#secondflame

[petrokhelidon]

Another day, another arduous task ahead. With his sister expecting a bigger influx of goods ( and bearers ) that needed transporting out of Boklad and from under the Fist's influence, Theodore has been tasked with inspecting the roads through the valley are well and truly clear of beasts and bandits for their arrival━ except unlike most other times he's been set on the selfsame endeavour, this time his sister has managed to snatch another hapless volunteer to go right along with him.

Of course, he doesn't mind Clive's presence at all. The man has proven himself more than capable and an invaluable help against the Cast Stones, something Theodore still owes him for. He's simply not certain whether a routine inspection is truly what Clive wishes to be doing with his time; no matter how persuasive Eloise can be with her rewards. Theo cannot help but wonder why she asked Clive along. Does Eloise know of something he doesn't that would see her more worried now than any other time?

" You━ truly did not need to accompany me, you know? " His tone comes out a little too bluntly, mayhap, from the look he receives. Theodore rushes to correct himself. " Not that I'd shun your company, but this is hardly an uncommon job for me. Surely you have things of more import demanding your time. " / @secondflame

[theallblue]

@secondflame liked for a post-WCI starter!

After finally being able to escape from Big Mom's grasp, the ones who came for his sake took a moment to just breathe from the events that once lingered over their shoulders. Everyone was exhausted mentally and physically while Sanji was still reeling from everyone that happened from the moment that he stepped foot inside this place. Chopper didn't hesitate to start working on the injuries that had been received because of the battles that they had to face. Battles that had been difficult from the very start, his started from the moment that the stood underneath the roof that was once his home. The bruises and aching pains were to blame for that because of the kicks and punches that were thrown his way once more. It was his childhood all over again, a past which he didn't share that easily with the others.

A past which was difficult for him to speak about.

Sanji has pushed Chopper to deal with the injuries that the others had received first especially Luffy's since he was the worse off out of all of them. They all would be looked over by Chopper eventually while it probably was a miracle that they weren't worse off since things could have gone badly. The blood dripping down his arm and the throbbing pain was a reminder of the bullet that decided to strike his arm while fleeing with their captain. It was only because of his brothers and Reiju that they were able to get away, those brothers were people he never thought would have actually helped him. His sister was a different story though, his sister was someone that Sanji could trust. He always trusted her.

After everything had settled down, after everyone had gotten their fill of his cooking for the night. The decision had been made to rest because of the exhaustion that just continued to linger over their shoulders, they needed to sleep. The ship had been moved to a safe place where the entire crew would rest for the night without any worries, they wouldn't be found that easily. Hopefully, not for the next few hours.

Trying his best to calm his nerves with that familiar cigarette, Sanji soon found himself hesitating to enter the room where Ace and the others were resting. Things still felt tense to him, but there was a chance it was his thoughts causing him to hesitate to enter that familiar room. He couldn't bring himself to sleep there tonight, to sleep by Ace's side once more.

A makeshift bed was made in the room with the large aquarium, he could sleep here tonight, at least even if it would leave him only with his thoughts. This was here he was going to be found trying to get some sleep if anyone decided to come searching for the exhausted cook.

[petrokhelidon]

🕯️- for Byron

send me 🕯️to hear my character's inner thoughts about your character. / @secondflame

Clive. My dear, dear boy. How you have grown! In many ways, it seems but yesterday you were still a boy ever so curious and eager to learn, asking me to go on new and exciting adventures or yet again denying me my turn to play Ser Crandall. Hah, the fun we had together. Do you recall? What a privilege it was to see you smile, to hear you laugh, to bring you joy even as the weight of expectation started bearing down on your shoulders as the years passed. There were oft times I wished you never needs return to Rosalith at all and though you may not know it, I even petitioned your father to take you in as a ward so you may follow in my steps as the warden of Port Isolde. Of course, by that time you were already so utterly devoted to Joshua I had not the heart to take you away from him even as I watched with a heavy mind the way you seemed ever more burdened, even as a young boy.

There are times I wonder whether I should not have tried harder, after all. To protect you. To shelter you. To tell you more often how proud I was, how much I truly, truly cared. What might have changed, had I done so.

Much as every other adult in your life, I fear I failed you back then, Clive. Failed to preserve your childhood, to keep you safe. Failed too, in saving you from the terrible suffering that followed the tragedy at Phoenix Gate. The pain and heart ache that swallowed me 'pon hearing the news felt insurmountable in such a deep, abiding way that, despite eventually hearing the rumours of your survival, I did not try to chase them━ fearing that every dead end, every disappointment would merely feel like losing you all over anew. I told myself 'twas too great a risk in the current climes, my loyalties to the Empire ever further under scrutiny, but the truth was and is that I am a coward and for that, I can never apologize enough.

If there are some things I can tell you, Clive, it is that your laugh and your smile still brings me joy beyond measure; to hear and see it again now a dream without compare. I am so proud of you, my boy. So proud of who you have become despite all the pain and the hardship. You are, undoubtedly, your father's son; but more than that, you are everything your father had always wished and strived to be himself. Your kindness, your conviction, your strength, your compassion, all that you have achieved and will undoubtedly still achieve━ If he were still here with us today, I know that he too would have never been more proud.

Lastly, though I would never deign to take his place, I want you to know that while you are not my son, you are mine in my heart in every way that counts.

You have my support, and my love, Clive. Now and forever.

[petrokhelidon]

@secondflame / continued

" Hah! " His nephew's words prompt a boisterous bark of a laugh, effectively easing away the thread of worry snaring his chest at seeing Clive hurt. His touch is careful at first, the cut assessed and cleaned, but Byron cannot stop himself from retaliating by tightening the bandage a little more forcibly that needed be, deep blue hues twinkling with amusement at the grimace on Clive's face. " As I am sure he did, dear boy. Though I would also garner to guess my brother remained conveniently tight - lipped as to the reason for that, for I thought mayhap the copious blood stains his clothes suffered would somehow dissuade him from always running head - first into danger. "

Byron's hands had gentled anew, wrapping the remainder of the bandage securely around Clive's arm to ensure no blood would seep through the cloth. 'Pon his features a more wistful, saddened expression appears, the way it tended to whenever a memory of his brother arose to the fore. It takes but one look at his nephew's face to realize he is not alone in the feeling. He ties off the ends and then gently rests a large hand on Clive's under arm, his smile kind. " Ah, there are so many tales I could tell of when we were boys. I'd very much like to share some with you if you'd allow me, Clive. Why, I'd know of no better way to remember him by. "

[phoenix-flamed]

eavesdrop 🥺👉👈

"... I cannot understand it, no matter how much I try to. That she looks upon him and treats him now with such scorn defies all reason to me, when we had both been so excited to welcome him into the world back then.

He has done no wrong. He has ever been a kind, compassionate, courteous boy, with strength and dedication to match. Is being "rejected" by the Phoenix really so grievous an affront to our family, to her, that it overshadows the months into years of love that she had felt towards him?

He is our son... Our firstborn child. Is that fact not enough to make him worthy of her love, in her eyes?

You, too, have noticed that he shows great promise when it comes to combat, haven't you? He is more skilled with a blade than even I was, at his age. He is not a Dominant, no -- but if the Duchess is so obsessed with his supposed "worth", then surely she will come to see that he, too, is destined for greatness at his brother's side...?"

[tripleflames]

“Wait—uh—do…do that again.”

smut dialogue prompts / @secondflame

Theodore oft wonders about and even questions the strange twists and turns his life seems to have taken of late. Becoming a dominant, having to grapple with that power, the strength of Leviathan's emotions and instincts on top of his own, the fact that his eikon and Clive's eikon somehow have a deep enough history, a romantic one at that, it's made being around the other man a lot more complicated than it already was considering his crush.

Well― at least complicated up until recently.

If there is one turn in his life he'll not question, he thinks, it would be this one.

His mouth drag a lazy path down Clive's throat to chase the flush that's slowly spreading from his cheeks down to his chest, delighting in the way Clive's pulse jumps beneath his tongue, the soft whimper it draws from parted lips, the way Clive shudders beneath him, muscles of his abdomen clenching beneath the touch of Theodore's palms as he slowly runs his hands up and down Clive's side.

He's so fucking reactive, it is honestly addictive. Heady also, to know he's the first one to draw these noises from the other man, to coax these kinds of reactions out of him. The first to find out what exactly will have Clive tense up, what will have him shudder and moan, which touches will have his eyes glaze over with arousal and full lips part on desperate, hitched breaths, what needs doing to get him to relax.

He's finding out things about himself too, at that. He'd never thought he would be happy simply kissing someone as an event in and of itself, without it necessarily leading to something more. That was before Clive came into the habit of crowding him against walls or shadowed corners to do just that; like he somehow couldn't get enough now that he'd gotten a taste of how much he likes it. Theodore doesn't think he's ever been this fucking charmed by anyone's eagerness to kiss him and naught else, given that each one of those occasions left him deeply aroused and in need of several cold baths.

And this foreplay. Dragging it out rather than racing to the main event. Theodore never much had the patience for it, too quickly frustrated with arousal and need. With Clive, however, he thinks he could likely do this for hours on end. Map out the span of his body with hands and lips just to find all the spots that will turn him wild.

" You are so beautiful, " He murmurs against the crook of Clive's jaw, kissing it gently when he hears his lover whimper at the praise. " So good for me. " He feels rather than sees Clive pull at the sheets as he shudders anew, hips bucking up slightly, the brief friction making Theo bite down on his bottom lip with a firm reminder he's trying to take this slow lest he overwhelm Clive completely.

He moves his hands up, bracing himself with one arm so he can look down at Clive's face, fingers brushing his bangs back from his forehead ere carding through those dark, tousled strands of hair. Hazy blue eyes flutter open and look at Theo with naked want, leaving Theodore slightly breathless ( again ) at the sheer beauty of his lover. If he had trouble looking away from him before―

His thumb gently brushes over one of Clive's hardened nipples. The reaction is instantaneous. Theo's eyes widen at Clive's startled moan, at the way he tenses and shudders beneath him, hips stuttering on another roll. Blue eyes roll up, lashes fluttering shut and Theodore will likely dream about this moment for quite some nights because fuck―

He doesn't need to be asked twice when Clive's gaze snaps to him, tone almost shy, bashful, like he's embarrassed by his own reaction, for wanting more of it.

Theodore leans in to catch Clive's lips in a brief, but tender kiss, smiling into it when his lover immediately surges up and into it. He hovers close, smiling wider at the way Clive squirms when his thumb rubs a slow circle around the same nipple without really touching it. " And how would you like me to? With my fingers, like before or― my mouth? "

[phoenix-flamed]

Finally. After years spent scouring Storm, the search had at last come to and end, and the Dominant of this second Eikon of Fire had been apprehended by the Undying.

And now that the moment had come to face the murderer of his two beloved sons, Elwin wasn't sure how to feel. Was there supposed to be a sense of relief? Was he meant to gain some small measure of closure from this meeting? No, there was only a deep-rooted emptiness within his heart, as though a void had swallowed it and every bit of love within it, leaving him with nothing left.

Which felt appropriate, given Rosaria's fate -- because he really did have nothing left. Nothing except increasingly bizarre, unsettling, even distressing nightmares, offering him glimpses of things he couldn't understand or identify. Glimpses of things he shouldn't remember, and couldn't have seen from that night, leading to even more questions on top of the questions he'd already yearned for answers to.

Perhaps most of all, questions yet remained that demanded answers. How had this second Eikon of Fire managed to not only lay low the Phoenix, but outright kill him? A feat that had been thought impossible until then. As for the why... That question was self-explanatory: why had this Eikon shown himself then of all times? Was he working with Anabella? The Holy Empire?

Despite knowing that it was purely psychological, the scar around Elwin's neck felt as though it was burning anew, as if urging him to remember well his convictions, to reignite his righteous anger as he traversed the depths of the old abandoned stronghold that had thus far been serving as the Undying's base of operations. His pace was quick, gloved hand ever resting upon the hilt of his sword despite his tempered patience that kept him from drawing it. The members of the cult dedicated to protecting Rosaria's beloved guardian force already had their plans for retribution against the imprisoned man in the form of execution, and while the former Archduke would not interfere with their work, he would also not allow them to carry out their judgment without him first seeing the face of the one partly responsible for the deaths of so many good men during The Night of Flames.

As if to mentally brace himself, fingertips skimmed the twin Phoenix feathers attached to the sheath of his weapon. Then he continued on, passing through the corridors of the dungeon without a word, seeking one particular gaol cell -- and it would be simple enough to spot, considering it was the only one that housed a prisoner. Those green-blue eyes scanned each one in the row until he stopped in front of his destination, gaze immediately falling upon the inhabitant lurking behind the bars.

@secondflame

[tripleflames]

I don't think that I could pick out one particular strength you have over another since you're doing so well in terms of style and wording and everything really, but one of the (many many many) things you do really well imo is taking lesser known / minor characters and giving them an authentic and indepth personality and motivations that are footed in canon but also go waaay beyond it making them super interesting to rp with and throw characters at. (And also kinda unrelated but also not completely unrelated: I feel that I've become a better writer by plotting and roleplaying with you. <3)

what are my strengths as a roleplayer?

honestly, i can only throw the same compliments back at you. like i've told you before that what initially drew me to approach you was your characterization and your way of setting a scene in your writing. i literally gobbled up each thread you did with lyri bshbahfb and now here we are, about a year and a few months later, several long ass threads and super plotted out ships and i honestly don't think i'll ever grow tired of just throwing stuff back and forth with you, or picking your brain on headcanons or just exploring characters through our threads. like some of my characters wouldn't be nearly as indepth or authentic if it hadn't been for you and the rock solid grasp you have on your characters. i mean, there's a reason why i keep throwing characters at you as well hahaha.

so here's to the next 84 years and, yknow, writing out our 156165416546545 aus and those other char pairings we briefly discussed and still have to do threads for. :|