cheerful oblivion

“Would you ever believe I used to be a scrawny thing? Can’t stop the gain train!” Xerxes even goes so far as to stick his tongue out and flex one arm, always eager to give a stud a front row seat to the gun show. “Glad you like it, because you’re sooo my type. I couldn’t wait to hang with you. Open you up a little,” he says honestly, not at all pressed about their height difference. Xerxes was at the perfect rack-scoping level, but he wanted to be a gentleman at least for the first date. “Like seriously dude, short kings are in. Think of me as fun sized. You wanna have fun, right?”

Xerxes’ cocky grin said it all. He knew the appeal of his body transcended types. He welcomed Venerio feeling for himself, clenching his arms extra hard so his biceps were at peak plumpness upon contact. “It’s all in the diet. Eat big get big, you’ll see when we grab a bite.” Xerxes usually was one to feed so violently that sharing wasn’t typically an option. However, he imagined blood might taste a little sweeter when slurped from the contours of a handsome vampire’s torso. “Well, there were the orgies but those probably don’t count…” Pit spelunking and dumpster banging probably didn’t qualify as dates either so he held his tongue. “What if I said this is my first date period? Romance hasn’t been a priority,” Xerxes says with a slight bashfulness even though he makes his pecs bounce. “I was psyched you said yes. Though I wouldn’t get cocky just because you’ve had more dates. You’ll be the one imprinting on me,” he laughs, flexing out his best strongman pose now.

Without Pluto, the shots were his to call. Though Xerxes was beginning to grow weary of the the boring part of the the vamp revamp he was trying to facilitate. It was easy to talk big about turning the old palace into a proper frat hang, but he really wished he didn’t have to deal with schematics and construction planning. “Oh hell fucking yes I have a minute. I got several. This shit blows dude, let’s bounce.” Xerxes was clearly looking for any excuse to get out of his office and procrastinate on the renovations. “I need to take another walk around this joint anyway. Apparently some of the walls I marked for tear down are load bearing. Wish I was talking about bearing loads in a better context,” he sighs with clear disappointment. “Oh well, the day isn’t over yet. So what’s up, my guy?”

Sometimes you had to take what you could get. All the lycans around really gave Xerxes a mean itch in his guts, so he hoped a knot of some kind in his mouth would’ve helped keep his mood steady. “Bro, you didn’t bet on me did you? I’m only entering to sample some pits and swipe a few jockstraps. I’m chill, not competitive at all,” he promises with a wink. Making appearances at events like this would help maintain his dope vibe in the community. Xerxes wasn’t like other Senators, he was there to party. “The only trophies I need are stained and sweaty. Hopefully. You planning to take home any trophies?”

“Would you ever believe I used to be a scrawny thing? Can’t stop the gain train!” Xerxes even goes so far as to stick his tongue out and flex one arm, always eager to give a stud a front row seat to the gun show. “Glad you like it, because you’re sooo my type. I couldn’t wait to hang with you. Open you up a little,” he says honestly, not at all pressed about their height difference. Xerxes was at the perfect rack-scoping level, but he wanted to be a gentleman at least for the first date. “Like seriously dude, short kings are in. Think of me as fun sized. You wanna have fun, right?”

Jordan Buhat

With a grin Xerxes gladly held out (and up) his arm. Little sis was raring to go and Xerxes would never hold her back. After all, someone had to show her how to party properly and it was becoming obvious to Xerxes that he was, in fact, the illest. "I hesitate even calling myself a rebel. That would imply that what I'm after is outside of the norm. We have fangs and crave blood for fuck's sake. How is it normal to walk around like repressed cucks? Like we aren't always itching to sink our fangs into something?" Xerxes had his vampiric existence wasted. Sure there were glimmers. of good times in his past, but the young vamps deserved better than what he had. She should never have to endure a world that tells her she's somehow wrong for following her impulses. "I was used for centuries as a pet, my free will compelled away. Now that no one controls me I'm going to use the rest of my life doing whatever the hell I want. And I think it'd be dope if every vampire felt that way."

Xerxes really hadn't spoken to him much when he'd just been a marshal. Now that Emir was senator, they were sitting at a bar chatting it up. Or attempting to anyway. Really, the Juno vampire was always willing to talk to people as long as it benefited him. He had to be the best and he always ended up being exactly that. His positon now was enough of a sign of that. The other vampire had more experience than him, sure, but he really was sick of people talking to him like he was a child. Then again, he guessed that was the opposite of what this one was doing. Somehow Xerxes had mentioned getting ran through in frat houses and being all about that hashtag vamp life. all in one go. This guy was fucking weird. "I don't need a big brother, dude. I don't know if anyone else really needs one either. Or have you asked around about that already? I feel like you have." He paused. "Xerxes, buddy, what the fuck are you going on about? Is this some hazing shit that you guys do to new senators? I'm on Punk'd, right?" He knew he wasn't so he let out a sigh. "But fine, I'll give you my ear for now. We're both about that vamp life so clearly we have something in common. Sort of."

Xerxes screwed his mouth to the side, visibly displeased with Emir's responses, and sure that was because the younger vamp wasn't grasping their current situation. Maybe Xerxes saw things too differently from the others. Most vampires didn't exist at the upper echelon of their global structures as he had, which was why he felt adamant about his position. Awareness was key in breaking away from all that and starting anew with their second lease on life. "Immortality has a way of eating at you. That's not a bad thing, but people change. I've changed. And the vampires entrenched in old-world power who've lived longer than me have changed too. They're vicious, brutal, and would kill you on a whim because they can. The Originals are even worse. If those of us in Rome don't come together as a family, they'll eventually come here and take control." He knows firsthand the lengths they'd go to keep dissenters down. Xerxes had to eliminate numerous of the kind on Romulus' order, often with the command to "send a message" with his violence. "I just got my freedom back and I intend on living my way. I want that for you too, and everyone. But it's going to take work and cooperation. So boss up, because yeah you do need a big brother. You don't gotta like me, but unless you want to live your next thousand years under some ancient dusty's boot or the prejudiced rules of the Senate, then we'll have to stick together."

“What can I say? I know what I’m about.” Xerxes was always a bit of a freak, but now that he was free he could let his pig flag fly free. It was oddly reaffirming for Valamir to expect as much from him. It meant he was living his second lease on life to the fullest. "You should use your winnings for something better, I'll buy you beer whenever you want. You know the best thing about having that dead fucker out of my head? His memory can't stop me from draining his bank accounts, and I can't imagine anything more epic than using his fortune to pay your tab." Yeah, Xerxes was depraved and his shameless tongue-out-grin said he was proud of that fact. Especially where Valamir was concerned, he could derive pleasure from the basest contact. His fingertips slid from bandage to flesh, sliding up Valamir's torso to the heart of his rack all while rearing his head into the exposed pit, desperate to drink all the tang he could from each strand of pit hair. "I should probably wipe you down too. Can't risk infection. Then I can get out of your hair and let you get back to mountain manning. Sound good?" Xerxes chirped, licking his lips hungrily as he grabbed Valamir's discarded shirt. Only the most flavorful garments should be used as sweat rags.

Valamir in a bar, huh? Xerxes could clearly picture in his head the lycan getting plastered, maybe throwing a few punches, then passing out which was why there wasn't any hesitation with his response. "Face down. We're totally going out drinking after this, so don't forget." Chipper as ever, Xerxes jogged himself over to Valamir's supplies and practically clacked his ankles as he did. It was unsurprising that a total unit like him got the best sponsors, but Xerxes didn't care since he felt he was already winning. "No need to freak out. I'll shove my nose into your boots when I'm done as a tip. I only accept payment in bodily fluids, so you'll get to keep all your stuff," Xerxes lies, wondering which of Valamir's socks he'll end up swiping. This was a competition after all, and Xerxes was after gold. As he carefully applied a gauze bandage to the cut, he started with the first of his payment by standing on his tippy toes to lick Valamir's hairy armpit. Even with human tastebuds, Xerxes let out a heady little moan, finding the flavor as potent as ever.

"That's right, I run shit for real. That's how you know I know what I'm talking about. Fuck the Senate," he reiterates, feeling perfectly emboldened to speak his mind. "A fun time is a fun time, whatever the hell you want to do. If that's ripping apart a nunnery or gorging on blood until you puke, do whatever the hell you want. Just don't get caught. Tear up a body enough and it gets hard to say what kind of beast did it." But they didn't need to take extreme risks all the time, not when Rome still had plenty of places where vamps could be themselves. "Good or bad don't mean crap, it's all about whether you're dope or lame. C'mon, I'll show you. Let's go rave."

When Hakan had discovered Salvador, he'd lived a grueling and mortal life of mundanity. He'd crafted opulence, held it in his hands as gems and jewels were tediously ground into something of substance but the Lush had been beneath it all; a perfectionist doomed to ride off into oblivion and nothingness until Hakan had decided to change him. It hadn't made the violent existence of being a vampire easier to swallow but Salvador had learned swiftly, had appreciated the growing pains; he'd never imagined himself thrust into this life of politics but he'd always been fairly easy about it all. Enforcing the law hardly came with any serious repercussions and drama when all one had to do was cant a head his way, or offer him something absolute that could make their crimes vanish; it'd been simple until Pluto came along and vied to mesh them together under the guise of family all while having his own duplicitous ambitions. Perhaps it hurt more to be reminded of what had once been of this life, how if Pluto had stayed in his vagueness, far away from Rome, that maybe Zeke wouldn't have felt so compelled to save him in that timeline that no longer was. The recollection of Zeke only affirmed Xerxes' words, jaw clenched as he nodded, "Okay, family values, weekly dinners, I'm listening." Salvador was gently teasing but he understood the message the Speaker was attempting to convey; Pluto, at his base level, was an archfiend and as a result was separated from his progeny. The Lush would attempt to hold true to the distinction, "That means I'll see you at Hakan's party, yeah?" He already figured Xerxes wouldn't miss it.

There was only one way to move forward: honor the fallen and piss on the enemy's graves. Pluto wasn't six feet under yet, and for the foreseeable future it seemed he wouldn't be, but Xerxes believe they could piss on everything he was about. If he reminded himself and the other vampires of that, then eventually they'd create the ultimate "fuck you" to the Originals. A thriving family without their influence was that way. "Yeah, I'm gonna be there. I have to be there. Can't let the fossil be in charge of the fun, so I'll be there protecting the vibe. Old Uncle Haky isn't ready to DJ something like this, but we still got to make him feel important y'know? In case we need money or his thrall to do laundry. Plus–" Xerxes cut himself off before he could finish, the concept of why he'd want to help keep Hakan's spirits up almost too painful to think about. Zeke was gone, and if Xerxes was still torn up about it he could only imagine what Hakan was going through. "I'll be perfectly fresh for it. I'm only participating in the Saturnalia fighting pits to sample some stud sweat," he shares, switching subjects quickly. "Things will be alright, Sal. We just got to put in a little work, that's all. Vampires had the run of Rome before and we'll gain the upper hand again. I order you to enjoy the holidays, you got that dude?"

Wow, Xerxes would have to remember to leave a good review of this shop online. Of course, he'd wait until he saw the results of his little experiment in the eyes of Valamir first before he decided on a star rating. But he was over the moon to see the guy actually return from the back with some pre-greased clothes! "Baller! You're the best! Man, I sure was lucky that I chose today to come in!" Eager to take his new fit for a test run, Xerxes stripped out of his Rome clothes and put on his Lupercal black tie outfit. The sleeves and legs were almost comically large, but after seeing his reflection in a car mirror, Xerxes thought they clung to his body in a way that gave him a very slutty look overall. "Yo I look like I work here! In fact, I look like I belong in Lupercal. This is fantastic, however..." One, deep inhale and Xerxes could taste the lycan scent on his tongue. It wasn't nearly as musky as Valamir, but he still caught it. There was a chance this whole plan could be ruined if Xerxes had another's scent on him. He wasn't sure how lycans handled stuff like that. "Ok, if you were pile driving someone's ass on the regular, and I'm talking full knotting, and they had the scent of another lycan on them, would that be a turn-off?"