The Temple of Inala is quiet at night. When Nicora flies back from the docks, night has fallen and the Procession's glow gives the world an ethereal look. The Eeee doesn't encounter anyone on the way to her assigned chamber, although she can hear activity within the building - just nothing noisy. A slight breeze stirs the gauze curtains that face the inner garden, but aside from a few lamps on the far side there aren't any real signs of life.
Nicora runs her hands through her hair and sighs. "Tomorrow I have to be on my most evil behavior and have tea," she mutters as she practically collapses into her odd bowl-bed heavily. What ensues is a few minutes of stretching and making herself comfortable in the bed, even though she isn't very tired quite yet. "And maybe soon I'll learn how to keep myself out of trouble," she adds as she flicks the jewel in her navel. "I'm really attracted to the wrong sorts of people."
There's movement outside now, in the garden. Eeee from the sound of them, but if they're talking they are keeping their voices low.
Nicora sits up in her bed and tries to lean closer to the window and tilt her ears just so, so that she can listen.
Silhouettes can be made out through the gauze. An Eeee woman is visible above a flowering bush.. and she's bobbing up and down. A man's hand appears from below to get a better grip as well. There isn't much in the way of talking, but clearly the Fertility Clinic aspect of the Temple has a night-shift.
Nicora's ears flush as she watches this for a minute or so. "I sure know that position, I've been in it enough, or rather, a lot has been in me," she mutters, amused. Still this does remind her of what happened earlier with the mutant bat and Gorphat and she twitches. "Right, I was going to check my tattoo condition, it was all tingly," she mutters to herself. So ... she rolls to her side and feels over the edge of her bed for her pouch. Once she locates her dagger, she pulls it up, into the bed, then slides it into her right arm with a shiver from the cold. Once it's seated, she also starts undressing, because, well, Snow's body can't wear much in the way of clothing without issues.
"How is everything?" asks Kaira from the dagger. "Have you decided on your next step towards Babel?"
"Looking at two options. Going with the ship, but they're bringing on a Chaos mage that is apparently a closer servant to Amena ... or going as dragons, which is better flight and may be safer ... and Tulani loves the idea. But, it also has its own risks, namely the unknown," Nicora thinks as clothing is shed, "I should know more about this mage tomorrow. Tulani is trying to convince the captain to bring him to the Temple for tea.". Soon she's in what is apparently her 'common' position, naked and on her back in a bed. She's surely gotten to like the carnal pleasures her abilities have ... provided.
"You could always do both," Kaira suggests. "Shadow the airship as dragons. It's right there in the name: Shadowdrake."
"I'm worried the mage would sense the light, or me," Nicora thinks as she stretches out and wiggles her toes, then looks down over her body, seeing only the glint of pearls on her chest, and the glint of gold and white chitin chain lower down. She smirks slightly to herself.
"If you do take the dragon route, you may want to remove some of the jewelry first," Kaira suggests. "Otherwise you might be a bit distracted."
"/I like the jewelry, though, but yes I would have to,/" Nicora admits in thought, then sighs. "/And that reminds me again, could you help me shift to Snow's body, please? My tattoo was tingly a bit earlier and I want to get a better look at it."
The shadow oozes out to cover Nicora, as Kaira asks, "The whole thing? Do you know what caused it?"
"Mostly my left hand. Probbaly because I visited the temple of Gorphat and she ... well, has eased her 'blessing' on me for a bit. I'm not in pain any more," Nicora thinks as she stretches out and arches her back as the shadow coats over her. It always feels so, so, good to be engulfed. "It's probably just my imagination, but I want to check."
"Mordecai is not a mage, he is an artist," Kaira says. "But then, your body already had blessings and curses from Inala and Gorphat. Symbolism may be enough in a place dedicated to one of the Sisters that you are entangled with."
"/Still, it shouldn't be anything to worry about, right?" Nicora thinks as she caresses her mostly shadow-covered body and enjoying the odd slick and warm feel. "/And did you have to remind me of Mordecai? I miss him./"
"Blessings and curses are no cause for worry, I'm sure," Kaira says, although it's hard to tell if she's being serious or not. "Stop wiggling, or you'll end up feeling the transformation."
"Maybe I want to feel it!" Nicora complains as she has to force herself from feeling her own body up.
"Well, you can practice changing on your own more for that," the dragon-spirit-spell reminds Nicora.. and then things get all melty for a bit, until the shadow retracts to leave behind smooth alabaster skin - except where it's tattooed in black, green or blue..
Snowcora licks over her lips, running her tongue stud across the soft skin. "I've missed this form," she murmurs as she slowly sits upright in the bowl-bed and slides her hands down her smooth-skin and shivering. She first decides to check her blue parts, with the flower and its anchoring 'rings' outlining 'Inala's altar', looking to see if it has changed any.
It looks the same, but.. it's tingling. And starting to glow as well, along with the blessing acting up on its own..
"Eeeee," Snowcora starts to squeak before biting down lightly on her lower lip to silence herself! "Remain calm, dont' give into the feelings, remain calm, don't touch anything down there to excite it even more," she quickly thinks ot herself as her toes wiggle to try and distract herself from the fact she's really missing Mordecai now. She can remember how he felt when he ... argh! She looks up towards the ceiling, desperately trying to not think about it, so instead holds up her left hand and looks at the markings of Gorphat.
The symbol for the Wound might be a bit lighter now than the rest.. but it's hard to focus, because something else is happening to Snowcora. It's not precisely a tingle, or anything else she's familiar with - it almost feels like her skin is invisibly evaporating into a gas, although it doesn't feel any warmer or cooler or appear to be changing. But with each beat of her heart (which is beating pretty loud and strong now) it seems like another wave is released into the air around her.
"Inala, what is going on?" Snowcora thinks, presuming she can be heard at all. It's hard to get up with how she feels right now, but the human does try to get to her feet to try and figure out exactly what is going on!
It's.. wobbly. It seems like she really wants to be lying down for this. But moving also makes her more aware of the invisible gas flowing from her. It's a bit like sonar, in that she can sense things it touches - but those things are surfaces! She's aware of the Eeee male out in the garden, and slowly she's feeling other men within the Temple, including a cluster of them down the hall in one of the staff dormitories. She can almost.. if she really concentrates.. focus on individuals.
"I see you're finally starting to practice with auras," Kaira comments in the back of Snowcora's mind.
Snowcora wobbles and lowers down to her knees from the overwhelming sensation. "This isn't me! It's doing this own it's own; it's Inala's blessing," she thinks through a clouded brain. She doesn't even realize it when her own hands are unlocking the chain clasp, then slipping the chain free from the rings. "What am I broadcasting?" she pleads the question.
"It may be Snow's lure," Kaira suggests. Snowcora can sense.. attention? She isn't focused on any one person, but once the chain is free she seems automatically latch on to the nearest - the likely Barinala out in the garden.
"Calm down. Calm, calm. Don't lure anyone here. Don't lure anyone!" Snowcora thinks to herself. She tries instead to see if she can identify the individuals in the building instead of summoning them. Of course this goes against what her body really wants right now, but she tries anyway!
With concentration comes resolution, of a sort. She can sense each male's.. potential? Arousal? It's like seeing little valves and wheels, almost. And in some way, she can tell what they are: four Lapis, two Eeees, a Khatta.. no, a Savanite.. and a few others she isn't familiar with. The gauze curtains between her suite and the garden are then pushed aside, as the Eeee from outside stands there and stares at Snowcora. His color and features mark him as one of Yuna's sons, if the mark of the Flower on his chest didn't already.
The way Snowcora looks up at him is ... rather predatory and scary. The conflict within is tremendous; this body's best lover was an Eeee ... and well, here is an Eeee. Since she is already on her knees, the human leans forward and stretches out; practically presenting herself to the young male with her arched hips. No matter what she knows rationally she should be doing, well, her body is doing what it wants.
She feels the bat's hands on her back, and then - surprisingly - she's being turned around and lifted up, until she's cradled in the Barinala's arms.
This causes Nicora to look oddly into his face. "No?" she questions of him.
The Barinala replies with a kiss, but is also in motion, carrying Snowcora.. to the dorm, where she feels the others. And with each step towards it, she can sense their lust growing!
Snowcora returns that kiss, even without all the adornments she grew to know on Mordecai, kissing an Eeee is still the best. "If you take me in there, I do not know what will happen," she whispers in his ear. Her more rational part of her mind is screaming that what will happen is that's she'll be an altar for all of them to worship and that she needs to run. But ... it's rather hard ot run when the body wants it.
When she arrives, Snowcora doesn't even touch the ground. Her aura wraps around the men, moving them all together as one being possessed of a dozen hands, mouths and tongues. She's supported, probably by one or more Lapi bodies, and every inch of her seems to be caressed, licked, kissed or sucked on. It's like being made love to by Melusine, almost!
Snowcora is only dimly aware in a rational way of what is happening; though the more primal urges are causing her body to invite any and all to make love to her as they choose. Her own hands caress and tease about, and she too licks and kisses any and all that get in range!
It's a blur of motion and sensation, lit by the blue glow of her own Flower. But some things do seem to come more into focus: the feel of Lapi fur, the odd blue glow, the thrill of being in control but also surrendering - and Snowcora finds herself in the crystal cavern on Rephidim, with the mostly-blue glow of Sifran crystal around her, the cushion of a Lapi-fur blanket beneath her, and the familiar feel of the studded and implanted ridges of Mordecai inside her! The decorated albino vampire's face looks down at her with glowing eyes, and his hands pin her wrists near her shoulders.
"Mordecai," Snowcora murmurs to the Eeee above her. The fact that he's holding her down only excites her more. "I have missed the touch of your needles, the feel as you implant new jewelry into my body, the tracing of new art into my skin. I have missed the feel of you inside me, taking what you want from me," she confesses in a soft whisper to the Eeee. It may be a dream, it may not. It's hard to tell what is remotely real anymore.
"I felt you call, and I came," Mordecai replies. "How could I not?" he asks, and then bites into Snowcora's neck.
The hiss that escapes from Snowcora is one of contentment. Her head arches back and to the side and her own body rolls in tile with his; delighting in the sensations. "I wear your marks still," she murmurs to the suckling Eeee, "And if I could, I would ask you to mark me more."
After drinking for a bit, Mordecai releases Snowcora's neck to give her some bloody kisses in her favorite places, and then he's face to face with her once more. "We are bound together through art and flesh," he whispers. "What you bear now, is what I was inspired to create. When the muse possesses me again, I will be waiting here for you to appear again. For a spirit you feel quite warm," he notes.
Snowcora kisses Mordecai after he finishes speaking, tasting the studding and her own blood in the process. "I wish that one day I wear a ring as you do through your nose," she murmurs to him; "as another symbol of the binding of art and flesh And am I spirit? I do not know. I know not how I even got here."
"Don't you recognize this chamber?" Mordecai asks, before pulling Snowcora up so that she's sitting on his lap. Then he lies back so she gets to be the one on top! And from there, the view is better: it's definitely the same chamber she and Tulani would go to to safely transform. The crystals just don't seem to be glowing or pulsing as randomly as before - and she can see that they and the light of her blue ink are in a sort of rhythm.
And there Snowcora rolls her hips, fully enjoying the Eeee beneath, and inside, her. "I do remember this place," she murmurs in awe. "I do not know how it is I am here, or if I am really here or as you said, just a spirit." Her own hands now free, trace over the Eeee's face and body, feeling out each scar, implant ridge, and piercing.
"You feel real," Mordecai says, folding his hands behind his head and apparently content to let Snowcora do all of the work for now. "You taste real. I do not think I am dreaming, for my dreams are usually dark and ephemeral. I don't see the point in questioning it: we are together, and I do not know for how long. Let us embrace it!"
"I am tempted to ask you to mark me in a way to test if this is real when I return from where I came," Snowcora teases as she lowers herswlf enough that her nose touches his. "But as you are my Lord and Master, I must honor your wishes," she adds, right before she kisses him and lets her eyes close as she enjoys the feel of this strange Eeee against her, touching her and within her. "Whatever happened," she thinks to herself, "I like this."
"When the muse is upon me," Mordecai promises, unable to just sit still after all, so he props himself up on enough to reach Snowcora's rounder parts to play with.
"Once more I seem to give myself to you," Snowcora murmurs, "And once more it is willing." For now the human just delights in his touch; eyes closed, head arched and her long white hair falling past her face and tickling across his skin.
Dream or not, it feels warm and familiar. Mordecai uses all of his favorite moves, and even one or two that are new to Snowcora and put a bit of strain on her flexibility (but Snow's body is pretty flexible - no telling if that's normal for humans or not). There's plenty of stickiness from the blood and sweat and other things, but this time around the blessing makes things that much better so it's easy to ignore the minor inconveniences. Finally, Mordecai spoons her as they cool down from the passion (or at least while he does, since he's not affected by Inala's blessing).
Even when Snowcora is allowing him to 'cool down', she doesn't let him 'leave her' so to speak, as she holds him gently and peers into his face and eyes. "You should have kept me chained to your wall," she murmurs to him, teasing, right before she licks his nose, then even gives him a light playful tug on the half-ring he wears there.
"You do eat a lot though," Mordecai teases. "You'd become plump and contented, and who would want that? You are a dagger that must be kept sharp and oiled. And when you cut..Mmmmmm..."
"But there would be more of me to display your art," Snowcora counter-teases, "And I have to thank you again for the art you forced upon me. I would have never agreed to let you do it, had you offered me a choice," she murmurs to him, "But now I would not be without it."
"My dear, I didn't force anything upon you," Mordecai claims, and licks Snowcora's cheek. "It was there all along; it was just the right time for it to be seen.." The last syllable seems to stretch and echo, as the world dims for Snowcora.. only to begin brightening again. Sunlight shines through a high window, illuminating part of the stone ceiling above. Snowcora looks up from partly within a pile of warm bodies, including a sleeping Savanite that is nuzzling her cheek. Despite what must have happened all night long, she feels.. remarkably fresh and un-sticky, as if the blessing somehow kept her clean - perhaps a perk of being a Shrine Maiden? A shadow falls across her though, and a shock of white hair surrounding a dark face with a singular white slash across it looks down at here. "There you are! It's nearly time - the Captain and the Mage are on their way!" Tulani chides.
"Wha, huh?" Snowcora murmurs just before her eyes open wide. "Dagh, was all that real?!" she wonders as she stares at the 'carnage around her body. It's hard to get up quick and without waking anyone, as the human scrambles to try and get back to her feet. "It wasn't my fault," she hisses at Tulani, "Inala decided to mess with me through her blessing since Gorphat's is currently 'muted'. I swear, it's like I need Gorphat's blessing to counter Inala's just to stay sane. Now I just have to get back to my room and change back to my normal self." She also thinks, but at least doesn't say, "And never change into a shrine maiden of Inala in an Inala temple ever again! Well, maybe on occasion, if it means I can see Mordecai ... wait! Get a grip! You have major things to deal with! Focus! Focus!"