buttrinthum | TDM #1

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!tdm

TDM #1

Arrival / Enchanted Garden

Whether it be sleep or death, you feel your eyes close, and as your body begins to let go, you see a barn owl that is flying through the darkness, soon sweeping you across the clouded sky. You feel yourself mouth the words, “I wish, I wish..” and utter your deepest and darkest desire.

When you regain consciousness, you’ll find you are in an unfamiliar place with no recognition of how you arrived here. You have the clothes on your back, but nothing else. No weapons and if you had a particular superpower, you’ll notice it is missing. All you have is a satchel with a piece of bread, a vial of water and a potion. The potion could be red, blue or golden. There are no instructions about these potions other than two words: Drink Me.

Will you drink it or not?

There is a parchment, handwritten, and it simply gives you a welcoming:

“Welcome to my Labyrinth. Per our agreement, you have consented to live your life here for an undetermined amount of time. In exchange, I will grant you the wish that you desire the most.”

You’re in a garden, surrounded by flowers and plants– most of which you cannot identify. However, there are a few that you can make out: poinsettias and mistletoe. You’ll soon find out that being around the poinsettias give you an odd sense of joy no matter how confusing the situation may seem and the mistletoe, which is left over from the holiday season, gives you the desire to kiss or hold hands with the nearest person to you. It looks like there are plenty of others who are just now waking up from their dream-state as well.. why not go ahead and say hello?

Somnius / Snow Angels

With the influx of new life, the humble town a barkeep tells you is called Somnius seems to come alive as well, with new faces to join that of the resident fairies, goblins and other townfolk. There’s bustling energy to the land that the townfolk will tell you wasn’t quite there before, and some suspect that the presence of the new arrivals might be powering the world around them in some way - but that’s a question to be answered on another day. The quaint town of Somnius needs a little bit of care, that rustic feel to the mushroom houses, old shops and weathered castles too evident at first glance, but it’s not a bad place to live, as the locals will tell you. It almost seems like everything will be okay…

But of course, things are never so simple.

Whether you have been wandering around to get your bearings, talking to the locals or exploring your new humble (very humble) abode, you can expect to find mysterious ice sculptures - fashioned in the shape of snow angels, with blades in their hands - appearing in random places around the town. There are some that manifest in the middle of the street, some that sit quietly at the edge of an inn, and even some that appear right beside your bed, staring at you as you wake up. It’s unclear how these sculptures even got here, but close proximity to them will conjure up feelings of unrest, like you should not step any closer.

It’s smart to trust your gut in these situations. Step too close to a snow angel and it will come to life, moving with the grace of flowing water. They make a vague request and will spare only those able to heed it.

“Cold … so cold … Even the days of Visium are so cold. Have you any warmth to spare us?”

Some angels will accept an article of clothing as warmth. Others are greedy and keep demanding more, wanting to take everything that you have on your body. Heed their requests and they will spare you. Resist even just a little, and that’s when they draw their swords.

It’s not too easy to defeat an angel with brute force given that they reform themselves immediately. Running away or blasting them with fire could do the trick. Be careful not to get cut by their blades, however…

Characters who get cut by their blades will experience an inconsolable sense of chill and emptiness, right down to their bones. They will find themselves desiring ‘warmth’ from others in different ways - whether through physical contact, or affectionate words and gestures. There might be the few who go feverish in their desire for warmth. For those characters – the open fireplace is looking like a very tantalizing place to sit in right now (Yes, sit in, not by). They might even feel compelled to pull a friend in with them. That can’t be good for anyone…

The effects will only subside if the condition of receiving ‘warmth’ is met. This can be in the literal sense (physical warmth and intimacy) or figurative (feelings of love, acceptance and happiness).

Bonfire

When night falls, the temperatures only drop further, which does no favours for the poor souls who had to give up their clothing. The locals want to welcome the new arrivals and give everyone an opportunity to unwind from a busy and chaotic day of being hunted by snow sculptures. That’s why they’ve set up a gathering in the middle of town square. Food and alcohol is being generously supplied by The Cask & Anvil, and marketplace vendors have set up pop up stands to try and cajole the new arrivals into purchasing some fancy new clothes or a pretty gemstone they claim will ward off danger (claims not verified).

At the center of it all is a large bonfire that’s warming up the square. Everyone is encouraged to warm themselves by it after a long day, eat, and make merry. In fact, there’s a certain sense of enchantment to the crackling fire that seems to draw even the shiest wallflower in, pushing them to sit with others and make conversation. As the night goes on, the newly arrived dreamers will find themselves settling easily into the warm and bustling mood, any stresses and anxieties melting away. With time, they’ll start to find themselves without a filter, more than happy to talk about themselves and the life they had led prior to coming to Visium. In fact, they will feel compelled to share a story from their past - one that might be joyous, comedic, thrilling, or tragic. Whatever sorts of feelings come attached to their story, it will be one of emotional significance.

In the back of their minds, they might get the sense someone else is listening.

OOC

Welcome to the labyrinthum TDM! Characters will arrive depowered and with only their clothing, and will be given a satchel with a crystal pendant, a communication device, some water and bread and a magic potion. If they drink the potion, they will manifest an elemental, healing or animal transformation ability.

With the exception of Castle Vaeros, characters are free to go as they please, so feel free to place them in any of the locations available on the map. Yes, this includes the Labyrinth - though characters will not be able to clear the maze. Please comment here to request an outcome for your character's labyrinth exploration and a moderator will get to you shortly. (The longest a character can stay in the Labyrinth is 3 days.)

You can find more information about the game here. Any questions regarding the TDM can go under the comment below.

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( okay, hold up. he hadn't been counting on someone calling him out on his expletives — very few had before, but they had also been from the colonies — and he stops for a second, blinking in the other man's direction for a good handful of seconds before he regains his composure and tries to shrug it off. )

It was … the name given to me in the program I was in. ( there, that's good enough, right? he doesn't need to follow through, except there's some part of him that thinks he should, because he helped him, and he bites it back. instead, he focuses on the name he's given. )

Fushi—guro. ( he puts a bit too much emphasis on the first two syllables, decides he doesn't like that, and instead: ) Toji. ( it's easier for him to say, stupid slavic tongue and all. ) Mm … starik rolls off the tongue better, but that might just be me. ( his grin is just this side of wolfish, but he just so happens to notice how he's been shivering this entire goddamn time when the old man brings attention to it.

his teeth chatter. ) So? You offering to warm me up?

Eve had no idea if her choices even fell anywhere in the scale the Doctor was talking about. She killed until there was no one else left. All because they could not keep up with the tortures or want to. They all broke. Some more than others, but in the very end she was able to see traces of their true selves again.

When the Doctor begins to speak about being the last of his own kind, Eve's wet eyes may open wide realizing -- his home was one of those planets he had seen burn. She will continue to attentively listen and observe him. Silently realizing he did not believe in himself because-- "Luck only happens when skill meets opportunity," she will say weakly between sobs. He only survived because he made the right choices at the right opportunity. That's what Eve believes the word 'luck' truly means.

Looking back down as she continues to tremble, the only reason she doesn't fight against having his arms around her was -- she could hear two distinct beats. No, more like four distinct beats if she was thinking technically. His chest had more than a single heart? Eve will turn her head, moving closer in between them as she allows its rhythm to lull her. Maybe it's fine to accept his kindness because he wasn't like VOID. He wasn't VOID. He wasn't an evil and corrupt person.

"...what is the name of those you are trying to keep alive?" weakly asked Eve wanting to learn the name of his world or his kind.

[ the bit about being given a name as part of some kind of program catches toji's interest, but the moment passes and he knows better than to pry too hard at someone like them. he puts the information away for some other time, maybe, if their paths even cross again after this.

arching an eyebrow at the challenging question at the end, toji rubs cain's arm a bit with that same faint, irreverent grin. ]

Bit past the offer by now. [ he points out, nodding at where he has cain physically held against him. ] You got specific requests?

Don't worry, pal. I've got a pretty good shoe situation going on right now. But the money situation's not too bad here. Those crystal thingies we all got? They produce Shards, and we use those for money! Sounds like the easiest way to earn money I ever heard of.

[Solomon didn't disappoint him and Arrakis's smile faintly grew brighter with his choice. The offering seemed to satisfy the angel as well and Arrakis let out a quiet sigh of relief. Both parties were happy and no amount of bloodshed or running away was necessary.]

Thanks.

[Arrakis briefly glanced back at the angel before walking over to Solomon and carefully draping his wing around him.]

It's warmer inside. Allow me to buy you a drink.

[Before the snow angel changed her mind. Plus it was the least he could do to after asking Solomon to surrender his jacket. He should get him a new one as well.]

( he'll tell him, maybe, eventually — maybe even if he doesn't ask, but the moment really is come and gone between one moment and the next, and since neither of them are too keen on letting things get too personal beyond their scope …

thoughts better left for another time, one more thing neither of them are well-versed in, but that's neither here nor there.

cain hums, clicks his teeth on air like he wishes he had something to bite, an idle thought in the back of his mind. )

I could think of something … probably … ( he leans into him a bit more, challenging. ) Maybe.

Lost? I guess you could say that.

[ technically, they were all lost? ]

I have never seen you around before, you must've gotten here.

Your type is pretty greedy. I should have known.

[ i.e. humans... sigh. ]

[ is this all bluster? hard to tell at cain's age, but either way is fine really. as long as they're pressed up like this there'll be some benefit to the weird cold curse, and if cain wants to spend that time flirting that's certainly one way to fill the time. and, well, if cain's looking for something more then that's even less boring, so it's pretty much win-win. toji's not too particular about his partners to begin with, and cain's well above whatever minimal standards toji has. ]

You don't sound too sure, [ toji comments, angling himself to face cain better, eyebrows lifting in curiosity. ] Need some suggestions?

( cain is, admittedly, a lot of things — an asshole, cocky, kind of a narcissist, an absolute bastard sometimes — but he's never found himself in a position in which his mouth has written a check that his ass couldn't cash. he's a lot of talk most of the time, sure, but he's always going to have something to back it up with.

so. there's never been anything wrong in his book with upping the ante at every possible opportunity, and while it could very easily stay as flirting and nothing more than that, well. where the hell is the fun in that?

cain's head tips back a bit when the other man faces him more directly, a single dark eyebrow arching toward his hairline, dark eyes flicking down to the line of his mouth and back up again. ) Oh, I'm always open to suggestions. ( a beat. ) If they sound good enough. Hit me.

[ that just gets a snort out of toji, his hand going up briefly to ruffle through cain's hair. ]

Making me do all the work, huh? Guess that's fine. Let's see...

[ tapping the heel of his foot against the floor, as he thinks, he rattles off all the obvious suspects, watching cain's face for reaction at each item. ]

Could make out, that usually gets the blood flowing. It has to involve a second party or you just end up cold and sticky, so I could do something with what you're packing— [ toji snaps the waistband of what cain is passing as underwear for emphasis. ] —or you could get in my lap and do something about it yourself if you're into being watched. I don't usually suck dick for fun but I'm bored today so what the hell, I can make an exception. Or we could just fuck.

( the snort he kind of expects, the hair ruffle not so much, and he reaches up to half-assedly bat that hand away. ) You saved my ass, brought me home, cleaned me up like some responsible motherfucker … I'm your problem now, so hell yeah I'm gonna make you do the work. ( mouthy little shit, ain't he?

there are ways around that, you know.

there is absolutely no denying that his own mind has already gone in the same direction as toji's, but he does make a show of pretending to mull it over ( even as his waistband snaps, and he swats at that hand, too ), an exaggerated mmm sounding in the back of his throat even as he's pulling himself up and settling squarely in the other man's lap, arms draping over his shoulders like they belong there. )

I like the lap idea. ( he says, mildly amused, voice almost a drawl as he brings one hand back around to brush the pad of his thumb over the scar bisecting his lips. ) I like this, too. ( and he bites at it, albeit not quite as hard as he would normally, but there's more than enough time for that, isn't there?

he speaks against his mouth, low and rough: ) Why don't we start here and see where it goes? ( like. he's going to be the one in charge of the situation.

oh, honey. that's cute. )

[ though toji gives no particular reaction to being repeatedly swatted, he does nip back at cain biting his scar, the distant shriek of a dark room behind a closed door in the back of his mind as the cut drips phantom blood on the floor. he licks over the scar, reminding himself it's long healed, a scratchy laugh escaping his lips at the idea cain likes such a wretched thing.

that, too, tracks. ]

You got shit taste, [ toji remarks, but says it in a neutral sort of way. not a condemnation, just an amused observation. he slides his hands over cain's lean torso, around his waist to his back, just mapping out the kid's frame. ]

Go on, let's see what you've got.

( there's no way for him to know where that scar had come from, what kind of connection to toji's past it might have — and maybe he'll learn, one of these days, whenever they can be bothered to actually have a conversation that doesn't involve one hundred percent snark — but he's always thought scars added characters, that they told stories, and there's something in him already that wants to know what this man's are.

( getting ahead of himself already, we see. go on, then. )

he stretches beneath those wandering hands, ribs standing out in stark relief beneath the surface of pale skin. ) Could say yours is worse. ( he murmurs, hands coming up to fist in dark hair. ) You brought me home. ( and i'm no fucking good for anyone.

but he kisses him fully then, parted lips and slick tongue and the scrape of teeth that teases at more than just a light pressure, but he's only getting started. )

Wrong. My taste in partner's the one thing I've got going for me, [ toji corrects sharply. he doesn't have a lot of standards, but cain isn't anywhere near bottom of the barrel by far, and while there's no love lost between toji and himself, he also knows his interest doesn't come cheap. ]

...that and being fucking amazing in bed and in a fight. Those three are tied, probably.

[ the kiss comes as something of a surprise, as toji was pretty sure they were just going to neatly moves onto the 'show' portion of this transaction. it's a good surprise, at least, a spark more intimacy than toji is used to or generally allowed in his life, to be with someone who would seek out to kiss him unprompted, unprovoked. he kisses back with a low, undecided sound at the back of his throat, something between want and warning.

hands settling on cain's hips, he pulls his partner down to grind against him. ]

Mm. ( he hums, like he's thinking about it, or letting that information sink beneath the surface of his skin. ) Sounds like you're full've yourself if you ask me. Fuckin' amazing in bed? ( he pauses to abruptly bite at his mouth again, adding a brief but filthy downward grind of his hips. ) I'll be the judge of that, thanks.

( but good in a fight … that isn't surprising, to say the very least of it; he looks like he could hold his own without even trying, built like he is, and for a very, very brief moment cain imagines what he might look like handing someone's face to them on a silver platter. fucking hot to say the very least of it, but there isn't exactly a whole lot of room in his brain for any thoughts that aren't directly related to the situation at hand.

which, currently, happens to be those large hands settling on his hips and pulling him down, and he growls out a low note that catches just behind his teeth as he keeps taking deeper kisses from his mouth, sucking on his tongue, because kissing might be fucking intimate, but he likes it, and he's going to keep right on doing it, if you don't terribly mind.

his own hands don't stay idle, sliding down either side of his neck and over broad shoulders to drag blunt nails over his chest and the hard flat of his stomach until he can wedge one between them, palm flat. just. to gauge what he's working with, here …

have we mentioned there isn't a shred of shame in him? bold motherfucker. )

Judge away, [ toji invites with a low rumble of a laugh, one massive hand wrapping around cain's wrist to guide him exactly where he wants to go. toji likes to think of himself as well built and, you know, proportional, but he also knows what he's packing is quite the source of controversy depending on who he's with. some people get excited about it, others balk and limit him to hand stuff only.

plenty to work with, in summary. he's only half hard and already nicely filling out against cain's palm.

he meets cain kiss for kiss in the meantime, steadying them by cupping his hand over cain's cheek. there's a push and pull to it, toji delving past cain's lips in turn to taste him, explore him, groaning in welcome at the gift of this connection. ]

( judge away, he says like he isn't about to appreciate the bulge against his hand, groaning low and rough in the back of his throat as toji moves his hand where he wants it; the man is, essentially, built like a goddamn brick shithouse and proportional would be correct in any and all assumptions, and cain doesn't hesitate to curl his fingers around the half-hard cock beneath his palm and squeeze through a layer of fabric. just for the sake of it. )

You get a lot of judgment? ( he asks between kisses, already just this side of breathless because he's getting himself worked up, mouth watering at the prospect of getting a taste of him, and uh. does that say a lot about him? it probably says a lot about him.

he bites at toji's bottom lip, the edge of his jaw as he slides downward, making it pretty goddamn obvious where his intentions lie and once he's managed to get on his knees on the floor, he doesn't so much hesitate as linger; he mouths over the line of his cock through his pants, sucks at the head just to be a tease —

only then does he chance a glance upward, all teeth and a flash of mischief. ) I'm not judgin'.

[ the eagerness catches toji by surprise when nothing else does, the sheer enthusiasm with which cain gets down between his thighs like a second home. cain moves so fast that he elicits a hiss of breath and choked half-swear as the boy's mouth is on him, just like that, no warning, no fanfare. toji has to cough a little, clear this throat as he runs his fingers fondly through cain's hair, before he can quite get his breath back to quip back at his partner. ]

Try not to tear anything I just bandaged open, [ he warns lightly, more a tease than any real caution. ] But I can pop your jaw back in if you get ahead of yourself, so no worries there.

( he kind of likes sucking dick, okay? regardless of whether or not he realizes he's going to end up on the bottom of this situation is irrelevant, because toji is going to get his dick wet either way.

the hiss of breath is a good sign, the choked-off half-swear even better as he mouths along the length of him again, one hand coming up to work open button and zipper and then sliding inside to tug him fully free, chuckling under his breath as he strokes him slowly. )

Worried about me already, old man? ( he flicks his tongue over the slit, then presses a hot, open-mouthed kiss just beneath the sensitive ridge. ) M'not gonna break.

( if you've got anything to say, sir, best do it now because he's about to close his mouth around the head of your cock and suck, hot and slick and hard while the hand curled around your shaft slips down to ( almost too damn gently ) cup your balls.

never mind that he's already hard and fucking aching. he'll deal with that eventually. )

[ it's not very often that someone moves too fast for fushiguro toji to track, but cain is apparently just built different and toji's going to put blame on the lack of his usual reflexes. cain moves through the steps of sucking dick with the kind of fluidity most gymnasts could only dream of, getting into toji's pants with tactical precision.

cain's done this before, plainly. a lot. and it's not hard to see just how genuinely he wants to taste toji's cock, so fucking hot in his eagerness and wanton irreverence. it feels as good as toji can remember getting in recent memory, and he lets his head fall back briefly as he lets out a low, approving groan. ]

Not worried, [ he manages to mutter, sitting up again in spite of how much his body is trying to tell him he has no bones because fuck if he's going to miss the sight of this gorgeous, wild force of nature with his sweet lips wrapped around toji's cock. he leans forward in fact, hand cradling the back of cain's skull to guide him in. ] If you break I'll just put you back together again.

[ It's probably Cain's coincidental likeness to the wolves he's able to summon that causes Megumi to relax around him, to extend help instead of slinking away in caution. He's also become attuned to the body language of dogs and wolves over the years, and there's no aggression he can sense from this large canine. Only curiosity, and some pleasant feelings.

Despite the way stories tend to go, wolves don't lie. If this wolf wants to kill him, he would sense it immediately in the way it stalks, and the intense eye contact it would be giving. There's none of that here.

Cautiously, he takes out some meat he had bought while at the market and places it on a flat rock, careful not to get the food dirty with soil even if most wild animals would not be bothered by that. He then backs away, giving Cain some space to eat. ]

( he knows what he wants, and he's never been afraid of going after what he wants; toji just happens to be in a position to witness it firsthand, and cain is already thinking that if he plays his cards right, this isn't about to be the first or last time he has a front row seat to him getting on his knees without so much as a second thought to anything else.

( maybe if you get some of those reflexes back you'll be able to keep up with him, old man. just some food for thought going forward, yeah? )

he isn't putting on a show just for the sake of it, even if it is a good one; he knows he's good at what he does, or at the very least he knows he's never gotten any complaints about his mouth like this, arguable as it might be that there have been complaints elsewhere at his inability to keep it from running away from him — and the hand at the back of his head simply garners a low, pleased sound filtering up from the back of his throat as he takes more of him into his mouth, experimentally, testing just how much he can take because he doesn't want to ruin the show by, say, pressing too deeply too soon and gagging.

( some might be into that. he isn't. moving right along. )

cain takes him in maybe halfway, just enough to be able to feel him at the back of his throat and pulling off with an obscene, wet sound, chuckling under his breath and chancing a glance upward, and fuck, the view is just as good from below. )

That a promise?

( he quips, but doesn't wait for a reply, far more intent on taking him into his mouth again, just as deeply, pausing to add the smallest bit of suction just to see what it gets him. )

Noticing her still warming her arms, Katsuki shifts and scoots closer to the fire almost instantly. He's more prepared for the cold, having been here long enough to get some other items (mostly hand-me-downs from the healers who would come over weekly to tend his wounds) that what he came with...but the kid was in a dress and loafers meant probably for spring, not winter. He could easily work off the debt just to get her at least a coat and boots...

His thought bubble bursts almost immediately and those deep red eyes stare at Alice in confusion and mild horror when she asks if she has to work. What the fuck. What the literal, actual fuck??

"Haah?! Who the hell would make a kid work?!" Labor laws most definitely exist in his day and age, and he's just clearly not thinking that there's others out there that don't abide by the same. "Tch...'course not. But you still need a roof over your head and a bed to sleep in. There's empty places here, but..." his nose wrinkles as a deep frown settles on his face. "I don't like the idea of a brat being on their own."

Who's going to cook for her? Like hell she's prepared or wise enough to be in a kitchen on her own. Well...no, okay, that's a generalization and assumption - kids are smart and can be taught to cook pretty young, but...he just doesn't see it in this little thing - no offense, Alice.

Maybe it's a threat— [ toji only just manages to force out before the air seizes in his lungs, words coming out more aggressive than intended for sheer urgency to speak them before he loses the ability entirely. groaning like he's taken a mortal wound, toji's muscles lock in an effort to keep himself centered, to stay still in the face of cain's goddamned mouth.

there's a sharp, painful tug at the hair twisted in toji's fingers, reprimand and revenge for the way cain is toying with him and the brutal effectiveness of the younger man's skill. it's hard for someone like toji to admit, for someone whose entire survival has hinged on his ability to utilize the worthless flesh that damned him from the start, but cain just might be a little better at this than he is. from practice, but from sheer genuine passion too.

cain loves this. it makes him come alive the way death does for toji, and it makes him so unspeakably good. artful, even. toji hasn't failed to notice how cain knows exactly where his limits are, knows how to test them, how to push them, has toji wound around his little finger with his mouth on toji's cock without so much as coughing. ]

...it should be a crime to be this fucking beautiful, [ he mutters, hoarse now, gaze fixed on cain like he's trying to see the exact moment when lightning strikes. ]

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TDM #1

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