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ɢᴏʟᴅᴇɴ ᴘᴇᴀᴄᴏᴄᴋ ᴍᴏᴅs ([personal profile] goldmods) wrote in [community profile] peacockstop2025-09-15 09:00 pm
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TDM 011



【 Thank you for choosing the Golden Peacock, 5-star resort and casino. You are currently registered as a WILDCARD in our system.

We are thrilled to announce that the Golden Peacock will be embracing autumn with a special outing. Current and new guests are invited to join us for a refreshing outdoor experience where participants can unplug, unwind, and connect with nature. During this time, all Watches will be disabled to the most basic functions (texting, calls, checking chip account) in order to encourage guests to disconnect.

Please look forward to two weeks of finding yourself amongst the trees. We hope you enjoy your stay, and have a fan-CAMP-stic time. 】



CAMPING
GETTING OFF THE GRID
As the resort moves into what it claims is autumn, the days grow shorter. The projected sun in the Vale sets in the afternoon, after which a faint chill falls. Then there’s the most excessive transformation of all – a portion of the Vale has transformed into a campground complete with a scenic lake, seemingly overnight. Statues nearby have been dressed up with flannel jackets and suspenders. Folksy banjo fills the air without any discernible source.

A section of the campgrounds have been reserved for tents. These tents vary in size, shape, and supplies. All tents, regardless of quality, are supplied with sex toys and lube. Staff and long-standing guests all agree — pretending to live in the wilderness and 'rough it' for a while is thrilling. This is what the peasants feel like all the time!
NOT ALL TENTS ARE EQUALHigh-rank guests are allocated spacious and luxurious tents. These elaborate mini-homes come with TVs, beds, heaters, and plenty of supplies. Provided camping gear is high quality, ranging from state of the art flashlights to designer backpacks. It can't quite be considered roughing it in these tents, but glamping is camping too!

Mid-rank guests are allocated moderate tents that comfortably fit up to three guests. These tents come with cots or sleeping bags, as well as standard camping gear to make their time living off the land fairly comfortable. While these tents lack the bells and whistles of the high-rank accommodations, they are more than enough for a comfortable but realistic camping experience.

Low-rank guests are allocated the shabbiest tents. These sagging accommodations can shield one guest comfortably, but that doesn't stop staff from pairing low-ranking guests together in order to save space. Their 'sleeping bags' are a single blanket and hay bale pillow. There are no other included amenities aside from sex toys and a single lantern.

► Last but certainly not least: our Wildcards! All Wildcards have been randomly assigned. Whether they end up in a glamping tent or sleeping beneath a propped up sheet is left to chance. Wildcards also may find themselves waking up beside a current guest or another new arrival.

► Guests that "go camping" will discover that the door connecting the Vale to the rest of the resort has mysteriously vanished. Uh oh! Looks like there's no going back to the comfortable life anytime soon. Don't worry, the door will return when it's time to pack up and head home.
LET'S GET CRAFTY ► New characters still wake up naked save for a robe, as is standard for the Golden Peacock. This round’s robes are flannel gingham to embrace camping and autumn aesthetic. Some of these robes are much shorter than others; watch out that the lake breeze doesn’t reveal more than you wanted.

► Unlike the standard, there are no racks of clothes waiting for new arrivals outside of their tents. You're roughing it out in the woods, remember? Instead of clothing, Wildcards will find an assortment of raw materials to make clothes.

Fabric rolls, hemp, buckets of leaves, leather, and other assorted goods are waiting to be cobbled into something new. The staff have been kind enough to leave some small hunting knives and wooden needles to make crafting a bit easier. Of course, they won't stop anyone that wants to embrace the wild side and strut around naked.
HOME ON THE RANGE
Welcome to the Peacock Campgrounds! Nicknamed the Stomping Grounds by long-standing guests. Rustic and right off a sparkling lake, guests will find everything they need to live in the wilderness. Staff have expertly set up fire pits, benches, hammocks, and a wooden shed to act as a tool depository. There's even an outhouse, which is a real novelty to many of the long-standing guests. Do they just... squat over that hole and do their business? How wild!

Unlike previous resort-sponsored excursions, guests are expected to manage without the help of staff. That pile of wood won't be replenished once used; guests will have to go chop down trees and split their own. Food won't magically appear in their tents regardless of rank. Camping is all about living off the land. Though staff make themselves scarce to make the experience feel real, they lurk in the shadows, discreetly providing necessary tools and fixing broken equipment so guests won't struggle too much. It isn't fun if it's real hardship, after all!
DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW TO COOK?On the first camp morning, guests will find barrels of ingredients and cooking utensils left beside the central fire pit. These barrels are stocked with fruits and vegetables that won't spoil quickly, many of which are seasonal to autumn. They have also been left a few protein options like eggs, jerky, and canned ham. These ingredients are communal and limited. Once they run out, guests will have to hunt and gather in the Vale to collect more.

Guests must prepare their own meals while camping. Not even the high-ranks are given any special treatment on this! While oil and firestarter are included in the initial supply, these too are limited and won't be replenished after use.

► Staff would never let their precious guests go without a sweet treat. A generous supply of hot cocoa and all the fixings for s'mores has been left behind as well. While none of the other food will be replenished, the hot cocoa and s'mores goodies seemingly never run out. A night around a campfire without roasting marshmallows or sipping cocoa would be too cruel to subject guests to.
SUPPLIES RUNNING LOW ► Guests will have to hunt and gather once ingredients dwindle if they want to eat. The wooden shed is home to a selection of tools that can be used to hunt: bows and arrows, hatchets, axes, fishing poles and line, etc. All tools are rudimentary and can break if not taken care of.

► The Vale is lush with wild fruits and vegetables. However, much like in reality, not all vegetation in the Vale is safe to eat. While some berries and mushrooms are consumable, others are toxic or psychedelics. One must also not forget that they're in the Golden Peacock: some unusual plants that grow in the vale may trigger arousal. Watch out that you don't eat something funky by accident!

► Before 'leaving', staff will explain that guests can fish or hunt small game running throughout the Vale. One particularly enthusiastic staff member will suggest guests track down the snoggleboffs, as they're extremely delicious after roasting on an open fire.


ACTIVITIES
TWO WEEKS OF ROUGHING IT
Camping can't be all about survival. Where's the fun in that? Before 'leaving', the staff arrange activities and events for guests to enjoy. A wooden bulletin board outlines times for group hikes, camping experiences, and wilderness delights. Adirondack chairs line the edge of the lake and a few tire swings hang over the water, tied to strong tree branches. For the first week and a half the weather is pleasant and sunny. Perfect for camping.

At night, acoustic guitars and other wooden instruments come out so that guests can make music around the bonfire. Projected stars dapple the night sky, forming various constellations sourced from guest worlds. The moon enters a different phase each night, shining a gentle silver across the campgrounds. Why not pull your sweetheart in and cuddle beneath the night sky? It's so romantic.
IN CAMP ► Guests that don't want a cold shower should make their way over to the shower stalls quickly. These outdoor showers hold very little hot water and run cold after about five minutes. First-come first-serve!

► A wood-chopping competition begins around lunchtime. There are two goals: to split as much wood as possible and looking sexy while doing it. Guests that chop wood unsexily immediately fail! Alternatively, sexiness with a pathetic number of chunks is more acceptable, but still a loss. Those that achieve both goals will instantly win a large payout. Failing to sexily cut wood won’t have any penalties associated with it, and you can always try again tomorrow!

Bear hunting is a popular activity that even the spoiled long-standing guests are getting in on! No, not hunting real bears. That would be insane. Peacock's version of bear hunting involves hunting down bear-like guests and capturing them! Any guest that fits the criteria of big, thick, and strong may potentially be assigned the role of bear. Hunters who manage to tie up, handcuff, net, or otherwise 'capture' a 'bear' will instantly receive a large payout.
THE LAKE ► This sparkling lake is rich with fish. Enjoy sitting back on the long pier with a fishing rod or take one of the wooden boats out for a row around the lake. It's also safe to swim in, for guests that would like to take a dip and rinse off the sweat of camp living! Don't mind the random swim trunks or drink umbrellas that pop up now and then. This water is definitely fresh and not recycled from the summer beach extravaganza.

► Guests that do decide to take a dip may encounter a familiar friend. Fernando the tentacle monster is camping too! This randy tentacle monster is as horny as ever, eager to embrace guests and stick slippery tentacles into any reachable orifice.

► Once the sun goes down, many of the long-standing guests strip off their shoddily crafted clothes and sprint into the water for skinny dipping by moonlight! What's a camping excursion without a lake-side orgy? The best way to drown out those erotic moans from the lake is to head to the central fire pit and join in on some campfire songs.
OUTSIDE CAMP ► Those that head out of camp for a hike or hunt can enjoy any of the Vale's usual wonders. With autumn, shiny apples dangle from the trees and pumpkins pepper beneath their protruding roots. Along with autumnal fruits and vegetables, canned beef and ham have been mysteriously left in pockets close to the campgrounds. A little act of kindness from the staff; not everyone is cut out to hunt their own game!

► For those interested in hunting down some fresh game, walking around the forest in the morning may come with a stroke of luck. Strange little creatures the size of an adult's fist are active during this time. These hairy beasts come in brown and white, and screech, "Scrun scrun screeee!" when agitated.

Yes, these are the alleged snoggleboffs! Don't feel bad about hunting them, they're an invasive species that are unfriendly and eager to steal from unsuspecting guests. Their main strength is their speed, but once caught, they don't put up much of a fight.

► Guests that explore deep into the Vale may find a dark cave mouth that leads downward into a damp chamber. The ceiling glitters with stalactites and, along the wall, they'll find a horizontal crease with what seems to be... hair? If touched, this crease will creak open, revealing a large eye that darts back and forth before focusing on whoever woke it. Black pupils and iris bleed into one endless abyss.

Those that gaze directly into the eye will freeze. Their mind will remain active while their body locks in place, not unlike sleep paralysis. This trance will break once the eye blinks, which it will do after some time... but it can also be forced into blinking by force if there's someone who hasn't made eye-contact around to help. Frozen guests will be overwhelmed with the fear of abandonment for the duration of their paralysis. This fear will fade after the connection is broken, as if it wasn't their fear at all.

Like a regular eye, dirt or debris can force a blink. If this route is taken, the eye will go bloodshot and shut, refusing to open again. Any guest that inflicts damage to the eye may find that their suite, upon return, has been trashed. As if someone or something threw a big tantrum in there while they were gone. Wonder why that happened...?


HOWLING
CALL OF THE WILD
Temperatures drop drastically at night as the camping excursion nears its end. Nights become so chilly that morning dew frosts over, crunching beneath guest feet. Every day the light and its warmth set a little bit earlier. Staff remain elusive and do not provide warmer blankets or clothes for guests, leaving them to cuddle for warmth or find other ways to sleep comfortably during nightly cold snaps.

The moon hits its apex on the final night of camping. Unlike the other nights, this full moon shines blood red. The Vale stills under this ominous sign, silent. Snowflakes begins to fall, spreading an endless clean sheet across the campgrounds. That reflected pink hue is inescapable.
THE WEATHER TURNSAlong with chilly nights, the last few days of camping feature inclement weather conditions. Clouds overtake the sun and rain falls, alternating between light mist and heavy downpour.

Winds pick up, with speeds threatening to whip away the less stable tents. Guests that don't hunker down and add additional support to their tents may end up chasing them into the storm. Other loose items around the campgrounds may end up blown away as well.
BLOOD MOON ► Wild instinct rises with the blood moon. As crimson moonlight beckons, some guests may begin to feel ... strange. As if they need to claw their true selves free. Those that answer the call to bathe in the light of the blood moon will undergo a transformation.

► Basking in the light of the blood moon triggers a were-transformation. While the standard were that the blood moon inspires is the classic werewolf, guests may transform into any kind of were. Along with hybrid transformation, the blood moon stirs mating and sex impulses in these new weres. Remaining humans are at risk of being eaten... in the sexy way.

Transformation into a were is not mandatory. Other guests may step into the blood moon's light and not experience any kind of transformation or impulse. These guests are now actors in a sexy horror scene, given the task of surviving the night surrounded by monsters! At least they're sexy monsters? Giving in and fucking on the wild side may be more fun.
PACKING UP ► After the crazy weather and horny werewolves, the staff judge that it's high time to wrap this excursion up. Guests will once again openly see these diligent workers the morning after the blood moon. They come flooding into the site with clothing, snacks, and other comforts while praising everyone for surviving for so long without the resort's usual luxuries.

► A first aid tent and cleaning station are swiftly erected. All guests that volunteer to treat injuries sustained over the course of the camping experience or help clean up the site will be compensated with a large payout.

Every guest that participated in the camping event, regardless of whether they help wrap things up, will be issued a spa voucher. Go relax, you've earned some pampering after all of that hard living!


OOC NOTES

INVITES | RESERVES | APPLICATIONS
BLANKET CW: altered states; eyes (descriptions only, incl. eye injury); exhibitionism; hunting (incl. hunting fantasy creatures); orgies; public sex; survival; temperature play; tentacles; transformation; violence

▶ All characters on the TDM are WILDCARDS, which means they have not yet been assigned a card value. Suits will not manifest until characters are accepted into the game.

▶ All TDMs are game canon. This TDM acts as the game's September event. Camping will ICly begin September 15th and end October 3rd.

▶ Current characters may top level on the TDM. Any current characters posting to the TDM should note they are current in their subject header.

▶ The top level directory is for new characters only. We want to make sure new characters are prioritized and receive attention! If you would be interested in a game invitation, you can note that in your comment header.

▶ Smut threads that take place on this TDM can be used for rewards. If both parties in the smut thread join the game, you may retroactively apply the character's initial card values to your 52 bank. If one character does not join the game the thread will not be applicable toward rewards (as that character would not have a card value). The character that does join would still receive a small payout for the encounter. Hopefully it was a fun thread regardless!

▶ We ask you to kindly add content warnings to your threads as appropriate.

▶ If you do not currently have permissions and kinks listed in your character’s journal we suggest leaving a note in your top level of any limits or boundaries for other players to reference.
NAVIGATIONLOGNETWORKOOCMEME
greatestworks: (pic#18028320)

[personal profile] greatestworks 2025-09-23 11:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Perhaps he needs to spontaneously combust to fully make a connection. Too on the nose? Yeah.

"Interesting," he answers, reflecting on that information as he pauses to tap his fist against his chin thoughtfully. While it's not unheard of for a god to be distant and uncooperative with mortals, the title used here begs another question: Phainon opens his fist, asking, "Is there a Greater Lord?"

His steps have slowed; there's a cluster of luminous mushrooms that seem a little brighter than the others surrounding it, and of a lighter shade, too. Curious, he takes to a knee for a closer look, motioning for the other man to join him.
snakelace: (If I steal your heart)

[personal profile] snakelace 2025-09-25 03:52 am (UTC)(link)
“Who knows?”

He kneels down to inspect this new find, clustered beneath some odd wrinkling of the cave wall. How strange. A lifetime in the land of Geo informs him that such seams in the rock are unusual.

Little does he know that he’s pondering quite insignificant subjects in light of the fascinating muscular medical anomaly kneeling next to him, asking him thoughtful questions like a dutiful student.

“History is a bit foggy on their existence. Perhaps, like these mushrooms, there is a great deal of knowledge just buried underneath.”

Just how deeply do the mycelia of these fungi penetrate? He reaches for one with his hand glowing, but pauses over the cap of one mushroom with a frown, as he senses some faint stirring in their surroundings.

A trick of the dim light, perhaps?
greatestworks: (pic#18055312)

[personal profile] greatestworks 2025-09-25 08:39 am (UTC)(link)
"Lost to time, huh?" he guesses, his attention fixing on Baizhu as he answers. Maybe he's just taking advantage of the opportunity to scrutinize him more closely. Between the two of them, the herbalist is by far more willowy and delicate. Although remarking on his eyes would be a little hypocritical on Phainon's part, he's noticed.

Now, he's noticing something else, his pale brows furrowing as he starts to rise to his feet, shoulders squared.

There's a building tension in the air. He can't pinpoint it immediately, whether what he senses is a kind of bloodlust of a passing predator or some sort of malevolent intent. It's almost like a draft on the air, different from the trickle of breeze moving steadily away from the entrance to the cave.

"...Sh," he hisses briefly in warning, scanning the depths of the cave ahead. Movement, out of the corner of his eye, bids him to turn, just as dark, sparse 'fronds' lift from the wrinkled rift in the earthen wall, and he finds himself faced with the impossibly dark iris of an equally impossibly large eye.

Phainon is barely able to register the sight with a gasp before he feels as though he's fallen into that great, black terminus staring back at them. What starts as the momentary drop of his stomach, the surprise of expecting a step on a staircase and instead putting one's foot down over nothing spirals into a visceral feeling he knows too well.
snakelace: (Give my diamondback)

[personal profile] snakelace 2025-09-26 09:04 am (UTC)(link)
Instinct tells him to glance opposite the wall, but the sound of Phainon’s voice draws his gaze upward, where the faintly illuminated outline of the man’s impressive build appears to seize up, as though frozen in fear.

“Phai—”

Which in turn causes dread to seep into Baizhu’s gut as he turns toward the wall where Phainon’s facing, his mouth hanging open in a soundless cry as his eyes likewise meet with the pitch-dark gaze of some monstrous being…

The light of his Dendro is immediately snuffed out, plunging them both into deeper darkness still.
greatestworks: (pic#18028310)

[personal profile] greatestworks 2025-09-26 09:36 am (UTC)(link)
With only the faint, ethereal glow of the mycelia can eith of them make out the outline of each others bodies; but what could they do but see only that endless, bottomless dark swallowing them into the eye’s fathomless gaze?

Phainon is no stranger to the existential dread, the formless fear that sinks into his marrow. This spirals slowly into the terror that must fight or flee, and still his body refuses the call.

What is it? What does it want? If they don’t get away, they will surely be devoured-

He has to get him out of here!

A dim spark ignites, a soft, golden glow stealing into his eyes, as his unseen battle with himself rages. The pale blue glow all around the cave marks all the physical manifestations of his fear, every bump on his skin, every bead of cold sweat, the quickening of his breath. Phainon’s fingertips tremble; still, he cannot move.
snakelace: (You have acute appendicitis)

[personal profile] snakelace 2025-09-26 09:59 am (UTC)(link)
Somewhere within him Baizhu sees only the eternity he imagines his friend Keita to have glimpsed—the long stretch of years and silence awaiting him, the fact that he must suffer alone, Changsheng having faded away…

But…

The glow at the edges of his vision snaps him out of his daze, and his Vision glows as the mushrooms they’d been observing earlier immediately swell, before bursting in a glittering blue burst of spores dusting their bodies and irritating the massive eye, which promptly shuts in response—
greatestworks: (pic#17946042)

[personal profile] greatestworks 2025-09-26 10:20 am (UTC)(link)
Like a marionette whose strings have been cut, Phainon staggers with a grunt of surprise. He scarcely gives himself the chance to take stock of his body; an arm catches up Baizhu and drags him up against the other man’s sturdy frame.

Spores rain down around them, their persistent glow like snowflakes falling through a moonbeam, impossibly beautiful despite the overwhelming danger echoed by the pounding in his chest.

To urge him on ahead, Baizhu is given a shove before he sets off at a run. If the other man stumbles, if he seems about to fall behind, then he’ll he intercepted by Phainon’s shoulder and pulled up against his body, carried over a shoulder.

If they have time for apologies, he’ll have them. Later.
snakelace: (It's rude to watch)

[personal profile] snakelace 2025-09-26 10:31 am (UTC)(link)
Were it not for Phainon Baizhu would have dropped to his feet. Instead, he stumbles dazedly along, conscious of danger but not quite registering what it is just yet, beyond simply allowing his body to react to Phainon’s as they hurry out of the cave, the persistent glow of his Vision now lighting the way.

He barely even notices the spores, as he’s too busy struggling to keep up—eventually allowing himself to get hoisted over that muscular shoulder he’d been cheerfully admiring only moments before until they finally escape the darkness of that cave, his Vision’s glow fading at last, the glitter of spores dissipating behind them.

Their bodies are still streaked with sweeps of color from their adventure, innocently catching the artificial sunlight as Baizhu finally exhales, and manages a feeble—

“Are you all right?”
greatestworks: (pic#18028321)

[personal profile] greatestworks 2025-09-26 11:19 am (UTC)(link)
A sprint like that, even while carrying Baizhu, isn't enough to wind Phainon; the soft pant is the dregs of instinctual panic and adrenaline burning away in his golden blood. To think, after everything he has seen and experienced, there are still mysteries like this - as ineffable as time.

Phainon's mind struggles with what he's just seen. Rather than continue to gnaw on an unsolvable puzzle, he focuses on the things he can do anything about. Coincidentally, it means his own voice - bold, a little shaken - speaks the same question in time with Baizhu's feeble:

"Are you all right?"

He sighs, taking this moment to cast back a glance at the cave before he hazards taking a knee, leaning Baizhu against that bent leg and his shoulder, his arm heavy around the doctor's more slender frame.

"I'm fine."

Even if this provides him with a sliver of comfort, its purpose is a little more self-evident: it's in case he needs to grab him and run again, keeping one eye trained on the cave mouth as he spares them a moment to regroup. "...You saw it, didn't you? It almost looked like-"
snakelace: (These puns don't rattler)

[personal profile] snakelace 2025-09-26 01:46 pm (UTC)(link)
“An eye.”

He can feel his stomach lurching at the memory, his arms closed loosely about Phainon’s shoulders even if he should have taken the opportunity to pull away.

Somehow in this moment he’s afraid to be alone, even if he can only think of Changsheng slumbering away in the more opulent part of the campgrounds the staff had prepared for them. He can feel aching emptiness on his shoulders, and shudders.

But Phainon has it worse, he thinks, as he presses a hand to the man’s cheek. His palm and all the rest of him are smeared with spores still glittering faintly in the light of day, and he knows that they’ll need to take care of that soon, but for now…

He takes a deep breath, peers into those wide blue eyes with the strange sigils within—

“What did you see?”
greatestworks: (pic#18025084)

[personal profile] greatestworks 2025-09-26 02:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Phainon's head bobs, just slightly, reluctant to take his eyes off the cave entrance. The negligible weight of Baizhu's arms loosely placed around his shoulders is reassuring, but he would feel better with the weight of Dawnmaker in his fist.

An eye. Impossibly large, growing out of the very earth. And it's gaze...

A violent urge rises in him, a smoldering thought whispering that it's too dangerous. What if it ensnares someone else, someone who won't be as lucky as they were?

It cannot be suffered to live-


Baizhu's palm steers his attention away; the cool of his touch brings down the temperature of the Destruction simmering in his veins. In truth, Phainon is a little taken aback, when the gesture seems so intimate, so tender. His throat convulses through a swallow.

"Nothing. I saw... nothing." It was a feeling, old and familiar, the absolute desolation at the end of everything, and the rage, the all-consuming fury that threatened to fill the vacant void, anything to propel him onward. It was the same... again, and again.

And again, in Nikador's trial. "You?"
Edited 2025-09-26 14:53 (UTC)
snakelace: (It's terminal)

[personal profile] snakelace 2025-09-26 03:08 pm (UTC)(link)
“Eternity, I think.”

His eyes flutter shut for a moment as he recalls that awful feeling as he stared into the depths of that abyssal gaze.

Cracking open his eyes, he adds, “Or perhaps it was death. I can’t be certain.”

It’s the kind of thing he might joke about, if he were in a joking mood. But all this does is bring to mind other terrors, from months and months ago. He’d thought they would all be confined to those hidden corridors the staff use, but it appears that this new cave might be in a similar vein.

Perhaps even literally.

But it seems that whatever he recalls pales in comparison to what Phainon must be feeling, what Baizhu can sense from the little tells from his body language, the faint glow of gold he’d seen in the dark.

“Phainon…”
greatestworks: (pic#18028314)

[personal profile] greatestworks 2025-09-26 03:31 pm (UTC)(link)
His breath shudders.

Death would have been a kindness, he thinks. Eternity... now that's warmer. He was afraid. Desperately. Like forever was spread out before him and he would be rooted there, unmoving, to bear the crushing weight of loneliness. Was it... different, then, for Baizhu? Did it feel that way because of-

The great, imposing image of Kephale, the Dawn Device shining on their back, appears when he closes his eyes. Baizhu says his name, and he opens them.

"I was trying to think of a way to prevent anyone from stumbling on..." he shakes his head, "That thing.

"Forgive me, but I must cut our search short."

What can he do, without a weapon? Plenty. But he doesn't want to risk Baizhu's safety more than he already has, and... admittedly, Phainon thinks he might need backup for this. And he has a pretty good idea of who will be up for the challenge - not to mention, uniquely suited to a being that evokes such primal terror.
snakelace: (Want me to stitch you up?)

[personal profile] snakelace 2025-09-26 04:14 pm (UTC)(link)
“Of course, but…”

They’d both just gone through quite a terrifying ordeal, and already Phainon’s thinking of dealing with that creature. And Baizhu…he can’t help but recall the heartbeats in the dark, the way the staff had fallen ill…

His other hand squeezes at Phainon’s shoulder.

“You should take care of yourself first.”

Much as he agrees that they need to at least put up a sign warning others from entering, well, he can feel an unnatural warmth permeating his skin, the blue dusting of spores scattered all over his clothing (for he’d been permitted to keep his usual attire, impractical as it is), smeared over his exposed arms and midriff, and he knows their escape hadn’t come without a cost.

How to explain this to a poor, traumatized newcomer…

“As a matter of fact, we’d best return to our tents before the urge takes us.”
greatestworks: (pic#18055289)

[personal profile] greatestworks 2025-09-26 06:28 pm (UTC)(link)
“Before the urge?” Phainon starts to ask, looking dubiously at Baizhu. “But I haven’t eaten anything.”

His eyes drop to the streaks of blue shimmering on the other man’s skin.

And catches himself staring at his exposed midriff, where the line of his toned belly would eventually point to his navel, and yanks his eyes back up. Is he warm? Always. Is he warmer now? Yes, and he's just now realizing what Baizhu had meant, “Come on,” he deadpans. “Is nothing safe?”

He pulls him up with him as he climbs to his feet. That his hands seem reluctant to part from his waist has yet to catch up with the rest of him.

“If I hadn’t insisted on going further, this wouldn’t have happened,” he says regretfully, “If we can find water, we might still spare ourselves some dignity. Allow me to escort you back, we'll see if we can't wash this off somewhere along the way.”
Edited 2025-09-26 20:12 (UTC)
snakelace: (I tried looking up impotence)

[personal profile] snakelace 2025-09-27 08:38 am (UTC)(link)
The new position is a good time for Baizhu to slip his hands down Phainon’s bare chest.

It occurs to him that he should’ve put up a shield to keep out the spores earlier on, but in the spur of the moment, well…

“That won’t be necessary.”

Honestly, it’s cute of Phainon to think doing all that is going to help. There’s a moment’s hesitation as he takes in Phainon’s words, which only brings to light a sinking feeling he’d had about the man, before he manages a carefree smile and reaches up to pat Phainon on the cheek, because at this point he’ll take any excuse to keep touching him.

“I’m used to it by now, though I imagine you’d like to go and find yourself a lover before you fully succumb.”
greatestworks: (pic#17946029)

[personal profile] greatestworks 2025-09-27 10:54 am (UTC)(link)
That won’t be necessary is the same as telling Phainon it’s pointless, right?

His hands paint him in warmth and pleasure, and the fact he’s already tempted by it is a warning that Baizhu has not been exaggerating about the urgency of retreating to their tents.

Baizhu puts on a smile, pats his cheek, and he’s reminded of the way the elders of his tiny hometown would reassure the youngest, gentling bad news. Is that what he’s doing, he wonders.

In any case, his answer dies with an aborted noise in his throat, eyes closing briefly around the word: lover.

Not an encouraging sign.

“Leaving you like this isn’t safe,” he asserts, conviction replacing doubt. “I don’t like leaving that cave open like this, either, but I don’t think we have much of a choice.”

Phainon’s hand has meandered from the taut plane of Baizhu’s belly to the small of his back, but he doesn’t catch himself until he’s started to press the other man flush with his hips, and his hand lifts away. It’s not repulsion, but consideration, because he doesn’t back away.

This works fast; did he breathe it in, perhaps? There’s no way he can ask for that warrior’s help in dealing with that eye; other than his reluctance to put the demigod of Strife to the test with inhibitions erased by spores, he doesn’t relish the idea of behaving in an untoward fashion in his presence a second time this week.

“I may have burned up too much time here already,” he swallows, “Which way is your tent?”
snakelace: (Pie-thons)

[personal profile] snakelace 2025-09-27 02:49 pm (UTC)(link)
“Ah.”

It’s a noncommittal noise as Baizhu inwardly sighs, because he’d seen the signs of it since the moment they’d started on this adventure.

Phainon is a man who puts others above himself.

And while Baizhu can relate, it’s…

Perhaps it’s best not to leave him alone.

Especially when he can feel the heat radiating off of the other’s body—and even when Phainon pulls his hand away Baizhu remains close, keeping his hands on him if only to remind him that he’s here, and that he will grab him if he tries to do anything foolish.

As to whether or not he can actually stop Phainon from doing anything foolish, well…

Baizhu smiles, more than a little charmed, just a little exasperated, but ultimately he decides to counter that question with one of his own:

“Would you please kiss me?”
greatestworks: (pic#18055314)

not here even a week and there's already a phainon intervention squad forming

[personal profile] greatestworks 2025-09-27 04:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Torn between competing priorities, Phainon's already taking note of what he needs to do, even as his hands telegraph intentions that are threatening to overtake that growing list.

Anyone might blunder into that cave - looking for food to forage or just out of curiosity - and the two of them were very lucky to escape. Was that Baizhu's power? He suspects so, which makes it all the more important that the eye be dealt with, or the cave closed off somehow.

It won't be safe for Baizhu if he lets him make his way back alone. Phainon's made the mistake of personally testing foraged fruit and, when there were no ill effects, went back for more to quell his hunger pangs and had been lucky enough to land in the company of people he trusted. If the effects of these spores are anything like the berries he ate, he can't be sure Baizhu will be as fortunate.

And he can't do both of these at the same time. On top of that, time itself is in short supply. He can feel the spiral just starting, the way his attention keeps getting pulled into orbit around Baizhu, the warmth in his blood, different from Destruction's simmer. The way he's dragged back to Baizhu's eyes, his mouth, like iron shavings chase a magnet's pole.

His gaze still lingers on the curve of Baizhu's mouth. Phainon shakes his head in silent refusal, his fingers hovering over his back. They curl into a fist. Lowering it to his own side, he steadies himself with a breath. If it is true what they say, that the reason these things happen is because the staff here are manufacturing reasons for them to fall into one another's arms, to play their game... that kind of manipulation rankles him. How is it any different than--?

And yet, he knows this feeling hasn't been planted in him. He knows what he likes - Baizhu's intelligent and kind, and may not have the rugged, masculine figure that he's obsessed with, but he has the willowy build that appeals in another way. Baizhu wants, too, which makes this... difficult.

Just as he thinks he has this under control, the spiral begins, tipping the balance steeply towards desire. His right hand comes up under Baizhu's jaw, a callused thumb tracing over the point of his chin before he gently takes it into hand, fingers along the sharp edge on one side, his thumb on the other.

To his mouth, Phainon presses a kiss, gentle tipping towards firm, and a second, catching his lower lip between his before he pulls back. As he expected, that does nothing for the fire kindled in that cave. If anything, it's only fed the flames with fuel and oxygen.

"Any more than this," he says quietly, "I might not stop. And that thing," his eyes, behind his lowered eyelids, cut away towards the cave entrance, "Is still in there."
snakelace: (What's my favorite boat?)

the sad part is they need more reinforcements

[personal profile] snakelace 2025-09-28 12:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Finally, he thinks, smiling through the kiss as Phainon gives in, even if that proves short-lived, the taste of him there and gone again as Phainon turns his attention back toward that cave.

He reaches up to trace a finger over Phainon’s lips with all the amused resignation of a man used to handling his type—indeed, in some ways Baizhu can’t help but think of how similar they really are, how they keep thinking of others to the detriment of themselves.

But he’s…learning.

And he takes a deep breath. The foliage surrounding the cave comes alive—grasses growing taller, trees huddling closer, moss thickening, vines drooping, lush growth spilling over the cave mouth in a thick curtain, hiding it from view. Admittedly, this isn’t the most effective solution—there’s no telling if someone else might stumble upon that creature via some hidden side tunnel they couldn’t see. For now, though, it will have to do.

But even then Baizhu knows that that won’t allay Phainon’s concerns forever.

“No one will approach it while we’re here,” he points out, leaning closer for another kiss. “So you are free to indulge as you please. I wouldn’t stop you for the world.”
greatestworks: (pic#17946029)

33,550,336 more should about do it

[personal profile] greatestworks 2025-09-28 05:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Phainon turns his surprise back on Baizhu once the cave entrance has been obscured behind thick vegetation and crowded trees. It erodes - reluctantly, out of a sense of duty and not aversion - as Baizhu's fingers drift over his lips and he draws tantalizingly close. There's an herbal scent that lingers around the man, clean and sweet and green. The heady ambrosia of being wanted like this, of being gentled with a kind and tender touch, could bring any stalwart soldier to his knees if his heart still bleeds.

"Out here?" he asks, pulling him in with an arm looped around his lower back, pausing to stamp a kiss - again, brief - to his lips, the other is slower, trailing behind the words he breathes into his mouth, "What do you take me for?"

This... will be the second time he's been in a compromising situation outdoors. He'd rather not speculate on what this says about him and any latent exhibitionist habits. Not right now, anyway.
snakelace: (When you get a bladder infection)

[personal profile] snakelace 2025-09-29 05:23 pm (UTC)(link)
“Feeling shy, now?” Baizhu chides, breathless despite himself, for all Phainon’s done with that brief kiss is leave him wanting for more.

This is a dangerous, dangerous man to be toying with…

“I’m afraid I won’t last the journey to my tent, and you…”

Phainon’s already calming down, already accepting his fate, in a way, as Baizhu does as well, for normally he wouldn’t dare to fool around where anyone could catch him—not that it’s ever stopped him from taking his pleasures in the forest before.

They’ll both just have to learn to be a little more shameless about it.

“…You’re far too tempting to refuse.”

Baizhu goes from caressing Phainon’s cheeks to entwining arms about his neck instead, pulling him into a much more thorough, searching kiss, as though he means to drink in whatever suspicious treat Phainon had foraged in the wild.
greatestworks: (pic#18055291)

[personal profile] greatestworks 2025-09-29 08:53 pm (UTC)(link)
"More like careless," he admits. It doesn't seem to be dissuading him in the slightest.

For someone who has long denied himself more hedonistic experiences - first to train, to mold himself into the hero he needed when he was still young, and then into the Deliverer others needed him to be, and then in the relentless pursuit of his duty to deliverance - his impulse control is seriously lacking. (No wonder he gets along with a certain Trailblazer.)

There's a fire in his veins, different from the searing heat with which he had been more recently familiar. Baizhu admits he might not make it as far as his tent, while Phainon is already crowding his back against the trunk of a tree, his own arm shielding the bare section of his back from the rough skin of its bark. When the doctor's arms pull him down into a kiss deeper and more thorough than the first few, the swordsman's weight presses him back against the sturdy trunk, permissively letting him lick his way into Phainon's mouth.

He draws back slowly, his broad chest rising and falling through the hungry breaths that follow, until he dives back in for another, pressing past his soft lips to pet against the velvet of the other man's tongue.
snakelace: (Optometry puns)

[personal profile] snakelace 2025-10-05 05:23 pm (UTC)(link)
How often had he been driven against the bark of a tree since he’d come to make the Vale his secondary home of sorts? Not that Phainon’s giving him much time to reminisce, for the taste of him is intoxicating…

And yet, more irresistible still is the broad expanse of chest now deliciously within reach. Baizhu wastes no time in splaying fingers across pectorals, palms searching for a heartbeat, for the source of warmth common to all men—or at least the ordinary kind.

He has no reason to suspect that Phainon is anything but as his tongue curls against Phainon’s in turn, whispers of something earthy and bitter passing between them. One hand makes its way to the fascinating sun-disc splayed across Phainon’s neck, as though the man had been blessed by the Pyro Archon herself, and he can’t help tracing its contours, the way the sun’s rays dance across firm muscle, brushing aside traces of glittering pollen to reveal more gold.

“Beautiful,” he can’t help but half-chuckle, half-murmur in a euphoric daze the moment their lips part and permit him a quick gasp of much-needed air. That seems about as good a start as any.
greatestworks: (pic#17946029)

[personal profile] greatestworks 2025-10-11 09:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Even though Phainon attempts to play it off as though it's nothing, the flutter of his lashes and the barest slackening of his mouth betray how Baizhu's touch to his neck affects him. Seems a shame that he always covers it, wrapping a length of cloth around his throat, visually bisecting himself and the sun-disc on his neck.

That seems to give him an idea, because no sooner than the herbalist has spoken, Phainon is ducking in to catch his neck with his mouth, the wet shape of it seeking to kiss up a bruise just beneath Baizhu's ear. The path he paints down his neck is hot and damp, teeth finding the meat between the slope of his neck and his slender shoulder and pressing, as though testing its give (and the man's own responsiveness).

The pollen tastes earthy on Baizhu's skin, and Phainon's fingers crave to feel the man's breath hitch like that again, to feel him arch and move with him as their spiraling descent into euphoria begins. They dip into the inside of Baizhu's top from where it opens at his midriff, his weathered palm pushing up on a pass over one side of his chest, then back down again as his fingertips dig into the meat of his pectoral, rubbing the heel of his palm over his unseen nipple. The material of his top gathers against the seam of his wrist, and under the fabric his thumb pinches the stiffening bud of his nipple against the side of his palm as he backs his face away enough to look at him.

"Come here," he sighs, catching his chin with the other hand, pulling him to meet his mouth. It doesn't linger there; his fingers delve into his green hair, cradling the bend of his nape while he licks into his mouth, exhaling in satisfaction against his cheek. "Tell me," is whispered between kisses, "What you want."

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