OPEN ☆ If we were in a perfect world

[steponme]

Who: Shell Overlord (steponme) & OPEN
What: Catch-all Log, now with open prompts!!
When: End of April - Start of May
Where: Olympia
Warning(s): Awkward boners, violence



Fight Club | cw: violence, mind control
[For those who venture down to the see the underground fights, they might find a peculiar scene waiting for them. Standing in the arena and awaiting his opponent is Shell. But for those who know him, there's really no questions that he's not exact;y the fighting type. What's he doing there? Well...]

A. VS (Previous CR only please!)
[...it looks like he's your opponent today. He doesn't look very intimidating, not particularly dressed down beyond having taken off his jacket and scarf, and he doesn't seem to be holding a weapon of any kind. But something you might notice is that a good chunk of the crowd seems to be stepping back. You probably haven't seen what he can do yet -- but even the refferee looks a little standoffish, climbing up over the barricade to stand atop it, out of reach. But as for Shell-- well, he didn't expect to see anyone he knew here.]

...what are you doing here?

B. Domination (OTA)
[...it looks like his battle is about to start. If you're smart, and you've chosen to follow the crowd in sitting in one of the higher seats, then you'll only see the "battle" play out. Shell enters, and just as his opponent starts getting into stance to fight, he suddenly freezes and collapses to his knees. As Shell steps closer, the man starts to scream, pleading for it to "stop" -- whatever it is. Eventually, Shell leans down and whispers something to him, and he starts screaming for the refferee that he gives up.]

[But if you were curious enough to stay as close to the ring as possible, then you'll get to experience what those sitting in the higher seats can only watch: a strong sense of fear and dread seemingly emanates off the battle arena, causing those sitting closest to experience effects similar to the man in the ring. Some start crying, others scream, but most of them only stand and stare in petrified silence. Even the refferee seems affected for a few moments, taking far too long to end the match and give Shell the win.]

[And the moment he does, the heavy atmosphere disappears as suddenly as it appeared. But as Shell heads off stage to wait for his next match, for some reason, he doesn't look very happy about it.]


[ooc: Feel free to alter prompts as you see fit! Let me know in Prompt A whether your character will be effected by Shell's pheromones, as they have a 25% chance of failing entirely. Please note that if you choose to have your character sit too close in Prompt B, they will be affected as well. If you'd like to avoid that, have them sit further back!]

Comments

Closed to Chuuya

[steponme]

[Even though Reign knew about Shell's animal blood diet, that didn't mean he wanted to subject him to it. So far, there's only one variety of blood he's been able to drink without feeling ill, but unless it's particularly fresh, it comes back up all the same. But none of it tastes particularly good, and most of it still made him sick. And that's just as far as blood goes -- meat was even more difficult. Maybe if he had gotten used to eating human meat back home, he wouldn't be struggling so much with the texture of chewing his food.]

[But today he's trying something new, using some anti-nausea meds to just try and keep it down. And he was just about to eat-- when he hears someone at the door.]

--oh, hello Chuuya! What brings you here?

[thetaintedsorrow]

[Listen, Chuuya knows the importance of clothes from home, and when Shell had accidentally left his fancy scarf in Chuuya’s room, of course he had to return it. He knows where Reign lives from visiting before, so it’s not too difficult to find the place, though dropping by unannounced is admittedly rude.

Ah well, Shell doesn’t seem to mind, at least, and Chuuya holds the scarf out for him to take.]

This is yours.

[There’s a certain smell in the air that tells Chuuya that he might be intruding during mealtime...]

This a bad time?

[steponme]

[And Shell's face lights up with a smile right away! The rarely seen bright and shining variety, too.]

I was wondering where this went! Thank you!

[The smell in the air is probably a more pungent than it would be if Reign were feeding. The blood he gets is fresher, higher quality... this stuff is borderline rancid in comparison, even though it's really as fresh as he can possibly get it.]

It's not a bad time, at all-- er, but I was just about to eat. I don't know if you'd find it a little gross or not.

[thetaintedsorrow]

[Good lord, between Shell and Atsushi he’s going to go blind from the sunshine smiles around here.]

Looked expensive, so.

[The smell is one that Chuuya is all too familiar with, but at least it’s not horribly rotten meat or something.]

I’d be a shitty Mafioso if seeing or smelling blood made me sick.

[Aww, Chuuya doesn’t see Scorch when he peeks inside the house. Too bad.]

I don’t have anywhere to be, if you want company.

[steponme]

[If Scorch is home, he's probably carefully tucked away in a room where he won't smell the blood, since it'd probably be upsetting for the little guy...]

[Shell seems conflicted for a moment or two, but ultimately, he really doesn't like being alone if he can avoid it. And Reign's probably been busy with his perfumes lately... he couldn't help feeling a little needy.]

[So he steps aside to let Chuuya in. Besides, he's curious...]

I'd love some! Come on in.

[The smell is stronger in the kitchen, but not to the point where it's overwhelming. There's a sealed white bottle on the counter and a glass of dark red liquid sitting next to it, which Shell will go up and grab. Classy vampires drink from wine glasses, obviously.]

But, er... what did you mean by Mafioso?

[thetaintedsorrow]

[True. Please don’t traumatize the giraffe.

The smell and sight of blood don’t bother Chuuya, but now he wishes he would’ve brought some wine along.

He quirks an eyebrow at the question before remembering that the Port Mafia wasn’t a thing in Shell’s world.]

I was an executive in the Mafia. I spent most of my time beating the shit out of thugs who thought they could move in on our territory or threaten the Boss. There were a lot of missions that required the use of my ability too.

[Spilling this much info about his past might not be wise, but it’s not like this is his life anymore.]

Before you say anything, no, the thugs weren’t just people trying to get by. They were shitty excuses for human beings that sold off kids and distributed drugs and shit like that.

[...most of the time, anyway.]

1/2

[steponme]

[Whether it's wise or not, it does paint a certain picture of his character, for Chuuya to talk so casually about beating people up, drug trafficking, selling kids... the last one probably not hitting home as hard as it would for someone from a different world because Shell's world is gross and fucked up.]

[But see, what Shell's focusing on the most is just... the image of Chuuya as some big bad mob boss kind of guy roughing people up.]

[...]

[steponme]

You know, it's kind of hard to picture all of that after having woken up with you cuddled up next to me.

[Tough guy image, forever ruined.]

[thetaintedsorrow]

[Huh...well. It’s true that only a couple of people on Nysa can confirm Chuuya’s prior career path...

But still!!!]

Oi. You calling me a liar?

[Just to look intimidating he activates his ability, that telltale red aura surrounding him. He really does have the air of someone dangerous...]

I used to have people shitting their pants at the sight of me.

[Only because of Soukoku’s reputation, but okay, Chuuya.

He’s miffed, but if he were actually pissed off Shell would know it.]

[steponme]

I-I never said you were a liar! It's just... hard to imagine knowing you the way I do.

[Oh yes, he definitely has the air of someone dangerous when he starts glowing like that. But Shell's reaction to that might seem a bit odd, because something about it had his cheeks flushing ever so slightly as he looks away.]

After all, I could say the same about myself... but you probably can't picture that too well either, right?

[thetaintedsorrow]

[He can’t help it if he gets a little cuddly when he’s drunk!! Actually he can by not drinking, but shh.]

You said you were a big deal back home, right?

[Chuuya deactivates his ability, satisfied that he’s probably gotten his point across.]

You have that rich noble air about you without being a complete snob.

[A huff.]

Can’t picture you fighting though.

[steponme]

Something like that... I'm the son of a Blood Lord, one of five leaders who maintains control of the blood reserves produced from the human farms. [...] My father chose me to become his heir... even though I never really felt suited for it.

[Since he's an abnormal, after all. It's not as though he felt like he couldn't do the job -- it was more a case of whether it felt like something he should do.]

But I've never needed to fight. My pheromones are descent from the strongest line among Blood Lords. If I were using them now, you'd probably be too uncomfortable to even be in the same room as me.

[thetaintedsorrow]

[Human farms...god, what kind of fucked world did Shell come from...?]

You said that before. I’m tempted to make you try them on me just to see.

[How bad can it be?

But anyway, he did interrupt Shell’s meal.]

You can eat.

[steponme]

[There are many, many reasons for his hang-ups about drinking human blood. Clearly very good ones -- Chuuya's livestock comment before wasn't too far off from how most vampires saw humans.]

[But then Chuuya points out that yes, Shell hasn't started his drink. And there's definitely a moment where he seems to grimace down at the glass. Maybe this time, it'll be okay...]

Ah... right.

[...]

[And he just fuckin' throws it back, chugging down the whole glass with his eyes closed as if he were taking a shot. When he lowers the glass and sets it on the counter, his whole body seems to shiver, and he makes a face. Very obviously unpleasant.]

[thetaintedsorrow]

[...that’s an odd reaction to a meal. Chuuya really doesn’t mean to stare, but clearly this blood must be awful to Shell for him to just knock it back like a medicine you don’t want to taste.

And now he looks like he’s going to be sick.]

Something wrong with the blood?

[He’s ignorant of the source, but it can’t be good if it isn’t fresh from a vein, right? At least, that’s what Chuuya will assume.

Just how long has Shell been forcing himself to drink this way?]

You’re sick from it, aren’t you?

[steponme]

[He's... keeping it down for now! Hopefully the anti-nausea medication works. At this point, it's one of the last things he tried. And so he shakes his head.]

It's... it's just not very good. I haven't found a way to make it last very long. Usually the first glass is okay, but every glass after that just starts to taste worse, even if I keep it frozen until I'm ready to drink it.

[thetaintedsorrow]

...it’s animal blood, isn’t it?

[Shell being so adamant about not drinking human blood is still fresh in Chuuya’s mind despite his drunkenness on his birthday, and it honestly still baffles him.]

Is that why it’s bad?

[Chuuya furrows his brows. He just doesn’t get it; why starve yourself when there’s people willing to feed you for free? Shell hasn’t actually given him a reason why yet.]

Why won’t you drink human blood?

[steponme]

[Shell nods when Chuuya guesses that it's animal blood, but then he continues, and Shell's expression falters.]

...I told you before it's complicated. Why does it-- matter to you whether I drink it or not?

[Ooh... that's not settling as well as it was a minute ago.]

[thetaintedsorrow]

[Oh boy, this isn’t going to end well.]

Because you’re killing yourself for no good reason, and that pisses me off.

[Chuuya might sound harsh, but this is a dose of reality that Shell needs to move on from his hangups, and, you know, not fucking starve to death.]

You just gonna keep on until you get too sick to move? That’s being really goddamn selfish to the people that give a shit about you.

1/2

[steponme]

Selfish...? You have no idea what my world was like-- what it was like for the humans living there.

[But that's not Chuuya's fault. Which is the only reason he hasn't raised his voice.]

[But if Chuuya really wants to know, then maybe he should tell him exactly what it is that made his world so terrible. Maybe then he'll understand, even if he still can't accept it.]

[steponme]

...and I didn't either. Even though I always felt guilty when I drank their blood, I never realized... I never even thought it. How they must have felt, being kept alive only for their blood, living and dying by the will of my kind... kept as toys to be paraded at parties, and played with until their master losses interest and consumes them ...most of them weren't even given names!

["We give up our names to survive" -- Shell hadn't understood what One meant back then, but he did now.]

Maybe you're right, and it is selfish... but I've spent the past thirty years being selfish at their expense, and I'm tired of it!

[thetaintedsorrow]

[Ah. Well. That certainly is terrible; even worse than Chuuya originally thought, but it doesn’t matter anymore. Their worlds are gone, lost to the Storm, and they’re never coming back.

Chuuya clenches his fists at his sides; he hates being told he doesn’t know something, even if it’s true.]

Yeah, that’s fucked up and wrong, and you’re right, I dunno what your world was like, and I never will, because it’s gone.

[A sharp inhale, as if Chuuya has been physically harmed.]

My world is too. It’s all fucking gone, in the past. So why keep clinging to shit that doesn’t apply in this world? [He grits his teeth. This is just as much a speech to himself as it is to Shell.] This isn’t your world, and humans aren’t cattle here, so whatever you think you’re doing by not feeding on willing humans, it’s not fucking worth it.

[steponme]

[Likewise-- Shell flinches when Chuuya emphasizes that their worlds are gone. Sure, there's no real love lost as far as Shell is concerned, but knowing that the life he lived before and the future he could have had is gone is still a hard pill to swallow.]

You keep saying willing... but that's doesn't-- that doesn't make it--

[He doesn't finish his sentence, instead flinching as he suddenly brings a hand up to his mouth. Maybe if he weren't arguing right now, he could have at least tried to keep it down, but there's no use here. And so he quickly turns and loses his lunch in the sink.]

[...which would probably look significantly more horrifying without the context that he drinks blood, since that's all that comes up.]

[thetaintedsorrow]

[Chuuya doesn’t like being an asshole about this, but god damn it, sugarcoating things isn’t going to get them anywhere. He’s more than ready to keep arguing his point when Shell turns around and vomits into the sink, and all at once Chuuya’s rising anger seems to dissipate. God, this is so fucked up in so many ways, Chuuya doesn’t even know where to begin...

Sighing, Chuuya grabs a handkerchief out of his coat pocket and tosses it onto the counter next to Shell so he can wipe his mouth on something other than his clothes.]

I get it. You’re trying not to continue a shitty cycle, but you’re already doing way fucking better by not treating humans like livestock, so cut yourself some slack before you drop dead.

[steponme]

[Shell is trembling as he stands at the sink, reaching up with a shaky hand first to turn on the faucet, and then to grab a handful of water to wipe his face and rinse out his mouth -- only then reaching out for the handkerchief to dry off.]

...I don't deserve to. [Deserve what-- to cut himself some slack? To live? Even he's not sure which he's referring to.] I just... don't know what else to do.