[closed] they told me all of my cages were mental

[ordinar]

Who: Wilhelm & miscellaneous
When: throughout October & November
Where: Thorne, Horizon
What: Catchall for dramatic bitch fall
Warnings: will adjust as needed


Closed starters to follow. Maybe some open starters eventually.

Comments

rhy - october event

[ordinar]

Little by little, Wilhelm has built a new routine that pulls him away from his bed — where he's spent more hours than he'll ever admit trying to avoid existing. Trying to avoid thinking and feeling too, but the thing about staying still is that it makes it easy for all those emotions to catch you, hold you down, and beat the shit out of you.

It's a little bit like building something out of a heap of rubble, sifting through for what can be salvaged.

He's found that helping others — helping to allay the chaos that's broken out since last month — helps quiet his mind. Dozens of tiny atonements to lighten his guilty conscience. A few days a week, he follows Rhy to Nott. Most of those who sustained injuries in the fire have recovered, but there remain a handful of severe cases who require continued attention. While Rhy works his magic, Wilhelm assists. Or he runs errands around town, performs chores for the people hit hardest by the fire's destruction.

By the time they leave, which falls somewhere in the hour approaching dinner, Wilhelm feels accomplished. He even feels tentatively optimistic that sleep will come without much coaxing tonight.

Leveraging the autumn chill as an excuse to keep close, he walks arm in arm with Rhy to the portal that will take them back to the castle town. The rumors of undead roaming the countryside are another good reason to stay together. During a pause in the chatter, Wilhelm turns an intent look on Rhy.

"When we get back, do you want to go to the bar again, or...?"

What jolt of boldness makes him toss in that or, he isn't sure. The question trails off like breadcrumbs deliberately placed.

[londonbound]

Rhy has always been susceptible to guilt and self-doubt, placing too-high expectations on himself; it's not so unusual that there are periods when it gets worse, and with everything that's happened since Nocwich, at first, he doesn't notice. Nightmares plague him often enough, he didn't notice the one that was unusual, didn't linger much on it when other things occupied his waking hours, and those spent asleep are always short and fitful. The little whispers in the back of his mind are more vicious. His mood is more volatile. He fights with Kell, and goes to Nott despite the dangers, giving into the urge to simply get away and ignore what ails him. Cover it up with other things.

The work in Nott should have been fulfilling. Now, he's spending more time helping to replenish supplies and providing potions and elixirs from the castle infirmary, rather than handling the injured directly. When Wilhelm asks to tag along, Rhy agrees without thinking. The boy is easy company. Like a puppy. (He shouldn't think this, but he cannot stop himself.)

He's so obvious, too.

"Do you want to go, Wilhelm?" Rhy turns the question around on him immediately.

[ordinar]

He shrinks a little at Rhy's directness. A slow breath in, eyes drifting upward over both their heads.

"I was thinking...it's always so crowded there. It could be nice to find somewhere quieter." Clearing his throat. "More private."

He senses a distance in Rhy, who in his experience has almost always radiated warmth. Now he's more like the stars in the night sky, cloistered in unknowable darkness. After Rhy has soothed his aches and anxieties so many times, with a word of reassurance or a sturdy shoulder to lean on, Wilhelm feels compelled to try to do the same for him.

Of course, not all of his motives are so beatific.

He's only been humoring you, you know, whispers the air around him. By now, Wilhelm knows better than to look around for who the voice belongs to. It's his own insecurities, crawling out of his skull, as hard to kill as cockroaches. He's never going to see you as more than an annoying kid he's too nice to turn away.

As nasty as the taunting is, it's worse when the voices multiply and start gossiping with each other. The susurration of whispers invokes the feeling of walking into a room and knowing that everybody's been talking about you, everybody's watching you. No matter how often it's happened to him, Wilhelm has never been able to build any defense against it. His heart drops into his stomach. Self-consciousness prickles under his skin.

It's honestly pathetic. He just latched onto the first pretty boy who threw him a bit of kindness.

Did you see him at the Roadhouse? He was all over Rhy, following him around like a stray puppy all night.

[londonbound]

A slow smile spreads over Rhy's face; it is sharper than usual, knowing, almost a smirk. Rhy lets his gaze obviously linger, looking Wilhelm up and down.

He leans in closer, giving his arm a squeeze. Brushes his lips over Wilhelm's ear and breathes in before he speaks in a low whisper.

"Is that so? Tell me more about this private place you have in mind."

All of a sudden, Wilhelm will feel the pull, the temptation overwhelming and desperate. It drags at him, tugging the words from his lips, uncovering the desires squirreled away inside his chest.

Though Rhy doesn't understand what exactly he's doing, that he's using any power at all, the rush of self-satisfaction he feels suddenly leaves him almost giddy. Grinning. Assures him that this is exactly what he wants to be doing right now.

kell - october event

[ordinar]

On the second day with no sign of Rhy, Wilhelm knocks at the door of what he knows to be the room shared by Rhy and Kell. It's perfectly reasonable, he tells himself, to be worried about a friend.

In the dark places inside him, where doubts spread like rot and insecurities fester, he can't help but wonder if it was something he did. The other night, they'd...gotten friendly. More than friendly. And then suddenly, he doesn't see Rhy around the castle for a whole day and a half. True, the castle is huge and the town around it sprawling, but when you share a corridor with the same couple dozen people, not crossing paths with someone seems a calculated act after a while. Wilhelm should know — he'd spent a solid week avoiding everybody else, and it took a lot of overthinking to maintain that level of isolation.

Anyway. Now that he's knocked, all of him feels like a held breath as he waits for someone to answer. Whether Rhy himself or Kell, who's the next person most likely to know something.

[blackeyedprince]

There's one thing Wilhelm might hear that's evidence that yes, someone is inside, is the sound of footsteps. Kell has been pacing the room like a caged animal since the moment he came back. He almost jumps at the sound of knocking. Answers before he realizes that, well, they're not expecting a visit. Nobody can help him anyway.

"Oh, it's you." Disappointed? How can he be disappointed if he can't even tell who he was expecting. Not Wilhelm anyway. "What do you want?"

[ordinar]

Disappointment flickers across his expression too as Kell pulls the door open.

"Is Rhy there?"

There's a slight weight to the question, a twist of anxiety that tells that this isn't a casual visit. As Wilhelm talks, his fingers knot together in front of him.

"I sent him a message yesterday, but he never replied, so...I just wanted to make sure he's okay."

[blackeyedprince]

So they're both unhappy with the person they're seeing. A great start.

"He is," Kell replies. "But I doubt he'd talk to you."

Quite contrary to what he just said, Kell steps aside, letting Wilhelm in.

"He's been like this since I came back. I... can't wake him up." Kell's voice trails off into silence as he turns away to go and sit on the edge of Rhy's bed. Doesn't even bother to close the door.

billy - october event

[ordinar]

After getting pulled into parts unknown more than once this week, Wilhelm is surprised to find himself somewhere reassuringly mundane and — upon further inspection — halfway familiar. It's not until he peers out the window and studies the scene below that he realizes he's in...New York City? Though he only knows the city from the TV screen, he's sure of it.

Hey, he'll take NYC over a burning monastery or a creepy labyrinth any day.

With half of the mystery solved, he wonders whose apartment he's standing in. Whoever it is, he thinks he'd like them. The set up includes just about everything a seventeen-year-old boy could dream of, from a whole array of gaming systems and a TV that takes up a good chunk of the wall, to complete independence from parents.

"Hello? Anyone home?" Wilhelm calls, wandering from the living room into the kitchen. "I didn't mean to break in!"

To his credit, he does try to leave. Except...every door he tries refuses to budge.

[actualwizard]

He might take NYC over a burning monastery or a creepy labyrinth but what he doesn't know is that this NYC was created with chaos magic- and that chaos magic is going a little...chaotic.

Every door he tries to use won't open, which is how Billy found himself trapped in the entryway closet. The irony is not lost on him. He's just in the middle of cursing Loki (because even if Loki isn't here this is somehow his fault he's sure of it) when he hears a voice calling out. He's too relieved to care that he probably doesn't know this person so he shouts back.

"Hello? I'm sort of stuck in the closet."

[ordinar]

"Oh, shit—"

Changing routes, he traces the voice to a door in what must be the entryway. Though the last minute has taught him that it's probably futile, he tries pulling at the door. No luck, as expected. The weird thing is, a locked door usually moves a little — you can jiggle the handle, wiggle it a fraction in the doorframe. But these are all unbudgeable. With a sigh, he gives up.

"Uh...so what are the odds you have, like, an ax lying around somewhere?" he jokes halfheartedly.

[actualwizard]

Billy lets out a sigh and slumps back against the door. "Definitely slim, but I might just have to start keeping one if I ever get out of here." He's mostly joking, but he's also frustrated. He's been stuck in there for longer than he would have liked.

He decides to push his shoulder against the door one last time before he gives up. He's so convinced that it's not even going to budge that he doesn't prepare himself for the fact that this time the door gives way and opens and he comes tumbling out of the closet.

"Ah, just as graceful as the first time I came out." He is beauty, he is grace...

lucifer - october event

[ordinar]

It's funny how Lucifer always seems to find him in his lowest moments. Like now, as Wilhelm wanders through one of the castle's gardens trying to lose himself for a little while. His mood had just begun to dig itself out of the crater it crashed into after the catastrophic end to the Nocwich trip, when suddenly all his worst thoughts about himself pushed back with a vengeance. All those dark whispers, breaking out of his skull and taking on a life of their own.

So when he looks up to see Lucifer looming on the path ahead of him, almost as if expecting him, he's lonely enough to be weirdly touched by it.

"Hey," he greets him, hands stuffed in his pockets. "Look, I'm out of my room."

There's just a touch of customary teenage sarcasm in that comment. He realizes that skulking among the azalea bushes hardly counts as a social activity.

[thedevilwhorose]

Lucifer appearance is preceded by a strange, out-of-tune static. It's evidently a new feature that sometimes decides to follow him. He can't tune into anything in particular, unfortunately, but he can sometimes snuff it out entirely.

Lucifer goes back and forth on whether or not he absolutely despises Abraxas.

Usually he's balanced in the middle.

Weird dreams, silly little gods, but a... rush that comes over him every time he inflicts someone. He feels good, if he doesn't look at his reflection anyway.

Maybe he should have chosen the teacup in that dream.

He's still in the middle of his last high, his radiance fitting for his real nature. He's continuing to feel better than he ever has since arrival to this world.

Even without the high he has yet to... do this to people he knows. He has no reason to, and he's already become aware that he doesn't need the kid isolated--it's why it is good to see him out and about.

"The gardens are accustomed to lurkers." Himself included. He shrugs. Tiny amounts of progress are supposed to be rewarded. Probably. Eh. What does he know. "At least it means Thorne has seen you around."

That's the big one, pyro. They never did talk about the Nocwich Mishap.

[ordinar]

So many intrusive sounds are creeping into his ear these days that the strange static fails to unsettle him. For a second, he wonders if it means the whispered voices that have stuck to him like a shadow have finally run out of shit to say. Bruises to prod at. The harder he tries to detach himself from everything — to somehow float above thought and feeling — the harsher the whispers become.

"I've been trying to help out. Around the castle and in Nott."

Delivered like a report to a teacher.

Not for the first time, he wonders if Lucifer suspects what happened that fatal night in Nocwich. He's never said anything about it, but Wilhelm can't help but dissect his every word, his tone, his expression. Is he just trying to make sure Wilhelm stays in the good graces of the faction's leadership, or does he know something?

Everyone will find out eventually, a voice assures maliciously. His gaze wobbles away.

[thedevilwhorose]

"Right..."

There's something wrong here and Lucifer can't quite figure what it is. Fear of being outed? No, but it seems more than that. Heavier. Lucifer does a quick visual sweep around them but he doesn't see any reflective surfaces which is the only reason he's on the level at the moment. It's why he came out here. A reprieve.

"Did you go to that karaoke thing?" He knows Wilhelm did. He orchestrated it.

kyle - training

[ordinar]

For the third day in a row, Wilhelm rolls out of bed, throws on clothes, and shuffles down to a certain corner of the castle grounds before the sun has even peeped over the horizon. Pinched between early mornings and uneven nights, he's running on a deficit of sleep. His sluggish muscles and unfocused mind are slow to warm up, but Kyle is patient with him — patient to the point that Wilhelm feels bad that he has not, in fact, turned out to be some sort of self-defense prodigy. The inching crawl of his progress leaves him to wonder if it will be enough.

But at least he's trying. The training gives him something to pin his perpetually spinning mind to. Adjusting his stance again, he looks to Kyle for approval.

"Like this?"

[ushiri]

His hope that is, eventually, Wilhelm will be so physically worn out that a good sleep will be inevitable. That doesn't seem the case yet this third morning, though. He lets the chilled air help rouse the boy a bit while they start with stretches before moving on to repeating the lessons of the days before: finding his center, using that to learn how to shift his weight to keep balance. Payshmura battle forms are simple, relying on speed and momentum, which he thinks will suit Wilhelm well enough. He will show where to strike his opponent. How to knock the air from their lungs, disorient them, make them lose their footing. There are no rules or honor in a real fight. You use whatever is around you, including the dust at your feet.

"Just like that," he says with an approving nod, standing in front of him. Maybe these three days feel like an eternity dragging on to Wilhelm, but he is improving.

"Here- " he steps forward, pressing his hand at the center of Wilhelm's chest and putting some of his weight into it. "Are you starting to feel the difference?"

He doesn't shove him, just puts pressure against him. With his stance starting to come together he should feel more grounded and aware of his footing than he did on the first day, less likely to lose his balance were Kahlil to give him a real shove.

[ordinar]

The change is subtle, but after going through these same steps a hundred times — positioning himself, correcting his stance, Kyle pushing at different points — he can feel the difference. A tiny grin flickers across his lips. His delicate pride is as easy to buoy as it is to break.

"I think so."

Wilhelm had begun to regret agreeing to Kyle's suggestion that they meet every day to train, after dipping his toes in with semi-weekly sessions. But it could be that taking the plunge is the only way to make any real progress. That's bad news for his hopes of ever sleeping in again, but better news for his self-confidence.

"So...now what?"

elrond - roommates

[ordinar]

For Elrond, there are obvious signs that the room he's been guided to is already occupied. Three of the four beds that stand equidistant around the room are crisply made, but the fourth more closely resembles a nest of tangled blankets. Discarded clothes form a puddle on the floor next to it. On the chest at the foot of the bed, a crumpled cloth napkin dotted with crumbs drapes an abandoned book.

For Wilhelm, returning to his room as the afternoon closes out, it comes as a complete surprise to find a stranger there. Well, he supposes it was only a matter of time. The castle, for all its magic, does not have unlimited rooms.

Recovering his manners, he offers, "Uh, hi. You must be new. Welcome."

This last part comes with an awkward sweeping gesture around the room. He studies Elrond, trying to measure what kind of person he'll apparently be sharing his space with. The stranger is young, maybe a few years older than Wilhelm. That's promising — if it were someone much older, it would feel like living with a parent or teacher or something.

[politicians]

[ elrond offers a short bow, the brief incline of his head and a smile on his lips. his clothes are not as fine as he's used to, but he wears them with an air of nobility that not even rags could truly disguise. and of course, the most noticeable feature would be his pointed ears.

at the very least, he does not seem to stare or notice the mess, politely resting his gaze upon wilhelm. ]

I am indeed a new arrival. I am Elrond of Lindon.

[ordinar]

[That little bow tells Wilhelm that this guy must be from a very different time and place, a hypothesis that's confirmed by the pointed ears poking out beneath his hair. Such reminders of fantasy turned reality used to startle him, but now he's just taking stock. He gives a polite smile in return.]

I'm Wilhelm. Um, of Sweden.

[Although that is technically part of his title, he says it like it's just a joke. Now he's curious about Elrond — you have to be pretty important to be of somewhere. He'd offer a handshake, but maybe that's weird after the other guy bowed. Maybe he should bow too, but he anticipates feeling stupid doing it.

Despite Elrond's polite indifference toward the mess in Wilhelm's corner of the room, he starts gathering up articles of clothing from the floor.]

Sorry, it's a little...messy. It's usually just me in here.

rhy & jesper - NSFW

[ordinar]

Wilhelm has no idea how he got here.

Here, being the barroom of an inn in Nocwich, wedged together at a table with Rhy and Jesper, giddy with the knowledge that a room waits for them upstairs. Well, to be completely honest, he knows exactly how he got here: he can't say no to Rhy. When the other had brought it up, he was so surprised he could only answer with an awkward laugh. It's not that he'd forgotten the image Rhy planted in his head while Wilhelm was on his knees, between his thighs. Two pairs of hands pulling him out of his loneliness, two gorgeous, clever mouths convincing him to forget about everything else. It's just that...you don't expect your wet dreams to jump you in the daylight.

Some old-fashioned sensibility, lingering like dust, getting between him and his rawest desires, made him feel that he should say no. But when he thought about it, he realized — why the hell not?

"I can't believe Jesper is the most loaded out of all of us," Wilhelm laughs, clutching an almost empty mug that once brimmed with ale. Though, the joke might be lost on Jesper himself, who's probably unaware that he's seduced two princes. He doesn't know about Rhy, but he doesn't make a habit of mentioning his title, which he's all too relieved to abandon.

[itookashot]

Jesper has every idea how he got there because he's been waiting for it since they hooked up for the first time. The one thing he and Rhy can be counted on is being on the same page about sharing a lover. He's never actually had a regular threesome partner before back home so it's been a delight, and considering Rhy is obviously beautiful and brilliant, Jesper is always down for this option.

"I'm extremely enterprising and also, you lot don't have disposable coin." In fact, most of the time he is fairly certain they can't make their own money, but he doesn't want to bring up that aspect of their life. This is supposed to be a fun night with no worries about anything else. "I like being the one with the money, I feel very fancy."

While Jesper has always been fancy in terms of his fashion style and his dramatic nature, it still is funny to be the one throwing around coin left and right. He did go through a poor period after the heralds, but he's made it all back and then some, out of sheer determination. More than enough for a special night with his two lovers. He's decided to wear purple for this meet-up, his coat always changing to the color he wants.

He playfully taps his fingers along Wilhelm's leg under the table, coming close to his inner thigh but not there yet. "I look forward to spoiling you both."

[londonbound]

"We're very lucky to have such a generous friend. Perhaps you'd be a regular patron?" Rhy jokes (half-jokes, really; he would absolutely not say no to Jesper spoiling him further, especially if he has access to more fashionable clothes). He nudges Jesper's foot under the table, watching where his hand's disappeared to.

Poor Wilhelm might not be able to handle getting teased in public like this. Though Rhy also doesn't stop him.

"How about another round, if your pockets are still feeling full?"

Maybe Rhy does want to see the younger prince squirm, after all.