To man, a higher power worth believing in was usually a long-distance affair—an unapproachable god and the hope that they should deign to bless you. To monster, it so often meant something far more tangible. More able to be… partaken in.
uhhh I heard through the grapevine you write about touch-starved soo 😚… maybe a jealous vere drabble or headcanons????
hello! I do write for touchstarved! I haven't explored all the characters yet, just mhin a little bit and vere mostly (I have an unhealthy obsession with the fox man).
jealous vere would definitely be an interesting concept. I think he wouldn't really outwardly show his jealousy in front of others? he has an image to uphold after all. but someone who's more attuned to his behavior (take you for example), you'd definitely be able to see the cracks in his smile.
I can picture him holding you subtly if someone tries to flirt with you, maybe a hand on your back or hip, keeping you close to him.
but once you get back to a private space is where he'd show his jealousy properly.
--
the moment the adderstone guard leaned too close to you, you could feel the shift in the air.
not anything flirty. you felt the chill in the air suddenly. vere was by your side in a moment, his hand resting heavily on the small of your back. you tensed, just slightly, just enough for him to feel it.
the adderstone guard sensed the shift as well, looking uneasily from you to vere. you were sure he knew who vere was, his job must have had him well informed.
"I wasn't aware you also entertained low lifes," vere drawled lazily, making the adderstone fellow stiffen. he made up some flimsy excuse, stepping away from you before he could incur vere's wrath. smart decision.
you let vere pull you closer. just a little, as if he didn't want to betray his aloof persona in the public space. the wick was still full of drunken adderstone guards and some of the usual unruly patrons. you could distantly hear leander chatting with someone. surely they'd step in if vere decided his patience had run it's course and decided to gut you right here?
you leaned into his touch subtly, looking up at him, trying to appease him silently. he smiled lazily, his tail curling around your thigh, a silent mark.
"you were getting pretty cozy there," he murmured, his voice low enough to send a shiver of dread down your spine. "I thought I was interrupting," he hummed, tilting his head questioningly at you.
he hummed, checking his claws idly. "I suppose I could spare a few hours.. even in a shithole like the wet wick." he tilted his chin up. "well? lead the way."
you laughed nervously, shaking your head. "he was just asking about.. something trivial," you mumbled, your voice small. you really didn't feel like testing the limits of vere's grace tonight. "I'm getting tired. do you want to head up?" you said, hoping the shift in topic, and your presence close to him would make him calm down.
you nodded quietly, making your way through the groups of patrons, up the stairs into your room.
the moment the door closed, you were pinned against it. vere tilted your chin up with a clawed hand, considering you. "now, what should I do with you?" he hummed in thought, his hand slipping down to your throat, claws digging in just shy of drawing blood.
"how cute you are," he purred, voice velvety and dripping with an annoyance that made you freeze up. "letting him think he has a chance. you do enjoy playing with fire, don't you?"
you took a shaky breath, feeling his sharp nails dig painfully into your neck. "I.. was just making conversation," you said weakly. you didn't make any attempt to pull away from him, knowing it would piss him off more.
he probably wouldn't kill you.
you hoped, at least.
leaving a gutless corpse in the shitty rooms of the wick wasn't exactly how you planned to go out.
your reply was stolen along with your breath when he pressed his lips to yours in a heated kiss.
he hummed thoughtfully, tilting your chin up to meet his gaze, sunset stained, beautiful in a way that left you afraid. "I suppose I can let it slide.." he murmured, leaning in till his nose was brushing yours. "but you, little thing, are far too friendly."
his lips were so soft, you thought absently, your mind turning fuzzy. you couldn't help but melt into the touch, your mouth moving against his in a slow rhythm of your own tune.
soft.
he pulled back soon enough, leaving you in a confused state of terror and wanting more. his smile was amused, as if you were a bug struggling to survive. you might as well have been, in his eyes.
he buried his face into your neck, breathing in deeply. "you smell even better when you're afraid, you know?" he murmured, licking a hot stripe up your pulse. you shivered.
there was a sharp dig into your neck, one that had you gasping in pain, something warm gushing down to stain your shirt. you realized sluggishly that he had bitten you, blood pouring slowly from the punctures.
he pulled back with a satisfied hum, leaving you slumped back against the door, dazed and bleeding.
"there," he said, sounding much more cheerful now. "now no one will dare mistake you for easy grabs."
and just like that, he left the room.
--
I'm clearly into the whole fear aspect with vere lol. hope this was good enough!
what i really love in touchstarved is the mixing of cultures within eridia to reflect its status as "the last bastion of humanity" - like it's an actual representation of humanity as a whole!!!! that's so beautiful!!!!!
"tourists" are a concept in this world. the senobium has existed as a university attracting thousands of scholars from across the globe to share their knowledge (until it started gatekeeping).
the mention of foods that i am familiar with combined with architecture i know is on the other side of the globe just instantly clicked as eridia being a multicultural community. we don't need to highlight that the fall of other cities meant there were max exoduses because, through the cultural sharing, we can already tell it is a melting pot.
it's something i really love to see, especially in fantasy where oftentimes major cities are denoted as uni-cultural and monoethnic when, in history (think the city of Xi'an during the peak of the Tang Dynasty) new cultures were shared through trade and migration.
on a meta level, I think it's really wholesome that the dev team is equally diverse and are probably adding references to their own cultures in their work!!!
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