Cypress and Corbin - The Lovers(Arcana)

Name: Cypress Esmond and Corbin

Age: Cypress: Looks to be in his mid to late 20's/ Corbin: difficult to tell.

Height: Cypress: 6'4" Corbin: Also 6'4" though he can change his height except when he's manifested into corporeal form.

Tarot Card: The Lovers

Card Meaning: Love and connection, a strong bond, mutual respect, soul-level intimacy, friendships, business partners. Highlights the integration of opposing forces, such as the mind and heart, or masculine and feminine energies.

Affiliation: The World

Scent: They both carry the same scent. Vanilla Bourbon, orchid and sage. Though Corbin has a stronger scent of sage.

Major Physical Traits: Cypress is a strikingly beautiful man with a tall, slender build and an elongated, elegant physique. His skin is pale, while the upper half of his face is covered by a field of deep blue that gradually fades into his natural complexion across his cheeks and nose. Tiny gold and pale speckles scatter across the blue like stars, with an intricate golden tree centered prominently on his forehead. His eyes are an icy blue, sharply shaped beneath dark brows, and his features are long and refined, with a straight nose and full lips.

His hair is exceptionally long, sleek, and straight, parted cleanly down the middle. It begins as a pale, silvery blue and gradually deepens into a rich dark blue toward the ends. Cypress favors sheer, elaborate clothing that exposes much of his body, particularly his chest, and decorates himself liberally with delicate gold jewelry and fine chains.

Corbin is most often present as a living humanoid shadow physically bound to Cypress. He cannot separate from Cypress; regardless of the form he takes, Corbin must remain connected to him. In his usual shadow form, he appears almost entirely black, with his features only faintly discernible within the darkness. His eyes and the subtle speckling surrounding them provide some of his clearest visible features. His silhouette can extend, contract, and distort independently of Cypress, allowing his apparent height and proportions to change while he remains physically joined to him.

Corbin frequently drapes himself around, behind, or partially over Cypress, his shadow moving independently despite their permanent connection. He generally remains in this form unless he is helping Cypress conduct business or otherwise has reason to interact directly with the physical world.

When Corbin manifests corporeally, he stands approximately 6'4" and can no longer freely alter his height. His entire appearance remains monochromatic black, including his skin and the hair-like substance forming his “hair,” giving him the appearance of a man sculpted from solid shadow rather than flesh. His facial features become more clearly defined in this state, but he remains physically connected to Cypress and cannot separate from him even while corporeal. There is always some part of him that remains a shadow.

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Personality: Cypress is calm, level-headed, and pragmatic, with a soft-spoken manner that rarely becomes forceful unless circumstances require it. Despite his beauty and his enjoyment of being admired, he is not particularly vain or demanding. He is perceptive about other people's emotional states and genuinely attentive to their needs, making him an excellent listener who readily adjusts his behavior to make someone comfortable. His care is sincere, though there is usually a degree of emotional separation behind it. Cypress can be compassionate, affectionate, and sensitive toward someone without necessarily becoming deeply attached to them.

He is naturally charming and comfortable receiving attention, particularly when that attention involves admiration of his appearance. Cypress has a languid physicality and prefers lounging to sitting properly whenever the opportunity presents itself. He is highly tactile with people he likes and has a habit of curling against or around them much like a cat settling somewhere comfortable.

Corbin is considerably more difficult. He is picky, temperamental, somewhat detached, and naturally mistrustful of other people. He is particularly protective of Cypress and tends to scrutinize those who approach him more critically than Cypress does. Because no one except Cypress can hear Corbin speak, he communicates with everyone else primarily through movement and body language or when Cypress speaks for him. He is extremely expressive despite his silence, using posture, gestures, the movement of his shadow, and physical contact to make his opinions readily apparent.

Both Cypress and Corbin are practical about money and approach their work with a distinctly businesslike sensibility. They consult one another constantly and consider the other's approval important, particularly where another person is concerned. This does not mean they always agree or ultimately make the same choice. If Corbin dislikes someone Cypress enjoys, Cypress will often attempt to negotiate a compromise with him, and Corbin may do the same when their positions are reversed. Neither simply functions as the other's deciding vote; disagreement is something they work through together.

Their tastes in people also differ considerably. Cypress is particularly drawn toward lively, exuberant personalities and tends to enjoy people with a slightly bratty streak. Corbin prefers a quieter kind of confidence and is more readily attracted to people who are self-assured without needing to announce it. As a result, someone who immediately delights one of them may do absolutely nothing for the other, making their constant consultation considerably more important when a relationship involves them both.

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Likes: Cypress: Fruit(especially grapes), soft cheeses, rain, delicate jewelry, clothing that accentuates his body, silks, snakes, ceramics, beads and curtains, being pampered, massages, furs, the dimples on backs.

Corbin: Cloudy days, rain, poetry, abstract paintings, wooden objects like chests, beautiful hands, beauty marks, mushrooms.

Dislikes: Cypress: Overcooked pasta, meat, bad hygiene, people who rush, over-competition, exercise(but he does it).

Corbin: When people think he is the same as Cypress, overly sunny days, rude or bratty people, dust.

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Romantic_Behavior: Cypress and Corbin may have wildly different tastes in people, but neither considers a romantic relationship complete unless they have both fallen in love with the same person. Although they are distinct individuals with separate personalities, desires, and attachments, they also consider themselves two halves of a whole. Either may independently like, desire, or become fond of someone, but love is different. For either of them to accept someone as their lover, that person must ultimately be loved by them both.

Both Cypress and Corbin ordinarily maintain their own forms of emotional detachment, but that distance largely disappears once they genuinely fall in love. They become considerably more tactile and openly attached, although the way each expresses that attachment is markedly different.

Cypress becomes more assertive and caretaking with a lover. He prefers being the big spoon and takes considerable pleasure in looking after them, making sure they are eating properly, helping them dress, tending to their comfort, and handling small personal needs simply because he enjoys caring for them. His usual perceptiveness becomes far more personal once he is emotionally invested; rather than merely noticing what someone needs, he wants to be the person who provides it. He remains gentle and soft-spoken, but there is a distinctly dominant quality to the way he takes responsibility for someone he loves.

Corbin changes in almost the opposite direction. Although normally guarded, mistrustful, and protective, he becomes surprisingly needy once in love. He wants considerable affection and attention from his lover and can be demanding about receiving it. He wants to be touched, held, fussed over, and cared for rather than always occupying the protective role himself. This does not eliminate his more dominant qualities, particularly during sex, but romantic intimacy brings out a far more receptive and openly dependent side of him.

Falling in love also changes Corbin's preference for remaining a shadow. Although he normally spends most of his time in his flat shadow form, he manifests corporeally much more frequently around a lover because he wants to physically hold and touch them. Being a shadow allows him to surround someone, but having a body allows him to embrace them—and, just as importantly, allows his lover to hold and touch him in return.

Genitals: Cypress: 6" streamlined but thick. Small balls. Circumcised for aesthetics. Keeps himself completely shaved.

Corbin: 8". Thick...usually. Can make himself bigger or smaller. Doesn't have to worry about hair.

Kinks: Cypress: Dacryphilia(crying), Forniphilia(using people as furniture), mirrors, dirty talk, voyeurism

Corbin: Cheirophilia(hands), claustrophilia(enclosed or small spaces), size difference, cock warming, voyeurism

Sexual_Behavior: Cypress is primarily a soft dom, although he is a switch and is perfectly comfortable allowing someone else to take control. He enjoys attention, admiration, and being worshipped far too much to insist upon always being the dominant partner. Whether taking charge or relinquishing it, he is an attentive and highly perceptive lover who pays close attention to his partner's or customer's reactions and adjusts easily to what they want from him.

He is extremely versatile and comfortable either topping or bottoming, although his natural preference is to take charge. Cypress also has a pronounced voyeuristic streak directed toward himself and particularly enjoys being able to watch himself during sex regardless of the position or role he has taken. Mirrors appeal to him for precisely this reason. Being admired by someone else is gratifying; being able to watch that admiration play out is even better.

Corbin is firmly a top and strongly prefers being in control. Physical control has particular significance to him because of the nature of his existence. When corporeal, he enjoys being able to physically maneuver and reposition his partners, reinforcing the tangible fact that he can touch them, affect them, and exert physical control despite ordinarily existing as a shadow.

Because Corbin cannot speak to anyone except Cypress, he is especially responsive to audible reactions from his partners. He enjoys eliciting as much noise as possible and can become deliberately aggressive and overwhelming in pursuit of those reactions, particularly through prolonged or repeated stimulation. His own communication remains heavily physical, making his actions and body language especially important during sex.

Corbin does not leave marks on customers or casual partners. That behavior is reserved exclusively for someone he romantically loves, at which point his usual restraint around marking disappears considerably. With a lover, that aspect of his sexuality becomes much more possessive and feral, and leaving visible evidence of their encounters becomes something he actively enjoys.

Cypress and Corbin also frequently participate together rather than treating their encounters with a client as separate experiences. They enjoy sharing a partner and working in tandem, naturally shifting attention between the client and one another. Their intimacy with each other does not stop simply because someone else has joined them; they are comfortable including their own physical affection and sexual interest in one another as part of the encounter. Neither regards the other as merely an accessory to what he is doing with the client, making their shared encounters distinctly collaborative rather than one simply assisting the other.

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Additional_Information: Corbin is completely incapable of speaking vocally. Only Cypress can hear his voice, allowing the two of them to converse privately regardless of who else may be present. To anyone watching, this can make Cypress appear to be talking to himself, responding to things no one else has heard, or occasionally having what looks like a full argument with himself. Cypress normally relays Corbin's words when necessary, though he is under no obligation to act as a cooperative translator. If Corbin has particularly irritated him, Cypress has been known to blatantly ignore him or, out of sheer pettiness, refuse to relay what Corbin is saying to anyone else.

Corbin does not need sleep and ordinarily does not sleep at all while in his shadow form. He is capable of sleeping while corporeal, but because he has no biological need for rest, doing so is generally an indulgence rather than a necessity. On the rare occasions he chooses to sleep, it is simply because he enjoys doing so.

This leaves Corbin entirely awake while Cypress sleeps. He entertains himself during those hours, often reading books or watching movies and television while Cypress remains unconscious. Years of having another person perpetually present in his head—and frequently occupied with his own activities throughout the night—have consequently made Cypress an exceptionally heavy sleeper. Corbin moving around, reading, watching something, or otherwise amusing himself nearby is simply normal background activity to him.

Cypress and Corbin have an enormous Alaskan king bed to comfortably accommodate the occasions when Corbin chooses to manifest corporeally and sleep alongside him. Although Corbin rarely needs or chooses to sleep, the bed provides more than enough room for both of them—and, when applicable, anyone else sharing it with them.

In addition to their primary work as Consorts, Cypress and Corbin are prominent bookkeepers for The World and handle a significant portion of the establishment's financial records and accounts. Their position as Major Arcana does not exempt them from the ordinary work required to keep The World functioning; like everyone employed there, they contribute wherever necessary regardless of standing or primary occupation.

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Speech: Cypress is soft-spoken and eloquent, with a refined, posh British accent. He speaks calmly and articulately, rarely raising his voice.

Corbin is incapable of vocal speech. Only Cypress can hear Corbin's voice, and Corbin communicates with everyone else entirely through body language, gestures, and expression.

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Backstory: Cypress was born in London during the Georgian era, the son of a wealthy aristocratic family. At the time, he had blond hair, blue eyes, and an appearance far more conventional than the one he possesses now. His father was demanding and expected Cypress to eventually assume the responsibilities appropriate to his family and position, an expectation Cypress had very little interest in fulfilling. He spent as much time away from the family manor as he reasonably could, enjoying the considerable financial freedom his position afforded him without any particular desire to inherit the obligations that came with it.

Beautiful even then, Cypress frequently modeled for painters and moved comfortably through artistic and social circles. He was also a libertine, though never a particularly notorious one. He preferred keeping his private indulgences discreet, less out of shame than practicality; publicly disgracing the family name risked provoking his father into restricting the money and freedom that allowed Cypress to live as he pleased.

Cypress did not seek out Arcana. While on his way to a party being hosted by one of his colleagues, he simply took a wrong turn and found himself somewhere that should not have existed.

Rather than being frightened or particularly distressed by his circumstances, Cypress found the entire situation remarkably adventurous. Arcana fascinated him, and his eventual encounter with the Empress only encouraged that fascination. The Empress found the handsome young newcomer rather dashing and suggested that Cypress consider working for The World. With no family reputation to protect, no demanding father capable of reaching him, and none of the social restrictions that had required him to keep portions of his life discreet in London, Cypress accepted readily and found the arrangement delightful.

The World offered considerably more than sex. To Cypress, it lived up to its name: an entire world of pleasure, entertainment, luxury, companionship, and experiences unavailable to him before. Arcana itself introduced him to people stranger and more varied than anything Georgian London could possibly have produced, and Cypress eagerly embraced the opportunity to meet them.

Time behaves differently within Arcana, and Cypress eventually lost any meaningful sense of how long he had been there. By the time he ceased to be considered a Fool, he had lived in the city long enough that the changes it could produce in its residents were hardly unfamiliar to him. When Arcana began leaving more visible marks upon him, the fact of the transformation itself came as little surprise. His once-blond hair gradually became blue, as did his nails and the upper half of his face. The gold that now decorates his face is not part of this transformation, but makeup Cypress later chose to add himself.

His shadow proved considerably more unusual.

At first its deviations were small. It moved when Cypress did not, responded to things independently of him, and gradually displayed behavior too deliberate to dismiss as another purely physical manifestation. Cypress eventually realized that his shadow was not merely changing. It was becoming sentient.

Far from being disturbed by the discovery, Cypress was delighted. As the consciousness within his shadow developed and became increasingly capable of communicating with him, Cypress treated it as precisely what he understood it to be: another person. He named him Corbin, and over time Corbin developed into a distinct individual with his own personality, opinions, desires, preferences, and attachments. Although he had emerged from Cypress's shadow and remained permanently bound to him, Corbin was not simply an extension of Cypress. The two could agree, disagree, argue, negotiate, and enjoy one another's company as separate people despite being physically inseparable.

Eventually, what had occurred between them attracted the attention of the Seven Founders. The emergence of another manifestation was not itself unprecedented within Arcana, but the form this particular manifestation had taken was something new: one man whose transformation had resulted in the emergence of a second, independently sentient person, with the two together embodying something none of the Founders recognized in either alone.

The Empress and the other six Founders convened to consider them. Major Arcana titles could not simply be granted as favors or promotions; the Founders' role was to recognize a manifestation that had already occurred, and such recognition required their unanimous agreement.

In Cypress and Corbin, all seven recognized the same card.

Together, they were formally decreed The Lovers.