devilstongue | Open RP Post

What? No, it's fine! I meant for drinks and stuff, I don't have any trauma about it. Just making sure that seeing me naked doesn't mean I'll fuck you immediately.

[ He chuckles and then reaches out to give Fjord's white lock a gentle tug, red eyes amused and soft. It wasn't often someone changed gears that quickly for his comfort. ]

Though I appreciate the concern.

I — I didn't think —

[ He hoped, but that's the nature of a date. Eventually. After more dates. Wow, his ears and cheeks feel so hot as he turns to the menu, clearing his throat. The ghost of Mollymauk's fingers in his hair has him raking it back. ]

... Caramel lattes, perhaps?

[ Just as bad at flirting (well, maybe a little less) than the tiefling, he tries to claw their way out of some very forward discussions he hadn't expected to trip over at all, let alone five minutes inside the door. ]

Caramel lattes it is! Do they have lemon tarts?

[ He's just going to steamroll all over that discussion and go back to first date things again. ]

So where are you from, Fjord? Zadash local?

[ Normal talk. Things you do to get to know people. Focus, Tealeaf! ]

[ Gesturing to the glass case of pastries, he orders a lemon-cream tart for Mollymauk and a raspberry-almond for himself, absently asking for large drinks. They could do with some lengthy talking today, if that little hiccup is anything to go by. ]

Down south, actually, Port Damali on the Menagerie Coast. I've only been up north a few years. You?

[ Molly leans his hip against the counter, smiling at the barista for a moment and then looking back at Fjord. ]

Really? That's quite a far transplant. I'm from around Trostenwald, myself.

[ At least that's where they found him. ]

How did you end up over here?

I think I passed through Trostenwald once while driving.

[ Not the sort of town he felt like it was worth stopping in, but evidently Mollymauk is from around there and Fjord may have been underestimating it. As they wait for their order to be made he hooks his thumbs in the back of his dark jeans, giving an easy shrug. ]

That is a question. [ A soft laugh leaves him as he clearly holds back on a bigger story. ] I had to give up what I was doing after I had an accident, I came here for physiotherapy.

[ He jiggles his left leg on the spot. ]

Tore up all the muscles in it, all the way past my hip. I'm alright now, though. I just sort of stayed here after making some friends.

It's a shithole, but I can't complain.

[ His family was there, after all... or at least it used to be. It's quite interesting to hear that Fjord had to change his life after an accident. They had some things in common that aren't things for first dates, even if he's curious now.

Molly winces a bit at the explanation of the injury, glancing at that nice leg. ]

Ow. I'm glad you're better, it must have hurt. [ Molly can't stop smiling. ] It's a pretty decent place to stay, though. Especially with friends.

Yeah, it is. [ Molly's smile puts Fjord at ease as he collects their tray to ferry it wherever the tiefling wants to sit. ] Caduceus got me the job at Wildmother's, all I had to do for the first few months was inventory on their messy system. Melora showed me how to make flowers, how to arrange them ... It kept me busy.

[ And was a really nice, soothing escape from the pain in his leg. The tight ball of anxiety in his chest that Uk'otoa caused hadn't come back for a long time. ]

Have you lived with Yasha long?

[ Molly picks a nice little window seat with an awning, so they can sit in the sun but not blind themselves at the same time. He happily sits in front of Fjord so that he can look at the man, eagerly picking out his latte.

Fjord may have paid but that tip jar was stuffed. ]

That sounds really nice, finding your passion like that. It seems nice, working with flowers. Unless you get a lot of entitled wedding planners, I suppose.

[ He takes a sip and is pleasantly surprised how good it is - just sweet enough without being overbearing, and a nice kick of caffeine. ]

Yeah, we've lived together ever since Trostenwald. She's my best friend, my charm. She works as a security guard.

We get a lot of angry old women, it's a tired joke by now to wheel me out to deal with them when they want to argue. They like talking to someone who's not oblivious to their flirting, like Deuces is.

[ Mollymauk can definitely afford to tip people with 500 gold from his latest subscriber (plus tips for specific shoots and videos). ]

Do you really mean she guards you, or is that just ... ?

I mean, who could argue with that face?

[ Molly smiles, giving a little wink. He'd pay good money to see old ladies fawn over this cute guy, just to see how Fjord handled it.

(He's so fucking lucky that Fjord subscribed, he can get rent in early for once and Yasha would be so proud.) ]

Oh! No, she has an actual job at a firm that people hire from to have guards at their event or whatever. She travels a lot.

[ The tiefling plays a little with his spoon, thinking. ]

Family?

I get you. Family. I have ... a few people who I would call that too. I think of Melora as less of an employer and more of an aunt, to be honest. [ He sips his drink, eyes down for a moment as he unravels parts of his life for Molly to see. ] She was a friend of someone who helped me get physio classes organised and brought me flowers where I was staying. It always smelled wonderful after her visits and that used to make me get out of bed, which I didn't want to do much back in those days.

Once I could move around with a stick, she let me start work behind the desk. It got me out of the house.

[ Molly listen curiously, tail slowly making little lazy circles behind him as he does. They really did have things in common, and the way Fjord speaks about Melora is really sweet and hits a bit of a bittersweet resonance in him. Someone that got you on your feet. ]

She sounds really lovely. I know a little how it can be, coming back from a hospital bed, so I'm glad you have someone like that.

[ He takes another small sip of his coffee. ]

I don't have any family, but Yasha is my platonic soulmate and I have a few other friends I've made here and online.

Oh, yes, your instagram had a photo on it that mentioned an accident in the description. I saw that.

[ He wasn't only looking at purple bits, okay. ]

You ... forgot who you were?

[ Okay, that was unusual and something he didn't think Fjord would have read as it didn't show anything pretty. It makes him smile again, brushing a bit of his hair back and turning his head so that Fjord can see the old scars from the surgeries that now held his skull in one piece. He was so lucky that he didn't break off his horns. ]

Not a clue who I was before, but I like the me now. I kinda think whoever had this body before just left it and it's mine now.

[ One day he might suddenly get his memory back, but he's going to be Mollymauk for as long as he possibly can. ]

So we're both remade people. That's nice.

[ He's seen peeks of those scars today and more of them in the videos, but to see them in person lets him get a more personal gauge of the severity of Mollymauk's accident. It looks like unblemished skin was the last concern of the surgeons, and yet ... the scars work well. They suit Mollymauk in the same way his lavish clothes do, just another addition to the framework of the guy. ]

I think it's good that you don't allow people to edit them out of your photos. This remade 'you' is bold fellow and I commend his choices.

[ Saluting with coffee, holding eye-contact. ]

Why, thank you!

[ He gives a little mock bow, gesturing with his latte and smiling brightly back at Fjord. ]

If they want me for something, they get me. There are a lot of people out there without scars, so it makes little sense to edit out my trademark.

[ Another sip - the coffee here was really good and he might be a little nervous as well. Stupid, honestly. This was going so well! ]

...and if it helps anyone to see them, then I'm happy about that, too. A lot of people reach out to me when they have issues and I tell them that it's never too late to change.

[ Molly sounds passionate, a little smile there that says that he really likes what he does. Even if most of his fans are there for the thirst, others see a role model or a spark of hope. ]

[ Fjord chins a hand as he listens to Molly, stirring his coffee with eyes resting on the tiefling. There's a lot of showiness to him that Fjord finds alluring, especially the confidence that slaps you in the face and forces you to pay attention, but ... Mollymauk is soft too, he has a thoughtfulness toward other people that warms Fjord's heart and reassures him this isn't (just) the shallow cucumber-throating thot he watched last night.

Molly looks prettier by day, lively and clever.

Oh no thinks Fjord, feeling a swoop of some emotion in his belly. Whereas it was full of anxiously writhing snakes before, now it feels too light and empty. ]

What you do, using your platform to help people ... That's really very kind of you, I don't know if you hear that often, but. It is.

I want to leave things better than I found them, even if it just means some colorful pictures and smiles.

[ Fjord's so sweet like that, listening intently and looking like he was enjoying their conversation. It makes Molly's heart warm as well, because someone listening to a person's passions with interest like that... they were a good person.

It hits him that maybe this could be something more than just a fling. ]

Can I ask what you did before your accident?

[ Since they had dipped into his. ]

[ Leaving things better than you found them, that's a good motto.

He sets his drink down and thumbs the handle as Molly asks more about him, quickly trying to figure out how to soften the story for someone he doesn't want to scare away, then wondering why on earth he feels like he should. ]

I swam. I was training for the Olympics but the coach I had worked me like a dog, from sunrise until quite literally sunset, but there's only so much strain the body can take before something snaps. Turns out, that was the muscles in my leg and hip. I didn't have enough fat on my body and the ligaments were wearing away at themselves with nothing else to burn off, so one evening I felt a terrific pain in my leg and almost drowned.

[ He hitches up a smile and a shrug, trying to lighten the imagery. ]

Another coach who happened to be at the pool saw what happened and pulled me out when mine wouldn't, Vandren was the one who helped set me up with physio. He saw how bad I was.

[ Fjord genuinely thinks, in hindsight, Uk'otoa would have let him drown that night. ]

[ Molly waits patiently, fully okay with Fjord just saying no and just go from there. The half-orc does share, though, and it's nasty to hear that someone could work another person to the point of their body breaking down.

...and then not helping them quick enough? Really shitty. ]

What an asshole, that other trainer. I'm glad you got out of that, even if it must have been a passion.

[ A love for something should build you up, not wear you down. Literally, in this case. ]

It sounds like it must have been a lot of work to recover from, too. I remember thinking I made no progress for a long time.

That's how it felt, yeah. [ It's nice they have that common thread linking them. ] I met other people who were at the centre for different types of therapy, though. They're my friends. Caleb has a cat for a working animal, he has anxiety, Beau was in for anger issues, and I met Jester because she's Beau's girlfriend. Oh, and Nott. She's Caleb's ... something, I'm honestly still not sure. They're good people.

[ He doesn't know whether to offer the next part up, but it's probably the sort of thing you get out the way on a first date. ]

I got out of a relationship around the time of my physio, she lost interest. Complete bitch, actually, so no great loss there. That was, ah, the last time I was involved.

Oh, what a bitch. Famedigger, I bet.

[ Someone only in it to be the girlfriend to an Olympic athlete. But pretty half-orc swung both ways, that was nice to know.

...then Molly's brain catches up. ]

Wait, you know Jester and Beau?

[ He severely doubted that there were more girlfriends with those names. ]

Cute blue tiefling and kind of a bitch human with a heart of gold?

Uh, yes? [ Whaaaat is happening. ] I wouldn't call Beau a bi— actually, no, you're right. She's awkward as fuck at the worst times, yeah.

How do you know them?

Oh fuck, Zadash is so little sometimes!

[ He chuckles, smiling at Fjord with even more interest, now. (If that was even possible.) ]

Jessie and I do a lot of collaborations together, she's hamsterunicorn on instagram. She introduced me to her mom, so I got some work there, and we hang out for ice cream on Thursdays. She's the sweetest and almost like a sister.

[ He's immediately curious to know more about this relationship and how long they've been friends. ]

Beau I got to know through Jester and we have this game going in where we act like we hate eachother but would die for eachother if needed. She's a trash person and I love her.

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