Tongue game nerdy, ain't talking no Cyrus

Kaisel

"What do you meeeeeeeeean?!" he demands with a huff, glancing over at her with emphasis in his brows. "I am JUST saying, one-hundred small puppies could suffocate you by sheer numbers. That seems like something worthy of some consideration, and therefore, one giant dog might not be the only scary option." His hands lay out the image as he talks, spreading around and thumping over him in a display of a puppy waterfall before rising up in a big arc of gigantic dog, gesturing above his head.

Standing amid the threshold to the spire, Kaisel pauses, peering at the entrance with a squint into the gloom inside. "I find it hard to believe this giant thing is here and you guys don't even know what's in all the rooms. Can't you just, dart through them all and be done super duper fast?" Could and would are different things, and map-making seems far too disciplined and lacking the chaos of the not knowing that they all seem to love. Maybe he could encourage Sohalia to come here and do it for them, just for his own peace of mind. "What if there's a boatload of treasure inside and it's been here this whole time?" Shaking his head, he tugs his backpack into a new position on his shoulders.

"Well, we should definitely explore the best one to draw the summoning circle." Exposure therapy, via doing spooky shit.

---

For quest: complete a thread using the chakram to injure himself, this time ensuring the weapon is stained with his blood.

Haters on my back like a backpack
Blowin' up I'm fucking flawless

Code stolen from Queen Sky

charlie

Charlie huffs, loud and theatrical, eyes rolling so hard they might actually clock the upper reaches of the Spire before her gaze settles back on him. Heat slicks her skin in that lazy LongHeat way, crop top clinging just enough to be intentional, short-shorts doing very little to pretend at modesty, tail flicking behind her with amused precision as her mouth curves into a bright, wicked grin. "Oh please," she says, voice honeyed and irreverent, chin tipping as she looks him over like she’s deciding whether to indulge him or ruin his day for sport. "I can always show you my fyrhund shift and see if that's big enough to convince you."

A cinnamon-hot lollipop slips from between her lips, glossy and slow, her fingers curling around the stick as she gestures toward the obsidian monolith with a lazy little point. The Spire looms and broods and pretends it’s important, and Charlie very clearly refuses to be impressed. "Sure," she continues, shoulders lifting in a careless shrug, tail swaying as if to underline the point, "someone could dart through all the rooms super duper fast. But it's not gonna be me." One brow arches, sharp and knowing. "I know it used to be a whole big thing because of the Voice, but honestly? The Temple’s got plenty of doors to look behind, and allll of them are better than empty dusty rooms."

Her gaze slides back to him, brows waggling with deliberate mischief, the lollipop returning to her mouth in a way that is absolutely not subtle and very much on purpose. She hums around it, a pleased little sound, before tugging it free again just long enough to finish, smile all teeth and trouble. "Buttttt," Charlie says lightly, tail curling as she rocks back on her heels, "We can try as many doors as you want." She pauses, bright blue eyes beaming up at him. "I'm easy."

oh I like my boys playin' hard to get
and I like my men all incompetent

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Kaisel

Kaisel snorts, waving away her offer quickly. "Please, you're just gonna try and get me caught in an endless game of fetch or something if you do that." Which is to say, Kaisel is definitely more of a cat/dragon sort of guy. He brings enough dog energy, and so does Charlie without shifting into something more accurate.

Glancing sidelong at her, he scoffs out a, "lazy," in response to her decision not to go exploring every unopened door. If he could dart, he'd definitely be popping into everything all the time. Not at all surprised to hear her bring up the temple again, his eyes immediately flutter into a roll. "You," he asserts with a strong thrust of his finger towards her face, risking collision with her lolipop. "Spend way too much time in that temple. That's why we came here." A truly concerned friend, his shoulders sit a little straighter, bolstered by his do-gooding. Of course, that's only half the reason, the other part being he doesn't want to have some half-naked man who booked the room (and her) walking in on them early, and, if they do summon something spooky, he doesn't want it terrorizing the temple.

Drawn by the motion of her sucker's work, it only elicits a grimace to his lips, her sultry appeal absolutely lost on him. "Gods, you eat that like a weirdo. Just bite it and be done." As turned on as a brother, given her firm placement in his friendzone, and his needs happily fulfilled by a taller blonde, her allure is purely the company of her fantastic personality, which has always been, and remains, his favorite thing about her. He's not blind by any means, but he is unmotivated to linger.

A laugh bursts free into the empty room he's just opened, the sound echoing into the emptiness as he shakes his head at her. "Easy my ass," he fires back, because everything about her has always been more difficult than not in his experience. A disobedient dragon mount at best, a wiggly art model, and handsier with her tail than an octopus. The musty odor in that rooms quickly makes him retreat, clicking the door shut as he continues on to the next. "You're friendly, but that's not the same."

Haters on my back like a backpack
Blowin' up I'm fucking flawless

Code stolen from Queen Sky

charlie

Charlie bumps her shoulder into Kaisel's side owing to their height differences, tail flicking in delighted punctuation as she cranes her head to look up at him with mock offence sparkling bright in her eyes. "What's wrong with fetch?" she demands, incredulous and loud enough to echo a little off the obsidian walls, before her mouth curls into a sly smirk that softens the accusation into pure mischief. "Unless," she adds lightly, chin tipping as she eyes him up and down, "you wanted to be the one chasing after wood instead of me. Because I could absolutely make that happen for you."

When his finger comes wagging dangerously close to her lollipop, Charlie doesn’t retreat an inch. Instead, she flutters her lashes at him, exaggerated and sweet, the picture of faux innocence wrapped around very real confidence. "Babe," she says warmly, voice smooth as sun-heated honey, "I’m going to outlive you tenfold. What’s too much for you is barely a warm-up stretch for me."

At the suggestion that she bite the lollipop, her blue eyes widen in theatrical horror, hand flying to her cleavage as if she’s just been gravely insulted. "Bite?" she repeats, aghast, before slowly rolling her tongue over the cinnamon-hot surface with deliberate care, savouring it in a way that is absolutely not subtle. "Who on earth bites their lollipops?" She scoffs, shaking her head, tail swaying as if disappointed in him on a spiritual level. "They’re meant to be sucked." Charlie narrows her eyes up at Kai with a playful shrug. "But hey, I’ll keep in mind that you like biting more than sucking."

As he cracks open another door and recoils from whatever waits inside, Charlie’s gaze drifts instead to the winding stairway above them. She plucks the lollipop from between her lips, slow and glossy, turning back to grin at him like he’s just gift-wrapped an innuendo and handed it over personally. Her mouth tilts into a small pout, brows lifting with exaggerated concern. "Are you saying," she asks sweetly, tone light but pointed, "that I make things too hard?"

oh I like my boys playin' hard to get
and I like my men all incompetent

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Kaisel

He’s about to give her an honest answer, but quickly realizes she’s on to more fuckery the moment her lips curl. It twists her voice into something purely devious, and the scoff he releases could be heard around the world, an attempt to hide the chuckle that escapes despite himself. ”Absolutely not,” he reassures quickly. ”Just, stop trying to make fetch happen.” He threatens her with a ruffle of her hair atop her head, shoving her away a touch for added measure when he’s done. It’s more to set her off balance a touch than to actually be rid of her.

”Oh, so what, this is your thots and prayers era or something? Next century you’ll go all in on racks and ruins, anddddd the one after that will be hot girl hotel?” He’s here for the idea of conquest by career one empire at a time, but he’s also advocating for the self care of not mixing work and pleasure too often in the same place. ”I’m just trying to keep you from forming bad habits. Only takes like a decade or two for them to really stick, yanno? Plus this way no one can hear me scream.” From the ghosts, or whatever bullshit they’re going to summon.

Gathering a deeply unimpressed look, he shoots that over to her across his shoulder before opening a new room, or trying to. The door sticks, and he has to lean is weight into it, shoulder thumping like an impolite knock. ”You suck it too much,” he corrects, the innuendo woven too deep to escape from now. ”C’mon Charlie, there’s balance, I know you know that.” The door gives abruptly and he staggers inside, stride skidding to a stop as the room opens up to complete disarray and crumbling stone. Rats scatter, and Kaisel recoils from it as well.

”Anyway, the best suckers have the gum in the middle, so you bite ‘em to get to what’s inside.” Leaving the difficult door ajar as he proceeds further into the collapsing tower, he gives her another exasperated look with her latest line. ”Nooo0000,” he sings out, ”I would never say that.” He glances up at the staircase, one foot testing the stair before he leans over the edge and begins to climb up. ”You certainly make things interesting though.” He can’t keep the grin that stretches out afterwards, looking over at her as his hand slides up the rail. ”And fun.”

Haters on my back like a backpack
Blowin' up I'm fucking flawless

Code stolen from Queen Sky

charlie

Charlie fluffs her blonde hair over one shoulder with a dramatic roll of her eyes, tail giving an indignant little snap behind her as if it, too, has opinions about this entire conversation. "Excuse you," she says brightly, already grinning, "I have done plenty of things for you, and yet the moment I ask for a little fetch suddenly it’s a problem." She lets herself take an exaggerated, playful stumble away from him, arms pinwheeling just enough to sell the performance before she catches herself with a delighted laugh. "Honestly. Won't let me draw you naked, won't let me sleep with you, won't even throw a stick."

At the mention of no one hearing him scream, Charlie’s expression shifts immediately into something wicked and pleased, lashes fluttering up at him in open, unapologetic delight.

She huffs out a sound of disagreement as he wrestles with the door, shaking her head with a knowing little click of her tongue. "Not the way I do it," she counters easily, before tilting her head and humming in thoughtful agreement. "But sure, balance." She pauses, then she amends brightly, "So what you’re saying is you like a balanced amount of teeth. Got it."

Rats scatter and Charlie barely spares them a glance, already darting up the stairs in a blur of motion, tail streaming behind her as she pops out at the top to peer down over the winding bannister at him. She leans over it, elbows propped, laughter spilling out of her as she watches him climb. "Look," she calls down lightly, shoulders lifting in a carefree shrug, "you might be trying to help me not form bad habits, but I’m just trying to get you to loosen up a little." Her grin turns teasing, eyes bright. "This is for your Dygra quest, right? So you’re supposed to embrace the chaos." She tilts her horned head, mock-serious now, tail swaying lazily. "Not be such a stick in the mud." Or, not a stick at all since apparently fetch was off the table.

oh I like my boys playin' hard to get
and I like my men all incompetent

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Kaisel

For a moment, he's genuinely concerned he overshot his shove, not used to the fun-sized version. He even takes a half-step after her, hands already reaching, but the mischief in her eyes gives her away. A common sight, to be sure, but too evident when she should have been reeling. "Oh, the guilt," he cries out, clutching at his heart and sinking deeper into his knees for a bedraggled step or two. At her list however, he can't maintain it, his eyeroll straightening him back to full height. "You're sounding an awful lot like a stickler right now." He cheeses over at her.

Unable to fully shield her barrage of innuendo, he can't keep the way his features slide into something half sly as she fixes her statement about balanced teeth. "Precisely, no one wants all bite. Except, maybe alligators. And sharks." Lots of teeth and all.

By the time he's on the stairs and talking behind himself at her, she's—oh, she's gone. His words fizzle out into a question mark brow, but the sound of her above him has his eyes snapping up. She leans over like a sigh made visible, touting anti-inhibitions like she's a moonshiner during prohibition. "You might be the only one to think I need loosening up," he laughs out with a disbelieving shake of his head. Maybe there's a few opinions out there about his loose he could be around other dicks, but everyone else, family and some friends included, are always rooting for something more serious and settled.

"Wha—I am!" He stops his climb to gesture around with open arms at where they're at, what they're doing, palms raised up in a prayer for understanding with the slow turn he does. "We're in a creepy old tower to summon spooky shit, how much more chaos do I need?" He proceeds onward, cresting to the second floor with his hands on his hips. "Aaaaand, we're back to sticks."

Jokes aside, he pauses to really look at her, some unusual seriousness having taken root in a way he's not used to seeing in her unless she's describing her temple work or trying to convert him again. "You know I'd always play fetch with you, even if it does get all slobbery and gross." At least, he hopes she does. Slipping his arm back around her shoulders he tugs her to his side as he makes his way towards the first promising room, which is really just the open landing to the side, a cobwebbed couch pressed up against the railings.

"Here, I think," he decides, pulling his backpack off his shoulders to unload the various tools of candles, his chakram, salt, iron, garlic, and so on.

Haters on my back like a backpack
Blowin' up I'm fucking flawless

Code stolen from Queen Sky

charlie

Charlie shoots Kaisel an equally sly look in return, eyebrows bouncing beneath her blonde bangs like they’re in on the joke before she ever opens her mouth. "Oh, I dunno," she says lightly, tail curling with idle amusement. "I’ve met a few in my time who like it."

From the top of the stairs she peers down at him, head canting as if the thought has only just occurred to her, eyes widening with mock surprise. "Oh?" she adds sweetly. "Then maybe you’re just hanging out with the wrong crowd." The suggestion lands with a wink rather than a barb before she rolls her eyes affectionately at him as he spreads his arms to gesture at all the so-called chaos around them. "Baby steps!" She calls cheerfully, as though summoning circles and haunted towers are merely a warm-up stretch.

At his insistence that he’d always play fetch with her, something in the dazzle of her blue eyes flickers, subtle but telling, a shimmer of disbelief she doesn’t bother voicing. Instead, she flashes him an easy smile and lets herself be pulled in at his side, tail brushing once against his leg in companionable acceptance as they move together toward the chosen space.

"Ahhh, yes," Charlie murmurs theatrically as she strolls forward. Her fingers trail along the dusty railing, slow and deliberate, leaving behind a perfect, sinuous imprint as she glances back at him over her shoulder, all charm and mischief, like the Spire itself has just been invited to misbehave. "Sooooo, what's the plan?"

oh I like my boys playin' hard to get
and I like my men all incompetent

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Kaisel

"That's why I have to get in a regular dose of chaos with you!" he points out cheerfully in response to which crowd he should be with, blowing her a kiss. The chatter dies out to the seriousness of what's at hand now though, at least in as much as can be found among the odds and ends he whips out from his bag left and right. The bottomless aspect of it makes it a challenge to fish out the last, and most important, item that remains—the directions. Already elbow deep, he grunts and leans up to his shoulder, armpit brushing the zipper as he fights for a hold on what he needs.

"Fiiirst," he explains with a puff of breath. "We'll paint the summoning circle on the floor with our blood, theeeeen—AHA!" His features lift and brighten from their concentrated crunch as he sits up and reveals a small parchment. "Got this from Haunt Topic," he informs her, flicking it with his other finger as if proof of its authenticity. He flaps it open and lays it down for them both to see, the pentagram-style design drawn out in ink. "So, using the chakram, paint this on the ground with our blood, then light those candles and set them at each star point, and then say those words at the edge of the paper and voila—we'll have summoned something spooky."

He gathers up the other items of garlic, wood, silver, and lead into a pile. "Those are for if shit goes sideways," he explains with a nod. "Though, we should just be able to blow the candles out and break the blood-design and poof, it goes back." That's what the very trusty shopkeep said anyway.

Haters on my back like a backpack
Blowin' up I'm fucking flawless

Code stolen from Queen Sky

charlie

Charlie snatches the blown kiss right out of the air with a flourish, fingers snapping shut around it before she presses her knuckles theatrically to her lips, eyes gleaming. "Ohhh, if I’m your sole source of chaos," she says lightly, voice becoming menacingly playful, "then maybe I need to work a little harder on rubbing off on you." Her brows bounce suggestively, tail swaying as laughter spills free, bright and unbothered by Kaisel's continued rebukes of her flirtation.

As he digs deeper and deeper into the bag like it’s swallowed him whole, Charlie drifts closer and drops down across from him, folding herself onto the floor. She leans forward until she’s peering at the parchment upside down, horns catching the dim light in a ruby gleam as she squints at the design with exaggerated seriousness. Doubt flickers through her expression, quick and sharp, but she doesn’t voice it. Instead, she looks up at him and smiles brightly. "Fun!"

When he gestures to the emergency pile, Charlie huffs and shakes her head, tail giving a dismissive flick. "I’ll help if shit goes sideways," she counters easily. "Worst case, I just turn into a dragon, smash the tower from the inside out, scoop you up, and fly us away. Dragons beat spirits any day."

Charlie's gaze slides to the chakram and she lifts a brow, nodding once in clear invitation. "You can go first," the Priestess says smoothly, before biting at her lower lip and smiling around it, eyes bright with promise. "And once you’re done," she adds, voice dropping just enough to tease, "I’ll show you a trick of mine."

oh I like my boys playin' hard to get
and I like my men all incompetent

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Kaisel

Fixing Charlie with an eyeroll for her obvious comment is all the rise she gets out of him before he engages the backpack in a game of keep away. Perseverance and grumbling is enough to win however, and he's finally got everything on display, his parchment the best prize of all among his occult treasures.

"Oooh, you're right, that's why I always throw dragon when I play dragon, troll, spirit." The alternative of course to rock, paper, scissors, wherein dragon beats spirit, spirit beats troll, and troll beats dragon. He laughs brightly, the sound coming deep from his belly with the authentic joyful absurdity of it. "I guess this tower is kinda already falling apart, so no one would mind if we broke it more." He glances up at the cracks and gaps in the sections above, the wind pouring through dilapidated sections. Seems like a waste of a good tower if you ask him.

Sucking in a breath as the reality of getting started has finally come, Kaisel leans over and reaches for the chakram at her offer. Collecting everything, journeying here, selecting the spot and laying it all out had been part of it, but the actual summoning now feels very daunting. What, exactly, they'll call forth is something even he is unclear on. "Oooookay," he declares, chakram poised in one hand, palm raised with his other. He pauses for effect, and to glance her way with a skeptical brow. "Trick?" he wonders, certain that by now he's aware of most of what she can do, but she does always find a way to be surprising. "Is it something to do with overcoming fears?" Maybe she could turn into a cute ghost, that'd be nice.

Looking back at his arm, he exhales something shakier than he'd like. The idea of bleeding enough to coat the weapon and paint with it is something that alone, is enough to make him balk, much less adding that it'll directly lead to a scary encounter. Clicking his teeth together to steel his resolve, he quickly slices against his palm with the chakram, going fast to avoid ducking out. The speed makes it deeper and longer than he meant, but the well of blood is immediate. "Ahhhh," he says, wincing. His first inclination is to draw his hand back and shelter it against his body, but he reminds himself of the whole purpose here and sticks it out, drizzling it across the weapon he sets down and soon enough the floor to begin the design. "If mine isn't enough we'll need yours," he explains, not about to bleed out for the sake of this.

Haters on my back like a backpack
Blowin' up I'm fucking flawless

Code stolen from Queen Sky

charlie

Charlie huffs theatrically, rolling her eyes as her tail flicks with offended dignity. "Please," she scoffs lightly, lips curling. "I could definitely beat a troll."

When Kaisel asks about the trick, she doesn’t answer, not with words, anyway. Instead, she widens her blue eyes at him, slow and exaggerated, lashes fluttering with theatrical secrecy that makes it very clear he’ll just have to wait and see. No spoilers. No mercy.

As the chakram flashes and his palm opens, her chin lifts a fraction, attention sharpening in a way that has nothing to do with teasing now. Blood has a language, and she knows it well. The way it wells, the way his breath shifts, the faint paling beneath olive skin despite the brave front, it all reads clear as ink on parchment. This isn’t his kind of ritual, but he’s being courageous anyway.

Charlie leans forward, movement unhurried and deliberate. The neckline of her crop top pulls as her weight shifts, cleavage pressing forward as she plants herself close, close enough to feel the heat of him and the tension humming just under his skin. Without preamble, she presses her forearm against the chakram’s blade, where it cuts clean and neat, her blood joining his without fuss or hesitation, but she doesn't stop there. The pressure increases, blade sinking deeper, and colour blooms high in her cheeks as her pupils darken, breath hitching in something that is half pleasure, half focus. Power stirs, ancient and intimate, and Kaisel will feel its effects immediately; the sting in his palm easing, then sealing, skin knitting closed as if it had never been broken at all.

Charlie purrs softly, still on all fours, leaning toward him with bright eyes and a wicked little smile that suggests she is more than comfortable on her knees, bleeding on a weapon just because someone has asked her nicely. "How much do you need?"

---

Bloodboon (Ancient): Can injure themselves for mastered damage, healing themselves or others at 1.5x their mastered level with a range of 30ft.
Type: Dark | Rank: Mastered | Cost: Action

oh I like my boys playin' hard to get
and I like my men all incompetent

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Kaisel

He glances her way from his kneeling position, stooped to decorate the floor red. Her movements as she reaches for the weapon are comfortable, practiced, the ground and the blade each of little mind. It should not surprise him that drawing from the well of her body barely earns a blink, but he's curiously enchanted just the same by the ease with which she takes to that where he struggles.

The chakram adds a fresh swatch of color to the mix, Charlie's crimson joining the decoration of being haunted. Her expression momentarily takes on a sharkish quality, rich with instinct, and she presses deeper. He doesn't doubt her talent with a process like this, but on reflex his hand starts to reach out towards her, a "No, you do—" starting quick, rushing out to keep her as whole as possible. It's this same motion and the tingling sensation of healing coursing along his own severed slash that halts him, a surprised claim upending the words.

"What!" he demands, excitement dancing his brows high. "Charlie! You're like, the best!" which he's positive she knows, but he can't keep the admission back, a laugh breaking free as the pain subsides and the rush of the moment coming to hand is enough to quell the lingering trepidation about facing this. "Okay, uh, just dribble some more there and there," he instructs with a point, smearing the additions of her body paint until the lines are complete and the design intact.

"Can you heal yourself like that too?" He had fountain water on hand, having expected they'd need it, but maybe not. Leaning back upright on his knees after completing the circuit of summoning, he pushes the candles into their proper places. "Would you be so kind?" he asks here with a bat of his eyes, a grin breaking out after. Healer, lighter, she's basically a swiss army knife, even pocket sized. He grabs the paper, preparing to read.

Haters on my back like a backpack
Blowin' up I'm fucking flawless

Code stolen from Queen Sky

charlie

Charlie flashes Kaisel a fanged grin at his wide-eyed surprise, clearly pleased, tail swaying in a lazy little arc behind her. "Dribbling away," she chirps brightly, tone playful as ever as she moves her blood-slick forearm where he’s indicated, letting the crimson trail exactly where it’s needed without a shred of hesitation.

At his question, she shrugs easily, unbothered, settling back from all fours to sit comfortably on her heels. "Mmm, no," she admits with a casual roll of one shoulder. "But honestly, I don't mind. It'll clot on its own." Her smile turns easy, unconcerned.

When the candles come into play and he gestures her way, Charlie’s face lights up immediately, bright and delighted, as if she’s been handed a party trick instead of a ritual component. "Reverse birthday candles," she announces cheerfully. "Coming up." She leans forward and blows gently across the wicks, breath warm and precise, causing flames bloom to life one by one, casting flickering light across obsidian stone and fresh blood alike. Charlie straightens again with a satisfied little hum, tail curling as she looks pleased with herself and the moment, blue eyes gleaming with anticipation about what, if anything was going to happen.

And if nothing did? Well, then, Charlie has an idea about how best to get Kaisel the haunted experience he'd come here for.

oh I like my boys playin' hard to get
and I like my men all incompetent

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!