[Toby nods and frees Dorian's hands of the bath bomb to take them in his own.]
Yeah. Got to have a Dominant to let us hold a job, buy things, or basically exist in public. It's easier to do in the Down as the gangs have pushed LIES staff out, but it's not much better. Natives still don't like LIERs and Submissives still get treated like shit unless they're being led around or acting subservient to literally any Dominant. [He makes a face at that.]
It also smells awful down there. Completely underground and you can't get that kind of awful smell out of anything. [His nose wrinkles at the mere memory of it.] If you're wondering why we didn't go with the option of slightly less surveillance for the house, that's why. It's bad enough that anyone notices it, and people like me suffer.
We'll figure out how to deal with the surveillance. [He huffs a bitter sort of laugh.] I'm always being surveilled by something no matter where I go, anyway. [Is LIES more, or less, threatening than random supernatural forces? Time will tell.]
You have me, [he reasons] so doesn't that solve most of our problems in this place? Or is there more that I ought to know about?
I keep a clean sweep of the house itself, but there's only so much I can do. We can't get rid of their phones, and they've got so much shit going on with them. Sending out texts or pictures for us, recording us, using them as orgasm sensors. [The last one sounds so fake to him, but that's how LIES explains it and he's yet to come up with a better explanation. This newfangled tech is weird.
He chuckles softly.] Most, yeah. Things are harsher than they were last time you were here. The collars and cuffs are new, but they're trying to enforce "model" behaviour, too. SIN guards telling Doms to make their Subs act more submissive in public. Natives forcing Subs to eat out of a Dom's hand at a restaurant, kneeling beside them while they shop. Things like that.
[It wouldn't be so bad if people could consent to it. The city doesn't care much about consent in this particular instance, though.]
An orgasm sensor? [What the actual fuck.] You can't be -- you're serious, aren't you? What do they need something like that for? [And does that mean they're ... chipped, or something? Frowning, Dorian turns to the large mirror in the bathroom, and starts stroking down the length of his nude body, and looking for ..... hell, he doesn't know. Insertions beneath the skin? This is so fucked.]
Well, we're not doing that, obviously. It's patently insane. [Right?!]
To know we're meeting quota. [He cocks a brow at Dorian.] You didn't think we were manually cataloguing all that for them, did you?
[Like either of them would pause in their sex long enough for that.]
We can ignore some of it, but not all. If we try to tell natives to piss off about the rules of their restaurants, they'll kick us out and deduct money from our accounts for our food, whether we've finished or not. SIN guards can have us arrested or keep harassing us until we comply or make it home. [He shrugs half-heartedly.] I prefer to eat and drink at home anyway. Unless I'm going to some LIER-owned place, you can't trust a damn thing out of any of those kitchens not to be dosed.
I hadn't stopped to think about it, Toby. I've been running around ever since Orientation. [He turns in front of the mirror, and scopes out his back and buttocks, running his hands down along his body until he's satisfied that everything seems to be as it always is. Sighing, he gives up, and leans back against the bathroom counter.
And he doesn't love hearing any of that. They can't even go out to eat? What exactly are they supposed to do with themselves in this place, if they're going to be harassed whenever they step outside their front door?]
If they're really able to keep up with all of that, there have to be police everywhere - or whoever it is that's enforcing the 'rules'. [Fantastic.] All I've seen are hulking people with batons. Is that them?
It was a gentle ribbing, darling. [His timing may be shit, but come on, it was at least a little funny - in a horribly dark and dystopian way. Right up their humour alley.
He nods.] SIN guards. They've also got these weapons that will "de-power" anyone who isn't completely human. I've seen magic users suddenly unable to cast, superhero-types not be able to do their superhero thing, all from one shot of a gun or strike of a special baton. [It's terrifying, but he'll avoid mentioning he's been hit once by it. They don't need to go on about everything that happened with Veracity on Dorian's first night back.]
They want us to conform to their rules and get pissed off when we don't like how they "ask" for it. Best we can do is break the rules that don't require us being in public while we do it. Or play along in our way when we don't want to be forced inside. For example: you can always tell some native you're trying to see how long I can hold out for my orgasm while making me try on all the clothes while we're at some store.
[That might be the worst example given the better clothes shops are all the LIER-run ones, but it still counts!]
[What Toby's describing is just as authoritarian and shitty as Orientation forecasted. He'd taken it all with a grain of salt at the time, because, hell, who wouldn't? Surely a city built upon a BDSM foundation didn't, and couldn't work.
But it does, and it's real.
This is, without a doubt, the most fucked situation he's ever found himself in.]
So I'm out of the fire, and you're out of ... [death] where you were, and we're both in a sex dungeon. Usually, I wouldn't mind that, especially with present company. [Dark humour aside, he frowns.]
And there's no way to leave, I'm guessing? [Sex is great, and all, but he doesn't see most people staying for the compelled part of it, if there's a way to be free.] This place is a city, but, what? There's a giant guarded wall around the edges? Dimensional portals that toss you right back in?
Honestly, I'll take it over the alternative. [A gentle way of confirming he knows he's dead back home. If this is where they get to be together for eternity, he'll take it, no matter how shitty or Orwellian it may be.]
None as far as I know. Some people've tried to find out more about how we get here or what happens when we're sent away, but they've got naught for it. [He appreciates other people sticking their necks so he doesn't have to. All the better that they get the punishments for doing so. A way out to get back home and tell off Lucifer, maybe even take him out, would be nice, but there's no way in any version of Hell Toby's risking himself for that. Not while Dorian was gone and even less so now that the man's back.]
The city itself seems to simply exist somewhere. If you find any edges, you'll wander them only to find yourself back toward where you started sometime later. [It's trippy, to put it mildly.] Only place 'round here that's fully contained is the sister city of Veracity, and that's in a bloody dome under the water. [AKA a place Toby does not ever want to be.
Shit, he's going to have to explain it at some point, isn't he? There's so much with that shitty little city to go through, too, starting with its weirdness and ending with the Pit.]
[As he's listening, the stray thought of 'Perhaps nobody's tried hard enough' crosses Dorian's mind, but he dismisses it after a moment's consideration. As tantalizing as the secrets of the city's boundaries are, the very idea threatens this small slice of paradise where Toby's alive. No investigation is worth endangering either of them accidentally tripping into some secret that sends either of them home.
Thankfully, the idea of a modern Atlantis is interesting enough to grab onto, instead.]
Under the water? [He blinks.] So, under the waves of that beach out there, [he points at the window of the bathroom] there's an entire city that people here can get to?
[Goddammit. Of course he'd ask about Veracity. Toby sighs heavily. He could lie about the city and try to convince the man it's nothing special, but the fact that it exists the way it does won't stop him. So, best go for the big guns right away.]
Yes, and you don't want to go. Not because it isn't interesting in its own right, but because the last time you were there, the city had kidnapped you, made you powerless, and forced you and dozens of other LIERs through the most obscene dominant/submissive routines between literal torture. I know you don't remember that right now, but if you ask about Veracity around anyone who's been here long enough, they'll all give the same shudder before they can say anything about it.
[As quickly as his interest was piqued, Toby squashes it with that explanation. BDSM-styled torture. That'll be another fun memory to get back - whenever it is his memories are planning on returning.]
All right, point taken. Duplicity's Atlantis is better left alone. [He frowns slightly.]
I feel like you've given me the score of what to look out for, and what not to do in this place. Is that all Duplicity is? Rules and punishments? [If so, living here is going to be a pain in the ass.] We have all of this [he gestures at the surrounding bathroom] so we must have had some of the life we wanted?
Mostly, but it's not everything by any stretch. There's weird magic and technology here to mess with, city provided but also available from other LIERs. Some of it's not sexual or kinky, but the range on the sexy stuff is grand. Did you know they have actual aphrodisiacs here? Not caviar or snake oil, but drinks, drugs, or oils that can make you feel things you've only dreamed of for sex. [He grins at the other man.] You'll have a few good memories to relive soon enough, but if you're curious now...
[Toby moves about the bathroom quickly, searching through cabinets and drawers until he finds a little vial with a purple liquid inside. It's barely enough for a mouthful from the look of it, but the vampire seems none too worried about that.]
Want to give something a try? This one'll make you horny as hell, but it also heightens sensations a bit. Not the same as being bitten, from what I understand, but it outstrips any heroin or opium I've ever tried. Just a few drops and a few minutes of time, and you'll really get to enjoy the roughness of my hands from all the work I've been doing since I got here.
[Something new, along with another round of sex? The vampire doesn't have to ask him twice. Reaching out, Dorian accepts the phial and gives the contents a once-over. The purple fluid within definitely doesn't look like anything he's tried before.
At some point, his body's going to give in and demand sleep, but until it does, he's spending every waking moment left reacquainting himself with his lover.]
You know just the right things to say to a boy, [Dorian chuckles, wrapping his fingers around the phial. Leaning over, he stands a little taller to peck the vampire on the lips, and then takes one of the other man's hands to tug him along back towards the bedroom.] Do you have a favourite tipple to throw it in, or is it best done on its own?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Yeah. Got to have a Dominant to let us hold a job, buy things, or basically exist in public. It's easier to do in the Down as the gangs have pushed LIES staff out, but it's not much better. Natives still don't like LIERs and Submissives still get treated like shit unless they're being led around or acting subservient to literally any Dominant. [He makes a face at that.]
It also smells awful down there. Completely underground and you can't get that kind of awful smell out of anything. [His nose wrinkles at the mere memory of it.] If you're wondering why we didn't go with the option of slightly less surveillance for the house, that's why. It's bad enough that anyone notices it, and people like me suffer.
no subject
You have me, [he reasons] so doesn't that solve most of our problems in this place? Or is there more that I ought to know about?
no subject
He chuckles softly.] Most, yeah. Things are harsher than they were last time you were here. The collars and cuffs are new, but they're trying to enforce "model" behaviour, too. SIN guards telling Doms to make their Subs act more submissive in public. Natives forcing Subs to eat out of a Dom's hand at a restaurant, kneeling beside them while they shop. Things like that.
[It wouldn't be so bad if people could consent to it. The city doesn't care much about consent in this particular instance, though.]
no subject
Well, we're not doing that, obviously. It's patently insane. [Right?!]
no subject
[Like either of them would pause in their sex long enough for that.]
We can ignore some of it, but not all. If we try to tell natives to piss off about the rules of their restaurants, they'll kick us out and deduct money from our accounts for our food, whether we've finished or not. SIN guards can have us arrested or keep harassing us until we comply or make it home. [He shrugs half-heartedly.] I prefer to eat and drink at home anyway. Unless I'm going to some LIER-owned place, you can't trust a damn thing out of any of those kitchens not to be dosed.
no subject
And he doesn't love hearing any of that. They can't even go out to eat? What exactly are they supposed to do with themselves in this place, if they're going to be harassed whenever they step outside their front door?]
If they're really able to keep up with all of that, there have to be police everywhere - or whoever it is that's enforcing the 'rules'. [Fantastic.] All I've seen are hulking people with batons. Is that them?
no subject
He nods.] SIN guards. They've also got these weapons that will "de-power" anyone who isn't completely human. I've seen magic users suddenly unable to cast, superhero-types not be able to do their superhero thing, all from one shot of a gun or strike of a special baton. [It's terrifying, but he'll avoid mentioning he's been hit once by it. They don't need to go on about everything that happened with Veracity on Dorian's first night back.]
They want us to conform to their rules and get pissed off when we don't like how they "ask" for it. Best we can do is break the rules that don't require us being in public while we do it. Or play along in our way when we don't want to be forced inside. For example: you can always tell some native you're trying to see how long I can hold out for my orgasm while making me try on all the clothes while we're at some store.
[That might be the worst example given the better clothes shops are all the LIER-run ones, but it still counts!]
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But it does, and it's real.
This is, without a doubt, the most fucked situation he's ever found himself in.]
So I'm out of the fire, and you're out of ... [death] where you were, and we're both in a sex dungeon. Usually, I wouldn't mind that, especially with present company. [Dark humour aside, he frowns.]
And there's no way to leave, I'm guessing? [Sex is great, and all, but he doesn't see most people staying for the compelled part of it, if there's a way to be free.] This place is a city, but, what? There's a giant guarded wall around the edges? Dimensional portals that toss you right back in?
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None as far as I know. Some people've tried to find out more about how we get here or what happens when we're sent away, but they've got naught for it. [He appreciates other people sticking their necks so he doesn't have to. All the better that they get the punishments for doing so. A way out to get back home and tell off Lucifer, maybe even take him out, would be nice, but there's no way in any version of Hell Toby's risking himself for that. Not while Dorian was gone and even less so now that the man's back.]
The city itself seems to simply exist somewhere. If you find any edges, you'll wander them only to find yourself back toward where you started sometime later. [It's trippy, to put it mildly.] Only place 'round here that's fully contained is the sister city of Veracity, and that's in a bloody dome under the water. [AKA a place Toby does not ever want to be.
Shit, he's going to have to explain it at some point, isn't he? There's so much with that shitty little city to go through, too, starting with its weirdness and ending with the Pit.]
no subject
Thankfully, the idea of a modern Atlantis is interesting enough to grab onto, instead.]
Under the water? [He blinks.] So, under the waves of that beach out there, [he points at the window of the bathroom] there's an entire city that people here can get to?
no subject
Yes, and you don't want to go. Not because it isn't interesting in its own right, but because the last time you were there, the city had kidnapped you, made you powerless, and forced you and dozens of other LIERs through the most obscene dominant/submissive routines between literal torture. I know you don't remember that right now, but if you ask about Veracity around anyone who's been here long enough, they'll all give the same shudder before they can say anything about it.
no subject
All right, point taken. Duplicity's Atlantis is better left alone. [He frowns slightly.]
I feel like you've given me the score of what to look out for, and what not to do in this place. Is that all Duplicity is? Rules and punishments? [If so, living here is going to be a pain in the ass.] We have all of this [he gestures at the surrounding bathroom] so we must have had some of the life we wanted?
cw: talk of drug use
[Toby moves about the bathroom quickly, searching through cabinets and drawers until he finds a little vial with a purple liquid inside. It's barely enough for a mouthful from the look of it, but the vampire seems none too worried about that.]
Want to give something a try? This one'll make you horny as hell, but it also heightens sensations a bit. Not the same as being bitten, from what I understand, but it outstrips any heroin or opium I've ever tried. Just a few drops and a few minutes of time, and you'll really get to enjoy the roughness of my hands from all the work I've been doing since I got here.
[Doesn't that sound like fun, fiancé??]
no subject
At some point, his body's going to give in and demand sleep, but until it does, he's spending every waking moment left reacquainting himself with his lover.]
You know just the right things to say to a boy, [Dorian chuckles, wrapping his fingers around the phial. Leaning over, he stands a little taller to peck the vampire on the lips, and then takes one of the other man's hands to tug him along back towards the bedroom.] Do you have a favourite tipple to throw it in, or is it best done on its own?