Sholto

It was strange this year for Aleixo, no longer part of the staff and not helping out as everything was put together for Beltane.  They’d outdone themselves this year, that was something the phoenix could tell as soon as he stepped into the party with Leon, just a few steps behind his master.  He’d been sticking close to the vampire ever since, extremely mindful of the fact that he had to be on his best behavior here – not that he’d planned on being anything else, really.  He’d been thankful to skirt the fertility rituals for now and wandered into the Grove, almost immediately drawn to the creature in the cage.  There was a part of the phoenix that wanted to reach out and touch, but he held himself back – in the other’s situation, he certainly wouldn’t want some stranger’s hands on him.  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen something like that…” Aleixo muttered, mostly to himself as his gaze swept over the wings.

@krovscastlestarters​

Sholto was watching people, feeling very sorry for himself as he leaned against the tree that provided him with some bit of cover. He couldn’t stop staring at the creature in the cage, the predicament the other was in making him feel even more uncomfortable. Things could always be worse, he thought, when a voice pulled his attention. “Me neither.” he replied instinctively, eyes moving back to the beast, “What is... he, d’you know?”

beltane | open

@krovscastlestarters​

Matthew had lost count of the number of drinks he had finished by now, but it was more than what he usually allowed himself at such parties because he always wished to appear professional. The castle’s chief of staff decided that he deserved the distractions that night given the amount of stress he had been under over the last few weeks. The bartender was already giving him weird looks because it was the first time the man had seen Matthew being so indulgent. 

“There’s a good chap,” he said and thanked the bartender with a nod as he reached out for his new glass of wine. He was not quite there yet but Matthew was determined to at least get a little tipsy. “I hope you’re enjoying yourself,” Matthew said to the person next to him, not caring who it was. “You wouldn’t believe how much it takes to plan these parties…”

-

One of the guards had wrangled Sholto into the blood bar, needing another server. He was standing, watching as the man set up the tray with some weird looking drink that smelled like magic. He sighed heavily and then heard a voice, turning slightly to see if he was being spoken to with a slight narrowing of his eyes. He snorted lightly, shaking his head as he turned back to the man who was shoving the drink tray into his hands. 

“Yeah... pure dead brilliant.” he muttered sarcastically, scowling as he tried to figure out the fastest way to either get rid of the drinks or where to stand so no one would bother him, “Enjoy it y’self.” he added before spying an area that just might work for some cover and starting over. 

So bewitched by the display of beauty, Sholto didn’t notice the man watching him. His dampened telepathy not picking up on the intent sent towards him as he simply watched and pined, letting out a huff of a breath as one hand came up to fiddle mindlessly with the leather mask on his face. 

Sholto’s Beltane costume: 

Shirtless with black shorts

He smeared blue paint across his shoulders and chest

Really the only words Dusty had heard where fuck and place, but he had filled in the empty spaces with his own assumptions and chuckled when the other assured him he was wrong. He looked at the other and chuckled at the clearly out of place boy. He held up a hand to stop him. “I don’t know how ya got out. But if yer caught wandering around without a Master yer in for a whole shit storm of trouble. And ya ain’t got a chance getting back in the undercroft without being noticed.” He looked at the other drawing his own conclusions. “Unless I’m mistaken and yer Master’s right behind ya.” 

Dusty was as usual working. Today found him in the library studying as he was his norm lately. There was so much he didn’t know and until recently his education had been so very neglected and now he had decades to make up for. That of course didn’t make it easy to sit there and focus. He was already considering a break after only a couple of hours when he heard some one speak. Of course he wasn’t certain who was speaking or if they were actually speaking to, but he couldn’t help but be amused given what he had heard. “Repeat that darling? Ain’t entirely against it, but I wanna make sure I heard ya right.” 

@krovscastlestarters​

Lorian let out a sigh as he let his hand come up to wipe the sweat off of his face. He was pretty sure he could hear someone screaming their head off furthing down, likely raging about being stuck here…But Lorian could already tell despite being new. There was no point. Throwing a tantrum will do nothing but only get you in trouble here. So instead, the ancient healer will do what he was raised to do. He will adapt and heal and protect those that he could. Of course, he was limited with that collar and no supplies around him. But that was okay…Lorian was adaptable. 

The man had torn his shirt to cover the wound that had rested on the other man’s neck, a vampire having fed rather violently from the slave. “There you go, young one.” Lorian said as he let his hand fall down on the other man’s head. Standing up, Lorian noticed that the two of them were no long alone. “Good afternoon. How can I help you?” The slave said evenly as he turned around to stare at the newcomer, subconsciously positioning himself between the man and his ‘patient’.

-

They had finally decided to let Sholto out of the isolation cells and one of the guards shoved him into the main room of the Undercroft, pointing to a cot and ordering him to go to it. With a sigh, the merman took his sweet time making his way to where he was told to go, eyes scanning the throng of men in the area, his heart sinking further and further with each step. 

The cot he’d been directed to had neighbouring cots that held other slaves and Sholto wasn’t sure what two of them were doing as he approached. It looked like the one had placed something on the others neck but he couldn’t quite tell. He could tell how the man moved in front of the other slave when he turned to him, as if he would try and hurt the guy or something. 

“Relax...” he mumbled quietly gesturing to the cot next to them, “Just need a place to sit, ‘m not gonna... ‘m not tryin’ t’ hurt anyone.” Something about being thought of as dangerous to those in the same position as he was grated on him immensely. 

“That’s because.. I’m a merman like you and I could relate to what you’re feeling.” Jacen felt sorry that he had to go through the same thing, but he didn’t want the other to think he was pitying on him. He dove back into the water and he shifted to his merman form. His light blue tail with silver patterns on display and he swam closer to the merman. “I could leave you alone if you want. But it’s always nice to get to know people of our kind.”

-

Sholto immediately bristled at the other’s assumption that he related to what he was feeling. The guy didn’t know shit. He tried to temper the anger, sighing heavily as the other jumped in the pool, his eyes drifting over the blue tail. It was beautiful, really, with the silver patterns, and somehow seeing it made Sholto feel a little less alone. He quickly blinked tears away, not letting them fall, wondering if he should trust the other. Wondering if he even could. “I-.... uhm...” god, this was torture, “I don’t even... know where to-... where to start.” Sholto grit his teeth, his jaw working as he tried to keep it all down. It felt like if he allowed it to start, it would never stop. 

How? I’m not sure what you’re asking.. How I look like you? It’s– I’m a skinwalker, of course. Also the castle’s psychologist on staff, Dr. Gallagher. Perhaps not the most professional meeting… But hello. Eoin glanced around the water and back up at the shadowy figure above, figuring it might be a bit before it was safe to surface. I’m presuming based on your style of collar… A slave, yes? Your name is?

Whenever Charlie was in the mood for a swim, he’d learned that it was just better to use the one meant for the slaves in the Undercroft.  It always seemed a little less crowded and, really, he’d rather hang out with the people who weren’t keeping him captive.  So he’d been there, off to the side, to witness the guards toss some guy into the pool fully clothed.  It seemed an odd punishment, but then the guy’s legs transformed and Charlie realized just what he was.  He seemed to be almost sulking about being thrown in, though, which was interesting – but if he didn’t want to talk, the dragon had no interest in making him.

With a shrug, Charlie stripped out of his shirt and waded into the pool, content to just ignore the guy altogether if he didn’t want to talk.

-

Sholto stayed down for as long as he could, not moving. Unfortunately, merman physiology was not meant to hold stationary for long periods of time and his tail started cramping. He tried gently moving it, seeing if he could get away with not making big movements but it only seemed to make things worse. Though he wasn’t in danger of drowning, he wasn’t interested in pain. At least not pain that didn’t have the possibility of putting him out of his misery. With a huff, he started swimming, forced to move closer to the man who had joined him in the pool. He had a strange looking collar on, fancier than he’d seen so far in the place and Sholto wasn’t sure what it meant. Was the guy one of the claimed slaves he’d heard talked about? Surfacing just enough so his mouth was free to speak, Sholto decided to ask, “What’s with the fancy collar?” his eyes moved from the man’s face to the collar and back again.

Nico sat cross legged on the pool deck, picking at his nails and humming a song as he waited for the other to surface, noticing the other finally start to move underwater and he lets out a small, teasing cheer before the other surfaced. “Nope, not at all.” He replies as he jumps to his feet. “You’re new around here.” He points out, an obvious fact that Nico felt like telling him. “Would you like to come up to my masters suite and have something nice to eat? Someone as pretty as yourself shouldn’t eat the nasty stuff down here.”

-

Sholto blinked, the offer completely unexpected and his brow furrowed slowly as he tried to figure out why it was being made in the first place. It couldn’t be just because he was “pretty” or new. “You’re inviting me for food?” he finally asked, unable to come up with any alternatives that weren’t extremely disturbing, “Why? Seem a helluva lot like you’ll expect something in return for it so I’m gonna ask again: what do you want?” Not having access to his telepathy was really starting to grate on him. 

The young man’s silence certainly cought Abel’s attention. Not many, much less slaves, dared going against a councilman. Those who did were usually mouthy and faul, but apperently this one showed his defiance with the silent treatments. Clenching his jaw, Abel set his waterbottle down, before approaching the slave. Bruises on his bare knucles closing up and healing supernaturally fast. 

“Hey kid, I fucking talked to you.” He growled, crouching down in front of the slave. “Are you deaf? Or are you looking to get yourself punished for being disrespectful?” The councilman didn’t care if he came off as agressive to slaves. They were there to serve and nothing more. He wasn’t a man to make friends with the bloodbags.

-

Sholto glanced up when the man came closer, obviously pissed, and crouched in front of him. He tried again to get a read on his thoughts but was again unable to do so. It was frustrating, not that it would take telepathy to know what the guy was thinking. His anger and superiority complex were clear as day. 

Licking his lips, the merman swallowed and gave a little smile that didn’t reach his eyes, his head tilting in his own irritation at the questions. “Not deaf.” he said simply, not bothering to elaborate.

Theoden smirked and shook his head. “Half siren, and half allagator? That sounds like a deadly combination.” Theoden laughed at the picture that brought to his head. “Oh I don’t know. I can see the good in most things. Stalkers mean that someone thinks I’m hot enough for their attention twenty-four seven.” Theoden joked with a big grin on his face.

“Well, they sound like real assholes,” Kaden replied, grimacing. He wouldn’t want to experience an electric current while in water, nope. Also real dick move against a merman, in his opinion. “Yeah, I’m alone,” he confirmed, nodding. For how long though, he wasn’t sure. “What’s your name?” 

-

Sholto gave a very small nod to confirm the other’s assessment of the guards. They were definitely assholes but he wasn’t 100% sure he wasn’t talking to a guard yet or not. “I’m Sholto.” he replied, moving a little closer, “You?” He really wanted to ask if the guy was on his level or not and the only way to do that was bluntly that he could figure, “You.., uhm, are you a prisoner here too or staff?” 

Theoden just drifted and waded, enjoying the relaxing feeling of not doing anything productive. So much of life tends to be on the move, that it’s nice to have these moments where you can just truly stop and relax. Noticing that the other man had moved back up and had is eyes peeking above the surface. “You realize how much of a stalker you look by doing that? Are you part gator now?” Theoden teased with a cheeky grin.

back to work | open starter

Zahur had only been back a few days but it felt like no time had passed. Between catching up with the council and council matters, to working through the pile of work left for him, the dragon felt like he had little time to breathe. Part of him was glad for that. He had been mourning his father for far too long, a distraction was what he really needed. Walking through the halls, he was hardly paying attention, too focused on the bank statements that had been sent over to him. That was another thing he would have to sort out. Zahur was muttering to himself as he walked into his office, stopping short when he found someone by his table.

For a few moments, he just watched, wanting to see what the man was up to. “You know, I don’t like people trying to snoop around my office,” the dragon said, finally speaking up. “Was there something you were looking for?” Maybe now he could convince the castle to give him another assistant because his current one was useless.

@krovscastlestarters​​

Sholto was pissed. He had half a mind to rip up the papers some complete asshole had given him to deliver to another asshole like he was a fucking errand boy. At least it had given him an excuse to explore the castle a little, pretending to get lost a couple times before being pointed in the right direction by a guard too lazy to do his job properly. The door had been unlocked so Sholto let himself in and started snooping almost immediately, looking for nothing in particular as he tucked the papers under his arm to free up both hands.