#destler

╰❂╮ Although they tended to be few and far between, every once in a while the beast would find something that the human world shared with the world that he had grown up in. It had filled him with such joy to learn that stargazing was an activity that humans had also participated in, along with similar practices with regards to shooting stars.

From what he'd come to understand, humans would think of a single wish, some saying it out loud, some keeping silent lest speaking the wish made it not come true. In Zee's culture one was to hum a little something that came directly from their hearts, a short phrase or as long as several measures if it felt right, while they envisioned all their hopes and dreams that they desired for themself.

Seizing the opportunity to take advantage of a clear night sky, he had his silver eyes cast upward to observe as many of the celestial bodies above as he could. Much like one finds shapes in the clouds, Zee liked to imagine his own constellations, and though they did not shift and drift by with the fluidity that clouds do, there were always different ways to connect the sparkling dots.

He had been in the middle of trying to picture another way to configure a set of stars when he caught sight of the light trail racing across the sky. Reflexively a breath was drawn in, but for once there was no wishful melody that came to him to request of the shooting star. There was no more room for longing and desiring within his three hearts when they were already so full of euphoric contentment and endless adoration for the man that had joined him there in the cover of darkness.

The previously adrift wanderer of worlds could think of nothing else to wish for in that second than the loving home he'd found, discovering that it was not a where but a who, as his home was now within the arms that currently encircled him as they relaxed upon a thick blanket, while snuggled underneath the other's large cloak to share the warmth that radiated from the beast. After a moment, there was only a single word that occurred to him that he could possibly want. Time.

Briefly turning his gaze from where he'd seen the shooting star, Zee's wishful hum to offer it escaped him as a blissful sound more akin to a purr as he nuzzled a furred cheek against the soft shirt material that covered Erik's chest, then pressed a kiss over where his ear had been listening to the heartbeat underneath. Resting his head back down, and holding onto the thin frame just a little tighter, the beast couldn't help the beaming fanged smile that formed as he was lulled by the rhythm of one of the most beautiful sounds he'd ever heard.

╰❂╮Silver eyes exchanged a glance with liquid gold, a range of emotions within that momentary gaze as the pair were interrupted in their mutual reprieve from their respective grizzly duties. Through the beginning haze of smoke of a hookah session that had only just been getting started, in the dimly lit room one of the many servants passed on the message. Another of the khanum's demands to be freed from her torment of boredom in the form of someone else's untimely demise, all for her gruesome entertainment.

A single silent nod, careful not to appear too hesitant or begrudging, was the only answer before the servant turned to take his leave. Were it safe to do so, Zee would have leaned over and stolen just one more kiss, always one more, from his secret love before he would also have to take his leave. The last one they had shared within hidden shadows would have to suffice, for now, as the beast rose from the comfort of the plush floor cushions, eyes closing with a furrowed brow against the ache of a body still not fully healed from the last time he'd been called upon for his bloody services. His jaw clenched tightly against a whimper that threatened to escape, but it was muffled and swallowed back down before his weakness betrayed him.

Even though they weren't touching, when Zee looked once more over his shoulder, he held Erik's gaze as if holding him in his arms, lingering for an extra moment in the same way his velveteen fingers are always reluctant to untangle themselves from those of the magician's whenever they had to part ways and continue this covert connection. Behind the servant's back, a wink in place of a kiss, and the briefest hint of an attempted reassuring fanged smile was all he could give in spite of it being clear to such a trained eye that he was still recovering from injuries that were never discussed. It was enough for both to know and understand they shared in the trauma of the sultana's whims without going into detail.

It was not long after that Erik was sent for by another servant, it was the khanum once again wanting to hear him sing one of the same two songs she had taken to having him perform for her.

In the solitude of his containment chamber Zee waited in near maddening silence, resting on the floor so that he didn't collapse onto it when the time came, knowing what was in store and only mildly wondering which was worse. His internal flow of thought was broken as he was hit with the first few notes, making him visibly flinch as if physically struck by them. As the song's tempo increased, so did the quickening rhythm of his pulse, his eyes closed and his breathing began to come more harshly as the frequency and vibrations started to sync with his biomechanics. Every instinct and fiber of his being wanted to resist and fight the change of his body, knowing that it was too soon to be put through it again from the last time, but he was bound to obey the sound of the disembodied singing Voice, and bend with pliant ease to its will.

Soon enough the prone body on the floor was writhing in agony, muscle and bone shifting and rearranging, tendons twisting and flesh tearing to accommodate the leathery wings ripping through along with primordial spines along flailing limbs. An agonized scream devolved into a roar as it was framed in a wide open maw while canines elongated into sabre teeth, the transformation of little beast into a large monster that resembled the ancient ancestors of his kind.

His sacred birthright and life's purpose had been corrupted, a last resort weapon purely for defense and protection, hijacked and recalibrated into a murderous spectacle for sadistic entertainment. Carnage on the killing floor was left in his wake once again, but this time the reigns had snapped, and the sultana's hold over the creature was slipping along with his grip on his own mind. Along with not being fully physically healed from the last transformation, his mental grasp was still weakened as well, and it was quickly loosening and inching him closer to becoming what his kind referred to as an Amitaut, one who has lost themselves to that form. It was the monster's nightmare.

Like an impatient owner tired of repeating a command and being ignored, the sultana grew frustrated at her pet killing machine not performing up to his usual standards, and angrily ordered a servant to go fetch the one person that could regain control of the horror within the containment chamber, the man who built it. Normally it would be a long while between the song to summon the monster, and the song to bring the beast back to himself, but clearly she was going to have to cut things short this time. As much as she liked having a private audience to the slaughter, and had never shown her Angel of Doom just what he had built the chamber to hold inside, she demanded that Erik be brought to her post-haste to sing his second song. The sultana closed the little viewing window in the chamber door, and crossed her arms impatiently while she waited.

❝Your presence is commanded at the containment chamber,❞ said the servant to the assassin, without further explanation, ❝Immediately.❞

𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐚𝐞́! | prompt. ( accepting! )

❝ ... ❞ christine's face scrunches up in brief confusion, before realizing that this must mean something good. a small smile replaces any lingering doubt.

❝ i do suppose i know what i'm doing... most of the time, at least. ❞

Have you ever wondered if Madame Giry knew about the water trap? If she knew there was a trap there n that is why she stopped guiding Raoul?

Tonights choice: The 1989 Phantom of the Opera film starring Robert Englund AKA Destler

All Phans welcome!