building is better but breaking is easy (inland footpath, open)

[Cobalt]

TW: discussion of sexual assault




Zea should have thought ahead before screwing up this man's face.

It wasn't the mess, not by a long shot. Everything in here was tiled, especially downstairs. What she rinsed down the drain meant that her well water wasn't the most reliable resource for drinking or bathing, but the drain itself made a big difference. It wasn't the mess. No, the problem was that she had completely wasted the eye sockets and now if she wanted to use them, she'd have to reconstruct them completely.

What a pain in the ass.

"Shut up!" she snapped. "I am trying to think."

Naturally, this imperative did not actually sink in. With a growl of frustration, Zea clapped a hand over her subject's mouth, fusing it shut. Now he could make whatever sounds he wanted through his nose, and as long as Zea did her thinking across the room she ought to be fine.

She really had gotten impulsive about the face.

Carnivorous plants had been a good angle. They ate meat, which meant that some of a human's digestive processes should be... whatever, comparable, right? But no. No, they still hadn't worked. The roots didn't take. And now she had this asshole wired to the floor, bleeding blood that the sundews she'd planted couldn't even use. What a disappointment.

Of course, she wouldn't know for sure that the process was self-defeating until she'd tried a few more times. Plenty of people failed a task for the first time, even when the task was possible. Zea just needed more time, more opportunities. Zea needed more subjects.

Could she still save the sundew? Probably she should try. Not like it had done anything wrong. This guy had. Not only did he have that big mark on his face, but Zea had not appreciated his tone. Some people hit bottom and got desperate. Some desperate people got rude, and some people who got rude got difficult. But not the sundew. Sundew never bothered anybody, not anyone larger than an insect anyway. Zea should salvage it; it had earned that much from her.

What she ended up leaving her home with was a burlap sack full of blood-soaked soil and crushed eggshells, a human hand, and a struggling little sticky sundew curled protectively in one hand. It had done its best. Now it was time to give it some good comfy garden rest before Zea had to put it to work again.

Zea lived further inland than many people preferred, depending on the aggressive decomposition of the jungle ecosystem to help her repurpose experimental materials that had not quite worked out as she'd hoped. She strayed only a little from one of the hacked-out pathways into the jungle, crouching over her heels to plant everything where it could still receive sunlight from the gap the path made in the forest canopy. It was the best start she could give it.

The soil was soft, but it only took a few minutes of digging before sweat trickled down from beneath her dark curly hair to soak her neck and back, ran down the tip of her nose to salt her lips, and soaked into the little scrapes around her fingers to sting the skin there. To distract herself from the crawling feeling of sweat on her skin that couldn't evaporate in the humid air, Zea sang a song about a man so evil even the jungle wouldn't take his body when he died. It was a childrens' song, maybe.

[Ice]

It was just another day of wondering for the  strange creature that was walking threw the pathway. He did not know where it lead but knew there had to be an end to it. There was always and end somewhere. He gave a sigh as he came threw the path now not seeing anything yet. He was hungry and needed to feed. Though one might say that he hated that more then anything . In his mind he was not a bad dude. He was actually kind.

He paused now as he heard something moving in the distance. Looks like he just heard his next meal. oh well might as well make this quick. He growled as he moved threw moving just off the path as he heard the singing. This would be a hard meal to eat if she kept that up.

He now saw the female as she was planting something. Now what was that? He hid for a few seconds as he watched her. Then he moved closer and frowned. Well here he was now what was he going to do ? That was a good question indeed. He then smiled and said " it dangerous out here." in a slow evil sort of tone.

[Cobalt]

That was a threat. Zea's body spiked into high gear, stripping away minor concerns like soil drainage and social convention to leave only the task:

survive.

The shortest distance between where she was and where she wanted to be was frequently to escalate first. Most people had rules, boundaries, and a pace that they considered appropriate. Most people had no better use for their higher reasoning. Zea did.

She slowly slipped her filthy hands out of the dirt, holding them up at shoulder height with her palms up as though to receive handfuls of rain from above the canopy. Her upper lip wanted to pull back from her teeth, her mouth wanted to taste the air and chew through obstacles with the sheer force of her greed to always always be the last one standing.

Zea clicked her tongue twice, the way her mother used to when Zea had let someone else get a cut in. "If you really believed that you'd have stayed in town."

Hopefully he didn't, though. Hopefully he'd come closer. She was so small and delicate, so pretty and so alone; hopefully he'd touch her. The flesh sculptor couldn't pull his bones out until he did. Her time was valuable and every second he spent holding himself out of arm's reach was a second of hers he wasted.

[Ice]

Phears frowned at her as he saw her reaction. He did not want to do this. He did not want to have to kill her. But that was something that he had to do in order to survive. Surely even she would understand that. He sighed and looked at. Man she was good looking that was for sure. Maybe he should simply explain his situation to her. Though he was sure that the result would be then same. He had to eat after all.

" you know I really do not want to hurt you. It is just that I have to eat. Now I do not feed on flesh. I feed on fear. Though that usually results in my victim dying from fright. I am really sorry I have to do this. You are so very pretty and all" he said in that same evil tone.

He then looked at her and just sighed again. He was not going to enjoy this. He moved closer though there was still abit of distance between them. She could probably tell that he was hesitating and truly not wanting to do this. It was just that he had to that was all.

[Cobalt]

Zea turned, still sitting on the ground. She planted one hand so that she could lean on it as she looked up at this stranger. Fear. He fed on fear, okay, that was a weird biological role to be playing but as much as Zea tried to stay focused on things like how many ghosts had had to be leaving in his wake, ghosts who might like a little payback, one thing kept twitching in her thoughts like an annoying itch.

Pretty. He didn't want to kill her because she was pretty. What a repulsively shallow sack of wasted organs. Was this the best use the world had found for the meat he was made of? Where was he from, anyway? This had to be some kind of mainland bullshit. He came out just to find someone to frighten to death, but gosh darn his stupid boner.

"If I'm so pretty, just fuck my corpse. Wanna come see if you can make one?" With her free hand she crooked a finger, still sitting on the dirt at the edge of the path. "Or do you want to maybe think about where you are? I'd give you a minute but I've got company waiting. Thirty seconds."

Twenty nine. Zea wanted to see what he was made of, what was under that robe and beneath whatever he used for skin. Twenty eight.

[Ice]

Phears just sighed and looked at her as she spoke. He had not meant for her to take what he had said that far. He was simply making an observation. But of course like all stupid mortals this on just made a mountain out of a small anthill.  He shook his head and gave a sinister growl. He was not going to all a mural to talk to him like that.  " look you miserable bitch , I was simply being kind. Now I think that I feel less bad about killing you. Maybe I will cut up while you are still breathing and feed you to my hellhounds."  he snarled now. He was angry and wanted nothing more then kill her.

He then moved closer to her to where he was only inches from her. He then moved with lighting speed to try to give her a quick touch. If he could do this she would find herself facing fears beyond what she could ever comprehend. If not he might be the one in trouble here.

[Cobalt]

Just like every other mainland male. Started off with a compliment and when she didn't soak her panties, it was all bitch this and murder that. Zea had expected more time to consider how pedestrian his attitude was for a man who wasn't using his feet, but he wasn't going to give it to her. Zea had tried to be good, she'd really tried, but he wasn't going to let her. She'd tried. She'd done her job.

He came close, very close, and she shifted one of her feet slightly. He was very close. She wondered if he could taste her yet. She wondered if she tasted different, if he could tell. He hadn't touched her yet, but he was fast. He was so fast that if she'd thought about it she'd have been glad she let him come to her. Zea wasn't, though. There wasn't room to congratulate herself for anything, to think about herself, to even remember herself.

Even knowing beforehand that it was coming from outside, there was too much of it. She hadn't been this scared, not even then, not even when she was a girl. Even when nobody else could see or hear or touch what was coming, even when nobody even knew they were leaving her unprotected, even then. Zea had not even been this terrified of him.

Until the flood came and smashed her thoughts apart, Zea had had plans. Now she just had fear and she hated it and there wasn't enough of her left to stop herself. When this stranger's touch blasted everything away but those old childish impulses, the flesh sculptor lunged upward with her hands out for whatever face was inside that raggedy cloak.

The plan had been to pull out one of his vertebrae, maybe, make a little gap in his spine. The plan had been humane enough, even restrained. Now Zea couldn't even feel how fast she was breathing, how hard her lungs were working to go faster than any human lungs could. She couldn't feel how hard she was clenching her teeth, how her jaw ached. She couldn't feel little swishes and pops in that space around her which wasn't air, which wasn't the world. She couldn't hear the whispers.

All she could think about was how soft organs were, wet and weak and slopping around protected only by bones. Soft and brittle, like pudding in a cage made of chalk, running through the bars, running through her fingers. Zea didn't have any witty banter anymore, didn't have any thoughts in her at all. All she knew was that she was afraid, and all her body understood was digging down through pliable skin and muscle, past eyes swollen with their thick juices, down to a brain she could squeeze in her fist. She needed it. She needed to smear that warm red and white pulp into the dirt, paint it down her face and chest and arms, and maybe then she could scream. But not yet.

First bleeding. First pain. First clawing and twisting and mauling and pieces and wet until nothing was moving. Then... well, Zea didn't know about then. She couldn't even imagine a then. and maybe there was none. Maybe there was just this moment, stretched out forever as she lost herself in terror and shredded meat, surrounded by a mist of spirits even she was no longer seeing or hearing. She wasn't afraid of them. She was afraid of this so now it was all there was.

Zea had never dealt particularly well with her emotions. On some level she'd assumed she must have grown out of them, but nobody could be right all the time. Here they all were. It had been an honest mistake.

[Ice]

Phears smiled as he held her in his grasp. His eyes turned green as he felt her fear. That was good. So good so sweet. He has a smile on his face as he watched her. Then he saw her try to touch him. He growled and moved his head to where she only touched his robe. He was not going let anyone touch him if he could keep from it. Touch was his weakness. The very feel of someone touching his kind unless he was mating was painful. He smiled as he intensified his power wanting to hear her scream. He was feeling better about killing her. Though he had decided to only take what had to. Then he would torture her and leave her here. That was his plan right now  .

[Cobalt]

Problem. Cloth. Clothing. Zea bared her teeth in frustration and balled the fabric around one fist, tightening the fabric so that it couldn't shift and her target couldn't get away. Now they had each other and the most important thing was to dig into his body, carve him out, hollow him, paint the trees with his nerves, wear him like a suit and pull him apart from the inside.

Things that were not important: the way her heart pounded in her head, how hard she could feel her pulse throbbing in her chest, or what she could hear happening around her.

Someone was trying to get her attention. Several someones. Too many voices saying her name, those too far gone to speak bursting little bubbles of emotion to send curiosity and concern and envy. Beneath the rushing of her blood she could hear familiar voices, but they were neither the thing she hated nor between her and it. They couldn't matter. They hummed in agitation; they were not used to being ignored by one of their own. Something was wrong--that much they could feel--but they weren't used to just... not mattering.

Escape didn't matter either. Zea had never had the option to escape anything she had ever feared; the impulse couldn't take root. She'd never been able to evade what wanted her and nobody who would have helped could see or hear what she could. She'd been on her own, and it had been her or them.

That was what mattered.

What mattered was feeling herself sink into his body. He was inside her head, in her heart; Zea would get inside him right back.

[Ice]

Phears frown as he felt her hand balling up his hood. Well that might be a problem for him. If she touched him that would be painful. Though Phears was used to pain when he caught prey like this. He moved his face as far as he could. However the edge of her hand caught him and he growled in pain. He did not like being touched. He growled at her and barred his fangs. He then turned his head and tried to bite her hand. If he did so he would make sure that he hurt her for hurting him.


His eyes still glowed as he started to feel bad again as he was doing this. He may have been mad but he still did not like harming others. Oh well this was how life worked. He was the predator and she was prey.  He was feeling the power that this was giving him. He was feeling good yet bad at the same time. Oh the trouble of being a monster with human feelings.

[Cobalt]

He kept moving! If she'd had the presence of mind to try and be intimidating, to bluff him away, Zea'd have claimed she liked it when her target struggled. It'd be a lie, though, and she didn't have any lies left in her. She hated it when they struggled. It was incredibly aggravating, and she had so much to do.

For once, though, her mind wasn't on her work. Her mind wasn't offering up handy reassurances that Inima had something planned for her, that Inima needed to use Zea for something important and as a result wouldn't take her out of the world until she'd gotten it. Clergy were tools and tools got used. Zea couldn't even offer herself that comfort, of knowing Inima still needed her. She'd forgotten Inima, as completely as she'd forgotten that the growing cacophony of voices had anything to do with her.

She just had to get in. Finally his mouth opened and with an exultant hiss Zea drove her hand for the opening. The flesh sculptor could pull apart teeth as easily as a hard palate, and the hard palate was between her and the brain and she wanted that brain. She wanted it crammed under her fingernails, oozing over the little wrinkles on the back of her knuckles, squelching under her palm, running in dripping thick globs down over the fine little hairs all over her arms. She wanted it and here was a shortcut. She wanted it.

[Ice]

There was a method to this that the creature could not perceive. He did not know that there was other presences here. not yet anyhow. Though he was sure that he might soon find out if he did not hurry up. Though he was not going to let her know just what was behind all of his shadows.

Phears frowned at her as she tried to get her hand in his mouth. He jerked back and glared at her. What was she trying to do? He was abit confused to say the least. Once again her hand touched him and he growled at her again. That was really starting to anger him. He did not care for being hurt like that. Though part of him said that this was his own fault.

He shook his head  to clear his thoughts and tried to sling her to the ground. If he succeeded he would then stomp her and try to hurt her some. He wanted to give her a taste of true pain. He wanted to hurt her. Though he was not certain that he wanted her touching him anymore because of the pain.

[Cobalt]

He was trying to get away! No!

How fucking dare he? Hers! He was hers and his organs were hers and his blood was hers and his bones were hers and his teeth were hers and those glowing eyes were hers and she was going to get them if she had to chase him up a tree and rip him out of the air.

When he flung her, all she had to hold on by was her fist in his cloak, so she swung her legs up to try and latch them around his. He wasn't getting rid of her so easily. He was hers. Everything he had and everything he was was hers. Hers.

[Ice]

Pears was taken by surprise as he saw her swing her legs around his. He grunted and fell on top of her  that was not what he had wanted to happen. He had wanted to hurt her and go. Though it seemed that she wanted to play now.. Her looked at her and smiled an then he started to laugh at her. This was pathetic in  his mind. If she wanted him she had him now. He then moved his gloved hand and tried to hit her in the face. He would fight her if she wanted a fight. He would kill her if he had to. Right now he wanted nothing more then to get this creature subdued and leave before she was able to get him. Though he would have to  admit that this was a fun little game. But his heart was not in it and he was not wanting to play. Sigh what a preferment he now had..

[Cobalt]

Now she had him. Zea had him. He clubbed her hard in the face and she tasted blood. That would hurt later; it wouldn't look too great either. Didn't matter. Flesh mattered. Meat. All of it was hers. It might have satisfied her to know that even just touching some people could hurt them, but Zea had never heard of any such thing. Everybody she'd ever been beaten into the mud by had needed to be pulled apart.

And then the fear stopped, and she could think again.

What was she doing?

This guy. This guy. He'd done something! He'd done something to her and they had an audience.

"On Inima's earth I curse you," she spat, grabbing again for his face to dig her fingers in and pull it off in a great handful. "No quiet, no rest, no home." That spark of intent was what the spirits around them had been missing. Something had been happening but not all of them were very good at reasoning anymore. Thankfully for their addled convenience, this bit was relatively straightforward. "No peace."

[Ice]

Phears shook his head and smiled at her. He then shoved upward and tried to move away from her. He tried to get to his feet now. He had strength to match his odd powers. However it might be hard to stand up with this woman around his legs like this. Though there was certain things he could do in order to get away from her.

He then heard what she said and frowned at her. He was not wanting to be hurt or cursed by her. She could not really blame her for doing what came naturally to him . Though he was sure that he was in trouble. He was not sure why she kept going for his face. This time she actually touched him more then before. He felt her figure dig in to him some. He howled in pain and started shaking his head. He wanted to shook her free and speak. " You know I had to do that. I would not want to starve . You must understand that don't you?" he was trying to reason with her. Though she might not think so.

[Cobalt]

Zea's heart was still hammering behind her ribs, but the fire had nothing left to burn. It would put itself out eventually and then she could... well, she didn't know what she'd do. She could decide as her reward for reaching any kind of eventually.

At least she could put one thought after another, though. Somehow they'd ended up on the ground with her holding onto him, legs hooked around his. Zea did not withdraw, as this must have been part of some kind of stratagem, but she had no idea what the hell she'd been thinking. She'd just have to branch off of it without understanding.

She did... she did remember him calling her a miserable bitch. So. Not so exotic after all. Just another bit of masculine trash drifted in from the mainland, where men expected forgiveness when they chose to violate something they wanted. He'd been sorry, then angry, and then sorry again. They were always sorry. Why couldn't he have stayed there with his own kind? The world didn't need them.

Given his bizarrely mainstream macho response to entirely reasonable rejection, Zea took another angle. Pain didn't surprise him. Fear didn't surprise him. The gritty mud between her toes gave her an idea. Her sandals having disappeared at some point, Zea twisted her ankle to gently run the soft curve of its sole up the leg she'd been holding with it, but stopped short of crooking it fondly around his waist. She sucked in an edge of her lip, letting it go wet from the inside of her mouth.

"Welcome to Thanatos, parasite," she purred, staring up through large dark eyes. "...where our kills never really leave us."

She hoped he'd hunted here before. She hoped his own victims chased him to the borders. If they didn't, she'd find someone who would. Ghosts could be ever so eager to please, with the right payment on offer. That Zea possessed in abundance, always had.

[Ice]

Phears was kind of confused when she moved her foot up his leg. Now most people would want him to leave when he tried to. But this creature was not letting him do that. He frowned at her and kind of looked at he wondering what was on her mind. Though he was very surprised by this kind of reaction he shivered when he heard her next words.

He moved his hands to try to make her move her legs from him. Then he tried to move away. That only resulted in him falling back on to her. Unless she moved that is. She was a creep that was for sure. He was not comfortable around her Though after he left her he would not be back. He never hunted the same place twice in case someone were to recognize him.

" let me go woman. I an threw with you." he said softly. Though there was a thought that went threw his head. What if she was not through with him? What if he was now the prey? That was a very scary thought indeed.

[Cobalt]

"Is that all you see?" Her gaze dropped in modest disappointment, the hurt feelings of a delicate hopeless romantic. Then her eyes snapped back up to him in an aggressive flash, locked steadily onto his glowing ones. "Just a woman?"

Now she did curl her leg up just a little farther, carefully and deliberately tracing this stranger's backside or whatever he kept in that general region. What she found didn't matter. What mattered was the exploration.

"I can't stop if that's still all you see. And you wouldn't have stopped either," she said, shifting her hips under him just slightly, enough to remind him where they were, without once breaking eye contact. "I bet not even if I begged. Men like you never do."

[Ice]

Phears frowned as he heard what she said next. Now if he was trying to hurt feelings he would have said something else. He was simply showing her that he was not interested in her flirting or whatever it was that she was doing. Humm maybe he needed to take another approach . Let her lead and keep his guard up until he knew what she wanted.

" what I see is someone who is either wanting to flirt or wanting something else. However if it is the former then like I said before you are very pretty." he said with a slight smile. He knew not everyone wanted to flirt with someone who wanted to hurt them. Though some did.

He then gave a rather uncomfortable look at her when she touched his backside. This was actually the first time that his prey had done something like this . He looked at her with those glowing red eyes as she looked at him. This was hetting strange indeed.

He then heard what she said and blinked. So he was her so called prey. Maybe he should just play along with this for the moment. " you do not know me. I have a heart. I feel my emotions sometimes" he said with a snort. He then felt her move her hips some. He kind of smiled and shifted a bit. This was not what he had expected. Not at all. " I let you live. That should have told you something." he said with a frown.