#malurged

[wanune]

R'ildryn + Vespin ( @malurged )

[xbornhungry]

[ CARESS ] for sender to kiss one of receiver’s scars (maybe the ones on his face yknow……….) || @malurged

it is the sort of night where ellis is glued to vespin's side. the faster they barreled towards their fate, the more special these moments became. every day felt like a step closer to death & that made life all the sweeter. tonight, ellis had stayed up late with vespin. they lay on the grass together & ellis shared stories of constellations his father had taught him, rambling half the night away. he had scarcely noticed the moon inching its way across the sky, instead focused on the endless legends immortalized beyond it. ( stories he had tried to live by. stories he couldn't. ) it must have been charming, or maybe it was love… but ellis' arms ended up wrapped around vespin, holding him close.

peace was a rare indulgence on their stony, winding road & ellis thought that perhaps they had found it tonight. just for a moment or two or three. vespin steals one of these moments.

vespin presses a kiss to ellis' cheek, where ellis' hound had left his mark. fergie had always been an ornery beast, since the day ellis had met him & had left many marks on ellis' body. he then presses his lips to the marred flesh of ellis' newest scar. it stretched across his nose, a remnant of the night ellis' family had been betrayed. if he hadn't been so light on his feet, a traitor's blade would have taken his nose or perhaps even his life. but instead, he lived for his survival to be cherished. a quick kiss on his brow & then to the corner of his mouth & each of the scars on ellis' face were shed a ray of vespin's affection.

ellis cannot help but chase the final kiss, stealing one of his own from vespin's cracked lips. he's never felt quite so treasured, quite so seen & there is something captivating about it. emotion forms a knot in ellis' throat & he struggles to find words for a long moment. so instead, he presses a kiss to the marred corner of vespin's mouth & then his cheek & then his jaw. there were many scars to revel in, every forgotten story of vespin's survival, but he pauses & holds his hand at vespin's cheek.

" if only tonight could last forever, " ellis muses, swept up in a wave of sentiment. he knew it wouldn't & the sun would rise tomorrow & they would continue to survive. or not. but at least they had tonight.

[xbornhungry]

ellis was eager to get out of this damned place. it stunk of too-sweet rot & sulfur. scents he had grown used to on the road but now make him feel ill. he moves with purpose, doing his best not to face vespin. even so, ellis still keeps the other in the corner of his eye. he's searching for those horrible, confident movements. he's watching, waiting for him to fill the space around him with that same awful energy. ellis was trying to swim through the fresh memories, drowning in the images of vespin that would not leave his mind. there was something monstrous within him, something dangerous. vespin was a threat, inconceivable as it was & it would be foolish to think any of them were safe.

❝ come, curse me or kiss me or call me a liar. something. ❞ @malurged!

he hears the voice at his back & he stops. fury flares in his lungs, making it hard to breathe. it might not be anger so much as it is something else. something more crude, rooted in a primal need to survive. it must be fear. so he turns to vespin & bears his teeth like a frightened dog, barking at the danger before him.

" i'll call you more than a liar, " he promises, taking a long stride towards vespin. his lips stretch into a wide frown, his brow knotted in what he thought must be righteous wrath. he jabs a finger into vespin's chest half-expecting it to burn him. no, what burns are the corners of his eyes. they're close now. close enough that ellis can feel vespin's breath. he wants to melt into vespin's arms, to sob & thank him for surviving it all. hours ago he had not been sure if vespin was alive or dead or worse… he should have expected worse. taut jaw trembles, but his watery gaze remains stubborn.

vespin had been a steadfast protector. he had cared enough to help keep ellis alive, despite the difficulties of handling him. ellis had presented his heart & vespin had treated it as a gift. as something to be treasured. it had made ellis feel special, silly as it seemed now. for a moment, ellis knew that no matter what happened he wouldn't have to do it alone. now he didn't know what to think. his body hasn't entirely realized the fight was over & his heart beats too quickly, ready to defend itself.

" i thought i could trust you, " his voice fractures, caught on a too-shallow breath. he hates this. he's watching vespin's eyes, for that horrible, awful shift from what ellis knew to what he didn't. he fumbles with his words, chasing them through his emotions, " but you… that was… what was that? "

[wanune]

﹙ con't. @malurged  ﹚. while obviously quite proud of his work and the sheer joy that follows in vespin's reaction, there is a hint of confusion and uncertainty. oh, he knew how vespin smelled like the moment they first met on the road. and it never bothered the drow in the slightest. but he has observed the other's inclination to isolate himself because of it. ( even if it wasn't that, rildryn can only guess otherwise. )

hands wring together nervously for a moment, and a sigh is but to steel himself as he kneels in front of vespin, taking a strip of clean cloth to hesitantly wipe the rest of the water from his face. the proximity is nice, and the flowers surprisingly complement sharp features, which the drow appreciates.

❛ the smell never bothered me. ❜ he affirms, taking a hand and placing the cloth on vespin's palm. ❛ and ... don't apologize. take it as a thank you from me. for back then. besides, the flowers look great on you. ❜

[xbornhungry]

been talking with @malurged about ellis & vespin the last few days & i am ,,, obssessed

[victo1re]

bypassing the meme to ask you about goddess vic's sexuality/sensuality

you always ask me THE most interesting questions and i thank you dearly for it. it's a regression in the sense that she returns to perceiving sex and kink as modes of strategic control. she is aware, now, of their role in romantic love, if distanced again from her ability to engage with the concept on a personal level -- however, love is also a mode of power. to be indispensable to another, emotionally, is a strategically enviable position. as i've touched on before, her avatar's appearance is dependent upon the aesthetic preferences of those she appears to. she manifests to allosexual individuals as visually desirable; beauty and sexuality are tools, as evidenced especially well by her domain over sirens. do i think she is, in her own, private time, especially sexual? no, i don't. i do think she is somewhat sensual in that she takes great pleasure in experiencing the cosmos through a god's lens, and luxuriates in that -- to touch the stars and feel their heat, to experience the waves of the astral sea with what is and is not a corporeal form. that is indulgent to her in a way i would call sensual.

[selunight]

@malurged said: ❛ It's amazing how far you can get on denial. You know why so many people use denial to get by? Because it really fucking works ... for a while. ❜

"sounds like you speak from a wealth of experience," she muttered her response, boot toeing at the dirty on the ground directly in front of her to avoid looking up and meeting his gaze. the words aren't accusatory so much as simply being factual — she had gotten good at burying any amount of emotion in the last several days, as her rage and anger had made her the least fun member of camp since their face off with balthazar in shar's realm.

even thinking of it now, she feels that negative swell simmering just below the surface, and she actively reminds herself that seeking out shadowheart would be detrimental to their overall cause... no matter how good it might feel.

her oath may have been left shattered by the events that occurred, but her logic was still somewhat in tact.

"i'm not in denial," she states coolly, finally sparing a glance his way. "i'm all too clear on what's happened and what will happen next." and let him make of those words whatever he will. it hardly mattered to celeste now. ( not much did. )