(IC) Take a stroll with the OC above!

(( i saw another sin of sloth and i just had to -

" hm. " now, this was a rather odd situation. sloth never would have thought there were other embodiments of her sin out there -- particularly those who appeared to be so tall. she couldn't help but wonder if she was in the presence of her younger sister -- the moth woman looked left, then right , finally realizing that envy hadn't slithered up behind them while they weren't looking. 

   what a pain. sloth should have never told greed that she'd happened across yet another embodiment of sin -- ever since she did , her sister wouldn't shut her hole about how much she wanted to met "sloth number two". knowing her -- sloth internally groaned -- she'd likely drag nikolai into a photoshoot of sorts, and before any of them could so much as protest, she'd be busying herself up with merchandise, posters, big-flashing-billboards-with-his-name-on-them ... et cetera , et cetera. 

  " well , " sloth sighed , laying down on the ground. " i think it's clear that neither of us want to go any further. come, sit. " she patted the ground next to her . " i ... do apologize for my sister's ... behavior. she'll prob'ly take your face, capitalize off it a little. no big deal. " she shrugged. " it's really kind of a pain. but if i don't respond to her summons, she'll just keep annoying me , so -- " another shrug. 

  the sin furrowed her brows, scrutinizing her counterpart for a long period of time. how funny -- they resembled the same exact thing , and yet they rarely appeared to be alike. ah -- well. she could equate that to a difference in timelines or whatever ( something like that , she didn't pay much attention to pride's overly extensive, kinda boring explanation of the multiverse ). still , some curiosity was begging to be spoken aloud ; and sloth wasn't one to ignore such a calling. 

" so. " she fixed eyes with the other. " you're a sin. that's a pretty big deal in this universe, you know. " a pause. " so. enlighten me. how do sins come to be known in your version of earth ? "

     "Sloth," NV murmured from besides the Sin. They glanced around at the dense forest, their brand burning more and more the deeper they strolled in. "You're a lot like the one from my world. He doesn't work often, but he's very strong and clever." Their gaze drifted to their hand. The first time they had ever met Envy was because of Sloth, using his power to seal it away up until they ran into it. They clenched their fist and looked back forward.
     "Other Sins," they grunted once more. "I never thought about it. What's your Envy like? Are they nice? Mean? Are they better than me? They must be, I'm sure of it. Even you, you're much more skilled and knowledgeable about this role than I am. It's admirable." Voices were starting to prod at their mind, and by the burn of their brand, it was this Sloth's doing. How long until they went mad, they wondered? Or, had they always been mad, and this would only make them face it?
     "Envy, the one inside me, loves Sloth. Sloth is uncaring, but doesn't judge, either, and never once cared about it while the other Sins hated it. Is it the same for you? Do you and the other Sins love each other? Even if it's as a family?" They tilted their head back. "I wonder what that's like."

^ ...a lil bonus follow-up there (that got just a little long)    

It felt a bit odd to continue standing on the sidewalk as they'd been, so he wound up pulling NV along to walk down the path instead. The scenery itself was nothing to see, made up primarily of worn-down buildings and the occasional dark, eerie alleyway that would likely be best to avoid entirely. Still, Caelestis didn't find much reason to mind, either. His eyes remained fixated at the ground—at the repetitive patterns of his footsteps landing one in front of another, as well as NV's doing the same—and his hand held loosely onto theirs as the two walked. It still felt like something he had little right to do, but the thought otherwise felt too lonely to bear, and… they didn't seem to mind at least. He hoped.

"So…" he started after a minute or two of silence. Still, his lips pursed in thought. It was far too easy to lose himself in the ecstasy of merely being with them again, but there were things that needed to be addressed. Things of importance. "That man I mentioned before," he finally decided on. "It's… complicated. It may be mutual—it… seems to be, to an extent? I don't know what to think. But either way, that's not what matters here." He turned his head towards them. "You matter. I've wronged you. I've never been certain what to call our relationship, but I shouldn't have allowed that to happen, and now it doesn't seem I will ever be able to turn back. I have no excuse, and you should be angry at me for it. You should hate me." 

There was a pause, and Caelestis let out a quiet sigh, looking downwards once more. "Either way, I believe it's important to express that this is a part of me. I've fallen for you more deeply than I can even express, yet even if not for En, I cannot guarantee that yet another I fall for as well may not appear eventually." He swallowed. It really did sound quite scoundrelly when worded out loud. Noticing a rain puddle ahead, he stepped aside, pulling NV along with him they could avoid it. With the cloudy evening sky above and near complete lacking in other pedestrians, the world exuded a hauntingly lonely feel, yet it didn't feel so much that way to him at the moment. He wasn't alone, after all. "What feelings… do you have towards that, exactly? I want to know, if possible." They were the embodiment of envy, it was hard to imagine them exactly feeling particularly good about it.

"And," he continued almost anxiously, unable to wait just yet for a reply, "you were… afraid of hurting me, right? I just want you to know that… no harm you could ever bring to me will ever be greater than the joy and pleasure I gain from being with you, NV. From spending time with you, being close with you, and everything else." Caelestis' hand gripped theirs more tightly, and his steps began once more, continuing the quiet walk. "I'm fairly resilient, you know? It's hard to get rid of me, whether one wishes to or not. Like a… cockroach." He chuckled lightly, and a faint smile lingered for a bit even afterwards. "Even if I were to die, I can most likely return within time. And you know… I trust you. I know it must be hard, but I'm willing to take the risk for you, and… I've lasted this long, haven't I? I know last time was close—fearfully so—but I'll try harder. I don't want to lose you, I just—" He took a deep breath in, letting it out as a slow sigh. "Sorry, I got a bit caught up there." It was their thoughts that he wanted to hear more than anything.

v ahhhh that's so sweet 😭😭❤

Torei hated whenever he got into a melancholic mood, he would rather keep simmering in anger. That, he knew how to deal with, wearing it like a second layer of skin, hidden from the world. Sadness was a different beast, one whose scratches he couldn’t hide as well. Like a parasite, it pulled at his already diminished energy, demanded his attention. After he had been questioned for staring into empty space for the third time, he decided it was high time he do something about this pesky affliction. Perhaps that was why he had taken one look at the stranger, with his golden eyes and red hair, and called out to him. 

“If you don’t mind,” he had began. “Would you keep me company for a bit?” Torei had always been a willful type of person, chatting up anyone regardless of whether he knew them or not, but usually he was less pathetic about it than now. 

He still didn’t know whether it was out of a whim, interest or because Torei had looked like an abandoned, overgrown puppy when making his request, but the other had agreed. As they walked through the park, Torei’s gaze kept flitting towards Caelestis. There was something strange about him, something otherworldly, though certainly not in a bad way. It was a refreshing to speak to someone whose ancestors hadn’t been created by his siblings. 

“I do like fall,” he found himself saying, staring at a red leaf falling from a tree. “It does wonders for my aesthetic.” While the words were playful, his expression was still serious. “What about you? Regarding the season, I mean.” He had to admit, that as far as asking strangers for company went, he had lucked out with Caelestis. From what he could tell so far, he was attentive, charming and, most importantly, distracting. The more he conversed with him, the lighter he felt. "Because as far as aesthetics go, yours is flawless. I sincerely doubt you could look bad at any time of the year." 

Unfortunately, as with all distractions, the walk eventually came to its end. He narrowed his eyes at the park exit, as if it had personally offended him. “I should thank you, before we part.” Torei turned around to Caelestis. “For indulging me.” He didn’t mention that he had raised his mood. There was no reason to be too emotionally demanding with a stranger. “It was a pleasure to have your company.” A small smile appeared on his face. “Perhaps we will meet again under other circumstances?”

^{(The intrigue…! I love this.)}

     "Now you be sure to take good care of this, alright?" Cor laughed lightly as the excited, little girl ran off to her parents to show off the blue cat mask he'd given her. Standing back up, he moved to Torei as he dusted off his suit. "Sorry about that," he said. "I just can't say no when a kid wants to say hi. I'm sure you're the same?"
     Speaking of, several children had ran past the two on their way to one of the popular rides nearby. Cor laughed again, spreading out his arms. "The weekends get very busy, but I love the excitement in the air. You can see the stress from the week just blow off people when they're here." The music, the bright lights, the mascots roaming around, the theme park was, in his opinion, a beacon of joy and happiness. He motioned for the professor to follow him. "Come on, let's go some place we can chat properly."

     Cor led Torei to a park near one of his resorts. There were plenty of people there, many of which were relaxing from all the chaos themselves, but it was considerably less chaotic.
     "Nice, isn't it?" mused the CEO, arms folded behind his back. "Places like these are good for the psyche. It's a good balance from the high energy of the parks. And to top off those big days--" He pointed ways away. "--there's a large movie theatre that only plays movies from my company-- I make it sound like that limits it, but there's quite a bit," he chuckled before growing silent.
     "... But that's enough chit-chat, isn't it?" He looked at the god, the red in his eyes much more visible now. "You're more than just a simple professor, that much is obvious to me just as it's obvious to you that I'm not just some businessman. We're both quite old; quite powerful. I don't particularly care about your kind, but I think we share a similar goal." He looked back forward, watching a family enjoying a picnic. "While I don't agree that bad souls need rehabilitation, I do want this world to be better-- if anything, for the kids. I don't like seeing them go through so much, that's why I have so many things to distract them from the terrors of the world." A smile gleamed in his eyes briefly. "Not something you hear an ancient demon say very often, is it? But if you agree, even a little, maybe we can join forces on this? What do you think?"

"You know, I can't even really blame you." Pastel said to the masked man beside him. Together, they walked down the pathway, though Pastel kept a small distance between them -- respectful, but not so much friendly. "Not so sure whether it's the want to actually protect the kids or appeal to them, but... I guess you're doing a fine job either way."

In any case, children were expensive. A form of cash cow. That had to be of some interest to a businessman like Cor. Pastel remembered when his daughter was young, moody but spoiled, always begging for things and Pastel always counting himself lucky that he was well-off enough to indulge most of her desires growing up. He bought her dolls and junk food and painting supplies, and was tempted to buy her a pony. And might have if his husband wasn't smarter than him.

Pastel shuddered to think about it. How many children were invested in the entertainment that Cor's company offered? Was he making money off of Family Finger Puppet videos?

"Ah, come this way." Pastel uttered, "The park leads out to an open market, if you're interested. I figure I'd at least check it out..." He didn't have much of his own food stored back at the base, anyhow. He had no clue what the stalls here had to offer, but he was desperate to not have to eat whatever slop his friend threw to him. "Who knows? Shit, you might find some granny's recipe you like and buy it from her, make it something big at one of your own parks, which..."

He was quiet for a moment.

"..May be more interesting than this one here, I've heard."

purenai - pinging because it's been a Hot Minute

       What a brilliant day it... could have been! Although she agreed to the business trip, perhaps Yumi wouldn't have done so if she realized how cold it would be. Honestly, she had practically stolen Devin's jacket, pulling it around the longcoat her husband had given her for the journey.

       All around them was the bustling city, pointed roofs reaching towards a cloudy sky. It might snow soon, Yumi thought with a shudder. To keep herself from thinking much of it, she looked to Devin, searching his expression. She was to meet with a colleague of his. Considering himself, she had rather high expectations for the person in question, hoping they would be of the same cunning caliber. But first...

       Going on to scan the food stands spotting the sides of the road, Yumi then muttered to Devin, "Maybe we should buy ourselves something nice? I heard they sell great stir-fry here."

       She searched him for a reaction again, but ultimately, she let out a snort and shrugged. "One of those good ones... with red pepper, toasted sesame, you know? I'm in the mood for something hot, and I'm sure a quick snack while we're walking won't hurt anything. I promised my girls would bring them back something from this city, anyway, so... oh, please, Sir Rosário, would you be so kind as to show me around a little more?" She offered him a cheeky grin. "I don't have to be at our little arrangement for another hour and a half, so... spoil me."

Vapor

Being above ground was simply not his specialty. Sometimes, he gets called a worm, or a snake, in a rather derogatory sense. Usually because the other can't make heads or tails of what he's supposed to be. He... simply describes himself as "a slither of plant life".

This being didn't introduce themselves with a name. In fact, even getting the sceptical Yumi to follow them was a challenge. Not that there was offense to be taken, for they are a confusing creature sans one arm. She'd teased, telling them that juggling would be extra impressive for him to pull off. It couldn't help but agree.

Before dipping her toes in, she'd been given an odd contraption; what seemed to be adjacent (to describe it visually) was some sort of infinity scarf made of seaweed, with a mouth and nose clamp made of wiggling algae. It looked unpleasant to wear, for sure. He had caught her cringe.

"Don't worry, I get it," he spoke softly, slithering about the woman in a slightly brisk pace. "Humans don't usually come to the coast, and so they never really get to see... these." It spoke with hesitance, a twinge in the eyebrows as it cocked it's head sharply to the left, primarily to free himself of a lock of hair (which was also made of seaweed????) from before his eyes; visibility was important!

"But..." He started, vocals strained from lack of use, "I promise you won't drown. Humans are better cooked, not waterlogged."

He had definitely expected the comment to fly poorly, crash landing on his head, but the relief that washed over his face when the other laughed was palpable. It came with massive proceeded joy when she shrugged, in a simple "oh what the heck" manner, and took the contraption.

He would make sure this would be a story to remember, and a possible envy to her girls.

The... "scarf" once placed over her head and around her neck, bound to her skin. The algae portion of the contraption fitted over her nose and mouth, nearly microscopic tendrils fastening to her nose hairs but lacking the sensation of a foreign presence. Instead, her nerves were eased with a very, very faint scent of strawberry incense. For some reason, it hydrated her body, as though she'd just downed a liter of coconut water.

The race against time began, and once it could be sure the human had lost focus on all the new sensations, he reached his only arm out at her. Once she were to take his hand, he brought her down to his level and whipped his tail flame and whacked her over the head with it - only for there to be a complete disconnect with stimuli. Her body failed to register pain, or even that she had been hit; as though his flame had simply phased through her head. It thumped as it hit the floor, and set this "coconut water" feeling ablaze within her body.

"You have no need to open your mouth until we reach our place, for I can hear you the whole way there."

Since he'd had her bent at the waist, the sea creature lunged into the water, dragging his guest alongside it.

The initial splash of water was the first tell to simply how altered her body had just become. It felt like she had been shoved in a plastic glove. She could feel the currents of water pass over her skin, gliding like smooth silk passing through her arm hair, but never binding to her skin. 

Underwater, but not wet.

She could take a deep breath, which she did for confirmation. Of course, Yumi was free to observe the world around her, but with so much to pin on, she'd had to have recorded a livestream through her eyes to capture it all. Especially since they'd been shoved into a particular environment all too soon.

Blades of foliage, registering as kelp waved with the passing water. As the two passed through, there almost seemed to be a path created as the creature wiggled with the flow. These blades of kelp were easily twenty feet long, stretching beyond the starting point where she could only imagine their roots were; this underwater environment was quite strange - as the kelp was effectively growing upside down. There was a sort of "roof", a ceiling that the kelp was grounded into, as little oxygen bubbled flowed upwards to confirm that the surface was still indeed above her. A small snail slithered along a leaf, tiny little bite marks only a mere few inches below it. The kelp, closer to its roots, had a much darker gradient that phased out into a sort of dreamy, seafoam green as their main color.

A bright, kelp forest. And just as soon as they were in it, she'd been yanked out of the woods.

Instead, they were barreling for a huge shell-like object. Easily this shell was about a good 1.5× the length of the kelp (so, like, thirty feet) across this "ocean floor", but the speed at which they were closing in, she'd be sure they'd smack into it. And she wasn't alone in this notion.

"Sorry!" They called out. "We got caught up in a current! We're almost here!"

Hopefully by almost here, he didn't mean unconscious. Luckily, he didn't.

There was a disconnect between the effortless glide and escaping this glide; turning into an uncalibrated slide out of a force beyond her control. The creature who held her hand came in closer contact and forced her to grab his tail, as he reeled her in under the shell. 

She'd closed her eyes from the sheer force, only to be met with... air?

The structure underneath was bright, like an illuminated bubble of sorts. Once she touched the ground, which bizarrely felt dry, she'd been comfortable enough to open her eyes. Especially since the scarf, upon entering this dome, unraveled itself and released from her neck, falling to the ground with a pathetic little plap.

The inside was bright, colorful even. While she was observing, the projected color scheme had changed from a simple blue hue to a projected opal; a collaboration of greens, blues, and pinks covered the walls of the inner shell and floor, all projected from the center-back of the dome - from an item which looked like one giant pearl.

This abode resembled a giant clam, of sorts.

Next to the orb, she'd found her captor, who had just lifted his hand from the "pearl". A smile on his face, he dug into the soil with hand and tail, before he dug up a little surprise. A notepad and a small (rather unimpressive) pencil case. With only one hand to spare, he struggled to open the case but once he did, he grabbed a pencil and whittled it against a rock of his choosing. Finally, he rejoined his guest, book and pencil presented.

"Something tells me that... it would be best for you to transcribe this in whichever way." He smiled, a canine tooth sticking out from under his lip. "Let me know when you'd like to return to the surface."

Despite his misplaced humor, the human could (hopefully) tell the creature had no intention of eating her.

Wrow this was long,

NP!! All I ask is that you use this photo to reference their appearance!! Keep in mind Mr Seaweed here can survive out of water, he's just not the best guide for the Top 10 places to chill on the surface, that's all ^^

EDIT;; Please ping me when you reply !!! I want to read it ><