Duplicity Inbox

[notfoul]

You have reached Thomas Barrow's voicemail. I am unavailable at the moment, but please leave a message and I will respond later. Thank you.

video | text | voice | action

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Delivery

[fanoperator]

A wicker hamper is dropped off mid-day on solstice day, with a note attached:
Please enjoy with family, friends, and loved ones.
Nie Huaisang 聂怀桑 and family
Inside is a hand-painted clay bowl, lid secured with a ribbon, which contains Tangyuan, sweet rice dumplings filled variously with red bean paste, sesame paste, and lotus paste, floating in a sweet clear soup. Next to the clay bowl is a round bamboo box, which contains lamb and mushroom dumplings. Both containers are bundled around with fabric to ensure that the contents arrive still warm.

delivery

[policier]

( A gift is delivered mid-day on Christmas Eve, a box wrapped with a bow containing a fragance bottle and a note. The words are written perfectly, in the sender's best penmanship, straightforward and precise as Javert always is,

Joyeux Noël. I hope we will see more of each other.

And he signs it very simply with his name. )

un: LDPDL

[boude]

[ Louis has put this off for a little while, but it feels apt now, considering he'd just gone to bring the last of his things from his assigned housing in the Down and found a gift from Lestat waiting for him. ]

Thomas, my apologies for bringing this to you in lieu of a Christmas gift, but there's something I need to share with you. I'd keep it to myself, but I worry it might put you in danger if you're not aware of it.

[notfoul]

[ Thomas reads over the message from Louis a few times, trying to see if he could glean any clues about it. But it doesn't work. So he replies to Louis immediately after reading the message for a third time, preparing himself for the worst. ]

No need to apologise, Louis. Especially if it's important and could cause potential issues if it isn't addressed. Please tell me what you need to share and then we'll move forward from there.

[boude]

[ It's hard to put it all into words, and he doesn't reply for a long while as he's typing it all out. Even a truncated version is too long for this manner of communication. Eventually he deletes it all, and goes for the simplest option. ]

There's a man here Lestat de Lioncourt. He is dangerous, and you need to stay as far away from him as possible.

[notfoul]

[ He feels slightly anxious when Louis doesn't respond straight away. Maybe there was a lot to tell and he needed some time to put it into words. As he waits for the reply Thomas wonders if they should talk about it in person. ]

I have yet to come across someone by that name, but thank you for the warning. May I ask why he is so dangerous?

[boude]

We're from the same place, he and I. We were [ How to put this... ] entangled. And he has trouble letting go.

He's also a vampire. The one who made me.

[notfoul]

[ 'Entangled' suggests that they were heavily involved. ]

While I don't know a lot about vampires, I can assume that there is a strong bond between a maker and the one they made.

What shall I do if I encounter him unexpectedly? Does he know you have a contract?

un: XxSUBMISSIVE69xX (forward dated to 18th - 20th)

[sometimespawnskillkings]

[Thanks to the glitch, a sexy image of Mark Temple ends up being sent to Thomas. In the picture, Temple’s laying on a bed, naked, smirking at the camera, with a come-hither look in his eyes.]

[notfoul]

[ Thomas doesn't recognise the user name of the person who sent him the message, but when he opens the attachment, he immediately recognises Temple. He wasn't expecting this. There's a brief delay before Thomas sends a message back in return. ]

Was this um, intended for me? It's a lovely picture, but I can delete it if I wasn't the right recipient.

(misfire, nsfw link) text; un: sluttybitch

[ipswichson]

take me out to play and make me forget everything?

attachment

[notfoul]

[ 'Sluttybitch'? ]

As tempting as that is, did you intend to send this to me?

[ipswichson]

What? Oh. Oh no.

I mean, I don't mind you got it though. Should I be more tempting?

[ He may not have picked that username but it's not wrong. ]

Text

[self_impeding]

[Thomas will receive a series of pictures. In them, Blitzo is wearing various outfits, and there's even a few of them where he's posing sexily in a dress and wig. There's a text message with the pictures.]

im feeilng sexy tonite, and witohut a dom i need help metieng quota. wanna fuk?

[notfoul]

No. No. You are perfectly tempting. In fact, I'm thinking about releasing you from the confines of your leather prison and 'playing' with you.

How does that sound?

[notfoul]

[ He's surprised to receive the photos. Even more surprised when the person in the photos isn't exactly...human. Thomas isn't sure if should respond or not, but in the end his curiosity gets the better of him. ]

I just received photos and a strange message from this user. Did you mean to send it to me?

[self_impeding]

[He doesn't recognize who this message is coming from, but since all the messaging has been screwed up lately, he's not sure if that means anything.]

deenpds. is tihs rip?

[sometimespawnskillkings]

[Temple reads the text, confused. Then, he scrolls up and sees the picture that’s been sent to Thomas - and the username that he now has. It lacks the poetry of ‘icechess,’ his usual one, and is instead rather crass, but Temple decides not to dare changing it - he knows the city well enough by now to figure that there’s probably not much point in doing that.]

[He spends a moment considering how to respond, and ends up replying:]

Why wouldn’t it be?

[He doesn’t want to lie to Thomas, but he doesn’t want Thomas to delete the picture either. So, he aims for something in the middle.]

[notfoul]

No. My name is Thomas. I have no idea who 'Rip' is. Or who you are.

[notfoul]

[ He finds himself looking at the picture again while he waits for a reply. Thomas imagines being on that same bed that Temple is on, just as naked. He would love to make that imagination become a reality, but he saves that for later on. ]

Only because I wasn't expecting it. I don't tend to receive pictures like this from other people.

You look really good in it. I feel like I should send one in return.

[self_impeding]

oh. tehn no, i didnt meen to sned it to u

names blitzo. the o is silent.

still hav quota, tho, so if u like wat u saw, let me know, k?

[notfoul]

I'm not even sure about what I saw. You're not human.

Can I ask what you are Blitzo?

[self_impeding]

im an imp

[notfoul]

I'm aware of that word, but they're just from stories back home. Fairytales.

[boude]

He doesn't know. If you meet him, don't get too close – and avoid talking about me if you can. He needs to know as little about you as possible.

He can be very charming.