POST-ROUND 3 MINGLE

[idolpro]

[ Once the decisions have been made, everyone is ushered—through those gentle tugs—out their respective mud rooms into the courtyard. An impossibly tall and incredibly dense garden hedge divides one half of the courtyard away—moreover, it increasingly gets taller when climbed, preventing its residents from escaping their slice of the courtyard. From beyond, idols can hear the distant sounds of something rumbling—perhaps it's the ground shaking. . .

The roster is visible on a large screen, though as time progresses, certain names are blacked out. . . ]

[ Mouths and Hands will be able to transform into monsters at-will, though Hands are much more diminutive and Mouths have supernatural abilities at their disposal. Moreover, unit abilities are on. ]

Comments

[crossmyheartandhope]

Just a little's enough for a luck charm, though, right?

...'sides. I like the idea of us matching.

[The teeth sink in, almost gentle]

[unbr8kable]

[She hisses in a breath; the teeth are very sharp, but not so much that there's no pain at all. With a jerk, she twists her wrist this way and that--not to struggle, but to slice into muscle and arteries alike in a way her powers can't fix]

Jacob...

[crossmyheartandhope]

[The extra mouth seems to catch on - drags and tears, slicing rather than puncturing]

[It's a sawing gesture, slow and steady, working to separate her arm from her body. It's not very neat, or very quick, but it's heartfelt]

What?

We should, shouldn't we?

[unbr8kable]

[It takes her time to focus enough to answer; heartfelt or no, it's painful and slow and extremely messy as he gnaws through skin and muscle and vein and artery alike.

Her eyes squeeze shut, tears budding at the corners and blood at her lower lip as she bites hard in a failed attempt to stay either still or silent. Her new limbs writhe uneasily with the urge for either fight or flight the longer it takes and the more blood is wasted]

...M-match?

[crossmyheartandhope]

[It comes free, finally; he catches the hand in one hand, and uses the other to apply pressure to her wrist]

Yeah. It only makes sense.

[unbr8kable]

[She makes a small, shaky sound as he does, of pain or relief is hard to tell. Her arm is markedly cooler as he grabs it, but her smile is genuine]

...Yeah. Feels--right.

[crossmyheartandhope]

I thought so, too.

So - how're we doing this?

[unbr8kable]

[It takes a moment of consideration, then Nemesis fumbles for his hand, taking it in her own--raises it, like a glass of champagne]

...T'us, forever.

[crossmyheartandhope]

[Raises hers in turn]

To us.

Forever.

[unbr8kable]

[She touches their pinkies with a soft smile. Then goes to take a bite]

[crossmyheartandhope]

[Takes a bite of his own, starting with that pinky, where they came together to make a promise]

[unbr8kable]

[Follows, biting down to the bone and degloving]

[crossmyheartandhope]

[It's a little tricky getting it off the bone, actually - something he's discovering right now - but there are things that you have to perservere with for love, and he does]

[unbr8kable]

[She's a pro by now, finding a second wind to methodically work through fingers, then thumb. Despite looking rather woozy by now, she keeps at it, as though maybe she can raise both blood and blood sugar this way--as though she can't imagine the insult of leaving her meal unfinished this time.]

You like it?

[(Honestly, it's not too different from extra-rare baby-back ribs. Or chicken feet, whichever. Barbecue sauce would be tasty regardless, or a sweet spicy rub--not that the base notes of him aren't enough to stand on their own)]

[crossmyheartandhope]

Best thing I ever tasted.

[Indeed it seems to be. Despite the trouble with getting the meat off the bones, he keeps at it - has worked through all the fingers, himself, and is moving onto the meaty section at the base of her thumb]

[He's a little off-color himself, from the blood loss, but heroes never die, so he's still steady on his feet]

[unbr8kable]

[Knights die a decent amount, so hopefully he won't mind her leaning more heavily against him as she continues]

...'M glad.

Last time...seemed like you weren't that int'rested.

[crossmyheartandhope]

I was real dumb. Just took me a while to see the truth, that's all.

[unbr8kable]

Yeah...

You can--you can always have's much of me as you want. Okay?

I'm yours.

[crossmyheartandhope]

Same. That goes both ways, okay?

...here. Sit down, lemme bandage you up.

[unbr8kable]

[She does, a little heavily but without incident (thanks, Stability)]

C'n get you after.

[crossmyheartandhope]

[He uses his heart weapon to cut strips from his own jacket - sheathes it again and turns to tend to her]

Here, I got you. Lemme see your hand.

[unbr8kable]

...Be a few hours 'fore you see it again, sorry to say.

[crossmyheartandhope]

You know what I mean.

[Reaching out to take her arm and start bandaging up the stump]

[unbr8kable]

[Huffs, gentle. She lets him work, not quite looking at it]

Sure, sure.

[crossmyheartandhope]

[Finishes tying it off, careful]

...there. All done.