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[inklongdry]

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"Arthur Inkwell here.
I've no earthly idea how this thing is supposed to work, but leave me a message if you're so inclined. I'll retrieve it at some point or another!"

voice • text • action

↳ OVERFLOW | REGISTRY

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[velluminous]

[ maybe! ]

I... I grew unwell. Infected my partner of that time. Basilisk had never earned token, so I do Echidna tasks to get them, but then I would... forget. Poof, gone. Lan Wangji, [ her voice immediately becomes thick and rough ] he was still on Phoenix then. He brought me card and saved me.

[inklongdry]

Thaliak preserve. I'm glad you were spared the worst, but even I think it best that you leave this business behind you.

[ So, to that end, he does reach back into his pocket for the vial. Clover shimmers into being just over his shoulder, and he passes the little container over to her. She takes it in her arms and at some unspoken command, flies for the door. ]

/2

[velluminous]

[ a cacophony in Sprezzatura's ears as Clover does: pulse and breath. a sluggish, underwater-feeling. she watches that tiny woman abscond with her blood, her specimen, her oripathy—and the coiled length of her tail lashes hard against the bar.

really hard. ]

Arthur—

[velluminous]

[ and that white-knuckle grip of her claws on granite tenses, smooths out. her entire demeanour changes; she leans forward and catches Arthur by the chin. ]

No, no. You bring her back.

[ but why wait? she'll send a thread of lightning to course through Clover's teeny, tiny, delicate figure in emphasis. how good's your reaction time, Arthur? ]

[inklongdry]

[ It's frankly strange to watch, the way everything about her changes like a ripple in a pond. Her posture, her demeanor. Suddenly, he finds himself caught by the chin, and Sprezzatura is looking at him in a way he's never seen from her before.

Lightning flashes in his periphery and Arthur snaps out a hand, a glyph in the shape of faerie wings blooming from his fingertips. Clover vanishes in a sudden burst of light, though whether it's because of whatever Arthur was doing or the lightning remains to be seen.

The vial clinks to the floor and rolls a short way beneath one of the pool tables. ]

Am I to assume you've wrested control away from Sprezzatura?

[velluminous]

[ who cares if it was him or the lightning? that's her blood spinning away across the floor. that's what she wants. ]

What kind of introduction is that?

[ does Arthur carry his tome on him, uh, by any chance? ]

[inklongdry]

[ Yes, he keeps it on his hip usually. In fact, he's maneuvering one hand to grab it, while the other comes up to grasp at the hand keeping him captive, catching her by the wrist. ]

I've heard rather enough about you. You need no introduction.

[velluminous]

Heard all about me, have you. I'm flattered. Didn't you promise her you'd run away, though...?

[ oh, no, that won't do. she tries to snag his tome with her tail and toss it, before he can utilize the damn thing ]

[inklongdry]

I did. You weren't here a moment ago, though.

[ Ah, shite. She takes his tome right out of his fingers, tossing it away. It goes skidding off in some direction away from the vial. He grits his teeth. ]

And I doubt you'll be so kind as to let me go now.

[velluminous]

[ he's gonna have to choose. she passes her thumb so gently beneath his lip; a lover's touch. ]

That's where you're wrong.

[ her eyes scan aside, towards the pool table the vial rolled beneath. he'll feel the coiling tension in her body. she's thinking about it— ]

Ready?

[inklongdry]

[ He doesn't have to follow her gaze to know what she's looking at. So it's the oni's obsession with the vial that had Sprezzatura acting so, is it? His grip on her wrist tightens. ]

Are you?

[velluminous]

[ ouch! whatever happened to the gentleman, huh? she widens her grin, snaps her teeth at him like it's a playful romp they're about to have. ]

Ladies first.

[ tries to twist her grip on him and crack his face into the bar ]

[inklongdry]

[ Svetka please, you wouldn't hit a guy with glasses would you?

In any case, she has him beat on sheer strength easily, though he's probably a bit more squirelly than she might expect. Instead of catching a faceful of bartop and broken glass for his troubles, he manages to twist at the last moment so the side of his head slams into the bar instead. It still hurts, still dazes him, and his hand falls away from her wrist. ]

[velluminous]

[ she would, and she'll do it again! the instant his hand unfurls from her wrist, she fists up the back of his head and repeats the motion while he's still reeling, just to be safe. ]

[inklongdry]

[ That's enough to make stars bloom in his vision. The world tilts dangerously for a second and Arthur realizes that he's falling, stumbling against the bar. Yeah, she rang his bell pretty good. ]

[velluminous]

[ what more does a girl need? that vial, for one. she swipes unkindly at his legs as he staggers, tail hooking behind his knees to take them out, but Svetka is going for the pool table. lunging for it, honestly—she brings a booted heel up and plants it on the lip and puts power into the shove, sending it groaning across the floor and into the wall.

rip to the bottles. ]

[inklongdry]

[ Well this has gone from bad to worse rather quickly, hasn't it? Arthur hits a barstool on his way down to the floor, but manages to get his arms under him to cushion his fall somewhat. The scrape of the bar over the floor is thunderous in his already ringing ears, and blearily he realises where she's going.

No, no no no no.

He gets up to one knee, willing himself to move despite the way his head throbs, and splays a hand. A whip-thin strand of golden light snaps out to catch the oni around the waist and yank her back towards him. In the same moment she's flying backwards, he springs forward, running for that pool table and the vial beneath. ]

[velluminous]

Hup--

[ the room jerks disorientingly; she's dragged back with a hand instinctively outstretched, like she could grab anything to halt herself.

and in her peripheral, he's already up and moving again. alright, lesson learned. hit him harder. ]

Ah-ah!

[ another bolt of lightning, aimed for the small of his back. lots of nerves there. ]

[inklongdry]

[ He hears it first, ears swiveling back toward the tell-tale crackle of electricity. The smell of ozone quickly follows. He can't be fast enough to stop it, not without his tome, but he is fast. Like a rabbit. He jerks to one side, the lightning catching him in the side instead of full in the back.

It's still enough to take him off his feet. He hits the ground hard, one hand clamped over smoldering skin. Still, he tries to scramble to his feet. Still, he tries to move. ]

[velluminous]

[ the smell of his flesh burning hits the air, and her grin turns completely ghoulish for a moment--true pleasure at causing injury. oh, nothing much could be better after so long held down with her head beneath the water.

he's lunging, but the oni claws her way forward, too, on her hands and feet like a feral creature.

to what end? well, he's closer to the vial than she is. so she lunges for him ]

[inklongdry]

[ He does not like the sound of her clawing after him, her nails on the floor set his teeth on edge. She'll be on him in no time. ]

Clover!

[ He sent her away, but she should be back by now. She should—

A burst of white-blue light blooms overhead, and in a shower of spectral, snow white feathers Clover shimmers back into being, albeit she looks much different than Sprezzatura or her oni would have seen her before. She extends her hands at Arthur, a diamond-shaped shield of glittering blue light suddenly encasing him. ]

[velluminous]

[ thonk! a girl can't predict that. she hits it hard, full force, the momentum of someone who fully intended to land on Arthur and do something awful to him.

instead, she can only scrabble at hard light. ]

Everyone's full of tricks here, aren't they!

[ she doesn't even register that Clover looks different. she might as well be a different fairy altogether. still, the way she handles her is the same: lightning. ]

[inklongdry]

[ Clover, and yes it is indeed Clover though the oni likely does not care, darts of out the way, zipping closer rather than further away. She gets right in Svetka's face, all bright light and wide, feathery wings.

Arthur glances over his shoulder to see the sight of his faerie getting up close and personal. He nearly calls her name again, but then he realizes what she's doing: she's buying him time. Clover has always been foolishly brave, ever since the moment he met her. This, it seems, is no different.

He scrambles once again to his feet, his wounded side feeling like its on fire. He grits his teeth, does his best to ignore it, and runs for the vial. He practically dives beneath the pool table to get it. ]

[velluminous]

[ he can't get that blood.

Svetka's face jerks catlike, inhuman, to one side as he dives—she can see the movement of him just beyond the fairy silhouette, and as her heart leaps like it's taken a shot of adrenaline, she decides this girl's gotta go.

snaps a clawed hand up to clutch the front of Clover's sweet, darling face. forget hunting for the fun of it, forget playing nice. she's going to break this flitting, sparkling, pretty little thing in front of him. ]

[inklongdry]

[ Clover's hands come up to clutch at the fingers keeping her captive, suddenly much smaller as her seraph form melts away in a shower of light. She is as she always has been, small and butterfly-winged and wreathed in a soft golden glow.

Her little mouth is set in a grim line, shining blue eyes determined under pinched brows. She understands this is her fate. It's okay. As long as Arthur's okay. ]