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Character of the Season
Frail in body but dangerously quick of mind, Nikandr is the sort of character who proves that curiosity can be just as perilous as any weapon. A necromancer, inventor, and problem-solver with more ambition than self-preservation, Niki approaches the world like a puzzle box begging to be opened, even when what’s inside has teeth. Blunt, dry-witted, fiercely independent, and carrying a history best left partially buried, he has a knack for making even failure feel fascinating. Whether he’s raising the dead, moving across Caido to King's End, or experiencing a hangover for the first time, Nikandr brings a wonderfully strange spark to Caido, and we can’t wait to see what trouble his brilliant mind wanders into next.
Congratulations, Niki!
Credits
Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
OG Skinning provided by Kaons, with functionality and many custom plugins made by Neowulf!
run, baby, run, run for your life i'ma tear out your heart, it'll always be mine
Sleep is a fitful thing for the butcher these days. But with the turns they take, he’s succumbed to being more like a graveyard shift worker. Up all night and part of the day to sleep for the evening and any opposite times where Danta was more awake.
It’s one of those times where it’s the midafternoon and he’s finally settled — curled up in the den under their multitude of blankets, his knees drawn to his chest as he closes his eyes and tries to sleep. It’s fitful at best, and he finds himself rolling over with a soft huff of frustration, burying his face into the dark furs to try and black out everything else.
He practically feels as if he and Asta have been living completely different lives since this whole nonsense with the crows begun. More than once Danta has been tempted to say fuck it, it isn't worth everything the butcher is putting himself through for something that they've had a handle on, more or less (or not at all, really, but shut up), but he's managed to stop himself if only because he knows if they don't push through this now, things will be infinitely worse from here on out.
Having tagged Asta in for his turn to sleep with little more than a brief kiss and a pat on the butt for good luck, Danta has been making himself busy in the Dusklight, doing theocrat things, making a general nuisance of himself, and ensuring the brothel is still running more or less as expected.
But given the midafternoon lull, he's bored, he's frustrated, and he's very much done. He swears he can hear the butcher tossing and turning up in their rooms as he prowls upstairs, clicking open the door and shutting it behind him abruptly enough to prove he isn't trying to be quiet for Asta's benefit. Kicking off his shoes and appearing, quite suddenly to the other man, no doubt, under the canopy in their den, Danta wastes no time whatsoever in drawing back the blankets and gesturing for his lover to make room.
"I know you're sleeping, so I won't bother you. Just... give me an hour, okay?"
Dantalion
// put your, put your v-v-venom in me //
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
run, baby, run, run for your life i'ma tear out your heart, it'll always be mine
The door is loud, though the butcher hadn’t been asleep or even that close to succumbing to it. He’d been tossing and turning, and he does try to keep himself buried beneath the blankets, kind of expecting Danta to snag something from the room and leave again.
But that doesn’t happen.
Light filtrates in, whatever little amount is there, because he squints up at his lover when the blankets are drawn back. “I have yet to be successful.” He admits quietly, shifting back to make room, waiting for Danta to crawl beneath the blankets before he wraps his arms around him tightly and nestles in against his better judgement. “I’m almost done, at least.” He announces quietly, like it makes this better having an endpoint in sight.
It's a good thing that he's welcomed into bed with open arms, because it saves Danta from bullying his way against the butcher. "Yeah, that's usually how it goes for me too," he admits, the words mumbled into Asta's chest as he winds his arms around him in turn. The second he's wrapped in the other man's heat and weight and familiar scent, Danta is at least able to let out a long, relieved sort of breath, nosing into the crook of his neck.
"What do you have left to do? Anything I can help with?" he asks softly, his tail sweeping across the bed to coil around one of Asta's legs, as if to anchor them together further. He doubts there is, because they'd have probably done it by now if so, but he asks anyway, his fingers smoothing down the length of the other man's back and shoulders. "...How are you doing?" He almost doesn't want to know. Not good, he imagines.
Dantalion
// put your, put your v-v-venom in me //
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
run, baby, run, run for your life i'ma tear out your heart, it'll always be mine
The admission sparks a soft frown on his face, one that’s hidden with how he pulls Danta in and they nestle together perfectly like the two last remaining puzzle pieces. He nearly interjects here with a moment of further admission, a soft I miss you. I hate this. I’m sorry. But they don’t pass his lips as his tail curls around Danta’s leg in turn, keeping them all that much more connected as his arms tighten around his lover and buries his face into his hair and diamond horns.
Breathing in the familiar scent, it settles him. “The turn in. I just finished the training portion with Thal this afternoon.” He just needed a few moments before going and meeting their goddess again, to compose himself — though he’s positive Dygra wouldn’t judge him for it.
Inhaling a deep breath of citrus and sage, the butcher shifts a little to press his bearded cheek in harder. How’s he doing? He could lie, but it wouldn’t benefit them at all. “Not good.” He murmurs the admission with a sigh. “But it should be over soon.” He confirms, the tightening of his tail as he keeps them connected. “I know it has been hard for you, too. Do you.. want to talk about it?”
"Just the turn in...?" Danta can't help the smile he's sure Asta will feel against his throat, the Maverick seeming to relax all the more bonelessly against him. "So tomorrow, then..." Tomorrow maybe we can start to do things normally again. Things like exactly what they're doing right now, but with Asta feeling better and sleep coming easy to both of them, with no consequences.
Danta is still smiling to himself as, with a small shiver of effort, he draws up his glamour so his horns might melt away and let Asta get as close as he wants. "I'm sorry," he mumbles, letting his long fingers draw absent patterns against the other man's back. "I don't know that there's much to talk about. I bet we're both feeling the same way, except you've got it even worse because of all the shit you've had to do."
Letting out a long sigh and closing his eyes, Danta shrugs almost to himself. "It's been rough. Feels like we saw each other more when you first came to the Dusklight than right now."
Dantalion
// put your, put your v-v-venom in me //
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
run, baby, run, run for your life i'ma tear out your heart, it'll always be mine
“Tomorrow, darling.” Asta hums, feeling his smile and the hope that grows in his chest. It would all be worth it, all of this pain and frustration would feel like a shadow of how great it would feel to not have to be worried about crows in the middle of the night. To be able to keep his teeth to himself rather than the self defense he’d almost always used them as.
Danta’s horns fall away and Asta nuzzles in that much more, breaking the distance to press his jaw and lips to the golden crown of the Maverick’s hair. “I am sure we are both on edge all the same.” He admits softly, exhaling the slow breath into his lovers hair as his arms tighten slightly in a small hug before loosening.
A soft snort does leave him to hear Danta, though, his head nodding and nuzzling in more with his agreement. “Even when I slept in my other room?” He asks softly, prompting the question before he presses another soft kiss to his crown paired with a huff of a tired laugh. “And you would send workers to my door relentlessly trying to get me to cave?”
"On edge and then some. I hate feeling so useless," Danta admits, the words all but muttered against Asta's neck, though he grumbles something that's utterly content as he's held closer for a moment or two. Tomorrow, though. "We should celebrate, once it's done," he says with a slow smirk curling across his lips. "We'll get new pajamas, an extra lock for the door, some hot water bottles - it'll be a wild night." Because who are they kidding if they think they're doing anything but sleeping and sleeping hard once it's all over?
Humming an affirmative, he peeks up at Asta with mischief in his cool blues. "Even then. At least I'd see you lurking about the Dusklight for your job then, right? These days it's just a highfive in the corridor if we're lucky." Huffing and kissing the soft space beneath Asta's jaw, Danta forces himself not to close his eyes again, because they will end up asleep together if he lets them.
Dantalion
// put your, put your v-v-venom in me //
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
run, baby, run, run for your life i'ma tear out your heart, it'll always be mine
“You’re not useless.” He murmurs, a deep sense of conviction in his tone that suggests regardless of what Danta thought, he’d never find him useless. Perking up a little at the idea of celebrating, the butcher huffs another warm breath into his lovers head before nuzzling in with a nod. “A dessert plate and tea, too.” Because it would be impossible for a sugar high when they both were that fucking exhausted.
He sees Danta pull back, though, his dark gaze black in the din of their den as he meets his lover’s blues. “Mm, well, I do have to attempt to sleep sometime. I am sure you remember when I attempted avoiding it?” He murmurs softly with a soft laugh, lifting his chin a fraction to give Danta more room against his neck. His fingertips trail idle patterns into his spine and lower back, ghosting against the edges of his ribs. “I am trying to balance being in top shape despite my trauma.” He informs him a touch haughtily.
"And whatever else you want," Danta confirms with a gentle nod to his lover; because if it isn't obvious by the way he's slithered into bed with him not three hours after leaving him to sleep for the day, the only thing the Maverick really wants is right here. "Mm, I do recall," he agrees softly, about Asta and his attempts at sleep deprivation. "You did quite well for the first couple of days," he adds with a smirk, before his voice lowers a touch. "Are they bad, right now? Your nightmares?"
Nuzzling in closer, while the haughty tone of the butcher's voice is evidently meant to indicate a joke, Danta presses a few warm kisses against his throat, his grip tightening around him. "I think you're doing incredibly well, all things considered. Better than I would in your position. And don't say it isn't true - I'd be a chaotic mess and we both know it."
Dantalion
// put your, put your v-v-venom in me //
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
run, baby, run, run for your life i'ma tear out your heart, it'll always be mine
He’s thinking very little about what he wants, right now. Focusing on everything else that Danta might want, whatever might help alleviate how terrible this had all been. For now, though, he gets to hold him, and that’s enough. It has to be, at least for one more day. So he jests in the hope that the jokes prolong the echo of sadness in his heart after how long it’s been even if he’d done his best to rush through everything so he can return to this.
Are his nightmares bad? I thinks about lying to Danta again, but he’s reminded of their promise to one another forever ago. So he sighs a little and nods. “Worse now than they have been, yes.” He murmurs. “To the point that despite training and being tired physically… Mentally, it’s as if I won’t allow myself to sleep.” Even if it meant that he could turn it in tomorrow and it would be better.
The warm kisses against his throat certainly help, as does Danta’s penchant for getting even closer to him even if he thinks it’s an impossible feat half the time. Hearing that Danta would be a chaotic mess, he is prepared to tell him otherwise, even if Danta had said to not say it wasn’t true. So instead, he opts for a slow exhale, the tightening of his arms around him as he runs his hands up and down his back in warm passes, aimed to comfort himself as much as it is to be gentle to Danta. “I hope that we do not have to find out.” Danta’s nightmares were bad, yes, but they weren’t.. Destructive, like his were. They didn’t leave lasting physical scars of times centuries ago that were nowhere near the reality he faced when he was awake.
Scrunching his nose to hear what, in all fairness, he'd expected, Danta nonetheless brushes his lips across Asta's neck in a softer kiss, as if that might take away some of the sting of his nightmares. (It won't, but nothing will, and so at least he gets a kiss out of it this way). "You are going to sleep like the dead once this is over," he says, the faintest of smiles in his voice. "Just remember how it was when you still had all these tasks ahead of you. Now you're at the end of it."
And gods, that's got to mean something - to them, to Dygra, to the fucking gore crows if Danta has anything to say about it.
Humming out something indulgent and encouraging at the hands strumming up the length of his back, the Maverick stretches, catlike and boneless, against Asta for a second or so, before relaxing back around the other man. "Mm, luckily for me, the things that give me nightmares don't fly around in groups causing trouble." He grins, finally letting out a deep sigh and shifting to get an elbow beneath him.
"I suppose I should go, shouldn't I? Before we both fall asleep."
Dantalion
// put your, put your v-v-venom in me //
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
run, baby, run, run for your life i'ma tear out your heart, it'll always be mine
He doesn’t need an excuse to kiss him, truthfully – but they both know it’s easier to have one just in case. So he leans into it, the soft press of his lover’s lips at his neck. “I hope so.” He admits with a soft snort, ending it with a sigh as he nods so minimally to not jostle his lover. “It felt impossible… And yet.”
Here he was, on the cusp of relief.
Feeling Danta stretch against him, it’s a beacon of exhaustion as the butcher stifles the yawn. “That’s true.” He hums softly, sighing because of the fact something that was so common – especially among them – was the bane of his nightmares. At least it wasn’t for too much longer.
For now, though, Danta’s gotten his elbow to prop himself up and the butcher releases him with utmost reluctance. “Yes.. I’m sorry, darling.” Comes the quiet hum, the sudden surge from the butcher to capture Danta’s lips in a prolonged goodnight kiss, paired with apology, before he fully releases him to leave so that Asta might be able to try and sleep so that tomorrow comes quicker.
