i've always liked to play with fire

Dantalion

innocence died screaming
honey, ask me, I should know

The Butcher is late.

And Danta is fine. If, you know, fine is lurking around the Dusklight as though it's his job, causing trouble, starting fights and being a general menace, to the point where some of the more level headed bartenders - and Kiada, let's not mince words - have banished him to the Backrooms for a bit. The Maverick might not have had the minor mental breakdown that Astaroth had to contend with, but the other man is, for all intents and purposes, missing.

Whether Danta likes it or not, that is obviously playing on his mind, especially considering the state he'd left the taller Ancient in when he'd flown home to the Hollowed Grounds. All of that is to say that, when Asta enters the Dusklight, it's surprisingly quiet and calm, and if anything, the sense of relief that accompanies his entry is less because of his role as security, and more just because it's good to have him back.

For his part, Danta is now tucked behind the bar, slouched over one of the ledgers Kiada has let him keep and pretending he gives a fuck about the contents. (He's slowly in the process of ripping one of the pages out, not that even he's aware of the fact).

I slithered here from Eden
just to sit outside your door

Table base by Skylark