lily of the incas

[undercovereiram]

Request  →  Xolo Mariduena for @s-h-i-n-n-e-r-s

[cicran]

Actually he took it all back, he was going to put this guy in a room with the ghost who kept playing golf indoors. If he had to hear that one call out and then hear the sound of a window breaking one more time, he was going to actually hand it over to Iphigenia and Ariston personally. It was all fun and games until some forty year old man was using your nose as a golf tee. Taking a second to compose himself, Ciaran took a deep breath and then spoke slowly and clearly as his accent would allow. "Lad, I need your magic. You can handle a simple spell or two, yeah?"

[vidalarentia]

"Depends on the spell or two?" His suitcase was bumping into him again and more or less demanding his attention, not many people had ever enlisted his help for magic before because Vidal was very much the sort of person who liked to take things apart. What they looked like when he was done putting them back together though? That was another question entirely. "Is something broken or-?" That was probably a dumb question because obviously there wasn't a lot at this hotel that worked.

[cicran]

Ciaran looks down at the money on the counter, he looks to the witch's face and his own is still visibly unimpressed. Broke witch, just a kid, magical suitcase, seemed to be the 'glass half full' kind of lad. He's reminded of Yurena all those years ago, striding into the place all bold and not taking no for an answer. He'd thought her clever, this lad though, he felt bad for him. "Alright, fine." The exasperation is more at himself than at the fact that he has to deal with a customer when the toilet in 105 kept spontaneously overflowing. Back to the witch, his fingers skim the middle row of brass keys. Room 99 would do just fine, he grabs the key and turns back around to lean against the front desk. "You can keep your money on the condition you do me a favor."

[vidalarentia]

A place to stay the night was all that Vidal was looking for, he was pretty sure he had enough money so he wasn't sure what the big deal was. Cheapest, most inexpensive room in what had to be the worst hotel in Rome. Still, the man on the other side of the desk didn't seem particularly impressed. Was this guy? Clearly Ciaran had the wrong idea about what Vidal was willing to do to put a roof over his head. Then again, his mom had always warned him about what kind of weirdos live in the big city. "Um... You seem nice and everything, but I'm not really into that kind of thing. I'd really rather just pay. "

[farenduil]

"No threat here." There's a mild bitterness to it, but he's smiling a bit at what he figures has to be some kind of young witch. Could be an eladrin with an animation skill of some sort, but he didn't think that was the case. "I'm fine, what were you doing with that?" Elbows on his knees, he looks from the contraption to the young man. People in the parks flew things all the time but this was certainly something else. Quite ambitious, and for a moment there Farenduil does feel really old.

[vidalarentia]

"What was I-?" Vidal was momentarily bewildered because he thought it was obvious; he'd been flying it around, testing it out, but he supposed that wasn't obvious to everyone. "I always thought drones were cool, but they're expensive, and I figured... Well... How hard could they really be to make?" As it turned out, it's not that hard; getting it to work correctly was an entirely different story. He gestured towards the little rest stop for one that the man had for himself before Vidal felt inclined to ask. "What were you reading?"

[eliasthemagi]

♒

For the briefest moments, a dark thought passed through Elias' mind. He ground his teeth into a sneer, mulling over an appropriate response. Enemies? Probably. One didn't work at Killjoys for as long as Elias had without making at least a few. A rowdy drunk here, a bereaved loved one of someone he'd been paid to make a victim out of there... "No doubt and I'll probably make a couple more before the end of the month. Not that it matters when I can literally crush them." Oops. Elias quickly slams his palm over his mouth, having wanted to white lie his way through a response. He forgot again. "I'm not a psycho or anything. I've just always been strong and people resent that easily," he continues after a moment of uncomfortable twisting. Luckily for him, the witch spoke in a way that had Elias looking like he saw the guy sprout a second head which helped him to feel less awkward in comparison. "I'm Elias, you weirdo," he retorts, not getting the reference at all. But for some reason, he ends up laughing. "Can't you worship the air I breathe in a normal way, Vidal?"

[vidalarentia]

"Right, because people who say they're not psychos are definitely... not psychos." Vidal would have to make a mental note when he was at Elias' place to check for any odd smells, formaldehyde, rotting corpses, or anything else that might raise the hair on the back of his neck. "Honestly, I think you might be the only eladrin I've ever met, and if you can do stuff like.... this," he gestured a bit towards the creature's hand that Elias had bid him stand on, "then I'm not surprised that people would be jealous." Most supernatural knew how sought-after people like the man were in front of him; their blood was a commodity, and that thought alone was enough to turn his stomach over. "Elias, right. Well," he shrugged, "normal is relative." Here they were standing on a stone golem in the middle of an enchanted forest, most people would saw that was pretty unusual.

[prettyfamous]

Xolo Mariduena | Men's Health | Elliot James Kennedy | September 2023

[eliasthemagi]

♒

It was akin to watching a clown wobble around on rollerskates. The witch's blunders definitely overshadowed any epicness there was to his flight, which was already being diminished by the guy's critiques. He sounded fresh out of some high school robotics club. What a fucking nerd. Elias had always possessed the type of power that allowed him to go all out in explosive ways, even as a faiman. The type of nitpicky, attention-to-detail design improvements the witch suggested wasn't his style at all, yet Elias still tapped his shoe on top of his giant's head, willing the earth to soften in key places. Slowly, he altered the shape of his monument's arm, the appendage rotating until it was giving the bird to Rome. "Yeah, that sounds boring as hell. Obviously, I can have it simulate some sort of motion, but walking around on its own like a robot? Sounds like a lot of work. It's much easier to drop large rocks on your enemies. Besides–" With a kick of his heel after a moment of giving the floating witch a mildly judgy once over, Elias wills the softened portions of the other arm to bend until his large rock's hand is brought up to provide a platform. "–rule number one is I'm fucking amazing. I don't need a fancy machine to fill this thing with water. In fact, if I had made his dick I would've had him pissing all over the city by now."

[vidalarentia]

Confidence oozed off of the eladrin in spades, Vidal just simply wasn't like that. Again the other was talking about dicks and piss, and Vidal had to land on the giant's hand before he fell over completely. "....Do you have a lot of enemies?" Enough that the eladrin had to think about dropping rocks on them anyway. Vidal obviously hadn't been in Rome for very long, and he'd heard about what had happened, how the city had been a battleground. That was all over, though, right? Once again, Vidal ignored the dick comment, and once again, Vidal also ignored the piss comment because his brain couldn't compute why anyone would ever want to do that. He reminded Vidal of one of the well-dressed tourists that'd come by, with zero interest in the history of where they had landed, all aesthetics and Instagram photos. Not that that was a bad thing; it's just that Vidal had three followers, and one of them was his dead mom. "I'm Vidal by the way, what should I call you- oh super cool and amazing one?" He'd pulled out his Obi-Wan impression for that last part.

[emissaryalder]

^*^

It took Alder a moment to realize when Vidal said he had to “make some friends” he meant it literally. He’d seen a lot, but never anything like the bug. Even without a close look, Alder could see it wasn’t some altered toy or ancient artifact, it was a legitimate automaton. A magical automaton. This guy had a brain on him, which made him that much more interesting to Alder.

“Good thing there are no demons in here. I don’t even think I’d want someone’s familiar sniffing around on their behalf. This temple should remain a safe space for witches like us,” he said, smiling widely as he gave Vidal his undivided attention. “You’re right though, I don’t know you very well so we should change that. We’re both new, both fans of an informative book, and we could probably even help each other out in many ways. I never say no to a friend.” Alder couldn’t tell if his face was normal happy or manic happy. Expressions could be so tricky, especially when he got excited about a new person. He picks up a nearby quill and balances on his fingertip, making it spin on its point before pressing down slightly causing a speck of blood to bubble on his skin. “In fact, we could use my blood to do a little joint casting. What do you say? It’d be good to dip your toes in, and I’m sure it's not a violation of your coven rules."

[vidalarentia]

Excitement replaced whatever Alder had been projecting before; Vidal wasn't quite used to that. He had very little experience with witches, very little experience with most people other than humans... But the young Alstroemeria had yet to see magic like what he was doing. Even in this temple, there were no writings on anything modern; it kind of made him think that maybe he was doing something wrong. Alder's excitement more or less canceled it out.

"They're kind of menacing," Vidal thought about Kaito; every bit of Yurena's familiar screamed 'serial killer,' but she trusted him, so the witch was inclined to believe it was just a facade. At least, Vidal hoped that was the case. "but I think that's the point." He watched with some interest as Vidal brought some of his blood towards the surface, and idly, he found himself fixating on the point. Curiosity had always been a powerful vice for the young inventor, and it wasn't as if he'd never thought about it... But blood magic was dangerous and Vidal had no training in it. Wasn't that why he'd come to this area though? "I don't think Yurena would mind," Vidal admitted, "it's for research purposes, and this is a safe environment for it." Perfectly safe, he leaned in a bit closer to get a better look as if there was anything more to see than a drop of blood on the tip of Alder's finger. "How do you use it?"

[cicran]

"And you did not think there was a reason for that?" Sometimes he thinks about placing signs leading to the place telling everyone to keep out and then he's reminded that people rarely read those. There were so many horror movies built on the premise of people just avoiding red flags. "I have many, do you have a preference?" Ciaran doesn't quite know what to make of this one with his little sentient suitcase so when he turns to look at all the keys behind the desk, he doesn't quite know where to place him. "The reason you chose here was because it was cheap? Are you hard up for cash, lad?" He could be a good person, he could get the Bee movie script wraith. Though he thinks that one has moved on to being really into Ryan Murphy and nobody deserved to be subjected to that.

[vidalarentia]

"Yeah um... cheap is cheap, and it's this or I get comfortable on a park bench somewhere. It's just for the night anyways, so whatever-" Vidal fished some loose, crumpled bills out of his pocket and dropped them with all the change he had on the counter. This was all the money the witch had in the world right now. "-this will get me." That probably answered the clerk's question about Vidal's current financial situation, "I'm going to turn it around though." His suitcase bumped into the back of his knee again; now he was just doing it intentionally.

[andersxragnulf]

"Oh. Well, I'll remember that for next time." He wouldn't, but Vidal didn't need to know that. Anders gave the kid a smile before he cleared his throat, typing in the things written on the card, "Do you have a pen? I gotta write down what the login is for Facebook. Otherwise I'll never be able to get into it again." He watched as the login screen finally showed him the facebook portal, "Now what? I have a lot of pictures of what I've made. You needed that, right? And then the facebook will call me if someone wants something done. Or email me."

[vidalarentia]

Vidal fumbled a bit for a pen before finding one in one of the drawers. "You could put these in your phone or something it might be easier than carrying them all around in your wallet." This guy was really forgetful, like, really really forgetful. Truthfully, Vidal kind of felt bad for him, but it seemed like he was good at what he did; not everyone was technologically savvy, so if he could help Anders in any way, then he was going to. "Do you have the pictures on a flash drive," he tried not to wince, "or on the cloud or something?"

[loveallthegays]

Xolo Maridueña by Shane McCauley

[xsorceressx]

"I have no doubt you can," because if there was one such individual to learn what they could, Vidal would be at the top of the list. "There's more than enough in here to get you started. Though I suggest the basics is where you begin," if only so that those items do not find themselves a victim of the young witch getting in over his head. "I fear I'm not the best judge for that," she smiled, as she set down the coffee cup. There would be no second taste, not for her. Her smile seemed to falter, as Ismael was brought up easily by the witch. But the question caught her by surprise, if only because she did not know. Circe had offered the cambion more than enough in the way of tea, but did he actually enjoy it? Did he prefer it? Or did he simply take it because she had offered it? "I'm afraid I do not know that," she mused, an almost embarrassed air about her now. "I'll be sure to ask the next I see him."

[vidalarentia]

There were already some ideas percolating on some tech he could work on to help measure out the perfect blend; there had to be a way to automate this whole process because as hard as Vidal worked to make his little inventions, it was bred from a desire to do as little work in the long run. In the perfect world, there'd be a little guy to help with everything, no more cooking, no more "I'll make you a blonde espresso next time," a faux pas anywhere you went, but Vidal had to start Aytaç off somewhere. "No pressure or anything, you know, I was just wondering. I thought maybe I could keep some of his favorites stocked here for you." Vidal was maybe a bit presumptuous, but if nothing else, the man and Aytaç were familiar with one another. Friendly.

[eliasthemagi]

♒

As cool as it was for the guy to fly up in the air, Elias still found the sight of it pretty funny. He looked like a fish out of water, wobbling around as if at any second he'd plummet back down to earth. Elias refused to be a stereotype so he didn't want to give the stranger any fuel to lop him into the "capricious fey" box, yet he laughed nonetheless, covering his mouth as he did so. "Do anything? You mean besides being the coolest boulder you've ever seen? No, but he could. Like I said, I almost gave him a ghastly, gnarled dick so ... spraying maybe? But I kind of like him like this." Elias sighed and sat down with his legs hanging over his creation's forehead. This amount of magic was awesome to wield, but he was bummed out by his limitations. He was sure his distant relatives beyond the moon gate could do so much more and that he'd never measure up. Not that he'd let some rando in on his personal thoughts. "He also provides me an excellent view so I don't have to balance in mid-air like a circus clown. That's something too, right?"

[vidalarentia]

One of the apparatuses under Vidal's feet buzzed and veered suddenly slightly to the right; the witch wobbled as his leg was pulled further apart, "Woah-." These things worked but were temperamental, like many of the things that Vidal made. His arms helped him balance again as he brought his leg back in before Vidal moved about the circumference of the creature; his mind was already moving to several different possibilities. Now he'd heard the comment about giving the creature... that... and after temporarily short-circuiting, he was putting together something more useful, practical, and efficient. "If you worked over the joints, I bet you could make it walk easily enough." Faimen... eladrins, they'd recently developed elemental powers, hadn't they? Vidal was going to guess that this one had power over the earth. You could pull some of the nearby elements found in the earth to reinforce it as well. The knees, hips, shoulders, and spine need support to sustain motion. Maybe if you built a tank inside, you could use it to hold-" He blushed. Walking around was large and impractical, but there was so much potential here. "But um..." he wobbled, "is there room for one more before one of my shoes decides to crap out on me again?"

[farenduil]

One thing he's not quite ever going to let go of is just reading in wilderness. That's further now and so the various parks make up for that when he doesn't feel like venturing further. Out of his comfort zone in terms of literature, he's finally picked up that 'Narnia' series and he's just getting past Lucy meeting Mr. Tummnus when he hears a shout. Looking up, he manages to roll over just before whatever the hell that thing is comes crashing. It looks like one of those things some people flew around except this one looks like it's.....That's definitely an empty Coke can. It doesn't look like there's any room for technology in the metal carcass which can only mean one thing. Sitting up on his elbows and securing his paperback in his back pocket, Farenduil can't help but let out an amused huff. "Of all the things to do with magic."

[vidalarentia]

"Sorry man," Vidal said sheepishly as he picked up the drone he'd put together and tried to hold it steady while it buzzed furiously to be liberated from its capture. "this one's a real rascal." He muttered a word as magic discreetly pulsed from his hold and the buzzing suddenly stopped. "I'll have to try this one again, I don't know, maybe it thought you were a threat or something." This guy didn't really look like a threat, he just looked like he'd been trying to read a children's book in peace. "Are you alright?"

[emissaryalder]

^*^

If people assumed Alder was burdened because of his position in Lupercal, then that was fine with him. He really did give his all to the protection of the small city-state and the pack it held within, already feeling possessive of all the morsels that were going to lend their power to his alpha. "Every day on your own is like that. I guess I'm used to it. Honestly, being a street witch constantly looking over my shoulder was way more intense than working for the Lupo." Plus, Alder quite enjoyed the multitude of resources to study. This temple was a treasure trove for witches with unending curiosity.

He'd been studying the city's history as well, specifically the covens. However recent records on the Alstroemeria were limited and vague. The details involved something about disappearances and rebuilding, but he never imagined they'd actually been reduced to two. How lucky he was to happen to run into one of the coven's more loose-lipped members. "That's a privilege in it of itself, right? Some bells cannot be unrung," Alder says candidly, showing his marked palm clearly. "There are plenty of other areas to study in the temple. I don't think there's any shame in having lived a soft, cushy life. Some witches are born to be average, cookie-cutter, dabblers, and that's ok." He smiles easily at the other, his slight dig nothing personal just a means to throw Vidal off balance a bit. Admittedly, Alder was curious about this one. "I'm Alder, it's nice to meet you. I have no coven, so I've buddied up to the Lupo pack. But life on the wild side can get a bit crazy at times, so I like to come here to be in a more witch-friendly environment, y'know?"

[vidalarentia]

"It wasn't like that for me," Vidal said simply, "being on my own." There was a chittering under his shirt before a mechanical Bug made out of a spark plug, refrigerator coils, some LEDS, and other random parts crawled out of his shirt. Reminiscent of a horned beetle, its wings spread and buzzed about the witch's head; Vidal laughed lightly as it chirped. "Right, right, sorry:" Vidal apologized to the invention, "I haven't been alone. I managed to make some friends." The Bug landed in his hair, something Vidal would have to untangle them from later, a nuisance, but he always took it as a sign of affection. After his mother passed there wasn't anyone left that could really understand him, he had friends, but they were human. Neighbors, but they were always whispering about him.

Vidal could be naive, but he was far from stupid and knew when someone was making fun of him. Nervously, the witch shifted from one foot to the other. "I don't think you know enough about me to say I'm privileged, or average." Vidal looked at the stacks, then back to Alder. Erik Alstroemeria was the strongest witch in a generation, a visionary. The Amaranthus became the most powerful coven without ever using blood magic. "Demons promise a lot," Vidal said with a nod, "but that doesn't mean you should believe them."

[eliasthemagi]

who?: open to all || @senatusstarters where?: outer wood of fey forest

♒

At the edge of the forest, Elias intended to show definitively that he was still a cut above. Growing pains aside, he had no choice but to remain one of a kind just as he had been as a faiman. Elias dedicated himself to the eladrin because he was more capable than anyone, so hitting a wall was not an option. His additive abilities came so easily that collecting the earth beneath his fingertips to grow a giant was as simple as breathing. Larger than any sentinel, Elias felt he could have it reach the clouds above if he wanted, yet as he stood atop his giant's head the view over the forest tree line was disappointing. All he'd done was erect a monument to his newfound inadequacy. Elias was tone-deaf and had yet to find his voice, which meant his rock possessed no magical sentience like he should've been able to create. "Don't touch it! You look greasy. I don't want his integrity compromised," he shouts down, not quite ready to destroy the big lug even though it was effectively useless. "Honestly, you should be way more appreciative. I was going to give him the biggest, ugliest dick the forest has ever seen but was kind enough to spare the masses."

[vidalarentia]

The giant golem was hard to miss, and while a smarter witch would've gone intruding on the rantings of a fey, Vidal's inquisitiveness always won out over any sort of common sense. He'd gotten close when a voice from above shouted at him; blanching, Vidal looked at his greasy hands before he wiped them on his overalls. "Sorry, my backpack broke down earlier and I had to fix it!" Vidal called up before he patted the side of it; the witch kicked at the heels of his shoes and suddenly began to hover as the propellers underneath turned and hummed at an alarming weight. Shakily, Vidal's legs wobbled as he slowly... Very slowly climbed into the air until he was at eye level with the eladrin. "Is uh... Is this thing supposed to be doing something?" What had the fey said about a penis? It was hard to make out, but Vidal hadn't seen one on his way up, if he had he'd have averted his eyes.

[demonkaito]

This house was all too familiar to him even with how long he had been separated from it. Home was where the heart was or whatever. Honestly, Kaito didn't really remember what the phrase was nor did he even think it actually applied here. It didn't much matter though. The point was that walking around the house felt like he'd never actually left. The only difference now was that there was quite a lot of empty space. That was fine to him though. Socialization was something he was decent at, but he preferred to keep to himself most of the time. Nevertheless, he'd make an effort with anyone within this coven where Yurena was a one woman show. Leaning against the wall, his arms folded over his chest to eye the witch before him. "Yes, Kaito. Vidal, right?" He already knew that, but he didn't mind fucking with the kid, too. Hazing worked sometimes. He'd read that somewhere.

[vidalarentia]

This presence was so unnerving, like sitting in front of a horror movie and anticipating a jump scare. At any moment, something would pop out from behind the corner or out of Kaito's mouth, sending Vidal shrieking down the hall. Nervous, Vidal tried to keep his voice from shaking as he spoke. "Yeah, I guess Yurena filled you in already huh." A nervous hand moved to his head as he spoke, "How long have you been her familiar?" It wasn't cool to judge a demon by its cover, so Vidal tried to look past the inherent fear he felt around the other, but it was a lot to digest.