uhmani | TDM #14

If the main hub and its features don't appeal to you, that's perfectly fine. This is the perfect time to configure your Digitized Technical Friend or your DTF status. A DTF is similar to a dæmon from His Dark Materials in that it is connected to and a reflection of a character's soul. These DTFs take shape accordingly and are projections similar to the NPCs. Think of them as your own personal Clippy except less annoying. Hopefully.

Once that's set-up, there are other locations of the main hub to investigate! You can visit the training grounds, music lounge, library, and onsen. Also, feel free to leave an offering for the deity of sleep (Hypnos) at his shrine! You can even visit The Peacekeeper themselves on the second floor. They're always happy to have visitors! They're also conveniently where you might place a complaint about that status of the main hub and its amenities. Even if you do complain, The Peacekeeper will encourage new inhabitants to set off and find their own place to live out in the simulation.

Granted, the housing market in the afterlife isn't exactly robust. It doesn't help that nearly every place you find has a leaky roof or broken window. No, unfortunately, that will need to be fixed the peaceful way. If you'd like more lighting or even cozier clothes, simulation inhabitants are reminded that 'peaceful interactions' are very important!

It might be a good idea to stick close to someone you know, for now, since even the smallest amounts of intimacy might see subtle changes occurring where they're staying. Perhaps that broken window is now fixed, the grime and dust seem a little less, or the floor doesn't creak quite as loud.

Larger changes, however, will only come after demonstrating more powerful peaceful interactions. If you want new hardwood floors or a fresh coat of paint on the walls, you're going to have to demonstrate how well you 'get along' with others against them first.

THE SEXY COMPENDIUM

Upon arrival to Amani, new inhabitants will be notified almost immediately of the sexy compendium that's uploaded to their DTF! This compendium lists all of the flora, fauna, unique geography, and miscellaneous items in Amani that might be worth looking at.

This database will update with seasonal highlights or places and items that might follow a theme! For example, the current theme is love for Valentine's Day and dragons for The Year of The Dragon!

While established inhabitants already know about all these things, it can't hurt to be reminded of what this simulated afterlife has to offer!

The Dragon Onsen

outdoor pool

dragon statue

blue tint

They suddenly look a lot more draconic than they did before.

Heart Jellies

jellyfish shaped like hearts

Wyverns

Taasunni Beach, and can range far into the Aditus Grasslands

Love Blossoms

gorgeous, pink flowers

pheromones

SEXY STAMP CARD

If you're wondering about these 'peaceful interactions' that keep being mentioned or what the kinks of the month are for... Here's your answer! Upon arrival, all characters will receive a digital copy of their very own sexy stamp card.

Sexy Stamp Card

Issued by: The Peacekeeper

1 2 3 4 ♡

6 7 8 9 ♡

❤

<div style="width:100%;padding:10px 10px 0;font-family:garamond, georgia, serif;font-size:20px;font-style:italic;letter-spacing:2px;text-align:left;">Sexy Stamp Card</div>
<div style="width:100%;padding:0 10px 10px;">Issued by: The Peacekeeper</div>

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<div style="max-width:300px;width:100%;margin:-10px auto 0;text-align:right;font-size:10px;"><a title="code credit!" href="http://10billionghosts.dreamwidth.org" style="text-decoration:none;color:#eee;">❤</a></div>

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Completing peaceful interactions (i.e. kinks) will reward characters with stamps that they can turn in for re-gains and many other things! While the example one here is the standard issued card by The Peacekeeper, players are more than welcome to customize it how they see fit. Have fun with it! NOTES

★ Feel free to check out the sexy compendium and also use whatever is listed there as you like! What's mentioned on the TDM are just suggestions and not only what's available! We want interested players to be able to make their own fun with what Amani has to offer and not feel limited to just the prompts provided here.

★ We are currently at 24/40 slots taken! Anyone wishing to claim a character must have an invite from someone currently in the game and follow the proper rules in place to be accepted into the community!

NAVIGATION

F.A.Q. ★ RULES ★ CHARACTER CLAIM ★ LOCATIONS ★ MAIN NAVIGATION

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ he supposes he'd kept the intimacy question pretty vague there— but what he'd meant, really, was if this was something that needed to be addressed between them. mithrun had looked at him with such accusation when they'd first seen each other, he wonders if that particular argument has been swept by the wayside.

the idea of sex with mithrun isn't too foreign to him— in recent months, of course he's thought about it. things have been— close, between them, and there has been a physicality to the relationship since the very beginning.

if anyone, it would be mithrun. surely, it would be the easiest thing on earth to reach out for him, slide a hand along his hip, taste his mouth. it's not taking advantage if someone is willing. the degree of that willingness needn't be questioned. kabru never said he was unselfish, after all.

he tips his head back against the chaise, eyes tracking to the ceiling, and he can feel the warmth of mithrun's body where he sits nearby. ] I think so. If it's you.

[ they've never even kissed each other. but, he raises his head, seeks out mithrun's eye, and offers the ghost of a smile. ]

I meant what I said earlier.

[ when it's with me, he'd said, hadn't he. ]

[Honestly, Mithrun has... forgotten a little bit that Kabru might expect the whole "betrayal" thing to be a factor. As mad as he was (and kind of still is, though it's slipped to the back of his mind by now), the fact still remains: Of course, he would sleep with Kabru, no problem.

Part of it is that Mithrun just generally isn't picky, of course. He rarely cares enough to object to sleeping with any given person. But-- distant and half-obscured as his understanding of it may be, he knows there's more, too, with Kabru. More, in fact, in the same way that there was more to his anger at Kabru siding with Laios than having simply been inconvenienced. It wasn't just an obstruction to his goal, and intimacy with Kabru isn't just something he might as well do here, where it's so strongly encouraged.

Mithrun studies Kabru's face in silence, for a few moments.] ...So did I.

Just let me know whenever you want to. [Whether that's now or later.]

[ there has been more to all of this, for kabru too, since those days in the dungeon. kabru's not known for his honesty— he dives and weaves around questions, chooses indirect answers, talks in circles. but, not with mithrun. there is something in the elf that seems to force him to honesty; he'd found that they spoke openly, that caring for someone who could not care for himself— well. he'd never felt so needed.

sex isn't so different, is it. a different need, a different sort of care, but still— when he thinks of mithrun needing him, even if it's just a matter of physicality, there's that same satisfaction. it's nice too, to have it go both ways. he can picture that scarred, bony body underneath him; imagines what it will be like to press his thighs apart, to dig his fingers into skin and coax an arch from his back.

he's thought about it before now, too. so. and here mithrun is, saying things like just let me know whenever you want to, as if that's on the table whenever kabru's inclined. what an offer.

odd— the air feels more humid. when he meets mithrun's eye now, that sizzle of tension seems to snap quietly; like a subsurface pulse. he'll write all of this down to the shock of being brought here— why wouldn't he be off-kilter? he shifts, moves closer to the elf, sitting directly beside him, a leg bent to bracket the elf's thigh. ] You shouldn't just say things like that, you know. You have to make me wonder.

[ but, his eyes are warm, and kabru reaches, lays a hand on mithrun's forearm, fingers closing around it. they're close, the height difference putting them at a curiously intimate angle. kabru's lashes raise and lower as he studies mithrun's face in turn. ]

I nearly kissed you at the harvest festival, when we were both drunk. You were wearing blue, and I thought you were beautiful. [ it didn't happen; courtly business took over, as usual— and of course, that's a kabru memory. he seems to sober, and there's a self-conscious furrow of his brows. ] Should I have told you that?

[Mithrun doesn't move - just lets Kabru adjust around him, his eye tracking him.] What do I have to make you wonder?

[And... he nearly scoffs.] You really must have been drunk, [he murmurs, and moves on from there with a shrug.] It's fine. Since I wasn't there, it's... probably better I know what happened than not, right?

[It's not quite the same; he's still missed a lot. But it feels, just, a little bit less like he's been cut off from his own life if he at least knows what he missed.]

I suspect we're both going to have to get used to catching the other up for a bit... though it's likely to be a stranger experience for you, telling me things you remember me being there for.

Must have been, [ he says, and offers a widened smile, and pats mithrun's forearm with his palm, as if involving him in the joke. ] I don't mind telling you what you missed. You took time by yourself often enough, too. The prisoners left, and you went off, hunting monsters.

[ he remembers the point at which this mithrun and himself left off. there aren't two mithruns, of course, but still— mithrun can't remember, he has to consider the difference in knowledge. also, there's this: he hasn't been that drunk at the harvest festival; just drunk enough to have leaned a shoulder into the captain's, and silver hair had brushed his cheek, and— well. there were times like this, after. people whose love can fill the hole the demon left. he hadn't mentioned that marcille told him that.

idly, he draws a line down mithrun's arm, as if counting out the missed days. ] I was very busy at the palace, studying, mostly. But advising when I had time. It was difficult, because we were often separate. I think I got used to being around you in the dungeon, so. I didn't have time to discuss a solution with you.

[ his smile is unchanged, even talking about this— a life that he no longer has. kabru's eyes raise, meeting mithrun's. ]

Guess we found a solution. [ well— were given one. being here.

his smile has faded by now, and there's a long look, for mithrun. ] I'm supposed to remind you to eat, aren't I?

[Mithrun takes in that added information in silence. His own continued monster-hunting. His subordinates' departure. Kabru's busy schedule and their separation.

His gaze stays on Kabru through that explanation, all the way until Kabru's eyes meet his.] ...I guess so.

[At that reminder, he finally breaks eye contact, glancing back to the container of sandwiches.] Ah... right. [He leans over to grab it.] Take anything you want from it, too.

[ kabru offers mithrun a nod, and selects a sandwich for himself. there's some— similarity here to how things were in the dungeon. rooms appearing from nowhere, sitting beside mithrun and eating whatever they could find. he gives the elf a gentle nudge, nodding to the container. ] Eat too, captain.

[ apparently, even displaced and whisked off to a new land, he can't not mother-hen mithrun.

there's silence as kabru finishes his lunch— the last meal he had was probably back home, before he'd been spirited away to amani. and he polishes off quite a few of the sandwiches, fussing over mithrun at the same time.

their meal tidied up, he slumps back now— hit with both the drowsiness after a meal, and the culmination of. everything that's happened up until now. the library room is quiet, and being surrounded by books and the soft light from the reading lamp makes the space feel very contained. he's fighting off the tiredness, though, and shuffles over on the chaise to make space for mithrun, gesturing with his chin. ] Maybe we can talk a bit more. If you'd like. I don't have much of a grasp on this place yet, I'll be the one leaning on you, this time.

[ a softer look follows. ]

Sit with me?

Edited 2024-03-04 13:13 (UTC)

[At the very least, Mithrun follows his direction without complaint - that much hasn't changed from when Kabru last saw him. He's gotten a lot less petulant about meals with Kabru than when they first met, and he'd turn away or mumble about not being hungry despite knowing perfectly well it didn't matter.

He never really thought about why he did that. Why, every so often, he felt that little flare of rebellion against those directing him.

Maybe it was about control. He's had so little of that, for so long - over his life, his actions, himself.

Now, though, he eats, patiently-or-impassively letting Kabru fuss over him, and helps clean up when they're finished and the time comes.

He scoots into that space, kicking his heeled shoes off before pulling his legs up to his chest.]

Alright. I can tell you anything you're wondering, then... I know it's quite a lot to take in.

[What's a lot? The stamp system? The presence of people from countless different realities? Mithrun's new job? All of the above? Yeah.]

[ mithrun crowds into his space, and those shoes are discarded on the floor, and it's strange, because it feels as if they've done this before— something casual, and close. kabru, still careful, settles an arm around the elf's back, letting the other's folded legs fall against his own. he tips his head back, and watches mithrun's face— it's still a comfort just to look at him, because it's so familiar to be near him. there's something of a gift here, he supposes; like being given a home comfort, even if there's still that crackle of things being at odds recently.

maybe it matters less when you're set adrift, because at least the person is there, regardless of the history, or the contention, or any of it. he wants to, he thinks, protect mithrun too.

knuckles graze against mithrun's back, moving upwards, and then down again— just an idle thing, but it can't be described as friendly. it's too intimate; they're like that, in his time— always dancing around the one thing that they've both been careful not to allow to bloom entirely.

he doesn't have a name for it. he absolutely has a name for it. hadn't he said it, on the network— he wanted to live with mithrun, he wanted to make him happy. it sounds simplistic to him now, but it's only ever been the truth.

reaching up, kabru twists a silver lock around his finger, carefully moving it behind the former captain's ear. ] I guess. I just want to know how you are. There are a lot of new people, but you can trust that I'll figure that stuff out myself.

[ is this... kabru growth...

he shrugs, sighs, tugs on that strand. ]

Did you miss me, just a little? Say yes, even if you didn't.

[ ;) ]

[Mithrun notices that faint difference in how Kabru touches him. In the time Mithrun remembers them knowing each other, they were already pretty casual with physical contact; Mithrun, after all, doesn't care much about propriety beyond what he's had to keep in mind to retain his position in the Canaries. Kabru gathered in turn how little Mithrun cared. And then... there were all the life or death situations, and the need to take care of each other in one way or another, and Kabru's insistence to taking the much more personal route of rubbing Mithrun's feet over the use of a sleep spell.

But none of that was quite like this. Something has changed. Mithrun wonders if the fact that he notices is another sign of the changes in himself, too.]

I'm... doing pretty well, [he says softly. The words feel strange on his tongue - has he ever actually said that out loud, so clearly and honestly?] I've started to want a few things again. Mostly new, but... Lamb used some stamps so that I could get some older things back, too.

[He considers saying more, then thinks better of it. Kabru hadn't... seemed all that happy, about Mithrun starting to like sex again. Mithrun isn't sure how much he'd want to hear about the rest, either. If all he wants to know is that Mithrun is alright, then... that's what he'll get.

Which isn't to say that Kabru will be escaping a patented Multi-Hour Meandering Infodump about everyone Mithrun knows. It's not that Mithrun doesn't believe him when he says he'll sort it out himself - after all, Mithrun's trust in Kabru's people skills is what first got his attention all that time ago. The overexplaining is also just... inevitable.

That's for later, though.

For now... Mithrun doesn't answer right away. Because he's actually thinking. Not just saying what Kabru has asked him to.]

...I did, I think.

That's good. I'd have missed you too, if I lost you suddenly.

[ he'd have come to find him, regardless of where he was. he's sure he'd have crossed through into amani— broken into the simulation; crashed headlong through the divider and managed to get back to him. kabru tips his head against the backrest, meeting mithrun's eyes with a different kind of look. it's gentler— and look, kabru's often gentle when it comes to mithrun; he still treats him like he's something that has to be helped. but there has always been something beneath that, hasn't there— all along. it wasn't necessary to touch him quite so often. to act with that kind of intimacy.

this is a new look.

it's not the first, but the first to this incarnation of mithrun, without his memories. sometimes, their hands will touch on the balustrade in the castle's gardens, and he'll find mithrun looking back. it's one of those looks with a lot of names— a thousand languages have the means of describing it, because it's very old. even kabru himself isn't sure what it means here, and now— he's just pleased to be back with mithrun, to have the elf at his side. his gaze flits over the familiar face; from the crosshatch of dark lashes to the slight sag of that missing eye. he wonders why he hasn't followed this through to its inevitable conclusion— to lean closer, to nudge their mouths together. maybe he was waiting for the right second; an instance that would make sense. sunsets, sunrises— his head is full of backdrops that marcille would approve of.

why he leans in now, he's entirely unsure.

maybe it's because they've found each other here, again, despite the forces that have moved against them. to survive the dungeon, to survive this, and then to be together and be whole and safe— it's worth a kiss, isn't it? if anything is, it's that.

there's a careful tilt of kabru's head, and he tips his head close, lips parting. it's just an initial brush— mithrun's lower lip between his, and he parts from him with a quiet, but satisfying click.

tongue wetting his lip, kabru's gaze flicks upwards, meets mithrun's. he stays close, and finds that he's curled his hand in the fabric of the jacket, fingers circling mithrun's side. ]

I owed you that. I should have done it when you took my hand at the banquet, after we won.

[ might have. gotten quite a reaction out of the canaries.

kabru smiles, nose wrinkling. ]

Edited 2024-03-07 23:23 (UTC)

[Despite it all - the shift in their interactions, the way Kabru touches him, the nature of this place - Mithrun isn't really expecting the kiss.

And it's... it's something. That minimal moment of contact feels almost like a zap of static electricity, sends a prickle down the back of his neck.

His good eye is wide when Kabru pulls away and looks at him again, like what Kabru did was... nothing less than world-shaking. Which, admittedly, it kind of was. It always is, when he feels something.

Mithrun does not, of course, recall the incident Kabru is referencing. He doesn't really care, right now. He doesn't respond to the comment, barely registers that smile (it might have been cute, he'll think later). He just cups Kabru's face in his hands and-- almost lunges, really, to press his lips back to Kabru's.

Or, given how he's rushing, he might just end up accidentally bonking their noses or teeth together. Hard to say.]

[ smiling too widely into a kiss usually only means one thing— there's a distinct clack of their teeth as mithrun moves in the second time, and kabru laughs against the elf's mouth, wrapping both arms around that narrow waist to keep him close. he leans his head into the elf's hands, something doggish about it; brimming with so much affection— months of it, unacted on— that they could be anywhere, now, and the timing would be right.

the pause lasts only a second, before he leans in to kiss mithrun again, and then again— it's a million different contrivances; every trope that ever graced a first, second, and third kiss, but he can't bring himself to think any of them through. kissing mithrun is the most familiar, easiest thing in the world— the only lingering thought in the back of kabru's mind is that he should have done this sooner, should have done this the second they met— wasting even a scrap of time, that could be spent doing this; what a fool he was.

there's a shift, and he deepens the kiss, lips dragging, turning it hungrier. there's a drag of teeth against the elf's lip, a sweep of his tongue, before he pulls back again, breath quickened.

he barely parts from mithrun, keeps him as close as possible, and nudges their mouths together softly, half-speaking there. ]

I wanted to say something cool. I forgot— just, kiss me all the time, from now on, alright captain? [ captain... why does he seem to enjoy that little monicker so much? ]

[One of Mithrun's hands stays on Kabru's face, while the other slides to the back of his neck, slender fingers curling into Kabru's hair. He might be forgetting to breathe a bit, between kisses - he certainly hasn't really noticed, yet.

If he's a bit lightheaded by the time Kabru takes things further, tongue and teeth brushing Mithrun's lip, there are a lot of potential reasons for that.]

'S fine. [His lips quirk, a faint, flushed smile.] We'll both need to-- to do other things sometimes, you know. But I'll gladly make a habit of it.

[Aaand he's going back in.]

[ he nods into the kiss, pressing mithrun into the chaise, tangling their legs, tangling his fingers in silver hair, and kissing him as if someone were about to forcibly separate them. maybe it's just— that they've been dancing around this since the dungeon, and then even more-so when kabru took his place as the royal advisor. mithrun stayed in merini, didn't he? he stays for a myriad of reasons— but kabru had wondered; he'd hoped there was a reason that levitated above the others.

he breaks the kiss now, reaching up to smooth mithrun's hair back with a palm, running the pad of his thumb over one of the elf's eyebrows. ] You know, I was going to ask you to live with me, back home. Should have done this first.

[ they're both not particularly— good at living, separately. kabru found his routines, with mithrun, took on a different sort of warmth. routine is one thing, when one is alone, when there's something to care for, it's not really routine at all— it's a proof of love. that kind of thing.

he leans in, and this time, it's a gentler kiss; just a catch of the elf's bottom lip, and kabru tucks an arm around mithrun, leans their foreheads together. ]

I won't leave your side again. I promise.

[ oddly courtly, that— like a knight's promise. kabru is like this, sometimes; he's always had a theatrical streak. but it's painfully ardent, and he's young— and he means it. he'll be embarrassed about it later, probably; confessions, admissions of devotion. but he's speaking within the frame of the narrative still; a great kiss deserves a great sentiment. ]

[Mithrun gladly lets Kabru push him down, holding onto the back of Kabru's head with a similar near-desperation. His mind is simultaneously rushing and going nowhere - he still has quite a lot to catch up on, to process.

Right now, though, that all seems like it can wait. Kabru is here, now, kissing him, and feeling anything like this - this much - is still rare for him. He's not likely to stop until he has to take another of his few and far-between desires into account.]

Mm. You should've. [He laughs softly.] I'm sure the 'me' there would have been just as receptive.

[And that promise sets off... something, in his chest. First a swell of warmth, a joy that borders on intoxicating - but it's not without temperance. I won't leave your side again.

He remembers the portrait in the bakery. Annette - a woman Mithrun never actually knew, who lived here, made her mark, and vanished. His thumb strokes Kabru's cheek, his expression settling on something bordering on plaintive.] Don't make promises you can't keep.

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TDM #14

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