entitles: (Default)
Balem Abrasax ([personal profile] entitles) wrote in [community profile] undergrounds2015-08-05 08:38 pm

WHO YOU GONNA CALL? [closed to Azula and Aradia]

Balem wasn't keen on helping vampires. Not in the slightest.

But, in this case, there was something he wanted out of the deal enough that he'd put his differences aside. The Bexley takeover had clearly taken a lot out of him and it was beginning to wear him down. He stood now with wisps of grey in his hair, visible wrinkles around his eyes and mouth.

No, that would not do. He could siphon some youth from unsuspecting passer-bys, but that would take time and more effort than he could expend right now. No, he needed a soul. And none of the ones pledged to him were due just yet, so he took this job.

It seemed that a young vampire named Clementine had fed off of and killed a man she met at a nightclub, and his spirit decided to stick around and make life tough for her. Seeing an easy opportunity for a free soul, Balem answered the call to get rid of it. He invited Azula along, because he already knew that she was a fellow soul-eater and wouldn't get worked up about it like some did.

Balem knocked on the old wooden doorway, "I hope she remembered that we need to be invited and can't just barge in. She should be used to that."
megidoomed: (♈ it's a bit difficult to sympathize)

[personal profile] megidoomed 2015-08-17 01:04 pm (UTC)(link)
There goes her deer-in-the-headlights idea.

Aradia spins around, her gaze snapping between the strangers and the not-quite-visible flicker of the other ghost, and does her best to keep calm in the face of a steadily worsening situation. Sure, her control's getting better, but losing her cool and detonating a lightbulb would probably break the tension into outright chaos.

"I'm not your friend," and she bites her cheek a second later because why does she always start off on the wrong foot. It's not like they're already eying her like sharks near blood or anything. "I was here to talk to him - what do you two want? He wasn't hurting anyone."
divinerighttorule: (Sideways glance)

[personal profile] divinerighttorule 2015-08-18 06:17 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yes, she killed you," Azula purrs, letting her gaze focus on the ghost they came for. "Just like the cows and chickens and pigs you ate were killed. We all need to eat, after all."

Then, her eyes flick back to Aradia. She resists the urge to draw closer, but her muscles are preparing for it. Getting ready to lunge her forward. A pity she doesn't know her name. That would make this easier.

"Why don't you and I go somewhere else? Leave the boys to their chat."
megidoomed: (♈ but i know what i'm doing)

[personal profile] megidoomed 2015-08-19 03:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Aradia's temper flares the exact second the other ghost mentions his death, and the accompanied spectral feedback drops the ambient temperature that much closer to freezing as a result. She'd had her suspicions about it based on what she'd found out, but confirming things was a whole different matter - and it hits too close to home for her to ignore.

It takes her a heartbeat to scoot closer to the poor nameless ghost. Another to grit her teeth, square her shoulders, and look Azula dead in the eye with all the stubborn defiance she can muster. Balem's getting ignored for now, how sad. "I'm not going anywhere."

Aradia no.

"If he was bothering her, then she had it coming - and neither of you have any right to hurt him, deal or no deal." This is the worst decision she's made in weeks, Aradia no. The realization of that fact comes too late to help and speeds up her tone with the first hints of panic, but she's in too deep now. "He didn't deserve to die!"
Edited (hi grammar how's things tonight) 2015-08-19 15:08 (UTC)
divinerighttorule: (Very superior)

[personal profile] divinerighttorule 2015-08-21 09:49 pm (UTC)(link)
"She was surviving." It's cold and calm. And Azula's taken a step closer to Aradia. Especially if she can come between the two ghosts. Divide and conquer. "We all do that."

She even licks her lips a little at the idea of the a morsel.
megidoomed: (♈ i see them over again)

i'm pretty sure balem and azula are making the exact same expression in those icons and its amazing

[personal profile] megidoomed 2015-08-22 03:33 pm (UTC)(link)
It's beginning to dawn on Aradia just how far out of her depths she is here.

She whirled around when she felt the barely perceptible presence of the other ghost vanish, staring in growing horror as it's reduced to light and... liquified? The sight hits her like a punch to the gut, her anger temporarily put aside in favour of trying to comprehend what that meant. Eating ghosts can't be an actual thing that happens, right?

Instinctively, she begins to back away from Balem - and unknowingly edges closer to Azula in the process, her focus on manifesting beginning to weaken under the emotional strain. "S-surviving shouldn't mean you need to ruin other people's lives to get by. It's not right."
divinerighttorule: (Razor sharp nails)

[personal profile] divinerighttorule 2015-08-25 07:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Azula laughed a little at Balem pointing out that, no, humans weren't used to being prey. How quickly they forgot that there were things in this world more powerful than them. That they were not masters of the universe.

That fell to fae.

At least in her opinion.

Azula said nothing, then, lunging like a cat toward a mouse. Her nails -- sharp enough to rip flesh -- dart forward. She has no doubt this will be a slow process -- playing with her food, chasing it down -- but she can at least try for a taste now. Collect a bit of the ghost's energy. If Aradia isn't quick enough to get away.
megidoomed: (♈ but i know what i'm doing)

[personal profile] megidoomed 2015-08-29 01:50 pm (UTC)(link)
"But we're not--"

The rest of her sentence goes unsaid. Unfortunately for her, she's not quite quick enough to dodge, especially distracted by conversation as she is - Azula's lunge had hit home when the ghost tried to reply to Balem, shoving her forward in a daze and ripping sections of her back and arm open neatly.

The wound stings, an oddly vivid sensation that shatters her focus completely, and Aradia can't help but stare at her arm in shock. That's- that shouldn't be possible. Today is full of unwelcome surprises, and it's only going to get worse from here.

But it doesn't take long for the mix of surprise and fear to turn to fury, at the situation and the other ghost's misfortune and everything in between. She forces her gaze away from her arm, stumbles back out of immediate range, and reaches out for something - anything - in range to throw at Azula as a defense. Which only amounts to a sad little lightbulb exploding, but that's to be expected from a ghost who hasn't really learned how to fight.

"Stop! I'm not- I'm not prey," and even if she's only expecting to get taunted further, it's not her nature to flee without trying to fight back. She has to try. "That's just sick."
divinerighttorule: (Think carefully)

[personal profile] divinerighttorule 2015-09-12 05:14 pm (UTC)(link)
Azula offers no reply immediately. Instead, she inhales the essence still clinging to her fingers. Her head tilts back as her eyes close almost entirely. It's remarkable. Something she hasn't tasted in a long while. This is no ordinary ghost.