jigokulogs | July 2022 IC Mingle

July 2022 IC Mingle

1. ITADAKIMASU!

After the harrowing incidents involving the curse last month, unity is the theme for welcoming the new influx of Lost Souls. The factions are still busy with cleanup efforts and making sure their personnel are in fighting shape. What’s more, most of the usual spots that would play host to the factions’ parties are either closed until they’re repaired, or in no state to be hosting parties that big.

Thus, an agreement has been reached. All of the factions will hold their mingles together and host a food truck/yatai festival in the blocks surrounding Theater Square, in the Sutoku Alliance’s territory. This gets money into the hands of the local vendors, and allows the community to spend time together in relative peace. It’s still Jigokucho, there are punks prowling to start fights and steal wallets, like they always are, but it’s a breath of fresh air after everything that’s been happening lately. Just keep your wits about you and enjoy the food. Takoyaki is one of the most popular items and competition between the carts motivates chefs to make them flair and style!

Kushiten, yakitori, dango, croquettes, senbei, onigiri, yakisoba, taiyaki, you name it, it’s probably represented here in some form. There are even any number of your favorite treats from home, even if your home isn’t Earth. It might take a little poking around to find them, but isn’t that part of the delight of exploring a city’s food?

The falling Stardust has made its way into the food as well. You may notice that some vendors are grinding up the glowing stellar fragments and putting them into the food itself as a spice. Are… you supposed to eat that?! Oh well! When it’s time to party, you can’t go wrong with a little Stardust.

2. MUSIC GOT ME FEELIN SO FREE

In the center of Theater Square, surrounded on all sides by the many colorful food stalls, they’ve set up a stage for local artists to perform on. There are a great variety of acts who come and go to play a few songs. The music reaches all throughout the square and may be little more than background noise, until just the right tune catches your ear.

Jenny⁣ – This all-girls story of hidden love should be hitting all the ladies in the crowd a certain kind of way. Have you been admiring a friend or coworker and just never taken the plunge? Now’s the time for that kiss, the music is playing.
KONNANじゃないっ⁣⁣ – This sweet idol bop about striding bravely towards your best future fills you with inspiration and hope for the future. You may feel compelled to bring your hopes and dreams into every conversation. The future is bright!
Running Up That Hill⁣⁣ – As the singer performs some kind of interpretive dance, she sings about her frustrations with never truly being able to see from another person’s perspective. What would you do to show your true self? Maybe it’s time to iron out that ongoing misunderstanding you’ve been circling.
Love Warriors⁣⁣ – A simple act with a guitarist and singer, she sings a mellow piece about the true value of love. What a beautiful message. Your heart might begin to overflow with feelings of care and affection. Will you finally spill those all-important three words? I-love-you.
One More Time⁣⁣ – The last act of the evening is lively, colored lights flashing out across the square. They begin to play an impossibly catchy beat that no one can resist dancing too. Dance like no one is watching and enjoy the sweet catharsis of a good dance session. You’ll feel better for it tomorrow.

(Players are more than welcome to use their own song and effect. 💖)

3. BIRD BOMBS

At some point during the festivities, the Daitengu takes the stage. They’re in exceptionally high spirits. They give a shout-out to Toraguma and Tenkohime for helping to make this happen. As usual, The Enma is not present. However, the Daitengu forgoes any snide remarks, although they do seem a bit let down. Hope springs eternal, one supposes.

Next they would like to announce that they have even more reasons to celebrate: a truce has been declared between the Shuten and Tamamo clans. The war for the Underground is over (for now) and new construction has started on a new casino and adult entertainment complex in the once-contested territory. They hope that this will lead to an ongoing era of financial cooperation between the three factions.

They thank Sakamoto Ryouma for making all of this happen and give him a shoutout in the crowd. Word has spread all over the Alliance about their deeds, and what they managed to pull off; a blessing and a curse. It becomes obvious that not every tribe within the Sutoku Alliance was okay with putting the Alliance itself up as collateral to make this happen. The Kasasagi Tengu Tribe, in particular, has decided to let their protest be known by storming the party in a flood of aggressive magpies. They vulture the food, they pick at jewelry, they’re an absolute menace.

Good luck shooing them away. The vibes are counting on you to deal with these feathered buzzkills.

Welcome to the IC mingle!

If you have any questions about the mingle content, please ask them here!
If you have questions about the game itself, please check out the premise, FAQ, and rules pages.
For Rewards, given both the Stardust and Turf War prompts are involved in all three, threads in the Mingle log count for TWO (2) points!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ As soon as their lips meet, it's like those same fireworks are going off in the back of Cloud's skull. He's sharing Aerith's breath - his tongue reflexively seeking out hers. A whine catches in his throat - one Aerith can feel as well as hear. A tremble of anticipation. ]

[ With their hands separated, and the song winding down, the pretense of the dance has completely been lost. His free hand joins the other, wrapping around her waist and pulling her tight against him, the fire in his body all the more evident as it presses into Aerith from in front. If she's going to trap him: he's going to trap her, seems to be the response. His eyes flutter open and shut as the pleasure ebbs and flows - it feels so much stronger, like a dam has been broken. Everything feels so much more vibrant and it's already making it hard to think about anything but the moment in front of him. When his eyes do open - staring into Aerith's, clear and serene and so full of life, it only makes him feel hotter, his hands squeezing of their own accord - unbidden by any sort of active thought. ]

[ It's not enough. It's not nearly enough. ]

[ Aerith unravels like this: Slowly and thread by thread, like a sweater coming undone, then all at once, like a tree falling. The result is so thunderous that she feels it through her body like lightning zapping across her in nerves she never felt before. (Or she had, and just forgotten about them— purposefully.) There's a grave sense of urgency and desperation in her like the idea that this is the moment she will never get back so she has to hold it tight and never let go. It is true there is no going back from this point on: "It's Complicated" may stick or it may not stick, she doesn't know, but a part of her is no rush to lose the pleasantries of walking that line. Jumping to the edge is somehow scarier to her. The definitive possibility of changing and moving on guts her as much as it thrills her.

Shakily, she leans into his kiss. It feels like the warm spot of Spring just before it transitions into Summer, when the flowers are all growing so tall and free and beautifully that she can sink into the grass and the loamy dirt and feel the birdsong from far away. She meets his tongue with her own, taking a long moment to enjoy the sensation down to her core. She is so utterly wrapped up in Cloud and there is both no going back as much as there is no going forward. Somehow, this feels like the wall she was destined to hit here. How do you move on from this? They entwine in a different kind of dance, holding one another with desperation. She thinks back to the image of him sleeping in a hospital bed and pulls him closer. She remembers the ribbon on his bicep, and stay there for a moment longer like she'll be safer there.

All around them the confetti settles to the ground, and flashes of lights go off. A distant sensation, they all are, when you're in the throes of something beautiful and terrifying. She stays there.

When, at last, the pulls away for breath, feels the way her lips are so wet, and his hot breath on them... Aerith leans back, standing back on her own two feet as she would naturally. She breathes in, tries to center herself, and fails. This time, there is no first floor lobby to waltz into like nothing transpired. This time, it's them, the party, and the whole world, and every light in the universe feels like it's shown on them and their dance. The city isn't too big for Cloud and Aerith, and it doesn't hide them away this time. This time, they glow. ]

Um. [ Well.

She licks her lips, takes in the memory of their kiss. ]

My place or your's?

[ Might as well. ]

[ When she pulls him closer, the elctricity seems to run up Cloud's body, the way her own desperation breaks free fueling the fire. And when she pulls away, he's loathe to leave her - his hands trailing across her hips, fingertips like a ghost. He looks into her eyes, feels the phantom sensation of her lips on his, of their bodies so close they could each tell where fabric ended and flesh began. He tries to recenter himself - a move do the failure. He's never been half as composed as Aerith. ]

[ As they pull away, the spell holding Cloud's attention entirely on Aerith has snapped - for the moment. The lingering hunger remains, his eyes looking back at her as he once again regains his surroundings, as if he had been looking at them for the first time - his hand finds his breast, and the nonstromp thrumming that has yet to settle. ]

I- uh- [ He processes quickly what that's supposed to mean, but taken out of their own little private world and put back in this one, he stumbles. Only briefly. ] Probably yours, I- the walls- they-

[ They'll hear us, is the thought Cloud unsuccessfully attempts to convey. Realizing now that there is no privacy between them, a kiss shared in the kight of the festival. There's no way people won't talk, of course - but Cloud's more sudden awareness means he'd rather be cautious with those next steps, seemingly dancing on the edge of a collapsing cliffside. ]

Edited 2022-07-16 05:20 (UTC)

[ There's moments of clarity with Cloud that seem like the storm has gone and given way to the guy beneath the bravado. Closed off as he is, she can tell he's not all that unfeeling, and in moments like this, she picks up on it without missing a bit. Raising her brows, her expression twists; cat-like playfulness bleeds into her smile, a devious twinkle in her gaze. The lights are dying her pink and blue and purple. ]

Hear us... or you?

[ Once more, she kisses him deep and tender, shameless, and then she pulls away to lead him through the crowd like she's an old pro at it. The dirt path with the taxis is a fairly long walk away, but near the end of the night, what drags it out is the sea of bodies. Aerith pulls through them awkwardly, lacking the grace she wouldn't quite have still, but even more drained of it now in her clamor for a ride back to Tamamo. In the mean time, she still anticipatory glances back at him. ]

Didn't take you for the quie-

[ He doesn't get the chance to counter before she steals another kiss, and the fireworks go off behind his eyes again. It's all he can do to dig a couple fingers into his hands and not pull her back into his embrace. Luckily he doesn't have to hold that for more than a moment before she's pulling him along. Stumbling shamelessly through the crowd - if Cloud has trouble keeping up with Aerith now, it's only by the grace of the grip she has on him (it's tight, it's hot, he's not sure he ever wants her to let go in the state he's in right now) that he hasn't stumbled onto the dirt himself. ]

[ The energy between them - a mutual want that is rapidly becoming a desperate need - isn't hard to find in Cloud as Aerith steals glances back at him - he's looking to her as they hail a taxi. There's a flush to his face that won't go away, a sort of heavy breathing that isn't entirely from the breathlessness of the kiss, nor is it from their push through the crowds to find a taxi ready to take them home. There are other signs. Less obvious, more lurid, that she might yet find - the way he shifts from one foot to another to try and hide such signals is a dead giveaway to Aerith. ]

[ He finally finds his response, a bit breathless. ]

Going to be a long way back.

[ It was half past ten when the cabbie pulled up, and it had been only two minutes before that when the two of them queued up, vise grip in vise grip, waiting for a ride. By that point, Aerith had pulled him into a kiss that burned hot and playful, and she only managed to keep an eye on the road for their turn by peeking. It happens just in time for her to consider working her tongue into his mouth, so the decision is made for her at the last second.

Then, it's a matter of clamoring into the taxi with it's just barely too small backseat, and the inside smells like sweat and leather already but it isn't nearly enough of a deterrent. What happens is that Aerith pulls Cloud in with her and over her— ]

We'll see who the quiet one is soon, won't we?

[ and the cabbie who recognizes her as the nuisance who dragged all the reporters towards his car immediately wonders if he's seeing what he is seeing. Aerith cuts his thoughts off by rattling off her address before burying herself back into Cloud with another kiss. Breathless and hot, deep but commanding like the sway of the ocean. The current she sets is hungry and wanting, but playful all the same. She could swallow him whole. ]

[ The kisses Aerith steal from Cloud dig into him. The playfulness eating away at his ability to hold himself together, drunk off the atmosphere and Aerith's hot breath on his lips and in his ear, his hands on her waist and only willing to let her go as the cab pulls forward, and she drags him into it, tumbling into it and on top of her. ]

[ The back of the cab is too small, but given the way she buries herself into him, pulls him overtop of her, they aren't using half that space anyway. The cab starts to move, and Cloud finds himself drowning in Aerith, whatever might have been holding her back long since evaporated in the heat of the moment. Demanding all of him he can give, and he willingly provides. ]

[ This close, Aeirth fills Cloud's senses. Sight - her eyes, her smile, her figure, the way she twists just so under his gaze. Her scent, a hint of fresh cut flowers, of a nature too free to tame. In his ears her hauntingly cheerful voice, teasing and goading him, her breath coming in short gasps. Her taste - her lips on his, wet and demanding, her tongue twisting with his, a hint of berries and sugar he doesn't quite know where to place. Touch, though - a hand finds itself against Aerith's chest, fingertips pressing in gently but with a nervous restraint. Their bodies pressing together in the narrow cab car, giving Aerith the knowledge of where the fabric of Cloud's outfit ends and his body begins. ]

[ He can't respond to her tease with his voice - but that's okay, his body makes it clear how he feels all too plainly to her. ]

[ The seconds have barely slithered by into minutes by the time they're rolling down the streets in the cab, Cloud's body heat pressing into her's and melting her down to nothing but a horrible, sticky sweet mess of want and need. It aches like a sickness inside of her, boiling over hotly.

They settle into a tango of sorts, breathy but not entirely lost to the rhythm. Aerith takes an eager lead, spoiling him with attention immediately. She drags him onto her, but adjusts herself teasingly; a knee brushes against his crotch as she slips her leg between his own, settling her thigh against him. The short length of her dress lets her skin grace his pants fabric, and she smiles into the kiss.

The cabbie, meanwhile, has seen this too many times to give a shit, though he thinks it's going to be funny when he tells his co-workers he saw the guy who stabbed the heart of the curse macking on one of the foxes who concocted the incense. Talk about faction unity. ]

[ Aerith isn't the only one being boiled down to nothing but want and need. She positions him into straddling her leg, brushing and pressing into him, and it's everything Cloud can do not to let out a throaty groan at the touch. ]

[ He kisses back passionately - sloppily, but mostly out of his own desires running hot, boiling over, than anything. His fingers roam Aerith's body idly, the hand on her chest tracing out one of her breasts in the outline of her shirt, while the other lets his gloved finger trail up the leg that isn't between his own. ]

[ Aerith takes the lead, but Cloud can't help but tease back, little brushes of his own as he fights for air between the kiss. The heat and tension in his body still wound so tightly, like there's only so much tension he might endure before it completely snaps, drawn too taut to contain. ]

[ In a split moment he has Aerith giving out a throaty sort of giggle, a laugh that rumbles in her chest and can't escape. She refuses to come up for air, but a smile is worn thinly at her lips and her hands raise to thread fingers through his golden hair that keeps getting halo-lit by the lights of other cars. She peeks to see the constellation of freckles on his cheeks for a moment, eyes wrinkling in amusement as she wonders where else he'd have them, and then she pulls away to look over her head to the streets that Hell.

Businesses whiz by, the lights smearing purple, red, blue, white, pink, a constant haze of color and lights that don't sleep. Neon billboards with moving images tell her that they've crossed into Tamamo territory at long last. She's looking for the tell-tale sign of a board with a pink flower advertising cheap apartment living when it suddenly strikes her: ]

Oh! I left my baskets back there...

[ She sounds as concerned as a snake would be about it's own shed skin. Adjusting her body a bit more, she slides so that the leather of the upholstery is sticky-cold against her thighs but Cloud brushes against her in a particularly sensitive spot (naturally, what's a girl to do but delightfully whisper, "ooh," to herself when a package is delivered?) but it's barely enough to deter her. With a kiss-drunk flush, she looks back at Cloud. ]

Good trade off, though!

We could go back, you know.

[ He's a little more confident. Not a lot, but Aerith having to stop herself as his hand snakes up her legs, to that sensitive spot, well, it's hard to take that as anything but a signal to continue. Things rarely stop Aerith from chattering, so a brief pause is like finding a small little secret. It's a very gentle touch, nothing too explicit. Yet. He has some patience. Or maybe he likes making Aerith wait. Hard to say. ]

[ He also expects neither of them want to go back, at this stage - while he's got a bit of confidence, his face is flushed just as red as Aerith's, just as drunk on atmosphere and the thrill of intimacy. ]

If you really need them, I mean.

[ He gets... a little more daring - before she has time to respond, he's planting gentle kisses on her neck, a little too insatiable - and perhaps goading Aerith at the same time. After all, she wasn't going to stop - why should he? ]

[ He may think about catching her bluff, but as Cloud places pecking kisses at her neck, Aerith delights in thoughts of teasing him. Her hands snake down to place her palms flat against his back, as if entangling him in a hug, and he'll feel the bubbly giggle that shakes her chest beneath his ministrations. ]

Alright. Hey, can we circle back? I forgot something...

[ She asks. Why not? They're only going to draw it out, anyway, neither of them are going somewhere, and there's no embarrassment of coming back for something, is there?

"No," says the cabbie, barely letting her finish her question. After all, the sign is already viewable from the street. Just another right to pull into the parking lot, and it's home free. He doesn't sound the least bit sorry about it, either, though a note of sardonic amusement stains his tone. The joke is shot down before it can even fly. In the mean time, Aerith slips her hand into her pocket to pluck a wad of cash out; though neither of them are swimming in dough right now, the poor fellow deserves extra compensation for the trouble of dealing with a pair of horny twenty-somethings. ]

Guess I'll have to hope for the best, then, won't I?

[ Not that Aerith sounds particularly bothered by this, of course. ]

Guess so.

[ Honestly, it's for the best this poor cabbie shot down the joke before it had the chance to fly. These two have an incorrigible rapport - not just because their hands are all over each other, but they clearly don't know when to stop each other, either. A small number of bills are fished out of Cloud's pockets, as well - at this point, he's not even really thinking about if Aerith is tipping or not, which means that the Cabbie might get a little extra compensation than expected for the trouble. ]

Not like there are exactly many flower girls in hell. If they go missing, I'm sure they'll turn up.

[ It's a veiled compliment - Aerith is absolutely one-of-a-kind, both here and elsewhere. Cloud's fingers exploring every part of her he can get away with as the cabbie pulls up to their destination, at least, is proof enough of that. ]

Besides, we can check in the morning. If we remember. [ If they're awake. If they're not distracted. There's a number of variables. ]

[ The car rolls into the parking lot smoothly and easily, coming to a stop upfront where the lobby is dimly illuminated with a dying shade of orange from an old, beaten up looking chandelier. They must have paid the fare several times over because the doors unlock with a deep sort of click. They don't need to fuss with the lobby, and after peeling themselves off from each other with great reluctantance on Aerith's part, it takes a few scarce moments to get across the lot. The taxi is gone in seconds, onto the next ride, and the sodium lights are beaming a terribly bright sort of light down from several corners of the parking lot. It's the sort of desolate place that looks like no one is really there or has been there in weeks, at least, but she leads Cloud up the stairs with familiarity. ]

They just fixed the lights. Pretty bright out here now.

[ The hallway to her apartment looks like a jungle now with the rows and rows of plants in pots and vases left out. Her neighbors are either shockingly patient or writing angry letters on the daily; more likely, they've gotten used to it.

There's a key, she remembers, pressed at the bottom of a potted fern by her door. Aerith bends to retrive it, pulling the pot away and picking up a gold key that slips into the lock easily. For a moment, she realizes what is actually happening and it strikes her that it is real and they aren't atopping. The ridiculousness of it, too, hits her: She's brought Cloud home for sex and is aware they both have no intention of stopping this time. She thinks about the elevator, the way it felt like precious time in limbo, separated from the here and now. This, though, feels like it could only ever happen here and now, and she still tastes candy like she had on the dancefloor.

She pushes the door open. It smells like a garden inside and a window is open but its the same crappy one room apartment they all have. Mercifully, she had left her futon out in anticipation of coming home tired. ]

Here we are. My humble little abode. Nice, huh?

[ The door locks behind him as Aerith twists the key, and this time, she waits for his move, biting her lip even as she smiles. ]

[ The candy-like taste is still in Cloud's mouth, too - an acute sensation that has everything feeling brighter and louder than it should. He follows Aerith's lead - a small note of comprehension in his voice as he notices all the plants that have ended up at Aerith's abode. The smell of a garden hits him, and there's a nostalgia to it - the sort of gentle smell that hit him the first time he met Aerith, coming to consciousness after a fall from a good three hundred meters up. ]

You've really made the place a home away from home. [ He means that, in his own silly, sincere way. The energy of the moment isn't lost on him - and the brief lull between the jokes and her walking him up to her apartment has only served to kindle that nervous energy anew. Had he expected given everything that him and Aerith were going to cross this threshold? Not really - but like a lot of things, it creeps up on you, until there's nothing but the moment in which it's happening - as real as anything. ]

[ The lock clicks, she turns and bites her lip in that way he's growing familiar with recognizing - she wants something from - no, she wants him. There's all of a sudden a much greater energy that seems to come from nowhere, a longing, as deep as the ocean. And when it's clear, after a moment, that she wants him to make the move - to commit to them both falling into something much more intense than a makeout and some dirty dancing... well. ]

[ He does what he feels is the most natural thing to do, crossing the distance and cupping a hand under Aerith's chin, letting their eyes lock as he pulls her in. ]

We can stop whenever you like. Just let me know.

[ Despite his standoffishness, ever the gentleman. If she's waiting for a kiss, she doesn't have to wait long - his lips are on hers, openly, both his arms around her waist. Somehow more intense and fevered as their kiss on the dance floor - here, they didn't have to hold anything back. ]

[ Later, she might piece together what's gotten to them both. A combination of magic on the dancefloor and hormones is one thing, but stardust— a powerful drug— is another. It might even get Aerith's panties in a bunch for a while. Later, she might wonder what this means for them going forward. The future looks unpredictable, but with everything they've done in just one night, that's to be expected. Right now, it feels like they're really, finally, writing their own future down.

When he takes her into his arms, she feels like something unlocks.

Their heated gaze ends momentarily, interrupted by a kiss. He's smooth, shockingly so, but not without a hint of dorkiness. Something about it feels a little practiced, almost too knightly, Aerith huffs a sweet little laugh against his lips and then pulls him closer. It's only a plot to get him shoved back against the wall, making sure his back collides while she pins him against it.

With one deep, lingering kiss, Aerith pulls away from Cloud. ]

I can do that.

[ This time, they go to her beat: She pulls him in again, kisses him like trying to find every part of him in that one kiss, and drowns in him. The lights are still off in her apartment, the half-broken air conditioner barely working against the heat. Her hand finds a fistful of his blond hair just to keep him there. She pulls him closer still, finds the clasp of his belly warmer, and fiddles with it to release it.

Now or never, really. ]

[ He may have tried to be a little smooth. For once. Aerith knows how to get the best kind of performance out of him. But in that performance is something altogether genuine - even despite the powerful effects the stardust might have had on both of them.

His back hits the wall, pinned against there by Aerith, and she devours him - as she's only too right to do. He feels his hair get grabbed, and he locks in place, that ghostly half-smile of his an illusion in the dark of the room.

Every kiss she plants on him then just seems to make the contrast — between the heat all over, but the feeling of ice in his belly — all the fiercer. His neck cranes, his back strains and arches against the flat of the wall. A muffled little cry is half-moaned into Aerith's mouth. A spreading heat from each kiss that threatens to take him over. It's almost too much, how quickly she gets him going like that. It's hard to think about anything else when she's reaching to pull at the clasps and fasteners that will, quite literally and figuratively, cause him to come undone.

Of course, Cloud has never been one to just take things, even when he's up against the literal wall. Aerith might find hands slipping down to the hem of her dress, sliding under it as she brings herself close enough for him to get handsy again, hiking it up slowly as he does.

There's something about all this - an unknown but still sweet familiarity that seems to tug at him from afar. Of course, he has things in the present to be worried about - like Aerith's imminent access to a certain spot between his legs, so it only comes to him in brief pulses. But the well of that affection is so deep. It consumes him in ways he doesn't have words for, doesn't even have thoughts for. A rushing river of longing and desire finally breaking to the surface.

He's caught up in all of it. Carried away by desires much stronger than he's ever had before. ]

Edited 2022-08-01 10:58 (UTC)

[ It would easier, maybe, if Aerith would just continue to drag him along with him until the very end of their encounter, but that wouldn't quite as fun, she deduces. It hits her hard and fast when she feels the rumble of his moan against her lips like a volcano erupting and giving into what mother nature always wants from it. Cloud plays his due diligence, shifting his hands along to back and then down. It sends a delightful little shiver up her spine that sticks roots down in her belly, warm and playful. She repays him in kind, and moves her hand down.

From over his shoulder to along his chest, she finds the soft fabric of his turtleneck and below it, almost could swear she feels the beating of his heart. Is it as fast as her's is? Aerith wonders for only a moment before she lets go of the belly warmer to grace his inner thigh with a mockingly thoughtful touch. The backs of her fingers sliding along, coaxing him further and further out of his shell, as if to goad him into being wrapped up into the moment with her. ]

Soo....

[ Awkwardly does she break the kiss, break the silence, and even the darkness of her apartment splits wide open as a car blazes along the street. It's lights catch along the white, old walls of the dingy one room apartment to spill brilliant white and illuminate along their frames, to halo them. The light brightens his face for her, lets her map out constellations of the Lifestream in his freckles. She reads him for life and love, not for death, and smiles in that way that he knows so well. She's thinking of all the ways to twist his arm and have fun doing it. ]

What do you want?

[ Still, she doesn't touch where he'd be sensitive most now. That's for later, she decides. ]

[ Poor Cloud. Even at the best of times, getting asked what he wanted was a question that would have had his uselessly tied up in his own thoughts. With Aerith's fingertips tracing along his inner thigh, causing him to shudder against the wall, its hard to even get his thoughts straight. ]

W...what do I want...?

[ His heart was beating so loud he was afraid Aerith could hear it - although, little of that blood was heading upward, given Aerith's teasing. His mako-infused eyes glinting in the dark, a little otherworldly. The light halos them and Aerith looks... ethereal. Real and yet not, like how everything felt. Her smile in the dark causing his stomach to tighten and for his muscles to tense. ]

[ The lingering taste of her on his lips, the smell of her mingling with the fresh flowers. Her fingers on his body. He can't help but groan his way through another series of rapid-fire sensations rewiring his brain. What does he want...? ]

Y...you. All of you. [ The answer is as obvious as it is selfish. The desires taking root in his heart, causing the heat to rapidly move through his body. Lighting a fire in him he's never felt that consumes him so completely. ]

[ The tips of his fingers dig into her skin as he talks, his voice strained from the pleasure, comfortably resting just past the small of her back, inviting those shivers he presses his hand against her and digs in, gently. If he was feeling more bold, more daring, well, maybe that too was an effect of everything that had already happened tonight. ]

Give me all of it... [ It's a throaty whisper. ] I can handle it. Everything you need to get out...

[ His hands drag down her skin, his breath hitching. ]

Give it to me.

[ It would be easier, she thinks, for her to deny him. Not for the reasons that would be fun, in truth, but because as his angular face is lit and shadowed by the halo of light that falls from the too-bright headlights of someone's car before it peels across Hell, she recognizes that this is a reality of Cloud that she hasn't seen before. They're wrapped up in one another's lust and forgiveness not unlike little prayers that no one else can hear. And for every beat of his heart she swears she can hear and feel like her own, she's aware that this is a Pandora's box she is opening and letting him fall into, too.

Aerith's face swims with sympathy and pity at once, but a smile crosses her lips in a bittersweet way. She wants to know him, intimately and personally and all sorts of different ways. Uncovering the mystery of Cloud Strife has been a want for her for what feels ages now, even if it's a few scant months of knowing him behind her. He wants all of her. Whatever it is she gives him, and she thinks, for a moment, that is enough to open the box for.

The belly warmer is cast aside with finality, and Aerith slips a hand beneath his top to feel his hard body. He's lankier than other men she's known, built together by pollution and super strength, a real SOLDIER of a man, but she feels his breathing as she touches him, palming his abs and kissing his neck. For good measure, she pulls her hand up and takes the top with her arm, hiking it up to see the cut of his hips, and grabs one of his pecs with a sudden, distracting mischievousness. Maybe if he looks too close, that's all he will see it for. ]

That's not what I meant!

[ Her little quip is spoken against his ear, but without all the heady tone of a moan. It's a laugh, really, the kind you give someone when you don't want them to stray too far. Meanwhile, she fiddles with his belt. Finds the buckle, undoes it, too, but lets him stay there like that, for a moment longer.

Again, they're swimming in darkness, alone with one another. There is nobody here to listen to their prayers but each other. ]

Give me you, Cloud.

[ Her laugh in his ear makes him shiver - the hand under his shirt aand up to his muscled chest a sudden - but not unwelcome intrusion, despite how he jumps. The belly-warmer is quickly forgotten and discarded. Cloud Strife's wardrobe now falling away, piece by piece. His own hands are fumbling to pull her out of her summer dress as well, slowly but surely. At least until she leans in to correct him. That she wants him. ]

[ Those words make every little kiss along his neck, her fingers on his abs and hips, her breath in his ear, feel hotter, making those chills of pleasure shoot down his spine again. He's drowning in the feeling of Aerith taking what she wants - a desire that's risen to the surface, that he only just now realized he's had. She's always pulled away, for one reason or another. Reasons he hasn't been able to completely understand, even as a similar force drives him forward to pull Aerith closer, the more she tries to step away. ]

[ A hand finds its way into her hair, gently grabbing it as if to steady himself, and Aerith gets to hear something very rare - a chuckle. Not a single confident laugh, or a snort, but a nervous, throaty noise that bubbles out from his throat as he finds his voice - barely more than a whisper in between the quiet moans. ]

You want all of me - all the parts that no one else sees.

[ His other hand finds her waist, a finger tracing up the small of her back. Without the belly-warmer, those baggy pants of his are only held together by being slightly tighter in the waist and Cloud's position against the wall. Even the gentlest effort would leave him quite a bit more vulnerable. ]

I remember. How could I not? ...They're all yours.

[ He condenses it down, compartmentalizes it easily. They haven't spoken about Zack, so he doesn't really notice that she's aware, on some level. It's not just seeing Cloud as himself from his perspective, but as his own person. She gives him an approving hum, pulling away to tilt her head and give him an appreciative stare. He's exposed to the summertime heat like this, but she feels cool. He's grabby, and it certainly does something for her, but... ]

We'll see about that.

[ When Aerith removes his top proper, she tosses it somewhere to land wherever it may. It could be on top of a counter or the coffee table or the couch. For how crammed the space is here, there's too many options. Then, voraciously, she kisses him. She leaves a trail of kisses: From his lips to his chin to his neck across Cloud's chest. He feels big and hard under her touch, and her kisses are soft, thoughtful little smacks that trail lower and lower. ]

We've got plenty of time to figure it out.

[ On her knees, she undoes his bottom half. She watches the dip in his hips and sees the shadows map it out, too, sees them deepen it in an illusory way. Looking back up to meet Cloud's gaze, Aerith bites her lip one more time before pulling his pants down again, to see the way his cock pops out. Naturally, she lets out a surprised, "Oh!" before canting her head in consideration once more. ]

I knew it.

[ ...That he was big. With careful consider, she presses her lips to Cloud's cockhead. It's a bitter taste that meets her immediately, the scent of sweat and skin filling her senses immediately. As a chatterbox is eager to do, she uses her tongue to explore him, working her way down eventually. She takes her fill of his cock in her mouth before pulling back to use her hands this time, stroking him in long, teasing pumps. ]

How's that?

[ When Aerith pulls away, only to dive back in with renewed fervor, it's all Cloud can do, to keep his head above the drowning energy of Aerith's passion. She brings herself in to kiss him, pulling away his top, lost in the darkness and clutter of Aerith's apartment. The night is warm - almost too warm, given their mutual dance, but her touch, once hot, now cools and soothes him, coaxes small mutterings, indistinct, from his lips. ]

[ Their eyes meet briefly, before she pulls down his pants, revealing his cock - hot and sensitive from their mutual ministrations. She goes down on him, and she's treated to a full-body shudder as the sensation hits his mind like an oncoming train, blotting out whatever response he had ready for Aerith's remark straight out of his brain. ]

Oooooooooohhh...

[ His knees tremble a little, and a single hand braces itself in Aerith's hair as the other presses against the wall to keep himself steady. Her slow explorations of his cock with her tongue causing him to quietly tremble. Shes pulls her self off his cock, her hand - cool to the touch, compared to the heat coming off his body, and she has the audacity to force him to form any coherent thoughts. ]

G...good. Really, really good. [ His voice is trembling, close to breaking. A small smile on his lips. She wants to tease him for as long as she can, even now. And he certainly can't find the strength in him to disagree. ]

[ If he's into this, he's going to love what's next, she imagines. With a cheeky smile, one of Aerith's eyebrows raises. Holding onto him with a firm, attentive touch, she moves her arm faster, pumping quicker and taking care to use her thumb to massage his cock each time she slips along his cockhead. ]

All green, then. No more wasting time. [ He's back in her mouth. Aerith takes Cloud into her with her eyes closed this time, that same salty taste touching her tongue again. She inhales and bobs her head along him. With his hand on her head, she can't pull back too far, but she doesn't care to. She sucks on him, opens wider and pushes forward. It stings, barely, but she presses on. Aerith's own spit is trailing down her chin sooner than she expects, and she supposes at that point he's slick enough for her to use both her hands on him.

The entire time, she feels her own arousal growing. There's moments where she can barely stand it, but she keeps her hands occupied on Cloud's body instead of her own. It's better than way, she knows, the anticipation paying off big time when she gets that release.

When she's spent more time than likely necessary on his dick, Aerith pulls away with a pop, only to drag her tongue from bottom to top of Cloud's dick. ]

So? How about you try answering me again. What do you want?

[ There's a part of him outside himself that can't entirely believe what's happening. A part, however small, that hasn't been obliterated by the feeling of Aerith's mouth on him. Her fingers digging into his skin as she takes in his hot, needy cock. Cloud isn't the most vocal of men, even at the best of times, but even men who aren't vocal have their limits - a barely-perceptible tightening of his grip in Aerith's hair and low noises that catch in his throat. ]

[ When she goes deep, takes as much of him as she can, those noises finally find their way out of his mouth - a high-pitched cry, as his head snaps backward against the wall and his eyes screw shut. His whole body tenses for a brief moment - but Aerith moves off his dick before he can feel remotely like he's about to crest over the edge - though Aerith's teasing drag of her tongue along his cock causes shivers up and down his spine. She asks him again, and his lust-clouded eyes meet hers, struggling to put the words together. ]

I want... to love you. To- to make love to you. Aerith.

[ He has to force those words out. Not because he doesn't mean them - the desire behind them is sincere, if addled by lust (and perhaps a bit of outer influence). But because it feels like yet another threshold that would feel so impossible to cross. Inside his own mind he can't help but make it want to feel romantic, even if they both know the real word that they're both thinking of. ]

To feel... what I just felt. What I am feeling.

[ He doesn't know what he's saying anymore, but he feels like somewhere in the mess of those confessions is what he wants to say. It's so impossible to convey in this moment, now that they're here. Something that feels so overwhelming expressed with a few simple words. ]

July 2022 IC Mingle

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

[it gets nsfw from here on out, folks]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)