Lance was positively delirious in the wake of his exclamation, his skin alight with buzzing tingles in all the places the goddess had scratched and bitten to pull his strange confession from his depths.
"And so you are." She was giddy after the fact, kissing him all over, and he was awash with awe. Had he done something right? It seemed so. Delight he was, then, at least for this moment. Who knew what the future would have in store.
Just as he was starting to pull together some sort of coherence to contemplate what he should do with this beautiful, giddy, affectionate goddess on top of him, she grabbed his hair again--not so harshly this time, but firmly in a way that stilled him, and then she leveraged her other hand beneath his back, and all at once he found himself being pivoted around on the grass, led to a new position, still on his back, but now right next to Evan. Lance was too disoriented to make much sense of what Evan was up to, but he heard the man growling, and thought that the sound rather suited him. It was just the slightest bit intimidating to be in such close proximity to, but at the same time, there was a strangely soothing quality to it. Perhaps some nostalgic familiarity from sparring or some other game they'd once played, recontextualized in the primal delirium of this moment. Hard to complain.
Then, the goddess settled her weight back down onto Lance, her hips nestling down onto his, the weight of her pulling his attention into the cloth around his own hips, all those tiny coaxing sucking sensations that had been going all this time brought forth with a new vividness--delectable as they were, they were also, it seemed, the only thing between Lance's length and the goddess' opening. His breath escaped him as that knowing shuddered through his body, his hands instinctively caressing and massaging up the goddess' thighs, beckoning but with an elegant patience; no haste, just simply an authentic expression of longing, his brows drawing together as he refocused his sight on the goddess mirroring the sentiment.
Her attention was moving on from him, though, which was at once heartwrenching, and yet also somehow made perfect sense. Her hand stroked down Evan's jaw, and Lance finally was able to focus on his friend, relishing the almost sinister glint in his eyes as he met the goddess' gaze. Lance couldn't deny that he was thrilled to see this side of Evan, this force he was sure he always knew was somewhere under the surface, hidden away somewhere secret, somewhere Lance had been poking and prodding trying to find. Of course the goddess would draw it right out of him. It was so.... right.
But he couldn't bask in the sight for long; the goddess still rocked against him, pulling his attention right back into his own body again as he shuddered, his hips involuntarily rolling beneath her, an ache building up in his groin. There was a temptation toward frustration--the tantalizing so close feeling of the goddess' depths on just the other side of a cloth--but he leaned once more into that trust fall sensation, and he let the frustration express itself through deeper massage of his fingers into the muscles of her thighs, expressing some earnest, fervent flare of longing in a way that let the feeling disperse itself throughout his body, still present but more pleasurable as it moved about and expressed, not caught in just one place where it felt hidden.
Distantly, Lance heard Evan scoff and then groan, and then cries and whimpers alight from one of the other volunteers. Lance shuddered as those sounds harmonized with the ways that the goddess moved against him, filling the air with a warm electric anticipation all around.
And then, all at once, Lance felt the presence of yet another volunteer settle over him, knees on either side of Lance's head. He really couldn't even help opening his eyes, half just out of surprise, but of course curiosity played its role, too. He blinked up in astonishment at the anatomy above him, dim beneath the cloth that clung to the man's skin but unmistakable shapes drawing Lance's gaze over inner thigh, ass cheek, testacle and phallus.
Then, the goddess shifted, and Lance felt her lift the cloth from his own length, a split second of terrifying exposure soothed at once with a warm, welcoming velvety embrace, pulling a thoroughly delighted cry from Lance's lips as a fresh shudder coursed through him, his hips rocking eagerly to make the most of this thrilling connection. She moved up and down just as he'd yearned for, elation rippling through him in bright, hot waves. He rocked subtly against the ground with her movements, his fingers pulsing against her thighs, following the flow of her muscles through each thrust. This moment was undeniably beautiful, breathtaking, exhilarating, and downright awe-inspiring. Somehow, Lance knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was serving a purpose, though he couldn't fathom what. It didn't matter; the pleasure flowing through him was so big, so unmistakably divine, he was more than happy to flow with the waves of it, elated to be of use to her. He almost didn't want this ever to end.
Another shuddering cry escaped Lance as a new sensation added more heat into his body--fingers pressing into the base of him, pulsing sensation through him as the goddess herself began to pick up her speed. He almost felt frightened for a moment, like it might all be too much, but he just dug his fingers yet further into her thighs, as if gripping to a ledge he might fall from. His breathing was heavy and frantic, his hips rolling and shuddering beneath the goddess' weight, against those fingers pressing and coaxing, and he began to feel a strange sort of anxious that his use to her might soon run out. The only thing left that he felt he could reach for, the one thing amidst shudders and spasms and undulations and grips that he had not yet figured out how to fully express with, was his voice, which had been strangely quiet overall in this haze of awe and pleasure and wonder that he felt.
"De... " It came to him--though him--much like that first primal croon had in the ceremony; unexpected, without plan, along with a thrilling sensation of falling--as ever, with arms spread serenely into water.
"Dehal..." His voice was not a loud croon now, however, but a rich and lyrical shudder, the pleasure of the syllables on his own tongue swirling and stroking every nerve in his body, and Lance braced himself for what now felt inevitable, and utterly imminent.
"Dehaljadrun!"
Part 1 (Start Reading Here)
Re: Part 1 (Start Reading Here)
Rocking her hips, tangling her fingers in hair, radiating love from her right palm, reaching either knee to press contact into eager skin, the goddess was pulsing with life and sending all the excess into the land. Further reaches than she could even see were healing, approaching the edges where she had done experiments to try to get the attention of the other gods and healing those, too. The vast ocean of her loneliness, of the layers of banishment and betrayal met her here and attempted to drown everything, for nothing can heal without the wound being fully felt, but the rhythmic river of longing and love pulsed into those great waters, welcoming them into each other's depths. They were, at the end of the day, one and the same--love and grief, loneliness and the craving for connection.
The goddess' hand only broke contact with Evan's back when he shifted to remove the pants she had made to fit him, and she pulled briefly out of the kiss with Chris to see what Evan was doing. Nathan was positioned under him and full of obvious longing, his heavy eyes and gentle pout begging for Evan to continue as they positioned themselves for greater contact. The goddess bloomed with pleasure, clenching Lance inside her and returning to the kiss, grateful that they were approaching this gentle surrender together--the barriers among and between them growing ever thinner as she returned her hand to Evan's back.
She felt their love. She felt their service. She felt their willingness to be part of what healed her relationship to their realm and her relationship to her own realm, even if they didn't fully understand the wound. They wanted to help any way they could, especially Lance, who massaged the muscles of her thighs and cried out beneath her, the sound slightly muffled from between Chris' legs. At the same time, Trevor's hand had grasped her shoulder, and Lance's cock had swelled within her. She was proud of Trevor and impressed that he had managed to move at all. A fresh bloom of love and light escaped her as Trevor laid his head against the back of her shoulder.
Lance gripped her thighs as though his life depended on it, only giving the goddess more leverage with which to move against him, her body warm and seeking every crevice of her own pleasure she could find. There was something building within her, within Lance, within all of them and the air around them that was bigger than a simple peak of pleasure, but the goddess could not yet see the shape of it yet. It didn't matter. She trusted in the divinity of the moment and what would come of this mixing of wound and wellspring. She was open and generous, vulnerable and overflowing straight into Lance, straight into Chris, straight into Trevor and Nathan and Evan. Gods, Evan.
And then, from beneath them all, Lance offered up a single syllable. "De..."
The goddess immediately shuddered, the mounting pressure and pleasure that had been a slow steady welling-up from beneath opening into a bright burst of light behind her vision. Unconsciously, she grasped harder at every point of leverage she had--Chris' hair, Evan's back, leaning back against Trevor, toes reaching for Nathan--though her pelvic muscles released entirely, dilating to let everything in.
"Dehal..." Confirmation of what Lance was doing struck the goddess like a wall of water, eliciting more shudders and trembles as she broke the kiss with Chris and threw her head back to the sky. Lance had heard Evan worship her in this way when she had run to him when the portal was closing, but there was plenty of Lance's own inspiration here--this was wholly self-motivated understanding at the power of the syllables Lance know held on the tip of his tongue. The goddess wasn't entirely sure she was ready, but it was coming--there was nothing that could stop it now.
"Dehaljadrun!" A bright white and purple light burst from the goddess into the land and the sky and the air, enveloping all those around her. Everyone's ears rang with silence, and in the goddess' mind an image of Lance falling backward into a pool of her river came to her. A slow-moving whirlpool kept him afloat as he put his hands behind his head, silent laughter ringing up toward the sky. And, looking upstream, the waterfall with its hidden cave. A wave of hurt and longing radiated outward from her chest, but she simply opened those channels wider, allowing them to mingle with all the other sensations and offerings in and around her.
Seek pleasure, her own voice rang out in all directions, somehow not coming directly from her but coming from the vision itself.
From where she was standing on the bank, the goddess approached the waterfall, the ringing sound in her ears quickly becoming more akin to the water's roar. She looked at the curtain of water and what was behind it, wondering if now, surely now in the presence of all this divine worship and pure pleasure, the rock doors would allow her to pass, to go back home at last. She reached a hand into the falling water, playing the threshold between being in front of it and behind it, and the red throb of denial flashed across the landscape, making Lance where he floated falter for a moment, swallowing some of the water. Closing her eyes, the goddess moved through the pain of that rejection with love and acceptance, too, trusting that Lance would find his easy float again and represencing herself in the consistent flow of pleasure that coursed through every part of her being. This vision would not last, she knew. She needed to make the most of it.
In a split-second decision, she grasped the rocks alongside of the waterfall where they were dry and began to climb. As she did, she thought of the sounds Chris made with her hands in his hair, the feel of Trevor's head on her back, the sensation of sending love straight into the back of Evan's ribcage, the heavy-lidded vision of Nathan, and the constant echoing reminder of Lance chanting her name.
De... Dehal... Dehaljadrun!
She climbed and climbed up the steep drop until she finally crested the top, looking at water she had never seen before. Where did it all come from? It disappeared into the distance around a bend of trees she did not recognize. The roar of the waterfall was fully in her awareness now. The goddess bent down to touch the water before it fell and, on a whim, laid down so her hair could flow into it, staring longingly at the clarity of the fluid.
Soon, soon, she thought, looking down at the downstream section of the river, at the pool Lance floated in, and the winding banks as they disappeared into the horizon. Sitting up again with dripping hair, the goddess settled onto her knees and allowed her love, her longing, her pleasure, her worship to light and flow through the water, spreading throughout all the land the water touched, nourishing everything, lighting it up. The world was going white again--the vision was ending.
The goddess took one last lingering look at the bend in the river above her and then allowed herself to return.
Back more fully in her body, the goddess gasped with breath, finding herself clinging to Chris' and Evan's shoulders, and one of Trevor's arms had reached around her waist, grasping one of her breasts. She took several heaving breaths, kissing Chris' chest in gratitude and wonder, her mind still struggling to come back. Her grip on her physical form felt tenuous, and her muscles were fatigued. She was too warm and cold at the same time, and Evan felt far away. The goddess felt raw and vulnerable and tender as laughter and tears bubbled out of her when she half-heartedly tried to move her legs and failed.
"Come," she whispered quietly to no one in particular, taking a few breaths to gather herself and her thoughts, "come warm yourselves with me."
((OOC: Up to you regarding what happens for folx during the vision. We are attached to Lance being there and open to others experiencing it to some degree. For folx who don't end up in the vision, I think they would see a really bright light emerge from the goddess and move out in all directions in a dome sort of thing for a while. I imagine that the people inside the palace don't see the light except through the doorway but do hear the "seek pleasure" voice. I think the light feels sort of unnervingly unphysical, like it seems like they should feel it, but they don't. But also feels unmistakably divine, and I imagine that the people with her right now also feel very proud at having co-created it. I also think that things have noticeably grown in the landscape, including the trees in the palace. I think they become a little more curled and twisted around themselves. Hopefully all that makes sense. I am happy to talk about more details as needed. Love!))
The goddess' hand only broke contact with Evan's back when he shifted to remove the pants she had made to fit him, and she pulled briefly out of the kiss with Chris to see what Evan was doing. Nathan was positioned under him and full of obvious longing, his heavy eyes and gentle pout begging for Evan to continue as they positioned themselves for greater contact. The goddess bloomed with pleasure, clenching Lance inside her and returning to the kiss, grateful that they were approaching this gentle surrender together--the barriers among and between them growing ever thinner as she returned her hand to Evan's back.
She felt their love. She felt their service. She felt their willingness to be part of what healed her relationship to their realm and her relationship to her own realm, even if they didn't fully understand the wound. They wanted to help any way they could, especially Lance, who massaged the muscles of her thighs and cried out beneath her, the sound slightly muffled from between Chris' legs. At the same time, Trevor's hand had grasped her shoulder, and Lance's cock had swelled within her. She was proud of Trevor and impressed that he had managed to move at all. A fresh bloom of love and light escaped her as Trevor laid his head against the back of her shoulder.
Lance gripped her thighs as though his life depended on it, only giving the goddess more leverage with which to move against him, her body warm and seeking every crevice of her own pleasure she could find. There was something building within her, within Lance, within all of them and the air around them that was bigger than a simple peak of pleasure, but the goddess could not yet see the shape of it yet. It didn't matter. She trusted in the divinity of the moment and what would come of this mixing of wound and wellspring. She was open and generous, vulnerable and overflowing straight into Lance, straight into Chris, straight into Trevor and Nathan and Evan. Gods, Evan.
And then, from beneath them all, Lance offered up a single syllable. "De..."
The goddess immediately shuddered, the mounting pressure and pleasure that had been a slow steady welling-up from beneath opening into a bright burst of light behind her vision. Unconsciously, she grasped harder at every point of leverage she had--Chris' hair, Evan's back, leaning back against Trevor, toes reaching for Nathan--though her pelvic muscles released entirely, dilating to let everything in.
"Dehal..." Confirmation of what Lance was doing struck the goddess like a wall of water, eliciting more shudders and trembles as she broke the kiss with Chris and threw her head back to the sky. Lance had heard Evan worship her in this way when she had run to him when the portal was closing, but there was plenty of Lance's own inspiration here--this was wholly self-motivated understanding at the power of the syllables Lance know held on the tip of his tongue. The goddess wasn't entirely sure she was ready, but it was coming--there was nothing that could stop it now.
"Dehaljadrun!" A bright white and purple light burst from the goddess into the land and the sky and the air, enveloping all those around her. Everyone's ears rang with silence, and in the goddess' mind an image of Lance falling backward into a pool of her river came to her. A slow-moving whirlpool kept him afloat as he put his hands behind his head, silent laughter ringing up toward the sky. And, looking upstream, the waterfall with its hidden cave. A wave of hurt and longing radiated outward from her chest, but she simply opened those channels wider, allowing them to mingle with all the other sensations and offerings in and around her.
Seek pleasure, her own voice rang out in all directions, somehow not coming directly from her but coming from the vision itself.
From where she was standing on the bank, the goddess approached the waterfall, the ringing sound in her ears quickly becoming more akin to the water's roar. She looked at the curtain of water and what was behind it, wondering if now, surely now in the presence of all this divine worship and pure pleasure, the rock doors would allow her to pass, to go back home at last. She reached a hand into the falling water, playing the threshold between being in front of it and behind it, and the red throb of denial flashed across the landscape, making Lance where he floated falter for a moment, swallowing some of the water. Closing her eyes, the goddess moved through the pain of that rejection with love and acceptance, too, trusting that Lance would find his easy float again and represencing herself in the consistent flow of pleasure that coursed through every part of her being. This vision would not last, she knew. She needed to make the most of it.
In a split-second decision, she grasped the rocks alongside of the waterfall where they were dry and began to climb. As she did, she thought of the sounds Chris made with her hands in his hair, the feel of Trevor's head on her back, the sensation of sending love straight into the back of Evan's ribcage, the heavy-lidded vision of Nathan, and the constant echoing reminder of Lance chanting her name.
De... Dehal... Dehaljadrun!
She climbed and climbed up the steep drop until she finally crested the top, looking at water she had never seen before. Where did it all come from? It disappeared into the distance around a bend of trees she did not recognize. The roar of the waterfall was fully in her awareness now. The goddess bent down to touch the water before it fell and, on a whim, laid down so her hair could flow into it, staring longingly at the clarity of the fluid.
Soon, soon, she thought, looking down at the downstream section of the river, at the pool Lance floated in, and the winding banks as they disappeared into the horizon. Sitting up again with dripping hair, the goddess settled onto her knees and allowed her love, her longing, her pleasure, her worship to light and flow through the water, spreading throughout all the land the water touched, nourishing everything, lighting it up. The world was going white again--the vision was ending.
The goddess took one last lingering look at the bend in the river above her and then allowed herself to return.
Back more fully in her body, the goddess gasped with breath, finding herself clinging to Chris' and Evan's shoulders, and one of Trevor's arms had reached around her waist, grasping one of her breasts. She took several heaving breaths, kissing Chris' chest in gratitude and wonder, her mind still struggling to come back. Her grip on her physical form felt tenuous, and her muscles were fatigued. She was too warm and cold at the same time, and Evan felt far away. The goddess felt raw and vulnerable and tender as laughter and tears bubbled out of her when she half-heartedly tried to move her legs and failed.
"Come," she whispered quietly to no one in particular, taking a few breaths to gather herself and her thoughts, "come warm yourselves with me."
((OOC: Up to you regarding what happens for folx during the vision. We are attached to Lance being there and open to others experiencing it to some degree. For folx who don't end up in the vision, I think they would see a really bright light emerge from the goddess and move out in all directions in a dome sort of thing for a while. I imagine that the people inside the palace don't see the light except through the doorway but do hear the "seek pleasure" voice. I think the light feels sort of unnervingly unphysical, like it seems like they should feel it, but they don't. But also feels unmistakably divine, and I imagine that the people with her right now also feel very proud at having co-created it. I also think that things have noticeably grown in the landscape, including the trees in the palace. I think they become a little more curled and twisted around themselves. Hopefully all that makes sense. I am happy to talk about more details as needed. Love!))
Re: Part 1 (Start Reading Here)
The goddess had already failed in her attempts to move once, and none of the others seemed particularly keen on trying to use their legs either, but Dehaljadrun at least needed to readjust, and she was beginning to shiver. How many times had she been unable to wait such that coupling happened out here in the meadow rather than inside where there were beds and blankets and towels and...? Too many times to count. She smirked at that, opening her eyes to look at Chris. She couldn't have seen Lance even if she tried, situated as he was between Chris' legs. Likely not a bad view, the goddess thought.
Impulsively, she clenched her pelvic muscles, drawing a delicious moan from Lance such that she did it again and again, laughing darkly. Still looking at Chris, she loosened the fistful of his hair she still held and scratched pleasantly at his scalp instead. The goddess leaned back slightly into Trevor and stroked lightly down Evan's back, where her nails had left impressive red lines, having broken the skin slightly in some places. She wanted to hold him. She wanted to hold all of them. And she wanted to be warm.
"Thank you," the goddess said, looking at Chris but really talking to all of them. "You've all deeply made an impact in healing me and this realm." There was warmth and obvious gratitude in her velvet voice. How much further is there to go? she couldn't help but wonder.
Stroking down the sides of Chris' face, Dehaljadrun brought his lips to hers again, wanting to taste an echo of what they had done once more, squeezing Lance again as she did so. Gently exiting the kiss, with her forehead against Chris', the goddess brought her hand over Trevor's where it rested on her breast, squeezed it, and pulled it off her, depositing it back with the rest of Trevor's dead weight with a quiet laugh. She then braced both hands on Chris' shoulders, preparing herself. After several more quick, needy kisses of Chris' lips, she pressed down on his shoulders, managing to stand up from Lance's cock and stay balanced on her feet.
She then offered a hand to Chris, helping him to his feet as well.
That done, the goddess looked out over the wreck she had left of the four on the ground and laughed lightly.
"Stay out here in the cold if you like," the goddess said, laughter still ringing in her voice, "but Chris and I are going inside." Maybe she was making an assumption. Maybe she was attempting to stir Evan's jealousy. But, regardless, she steadied herself on Chris' shoulder again and took a few tentative steps toward the direction of her palace, hair wavy and wild, cock lengthening lazily, breasts full and erect in the cold.
Impulsively, she clenched her pelvic muscles, drawing a delicious moan from Lance such that she did it again and again, laughing darkly. Still looking at Chris, she loosened the fistful of his hair she still held and scratched pleasantly at his scalp instead. The goddess leaned back slightly into Trevor and stroked lightly down Evan's back, where her nails had left impressive red lines, having broken the skin slightly in some places. She wanted to hold him. She wanted to hold all of them. And she wanted to be warm.
"Thank you," the goddess said, looking at Chris but really talking to all of them. "You've all deeply made an impact in healing me and this realm." There was warmth and obvious gratitude in her velvet voice. How much further is there to go? she couldn't help but wonder.
Stroking down the sides of Chris' face, Dehaljadrun brought his lips to hers again, wanting to taste an echo of what they had done once more, squeezing Lance again as she did so. Gently exiting the kiss, with her forehead against Chris', the goddess brought her hand over Trevor's where it rested on her breast, squeezed it, and pulled it off her, depositing it back with the rest of Trevor's dead weight with a quiet laugh. She then braced both hands on Chris' shoulders, preparing herself. After several more quick, needy kisses of Chris' lips, she pressed down on his shoulders, managing to stand up from Lance's cock and stay balanced on her feet.
She then offered a hand to Chris, helping him to his feet as well.
That done, the goddess looked out over the wreck she had left of the four on the ground and laughed lightly.
"Stay out here in the cold if you like," the goddess said, laughter still ringing in her voice, "but Chris and I are going inside." Maybe she was making an assumption. Maybe she was attempting to stir Evan's jealousy. But, regardless, she steadied herself on Chris' shoulder again and took a few tentative steps toward the direction of her palace, hair wavy and wild, cock lengthening lazily, breasts full and erect in the cold.
Re: Part 1 (Start Reading Here)
Evan was elated to feel a fresh pulse of warmth against his back in the wake of the pleasure of pushing into Nathan, and he rode a wave of gentle moans as he lingered in that bliss for a long moment, feeling Nathan clench around him and the goddess' touch against his back, full of acceptance. Evan nearly felt like he might cry. Instead he slowly rocked his hips back and then groaned deeply as he thrusted forward again, burying his teeth in Nathan's shoulder as he did. He loved feeling the boy clench and tremble and cling to him, even as he whimpered in response to the bite, the sound only a brief interlude amidst a pleasant hummy whine that resumed quickly, pulsing in time with a subtle rocking of Nathan's hips. The clingy, eager neediness of Nathan's body made Evan feel deleriously heady. He pulled out slowly again, and thrust back in with another throaty groan, pausing once more to relish in the cascades of responses through the boy beneath him. He repeated the rhythm again and again and letting Nathan's responses reverberate in Evan's own body with utter delight.
"De..." Evan and Nathan both shuddered deeply at the sound of Lance's voice beside them, Evan's bite on Nathan's shoulder finally relenting as he let out a gasp.
"Dehal..." Some competitive, possessive impulse squirmed in Evan's chest, pulling a wry grin onto his face. Evan might've liked to punch Lance in the arm, but his body was far too immersed in the pleasure of the moment, so he settled for a brief imagination of the action in his mind; and, it was easy to imagine, too, that Lance somehow received it, and smiled with an infuriating, completely delightful, shit-eating grin.
"Dehaljadrun!" Evan trembled and gasped, losing himself in a torrent of refreshing water, no part of him even wanting to fight the current. There was an inexplicable serenity in the sensation, sore assuredness that the current would take him exactly where he wanted to go, so long as he let it. For a time, he enjoyed just getting swept along, the sensation pleasurable unto itself, the uncertainty of where he would ultimately end up thrilling.
Seek pleasure, the goddess' voice caressed him, and he felt Nathan clench and tremble around him--he was still in the meadow, after all. But he was also in the pool of the tree, at the same time, every nerve alight with sensation, his heart overflowing with a sense of purpose, and understanding that, somehow, miraculously, Evan's own pleasure was a nourishment to this land. He did finally start crying, now; too swept up in just feeling and experiencing to distract himself with action.
Some painful red pulse coursed through him, though, and Evan began to worry about the goddess. On some level, she was next to him back in the meadow, but she wasn't here with him at the tree, except perhaps in whatever way in which she was always at the tree. But the red pulse had come from somewhere else, and Evan ached to find her and to hold her, to offer himself to her, hoping to soothe her somehow. He began to thrash against the current, then, trying to swim upstream, and a terrible jealousy stabbed at his chest at some vague realization that Lance was there with her, and Chris, too, if Evan wasn't mistaken. But he calmed as a fresh sense of warmth and love soothed the stirring feelings in his chest, urging him to relax, to remember the boy that still clung to him and trembled around him, and to appreciate the genuine beauty in his friend coming to fully understand what it was to worship this goddess they now both undeniably loved.
With heftier sobbing tears in the meadow, Evan relaxed back into the pool of the tree in his mind--or in this stream, or wherever he also was--deciding to trust that he did still serve her here, regardless of what she was experiencing elsewhere. It was a little bit lonely to accept, but in the caress of the tree's pool, he found that even that sensation had its aspects to enjoy. He was rewarded with pleasure and serenity from the tree, and in Nathan's continued shudders, and eventually, Evan even felt the goddess rejoin him in a basking light, filling him with reassurance that she had done what she needed to do, that she was all right, that she was coming back to him.
The tree disappeared in the light, the current of the river fading out of Evan's perception, and the goddess gasped back in the meadow, clinging to Evan's shoulder as he trembled within Nathan, who trembled around him. It looked like Nathan had been crying, too, and Evan wondered curiously where the boy had ended up in that current. In any case, they both shared a bit of vulnerability with each other in the emotionality of their expressions, though Evan quickly shifted as he needed to to wipe his eyes with one hand, mostly a little terrified at the thought of Lance seeing him cry.
Vaguely, Evan registered that the goddess's grip on his shoulder was also shifting, the pressure oscillating in a way that pulled his attention to her; she was trying to get up, her own expression strewn with tears even as laughter bubbled out of her. It was a beautiful sight, and Evan felt a little sheepish that he'd wiped his own tears before fully looking at her.
"Come," the goddess whispered, "come warm yourselves with me."
Evan felt quite torn between a strong desire to follow the goddess wherever she intended to go, and his body's absolute devastation at the thought of pulling away from Nathan. Not that Nathan wouldn't come with, surely, but they were still quite tangled in each other, Nathan's limbs clinging desperately to Evan, Evan's length buried inside of him and still pulsing with desire. Neither of their bodies had found release during all that, had they? Evan was equal parts delighted and chagrinned; at least he had company in this state.
Another subtle shudder passed through him as he heard Lance moan, the sound breathy and full of awe. The goddess laughed darkly as the sound spilled from Lance in langurorous cascades, and Evan finally managed to look back at the goddess again. She wasn't doing anything obvious to Lance, but he could imagine, what with Nathan spilling soft whimpers as he clenched around Evan's length: Lance's loincloth was still flipped up over his naval, the goddess still nestled thoroughly around him.
Then, the goddess' hand stroked lightly over Evan's back, eliciting more obvious shivers and a subtle moan from his own throat as her fingers traced the still-raw scratches that lined his skin, a cascade of subtle stings and heat dancing under her touch.
"Thank you," the goddess said, "You've all deeply made an impact on healing me and this realm."
Evan could swear they all let out a collective hitch of breath, undeniably relieved to hear that from the goddess' lips--they hadn't just been imagining it. After a beat, Lance moaned again, and after yet another soft shudder passed through him, Evan sighed and placed a light kiss on Nathan's chest, finally starting to prepare himself to make his devastating withdrawal from the boy's body. Nathan whimpered, perhaps understanding the immenance of Evan's intention, though his hips had not yet begun to move. He grappled with a stubborn argument within him that he could get himself off if he just quickly went to town, but he didn't feel good imagining it. The time had just simply passed.
To wit, the goddess finally stood, and a shiver passed through Evan, his skin suddenly colder without the proximity of her body or the touch of her hand. And, gods, how cold must Nathan be, his back shivering against the dewy grass? With a sympathetic look to the boy, Evan's hips finally began their slow withdrawal. Nathan whimpered openly, his limbs shuddering a little in protest, but he did loosen, ultimately not attempting to stop Evan from pulling away.
The goddess laughed. "Stay out here in the cold if you like, but Chris and I are going inside."
Evan groaned with frustration as he finished pulling himself from Nathan, and he shot the goddess a sharp glare. Clearly, she was purposefully needling him, and it worked. Anger flared in him as the goddess turned to walk alongside Chris toward the palace, her hand gripping his shoulder as though for support. Obviously, it was good that she had supports other than Evan, and yet.
Evan yearned to push himself up straight into a run toward her, to tackle her right back down into the grass and bite and scratch and enter her. But he did not. He exhaled shakily, and turned his attention to the volunteers still strewn around him--Trevor and Nathan and Lance all still varying degrees of dazed and trying to come to. At least it was gratifying to see Lance still on his back, his eyes still heavy and yearning. The braggart reached toward the goddess weakly, finally propping himself up on his elbow for a moment before groaning and collapsing back down into the grass. That did lighten Evan's spirits, and he let out a breathy laugh.
He then looked back to Nathan, who was still whimpering but had managed to prop himself up on his hands, his feet still lightly hugging Evan's hips. He felt a brief temptation to invite the boy into a hug, but that would keep them there in the grass even longer. Surely, they all would rather get back to the goddess' proximity sooner rather than later. Evan knew he would. So, instead, he groaned and pushed himself to his feet, offering Nathan a hand up as soon as he was steady. Nathan accepted it, though his legs were shaky, and he clung to Evan to stay standing, hands around Evan's waist. Honestly, it was hard to complain about that.
Lance was managing to get himself rolled over and up onto his knees, panting in something like child's pose from the effort. Evan figured he'd get to his eventually, and frankly kind of deserved the hardest time coming up. Or in the very least, Evan was getting the most gratitification from watching Lance claw his way up on his own. So, Evan left the braggart alone and turned his attention to Trevor, taking a step toward the man. Nathan, a little steadier now, loosened his grip around Evan, perhaps not wanting to encumber Evan as his attention shifted, though he lingered just a step behind Evan, his hands not quite ready to fully leave Evan's hips. It was cute, and Evan smiled lightly to himself as he assessed whether Trevor looked ready for a hand up or whether he might need some words of encouragement or something else entirely.
((OOC: So, yeah, Evan's definitely going to make sure that Trevor gets to his feet before following the goddess. He might leave Lance to finish getting himself up, maybe with a pithy comment lol, but only cuz Lance is showing signs that he'll make it fine on his own, just might take a minute longer. I think by the time Evan is walking back to the palace, Nathan'll be colllected enough to be a little too embarassed to keep touching Evan, though he's proably hovering kind of close by--unless, if it seems like Trevor could use extra support while walking, Nathan might end up finally gravitating toward him.))
"De..." Evan and Nathan both shuddered deeply at the sound of Lance's voice beside them, Evan's bite on Nathan's shoulder finally relenting as he let out a gasp.
"Dehal..." Some competitive, possessive impulse squirmed in Evan's chest, pulling a wry grin onto his face. Evan might've liked to punch Lance in the arm, but his body was far too immersed in the pleasure of the moment, so he settled for a brief imagination of the action in his mind; and, it was easy to imagine, too, that Lance somehow received it, and smiled with an infuriating, completely delightful, shit-eating grin.
"Dehaljadrun!" Evan trembled and gasped, losing himself in a torrent of refreshing water, no part of him even wanting to fight the current. There was an inexplicable serenity in the sensation, sore assuredness that the current would take him exactly where he wanted to go, so long as he let it. For a time, he enjoyed just getting swept along, the sensation pleasurable unto itself, the uncertainty of where he would ultimately end up thrilling.
Seek pleasure, the goddess' voice caressed him, and he felt Nathan clench and tremble around him--he was still in the meadow, after all. But he was also in the pool of the tree, at the same time, every nerve alight with sensation, his heart overflowing with a sense of purpose, and understanding that, somehow, miraculously, Evan's own pleasure was a nourishment to this land. He did finally start crying, now; too swept up in just feeling and experiencing to distract himself with action.
Some painful red pulse coursed through him, though, and Evan began to worry about the goddess. On some level, she was next to him back in the meadow, but she wasn't here with him at the tree, except perhaps in whatever way in which she was always at the tree. But the red pulse had come from somewhere else, and Evan ached to find her and to hold her, to offer himself to her, hoping to soothe her somehow. He began to thrash against the current, then, trying to swim upstream, and a terrible jealousy stabbed at his chest at some vague realization that Lance was there with her, and Chris, too, if Evan wasn't mistaken. But he calmed as a fresh sense of warmth and love soothed the stirring feelings in his chest, urging him to relax, to remember the boy that still clung to him and trembled around him, and to appreciate the genuine beauty in his friend coming to fully understand what it was to worship this goddess they now both undeniably loved.
With heftier sobbing tears in the meadow, Evan relaxed back into the pool of the tree in his mind--or in this stream, or wherever he also was--deciding to trust that he did still serve her here, regardless of what she was experiencing elsewhere. It was a little bit lonely to accept, but in the caress of the tree's pool, he found that even that sensation had its aspects to enjoy. He was rewarded with pleasure and serenity from the tree, and in Nathan's continued shudders, and eventually, Evan even felt the goddess rejoin him in a basking light, filling him with reassurance that she had done what she needed to do, that she was all right, that she was coming back to him.
The tree disappeared in the light, the current of the river fading out of Evan's perception, and the goddess gasped back in the meadow, clinging to Evan's shoulder as he trembled within Nathan, who trembled around him. It looked like Nathan had been crying, too, and Evan wondered curiously where the boy had ended up in that current. In any case, they both shared a bit of vulnerability with each other in the emotionality of their expressions, though Evan quickly shifted as he needed to to wipe his eyes with one hand, mostly a little terrified at the thought of Lance seeing him cry.
Vaguely, Evan registered that the goddess's grip on his shoulder was also shifting, the pressure oscillating in a way that pulled his attention to her; she was trying to get up, her own expression strewn with tears even as laughter bubbled out of her. It was a beautiful sight, and Evan felt a little sheepish that he'd wiped his own tears before fully looking at her.
"Come," the goddess whispered, "come warm yourselves with me."
Evan felt quite torn between a strong desire to follow the goddess wherever she intended to go, and his body's absolute devastation at the thought of pulling away from Nathan. Not that Nathan wouldn't come with, surely, but they were still quite tangled in each other, Nathan's limbs clinging desperately to Evan, Evan's length buried inside of him and still pulsing with desire. Neither of their bodies had found release during all that, had they? Evan was equal parts delighted and chagrinned; at least he had company in this state.
Another subtle shudder passed through him as he heard Lance moan, the sound breathy and full of awe. The goddess laughed darkly as the sound spilled from Lance in langurorous cascades, and Evan finally managed to look back at the goddess again. She wasn't doing anything obvious to Lance, but he could imagine, what with Nathan spilling soft whimpers as he clenched around Evan's length: Lance's loincloth was still flipped up over his naval, the goddess still nestled thoroughly around him.
Then, the goddess' hand stroked lightly over Evan's back, eliciting more obvious shivers and a subtle moan from his own throat as her fingers traced the still-raw scratches that lined his skin, a cascade of subtle stings and heat dancing under her touch.
"Thank you," the goddess said, "You've all deeply made an impact on healing me and this realm."
Evan could swear they all let out a collective hitch of breath, undeniably relieved to hear that from the goddess' lips--they hadn't just been imagining it. After a beat, Lance moaned again, and after yet another soft shudder passed through him, Evan sighed and placed a light kiss on Nathan's chest, finally starting to prepare himself to make his devastating withdrawal from the boy's body. Nathan whimpered, perhaps understanding the immenance of Evan's intention, though his hips had not yet begun to move. He grappled with a stubborn argument within him that he could get himself off if he just quickly went to town, but he didn't feel good imagining it. The time had just simply passed.
To wit, the goddess finally stood, and a shiver passed through Evan, his skin suddenly colder without the proximity of her body or the touch of her hand. And, gods, how cold must Nathan be, his back shivering against the dewy grass? With a sympathetic look to the boy, Evan's hips finally began their slow withdrawal. Nathan whimpered openly, his limbs shuddering a little in protest, but he did loosen, ultimately not attempting to stop Evan from pulling away.
The goddess laughed. "Stay out here in the cold if you like, but Chris and I are going inside."
Evan groaned with frustration as he finished pulling himself from Nathan, and he shot the goddess a sharp glare. Clearly, she was purposefully needling him, and it worked. Anger flared in him as the goddess turned to walk alongside Chris toward the palace, her hand gripping his shoulder as though for support. Obviously, it was good that she had supports other than Evan, and yet.
Evan yearned to push himself up straight into a run toward her, to tackle her right back down into the grass and bite and scratch and enter her. But he did not. He exhaled shakily, and turned his attention to the volunteers still strewn around him--Trevor and Nathan and Lance all still varying degrees of dazed and trying to come to. At least it was gratifying to see Lance still on his back, his eyes still heavy and yearning. The braggart reached toward the goddess weakly, finally propping himself up on his elbow for a moment before groaning and collapsing back down into the grass. That did lighten Evan's spirits, and he let out a breathy laugh.
He then looked back to Nathan, who was still whimpering but had managed to prop himself up on his hands, his feet still lightly hugging Evan's hips. He felt a brief temptation to invite the boy into a hug, but that would keep them there in the grass even longer. Surely, they all would rather get back to the goddess' proximity sooner rather than later. Evan knew he would. So, instead, he groaned and pushed himself to his feet, offering Nathan a hand up as soon as he was steady. Nathan accepted it, though his legs were shaky, and he clung to Evan to stay standing, hands around Evan's waist. Honestly, it was hard to complain about that.
Lance was managing to get himself rolled over and up onto his knees, panting in something like child's pose from the effort. Evan figured he'd get to his eventually, and frankly kind of deserved the hardest time coming up. Or in the very least, Evan was getting the most gratitification from watching Lance claw his way up on his own. So, Evan left the braggart alone and turned his attention to Trevor, taking a step toward the man. Nathan, a little steadier now, loosened his grip around Evan, perhaps not wanting to encumber Evan as his attention shifted, though he lingered just a step behind Evan, his hands not quite ready to fully leave Evan's hips. It was cute, and Evan smiled lightly to himself as he assessed whether Trevor looked ready for a hand up or whether he might need some words of encouragement or something else entirely.
((OOC: So, yeah, Evan's definitely going to make sure that Trevor gets to his feet before following the goddess. He might leave Lance to finish getting himself up, maybe with a pithy comment lol, but only cuz Lance is showing signs that he'll make it fine on his own, just might take a minute longer. I think by the time Evan is walking back to the palace, Nathan'll be colllected enough to be a little too embarassed to keep touching Evan, though he's proably hovering kind of close by--unless, if it seems like Trevor could use extra support while walking, Nathan might end up finally gravitating toward him.))
Re: Part 1 (Start Reading Here)
Trevor felt Lance's stiffening blood vessels between Lance's legs and only applied more pressure underneath Lance's testicles, his own cock throbbing and thrashing with aching jealousy. But, Trevor's head lolled, his eyes rolling back, the pleasure around him so furiously strong as to threaten to pull him underwater again and again. It was an effort to remember even to breathe. He kissed the goddess' back, hoping she might remember him, her warmth intoxicatingly familiar, like coming home after a long journey. He tongued some of the sweat beading on her skin, his body far past assessing his decisions against his sense of possible embarrassment.
He heard Lance's voice begin a chant that Trevor himself had said over and over in the days before he had awakened from his enthralled state.
"De... Dehal... Dehaljadrun!" Trevor's body shook with the sound of it as the goddess' body leaned back into him and Lance trembled around him.
Seek pleasure.
Impulsively, Trevor reached around the goddess, whether trying to hold her up or seek his own comfort, he didn't know. Eventually, his palm landed on her left breast, and he held fast as though he were about to climb her, but he didn't otherwise have it in him to engage his muscles. So, he simply hung in that liminal space, clinging to her breast and keeping pressure between Lance's legs, as the goddess' shivers mounted and then settled against him. He felt... proud, maybe even satisfied, though he wasn't sure his cock or his ass would agree with him. There was a swelling in his chest that gave him confidence that he had done something right.
He smiled quietly to himself, lips parted, breath soft.
It seemed like a long while passed, and the awkward slumped position Trevor was in started to become uncomfortable. The goddess attempted to move her legs but didn't get very far, which ultimately made Trevor feel better. If she couldn't even get up, then surely his own stupor was understandable. He couldn't even begin to track where the others were.
"Come," the goddess said, "come warm yourselves with me." The thought sounded nice, but Trevor wasn't certain he could move. His fingers were still stubbornly poised against Lance, and his hand clung to the goddess' breast. He didn't want to be separated ever again from her skin if he could help it.
Trevor felt the goddess' muscles tense, and Lance's answering moan gave Trevor an idea of what exactly was happening. Trevor panted his frustration, squeezing the goddess' breast in protest, unable to keep from rubbing the length of his cock where it still rested inside his loincloth against Lance's thigh. Lance kept moaning, every sound pushing Trevor's head further and further underwater. He couldn't hear anything anymore, the world only ringing around him as he clung and tried to remember to breathe, his eyes rolling back.
The goddess pressed back against him, and he tightened his muscles to stay upright through it, even though they screamed further when he did so. Eventually, his goddess' hand came to rest atop his, and he was gratified for half a moment until she pulled his hand off her breast and dropped his whole arm back behind her, only making him slump forward against her further with a groan, his cheek against her slick back.
It was torture when the goddess stood, slid out from against Trevor as though his weight mattered nothing to her, and he fell rather gracelessly forward onto Lance, only managing to catch himself from smashing his nose into Lance's hipbone by sheer instinct as one hand lashed out and landed on the ground. Trevor lowered himself more slowly onto Lance, stretching his legs long out behind Lance and relishing in the excuse to be in a different position. His cheek on Lance's thigh and his fingers still underneath Lance's testicles, Trevor stopped applying pressure and instead gently grasped and rolled one of the testicles in his palm, its oblong shape a comforting fullness in his hand. It was slick with fluids. Lance's or the goddess'? In the fog of his mind, Trevor didn't care, bringing his lips to enclose the whole of Lance's testicle with his mouth, rolling it around with his tongue and moaning, eyes rolling with the thought of his own saliva mixing with the viscous evidence of two other bodies' pleasure. He'd take the leftovers if he had to.
"Stay out here in the cold if you like," the goddess said, breaking through the ringing in Trevor's mind, "but Chris and I are going inside." Trevor flinched, his eyebrows deeply furrowed, and forgot his teeth for a moment, closing in half a centimeter before he realized what was still in his mouth. Begrudgingly, he released the testicle and looked up at her with mouth agape, brow pleading, but sure enough walking away from him, a hand on Chris's shoulder as though he were the one who had brought her to climax. She looked... proud of Chris. Trevor's chest closed in on itself, and he found it difficult to breathe. He made a sound that might have once been a word but only managed to be a plaintive cry reminiscent of a dog being left by its owner. Close enough, Trevor thought.
Lance was crawling to his knees, rolling over into child's pose, and Trevor managed to move his limbs enough to let it happen, though he was still on all fours. Evan was on his feet somehow, Nathan curled about his waist, both their cocks erect and throbbing near Trevor's head, though Nathan's, at least, was covered with loincloth. Trevor could practically hear the blood rushing. The ringing in his ears threatened to come back, and Trevor tilted his head up as though to take Evan's cock into his mouth. He might have, too, except for a mild smell of latrine that made it to Trevor's nostrils in time to stop the impulse. Had Evan been inside Nathan, then? Surely Nathan and not Chris. Trevor didn't think Chris would be walking away quite so smugly if so. Trevor sluggishly stopped reaching and pulled his heavy tongue back into his mouth, eyes rolling. He still couldn't have what he wanted.
Evan offered a hand, and Trevor had the impulse to shove that in his mouth, too, all four fingers at once and then maybe also his thumb, before he remembered that he had hands, too. He looked up at Evan and accepted the gesture like a fucking human being, hauling himself up to standing and surprised suddenly to find himself taller than Evan and Nathan. His head spun, and his vision darkened at the edges, but he managed to stay standing, looking longingly after the goddess as she continued walking away without looking back. Trevor took a step her direction, but Lance was in the way, and Trevor still had hold of Evan's hand. He put a hand on Evan's shoulder instead, using him like he might brace against a boulder to step over Lance and follow his goddess.
He heard Lance's voice begin a chant that Trevor himself had said over and over in the days before he had awakened from his enthralled state.
"De... Dehal... Dehaljadrun!" Trevor's body shook with the sound of it as the goddess' body leaned back into him and Lance trembled around him.
Seek pleasure.
Impulsively, Trevor reached around the goddess, whether trying to hold her up or seek his own comfort, he didn't know. Eventually, his palm landed on her left breast, and he held fast as though he were about to climb her, but he didn't otherwise have it in him to engage his muscles. So, he simply hung in that liminal space, clinging to her breast and keeping pressure between Lance's legs, as the goddess' shivers mounted and then settled against him. He felt... proud, maybe even satisfied, though he wasn't sure his cock or his ass would agree with him. There was a swelling in his chest that gave him confidence that he had done something right.
He smiled quietly to himself, lips parted, breath soft.
It seemed like a long while passed, and the awkward slumped position Trevor was in started to become uncomfortable. The goddess attempted to move her legs but didn't get very far, which ultimately made Trevor feel better. If she couldn't even get up, then surely his own stupor was understandable. He couldn't even begin to track where the others were.
"Come," the goddess said, "come warm yourselves with me." The thought sounded nice, but Trevor wasn't certain he could move. His fingers were still stubbornly poised against Lance, and his hand clung to the goddess' breast. He didn't want to be separated ever again from her skin if he could help it.
Trevor felt the goddess' muscles tense, and Lance's answering moan gave Trevor an idea of what exactly was happening. Trevor panted his frustration, squeezing the goddess' breast in protest, unable to keep from rubbing the length of his cock where it still rested inside his loincloth against Lance's thigh. Lance kept moaning, every sound pushing Trevor's head further and further underwater. He couldn't hear anything anymore, the world only ringing around him as he clung and tried to remember to breathe, his eyes rolling back.
The goddess pressed back against him, and he tightened his muscles to stay upright through it, even though they screamed further when he did so. Eventually, his goddess' hand came to rest atop his, and he was gratified for half a moment until she pulled his hand off her breast and dropped his whole arm back behind her, only making him slump forward against her further with a groan, his cheek against her slick back.
It was torture when the goddess stood, slid out from against Trevor as though his weight mattered nothing to her, and he fell rather gracelessly forward onto Lance, only managing to catch himself from smashing his nose into Lance's hipbone by sheer instinct as one hand lashed out and landed on the ground. Trevor lowered himself more slowly onto Lance, stretching his legs long out behind Lance and relishing in the excuse to be in a different position. His cheek on Lance's thigh and his fingers still underneath Lance's testicles, Trevor stopped applying pressure and instead gently grasped and rolled one of the testicles in his palm, its oblong shape a comforting fullness in his hand. It was slick with fluids. Lance's or the goddess'? In the fog of his mind, Trevor didn't care, bringing his lips to enclose the whole of Lance's testicle with his mouth, rolling it around with his tongue and moaning, eyes rolling with the thought of his own saliva mixing with the viscous evidence of two other bodies' pleasure. He'd take the leftovers if he had to.
"Stay out here in the cold if you like," the goddess said, breaking through the ringing in Trevor's mind, "but Chris and I are going inside." Trevor flinched, his eyebrows deeply furrowed, and forgot his teeth for a moment, closing in half a centimeter before he realized what was still in his mouth. Begrudgingly, he released the testicle and looked up at her with mouth agape, brow pleading, but sure enough walking away from him, a hand on Chris's shoulder as though he were the one who had brought her to climax. She looked... proud of Chris. Trevor's chest closed in on itself, and he found it difficult to breathe. He made a sound that might have once been a word but only managed to be a plaintive cry reminiscent of a dog being left by its owner. Close enough, Trevor thought.
Lance was crawling to his knees, rolling over into child's pose, and Trevor managed to move his limbs enough to let it happen, though he was still on all fours. Evan was on his feet somehow, Nathan curled about his waist, both their cocks erect and throbbing near Trevor's head, though Nathan's, at least, was covered with loincloth. Trevor could practically hear the blood rushing. The ringing in his ears threatened to come back, and Trevor tilted his head up as though to take Evan's cock into his mouth. He might have, too, except for a mild smell of latrine that made it to Trevor's nostrils in time to stop the impulse. Had Evan been inside Nathan, then? Surely Nathan and not Chris. Trevor didn't think Chris would be walking away quite so smugly if so. Trevor sluggishly stopped reaching and pulled his heavy tongue back into his mouth, eyes rolling. He still couldn't have what he wanted.
Evan offered a hand, and Trevor had the impulse to shove that in his mouth, too, all four fingers at once and then maybe also his thumb, before he remembered that he had hands, too. He looked up at Evan and accepted the gesture like a fucking human being, hauling himself up to standing and surprised suddenly to find himself taller than Evan and Nathan. His head spun, and his vision darkened at the edges, but he managed to stay standing, looking longingly after the goddess as she continued walking away without looking back. Trevor took a step her direction, but Lance was in the way, and Trevor still had hold of Evan's hand. He put a hand on Evan's shoulder instead, using him like he might brace against a boulder to step over Lance and follow his goddess.
Re: Part 1 (Start Reading Here)
"De... Dehal... Dehaljadrun!"
Lance gave himself over to pleasure entirely, and found himself swept up in a torrent of watery purple light, elation dancing over every nerve and and through every crevasse of his awareness. He was Delight indeed, knowing almost nothing else in the world in that moment.
Distantly, he swirled in a lazy whirlpool of glee, his laughter dancing up toward the sky. He had served the goddess well, had helped her to accomplish something. He couldn't fathom what, but he wasn't altogether sure that he cared to, exactly. He was too busy basking in the joy of his experience, and perfectly content to let the goddess do whatever she needed to do with what he had given her.
Something rattled him, though, which he could make no sense of at all. Like suddenly the current he floated on parted beneath him, or he became all at once too heavy, and he fell below the water, sputtering with alarm and surprise. He found his steadiness soon enough, though, easily flailing his way back above water, but now in more of a childlike swim keeping him afloat. With the change came a fresh sense of awareness and curiosity, a landscape coming into his awareness around him.
He floated in a river, and upriver near a waterfall was the goddess, climbing. Ascending. Lance relaxed back into a lazy float in the river, his awareness drifting back into a pleasant haze as he recalled how it felt to chant her name. It was sultry and divine and beautiful, and he would relish the feeling of it on his lips.
He didn’t know how long he floated there; time didn’t much seem to matter. All he did know is that eventually, he began to regain awareness of his back pressed into grass, and a faint moan fell from his lips as his attention revelled once again in the warm embrace of the goddess around his length. She gasped, too, and Lance laughed again with soft delight, though it once again slid toward a moan as his attention carried on to recall the fingers still pressed up between his legs, almost threatening to begin coaxing Lance’s blood back into his length for another round. The goddess laughed a delightful, bubbly laugh, and Lance massaged eagerly at her thighs, soaking in all the touch his awareness could handle.
“Come,” the goddess whispered, “come warm yourselves with me.”
Lance could think nothing other than that he was doing precisely that already, and his hands kneaded at her muscles contentedly. But the goddess shifted, and a terrible lurch turned his stomach, his hands suddenly grasping at her thighs with a clinging desperation; he was terrified of what he might feel if she left.
The goddess clenched around him and Lance moaned and shuddered, his grip loosening as his attention rolled through his body along with the ripples of pleasure from his re-awakening length. She clenched again and again, coaxing heat to pool once more in his groin, and he began to lazily roll his hips, his kneading fingers now fully immersed in echoing the pleasure of the interaction back into the goddess’ skin. If he was aware of the dark laugh that echoed from her, he couldn’t bring himself to fathom it, he was so thoroughly content in her clenching around him and her weight upon his hips, her thighs hugging him and satisfying beneath his palms.
"Thank you," she spoke, her words flowing through Lance with blissful warmth. "You've all deeply made an impact in healing me and this realm."
For the briefest of moments, Lance was afloat in that river again, delighted laughter dancing up to the sky. And then another clench, and he moaned and shuddered back in his body in the meadow, hips starting to grow greedy with what motions they could manage between the goddess and the ground beneath him.
Then, all at once, she was gone. Lance gasped and his hands flailed in the air as though searching for where her thighs had gone, his whole body shivering with devastation and a fresh, potent awareness of the chill in the air in her wake. Another body lowered onto his legs, though, providing some small semblance of relief. One of Lance’s hands found their way to a head leaned against his thigh, fingers curling into hair for something to hold onto.
The pressure under Lance’s testacles finally released and Lance let out a shuddering breath, some small ripple of relaxation washing through him at the change in pressure. It was short-lived, though, as a hand palmed one of Lance’s testacles, and then a mouth gently enclosed it, pulling yet another shudder though Lance’s body. He was cold, his length bared to the open air, and now a deeply vulnerable tender part of him in a near-stranger’s mouth. He couldn’t say it was unpleasant, but fear rippled through him, finally beginning to beckon his awareness back into his surroundings, bringing his sense of sight back from someplace it had disappeared to for quite some time as he peered down at the man between his legs.
"Stay out here in the cold if you like," the goddess’s voice tore through Lance’s chest, wrenching his attention over to where she stood, devastating paces away from him, "but Chris and I are going inside."
Lance reached for her helplessly, pushing himself up on an elbow to be just that much closer to her, but he felt a sharp crack of fear tear through him and he collapsed back down, his legs opening helplessly to instinctively try to appease the teeth that very nearly bit down on his testacle. Mercifully, the teeth relented before any real pain assaulted Lance’s senses, and the man even released the testacle from his mouth entirely, affording Lance a fresh wave of relief.
Lance panted heavily with overwhelm at the complex waves of all these feelings and sensations, yearning for the goddess quickly rising again. With a soft groan he rolled toward her, reaching for her again and finally resolving to get onto his knees lest he collapse onto his back once more. He did collapse again once he succeeded, though, his hips falling onto his feet and forehead hanging between his shoulders just above the grass as he continued panting to try to catch his breath and somehow collect the will to stand.
Vaguely, he was aware of shadows passing over him, slowly fanning a compounding terror that he’d altogether be left behind. He was teary by the time he finally managed to lift his head again, watching with ache as, sure enough, the rest of his meadow companions all strode past him, following the goddess back toward the palace on their own two feet.
Evan looked back at Lance after a few paces, though, a condescending smirk on his lips. It surprised Lance, lighting a fire in him with the playful, daring familiarity of the expression, and Lance managed a smirk in return, beginning to feel more like himself. With Evan watching, he gathered his willpower to push himself to his feet, though embarrassment flashed through him as his attention fell into the suckling sensations of the loincloth over his length, and he hunched over to brace his hands on his thighs as he let another ripple of pleasure pass through him lest he fall back to the ground fighting it. By the time he collected himself enough to look up again, Evan had already turned back around, and Lance let out a scoff of a laugh. That bastard.
With a shaky breath, Lance finally managed to stand upright and begin walking himself, though he took it slow, his cock sensitive and constantly pulling his attention back into the gentle intensity of the loin cloth and all its gracious suckling, pulling flashes of nearby memories through his mind. The thought of the goddess around him both halted him with pleasure and propelled him forward again, a strange and arguably absurd ebb and flow that Lance simply had to surrender himself to, slowly making progress across the meadow with the occasional pause to close his eyes and full-body shudder.
Lance gave himself over to pleasure entirely, and found himself swept up in a torrent of watery purple light, elation dancing over every nerve and and through every crevasse of his awareness. He was Delight indeed, knowing almost nothing else in the world in that moment.
Distantly, he swirled in a lazy whirlpool of glee, his laughter dancing up toward the sky. He had served the goddess well, had helped her to accomplish something. He couldn't fathom what, but he wasn't altogether sure that he cared to, exactly. He was too busy basking in the joy of his experience, and perfectly content to let the goddess do whatever she needed to do with what he had given her.
Something rattled him, though, which he could make no sense of at all. Like suddenly the current he floated on parted beneath him, or he became all at once too heavy, and he fell below the water, sputtering with alarm and surprise. He found his steadiness soon enough, though, easily flailing his way back above water, but now in more of a childlike swim keeping him afloat. With the change came a fresh sense of awareness and curiosity, a landscape coming into his awareness around him.
He floated in a river, and upriver near a waterfall was the goddess, climbing. Ascending. Lance relaxed back into a lazy float in the river, his awareness drifting back into a pleasant haze as he recalled how it felt to chant her name. It was sultry and divine and beautiful, and he would relish the feeling of it on his lips.
He didn’t know how long he floated there; time didn’t much seem to matter. All he did know is that eventually, he began to regain awareness of his back pressed into grass, and a faint moan fell from his lips as his attention revelled once again in the warm embrace of the goddess around his length. She gasped, too, and Lance laughed again with soft delight, though it once again slid toward a moan as his attention carried on to recall the fingers still pressed up between his legs, almost threatening to begin coaxing Lance’s blood back into his length for another round. The goddess laughed a delightful, bubbly laugh, and Lance massaged eagerly at her thighs, soaking in all the touch his awareness could handle.
“Come,” the goddess whispered, “come warm yourselves with me.”
Lance could think nothing other than that he was doing precisely that already, and his hands kneaded at her muscles contentedly. But the goddess shifted, and a terrible lurch turned his stomach, his hands suddenly grasping at her thighs with a clinging desperation; he was terrified of what he might feel if she left.
The goddess clenched around him and Lance moaned and shuddered, his grip loosening as his attention rolled through his body along with the ripples of pleasure from his re-awakening length. She clenched again and again, coaxing heat to pool once more in his groin, and he began to lazily roll his hips, his kneading fingers now fully immersed in echoing the pleasure of the interaction back into the goddess’ skin. If he was aware of the dark laugh that echoed from her, he couldn’t bring himself to fathom it, he was so thoroughly content in her clenching around him and her weight upon his hips, her thighs hugging him and satisfying beneath his palms.
"Thank you," she spoke, her words flowing through Lance with blissful warmth. "You've all deeply made an impact in healing me and this realm."
For the briefest of moments, Lance was afloat in that river again, delighted laughter dancing up to the sky. And then another clench, and he moaned and shuddered back in his body in the meadow, hips starting to grow greedy with what motions they could manage between the goddess and the ground beneath him.
Then, all at once, she was gone. Lance gasped and his hands flailed in the air as though searching for where her thighs had gone, his whole body shivering with devastation and a fresh, potent awareness of the chill in the air in her wake. Another body lowered onto his legs, though, providing some small semblance of relief. One of Lance’s hands found their way to a head leaned against his thigh, fingers curling into hair for something to hold onto.
The pressure under Lance’s testacles finally released and Lance let out a shuddering breath, some small ripple of relaxation washing through him at the change in pressure. It was short-lived, though, as a hand palmed one of Lance’s testacles, and then a mouth gently enclosed it, pulling yet another shudder though Lance’s body. He was cold, his length bared to the open air, and now a deeply vulnerable tender part of him in a near-stranger’s mouth. He couldn’t say it was unpleasant, but fear rippled through him, finally beginning to beckon his awareness back into his surroundings, bringing his sense of sight back from someplace it had disappeared to for quite some time as he peered down at the man between his legs.
"Stay out here in the cold if you like," the goddess’s voice tore through Lance’s chest, wrenching his attention over to where she stood, devastating paces away from him, "but Chris and I are going inside."
Lance reached for her helplessly, pushing himself up on an elbow to be just that much closer to her, but he felt a sharp crack of fear tear through him and he collapsed back down, his legs opening helplessly to instinctively try to appease the teeth that very nearly bit down on his testacle. Mercifully, the teeth relented before any real pain assaulted Lance’s senses, and the man even released the testacle from his mouth entirely, affording Lance a fresh wave of relief.
Lance panted heavily with overwhelm at the complex waves of all these feelings and sensations, yearning for the goddess quickly rising again. With a soft groan he rolled toward her, reaching for her again and finally resolving to get onto his knees lest he collapse onto his back once more. He did collapse again once he succeeded, though, his hips falling onto his feet and forehead hanging between his shoulders just above the grass as he continued panting to try to catch his breath and somehow collect the will to stand.
Vaguely, he was aware of shadows passing over him, slowly fanning a compounding terror that he’d altogether be left behind. He was teary by the time he finally managed to lift his head again, watching with ache as, sure enough, the rest of his meadow companions all strode past him, following the goddess back toward the palace on their own two feet.
Evan looked back at Lance after a few paces, though, a condescending smirk on his lips. It surprised Lance, lighting a fire in him with the playful, daring familiarity of the expression, and Lance managed a smirk in return, beginning to feel more like himself. With Evan watching, he gathered his willpower to push himself to his feet, though embarrassment flashed through him as his attention fell into the suckling sensations of the loincloth over his length, and he hunched over to brace his hands on his thighs as he let another ripple of pleasure pass through him lest he fall back to the ground fighting it. By the time he collected himself enough to look up again, Evan had already turned back around, and Lance let out a scoff of a laugh. That bastard.
With a shaky breath, Lance finally managed to stand upright and begin walking himself, though he took it slow, his cock sensitive and constantly pulling his attention back into the gentle intensity of the loin cloth and all its gracious suckling, pulling flashes of nearby memories through his mind. The thought of the goddess around him both halted him with pleasure and propelled him forward again, a strange and arguably absurd ebb and flow that Lance simply had to surrender himself to, slowly making progress across the meadow with the occasional pause to close his eyes and full-body shudder.
Re: Part 1 (Start Reading Here)
Looking behind herself briefly to check that her needling had worked, Dehaljadrun was pleased that her volunteers were rousing. Evan seemed intent on shepherding his flock, earning a curl of chagrin from the goddess. Leaning on Chris' shoulder and walking toward the palace where Nick and Chloe still stood, gawking somewhat, the goddess ached suddenly for a moment alone. Or at least, a moment alone with Evan. And, really, if he were truly going to go to the Underworld on her behalf with tonight as his last night with her, it was her right and her due. She needed to actually prepare him for the journey and not simply bask in time with him.
Had she prepared him at all? She thought over their nights together and soon snagged on their second night, wincing. Maybe the goddess had only given him more shadows to fight while he was away from her. She hated the idea. But, Philip had wanted to return, and Evan had allowed that to happen. Surely, that was a good sign? Perhaps that's where they needed to start tonight--what was left to be excavated there?
But, as the goddess rounded the bend with vegetables, fruits, and the nesting feradons in front of the palace, she saw Gavin looking on from the outer edge of the meadow, that blue fox creature wrapped around his leg. Seeing the goddess make eye contact with him, he walked forward, and the creature jumped up onto Gavin's back instead, which elicited a string of laughter. The goddess stopped and released her hand from Chris' shoulder, waiting for him to approach.
She put a hand on one hip as Gavin stopped, looked the goddess' naked form up and down with awe, and then bowed in front of her, the blue fox creature able to get a better grip on his back in the process and looking like she was having the time of her life.
Still bowed, Gavin said toward the ground, "You gave me a great gift, goddess, and I hope you won't take my moment of overwhelm as a slight. I am deeply grateful."
The goddess took a step forward and gently scratched under the creature's neck, earning a purr that reverberated through Gavin and make his legs visibly shake. Unable to hold the bow anymore, he stood up, placing his hands underneath the blue fox creature to help hold her up.
"It wasn't a slight. If you hadn't been overwhelmed, perhaps it would have been," the goddess said with a smile. The two of them would be all right. "Be at ease, soldier," Dehaljadrun added with a smirk as she walked toward the open palace door. She looked momentarily toward Chloe and Nick, nodding at them, though they were both still enigmas to her. If they just wanted to watch, there would be plenty for them to see. Maybe she didn't need to worry about them for now. They would all find their places here, eventually.
Entering the palace, the goddess took a deep breath, enjoying the scent of flowering trees and earth. In the wake of her pleasure, the palace had grown and filled out, looking more at home in the meadow than it had before. Upon seeing the woven grass tapestries glinting above them beneath the canopy, the goddess raised an eyebrow, curious if Evan would notice his likeness there. And, in fact, this would be his first time exploring the new palace--she wanted to know what he thought of the change. Last he had been here, she had blown a massive hole in the stone wall, after all.
The goddess caught sight of Raccoon curled up in a shelf nook on one of the upper levels, getting some well-earned sleep. And Philip and Novelty were in one of the side rooms on the bed, curled up around each other, talking. Everyone accounted for, then, the goddess thought, pleased. No fae traps for them to spring quite yet.
Dehaljadrun ached to know what Philip and Novelty were talking about, but she thought it unwise to interrupt them, especially while her skin was still cold to the touch. She was eager to get into one of the pools.
((OOC: I think she would be about ready to step up the staircase when Evan enters the palace, unless he is otherwise stopped first. Trevor is probably hanging around behind her, not quite sure what to do yet. Dehaljadrun will stop and pay attention to Evan's exploration once he enters, but she's not going to wait for him to get in the pool if he is delayed. Description of the tapestries is here: viewtopic.php?t=19&start=10#p2795))
Had she prepared him at all? She thought over their nights together and soon snagged on their second night, wincing. Maybe the goddess had only given him more shadows to fight while he was away from her. She hated the idea. But, Philip had wanted to return, and Evan had allowed that to happen. Surely, that was a good sign? Perhaps that's where they needed to start tonight--what was left to be excavated there?
But, as the goddess rounded the bend with vegetables, fruits, and the nesting feradons in front of the palace, she saw Gavin looking on from the outer edge of the meadow, that blue fox creature wrapped around his leg. Seeing the goddess make eye contact with him, he walked forward, and the creature jumped up onto Gavin's back instead, which elicited a string of laughter. The goddess stopped and released her hand from Chris' shoulder, waiting for him to approach.
She put a hand on one hip as Gavin stopped, looked the goddess' naked form up and down with awe, and then bowed in front of her, the blue fox creature able to get a better grip on his back in the process and looking like she was having the time of her life.
Still bowed, Gavin said toward the ground, "You gave me a great gift, goddess, and I hope you won't take my moment of overwhelm as a slight. I am deeply grateful."
The goddess took a step forward and gently scratched under the creature's neck, earning a purr that reverberated through Gavin and make his legs visibly shake. Unable to hold the bow anymore, he stood up, placing his hands underneath the blue fox creature to help hold her up.
"It wasn't a slight. If you hadn't been overwhelmed, perhaps it would have been," the goddess said with a smile. The two of them would be all right. "Be at ease, soldier," Dehaljadrun added with a smirk as she walked toward the open palace door. She looked momentarily toward Chloe and Nick, nodding at them, though they were both still enigmas to her. If they just wanted to watch, there would be plenty for them to see. Maybe she didn't need to worry about them for now. They would all find their places here, eventually.
Entering the palace, the goddess took a deep breath, enjoying the scent of flowering trees and earth. In the wake of her pleasure, the palace had grown and filled out, looking more at home in the meadow than it had before. Upon seeing the woven grass tapestries glinting above them beneath the canopy, the goddess raised an eyebrow, curious if Evan would notice his likeness there. And, in fact, this would be his first time exploring the new palace--she wanted to know what he thought of the change. Last he had been here, she had blown a massive hole in the stone wall, after all.
The goddess caught sight of Raccoon curled up in a shelf nook on one of the upper levels, getting some well-earned sleep. And Philip and Novelty were in one of the side rooms on the bed, curled up around each other, talking. Everyone accounted for, then, the goddess thought, pleased. No fae traps for them to spring quite yet.
Dehaljadrun ached to know what Philip and Novelty were talking about, but she thought it unwise to interrupt them, especially while her skin was still cold to the touch. She was eager to get into one of the pools.
((OOC: I think she would be about ready to step up the staircase when Evan enters the palace, unless he is otherwise stopped first. Trevor is probably hanging around behind her, not quite sure what to do yet. Dehaljadrun will stop and pay attention to Evan's exploration once he enters, but she's not going to wait for him to get in the pool if he is delayed. Description of the tapestries is here: viewtopic.php?t=19&start=10#p2795))
Re: Part 1 (Start Reading Here)
Evan was feeling rather pleased with himself by the time he started following the goddess in earnest. Trevor had very nearly sucked his cock on impulse, if he hadn't been mistaken, before recovering himself enough to get to his feet with Evan's help. Once Trevor was off on his own two feet, Evan got himself resituated in his trousers if only to make walking easier and went to collect his jacket with the goddess' scale in it, not wanting to leave it simply discarded in the meadow. Lance was every bit the glorious mess Evan had hoped he would be, lagging behind under the weight of all he'd experienced with the goddess but still able to handle himself with a grin. And Nathan adorably shuffled along just behind Evan, even to retrieve Evan's jacket, stealing shy glances toward him, his adoration of Evan's form delightfully painted all over his face. Evan's body might not be sated, but his pride was well-stroked, at least for as long as he could keep his mind off of the way the goddess had leaned on Chris as she'd walked.
The sight of Gavin softened him again; he was glad to see his soldier looking more at ease now than when he'd taken his leave. A wry grin curled on Evan's lips when he realized that he recognized the small blue fox creature that rode on Gavin's back, stirring up a nostalgia within him for that first night, and a small curiosity about the creature itself. It seemed different from the goddess' demons, if he had to say. Fae, maybe? He had yet to understand much about that part of the goddess' realm, and he sobered a little to think of just how much he might still not know, particularly with the unknowns of the Underworld looming.
He lightened again as he approached the palace, though, taking in the full sight of it. It had registered somewhere in his periphery after he'd arrived, but only now did his attention have enough space to actually take it in. They were in the same meadow, of that he felt certain, but the palace was entirely new. That's one way to mend a hole in the wall, he thought with a smirk, though genuine affection warmed his chest as he thought of the goddess making this place, drawing on his own small experiences with conjuring sword, clothing, and Underworld gates. The palace was huge and intricate, and entwined with the landscape in ways that felt right--reminding Evan pleasantly of the tree he'd just visited in his vision in the meadow, where he and the goddess had spent such potent time together the previous night.
Just when some shame started to creep into him--some internal sense of reprimand that obviously, the goddess redoing her whole palace wasn't merely about him--his gaze drew up to tapestries as he entered, the first displaying a depiction of himself and the goddess in the priestess' summoning circle, the goddess just about to undo her skirt. He swallowed, his length pulsing beneath the fabric he'd tucked it back into. Something had felt so utterly, terrifyingly inevitable back then, mere nights ago and yet somehow a lifetime, but he never would have imagined all this.
His cheeks were hot and his eyes blurred with stirring tears by the time his attention turned toward the goddess herself. He felt cracked open and laid bare, as he'd felt in that circle on that first night when the goddess had so effortlessly unfurled all the fantasies of her he'd kept tucked away. He looked at her with longing, and began to walk toward her, wanting nothing more than to indulge in her proximity again.
((OOC: What he does when he reaches her depends on a lot of things--maybe most chiefly, how the goddess and Chris are still interacting? It may be about time for me to post for Chris, too... he's probably noticed/experienced some complex things by now, to say the least))
The sight of Gavin softened him again; he was glad to see his soldier looking more at ease now than when he'd taken his leave. A wry grin curled on Evan's lips when he realized that he recognized the small blue fox creature that rode on Gavin's back, stirring up a nostalgia within him for that first night, and a small curiosity about the creature itself. It seemed different from the goddess' demons, if he had to say. Fae, maybe? He had yet to understand much about that part of the goddess' realm, and he sobered a little to think of just how much he might still not know, particularly with the unknowns of the Underworld looming.
He lightened again as he approached the palace, though, taking in the full sight of it. It had registered somewhere in his periphery after he'd arrived, but only now did his attention have enough space to actually take it in. They were in the same meadow, of that he felt certain, but the palace was entirely new. That's one way to mend a hole in the wall, he thought with a smirk, though genuine affection warmed his chest as he thought of the goddess making this place, drawing on his own small experiences with conjuring sword, clothing, and Underworld gates. The palace was huge and intricate, and entwined with the landscape in ways that felt right--reminding Evan pleasantly of the tree he'd just visited in his vision in the meadow, where he and the goddess had spent such potent time together the previous night.
Just when some shame started to creep into him--some internal sense of reprimand that obviously, the goddess redoing her whole palace wasn't merely about him--his gaze drew up to tapestries as he entered, the first displaying a depiction of himself and the goddess in the priestess' summoning circle, the goddess just about to undo her skirt. He swallowed, his length pulsing beneath the fabric he'd tucked it back into. Something had felt so utterly, terrifyingly inevitable back then, mere nights ago and yet somehow a lifetime, but he never would have imagined all this.
His cheeks were hot and his eyes blurred with stirring tears by the time his attention turned toward the goddess herself. He felt cracked open and laid bare, as he'd felt in that circle on that first night when the goddess had so effortlessly unfurled all the fantasies of her he'd kept tucked away. He looked at her with longing, and began to walk toward her, wanting nothing more than to indulge in her proximity again.
((OOC: What he does when he reaches her depends on a lot of things--maybe most chiefly, how the goddess and Chris are still interacting? It may be about time for me to post for Chris, too... he's probably noticed/experienced some complex things by now, to say the least))
Re: Part 1 (Start Reading Here)
Dehaljadrun was about to take the first stair toward the pools when she saw Evan enter the palace. Intrigued by his reaction, she turned and watched him take it in, a smirk settling on her face. He looked up at the woven grass tapestries, the one closest to him, if she had to guess, of the two of them at the summoning. Such a fated day, she thought, unaware that nostalgia could well up in her chest from only a few days previous. The goddess ached to close the gap between her and Evan, but she held fast, wanting to see all the ways he took this in. But, his eyes didn't move any further. They fell immediately to meet hers with all the fire she craved, and she imagined pulling a rope connected between them toward herself, hauling him closer--she didn't want to be the one to run this time. Dehaljadrun wanted to bask at length in the jealousy it was possible to conjure from all the volunteers as she wrapped herself around Evan again, her cock beginning to ready itself for more. They had all night to prepare--surely they had time for this.
Evan took several steps her direction, picking up speed, but movement in her periphery caught her attention. Novelty was no longer tangled up with Philip but instead leaning against the doorway, looking for all the world like he had something to say. Though his posture was lazy and lounging, his body radiated deep red waves of anger, and for a moment, the goddess forgot that she had more magic and power than he did. She was afraid.
"Dearest goddess," Novelty said, and for all its trappings of worship, it hit the goddess' ears like a slap in the face. "Forgive my curiosity, but I can't help but wonder..." Novelty finally met her gaze now and walked toward her, his confidence somehow unshakable even in the face of her furrowed brows and slowly clenching fists, her mouth a tight line as something inside her coiled as though ready to fight.
"Why? Why send so many of our fellow soldiers into delirious stupors, their mouths spewing terrifying nonsense and muttering your epithets? Why all the stories of you taking what you want without a care for the lives of the people at stake? Why do you want us in the first place, and what gives you the right?"
The words did, in fact, hit her like a blow, and she took half a step back, a fist coming up to her chest so she could dig a knuckle in. She no longer wanted to be naked, feeling raw and exposed in the light of this man's stare. Had he come here only to taunt her? She had seen nothing of this in his mind when she had welcomed him. He had been... effusive. Grateful. What had changed?
He talked to Philip, she thought with a stab in her chest. Her eyes fell to the ground, and she dropped her fist, knowing that such a physical response was incriminating. She couldn't help it. Novelty had found the biggest crack in her resolve and slammed a wedge straight into it, his eyes peering with so much searching into the chasm of her guilt.
The goddess looked at Evan first, fear and anger mixing with a plea in her eyes. What had he told them? What hadn't he told them? And, for a split second, the goddess thought having ten humans here had been far more trouble than it had been worth.
The goddess met each of their eyes, letting the full weight of their curiosity hit her. Chris, Trevor, Nathan, Gavin, Chloe, Nick. Raccoon, who had woken up and was peering down from the top level. Philip, who had come to stand in the doorway behind Novelty. Lance, who strode up toward the entrance, oblivious to the blow.
She had the urge to be visibly angry, and a few sparks of lightning shed off her palms, eager to be used and at the ready. But she didn't move. No storm clouds appeared. She didn't want to make what Novelty said any more true than it had already been.
...delirious stupors... mouths spewing terrifying nonsense and muttering your epithets... Is that what happened to the thralls' bodies when she had taken their souls?
She could say she had been bound, captured, forced, but she knew that wasn't an excuse. She could say she didn't know what had happened to the thralls, but she wasn't sure she had cared at the time.
Dehaljadrun looked down at the floor and took a deep breath.
"No one is keeping you here," the goddess said, flicking her eyes viciously to Novelty's. "I will honor my agreement even if you leave." She looked around at the rest of them, "That goes for any of you newly arrived." Because damn it all to fucking hell if she was about to let Evan walk out of their deal a second time. "As for the past," the goddess looked down at the floor again and returned her gaze to Novelty, "I intend to take full responsibility for my actions where I can." Dehaljadrun thought of the moment Evan had told her to become something new after she had made such a scene in the storm and the lightning. She was grateful they had had that conversation before now, else this would be going very differently.
"I want you because this realm--and my own being--will fade and falter to nothing without offerings, and you," she said, looking at Lance for a moment, "help me bring the light." She took a deep breath, bringing her hands up to look at them both, a playful spark of purple fire weaving between her fingers. Novelty's last question was the hardest to answer. "As for who gives me the right, they won't speak to me anymore and haven't for a long, long time." She looked at Novelty with all the genuine sadness she felt about that, though tears did not manage to well in her eyes. "I got in the way of a blow meant for the human realm, and I don't remember much before that. And if I've felt resentful or doubted that action..." the goddess' mouth and brows became more angular as her anger sharpened her words, "...then I pray that you'll forgive me for that. Now, are you going to continue to insult my hospitality, or are you prepared to stay and continue to indulge your 'opportunity to experience this realm'." She threw Novelty's words back at him with bite, her hands sparking again in earnest and flicking behind him briefly to Philip.
Evan took several steps her direction, picking up speed, but movement in her periphery caught her attention. Novelty was no longer tangled up with Philip but instead leaning against the doorway, looking for all the world like he had something to say. Though his posture was lazy and lounging, his body radiated deep red waves of anger, and for a moment, the goddess forgot that she had more magic and power than he did. She was afraid.
"Dearest goddess," Novelty said, and for all its trappings of worship, it hit the goddess' ears like a slap in the face. "Forgive my curiosity, but I can't help but wonder..." Novelty finally met her gaze now and walked toward her, his confidence somehow unshakable even in the face of her furrowed brows and slowly clenching fists, her mouth a tight line as something inside her coiled as though ready to fight.
"Why? Why send so many of our fellow soldiers into delirious stupors, their mouths spewing terrifying nonsense and muttering your epithets? Why all the stories of you taking what you want without a care for the lives of the people at stake? Why do you want us in the first place, and what gives you the right?"
The words did, in fact, hit her like a blow, and she took half a step back, a fist coming up to her chest so she could dig a knuckle in. She no longer wanted to be naked, feeling raw and exposed in the light of this man's stare. Had he come here only to taunt her? She had seen nothing of this in his mind when she had welcomed him. He had been... effusive. Grateful. What had changed?
He talked to Philip, she thought with a stab in her chest. Her eyes fell to the ground, and she dropped her fist, knowing that such a physical response was incriminating. She couldn't help it. Novelty had found the biggest crack in her resolve and slammed a wedge straight into it, his eyes peering with so much searching into the chasm of her guilt.
The goddess looked at Evan first, fear and anger mixing with a plea in her eyes. What had he told them? What hadn't he told them? And, for a split second, the goddess thought having ten humans here had been far more trouble than it had been worth.
The goddess met each of their eyes, letting the full weight of their curiosity hit her. Chris, Trevor, Nathan, Gavin, Chloe, Nick. Raccoon, who had woken up and was peering down from the top level. Philip, who had come to stand in the doorway behind Novelty. Lance, who strode up toward the entrance, oblivious to the blow.
She had the urge to be visibly angry, and a few sparks of lightning shed off her palms, eager to be used and at the ready. But she didn't move. No storm clouds appeared. She didn't want to make what Novelty said any more true than it had already been.
...delirious stupors... mouths spewing terrifying nonsense and muttering your epithets... Is that what happened to the thralls' bodies when she had taken their souls?
She could say she had been bound, captured, forced, but she knew that wasn't an excuse. She could say she didn't know what had happened to the thralls, but she wasn't sure she had cared at the time.
Dehaljadrun looked down at the floor and took a deep breath.
"No one is keeping you here," the goddess said, flicking her eyes viciously to Novelty's. "I will honor my agreement even if you leave." She looked around at the rest of them, "That goes for any of you newly arrived." Because damn it all to fucking hell if she was about to let Evan walk out of their deal a second time. "As for the past," the goddess looked down at the floor again and returned her gaze to Novelty, "I intend to take full responsibility for my actions where I can." Dehaljadrun thought of the moment Evan had told her to become something new after she had made such a scene in the storm and the lightning. She was grateful they had had that conversation before now, else this would be going very differently.
"I want you because this realm--and my own being--will fade and falter to nothing without offerings, and you," she said, looking at Lance for a moment, "help me bring the light." She took a deep breath, bringing her hands up to look at them both, a playful spark of purple fire weaving between her fingers. Novelty's last question was the hardest to answer. "As for who gives me the right, they won't speak to me anymore and haven't for a long, long time." She looked at Novelty with all the genuine sadness she felt about that, though tears did not manage to well in her eyes. "I got in the way of a blow meant for the human realm, and I don't remember much before that. And if I've felt resentful or doubted that action..." the goddess' mouth and brows became more angular as her anger sharpened her words, "...then I pray that you'll forgive me for that. Now, are you going to continue to insult my hospitality, or are you prepared to stay and continue to indulge your 'opportunity to experience this realm'." She threw Novelty's words back at him with bite, her hands sparking again in earnest and flicking behind him briefly to Philip.
Re: Part 1 (Start Reading Here)
Novelty's stomach churned as he stood with bare feet curled around the tree root floor, trying to keep his balance and still look fiercely at the goddess. He wasn't accustomed to speaking to power. He had been a cadet his whole time in the army and had been content in that position. But, now, directly interacting with a goddess, he knew he needed to act.
At first, the goddess raised a fist, and Novelty thought she might strike him, even from this distance, but she only rubbed at her chest for a moment before dropping it, looking dejected and reminding Novelty of a small child despite the fact that she was almost as tall as Philip.
The goddess looked at Evan, then at the rest of the volunteers, maybe weighing their audience. Lance arrived in the doorway, looking for all hell like he might have been at the center of whatever had happened in the meadow, delirious and confused.
Finally, the goddess spoke back. "No one is keeping you here," she said, her eyes burning as they met Novelty's, "I will honor my agreement even if you leave." She had said almost as much in the meadow after the tendril incident, but it was good to hear more explicitly that she would uphold her end of the bargain regardless. Novelty was grateful that all the volunteers were hearing this. "That goes for any of you newly arrived," the goddess added, which Novelty thought at first was a strange finesse of her wording. Perhaps she meant that Evan was still subject to whatever agreement they had made together. Well, Evan didn't seem too upset about that.
The goddess looked down at the floor again before returning her attention to Novelty, her expression softer this time, "As for the past, I intend to take full responsibility for my actions where I can." Philip is right here, Novelty thought, wanting her to admit what she had done to him outright, but it still wasn't Novelty's fight, and the goddess had more to say.
"I want you because this realm--and my own being--will fade and falter to nothing without offerings, and you," the goddess said, turning to look at Lance and betraying some affection for him already formed there, "help me bring the light." Then, looking at each of her hands, a miraculous bobbing bit of purple flame weaved in and out of her fingers. It seemed a strange and playful contrast to the numb devastation on the goddess' face. Had Novelty ruined whatever offering the others had made with her in the meadow? No, not ruined. If ruined, the goddess had done that herself.
"As for who gives me the right, they won't speak to me anymore and haven't for a long, long time." This time, when she looked at Novelty, he gasped quietly, the pain and aching sadness from that statement obvious in the upward tilt of her brows, the glisten in her eyes. "I got in the way of a blow meant for the human realm, and I don't remember much before that. And if I've felt resentful or doubted that action..." the goddess' face swallowed her sadness and hid it behind an angular mask of anger that terrified Novelty, finally disrupting his measured confidence as he brought a palm to his own chest, trying to understand what she was saying. "...then I pray that you'll forgive me for that. Now, are you going to continue to insult my hospitality, or are you prepared to stay and continue to indulge your 'opportunity to experience this realm'."
Novelty's mouth stood agape hearing his own words out of her mouth. In some ways, he should have expected that she would throw back whatever vitriol he had for her and then some, but the clipped consonants of her voice, once so smooth and caressing, were a devastation onto themselves. He did the only thing that made sense to him, then, now that he had confronted a god. He dropped to one knee, touching the woven tree roots with one hand.
"Forgive me, goddess," he said, the gears in his mind turning over what she had said. ...got in the way of a blow meant for the human realm... So, she had saved them somehow? From forces even more powerful than the goddess herself. Novelty shivered. "I couldn't fully enjoy this place until I understood. For whatever it means to you, I for one am grateful you stepped in the way, though I feel your sorrow for whatever that cost you." He braved a look up at her, then, his earnestness plain in the lift of his brows and the soft set of his lips. "I hope you do find ways to make amends. I imagine your help for our cause will go a long way toward that end, and..." Novelty paused, looking at the ground again before adjusting so he sat back on his feet to look up at the goddess more easily, his hands on his thighs, "...whatever I--and perhaps we--can do to help you work through the reasons why the hurt has been passed onto others, that's... why I'm here."
He hadn't realized it until he had said it out loud, and perhaps it wasn't the fullness of his purpose in the realm or even his conscious motivation for coming, but it felt true as he spoke it into the great room.
Hesitantly, he added, "If you'll pardon me one more question, goddess... how long ago did you protect our realm?"
At first, the goddess raised a fist, and Novelty thought she might strike him, even from this distance, but she only rubbed at her chest for a moment before dropping it, looking dejected and reminding Novelty of a small child despite the fact that she was almost as tall as Philip.
The goddess looked at Evan, then at the rest of the volunteers, maybe weighing their audience. Lance arrived in the doorway, looking for all hell like he might have been at the center of whatever had happened in the meadow, delirious and confused.
Finally, the goddess spoke back. "No one is keeping you here," she said, her eyes burning as they met Novelty's, "I will honor my agreement even if you leave." She had said almost as much in the meadow after the tendril incident, but it was good to hear more explicitly that she would uphold her end of the bargain regardless. Novelty was grateful that all the volunteers were hearing this. "That goes for any of you newly arrived," the goddess added, which Novelty thought at first was a strange finesse of her wording. Perhaps she meant that Evan was still subject to whatever agreement they had made together. Well, Evan didn't seem too upset about that.
The goddess looked down at the floor again before returning her attention to Novelty, her expression softer this time, "As for the past, I intend to take full responsibility for my actions where I can." Philip is right here, Novelty thought, wanting her to admit what she had done to him outright, but it still wasn't Novelty's fight, and the goddess had more to say.
"I want you because this realm--and my own being--will fade and falter to nothing without offerings, and you," the goddess said, turning to look at Lance and betraying some affection for him already formed there, "help me bring the light." Then, looking at each of her hands, a miraculous bobbing bit of purple flame weaved in and out of her fingers. It seemed a strange and playful contrast to the numb devastation on the goddess' face. Had Novelty ruined whatever offering the others had made with her in the meadow? No, not ruined. If ruined, the goddess had done that herself.
"As for who gives me the right, they won't speak to me anymore and haven't for a long, long time." This time, when she looked at Novelty, he gasped quietly, the pain and aching sadness from that statement obvious in the upward tilt of her brows, the glisten in her eyes. "I got in the way of a blow meant for the human realm, and I don't remember much before that. And if I've felt resentful or doubted that action..." the goddess' face swallowed her sadness and hid it behind an angular mask of anger that terrified Novelty, finally disrupting his measured confidence as he brought a palm to his own chest, trying to understand what she was saying. "...then I pray that you'll forgive me for that. Now, are you going to continue to insult my hospitality, or are you prepared to stay and continue to indulge your 'opportunity to experience this realm'."
Novelty's mouth stood agape hearing his own words out of her mouth. In some ways, he should have expected that she would throw back whatever vitriol he had for her and then some, but the clipped consonants of her voice, once so smooth and caressing, were a devastation onto themselves. He did the only thing that made sense to him, then, now that he had confronted a god. He dropped to one knee, touching the woven tree roots with one hand.
"Forgive me, goddess," he said, the gears in his mind turning over what she had said. ...got in the way of a blow meant for the human realm... So, she had saved them somehow? From forces even more powerful than the goddess herself. Novelty shivered. "I couldn't fully enjoy this place until I understood. For whatever it means to you, I for one am grateful you stepped in the way, though I feel your sorrow for whatever that cost you." He braved a look up at her, then, his earnestness plain in the lift of his brows and the soft set of his lips. "I hope you do find ways to make amends. I imagine your help for our cause will go a long way toward that end, and..." Novelty paused, looking at the ground again before adjusting so he sat back on his feet to look up at the goddess more easily, his hands on his thighs, "...whatever I--and perhaps we--can do to help you work through the reasons why the hurt has been passed onto others, that's... why I'm here."
He hadn't realized it until he had said it out loud, and perhaps it wasn't the fullness of his purpose in the realm or even his conscious motivation for coming, but it felt true as he spoke it into the great room.
Hesitantly, he added, "If you'll pardon me one more question, goddess... how long ago did you protect our realm?"