[Though Lucius takes a step back, Eridanus' hand remains at rest on his hip as if the simple touch were an anchor of comfort in an unfamiliar situation. He watches, nigh-anxious, as Lucius' arms spread wide with bravado. His words remain vague, and perhaps that is why his heart thunders against his breast in anticipation; because Lucius says that they will return to the Diadem, but things won't be as they seem.
This certain mercurial cruelty is one he has come to expect of his consortâled around by his nose, seeking for more, staring down at Lucius with glittering eyes that would suggest he were actually a hound sat and waiting for his master's word.]
So, we are venturing to see your flagship... but not exactly? [Confusion edges into his basal tone, his brow wrinkling with a furrow as he tries to piece together just what it is that Lucius is playing at. Eridanus would typically consider himself a bright and discerning man, but with his lover, he's always kept on his toesâand so, he asks,] can you tell me what is happening, rather than playing so coy?
I have, in so much as I know myself. [ His smile cuts wider, baring his teeth in a teasing and self-satisfied grin. Not to say that the finer details are beyond his understandingâjust that the end result is all that he particularly cares to know. ]
I suppose you might think of it as a form of projection? Whatever those dusty bookworms like to call it. I never did care much for their pretentious words. [ He clicks his tongueâbut, right now, the sorcerers of the Thousand Sons are beside the point. ] Suffice to say, we'll be there in spirit!
[ Lucius, of course, looks incredibly proud of himself. ]
[Despite the playful cut of Lucius' cheeky grin, Eridanus' brows raise higher on his wrinkled forehead as he takes in the information presented to him. A venture to the Diadem, but only incorporeally, is what awaits them. Yet Luciusâever the optimist, it seemsâdoesn't show the least bit of skepticism for this plot.]
And we are to trust the person who is offering such a thing? We do not know what will happen to us, if what they promise will truly work, nor if it is safe. [Eridanus' tone goes firm with his last point, because even if Lucius is used to dying overmuch, he has already died plenty in this world. At some point, he knows he will start to lose memories.]
Where is our benefactor and our means for interdimensional travel, then? I doubt someone was able to get the magic to make a portal, so it must be by some technological means.
You'd balk this easily? [ Like the illusion of a holographic foil, the moment his face shifted from one to the next is difficult to pinpoint. It's only that Lucius is no longer smiling, and that his posture is suddenly anything but loose and playful. ]
It isn't a matter of trust, Eridanus. It is a matter of remaining trapped and passive, or trying something. If you're too timid to test the boundaries of this realm, then by all means, remain where you are â but I will go regardless. Your place at my side is what I desire, and nothing more.
[ A mirage of a midday haze, his sudden seriousness disappears. Just as seamlessly, his tone returns to jocular. ]
As for the rest of it, [ again, his splayed hands cut through the air in a dismissive gesture, ] you wouldn't expect the captain of a vessel to explain his tech-priests' work. If you wish to speak to the man in charge of the project, then I believe you two were already introduced during that dreadfully quaint winter gathering.
[If only Lucius' confidence were all it took to put his worries at easeâand though he trusts in his consort, he still finds it incredibly difficult to remove himself from the anxiety that churns restlessly in the pit of his gut. But despite it all, what he wishes for the least is to be left behind. He stands, stone-still before the man, his lips pressed into a thin line behind the jealous guard of his opal maw.]
Fine, [the word isn't so much as spat as it is pulled from his throat with reluctance,] a vassal is to remain at his Lord's side, after all.
[Which is reason enough to go without saying that he simply doesn't want to be alone. Yet, with the both of them in agreement, Eridanus turns his attention to the rest of the groupâto the faces, and more so to that of this expedition's leaderâbefore his gaze settles on the engineered portal they will be meant to go through.]
[ The resistance isn't missedâand yet, Lucius' smile pulls only wider on his lips, his face bisected neatly by the slender cut of his Cheshire grin. ]
Yes, [ he says, his voice a low and honeyed purr to match his half-lidded eyes. Sheathed in opal, Eridanus' jaw is numb to Lucius' touch but for its weight; instead, padded fingertips slide along the strong column of his throat, a claw-tipped thumb teasing against the apple that bobs there. ] It is.
[ His tongue glides between his lips. The only thing better than cheerful obedience, after all, is the reluctant kind. For a moment, enfolded in that tense air, Lucius nearly forgets the opportunity that hangs in front of them.
Still, Eridanus asks him that question. Lucius drops his hand from Eridanus' throat, arm falling to his side with a nonchalance that belies the precision that very same limb is capable of. With a graceful pivot, Lucius turns from Eridanus, heavy-lidded eyes and hungering smile replaced with an easy grin. ]
Now that you're here, I am. [ He takes a step, and cheerfully, the tips of his tails flick behind him. ] Let's not waste more time than we already have, hm, Archmage?
[The touch, though familiar, is one that Eridanus can never quite get used to. Months, years, millennia down the lineâand he would still feel his pulse quicken with that shackle of a hand around his throat. He would feel his heart thunder against his ribcage at a war-drum's rhythm for that simple, undaunting touch. He swallows against it, the bobbing apple of his throat pressed against an aureate claw-tip that pricks his senses and perks his ears like an attentive dog'sâand at once, he is kept there, patient, waiting for his master's order like the trained beast he's become.]
I apologize to have kept you waiting then, [Eridanus murmurs as his hand idly reaches, touching where that shackle once sat around the muscular column of his neck as if already missing the sensation. Regardless of if it's reflexive or pensive, he turns his own gaze back towards that portal.]
I shall enter first, then.
[The announcement is given with a respectful bow of his head, this act more measured than his last. If this portal really isn't safe then, it would be better to test his body before his Eternal's. So he strides wordlessly towards the construct of metal, wire, and magic with decided purpose, each step so sure in itself that it could almost be claimed as arrogance. When he passes through the portal, it a sparks and fizzesâshowering light and rippling the surface of it like the iridescent sheen of an oil spill. It consumes his stalwart figure, leaving not a trace left to be seen.]
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no subject
This certain mercurial cruelty is one he has come to expect of his consortâled around by his nose, seeking for more, staring down at Lucius with glittering eyes that would suggest he were actually a hound sat and waiting for his master's word.]
So, we are venturing to see your flagship... but not exactly? [Confusion edges into his basal tone, his brow wrinkling with a furrow as he tries to piece together just what it is that Lucius is playing at. Eridanus would typically consider himself a bright and discerning man, but with his lover, he's always kept on his toesâand so, he asks,] can you tell me what is happening, rather than playing so coy?
no subject
I suppose you might think of it as a form of projection? Whatever those dusty bookworms like to call it. I never did care much for their pretentious words. [ He clicks his tongueâbut, right now, the sorcerers of the Thousand Sons are beside the point. ] Suffice to say, we'll be there in spirit!
[ Lucius, of course, looks incredibly proud of himself. ]
no subject
And we are to trust the person who is offering such a thing? We do not know what will happen to us, if what they promise will truly work, nor if it is safe. [Eridanus' tone goes firm with his last point, because even if Lucius is used to dying overmuch, he has already died plenty in this world. At some point, he knows he will start to lose memories.]
Where is our benefactor and our means for interdimensional travel, then? I doubt someone was able to get the magic to make a portal, so it must be by some technological means.
no subject
It isn't a matter of trust, Eridanus. It is a matter of remaining trapped and passive, or trying something. If you're too timid to test the boundaries of this realm, then by all means, remain where you are â but I will go regardless. Your place at my side is what I desire, and nothing more.
[ A mirage of a midday haze, his sudden seriousness disappears. Just as seamlessly, his tone returns to jocular. ]
As for the rest of it, [ again, his splayed hands cut through the air in a dismissive gesture, ] you wouldn't expect the captain of a vessel to explain his tech-priests' work. If you wish to speak to the man in charge of the project, then I believe you two were already introduced during that dreadfully quaint winter gathering.
no subject
Fine, [the word isn't so much as spat as it is pulled from his throat with reluctance,] a vassal is to remain at his Lord's side, after all.
[Which is reason enough to go without saying that he simply doesn't want to be alone. Yet, with the both of them in agreement, Eridanus turns his attention to the rest of the groupâto the faces, and more so to that of this expedition's leaderâbefore his gaze settles on the engineered portal they will be meant to go through.]
Are you ready to leave, then?
no subject
Yes, [ he says, his voice a low and honeyed purr to match his half-lidded eyes. Sheathed in opal, Eridanus' jaw is numb to Lucius' touch but for its weight; instead, padded fingertips slide along the strong column of his throat, a claw-tipped thumb teasing against the apple that bobs there. ] It is.
[ His tongue glides between his lips. The only thing better than cheerful obedience, after all, is the reluctant kind. For a moment, enfolded in that tense air, Lucius nearly forgets the opportunity that hangs in front of them.
Still, Eridanus asks him that question. Lucius drops his hand from Eridanus' throat, arm falling to his side with a nonchalance that belies the precision that very same limb is capable of. With a graceful pivot, Lucius turns from Eridanus, heavy-lidded eyes and hungering smile replaced with an easy grin. ]
Now that you're here, I am. [ He takes a step, and cheerfully, the tips of his tails flick behind him. ] Let's not waste more time than we already have, hm, Archmage?
no subject
I apologize to have kept you waiting then, [Eridanus murmurs as his hand idly reaches, touching where that shackle once sat around the muscular column of his neck as if already missing the sensation. Regardless of if it's reflexive or pensive, he turns his own gaze back towards that portal.]
I shall enter first, then.
[The announcement is given with a respectful bow of his head, this act more measured than his last. If this portal really isn't safe then, it would be better to test his body before his Eternal's. So he strides wordlessly towards the construct of metal, wire, and magic with decided purpose, each step so sure in itself that it could almost be claimed as arrogance. When he passes through the portal, it a sparks and fizzesâshowering light and rippling the surface of it like the iridescent sheen of an oil spill. It consumes his stalwart figure, leaving not a trace left to be seen.]