Setting
Default Location for Heaven Help You
Minimap
northwest |
north |
northeast |
west |
You are here. |
east |
southwest |
south |
southeast |
The Prince's Palace is a part of 
Heaven Help You.
11 Characters Here
Myut [44] "You want it, I got it. ...It's mine though... you can't have it."
Bezabelle [43] What do I want? Well, more, of course!
Cyris Herron [40] "Sometimes, things just don't work out."
Ino Cense [39] Do be jealous - it's my domain
Valramir [38] I want to.. eh, tomorrow.
Eris Leblanc [38] "I AM NOT FUCKING CUTE!!!"
Vivian Lacerta [36] Just try and stop me
Amos [19] The Guard
Abadeer Tyrano [12] The Prince
Azriel [0] I will be sword and shield
Start Character Here »
- 47 posts here • Page 1 of 2 • 1, 2
【"Tonight, I can't find the off switch.】
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【The Secret Time Out Room】
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【The Secret Time Out Room】
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Bezzie went to freshen up, hoping it would stop some of the pitying looks. Vivian followed soon after, apparently not realizing Bezzie's intentions until it became obvious Bez was getting ready to change. Bez discovered she had little that was still wearable. Everything was stained from various activities during the gala, especially since most of Bezzie's activities had involved too much drink. Even worse, whomever had put her clothes in her bag stuffed them in like so much garbage. It was all horribly compressed and wrinkled. Viv recommended borrowing a shirt from one of the taller guys, but it was a while before Bez followed her suggestion. Even with the limited privacy, Bez couldn't resist taking advantage of being alone with Viv.
After some time, Bez pulled herself away before more happened, not wanting to make Viv too uncomfortable, and called out to Cyr, "Hey, Cyr? Can I borrow one of your shirts?" She winked at Viv, then went to grab the offered shirt, picking a black one with nice buttons and thanking him.
By the time she returned to her room, Viv had wandered off. Bez striped, tossing the ruined gown into a corner, then cleaned up as well as she could from the small sink, shivering at the cold water. Feeling a bit more refreshed, she changed into the black shirt, belting it with a long, thin brown belt. Some of the more obvious bruises got a bit of concealer, and she lightly freshened up her makeup using her small pocket mirror, but stayed light with her attempts. The harder she tried, the more obvious it would look.
Bezabelle took her time before going back to the main room. Perhaps it would be better to hang her clothes up? Hopefully some of the worst wrinkles would straighten out on their own. When she returned to the main room, Cyr was reading and Ino was snooping here and there, checking doors, windows, objects. Bez watched him, engaged in small talk if someone else started it, but mostly just waited in her own thoughts. Then Eris popped up, disappearing into her room. The banging noises started up not long after, and Bez figured she should go check out whatever Eris was constructing. It was sure to be interesting.
Val joined, and they heard Eris's plan for a makeshift door cover, then chatted a while. Bez popped out to grab some pins to assist Eris with attaching the blanket, then stayed for a while longer.
She spent a bit of time in the main room, sitting near the fireplace. Ino and Cyr were talking at the table. Both were acting so in character she had to roll her eyes. The flirting was obvious, but she wasn't sure about how serious either party was. Still, it gave a pleasant background as she wandered to the window trying to figure out where in the castle they might be.
Once she gave up, the conversation between the two winding down after some bragging by Cyr and some flattery from Ino, Bez found herself wandering to Myut's room. She had not seen Myut in some time. She'd been busy, of course, flitting from room to room, conversation to conversation, but she still made note. And with how ill at ease Myut had been when they had all gathered for their first brief chat as a group, there was no way she wouldn't check in. When she came to his room, he was already in the middle of exercising. Bez watched for some time. She was enjoying the exhibition, and felt no need to make her presence known just yet, content to simply lean against the wall.
It took him a few reps to notice her, he started, and she encouraged him to continue, selfishly of course. Bezzie couldn't help but enjoy watching how his muscles moved. They talked for some time, catching up on what had happened since they met at the gala, checking on each other's well-being. Bez ended up sprawled across the other's bed as he continued with his exercise. Then, a small exchange. Information she had guessed at based on observation and prior knowledge in exchange for a kiss that definitely left the taller demon hungering for more. With that contingency set up, Bez departed.
The rest of the evening, Bez ended up doing little more than moving from one somewhat comfortable spot to another. She chatted, mostly with Viv, about topics that were as benign as possible. She watched the other demons discreetly. Bez could not help but ruminate over what she would do with each, if only their resources weren't so sparse. She began to wonder how she had managed to end up in a room with so many demons who prefered to sit and read. So much better than attending the last night of the gala.
Of course, she also avoided thinking about why circumstances were what they were. No, this was fine. Surely they wouldn't just be here indefinitely. To avoid going stir crazy, Bez departed for her room. She wiped the back of her neck with cold water. It was only minutes before she returned to the main room. Solitude was only going to grate on her nerves.
When Myut's tea situation began, Bez had just emerged. She watched with interest, trying to figure out what the greed demon was doing and why he looked so disgruntled. Before she could decide, Cyr set down his reading and approached Meu. It took Bez only a moment to reach her conclusions about the situation. Her eyes narrowed momentarily. Just as I thought. Still, she sighed, shrugged, and resumed a pleasant expression, perching on one of the arm chairs and watching the two interact. She giggled at the interaction with Eris and Cyr, tried to look as though she wasn't watching Meu's eager delight, and got up as Meu disappeared back into his room with his new acquisitions. Maybe Cyr would get that book back. Maybe.
Slowly, everything started winding down. Each of them began settling into their rooms for the night. Bez did the same, pleased when Viv asked to stay with her. She inwardly cursed the lack of a door. Having no privacy would very likely keep things gratingly chaste between them, which, on contemplation, was probably why Viv felt comfortable enough to ask Bez about staying. Bezzie wasn't going to let her off completely, of course, but the situation was what it was.
She washed up, changed into an outfit that was definitely more lingerie than sleepwear, laughed at Viv’s joke about wanting to run around the human world pretending to be a ghost, then offered Viv the pick of which side of the bed she wanted. It wasn't long before they settled in snugly.
Then Bez woke, tensed, breathless, and confused. It took her several moments to remember where they were, who was with her, and why they were there. She still felt the scream that had escaped her lips as she woke from the nightmare. From the way Viv was sleeping soundly, Bez assumed she hadn't actually made a noise. It was all just a dream. Just a dream. Right. She contemplated getting up, but didn't want to wake Viv. She couldn't handle questions right now. She simply stayed still as was possible, trying to get her breathing to slow, her heart to stop racing. It was a long time before her lungs stopped heaving and screaming for more air so she could flee.
By the time she felt back to normal again, she was wide awake. Bezabelle spent what felt like ages trying to get her brain to settle, to close her eyes and drift off. Eventually, the urge to toss and turn was getting hard to ignore as anxious thoughts dominated her mind. Bez was going to wake poor Viv if she stayed. She got out of bed, pulling Cyr's black shirt back on but leaving the belt where it lay. The ivory buttons caught the moonlight as she fastened them. She repressed a sigh, moving out to sit on the couch and watch the fire. Hopefully the mindless activity would occupy at least some of her mental space, and keep the pure unease at bay. She was exhausted from the day, which only made the lack of sleep more frustrating.
Bez had been sitting in the main room for some time with no luck. Maybe if she stole a blanket from somewhere, she'd be cozy enough to fall asleep? It was unlikely. She didn't bother to stir, simply staring into the fire and willing her mind to go blank.
A voice, unexpected in the quiet room, called her name. Bez started, looking back to see Ino coming around the couch. She put on a cheerful face with effort, only managing to hide the pure exhaustion on her face by using her abilities to imitate a good mood with perfection. Still, Ino was close enough when he called, it's possible he would have seen something of her previous expression even with the flickering of the fire.
She covered by answering his question about how she was as he sat. Her voice was low as well, but still chipper, as she made up an excuse. They joked a while, then the conversation turned serious. Ino opened up a bit more about what had happened while he was gone. He was definitely hurt, grieving, and there was not much Bez could do for him. Eventually, he got up to return to bed.
Bez was alone again, her thoughts swirling in a new direction but no more restful. And the fire still flickered. And Bez still avoided looking up at the massive portrait, at the figure staring down at her.
Bez was not sure how long it had been since Ino went back to bed. She had tried closing her eyes, but her brain wouldn't turn off even enough for a doze. She was miserably tired. This time, she heard someone else coming. She was able to slip back into a cheery persona before Cyr came around to join her. He had found a new, obnoxious pet name for her and she made her displeasure known.
"Bez-bug? What am I? A five-year old? I'm fine booger-butt, how are you?"
They chatted about Viv, thoughts about the situation, Cyr's interest in Myut. All more light and teasing than the previous conversation though more serious things still hovered below the surface. When he asked for insights on Mew, Bez found herself sidestepping, insisting he sink or swim on his own. Sometimes, he frustrated her, though she couldn't pinpoint why. She hid it, mostly, and the conversation shifted back to her, to his willingness to help. It was sweet, and she answered appreciatively, and Cyr too headed back to bed.
Now she had more to contemplate, but exhaustion truly was taking hold. Her thoughts weren't coherent. Bezabelle felt as though she had only just closed her eyes, though she couldn't recall any dreams this time. Something was bothering her, and it took a moment to understand what it was. Someone was moving around in the room, slowly and quietly. Bez opened her eyes to see that the front room was brighter. It was past daybreak. She popped her head up to peek over the back of the couch, until she could identify the snooping figure. Oh.
"Val?"
He seemed to be the only one stirring at this point. Bez rubbed at her eyes as he approached, trying to decide if she'd actually fallen asleep. Judging by how easily she had stirred when she heard Val moving, probably nothing more than a light doze. He asked about why she was out on the couch.
"Woke up a bit ago," she lied. "Couldn't really get back to sleep, so I came out here." She didn't bother trying to hide the exhaustion on her face now, as she had been all night, and all evening before that. She'd already been caught for one. For two, she was too exhausted even to try. It must have been evident. Soon, he had slid behind her so she could lean comfortably against him. This time, his aura was welcome, soothing after Bez's restless night. They talked for some time before both drifted off.
Once again, Bez woke with a start not long after, but this time everything felt so muted, muffled by Val's aura. He still seemed perfectly comfortable, but Bez was getting a crick in her neck from how she'd fallen asleep. Besides, her bed wasn't empty either, and that held at least some possibility as well. She stumbled back to her room, the sleepiness thankfully sticking with her. After shedding the shirt and clumsily hanging it back up, she slid back under the sheets, taking full advantage of Viv's warmth. This time, nightmares didn't interrupt Bez's sleep.
【So ends the prologue. In the morning, a new area will unlock, behind the door in the corner. Inside, down a long hallway with a soft burgundy carpet, several doors. At the end of this hall stands a single white door, already slightly ajar. Within, the sound of water rushing and, as you approach, warm, humid air stretches out towards you. THE BATHS occupy a large room with a vast, inset pool occupying most of the space. In the back, a rock formation stands, pouring water down into the pool. On the near wall is two sets of shelves, one burgeoning with soft white towels, and the other with a variety of soaps, oils, and fragrant tinctures.】
【"How did this become my job??"】
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【Into the lion's den】
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【#739AC5】
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【Into the lion's den】
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【#739AC5】
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Amos stood before the blank wall with a long sigh. Somehow, he didn’t feel quite so secure about this situation as he had the previous morning, when they’d uncovered the plot and laid it triumphantly at the Prince’s feet. Now, somehow, he’d been bid to babysit this strange menagerie of demons, and he wasn’t sure how exactly this was going to play out. Each of them seemed dangerous in their own right, and he was glad, at least, that he wouldn’t be made to stay in there with the lot of them for too long. He’d just read out what he’d been given, and then make a hasty exit. They’d likely turn on each other immediately.
The guard who stood by the ‘door’ laid a hand on the stones, causing the door to form. It wouldn’t appear on the other side until he pushed it open, which he promptly did, but then, as it swung closed again, it vanished. Amos hesitated as several pairs of eyes immediately turned towards him. He wasn’t sure if anyone was monitoring the situation, but he realized then that no one had told him what to do when he wanted to get out of this place. Which seemed like...something of an issue all of a sudden.
Amos cleared his throat, scanning the room. Several of the demons were milling about the main room, in different states of dress and wakefulness. Amos’s eyes landed on one in particular, who had dragged the potted plant from its corner and was inspecting it closely. Bizarre. Amos blinked once, dragging his attention back to the matter at hand.
“Er...could everyone gather over here?” he called out, his voice not sounding quite as confident as he’d intended it to. Once they’d all gathered around the table, which took some time, considering some of them needed to be woken up, he cleared his throat again, pulling out his papers and taking on the tone of someone reading verbatim.
“I apologize for the inconvenience you all have faced in being relocated to this area. I’m sure this has been a confusing time for you all.” He read, occasionally glancing up at the faces upturned towards him. “While we do not take pleasure in removing you all from the festivities, a difficult matter has come to hand. An assassination plot was uncovered yesterday morning against the Prince, and due to the circumstances surrounding each of you, we have identified you as a possible suspect.” Amos paused to sigh and flip to the next page.
“Due to the continued investigation, we have gathered you all here to determine amongst yourselves who the traitor or traitors are. Those of you found to be not guilty will be handsomely rewarded for your patience and your service.” Amos shifted on his feet, resting his off hand on the hilt of the sword at his side. “In seven days' time, you will appear before the Prince to make this determination.”
Amos flipped the page again. “I will now read off the accusations against each suspect: Mr. Ino Cense,” he said, looking over at the dark haired demon. “Envy. Found possessing a vial of restricted poison.” His eyes jumped to the taller white haired demon. “Mr. Myut Chenzyra.
Greed. Found bribing staff and in a restricted area.” Then he looked towards the large dark haired one. “Cyris Herron. Lust. Found possessing an extremely cursed item.”
Amos shifted on his feet again. He could feel anger and stress building up around him. Hopefully they would hang onto it until he left. His eyes moved towards the tallest of the women. “Vivian Lacerta. Pride. Found in a restricted area.” His eyes flicked to the small, mousy girl. “Eris Leblanc. Wrath. Arson.” Then he looked at the other small girl with the brightly coloured hair. “Bezabelle None-Listed. Gluttony. Found consorting with other suspicious individuals.” he blinked once at her, and then turned his attention to the final demon, the smaller white haired one. “Valamir Thazgan. Sloth. Found sabotaging guards.”
Amos folded his papers up and slid them back in his pocket, looking around at the group. “I will be back from time to time as needed. For your convenience, and as a reward for good behaviour,” his eyes flicked quickly to the small mousy demon, who had already begun to destroy her room, “amenities will be provided.” He pointed towards the corner of the room, where the door was inset, out of sight. As he pointed, the door audibly unlocked. Amos looked deeply surprised that he’d done that with a single gesture, as he hadn’t meant to. Or thought that was something he was able to do.
“Well…” he said slowly, taking a slow step backwards towards the wall where the door usually was. “If there are no questions, I will just...take my leave now. Thank you for your cooperation on this matter.”
The guard who stood by the ‘door’ laid a hand on the stones, causing the door to form. It wouldn’t appear on the other side until he pushed it open, which he promptly did, but then, as it swung closed again, it vanished. Amos hesitated as several pairs of eyes immediately turned towards him. He wasn’t sure if anyone was monitoring the situation, but he realized then that no one had told him what to do when he wanted to get out of this place. Which seemed like...something of an issue all of a sudden.
Amos cleared his throat, scanning the room. Several of the demons were milling about the main room, in different states of dress and wakefulness. Amos’s eyes landed on one in particular, who had dragged the potted plant from its corner and was inspecting it closely. Bizarre. Amos blinked once, dragging his attention back to the matter at hand.
“Er...could everyone gather over here?” he called out, his voice not sounding quite as confident as he’d intended it to. Once they’d all gathered around the table, which took some time, considering some of them needed to be woken up, he cleared his throat again, pulling out his papers and taking on the tone of someone reading verbatim.
“I apologize for the inconvenience you all have faced in being relocated to this area. I’m sure this has been a confusing time for you all.” He read, occasionally glancing up at the faces upturned towards him. “While we do not take pleasure in removing you all from the festivities, a difficult matter has come to hand. An assassination plot was uncovered yesterday morning against the Prince, and due to the circumstances surrounding each of you, we have identified you as a possible suspect.” Amos paused to sigh and flip to the next page.
“Due to the continued investigation, we have gathered you all here to determine amongst yourselves who the traitor or traitors are. Those of you found to be not guilty will be handsomely rewarded for your patience and your service.” Amos shifted on his feet, resting his off hand on the hilt of the sword at his side. “In seven days' time, you will appear before the Prince to make this determination.”
Amos flipped the page again. “I will now read off the accusations against each suspect: Mr. Ino Cense,” he said, looking over at the dark haired demon. “Envy. Found possessing a vial of restricted poison.” His eyes jumped to the taller white haired demon. “Mr. Myut Chenzyra.
Greed. Found bribing staff and in a restricted area.” Then he looked towards the large dark haired one. “Cyris Herron. Lust. Found possessing an extremely cursed item.”
Amos shifted on his feet again. He could feel anger and stress building up around him. Hopefully they would hang onto it until he left. His eyes moved towards the tallest of the women. “Vivian Lacerta. Pride. Found in a restricted area.” His eyes flicked to the small, mousy girl. “Eris Leblanc. Wrath. Arson.” Then he looked at the other small girl with the brightly coloured hair. “Bezabelle None-Listed. Gluttony. Found consorting with other suspicious individuals.” he blinked once at her, and then turned his attention to the final demon, the smaller white haired one. “Valamir Thazgan. Sloth. Found sabotaging guards.”
Amos folded his papers up and slid them back in his pocket, looking around at the group. “I will be back from time to time as needed. For your convenience, and as a reward for good behaviour,” his eyes flicked quickly to the small mousy demon, who had already begun to destroy her room, “amenities will be provided.” He pointed towards the corner of the room, where the door was inset, out of sight. As he pointed, the door audibly unlocked. Amos looked deeply surprised that he’d done that with a single gesture, as he hadn’t meant to. Or thought that was something he was able to do.
“Well…” he said slowly, taking a slow step backwards towards the wall where the door usually was. “If there are no questions, I will just...take my leave now. Thank you for your cooperation on this matter.”
【The real curse is the one we contracted on the way, I guess】
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【His room】
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【His room】
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Cyr stood by the window beside the fireplace, looking out at the greenery, though when Myut emerged, he sent a few curious looks over his shoulder, watching the other drag a chair over to the potted plant in the corner peer at it. He liked plants, apparently? Cyr filed that away for later. He also watched Val, who was curled up with his shirt half-off, sleep peacefully. How had he managed that? His gaze also wandered over the little one--Ino--who had just finished stretching. Even though everyone just seemed to be milling about, minding their own business, he couldn’t help but feel that there was some tension settled in the room. Today was the end of the gala, everyone was leaving--the aftermath of the revelry was likely strewn everywhere now, quiet and forlorn. But he was still stuck here. His family was waiting for him...the demon he’d never met before…
Cyr half turned to go find that necklace. Now, instead of just wondering what that would be like, he had the joy of wondering when he was going to get out of this place. Morning had well and truly passed, now they were moving towards noon, judging by the sun. There were no clocks in this place either, though, so it was hard to tell. It hadn’t stopped Val, though, at least. As Cyr took his first step back towards his room, a door formed in the wall. He froze for a second. Perhaps if he’d been prepared, he could have dived for it, but it was as if the moment the man stepped through, it vanished. Perhaps it was the nearby wrath demon, whose head had lifted like a hunting dog spotting a mark, but Cyr felt a sudden urge to rush over and bash the man against the wall until he let them all out.
The feeling subsided quickly once the man cleared his throat and asked them all to gather around, however. Cyr frowned just a little. He didn’t like that it was a guard, an armed guard at that, in here talking to him. It didn’t bode well. Cyr glanced back down at the sloth demon, who didn’t seem particularly bothered by the entry of a new demon. He sighed softly.
“Come on,” he said softly, sliding a hand under Val and lifting him up enough to pull his shirt back down. Then he scooped him up in both arms, as one would a baby or a princess. "...Cy?" the sloth demon asked blearily, snaking his arms around his neck. "My, I feel like I just got married and you're carrying me across the threshold," the sloth demon added playfully.
Cyr chuckled softly. "Were you having nice dreams?" He teased back before nodding towards the guard. "We're being summoned, by the way."
Cyr carried him over to the table. He could feel the momentary tightening of Val's arms around his neck. He wondered if he'd have to pry the sloth off himself, but then Val let go, allowing Cyr to deposit him on the far side of Myut, disentangle himself, and then sitting down on Myut’s other side, between him and the guard, who seemed to be passively watching them gather. He glanced over to see what Myut’s thoughts on the matter were, but quickly looked away.
Cyr heaved another soft sigh, leaning his elbow on the table to prop up his head as the guard spoke up again. He let the drone of the guard’s voice wash over him, not really paying attention until he heard the word ‘assassination.’ No, no, this couldn’t be happening. He hadn’t done a damn thing since he’d been here...his heart continued to sink as he listened to the guard list off names. Some protested, like Myut, who seemed offended at the idea of bribing someone, but others, like himself, remained deathly silent. A cursed item? What on earth would he do with a cursed item? He would be the last person who’d want to attack the Prince…
Cyr rubbed his face with disbelief. Had someone been trying to curse him? Or frame him? Someone in this room--at least one someone--was ruthless, or stupid. Either way, they were dangerous. He didn’t know what to believe. The little purple one, an envy demon, had poison, the wrath demon was committing arson, even Val had been up to something suspicious…But the most dangerous thing of all was that he didn’t know which one of his things was cursed? What if he accidentally cursed himself. Cyr looked around helplessly for a moment, ignoring the guard’s continued droning. Wait...Myut would know, right? He was a greed demon, he had to be able to tell when something was cursed or it wasn’t, right?
“Myut,” he said in a low voice, pushing his chair back. “Having something cursed with my stuff is news to me. Can you help me figure out what it is?”
The white haired demon had said his name at the same time, and Cyr felt his face flush slightly. He’d seen his own worry mirrored in the other’s face, the same concerned distrust. But Cyr was fairly confident that this demon was innocent. He was a greed demon. Sneaking into places they didn’t belong was kind of their thing. He watched the others face shift slightly, inscrutably, but he felt his shoulders relax when Myut gave him a firm affirmation. He slowly pulled himself out of his chair, eliciting a confused look from the guard. “I’ll owe you one for this,” he said, warmly turning his eyes to the white haired demon again.
Along with Bez, he seemed the least suspicious in the group. So Cyr had no problem walking past the guard, towards his room, glancing back to make sure Myut was following. “I didn’t even bring that much with me, so I guess it won’t be a long search,” he said, “but I’ve never seen a cursed item before, I wouldn’t know where to begin looking.”
“Think nothing of it.” Myut replied, and Cyr felt a soft smile flit across his face. “It shouldn’t be too hard, especially if there’s not a lot to go through.” he added, and Cyr nodded.
He had to admit that he felt a little weird inviting someone into his room. Someone like Myut. Ignoring the fact that they were basically strangers, and this wasn’t his actual room, just a place to sit and be judged by his peers for a week before they decided who to execute. But for now, he could pretend like he was just inviting a very handsome demon into his room. The sheen of pink that had haloed his ears died down a little, however, as the gorgeous tall demon--pride--from yesterday approached. Bez’s girlfriend. Bez had excellent taste.
The pink, however, returned as Myut shifted, as if to protect him from Vivian. No, he shouldn’t read too much into it. Myut likely just felt wary around the other demon, considering what they’d all just learned. It was unlikely that Myut was already protective of him, or perhaps jealous of a potential interloper. Those were just indulgent thoughts.
Cyr shifted slightly to acknowledge her, dragged his gaze up to her face as her jaw bulged slightly. An apology came out, and Cyr felt his eyebrows lift.
"Do you, ah… want any help?" Cyr gazed at her as her eyes flicked between the two. "I've seen some runework before." What was her interest? Cyr couldn’t help a flash of distrust from flicking through him. A part of him had liked the idea of just inviting Myut in, but he knew better. This was more important than school-boy fantasies. And if Myut thought she might be helpful, who would he be to decline?
“It wouldn’t hurt to have another set of experienced eyes. I’ll know what’s cursed, but I can’t promise I’ll know what kind of curse it could be,” Myut mused.
“Don’t worry, I was just trying to be gentlemanly,” he replied to her apology first, slightly teasingly. “Lust demon, you know how it is.” He winked.
She let out an awkward little laugh. "I guess, yeah." No wonder Bez was hanging around her. Despite her stature and the way she held herself, she seemed...almost shy. It was cute.
“Let’s go,” he said, beckoning both of them into his room. While it wasn’t immaculate--he’d left the bed unmade, and some of his things were strewn about his desk--he’d kept the room looking fairly decent. Well, it looked fairly decent until he dumped most of his stuff out onto the bed. Small decorations and jewelry, some little trinkets to trade, the necklace his betrothed had given him, and a few other pretties. For good measure he put his pilfered alcohol onto the bed as well. If it wasn’t cursed, it might make a good reward.
He did not, however, dump his books out onto the bed. He’d owned them for years. There was absolutely no way they were cursed, right? Or his clothing. It had to be something in this sprawl. Maybe something he’d traded for during the gala? Though he’d mostly been giving gifts, little things to people he didn’t think he’d see again…
Those worries seemed so far away now...
Cyr shifted with discomfort as the pair poured over his things, wondering what they would find. At least both of them seemed to be taking the matter of the cursed object seriously. He felt a faint frown ghost across his face when he saw the white haired demon suddenly pluck his betrothal necklace from the clutter, holding it like a dead fish, a firm word on his lips. Cyr’s heart dropped, a cold tension suddenly closing up his throat.
“That...that can’t be it,” he said with a disquieted laugh, face pale and still. “My...my….my parents gave me that, it’s for…well it’s supposed to be for me, not for…anyone else?”
Internally confusion and anger flashed through him. Was his betrothed trying to kill him or something? He didn’t want to make it known here, not when there was this potential for something nice..a little hold out before whatever fate awaited him beyond, but this...this unsettled him more than anything else. He’d have to tell Bez. Maybe she’d have some insight.
Viv grabbed a set of hair pins, asking if she could use them. Cyr nodded slightly with confusion. She used one to pin back her hair, and its twin to manipulate the necklace, alongside a ruby cross necklace.
His betrothal necklace was quite pretty, a length of black velvet with a small chain and some eyelets to clasp it in the back. In the front, a silver mockingbird was embossed on the fabric, and in it’s claw it held a flower--or rather a tiny bracketed sapphire. The Pride demon flipped it over, squinting down at it. He had no idea what she was looking at, however, because from his angle the whole thing was black.
“This rune here,” she said, “basically means...unbreakable. It’s normally used to strengthen, but it’s linked with this ‘unless’ modifier, and I can’t read the rest but that’s normally used to make a piece of jewelry only one person can take off. Even if someone else is wearing it, only the owner can ‘break’ it.” she explained before leaning back over.
Cyr could only stare as she peered harder at the necklace. “Okay, so, this one here is in the transformation family of runes. That’s all I know, they trigger transformations. I think there’s a specific one for animal, and there’s a thing you need for reversibility and- wait -I think that might be...mutate?” she blinked a few times. “Like...80% sure that one means mutate. Which is the ‘curse’ version of transform, like, it’s harder to undo and can last longer…”
Myut stood beside her, head angled similarly. As she pointed out the markings, the white haired demon gave a low, thoughtful hum. “Mutate would need quite the collection of instructions…”
“I bet that that’s this mess over here…” Viv poked the cluster with the hairpin.
"Curses like these have been notoriously used in the past as a nasty means of control and modification. For suppression of an individual, especially if it’s an animal transformation. In fact, in the third generation of demons-“ Myut stopped abruptly, however, with a sheepish cough. “Uh, nowadays I’ve heard of them being used as lesser afflictions against two demons who might be in a spat, but, with the runes that Viv has pointed out….”
The two were just talking amongst themselves now. Cyr was hardly listening, his thoughts racing painfully. What did this mean? It didn’t seem like they knew what exactly the necklace did… but whatever it was, it didn’t sound good. He swallowed hard, hardly noticing at first when both of the other demons were suddenly staring at him.
Cyr blinked almost owlishly between them as Myut spoke directly at him. “Don’t put this on. Ever.” Cyr felt his shoulder deflate slightly. What on earth...he was glad they’d found it. Maybe...maybe getting stuck in this place was a good thing? Who knew what would have happened if he’d gone home with that demon...or if his parents really were out to get him. He couldn’t understand why, though…
He didn’t pay attention to Vivian’s playful test of the necklace. He just grabbed his bag and swept everything else into it, before grabbing the necklace gingerly and dropping it in the bottom of his armoire so he could keep an eye on it. As he turned his back on the other two, he tried to regain his composure. He was safe for now, at least. He hadn’t done anything wrong. Maybe this way he could get out of the betrothal? Well, either way, he should enjoy himself now, instead of moping around, right?
Cyr put on a smile as he turned, trying to chase away the grim pallor that had briefly stolen his face. Everything was ok. "Thanks guys," he said, putting on a cheerful tone. "I'll do my best to never wear it, then. Good thing i had you two to let me know..." Everything was fine. He wasn't hurt. Everything was ok.
Nonetheless, as they all moved towards his door, back out into the main room, he hesitated by his doorway, feeling that worry surge through him again. What had he done to deserve all this?
Cyr half turned to go find that necklace. Now, instead of just wondering what that would be like, he had the joy of wondering when he was going to get out of this place. Morning had well and truly passed, now they were moving towards noon, judging by the sun. There were no clocks in this place either, though, so it was hard to tell. It hadn’t stopped Val, though, at least. As Cyr took his first step back towards his room, a door formed in the wall. He froze for a second. Perhaps if he’d been prepared, he could have dived for it, but it was as if the moment the man stepped through, it vanished. Perhaps it was the nearby wrath demon, whose head had lifted like a hunting dog spotting a mark, but Cyr felt a sudden urge to rush over and bash the man against the wall until he let them all out.
The feeling subsided quickly once the man cleared his throat and asked them all to gather around, however. Cyr frowned just a little. He didn’t like that it was a guard, an armed guard at that, in here talking to him. It didn’t bode well. Cyr glanced back down at the sloth demon, who didn’t seem particularly bothered by the entry of a new demon. He sighed softly.
“Come on,” he said softly, sliding a hand under Val and lifting him up enough to pull his shirt back down. Then he scooped him up in both arms, as one would a baby or a princess. "...Cy?" the sloth demon asked blearily, snaking his arms around his neck. "My, I feel like I just got married and you're carrying me across the threshold," the sloth demon added playfully.
Cyr chuckled softly. "Were you having nice dreams?" He teased back before nodding towards the guard. "We're being summoned, by the way."
Cyr carried him over to the table. He could feel the momentary tightening of Val's arms around his neck. He wondered if he'd have to pry the sloth off himself, but then Val let go, allowing Cyr to deposit him on the far side of Myut, disentangle himself, and then sitting down on Myut’s other side, between him and the guard, who seemed to be passively watching them gather. He glanced over to see what Myut’s thoughts on the matter were, but quickly looked away.
Cyr heaved another soft sigh, leaning his elbow on the table to prop up his head as the guard spoke up again. He let the drone of the guard’s voice wash over him, not really paying attention until he heard the word ‘assassination.’ No, no, this couldn’t be happening. He hadn’t done a damn thing since he’d been here...his heart continued to sink as he listened to the guard list off names. Some protested, like Myut, who seemed offended at the idea of bribing someone, but others, like himself, remained deathly silent. A cursed item? What on earth would he do with a cursed item? He would be the last person who’d want to attack the Prince…
Cyr rubbed his face with disbelief. Had someone been trying to curse him? Or frame him? Someone in this room--at least one someone--was ruthless, or stupid. Either way, they were dangerous. He didn’t know what to believe. The little purple one, an envy demon, had poison, the wrath demon was committing arson, even Val had been up to something suspicious…But the most dangerous thing of all was that he didn’t know which one of his things was cursed? What if he accidentally cursed himself. Cyr looked around helplessly for a moment, ignoring the guard’s continued droning. Wait...Myut would know, right? He was a greed demon, he had to be able to tell when something was cursed or it wasn’t, right?
“Myut,” he said in a low voice, pushing his chair back. “Having something cursed with my stuff is news to me. Can you help me figure out what it is?”
The white haired demon had said his name at the same time, and Cyr felt his face flush slightly. He’d seen his own worry mirrored in the other’s face, the same concerned distrust. But Cyr was fairly confident that this demon was innocent. He was a greed demon. Sneaking into places they didn’t belong was kind of their thing. He watched the others face shift slightly, inscrutably, but he felt his shoulders relax when Myut gave him a firm affirmation. He slowly pulled himself out of his chair, eliciting a confused look from the guard. “I’ll owe you one for this,” he said, warmly turning his eyes to the white haired demon again.
Along with Bez, he seemed the least suspicious in the group. So Cyr had no problem walking past the guard, towards his room, glancing back to make sure Myut was following. “I didn’t even bring that much with me, so I guess it won’t be a long search,” he said, “but I’ve never seen a cursed item before, I wouldn’t know where to begin looking.”
“Think nothing of it.” Myut replied, and Cyr felt a soft smile flit across his face. “It shouldn’t be too hard, especially if there’s not a lot to go through.” he added, and Cyr nodded.
He had to admit that he felt a little weird inviting someone into his room. Someone like Myut. Ignoring the fact that they were basically strangers, and this wasn’t his actual room, just a place to sit and be judged by his peers for a week before they decided who to execute. But for now, he could pretend like he was just inviting a very handsome demon into his room. The sheen of pink that had haloed his ears died down a little, however, as the gorgeous tall demon--pride--from yesterday approached. Bez’s girlfriend. Bez had excellent taste.
The pink, however, returned as Myut shifted, as if to protect him from Vivian. No, he shouldn’t read too much into it. Myut likely just felt wary around the other demon, considering what they’d all just learned. It was unlikely that Myut was already protective of him, or perhaps jealous of a potential interloper. Those were just indulgent thoughts.
Cyr shifted slightly to acknowledge her, dragged his gaze up to her face as her jaw bulged slightly. An apology came out, and Cyr felt his eyebrows lift.
"Do you, ah… want any help?" Cyr gazed at her as her eyes flicked between the two. "I've seen some runework before." What was her interest? Cyr couldn’t help a flash of distrust from flicking through him. A part of him had liked the idea of just inviting Myut in, but he knew better. This was more important than school-boy fantasies. And if Myut thought she might be helpful, who would he be to decline?
“It wouldn’t hurt to have another set of experienced eyes. I’ll know what’s cursed, but I can’t promise I’ll know what kind of curse it could be,” Myut mused.
“Don’t worry, I was just trying to be gentlemanly,” he replied to her apology first, slightly teasingly. “Lust demon, you know how it is.” He winked.
She let out an awkward little laugh. "I guess, yeah." No wonder Bez was hanging around her. Despite her stature and the way she held herself, she seemed...almost shy. It was cute.
“Let’s go,” he said, beckoning both of them into his room. While it wasn’t immaculate--he’d left the bed unmade, and some of his things were strewn about his desk--he’d kept the room looking fairly decent. Well, it looked fairly decent until he dumped most of his stuff out onto the bed. Small decorations and jewelry, some little trinkets to trade, the necklace his betrothed had given him, and a few other pretties. For good measure he put his pilfered alcohol onto the bed as well. If it wasn’t cursed, it might make a good reward.
He did not, however, dump his books out onto the bed. He’d owned them for years. There was absolutely no way they were cursed, right? Or his clothing. It had to be something in this sprawl. Maybe something he’d traded for during the gala? Though he’d mostly been giving gifts, little things to people he didn’t think he’d see again…
Those worries seemed so far away now...
Cyr shifted with discomfort as the pair poured over his things, wondering what they would find. At least both of them seemed to be taking the matter of the cursed object seriously. He felt a faint frown ghost across his face when he saw the white haired demon suddenly pluck his betrothal necklace from the clutter, holding it like a dead fish, a firm word on his lips. Cyr’s heart dropped, a cold tension suddenly closing up his throat.
“That...that can’t be it,” he said with a disquieted laugh, face pale and still. “My...my….my parents gave me that, it’s for…well it’s supposed to be for me, not for…anyone else?”
Internally confusion and anger flashed through him. Was his betrothed trying to kill him or something? He didn’t want to make it known here, not when there was this potential for something nice..a little hold out before whatever fate awaited him beyond, but this...this unsettled him more than anything else. He’d have to tell Bez. Maybe she’d have some insight.
Viv grabbed a set of hair pins, asking if she could use them. Cyr nodded slightly with confusion. She used one to pin back her hair, and its twin to manipulate the necklace, alongside a ruby cross necklace.
His betrothal necklace was quite pretty, a length of black velvet with a small chain and some eyelets to clasp it in the back. In the front, a silver mockingbird was embossed on the fabric, and in it’s claw it held a flower--or rather a tiny bracketed sapphire. The Pride demon flipped it over, squinting down at it. He had no idea what she was looking at, however, because from his angle the whole thing was black.
“This rune here,” she said, “basically means...unbreakable. It’s normally used to strengthen, but it’s linked with this ‘unless’ modifier, and I can’t read the rest but that’s normally used to make a piece of jewelry only one person can take off. Even if someone else is wearing it, only the owner can ‘break’ it.” she explained before leaning back over.
Cyr could only stare as she peered harder at the necklace. “Okay, so, this one here is in the transformation family of runes. That’s all I know, they trigger transformations. I think there’s a specific one for animal, and there’s a thing you need for reversibility and- wait -I think that might be...mutate?” she blinked a few times. “Like...80% sure that one means mutate. Which is the ‘curse’ version of transform, like, it’s harder to undo and can last longer…”
Myut stood beside her, head angled similarly. As she pointed out the markings, the white haired demon gave a low, thoughtful hum. “Mutate would need quite the collection of instructions…”
“I bet that that’s this mess over here…” Viv poked the cluster with the hairpin.
"Curses like these have been notoriously used in the past as a nasty means of control and modification. For suppression of an individual, especially if it’s an animal transformation. In fact, in the third generation of demons-“ Myut stopped abruptly, however, with a sheepish cough. “Uh, nowadays I’ve heard of them being used as lesser afflictions against two demons who might be in a spat, but, with the runes that Viv has pointed out….”
The two were just talking amongst themselves now. Cyr was hardly listening, his thoughts racing painfully. What did this mean? It didn’t seem like they knew what exactly the necklace did… but whatever it was, it didn’t sound good. He swallowed hard, hardly noticing at first when both of the other demons were suddenly staring at him.
Cyr blinked almost owlishly between them as Myut spoke directly at him. “Don’t put this on. Ever.” Cyr felt his shoulder deflate slightly. What on earth...he was glad they’d found it. Maybe...maybe getting stuck in this place was a good thing? Who knew what would have happened if he’d gone home with that demon...or if his parents really were out to get him. He couldn’t understand why, though…
He didn’t pay attention to Vivian’s playful test of the necklace. He just grabbed his bag and swept everything else into it, before grabbing the necklace gingerly and dropping it in the bottom of his armoire so he could keep an eye on it. As he turned his back on the other two, he tried to regain his composure. He was safe for now, at least. He hadn’t done anything wrong. Maybe this way he could get out of the betrothal? Well, either way, he should enjoy himself now, instead of moping around, right?
Cyr put on a smile as he turned, trying to chase away the grim pallor that had briefly stolen his face. Everything was ok. "Thanks guys," he said, putting on a cheerful tone. "I'll do my best to never wear it, then. Good thing i had you two to let me know..." Everything was fine. He wasn't hurt. Everything was ok.
Nonetheless, as they all moved towards his door, back out into the main room, he hesitated by his doorway, feeling that worry surge through him again. What had he done to deserve all this?
【Rule Number 1: Don’t take a nap when you’re supposed to be doing damage control.
Rule Number 2: If you do, blame the sloth demon.】
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Rule Number 2: If you do, blame the sloth demon.】
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Back in this room, Ino leaned back against the wall with a sigh. He’d been caught stretching, but the resulting interaction had been friendly – pleasant even. Maybe him and Myut could be friends.
Maybe.
He went to his wardrobe, not planning on wasting more time on his outfit. This time he chose a subtle pair of boots, and on his way out, realized he hadn’t put his book away. That was quickly fixed – he moved the large tome into the nightstand drawer. Hopefully, no one had seen it clearly. At the very least, no one had asked.
He emerged into a busier room, noticing now Val napping on one of the couches and Cyr just standing around. Myut was examining the plant closely, and Ino started over there, curious. He wondered if it was real or manifested, and if real, what properties it might have.
He didn’t get to ask though, as quite suddenly, the door reappeared. Ino didn’t even have time to react before the guard stepped through. It was the blond one who’d lured him in the day before, and the Envy’s eyes narrowed as he stalked over, unsure of what he’d say except that it wouldn’t be nice.
The guard spoke before Ino reached him, though, and reluctantly the Envy stopped, sitting at the table. An announcement about why they were here was more important than his wounded pride. He still drummed his fingers impatiently, watching as Cyr carried the sloth over, and Vivian emerged from one of the rooms carrying a sleepy-looking Bez. By the time all seven were present, he started to look distinctly irritated, though that expression smoothed into polite indifference as the guard began to speak.
And then he was identified as a suspect and his composure shattered.
Ino had never been more glad that he’d set a glamour that morning, because it meant his face remained calm and still, his eyebrow arching a bit as he was accused of having poison, before the others had their crimes laid out.
Behind the mask, his emotions ran high – inside his long sleeves, his hands trembled with tension, and his eyes were wide and worried, lips parted in shock, in denial. As the guard stepped back, he looked around carefully, only standing when a few others stood. Luckily, Myut’s outburst had taken some attention off his own accusation.
Because poison sounded pretty damn bad.
As the others began to disperse, heading into rooms or to harass the guard, Ino quietly backed up. His heart was pounding still, and keeping his breaths steady was a struggle. He needed to be alone – a moment to compose himself.
He found his chance in the mysterious door that hadn’t opened yesterday. He had heard the click when the guard pointed at it, and when he tried the handle now, it turned easily in his hand. Completely silent, he slipped inside, closing the door behind him. He found himself in a long hallway, softly carpeted and lined with doors. He tried each one, finding 6 of them locked. He wondered if there being 7 had any significance. The seventh stood ajar though, and when he stepped in he blinked a few times, exhaling into the warm air with a deep sigh.
Water.
The large pool stretched almost wall to wall, though there was ample room to walk around the edges without falling in. The air was warm and wet, lightly fragranced with a mix of gentle floral scents. He could see two shelves on the far side, and the rumble of the water falling from the rocks was just loud enough to compete with his racing thoughts.
Ino reached behind him, gently pushing the door closed. He wasn’t sure how long this would be here, or when another might find it, and he wanted to take advantage. There was no lock to ensure his privacy, but at this point, he was just glad for a working door. He headed right for the rack of towels, taking one and spreading it on the still-dry floor. With a nervous glance back, he stripped quickly, folding his clothes into the soft white cloth and laying them aside. He paused only briefly at the other shelf, plucking a purple oil and a random soap from there before quickly descending into the water.
The bath was pleasantly warm and it made Ino shiver pleasantly as he waded in. He uncapped the oil he held – it was indeed lavender, based on the strong fragrance – and dripped it into the bath as he walked, hoping it would help calm him down. Near the center, the water only got deeper, and Ino skirted it rather than be forced to swim. The floor seemed textured, and his feet didn’t slip as he walked, which he was grateful for.
Returning to the edge, the Envy placed the bottle of oil aside before dunking the soap. It was vaguely floral, and Ino scrubbed quickly, washing off the sweat from his exercising with a bit of relief. He dunked his face under, letting the glamour fall, and washed slowly, holding his breath for as long as he was able. He didn’t want to get his hair wet, but he didn’t want to get out yet either. He found that the sides of the pool had a long, smooth ledge, and when he sat on it, the water came to just beneath his shoulders. He knelt on it with some difficulty, dragging his bundle of towelled clothing closer. Once more he sat, tipping his head back against his little pile.
Some of his blind panic had faded, and he knew he needed to think.
He needed to lay out the facts.
Fact 1: The poison. He knew exactly what they were talking about, and looking back now, it had been foolish to bring it. But that entire scheme had been what finally got him out of bed, so he wasn’t sure how much he regretted it. A little now. Probably a lot more later.
Fact 2: He hadn’t been trying to kill the prince. Though their relationship had failed, Ino hadn’t been the one who ended things, and he still felt shamefully fond of the man. His cheeks burned and he sank a bit deeper into the water.
Fact 3: He had one of the worst accusations on him. Not that there weren’t others – Cyr’s cursed object, the wrath demon’s arson, Val tampering with the guards were all good contenders. But poison, along with his undeniable motive, meant that he had to explain himself.
Which led to Fact 4: He couldn’t tell the truth. It wasn’t exactly much better than what he’d been accused of. Poisoning the Prince would have been bad, but trying to poison the Prince's current lover? Equally bad, and in some eyes, likely worse. Though it wasn’t like he’d actually been trying to kill him…
He huffed, crossing his arms, now so low in the steamy water that his breath made bubbles on the surface.
They really had made him sound awful, and he had to wonder if it was on purpose. If Abadeer wanted to get rid of him more permanently – that is to say, for good. And a bottle of poison was pretty damning evidence, when his actual plan had just been to humiliate Emil…
His eyes snapped wide open from their droopy state and he pushed himself back up. Maybe that could be it. His way out.
Heartbird – the poison he’d brought with him – became lethal at a certain level. 30 milligrams, to be precise. But at a third of that, it sped up body systems, amplifying the effects of anything else a demon had ingested. At two thirds, it began to affect the stomach, sending the unfortunate demon running for the bathroom. The reason why it was banned was because at a full dose, it became very easy to overload the heart.
And Ino had double that dose with him.
Fuck.
Could he convince the others he hadn’t meant to use it to its full, toxic potential? He was no killer. He’d fully meant to use only one, maybe two doses on Emil, but admitting that wouldn’t win him any friends. But…what if he claimed he’d wanted to use it on himself? At that low dose, it’d be stupid but possible to take it to amplify the effect of any other drug, or even just get drunk faster.
It made him sound foolish, but demons had been known to do more for less of a good time. It seemed to be the best explanation he had. He could even take some to prove it wasn’t lethal, if he had to.
Yes, this could be a plan that might work.
Or would it?
Ino gave himself a few more minutes to think on it, his arms back on the tile, his head comfortably cushioned. With his worry tamed, the warm bath and sweet lavender swirled around him, taking advantage of his restless night to send him into a small sleep.
“Well, hello there. You’ve been in here a while,”
Ino woke with a start, jerking a bit when he saw Val so close. He hadn’t even heard him come in...that wasn’t safe. On the other hand, he doubted Valramir would hurt him directly. If Val was the assassin, he couldn’t be working alone.
“I must have fallen asleep…” he mumbled, sitting up a bit more, rubbing his eyes. “Surprised you woke me. Isn’t that the opposite of your thing?” he blinked once, twice, and reapplied his glamour in the next moment, fixing up his face. No need to let the sloth see more than he’d already seen.
Valramir chuckled. “Hmm I suppose. But my curiosity outweighs the love I have of using my presence,” he answered honestly. “You vanished after our pretty guard demons laid out the accusations. Your face hardly betrayed a thing. It made me curious what you were really thinking behind your mask,” he said idly. “We haven’t had the chance to catch up lately.”
“What I was thinking?” Ino laughed softly, swirling his hand through the water. “I was thinking that this is crazy. And if this is a setup. And what exactly they think I have that’s poison.” Lay the groundwork now, act like it didn’t even occur to him that the substance he had could kill. “And then I saw the bath, and I wanted to take advantage since they might take it away, and then I guess I fell asleep. I didn’t sleep well last night,” he admitted. “But what about you? What do you think?”
“What do I think, indeed,” he mused, his eyes watching Ino. Part of the gaze was still lusty as he reached out and pushed some of Ino’s wayward strands away from his face before he rolled onto his back to stare at the ceiling. “I am thinking it is way too muggy in here,” he grinned. “And I think you are stunning, as usual, even more so without clothes,” he said in a cheeky type of tone.
“Flatterer~” Ino said playfully, letting his face pinken obligingly in response to the gentle touch. “And you don’t like the warmth? I think I’m ready to leave.” he admitted, stretching his arms up and over his head. “But what did you do, Val? Make the guards take a little nap?”
Val chuckled at the other demon and sat up. “Yes, I made quite a few of them fall asleep. And I played a card game with them… had them leave their posts,” he answered, a darker glint in his eyes. “It was all in good fun though,” he answered. He got up and turned to offer his hand to Ino. “Why do you have all those herbs in your bag anyway, Innocence?” he asked.
“Naughty, naughty~” Ino sang, his eyes sparkling, laughing at the nickname. No one had called him that in a while, and he found that he liked it. “Though that’s a pretty big hole in the defenses. I’d be grateful it was pointed out.” he cast him a sidelong glance, wanting to see how he’d react to that. “Since it clearly wasn’t very professional of them.”
The petite demon took the offered hand and stood, daintily exiting the water and heading for the rack to take a fresh towel, rubbing himself down before wrapping himself up. “It’s good to have things along in a place like this. Painkiller, nausea, headache, you know the drill. Just being prepared.” he wasn’t ready to share the secret of his hangover cure with anyone just yet.
“I see,” Val was saying. “I suppose that makes sense” Ino could hear the distraction and he knew what caused it. He wasn’t at all surprised when Val cleared his throat and started to speak. “You know… if you’re up to it, my room is always available to you,” he said. “You did mention once we might have a chance to have a bit of fun. Just putting that out there. We never really know how long we have in this small bubble, or what the hell will happen in 7 days when our time is up.”
“For a nap?” Ino very deliberately played innocent. “I might take you up on that.” Val made it impossible to ignore his meaning, though, and Ino had to address it. “Maybe...maybe when we get out of here, okay?” he offered up softly. “I just...don’t know right now.”
It was more vulnerability than he’d wanted to share, but it was true. He knew Val meant well, but he lacked the impulse to have sex just because… “I’m sorry…” he murmured, very softly, and took up his clothes to begin getting dressed.
Val gave a playful little pout at first and leaned against the wall, still watching the demon. “There is no reason to apologize, Ino. An offer was just an offer. Just know I will always flirt,” he said, and it made Ino feel better, to know that there was nothing Val expected from him.
“But I am always game for sleep,” the Sloth was continuing with a much more innocent smile then. “And cuddles.”
Ino gave Val a softer, more genuine smile in return. “Thank you.” he said. “I really might take you up on those naps. Cuddles included, obviously.”
He then draped a towel over his shoulders, just below where a few strands of hair curled damply against his neck. “Let’s get out of here, it’s not too pleasant when dressed.”
Ino got his boots on and strode back down the hall, pretty sure Val was behind him. “Hello everyone!” he declared, stepping into the main room after throwing the door open, though he caught it so that it didn’t slam the wall. “So they gave us a bathtub, not sure how long it’ll last, if anyone wants to check that out~”
As though he didn’t have a care, he headed for the middle of the room. He’d wait to see if anyone spoke to him before he went around asking questions.
【Preposterous. Just Fantastic.】
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【Table → Cyr’s Room → Viv’s Room】
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【Table → Cyr’s Room → Viv’s Room】
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At the sound of an actual door closing, Myut’s focus immediately snapped up from his plant to hone strikingly in on the unfamiliar figure now standing where their front door was supposed to be. Had been just milliseconds ago. Myut drank in the protector’s appearance slowly, taking his time in analyzing and sizing up this individual. Mousy blonde hair, tall and slender in build, and clad in the armor of the Prince’s guards. It seemed that the big man himself had finally deigned to send in someone to hopefully tell them what was going on. Meu leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms as a keenly interested look filled his features. His eyes did not leave this guard’s form.
That is, until Cyris took the seat next to him, settling in ‘twixt his view of the sentry. That had broken the white-haired demon’s harsh and scrutinizing gaze. He regarded the dark-skinned man affably, brow smoothing and eyes growing gentle once more. Now that he was looking around, it seemed that Val had joined them too. Myut’s eyes narrowed and he leaned a bit with that same uncertain but investigative aura. Now that he was reminded the sloth demon existed, his memory of the prior night had been jogged - he needed to have a word with the man. But that would have to wait; whatever this little gathering happened to be was of far more cruciality.
Plus, Viv was carrying Bez over to the table as well and the little demon’s state of dress was quite interesting. Meu couldn’t help but be reminded how delightfully adorable and attractive the gluttony was. Should he be able to catch the little one’s gaze, he’d share an affectionate smile with her. It looked like she had been able to manage some sleep last night, which was a relief to Myu. In any case, she had likely had a good time in the late hours, if Viv adoringly transporting her was of any inclination.
Once Ino and Eris had joined the fray, taking their respective seats with swift decision, the guard then began to speak. He had a smooth voice, and Meu could not help but lean forward a bit and tilt his head to get a better look at his eyes. They were a sharp viridescent color, somewhere between emerald and spring green. They seemed a hint nervous, though. The sentiment was only strengthened by the way this watchman was speaking – uncertain, awkward, somewhat uncomfortable. Once he railroaded himself into what sounded like a prepared speech, though, – hinted by the literal papers he pulled out and began to read from - that initial hesitation left. He sounded a little miffed now, in fact. Meu gave a small grin at that; he could sympathize.
Any relaxed feelings that the greed demon had been steeping in were discarded as soon as the guard mentioned the word ‘assassination’. It only got worse as in the next breath it was revealed that they had all been apprehended as suspects for it. That would explain the rough treatment yesterday. A harsh look tainted Mew’s facial features, form now of a more rigid bearing as he clenched a fist. Damn, it was suddenly a very unfortunate circumstancing that the item he had been innocently looking after had been anything but when considered in this finally revealed context against Abadeer.
It would be absolute hogwash should the fact that the sort of item that he had been so houndedly after, for the simple means of historical collecting, been discovered. He would arguably be the most incriminated among all of them, simply for the stark fact of the wording. Meu was fairly certain that he hadn’t revealed anything behind the purpose of the ancient weapon, but it was a bit hard to recall now. He had simply been looking for an old artifact. Yes, he wouldn’t have been foolish enough to reveal anything especially sketchy or informative in regard to a claim to kill the current king.
When Amos revealed that it would be a jury of peers, Meu could barely contain the roil of irritation from making itself visible. After all this treatment, did the guards honestly expect them to do their dirty work? Obviously they would have no choice, but how absolutely laughable. Well, at least if Myut would have to put in some work, it wouldn’t be for nothing, which was excellent since he would have refused to do it without something in return. They only had one week. What the hell had everyone gotten mixed up in? At least it seemed they had been correct in assuming they were all in trouble. But this kind of trouble…. Was this guard even speaking the truth? Were they just pinning it conveniently on a group of troublemakers, or was someone in their midst really an assassin? Guess they’d find out.
The voice of the guard clad in armor bearing Abadeer’s colors spoke out clearly and concisely then, beginning to list each demon, their race of sin, and their transgressions. Ino’s was the first to be tacked up. Poison? That shook Meu up a bit, but he was honestly still highly suspicious of this whole situation. There was still something about it. Ino had seemed so small and kind; many of them seemed that way. The greed demon didn’t get to dwell on it for very long though, as the guard continued on without much pause for them and Myut was next.
When the guard announced to the room Myut’s accusation as him having ‘bribed’ the guards, of all things, Mew could not help the look of sour indignation now that very clearly filled his face. The greed spoke up to immediately correct such a defamation of character, “Bribed?” He scoffed, setting his hand against the table with a loud thunk, “These were fair trades and your guards know it. If you don’t even know this much, then perhaps you should be looking a little more closely to home for traitors rather than a group of your esteemed party guests. Especially since your fellow men-at-arms have been rather deliberate with our things. Or did they not tell you about that either? I don’t give shit away for free.”
Perhaps the content of his outburst had been a bit on the nose, and it was certainly true that Myut was not free of any blame, but he’d move Heaven and Hell itself if it had to do with any negatively impacting misinformation regarding how he handled his business. After having finished defending his honor, Myut sat back in his chair, crossing his arms once more and looking a bit disgruntled. At least he had been correct in that his accusations had been largely vague. He listened to Amos ramble off the rest of the accusations in utter silence, but he could not help but feel surprised at the revelation of all.
Myut was quite a bit caught off guard with how inaccurately he had mapped out his fellow demons’ sins. He had known Bez and Val’s already, and there was no mistaking Eris for anything other than a wrath, but the remaining demons he had gotten mixed up. He had surmised that Ino had to be a pride demon with how carefully he took care of his looks and how he held himself. For Vivian, he had thought she was envy considering how protective she was of Bezabelle. And Cyris… that came as the biggest upset. Totally out of left field. Myut would have never pegged him as a lust demon after having read the things scribbled in his books.
Now, obviously, he didn’t know anything about any one of them sans Bez, but he had thought he was a better guesser. Granted, he had only had half a day with them, and besides that had avoided them all for the most part to boot. Nevertheless, that meant there was one of each sin present. Abadeer was certainly covering all his bases. But with the hundreds of demons who had attended the gala, Meu was surprised to see that no one else had gotten into some sort of mischief or other. Plebians. Or was it just nicely convenient?
Vivian’s crime, as she had previously revealed to them yesterday, had also been of being somewhere she should not have. Like Myut’s own wrongdoing, the greed demon could not help but feel offended for the both of them. She had said it had been a misunderstanding, which was exactly how it was for Meu too.
Bez was hardly even worth mentioning among the schemes listed. It was as if the guards were grasping at straws. She had been around suspicious individuals during the gala? She had been around everyone during the gala. They may as well have arrested everyone for attending.
Eris had committed arson. How positively dreadful. But she was a wrath demon; it was not that surprising, especially when you considered you were pulling demons from every corner in Hell, so there was no doubt there would be some conflicts. Arson as a means to kill Abadeer, though? It sounded clumsy, and while wraths could be particularly unintelligent at times, they were damn clever. Besides, if she had aimed more directly for Abadeer, the other six of them wouldn’t be sitting here. Meu could not imagine that the little mud eel would simply set something alight and hope it made it to Abadeer in time. But who was he to say? He didn’t know where, what, or whom she had set on fire. In fact, all of the misdemeanors were quite vague.
Valrien sabotaging guards, though. That also sounded pretty bad, but knowing what little he did of the sloth demon, he didn’t imagine the demon had it in him to put forth so much effort for some bigger grand plan. Who knew, though. Meu couldn’t say anything for any of them, really.
But having heard that Cyr had a cursed item, however, had a few mixed feelings battling about in his chest. One, while this situation was indeed dire, Myut could not help but instinctively feel extremely interested to see just what it was that Cyris had with him. But, contrasting to that, he two, was conflicting against feelings of uncertainty and wariness as was properly due the group’s circumstances. Yet still furthermore three, Meu was also feeling something almost akin to a different type of concern.
He didn’t know Cyr very well, and with the fact that the guard said he had something so dangerous with him, Myut wasn’t entirely sure how to place his feelings. He had seen how gentle the other had thus far been, and it had felt sincere. Was Cyr just playing them, though? Mew nibbled his lower lip in thought for a moment or two while his arms were crossed. It did not take long for one of these feelings to win out over the others, however, and Myut turned to look at Cyr with a levelled expression. It had been concern.
“Cy-Ut.” He had begun, only to be surprised to find the other demon already looking at him and doing the same in calling his name too. The end result was a weird amalgamation of their two names being spoken over each other, but Meu grew quiet so Cyris could speak first. He was clearly very bothered. That became even more clear once he explained.
So, Cyr had not known he had something cursed in with his things? The quasi-concern that Mew had been feeling only grew a little more complicated. The greed demon felt a little bit antsy and restless now too. He gave the dark-haired man a firm nod in answer, however, when he asked for help, “Of course." Cyris had already won Myut’s favor, so it was no surprise that his response had been automatic to come to his aid.
Cyr looked deeply relieved at his assent. As the darker demon rose from his seat, Myut registered that it had interrupted the guard still speaking at the head of the table. But Meu did not pay him any mind. Watching the other’s face relax because of what he had said made Myut inadvertently grin, feeling pleased that he could be of service for him. As such, Mew did not hesitate to join him, abandoning his chair and focusing sharply on the other’s broad back, ignoring the rest of the gathered masses.
After the few steps that they had thus managed, Myut found himself surprised again when Cyr warmly turned back to him, saying that he’d owe him. Another automatic response slipped out from Meu’s lips before he could stop it. “Think nothing of it.”
Mew’s voice had come out soft and pleasant, returning the cozy sentiment the other had shown him in tone. The greed’s voice was then interrupted by a small little cough, clearing his throat almost awkwardly. Had he, a sinful greed, actually just said that? Cyr did not owe him anything in return? Myut did not feel the need for trade? No, it… it was certainly in return for letting Meu borrow his books. Even though Cyr had assured him he had thought nothing of sharing. That must be why Myut did not feel his usual tendencies surfacing. …But he had wanted to help Cyr, and in that desire he had not spared a single thought towards asking for something in return, as he normally would have with anyone else.
The green-eyed male suddenly looked elsewhere while giving a nod to indicate that Cyr should continue leading the way, trying his best to sort those feelings. From the corner of his eye, he caught Cyr turning back to look at him once more, and Meu’s attention returned back to him, eyes lifting to meet his and showing the other demon that he was attentive and curious about what he had to say next.
Cyr spoke of his small gathering of possessions, and Meu responded by giving a relaxed shrug of his shoulders, “It shouldn’t be too hard, especially if there’s not a lot to go through.” He reassured the other, hoping to ease any discomfort the lust demon might be experiencing. He didn’t like the idea of Cyr being troubled.
Before they entered the room, however, Vivian, the tall and gorgeous pride demon, stopped the two with a single word.
”Cyris.”
Meu shifted a bit in order to position himself almost protectively in front of Cyr – to block Viv from getting too close. He didn’t like the idea of anyone else getting too near; he didn’t trust the others. But it seemed that Viv had simply wanted to apologize for something or other that had occurred yesterday, and furthermore it wasn’t Myut’s place to be trying to step in on Cyr’s behalf. And besides, the well-built man could probably take care of himself just fine. Another awkward half cough slipped from Myut’s throat as he repositioned himself so that Cyris would have a clear view of the demon addressing him. Meu tried to play off his physical response nonchalantly, turning to occupy himself with looking into Cyr’s room as the other two spoke.
When Viv offered her assistance in looking for the cursed item, though, Myut stiffened ever so slightly. His back was still turned to the other two demons as his eyes narrowed, gaze staring into the depths of Cyris’ room. Her joining them sounded less than ideal. Why was she offering? The greed could not help but be suspicious. But these were Cyr’s things, and Cyr’s call. Myut turned around with a neutral expression, eyes interestedly focused on the female’s form. He broke the gaze to tilt his head up towards the lust demon, indicating that he would be comfortable with whatever was chosen. “It wouldn’t hurt to have another set of experienced eyes. I’ll know what’s cursed, but I can’t promise I’ll know what kind of curse it could be.”
A bit to his slight disappointment, Cyris beckoned for the two of them to enter his room. Meu took a better look at things now that the whole of the room was revealed to him. He glanced around while Cyr grabbed his bags to dump his possessions onto the bed. When he had, Myut felt a little sad not to see the man’s books among them. Meu didn’t dwell on this, though, as he had not sensed anything off about them last night when Cyr had brought them to him.
Viv was the first to step up to the bed, but the greed raked his eyes over the other items strewn across the sheets. He leaned forward to run his fingers along a trinket or two, but he did so with swift decision, barely taking in too much about any one item. If it didn’t give off any sort of feeling, Myut wasn’t interested in it. Normally he’d be very interested to take his time to peruse through each one carefully, but he had a job to do and that took precedence. Viv seemed keen on the jewelry, which made sense considering that was her family background. He took a moment or two to pick up anything she passed over, but thus far nothing was jumping out at him.
He had gone through the few non-adornment items in no time flat, so Meu also turned his attention to the collection of jewelry that Viv was going through. He was polite to not intrude on her personal space as she stood beside him, but he also did not waste time in waiting for her to go through certain things first. So, when his hand brushed over the particular necklace sitting off by itself, he immediately froze. “This.” He spoke with absolute certainty, delicately grabbing the item by its back clasp and pulling it forward so that he and Viv could inspect it more closely.
The tall woman leaned over the necklace, seeming to follow suit in carefully handling the item. She had borrowed two hairpins, securing her hair out of the way with the first before using the second and another piece of jewelry to use as instruments to flip the choker over. Myut was curious when he saw her tilt very particularly. Myut angled his head similarly to how Vivian was doing with hers, and then he saw it. Kind of. She certainly had a keen eye - it was difficult for him to pick out the black-on-black markings, especially in this lighting. As she physically singled them out, however, Meu could also follow along to an extent.
She informed them of the various runes present, and when she pointed out a supposed mutation inscription, the white-haired demon gave a low, thoughtful hum. “Mutate would need quite the collection of instructions…”
“I bet that that’s this mess over here…” Viv jabbed towards a spattering of nigh-invisible thread with her hairpin. Myut gave a soft ‘oh’ as he then nodded his agreement. Myut elaborated a little bit further on what Vivian had picked out.
“Curses like these have been notoriously used in the past as a nasty means of control and modification. For suppression of an individual, especially if it’s an animal transformation. In fact, in the third generation of demons-“ Meu had begun eagerly, but then thought better of it and quickly cut himself off with a light cough. He didn’t imagine the two wanted any sort of history lesson right now. “Uh, nowadays I’ve heard of them being used as lesser afflictions against two demons who might be in a spat, but, with the runes that Viv has pointed out….” It definitely reminded him more of the sinister intentions closer to creation and Hell’s early conflicts. This was certainly no small thing to scoff at.
However, when the female pride had spoken up to ask if Cyr was okay, Myut’s gaze immediately shot up to regard the taller demon. That was right, Cyr had not known about this being in with his things. And he said it had been a familial bestowing? Myut didn’t necessarily get along with his parents either, but this…. “Don’t put this on. Ever.”
With a nod Vivian had displayed strong agreement. “Although it should be okay to handle, just don’t close the clasps - that’s what activates ‘unbreakable’ and maybe the rest of the runes too. This gem is too small to be a power source.” she said confidently, then looked between the other two demons.
“Avenge me!” she said with an attempted playful tone before pressing her finger on the necklace. As Myut knew would, nothing happened, but Viv seemed especially relieved with the loud sigh that followed. “Yeah, it’s fine like this. Inert.”
Myut had appreciated Viv’s attempt to lighten up the mood, though, and flashed her a stupid grin to show that he approved of the jest. Cyr, however, had not seemed to even notice it. The lust demon simply swiped everything excluding the cursed object back into his bag. He dumped that into a bottom drawer, and the noise of him shutting it sounded loud to Meu’s ears. The greed frowned softly now while Cyr was still turned away from them. Beholding Cyris’ back had only lasted a few moments though, for soon the tall demon turned back around with a smile that didn’t seem to quite reach his eyes, Myut noticed.
Cyr expressed his gratitude to the two of them, assuring them that he would do his damnedest not to let it encircle his throat. Meu was grateful for that, but he heard the way that Cyris trailed off at the end of his sentence. It bothered Myut greatly. As Viv moved to exit the room, the white-haired demon hesitated a bit, staying almost in line with Cyr while they neared closer to the doorway, but still in front. He shifted from one foot to the other for a moment, not quite sure what to do. It didn’t feel quite right to just leave like this, Cyr may have sounded cheery, but he was clearly bothered. Myut did not know if it was appropriate or polite for him to try to check on him, though.
Mew allowed his instinct to take hold in the end as he heard the footfalls of the other silence as he hesitated near the door. Meu redirected his intention from leaving to turning back around and stopping a very short distance from Cyr. Only half a step separated them. They were still a small ways away from the door, so they wouldn’t be in direct view of the outer room. Gently, Meu lilted his body to the right a bit so he could hide the lifting of his arm, just in case someone were to be sneaking a look into the bedroom.
Myut softly folded his fingers over his own tanned palm and used the flat of his pinky to mellowly bump against Cyr’s left pec. Mew had been going for a reassuring touch, tilting his chin up ever so slightly to gaze into the face of the other. “We’ll figure it out.” He gave a faint, closed-eye smile as he withdrew his hand, hoping to god he didn’t just make things more uncomfortable for Cyr by committing some sort of social faux pas. Myut was typically good at that sort of stuff, but this was sort of new territory for him.
Cyr had turned slightly in response to Myut moving closer, intending to watch him pass. Surprise seemed to ghost his face as he instead found Meu lingering at his side. With his gentle touch and reassuring words, Meu was terribly pleased to find Cyr’s lips parting slightly as the lust met the greed’s pale green eyes. A look of bemusement settled in the corners of Cyris’ mouth before they curved up into a small, almost timid smile.
“Thank you,” he murmured softly, gaze still trapped by Myut’s slim yet sturdy face. ”I...I appreciate your help,” he reached up and gently laid a hand on the Greed demon’s elbow for a moment.
This returned smile had Meu pursing his lips ever so slightly, not quite sure how to react to it. Furthermore, the thanks and the reciprocated touch had his cheeks flushing awkwardly. He gave a swift nodnod as he sheepishly used his free hand to run his fingers through his fluffy hair, hesitating to break the connection on the other occupied arm. With a soft cough and a pause to look into Cyr’s deep and rich golds, hand still mid-hair, Mew let his gaze buckle and seek out something else. “A-anyway.” He gave a clipped nod of his head and decided to retreat.
He paused momentarily at the threshold, though, and gave a soft, “Anytime,” before stepping out and trying very damn hard to ignore the weird and painful thumping in his chest. That had indeed been a little nerve-wracking, so it was no wonder his heart was hammering a bit. He could have messed that up real bad, and then where would his social image be? He’d have to trade in his business cufflinks.
As Meu turned and took a step past the demon's door, however, he found Viv waiting there for him. He stepped aside from the opening of the door in case Cy needed to get by. "Yes?"
"What did you think of that? A little crazy, isn't it?" Viv spoke quietly, also stepping away from the door. “Yeah, crazy is a good word for it.” Myut frowned, doing his best to resist the urge to turn back and check on Cyr again already, even though he had literally just done so. It worried him. Especially since the black-haired demon had had no clue about the cursed item to begin with, and who even knows how long he had had it with him.
”I'm glad we found it. Well, you. But I wanted to ask if you had any way to tell if something is missing from someone else's collection?" It was indeed lucky that the two of them had found it and been able to warn Cyris. As she spoke, Viv was slowly moving towards the entrance to her own room.
“Ah, I certainly couldn’t have figured out those runes, and knowing is half the battle.” The greed demon unabashedly praised her in soft tones, listening as she asked him about other missing items and commented on maybe getting more into runic studies. Myut knew he hadn’t been the only one those guards had been skimming off the top from! He was eager to follow after her in the direction of her room, as he assumed entering it with him was her desire, and spoke up to answer while they walked. The greed was back, and Myut wanted to go through more stuff. It was simply a bonus if it also helped Vivian out.
“If you can give me a general description of what you’ve originally brought with you, I would be able to cross check swiftly with what’s physically there. I’d need quantity or count, but if you want help dividing things up to check for yourself, I can also do that in a markedly fast and efficient manner.”
Viv explained that, along with her parents, she had brought loads of things to the gala to show off to potential buyers. She then requested he stand in the way of the door, to which he obliged. Myut stood obediently at the door while curiously watching Viv move about. He didn’t really know what she was doing at first, but as she flitted about the room, producing more and more boxes of jewelry, it was beginning to click. She had hid her things. That was a good idea. Valramir, he was reminded once more, had been snooping the prior evening. And now the greed demon was being informed that Eris had a similar tendency.
At this revelation, Myut bristled like an angry, bushy cat. No touchy his things. Especially wrath demons named Eris. He would be properly putting away his things as soon as he returned to his room. Whenever that may be. It could be a long day, honestly.
Vivian just kept bringing more and more boxes over, almost eliciting a jaw-drop from Myut. How had she brought this much to the gala? How had the guards brought this much to here? He was very, very impressed. The pride demon spoke up then, chatting while she hauled things from here to there, “I guess I don’t really think it was you, I was caught in a place I ‘wasn’t supposed to be’ and it was a complete misunderstanding. So I think they might be prone to overreacting. A little. Compared to some of the others. Anyway.”
Myut nodded, leaning just a bit on the doorframe. “Same,” He grinned lightly at her, genuinely at ease being in her presence. Plus goodies! He wasn’t about to say anything that might get him kicked out now.
Once she indicated it was safe for him to join her at the bed, Mew strode forward to eagerly drink up what was laid out before him. Yes, there was a lot. Viv unveiled the first box, and the greed leaned avariciously forward, knuckles resting near the edge of the mattress. What he saw there turned his orbs covetous, and he traced a delicate finger over the handsome craftsmanship. Viv enlightened him about the sorts of other ornaments she had brought, pulling out a box which held a matching coronet to the set. Very gorgeous. So captivating. Meu’s fingers twitched and he hummed thoughtfully, eyes set like a laser on the piece.
Vivian then reminded him what he was here for, and he dragged his eyes away to politely meet her gaze while she spoke to him. “Absolutely. Show me where to start.”
“Okay, so there’s a few pieces in this category. There’s this set here, also a cuff with a jeweled phoenix on it. There’s a mosaic locket with really tiny gems, there’s a music box…” Meu listened attentively while Viv listed off the last few they were looking for - ten in all. “Let’s look for those 9 first, since they’re the most important. Then I’ll tell you about the rest. Or would you rather know now?”
Myut carefully tallied the items she was listing for their first category, standing at his full height now and putting a finger up to his chin in thought. “We can work on them in chunks; it’ll be more manageable that way.” The white haired demon began to take the tops off of boxes and containers to begin the search. Occasionally he would peer back at the pretty showpiece Vivian had originally shown him.
The two of them searched around diligently, and Mew smiled brightly at Vivian’s pretty face when she so triumphantly produced one of the items they were searching for. He himself had pulled a folded-over piece of parchment from a box and had opened it to reveal the locket that was supposed to be part of the show category. He set it aside next to the box holding the full body set, making a nice little section for their current category.
“Ah, I know!”
Viv went over to her wardrobe and returned with a sheaf of papers, sorting through them.
“Here’s what they look like, this might help.” Myut accepted the offered stack. So it seemed that she had even brought the concept art with her. That proved very fortuitous for the two of them in this case. Meu began fingering through the pages. The first page was for a brilliant pair of earrings, while the next few detailed the music box, to which he stopped suddenly when he beheld it. He set the others aside, clutching at the remaining pieces of paper and bringing them closer to get a better look.
The way the metal had been worked seemed as though someone touched by divinity had molded it. This he liked. Very, very much. A few pages behind it seemed to be a piece of parchment with the sheet music for the melody it was supposed to play. While no expert on the subject, Myut enjoyed enough fine art and classic history to have picked up on how to read scores. His eyes hopped from note to note, initially silent but soon trying to hum one or two and then the rest of them to hear what the sound should be.
At the noise of papers being rustled voraciously, Viv turned to see what was going on, and smiled when she found Myut poring over the last page. “You know how to read that?” She asked. “It kinda goes like this-,” Meu looked up when he heard Viv join him in song, giving a pleasant grin and letting her take over. When she finished the little ditty, to which Meu was enrapturedly listening to, regardless of how well her performance was, he gave a very quiet whistle. “Beautiful,” He nodded, regarding the images once more before starting to hunt with a vigor.
Unfortunately, even after swiftly zooming through the rest of the boxes, he didn’t seem to be finding it. “Well, Viv, I think we’ve got some bad news.”
Viv frowned knowingly, telling him to break it to her anyway.
“The music box is most definitely gone.” His tone turned a little gravelly and grumpy; he had wanted to behold the beautiful thing with his own touch and see the real deal. More than that his sin itched like some annoying bug bite that would not go away. Mew thrummed his fingers against his thigh with a look of irritation. There was nothing that could be done though; if it wasn’t there, it wasn’t there. “Could I keep these?” The greed asked, referring to the papers he still held in one hand. That would be the only way to satiate the pestering void at this point.
“I also didn’t see the earrings you mentioned, either.”
Meu looked up as Viv took a deep, frustrated breath at having lost such precious things already. However, Myut was both pleased and heavily relieved to hear her then say that he could keep his precious little images. He would take these as payment for helping her out with sorting this stuff. In regards to her informing that she may temporarily take them back should her family need to recreate the piece, Myut answered with an, “Of course.”
“Better than that. If we ever find the music box, it’s yours.”
Her tone was definitely sore as she added ruefully that he could keep the box if they could find it. “Hell yeah,” he muttered under his breath, clenching his fist triumphantly for a moment before nodding with a regal regard. He could empathize with her change in attitude. He had been livid when he found his own things gone. In fact, just thinking about how precious and unique the few pieces that had been stolen had him clenching his fists for another reason. He ground his teeth lightly. “Let’s go through the other categories.” He spoke with a renewed vigor, organizing the last few items they had found before getting started on the next round.
“It is infuriating, isn’t it?” Vivian responded to Myut’s anger. “We better be compensated for the losses when we get out. Did some of your things get taken too?”
“Wickedly vexing,” Myut agreed. “Oh yes,” He answered in regard to her questioning whether he had lost things too, “I shudder to think of the tainted little paws that grazed my precious things.” He growled out while sorting through another box. “Irreplaceable. I don’t want compensation, I want an arm and maybe a leg from whomever did it.” He made sure to keep his breathing even and his fists gentle, lest he crush in his anger the lid he was propping open. “And then I would hit them with the filthy thing.”
“Anyway,” He mumbled, taking certain pieces of jewelry out to set aside, now creating two more lists depicted by Vivian’s next descriptions of the remaining categories. He would make swift work of clustering and organizing what he thought went where based on the information he had to go off.
“Go get’em,” She encouraged lightly with a somewhat amused tone. Myut simply smirked in response.
“You like to fight, Myu? I love a good spar. Might be nice to get some of that anger out too.”
Meu paused while poking at one side of a piece of jewelry and then the other, trying to get it positioned just right as it sat in its little group. “Ah, you’ll actually find me to be rather shit at fighting.” He laughed. “I get it up here,” He tapped on his temple, “But I don’t have the proper training here,” He gestured to the rest of his body. “I can handle myself, but I don’t think I’d hold up proper against someone like you who actually has skilled experience. If it’ll make you feel better to beat my ass though~,” He chimed cheerfully, giving her two thumbs up.
Myut preferred to avoid altercations wherever possible, normally finding that he could talk or haggle his way out of a bad situation. That wasn’t to say he hadn’t run into the occasional bear or disgruntled demon, though.
“Ah, I see; I’ll take a raincheck, then. You think Cyr knows how to fight?” She asked cheerfully as she joined him at his side once more, finishing up a little bit of final organizing here and there before looking over everything scrutinizingly. Meu shrugged honestly with a grin, “I don’t have the slightest clue if Cyr would be a good sparring partner.”
“I owe you one,” She said softly, beginning to replace the jewelry into its many cases.“Is there anything I can do for you?”
He was delightfully surprised when he heard her say that she owed him one. He was a little confused at first, since he had already taken the music box papers, but hey, if she was offering~.
Myut gazed pointedly at the original box she had opened - the one with the body set - eyes glimmering hopefully.
Viv followed his eyes over to the very first box, and her eyebrows arched in surprise. “That won’t fit,” She said bluntly. “I mean, ah...do you have a petite partner back home?”
“And?” He asked cheekily without missing a beat. She tried being polite in considering another reason why he might want it, but no, he had wanted it for himself. It was shiny and gorgeous, after all. He laughed benignly. “No; I suppose you’re right-” He paused suddenly, “I wonder if Ino would fit in it?” He mused offhandedly. Myut had originally almost been tempted to respond with a joking ‘well we won’t know unless we try, right?’ but he would never risk damaging something so precious. With such meticulous and skilled craftsmanship, he wouldn’t be able to have anything resized either. That would be too much of a headache, even if he could find a crafter as skilled as the Lacerta family.
“Ino?” Viv thought about the envy for a bit. “Almost definitely, if his arms are slim enough for the bracelets. This is designed for incubi though, though the more common kind. The petite ones.”
Myut nodded with a sort of breathed laugh at Viv’s comment on the size of normal lust demons. Cyr was seriously such an oddball. Myut nodded down at his music box papers, though. “This is more than enough.”
“When we’re out of here, I’ll see if I can convince the craftsman to make you a set like that, okay? No guarantees, but I’ll check. Would you also mind blocking the door again so I can hide these?”
He blinked at her offer to try to convince the original creator of the set to make a duplicate in his size. He gave a big, shimmering grin at that. “I’ll be sure to pay nicely for it. And certainly.” He resumed his duty as door sentry, watching Viv put her things back away, and secretly taking some notes on her exceptional hiding places.
Once her stuff was all hidden, she joined Myut at the door. “Let’s go,” She spoke with a smile. Meu ducked his head in agreement, giving a nonchalant grin as he turned out of the doorway and back into the fray side by side with Viv.
That is, until Cyris took the seat next to him, settling in ‘twixt his view of the sentry. That had broken the white-haired demon’s harsh and scrutinizing gaze. He regarded the dark-skinned man affably, brow smoothing and eyes growing gentle once more. Now that he was looking around, it seemed that Val had joined them too. Myut’s eyes narrowed and he leaned a bit with that same uncertain but investigative aura. Now that he was reminded the sloth demon existed, his memory of the prior night had been jogged - he needed to have a word with the man. But that would have to wait; whatever this little gathering happened to be was of far more cruciality.
Plus, Viv was carrying Bez over to the table as well and the little demon’s state of dress was quite interesting. Meu couldn’t help but be reminded how delightfully adorable and attractive the gluttony was. Should he be able to catch the little one’s gaze, he’d share an affectionate smile with her. It looked like she had been able to manage some sleep last night, which was a relief to Myu. In any case, she had likely had a good time in the late hours, if Viv adoringly transporting her was of any inclination.
Once Ino and Eris had joined the fray, taking their respective seats with swift decision, the guard then began to speak. He had a smooth voice, and Meu could not help but lean forward a bit and tilt his head to get a better look at his eyes. They were a sharp viridescent color, somewhere between emerald and spring green. They seemed a hint nervous, though. The sentiment was only strengthened by the way this watchman was speaking – uncertain, awkward, somewhat uncomfortable. Once he railroaded himself into what sounded like a prepared speech, though, – hinted by the literal papers he pulled out and began to read from - that initial hesitation left. He sounded a little miffed now, in fact. Meu gave a small grin at that; he could sympathize.
Any relaxed feelings that the greed demon had been steeping in were discarded as soon as the guard mentioned the word ‘assassination’. It only got worse as in the next breath it was revealed that they had all been apprehended as suspects for it. That would explain the rough treatment yesterday. A harsh look tainted Mew’s facial features, form now of a more rigid bearing as he clenched a fist. Damn, it was suddenly a very unfortunate circumstancing that the item he had been innocently looking after had been anything but when considered in this finally revealed context against Abadeer.
It would be absolute hogwash should the fact that the sort of item that he had been so houndedly after, for the simple means of historical collecting, been discovered. He would arguably be the most incriminated among all of them, simply for the stark fact of the wording. Meu was fairly certain that he hadn’t revealed anything behind the purpose of the ancient weapon, but it was a bit hard to recall now. He had simply been looking for an old artifact. Yes, he wouldn’t have been foolish enough to reveal anything especially sketchy or informative in regard to a claim to kill the current king.
When Amos revealed that it would be a jury of peers, Meu could barely contain the roil of irritation from making itself visible. After all this treatment, did the guards honestly expect them to do their dirty work? Obviously they would have no choice, but how absolutely laughable. Well, at least if Myut would have to put in some work, it wouldn’t be for nothing, which was excellent since he would have refused to do it without something in return. They only had one week. What the hell had everyone gotten mixed up in? At least it seemed they had been correct in assuming they were all in trouble. But this kind of trouble…. Was this guard even speaking the truth? Were they just pinning it conveniently on a group of troublemakers, or was someone in their midst really an assassin? Guess they’d find out.
The voice of the guard clad in armor bearing Abadeer’s colors spoke out clearly and concisely then, beginning to list each demon, their race of sin, and their transgressions. Ino’s was the first to be tacked up. Poison? That shook Meu up a bit, but he was honestly still highly suspicious of this whole situation. There was still something about it. Ino had seemed so small and kind; many of them seemed that way. The greed demon didn’t get to dwell on it for very long though, as the guard continued on without much pause for them and Myut was next.
When the guard announced to the room Myut’s accusation as him having ‘bribed’ the guards, of all things, Mew could not help the look of sour indignation now that very clearly filled his face. The greed spoke up to immediately correct such a defamation of character, “Bribed?” He scoffed, setting his hand against the table with a loud thunk, “These were fair trades and your guards know it. If you don’t even know this much, then perhaps you should be looking a little more closely to home for traitors rather than a group of your esteemed party guests. Especially since your fellow men-at-arms have been rather deliberate with our things. Or did they not tell you about that either? I don’t give shit away for free.”
Perhaps the content of his outburst had been a bit on the nose, and it was certainly true that Myut was not free of any blame, but he’d move Heaven and Hell itself if it had to do with any negatively impacting misinformation regarding how he handled his business. After having finished defending his honor, Myut sat back in his chair, crossing his arms once more and looking a bit disgruntled. At least he had been correct in that his accusations had been largely vague. He listened to Amos ramble off the rest of the accusations in utter silence, but he could not help but feel surprised at the revelation of all.
Myut was quite a bit caught off guard with how inaccurately he had mapped out his fellow demons’ sins. He had known Bez and Val’s already, and there was no mistaking Eris for anything other than a wrath, but the remaining demons he had gotten mixed up. He had surmised that Ino had to be a pride demon with how carefully he took care of his looks and how he held himself. For Vivian, he had thought she was envy considering how protective she was of Bezabelle. And Cyris… that came as the biggest upset. Totally out of left field. Myut would have never pegged him as a lust demon after having read the things scribbled in his books.
Now, obviously, he didn’t know anything about any one of them sans Bez, but he had thought he was a better guesser. Granted, he had only had half a day with them, and besides that had avoided them all for the most part to boot. Nevertheless, that meant there was one of each sin present. Abadeer was certainly covering all his bases. But with the hundreds of demons who had attended the gala, Meu was surprised to see that no one else had gotten into some sort of mischief or other. Plebians. Or was it just nicely convenient?
Vivian’s crime, as she had previously revealed to them yesterday, had also been of being somewhere she should not have. Like Myut’s own wrongdoing, the greed demon could not help but feel offended for the both of them. She had said it had been a misunderstanding, which was exactly how it was for Meu too.
Bez was hardly even worth mentioning among the schemes listed. It was as if the guards were grasping at straws. She had been around suspicious individuals during the gala? She had been around everyone during the gala. They may as well have arrested everyone for attending.
Eris had committed arson. How positively dreadful. But she was a wrath demon; it was not that surprising, especially when you considered you were pulling demons from every corner in Hell, so there was no doubt there would be some conflicts. Arson as a means to kill Abadeer, though? It sounded clumsy, and while wraths could be particularly unintelligent at times, they were damn clever. Besides, if she had aimed more directly for Abadeer, the other six of them wouldn’t be sitting here. Meu could not imagine that the little mud eel would simply set something alight and hope it made it to Abadeer in time. But who was he to say? He didn’t know where, what, or whom she had set on fire. In fact, all of the misdemeanors were quite vague.
Valrien sabotaging guards, though. That also sounded pretty bad, but knowing what little he did of the sloth demon, he didn’t imagine the demon had it in him to put forth so much effort for some bigger grand plan. Who knew, though. Meu couldn’t say anything for any of them, really.
But having heard that Cyr had a cursed item, however, had a few mixed feelings battling about in his chest. One, while this situation was indeed dire, Myut could not help but instinctively feel extremely interested to see just what it was that Cyris had with him. But, contrasting to that, he two, was conflicting against feelings of uncertainty and wariness as was properly due the group’s circumstances. Yet still furthermore three, Meu was also feeling something almost akin to a different type of concern.
He didn’t know Cyr very well, and with the fact that the guard said he had something so dangerous with him, Myut wasn’t entirely sure how to place his feelings. He had seen how gentle the other had thus far been, and it had felt sincere. Was Cyr just playing them, though? Mew nibbled his lower lip in thought for a moment or two while his arms were crossed. It did not take long for one of these feelings to win out over the others, however, and Myut turned to look at Cyr with a levelled expression. It had been concern.
“Cy-Ut.” He had begun, only to be surprised to find the other demon already looking at him and doing the same in calling his name too. The end result was a weird amalgamation of their two names being spoken over each other, but Meu grew quiet so Cyris could speak first. He was clearly very bothered. That became even more clear once he explained.
So, Cyr had not known he had something cursed in with his things? The quasi-concern that Mew had been feeling only grew a little more complicated. The greed demon felt a little bit antsy and restless now too. He gave the dark-haired man a firm nod in answer, however, when he asked for help, “Of course." Cyris had already won Myut’s favor, so it was no surprise that his response had been automatic to come to his aid.
Cyr looked deeply relieved at his assent. As the darker demon rose from his seat, Myut registered that it had interrupted the guard still speaking at the head of the table. But Meu did not pay him any mind. Watching the other’s face relax because of what he had said made Myut inadvertently grin, feeling pleased that he could be of service for him. As such, Mew did not hesitate to join him, abandoning his chair and focusing sharply on the other’s broad back, ignoring the rest of the gathered masses.
After the few steps that they had thus managed, Myut found himself surprised again when Cyr warmly turned back to him, saying that he’d owe him. Another automatic response slipped out from Meu’s lips before he could stop it. “Think nothing of it.”
Mew’s voice had come out soft and pleasant, returning the cozy sentiment the other had shown him in tone. The greed’s voice was then interrupted by a small little cough, clearing his throat almost awkwardly. Had he, a sinful greed, actually just said that? Cyr did not owe him anything in return? Myut did not feel the need for trade? No, it… it was certainly in return for letting Meu borrow his books. Even though Cyr had assured him he had thought nothing of sharing. That must be why Myut did not feel his usual tendencies surfacing. …But he had wanted to help Cyr, and in that desire he had not spared a single thought towards asking for something in return, as he normally would have with anyone else.
The green-eyed male suddenly looked elsewhere while giving a nod to indicate that Cyr should continue leading the way, trying his best to sort those feelings. From the corner of his eye, he caught Cyr turning back to look at him once more, and Meu’s attention returned back to him, eyes lifting to meet his and showing the other demon that he was attentive and curious about what he had to say next.
Cyr spoke of his small gathering of possessions, and Meu responded by giving a relaxed shrug of his shoulders, “It shouldn’t be too hard, especially if there’s not a lot to go through.” He reassured the other, hoping to ease any discomfort the lust demon might be experiencing. He didn’t like the idea of Cyr being troubled.
Before they entered the room, however, Vivian, the tall and gorgeous pride demon, stopped the two with a single word.
”Cyris.”
Meu shifted a bit in order to position himself almost protectively in front of Cyr – to block Viv from getting too close. He didn’t like the idea of anyone else getting too near; he didn’t trust the others. But it seemed that Viv had simply wanted to apologize for something or other that had occurred yesterday, and furthermore it wasn’t Myut’s place to be trying to step in on Cyr’s behalf. And besides, the well-built man could probably take care of himself just fine. Another awkward half cough slipped from Myut’s throat as he repositioned himself so that Cyris would have a clear view of the demon addressing him. Meu tried to play off his physical response nonchalantly, turning to occupy himself with looking into Cyr’s room as the other two spoke.
When Viv offered her assistance in looking for the cursed item, though, Myut stiffened ever so slightly. His back was still turned to the other two demons as his eyes narrowed, gaze staring into the depths of Cyris’ room. Her joining them sounded less than ideal. Why was she offering? The greed could not help but be suspicious. But these were Cyr’s things, and Cyr’s call. Myut turned around with a neutral expression, eyes interestedly focused on the female’s form. He broke the gaze to tilt his head up towards the lust demon, indicating that he would be comfortable with whatever was chosen. “It wouldn’t hurt to have another set of experienced eyes. I’ll know what’s cursed, but I can’t promise I’ll know what kind of curse it could be.”
A bit to his slight disappointment, Cyris beckoned for the two of them to enter his room. Meu took a better look at things now that the whole of the room was revealed to him. He glanced around while Cyr grabbed his bags to dump his possessions onto the bed. When he had, Myut felt a little sad not to see the man’s books among them. Meu didn’t dwell on this, though, as he had not sensed anything off about them last night when Cyr had brought them to him.
Viv was the first to step up to the bed, but the greed raked his eyes over the other items strewn across the sheets. He leaned forward to run his fingers along a trinket or two, but he did so with swift decision, barely taking in too much about any one item. If it didn’t give off any sort of feeling, Myut wasn’t interested in it. Normally he’d be very interested to take his time to peruse through each one carefully, but he had a job to do and that took precedence. Viv seemed keen on the jewelry, which made sense considering that was her family background. He took a moment or two to pick up anything she passed over, but thus far nothing was jumping out at him.
He had gone through the few non-adornment items in no time flat, so Meu also turned his attention to the collection of jewelry that Viv was going through. He was polite to not intrude on her personal space as she stood beside him, but he also did not waste time in waiting for her to go through certain things first. So, when his hand brushed over the particular necklace sitting off by itself, he immediately froze. “This.” He spoke with absolute certainty, delicately grabbing the item by its back clasp and pulling it forward so that he and Viv could inspect it more closely.
The tall woman leaned over the necklace, seeming to follow suit in carefully handling the item. She had borrowed two hairpins, securing her hair out of the way with the first before using the second and another piece of jewelry to use as instruments to flip the choker over. Myut was curious when he saw her tilt very particularly. Myut angled his head similarly to how Vivian was doing with hers, and then he saw it. Kind of. She certainly had a keen eye - it was difficult for him to pick out the black-on-black markings, especially in this lighting. As she physically singled them out, however, Meu could also follow along to an extent.
She informed them of the various runes present, and when she pointed out a supposed mutation inscription, the white-haired demon gave a low, thoughtful hum. “Mutate would need quite the collection of instructions…”
“I bet that that’s this mess over here…” Viv jabbed towards a spattering of nigh-invisible thread with her hairpin. Myut gave a soft ‘oh’ as he then nodded his agreement. Myut elaborated a little bit further on what Vivian had picked out.
“Curses like these have been notoriously used in the past as a nasty means of control and modification. For suppression of an individual, especially if it’s an animal transformation. In fact, in the third generation of demons-“ Meu had begun eagerly, but then thought better of it and quickly cut himself off with a light cough. He didn’t imagine the two wanted any sort of history lesson right now. “Uh, nowadays I’ve heard of them being used as lesser afflictions against two demons who might be in a spat, but, with the runes that Viv has pointed out….” It definitely reminded him more of the sinister intentions closer to creation and Hell’s early conflicts. This was certainly no small thing to scoff at.
However, when the female pride had spoken up to ask if Cyr was okay, Myut’s gaze immediately shot up to regard the taller demon. That was right, Cyr had not known about this being in with his things. And he said it had been a familial bestowing? Myut didn’t necessarily get along with his parents either, but this…. “Don’t put this on. Ever.”
With a nod Vivian had displayed strong agreement. “Although it should be okay to handle, just don’t close the clasps - that’s what activates ‘unbreakable’ and maybe the rest of the runes too. This gem is too small to be a power source.” she said confidently, then looked between the other two demons.
“Avenge me!” she said with an attempted playful tone before pressing her finger on the necklace. As Myut knew would, nothing happened, but Viv seemed especially relieved with the loud sigh that followed. “Yeah, it’s fine like this. Inert.”
Myut had appreciated Viv’s attempt to lighten up the mood, though, and flashed her a stupid grin to show that he approved of the jest. Cyr, however, had not seemed to even notice it. The lust demon simply swiped everything excluding the cursed object back into his bag. He dumped that into a bottom drawer, and the noise of him shutting it sounded loud to Meu’s ears. The greed frowned softly now while Cyr was still turned away from them. Beholding Cyris’ back had only lasted a few moments though, for soon the tall demon turned back around with a smile that didn’t seem to quite reach his eyes, Myut noticed.
Cyr expressed his gratitude to the two of them, assuring them that he would do his damnedest not to let it encircle his throat. Meu was grateful for that, but he heard the way that Cyris trailed off at the end of his sentence. It bothered Myut greatly. As Viv moved to exit the room, the white-haired demon hesitated a bit, staying almost in line with Cyr while they neared closer to the doorway, but still in front. He shifted from one foot to the other for a moment, not quite sure what to do. It didn’t feel quite right to just leave like this, Cyr may have sounded cheery, but he was clearly bothered. Myut did not know if it was appropriate or polite for him to try to check on him, though.
Mew allowed his instinct to take hold in the end as he heard the footfalls of the other silence as he hesitated near the door. Meu redirected his intention from leaving to turning back around and stopping a very short distance from Cyr. Only half a step separated them. They were still a small ways away from the door, so they wouldn’t be in direct view of the outer room. Gently, Meu lilted his body to the right a bit so he could hide the lifting of his arm, just in case someone were to be sneaking a look into the bedroom.
Myut softly folded his fingers over his own tanned palm and used the flat of his pinky to mellowly bump against Cyr’s left pec. Mew had been going for a reassuring touch, tilting his chin up ever so slightly to gaze into the face of the other. “We’ll figure it out.” He gave a faint, closed-eye smile as he withdrew his hand, hoping to god he didn’t just make things more uncomfortable for Cyr by committing some sort of social faux pas. Myut was typically good at that sort of stuff, but this was sort of new territory for him.
Cyr had turned slightly in response to Myut moving closer, intending to watch him pass. Surprise seemed to ghost his face as he instead found Meu lingering at his side. With his gentle touch and reassuring words, Meu was terribly pleased to find Cyr’s lips parting slightly as the lust met the greed’s pale green eyes. A look of bemusement settled in the corners of Cyris’ mouth before they curved up into a small, almost timid smile.
“Thank you,” he murmured softly, gaze still trapped by Myut’s slim yet sturdy face. ”I...I appreciate your help,” he reached up and gently laid a hand on the Greed demon’s elbow for a moment.
This returned smile had Meu pursing his lips ever so slightly, not quite sure how to react to it. Furthermore, the thanks and the reciprocated touch had his cheeks flushing awkwardly. He gave a swift nodnod as he sheepishly used his free hand to run his fingers through his fluffy hair, hesitating to break the connection on the other occupied arm. With a soft cough and a pause to look into Cyr’s deep and rich golds, hand still mid-hair, Mew let his gaze buckle and seek out something else. “A-anyway.” He gave a clipped nod of his head and decided to retreat.
He paused momentarily at the threshold, though, and gave a soft, “Anytime,” before stepping out and trying very damn hard to ignore the weird and painful thumping in his chest. That had indeed been a little nerve-wracking, so it was no wonder his heart was hammering a bit. He could have messed that up real bad, and then where would his social image be? He’d have to trade in his business cufflinks.
As Meu turned and took a step past the demon's door, however, he found Viv waiting there for him. He stepped aside from the opening of the door in case Cy needed to get by. "Yes?"
"What did you think of that? A little crazy, isn't it?" Viv spoke quietly, also stepping away from the door. “Yeah, crazy is a good word for it.” Myut frowned, doing his best to resist the urge to turn back and check on Cyr again already, even though he had literally just done so. It worried him. Especially since the black-haired demon had had no clue about the cursed item to begin with, and who even knows how long he had had it with him.
”I'm glad we found it. Well, you. But I wanted to ask if you had any way to tell if something is missing from someone else's collection?" It was indeed lucky that the two of them had found it and been able to warn Cyris. As she spoke, Viv was slowly moving towards the entrance to her own room.
“Ah, I certainly couldn’t have figured out those runes, and knowing is half the battle.” The greed demon unabashedly praised her in soft tones, listening as she asked him about other missing items and commented on maybe getting more into runic studies. Myut knew he hadn’t been the only one those guards had been skimming off the top from! He was eager to follow after her in the direction of her room, as he assumed entering it with him was her desire, and spoke up to answer while they walked. The greed was back, and Myut wanted to go through more stuff. It was simply a bonus if it also helped Vivian out.
“If you can give me a general description of what you’ve originally brought with you, I would be able to cross check swiftly with what’s physically there. I’d need quantity or count, but if you want help dividing things up to check for yourself, I can also do that in a markedly fast and efficient manner.”
Viv explained that, along with her parents, she had brought loads of things to the gala to show off to potential buyers. She then requested he stand in the way of the door, to which he obliged. Myut stood obediently at the door while curiously watching Viv move about. He didn’t really know what she was doing at first, but as she flitted about the room, producing more and more boxes of jewelry, it was beginning to click. She had hid her things. That was a good idea. Valramir, he was reminded once more, had been snooping the prior evening. And now the greed demon was being informed that Eris had a similar tendency.
At this revelation, Myut bristled like an angry, bushy cat. No touchy his things. Especially wrath demons named Eris. He would be properly putting away his things as soon as he returned to his room. Whenever that may be. It could be a long day, honestly.
Vivian just kept bringing more and more boxes over, almost eliciting a jaw-drop from Myut. How had she brought this much to the gala? How had the guards brought this much to here? He was very, very impressed. The pride demon spoke up then, chatting while she hauled things from here to there, “I guess I don’t really think it was you, I was caught in a place I ‘wasn’t supposed to be’ and it was a complete misunderstanding. So I think they might be prone to overreacting. A little. Compared to some of the others. Anyway.”
Myut nodded, leaning just a bit on the doorframe. “Same,” He grinned lightly at her, genuinely at ease being in her presence. Plus goodies! He wasn’t about to say anything that might get him kicked out now.
Once she indicated it was safe for him to join her at the bed, Mew strode forward to eagerly drink up what was laid out before him. Yes, there was a lot. Viv unveiled the first box, and the greed leaned avariciously forward, knuckles resting near the edge of the mattress. What he saw there turned his orbs covetous, and he traced a delicate finger over the handsome craftsmanship. Viv enlightened him about the sorts of other ornaments she had brought, pulling out a box which held a matching coronet to the set. Very gorgeous. So captivating. Meu’s fingers twitched and he hummed thoughtfully, eyes set like a laser on the piece.
Vivian then reminded him what he was here for, and he dragged his eyes away to politely meet her gaze while she spoke to him. “Absolutely. Show me where to start.”
“Okay, so there’s a few pieces in this category. There’s this set here, also a cuff with a jeweled phoenix on it. There’s a mosaic locket with really tiny gems, there’s a music box…” Meu listened attentively while Viv listed off the last few they were looking for - ten in all. “Let’s look for those 9 first, since they’re the most important. Then I’ll tell you about the rest. Or would you rather know now?”
Myut carefully tallied the items she was listing for their first category, standing at his full height now and putting a finger up to his chin in thought. “We can work on them in chunks; it’ll be more manageable that way.” The white haired demon began to take the tops off of boxes and containers to begin the search. Occasionally he would peer back at the pretty showpiece Vivian had originally shown him.
The two of them searched around diligently, and Mew smiled brightly at Vivian’s pretty face when she so triumphantly produced one of the items they were searching for. He himself had pulled a folded-over piece of parchment from a box and had opened it to reveal the locket that was supposed to be part of the show category. He set it aside next to the box holding the full body set, making a nice little section for their current category.
“Ah, I know!”
Viv went over to her wardrobe and returned with a sheaf of papers, sorting through them.
“Here’s what they look like, this might help.” Myut accepted the offered stack. So it seemed that she had even brought the concept art with her. That proved very fortuitous for the two of them in this case. Meu began fingering through the pages. The first page was for a brilliant pair of earrings, while the next few detailed the music box, to which he stopped suddenly when he beheld it. He set the others aside, clutching at the remaining pieces of paper and bringing them closer to get a better look.
The way the metal had been worked seemed as though someone touched by divinity had molded it. This he liked. Very, very much. A few pages behind it seemed to be a piece of parchment with the sheet music for the melody it was supposed to play. While no expert on the subject, Myut enjoyed enough fine art and classic history to have picked up on how to read scores. His eyes hopped from note to note, initially silent but soon trying to hum one or two and then the rest of them to hear what the sound should be.
At the noise of papers being rustled voraciously, Viv turned to see what was going on, and smiled when she found Myut poring over the last page. “You know how to read that?” She asked. “It kinda goes like this-,” Meu looked up when he heard Viv join him in song, giving a pleasant grin and letting her take over. When she finished the little ditty, to which Meu was enrapturedly listening to, regardless of how well her performance was, he gave a very quiet whistle. “Beautiful,” He nodded, regarding the images once more before starting to hunt with a vigor.
Unfortunately, even after swiftly zooming through the rest of the boxes, he didn’t seem to be finding it. “Well, Viv, I think we’ve got some bad news.”
Viv frowned knowingly, telling him to break it to her anyway.
“The music box is most definitely gone.” His tone turned a little gravelly and grumpy; he had wanted to behold the beautiful thing with his own touch and see the real deal. More than that his sin itched like some annoying bug bite that would not go away. Mew thrummed his fingers against his thigh with a look of irritation. There was nothing that could be done though; if it wasn’t there, it wasn’t there. “Could I keep these?” The greed asked, referring to the papers he still held in one hand. That would be the only way to satiate the pestering void at this point.
“I also didn’t see the earrings you mentioned, either.”
Meu looked up as Viv took a deep, frustrated breath at having lost such precious things already. However, Myut was both pleased and heavily relieved to hear her then say that he could keep his precious little images. He would take these as payment for helping her out with sorting this stuff. In regards to her informing that she may temporarily take them back should her family need to recreate the piece, Myut answered with an, “Of course.”
“Better than that. If we ever find the music box, it’s yours.”
Her tone was definitely sore as she added ruefully that he could keep the box if they could find it. “Hell yeah,” he muttered under his breath, clenching his fist triumphantly for a moment before nodding with a regal regard. He could empathize with her change in attitude. He had been livid when he found his own things gone. In fact, just thinking about how precious and unique the few pieces that had been stolen had him clenching his fists for another reason. He ground his teeth lightly. “Let’s go through the other categories.” He spoke with a renewed vigor, organizing the last few items they had found before getting started on the next round.
“It is infuriating, isn’t it?” Vivian responded to Myut’s anger. “We better be compensated for the losses when we get out. Did some of your things get taken too?”
“Wickedly vexing,” Myut agreed. “Oh yes,” He answered in regard to her questioning whether he had lost things too, “I shudder to think of the tainted little paws that grazed my precious things.” He growled out while sorting through another box. “Irreplaceable. I don’t want compensation, I want an arm and maybe a leg from whomever did it.” He made sure to keep his breathing even and his fists gentle, lest he crush in his anger the lid he was propping open. “And then I would hit them with the filthy thing.”
“Anyway,” He mumbled, taking certain pieces of jewelry out to set aside, now creating two more lists depicted by Vivian’s next descriptions of the remaining categories. He would make swift work of clustering and organizing what he thought went where based on the information he had to go off.
“Go get’em,” She encouraged lightly with a somewhat amused tone. Myut simply smirked in response.
“You like to fight, Myu? I love a good spar. Might be nice to get some of that anger out too.”
Meu paused while poking at one side of a piece of jewelry and then the other, trying to get it positioned just right as it sat in its little group. “Ah, you’ll actually find me to be rather shit at fighting.” He laughed. “I get it up here,” He tapped on his temple, “But I don’t have the proper training here,” He gestured to the rest of his body. “I can handle myself, but I don’t think I’d hold up proper against someone like you who actually has skilled experience. If it’ll make you feel better to beat my ass though~,” He chimed cheerfully, giving her two thumbs up.
Myut preferred to avoid altercations wherever possible, normally finding that he could talk or haggle his way out of a bad situation. That wasn’t to say he hadn’t run into the occasional bear or disgruntled demon, though.
“Ah, I see; I’ll take a raincheck, then. You think Cyr knows how to fight?” She asked cheerfully as she joined him at his side once more, finishing up a little bit of final organizing here and there before looking over everything scrutinizingly. Meu shrugged honestly with a grin, “I don’t have the slightest clue if Cyr would be a good sparring partner.”
“I owe you one,” She said softly, beginning to replace the jewelry into its many cases.“Is there anything I can do for you?”
He was delightfully surprised when he heard her say that she owed him one. He was a little confused at first, since he had already taken the music box papers, but hey, if she was offering~.
Myut gazed pointedly at the original box she had opened - the one with the body set - eyes glimmering hopefully.
Viv followed his eyes over to the very first box, and her eyebrows arched in surprise. “That won’t fit,” She said bluntly. “I mean, ah...do you have a petite partner back home?”
“And?” He asked cheekily without missing a beat. She tried being polite in considering another reason why he might want it, but no, he had wanted it for himself. It was shiny and gorgeous, after all. He laughed benignly. “No; I suppose you’re right-” He paused suddenly, “I wonder if Ino would fit in it?” He mused offhandedly. Myut had originally almost been tempted to respond with a joking ‘well we won’t know unless we try, right?’ but he would never risk damaging something so precious. With such meticulous and skilled craftsmanship, he wouldn’t be able to have anything resized either. That would be too much of a headache, even if he could find a crafter as skilled as the Lacerta family.
“Ino?” Viv thought about the envy for a bit. “Almost definitely, if his arms are slim enough for the bracelets. This is designed for incubi though, though the more common kind. The petite ones.”
Myut nodded with a sort of breathed laugh at Viv’s comment on the size of normal lust demons. Cyr was seriously such an oddball. Myut nodded down at his music box papers, though. “This is more than enough.”
“When we’re out of here, I’ll see if I can convince the craftsman to make you a set like that, okay? No guarantees, but I’ll check. Would you also mind blocking the door again so I can hide these?”
He blinked at her offer to try to convince the original creator of the set to make a duplicate in his size. He gave a big, shimmering grin at that. “I’ll be sure to pay nicely for it. And certainly.” He resumed his duty as door sentry, watching Viv put her things back away, and secretly taking some notes on her exceptional hiding places.
Once her stuff was all hidden, she joined Myut at the door. “Let’s go,” She spoke with a smile. Meu ducked his head in agreement, giving a nonchalant grin as he turned out of the doorway and back into the fray side by side with Viv.
【”This has to be an overreaction”】
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Vivian had just emerged from her room after changing, smoothing down the red silk, when the announcement was made. After a moment to consider it (she didn't recognise the guard, which was good for him), she turned again, heading through the doorway to Bez’s room.
Her girlfriend was still asleep, and Viv looked at her tenderly before leaning in and pressing her lips to her forehead.
"Wakey wakey~ We're being called," she murmured, sitting down beside her.
Bezabelle was deeply asleep, lips parted slightly, though they twitched up into a smile when Viv kissed her forehead. Her eyes didn't flutter at all, too determined to stay asleep. Viv's second attempt seemed to wake her a bit more, though Bez only grumbled a bit, her eyes still tightly shut.
"Calling? Who's calling?"
Viv looked even more fond, gently stroking Bezabelle’s hair. "I don't know. Some blond guard. He's asked that everyone go sit at the table. I think we should be there."
"Hmm?" Bezzie's eyes flickered open for a few sleepy blinks but she didn't sound particularly convinced yet. She just turned onto her side for snuggles, putting her head into Viv’s lap, closing her eyes again. Rather than speaking, her voice was closer to a whine. "Or we could just be here?" She curled a bit tighter around Viv, then fully relaxed back toward slumber.
Viv's heart was melting - Bez was just far too cute. "Come on, sweetheart." She murmured, trying to lift up the smaller woman. "We should hear what he's got to say."
She carefully propped Bez into a sitting position against her body, using one of the sheets to keep her skimpy nightwear covered away from the door. That was for her eyes only.
Once forced to sit, Bez seemed to wake up a bit more again. She laid her head on Viv's shoulder, snuggling into the taller woman. "Seems like you're more stubborn than me. Mkay, where is he? Do we have to go now?"
“Yup, right now~” Viv nuzzled Bezabelle’s hair. “Do you want me to carry you, sweetheart? I can carry you. You won’t have to lift a finger. Just let me cover you up a bit, okay?” The pride demon took the sheet, wrapping it over Bezabelle’s shoulders. “Or do you want to get dressed? We can definitely take the time for that.”
"But if I get dressed, it'll be harder to go back to sleep again." Bez put her arms around Viv's shoulders. "Let's just go."
Viv turned a little pink but stood, carefully wrapping Bez up in the sheet and then a blanket for good measure. No one else was going to get an eyeful of her girlfriend's underthings if she could help it. Once Bezabelle was nice and cozy, Viv lifted her fairly easily, carrying her into the main room. She sat at the table, keeping the Gluttony in her lap so she could nuzzle her hair.
Viv’s arms tightened protectively around Bez as the accusations were read out. She was mad too - she could have explained being in that room if they’d just asked, and Bez had ‘associated with suspicious people’? That was a load of bullshit, especially with how they’d treated the gluttony. But some of the others really did sound suspicious and…
And…
Any other thoughts Vivian might have had on the matter vanished as her girlfriend stood up, shaking off the sheets. Her eyes immediately swept down, locking on Bez’s butt as she strode forward.
It looked so...beautiful. So soft and curved, like an upside-down heart, wrapped invitingly in enticing lingerie and surely Bez would let her touch-
Viv had to shake her head to force herself to focus, barely catching the gist of what Bezabelle had said in the meantime. She stood up too, placing the sheets on the chair and striding forward, bowing over Bez and wrapping her arms around her.
“Do you need me here with you, sweetheart?” she murmured, low in the smaller woman’s ear, before slowly lifting her head to pin Amos with the iciest of cold glares for daring to look at her girl.
Bez shook her head and murmured back, "Do you happen to know anything about cursed items? I think Cyr needs help."
“I know a bit about runework. He’s who I wanted to talk to anyway.” Viv said softly, dropping a kiss into Bezabelle’s hair. “Be careful, love. Don’t make the guard too mad.” she stepped back though, feeling that Bez could handle herself. With a last, fond look, she quickly headed across the room.
“Cyris!” she called and headed over, catching the tail end of Cyr's sentence. He was claiming he'd never seen a cursed item… that wasn't actually improbable. It was a rare skill…or a great lie.
"Cyris." She said again, stopping them before they got into the room. The Greed slid between them, and Viv just…looked at him. This was none of his business, she wasn’t planning on hurting the much larger demon.
"I wanted to say…" this was hard, her teeth were gritting a bit, "sorry for being a sore loser yesterday. Pride demon thing. I'm sure you know what it's like." She said casually, folding her arms across her chest. "Do you, ah… want any help?" She looked between the two. "I've seen some runework before." Neither seemed to want her help, really, and Viv was prepared to apologize and slowly back away.
It was the Greed who spoke first again, though he’d changed his mind about her, to her surprise. “It wouldn’t hurt to have another set of experienced eyes. I’ll know what’s cursed, but I can’t promise I’ll know what kind of curse it could be.”
Now Viv had to hope that she could actually identify the curse, and prove she had some kind of use beyond cockblocking the soft looks they’d been sharing.
“Don’t worry, I was just trying to be gentlemanly,” Cyris replied, his tone slightly teasingly. “Lust demon, you know how it is.” He winked, then turned his gaze back to Myut. “Let’s go,” he said, beckoning both of them into his room.
Viv laughed, a little awkward. "I guess, yeah."
She hadn't been around many lust demons at all. Nor did she like being teased, but she didn't want to antagonise him right after apologising. So she kept herself in check, despite the difficulty, and followed the two demons into the room, taking in the looks they were giving each other. Somehow, they felt significant.
The room was fairly clean, up until the lust demon began to dump his stuff on the bed, spreading it around. When Cyr spilled his stash on the bed, Vivian's eyebrows rose. She stepped up, first picking up an intricate Ruby Cross, checking it over lightly. She found nothing that could be a rune, and laid it aside, closer to Myut, who might know better. She didn't touch anything that wasn't jewelry, sticking to her realm of expertise only. At her side, the greed worked quickly, making his way through all the non-jewelry items, and quickly picking up the slack on her end.
It was he who found it, pinching a black velvet necklace gingerly between two fingers. Viv didn’t want to touch it either, so she reached for a hairpin to manipulate it. At that moment, her hair tumbled over her shoulder, blocking her view, and she growled in frustration before turning to the lust.
"Could I borrow this?” she asked Cyr, holding up the hairpin she’d picked up.
As soon as he agreed, Viv pinned her hair expertly, then drew a different pin from the pile, using that and the cross to flip the necklace over. When she squinted and angled her head just so, she could see it. Tiny threads, black on black, stitched into the underside of the design. It must have cost a fortune, for such remarkable craftsmanship….
She was no expert, but she’d seen and worked with runes before. The first she recognized was near the clasps.
"this rune here,” she said, “basically means...unbreakable. It’s normally used to strengthen, but it’s linked with this ‘unless’ modifier, and I can’t read the rest but that’s normally used to make a piece of jewelry only one person can take off. Even if someone else is wearing it, only the owner can ‘break’ it.” she explained before leaning back over. There had to be something else… Unbreakable didn’t make a piece ‘extremely cursed’.
She finally found it, near the cluster of the most complex, interwoven runes on the piece. “Okay, so, this one here is in the transformation family of runes. That’s all I know, they trigger transformations. I think there’s a specific one for animal, and there’s a thing you need for reversibility and- wait – ” she stared more at the rune, at the jagged edges, at the almost menacing slice of edges and how the slant represented brows furrowed in anger. “I think that might be...mutate?” she blinked a few times. “Like...80% sure that one means mutate. Which is the ‘curse’ version of transform, like, it’s harder to undo and can last longer…”
Myut had angled his head similarly to how Vivian was doing. When she pointed out the mutation inscription, the white haired demon gave a low, thoughtful hum. “Mutate would need quite the collection of instructions…”
“I bet that that’s this mess over here…” Viv poked the cluster with the hairpin, then looked up again, seeming to notice that Cyr hadn’t moved the entire time she’d been speaking. “Are you, uh, ok?”
Myut rambled a bit about history before focusing on Cyr. Viv, meanwhile picked up on the implications…if his family had given it to him, with such a complex mutation…someone was definitely trying to keep Cyr out of the way. But why, and how?
She doubted the large demon could answer, he seemed to shocked and caught off guard.
“Don’t put this on. Ever.” Myut was saying, and Viv nodded in agreement.
“Although it should be okay to handle, just don’t close the clasps - that’s what activates ‘unbreakable’ and maybe the rest of the runes too. This gem is too small to be a power source.” she said confidently, then looked between the other two demons. They needed to know for sure that it was safe, and she wanted Cyr to have at least a little reassurance…
“Avenge me!” she said, trying for playful, before pressing her finger against the surface. Nothing happened, and though she’d been pretty sure on that, she still let out a gusty sigh of relief. “Yeah, it’s fine like this. Inert.”
After a bit more conversation, she headed out, but paused beyond his door, remembering she’d wanted to talk to Myut anyway. She paused briefly but turned, catching the very tail end of Myut's gesture. She didn't approach, instead waiting for the Greed demon to come closer when he was done.
"Yes?" the tall white-haired man asked.
"What did you think of that? A little crazy, isn't it?" Viv said quietly, stepping from the door. ”I'm glad we found it. Well, you. But I wanted to ask if you had any way to tell if something is missing from someone else's collection?" As she spoke, she slowly moved towards the entrance to her own room.
“Yeah, crazy is a good word for it. No, I certainly couldn’t have figured out those runes, and knowing is half the battle.” He praised her, and the pride demon drank it up.
”Maybe I’ll get more into them. Though I don’t think I actually have the power to...power them, but it was nice to be able to help.” Her reply was...well, it was an attempt at being humble.
“If you can give me a general description of what you’ve originally brought with you, I would be able to cross check swiftly with what’s physically there. I’d need quantity or count, but if you want help dividing things up to check for yourself, I can also do that in an extremely fast and efficient manner.” Myut said about the sorting.
“I brought a lot with me and my parents did too, and now it’s all with me. Well, was. Wait a bit, can you just stand in the door?” Using Meu to block the entry, she began to retrieve the jewelry from the variety of hiding places she had found. “Sorry about this. By the way-” she paused, looking over at him. “Bez told me that Eris has an eye for shiny things, so you might want to store those high up. As she put it, if she can reach it, Eris can, and I don’t think any of us want to go toe to toe with a wrath. Who committed arson. If we’re trapped in here, it might as well be nice, right?”
Viv was getting chattier as she worked, the boxes really piling up now. “I guess I don’t really think it was you, I was caught in a place I ‘wasn’t supposed to be’ and it was a complete misunderstanding.” she even rolled her eyes, turning around as she spoke, her hands on her hips. “So I think they might be prone to overreacting. A little. Compared to some of the others. Anyway.” She waved him over. “As you can see, there’s a lot. I kind of need help checking in tiers, I suppose? So we brought jewelry to show and jewelry to trade and jewelry to gift.” She reached for one of the largest flat boxes and opened it, showing Myut what was inside.
It was a full body set of jewelry, consisting of a necklace, four bracelets, two anklets, and a belt. The pieces were all interconnected with impossibly fine chains, so tiny that at first glance, they looked to be made of golden thread. Some of the links held tiny gemstones between them, and in a few places, the golden links were made of precious stone instead. Vivian opened another box to display the pretty coronet that went with it. “This is a display piece, to show what we’re capable of doing. We brought a few in this category and I know them all, but it’s kind of hard to sort. Is that something you can help with?”
Myut definitely appreciated the craftsmanship of the piece, which Viv appreciated in general. “Absolutely. Show me where to start.” He said.
“Okay, so there’s a few pieces in this category. There’s this, it’s a dance set. There’s a cuff with a jeweled phoenix on it. There’s a mosaic locket with really tiny gems, there’s a music box…” Viv listed off the others they were looking for, ten in all. None of them were similar at all, but what they all had in common was exquisite detail and expert craftsmanship. Every piece Vivian named had taken weeks, if not months of painstaking work to create. They were the pride of the family, and for good reason. “Let’s look for those 9 first, since they’re the most important. Then I’ll tell you about the rest. Or would you rather know now?”
“We can work on them in chunks; it’ll be more manageable that way.” The white haired demon began to take the tops off of boxes and containers to begin the search.
Viv was searching diligently too, the company making the tedious task much more pleasant. She let out a pleased sound when she uncovered the cuff bundled in with some necklaces. She carefully freed it from the chains, presenting it triumphantly, the phoenix gleaming brilliantly even in the soft light. “This one is Da’s favourite.” she said softly, laying it aside. “Ah, I know!”
She went to her wardrobe and returned with a sheaf of papers, sorting through them.
“Here’s what they look like, this might help.” she offered Myut the stack. The first page was for a brilliant pair of earrings, while the next few detailed the music box she had mentioned. The music box had very few gems, compared to the others, but it made up for it with intricate metalwork. The very first page detailed each layer of the design, creating a vivid and detailed image of a young man overlooking the sea from a cliff. The sheet music for the song the box played was attached at the very back. Viv remembered sitting up with her Dad on late nights as he laboured over the paper thin sheets of metal, melting and remelting until each layer was perfect. She’d even helped him find the song, which Myut was now trying to hum.
”You know how to read that?” she asked. She knew how to read music in theory, but she’d rarely ever put it into practise. “It kinda goes like this-” while none of her hums were quite in tune, they were in the general vicinity of it, and the timing was more or less spot on.
“Beautiful,” Myut praised, before returning to their search. It wasn’t long before he spoke again, a sadder tone. “Well, Viv, I think we’ve got some bad news.”
The pride demon had the sinking feeling that she knew what he was going to say. “I think I know, but tell me anyway.”
“The music box is most definitely gone.” His tone turned distinctly grumpy, his fingers tapping, so Viv was surprised by his next words. “Could I keep these?” The greed asked, evidently referring to the papers he still held in one hand. “I also didn’t see the earrings you mentioned, either.”
Viv took a deep breath, seriously frustrated. “Yeah, you can keep the notes, we just might need them at some point to copy the technique, okay?” That seemed fair, but she wasn’t calming down. She was a demon of Pride, and her family had been stolen from. Her family’s hard work had been taken from them without restitution and she was pissed. In that moment she made an impulse decision, but one she instinctively felt her mother would approve of. “Better than that. If we ever find the music box, it’s yours.”
“Of course. Hell yeah,” his enthusiasm for her offer did sooth her spirit. If she understood greed demons at all, if Myut ever saw the music box, he’d raise hell to claim it.
“Let’s go through the other categories.” He was saying, seemingly in better spirits himself.
“It’s infuriating, isn’t it? We better be compensated for the losses when we get out. Did some of your things get taken too?”
She reached for another of the boxes, opening it to reveal several necklaces and pendants, held neatly in place. The necklaces were quite pretty, scrollwork holding vivid gemstones in place, rains of diamonds, and in one case, a lotus-like shape in pink. “The next group was things like this, things for trade. I don’t have notes for these, but they’re pretty, but made to appeal to as many people as possible, you know? I think my Da’s tried to trade you some of these at some point.
“There’s a lot to check, but it’s more empty boxes, empty spaces than specific items here. What’s left besides these are gifts. I think we gave away all the custom gifts, so that’s good. So the last category is going to be simple jewelry, almost like...party favours, I guess? I guess it doesn't matter if they stole those, really, except they stole them.” she huffed.
Viv would have been scared of the Greed demon’s dark threats, but having grown up with a Wrath brother, she was mostly amused. [color][Color=#009874] “Go get’em.” she encouraged lightly. Myut was sorting faster than she could, and she was very impressed by his speed and accuracy. Even though it was her jewelry, she almost felt like she’d just get in his way.
“You like to fight, Myu?” she asked him, focusing instead of packing away the jewelry as the Greed expertly sorted them. “I love a good spar. Might be nice to get some of that anger out too.”
And with his muscles and stature, Myut was exactly the kind of guy she lived to fight.
Myut laughed a little “Ah, you’ll actually find me to be rather shit at fighting. I get it up here,” He tapped on his temple, “But I don’t have the proper training here,” He gestured to the rest of his body. “I can handle myself, but I don’t think I’d hold up proper against someone like you who actually has skilled experience. If it’ll make you feel better to beat my ass though~,” He chimed cheerfully, giving her two thumbs up.
“Ah, I see,” Viv was surprised, a little disappointed, but not upset. “I’ll take a rain cheque, then. You think Cyr knows how to fight?” she asked cheerfully, finishing up the sorting. She wasn’t interested in a fight with an unskilled fighter, that would definitely be too easy for how she was feeling now. Too many of the tradeable pieces were missing, and she really did want to punch something right now, but not Myut. Myut had been nice and helpful.
“I owe you one,” she said softly, beginning to replace the jewelry into its many cases. “Is there anything I can do for you?”
Meu shrugged in response, “I don’t have the slightest clue if Cyr would be a good sparring partner.” He grinned over at her as she joined him at his side once more, and gazed hopefully at the box containing the dance set when she offered him a reward.
Viv followed his eyes, and her eyebrows arched in surprise.
“That won’t fit.” she said bluntly. “I mean, ah...do you have a petite partner back home?” she tried to soften the question.
“And?” He asked cheekily. “No, I suppose you’re right-” He paused. “I wonder if Ino would fit in it? This – ” he indicated the papers, “ is more than enough.”
“Ino?” Viv thought about the Envy for a bit, distracted, wondering if Myut also liked him, considering the implication of this set. Did he want it as a gift for the envy? “Almost definitely, if his arms are slim enough for the bracelets. This is designed for incubi though, though the more common kind. The petite ones.”
In this one interaction, Vivian suddenly understood why her dad found Myut frustrating - she couldn’t make sense of how he perceived value at all. But still…
“When we’re out of here, I’ll see if I can convince the craftsman to make you a set like that, okay? No guarantees, but I’ll check. Would you also mind blocking the door again so I can hide these?”
Myut gave another breathy laugh. “I’ll be sure to pay nicely for it. And certainly.”
Viv smiled back, before attending to the time consuming task of hiding all her boxes away. As she packed, she went through the logistics of recreating this set in a larger size. They’d need more gems, more gold, and Myut could probably make custom requests anyway. She got the feeling that he’d get along well with Mal. Thinking about her brother now made her sigh. She wondered how he was dealing with his situation, if his hair had turned any less cyan. She almost wished he was here too instead of the pissy wrath. He’d have been trying to make friends from the start. Mal’d try to believe the best of everyone here…
Once the jewelry was hidden, Viv joined Myut at the door. “Let’s go,” she said with a smile.
Meu ducked his head in agreement, giving a nonchalant grin as he turned out of the doorway and back into the fray side by side with Viv.
Viv immediately had to hurry to check on Bezabelle, who had been fighting with the guard, but luckily, he'd targetted the little wrath demon and not her.
She had barely finished when one of the doors swung open and Ino emerged, a fluffy towel around his shoulders, saying something about a bath. Viv glanced around, then sniffed herself discreetly, but she was fine. She’d make use of it tonight, maybe.
Instead, she bid her girlfriend goodbye and headed over to the Envy. He was, based on what the guard said, one of the most dangerous here, but Viv had a little bit of a plan.
That, and she doubted he’d try anything out here.
”Ino, right? You mentioned you knew my mom, and she doesn’t talk much about her past with us, so I was wondering, if you had time, if we could talk a bit?”
The envy certainly seemed surprised by her request but he agreed readily. The two demons soon ended up on the couch, Viv sitting primly, Ino with his legs folded under him.
What he told her made Viv appreciate her parents a lot more.
Marie didn’t like to speak of her childhood, and Ino easily explained why, as well as their connection. Both had been raised by lower level demons, pride and envy respectively, and as their mothers hated each other, they used their children to compete.
It did explain her mother’s eclectic collection of skills, an apparent unending competition. Marie was a born singer (Ino claimed he was better at instruments, though he’d glanced around cagily before saying so), with an innate ability to charm and flatter. She was also good at flower arranging and sharpening weapons. She’d left home as soon as she could manage, and Ino apparently credited her with inspiring him to do the same.
They’d even worked together briefly, and Ino had witnessed the start of her parents’ courtship.
Viv had had an ulterior motive in asking Ino about her mom, but she found herself genuinely enjoying hearing the older demon speak. For a bit, she sat, both absorbing the stories and appreciating more than ever how Marie had let her play and romp until she’d hit her teenage years.
【"The game is harder when you don't know the stakes…"】
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【Her bed → Viv's arms→ scolding Amos】
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【#CD5c5c】
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【Her bed → Viv's arms→ scolding Amos】
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【#CD5c5c】
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Bezabelle was deeply asleep, lips parted slightly. Her breathing was soft and her face peaceful. She snuggled into Viv as the morning went on, stirring restlessly when Viv got up, but it was only moments before she settled again.
"Wakey wakey~ We're being called."
By the time Vivian came back to wake her, Bez was nearly dreaming. Her lips twitched up into a smile when Viv kissed her forehead, but her eyes didn't flutter. Viv's second attempt woke her a bit more, and Bez grumbled a bit as Viv spoke to her, her eyes still closed against the morning light. Bez managed to mumble a faint reply, "Calling? Who's calling?"
"I don't know. Some blond guard. He's asked that everyone go sit at the table. I think we should be there."
"Hmm?" Bezzie's eyes flickered open for a few sleepy blinks. She didn't sound particularly convinced yet. She turned onto her side, curling her legs to snuggle against Viv with her head almost in Viv's lap. Not only was the new position more comfortable, but Vivian's stroking her head was rather soothing. Her eyes fluttered shut again, far too heavy to keep open, and she muttered, almost whining, "Or we could just be here?" She curled a bit tighter around Viv, then fully relaxed back toward slumber.
"Come on, sweetheart. We should hear what he's got to say."
And now Bez was sitting up. Much less comfortable, she had no choice but to wake up. She laid her head on Viv's shoulder, snuggling into the taller woman with a sigh. "Seems like you're more stubborn than me. Mkay, where is he? Do we have to go now?"
“Yup, right now~ Do you want me to carry you, sweetheart? I can carry you. You won’t have to lift a finger. Just let me cover you up a bit, okay? Or do you want to get dressed? We can definitely take the time for that.”
"But if I get dressed, it'll be harder to go back to sleep again." Despite her words, Bez was pretty well awake, but she was not ready to let Viv know it yet. She was thoroughly enjoying Vivian's coddling. Bez put her arms around Viv's shoulders. "Let's just go."
Bez allowed herself to be bundled, enjoying every bit of excessive doting. She was exhausted and unhappy with being awake so soon after she had managed to fall asleep; but, she was also deliciously warm with the extra blanket and was thoroughly enjoying the strong embrace of Vivian's arms as she carried Bez out into the main room. She couldn't help but give a triumphant yet discreet smirk to whoever caught her eye as they moved to the table. Then, Viv sat Bez in her lap, and Bez could feel her still nuzzling her hair. She was honestly surprised. She didn't think Viv was comfortable with that level of public affection. Either way, Bez was not going to protest.
Still, there was the matter at hand. The blond guard looked nervous. When he began to speak, Bez was fairly sure she recognized him as one of the two guards who had brought her here. She could not believe what she was hearing besides. They were here because they were suspects for an assassination attempt against the Prince? And they, the suspects, were supposed to figure out who did it? And it sounded like whether they picked someone or not, the Prince was going to execute at least one of them in seven days.
Bez could feel a cold fury growing in her gut. She couldn't believe this was happening. She didn't even believe that it was as simple as this guard was making it out to be. The question was, what did he really know about it? As soon as Amos had finished his canned speech, Cyr spoke to Myut. He was asking for help with finding the cursed item. Bez caught a glimpse of Myut's expression. She kept her face still. She wasn't sure what to do about that issue just then, but she would have to keep it in mind for later.
Bez slid from Vivian's lap, sheets forgotten as she took a couple slow steps toward the guard, not bothering to hide her anger. Or anything else for that matter. Though she was only wearing a rather scanty set of sleepwear, she stood as confidently as if she were dressed in armor.
"And if we do have more questions?" Bez asked coldly.
Amos paused. "Well...er...you are free to ask them..."
She listened to Amos's reply with slitted eyes.
“Do you need me here with you, sweetheart?”
There was sudden warmth as arms slid around her shoulders. Vivian murmured her question but Bezzie's glare never left the guard as she considered. Ah, maybe that?
Bez shook her head and murmured back, "Do you happen to know anything about cursed items? I think Cyr needs help."
“I know a bit about runework. He’s who I wanted to talk to anyway. Be careful, love. Don't make the guard too mad.”
Vivian kissed Bez's hair, then turned to leave. Bez glanced back to watch Viv's retreating form. She couldn't help but sneak a glance toward Cyr and Myut as well. That was a situation she would have to do something about. Hopefully something more permanent, but she would have to figure out how later. She returned her focus to the guard.
"What the hell is going on here? Or are you actually so incompetent that you have to have the suspects finish your investigation for you?"
He frowned and shrugged. "Wasn't my plan. If you haven't done anything wrong, think of it as a nice vacation. The Prince has more important things to deal with right now. You all will sort yourselves out just fine."
"My, more important than an attempt on his life? That is intriguing indeed," Val mused.
"Whose plan was it?"
"The Prince's, I'd hazard to guess." Amos shrugged again. "You all are in here, he can deal with you when he has the time to again."
"And you're only guessing the order is from the Prince? What, as long as the order looks official, you're content with following it? Makes you seem so loyal to the Prince when you're willing to follow whatever orders you get, whether from him or not."
Amos gave her a strange look and crossed his arms. "Well, they come down the chain of command. He could have easily said 'I don't care what you do with them, lock them up or something,' and the head guard made the plan. It's neither my place or yours to argue with them."
"Not my place to argue? Yeah, right. Watch me. You can't tell me this makes any sense to you," she snapped back.
Amos shrugged. "I don't really care, to be honest. He could be much crueler if he pleased. If you've done nothing wrong, you'll get to leave in a week."
"Or you'll execute the wrong person. Half the crimes are vague. Any demon could have done the same."
"Exactly. How sure are you that you got all the suspects? Because if you didn't, the assassination attempt is still on. Are you really just going to sit on your thumbs and wait for the Prince to deal with it? Hide behind your orders that came from who knows where?"
"Everyone else has left already, including the Prince. What we're doing about the investigation is none of your business. You're here, so you'd best worry about yourself."
Val left then, apparently tired of the conversation. Eris, however, stayed. A plot already began turning in Bez's mind, and Bez turned her attention back to the guard.
"Worry about myself? Maybe you aren't as ridiculous as you seem. What's your name?"
"Amos. Why do you need to know."
"Because, Amos, we're going to be here for the next seven days. Would you rather just be known as 'that guard over there'?" Her eyes narrowed, lips tightening into an unfriendly smile. "You strike me as a pride demon. Am I right?"
Amos frowned. "It's nothing that concerns you."
"Are you ashamed of it or something? What, is your spirit animal a chicken? Oh! I know. A mouse. Amos, a mouse, it's perfect."
Amos frowned more, shifting back closer to the wall. He seemed ready to leave, but the guard on the other side didn't seem to want to let him out. "I hope you're having fun. Go stand somewhere else and complain, would you?"
As Amos retreated, Bez advanced a couple slow steps, her hand on her hip. It was only she and Eris in the room now. Bez couldn't help her impulse to somehow cause trouble. She wanted to know how far she could push the pride demon before he would either snap or run away. Or better yet, she wondered if Eris would beat her to the punch. She could feel the wrath demon getting more irritated now that Val had left. Which temper would snap first?
"Why would I do that? You said I was free to ask you questions. How about this one, if you were going to be fair and thorough in your investigations, there would be more demons locked in here. I could personally point out two or three you missed, whose activities at the gala were far more suspicious than any demon you managed to catch, and yet they are roaming free and we're the ones trapped here. How is that fair?"
Amos shifted closer again to the wall, looking frustrated. "Fair? What are you, a human? It's not your business what the Prince decides or doesn't decide to do. The fact of the matter is that you are here. Deal with it. You're not asking questions, you're just whining."
Meanwhile, Eris was coiling further and further, agitated by the guard.
Bez continued her slow advance, moving forward whenever the aggravating pride demon retreated. She knew he had to be frustrated, but she wasn't going to let him off easy. And he was ignoring Eris. His mistake. Bez could almost feel her preparing to pounce. This was sure to be fun, and maybe Eris would be able to persuade Amos to be a bit less haughty the next time he came into their little prison/vacation suite.
"I think I'm asking good questions, even if you are too high and mighty to answer them properly."
Bez debated whether to reveal that he was one of the two guards to drag her in here the other day. She quickly decided against it. She didn't actually want Eris to try to kill him. That would bring far too much trouble down on their heads.
"If you don't like my whiny questions, why not just leave? Because I have no issue with getting more information for as long as you choose to stay."
"I disagree," Amos said, sounding frustrated."I don't think you've been asking very good questions at all. Just...if you're going to keep complaining, go stand over there or something." He pointed towards the sofa on the other side of the room.
Bezabelle ignored his request to move. Instead, her brows rose in mock surprise. "Oh? You don't like my questions? Whatever will I do? Well, what would you ask if you were in my situation, O Wise Mr. Mouse?"
"Well, it's..."
As he started responding, Bez saw Eris hop onto the table. Amos was facing Bezabelle and did not seem to catch the movement out of the corner of his eye. Oops, too late Bez thought. Eris sprinted across the table and launched at the guard. Now it was her turn to feel smug and she was going to relish it. Though it would also probably be in her favor to act a little surprised.
"Eris! Cy-" Bez caught herself, reconsidering, then called out, "Vivian, help!"
Amos managed to throw the small wrath demon away from him. Bez hurried to her. She made a small attempt to keep her from charging, placing a hand on Eris's shoulder before she could spring up.
"Eris! Are you okay?"
Eris sprung up anyways. Instead of focusing on the wrath demon, Bez flashed a smug look of her own at Amos, catching his eye just seconds before he retreated out of the door that had finally appeared. It had taken his fellow guards long enough to save the poor fellow. No one else came through the door to help Amos get out safely nor to punish the attack. Interesting.
With that dramatic scene finished, Bez turned her attention back to the room. She was satisfied with herself, but tried to look worried. It was hard enough to pull off that she found herself using her powers to make the imitation believable. Better to seem a little shaken since she was the one who riled Eris. She was not sure how the situation would turn out and did not want to seem suspicious.
At that moment, she heard Ino enter the main room. “Hello everyone! So they gave us a bathtub, not sure how long it’ll last, if anyone wants to check that out~”
【"The difference between a regular attack and a sneak attack is that sneak attacks mean you have to use your inside battle cry."】
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【Leaping at a guard】
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【Leaping at a guard】
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Eris continued her prowl around the room, checking the windows, peering into the other rooms, looking for a shred of a hope of a chance that there might be some way to get out of this place short of taking a sledgehammer to the wall and busting out. Which honestly would be ideal, but she didn’t have a sledgehammer, and it didn’t seem likely that one would be provided for her demolishing pleasure. Shame.
The prowl, and it’s plodding, barefooted agitation,came to an abrupt end as movement in her peripherals caused Eris to swivel her head around, eyes fixing on the man who just materialized out of the wall. A guard. She glanced around at the others, who were also looking in his direction. They could take this puny guy, even with his sword. Eris gritted her teeth, coiling as the man began to speak.
To her surprise, however, the others merely crossed the room to sit down placidly. Where was their sense of justice? Of freedom? Of the ability of seven people to effectively gang up on one man and beat him to a pulp until he relents and releases them from their prison? Eris growled low in her throat but conceded, sitting in the back corner. Soon after, the tall woman emerged with a Bez-filled burrito of blankets. They sat in front of her, and then the guard began to speak again.
The anger that boiled up within her was somewhat counterbalanced by Val’s presence nearby, but it still burned white-hot in her chest. Arson! She’d fucking show them arson! The big white-haired one had similar objections to his accusation. Eris decided she liked that guy. He wasn’t afraid to stand up to those stupid guards who didn’t know their head from their asses. Especially this one, who seemed to think it was just perfectly fine to trap a bunch of demons together and put them against one another. She’d known the Prince was a scumbag before, but this proved it. Who did something like this?
After the guard finished his spiel and retreated, everyone scattered off into different rooms, which frustrated Eris even more. They could take this guy! Why weren’t they all on the same page? Thankfully, at least Bez stuck around. Unfortunately, so did Val, and she could feel him blurring her thoughts together just enough that she couldn’t quite focus in on what she wanted to do next. Nonetheless, watching Bez back the fool into a corner, both verbally and physically, amused her. This was what they often did together. Bez would set the target off kilter, and then she would sweep their feet out from under them. It was a fun game.
At some point, Eris felt the sloth’s presence diminish, then vanish entirely. Which seemed to have an effect on the guard as well, because his answers grew more and more defensive and agitated. The way he was speaking to Bez bothered her. He didn’t have the right. His smug, mocking tone, and the way he kept telling them to go away made her coil further. Finally, the frustration grew high enough that Eris couldn’t bear it anymore. The breaking free, the releasing of all that pent up energy was pleasurable enough on its own--that sensation of weightlessness as she leapt up onto the table, the sound her bare feet made as she dashed across the wooden surface, the slight give the guard’s body had as she first collided with him, before his spine seemed to realize what weight had suddenly landed on him and caused him to stumble backwards to keep his balance.
She managed to get a few good hits in before he flung her off. No bites, unfortunately. She rolled when she hit the floor, returning to her feet after a few seconds. She was used to being flung, thrown, batted, and tossed by larger demons. They often weren’t ready for the second strike. Bez’s hand landed on her before she could straighten fully.
Before she could so much as move shrug off the hand, however, it was as if a hand emerged from the stone, grabbing the guard by the collar of his uniform and yanking him backwards through the suddenly apparent door. Said door disappeared again without even a mark on the wall. Eris growled. “I’m fine,” she said after a long moment, finally straightening now that the guard was out of sight.
Eris stood for a few moments after Bez let go of her, staring at that wall. But no one else came through the fight. Disappointing. She sighed and turned, unsure what to do with all the energy burbling inside her, anxiously seeking a way out. She wanted to punch someone. As she turned towards the fireplace again, Ino appeared, announcing a bathtub. A bathtub???? Why did they need a bathtub?
Nonetheless, Eris made a beeline for it, checking all the doors in the hall and investigating every inch of the new room for potential escape or potential weapons. Disappointed and sweaty she emerged not long after, having no luck in her search. So instead she went to work on the window by the fireplace, trying with every ounce of her strength to open the sash.
The prowl, and it’s plodding, barefooted agitation,came to an abrupt end as movement in her peripherals caused Eris to swivel her head around, eyes fixing on the man who just materialized out of the wall. A guard. She glanced around at the others, who were also looking in his direction. They could take this puny guy, even with his sword. Eris gritted her teeth, coiling as the man began to speak.
To her surprise, however, the others merely crossed the room to sit down placidly. Where was their sense of justice? Of freedom? Of the ability of seven people to effectively gang up on one man and beat him to a pulp until he relents and releases them from their prison? Eris growled low in her throat but conceded, sitting in the back corner. Soon after, the tall woman emerged with a Bez-filled burrito of blankets. They sat in front of her, and then the guard began to speak again.
The anger that boiled up within her was somewhat counterbalanced by Val’s presence nearby, but it still burned white-hot in her chest. Arson! She’d fucking show them arson! The big white-haired one had similar objections to his accusation. Eris decided she liked that guy. He wasn’t afraid to stand up to those stupid guards who didn’t know their head from their asses. Especially this one, who seemed to think it was just perfectly fine to trap a bunch of demons together and put them against one another. She’d known the Prince was a scumbag before, but this proved it. Who did something like this?
After the guard finished his spiel and retreated, everyone scattered off into different rooms, which frustrated Eris even more. They could take this guy! Why weren’t they all on the same page? Thankfully, at least Bez stuck around. Unfortunately, so did Val, and she could feel him blurring her thoughts together just enough that she couldn’t quite focus in on what she wanted to do next. Nonetheless, watching Bez back the fool into a corner, both verbally and physically, amused her. This was what they often did together. Bez would set the target off kilter, and then she would sweep their feet out from under them. It was a fun game.
At some point, Eris felt the sloth’s presence diminish, then vanish entirely. Which seemed to have an effect on the guard as well, because his answers grew more and more defensive and agitated. The way he was speaking to Bez bothered her. He didn’t have the right. His smug, mocking tone, and the way he kept telling them to go away made her coil further. Finally, the frustration grew high enough that Eris couldn’t bear it anymore. The breaking free, the releasing of all that pent up energy was pleasurable enough on its own--that sensation of weightlessness as she leapt up onto the table, the sound her bare feet made as she dashed across the wooden surface, the slight give the guard’s body had as she first collided with him, before his spine seemed to realize what weight had suddenly landed on him and caused him to stumble backwards to keep his balance.
She managed to get a few good hits in before he flung her off. No bites, unfortunately. She rolled when she hit the floor, returning to her feet after a few seconds. She was used to being flung, thrown, batted, and tossed by larger demons. They often weren’t ready for the second strike. Bez’s hand landed on her before she could straighten fully.
Before she could so much as move shrug off the hand, however, it was as if a hand emerged from the stone, grabbing the guard by the collar of his uniform and yanking him backwards through the suddenly apparent door. Said door disappeared again without even a mark on the wall. Eris growled. “I’m fine,” she said after a long moment, finally straightening now that the guard was out of sight.
Eris stood for a few moments after Bez let go of her, staring at that wall. But no one else came through the fight. Disappointing. She sighed and turned, unsure what to do with all the energy burbling inside her, anxiously seeking a way out. She wanted to punch someone. As she turned towards the fireplace again, Ino appeared, announcing a bathtub. A bathtub???? Why did they need a bathtub?
Nonetheless, Eris made a beeline for it, checking all the doors in the hall and investigating every inch of the new room for potential escape or potential weapons. Disappointed and sweaty she emerged not long after, having no luck in her search. So instead she went to work on the window by the fireplace, trying with every ounce of her strength to open the sash.
【I'm... on the dangerous list? Sweet. Mother would be proud of her sloth.】
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【Main room >spa>bedroom>mainroom】
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【#4169E1】
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【Main room >spa>bedroom>mainroom】
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【#4169E1】
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Valramir had been having a wonderful little nap beside Bezzy on the couch. Certainly, he’d been squished, but he always preferred snuggling when asleep instead of being alone. It didn’t matter who he was snuggling if it was another warm body. And then something was lifting him. Normally he would have slept through, but it was so out of place considering the situation, he blinked up bleary eyes to see Cyr had picked him up like a lover. Unexpected, but completely welcome. Unfortunately, the atmosphere died quickly considering the information Cyr gave him; a guard had come to speak with them. He pouted as he stopped trying to reach up to wrap his arms around the other demon and let him sit him down at the table beside Meu. He offered the demon a smile, wondering what he was thinking. Did Meu remember what happened that night or would he brush it off as a dream? The guard demon was a far more pressing matter however.
Once everyone was gathered, aw, Bezzy was in Vivian's arms, the guard began to speak and let them know why exactly they'd all ben brought into this little cubbyhole in the wall. Valramir's eyes widened slightly before he schooled his features again. An assassination plot against Abadeer? They were all considered suspects? Valramir couldn't help but feel tickled at the thought and he smirked, almost bursting out into laughter right then and there. Him? A suspect in an assassination's attempt? He was a sloth. Since when did sloths do anything that planned out and elaborate? And what could he possibly gain from killing Abadeer? He certainly didn't want to rule hell. That was way too much work and responsibility. He enjoyed his cozy life. His history showed he couldn't hold onto a territory for long.
Then again... he did have a pension of getting back at demons, and scheming. It had taken some time, but once he'd been driven out of his mother's territory by Lovain, he'd worked with Eris to get the territory back. He'd sabotaged all the guards and Lovain’s soldiers so that when Eris came, no one stood against her. Now Eris had her own territory and his mother's vast lands under her belt. Of course, Valramir had the bonus of being back within his old home doing whatever he pleased while Eris dealt with the actual duty of running the household and dealing with other demons vying for control. It was a win-win. Perhaps this had received attention from the prince. Considering recent events in relation to this bit of his past, it wouldn't be surprising if Valramir tried the same thing again for Eris or another demon. His coup had been thought out, planned, and had taken a lot of time since he'd planted seeds in the minds of the guards and soldiers, working them, slowly. It had taken several days… or maybe a couple of weeks; before he'd gotten that many demons under his prolonged influence. It wouldn't have been effective if he had just tried to blast everyone with the aura; some demons had a strong will and could get out of influence easily. No, small seeds to turn the mind were far more effective. Regardless, what he'd done here was nothing compared to that. This had been purely fun. And feeding. He always did need to feed since he expelled so much energy at all times of the day.
Valramir turned his observations away from himself and looked at the other demons in the room as their sin and actions at the galla were announced one by one. Interesting notes. Ino had poison? What did he have poison for? That was a hefty accusation as well. His eyes narrowed as he watched his face, but the demon had a glamour on his features. He barely noted a change of expression on his pretty face. Smart. Cyr was a lust demon? That was interesting. He would have pegged him as a greed or pride demon. He certainly didn't look like a normal lust demon. And the cursed artifact he'd seen that night came up into question as well. The demon looked genuinely surprised by the information. How had he not known that he had a cursed item? The energy of it was off.
Meu was seen bribing guards and in a restricted area? That was hardly an assassination's plot. He smirked at the indignation Meu displayed at the accusation. He didn't deny being in a restricted area but of course disputed 'bribing'. He didn't doubt they were trades. He hadn't even known Meu before but when he'd come to him, it had been purely about trading one thing for another. He couldn't see him bribing anyone for anything without something hefty in return. Eris had been caught setting things on fire which was hardly new. She'd had a target in mind alright, but it wasn't the prince. If she had been after the prince, she would have come to him no doubt to help her. Eris was a firecracker, but she wasn't stupid. She would have planned things far better than this. And the two of them were as thick as thieves in these sorts of matters since they'd already worked together. Or at least that is what he assumed. She would tell him and include her in her plot.
Bez had simply associated with them all which again, didn't feel like much to go off of. Bez was a social butterfly. She talked to and interacted with everyone at the gala. He didn't doubt she literally talked to every single demon that was here. Why had Abadeer included her in this mess? Vivian being in a restricted area wasn't too alarming, but he didn't know her well enough to make any sort of assumptions just yet. Thus far, the biggest and more narrowly focused accusations were against Ino, Cyr, and himself.
Within his initial thoughts recorded, he was content to sit back and watch how the others interacted with the guard and the accusations. He let his eyes follow Vivian, Meu, and Cyr when Cyr asked for help identifying the cursed object. Hmm. He looked genuinely scared and disturbed at the idea. Who had given him a cursed object? Had the real culprit given it to him in the hopes that he'd pass it to the prince? That seemed sketchy. Maybe Cyr was a good actor? Only time would tell. He turned his gaze back to the others as they began to confront the guard.
Valramir felt Eris and Bez getting angry and used his influence to try and keep things mostly civil. He didn’t think getting into a blood bath would help any of them in the long run. Besides, he wanted to hear what the guard would say. Bez made some good points, and he added a few points of his own. After a moment, Valramir realized that Ino was missing from the gathering. He'd seen him go off into the new room, but he had yet to emerge. What was he up to? Plotting? Curiosity got the better of him and he slowly picked himself up and entered the new bathing chamber. Ugh. Hot and humid. He hated muggy baths. But Ino indeed was there lounging in the bath, looking pretty as ever. The resulting conversation was fun, but not overly informative. Ino was trying to find a way to explain away the poison, but he wasn't sure how convincing he would be in the end. He couldn't really imagine Ino wanting to rule hell but who knew the whim of envy? Maybe it was something else? Still, something didn't sit right. He couldn't really imagine anyone here trying something like this. Was this a set up?
Valramir started to follow Ino out of the bath but then stopped. He was already wet from the humidity of the bath and feeling icky. Might as well bathe. He pulled his clothes off and tossed them into a corner before he got into the warm water and quickly started to wash himself off. He wasn't one for long drawn-out baths so he was done relatively quickly. He grabbed a towel to dry off a little, feeling a bit refreshed in the air now since the water itself had been hotter. He wrapped a towel around his waist and headed for the door, too lazy to pick up the clothes he'd discarded moments before. Water droplets still kissed his skin and dripped occasionally from his mused hair, giving him a disheveled sexy look though it wasn't exactly intentional. His belly ring sparkled with the water, bringing attention to it now that it was visible without an overly large shirt covering it up.
As he came out of the room, however, someone was waiting for him.
Viv had abandoned Myut’s side and was probably for the best. Myut did okay one-on-one with people, but once it was back into the masses, it made him a little less comfortable to be so sociable. He seemed to be slowly warming up to individuals okay, though. Speaking of which, he had a bone to pick with Val. He did not see the little sloth, however, and soon surmised he was behind their mystery door. Ino had said something about a bath - to which Meu was very excited to hear about - but far be it from him to intend to share that space with anyone else at any given time. The more he could do to avoid people, the better. Especially when it came to his privacy. So, he opted to kind of just hang out by the door to the sloth's room, keeping an eye on things here and there while he waited.
When he heard the closed door open and saw Val appear clad only in a towel, Myut pounced before he could think it too far through. Seeing Valramir only reminded him of the anger from last night about the sneaky demon snooping about in his room - Meu swore he had been sticking his nose into his stuff - so he forgot about the implications of approaching the far-too-friendly demon. So, the greed demon strode over to block Val's path, crossing his arms as he stopped in front of the other white-haired male.
Val blinked at Myut, a bit surprised the other demon was in his way. He offered a bright smile and wave. "Heya," he called even as he started to make his way past him to continue towards his room.
"Oh no you don't," Meu grumbled, grabbing the pale demon's arm with a gentle but very firm grip. He turned him back around and stepped him backwards against the wall. "Not so fast." He leveled at the other in a neutral tone, suddenly squinting his eyes ever so slightly and looking down at the male. Val had had every intention of getting to his room and was a little surprised when Myut suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled him back and up against a wall. He blinked at the other demon. He'd thought Myut had been uninterested in a physical encounter. His aura immediately pulsed outward in a defensive gesture to slow any aggression that me heading his way.
"You and me; last night." Meu spoke accusatorily as though those few words would explain all.
Val broke into a grin. He knew, of course, exactly wat Meu was talking about. He’d hoped he wouldn’t remember it at all, but it seemed that was not the case. He was like a rabid dog after a bone. But, he didn’t like to answer too directly so he would deflect. And by the hairy ass of the lord of hell, Meu made it easy. "Oh my, Meu," he said, nearly sing-song like, "Have a... steamy dream, did we? Of course I'd be happy to consent in our wakened state. It is kinda hot and kinky against the wall." He reached over to rub the man's chest and playfully tug on his shirt. "You want to relieve me of my towel, or shall I?"
Val certainly managed to curb the irritation that Myut had previously been feeling, which left only one feeling remaining - confusion. Val grinned seductively, talking at him with that sing-song voice he had remembered from last night too. No way was Myut wrong about this, despite Val trying to play it off as some dream. This had been a mistake though. "Wait, what? I-" He dropped Val's arm as he babbled, a bit of redness rising to his cheeks as suddenly the other demon had his hands all over his chest, tugging at the shirt he wore. He couldn't help but stare down at the smaller hands. Hot... and kinky? Meu didn't have any time to process as in the next breath Val was suggesting some rather naughty things regarding his towel. Meu was scared for a moment that the other's hands were already dropping to where the cloth was tied around his waist, so Mew made quick to beat him to it. The greed demon's larger hand immediately dropped to Val's right side where the tie of his towel was. His fingers slid against still-damp, warm skin as he moved to ensure that the knot would stay right where it was, and that Valramir could not try to undo it. "No, I'm-" He semi-stammered, fighting off the heat as he desperately tried to explain himself, that he had no such intentions, but he should have known better, getting mixed up with this particular sloth demon. Myut suddenly cut himself off, regaining his composure as a thought popped into his head. "You sneaky devil," He suddenly accused with a self-assured grin, "Don't try to wriggle your way out of explaining what you were doing in my things last night. Don't think I'd forget so easily."
Valramir's eyes sparkled in mirth and excitement when Myut suddenly grasped his towel. He really had thought Meu was shy and wouldn't want to do anything like this public. But alas, the man back pedaled, even with his warm hand on his hip and dangerously close. Damn, he was as sharp as a whip too. "I had to try and you gave me an opportunity I couldn't pass up," he admitted and wrapped his arms around the greed demon's neck to lean back against the wall and transfer some of his weight to Myut. It was too much fun to tease him and he was damn adorable. "Fiiinneee you tease. Ruined it," he said with a pout and stuck his tongue out at him, revealing the shiny ring there once more. "I was curious. I wanted to see what kind of horde you collected." It was mostly true. He'd wanted to see what everyone had brought and it seemed a good thing too, considering the new accusations. "But relax. I didn't take anything. You're welcome to check my person and my things for your items." he answered.
As Val's hands secured themselves behind his neck and the sloth pulled Meu down so he could lean back against the wall, Meu humored him, allowing himself to be tugged forward. To catch himself and better support the position, the green-eyed demon angled his other hand against the wall, palm resting against the smooth surface as he looked down at Val while he whined about Meu ruining his plans. His other hand was still clutching the man's hip, to which he withdrew with a teasing scratch of his nails against the other's skin. Valramir in the meantime was sticking his tongue out, and the greed's eyes focused together to home in on the familiar piece of metal that adorned it. He was only half-listening to Val there for a moment. But when Valramir explained he had been interested in what he had on him, Myut only gave a light scoff and a small, disbelieving press of his lips. "All you had to do was ask~," He mumbled, lifting a hand to grasp the sloth's jaw and abruptly turn the other's head a little, as though analyzing his features very interestedly. "Why so naughty?" He smirked at Val. He did not allow his touch there to last long, however, as he suddenly abandoned it to pinch his finger over one of the sloth's earlobes, tugging down on it like he was chastising a child. He hoped it would have the other releasing his grip, at least a little. Regardless, Myut suddenly straightened without too much trouble. "No need," He began; while he was interested to see what Val had in turn, Myut figured it would be a bit too much trouble to deal with him. If he disappeared into the depths of Vir's room, he didn't think Val would let him go anytime soon unless he was physical with him. "I don't think you're hiding anything of mine there," He tilted his chin down to motion towards the towel Val wore, "And I can look through my things to see if anything's missing. If I am, though, you'll be seeing me again shortly."
Val hummed lightly, approving of the attention, even the ear tug. How could he so easily give green lights and flirt like this and then suddenly flee and be skittish? He should just pick one. "I like being naughty" he grinned "And oh so sad that you are trying to get away again after you have me so compromised!" And then Myut straightened himself and pulled Val up with him. He took the opportunity to press against him. "See?"
With Val pressed against him all of a sudden, Myut could feel whatever damp was still left over begin to transfer into his clothes as little pools of quickly-cooling warmth. "Mm. You're wet." He whispered into the other's ear with a coyly suggestive tone, still appreciating the closeness even if the advances weren't necessarily welcome. He didn't like the idea of Val transferring over his wetness onto his nice and dry clothes, but what could he say, Myut appreciated pretty things. Speaking of which, hadn't he seen a belly-button ring as well? He resisted the urge to look straight down, lest it encourage the lusty sloth even further. So instead, he just stared straight ahead at the wall. "Unfortunately, my things call. So." He spoke in a sort of flat manner, leaving no guesses as to how unfortunate 'unfortunate' really was. He lifted his own hands to begin to press against Val's interlocked fingers, intending to work at getting them to release.
Val chuckled against him, enjoying the closeness and the feel of the man. He was sad playtime was over. But in the end, he'd gotten Meu to stop questioning his motives. And he got to tease the sexy demon. He debated whether he should do his famous weight drop like he'd done to the guards and make Meu fall with him, drag him or struggle with an unmoving sloth demon but he'd done that once to Meu and the results hadn't been fun. Besides, he didn't want to scare him away when things were only just starting. "Booo," he pouted and let him release his hands. "I am right next door if you ever want to play, or just snuggle," [color=2F4F4F] he answered. He took advantage of their closeness then and stole a kiss from Meu's lips before he darted away, his towel nearly falling in the process. He wanted to be out of reach in case the other demon wanted to retaliate. He cackled in his carefree tease and gave Myu a wink before he got into his room.
It seemed he had been a little too lenient with the sloth demon, as while he was prying his hands off, Valramir suddenly swooped in for a little smooch while Myut was preoccupied. His eyes shot wide open with surprise, and his body instinctively reached out a hand to try to grab the form that was quickly dancing away, intending to scold the sly little devil. It was for the best that he only grasped air, though, as Val was already out of reach and calling back out to him about being only a door away to promise a good time.[/color] "Naughty indeed." He mumbled under his breath as he squinted after Valramir's retreating form, running a finger over his lip from the stolen kiss. How brazen. And snuggles? No thanks. He slept better alone. At least that was over and done with. He needed to go confer with his things now though, lest he need to keep his promise and go hunt down the boy again. If Valramir turned out to be lying, Myut would not be so carefree and humoring anymore.
Valramir peeked out of his room to see if Myut was charging after him and saw that the other demon was not following. He chuckled and shook his head. That was quite fun. He finished drying off then and pulled on a nicer, fitted black shirt and pants with silver trimmings. It was wrinkled, but few of his clothes ever were pressed. He was too lazy to put that much effort in clothes. Dressed once more, he returned to the main room to flop down on the couch with a stretch and yawn, curious what the others would do now that they had the accusations hanging over their head.
Once everyone was gathered, aw, Bezzy was in Vivian's arms, the guard began to speak and let them know why exactly they'd all ben brought into this little cubbyhole in the wall. Valramir's eyes widened slightly before he schooled his features again. An assassination plot against Abadeer? They were all considered suspects? Valramir couldn't help but feel tickled at the thought and he smirked, almost bursting out into laughter right then and there. Him? A suspect in an assassination's attempt? He was a sloth. Since when did sloths do anything that planned out and elaborate? And what could he possibly gain from killing Abadeer? He certainly didn't want to rule hell. That was way too much work and responsibility. He enjoyed his cozy life. His history showed he couldn't hold onto a territory for long.
Then again... he did have a pension of getting back at demons, and scheming. It had taken some time, but once he'd been driven out of his mother's territory by Lovain, he'd worked with Eris to get the territory back. He'd sabotaged all the guards and Lovain’s soldiers so that when Eris came, no one stood against her. Now Eris had her own territory and his mother's vast lands under her belt. Of course, Valramir had the bonus of being back within his old home doing whatever he pleased while Eris dealt with the actual duty of running the household and dealing with other demons vying for control. It was a win-win. Perhaps this had received attention from the prince. Considering recent events in relation to this bit of his past, it wouldn't be surprising if Valramir tried the same thing again for Eris or another demon. His coup had been thought out, planned, and had taken a lot of time since he'd planted seeds in the minds of the guards and soldiers, working them, slowly. It had taken several days… or maybe a couple of weeks; before he'd gotten that many demons under his prolonged influence. It wouldn't have been effective if he had just tried to blast everyone with the aura; some demons had a strong will and could get out of influence easily. No, small seeds to turn the mind were far more effective. Regardless, what he'd done here was nothing compared to that. This had been purely fun. And feeding. He always did need to feed since he expelled so much energy at all times of the day.
Valramir turned his observations away from himself and looked at the other demons in the room as their sin and actions at the galla were announced one by one. Interesting notes. Ino had poison? What did he have poison for? That was a hefty accusation as well. His eyes narrowed as he watched his face, but the demon had a glamour on his features. He barely noted a change of expression on his pretty face. Smart. Cyr was a lust demon? That was interesting. He would have pegged him as a greed or pride demon. He certainly didn't look like a normal lust demon. And the cursed artifact he'd seen that night came up into question as well. The demon looked genuinely surprised by the information. How had he not known that he had a cursed item? The energy of it was off.
Meu was seen bribing guards and in a restricted area? That was hardly an assassination's plot. He smirked at the indignation Meu displayed at the accusation. He didn't deny being in a restricted area but of course disputed 'bribing'. He didn't doubt they were trades. He hadn't even known Meu before but when he'd come to him, it had been purely about trading one thing for another. He couldn't see him bribing anyone for anything without something hefty in return. Eris had been caught setting things on fire which was hardly new. She'd had a target in mind alright, but it wasn't the prince. If she had been after the prince, she would have come to him no doubt to help her. Eris was a firecracker, but she wasn't stupid. She would have planned things far better than this. And the two of them were as thick as thieves in these sorts of matters since they'd already worked together. Or at least that is what he assumed. She would tell him and include her in her plot.
Bez had simply associated with them all which again, didn't feel like much to go off of. Bez was a social butterfly. She talked to and interacted with everyone at the gala. He didn't doubt she literally talked to every single demon that was here. Why had Abadeer included her in this mess? Vivian being in a restricted area wasn't too alarming, but he didn't know her well enough to make any sort of assumptions just yet. Thus far, the biggest and more narrowly focused accusations were against Ino, Cyr, and himself.
Within his initial thoughts recorded, he was content to sit back and watch how the others interacted with the guard and the accusations. He let his eyes follow Vivian, Meu, and Cyr when Cyr asked for help identifying the cursed object. Hmm. He looked genuinely scared and disturbed at the idea. Who had given him a cursed object? Had the real culprit given it to him in the hopes that he'd pass it to the prince? That seemed sketchy. Maybe Cyr was a good actor? Only time would tell. He turned his gaze back to the others as they began to confront the guard.
Valramir felt Eris and Bez getting angry and used his influence to try and keep things mostly civil. He didn’t think getting into a blood bath would help any of them in the long run. Besides, he wanted to hear what the guard would say. Bez made some good points, and he added a few points of his own. After a moment, Valramir realized that Ino was missing from the gathering. He'd seen him go off into the new room, but he had yet to emerge. What was he up to? Plotting? Curiosity got the better of him and he slowly picked himself up and entered the new bathing chamber. Ugh. Hot and humid. He hated muggy baths. But Ino indeed was there lounging in the bath, looking pretty as ever. The resulting conversation was fun, but not overly informative. Ino was trying to find a way to explain away the poison, but he wasn't sure how convincing he would be in the end. He couldn't really imagine Ino wanting to rule hell but who knew the whim of envy? Maybe it was something else? Still, something didn't sit right. He couldn't really imagine anyone here trying something like this. Was this a set up?
Valramir started to follow Ino out of the bath but then stopped. He was already wet from the humidity of the bath and feeling icky. Might as well bathe. He pulled his clothes off and tossed them into a corner before he got into the warm water and quickly started to wash himself off. He wasn't one for long drawn-out baths so he was done relatively quickly. He grabbed a towel to dry off a little, feeling a bit refreshed in the air now since the water itself had been hotter. He wrapped a towel around his waist and headed for the door, too lazy to pick up the clothes he'd discarded moments before. Water droplets still kissed his skin and dripped occasionally from his mused hair, giving him a disheveled sexy look though it wasn't exactly intentional. His belly ring sparkled with the water, bringing attention to it now that it was visible without an overly large shirt covering it up.
As he came out of the room, however, someone was waiting for him.
Viv had abandoned Myut’s side and was probably for the best. Myut did okay one-on-one with people, but once it was back into the masses, it made him a little less comfortable to be so sociable. He seemed to be slowly warming up to individuals okay, though. Speaking of which, he had a bone to pick with Val. He did not see the little sloth, however, and soon surmised he was behind their mystery door. Ino had said something about a bath - to which Meu was very excited to hear about - but far be it from him to intend to share that space with anyone else at any given time. The more he could do to avoid people, the better. Especially when it came to his privacy. So, he opted to kind of just hang out by the door to the sloth's room, keeping an eye on things here and there while he waited.
When he heard the closed door open and saw Val appear clad only in a towel, Myut pounced before he could think it too far through. Seeing Valramir only reminded him of the anger from last night about the sneaky demon snooping about in his room - Meu swore he had been sticking his nose into his stuff - so he forgot about the implications of approaching the far-too-friendly demon. So, the greed demon strode over to block Val's path, crossing his arms as he stopped in front of the other white-haired male.
Val blinked at Myut, a bit surprised the other demon was in his way. He offered a bright smile and wave. "Heya," he called even as he started to make his way past him to continue towards his room.
"Oh no you don't," Meu grumbled, grabbing the pale demon's arm with a gentle but very firm grip. He turned him back around and stepped him backwards against the wall. "Not so fast." He leveled at the other in a neutral tone, suddenly squinting his eyes ever so slightly and looking down at the male. Val had had every intention of getting to his room and was a little surprised when Myut suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled him back and up against a wall. He blinked at the other demon. He'd thought Myut had been uninterested in a physical encounter. His aura immediately pulsed outward in a defensive gesture to slow any aggression that me heading his way.
"You and me; last night." Meu spoke accusatorily as though those few words would explain all.
Val broke into a grin. He knew, of course, exactly wat Meu was talking about. He’d hoped he wouldn’t remember it at all, but it seemed that was not the case. He was like a rabid dog after a bone. But, he didn’t like to answer too directly so he would deflect. And by the hairy ass of the lord of hell, Meu made it easy. "Oh my, Meu," he said, nearly sing-song like, "Have a... steamy dream, did we? Of course I'd be happy to consent in our wakened state. It is kinda hot and kinky against the wall." He reached over to rub the man's chest and playfully tug on his shirt. "You want to relieve me of my towel, or shall I?"
Val certainly managed to curb the irritation that Myut had previously been feeling, which left only one feeling remaining - confusion. Val grinned seductively, talking at him with that sing-song voice he had remembered from last night too. No way was Myut wrong about this, despite Val trying to play it off as some dream. This had been a mistake though. "Wait, what? I-" He dropped Val's arm as he babbled, a bit of redness rising to his cheeks as suddenly the other demon had his hands all over his chest, tugging at the shirt he wore. He couldn't help but stare down at the smaller hands. Hot... and kinky? Meu didn't have any time to process as in the next breath Val was suggesting some rather naughty things regarding his towel. Meu was scared for a moment that the other's hands were already dropping to where the cloth was tied around his waist, so Mew made quick to beat him to it. The greed demon's larger hand immediately dropped to Val's right side where the tie of his towel was. His fingers slid against still-damp, warm skin as he moved to ensure that the knot would stay right where it was, and that Valramir could not try to undo it. "No, I'm-" He semi-stammered, fighting off the heat as he desperately tried to explain himself, that he had no such intentions, but he should have known better, getting mixed up with this particular sloth demon. Myut suddenly cut himself off, regaining his composure as a thought popped into his head. "You sneaky devil," He suddenly accused with a self-assured grin, "Don't try to wriggle your way out of explaining what you were doing in my things last night. Don't think I'd forget so easily."
Valramir's eyes sparkled in mirth and excitement when Myut suddenly grasped his towel. He really had thought Meu was shy and wouldn't want to do anything like this public. But alas, the man back pedaled, even with his warm hand on his hip and dangerously close. Damn, he was as sharp as a whip too. "I had to try and you gave me an opportunity I couldn't pass up," he admitted and wrapped his arms around the greed demon's neck to lean back against the wall and transfer some of his weight to Myut. It was too much fun to tease him and he was damn adorable. "Fiiinneee you tease. Ruined it," he said with a pout and stuck his tongue out at him, revealing the shiny ring there once more. "I was curious. I wanted to see what kind of horde you collected." It was mostly true. He'd wanted to see what everyone had brought and it seemed a good thing too, considering the new accusations. "But relax. I didn't take anything. You're welcome to check my person and my things for your items." he answered.
As Val's hands secured themselves behind his neck and the sloth pulled Meu down so he could lean back against the wall, Meu humored him, allowing himself to be tugged forward. To catch himself and better support the position, the green-eyed demon angled his other hand against the wall, palm resting against the smooth surface as he looked down at Val while he whined about Meu ruining his plans. His other hand was still clutching the man's hip, to which he withdrew with a teasing scratch of his nails against the other's skin. Valramir in the meantime was sticking his tongue out, and the greed's eyes focused together to home in on the familiar piece of metal that adorned it. He was only half-listening to Val there for a moment. But when Valramir explained he had been interested in what he had on him, Myut only gave a light scoff and a small, disbelieving press of his lips. "All you had to do was ask~," He mumbled, lifting a hand to grasp the sloth's jaw and abruptly turn the other's head a little, as though analyzing his features very interestedly. "Why so naughty?" He smirked at Val. He did not allow his touch there to last long, however, as he suddenly abandoned it to pinch his finger over one of the sloth's earlobes, tugging down on it like he was chastising a child. He hoped it would have the other releasing his grip, at least a little. Regardless, Myut suddenly straightened without too much trouble. "No need," He began; while he was interested to see what Val had in turn, Myut figured it would be a bit too much trouble to deal with him. If he disappeared into the depths of Vir's room, he didn't think Val would let him go anytime soon unless he was physical with him. "I don't think you're hiding anything of mine there," He tilted his chin down to motion towards the towel Val wore, "And I can look through my things to see if anything's missing. If I am, though, you'll be seeing me again shortly."
Val hummed lightly, approving of the attention, even the ear tug. How could he so easily give green lights and flirt like this and then suddenly flee and be skittish? He should just pick one. "I like being naughty" he grinned "And oh so sad that you are trying to get away again after you have me so compromised!" And then Myut straightened himself and pulled Val up with him. He took the opportunity to press against him. "See?"
With Val pressed against him all of a sudden, Myut could feel whatever damp was still left over begin to transfer into his clothes as little pools of quickly-cooling warmth. "Mm. You're wet." He whispered into the other's ear with a coyly suggestive tone, still appreciating the closeness even if the advances weren't necessarily welcome. He didn't like the idea of Val transferring over his wetness onto his nice and dry clothes, but what could he say, Myut appreciated pretty things. Speaking of which, hadn't he seen a belly-button ring as well? He resisted the urge to look straight down, lest it encourage the lusty sloth even further. So instead, he just stared straight ahead at the wall. "Unfortunately, my things call. So." He spoke in a sort of flat manner, leaving no guesses as to how unfortunate 'unfortunate' really was. He lifted his own hands to begin to press against Val's interlocked fingers, intending to work at getting them to release.
Val chuckled against him, enjoying the closeness and the feel of the man. He was sad playtime was over. But in the end, he'd gotten Meu to stop questioning his motives. And he got to tease the sexy demon. He debated whether he should do his famous weight drop like he'd done to the guards and make Meu fall with him, drag him or struggle with an unmoving sloth demon but he'd done that once to Meu and the results hadn't been fun. Besides, he didn't want to scare him away when things were only just starting. "Booo," he pouted and let him release his hands. "I am right next door if you ever want to play, or just snuggle," [color=2F4F4F] he answered. He took advantage of their closeness then and stole a kiss from Meu's lips before he darted away, his towel nearly falling in the process. He wanted to be out of reach in case the other demon wanted to retaliate. He cackled in his carefree tease and gave Myu a wink before he got into his room.
It seemed he had been a little too lenient with the sloth demon, as while he was prying his hands off, Valramir suddenly swooped in for a little smooch while Myut was preoccupied. His eyes shot wide open with surprise, and his body instinctively reached out a hand to try to grab the form that was quickly dancing away, intending to scold the sly little devil. It was for the best that he only grasped air, though, as Val was already out of reach and calling back out to him about being only a door away to promise a good time.[/color] "Naughty indeed." He mumbled under his breath as he squinted after Valramir's retreating form, running a finger over his lip from the stolen kiss. How brazen. And snuggles? No thanks. He slept better alone. At least that was over and done with. He needed to go confer with his things now though, lest he need to keep his promise and go hunt down the boy again. If Valramir turned out to be lying, Myut would not be so carefree and humoring anymore.
Valramir peeked out of his room to see if Myut was charging after him and saw that the other demon was not following. He chuckled and shook his head. That was quite fun. He finished drying off then and pulled on a nicer, fitted black shirt and pants with silver trimmings. It was wrinkled, but few of his clothes ever were pressed. He was too lazy to put that much effort in clothes. Dressed once more, he returned to the main room to flop down on the couch with a stretch and yawn, curious what the others would do now that they had the accusations hanging over their head.
【"Once you've been chosen, you can't leave."】
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Cyr blinked twice as he was met with the altercation in the main room.His worries slithered to the back of his mind as he watched Bez slowly advancing on the guard. The tilt of her jaw and the cant of her spine told him that she was harassing the poor demon. Behind her, the little angry one was slowly coiling up. He could only vaguely make out what they were saying, but not because their volume was lacking--his brain was still working hard to try and catch up to real life.
Suddenly, the little one vaulted onto the table and raced across, her bare feet slapping against the wood, and she leapt onto the guard, arms akimbo. For a moment, Cyr thought Bez was calling out for him, but no, she was yelling Viv’s name as the guard flung the girl from him. She rolled across the ground before hopping back to her feet. Cyr looked back towards the guard, tensing in case he decided to retaliate, but he was already being pulled backwards through the wall. Cyr blinked and looked around. What in Hell?
He watched as Viv hurried over to check on Bez, and Ino popped into the room to announce that they now had a bathtub. Bez retreated into her room. After a beat, Cyr crossed the room. He had his own worries, sure, but he still wanted to make sure his friend was alright.
“Quite the altercation, huh?” he said, leaning on her doorframe.
“Hm? Oh,” she replied, her hair dancing around her as she shook her head. "Not as bad as it could have been. After all, even irritating guards have their uses.”
Cyr chuckled. "You sure talked his head in circles. Did you get anything interesting out of it?"
"Bits and pieces. Not much that was certain." She looked away, out the window.
"Well...I'm going to go sit in the bath for a while, if you're looking for company, that's where I'll be." He glanced back at her once before heading off. Val darted out from the hall, crossing into his own room. Shortly after, Myut appeared, the front of his shirt damp, sticking to his chest. Cyr raised his eyebrows slightly.
“Had fun in the bath?” he teased in a low voice as he passed him, but he didn’t linger to chat. Myut knew about the necklace, and he didn’t really want to face that reality yet. As much as he liked Myut, he didn’t need to go peeling back his own vulnerabilities to him like that. Not right now. Maybe not ever. Since they probably wouldn’t see each other again after all this. Myut would be for fun and playfulness and teasing. No worries. A pleasant distraction. Right?
When he entered the large room, Eris was already in there, flitting from window to window. She ignored him, and he ignored her, slowly undressing, grabbing a towel, and stepping into the warmed water. Bathtub was an understatement. This was a pool. Cyr paddled around the circumference a few times, but there was nowhere that the floor dipped low enough for him to swim properly. He stood under the waterfall for a few minutes, enjoying the tumbling water against his back, before paddling back over to the closest wall. He was about to climb out and investigate the shelves of soaps and tinctures against the wall when Bez arrived, surveying the vast pool.
"Oh!” She exclaimed, her voice competing with the rushing water. “This is much more than I expected. The guard said it was for good behavior, hmm? I'd bet he's regretting letting me in here, then." Her laugh echoed against the tiles.
Cyr waded over, resting his arms on the edge of the pool. "I'm hoping they don't decide to take it back and replace it with a kiddie pool or something."
He laughed when she teased him about being too big to even fit in a kiddie pool, and then she casually undressed. Neither of them seemed particularly concerned about her modesty. Cyr pointed out the shelves of soaps, and she grabbed a few before slipping into the water beside him.
She asked about the necklace. Cyr grimaced. Better to get that out of the way early, right? He settled down beside her and sighed.
"We did," he said, his expression turning solemn. "My...ah....betrothal necklace is apparently carrying a mutation curse?"
She looked sharply at him. "Mutation? What kind of mutation?"
Cyr shook his head. “No idea. They said it was pretty serious, though.”
She asked if they learned anything else about it and he shrugged, telling her that once he put it on he wouldn’t be able to get it back off. "So I guess I'm glad this happened? Otherwise I'd probably be in some pretty deep shit right now,” he added with a heavy sigh.
Bez’s voice turned speculative as she asked more questions, about his betrothed, about his parents.
“My parents gave me the necklace,” he replied. “They said it was from my betrothed. I don’t even know the demon’s name.” Cyr rubbed his face with a wet hand, plastering his damp hair to his forehead. “Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if there wasn’t any other demon, and they just wanted to get rid of me.”
“Did you sign any kind of contract?” She asked after a beat. “Or even see it?”
“That was supposed to be today,” Cyr murmured, looking at his hands. “My parents said they were working it out.”
"Then you're right, and there's no proof either way." They sat in silence, side-by-side, for a while. Bez eventually spoke again, her voice softer against the chuckle of the water. "I don't understand. You were really just going to go through with it? Why, Cyr?" When he glanced at her, she was gazing at him with an inscrutable, pained expression, but she looked away as their eyes met.
"It's...I...what choice did I have?” He replied, softly studying her profile. “I doubt my parents would be willing to let me lead an untethered life indefinitely."
She didn’t look back in his direction. "Well, I hope you don't plan to continue giving your parents final say over what you do with your life. Or anyone else, for that matter. You aren't a child."
Cyr frowned, even though she wasn’t looking at him. "You know I don't have the strength to take my own territory. And I'm not spending the rest of my life up on earth." He looked away, studying the rippling surface of the water again as his voice dropped. "And maybe I was hoping it might work out..." Saying it out loud, to Bez, made him feel a little ashamed. What a fool he was, wasn’t he?
"Well, I'd trust your judgment more than theirs." He could feel her eyes on him again, and when he turned to look at her again, she grinned. "Sometimes."
He smiled a little and they both relaxed against the tiled wall of the pool. She sank lower into the water and he stretched his arm along the lip behind them. They chatted quietly, speculating about their current predicament as Bez’s petite frame slowly drifted towards his chest. As her chin dipped closer to the water, Cyr shifted to the side, letting her cheek settle against his chest instead. She seemed to hesitate for a moment, before shifting closer as well, her head against his shoulder now.
Cyr rested his cheek on the top of her head, closing his eyes. He could feel her heart and the steady warmth of her body. It comforted him. Bez was a sturdy, stable presence. Though it worried him that she seemed to shoulder so much burden on her own.
Cyr relaxed, timing his breath to hers. Since she was napping on him, it wasn’t like he could go anywhere until she woke up, after all. He would just have to rest until she did.
【"It's much easier to lose yourself in luxury."】
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【Her Room → The Bath】
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【#CD5c5c】
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【Her Room → The Bath】
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【#CD5c5c】
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Vivian checked in on Bez and Eris, and Bez assured her that everything was fine now that the guard was gone. When Vivian moved away, Bezabelle retreated to her room. There was no good reason to stay in the main room. She had no interest in answering questions. Not when she had too many of her own.
Bez grabbed Cyr's shirt and put it on, but went over to the window without bothering to button it. She stared at the scenery, her mind far away. The fear was rising again. They were trapped, and one of them would never escape. Her breaths were coming quicker, her thoughts swirling, then--
"That was quite the altercation, huh?"
Her expression flipped as she slammed down control again. She really needed to stop using her abilities so frequently, but…
"Hm? Oh," Bez shook her head and turned toward Cyr. "Not as bad as it could have been. After all, even irritating guards have their uses."
Cyr chuckled. "You sure talked his head in circles. Did you get anything interesting out of it?"
"Bits and pieces. Not much that was certain." She turned her head to look out the window again. The conversation had told her some things, but not what she wanted to know most. That still bothered her enough that she knew she couldn't hide it.
"Well...I'm going to go sit in the bath for a while, if you're looking for company, that's where I'll be."
Bezabelle nodded. He was gone by the time she looked back. Instead of sinking back into her thoughts, she roused herself to get dressed. She went into her bathroom to change out of her sleepwear, not closing the door. She couldn't close the door. She couldn't, it was too claustrophobic. Bezzie hurried through the process, getting ready for the day and out as fast as she could manage. It felt like it took much longer than it actually did, but then it was fine. Now, she just needed time to relax, and a hot bath would be perfect.
Bezzie plastered on a smile and strolled into the main room. Vivian was there speaking with Ino, and as Bez passed, she couldn't resist pausing to plant a kiss on Viv's cheek as she leaned over the back of the couch.
"Be back in a while, my dear." When Viv turned her way, Bez stole another quick kiss, unable to resist the temptation of Vivian's lips. Bezzie gave Ino a wink and a smile, fingers trailing across Viv's shoulder as she left.
And now, it was time for the door. It had been locked yesterday, but now it opened to a hallway. The door at the end was cracked. Bez ignored it, trying the other doors first. She started on the side with three. Each was locked. Disappointing. The other two were the same. Why were they even there if they were just locked?
All for nothing. It annoyed her.
But, Bez thought, at least there's a bath now. As she entered, her mouth fell open in surprise. It was huge and grand. Nothing could have been farther from the tiny, barely functional bathrooms in their rooms. For the first time since she had been dragged in from the gala, Bez remembered that they were still in the Prince's palace. This was luxurious, and she felt herself relaxing into the extravagant surroundings. It already felt so much better than the rest of their bare bones prison suite. Bezabelle had never done well with scarcity, after all.
Her hand still on the doorknob, she let her eyes drift to Cyr, a smile growing on her lips. They were alone. Perfect. She shut the door behind her.
"Oh! This is much more than I expected." She let her eyes drift again, stopping momentarily on the impressive waterfall. "The guard said it was for good behavior, hmm? I'd bet he's regretting letting me in here, then." She laughed, the sound actually genuine. It echoed in the large room. She made her way over to the towels, laying one out to set her clothes on as she stripped out of her clothes. Or, more accurately, out of Cyr's clothes. Cyr joked that the guard may replace the large bath with a kiddie pool as he waded closer.
"I don't think you'd even fit into a kiddie pool."
Cyr laughed. "I do what I can with what I have. There are some really nice smelling bath potions over there too."
Bez looked in the indicated direction, giving off a small exclamation of delight. It didn't take long before she had several potions in hand. Too many for a single bathing session, of course, but she wasn't going to put anything back. Acquisitions in hand she took her time, using all the products she wanted and relaxing into the bath.
When she was content, she asked, "So, were you able to figure out what the guard was talking about, yourself? Do you really have something cursed?"
His expression went still as he sat beside her."We did, my...ah....betrothal necklace is apparently carrying a mutation curse?"
She stiffened, recalling their earlier conversation about Cyr's new contract. Or, rather, his parents' contract on his behalf. Anger tightened her features. Before she could think about managing her tone, she snapped, "Mutation? What kind of mutation?"
She inwardly winced at how harsh she had sounded, but she didn't feel she could help it.
"No idea. They said it was pretty serious though."
"A mutation..." She worked on getting some kind of control over the cold fury in her gut. It was working, kind of, and Bez was able to exert more control over her voice. "Did they figure anything else out? Like what would trigger it?"
"Apparently when I put it on, I wouldn't be able to take it back off," An uncomfortable pause. Bez stared straight ahead, thoughts whirling as he continued. "So I guess I'm glad this happened? Otherwise I'd probably be in some pretty deep shit right now."
The whole situation made her angry, and Cyr's explanation only made it worse. More serious and less forgivable. Still, it would be better if they could figure it out, determine what kind of situation Cyr may be walking into when he got out of here.
"There's that, at least. It sounds more and more like some sort of control. Something to keep you out of the way or..." Bez shook her head, unsure of how to express her thoughts. "And you don't know who the demon is? Do your parents? And do you have any idea whether your parents knew about the necklace? Did they drop any hints at all?"
"My parents gave me the necklace and said it was from my betrothed. I don't even know the demon's name." His laugh was humorless, harsh. "I wouldn't even be surprised if there was no other demon, and they just wanted to get rid of me."
Bez paused, trying to get a handle on the situation. "Did you sign any kind of contract? Or even see it?"
"That was supposed to be today. My parents said they'd already worked something out."
"Then you're right, and there's no proof either way."
Bez knelt on the underwater ledge by Cyr, staring at the water as though it might have more answers. There was so much about the situation that Cyr just didn't seem to know. The whole of his understanding seemed to be that there was some contract his parents had set up with some demon. Was that really it? And even worse, how had he just accepted that?
Bez managed to keep a neutral expression as she thought. Then it broke. "I don't understand. You were really just going to go through with it? Why, Cyr?" She looked at him, unable to hide the hurt look. How could he just let this happen? She jerked her head away, breaking eye contact.
"It's...I...what choice did I have? I doubt my parents would be willing to let me lead an untethered life indefinitely."
Bez's tone turned very controlled, but other than a quick glance, she couldn't manage to look at him, "Well, I hope you don't plan to continue giving your parents final say over what you do with your life. Or anyone else, for that matter. You aren't a child."
He gave his excuses, but she barely listened. She didn't want to listen. She took a deep breath, instead. She had once envied him. His situation seemed so much different than hers had been. But now…
Bezzie forced herself to relax again. Thankfully, their surroundings made it easy.
"Well, I'd trust your judgment more than theirs."
She let herself really look at him for the first time since the conversation had started. After all, they were in the baths alone together. Bez's eyes drifted over his form with lust for just a moment before she sighed and looked away. Ideally, she would have preferred to take full advantage of the situation, though she knew Cyr was too pig-headed for that. He'd always rejected her advances, a fact that irked her to no end.
She let her frustration show in just one word, "Sometimes."
Bez forced herself to move away from the train of thought with a sigh, sinking down to sit in the bath, the water lapping at her chin. "Well, nothing we can do about it in here. Speaking of 'in here,' what do you think about all this?"
"Honestly? I think I'm still passed out drunk at that table where you left me. This is a fever dream or something." He slid an arm around her, and she couldn't help but lean into the touch, wanting more. She could feel his eyes on her as Cyr asked, "How are you holding up?"
Bez snorted a laugh at his question. She looked up at him. "Haven't you already asked that?"
"I did, but I didn't believe your answer."
Bez watched him with a raised eyebrow. He was being so serious, it was almost amusing. Almost. "Better now that I can have a bath. I don't know what else you want to hear from me and I don't think it'll be much different from what anyone else would say. I don't like being trapped in here. And I don't think it's just about the supposed assassination attempt," she answered wryly.
"I agree. Something's going on. You out of all of us are the least suspicious person here. I think this is a front for him to get rid of someone here, no matter what any of the rest of us do."
Bezabelle went cold despite the warmth of the bath. It took her a moment but she covered as if she hadn't paused. "The guard wasn't sure that the orders had come directly from the Prince. The whole 'figure out who did it' idea at least. I don't know how to approach that. Is there even any point in doing what they want us to do?"
Bez watched as he chewed his lip, deep in thought. Her own thoughts were slowing to a crawl already. She didn't function well without sleep. He finally spoke, "What a mess. But no matter what, I'm on your side. I'll protect you."
The warmth was starting to force her to relax, despite everything else. She leaned into Cyr, enjoying the feeling of his body against hers. "But why? Why would you want to?"
"You're important to me. I don't have a lot of friends as good as you. And you're smart. If anyone doesn't deserve to be here, it's you."
Her words were softer now too. "Well, only one of us supposedly deserves to be here, and I know that's not you either. It might not be any of us." She sighed, not completely convinced. Bez had a bad feeling about the whole situation. As much as she hoped it would not turn out as horribly as she thought, she knew that hope was probably foolish.
"Well, maybe we should just enjoy our week-long vacation, then?" Now the playfulness returned to Cyr's voice, though he sounded as tired as she felt.
She'd only just relaxed, but her eyes felt so heavy. "Oh? No. We won't give in... that easy. Will we?" Her entire head was growing heavier, for some reason. Despite her words, it was becoming so easy just to give in.
"Of course not," he replied.
She straightened as Cyr moved closer, trying to fight off drowsiness, but the appeal of his closeness was too much. She let her head drift back to his shoulder, snuggling closer to make the position comfortable.
"And you won't give in either? Will you?"
Despite sounding slightly more awake, she didn't last long enough to hear his full reply. Or if he made one at all.
【Mission: MASSIVE SUCCESS】
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【Living Dangerously】
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【Living Dangerously】
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When the large demon showed up in the baths, Eris pretended not to notice him, continuing to check the windows, but she did make a hastier than usual exit. She had no desire to see any of her fellow prisoners naked. Not that this guy seemed to care. Right, he was a lust demon. Of course.
Back in the main room, she scanned the area, looking for something useful to do. Of course, she’d already tried her own window, but perhaps one of these windows, just one, would come open if she used enough force on it. So she clambered up onto the sill and balanced there, bent in half, with her fingers wedged under the sash. If she could just get the right angle, perhaps she could use herself as a counterweight and crack the damn thing open.
”I already tried that,” a voice sounded from behind her. ”It’s stuck tight, you might have more luck trying to punch the glass, but he’s definitely thought of that already.”
Startled, Eris nearly fell backwards, but managed to compose herself just enough to straighten and hop back down again. A low growl of frustration sounded in her throat as she straightened, stretching her back until a series of pops rattled up her spine. “I don’t want to break my fist.” She replied, “I need that fist for things.”
She stretched a bit more, glaring up at the large painting above the mantel. That damn prince and his smug face.
“Hey... “ she said, sizing the purple demon up. She didn’t usually hang around Envies, they were stupid and annoying, but this one could be useful for now. Anyway, she needed as many allies as she could get. “Help me get the painting down, yeah? We don’t need that bastard staring down at us all the time.”
The purple demon seemed to consider her suggestion, looking back and forth between her and the glowering figure above them. He brought up a valid point. They were both short. And even when he stretched up on his tip-toes, he was hardly effective at doing more than rattling the thing a little. This would require more effort than that. A true reconnaissance mission.
”Help me get up there,” she ordered, rolling her pant legs up above her knees and climbing back onto the window sill. She balanced on one foot, straining to reach the painting with her finger tips. Just like the Envy, she could only barely get the painting to bump against the wall. It was very well secured. But she was not so easily swayed.
“How strong are you?” she asked, eyeing Ino’s shoulder. If she could use him to step up onto the mantle, perhaps she could pull it down from there? It was only a thin ledge, but she’d done more with less before.
Ino knelt, lacing his fingers together. She’d just wanted to use him as a bridge and step across him to the mantel, but this worked too, right? And he was lucky she was too focused to pay more attention to his comment about her balance. “I can handle myself,” she said gruffly, hopping down and planting a foot onto his clasped hands. As he lifted her up, she gripped the mantel with her fingers, then reached out and grasped a corner of the painting. Once they were high enough, she tried to climb up onto the mantel, slowly shifting her balance from his hands to her other foot. The only trouble was that the mantle wasn’t wide enough for her to fully shift her weight, and the painting was not stable enough to hold her up either, as if Abadeer himself was trying to swat her off the precipice.
Nonetheless, Eris pressed forward, slowly lifting her foot from Ino’s grasp and promptly tumbling backwards with a loud squeal, one hand still holding the painting in a death grip, somewhat suspending her over the ground, both feet not quite on the mantle’s top. Lucky for her, Ino’s instinct was to grab her back with both hands, holding her up. His placement, however, was less than...less than ideal. Though she was too busy worrying about not landing on her head to yell about the hand on her ass quite yet. Instead, she just clung to the painting in a one-handed death grip while her other arm flailed wildly, unable to find a solid surface to save herself with.
A sound from across the room quickly dragged her attention away from her predicament, however. Despite the odd angle, she managed to turn her head to look at the new arrival to the party as he leaned awkwardly against the wall.
“You, come over here and help, tall boy. We’re trying to get this stupid painting off the wall.” She didn’t care what he had to say, or what Ino thought either. She just wanted to finish their mission. And it was lucky indeed that he’d shown up, because Ino’s elbows were starting to tremble, causing her to pitch and jiggle perilously above him. She gripped the painting tighter. Perhaps, if the greed demon didn’t move fast enough, it would still save her. Or maybe at least she could break it?
Thankfully, he did gingerly take over the brunt of her weight in quick order. Per his suggestion to release the painting, she slowly peeled one finger away at a time, reluctant to give up her only stable mooring. The larger demon shifted her in his grip, then just stood there for a moment, holding her like someone else’s toddler. She was about to tell him to either put her down or lift her up when he lowered her again. Right. From her previous vantage point she’d forgotten just how tall he was. Perhaps almost the perfect height.
He seemed to understand what she wanted, because without prompting, he lifted her up again, under the arms this time. Not the most comfortable grip, considering the length of his fingers and the shallow depth of her ribcage, but it was what needed to be done to get rid of the damn picture. She stretched out and managed to get a hand on either side of the portrait, but with her legs dangling free, she couldn’t get enough leverage to push up and unhook the massive piece off the wall. She squirmed hard, trying to hook a knee up onto the mantel ledge, and tenuously pushed herself up, managing to free the painting.
After a single moment, and a loud victory woop, Eris realized that she had miscalculated. The painting was, of course, almost as tall as she was. And while strong, her arms couldn’t handle the rotational force of gravity, and her yell of joy quickly turned into a different sort of shout as the painting of the prince tilted towards her uncontrollably.
eris curled up protectively, grimacing as Myut’s fingers dug into the soft meat above her hips. She tried to push it up as the larger demon shifted down, shielding her with his shoulder. Not that she needed protection. It was good to know that he was willing to put himself between her and danger, though. Good to know indeed.
Surprisingly, the painting stopped falling abruptly, balanced up on her fingers above their heads. Ino had caught the other side? She unfolded her legs, smiling widely. Perhaps these two weren’t as incompetent as she’d thought. Myut set her down, taking over holding the painting, and she darted off immediately. Time for phase two of the plan.
In short order she returned from her room, a messy satchel of paint and brushes in her arms. It was time for some good old fashioned defacement of property. The two boys were still by the fireplace, hand in hand, Ino still perched on the couch. Eris rolled her eyes. Weirdos.
“Come on, stop making moon-eyes at each other,” she called out, thunking her bag onto the table and crossed back over to haul the large painting up with a loud grunt. She unsteadily carried it over to the table, where the canvas was once again unceremoniously dumped. She hummed gleefully to herself as she spread out her supplies. If there was anything that could make this day better, it would be a little bit of art therapy, right?
Myut seemed eager to help, but Ino was a little more trepidatious. Eris scoffed, amused, at Ino’s unsure words. “Why not? He’s the one who locked us all in here with it, you can’t give a dog a bone and expect no chewing~”
She spread out her supplies before settling down in one of the chairs selecting a brush and squirting out a few globes of different coloured paint on the corner of the canvass. What started out as some moderately amusing defacements to the prince’s visage, however, quickly became full on finger painting with very little encouragement from the others. Now this? This was art.
Back in the main room, she scanned the area, looking for something useful to do. Of course, she’d already tried her own window, but perhaps one of these windows, just one, would come open if she used enough force on it. So she clambered up onto the sill and balanced there, bent in half, with her fingers wedged under the sash. If she could just get the right angle, perhaps she could use herself as a counterweight and crack the damn thing open.
”I already tried that,” a voice sounded from behind her. ”It’s stuck tight, you might have more luck trying to punch the glass, but he’s definitely thought of that already.”
Startled, Eris nearly fell backwards, but managed to compose herself just enough to straighten and hop back down again. A low growl of frustration sounded in her throat as she straightened, stretching her back until a series of pops rattled up her spine. “I don’t want to break my fist.” She replied, “I need that fist for things.”
She stretched a bit more, glaring up at the large painting above the mantel. That damn prince and his smug face.
“Hey... “ she said, sizing the purple demon up. She didn’t usually hang around Envies, they were stupid and annoying, but this one could be useful for now. Anyway, she needed as many allies as she could get. “Help me get the painting down, yeah? We don’t need that bastard staring down at us all the time.”
The purple demon seemed to consider her suggestion, looking back and forth between her and the glowering figure above them. He brought up a valid point. They were both short. And even when he stretched up on his tip-toes, he was hardly effective at doing more than rattling the thing a little. This would require more effort than that. A true reconnaissance mission.
”Help me get up there,” she ordered, rolling her pant legs up above her knees and climbing back onto the window sill. She balanced on one foot, straining to reach the painting with her finger tips. Just like the Envy, she could only barely get the painting to bump against the wall. It was very well secured. But she was not so easily swayed.
“How strong are you?” she asked, eyeing Ino’s shoulder. If she could use him to step up onto the mantle, perhaps she could pull it down from there? It was only a thin ledge, but she’d done more with less before.
Ino knelt, lacing his fingers together. She’d just wanted to use him as a bridge and step across him to the mantel, but this worked too, right? And he was lucky she was too focused to pay more attention to his comment about her balance. “I can handle myself,” she said gruffly, hopping down and planting a foot onto his clasped hands. As he lifted her up, she gripped the mantel with her fingers, then reached out and grasped a corner of the painting. Once they were high enough, she tried to climb up onto the mantel, slowly shifting her balance from his hands to her other foot. The only trouble was that the mantle wasn’t wide enough for her to fully shift her weight, and the painting was not stable enough to hold her up either, as if Abadeer himself was trying to swat her off the precipice.
Nonetheless, Eris pressed forward, slowly lifting her foot from Ino’s grasp and promptly tumbling backwards with a loud squeal, one hand still holding the painting in a death grip, somewhat suspending her over the ground, both feet not quite on the mantle’s top. Lucky for her, Ino’s instinct was to grab her back with both hands, holding her up. His placement, however, was less than...less than ideal. Though she was too busy worrying about not landing on her head to yell about the hand on her ass quite yet. Instead, she just clung to the painting in a one-handed death grip while her other arm flailed wildly, unable to find a solid surface to save herself with.
A sound from across the room quickly dragged her attention away from her predicament, however. Despite the odd angle, she managed to turn her head to look at the new arrival to the party as he leaned awkwardly against the wall.
“You, come over here and help, tall boy. We’re trying to get this stupid painting off the wall.” She didn’t care what he had to say, or what Ino thought either. She just wanted to finish their mission. And it was lucky indeed that he’d shown up, because Ino’s elbows were starting to tremble, causing her to pitch and jiggle perilously above him. She gripped the painting tighter. Perhaps, if the greed demon didn’t move fast enough, it would still save her. Or maybe at least she could break it?
Thankfully, he did gingerly take over the brunt of her weight in quick order. Per his suggestion to release the painting, she slowly peeled one finger away at a time, reluctant to give up her only stable mooring. The larger demon shifted her in his grip, then just stood there for a moment, holding her like someone else’s toddler. She was about to tell him to either put her down or lift her up when he lowered her again. Right. From her previous vantage point she’d forgotten just how tall he was. Perhaps almost the perfect height.
He seemed to understand what she wanted, because without prompting, he lifted her up again, under the arms this time. Not the most comfortable grip, considering the length of his fingers and the shallow depth of her ribcage, but it was what needed to be done to get rid of the damn picture. She stretched out and managed to get a hand on either side of the portrait, but with her legs dangling free, she couldn’t get enough leverage to push up and unhook the massive piece off the wall. She squirmed hard, trying to hook a knee up onto the mantel ledge, and tenuously pushed herself up, managing to free the painting.
After a single moment, and a loud victory woop, Eris realized that she had miscalculated. The painting was, of course, almost as tall as she was. And while strong, her arms couldn’t handle the rotational force of gravity, and her yell of joy quickly turned into a different sort of shout as the painting of the prince tilted towards her uncontrollably.
eris curled up protectively, grimacing as Myut’s fingers dug into the soft meat above her hips. She tried to push it up as the larger demon shifted down, shielding her with his shoulder. Not that she needed protection. It was good to know that he was willing to put himself between her and danger, though. Good to know indeed.
Surprisingly, the painting stopped falling abruptly, balanced up on her fingers above their heads. Ino had caught the other side? She unfolded her legs, smiling widely. Perhaps these two weren’t as incompetent as she’d thought. Myut set her down, taking over holding the painting, and she darted off immediately. Time for phase two of the plan.
In short order she returned from her room, a messy satchel of paint and brushes in her arms. It was time for some good old fashioned defacement of property. The two boys were still by the fireplace, hand in hand, Ino still perched on the couch. Eris rolled her eyes. Weirdos.
“Come on, stop making moon-eyes at each other,” she called out, thunking her bag onto the table and crossed back over to haul the large painting up with a loud grunt. She unsteadily carried it over to the table, where the canvas was once again unceremoniously dumped. She hummed gleefully to herself as she spread out her supplies. If there was anything that could make this day better, it would be a little bit of art therapy, right?
Myut seemed eager to help, but Ino was a little more trepidatious. Eris scoffed, amused, at Ino’s unsure words. “Why not? He’s the one who locked us all in here with it, you can’t give a dog a bone and expect no chewing~”
She spread out her supplies before settling down in one of the chairs selecting a brush and squirting out a few globes of different coloured paint on the corner of the canvass. What started out as some moderately amusing defacements to the prince’s visage, however, quickly became full on finger painting with very little encouragement from the others. Now this? This was art.
【Don’t do it…don’t do it…whoops】
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【Regretting his life choices】
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【#6D0F8A】
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【Regretting his life choices】
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【#6D0F8A】
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Ino had enjoyed telling Vivian about her mother. He wasn’t surprised that Marie hadn’t eagerly shared her early life with her children, but it was easier for him to talk about it. Neither of them had really been happy, and they’d thought themselves to be enemies, but in reality, they were the closest thing the other had to a true friend.
That kind of thing tended to stay with you, even if they hadn’t talked much in the years since.
At some point as they spoke, Eris had drifted over, not to join them, but to try to get the window open. Ino didn’t pay her much mind until Vivian stood up, stretching and murmuring about maybe going to find Bez. She headed for the bedrooms, though Ino had seen Bezabelle slipping towards the bath…ah well. They’d reunite eventually.
Ino tried to settle in the couch, but without distractions, he couldn’t seem to relax under the Prince’s eyes. He wondered if the portrait was a spying device...it wouldn’t surprise him. They had to have a way of supervising the ‘dangerous demons’ here.
More bothered than he’d like to let on, Ino stood, heading over to where the little wrath demon was trying to open the window.
”I already tried that,” he told her, all while already helping from the other end. ”It’s stuck tight, you might have more luck trying to punch the glass, but he’s definitely thought of that already.”
“I don’t want to break my fist.” She replied, “I need that fist for things.”
She stretched a bit more, glaring up at the large painting above the mantel before turning her attention onto him.
“Hey... “ she said suddenly, and Ino got the feeling that he was being sized up for something. He bristled a little, wondering what she was thinking. “Help me get the painting down.” she said, to his surprise. “We don’t need that bastard staring down at us all the time.”
”Hmm?” Ino looked at the wrath demon, at the painting, registered it was a bad idea, and agreed anyway, partially from the sheer surprise. “Might be a bit of a problem, we’re both short.” he then stretched up, his fingertips barely gripping the bottom of the frame.
For all his effort, the painting bumped softly against the wall, causing the envy to pout.
”See? Told ya.”
”Help me get up there,” Eris replied immediately, rolling her pant legs up above her knees and climbing back onto the window sill. She tried to get at the painting, but like Ino, she could only get it to bump gently against the wall. That wasn’t enough to deter her, though, because already she was once again eyeing Ino up.
“How strong are you?” she asked, and Ino at first took a step back, before then deciding that he had nothing better to do.
”Sure,” Ino wasn’t exactly a weightlifter, but Eris didn’t look too heavy. He knelt down, bracing his elbows against his knee, and laced his fingers together to provide a platform for the wrath to use to climb up. ”How good is your balance, though?”
“I can handle myself,” was the only reply he got as Eris scrambled up, trying to climb onto the mantle. She was agile, he had to give her that. The first attempt was a failure, the painting secured too well, and Eris still too short with only some of Ino's height. Evidently, she realized that for herself, because her next move was to use the painting as a counterweight to pull herself, standing, onto the thin ledge that made up the fireplace. Ino had been worried about whatever held the painting snapping, sending her tumbling down. Instead, Eris lost her balance and pitched backward.
The Envy acted immediately when Eris fell, less out of concern for her and more out of a desire to not be squished by the falling wrath demon. Eris might be small, but Ino was quite petite himself. His hands flew up instinctively, one catching her back and the other somewhat lower down.
He grimaced as he realized where exactly he was touching her. He doubted she would like that, and honestly, it wasn’t a nice enough ass that he was having fun.
He looked up at Eris, scowled, and promptly looked away, only to realize that they’d been caught by Myut. His cheek burned then, and he barely stopped himself from flexing his fingers in discomfort. He desperately didn’t want Eris to pay attention to his hands, after all. He gave the Greed demon a look, trying to convey both ‘this isn’t what it looks like’ and ‘please help’ in a single glance.
Honestly, he’d find Myut’s petrified expression hilarious on any other day. Eris then demanded that the Greed come and help them, and he figured he better back her up.
“We’re fine, but yeah...help?” he said, straining a bit at the task of mostly holding up a similarly sized demon in the air. His arms were beginning to tremble. If Myut took over his position, well...the sooner the better. “I can’t hold her much longer.”
Luckily, Myut hurried over and took over the lifting logistics. Envy gave Greed a grateful look, stepping to the side and letting the Greed handle things. With Ino as short as he was, having Myut do this made a lot more sense.
Instead, he took the time to check out the white haired demon, the way his muscles moved as he easily lifted Eris towards her goal. If he could lift Eris like that, he could certainly handle Ino, and the thought induced a full body shiver. He was mostly distracted, admiring the other male’s body, with Eris as a peripheral as she went through the motions of getting the painting down, much easier than before.
His musing, however, was cut short by the painting's sudden fall. Ino quickly stepped out of the way, and then, somewhat guiltily, hurried back to see if he couldn't catch the falling top edge of the frame, Eris keeping it from falling outright. He scrambled onto the couch just in time, raising his arms just as the painting crashed down.
As Ino took the impact, Myut was twisting, protecting Eris with his body – which, why? – but nonetheless, Ino supposed he was glad neither of those two had been hurt. He was also glad when Myut helped him hold up the painting, which was somewhat heavier than he’d expected, especially when he had to brace it to stop the other side from falling further once Eris was gone.
“Shit, thanks. That was close.”
Ino gave Myut another grateful look, this time paired with a small smile. Tentatively, he let go of the painting, and seeing that Myut had it under control, lowered his arms to rub at his forearms, which had not liked the shock of the heavy wooden frame slamming into his palms.
"Thank you," he said softly, kind of enjoying being almost at eye level with the taller demon. "Ah,I chipped a nail…" he then murmured, almost to himself, frowning at the uneven angle and new gap in his polish.
“Damn. Hang on.”
Ino glanced up, surprised that Myut had heard him. Before he could even ascertain if the Greed was being serious, let along tell him that it wasn’t a big deal, Myut had already taken his hand, his finger specifically, into his own. Myut had big hands, and they radiated warmth. With a small gesture, he pulled a file out of the air and set about fixing Ino’s nail.
Ino stood still, trying to process what was happening.
”There” Myut pursed his lips to blow upon the finger, and Ino’s eyes flicked to them immediately. He briefly checked his nail – now oval shaped and perfect – before refocusing on the Greed demon’s face..
"I, ah…" Ino looked mostly confused, though a blush was quickly growing on his cheeks as well. "... thank you?"
He was bewildered by Myut’s actions, why he'd even care about Ino's nail, where the file had even come from.
Simultaneously, he was entranced by the gentle hold of his hand, the part of his lips, the pride in his bright, green eyes which so carefully roamed his face…
"It… it's good. Thank you."
Ino left his hand in Myut’s, balancing carefully on the sofa, his trance only broken when Eris reappeared, laden with paints.
This promoted a small, confused sound from the Envy, who then reluctantly tugged his hand back.
Eris rolled her eyes at him and told them to stop flirting, which made him want to protest, because he hadn’t been flirting, not really, but then again, Myut’s attention had been terribly nice and he wouldn’t mind having it more.
It was only once Myut stopped staring at him that Ino finally remembered how to breathe and move normally. Were all Greed demons so intense? Or just Myut? Whatever it was, the petite Envy hadn't minded Myut’s careful attention at all. He knew he was worthy of admiration.
He scrambled off the couch and joined Eris at the table, looking at the painting, then at the painting supplies.
"You...you can't mean to…" he said carefully, wary of pissing off the wrath. It'd be a very bad idea to show spite against the Prince, considering that they were here for suspected treason.
On the other hand...his fingers twitched towards the brushes.
He was very upset, he was standing beside a wrath, and honestly… he'd never been known for his impulse control.
Eris just scoffed at Ino’s unsure words. “Why not? He’s the one who locked us all in here with it, you can’t give a dog a bone and expect no chewing~”
She spread out her supplies before beginning to paint, and honestly…honestly she made a very good point.
Throwing caution to the wind, Ino perched up on the table, selecting a thin brush and a deep red paint. In short order, Abadeer had a curly mustache and a pointed goatee, like an old cartoon villain, as well as some poorly done triangles resembling classic devil horns.
Ino giggled happily as he continued, swapping out for a bigger brush and two shades of green, beginning to paint a snake curled around Abadeer’s shoulders.
【”We really need to start getting down to business here.”】
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【Main Room → Bath → Eris' World】
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【#97A33C】
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【Main Room → Bath → Eris' World】
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【#97A33C】
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It certainly seemed as though quite the kerfuffle had occurred while Myut was preoccupied in Viv’s room. Eris looked as though she were seething, her hair all amuck and her knees looking as though she had picked up a couple more scrapes and bangs. No doubt with her fiery personality she had confronted their friendly neighborhood guard. It looked like Bez had been a part of it too, which did not come as a surprise. She was always causing all sorts of mischief. She did look a little frazzled, but Meu could not tell how genuine that was. Whether it was concern for Eris perhaps, or mayhaps instead as a response to the wrath’s horrendous behavior? Because of the guard? Something had happened, that was for sure.
Before Meu could decide whether to go over and investigate, Viv scuttered off towards them, seeking to come to the aid of her small girlfriend and comfort and pamper her. Myut could not help but smirk a little, pleased by the show of affection. He was certain Bezabelle would be lapping it up, and the idea of her basking in glory made him feel wryly content too. The greed didn’t find much interest aside from that, as, after all, he had missed all the fun and things were already settling down. It might be a good idea to ask Bez about what had happened later, as he was quite curious. It was then that Ino caught his attention, announcing a bath at the end of the locked hallway.
Myut perked up upon hearing this, suddenly keenly interested in the door around the corner. He had to reel it in, though, as no doubt the proclamation had turned the eager ears of the others as well. He wouldn’t be able to enjoy the new room for quite some time, but it was a nice prospect nonetheless, especially after last night’s cold spit bath.
Luckily, he had something in mind to occupy his time with, as he needed to have a word with Valramir over some prior late-night shenanigans. Not quite sure where the other white-haired demon was currently, he decided the best course of action was to linger about the doorway to the other’s room. And, speak of the devil, soon there he was, emerging from the door that had previously been off-limits. The ensuing conversation was not one Myut had really planned for, however. True to his nature, Val spun his words coyly and it was not long before he was clinging to Meu’s body again.
It was decidedly difficult to focus on the topic at hand with Val running circles around him, using deflective vocabulary and distracting flashes of skin and jewelry. To his credit, Meu did catch on quickly and put a swift stop to such nonsense. ”Don’t try to wriggle your way out of explaining what you were doing in my things last night.” He reigned things back in to a manageable level, cornering Val and forcing him to take things seriously. The other demon was quick to give up the game, whining at Myut about being a tease. Not before he wrapped his arms around Myut’s neck and leaned the two of them back against the wall, though. But he sobered up quickly and responded thoughtfully to the greed’s initial question. "I was curious. I wanted to see what kind of horde you had collected."
The answer was semi-surprising, given the fact that Vir didn’t need to go sneaking about to satiate that curiosity. He could have just asked, and Myut voiced as much. Valramir was terribly sneaky and mischievous, so it was no surprise that he had taken a darker means to get his fill of the greed’s proffered collection. However, the more sinister complication of their overall situation was not lost to Mew; he had an inkling that the sloth had been trying to dig up some dirt. After all, that would have been Myut’s first instinct as well. Perhaps not so actionable for the group’s current state of affairs, seeing as they were all stuck together too closely to do any effective hunting. Props for trying, though. Honestly, Val had almost gotten away with it. Myut was half bluffing on his accusation – he honestly couldn’t remember one hundred percent if Val had truly been rifling through his things the prior night. He had just had a strong hunch to go from and some scattered maybe-memories.
In any case, the greed demon had gotten the answers he was seeking, and he was done playing with his little sloth here. He needed to ensure that the boy truly hadn’t taken anything from his stash, and to do so would require him to return to his room now. That worked fine for him, though, as he didn’t imagine humoring the other devil to their room would be very productive, if the way he was still gripping onto Meu when he straightened had anything to say about it. Myut wasn’t especially appreciative of the wetness a post-bath Val was transferring over onto his nice dry clothes, but the sloth demon was pretty like this, so he’d get a pass.
In any case, Meu had had enough interaction with this individual, and figured lingering further would be dangerous. He worked at the man’s fingers, signaling for the other to release his grip. The other obliged, albeit a bit grudgingly, and promised a good time any time only a door away. Likely, Myut scoffed dryly to himself, having zero intention to humor the smaller male – he preferred his own company to that of others. While he was busy thinking about this, however, it seemed that Valramir took advantage of his distracted state and suddenly tilted up to press his lips against the greed’s in a swiftly stolen kiss, instantaneously darting away with a laugh and almost losing his towel in the process.
Myut was momentarily stunned, though that had not kept his arm from instinctually reaching out to try to catch the sneaky devil to reprimand him. He had missed, of course. But that was probably for the best. ”Naughty indeed.” He mumbled, pressing his touch against his gently-assaulted lips with a slightly humored smirk. Now that that was over, though, the greed demon needed to go investigate his hoard.
”Had fun in the bath?” Before he could take too many steps, however, Mew was stopped by a familiar voice that was rich in timbre and easy on the ears. A look of confusion filled his features, however, at the question. ”Bath?” Myut asked with a bit of uncertainty, arching an eyebrow as he tried to figure out what Cyris meant by bath. Oh. His wet shirt. If only it had been the baths. Mew didn’t get to say anything further in response, however, as Cyr was already walking past without a glance back. It was almost disappointing, but it didn’t really matter, as he had more pressing things to attend to. He needed to go look at his things now.
Entering his doorway with broad, confident steps, Myut ambled his way over to the table that was sporting his temporary gala collection. Viv was right, though. He should go about putting these things away a little better. He figured he’d get started now, since he would be going through each item one at a time anyway. Truly, though, the greed was beginning to get tired of going over his possessions again and again like this. And that was really saying something, seeing as reveling over assets was the highlight of any similar sin’s day. It just kept bringing back the fact that he had been stolen from, and so blatantly as well.
At least Val had been telling the truth. This only proved to ease his agitation a smidgen, though, and he found himself once again rummaging through his things in search of the little necklace he had traded from Valramir. It proved to be a quick search, since he had already hidden away most of his things just moments before, and soon remembered that the treasure was hanging out in the pocket of yesterday’s sweatpants. Myut emerged moments later from the bathroom, sliding his fingers around the chain as he pulled it over his head and set it against his neck. It was quite curious that it seemed to soothe him so consistently every time. He hooked a finger into his collar and pulled his shirt out a bit to deposit the silver cross safely beneath the cloth. It rested comfortably between his pecs.
Without skipping a beat, Mew walked over to the chair next to his table, pulled it out, and plopped down into it facing the window to the right. His legs were in a wide stance as he crossed his hands in front of his mouth and rested his elbows on his knees thoughtfully. Now was as good a time as any to have a legitimate sit down and sort through the information he had. He wanted to think long and hard about everyone’s presence. Abadeer wasn’t stupid, and Myut surmised that the guards likely knew some things about them after some digging. Well, if they were worth their salt that is, which he honestly wasn’t quite sure of, seeing as they left all the heavy lifting to the seven of them even though they were all suspects.
There would be plenty to go off at least for Bez. Her presence made the least amount of sense here, so perhaps there was more to it. Truly, Meu could imagine no other reason for her to be included in this mess other than sheer negligence. But those damn guards, honestly. She, like the rest of them, had been accused of attempted murder, and Myut knew enough about his small companion to know that it most certainly would not have been by her own hand even if she did have something to do with it. Which he greatly doubted. Besides, Meu adored Bezabelle, and, being his only close companion, he would fight tooth and nail for her regardless of whether she was guilty or not. He could care less and would be more than happy to get her out of this pickle, so long as he wasn’t incriminated instead.
Then, perhaps she had been included in the hopes that, knowing everyone, she might be able to dig up some otherwise closely guarded information? Meu couldn’t imagine her to behave prettily for Abadeer’s forces, though, especially when he thought back on that altercation with the guard just before. She’d be more interested in garnering juicy tidbits for herself, not so much to share them. He couldn’t imagine that she’d be in cahoots, but it was better to be safe and on the wary side in considering all possibilities. Mew would certainly make sure to sit down with her as soon as possible to reassure her of his loyalty on this matter. It shouldn’t be too difficult for the two of them to work through this. They’d be scot-free in no time flat. Especially since they had so many options to choose from.
Speaking of that guard, though…. He would need to make plans for the mousey blonde. Especially if Myut wanted to ensure his things would return to his care, which honestly was his first and foremost priority. It was time to get serious. He was on a time crunch, after all, and it would do to make some preparations going forward. Rising from his seat, the white-haired demon wandered over to the window in his room, gazing out at the bleakly colored hellscape. It should be a rather simple and straightforward process, to get the viridescent-eyed demon on his side. He seemed like a simple kind of guy, after all.
Since Myut was limited in his movements to just this little area, he needed a new set of arms and legs to take care of the search for his things outside of these four walls. He had no qualms about doing whatever he needed to get his stuff back, and if that meant getting buddy-buddy with the new guard, so be it. Meu actually looked forward to it. After all, the guard hadn’t exactly been welcomed in with open arms, so the greed demon mused that a friendly face would be all he needed to invite the boy into his corner and put him to work. He also couldn’t help but be remarkably intrigued by the individual himself. He wanted to know what made him tick. Where he stood in the hierarchy, how much he knew, what he could lever against the other no-show guards. Sir blondie would be an invaluable piece, indeed.
Hopefully that guard would be their permanent chaperone – Meu made it a point to ensure that the younger demon felt comfortable and safe with him, lest he ask to be replaced with some other run-of-the-mill sentry. Then the greed would have to start all over again, and they honestly didn’t have the time for that. Multiple plans started formulating in his mind, and Myut leaned back against the window’s wall to continue to devise. He took a moment, however, to peek outside into the central main room to reassess the current status of people.
It seemed that most everyone was gathered outside, and upon realizing this, Myut suddenly remembered their ‘reward’. That had him excited. He figured to check the bath and hope whomever was missing was in their rooms rather than the baths. That made more sense to him, at least, since it would be better to check the room hosting the bath rather than snooping around the door to people’s rooms to see if they were there. They’d undoubtedly have questions as to why he was poking around, especially after having done his best to avoid before. From what he could see, there had been only one or two people unaccounted for in the main room, though, so he was betting on the bath being empty.
It seemed he had lost that bet, though, for as he turned the handle to the bath door and took a step in, he spotted Cyris and Bezabelle in the pool. “Damn,” Myut voiced, unable but to click his tongue in disappointment. He had really been holding against hope that the others were all preoccupied with something else and that he could catch some peace and quiet and privacy. But speaking of privacy….
Cyr and Bez were cuddled up so intimately at the pool that Myut suddenly stiffened upon the realization. Well, this was rather awkward. Hoping that they hadn’t heard him come in or voice a curse at his poor luck, Mew tried very hard to backtrack out of the room before either made a move.
Similar luck persisted, though, and a somewhat slumbery voice called out to him. ”Well, hello,” It stopped Meu dead in his tracks and he hesitantly turned back to look at Cyr who in turn was looking at him. ”Come for a dip?” The taller male asked while standing and stretching, returning his head to a forward position so he could receive the full effect of a good stretch. His back was turned to Myut. A rather gorgeous back, he might add.
The greed demon politely shifted his gaze away from Cyr, lest he be caught staring at the curvature of the other’s back and the impressive muscle he sported there. That would be improper, what with Bez there and the two of them so unguarded without any clothing. Not that the two seemed to mind, of course.
”Oh, what a shame to be interrupted.” Speaking of Bezabelle, his gaze trailed down to her as she shifted in the pool, putting her arms around Cyr’s shoulders and pressing against him. She made sure to look right at Myut while doing so, too, and the suggestive trailing of her finger down what he assumed to be Cyr’s chest - it was a little difficult to see at this angle, but he got the gist - had him lost between both a dull feeling of bristling and stiffening when she added the last bit of her comment to boot in a seductive tone - “And right in the middle, too. Tch.” This only served to feed into Meu’s misconstrued suspicions and cause Bez’s desired effect.
An eyebrow twitched and his jaw squared lightly, eyes clawing away from the sight of the two to stare at the wall instead, a distasteful look displaying itself rather plainly on his face. His posture was rigid and clearly ill-at-ease, a light blush softening the effect as he battled too with secondhand embarrassment. He spoke in answer to Cyris while staring at the lines in the wall, “That was the intention, but…” He steadied himself and glanced back, trailing off to leave the rest verbally unspoken.
Yeah. Myut decided he definitely did not like seeing the two of them together like that. Cyr had wrapped an arm around Bez’s waist, encouraging her touch and playfully scolding her actions. “Oh, don’t tease.” The lust demon was totally at ease, which was in stark contrast to how the greed was feeling. Meu felt like he was intruding and was a little shellshocked at this being Bez and Cyr specifically. Normally he would have no problem with Bez being intimate and flirty with anyone, but with Cyr it… felt different for some reason. What was this feeling? It made him clench and unclench his fingers with vague irritability.
In similarly past situations, Myut would be one to keep to his own business and not linger around demons who were engaged with each other. Sure, he had experience with multiple partners at one time, but those had been detailed as trade for goods or services. Enjoyable, but detached. This here didn’t have anything to do with business. It felt far too personal and affectionate, and that wasn’t something Myut could understand. It felt weird. This was weird. And it was weird that it was weird. He didn’t like it, and he couldn’t pinpoint exactly why he didn’t like it either. It was kind of frustrating, to be honest.
“The water’s warm~” Cyris hummed out to him, breaking him from his musings. “You’re welcome to join us, you know.” Myut had been invited to partake in lounging in the waters with them. Uhh, he was pretty sure Bez had a differing opinion to Cyr about him joining, if her body language and words had been any hint, jealously guarding Cyr like that. That was a little odd in and of itself, too, since Bez was all about overindulging. The more the merrier, right? Not in this case, though, apparently. That served to irk the male further, and Myut was about to excuse himself there and then when Cyr added a last little tidbit of information.
“I’m sure Bez doesn’t mind her nap being interrupted too badly, hm?”
Bez had simply been napping with him? That one word made his emotions do a complete one-eighty, the roiling in his mind and stomach instantly settling. And now that that annoying feeling was gone, he could focus much better. His form eased visibly, not fully, but somewhat. Now it was just the fact that they were completely bare - Meu definitely wouldn’t feel comfortable getting undressed in front of them to join in the pool, and something told him they would indeed watch, the both of them. He was stressed enough as is with walking in on them; being under their scrutiny while he bathed did not sound appealing.
Besides, who knew if it would remain just napping, what with how close the two of them were. Bez clinging to him like that and Cyr looking completely unbothered by the whole thing. Honestly, maybe they wouldn’t even pay him any mind and just get to it. That would be even more awkward.
”Of course I mind,” Bezabelle scoffed, only serving to further confirm her distaste at the idea of Myut being their third wheel.”You think I’d just be okay with our little… nap being interrupted?” She chuckled meaningfully during the pause in her sentence. The way she inferred that nap was code for something else had the green-eyed demon questioning things all over again. He hadn’t seen Cyr be insincere yet, though, and he had not received similar signals from the lust demon. So perhaps Bez was just messing with him. In any case, whether she was joking or not, it was clear that she was serious about one thing, and that was she wanted Cyr to herself. Very clearly.
Cyr seemed to be indifferent and didn’t appear to care whether Meu stayed or not, which also kind of annoyed the greed. Very well. Let Bez have her fun with him. Far be it from him to get in Cyris’ way. Mew wanted to bathe alone anyway, and this was exactly why. He wasn’t about to play third wheel to anyone, whether that be two friends or two lovers.
“Mm, no thanks. You’ll find I don’t share well.” He answered Cyr with a somewhat suggestive smirk, not paying Bezabelle any more mind. With that, he turned and walked right out the door.
It clicked closed behind him, and as Myut leaned back against it, he let out a deeply disgruntled sigh. Running a hand through his fluffy hair, he pushed his bangs back with exasperated disappointment. Man, now his clothes were even more soaked from the damp humidity, and he had nothing to show for it.
Myut trudged back through the hallway toward the door of the main room, jiggling the knob lightly as he fled from that unbidden altercation. Putting it behind him, though, and after another sigh, he swung the door open. His eyes shifted up from staring at the floor to take in the new surroundings. He suddenly cut his sigh off halfway through, instead sucking in his cheeks a bit and holding his breath to prevent a gasp from coming out. He hadn’t been expecting to see Eris. It was unnerving to see Eris, regardless of the situation. He quickly withdrew around the doorway, back pressed against the wall of the hall, heart thumping loudly against his chest.
Myut took a second to try to regain his composure before peeking around the open door again. Oh, it seemed that Ino was also there too. The envy was suddenly kneeling before Eris, and a look of very uncertain horror filled Mew’s face. What was that wrath making him do?? Why was he taking a knee to her? Had she threatened him into subservience? Was she going to force the same onto the rest of them??
No. The shorter male was providing her a lift platform, it seemed, as she put a terribly small foot into his equally dainty hand. A breath of relief rushed past Mew’s lips as he held a steadying hand to his heart. Okay, so Eris was just up to some more weird crazy nonsense. Who knew what they were doing; it didn’t really matter to Myut as, more importantly, the two seemed preoccupied with whatever that was and would thus not notice him slipping by. Hopefully.
Meu reemerged from his peeking point at the doorway, eyes glued unwaveringly to Eris’ form to ensure that she would not suddenly turn and attack while he carefully maneuvered past the doorframe and against the left wall. He intended to sneak past by way of behind that nearby armchair. His back was once again pressed against plaster, intending to make himself as flat as possible so as to make himself as small as possible. By presenting his width laterally instead of horizontally, he could minimize the amount of visual space he would occupy so as not to draw as much attention to himself. The greed then began his quiet shuffle against the wall, keeping an eye on the other two the whole time.
Slide. Slide. What was it that they were even trying to do? Shuffle. Slide. Eris was clearly intent on getting on top of the fireplace, but the why of it had Myut perplexed. What was the goal here? Had she finally had enough of being so close to the ground? That might would have brought a wry little grin to his face, had it not been for the fact that Eris would then be looming above them at a vantage point, gazing down at them like some beady-eyed vile vulture complete with a scrunched neck. Meu blinked in disgust, getting back to work on sliding his way to freedom. Shuffle. Shuffle. It did look pretty ridiculous, what with the two of them trying so hard to overcome being vertically challenged. Eris was desperately scrabbling and scraping at the mantle with her nails like some sort of psychotic raccoon.
… Slide. Slide. Slide. It seemed like she was going for the corner of the painting now, perhaps in quest of an anchor point to pull herself up and away from Ino. But alas, there was just no room for her to find any footing. And the painting was not sturdy enough to support her weight when she grabbed for it. Shuffle. Eris lost her balance and lurched backwards, falling from the mantle. Ino threw his hands up to try to shield himself and instead caught spine in one hand and ass in the other.
A strangled sound of both horror and surprised laughter croaked past Meu’s throat, to which he quickly tried to cover up with the back of his wrist. He froze in realization that he had just outed himself with the noise, and a feeling of impending doom suddenly settled over him. He was paralyzed against the wall, posed like a burglar caught in the act with both arms and legs spread wide against the drywall. Eris would not be happy about falling. Eris would not be happy about Ino catching her. Eris would not be happy that Ino was inadvertently grabbing that butt.But now that Myut had revealed himself, all that anger would suddenly be directed at him instead of Ino. He was screwed.
Nonetheless, in an attempt to recover, Myut, hopefully in the moments before Eris and possibly Ino would turn to look back at him, quickly attempted to drop said exposed pose with an admittedly stiff recovery. He awkwardly leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms gently with a clearing of his throat, as though he had wanted to gain their attention in the first place and that had been the noise he had done it with. “Err…. Everything alright there?”
As predicted, Eris’ focus shot over to him immediately. He winced internally to prepare himself for the verbal assault, but instead, all he received was a solid “You,” in response. He didn’t even catch a single moment of Ino’s embarrassment - so demanding was his focus to be on Eris as she spoke to him. Help them? He glanced down then to see Ino throwing him a mixed look of pleading and awkward detachment to the way he was holding Eris like that.
So they had been after the painting. He couldn’t blame them. Having Abadeer stare down at them from high up there, abandoning them to their situation with little care or explanation, Myut honestly had a bone to pick with it too.”I can’t hold her much longer.” Ino’s voice immediately recaptured his attention back to the issue at hand, and Mew hurriedly strode over to relieve him of the weight of Eris.
This presented a new challenge. How was he supposed to… handle Eris? He wanted very little to do with her in the first place, let alone touch her, and found himself surged with a strong desire that he should be holding Ino instead. Nonetheless, he didn’t want to leave the poor lad hanging, and, after finding himself a little disappointed to find that Eris did not indeed have a scruff like the wild little animal she was, strongly placed his hands under her back in the places Ino’s hands were not. It was easy for him to lift her from the smaller envy demon, but damn was she surprisingly stocky. “Let go for a sec,” He instructed the wily little she-devil in his arms, who was still death-gripping the corner of the painting.
As soon as she did, he supported the remaining weight that shifted onto him with no problems, bringing Eris close to his chest to even out his center of gravity. So… what was he supposed to do with her now? He wasn’t about to continue cradling her like a small infant or some precious lover, as he figured she probably would not appreciate it, so he carefully placed her back on her feet on the ground without waiting to be told to do so.
“So do you just want me to, uh,” Myut placed his hands under her armpits to lift her high up into the air, but with her limited reach he was not sure if it would be enough. He really didn’t want to grab her anywhere else, though. Worse comes to worse she could use him like a stepping stool. She’d love that.
Myut did his best to behave like a gentleman, even though he had the uncanny feeling of being at the business-end of a skunk. He kept his grip firm but tried to keep his fingers and reach limited close to Eris’ arms while handling her. Some of it couldn’t be helped though, and he didn’t dwell on that bit. Instead, his focus was lasered onto the painting as Eris reached up for it. Her little hands grasped the sides of the portrait and a feeling of excitement flowed through him at the prospect of success on Eris’ behalf. He quickly found, however, that she didn’t have enough physical reach to leverage her body to push it up off whatever mounted it in place. Myut was going to try to lift her higher in the air, either to give her that reach to actively be able to push it up or just to use her as a simple extension tool to grab and stiffly unhook, but Eris moved by herself before he could aid her any further.
It seemed that she was determined to take care of anything she could by her own means, and Meu had to steady his grip better now that she was wiggling ferociously to get her knee up onto the mantle. Once she did, Eris was at the edge of his grip, his hands having slid down her sides to rest closer to her hips during the time she elevated herself further than he could reach with the prior hold. She got that painting, though.
It looked like it was about to get her back, however. Myut startled a little at her victorious exclamation, but stood his ground, trying to get a better look at what was going on and view her triumph, when that noise quickly twisted into something of horror – to which he found to be because of the painting tilting off the wall with the force of gravity. A look of doom twisted Meu’s face as he saw it coming down to fall on both he and Eris.
Man, seriously, nothing ever good came of hanging out with Eris.
Mew’s instincts kicked in instantly and his fingers tightened around the grip of her hips to pull her back into the safety of his form. He did his best to duck down in the same instant and involuntarily turned his shoulder to guard the smaller demon from the falling portrait, even if that meant it would come down all the faster and harder on him should she still be clinging to its sides. The greed winced his eyes closed and braced for impact.
Nothing ended up bonking him, however, and after a second or two he creaked an eye back open to question the universe – of which he knew its properties very well (gravity) - only to find Ino standing there, arms outstretched and having stopped the painting from landing on them. Well, that would explain the phenomenon.
It occurred to him in the next instant that there could be a very good chance that the painting might be heavy for Ino, and, not wanting his rescuer to suffer any sort of inconvenience, Meu totally abandoned Eris to quickly pop back up and get a hand under the painting to ensure that it would not weigh heavily on Ino. “Shit, thanks. That was close.”
Myut found in swift order that he was now the sole bearer of this painting. He could appreciate its weight fully now, and he glanced over as Ino softly thanked him for relieving him of it. Meu opened his mouth to respond but cut himself off before he could when he heard the envy mumble something else to himself. Being as close to him as he was, he could clearly hear the other’s comment.”Ah, I chipped a nail….” A soft frown furrowed his brow as he tilted his head down to better look at the hand and inspect what had happened. Indeed it was. The beautifully manicured nail now sported a jagged edge that would undoubtedly manage to get hooked into any sorts of fabric it may come across. Meu knew that inconvenience well enough, not to mention the simple fact that it ruined the aesthetic and the careful care and attention given to the hand.
“Damn.”
Myut shifted his own hands till the painting slid into the palm of one rather than both and then dangled it for a moment until he let it fall a short way to the ground with an unceremonious thud. Meu couldn’t care less about it though. He straightened once more to take a gentle hold of Ino’s hand with one of his own, gaze set on the nail. With his other free hand and a gentle, “Hang on,” Mew’s gaze slid over to his own free fingers, and, after a slide of his thumb over the empty air in his palm and his fingertips, was suddenly holding a thin file.
The greed demon made quick work of evening out what had been damaged, olive-green eyes lasered in on the dainty finger he held, until, upon finishing, he slid his gaze up to meet Ino’s purple hues. At the same time, he parted his lips just a bit to blow a quick breath of air across the top of the nail to rid of any dust made by the action, before flashing him a confident grin. He was clearly pleased with himself. “There.”
"I, ah… thank you?" Mew nodded, seemingly unphased by the confusion and uncertainty radiating off the smaller demon. Mew could not help but quickly find himself lost to admiring Ino’s features now that he was so close. Geez, he truly was such a pretty little thing. Like a fine porcelain doll, or a carefully immaculate figurine. Myut was unable to resist appreciating and carefully appraising the envy like he would a precious trinket. Ino smelled really nice too, thanks to the baths the envy had mentioned before.”It… it’s good. Thank you.” Meu already knew it, since he’d been doing his own manicures for quite the length of time, but it was still nice to hear the gratitude in the other’s voice. Obviously, it would not do to just leave the poor devil’s hand in that state, so Meu had taken it upon himself to remedy the issue.
It didn’t appear to bother the greed a wink either that he was still holding onto the other’s hand. It was almost as if he were taking advantage of the fact to keep Ino right where he was so Meu could keep looking. His pleased grin slacked into something a little more comfortable. He liked looking at Ino. He put in a lot of work to look good, and Myut could empathize.
It seemed like the white-haired demon was going to say something then, perhaps a compliment, but was interrupted by the loud noise of Eris returning. He just chuckled off her comment, politely releasing his hold and turning his head to look at her. It seemed she had brought a bag of things, and that instantly sparked Meu’s curiosity. He ambled on over to investigate as she pulled the portrait onto the table with a grunt, and his eyes sparkled with mischief when he saw the supplies she had brought. Hell yeah, this he was definitely into.
Ino seemed a little more hesitant though, for as he left the couch to join them, he voiced his uncertainty. This surprised Myut a little, since he had been under the impression that he was gung-ho about de-mantling the picture with Eris. It made sense though, if he had just been roped into helping the wrath bring it down but had no further intentions to interact with the image. Meu didn’t see what the big deal was, since Abadeer had really brought this onto himself. Eris mirrored the sentiment with her next words.
“Why not? He’s the one who locked us all in here with it, you can’t give a dog a bone and expect no chewing~”
Man, honestly Mew couldn’t have said it better himself. He was surprised that the apt metaphor had come from her lips. Very clever. She set out her supplies and began prepping the area.
It didn’t seem like Ino needed too much convincing to join them then, and soon he was roosted on the face of the table, looming over the painting rather menacingly. Myut approved.
With a grin, the greed walked around to the other side and settled down in criss-cross position on the floor. He watched for a moment or two, thoughtfully ruminating over his artistic options, but once he saw Eris devolve into straight finger painting, Myut could quickly see the appeal and adopted her method. He dipped his digits into the darker colors, spreading them out nice and proper over the careful color gradation of the background. This would be a masterpiece looking to have been curated by a two-year-old when Myut was done with it - he swore it. Stark, single tone color instead of the masterful technique whatever artist had applied beforehand with the mixing of hues and careful brushstrokes. It would be a glorious atrocity. Myut didn’t even feel bad about defacing this otherwise probably valuable item.
Before Meu could decide whether to go over and investigate, Viv scuttered off towards them, seeking to come to the aid of her small girlfriend and comfort and pamper her. Myut could not help but smirk a little, pleased by the show of affection. He was certain Bezabelle would be lapping it up, and the idea of her basking in glory made him feel wryly content too. The greed didn’t find much interest aside from that, as, after all, he had missed all the fun and things were already settling down. It might be a good idea to ask Bez about what had happened later, as he was quite curious. It was then that Ino caught his attention, announcing a bath at the end of the locked hallway.
Myut perked up upon hearing this, suddenly keenly interested in the door around the corner. He had to reel it in, though, as no doubt the proclamation had turned the eager ears of the others as well. He wouldn’t be able to enjoy the new room for quite some time, but it was a nice prospect nonetheless, especially after last night’s cold spit bath.
Luckily, he had something in mind to occupy his time with, as he needed to have a word with Valramir over some prior late-night shenanigans. Not quite sure where the other white-haired demon was currently, he decided the best course of action was to linger about the doorway to the other’s room. And, speak of the devil, soon there he was, emerging from the door that had previously been off-limits. The ensuing conversation was not one Myut had really planned for, however. True to his nature, Val spun his words coyly and it was not long before he was clinging to Meu’s body again.
It was decidedly difficult to focus on the topic at hand with Val running circles around him, using deflective vocabulary and distracting flashes of skin and jewelry. To his credit, Meu did catch on quickly and put a swift stop to such nonsense. ”Don’t try to wriggle your way out of explaining what you were doing in my things last night.” He reigned things back in to a manageable level, cornering Val and forcing him to take things seriously. The other demon was quick to give up the game, whining at Myut about being a tease. Not before he wrapped his arms around Myut’s neck and leaned the two of them back against the wall, though. But he sobered up quickly and responded thoughtfully to the greed’s initial question. "I was curious. I wanted to see what kind of horde you had collected."
The answer was semi-surprising, given the fact that Vir didn’t need to go sneaking about to satiate that curiosity. He could have just asked, and Myut voiced as much. Valramir was terribly sneaky and mischievous, so it was no surprise that he had taken a darker means to get his fill of the greed’s proffered collection. However, the more sinister complication of their overall situation was not lost to Mew; he had an inkling that the sloth had been trying to dig up some dirt. After all, that would have been Myut’s first instinct as well. Perhaps not so actionable for the group’s current state of affairs, seeing as they were all stuck together too closely to do any effective hunting. Props for trying, though. Honestly, Val had almost gotten away with it. Myut was half bluffing on his accusation – he honestly couldn’t remember one hundred percent if Val had truly been rifling through his things the prior night. He had just had a strong hunch to go from and some scattered maybe-memories.
In any case, the greed demon had gotten the answers he was seeking, and he was done playing with his little sloth here. He needed to ensure that the boy truly hadn’t taken anything from his stash, and to do so would require him to return to his room now. That worked fine for him, though, as he didn’t imagine humoring the other devil to their room would be very productive, if the way he was still gripping onto Meu when he straightened had anything to say about it. Myut wasn’t especially appreciative of the wetness a post-bath Val was transferring over onto his nice dry clothes, but the sloth demon was pretty like this, so he’d get a pass.
In any case, Meu had had enough interaction with this individual, and figured lingering further would be dangerous. He worked at the man’s fingers, signaling for the other to release his grip. The other obliged, albeit a bit grudgingly, and promised a good time any time only a door away. Likely, Myut scoffed dryly to himself, having zero intention to humor the smaller male – he preferred his own company to that of others. While he was busy thinking about this, however, it seemed that Valramir took advantage of his distracted state and suddenly tilted up to press his lips against the greed’s in a swiftly stolen kiss, instantaneously darting away with a laugh and almost losing his towel in the process.
Myut was momentarily stunned, though that had not kept his arm from instinctually reaching out to try to catch the sneaky devil to reprimand him. He had missed, of course. But that was probably for the best. ”Naughty indeed.” He mumbled, pressing his touch against his gently-assaulted lips with a slightly humored smirk. Now that that was over, though, the greed demon needed to go investigate his hoard.
”Had fun in the bath?” Before he could take too many steps, however, Mew was stopped by a familiar voice that was rich in timbre and easy on the ears. A look of confusion filled his features, however, at the question. ”Bath?” Myut asked with a bit of uncertainty, arching an eyebrow as he tried to figure out what Cyris meant by bath. Oh. His wet shirt. If only it had been the baths. Mew didn’t get to say anything further in response, however, as Cyr was already walking past without a glance back. It was almost disappointing, but it didn’t really matter, as he had more pressing things to attend to. He needed to go look at his things now.
Entering his doorway with broad, confident steps, Myut ambled his way over to the table that was sporting his temporary gala collection. Viv was right, though. He should go about putting these things away a little better. He figured he’d get started now, since he would be going through each item one at a time anyway. Truly, though, the greed was beginning to get tired of going over his possessions again and again like this. And that was really saying something, seeing as reveling over assets was the highlight of any similar sin’s day. It just kept bringing back the fact that he had been stolen from, and so blatantly as well.
At least Val had been telling the truth. This only proved to ease his agitation a smidgen, though, and he found himself once again rummaging through his things in search of the little necklace he had traded from Valramir. It proved to be a quick search, since he had already hidden away most of his things just moments before, and soon remembered that the treasure was hanging out in the pocket of yesterday’s sweatpants. Myut emerged moments later from the bathroom, sliding his fingers around the chain as he pulled it over his head and set it against his neck. It was quite curious that it seemed to soothe him so consistently every time. He hooked a finger into his collar and pulled his shirt out a bit to deposit the silver cross safely beneath the cloth. It rested comfortably between his pecs.
Without skipping a beat, Mew walked over to the chair next to his table, pulled it out, and plopped down into it facing the window to the right. His legs were in a wide stance as he crossed his hands in front of his mouth and rested his elbows on his knees thoughtfully. Now was as good a time as any to have a legitimate sit down and sort through the information he had. He wanted to think long and hard about everyone’s presence. Abadeer wasn’t stupid, and Myut surmised that the guards likely knew some things about them after some digging. Well, if they were worth their salt that is, which he honestly wasn’t quite sure of, seeing as they left all the heavy lifting to the seven of them even though they were all suspects.
There would be plenty to go off at least for Bez. Her presence made the least amount of sense here, so perhaps there was more to it. Truly, Meu could imagine no other reason for her to be included in this mess other than sheer negligence. But those damn guards, honestly. She, like the rest of them, had been accused of attempted murder, and Myut knew enough about his small companion to know that it most certainly would not have been by her own hand even if she did have something to do with it. Which he greatly doubted. Besides, Meu adored Bezabelle, and, being his only close companion, he would fight tooth and nail for her regardless of whether she was guilty or not. He could care less and would be more than happy to get her out of this pickle, so long as he wasn’t incriminated instead.
Then, perhaps she had been included in the hopes that, knowing everyone, she might be able to dig up some otherwise closely guarded information? Meu couldn’t imagine her to behave prettily for Abadeer’s forces, though, especially when he thought back on that altercation with the guard just before. She’d be more interested in garnering juicy tidbits for herself, not so much to share them. He couldn’t imagine that she’d be in cahoots, but it was better to be safe and on the wary side in considering all possibilities. Mew would certainly make sure to sit down with her as soon as possible to reassure her of his loyalty on this matter. It shouldn’t be too difficult for the two of them to work through this. They’d be scot-free in no time flat. Especially since they had so many options to choose from.
Speaking of that guard, though…. He would need to make plans for the mousey blonde. Especially if Myut wanted to ensure his things would return to his care, which honestly was his first and foremost priority. It was time to get serious. He was on a time crunch, after all, and it would do to make some preparations going forward. Rising from his seat, the white-haired demon wandered over to the window in his room, gazing out at the bleakly colored hellscape. It should be a rather simple and straightforward process, to get the viridescent-eyed demon on his side. He seemed like a simple kind of guy, after all.
Since Myut was limited in his movements to just this little area, he needed a new set of arms and legs to take care of the search for his things outside of these four walls. He had no qualms about doing whatever he needed to get his stuff back, and if that meant getting buddy-buddy with the new guard, so be it. Meu actually looked forward to it. After all, the guard hadn’t exactly been welcomed in with open arms, so the greed demon mused that a friendly face would be all he needed to invite the boy into his corner and put him to work. He also couldn’t help but be remarkably intrigued by the individual himself. He wanted to know what made him tick. Where he stood in the hierarchy, how much he knew, what he could lever against the other no-show guards. Sir blondie would be an invaluable piece, indeed.
Hopefully that guard would be their permanent chaperone – Meu made it a point to ensure that the younger demon felt comfortable and safe with him, lest he ask to be replaced with some other run-of-the-mill sentry. Then the greed would have to start all over again, and they honestly didn’t have the time for that. Multiple plans started formulating in his mind, and Myut leaned back against the window’s wall to continue to devise. He took a moment, however, to peek outside into the central main room to reassess the current status of people.
It seemed that most everyone was gathered outside, and upon realizing this, Myut suddenly remembered their ‘reward’. That had him excited. He figured to check the bath and hope whomever was missing was in their rooms rather than the baths. That made more sense to him, at least, since it would be better to check the room hosting the bath rather than snooping around the door to people’s rooms to see if they were there. They’d undoubtedly have questions as to why he was poking around, especially after having done his best to avoid before. From what he could see, there had been only one or two people unaccounted for in the main room, though, so he was betting on the bath being empty.
It seemed he had lost that bet, though, for as he turned the handle to the bath door and took a step in, he spotted Cyris and Bezabelle in the pool. “Damn,” Myut voiced, unable but to click his tongue in disappointment. He had really been holding against hope that the others were all preoccupied with something else and that he could catch some peace and quiet and privacy. But speaking of privacy….
Cyr and Bez were cuddled up so intimately at the pool that Myut suddenly stiffened upon the realization. Well, this was rather awkward. Hoping that they hadn’t heard him come in or voice a curse at his poor luck, Mew tried very hard to backtrack out of the room before either made a move.
Similar luck persisted, though, and a somewhat slumbery voice called out to him. ”Well, hello,” It stopped Meu dead in his tracks and he hesitantly turned back to look at Cyr who in turn was looking at him. ”Come for a dip?” The taller male asked while standing and stretching, returning his head to a forward position so he could receive the full effect of a good stretch. His back was turned to Myut. A rather gorgeous back, he might add.
The greed demon politely shifted his gaze away from Cyr, lest he be caught staring at the curvature of the other’s back and the impressive muscle he sported there. That would be improper, what with Bez there and the two of them so unguarded without any clothing. Not that the two seemed to mind, of course.
”Oh, what a shame to be interrupted.” Speaking of Bezabelle, his gaze trailed down to her as she shifted in the pool, putting her arms around Cyr’s shoulders and pressing against him. She made sure to look right at Myut while doing so, too, and the suggestive trailing of her finger down what he assumed to be Cyr’s chest - it was a little difficult to see at this angle, but he got the gist - had him lost between both a dull feeling of bristling and stiffening when she added the last bit of her comment to boot in a seductive tone - “And right in the middle, too. Tch.” This only served to feed into Meu’s misconstrued suspicions and cause Bez’s desired effect.
An eyebrow twitched and his jaw squared lightly, eyes clawing away from the sight of the two to stare at the wall instead, a distasteful look displaying itself rather plainly on his face. His posture was rigid and clearly ill-at-ease, a light blush softening the effect as he battled too with secondhand embarrassment. He spoke in answer to Cyris while staring at the lines in the wall, “That was the intention, but…” He steadied himself and glanced back, trailing off to leave the rest verbally unspoken.
Yeah. Myut decided he definitely did not like seeing the two of them together like that. Cyr had wrapped an arm around Bez’s waist, encouraging her touch and playfully scolding her actions. “Oh, don’t tease.” The lust demon was totally at ease, which was in stark contrast to how the greed was feeling. Meu felt like he was intruding and was a little shellshocked at this being Bez and Cyr specifically. Normally he would have no problem with Bez being intimate and flirty with anyone, but with Cyr it… felt different for some reason. What was this feeling? It made him clench and unclench his fingers with vague irritability.
In similarly past situations, Myut would be one to keep to his own business and not linger around demons who were engaged with each other. Sure, he had experience with multiple partners at one time, but those had been detailed as trade for goods or services. Enjoyable, but detached. This here didn’t have anything to do with business. It felt far too personal and affectionate, and that wasn’t something Myut could understand. It felt weird. This was weird. And it was weird that it was weird. He didn’t like it, and he couldn’t pinpoint exactly why he didn’t like it either. It was kind of frustrating, to be honest.
“The water’s warm~” Cyris hummed out to him, breaking him from his musings. “You’re welcome to join us, you know.” Myut had been invited to partake in lounging in the waters with them. Uhh, he was pretty sure Bez had a differing opinion to Cyr about him joining, if her body language and words had been any hint, jealously guarding Cyr like that. That was a little odd in and of itself, too, since Bez was all about overindulging. The more the merrier, right? Not in this case, though, apparently. That served to irk the male further, and Myut was about to excuse himself there and then when Cyr added a last little tidbit of information.
“I’m sure Bez doesn’t mind her nap being interrupted too badly, hm?”
Bez had simply been napping with him? That one word made his emotions do a complete one-eighty, the roiling in his mind and stomach instantly settling. And now that that annoying feeling was gone, he could focus much better. His form eased visibly, not fully, but somewhat. Now it was just the fact that they were completely bare - Meu definitely wouldn’t feel comfortable getting undressed in front of them to join in the pool, and something told him they would indeed watch, the both of them. He was stressed enough as is with walking in on them; being under their scrutiny while he bathed did not sound appealing.
Besides, who knew if it would remain just napping, what with how close the two of them were. Bez clinging to him like that and Cyr looking completely unbothered by the whole thing. Honestly, maybe they wouldn’t even pay him any mind and just get to it. That would be even more awkward.
”Of course I mind,” Bezabelle scoffed, only serving to further confirm her distaste at the idea of Myut being their third wheel.”You think I’d just be okay with our little… nap being interrupted?” She chuckled meaningfully during the pause in her sentence. The way she inferred that nap was code for something else had the green-eyed demon questioning things all over again. He hadn’t seen Cyr be insincere yet, though, and he had not received similar signals from the lust demon. So perhaps Bez was just messing with him. In any case, whether she was joking or not, it was clear that she was serious about one thing, and that was she wanted Cyr to herself. Very clearly.
Cyr seemed to be indifferent and didn’t appear to care whether Meu stayed or not, which also kind of annoyed the greed. Very well. Let Bez have her fun with him. Far be it from him to get in Cyris’ way. Mew wanted to bathe alone anyway, and this was exactly why. He wasn’t about to play third wheel to anyone, whether that be two friends or two lovers.
“Mm, no thanks. You’ll find I don’t share well.” He answered Cyr with a somewhat suggestive smirk, not paying Bezabelle any more mind. With that, he turned and walked right out the door.
It clicked closed behind him, and as Myut leaned back against it, he let out a deeply disgruntled sigh. Running a hand through his fluffy hair, he pushed his bangs back with exasperated disappointment. Man, now his clothes were even more soaked from the damp humidity, and he had nothing to show for it.
Myut trudged back through the hallway toward the door of the main room, jiggling the knob lightly as he fled from that unbidden altercation. Putting it behind him, though, and after another sigh, he swung the door open. His eyes shifted up from staring at the floor to take in the new surroundings. He suddenly cut his sigh off halfway through, instead sucking in his cheeks a bit and holding his breath to prevent a gasp from coming out. He hadn’t been expecting to see Eris. It was unnerving to see Eris, regardless of the situation. He quickly withdrew around the doorway, back pressed against the wall of the hall, heart thumping loudly against his chest.
Myut took a second to try to regain his composure before peeking around the open door again. Oh, it seemed that Ino was also there too. The envy was suddenly kneeling before Eris, and a look of very uncertain horror filled Mew’s face. What was that wrath making him do?? Why was he taking a knee to her? Had she threatened him into subservience? Was she going to force the same onto the rest of them??
No. The shorter male was providing her a lift platform, it seemed, as she put a terribly small foot into his equally dainty hand. A breath of relief rushed past Mew’s lips as he held a steadying hand to his heart. Okay, so Eris was just up to some more weird crazy nonsense. Who knew what they were doing; it didn’t really matter to Myut as, more importantly, the two seemed preoccupied with whatever that was and would thus not notice him slipping by. Hopefully.
Meu reemerged from his peeking point at the doorway, eyes glued unwaveringly to Eris’ form to ensure that she would not suddenly turn and attack while he carefully maneuvered past the doorframe and against the left wall. He intended to sneak past by way of behind that nearby armchair. His back was once again pressed against plaster, intending to make himself as flat as possible so as to make himself as small as possible. By presenting his width laterally instead of horizontally, he could minimize the amount of visual space he would occupy so as not to draw as much attention to himself. The greed then began his quiet shuffle against the wall, keeping an eye on the other two the whole time.
Slide. Slide. What was it that they were even trying to do? Shuffle. Slide. Eris was clearly intent on getting on top of the fireplace, but the why of it had Myut perplexed. What was the goal here? Had she finally had enough of being so close to the ground? That might would have brought a wry little grin to his face, had it not been for the fact that Eris would then be looming above them at a vantage point, gazing down at them like some beady-eyed vile vulture complete with a scrunched neck. Meu blinked in disgust, getting back to work on sliding his way to freedom. Shuffle. Shuffle. It did look pretty ridiculous, what with the two of them trying so hard to overcome being vertically challenged. Eris was desperately scrabbling and scraping at the mantle with her nails like some sort of psychotic raccoon.
… Slide. Slide. Slide. It seemed like she was going for the corner of the painting now, perhaps in quest of an anchor point to pull herself up and away from Ino. But alas, there was just no room for her to find any footing. And the painting was not sturdy enough to support her weight when she grabbed for it. Shuffle. Eris lost her balance and lurched backwards, falling from the mantle. Ino threw his hands up to try to shield himself and instead caught spine in one hand and ass in the other.
A strangled sound of both horror and surprised laughter croaked past Meu’s throat, to which he quickly tried to cover up with the back of his wrist. He froze in realization that he had just outed himself with the noise, and a feeling of impending doom suddenly settled over him. He was paralyzed against the wall, posed like a burglar caught in the act with both arms and legs spread wide against the drywall. Eris would not be happy about falling. Eris would not be happy about Ino catching her. Eris would not be happy that Ino was inadvertently grabbing that butt.But now that Myut had revealed himself, all that anger would suddenly be directed at him instead of Ino. He was screwed.
Nonetheless, in an attempt to recover, Myut, hopefully in the moments before Eris and possibly Ino would turn to look back at him, quickly attempted to drop said exposed pose with an admittedly stiff recovery. He awkwardly leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms gently with a clearing of his throat, as though he had wanted to gain their attention in the first place and that had been the noise he had done it with. “Err…. Everything alright there?”
As predicted, Eris’ focus shot over to him immediately. He winced internally to prepare himself for the verbal assault, but instead, all he received was a solid “You,” in response. He didn’t even catch a single moment of Ino’s embarrassment - so demanding was his focus to be on Eris as she spoke to him. Help them? He glanced down then to see Ino throwing him a mixed look of pleading and awkward detachment to the way he was holding Eris like that.
So they had been after the painting. He couldn’t blame them. Having Abadeer stare down at them from high up there, abandoning them to their situation with little care or explanation, Myut honestly had a bone to pick with it too.”I can’t hold her much longer.” Ino’s voice immediately recaptured his attention back to the issue at hand, and Mew hurriedly strode over to relieve him of the weight of Eris.
This presented a new challenge. How was he supposed to… handle Eris? He wanted very little to do with her in the first place, let alone touch her, and found himself surged with a strong desire that he should be holding Ino instead. Nonetheless, he didn’t want to leave the poor lad hanging, and, after finding himself a little disappointed to find that Eris did not indeed have a scruff like the wild little animal she was, strongly placed his hands under her back in the places Ino’s hands were not. It was easy for him to lift her from the smaller envy demon, but damn was she surprisingly stocky. “Let go for a sec,” He instructed the wily little she-devil in his arms, who was still death-gripping the corner of the painting.
As soon as she did, he supported the remaining weight that shifted onto him with no problems, bringing Eris close to his chest to even out his center of gravity. So… what was he supposed to do with her now? He wasn’t about to continue cradling her like a small infant or some precious lover, as he figured she probably would not appreciate it, so he carefully placed her back on her feet on the ground without waiting to be told to do so.
“So do you just want me to, uh,” Myut placed his hands under her armpits to lift her high up into the air, but with her limited reach he was not sure if it would be enough. He really didn’t want to grab her anywhere else, though. Worse comes to worse she could use him like a stepping stool. She’d love that.
Myut did his best to behave like a gentleman, even though he had the uncanny feeling of being at the business-end of a skunk. He kept his grip firm but tried to keep his fingers and reach limited close to Eris’ arms while handling her. Some of it couldn’t be helped though, and he didn’t dwell on that bit. Instead, his focus was lasered onto the painting as Eris reached up for it. Her little hands grasped the sides of the portrait and a feeling of excitement flowed through him at the prospect of success on Eris’ behalf. He quickly found, however, that she didn’t have enough physical reach to leverage her body to push it up off whatever mounted it in place. Myut was going to try to lift her higher in the air, either to give her that reach to actively be able to push it up or just to use her as a simple extension tool to grab and stiffly unhook, but Eris moved by herself before he could aid her any further.
It seemed that she was determined to take care of anything she could by her own means, and Meu had to steady his grip better now that she was wiggling ferociously to get her knee up onto the mantle. Once she did, Eris was at the edge of his grip, his hands having slid down her sides to rest closer to her hips during the time she elevated herself further than he could reach with the prior hold. She got that painting, though.
It looked like it was about to get her back, however. Myut startled a little at her victorious exclamation, but stood his ground, trying to get a better look at what was going on and view her triumph, when that noise quickly twisted into something of horror – to which he found to be because of the painting tilting off the wall with the force of gravity. A look of doom twisted Meu’s face as he saw it coming down to fall on both he and Eris.
Man, seriously, nothing ever good came of hanging out with Eris.
Mew’s instincts kicked in instantly and his fingers tightened around the grip of her hips to pull her back into the safety of his form. He did his best to duck down in the same instant and involuntarily turned his shoulder to guard the smaller demon from the falling portrait, even if that meant it would come down all the faster and harder on him should she still be clinging to its sides. The greed winced his eyes closed and braced for impact.
Nothing ended up bonking him, however, and after a second or two he creaked an eye back open to question the universe – of which he knew its properties very well (gravity) - only to find Ino standing there, arms outstretched and having stopped the painting from landing on them. Well, that would explain the phenomenon.
It occurred to him in the next instant that there could be a very good chance that the painting might be heavy for Ino, and, not wanting his rescuer to suffer any sort of inconvenience, Meu totally abandoned Eris to quickly pop back up and get a hand under the painting to ensure that it would not weigh heavily on Ino. “Shit, thanks. That was close.”
Myut found in swift order that he was now the sole bearer of this painting. He could appreciate its weight fully now, and he glanced over as Ino softly thanked him for relieving him of it. Meu opened his mouth to respond but cut himself off before he could when he heard the envy mumble something else to himself. Being as close to him as he was, he could clearly hear the other’s comment.”Ah, I chipped a nail….” A soft frown furrowed his brow as he tilted his head down to better look at the hand and inspect what had happened. Indeed it was. The beautifully manicured nail now sported a jagged edge that would undoubtedly manage to get hooked into any sorts of fabric it may come across. Meu knew that inconvenience well enough, not to mention the simple fact that it ruined the aesthetic and the careful care and attention given to the hand.
“Damn.”
Myut shifted his own hands till the painting slid into the palm of one rather than both and then dangled it for a moment until he let it fall a short way to the ground with an unceremonious thud. Meu couldn’t care less about it though. He straightened once more to take a gentle hold of Ino’s hand with one of his own, gaze set on the nail. With his other free hand and a gentle, “Hang on,” Mew’s gaze slid over to his own free fingers, and, after a slide of his thumb over the empty air in his palm and his fingertips, was suddenly holding a thin file.
The greed demon made quick work of evening out what had been damaged, olive-green eyes lasered in on the dainty finger he held, until, upon finishing, he slid his gaze up to meet Ino’s purple hues. At the same time, he parted his lips just a bit to blow a quick breath of air across the top of the nail to rid of any dust made by the action, before flashing him a confident grin. He was clearly pleased with himself. “There.”
"I, ah… thank you?" Mew nodded, seemingly unphased by the confusion and uncertainty radiating off the smaller demon. Mew could not help but quickly find himself lost to admiring Ino’s features now that he was so close. Geez, he truly was such a pretty little thing. Like a fine porcelain doll, or a carefully immaculate figurine. Myut was unable to resist appreciating and carefully appraising the envy like he would a precious trinket. Ino smelled really nice too, thanks to the baths the envy had mentioned before.”It… it’s good. Thank you.” Meu already knew it, since he’d been doing his own manicures for quite the length of time, but it was still nice to hear the gratitude in the other’s voice. Obviously, it would not do to just leave the poor devil’s hand in that state, so Meu had taken it upon himself to remedy the issue.
It didn’t appear to bother the greed a wink either that he was still holding onto the other’s hand. It was almost as if he were taking advantage of the fact to keep Ino right where he was so Meu could keep looking. His pleased grin slacked into something a little more comfortable. He liked looking at Ino. He put in a lot of work to look good, and Myut could empathize.
It seemed like the white-haired demon was going to say something then, perhaps a compliment, but was interrupted by the loud noise of Eris returning. He just chuckled off her comment, politely releasing his hold and turning his head to look at her. It seemed she had brought a bag of things, and that instantly sparked Meu’s curiosity. He ambled on over to investigate as she pulled the portrait onto the table with a grunt, and his eyes sparkled with mischief when he saw the supplies she had brought. Hell yeah, this he was definitely into.
Ino seemed a little more hesitant though, for as he left the couch to join them, he voiced his uncertainty. This surprised Myut a little, since he had been under the impression that he was gung-ho about de-mantling the picture with Eris. It made sense though, if he had just been roped into helping the wrath bring it down but had no further intentions to interact with the image. Meu didn’t see what the big deal was, since Abadeer had really brought this onto himself. Eris mirrored the sentiment with her next words.
“Why not? He’s the one who locked us all in here with it, you can’t give a dog a bone and expect no chewing~”
Man, honestly Mew couldn’t have said it better himself. He was surprised that the apt metaphor had come from her lips. Very clever. She set out her supplies and began prepping the area.
It didn’t seem like Ino needed too much convincing to join them then, and soon he was roosted on the face of the table, looming over the painting rather menacingly. Myut approved.
With a grin, the greed walked around to the other side and settled down in criss-cross position on the floor. He watched for a moment or two, thoughtfully ruminating over his artistic options, but once he saw Eris devolve into straight finger painting, Myut could quickly see the appeal and adopted her method. He dipped his digits into the darker colors, spreading them out nice and proper over the careful color gradation of the background. This would be a masterpiece looking to have been curated by a two-year-old when Myut was done with it - he swore it. Stark, single tone color instead of the masterful technique whatever artist had applied beforehand with the mixing of hues and careful brushstrokes. It would be a glorious atrocity. Myut didn’t even feel bad about defacing this otherwise probably valuable item.
【”If anyone asks, I’m blaming the Wrath Demon”】
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While Vivian had truly enjoyed learning more about her mother, once Bezabelle came around, all her attention was stolen away. “Be back in a while, my dear” said her adorable girlfriend, and Viv looked after her longingly as she walked away. She heard Ino chuckle and quickly looked back at him, but really, he wasn’t that interesting anymore. Bez’s gentle hands, and her soft kisses were…
Distracted, she didn’t really care when Ino stopped talking, seizing her chance to go look for Bez again. Plus, the wrath demon was hanging around, and she wasn’t sure she liked that very much.
Unfortunately, Ino had distracted her from seeing where Bez had gone. She checked the bedrooms, but not finding her there, Vivian ended up in her own room, laying down on the bed with a soft sigh.
It had barely been a day, but boredom was already setting in. She hadn’t brought along anything for personal entertainment, and though she knew some of the other demons had books, Viv wasn’t much of a reader. In her flowing dresses, she couldn’t really work out either – at least, until she truly stopped giving a fuck. Absently, she sat up again and tried to open a portal before her. She knew it was futile, but it still made her heart sink when nothing at all happened.
Portals had been Viv’s escape since she’d been a young girl. They were a deeply innate ability, and as a child, she’d been trained in their use to always get herself home. More determined now, she stood up, running through the steps as though she was a little girl. This time she almost felt something, thought it was to no effect. No portal opened before her.
The demon sat back down on the bed with a deep sigh. It felt wrong to be cut off from a facet of her power, and she’d almost hoped that there’d been an oversight that would allow her to escape. To Viv, portals and Earth had always been about freedom. Did Bezabelle like Earth? They’d met up there, so surely-
It was around this time that she registered the shouting from the main room. Listening closer, she went to the so-called ‘door’, looking out. Ino and Myut stood in the center of the room, holding hands, looking deeply into each others’ eyes. That…was an unexpected development, considering how Myut and Cyr had stared at each other. Maybe Myut was hoping to secure his place through romance? It was risky, but it could work. Not that it was a tactic she’d ever try…
Half-thinking of strategies she could use to ensure her and Bez’s safety, Viv was startled when Eris barrelled out of her room. Shortly, the painting was on the table, paint was spread around it, and the three demons were at work defacing the work of art.
”That’s not a good idea”
The words caught in her throat even as she came closer. Clearly, the trio didn’t care. This was so disrespectful, and under the circumstances, Viv knew she should stop them, but…how?
She was even closer now, and something else was beginning to happen. Viv hadn’t fingerpainted since she was a child, and…now, bored and stressed, she was abruptly missing it, badly.
”Can…can I join?” her voice seemed to surprise her, from the little way she flinched, standing a little straighter.
”Heck yeah,” said Eris, while Myut smiled and nodded, helping her feel more comfortable. Ino looked up with a small smile, apparently deeply invested in what he was doing to the Prince’s face.
With permission secured, she sat down in one of the chairs. Maybe, if she was careful, and didn’t do anything bad, this wouldn’t reflect badly on her. She cast about for inspiration and settled on the Princess’s face.
The Princess was a beautiful woman, her golden hair cascading over her shoulder. Viv stared at it for a while, then at the colours they had. Slowly, then with more gusto, she began to add yellow fingerprints, when decorating around them with colourful fingerprint petals. As she got more into it, she even experimented with different floral designs. It was no masterpiece, but the flowery crown she was constructing for the painted woman was certainly more respectful than the mustache and snake being painted on Abadeer.
She had her own thoughts on that, but she also didn’t feel like questioning the vindictive glee in Ino’s eyes.
【Mnnn.... what are we doing? *yawn* ooh, defacement. I mean painting. And naptime?】
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Sloth waited a moment after he fled to his room to see if Myut would end up coming after him but he didn't. No fun. Maybe he should have snatched an item just to get him to come back into the room, but maybe he was teasing the other demon too much. He seemed much more reserved than many of the other demons he had interacted with. And he was far more used to Bezzy and Eris. They were used to his antics and Bezzy of course indulged him and he indulged her. They were far more intimate and touchy and he realized that not all demons were quite so open with their personal space. Ah well. Maybe another time. They were all bound to get laid at some point this week since it was literally the last week alive for one of them. Maybe.
Valramir still wasn't convinced that their prince of hell would just kill someone that ended up framed and potentially let the real plotter loose once more. And even if he did, plots of murder weren't exactly uncommon. There was something else the prince was looking for. Valramir yawned as he stretched, his wings extended on either side of him to get some blood flowing through the appendages he hardly ever used. Once all stretched out, he flopped down on the bed with a groan. The bed was actually pretty soft. Much nicer than the couch. Within moments, the Sloth had fallen fast asleep.
When he woke next, he was curled up, his wings covering him in an attempt to keep warm. Why was he cold? He blinked bleary eyed trying to remember the events before he had fallen asleep. He looked down and noted he was still naked, save for the damp towel he'd sported. Oh. Well. That explained why he was cold. He uncurled and stretched against his pillows before he slowly started to roll towards the edge of the bed, lazy to actually get up. At the edge, he made a mental note to lift himself up. Instead, he rolled right off the bed. [color=#4169E1]"ooph!" he grunted. That hurt. Valramir ran a hand through his mused hair and yawned again. His aura was certainly making motivation a bit difficult today, wasn't it? He needed to see what was going on, hell what day it was even. Had he slept through the day? No. His towel was still damp which means it had to have only been a couple of hours.
Valramir's eyes started to unfocus again but he startled himself awake when his wing reminded him he was laying on it painfully. He grabbed the edge of the bed and after a couple of attempts made it up into a sitting position. He must be hungry. He had to mingle with the others to influence them and feed off some of their essence or he was going to knock himself into a comma. He sighed and after a bit of convincing got himself up to his feet. He barely got the motivation to pull on a loose red shirt that slid down his shoulder and a pair of pants before he shuffled his way to the door. His wings flared out to catch himself at the same time he gripped the doorframe before he toppled over and fell flat on his face.
The sloth looked up and saw everyone crowded around something. There was paint. That had to be Eris's paint. And there was Eris with a pint brush. What was everyone painting? He smirked. He could just imagine if a human walked into a scene like this; demons just sitting around painting in complete harmony. If he wasn't tired, he would have started laughing at the childish silliness of the moment. "What are you guys painting?" he asked as he started to zombie his way over to everyone. He didn't lift his foot high enough as he got closer and ended up tripping himself and he reached out to catch himself and ended up falling over Bez's shoulders and chair, forcing the smaller demon forward and messed up her artwork. Ooops.
"oh, sorry Bezzy. Didn't mean to do that," he chuckled and wrapped his arms around her shoulders and nuzzled her head. She smelled like soap. She must have used the bath too. She smelled good. He hummed and let himself go limp and use the chair and Bez as support.
Bez yelped in surprise as a weight suddenly crashed into her from behind. Her hand pressed against the picture, smearing everything she'd been working on. A familiar voice spoke at her ear. "Val!" Bez laughed, feeling his weight settle. He didn't seem inclined to pull himself up, instead, clinging to her like a, well, a sloth. "Whatcha doing there? Have a nice trip?" He nuzzled against her and she leaned into the embrace and reached up to muss his hair, getting a bit of paint in the white stands. It was at least kind of accidental. "Oops, sorry. Are you gonna join in?"
Val smiled and gave a soft chuckle at her silly joke. "It was great. I got you," you replied. Maybe not his greatest comeback but he was sleepy. He didn't move away even as she smeared his freshly cleaned hair with paint. He turned his gaze down to what everyone was working on at the invitation then. His eyes lit up then. "Ooh. Fun." He tried to reach out while still laying on Bez and the chair but it put him too far away from everything. "Nuuuuuuuuuu," he whined but in the end allowed himself to slide into the seat beside her so he could actually start painting. It mostly consisted of making colorful swirls, designs, and lines on the edge of the painting.
His aura reached out to the others in a heavy weight then trying to drag anyone and everyone towards sleep, even as he yawned and started stretching himself forward on the painting. Unfortunately for his design, it was still wet as he lay on it and resulted in the paint transferring to his shirt, hands and the right side of his face.[/color]
Valramir still wasn't convinced that their prince of hell would just kill someone that ended up framed and potentially let the real plotter loose once more. And even if he did, plots of murder weren't exactly uncommon. There was something else the prince was looking for. Valramir yawned as he stretched, his wings extended on either side of him to get some blood flowing through the appendages he hardly ever used. Once all stretched out, he flopped down on the bed with a groan. The bed was actually pretty soft. Much nicer than the couch. Within moments, the Sloth had fallen fast asleep.
When he woke next, he was curled up, his wings covering him in an attempt to keep warm. Why was he cold? He blinked bleary eyed trying to remember the events before he had fallen asleep. He looked down and noted he was still naked, save for the damp towel he'd sported. Oh. Well. That explained why he was cold. He uncurled and stretched against his pillows before he slowly started to roll towards the edge of the bed, lazy to actually get up. At the edge, he made a mental note to lift himself up. Instead, he rolled right off the bed. [color=#4169E1]"ooph!" he grunted. That hurt. Valramir ran a hand through his mused hair and yawned again. His aura was certainly making motivation a bit difficult today, wasn't it? He needed to see what was going on, hell what day it was even. Had he slept through the day? No. His towel was still damp which means it had to have only been a couple of hours.
Valramir's eyes started to unfocus again but he startled himself awake when his wing reminded him he was laying on it painfully. He grabbed the edge of the bed and after a couple of attempts made it up into a sitting position. He must be hungry. He had to mingle with the others to influence them and feed off some of their essence or he was going to knock himself into a comma. He sighed and after a bit of convincing got himself up to his feet. He barely got the motivation to pull on a loose red shirt that slid down his shoulder and a pair of pants before he shuffled his way to the door. His wings flared out to catch himself at the same time he gripped the doorframe before he toppled over and fell flat on his face.
The sloth looked up and saw everyone crowded around something. There was paint. That had to be Eris's paint. And there was Eris with a pint brush. What was everyone painting? He smirked. He could just imagine if a human walked into a scene like this; demons just sitting around painting in complete harmony. If he wasn't tired, he would have started laughing at the childish silliness of the moment. "What are you guys painting?" he asked as he started to zombie his way over to everyone. He didn't lift his foot high enough as he got closer and ended up tripping himself and he reached out to catch himself and ended up falling over Bez's shoulders and chair, forcing the smaller demon forward and messed up her artwork. Ooops.
"oh, sorry Bezzy. Didn't mean to do that," he chuckled and wrapped his arms around her shoulders and nuzzled her head. She smelled like soap. She must have used the bath too. She smelled good. He hummed and let himself go limp and use the chair and Bez as support.
Bez yelped in surprise as a weight suddenly crashed into her from behind. Her hand pressed against the picture, smearing everything she'd been working on. A familiar voice spoke at her ear. "Val!" Bez laughed, feeling his weight settle. He didn't seem inclined to pull himself up, instead, clinging to her like a, well, a sloth. "Whatcha doing there? Have a nice trip?" He nuzzled against her and she leaned into the embrace and reached up to muss his hair, getting a bit of paint in the white stands. It was at least kind of accidental. "Oops, sorry. Are you gonna join in?"
Val smiled and gave a soft chuckle at her silly joke. "It was great. I got you," you replied. Maybe not his greatest comeback but he was sleepy. He didn't move away even as she smeared his freshly cleaned hair with paint. He turned his gaze down to what everyone was working on at the invitation then. His eyes lit up then. "Ooh. Fun." He tried to reach out while still laying on Bez and the chair but it put him too far away from everything. "Nuuuuuuuuuu," he whined but in the end allowed himself to slide into the seat beside her so he could actually start painting. It mostly consisted of making colorful swirls, designs, and lines on the edge of the painting.
His aura reached out to the others in a heavy weight then trying to drag anyone and everyone towards sleep, even as he yawned and started stretching himself forward on the painting. Unfortunately for his design, it was still wet as he lay on it and resulted in the paint transferring to his shirt, hands and the right side of his face.[/color]
【Blink back to let me know】
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【The Baths】
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【#5A8D88】
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【The Baths】
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Cyr had allowed himself to melt into the warmth of the water, drowsing. All the thoughts that previously raced through his mind now wandered sleepily, twisting in strange, but not confusing ways. The sound of the door, however, nudged him out of the gentle reverie, and he blinked several times, scanning the area. What had made that sound? It wasn’t Bez, she was still propped up above the water against his shoulder. As he lifted his head up, the back of his neck twinged. Perhaps sleeping upright in a pool had not been the best idea for his spine?
The bleariness evaporated from his eyes as they settled on the white haired figure at the mouth of the room. When had he gotten here? “Well, hello,” he said with a yawn, gently displacing Bez from his shoulder so he could stand and stretch his crooked spine until the segments all popped back into place, though his muscles still complained about their poor treatment. “Come for a dip?”
After his long stretch, he turned halfway back towards Myut, a light smirk curling across his mouth. Bez splashed in the water beside him and he glanced her way as she clambered up to her knees. Looked like nap time was over. He laughed as she wrapped her arms around him, hand drawing along his chest familiarly.
“Oh, don’t tease,” He scolded playfully, laying an arm around her waist. His gaze cut back to Myut, who had obviously been made uncomfortable by their casual touch and perhaps their lack of decorum as well. Pink tinged his face. What a cute demon, eyes averted. So shy. It made a man just want to devour him. Or perhaps that was just Bez’s influence pressing against his side. The sleepy recuperation, and the echoing of the water throughout the warm, fragrant room had pressed those worrisome thoughts from before out of his mind. And the way Myut stood there, half-frozen, made him want to play a little. They deserved a little fun, didn’t they?
“The water’s warm~” he replied, watching the white haired demon idly. “You’re welcome to join us, you know.” He nudged against Bez with his side. “I’m sure Bez doesn’t mind her nap being interrupted too badly, hm?”
As he spoke, Cyr watched the lightest of emotional flavours flick across the white haired demon’s face. What was he thinking? Sourness, trepidation, something slightly softer but still inscrutable. Frustration?
Bez replied, a teasing reproach in her tone. "Of course I mind," she scoffed. "You think I'd just be okay with our little," she let out a short chuckle, "nap being interrupted?"
Her teasing earned a chuckle and another bump of his hip. Perhaps, if he had thought there was a genuine chance that Myut would join them, he would be more upset. But from that caught-in-the-act look that had frozen across his face when Cyr first looked over, he knew that undressing for an audience was more than the little greed demon could bear. (And he couldn’t deny that, had the roles been reversed, those bright green eyes on him, perhaps a little stage fright would have crept up the back of his own neck. That mingled desire to show off and impress, to be admired but to do things right.)
A little smirk curved Myut’s lips, and their eyes met briefly. “Mm, no thanks. You’ll find I don’t share well.”
Cyr felt his heart quicken unexpectedly. What did that mean? Was that some sort of….invitation? An admonishment? Cyr’s lips parted as he rolled the sentiment around in his mind. The click of the door behind the vanished demon brought him back, and his gaze flicked to his compatriot.
“Bezabelle!” he exclaimed in equal parts complaint and question. Had she heard that the way he had?
Bezabelle just giggled. "Greed demons are always fun to tease."
Cyr watched her gaze quietly at the door for several seconds. Her eyes wandered his way, and Cyr held her gaze as that unfocused little smile flashed into something sharper, more mischievous. He didn’t have time to parse her playful words before she’d drawn closer, planting a kiss on him. For a mere moment he could feel something almost...heavy emanating from her, heady like a rare steak, still flush with the vestiges of electricity. Just as soon as it claimed his senses, however, it was gone, and Bez had twisted around.
She slipped from his grasp for a moment, but the way she’d perched on the ledge gave him enough time to recover from the surprise and snag her by the waist again, pulling her back before she could get away. “What a little thief!” he cried out teasingly as he recovered. With her under his arm, he began to climb out of the pool, despite her protest.
For a lust demon, he was in general, fairly in control of himself. It was easy enough to pass about teasing glances and playful touches. But to receive them, especially beyond their usual sphere of contact, and with...whatever that was that he could feel behind the gesture…? Perhaps the stress of the situation, or the high of teasing the greed demon, or even her lover, had left her pent up? Or maybe her gluttonous aura had twisted things around enough to make them what he wanted to feel? Either way, his heart still raced as he towed Bez out of the water.
Once out, he returned to where they’d left their towels. “Thieves get put in burrito jail,” he told her, setting her down but keeping a firm grip on her until he’d wrapped her up in a fluffy towel with perhaps an ounce more gentleness than usual. Despite the disquieting onset of those sudden feelings, which lingered still, he knew he’d hurt her. Which was why he couldn’t. She was small and, though she’d protest it, she was delicate. And he was nothing if not careful to keep up that gentle, playful look and hide his internal tension. He even spent a moment drying her off before letting her go to grab his own towel.
She huffed in reproach as he dried her. Complaining that she wasn’t finished yet. “Oh, so greedy,” Cyr replied, smiling down at her as he straightened to towel off. “Won’t your girlfriend arm-wrestle me into submission if she catches us?” he teased, grabbing another small towel to rub his hair dry. “You can’t go stealing a poor, defenseless demon’s breath like that,” he said, casting her another look. Now that he’d tuned into that channel, he could still feel it--her eyes. Was that a good thing? She had a lot of energy to give, and the nature of her indulgent wantonness fit neatly against his desire to be known, but Bez...what was she? Partner in crime? A listening ear? Little sister? Oh, she would hate that.
“The expectation of fidelity between demons is such a joke. We do what we want with who we want.” Bez still sounded indignant. “Including poor defenseless demons. Isn’t that enough?”
Was that it? Though a genuine smile flicked across his face as he turned to pull his clothes back on, his thoughts lingered on her words. Fidelity. Perhaps that’s what was so wrong with him. That desire to have--and to belong to--one person in entirety. It was less tiring that way, right? More stable, more….romantic? But that was against his nature. Bez was right. Though, perhaps cuddling in the pool had been a bad idea, considering the way they tended to play off each other. What he wouldn’t give for some wine.
Mostly dry, though his hair had fluffed into a half-damp mess, thanks to the humidity in the room, and dressed again, he turned his eyes back to Bez, tilting his head.
She had her back to him, pulling her makeshift outfit back on. After she’d dressed, but before she could turn again, he crossed over to scoop her up from behind, holding her back to his chest firmly, despite her loud yelp. “You’d make a better lust demon than I do,” he teased, resting his forehead against the place where her trapezius quietly faded away into her hairline. Heat radiated from her. He could feel her heart, and the way she shifted ever so slightly as she breathed. It truly was not fair. “Maybe we should swap, huh,” he added, but it had lost the playful lilt for just a moment as he began to walk.
He carried her back towards the door. “Let’s return to the land of the dry~” he murmured. As they had been drying off, there had been some sort of awful racket out there. Who knew what was going on. He paused to open the door, shifting her weight in his arms, and then hesitated there in the doorway. They were talking out there, loudly, but Cyr wasn’t sure whether he was ready to breach back into that. There was some sort of eternal sleepiness to this room, despite the continuous sound of water gurgling.
He cleared his throat softly, standing there in the threshold. “You know,” he said, sounding slightly puzzled. “You can just ask for what you want.” He laid a soft, tentative kiss against the cup of her ear, near the base, and her hair tickled his cheek. “I can’t give you everything, but…” he trailed off. This was a bad idea. He needed to think on this when he wasn’t still electrified by her energy. He swallowed hard and set her down on the thick carpet that lined the hall, leaving the thought unfinished.
She turned to him, but his eyes didn’t focus back on her until she rested her small hand on his sternum. "Is that a promise? Then I'd like at least one more kiss. The last one was too quick."
He studied her face. Soft, earnest, anticipatory. What was he doing? But he wanted this, right? This attention...and it wasn’t like anything that happened here would matter in a week...right? It couldn’t hurt, as long as he was careful. Though restraint when Bez was around had historically proven difficult. But he’d said...he had to go through with his promises. Reneging now would hurt her too.
“Alright,” he said, tongue darting out a bit nervously. Throwaway flings were much easier, even if they always felt like eating stale popcorn. Here, he wanted her to like him. He wanted to do good. That foolish anxiety rippled against his spine. He took her face gently. It was so small in his hand. His thumb traced the comma that cornered her mouth. Why had he said that? Why was he doing this?
Because he wanted to? And he knew it, and she knew it, and it was what she wanted too. So he kissed her softly, as if she were made of sugar, his fingers carefully holding the edge of her jaw. He’d watched her wrap other demons around her finger and laughed about it with her later. But it seemed she could play him just the same. And she was right. A little indulgence never hurt anyone. Just a little. He let go, searching her face for approval as he straightened slowly again.
Her expression was full of triumph. "I knew it. I knew that you wanted me too, despite your little checklist." Her voice was gentle, though reproving. Her eyes flicked over him for a moment, and then she turned, out the door and down the hall. He remained standing for a moment, eyes on the plush fiber of the carpet. The chaos out there had seemed to settle somewhat, though Bez’s voice had now joined the throng. He wasn’t...he didn’t...maybe he should take a proper rest. Have a bit of a think. A certain anxiety plagued his brow. His nature rarely ruled him. But that obfuscation made it so much more difficult to know...to understand...what was it that he wanted? Why was he always the main actor in his own dissatisfaction? Why couldn’t he be more like Bez?
Unease and resentment burned like salt in his throat. Yeah. He needed to lie down. He entered the main room, casting a vaguely curious glance at the group gathered. It seemed they were defacing the painting of the Prince. Myut was there too, looking focused on his art. Where had those paints come from? He crossed over, keeping the couch between himself and the group, then headed for his own room wordlessly, wishing for a door to shut. He stripped his briefly donned clothes again, down to his underwear,and crawled back into bed, stretching out under the covers with a long sigh. At least this bed was nice to his aching back.
The bleariness evaporated from his eyes as they settled on the white haired figure at the mouth of the room. When had he gotten here? “Well, hello,” he said with a yawn, gently displacing Bez from his shoulder so he could stand and stretch his crooked spine until the segments all popped back into place, though his muscles still complained about their poor treatment. “Come for a dip?”
After his long stretch, he turned halfway back towards Myut, a light smirk curling across his mouth. Bez splashed in the water beside him and he glanced her way as she clambered up to her knees. Looked like nap time was over. He laughed as she wrapped her arms around him, hand drawing along his chest familiarly.
“Oh, don’t tease,” He scolded playfully, laying an arm around her waist. His gaze cut back to Myut, who had obviously been made uncomfortable by their casual touch and perhaps their lack of decorum as well. Pink tinged his face. What a cute demon, eyes averted. So shy. It made a man just want to devour him. Or perhaps that was just Bez’s influence pressing against his side. The sleepy recuperation, and the echoing of the water throughout the warm, fragrant room had pressed those worrisome thoughts from before out of his mind. And the way Myut stood there, half-frozen, made him want to play a little. They deserved a little fun, didn’t they?
“The water’s warm~” he replied, watching the white haired demon idly. “You’re welcome to join us, you know.” He nudged against Bez with his side. “I’m sure Bez doesn’t mind her nap being interrupted too badly, hm?”
As he spoke, Cyr watched the lightest of emotional flavours flick across the white haired demon’s face. What was he thinking? Sourness, trepidation, something slightly softer but still inscrutable. Frustration?
Bez replied, a teasing reproach in her tone. "Of course I mind," she scoffed. "You think I'd just be okay with our little," she let out a short chuckle, "nap being interrupted?"
Her teasing earned a chuckle and another bump of his hip. Perhaps, if he had thought there was a genuine chance that Myut would join them, he would be more upset. But from that caught-in-the-act look that had frozen across his face when Cyr first looked over, he knew that undressing for an audience was more than the little greed demon could bear. (And he couldn’t deny that, had the roles been reversed, those bright green eyes on him, perhaps a little stage fright would have crept up the back of his own neck. That mingled desire to show off and impress, to be admired but to do things right.)
A little smirk curved Myut’s lips, and their eyes met briefly. “Mm, no thanks. You’ll find I don’t share well.”
Cyr felt his heart quicken unexpectedly. What did that mean? Was that some sort of….invitation? An admonishment? Cyr’s lips parted as he rolled the sentiment around in his mind. The click of the door behind the vanished demon brought him back, and his gaze flicked to his compatriot.
“Bezabelle!” he exclaimed in equal parts complaint and question. Had she heard that the way he had?
Bezabelle just giggled. "Greed demons are always fun to tease."
Cyr watched her gaze quietly at the door for several seconds. Her eyes wandered his way, and Cyr held her gaze as that unfocused little smile flashed into something sharper, more mischievous. He didn’t have time to parse her playful words before she’d drawn closer, planting a kiss on him. For a mere moment he could feel something almost...heavy emanating from her, heady like a rare steak, still flush with the vestiges of electricity. Just as soon as it claimed his senses, however, it was gone, and Bez had twisted around.
She slipped from his grasp for a moment, but the way she’d perched on the ledge gave him enough time to recover from the surprise and snag her by the waist again, pulling her back before she could get away. “What a little thief!” he cried out teasingly as he recovered. With her under his arm, he began to climb out of the pool, despite her protest.
For a lust demon, he was in general, fairly in control of himself. It was easy enough to pass about teasing glances and playful touches. But to receive them, especially beyond their usual sphere of contact, and with...whatever that was that he could feel behind the gesture…? Perhaps the stress of the situation, or the high of teasing the greed demon, or even her lover, had left her pent up? Or maybe her gluttonous aura had twisted things around enough to make them what he wanted to feel? Either way, his heart still raced as he towed Bez out of the water.
Once out, he returned to where they’d left their towels. “Thieves get put in burrito jail,” he told her, setting her down but keeping a firm grip on her until he’d wrapped her up in a fluffy towel with perhaps an ounce more gentleness than usual. Despite the disquieting onset of those sudden feelings, which lingered still, he knew he’d hurt her. Which was why he couldn’t. She was small and, though she’d protest it, she was delicate. And he was nothing if not careful to keep up that gentle, playful look and hide his internal tension. He even spent a moment drying her off before letting her go to grab his own towel.
She huffed in reproach as he dried her. Complaining that she wasn’t finished yet. “Oh, so greedy,” Cyr replied, smiling down at her as he straightened to towel off. “Won’t your girlfriend arm-wrestle me into submission if she catches us?” he teased, grabbing another small towel to rub his hair dry. “You can’t go stealing a poor, defenseless demon’s breath like that,” he said, casting her another look. Now that he’d tuned into that channel, he could still feel it--her eyes. Was that a good thing? She had a lot of energy to give, and the nature of her indulgent wantonness fit neatly against his desire to be known, but Bez...what was she? Partner in crime? A listening ear? Little sister? Oh, she would hate that.
“The expectation of fidelity between demons is such a joke. We do what we want with who we want.” Bez still sounded indignant. “Including poor defenseless demons. Isn’t that enough?”
Was that it? Though a genuine smile flicked across his face as he turned to pull his clothes back on, his thoughts lingered on her words. Fidelity. Perhaps that’s what was so wrong with him. That desire to have--and to belong to--one person in entirety. It was less tiring that way, right? More stable, more….romantic? But that was against his nature. Bez was right. Though, perhaps cuddling in the pool had been a bad idea, considering the way they tended to play off each other. What he wouldn’t give for some wine.
Mostly dry, though his hair had fluffed into a half-damp mess, thanks to the humidity in the room, and dressed again, he turned his eyes back to Bez, tilting his head.
She had her back to him, pulling her makeshift outfit back on. After she’d dressed, but before she could turn again, he crossed over to scoop her up from behind, holding her back to his chest firmly, despite her loud yelp. “You’d make a better lust demon than I do,” he teased, resting his forehead against the place where her trapezius quietly faded away into her hairline. Heat radiated from her. He could feel her heart, and the way she shifted ever so slightly as she breathed. It truly was not fair. “Maybe we should swap, huh,” he added, but it had lost the playful lilt for just a moment as he began to walk.
He carried her back towards the door. “Let’s return to the land of the dry~” he murmured. As they had been drying off, there had been some sort of awful racket out there. Who knew what was going on. He paused to open the door, shifting her weight in his arms, and then hesitated there in the doorway. They were talking out there, loudly, but Cyr wasn’t sure whether he was ready to breach back into that. There was some sort of eternal sleepiness to this room, despite the continuous sound of water gurgling.
He cleared his throat softly, standing there in the threshold. “You know,” he said, sounding slightly puzzled. “You can just ask for what you want.” He laid a soft, tentative kiss against the cup of her ear, near the base, and her hair tickled his cheek. “I can’t give you everything, but…” he trailed off. This was a bad idea. He needed to think on this when he wasn’t still electrified by her energy. He swallowed hard and set her down on the thick carpet that lined the hall, leaving the thought unfinished.
She turned to him, but his eyes didn’t focus back on her until she rested her small hand on his sternum. "Is that a promise? Then I'd like at least one more kiss. The last one was too quick."
He studied her face. Soft, earnest, anticipatory. What was he doing? But he wanted this, right? This attention...and it wasn’t like anything that happened here would matter in a week...right? It couldn’t hurt, as long as he was careful. Though restraint when Bez was around had historically proven difficult. But he’d said...he had to go through with his promises. Reneging now would hurt her too.
“Alright,” he said, tongue darting out a bit nervously. Throwaway flings were much easier, even if they always felt like eating stale popcorn. Here, he wanted her to like him. He wanted to do good. That foolish anxiety rippled against his spine. He took her face gently. It was so small in his hand. His thumb traced the comma that cornered her mouth. Why had he said that? Why was he doing this?
Because he wanted to? And he knew it, and she knew it, and it was what she wanted too. So he kissed her softly, as if she were made of sugar, his fingers carefully holding the edge of her jaw. He’d watched her wrap other demons around her finger and laughed about it with her later. But it seemed she could play him just the same. And she was right. A little indulgence never hurt anyone. Just a little. He let go, searching her face for approval as he straightened slowly again.
Her expression was full of triumph. "I knew it. I knew that you wanted me too, despite your little checklist." Her voice was gentle, though reproving. Her eyes flicked over him for a moment, and then she turned, out the door and down the hall. He remained standing for a moment, eyes on the plush fiber of the carpet. The chaos out there had seemed to settle somewhat, though Bez’s voice had now joined the throng. He wasn’t...he didn’t...maybe he should take a proper rest. Have a bit of a think. A certain anxiety plagued his brow. His nature rarely ruled him. But that obfuscation made it so much more difficult to know...to understand...what was it that he wanted? Why was he always the main actor in his own dissatisfaction? Why couldn’t he be more like Bez?
Unease and resentment burned like salt in his throat. Yeah. He needed to lie down. He entered the main room, casting a vaguely curious glance at the group gathered. It seemed they were defacing the painting of the Prince. Myut was there too, looking focused on his art. Where had those paints come from? He crossed over, keeping the couch between himself and the group, then headed for his own room wordlessly, wishing for a door to shut. He stripped his briefly donned clothes again, down to his underwear,and crawled back into bed, stretching out under the covers with a long sigh. At least this bed was nice to his aching back.
【"Unfortunately for everybody, I will keep doing whatever I want."】
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【Baff time→ Finger painting session】
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【#CD5c5c】
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【Baff time→ Finger painting session】
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As Bezabelle drifted deeper into sleep, she instinctively cuddled more closely into the form she was leaning against: Her hand coming up to Cyr's chest, her chin curling down to meet it, her legs coming up to brush against his. Any longer, and she may have ended up in his lap. However, all good things must come to an end. Cyr began to stir, each movement bringing Bez further out of her doze. Her initial, semi-conscious impulse was to pull closer and resist being woken. Instead, Bez was firmly displaced. Rude. With no choice but literally to sink or swim, Bez came back to awareness.
Oh, that's right. She and Cyr were in the baths with Myut. No, wait, Myut was new. And Cyr was standing. He asked the white haired demon to join them. As Bez looked around Cyr and caught the look on Mew's face, she realized they had been "caught." A smirk played across her lips. She could use this. Myut looked acutely uncomfortable with the scenario he seemed to have walked into. Why not make him more uncomfortable.
Bez pulled herself up to her knees on the ledge, still only coming just up to Cyr's shoulder. She pouted,"Oh, what a shame to be interrupted." She draped her arms around Cyr, one hand trailing suggestively down his chest. Her voice turned as sultry and steamy as the room. "And right in the middle, too. Tch."
“Oh, don’t tease,”Cyr draped his arm around her, and though the gesture was casual, Bez couldn't help the surge of desire. She forced her attention back to the room's other occupant.
“That was the intention, but…”
Aww, Meu was embarrassed. Bez couldn't keep her smirk from returning. She'd have to make it up to him later. Maybe...
“The water’s warm. You’re welcome to join us, you know.” Cyr bumped Bez, but her attention remained centered on the white haired demon. “I’m sure Bez doesn’t mind her nap being interrupted too badly, hm?”
Cyr seemed to be trying to bait the white haired demon as well. Bez didn't think that Myut would join them, but she couldn't resist laying it on thick, anyway.
"Of course I mind," she scoffed. "You think I'd just be okay with our little," she let a short but meaningful chuckle escape, "nap being interrupted?"
“Mm, no thanks. You’ll find I don’t share well.” The words weren't directed at her. Myut seemed to have eyes only for Cyr as he delivered his refusal. Then he turned and left without bothering to look her way.
“Bezabelle!”
As soon as the door clicked shut, Cyr scolded. Bezabelle couldn't help but giggle at the admonition. "Greed demons are always fun to tease." She stared at the door for a long moment, lost in thought. Then her attention turned to Cyr. He was still holding her, his arm clasped around her waist. Her eyes fixed on his features.
Her tone was soft, happy and dreamy as she said, "I just remembered," her smile turned mischievous in an instant, "lust demons are fun to tease too." Bez pulled him close before he could catch on, sneaking a kiss. It was something she hadn't dared before, the simple act sending a thrill through her. Then, she attempted an escape, wanting to find out whether that strong grip would loosen in surprise or tighten to keep her close.
Bez managed to slip away, but only for a heartbeat. She had no hope of outpacing those long arms.
“What a little thief!” Cyr exclaimed, his tone light and teasing.
But instead of gathering her up to exact his revenge, or perhaps something sweeter, Cyr tucked Bez under his arm and got out of the water. As much as Bez had wanted Cyr to catch her, she didn't exactly want to be treated like a potato sack. Or worse, a child. To add insult to injury, Cyr had the nerve to call her a thief.
With a breathless laugh that Bez could not quite repress, she retorted, "I am not!"
“Thieves get put in burrito jail.”
She scoffed at his intention to put her in 'burrito jail,' but relented to stay still a moment, if only because of the firm hand holding her in place. She watched his face, frustrated by the gentleness there. If only she could read his mind, to see whether his thoughts actually matched his expression. She thought he'd want more, but…
"You don't have to be so patronizing," she huffed, "After all, what if I wasn't done with my thieving?"
"Oh, so greedy,” Cyr grinned, getting a towel to dry himself off. Bez raised an eyebrow as she finished towelling off. She had to resist the impulse to stick her tongue out at him. “Won’t your girlfriend arm-wrestle me into submission if she catches us? You can’t go stealing a poor, defenseless demon’s breath like that.”
It seemed he was determined to stay obstinate. Then he brought Viv into the conversation, hitting a sore spot he probably did not even realize was there. She turned slightly, using drying herself off as an excuse to hide her face from him. Bez tried to inject cheer into her tone, to mirror his teasing words as she huffed again.
“The expectation of fidelity between demons is such a joke. We do what we want with who we want.” She flashed a quick look at Cyr, “Including poor defenseless demons. Isn’t that enough?”
He was already pulling his clothes on and Bez couldn’t help but sigh. It was no fun being naked alone. She began dressing as well, turning away once more and trying not to seem pouty.
Bez let out a startled yelp as Cyr grabbed her, lifting her small form effortlessly. He had her back pressed against his chest, strong arms gripped around her waist. She could not really look at him this way, so she couldn’t read his expression. Was he just roughousing?
“You’d make a better lust demon than I do.”
He teased her once again, but this time it felt different as he nuzzled against her ever so gently. She gave a light gasp at the touch, just below her hairline, his breath soft and warm.
“Maybe we should swap, huh.”
His tone was oddly gentle as he finished out his comment about them swapping. Was this.. real? It was such a sudden switch, and not one she had thought would happen anytime soon. Bez half expected Cyr to laugh and tell her he tricked her. But, no. Something about this was different. All too soon, it seemed the moment was ending.
“Let’s return to the land of the dry.”
“I suppose, if we have to.” Her tone was just as soft as his.
He hesitated at the door. There was obviously something interesting happening in the other room, but though she stared straight ahead, Bez’s attention was fixed behind her.
"You know, you can just ask for what you want.”
More soft words, another gentle kiss. Bez could feel her heart racing despite the careful control she had over her breaths.
"I can’t give you everything, but…”
Just ask? I wonder just how serious he is about that.
Bez was determined to push at least a little farther. He set her down and she turned.
"Is that a promise?" She laid a hand on his chest, looking up at him, "Then I'd like at least one more kiss. The last one was too quick." She waited, letting him make the first move, already testing to find his boundaries.
He hesitated just long enough that Bez wondered if he would kiss her at all.
“Alright,” he agreed, nervously.
Another pause, filled with tension.
And then the kiss, hesitant and sweet. She wondered if he thought she would shatter, wondered what he would do if she suddenly pulled him close and kissed him fiercely. No, it was likely too early for that. She didn't want to scare her quarry. After all, she had been trying for this next step since their second meeting. Hell, she wouldn't have refused him on their first meeting. All too soon, the moment was over.
She searched his face for a couple long seconds. There was anxiety there, tensing his features. A genuine smile curled her lips.
"I knew it. I knew that you wanted me too, despite your little checklist." Her voice was gentle, though reproving. She studied his face for a reaction, then turned and walked down the hall. Bez allowed herself one last look back at Cyr before she opened the door, stepping into the chaos that was the main room.
"Well, well, well! What do we have here?"
A quick look around told her all she needed to know. The painting from over the mantle was missing, now residing in its new spot on the table. There was paint everywhere. Was it enough paint? Definitely not!
Still exhilarated from Cyr's kiss, Bez flounced over, examining what had been done so far. Eris was full on finger painting, making art in her usual abstract yet unfocused way. Ino had gone for turning Abadeer into a more cartoonish version of himself, complete with a pet snake. Myut, surprisingly, was also joining in, finger deep in multiple colors. And Vivian, last but certainly not least, was adding a vibrant flower crown to the princess' hair.
Bez was definitely excited to fill in all the gaps. She asked Eris's permission to use her paints.
Eris looked up with a wide grin.[/color] “It’s not a party without Bezabelle!” she crowed, pushing her supplies towards the Gluttony demon, causing some to tumble.
Bez grabbed paint and started with a long streak of red across the bottom of the painting, right at the feet of the pair, followed by a line of yellow further up. Soon, the bottom of the picture was consumed by an ombre of flame, some tongues of fire reaching up to the elbows of the depicted royals.
Mixing complete, Bez regarded the painting a moment, her expression slowly becoming more serious. She grabbed for a bit of brown, and started roughing out the form of a noose hanging loosely in Abadeer's hand. Hmmm, perhaps I should have stuck with something lighter? Bez pondered. She didn't stop though. It was too late. Besides, she'd never been able to stop herself from going a bit too far.
Bez yelped in surprise as a weight suddenly crashed into her from behind. Her hand pressed against the picture, smearing everything she'd been working on. Probably for the best. Now the loop of the noose looked like little more than a wet turd dribbling from the Prince's fingers.
A familiar voice spoke at her ear. "Oh, sorry Bezzy. Didn't mean to do that,"
"Val!" Bez laughed, feeling his weight settle. He didn't seem inclined to pull himself up, instead, clinging to her like a, well, a sloth.
"Whatcha doing there? Have a nice trip?"
"It was great. I got you." He nuzzled against her and she leaned into the embrace and reached up to muss his hair, getting a mix of brown and orange paint in the white stands. It was at least kind of accidental.
"Oops, sorry. Are you gonna join in?"
"Ooh. Fun."
He stretched toward the painting, making a dramatic yet tired noise as he failed to reach it. He was smushing her in the process, but she just gave a lightly scolding, [/color]"Val!" and a laugh. He scooted instead, joining her in her chair, halfway sprawled in her lap. As he slumped into the painting, his aura settled over the gathering like a heavy blanket. It was a bit stifling, really, but Bez didn't mind. She was done painting anyway.
She gave a sleepy yawn as she said, "Hey, you're gonna… get paint everywhere." She put her arms around his waist, intending to pull the sloth back upright, but instead found herself snuggling into his form, nestled just below his wings.
It seemed it was high time for another nap.[/color]
【Why is it always me???】
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【Observation Room --> The Lion's Den】
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【#739AC5】
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【Observation Room --> The Lion's Den】
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Amos stood, watching, with a heavy sludge of dismay settled in his lungs. Why was it his job to deal with this? These demons were beyond unruly. Not that it surprised him, trapping a group of demons together in a small room like that was a recipe for destruction, especially after the chaos these particular demons had already wrought. The little wrath certainly seemed to be the ring-leader of wanton destruction. As long as she didn’t start setting things on fire…
“Has anything else happened while I was gone?” he asked the boy seated in the observation room. The charms used to display what was going on in the rooms were simple enough, but at this magnitude, two in the main room, one for each bedroom, and one in each of the other rooms, though the majority of those were still dark, they must have been quite expensive. Abadeer seemed to be quite serious about this situation.
As of now, whatever chaos that had occurred in his absence had long since finished. The painting had been torn down and defaced and the demons seemed content to nap amid their mischief.
He tore his eyes from the projections and turned to the boy. He was young, though there was a solemn set to his face. Probably one of Abadeer’s personal servants, since Amos rarely saw him around. Well, they were in this together. The boy looked back at him with a stoic nod.
"Nothing too crazy has occurred since your peek into the room. Just destroying the painting." The boy said, before adding that the demons didn't seem to interested in finding out who the killer was so far.
Amos sighed softly. “I appreciate your hard work,” he said, pulling a cinnamon bun wrapped in a napkin from his pocket and putting it on the desk. This would be a long week for his partner, holed up in here, watching that nonsense all the time. “I can’t believe they would be so...bold,” he said, reaching to the display that showed the defaced painting. It rippled slightly at his touch.
He tipped his head as he turned back to the boy. “Which one do you think did it?” he asked. “Any suspicions so far?”
"Thanks," the boy said softly, nibbling at the pastry with a thoughtful look on his face. "Well my first thought is always wrath but I am not sure that is the case here. Ino's collections of poison is troubling. I feel like Ino may be up to something. But there are a lot of missing links. I think we need to…. Add some pressure to this crucible. What do you think? You were actually in there with them."
Amos chewed on his bottom lip. “Truly? I’m not sure. The wrath seems very aggressive, but is she clever enough to enact such a large scale plan on her own? She seems more reactive than premeditative.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “One of the others has to be a ring-leader, right? None of these seem to have both the motive and the skill to work on their own, except the envy...” He shook his head. Now wasn’t the time or the place to speculate like that. They were here to observe. And speaking of…
“Some pressure? I fear it would lead to an explosion more quickly than you think. The glutton and the wrath especially seem to delight in agitation.” He turned to study the other. “What did you have in mind?”
He leaned down as the surveillance guard explained a plan to sow discord amongst the demons, and possibly unearth some information at the same time. He hadn't thought much about the greed demon so far, that one seemed fairly polite compared to some of the other troublemakers. But if the boy thought it would work...
As the afternoon dragged on, Amos got the summons to bring food for the detainees. Which meant he had to go back in there. And take the painting too while he was at it. No need to let them deface that any further, at this point, they’d probably have to burn it. He would be doing them a favor, as he couldn’t imagine Abadeer would be very happy to see such a mockery of himself and his wife.
The sun had drifted low enough to gleam through the windows of the boys’ rooms, casting long shadows into the main room. Amos sighed as the serving shuttle rattled merrily alongside him. The guard who had given him the orders had seemed rather unhappy about indulging their detainees, but apparently someone thought they deserved to eat well. The silver shuttle was stacked full of platters--roasted and breaded meats, canapes, rices and noodles, thinly sliced and and delicately arrayed vegetables, tureens of stews and sauces, and pitchers of light, refreshing drinks. No alcohol, however.
He entered the room cautiously, the door melting away behind him as soon as it snicked shut. Between the rattling sounds of the dishes, and the distinctive sound of the door, he was sure he’d captured the attention of any wakeful demon, and he didn’t particularly care for that. All he needed to do was get the plates off the cart and onto the table, and remove the painting, and he could go. No need for the little wrath whelp to attack him again. Though this time he had replaced his sword at his hip with a large stick in case he needed to do any defending.
“Has anything else happened while I was gone?” he asked the boy seated in the observation room. The charms used to display what was going on in the rooms were simple enough, but at this magnitude, two in the main room, one for each bedroom, and one in each of the other rooms, though the majority of those were still dark, they must have been quite expensive. Abadeer seemed to be quite serious about this situation.
As of now, whatever chaos that had occurred in his absence had long since finished. The painting had been torn down and defaced and the demons seemed content to nap amid their mischief.
He tore his eyes from the projections and turned to the boy. He was young, though there was a solemn set to his face. Probably one of Abadeer’s personal servants, since Amos rarely saw him around. Well, they were in this together. The boy looked back at him with a stoic nod.
"Nothing too crazy has occurred since your peek into the room. Just destroying the painting." The boy said, before adding that the demons didn't seem to interested in finding out who the killer was so far.
Amos sighed softly. “I appreciate your hard work,” he said, pulling a cinnamon bun wrapped in a napkin from his pocket and putting it on the desk. This would be a long week for his partner, holed up in here, watching that nonsense all the time. “I can’t believe they would be so...bold,” he said, reaching to the display that showed the defaced painting. It rippled slightly at his touch.
He tipped his head as he turned back to the boy. “Which one do you think did it?” he asked. “Any suspicions so far?”
"Thanks," the boy said softly, nibbling at the pastry with a thoughtful look on his face. "Well my first thought is always wrath but I am not sure that is the case here. Ino's collections of poison is troubling. I feel like Ino may be up to something. But there are a lot of missing links. I think we need to…. Add some pressure to this crucible. What do you think? You were actually in there with them."
Amos chewed on his bottom lip. “Truly? I’m not sure. The wrath seems very aggressive, but is she clever enough to enact such a large scale plan on her own? She seems more reactive than premeditative.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “One of the others has to be a ring-leader, right? None of these seem to have both the motive and the skill to work on their own, except the envy...” He shook his head. Now wasn’t the time or the place to speculate like that. They were here to observe. And speaking of…
“Some pressure? I fear it would lead to an explosion more quickly than you think. The glutton and the wrath especially seem to delight in agitation.” He turned to study the other. “What did you have in mind?”
He leaned down as the surveillance guard explained a plan to sow discord amongst the demons, and possibly unearth some information at the same time. He hadn't thought much about the greed demon so far, that one seemed fairly polite compared to some of the other troublemakers. But if the boy thought it would work...
As the afternoon dragged on, Amos got the summons to bring food for the detainees. Which meant he had to go back in there. And take the painting too while he was at it. No need to let them deface that any further, at this point, they’d probably have to burn it. He would be doing them a favor, as he couldn’t imagine Abadeer would be very happy to see such a mockery of himself and his wife.
The sun had drifted low enough to gleam through the windows of the boys’ rooms, casting long shadows into the main room. Amos sighed as the serving shuttle rattled merrily alongside him. The guard who had given him the orders had seemed rather unhappy about indulging their detainees, but apparently someone thought they deserved to eat well. The silver shuttle was stacked full of platters--roasted and breaded meats, canapes, rices and noodles, thinly sliced and and delicately arrayed vegetables, tureens of stews and sauces, and pitchers of light, refreshing drinks. No alcohol, however.
He entered the room cautiously, the door melting away behind him as soon as it snicked shut. Between the rattling sounds of the dishes, and the distinctive sound of the door, he was sure he’d captured the attention of any wakeful demon, and he didn’t particularly care for that. All he needed to do was get the plates off the cart and onto the table, and remove the painting, and he could go. No need for the little wrath whelp to attack him again. Though this time he had replaced his sword at his hip with a large stick in case he needed to do any defending.
【Umm... accused of assassination attempts but fed like kings? I missed something.】
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【Main Room】
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【#4169E1】
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Valramir hummed contently as he slept. He felt at peace and he was getting filled with all the energies in the room. It was an amazing feeling. The ache in his back didn't really register since the rest of him was pretty comfortable where he was. Something was laying against him too and it was soft and warm. He didn't want to wake up from it just yet. He wasn't dreaming, but it was still a refreshing nap. At length however, a noise in the room and a change of energies roused the sloth demon. Valramir opened his eyes a sliver and noted the pretty guard had returned to them. Oh. Was there another announcement?
He yawned and stretched on the painting he'd fallen asleep on and blinked wildly as he took stock of the situation. Bezzy was still in the room with him. She was sleeping against him and the source of the warmth. The others weren't around but he could feel their energies in his core. A slow smile spread on his features. He'd put everyone to sleep. Win-win for Sloth. Also explained why he was started to feel all charged up and ready to go for the day. He would be far more energetic for a while until he needed to replenish again. That worked for him since that meant he was going to be more active now during this critical week. He could rest up after this was all over with. Maybe he could drag Eris, Bezzy and Viv home with him for a sleep over. It would be nice to have one of the boys over too. He enjoyed his time with Bezzy and she was always fun in bed and he'd always have a special place for her, but it had been a while since he'd had a male demon to play with.
Totally unaware of the paint on his face, hair and clothes, he turned a little to see the guard had entered with a tray of food. "Ohh Bezzy. Food," he said and poked her cheek to wake her. Bez woke abruptly, at a loss for a moment about where she was. Ah, she was coddling with Val, so that explained the sudden nap.
"Food? Hmm," she glanced around. "Speaking of which, what is that, five for Sloth? Nice!"
"I think that's 6," he winked.
Bez gave the sloth a squeeze and laughed. "Maybe so."
"You were tired. Did you at least sleep well?" He asked as he started to stand up to see what food the other demon had brought. He may have just fed off demon essence, but it was always nice to sink one's teeth into something physical, and there were lots of flavors to explore.
Bez paused and thought about the question. "Possibly. It's always hard to remember. Thanks for the forced nap," she teased, sticking out her tongue. Valramir grinned and leaned forward to nip her tongue before pulling away and walking over to the blond guard that now stood by the table with the cart. He looked skiddish, or maybe it was just Valramir's impression. Valramir opened up one of the tops of the covered food trays and his brow arched in surprise. This food looked and smelled absolutely amazing. It wasn't dribble. But why were they being fed so well? It was almost like they were still guests of honor at the party.
"Ah, out squishy blond guard! What's this? A feast for kings... for criminals? My, if this is how Abadeer treats potential assassins, I'm afraid what he'd do to friends," he chuckled and quickly moved over to Amos and draped an arm around his shoulders. "Say, what's the catch for this lovely meal, hmm?" he asked then. There had to be a catch somewhere. No one would feed criminals this well unless it was their last hoorah. If he remembered rightly, they still had 6 days or maybe it was 5, before one of them would be executed.
Amos recoiled slightly, a hand firmly resting on his stick. "Er," he said slowly, surveilling the others. "Let me take out the painting you all defaced without trouble?"
Oh interesting. He hadn't answered the question and hadn't removed Val from his person. He wondered how far he could push this guard. Could he make it 7 for 7? Seven was a nice number. "Oh sure, I don't care much about the painting," he grinned and glanced at the stick the man had grasped in defense. He leaned in close to man's ear, he smelled nice. But he wasn't keen on having that stick used on him. "You know I'm the only one that can slow or entirely stop Eris and the others from jumping you, right? Besiideess I abhor violence." He reassured. He added more of his weight to the man, not caring that Amos seemed reluctant. He wondered if he could drag Amos down with him, maybe get him to forget his duty a bit. Amos seemed to be unsure whether to move away or to prevent the sloth demon from falling over. He cleared his throat.
"Thank you for your....er...conern," he said, leaning away a bit more. Cute. Amos thought he was concerned about his safety! He glanced at Bezzy and gave her a wink, knowing she would indulge him.
"Yes, of course. Why don't you come sit with is, have a meal...?" He asked, pressing his influence on Amos as he subtly started to pull him towards a seat. Amos dragged his feet, trying to resist the sloth's weight against his arm.
"No thank you," he said, turning his face to the door. He really didn't want to stay here any longer than he had to.
"Oh, come now! I bet they have you working yourself to the bone. Take a load off. Reellaaxx" Amos pressed his lips together.
"I can't."
"Yes you can," Valramir sang in his ear. "You're tired... aren't you?" He said and let himself drop, aiming to bring him down with him in a sloth hug.
"I...I'm not," Amos replied, stumbling again, trying to hold him up. Val didn't make it easy for him. He was just dead weight.
"We've got nice beds and company. I could snuggle you, keep you safe from mean ol' wrath."
Amos sighed, slowly lowering Val to the ground. "I just want to take the painting and go. Enjoy your food."
"Booooo you're no fun." Valramir said and gave a pout as he was set down on the ground. Dang. Amos had far more will than he'd given him credit for. And he still get the answer he'd wanted. Oh well. Maybe next time. Valramir got up off the floor and started to pat himself down. Only then did he realized he was covered in paint. Oh. He'd just taken a bath too! He touched his face then and felt the roughness that meant paint had dried on his skin. He chuckled lightly at the silliness of it. He'd worry about cleaning it up later. It didn't much matter after all. Valramir reigned back his aura from the others and contained it into his body again. No reason to keep the others asleep now that there was Amos and food. This would prove far more entertaining. He grabbed a plate of food then to start munching away. He wondered how the others would react. Amos had been lunged at last time after all.
He yawned and stretched on the painting he'd fallen asleep on and blinked wildly as he took stock of the situation. Bezzy was still in the room with him. She was sleeping against him and the source of the warmth. The others weren't around but he could feel their energies in his core. A slow smile spread on his features. He'd put everyone to sleep. Win-win for Sloth. Also explained why he was started to feel all charged up and ready to go for the day. He would be far more energetic for a while until he needed to replenish again. That worked for him since that meant he was going to be more active now during this critical week. He could rest up after this was all over with. Maybe he could drag Eris, Bezzy and Viv home with him for a sleep over. It would be nice to have one of the boys over too. He enjoyed his time with Bezzy and she was always fun in bed and he'd always have a special place for her, but it had been a while since he'd had a male demon to play with.
Totally unaware of the paint on his face, hair and clothes, he turned a little to see the guard had entered with a tray of food. "Ohh Bezzy. Food," he said and poked her cheek to wake her. Bez woke abruptly, at a loss for a moment about where she was. Ah, she was coddling with Val, so that explained the sudden nap.
"Food? Hmm," she glanced around. "Speaking of which, what is that, five for Sloth? Nice!"
"I think that's 6," he winked.
Bez gave the sloth a squeeze and laughed. "Maybe so."
"You were tired. Did you at least sleep well?" He asked as he started to stand up to see what food the other demon had brought. He may have just fed off demon essence, but it was always nice to sink one's teeth into something physical, and there were lots of flavors to explore.
Bez paused and thought about the question. "Possibly. It's always hard to remember. Thanks for the forced nap," she teased, sticking out her tongue. Valramir grinned and leaned forward to nip her tongue before pulling away and walking over to the blond guard that now stood by the table with the cart. He looked skiddish, or maybe it was just Valramir's impression. Valramir opened up one of the tops of the covered food trays and his brow arched in surprise. This food looked and smelled absolutely amazing. It wasn't dribble. But why were they being fed so well? It was almost like they were still guests of honor at the party.
"Ah, out squishy blond guard! What's this? A feast for kings... for criminals? My, if this is how Abadeer treats potential assassins, I'm afraid what he'd do to friends," he chuckled and quickly moved over to Amos and draped an arm around his shoulders. "Say, what's the catch for this lovely meal, hmm?" he asked then. There had to be a catch somewhere. No one would feed criminals this well unless it was their last hoorah. If he remembered rightly, they still had 6 days or maybe it was 5, before one of them would be executed.
Amos recoiled slightly, a hand firmly resting on his stick. "Er," he said slowly, surveilling the others. "Let me take out the painting you all defaced without trouble?"
Oh interesting. He hadn't answered the question and hadn't removed Val from his person. He wondered how far he could push this guard. Could he make it 7 for 7? Seven was a nice number. "Oh sure, I don't care much about the painting," he grinned and glanced at the stick the man had grasped in defense. He leaned in close to man's ear, he smelled nice. But he wasn't keen on having that stick used on him. "You know I'm the only one that can slow or entirely stop Eris and the others from jumping you, right? Besiideess I abhor violence." He reassured. He added more of his weight to the man, not caring that Amos seemed reluctant. He wondered if he could drag Amos down with him, maybe get him to forget his duty a bit. Amos seemed to be unsure whether to move away or to prevent the sloth demon from falling over. He cleared his throat.
"Thank you for your....er...conern," he said, leaning away a bit more. Cute. Amos thought he was concerned about his safety! He glanced at Bezzy and gave her a wink, knowing she would indulge him.
"Yes, of course. Why don't you come sit with is, have a meal...?" He asked, pressing his influence on Amos as he subtly started to pull him towards a seat. Amos dragged his feet, trying to resist the sloth's weight against his arm.
"No thank you," he said, turning his face to the door. He really didn't want to stay here any longer than he had to.
"Oh, come now! I bet they have you working yourself to the bone. Take a load off. Reellaaxx" Amos pressed his lips together.
"I can't."
"Yes you can," Valramir sang in his ear. "You're tired... aren't you?" He said and let himself drop, aiming to bring him down with him in a sloth hug.
"I...I'm not," Amos replied, stumbling again, trying to hold him up. Val didn't make it easy for him. He was just dead weight.
"We've got nice beds and company. I could snuggle you, keep you safe from mean ol' wrath."
Amos sighed, slowly lowering Val to the ground. "I just want to take the painting and go. Enjoy your food."
"Booooo you're no fun." Valramir said and gave a pout as he was set down on the ground. Dang. Amos had far more will than he'd given him credit for. And he still get the answer he'd wanted. Oh well. Maybe next time. Valramir got up off the floor and started to pat himself down. Only then did he realized he was covered in paint. Oh. He'd just taken a bath too! He touched his face then and felt the roughness that meant paint had dried on his skin. He chuckled lightly at the silliness of it. He'd worry about cleaning it up later. It didn't much matter after all. Valramir reigned back his aura from the others and contained it into his body again. No reason to keep the others asleep now that there was Amos and food. This would prove far more entertaining. He grabbed a plate of food then to start munching away. He wondered how the others would react. Amos had been lunged at last time after all.
【"When it comes to making trouble, the more the merrier!"】
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【To the feast! 】
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【#CD5c5c】
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【To the feast! 】
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【#CD5c5c】
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Once again, Bezabelle found herself waking confused and disoriented. She was snuggled against someone, this time in a chair. Between the white hair covered in paint, the wing poking into her face, and the slowly retreating aura, Bez was able to connect the dots. That, and Val was actively poking her cheek.
"Food? Hmm," she glanced around. She could see most of them slumped here and there, but there was someone notably absent. Bez wondered if she should check in with Cyr or if it was too soon. Regardless, "Speaking of which, what is that, five for Sloth? Nice!"
"I think that's 6," he winked.
Bez gave the sloth a squeeze and laughed. "Maybe so."
"You were tired. Did you at least sleep well?" Val asked.
Bez paused and thought about the question. "Possibly. It's always hard to remember. Thanks for the forced nap," she teased, sticking out her tongue. Val made as if to nip her tongue and Bez pulled back with a laugh. Then she had the chair all to herself again. She settled back more snugly, enjoying the rich scents of the food. It smelled like quite the spread. And even better, dinner came with a little entertainment. Their Mouse had returned.
Val moved over to the guard, pulling his usual act of flirting by clinging to the other party. Amos seemed to weather it well enough. At least he hadn't fallen to a slumbering pile on the floor yet, even if he did look acutely uncomfortable. Bez noted he was now carrying some kind of baton at his belt. Good, the lesson from last time had stuck. He was treating them with more respect.
Apparently Amos wanted the painting. Hmm, Bez wasn't sure that she wanted to let him take it. After all, they had all worked so hard on it. It was now an actual work of art, not just some stuffy portrait. The guards would probably just get rid of it, and where was the fun in that?
Val mentioned her, looking her way with a wink, and Bez did her best imitation of Eris and gave Amos a feral grin and wave. Whether under Val's influence or no, she’d do what she wanted. Hopefully that much was clear. Speaking of which….
Bez laid a possessive hand on the frame of the desecrated painting, her smile still decidedly dangerous. She hoped Amos wouldn't jump straight to using his baton on her, but if he did, she was sure he'd learn another unpleasant lesson.
"He's right, you know, little Mouse. It would be no fun to just let you have it. I don't like the thought of you taking off with all our hard work just like that. Mmmm, I don't like that at all. But… what if we were to offer you a trade instead?"
Amos looked exasperated. Maybe after this he’d just go back home instead. It would be better than continuing to deal with this rogues gallery. Especially this one, with her mocking grin and that terrible lilt to her voice. "I’ve brought you food, haven’t I?” he responded, plainly irritated and also somewhat distracted by the other trouble-maker who was currently crawling out from under the table to join the fray.
"I could just leave you all alone for the rest of your stay, is that what you want?” Val’s aura hadn’t made him fall asleep, but it certainly made him seem tired and grumpy.
Bez rose, circling toward Amos, coming close to cutting off his path to the door, but stopping a couple steps short. No need to come off as aggressive. That was Eris's job.
"Actually, that's my point, dear Mouse. Look at all this delectable food! It's almost a shame to waste on us dangerous criminals, isn't it? It's you guards who actually deserve it. And you especially, Amos, for dealing with us. Isn't that right?" She watched him for a breath, but continued on before he could respond, "This is my proposal: stay long enough to properly enjoy some of this feast for yourself. Then, take the painting with no fuss from us. And if you behave, I'll even make an effort to keep the wolves at bay while you eat with us."
She stuck out a hand, looking innocent as possible. "Deal?"
Amos looked less than thrilled. The oddly..
benign request seemed more out of place than any of the other far more outlandish things that could have come from her snide mouth. She wanted him to stick around. Obviously she wanted to press him for more information, but she'd be disappointed to know that there wasn't much more.
"I suppose I could linger for a little while," he said warily, looking at her hand. "But if they start getting rowdy," he added, eyes cutting to Eris, who was now standing on a chair behind Bez, doing her best to look intimidating, "I'm going to leave with or without the painting."
He didn't particularly want to eat, though. But he could stand here until she was satisfied, that didn't sound too bad.
To her surprise, Amos agreed. He only looked at her hand, declining to shake on it, but Bez was pleased regardless. He looked behind her, and Bez realised that Eris had woken as well.
"Fair enough," she replied. Bez half- turned toward Eris with a grin. "You see that? Seems to me like someone's being much more respectful this time around."
Wasting no more time, Bez went to the food and grabbed two plates to start. She called out to any who hadn't roused yet, "Food's here! Everyone better hurry up; I don't intend to hold back!"
She quickly filled a plate for herself, getting a sampling of as much as her plate could hold, and maybe a little more. It was all in danger of toppling if she wasn't very careful. Then Bez gave Amos a long, thoughtful look. She decisively dished out helpings of select dishes, each portion generous. She set the plates at the two chairs nearest to the door, then offered Amos the seat at the end.
"There, come sit. I'll protect you from all these big bad demons."
Amos reluctantly sat, not looking thrilled about the patronizing tone the gluttony demon had adopted. His stick thunked against the side of the chair as he folded his arms, finally letting go of its hilt. Was this the same sort of game the sloth had been trying to play with him when he hung onto his shoulder and tried to drag him down? Joke was on them, he was too profoundly uncomfortable to do anything questionable. There were no cracks in his exterior for one to wriggle into. Even if there were, there wasn’t really anything he could do for them. He had no information, no agency to let them go, and no intention to free them. They were all being watched now, afterall, and if he had the urge to just open the door for them, the guard on surveillance would certainly sound the alarm and they would be apprehended again.
Amos stared down at the food in front of him. That being said, having a little bit to eat wouldn’t hurt terribly, would it? And it would keep the gluttony off his back. Amos took a few small bites, watching the rest of the table as he did so.
【"The little rat man has returned...how annoying."】
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【Bez's right hand】
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【#aa5f77】
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Somehow, so abruptly, time had leaked through her fingers. Paint had as well, and now her palms were covered in flaky colourful scabs. The carpet smelled musty. She cracked one eye open. What had woken her? What had sent her off to sleep. Well, the latter was certainly Val, she could recognize the lingering grogginess of his handiwork anywhere. As for what had woken her....Bez's voice? She lifted her head and then ducked again, nearly bashing it on the underside of the table. How'd she end up down here? And who was Bez speaking to?
The voice that replied sounded not quite familiar. Bez flexed her hands, irritation flaring within her. Was it one of those awful guards? Indeed, when she crawled out from under the table, her eyes met with the sniveling little man from earlier. How peevish. She hauled herself up onto the chair, standing to stare over Bez's head at the insufferable man before them. His eyes kept flicking between her and Bez, whose words were flecked with amusement. She had some sort of plan, apparently. And Eris knew better than to interject and mess up whatever it was that Bez wanted to do. Anyway, his uncomfortable squirming and the way he quietly rested a hand on his little stick were amusing.
She seemed to want him to stick around. Which would be a mixed bag, seeing as he was annoying, but perhaps he could be useful? Eris puffed herself up, glaring at the man, as if that could encourage him to shake the hand that Bez proffered. His little comment made her smirk. Rowdy, ha, that was an understatement. If she wanted, she could be a lot worse than rowdy. But for now, if it was what Bez wanted, she would play nice and be good. Maybe she could trip him before he got up to leave. The grin she offered Bez as the other turned to her was full of teeth. Yes, they could subdue the foolish guard, make him do as they wished. She'd taught him a thing or two about manners.
Eagerly, Eris hopped down from her chair and flipped the defaced painting off the table, sweeping her painting supplies back into her bag, sliding them beside her door before dusting her hands off, sending little flecks of colour fluttering to the floor like confetti. Then she hurried to grab a plate and stacked food onto it gleefully. Eating was one of life's joys, especially when the food was free and a gluttony demon was nearby. Once her plate was full, she settled down on Bez's other side with a smug, cat-like look at Amos, who was staring unhappily down at the plate Bez had made for him.
Then she cast her eyes around the room. With Amos taking up one seat, there was one too few for the group. How exciting! Who would be left out? Would they get upset? Oh, she hoped so...
The voice that replied sounded not quite familiar. Bez flexed her hands, irritation flaring within her. Was it one of those awful guards? Indeed, when she crawled out from under the table, her eyes met with the sniveling little man from earlier. How peevish. She hauled herself up onto the chair, standing to stare over Bez's head at the insufferable man before them. His eyes kept flicking between her and Bez, whose words were flecked with amusement. She had some sort of plan, apparently. And Eris knew better than to interject and mess up whatever it was that Bez wanted to do. Anyway, his uncomfortable squirming and the way he quietly rested a hand on his little stick were amusing.
She seemed to want him to stick around. Which would be a mixed bag, seeing as he was annoying, but perhaps he could be useful? Eris puffed herself up, glaring at the man, as if that could encourage him to shake the hand that Bez proffered. His little comment made her smirk. Rowdy, ha, that was an understatement. If she wanted, she could be a lot worse than rowdy. But for now, if it was what Bez wanted, she would play nice and be good. Maybe she could trip him before he got up to leave. The grin she offered Bez as the other turned to her was full of teeth. Yes, they could subdue the foolish guard, make him do as they wished. She'd taught him a thing or two about manners.
Eagerly, Eris hopped down from her chair and flipped the defaced painting off the table, sweeping her painting supplies back into her bag, sliding them beside her door before dusting her hands off, sending little flecks of colour fluttering to the floor like confetti. Then she hurried to grab a plate and stacked food onto it gleefully. Eating was one of life's joys, especially when the food was free and a gluttony demon was nearby. Once her plate was full, she settled down on Bez's other side with a smug, cat-like look at Amos, who was staring unhappily down at the plate Bez had made for him.
Then she cast her eyes around the room. With Amos taking up one seat, there was one too few for the group. How exciting! Who would be left out? Would they get upset? Oh, she hoped so...
【”God DAMMIT, Valramir!”】
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It was not long before nigh everyone was accounted for, almost magnetically attracted to the mischief from Abadeer’s ex-portrait. It had followed as Viv, Bez, and Valramir in that order. It was a tad ironic and a glob of unfortunate for their captors, as they now seemed to be bonding even closer together because of their shared animosity toward the Lord of Hell. Or at least that’s what Myut would assume at face value were he an onlooker.
To be honest, he was on edge with all seven – scratch that, six, as Cyr was not to be found – having gathered round, but everyone’s focus was clearly on the painting and not on him. Thus, Myut could easily blend into the ‘crowd’, so to say. He’d also need to start forcing himself to get more comfortable, because this was his decided fate for the next six days. He couldn’t avoid them all forever. But damn if he didn’t want to try.
Nevertheless, he took the arrivals in stride as he himself was too busy focusing on the task at hand as well. He only looked up to realize the rest had flocked to the table when he heard them speak, which was why he hadn’t seen Cyr, their missing seventh. Was he still in the baths, or had he already walked by unnoticed? There was no way to tell.
Vivian had been the only one to ask the trio as a collective, which resulted in a welcoming nod from the greed demon. The more the merrier, as each unique touch would make this item one of a kind – something he, as a collector, could appreciate. Besides, Viv and him were cool. She had shown herself especially useful, and after getting to spend a bit of time with her he had decided that her presence was acceptable at longer lengths. At least thus far.
Bezabelle obviously was welcome anytime in Meu’s books, and even though there had been a bit of tension between the two of them in the baths, all was already forgiven. It was certainly starting to get crowded in the confines of the canvas, though. He easily allowed himself to be pushed out, leaving whatever possibly remained of his background untouched and instead watched Bez for a short step or two as she introduced a lot of vibrant red into the mix. She was quick to turn the hue into engulfing flames. That was a bit more appropriate for the dreary reality of Hell.
Myut had decided that he had had enough even before Valramir joined the fray, falling onto Bez and causing her to smear some of the work that had been done. The other white-haired demon was just scooting over onto the chair to join in when Meu rose to dust off his hands, smudging the bits of whatever wet paint remained along his digits. ”Well, that’s that.” He finished, verbally indicating that he was going to take his leave, as it felt a bit uncouth to just leave without saying anything. It was good timing, too, as Valramir seemed to begin pushing his powers around.
That worked for him, though. It was an even better excuse to leave. Myut had no intention of sleeping out in the open or near others, and after covering a yawn with his wrist he slipped away to the safety of his room. He’d need to wash his hands first, but, thanks to Val, his bed was calling out like a siren’s song. One that was becoming increasingly difficult to resist. And by that he meant he might succumb to sloth where he stood.
He quickened to wipe the stainable material from his skin under cold running water, which aided in keeping him awake long enough to make it to the mattress. Not long enough to change or get comfortable beneath the sheets, though. He fell asleep with his back facing the door.
There was a soft, distant sound of commotion that pricked at Myut’s subconscious. It took a while for it to grow loud enough, now mingled with voices, to have him blinking slowly awake. He groggily lifted his head, letting it lilt to the side just a bit in its heaviness as he tried with difficulty to hone in on the mysterious syllables and scattered cacophony of sound filtering in from the main room as he fully came to.
”Kings… for criminals…. Meal, hmm?....”
”Let me take out the painting….”
Mew sat up, blinking once more to shed the remaining sleepiness from his form. His attention snapped to as he recognized the voices now. It sounded like Amos had returned. The Greed listened in now to catch the conversation.
”I just want to take the painting and go. Enjoy your food.”
Seemed like Amos had arrived with a meal for them, which, odd, but it was the perfect opportunity to catch the guard and speak with him. However, so far, it did not seem like Amos had any intention of lingering. Damn, if only Val hadn’t sent them all to sleep. Meu could have been ready. A loud boo from Vir followed then, and a new voice joined the conversation.
”He’s right, you know. It would be no fun to just let you have it. How about a trade?”
Ah, that was Bez’s voice. She seemed to be distracting Amos enough to have him linger around a little longer. Knowing Bez, she would likely get her way as well. It truly was unfortunate that he had not been out first to greet their little guard. Meu arose from the bed to wander over to his closet. His casual clothes had wrinkled in his sleep, and if he wanted to sit Amos down for a little talk of business, he’d prefer to look sharp. And regardless of whether Bez convinced the lackey to stay or not, Meu still wanted to present himself well with his attire.
Bezzabelle had turned their little art project into her own bargaining chip, which was exactly what Myut would have planned to do if he were in her shoes. It seemed that she and Val were doing his dirty work for him, though, which was very favorable seeing as he had missed his own opportunity to do so. It was a shame, though, as all in the same moment he both grew giddy and yet had to dash away his hopes at the idea of using that painting for his true ends rather than having to produce value out of thin air to goad the guard into working for him. He would have to bargain legwork for legwork, as he had initially planned, it seemed.
After dressing properly, adorned in a black button-down paired with a white tie and a sharp pair of wine-colored trousers – the matching blazer he did not bother to don – Myut emerged from his room just as Bez was supposedly airing a promise to safeguard Amos. Whether that had been a coy joke or not, well....”…I’ll protect you from all these big bad demons~”
“Ah, I believe it’s the little wolves in sheep’s clothing that we should be looking out for, hmn?” Mew interjected, speaking with wry affection in his tone as he addressed Bez teasingly, looking her way as he neared the serving tray laden with a variety of delectable-looking dishes. Amos had by then taken his seat. The Greed intended to claim the seat across from him without hesitation, so he was swift and largely uncaring in the selection of the foods that would weigh upon his plate.
With body language that was well at ease and markedly unbothered, Myut slid into the opposing chair, eyes focused down at his plate for a moment while he appreciated what their keeper had brought them. He simply gave a humble and pleased crick of his lips – a smile – at the mousey-blonde. Meu didn’t bother to indicate the food in any other manner, as he figured Amos had already heard an earful from the other three in the room about it. There was no need for the Greed to parrot the same words at him.
Meu intended to take Amos’ side in a genuine manner, quite unlike Bez had, and shield him off from the others. He would have loved to take up the entirety of the guard’s attention and keep him from the remaining demons, but that simply would not be realistic, nor particularly smart. After all, there was no need to make himself appear suspicious to the other six. Being ‘open’ about his intentions would give him the security of supposed trust in the midst of the confined demons. For now, though, he would need to wait for a more opportune time during dinner to begin that conversation with Amos.
So, instead, he inclined his form toward the guard before speaking up. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here again so soon. But it’s fortunate – you’re just the person I wanted to talk to.” Meu flashed an easy and naturally charming grin, leaving his greeting at that for now, hoping that the boy would take the bait and catch interest. Myut’s eyes danced down to his plate once more as he grabbed a forkful of food to bring to his lips.
Amos was sat uncomfortably, poking at his food with a fork, as the group grew. When the greed demon sat across from him, he glanced up to find the other looking at him with distinct focus. What did he want? The guard glanced down to his plate, and when he looked back up, the other was leant forward, focused even more intently on him. Amos looked back, wary.
“What do you want?” he asked, slightly confused by the warm smile that had crossed the other’s face, but the other had already looked away, towards his plate. What on earth was going on here? Perhaps he needed to clear up that he knew little more about the situation than they did, and there wasn’t anything he could do for them. They needed to sort that stuff out on their own.
In the meantime, Val had realized quickly enough that he was no longer the center of Amos’ attention, since Bez of course was magnetic and called all that attention to herself. Boo. But still, he had to give her props. She got Amos to stay while his own antics had not. He preferred to think that his influence at least helped make Amos more pliable to Bez’s whim. He looked up when he saw Meu emerge from his room and grinned. He liked Meu. He was fun to mess with. He gave him a lot of delicious reactions - some he didn’t expect from the demon, and he wanted to see how else he could push his buttons. His initial intention had been to get into the demon’s pants, though he’d come to the realization quickly enough that Meu wasn’t interested in him. He certainly would love if the two of them eventually had a fling, but now the goal was just to mess with him. How far could he push him without even really trying? The game was on.
Valramir moved then to sit beside Meu and watched as he interacted with the guard, quirking an eyebrow. Meu wanted to see Amos? He wondered about what. He began to nibble on his food while he sneakily brought one hand beneath the table and reached over to the other demon to suggestively squeeze his knee. He was doing his best not to grin and outwardly give himself away.
Meu gazed upon the poor lookout who seemed proper on edge, what with how he voiced his suspicions on Mew’s intentions with him. The guard looked, well, guarded. This was likely to be rather difficult, especially with the growing number at the table. With an even toned and gentle voice Myut answered him, “Ah, I was hoping that I could get your assistance with a personal need. I’d be sure to reimburse you well for it, of course.”
He paused for a moment to gauge Amos’ immediate reaction before grinning once more and adding, “Normally I’d offer you a drink to settle into any business talk, but,” he motioned back toward the serving tray laden with the grand feast the blonde had brought to them, “You’d know out of the best of us that we seem to be a bit short on the stuff.”
The Greed had indeed done a cursory look-over in his swift movement to procure a plate of food for himself and had found that their little guardian had brought nothing for them to imbibe themselves with. That was certainly for the best, knowing how rowdy and rambunctious everyone was without any alcohol helping things along. So, Mew had hoped to find a little humor in the situation and hopefully help Amos settle in better at the dinner table with the simple fact that he was speaking to the guard like a normal being.
“No immediate rush, of course. I wouldn’t want to put you off your food with speak of even more work than you already have. If you’re willing to humor me, that is.” The white-haired demon laced his fingers together nonchalantly, keeping his olive-hued gaze light and unimposing, with his lips in that same good-natured smile. Meu was just about to return to his food and give the guard some time to think on it when he suddenly felt a bit of foreign pressure around his knee. A startled look flashed across his face for just an instance as his body gave a sudden jolt of surprise. Eyes immediately narrowing, his chin dipped diagonally down to the side toward Val in a sharp gesture, a sour, almost faintly pouty look tugging down on his lips.
Clenching his jaw, he spoke in a low but still polite voice, his whole attention now focused on the little troublemaker who had seated himself right next to Meu at some point in time. This dinner was just getting worse and worse for the two of Amos and him. “Valramir?” He questioned through a forced smile, not quite trusting himself to look fully at the Sloth beside him, lest his courteous manner be shattered.
Val looked over at him as innocent as, er, a demon could look. "Mmm, yes?" He asked and fluttered his eyes. "You were having a nice discussion. I didn't want to… interrupt," he purred as his hand moved higher up on the inside of his thigh. This was fun. He loved that face. Poor Mew was trying so hard not be phased.
Amos watched warily as the greed demon spoke. Those were the buttery words of someone who knew how to convince others to give them what they wanted. Nice on the ears, bad for the arteries. A personal need. What did that even mean? Amos poked at his food as he sized the greed demon up. His eyes were clear, and though the look on his face seemed composed, there was an unwavering focus behind those nonchalant little actions.
All of a sudden, however, that mask slipped and the other demon’s head whipped around to the sloth demon sitting next to him. That little creature was very handsy, it seemed, not just with Amos, but judging by the way Myut stiffened, anyone he could get his hands on. He couldn’t help but feel a little sympathetic for the other as he spoke in a low, but still well-mannered voice.
Amos did not speak, but his wariness softened somewhat as he watched the other. Perhaps he could linger for a moment longer and see what the greed demon needed.
Meu listened with exaggerated patience as Valramir’s voice blossomed into being. It was slow, far too innocent, and soon purring. The Greed’s orbs flickered over just in time to see Val’s eyelids fluttering coyly, words dripping sweet as honey. The taller of the two was about to do a double-take upon seeing the… colorful state the other was in, but with Valramir’s ending statement filtering through his ears, he had no time to do so as a different reaction took over his body - Val’s little comment had been accentuated with an extra touch.
Val’s initial not-so-innocent-but-still-tempered touch took a sudden, dangerous turn. Myut felt the other’s slender fingers slide up the inside of his thigh. It had caused his knee to jolt upward and bang loudly against the underside of the table. Half wincing and half twitching his eyebrow, Myut’s previously unoccupied hand crashed down on top of Val’s wandering one. His strong and comparatively thicker fingers curled harshly around the flesh of the other’s small hand, muscular grip crunching down on it.
With his jaw sorely clenched, nose ever so scrunched, and smile definitely starting to frown at the tips, Meu admonished him in a strained though quiet voice, hoping not to draw any further attention to the two of them. “I think these hands should be focusing on their meal,” his tone threatened, “and not me.”
To be honest, he was on edge with all seven – scratch that, six, as Cyr was not to be found – having gathered round, but everyone’s focus was clearly on the painting and not on him. Thus, Myut could easily blend into the ‘crowd’, so to say. He’d also need to start forcing himself to get more comfortable, because this was his decided fate for the next six days. He couldn’t avoid them all forever. But damn if he didn’t want to try.
Nevertheless, he took the arrivals in stride as he himself was too busy focusing on the task at hand as well. He only looked up to realize the rest had flocked to the table when he heard them speak, which was why he hadn’t seen Cyr, their missing seventh. Was he still in the baths, or had he already walked by unnoticed? There was no way to tell.
Vivian had been the only one to ask the trio as a collective, which resulted in a welcoming nod from the greed demon. The more the merrier, as each unique touch would make this item one of a kind – something he, as a collector, could appreciate. Besides, Viv and him were cool. She had shown herself especially useful, and after getting to spend a bit of time with her he had decided that her presence was acceptable at longer lengths. At least thus far.
Bezabelle obviously was welcome anytime in Meu’s books, and even though there had been a bit of tension between the two of them in the baths, all was already forgiven. It was certainly starting to get crowded in the confines of the canvas, though. He easily allowed himself to be pushed out, leaving whatever possibly remained of his background untouched and instead watched Bez for a short step or two as she introduced a lot of vibrant red into the mix. She was quick to turn the hue into engulfing flames. That was a bit more appropriate for the dreary reality of Hell.
Myut had decided that he had had enough even before Valramir joined the fray, falling onto Bez and causing her to smear some of the work that had been done. The other white-haired demon was just scooting over onto the chair to join in when Meu rose to dust off his hands, smudging the bits of whatever wet paint remained along his digits. ”Well, that’s that.” He finished, verbally indicating that he was going to take his leave, as it felt a bit uncouth to just leave without saying anything. It was good timing, too, as Valramir seemed to begin pushing his powers around.
That worked for him, though. It was an even better excuse to leave. Myut had no intention of sleeping out in the open or near others, and after covering a yawn with his wrist he slipped away to the safety of his room. He’d need to wash his hands first, but, thanks to Val, his bed was calling out like a siren’s song. One that was becoming increasingly difficult to resist. And by that he meant he might succumb to sloth where he stood.
He quickened to wipe the stainable material from his skin under cold running water, which aided in keeping him awake long enough to make it to the mattress. Not long enough to change or get comfortable beneath the sheets, though. He fell asleep with his back facing the door.
There was a soft, distant sound of commotion that pricked at Myut’s subconscious. It took a while for it to grow loud enough, now mingled with voices, to have him blinking slowly awake. He groggily lifted his head, letting it lilt to the side just a bit in its heaviness as he tried with difficulty to hone in on the mysterious syllables and scattered cacophony of sound filtering in from the main room as he fully came to.
”Kings… for criminals…. Meal, hmm?....”
”Let me take out the painting….”
Mew sat up, blinking once more to shed the remaining sleepiness from his form. His attention snapped to as he recognized the voices now. It sounded like Amos had returned. The Greed listened in now to catch the conversation.
”I just want to take the painting and go. Enjoy your food.”
Seemed like Amos had arrived with a meal for them, which, odd, but it was the perfect opportunity to catch the guard and speak with him. However, so far, it did not seem like Amos had any intention of lingering. Damn, if only Val hadn’t sent them all to sleep. Meu could have been ready. A loud boo from Vir followed then, and a new voice joined the conversation.
”He’s right, you know. It would be no fun to just let you have it. How about a trade?”
Ah, that was Bez’s voice. She seemed to be distracting Amos enough to have him linger around a little longer. Knowing Bez, she would likely get her way as well. It truly was unfortunate that he had not been out first to greet their little guard. Meu arose from the bed to wander over to his closet. His casual clothes had wrinkled in his sleep, and if he wanted to sit Amos down for a little talk of business, he’d prefer to look sharp. And regardless of whether Bez convinced the lackey to stay or not, Meu still wanted to present himself well with his attire.
Bezzabelle had turned their little art project into her own bargaining chip, which was exactly what Myut would have planned to do if he were in her shoes. It seemed that she and Val were doing his dirty work for him, though, which was very favorable seeing as he had missed his own opportunity to do so. It was a shame, though, as all in the same moment he both grew giddy and yet had to dash away his hopes at the idea of using that painting for his true ends rather than having to produce value out of thin air to goad the guard into working for him. He would have to bargain legwork for legwork, as he had initially planned, it seemed.
After dressing properly, adorned in a black button-down paired with a white tie and a sharp pair of wine-colored trousers – the matching blazer he did not bother to don – Myut emerged from his room just as Bez was supposedly airing a promise to safeguard Amos. Whether that had been a coy joke or not, well....”…I’ll protect you from all these big bad demons~”
“Ah, I believe it’s the little wolves in sheep’s clothing that we should be looking out for, hmn?” Mew interjected, speaking with wry affection in his tone as he addressed Bez teasingly, looking her way as he neared the serving tray laden with a variety of delectable-looking dishes. Amos had by then taken his seat. The Greed intended to claim the seat across from him without hesitation, so he was swift and largely uncaring in the selection of the foods that would weigh upon his plate.
With body language that was well at ease and markedly unbothered, Myut slid into the opposing chair, eyes focused down at his plate for a moment while he appreciated what their keeper had brought them. He simply gave a humble and pleased crick of his lips – a smile – at the mousey-blonde. Meu didn’t bother to indicate the food in any other manner, as he figured Amos had already heard an earful from the other three in the room about it. There was no need for the Greed to parrot the same words at him.
Meu intended to take Amos’ side in a genuine manner, quite unlike Bez had, and shield him off from the others. He would have loved to take up the entirety of the guard’s attention and keep him from the remaining demons, but that simply would not be realistic, nor particularly smart. After all, there was no need to make himself appear suspicious to the other six. Being ‘open’ about his intentions would give him the security of supposed trust in the midst of the confined demons. For now, though, he would need to wait for a more opportune time during dinner to begin that conversation with Amos.
So, instead, he inclined his form toward the guard before speaking up. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here again so soon. But it’s fortunate – you’re just the person I wanted to talk to.” Meu flashed an easy and naturally charming grin, leaving his greeting at that for now, hoping that the boy would take the bait and catch interest. Myut’s eyes danced down to his plate once more as he grabbed a forkful of food to bring to his lips.
Amos was sat uncomfortably, poking at his food with a fork, as the group grew. When the greed demon sat across from him, he glanced up to find the other looking at him with distinct focus. What did he want? The guard glanced down to his plate, and when he looked back up, the other was leant forward, focused even more intently on him. Amos looked back, wary.
“What do you want?” he asked, slightly confused by the warm smile that had crossed the other’s face, but the other had already looked away, towards his plate. What on earth was going on here? Perhaps he needed to clear up that he knew little more about the situation than they did, and there wasn’t anything he could do for them. They needed to sort that stuff out on their own.
In the meantime, Val had realized quickly enough that he was no longer the center of Amos’ attention, since Bez of course was magnetic and called all that attention to herself. Boo. But still, he had to give her props. She got Amos to stay while his own antics had not. He preferred to think that his influence at least helped make Amos more pliable to Bez’s whim. He looked up when he saw Meu emerge from his room and grinned. He liked Meu. He was fun to mess with. He gave him a lot of delicious reactions - some he didn’t expect from the demon, and he wanted to see how else he could push his buttons. His initial intention had been to get into the demon’s pants, though he’d come to the realization quickly enough that Meu wasn’t interested in him. He certainly would love if the two of them eventually had a fling, but now the goal was just to mess with him. How far could he push him without even really trying? The game was on.
Valramir moved then to sit beside Meu and watched as he interacted with the guard, quirking an eyebrow. Meu wanted to see Amos? He wondered about what. He began to nibble on his food while he sneakily brought one hand beneath the table and reached over to the other demon to suggestively squeeze his knee. He was doing his best not to grin and outwardly give himself away.
Meu gazed upon the poor lookout who seemed proper on edge, what with how he voiced his suspicions on Mew’s intentions with him. The guard looked, well, guarded. This was likely to be rather difficult, especially with the growing number at the table. With an even toned and gentle voice Myut answered him, “Ah, I was hoping that I could get your assistance with a personal need. I’d be sure to reimburse you well for it, of course.”
He paused for a moment to gauge Amos’ immediate reaction before grinning once more and adding, “Normally I’d offer you a drink to settle into any business talk, but,” he motioned back toward the serving tray laden with the grand feast the blonde had brought to them, “You’d know out of the best of us that we seem to be a bit short on the stuff.”
The Greed had indeed done a cursory look-over in his swift movement to procure a plate of food for himself and had found that their little guardian had brought nothing for them to imbibe themselves with. That was certainly for the best, knowing how rowdy and rambunctious everyone was without any alcohol helping things along. So, Mew had hoped to find a little humor in the situation and hopefully help Amos settle in better at the dinner table with the simple fact that he was speaking to the guard like a normal being.
“No immediate rush, of course. I wouldn’t want to put you off your food with speak of even more work than you already have. If you’re willing to humor me, that is.” The white-haired demon laced his fingers together nonchalantly, keeping his olive-hued gaze light and unimposing, with his lips in that same good-natured smile. Meu was just about to return to his food and give the guard some time to think on it when he suddenly felt a bit of foreign pressure around his knee. A startled look flashed across his face for just an instance as his body gave a sudden jolt of surprise. Eyes immediately narrowing, his chin dipped diagonally down to the side toward Val in a sharp gesture, a sour, almost faintly pouty look tugging down on his lips.
Clenching his jaw, he spoke in a low but still polite voice, his whole attention now focused on the little troublemaker who had seated himself right next to Meu at some point in time. This dinner was just getting worse and worse for the two of Amos and him. “Valramir?” He questioned through a forced smile, not quite trusting himself to look fully at the Sloth beside him, lest his courteous manner be shattered.
Val looked over at him as innocent as, er, a demon could look. "Mmm, yes?" He asked and fluttered his eyes. "You were having a nice discussion. I didn't want to… interrupt," he purred as his hand moved higher up on the inside of his thigh. This was fun. He loved that face. Poor Mew was trying so hard not be phased.
Amos watched warily as the greed demon spoke. Those were the buttery words of someone who knew how to convince others to give them what they wanted. Nice on the ears, bad for the arteries. A personal need. What did that even mean? Amos poked at his food as he sized the greed demon up. His eyes were clear, and though the look on his face seemed composed, there was an unwavering focus behind those nonchalant little actions.
All of a sudden, however, that mask slipped and the other demon’s head whipped around to the sloth demon sitting next to him. That little creature was very handsy, it seemed, not just with Amos, but judging by the way Myut stiffened, anyone he could get his hands on. He couldn’t help but feel a little sympathetic for the other as he spoke in a low, but still well-mannered voice.
Amos did not speak, but his wariness softened somewhat as he watched the other. Perhaps he could linger for a moment longer and see what the greed demon needed.
Meu listened with exaggerated patience as Valramir’s voice blossomed into being. It was slow, far too innocent, and soon purring. The Greed’s orbs flickered over just in time to see Val’s eyelids fluttering coyly, words dripping sweet as honey. The taller of the two was about to do a double-take upon seeing the… colorful state the other was in, but with Valramir’s ending statement filtering through his ears, he had no time to do so as a different reaction took over his body - Val’s little comment had been accentuated with an extra touch.
Val’s initial not-so-innocent-but-still-tempered touch took a sudden, dangerous turn. Myut felt the other’s slender fingers slide up the inside of his thigh. It had caused his knee to jolt upward and bang loudly against the underside of the table. Half wincing and half twitching his eyebrow, Myut’s previously unoccupied hand crashed down on top of Val’s wandering one. His strong and comparatively thicker fingers curled harshly around the flesh of the other’s small hand, muscular grip crunching down on it.
With his jaw sorely clenched, nose ever so scrunched, and smile definitely starting to frown at the tips, Meu admonished him in a strained though quiet voice, hoping not to draw any further attention to the two of them. “I think these hands should be focusing on their meal,” his tone threatened, “and not me.”
【"Beadhead is not sexy after 11 am"】
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【The head of the table】
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【#5A8D88】
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【The head of the table】
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【#5A8D88】
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Cyr lingered in the place between, vaguely aware of the chatter and giggling outside, but letting it wash over him like soft, cool waves. If it could replace the weird guilt that simmered low in his belly, that would be nice. Eventually, as the ache in his back faded and the voices outside dwindled, he drifted off too, unaware that a certain demon had aided his easy slip into slumber. His dreams, however, were not so easy, twisting and turning restlessly with the tension that still lingered inside him. The worry, the shame, the confusion.
When he woke, having tucked himself into a small ball in his sleep, arms tangled up with his legs, Cyr lay for a moment, blinking blearily at the midday sun that shone through the window. Where was he? What was going on? He sat up slowly, stretching out his tense traps with careful precision. Outside, he could hear voices again, and a strange…metallic sound? Oh, silverware on plates? When did they get plates?
Cyr stumbled through the process of getting dressed, still perhaps half asleep. When he emerged, clothes rumpled and hair badly mussed, having somewhat dried while smooshed against his pillow, an odd sight met him.
“Wha…?” he breathed softly. Bez was the first person he spotted, sitting across the table, looking pleased as a cat with cream. He quickly averted his gaze. Amos sat next to her. And Myut was across from him, blocking his view of Bez’s other side, but he could guess. Eris, most likely. And Val next to Myut. Apparently doing something the Greed demon did not like, as when Cyr began to lumber over to investigate the food, Myut jerked in conjunction with a loud thump. He looked up quickly, only able to see Myut’s jaw bulging slightly as the other turned his face to the Sloth demon and spoke too softly to properly make out. Not that it was any of his business, right? Meu didn’t owe him anything.
Cyr awkwardly picked up a plate and began filling it with food. Nothing really stood out to him on the trolly, but food was food and it would be nice to have a warm belly after his disorienting nap. Once he had a fair selection of food, he surveyed the table again. There weren’t many options. Perhaps the end would be nice. He didn’t fancy sitting next to the little wrath demon, but it was better than sitting across from her. And….he didn’t want to accidentally make eye contact with Bez. It would be….awkward.
So he carried his plate over, keeping his head down, and settled down at the far end of the table. He poked at the food on his plate as he quietly listened to the conversation thrum around him, though he couldn’t help but sneak a glance over at Myut. He looked really nice. Suddenly self conscious, Cyr tried to smooth down his hair. Why hadn’t he thought to try and put on some new clothes? Or at least brush his hair. He was out here, looking like a horrible mess in front of everyone. What was he thinking?
When he woke, having tucked himself into a small ball in his sleep, arms tangled up with his legs, Cyr lay for a moment, blinking blearily at the midday sun that shone through the window. Where was he? What was going on? He sat up slowly, stretching out his tense traps with careful precision. Outside, he could hear voices again, and a strange…metallic sound? Oh, silverware on plates? When did they get plates?
Cyr stumbled through the process of getting dressed, still perhaps half asleep. When he emerged, clothes rumpled and hair badly mussed, having somewhat dried while smooshed against his pillow, an odd sight met him.
“Wha…?” he breathed softly. Bez was the first person he spotted, sitting across the table, looking pleased as a cat with cream. He quickly averted his gaze. Amos sat next to her. And Myut was across from him, blocking his view of Bez’s other side, but he could guess. Eris, most likely. And Val next to Myut. Apparently doing something the Greed demon did not like, as when Cyr began to lumber over to investigate the food, Myut jerked in conjunction with a loud thump. He looked up quickly, only able to see Myut’s jaw bulging slightly as the other turned his face to the Sloth demon and spoke too softly to properly make out. Not that it was any of his business, right? Meu didn’t owe him anything.
Cyr awkwardly picked up a plate and began filling it with food. Nothing really stood out to him on the trolly, but food was food and it would be nice to have a warm belly after his disorienting nap. Once he had a fair selection of food, he surveyed the table again. There weren’t many options. Perhaps the end would be nice. He didn’t fancy sitting next to the little wrath demon, but it was better than sitting across from her. And….he didn’t want to accidentally make eye contact with Bez. It would be….awkward.
So he carried his plate over, keeping his head down, and settled down at the far end of the table. He poked at the food on his plate as he quietly listened to the conversation thrum around him, though he couldn’t help but sneak a glance over at Myut. He looked really nice. Suddenly self conscious, Cyr tried to smooth down his hair. Why hadn’t he thought to try and put on some new clothes? Or at least brush his hair. He was out here, looking like a horrible mess in front of everyone. What was he thinking?
【”Look, I didn’t want this to be difficult”】
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【Joining the Table]】
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Viv woke up slowly. At some point, it seemed, she’d stumbled into her room to wash paint off her hands. Beyond that…she remembered nothing. Before she could step out, though, she first had to panic. She’d fingerpainted on a picture of the prince. That was prime disrespect. Definitely not good if she wanted to prove her innocence. On the other hand, none of them had really abstained…maybe there was safety in numbers? Bez hadn’t been a ringleader, at least. Her girl was a lot of trouble… and Viv wouldn’t have her another way. At least her dress had survived the impromptu arts and crafts.
The pride demon stood and stretched, regulating her breathing. She could smell food, real food, just like what they had served at the Gala. She stepped out, and her eyes sparkled with appreciation. Oh, Mal would have loved this sort of feast.
There was just one problem.
While she’d been waking up and calming down, the seats around the table had become filled. There was nowhere beside her girlfriend for her to sit! Vivian considered her options. Bezabelle sat with the guard on one side and the wrath on the other. Vivian certainly wasn’t going to go up and argue with the guard, not when she also had to keep Bez out of trouble.
At the same time, the wrath…Viv didn’t feel like starting a fight before she got to eat. And wraths (or most of them, at any rate), loved the opportunity to start a fight. She eyed the open seat, but it didn’t appeal to her.
Then, the sloth, maybe? She considered him, going to pick up a plate of food from the meal delivered to them. She then walked up to Valramir, bending over to speak close to his ear.
”Would you mind moving?” she asked softly. ”I would like to sit across from Bez”.
There. Start off polite, no need for a fuss, right?
Valramir pulled his attention away from his fun for a moment when Vivian came to his side. Move? Why would he want to move? He was having too much fun teasing Myut. The man was still holding his hand to stop him from moving up. It was a little tight, but not uncomfortable. "Move?" He asked lazily, drawing it out, "I don't want to move. Why don't you go sit on Bezzy? That's what I do."
Vivian wasn’t impressed. “Bezabelle is petite, there’s no way that would work.” she frowned. “Besides, you moving isn’t a big deal, is it?” Although the other’s hand was certainly in a position, and she eyed it. Were these two together? No, the Greed demon looked far too uncomfortable. So she was helping an ally too, if she managed to get the sloth demon away.
“It is a huuuggeeeeeee deal,” Valramir answered and started to… melt into his seat, sliding down a little and hog up more room. Getting a sloth to move was like moving a mountain. He certainly didn’t look like he was going to move himself.
“Why so?” Viv tapped her foot on the ground, impatient.
“Because. I am cozy. Myut is here,” the annoying demon grinned. “And it is effffooorrrtttttttt to move.”
“So…if I move you…you’ll move?” Vivian quirked an eyebrow, looking over the sloth demon. She was a little taller than him. He didn’t look like he weighed that much. But he was slumping, which would make it more difficult…
Val blinked at her. He didn’t want to move but if she really dragged him off the chair, well that would get her what she wanted. “I suppose,” he answered. “Though I’d still rather just sit here. I mean you could sit on me if you wanted to,” he mused. Then he’d get to play with more than one demon, though he doubted Viv would tolerate the teasing well. She’d probably elbow him in the face.
Viv barely considered it, before coming to the same conclusion, noting that grabby hand. She’d definitely elbow him in the face. Instead, she placed her plate on the table, moved the empty chair a bit closer so that there was less of a gap, then grabbed the sloth under his arms, trying to see if she could slide him over.
“Nooooo,” the sloth grumbled as Viv started to slide him. He clung to Myut’s hand, and Vivian shot the Greed a glance to help her out here.
Myut seemed to understand her, because he was already trying to shake the sloth demon off, frowning, then getting up altogether to help her drag the sloth away. With Myut’s height and bulk, the job was quickly done.
"Noooo" the sloth whined again before Vivian unceremoniously thrust him over to the other chair. The momentum ended up with Val falling off the chair. "Ouch.." he grumbled.
Viv sat down primly, drawing her plate over before her and sending the pouting sloth’s plate to his new place. Then, she began to eat daintily, sending Bez warm looks, Amos warning ones, and occasionally spinning her fork in her fingers in case the sloth decided to try something.
Viv had good reflexes.
If Valramir tried to touch her, he’d soon learn why that was a bad idea.
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