// we can't see the end from the start //
“Obviously.” Asta agrees with a soft little exhale of his own dramatics, amused in spite of himself to see what kind of monstrosity that Kaisel will craft with Flora’s face and hoping that perhaps the other man has enough sense to make it beautiful rather than something that could be construed as comedic. Or, perhaps for a Kaisel-specific-flare, something to do with Flora’s hands, given that he can recall the strange obsession the Accepted had with them that he still whole heartedly believes.
But before he can descend down the rabbit hole of what kind of merch Kai will have to come up with for the Butcher himself, he feels like he might be inwardly collapsing with the black hole of love and adoration that spirals through him with the memory, left speechless and entirely at Flora’s whim to watch as the emotions crest over his face until he’s hopeless in trying to explain how incredible this kind of magic is.
To Flora’s laugh and the draining of her mimosa, Asta’s already shifting to stand – action finding it easier to waltz into than trying to stumble over the words and the heat in his cheeks that might as well be made of his wildfire with the force of it. “In my defense I was very inebriated.” He says with a laugh that tells her he knows it isn’t an excuse in the slightest and that he’s incredibly happy to be able to laugh about it now that enough time had passed.
As the memory fades, Asta’s hands are busy as he crafts another mimosa for Flora – complete with the same orange liqueur to add the boon of sweetness as he casts Sicarius a curious glance. The dragonling lets Spice reach out to nibble on a rib bone, squealing a terrible sound akin to scratching the worst kind of plastic that has Asta only half wincing. It doesn’t bother the bone dragonling any, though, as she reaches out with her long neck to bully her bony nose into Spice’s wing in a playful and harmless game of tag before she’s trying to bolt away clumsily.
“We do love a hidden knife.” The Butcher purrs to Flora with a wink and a sharp grin, putting the ingredients together with practice from being behind the bar of the Dusklight when he and Danta would switch roles on occasion. “Well, for starters, Dygra beckoned me to her in the middle of the night, in the Climb no less.” Which, thank gods for the portal that lead to it. “I do not know how much you know about her, but, in all the years I have been Ancient, she has always been a.. Presence. I have never seen her and the only person I know of recently who has is Danta. But there she was, standing in the Soulfire Reach with all of her glittering glory. Beautiful and menacing and so much more than I could have imagined her to be.” His hands hesitate as he pours the champagne in, an almost far away glint to his gaze before he focuses back in and grins his shark-tooth grin at the Hot Take.
“With what happened in the Peepholes, she was telling me that it seemed.. Strange and it may have complications that she may require a Butcher for.” Waggling his brows as he finishes Flora’s mimosa, he hands it to her before his hand wraps around the bottle of dark whiskey he’d been drinking to add more to his glass. “And of course, before I had a chance to fully delve into the deal of it, I started to fall asleep?” He groans dramatically, sighing the end with a laugh. “And she slapped me awake.” He pauses here, watching Flora with a grin that seems to suggest can you believe that?
“Anyway, I agreed.” Who wouldn’t? “And she allowed me to seal my end of the deal with a bite that took nearly everything out of me and yet I still felt.. Stronger? Bolstered? I lost the majority of my shifts and my magics and the latter had been changed.” And it had been like a bloody rebirth. “And she sealed her end with a kiss.” Tilting his head and gesturing with his hand to the branded scar of the press of lips to his cheek, his attention turns mischievous as he lowers the hand between them. “I have no glamour anymore, but I am still fire resistant.” And as if for emphasis, flame starts to curl in the palm of his hand, only where traditional orange fire had sat before, this time it illuminates them in ghoulish green, flickering brighter and somehow more menacing than his magic had allowed him previously. “I have a new version of bloodbane, too, though I have not tested it out. I fear it may actually kill me to test it.” He winces, his smile somehow sharper in the green flame as his dark gaze lifts to scan Flora’s face for her reaction, tail twitching in a slow wag that makes it even more clear that his fyrhund is no longer in his arsenal.
But before he can descend down the rabbit hole of what kind of merch Kai will have to come up with for the Butcher himself, he feels like he might be inwardly collapsing with the black hole of love and adoration that spirals through him with the memory, left speechless and entirely at Flora’s whim to watch as the emotions crest over his face until he’s hopeless in trying to explain how incredible this kind of magic is.
To Flora’s laugh and the draining of her mimosa, Asta’s already shifting to stand – action finding it easier to waltz into than trying to stumble over the words and the heat in his cheeks that might as well be made of his wildfire with the force of it. “In my defense I was very inebriated.” He says with a laugh that tells her he knows it isn’t an excuse in the slightest and that he’s incredibly happy to be able to laugh about it now that enough time had passed.
As the memory fades, Asta’s hands are busy as he crafts another mimosa for Flora – complete with the same orange liqueur to add the boon of sweetness as he casts Sicarius a curious glance. The dragonling lets Spice reach out to nibble on a rib bone, squealing a terrible sound akin to scratching the worst kind of plastic that has Asta only half wincing. It doesn’t bother the bone dragonling any, though, as she reaches out with her long neck to bully her bony nose into Spice’s wing in a playful and harmless game of tag before she’s trying to bolt away clumsily.
“We do love a hidden knife.” The Butcher purrs to Flora with a wink and a sharp grin, putting the ingredients together with practice from being behind the bar of the Dusklight when he and Danta would switch roles on occasion. “Well, for starters, Dygra beckoned me to her in the middle of the night, in the Climb no less.” Which, thank gods for the portal that lead to it. “I do not know how much you know about her, but, in all the years I have been Ancient, she has always been a.. Presence. I have never seen her and the only person I know of recently who has is Danta. But there she was, standing in the Soulfire Reach with all of her glittering glory. Beautiful and menacing and so much more than I could have imagined her to be.” His hands hesitate as he pours the champagne in, an almost far away glint to his gaze before he focuses back in and grins his shark-tooth grin at the Hot Take.
“With what happened in the Peepholes, she was telling me that it seemed.. Strange and it may have complications that she may require a Butcher for.” Waggling his brows as he finishes Flora’s mimosa, he hands it to her before his hand wraps around the bottle of dark whiskey he’d been drinking to add more to his glass. “And of course, before I had a chance to fully delve into the deal of it, I started to fall asleep?” He groans dramatically, sighing the end with a laugh. “And she slapped me awake.” He pauses here, watching Flora with a grin that seems to suggest can you believe that?
“Anyway, I agreed.” Who wouldn’t? “And she allowed me to seal my end of the deal with a bite that took nearly everything out of me and yet I still felt.. Stronger? Bolstered? I lost the majority of my shifts and my magics and the latter had been changed.” And it had been like a bloody rebirth. “And she sealed her end with a kiss.” Tilting his head and gesturing with his hand to the branded scar of the press of lips to his cheek, his attention turns mischievous as he lowers the hand between them. “I have no glamour anymore, but I am still fire resistant.” And as if for emphasis, flame starts to curl in the palm of his hand, only where traditional orange fire had sat before, this time it illuminates them in ghoulish green, flickering brighter and somehow more menacing than his magic had allowed him previously. “I have a new version of bloodbane, too, though I have not tested it out. I fear it may actually kill me to test it.” He winces, his smile somehow sharper in the green flame as his dark gaze lifts to scan Flora’s face for her reaction, tail twitching in a slow wag that makes it even more clear that his fyrhund is no longer in his arsenal.
Astaroth
// but i don't fear the dark //
