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♥ Who: Lup + Close CR (who will be contacted! <3)
♥ Where: Lup's house
♥ When: start of August
♥ What: A ladies (kinda) night, the redux!
♥ Rating: PG and up, probably

Those who Lup deigned to grace with an invitation will receive one at random: that at the recipient's convenience if they so desire, they are invited to join her in what she is calling (without explanation) a Pocket Dimension Party. As per the instructions, any time within the next 24 hours, they can enter through the garden back door and "find the cat".

Should one accept the invitation and follow those instructions, they can find Ditto curled up in the grass beside the house, dozing, though at the arrival of any visitor he perks up and stretches. Rubbing up against their legs, Ditto will head over to a section of the wall and paw at a corner, until a door abruptly glimmers into existence and opens for him. He meows plaintively and waits. Go on in! Just close the door behind you.

Inside the doorway, visitors will find… a mansion. Elaborately decorated, warm, and inviting, it is like entering a rich and immaculate house that someone's taken a lot of time and TLC to make perfect. No one greets them as they enter, but if they call for attention and no one is in the immediate vicinity, a semi-transparent spectral servant will arrive and guide them to Lup. Otherwise, they are free to explore the house and make use of the facilities as they please.

The following areas are available:

An extravagant entrance hall with soft wood paneling and fancy art on the walls
A lounge area with big fluffy couches, pillows, and blankets, as well as a projection screen that works with communicators and whatever digital media Lup is familiar with, or a music mix in lieu of said media being played
A full-service kitchen and dining area, where a collection of spectral servants (features to be determined) will upon request cook any meal a person desires, assuming they (and by association Lup) are familiar with the recipe and ingredients. It's all delicious, too!
A sizable basement with regenerating training dummies, various targets, and more servants who will act as moving targets on request. They can't be hurt, but they can move around freely.
A big and beautiful spa with all the soaps and pampering material that anyone could ask for
A "pet room", AKA a room devoted to toys, climbing shelves, cat trees- whatever an animal might want to stay entertained for hours unsupervised

More details to be added as needed! This is a mingle free-for-all, there is no set schedule. Visitors can come and go as they please for 24 hours, and at the end of the spell anyone still inside will be summarily booted out into the garden.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[this poor kid]

[Ardyn stepped closer, carefully disentangling Era from her unfortunate dress.]

[ Era breathes a sigh of relief once her dress has been spared a sorry fate, then gives Ardyn a broad smile in thanks before haphazardly folding her dress and placing it in the locker atop her flats. Now left only in her bikini, the scars on her back are fully visible for the first time as she turns away; thick and red in a way that indicates severity moreso than recency.

Years of keeping herself covered up is a hard habit to fully shake, leaving her feeling uncomfortable and vulnerable when too much of her skin and scale are exposed, but being with someone she trusts as family makes her feel secure. Secure enough to rid herself of all manner of armour and bare her back, trusting that they will protect it.

She moves to the enclosed bathing area, turning on one of the showers there for a few seconds for a quick rinse, careful not to let her hair get hit by the spray. Then she twists her hair up into a bun and hops into the delightfully warm water of the shared bath.

Era then very maturely splashes a small amount of water at him. ]

Take off your shoes and roll up your pant legs. You can at least soothe your feet.

...

[Ardyn hesitated for a moment, seeming equally as uncomfortable as Era for very similar reasons. But...then again, right now it was just the pair of them, and he could tell Era was about as uneasy for the same reasons.]

[So this time, he didn't argue, laughing nervously as he did what she said--exposing a set of circular scars around his ankles.]

Edited 2020-08-09 19:20 (UTC)

[ Era sidles closer to him, eyeing the scars for a moment, then glancing back to Ardyn's face to gauge his reaction. She remains silent for a few breathes, then she speaks up. ]

...They don't hurt?

[He pointedly looked anywhere else but at Era while she looked him over, restlessly wringing scarred hands. At the question, he merely shook his head.]

[ Era seems satisfied with the answer. ]

Are you ticklish?

I-I...don't know?

...Do you want to know?

I think I would prefer not to find out right this minute, if it is all the same to you.

Of course.

[ No touching-of-feet then. Not a problem! Instead she lifts herself up to reach out and stick her hand shallowly into Ardyn's pocket—except that it isn't really his pocket she's reaching into, but her own aetherial inventory.

She pulls out a bottle of wine with a small, pleased 'a-ha', uncaps it, then withdraws back into the heat of the water and takes a sip.

Then she holds it out for Ardyn to share as well. ]

I'd offer a glass, but it's tricky to pull my things from someone else's pockets.

Hm-?

[how in the goddamn]

[Obviously caught off guard and a bit confused, he accepted the glass and took a drink before handing it back.]

That's quite a trick.

[ Well aware of her own limits, Era takes only another small sip before placing it safely next to Ardyn. She would rather not hold onto it and drink more than intended, since she does intend to remain coherent. ]

My inventory is an aetherial pocket of sorts. Traditionally the more aether someone has the more they can store in their bags or pockets, if they know how to use it. As it's connected to their own aether, in theory they can retrieve their things from any pouch that stores items.

It's just... trickier.

[ The day she realized this was the day she no longer needed to lug around an ugly bag. ]

At home I have the whole of my armory in my inventory, and myriad other useful things. It does well at preserving items for a time as well, so I didn't need fear starvation quite so often.

So it's rather like the Armiger in function. All manner of things can be stored within it, though retrieving them doesn't require a bag or any such thing.

...Somewhat like the Armiger, I suppose. Other people can access my inventory through limited means... Though I'm not certain? [ She's never had anyone try and steal her things from her bags before.... ] Feo Ul once threatened some pixies by saying they would scatter my belongings all over the ground—but I've a covenant with Feo, so I'm not sure if that changes things.

[ Thinking of Feo Ul, Era adds as an aside: ]

Feo Ul became the next Fae King, you know. [ She sounds very proud of her friend. ] It should have been me, but Feo saved me from that fate. I'm glad—I quite like my soul as it is, and Feo is a wonderful ruler. They keep the fae folk from trying to steal me away... Though they were rather territorial of me prior to becoming Titania, regardless.

They'd've liked you, I think.

Is that so? I hope you don't think of me as a mischievous pixie myself.

Oh, never. [ She assures him, reaching to take another small sip of wine. ]

The pixies are forever children, and the fae folk live only in the present. They think not of the past, nor the future—just each and every moment as it comes.

Edited 2020-08-09 21:41 (UTC)

That almost sounds a bit enviable. I think I could stand to learn a bit more of living in the present, myself.

There was a brief moment where I thought so, too. To not need to feel pain anymore? It was tempting, and for second I was almost angry that Feo Ul spared me from the fate of the fae.

But there would be no more adventures. No more growing and changing. Just... stagnation.

[ ...Yeah, another sip of wine. She lets the flavour bloom in her mouth and offers the bottle to Ardyn again. ]

You can learn a great deal from the faeries, so long as you don't become one. They do offer a unique perspective on things.

...I don't recommend stagnation, myself.

[He had a decent understanding of the concept, more than some. Enough that he'd gratefully accept the bottle for all the effect it didn't have on him.]

It's not worth much.

It's rather shite.

[ Era takes this moment to stretch; laces her fingers together and raises her arms high above her head, tail stretching right along with them. ]

Your definition of 'worth' is questionable, but I agree with you on it just this once.

[ It's been long enough now that Era can feel the impact the damp has had on her scales. Delighted by this, she maneuvers her tail in front of herself, twists a bit to the side so she can reach the base of it properly, then works at freeing some scales that have been particularly stubborn about shedding.

It takes only a moment of effort for one of them to come free, and she holds it up so Ardyn can see, showing off the faint pearlescent sheen of it rather proudly. The end is wide and rounded, tapering down into more of a point near the base it grew from, and the side edges are quite sharp. ]

My scales would not be nearly as pretty if I let them stagnate.

[ ...And she's gonna hold it out for Ardyn to take if he wants it, because she enjoys gifting the particularly large, pretty scales to people she likes. ]

[Ardyn found it a little strange as gifts went, but the gesture was a nice one and he wasn't going to reject it. Turning the scale over in his hand, he smiled faintly and thought over what he wanted to say next.]

...I do miss it a great deal--being mortal. But I'm afraid I'm out of luck on that front now.

...You are still human, which is the most important part.

[ It's a distinction Era will always want to point out to him, until she feels certain he doesn't need to hear it anymore.

She crawls out of the bath to sit beside him, dipping her toes into the water next to his feet, and giving zero shits about how she dampens his clothes as she leans against him. ]

...But I would miss it, too. Immortality is something I would never wish upon my worst enemy, let alone a beloved brother.

Is there anything you like about the way you are now?

Not all that much, no.

[He didn't comment on Era leaning against him, but he didn't move away--which was comment enough on how welcome it was.]

Then again...perhaps it is a little useful not to tire so easily. If we've another incident like the one with the spiders, I should be able to fight on my own for as long as necessary with no problem.

Ardyn is still human. Humanity... It isn't about mortality or immortality or biology, it's about the more important things—the heart and mind and soul.

[ She taps her tail against the hard, damp surface it rests on. It's a slow, languid tapping that says much about how comfortable she is right now. ]

You can also protect others from harm, like a shield.

When I'm a Dark Knight I've an ability called Living Dead. If I activate it I can then take a killing blow and possess my broken body like a puppet for five minutes.

You could do the same—just much more effectively, since you don't need a spell in advance, and you can just heal yourself back up, so you don't need to worry about dying-dying. You have no time limits. No risks. Just the ability to protect over and over if need be, and a kind enough heart to do so.

...I wouldn't recommend it, of course.

[ She pauses, considering, then adds: ]

...I can also create shields around others. The Blackest Night, it's called. While formed of darkness and shadow, it is powered by love and shaped by my desire to protect.

You would be a good Dark Knight, I think.

[Part of him wanted to address how deeply alarming such a phrasing actually was, but...he didn't. Partially because he trusted Era to know what she was doing, and partially because of what he said next.]

...I often feel as if the others underestimate me, in that capacity. I can't tire out, and even if I should be wounded...it doesn't mean anything. [He wrapped his hand around the scale, just enough for it to cut into scarred skin--for a brief moment wisps of black rose from the small scratch before they vanished and the wound closed as though it were never there at all.]

Those I care for are yet mortal, with a mortal need for rest. If they should be wounded, to recover is a far more difficult thing for them than myself. Why then should I not do so both alongside them and when they can not? Even if I should detest fighting, using this wretched body's advantages to defend them should not be something worth questioning.

...I wish they wouldn't worry so much.