#* ic.

[themortalitasi]

Emmrich chuckled, taking a moment to steady his breath before shifting to settle in for the evening. One arm curled around Lucanis, while the other rested atop his head, cupping him close.

"Well, if I may say so, your skills in the realm of your experience are quite impressive."

As the assassin lay against him, Emmrich gently combed his fingers through Lucanis’ dark locks, humming softly before continuing. "I want to be clear, my dear—this relationship of ours will move at whatever pace you’re comfortable with. I will never push nor demand more from you in any physical sense."

His fingers paused at the edge of Lucanis’ hairline, caressing the top of his forehead in slow, soothing strokes. "I’m just grateful to have you in my arms."

Emmrich had long outgrown the games of playing hard to get. He was too old—and, in his own opinion, too sensible—for such things. He cared for Lucanis, deeply and sincerely, and he had no qualms about making that abundantly clear.

@thecrowtakeswing

His name on Emmrich's lips as the necromancer completely lost himself in his release was a sound Lucanis would never forget. He braced himself when he felt Emmrich's hand tighten in his hair, and swallowed every drop as his love spilled himself onto his tongue. He found the taste pleasant enough, licking the necromancer clean before removing his lips from Emmrich's cock to look up at him with a smirk.

He closed his eyes when he felt the mage's hand against his cheek and he pressed into the touch, turning his head to kiss Emmrich's palm before he moved to climb up beside him and slide in between the cool wall and the necromancer.

"I may have forgotten to mention where my inexperience lies," Lucanis said with a chuckle, laying his head on Emmrich's chest and draping his arm over his torso as he settled comfortably there. "I've... never gone much further than that..." he admitted softly, feeling a little flush on his cheeks.

[wingherc]

@gaiaspoken

｢𓆄｣ Dropping by the flower shop was definitely a surprise. Hawks had wisened up to the girls this go around and managed to sneak around the back going undetected, even with his arms full. Fortunately, he's quiet as he entered the boss lady's office.

And it was finally starting to look like it was all her's now: finally! To make his presence known, he let out an impressed whistle at the decor and smiled.

"It's not stuffy in here, you really livened the place up."

"I would've warned you I was dropping by. But. My phone kinda fell outta my pocket and got smashed to bits. So I'm getting a new one here soon." Hawks warned as he casually sauntered into the office, and pulled Aerith's long insulated winter coat over her.

"Can I steal you away for a little bit?"

[vierandancer]

@theazureblade - continuing from here

"Aye, you can," Meiko grinned. She wasn't going to really drag Aymeric out of the office against his will. She knew when to take a hint when someone told her to plainly fuck off. But she also knew Aymeric would never leave his office if he wasn't encouraged to do something a wee bit irresponsible. "Feel free to blame me as much as you like."

[fortruechaos]

Oops. Maybe he shouldn't have leaned so much into it. For a moment Shadow's a little worried he's gotten the pink hedgehog too invested--but then again Amy's the one always touting the occult and love around so maybe they're just like this more often than the Ultimate sees. After all, it's not like they talk about romance often (It's not like Shadow ever has any reason to).

He likes the idea of using the cards to forge his own destiny. Strength and resolve to push ahead--The Chariot. And The Hermit to represent the self going on a journey of self-discovery. In this way Shadow likes that he can apply The Chariot to any number of people. Rouge, for her strength in sticking by him despite his taciturn disposition. Amy, for forcing him to learn how to joke. Even Sonic, for egging him on and making him have to play a song he doesn't want to sing in the first place. In the way that Shadow stands by love as a driving force--just not romantic love--The Chariot can represent any number of persons who stand by him too. Yeah. That feels apt. Allies and friends and comrades and changes of the tide.

...That's also way too embarrassing to say aloud. "Gotcha. I think I catch the drift. So what's the next card?"

She certainly doesn't miss it. Amy prides herself on understanding her friends, or doing her best to, at the very least. He laughs softly when he agrees, but then makes a funny, high-pitched noise at his question. For a second she thinks he's really serious!

"Well, but--no, not necessarily, Shadow!" Didn't they just agree he doesn't like anyone??? She didn't accidentally imply more in her interpretation, did she? They look up at him from the cards and snort when they realize he's playing along. Well! She can work with that!

"It certainly could if the idea resonates with you...but it could also mean something less defined." Amy may have interpreted her own reading as angled toward a wedding, but that's because it's something she wants. Finding personal meaning in the cards is most important, in her opinion. Something meaningful for each person, a way forward or a chance at introspection. A push in the right direction! The cards so often call to mind specific things a person might be avoiding or unsure about. "To me, if we look at this card with less of a microscope, it might be about how your relationship is helping you feel supported or strong in the face of hard times. You might not need to confess anything at all--The Chariot might be saying your resolve to support each other is enough!" A little embarrassed giggle. Amy knows she gets a little overly-passionate about this stuff--They scrub the serious, explanatory look off their face and offer up a soft smile instead. "But this is a reading for you. It's what it makes you feel that matters the most, Shadow."

[chounaifu]

" By the age of six, EVERY child should know how to hot wire a car and steal from government buildings!!! I'm gonna personally give every impressionable six year old a pocket knife and a bag of candy full of red dye for the EXTRA POWERFUL BRAIN CHEMICALS. "

[gyokutoll]

I’m tired of being in situations.

[fortruechaos]

Shadow's a little surprised the General just lets him talk to him like that. Guess the years and existing a few adjacent universes over have really mellowed this version of him out. It's almost...annoying. Shadow hmphs and turns half away, eyes closing. And then there's not much else for him to do but listen, eyes still closed, absorbing all the movements and words exchanged between the three of them--or really the two of them and the hologram of the Shadow they somehow got mixed up with him. "Hold on," he raises a hand to cut in, eyes opening, half-stepping forward. "You say this is tied to the Chaos, but I don't sense anything like that, and normally I should be able to."

After the Phantom Ruby, Shadow isn't too caught off guard by the existence of an artifact out there that he can't sense the energy signature of--but he's bothered by the implication of what it's doing--he should still have noticed the draining of his world's Emeralds. Theoretically. It just reminds him what little anyone actually knows of Chaos energy, even him, the hailed living battery. "So why do you think that would be the case--that I can't notice it?" And more importantly: "Is the Scepter in this Zone, or did you retrieve it in another universe?"

Shard and Silver share uneasy glances with each other when the past Shadow berates their performance so far.

The future version, we'll call him The General for simplicity's sake, can only sigh. "If memory serves, then both Sonic and Silver have been very capable handling world-endangering crisis in the past. Forgive me if I thought a version Silver I trained myself and a robot built with Sonic's capabilities are not as fit for the task as I thought they were."

"Hey, we still got you an emerald to scan!" Shard complains. "You wouldn't have this info otherwise."

"You nearly endangered the mission doing so. I thought my orders about not causing too much ruckus were clear," the General sighs. Then again, he should have expected this. "Still, the benefit can't be overlooked. What's wrong with our time is already beginning to happen."

"It's already happening?" Silver echoes. "What did the scan tell you?"

"I compared it to a scan of one of the drained emeralds in our time," The General states, holding up a greyed out rock that has a similar shape to a chaos emerald, but with none of the sheen or color. "Whatever drained them left some kind of residual energy behind. The scan shows that this same residual energy is in the emerald you have in your possession. It mean's something's draining them from the inside."

Silver holds up the blue emerald and looks it over. It still looks to be rather fine, flowing with the chaos energy it was known for.

"Furthermore, we found a match for that residual energy," The General continues, before holding up two fragments of what appears to be a shattered scepter. "This artifact has the same signature. Shard and Gamma retrieved it from the Subzero Crater a few weeks before I sent you both on this mission."

[gravesung]

❝ ...? ❞ leeeans down to where they're sitting. ❝ hey, you okay? ❞

[fortruechaos]

@familylightfox said: ❛ i don't look like a ghost, do i? see? warm. ❜ (From Volt since he's had a few changes since they last saw each other. ;p)

So Shadow had hit his head a little hard when Zone-warping this time. Whatever. He sat up from where he'd tumbled onto the ground and rubbed at his forehead, squinting at Volt when the other said that and reached his non-cybernetic hand out to help him up, which Shadow accepted after just a moment longer of staring at Volt. Warm, indeed.

"No, you don't." When he was on his feet again he squinted at Volt once more, although not for doubting his existence this time, but rather because he simply looked changed from the last time Shadow had been here. "But you do look different. Have I been gone long again?"

[zat4nna]

[ hair & lean ]  –  for the sender to brush a strand of hair out of the face, and lean in slowly for a kiss.

zatanna remembers what it is like to be kissed by john constantine. it's just the two of them, she does not know why she let him so close. but it's easy. it's easier than running and trying to put a sea between them. she's looking at him and he's older, stopped being that young man she fell in love with. it's not like he has changed, but maybe she has, the circumstances certainly have. she sees him and she does not see the fire, or death looming grim over his shoulder. she just sees him, getting lost on blue eyes. he leans in. and the old zatanna would've moved away. the old zatanna would have been upset. but she's been livining stuck in the past, like a broken record, living like a ghost, like she was the one who died.

but her mind clears, her cheeks warm. and her hands on his shoulders, the hesitation of pushing melts into the intent of pulling him just that little bit closer. leans closer and faster than him. a conscious decision. zatanna almost melts into it, the tension leaving her body. and she remembers, it's this very silly warm feeling. it's like casting magic without any of the words. she's twenty again, it's all the good with none of the bad. the rub of his stubble, the way the smell of cigarettes kisses the airs. damn you, john constantine.

[wingherc]

@gaiaspoken

｢𓆄｣ When the invites for the party had come out, Hawks had sent a text Aerith's way, effectively inviting her to go with him. With her acceptance of his invitation, he suggested with the nature of it being a masked ball, that they try to find each other! And while they'd at least coordinated a color palette, neither one knew what the other would be wearing, so it kept it fresh.

And, with Hawks' late arrival, when he was in proximity of the manner, he could already hear the atmosphere of the party through one of his feathers. Sooo, maybe he had an added perk, but, he wouldn't find her right away just to even out the playing field. Even so much as to moving farther away when he was mingling with some other party goers.

After being at the party for about thirty-ish minutes, he decided the jig was up, and it's when she was being invited for a dance, is an arm thrown around her.

"There you are, I've been looking everywhere for you." A playful laugh escaped him as he guided her away from the crowd. "You haven't been here long, have you?"

[vierandancer]

@starrymused

After everything that had gone on with Garlean Empire, Meiko had felt her stomach sink at the rumors of another mysterious magitek machine accompanying an equally mysterious man in black.

"Not fuckin' the day," she muttered as she made her way out into Thanalan. Despite the potential danger of yet another Asican making trouble, however, she hadn't reached for her Linkpearl to alert the others. Not even her brother. She would, of course, if the rumors proved true...but people were sometimes blind. Or paranoid. Or stupid (herself included). And if it truly were a threat worth investigating, someone would've come running into town screaming already. So, hopefully...

...

Huh.

It wasn't all that hard to spot the strange magitek vehicle from a distance, but she nearly missed the lad curled up in front of it looking like how she oft did after too many firewaters. Perhaps that was why she didn't draw her weapons as she approached, albeit cautiously.

"Y...You all right, lad?"

[z0mburger]

CONT'D. @sillymuses

💀 — “ Oh, no, no. I hear ya, sister! You're preaching to the choir here. ”

[ though the undead isn't ' evil ' enough to wish any ... extreme harm upon the living, the scrambling firemen have it under control. that's what they're paid for! once that moral quandary is settled, he's good to justify the other one.]

“ I've had my share of ' accidents ' involving some property damage. People get on my ass about it! But if a layman had access to the Necronomicon or some shit, potion of fiery explosion – ? They'd do the same. Good to get it out in one go; you feel better now, don't 'cha? ”

[mystalwartheart]

"I saw you out there, fighting for your life." Kelpie hissed out. They was stalking after the women. Not knowing if she was part of the BSAA or any of the groups that were hunting them.

Jill spins on her heels to find the source of the voice addressing her, and sees someone standing before her. They look human, but not...exactly, and it's clear by their physical condition they've been through hell themselves. She's cautious, sizing the stranger up, but not yet reaching for her weapon.

"You've been watching me," Jill observes plainly and calmly. Evidently, there are other actors at play here. She wonders if the stranger might be an undercover operative, or a B.O.W. sent to kill her by Los Illuminados, the KGB or some remnant of the Spencer family or Umbrella Corporation, but she's never seen a B.O.W. display such obvious sapience before: Typically they're uncontrollable shambling monstrosities, or soldiers programed to obey orders without question with no free will of their own.

She decides to take a chance, slowly beginning to raise her hands, but not keeping them far from her holster.

"May I ask who you are, and why you're following me?" Jill asks carefully and politely.

[pavlovianpanic]

❝ i told you already, ❞ he says, taking a few test shots, ❝ you're fine. no one is going to see these but me, anyway. you're worrying way too much. ❞ nathan is oddly comfortable, but that must mean it's because he's in his element. he's relying a lot on natural lighting today, the clouds parting perfectly for just enough drab and just enough fab. you're leaning too much, he seems to say, gesturing to stand straighter. there we go. perfect. ❝ see? you're fine. hey, tilt your head a bit for me, huh? ❞ — open ( nathan p. )