put your heads together

I used to hold your haunted neck; I know I'll miss you if I close my eyes

Danta has a council now, and that means he should probably do councilly things. And don't get him wrong, it's been on his list of things to do, but gods, the amount of unholy void creatures taking up residence in his office has made him less than keen to spend any decent amount of time in there. Which is why this season's council meeting takes place in the cozy, not-filled-with-void-dread stock room.

The theocrat's seat of power today is an upturned crate, and he's working his way quite merrily through a bottle of red wine since the stock is already present and available. "So," he begins, smiling between Kiada and Maea, "other than desperately needing to finish our quest for Dygra so I can get my office space back, how do we feel about soldiers and armies, that sort of thing?"

Because Danta doesn't mind pouring more resource into that.

Dantalion

carve your name into my arm,
instead of stressed, i lie here charmed

Just arriving back from her trek to the snowy mountains of Halo, she hasn’t even had a chance to stop home yet when she’s summoned – arriving with the red jacket all tight around her and a cream sweater that’s definitely stolen from Fox, Kiada slips into the dread-filled office, shrugging out of her jacket and hanging it up as she flashes Danta and Maea each a bright grin.

“Oooh.” She hums thoughtfully, invading the Maverick’s space to collect a glass and hold it out for him to pour some of the wine into – unless he’d prefer to share the bottle, which, she doesn’t care either way. It sounds good. “I like that idea.” It’s been a little while since the Barracks had been used fully, and it would be nice to see it spark to life again. “Is there anything we need to do?” She asks, looking toward Maea curiously to hear her two cents.

KIADA

'cause there's nothing else to do,
every me and every you

Maea

It's not a demon at your door

Unusually, Maea had changed clothes. Gone were the ratty old shirt and trousers, gone too the oversized coat she had been drowning in for the past handful of years. In their place she had put on a simple yet quite nice dress in a plain black color, and sat propped on a crate of wine like a doll put on a shelf. Her feet dangled some distance off the floor, and there was a stack of papers in her lap which she were flipping through when Kiada arrived.

Looking up with a faint smile of welcome, her attention turned to Danta as he began to speak. Absently tucking a strand of white hair behind an ear, she waited for Kiada to speak before saying anything herself.

"I barely knew we had one, truth be told," she admitted refully. It wasn't something she normally paid attention to. "Are they any good? Do you think they will be able to help clear the void out of here after the barrier is finished?"

It's just your shadow on the floor

I used to hold your haunted neck; I know I'll miss you if I close my eyes

"I don't see why not," Danta says, dutifully pouring Kiada a glass of wine and offering one out for Maea as well, should she want it. The Maverick, of course, continues to drink from the bottle. "And I didn't know at first, either. But there are Barracks, and apparently people in the Grounds who want to fight and make a difference if and when the time calls for it."

Which is great news, in Danta's opinion, and it's something more than worth committing a few resources towards. "So," he says, never keen of overly long meetings (or meetings in general), "are we in agreement, then? We let some soldiers do soldiery things, for the protection and betterment of the Grounds, and whatnot?"

Dantalion

carve your name into my arm,
instead of stressed, i lie here charmed

Listening to Maea’s question as she sips from her glass of wine, she tilts her gaze back toward Danta to hear his response. “I can start on restocking some of the items within the Barracks if needed? ” Little trades within, little moves between merchants to keep it stocked with nice weaponry or fixing the items at a smaller cost. Either way, she’s certainly in agreement.

So much so that she lifts her glass in a playful little cheer and flashes a crooked grin at the rest of their little government party when she says, “to letting some soldiers to soldiery things.” And takes a sip of the wine immediately after, to cement the fact.

KIADA

'cause there's nothing else to do,
every me and every you

Maea

It's not a demon at your door

The offer of wine was appreciated, but the salt-haired ancient declined with a little shake of her head. Danta was welcome to keep the bottle to himself. Satisfied with the answer to get question, Maea had no objections to focusing on soldiers and defence. "Agreed. Ah, before we go, there's one thing I would like to ask you both."

Knowing Danta likely was eager to flounce off to attend something less stuffy than a meeting, she went straight to the point.
"How would you feel about hosting a conference here, and invite the other regions and the demigods to discuss the Void and Family issue? With a ball and food and general splendour - and then speak in person about what we know?"

She thought it would make the Grounds look practice and interested, and hopefully shut people up about whether Danta cared about anything or not. He might not care either way, but Maea was growing quite fed up with that kind of talk.

It's just your shadow on the floor

I used to hold your haunted neck; I know I'll miss you if I close my eyes

Danta's all wrapped up and ready to go with their agreement, his wine bottle in hand and his long legs already uncrossed to let him stand up from the crate, so when Maea stops him it's with a glance of reproach mingled with curiosity that he hears her out. "Ew," he says automatically, hearing conference and discuss and issue and wanting nothing more than to put his finger to his ambassador's lips.

But then she continues, and ball and food and splendour will always win out. Slowly straightening up properly, he considers the proposal, before shrugging his shoulders. "If you're willing to do all the preparation, where's the harm?" he says, glancing to Kiada to see if she's also on board.

Dantalion

carve your name into my arm,
instead of stressed, i lie here charmed

The question that Maea has, has the harpy’s attention flickering toward the pale woman, head tilting softly as she cradles the wine glass toward her chest. An amused grin sparks across her face, especially to hear Danta’s eruption, snorting as she rolls her eyes with a small amount of amusement and affection.

“Feels like it’s a little bit of a fuck you to the whole Noah ordeal.” She says the obvious, being blunt about it before she shrugs. “I’m willing to help, should you need it.” She says to Maea, before she downs the rest of the glass and looks between her and Danta to see if there’s anything else that needs to be said and shared.

KIADA

'cause there's nothing else to do,
every me and every you

Maea

It's not a demon at your door

Admittedly she did not know either of these people very well yet. Their priorities, their passions, what they did and did not value - it was hit or miss whether she managed to present her suggestions well enough to catch their interest. Maea held her breath as Danta considered, wincing internally at the initial 'ew' which spoke volumes... but while there was no resounding approval forthcoming, she wasn't shot down either.

As the ball was put to Kiada, Maea turned hopeful eyes on her, and could have leaped for joy when she agreed. Restraining herself down to a toothy grin instead, she slipped off the crate and dusted off her skirt with her free hand.
"I'll see to the arrangements," she promised, more than willing to do the hard work and leave the basking and credit for Danta to enjoy. He did that wonderfully. "Thank you! And yes, I'd love if I could leave the matter of invitations to you once I've hammered out the details. If you have time I can fill you in on what I've got in mind..." she added, reaching out to hook her arm into Kiada's - pausing to check that the meeting really was adjourned before she dragged the woman off to talk work.

Yes, ew.

It's just your shadow on the floor

I used to hold your haunted neck; I know I'll miss you if I close my eyes

"N'aw, that's more like it," Danta trills, giving Kiada an affectionate nudge as the arrangements become more about telling other people (certain ones, anyway) to go forth and multiply, rather than this meeting of the minds thing. Refilling her glass for good measure and feeling more than happy that his council have the plans in hand - that's what councils are for, so he's told - the Maverick offers the two women a casual wave as they make their leave.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't," he calls after them - which, that is a high bar, for anyone who knows Danta. Once they've left, he spends a few moments rifling through crates for a fresh bottle of something sweet and red, before taking his leave as well. And pointedly avoiding the dread-aura space of his office, while he's at it.

~FIN

Dantalion