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[*] What a Spread [P] [L, V?]

Postby Kestrel » 06/03/2017 10:43 PM

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The Festival of the Golden Thread. My, had it attracted quite a crowd. Oleander stood near the entrance to the festival, watching the people mill about, entering and exiting, pausing at stalls, chattering excitedly to their companions. It seemed like a perfect opportunity for her to find a new host. So many people about, and all of them so easily demarcated as emotionally attached by the golden thread she could see wound around so many tender wrists. What luck, that such a festival had happened right when she should find herself without a host.

A scowl passed over her lovely face, ruining the mask of lively beauty. Hostless. How infuriating, she thought, stepping into the crowd and letting it take her into the festival grounds. A failure, to have had him break away.

She shook her head, and her expression cleared. No matter now. New opportunities. New hosts. Moving on.

[1]
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Re: [] What a Spread [P] [L, V?]

Postby Kestrel » 06/03/2017 10:52 PM

It had been several days now, since she'd needed a new host, and Oleander was feeling hungry. Every solitary human without any golden thread around their wrist looked tempting, and she had to forcefully resist the urge to approach them. It would do her no good to make sure choice recklessly, without careful study. Her last host could be a testament to that, if nothing else. Oleander's eyes flashed. She had taken a risk, when she had chosen him, and clearly it had been a mistake. She was loathe to face another humiliation by choosing poorly.

She passed by a woman with a shy smile on her face, flush with excitement from the festival, and gave her a sparkling smile. The woman blushed a little, but moved quickly past Oleander. Her departure didn't faze Oleander. This was how it always started. Pass by strangers, smile at them, let your eyes linger for a moment. The seeds would be planted in their minds, and if Oleander ever came back to re-evaluate, the path would be much easier.

It was a long game, but impatience had never been an issue for her. Just hunger, and pride. Oleander hated to lose.

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Re: [] What a Spread [P] [L, V?]

Postby Kestrel » 06/03/2017 11:12 PM

Oleander had reached the central part of the festival, and found herself nearly pressed against what seemed like all of Lambastia. She extended the barbs on her finger pads and scraped two of her fingers along the bare skin of the humans she passed. After every human, she would put her finger tips in her mouth and gently suck off the blood collected there. Her saliva, she had found, had something of a sanitizing effect on her thorns. As long as she cleaned them off in between every human, there was little risk of her next victims contracting some blood-borne disease. Oleander had no interest in causing a massive epidemic in the human race. They were her host species, after all. If they all died, so would she.

As she fed, she made sure to lock eyes with as many unattached males as possible. They had always found this pose irresistible. Men had always been easier to catch, if more annoying to keep around, but any one of them might make a nice snack, to tide her over until she found someone more suitable.

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Re: [] What a Spread [P] [L, V?]

Postby Kestrel » 06/05/2017 8:00 PM

It didn't take long for her to tire of blood, which was a testament to just how many people had turned out for the festival today. But as always, the blood could only sustain her for so long. Even now, after just feeding, Oleander felt the rumblings of another, deeper hunger.

She sighed prettily, tossing her honey-streaked hair behind her. The festival really seemed marvelous. She glanced about, taking in the colors and the smells and the feelings. The whole place was shimmering with gold, and she absolutely loved it. If only she didn't need to find a new host, perhaps she could have taken her time, looked at the stalls, and really just enjoyed herself.

Oleander mused on this as she continued to stroll down the streets, smiling at anyone who glanced her way. Suddenly, the streets opened up until a wide plaza, with a large stage set up in the middle and a huge crowd gathered at the base. Oleander's eyes lit up as she realized that this was all for the famous dress up competition.

She bit her lip, fighting to choose between continuing her search (And really, putting some more effort into it. She hadn't even stopped to talk to one person yet, for gods' sake.), and taking some time off to wholeheartedly watch the competition.

"Oh...it can't hurt to stay," she muttered to herself, and plunged into the crowd. Perhaps her perfect host was somewhere here too, watching the competition, after all.

[4]
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Re: [] What a Spread [P] [L, V?]

Postby Kestrel » 06/06/2017 1:22 AM

Much to Oleander's disappointment, it seemed that the competition really wasn't quite ready to start. After pushing through the crowd (Well, she considered it pushing. But mostly people just stepped aside for her, after a smile and a "please".) to find the perfect spot near the front of the stage, and after waiting several impatient minutes, toes tapping ever so slightly, there had been no movement at all on the stage. No contestants, no announcers, no opening act, even. Absolutely nothing.

Patience in finding a new host? That was one thing. Patience in being entertained? Absolutely another. Oleander was about to let out an irritated growl and stalk off to go charm some unsuspecting (and likely terribly unsuitable; her judgement was always terrible when she was in a bad mood) humans, when someone in the crowd caught her eye.

She whipped her head around towards the small part of the person she could see--just a brown head, really--but she could always recognize her own kind. And this particular one was extremely familiar.

She quickly maneuvered her way through the crowd, and stopped next to the figure, a smirk already tugging at her red lips.

"Valerian! What a lovely surprise."

[5]
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Re: [] What a Spread [P] [L, V?]

Postby Kestrel » 06/06/2017 1:36 AM

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The festival had been an absolute godsend. It had been a dry couple of months. The whole city seemed to have been in some kind of slump before the last few weeks, and Valerian had found that her usual haunts and her usual friends weren't satisfying her as much as they usually did. She hadn't seen anyone for an entire week before this one, as all of them seemed to be noticeably less lively, and she didn't want to risk sending them any further down that path. She had almost cracked, in the week or two leading up to the festival: if she hadn't known it was coming up, she might've taken out to the streets to find someone to help her ease the ever-present, but now extra-pressing, hunger.

But the festival! Oh, the festival. The excitement and the buzz and the sheer energy its preparations had produced, as the whole city leaned towards its arrival in anticipation. It had simply been enough for Valerian to hover around the preparations, and she could feel everyone's energy. Which of course meant she could feed off everyone's energy.

And the day itself! Hundreds, thousands of people had come from all over to take part in the festivities, and the mood was extremely high. For the first time in a long time, Valerian had found that her hunger had finally, finally been eased. She had naturally gravitated towards the center of the festival--not wanting to stay too long in one area, but drawn towards greater concentrations of people--and had been really looking forward to watching the competition. And glutting herself on the crowd's and the contestant's excitement, of course. She wanted to delay the onset of the inevitable hunger.

It was just unfortunate that her sister had shown up too. A mood-killer, if she had ever seen one.

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Re: [] What a Spread [P] [L, V?]

Postby Kestrel » 06/06/2017 1:43 AM

Valerian had been quite surprised to hear her name called out. She had been prepared to be pleasantly surprised, too, expecting it to be one of her friends. But no. A half-heartbeat more, and she had placed the voice. Oleander, of course. Who else had such a lovely, melodious, yet utterly infuriating voice?

Valerian turned towards her sister, something between a smile and a grimace twisting her mouth. "Oleander. Hello," she said. "Enjoying the festivities? I'm sure Elliot is sorely missing you, these seconds you're talking to me."

Irritating and nasty though she may be, Oleander was amazing at manipulating her hosts, and Valerian freely admitted that. It wasn't a skill she wanted to possess.

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Re: [] What a Spread [P] [L, V?]

Postby Kestrel » 06/06/2017 6:53 PM

Oleander resisted the urge to gnash her teeth. The moment Elliott's name passed Valerian's lips, she immediately regretting ever mentioning him to her. Oleander had only very rarely had hosts escape her grasp, and Elliott had seemed like such a sure thing.... She just hadn't thought twice before bragging about him to Valerian.

"He's managing, I'm sure," she responded as airily as she could. Her humiliation would multiply if her sister found out about it. "I came out to enjoy the festival. When else do you get to see this much gold?" She flashed the other woman a toothy smile.

She turned back to the mainstage, running her fingers through her long hair with as unconcerned air as she could. "I'm sure I can't be enjoying this as much as you, of course. It must feel like an absolute feast, after starving yourself for so long?"

[6]
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Re: [] What a Spread [P] [L, V?]

Postby Kestrel » 06/07/2017 2:09 PM

Valerian watched her sister's expression closely as she spoke, and noted the slight signs of discomfort that she had tried so carefully to hide. A slow grin spread across her face.

"Oh. He got away from you, didn't he?" Her grin had turned into a full blown smirk at this point.

This was just too good. Oleander loved to brag about her hosts, her control over them, her "success rate", as she called it. Her usual barbs about Valerian's only lifestyle choice were easily brushed aside in the face of this new knowledge.

"My my my, Oleander. I'm so sorry for your loss. He must've been still full of spirit for you to drain, too, if he managed to escape. And after so long! Your hard work, all for nothing, hm?"

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Re: [] What a Spread [P] [L, V?]

Postby Kestrel » 06/07/2017 3:24 PM

Oleander felt herself quivering with fury. She was torn between stalking away angrily and finding some worthless human to feed off (no, no, that would be taken too easily as a defeat), and punching Valerian in the face (much more appealing...but still signified a lack of control). But no, no, she had to face this calmly. The more she let Valerian get to her, the more Valerian won.

Oleander inhaled slowly through her nose, then exhaled through her mouth. She patted down her perfectly smooth hair.

"He was a...mistake." She almost winced at the word. "It won't happen again. And I will find a new, better host, while you will always be weak and starving."

She stuck her nose in the air for good measure. A healthy dose of superiority had always done wonders for her pride.

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