Theater of Flesh: Open Auditions

For Missy, Perizada, Zach

Mr. D POV

D caught one glimpse of Perizada and very nearly cried mercy before Missy had ever even touched him. The end of his amnesia was nothing like the movies where there is a sudden rush of memories which flood the mind. He simply saw her and knew her, and was aware of everything that he had been through with her, and all of this in less time that it takes to blink an eye.

But then, Missy started the game, and a glorious shot of crimson pain rushed through him from nipple to goin, the sensation morphing with synaptic swiftness from stunning agony, to pulsing erotic bliss. His cock began to stiffen immediately, and his thoughts about Perizada faded into a bit of background noise, just like everything else. The theater, the performers, life and love, money and magic... all of it became so much static. The only signal he was truly receiving now was pain and pleasure, pleasure and pain, those darling twins whose erotic dance haunted every moment of his waking hours, and frequently disrupted his sleep.

He moaned out loud, and his fingers slid over the glossy surface of the stage, grasping for some purchase, anything to hold onto in his writhing passion. Normally while playing, D would tease and goad his tormentor, and he did not doubt that Missy would love a playful exchange of insults as she hurt him, but he no longer wanted to treat this torment as play. He was capable of finding sublime peace while adrift in a sea of pain, and rather than forcing his focus outward to entertain his small audience. He allowed himself to be, in simplicity and surrender, quietly awaiting the next offering.

For D, Zach and Perizada

When D saw them he seemed to have a flood of a thousand emotions all in an instant! Missy knew there was something with the beautiful woman standing with Zach. Missy licked the small amount of blood off her lip and off D's shoulder. She smiled a sexy yet wicked smile at the two new people that were with them now.

She gave his nipples another hard tug. Then slid one hand up and one hand down. She gripped his hardening cock, gave it a couple of strokes before slapping it like one would the ass of a stubborn horse. With her other and she took a fist full of hair and pulled violently back on it. "Tell me you worship me!" Missy hissed in his ear before giving the ear a playful yet astonishingly painful bite. "Get on your fucking back. And lift your legs so your knees are on your chest!' Missy commanded. She would never move this fast normally. but this was a timed game and she was in it to win it. She was counting on the mystery woman's presence to help her cause. That D might call mercy to avoid her witnessing his humiliation and the terrible pain she was planing on inflicting with out leaving any lasting marks.

Missy was much like Maeve only much less refined. She was brutal and mean. Liking to see her lovers have a look of pure terror in there sweet innocent eyes. She had not had this for a few years as, she refused to do it to Cole and the others were men like D who were into it and could not be easily bullied into submission. "Zach are you going to introduce me to your friend?" Missy asked while she waited for D to assume the compromising position she commanded.

KC

For Maeve

Cole was a little shocked to hear her words and to feel his hands free. He was happy though, Maeve was a beauty unlike he had before. Gripping her ass he stood with his cock still deep with in her. Kissing her back he bounced her on his cock while he walked over to her desk, just like in the moves and in the romance novels Cole pushed the contents to the floor he laid her back and stood so he was standing with her ass just off the edge. He gripped her ankles and held her legs high in the air. Kissing her naked calves he began to fuck her with all his might. The desk thankfully was sturdy and strong. The legs were making an awful squawk as he pounded her, his balls slapping her asshole. Though he was fucking her like he hated her his face was oddly angelic. Where as Missy took on an almost demonic look when she was in the throws of passion. Maeve could see that there was a battle of wills going on in his mind. "You are so fucking hot! You love cock don't you slut?" He asked the words seemed to cause him pain. He had only started talking like that when he was with Missy having sex. Slowly he started to do it with other woman too and he hated himself for it!

"Rub your clit while I fuck!" He asked her. Maeve could tell Cole was not used to being in the Dom position, he seemed unsure of himself and didn't command the words he spoke.

KC

For Stella

Peter's Mimic POV

Peter petted and soothed Stella, planting kisses over her face with gentle affection.

"We should go for now, yes. We must find a place to stay while we are working in the theater. But we cannot flee this place fully, my love. This is exactly where we need to be. You are right that it's not entirely safe here, and you should not trust anyone but me. I'm going to keep you safe. I am the only one that you can trust completely." He kissed her mouth and drew upon her feelings of love and trust for Peter to smooth away her doubts.

"I know that it's hard for you to accept that your special abilities are real, but they are only just awakening. They will get more potent and harder to ignore every day. You must learn how to control them. I can teach you a lot, but there are some things that I cannot teach you. Mr. D knows the art of spell craft. This is an art that you must learn. Get close enough to get what you need, but be very cautious of him. He would separate us if he could. He wants you for himself, so that he can use you. But we are more clever than he is. We will use him instead, and then disappear before he knows what happened. You must trust me."

Peter smiled at Stella, emoting love and reassurance through her. "Now, shall I make love to you here? Or shall we go in search of a place for ourselves?"

For Ivy

Silenus POV

"I'm comforting you," the pretty man answered. Silenus could not miss her sudden flinch of fear as he kissed her throat. It was nothing near the terror that coursed through her when Silenus had pursued her in his true form, but of course that made perfect sense. What surprised him was that she felt fear of a pretty man at all.

Would she reject this pretty form too? It seemed possible, and part of Silenus admired her for it. He liked the fight in her too. He realized now that his mistake was overpowering her so easily. He had been shocked and angry when she had burned him before, now he wondered if he could get her to put up a fight again if he let her believe that she might win.

He raised her hand above her head, pinning her wrist to the bed. "Hush now little fairy, and let me comfort you." He slid his free hand up under her shirt and gave her nipple a firm pinch as he resumed kissing her neck and throat.

"I don't want this kind of comforting!" Ivy yelled as she found herself struggling once again.

It wasn't as hard to get one of her hands free as he held the other. Ivy tried to move away from him as she held onto his bicep and tried to push his arm away. The pinch to her nipple strangely aroused her more than usual. The fairy side of her was slowly waking up and things were starting to feel much different than from when she would touch herself. Her nipple was not only hard, but she was surprised by how much pleasure seemed to rush through her from such small contact. His kisses on her throat seemed to tingle and as they touched more sensitive spots she let out a whimper.

"Hush now little fairy, and let me comfort you."

"Don't call me that!" She continued trying to fight him off. The use of the nickname filled her with anger especially since she told him thats what the creature from the dream called her.

She managed to get her knee between them and tried to push him and his lips off of her tender flesh. What the hell was going on?! Ivy did not have the safe familiar feeling she had with this man earlier. This felt different and wrong. Granted she didn't know Mr. D well, not at all really, but something in side her was telling her that something was off about this man before her.

For D, Missy, and Zach

Perizada's eyes grew wide at the scene before her. She had many long years to consider what she would do and say when she finally saw D again. In some scenarios, she slapped him and viciously berated him. In others, she kissed him and told him how much she had missed him. In still others, she remained cool and aloof so that he would beg her forgiveness for keeping her locked away for so long. In none of her fantasies did she expect to see him like this. She had no idea what to do. But found herself disgusted by D letting himself be abused in this way. Who was this woman? What had happened to D in her absence? What madness was this?

She wanted to stop them and nearly used her magic to do so. But D was not her master, his actions were his own. Unless Zach told her to intervene, there was nothing for her to do. She stepped slightly behind Zach so she wouldn't have to witness D's humiliation. She considered retreating back into her vessel.

For Seth

Korey found herself breathless when the kiss ended. Breathless, weak in the knees, and seeing stars. She always thought that was some cartoon joke, but there she was blinking like an idiot as reality twinkled. Later when she had time to think about it, she would guess it was the angle and tilt of her head that cut her circulation a little and caused the stars, but for now . . .

"Okay, wow. That was . . . Wow." Yep. Definitely standing there acting like an idiot. "I think I need another to make sure that wasn't a fluke." She slid her hand up his chest to the back of his neck and getting on tiptoe, pulled him into another kiss. She didn't surrender to it like she had when he kissed her. This time, she took a more active role and sparred with his tongue. Maybe she could make him see stars too.

For Missy, Perizada, Zach

Mr. D POV

Missy had a distinct talent for pain, more so than D had initially expected. She did not hesitate, but moved swiftly from one shockingly sever bit of stimulation to another. She slapped his cock hard causing him to involuntarily role forward only to have his head yanked back ferociously by his hair. His scalp was on fire and his groin throbbed with a dull ache that burrowed up into his stomach.

"Tell me you worship me!" Missy hissed in his ear before giving the ear a playful yet astonishingly painful bite. "Get on your fucking back. And lift your legs so your knees are on your chest!'

Her words drew D out from his blissful reverie, but then he tumbled back in as soon as her bite seized his ear, pain crashing over him like the crest of a wave threatening to draw him back out to sea. He fought the current in order to respond, "You haven't... won the right... to command me yet... bitch..." His voice sounded husky and distant though he had intended to sound playful and unaffected, still a smile curled his lips and he allowed himself to fall backwards. Lifting his legs proved to be somewhat more of a challenge.

D was feeling distinctly drunk, and his coordination seemed to be failing him. This wasn't caused by the pain. It was Perizada. He looked up at the faces hovering above him. She had been there a moment before, but he did not see her now.

When he had known her before, he had learned to adapt past the drunken delirium that her presence elicited in him. After so long an absence however, it seemed that he had lost all tolerance.

After a bit of clumsy fumbling he managed to get his legs under control, locking his arms in a loose embrace around his knees to hold himself in place. He wondered what Missy had in mind to do to him next. He would have to explain this scene to Perizada later. That would be the easy explanation. The hard part would be explaining how she had lost 80 years due to his failures.

For Cole

Maeve POV

Maeve loved the heavy pounding that Cole was giving her, but there was something more complex going on than friction in pursuit of an orgasm. An odd play of emotions shifted across Cole's face, as he seemed to struggle to obey her commands.

"Rub your clit while I fuck!"

Suddenly the situation came clear. Cole thought he was in charge now. Usually Maeve would handle such a misunderstanding with a heavy hand, but Cole wasn't being intentionally rebellious. He seemed genuinely confused.

"Slow down, sweet boy," Maeve said, reaching a hand up to caress Cole's face. She hoped to slow him down enough to draw his focus to her words. "I didn't put you in control of me. I gave you some commands. I told you what I want you to do. You just have to do it. If something is hard for you, you can let me know. I'm going to take care of you."

For Ivy

Silenus POV

Silenus allowed her to make some headway in her struggle. He broke away from kissing her neck and even released her pinned wrist. He focused his attention instead on ripping the clothing off of her body. As she fought for her freedom, her attacker grasped her shirt between both hands and ripped through the fabric with an ease that would not be possible with normal human strength. Then he pulled her bra forward and yanked it up, liberating her plump little breasts.

He dissolved the unrealistic glamour of pants that he had used to cover the lower half of this imitation version of Mr. D, but he decided to continue wearing a glamour over his cock, to give himself normal human dimensions. He didn't dare to fuck his little darling with his full length anyway, she could probably accommodate him without any problem once she fully realized her magical abilities, but for now he wouldn't take any chances. Silenus was fully capable of fucking a mortal woman to death, rupturing her delicate interior with a few forceful thrusts of his monstrous penis. He had learned how to be careful. Wearing a protective glamour was one of the easiest means of avoiding another "incident".

For Korey

Seth POV

Seth smiled at Korey's charming stunned response to his kiss. It really had been something special, almost magical. Then she was kissing him again, this time with aggressive passion.

He allowed his hands to explore the smooth silk of her bare skin. He slid his hand over the elegantly toned muscles of her stomach, and caressed the rounded curve of her breast.

His heart beat faster, and his cock was already getting hard. He didn't want to rush anything though. He was content just to stand there kissing her, and touching her body for as long as she would let him. Really, he was craving so much more, but he had already made the first move. He decided to let her set the pace from here.

For Silenus

Ivy started to push herself up into a seated position as her hands were free. She backed up but his hands went right to her shirt, within seconds it was torn open and he waisted no time in yanking up her flimsy bra, which also torn just as easily but more so because the item was so old. Her nipples were a soft pink and hard from the attention he had given them.

Ivy's first reaction was to cover herself with her arms. Her face blushed a bright red and was painted in shock from Mr. D's actions. It was then she noticed that he was fully naked. When did that happen?! Ivy quickly moved off of the bed and started to try and make it for the door.

Ivy stopped dead in her tracks when once again, the door was gone! "Damnit!" She must have still been dreaming... Of course that would mean...

She slowly turned her head to look over her shoulder at this "Mr. D". It seemed like she was stuck in this nightmare for a little bit longer.

ZACH POV

Zach had seen a lot of things in his travel, he knew what some men did for pleasure just like he knew some liked to mix the lines of pleasure and pain for a heightened experience.

What he hadnt expected was Parizadas response

She shied away from the scene before them edging until she was half hidden by his body. He could feel her discomfort, her disgust, her body was rigid and stiff and she seemed unable to draw in a proper gasp.

"If you want my dear" Zach said glancing over at her "you can go back into your vessel and I will bring you out when it is.... over"

Stella was drowning in a wave of doubt and confusion. D's warnings about the magic of the jacket rose to the surface. For a moment she thought to pull away, to search him out, but then she heard his voice. A moan, a mix of pleasure and pain. She knew then that he would not help her. Something told her that she was barely alive to him, but here was Peter, kissing her. Full of devotion and love, a known entity, not the scary strangeness of the world of the theatre. The last of her resolve slipped away and there was no more jacket, no more Orsino, no more evil magic. Just her beloved lover and mentor, who she thought she had lost.

"Petey," she breathed, touching his face with both hands, stroking the angles she loved. "I know we must find a place to stay, but I have little money. Whatever you wanted me to run from, it still chases me. I feel it at my back though I do not know what it is. My powers...I want to develop them, but I doubt D is the person to do it. He is afraid, preoccupied. You're wrong that he wants to use me. He wants whatever was in the box that belonged to Orsino."

For D Zach and Perizada

"You haven't... won the right... to command me yet... bitch..." D said. But did as she commanded. Missy who was now pacing over him she was now looking almost possessed.

"I know that! But I thought for the flavor of the game I should be in charge on my turn! Trust me sweetie you are every bit in charge as you ever were!" She looked back at the other two who were looking more then a little uncomfortable! Discord made Missy hot and knowing there was something up that was making the others uncomfortable egged her on. "If you come over here you'll get a better view! And don't worry Zach I can be every bit as gentle as I can brutal to my lovers!" She said giving him a wink. She was a full on exhibitionist and loved to be watched. She also found Zach very appealing and was now hoping to have him to herself soon.

Turning back to D she knelt by his exposed ass and genitals. "Mmmm baby will you look what you have to offer! It almost saddens me to know that I will be hurting you so badly when your lovely cock and balls were made for loving!" The words were just out of her mouth when she gave his exposed balls a cruel slap. She then knelt low and gave his taint a gentle kiss, then his balls and his shaft ending at his head. "There lover doesn't that feel better?" She asked looking up at him. "To bad the name of the game wasn't pleasure!" And she squeezed his balls like a vise.

She knew now that there was definitely something up between D and the new beauty. Now pausing to long she resumed her assault on D. "Did you know the area between your ass and balls have some of the most sensitive nerve endings. Many people will inflict pain on that region to test a persons level of tolerance. Beauty is I will do what ever I please and it'll leave no long term effects or damage. For you though it will hurt like hell!" Her eyes almost flashed red as she talked her excitment rising. D was not the first person she had done this too, Cole was the only other where sexual gratification was a reward, the others were tortured and left in agony with nothing but a life of nightmares to look forward too.

She kissed back down his cock till she was at his taint again. She kissed it a couple of times before she took a small amount of tender flesh between her teeth and bit down hard! Most people were crawling up the walls at this assault. As she bit down, her hands found his nipples again and gave them a firm pinch.

KC

For Maeve.

Hearing her words was like a slap, he felt for a split second crushed. His deepest need to please people, made it so when he did the smallest of slights he felt like a failure. Rebounding quickly he smiled a weak smile. "Sorry Maeve my... Well no excuses from me. I will of course do as you command with out question!" He slowed his thrusts to a more pleasurable pace and less an angry fuck. Cole let go of her ankles and moved so he was more on top of her, he looked deep into her eyes. His lust filled soul could be see through his eyes.

He had been Missy's twisted play thing for so long that even though he was a capable lover he was also a very confused one never knowing who would be sleeping with him each night. The Demon or the angel! Now his lack of confidence and his confusion was apparent to Maeve and Cole was hating that he was not being the lover she wanted.

KC

For Ivy

Silenus POV

Silenus cursed himself for a clumsy fool for letting the girl get to her feet, but he leapt from the bed, and in a single spry movement he was before her, blocking her route to the door, which he had only managed to hide the moment that she got free of him.

He grasped her by her hips, and began nipping at her tits with his teeth as he edged her gradually back toward the bed, with only a fraction of the force that he was capable of wielding. He took his time wrestling her back under his control.

When he had her at bedside once again, he laid himself down, and pulled her on top of him, his rigid cock jammed against the thin barrier of her panties. "You've got fire in you, my pet, and I know how to make you burn." He smiled at her, a grim cruel smile. He blinked once willing the glamour away from his eyes for only a brief moment to show her the unnatural goat eyes that were truly his own, before blinking again, and resuming the illusion of humanity.

He liked the fight in her, the tumbling interplay of her fear and her bravery, but he was growing tired of his own games. He was ready to fuck.

For Stella

Peter's Mimic POV

"You can't understand a monster like Mr. D. For you, what you want is the same thing as what you love. Mr. D loves nothing, and wants everything. You should pity the foolish creature from that box. She offered Mr. D unswerving devotion, and he repaid that devotion by locking her away for so long that he forgot she had ever existed. Stay close to the theater. The evil that pursued you before will not cross into Mr. D's territory. Evil only respects evil. What you need from D is a single spell, a binding spell. Spell magic is beyond my knowledge. I can teach you many things. I can help you build a home for us, together, but you must not stray far from this place until you have taken the knowledge that we need from our enemy. Only then can you truly be free without fear."

The truths and the lies mingled seamlessly together. The entity which now thought of itself as Peter had learned some new tricks since its last time out in the world. He never could have managed such intricate tales prior to his encounter with Mr. D, but he had lurked inside Mr. D's mind once, and deception was the ancient fool's single greatest power, the man lied so well, in fact, that most of the time he believed his own deceptions.

Zagreus_D said:

For Ivy

Silenus POV

Silenus cursed himself for a clumsy fool for letting the girl get to her feet, but he leapt from the bed, and in a single spry movement he was before her, blocking her route to the door, which he had only managed to hide the moment that she got free of him.

He grasped her by her hips, and began nipping at her tits with his teeth as he edged her gradually back toward the bed, with only a fraction of the force that he was capable of wielding. He took his time wrestling her back under his control.

When he had her at bedside once again, he laid himself down, and pulled her on top of him, his rigid cock jammed against the thin barrier of her panties. "You've got fire in you, my pet, and I know how to make you burn." He smiled at her, a grim cruel smile. He blinked once willing the glamour away from his eyes for only a brief moment to show her the unnatural goat eyyes that were truly his own, before blinking again, and resuming the illusion of humanity.

He liked the fight in her, the tumbling interplay of her fear and her bravery, but he was growing tired of his own games. He was ready to fuck.

Click to expand...

Ivy felt all turned around and she just wanted to wake up from this nightmare.

He was at her again, but this time he was herding her towards the bed. It was easy for him because as she tried to back away, all he had to do was guide her hips. The red fae let out a cry of surprise when she felt his teeth nipping at her young flesh. "Ow! Stop!" She tried to push him away but he just moved in like her pathetic attempts were nothing. It was almost comical.

The next thing she knew, he was on the bed and pulled her ontop of him. Her bare breasts smashed against his strong chest. His hands were still tightly grasping her hips. As she started to push herself up she felt his cock pressed against her panties. Her pussy was already quiet heated and wet from when he played with her body earlier.

His words disturbed her, but not nearly as much as the face he made. But it was his eyes, the same eyes as that monster from before! Ivy started struggling again but since she was being held in place, all she managed to do was grind against his cock which felt so hot against her panty clad cunt.

"Stop it! Let me go!"

For Missy, Perizada, Zach

Mr. D POV

Pain and Consequences was a game that D rarely lost in earnest. He had thrown the game a number of times, usually when he knew that the person delivering pain was in absolute terror of the reciprocal round. The purpose of the game had never been winning for D. It provided him a great deal of insight about his opponents, and also gave him the opportunity to satisfy his masochistic desires at the hands of partners who were not generally sadists. Dealing in genuine pain made many people very uncomfortable, even Maeve hesitated to push D toward the extreme end of his pain fetish.

Missy though, truly took pleasure in what she was doing. She practically glowed with delight. D still expected to beat her. Even the unexpected appearance of Perizada should not have affected his performance, and did not, in truth, have much of an impact on the actual competition. It was Missy's genuine brilliance and creativity that gave her the win. It was a well deserved victory.

She could have battered his cock, and crushed his balls, and damn near yanked his nipples from his chest, and he would have loved every minute of it, but for all of his years of experience with various forms of erotic torture, he had never been bitten before on that small tender area of flesh. The pain was humbling in it's exquisite intensity. Unprepared for the intense reality of this sensation, D involuntarily kicked out when he felt it. His legs crashed down on Missy's head, but the sadistic bitch did not release. She bit down all the harder. "Fuck! Mercy! Mercy!" Tears streamed from D's eyes, but he began laughing uncontrollably the moment that Missy let him go. He rolled onto his side and rubbed his poor throbbing taint. "Damn woman! Remind me never to piss you off!"

Almost as soon as he recovered from the pain, he became possessed by the urge to feel it again. He would have to find a time to get Missy off to himself for some less structured play time. Of course, now that he'd lost the game he was entirely at Missy's mercy. "So boss, can I have a few minutes to recover before I pay my penalty? I'd really like to catch up with an old friend." He sat up and began looking around for Perizada.

For Cole

Maeve POV

Maeve sensed that something in Cole had shifted, that he was now ruled by doubt rather than desire. She wasn't quite sure how it had happened but she had dropped him from a state of submissive pleasure to a place of submissive insecurity.

Somehow her gentle redirection had impacted him with much more power than the most fierce abuse could have done. She wanted to draw him back, bring him to more stable ground so that he could feel secure, desired and fulfilled, but she had already jostled him so severely from one emotional state to another, that a wrong move now could leave him loathing her rather than adoring her. Still, she had to do something.

She wrapped her legs around his waist, angling her pelvis to meet the thrust of his cock, deepening his penetration. She moaned in pleasure as she gazed into his serious eyes, reveling in the sensation of his cock filling her. She would have been content just with this, this powerful grind of body on body, but she needed to give him something more.

She wrapped her arms around him and pulled herself up to place her lips against his neck. “I'm going to hurt you now lover. You've done nothing wrong. This is reward, not punishment.” She whispered these words against the taught muscles of his neck, then she dug her teeth deep into his neck and raked her long nails against his back.

For Ivy

Silenus POV

“I'd let you ride me, but you're just a tease!” The monster spoke with amusement. He rolled over pinning the girl beneath his body, far more massive than he ought to have been by his appearance. His hands pulled her panties down to her knees and forced her legs apart until they strained the fabric to the point of splitting. His cock slid easily into her opening, slick with fluid from their rough foreplay.

He felt a brief resistance before his hard cock tore through the thin membrane that marked her innocence. She was innocent no more.

Silenus grunted with bestial enthusiasm as he thrust into the pleading little creature. He licked at her nipples with his long goat tongue, massaging first one rosy bud and then the other, but never slackening the pace of his thrusting cock. He wanted to make the little fairy girl cum. He wanted to feel the clench of her cunt, and see the look in her eyes when she was overcome by pleasure despite her wild protests.

For Seth

Korey relished the moment, just standing there kissing, doing a little touching. She gasped as his palm brushed her nipple.

You can tell a lot about a person by how they kiss. Are they aggressive? Passive?Demanding? Dull?Controlling? Inexperienced? Are they willing to change and adjust to their partner or insist on their way?

Seth was probably the best kisser Korey ever experienced. The give and take was like dancing, or doing her aerial act--if the silks were a sentient thing.

She really wanted to take things further, but not here, backstage, that was just--tacky. When she finally pulled away, but not too far--she wanted to keep the physical closeness, she looked up at Seth. "So...When we're all done here, wanna go catch dinner? Or order takeout at my place and ..." She shrugged one shoulder trying to keep things casual. "Maybe do some more of this?" She gave him a little smile.

"I'll try..."

Stella had no idea how to accomplish the task Peter set before her. But lying on the dirty theatre floor half-naked did not help the matter. He was right. They needed to find a place to stay. She needed to sleep, collect her thoughts.

Perhaps steal a few more moments of pleasure, somewhere they could be alone.

She sat up, shifting him, but looping her arms around his neck.

"We'll have to go through the theatre to get outside and look for a hotel. Am I..." She searched for the right words, unsure what she dealt with, how to phrase it. Fleetingly, she thought she might be imagining all of this, but better to be mad and have Peter than to be sane and alone. "Am I the only one who can see you?"