening, she currently suffers through everything professor henry maccay has to say to her after not speaking a word with her for twenty years. when he finally leaves after picking up on her disinterest, she’s not happy to hear her name again, but when she turns, the expression on her face kind, but fake, it quickly turns into a real, wide smile.

“amala?! oh my, it’s really you!” the woman turns to hand her empty glass of champagne she was just holding to a bypassing waitress, thanks her with the smile still on her lips and turns back to amala to pull her in for a gentle but tight hug. she’s not sure if it’s appropriate, but it feels righter than an awkward and professional greeting. “me, a vision? have you seen yourself?”, she asks as she slowly lets go of her, “i’m literally about to ask you for your hand in marriage with you looking like that.” celia makes no secret of checking her out, though she’s not obscenely doing so. 

what amala doesn’t see is the guilty conscience that pops up inside of her chest as soon as they talk to each other - reminding her of why they haven’t seen each other in so long when they once where good friends, best friends even. 

“you’re truly gorgeous, honey. how are you? what have you been up to all these years? asides from hopefully getting on my aunts nerves, obviously.”

[msgallo]

tiagoixora​:

“Oh, come now,” Tiago says, and if he’s preening a bit under how casually Celia had dropped that little endearment in there, well – it’s not much different from his usual preening. “You love when people are obnoxious. You can’t get enough of being able to point out how very lacking those obnoxious folks are at absolutely everything that might save them from being so obnoxious. It keeps your sense of superiority intact.”

She’s as tall as he is in her heels, possibly skimming a titch taller, but Tiago’s far from perturbed about it. “I can’t decide,” he murmurs, possibly in a bid to distract Celia from her piqued mood, “which one I like best about this dress. The fact that there’s so many trails to follow–” he draws his fingertips along the curlicues, down the side of her thigh and almost under the curve of her backside, “–or the places where I can feel how warm you are.” 

He travels his hand upwards, along her back, the exposed golden skin there. Into the dip of her spine. She seems slightly tensed there to Tiago, and he wonders if she really is, if her leg is starting to trouble her, or if it’s his imagination. “Perhaps we could find you that private area. So I can find some private areas as well.”

Tiago presses a kiss to her cheek, smiling into it, and scopes the dance hall for somewhere out-of-the-way, deciding on a quieter balustrade they can shore up against. An interloper tries to ask Celia for a dance on the way, but Tiago brushes them aside with alacrity, intent on keeping Celia for himself. “I think we’ve been doing well,” he remarks as they duck against some gilded curtains, finally able to catch a breath. “With the publicity, that is. We were noticed arriving together, dining together, dancing together. Do you think your aunt disapproves?” He’s curious, really, how much of the night’s behaviour was all performance, what it is that Celia might have to prove. “You certainly aren’t taking any pains to be surreptitious about being out to be noticed. Eh?”

He taps lightly at her ring’s scale indicator, the direction it was lowered.

the man’s analysis earns a wrinkled nose and a silent scoff as she tips her head to the side. ironically it’s to the left, just like the scale indicator on her ring. “what is this flattery you’re up to today?” whatever it is, it’s is very much working and she voluntarily leans into his touch, enjoys it even. the filthy comment he makes earns another scoff, but her mood is appeased immediately as soon as the frowning iniko yahaya, who is no other than her ex-boyfriend, is shushed away.

“you have no idea who that was, do you?”, she questions, vividly amused by the expression on the man’s face. he’s successful, a very successful politician and a man of law - and very much lacking competence. 

“i have no idea what my aunt thinks.” blatant lie. “if i offer you a trade and you call in favors, i do whatever you ask for, no matter how much i distaste it. and i will do it well, that is for sure. i do not do things by halves.” now that the public gaze isn’t on her back for at least a few minutes, she allows herself to slump into his arms, with her hands resting on his shoulders and her body pressed against theirs. “my justice.”, she murmurs against his lips, “is cruel truth.”

before she can go further, something outside the curtain sparks her interest and she gently presses her pointy finger against tiago’s lips.

local time: 24 november 2022. 23:00 location: city center. collective embassy. allies gala. dance hall.

You notice a pair of men in a shadowy corner having what they seem to believe is a stealthy, hushed conversation. Their huddled postures and slurred whispers suggest one or both have had a few too many drinks or are otherwise intoxicated. Curious, you draw a little closer until you can make out their words.

Speaking in native Sotiris Leoran, the two men are arguing about whether or not to sneak into the kitchens. They express concern about the security levels and whether or not its worth taking the risk, especially since they hadn’t known a member of the Collective Council would be in attendance tonight.

“It’s not like doing it again is gonna change anyone else’s mind. Last time worked, they’ve already sent it to the hospital to be researched. Maybe it’s better to wait.”

“native leoran.”, she notes, still hidden behind a curtain, but now a few steps closer to where the voices are coming from. interest sparkles in her eyes and her fingers travel across his chest as she listens to them talk. “let’s talk about private areas later, yeah, tiago? this comes first.”

[isaacapatow]

@msgallo

[msgallo]

* more wine and more meetings ft. @tiagoixora on november 24th, collective embassy

“have you thought of what you want to be when you grow up?”

celia remembers the panic that came with the question every time her mother had asked her about it. “no.”, she had always answered, though she rather should have explained that she did think about her future a lot. she simply wasn’t quite sure about what career she wanted to pursue. after her parents death she chose an answer she could give whenever someone outside her family asked her - law - something that would impress and keep her image upright. if someone had told her teenage self what she would be up to instead, though, she would have given the person to tell her one of her signature skeptical looks, one of those she gave her mirror right before she left.

all the love and details she carries on her body through outfit tonight make her feel perfectly comfortable in her own skin, though. with some help she has managed to perfect the mana bundling in her brace, with it now costing her much less energy and effort than it did before. the only thing missing are the materials - the ones she will get from tiago sooner or later. 

speaking of tiago - while she herself looks absolutely breathtaking, he does look fairly amazing. his watch may be a little special, but his outfit choice is well enough to cover up for it. all in all, their outfit colors compliment hers, and her own outfit is too good for her to complain. this is just for today, she reminds herself, a little publicly stunt, lasting no longer than necessary. 

their arms are interlocked as she thinks about the many things she’d love to do instead of whatever this was - business, she has to remind herself. it’s almost 23:00 a clock and she has survived the meal without being poisoned with whatever collective drug the outworlders may have to offer other than dorian. one hour is left until she can get out of the uncomfortable shoes, tight dress and free her curls, finish up her day with some meditation and then well deserved sleep. a deep sigh leaves her lips when the outworlder couple they were just talking too excuses themselves.

“obnoxious people and obnoxious things they had to say.”, she complains to tiago, smile fading, “i would rather talk to you alone in a more private area than to any of them here, love.”

[msgallo]

* family shenanigans ft. gloria gallo ( @sotirisdeleora​ ) on november 24th, collective embassy

when celia had her first boyfriend, she had just turned 19. she had chosen iniko yahaya out of her multiple admirers, much to her aunts dismay. the young man was barely older (about to turn twenty) and pursued the career celia still considered choosing as well - law and politics. while he was attractive and very much booksmart, his interpersonal skills sucked as much as his understanding of people. he was a literal stone, at least personality and taste wise (or just really bad at gift giving, since neither gloria or celia appreciated the obnoxious neon colored things he got each of them for their birthdays). sadly, the younger leoran woman’s sight had been blinded by young love (which led to them hanging out 24/7 in celia’s room, where they spent a huge amount of time giggling. as if that hadn’t been enough, his family also joined them for every festivity possible - celia still vividly remembered that one valentine’s day where iniko scattered multiple thousand rose petals all across gloria’s place which he definitely did not help throw out after (she found rotten petals everywhere even months later).

though she finally realized what an idiot she was dating after a year, she dated him for a little longer, just to annoy gloria a little. she loved her aunt, of course, but she also loved getting on her nerves. 

after her accident, she had vehemently declined any help from gloria, though she’s sure that their bond has gotten thicker after all. that’s why she’s a little nervous to face her today - she’s in company, and she’s sure at least one of the people at the festival has told gloria about tiago’s and her..vivid discussion. they’re not dating, but public might think so, and she’s sure that gloria is a little traumatized by her dating history (there was this one female engineer as well, which she dated for eight years and ended up leaving because who impulse buys twenty cats and moves to the other side of the planet just because?? followed by a very attractive professor who turned out to be a complete wimp after he cried for two full hours after cutting his finger on a piece of paper). she’s not proud of her dating history, but out of all three exes, iniko definitely is her favorite.

nevertheless, she still approaches gloria (as quiet as possible, just to scare her a little), who is standing with her back turned towards her, leans forward and says loudly: “have you tried to advance your cultivation rank through dorian yet or is that a niece and aunt activity we should schedule for next sunday?”

[msgallo]

Copy and paste this into your own post. Bold what applies to your muse and cross out things they never do. This task is optional.  

DEFENSIVENESS.    arms  crossed  on  chest  /   crossing  legs  /  fist-like  gestures   /  pointing  index  finger  /   karate  chops   /   stiffening  of  shoulders /   tense  posture  /  curling  of  lip    /  baring  of  teeth

REFLECTIVE.    hand  to  face  gestures   /   head  tilted   /   stroking chin   /  peering  over   glasses   /   taking  glasses  off —  cleaning  (she has fancy magnifying glasses for detail work) /   putting  earpiece  of  glasses  in  mouth   /   pipe smoker  gestures   /   putting  hand  to  the  bridge  of  nose   /   pursed  lips /   knitted  brows  .

SUSPICION.     arms  crossed   /   sideways  glance   /   touching  or  rubbing  nose   /  rubbing  eyes   /   hands  resting  on  weapon   /  brows  rising  /   lips  pressing  into  a  thin  line   /   strict  unwavering  eye  contact   /   wrinkling  of  nose

OPENNESS  +  COOPERATION.    open  hands   /   upper  body  in  sprinters  position  /   sitting  on  the  edge  of  a  chair  /   hand-to-face gestures   /   unbuttoned  coat   /   tilted  head   /   slacked  shoulders  /   droopy  posture   /   feet  pointed  outward /   palms  flat  and  facing  outward

CONFIDENCE.    hands  behind  back   /   hands  on  lapels  of  coat   /   steepled  hands   /   barring  teeth  in  a  grin  /   rolling  shoulders   /   tipping  head  back  but  maintaining  eye   contact   /   chest  puffed  up   /   shoulders  back /   arms  folded   just  above  navel

INSECURITY  +  ANXIETY.    chewing  pen  or  pencil  /   rubbing  thumb  over  opposite  thumb   /   biting  fingernails   /   hands  in  pockets   /   elbow  bent   /   closed  gestures   /   clearing  throat   /   pacing    /    “ whew ”  sound   /  picking  or  pinching  flesh   /   fidgeting  in  chair  /   hand  covering  mouth  whilst  speaking   /   poor  eye  contact   /   tugging  at  pants  whilst  seated   /   jingling  money  in  pockets   /   tugging  at  ear  /   perspiring  hands /   playing  with  hair    /  swaying   /   playing  with  pointer   /   smacking  lips   /   sighing   /   rocking  on  balls  of  feet  /   flexing  fingers  sporadically

FRUSTRATION.    short  breaths   /   “ tsk ”  sounds /   tightly  clenched  hands  /   fist-like  gestures   /   pointing  index  finger   /   running  hand  through  hair   /   rubbing  back  of  neck   /   snarling   /   revealing  teeth   /   grimacing   /    sharp-eyed   glowers  with  notable  tension  in  brows   /   shoulders  back  ,   head  up   /   defensive  posturing   /   clenching  of  jaw   /   grinding  of  teeth  /   nostrils  flaring  /   heavy  exhales

[msgallo]

tiagoixora​:

He has aged well. Tiago has no real doubts on that front, self-assured enough that he never has to bother advocating on behalf of his own attractiveness. Still, it’s always nice when people acknowledge his good looks, and he certainly has no problem doling out compliments as well; people are appealing for many reasons, and Tiago likes telling them so. Liberal applications of honey keep things moving smoothly and sweetly.

The two of them look good dancing together, and that’s just as satisfying as being able to accommodate what Celia needs to enjoy herself. He can feel the shift in her muscles once she gets that little reprieve, and Tiago’s pretty sure he can see the relief in her face. “As far as self-promotion goes,” he murmurs, “this isn’t a bad idea. But we’ll call it a bonus unexpected opportunity rather than any sort of concerted plan.” 

Celia’s leaning into it, the increasing intimacy of their byplay, and that gets Tiago’s motors humming; her hand low on his belly is right over a coil of heat, one fed by the way her body’s so warm, her scent fogging the air between them. She’s talking work, though, and that adds a certain glass-shard sharpness that keeps their wits at the forefront. It’s exactly the kind of mix of business and suggestion that Tiago loves to engage in.

“Robust platinum,” he repeats. “I can do that. Some specifications would be necessary to get you exactly what you’re looking for, and it won’t be a doddle, it’ll take some work. But I can do it.”

She hasn’t moved back. They’re still exchanging a soft circulation of breathy promise. “I don’t go back on my word, Lia. Whatever you want, whatever that is, even if it’s more than platinum.” Tiago spreads his hand out in the small of her back, feeling the delicate material of her dress ruck against her skin at the movement and press of his fingers. “And I’ll tell you the favour I’ll request. We can negotiate exceptions, if you like, but I must have it.”

Tiago moves his lips to the graceful shell of her ear and says: “Accompany me to the Allies Gala. I want you on my arm.” The scent of her is maddening. “I want you to give me what I want, Celia.” Her name is lost, crushed into formless sound when he kisses her.

“i wonder, dearest tiago..” her words are merely audible as she whispers against his lips, “is my name that desirable or are you down that bad?”

for a minute, she wonders if there’s more he can do for her. he has connections she never considered important, but now that she thinks about it, they might come in handy. her ultimate goal is to become society’s favorite, not famous, but known. when people think of the name gallo, they think of gloria gallo, and they probably always will, but what will people think of when they see engraved scales, twisted to one or the other side? if she actually gifts him one of her weapons, chances are he will carry it with pride - pure advertisement.

she cannot deny that she enjoys his touches and words - the leoran has always liked feeling special, and tiago had always been good at making people feel more wanted than they usually were. in general, he was good at many things, and she was curious to see what else he might be good at.

he doesn’t see the face she makes as soon as she hears his request, but she covers it with a gentle laugh as he backs up from her ear and turns to look at her again. easy, simple and barely a good request, at least in her eyes. she offered him so much more than a simple favor like that, but after all she doesn’t know what he has in mind for the evening. 

celia’s fingers travel further down until they reach his belt; she waits and then kisses back more gentle than he does. the woman waits a while before she departs, soft smile lingering on her lips. “careful what you offer.”, she murmurs between short kisses, hands still on him. “or i might actually ask for more.” her gaze travels downwards to her hand, which tingles his skin with energy and mana before she lets go, taking a step back. 

“pick me up on time, don’t show up looking obnoxious.” 

she steps away, obviously about to leave, turns around without a goodbye, but does come to a halt and faces him again.

“oh, and tiago? if you want to discuss..further terms and conditions, i’m sure you can find out where i live.”

THE END.

[msgallo]

⚖ ALLIES GALA

⚖ accompanied by her mother’s raven ring, she wears one of her three scales rings (this one’s left side being turned downwards, symbolizing that her intentions for the evening are neither good nor neutral, but bad. ).

⚖ if one looks closely, the designer of her dress incorporated ‘C’-like swirls on her shoes and swirls similar to scales on her dress. 

⚖ hidden beneath her dress is an updated version of her leg brace. she’s currently waiting for new materials she can work with to finally finish it up. 

[msgallo]

tiagoixora​:

Tiago takes her scolding on her family’s behalf without protest; he forgets, sometimes, that other people actually want to stick up for their blood relatives. His own are so distant at this point, so far removed from his day-to-day life, that it’s occasionally startling to recall that they still exist. Somewhere on Sotiris. Probably exactly where he left them. “You’re right,” he gives, easily, putting up no fight. “And I do know your aunt, after all. She’s never wanted for the public’s eye on her, admiring or not.” 

(If he had, in fact, nursed an enormous crush on Gloria Gallo in those days of his youth, well. That was nobody’s business but their own.)

He wouldn’t have thought that confession that she wasn’t quite the big name as her aunt would make Celia self-conscious, but perhaps it does? Because she’s back to giving him backhanded fake-out compliments that turn quickly into teasing. Or maybe it’s something else that’s got her on the defensive. Tiago considers, measures, and readjusts his dance step to take some of the weight from her feet, particularly that left one she’s favouring. It’s not a big deal. There’s many dances that allow one partner to take the brunt of the weight. 

“I’ll have to take your word for it,” he says blandly instead. “Not being much of a beauty myself.”

Her pain aside, Celia fixes him with her dark eyes and Tiago’s always appreciated that, a forthright stare, so he looks at her as they whirl and she notches down the volume. Challenges him directly, and when she leans closer to tell him she wants something from him, it’s the simplest thing in the world for Tiago to tip his head so his nose strokes a line against hers, and if either of them move just a fraction their lips would brush together as he murmurs, “Whatever you want, Lia. Don’t you know that by now?”

shaking her head, the woman lets her right hand rest against his chest for a few moments. “liar. you have aged well.”

the mixture of honesty, entangled sentences and straight up lies she uses to get what she wants may confuse and charm some, but tiago has always been good at handling her and her tempers. what warms her heart, though, is the way they smoothly readjust their movements to take some weight off of celia’s feet, leaving her to be a less stressed about her injury. it bothers her, having to be so mindful about something that should be long forgotten. but how could she forget something she sees every time she looks into a mirror? she went from avoiding a mirror because of the similarities with her mother to avoiding a mirror because of something she could have avoided if she would have been focused.

celia snaps out of her thoughts as he leans forward to reduce the distance between their faces even more. her gaze slowly moves down to his lips before she breathes out a gentle laugh. keeping the volume of her voice low, she speaks directly against his lips, but makes sure they don’t touch as she gently mocks his earlier question. “this isn’t a public relations thing to promote your restaurant, is it?” but that’s it with the mockery and all the bickering, she switches to a more kind and gentle behavior, something that seems almost loving.

“whatever i want? you sure?” his words are dangerous in her hands, no matter if he meant them or not, she will make sure to make good use of them. 

her hand travels downwards, rests on his lower stomach as she continues to speak. “there’s a certain kind of robust platinum i desire. i have no idea where to get it and how to get it, but i will pay whatever price it’s worth. and, i will do one thing for you.” the leoran woman’s fingers trace his muscles through the material of his shirt as her gaze trails off. maybe she’s a little weak-hearted today, maybe it’s him that makes her a little weak.

“do you a favor. with exceptions.”

[msgallo]

tiagoixora​:

“Ah, well … Iri’s.” Tiago imitates the little twist in Celia’s voice, finding it well-suited to the other restaurant. “You never did have much ability to sort the wheat from the chaff. That’s why we went our separate ways, isn’t it?”

All the same, he’s curious about her intentions, and it’s for the best that they’re having this conversation in the open. Celia with an audience was manageable; Celia in private could be more of a trial. Tiago wasn’t sure he’d ever met somebody so invested in coming out on top of every conversation.

–she hasn’t lost any of that predilection, he notes, as she takes another jab at his quality of taste. He shrugs it off, sifting through the teasing to find the kernel of what’s interesting to him. “I’m not sure why you’d make me an offer in the first place,” he notes, still toeing the line of caution before he commits himself to anything. Even with Celia, even with how long they’ve known each other; what he does is rife with the possibility of landing him in trouble, and, after all … she’s a Gallo. There’s no easy getting around that. “I’m all set for tiaras, though. It’s hard to find one that sits right on my curls.”

Tiago makes a noncommittal sound at Celia’s mention of the Iri chocolate cake (it is awfully good, but he doesn’t like copycatting other restaurants; it might be fun to bake one to send to flagship Iri, though) and watches her set her unfinished bumbleberry tea down. He reads it as an end to their conversation, so he’s, unusually, caught off-balance when Celia asks him to dance.

“Of course,” he says reflexively, staring out at the crowd instead of at her. Then he downs his wine in a decisive motion and loops an arm around her back, guiding them towards the dancers and the music. “I didn’t think you’d be this eager to get close to me,” Tiago says once they’ve gotten into frame, once she’s in his arms, once they’re moving. He’s smiling; she’s beautiful, the music’s nice, the wine is tingling against the roof of his mouth. “This isn’t all in aid of some public relations thing for your family, is it?”

while his comment on why they went separate ways stays unanswered, she’s already sketching out a tiara in her thoughts, the corners of her lips noticeably twitching upwards at the thought of him wearing it. celia makes a mental note to actually send him one as soon as she gets around to it, made out of the low-quality scrap metals and fake jewels she has. self-explanatory ‘on the house’ bicker - and she has gotten quite good at making cheap things look expensive.

“first things first.”, she begins, very focused on moving her leg as if it’s unaffected (the alcohol helps a little with that, given she’s had quite some of it already), “my aunt does not need to rely on me for the public’s liking or to get proper connections. she is the gloria gallo, not just a gallo. it could be a public relations thing for me though, so tiago, always make sure to smile for the cameras, yeah?” it’s not and she’s sure he knows that. but she’s far from caring. he’s good at dancing, so she notices, and she likes it - before their passing, her parents made her complete various dance courses herself and she has stuck to dancing now and then. “second is, you’re hot. body temperature wise, of course, which comes in quite handy, given that i have been freezing horribly all night. but beauty is pain, isn’t it?”

tiago couldn’t possibly know she’s referencing to the pain she’s experiencing due to her footwear, or he might as well have noticed by know - her movements on her left side are a little stiffer than normal and the leoran woman refrains from excessive movements.

though she’s usually a bit shorter than him, her heels make them the same height, and she uses that as an advantage to look hin directly in the eyes. celia has lots of practice doing so, but gets distracted quickly, too focused on keeping her posture in a perfect condition.

“is it my name that makes you mistrust me or me as a person? given we haven’t seen each other in ages i’d assume it’s the first option, which tiago, really? prejudices?” the women leans forward just enough so he can still understand her when she speaks with a lowered voice (there’s not really a need for it, she just really likes exaggerating a little). when the time is right, she really is no secretive person.

“there’s something that i want. and i think you could get it for me.”

[msgallo]

russovito​:

vito returns the nod and the fight begins. while he’s sparred against leorans using their martial techniques, he prefers to avoid it for sparring matches while unarmed himself. mana isn’t something he hasn’t had much experience fighting against relatively speaking, but its a force that has proven quite formidable when unarmored and unarmed. he’d be jealous if he didn’t know his poison would incapacitate a leoran just as quickly as it would any other being - something proven during his meeting with tiago and his large assailant.

vito studies her feet, her hips, and her shoulders as she moves. she’s faster than he would’ve estimated given her leg impairment, but he adjusts his mental calculations accordingly as she lunges towards him. motions are often telegraphed before they’re performed, especially in the inexperienced, but her movements don’t reveal as much as the younger hunters from before had. the beastkin has enough warning that her feint doesn’t fool him, but only just enough. moving gracefully, he steps into her space and, grabbing her right arm and the back of her shirt, he turns his back towards her and uses her momentum to bring them both to the ground. this throwing technique is the harsher option of the two options that flashed through his mind, and he chose it because it would send her left leg crashing into the ground more violently than the alternative.

they land, but instead of holding her arm captive he releases it, popping up and creating a few feet of distance between the pair. this has more to do with the honor of a sparring match (something leorans tend to value more highly than vito values anything) than his intention to win. additionally, observing how her brace, and how she, responds to the throw, will tell him how far he can push the sparring match. the throw is a painful one without the addition of a leg injury, and he was not gentle, so depending on how well that brace truly works, the fight may already be over.

he has no intention of worsening what looks to be a serious injury just because he can, but he will take a sparring match seriously no matter who the challenger may be. 

to say that celia has very obviously underestimated him is an understatement as well. it’s not the strength that comes so unexpected, it’s the fighting technique that’s quite obviously new to her - she’s not prepared to meet the ground so soon, but she does take it well. the woman doesn’t have to calculate long to find out which leg she’s going to land on. his foot against her lower leg hurts, but as the rest of it hits the ground, her mana is already channelled, bundled in her lower body and enforced into the leg brace. the energy is pushed back beneath her skin as soon as she hits the ground, but it’s rather uncomfortable than painful. prepared to use a ground combat technique on him her elbow pushes back and reaches for nothing. “i see.”, she breathes out between two movements, “afraid to fight a disabled woman?” her tone is as teasing as it can get in such a situation, before she then does what she assumes he least expects - she strikes the foot of her left reg towards his more sensitive areas, but it’s only coverup for the way she pushes her body forward through her right foot, risking the moment she’s slightly underneath him.

the leoran’s next move is ramming her knee into his right abdomen, linking their knees and maneuvering him onto his stomach with her whole body weight. she knows he probably backed up due to another reason (many of the younger hunters are shy to do the final strike simply out of respect and even the older fighters are always careful to be respectful), but a little bickering is never bad.

it has been quite a while since she has had an actual fight against someone on her level. she has started to get back into training with kallie, one of the students that were in her group during the day she had the accident. she’s an excellent fighter and has performed well on multiple missions in the wilds recently, and since she has seen what celia has been through she’s more than willing to help her get back into fighting. when she first started working on her brace, the young girl had joined her often, too, handing her the things she needed. her big ‘thank you’ had been a gorgeous personalized sword, made out of the finest metal she could find, in kallie’s favorite colors and with her favorite handle material. the woman had been all over the moon, showing the weapon off whenever she could and enjoyed being envied by the other low-levels. it had made celia proud as well - it was her work that she was so fond off.

back to the fight; her elbow is pushing in a part of his back she knows is sensitive and reacts to pressure, before she can place her other arm on the back of his neck, pain strikes through her leg as the mana subsides for a moment, and she’s distracted for more than just one second.

[msgallo]

rozwhitlock​:

time/date: nov 4; 15:05  location: restauraunt iri @msgallo​​

it’s a small thing. friday night, the restaurant is busy. if there isn’t a seat after all, it doesn’t have to mean anything. it’s more frustrating that the hostess first asked who else was with them, gaze drifting past roz’s shoulders like she was expecting to find a chaperone—followed immediately by a string of unnecessary clarifications, as if realizing what she was doing. by the end of it, roz is fairly certain she was more uncomfortable than they were, and it’s a relief when they slip back outside.

roz hasn’t gone far from the restaurant when they pause again though, distracted by the sight of a woman seemingly in the midst of readjusting the brace wrapped around her leg. the technology looks leoran in nature. admittedly, they’d lost their childhood interest in the specifics of leoran tech in other the years—although with the revelation of energy cores, that’s changed too. whatever the purpose of the brace though, it doesn’t seem like it’s behaving the way the woman wants. 

“need any help?” roz says. where she appears dressed up for the night, roz hasn’t bothered. they aren’t in work clothes, but they’re comfortable, and they usually have extra tools tossed in their bag for convenience in case they forget to pack something the morning of a shift—and maybe there’s a little sentimentality too, in at least one case. 

roz nods towards the brace, uncertain how to offer without crossing the same boundary they’d been so annoyed at the hostess for—assuming they couldn’t do something on their own. this woman clearly knows more than roz would about this technology. “i just mean i’ve got tools, if that would help with whatever you’re trying to do.”

“fuck.”

it isn’t any other day that a leoran woman falls in the middle of the street, face and arms first straight towards the ground. luckily she’s able to catch herself on a lantern before doing a complete facepalm, but she does catch a few teenager leorans giggling about the scenery. rubbing the dirt from her hands onto her pants ( they’re black and it looks like her evening is cancelled anyways), she tries to calm her breathing and fast beating heart. it takes her a while to reach a bench, given her leg brace allows her no movement at all.

“why do you have to be such a bitch about this?” celia mutters, searching her pockets for emergency tools, which only leads to the realization she has lost her dagger approximately fourteen meters away, right where she fell. her mana doesn’t help either, the slight enforcing she tries to do simply leads to hissing and even sizzling as the metal turns hot. right as she hears someone approaching, she pulls build in emergency switch, just to avoid potential burns. carefully placing the pieces in front of her, she’s too focused to immediately look up. 

“no worries, you’re not insulting me.”, she answers, catching the way the stranger is using their words so carefully. celia’s fingers hover about the metal, tingling with mana as she searches for the issue. her scar is now out in the open and it’s obvious how bad the injury had been before it healed, pieces of skin and muscle missing, as well as deeper tissues. it reaches all the way up to her thigh. “i hope you don’t have a sensitive stomach, it looks quite gruesome if you’re not used to it.”, she murmurs. before she finally looks up.

the stranger looks weirdly familiar, though she cannot quite grasp why. maybe they look like someone she knows or she has seen them before. 

“what kind of tools do you have? i could use something sharp and maybe gloves?”

[msgallo]

tiagoixora​:

“Hiding from you? Have I ever seemed like the kind of man who’d hide from anyone.” Actually he has; but only if it would benefit him somehow, not particularly out of cowardice. And that’s the impression he wants to prevent Celia from having. One had to maintain face in order to have a proper engaging rivalry with a Gallo, after all.

He can feel her body shift again when he hugs her and he’s mindful of it, making sure he’s stabilized to take her weight in case it becomes necessary, but she’s fine (of course) and they separate with no incident. The warmth of her lingers, physically if not exactly emotionally. Tiago’d always liked that. Maybe it’s because she’s a Gallo, maybe it’s Celia’s own cautiousness when it comes to leaving herself too open, but he appreciates it. 

“They all know the truth,” Tiago counters when Celia points out that he hadn’t exactly been circumspect in his disdain for his peers. “It’s not a contest–” his tone says that clearly it is, “–but Jaffa’s reputation speaks for itself.” He cocks his head, eyeing her consideringly for a moment, and then selects a cup of something warm: a blue-purple drink, the rim sugared with something that smells puckishly sour. “You’ll like this,” Tiago promises. “Bumbleberry tea. It shears off all the thorns in your mood.” 

She’s sharp enough to make an offer, though, and Tiago hums and rocks back on his heels, swallowing the rest of his wine and taking another glass as he gestures for them to walk a little ways away from the stand. “Lia,” he says, fixing her with a direct stare, “this is a strange diversion for you, neh? Considering your family business is one that’s in direct opposition to such things.”

kind of, she wants to say, but keeps the answer to herself and gives him one of her half-minded laughs instead. celia knows he’s smart enough to see through it and to declare it as only half-honest, but she doesn’t mind it. even in the past they had both carefully guarded their emotions not only around each other, but around other people, too.

“it does?” the corners of her mouth betray her as they jerk up slightly, taking away the sincerity of her wry question as she reaches for the cup he’s offering her. “flagship jaffa? hm..i had my best meal in town at iri’s.” she stresses the last word of her sentence a little funny, since she made the mistake to smell the drink as she was talking. “but that doesn’t surprise me after you revealed your taste in wine just now.” her charming smile makes a re-appearance, just this time without the showing of teeth. “thank you, still, i’ll make sure to feel honored about your choice whenever this memory resurfaces..” acting as if she’s trailing off, she lets her gaze wander over the crowd, before his gesture does make her follow him - though she makes sure to walk next to him instead of behind him.

his stare is returned, though her gaze is much softer and than his. she has nothing to loose, only things to win. “my offers never come without a price.”, she makes clear, “though i would feel very honored to design a little something for you. perhaps a compass that will lead you to find your taste buds? a tiara to underline your personality?”

scrunching up her nose for the matter of a second, she shakes her head. “it would be very sad if you decline, given i just got my fingers on this chocolate cake recipe iri’s is using for their deserts. they could not withstand both my charm and my name.” placing her half-empty cup on a table, she gestures towards the part of the crowd that had started dancing. 

“do you dance, tiago, or is that where your confidence comes to a halt?”

[msgallo]

January 2022 The Collective's Vanguard Starfleet ship Tenax Propositi landed on Sotiris, a large island on your home planet of Leora. Where were you when the ship landed? Did you see the ship enter the atmosphere or hear about it through your implant?How did you feel when you found out there were other races in the galaxy? Did you agree with the Sotiris Council's decision to join the Collective, even if the alternative was war?

always quite focused on her own life, celia’s thoughts never really travelled far enough to think about other species in the universe existing, and even if she did, she shushed them away quickly. it wasn’t that she hated the thought of meeting new species, quite the opposite, she would feel enlightened about all the new languages, traditions and fighting techniques she could learn - it simply was a tiny part of her heart that feared destruction of her home planet.

when tenax propositi entered the atmosphere, she laid in bet. as usual, her blinds were only down halfway. for mere seconds, her whole room was shiningly bright, before it went back to normal again. the sound arrived a minute later, accompanied by a silent rumble. 

“tena?”, she called for her house robot, while she slowly tried to move her legs out of the bed. within the last three months her progress had been small. the woman ignored the pain rushing through her back and her left leg, checking her bandages for wet patches. little buzzing noises came closer and closer before her bedroom door opened and the small robot made and appearance, staring at her all googly eyed. “hey honey. just..get me one of my crutches and i’ll balance my other hand on your head, kay?” 

while she had to spend the complete first month after her accident in a hospital bed, the oldest weapons manufacturer had visited her. they had always been on good terms. after celia had moved out and gloria had little time to meditate with her, she did so with him, never really liking the feeling of sitting all alone in silence. she occasionally brought him things she found during her hunt, purchased materials and received weapons in favor for that. “celita, dear.”, kazeem had said to her after their first meditation session in a while, “it’s time for me to leave sotiris. i am here to tell you that you should not be afraid to face the truth - hunting again soon is utopian. it will take years for you to be able to walk properly again. it’s tough for your soul, that i know, but i will make your suffering easier.” the man had taken her hand, squeezed it and smiled. “i will not leave you with empty hands. take my workshop and do whatever your heart desires. i know you were going to ask for help with something for your leg, but i want you to do it yourself. i’m sure you’ll make yourself a name.” leaving her no time to decline, he raised from the edge of her bed. “and while you’re at it, i taught tena some extra features that might come in handy. make sure to take good care of her.”

and she did take good care of tena, as well as of herself. the light blue robot had more than just a few handy new features. while she had to dig through the workshop and everything kazeem left behind on her own, the robot brought her the clutter, screws and tools she asked for. it wasn’t medically trained, but could hold a bandage, cleaned her apartment while she wasn’t capable and watered all her plants. bonus points were the cute noises it made - and it helped her feel less alone in a time where she wasn’t able to go out much.

today the robot had to function as he second crutch, making movement easier for her as soon as she was out of bed. tapping over to the largest window of her apartment, she looked up into the sky to see nothing. it had taken her so long to get out of bed that the starship had already landed, leaving her with assumptions to make until the implant announced what she had thought of.

why now, she had thought, why now out of all times when i’m left injured like this. what celia hadn’t considered at that time was all the inventions the collective members brought with them and how much more progress she made in the first few months of them being there. thankful for the medical help, new weapons and inventions, she considers the council’s decision to join the collective good - and even if she didn’t, she wouldn’t mention it in front of anyone except tena anyways.

“maybe better times are coming.”, she had murmured towards the robot as she watched the sky for another sign and it went to check on some plants, “we will be okay, sweetie.”