A Shiny New Playground (Open)

Bowen

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Jul 20, 2015
950
Considering how little she had expected or planned this, Sionnach had settled in quickly and was already exploring. Cool buildings, strange architecture, cooler air than she was used to but not bone-chilling. She just draped a handful of brightly coloured scarves over her black leather jacket, left open because her silver and green shirt was just too interesting to leave hidden, and strolled outside in jeans that might as well have been painted on.

She tossed a small ball of her own blood from hand to hand, looking for all the world like she was playing with a reddish ball bearing, and kept her eyes open for interesting people as much as interesting objects.

Absolutely no regrets about ditching the colony and making for the surface. Things were just so much more interesting between the beating sun and baking stone.
 

Tom Marvolo Riddle

the dark lord
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Jul 19, 2015
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portland, oregon
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Basil- similarly new, exploring, and looking for anything interesting- could smell iron, likely meaning blood, and was instantly drawn to it. It was possible it was nothing, that someone just sliced a finger open on a thorn, but it could also mean a fight had broken out. Or something else entirely! Either way, once Basil was curious about something, he wouldn't leave it alone until satisfied. He let a skip enter his step.

It wasn't too hard to find the subject of his most recent curiosity, as the origin really stood out. Where Basil was overwhelming in his aura of impending calamity and corruption, this girl was the same with the way she dressed and presented herself. The colors and styles she wore were intensely loud, and attacked the senses. It was indulgent, and screamed to be looked at.

Basil loved it. Anything unforgivably bold and attention grabbing, he adored. He felt empathy for all things considered 'too much', seeing he was one of those things himself, and sensory overloads were all too good tasting.

While he didn't approach the girl right away, instead sitting himself down on a bench, he kept a watch on her and smiled appreciatively. Maybe he'd say hi, maybe not. He wanted to see what happened if she caught sight of him (well, he was hard to miss), and what she'd do. Would she be repulsed? Ignore him? Maybe even smile back, or say hi? He was curious, always curious.
 

Bowen

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Jul 20, 2015
950
For all that there were a ton of people here who looked even less human than she did, they mostly seemed to be regular people. Sionnach had to sigh at that. So interesting and yet also mundane.

And then she felt it. A shiver of menace.

Sionnach grinned slowly, savouring it. Perhaps not so mundane after all. She continued to amble, moving nonchalantly while she searched for the source of the sensation.

That might be it. Sionnach shifted her path to take her closer to the dark-skinned stranger. Even if he wasn't involved in the curious taint he was more than cute enough to hold her attention for a few seconds. That in itself made it worthwhile wandering over for a chat. She tossed the little blood-metal ball one more time, and then drew it back through the gash in the back of her wrist she had expelled it from. The slice remained, though no blood escaped or looked like it had seeped out at any point.

She stopped in front of him and bent over slightly. "Heyo," she said simply.
 

Tom Marvolo Riddle

the dark lord
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Jul 19, 2015
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portland, oregon
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Basil leaned forward a tiny bit, copying her movement. "Hello hello," he returned, quite perkily- his outward personality always rivaled the energy he gave off. He eyed the slice in her skin, inspecting it as though he'd learn everything just through that. So it had been blood. The scent was still in the air, and his lips twitched at it.

He relaxed back again, making eye contact with the girl. Well, young woman was probably a far more fitting thing to call her. "I wasn't sure if you'd come over here or not. I'm glad." He tilted his head. "You're very eye catching, as well as what you just did. But I'm sure you know all that already."

The monster smirked. "I'm Basil. It'd be a pleasure to receive your name in return, if you'd like to offer such a thing up. What do you say?"
 

Bowen

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Jul 20, 2015
950
Oh good, he was lively. That made things so much more interesting. She twisted her wrist a bit so that he could see that her cut was sealed, if simply by the refusal of any blood to exit it - both symptom and cause - and then twisted her body to sit with a flump on the bench beside him.

"Glad to hear that on both counts," she said with a cheerful smirk. "It's nice to finally be somewhere that doesn't freak out so easily but isn't a total drag either." She crossed one knee over the other, leaving her raised foot free to bounce on the side opposite Basil, and offered a hand in semi-formal greeting.

"I'm Sionnach," she said in return. She even gave a mini flourish of a bow over her extended hand before flipping her head back to get her hair out of her face. If her ears showed off she didn't have to care - not here, in this place, beside someone like Basil. Yup, things were good.

"You know, you're very noticeable as well. Is the vibe thing going on you too? Feels a bit stronger over here. Very cool." She flicked a thumbs-up, entirely unbothered by nastiness. She could handle nasty. Heck, she could be nasty pretty easily. "Also, eyes. Have to say, been a long time since I've seen a colour like that. Very, very nice."
 

Tom Marvolo Riddle

the dark lord
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Jul 19, 2015
1,892
portland, oregon
mantacarlos.tumblr.com
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Basil's eyes glittered when the other gave him a better view of healed- for lack of a better term- wound. He quickly gave a pleased look, a quiet thank you, and turned to face her when she dropped down beside him. "Welcome to my bench," he murmured lightly, amused.

Basil hummed, enjoying the soft vibration the action always gave his skin. "I'll second that. I'll admit, it's been a while since it's taken me more than a day to explore a place. I've never actually been on an island, actually. I'd been worried, in the very back of my mind, behind all the excitement and commotion, that it'd make me feel trapped. Or I don't know, that I'd run out of space in an instant. Hasn't happened yet, here's to hoping it stays that way, hm? Cheers."

Basil's face lit up all at once at the tiny, but still showy, bow. He reached to clasp both his hands around hers, giving it a warm squeeze before letting go again. "Sionnach," he repeated, getting a feel for the name, nodding. He liked names with the letter 's' in them, it wasn't really something with a specific meaning behind it, simply one of Basil's many quirks.

"Absolutely. One hundred percent, genuine, home grown eldritch atmosphere, my friend. My own little slice of uncontrollable corruption. Quite the conversation starter, and really, equally a repellant." He gazed at the young woman sunnily, enjoying the lack of fear or disgust, but also the fact that what he was had still been seen and acknowledged. He'd attracted those that were interested by the vibe he gave off before, thrill seekers and those that danced with death usually, but also oblivious. Human. Ordinary. Even if he had appreciated them while they lasted. They just couldn't fulfill everything he wanted. Basil wanted a lot, and always more. He wasn't sure that he could ever truly be satisfied, it probably wasn't in his nature.

He laughed at the compliment, and batted his eyelashes a little. "Thank you, I'm happy to be of service, quite literally offer up some eye candy if that's what you're looking for. Heh."
 

Bowen

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Jul 20, 2015
950
"I'm glad you're willing to share," Sionnach purred. "I've spent a lot of time on the coast, but it's still best to have a couple of islands around. Almost makes me wish I were aquatic rather than from underground. It would make it easier to explore the rest of the chain." She smiled. "Tell you what, though. If you ever end up getting fed up with this place, I'll ditch it with you for a new adventure. I'm always up for a change and some fun."

His hands were warm on hers, and she smiled in return. It was wonderful to find people who found delight in the little things, even something as simple as a miniature bow. The way he talked about his aura was just as wonderful. "Hard to repel a goblin with corruption," she said drily, flashing her too-pointed-to-be-human, if not as obvious as canid, teeth.

She leaned a little closer. "Oh, I'm always up for eye candy. You're relatively safe, though; I've never been particularly fond of actually eating eyeballs. There are so many better ways to play with people."
 

Tom Marvolo Riddle

the dark lord
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Jul 19, 2015
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portland, oregon
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"I'm reasonably aquatic. If I make the effort to be, that is," Basil chuckled. "I mostly hail from dense, bright cities. If I claimed to really originate from anywhere in particular, it probably couldn't be very honest. But, that happens to be my chosen environment- which is, perhaps, far more telling."

"Goblin, is it? Hmm! I'm still learning about this world, but don't worry, I'm a very fast and enthusiastic learner. Just haven't had the time or resources I needed before to research such things, being researched myself." He looked over her teeth, tapping his lips absently as he did so. If said species were one appreciative of darker natures, however, that was a relief to know. If only all of them were like that.

Basil's eyebrows raised as she leant in and spoke, then a slow grin stretched his face. He raised both hands, making a show of hiding his face, waiting a second. At first, he only opened a space in his fingers for the eyes that were expected to be there. Then, he moved his hands back to rest in his lap, and revealed the rest that had popped up.

Although his freckles of course outnumbered them by far, there were at least seven smaller eyes dotted across his face, and perhaps one peeking out from his neck. They were overly saturated reds, pinks, and purples in colors that varied- both candylike and straining. They didn't all blink at the same times, and sometimes they just didn't blink at all. Some of them fixed with some curiosity on Sionnach, others did their own thing. If they didn't excitedly flicker about, they might not come across as real.

"Even if you were, it's not as though I don't have a few to spare," He said, replying to her comment with a truth-based joke of his own. "but I'm not averse to playing a little, either." While he copied her purr, it had an extra reptilian edge to it, a light hiss somewhere hidden away.
 

Bowen

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Jul 20, 2015
950
Sionnach felt a flash of distant concern at the mention of being researched, but chasing that tendril or throwing pity into the mix was basically a complete guarantee for derailing the conversation. Maybe some other time. "I'm sure I could find a few things to teach you," she said instead. Anywhere from climbing the bottom of a sheet of rock to staying attached to it through non-motile strenuous pair activities.

Her curiosity might as well have devoured a large, rapidly growing sea creature when Basil covered his face. She waited, eagerly tense, as he uncovered his eyes again - and then his face, flecked with bright eyes amidst his freckles.

She clapped her hands together in excitement, unable and unwilling to restrain herself, and reached for Basil's hands so she could bounce in her seat a bit. "That is amazing. Can you see out of all them? Can you make them anywhere? Can they just see in daylight like human eyes, or can you see beyond that spectrum? I can really only do a bit of IR, for range."

Ahem. Totally distracted from playing. "Can you grow anything else?" She could kind of grow things too! Not functional eyes, though. What should she make? She hadn't really done much sculpting with her blood, being a bit too practical. Oh! She could do that.

So, acting entirely casual and as attentive as she had been, Sionnach carved a hole in her thigh (and the associated part of her jeans) and fed a rod of blood-metal beneath the bench, then shot a spur upwards through the bench on Basil's other side, only to push another spur off that, form its point into a blunt and crude hand, and extend it until it was pushing Basil towards her. Where she was feeling a little lightheaded but still grounded enough to not be worried about falling over, at least for the moment. She just had to retract some of the blood fairly soon. It couldn't ditch its duties forever without consequences.
 

Tom Marvolo Riddle

the dark lord
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Jul 19, 2015
1,892
portland, oregon
mantacarlos.tumblr.com
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Basil laughed melodically at the excited reaction, and the bouncing. "Mm, yes, they're all real and usable eyes, although they work a bit differently than the main two, and have a bit of a mind of their own. Everywhere on my body, and sometimes unconsciously. I'm fantastic with darkness and magic, in terms of sight.

He paused, humming. "Somewhat. I can look a bit more shadowy, as well as sometimes reach out with those shadow based tendrils. Those can simply show up, too. This is all still new to me, so I'm not the best at controlling or understanding it all yet. I'll fix that as soon as possible."

It seemed it was Sionnach's turn for show and tell. Basil sat patiently, and watched closely. She sliced through herself, and created with her own lifeblood. That was fascinating. He kept track of this with all of his eyes, peering from the back of his neck as the metallic substance flowed behind him and was roughly sculpted. He gasped when it came forward to move him, then paid attention with his most used eyes again, peering at the goblin.

The Eldritch's lips curled into another delighted smile, and he kissed Sionnach on the nose in appreciation of what she'd shared with him. "Ah, your abilities are lovely, and so are you. Bravo."