ercookies | TDM 011: I PUT A SMELL ON YOU

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TDM 011: I PUT A SMELL ON YOU

00. Arrival

You come out of the water, the Nameless Island's own inherent energy drawing people in. It's like being suspended between realities and abruptly pushed from behind through a rift in dimensions. It may make you sick, or that might be the motion of the ocean, lifting you to the surface and carrying you to shore.

Waterlogged and covered in sand, new arrivals will be greeted by robots who welcome them with towels and bracelet devices. The A5 card is already loaded up. If you don’t manage to get away from them quickly enough, they may even usher you toward the Laid Bare Spa, where new arrivals will be offered free massages, a sauna, hairstyling, and their clothing may come up permanently missing. But you will be given a complimentary towel to leave with if needed!

Feel free to explore the Island, though there isn’t much to see beyond what arrivals before you have helped to rebuild. Most of the buildings are abandoned and in dire need of repair, and beyond the city lingers a thick fog that obscures much of the wilderness from view. Wander too far into this fog, and you will find yourself mysteriously looping back to where you began, your memories of what you were doing and how you got there erased.

With that in mind, it may be wise to stake your claim on a place to live in the now, whether a rundown apartment in the City, a tent on the beach, a bed in the barracks, or your own space at the House of Worship. Your inventory will be found a day later, wrapped up haphazardly and delivered to each person's makeshift home.

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I. SEASON OF EGGCELLENCE

As the wintery weather has shifted to warmer breezes and the snow has given way to grass and baby blooms, Islanders will find the robots in a flurry as yet another holiday takes hold. The Festival of Renewal, to welcome in the season of new life and awakenings of all those that have slept the winter months away. Spring has come and so has the time where life flourishes on the Nameless Island.

Islanders will see decorations set up all over the city signifying the change in seasons (much of which happens to be elaborately decorated eggs...lots and lots of eggs) and robots will gladly ask them of any lively changes they see sprouting up around the Island, from flowers, to baby animals, to animals in the act of making baby animals...there will be quite a bit of that going on for them to catch sight of. Islanders will be encouraged to start their own gardens if they wish, with various booths set up around the city’s center offering free seeds for different plants ready to be sewn into the soil. Each booth will have full grown versions of the flowers and plants they are offering on display. You might even recognize some of them from your own worlds.

But other booths will focus on different aspects of Life and Renewal, including booths of artwork painstakingly made in vibrant expression by the robots themselves of animals in the act of enthusiastic copulation! Oh, wait...that isn’t artwork of a deer or sheep. That might just be artwork of you engaging in enthusiastic copulation...and who is that other person in the image with you? Have you met them before? It might just be one of your fellow Islanders or someone you recognize from home. Robots are selling this artwork as first come first serve, but they might make more than one copy…

Those aren’t the only booths either, as other booths will offer free swag of flavored lubes, edible underwear, as well as genitalia-shaped gummies! And then there are the gourmet chocolates being sold at the Steaming Carafe cafe in honor of the festival! Ask nicely and they’ll give you a free sample, but be warned the chocolate does have mild aphrodisiac properties, but a couple hours waiting or an Auspicious Act won’t take care of.

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II. CHOCOLATE CURRENCY

The robots are also offering credits to anyone who might help them in managing the dozens of Rainbow Rabbits taking the city by storm, colorful animals that can be seen hopping and dashing through the city and the surrounding woods in a flash. Spots of color might catch your attention from the corner of your eye and you turn to see no rabbit there, but follow that and you might find an abandoned nest of leaves, twigs, or grass filled to the brim with colorful, shiny eggs of any design.

These eggs happen to look just like the hundreds of egg decorations you’ve seen all over the city...

Ask any robot and you’ll be informed that the decorations are made from the shells of these eggs after they’ve been collected and carefully broken open to remove the chocolate inside. That’s right. Chocolate eggs. Just where do you think they got the chocolate for those treats at the cafe? Carefully collect as many eggs as you can without breaking them, and turn them in to the café for your credits.

But what robots may forget to warn you about is that if you eat the chocolate straight from the egg, without it being processed first, it will not only taste delicious, but the potent aphrodisiac will be far more extreme and far more addictive. You might not be able to go a day without needing to eat more of it and achieve some carnal release. The more you eat, the shorter the timespan before you are overtaken by the unending craving. An endless cycle of heightened arousal and desire that can only be eased by orgasm...but that orgasm will be powerful, possibly the best one you’ve ever had in your life. Easy to see why they warn you about chocolate being so addictive…

Only completing an Auspicious Act or the healing waters in the Bathhouse will remove this effect. Until next time.

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III. SPRING IS IN THE AIR (AMONG OTHER THINGS)

Walking the booths during the festival, you might be lured in by a scent in the air. Something soft, or strong, or bitter, or sweet...a scent so familiar that you can’t help but seek out where it came from. The scent will lead you right to one of the booths where robots have bottles and bottles of perfume and cologne lined up. Perfumes they will explain are made entirely unique to each person.

That scent that caught your attention? That’s your scent. And now you have to have it. The robots will even give it to you for free. It’s a special tradition of the festival for Islanders to wear their scent and see who else might just be attracted to it. But that scent isn’t just to attract others to you, it’s to show them you’re ready to mate to whoever happens to be lured in by it. The scent will draw out your animal instincts and theirs, pushing them to stake their claim on you. They’ll want to make you theirs and theirs alone and all you will be able to think about is mating with them and being owned by them.

And if you’re attracted to their scent in turn? Well, you might feel the need to turn the tables and own them instead.

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N A V I G A T I O N

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vax'ildan has heard about the festival through the grapevine, through stories his new friends tell about it and their experiences there. he isn't exactly excited to experience any side effects of the augur, but he wants to try his hand at being less of a homebody.

the stalls are cute and all, offering all kinds of plants and flowers and things from various homeworlds, though two things catch his eye at once, and funnily enough, both of them are white. a shock of fluffy hair, and a familiar flower, both of which make his blood run cold and his stomach begins to churn. he thinks he might throw up, or pass out, whichever comes first.

"p-percival."

his voice is meant to sound firm and confident, but it wavers, and he clears his throat. he hasn't even noticed the painting of his sister and his brother-in-law behind him, his world too rocked by percy's arrival. most importantly: is vex'ahlia with him?

That voice is enough to pull Percy out of his strained negotiation. He stares when he sees Vax'ildan, feeling a sort of numbness start in his fingertips and creep higher. It's not possible.

And, if it is, it makes him even more determined to get that painting out of sight.

"I am not finished with you," he says tightly to the automaton, who doesn't seem to be perturbed by any of this.

Percival steps back from the table so that he can fully face Vax. He's almost afraid to move, like his brother-in-law will waver and disappear into shadow and feathers. He doesn't realize he's reaching out at first, then forces himself to drop his hand.

"Vax'ildan. Is that really you?"

vax knows that look in his eyes, and it's almost annoying. vax isn't some commodity, he isn't artwork in a museum. percy is his brother, his best friend, and he doesn't want to be handled with kid gloves by someone he respects so deeply. so vax'ildan spots that hand when percy extends it, frowns at it, then steps forward, past the hand and past percy's hesitance to pull him into a tight, warm embrace.

"yes, percy, it's me. i'll explain in a moment. are you alright?" he pulls apart, but just enough to look him in the eyes and run a hand through that saltwater-tossed hair. his heart aches, seeing him in such a state, and for a moment he thinks of the rest of his friends. his sister. "is vex'ahlia with you?"

It isn't kid gloves. Percy does not want to touch Vax and find that he is not real. He doesn't think he could take it after everything leading up to this. But then Vax is hugging him and he is real and solid and warm and living, and Percy feels a sting in his eyes. The uncertainty shatters and Percival wraps his arms tightly around Vax.

"I have been better," he says quietly, voice a bit strained as they part again. He doesn't quite pull away, though, keeping his grip on Vax. He doesn't want him to disappear now.

"No, Vex isn't here. I haven't seen her."

vax'ildan hears the strain in percy's voice, and as though no time has passed since his death, he reaches up to cup his cheek, stroking at his bottom lid to wipe away whatever tears may gather there.

percy still smells the same. like gunpowder and his cologne, something made in whitestone. he's a little damp, but otherwise just the same, all nobility and stature. even like this, he still manages to look distinguished, and vax can't help but break into a small smile as he looks him up and down. a smile, despite those killer words, vex isn't here.

"you look like shit."

It hasn't been that long since he was forced to say goodbye to this man. As Vax's thumb sweeps beneath his eye, Percy closes them for a moment.

"I feel like shit," he admits quietly. "Swallowing half an ocean of seawater will do that. Never mind waking up on a strange beach among strange people who know your name."

Well, person. Percy opens his eyes again, studying Vax's face. It really is him. It must be. There are things here some imposter wouldn't think to copy... right? He takes a breath to steady himself.

"Never mind seeing a particularly intimate moment on display," he snaps at the automatons, who really do not care how angry he is, or how threatening.

and what an intimate moment it is. part of vax is curious about the depiction of percy, but the glimpse of his sister is enough to turn him away from the image in question. so he doesn't press the matter, deciding that not seeing it right now is the best course of action.

"did any of your belongings make it through? i only had the deathwalker's ward and ... some of vex'ahlia's blue feathers. not much else. i've had to ah, earn everything else i have." he wonders for a moment if anyone has explained this island and how it operates to him yet, because if they haven't, vax wants to be the one to do it. not that he thinks he's good at explaining it at all, but if percy has to hear it from anyone... vax hopes it would be him. he needs this.

"let's... get you back to my place. we can get you changed and cleaned up, yeah?"

Percy lifts his still-damp coat to show the rapier and firearm at his side. Then he lets it fall back into place and he looks back at the painting. He points at the automaton.

"I'm not finished with you."

But, for now, he has no way of getting it without stealing it. And, while that is tempting, so is drying off and cleaning up. As water evaporates, it's leaving a crust of salt in his hair and on his skin, and he doesn't want to think of what it's done to Animus.

"All right. Lead on, please."

vax'ildan is quick to oblige, reaching down to take percy's wrist. the island is unpredictable with things like this, and vax is wary of it's effects during things as harmless as festivals. what he forgets to mention to percy, however, is that he'd sampled a bit of a chocolate egg presented to him by an automaton, and it was delicious, so vax'ildan had pocketed what was left before stumbling upon his brother-in-law.

that thought occurs to him as they walk through the island to vax's new home, and he reaches into his pocket to offer percy the remainder.

"i'm sure you're hungry. this isn't much, but get some sugar in your system for now, alright? i can try to find you something safe to eat when we return."

He doesn't resist Vax's hold, instead focused on how it feels to have the other man's hand on him. He feels... alive. He tries to take comfort in that, tries to have some hope in it.

And he accepts the morsel that Vax offers him without thinking to hesitate. It has already been a long day.

"Thank you. Vax..." But he trails off. Whatever he has to say, the walk back to wherever Vax has been living probably isn't the place to do it.

vax, on the other hand, isn't focused very much on how this must feel for percy. he hasn't thought about it, because for vax, he's been here, dead, without his friends, for months now. percy arriving is just another exciting thing to happen on this island, particularly so to the half elf.

percy says his name, and vax'ildan stops, not realizing how his cheeks have begun to flush a light pink.

"what is it, percy?"

Percy doesn't answer, though, just takes in Vax'ildan's face and tries not to think about the last time he saw it. What had he meant to say? It seems frivolous now, something unnecessary. Or something too heavy. He said goodbye thinking - knowing - that he would never really see this man again. And knowing that, despite everything, it is his fault that Vax'ildan offered himself to the Raven Queen in the first place.

Faced now with his brother-in-law, Percy doesn't actually know what to say. So he swallows thickly and looks down, breaking Vax's gaze.

"Is this really you?"

vax'ildan processes the question for a moment. he's not sure how to answer it, and he doesn't know from what time period percy is from. he doesn't know what to tell him, but... it doesn't matter, does it? he could tell him whatever he wants to on this island. he's dead.

"it's me, percy." he turns from where he's headed back to the house, reaching to take both of percy's hands in his own. "the last i saw you, scanlan used his last wish to call me to your wedding with vex'ahlia. the raven queen delivered me. i told my sister i worried for her no longer. and i left. but instead of returning to the divine gate, i... arrived here."

he falls silent, then reaches a hand out to take percy's cheek, to meet his eyes.

"it's me."

"The last time I saw you," he says quietly, "the Raven Queen was taking you."

He will digest the fact that he and Vex'ahlia apparently have a public wedding at some point later. But it does confirm to him that Vax is gone, and that it takes a Wish to have him present even for that. He lifts his gaze to meet Vax's as a hand touches his face.

It is him.

Percival lets go of a deep breath and he nods. He lifts a hand to pat Vax's before guiding it back down.

"Then I am so very glad to see you, my dear friend."

vax gives percy a smile, a little sad, a little unsure. he hates that his friends are hurting like this after his death, though he can't say their death would have treated him any kinder. if anything, he'd be harder on himself than they, than percy.

something inside vax'ildan sparks alive when percy touches his hand, setting forth a flame in his hips that he can't quite explain away. he can feel the reddening in his cheeks, and it's. warm. very warm. he doesn't want to let percy's hand go, so he doesn't, instead channeling this newfound energy into continuing their walk forward with percy's hand in his.

"we're almost there."

"What happened here?"

It hasn't escaped his notice that parts of the city they pass through are in ruin while others seem to have been built up or repaired. Percy doesn't allow himself to get too distracted, or maybe--it's just very easy to focus on the hand holding his. Surely it's just relief that Vax'ildan is alive and in one piece.

vax keeps his hand in percy's, leading him into a more run-down area of the island. the only thing built up and looking better by the day is the neinhaus, and it's adjacent friend, the wizard haus, or whatever his friends were calling it these days.

"i.. mm, sorry, i'm feeling lightheaded. ah, as far as i know, the robots on this island are here to do our bidding as long as we supply them with power. with energy." he lets them into the house, taking percy past his bar and the common spaces, and leading him up to his loft bedroom. he knows this feeling, and he's not sure what's brought it on so suddenly. it can't be the sight of percy, can it? only when the door is closed does he drop his hand from percy's, unsure what to do with himself now.

"the energy they require is usually gathered from sex. we're rewarded for having it."

He tries to take in some of the details of the house as they pass through, but soon enough they're in what he assumes is Vax's bedroom. And the door closes. And Vax delivers that particular bit of information... now.

"Oh."

Give him a moment. Percy steps back a bit, not necessarily to get away from Vax'ildan, but to--he doesn't know. Give himself a bit of space to think clearly. Not that there is any reason that Vax's presence should make him have trouble with that.

"Wait, what?" He has no idea what sexual energy has to do with rebuilding a civilization, that feels like a wild leap.

"i wish i knew more," he says, and though he wants to move close and be near his best friend, he chooses to stay by the door. percy looks uncomfortable, and vax'ildan has to keep this shit bottled for now. his thoughts begin to cloud with lust, but he wants to put that aside. he can't push that on percy now, not to mention he'd likely be met with rejection. if he can't get it from percy, he'll try shaun, of course.

-- shaun!

"oh-- percy, gilmore is here. it's just the two of us and... you, now, from tal'dorei. i'm sure he'll be excited to see you."

"Gilmore is here?"

Well, at least Vax hasn't been lonely. Percy runs his fingers through his hair, pushing it out of his face. He's aware of the salt crusting in it now that it's starting to dry. After a moment, he shucks off his heavy coat, still damp from his trip through the water. The reveals Animus and a rapier holstered against his hip.

Losing the coat doesn't really help relieve the rush of heat pooling low in his body. What the hell?

vax'ildan is now uncomfortably hard in his new clothes, jeans that fit tighter than his leggings and armor back home. he has to turn his back to percy for a moment to adjust and rearrange into something less tight, and when he turns back, percy's coat has been shed and oh for fuck's sake come on.

"y-yes, he's-- his room is downstairs. i've spent a lot of time in it, as i'm sure you can imagine. i've, ah... been wondering if any of you would arrive."

is it hot in here?

It's difficult not to notice the growing color in Vax's face and, unbidden, Percy's gaze flicks down and--oh. And he is distressed to realize his own body is responding eagerly. Focus, Percival.

"Well, here I am, half-drowned and salty."

He tries a smile and resolutely keeps his eyes on Vax's face after that.

oh, for fuck's sake, he noticed. this conversation seems pointless now, and for a moment, vax'ildan isn't sure what to do. he can kick percy out and deal with this on his own. he can make an advance on him that's sure to be uncomfortable. or he can just ignore it and keep the conversation going.

until percy mentions he's still wet and salty, and so vax'ildan stops thinking about it, and operates solely on autopilot. his lust, his need, the damned aphrodisiac speaks for him.

like a challenge, vax crosses the room and takes the collar of percy's shirt in his hand, wrapping a finger around it. he pulls percy close, though not roughly, and he says with a tilt to his head, "then maybe we should get you out of these clothes."

Oh. This is out of his hands the moment Vax'ildan grabs his shirt. Percy cannot ignore the rush of arousal and this--this is not the time for that. But it is impossible to ignore how Vax feels this close, and how those words sound spilling from his mouth. Percy's lips part, but for a moment he can't summon any words.

"Vax'ildan..."

It isn't quite a question, and it isn't a protest. His heart is pounding and he feels his face suffuse with heat. He tries to think of anything outside of this space, outside of this room, but his entire world is rapidly narrowing to the man standing in front of him.

hazy with aphrodisiacs, his hard cock demanding his attention, and a damned beautiful white haired man before him, it's still not hard for vax'ildan to pause, to make sure this really is something percy wants. even with all of these factors, shaun lives just downstairs, and vax can scratch this itch elsewhere.

"i won't take your clothes off of you if you don't want me to, percy," he says, still managing to sound seductive; or at least he thinks he is. his idea of it.

"but i want to. i want to get you out of your wet clothes and into something more comfortable for you."

00. Arrival

I. SEASON OF EGGCELLENCE

II. CHOCOLATE CURRENCY

III. SPRING IS IN THE AIR (AMONG OTHER THINGS)

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