[2023/08/18 11:23] Blake Jermyn stumbled on shaking legs after the young woman who had summoned him, o[2023/08/18 11:23] Blake Jermyn stumbled on shaking legs after the young woman who had summoned him, one hand fiddling with the button of his shirt until it simply fell right off, threads continuing to twirl in nervous fingers. He hadn't been here since the party.... He shrank back at the sight of Dinah, once so welcome, eyes flicking away towards the treeline as his body tensed, prepared to bolt towards that sheltering growth at a moment's notice. Woods were safety. Family was not. "H-hey," he called softly, voice barely more than a mumbled whisper.
[2023/08/18 11:25] Dinah had pondered what to do about blake ever since her and dorian had made up. Whilst her fury had quelled, the irritation was still present, and that simply would not do. not with family. She had intentionally worn something as harmless as she could manage, her cigarette holder held in the grippy gold pincers of Helios the seeing eye crab as he scuttled back and forth across her shoulders until Blake was spotted. She was still blind, it seemed, and she tilted her head on seeing the marks on his flesh.
"Come on. I want to show you something" her own voice was somewhat gentle, though a little firm, and she reached a hand out towards him.
"you will have to mind your step"
[2023/08/18 11:29] Blake Jermyn cocked his head, eyes blinking wide for just a moment, surprised. Clearly, he'd been expecting her to lash out from the very moment she saw him. "...Show me something?" And immediately, everything clicked into place. No one this upset at him would be this friendly on the surface, and trying to take him to an unspecified second location? This was a trap.
But what could he do? If he ran now, he'd give the game away, and it would be so much worse when they finally hunted him down again.... So, he kept that wide-eyed, surprised expression on his face, tried to shut down any sign that he knew, outward and inward alike. "...Well, alright. Lead the way."
[2023/08/18 11:32] Dinah reached up to take her cigarette from Helios and set him on the ground, watching as he scuttled into the fog by the treeline. She followed him, disappearing partway into the ground, before turning to make sure he was following.
"Trust me. you are going to want to see this. We can talk when we are private below ground" The ghost of an almost adoring smile touched her lips. "it's about your father" she added, beckoning with her free hand for him to follow. At her feet, Helios had returned from the tunnel, a lit candle in one claw, which she stooped to retrieve and place the crab back up on her shoulder.
[2023/08/18 11:36] Blake Jermyn followed cautiously, though he walked with a heavy limp, his strange, asymmetric boots making soft mechanical clicking noises as he went. He gulped when he saw the pit, knowing that fleeing might not necessarily be easy once they descended, but then Dinah said the one thing that could make the careful simulacrum of surprise on his face turn genuine. "...Frizzle?" His heart leapt into his mouth. "Is... Is he ok? Or, as ok as he gets?"
[2023/08/18 11:38] Dinah held the candle up between them. if he wasn't going to take her hand, in the very least she could make sure he wasn't as likely to trip.
"I am still cross with you" she said when they reached the bottom, the candles casting flickering lights across the chunk of fractal crystal on it's altar, and she led him around to the statues that held the stars. "But. We are family. And so. I want to talk about why i am cross with you. I was far, far more cross than I am at present" She lifted the candle towards the statue's face.
"Do you recognize this mark? You ought to."
[2023/08/18 11:41] Blake Jermyn's: /me blood went frozen cold. Trap. He knew it. The words seemed calm and well-measured for now, but he knew exactly how much vitriol could be hidden behind calm words and a honeyed tone. "Y-yeah," he murmured, in response to both the question and the rest, immediately pulling closer to that statue, that symbol, as if even the sigil meant to represent his father could offer some support, some guiding light.
[2023/08/18 11:44] Dinah smiled as she looked up towards the statue. she reached up to hand Helios her cigarette before touching the statue's face.
"...we didn't put this here" she said quietly, stepping away. "This way." she beckoned for him to follow her. "And stay close. We haven't finished mapping out these tunnels yet. Some of them end in a drop and water. you'd likely not be able to breathe underwater long enough to get out, and my ropes are in my other dress" she said somewhat flatly, heading deeper into the chambers.
"why did you do it?" she asked. Before there might have been vitriol behind it, but now... sapped of most of her fury by the resolutions that her other conflicts had come to, she mostly just peered those blank white eyes towards him as she walked.
[2023/08/18 11:50] Blake Jermyn clutched at those stone robes with trembling hands, leaned his head on it as if it really were him. "Damn, that's nuts," he breathed at the revelation that it had always been there, reluctantly pulling away to follow her deeper in.
The question made him shudder. "I-...." Why HAD he done it? With all those drugs coursing through his system, hed' been acting on pure wild instinct, riding the rollercoaster of his own life at breakneck speed and barely holding on. "I-... Thought it'd be funny... Was so fuckin' high and out of it that I thought, it was just a silly lil prank, that's all...."
[2023/08/18 11:54] Dinah chuckled at his reaction to THAT revelation, a knowing look on her face as she led him into the largest of the chambers.
"I suppose you did say you'd never had coke before. still. it ruined our party, you know. Dorian broke a promise to me. What do you suppose he would have done to you had i not intervened? The entire thing was a massive, awful mess. Dorian and I only started speaking again a couple of days ago" she used the candle to light the others around the altars, particularly the ones at the base of the King in Yellow, and the various in front of the twins. Setting the candle inside a hurricane lantern, she held it up. Not that it was really needed in here with the light that the king cast.
"The king in yellow. I mentioned him before, didn't I? We didn't put any of these here, by the way. only the books and candles are mine" she turned, smiling up at the gilded women on the wall. "And the twins of creation and destruction. This room through here? The water is warm. When we stopped talking,
[2023/08/18 11:54] Dinah (dollihead): when he tried to murder Niles, I came down here and was living here. There is opium, if you'd like, but you might want to refrain for His chamber." she gestured with the lantern past the framed images that looked like blood painted onto skin and the calamitous pile of books to where the misty water flowed into the shallow pools.
[2023/08/18 12:00] Blake Jermyn sighed, further drawing in on himself. Just a silly little prank from a boy high out of his mind... And? He knew that wasn't the only reason, a mere brushing on the surface of the dark waters that roiled and churned within him. "Fuck only knows what he woulda done to me," he mumbled quiet, a shiver rolling down his spine, "but he got what he wanted anyway, from the sounds of it."
Blake gave little nods and salutes to each statue, only lingering by the ones with the symbol he recognized, needing that connection. "I don't fuck with opium," he murmured, "seen that shit ruin more lives than I can count..."
[2023/08/18 12:05] Dinah snorted a little, beckoning for him to follow her as she moved deeper into the darker part of the cave.
"He had you by the throat. it was only a matter of time before someone did something drastic. Whatever the case, that cannot happen again, blake." she turned to look towards him over her shoulder, lamplight shining on her blinded eyes. "it just cant. Gods below, i haven't even seen poor little Eli since..." she trailed off as she kept walking.
it was less damp at this end of the caverns, though there was tunnels creeping off from the path she walked. The closer they got, though, the smell of incense was stronger. Incense, and blood.
"you're entitled to feel however you like, but you can't go around biting the guests without asking them first. it's simply not done"
[2023/08/18 12:08] Blake Jermyn's: /me eyes began to bead with tears, his arms wrapping around himself as he began to crack. And here, this was the heart of the issue. "...How come he always gets to hurt me and get away with it, and if I do anything back I'm the bad guy?" he said in a soft whisper, choked with tears. "It's not fair...." His chest throbbed where it still bore a y-shaped scar, aching still despite having long healed over, his knees shaking, legs still bearing scars from where Roesler had taken them. He hoped she was right, and not just baiting a trap, and that his father was down here somewhere... He needed him now more than ever.
[2023/08/18 12:11] Dinah sighed at the wobble in his voice and she turned, pausing. Di was not necessarily the sociable one. hell, in many respects she wasn't that much different from Roesler.
"it wasn't the what, darling. it was the when. But there is such a thing as knowing how to pick your battles. After it had happened, I was worried that it had been some... orchestration to get dorian to act if he hurt you. I would not like to think that way of you. But we were raised in high society and such games.. that is how it gets you to think sometimes. It is a tough habit to break, and that was of my own anger. Looking for reasons. Sometimes, something can be as simple as 'he can't hold his coke'" she said softly. She reached her free hand out for his.
"Come on. I wanted to show you this even before the party but.. I have only had confirmation recently. Just mind where you step. the floor might be...slippery"
[2023/08/18 12:17] Blake Jermyn shook his head, wiping away tears. "That's how Roesler works, not how I do... He's the one who plans shit out like that and plays all those, weird social chess games. I don't do that shit, so I'm just, the one who always takes the fall. The one the snakes and Machiavellis pin the blame on so they can, keep fucking getting away with everything!" His voice grew tight with anger, his eyes now red with tears.
All the same, he reached out a shaking hand, took hers with a delicate grip. "I'm sorry, I just.... I'm so sick of it...."
[2023/08/18 12:17] Dorian: entered chat range (19.14 m).
[2023/08/18 12:22] Dinah sighed gently and she set the lantern down on the ground so she could clasp both her hands around his. "he isn't the only one, darling. I do too. but not with family. and that is why I was cross." she paused. "...not with the family that remains, anyway" she added, standing on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek.
Without saying another word, she turned and walked into the darkest of the tunnels, pulling along behind her like a kite.
It was lit in here by the few scant candles and the luminous glow of the hanging aetherite stones. That, and the water, of course. On the floor in front of the font were splatters of blood, new and old and curiously blackish, and draped on the steps were two massive, fleshy, batlike wings, chopped off through the bone and ragged stumps.
"When I found this temple down here, I recognized the signs, as you did. His mark. This room, there is a gateway that goes nowhere, with his mark. And this..." she led him to the edge of the water.
"Connects to him. Directly. I have
[2023/08/18 12:22] Dinah (dollihead): been feeding him from here. sharing my blood, and my eyes. Whatever I can spare, it goes to him. and it reaches him from here. I asked hunter to confirm it. This is a means of interacting with him. However.. intangibly, I suppose. It's a temple. A shrine, to him."
[2023/08/18 12:29] Blake Jermyn struggled not to look too dejected. "Even if I tried it that way, I'm sure everyone would just, believe him instead of me anyway," he mumbled, though he heartened a bit at the peck on the cheek. At least Dinah didn't hate him completely, like he'd been expecting and dreading...
Slowly, he approached the pool, eyes going wide at Dinah's description. "D-directly connected?" A look of purest hope crossed his face, and immediately he broke into a run, straight for that pool. "Daddy?" Even if he was still unconscious, even if he couldn't really hear him, it was still closer than he'd had in months. So he dunked his head straight into that pool, baptized himself in its waters. "My golden hour firefly," he whispered softly to the pool, "I miss you so fucking much, every single day..."
[2023/08/18 12:33] Dinah hadn't been expecting blake to just DIVE STRAIGHT IN, so as he dashed past her, she squeaked a little and took a few steps back to avoid the water splashing.
"...it's going to break your glamour, you know" she warned him, not that he'd mind, but she did neatly step out of her white shoes as she approached the blooded steps.
"I was offering my blood. Hunter told me it was reaching him. Therefore, it must be connected. So I have been offering other things" she picked up one of the tattered, torn off wings and fed it into the pool. There was a brief bloom of blood and then...nothing.
"I put out my eyes. I wanted to see if he could give me my vision back. He did, of a sort. I have been receiving premonitions. Mostly of myself, but some..vague. Unfamiliar. Be careful of the sand timer, dear. That sand is from the plane of time. I have no idea what might become you if you break it and it gets onto you"
[2023/08/18 12:41] Blake Jermyn hardly noticed as his invisible tail sprang free, teeth and ears lengthening, eyes burning redgold. "He... He loves that kind of food... Thank you," he murmured softly as the wings disappeared into the pool. "Loves blood best of all..." Immediately, without thinking, he used those lengthened teeth to tear open his own wrist, sink it into the pool to give that gift to his beloved. "He says mine tastes like sunshine...."
"He gave it back to you?" His head cocked, eyes blinking wide. "Did he give you the, uh-..." And here he fell silent, instead making an odd, sort of wiggly-wormy gesture with his fingers.
[2023/08/18 12:42] Dorian came in from town, bearing flowers in one hand and a song in his heart. He'd gone to his usual, the barber Delilah had referred him to long months past, and had his hair cut. The little bouquet was local wildflowers and greenery that could be sourced around the isle. The song he'd been humming to himself went silent somewhere in the dark of the tunnel's entryway, out of reverence for the sacred nature of the place. Once below he'd listen deeply, and following the sound of voices make his way to them with careful bootsteps avouding roots and uneven ground. Once he got near to the splashes and conversation ongoing, he'd call to them in an elevated whisper, "Ho there, tis just me, Dorian."
[2023/08/18 12:45] Dinah chuckled and she shook her head, stepping up onto the edge of the pool.
"Not exactly. I still cannot see in the conventional sense. but when I put out my eyes and he claims them, I see visions" she trailed her fingers over the edge of the font. "I had guessed he was fond of blood. he certainly reacted when I offered before. I am still sore about my blouse" she finished in a mutter, She cocked her head to one side at the sound of her twin in the tunnel with them and she smiled, making a curious clicking and whistling a little, tilting her head this way and that.
"...you had your hair cut" she retreated from the edge of the steps, helios clicking his claws as she joined him at the entrance of the chamber and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "very handsome, darling. I was just showing blake the Font." she gestured back towards it, as if that wouldn't be obvious from the spontaneous bathtime.
"Are you going to heal quick enough from that, blake? or will you need assistance?"
[2023/08/18 12:53] Blake Jermyn,: /me as Dorian's gentle humming ceased, had started up a little tune of his own, singing hardly above a whisper, a song with strange lyrics and unknown melody. "Computer what's the point of this? If you do all the thinking, where are we? Just building shelters in the snow, build a house of dream and domino...." Though as Dinah began again, his head cocked. "That... Kinda sounds like them, so you got nothin like, wigglin around in ya and givin' ya a pin and needle feelin' like your leg fell asleep? 'Cuz most folks can't see outta his eyes unless they got that, but, you ain't most people, so...." He shrugged.
"Heeeeey buddy!" Blake brightened even further as Dorian's golden-curled head became visible in the shrine, waving eagerly. "My dad's in here!" He was absolutely beaming. "...Wait, heal from what?" he was still trying to hide things, albeit very badly.
[2023/08/18 13:00] Dorian presented Dinah with her bouquet, and leaned in to press a kiss in return to her cheek. Unlike the pair of them his offerings were far more mundane than blood and viscera, and to his twin's glory besides. He'd beam a grin in the dim the bathing man's way while responding, "It was time for a haircut, Irene had started in on me about it this morning." His horse had in fact done that thing where she licked and tried to chew some of his mop when he was leading her on foot, but he did not explain that. Instead he called to Blake, "You look better than the last time I saw you, and I am so glad to see it." As it seemed like the pair of them were getting along he looked between them with a grin spreading even wider, all the fracas from the masquerade finally un-bruhaha'ed.
[2023/08/18 13:03] Dinah considered Blakes words and she shook her head "no. nothing wriggling. Only when I manipulate myself with fleshcrafting but that is my own will and not the worms" she was familiar at least enough with the look of them. "perhaps because he isn't my primary patron? I feel I must be terribly selfish. He changed my hair but.. I think i am going to have to change it back" she reached her hand out for Dorian's arm, but when blake asked 'heal from what', she gestured towards him again.
"your wrist. your leg. those...marks cut into you. I might not be able to see, but helios can, and I see through his eyes" she patted the little crab, taking the bouquet and holding it close to herself with a smile. Taking one of the flowers from her posy, she stood on her tiptoes to press it into his hair over his ear. "We only really just got down here. I showed him all of them except for the Mother." she took Dorian's hand, leading him closer.
"you mustn't bring anyone else down here, blake. I have told hunter he is allowed
[2023/08/18 13:03] Dinah (dollihead): to eat any trespassers."
[2023/08/18 13:11] Blake Jermyn nodded, scratching his head. "Huh... Maybe I can get visions then, too. I don't have the wigglies yet, hell, he only just barely got the chance to tell me 'bout 'em. I still don't really get it, to be honest with ya. But if it's a part of him, then I'm gonna love it just as much as the rest of 'im." He laughed, splashing around in the pool, letting his blood flow deep into the waters until it hopefully brought comfort to his long lost love. "...Oh, right," he said, looking down at his wrist. He hadn't even thought of it as an injury, just a gesture of affection. "It'll heal up on its own, and until then, it's connectin' me to my sweet baby Candyman, so I'mma just leave it."
"Yeah!" he called up to Dorian, "doin' a lot better, 'specially now. He's... He's IN there," he said again, absolutely marveling at the idea. "He's in there and he can hear me and taste my blood and everything...." Looking back to Dinah, he blinked pleadingly up at her. "But... I can visit him, right? I can visit him down here again?"
[2023/08/18 13:16] Dorian was pretty sure no one would bring anyone down here, the place was eerie with that awe-laden aura the grand basilicas of europe possessed. He was lead by his sister to the pool with the hourglass and Blake in it, and he joked, "You're a braver man than I am, clambering into these waters. But I am glad my sister had such a worthy bit of company down here. She's so often down here on her own with her little crab." If he was very honest, the place gave him some creeps, but he knew he could never rain on Dinah's parade. Besides, gazing over to her again, she looked to happy, so at peace down here. Having noted the wings which were discarded, his hand would find a moment to sneak between her shoulderblades as if he wanted to soothe supposed hurts.
"I am glad you like the haircut, sweet sister. You, you..." He pointed at a batlike wing and said nothing further on the matter. He hardly wanted to imagine her mortifying her flesh, but he knew she carved into herself with reason rather regularly.
[2023/08/18 13:19] Dinah picked another of the little flowers from her bouquet and set it to floating in the water. There was still one of her tattered, torn off wings leaning against the step but the other had been fed to the pool.
"just make sure you are careful. sometimes i can feel it tugging. It's harder when I put my face in when I've put my eyes out. it can be hard to pull back" she said thoughtfully. She smiled at his reaction, chuckling softly as she stepped in against Dorian's side.
"I don't know if he can hear you, but it's definitely connected" she corrected. At his hopeful question, she tilted her head "as long as you're respectful of the rest. this IS a holy place, for what counts as holy amongst the Path." she touched her fingertips to the petals. "I will not ever ban you from coming down here. But noone else, unless they are met with us first. And I will want you to be more careful, next time. I do not want to have to explain something unpleasant to one of the old ones, sleeping or otherwise" she said
[2023/08/18 13:19] Dinah (dollihead): tactfully. She winced a little at the hand to her shoulder, but she leaned against her twin at his observation.
"It healed quickly. it was unpleasant to remove them, though. I think the dragonfly wings will be easier to manage. Far less bone. The skin is still a little tender though, darling" she promised. "he has been showing me glimpses" she gestured to the font. "The rest of the plans are in motion but.. it's a little painful in parts. that blasted chest eye is out though. I sent it to niles in a jar. I'll be glad if i never see the bloody thing again."
[2023/08/18 13:27] Blake Jermyn despite the eeriness of the chamber, seemed perfectly at home, burbling in the pool like a dog in a bathtub. "That's just 'cuz it's Frizzle in this pool and not Dinah," he pointed out to Dorian with a grin, "bet if it WAS her connected to this thing instead, you'd be the one diving in and I'd be the one saying you were crazy." He giggled a little, swishing his bloody hands through the water. "I'm glad you guys actually get to like, see and talk to each other though..." He yearned for the same, but for the moment, was happy to make do with the pool.
"...Tugging?" He blinked wide eyes at that, and immediately had to resist dunking his head back down within. "Not gonna lie, I'm tempted... I'd give anything to be back by his side again." A soft, wistful sigh, before he looked around at the rest of the room in sudden reverence. "Yeah, I.... Can't say I really know much of anythin' about the others. I dunno if they're as chill as Babydoll..." He gulped, offering the others a little bow.
[2023/08/18 13:37] Dorian was usually or at least often lulled into gladness by the sound of his sister's voice, and so it was going here below the manor. Until she spoke the N name. The jovial, relaxed-go-lucky man transformed for a moment in posture while he went tense, and his smile receded. He took a breath and pressed it out between pursed lips instead of anything he wanted to say about the revelation of that information. Swiping his free hand through his newly chopped hair, he'd remark, "I said you were brave, not crazy! I am pleased for you, chum." Blake got a tongue stuck out at him, but no more challenges because it was clear the dark haired man was having a good time.
Dorian looked to Dinah and moved his hand to holding hers again instead, fingers entangled with hers. "I rather love the lacey wings of dragonflies," he'd murr absently as he concluded, "Do you know what he means about cold dolls?" His coping mechanism for Niles rage being Dinah proximity was one gambit that actually worked, so he'd lean near enough to
[2023/08/18 13:37] Dorian (alexandros.lycomedes): her to bump against her at the hip.
[2023/08/18 13:42] Dinah nodded her agreement when Blake said that if it were DI in the pool, dorian would have been in there already too, and she snickered under her breath. She bobbed her head at Blake again.
"it feels like something pulling. I felt the same when I touched the pod he's in. Like I was being yanked forward. He'd have probably have consumed me totally if i'd tried on my own. It was fast, and very strong. I would like to think I am strong in some regards but.." she shook her head. "This is far safer for me"
The talk of the others had her peering up to the aether stones chained to the ceiling.
"The twins of creation and destruction...Mlandoth and Mril Thorion. They are the yin and yang of the universe and when they meet, things are created and destroyed. all things. they are probably calm enough. Yidhra too. she is the mother. Promises good harvests and healthy livestock to her worshippers" she cradled her flowers to herself. maybe she'd put a few flowers at her altar before they left. "but Hastur... the king
[2023/08/18 13:42] Dinah (dollihead): in yellow... he is darker. Ambition, and power. yet also, the god of shepherds. Sometimes he does hunt people, however. In some of the stories, he is a spawn of Yog-sothoth. I suppose that would make him your brother. "
She took Dorian's hand even as he tensed, standing on her toes to press a kiss to his jaw. "They will be far less obtrusive. Though somewhat fragile, i'd imagine. It has been some years since i have made lace" she considered aloud. "Cold dolls, though? not i~"
[2023/08/18 13:47] Blake Jermyn giggled as Dorian once again looked baffled by his vernacular. "I mean my dad, man... Babydoll, Candyman, Golden Hour, Firefly, My Universe... if it sounds like, poetic and sappy and cute, nine times outta ten I mean him." He giggled, swished his hand in the pool again, in lieu of holding his father's hand. "And chill as in like... Relaxed. At ease. Cool and calm and collected. Chill." Slowly, word by word, he would remake poor Dorian's vocabulary in his image. If he saw Dorian's expression darken at Roesler's name, he didn't make verbal note of it. He'd done enough weeping over that bastard Roesler today.
"Ohhhh yeah, that's probably the wigglies," Blake said, nodding sagely at Dinah's description. "The wigglies aren't really him, or at least, they're a force beyond his control. And they wanna pull in everyone and everything, hook 'em all together into one big thing," he tried to describe, making vague hand gestures of pulling and shrinking and connecting together. "So. Yeah. Beware the wigglies." He
[2023/08/18 13:47] Blake Jermyn listened as she went on in turn, offering polite nods to each statue as she mentioned their name, though he couldn't help a small shiver as she named The Mother. "...wait, the King in Yellow is my sister, too?" His eyes went wide, his jaw dropping.
[2023/08/18 13:52] Dorian reached a hand to his heart when Blake explained what he meant, because it was touching how much love the raven haired fellow felt and showed. And though he might have mentioned further understanding of Blake's vernacular, the two of them were now talking sacred stuff, and he'd not interject his banalities into the mix. One thing he did though to make it clear he understood was form a thumbs up with the hand not entangled with Dinah's. Banishing away Niles was also easier when hearing about the gods of his family. These little moments of Dinah's homilies or lectures were entrancing, soaked up as far as they coudl be understood and left the taller half of the twinset silent.
[2023/08/18 13:55] Dinah wrinkled her nose. The wigglies. She hummed again and she nodded. Bewaring the wigglies was a wise thing, all things considered. "it feels..unpleasant" she agreed. "and far stronger than I am comfortable with." she tittered at his reaction to the King in yellow and she nodded.
"Brother. or, potentially a half-brother." she beamed. "though such family trees are hard to place. And Hastur is not terribly keen on family. Or anyone, really" she leaned her cheek against Dorian's shoulder. "There was a world called Carcosa, once. The king in yellow and his followers, bearing the yellow sign, absorbed it and used the power from the death of the world to become a god"
[2023/08/18 13:59] Blake Jermyn couldn't help blushing as Dorian seemed so touched. He usually didn't get quite this sappily affectionate in front of others, ESPECIALLY others that knew they were family, but.... Dad was in that pool. Dad was in that pool, and if anyone was going to understand their strange affection for one another, it was Dorian and Dinah.
"Yeah, the wigglies are weird," he said, lifting one shoulder in a shrug, though as she went on to correct him, his brows creased in confusion. "But... The last time I saw the King in Yellow, she was a girl... Wait, she ate a whole WORLD?" He blinked wide, awed eyes, drawing in on himself a little bit, clearly unsettled.
[2023/08/18 14:06] Dorian tilted his head as Blake spoke of a woman king and looked from him to Dinah like he was watching a tennis match. He'd never encountered wigglies though he was sure of that. And that he hoped he did not. Hounds were one thing, they roughly were analogous to something he could wrap his mind around. World eating gods... that was quite beyond him. As surprising as it was that Blake had known something of the yellow king, it also made some sense given the man's heritage. He yet held his silence though and listened between them, he could maybe learn something.
[2023/08/18 14:07] Dinah played her fingers up and down Dorian's arm as she spoke, pausing only enough to pick up her discarded wing and slide that one into the pool too.
"The old ones are not held by mortal form, unless they are compelled to. Like Hunter, they can take any shape they please. Often they do not take a human form because they don't need to, or they consider it beneath them. Hastur appears however he pleases. Sometimes as a shrieking bat monster that eats brains. Sometimes as a beggar in yellow rags, sometimes as a king. Nyarlahotep appears most commonly as a human. Fine features, dark skin, regal bearing. utterly mad and will fuck with humans for fun" she tittered, sitting on the step of the font. "But yes. Hastur absorbed a world, or ate it. The details are unclear, but Carcosa was populated, and then it wasnt. emptied and desolate, and then the king in yellow was a god. Some stories claim that carcosa itself was expanding beyond what it ought and was absorbing other worlds, like the city of Ythill, but..
[2023/08/18 14:07] Dinah (dollihead): again. unclear" she gave a casual shrug, smiling between the two men
[2023/08/18 14:11] Blake Jermyn stared up at Dinah like a preschooler at storytime, carefully absorbing every word. "Yeah, you told me the first time, King in Yellow shows up dressed in rags. So then I met this lady who was dressed in, torn up carpet, just bits of it, hangin' off her.... And when I saw her again, she was all golden yellow. She thrives on chaos, too, just like ya said the King would, and I'm like, it's her, it's GOTTA be her," he said, nodding with conviction. "But... I guess that's like when I turn into a girl, but I'm still a dude at heart... Is that an elder god thing?" He'd never considered the prospect before, somehow. "Wouldn't put it past her to eat a whole Carcosa," he mumbled, glaring off into the distance at the statue of Hastur.
[2023/08/18 14:16] Dorian was proud of his sister for being so learned, and quite clearly also drank up all she had to say when it wasn't Roesler-related. Being here with Blake was about the best company he could hope for outside of their big big brother by his estimation. As she played her fingers up adn down his arm he'd almost make a happy sound like an oversized housecat. At the last moment while the purr was still just in his throat he instead bit his lip. Then trying not to think carnal thoughts about his sister in polite company, latching onto a realization that was not related to what she had going on under her dress, he blurted out, "You and Hunter both then! Can be woman or man! Oh!" His free hand snapped as he remembered and explained right away, "Blake... a man named Naoki Sato was looking for you."
[2023/08/18 14:19] Dinah paused and she peered towards Blake with rapt, unblinking interest. "if you saw a shape of the King...then that means someone on this isle has invoked the yellow sign" she hopped to her feet again, looking near feverish and breathless. "Someone has invoked the yellow sign! My fortune teller, she called me dread queen, she followed the yellow path too, remember, dori? If that is true...then we have a shard of yog-sothoth, a shard of Yidhra, and one of the faces of the king walking amongst us. It's as I said, brother, this isle is carcosa reborn" she gushed, clasping Dorian's hands with a giggle, dancing on the spot. "Do you know what this means? The dreams I have been having, Alethea has been speaking to me. the stars are right soon. we're going to do it, dorian, it's going to work!"
[2023/08/18 14:23] Blake Jermyn's: /me eyes went wide as he realized he'd just given the game away to quite possibly the only one dense enough not to figure it out himself. "D-don't tell anyone!" he quickly addended, "I keep it a secret so I can like, use it as a disguise if I gotta. If someone's hunting for me as a young man, they're not gonna think to look twice at a young lady, am I right?" He grinned, before his head cocked. "Sharkey's lookin' for me? He's my stepdad, kinda.... I'll stay at his place tonight, might make it easier to find me." He grinned, clearly looking forward to it. "You know Sharkey then, er, Sato? He's good people, you'd do well to keep him close." He didn't mention the R name aloud, but knew that he'd be a powerful ally against him, and Dorian could use all of those allies he could get.
"...Whoa hey wait, THIS place is Carcosa?! Does that mean Calli's gonna eat it?!" he gulped, looking to Dinah's excitement with no shortage of alarm. "What are we doing, what's gonna work?"
[2023/08/18 14:31] Dorian did not really understand all his sister meant or why it made sense but his dumbfounded face gave way to one that was hopeful because she was so excited. With a toothsome, confounded and loving smile he was shaking his head until in lack of understanding until she said it was going to work. that he understood, he was pretty sure, but he was not going to steal her thunder, but let her go on gushing. It was a pretty sound to his ears like when she got a present she loved or figured out some obscure arcana. It was not easy to get her so happy as to start dancing where she stood, so he'd play the part of hype man, smiling at her then joining her in dancing on the spot to music in his head, "Why don't you tell him what you mean beloved?"
As Blake spoke of Sato as Sharkey, something the VERY toothy Japanese man said made sense. "I have only just met Sato, though.... I am looking rather forward to working with him in the future." Even without knowing that the man might be an ally against the German.
[2023/08/18 14:33] Dinah had been too excited by the news of the impending pseudo-apocalypse to even register that blake had outed himself as being temporarily female sometimes. she turned and stared at him, blind eyes wide and owlish, and she burst into a fit of the giddy giggles when dorian left the reveal to her.
"I'm going to break the veil" she said simply, beaming brightly. "I am going to break the covenant. No more hiding, no more secrets, no more restriction." she gushed excitedly. "I have been dreaming of it, for so long now, and Alethea, she has been telling me how. I need a necromancer, and then I will call that bastard back to do something good for us for a change and I will make him open the door" she paused, having flustered herself with her excitement, and she fanned herself with her flowers, careful not to break them. her free hand grasped out and squeezed at dorian's fingers, fidgeting on the spot.
"it's going to be perfect. it's going to be so perfect. it's going to WORK, bunny."
[2023/08/18 14:40] Blake Jermyn couldn't help grinning at the way Dorian held close to Dinah, arrested by her every word. They were SUCH a cute couple, cute like he and his father were, at least when they were actually side to side and not just, a guy splashing around in a weird pool that was supposedly connected to the other. "Yeah, keep hanging out with Sharkey, man. He might seem a little... Stony, but that's just, how he is. He's actually pretty sweet once you get past the cold as ice exerior..." He couldn't help grinning, giggling a little. "Frizzle n' I both love him a lot."
Then Dinah went on about exactly what she meant, and his jaw dropped. "Really? You mean, I can look like this, all the time?" He couldn't help looking hopeful, he still didn't like glamouring his eyes. "You need a necromancer? I got some necromancer buddies, I could ask 'em if they want in on helpin' if ya like." He beamed, eager to be helpful on this grand mission. "...Wait, you call him bunny? That's so cute...." This from the man who had just gleefully
[2023/08/18 14:40] Blake Jermyn professed to calling his father Golden Hour.
[2023/08/18 14:49] Dorian reflected the light in Dinah's face ultimately, taking it upon himself to catch her overflowing excitement and drink it up. It was a goodly thing that she was so capable of fierceness and joy despite having such an unconventional route to vision. As good was the raven haired, be-tailed fellow's gladness in the pool though Dorian could feel the longing behind the effusive words over the man, the shard, Blake's father. When Blake picked up on Bunny, though, his cheeks went a little pinker and he stood up a little straighter as if to show it didn't weigh on his manliness. Another thumbs up was given in answer to Dorian's intention to work with Sato moving forward. Still, knowing how cross Dinah had been with Blake, he was so glad to see the pair of them in cahoots together, so he'd keep quiet again as they spoke one to the other.
[2023/08/18 14:50] Dinah nodded vigorously at blake's question. "No more hiding. no more glamour. unless people want to." she dipped her chin, almost sheepish when Blake pointed out her pet name for her twin and she gave his hand a squeeze again, cheeks flushed pink. "I don't know how many necromancers i will need. One that will want to comply a likely unwilling spirit. I need a powerful hermeticist. So. I am going to drag my father out of the steaming shithole of whatever circle of hell he is in, and make him help me break the veil. We are going to need a lot of necromantic Aether though. A weak spot. We need so much preparation. I need to check the stars. I cannot fail the Goddess" The initial giddiness had gone, replaced with fraught worry. "Alethea is the goddess of truth. The truth as revelation of hidden knowledge. She is seen as a hand with an eye at the center. My first patron. I will not fail her. I can't fail her." she turned her eyes up towards Dorian, blindly towards his face, and she stepped in close against his
[2023/08/18 14:50] Dinah (dollihead): side again. "I cannot."
[2023/08/18 14:58] Blake Jermyn couldn't help grinning as Dorian blushed. "Bunny's a great name, man. I mean, I call mine babydoll, so think of it this way, things could be worse.... You like my names for ya, though, don't ya though babydoll?" He said to the pool, as if through those sacred waters he could hear him.
He grinned wider as Dinah confirmed it. "COOOOOL. I've always wanted to show off my cool tail," he said with a grin, "though I guess it might be smart to hide it sometimes. Make people underestimate ya, all that. Like when I'm a girl." He said it again, this time without panic, since the cat was out of the bag after all. "As far as necromancers, at least one that I know offered to help me bring a real nasty ghost back to life so I could, seal it away, stop it from hurting anyone," he said, his smile dropping away, the haunted look in his eyes making it clear there was more to this tale. "If you're in a similar situation, I coulld ask her if she maybe wants to help." As Dinah began to fret, he gave her a grin and two thum
[2023/08/18 14:58] Blake Jermyn up. "Hey, don't worry man. Y ou got this. You totally got this."
[2023/08/18 15:02] Dorian put his arms around his sister's shoulders loosely, hugging her near. And he'd kiss the top of her head before assuring her, 'You will succeed. You are brilliant as you are glorious." After that little smooch he'd cut his eyes over toward Blake and back, opting to speak about that much family stuff in front of him was a huge show of trust, because almost meekly, blinkingly, he asked, "But if father is back...?"
Dorian couldn't see anything worthwhile coming out of Charles Windgrace walking the world again. Drystan and Dinah had gotten that menace out of his life not a year past and he was only just getting used to the idea.
Blake would be able to see that he had nothing even remotely against Bunny as his nickname, because it meant Dinah was talking about him fondly, it just wasn't often heard outside of his home. He'd mention his thoughts on the matter, "Babydoll is rather sweet, I think. And do be careful when you are out there as a woman, I have yet to live in a time where women are not more preyed on."
[2023/08/18 15:03] Dinah bit her lower lip between her sharp little teeth, hard enough that it drew blood. it healed immediately of course, but a little track of it coursed down her chin. "I had people that wanted to help. I will need to find a way to put the word out. perhaps I ought to write letters. I should speak with Sato first. and then find out our strengths and then work from that. I can check the stars. I will not have missed anything. I mustn't miss anything. that way madness lies" she nodded in absent minded agreement with Blake's words.
Then paused.
Then frowned.
"...there is a shard of yidhra on the isle. And we have a statue of her. We have a shard of yog-sothoth. And we have a shrine. We have the king in yellow... and we have a shrine. Do you think that...Mlandoth and Mril Thorion, they are here too?" she asked almost breathlessly, her fingers squeezing Dorian's hand hard. Dorian's hesitation at their father made her look up towards him.
"as a spirit, darling. sent straight back when we are done with him. A
[2023/08/18 15:03] Dinah (dollihead): tool. Like he used us for so long. I will not bring that cretin back to the world of life." she said bitterly, finally turning to peer at blake. "...if you are sometimes a girl, why are you so bad at walking in heels?"
[2023/08/18 15:09] Blake Jermyn's: /me brows drew together in concern as he saw the hushed and frightened way that Dorian spoke of his father, remembered the way he'd spoken of him before. "Hey, look at it this way. If you bring him back so you can put his magic bullshit to a good cause, then after it's done, you can destroy him again in a way that causes him just as much suffering as he put all of you through, or seal him into torment forever." He spoke with conviction, as if there couldn't be a more purely right thing to do, though he brightened a bit as Dorian cautioned him. "Don't worry about that, man. I haven't caught that much more trouble as a girl than I have as a boy, and even if I do, I still got some tricks up my sleeve that keep the playing field even." A wide, sharp grin, as he raised his hand from the pool, snapped his fingers and made a tiny flame dance on his fingertips.
Blake nodded along to Dinah's muttering as well, encouraging. "I'll ask my buddy Grapes if she wants in. Not hard to convince her to help out, all you gotta
[2023/08/18 15:09] Blake Jermyn do is give her like, a LOT of food. Really good food. And she'll be happy to help with whatever ya need." He grinned, then cocked his head. "What are those guys like? I'll keep an eye out for anyone who resembles 'em... Wait why would I wear heels just because I'm a girl?"
[2023/08/18 15:20] Dorian hugged Dinah sidewise once more before reaching for her hand at the precise moment she reached for his. Like a hungry dog peering at a person eating an overfull sandwich, he was eying the little trickle of blood she'd let drip and withdrawing from the embrace he'd reach to wipe it away with his thumb and then lickety split get rid of it on his tongue. Dinah was precious about her clothes and keeping the droplet from her dress would make laundry duty for those whose job it was that much easier. Had Blake not been there he would have licked and kissed it away, but Dorian possessed a lifetime's worth of discretion. More than one. That done he'd murmur in response to both of them about the Windgrace patriarch, fallen as he was, "Good."
"If Mlandoth and Mril Thorion are like us..." he meant twins, but did not say it past pressing her fingers with his own, "...perhaps we just have not found the place yet. This cavern is so extensive, how could anything be missing from it, one would think."
When Blake and Dinah got into it about heels, he recognized that his sister was going to have some commentary and he flashed Blake a wince of warning.
[2023/08/18 15:23] Dinah bobbed her head in agreement that Charles would be utilized and then discarded, or worse. There was no way she'd allow him to come back, not when her boys were doing so much better in his absence.
"Food might be a problem at the moment. this Fucking fog" she groused quietly, but she just turned and stared at Blake when he questioned wearing heels.
"...posture, darling, for one. it also makes your legs and ass look better. back when we were younger, it was something of a power play, too" she stepped away to step up into her own heels again, gesturing to her legs.
As dorian wiped away the blood she hadn't realized was there, she stood on her tiptoes to kiss his chin again, worrying her lip with her teeth again. "The figures opposite the king, bunny. Identical scultpures. they are twins, yin and yang. but it never specifies anything about them other than what they do. they could be anyone. but if there are other shards on the isles, they might be here too, walking amongst us"
[2023/08/18 15:27] Blake Jermyn couldn't help grinning as Dorian sneaky-licked away that drop of Dinah's blood, swishing his chewed-open wrist in the waters of the pool, to share that same affection with his own beloved. "You guys are so cute together," he insisted, of course immediately latching to the more gruesome display of affection as the one he found most charming and adorable. "Y'know the day my dad and I met the second time, I was bleedin' a little bit and he kissed me, first thing." He was beaming just to recall the memory. "I thought maybe he was like a dracula or something, but he said naw, he just likes it. Said I taste like sunshi-... Wait, no, sun*flowers.* Sunflowers and the sorta cozy smell that you get in a damp abandoned home." He was absolutely beaming with affection.
He chuckled a bit as Dinah rounded on him for his lack of heeled shoes. "Dude my legs look fine, and girl me got ass for DAYS. I don't think I need to worry 'bout wearin' heels." But then he squinted at them, thought a while. "...If they're twins, yo
[2023/08/18 15:27] Blake Jermyn ever considered maybe it's you guys?" He asked, head cocking, "Like, you're the only twins I know on the whole island right now...." That, and Hector's unborn children, but he didn't think that babies who weren't even born yet were likely to count.
[2023/08/18 15:35] Dorian did not want to brag about how stocked they surely were compared to others, given the sheer size of their pantry, nor even mention it when he'd heard they'd run out of fresh lemons for his favourite dessert. When Dinah explained how good the heels looked and demonstrated, the besotted brother could only nod agreement, taking his turn to bite his lower lip. He'd not draw blood as his teeth were much duller, but preoccupied with staring at her, he had to shake his head and come back to the present instead of whatever thoughts he'd momentarily given reign. So his response wasn't terribly material, "We were meant to come here. I would not give up this isle now. Too bad it is not as simple as me strapping on my armour, hm?"
As Blake waxed romantic about his lost love, Dorian gave him soft silver eyes and he'd laugh over their disagreement. He opened his mouth to say something but stopped, and tore his eyes from Dinah's posterior. So much so that Dorian missed the depth of Blake's supposition.
[2023/08/18 15:37] Dinah smiled at Blake's attention to the blood lick and she peeled her lip back from her fangs with the tip of a pointed fingernail, smiling up towards her brother with a shining smile. "I can't help it sometimes" she explained "But dorian usually at least..ah. lets me know if I get a little overenthusiastic..sunflowers are lovely. I can't imagine I have ever eaten one but I suppose it would make sense for an old god to know what something like that tastes like" she agreed.
"they'd look better in heels" she pointed out, gesturing towards Dorian's preoccupation, but then he made the comparison that they might be the yin-yang deity shards and something seemed to twitch in her face a little. "Dorian could be either, it's true. he's powerful enough to destroy just about everything. But I would not be capable of the creation, I suspect." she murmured. ((that means bed time for meeeee))
[2023/08/18 15:44] Blake Jermyn giggled as Dorian got that glazed-over, sparkle-eyed look that could only mean he was staring openly at his beloved. It was a feeling Blake knew all too well.... And it was really charming, just how besotted the other man was. "Yeah, whatever's goin' on here, you guys are absolutely a huge part of it. We all are, apparently." The thought still felt strange, that he could be someone important, not just another face vanishing into the crowd.
"I should try that," he said with a grin at Dinah, nibbling his lip and then dipping down to blow bubbles in the pool until it healed. "You've never eaten sunflowers? Not like the whole thing, but the seeds. They're pretty tasty," he pointed out, only to roll his eyes on the insistence on heels. He didn't need to be hotter, his female form was already super hot! Well, except for... "heels won't give me bigger tits," he grumbled. "Hey, maybe you're both swapped around though, right? If the King in Yellow is a girl this time, maybe you're the boy twin and he's the girl o
[2023/08/18 15:44] Blake Jermyn Ya never know, right? Destroying stuff is just as good as creating, anyway." He would know. he indulged frequently in both.
[2023/08/18 15:51] Dorian put a hand over his mouth when Blake was so honest about his feelings over breast size. It amused him unto laughter. But it was under his breath. He'd murr to his present company, "I wish to go look at the two in the other chamber, I think I have not paid them attention before. But I am sure I am not a shard, Divine One over here might be though. In fact she probably is. Her and Drystan maybe." His pet name for his sister was one she objected to, always doubting divinity he couldn't not see. "Blake you should dine with us tonight, if you haven't any plans. We cannot send you to Sato hungry and soaking wet." That said he'd bend to kiss Dinah's illusory hair atop her ear. Before he'd start backing away to go look at the artifact that had been mentioned.
[2023/08/18 15:55] Dinah gave dorian's hand a little squeeze and she wrinkled her nose at the idea of eating seeds but she laughed about blake's remark about his breasts. "I could do that. i know fleshcrafting. but i don't know how well it would translate between shapes" she pondered, but she frowned in thought and shook her head.
"Dorian is far more capable of destruction than i am. i am just not a very...creative person, I suppose. I do not think we are shards" she agreed with her twin, but she nodded again.
"I will show you, bunny. I am not divine, though. we should tell mr. Song to ready some towels. Don't forget to put your glamour back before you come out, blake" she bobbed her head again and turned to follow her twin.
[2023/08/18 15:59] Blake Jermyn just grinned at Dorian, shaking his head. "Hey, that's exactly what I said when y'all told me I was the son of a god, so don't discount yaself just yet..." How the turn tables.... "Oh, hell yeah I'll eat your food," he said with an even bigger smile. "Never gonna turn down food..." Slowly, he dredged himself from the pool, dripping all the while. But before he retreated further, he leaned down to the rippling waters, whispered softly. "G'bye baby, I love you...."
"Uhhhhhhhh I'm good then," he said in response to the fleshcrafting offer, "I mean, it's not like they totally suck, they're just mid... Oh, right." He reached for the mirror in his pocket, squinted and scribbled on it until his formerly human appearance was back in place. "Alright, now who's ready to EAT!"