Oscar

Dammed, damned emotions. The mystery began to unravel. Still ignorant of her story, but the miasma began to clear. He now possessed the what and the why, but not the how. His curiosity could wait. Attention enraptured - enthralled - by the weeping woman held in his arms. Perhaps it had been a mistake, he thought. Charm had been wielded irresponsibly, temptation beckoning without forethought. Objectively, it had been. The goal was never to make someone cry. Only to feel. And the ironic tragedy was that by feeling, he had demolished that dam that walled off her emotion. The waters burst for

Transferring to @Sinnamon T4 Unidentified Weapon - IDs: 255953, 255954, 255955, 255956, 255957, 255958, 255959, 255960, 255961, 255962, 255963, 255964, 255965, 255966, 255967, 255968, 255969, 255970, 255971, 255972, 255973, 255974, 255975, 255976, 255977, 255978, 255979, 255981, 255989, 255990, 255991, 255992, 255993, 255994, 255995, 255996, 255997, 255998, 255999, 256000, 256466, 256467, 256468, 256469, 256470, 256471, 256472, 256473, 256474, 256475, 256476, 256477, 256478, 256479, 256480, 256481

Approved

approved

Thread Summary Oscar | [Word Count: 110279/10 = 11,027.9] * [True Tier: 11] * [Group Factor: 1] = 121,307 x 1.01 (Guild Rank 1) = 122520 EXP, Laurel Wreath: 18196 col Mari | [Word Count: 110279/10 = 11,027.9] * [True Tier: 15] * [Group Factor: 1] = 165418 x 1.02 (Guild Rank 2) = 168726 EXP, Laurel Wreath: 24812 col Artoria | [Word Count: 110279/10 = 11,027.9] * [True Tier: 6] * [Group Factor: 1] = 66,167 EXP, Laurel Wreath: 9925 col Acanthus | [Word Count: 110279/10 = 11,027.9] * [True Tier: 10] * [Group Factor: 1] = 110279 x 1.01 (Guild Rank 1) = 111382 EXP, Laurel Wreath: 16541

Rain. On every Floor. All at once. Scraps of black paper, trimmed in gold filigree, etched in blood-red. Words written in with a sweeping hand, large swirls, cut deep into the dark cardstock. Invitations cascading down from on high, blocking out the sun for just a moment like darkened storm clouds. The stunt worked. Players from all over filed into the building. The only price of admission? To accept a mask - black or white - at the door. Tables lined the walls, set with fine wine, champagne, and hors d'oeuvres. Enough to keep the night going, but not loud. Elegant, not

"If you had," Sin said, intercepting one of the shots that Warren slid over to Mari. She locked eyes with the red-head, maintaining eye contact as she downed it. She gingerly placed the glass onto the countertop and finally fanned out her cards. As she plucked three from her hand and tossed them over to Warren, she looked up at Oscar and smirked. "I'd be very offended you didn't call. You look like a hell of a lay. And I'm pretty certain we might finally make our esteemed host weak in the knees." "Ladies," Oscar said simply. "You don't have the juice. Not even together." Warren looke

"You can't just stay." “As I please, remember?” Oscar responded. He kept his vigil, his knee bent. She could push him away, if she wanted. And he was terrified that she would. That all of this was for naught. That he would break down whatever tower she isolated herself in and not even be afforded the opportunity to help her pick up the pieces. That she would, when confronted with her storm in all its terrifying majesty, flee from his sight. In his heart of hearts, he didn’t know whether he would be able to suffer that guilt. "You think this is what I need? To cry like a child until

Thread Summary Oscar | [Word Count: 2611/5 = 522.2] * [True Tier: 11] * [Group Factor: 1] = 5744 EXP, 560,000 Col + Laurel Wreath: 861 col = 560,861 Col 168 Materials T4 Unidentified Weapon - IDs: 255953, 255954, 255955, 255956, 255957, 255958, 255959, 255960, 255961, 255962, 255963, 255964, 255965, 255966, 255967, 255968, 255969, 255970, 255971, 255972, 255973, 255974, 255975, 255976, 255977, 255978, 255979, 255981, 255989, 255990, 255991, 255992, 255993, 255994, 255995, 255996, 255997, 255998, 255999, 256000, 256466, 256467, 256468, 256469, 256470, 256471, 256472, 256473, 256474,

“Don’t you wanna stick with your party?” “Nah, I gotta let you take me to dinner, remember? They need to be heading back anyway.” Oscar gave Maria a soft smile. “I was joking, though.” Maria gave him a shrug. “Yeah, but you seem like better company. And I’m really hungry.” He laughed in response. “Well I guess I gotta fix that.” He draped his arm over her shoulder. A good way to gauge interest. As his arm hung limply, she took a half-step closer. A smile played at his lips. “You know dinner’s a euphemism, right?” Maria looked up at him, doing her best to pretend l

With that, Oscar bade them farewell. He could dump the last of his energy on the walk home. “Just think about it,” he said. Striding past Thomas, he gave the man a firm pat on the shoulder. It wasn’t how he wanted his day to go, but he did appreciate the entertainment. But goddamn it, he was more stressed now than when he started. This was supposed to be his time to relax and unwind. Instead, he spent his time educating a bunch of idiots. He lashed out to his right, another quartet down. Oscar found himself so distracted that he almost didn’t notice the presence off to his left. He l

“I mean, seriously,” Oscar huffed, rising to his full height. “A party’s only as good as their healer. But it really shouldn’t take four of you guys to take these things out.” To emphasize his point, he once more dispatched a group. “Maybe do a little research before you go out and get yourselves killed.” “We can’t afford much, honestly,” Thomas admitted. “We’re barely breaking even with all of the consumables we burn through.” “Fuckin’ how?” “Well we need potions and -” “Okay, I’m gonna stop you right there. If your healer was kitted out, you wouldn’t be wasting all your m

“That’s three,” Oscar said, stepping forward and pulling his weapon from Carlos’s gut. The man fell to his knees, shock taking control of his body. It was quite disorienting, Oscar had to admit, to be tossed about and embarrassed like that. Again, it couldn’t be him. He let out a heavy sigh, turning his attention back to the girl. “I was just goofin’, by the way,” Oscar said. “Women aren’t prizes.” His gaze shifted to Thomas, then down to Carlos. Stooping down, he met the latter at eye level. “What did we learn, buddy? We gonna keep fucking around? Or do you want me to hand you your

He didn't know why she cried, only that she did. The great vexation of man came when a woman cried. The impulse to fix, to correct. To take away the offending emotions. To make it better. A storm of primal impulse struck him, full-force. It would consume a lesser man. Blow them away. Sweep them up into its current. But hurricanes were natural disasters. They left more harm than good in their wake. Oscar was not fool enough to think that he could take her pain away. He wanted all of her. To devour all of her. Her story, her thoughts. Her laughter, her delight. Her fears and her pain. Greed

He could see that Mari was getting flustered. Oscar was all too happy to oblige her request for alcohol. Or, at least, Warren was. Without skipping a beat, he produced a bottle of whiskey from his inventory and poured out three shots, sliding them across the granite countertop one after the other. "For the record, I didn't agree to any of this," Warren said. "But I'll play ball." Of course Warren would play it cool. Oscar, on the other hand, had seen at least two of the women opposite him naked. He was surprised, however, that Lysette was into this fiasco. He might have thought that

“You could invite him over,” Oscar said. “It’s just a little gathering. He might find himself a bit more comfortable playing cards over a beach party.” Warren crossed over to the table as Oscar spoke, settling down as the others circled around him. He pulled out his deck of cards, silently shuffling them as he balanced an unlit cigarette precariously between his lips. “Game’s five-card stud. Jokers wild,” he said, the cigarette bouncing as he spoke. Lysette and Sin settled in, flanking Mari. When Warren moved to pull the chips out of his set, Sin held up a hand. “Oh no, no chips,” sh

“I’ve come to realize that I might have been a bit too black-and-white,” Oscar said as she mentioned the day-to-day troubles that Orange Players had to struggle with. In many ways, he knew that struggle well. Invoking his time on the street, his childhood teetering on the precipice. If not for his stroke of fortune, he knew in his bones that he would not be here right now. Enjoying a meal, a conversation. It all came down to that one moment, that one decision. Really, the best ass-kicking he’d ever endured. It would have all been worth a thousand of those. “That’s very kind of you,”

“Busy,” Oscar replied. There was no simpler way to say it. He’d taken on entirely too much. LARPing as a real estate mogul. Restaurants and now his night club. He didn’t want to spill the beans on that. His flair for the dramatic simply wouldn’t allow. But it was draining - pushing Cardinal to its limits, finding just what he was allowed within the bounds of the system. Each grand opening - every restaurant and every single little thing that would make it unique - was a result of hours upon hours of experimentation. He wasn’t doing it alone, but he was certainly doing his part. The logistics a

She was all consuming. The heat building as she melted into him - as she threw caution to the wind and finally fucking kissed him properly - scorched him to the bone. How could it be that someone who looked so impossibly sweet could burn him so completely? Oscar found that he craved that. He had plenty heat of his own. He found himself wondering what would happen when their dual radiances finally collided. When this party was finally over and he could give her the proper attention. The corruption she demanded from him. Because he was that - corruption. Sin, pleasure, pain. Manifest.

Approved

Approved

Approved

Oscar had certainly made his bed with this party. Now, he had to lie in it. He was in good company, he thought. But he thought that he could handle it. His own den of desire, a corner of their virtual prison clawed out from Cardinal’s hands. It was his. He wanted to share it. But now, his entire being screamed at him to leave it behind. This was dangerous. Intense. She would be the death of him. Some part of him, at least. Notions he had about his own state of being shattered as she looked up at him. She trembled. He did too. Why? What wound them so tightly together? What a

“I know enough,” Oscar said. Best to not get too close. Last thing he needed was the guilt that came from humanizing his targets. His last mental had brought him to the edge of Aincrad - almost careening off of it. It was a complicated thing, his little blood feud. He was sure that, at some point, the members had their reasons. But that had long since become irrelevant. So long as their mission was to kill other Players, someone needed to be the one to kill them back. “Shop talk is boring, anyway,” he said, an air of conclusion to his tone. He’d not brought Mari here to plunder her for in

“Most would call that hedonism,” Oscar replied, his voice muffled against her jaw. There was something intoxicating about this woman. Like the stiffest drink he’d ever had - he couldn’t remember the last time he felt so foggy. There was something about her. The way she carried herself. As if she were partaking in something she had long since denied. Or… Perhaps she was ignorant of its existence. Words spoken just moments prior seemed so far away. But it was in her manner of speech, the way she carried herself. Magnanimous in every sense of the word. Grace that the geniuses of old had the hubri