The Ninth Trial

[advisories]

Who: everyone
When: Day 18, starting just after dawn
Where: The Hermit's Tent, and all around

[This morning as the sun begins to pour through the train's windows, there's the tremor that signals a Trial.]

Come hither, Heroes. Prove thy worth. Or something like that!

[It's the same older man's voice from the sixth trial, and outside is the same fortune teller's stall. Today the front flap is lifted to show a normal interior -- there's a wooden table, carved with geometric patterns and painted in bright colours, lit by teal-coloured carved candles.

At the table sits a man of indeterminate age, somewhere between 30 and 60. He's wearing what appear to be monk's robes, teal with patterned trimming. In front of him is a crystal ball and a stack of bingo cards, along with a stand-up sign bearing the rules of this Trial.

Across the top in large font, it says:

Icebreaker Bingo

Good luck and have fun!]

Comments

[bad_crowmance]

[ He understands very well what it's like for your desire to take on many shapes. This time, his is a slow but intense build... the desire to feel, to touch. To experience. Being inside her feels amazing-- she's warm and wet and tight and every stroke inside her is like electricity. His hips roll and undulate as he thrusts into her. Faster. Harder. Faster. Harder. ]

I could say the same for you.

[ He lowers his head to whisper the words into her ear, his voice soft and low. ]

You feel-- [ Faster. Harder. Harder. ] --so damned good.

[ He punctuates his words with a particularly hard thrust inside of her, timing it so he starts nibbling on her neck at the exact moment he's buried himself deepest inside of her. ]

[voreaciously]

[She does not breathe when he starts to whisper. They are often so soft and fragile that she does not want to disrupt a single word. It surprises her that he could be capable of something so soft when everything else he's doing decidedly isn't.

It's a pleasant conundrum, only adds to the thrill that travels up her spine alongside the feel of his words, his breath. She suspects he likes being this way. Contrary. Unpredictable. Surprising. Whatever the case, it's fine enough. The words make her arch first--she's always been susceptible to whispers--and the pace of his hips follow very, very closely behind. She rewards him with his name, once again.

Her blood does not pound--it can't--but it thrums harder than usual and she gasps, nearly sings it when those teeth--those clever teeth that are the centre of so many teasing grins--nip at her neck.

Once, twice she whimpers, low in her throat behind closed lips and her legs find themselves at home around his waist. They often do, of late, but it's necessary. She's growing closer and she needs something to hang onto. It isn't that she doesn't want to be swept away she simply doesn't--]

[bad_crowmance]

[ He loves the feeling of her shapely legs wrapping themselves firmly around his waist-- he knows it's a sign she's close, she's almost there. He just needs to push her a little farther and she'll fall down, down, down into that pleasant abyss. Very few things are more complimentary than the sensations of a partner coming completely undone thanks to his own actions.

She'd be right that he likes being unpredictable-- loves it, craves it. It's fine if people think they can guess him-- his thoughts, his actions... But he'd rather surprise people. Not just in sex, to be sure (but also most definitely then... he certainly loves the little gasps she makes, the whimpers and moans he draws out of her when he catches her off-guard.) Being predictable is boring, and Crow would like to think he's anything but.

He's growing closer as well, close enough that his eyes slide shut as he pumps faster and faster inside of her. He's not kidding when he tells her how good she feels. The pressure is building up sweetly inside him, hot and pleasant. Crow's going to fall off that edge himself, but he's determined to bring her down with him. ]

[voreaciously]

[It is a challenge to keep her eyes open when so many things work against her. His hips, his strength, her growing pleasure. It would be too easy to let it all overwhelm and carry her away, and she has more than half a mind to let it, whining with both the building heat and strain of her effort.

But she wants to see.

Truth be told, most times, she seldom believes she has anything to do with what happens. Even as her own hips rock in time with his, even as she tightens around him, desperate and not wanting to lose him before the end. Even as she moves and he reacts, cause and effect in its purest form, she denies, denies, denies. She is a catalyst, a witness, a mirror, she helps and she shows the best self a partner has to offer back to themselves, but she doesn't have anything to do with it.

She is just lucky to see it.

So through trembling lashes that could bat hurricanes, she watches. Flushed skin, beads of sweat, a rushed pace, the searing breaths of effort. It's all so honest. It is not anathema to her as one might expect; she does not hate honesty, it is simply the one luxury she could never afford even with all her family's wealth.

One thrust hits her where she needs it just right and she does not fall off with him.

She jumps, hand-in-hand, excited for the drop and suddenly there is no sand at her back. Just wind and light, the salt burning her nose as she cries out his name, shaky, but resonant. She's trembling but does not fight it, she's holding onto him it's fine it's good it's marvellous and she feels so hot--]

--Ahh!

[bad_crowmance]

[ There it is-- there it is. It's the way her legs tighten around him, the way his name tumbles from her lips, the way she trembles with her pleasure that pushes him over. Her name spills from his lips like the highest of praise as his movements slow, as the pleasure cascades over him in waves. It's a single perfect moment in an uncertain world, and he lets the bliss carry him away.

He doesn't move to climb off of her as he comes down from it, instead choosing to nibble a little more on her neck even as he's softening inside of her. She's going to have another hickey, as if he didn't give her enough of those during their encounters.

Eh. If she had a problem with it, she'd say something.

He's slowly becoming aware of sand creeping into his clothes, his hair, his hands. He'll have to move soon, to straighten himself up and get back to business. But for a moment, he's just enjoying the feeling of coming down from a pretty fantastic orgasm. ]

[voreaciously]

[She hums pleasantly as he nibbles on her neck before she realises that she should pretend to be mad about it.]

If you insist on doing that, this will not end at one.

[It probably would not, with the entire day ahead of them, but you know, her needs may grow to be more immediate.

Still, if nothing else, feeling him grow soft inside her is strangely pleasant. She can be happy for his satisfaction if nothing else. And it's nice. She can feel it better, but she has grown to enjoy--and envy--feeling his heartbeat. Hers was cast away and she abided by its removal when she realised, but there is nothing more obviously indicative of and tied to life as a beating heart and the presence of his is a visceral reminder of what she is lacking.

And yet, she cannot bear--no, that is too strong, she enjoys listening to his.

Her fingers lightly toy with his hair and she tries to find a rhythm in the timing of his breaths and the sea.]

[bad_crowmance]

[ He hums lightly at her words, his eyes still closed as her fingers dance along his scalp, lightly tangling with his hair. Crow has half a mind to keep nibbling, to continue on with her. But--

But there's a trial still going on, and as much fun as this is... he does want to win. So it's with no small amount of reluctance that he pulls away from her neck and rolls off of her. He doesn't go very far, still lying next to her and staring up at the sky. ]

As much fun as that sounds...

[ He lets his voice trail off. She probably knows how that thought ends. ]

[voreaciously]

[Ah.

There were warmth and weight and then there was nothing. It takes her a moment to settle and adjust. And then another. But she manages.

She definitely knows where that thought ends. She doesn't even disagree with it. She knows she will steel herself enough to focus on the task and do her best, it's as plain as the freshly risen sun on the horizon.

She just...wants to wait a moment or two before that happens. It should be fine. She does not have to remove limbs or organs, does not have to fight for her life or snuff out others, there are no elevators to rise and fall on twisted whims and cruel arbitration.

She just has to talk to people.

Which is almost worst, in some ways, but she can...do this with Crow, at least. He's driven, after all. It's fine.]

I am not human.

[A concession, a compromise to herself; she will resume play, but she does not want to move just yet.

It's her secret. Perhaps a poor one--surely he's suspected by now? He isn't an idiot. At any rate, it's out of order, but so are some of the things they've done or have yet to do (kissing is several squares ahead and they've neatly squared--pardon the pun--that one away.

Perhaps "neat" is generous.)]

[bad_crowmance]

[ It takes him a hazy moment to parse what she's saying. It's-- a secret, or so he assumes. Well, they'd thrown their neat order straight to hell when they started having sex. Might as well skip around more, right? Hell, he prefers it. Crow has never been one for "neat" and "orderly," in the end.

"Not human," huh...? ]

I'd wondered about that.

[ So: She's right, he'd suspected. ]

What are you, then?

[voreaciously]

[What are you, then?

Not enough.

But she bites down that instinctive reply. What is she...that has become so complicated over time, but she will say what's simplest.]

An android. A mechanical being.

[bad_crowmance]

[ "Not enough" wouldn't be a proper answer anyway!

The term "android" is unfamiliar to him, but she follows it up with the "mechanical being" comment and he gets it a little better. He whistles, impressed. ]

I wouldn't have guessed that. You don't look mechanical at all. Or feel it, for that matter.

[voreaciously]

[Implying she cares!!!]

An android, in my particular case, is a mechanical being of higher cognitive function created in human likeness.

[That's the point, basically. Though typically, she should not still have certain parts but that seems pointless to mention.]

[bad_crowmance]

[ If she thinks Crow wouldn't become more annoying with a bullshit answer, she'd be wrong. But she can find that out another time perhaps. ]

Heh. They did a damned good job of that.

[ Why can a robot fuck? Was she a sexbot? ....Is it rude to ask someone if they're a sex robot? More importantly, does he care if it's rude? ]

So can most androids have sex?

[ "No, he does not care" is apparently the answer to that last question. ]

i don't wanna go to wooooork

[voreaciously]

I am exquisitely made.

[It's not praise for herself, but the technology behind it. But she just


turns her head to look at him silently.

Typical.

She returns to staring at the sky.]

No, they cannot, but that is what battle is for.

noooo work is the Worst

[bad_crowmance]

[ "They cannot." But 80H can, which would seem to support the "Is She a Sexbot" theory. ]

"Battle"? [ He echoes that last word. ] So fighting's like sex for most-- [ He almost says the word "archaisms" but stops himself with barely a hitch. ] --androids?

it is

[voreaciously]

[oh my god, crow, u need to stop

Anyway, it was a little obvious, she will admit, but she wondered if that would give him some pause. It did not. He continues to be sharp.]

Essentially. More romantically, more vulgarly, there is pleasure in combat, however someone else might like to qualify it.

[bad_crowmance]

That makes sense.

[ And it really is that easy for him to accept the logic. Well, he's competitive enough that it might not be a surprise to her. ]

....But you can have sex. Any idea why you were built differently?

[voreaciously]

[Yeah, she does, but that is some level 10 social link shit, bruh.

At the same, actually, she does not. Why did she get to keep these...?]

I am, ultimately, uncertain. [The best lies have truth to them.]

Androids are made in human likeness, and also approximate and emulate human experiences where possible to their best available understanding. I did say most are not able to, but it would not surprise me if some have modified themselves or were made that way to satisfy their curiosity or that drive to understand humanity. The ones with time, anyway.

[bad_crowmance]

[ If he'd known that was level 10 social link level, he wouldn't have bothered to ask. Obviously. He accepts her lie, though. It would make sense that she wouldn't know. ]

Ah well. It works out in my favour either way!

[ The reason really isn't that important, he was just curious. ]

Anyway, that would make it my turn to give up a secret. [ Which isn't his favourite thing to do, but you know.

He's quiet for a moment. ]

There's someone here from the same place I am. [ There's three people, but that's not the point. ] The difference is... they know more about my past than I do, and it pisses me off.

[voreaciously]

It certainly does.

[Hers as well. God, she'd have to be a combat junkie if she couldn't have sex.

Which is the point.

Which she kind of is.

But listen, okay, there is not much to fight out here that is worth her time, so whatever. And Crow is fantastic, so it is just as well. But she waits a moment, digests that. She's never seen him angry and he's never admitted to it.]

That would be pretty galling. Do you know if they mean you harm?

[bad_crowmance]

[ That would be because she's the first person he's admitted feeling anger at all to. ]

Nah, I'm pretty sure they're not out to get me. [ Like.... 85% sure. ] They ended up rubbing me the wrong way about the whole thing though, like they know everything about me but can't possibly tell... me about it. And it's not like I wouldn't prefer to figure it out on my own, but the attitude is what's annoying.

[voreaciously]

If they care about you--[Because having someone not out to get you and having an active, positive interest are two different things.

Usually.]--then there is that, at least. It may not feel like a boon, but it is. And if they do, perhaps they can be convinced to stop. I do not know this person at all, but manoeuvring around it may be awkward for them if they are not used to dealing with amnesiacs, regularly.

[That last bit is not as wry as rhetorical as it should be; this is old hat for her, by now.]

After all, it is a little difficult to pretend or act otherwise when they know that you know that they know about your life. It still is not what I would call very amusing, though.

[bad_crowmance]

I don't know that I'd go as far as "caring." I get the impression they think I'm a pain. Heh! Well, there's no accounting for taste.

[ After all, Crow is pretty awesome. ]

Still, they're kinda fun to talk to sometimes despite the attitude problem.

[voreaciously]

That is because you like to ruffle people or do not care if your attitude does.

[like, don't even front. But it's not a condemnation by any means.]

But it is telling if they engage or initiate with you. People tend to ignore or avoid true pains, if they can. If there is nothing to gain by doing so aside from the satisfaction of a particularly masochistic streak.

[bad_crowmance]

[ Crow grins at that. ]

I wouldn't discount the masochistic streak.

[ Like. Have you MET Jusis???

Not that she knows that's who Crow means. Just because he's talking about a secret doesn't mean he has to give everything away. ]