magic_fratboy

Out of me, into you yeah
You can hide it's just a one way street
Oh, I believe I'm in you, yeah
Open wide, that's right!
Dream me off my feet
Oh, believe in me

==========

NOTE: Backdated to last night. Zee is zee_ali and is used with some permission and lots of love.

For a week, he drifted between worlds. He slept, he healed, but awoke with wounds in places only Ziyah could see. In his eyes, in his heart…the damage had been done.

He found no nourishment in food and drink. Friends and family barely fed his need for power…even she, the woman he could finally call his own in all the ways that mattered, couldn’t give him enough to keep him going for long. Drifting between life and death, he knew in his heart that there was trauma left he couldn’t heal.

He didn’t know how to stop the bleeding, didn’t know how to fix it. No one did…so every day he bled out. Every day he got weaker. One day, he would lay down his head and never lift it again. He’d join his uncle forever in the eternal sleep that gave The Darkness cause for celebration. There was no stopping it…unless he found the key to open the lock. Too briefly, he’d freed Vincenzo Karras and liberated Carbone, if he could only free himself…

It didn’t occur to him until the night Zee helped him into bed and he realized how warm his hand was in hers. His skin had been so cool since that night, so empty and devoid of life, but when she finally crawled in and curled her body into his he felt a flicker of heat.

It hadn’t occurred to him that the power he’d shared with her so briefly during the ritual might have lingered. The key to his chains could lie in her.

( WARNING: Mild adult content beneath the cut... )

Muse: Tommy Karras
Fandom: Original Character
Words: 1,049

NOTE: Takes place early this morning. As always, Zee is zee_ali and is used with much love & some permission. ;p

The shell in the bed is a ghost, pale papery skin against black sheets, head pillowed on red. He breathes, he sleeps, but he doesn’t move. He doesn’t even stir to let his body find a more comfortable position, so the muscles tense and bunch over two days until the shell isn’t much more than a wooden board. Warm hands come now and again to move him, ease the knotted muscles to softness again, but the tension’s never far.

Inside the shell, a man is fighting for his life.

The healing sleep is covering a war for human souls, fought not with weapons and blood but pure energy. Light dawns, darkness snuffs it out. A diamond glitters and it turns instantly to coal. It’s Hell on earth, but the light of the flames isn’t quite enough to make the dim the smell of sulfur and brimstone. The cycle has his chest rising and falling, leaves him running for his life until he’s buried so far in himself he’s not sure he can ever fight his way back out.

Surrender.

Never.

( ..... )

Muse: Tommy Karras
Fandom: Original Character
Words: 733

So...tomorrow's the big night.

I've had no chance to prepare for this escape beyond some basic training. Chopper's supposed to pull me out, so I worked a little on boarding one in flight, and I've been killing myself learning to escape the way I used to: without magic. My power won't save me in this, my people can't help me.

I got one thing going for me, and I can't talk about my secret weapon 'cause they'll find it if I do.

Send me some good vibes, people, I'm gonna need 'em. If I make it, it's because of you, and if I don't? To some of you, I'm sorry.

To the rest...if it's in my power, I'll see you next lifetime. I swear it.

Wish me luck.

Backdated to last night.

So this was it…this was the way it ended. In blood and ice it ended, a bullet in his belly and his flesh cooling on a dark and filthy slab of asphalt. It was a shitty way to go, pathetic. It didn’t fit a man of his station, it wasn’t right for someone like him to go this way.

He was the King of Cuffs. He was The Avatar, goddamnit…he deserved better.

They deserved better.

Gall gave way to anguish as he thought of them, his girls back home. Twin angel’s faces called to him through the icy bite of steel in his flesh and life spilling from his wounds out onto the ground. They deserved to be happy, to have a lover, a husband, a father and friend. They didn’t deserve to suffer when he finally bled out.

They deserved a man that could have had sense enough to avoid getting shot by his own car in a parking structure after work. They deserved a man that could have spotted the corrupted human in time to stop him before he pulled out the gun, before he could pick up his cell phone and drive off with his car, leaving him to bleed out.

They deserved a smart man, and he was a fool. Like that first awful time The Darkness got the better of him, he had to wonder what was worse: dying before his time yet again, before he got to see his daughter grow up, or dying to the benefit of the other side.

Souls would be destroyed by his death.

So don’t die.

Shutting his eyes, Tommy struggled to keep breathing as he called on the power and prayed he had enough left. He thought of the autographs he’d signed in the lobby of the Mirage, Stephanie and her wide, faithful blue eyes glowing as she watched the illusions during rehearsal. He concentrated on that faith, the belief that he could move mountains and slay dragons. He believed, like she did, that he could roar like the trumpets at Jericho…

…and the walls came tumbling down.

Muse: Tommy Karras
Fandom: Original Character
Words: 350

Takes place after this, this, and this.. Backdated to yesterday.

Life is under no obligation to give you what you expect.

====================

“OW!!! Shit!!!”

Cursing, he brought his throbbing middle finger to his mouth, but even the moist heat and pressure weren’t easing the pain. Lowering his hand, he cursed long and hard, this time in silence, when he saw the crack in his nail running into the quick and the well of red already appearing in the nail bed.

Forcing himself to block out the pain, Tommy gathered his focus and planted the bracelet against the wall again, throwing his body into the force of smashing it as hard as he could. The antique handcuffs, using a single-action spring to lock, were identical to the pair that already lay on the floor of the cell. The second pair was newer and had far less play, making it harder to slam them with enough pressure to pop the cuff, and far too easy to smash a finger in something.

It took him three more tries before he finally sprang the first bracelet, then twice more to get the second one off. Squatting, he picked up the key he’d spat out earlier and with some help from his lips and teeth, managed to open one shackle and then the other.

( That left him with two pairs of cuffs, the boot, and the door…and not a lot of time left. )

Muse: Tommy Karras
Fandom: Original Character
Words: 1,000

“Okay…good, just snap those on…”

Part of it felt like sacrilege, standing there and allowing Houdini’s own handcuffs to be locked around his wrists, and yet part of him felt like he was welcoming back old friends. The cold metal, the scars from use and age…there was history there, a history some forgotten part of him remembered and celebrated. Everything else was reverence and awe, the joy of an ingénue sitting at his master’s feet.

He was the student, learning by doing. Simultaneously, the details coalesced in memories that he couldn’t avoid. Barechested, handcuffed, lungs filled with the scent of wood and plaster, dry parchment and ink, he felt a sense of belonging. He could even now remember the cell he had only seen once the night before, knew he had escaped it a dozen times in days past.

He stood a little taller in spite of himself as the final set of bracelets snapped on, unconsciously remembering the title that came with the task set before him. He was here to win his name back along with his skill.

( King of Handcuffs... )

Muse: Tommy Karras
Fandom: Original Character
Words: 463

Whoa-oh
Out there in the spotlight, you're a million miles away
Every ounce of energy, you try and give away
As the sweat pours out your body, like the music that you play

==================

They were still too tight. Even with flexing, the straps were still too tight.

The ‘crazy crib’ escape had been a stupid, last minute idea, but even as Tommy lay there, sweating buckets and wrapped in the stifling confines of a white cotton sheet, he was sure he could do this. Without power.

He really hadn’t even thought about it as the restraint belt had been fastened to his midsection and the straps secured at his wrists and forearms. Flexing, it was that easy…his forearms tensed, his wrists slightly bent, and immobile gave way to difficult. It would take all his strength, all his concentration…but it was doable.

( He didn’t need power…all he needed was energy. )

Muse: Tommy Karras
Fandom: Original Character
Words: 450

You Are Rain

You can be warm and sexy. Or cold and unwelcoming. Either way, you slowly bring out the beauty around you. You are best known for: your touch Your dominant state: changing

Did some rehearsal last night for the jail escape. Zee helped me, and then she...uh...well, that part's personal. Long story short, we were up almost all night, and now I'm beat. I gotta do some press this weekend (someone please save me?), and Sunday's the jailbreak. Tickets sold out, and I gave passes to everyone that's wanted 'em so far.

It's weird that I got nothing to worry about this time...well, nothing that'll scare any of you. Sassy, Zee, please don't let me chicken out on the other thing. Y'all know what I mean.

There's an ad running in this week's 24/7 Magazine, and this flier is being handed out at the box office here in the hotel. And since I'm advertising on my own journal, I may as well do it up right.

I put together the print ad, but this is the blurb the boys in PR did up for me:

You've seen him cheat death above ground in a water-filled wine barrel, and below ground in an escape from the grave itself. Now, rising Las Vegas sensation Tommy Karras will defy death in a whole new way: he will go into battle with a ghost.

In JAILBREAK, his newest concept in the art of escapology, Tommy won't be putting his life on the line, but he will be putting up his fragile reputation and make a bid for the mantle once held by Harry Houdini as the King of Handcuffs. Duplicating one of Houdini's favorite stunts, he will stage a jailbreak while shackled hand and foot. What's more, he will do it all in the same irons, cell, and fashion as Houdini did it over a century ago.

The stage will be set in Pioche, Nevada, a small town outside of Vegas which is home to a historical landmark holding one of the last jail cells of its kind. Bound in five sets of cuffs worn by the master himself during various escapes, Tommy will then be shackled with a ten pound weight on his left foot, also used by the master, and locked in a jail cell crafted in 1899 with a door that does not lock in the front, but rather two feet to one side.

In his heyday, Houdini originally escaped a cell similar to this one in roughly four hours...on June 21st, Tommy Karras will attempt to perform it in two.

No modern conveniences. No technological advantages. With the same instruments and resources at Houdini's disposal, Tommy will stand toe to toe with the long dead master of escapology and hope to best him.

In the end, there can be only one.

I know it sounds hokey, but whatever gets butts in the seats, right? The courthouse in Pioche is small, so there's not a lot of tickets available? I do have some passes for anyone I know that's coming and wants in. Just hit me up and I'll get you taken care of.

Now if you'll excuse me, I got rehearsal. Today, I get to make Channing disappear. Wish me luck.

You Are Chips and Salsa

You are energetic and a real go getter. You can even be aggressive at times. You love taking risks and taking the rewards. You are a true daredevil. You can be a bit greedy in life, and you go after what you want. You are courageous and edgy. You will do what others are afraid of.

I need Mexican like now. Zee, Chan, Effie, Sass, anyone that wants to come with better. It's on me.

In other news, the Houdini escape is this weekend. Sunday, June 21st out in Pioche. Ads are going out soon, anyone that wants to come out is more than welcome. Basically, I'll be doing an escape the same way Houdini did, no modern conveniences. I'm also going for a record: Houdini did this escape in four hours back in 1898? I'm gonna do it in two.

Check it out, it's gonna be cool.