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Hux in a Dress - 25/25 - talking with Masked Thorne and Juniper

Hux laughed like an old dog barked. What the ******** is with this guy? He wondered briefly to himself.

"Don't act like I'm the only miserable one here." He said. "You're practically writhing in it." And that's why he was here. Because he loved company. Not Hux.

And then, as though called upon by the gods that found such a particular sort of pleasure in torturing him, another person appeared.

Hux turned his head to look at the woman that had entered. The fire silhouetted his large frame perfectly, and his profile was one he'd always been complimented on. Still, he looked intimidating. At 6'6, everyone looked intimidating. Especially with his fists clenched by his sides and his back a rigid line to Thorne, who still lounged in the velvet-backed chair.

"Did all those steps look like a ******** invitation?" He asked, regarding Juniper with a scowl. "I'm a prisoner and a slave. What about you?"

Hux in a Dress - 25/25 - answering Juniper's questions

Hux frowned at her. "I told you just a moment ago. I'm a prisoner and a slave. Do you think I'd have the ability to lock or unlock doors here, where there's actual ******** magic? Adoelle is the only one that can decide whether that door is locked or not. And maybe some of the other court members. I don't know."

He turned his attention back to the fireplace. The murmurs within it whispered and danced. "I'm not being kept up here. I chose to stay here. I want to be alone." He huffed, irritated by the sudden onslaught of questions. "I don't know anything about the tithe. I'm a prisoner, not a confidant."

Juniper Wilcox | 25/25 | Pretending she's in control of the situation

"Ok. Ok. No need to get angry at me. I am still getting use to this whole magic thing and all. I shoet of keep forgetting about it." Which is amusing considering her sheer gown wad the product of magic. One would think it would serve as a constant reminder.

She did wonder who Adoelle was though. She didn't recognize the name so that had to be someone she hasn't run into yet. Interesting.

"Alright, then I won't ask any questions about the tithe then. " She shrugged. "I am sorry that iam intruding though. I guess I could leave. " She didn't really want to considering this was the first place she'd been that doesn't have a ton of people.

Then a head piled over the side of the chair and Juniper looked at the man. He seemed...well, to put it bluntly, like he was up to something. That or he was just enjoying the view her dress gave of her chest. "Iam not looking a beat. " She stated plainly, crossing her arms.

Then that grin turned more feral and Juniper instantly felt uncomfortable. Too bad her prose was more stubborn. "Hm, no I think I'll pass, thanks. I didn't come up here looking for any sort of entertainment. Like this guy here, I sort of was looking to get away from all of the people downstairs."

It was then she noted something and she looked at Hux. "Are you not wearing a mask because you're trapped here?" Come to think of it, there had been a few others who weren't wearing masks.

Truthfully, Juniper was at the point she wanted to rip the damn thing off of her face. It was getting tiresome to deal with her obstructed vision.

Thorne (Masked) | | 25/25 | | FLEEING FOR HIS LIFE

Thorne grunted as he was tossed to the floor, a ragdoll more than anything else. With a particularly surly stare in the giant bearded oafs direction, he sat up, dangerously close to Hux's legs.

"That was rude," Thorne said softly, his voice a low purr. His eyes flicked to Juniper. "Boring," he sang out, "But I suppose that must be why people lock themselves in towers of their own accord."

With a pause, he turned his expression to Hux.

"Hey," he said, pushing to his knees and sliding his left hand to the bearded mans thighs. With a wild grin, he leaned in close to the ghost, the husk, and said, "I have a parting gift for you."

Thorne lifted his right hand. A murmur whispered inside of his painted nails. He tilted his head at Hux.

"Think you can throw me out of a window before I find out what this one says?"

Without waiting on an answer, the masked creature crushed the murmur between his fingers, claws biting into Hux's thigh.

He was only there long enough for the memory to burn through both of them. And then he was up and away, a wild grin flaring on his lips.

Time to run, he thought.

Chain-Smoking Rabbit Vaughn: 25/25, not currently smoking

If there was one thing he had learned from visiting Alois's cellar tonight, it was that he shouldn't barge in. Things had been so much simpler when there had barely been anyone around to see him out from under the piercing, judgmental gaze of the Burning Man. Here there were people lurking in every darkened corner, witnesses to his bad behavior that really wasn't that bad at all compared to some.

As such, Rabbit crept up the stairs to the ebony spire, surprised by its silence. With the way everyone kept cornering him and asking him for favors, he had assumed the other humans would be similarly occupied. He folded his hands into his long sleeves and tiptoed forward, bare feet soundless on the stone as he drew a breath to speak.

Thorne (Masked) | | 25/25 | | Fleeing for his life but also hey buddy

Thorne didn't even bother watching the beast fall apart. It was enough to hear the sobs, the fall, the exquisite noise of someone breaking, breaking, breaking. Thorne hit the steps of the ebony spire with a wicked curl of laughter.

And it was just his luck - someone else was there to greet him.

"Hey," Thorne drawled, sliding the rest of the steps down to meet Rabbit with a grin on his face, "Want to trade off for awhile? There's a beast upstairs, and it looks like I've just found a Beauty. Careful of his roar."

Without warning, Thorne slid his hands to cup Rabbit's cheeks like it was a gesture of endearment and kissed his forehead with a sweet, lullaby laugh.

"Careful of his claws," he added gently, and wandered past Rabbit down the hall. But his touch lingered just a moment too long. Just enough for it to warm and burn and build.

And then he was gone, gone, gone.

(LEFT THE BUILDING!!)

Chain-Smoking Rabbit Vaughn: 25/25, very confused

He swallowed his warning when he heard someone approaching, stopping short as a figure appeared around the curve of the stair. One of Melany's, he thought. Rabbit took an involuntary step back. So cowardly now. Or maybe he always had been, his lack of actual bravery hidden under recklessness. The creature was speaking, his voice ragged fingernails on silk, murmuring something about Beauty and the Beast that Rabbit couldn't parse in tandem with his urge to flee. This was ridiculous. Terrifying. He had come here to apologize for his double's behavior, to make amends for what the other him might have done back home, but it wasn't worth this. He tried to back away without stumbling down the stairs, but it was too late.

"Don't—" was all he managed as Thorne touched his face, pressing a kiss just above his naked brow.

Rabbit swayed in place as warmth bloomed from that point of contact, closing his eyes as all of his focus turned inward. He knew he should go, but he no longer wanted to. Instead, he concentrated on breathing, sliding his foot onto the next step and the next and the next until he reached the top of the tower.

"Hello," Rabbit managed, his voice far away. "Why're you crying?" He was clearly asking Hux, the one with the tears on his cheeks, but his visible eye stared at Juniper, hazy and half-lidded.