negromanzia | An Exploratory Venture

An Exploratory Venture

It's only a matter of a few months to determine that Arkady is not in his domain. What's odd is that it should have taken him a shorter amount of time than that, but there seems to be conflicting information on whether or not Arkady is dead, which is unusual at best and somewhat alarming at worst.

It doesn't seem like he ever made it to the Underworld (no one possesses the power to escape once fully there), but it's possible that he stopped along the way there and turned back. That alone isn't all that unusual. Plenty of people destined for his realm were in comas, or had near-death experiences. There were stops along the way, metaphorically speaking, before the point of no return. But what's odd about Arkady is that there's debate in what Ereuvir can sense on where he belongs.

It's not enough that he would normally do something like this, take this kind of time, but Ashley's description of his brother has him intrigued as does the bits and pieces of their story he's picked up, and how angry Ashley had seemed about Arkady being alive when he had told him. Or perhaps just disappointed? He wasn't entirely sure.

Ashley has been... complex to deal with, but immensely satisfying, and he can't help but keep wondering about the entire story, the other half. And so, he started trying to track Arkady through the world of the living.

It doesn't work, of course. He has no powers above, even with someone who perhaps needs to be below. But eventually, he's not sure why, he has the idea to hone in on Ashley's remains, which he is innately and easily able to do... and when he discovers that they're in separate places, it's almost a foregone conclusion that he would track them down.

Which brings him here. The door of a manor and an ostensibly human, ostensibly modern sort of look for himself. He doesn't have a "plan", really, but he doesn't intend to be particularly subtle, either, beyond his current appearance, which is an expensive, tailored suit in a deep shade of blue, almost black, every bit of him screaming businessman or possibly noble, despite the fact that he's unaccompanied and rather casually just knocking on the door.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Arkady might find a surprisingly willing partner, if he ever did attempt to be more dominant, if he ever dared. Ereuvir doesn't have much in the way of either an ego in such matters or a preference. He's used to punishing the evil, certainly, but he loves games too much for the winner to matter overmuch to him, when he decides to play. And one of his favorite games is to give humans power to see what interesting things they do with it. They rarely disappoint.

"Well. Perhaps we'll see if there are some other rules you can break," he grins, then leans back, finally, reclaiming his wine glass. "Will you bring it with you," he says, of the skull, breaking the tension somewhat, at least for a moment.

Arkady looks down at the skull, gently touching the cranium with his fingers. His mind gets a taste of memories, seeing happier times and the times when Ashley was lonely for his brother after he went away. How Ashley missed had missed him, just as Arkady had missed him in return.

Fingers pull away from the skull and he looks back at Ereuvir. "Will it make a difference were I to bring it?" How would Ashley react if he were to see his own skull?

Ereuvir shrugs and voices almost exactly what Arkady is thinking, almost enough to be creepy, perhaps,

"Intrinsically, no, but I could certainly see why a dead man wouldn't want to see their own body parts. Though perhaps it would not bother him at all." Ereuvir grins his little grin, taking another sip of the wine,

"Do you have any other questions, or would you like to leave right away. I wouldn't want to rush you, but there's no reason to delay, if you don't wish to."

Arkady looks back down at the skull and slowly closes the box. He doesn't know if he'll be returning from the Underworld, and thus whether he'll actually see that skull again, but considering that he's about to be reunited with Ashley for real, it's a small sacrifice. The skull is a mere reminder.

He stands up, leaving the box where it is. "I have no more questions." Arkady downs the rest of his wine, not even gasping as it burns on the way down. "I wish to go with you once you are ready."

Ereuvir takes another solid sip of his, but doesn't finish it, setting it aside and standing, himself. He considers for a moment,

"For me, the travel is easy, but I don't normally have passengers. It would be a shame if I killed you in the process of bringing you alive to the Underworld," he looks around, appears to have an idea, nods to himself, before he turns to face Arkady, "You come with me of your own free will, knowing that there is no way for you to return to the world of the living save if I choose to bring you there." It's is not a question. It is a stipulation, or perhaps a warning. Either way, he draws Arkady close, doesn't quite kiss him again, but leans in, intimate,

"If you walk through the door, you're mine, whatever else happens on the other side." And then he's literally drawing Arkady towards the door they came into the room through. He closes it it and, when it opens, there is another front entryway beyond. It looks... deceptively normal, and richly appointed.

"Perhaps a chariot would be more appropriate, but this isn't likely to involve you going insane before we get there." He grins.

Arkady blinks when the door shows an unfamiliar room. He'd tensed up for a moment, almost afraid of what Ereuvir was going to show him, but now he relaxes.

Arkady looks back at the sitting room, the implications of what he's about to do hitting him full force. If he goes with Ereuvir, he might never see this mansion, or the mortal world again. He'll be leaving all of it behind. He'll belong to the lord of the underworld, likely forever.

He looks back at the doorway, then to Ereuvir. "There is nothing left for me in this world."

His possessions had been sold or donated, his friends had abandoned him, Ashley was on the other side of that door, and all this mansion holds are memories. There's nothing holding him to the mortal world.

"Well then." It's said like a full thought, with another nod and Ereuvir steps through the door, turning back and holding out his hand for Arkady, to draw him through. Even so, the choice is his right up until the last moment.

When he steps through, however, the door closes behind him and they are just standing in Ereuvir's entryway. Here, he's dressed in his more usual, almost timeless sort of attire: black knee high boots, black pants and a shirt also in a deep color, this time blue. He looks perhaps a bit anachronistic, but more like some eccentric poet might be, not like someone at an Renaissance Faire or something.

"Welcome to the Underworld. And also my home," he smiles slightly. "Please, have a seat," he gestures to a small sitting room off to one side, "I will return with your brother," the smile grows a hint of teeth, "I wouldn't harm you on purpose, but until you've been here long enough for the house and the servants to recognize you, I wouldn't wander off. You are very clearly living to anyone and anything here, and that makes you something of an intruder here. You will be safe if you stay in the sitting room. I cannot promise the same if you wander about. I will only be gone a few minutes, I suspect."

That said, he leaves and goes in search of Ashley, honing in on him with his senses if needed.

Arkady doesn't know what he's expecting. There's no shock, no feeling of leaving his body, he feels the same as he did before he went through the door. This place doesn't feel any heavier than his mansion did. Arkady's not bombarded with the scent and feeling of death. This is almost homey. In fact, Ereuvir has good taste in decor.

"I must say, I like what I see so far." He's speaking of both his host and his new surroundings. If he's to live here now, he likes that it'll be in the lap of luxury.

He does as told, taking a seat. It's really happening. He's going to see Ashley again. Will he be beautiful, or a ghoul like himself? He wishes he'd washed up or combed his hair before coming through the door. Arkady steels himself, telling himself that he'll still love Ashley no matter what.

It is, perhaps, even a step above luxury into a kind of decadence. Further examination reveals an odd mix of what look like ancient influences but also modern touches and everything in between. It's as though he's always been a "lord" but what that's looked like has changed over the years, leaving traces of the old in places, though the house much more resembles a manor house of the present than the temple it still has traces of.

Whatever Ashley is doing when Ereuvir finds him, he tugs him away from it and pulls him in for a long, possessive kiss, probably unexpectedly heated, but he often seems to like to reassert his claim whenever he's been gone for very long.

"I'm home," he says, with a hint of a laugh in the statement that shows he knows how redundant that is. "And I've brought you a present."

Ashley can be found, predictably, in the library. Reading is his favorite pastime when Ereuvir is away, though he's always happier when Ereuvir is around and offering him attention.

Greeting his lover with a thrilled smile, Ashley throws his arms around Ereuvir and melts into the kiss, making happy little sighs and moans because he always likes it best when Ereuvir's heated and possessive toward him. It reassures him that he's still desired and valued, which is what he wants most.

"You know how I like presents," Ashley says, giving him a radiantly happy smile and leaning most of his weight into Ereuvir, enjoying Ereuvir's attention far too much to be impatient. Adoring and devoted, he studies Ereuvir's face, basking in the attention he's getting.

Ereuvir has an entire realm of beautiful sycophants if he wants them, but he does genuinely enjoy this. If there's occasionally a little bit of desperation to Ashley in regards to his attention, it somehow just makes things sweeter and there's something about making a kind of finicky lover unwind and melt.

He's a little impatient to show Ashley what he's brought, moreso than Ashley is to see it, clearly, but he also wants to take a moment to savor this. He's very much aware that what he's doing is a gamble. Both of the brothers clearly value each other more highly than any human lover, certainly, and while he would not come between them, exactly, Ashley is still his, by ceremony and by right, and Arkady is well on his way to potentially being. There are stakes, here, and even though the odds of an unacceptable outcome are low, this could be the last of this, and so he savors it, takes his time exploring Ashley's mouth, drawing him close.

"The only problem," he says after a moment, pulling back, smile wicked, "is that I'm never going to be able to top this. Come. I want to see your face." He is excited about this, an impossible present, a gift beyond measure, and his own anticipation grows as he leads Ashley through the house until he's drawing him through the door into the sitting room.

Arkady remains patient, his hands in his lap, as he waits for Ereuvir to return. It's like waiting for a gift on Christmas or Valentines Day. For over a year, he just had a skull and memories to keep him company. Perhaps the nights of only having his own hand and those memories to keep him company during the night are over again. Perhaps he should have brought a mint.

He looks up when the door to the sitting room opens, dark eyes lighting up immediately.

Ashley. It's him. He's here and he's still beautiful, just as Arkady remembers him. He's frozen for a moment, needing a second to process all this. They can be together again, forever this time.

Arkady stands up, still gazing at Ashley. He forces his feet to move finally. "Ashley... my love... my beautiful Ashley."

Ashley knows what it means when Ereuvir says he’ll never be able to top this. There’s only one gift that could possibly exceed all others to that point, and Ashley has waited patiently, asking only rarely whether Ereuvir has any news of his brother. He trusts Ereuvir to handle the search as he sees fit and trusts in the temptation that he has laid out: Ashley chose to dangle the idea of both of them belonging to Ereuvir, and he genuinely believes that prize to Ereuvir will be enough to ensure what Ashley wants. He knows also that if he pushes this too hard and evokes either irritation or jealousy in Ereuvir, he risks losing both of them. So while Ereuvir has searched, Ashley has set aside thoughts of his brother and focused entirely on Ereuvir.

“You found him,” Ashley says, delighted. He lights up with hope, kissing Ereuvir in celebration and practically bouncing as they make their way through the palace and to the antechamber where Arkady is waiting.

He looks past Arkady as he enters, looking for his brother but only seeing some sallow-cheeked servant, and he startles as Arkady stands and addresses him.

Unprepared for this sight, Ashley takes a step back, half hiding behind Ereuvir like a shy child. He’s smart enough and well-educated enough on occult matters to immediately guess as to why Arkady’s appearance has changed, and it gives him some of the answers he was lacking, but not others. “You broke your promise,” Ashley says, lashing out in order to keep Arkady at a distance and buy himself some time to process.

That Ereuvir gets a victory kiss goes a long way to dispelling the notion that perhaps the two of them would rather be left to their own devices. He is also aware that Arkady seems willing to entertain the possibility of bedding him and so it's hardly as though he'd suddenly find himself with a lack of company in that regard.

But he's enjoyed having Ashley's affection as much as the more physical aspects, perhaps does not enjoy Ashley's attention quite so much as Ashley enjoys his, but he does still enjoy it. He will miss it, if it turns out this is all a ploy, though he would have to acknowledge a game excellently played, if so.

And speaking of games, this isn't intended to be one of his. He wasn't lying to Arkady when he called him lovely, wasn't exaggerating to say that he really had no idea if Ashley was beautiful, still. He does understand basic aesthetics, of course, and what people generally find attractive or horrifying, but until he sees the relief on Arkady's face, he has no way to know if Ashley looks the same as ever, or if death had made him uncanny in his beauty. Similarly, he knows that Arkady does not look "normal" but he finds him genuinely extremely attractive like this and so he's caught off-guard to see Ashley shrink back, a rare, unguarded expression that Arkady gets to experience.

Still. Just because he didn't mean to leave Ashley to be shocked, it could prove interesting.

At any rate, he remains silent for the moment, lets Ashley use him as a shield and lets Arkady presume whatever he wants about that (or about the fact that Ashley is not dressed as though he came from anywhere outside.) After all, he is curious about this as well, if the dying was what had prevented him, or was circumstantial.

Arkady freezes, his heart feeling like it was just torn from his chest. To see Ashley shrink away from him is a dagger to his soul. For some reason, he thought that Ashley would still recognize him and wouldn't mind that he wasn't the handsome man who left for Paris. Never mind that Arkady might have had the same reaction if Ashley had been the one to turn gaunt and skeletal.

He'd been so focused on how he would react upon seeing Ashley that he didn't give any real thought to how his brother would react upon seeing him.

Ashley's words are another dagger to him. "I was going to come back to you, and make you my apprentice, just like I promised. I dragged myself off of death's doorstep so I could return to you, and then you were gone."

“You shouldn’t have left!” Ashley accused, voice sharp with pain. “You left me alone, and you were gone for so long. If you’d been there, you wouldn’t have died. I wouldn’t have died. You abandoned me.”

He hugs his arms around Ereuvir’s waist, tucking close against his side for comfort and protection, and because he wants Arkady to see that he has someone else to comfort and protect him now, now that Arkady abandoned him, and focusing on the abandonment is a much easier thing to process than Arkady’s appearance. Ashley’s had two years to stew over the pain of abandonment, while the loss of Arkady’s beauty is still a shock. If it were anyone else, Ashley would be intrigued by and even drawn to the deathlike visage, but this change to Ashley’s idealized memory of his brother is something he is unprepared for.

"I left because Paris was the best place I could learn magick, and I would have shared all of it with you. Don't you remember when we would spend an evening slicing up a cadaver, and sorting the organs? This was going to be one more thing we could share."

Rather grisly hobbies, yes, but the two of them were always unusual like that.

Arkady frowns when Ashley clings to Ereuvir, unable to help but be a little jealous. So his suspicions had been correct. There's no doubt in his mind that Ereuvir might have wanted Arkady for the same purpose, or possibly just to make his prize happy. Even still, he should be the one Ashley is clinging to. He wants to take his brother into his arms and kiss his lovely face and mouth.

"I offered myself to him," Arkady tells Ashley. He then addresses Ereuvir finally, "You hinted at something earlier. It had something to do with my appearance. Tell me." A spidery hand touches his gaunt cheek.

Edited 2018-11-02 22:17 (UTC)

Ereuvir looks between the two of them, Ashley clinging and Arkady distressed. He knows what it is that Arkady is referring to, but, for now, he ignores it. He addresses Ashley, though he doesn't do so in a way that indicates Arkady is unwelcome to hear the conversation. He touches Ashley's jaw lightly, until he's looking up at Ereuvir instead of at Arkady. Let Arkady think it's the move of a victor for a moment, if he wishes. He'll understand the truth soon enough.

"I can return him to the world of the living, if you wish," the tone is kind, "but you cannot follow. He dragged himself from hell for you once and then willingly re-entered it to find you. I would think that that would at least be worth a conversation," he looks up at Arkady, his lips curving into a bit of a smirk, "I certainly found it intriguing enough."

There's something about the tone, there, that fairly clearly indicates attraction.

"I know," Ashley insists, pouting briefly at Ereuvir but not really objecting to any of his arguments. "I want him to stay. I'm grateful. And I'm glad you're intrigued by him. I knew you would be." He looks at Ereuvir as he says it, though Arkady's confession of having offered himself to Ereuvir is at the front of his mind.

Pressing a soft kiss to Ereuvir's throat, Ashley looks out of the side of his eye at Arkady, wanting to see his jealousy. "I offered you to him," he says, annoyed at everyone else talking like this whole situation was their idea.

Arkady walks forward a little more, until he's within arms length of the two of them. If he wasn't so sure he'd be turned into dust or something, he would snatch Ashley out of Ereuvir's arms. Even with the unspoken agreement that both brothers would belong to the lord of the underworld, that jealousy was still plain on his skeletal face.

"That's why he went looking for me, isn't it? You wanted me here with you. But that still doesn't change the fact that I was willing to walk in here and be his, so we could be together again."

"No," Ereuvir corrects Ashley, seeming somewhat unmoved by the way he's currently clinging, though he's not giving off any particular signs of annoyance, exactly, "You offered him to me if he was dead. If he was alive, I believe you said he could rot."

"I went looking for him in the realm of the living because I wanted to see him for myself. And when I found him, I chose to make the offer the way that I did." He looks up at Arkady again, his lips curving slightly, "I offered myself to him, not the other way around. Though I toyed enough with the other than I could understand the misunderstanding." He grips Ashley with some amount of force, though it's only as much as needed to peel him off of him, "Sometimes, you have to stop playing games and just claim your prize." There's a sharp shove at the end of it, which deposits Ashley rather firmly right in Ashley's arms.

"Very few dead men charm their way into my bed, and very few living men interest me enough to break the rules for them. If both of you don't start appreciating what I've done, I will undo it." The words themselves are harsh, but he sounds more like he's trying not to laugh at them than actually upset.

“I’m appreciative!” Ashley snaps. He doesn’t struggle as Arkady’s arms close around him, though his attention and glare remains aimed at Ereuvir. “And I want to yell at him.” Ashley cannot fathom in the least that the two emotions might be mutually exclusive. Really, he’s all the more appreciative for the opportunity to yell at Arkady. “He is alive and dead, and while I am delighted by either of you ‘offering’ yourself to the other I am still entitled to yell at him!”

Even with Ashley yelling at them, Arkady still takes Ashley into his arms, his grip firm, like he's daring anyone to take his brother from him again. Still, Ashley can easily slip out if he wants to.

Still, Ereuvir's words sting, if what he's saying is true. He gives Ashley a hurt look. "You didn't want me if I was still alive? After all we shared? What should it matter? I'm here, aren't I? I still love you!"

Ashley struggled in Arkady’s arms, just to be difficult. They both knew he had half a dozen ways to get Arkady to let go instantly, the least of which was asking for it, but Ashley didn’t actually want to be released. “If you lived and hadn’t come back for me?” Ashley hissed. It seemed to him that his objection to Arkady being alive should be self-evident. “Then you could go rot.”

"And yet I did come back for you. You're my whole world, why wouldn't I come back for you?" Arkady sounds more offended than upset. This should be a joyous moment, having Ashley back in his arms, speaking to him again, and declaring his love all over again. But he thought they would be exchanging kisses and words of affection, not arguing.

"I kept your skull, and loved it every day, as if you were still with me." A thin, long-fingered hand strokes Ashley's cheek, right at the cheekbone.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Whoops

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject