[Closed RP: Skwisgaar, Toki, Shoggies -- Jasper, Vladimir later]

[best_guitarist]

((Plus Nidhögg, if he wants to pal around at all. Continued from this thread, and very obviously NSFW since it's going to be full of Sharkgaar porn and gore and wrongness. Especially once Vladimir is involved. :P))

Comments

[best_guitarist]

((Annnd cue the porn! Fair warning to any lurkers following this. XD))

He hadn't been aiming to shock the Baron by mentioning the fact he shared a bed with Toki -- it had been delivered in the same offhand way he might comment on something mundane. At Hogwarts there was little reason to hide his relationship, and so he made no attempts to. It was probably for the best, just in case any of the other people he slept with started getting unfortunate ideas about sex with him actually meaning something, which it never did, at least not to him. It was just an alternative to wanking, more or less. Something which he was pretty sure the Baron understood, so he wasn't too worried about any awkward feelings getting in the way of their fucking. Friendship wasn't so bad, of course, as long as it didn't go beyond that.

"Ja, Smaug's a reals brutal dragon, can dos whatsever he wants to because no one can stops him," he said, always happy to talk about his unusual children. It was way better getting to choose his family like this, rather than getting stuck with them, like he was with his horrible mother. "Guess he mights just eat Elric if he ams gets mad enough..." It would be a shame, since he actually kind of liked Elric and considered him a friend. "There's de even biggers blacks dragon around here too, I saws him palling around with Smaug, and de huge lakes dragon. Maybe Smaug starts datings them." None of which the Baron probably even cared about, but Skwisgaar was oblivious; he just liked talking about Smaug and dragons in general, and it wasn't as though he even had to break out the dirty talk to get the Baron in the mood for sex, as was apparent by the state of his cock.

The Baron's fixation on rank would have amused Skwisgaar if he'd known about it, as rank seemed pretty meaningless to him. There was only one world to worry about where he was from, and he held more power than any individual world leader just by being in Dethklok. In the Baron's time, it may have been the equivalent of holding sway over most of the known galaxy and blowing up entire planets by accident -- or for fun -- during galactic concerts. And one day, this cross over may exist.

Skwisgaar arched into the Baron's touch with a hum of approval, letting his own hands wander in turn. His preferences hadn't changed much in the last two years -- as long as there was no uninvited penetration of what was now the equivalent of his ass, there probably wouldn't be a problem. He made a token effort to be careful with his claws, but it was inevitable that they'd break skin sooner or later, and unless the Baron objected, he wasn't going to stop. Once he reached the Baron's cock he took it in hand and started to stroke it, purposely curling his fingers so the tips of his claws were dragging against flesh, curious about what kind of reaction it might elicit. It was still fairly weird to be fondling another guy who wasn't Toki, but if it meant he got to go to town on the Baron's body he didn't really mind. As they seemed to be on the same page with that, he shifted to press his lower body against the Baron's stomach on one side, near his hip, letting his engorged cock partially slide out and into the crevice formed by a great roll of flesh. He languidly undulated his hips, sighing in pleasure as he worked his cock deeper. It was different from fucking a pussy or ass, different in a good way.

Bowing his head, he lightly scraped the expanse of skin between the Baron's neck and shoulder with his teeth, the desire to draw blood only growing with his arousal. While the urge to bite Toki had definitely carried an underlying possessive quality, it had no such emotional basis with the Baron -- if they weren't currently having sex, he had the strangest feeling that he'd plain just want to devour the Baron in the most literal sense.

[i_am_harkonnen]

The Baron approved of Skwisgaar's casual approach, and, was pleased to confirm that Skwisgaar appeared to to nicely fixed in his relationship. As unlikely as it seemed that Skwisgaar would get any sort of inconvenient ideas, it was still a solid guarantee against those awkward feelings. The Baron was not at all adverse to friendship with Skwisgaar, but, as far as feelings went, he already had as many of those as he felt like having at Hogwarts, centered around a certain vampire and a certain Potions professor.

So, dragons were a very acceptable topic- dirty talk could be fun, but he didn't need it from Skwisgaar to put him in the mood. It was impossible not to be, having him alone in the bath, and in his intriguing aquatic form. And besides, the Hogwarts dragons were remarkable, even if one had tried to eat him and Lord Wolfe. "There's two other dragons here?" Vladimir commented, while lighly drawing a fingertip over Skwisgaar's gills, carefully watching his reaction. "Ah yes. . . Elric mentioned something about 'summoning' one to eat that awful sun monstrosity. I'd like to see the others, someday- Smaug's an impressive creature." Vladimir's flattery was genuine- he'd seen bigger creatures, but not a more majestic one. The sandworms of Arrakis were immense, but, not airborne, fire-breathing, or intelligent.

Although Vladimir remained curious about what orifices Skwisgaar's new anatomy might offer, penetrating him wasn't required for good sex, and he made no move to find anywhere to insert himself- from what he'd deduced of Skwisgaar's personality, he was the sort who'd offer it if he was in the mood for it. There were plenty of other ways to fuck around, and, Skwisgaar's musically-trained hands were a delight in themselves, especially with their claws. He thus far had no objections, even when they did threaten to break skin, as a little pain added to the heady brew of his arousal. As Skwisgaar's hand reached his cock, he gave an low, encouraging groan, a shudder of pleasure quaking his body as the tips of Skwisgaar's claws added to the intoxicating touch. His cock was the one piece of the Baron's anatomy where he'd have objected to broken skin, but, as that hadn't occurred, he wasn't about to stop Skwisgaar's attentions.

The Baron encouraged Skwisgaar as he shifted, shuddering with pleasure again as Skwisgaar's abrasive skin bit against his. He slipped his arms about Skwisgaar to draw him in as he positioned himself, thrilling at the feel of condensed strength in his altered form. The nature of Skwisgaar's changed anatomy was somewhat illuminated as he felt his cock slide out and into the deep fold of flesh, and he had to smile at Skwisgaar's sighs and evident enjoyment of his body. The slightly scandalous aspect of allowing Skwisgaar to fuck him in such a way added to the fun, too- the Baron might have been hung up on rank, but, was happy to be flexible in interpreting the 'rules' for debauchery's sake.

He tilted his head and leaned into the touch as Skwisgaar's teeth raked his skin, prompting another deep groan and further firing his arousal. He too thought about biting, some of which included mental images of the vampire in the other room, and occurrences he'd often fantasized about, and which could never happen. Remaining alive and in one piece was of interest to Vladimir, even if he could appreciate some pain. It didn't seem that Skwisgaar was inclined to shark-like savaging at the moment, which was a good thing, but, the thought of the possibility, the closeness of those razor-like teeth and claws, was exhilarating. His hands wandered over Skwisgaar's back and he rocked into the motions of his hand, watching the accompanying movement of his tail as he undulated against his body. Something about his cock was unusual- he couldn't see it, buried as it was between rolls of his fat, but, he could feel it was somehow different than that of a human. This made things a bit more scandalous, but also more fun. After all, it wasn't actual bestiality- if Skwisgaar hadn't still possessed the human parts that he did, he wouldn't have been interested. Sharks were sharks, and, Skwisgaar was currently an actual merman.

[best_guitarist]

((Sorry again for dropping the ball in such an epic fail way over the last month! And there will always be future perversion possibilities between these two, especially if Skwisgaar is doomed to be a were-mercreature of sorts. That'd be too funny, plus it means he and Toki can keep the cool aquarium in their room, heh. Whichever mod suggested it can be thanked/blamed for future sharky crack.
Oh yeah, Jasper-mun'll post next, then I will once more.))

There could be little question about Skwisgaar enjoying the sex -- he quite obviously was, enthusiastically, with the added bonus that it was completely guilt-free since he had explicit permission from Toki to fuck whomever he wanted to, just as long as they weren't in or working for Dethklok. It was a good arrangement, as it generally precluded the possibility of becoming emotionally attached to any of his various NSA conquests, most of whom he never saw again. Once the fun was over and he and the Baron went back to lounging in the bath, he found himself missing Toki more than before, for some reason; Toki remained the only person who'd had the opportunity and had bothered taking the time to learn his specific preferences with regards to sex, though it wasn't just that knowing touch that Skwisgaar was missing, but his company as well. It was a strange way to feel after fucking someone else several times.

Still, far better to feel that sort of emotional tug toward Toki than to feel it for said person he'd just screwed. He was pleased to see the Baron still remained very tactilely inclined after sex without being particularly cuddly, as he really had no interest in cuddling at the moment, but did like being touched. The prior rough sex had left no lasting marks on Skwisgaar, but the Baron was still sporting miscellaneous small wounds -- shallow bites and scratches -- which Skwisgaar took pleasure in slowly fingering and ghosting over with the tips of his claws, just enough to maintain a constant low level of stimulation. He wasn't opposed to fucking once more, if there was time and the Baron had the inclination to.

While they waited for Toki's return and shared the Baron's ubiquitous wine (despite Skwisgaar's suspicions that it'd turn him into a lady, which was apparently a fate worse than being part fish), Skwisgaar was content to make idle conversation, going on about Dethklok, touring, his peerless guitar skills, groupies, Mordland, and the impressive culinary abilities of Jean-Pierre, the latter of which he knew might actually interest the Baron. He also mentioned wanting a video camera, but was soon distracted from explaining why by talking more about Smaug and the Shoggies. (And in truth, it wasn't only homemade porn Skwisgaar had in mind -- a dragon documentary and home movies of their "children" also ranked high on the list of possible uses for a camera.) He was in the midst of a colourful anecdote about the Shoggies' dietary habits when Jasper reappeared, followed by Toki and any Shoggies who may have come.

[j_whitlock]

((Daww there was no fail, just life happening. Now im back in ur thread, levitating ur d00dz.))

Jasper had spent the last several orgasms while perfecting a combination of spells, using first a chess piece from his pocket as the test subject, and then himself. It was an improved and permanent version of the levitation and water charms he'd cast on Skwisgaar at the lake, designed to activate whenever Skwisgaar was out of water, and wear off when his aquatic form did (and would naturally become active again should he ever find himself in the form of a mercreature once more). Jasper took particular notice of the bites and scratches liberally scattered over Vladimir's body-and had been aware of when each occurred. Since it had been consensual and greatly enjoyed by both parties, if the emotional climate was anything to go by, he hadn't felt the need to interrupt their fun. He was already well acquainted with Vladimir's unusual proclivities...

After explaining in detail and acquiring Skwisgaar's reluctant permission, Jasper withdrew his wand from a sleeve and cast the new spell on him. Once the Swede climbed out of the bath, Jasper watched with a pleased look as the spell immediately took effect, pulling Skwisgaar into the air as a near invisible layer of water flowed over his skin and gills. It was really the least he could do to make up for causing Skwisgaar so much trouble.

"That should help you get around easier," Jasper said amiably, briefly eyeing Vladimir again (more specifically, his wounds) before turning to Toki. "Aquarium's already done?" It was a rhetorical question-he was curious and wanted to see the aquarium, but wasn't going to invite himself or push his luck, not this soon. If Toki wanted to show off his work, Jasper knew he'd probably say so.

[best_guitarist]

Skwisgaar muttered a thanks (because gratitude wasn't terribly metal) and experimentally flexed his tail, propelling himself forward. It wasn't like moving through water, but it was considerably easier than having to drag himself on the ground or having someone pull him. It was a lot like how he imagined flying as a dragon might be, actually, so he was likewise pleased with the results of Jasper's effort.

"It's likes flying," he said, doubling back and skimming the surface of the bath water with his tail as he made his way toward where Jasper and Toki were waiting. "Prettys cool." He finished off the rest of his wine and passed the glass to Mopsy, whom he then watched the way a cat might a mouse: something that wouldn't make a great meal, but could make an amusing toy. He was normally indifferent toward the house elves, but couldn't really help his newfound interest -- the less human parts of his mind were highly susceptible to seeking stimulation through violent means, and tended to have a very apex predator view of the food chain around him. The relatively insignificant wounds he'd inflicted on the Baron were barely a taste of what a part of him really wanted to do.

Mopsy was luckily spared from the unwanted attention when Skwisgaar shifted his focus to Toki instead, reaching for one of his hands for no reason but to hold it. It seemed wiser than indulging his urge to chomp on the house elf to see if she made a satisfying crunch or not, since she technically worked for the Baron, who might not appreciate it very much.

[i_am_harkonnen]

((And, holy epic TL;DR! I'm just going to post this reply as two posts, half from Vlad, and half from Toki right afterward.))

The Baron had also enjoyed the sex- in fact, he'd enjoyed it immensely, as Skwisgaar's altered physical condition made it a truly singular experience, and the predatory instincts the change had roused in him had added a perfect spice to the encounter. When they were finished and relaxing in the bath, it was to Jasper that Vladimir's thoughts wandered. He was always so endearingly thoughtful, and had Jasper been honing in specifics of emotions, the surge of deep affection the Baron felt was entirely directed at him.

Not that he didn't feel a certain affection for Skwisgaar, but, it wasn't of the emotional sort. Skwisgaar was pleasant company, and there was something about him that set him above most people. Not above nobility of course, as titles were titles, but, Skwisgaar radiated something nearly on par with the indefinably superior quality possessed by noble sorts, and from what the Baron knew of Dethklok and rock stardom, Skwisgaar's influence in his own world was similar. Whatever it was, although the Baron felt no emotional tugs toward Skwisgaar, he did appreciate him for more than just his lovely body, talented hands, and excellent attitude about casual sex.

While they relaxed and conversed, Vladimir was content to let Skwisgaar lead the conversation, and mainly listened as he lazily traced his hands over Skwisgaar- the Baron was indeed not a cuddly or snuggly sort, but, never did tire of touching. He still gave low sighs of pleasure now and again as Skwisgaar's claws moved over the sensitized spots where he'd been bitten and scratched, and mused over another round of fucking, as well as introducing Valentine to Skwisgaar in the future. He knew that Valentine had met Skwisgaar at Potions class, but, he didn't think that they'd ever had a chance to interact, and at that time, Skwisgaar hadn't been altered into a particularly dangerous merman.

Listening to Skwisgaar's stories about Dethklok and Mordland helped to clarify the Baron's presumption about the high social status of rock stars- it did sound as if Dethklok possessed exceptional wealth, as well an almost religious sway over their followers. It sounded as if a world leader would have been a fool to not want an alliance with the group-Dethklok seemed as if it might serve better than a whole army of propagandists. Jean-Pierre also sounded impressive- Skwisgaar did appear to have standards, and with their apparent bank balance, probably had obtained the best chef in their world. Mention of wanting a video camera was enough for Vladimir to agree to sending one along with Skwisgaar- what he was going to do with it didn't matter much, although the Baron was thinking about the possibility of amateur Skwisgaar and Toki porn. He was actually listening the anecdote about the Shoggies' dietary habits with interest (he had one living under his couch, after all, and was still trying to figure out what to do with it) when Jasper reappeared with Toki and a pair of Shoggies. Some more distant Shoggy voices could be heard as well, for Shoggies 3 and 4.6 were talking to the aforementioned Shoggy 21.5.

Although Vladimir had been hoping that Toki would take a bit longer to show up again, he wasn't annoyed at his return- he'd had a pleasant night, and at Hogwarts, there seemed to be endless opportunities for more. And besides, Skwisgaar seemed quite attached to odd Norwegian, and, there was no way he could begrudge such a pretty thought as the two of them in bed. . . or in the immediate case, in an aquarium, apparently. The Baron gave Jasper a warm smile as he assisted Skwisgaar with the levitation magic. Jasper was always so very thoughtful. Being well aware of Jasper's empathic traits, he hoped that Jasper had found some enjoyment in his own pleasure- it wasn't the same thing as fucking Jasper, but, given Jasper's condition, it seemed about as close as it was going to get.

[isnotabumblebee]

Toki had a huge smile when he arrived, and Shoggies 10 excitedly piped, "The aquariums! We has it fors you, Master Skwisgaar-Dad!" "Yeah, the house-elves, they helped us finish its pretty fast," Toki explained to Jasper. "Ands the Shoggies built yous a little underwater sea-gods temple and stuffs in it, and even founds a mermaid skeleton in the lake and puts that in there too. You can comes see it if you wants!" Toki was never one to miss an opportunity to show off his handiwork. He turned his grin on Skwisgaar again, telling him, "It's brutal, you's gonna likes it!"

The other two 'eyesball throw-ups children' reappeared, with Shoggy 21.5 in tow, having actually been lured out from under the Baron's sofa by its fellow Shoggies. "Can Shoggy comes home and plays with us fors a while?" Shoggy 3 asked, the question apparently directed at Vladimir. "It wants to sees the aquariums too!" The Baron nodded his approval, seeing no reason why it couldn't- Shoggy 21.5 appeared to do whatever it wanted to anyway, which was why it was under his couch in the first place. Still, its seeking of permission was something of an improvement.

"Sooo cool, you gots a Shoggy-kid too!" Toki exclaimed. "It's likes a playdate for the kids!" Toki was a bit giddy with excitement, impatient to show off the aquarium- having had the opportunity to do something nice for Skwisgaar had made him extremely happy. Both Toki and the Baron missed Mopsy's discomfort as Skwisgaar was eyeing her- the Baron was far more interested in the three lovely men in the room, and, Toki had noticed the Baron's little bites and scratches. Although he'd left the room clueless as to what Skwisgaar and the Baron were likely to do, this little sign gave him some indication of what actually had gone on. But, it didn't seem like anything to be jealous about- in fact, it seemed like something to be happy about. Skwisgaar had surely enjoyed himself, and Toki wanted him to be happy. Toki knew that he couldn't cater to Skwisgaar's entire range of tastes- he wasn't an old fatty, and Skwisgaar had to get his kicks of that variety somewhere. To Toki, getting jealous would have seemed like getting jealous over candy. Candy was candy, and it was great, but, you didn't love candy. You just enjoyed it. In some ways, Toki was wiser than he tended to appear.

As Skwisgaar drifted over and took his hand, Toki squeezed it affectionately and beamed happily at Skwisgaar. "You gots to see, you's gonna likes it alot I hope!" He grinned at Jasper, telling him, "The flying magic's real great, thanks for helpings!" Toki was not so disinclined as Skwisgaar toward showing gratitude- perhaps it wasn't very metal, but, Toki really was grateful for Jasper's help. "And thanks you for letting Skwisgaar stay here so he didn'ts dry up or gets bored while we mades the aquarium," Toki told the Baron, who smiled, waving a hand as to indicate that it was not a problem at all. As it certainly had been anything but a burden. Unlike the five Shoggies milling about his bathroom, which could quickly grow to be one- but, this appeared to be a very temporary situation, so Vladimir paid it no mind. Mopsy, however, was standing well away from the tub and glowering at the Shoggies, who she seemed to think threatened the cleanliness of the room.

[best_guitarist]

Skwisgaar at least wouldn't have cared much if he knew he wasn't considered above nobility by the Baron, as he had a surprisingly logical way of looking at titles -- calling an orange a banana didn't change the fact it was still fundamentally an orange, and the same was true of people, as far as he was concerned. A Prince of Denmark was still Dutch scum, just more inbred than the average Dutch scum, the way most nobility tended to be. Being Governor of Florida hadn't magically turned Nathan into a great leader guy -- in fact he'd failed at it so hard he'd managed to literally destroy Florida, with a little help from Dethklok's supernatural influence that had caused Scrambles the Death Dealer.

And yet Skwisgaar was, of course, very attached to his own title of Fastest Guitarist Alive. But he'd rightfully earned it, and he was also... a god. Suck on that, nobility!

Toki never would have anything to worry about with regards to Skwisgaar's emotional fidelity, and the fact was, if Toki ever asked it of him, he was pretty sure he could remain sexually monogamous as well without feeling as though he were missing out on anything -- he practically was almost monogamous by this point, as Hogwarts lacked groupies and he very rarely saw his friends-with-benefits such as the Baron or Oly. Just as long as he was regularly getting laid by someone he could be happy, and Toki was always his first choice for that anyway.

Skwisgaar was far less enthused by the notion of Jasper accompanying them back to their room, as fucking hadn't made him forget about having his gills ripped out and a bit of magic didn't make up for it (never mind that he'd instigated the fight and had actually had the upper hand). Plus it would mean he and Toki couldn't get right to "christening" the aquarium if they had company over. The extra Shoggy didn't matter one way or the other, as it would presumably enjoy the ball pit with its brethren when the time came to put the children away. But, if it made Toki happy to show off what he'd worked so hard on, Skwisgaar didn't really mind. Due to his altered metabolism he was feeling ravenous anyway, so would probably decide to eat in his new watery home before doing anything else.

The sea-god temple did sound interesting, and between that and Toki's and the Shoggies' weirdly infectious excitement, Skwisgaar's irritation didn't last. Vladimir freely giving him one of the spare "muggle" video cameras certainly didn't hurt matters either. "And thanks yous for de cameras stuff," he told the Baron as he picked up the camera in its case and the accompanying equipment Mopsy had retrieved by request. "Now wes could makes de underswater documentarys show, eh?" he said to Toki, of course meaning porn. For all he knew this was the one and only time he'd be a mercreature, so it made sense to immortalise part of the experience on film. Another flex of his tail gave him enough momentum to get moving, and he headed back through the Baron's rooms, saying, "Shows to me my aquariums. Shoggies ams probably wantings a food break, and I'ms hungry again too."

In more ways than one.

[j_whitlock]

Jasper was very aware that Skwisgaar hadn't forgiven him yet, and certainly didn't blame him. How could he, when he himself still felt annoyed about his pet raptor coming to unnecessary harm all those months ago during the Smaug-and-Elric-obliterated war games? Nevermind that the raptor was free to roam wherever he pleased, and nevermind that he had willingly followed Dethklok onto the field and started playing of his own accord. The raptor hadn't signed up for the class and so should have been taken off the field. Senseless violence and being entertained by it was one area where he and Vladimir were simply never going to see eye-to-eye, and he'd mostly accepted that fact, but his lingering unhappiness over the war games was exacerbated by the knowledge that Vladimir was now working with Akabane, who had dishonoured himself by using Jasper's hapless human roommate to get to him. A tactic which Vladimir undoubtedly approved of in general, if perhaps not in that specific case and Jasper secretly liked the fact Vladimir was often openly biased when it came to him, so Jasper hadn't seen any reason to argue about it.

A feeling of alienation had been festering. His wife and adoptive brother had been missing for months, he was solely responsible for the mess with George, Victor seemed to want more from him than he could give, his roommate was now popcorn, and Vladimir-well, he was who he was, and Jasper truthfully wouldn't change anything about him even if he could. More than anything Vladimir had been a very good friend to him, far better than he deserved, and he felt bad for letting circumstances-the war games, a purely professional engagement with Akabane-even colour his opinions.

"You're both very welcome," he replied, sounding both friendly and sheepish, hoping to appease Skwisgaar. "The aquarium sounds interesting. If you really don't mind..." There he glanced from Toki to Skwisgaar. "I would like to see it." He wasn't planning on making a nuisance of himself. He was genuinely curious to see the aquarium setup, and once he did, he'd probably excuse himself. Glancing at the still bleeding wounds on the Baron's body a final time, he couldn't help feeling a little sad and maybe even vaguely jealous (and thankfully not hungry, since he was very carefully not breathing). He turned and followed Skwisgaar out, trailing behind Toki and the Shoggies. He wasn't sure he'd come back after seeing the aquarium, figuring Vladimir would be in bed by then sleeping off the sex overdose, so bade him a good night before closing doors behind them as they passed through Vladimir's rooms.

"What do you-eat, anyway?" he asked Skwisgaar as they walked-and floated-and squelched along. Besides Barons, he thought but didn't say. "Do you have a specific diet now? If it's something the house-elves can't get, I'd be happy to try." Even if he wasn't hoping to get Skwisgaar to forgive him he would have offered; it was just how Jasper was.

[isnotabumblebee]

The Baron would have been greatly amused to hear the tale of Nathan's turn as Governor of Florida, and it was likely he'd hear it eventually. The Baron had actually quite enjoyed Skwisgaar's disjointed stories about Dethklok, and wasn't ever likely to discourage them. Although he'd have found Nathan's try at governing a good example of why popular opinion was a silly thing to base leadership on, he'd mostly have found Scrambles the Death Dealer absolutely hilarious, and applauded Dethklok's abuse of the power handed to them.

He smiled at Skwisgaar's unexpected thanks for the video camera, and told him, "Not a problem at all- you two enjoy that. I enjoyed the company- you'll have to drop by again soon, and perhaps you can meet Lord Wolfe." He watched them leave, turning an affectionate gaze on Jasper- he was such a dear and lovely 'young man'. Had he realized that Jasper was feeling alienated, he would have been trying to improve his mood- but Jasper was also quite good at hiding his such emotions. Of course, as soon as Vladimir learned that Jasper's roomate was popcorn, it was inevitable that he'd start trying to convince him that the house-elves needed to move his room so that it was attached to his apartments. His own "good night" to Jasper carried an undertone of unstated meaning that he knew the vampire could read easily enough- as usual, he hoped that Jasper would decide to return sooner than later.

-----

Toki had not noticed Skwisgaar's reservations about Jasper accompanying them- he was simply too excited about his handwork (even if the house-elves had done the majority of it under his direction), and in his excitement, he hadn't stopped to think that Skwisgaar might mind. He considered Jasper a 'family friend' and all. "We could makes a real cool documentary," he agreed with Skwisgaar, although, he'd actually missed the point, evidenced when he went on to say, "We could takes it to the lake, and makes one about the giant squid and the lakes dragon! And maybe we can get Smaug to be ins a documentary abouts dragons. We coulds film him flyings, and burnings towns and stuffs!" And perhaps they could use this as an excuse to start the dragon-tour/shopping thread idea? Despite his missing the point, he was thinking about the fun times ahead in Skwisgaar's new aquarium- Toki was just Toki, and sometimes slow on the uptake. "And you's right, we should probably eats and feed the Shoggies. I forgots about that, we were too busy ons the aquarium." Luckily, it had only been a few hours, so Toki hadn't actually starved their 'children'.

Toki kept tight hold of Skwisgaar's hand in the halls, and the Shoggies squelched along after them, all piping happily about the aquarium, seeming almost as excited as Toki. Although 21.5 was not so talkative as the 'eyesball throw-ups children', it was still just another Shoggy, and thus wouldn't prove trouble. It was the Shoggy responsible for a great deal of destruction during Elric's Gringott's escapade, but, it had only been listening to the albino- left to its own devices, at Hogwarts it was mostly harmless like the rest of the Shoggies. "You's going to likes it sooo much, Master-Skwisgaar Dad! We wanted to put a ships in it too, but we couldn't fit one," piped Shoggy 18, to which Shoggy 3 added "But we found a sunkens treasure and put that in there!" "The Shoggies were real helpfuls little goofballs," Toki told Skwisgaar. "And the house-elves made the room bigger, the aquarium's likes a room of its own, but a room what's made of water."

[best_guitarist]

"Everything whats I used to eat," Skwisgaar said in response to the question about his diet, and the look that he gave Jasper suggested the vampire could easily be (re)added to the menu if he continued asking dumb questions. "And I guess mores fish now," he went on after a moment, making a conscious effort to lighten up so as not to ruin the mood for Toki or the Shoggies, not that the latter would have even noticed. Besides, Jasper was one of the very few people he normally liked. "Fish and meats ams good, especially de fish eyes, and bones, I likes de sounds they make between mine teeth. And de other things I probably shouldn'ts be having, but they sound goods too." Such as people. He had a growing suspicion that whatever he was now, he was possibly meant to be eating them, not fucking them. Cannibalism was brutal and all (was it really cannibalism when he wasn't currently human?), but he'd also heard it led to really horrible brain-eating diseases, and he didn't want to eat Toki, anyway. Nor did he want to eat the rest of Dethklok or their manager, on the grounds that they'd probably taste horrible. Anyone else was negotiable, but he didn't plan on even leaving their room for a good long time while he was under the effects of the merman hex.

He'd already had similar ideas about filming Nidhögg and Smaug just hanging out being their dragony selves, so naturally agreed with Toki. "Maybe we even rides on Smaug as he burns everything and rapes and pillages de towns likes a real Viking, thats would be metal." Giving Toki's hand a light squeeze, Skwisgaar smirked as he looked sidelong at him, adding, "Kinds of like a date."

They were dating, after all, but just didn't seem to have many "proper" dates with each other. He had no complaints about their relationship, but after the big emotional upheaval of a few months ago, it seemed a good idea to start finding more things to do together unrelated to Dethklok or fucking -- practising the guitar while Toki worked on models or craft projects or played video games nearby only partially counted. Getting cleaned up and attending the Shoggies' party together had been a good start, even with its unexpected outcome, and a shared outing on dragon-back was pretty much ideal in his book.

"Yous mean a Viking ship?" he asked hopefully, even though Shoggy 18 had pointed out it wouldn't have fit. It was the thought that counted, and Viking ships were always superior to all others. "We could gives to Smaug de sunkens treasure when I don'ts need it anymore, he'd likes it." And obviously he did need it, since if he was going to be stuck living in an aquarium, it had better be a truly awesome one with brutal bling -- and it sounded as though Toki and the Shoggies had created exactly that. Just before they reached the room he summoned a house elf and ordered quite a few things, mainly along the lines of live fish and raw meat, and a glass of soy milk for good measure. The elf waited there a few moments in case the others were going to order something as well.

[j_whitlock]

((Jasper doesn't have much to say, so you get exposition about Smaug. XD))

Noticeably withering slightly under Skwisgaar's glare, Jasper decided against asking the Swede to elaborate on things he 'shouldn't' be having, though he was now more curious than before. He'd never met an actual real, living merman before, and even though Skwisgaar was usually human, his new form and all the physiological changes it brought were intriguing-as were the emotional ones. What he could perceive of Skwisgaar's emotions weren't like those of an animal, but neither were they quite as they had been before, when he was human, nor necessarily a blend of human and animal. It was an interesting puzzle.

He was careful this time to not keep glancing at Toki the way he had before, since he really didn't want a repeat of the bath brawl.

They would find Smaug was happy to take them on an aerial tour of the local wizarding world, with or without the raping and pillaging and burning; flying was one of his greatest joys, and something he'd share with the small number of beings counted among his friends and family. The dragon generally preferred keeping a low profile during his jaunts and livestock raids, the better to prevent any foolish wizards or muggles from attempting to track him back to the Forbidden Forest and interrupting his beauty sleep. There was also Elric to be concerned about, whose invincibility Smaug was not so certain of. He was beginning to get a clear idea of just how ruthless and cunning the wizards of this land could be when their livelihoods were threatened by hungry dragons... But thus far, none of their magical traps had injured him. He'd also been branching out, travelling farther and not targeting the same farms too frequently-tactics he'd learnt in his youth, when over-hunting any one area could wipe out the wildlife and livestock populations and force him to migrate more often than he'd have liked. (Despite his behaviour and threats about eating people, humans in fact weren't his preferred diet.)

Jasper didn't want anything the house-elf could get for him, so when it turned its expectant stare to him, he waved it off and shook his head. "I don't think that camera was made to go underwater, but I'd bet a charm could fix that. You guys might want to fire-proof it too," he said with a smile. Riding a dragon did sound cool, and it seemed a shame to let the footage get ruined when a few spells could probably render the camera more or less indestructible. Whether anything could truly protect against dragonfire except the scales of the dragon species in question remained to be seen, however.

[isnotabumblebee]

((Posted in two comments because I TL;DR'd the aquarium description.))

"The fish heads ares good too!" Shoggy 18 interjected into the conversation about food. "Ands the little squishy gut bits ons the insides," added Shoggy 3. "They have extra flavors in them!" "Other meats are good too," agreed Shoggy 10, "Likes hamsburger and chickens and those leggy things ins the trees, and people, but we can't eat people here because then we don't get chicken, but it's alright. There's lots of good meats." The subject of fish and meat was one that Shoggies could expound upon for a while, and, their conversation turned to this amongst themselves for most of the way to the room.

Toki thought that Skwisgaar's date idea sounded like just about the best date idea possible due to the inclusion of dragons and pillaging, and he nodded happily at the suggestion. "That sounds like the best idea, Skwisgaar, we gots to do that. We could go pillagings, and we should probably dress up for thats. Ands we could bring a picnic!" Because Toki would have to throw in a painfully non-brutal suggestion to go along with it. "Ands then you coulds pillage me, too," he added in a hopeful undertone.

"It was a big ships with lots of parts and wood and holes ins it," Shoggy 10 told Skwisgaar, not very helpfully. "Buts it came apart and stuffs and there were lots of pieces and we couldn't puts them into the aquarium because there would have been no place to put the water," added Shoggy 4.6. "Buts the sunken treasure is nice, we discovered it ins a house unders the water," Shoggy 3 said. "And the fish-persons whats weren't you didn't wants us to have found it, but, we founds it so it was ours."

Toki threw in an order for some chicken and 'eyesball sandwiches' for the Shoggies, and, a hamburger. He was a little bit disappointed when Jasper declined to order- he'd been hoping that Jasper was going to order a scantily-clad virgin, or something properly vampiric, so that they'd get a brutal little show like something from a music video. Jasper's excellent idea brought a big smile to his face, and he nodded happily. "That's a good idea, we'll haves to fireproof the camera. We can send you and your husband a copies of the Smaug pillaging stuffs documentary!" As he opened the door to the room, he murmured to Skwisgaar, "Buts he doesn't get the others one." The Skwisgaar pillaging him one was only for their eyes only, so the mun thinks it would be pretty funny if Toki sent him the wrong one.

[isnotabumblebee]

The house-elves had indeed done some magical room-enlarging in order to house the properly Sharkgaar-sized aquarium that Toki had told them to install. It wasn't ridiculously proportioned, but, Skwisgaar would would be able to swim about the tank, and not feel too confined, or so Toki hoped. And as was unavoidable with Toki and the Shoggies playing project directors, they'd decorated the tank- featuring most prominently were some pieces of strange masonry which the Shoggies had stuck together in order to create what looked like some sort of scaled-down primordial sea temple. It had taken some interesting work on the Shoggies' part to bring these pieces- in fact, they hadn't actually gone to get them yet. They would later, or more accurately, they'd send a few other Shoggies to go through the convoluted trip through various dimensions it would take to obtain them. Most of the stones had bizarre carvings of abominable octopus-headed beings. The stones formed a small room within the aquarium- they did unfortunately block off some the overall swimming space. The Shoggies had placed a stone slab inside it, which they announced was a bed.

"And see, there's the sunken treasure we founds, ands the mermaids skeleton," said Shoggy 4.6, radiating a sense of pride. These two articles were featured prominently, arranged in a way that resembled the silly little miniatures for small aquariums. "We found the mermaids skeleton afters we found the treasure," explained Shoggy 18. "It was insides a mermaid what tried to take the treasure from us, buts we got it out." The 'treasure' itself was not very remarkable on a glance- it appeared that the Shoggies had taken a chest filled with various odds and ends from the merfolk settlement, but there did appear to be a few shiny things mixed in with the lot.

Toki smiled hopefully at Skwisgaar, awaiting his reaction. "Do you likes it? The Shoggies did such a greats job on helpings, and mades sure thats it was big enough, and you cans change the temperature on it. I remembered all the stuff that you's supposed to have in an aquariums, so it's got the whites gravel on the bottom, and it's got a filter. I thoughts about putting plants in it but I know you like yours room empty, so we just put what we needed to so that it was ans aquarium."

[best_guitarist]

Dressing accordingly for the dragon-ride-pillaging-picnic seemed a good idea, but Skwisgaar decided against bringing up his clothing preferences. Their last conversation about choosing brutal suits of armour had gone rather poorly, with Toki having unflattering things to say about his platinum armour idea. It was for the best anyway, as it really would have looked ridiculous, he'd realised later, and Toki had probably saved him some embarrassment. He wasn't who he used to be, and maybe he was finally outgrowing his stark, all-white preference -- wearing all-black leather and Viking-style furs seemed more metal to him just then, though it would probably be too hot to wear dragon-riding. "I'ms also goings to pillage yous in a few minutes," he replied blithely, making only a little effort to keep his voice down.

"Do yous know how to dos those spells ons de camera?" he asked Jasper, and curled his lip at Toki saying they'd share a copy of the Smaug documentary. He was feeling less hostile toward Jasper now, but he still didn't really want to share anything just yet, especially not footage of real dragon-riding and pillaging while on the back of said dragon, which would be the only of its kind in existence -- in this world and their own, at least.

He set the camera equipment on their bed, and his mood improved when he got his first look at what was to be his home for the next while. As he slowly made his way around the outside of the aquarium, inspecting it, he laughed at the Shoggies' explanation about the treasure and skeleton. "De mermaid bones ams brutal," he said with approval, trying to play it cool, but he wasn't much of an actor at the moment -- his fluttering dorsal fin betrayed his excitement. Obviously the aquarium met whatever expectations he'd had, and in truth far surpassed them. It was taller than he'd thought it would be, but that, too, was appreciated. The more space he had, the better.

Toki's question about whether he liked it was answered when he climbed into it. He shivered as Jasper's spellwork felt as though it was being peeled away from his skin at the same moment the aquarium water washed over him, creating a very peculiar suctioning sensation against his skin for a second or two. He spent the next several minutes inspecting the inside of the aquarium: touching the bizarre carvings, running his fingers through the chest of pilfered mermaid treasure, and stirring up the white gravel. He'd saved the "bed" for last, and slowly rubbed the entire length of his body against it as he stretched out on it, rolling onto his back, unaware of just how lascivious it may have appeared to anyone watching him who wasn't a Shoggy. It was hard to care about how he looked with how good the cold stone felt against his skin. He slid off the bed and toyed with the mermaid skeleton for a moment before swimming to the side of the aquarium that faced Toki and Jasper and the Shoggies.

"Yous all did a reals good jobs on it, it's ways better than beings stuck in de lake or a bathstub," he said, and as before, his voice carried underwater almost the same way it did above water as a human, and was no longer raspy, but sounded normal. It was similar to how the Hogwarts lake mermaids' singing sounded pretty underwater, but like godawful shrieking out of the water.

The house elf was startled to see the aquarium when it returned with their order -- even by new the Hogwarts' standards, a giant fish tank was an unusual sight. After a few seconds of gawking it went about arranging the plates of food and glass of soy milk on the desk, but seemed uncertain about what to do with the net full of wriggling fish it was carrying. Skwisgaar caught the elf's attention and directed it to simply dump the fish into his aquarium, which it did and then stepped back to watch rather than immediately disappearing the way it usually would. Skwisgaar deftly caught one of the fish as it attempted to dart by him, eating it in a couple bites. "Now all I needs ams my guitar," he said, though it was Toki whom he was eyeing.

[j_whitlock]

Jasper nodded to Skwisgaar's question, and took it and Toki's comment as implicit permission to secure the camera for them. While Skwisgaar was preoccupied exploring his aquarium with Toki and the Shoggies watching on, he took the liberty of getting the camera set up on the tripod, working the protective magic on it as he did. He positioned the camera in front of the aquarium when he was finished, and then turned his attention to Skwisgaar as well, appreciating the way the diffused light glittered across his skin at certain angles and fascinated by his sinuous movements as he rubbed against his stony bed. It did strike Jasper as an extremely erotic act, whatever the Swede was doing-and had he been able to blush, he would have as he quickly glanced away. Even though Skwisgaar didn't appear to care about being observed, it felt like he was intruding on an intimate moment.

He regretted looking away, oddly, and after a long moment glanced up again. The only word he could think of to describe Skwisgaar's nimbleness as a merman was beautiful, even when he appeared almost to be frotting stone like that. The house-elf who had brought their food seemed likewise entranced, and Jasper wondered if there wasn't some kind of inherent enchantment in Skwisgaar's new form, similar to the way humans would often feel inexplicably drawn to vampires of his sort. He knew part of why he wanted to remain near Skwisgaar and Toki was because they were radiating the kind of happiness he'd always been drawn to as an empath, and he'd experienced little enough of it lately that he was reluctant to leave.

"It is very impressive," he remarked, in agreement with Skwisgaar's sentiments. "Think you'll keep it once you're back to normal and don't need it anymore?" He wasn't going to suggest they use it as a fish tank, since there was no telling how Skwisgaar might take it. He didn't wish to offend.