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Barry Keoghan at the Omega headquarters in Biel, Switzerland | photos via barrykeoghanfan on instagram

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open starter || loc: chasque markets -> castle gates

Doss walks the pavement in a hasty step, the basket full of greens and roots nearly toppling over as the seer was making his return from his errand. He had often took to taking the narrower paths out of habit. The man's large frame and tall height often lending Doss to pass through them without any bother or burden. There was also the fact he would be able to see when the main roads would be blocked off with many people. Visions of foot traffic was an unorthodox subject to find himself dreaming about, but Doss wouldn't complain. It cut down time on his errands and, more importantly, kept him from being out too long in the eyes of those who would recognize him.

He rounds a corner into a wider street, populated with a couple more people walking by as well. A few of them sat to the sides talking amongst each other as they people watched. The deeper he walked into the street, the more chairs and people greeted him. The chairs very soon turned to stalls and shops, displaying their trades, foods, and fashions as Doss continued his walk back to the Chasque castle. His steps already known to him, the seer follows his own footsteps through the crowd of people. Rounding another corner, Doss found himself preemptively stopping as he nearly collided with someone walking the opposite direction. He had forgotten this part of his dreams. It almost never seemed to come to pass.

"Woah! Heh, that would have been messy." He chuckles awkwardly, readjusting the basket of greens closer to himself so as not to drop them.

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"It could do you some good." Jac had began to say, eyeing the Umorian prince before his gaze returned to the full flute of champagne. Tempted to flex some unearned air of superiority towards the younger prince. Rotate the glass in his hands, swirl the liquid within the flute, all but drinking the divine drink. However, Jac decides instead to bring the glass closer to Kallias. "I'm sure the servants are coming back with more. Here, drink."

"It's bad manners to let one drink alone." He offers the glass to him along with a small smile, "I've been to many of these festivities are often the same old thing, but a coronation. I haven't been to one in so long." Jac waves down a server with a new set of flutes for the princes to imbibe in. Picking one up with his free hand, Jac presents the first glass closer to the younger prince once again insisting. "There, now we can drink together. Which kingdom did you say you were from again?"

This was unfamiliar territory for him, Vissai rarely had need for the young oracle. So, in turn, he rarely got to visit. Though getting to travel to a land new to him had its own charm, especially when it wasn't for work. His attendants were usually at his side, but he sent them out to go mingle in his stead, promising them he would not go far.

He was dressed in his nicer set of robes, a silk blindfold hiding those clear eyes underneath that both gave indication to his line of work and protected him from the sun. He could hear the echoed foot steps of servants going back and forth with their trays in hand, making sure no cup was left dry too long. Kallias looked over when he heard the sound of soft metal scraping for just a moment, then a voice. One he has only heard maybe a handful of times, but he could tell it was Umoria born. Umorian royalty. Kallias smiled softly.

"No need, my prince. I'm not particular known to drink." He fiddled with the ridges of the goblet already in his hand, he had not finished. "I trust you are enjoying yourself?"

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"Empty hands?" Jac's head titled at the stranger's phrasing. His curiosity causing the prince to take a look at his own hands in amusement. "Empty hands.." He echos, blue orbs wandering to look back at the person in front of him. "I supposed that means we should spoil ourselves and reach for another." Jac's fingers snapping softly to the server before he walked off. Taking another flute of drink, he offers it to the man accompanying him. His eyes now watching Dree's lips, pink and pursed against the glass they imbibed from. Jac swallows dryly, his hand lowering a bit as he's distracted. It lifts up more after Jac regained his focus. He offers once more. "How about it? I'll join you in drinking one so that you may join me in drinking another?"

🍑 - "And you certainly did." Dree smiled as his fingers itched from the empty palms. Perhaps it would've been in his best interest to remain amongst his brothers. Perhaps at the side of his designee. Though, his own kitten-like curiosities had him trailing behind Jac. Not too close to be obvious but far enough to observe. He wondered what was going through Jac's mind as the dirt that rolled from his fingers was surely to print upon the skin. He'd study the vessel of the drink before returning a gaze to the prince and his company. He dotted a glance toward the servant and they would retreat to get him another "Do enjoy but I'd also say perhaps to pause so that I may be able to join you. We don't wish to stir misfortune by being in the company of empty hands." Once they'd return, he'd secure his own. He presents it for a gentle kiss of their brims to ring in a soft toast.

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"My goodness, Caydan, you shouldn't sneak up on people like that." Jac hushes his younger brother. He was probably one of the few people who actually could and Jac delighted in it any chance he got. Being the middle child, Jac had often found himself cheering up both his brothers in times of need. In the past, he's been known to over do his jests, but now he's sure he's concocted the perfect balance when joking with his brothers. Caving in the younger brother's pout, Jac rolled his eyes before surrendering his drink to Caydan. "For goodness sake, we're at a coronation ceremony." Jac begins to say, waving down a server with a tray filled with drinks, getting a quick replacement to the drink he gave away. "It's time you acted like it." He smiles playfully at Caydan as he clinks their glasses together. Jac brings the glass to his lips, taking the refreshing beverage down his throat, the Vissai liquor giving a soft burn all the way down.

☼ wandering the grounds, the celebration of darius taking the vissai throne rippled and flowed around every imaginable corner, the young prince was almost too distracted to think about how badly he wanted to go home; how he missed his favorite patch of wildflowers and grass that made for the softest bed for his naps in the sun.

smiling warmly to any that he passed, even letting himself be pulled into the occasional conversation, he finally abandoned his aimlessness as he realized everyone else seemed to be drinking around him; there hands wrapped around goblets and wine glasses while his had remained empty. moving through the crowd, following after a servant, he had almost made it over to take the last drink from their tray only to be beaten by someone else; one of his brother's, no less.

"friend, really? that's what you are calling me?" he asked with a soft laugh under his breath and a dismissive roll of his eyes. "you might have been faster, but don't you want to be nice and give me the drink. i am terribly thirsty," he playfully pleaded with a feigned pout as he batted his eye lashes at jac. "come on, what do i have to do to make you say yes?"

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I don’t think you’re a spider. I think you’re a moth. I’m right, aren’t I? Quiet…harmless…drawn to shiny things…batting up against the window, just desperate to get in.

SALTBURN (2023) dir. Emerald Fennel

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NOAH CENTINEO Behind the scenes for Tings Magazine

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location: ember court || event starter. || open.

He had roamed around the courtyard. His eyes scanning the height of the castle. Watching as shadows dance across the walls, enchanted by the enchanting braziers along the walls. His finger tips graze against the stony walls, tapping in anticipation and expectation. Jac had heard rumors of these old walls as a child. He had heard they were crafted from the very dragons themselves along with their dragon fire, meant to keep them warm throughout the colder months. At least, that's what he used to believe as a child. It would be absurd for him to believe such things now, the pillar of sophistication that he was now as a prince. However, Jac couldn't help his curiosity from getting the better of him.

He frowns. The prince of Umoria feeling the coolness of the walls against his fingers. Jac flattens his palm against the laid stone, the dry and ancient walls, tepid against the prince's palm before it is returned to his side. He feels at the strange bits of dust left on his hand, thinking nothing of it before retrieving a drink from a servant's serving tray. Noticing another person beside him, Jac simply shrugged while raising the cup in there direction.

"Sorry, friend, I believe I was faster."

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"I wasn't much of a babe. I believe mother would always tell me how much I rarely cried as a child. I guess that's why I try to find new ways to cry now." Jac found himself saying, the pull of the wood's obscured and shadowy abyss beckoning him to explore further. "Besides, if I didn't know much about it, then why does this place somehow seem familiar?"

Jac turns his body towards Murai, stepping backwards into the shaded forest. His curious smile turning to one of mischief as Jac places another foot behind himself as he leads the merchant through the woods. "Would it still be considered forwards even if I walk backwards into it?" His smile stays, a toothy grin as he feels Murai's grip tightens.

Jac pauses again, a distant groan from the trees interrupting his deeper descent. Into what is up for debate, but the prince manages to decide this is deep enough. "I think this is far enough." He whispers quietly before sitting himself on the dimly lit forest floor. "Join me, Murai? We can listen to them together. I'm sure they won't mind."

being cautious was not the same as being scared, murai wanted to say to the prince, but they held their tongue and settled with a sigh. "i'm not, your highness," they finally said, gaze flitting to their interlaced fingers and back to the young prince. "you know, about the stories parents told you when you were just a babe--" that was a lie; murai didn't have parents to tell them such things, "that you shouldn't go to places you don't know about." they also didn't know whether the king was the kind of person who would tell his children bedtime stories. another sigh, defeated, and a nod, murai grasped the prince's hand tighter to ease his nerves. "i trust you, your highness." there was no choice but to follow the prince, wherever he went. or else, the king would have their head and murai didn't want to die just yet. "we're... going forward?"

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"I know I can do as I like." Jac almost purrs in enjoyment, both from feeling Olivier's fingers in his hair and the words the prince all but mewls aloud. There weren't many restrictions to what he was able to do as prince. As Jac saw it, the only true reason he hasn't acted as heinously and pompously as he'd like was due to his father. Upsetting the captain of the guard seemed inconsequential compared to upsetting the king.

"That is a lovely thought, isn't it?" Of course, this didn't always stop Jac in doing as he'd like. At the very least, it didn't stop him from doing who he would like. His hand reaches up to hold Olivier's hand against his head. The High Priest's words stirred something away in the prince. Perhaps he had been hungry after all. "And in my thoughts, you wouldn't even need to remove your hand from its place either. The captain might even ask you to pull harder after each strike." He winks.

"You know you can just do as you like. Who is going to stop you? Sure etiquette is fine and all but the whims of a handsome prince. Who can deny those?" Olivier steps closer and gently combs his fingers through the prince's dark hair, petting him fondly. The beautiful prince was alluring even for a High Priest, some High Priest he was though, less so wise as he was cocky and hungry to show off his magic for the shock and awe of the things he knew.

"Oh you want him to punish us? Hand in hand together or you want me to watch? You can watch as he does me." Olivier laughed as he whispered back leaning against him the other as the sun beat down on them. "I doubt they will send anyone to fetch us, the dinner wasn't very formal at all."

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"Only if he keeps the gauntlets on. Can't expect a man of that caliber to perform his greatest without his prized instruments." Jac couldn't help but grin at feeling the fellow prince's hand trace across his back. The movement felt effortless, Jac's skin yearning for more of the fellow prince as his fingers continued to dance along each bend and bow of his back. Jac's grin seemed to widen, growing for as long as Sebastian's fingers lingered against the stretch of skin. "Besides, I'm certain you would enjoy seeing me finally reprimanded."

Jac's eyes had been trailing across Sebastian's body, taking in the other prince's body and even more impressive cock beside him. If Sebastian's words weren't enough to rouse a reaction out of Jac, his sudden and unopposed touch on his skin certainly did. It gave the Umorian prince a rise to return the gesture, Jac's hand making it's way to smooth itself across Sebastian's thigh. Meanwhile a different kind of rise began to be seen in between his legs. "Funnily enough, I am getting hungry."

"That's because you have no concept of time when you're lazy." Prince Sebastian drawled over at the other as he shifted himself ass he laid out on seat himself- it was nice to have a brief moment of peace among a life of heavy burdens and meetings, expectations. His eyes dipped down Jac's naked and slightly damp body with a tilt of his head. His own stretching out lazily, like a cat. A hand slipping up behind his head, the pale beauty's muscles as if he was carved for some artist out of marble and his impressive cock laying against his stomach as he tilted his head towards the other with an arch of his eyebrows.

"Oh? Hoping he lands a few harsh hits on that ass of yours? Till you promise to be a good little prince for him?" The was utter amusement in Sebastian's voice at that, a gentle hum dancing though his tone as he felt a smirk dig into his cheek at that chuckle. 'I'll admit he is quite handsome. An idle hand reached out to brush down along Jac's bare spine lightly with a tilt of his head. "I suppose there's no harm in being a little late."

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Even as a grown man, Jac still felt the strong sense of hesitation in his gut he'd often feel as a child growing alongside the endless groves of trees in Umoria. The familiar feeling giving him pause as he feels the trees around them, gazing. Their weathered trunks surrounding the two men staring in judgement and disapproval as Jac feels the merchant's hand on his shoulder.

"Don't tell me your scared, Murai." Jac couldn't help but tease the merchant. His own hand reached up to hold Murai's hand, Jac's smooth fingers wrapping around the merchant's and guiding him besides the prince. He faces Murai, a curious smile spread across his face as he asks, "After a few minutes, the voices cease being frightening."

Jac takes a step deeper into the haunting woods, curious of the sounds they were hearing, curious of the other man's courage. "Do you trust me?"

murai had no idea how they got roped into doing this in the first place. one moment they were cleaning up their stalls and the next moment they were running after the prince into the deep wood of umoria. the air around them constricted and expanded oddly. murai felt oddly breathless as they followed the prince despite not doing anything strenuous aside from walking blindly.

"i do." the forest was full of whispers. murai's hearing picked up one or two things, a greeting and another one an urge to make them leave. they glanced around distractedly, shifting feet to feet from uneasiness. there was a reason murai never dared to step foot into the forest. they were decidedly blessed by magic but that didn't mean they refused to be cautious around the yet unknown. "i hear everything, your highness," murai murmured, reaching out to put a placating hand on the prince's shoulder. "maybe... we should head back?"

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"You could learn a thing or two from me, witcher." Jac retorts in jest, his posture changing to entice Teucer more. His hands coming to support himself from behind as the prince leaned back. The stubborn habit of displaying his body in a form of stretch being quite a difficult one to kick while in Teucer's company. "If you're as addicting as you say, I might keep you as my own."

"Wouldn't that be wonderful? A private chamber to house you in, drape you in finery and covered in... pearls." A glint of mischief twinkles in Jac's eyes as they linger along the witcher's pink lips.

"A witcher on his knees... That would be a scandalous sight in and of itself, ser. Perhaps we can come to an arrangement? I tend to my guest's needs now and you can replicate it the best you can with your collection."

Teucer couldn't help but to chuckle as he heard the boy's words. A small smile making it's way onto his lips as he regarded the beautiful boy. "As strategic as always, Your Highness." Teucer says with a playful tone in his voice.

The arcane archer let out a chuckle as he heard the flirtatious words. "Lets see. Cons? Others, if seen, would be jealous of both of us. For we are both attractive individuals." Teucer says with a grin as he boldly leans down to whisper into the suntanning prince's ear. "Second con? You just might get addicted to me. And a prince running around with a lowly witcher? That would be quite the scandal."

The witcher winked as he righted himself, his lips never leaving from the cocky grin. "Of course...Said witcher can also leave you weak in the knees. Whether you desire to be on top or the bottom. I may be lacking what most men would have between their legs, but I have quite the extensive...Collection to replicate it." Teucer says with a smirk.

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When Doss woke up, he was riding in a covered wagon. The tapping of rain sounding on top of the cow hide stretched above. He just had a dream. He dreamt it had been his birthday! In the dream, he was a small child, playing a game of knights and dragons. Amongst a haybale in the village, the children gathered. "Oh, sweet seer, we have finally found you! The kingdom can't wait to meet you!" The children celebrated! Throughout the small village they ran, hand in hand with the seer. Finally, Doss got back on the wagon and waved goodbye.

When Doss woke up, he was riding in a worn down wagon. The sound of a rickety wooden wheel, loud as it careened along the journey. He just had a dream. He dreamt it had been his birthday! In the dream, he was nearing adulthood, playing a game of dice. As his predicted wager is cast across the floor, a hand reaches behind him. "Oh, sweet seer, we have finally found you! The law can't wait to meet you!" The gambler celebrated! Throughout the port he ran, hands catching the wind but not the seer. Finally, Doss got back on the wagon and waved goodbye.

When Doss woke up, he was riding in a wagon. The sun beaming into his tired eyes as he watched the winding trail ahead. He just had a dream. He dreamt it had been his birthday! In the dream, he was a man, running from men who ran at the behest of other more powerful men. Amongst the cold bite of the winter winds, ropes bound his feet and hands. "Oh, sweet seer, we have finally found you! The crown can't wait to meet you!" The ranger celebrated. Throughout the snowbanks they walked, hand grabbing the seer's arm. Finally, Doss got back on the nobleman's wagon and the ranger waved goodbye.

When Doss woke up, he was riding in a carriage. The dark of night eclipsing their surroundings, but the trudge of horse hooves could still be heard. He had just had a dream. He had dreamt it had been his birthday. In the dream, he was a tired man, but a man still. Stowed away into a keep, he flinches as the chamber doors open. "Oh, sweet seer, we have finally found you! The lord can't wait to meet you."

"Happy birthday, Doss."

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NOAH CENTINEO THE RECRUIT (2.01)