❪ event ❫ spirited away

[natha]

PRELUDE     I'll get straight to the point, Thesaens. Dranbu is in dire need of assistance. I have received confirmation that the disappearances we were investigating last month have... escalated. Be cautious as you make your way through Josa Forest. Ideally we could go straight through, but it seems the main entrance to Dranbu is overgrown with thorns and vines, and there's a bit of a glitch with the rail system - the train is having trouble recognizing the Dranbu station as a destination. I've uploaded a homing beacon to your devices with this message. Once enough of you have arrived in Dranbu proper, it should communicate with the train and register it as a stop. With any luck, that will make getting back and forth much easier for you all from now on. Best of luck. Entry to the forest is not only overgrown with vegetation, but seems to be growing at an increasingly alarming rate. Any attempts to clear the vines will be met with even larger ones growing in its place, and it only confirms Nurray's findings as true. The only way in is across the sound from Nadril, entering the forest from its snowy back yard. It doesn't stay cold for long; as one ventures further into the forest, the snow will disappear, as though it was completely out of place in the first place. The red sun's warmth will take its place soon after— and before long, you'll feel too warm for the clothes you came with. That's when you know you've entered the heart of Josa Forest. WITHIN THE FOREST     The forest seems to be thick with a profound presence that can’t be ascertained. While venturing through it, one will feel like there are being watched or followed. This feeling will only intensify as metallic-scented drops of rain begin to fall between the clearings in the trees. Unfortunately, what many don’t realize at this point is that this is how the forest itself eats. How it subsists and lives through the minds of those who eventually get lost in it. Wandering this far in is akin to walking into a lion’s jaw, or rather… straight to its stomach. But, the forest has a way of making one stay. While it swallows someone up, it shows them sinfully beautiful and picturesque sights. Even showing them people or things that are familiar to the lost. All of which will urge them to go in deeper and deeper. But, while the forest begins to prey on the mind of their victim— they will suddenly hear an elegant and alluring voice urging them back. This voice promises them comfort and safety. Promises to be kind and open. Promises she has a place for them where they will never feel displaced or unwanted, or lost. Before they can fully accept, they will find that they are whisked away in Barthala’s embrace. Some will be taken, wiped of all their previous memories and inserted new ones. Others will find they have no prior memories at all of themselves, only urged to go on with regular life. What is prevalent is the forest's desire to turn you. Metamorphosis is a phenomenon that occurs only to certain individuals, and there is no rhyme or reason to them. Some adventurers would find themselves changing by the minute, the hour, or the process may even take days and weeks. The forest toys with you, but it only wants to draw you closer to its core — as though there's a story there it wants you to see and understand. Will you go on anyway, knowing the forest has already has its claws on you? I. ALL ROADS LEAD TO — Exploring the forest is not a perilous experience - Barthala's blessing ensures that paths remain clear of any dangerous obstacles, and keeps anyone who enters the woods from losing their way. However, it will not always lead adventurers where they want to go. Stressed? Your path leads to a meadow, grass drifting gently in the breeze. Tired? You'll find your way to a tree with roots perfectly curved for a nap, the shade a peaceful retreat from the sunlight. The hungry will find streams full of fish or bushes laden with berries, and the curious will come upon elder trees, unique and beautiful. Only those who are truly satisfied with their circumstances, with themselves, can forge their own path, and venture to Barthala's Grotto. II. BARTHALA'S GROTTO — The deity's home is host to an abundance of life. Butterflies drift through the air, brilliantly colored and unbothered by any intruders. Foliage blooms in a rainbow of colors, many plants unique to this area alone. With trees arranged to provide a canopy over the path and small clearing, the scene is something out of a fantasy. Any plant life taken from this area will not survive long, though even in its dead, dried state, it retains a curious beauty. Explorers and creatures finding themselves in this area will suddenly find their clothing to be an unnecessary burden - what could be better than feeling the wonders of nature against bare skin? There is nothing unbecoming about such a natural state, any perverse inclinations are an aspect of personal preference. While the presence of Barthala can be felt here - a warm, comfortable sensation emanating from your core - she is nowhere to be found. Only one will have the opportunity to pass under a veil of willow branches and emerge to the cool air of a clear-as-glass spring. Another nearby grotto is home to a plant with intoxicating effects. Just smelling the leaves is enough to entice most animals, and consuming them has effects on both mind and body. More easily amused, with thoughts that weave deep and distant, along with increased sensory perception can bring the user on a pleasant trip lasting up to five hours. III. INFLUENCES — (18+) Every five days, a weed scattered in patches among the forest underbrush blooms. The flowers are small and white, unremarkable except for how clustered they grow. When their petals fall, after only hours of blossoming, pollen drifts through the air. It clings to clothing, to hair, in the throats of the sensitive animals dwelling in the forest. Even those unaltered by Barthala's magic can be affected. The locals of Dranbu claim the pollen enhances fertility, but in practice, it simply serves as a poignant aphrodisiac. Those affected won't differentiate between the warmth of another or their own, a simple need to experience sexual ecstasy overwhelmingly pervaded. The pollen loses its potency after about three hours, leaving behind only a sweet smell. YOUR NEW (NEW) LIFE    Adapting to an entirely new setting isn’t always so simple. People often say that assimilating oneself to the environment happens fluidly, and before you know it, you’re a part of it. In Dranbu, these words hold an uncanny sense of truth. When you awake, your day begins like it always has. Your daily routine meets largely unchanged, except a few tinier details. Perhaps, you’ve realized your true calling is an occupation within the villages itself. Maybe in farming up strange medical herbs, maybe in acting as a witch doctor for the people, or maybe you find yourself drawn to the arts and you really enjoy sculpting fellow villagers in the nude. Once you commit these tasks, you realize, it feels like what you’ve always done. As if it were natural, as if you’ve done them for years, and maybe you have? At least that’s what your gut is telling you, and slowly your memories will too. At the end of the day, when you return home, you realize you’re not alone. You have a partner who shares the same values and whom you love deeply. Or maybe a spouse whom you’re always arguing with. But, even that will feel as commonplace as the rest of your day. All you know is that the day that might have started off not being yours is entirely yours and yours alone. IV. THE HUNT — Those taken by the forest, animal features adorning their bodies, will find that their palates have changed as well. Carnivores crave raw meat, while herbivores don't mind snacking on a patch of grass or pulling leaves from branches. For most, there's no reason to cook a meal; once prey is captured, instinct says dig right in! It can be a gruesome sight, mangled bodies gorged upon leaving bloodstained faces, but it's natural. As is the hunt itself - any size of game can be found in the forest, and no one will go hungry for long. The magic that dwells here ensures a catch even for the clumsiest predator. Just take care not to stalk one of your own. For a hungry predator, there's no difference between a deer and a deer-like human. THE BOUNDARIES BEYOND     For some, placated is synonymous with bored. While there is a sense of wonder in the beauties of nature that adorn the woods, serene forest life isn't for everyone. Those seeking more adventure can explore the challenging slopes of Waco Mountain. Barthala's influence is weaker on those bluffs than in Josa Forest itself, so thrill chasers won't be disappointed. Lose the path, slip on loose rocks, fall into a stream and spend a night wet and cold, there are many perils that come with traveling a mountain-side. Scattered ruins offer some shelter, their walls carved with images resembling Barthala, a dragon, and three other stranger creatures. While the deity's pacification does not flow as deeply through this region, all are still save from mortal wounds, and the veil cast over their memories will not lessen. If you have made it this far, however, there is no reason to try to return to the main city of Dranbu. Accommodations are always available in the neighboring villages: Phares in the north, and Stroln in the south. These villages are in friendly competition with one another, and will tempt travelers with women and men of their kind in order to draw in business to their hotels. FINAL OOC NOTES     No REP is available for this log. REP will now be primarily available through achieving NPC quests, which will be available on the 19th! Please keep an eye out for that! Dranbu is entirely available for exploration! You may find that most of Wyver and Olympia Flora/Fauna may be found in the forest as well. For more information on your characters' (opt-in) Metamorphosis, please refer to the November Outline! QUICK NAV premise ● faq ● lore ● map ● npcs ● bestiary taken ● atp/emp ● application ● rep/acp ● quest bulletin calendar ● hiatus/drops ● modbox [ FULL NAVIGATION ] elnysa nysalogs nysaisles nysaooc elnyan

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MOLLYMAUK TEALEAF | OTA

[mollymocked]

i.

[Molly is a content traveler, especially given that he's better on the move. Being alone is another animal entirely, but even if he doesn't find Nott or Caleb, he finds other people just as soon as the panic sets in, which is nice, if not a bit unsettling.

Stumbling upon the fairy circle in an idyllic meadow is a stroke of luck that momentarily distracts him and despite any protests about NOT TOUCHING STRANGE CIRCLES, Molly steps inside. Nothing happens at first, which is disappointing but serves to prove there was nothing worth worrying about... Until the meadow begins to shift to become a gentle flat piece of land on the bank of a quiet lake streaked with wheel tracks and a path leading through the rest of Josa Forest. Molly squints and thinks of something else and the scenery changes to a field full of different flowers- snapdragons and carnations and dandelions and punctuated with the occasional rose bush on the periphery.

Molly throws his hands out and does a graceful bow, and speaks with a theatrical cant to his voice.] Behold, I am king of the faeries. Nature bows to my whim. I am lord of all I see.

[Look, he hasn't gotten to have any fun since he got here. Leave him alone.]

ii.

[The last time Molly found a cavern behind a waterfall, it had been little more than a hidey hole with a skeleton, but it had still been a new experience and one he's eager to repeat. He sheds his coat, boots, and all but one of his swords, and drops into the basin, submerging briefly before coming back up to address whatever people have followed him into this portion of the forest, nodding towards the waterfall.]

I've done this before. It's amazing. Completely worth it.


iii. (potential for 18+ material)

[While Molly's whims have been sated a few times, it's still hard to focus knowing Caleb and Nott are elsewhere. He hopes those two will take care of one another, because if they're separated, it'll truly be hell, but if they're together, then at least there's that. Still...

The Grotto offers true respite from that. Molly sheds his coat, followed by his linen shirt, followed by his boots and belt and lays there, sans everything but his trousers with his back pressed against the soft dewy meadow grass. He's never seen flowers quite like the ones he's surrounded by, and half-heartedly debates taking a few to carry back in case Yasha wakes up soon.

The thought passes- she should come see them for herself and sooner rather than later!- and he starts to idly drift into a comfortable sleep, breathing in the scent of the sweet-smelling weed. Something about it brings a quiver to the pit of his stomach and his back arches a bit instinctively as if reaction to some unseen bit of stimuli.

And then someone else enters his little sanctum. Molly opens one eye lazily.] Well. You're going somewhere in a hurry.

[It doesn't even matter what pace they were moving. Everything seems to have slowed down for him in this state of such clear zen. A leisurely walk seems like a marathon in comparison.]

iv.

[By the time, they've reached the village, all of Molly's good feelings have gone and left him, leaving him a little bit prickly and even more shaken up by how strange everyone is acting. As someone with minimal memories, himself, this is kind of beyond upsetting and part of him wants to say fuck it and let people sort out their new lives for themselves, but the other half is deeply irritated about the state he's found many of his friends in, and would like to stop.

He just needs to find someone in their right head. Easier said that done, of course. In lieu of anything else to do, he just starts invading random people's personal space and staring down (or up if they're taller) at them.] Hi. I'm conducting a very important survey. Are you fully aware of our situation and not being stupid about it? You can be monosyllabic. It's not as complicated a question as you think.

[Fuck, if this keeps up, he will goddamn start using Charm Person over the course of as many long rests as it takes to knock sense into people.]

v.

[wildcard option! Molly is unaffected, but will be doing his damndest to herd any of his friends taken by the forest.]

iv!

[quintessent]

[Allura takes a step back when the tall, purple man with horns suddenly invades her space, and there's not a lick of recognition in her eyes as they flicker from his face, to somewhere beside them, as if maybe he's addressing someone else, but sure enough he's catching her with that piercing gaze, and she frowns,]

I am afraid I don't know what you are talking about...

[That's 0/1 Molly. Allura's hands fist into her skirts nervously,] I think you may be confusing me with someone else.

[As if there's a lot of white-haired girls with pink markings around here.]

(ooc note: I decided I wanted to do more with the memory loss/new life stuff instead of the animal transformation! Let me know if this doesn't work for you or if you want to do something different!)

[mollymocked]

(ooc: this is perfect for me!!)

[Molly steps back, more out of surprise than genuinely feeling like he needs to. This is one of those situations where proximity might shake things, but he's so stricken by that response that he's knocked off-balance. Were it someone he didn't know, he would have sighed and fucked off to the next, but he knows Allura. And this is unfair.

There's a difference between waking up with no memories and carving a new life for yourself and just waking up thinking you belong in a place you really don't. Molly has decided he takes exception to the latter.]

I feel like I'm really not. You don't have one of those faces. [Well, in the land of the bullshit memory problems, the person with full control and confidence over his bullshit memory problems is king.

He can work with this.] This place has done you a terrible disservice, Your Majesty. Do they have you scrubbing floors like a chambermaid, too? [He takes her hands in his as if to examine whether they're cracked and dirty like a commoner. He's gonna go all out on this to see if it triggers anything.]

[quintessent]

[She is no stranger to hard work or strife, but they’re unquestionably the hands of someone of means. Either money or the technology to easily wipe away scars where they might form otherwise. Too distracted to insist on her personal space, her eyes flicker down to where her hands are held in his. There’s a flash of something, a weird feeling of deja vu — a hand on hers, the lavender of his skin casting cool tones against hers —

She swallows hard and frowns as her senses come back to her (or lack thereof), easing her hands away.]

Your majesty? [Repeated with a small laugh that’s more nervous than she’d care to let on,] Now I fear that I must be the subject of some practical joke.

[There’s an edge of warning in her voice, naturally budding at her own anxiety.]

iv.

[deadthenred]

[ Bucky's about the same height as Molly, but without horns, so he feels shorter. For the record, Bucky has met all sorts of strange looking people before— mutants, aliens, people who really commit to their costuming gimmick— so normally, a someone with lavender skin wouldn't make him blink.

But Molly is up close and personal enough to make him step back, not quite flinch. ]

Hello to you too, buddy.

[ Bucky has his own experiences with missing memories setting him on edge. ]

[mollymocked]

Hi. [Molly waits. And does not move.] This is generally the part where you either tell me to fuck off and alert the authorities that a lavender menace is disrupting your idyllic village life or assure me that I'm not the only sane person in this bloody town.

[He might have an edge of panic in his voice. It's really hard being Katherine Ross in the middle of Stepford, and this has been a Bad Day. Nott's a fucking cat, for god's sake.]

[deadthenred]

[ If Bucky weren't dealing with his own rising panic, he might tell Molly to calm down. ]

I remember who I am, if that's what you mean. [ His voice is terse. ] I take it you do, too?

[ And he hasn't even met anyone who's been turned into an animal, yet. ]

iv

[thedarkbond]

[Honestly, Ren can't even blame Molly for being so on edge about this whole thing. He doesn't even shift when the tiefling invades his personal space, being extremely used to it by now just by virtue of hanging around with him, but Ren's own expression dips into something a little difficult to read at the question.

He still tries to sound a little airy when he talks about it, though. As usual.] Well, that depends on what you mean by "being stupid"...I know what's going on, though.

[His eyes skim over Molly, as if picking out further signs of distress. He seems oddly...rattled, almost, and though the words bad memories surface briefly in Ren's mind, he instead chooses to ask the more obvious and less invasive question.] Someone important to you was affected by it, then?

[His tone is somewhat more grounded at that. He's seen several sides of memory loss, been on the end of it himself briefly, and while he understands that it's not always good to drag up the past, this is not a situation he'd consider that to apply to.]

[mollymocked]

Thank god. [He relinquishes some of the space between them to Ren, but he doesn't quite disengage. This is awful and he's having a hard time coming to terms with it. This is a perversion of his belief system, and yet is it really his business to interfere?

Of course it fucking his. Everything is his business if he makes it so.

He crosses his arms over his chest and his tail lashes behind him like an agitated cat.] More than one. It's... Been a bad time, and I don't like this. There's things that come with it that aren't necessarily right? I'm all for reinventing yourself and saying fuck the past, but this doesn't feel right.

[thedarkbond]

[That's a somewhat telling stance to have on it, but Ren doesn't linger too much for the moment, because he's too busy considering it in the context of his own experience, honestly. And frowning at the fact that Molly's apparently been unlucky enough to lose multiple people to it.]

If you need company, then that's something I can help with... [Molly hasn't specified, but he knows he has roommates and those roommates are from his world, so he wouldn't be surprised if at least one of them was one of those important people affected.

His hands dip into his pockets, and he tilts his head up a bit as if deciding how much to say.] ...No, it doesn't, really. I know sometimes it can be important to let someone move on when they lose memories, whether it was their choice or not, but I think it also depends a bit on the circumstances. This doesn't seem like the right time for leaving it be, when it's been pushed on so many people like this.

[The instances he's encountered of this are often very personal, but at the same time, the ones he saw reversed in the end were the ones that somehow pulled something important away from many people, not just a few.]

...and also iii the slightly wildcard edition

[thedarkbond]

[Ren wasn't really going to wander back into the forest alone considering everything that's going on, and he definitely wasn't going to let anyone important to him wander back into the forest alone regardless of what kind of mood Molly might have been in.

After four months of trying and failing to hold himself at arm's length and focus on old friends, Ren is vividly remembering the trouble that having people important to you can be. But it's still worth it, in the end.

He's still stubborn enough about the grotto's influence to determinedly not shed a single item of clothing, in favour of twisting hands into his pockets, and he leaves Molly to sleep temporarily while he goes to investigate the plant life. Dangerous forest circumstances or not, it's difficult to keep Ren away from the potential of pretty flowers.

It turns out to not be as good a decision as he thought, though, because the tiny white flowers blooming catch his attention quickly - and he ends up catching a puff of pollen just about right in the face. It makes his stomach curl and mouth dry in a way that's somehow familiar, and he'd almost be laughing at the irony of them running into this predicament again if he wasn't so determined to find his way back to Molly before he ends up encountering anyone else. If it's going to be like that, it had better be with someone he trusts and is actually interested in.

As such, Ren stumbles back into the little sanctum a bit too quickly for his own balance, dropping to his knees almost at the same time Molly makes that remark. His hands slip out of his pockets to catch himself in a relatively dignified kneeling position, but they're shaking slightly, and there's flecks of pollen visible caught in his hair.

There's a soft laugh after a moment or two, the amusement seemingly genuine, but something breathy yet forcibly restrained to it.] Well, I made a pretty important discovery that I thought I should tell you about...though it might be a little too late for that now...

[mollymocked]

[Molly pushes himself up onto his elbows, putting himself fairly close to Ren's face, though his eyes seem to be drawn to the pollen in his ear and for no reason other than simply being touch-starved and deeply unhappy with circumstances, he reaches up and brushes some of it away, fingers lingering in the strands of red hair.]

I have this weird feeling like I know what it is. [This is a bad fucking time in every sense of the word, but Molly has a pretty lackadaisical attitude about sex, anyway, so it doesn't bother him as much as it could. It's conversation, it's intimacy without commitment, and it's fun. He's a hedonist at heart and while he doesn't go out with the intention of pursuing it, like most things if he finds a willing partner, he'll happily take it. Especially as a distraction.]

If it can't get you one way, it'll get you another. I think this bloody forest has an agenda. [The logical, tactical side of him says get the fuck out you don't know what will happen, but the hedonist says fuck that you need this, because you're miserable and lonely.]

[thedarkbond]

[Ren doesn't pull away from Molly pushing himself up, since he wouldn't do that normally, but there's something...measured about his response to the brush of fingers through his hair. He tilts his head into it, but there's almost a sense that he's trying not to do so too much, trying to find the "correct" amount of reaction he'd give if he hadn't just been sprayed in the face with what he's guessing is probably one of the aphrodisiacs Koralle draws on. It's certainly potent enough to be one.

Ren's mouth twitches into something slightly more amused at that initial comment from Molly, but he doesn't actually speak again until the second. Despite his best efforts, his voice is dropping a little deeper in the way it does when he's particularly rapt by something, and the shiver of breath is a bit more badly disguised.] Normally I wouldn't mind too much, but with everything else it's trying to do, it feels a little bit like losing, doesn't it...?

[He sighs a little theatrically, one hand creeping forward a little closer to Molly before he stops it and looks up, trying to remember their area.] How far in are we...? I don't know if doing anything in here is the best idea, but if we can't find our way out pretty quickly, then here is probably better than the rest of the forest...

i

[impavid]

[ Well.

This sure is a thing that is happening.

John eyes the surroundings a long moment, eyes Mollymauk himself, then narrows his gaze on the mushroom circle. ]

There's a rule about mushrooms, right? Anything with red is bad?

[ He's gotta be hallucinating, right? ]

[mollymocked]

[Man does he look like a druid??? Well, he's proclaiming himself king of the faeries, is wearing a multicolored coat, is purple, and has horns, so fuck if Molly knows what he looks like to the average person.

Fabulous. He looks fabulous.]

No idea, but I don't think you're supposed to eat these ones. I mean you could- you can eat anything if you're ambitious or desperate enough, but why waste the magic?

[He snaps his fingers and the scenery shifts to a fragrant meadow again, and he bursts into a fit of delighted giggles. If you're hallucinating, John... Your hallucination is enjoying himself.]

[impavid]

[ Whoa.

John eyes the surroundings again, then eyes the mushrooms once more. ]

Well I have been warned about magic mushrooms, but I don't think this is the magic I was warned about.

[ Maybe. Probably. Wow. This is. A thing. A thing that's happening.

John takes a slow step closer to the circle, then stops and slowly crouches down to try and feel the grass. See if the meadow feels... real? ]

i.

[colorature]

Lord of all you see?

<sub>[Hello Molly, remember Diva? She certainly remembers you (impressive, considering the memory loss shenanigans that will be plaguing people) and wastes no time sauntering over toward the mushroom ring. Hands meet he hips as she stares while he bows. He's no king (he's not...right? actually she's not really sure...) but that doesn't mean she isn't going to mess with him over his haughty claim. Somehow she looks mostly put together, although there does seem to be a leaf or two stuck in her long, black hair. Her dress as well seems to be free of grass stains or mud for the time being as well.

How nice. Let's see how long it lasts.]</sub>

Are you in need of a Queen?

[mollymocked]

What good would a lord be without a queen? [He reaches out of the fairly circle to take her hand and guide her in, only to switch places with her at the last moment, bouncing on the balls of his feet in excitement.]

You have to try it. Think of a place. Any place in nature.

[colorature]

They wouldn't be very good at all.

_{[Is the answer she gives, raising a brow as she lets him pull her gently into the fairy circle. They've switched places now and while that's a little suspicious she has no reason to believe Molly would do something nefarious. At least to her anyway.]}

Any place?

_{[There's a hum of consideration before she's closing her eyes, rocking back on her heels. She's got an image clear in her mind - a garden filled with blue roses.]}

Then what?

ii

[kikoku]

[It shouldn't come as any surprise that Law's expression seems to soften a bit from its usual scowl at the sight of the water. Water's a deeply familiar part of his life, even if it's usually that of the high seas. There's one possible upside of this water, though.]

It's freshwater, right? Not seawater.
[He's already pulling his shirt off, anyway, but he's clearly hesistating to join Molly in the water before he clarifies this. Which, really, is kind of a weird bit of information to need clarified before even touching the water.]

[mollymocked]

Freshwater. [Molly's delight turns into wariness immediately. Oh god, is this a Fjord situation? It occurs to Molly that maybe it's just a sailor thing to be weird about salt water, but just in case....] This may seem like a stupid and personal question, but if it were seawater, would you have weird dreams and vomit up salt water? [And possibly eat things you shouldn't eat?]

[kikoku]

[Law's getting in the water (normally, he's not jumping in because he's incapable of letting loose.]the moment the confirmation is given, though he doesn't even get a chance to fully submerge before he's hit with a weirdly specific question. He fixes Molly with a quizzical look, but he's snarp enough to reason that this is rooted in some strange personal experience Molly's witness back home. Or maybe here? Who knows.]

That's not the issue, no.
[He pauses, deciding on how much exactly he's willing to tell Mollymauk. So far he seems like a guy who's suspect in a harmless sort of way, and he seems to like Law for whatever reason. Still, if he can avoid people knowing his critical weakness here, where it's common knowledge back home, he should, right?

On the other hand, if Molly's going to be on his boat, it's probably necessary information for him to know, isn't it. And if he just settled on "my powers don't work in salt water" that'd raise the question of why he'd need them at this moment.]

... The drawback of obtaining an ability like mine is you lose all your strength when you're in contact seawater. I can't use my ability or even swim in it.
[This is already weird, but surely weirder in the face of him being a pirate.]

iii~

[rosebyanyother]

Was I? That's a surprise.

[Peter hadn't quite intended to stop in the Grotto for this particular pass through the forest but his meandering path has led him in the direction of a particularly lavender expanse of skin and my that's interesting.

...It doesn't particularly help that his entrance into the grotto had been over a carpet of white petals.

His own concession to the forest's - and especially the glade's - gentle insistence is the jacket hooked over his shoulder. The shirt underneath is a loose, lacy blouse anyway. But even that feels warm and not quite right against his skin at the moment.

It's funny that Molly calls him out for moving too quickly, since everything about him is languid. Eyelids heavy, voice low and warm. Practically drawling.]

You look wonderfully content. I don't suppose there's room for two.

[He really shouldn't. Peter is all too aware of the forest's lulling qualities. And its dangers. But Molly is especially enticing in this moment and Peter isn't generally in the habit of denying himself what he wants.

...And there's this tingling sensation spreading across his skin. Not unpleasant at all, but hard to ignore. Somehow he knows that touch would soothe it.]

[mollymocked]

[Molly stretches his arms over his head and yawns, showing pointed canines. If he weren't naturally so weirdly catlike, that would probably be a warning sign, but it's a fairly normal state for him. Lithe and relaxed, with his tail twitching in a warm patch of sunlight.]

Oh, absolutely. It's been a long walk. I think we all need a moment to just... relax.

[The word comes out a little stilted, like he meant to say something else and it caught in his throat so he said the next possible word. His pink-flushed cheeks deepen further and his eyes trail from Peter's face down to his chest before he slips them back to the sky peeking above the treeline, casting leafy shadows on his scar-marked and tattooed skin. He's unapologetic for the staring, but staring too long feels like tilting your head to look down a well. You just feel like after a certain point you're going to accidentally tumble in, and what happens next is anyone's guess.]

[rosebyanyother]

[Peter's eyes track the long arch of Molly's body as he stretches. He doesn't have any particular issue with continuing to stare. It's a bit mesmerizing. And those tattoos are fascinating. Peter's fingers flex against the sudden desire to touch them.

...Hm. Well. That's an urge that isn't necessarily surprising to him. Except in its sudden strength.

Still. Of all the possible urges, this one is less objectionable.]

A little relaxation sounds just right.

[...Which is where this forest does make Peter faintly antsy. Not that he would ever admit it. Still, it's in the back of his mind.

The back, currently. Molly is in the forefront. He makes his way closer, abandoning his jacket nearby to lay down in the grass next to the tiefling on his back. It's cool against his skin and provides a temporary stop-gap for the way it tingles. Peter lets out a low, pleased hum, and then turns on his side to look over at Molly with a smile.]