"Akane, tell me about your favorite places!" Ethan asked, his voice full of the excitement I felt at talking about my favorite places. "We coutolld... we could try to escape from here and see them all... if you're up for it."
I looked up at Ethan, startled. He was grinning at me. "Are you serious? I thought we were never allowed to leave this place!" I exclaimed. My mind racing, I thought about the first place I'd want to go back to once I was out. Or would I want to go someplace new?
He shrugged nonchalantly. "Why not? No place is inescapable."
I grinned devilishly back as I morphed into a stealthy rogue demon that could go invisible. I had been trying to sneak into a closed museum just to see some of the artworks without people around, and on the roof, I had bumped into Shai-Lyn. We had a stand off because she thought I was trying to steal the artifact she had already stolen, and I relished taking her powers. Being invisible sure comes in handy when you're starving on the streets.
My hair turned black and needle straight and fell to my waist. My eyes narrowed and changed to black with red on the outside. I could feel my bones shifting, making me taller and leaner. I could feel the eagerness in muscles to be used.
"What power does this body possess?" Ethan laughed at my sudden transformation.
"You mean other than demonic speed?" I asked as I quickly moved around him. "I can now turn invisible." I demonstrated by disappearing from his view and then reappearing behind him before tapping him on the shoulder.
Ethan turned around, his grin growing wider. "That should definitely come in handy!" he laughed.
"This is the form I turn into anytime I need to be sneaky. It really comes in handy. She was an art thief," I told him. My smiled faded as I got serious again, "But how are we going to do this? Do you have an idea?"
Continue?
Yuki
"Ready or not, here I come!" I said aloud, dropping my hands to my sides and taking a quick look around. The forest was still and quiet, with the wind rustling through the trees every now and again. Other than some squirrels, there was no other living thing in sight, and I grinned with elation. The hunt would take some time then. That was good.
I started walking in circles, first small ones that gradually got bigger the longer it took to find him. I was scenting with my nose, but my human nose couldn't distinguish his earthy, masculine scent from the forest itself, and when I did catch a stronger whiff of it, it led to dead ends or too far out for the amount of time he had to hide. I wasn't worried though, it made the game more fun.
There was a song in my veins, one that had been dormant for many years, and I found it harder and harder to ignore. It changed between a keen and a growl, a sigh and the pounding of feet on earthen floors. It was the call of the Hunt, something I had been without in my locked state for many years. I had been unable to shift for so long, it felt like eternity. And it just figured that in a harmless game, the song would cry out for me now.
I couldn't shift, not fully. I could call on different attributes, but I would never be able to fully morph again. It was a blessing and a curse, but for the moment I was thankful for what little I could do. Shifting through the amount of animals and people I had come into contact with, I thought of the hearing and nose I needed and chose a fox. The emergence of fox ears left my head itchy and heavy after so long, and the scents that were so much clearer were almost overwhelming. I knew if I looked I looked in a mirror, my pupils would be large and slitted, and I could feel the sharp nails cutting lightly into my hands.
Sniffing around, I moved back to where I had been and almost fell over from the power of Brokentear's scent. For a moment I basked unashamedly in it, taking it in and memorizing it, and then shook off the feint euphoria it brought. I followed it to an old tree, one that looked to have been here for many years, and felt a predator's smile cross my lips. I stepped carefully, slowly to the giant roots of the tree and climbed aboard, and then circled around until I was looking at Brokentear form above. He looked up as my shadow fell over him, his semi-wide silver eyes meeting my animalistic crimson ones, and I grinned down at him.
"Found you," I crooned, voice something between a human croon and an animal's husky growl, reaching out to tag his shoulder playfully. Somewhere, farther back in my head, I had the thought that it might not have been a good idea to let the power out after so long being dammed up.
Setsuna
"I really want to save you, Setsu.. I.. I don't want to live without you." Forever begged quietly, his voice sounding desperate to my ears. I felt my heart stop for a moment, and then restart with a resounding break, feeling miserable from what I had done. I pulled him closer to me, his head burying itself in my neck, his body coming to rest half curled on my chest. I was a skinny but lean man, and a part of me couldn't believe how easy it was to surround Forever. I rolled us onto our sides and curled myself around him, looking out the window over his hair. My hands continued their slow, soft caress of his body, running down his back to his cute little tail and back again.
I didn't answer him for a long moment, lost in my head. I wanted to reassure him. I wanted to hold him tight and promise I would never leave him. I wanted to tie him to me in ways I had never tied anyone else, not even the first male from so long ago. And another part contradicted me, wanting to push him away, to shake him until he stopped feeling so strongly for me like I was for him. But the biggest thing about me was my possessiveness, and I would never willingly let him go, not unless he asked me.
But where did that leave us? I had been searching for many, many years to somehow extract the demons from myself, and the only two options were things I had no inclination for, not when they required someone else. I may have fallen from grace because of a person, but I would be damned before I hurt Forever like that. But the options were what was left.
"Calm yourself, dearheart. I did say I thought I had time yet, didn't I?" I murmured,kissing his head softly. I hugged him tight with one arm, and continued to caress him with the other. "We could do some research, if you'd like. See what we could find out. We have options, love." I told him slowly, savoring the moment.
Ethan
"If we had met on the outside, I would have taken you to so many different places and shown you wondrous sites and beautiful cities. I have a condo in almost all of my favorite cities. Which are now going to get awfully dirty since I don't have anyone cleaning them for me."
Akane seemed a bit homesick for a moment, a bit distant as if her thoughts were back in these places she loved. I wondered what it was like to explore new places. The only places I had experienced were my childhood home, the mental hospital, and this mansion.
"I've never really been anywhere," I admitted with a small, sheepish shrug. "So it's kind of hard to miss something you never really experienced."
I never really had the desire to go anywhere. Maybe I liked being confined. Mine and Erela's parents were always worried that I would be attacked or experimented on that I always assumed that things outside of what I knew would be dangerous. I felt safe within my walls, but maybe it was time to smash them down. Maybe it was time for new experiences.
"Akane, tell me about your favorite places!" I asked, maybe a little too eager to listen but I wanted to know. I clung to her with excitement, "we could... we could try to escape from here and see them all... if you're up for it." I grinned, trying to regain myself from my previous, over-excited state.
BrokenTear
Yuki suggested we play hide-and-seek, and the first thought that plunged into mind was that she would try to escape.
I don't know that I would've been so trusting of any of the others, but Yuki was... different. She never showed any signs of wanting to leave. There was something so sincere in her that I admired, and dare I say, trusted.
After a moment's hesitation, I agreed. We would play her game. The forest wasn't dangerous; I knew these trees as well as the back of my hand. And the village was quite a ways away.
"Okay, Yuki, I'll go hide then." I smiled. I watched as she covered her eyes and turned her back to me. She began counting back from 100 and I looked for my hiding spot.
Finding a space behind a large, old, majestic tree, I hid, carefully choosing my way through the crunchy autumn leaves. I could hear her voice faintly counting, with only seconds to spare.
"Ready or not, here I come!" I heard her shout and I waited.
Forever
I closed my eyes as Setsuna traced his fingers all over my face and shoulders. It felt like warm sunlight beaming directly on me. Maybe even better than that. My skin was probably ablaze with the fire I felt under my skin. My spine rippled with tingles and I let out a little whimper of pleasure, much to my embarrassment.
I reached up and ran my hand down his jaw, feeling how strong and masculine it was, and felt an odd feeling of adoration for how protected I felt with him. I kissed him lightly there after trailing my hand down to his shoulder.
I pulled away only to glance to the side of my room nervously. His hand found his way to mine and I silently memorized every nook and cranny of his palm, and the way his fingers were shaped and spaced. I was starting to realize that I would be doing this a lot. Examining his body and playing his voice on repeat in my head until my body ached with repetition.
Until one day he would be gone. Until all I had left was these memories.
I found myself in his arms, feeling a desperate need to be cradled by him, to feel as if he weren't going to disappear any second.
"I really want to save you, Setsu.. I.. I don't want to live without you."
Gah! So sorry it took so long to put my post up! Been cray-cray!
*.*
I wondered why Erela wouldn't like BrokenTear if he basically lets everyone do whatever they wanted. Except leave. How long would I be here before the not leaving would seem like a prison rather than a sanctuary?
I thought about what I knew of BrokenTear. I had only met him once. And briefly. "You know, I don't even really know BrokenTear. Does everyone pretty much do their own thing here? Might you never run into each other if that was what you wanted?" I asked.
Ethan nodded. "The who grounds is all of our homes. If you never wanted to leave your rooms, that is your choice and no one is going to stop you. And it is fairly large, so I have gone a few days just roaming several rooms before running into anyone else."
I nodded my head, taking what he said into consideration. I usually hated being trapped in one place for too long. I loved traveling and moving about. Thankfully this place was big enough where it would take me awhile to explore before I'd grow bored of it.Then again, maybe I'd never grow bored of it so long as I was with Ethan.
"Do you ever miss the outside? You know, being able to travel and seeing new places?" I asked Ethan, resting my head on his shoulders as he wound his arm around me. "If we had met on the outside, I would have taken you to so many different places and shown you wondrous sites and beautiful cities. I have a condo in almost all of my favorite cities. Which are now going to get awfully dirty since I don't have anyone cleaning them for me."
The thought of all my beautiful furniture dusty and rusting made me sick to my stomach. I had worked so hard to acquire the condos.But if I never got to leave this place, I guess it wouldn't really matter. No one would know where to find me either. I'd probably be better off that way.
Continue?
Sorry it's so short!
Sorry for having taken so long. Between school and my own distraction, it's been hard to get creative again.
Yuki
I hummed in acknowledgement when Brokentear told me about Alyssa and Lilith, and giggled at the remembered panic he displayed. I felt happy for him, for the remembered moment when his own daughter came into this world, but something deep inside me - somewhere dark and forgotten -hurt for both of us. I pushed the feeling down and ignored it, and turned another blinding smile to him.
"I'm glad they both made it okay," I hummed, turning to look out to the forest again. My eyes felt suspiciously wet and I blinked the moisture away, turning a keen eye to the sunlight. The forest was getting darker, but still light enough to see, and I could still see the mansion clearly just ahead of us. Slightly surprised, I surmised we had unwittingly walked into a circle and chuckled silently. I looked back at Brokentear and was bowled over by an idea.
"Ne, Brokentear, lets play hide and seek. It's dark enough to create extra hiding spots, but still light enough that we could still find each other," I proposed, grinning madly at him. Brokentear looked hesitant about it, eyes roaming between me and the forest, and I took a guess that he thought I would run for it. But I had no reason to. I doubted I would ever run from him and his mansion and the others.
"You can hide first. But I warn you, I'll win every time," I told him, smiling mock graciously, and smothered giggles at his little glare. I had dangled the bait, and even silently reassured him I wouldn't run. Now, would he take the bait, I wondered.
Setsuna
"I want to savor every moment with you." Forever told me, and my heart was both warmed and wrenched sharply by his words. It had been a long long time since I had felt this happy about something concerning my predicament. The emotional balance in Forever was awe-inspiring, and I felt the need to reward him for his silent achievement.
Leaning forward, I pressed a gently but long kiss against his lips and nibbled lightly on the bottom one before leaning back with what I could feel was a goofy grin. "It's been a long time since I've heard someone say that. You can't imagine how happy I feel, even about something like this," I told him, carding my fingers through his hair slowly, making sure to trace the back of his wolf ears teasingly.
Forever smiled beautifully and snuggled into my chest again, big eyes looking adorably up at me, and I brushed my fingers along his cheek to distract from the sheer cuteness. "I will always remember this. I won't let a single moment with you fade to black in my mind," I murmured, promising him this with everything that I am coloring the words.
When Forever blushed adorably again, eyes still roving over my face, I decided to do what he was doing and savor him. I brushed my fingers through his hair, over his cheeks, along his hidden forehead, over his nose and eyes. I traced along his mask and stopped briefly over his hidden lips and then moved on to his neck, ending at his shoulders before reaching up and doing it again. The feel of him under my fingers was a good sensation.
