#apprentice delphi

     You’ve lost track of hours spent dancing and rutting. Though you had promised yourself that you’d take it slow at first, you’ve once again gotten swept up in the excitement of the lustful celebration.

  But then again, how could you not, when Delphi is your date?

  The magician is so passionate, so carefree. They know what they want and are unafraid to grab it. Though Vesuvia is already rather sex-positive, there’s still a level of shyness when it comes to attending the infamous masquerade. You might for example run into an old friend making it awkward, and there may be one or two bad apples who tease you despite the otherwise welcoming environment. But Delphi is unafraid. Delphi wants to go out and get dirty, they don’t care who tries to stop their fun, and just being by their side makes you brave too. 

  But at the end of night two, it doesn’t make your feet less sore, or your back less tight, or your eyes less droopy. You’re beat, and yet Delphi is still excitedly running around like they could go long into night 3 without rest.

  “Delphi, maybe it’s time to cool down.”

  “Huh? Oh- yeah! After we try out the Midnight Room! It’s pitch black, so it enhances other senses!”

  “The Midnight Room will still be there tomorrow. How about we head to the baths? Nadia was very kind to let us use her private spa, after all.”

  “Huh? But we can do that tomorrow too!”

  You didn’t want to say it but…

  “Delphi. You are stinky. You are very stinky.”

  “…so?”

  “When you’re stinky you need to bathe!”

  “I thought you liked my musk,” they pout.

  “Bath. Now.”

  “Oooooh you’re using your dom voice? Haha, okay then. We can take a bath.”

  Nadia’s bathhouse is as immaculate as ever. The scents of rare flowers and salts fill your lungs. Delphi marvels at her collection.

  “Woahhh, these are eucalyptus leaves! In baths, they’re good for sore muscles, but I can use them to make potions that make you focus! Nahida’s so smart, no wonder she has so much of it…”

  You smile, “see? I knew you’d like the bath house.”

  You walk up to them, and start to rub their shoulders. They sigh, immediately relaxing a bit. Their shoulders are tense, but the tension quickly melts under your hands. You loop your fingers under each strap, and quickly remove their robes. The silk fabric falls around them, leaving them naked.

  You continue to rub down their back, calming them and soothing their spirit. Then, you take their hand, kiss it, and lead them to the bathtub.

  They groan as you massage shampoo into their head, nails scratching against their scalp. They sink into the water so much, you have to pull them up to be able to lather their body with soap. They blush as you pay special attention to their chest, and under their arms.

  “Can’t get enough of me?”

  “I’m only scrubbing because you were sweaty today.”

  “Right, right…”

  You move to their ass, scrubbing a bit more rough than necessary.

  “Hey!! Hey!!! Watch the goods!”

  “Sorry, I couldn't help it.” You go back to scrubbing their body.

  “Ahh, all clean,” Delphi brags, reclining into the bubbles.

  “…no. Not quite.”

  “Huh? What else is..”

  They trail off as you spread their legs, and with a soapy hand, grab their cock.

Delphi and Julian were a chaotic mix. They knew how to have fun, even if it ultimately ended in a concussion or trying to make bail for the other.

This time, however, is a little different than the others.

The pair found themselves frantically squeezing into an alleyway after a chase with a drunken brick shithouse of a man, the drunkard stumbling past the divot in the wall a hair's breadth after Delphi and Julian squeezed in.

They wait for the footsteps and slurred cursing to fade out, their breaths heavy and hearts racing. Seconds pass by, the sounds of the night the only noise to hide their hushed panting. And when they’re positive they’ve run home free, they burst out laughing.

Julian’s laugh is like a bark, deep from his chest in a mix of relief and exhilaration. Delphi almost immediately follows, their laugh like a hiccuping snort. It’s not the first time this has happened, and it certainly won’t be the last, but as the laughter dies down and the pair begin to notice exactly how they’re puzzle pieced together, it becomes crystal clear that this is a new one.

Delphi’s thigh slots between Julian’s and his between theirs, pressed chest to chest and nearly nose to nose. It would explain why it was so hard to wiggle in to hide, and now that the danger is gone and adrenaline remains, it becomes much more…erotic. Julian can feel the heat pool in his gut, the warmth between his legs start to get hotter—and Delphi is no better, their cock stirring in interest.

“Well,” Julian says almost breathlessly, craning his neck down at the blue haired magician. “It seems we’ve gotten a bit…jammed.”

Delphi digs their fingers into his sides. “Enough talk, kiss me, pirate boy.”

A rush runs through Julian’s body, thrill catching on each of his vertebrae like Delphi was using his ribcage as a xylophone. Oh, how he loves how demanding they are.

Julian groans into their mouth when their lips collide together, his knees weak and his cunt throbbing at the thought of kneeling down. It didn’t used to be this easy to make him so needy and aching, but he supposes that’s just Delphi’s charm and allure.

Delphi presses their tongue into his mouth, sloppy and barely coordinated and just how he likes it. Julian feels smothered in them, a thigh between his and a tongue down his throat—he wouldn’t have it any other way. Delphi swallows down his whimper, fingers pressing into his hips and stomach, sliding under his loose blouse and groping his chest.

There’s a certain kind of heat between their bodies; Julian can feel Delphi’s cock chub up against his thigh, thick and hot. They wiggle their hips, grinding against his lithe thigh forcefully. A moan chokes out of his throat like he was the one rutting against a leg, muffled against the magician's eager lips.

“Y-you never skip a beat, duh-darling,” the doctor pants when Delphi lets up, mouths still close enough to breathe in each other's breath.

“You love it.” They snicker, sliding cold hands down his waistband. Julian shivers, fingertips brushing over his happy trail and slotting right into place between his thighs. His hips stutter at the feeling, familiar but always so electrifying.

“Y’r wet for me,” Delphi croons, grinning wide as they rub their fingers through his lips and folds, dipping down to that wetness and coming back up to his hardened clit. He grabs tight on their shoulders, hot fiery heat on his cheeks. “All loose too.” They say to no surprise, two fingers sliding home and crooking up.

Julian’s knees wobble and shake, his teeth biting down into his lip to muffle his cry. He can still feel the stretch of their fingers no matter how malleable he may be (and rigorous rounds the night before make sure of that). “Delphi,” he gasps, rutting his clit against their angled palm. “Delphi!” He cries louder as they crook their fingers again, slotting right against his sweet spot.

They sink their teeth into his collarbone, like biting into ripe fruit- a little pop as they pierce the flesh.

The good doctor makes a sound akin to a dying animal and euphoria all the same, clenching down on their fingers. Warm blood bubbles and gushes, dirtying Delphi’s tongue and they groan happily, humping their swollen cock against his leg. Julian’s hand shakes as it rises, cradling the back of their head as they bite and suck, almost vampiric in nature. He certainly wouldn’t mind if they drained him dry.

“Good boy,” he can hear muffled and grunted into his kiss bruised skin, dull pain setting his nerves alight. He preens under the praise, following Delphi’s pumping fingers with his narrow hips. Each thrust in has the heel of their palm grinding deliciously against his needy clit, their fingers stroking and rubbing right where he needs them to.

Delphi dislodges their teeth and kisses the fresh wound, their stomach growing tight and aching as they seek the friction they crave from Julian’s thigh. They grow sloppier, yet still energetic, pinning him to the wall with their hips and hands, rutting against his tensed muscles. They’re close, he knows it.

“Please,” he begs, riding their fingers, wetness coating his pants. “Please, c-cum, please, please,”

His fate is in their hands, they could leave him aching and hungry, they could tease him more, but they’re already so close.

“Do it then, hah, birdy boy.” Delphi lovingly teases, and opens their mouth again-

And bites firmly down on his peaked nipple. Julian jumps and sobs like he’s holding a live wire, and it’s just enough to send him over. He squirts right into Delphi’s hand and soaks his pants. It trickles and bubbles through the fabric, splattering onto the dirt ground.

The magician suckles on his abused nipple in apology, fingers pulling from his cunt to firmly rub his clit as they chase down their high, bruising Julian’s hips and thighs with the forceful grind- growing shaky and unsteady until it all coalesces and they cum in their pants with a gasp.

The air is thick and heady, heavy breaths passed back and forth. Both bodies are still cramped and sweaty, but now with jelly bones.

Delphi pulls their hand out of Julian’s pants when he cries of overstimulation, his legs and everything in between sore and spent.

“Hah..haha, a quickie for the books, right?” He laughs breathlessly, his bangs sticking to his sweaty forehead.

“Definitely,” Delphi admires their handiwork with a sigh. “Wished I coulda fucked you proper, though.”

  Everywhere Delphi looks is red. An ugly, dull shade, like spilled wine never cleaned. A dirty, foggy filter overlaid atop everything. The walls, the ceiling of their tiny room. Even their own body was distorted.

  But not just by their vision.

  Even with the restraints keeping them firm in their bed, Delphi could see the blistering red sores, the puck marks like insects had bitten away at them. And the surgical, purposeful marks left by previous experiments. They shivered, they wished they had a blanket. And morphine. And anyone by their side.

  Speak of the devil, the door opened.

  What bothered Delphi the most about when Valdemar visited their little hospice room wasn’t even the experiments, it was the attitude Valdemar treated them with. They hardly acknowledged Delphi, preferring to work on them like they were a plant or something. The moment Delphi had contracted the plague, they ceased being anything but an experiment to their former college. And even though Delphi always detested Valdemar for a reason they couldn’t place, it was an insult to their pride to be dismissed like they weren’t human.

  Valdemar scribbled furiously, noting the growth of the throbbing red patches, how much weight Delphi had lost, the new shade of sickly yellowish white their skin had become. 

  Delphi started to cough, clearing their throat of mucus in order to speak. Valdemar rolled their eyes; this had become routine. They prepared themselves for a litany of annoying yips and whines from their subject.

  “F-ffuck. You,” Delphi sniffed. “Fffuck off and die.”

  “Such detestable language, #068. One would hardly think you worthy of working as a court magician, with such a low standing.”

  “My name is Delphi- and shut the fuck up about the court. Suck a cock.”

  “Ah yes, I remember now. That’s how you got the job.”

  Delphi lunged at Valdemar- or tried to. In theory. But between their weakened body, their deteriorated muscles, their constant vertigo, and the restraints shackling them to their deathbed… they barely managed to ratte the bed against the cold floor.

  “068, you’re only going to bruise your limbs-“

  “Shut the fuck up you gangrenous piece of-“

  “-which at this stage in your disease-“

  “-ugly ass face and stupid fucking horns-“

  “-could cause blood clots to form-“

  “-stupid piece of shit-“

  “-costing me days of valuable research with you.”

  Valdemar sat back and waited for them to finish insulting them.

  …then they smiled.

  Now, normally they liked to keep their patients fully verbal. Oh, how they loved the screams, the pleading, the gurgling of if all. But their favorite part of experimenting was breaking their patient- and they gad been waiting years to see this loudmouthed, annoying, ridiculous, sloppy, little pig of a magician become broken beyond repair. 

  They turned around, searching for the perfect tool. They picked out the appropriate sized scalpel, and an ink pen, and they brought the tools to their subject’s bedside.

  Delphi’s eyes were focused on the blade.

  “I’ve asked you nicely not to act so vulgar, #068.”

  They took the pen, and grabbed Delphi roughly by the face, craning their neck back.

  “The fuck are you doing to me this time? Taking more skin? Shocking me? That won’t make me stop fighting you, Valdemar.”

  “I know.”

  They start to dot around their neck. “That’s why I’m cutting your throat.”

  “…you wouldn’t. You wouldn’t kill nd so fast.”

  “An elusively accurate observation, 068. I’m cutting into your throat, yes, but not to bleed you dry. Instead, I’ll be operating to sever your vocal chords. This will make all vocalization difficult, and speech unnecessary.”

  “…you’re just scaring me, shut up-“

  “Of course, you’ll no longer be able to request water or medicine, but we both know that wasn’t necessary from the beginning, yes?”

  “Get your hands off me!”

  “Eating will be somewhat difficult, but your prognosis indicates that death by starvation is no concern either way. Which reminds me… I ought to vivisect you soon while your body is still fresh.”

  “Help, help!! HELP!!! Anybody, please- gods!! Help!!!”

  “Ah, finally,” they cooed. Finishing marking out their knife’s path, Valdemar turned to the medicine cabinet to find a paralytic agent. If Delphi kept wiggling- they’d risk cutting the fun short.

  “I don’t offer this opportunity to all my toys, but because we were once colleagues, and your body will provide me incredibly valuable insight on how the plague affects subjects with high magic volumes… I’ll be as kind and generous to allow you one question.”

  “…why me?”

  “How cliche.”

  “…the way you’ve tortured me… I know you don’t treat your other subjects this way. You aren’t even really experimenting on me- you’re just trying to fuck with me. Why me? What did I ever do to you?”

  Valdemar is silent for a bit. On one hand, it would be delicious to continue torturing Delphi without giving any hint of the reason why. On the other, it would be cathartic for them to reveal their hand here…

  “Why do you think?”

  “…is it something I did to you when we both worked for Lucio?”

  “You may guess again.”

  “Is it because I didn’t work hard enough to find a cure?”

  “That wasn’t a concern.”

  “…please tell me you aren’t doing this to hurt Julian,” they let slip.

  “…I ought to not tell you this, but i'm curious to know how an emotional being reacts.”

  “068, you may rest easy knowing that I have no intention of telling 069 what has become of you. Knowing the extent of what I’ve done will damage his worth ethic. Once you’ve died, I’ll tell him you died naturally of plague. Now, for my notes, please tell me whether that fact comforts or hurts your emotional state.”

  “…both.”

  “Fascinating. Keep up the helpful feedback and I may not need to surgically muzzle you. Now. Are you still curious to know why I’m doing this?”

  Delphi is quiet, but nods.

  “Alright. Your aunt crossed me.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Your aunt. The one that lived in vesuvia. She irritated me, but she died before I could do anything to correct it.”

  “…wh-… the fuck did she do?”

  “As a result, I am using you as a substitute for her. Sort of a… stress relief.”

  “What!?”

  “In a way, you’re suffering here is all your aunt’s fault. How does that make you feel…?”

  Delphi mumbled something. Valdemar leaned closer-

  And got a face full of spit.

  “You do not talk about anyone I love that way. And I am not helping you with your stupid little research. I don’t care what you do to my body. You are never getting inside my head.”

  Valdemar calmly wiped the red speckled spit from their face, their skin shuddering and peeling from offense.

  “…very well, 068. It is quite literally your funeral.”

  They took the paralytic agent, and steadied it above a red and engorged vein.

Delphi

Delphi’s patron arcana is, just like in the game’s canon, the Fool. They often look to Scout for guidance, especially because they often make pilgrimage to the realm of the Arcana.

Almost as a secondary patron, they have an incredibly deep trust and connection to the Hangman, and why not? He’s saved their beloved multiple times, and he is a reassuring presence to Delphi.

Iliad

Due to her lack of magic, Iliad considers herself invisible to the Arcana, often believing that they overlook her or simply do not care. She has had, from birth, a contract to the Devil however, who if anything has been far too close for comfort; he would visit her yearly on her birthday. He often manipulated her by promising to release her from his contract. More on that tomorrow, however.

   The only minor character that Delphi has a very close relationship with is Maz, who essentially fucking adopted them onsight. They took one look at this scrappy little blue pup and went “is nobody else going to feed this poor little thing some soup?”

  A joke I’ve made countless times before and will make again is that, prior to meeting Delphi, Maz had heard lots about them from Julian. Thanks to his… exaggerated descriptions, Maz was expecting a 6 foot tall, broad chested, bold and intimidating warrior wizard with a 16 pack.

  When they saw Delphi for the first time, she had to hold back a laugh.

@fishyreject’s Rhett (art by him as well)

  Delphi’s been friends with Rhett for as long as they can’t remember. They look up to Rhett immensely, secretly wishing they were as brave as he was. Rhett sees them as the sibling he’s never had (rip 2 his sister but she sux). Though they had a complicated relationship when Delphi was a court magician (thanks to Lucio playing favorites), they eventually felt confident enough to leave the well paying position and attempt to run the shop full time, and it was thanks to his support. They are… buddies. 

  If we are talking about the roleplay lore… Iliad and Rhett had an extremely rocky start. As in, “Iliad as a mecenary was tasked to hurt Rhett and all his friends” rocky. Though it was exposed that she was fed false information, and chose to join the side of the heros (not the anime ass redemption arc), Iliad… never fully forgave herself for her actions against Rhett and his family. However, she considers her and Muriel her closest friends because they’re have a similar calm, quiet nature, and they feel comfortable discussing their honest thoughts with each other.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@governmentfundedvampiresex’s Garlic

  Auuhaaouughha… the notorious Thripple…

  There’s a lot to be said about them! In the thripple au, Garlic is Delphi’s boyfriends boyfriend, and the three of them share a unique warrior’s bond (and something else too, but that information is cursed)

  Garlic is the most calm and supportive of the three, helping soothe Julian’s anxieties and Delphi’s stubbornness. He also cooks the best dessert of the three, to be honest. He’s a bit shy and sometimes doesn’t say aloud what he wants or needs, and Delphi wants him to be more bold and outspoken, so they encourage him heavily!

  Iliad is the same, though in a less… pushy way. She wants Garlic to find confidence in himself, too. Additionally, Iliad has many hobbies that she shares with Garlic such as knitting or cooking, though she has little time to indulge in them… but the two often find time to work together!

@l0veal0t’s Faline

  Before leaving for Vesuvius, Delphi and Iliad grew up on a small island off the coast of Olyth called Swami. It’s a rather secretive island, not appearing on most world maps. People often go there if they want a peaceful place to live in community, and not be found. Delphi and Iliad’s parents fit into the latter, but Faline’s parents simply wanted to live a quiet life on the small, independent island. But perhaps the wealth they accumulated through owning Swami’s sole trading port had much to do with it.

  Delphi, Iliad, and Swami met as small children, and became fast friends, almost inseparable. They played together as well as doing chores. They whispered secrets to each other. Faline soothed Iliad when Delphi was missing, and assumed drowned at age ten (though she thought it odd that Iliad never seemed to recall that they had died, often speaking of them as if they were still alive).

  …but during the destruction of Swami, Iliad mistakenly thought Faline was killed by the raiding pirates.

  When they reunited, Iliad was probably overjoyed by the sight of her childhood friend, and immensely relieved that she was safe and sound.

@teeth-farie’s Salem

  We have an au where Salem and Delphi do a little kissy… maybe even a smoochy.

  They’re a fun dynamic together, considering that Salem looks uncanny and terrifying but in reality they’re very cuddly and sweet, whereas Delphi is the human equivalent of a poorly socialized Pomeranian that bites ankles. 

  They hold hands everywhere. Delphi likes to carry Salem around. Salem has tasted their skin.