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 Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 9:07 pm
The hunchback's expression soured as once again the Dragon leaped in to save the day, his mouth contorting into a scowl as he quickly averted his eyes from either of them in a desperate bow, Yes, Mistress! Right away! Still trembling, he lurched forward to fetch his shovel, eying the writhing, feeding tentacles as he went.
The Dragon would be praised, no doubt. He averted his eyes again, ears pink. Or at least one was pink the other a more purplish green.
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Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 9:11 pm
Nodding to Riley, Jericho stepped back while glancing back at the brains. Despite her having food now, it seemed she was still rather unhappy about the broken food.
While she ate, his golden eyes drifted up towards Christof. Had he been the one to do that? He originally thought some stray mini had knocked it over or something along those lines. It seemed the guy was.. ashamed? Well he looked flustered for one reason or another. The dragon had trouble reading Christof.
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Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 11:33 pm
He could feel her.
It was an often regrettable side effect of their race; their shared thoughts and communal knowledge. Now, though, Andeon could think of no greater joy than to know how close he was after how far he'd come to find her. Like a moth to the flame he marched across the field, sticking out like a sore thumb in his scratched and worn battle regalia, the newly acquired skull pin jammed unceremoniously into a dent in his pauldron.
It would never be explained just how Andeon had squirmed his way into Amityville's student body, but there he was. Every step carried with it the soft clink of metal plates sliding against one another, the soft chime of crystal shards as they hung from his arm. He did not pause as he strode across the open field. He did not so much as glance to any of the assorted students, no matter how strange their appearances or how delicious their brains. Like a compass pointing North, Andeon seemed naturally drawn to the Fitness booth.
His only interest in all of Amityville sat there, looking all too comfy and way too cozy with a creature he had only ever seen skinned, stuffed, and spread out on his cavern floor like a bearskin rug.
Red dragons were all the rage with the Real Housewives of the Overmind.
A hand curled beneath the edge of the table, flipping it over for the second time that day, as though it were nothing more than a piece of garbage that stood between Andeon and what he happened to want at that particular moment. It was a comparison that applied to most, if not all, of the students present.
Even as sharp claws wrapped around that pale violet skin, the male mindflayer moved as though he owned that school and every person it in. He hauled Riley to her feet, a hand tangling in the mass of tentacles, and pressed his face against hers in a long and in no way gentle kiss. It could have been asked how two people with no mouths could really kiss, but the answer was very long and involved an exchange of a certain type of energy that most creatures didn't even know existed. Suffice to say, it was not something that their species usually took so lightly.
It was also something usually punishable by death.
When Andeon pulled away, his eyes were narrowed and what little expression could be made with his limited features was twisted in scorn. Was this what had become of the woman who had left him scarred? Was this the same one whose blood he could still remember the taste of, whose skin could probably still be scraped out from underneath his claws after their last encounter? It was enough to break Andeon's heart, even as he shoved her away.
If you're going to go around acting like a common tramp, Aen'ryliis, I insist that I be first in line.
It was a thought for her and her alone. While Andeon had a score to settle with Aen'ryliis, she was a mindflayer and was afforded some level of respect. He would not have addressed her with such an insult openly.
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Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 11:51 pm
Things felt like they were starting to fall back into place as Riley watched Christof shuffle about, cleaning up the mess he'd made. Even the situation with Jericho had taken a turn for the better - and she had all but pushed away the thoughts of Nukpana and Shehk that had her blood boiling. She was sure, somehow, that she could find a way to-
A way to-
Her head turned, just slightly, and her eyes thinned. Her brow furrowed in confusion. She blinked up at Jericho, wondering briefly if the odd feeling that was starting to creep into her mind had anything to do with their bond. But, as it strengthened, a disturbing familiarity passed over her, and her eyes, still locked on Jericho's, widened in an expression he may never have actually seen.
Open, blood curdling fear.
He could hear her breath inhale a moment before the hand slid around her neck, pulling her up to her feet. At a time like this, Riley's instinct would have kicked in and had the hand broken before it could lift her any higher - but her instinct was smothered by the heart-wrenching fright that filled every vein in her body, freezing the blood within cold. Her hands reached up to claw him away, but something in her eyes said she had already accepted death, and welcomed it as an end to her worry.
A fate worse than death presented itself instead. He kissed her. She just couldn't catch a break lately, could she?
Her legs kicked into motion, knocking the back of his knees to bring him down to the floor mere moments after the words had left his mind. She pinned him down, every tentacle alive with fury as they wrapped around his arms, his neck, his legs, and cemented him in place. She took a moment to stop the incessant shaking that betrayed her, and steeled herself. He didn't deserve to see her this way, she convinced herself.
He would get no such pleasure.
Her eyes narrowed as composure returned to her in a wave of calm, starting in her eyes and drifting down her entire body.
Hello, Andeon. She greeted him casually. I didn't realize they were hiring janitors at Amityville.
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 12:04 am
With as intense of an emotion that was, there was absolutely no way Jericho could not get a feel for what Riley's fear with the bond in place. He felt it before he could see it in her eyes in fact. It threw him off and it scared him too because he didn't understand what was going on. So when the table was suddenly flipped, he actually jumped, already on edge.
Turning to see what the hell had just happened, his eyes widened as he saw the other mindflayer there. He was the spitting image of the one he had seen in Riley's memory... only healed up. The armor was even there.
Andeon.
Now he knew why the fear was there. Though that feeling was soon overtaken by an immense rage that was his own as he saw the other mindflayer have the nerve to actually kiss her like that after flipping their booth.
"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HER YOU b*****d!!" the dragon roared as he charged, ready to try and punch the guy in the face, but Riley had already had him pinned down, so he had to stop himself. That didn't make him any less angry though.
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 12:11 am
The hunchback had just come shuffling back with his shovel and a bucket from who knows where he stashed them, ready to clean up the spilled brains littering the booth when suddenly... there were two Mistresses.
If it hadn't been for the quick attack, Christof would have been locked in place in amazed bafflement. He had had no forewarnings of Riley's past... he knew very little about his Mistress, really, other than she was brilliant and practically oozed demonic power- He had no idea of the dangers that lay in the second Mindflayer that had joined them. And so, when she was viciously grabbed, the booth launching away from them and his Mistress was drawn up into a vicious.... kiss...?
He dropped his bucket, just as the dragon let out his roar and began his charge, gripping the shovel with both hands as the Igor began his own slower shambling charge with a wild howl through his stitched lips.
His reflexes were not as good as Jericho's, unfortunately, and even as Riley kicked the intruder's legs out from under him he couldn't seem to stop his rush once the momentum had been pushed forward.
The shovel swung...
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 12:31 am
Andeon grinned, or as close as he could. His cheeks scrunched up, really, but you better believe that in his head, he was grinning. Even as the woman pinned him with ease, another reminder that this was an entirely new playing field, that smug air seemed more or less entirely unshaken. As quickly as her tentacles were around his throat, his were around hers. It was a familiar embrace, almost intimate in a way only their kind could understand.
After a while, spilling blood became a lot like saying hello. And it looked like Andeon and Riley were about to exchange more hellos than a Wal-mart greeter on Black Friday.
Why, Aen- Andeon stopped, and as though to disgrace her further, amended the statement, Riley, if you wanted me on my back, all you had to do was ask.
He winked. It looked a little bit awkward coming from a man who looked like he should have been in a colosseum. The sudden shift of his weight as he flipped Riley over looked far more appropriate, even if he released his grip in the closest thing to 'surrender' that Andeon would ever allow himself to come. Tentacles slid away as the man stood, brushing bits of dirt and grass off of his armor.
Just in time to catch a shovel right to the space between his shoulder blades.
His entire body vibrating as a loud clang filled the air. Andeon stumbled forward a step, claws dragging the dirt to stop the undesired movement. He spun, those white eyes suddenly narrowed in the direction of the apparently less intelligent of Riley's minions. What Andeon lacked in manners, he seemed to make up for in a strong stomach. Tentacles came forward with a speed that seemed to mirror Riley's own, one dark blue tip violently forcing its way through the stitching that held the hunchback's mouth closed.
It was the first step of a move that Riley knew all too well, but for some reason Andeon stopped short of ripping the hunchback into pieces. Instead, that single tentacle squirmed its way through the stitching along his cheeks.
Nothing personal, little buddy, but that was a mighty hard swing and I'm an eye for an eye kind of man, he said, before one hard yanked ripped one side of the stitching open from eye to jaw. His attention turned to Jericho, and Andeon seemed... puzzled.
Dude, are you serious? You see a rack like that and your instinct is to not touch? You see purple mountains majesty and your first thought is 'Man, I would like to NOT bury my face in there and shake it.'
Like a polaroid picture.
For a long moment he looked from the dragon to Riley. More specifically, he looked from the dragon to Riley's chest area, each time looking more and more puzzled, until he had no choice but to approach the young man and rest a hand on his shoulder, patting it gently.
You have much to learn, my young friend. Fear not, I will teach you. But I promise, my lovely Riley. My dearest lady. My maleficent and magnificent main squeeze, the only mess I'm here to clean up is yours.
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 12:44 am
Every inch of calm she'd managed to muster flew out of her the moment she was flipped on her back. She slammed her fists into the ground, not unlike a moment of a hissy fit, and would have tried to regain her position - if Andeon had not just been slammed in the back with a shovel.
She tried not to laugh. No, honestly. She closed her mind off to keep every thought out, but it was so hard to stop the shaking. She was silently laughing at you, Andeon, because you just got owned by a-
Riley's laughter stopped, and she winced as Christof's face took the brunt of punishment for his act. Yet, somehow, she was glad it had been Christof, whose body could withstand a rip or two, and not Jericho. In fact, it was Andeon's sudden interest in Jericho that had Riley's temper flaring, not the fact that he'd ripped Christof open. Her priorities were skewed, and exposing themselves accidentally.
Riley slapped Andeon's hand off of Jericho's shoulder, and inadvertently put her best friend in a world of danger as she used him to taunt the one thing she knew would get under Andeon's skin.
Perhaps he just doesn't want you touching them, Andypants. She slid her hand around Jericho's waist, and her eyes glittered deviously. Perhaps he is the one who has much to teach you.
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 1:02 am
Jericho's temper only flared as he saw Andeon flip Riley onto her back like that. There was a small amount of satisfaction as he saw Christof smack the guy but that feeling quickly washed off when retaliation happened. Sneering, his wings flared out in agitation.
The words said by the male mindflayer did not help either. A sort of fire ignited within the dragon's eyes and he lashed out to try and punch the guy right in the face as a result.
He probably would have followed up with another attack, but Riley's touch pulled him back. While he was still very much visibly tense with rage, he didn't strike again.
"Pathetic underdark slimes like you have no right to touch her," he hissed between his teeth.
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 1:10 am
The hunchback staggered, the shovel dropping from his hands as he tried to grab the tentacle suddenly lodging itself between his stitches, eyes wide with terror. Mistress! He mentally cried out in frantic panic, eyes rolling to try to spot her frantically. Mistress help!! He gagged and sputtered, trying desperately to drag the thing out as the Other-Mistress .... The Other Mindflayer, his mental voice corrected, flinched his tentacles and suddenly there was a blinding pain as he was released.
For a moment, the Igor had expected the world to go flying as it would have if he had been torn to pieces, but as he sagged to his knees and his hands flew up to his ruined face he was almost relieved... Even so, terror gripped him like a vice and he quickly crawled backward with a howling whimper, loose, ruined flaps of flesh hanging from the exposed, cracked bone as though taking refuge under the remaining chair or cover of the boxes could protect him.
But no, Mistress barely batted an eye, instead moving to the Dragon... Christof sagged, outright trembling.
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 1:31 am
Ways to piss Andeon off:
-Touch his tentacles
-Scratch his armor
-Insult his intelligence
-Pick the lame red dragon guy over his sweet, sweet purple a**.
-Punch him in the ******** face.
Jericho would likely have been successful against an opponent with only two arms, but two arms and a dozen tentacles made physical combat a sticky situation. The dragon's fist came down, but it met with a wall of cold, clammy tentacles. Still, Andeon felt the blow enough to rankle his nerves.
Heel, Sparky. I have no interest in you. Your brutish manners tell me your brain isn't even big enough to serve as an appetizer. But if you insist on violence, I am more than willing to accommodate.
The illithid's eyes narrowed, and Riley knew she had struck a nerve the moment she'd so affectionately touched Jericho. There was something there beyond simple annoyance, a fury that went bone deep, born of a history that none but the two mindflayer's knew. Perhaps more apparent, though, was a sense of sadness. An air of loss, as though Riley had pulled some plug the moment she'd slipped her arm around the dragon, and allowed his respect for her to slowly drain.
So is this what you are now, Aen'ryliis? The words carried with them a sense of scorn, meant only for his fellow mindflayer, and Andeon shook his head.The ends of his tentacles curled and uncurled restlessly, mirroring the fists that clenched and unclenched quietly. It was as though he was trying to suppress some instinctive urge to reach out and choke the man.
Probably because that was exactly what was happening. He glanced back to the hunchback, the one who had leapt so eagerly to defend the woman who had so easily abandoned him, and moved to stand beside him. After all, it couldn't help its lack of intelligence, could it?
You once would have snapped his neck and not blinked an eye. You would have reached down his throat and pulled out his heart for daring to lay a hand on another Illithid, and now you're doing... Andeon gestured briefly to the pair. He would not dirty his thoughts by articulating what was happening. The gesturing hand came to rest upon Christof's shoulder, almost as though to comfort him, if Andeon were even capable of such a thing. He disrespects your kind, and in doing so disrespects you, and your answer is to drape yourself on him like some gutter whore and gloat?
Andeon shook his head once more, and of all the emotions running through him, disappointment and that feeling of sudden loss were certainly the strongest.
She's all yours, pal, he said as he turned his back on the lot of them and strode off.
For as long as the Council lets her live.
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 1:48 am
It was too bad that the tentacles had blocked the blow. Narrowing his eyes further at Andeon, Jericho just kept his hands balled up into tight fists at his sides.
"Heh. You wouldn't be able to handle it. I'd like to see you try," he sneered.
Though his gaze flitted to Christof briefly, his attention was mostly on the male mindflayer. If only he could hear the private thoughts he was saying to Riley right about now. He could guess that something was being said, judging his actions, but he couldn't hear them.
At least, until he was addressed once more.
And for a split second, fear struck his heart. Jericho didn't know illithids back and forth, but of his prior knowledge and what he had heard from Riley, many things she did now were not by the ways of the mindflayer. Were they publishable by death?
"I wouldn't be surprised if she ends up with a much longer life than yours, Andeon."
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 2:07 am
Riley's gaze flickered from Andeon to Christof. She couldn't look at him without reacting to the damage, and so they flickered away quickly, so as not to give away any emotion. None of Andeon's insults had any effect on her, however. He was merely talking out of his a**, and she knew better than to listen.
Her plans were different, now.
Andeon's loss was palpable. She sneered in disgust, nausea creeping up from her stomach at the mere idea that he thought he had the right to belittle her for her actions. He had no rights at all, now that he was here.
He did, however, have a direct line to home.
Riley disengaged from Jericho, and turned her eyes up to him. Privately, she murmured - help Christof. Please. And don't follow me. The white bulbs of light crescented in lieu of a smile. I'll be fine. He's all bark and no bite. She lied.
She walked off, barely managing to stop by Christof, and giving him one, good, hard look. Her brow deepened in agonizing pity. I am so, so sorry. She whispered to him, before breaking into a trot to catch up with the other mindflayer.
Once at his side, she did something unexpected. Her hand slid around his arm, and she pulled - viciously, to keep him at her side as she led him back into the fields behind the booth.
All right, you braindead baffoon. You and me, we're going to have a chat. Your misconceptions have gone far enough.
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 2:17 am
Andeon didn't pause for Jericho's words. The dragon was barely a blip on the mindflayer's radar. Little more than Riley's latest pet in a long line. He would be used and discarded in time, Andeon was certain. And so the thinly veiled threats rolled off like water on waxed paper, the uneducated opinion of a boy who had no idea the danger his little girlfriend was in. The threat that loomed over Riley's head was one he couldn't expect the dragon to understand.
And, quite frankly, he didn't give much of a damn what that pea-sized brain did or didn't comprehend.
His usually upbeat, sarcastic nature had fled, ushered out by the gravity of the situation. How could she have been so far gone? Why had they waited until now to send him here, until she had all but lost herself in this... prison of emotion? There had been a woman there once who had held Andeon's respect in the way only a person who nearly killed him ever could, and he could barely even see the ghost of her now.
It made him... feel, which made the mindflayer infinitely more uncomfortable than Jericho's threats or Christof's whimpers.
The mere touch was enough to make his skin crawl, his stomach knotting in disgust. There was a flare of anger, and the mindflayer rounded on his once comrade the moment they were out of sight from the others. A hand lashed out, ripping hers off and shoving her back hard into a small tree. It was a reminder; she might be more experienced in this world, but he was by no means a pushover. Sharp claws gripped her jaw, as though to still the loose tongue she didn't even have.
I will not have my skin dirtied by your disgrace, he hissed, Do not forget your place, Aen'ryliis, or mine. I do not need you to tell me what you have or have not done, what you do or do not think. I am not one of them. If you think that pretty face is going to change my mind, don't forget that I once nearly ripped it of.
If Andeon could have spat, he would have.
I should kill you where you stand for the disgrace you just allowed.
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 2:28 am
Some might have expected Riley to lash out at this behavior, once she was pinned to a tree and held against her will. She wasn't the least bit moved by his pathetic display of power, and when he threatened her life, all he received in return was a roll of the eyes and a slump of her shoulders.
Then her hand reached out and gripped his wrist. You are an idiot.
Her voice wasn't angry, anymore.
You know that, don't you? You are a simpleton, a one-sided geometrical figure of thought. Are you ready to listen, or will you continue to spit out your clueless childlike tantrums until I have tired of you and finally put you out of your misery?
And just like that, her head disappeared, sliding underneath the hold she'd slowly been pulling away from her neck, finger by finger, until she was free to do so.
You're going to ruin everything. She murmured, her voice a sing-song as she started to walk away, waving one hand in the air. I truly don't understand why the council sent a brute to come storming in on my carefully constructed web with no explanation of my role here. You're like a bull in a china shop. MY china shop.
Her claws tapped together softly. She still had her back to him, an insult in and of itself. So? Tell me what they told you.
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