Teenagers Scare the Living Shit Out Of Me etc. etc.

[dyingtohealyou]

[Characters passing by the bulletin board may notice a new message tacked to it!]

Drinking party at the bar at 8pm. Under 21 only. Adults will be persecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Fun and games included, party hats optional. Don’t be late!

[Sure enough, there’s a gathering of teens (and maybe some not-so-teens?) to be found in the bar! While the posting mentions this is a teen only event, adults are in fact allowed as long as they are cool. OOCLY please be aware there are going to be teens drinking alcohol and possibly smoking! Also additionally, please let the teens/players have fun; again, adults are allowed but only if they’re cool enough to play along without snitching them out!

All party game top levels are going to be made under Ahito’s account but please assume ICly that Akira instigated/explained them! Once the game toplevels are up you can also post your own toplevels to mingle freely if you like IDK IT’S A PARTY HAVE FUN]

Comments

[shortleash]

( the hot goss... )

... You don't worry it's selfish, or that you've read him wrong, or anything?

( imagine having eyes and not being insecure? ithaqua op )

[leewards]

Why? [He gives a one-armed shrug on account of his other one being occupied.]

It's not as if acted on his emotions first-- I did. I told him I wanted him, and as the fate he liked so much happened, he felt the same. Was I thinking that I had him for sure once I spoke? No, not entirely. There was still a hint of doubt until he responded, but what mattered is that I spoke.

[Urianger might not have done anything if Ithaqua did not.]

[shortleash]

... Mm. I see.

( It sounds like a fairytale - but perhaps most tales of things simply working out do when you're someone who's learned to live in fear. )

... But you and he didn't worry that he might be happier with someone else.

( They were set on each other, without wondering if the other would better flourish somewhere else. )

[leewards]

Why would I? My appearance aside, [because we don't talk about Ithaqua's appearance or how he perceives himself on a physical level,] I am a powerful, accomplished wizard who is always trying to become even more powerful. I am never satisfied with my current state, and while I am not as well-read as him, I do not need him to censor himself for my sake.

I am a prize.

[Look at all of this confidence.]

[shortleash]

( If only confidence were infectious...

The remark about appearance draws the faintest arch of a raised eyebrow - but it does not negate the rest. While none of those are qualities Mika cares for, it suggests more than enough on what Ithaqua values about himself. It is a greater quantity of things than Mika could list, if asked of his own advantages.

However, he is curious: )

Are those things that make him happy?

( These are things that Ithaqua likes about himself. They may even be things that Urianger likes, too. But do they do his heart good? )

[leewards]

[Ithaqua smirks as his response, and then tilts his head towards Urianger.]

He'd tell you other points about me that he likes, but... Heheh. Ask him, or ask Ahito. He did pry into us earlier, after all.

But know this-- I, the sum of my parts, make him happy. [Then he reaches up to brush the back of his fingers along Urianger's beard.

It's clear that this relationship is.

Gross.]

[divineth]

[His mysterious, stoic image...slowly diminishing...]

[shortleash]

( you're an otaku idk if u can be mysterious and stoic to mika now that he knows this (but congrats on the riajuu, literary otaku man) )

[shortleash]

( Definitely gross. Thank god he and Ginger are gross in a much more acceptable way [citation needed] [mika getting into an edit war with other editors]

Anyway, he doesn't seem outwardly bothered by the PDA - if it's one thing the vampiric decay has aided him with, it's keeping that kind of thing off his face in front of people who can probably skewer him easy - however, Ithaqua's phrasing, in this moment and the moments prior, can't help but draw his attention to the subject Ithaqua's appearance once again.

He has seen it, as it used to be - and Ithaqua looked perfectly normal then, though the stark shift in his skin's tone and his apparently unnatural eyes suggest his look has changed. That, and how he never seems to remove his mask, if he can help it. )

... The sum of all your parts together, but not your appearance?

( The sum of all his parts - it sounds as if he intends to brush past an individual piece or two of himself he may not quite enjoy, given Ithaqua had already pieced out his appearance as an exception earlier.

Frankly, it's rude to ask, but Mika is rude, so. )

[leewards]

[Ithaqua's response is... quite neutral, honestly. He and Urianger have touched on it briefly but it's nigh impossible to undo what's been traumatized into you.]

Behind my mask is a horrendous visage, made uglier if I were to wear any sort of expression. [Which is often! Because he's an expressive fellow.

It just so happens that he's quite a nasty person when he wants to be (which is often), and that twists his face all sorts of ways.]

[shortleash]

( Oh. So he sees himself as a monster? Or perhaps he truly is. )

... Did something turn you?

( You had a normal face before, after all. )

[leewards]

I turned myself.

And you have seen the memory. [He points at Mikaela with an unnaturally long finger.] You know that part well, do you not?

[Him, his twin, their faces. The way his twin twisted his expressions so.]

[shortleash]

( ... )

... Wouldn't he love that, too?

( Said, as if it were a given. )

[leewards]

[Ithaqua points at Urianger, as if to say "ask him".]

That, I shan't be asking him.

[divineth]

[Ithaqua may be surprised to hear this, but Urianger voices a truth in his heart yet unspoken thanks to the honesty charm:]

I do.

[leewards]

[He just puts his face into the table... He's so embarrassed. Lover why.

Is this what Urianger has been feeling ever since Ithaqua opened his mouth to interrupt Mikaela.]

[shortleash]

( gayyyyyy

Anyway, Mika nods at Urianger like "yeah, thought so," glancing at Itha going briefly down for the count. )

... I think if someone actually loves you, it only makes sense that they love all of you, no matter what. ( Corny? Maybe. Hush. ) Even if... maybe they shouldn't.

( And this is not a criticism of Urianger, or either Ithaqua, though it could perhaps have been better articulated: he speaks from the perspective of a vampire, of someone who hates himself, and what he is, and that he is a walking corpse.

The prison that is his body disgusts him, and that Ginger loves it hasn't exactly helped him make peace with himself yet - but... accepting that Ginger finds something in his frame to love is easier than learning to love himself. So it's not a gesture without worth. It's not something he wants to reject, even if some part of him says he should, for Ginger's sake. )