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+---- Thread: Dragonfly Fen russian roulette (/showthread.php?tid=4211)
russian roulette - Nanook - Apr 15, 2013
I was being lazy and just used my sample post as my first post. Hopefully I can do that, lol. xD
[dohtml]Times were rare that the silvery, smoky ivory teenager thought of his parents or of the siblings that had exiled him, of his once home. This trip to new lands, Relic Lore could have easily been his pilgrimage, his coming of age journey and perhaps, Nanook considered with quiet disdain, that was what wolves would think. He was just another teenager in the mainframe, branching off of his parents either from tradition or because of an insatiable rebelliousness. Foolish, young, and arrogant. Full of golden spun dreams of conquest. He had not left his home because he had consciously wanted to. Why would he have wanted to? From the days when he began to show signs of being the dominate pup in his litter, lording it often and uncaring over his siblings the firstborn DiSarinno son had been groomed for the helm of leadership under his parents. Why would he choose to leave a life that had been well suited for him? It was his destiny and his right, and when his parents had began to discover his true nature, the Darkling was, evaluated and thusly cast out. As if he were last year’s model whom could be so easily thrown away, used, still pretty but thusly unwanted. Whatever they said about him, their love, so easily dismissed, had hurt him, forming the crack and fissures that riddled his heart, making him wonder, some days, how it did not cease to beat so damaged as it was. Love, Nanook scoffed at. There was no such thing. It was the basis of desires, a need to spread the seed and nothing more. And the so-called “love” of a parent, Nanook had deduced, was nothing more than mild affection, a desire to ensure that offspring stay alive so that the lines may continue to spread.
Eyes of liquid gold burned and leapt with the flames that consumed his heart as he dipped his toes, lazily in the cool lake he lounged beside, salmon pink tongue flicking out to draw across his lips where the blood of his recent meal stained the once flawless silver-tipped ivory fur that covered his body. A stunning cross between his father and mother’s own coats. The blood was drying, hardening his fur into macabre, blood stained spikes down his chin and onto his chest where it had stained. It still, even drying, held the familiar tangy, coppery taste that he had grown accustomed to, and that he considered was not all that unpleasant. Muzzle lowered to glimpse at his reflection in the faintly rippling water, the warm and beautiful spring day a coveted enjoyment. Staring at the fiery eyes that resembled neither parent, and all the angles and sharp lines that made him androgynous for he was more willowy than he was broad, and too pretty for a male as he’d heard many say in his short span of a life. The face of an angel, Toes skimmed across the water, distorting his reflection more. With dark and selfish intentions. He was temptation, wickedness, sin and vanity incarnate. Or so, he liked to flatter himself by thinking anyway. While he might not be built like a tank, he was fast, but more so than that, he was silver-tongued and highly intelligent, and Nanook always liked to think that made him more dangerous than brawn. The scales would always even out, in some way or another, for that seemed to be one of nature’s laws.
Ears swiveled out atop his skull, listening past the gently lapping water, listening for sounds of anything foreign outside of his setting, and let his eyes close to soak up the warmth of the sun as it’s rays stroked through his fur like a lover’s fingers. Tantalizing, teasing yet undeniably still pleasant.[/dohtml]
RE: russian roulette - Datura - Apr 20, 2013
umg so sorry about taking so long to get a reply for you
and this sucks but i just want to get started
saying it's early morning...if that's okay? you didn't specify :P
note for myself/others: takes place when datura is still lost with @Taima but he's just wandered off. Grey, feel free to pop in I guess?
[dohtml]
He needed some air.
Being married and all that was nice and stuff... but he had spent literally every waking minute with her since they had first collided with one another in the fog. At first her presence was a gift, a miracle, and he found himself clinging to her as he would have clung to his mother as a helpless babe. Yet Datura found himself wishing he could have some air, some time to himself. Because lord she talked a lot. For an Heiress, she wasn't particularly refined, and he had already had one close call with that temper of hers. When she spoke now Datura didn't find himself as comforted by the conversation as he had been before. Instead, he found himself overwhelmed by all of the work she was going to need. She wasn't going to be a Queen if she wanted to behave like that. Normally the golden boy didn't want to extend himself in such a way for non-family memebers... but now that she was his mate, well, he had no choice.
Even so, Datura found himself full of uncertainty and shame. What was he doing, slinking around in the swamp like this by himself? This was shady as fuck. It was something @Adonis would do, run off by himself to think like the little reclusive weirdo he was. But here he was now, the golden child, the socially gifted boy, wandering aimlessly like a deviant. With every step he put between himself and Taima his anxiety increased and his conscious began to grow impatient with him. What are you doing, Datura? Go back to her right now. But he couldn't, he just wanted this time to himself. Why? You're no one by yourself. What, do you want to be a lone wolf now? Go gallivanting off into the night having ADVENTURES? Wasn't he having adventures now, though? God! This is too confusing! he shouted in the cavernous darkness of his skull, unable to make sense of the war being waged between his head and his heart.
The soft sounds of sloshing water caught his attention, though, before he was able to get any more frustrated. Where was he? Had he gone in a giant circle and come back to Taima? He wasn't certain they had found any signs of others on their travels. No, they were alone here. Weren't they? "Hello?" he called out, "Taima?" Not bothering to scent the air, the boy bounded towards the source of the sound, quite sure it was Taima. The thought of seeing her again lifted his heart.
RE: russian roulette - Nanook - Apr 26, 2013
Sorry about the wait on my end. Work had been hectic as of late. :o And yes, that's fine! :-) Words: 567
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It was easy to get lost in the thoughts that swirled lazily around Nanook’s mind so early in the morning. Easy to imagine the life he would have as opposed to the solitary life he lived currently. He was confident that either his kin would see the error in their ways and call him back to his home, his birthright. And if they don’t? Question hissed like an angry cat in his mind, infecting the recesses that remained resistant to what Nanook had become. If they did not come to their senses it was easy enough to consider that he was here. Why not, should he feel his exile had any degree of being forever, start anew here? Nanook was not so confident he could follow another, only if he felt it benefited him and more often than not ignoring everything in him that screamed to dominate was hard and more effort than he was willing to put forth. How could one fight themselves day in and day out? Fight what nature had chosen? Resistance could only hold out for so long…before the laws of nature demanded that they be followed. Nanook was not one for hiding the truth of who and what he was. He was born to be a leader. An unknown Prince in these lands, even though he had disowned his name connected to his family. He would be known simply as Nanook. It was enough. He did not Aether’s lands, did not need the DiSarinno legacy. Ears twitched and rose atop his skull alert, eyes remained closed, despite the prickle along his spine, guard hairs ruffling before they laid flat, the sound of approach catching his utmost attention. Head titled ever so slightly to the right in his faux (now) relaxed state, determining that from the heavy steps that his soon to be companion was not prey. Too large.
Black, leathery nostrils flared as muscles, warmed beneath his coat by the sun that had touched him where he lay, contracted smoothly beneath his pristine fur toes pulling back from the water he had lazed them in. He could faintly scent what he thought might very well be another wolf, though he remained cautious, none the less. He was not aware as to how aggressive or non aggressive the wolves of these lands may be -- though he supposed that depended upon the wolf itself as opposed to the natives of Relic Lore as a whole. Though he did not fear confrontation or pain (when had a leader ever had it simple?!) he was weary by instinct. There was a hello called out and then a name; one that did not sound familiar to Nanook in the slightest. Eyes of fierce, golden fire burst open, their burning irises nearly swallowing the black of his pupils whole as his eyes narrowed and he rose, swiftly in one smooth motion, swinging his body around to face the creature who had just happened to reveal himself. The other boy -- for he couldn’t be too much older than Nanook himself -- was all gold and honey colors. Eyes of liquid gold locked upon the golden boy with barely contained mild contempt written upon the Darkling’s angelic face. “I hate to disappoint,” Nanook spoke, breaking the silence. “But I am not this Taima you search for.” Nanook spoke smoothly, despite that he pointed out the very obvious.[/dohtml]
RE: russian roulette - Datura - May 04, 2013
[dohtml]
Nope — false alarm.
This boy that Datura stumbled upon was clearly not his wife, and he didn't need Adonis to tell him that. This stranger, besides being clearly the wrong gender, was also the wrong color. Where Taima was a mixture of cream and muted, earthy trim, this boy was smokey grey. Damn. What was he supposed to do now? For a moment, Datura merely stared dumbly at the loner, not quite sure what he was supposed to do with him since he was not Taima. He had really been hoping he was Taima. It had been so long since he had spoken to anyone else besides her that he hardly knew what to say. What did society expect from him in a situation like this?
“I hate to disappoint. But I am not this Taima you search for.”
"I see that!" Datura barked snappishly, his tail beginning to rise dangerously. It appeared his thorny retort had surfaced before his manners, and he instantly regretted his remark. The golden tail wilted. "I mean. I'm sorry, you're right. You..." a bubble of nervous, shamed laughter escaped his mouth, "You don't look like her at all. That was silly of me." God, how he hated to play a fool just to make amends. But it was all his fault he had to do it, and though he longed to, he could lay no blame on this monochrome boy. Ears twisting back, Datura cocked his head and forced himself to grin at his new acquaintance, looking to him to smooth over this mess with a response.
"I'm Datura."
RE: russian roulette - Nanook - May 06, 2013
Words 725
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- There was a moment when Nanook stared impassively at Datura while they other boy stared at him. A moment of silence, absent of hostilities, absent of any feeling at all. The other Yearling, obviously, did not appreciate Nanook’s quite obvious statement that he was not the woman that the other boy was searching for, if his snappish reply and the rising of his tail was of any indication. Abysmal pupils narrowed within their pools of liquid gold, a flash of teeth was given in warning to the other boy. Nanook did not like being snapped and especially not by a wolf who was maybe a little younger, or a little older than him. He hated it when adults thought they had the right to snap at him just because of their age. Being in and of the same age made it ten times worse. For a few seconds, Nanook simply glowered at Datura as the other boy’s demeanor, for reasons that remained unknown and (truthfully) perplexing to Nanny, changed and shifted like the ebbing flow of the tide. An apology came forth, stumbling it’s way out of the other boy’s mouth and was greeted with a stony indifference that hinted at Nanook’s utter disbelief -- and contemplation that the other boy might just be a little bi-polar. Nanook had never seen a mood, or hostilities be shrugged off so quickly, and so instantly, the exiled DiSarinno Prince was weary of it. And then, to make it all the more strange to Nanook, the other boy let out a bubble of laughter. Ears slicked back to half mast upon sharp angles of his skull, as a snort tore out of leathery black nostrils not sure whether he wanted to laugh himself (for the show had been a little comical) or abruptly ask him if he had any illnesses that he (Nanook) should know about.
“Sorry? For what? That you snapped at me? Or sorry that you confused me with your…ah lost friend?” For a lack of better word, Nanook had no idea what Datura and Taima were to each other, and accordingly, didn’t give a damn, but with so many possibilities that loomed before him, it was likely he would guess wrong, even if he did care enough to propose a guess. Ears moved slowly back up to their casual place atop his skull as eyes assessed Datura closely. “I’m quite sure I do not,” Despite that Nanook had no idea what Taima looked like. While it was true that Nanook was not particularly broad, his broadness replaced with a very angular, willowy (feminine) build that reminded one of a sleekness, beauty as opposed to tank-like build most associated with the male sex. Nanook, while never minding that he was as pretty as any girl, prettier he was told than Olympia, was still obviously a male. Not exactly an easy confusing point, or so Nanook thought, at any rate. “While I may have been told that I’m rather androgynous, I didn’t think I was that feminine.” Nanook spoke in a teasing tone, feeling the need to rib the other boy. Perhaps it was because…he had not seen another wolf his age in quite some time. Never minding the fact that the last boy his age betrayed him and was not a cripple for it. Or, maybe, Nanook just felt like teasing just because he was feeling…oddly, playful. He was still capable of humor, even if it held the great potential to become a little twisted, in the end.
A name was then given. Datura. Simple, and easy to remember, precisely how Nanook liked names. Some names were long, complicated and hard to remember. Such names were unnecessary, in Nanook’s mind. Flamboyance at it’s worst. “I am Nanook.” The darkling spoke his name in return, smoky ivory fur ruffling slightly in the crisp breeze that picked up every so often. Not with much of a rhyme or reason enough for Nanook to predict when the icy chill would rush through the tendrils of his fur like the fingers of death, but he was warm enough, his winter coat thick and coarse as compared to his summer coat, which he suspected should be coming soon. Unless he’d been unlucky enough to have came to a land where it was cold and barren the whole year around.
RE: russian roulette - Datura - May 06, 2013
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Because Datura was neither very observant nor very perceptive, he failed to take any notice of the range of emotions his new acquaintance went through as he spoke. The golden boy thought his own behavior quite normal; he had never bothered to consider that others might not be so used him. Usually he just got his way. People just accepted him the way he was. His younger sister, Bella, was partially to blame for nurturing this behavior, for protecting and feeding his ego until he felt that he was perfect. Datura behaved as brutishly or as gently as he felt was expected of him. Still he had yet to run into any consequences.
“Sorry? For what? That you snapped at me? Or sorry that you confused me with your…ah lost friend?”
His golden eyes narrowed slightly at this. He had said he was sorry. Did it matter that he was sorry for? Why did this guy feel like he had to open up the wound again to get at the bottom of the apology. Datura would have shrugged his golden shoulders but his muscles were too tight. It didn't matter, it felt as his heart beat faster. This was something Adonis would have done, he decided. Adonis liked to be precise, to lay out all the cards on the table and examine every single one until Datura squirmed with discomfort. It was like nothing was enough for his brother, and it scared him. Even if the thought made him a little home sick, he didn't miss his brother enough to welcome all of the old annoyances. But he was trying to get along with this bloke, so he would have to make some sort of reply. "Sure," he was unaware that this was still not a real answer.
“While I may have been told that I’m rather androgynous, I didn’t think I was that feminine.”
Androgynous? What the hell kind of word was that? His golden eyes swept up and down the smokey boy's form again, taking a second look, wondering if he had somehow missed something important the first time. But everything appeared to be normal. His brows furrowed uncertainly. Datura didn't like big words, especially when they were thrown out in a conversation as if he should already have known what they meant — he mistook the teasing tone. The golden boy didn't possess the mental capabilities necessary to puzzle out new words and while a smarter wolf might have asked for a definition, Datura was quite adamant that he didn't want to make himself look like any more of a fool than he already had. He had to get back to safer territory
. "Everyone just tells me that I'm very handsome."
For such a bold statement, it was spoken with startling modesty; as if it were an unarguable fact.
RE: russian roulette - Nanook - May 08, 2013
Words. 586
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- Nanook deliberately pretended not to notice the way in which Datura had taken to looking at him shortly after the words that challenged what exactly Datura was apologizing for left the Darkling’s mouth. Mostly because while Nanook liked to be the one doing all the glaring, he refused to acknowledge when anyone else glared at him. Whether it was because he felt that he might crack and start howling with laughter (for some reason it was comical when other people did it and Nanny was just that arrogant that he’d find it amusing), or because he was beneath such a domineering look when aimed at himself was wholly unclear. Perhaps it was a mixture of both. Datura’s ‘sure’ was greeted with a roll of Nanook’s fiery colored eyes, as the exiled DiSarinno teen worked to get his flaring temper under control. How hard was it to just answer the question? A simple question begged a simple answer but Datura had to go and make it further difficult with his unhelpful and highly generic “sure” which wasn’t an acceptable answer at all, in Nanook’s book. “While I do not consider that an answer,” Nostrils flared as he stared at Datura stonily for a few more seconds, Nanook sighed, willowy shoulder rising and falling with the motion. “I will temporarily accept it.” He let his words hang in the air between them, his expression speaking that he would be revisiting the subject later; and Nanook hardly forgot questions that he thought he deserved answers too, which was, perhaps, unfortunate for Datura, if the other boy simply wished to let it lie.
Nanook often found himself assuming, despite that he knew what everyone and their mother said about when you assume, so when Datura’s eyes swept him once more the other’s boy uncertain expression did not go unseen by Nanook, and accordingly, Nanook assumed that Datura had little to no idea what the word ‘androgynous’ meant. As it was the only reason Nanook knew the complicated yet fitting word to describe his physical attributes was because he’d heard the adults whisper about it when they thought he wasn’t listening. Nanook always listened, especially when he was the subject of conversation. He adored attention, part of his vanity incarnate, so it only made sense that he eavesdropped as often as he pleased. He was his own fly on the wall, only trusting what he, himself, learned as opposed to believing his little “whisperers”, if only because he trusted only himself. “If you’re wondering,” Nanook began. “It means that I have both masculine and feminine physical traits.” Like the curves of his shoulders as opposed to the broadness that was often associated with the male sex. He couldn’t be sure that Datura didn’t already know what it meant, of course. He could only assume. Usually, though, most wolves would have commented about it. Nanook was so used to it that someone, like Datura, not commenting upon it was strange to Nanook. Something he struggled to wrap his mind around.
The following statement to come out of the other boy’s mouth was modest despite how arrogant it would have sounded if it had come out of Nanook’s. Lips twitched up into a tease of a smirk before Nanook shrugged his willowy shoulders simply. “If you say so…” Nanook attempted to tease again. He supposed that Datura was handsome, but found himself unlikely to garner if he was attractive or not considering that Nanook’s sexual interests belonged to the opposite sex.
RE: russian roulette - Datura - May 08, 2013
[dohtml]
“While I do not consider that an answer,”
Honey-dipped eyebrows rose querulously as he wondered who exactly this boy thought he was. Who cared if he thought it was an answer or not? Maybe this boy had come from somewhere, and maybe he had been raised to be someone... But he sure smelled like he was alone right now, and to Datura that made a hell of a difference. He himself, however, was usually above these rules. He was the heir to Nomad's Pass, people were looking for him, powerful people. He was not sure if the same could be said for this interloper. And besides, he had asked a question and Datura had supplied a response. That was all the sense the golden boy needed the world to make.
“I will temporarily accept it.”
"Or what?" was what he longed to quip, but he continued to hold his tongue and mind his manners. No need to dispense any more apologies and end up having to get particular about them, too. Once was more than enough for a lifetime in the Aquila's book. In the end, all he had for this Nanook fellow was an stare even enough to be neither a challenge nor an assent, merely an acknowledgement that Datura had heard what had been said.
And as the conversation suddenly took a turn towards Nanook's appearance, Datura realized that somehow his body must have betrayed his ignorance. Why else would the smokey boy launch into a definition of exactly what it meant to be "androgynous?" The coppery ears atop his flattened as the boy felt himself growing tense once more. "But I wasn't wondering," he drawled emphatically. He feigned a smile to keep the atmosphere relaxed, but he couldn't be sure it was helping at all since the pressure didn't seem to lift from his own shoulders. "Cause I know what it means." Datura had never been a good liar. Or, well, he was exceptional when it came to lying to himself, it was only other people he could not seem to fool. Maybe it was because his tone was always too forceful, as if he was demanding they believe him rather than coaxing them towards the truth.
"And I do say so. You can ask anyone up in the mountain pass, and they'll all tell you I'm the handsomest boy they've ever seen!" The modesty had faded, now, replaced by his pretentious gloating. He had no idea whether or not what he said was true, but he certainly found himself to be the most handsome wolf in Relic Lore, and thus they were all sure to agree with him. "I can prove it to you."
RE: russian roulette - Nanook - May 08, 2013
Words. 705
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No matter how hard Nanook tried to bury his past, to smother and kill the embers that of the flames that had begun with his birth could not be extinguished. The best he had been able to do was to ignore them, and even that was proving a much greater challenge than he had first assumed it would be. When he had been exiled, shunned from his home and his family, forced to part with his beloved Olympia despite that she had sold him out to the mud monger child who she had been dewy-eyed for, as if he were her moon (which may or may not have sparked jealousy within Nanook). How Nanook rationally justified that his precious sister could do no wrong was beyond Tokio’s capabilities of understanding, yet the blame remained, as it always seemed to be, far from her dainty shoulders. It was not easy to forget that he had a birthright, a name befitting him as the Prince he was; and it certiantly wasn’t as if he could just turn off that which had made him who he was. His personality had not changed. Appearance had not changed. No. All that had changed had been his own doing. Addressing himself as Nanook as opposed to Sparta. It had not been enough to extinguish that which Nanook feared would, sooner or later, turn into a full raging inferno. He could only keep it contained before the truth of things would catch up to him. He could not change that which was his by nature. Other wolves might’ve been gifted with that particular ability but Nanook had been eluded of it.
Datura insisted that he had not been wondering what androgynous meant, causing Nanook’s left ear to flick casually to the side, where it lingered before it rejoined it’s casual, alert position across from his right ear. “Ok,” Nanook spoke simply, shrugging carelessly, willing enough to accept that Datura understood what the word had meant. “I don’t know what you know, do I? I thought I would help to fill in the blank in case you happened to be unaware of what it meant.” Nanook explained, not because he had to but because he wanted too (which was pretty much how Nanook did everything -- because he wanted to). “No harm, no foul, right?” Though Nanook found himself being, if a little, suspicious of Datura’s words taken as in defense by the smoky ivory teenager. The more Nanook heard Datura speak about his ‘handsomeness’ the more that Nanook found himself wondering if Datura had ever been spoiled by his parents, or whomever had raised him. It was starting to come across that way, though Nanook had little room to talk (even though anyone whom had ever spoiled him had ceased as his personality had started to take form and what he had wasn’t ever enough). Curving brow rose into a wicked arch over his right eye as Datura fed his ego with praise upon his physical appearance. Sorely tempted, Nanook stilled his silver tongue, if only for a brief moment in time. “Is that so?” Nanook inquired, idly wondering where this ‘Mountain Pass’ was and if he could really go and ask them such an inquiry. Though it seemed like sort of a waste of time -- for why should he go get opinions upon Datura’s physical attraction when he was not interested -- the idea of humoring Datura seemed too good of an opportunity to pass up.
“How, pray tell, do you plan to prove that you are the most attractive male that these elusive ‘they’ have ever seen?” The question posed, words rolling off his tongue smoothly, faint amusement coloring the sharp angles of angelic face, a rumble of laughter beginning to form within his chest. Nanook waited for Datura’s answer amicably -- likely the most amicable he’d been in quite some time. While he found Datura’s ego a bit off putting, probably because it clashed unattractively with his own (even though Nanook was more pretty than he was handsome and so it sort of works), he did not feel any outward (or inward) dislike for the other boy, which was something as new as it was surprising.
RE: russian roulette - Datura - May 13, 2013
Sorry this reply took me so long.
I'll wrap it up here and you can finally get started on Nanook's thread at NP. Okay? :3
[dohtml]
"Ok,”
The tension lifted from his shoulders, and whatever hand that had been holding his heart let its grip slacken with this simple word of compromise. This was really all Datura needed, to know that things were okay, that whatever was going on between the two of them was okay, and that perhaps it was okay that Datura didn't want to explain himself. Because the golden boy wanted so much to believe that everything was going to be okay, he ran away with this two syllable word and made it into much more than it was meant for. Relieved, a glowing smile warmed his face.
But Nanook wasn't done.
“I don’t know what you know, do I? I thought I would help to fill in the blank in case you happened to be unaware of what it meant.”
If things were okay, then why did the darkling feel the need to explain himself like this? Datura didn't care. Datura hadn't asked. Datura didn't need to know. He shifted his weight and rolled his shoulders, trying to stay lose, relaxed, cool. He just needed to overlook this. "Yeah, okay, I get it." But he didn't. His voice was hard and his eyes wandered around the marshlands behind the young loner's head. "But isn't it more polite to start with the assumption that I'm not less than you?" Because Datura wasn't less. He was greater. If only because he was handsome and not... androgynous.
And as for proving himself, the golden boy had an idea. It was a particularly nonsensical idea, but he had never been able to think things through very well, and more than anything he wanted to test this monochromatic weirdo. His voice was a silky drawl as he leaned in, "Tell you what. If you can find the pass I'll let you in, and then you can talk to everyone. If you don't find it, well. Your loss." For a moment, Datura watched his new acquaintance. He saw much of Adonis in this boy. Maybe too much.
"LAST ONE TO THE MOUNTAIN IS A ROTTED CARCASS!"
- faaaade