tushanshu_logs | EVENT | LANDFALL | KITHIKA

EVENT | LANDFALL | KITHIKA | BOTTLE

Characters: ALL!
Date: February 12th - 28th
Location: Kithika, inside the bottle
Situation: The discovery of an artifact from the first war against Malicant reveals the land of Kithika within a dimension of the Death Plane... and just happens to be contained inside a bottle.
Warnings/Rating: Please indicate content warnings in subject headers as applicable.

OOC INFORMATION ♦ CITY OF KEELIAI ♦ INSIDE THE BOTTLE ♦ THE WORLD EATER
Arriving in Kithika is unpleasant for the most part. Transport through the glass vessel deposits you in the middle of a thick and murky swamp, with air so hot and humid it feels as though one is breathing through a wet towel. This is a place of perpetual night and there are no celestial bodies visible overhead through the twisted vines to break up the blackness, making the only light visible that which comes clumps of marsh fungus that emit a steady glow in a variety of muted colours: pale blue, whitish green, watery mauve. The only other light comes from those who can generate it themselves and that will reveal numerous broad-leaved trees, in some places standing too thick to move through. Below, knee-deep water laps in swirls at their legs, accompanied by the occasional slithery feel of something moving in the bracken against wet limbs, gone before it can be identified. A variety of strange noises from creatures of the swamp fill the air with buzzing and hoarse croaking, interrupted by the screech of mosquitoes the size of hummingbirds darting past and hungry for a meal.

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OOC NOTE: Characters will not be able to progress past the Temple and the Grounds for 48 IC hours after which point, the way to continue onward to find the dragon will be discovered. The second log will be posted on the 17th, to help spread out the tagging. Thank you!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Likewise, there was a certain charm to his ruthlessness she found irresistible. It gave an illusion of excitement to every gentle caress, knowing he could just as easily crush her the moment she let her guard down again. Should he choose to do so.]

[Her eyes closed, and she leaned into his touch. Boredom was no longer an issue.]

My King.

I await your command.

[Which she could choose to obey or ignore at her own leisure, as she had just proven]

[ With one hand still cupped along her face, his other guided her towards the arched doorway leading to one of the Temple's honeycomb of small alcoves. The sounds of the others mingling around become muted through the stone, his blue eyes still unnaturally bright even as they moved away from the lights cast by the braziers. ]

Kiss me.

[Was that a challenge? A test? It seemed almost too simple, given the plethora of other possibilities awaiting them. The faint echo of voices in the distance meant potential play things. The emptiness of the hallways meant a playground just waiting to be utilized. There were countless other things he could have asked of her right then.]

[Except no, he just wanted her.]

[Fine.]

[She waited until they were just inside the alcove, alone but not entirely isolated, before turning so that her body was facing his once more. Both hands reached for the collar around his neck, pulling him down into a fierce, passionate kiss. His lips burned against hers, the coldest of dark winters, but she found pleasure in the pain and pressed harder. Drawing them both backwards until her back was against the stone wall behind her.]

[ He let her take the lead without protest either verbal or physical. So long as he was getting what he wanted, there was no need to assert himself beyond what he'd already done. The truly frightening thing about Jack in this state wasn't that he was powerful... it was that his personality wasn't actually that different. It removed or suppressed certain aspects but he hadn't become someone else; he was far more complete like this than the ice-clad soul than his first encounter with the Death Plane had reduced him to. ]

[On the most basic of levels, Zatanna wasn't really all that different, either. Her morals were incredibly askew, yeah, and there was something to be said for her sass and sarcasm morphing into all-out apathy and distain for the world around her. But she was still a fun-loving girl who acted on impulse and could never back down from a challenge. Because that's all this was to her. Another challenge.]

[...at first.]

[When he didn't struggle back, or fight for dominance, she started to grow bored...until she realized something: she actually, really liked kissing him. Really liked it. She had to tilt her head up a bit to compensate for the height difference, but beyond that, everything started to feel right. The bad kind of right. Or good kind. Honestly, she didn't even care what kind it was. She just wanted to keep going. The hell with consequences.]

[Gradually, her fists released their ironclad grip on his collar, slowly working their way down his chest before coming up to wrap around his neck. The intensity of pressure against his lips slowly waned into something far more genuine, and although the sting of cold was still present, her lips had gone just numb enough that it no longer bothered her. Dry and chapped, but still soft. Still incredibly enjoyable.]

[She paused for breath only once, eyes still closed as she pulled away just enough for their noses to lightly brush. If he were to look down on her at that moment, he would see the corners of her lips tugging upward before she moved in once more.]

[ Jack's hands trailed down the sides of her corset while she drew back for a moment to catch her breath, hoarfrost decorating the ridges of boning there. Without a word he took her by the hips, lifting her in one smooth motion so that her legs could hook behind him with her back against the wall still, allowing him to carry her weight against his frame; now she was the taller of the two. ]

There. Better?

[ His voice is low, amused, hungry. His chill pressed against her and then changed to envelop them both instead, almost as though he intended to seal them off from everything else. ]

[The sudden movement caught her off-guard. He lifted her frame with such ease, showing off his deceptive strength. A laugh escaped her as she instinctively wrapped her legs around his hips, taking a moment to revel in the new position. The thrill of both danger an excitement returned.]

Much.

[She leaned in again for another deep kiss, followed by a series of shorter, sweeter ones. Murmuring against him,]

Tell me you want me, Jack.

[ He meets her kisses, adding a slight graze of white teeth across her lower lip when she tries to pull back again. Not enough to hurt, like the burning cold she'd felt before (which would seem more numbed, now) but just a reminder of the unrefined power he contained. They were similar in magical strength but the two sources couldn't have been more different. ]

You know I do.

[The reminder was all too welcome. She made a mental note to return the favor as soon as his guard was down.]

I know.

But I want to hear it anyway.

[ One hand comes up to tangle in her shorter hair, tugging at the strands... not harshly but not gentle either. ]

I want you, Zatanna.

[Her head jerked slightly backwards, pulled by the force of his tugging. Not enough to hurt, but more than enough to assert dominance. It turned her on even more. Something she demonstrated by reaching for his other hand, slowly...tantalizingly...guiding it up her side, across her collarbone, and then down the crevice in between her breasts.]

[From there, she brushed his fingers against the laces binding her corset together. Motioning for his thumb to hook inside one of the loops. A single pull would undo the top bow.]

Show me how much.

Edited (I made it so, so much worse~) 2014-02-24 05:52 (UTC)

[ He let her guide his hand, leaving a lacework of barely-there frost where he touched, dragging one digit inside the loop and pulling it apart with maddening slowness. This was much better than the curious poke he'd given the statue of himself just a day ago, he thought, bending his had forward to take the next corset tie with his mouth--

--and stopping partway there, his frame trembling though not with the effort of holding her. To his credit he didn't drop her but the cold aura around the dissipated like a morning fog when he abruptly stopped drawing upon Winter's core. Wide, round eyes looked up at her, throat moving dry as he tried to figure out what the hell was happening even though there was nothing wrong with his memory. ]

Zatanna...?

[Still lost in the moment, Zatanna had yet to realize what was happening. She chuckled lowly, thinking this was one more way of teasing her.]

I get it's probably been a while for you, Frostbite...but, any slower and you'll be putting more clothes on me. Don't tell me you forgot how to undo a corset?

[ His hands left the laces of her corset and settled once again on her waist, this time to hold her in place as he leaned back, forcing her to unhook her legs from behind him before gently setting her to the ground. ]

This isn't right, I, I don't-- we can't be--

...what.

[It came out more like a half statement than question, her tone dark and unamused as realization finally dawned on her. Her eyes narrowed, and she hopped back to the ground with a single movement. To say she was pissed right then would have been the grossest of understatements.]

What crawled up your ass all of a sudden? We had a good thing going.

[ Jack held up a hand as though to lay it on her arm. ]

Wait, just listen to me. This is, we haven't been acting normally. You're still not, think about it for a moment.

[She slapped it away without a second thought.]

Don't touch me. Not now.

[A scoff, and she pushed him back enough to roughly brush past him, out of the alcove and back into the main room. Not even bothering to fix the lace on her corset, which hung low on her chest.]

And don't tell me what acting normally is, Rip Van Snowflake. Like you even know what that's like. I'll act however I damn well feel like acting.

[ Determined to make her see reason, he starts after her and grabs her free hand. ]

No, you have to listen! You touched one of the statues, right? I did too, yesterday. That's when I started-- not acting like myself.

[Which she proceeds to pull back just as roughly as before, only to use the same hand to slap him across the cheek.]

So go feel up another one or something, and leave me alone.

Because right now? You're less than useless to me. You're not even fun.

[ The blow hurts but not enough to dissuade him... if anything, seeming to make him more determined to get her to listen. He doesn't let himself think about her words, not right now, not when he knows that something was -- had been -- affecting both of them. ]

Even if what I'm saying doesn't make sense to you right now, please just trust me.

[She let out a sound that was a half laugh, half scoff.]

Trust you? That's a good one.

Name one reason why I should.

Because we're friends and because you've never let me down. Name me one reason why you shouldn't.

Let's get one thing straight right now.

[Closing most of the gap between them, she placed a single pointer finger against his chest as she stared into his eyes with nothing but cool indifference, save for the hint of annoyance behind it.]

We are not friends. And I don't trust you. I don't even like you. Nothing personal, really. I don't like anyone.

Now, for the last time, leave me alone before I start to get really pissed off.

No, I'm not going to leave you alone and I don't care if you get pissed at me.

[Her eyes narrowed at that, the last of her patience gone. Without another word of protest, she simply raised a hand and pressed her palm against his forehead. A single, twisted spell was all it took to freeze the Winter Spirit in place once more. A mix of what she had previously done to him, and what he had done to her.]

[With that, she purposely took her first few steps backwards, so she could look into his unmoving gaze one last time before walking off.]

I warned you.

Just remember...all this could've been avoided if you'd just finished what you started.

[Then she spun on her heels, so that all he would be able to see was her back slowly sauntering away, knowing he was powerless to follow.]

Don't worry. The spell'll wear off eventually. Probably.

...good thing you didn't really need to breathe, right?

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EVENT | LANDFALL | KITHIKA | BOTTLE

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