wardercloud

[wardercloud]

Nico Tortorella as William Hamilton Sweeney in CITY ON FIRE // 1.02 “Scenes From Private Life”

[wardercloud]

Nico Tortorella

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There were several people that Cloud surrounded themself with and several people they knew they wanted to actually be around in the first place. Just because they surrounded them didn't mean that they wanted those people's presence. All that to say that the elf didn't really mind when Ganymede was around. The other felt like a breath of fresh air sometimes. Very akin to what they often thought of Laer except much more...naive. For some reason, they felt like protecting him even though they were sure that the aspect didn't much need their help. Irregardless, here they were now at Lupercalia spending time with each other. The last thing Cloud had expected to hear in regards to that was that Gany was married with a husband that was a god and that the two of them could only be friends. That was what they had thought they were in the first place, but maybe the sanguine elf had given the wrong impression. They did spend quite a bit of time around each other so maybe that was where the lines might have blurred. It wouldn't have been so bad if they weren't just friends, but...well, Ganymede was married so it didn't much matter. "Yes, we're just friends," they said as they watched the other walk on a log. Arms folded over their chest, they looked up at him. "So how long have you been married then?"

@wardercloud location: Fey Forest, Lupercalia notes: this isn't a date

Ganymede wasn't smart, he wasn't creative, and he wasn't very realistic. He was the naive, favourite, and spoiled son of King Tros who denied every suitor that came knocking for the Prince's hand because nobody was good enough for Ganymede. Ganymede's brother had founded Troy, and still, the younger of the two could do no wrong. Ulthar was a God, a God of Gods: King God, mighty Zeus on his Olympian throne. Ganymede's father hadn't had a choice, but back then the Prince had just been happy to feel chosen by someone so important. To finally fall into romantic love that had felt as real and as genuine as Ganymede had thought it should. He'd never seen his father again, or his brother, and he hadn't been able to visit the city that came to be the focal point of so many compelling stories: Paris, Helen, Patroclus, Achilles, Hector, Cassandra, Odysseus, and so many more. He'd asked to attend the funerals, a request that was denied, his place was at Ulthar's side. People were always kinder and more complacent towards Ulthar when Ganymede was around.

Cloud was pretty uppity, Ganymede wasn't used to it but he liked it. They asked him places, that Christmas party, now this wolf thing - it was pretty violent though, which Ganymede liked less. The lycans were rude too, belching, fighting, and cussing all the time; Ganymede didn't know how people could stand it.

"I just want to be very clear about something." Ganymede said as he walked the length of a log and put one foot in front of the other, "We're friends, right? Just friends?" Technically the aspect was still married and with any luck He would come back and make everything right. "I have a husband, Ulthar, and He's a God so I don't want to give you the wrong idea."

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Lycan blood certainly wasn't appetizing to them in the slightest. Really, Cloud had no idea what they had intended by doing this, but the blood bags weren't really cutting it anymore. They had wanted something stronger and from someone that was actually willing to let them do so. Thankfully, this guy seemed to be more than willing to offer his blood over to a vampire or...well, a sanguine elf. Cloud hadn't asked for this life to be bestowed upon them, but they had no choice in the matter now. They had to come up with a solution before they hurt someone without even realizing it. "You would think so, but I've just been thinking about nothing else but blood." Not lycan blood, but still.

a starter for @wardercloud, where: somewhere quiet

He didn't figure elves were on the list of people scoping ads for blood but much like a Grindr 'u up?' text his phone had chimed with a negotiation of sorts. Payment was whatever, really; at the beginning it'd been strictly money, but Auri was always proud of a good favor. Whether it was information he vied, access to the hot clubs of Rome, or anything in between, the Donor learned to be lenient over the years. A sanguine elf seemed to pay for itself, they were rare in terms of their presence in Rome and Auri was nothing if not curious about the elves. "I thought all the lycan blood would have put off any routine snacking," Auri was always good for a joke to diffuse those awkward first minutes, smiling at them as though it'd take the edge away.

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closed starter for @wintersaurora location: lupercalia note: post capture the flag win

"Well, now that both of us won, who are we supposed to bring with us to get gelato?" Cloud was sure that Aurora had plenty of people she could bring with her, but they themself did not. Maybe they would bring Viola with them. They very well couldn't bring Ganymede considering the fact that the aspect had told them that the two of them were merely just friends. Putting the wrong idea out there was certainly not on the agenda. So here they stood wondering what Aurora was going to do with their prize with the very fast approaching expiration date. "We've got about a day to figure it out, too."

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END.

Viola reminded them of Mneme. Somehow, at least. Maybe the elf was looking for pieces of her in anything, but she was gone and they were still here. They had to get used to that. Viola sure as hell talked more than the aspect ever did. That wasn't really a hard task to accomplish though. Still, they nodded their head and looked at the demon. They really wondered how demons came to have the personalities they had. Most were expected to be cold-hearted and uncaring. She seemed to be the complete opposite. Maybe that was a good thing for them. They needed that kind of thing around right now. "I do. It started off as something I was pushed into, but I care a lot about the people around me. Friends or not. I'll come to care about you quickly, too. I already do. I'll...take you to meet Aegnor. I'm tethered to him. You're tethered to me. Seems like the logical next step."

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END.

"Okay. It looks nice." It was the least Cloud could do to give out a compliment to someone that was doing his best to try and help them. Then again, they couldn't really remember a time where people hadn't tried to help them. They were a noble elf. If people weren't falling at their mother's feet, she would have been disappointed. Cloud didn't much care about all of that though. Not that they had ever gotten the opportunity to care about it in the first place. Still, now they were nothing more than a broken shield to the dead. They might as well have been so themself. That was pretty damn gloomy though. Ganymede probably didn't want to hear all of that. Maybe. They could never tell. "You don't have to apologize. I'm used to it." Unfortunately. Loss was just something they had learned to cope with. All they could ever think about was who would be next. "You can ask. I don't know if I'm ready to answer though."

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"Okay. It looks nice." It was the least Cloud could do to give out a compliment to someone that was doing his best to try and help them. Then again, they couldn't really remember a time where people hadn't tried to help them. They were a noble elf. If people weren't falling at their mother's feet, she would have been disappointed. Cloud didn't much care about all of that though. Not that they had ever gotten the opportunity to care about it in the first place. Still, now they were nothing more than a broken shield to the dead. They might as well have been so themself. That was pretty damn gloomy though. Ganymede probably didn't want to hear all of that. Maybe. They could never tell. "You don't have to apologize. I'm used to it." Unfortunately. Loss was just something they had learned to cope with. All they could ever think about was who would be next. "You can ask. I don't know if I'm ready to answer though."

"You can just say it looks nice." Cloud was clearly struggling, so Ganymede thought he'd offer some advice on complementing someone without making them feel bad about themselves. It wasn't as if he was any stranger to loss; his father had been his best friend, and when he'd passed, Ulthar hadn't permitted him to attend the funeral, something about it being unimportant to mingle with mortal affairs when Ganymede sat among the Gods now. He'd been right of course, his husband... ex-husband... was right about most things, at least that's what the aspect still believed. People made horrible and terrible mistakes, but they could still return from that. So many of his children were gone because of the God and it should have been easy for Ganymede to resent Ulthar for that, but more than hatred, he hoped that the God would return and set things right. Ganymede knew what he was capable of. He knew it was within his power; he just had to be patient. "I'm so sorry..." Ganymede paused before asking, "Is there a right way of dealing with it?" The aspect would have hugged them, but they didn't know each other that well, and Cloud had just left and made a mess of a bunch of bags of blood, not that Ganymede was afraid, but there was something to be said about respecting boundaries. "Can I ask who?"

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Cloud had never been the type to mince their words. Maybe they spoke too much of the truth sometimes, but the people that mattered usually never took it to heart. If anything, those people were probably too used to pessimism and bluntness from the shield. "I asked the question I wanted to answer. I don't exactly go around the point like other elves you may seem to know." Their hands lifted with a sigh. "All I know is that I'm really fucking hungry and these blood bags aren't going to cut it for much longer."

How long? The question was to be expected, given how Din'an gathered that what they were seemed rarer than he had anticipated. His mind slipped over the memories, searched for the moment that the archfiend had greeted him. Had offered him this gift that could never have been ignored. "Many years now, but is that what you really want to know?" His head canted to the side, gaze slipped over the other in a careful inspection, "Or do you want to know whether it gets easier? The hunger, that is."

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"Aegnor is not much of a talker and neither am I really. Our conversations consist of him grunting and hm-ing often. I can take a guess it had something to do with his brothers and his memories coming back to him." Cloud and Aegnor were an odd pair, but they also got along much better than anticipated. The dark elf seemed to have gotten used to his warder's presence by now. With Cloud, it felt like they could deal with anyone's temperament. Someone could be loud like Laer or quiet like Mneme or even gullible and sweet like Ganymede. No matter what, they were going to somehow not be judgmental about it. The same would always be extended to Aegnor. The two of them were tethered to each other after all. "Not for you? Well, you let me know if that changes. You look...breedable."

Aegnor the departed, Aegnor the leader of the drow, Aegnor the traitor; Inan was among the many that were leery of their presence. He wasn't without questions, though. If someone like Ayi'ig's chosen heir could suddenly decide to defect, perhaps there was hope for others. "Did he ever tell you what it was?" Inan asked, his tone curious, "What made him leave the Court behind?" Somehow he doubted his brother would walk away so easily. "It's not for me." A bunch of elves grabbing at each other? It didn't sound particularly interesting. "Maybe it's a cultural difference." Something divisive between the Sun and the Dusk, though Robin seemed eager to partake after she'd managed to garner her invitation. Undoubtedly, she'd try to get Inan to attend, but fortunately for the warder, her life would not be at risk in the Sun lands above.

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Viola reminded them of Mneme. Somehow, at least. Maybe the elf was looking for pieces of her in anything, but she was gone and they were still here. They had to get used to that. Viola sure as hell talked more than the aspect ever did. That wasn't really a hard task to accomplish though. Still, they nodded their head and looked at the demon. They really wondered how demons came to have the personalities they had. Most were expected to be cold-hearted and uncaring. She seemed to be the complete opposite. Maybe that was a good thing for them. They needed that kind of thing around right now. "I do. It started off as something I was pushed into, but I care a lot about the people around me. Friends or not. I'll come to care about you quickly, too. I already do. I'll...take you to meet Aegnor. I'm tethered to him. You're tethered to me. Seems like the logical next step."

"I suppose that's where I come in." Protecting them was one thing, but she couldn't be tied to someone who wouldn't acknowledge their own worth. She'd struggled with that with Vinny for ages; she could put in the same amount of effort with this one. Cloud seemed likable enough, at least to her. "I've heard the sun elves are fond of their... traditions." Viola had been around long enough to catch wind of these antics, so many bodies and people; honestly, it sounded like far too much work. "As good a reason as any," Viola didn't feel the need to argue that if they killed enough people in front of an audience it wouldn't matter how good of a fighter they were. Still, their nature spoke to something Viola didn't know about them. Then again, the two were still getting to know one another. "you must care a great deal for people."

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Nico Tortorella via Instagram

2020 is queer, trans, non-binary, there I said it. These really are the gay times, some gay times, such gay times.

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Nico Tortorella as William Hamilton Sweeney in CITY ON FIRE // 1.01 “We Have Met the Enemy, and He Is Us”

[wardercloud]

"Oh, I didn't say I didn't like it. From what I've learned of you since we met, it seems very...you." Cloud wasn't really sure how to properly compliment someone or extend niceties. Really, that was how they had gotten along so well with Mneme. She had been so stoic that it felt like they were anything but. Now that she was gone, it felt like they were always the most serious person in the room. The sanguine elf really did try not to be that way though. It was just difficult to move away from who they always had been. Luckily, Ganymede's natural disposition somehow helped with that. The aspect was very much a mixed bag of things. On one hand, he was sad. On the other, he was just the nicest person they knew. It felt like a good thing to keep Ganymede around. "Modest. Right. I don't think I know what that word means. The sun court is very..." They weren't even really sure how to describe it. "I guess we're just kind of told to be very comfortable with our bodies. Not that that makes you uncomfortable with yours." Cloud was both the former and the latter. While they didn't mind wearing as little clothes as possible, they absolutely did not feel comfortable doing anything with anyone. Hence why they never participated in those yearly orgies. They could kiss someone, but they weren't entirely sure that they'd enjoy it much. "No, no. I've just lost a few people close to me so I just...haven't been dealing with it properly."

Ganymede thought that maybe if he cried less he wouldn't be so annoying to people. His husband in particular; Ganymede wondered what it would take to make Ulthar come home and regurgitate their children so they could all be a family again. Maybe being less of a burden and irritant would gain him an invitation back home; Ganymede was still confident that he and Ulthar could work this out. He'd need to make amends with the kids, of course, but the God was the only person who'd ever loved him besides his own father, so there was almost nothing that Ganymede wasn't willing to forgive as long as Ulthar would say it again. I love you. "You don't like it?" Ganymede looked sideways at the elve, the one who'd left a gory mess of blood around them. Cloud's laughter made Ganmede blush as he tucked his phone away, suddenly embarrassed; he thought it looked nice. It probably said something about the aspect that even amid all this playful devastation, Ganymede was relatively unphased. The blood was bothersome, but his friends at the cleaners would be willing to get anything out if he asked nicely. "I'm just... Modest." It was nice having a friend to go to this function with, even if they didn't like what Ganymede was wearing; he didn't hear from people... ever. Which was fine, the aspect knew that his children were busy, his grandchildren too and if they didn't want to come see him then he wasn't going to force his presence on them. It was totally fine. "Were you crying because of all this...?" Ganymede gestured vaguely, "I've met a lot of elves and you're the first who drinks blood." There was a pause before he raised his hands. "Not that there's anything wrong with it."

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Clear as day, it became obvious that this elf was just like them. Cloud hadn't been a sanguine elf for long, but they had been trying to grasp it as quickly as they could. That proved to be more difficult than they would have liked given the fact that they hadn't really run into anyone like them yet. Until now. They wondered how long this one had been like this. "Neither did I." The warder figured they would ask the question since it was the only thing in their head. "How long has it been for you?"

where. somewhere secret who. @wardercloud

It had been fleeting at first, the familiarity that came with being what he was. A simple touch upon his senses, while he had been out exploring what the city and its realm had to offer him. Upon the secrets walked any number of unique creatures, from the demigods to the aspects who boasted stories of their own. But it was none of them that had intrigued him quite like the creature that now stood before him, who itched at his senses in a far too familiar way. "I had almost expected not to find another like me."

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"Well, if you change your mind, you know I'm here." That was the least Cloud could do. They'd mostly kept themself holed up in a cave in the distance recently, but they didn't mind exiting it once in a while to visit the few friends they had. Meryasek and Laer were the most important to visit at the moment so they didn't really have to go too far. "Elves like us, huh?" They guessed neither of them had really asked for what happened to them. Then again, Cloud didn't know much about what Mery had become. Maybe they'd ask eventually when the situation called for it. Not right now though. "I don't even know. I'm a warder. I'm tethered to Aegnor. Where he goes, I follow."

"No, no help. I've got it." Meryasek thought it was nice of Cloud to ask, but it wasn't like the other could do something that he needed at the moment. "All you can do – make yourself at home. This place is for you, too. Elves like us." He wanted to know what Cloud wanted, anyway. What their plans were. His friend was always a bit unsettled, something of a shield that constantly stood up. Constantly put themselves in harms way. Yet they always came out the other side. Many warders couldn't say the same thing. "What do you want to do with your life, here?"