in my dark times.

mobile navigation It had been fourty-two years since a string of murders and disappearances plagued the town of Rosecastle, MA. Then, suddenly, it happened again. With the count of the missing and dead rising, people are on edge. And everyone is a suspect.

[pridefulvalerio]

Pride had just finished having dinner at Primavista with someone he intended to use for his benefit. If he was to ever help Greed topple the town and take it, he would need some allies. On the way out of the restaurant, he spotted a lovely woman and held the door open for her, a pleasant smile on his face - until he realized who it was. “Humility,” he groaned, the smile now fading from his lips, “I guess they let just anyone live in Wildemount, don’t they? I’d like you to know this is my territory. I claim it for my siblings and for my father, so I advise you to leave.”  @celeste-lee​

[pridefulvalerio]

Pride had only seen a few of his siblings since coming top side and he wasn’t exactly sure he was looking forward to seeing the others. He felt embarrassed as of late, considering he was beginning to feel things. It seemed as though Death had tempted his very heart, if he had one beyond his vessel. Still, imagine his surprise when he was in All In Bloom, purchasing a bouquet for the horseman when he spotted another one of his family members out of the corner of his eye. “Lust,” he grumbled, turning to face her. She was the one he dreaded most. The most in your face, the most appreciated, the most manipulative. Did the rest of them even have anything on her? Based on her vessel, probably not. “I hope you’ve already spoken with Father so you don’t get the scolding that I did,” he said coldly, not even thinking to give her a proper greeting. / @veilisfailling​

[pridefulvalerio]

horsemanxtia​:

Tia wasn’t prepared to see Valerio outside her office but she smiled politely and accepted the flowers. She nodded. “These are lovely, Valerio… Thank you.” She told him. 

When he asked about murdering someone, Tia’s eyes widened. Death’s mouth dropped and shot him a look. “Oh, please. You cannot be serious…” She started, letting out a small laugh. She started in the direction of her home, eager to get there to make herself a tea. “But yes… That is what would happen. Either myself of the reapers, it really all depends.” She admitted with a small smile. “Now tell me, how was your day?” Tia asked. “I hear enough about Death all day.” She admitted. 

Tia nodded. “Oh, if you’d like, I was planning on having some tea at my home… I wouldn’t mind the company. If you are interested in joining me?” She asked him. 

.

Pride could feel the cheeks of his vessel grow warm at the horseman’s response. What on Earth was happening to him?

His brows furrowed at what he perceived as her amusement. “Are you mocking me, Tia? It was a serious question. There are times where I would appreciate gazing upon your face and if murder was the only way to make it happen at the drop of a dime, I would not be opposed.” His feelings were slightly hurt at what he felt was teasing. Feelings. Those were new. 

“My day was... I suppose most would call it uneventful. I spent hours in front of a television, watching mindless shows, had a few drinks at the bar, and came to see you. I live a boring existence, my dear.” His face lit up at her invitation, something he never would have expected. “I don’t quite remember if I enjoy tea, but I will accompany you.” 

[pridefulvalerio]

lucifer-thedarkangel​:

Valerio’s response was the exact way to stroke Lucifer’s own ego and pride, a calculated decision most likely, though the fallen angel could not see past his own inflated self.  “Your apology has been appreciated and you are forgiven Pride.  You do not have to worry about fixing anything, it is all in the past now.  Tell me, my son, what are your plans while you’re in town?”  

.

Pride, unsurprisingly, knew how to get Lucifer off of his back, even just little. Bowing his head, he feigned a deep sigh. “Thank you, Father. I appreciate your grace in handling my indiscretions.” His attention turned back to the other man as he tilted his head to look him in the eye like a good little soldier. “Greed and I have been pondering a scheme to take over the town. Nothing is solidified yet, but if we’re going to make a move it needs to be now while the veils are down. The more people we can subvert, the stronger our chances of destroying the veils are.” 

[greedyxreyna]

“Okay brother,” Reyna said, moving to slide into the seat across from Valerio. “Let’s say I was to take you up on your offer for help. How would you go about doing that, exactly? I already have a royal gardener, and Wrath is ready and willing to be my right-hand woman and crush anyone who opposes me. Which, I’d rather it not come to violence, but it’s good to have someone on standby just in case. What do you have to bring to the table?” She folded her hands in front of her with a smile.

(( @pridefulvalerio​ ))

[pridefulvalerio]

“Sister, I almost feel as though you have little faith in me,” he said with a sigh. “Do you forget that it is in my very nature to manipulate people? To stroke their egos to the point of bending to my very will? I don’t need to use violence and I might be a bit more useful than Wrath.” He cocked his head to the side, giving her a bit of a cynical smirk. “I’m sure there’s a way I can convince nearly anyone to do what you want them to do. It’s all about sweet talking, little one.” 

[pridefulvalerio]

🤐 - tia

SEND 🤐 FOR AN UNSENT TEXT

[text] I wasn’t serious about the fact that I would kill someone to conjure you, you know.

[text] Unless you wanted me to. And then I might kill whoever you want.

[text] You know. Out of respect and admiration, not lust.

[pridefulvalerio]

Since coming topside, Valerio had felt a conglomerate of complicated and foreign emotions. Jealousy, anger, lust, sadness, shame. It had all been thrust upon him in great waves, despite not wanting it. He blamed it mostly, on his new vessel, a rather attractive middle aged man, who seemed to long for familial life more than he had bargained. 

He would blame these same emotions for the moment he set eyes upon one of the most beautiful things he had ever come across. Death, one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Clearly, this attraction he felt was simply because of this new body. Still, Tia was quite breathtaking, and he found himself wanting to do kind things for her. 

There he stood, outside of the observer with a large bouquet of red roses and calla lillies. They were funeral flowers, weren’t they? Would Death like those? Upon seeing her face, he thrust forward the bouquet and put on his biggest smile. “You look as lovely as ever, dear Tia,” he cooed. “Pray tell, if I were to, perhaps, murder someone, would you appear wherever I stood?” He grimaced. Perhaps that wasn’t the best pickup line in the world.  / @horsemanxtia​

[dainlulen]

Lucifer walked past the tables of Playground with a clear look of distaste.  While he admired the freedom of hedonism, this was one sin the fallen angel could not relate to.  Finding who he was looking for, he took a seat next to his son.  “Pride.  I am not happy to have tracked you down instead of you coming to me, especially since it lead to my presence in this den of self-indulgence.  You better have a good reason for this.”

@pridefulvalerio​

[pridefulvalerio]

He was rather enjoying his time at the strip club. There were vices all around, from the scantily clad dancers, to the drinks, to the couple he could see doing lines off the table in the back. He enjoyed it all a bit too much. And then, it came crashing down. The moment he laid eyes upon his father, Valerio felt shame. “I’m so very sorry, Father,” he replied, lowering his head. “I do not have a good excuse and you have every reason to feel angry with me over this. I apologize if I have done wrong or lead you to feel disappointment with me, Father. How may I fix this?” 

[pridefulvalerio]

Truth be told, Pride was a touch embarrassed that he didn't have a date to the ball. Then again, it wouldn't have done much good, as they would have forgotten each other at the door. Never the less, with a vessel as attractive as his, he should have been able to entice any person to attend with him. Grumbling to himself, Valerio bumped into someone that felt awfully familiar. His eyes narrowed as he tried to place a name, but simply couldn't. "Apologies, my friend," he said calmly. "It's a nice party, isn't it?" Rolling his shoulders, he glanced around the room, desperate to put a name to at least one face. Failing to do so, he turned back to the man in front of him. "Care to grab a drink with me?"

@ares-trilling​

[pridefulvalerio]

What a lovely atmosphere for debauchery, Valerio thought. All around, perfect scenarios for sinful and nefarious things were unfolding. Surely, there would be instances of lust, gluttony, greed, envy, but most importantly - there was a whole lot of prideful people in the ballroom. Holding his drink of choice, whiskey neat, in his hand, he approached a rather well-dressed woman. "My, my," he said, half-heartedly announcing himself, "don't you look like queen of the world? Are you enjoying yourself tonight, Miss?" Her name danced about on the tip of his tongue yet when he went to think it, even say it, it just wouldn't come out. Never the less, he'd make the best of it.

@greedyxreyna​

[pridefulvalerio]

envicus​:

Envy had not been looking forward to meeting any of his siblings, but after seeing Greed, he had resigned himself to seeing the others in due course. Now, here was Pride. He felt little connection with any of them, but it was indeed difficult to feel connection with Pride. After all, he was about being proud of what he did have, while Envy always desired what he did not have. “Ah, Pride. Yes, it’s me. How nice to see you again.” He forced as much of a smile as he could. “What brings you to this quaint town?” Merrick had no wish to divulge his own reasons, but he was perfectly content to ask his siblings for theirs.

.

As eager as he was to see his siblings, perhaps to keep an eye on them more than anything, Valerio picked up on a touch of detachment from Envy. “There’s no need to mince words with me, brother. There are many of us that do not, how would you say, mesh well with each other.” His eyes narrowed, scanning the feature’s of the other, looking for tells as to what he might truly be thinking. “I’m on a vacation, you could say. I’m here for nothing more than relaxation and entertainment. Now you, Envy, surely you’re here for a reason just as Greed is. No?”

[pridefulvalerio]

greedyxreyna​:

Reyna tried not to let his repeated use of ‘little one’ bother her. Just because he was older didn’t mean he was more powerful, at least in her eyes. “I can handle a little sibling rivalry, just so long as you know I’m not planning on losing.” She shook her head. “This town will be mine, Pride, and everything in it. That includes the people, so I hope your form of entertainment doesn’t involve killing anyone off.”

.

Folding his arms in front of his chest, Valerio couldn't help but chuckle at what seemed to be Reyna's warning. "Who said that I want it for myself, though? As much as I tease you, your majesty, I don't want to rule anything at all." His arms dropped to his side and he took half a step forward. "I'm slightly offended that you believe I would want to kill anyone off. And to think, I would be willing to aid you in your conquest if only you wouldn't hurt me so."

[pridefulvalerio]

sambradley​:

Truthfully, Samantha was far too involved in the seating arrangement for the Connors’ wedding party– she had failed to notice how badly the weather picked up outside yet, though the chill was definitely seeping into the small shop. Every now and then, she adjusted her skirt to cover her legs better or tug her blouse back up higher, idle and thoughtless movements designed to help keep herself warmer. As someone’s voice cut in over her thoughts about how she would need to separate these two feuding cousins, Samantha’s distracted gaze lifted from the page. “Oh, no, not at all, excuse me,” she stated and quickly reached to move the binder she’d left on the chair into her lap, freeing the space so he could sit there. “No cell service?” It was then that she happened to peer through the window and see the sudden flurry outside. “Oh wow, when did this start up?” Sam slipped the seating chart inside the binder, now distracted by the weather. “The news had said there would be scattered snowstorms throughout the area,” she remembered, looking over at him now. “I doubt it will be anything too harsh,” the woman went on to reassure him with a gentle smile, “this is England. The weather here can be so temperamental but hardly in terms of snow. I am sure they will have the cell service back up and running in no time.” Small talk was Samantha’s fucking forte, alright? She could chat up the weather and other innocuous subjects until the cows came home, and never even bat an eye. This poor man had no idea just how boring of a time he had condemned himself to.

It was clear approximately thirty seconds into the woman's words that Valerio had bitten off more than he could chew. She seemed to rattle off sentences like no one he had ever met before -- a seemingly impossible feat for someone that had been around since what felt like the dawn of time. He blinked a few times and cleared his throat (praying he wouldn't drown in what felt like a brief weather-inspired monologue). Instead, he pushed through his sudden desire to gnaw his own arm off and rejoined the conversation. "So you'd say there's a snowball's chance in Hell of it staying like this?" It was a joke mostly to amuse himself, as he was nearly entirely sure that the blonde wouldn't understand. "Why don't we discuss something other than the weather, hm? Like what are you doing here, all by yourself, with your nose stuffed in that binder? I'm sure a pretty woman like you has better things to do on a late Autumn day."

[pridefulvalerio]

Valerio’s Yule Ball Outfit

[notanotherallen]

🥶️ for  our  muses  to  warm  up  by  cuddling  close  to  a  fire @pridefulvalerio​

“I don’t know why I bother, I’m always cold, no matter what I do,” the woman sighed as she came up to join the other on the couch, dragging along a quilted blanket. “I can feel the warmth, but it changes nothing.” Dawn plopped down besides Valerio, offering nothing in the way of space, as she held out her arm with the blanket draped across it. “You’ve caught me in a rare melancholy mood, so I’m willing to share this once,” she offered half the blanket, not too concerned if it was turned down or not. Despite the roaring fire before them and the heavy blanket, her body still felt the same chill it’d dealt with for nearly two decades now. Old habits died hard; it was too easy to pretend that all the usual ways to make that nip go away still actually worked.

[pridefulvalerio]

The corners of Valerio's mouth tugged downward in a brief moment of sadness. He had no idea what the woman was going through but, for some reason, he felt slightly empathetic towards her struggle. "That sounds dreadful," he said apologetically. He remained silent as he accepted the blanket, something he usually wouldn't do. As much as he wanted to use the excuse that it was his vessel, he knew that wasn't it. It seemed his journey on Earth was softening him ever so slightly. He let the silence settle between them for a few minutes before speaking up again. "Is there anything I can do for you? I can't change your fate, unfortunately, but perhaps I could offer some sort of distraction or innocent companionship?"

[pridefulvalerio]

For every dark entity in the world, there was light. Yin and yang, good and evil, whatever one might call it, they needed to exist to maintain a balance. If anyone had asked Pride how he sensed a Heavenly Virtue, he would refuse to give them a short answer. He teased that they felt like a warm hug on a rainy day and smelled like freshly baked sugar cookies - things you would associate with comfort and purity. With that in mind, as he stood in line at the cafe, that same feeling overwhelmed him. Turning on his heel, Valerio set the culprit in his sights. A virtue indeed. One that had picked a rather pretty vessel, too, such a shame. "That's nice," he groaned, a touch of irritation to his voice. "I see that your kind is here now too. Enjoying it, love?"

( @deadlydiviniity​ )

[pridefulvalerio]

Pride was wondering how many of his siblings had made it topside since the leyline split. Thus far, he had only interacted with Greed, who apparently was going by Reyna these days. It was appropriate, considering royalty were often the greediest among men. Pride, now known as Valerio, was minding his business as he strolled down the street. He sensed something, or rather, someone. Turning on his heel, his attention turned towards a rather pale looking man. "Envy?" He asked aloud, furrowing his brow and squinting his eyes. "Is that you, my kin?"

( @envicus​ )