closed Atlantis Valentine's Day Cabin

Bubba had dropped the mic and he was ready to drop the beef. The boy needed a good talking to (well, what we really needed was a good whack upside the head but Bubba didn't really want to do it). Then the boy decided he wanted to be all Stone Cold and give him the double bird. And he was a real punk bitch about it because he just did it and left before Bubba could respond. Bubba took a few deep breaths, "What a little prick he is," he said to himself as he turned back and finally took the rucksack off his back and put it down.

He really wanted to follow him into his room and teach him some manners, but he knew he shouldn't. He knew there was a chaperone of some sort of chaperone in the cabin and didn't want to get caught beating seven colors of shit from the little twerp. Then he allowed himself a small smile of satisfaction as he heard him scream. Apparently, someone else was taking care of business for him.

He decided he'd had enough of this place and everyone in it. He closed the door to his room, but before he did so he pulled a hair from his head and wet it, putting one end on the door and the other on the frame so if anyone opened the door, it would be absent upon his return and he would know. He decided to set off exploring and go for a cup of tea.

Bubba has left the building

Interacting: @N/A
Mentioning: @Matthew Campbell

Date: February 12th 2025

The room once colourful and calming now suffocated with the anxiety brewing in his stomach as he waited for his punishment to be delivered. Eyes franticly tracing every step Gideon made waiting for the spark to light, for the dam to break, waiting fearfully for a wrath that never came. Instead the boy acted no more than inconvenienced by the whole business dusting invisible lint off himself with a handkerchief that no doubt cost more than the combined contents of Matthew's bag.

"Now, now, that Bubba fellow is rather dramatic, isn’t it? But, it does seem that you have a talent for making a mess of things, so I suppose that was inevitable." Gideon's words barely a mumbled exhale but weighted with the heavy burden of disappointment that seeped beneath Matt's skin poisoning his veins with its venom. Of course the boy couldn't know for any certainty how correct he really was but memories played tauntingly in his head of all the failures he had inflicted upon himself in his short life. Friends he had fumbled, pranks he got caught for, kisses he had wasted, and the many worse things he blamed himself for. Matthew was born a mess and he was destined to remain one and somehow Gideon could see it within seconds.

Mere seconds later the boy was in front of him crouched with a false almost teasing smile he commanded the very attention of the space to his will, a trick many purebloods seemed to have but none quite as domineeringly as him, "You’re wondering, aren’t you?" whispered with a conspiratorial humour like he knew Matthew hung on every breath, every word, "Whether this is about my dear, delicate brother—or if I just enjoy watching you squirm." A hand raised towards his pained cheek made Matthew instinctively close his eyes, though he never flinched. Seemingly the boy was no stranger to pain, no he simply did not wish to watch as it happened. However such predictions were rendered pointless under Gideon's authority instead letting his words mould the space between them not laying a finger upon him, "I assure you, it can be both."

Each syllable was another dose of poison on his skin. The dorm room had become a hunting ground and there was no doubt who was the predator. Gideon didn't even have to touch him to pin him in place, his legs had forfeited their functions locked in binds of fear and perhaps something else, intrigue. The boy was not like any monster he had ever faced, any he had read about of found on the pages of his textbooks. His loyalties were unclear and only delved murkier with his response to Aamon who was seemingly protecting Matthew? There was no doubt that the Athanatos brood were a far more complicated puzzle than he could understand, limited pieces left him with scattered fragments and without the entire picture to work towards he was stumbling in the dark. Holding him with an icy stare as he scoffed out his response to his brother a conversation passed between their eyes. Gideon was proving he was entirely alone here, that there would be no protection for him here unless he himself permitted it. Matthew was a puppet, lifeless without his guidance. "His toy" as he branded him assuredly.

What happened next was mind-boggling, suddenly the monster was all charm and indifference again as he broke the eye contact that held him captive and a depth warped his voice in command telling him to scream, "What?" The confusion wasn't given even a moment to settle before the boy took his fist and slammed it into the wall causing Matthew's body to shoot to life panic overcoming him as he despite everything moved to the boy to stop him from hurting himself. There was an unnatural calming numb to the boys face, an abomination to the kind he wielded, as he commanded him once more to scream. The young snake hadn't even come to a decision before the terrified wail ripped from his throat uncontrollably. Releasing with it the fear that had bound him and allowing his own serenity to settle within. It hadn't even occurred to him until now how the boy's own aura had crippled his on the bed subduing his gift.

A small amused smile took over as Gideon moved in closer, so close they were practically intertwined the presence of him at Matt's throat pulling his strings taut, "Loud enough for them to hear." The screaming continued writhing with fear and drawing from the pain his cheek still felt to anguish it. While backed up by the sharp crack of Gideon's assault on his own arm, Matthew was beginning to understand their game. The boy had no intentions of hurting him, not really, it was all a charade, a mask of control he held, some kind of power he derived from that he relied on. Reinforced with what followed Matt was no longer taunted by the mock disappointment he sharpened at the edge of his words, "Come now, Mmai, you’re a smart boy, aren’t you? You must understand by now—" Closing the distance until his breath could be felt on Matt's ear he stepped back slightly only to be enclosed once more, space infiltrated by the boy no matter where he went. "The show is always more important than the truth." Gideon's performance was intoxicating and he quelled as his heart began to flutter under the excitement of it all. Matt could feel himself losing himself to it, a curious boy knowingly walking to his death. The fool in a Tarot deck.

"They expect you to suffer." His voice was soft, almost gentle, as if offering something kind. "They expect me to be cruel. So give them what they want." Tossing Matthew into the wall as if he was nothing more than feather light the sound of his impact rattling the room to which he released another scream, the boy felt his adrenaline begin to draw on the fury that simmered below. The irritation he harboured at all times that begged to be drawn upon, his hatred for the suffering in his life, his distaste for the ignorance he faced and disgust at how he had been deemed venomous and dark. Only perhaps that was the truth. "Otherwise, the real thing might happen." Dangerous eyes tempting him, pulling on his emotions begging for them to break free and hit him he felt his soft fingers begin to curl into a fist. How easy it would be to simply draw on it all, this was all fake after all, a production of falsehood conducted masterfully by the composer. There would be no harm, no foul play, the blonde was quite literally asking for it.

"And wouldn’t that be a shame?" Emerged once more was the aristocrat taking with him the danger, the sharp cut and leaving Matthew with a wandering wrath with nowhere to go. It was suffocating once more threatening to collapse his delicate foundations and before he knew it tears had formed and ran lines down his face. Gideon had so almost drowned him in the graveyard of his buried emotions a place he swore he would never visit. A place he had cordoned off for the safety of everyone. Thinking rapidly he slipped his ring off his finger and squeezed it painfully into his hand letting out a final whimper of suffering with it. Within seconds the calming embrace of his gift resealed the torrent locking it firmly back in place. Leaving him a spectrum of emotion, all demanding and unclear.

Unclutching his hand, returning his ring, he could practically feel the disappointment emanate from the blonde who had so naturally shifted back into the aristocratic gentleman, only further highlighting his mastery over control, a control he intended to bind Matthew with. Tears stilled from where they ran and with lingering confusion he calculated what exactly Gideon had to gain from all this but the truth remained simple, he had no idea. The boy was too much of an enigma presently, an unknown variable in this experiment, highly reactive and wickedly smart masked behind spectacle and guise. Gideon was a mystery and Matthew had never been a fan of unanswered questions. To learn what fire burned beneath he would have to play his game even if it meant leaving himself vulnerable to the scorch of his flame.

Backing up against the door he let stumbled unsure words fall out, "I better run now, give them what they want, right?" Despite the question he did not await a response and broke out in a sprint from the room, fear and worries still coursing through his bones. When he would catch Nabi's eye, however, he would play the whole thing nonchalant slowing his racing heart. Paint whatever happened in a strange calming light that made her question everything, what had the blonde done, why had he let him hit him? He delivered the portrait of a boy who would not stand up for himself physically, someone he supposed in truth he was, at least who he currently was. Whatever lay deeper would remain dormant safe from Gideon's goading. If Matthew was to succeed in their game he would have to calm that temptation continuing to rely on his wit, unbeknownst just how powerless he was to face the boy both physically and mentally.

Interacting with @Gideon Athanatos & @Aamon Athanatos

If he got that make-out session, he would be a happy man. If not, it was just something else his brothers ruined for him. He was really not interested in drinking tea, it seemed like a boring premise built on expectations that hardly aligned to their age and pre-existing relationships. Yes, let's gather an international grouping of children under the banner of romance and have them drink hot leaf water.

Yes, he was mildly annoyed but he would get over it. He grabbed a crisp, red button down and a simple pair of black slacks to don for the evening. He really could not add to the pink, his eyes and heart could handle no more. He had no idea what Gideon was doing to Matthew and frankly he was too scared to ask. By the time Mathias had left the bedroom, Matthew was gone, the door slightly ajar into Gideon's room.

No blood.

Nothing wrapped up in a blanket, suspiciously similar in size to a body.

Well, good enough for him.

"Winnie, you ready?" Unlikely, she was a woman after all and she likely needed to paint each individual eyelash and repaint her cheeks or something. He walked towards the door to leave the cabin and rattled the knob, a sound to indicate he was allegedly leaving. He wasn't, he just wanted to make sure they left before the event was over.