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Throuple: Merak
Part 1: Crazy Little Thing I Read

Preface

While reading parts of and cringing at Death Cut, I started to get the itch to do a Jacob part. I probably need to practice with the character anyways since the scenario I finished with him and Ma was a long time ago. While that one was a rearrangement of posts with filler to have them connect and make more sense with an ending added on, this is likely a rewrite in which I take post elements, some quotes, and maintain the events since I am trying to keep it either fully in or mostly in Jacob’s perspective and have the events make sense from the starting point.

This particular scene stands out because it’s basically when the universe finally gives Jacob a really good bone and is possibly the best or happiest 24 hours he’s ever had in his 3000 something year existence and leads to happier days for him. If this is not the best until then, it’s certainly in his top 5. The other potential contenders (that I can think of from what I know of his history) might be finding the hidden realm he calls home and realizing that he can claim it, realizing that the location cannot be extracted from him in one of the times he’s captured, escaping the Niearcim realm the first time (though I imagine he was too traumatized to feel such joy at the time), the first time he thought a world was saved from the same fate as his, or any of the times the Healed One’s notes helped him, such as in clearing up his head and stopping his random visions and curse induced nightmares. This starts a few hours into that day.

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Jacob was both nervous and excited as he prepared to open a portal into the Void from the Soul Fortress to then open another portal in the Void to take his vampires back to his home and see what Arak had found. Nervous because he was taking Veni and Rosemary to see his realm for the first time and many of the demons that lived there had never met the two. Nervous because he recently had a demon induced hallucination that they died when he took them there for the first time. Excited because the little bug Arak had told him she found more papers from the Healed One. Fortunately, the excitement over shadowed the nerves.

What new spell would he discover on the pages or even a hint to the next step? Previous discoveries from this once cursed like him mage had healed him of his madness. This was why he called this unmet and unnamed savior Healed One. Back then Jacob had gone in and out of horrid hallucinations and barely dared to sleep for the night-terrors were even worse. These were some of the first things he managed to remove from the multiple symptoms of his curse.

Today was so far a turning out to be a wonderful day after yesterday in which he had been caught in an illusion that convinced him that his hidden home was compromised and everyone was dead; these two murdered as he watched, too far away to save them. All the people he cared for most and the home he made for himself were gone again by the same cultist group who took it from him the first time. Rosemary and her girl worked so hard and carefully to get through to him and calm him enough to show him that reality wasn’t real. And when he woke up from the illusion, he was stabbed multiple times until he passed out as the demon tried to kill him. He was relieved the nightmare of yesterday wasn’t real.

In retrospect it was like the hallucinations he used to have; realistic and convincing him that the fantasy was the reality while the reality was fantasy, tormenting him to his core. He had to be careful, to doubt when something so horrid happened, because he could have really killed these two in his madness. Try to remember in such instances that Rosemary was also currently an angel so she at least could possibly come back to him…like she did in the illusion…but… Veni won’t… I'm really glad they're not dead. After all this time, I'd miss them so much...

This thought he kept having today surprised him. In the grand scope of his life, they were so far an instant. He only knew them a few years. During that time, he wanted to protect them like everyone else, and also tried to gain an understanding of what they were capable of to potentially use them as allies since they kept beating back powerful foes. He hadn’t tried to know them intimately at first. Everyone moved on. Even the demons he’s known for almost all his life would eventually age out while he could live on to the end of days, saying goodbye to everyone eventually. But vampires don’t age out to his knowledge; they’re killed or grew tired of living. Would they even want to live so long?

The necromancer had only recently put effort to know the two better, more intimately. More like knowing them was forced upon him. He always loathed to see anyone fall into that damned demon’s clutches. This time a whole vampire group would have if he did nothing, and he blamed himself for their situation.

Rosemary had been captured helping him help Galantros and was poisoned or infected in a sense by Jiluzix’s blood. That infection was already seeping into her maker and would then have found its way into the others connected to him. Slowly driving them mad, eating away their will until they served the demon.

Jacob had a hunch that he could counter that with his own blood. The two of them warned him that they might desire and need to be around him more and he might desire to be around them. They warned him that he might experience their joys and sorrows. They warned him about many things.

He didn’t care, he would deal with it. Whatever it took, just as long as that detestable existence didn’t claim them or Rosemary who was suffering enough from being commanded like a puppet, begging them to stop her, forced to kill two angel allies who fortunately had the ability to eventually come back, heaven willing, and almost succeeded in killing Galantros. Galantros, one of the few people in existence she definitely didn't want to kill even with her nature.

They urged him to stay with them the first few days in case something unexpected happened from them having powerful necromancer blood and he was needed. Jacob hadn’t listened to this last one, attending a meeting he thought to be more important, and almost regretted it for something did happen (One Who Made Me; hello Cian) and he could have lost them as a result. Afterwards they insisted on knowing him more personally and Jacob complied, blaming himself for not listening and being there. Failing them almost yet again.

Soon he discovered he wouldn’t have been able to easily avoid knowing at least one of them more intimately with how his and Rosemary’s thoughts easily mingled, some of the imagery merging. He brought more books and supplies and lived in that world with them for months. They picked some books spanning many topics and genres from their libraries for him to read to be more familiar with the world. This helped him feel like he was still working even though many were more for reading pleasure. He was shocked at the first romance novel (The Lusty Scoundrel) they snuck into the pile that they pretended was accidental, but it happened more than once and eventually became a guilty pleasure of his when found in his reading pile.

They insisted upon spending a few hours a night with him, taking him to the roof of Veni's drive-in-theater sometimes. He still brought reading materials; they introduced headphones to try to get him to pay attention or maybe thought he couldn't hear it. Eventually he watched the movies and became more immersed in their activities, but still thought about whatever it was he was working on. Instead of seeing it as disruptive now, he looked forward to the disruption. Veni now had him playing card games and board games with him. Then when they laid to rest, Jacob started to stay with them longer; well beyond when he was sure Rosemary would sleep peacefully.

Even though he was determined to deal with it, he still wasn’t prepared for all the new experiences over those months. They made sure he ate regularly even if they could really only do snacks like cutting fruit, cheese, dried salami, and crackers or canned soup. It was at first annoying having them force him to pause in his readings to get him to eat, reminding him that if he wasn’t as well as he possibly could then they might not be well; what if his affinity now tried to drain their stamina to recover himself some? Then they might become volatile, tempted to harm others to recover when they didn't need to otherwise. Thus, he acquiesced.

He saw what Veni was like when he was badly sunburned and injured, he would have attacked anyone suitable for their blood. He was more aware of their hungry eyes from his constant bleeding. He experienced the thoughts Rosemary tried to control but were often there without her realizing it when she started to fancy hunting him. He found that she did this with everyone, even the ones she had no intention of killing; sometimes he'd be mesmerized by that thought too until he pulled out of it, realizing it was her. He wondered if and how common these thoughts were with his friendly demons. This was actually a good indication to him of when he needed to eat because it happened less when he did.

Jacob soon realized he was an idiot for ignoring basic needs such as eating regularly over his life. He felt better now that he ate and slept even when he started being their regular food source because he realized they felt livelier and less stressed when they had people over the blood bags. They had been abstaining from hunting while he was around.

He was caught off guard by all the pleasant sensations he realized he had never experienced nor could remember experiencing anything similar. He thought he could ignore it. They teased him for it, enjoying his surprised reactions, getting his pulse up. One enjoyed teasing him and testing his nerves a bit more than the other but had toned down on the teasing more and more as the necromancer’s discomfort of him grew.

As the teasing one spoke with the Soul Guider, Veni messed up his collar a little when he scratched his neck revealing some healing teeth marks. Jacob smiled a little and could feel a slight bit of red creeping on his face. The realistic dream he had earlier that day of waking next to them made him realize it felt just as "embarrassingly nice" to have Veni there and touch his hair as it did with Rosemary.

The end of the dream had shocked him awake and he was flustered, waking Rosemary. But instead of being offended or chastising him for his inappropriate thoughts about the couple from the dream, Rosemary hugged him from behind and kissed his neck in the undamaged patch of skin she normally fed from and asked, “are you going to be okay? Don’t be too embarrassed about it.”

To his relief Veni was already out of the room. Though he said he would be okay at the time, he didn’t feel like it. The images from the dream were playing in his mind and he found himself intrigued by them, his mind forming half-finished thoughts about the couple that he quickly squashed. He was embarrassed and nervous to have them. Normally Rosemary scoffed at others for such thoughts of her, desiring to kill or torture the offenders in some way. Yet now he didn’t feel any scorn from her, just amusement and an attempt to ease his nerves.

During his evening breakfast Jacob was embarrassed and self-conscious at being around so many people and creatures who could read some aspect of whatever he was going through. This normally didn’t trouble him, he was used to this, but today he was mortified on what they might pick up; especially the half-incubus.

Rosemary no doubt silently told Veni what happened for the vampire suddenly looked surprised and smiled differently than he usually did with a lack of his usual mischief as he drank the blood he put into a coffee cup, mimicking everyone else who drank coffee. So you do like us both about the same in all ways...I'm glad...

Those words he thought he heard from Veni threw Jacob into a loop and the next normal words out of his mouth sounded high to him like he hit puberty. His manner was so out of character that even Galantros asked him if he was alright and commented on his weird behavior to which Jacob insisted that all he needed was his tea. Soon the incubus hybrid reaper left and the three of them were alone in the kitchen. Jacob broke down laughing at how ridiculous he thought he was acting and Veni kept him laughing with silly comments and food jokes. Fortunately, it wasn't a rib shattering day otherwise it would have been excruciating.

Alzamus unintentionally added to it when he appeared. The laughter soon died down when some soldiers came and asked questions about the ordeal of yesterday and gave Rosemary a card that allowed her to purchase more potent weapons; an idea the necromancer had planted into Alzamus’s and the Soul Guiders' head who then worked to get it for her. She was both happy and downhearted about needing such things.

After Jacob had his evening breakfast and they had discussed the events of yesterday, it was time for Rosemary’s breakfast. Veni watched, appearing pensive, while Rosemary put her mouth to the other man’s throat to feed off him to repair their link. Jacob didn’t want her to be vulnerable longer than necessary. He had pushed her away too hard in his grieving madness.

The necromancer enjoyed the feel of her hands on his back as she drew him in closer. A moment before this he had surprised both of them when he planted a kiss on her throat having misinterpreted something she said. Neither of them responded negatively to it, just surprise. Rosemary indicated that he could do that if he wanted to; while Veni had expressed amusement that Jacob did that in front of him. At first he thought he errored, but when neither retaliated and waited to see what he’d do he gained courage and did it again and guided her face to his throat. It still stung for him to do, but it felt nice to kiss her himself and she seemed to not mind it.

While he received a little courage from their favorable response, he reached over to Veni to stroke his arm, things from the dream coming to mind. He wondered if he actually wanted to pull the guy over to his other side, or just let his hand continue to go up to touch his hair like it was currently doing. He had thoughts forming of something he wanted to try but not quite clear enough to verbalize it. He’d be too embarrassed to anyways.

Veni moved closer as if he read Jacob’s thoughts, which was possible but unlikely. A smile appeared on the vampire’s face for a moment as Jacob ran his fingers through the vampire’s hair. Veni’s expression shifted to the unusual one he had earlier… He put his finger on Jacob’s mouth as if he was shushing him, the finger slid to the side of his cheek and stroked it, and, instead of pulling Jacob closer as he did in the dream, he slowly leaned in and gently kissed his damaged lips fully playing out the end of the necromancer’s dream for him. The reality was better than he felt in the dream.

The thought finished forming as Jacob felt the pleasantry of Rosemary’s vampire kiss and he asked Veni if he would like to feed too. Something less human passed through Veni’s eyes as soon as he was asked. He was immediately excited by the idea of biting Jacob while Rosemary was already at it, and she was intrigued. Jacob could already feel him numbing his senses and coming from the two of them it was nice. Veni tested touching an injured spot with his lips since the areas available to the vampire was on Jacob’s more injured side.

The resulting sensation of both vampires draining him was intense and wonderful, much better than a cleansing ritual, making him forget the constant throbbing soreness of his body even when they touched a sore spot. For once he didn’t care that he couldn’t think clearly and enjoyed blacking out a little from the blood loss; feeling completely relaxed. And when he started to think a little clearer, he was holding both of them tightly, hands rubbing their backs, neither pushing him away.

Instead, they were talking about other things that they could try together on a human who wouldn’t die from blood loss. Mostly Veni was anyways, Rosemary had not really considered the possibility before, but she was now and it stirred an excitement that she was somewhat struggling with. All sounded pleasing and Jacob wanted to try those too which calmed her nerves since he didn't find it disagreeable. At that moment he didn't care... it felt good, and it felt right for whatever reason.

Soon after Jacob had a taste of blood from Rosemary, and he felt her presence as it should be so that he could protect her from the vial Jiluzix if the creature forced blood down her throat again. He turned his attention to Veni. He wanted to show him that he wasn’t bothered by his own insecurities of the other male anymore, not just agreeing to allow him to bite him anywhere in the future but wanting him to, and to further show it he pressed his teeth against the attractive vampire’s neck. Rosemary’s thoughts guided him on how to do it, until he got a little taste of blood, and started to suckle on it. Blood wasn’t the worst taste for Jacob as he constantly tasted his own blood from his wounded face. She advised him to not think about what he wanted to do, just do it and he did. Veni squirmed in delight in his arms.

Veni’s reaction at the time as he kissed the wound and let his hand drift down the vampire’s back until Arak had disturbed him with wonderful news about finding Healed One’s papers and Veni’s demeanor after Jacob had stopped, now so jovial about the news that Jacob suddenly kissed them both, had told Jacob that the vampire had enjoyed it, wanted it again maybe even, and this still made Jacob happy as he caught a glimpse of the almost healed marking from earlier.

Veni meanwhile was bragging to Tiamos about how he got Jacob to laugh good and wonderfully, asking her if she ever heard the necromancer laugh in the centuries she knew him. Tiamos thought about it and said, "Jacob? Laughing? No... I've seen him smile or chuckle a little. Never outright laughing, that certainly is a surprise! May I ask what was so funny that it made you laugh, Jacob?"

"Uhm... I'd rather not say. Oh look, there's the Void..." he thankfully got the portal open at that moment.

“I did something that made him laugh, but I can't seem to figure out what it was. Or maybe he was long overdue for one. What matters is that he actually laughed and will hopefully do it again. Do we really need to know what caused it?” The little devil fibbed.

"No, I suppose not really, thought it would be nice to know. As long as he laughs a little more often from now on..." Tiamos let her voice trail, seeming a little disappointed.

Veni, you know damn well what made me laugh! Mr. ‘Waffle Sticks and Salami’... Veni looked very proud of himself. A twitch of a grin popped up on Jacob's face, and he pretended to clear his throat to try and gain back some control before he started laughing again. The little devil had gotten the necromancer so flustered that he forgot to tell Tiamos the news about more papers being found as he quickly got them to the Void.

One more teleport and finally they were at their destination. They were greeted by a small square house in a green open field with a pond of water in front of them. Behind the house was a larger building. In the distance was a cliff with simple dwellings of many of the demon residents. There were even forests in this manufactured magical realm.

Mister Jacob, you're here! Come here and get these drooling goblins off me! They haven't left me alone since I got back!

Jacob smiled a little, and invited the vampires into his home... His vampires were happy that he remembered this detail.

The house itself was small and very basic. It had a large kitchen and pantry, bathroom, and a single room that functioned as everything else; his study, library, entertainment room (though he did not have much of that sort of thing), and bedroom with a small bed, about the size of a twin bed or smaller, that the demons got him with much insistence.

Arak was on the small bed being swarmed by scythe goblins. "Big dumb goblins, shoo! No, don't drool on me, ew!"

Jacob whistled, and the goblins stopped what they're doing to turn around to him. They immediately rushed him, drooling and licking his hands as he petted them, and shooed them away outside. With them gone, Arak was finally visible.

She was small, and a bit insect-like with a snake-like body almost, except with several bug legs, rising up into a vertical, vaguely humanoid torso. She had a multitude of black eyes that blinked, tendrils slithering out of her mouth just below a line of sharp jutting teeth. Her entire body was covered in a black and red carapace, with sharp looking spines and thorns jutting out of her back. She hissed a bit, hopping off the bed while carrying two sheets of paper in strangely bent limbs. Arak had to hold the papers by bending part of her arm down into a claw like motion, a multitude of small spikes stabbing into the papers, but not through them.

"I wish I was back on that acid planet now, so I could burn this gunk off. I hate goblin drool! Hey, who're the new faces, Mister Jacob?"

“Arak, these are friends of mine, Rosemary and Veni. Rosemary, Veni, this little girl is Arak. Heh... I'll get you some towels, Arak...”

“Hello,” they both said. Veni appeared to consider if he should shake her claw.

Jacob traded towel for papers. His hand trembled with excitement as he looked at them. He quickly took them over to his desk and carefully moved several items to clear a space. He took out several small books from his mountain of them, and quickly flipped to pages, reading rapidly. He began to mutter to himself, looking back and forth, writing notes in a blank notebook. He had a good feeling about this.

He paused, cast a small spell over the sheets that sprinkled the desk with blue glowing dust, then continued to read. "...something... Something about restoration... ingredients list, some of these are a little rare..” Though he said that some of these are a little rare, it wasn’t a problem for him. His quest to help others, including hellish inhabitants, gave him access to most of this. Most recently he now had access to vampire’s blood, a major component and involved in all parts of the spell, and the other parts he needed could be regenerated.

“'...I shall now reveal the methods to help restore one's self. This is only a single step in the trials and struggles faced to remove the infernal Niearcim curse... The process is brief, but exhausting. Seek spirits of a kind nature...'" He began to trail off, his attention completely drawn to what he was reading. After a while he started to rummage through his belongings in his room, picking up a few spell books, vials of various liquids, and containers.

"I've got to try this myself, see if it works. The past several ones have all worked before, so this one should too... I'm not entirely sure what it restores, it doesn't say. That part looked like it was on a separate page..." He felt some alarm from Rosemary from him trying it while missing the details. He ignored her alarm. The spell wouldn’t hurt him, it would work.

Arak’s feelings aligned with Rosemary’s. "Here we go again..."

"The spells are perfectly safe, Arak..."

"Yeah, sure... like that time the kui'movs told me you botched up the first one?"

Jacob sighed deflating a little as he remembered being blown to bits and after he reformed he hallucinated for days before he was able to try again. “... It's hard to focus when your mind keeps slipping into nightmarish daydreams, Arak."

Veni bolted up from staring at the ceiling on the bed and appeared alarmed. “Oh no you don't! You had better not be planning on casting a mystery spell in the same room as me! What might be safe to you and maybe Rosemary, may not be safe to me. If it's restorative, it might be holy or even something else that might hurt and I refuse to suffer another damn holy spell two nights in a row!” Yesterday, Jacob had pushed Veni in his cat form through a holy barrier. The sensation had left him sobbing in Jacob’s arms. It was either that or risk the speedy vampire’s luck running out and him getting impaled.

“Calm down, Veni.” Veni instantly calmed, but the vampire was still annoyed. Jacob was too distracted to notice that he ordered him to calm. “I wasn't going to cast any spells here. I am going to go out back into the storage building to do it. You can stay in here if you want, look through my spell books and such. I keep the real powerful, nasty books locked away anyway, so feel free to look at whatever you want in here,” he said. (at being given free reign, Veni has a devilish smile Jacob misses.)

Jacob thrust a bowl in front of them. “Can either of you spare about a pint of your blood? It's one of the ingredients I'll need, along with a few other things I got to ask some of the demons out there for..." They looked at him cynically.

“How convenient for you that we just so happen to be here,” said Rosemary sarcastically as Jacob rushed out of the building.

Cynical- from Webster- having or showing a deep distrust of human beings and their motives
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(During this part, while Jacob is casting, Rosemary is wondering why the spell required the use of vampire blood for most of the spell and what it was for. She thought of skills all vampires shared: increased strength, speed, hypnotism of humans, wall walking, gliding, fast regeneration of most wounds... and then what she knew of the other ingredients… and well she actually probably figured it out, but is still surprised by the end result. However since this is Jacob’s view and he’s sort of hyper focused now… the spell casting part is mostly from the original post by GamingLord and barely edited)


As Jacob entered his workshop building, he passed Veni who looked paler than he did a few minutes ago. The vampire paused in licking his wrist to say, “I hope you're right about it being safe and that it won’t really affect whosoever’s blood and parts you are using. Please call for me when you are done.”

The large hallway inside of the building was rather empty and bland. There were numerous doors, and several stairways that lead further down. Certain doors were marked in various symbols, with a few simple locks on them. Going down a couple flights of stairs, there was one door that looked heavily barricaded with various chains, locks, symbols, and small crystals that gave off a magical vibe. It looked so secure, it seemed doubtful that even Dieamos in his natural massive form could even bash the door open.

"That... is where I keep the Niearcim spell books, ancient Hell artifacts, and other such related items. I only have them so I can study them to reverse-engineer some of their curses..." He told Rosemary who carried the bowl of blood for him. She planned to watch him.

Finally reaching a large empty room, and after gathering up everything he needed, Jacob began to carefully lay everything out. The bowl was fuller than expected. Veni had given the necromancer much more blood than he asked for. Before he started the spell, he told Rosemary that no matter what, she must not interfere.

Using a special powder and a bit of his own magical energy, he etched out a large circle on the floor. Painstakingly, he drew various symbols, swirling inward. He poured some of the vampire blood in a smaller bowl, with some grounded up demon parts... he made a mark on his forehead using this mixture, and drank the rest, ignoring the rather undesirable taste.

Crystals were placed at various spots on the outside of the circle, and he gestured for Rosemary to sit away from the circle, making sure she wasn't touching any part of it. He began to chant a few words, over and over again, the syllables becoming a slurred hum in the air after a while, carefully pouring and smearing Veni's blood along the edges of the circle.

A bit of time passed... Jacob had been drawing various symbols in the air for a while with blood on his fingers, sitting in the middle of the circle, and these symbols floated over specific areas. By this point, the room had been filled with ambient magical energy. After finishing one last air-symbol, they all began to glow brightly, revolving around Jacob, and gradually growing nearer. The necromancer took a deep breath, then closed his eyes.

The blood mark on his head glowed a bright red... Rosemary felt something go through her, a presence that left a chill in the air... Wisps of barely visible smoke were shooting through the walls in straight lines and circling around Jacob. All at once, the smoke and the symbols froze where they were, then rushed into Jacob's face.

He was knocked on his back and sucked in air as if he were about to cry out. He twitched, struggling to move as he suddenly levitated above the circle... the markings he made on the floor began to peel themselves off, each one slamming into his body, until only the circle he made remained, glowing with a bright white light. Finally, this came off the floor, leaving it spotless, and tightened around the necromancer.

The result was a loud thundering noise, the entire room going white with light, and Jacob finally yelling. Jacob was on the floor, face down, breathing heavily. (He momentarily blinded and deafened Rosemary with this) He didn't say anything for a long while, just trying to fill his lungs with air.

"Rosemary... ...help me up..."

“I can easily carry you if you want me to,” she said as she bent over and grabbed him to pick him up to his feet.

"Aside from a massive headache, I'm not feeling any different... Still the same aches and pains.... Nnngh. I need to do a few basic spells, see if anything changed."

The necromancer wasn't even able to stay on his feet, needing to lean on Rosemary. As he was about to speak, he grunted in pain, nearly slipping out of Rosemary's grasp. Small shapes were bulging and moving about underneath the exposed muscle on his skull, and all over his skin. They bulged into boils, then burst open. A glowing bluish-purple substance covered Jacob's face and parts of his body. Soon, they had sunk into his flesh and faded. Rosemary suddenly guarded her thoughts from him, and he knew not what was going on.

"...what... what just happened?"

Rosemary stared at his face. “...Umm...” Slowly she sat him back down, and slid her hand up his shirts, under his armor, and felt him where his injuries were. That sensation didn’t feel normal to Jacob; it tickled. Was she clouding his senses? Her features tightened a little and it almost look like she'd cry. Her sad expressions didn’t register, and he was slow to demand why.

She straightened up and demanded to know, “where's a mirror?” She ran off and came back with a broken shard. “That healed one's spell really messed up the face everyone recognizes you for, master. Maybe if you dressed differently, they won't know it is you.”

She moved his hand to touch his previously damaged side and he was surprised at what he felt or rather didn’t feel. “I know you hate seeing your reflection,” she said. Jacob hated seeing his face in the mirror especially when he wasn’t wearing a mask. He had the pleasure of watching his face get ruined in one and stare at it for five days. Rosemary held the reflective object so he could look at himself. “But maybe now you won’t mind so much.” She smiled, very happy for him.

Jacob just stared at his reflection for the longest time, barely having the strength to stay sitting up. She braced him. He felt at his face, his hair, his neck... he blinked both of his eyes a number of times, squeezed them shut for a while, then opened them again. He didn’t recognize himself. He could hardly believe it, but that’s what he saw in the mirror and was what she was seeing. "I... I don't believe it. Ha... haha.. .hahahaaaoow..."

He winced just a bit, holding an area on his side. He glanced down, taking off his armor and pulling up his shirt. It was true, his muscle was no longer exposed, no bones were peeking through. There were a few scars, but new flesh and skin had grown over the nasty and ruined looking areas. It still felt like his side was splitting open, but no blood came from it.

"Ah! I'm still suffering from the pains from the curse, but this... this is wonderful still. My side should have split open and been bleeding by now, but it's not. I'm only feeling the pain..."

He grinned widely and began to laugh a bit hysterically, running his hands through his hair again, still in shock that he looked normal. He suddenly stopped after a while. Did his wounds still heal? "No, wait, wait... I need to make sure of something..."

He took out his dagger, and made a superficial scratch on his chest, drawing some blood. He then pressed his fingers around the wound, poking and prodding for something. A short moment later, the scratch sealed itself up with fresh skin... Rosemary automatically wiped the blood off with a finger and put it in her mouth. His body would still repair itself, probably even if he lost a limb... not that he wanted to test that any time soon. He broke out into a smile again. It was real flesh; he wasn't gaining any extra injury by pressing down on bare muscle or nerves.

The necromancer laid on his back, Rosemary allowing him to lower, mumbling something that sounded like a prayer of thanks, laughing with tears running down his face. I can sleep with both eyes closed! I can blink! I don't have to wear that horrible mask pressing against my skull anymore! I have a face! It won't hurt like hell when I bathe anymore! Moving hurts less! Oh God, oh spirits, oh God...thankyouthankyouthankyou....his vision started to blur from his exhaustion.

"I think I want to go lay down on my bed and rest... so wonderful... so blessedly wonderful..."

Rosemary lifted him up into a hug and then put his arm across her shoulder and hoisted him up onto her back. Jacob didn’t resist being picked up like a child and tried to hug Rosemary a bit tighter. This was wonderful. Once they were out of the building where everyone stared at him, he answered the main question he heard. His repaired face was real. Then the world went black as he passed out on Rosemary’s back.
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First he felt the fur of the dead cat under the covers. He had pulled the cat against himself sometime in his sleep. Then he opened his eyes, actually open both eyes and not just one! He saw a black dot on the ceiling and realized it was a little bat. Then he realized it was Rosemary as the bat peeked its head out of its wings. He quickly felt his face, smiling as he felt it was still whole. It was there, it was real. He even saw it in her eyes. He didn’t recognize himself there, but it was him and it was wonderful. He covered his mouth for a yawn.

Jacob scooted back as much as he could, gently pulling the cat Veni under the blanket with him. No sticky cloth or wet pads pulling at his injuries, no mess to clean later. He motioned at the spot he opened for her.

Rosemary came down and went under the blankets, head still peaking out as she faced him. She was very close to him from the small bed, in her normal form. Jacob enjoyed the lovely vision next to him. She liked sleeping in other forms than her more human one far less than Veni. “Morning Jacob. It's still early for us. How do you feel?” She confirmed the relative time for him.

“Still sleepy. I don't quite want to get out of bed... you know, the demons bought this for me, since they were so concerned I'd only get something cheap and sensible... they were right of course. I do have to admit that this mattress is extremely comfortable... more so without any open wounds sticking to the sheets."

She smiled. “You smell better and have less of a chance of getting pounced when we wake up.” They often came at him before their more sentient senses were fully there, but Jacob had decided a while ago that if they needed to, it was fine. It’s something they just do, and it didn’t incapacitate him for long. No need for her to feel guilty afterwards or for him to be upset. Veni on the other hand never showed remorse.

She touched the healed side of his face thinking about how he looked before and admiring how he looked now. He enjoyed the cool feel of her fingers. She was both glad and disappointed that he didn’t constantly bleed but was overall happy for him.

"Eh, sorry about not being particularly good host last night to you two. I got a bit over-excited with the new spell. I knew it was going to make me tired, but I suppose I didn't think it'd wear me out this much. How did you spend your time last night?"

He glanced over his blanket, noticing the large amount of paper snowflakes and airplanes all over it. He blinked a bit, before it dawned on his sleepy head that they shouldn't be on his covers. He saw how Veni spent his time. "I'm guessing Veni was responsible for this? What's this?"

“That is a paper airplane,” she said and picked up a couple snowflakes and sniffed them. “He was showing Arak how to fold things from paper. Most of these smell like her. She might have gotten carried away and may even be saying, "Look what I can do" since she put them all over you. Hold it like this and toss it.”

He picked up one of the paper airplanes on his legs and turned it around in his hands. Jacob sent the paper airplane flying, watching as it eventually dived into the kitchen, and poked a random demon in the rear. The demon grumbled, swatting at whatever had just poked him without paying attention. A while later, the demon left through the backdoor, a large plate of varied meats in its claws.

So that's what he did with his time when given free reign; he entertained a kid. "Arak, heh... Not only can she thrive and swim around in a planet submerged in acid, she's a pretty sweet kid. It's probably time for her several hour rest."

Rosemary proceeded to tell him what she did while he was passed out the rest of the night. She had spoken with the being in her sword, now a bracelet, but didn’t think he was a threat so long as she was in possession of his ‘soul housing.’ She also apologized for a dent they left in the floor of his spell room from arm wrestling with the large man. “Next time will you please at least do a mock version of the spell and go through the motions without actually casting it and not dive right into it? We were concerned about you messing up or something bad happening to you.”

"Sorry, it was foolish of me to just rush right into that spell. My... I don't know what else to call it but 'hunch sense' was in overdrive... Certain that it was genuine, and that I wouldn't botch it up. I'll try harder next time to at least act it out and make sure everything's better prepared beforehand."

She seemed satisfied with his answer but wondered if some of those times she was very certain about something lately was like that. She was still annoyed. She still didn’t like him being reckless when he had the opportunity to still play it safer. She decided to not guilt him too much and change the subject. “Did you enjoy yesterday? Are you really going to do what Veni asked?”

He flushed just a little at the questions, but smiled a bit, playing with Rosemary's hair and stroking the side of her face before nuzzling his head into the pillow a bit more. She closed her eyes. Several things that were blurs to him went through her mind as she had thoughts she didn't desire to share. What he was doing, she didn't find this disagreeable. In the end she still found this pleasant and, for now at least, she wanted him to do whatever made him happy. “Yes, it was very nice. Don't you have a favorite feeding spot?"

“You already allow me to have it.” I’m too traditional, she thought. “I think he reserves it for people he's fond of…so it'll make him very happy I think...and I don’t think I mind it this time. We were just glad to see you seem happy. It was nice to see you laugh and enjoy yourself for most of the time you were awake.” She pulled the cover over their heads indicating she wanted to try to sleep soon. I hope you'll laugh more now that it won't hurt as much. As she dozed off, Jacob put his arm around her and cuddled into both her and the cat. Normally he would insist on learning more about the anomaly himself, but he could still use sleep…and… he was enjoying the moment.

Before he dozed to sleep again, another demon came through the front door and he felt Veni's claws curl against his skin and some of his muscles twitch. Jacob stroked his fur and soothed him with his necromantic energies until the cat ceased his tensing to pounce and stopped moving again. He realized this room wasn’t really suitable for a proper vampire during the day. There was a lot of light pouring in, his blinds didn’t filter it out very well, which was good for his reading visibility during the daylight hours but not for them. His house was very open, and demons kept coming in and out at all times to use the kitchen or the bathroom because they liked his better or it was the closest one. They didn’t always use the back doors either, often moving through the main room.

It was normal to Jacob, the demons who chose to live there coming in and out whenever they wanted, but this could be a problem with the vampires if the necromancer wasn’t next to them; vampires attack those who disturb their sleep if that being was not their master. There were other exceptions, but Jacob didn't know them all. Maybe there were just too many coming in and out at the moment.

He had nowhere in the house for them to retreat to sleep on their own if he was occupied when the light came out. They needed the solitude from crowds after a time or at least feel like they were in control of who was around them. After being exposed to what Rosemary’s telepathy was like for her, he learned that she had to retreat once in a while just to hear her own voice or none at all. It had already crossed her mind to use the building he cast spells in for just that and come up with some excuse to go in there.

He summoned a notepad and pen to himself. He remembered that they were supposed to meet the others for a relaxing day. BlackMN had gone shopping for a swimsuit for her and Rosemary. He wrote notes on some of his goals for the day and of home improvements he wanted to do; a proper bedroom with a bed large enough for them, maybe more cave like with bioluminescence for lighting, and a new bathroom attached to it with a large tub and a good shower. Veni loved baths and showers. Jacob thought that he might enjoy them now too. Maybe another room intended for BlackMN and an extra spare bedroom. He’d order the construction of the rooms as soon as he could. Maybe when he was done resting. He wanted a place for them to stay and for them to stay here more too.

If he could keep them here forever, it would keep them safe. But they wouldn’t be happy with that. Veni had his family he was responsible for. And he now wondered if the vampire Jianshen was merely coming back from his Limbo residence to visit his ‘Fuh chan’ or if he was compelled to frequently go home whether he knew it or not and recover something…. The necromancer would have to read up on it or find a spirit from their world that knew. Why did he neglect studying that form of death all this time?

wahmbulance Throuple: Merak’s Critical Weakness

Part 3A: Undisclosed Desire

Weakness:
1) a person that one is unable to resist or likes excessively
2) a self-indulgent liking for
3.) a feature regarded as a disadvantage

TLDR part 3: When you are in a ship, but don’t know you’re in a ship and confess that you want to be in that ship.

The posts this is derived from had very little dialogue and summarized what was said. For example the only speech text for Jacob I have from the original is the first two quotes and last one; the initial thoughts are from it too. I came up with the rest of his dialogue from what was described being discussed. Rosemary and Veni had more dialogue for me to use in the first half of this.

I guess we couldn’t think of the words at the time and weren’t talented enough for it, so this is almost a complete rewrite and using the summaries to guide the dialogue and more fleshed out actions. Gosh I hope I made each character's speech diction different enough. Doesn't help I was in one of those "I feel silly doing Rosemary's accent" moods. Unlike the other two posts which are in purely Jacob's perspective, this one is a mix of all 3.

Jacob up until this point was enjoying the simple things that other sentient beings took for granted now that it no longer pained him to do so. For example, within a few hours after the last post he got to enjoy playing (instigated by Veni) and relaxing at a hot spring; a common activity the people of THoR did that he normally was sidelined for.

He missed several indicators that he was at least a little more special than a blood bank. The most recent and current indicator that he missed was when Veni had finally taken him to his prison personal rooms for the first time which is where they are now. Veni had guests he had to watch at home and this needed to be around. There Jacob admired Rosemary’s family portrait from when she was alive. On this evening as the three of them were settling down, Jacob fully realized his attraction to them and couldn’t ignore his concerns while the vampires were preparing to do what vampires do…

-------


While they stimulated the areas they soon would place their lips to bite, his heart started to beat faster, he shuddered and gasped, and it felt like his body was reacting to all the sensations differently than it used to. He was less embarrassed than he used to be and he even allowed and wanted them to do more to get him ready, but he had different doubts now that he started to realize he had a soft spot for the two of them. Jacob hid his thoughts from Rosemary and wondered, How far will these two go? How far will I go? I don't feel any wrong with it, even if things were to go past a certain point. But would they? They still are a married couple...

The three of them had been growing more intimate. He found himself thinking about them differently and on occasion a demon like Graz would ask if he was alright since his heart rate would increase or his mannerisms would be a little off. He had shocked those residents when he said he had plans to at least double his own house space. They were even more surprised that those plans included his own private master bedroom and guest room instead of something like storage space.

Jacob enjoyed being near these two and he felt his heart started to race more easily in a pleasant way from the most minor brushes against them. Now, Jacob felt like he wanted the titillation they were doing on other intimate places, and to do the same to them, to figure ways to return the sensations, to allow his hands to stray from where they were on them and go lower. He wanted to kiss them more. He wanted them. The more natural it felt to be around them, the more they did this together, the more he doubted if they would be fully accepting of these extra desires.

He started to feel conscious-stricken for wanting to be more intimate, to kiss and be kissed not just while he gave them blood. Sometimes his mind wandered and he started wondering what it would be like if he tried something or they did this, quickly snuffing the inappropriate thought when he realized it, but it started to be more prominent on his mind…. They once advised him to not think about what he wanted to do too much and just do it. He did at that time and it felt good, and it felt right. Neither had stopped him, both encouraged him then, and even seemed to enjoy what he did. Since then, they never objected, and even returned it when he hugged them, pulled them closer while he rested, and even returned a kiss at these times when he was usually more relaxed. Should he try more or if he did would he be rejected?

Jacob reached over to the bedside table and picked up one of his charms to enhance his magic and activated it, whispering a small phrase. It was a calming spell meant to bring up the natural energies of the earth and give the effect to those in the room.

”Jacob, you don’t have to let me this time. You were still in a slight daze when you agreed and now you’re not. I understand. It is a rather intimate spot. I can wait.”

Veni had tried to give him an out believing that to be what was bothering him. He hugged Veni to him. “No…I said you could, and I meant that. It’s just a small case of nerves, and I think no matter what I’ll be that way until it’s actually done…” He kissed both vampires on the head. It is an intimate area. Would they object if I caress there? Maybe with my own magic… What would be too much for them? He took in a deep cleansing breath.

He didn’t want them to push him away. The past several days was so blessedly wonderful. They were by his side as he went through all these new experiences; many mundane things that most people enjoyed that he couldn’t fully enjoy before. They were enthusiastic about his simple joys and even instigated much of it.

A few minutes ago the intrusive thought popped into his head that they were taking advantage of him, only allowing him to be intimate with them for this, and he started to wonder if they were using him for his blood… He knew it didn’t start that way, but he couldn’t stop worrying that they were; that this was all it was to them. These feelings ate at him and wouldn’t leave him alone.

They're a married couple. Traditionally, that doesn't include a third person. You actually want to go beyond this with them. Doesn't that make you a pervert? What if they don't want to go that far?

Annoyed and aggravated with himself, he gently pushed them away. "Wait, please stop! Something, something's bothering me..."

The two of them immediately stopped what they were doing having not bit him yet. They had been waiting for him to tell them to. He stood up, paced, and ran his hand through his hair. At first he only touched what was once the uninjured side of his head as he tried to gather his thoughts. Now that his mind was clear from the haze, he could voice what was bothering him. He took a breath to give himself a pause and better form his words.

“These past several nights have been wonderful. You’ve helped me stop and smell the roses per say. I treasure everything you do with me…to me…together, being with you…. I care deeply for both of you. God! I’m attracted to you, but is it even right for me to feel that way of a married couple? I’m worried something too far might happen one of these feedings. What do you think of me? I need to know. Am I a third wheel aside from the feedings?” His face became redder as he continued “I want to do more with you…to you…more often than this. Feel you everywhere… be more intimate, go beyond this with you… I…I desire to touch you more sensually, everywhere, kiss differently… explore ways to return the exquisite experience you give me…maybe even…Would you ever even go so far with me?” He grew hotter and redder as he talked, the butterflies in his stomach becoming more and more, but the two of them remained silent and cautiously stoned faced as he spoke, waiting for him to finish what he needed to say. How were they going to react? Anger, disgust, teasing him to death? He was full of anxiety and worry, the spell failing to calm him any.

Only when he was done did they become animated again. There wasn’t anger in their expressions, they appeared to soften a little, and Jacob felt some of his anxiety leave, but the butterflies remained.

Veni looked at Rosemary like he was urging her to speak. He wasn’t intrusive on the man’s thoughts and Rosemary hadn’t been around constantly as she took care of her own affairs while Veni spent all his time with Jacob ever since he healed. He thought Jacob already knew he had permission to experiment and could have almost anything he wanted of them after what they did the other day (part 1). Jacob got away with touching, biting, and passionately kissing him and would have gotten away with the even more intimate touching he was going for if Arak hadn't interrupted telepathically with news that ended up being a worthy disruption.

He thought Jacob knew this even when the two of them had spent some time together as Rosemary shopped for new weapons with her new license. They sat next to each other propped up by pillows with Jacob leaning against him slightly as if it was the most natural thing in the world for them. Until recently Jacob would jump when Veni did that without thinking because he found the necromancer’s presence soothing.

They talked about Jacob’s renovation plans, Veni asked Jacob how he knew to bite him the way he did, and of Rosemary. Veni had asked Jacob what it was like to be nearly constantly sharing thoughts with one another. It was something the vampire wondered, but a topic he hadn’t felt comfortable enough in their (Veni and Jacob’s) relationship discussing before. He was jealous of it sometimes, and it might have been more of a sore spot if Jacob and Rosemary hadn't argued so much at first and then when they started to argue less, he believed she was being transparent about what was going on. Now Jacob had started to regard him with a similar fondness to her, so all was well. Jacob told him that the imagery sometimes melded, but it was usually easy to tell whose inner voice was who's.

In that conversation he discovered that Rosemary still had romantic thoughts about him that she accidentally failed to guard from Jacob on occasion which had been what they argued about sometimes. Veni expressed being glad to know she still thought of him that way. He was actually thrilled to know and found it hilarious that they argued over this.

Despite having these types of conversations now and allowing Jacob to do as he pleased, he supposed that the subject wasn’t communicated well enough. They hadn’t really talked about this with Jacob, but just started doing it; allowing him to lean in if he wanted, idly rest his hand somewhere, and be more intimate. He hadn't been a third wheel for a while now. Not that Jacob's presence ever stopped him from flirting with and kissing his wife in front of the other man partially in spite at the time.

Now that he thought about it, Jacob always asked whenever he wanted something from someone (alive or ghost) and traded when it wasn’t freely given. When he thought about it more, he could guess at several reasons why he did other than because that’s how he learned his magic and a few weren’t pleasant reasons. He just hoped that whatever they said was clear enough because he didn’t want to have this conversation again. However, he knew Jacob wouldn’t believe him if he said it first as he stared at Rosemary waiting for her to say something.

Rosemary blushed and seemed uncomfortable. She really didn't know how to respond to that. She must have been guarding her thoughts about this too well. He right that you're married, it's supposed to only be you and him...but she enjoyed the moments with Jacob and knew she was happy to be with him recently. She shifted like a nervous schoolgirl confessing to a crush and said, “I don't mind if you have those feelings for both of us...” Jacob’s eyes widened in surprise, the butterflies starting to shift to something else.

Even though she spoke with Veni about this when she saw it coming, she still had reservations. She never would have tolerated Veni from straying...but if they, together, did such things with someone else...it threw her off. She didn’t like being hypocritical. Even so Veni claimed to be fine trying with Jacob if he started to show he wanted a different relationship with them. They’ve been bothering the man enough so if he came to like them for it, they caused it and he didn’t want to outright reject him; besides he’s fun to play with was basically what her husband said looking a little hopeful after he had become more dejected with Jacob’s discomfort of him over time. Now they both loved seeing Jacob enjoying his life more, smiling more, laughing more, being the ones to both witness and cause a lot of it, becoming more comfortable around them, and they didn’t want the tormented man to stop or feel awkward around them.

“Your thoughts didn’t start off desiring us, it was only after you came to know us better as we insisted on interacting with you more…because these thoughts weren't immediate, because it wasn’t your initial intent for us, because you worry about damaging our (Veni and her’s) relationship… for once I don’t mind. I even started to like that you thought that way.” Jacob’s heart rate increased and he felt like his chest was swelling; she fancied him.

She smiled sweetly when she started to think about Jacob’s change in thoughts as he began to fall for them. It was the first time she got to see it happen gradually. She didn’t recognize it at first. He had developed a strong sense of friendship and wanted to protect them from all harm no matter the cost.

When she did realize it, he merely wanted them around him when he came back from hellish places to help ground him, to feel someone he wanted there to remind himself that he was not there anymore, to have something good to wake up to as he recovered. She couldn’t tell if he was falling for Veni because Jacob became uncomfortable thinking about him, and always had been ever since Jacob first gave Veni blood, but Jacob still wanted him around for those moments when he was vulnerable. At the time and even now it was a simple request. He did the same for her when they got back from that horrid place, empathizing with her and using his abilities to soothe her to sleep. She had trouble sleeping and would start dreaming about it long after Veni was dead to the world.

Veni got up and approached Jacob as he said, “yes, traditionally it doesn't include a third person, but historically it happens. Usually it's a wife, a husband, and his mistress or concubine. Sometimes the wife knows about and is fine with the other woman, even friends.”

“There's something there for you. I hadn't… really …minded watching you the other day when you bit him…. I have enjoyed this, and I know you wouldn't want to hurt us...but...”

“But you were raised in a less open-minded era...as for when I was born...married men would go to public baths and seek out young males and it was considered acceptable, just don’t flaunt it. But this isn’t as superficial as that.” .

Veni stopped in front of Jacob, stared him in his eyes, put Jacob’s hands in his. He hated Jacob at first for what happened with Rosemary. He was so angry at his helplessness and inability to help her afterwards…but Veni saw Jacob do his best to make it right…lost several of his ghost mentors…stuck around them though it inconvenienced him…tolerated his antics, went what Veni considered above and beyond for them in tough situations…and that’s what mattered in the end. Thas on the other hand, that tentacle winged angel freak who suggested Rosemary to go on that trip to Jacob, would someday feel his anger.

“We both care about you and we both like being with you. Jacob, you’re really great, you know. I admire you a great deal. You give everything that really matters to you your best effort. You found someone that matters to you, and you’ve been showing it.

“At first, I didn’t think it involved me until I found I do matter to you the same. You’ve been giving us more attention than your other passions and showing us that we are special to you. Please don’t be ashamed for desiring more. You are sincere. Your affections are sincere. If you want to try something when you’re ready, try it. I thought you were being modest and using this to help your nerves. Don’t worry about asking for it and do it. If you desire something of us, please express it. We certainly wouldn’t deny you from trying something similar to the things we do at least once. We’ll let you know if we’re not ready or don’t like something.”

“If I stop you at the time, you can try again later. I might merely have cold feet,” she clarified.

“Rosemary and I have discussed this and considered the possibility that we might get lost in the moment. Rosemary is always first for me, but if she is willing to attempt to include you, then so am I. We decided that you…” Jacob suddenly felt like there was a finger on his chest, though Veni still held his hands in his and Veni’s voice did something with the word ‘you’ that made Jacob feel like he meant ‘only you’ or even ‘only you deserve to’ or ‘you are the only one’ and his heart fluttered; they fancied him. “…can like us however you want.”

“Mhm. We could be together with you a long time so to not at least see if we could…. we don’t want to torture you with pining. I have loved seeing you enjoy yourself and how you react to it. I want to keep seeing you that way.”

Throuple: Merak’s First Date

Bonus: Fortunately, You’re Desirable and Considerate
otherwise I might hate you…

Date
1) a particular day or year when a given event occurred.
2) a social or romantic appointment or engagement.
3) a person with whom one has a social or romantic engagement.


"Veni... earlier, you had mentioned that there was someone you couldn't help that needed it most. What was the story behind that?"

The two of them sat in relative privacy in their circular booth with a door for entry at a place called Comforts that a spirit had recommended to the necromancer for them to try. Veni sat in front of Jacob to look at him while they conversed. There had been a lull in the conversation between the two of them due to an interruption by the server. He realized the question was a moodkiller, but it had started nagging Jacob in his mind because it seemed to sadden Veni when he made the comment about feeling like a failure as of late to the people who needed him especially to one in particular. He had added this after asking the necromancer to please not make him look weak in front of other vampires. Jacob had instantly killed one that came at him from behind, not realizing Veni was not really in danger.

Veni looked at Jacob incredulously, like he was a dullard. His flirtatious jovial mood wiped from his face and filled with grief, slowly looking angrier and angrier as he thought about it. He slowly sat down his glass to not accidentally break it, wiped his mouth off with a napkin, which is something he rarely did, rested his hand on the table, and looked at Jacob with a bitter smile. "Why Jacob, I thought you were very familiar with this story. Fine then, I shall recite it briefly.

"First these strange outsiders come for her. I sense something is amiss so I got help and we made our way there. On my way to her we were ambushed and I failed to protect any one that I couldn't directly control. Everyone I asked for help that wasn't my child died. Pathetic. I managed to save some of them by having them transform into a smaller creature familiar and carrying them myself and keeping them that way. The rest are resurrected and might still work for the merciful Satan. When I finally get to her, it's daylight and boy did it suck.

"We were mostly fine with the hordes wearing us out, but whenever something specifically came for her I was useless except for maybe buying time. Every...single...time... I was given injuries meant to lead to my death; for her to watch as I die and apparently my son to feel at a distance." He made a growling noise, baring his teeth, hair fluffing out. "Seeing me like that wore her down; she couldn't bear it and gave up. Her struggling had been no good either. For the slim chance they'd stop, knowing full well that they'd most certainly kill me anyways, she gave up. At the end of this, some mystical being offered her the air angel position. That decision still makes me sick to my stomach, but with how well we did against those fiends... it seemed like an option.

"Then her 'boss,' that never contacted her really before, thinks her skills are useful for a mission. Well she's told about it basically the hour they have to leave while I am asleep. No notes. No messages. No ******** clue where she could be because no one bothered to tell her husband. Oh and then I find out what lovely stink hole she ended up at after making a few calls. I can’t even say anything when she’s back because of the mess she’s in. Of course if someone had informed me she was going THERE I would have either forbid it or insisted that I went as well; which was no good either because she didn't want to risk seeing me in the pathetic state I was in again and again in that last Niearcim encounter."

"Here's the best part about it!" He laughed, scratching the protective layer on the table as his hand curled against it. "She is captured. I'm highly aware of it, yet I am stuck at home unable to do anything but lock myself in my room sick with worry and angry at my own helplessness."

He began laughing more uncontrollably at this part, some tears forming, but he covered his eyes as he laughed and spoke. "And then... hahaha... we both find out the really hard way that creatures other than vampires can make another vampire do their bidding if they're powerful enough to overpower their current vampire master. How pathetic am I? I am apparently not powerful enough to have protected her from even that. On her end she gained the second or third to last person she wanted to call master. I can't even win a tug of war against someone taking the one person I didn't want to let go. On my end I felt like an important part was ripped away; the damage worse because I held so tightly. There's still a void there... something's still there, but it's not the same... how pathetic I am. All this time...I still cannot ever protect her when she needs it most. What a joke. Maybe I should call this 'the failings of her husband.'"

Jacob was silent as he listened and had shoved his food and drink away. He deserved the "you idiot" look and he knew it. He shook all over and let his shaking head fall into his hands. He took part in and was responsible for a lot of that distress and it didn't feel great. He muttered a swear at himself. If he hadn't been so eager to break another of THEIR curses, if he hadn't taken her to that God forsaken realm, she wouldn't have been tortured and it would have saved Veni a lot of grief. She would have been safe at home with him. He realized that it was a wonder that the vampire didn't at least hold a strong dislike for him. He apologized though it rang hollow to him and he thought he ruined the night.

He didn't hear Veni move closer to him before he felt his head being petted and the hands on his face kissed and lightly licked. "Jacob...you... don't have to apologize to me for that anymore. She did it for Galantros. She was worried about him. She wanted to help him and see him home for her little girl too. It was very hard on me being left at home; aware of and yet not exactly knowing what was happening. It could have been worse I suppose..."

He let one of his hands carefully be peeled away as Veni kneeled next to him and leaned in, wrapping that arm around himself. He guided the hand to have it pet him as if he was in his cat form and nuzzled his face into the necromancer's neck making his light purring sound and, after a pause, started suckling like a nursing kitten until Jacob made a noise that satisfied him when he got to the earlobe.

When they both calmed down, Jacob was now blushing and breathing a little heavier, and Veni turned towards the table, inhaled and exhaled, licking the taste of the other’s skin on his lips and smiled. Jacob smiled a little when he thought he saw a small bit of color on the vampire’s skin. Veni summoned his small drink to himself and lightly sipped at it, leaning into the other man now with a hand lightly rubbing his thigh, while Jacob continued his meal. The drink was meant to tide him over until he got his real dinner, plus it was nice to be able to eat something while the other ate instead of watching. "It just now seems like a very stupid question that I asked, is all I suppose." He was glad the vampire seemed to have forgiven him.

"No...I probably needed that. I like to think that good things can come from misfortunes; she came back at least and I think our relationship has been better than before. You and me for example…I like this… but this relationship started with and might not have developed without that happening and me needing to use you because at the time it was the best survival option I could see and you were offering it...so if an eviler villain got in your head to convince you that I am using you, it would be difficult to deny that...and it may be harder to convince you then that I am not wooing you because of this. Before someone else tries to make you distrust me to gain an advantage, I am doing this because you're exceptionally pleasant to my senses and I like you," he removed his hand from Jacob and smelled it, his expression became similar to a cat intoxicated from good catnip, "and your scent on me…"

"That’s the oldest trick in villainy, so I just might believe you," Jacob teased. He was still pleasantly flustered by the vampire's last action and remark. Now that he was less embarrassed to feel for Veni’s emotions, he realized Veni was being romantic and he enjoyed that.

Veni chuckled as he purred and lightly ran his nails across the necromancer's back in a soothing petting manner. “That trick might work on you now mio altro amore,” he said in a musical voice.

That was the second time he called him that. ‘My other darling’ is what Rosemary telepathically said she thought he meant when he said it the first time because he called her ‘darling’ hours before. She said it could also mean ‘my other love.’ Jacob loved either meaning and it gave him a lighter feeling. Jacob moved his fingers to scratch under the vampire's chin. Veni inhaled and purred louder. Soon he leaned in to kiss him while stroking his soft hair, catching a light vanilla scent off him.

Veni looked and smelled good tonight, having dressed up for a dinner date with him while Rosemary escorted some unwanted guests from the territory. Picking an outfit he rightly thought Jacob would think him particularly attractive in. He normally looked good, but the extra added something to it. He then leaned Veni's head against him as he hugged the vampire close to him, admitting to himself that he rather enjoyed this petting and kissing. Veni was giving every indication that he mutually enjoyed it too which was just as important to Jacob.

No...I couldn't give this up... he thought once again, admiring the one next to him. Earlier that night he gave that answer to a voice asking him 'Haven't you grown to like their closeness to you? Could you really give it up?' when he had become frustrated and briefly thought how much easier reading and being reclusive while focusing on what he had for several millennia was. As the night went on, he became more bold and frisky in what he did with every sip of his drink, finding the vampire’s jumpy reactions amusing and that he was fun to tease, soon thinking Veni looked shapely and alluring.

———
Afterwards (somewhat):
Veni paid the bill for this date and supported Jacob a little as they left. He didn’t take advantage of Jacob while he was drunk. They had just been seeing how he’d react to alcohol with one drink. (Not sure if Veni knew what a Long Island Iced Tea was other than it smelling strong when they received it and Jacob has a thing for tea so that's why he got it.) He wanted to taste his blood while in that state, Jacob knew this before he started, but the vampire resisted once Jacob passed out and put him to bed because he wasn’t sure if Jacob would feel violated if he did at this point due to the man being more intoxicated than Veni anticipated. When he sobered up a little (being jolted awake by some spirits), Jacob basically told him that he could feed off him whenever he wanted/needed (the unspoken part is that he wanted to experience it) and the two continued with their night. Jacob suddenly tried an idea that came to him by making the skin on the vampire’s neck more sensitive and blew air on and kissed it, surprising and overwhelming Veni who finally bit him to pass on how that felt, astonishing Jacob.

Last Survivor of Tellus
Brought to you by Carry on Wayward Son

Tellus (or Terra) is the Roman counterpart of Gaia

This is basically combining events mentioned in Jacob’s profile and some posts that mention his history in this time period that I’ve run into… though some of what I’ve run into in post form actually seemed contradictory with the time frame given and how Niearcim attack so I chose to ignore them razz .

Unimportant and not even brought up...but...I know his profile says muscular-average, but I imagine he’s a little bit more toned at this period based on how he lived than he is now…and that he lost some of it after he was captured. His hands are also probably at least slightly rough then and now. (Thinking about that, Cian probably either does or had the roughest hands of our characters)



……



Jacob came back to his hometown with a strong hunch that something terrible was going to happen soon. However he was once again rejected, not even able to see his family to warn them. Not that he expected them to believe him when all he had was that something terrible was about to happen with no explanation as to what. Nevertheless he hung around just outside of town setting up a small camp for himself. Jacob was used to traveling around, not welcome in a place for very long, so he was familiar with foraging plants or catching animals to eat, how to build a shelter, etc.

One of the town's elders named Farlow however met with Jacob and had earnest conversations with him, observing what he did, and eventually cleared up his own superstitions about Jacob's magic. This old man ended up being the only living person in that world who wanted to know him. Everyone else approached him for some use of his unusual talents, usually when they were desperate and had expended other possible options.

Soon he invited Jacob to stay with him and his daughter, Nasha. Jacob proved useful around the house. Maybe a month or so passed, and though Jacob's hunch sense was still tingling, nothing happened.

During this time Jacob had fallen for Nasha. Though her father approved, Nasha didn't feel the same for Jacob. She still held onto the misconception that necromancy was unholy and evil. Unfortunately by the time she started to warm up a little to Jacob, the Niearcim attacked that world fiercely and swiftly. A large portion of the town was captured or killed in mere hours.

The survivors of that area grouped together and hid in a cave system. Jacob's family was not among them. They had been captured in the initial attack was what he was told.

During a scouting mission for supplies, large demons emerged from the ground. Farlow immediately lost his legs as a claw shot out of the ground under him. Though Jacob attempted to get him out, Farlow punched Jacob and told him to leave him and protect his girl.

“Damn you, Jacob! Leave! I'll only slow you, boy! If you care for Nasha, you'll go! She needs you!"

Others physically grabbed Jacob and forced him to run. The old man fought, managed to hold the demon’s attention, and was dragged away as they escaped.

Upon hearing the news about her father, grief stricken Nasha blamed Jacob for leaving her father to die. Jacob took the pounding she gave his chest. “How COULD YOU! How could you have left my father to die!"

"Nasha, I wanted to save him! There were too many, and he was too injured. They wouldn't let me..."

“You're a damned necromancer, aren't you!? Why didn't you summon the dead to attack them!? No, why couldn't you make the blood of the demons boil, and cause their hearts to burst!?"

"Nasha, I don't have that type of magic... I was doing all that I could!"

She cried and begged him to bring her father back from the dead. Jacob insisted that he could not. She backed away from him, grabbed a knife, and threw it at him. Jacob was in shock as she was reaching for another and told him that she didn’t want to see him again.

Jacob communed with the spirits of the dead and bargained with them. They helped him solve problems and help others. He often helped them find peace... he didn't do or know how to do the evil things everyone thought Necromancers did.

In their desperation and grief, they seemed to think he could do a full resurrection spell, but that’s not how it worked. For that sort of resurrection, wouldn't he need the body? Most of them had no body left for they were eaten. Necromancers didn’t bring them back as they once were. They might come back and appear similar, but they would still be dead and under his control. And… Jacob had never dared look into that, though some spirits of those past necromancers that they possibly got their superstitions from had tried to tempt him.

No one seemed to believe Jacob when he insisted that he could not and he wondered where the blood boiling idea came from. It frustrated them, thinking that he was refusing to bring people back while they all suffered and died. It frustrated him because they knew that people blessed with healing magic couldn’t cure lost limbs or help a person once the wounds were severe enough. Nor could those that were blessed with more elemental magics take out a large village in one blow; yet they expected something grand out of him.

Meanwhile Jacob had the “joy” of seeing and listening to the horrific stories of the sudden innumerable recent dead. He knew that this was happening all over the world and he knew that they were losing; that all life on Tellus was dying. He also knew death wasn’t the best option in this sudden hell either because the invaders were harvesting many of the souls before they could move on. But... he kept this to himself.

The spirit of an old necromancer had appeared and told him about this soul harvest. Charles seemed to practice something similar to Jacob, but he was better at peering deeper into the soul and …this one was also trying to convince him to learn more ‘fleshy’ skills.

The survivors quickly grew even more distant towards him from his odd behavior of staring at and talking to nothing. They started to treat him more like a tool to be used at their discretion and had him do the most dangerous tasks including finding out more about the enemy which he did. Jacob endured the treatment of him since he had to fight for his home world and survival.

Eventually it was mostly the other mages or people who were talented in linguistics who talked with him as they tried to decipher some texts they found on the invading magic users. There were some of the foreign spells that they encountered in the writings.

When Nasha received a wound that caused her to bleed out she was unhappy to see him holding and grieving over her and said, “what… what good have you done? So many dead… And you can’t bring a single one of them back… You claim to have loved me once. Prove it… Bring me back. Bring us all back…”

Everything was going downhill for them. The attacks had grown more frequent, they were becoming sleep deprived. Not even a week had passed since these things appeared and now both people he cared for were gone. And he had done all that he could up until this point but it still wasn’t enough. Jacob's contributions had been this group's key to survival yet their numbers dwindled and more were being injured.

Charles' voice pestered him as the creatures pounced them as Nasha died. “You all will die here if you do not! You’re not raising the dead, you're not bringing them back, you’re using pieces of the dead for self-defense! What is the difference between this and using bones to make tools such as knives, needles, or beads? How is it a violation if I even say you can use my bones?! Help me, help you!”

Jacob finally consented and let Charles take over. What did it matter anymore if he did something damning? Then as Charles used him to take out the demons attacking their allies, it clicked. This skill would have been so easy, so natural to him, had he not been so stubborn. This wasn't anything like reanimation at all. All he was doing was moving and repurposing the flesh of dead matter. He let them have it in his grief and anger.


.......

Almost a week since the invasion began, outside a small gathering of his peers, Coatli happened upon a small group under siege by the lowest of minions. Among the group was a man pleading with the dead for help and they were stirring. Such strong spiritual abilities, a strong affinity for the dead.

This pathetic man potentially had traits Lord Jiluzix coveted in His offerings or chosen, unlike the useless trash he had run into on this world including those around this one; all blind, all deaf, all superstitious including the ones that had some magical talent, and thus all bound to normal senses with primitive weapons no better than gunpowder and metal balls and pathetic magic. So far this world had been a disappointment for Coatli, but this one had potential.

He scanned the simple minds of the ones around this potential offering. Oh, and this one had managed to steal some text he thought of significance, gaining small victories for them? And he was attempting to go for ‘more potent’ spell books? The local souls told him about these as well! The mage held back his laughter from this ridiculous notion. He loved how the false hope they planted worked. Those were nothing; those were meant as a way to find potential. As if they’d bring their best here!

Coatli could use that against this sinner. He grinned with sharp teeth under his bandage like face coverings. He quickly changed the substance on his blade and reduced the length of his nails. He could cast a spell and wipe them out with ease, but he might hit the offering. And he preferred being more hands on. He wasn't going to kill this one. This one, he would present to Lord Jiluzix. Maybe he would even be granted the honor of being involved in whatever his Lord decided to do with this offering.

Jacob didn't see this monstrosity of a man move. He hadn’t even visually seen the monstrosity before he came down on them; just a warning from the spirits in the air and the sudden dropping of what was left of his group. A couple even appeared to commit suicide! He suddenly felt a burning sensation on his back that felt like it went deeper than it did. Jacob swiped in retaliation, but his opponent had already moved. Whatever this was, it was faster and stronger than any of the others he had run into, and those were already overwhelming! His opponent was too fast for the plentiful bone spikes he summoned from all the death around them.

Coatli kept slashing at him, leaving deep gashes on his back, chest, one of his upper arms and shoulder, and sides; tiring him out until he finally stabbed him from behind giving his opponent the full dose of the concoction on his blade. Many of these gashes would be where large patches of open wounds would be once he was cursed. In the distant future, once Jacob's curse wounds were gone, many of these wounds (along with any others he already had) would be scars that his two loves would gently trace with their fingers and kiss. “Sinner! Did YOU think you’d get off easily for stealing OUR glorious work?”

Many years of experimenting made Coatli an expert on where best to hit most targets when he wasn't killing them and still cause the satisfying effect he was going for; as much pain as possible. The expression of the offering in front of him satisfied him with that look from the burning sensation in his veins even as Coatli's drug took away his motor skills. Coatli would eventually be extolled amongst his peers for his successes both on the field and enhancing their forces with his experiments.

Jacob’s lips twitched with purpose silently asking an invisible being in front of him to assist him in stopping this monstrosity and avenging them. A large bone spike erupted, plowing through the monstrosity behind him and quickly created thorns inside.

Coatli laughed at this pathetic last attempt even as he was stabbed and it formed spines inside his body. He gained a sick grin as a fire appeared in his hand that spread out around them. All the nearby souls suddenly howled so loudly it was deafening. Jacob sensed most of them fading, save one that hid, as his spell broke and the spike retracted itself from this creature’s body. His vision was starting to fail him.

Coatli dug his nails into the shoulder he injured earlier. He decided that he was a threat, a small one, but still a slight threat. He removed his blade from the offering’s body and kicked him to the ground as the stuff of his claws finished the job. “You’re a horrible sinner Jacob Merak, but you can still be cleansed unless my Lord deems your crimes irredeemable.”

------------

Next Jacob would wake in a realm full of tormented souls, people, and strange horrors. The air and energy there was the foulest he experienced up until that point in his life. He’d feel the presence and see parts of a creature so huge and horrible it would leave him shaken after each encounter and when he thought about it for a number of years.

He would have the events of the end of his world shown to him as it happened. Souls from there that got sucked into that realm trying to hide from the wicked beings of the realm would confirm it to him. Confirm that it wasn’t some hallucinated lie; his world had truly perished and everything was gone. And soon he would come in and out of madness, having difficulty telling what was real and not with nightmarish visions. A familiar voice helped him come out of it for brief periods.

Then they cursed him and from then on he felt various degrees of pain every moment from everything he did due to his open wounds. Coatli was given the honor to ruin his face. His own family would be slowly tortured and killed before his eyes as he was tortured in the initial cursing phase.

The death of Farlow and Nasha became one of Jacob's recurring nightmares. Other living captives were made slaves and worked to death in unspeakable conditions, others were used like batteries on soul towers along with the captured souls, and possibly a few went on into mage candidacy. Jacob would eventually know all of this as he learned more about this cult.

Soon after he escaped he went through the torment they placed on him again and again, going in and out of the hallucinations and night terrors. When he had enough of this endless cycle and didn't think he'd keep his sanity for longer than what he felt were brief moments (not to mention survival mode probably had gone and grief had set in), he found out that he couldn’t even die when he destroyed his entire body when he attempted suicide.

Thus one of the first things he and Charles worked on was calming magics, gaining allies, and hoping that some of them could aid in regaining his sanity for longer periods of time. For quite some time, even though he socialized, Jacob didn’t allow himself to be emotionally attached to anything material or anyone and kept busy. Even after that time had passed, he was emotionally close to very little besides things related with his studies, work, and finding ways to undo curses of all types brought on by the Niearcim. If he could not find the way to undo his own curse then everyone would always die before him. Even the friends with long lifespans would eventually become an instant.


-----------------------------
Notes: In one RP Coatli had taunted Jacob about how he ruined his face which is why I elevated him to captor instead of making it a random mage or random group of mages like the original descriptions imply.

Explanation: This was an attempt to develop Charles a little more to give him more weight on Jacob's character. It was also to play into the idea that Jacob’s curse was more than ‘because he was a nuisance and they were angry with him enough to cast a ridiculously costly curse over it’ while not fully contradicting that reason given in the character profile and things Jacob has said/thought alluding to that. Jacob either doesn’t know the real reason or doesn’t want to admit it.

Charles was originally only mentioned as one of his longest mentors when Jacob called upon him to help cleanse Rosemary of bad blood. Throughout the RPs Jacob has many of these mentors or allies to call on so I wanted to give more background as to why Jacob would be extremely upset to lose Charles by making him originally be from Jacob's home world as well (there was one other taken at the same time, but I think focusing on Charles is enough for this point).

Jacob is normally (and understandably) enraged when people are captured by the Niearcim and does whatever he can to retrieve them if possible because they quickly taint everything they touch. In this instance Jacob was so upset that Rosemary (or Veni (I'd have to reread that part)) knocked him out so that he wouldn't immediately pursue in what they felt was an obvious trap since Rosemary's condition in itself was also a trap to capture spirits should this taint be expelled from her and he hadn’t stopped yet from all the Niearcim abuse he received from the recent fight. So his own exhaustion has helped knock him out as well.

He was exhausted, but still pushing to go even though they felt his performance would be hindered and he’d fail. They thus then forced Jacob to take a break (by warning him that his actions might negatively impact them now), calm, get his thoughts together, wait for a more opportune moment, and to better plan how to retrieve them. Retrieving Charles and his other mentor is my current idea to explain his long absence.