imeeji_frontstage | (no subject)

Who: Exael and the Unlucky Contestants
Where: The Game Tower
When: 86, Evening

[ Between one step and the next the walls (or streets, or open air) around you changes. The sight before you is a room inside the game tower, a new pressure at your neck. Reaching up or looking at the people around you reveals it to be a collar, titanium with a small green blinking light set in the center. ]

[ the screen flickers on, on your cellphone. It's a half-second, blink and you miss it— Exael, chewing on a nail, looking uncharacteristically nervous— then the moment's gone and she waves both hands and smiles for the camera. ]

"Ladies, gentlemen, honored guests! Units of all stripes and sizes! I come offering you a game and a few familiar words, rearranged for the occasion!"

Her carnival barker demeanor shifts for a moment as she lowers her head to say: ] "Glory to the highest, and on earth peace—" [ her head snaps up, her pigtails bouncing with it, and she's grinning again, all pomp and energy ] "even if we're not getting much down here! So let's kick up a ruckus, put on a show, and see how much good goodwill alone can manage! If you wish to save your fellows, now is the time speak!"

[ The rules appear on your phones. ]

[ Rules ] [ Rooms ] [ Results ] [ Endgame, Revivals & Winners ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Mars can feel his heart hammering loudly in his ears, and he winds up flopping off of Lily and curling up next to his side, nose pressed gently against his neck]

. . . menace. . .

[his feelings can't take this!1 he's used to holding them in, pretending they don't exist. to allow himself to feel so strongly, and to have that reciprocated. . . sometimes, it gets overwhelming]

[that's fair, it was pretty overwhelming for Lily too, though probably not as badly as it was for Mars. being in LiliS had enabled Lily to become a much more emotionally open person than he might have otherwise been, as they often expressed affection for each other through cuddling, holding hands, and otherwise being vulnerable with each other. it was just a very different thing to like someone and vividly sensing those feelings back from the other person in return...

he wraps his arms back around Mars and pulls him in close, heart leaping into his throat as he smiles softly.]

I'm a fiend.

Yeah. You are. I'm surprised you haven't been arrested and stuffed in jail yet.

[he says, while curling into Lily's arms like a cat ready to doze in its owner's lap]

[give it a week, he'll be in heart jail]

Mm. Will you at least come visit me when I am?

[sleep doesn't sound terrible right now, actually?? he's just gonna go ahead and get comfy against Mars and close his eyes, content]

Eh.

[he doesn't respond any further than that. MARS????]

[but since the buddy bond is still activated. . . Lily can feel a spike of amusement, and know that Mars is just kidding]

Harsh.

[gently, affectionately gives Mars' head a smooch, amusement bubbling on his end as well. it was really nice, spending time with him like this... it made him feel like they weren't in Hell.

like they could be normal.]

[. . . like their lives weren't filled with death and murder and maiming]

[oh]

[when that emotion pops up on the bond, Lily will feel a small pang of. . . longing from Mars. a feeling of wistfulness. a desire for his life to be that normal, at all times, not just in stolen moments like this]

[but all he does in response is bury his face a little closer to Lily's neck, and close his eyes so he can drift off as well]