Quote from Chromium7

how many writers, we may have in some ways touched.

But not in a weird way.

Quote from ErrorBlender

I'm not officially part of the clan yet so I'm excused from this monthly. YES.

Quote from Alphaeus

I will have you "officially" in this month. Which means you will be part of "this" monthly.

The one mentioned above was assigned in November. >:}

The January-February monthly will indeed victimize you.

Quote from Alphaeus

I will have you "officially" in this month. Which means you will be part of "this" monthly.

The one mentioned above was assigned in November. >:}

The January-February monthly will indeed victimize you.

Quote from Chromium7

Moirai - Overture
>

Hello all. On the first reply to this thread, you may have noticed a very short story entitled smoke + mirrors. This story was intended as an abstract opening/introduction, or overture, to the clan that will become known as Moirai. I have since chosen to expand upon this story as a leadup to the original opening collab for the clan, in the hopes of giving further insight into the whereabouts of Dante, Rhami, and Astor (characters which I was granted / have retained a level of control over for the leadup, duration, and aftermath of this arc), relative to these events.

>

Moirai - Overture is, at the time of this message's original posting, being pitched as a two-part interlude short, featuring the currently released A-side, smoke + mirrors followed by the currently unreleased B-side one + two that together serve as prelude to the now drafted opening collab, pending revisions. Overture centers around the moments and days before Dante and the duo's (presumably temporary) departure from their shared living space in late December of 2016, while my (currently projected) later solo stories, battles, non-Moirai story collabs, etc- will recommence on around New Year's Eve of the same canon year, at which time Dante will be out and about, likely in search of a drink.

Overture A (Click to Show)

smoke + mirrors


Enveloped between beauty and beast at the foot of a piano, Dante reaches slowly outwards, playing softly his greatest trick. His voice is strained. His fingers tremble at the keys.

_"Shadows all around you as you surface from the dark"
_"Emerging from the gentle grip of night's unfolding arms"
_"Darkness, darkness everywhere, do you feel all alone?"
_"The subtle grace of gravity, the heavy weight of stone"

_"You don't see what you possess, a beauty calm and clear"
_"It floods the sky and blurs the darkness like a chandelier"
_"All the light that you possess is skewed by lakes and seas"
_"The shattered surface, so imperfect, is all that you believe"

_"I will bring a mirror, so silver, so exact"
_"So precise and so pristine, a perfect pane of glass"
_"I will set the mirror up to face the blackened sky"
_"You will see your beauty every moment that you rise"

_♫

Overture B (Click to Show)

one + two


Dante plopped the last bag of groceries on the table and smiled, staring longingly at the space just to the left of Rhami. Astor, who in the form of a cat was curled up around Dante's foot, pawing upwards, recognized the cue and opened up the doorway into to his and Rhami's shared consciousness.

{What?} Rhami teased, examining humorously the curious expression hidden away behind Dante's predominantly blank face.
Dante chuckled in disbelief,
{Didn't they want you at that event?} Rhami reflected.
Dante acknowledged,
{You're free.} Rhami smiled in tune with Dante. One of the benefits of a psychic connection.

She did. And she loved him for it.

Astor, who had been quiet up to now, clearly preoccupied with the act of laying stretched out in the exact center of the kitchen walkway, papped his foot on the tile floor pridefully and with care. [Excellent work, Striker of Nehushtan,] he boomed [May we soon feast to your honor.]





Admittedly, a couple of roast beef & tomato sandwiches with chips was a ways away from what should be considered a feast, but a meal was a meal, and it had certainly been a good one. Rhami had managed to coax Astor off the floor and into human form, poking fun at how lazy the beast had grown these past few months, and so they all sat together on the couch to eat, while they each took turns flipping through channels on the TV. It was rather euphoric, maintaining a live feed of thoughts, feelings, and the occasional sensation as seemingly ordinary, everyday tasks were lived out. They'd all grown accustomed to it on some level- Rhami and Astor most of all, but Dante in particular had a habitual and increasingly peculiar, though not unwelcome, buzz to him from day to day, to pair with his habitual and increasingly peculiar, not unwelcome life. While the others were in no way excluded from this, together they exuded a counterbalancing sense of calm, that steadied the ship, steadied the mind, and eased the heart- whereas Dante was often more turbulent, independent of the two shared minds, leaning more the persuasion of rocking the boat. Today resumed a slow build, a slow wave, which hummed softly throughout the group's shared space, growing not in tempo but in amplitude; higher highs and lower lows, in a familiar pattern. The change was subtle, but clearly within the realm of perception. The three were growing closer and their hearts were growing fonder. The separation of Dante from the hivemind for the act of sleep left both parties with a more-than-noticeable vacuum that longed for feelings of connection and warmth, though it was nothing either couldn't take on separate of the other.





It was not until about 6am the next morning, after a short night of sleep, when it dawned on Dante that he had never changed out of his work clothes. Upon his noticing this, Dante extricated himself from the blanket and looked himself up and down in the mirror. He couldn't see a damn thing of course- as it was not only before sunrise, but his bedroom was without windows- but it didn't take a genius to figure out that he looked and felt like a well-dressed, though sweaty, bedraggled bum. This could be remedied, though.

Though it was not visible in the low lighting, Dante knew he was currently dressed in a long-sleeved white collared shirt with black pants, socks, and probably underwear. As it was now the 24th, Christmas Eve, this meant a change into a pre-Christmas sweater and some sweatpants, both of which should be far less sweaty as Dante carried out his day. Dante's hair must also be deraggled and cleansified.

A shower was deemed necessary.





About an hour later, Dante exited the door to his room, clad in the outfit from earlier, as well as a pair of fluffy white slippers, each foot styled in the image of a tiger of the aforementioned complexion. Astor, who in the form of a bird was caught red-beaked in the process of devouring a salmon in the sink, expressed strong nonverbal disapproval of Dante's footwear, before returning to his meal. Rhami merely sifted through a bowl of cereal disinterestedly. The whole room smelled fishy, and Dante suspected Astor was to blame for this.

"Y'know I was gonna cook that tonight," Dante stated of the salmon.
"Astor says he likes it raw," Rhami relayed, "Wriggling." Her voice was a little scratchy this morning.
"That right, A?" Dante questioned the falcon.
Astor cawed, and Dante chuckled a bit, wiping the feathers near the edges of his beak. Poor bird was getting bits of salmon all over him. The two had been in the city with him for a while now, and were likely eager to get back to the woods. He supposed that was what this was all about. He'd need to go hiking with them again sometime. They liked hikes.

Dante and Rhami looked over at each other at about the same time. Rhami then smiled and laughed down at her cereal, while Dante smirked and gave Astor a pat on the wing.

"Guessing you two are going out, then?" Dante grinned.
"Yeeah," Rhami tremoloed, "-for the day~"
Dante's grin never left him as he turned to open the refrigerator door. "Well then we might need a little more food," he paused to say, moving the milk away from the vegetables, so as to reach the pie which was under the vegetables, before putting back the vegetables, putting the pie on the counter and the milk on the counter next to it.

Rhami was puzzled. "More?"
"Yes," Dante smiled, pulling the whipped cream out from behind the cranberry sauce, cans of corn, and a wrapped corner of a roast beef & tomato sandwich. "I'm hibernating," he explained.
Rhami was incredulous. "But that's a week's worth of food!"
"I know," Dante winked. "But that salmon could've been a second meal. Like how this pie," he chagrined, "-could've been eaten over two to three nights, but will now be devoured by tomorrow morning."
"You wouldn't!" Rhami cried.
"I will!" Dante grinned, cutting into the pie. "Seriously though, it's no big deal- just something I'm trying to watch out for. Since I'm more or less on house arrest, if we run out of food I'll have to order in more, or you'll need to be the one to get it. Unless something happens and they call me in, in which case I'd go run errands while I'm out."
"Expecting trouble?" Rhami frowned, as Dante opened up the whipped cream.
"No," Dante shrugged. "But I didn't last year either. Just trying to stay on the safe side this year. That okay?"
Rhami stood and laughed. And with Astor too preoccupied to relay their thoughts, Dante was left in the dark for a moment as to why. "What?" he asked, confused.

She took her time in answering, forcing Dante to watch her acutely as she placed her empty bowl on the counter and walked to face him. She was short and sweet, but there was certainly a fury to her. In the times they'd sparred, even alone Dante knew even alone she could pull out a win. Astor was perched intently now to his side. Dante's admiration for the two was rooted in the idea that he could never beat the duo on even terms, and they liked to revel in this idea from time to time- particularly come morning.

Seeing Dante tensed up and with chills down him only served to mellow Rhami's laughter. She no longer trembled with it, but the glint in her eye remained. "You've changed since last Christmas," she noted, looking Dante up and down.
Stiffly reaching for his pie, he raised an eyebrow. "Good change?" he asked.
"Hell yeah," she chortled. "You should've seen you."
"I did," Dante laughed, "I really did."
"And last night..." Rhami continued. "Last night was good. Great," she even said, moving a step closer. "And we'll be back for... Christmas, and-"
"Second Christmas," Dante mused.
"And New Year's," Rhami simpered.
"All... the way.. through the.. twelfth.. day."
"And after."
"And after."

[{And we didn't want you to think that us leaving,}] the duo laid forth in unison, [{-had anything to do with us wanting to.. keep.. away.. from that...}]
Dante relished,
[{Good.}]





Dante spent the first part of the day nervously glazing over camera footage, requesting briefings, and keeping up with the activities of the Coils, as well as Sanctuary's pending ACRs. He had turned down the last few contracts, and knew that they had more than likely been passed on. Next he looked up and down his allies confirmed and projected kill, battle, win, loss, and potential/active battle statistics, which even going into the holidays, had piled up almost as quickly as his work email. It had dawned on Dante some time ago that he may be hanging with the wrong crowd.

Next he sorted through fan-mail, which he had managed to filter from his business email, which as usual was filled with the strangest combination of death threats, fan-art, erotica, erotic fan-art, favor requests, battle requests, business inquiries, and people in dire need of a therapist, with Dante replying to the latter as best and light-heardedly as he could. It had become a chore to him, and one that left him severely off-kilter.

Off-kiltered Dante then nearly poured his cup in the washing machine and a sock in the dishwasher, before then eventually washing the towels and drying the dishes with a washed towel that was now dirty and not dry that would have to be separated from the rest and dealt with later; a task which Dante was not quite prepared to comprehend. Now singing to himself, Dante set his dry clothes aside to play a couple instruments and clear his mind.





...


<̴v^́>̵

Quote from Cruel

Fuckin monthlies. I totally forgot, but I'm a boss so give me like 4 hours and a ton of coffee.