Ino Editing and funsies

Ino drew his attention away from Cyr only when Bezabelle made her announcement about the game of Liar. A non-favourite of his, to be fair. Ino had far too many secrets, and the forfeits could get rather crazy…only the young and brash really loved the game.

Which explained why Bezabelle had suggested it…and why most of the table eagerly went along with it.

He clicked his tongue a bit as Bezabelle asked the first question. Amos would now learn why he shouldn’t have agreed to play.

The guard tried to dodge, of course he did, but Ino wasn’t too invested in seeing him fail. Val voted for truth, and Ino did as well, leaning forward, lacing his fingers together under his chin. “Hmm…I think truth. He doesn’t look like a captain of anything like that. Unless he was the one to discover the evidence, I suppose~”

Had he been important, Ino would have seen him at some point. Ino did not, so Amos was either new, or irrelevant. Myut, meanwhile, gave a veiled little half-true, which was another good strategy. Cyr, meanwhile, had finally retrieved his fork but not his wandering thoughts. Ino smirked a little at his yelped answer.

It almost seemed like Amos would get away with the lie, but then Eris sparked up in typical wrath demon style.

"He's obviously lying!!" she half-yelled, her face growing slightly ruddy. "Don't let him get away with spouting whatever he wants!"

And it was a good thing she had, because the new information Amos revealed in turn was quite valuable. Self immolation…a wrath demon could do it with the right potion, but a charm or a spell was far more likely. Was it willing, or did someone else hold the trigger? Was Abadeer okay?

Who among them could command an ally in such a way? Who had that knowledge? And what the hell did Bez mean, him and Eris had to switch seats? He gave her a dirty look as he moved, she of all demons should have realized that he was trying to feed! Unless he’d really been that subtle about it…he didn’t pat himself on the back just yet, only elbowing Bezabelle when he sat beside her, swatting at her shoulder when she tried to bump him back. Poor Myut looked like he’d been asked to handle a wet, mangy raccoon, fresh from a pile of slimy trash, while Eris looked particularly small, almost cute when she sat so carefully, a bird ready to take flight. She had to ask the question too, and she got a particularly interesting one, raising Ino’s opinion of her higher.

His interest was quickly caught by Myut’s explanation. The substance sounded incredible, and he had a good idea of what it was. He flared up with interest, wanting to ask Myut all about it, its uses, how he’d obtained it, what he’d want to trade it for. Ino also beat the scholarly side of himself back with a stick. That wasn’t the sort of question Ino would ask, and Ino could not ask it, despite his intrigue. "If I say lie, can I get my seat back?" Ino teased. "But no. Truth, I think," He said, then winked at Myut. Maybe, if they got close, he could one day ask Myut all the academic questions he desired. For now, he settled back, snorting at Bez’s disappointment over the 100% truth verdict, and then turning his attention to Viv and Val.

"What's one secret you'd never want anyone outside this room to know?"

It was a good question, but Val was a tricky enough demon to get around it. No one deviated from the obvious verdict, but Viv seemed to flounder with her punishment.

Not that Eris painting Val wasn’t hilarious. The little wrath seemed to take her inspiration from him directly, painting Valramir’s bangs a bright magenta.

"Pretty color. Hey, Ino! We match!" Val called to him.

"That's my look!" Ino joked back, running his fingers through his dyed hair. "Don't get used to it~"

The happy little moment was ruined by Bez insisting Eris return to sitting on Myut, which Ino still found unfair. Cyr was next, and Ino barely had a second to get a cold shiver up his spine before the lust demon spoke.

"So...what's the deal with that poison, Ino?" he asked, his voice light and casual.

Ino's eyes narrowed the tiniest bit, and he almost flipped Cyr off under the table. How fucking dare he?

But at the same time, he'd been waiting for this opportunity. He just hoped that he could sell it. This had to be perfect--neither overacted, nor too casual. He took a short breath, showing how nervous he was, because who wouldn't be nervous when accused of attempted murder because they had poison on them? Briefly, he considered telling the truth, but that would include admitting he hadn't had the gut to go through with this, so no.

Also it was a shit alibi in the first place.

"It's called heartbird," he began, splaying his fingers across the table. "But I don't think you want the chemical ID of it, do you, Cyr? It's a metabolic accelerant. I'll be blunt, at high doses, it can cause heart failure. At a low dose, though, it makes drugs and alcohol hit that much harder and faster. Doesn't do much for sex, though, I'm afraid." he smirked a bit, dropping his head into his palm. "If our guard will bring some wine, I'd be glad to demonstrate its effects. Can that be arranged, Amos?” he drew the attention of their checked out guard.

"Why... why do you have so much?" that demon answered, utterly failing to be useful. "No one's overdosing on stimulants in this place."

A lifetime of practise kept Ino from bristling, let him paint a teasing smile across his face. "The low dose wears off in a matter of hours. That, and I do have friends to share with. Sorry Bezzie, I didn't have it on me that time we were hanging out~"

That line was a bit of a risk, but he had to explain. Neither too much, nor not enough. The perfect balance to be unsuspicious with his disclosure of information.

He turned his attention back to Amos. "You really can't think of a single reason a demon might want a faster, more intense high? Hell, I bet Cyr would like being able to get drunk off 2 drinks instead of... how many can you normally take, anyway?" He tipped his head to the side, addressing the lust. No hard feelings either, that was important too.

Cyr just blinked at him with his pretty eyes. “I don’t prefer to drink,” he replied, with a glance at Bez that Ino read as warning off the gluttony. He’d been utterly wasted when Ino had found him in the rooms, though. Lie? A strange lie though. Or the effect of a glut…?

Meanwhile, Bezabelle was scolding him,

"What! Ino! I'm disappointed. You have had this the whole time and never once shared! That is beyond rude. How long have you had this stuff anyway? No, wait, more importantly, when can I try it?"

Ino mostly ignored her, until she switched her attention to begging Amos for alcohol. "He's right, you know, Amos!” Of course he was. “We need alcohol right now to try this out and confirm his story! Otherwise I'm calling Liar!"

Amos frowned. "No alcohol," he replied.

Ino relaxed just a little bit, laughing, his eyes brighter that they should be.. "Hey, no, you obviously believe me if you want to take it! You can't call Liar just because we can't get drunk!"
Please let this work.

Viv agreed with Bez, and so did Val.

“Ugh. So rude.” Ino responded to them. They didn’t seem to be taking their accusations seriously, at least.

Meanwhile, Eris and Myut vouched for him, earning his thanks.

"Val, Bez, I thought we were friends" Ino pouted in their direction, playing it up that he was unconcerned. It seemed that his explanation was...plausible.

Plausible was unideal, but simultaneously, it hadn't been called as a lie. Especially since the only lie had been in an undertone, that the purpose he described was why he had brought it.

"Myut, Eris, you have my thanks" He bowed his head to each in turn, then turned his attention to Cyr. Based on the question, if Cyr got to pick, his punishment wasn't going to be fun. Under his glamor, Ino was very much afraid.

"Though I do disagree with the conditional Liar verdicts. I was fully happy to prove it if I had the materials to do so~" He teased.

And then Val spoke, and Ino felt his blood run cold. "We are. I was just curious what the punishment would be. I don't really know whether you're lying or not. You never indulge me "

Indulge me. Indulge me indulge me indulge me

Ino felt his heart crack, a source of companionship and understanding gone. Hadn’t they talked about this? Hadn’t Ino told Val that he couldn’t deal with sex? Hadn’t Val understood, promised Ino patience and warmth, had let him think that maybe it could be okay? Was this the lie, or that? The answer felt obvious. In the baths, Ino had been sleepy and vulnerable. Here, he was fully awake and focused and he couldn’t risk it. Couldn’t ally himself with someone who’d hold a grudge because he’d said maybe to sex and then changed his mind. Couldn’t risk Val turning on him if he were ever so stupid as to rely on the Sloth demon in any real way.

People were kissing. Everyone was especially invested in Val-and-Cyr, and even more so in Amos-and-Bez. It let Ino gather himself up, sweep his broken pieces under the trenchcoat of his persona, and launch back into acting.

“Ooo!” The threads of envy from Myut reminded him of something very important. “Round is over, so Eris can have her seat back~” he hopped up, heading over. “That okay, Myut?”

“Yes, please” the Greed answered swiftly, so Ino sat himself in Myut's lap carefully, looping an arm around him.

"Thanks for believing me~" He murmured. "You look like you know something about plants, so I guess that makes sense. Plus you didn't have kiss Eris, hmm? Though it seems to have worked out" his eyes drifted to Val and Cyr. "I wonder if he'll take him up on that... lust demons need to feed somewhat often, right?"

For all the soft curiosity in his voice, Ino was very much bringing that up on purpose.

He relaxed into the arm around him, though, enjoying the half-hug where he could get it, grinning back at Meu’s face at the idea of kissing Eris, noting down his bristling when he wondered about Cyr and Val. And at the other end, Cyr was looking at them, expression sour. Ino let the passive envy flood into his power reserves and smiled, pretending it was for Myut when it was all to himself.

Bez was continuing to torment Amos, forcing him to reassign her question, and then entering into an impressive bit of showmanship and flattery. He accepted her commentary, dropping his gaze to his plate, taking a few more bites of fish with no appetite for them. That really was his reputation…and he’d hold off on judgements until the others spoke up about this one.

…how far would Bezabelle go to get his secrets? He needed to be more careful around her.

The question results in a flood of truths, and Ino dutifully followed along. "Truth, obviously." he folded his hands. "I'm not about to be the only dissenter~" He joked.

“I will” Cyr said, and Ino looked over, openly shocked. “I think that’s a lie” the lust was continuing, and Ino wondered what had gotten into him.

"Oh? Unfortunate, my poor Cyr, unless you can convince everyone else to change their answers, you've just earned a punishment." Bez said with a wink.

Cyr seemed somewhat unruffled by that. "Oh dear," he said, resting his chin on his hand, and Ino now watched the back-and-forth with interest. "What do you have for me?"

"No, no. Not me! Amos, the pleasure is yours," Bez declared, inclining her head graciously.

Amos had clearly stopped paying attention. "Eh? Um...do twenty push-ups?"

Ino snorted at that. Had Amos ever looked at Cyr? "Why don't you also ask him to sit in his chair and breath a little while you're at it?" he snarked. His humour even got a laugh out of Cyr, which was pretty gratifying.

Too bad Amos didn’t appreciate the sass "Well...fine. How about..." His eyes flicked around the table a little helplessly. "Switch shirts with Ino then."

Ino sputtered when he got roped in. "It's not going to fit him! He's massive!" He complained, but he already knew no one would help out. He pulled his shirt off and balled it up, tossing it to Cyr. It smelled faintly of peaches.

Cyr caught it, looking somewhat reluctant. "I won't force it," he replied, pushing his chair back as he stood up to undo the buttons on his dress shirt before tossing it over. Ino’s shirt didn't even fit over his massive shoulders, so it ended up around Cyr’s neck like an avant garde scarf.

Ino slipped on Cyr's top, only doing the first few buttons. It hung on him like a dress, and he swore softly, rolling up his sleeves until he could use his hands again. The large shirt softened him, making him look younger, more innocent.

At least it smelled nice.

“You look like a wee babe,” Myut told him, so Ino, the pinnacle of maturity, stuck out his tongue.

“Ohh, look Ino, now we match!” Bez got a wink and a smile for that.

Wrapped in the painful familiarity of a too-large shirt around his slender frame, Ino seemed declawed, resting in the crook of Myut’s arm as the Greed interrogated Eris. Her story was fantastic, and Ino thoroughly enjoyed the audio backdrop, “True,” to his primary activity of ogling Cyr’s abs. Damn, you could grind spices on those things. Were they real? Or just incubus sexiness at a logical extreme?

Eris got called a liar, and Ino smirked at her. "At least you know we won't be swapping seats~" the envy joked. Myut would not punish himself again. Though he did tried to bargain for a freebie…Ino already knew Bez would never agree.

The punishment story was even better, and he muffled his giggles into Cyr’s sleeves.

“Ino,” the envy tuned back in right on time, “-have you asked anything yet? I think it is you."

Ino sat upright, looking around the table carefully, considering his options. There was Cyr, but Ino didn't really want to needle him further, that could be dangerous in the future. He couldn't afford to accidentally create an enemy. There was Bez, he could pull something out to really make her squirm, but she'd get back at him one way or another. Perhaps teasing Eris? Though she was a wrath...

The answer came to him when he couldn't crane his neck further, so he tipped his head back, smiling at Amos. "Oh, hello~" He chirped. "My question is to you. Why do you work for-- no, why are you loyal to Abadeer?~"

The answer should help them all plan, truth or lie.

Amos seemed annoyed, though Ino wasn’t surprised. Only an asshole would ask the question Ino had asked, knowing his colleagues, and perhaps the Prince himself, might hear the answer.

"He's the Prince," he replied, straightforward. "That's why."

"Why does that matter to you?" Bez interjected.

Amos frowned more. "It's my job to serve the Prince." he replied, sounding a little annoyed.

"So what if it's your duty?" Val asked. "You're still a demon. Loyalty... is rare. You have to have a motivation beyond 'duty'… something you get out of it, so until you really answer. You're a liar."

"Yes, what makes you care about your little job, A-mouse?"

"Protection? Prestige?" Myut offered from behind Ino. He seemed to be trying to give the guard an out.

Viv looked like she was thinking hard. "Unless you're doing it for free, I need to say liar" she said, folding her hands primly.

That seemed to get to Amos more than anything. "My family, actually," he snapped. "Not all of us were born wealthy."

Viv straightened her back, eyes flashing. "If you need a better job, I can put a word in with my father" she shot back, and Ino drew in a breath, reaching out to see if he could catch threads of envy.

Amos half-lifted his chin. "I'm perfectly happy where I am," he snapped back, bristling slightly.

Val tried to intervene, but Bezabelle couldn’t be stopped. Her eyes might be half-lidded, her head supported in her hand, but a crooked smile graced her lips. "Oh, family you say? What, did your mommy and daddy get you the job? Couldn't snag it on your own merit, hm?"

"Ha," was all Amos said, standing up, clearly meaning to leave. Unfortunately, Ino was rather distracted as Myut suddenly grabbed him, lifting him as though he weighed nothing, setting him lightly on the now-cleared table. Ino’s mind clouded over, because if there was one thing the petite envy loved, it was being manhandled. He was watching Myut, but not in any meaningful way. Just…those legs, those arms, that torso…

All of Myut was dreamy as he threatened-flirted-bargained with the guard, until the other was unceremoniously dragged through the wall. Ino straightened up, blinking. Punishments, right.

"Alright then, what is our punishment, dear Ino?"

Punishment…

He needed to get Viv, Myut…and Val. Eris and Cyr hadn’t voted, but he let it slide. Ino had one demon that he was gunning for when he announced his revenge.

"You three will go to the baths and wrestle. One of you three must end up in the water~" He steepled his fingers, eyes bright. Hmm... "Someone should go to supervise too. Cyr? You're already dressed for it~"

Val whined immediately, then immediately made a comment about getting off. Ino bounced on his toes happily to hide his stony feelings. He’d been an idiot to think the Sloth would care about anything else.

"I'll come along too, this'll be fun~" Ino announced, slipping off the table and skipping ahead. His smile slipped off his face as soon as he was ahead of the pack, but was back on as soon as he entered the baths. At least watching the fight was entertaining, as Viv and Myut ganged up on Val, like he’d hoped they would when he remembered their cooperation over the chair. He half turned away as Val hit the water, hard. He hadn’t wanted him hurt, but…

No. No mercy.

What got him to turn back was Bez’s shout, and he saw the way Viv and Myut were forced into the waters as well. He couldn’t help it, he laughed, his eyes brightening at the chaos. Now everyone was going into the water…he looked around, then strolled over to Eris, stretching out his hand. “Shall we?~”

“Yeah,” to his delight, she grabbed it, pulling him along, and both petite demons leaped, aiming for a big splash. Everyone was laughing now, smiling and flirting, and Ino just floated, keeping out of the way, doing what he did best—storing information for later.

Bez declared the last question, and Val targeted Myut, asking what had happened at the door. Evidently, it had been interesting to more than a lust-struck Ino. The tale sounded plausible enough… "Truth," the envy said from where he'd floated. Briefly, he considered saying lie just to end with a bit of fun, but he wasn't sure how much more he could take. Knowing Val, he'd lose his pants or something in the process. Besides. Cyr could just tell them if Myut felt lust towards the guard.

It seemed, at least, that Bezabelle was on the same page and took the road not taken, accusing Myut of lying and ending up with the punishment. Which was surprisingly un-lewd…although, that could be for any number of reasons.

Bezzie chose to mimic and mock Myut, dragging Cyr into her act in the process. Ino couldn’t hep but snort, though. In his opinion, it should have been Cyr begging for the kiss. “Do you really collect rare teas?” he asked Myut curiously, clambering out of the pool to be beside him.

“Yeah. It’s one of my personal interests,” Myut said, right before Ino was hit in the face with his own shirt. He wobbled, flailing on the spot to catch his balance. He whipped back to look at Cyr. "Fuck you, this is mine now!" He shouted, pulling the oversized top closer around his body. He absolutely did not let his gaze linger. Fucking lust demons and their eternal need for attention. He was sure Val would be happy to provide.

He took a breath and turned his attention back to Myut, hoping for a smooth recovery. Ino ran a hand through his wet hair and sighed. "I have a few tea ingredients with me too. Do you only collect for rarity? Or taste and effect?"

“Flavour.” Myut said flatly, then marched off. Ino felt himself crumple yet again under the rejection, then pulled himself back together. He was no wilting flower. He didn’t need friendship or attention when they were all enemies here.

He stalked out of the pool, and into his own bedroom, then came up short. There was already someone there, a demon even smaller than him.

"Eris?!" His voice snapped a bit as he stood in the doorway, still dripping wet.