soft-dom-kalani

[soft-dom-kalani]

Dom Kalani’s fight outfit aka Dom Kalani’s workout outfit aka Dom Kalani’s rock climbing outfit

[soft-dom-kalani]

open to: anyone

Setting: outside

Time: any

Dom was working out. He'd been talked into the fight club tournament against his better judgment. He worked out anyway but now he was going to have to actually fight people, he was making sure he had every advantage, given he was younger than a lot of the members of the castle. He was throwing boulders today. The trick and skill of boulder throwing wasn't the strength, but the accuracy of how you threw them. He'd managed to stack several on top of each other and had managed to at least amuse himself even if he wasn't really pushing himself to the limits. This was supposed to be a healthy release of tensions. He'd only signed up under duress and he was still trying to find a way out of the whole thing. Hitting slaves felt wrong, and hitting masters felt stupid. As for hitting staff, that just felt pointless. But here he was.

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Having never been a slave, Dom knew there were aspects of that he didn't understand. and simply shrugged and accepted Rhoan's answer without comment. The other man seemed to have a response to everything, and clearly wanted a fight. It was kind of cute, really. He flicked Rhoan's ear instead of answering him. "Behave, pup." Hand on the back of the hellhound's neck in a firm but gentle grip, he pivoted Rhoan towards the castle and away from any attempts at escape. "Fine. We'll bank it for now. But I'm gonna collect on it eventually. You're just prolonging the inevitable." Tugging the other man along, Dom remained silent, waiting to see how long it would take before Rhoan burst out with some other sassy comment. Or maybe he was in a good mood, they could just let this go, and Ilya could deal with this himself for once. He stroked the back of Rhoan's neck with a finger. Someone should really take him in hand, he clearly needed an alpha. The downsides of not being part of a pack had largely missed Dom, who hated the term "lone wolf" but suited it nonetheless. "Come by my office after heat week. I won't bother you til after that. If you make me come find you, I'll chase you down and we won't be having a friendly conversation." Which was either a warning or an offer, depending on Rhoan, really.

Rhoan grunted quietly in acknowledgement, crossing his arms. Worried wasn't quite the right word, not when the man could handle himself just fine. Part of it was definitely survival instinct for the hellhound -- if something happened to Ilya, there was nothing stopping the castle from tossing Rhoan back into the Undercroft. He didn't exactly like the idea of being at the mercy of every single master in the castle again and the vampire gave him protection from that for the most part. "Yeah? Pretty sure it'd still be your problem if I swung back at him. Think the assholes who run this place would still have an issue with if even if it's me defending myself in that kinda situation." His lips pressed together in a thin line and the hellhound's eyes narrowed at the bigger man for a moment. Talking wasn't his strong point, hadn't really been encouraged much when he was growing up. "I'm not in the mood to talk. You already know what happened and why I did it. Don't see what some fucking...heart to heart bullshit is going to do here."

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Dom lost the capacity for complex thought, focusing on blood and sex and ignoring everything else, even the name of the person he was fucking. He was there and was eager, that was all that mattered. It was just a body underneath him that filled both his needs. He snarled at the talking, pulling out and flipping Ember over, knocking him onto his stomach and slamming into his raised hips, the other man's face pressed into the soft ground. His fangs dripped blood as Dom stroked the other man's skin, picking a spot at his shoulder before striking and biting again. He went harder. He'd been ASKED for harder. They were leaving a groove in the earth, his hands ripping into it when his claws might have otherwise torn through flesh.

The frenzy overtook him and he growled in his throat, speeding up and focusing on not killing Ember when he came. His claws left deep enough furrows in the ground he'd pressed Ember down underneath him. Getting up, Dom swore and got off the other man. His vision was still red and he was more than half-feral, so he turned Ember over and grabbed his cock, stroking him and sucking on the wounds on the other man's neck to keep the last drops of blood from being wasted.

It seemed what he said did the trick in giving him what he was wanting, as soon as the words left his mouth the other acted. It was in quick motions that he felt the other finally push into him, roughly and without much care for ease, which the bird wasn't at all bothered by. Not in the heat of the moment, as soon as he pushed in he gave a loud cry, being filled to the brim by the other was enough to make his eyes roll. He did his best to meet each of his thrusts while giving him room to feed, moving his head to the side to give him more of his neck. The more he moved the harder it was becoming to think, to even breathe, and yet he felt more alive than he had been before. "Please... I want your cock so bad, please, harder. Harder." He begged, his hands clawing at his back as the other kept moving, thrusting deep within him as he claimed his body over and over. "Fuck-- feel so good fuckin' me, bittin' me. Don't hold back, I'm begging you." His words were muffled and broken through the kisses he'd been given, through the groans that ripped through his throat to be heard by the trees around them.

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“Only because you didn’t ask first.” Not entirely true, but it made Merek insanely irritated to not know what he had to do to unlock sex mode with Dom and that was most of the fun in Don’s day sometimes. He didn’t even respond to Merek’s other comment. Because it was true and depressing and the goal was to distract himself from that.

Dom raised an eyebrow because … well there was procreation but that didn’t seem like Merek’s thing either. “Are you … sleeping with people for information? Cuz that seems like a lot of information in that case.” Sighing he waved a hand and the glass case opened: “Never mind, this is punishing me more than you anyway. Just reminding me of how badly I’m failing on all fronts these days.”

His attempt to get Merek to fall over failed, but he hadn't really been trying. He was kind of off his game this week. Not surprising, but still. Dom listened without interruption, not even making a face at the idea of there being a copycat, which was both a good point and one he didn't want to think about.

Merek's refusal made Dom burst out laughing, his own chair tipping back as he cackled. "Touché. Just remember this next time you pout that I wouldn't let you sit on my lap like a kid at a Santa fair." Merek was tall enough that sitting on Dom's lap probably looked comical as hell. "I'm bad at waiting when I don't know what I'm waiting for. If I knew what I was hunting, it'd be different. It's the not knowing. Not even a scent. I don't know how to hunt something I can't track."

Sighing, Dom got up, walked around his desk, and dragged a chair, a lesser one than his own magnificent one, over next to Merek's little cage. "I should probably just let you out, I'm not even enjoying this. But rules are rules." He ran his fingers through his hair. "I can't think about this shit anymore. Let's try and have a conversation." He balanced his feet against the glass of the cage so that he could prop them up while eyeing Merek speculatively. "You must occasionally think about things other than getting dicked down. Or vice versa." He assumed Merek was into both, given that the man seemed into just about anything. "I'll even let you ask me questions, consider honesty hour in session." He needed SOMETHING to distract him, and while he was sure Merek would be MORE than happy to distract him, that would simply be a short-term solution to a long-term situation.

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"Okay, let's see it." Dom wasn't going to turn down an offer to check the wendigo's bag. Not that he needed permission exactly, but when it came to magical beings, permission could change things quite a bit. "Fascinating. Your culinary skills must be legendary." He looked through the bag thoroughly, sniffing things occasionally to make sure they hadn't been changed or used to conceal anything. "I get reports on everyone. All the time."

"You can look in the bag if you want too. I promise that I'm not hiding anything. Just vegetables and cooking supplies." he assures the man with a small smirk as they walk. "Depends, as you know vampires don't need human foods but my master still indulges me and eats some of my cooking and before you ask, yes he supplies me with raw flesh but I do eat things besides that, even though it does nothing for me." he grinned and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "have you gotten any reports about me recently?"

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Dom snorted derisively and debated destroying furniture. It was Stigr's, and while he could replace it, he'd mind, so he only kicked a stupid footrest out of his path and sent it hurtling across the room to thump against a wall. "The castle has my professional loyalty. Consider this my personal one taking precedence." He would have to get better bodyguards, and maybe apply better spells to Stigr's apartments. Maybe even to Stigr himself. "We need a witch in here." He knew Stigr wouldn't take this seriously, but he was 6000 and took very little about his own life seriously. "More guards, a tighter schedule, I'll oversee it." He was talking to himself more than to Stigr, snarling because furniture kept ending up in his pacing path. "Why don't you go live in a fortress for a while? Somewhere remote with round the clock guards and magical security? Oh wait, you already do, and they STILL GOT IN. I'm looking after you personally."

After Stigr had cleaned himself up and done some research, he'd gotten together with the rest of the council to discuss what had happened. There wasn't much that he'd really been able to go off of, not having caught sight of whoever had fired at him, and in the end had decided to withdraw any accusation that he'd made. No point in accusing someone unless he had absolute proof. Now, he was back in his suite, nursing another blood wine when the peace and quiet was disturbed by his fledgling.

He fixed him with a look, taking a slow sip of his drink before Stigr bothered to reply to that ridiculous statement. "You are not. You have your actual job to do here, I can handle matters myself, Dominic."

[soft-dom-kalani]

Aquaman (2018), dir. James Wan

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"Unless I get fired. Or staked out on the lawn. Failure isn't popular around here." Not that that was the only reason he was motivated, obviously. But it was just a fact. Stigr couldn't protect him if the council voted to remove him for incompetence, or decided he was in on it and executed him. "I'll reach out. It'd be easier if I could trust that any one of the heavy hitters wasn't also potentially the assassin. If they're strong enough to help, they're strong enough to be doing it in the first place." Still, it was a good point. He'd have to message Cairo which would be dodgy given the current ... whatever was going on with Lucien and Raph. He didn't know nearly enough, but Cairo was permanently doomed to be trapped in the middle of it. "Thanks. I know listening to me bitch isn't anyone's idea of a good time. Keep doing what you're doing, and let me know if you want more responsibility. I need more guards who aren't motivated by hunger or sadism."

"It's all right, it's a temporary situation, isn't it?" Manny said with a light breath of laughter. He hoped so anyway. At some point they'd have to catch whoever was behind this, right? No way the council would let anyone running around here with a crossbow and stake continue getting away with taking shots at them. "I can handle it knowing there's a light at the end of the tunnel. No need to step away from your main priorities. Perhaps magical security can step in and assist us from time to time with patrols and things? It'd make sense if they'd need to ensure the strength of the protective barriers and shit, right? Might even be handy having more magically inclined dudes out here doing better inspections."

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His attempt to get Merek to fall over failed, but he hadn't really been trying. He was kind of off his game this week. Not surprising, but still. Dom listened without interruption, not even making a face at the idea of there being a copycat, which was both a good point and one he didn't want to think about.

Merek's refusal made Dom burst out laughing, his own chair tipping back as he cackled. "Touché. Just remember this next time you pout that I wouldn't let you sit on my lap like a kid at a Santa fair." Merek was tall enough that sitting on Dom's lap probably looked comical as hell. "I'm bad at waiting when I don't know what I'm waiting for. If I knew what I was hunting, it'd be different. It's the not knowing. Not even a scent. I don't know how to hunt something I can't track."

Sighing, Dom got up, walked around his desk, and dragged a chair, a lesser one than his own magnificent one, over next to Merek's little cage. "I should probably just let you out, I'm not even enjoying this. But rules are rules." He ran his fingers through his hair. "I can't think about this shit anymore. Let's try and have a conversation." He balanced his feet against the glass of the cage so that he could prop them up while eyeing Merek speculatively. "You must occasionally think about things other than getting dicked down. Or vice versa." He assumed Merek was into both, given that the man seemed into just about anything. "I'll even let you ask me questions, consider honesty hour in session." He needed SOMETHING to distract him, and while he was sure Merek would be MORE than happy to distract him, that would simply be a short-term solution to a long-term situation.

Merek wasn't overly concerned with getting the paperwork in front of him done. One, because he'd gotten all of the important paperwork out of the way just the day before and two, it meant that he got to admire Dom when the man moved around the office. He didn't much react to the book being dropped, only shot the other man an amused look and took another sip of the coffee. "Yes, well, understandable, really. You shake things up enough, get everyone upset, people are bound to start acting out." The pyromancer stretched out his legs a bit more, causing the chair to wobble for just a second before he caught himself.

"It's possible an added bonus is scaring people, but I doubt that's the primary motive. I think they've just had a bout of bad luck since they arrived at the castle. That or they're terrible shots." And now the council was expecting to be attacked, which would make this would-be assassin's job even harder. "Besides that, we don't even know if it's the same killer who attacked the two councilmen in their own homes. Could be a copycat or perhaps they have an accomplice here." Or accomplices.

He hummed softly, shrugging. "I'm not sure the council would agree to locking things down. They can't let people know that something like this could be getting to them, it would make them look weak. And there's no guarantee that the person after them wouldn't also be locked in." At the offer to flirt, Merek raised an eyebrow and looked Dom up and down before he pursed his lips. The pyromancer sat up, letting the chair fall back to the floor, and shook his head. "No. It's not as much fun if you're expecting me to do something."

[soft-dom-kalani]

JASON MOMOA as PHILLIP KOPUS The Red Road (2015) created by Aaron Guzikowski

[soft-dom-kalani]

[soft-dom-kalani]

@stigranselm

Location: Stigr's suite

Time: after the assassination attempt

Dom had moved from fear to uncontrollable rage to bargaining and then back to uncontrollable rage again, which had taken up a good chunk of his time and led to a certain amount of property damage that he'd had to resolve. And Stigr had, of course, been busy with the council because the ridiculous man considered it more important to shit-talk and listen to histrionic bloodsuckers bitch at each other than actually deal with an attempted assassination.

"I'm taking over your security detail."

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Merek hadn't put much of a dent in the paperwork yet but this was a marathon not a race. And he'd managed to balance his chair on two legs. Dom let him keep it up until the coffee cup he had wasn't in danger of spilling on the paperwork, then dropped a loud book to startle the other man.

"Everyone's been acting up." He listened to Merek's opinion and made notes about the potential for poison and why it hadn't been used yet. Worth following up with anyone who'd been stabbed if there were any lasting side-effects. "Good point. Unless the point isn't to kill them at all but just to make everyone afraid." That made him chew the end of his pen thoughtfully. "Do you think that's it? Is this just a feint? It would explain why no one's died yet. But all those other councilmen still got merked. Fuck, I'm not devious enough for this."

He twisted the three-dimensional model a few more times and pushed it to the side. "If this were anywhere else, we'd be on high-alert with protocols in place but ... I don't know if that would even be a good idea. Keeping that many immortal egos in one place is bound to start a catfight." He glanced over at Merek. "If you tell anyone I said that, I'll deny it." Tossing his chewed-up pen aside without caring where it landed, Dom sighed. "This is normally more fun for me." He meant keeping Merek in a cage, though he didn't specify so Merek could assume it was just thinking about security or doing his job or something. "Go on, hit on me or do something ridiculous. I need a distraction." Not that he was letting Merek out of the cage. The paperwork remained after all.

Merek had gotten rather used to Dom's rather unconventional way of punishing him, though it didn't make it any easier for the pyromancer who had difficulty sitting still on a good day. Of course, he'd also known that this was coming after he'd kissed the enforcer, so it hadn't been a surprise to the chief of staff to suddenly be scooped up moments after he'd left his rooms. He'd attempted some of the paperwork, gotten incredibly bored by all of it within minutes, and was now reclined all the way back in the chair with his feet on the desk. It was a delicate balancing act considering the chair wasn't really built for this, but Merek was comfortable for the moment and that was all that mattered as far as he was concerned.

He took a slow sip of the coffee, still not fully awake after several rounds of fun the night before, and eyed Dom for a moment. "I doubt that. From what I hear, more of the slaves have been acting up." Probably feeling emboldened by the attacks on the councilmen. Merek could understand it, but that still didn't make it any less stupid. "How would I do it?" He repeated, raising an eyebrow before the pyromancer started to give it some serious thought.

"Well, they've been using stakes, yes? I don't know why they aren't bothering to somehow add poison to them. That way, even if they miss, the poison would finish the job for them over a period of time, but the difficulty would be finding something the vampires wouldn't notice right away. Not that I want any of our dear council dead, of course."

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Hwan was on-board, which was good but also slightly concerning because Hwan never cared about anything so anything he seemed interested in was suspect. "I'll be sure to let the council know in case they want to start a betting pool." He would probably have to observe as well. Hwan managed to make any conversation just that slightest bit creepier even for a varcolac who was familiar enough with killing. "I think you're that eager to go back to your old habits. Which I'm aware are just your natural instincts." It was hard to judge someone for doing what they were made to do, but when it came to demons, it was required. They were unnatural and couldn't be judged by natural morals. "Make sure everyone knows. And feel free to elaborate as much as you like about tenderizing meat." Hopefully that would discourage any inside men.

Whatever others had to do was of very little concern to the wendigo. As long as he got what he wanted, he didn't care. Yes, it was selfish, but greed and self-centered thinking were at the heart of his species so was it really all that surprising?

"How kind," he replied, serious. "It would be a good deterrent for others who might try to act badly. I could make the chase entertaining for any who want to watch." He knew there were a good number of sadists among the masters who may enjoy seeing the perpetrator being tormented. "Biting in certain places keeps them alive longer. They can tenderize themselves by thrashing." Hwan snorted at Dom's instructions. "Do you think me so impulsive?"

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Dom snorted but shook his head. "Nah, if he swings on you first, I punish him and leave the rest to the cops and Ilya. You swing on him first, now you're my problem." The intricacies of the punishment system were labyrinthine despite Dom trying to make them more straightforward. "I know it would surprise most people, but I actually don't look for ways to punish people. As long as things run smoothly, the council doesn't care that much. Which obviously isn't the case right now." Rhoan's eyes narrowed and Dom had to hide a smile because he was sure that would only convince the other man he was trying to torture him. "Well if I could trust that you wouldn't turn around and blow up at the next person who set you off, I'd agree with you. But leaving a ticking time-bomb loose doesn't seem like me doing my job." He shrugged. "Plus, it isn't really your choice, is it? Kinda the point of punishment. Think of it as the natural consequences of your actions."

Rhoan grunted quietly in acknowledgement, crossing his arms. Worried wasn't quite the right word, not when the man could handle himself just fine. Part of it was definitely survival instinct for the hellhound -- if something happened to Ilya, there was nothing stopping the castle from tossing Rhoan back into the Undercroft. He didn't exactly like the idea of being at the mercy of every single master in the castle again and the vampire gave him protection from that for the most part. "Yeah? Pretty sure it'd still be your problem if I swung back at him. Think the assholes who run this place would still have an issue with if even if it's me defending myself in that kinda situation." His lips pressed together in a thin line and the hellhound's eyes narrowed at the bigger man for a moment. Talking wasn't his strong point, hadn't really been encouraged much when he was growing up. "I'm not in the mood to talk. You already know what happened and why I did it. Don't see what some fucking...heart to heart bullshit is going to do here."

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Dom was mostly done sorting the stock and looked around for a broom. There had to be one around here, didn't stores always have brooms? While he was looking around for one, he listened to Arnon talk and nodded without responding or even really thinking about it. Finding the broom tucked in a corner, he returned to the mess just as Arnon referred to the castle denizens as obnoxious fucks, or meant to anyway, and Dom snorted with amusement. They were largely obnoxious fucks, so he wasn't going to argue. While sweeping the dirt and debris into a pile, he considered what one could do for a job in a town devoted to the castle. It had never been something he thought about so he gave it a thorough examination. "Yeah well, no one's good at retail." Dom would rather be staked in the sun than have to work a retail gig for all eternity. It sounded like a circle of hell much farther down than wherever he was going to end up.

He was lost in the memory of his mother, her voice as she taught him about different plants and animals and how to use them. Twirling the yarrow between his fingers, he brought it to his nose and sniffed it. Yup, there it was. They'd wandered through a field of yarrow in the dark, gathering it without the farmer who was growing up findng out. She'd been his best friend for years when it had been just the two of them. Arnon's comment was surprisingly kind and Dom looked up smiling. "She'd probably tell me to stop being an asshole and actually help you carry shit instead of fucking around with a pretty flower." His mother could curse like a sailor and often seemed to do so almost as a form of breathing. "Sorry, I was miles away and more than a hundred years ago. And it was an accident. Don't self-flagellate on my account." He turned to find whatever Arnon needed lifting.

arnon felt his grip falter for a second time as the praise was uttered and regained his composure as quickly as he could. it wasn’t entirely common for arnon to find himself in any kind of positive conversation whilst at work – he was typically told he was either far too talkative or entirely disinterested in any customer enquiries, never quite able to find a healthy middle. clearing his throat with a rolling of his shoulders to shrug off the lingering flurry of thoughts, the halfling lazily stored the organised stock behind the counter to properly sort out later and turned his full attention to the other to finally properly engage in the conversation.

the older man’s reassurance was surprisingly effective and arnon was genuinely relieved to know that a fuck up as noticeable as the one he’d caused wasn’t going to have any serious repercussions. the comment pertaining to his suitability for the role prompted a laugh from the younger man; as if he hadn’t had that train of thought before. “you’ve probably got a point,” arnon replied agreeably as he lifted himself to sit atop the counter and swing his legs idly against it. “i dunno where else i’d be wanted, though. there’s no way in hell i’m gonna apply to work in the castle. i think i’d rather garrotte myself than serve any of those obnoxious fu–” arnon swiftly cut himself off as the realisation that the man before him was very likely part of the castle’s hierarchy dawned upon him. “‘s just not my kind of scene, y’know? i guess i’m still figuring out what i wanna do. and at the age of twenty-six, i’d say i’ve got at least a few years before i’ve gotta settle down properly.” it wasn’t often arnon felt comfortable enough to be quite so open with others, but something about the older man made him surprisingly easy to talk to. arnon felt a peculiar pang reverberate through his chest as the other continued. the topic of family in conversation was always one he’d found to be somewhat challenging. whether it was a matter of jealousy or a yearning for a familial bond for him to call his own, he really couldn’t be sure. either way, the involuntary wrinkling of his nose in mild disgruntlement was almost impossible to miss. but as he listened closer, arnon couldn’t help but flash an enamoured smile at the recollection. it was endearing to hear about. given the sheer stature of the stranger, arnon hadn’t expected a heartwarming story like that to come from a guy like him. then again, he probably shouldn’t have been so quick to make assumptions. “yeah,” he agreed halfheartedly. “‘s nice that you’ve got the memory of her to carry with you, though. means you’re never really alone in that sense. somethin’ tells me she’d be real proud of you for stepping in to clean up all the mess i caused. she clearly brought you up right.”