Halloween - Open

[suitsahero]

((OOC: Since a few people mentioned this, I thought I'd write one starter and whoever wants can tag in. This is one of my favorite sorts of set-ups so I don't think I'll get tired of playing it over and over if that's how this shakes out. I've tried to leave a variety of actual starting states or reasons to be there open as well.))

Getting up to the castle on purpose is difficult.

It's difficult to get to the bustling town at the base of the mountain. Transport is spotty at the best of times, mountain passes obscured by snow and ice most of the time. It's doable in the spring and summer, but the town is almost completely isolated in the fall and winter. Plenty of people make the journey, though, to enjoy the vistas, the peace and quiet through the winters, or just the ability to eke out a simple living, far from other stresses. The town is something of a tourist destination, both for those reasons and to climb a separate peak from the one with the castle on it. People go missing in the snows most years, but it's not considered dangerous beyond that, and everyone is warned extensively not to go wandering outside of the known routes or without a guide.

Nature is beautiful, but also deadly. It is nothing to be overly concerned about, beyond making sure people know how to be safe.

The people who actually live in the town are a bit superstitious, though, as only people living in relative isolation and in tension with a hostile environment can be. Which provides the next obstacle to getting up the mountain to the castle: no one is willing to take you. Stories vary on what lives up in the castle depending on who you talk to. A monster, a magician, an evil spirit, or just a strange artist who wants to be left alone. No one seems to agree on what is up in the tower, but everyone agrees that you don't go up there, you don't bother whoever, or whatever, it is. People don't come back or maybe people do come back but they're different, strange, don't remember things, or maybe no one has ever been up there at all.

And then, if you happen to still be painfully curious, particularly when you can clearly see lights moving through the castle in the evenings, the way up to the castle is also treacherous, requires skill and luck just to follow the unkept trail through the snow and rocks and trees, the way turned steep and winding through disuse. And the villagers also say there are wolves, though you've never seen any.

On the other hand, it is remarkably easy to find the castle on accident.

Nothing about it is magically easier, but if you throw safety to the wind, if your tent is ripped open by falling snows or you lose a trail you're supposed to be on, suddenly difficult and dangerous obstacles become your means of survival and climbing up to the castle doesn't seem like a journey to be embarked upon with caution but a last, desperate act of someone who doesn't want to freeze to death in the snows. Surely whatever is waiting there is better than that. Surely.

And what of those who fail? Who go out into the wilds only to succumb to the elements?

Well, no eyes and ears can be everywhere, but some few who do have their journeys set to end in the most final way possible might find themselves waking in a warm bed, instead, fire blazing merrily in a hearth. Are you lucky to have survived or not? Only time will tell...

Comments

[darlingdatura]

"Ah, yes I can see how that might make him wary of strangers coming around then." Mikka tended to believe the best of people, and while it was a sweet trait, here it was dangerous. Here it let him gloss over those warning signs that might make another want to get distance. Made that light nudge closer earn a bit more of a blush rather than stirring any worry.

And surely that lingering of Haurchefant's hand was just his own imagination running away with him, silly fanciful ideas that surely he was just making up out of some silly romantic notion of interest with how kind his host had been so far.

"I'm not used to it at all to be fair." Mikka replied with a sheepish laugh. "I've lived in the desert my whole life. I don't think I even saw snow until I was sixteen!"

[suitsahero]

"Really? I haven't always lived in the snow, but I've been here so long it seems like it's more natural than anything else," he busies himself with finding a blanket so that he doesn't think overmuch on why he's hidden himself away up here. To no hurt people. To remove the temptation to do precisely what he is now doing. But while the intervening years have certainly kept the people around him safer than if he roamed freely, it also makes him utterly unable to resist such a charming and sweet visitor.

It would only take a word and he could have whatever he desired, and the temptation is heady, it always is. But to be able to feed is one thing and other appetites that rise under the surface after so long alone are quite another and he pushes the voice aside. Even so, he cannot resist a bit more of a touch as he fluffs the found blanket around Mikka, is growing less able to hide the subtle warmth in his gaze.

"There. Is that better?"

[darlingdatura]

Mikka was none the wiser to Haurchefant's internal struggle. And honestly, while feeding was one thing, he might find it not quite so hard to be allowed some of those other temptations even without that influence, with how charmed his guest was. Quite the romantic this one, and how many novels had he all but devoured with a healthy flush, where the romantic lead was a mysterious, charming stranger in a remote tower or castle?

A soft little chirp slipping from him at the gentle way the blanket was tucked around him, ears perking slightly as he nodded. "Much better, thank you. Now come and sit back down! Tell me about the kind of places you've lived before? I find myself curious about my mysterious savior!"

[suitsahero]

Oh no, that little noise is so cute and Haurchefant can't help but be the one looking charmed for a moment. It's all he can do to keep from petting him like a cat. His ears look so soft and he looks so cozy under the blanket. He can't feel warmth any more than he can feel cold, but the aesthetic appreciation of someone else enjoying it is enough. It doesn't stop him from wanting to soak up Mikka enjoying it, certainly.

He laughs softly and sits down, not quite touching but close enough that he can at least imagine he can feel the warmth Mikka's now radiating,

"It's been a long time," he warns, "to the point where I'm probably going to be telling tall tales, or at least getting some of the details mixed up. But I can certainly try!" He's lived up here for so long that everything else is a distant memory, but it's a simple matter to tell some stories of his childhood, to pepper in details that make the places sound more modern. One of the things he's had Hodges do has been to gather books for him from across both the land and the years. It's not as impressive a collection as it could be, perhaps, with how far the books have to come to reach him, but he's reasonably well aware of current inventions and culture-- enough that he seems a bit quaint, but more like someone who's been locked away for a normal number of years and not centuries.

[darlingdatura]

As if Mikka would begrudge him that. Blush about it of course, he seemed an easily-flustered sort, but surely not an unhappy response either. As it was, he simply snuggled down into the blanket, basking in the warmth of both it and the fire as Haurchefant settled in beside him again.

And he was utterly rapt in listening to his host's tales, certainly not minding the little oddities and discrepancies. If he had been living on this mountain for as long as he implied, then it was little surprise to Mikka that his grasp of modern culture might be a little dated. Even in the town at the base of the mountain news was slow to arrive, he could only guess how much longer it took to filter up to Haurchefant.

"You sound like you were quite the handful when you were a child!" He commented with a soft laugh, forgetting propriety enough to lean and nudge his shoulder against Haurchefant's arm in a playful sort of bump.

[suitsahero]

A rare occurrence, but it's actually possible for him to blush at the moment, and so he does, just slightly, when Mikka bumps at his arm. It flusters him enough that he has to blink just a moment to re-find the conversation, and it looks cute on the surface, but the hunger for this kind of easy companionship roars in him for a moment before he can get it under control.

He smiles back, though, adjusts his response, reminds himself he's a creature of patience, isn't he? There's no reason to be hasty.

"I suppose I was, at that. I wouldn't say I'm not a handful now!" he teases gently, "But I suppose I've mellowed a bit with age."

[darlingdatura]

It looks so very sweet on the surface, and Mikka has no idea of the undercurrent there as he beams cheerfully at his companion. Patience gives all in this situation. It wasn't like the little Miqo'te had any way to leave just yet with the storm raging outside the seeming safety of the sturdy castle walls.

"With age? Surely you're not so old as to talk like that my friend, silver hair or no!"

[suitsahero]

Careful. Careful. Careful.

He knows he can right anything he does wrong, smooth over the edges the same way he did Mikka's memories last night. But he also knows that, while he's fairly certain he could avoid anything too untoward, he cannot possibly fully behave himself if he puts Mikka under now.

He chuckles, shakes his head,

"Well, I am no longer a child, certainly," he points out, "nor do I have a child's energy. Though I have been told I still often have the mischief of one," he quips, smoothing things over. And then, whatever his other motivations, Hodges helps here by arriving with the food.

It's a simple breakfast styled meal-- warm bread and cheese, bacon of some variety and some eggs-- hearty and suited for cold weather.

[darlingdatura]

"Mischief? You?" Mikka laughed softly, tilting his head as he peered over at him. And he must have been feeling especially emboldened by Haurchefant's kind, easygoing nature, as there was a slight teasing slip of flirting as he continued on. "Even still I imagine that you were quite well-equipped to charming your way out of any trouble!"

Hodges bringing the meal in was enough to distract him from being too sheepish at having said as much, Mikka shyly thanking the taciturn man. And really, he knew he was hungry, but the smell of the food was enough to have him feeling it keenly, as he squirmed out of the blanket nest just enough to be able to handle the plate.

[suitsahero]

"I've cleaned up more than one of the master's bouts of mischief, so I can assure you both are true," Hodges says it so dryly, but the way Haurchefant's eyes go wide and he laughs, rich and unfettered, it must be a joke.

"You make it sound like I have some kind of... wiles, when I can assure you the opposite is true. But I suppose that could be charming to some people," he tilts his head to look at Mikka, and that's definitely mischief in his eyes when he adds, "But I suppose you should be the arbiter of that, shouldn't you? Do you find me charming?" He bats his eyes noticeably after he asks, plays it over the top enough to make it fun rather than overly forward.

[darlingdatura]

It was likely the playful batting of eyelashes, putting it in an obviously over the top sort of thing that keeps Mikka from dissolving into nothing but blushing and stammering to be fair. But it didn't stop the way his pulse jumped, or the flush that crept over pale cheeks regardless as Haurchefant was turning his 'nonexistent' wiles on him.

"Y-you are quite charming." Mikka managed after a moment, ears pricked. "Wiles or no."

[suitsahero]

"Well then, I suppose it's settled," he sits back in his chair, as though they had been having a heated debate, with a teasing grin. There's something permanently warm about his gaze, now, it seems, a fondness he is doing absolutely nothing to hide anymore when he looks at Mikka, even without his next words, "I find myself in good company then, I suppose, the charmer charmed."

And he certainly is. The blush looks good on Mikka, makes him want to tease him even more. Unlike Mikka, who keeps convincing himself he's just imagining things, the conversation has solidified for Haurchefant that Mikka definitely finds him attractive. Now it's just a matter of seeing if he can be convinced to act on those feelings-- after all, not everyone wishes to.

[darlingdatura]

"You're a terrible flatterer!" Mikka accused with a sheepish laugh, that more overt fondness he was being watched with just ensuring that the blush stayed stubbornly put. "Saying things like that after protesting your own wiles."

The Miqo'te turns his attention to nibbling at his meal in the hopes of keeping himself from blurting out any other silly, flirty things. Surely Haurchefant wasn't interested in him like that. Surely he was just being kind, and Mikka's overactive imagination was just running away with it in silly fanciful what-ifs.

It certainly wouldn't be difficult to convince him to act, if Haurchefant could squirm in past that certainty that surely it was all in his head.

[suitsahero]

On the one hand, if anyone can, it's probably Haurchefant. On the other hand, he's so overt that he probably hurts his own cause, at least somewhat, if only because surely he's not serious.

Still, it's going to take some mental gymnastics to turn the way he reaches out and runs the backs of his fingers soft along Mikka's cheek for a moment into anything other than it is,

"I don't think it counts as 'wiles' if it's simply the truth. I find you quite charming. Irresistibly so, it seems."

[darlingdatura]

Mental gymnastics that come to a screeching halt in the Miqo'te when that gentle brush of fingers runs against his cheek. Eyes widening ever so slightly as there was a subtle sway to him, as if Mikka was a creature starved for such affections.

He was, as a matter of fact, but liked to pretend that he wasn't quite so overtly obvious about it.

"Y-you really are too sweet." He manages in a faint rasp after a moment, the flush of cheeks creeping further down his face.

[suitsahero]

He's genuinely been trying, conscious of the fact that it's not even been a full day, that he is moving entirely too fast for most people, that the last thing he wants to do is make Mikka uncomfortable, not when he wants to keep him. But he is just too much everything Haurchefant is weak to, and that blush, the way he sways into him at the slightest touch, has him feeling an entirely different kind of ravenous from the night before.

"Hmm... too sweet? Perhaps..."

Even so, he moves cautiously, his fingers slowly settling ever so gently on the side of Mikka's jaw, tilting his face slightly up towards his. There's still a reasonable space between them on the sofa in general, but he leans in, also slowly, looking for any sign he ought to stop. Their noses bump just slightly and he nuzzles ever so slightly as they do, before turning his head just slightly so their lips can brush the barest bit as he speaks,

"Somehow," his voice is soft, a treat all on it's own, "I think you're probably sweeter." It's an absolute tease, his lips just shy of finding out.

[darlingdatura]

If Mikka were anyone else, had been raised in a family more keen to his need for love and attention, had any real experience with the normal progress of relationships of any stripe, this would certainly all raise red flags. And even so, if Haurchefant had taken any other track, been more aggressive in his chase, less gentle and cautious in those touches, even this little Miqo'te might have been spooked off.

But he hadn't. And the Keeper, as much of a romantic as he was, devouring those ten-gil romance novels... well Haurchefant was instead just seeming to fulfill every daydreamed scenario that Mikka had indulged in over those well-turned pages. He'd certainly see no resistance to the way he closed in, his companion's flush brightening as their noses bumped.

Keenly aware of how close their lips were, of that gentle touch against his jaw, and he should reply, should say something flirty and sweet and clever back, but words fled him utterly in the face of closing that barest of distances that remained, a kiss offered in a recklessly bold moment that might surprise him once it was broken.

[suitsahero]

It's not a pace that would have made Haurchefant uncomfortable, had someone else used it with him, but he's all too aware that most people are not him, was aware of it even before he was something else entirely. He trembles just a little bit with the effort of holding back, of being courteous, even when he's being more daring than he might normally be, spurred on by Mikka's blushes, the way being this close seems to steal all of his words from him. There's no holding back the soft noise of want, when Mikka is the one that closes that distance, another shudder flowing through him as he fights the urge to take, to deepen the kiss before it's likely the other is ready.

He can't help but deepen it just a little, a gentle nibble of Mikka's lower lip, the barest hint of a tongue to soothe the not-hurt, but he tries, oh he tries, to let Mikka mostly set the pace, aware here, much like the thought of giving him supernatural orders, that if he lets himself go even a little, he's not going to be able to resist anything anymore.

[darlingdatura]

That tremble, small as it might be was misinterpreted entirely by Mikka. Assuming it came from a similar place as his own blush might, made him a bit more comfortable in this sudden sort of new step. Not his first kiss, that had been a thing given on a child's dare, but this was not that, and this was certainly his first kiss with such need behind it.

Lips parting ever so slightly at that little nibble, a soft little gasp of his own want let out against Haurchefant's mouth as a hand lifted, to let slim fingers almost shyly trace along his jaw, against the lower edge of his ear, threading into that mess of silver hair.

[suitsahero]

On a scale across the whole of his life and unlife, Haurchefant has never wanted for lovers. Even here on the mountain, he's taken a few, difficult though it can be. But it has been some time since he has had the pleasure and he can never get enough even when there is someone here, so he almost melts into the touch along his jaw, breath coming stuttered at the brush of fingers along his ear. But it's the fingers in his hair that gets the moan, low and needy and there's no helping the way he deepens the kiss at that.

There's the heated press of his tongue, more urgent this time, but he manages to keep the kiss brief at least, if much more intense,

"Definitely sweeter," he murmurs against his lips, teasing, though it's more to try to rein himself in just a bit, to turn the kisses a bit softer again, trying not to completely overwhelm him.

[darlingdatura]

It would be so easy here and now for Mikka to be utterly lost in what was happening. Especially hearing that soft moan from Haurchefant, the need in the sound just having his heart hammering in his chest as he yielded to the way the kiss was deepened.

Even if the kiss was broken far sooner than he would have liked, the little Miqo'te unaware of how he'd started to purr a bit in a low, soft manner, pupils widened ever so slightly as he smiled shyly against the other's lips. Fingers still twined in his hair, reluctant to move them when it was so clear that Haurchefant enjoyed, needed that touch.

"Y-you think so?" He managed after a shaky breath. "Maybe we should... try again. To be sure, or course."

[suitsahero]

"Of course," he accedes, his tone warm and teasing, still, "Perhaps a longer taste...?" This time, the kiss is slower, perhaps, but heated from the beginning as he slides his tongue more fully against Mikka's. The kiss stays gentle, less the barely restrained passion of the end of the last one, when he had been caught off-guard, and more of a controlled bit of hedonism, sensation for it's own sake, taste and texture. He makes another low noise of pleasure, heady, and shifts himself closer on the sofa.

With one hand more or less made useless by the back of the sofa, he nevertheless can at least wind it around Mikka, pull him closer. The cold of him is a little more noticeable by proximity, now, but he's also still flush with blood from the night before, and so he just seems like perhaps he has bad circulation, rather than being held by something clammy.

[darlingdatura]

"Precisely." His reply was soft, shyly teasing in turn. Letting Haurchefant guide the kiss this time, lips parting with a soft sigh to let it be deepened, relishing in the foreign but pleasurable sensation of it, of the feel of the other's tongue against his.

Fingers twitching in Haurchefant's hair as he was quite willing to let himself be brought in closer, noticing that odd chill, but nestled into the blanket as he'd been, he excused it partly as him being a bit warmer in comparison. Free hand groping blindly for the edges of the blanket to unwind it from himself, both so he could nestle in closer, and so he could drag the fabric over the both of them, wanting to share some of that comfort and warmth as the kiss lingered on, a soft croon lost against Haurchefant's mouth as he did so.

[suitsahero]

The more Mikka responds, the more he drowns, slipping closer under the offered blanket until they're all but in each other's laps, the kiss deepening further. The softness of him calls up every protective instinct Haurchefant knows quite well he cannot fully control. Some vampires grow violent with the curse, some cold and solitary. Haurchefant has grown possessive, but his own nature makes that manifest as something kind, at least on the surface. He is trying to not let any of it take control, even now.

But Mikka is warm, and sweet in kind, and he feels like he could kiss him forever and still not have enough of the way he reacts to it. He gets both his arms around him now, has to touch him, and his side of the kiss shades slowly hungrier.

Despite that, Mikka will quickly find that Haurchefant is almost comically responsive to being moved around by that hand in his hair, either closer into the kiss or further away.

[darlingdatura]

It was entirely overwhelming, this sort of attention. Mikka was responsive to the sort of kind possessiveness, for all he wasn't consciously aware of that. On some level he needed that, needed to know that he was worth possessing, for all it was a thing that somewhat worked against him here as he was melting into the kiss.

Squirming in as close as he could without all but crawling into Haurchefant's lap, for all it was a close thing, especially with the way it felt to have those arms wrapped around him, the little Miqo'te letting out a soft needy little whimper against Haurchefant's mouth as his hand in the man's hair tugged in a way that encouraged him on, encouraged more, for him to get closer.