7356/What rests in the woods

What rests in the woods
Date of Scene:	13 August 2021
Location:	North Woods
Synopsis:	Saeko shows Satana her 'workplace' and a picnic is had!
Cast of Characters:	Saeko, Satana Hellstrom

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Saeko has posed:
A message sent, not by voices in the wind nor readings in tea or reflexions on the surface of a river. Just a text message, the wonders of a modern age!

Compared to the club, a random spot in the woods of Central Park is probably a little strange, but there Saeko rested in her human guise lounging in the grass with a small box of strawberries in her lap, a little satisfied groan from her lips as she popped it into her mouth and waited for company to arrive.

Satana Hellstrom has posed:
Satana's scent preceeds her. The Queen of Hell has a very noticeable odor, after all.

Cinnamon.

Not quite what you'd expect, but naturally a succubus who smelled like rotting eggs wouldn't get a lot of customers, now, would she?

This succubus comes up from before the fox, waving upon being noticed and weaving snakelike at the hips in her ... daring, shall we call it? ... outfit. An outfit that brings up a few questions (who? what? where? when? and most especially why?) as well as answering a few more practical ones.

No, the Queen of Hell, and devourer of straying souls, does not wear underthings. Or their straps and panels would show in the gaps of flesh in her garb.

Having undoubtedly caught a lot of eyes on the way in, the woods proper are far more private with fewer (read:no) eyes striving desperately to see what lies beneath. Or cattily denouncing. Depending on proclivity.

"Saeko, my foxy friend," Satana says as she gets in earshot. "It was a real joy to get your message. You've been on my mind."

The voice drops a third of an octive into a husky growl with that last sentence. And it's paired with licked lips... as the eyes spot the strawberries.

More than one track. Good thing to note.

Saeko has posed:
A soft chuckle, a smile, if Saeko's 'divine knowledge' or foresight showed her a glimpse of the 'Queen's journey here or her intent crossing her mind then the kitsune was playing it cool, calm and serene. Infuriatingly 'divine spirit' perhaps, were it not for the fact that her lips curled up to a little quirk of a smirk as she watched those eyes wander.

Fingers dip into the box of treats, retreving the next red berry and offering it out towards Satana with a little 'innocent' tilt of her head.

"I brought you here because you said you wished to learn, and there is something you might like to see..."

Satana Hellstrom has posed:
How Satana chooses to sit is an instruction in technique for those interested in her 'profession'. A few steps of snake-slithering hips forward, then down on the bare knee for a brief, single-step crawl forward, followed by a turning in place to wind up to one side and slightly ahead of her spirit friend, followed by curling up in place, leaving her head resting on the fox's lap, staring upward with teasing mischief in her eyes.

"I'm going to see it on the third date?" she asks, laughing. "That's pitiful for me. Usually I get to see it on the first!"

What we seem to have here is a failure to communicate. Or a succubus with a very inappropriate sense of hu... Oh, come on. We all know it's the latter!

Satana locks gazes with Saeko as she rounds and extends her lips for the treat.

The strawberry, to be clear.

Though other treats would likely be welcome too the way her eyes are smouldering.

Saeko has posed:
A little shift, the fox grins and moves towards Satana, just a -sliiiight- lean while the strawberry is drawn back to her own face.

There's a moment of closeness, a was of her breath where it seems a kiss would be offered in a place...right before she smirks and instead does indeed feed the succubus the fruit.

"Sorry to disappoint, I brought you here to see the place where most mortals in this city have been offering their prayers of late." With the berry given, the same slender digits lift now to gesture nearby. A small garden, a long forgotten japanese shinto shrine once offered as a cultural gift for charity. No torii gate, no charms, only small carved wood in a strangely clear and beautiful space.

"The fruits were an offering of thanks for a 'wish' granted, would you believe?"

Satana Hellstrom has posed:
There's a distinct little sigh of frustration as the lips are swapped out for the strawberries, but it's replaced by her very careful dismantling of the strawberry between her lips from beneath. Eventually no longer blocking she looks up again, shrugging with a grin.

"I still have your lap. And a gorgeous view." Eyes wander languidly along the path from Saeko's face to where the scenery is lost to her peripheral vision. All with mischief in her eyes. And a bit more.

Then her attention is drawn to what the fox intended her to see. And, naturally, her sight, her hearing, her smell, her second and third sights, all are brought to bear upon the shrine, judging its strength, its hostility or lack thereof to her, its protections, and other professional matters.

"It's lovely," she admits, after staring at it for a while. She comes up to a cross-legged seat to get a better vantage. "What did you thank for?"

Saeko has posed:
A little laugh, pure and honest as her hand falls back to lazily toy with the other woman's hair and Saeko turns her own gaze skywards. "Little things, prayers answered for those who beseeched Inari. In this way I am a conduit for them. I have my own power, but I am an agent of theirs."

A pause, the broader answer comes with another strawberry offered.

"Someone was desperate and prayed for prosperity, their luck changed for the better."

Satana Hellstrom has posed:
For a moment Satana is confused. Then it sets in and she laughs.

"I thought you'd brought the strawberries to say thanks!" she chortles. "I forget you're the one that works for the one the shrine is dedicated to. So you're talking the offerings." She shakes her head and symbolically wipes a (non-existing) tear of laughter from her eye. "It's a sweet tradition."

The second strawberry is accepted and this time eaten in nibbles as she talks.

"My traditions are a bit more brutal, I have to confess. They get power. Wealth. Looks. Health. Whatever they want. But when the bill comes due at the contract's end their soul comes to my realm." She makes a face. "Well, except for the ones I have to tithe to Daddy." Back to pleasant. "And once down there they're punished for their hubris against the man upstairs. The more promising ones become imps or other kinds of demons if they're useful." Another face. "I just had to put Ballal to use today, a wrath demon, because I was unwary and ..." She shrugs. "Some do-gooders interfered with my punishment of a sinner."

A hand reaches out to cup the fox's face, staring into her eyes. "I guess that's the big difference between you and me. I only do the punishment side. The rewards are left for those angel bastards who won't even give me the time of day before trying to smite me ... even though I do THEIR boss' work!" Resentment? Yes. Bitterness? Surprisingly not so much. "You, though, get both sides. How does that feel, rewarding as well as punishing?"

Saeko has posed:
"I mean, I am an extension of Inari, a creation of their nature..." she muses aloud and then shrugs her shoulders. "Accepting of the gifts and offerings by me still passes the...will on to her."

Listening to the story of interuptions and heroes has Saeko frowning even as she leans into the touch and gives a soft little chuckle. "Truthfully? I think it makes it easier for others to swallow. To see me as an agent bringing punishment is easier for them to accept when they know I reward the just."

Satana Hellstrom has posed:
"You really do intrigue me, my little foxy one," Satana says, looking Saeko up and down. "But you're a trickster, are you not? Am I seeing the real you, or am I seeing what you think I want to see?"

She purses her lips, considering as she tries to see past Saeko's surface.

"Illusion magic is not my strong suit. Elemental magic and spirit magic are where I rule almost supreme. Earth." The dirt around the pair raises with a hand gesture in a ring, then falls. "Water. Fire. Air." A brief demonstration of each of these is paired with their naming. "Or, if you will," she adds with a sly expression, "Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Void. Or Earth, Water, Fire, Wood, and Metal. I do cross-training too." The wink is amused.

"And," she continues, "when it comes to demons, to summonings, to bindings, to Naming, to planar travel, to soul manipulation ... I am also a specialist." A light shrug. "But illusion? Nature magic? I know the very, very basics. And I'm not sure, when I look at you, if you're manipulating my senses or if I see what's there."

She leans in closer.

"I do so hope it's the latter, because I like what I see. You have a stunning combination of wildness and refinement. It's something I wish I could introduce to my ... plaything. Thomas. I live with him at a hotel called the Griffin."

A thought seems to enter her mind and she straightens up, wide-eyed. "I know, why don't you come visit my home? I'll have some of the imps whip up an offering ... or maybe Thomas because he likes to cook certain things too. You can come over for conversation, entertainment, food, whatever your heart desires!"

Saeko has posed:
"You see me, as I am...and as I wish to be. For a Tenko, both those ideas are one and the same. You are so much Satana, but I am literally magic, luck and chance made manifest. Not of the elements, nor your hell or their heaven."

A little smirk, her head tilts and her form seems to change in the blink of an eye, a mere moment measured in seconds where Satana was resting with her head against her own doppleganger smirking down at her.

Then it was back to Saeko in her 'human' guise and a little blink of her eyes. "You wish me to see your home now? I suppose it is only fair after this..."

Satana Hellstrom has posed:
"See, that's just freaky!" Satana enthuses. "I really should learn trickery like that. My training was all about soul bending and desire and demonology. The elemental stuff is just a passion. Along with my technomancy. I love using this degraded magic the souldead created to make up for having lost real magic. It's so much fun to infuse it with the real thing!"

And then the genuine, honest, actually happy smile. Not the one used to seduce. Not the one used to dominate with cruelty. Not the bland one used to blend into the background. A real one that reaches the eyes.

"Yes," she says. "I'd love you to see my home. But until then, the Griffin will have to do. I'm not sure what would happen if I took you down to my real home. I mean I'm a Hell Lord, technically, but there's others there more powerful than me." Sour face. "Like Daddy." Happy face. "And they might find you too tempting to pass up. I'd have to check out how to keep you safe."

A bit of a chagrinned look as she adds, "That's not been my focus in the past. Usually if I take someone down to my domain, it's to keep them there forever. Like Jim Morrison. Whom I accepted in place of the Sorceror Supreme."

Saeko has posed:
Saeko laughs at that, a nod given and a lazy little shrug of her shoulders. "I would agree. Curious as I am, venturing into hell is not the best option for one such as me...nor would taking you to the realm of the Amatsu-kami go over particularly well...But I confess, I find this mortal plane far more interesting and exciting."

"Our magic remains as long as people pray for fortune and prosperity...I do not expect that I will be disappearing from this world for as long as mortals exist."

Idly remembering the singer from the club, Saeko fishes one of the strawberries and takes a bite before continuing. "But as you asked about the real me, this is what I wanted you to see. Peace and chaos, blessings and judgement, serenity and sexuality. They are all part of me. The serene beauty and the insatiable vixen...All of that is Saeko, Tenko of Inari."

Satana Hellstrom has posed:
It's not her fault. It really isn't. It's the way she's been made.

"Sexuality?" Satana's attention perks up and focuses with laser precision on that single word. "Insatiable vixen?" OK. Two more.

Her eyes are all black, now, with red irises. Vague hints of ember in the pupils, not yet glowing but certainly ignited.

"How insatiable are we talking?" she asks, voice lowered a half octave and practically purring. "'Cause as much of a dear as he is, and as much as he's improved, there's no humans, not even Thomas, I've met who can keep up with my endurance..." She smiles, almost sadly. "I usually have to go to some of those smorgasbord things they call 'orgies' here, but there the enjoyment is tempered by the fact that all the sin makes me want to feast on them as I go. I do so terribly love the taste of wicked souls, you understand."

She grins up at Saeko with now visible embers in her eyes as fires deep inside her ignite.

"But you? There's no soul there for me to take. You're something different. Which means I can let loose...if you're game."

Or should that have been punctuated with a question mark? The inflection is very subtle.

The hand now sliding down Saeko's side, however, is not. Not subtle in the slightest. Sensitive, yes. Seductive, yes. Skilled, yes. But the intent is not even slightly subtle.

"I can always offer myself at your shrine..."

Saeko has posed:
"There are reason there are stories of my kind being succubi ourselves, even if it is usually in our younger years," Saeko chuckles, "but as we grow and our power climbs we go from looking like a sweet and youthful cub of a girl to..." she trails off, gesturing to herself.

The hand offered down her side brings a shiver, the promise of more and the clear excitement from the demon earning a little smirk before she leans down.

"Tempting...but an offering here is an offering to Inari, I'd simply be accepting on their behalf...and it's not the usual gift they would accept."

A grin, she lazily brushes a finger against Satana's cheek. "But then, there are many other places in the mortal plane...and just because I am summoned here doesn't mean I live here."