#thread 18

Music swells through arcane fog, silhouettes shifting throughout it like shadows. Her feet step in time along with theirs, hands passing from one masked stranger to another.

And then it stops, the high trill of a violin turning to the quiet sigh of a piano. The room stills, the shadows dancing slower now, and in her hands she finds those of another remain.

Hiding away could work for only so long. After the moss, Astarioon had become a shell of himself, no matter how put together he could act when he forced himself back to work. A shadow skittering in the night, a gleam of red hungered eyes in the dark that ran whenever the blonde was seen.

He hadn't meant to make Thor feel like he was frightening or a monster or anything negative at all, it was Astarion who was. He still felt the blood on his skin, even after seeing Steven was alive.

Their meeting had been maddening. The fight in the forest, the sort of comradery they'd built in a moment and he'd slipped away from. He had an under scent of something akin to Loki, a taste in the air of static like a storm. It was fun, he wanted to stay, but he was hungry and what they fought wasn't exactly the easiest to eat.

Sunshine. If he had to explain Thor in a single word, it'd be sunshine. Like Karlach, a ray of light in the darkest time, even during the aftermath of the moss he felt safe when Thor would catch him in the dark of night trying to get to the fridge. He wanted to open up, to trust.

The last person he did that to was eaten alive.

But Steven was fine now, he had more memories than he could cope with so he'd distracted himself. The dresses for Lilith he'd promised months ago, stuffies of people he'd seen and thought connected. Unlike the gifts he'd order to the home from his place hidden in Roberto's bathroom, these he brought with him.

He knocked on the door, arms carefully holding the bundled package. Fine red robes embroidered with daffodils, poppies and little suns were neatly packed in a box. Above, a basket filled with artisanal mead, a stuffie of Loki and Roberto - as he'd picked up Roberto was at least kind of important to the man as well. He'd thrown in with it all a perfectly made box of cookies thanks to Nico's training under Legato and topped it all off with a hand written letter incase the man didn't want to hear him out.

It was hard, entrusting another would want to listen, to hear him out when he's been nothing but evasive and cagey. But times were different now, there had to be clear communication if they were to co-exist in this world.

Plus, he had to make up for the months the man had to live with a starved vampire - what did Loki call him? A Draugr? Whatever it was, Thor had to ignore his probable discomfort of having a relative stranger that showed up as little more than red glowing eyes in the night for a few months now, even if Astarion really did try to stay at his own home more than Roberto's. It was just impossible when his mind begun to replay the horrors of the moss again.

Don't get him started on the newest memories of the Shadow Curse.

"Thor? Are you home?" He called out, forcing his voice to be light and smooth despite the jittery itch that had him wanting to sprint all over again. This was a god. And whilst that doesn't hold much to Astarion who couldn't care less about the magical bastards who never helped him, Thor was different.

For one, he smiled. Two he interacted with humans and mortals as if they were equals - at least he presumed due to the briefest hints of words he'd caught when sneaking into Roberto's room whilst he was doing whatever Roberto did hanging out with Thor.

For three, the man didn't kick him out. He knew Astarion was there, yet he never chased him, never yelled at him, simply watched with soft gentle eyes as the spawn sprinted away like a rabbit terrified of a wolf.

@elijahxxwilson​ 

Text: Hey. Long time no talk. How have you been?

@keith-crane​

Dhani had seen Keith stalk into the club, and head to his office like he normally did. Usually Keith hung around the bar, briefly, especially if Dhani was there, just to see if there was anything Dhani had anything business related to inform him of. If not, Dhani usually left notes in a little notebook he’d purchased specifically to leave for Keith. Post It notes seemed tacky for someone like Keith and easily lost. 

And there was something Dhani needed to ask Keith about. Dhani took the log book and followed Keith up to his office after a few moments to review the discrepancy for a fifth time and make sure he hadn’t missed anything. A few bottles of bourbon were missing and while it was Keith’s drink of choice, Keith was usually the first to correct the inventory if he decided to keep a bottle for his office. But three seemed excessive and three were definitely missing.

“Keith.” Dhani knocked on the door, even though it was open, smiling to his boss and walked on in. “Um, hey. Listen, there’s a bit of a mix up, I think? I’ve got three bottles of bourbon missing, I was hoping you knew something about that?”

@professorfawn​

Text from Fawn: Jody, I love then gifts, and I would love to get dinner, sometime this week if you are available. And I have no issues with spending birthdays with you.

[ cont from here with @brightwood-duchess ]

“Oh. Hey.” 

Jody gave a nod to the woman and Mouse moved up to her, sniffing her feet before looking up at her, expecting to be petted like so many other humans, and non-humans did when they saw him. It was a nice day out, which was good, as Jody was acting a bit weird and nervous. Mouse figured having a walk would be good for him.

[ cont from here with @layla-dubois​ ]

“That’s no way to treat school property,” Jody tutted from the hallway. His eyes were completely black, his skin deathly pale and face gaunt, veins on his arms neck standing out... there was no smoke from his hands and arms, not like there usually was when he was like this. However he still smelled of sulfur and something else, almost sweet.

He uncrossed his arms, walking closer to her, seeing she was scared. Not just scared, but terrified. He could smell it. He took a deep breath, his smile dark and deceptive. His hand laid on her shoulder, heavy and hardly comforting.

“What’s wrong, darling? Tell Master Jody....”