imeeji_frontstage | BETRAYAL AT THE HOUSE ON THE GAME TOWER

BETRAYAL AT THE HOUSE ON THE GAME TOWER - END

Who: Traitors and Survivors, Exael
Where: The Game Tower, and leaving it
When: Day 25, morning-- it appears that game lasted the bulk of day 24 into the night.

[ Abruptly, the nightmare ends.

You, in the rooms you kept restarting in, awoke. Before you can even panic, before even despair, the elevator doors were open in front of you to take you downstairs again. It could be a trap, sure, but your head is quiet— those fucking ghosts are gone. You also appear to be wet like someone dumped, perhaps, a bucket of holy water on you while you were asleep. All your wounds are gone, and you have been left bereft of any physical damage from your ordeal.

Unless you choose to take some with you. Nothing prevents you from taking any of your spoils downstairs with you, if you wish it, though all revolvers will have no ammo.

On the screens as you descend back to the lobby, Exael is clapping on screen, broadcast showing her in the mansion's entrance hall. "And so close the gates to this forbidden garden, and so closes this chapter of our story! Just as—" her hologram flickers as she doesn't seem to notice, chattering still to the cameras, "so too will—" fzzt, fzzt. Static, flickering, and then back into focus, "So give them all a hand! Everyone, you've done well! You stand before us still, ready to present us all with more marvels after having survived such grisly wonders with—" "—in the balance!"

As she speaks, she doesn't notice a figure approaching behind her. He's in a slick suit with both hands in his pockets, and you've seen him before— his portrait is in the foyer. His shoes are utterly silent as he walks across the marble floor, till he's right at her back.

"Audience and actors alike, we've been blessed with—" Her hologram doesn't flicker this time, but she stops speaking. Her eyebrows furrow as she tries to figure out what's amiss, and only belatedly begins to slowly look over her shoulder.

"Exael," he says with a friendly hand on her solidifying hologram shoulder, the effect spreading beneath his touch, "We need to have a chat about your requisitions paperwork."

She tilts her head, eyes wide with a finger tapping against her cheek as she thinks, "I didn't do any!"

"Yes," he agrees, smiling with all his teeth. "I know."

The broadcast cuts. The doors open to let you leave. ]

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[well she clearly took that badly for some reason. slides the hand in her hair to cup her cheek, try to catch her gaze.]

Hiryuu. Look at me?

[ He'll find her chin tilts up readily enough. It's a reasonable enough request; he could make much more unreasonable ones and she would throw herself on them. Although having to be seen like this is--a sort of punishment in itself; her eyelids are puffy and swollen from crying and her eyes themselves are still brimming with unshed tears and reddened besides. It's not a good look, and she is FULLY AWARE OF IT, as well as the fact that

having her face tilted up by him makes her heart pound and her face heat up in a way that, given the situation, is at least ten different kinds of inappropriate. ]

Yes?

[ She bites the inside of lip and sets her mouth in preparation for--whatever comes next. ]

I don't hate you. I won't hate you.

[stroking her cheek, gently.]

I'm... having trouble with feelings, right now. That doesn't reflect on you. It isn't because of you. Okay?

[ WELP. GUESS TODAY IS JUST FOR CRYING. But. Honestly it's not bad crying? She's. Smiling this time at least. A very heavy weight just got lifted from her shoulders, even if there's a feeling of--a lack of deserving. ]

I see.

[ she. laughs? it's a shuddering shocked sound, not that there's anything funny, but with that oppressive weight gone, she feels like she's vibrating with lightness ]

I see. I'm--

[ she laughs again; and this time she moves his hand one of her own so that together they cover her eyes. ]

I'm sorry. I'm not laughing at you. I'm just... I'm so relieved to hear that I'm--not--hated.

[ Tears flow one after the other down her cheeks until they finally reach his palms, burning hot still. ]

I'm sorry they took away your precious feelings.

[ She's not sure if she's allowed to say that or not--but she is. Shuten--should be able to be himself. To be able to enjoy being free and himself again. ]

[aaaaaah. wiping at her tears, gently.]

I don't... quite remember what was so precious about them. But. A little time, I think, will help. If this is real. I'll remember what I was like before all that anger, or try to find that me again.

[kissing her forehead.]

I hope to be the Shuten you know, eventually.

I suppose, maybe, they wouldn't seem so special to you. However, to me... They were precious because you are precious.

[ She--really wants to kiss him right now; to stand on her toes and to make him duck down so that it's not her forehead, but her mouth. She should not, she definitely should not, and she will not let herself because--she doesn't want to scare him just to suit her own selfishness. And she doesn't want to taint an obvious gesture of kindness.

So instead--she takes his hand, still wet with her tears, between both of her smaller ones and presses her lips to the pulse point directly beneath the heel of his palm. ]

... It's not up for me to decide, but if you asked me, I think you've already shown me you're still that same person. Gentle, and kind, and patient. But you, however you are, whether you're the "same" or "different" than before--your importance to me is still the same.

Edited (thanks html fail) 2018-08-12 01:50 (UTC)

[yes good call on not initiating an actual kiss at a moment like this. he takes her kissing his wrist well, a flush spreading across his cheeks as he smiles fondly at her.]

...That's comforting, at least.

You're comforting.

[ And on that note, she is leaning back against his chest again, and rubbing her cheek there. She still has his hand too. IT'S. It's definitely not normal behavior what's "normal" anymore. ]

... When you breathe, I can hear the air going in and out. Your heart too.

[ Between that and the warmth... She could fall asleep here, honestly. ]

[normal has been lost to both of them, probably. only touch-starved tactile sadsacks now.]

Good. I'm here. I'm real. You're warm and I can feel you.

[ touch-starved tacticle sadsack life is a trip

Can he though? That is... he's barely touching her. Or rather, right now, she's doing most of the touching. ]

... It was lonely in there, right? You can touch me more, if you like. I don't mind.

You don't mind, hmm...?

[well. then.

picking her up in a goddamned bear hug.]

[ SQUEAKS ]

Sh-Shuten!?

[ THIS WAS NOT WHAT SHE QUITE HAD IN MIND?!

... but she still doesn't... mind mind, she's just. red as a tomato, crushed up against his chest and, you know, hanging onto his neck now in case he lets go ]

[at least he's showing some decency and not, like, getting her to wrap her legs around him for purchase. like he'll assist if she does but.]

You said I could. Should I not?

[ I mean on the one hand that's so LEWD but on the other what DOES she do with her legs they're just

dangling there. ]

No, it--that's fine. You don't have to stop.

[ She just. She wasn't expecting that? Her cheeks feel like they're on fire and her heart is going very, very fast, like she just had a good run. She has to figure out what to do about her legs though, what DOES SHE DO ABOUT HER LEGS gonna. gonna just try to at least get the one out of the way, sorta, hhhhhhhhhhhhhhfffffffff ]

You're sure?

[getting even one leg kind of out of the way is sure. a thing. because holy shit he's broad? holy shit he's broad.]

[ why the hell IS he so broad, is this a man or a tree that she's found herself wrapped around ]

What, is this your way of trying to say I'm too heavy?! I said I was sure, so I'm sure!

[ Since it's in easy reach, she grabs onto his hair and gives it a tug. Not too hard but also not entirely gentle, either. And she hooks a leg around his waist finally. ]

[hOLY SHIT.]

You're definitely not too heavy.

[shifting an arm under her thigh to support her better but like? help?]

[ yeah you might have dug your grave a bit here,

She looks down toward her thigh, still covered I'm so much ample wedding dress cloth. ]

Oh, so I was supposed to do that. Well, here.

[ She makes a soft grunt of effort as--she raises her other leg to hook around his other side. She still has one hand braced roughly on one shoulder and the other gripping his hair so like honestly that monkey business may be a bit rough on--well. Everything. Good thing she's not too heavy, right?

Once she's hoisted herself properly up and into a comfortable position, the dress does a pretty good job of hiding it? It's a win-win?? ]

There, I did it!

[ Conquered Mt. Shuten. ]

Now you can touch me as you like, like I said.

[ she did a good!!! ]

[he's dying hiryuu. please. he's holding hiryuu up like this while she's in a FUCKING WEDDING DRESS and that has just struck him and. hnng.]

Well, now my hands are busy.... but it's nice to have you so close.

[ ~~are you going to carry her across the threshold, shuten?~~ is it that he's dead or that he's living?

Oh. She hadn't realized this would be a problem.... why did you pick something where your arms and hands would be busy, shuten???? oh well. that's not a problem, right? ]

It's nice to be close. If your hands are too busy... I could just touch you, then.

[ she slides her hands up from his shoulders, up his neck, until she's cupping both his cheeks and ears. he has basically no defense like this unless he wants to drop her so. ]

Where do you want to be touched, Shuten?

[HE WANTED TO HOLD HER, OKAY...

his breath catches, softly, and he's watching her with just... an utterly defenseless expression.]

...Wherever you'd want to touch me, dear.

[ you should have stayed bent over then YOU KNOW THAT SHE'S NOT A TREE LIKE YOU?

good thing she still doesn't know about the masochist stuff yet or shuten would be about to be bullied straight into a premature death, but like, it's going to be close enough anyway, ]

I think you're wearing too much clothing for that.

[ just. recalling how Cardigan touched her friend's chest and how they said! that was fine and normal and thinking about how... she really would kind of like to do that now? ]

But... I can settle for this.

[ As things stand, though, she's taking his allowance and, really really running with it with what's available to her, running her fingers back down his neck, straight down into the collar line, and then up again, exploring the shape of his adam's apple and his chin and jaw before running up behind his ears and into his hair and then combing down, until she hits his ribbon, and just--casually!--untying it, continuing to comb through all the way to the ends of his hair, giving the ends a playful tug when she reaches them. ]

[?????????????!?????!?!?!?!??!!!??!!?!?!?!?!?!?

he doesn't even have anything to say to that, just kind of. ascends, internally, and leans pleasantly into her touch at every turn.]

I hope it's not insufficient....

It's good for a start.

[ She decides to go back up into his hair and rub her fingers vigorously against his scalp, less scratching and more forceful massage. ]

There's always next time after all.

[ It's probably bold to assume that there WILL be a next time, but on the other hand--he doesn't seem to be not enjoying it. ]

[aaaa, that feels nice though.]

Mm. There is. That's nice, dear.

[at least he seems pretty amenable to a next time.]

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BETRAYAL AT THE HOUSE ON THE GAME TOWER - END

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