#desiderium eden

[sansloii]

Though not quite as packed as it would be when the festivities officially begin, the streets of Alluka were still teeming with life and lights and noise. The citizens of the capital rushing about in a force of organized chaos. Last minute preparations to welcome visitors once more to the land of fairy tales. The people, seemingly running about recklessly (blindly even), manage to weave around the Exulan king. Quite used to navigating thick crowds of people. Some even manage to give Roderick a quick bow of the head in greeting before scurrying off with crates and boxes of who knew what. Some did bump into him though. A few kids. A couple drunk but harmless older men. And an unassuming woman. The hood of her cloak pulled up, not unlike some of the other passersby, as she muttered a rushed and quiet "Sorry" before getting lost among the people once more... And there it was. Light and floral, a scent of faint nostalgia. Of days long, long ago. Then there they were. A bit of pink peeking out between some stones off the main road. Flowers. To find any flowers at all in Navka was unheard of. But these ones were even stranger, if possible. The small stems growing in his direction as if reaching for him. Bluebells. Pink bluebells...

He fully expected Alluka to be brimming with activity in the hours leading up to the hunt, and he was not disappointed. People around him rushed about — putting up decorations and signage and hauling crates of supplies into storefronts — all hurrying to prepare themselves for imminent influx of travelers from all parts of the realm. Those that recognized him gave him a brief nod ( which he returned ), but most barely acknowledged him — which he didn't mind at all. A couple children brushed by, followed by some inebriated older men, but he regarded them with the same nonchalance that they offered him.

The very last passerby… is a little different, though.

The scent that hits his nose is very brief but — and maybe it's just a trick of the mind or something akin to that — it seems to last much longer than that. It's light, floral, and carries the memories of a moment that has long passed. He turns with the smell, saying almost nothing as he watches the hooded figure retreat quickly, and he's tempted to reach forward after her. Before the thought to do so becomes an action, she's gone and it's as though she was never there in the first place…

…and in her place are small, but quickly growing flowers that have pushed their way through the cobbled street. The stems and petals are unharmed, the little clusters of pink blooms opening up all at once.

Roderick has half a mind to rub at his eyes ( thinking he must be dreaming ), when the flowers seem to lean towards him. They straighten up when he closes the gap between he and the bluebells, but they resume their tipping and tilting the instant he bends down to pick one out of the stones. The rest gravitate towards his hand as he selects one from the middle, and he brings that bloom near to eye level. Carefully, as if he fears he may crush the stem, he turns the bloom in hand...focusing intently.

For a moment… just a moment… he pictures himself at home, in the open air. He has just the one flower — just the one bluebell — but that's all he needs.

The king extends an arm to offer it… and receives a touched smile in return.

Navkan Hunt | @desiderium-eden

[soraeia]

Mikhail: Maybe I should say bye to the Emperor for the sake of politeness and formalities. My mun says Charidynn will probably find it rude if I don't. Huaxiu: HAHA we're gonna try and sneak away before he notices. PEACE.

[soulsxng]

@desiderium-eden replied to your post:

Genya cares not for your rules and will sneak Luvi some cookies.

"You're going to share them with me, right? If you're planning to give them to me, and then run off for work, I'll follow after you!" It was phrased like a joke, but-- like the most faithful of puppies-- it was something that Luvi would do. Or, might, anyway...Genya was pretty particular about his job, and the last thing the demon wanted to do was upset his friend. "Or we could go to Mel's, and split them between the three of us? It's been a while since all of us have been able to spend time together..."

[parabelllvm]

@soraeia replied to your post:

Tae: *takes his hair tie and flicks it elsewhere—*

“Even now he's concerned about the health of my hair. What a wonderful future brother-in-law he is.”

@desiderium-eden replied to your post:

That felt like pulling teeth. XD

“That's because it was like pulling teeth.”

[fatestouch]

@desiderium-eden

Lazuli: If you think about it, it's more that he has a type… Lazuli: But you're so charming you made him stray from it!

"I am rather good at making men question themselves, for more than one reason~... I suppose I can live with that."

"...Plus, I don't really need to worry about my grandmother. Damian should be more concerned about the ungodly amount of spiders he'll have to deal with if he even looks at her."

[akumanoken]

"I'm... sorry?? N-no my name is Sakura I am no handmaiden." He leaned closer. "Are you sure it is wise to sell these? Will these not upset the poor man who's photo you've taken?"

@akumanoken:

Sakura: ..... (he'll buy your entire stock)

"Sol-..... Aren't you that handmaiden? From Vanystea? Your vibe is different..."

[feraecor]

Character Sheets (Accepting) | Poli!!!

@godforsakcn @mundanemiseries @desiderium-eden

He was requested a few times xD

[arcxnumvitae]

"A hunt! A party! In Navka, no less!"

"It does sound interesting, but," she squints at the letter, "what's this about 'debauchery?'"

"Well, you know, they are a bit more lax on those types of things." He folded the letter back up as the initial excitement settled into something more prince-like. "I'll inform the king and queen. I presume you'll tell your family? I trust that gaggle of fighters will be raring for the opportunity to engage in some new prey."

Annali sniffed. "Well, of course."

[akumanoken]

Places a flustered Rena bumping into the ex-handmaiden. She's sorry. She even dropped her little cake. SHe's already tearing up.

@desiderium-eden

It was quite the party, and Souji was trying not to be more and more wide-eyed, but with it so adjacent to his old home and so beautiful he couldn't help it.

So it was a matter of one not paying attention and a child rushing by, and they both ran into each other. "Ah forgiv-- eh??" He saw no one before looking down, a small girl who dropped her snack, tearing up. Souji could feel the panic... the sadness from losing her treat. He felt like his nerves were frayed... this poor little girl... "Hey there... don't cry..." he squatted down, smiling brightly at the little girl.

"Why don't we find some sweets together, yes?" There were other questions, like her parents... who was she with? Was she lost? But one thing at a time, he supposed.

[on-dragons-wings]

@desiderium-eden replied to your post “/ thought about giving rayos a robot buddy who...”:

We talking little buddy wants revenge for the death of his friend and that desire fighting with their morals for dominance? Or buddy gets hacked and changed when his friend is no longer there to take care of them?

​In my brain Rayos being present injected a compassionate human element that the robot's protocols don't naturally account for, and with Rayos being gone no one is there he trusts to be like "hey you're committing a war crime" They were a team of logic and compassion, but with Rayos dying all that's left is cold steel and wires.

[sansloii]

Kyrie is mobile now! Which means the next time Roderick visits, she's gonna crawl to him. Looking for ups. And maybe presents.

The way the king's face lights up once he notices his small niece crawling her way over to him. She doesn't get very far, though, as Roderick is quick to scoop her up and cradle her against him with a proud little smile.

“And when did you start crawling, mm? Were you keeping that little fact from me, princess?” he asks, though not really expecting an actual answer from the child. “…We must celebrate this achievement, you know? Before long, you'll be walking up to me when you want to be picked up.”

“Perhaps I should have a little necklace made for you, princess… or a little crown. Would you like that?”

Unprompted | @desiderium-eden

[soraeia]

@desiderium-eden|| { x }

The pavement below him split into fractures when his back hit it, knocking the wind out of his lungs. Arms loosened from around the Navkan princess as he tried to recover from the pain of the fall, cursing when she yanked the arrow out from if his wing. It almost hit a tendon. He grit teeth. What if they'd crippled him?

He ignored the princess's attempts to stop the bleeding and stood, wing heavy with paralysis, plucking the arrow from the ground and squeezing it in a white-knuckled grip.

The guards just finish exchanging confused looks toward Lazuli, before they're frozen under Hatius' scrutiny as he approaches.

"Hands!" He growled. "I am a king Namodia and you have just hit me with this arrow. I want the name and the hands of the fool who did it before I fly to your Emperor and hold war at his throat."

Piercing gold eyes searched the hand of every guard who held a bow in their hands, yet strangely enough no hands were lacking the arrow.

He pointed a finger toward Lazuli. "That is another royal, a foreign guest of your Empire. This is either some horrid accident or a half-assed assassination attempt. Bring him to me!"

[soulsxng]

@desiderium-eden replied to your post:

Lazuli is always up for dancing but Kyrie cut her in line--

"At least she gets tired pretty easily. I'll go with her a few times, you can have a turn with her...and after all of that, she should be just about ready to crash, right?" After that, he and Lazuli could dance for as long as they wanted...even if they had to keep the music a little lower, so as not to disturb the princess.

"Think you can handle staying up a little late for a few dances? I'll need to power through myself, but I think it'll be well worth it."

[parabelllvm]

"i ... thought you were going to kiss me." (Whatever verse you'd like but I imagine a very flustered Chris having to admit to Ki why he got surprised and threw himself backwards, probably hurting himself in the process, when she happened to get closer. Not rejection. Just reflex.)

…Oh.

If she's being truly honest, she doesn't quite know how she should respond to that. On one hand, Kiara knows that she wasn't trying to kiss him — knows that she'd just gotten a little too close to pluck something from his hair and flick it away. She'd be the first to admit that she'd been eager to do so, with a smile stretching across across her lips as she leaned closer to Chris. She hadn't lingered any longer than she had to… but that wasn't the point; the closeness and the lean were what Chris reacted to. It's what caused him to jerk back so suddenly — to the point of practically stumbling away from her. It looked like it hurt, perhaps, with the hurried way he stepped back from her…

It probably did.

“I…I wasn't going to kiss you, Chris.” she tells him, brows tenting a bit as a mix of concern and confusion inches it's way onto her expression. “You had something in your hair…”

Something that, as she looks up to the top of his head, is now gone.

“It's, um… gone now so…” The fae trails off for a maybe moment before speaking up again, a sheepish expression on her face. “I'm sorry if I surprised you; I wasn't trying to.”

“You didn't hurt yourself, did you?”

It isn't a rejection ( or is it? ) and she knows that some part of him had just… reacted. However, Kiara can't help but listen to the self-conscious little voice at the back of her head that tells her that she's doing too much. “He reacted like that… because you got too close. He knows you have feelings for him.” it said, in a chastising tone of voice, “And that was his answer to them”

"I Thought" prompts | @desiderium-eden

[fatestouch]

@desiderium-eden

“That’s probably also practical, but nah. If I can take the weirdest and most unsettling route to do things, I’m gonna. And it’s not like Avy doesn’t know I do it.”

[soraeia]

Chercia blinked, the last few tears slipping past her lashes as she watched Lazuli introduce herself, so cheerful and lively, as though nothing had gone wrong. Honestly, Chercia wished she could return the same energy, but her wings would protest to every moment she made and that only reminded her of the urgency in which they had to be healed.

"Oh...you picked me flowers...?"

She allows Jinx to take them first, for inspection. And once the flowers were deemed safe, Chercia was free to admire them.

"Oh..." They were especially flawless blooms. Not a wrinkle in any petal nor a blemish on any leaf. It felt as though each were chosen with great care. "These are from Aeraelia's Garden...." It was her favourite place to sit, alongside being something of an eden on the Aegis.

"......I'm...doing...I don't know. It's a lot.....my grandfather says he's asking for all the foreign healers at the party to help, since our physician specializes more in Cython anatomy...."

"Thank you for these...I really appreciate them..."

@soraeia from X:

Lazuli gave the Emperor a small curtsy as he allowed her inside. Made sure not to meet his eyes. A sign of ... "recognition". Of the difference in their statuses. He seemed the sort to like that.

"Lazuli Zorya of Navka greets the Imperial Princess~" she chimed. Her manner of speaking carried something almost like a melody with her words. She practically skipped into the room. Gave a twirl that ended in a curtsy before she popped up, arms extended to present her little gift. "I brought you flowers~!"

Before anyone could receive them though, she yanked them back. "Unless you're allergic! I didn't really ask. But I guess they wouldn't allow them on the Aegis grounds if you were...." And as quickly, and forcefully, as she'd taken them away, she'd thrust them back out again. "I came to see how you were doing. Your duel was a bit intense."