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    COTY

    Assailant -- Year 226

    QOTY

    "But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura


    [M] curiosity killed the cat || ellyse
    #1
    … curiosity killed the cat &
    satisfaction brought him back
    A season has passed since Lucrezia's disappearance and Offspring's coronation, and Dahmer is still angry. The heat in his belly simmers almost constantly, and with it, thoughts of Desole bloom unwanted in the black beast's head. Use it, she would have said, do not let it render you useless. Dahmer can hear the steel & ice mare's voice in his head, words that could have been motivating but were spat at he and Sid Malone. They had learned to deal with it, had let the words fall from their backs like water from a duck, and had trained until it was dark and their limbs were numb. Such was the life of a child from Azza.

    After their island had fallen into the sea, coaxed by a vicious earthquake, Dahmer had risked life and limb to swim through the roiling waters and to the mainland. He has found no need, since then, since his successful reign of the Subway, to be angry. No need to fight for a territory or a mare or for justice. He has simply lived.

    But now... the black thoroughbred sighs restlessly, brilliant blue eyes glaring into the coursing river as if it has done him wrong. His jaw clenches periodically, perhaps the only indication that he is not sleeping with his eyes open. A shiver runs through his tensed muscles and he thinks of Tephra again, where he should be standing warmly at the base of the volcano, hidden in his trees and waiting for Lucrezia to pull herself from her politics to come visit. Instead, he is here, awaiting the start of winter with a sore shoulder from Jord's bite.

    "This is a damn mess," the black beast mumbles to himself, before falling into silence once more.
    break some bread for all my sins
    BY MITZI


    @[Ellyse] *waggles brows*
    Reply
    #2
    Ellyse
    I'm the only one who will walk across a fire for you.
    it's only fear that makes you run, the demons that you're hiding from.
        Every piece of her life had fallen into disarray – where her heart had once warmed with contentment, now it was icy with the frigidity of heartache and loneliness – though there are too few she would admit it to. She had always embraced change, adaptable and pliable, but too much had changed, and it left a bitter, acrid taste in her mouth.

      She had given her heart too willingly to a broken thing, and in turn, her once whole heart held fissures of its own. She had sought comfort and solace in the company of another, confiding in him her heartbreak and wavering uncertainty, but he, too, was broken, and he did not confide in her the way she had him.

      And in the end, she is alone. Her son a wanderer, drifting to and fro, as wild and as freeform as the gentle, wayward breeze that touches the tempestuous shoreline – and her daughters, each as adventurous and as restless as she had been in her own youth, were apart from her, living independently and carefree, and thus, she is left to her own solitude.

      Though the dense humidity and volcanic haze have become every bit as much a part of her, it has become a blistering wound – a hot, fervid reminder of all she had lost, of all that had somehow slipped between her proverbial fingertips, and she is left bitter, longing, and recoiling into herself. She had never minded isolation before. She often kept to herself, a quiet and calculating force to be reckoned with, with a sharp tongue and clever wit – but the birth of her children had worn away her resolve, and she no longer yearned for solitude as she might have years ago.

      Yet, even so, she is still terse with anger – with resentment, dejected and uncertain of where her loyalty should lie, of where her place was. She had been uprooted from all she had known, all she had built for herself, left with nothing but ashes and the jagged fragments of what had been – and one day, she would rebuild. She would move forward, a furious tempest of prowess and certainty, but not now – not today.

      The dull roar of the churning waters draw her forth from the shadow of the dense thicket; the quiet echo soothing her restless mind. Even if only for a moment. She had stolen away from the volcanic island beneath the draping cover of night, with little word spoken to any as to her whereabouts – she owed no one. Warrick had drawn away from her, pulling into himself, keeping her at bay, and though she had once thought that maybe - maybe, one day – but no, she had been mistaken.

      And she would not seek to press any fervent kiss to his furrowed brow; he was a troubled man – and she had had enough of trying to mend any heart but her own.

      It only served to burn her.

      She is weary and worn, quietly searching the turning, rolling rapids with the dark glimmer of her hazel eyes, following the subtle and shallow shoreline with her gaze. A brief expression of recognition, followed by a deep crease in her brow line rises as a familiar figure piques her curiosity. Quietly, with the downward wind in her favor, she closes the distance lingering between them, observing the hardened line of his shoulder (where dried blood and an oozing mark remain), to the rigid muscle of his broad neck, and the terse clenching of his jaw.

      ”Dahmer,” she murmurs softly, almost imperceptibly low, and though she does not touch him (she wants to – to see the severity of his wound, to see if there is anything she can do to mend it), she is almost close enough to. Quietly, her gaze searches the hollow of his cheek, and the intensity of his piercing eyes, knowing he must feel as displaced and as lost as she, but she cannot bring herself to speak again.
    when all your promises are gone, I'm the only one.
    Reply
    #3
    … curiosity killed the cat &
    satisfaction brought him back
    With painful memories and negative thoughts serving as an effective distraction, the blue-eyed beast pays no mind to the setting sun or the way it lights the autumn trees on fire. It's still early in the season, the leafy boughs still verdant and full, though a handful of them threaten to transform into browns and oranges and reds.

    While the foliage is lost on Dahmer, the frothing river is not. The constant motion holds his gaze and the gentle noise it makes over the smooth river rocks keeps one ear pricked, while the other remains lost in a tousled ebony mane. Dahmer doesn't realize that Ellyse has joined him until his own name falls from her lips, and even then, he wonders for a moment if he has imagined the voice of the champagne mare.

    When he moves those azure eyes from the rumbling water, the sun has almost met its bed on the horizon but Ellyse's golden frame and sleek wings hint at glowing in the ascending moon. Dahmer nickers to her quietly, almost hesitantly, as his brain works out his emotions upon seeing Tephra's Head of War.

    She still smells of sulfur, making his heart ache for the volcano.

    For home.

    "Ellyse," he responds gruffly, after a long moment. His nostrils quiver, muscular neck extending towards the mare so that he may inhale her scent deeply. He considers leaving as his anger flares, fresh and new, at the memory of her pledging her loyalty to Offspring upon Lucrezia's abdication. But no, no... she is not the one he is angry with.

    "Did you feel this way, when Magnus left?" he whispers the question, but it is fused with rage and vulnerability and uncertainty. He realizes, then, that he and Ellyse had never really shared a personal conversation before. But there is a time for everything, our black beast supposes, as his icy blue eyes find Ellyse's.
    break some bread for all my sins
    BY MITZI


    @[Ellyse] <3
    Reply
    #4
    Ellyse
    I'm the only one who will walk across a fire for you.
    it's only fear that makes you run, the demons that you're hiding from.
     There is anguish hidden in the shadow of the icy sheen of his gaze, set so intently upon the roaring, rushing river before him, and she quietly traces the tension along his jaw line, the clenching of his teeth with her own eyes. She can almost feel the heat of his anger simmering on the surface of his skin, but she does not say anything, not yet. She is all too familiar with the ache of betrayal, with the dark, enveloping thoughts of self-doubt, of ire – she, too, had been displaced, but it had happened long, long ago. Not now.

      Though his heart is pounding fiercely with the resentment of a change(and so much more – she had always known he felt differently for the Queen than perhaps Lucrezia realized), she had felt it over a year ago, as Magnus unceremoniously handed his crown of thorns to the next without so much as a word spoken to her. Blindsided. Breathless. Angry, disappointed – she had had felt it all.

       It had filled her with so much emotion, she had hardly known what to do with it all. She had never longed for the crown, herself – she had no delusion of power; only a longing to belong somewhere – somehow. Yet, it had happened so suddenly, and with the descent of evenfall, he was gone, with nothing but the gentle stirring of his own scent lingering in the heavy, tepid air of morning.

      And she was left with nothing but an empty title, a broken heart, and the gentle caress of her newborn daughter tucked beneath her wing, nestling closer to her. A daughter he had never even met.

      Gently, the distance between he and her becomes less as the plush surface of her nose presses against his own, inhaling his own scent (no longer of sulfur or the salty brine of the sea, but of pine, and willow). It is fleeting, before her own attention is settled onto the churning, rolling waters that rustle before them, and she aligns the length of her pallid figure next to his own as the finely preened feathers of her broad wings tuck themselves tightly against her sides, brushing slightly along his own.

      His voice is low, so low – she nearly misses it –
      Did you feel this way when Magnus left?

      And the façade of indifference has fallen.

      Her breath is shuddering with emotion – it is difficult for her, even now – and as her mind brushes over the memories rising to the surface, she is forced to swallow the ache in her throat.

      ”All of that and more,” she says softly – a confession she had only ever made to one; her hazel eyes clouded with unshed tears, which she tries to quell. ”there was so much left unsaid between us when he left, and it was so sudden. I didn't know what to do.”
    when all your promises are gone, I'm the only one.


    <3 @[Dahmer]
    Reply
    #5
    … curiosity killed the cat &
    satisfaction brought him back
    He had not been expecting Ellyse to meet his muzzle, and so lets an unexpectedly nicker fall from his nose. Her scent is a welcome one, and yet still feeds the flames that lick at his insides. Dahmer is confused by his own reaction, at the way the unlikely pair, frustration and contentedness, mingle and bloom. When Ellyse breaks their contact, he is almost thankful, and expels his held breath. The stallion's blue eyes return to the dark river, the shadowy trees, and the dark navy sky behind them as she settles her winged frame next to his.

    His companion - his friend - answers the question that he, maybe, doesn't deserve the answer to. They had never been close, though the mutual respect had been obvious. But still, who is he to ask Ellyse to reveal emotions that were usually reserved for ones closest confidants?

    The mare surprises him, though, and confides those feelings in him. Dahmer remains quiet for a few moments after she has fallen into silence, his blue eyes moving again from the river to search Ellyse's face. Had it been a little brighter, he would have seen the way her eyes well, heavy with tears, but instead he must only rely on the quiver in her quiet voice. "You don't have to tell me, if you don't want to," he offers quietly, the first sympathetic thought he has experienced since his departure from Tephra.

    Dahmer shifts to the side, closer to Ellyse, to feel the way her feathers tickle against his dark coat. "Sometimes, 'unsaid' is better," he murmurs with frustration into the darkness before reaching his nose up to the mare's withers and playing with her mane, comfortable to show a more affection side of himself under the cover of the night.

    His jaw remains clenched but the rest of him is loosely content next to the champagne mare for now. Dahmer snorts, the sound sudden and terse. "I will feel better when I have a distraction," a tense grumble.
    break some bread for all my sins
    BY MITZI


    @[Ellyse]
    Reply
    #6
    Ellyse
    I'm the only one who will walk across a fire for you.
    it's only fear that makes you run, the demons that you're hiding from.
      She is quiet for a moment, listening to the intensity of the water forcefully pressing against the multitude of lustrous boulders that protrude from the rapids, watching the way each one stands impervious and indifferent to the power and prowess of the torrent. Yet slowly, piece by piece – whittled away; smoothed out and eroded. In time, nothing will be left, and she cannot help but to wonder if the same will eventually happen to her. Heartache, wearing her down until there is little else but ashes and dust left – but the heavy lashes then close over her glistening eyes, and silently, she suppresses the twinge of longing within her chest, shaking it away as she so often does.

      When she finally opens her eyes, she can feel the heat of his stare boring into her, and finally, she glances towards him – seeking the icy blue of his gaze beneath the pale moonlight emerging in the dark, yet faintly starlit sky. The sun has long since set, tucked away behind the horizon towards the western hemisphere. The warmth of it is gone, too, and when he presses closer to her, she does not shy away – a shiver traverses the length of her spine when he does, and then, you don’t have to tell me, if you don’t want to.

      ”I was foolish,” she murmurs thoughtfully, with a low, humorless chuckle bubbling from her throat as he stirs beside her; her feathered appendages move reflexively along his flank. When his teeth press against her withers, another shiver touches her nerve endings, and for a moment, she is holding her breath – uncertain, but she does not say anything. The tension seemingly eases away from her tightly coiled muscle, his breath soft and warm against her skin. It is comforting, if nothing else. ”I let myself lose a part of me in a fantasy,” her voice is soft; barely a whisper. ”a figment of my own imagination.”

      A pause, and then, ”Perhaps it is better things are left unsaid.”

     Where the tension has seemingly melted away from her, he is coiled even more tightly than she – anger bubbling beneath the surface of his skin, hot to the touch, and before she has even had a moment to contemplate it, her pale lips are pressed against his neck, brushing against the darkness of his skin, feeling his heart pulsating within. Her own heart is pounding then, surging within her breast, thrumming against its iron cage. His words are rife with ire and vexation, and beneath that, there is a familiar ache she has come to know all too well. He does not say it – but he does not have to.

      She can feel it in the heat of his touch; the timbre of his voice – thick and heavy with emotion, held back by an invisible boundary.

      Her slender neck is sweeping and curved, casting a glance towards him; a gold-flecked eye meeting with a polarizing blue. All the while, she is pressed against him, her touch lingering just over his skin, as an unfamiliar and long dormant longing rises to the surface.

      ”Maybe we could both use a distraction,” she murmurs, her heart pounding harder then.
    when all your promises are gone, I'm the only one.


    @[Dahmer]
    Reply
    #7
    … curiosity killed the cat &
    satisfaction brought him back
    I was foolish.

    Dahmer frowns at her concession and nods his own head in response. "We have that in common," he offers, before falling into silence again, content to hear Ellyse speak. His ears have both emerged from their tousled bed at this point, straining to listen as the champagne's voice turns to a whisper,
    and then he wonders if it is even there.

    Despite the darkness, moonlight is still able to splash through the treetops in a few places, illuminating the river and drawing Dahmer's blue eyes to it. They are both quiet, comfortable in their companionship, and the black stallion is nearly fooled into thinking they are sharing a moment in Tephra again.

    Lucrezia surfaces in his thoughts again, trudging through his brain with memories of their late-night conversations, lava-side. More out of frustration than anything else, Dahmer laments his need for a distraction, all of his frustrations compressed into one sentence. He stomps a front hoof angrily against the riverbank, the blow landing with a dull thud against the grass and he nearly turns from Ellyse so that he may pace, but then --

    She reaches for him with her muzzle, her soft exhales warming the skin of his muscled neck where she lingers. Dahmer leans into her touch and his pupils narrow as he turns his gaze on her again. He watches the champagne mare intensely, feeling the way she pushes towards him and returns the favor with his own tensed muscles and experimental nips.

    At Ellyse's suggestion, the black beast pauses. Would this kind of distraction really be beneficial... for either of them?

    His blue eyes search hers, but Dahmer's hesitation is fleeting.

    He presses his muzzle to her muscled shoulder, more frantic than delicate, as he takes a few steps backwards, soft muzzle never breaking contact even as it slides over her feathers. He nickers with his newfound desire, the noise low and instinctive. Dahmer's frustrations fuel him, bringing a fervor to his touch as he nips at Ellyse's flank, his own sore shoulder long forgotten.

    "Perhaps we are still being foolish," he whispers, low and predatory, but he doesn't stop touching her. He can't. He has forgotten what this kind of desire feels like, and he is prepared to give into it despite how foolish they may be.
    break some bread for all my sins
    BY MITZI


    @[Ellyse]
    Reply
    #8
    Ellyse
    I'm the only one who will walk across a fire for you.
    it's only fear that makes you run, the demons that you're hiding from.
      The pale moonlight touches the surface of their skin – a vivid, lustrous gold and a soft, smooth obsidian – malleable metal pressed against a supple stone, yet but unmoving, unwavering – solidified. The soft light caresses his shoulder and the length of his neck, tangling itself within the tousled line of his unkempt tresses, haphazardly hanging against the surface of his skin. Gently, her teeth brush across where his pulse thrums the loudest, and with it, she draws a tendril of his mane between her teeth, tugging lightly.

      And when his eyes meet with her, ice clashing with darkness, there are no unshed tears lingering there – the ache had faded away, as it would in time, her mind elsewhere as an electricity she had never expected to find within the shadow of his steady, searching gaze crackles between them, stirring a shiver down the length of her vertebrae. He is uncertain, but for only a moment, the hesitation fleeting as her body presses easily against his own with a need she had kept locked away.

      There is fervor in his touch, but there is also something more – frustration, festering as his dark, whispered mouth presses against her skin, tasting the sunlight and sulfur that lay across her, draping like a cloak over the soft curves of her figure. Softly, the feathers along her broad, faded ivory wings bristle beneath the starlight sky, glimmering beneath the pale light as his teeth brush against her hip.

      Perhaps we are still being foolish, he says quietly, his voice rough around the edges with desire, and it elicits a soft, quiet chuckle from within her chest, where her heart still beats raggedly, adrenaline surging through her veins as she presses her hip against his shoulder with a toss of her slender neck, glancing towards him with a coy smile, tugging at the corners of her mouth – only just illuminated by the bleak light of the moon.

      ”If we are,” she hums softly – just loud enough to be heard over the churning, rapidly pounding water of the river, which beats only just faster than her heart. ”our foolishness has gotten us this far.”

     And then, her voice low and nearly a growl, ”I am not often reckless, Dahmer - but I want this – tonight, and I think that you do, too.”
    when all your promises are gone, I'm the only one.


    @[Dahmer]
    Reply
    #9
    … curiosity killed the cat &
    satisfaction brought him back
    Ellyse looks over her champagne shoulder, enough light remaining for Dahmer to see the coy expression that she is offering him, and a low growl of desire hums deep in his throat. He hadn't prepared for a moment like this with the Head of War, hadn't even considered it before now, while he was preoccupied with Lucrezia and she with Magnus, and yet the desire coils hot in his belly.

    He cares not about the real reasons behind their desire, opting to let it consume him as he backs up further and then moves so that his broad chest bumps her hindquarters. "You're not wrong," he whispers as an amused confession, before he is upon her.

    ---

    Dahmer's heart beats rapidly, even as they part. His dark coat is, if possible, darker with his sheen of sweat and the black beast sighs happily as a breeze greets them in the darkness. The river still courses, as it always will, and the thoroughbred stallion drops himself to his knees upon the bank, relaxing in the dewy grass.

    Dahmer turns his blue eyes to Ellyse almost sleepily, his anger forgotten and his desire quelled, for now. "Perhaps you should be reckless more often, Ellyse," he jokes with a small smirk.
    break some bread for all my sins
    BY MITZI


    @[Ellyse]
    Reply
    #10
    Ellyse
    I'm the only one who will walk across a fire for you.
    it's only fear that makes you run, the demons that you're hiding from.
      By the end of it, darkness has descended in full, with a colorless but starlit sky overhead, glimmering brightly. Her skin is slick with beads of perspiration, and her tousled ivory tresses are dampened and laying in ringlets across the warm surface of her neck. Slowly, she stretches the broad length of her feathered appendages to either side, admiring how the moonlight touches the finely preened feathers, idly tucking one or two into place.

      She is sated – contented, even, as her hazel eyes carefully follow the dark outline of his figure part from her and move towards a quieter part of the river (though still it moves swiftly, rapidly – a tumultuous force, not unlike her pounding heart inside of her chest). She is careful, and quiet for a moment, as the afterglow floods through her body with the force of adrenaline, but the haze from her mind is soon lifted and thoughtfully, she observes him.

      She had hardly spoken a word with him before – preferring the solitude of her own isolation (and perhaps, the ache of a broken heart was too much for her to see affection blossoming between he and the Queen at the time), but now. She is not entirely certain how she is feeling, what she is thinking. She had never been so reckless, nor so wild or free – it had been a lovers’ exchange, with little attachment, with no necessity beyond what had been made of it.

      ”Don’t read too much into it,” she warns him quietly as the pale gold of her skin shines beneath the light of the moon, her limbs flexing slowly as she nears him. Soon, her own legs fold beneath her as the curve of her body settles next to his own, with her wings tightly tucked in against her shoulders. Gently, her slender neck drapes over his back, resting near his withers, where softly she sighs.  

      ”Just for tonight.”
    when all your promises are gone, I'm the only one.
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