meet me in the middle

we write out the ends on our palms, then forget to read

'A surprise party?' Delight colours the Doubletake's cheeks as she shoots the Maverick a bright grin. It certainly didn't sound like the sort of thing she thought Asta would enjoy—but then she hadn't really known him that well at all, when you looked at how things had gone between them—and while she'd likely have to drag Jack along, she absolutely wouldn't miss it for the world. "Sounds faaaab. I can't wait."

But then they're back to the other reason that her cheeks are flushed, and despite Danta's reassurances, the queen still finds herself shrugging her shoulders at the hopelessness of it. Not being able to explain the why of it all had her a touch tongue-tied such that the Maverick's play on words had her choking out a laugh. "Maybe I should just ask," she decides with a huff, before pulling out a piece of parchment and a pen from her purse and hastily scribbling something to Jack.

// I thought of angels choking on their halos //

Oh, it absolutely won't be the sort of thing Asta is likely to enjoy, particularly given the milestone age he's celebrating, but that's exactly why Danta is doing it - to be a shit to the man he loves. Ain't he a peach? "Perfect. It'll be here - I'll send you a little something closer to the time." Winking, he glances up as the curtain parts ever so slightly for a waiter to hand him a tray with a row of shots on it as well as more of what they've already been drinking.

Letting the curtain fall once more and setting the tray on the table between them, he raises an eyebrow as she opts to actually ask her good captain for his opinion on the whole matter, Danta slowly sinking back in his seat and tilting his head. "So are we... going to just sit here while you write and send a letter to Torchline...? Because I think you'll need something quicker than a raven. And we'll need something more substantial than some drinks for the wait."

AKA, no, he does not know about Flora's magic paper.

Dantalion

// get them drunk on rose water //

we write out the ends on our palms, then forget to read

Flora blinked at Danta, her aqua eyes narrowing in momentary confusion before the meaning of his words clicked. A grin spread across her face, followed by a soft laugh that bubbled up like champagne. "Oh, pfft," she purred, shaking her head as she tapped the enchanted parchment. "You think I’m sending a raven? Please."

Pushing the parchment across the table to him, Flora waggled her fingers above it. "Whatever I write here," she explained, her voice taking on a smug, sing-song quality, "-shows up immediately on his end. No waiting. No mess." Well, maybe some mess, because asking your boyfriend for permission to fool around with someone else was absolutely the sort of thing that invited mess.

When the reply arrived, Flora’s eyes darted over the parchment, and she caught her lower lip between her teeth as she read. Permission granted. Her emotions coiled like an intricate knot in her chest, too complicated to untangle in the moment. But she tried not to let much of it show; instead, she reached for her pen, scrawling a few words and a heart before tucking it away back in her purse.

"Soooooooooooooo, guess that means it's your turn?" You know, to get permission, or at least let Asta know.

// I thought of angels choking on their halos //

Fully prepared to gesture incredulously at the parchment he's definitely seeing her write on - what else is she going to do with it if not send a raven? - Danta finds himself promptly humbled, and happily so, as she slides it across to him and explains. "Wh... that's very clever," he says, too stunned to hide the fact that he's impressed. And as fresh ink bleeds onto the page with the captain's response, the Maverick scoffs out a laugh. "You really did mean immediate," he says, and from the look on the Doubletake's face, it's all the permission she's been waiting for.

"Mm...? Ah, of course. Don't miss me too much." Winking and rising smoothly to his feet, Danta slips out between the closed curtains to go and bother Asta in his office in the Backrooms. He isn't gone for long - probably just enough time for Flora to have a sneaky shot if she wants one - and when he returns, he's sweeping one of the curtains back to tie it, gesturing for her to step out of the booth. "Done. Let's teach you how to fuck." He winks.

Dantalion

// get them drunk on rose water //

we write out the ends on our palms, then forget to read

Flora’s grin widened as Danta stared at the parchment, her satisfaction clear as day. "Bought it off Talyson," she explained with a casual shrug. "It’s been a game changer, honestly. Basically it's just a way for Jack to tell me how much he misses me when we're apart." No such words from the captain had ever graced the parchment's surface, but Flora was happy enough to read between the lines and insert whatever sentiments she wanted from him, especially when he wasn't around to correct her.

When Danta winked and rose, Flora rolled her eyes affectionately. "Don’t worry, "I’ll try not to cry while you’re gone." As the curtain swished shut behind him, the queen wasted no time. Sliding a shot glasses closer, Flora picked one up, and raised it slightly, as if toasting no one in particular. Quickly knocking it back, the liquor burned on the way down, warmth blooming in her chest as she reached for another.

By the time Danta returned, Flora was seated with a comfortably loose grin, her cheeks a little pinker than before. "You’re really leaning into this, huh?" she quipped, setting her empty glass down and rising to her feet with all the confidence she could muster. "And hey," the queen rolled her eyes. "I know how to fuck. I just...don't know how to be the one with a cock."

An important clarification, clearly.

// I thought of angels choking on their halos //

"Of course I am," Danta drawls, reaching out as Flora gets to her feet so he can tip back one of the remaining shots and grab his own drink to bring with them. "I own this place, you know. I take my role very seriously." Grinning - because when has he ever taken anything seriously in his life - he turns to offer his arm towards the Doubletake in a crooked mimicry of a gesture he's seen Asta make a hundred times.

Whether or not she takes it, Danta leads them off the main floor of the Dusklight and down one of the many dark and decadent corridors, slipping a key from his pocket as he goes. It's a skeleton key for all the rooms in the place (he'd lose anything else), and after ensuring that one of the areas he wants isn't currently occupied, he unlocks it and steps in. "Ah, quite right," he agrees with her correction. "Let's teach you how to fuck with a cock, then. Is that better?"

Dantalion

// get them drunk on rose water //

we write out the ends on our palms, then forget to read

Flora smirked as she slipped her arm through Danta's, her aqua eyes glinting with amusement. "Uh huh, is this where you tell me how dedicated you are to customer service?" she teased, letting him guide her through the Dusklight’s shadowed corridors. The decadent ambiance of the place only added to the butterflies alighting in her belly, their flight only halted by the sound of...was that mooing coming from behind one of the doors?

When he stepped inside the room, Flora followed before crossing her arms; her expression settling somewhere between playful and determined. "It is better, yes," she confirmed haughtily, widening her eyes before glancing around.

"So...I guess that means I need a cock, then?"

// I thought of angels choking on their halos //

"I mean, I'm dedicated in the sense that I make sure all of my staff know how important it is. We very rarely get complaints - and if we do, it's normally part of some elaborate roleplay." The safe word is Karen? Flashing Flora a fanged grin, he waits for her to join her in the room - it's as decadent and plush as any of the others in the Dusklight, but with an added bonus of a few cabinets and trunks tucked against the wall.

Locking it behind them - they are not looking for extra company, thank you - Danta turns and takes another long sip of his drink, gesturing to some liquor and wine on one of the nightstands if Flora is looking for any more liquid courage. "Quite right," he agrees of her needing a cock, heading to one of the trunks.

"You know," he says, flipping open the lid for any number of cocks Flora might adorn herself with, "I bet sex Frey could give you a real one if you wanted." Little do you know, Danta. "Anyway - here." Winking, he tosses her what looks, at first, like just a jumble of straps intended to be a harness for her to put on.

Dantalion

// get them drunk on rose water //

we write out the ends on our palms, then forget to read

Her aqua eyes followed his gesture toward the nightstand, where the bottles of liquor and wine gleamed invitingly. Without hesitation, she poured herself a glass of something amber and rich, swirling it idly in her hand as Danta opened one of the trunks. "Mm, I'm sure they could, but...I mean, from everything I've heard, our orgasms are better than yours. And there's no downtime." Flora pointed out with a raise of her eyebrows before she moved to stand nearer to Danta.

She caught the harness he tossed her with a quick hand, raising an eyebrow as she turned it over in her fingers. "Oh, good," Flora said dryly, holding it up as if she were inspecting some ancient artifact. "This looks... complicated." Her lips twitched into a grin as she took another sip of her drink, which likely wasn't going to help her figure out how to put the harness on.

// I thought of angels choking on their halos //

"Ugh, don't go reminding me of that. I'll only get jealous, and then maybe I'll have to go to Frey about it." If so, the trunk full of cocks might become even more necessary in his future. Selecting something without consulting Flora - and she'll forgive him he hopes, given that she's the one going to be fucking him with it - Danta turns as she remarks about the harness, offering her a lopsided smile and straightening up.

"I haven't got much experience putting them on myself, but let's see what I can do," he suggests, drawing all the closer to her as he disentangles the straps and reaches around Flora to check where things ought to sit. "You know, I think this is probably the part where we'd start taking off our clothes," he whispers, his hands skimming her hips and the soft hourglass of her figure.

Dantalion

// get them drunk on rose water //

we write out the ends on our palms, then forget to read

Flora’s laughter bubbled up, warm and light, as she swirled the amber liquid in her glass, her aqua eyes glinting with amusement. "You know," she said, tilting her head toward Danta with a smirk, "maybe you should go see Frey. Having a few more options might be fun, no?" Her grin turned sharp as she took another sip of her drink, definitely not using their easy banter as a way of delaying the fact that she'd soon be fucking him.

When Danta stepped closer, though, Flora’s breath caught just for a second—not out of nerves, exactly, but from sheer unfamiliarity. It had been months since she’d been this physically close to anyone who wasn’t Jack, and the contrast was startling in its own way. Jack’s presence was like the sea: commanding, relentless, familiar. Danta, though? Danta was all velvet edges, elfin grace, and a dangerous, playful charm that could disarm just about anyone.

She tilted her chin up slightly as he reached around her to adjust the straps, a grin tugging at her lips even as her pulse thrummed in her ears, willing herself to relax. Taking a breath, the Doubletake let her gaze flick over him, taking in the subtle differences she couldn’t help but compare. Flora cleared her throat softly, breaking herself out of the spiral her thoughts threatened to fall into. "I seem to remember trying to catch your eye before and being absolutely snubbed, so just know if you do that again, I'll absolutely stab you."

Flora took a half step back, her fingers hesitating briefly at the hem of her satin top before she pulled it over her head in one smooth motion. Tan skin kissed with freckles came into view, along with the lacy black bra that curved against her breasts. The faint light in the room caught on the jagged scars that marred her shoulder and belly, and for a moment, a flicker of self-consciousness tugged at her confidence, all the moreso because Jack was the only one to have ever seen them. Straightening her spine as if to defy the unease creeping into her chest, she let the top fall to the floor, her chin tilting up slightly as she forced herself to stand unguarded beneath Danta's stare.

// I thought of angels choking on their halos //

"Oooh - it's all well and good to jest, but I'm very much spoken for when it comes to the gods," Danta says, pressing a hand to his chest over his heart as if the idea of really approaching Frey, of approaching anyone other than his dark lady, is tantamount to blasphemy. "Besides, Dygra is all about chaos, entropy, change. I'm sure she could do something to assist, if my curiosity ever got the better of me." It would probably result in Danta waking up and never knowing what equipment he'd possess, which... hot, honestly.

Unlike Flora - and despite his blossoming relationship with Tall, Dark and Dangerous out on the main floor - Danta has had a taste of others in recent times; whenever the need arises and Asta has declined his right of first refusal, in truth. But none of them are Flora, and as he manages to buckle a particularly tricky strap she steps back from him, his hands dropping away from her as if they're caught in a dance.

Before he knows it, her golden skin and generous curves are on display, the Maverick's eyes drinking her in like a man caught in a desert who finds himself suddenly caught in the rain. If he notices her scars his gaze doesn't linger on them, Danta drawing the gauzy material of his own shift over his head and closing the distance between them once more. Pale in comparison to her sun-kissed complexion, and lightly scarred in more than a few places, Flora will likely still catch the shape of teeth in some of the marks along his neck and shoulders.

They can play storytime with their bodies later, though - for now he's already leaning in for a taste of her lips - testing the waters, almost, for whether she wants to continue or not.

Dantalion

// get them drunk on rose water //

we write out the ends on our palms, then forget to read

Flora hesitated for the briefest of moments, the weight of her thoughts pressing down around her like a funnel cloud. Thoughts of Jack lingered at the edges of her mind—his hands, his voice, the stormy blue of his eyes, the way he could read her every thought before it even formed—blurred her vision. The contrast with Danta was striking, almost jarring, and it left her feeling oddly exposed, even though he couldn’t possibly know what was swirling in her head.

But..that was the difference, wasn’t it? Danta wasn’t a telepath. He didn’t know her thoughts unless she chose to share them, and the realization washed over her like a wave of freedom.

So when Danta's lips brushed hers, Flora kissed him back, at first tentatively, her mind still tangled in comparisons and thoughts she couldn’t quite shake. But then she shifted, a spark of determination lighting her from within, and she wound her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. The tentativeness faded, replaced by something more deliberate—calculated, even—as she leaned into the kiss with a confidence that felt like slipping into a familiar role.

Her fingers toyed with the ends of his hair, the movement slow and playful as she pressed against him, as if to remind him how willingly this had all been offered to him years before. Whatever unease she’d felt moments ago was buried now, hidden beneath the practiced ease of her touch and the way her lips curved into a faint smile against his. "Do you want me to fuck you with a cock like Asta's?" She whispered against his mouth. No, she'd not be able to pick out the butcher's likeness in the box given how brief her time with him had been, but no doubt the Maverick could find a suitable comparison if he was so inclined.

// I thought of angels choking on their halos //

It's true - Danta is not a telepath, and both he and Flora have still managed to be good at sex, so they can't be doing too bad a job down in the dirt without literally being able to read minds, right? As she melts against him, her lips and tongue growing more confident by the second, he forgets whatever he's doing with the harness, long fingers stroking up her side and brushing tantalisingly beneath the black lace covering one of her breasts.

He doesn't expect the filthy remark to slip past her lips, however, the Maverick's break catching in his throat at the implications in her tone and the way every part of him stands to attention at the thought. With a sly smirk curling across his lips, he surges forward to claim another kiss, drawing back if only so he might slowly kneel down before her - to figure out these fucking straps, of course - letting his mouth taste each part of her along the way.

"Do you think you could?" he whispers against smooth, golden skin, foregoing the harness for a moment to peel the rest of her clothes away. "Fuck me like Asta, I mean? You'll know if you manage it - I'm very vocal with my praise."

Dantalion

// get them drunk on rose water //