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Der Tod ([info]touto_kaka) wrote in [info]labyrinth_rpg,
@ 2009-05-10 19:37:00

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Entry tags:armand, arrival, complete, day nine, der tod

Day 9 Arrival
WHO: Der Tod & Armand
WHEN: Day 9 Predawn
WHAT: Der Tod does not approve of this strange place
WHERE: On the empty streets of the City
RATING: PG-13 to be safe
STATUS: Complete



It made no sense. Finally, finally she wanted to die. Asked him to take her even. And he'd refused. Why, how could she keep resisting him? Everything he'd done had been to show her how much better off she'd be with him, and it still hadn't worked! Foolish, blind, stubborn, infuriating woman.

He loved her all the more for it.

So he couldn't take her, not until she returned his love. Instead he pushed her away, and stalked off, leaving the Empress to sob on the floor of her son's tomb. He couldn't help smirking a bit at the irony of that. Rudolf had been such a useful tool, so earnest and trusting.

Der Tod closed his eyes briefly to make the mental twist that would transfer him back to the lands of the dead. When he opened them again, instead of his mist and shadow cloaked realm, he was in a strange alleyway that looked out on a strange fair-type place. He held perfectly still for a long moment, taking the measure of his surroundings. This was not the lands of the dead, and more worrisome, he couldn't sense his realm. He made the mental twist again, but found himself still standing in the same place. A low hiss of annoyance escaped unbidden from his lips. Something was very, very wrong here.

Four long strides took him out of the alley and onto a wider street. It was still dark wherever he was, but predawn dark, not night dark. Not exactly a time when many humans were out, but he could sense them nearby, mostly sleeping. There were several odd presences that piqued his interest, however there were significantly fewer people than he would have expected from the apparent size of this place. His lip curled back in a snarl as he looked around. This place was almost sickeningly alive.

He could feel someone approaching, so he schooled his expression into one of more innocent confusion, and started heading towards the person. 'Accidentally' running into someone would be the easiest way to figure out what was going on after all.


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[info]touto_kaka
2009-05-11 02:06 pm UTC (link)
Der Tod's hand stayed a precise millimeter away from the other man's skin as he slowly traced the man's jawline. His eyes took on a far more speculative as Armand introduced himself and dropped the child act. He was used to rapt attention, and even awe. In a way it was comforting to get such reactions from this man - it served to push Elisabeth's continued refusal into something closer to proper perspective.

There seemed to be little need to conceal who he was, and it would at least be amusing to see the reaction. "I am Der Tod" he said with a smile and half a step backwards so he could offer a very slight yet proper bow. "All belong to me eventually"

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[info]vagabond_child
2009-05-11 02:34 pm UTC (link)
Armand didn't know Der Tod's thoughts, he couldn't read them, but he did catch just the slightest hint of satisfaction. Narrowing his eyes, he concentrated, tried to break into his mind, compel him. But it seemed to be all for nothing. A hint of a frown touched his full lips, but then he shook it off.

"Belong to you? No, I belong to one person, one being in this world or any other, and it is not you." He smiled slightly, and when Der Tod stepped back, he followed. Greatly daring, he raised his hand and softly, very, very softly, let his fingers brush over pale skin.

Something was nagging at him, but the name Der Tod meant nothing to him. Still, he felt like he should know this one, like he had met him before... twice, actually. Lost in thought, he just stood there for awhile, hand on Der Tod's face, trying to figure this out. "Why do I know you?" It was said softly, almost too softly for a mortal to hear.

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[info]touto_kaka
2009-05-11 04:24 pm UTC (link)
Oh now Der Tod was very amused. He allowed the touch, just to see what Armand would do. The confusion on the other man's face was a familiar expression. In fact, almost everything about this exchange was becoming exceedingly familiar, except for one very important fact. They weren't in the lands of the dead.

He heard the whisper of course, and caught the other man's hand with his own. "All belong to me eventually" he said with equal softness. "For I am Death"

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[info]vagabond_child
2009-05-11 05:04 pm UTC (link)
The touch was gentle, really, exploring, testing. Greatly wondering at the fear he felt, since he was really scared of remarkably little, his fingers traced the pale, smooth skin, nose, cheekbones, even ghosting lightly over his lips. Like a blind person, somehow able to see through touch, he brushed his fingertips over all the skin of Der Tod's face.

He felt the emotions of this being, but not clearly, and this alternately infuriated him and intruiged him. But that was nothing to the shot of pure emotion that went through him as he identified himself.

Lestat wouldn't have believed him, but Armand was slightly more trusting... one might almost say gullible. It didn't occur to him for even a second not to believe he was just what he said. He felt a moment of pure terror, followed my exaltation. "Oh, Death! But you have no power over me, my beautiful God!"

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[info]touto_kaka
2009-05-11 08:22 pm UTC (link)
Der Tod held perfectly still - unnaturally so - as Armand's fingers traced gently over his face. His eyes danced with amusement and he gently brushed back a lock of Armand's hair as he watched the emotions play over the other man's face.

He raised a single arched eyebrow at being called a god and shook his head slightly. "I am no god." he said, though it was obvious he enjoyed the comparison. He ran the back of his fingers down Armand's face and neck very lightly, almost teasingly. "I never claimed I had power over you. But what is it that makes you so sure?"

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[info]vagabond_child
2009-05-11 08:34 pm UTC (link)
Armand's fingers had stopped moving, but they didn't drop away. As he slowly came back to himself, he shook his head a little, allowed the man to brush his hair back, and decided that he was glad he hadn't tried to drink from him. But as a vampire, he'd had an inherent lack of desire to do that, like something inside him had realized that it would be a bad idea.

"What else is Death, my darling, if not a Dark God?" He looked thoughtful for a moment, and shifted his fingers from Der Tod's face to his hair, delighting in the sensual pleasure of feeling the strands slip through his fingers. "A Dark God to those who meet you, to those whom you greet. Death is no friend of mine."

And yet, he didn't move away. He stayed right where he was, his eyes large and thoughtful, wary, but no longer scared. "But I need never die, you know. That's why you have no power over me. Five centuries ago, I almost came into your embrace because of the handsome English lord. But Marius saved me, and unless I am very stupid, I can live forever. Even the sun couldn't kill me."

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[info]touto_kaka
2009-05-12 06:04 am UTC (link)
Der Tod laughed at Armand's confidence. "I am rarely anyone's friend" he said, still stroking the other man's hair. This man was so sure he'd never die, so assured in his own fragile mortality it was amusing.

"I am a patient lord" he said, sliding his hand around and down to the base of Armand's neck. "And death can be very... appealing" He closed the last breath of distance between them and oh-so-gently pressed his lips to Armand's, again attempting to make the mental twist to pull them both into the lands of the dead.

Nothing happened.

Der Tod noticed immediately of course, and jerked backwards, shoving Armand away. His lip curled off his teeth as his eyes shone with bright, overwhelming anger. "What are you?" he hissed. "What is this place?"

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[info]vagabond_child
2009-05-12 01:14 pm UTC (link)
The vampire shook his head. He knew deep down that he was right on this, that since he'd made it past his first 500 years, chances were very, very good that he would be one of the ancients, like Marius, Pandora, Mael, and the rest of them. There was no reason for him to die, and as time went on, it would become more and more nearly impossible to kill him.

He pulled back suddenly once he realized that Der Tod intended to kiss him, but it was too late. Their lips met, and Armand felt a wrench deep inside him. Painful, yet somehow bittersweet, he gasped, pulled away strongly enough that it very easily could have broken the hand that held him, were he a mortal, and then he glared at him.

"How dare you! To think, you just tried to... kill me, didn't you? I told you, I need not ever die! What nerve!" He stepped closer, his hands clenching with his anger. "Was that what you tried to do, kill me with a kiss? I am immortal! If the fiery sun couldn't kill me, what makes you think you can? You have no dominion over me, Death!"

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[info]touto_kaka
2009-05-12 01:35 pm UTC (link)
Der Tod turned away, unconcerned with Armand's outburst. Boy couldn't even bother to be creative in his indignation. He gave half a shrug, and lifted a single hand dismissively. "Does it matter?" he asked, looking around "This... place had no connection to my realm."

He walked off a few paces to lean against the wall of one of the buildings. This was all wrong. Too few people. No connection to the lands of the dead. Strange people who weren't alive, but not dead.

"What is this place?" he asked, to no one in particular.

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[info]vagabond_child
2009-05-12 06:02 pm UTC (link)
Armand was obviously infuriated. It showed in every motion he made, in his expression, it was just not possible to mistake it. He followed Der Tod over to the building, and his casual posture only enraged the vampire further. He treated this so casually, when he'd just tried to kill him! It was very hard for him to imagine being more upset than he was.

"It matters to me! Once I would have welcomed your embrace, but now, I do not wish death. I have no use for Hell, not since Lestat told me what it was like. I will live my damned life, and if you ever try to do that again, I will do my best to kill you, however impossible that might be!"

Glaring, he nevertheless took a deep breath, mostly calmed down. Mostly. Enough that he could answer Der Tod's question. "This... is the Underground. King Jareth has brought us here to entertain him, as far as I can tell." A sudden, vicious smirk found its way onto his beautiful features. "You can't kill here, you know. Oh, but isn't that precious? A Death who may not kill. Jareth, I think you just won me over!"

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[info]touto_kaka
2009-05-12 08:31 pm UTC (link)
Der Tod turned his head very slowly, and just enough to catch Armand's gaze. "There are many fates worse than death" he said, his tone clearly implying he knew them all. He pushed off the wall with one smooth motion and walked down the street with deliberate grace. Outside, he was the picture of calm - completely unruffled. Internally... he was seething. Robbed of his function, his power, his... He stopped a moment, and made another mental twist, this one to summon his normal cadre of black angels. Somehow he wasn't surprised when nothing happened. Robbed even of his minions. Someone was going to have to pay for this indignity.

But he was not one to let his emotions overrule his actions. Not usually at least.
"Peasant, Priest, Emperor" Empress... "Or King. They all come to me eventually." He stopped again and looked back over his shoulder. "Your paltry playing at immortality doesn't bother me, so please cease flouncing. It's unbecoming"

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[info]vagabond_child
2009-05-12 09:29 pm UTC (link)
Armand shook his head. "My fate is not one of them. I have wanted to die, yes, I will not deny that. But that phase of my life is over. No longer do I feel the need to sacrifice myself, not anymore. As Der Tod walked away, Armand contemplated letting him go. After all, he had tried to kill him. Why should he associate with him any more than he had to? But he caught a glimpse of Der Tod's thoughts, his emotions, and it intruiged him enough to have him following.

"I will not, you know." He tilted his head to the side as he fell into step with the man. "And I know that you're simply annoyed because you can't summon your... angels or whatever, and you can't go home. I know this, so you can stop pretending that you don't feel these things. I know you can." He nodded. "I can help you, but you're going to have to stop acting the way you are. Don't try to kill me again."

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[info]touto_kaka
2009-05-13 06:07 am UTC (link)
Der Tod didn't stop walking, but he did slow down enough to let Armand fall into step. He didn't look at the other man, however, and it seemed for a long moment he barely registered the other presence. Instead he was thinking, his mind rolling with the frustration and rage. Who would dare attempt to imprison him? And how was it even possible? He was Death, none could deny him the ability to go where he pleased! And to top it all off he seemed to be saddled with this rather annoyingly arrogant young man.

"I think we've established I can't kill you" Der Tod said with deliberate slowness. An unspoken here trailed off on the end of the sentence. He sighed, mostly for effect, as a signal that this was all growing far too tiresome far to quickly. "I don't need your help, I need..." His heart clenched painfully. What he needed was Elisabeth, and she was not here. She was even further from his grasp now than ever, and the loss pained in ways he still couldn't explain. The endless dance of love and death he thought bitterly before pushing the thought aside. "...I need basic information" he finished. He glanced sideways, the first real acknowledgment of Armand's presence. "There are others here I could ask"

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[info]vagabond_child
2009-05-13 11:51 am UTC (link)
The vampire gasped softly as he felt the waves of anger coming off this strange being. He sort of dimly thought that maybe he was getting better at reading them, but mostly, he was trying to deal with the feelings that weren't even his. Once his mental shields were about halfway up, blocking the brunt of it, he felt better. He missed the thought about himself being arrogant, however, which either would have made him very angry, or laugh. Or both.

Anyway, Armand might have had something to say about arrogance. Of course, perhaps Der Tod was entitled. And wouldn't he, Armand, feel a little annoyed if he was Death, and all-powerful, and then met someone that couldn't be killed, ever? So his smile as he looked at the man was compassionate, almost, showing just how changeable the vampire could be.

"Elisabeth? That is a pretty name." He caught the thought out of nowhere, and almost didn't even realize that Der Tod hadn't said it out loud. "And basic information is help, my dear one. Yes, you could find someone else, but I'm here, and I can tell that everyone else that is in this area is still sleeping. You can't go into their rooms here, you know. It's impossible. There are rules."

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[info]touto_kaka
2009-05-13 02:38 pm UTC (link)
Der Tod stopped suddenly and turned to face Armand. "You will stop that right now" he said, eyes narrowed. He'd caught that the other man was picking up on his emotions, and thoughts even, but had let it slide. However this strange man was doing it was of little concern to the lord of the dead. A minor bit of human trickery or some such. But to pick up on Elisabeth? And to have the gall to mention it?

"It is a beautiful name" he said "And not one you need to be commenting on."

He debated moving on, ignoring Armand completely. There was nothing he needed to know that couldn't wait until someone less... persistent was awake. But there was something still something vaguely amusing about this one's arrogance, and that was something that could be used. Der Tod might not be able to fulfill his function here, but there was no need to refuse potential tools if offered. So he smiled, very slightly, and bowed his head, also very slightly.
"As you say. Minor... help then. You say this place has rules?"

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[info]vagabond_child
2009-05-13 08:11 pm UTC (link)
When his companion stopped, Armand did as well, and faced him boldly. The demand caught him completely off guard. He'd been spending a lot of time around telepaths, people who knew he could read minds, and it almost seemed normal to be able to do it at will, unconcerned. Nor did he particularly care to stop doing it, and his laughter showed his inclinations.

"I will not stop. Unless, of course, you wish to stop being rude to me. Then, we may discuss that." In truth, he could only get vague senses, the occasional surface thought, but that was certainly enough to annoy someone, obviously.

"Elisabeth...a common name in Elizabethan England." He should know. He was there. But he changed directions when called back to his task. He was supposed to be the welcome wagon, apparently. "Rules. You can't go into anyone's room, our King does not allow that." A twist of his lips showed how he thought about Jareth in general, and that rule in specific. "You can't leave. And you can't kill." The last one got a bit of a smug look.

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[info]touto_kaka
2009-05-14 06:05 am UTC (link)
England. A common name. Of course. This man knew nothing of the Empress, knew nothing of the agony that infuriating, wonderful woman put him through. That thought was enough for Der Tod to let Armand's obvious mockery slide. It grated though, and everything in his bearing reflected a cold, cold disapproval. Not that he really expected Armand to get the hint, but it was the principle of the thing.

Still, he would play along. Be a polite and gracious lord. His mouth quirked up into a sarcastic smile at the rather inane rules of this place, even though he still seethed a bit internally. Who - what - was this King Jareth that he could enforce such rules?
"We've established I can't kill" he said with mild sarcasm in response to Armand's smug look. There was no reason the man had to keep rubbing it in. "That's it? I would have thought this 'King' would have had... more interesting rules"

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[info]vagabond_child
2009-05-14 12:35 pm UTC (link)
Empress... one word coming out of the oddly impenetrable mass of Der Tod's mind. Armand's eyes widened, but he, perhaps wisely, chose to say nothing. After all, it was just one word. And the accompanying emotion that went along with it was strong, complex, and sort of made his head feel like it wanted to hurt. So he left that alone. He didn't have nearly the level of curiousity that some of the vampires in his world had, after all.

The change in attitude was appreciated, and Armand, always stupidly easy to please, smiled brightly. It really took remarkably little to placate him. "No. We can't leave, we can't go into anyone's room without being invited, we can't kill." He stood on his tiptoes, then shrugged and rose up into the air a couple of feet. He was short. He needed to do that to be able to see much.

"The labyrinth, over there..." Still floating about five feet off the air, he pointed to ea large stone wall. "Complete it, and Jareth has implied we may leave, if we wish. Though, he never actually said as much... just said perhaps."

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[info]touto_kaka
2009-05-14 12:56 pm UTC (link)
Der Tod didn't miss how much a shred of politeness, even tinged with mockery, made the other man almost giddy. It was an interesting reaction, and a useful one. So he favored Armand with another smile, this one less sarcastic appearing.

"Simple rules then. Good" Granted, they were probably the most infuriating rules he'd ever encountered, but that didn't matter. He followed Armand's gaze, though his feet remained firmly rooted to the ground. He had not need for such petty tricks after all. It was enough to know there was a labyrinth. He'd find it for himself later.

"This... Jaerth. Is it possible to arrange an audience?"

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[info]vagabond_child
2009-05-14 02:38 pm UTC (link)
Oh, this was going much better! Armand was practically beaming as he set down on the ground again, and was obviously much more pleased. Maybe it was because he'd only been 17 when he was turned, and he'd never had much in the way of people showing respect for him, but it worked on him like a drug would.

"Yes. Other than that, my new friend, the sky is the limit. It is a cage, but it's pretty, isn't it?" He looked around at the snow-covered landscape. "Merry Christmas, by the way. I doubt it's really the time of Christ's birth, but who cares?" He turned back to Der Tod.

"Oh, you must find your room!"

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[info]touto_kaka
2009-05-14 03:07 pm UTC (link)
Oh yes, this was working quite nicely. Armand seemed almost as desperate for positive attention as Rudolf had been. If nothing else he would provide an interesting diversion. Der Tod cared little for the appearance of his surrounds but he nodded appreciatively at Armand's comment.

"A beautifully gilded cage indeed. And Christmas?" A mortal holiday that managed to interest him less than most, but he would feign interest. "Certainly the perfect weather for it." He didn't feel the cold, at least not as something that affected him personally, but it did seem rather appropriate.

"My... room?" he asked. It hadn't really occurred to him that he'd need a place to stay here. Then again, he planned to stay as little time as possible.

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[info]vagabond_child
2009-05-14 03:50 pm UTC (link)
"Christmas, can you imagine?" His eyes turned dreamy as he looked up at the sky. "And the presents I got are just unbelievable. How did Jareth know about the egg, the ikon? It was almost infuriating.

"Oh, well. Our King is whimsical, at best." He shook his head clear of his thoughts. "Yes. You must find your room. There's a desk in the main building, come with me."

With that, he turned on his heel and started walking through the snow. The cold didn't bother him in the slightest, though, being a vampire, he prefered warmth. But he was quite comfortable, really.

"Oh, yes. I forgot before. You can see Jareth, if you want... you just have to run his foolish Labyrinth." He sneered in its direction, but honestly, was fully intending to do it himself, once the snow cleared up.

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