ᵃᵐᵃˡ "ⁱˢˡᵃⁿᵈ ᵇᵒʸ" ᵛᵃˢⁱʸᵃ (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thavnairian) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
kaisou2022-05-20 09:21 am
thavnairian) wrote in kaisou2022-05-20 09:21 am
Entry tags:
video; un: riftdancer
WHO: Amal and whoever!
WHERE: The network
WHEN: The last week of May
WHAT: Amal's long nap is finally over.
WARNINGS: Endwalker spoilers in some threads, if you care about that sort of thing. Mind the CWs on Zelos' thread too (abuse, indentured servitude).
[video]
[Amal is dressed a little differently today. Repping Thavnairian weave and a ribbon in his hair, he's seemingly conquered the incredible bedhead he's nursed for several weeks.]
Hey everyone! Did you think you were rid of me? Sorry to disappoint! Being exceptionally difficult to get rid of is one of my many talents, as it turns out.
My birds are acting like I was dead instead of asleep, when I don't even remember going to bed. But I remember a lot of other things—it was like I was home. Like I never left. Maybe... my body was here while my soul was there? I have no idea, but I'm awake now, and I have every reason to believe what I saw happen... uh, happened.
So. What'd I miss?
[A pause.]
Oh, and what's a BBL? I woke up to a bunch of texts from work asking if I'd 'recovered' yet.
WHERE: The network
WHEN: The last week of May
WHAT: Amal's long nap is finally over.
WARNINGS: Endwalker spoilers in some threads, if you care about that sort of thing. Mind the CWs on Zelos' thread too (abuse, indentured servitude).
[video]
[Amal is dressed a little differently today. Repping Thavnairian weave and a ribbon in his hair, he's seemingly conquered the incredible bedhead he's nursed for several weeks.]
Hey everyone! Did you think you were rid of me? Sorry to disappoint! Being exceptionally difficult to get rid of is one of my many talents, as it turns out.
My birds are acting like I was dead instead of asleep, when I don't even remember going to bed. But I remember a lot of other things—it was like I was home. Like I never left. Maybe... my body was here while my soul was there? I have no idea, but I'm awake now, and I have every reason to believe what I saw happen... uh, happened.
So. What'd I miss?
[A pause.]
Oh, and what's a BBL? I woke up to a bunch of texts from work asking if I'd 'recovered' yet.
no subject
[Reciting his playbook like that, sheesh Amal!!]
My own knight in shining armor, who would've thought. [Zelos stop joking around] Alright, I can fill you in later. Even if you don't wind up finding anything...Thanks.
[He has no idea how he found people who care about him. But well, miracles can happen he supposes]
Oh yeah? Well I've had to be way too honest for awhile now - so hit me! Tell me some dark secret Amal. I wanna know.
1/2
[He laughs again, but this time he's a little more embarrassed by the knight in shining armor bit.]
H-hey now, I don't even have any armor to put on right now. But when this is all over, I'll make sure to wear something you like. [AMAL STOP ENCOURAGING HIM]
2/2; cw: abuse, indentured servitude JESUS CHRIST IM SO SORRY ABOUT THESE CWS
[That... probably won't be surprising, actually???]
I'm technically a virgin. In, you know, a certain sense.
[He chuckles nervously.]
Of course, I was trained to be a courtesan, which you've probably figured out... but I was forced into it. I started rebelling so that they'd trade me off to a different merchant and I could escape during the trade. Instead, they beat me to an inch of my life and then told me to mop the floors. So not only did I never get a good time, but now I don't like it when people touch me without warning.
It's not that I don't want to, or that I don't feel anything, but... well, it's easier to be adored than manhandled. Flinching isn't sexy. So it goes.
yeah just assume cw all through this thread.
...I had a feeling it was something like that. [He admits to it] You act flirty, but you tend to shy away from any real attention. Like something about it scared you. It's why I never pushed anything past flirting.
Sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable anyway. Wasn't my intent. [he's sincere about that too. ]
no subject
I really do like the attention. Flirting is some of the most fun you can have without taking your clothes off, after all.
But you never made me feel uncomfortable, not even a little. You're gorgeous and confident, and you're kind when it matters.
I just—don't trust myself, at the end of the day. That's my problem, not yours.
no subject
Not sure how I feel about the "kind" descriptor, but I'll take the rest. Glad I didn't though. [He would've felt bad]
...Well, I'm the last person who should be saying you should trust yourself, so just take it at whatever pace works for you. Hell, maybe even find someone you can trust to touch you - crazy as that sounds.
no subject
[He smiles enough that it's in his voice.]
That's not a bad idea, honestly. I bet I'd get a couple takers if I said I wanted to have coffee and hold hands for fifteen minutes.
[It's so... grade school. But it's cute to think about.]
still content warnings here oh boy
[Amal was someone people fell for. It's not hard to see why. Good looking, funny, sweet - who wouldn't want that?]
Oh, you'd hate the place, I'm sure.
[He pauses. Amal shared something pretty personal, so...sure. ]
It was about power and control for me. [the sexual stuff] My parents were gone and I inherited their title at a young age, so I was pretty much on my own in a viper's den. Had to use whatever I could to get an edge. And since it seemed people were angling to use my body as well as everything else once I reached a certain age ... I decided to turn that around and use that to my advantage. It became my edge.
I mean, don't me wrong - it's fun too. Lots of fun. [...] At least, before I lost my tastebuds anyway. That's sure put a damper on things.
two guys with ptsd chillin in a hot tub 0 feet apart because they're both desperately lonely
You won't find any judgment from me. Owning your body gives you power. [In more than one way.]
Damn... losing your sense of taste would ruin it. What's the point of a sweet kiss if it isn't sweet?
[A hypothetical. He muses on this for a moment, and something occurs to him.]
Is it... going to get worse after this?
THATS THEM
It sure does. Pretty damn effectively too. [Nothing throws people off like someone secure sexually]
No point, it's pretty gross. And don't even get me started about how awful giving blowjobs is now. [T-Thanks Zelos for that.
He pauses at the question. ]
...Yeah. It is.
no subject
That's a godsdamned tragedy. [Zelos would look very good between someone's legs, he thinks.
Still, that's unsettling news, even if he guessed it wasn't going to stop there.]
Then... when it gets worse, I want to help you. No matter the time of day, no matter how busy you think I am, just give me a call. I'll come running.
no subject
[Food, Drink, Sleep, Sex- the toxicosis really was doing everything to sap enjoyment out of living]
Sure, but I'm not sure what can really be done to help. If it goes the usual way, I'll be losing my sense of touch next. It's taken longer to progress than the previous stages, so I'm not sure when it'll be showing itself.
no subject
Hmm... If you lose your touch, you might not know if you get hurt. I can heal a little if you get scraped up.
[He smiles a little mischievously, and it's in his voice.]
Also, I don't mind helping you look for any marks you might not be aware of~
no subject
Hot as that'd be, the loss of touch applies to parts down there too.
no subject
[SIGH]
Do you think you could write up everything you remember about the treatment and send it to me so I can ask around? It doesn't have to be today, just whenever you have the time.
I'm rather practiced in the art of fetching, but I want to make sure I get the right components.
no subject
[IT SUUUCKS]
The list isn't long. The treatment is a relic called a keycrest. It's made out of inhibitor ore, which doesn't exist here, and has magic runes carved into it by a dwarven craftsmen.
I have my old one here with me if you wanna look at it. Unfortunately, all the magic's been drained out of it.
no subject
[He's dealt mostly with materials that amplify aether but there surely exists a material that should do the opposite. It would make good armor.]
That's a short ingredient list. Rhel is a black mage, so she might know something about arcane runes. The only ones I know are... not helpful for this.
Can you send me a picture? The design might be efficient enough to copy. If we can copy the runes and charge them with our own mana, it might work.
-> Video, cw: minor body horror
[His knowledge was extremely limited compared to someone like Altessa, just the bits and pieces he's picked up from his own observations and what he learned traveling with Lloyd & company. Not like Cruxis or the Renegades were in a rush to tell him much.
He hesitates a little. Even if he knows his keycrest is a dud now, there's still part of him that's apprehensive about removing it. ]
...Yeah, hold on. I'll turn on the video feed.
[He'll take off his outer layers so he's just in a tank top, allowing the crystal to be visible. He makes sure the camera is focused on it. His finger will gently tap on the gold metal to ]
The gold thing around the crystal is the keycrest. Or you know, the thing that should keep the crystal in check.
[Once he's sure Amal's had long enough to get a good look, he'll very slowly and very carefully pull off the keycrest. Gotta be careful not to bump the crystal and send him into organ failure or a monster transformation after all! He does so carefully, and with the keycrest gone, aside from the two small holes where the keycrest was nailed into his skin, the skin around the crystal looks a lot more...disfigured.
Zelos is trying not to focus on that though. Instead he'll flip the keycrest around to the backside that was previously hidden and hold it close to the camera. Sure enough, there's a bunch of magic runes carved on the back. All dwarven and different from anything from Amal's world]
Those are the runes. Pretty sure they used to glow, but.... [Well. They don't anymore]
no subject
[He watches the feed with a sharp eye, not judging, and neither cold nor uncaring. He's examining every detail and committing it to memory-- and if that's not enough, he's also taking notes off screen.]
Let me just... [SCRIBBLING MADLY] I don't know if replicating the runes will be useful without a professional, but at the very least it's worth a shot. Maybe like a plan D...
[He rubs his chin, looking at the key crest and his notes again, and then nods after a minute.]
Thank you, Zelos. I think I've got enough to start looking.
Is there anything you want me to grab from the black markets while I'm down there making a lot of noise? Like... a new sword or something? New knives always make me feel better.
no subject
Yeah, I'm sure it's not as easy as just replicating the runes. If it were, Cruxis wouldn't bother to keep dwarves around.
[If there's no use for someone, they're discarded. It's as simple as that with the angels
When Amal finishes, he gives a nod before he moves to carefully put the keycrest back on. Man, even if he knows it's a useless hunk of metal, it feels better to have it on. Weird psychology that]
...Pretty sure weapons around me is a no-go for awhile. [At least until his friends stop getting jumpy about if he's gonna try again] But go ahead and pick out a nice knife for yourself on my behalf! You deserve it.