[ 001 ]

[clawings]

FORM: Crystal
SENDER: Erik Stevens
RECIPIENT: All within the Gallows
NOTES: Threadjacking is a-ok! Erik can also be reached privately here

I got some questions for y'all.

One: if you're from here, what's one thing you want to see from the end of the year?

Two: if you're not from here, what's the tech you miss the most from back home?

Take from here/not from here to mean whatever you need it to, I'm just bored.

Comments

[altusimperius]

[The horny lizard part of his brain is definitely already thinking about it, but no such plans are consciously in motion just yet.]

Thought I'd have a smoke, [he says idly,] though if I'm intruding...

[clawings]

[ Erik shrugs and gestures towards Athessa. ]

Lady's choice, friend.

[ They just got here, and he doesn't mind sharing smoke with whomever, as long as she's chill with it. ]

[sulahnan]

No, not at all, [ yes, of course he's intruding. ]

The more the merrier, [ don't you dare, Ben. ]

Come on in, [ kindly fuck off, would ya??

Athessa tries to communicate solely through significant glances and expressions (smoothed into pleasantness whenever Erik looks her way, of course), but also...well it's his hookah, so can she really kick him out?

...Legally yes because she paid for the hookah at auction but it's the principle of the thing. She gave it back. ]

[altusimperius]

[Benedict may be a bit stupid about some things, but he has, at least, learned to read his friends' faces. Athessa's response has him grinning, folding his arms to relax in the doorway with one ankle crossed over the other.]

Oh, I couldn't possibly, [he says, not budging,] are you certain I wouldn't be imposing?

[As if he would ever actually ask her that, if he meant it.]

[clawings]

[ Ok, this? Is kind of amusing, on top of being slightly obvious, and so Erik doesn't say anything; he just leans back a little and watches Athessa's reaction from his peripheral vision while keeping his expression schooled and neutral. ]

[sulahnan]

Of course, [ said from behind clenched teeth, part of her totally chill smile. ]

Quite certain.

[altusimperius]

Are you sure you wouldn't prefer I stay and get to know your friend?

[He casts a charming wink at the man, but his gaze quickly shifts back to Athessa, his obvious priority.]

[clawings]

You can get to know me whenever, [ Erik volunteers quietly, carefully not looking directly at Athessa. ]

[sulahnan]

[ Soporati dogfucker. ]

I would prefer if you would go somewhere else to get stoned, and sucked your own cock, and left this one to me.

[ That she somehow manages to say it sweetly, and without clenching her teeth, is nothing short of amazing. To her. It probably isn't impressive to anybody else. ]

[altusimperius]

Really?

[This to Erik, who just gave him an answer he wasn't expecting, and gives Benedict an opportunity to completely ignore what Athessa just said.]

Well maybe I will!

[He's beaming now, and strides into the room-- but just long enough to stoop and dig out the little box where he keeps his weed (it's safer in here, he rooms with Edgard), taking enough to roll a proper blunt.

He takes his time, of course, always aware of both of the room's other inhabitants, and their gazes on him.]

Just don't leave a mess, all right?

[clawings]

[ Erik hesitates for a moment before moving his arm just so that his fingers graze across the small of Athessa's back, right where her sweater is rucked up a bit and the band of her leggings sits. He wants to chuckle a little at the scene playing out in front of him but on the other hand, that might piss off the woman he's still hoping to make out with (and more) and he'd rather not, thanks. ]

I think we can manage that, [ he says instead, finally looking properly at Athessa again. He winks at her, and his hand remains where it is. ]

[sulahnan]

[ Luckily for everyone involved, the hand at her back doesn't come as enough of a surprise to send her throwing elbows. Instead, it has her turning to catch that wink, cooling her ire just slightly with sheepishness.

But she has to jab at Bene, she can't help it. ]

You're one to talk, Serrah Can I Borrow Your Bedspread.

[altusimperius]

It got cleaned, [shot back with an impish shrug as he straightens again.]

Ta, [he casts over his shoulder as he heads back out,] you kids have fun.

[clawings]

Well, that was interesting, [ Erik murmurs with a chuckle, slightly amused. He'll keep his hand where it is unless Athessa makes some face or gesture to indicate that she's not interested in being touched right now, but his other hand is passing the hookah coil in her direction. ]

Good friend of yours?

[sulahnan]

He's a piece o' shit. [ Said fondly enough to confirm that yes, they are good friends. ] But he's trying.

[ Hookah hose accepted, Athessa puts the nozzle between her lips and fills her lungs with the ease of a pro. Passes the hose back to Erik. ]

Lemme know how it stacks up against the weed they have where you're from.

[clawings]

[ He's been too busy watching her breathe in the smoke from the hookah to really consider the differences between weed and elfroot, taking in the rise and fall of her chest with the breaths, but now that she's asked, he blinks as he takes the hose from her and draws another pull of it into his lungs before letting it out through his nose and mouth. ]

Less harsh than weed can be. Sweeter, in a way? Weed comes in a...buncha different strains. But I like this. Ain't smoked out of a hookah in forever, either.

I feel it a bit already. [ He hums a chuckle before pulling his hand away from her back and using his arm to prop himself upright a bit. ] Back home we called it high, or faded. When you drink with it, then it's crossfaded.

[sulahnan]

[ His chuckle brings a smile to her face and she nods her understanding. ]

High, faded, stoned, I'm familiar with that terminology. [ Thanks, Tony, for the Earth Weed Primer. She fetches up the mead bottle to take a swig for herself, then gestures with it. ] How do you like this, by the way?

[ She askes because she and Vanadi made it themselves. So no pressure. ]

[clawings]

Damn, someone beat me to the basics. [ Who was it, he wonders, but he's not going to ask outright. ] Ah, well.

[ Can't always be first but you can always make an impression. ]

The mead's good. I ain't had much of it back home, see, so it's a little sweeter than I'm used to in my alcohol. Thicker, too, but it's all good. Got a nice flavor to it.

[ He takes another puff. ]

What's it made of?

[sulahnan]

Honey and rosehips. [ She leans at a complementary angle to him, wets her lips as if licking the sweetness from them. Or just because that's what one does in anticipation of kissing. ]

It's an old family recipe, a friend of mine has been helping me perfect it.

[clawings]

[ His eyes track the movement of her tongue and lips as best he can, given the encroaching fuzziness at the edges of his vision. But he's always been good at single-minded focus when he's needed it, high or otherwise, and that hasn't changed. ]

My compliments to you and your friend, then. [ He smiles, slowly, and that gold at his eyeteeth becomes apparent once again. ] Fuck, you look good.

[ He leans in, closing the space between them, but doesn't kiss her just yet. Instead he keeps grinning at her, eyes going from her lips to her eyes and then back down again. ] Good enough to eat.

[ Now he's leaning in for a kiss. ]

[sulahnan]

Funny, [ She's staring at his mouth, too, both because of that gold glinting there, and because damn, those lips. ] I was about to say the same thing about you.

[ Athessa meets him halfway, because fuck waiting. Good things come to those with initiative.

And enthusiasm, which she has in spades. She blindly sets the bottle of mead aside so she can turn up the heat after the soft, gentle start of the kiss. Her hands slide up his torso to his shoulders, under the open front of his sweater, poised to push him onto his back — but not yet. ]

[clawings]

[ She'll feel the crocodile scarring beneath her touch that way and Erik has no qualms about putting his hands at her waist because fuck waiting. He died in Wakanda, arrived in Ferelden, almost got his ass handed to him by actual-factual demons in the goddamn woods...there's nothing to wait for, in his opinion.

Besides, she's so fucking fine and clearly into it, and Erik has never been one for not indulging in his vices when they present themselves.

He bites her bottom lip a little and once she's set the mead down, shifts to wrap his arms around her, totally allowing her to push him back if she wants. For the immediate, there's too much space between them to suit him. If allowed, he'll pull her into his lap, all while returning her kisses with just as much enthusiasm and more than a little teeth (but not hard enough to break skin). ]

[sulahnan]

[ How about both? She laughs softly against his mouth, delighting in the use of teeth and his arms around her. She does push him back, but she also lets herself be pulled into his lap, swinging her leg over to straddle him and employ some teeth of her own. ]

I think— [ she says when there's a space between kisses, ] —You and I are gonna have some fun together.