WINTER SOLSTICE (E/Baird/Esper/aeluri)

Iris wasn't sure if he had a favorite time of year in this human world. Each one had their perks, usually in the ways of fashion. Weather wasn't a concern, but the changes in wardrobe were fascinating. Winter had cozy attire that covered more skin but offered the opportunity to layer and play with accessories. It was cute. Spring caused the shedding of layers and an uptick in perky color schemes, while summer showed off more skin and had swimwear. If anything, autumn was his least favorite color pallet, but it allowed some of the fun from winter without the threat of ugly, chunk coats. At least pretty people looked good in everything, which was a blessing for his eyes. His own group always seemed to look fantastic, even if one of them always stayed the same. Did Ahote own any other clothes other than the tan trench coat and tux?

Iris sauntered easily along with the group, dressed in an ice blue slouchy sweater with white glitter accents. He was living for his fluffy white scarf around his neck, which matched the leg warmers sticking out of his shiny brown boots to cover the bottoms of his tight, dark jeans. The gingerbread cocoa he held in his hands was delightful, especially once he used the flask in his pocket to make it an adult drink. "Even if we do, do you think we will?" Iris responded to Ahote's question with a bit of mischief in his tone, moving to hover near Ahote. His boots crunched the wet snow beneath their feet, though his moved closer. Shifting his chocolate drink to one hand, his now free arm snaked over to his ex-boss and slipped around his waist. Iris's lilac hues caught a touch of marshmallow foam from the peppermint chocolate drink, and there was no way he'd pass on this opportunity. Leaning over, his face darted in front of the easily flustered man's, lips gently kissing off the sweet remnant from the corner of Ahote's mouth. He quickly pulled away, giving the brunette a flirty grin. "You had something on your mouth~"


[352/1500]

Iris, giggling devilishly to himself in satisfaction over Ahote's reaction, approached Aeluri and would snake an arm around her if she allowed before following the two grown men even though he didn't feel like building a snowman himself. While watching the two make their adorable frosty creatures, the purple-haired man took a flask out of his pocket and dumped a healthy portion into his hot chocolate now that he'd sipped enough down that it wouldn't overflow. Out of all the flavors offered, he found that bourbon and chocolate was his favorite, and they hadn't offered anything boozy. Ah, now that was better. The cold numbed his nose, ears, and fingers, while the added booze numbed the rest of the already drunk man. Not that it mattered, because honestly Iris still functioned 'normally' while drunk. He had to be extremely sloshed for it to start to affect him, and that was a level that was difficult to achieve on a public outing with friends. There was always later at Boomslang.

"Aw, look at them, Aelu~" he purred, attempting to snuggle up to her. It looked like he was doing so because he was cold and criminally underdressed for the weather, but really it was just that the cosmic being craved human contact. Of all his addictions, his need to be touching someone was probably the strongest one. And while all of his vices were always on full, unabashed blast for everyone to see, the deep-rooted reasons for them were locked away tighter than the Rune Knight's highest security prison. "Good grief, Ahote made a snowbunny. Watch him blush~ He loves cute stuff, which I think is so funny. When we were in Basilisk Fang, he hid this side so well. Too well!" the alien gushed, peeking a blue-tinged finger from under the ragged sleeve of his thin black jacket to point at the brunette. His likewise thin green shirt did little to combat the cold either, but at least his brown pants offered some warmth. He shivered but didn't seem to notice, instead tapping his foot and gently bobbing to the jolly tune the Music Man played. So far he was certain he and the green-haired man would get along criminally well...for a number of reasons, the biggest one being that the musician was absolutely stunning. Iris licked his lips just looking at the Veridian man. "They're both so cute I could just eat them up~" Iris cooed, though his intentions were always decidedly less pure than his words may have come off as. Aeluri would know this better than anyone.

However, watching the two play in the snow would only amuse the restless soul for so long. Iris wasn't one for holding still once his interest at ben lost. He needed stimulation. Boredom snatched him up easily, and when Iris was bored he got into trouble. The itch to search the crowd for a nice set of new peepers was rising, and he didn't want to 'ruin another festival' for their ex-boss. Shame. Crowds like this were perfect for reaping. With a sigh, his lilac hues searched around for something to get into. Nearby there was a sign reading 'sled racing', seated atop a steep drop off that he could only presume went down one of the safer sides of the mountain. Hm...there were some shady looking teens hanging around. As much as Iris loved chaos, he didn't feel like being bashed over sharp rocks and trees with no one to share in his euphoric pain but some untouchable minors. That was a bust.

Just down from the sledding area was another displaying several crystal clear blocks of ice. Oh, that looked fun. He could make something beautiful~ Like a heart! Gulping down the rest of his spiked hot chocolate, he held his kitty mug out for Aelu to have if she wanted a pair to take home. "Heeey," his sultry voice drawled, jabbing an ungloved finger toward where his eyes rested. "Wanna sculpt some ice?" he asked the wallet thief, the girl that was probably the closest thing he had to a best friend in the whole world. "It looks like a good time~ Come on, please!"

Regardless of whether she came along or not, Iris darted off through the snow to get into the contest before it started. A handsome young man explained the contest to the ancient space dust, but a hand flamboyantly waved him off. Iris cared not for the contest itself. He just wanted to carve something. Taking the tools into his hand, he pondered on them. Such barbaric, ugly tools. No, that wouldn't do to make his perfect heart. So instead he decided to use a jetstream of hot water to both cut and gently melt the curves of the puffy heart. Working carefully with his wiggling fingers, he began to sculpt his masterpiece.

Before long, a perfect heart formed, free of the harsh marks a chisel and file would make. It retained its crystalline purity, acting nearly as magnifying glass since it was quite concave. All he needed to do was clean out where the two rounded humps met in the middle...and that's when it went wrong. Inexplicably, the water jet from his finger suddenly cracked the ice heart right down the middle. The two hunks flopped over off each side of the pedestal into the snow below, looking like two halves of a best friend bracelet or something stupid like that.

The buzzed killer froze, eyes just staring at the pieces before widening slightly. "My heart....broke..." he muttered in a hollow tone, strangely devastated. The source of his shock didn't come from the futility of the hard work he'd spent on something so simple and aesthetically pleasing, but from a place steeping much deeper within the enigma. No matter how much he numbed himself, if he wasn't diligent enough with his distractions, the thoughts would creep in. It wasn't too bad at first, though it threatened to drive him crazy. An unpleasant pain ebbed in his chest as jumbled memories of a silvery-haired man flurried like pages in a flipbook, except instead of animation coming together, it was just chaotic scenes spliced together. Longing, lots of skin, feathers flying, nails scratching, mouths melding...then splatters of blood, a wicked smile, female curves...another face from ages ago assaulted him in his moment of weakness, mutating his expression into something full of animalistic rage. How dare she still plague his mind. How dare she! She'd take his eyes, everything he had, and still dare to taint the happy memories he'd made with the man he still searched for without rest? He would not accept her haunting what little he had of his stripper-love.

Before he knew what had happened, he had viciously attacked the pieces of heart with the ugly tools he'd rejected earlier. It was as if he was possessed. In each lump, he saw her face. His now glowing red eyes could see nothing else as he drove the chisel into her treacherous face over and over again without satisfaction, shattering it down to a fine powder instead of extraterrestrial blood. At last, he rose, chest heaving, and threw the chisel and file down. Deep frown still pulling at his usually so nonchalant face, he stalked off.


[wc: 1213 || 1565/1500 - Event WC met.]

The member 'Esper' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Monster Dice' :

The member 'aeluri' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Monster Dice' :

The stylish and normally laid back alien whirled on her with abnormal fury, fists clenched though he didn't raise them against his dearest friend. Clearly, he wanted to raise it against something, though. He needed to. "Leave me alone, Aeluri," Iris warned in a low, trembling tone. The typical purr and sultry drawl in Iris's voice had all but died now. Instead, it was abrupt. Angry. It had a strained rasp as if he was clenching this throat to keep control. And while he changed his eyes often as he needed access to certain spells and skills, this change had no apparent purpose other than to filter his sudden outburst of rage. It was almost as if it was purely manifested by an emotional response.

He walked backward away from her, wanting to put distance between himself and his group of friends. The Atlantean didn't trust himself in the least with how chaotic his mind was. The regret was deep that he hadn't numbed himself better before this outing. His duties in Hidden Blades had him wound up tight and sober too much with not enough distraction. The alcohol he'd consumed so far today wasn't enough to numb out the darkness. One of the fists raised to his own head, giving himself a nice tap on the forehead as if that would help free him from his torment. They were overwhelming! The betrayal was still so fresh, even though it'd been at least a couple of centuries. He wasn't doing enough! In all this time he should have been able to carve through ever single Rune Knight and Magic Council member to see what color they bled, to suss out his ultimate enemy. What had he done? Filled the void and diverted his attentions with partying, substances, guilds he thought would help aid his agenda.

Seeing as how the festival grounds were quite crowded, it only took a few unwitting steps to run into some poor soul. "Hey!" the older man cried, giving Iris an elbow in return. The cosmic being didn't hold back against this stranger, shoving him into the crowd without reservation. The person the man ran into gave him a shove back, and from there it was a domino effect. Iris grabbed the next random person that came his way and punched him, essentially starting a riotous brawl right in the middle of a snowy field of people already primed for mild violence over a snowball war. A wicked grin stretched his mouth. The violence soothed his wrath just a little, though the pain from being on the receiving end of punches and kicks provided more of a boon.

Hey, at least Ahote couldn't complain about him taking peoples' eyes, which he would be enjoying much more than this but he didn't want the young man wretching everywhere.

[wc: 471 || Iris's New Total: 536]

Even though the hot, angry tears were still streaming down his face, Iris relentlessly continued to throw his body and mind into the brawl. Anything, literally anything to wipe the noisy thoughts out of his head. This was the only pain Iris didn't enjoy, and the one that hurt him more than anything. The unskilled punches of all these men hardly even tickled his pain receptors, much to his dismay. At this point, he was praying someone would pull out a butterfly knife and eviscerate him. A single unhinged soul would do. He'd even hand over his own blade to do the job. Please, just anything to get her out of his brain!

If Ahote had been looking to at least stun the hysterical Iris for a second and quiet his flurry of wild punches, it worked. Iris paused at the merciless cupping of his magnificently shaped buttock, never one to ignore advances even when he was in crisis. Turning slowly to see the literal last person on the planet attached to the hand groping him, Iris's bruised and bloody face twisted into an expression that meant nothing good for the brunette man. Or maybe it meant everything good, depending on how Ahote felt about being on the receiving end of his amorous actions. Given past experience, though, it would hardly go well for either of them. Alas, they would never find out, for before he could make a move there was another hand on him. The new guy was holding him back from something he very much wanted now, so of course, he swung at Baird. Iris was in no mood to have his impulses restrained unless it was for foreplay. Punchy Iris was not pleased.

His punch missed, but he got a nice one across his face in return. Okay, that was interesting. "Hnnnng~" he moaned, reveling in the pain. He all but forgot about Ahote in an instant. "Public, bedroom? Who cares!" Iris huffed, feverish and desperate. His body turned toward Baird, pushing forward for a kiss and hopefully to push him down to the ground for unspeakable things.

[wc: 352 || Iris's New Total: 888]