and there's no turning back

Dantalion

how the fuck am I supposed to know

New Danta - AKA post-orgasm, having just played around in the bonfire, pleased with himself Danta - gives the pale woman a nod as she holds the door open for him, stepping into the enveloping warmth of the Dusklight and rolling his shoulders. "I think the Temple would be a good location," he says honestly, "not that I've had the conversation with Asta yet."

It's the butcher's quest from their dark lady, after all.

Unbuttoning his coat and taking off his scarf, he hangs both off to one side (only after retrieving the rum, of course) and gestures for two glasses from the bar before leading them to a comfortable booth. "You seem put out," he remarks after that, smirking and slouching down into his seat as he uncaps the liquor she's given him.

if we're in love or if we're in pain?

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Maea

I feel it in the wind, my dear
The sun is gonna reappear

"Oh, yes. It would be. It always used to be a shrine." It was a Temple, after all. Even if the alignments changed, and the old gods no longer answered prayers there, she suspected that many of the citizens still went there to pray. She hoped Asta would pick that as the spot.

Slumping down into the soft cushions and leaning her head against the wall, she accepted a glass from Danta and turned it between her palms. "I do? I'm mostly relieved. Didn't really expect to be welcome here anymore... I'm glad though. It's good to be home again." She felt wrung out, now that it seemed alright to relax again.

Good days are gonna come along
Hold on, hold on!

Dantalion

how the fuck am I supposed to know

"...Huh." It makes sense now that Maea lays it all out like that - Temple, shrine, worshipping and all that. "I'm sure I'll be able to trickle a few well placed words into his ear, in that case." Not that he expects it to be difficult - their current shrine is at the Black fucking Lake, so... you know. Anything has to be more hospitable than that, right?

Accepting the glasses as they are set down before them - and snapping his fingers and pointing at the front doors, which prompts the crow to soar outside the next time they open - Danta spends a moment pouring them a measure of rum over ice. "Home?" He repeats with a raise of his eyebrows, though the mischief in his expression tells that he's clearly pleased.

"Never expected you to think of this place like that," he admits, before smoothly knocking back the drink. "Torchline does make very good rum," he hums, toasting her selection even if it's with an empty glass.

if we're in love or if we're in pain?

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Maea

I feel it in the wind, my dear
The sun is gonna reappear

Snorting behind a barely suppressed smile, Maea could only agree. "Oh, I'm as surprised as you are," she said wryly, taking a sip of the rum. It felt coarse on her tongue, as unfamiliar to her palate as most of the activities that went on in this house, and yet she didn't hate. Only disliked her lack of connection to either, and the loss of a place and role to fill. "It's true, though. I probably know this place just as well as the Atheneum by now." Resting her chin in the palm, Maea gazed out over the hall. Recognized faces of people even when names eluded her, knew the next shift of bartenders that would replace the current - she shrugged again. "It's weird, isn't it? The bar is the only part of the offers I'm ever likely to indulge in."
Raising a brow at the owner, her smile invited questions if he had any.

Good days are gonna come along
Hold on, hold on!

Dantalion

how the fuck am I supposed to know

"Well, if you ever want the Atheneum to get up to the sorts of activities you find in here, let me know, and the two places can be as close to home as you like." Danta smirks. (What? There are a lot of kinks out there, and books and libraries are absolutely going to be on someone's wishlist in the Dusklight). "Though I'd argue you don't know it all." Unless she's been sneaking around in his rooms, or any of the other flavoured spaces in the brothel.

As for it being weird, Danta can only shrug his shoulders and offer her a fanged grin as he reaches out to refill his glass. "There are a few regulars who only come to watch," he reasons with a bob of his eyebrows. "They probably think you have similar tastes. You're quite welcome to use the facilities whenever you wish, though." It goes without saying, he thinks.

if we're in love or if we're in pain?

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Maea

I feel it in the wind, my dear
The sun is gonna reappear

Catching a sip of the rum in the wrong throat, it wasn't only the thought of Dusklight revelers spreading their debauchery to the quiet shelves of her sanctuary that took the air out of her. But mostly it was that. And perhaps the images Danta's reasoning painted in her mind, unfortunately difficult to chase.
"I, well... thank you. I just... I don't get how you do it. Let people so close - even though they're complete strangers. I don't... think I can do that."

Rubbing her cheeks that had grown predictably warm, she was surprised at herself for saying as much. It was unlike her to admit her weaknesses... though perhaps it was about time.

Good days are gonna come along
Hold on, hold on!

Dantalion

how the fuck am I supposed to know

Unable not to titter at the redness of Maea's cheeks, Danta leans in to top up her glass as if more liquor will absolutely help the situation. (It's never steered him wrong so far, after all, and all the times it has he doesn't remember, because of the liquor). "It's just sex," he says in the carefree way of a man who has absolutely never associated romantic feelings with the deed.

"I don't get how you'd ever let someone close who isn't a stranger, honestly," he continues, before pausing for a long sip of rum. "Letting the bedroom out of the bedroom and into your personal day-to-day?" He pulls a face, despite a certain tall Ancient who frequently acts as his shadow breaking all those rules and then some in recent times.

But like with the crow, if Danta doesn't look at it, it isn't real.

"All I'm saying," he continues, as if to put that topic to bed before it ever wakes up, "is that it can just be pleasure for pleasure's sake. That's the point of a brothel."

if we're in love or if we're in pain?

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Maea

I feel it in the wind, my dear
The sun is gonna reappear

Maybe more rum really was the answer to her problems in this case. Maybe it was also the worst thing she could do to herself. Like choosing which way to start down an unfamiliar labyrinth, it was a choice that wouldn't see a resolution until it stared her in the face, at which point it would already be too late. Watching the surface of the liquid ripple and grow still within the glass, she could always choose not to drink. Of course, that also meant not changing anything.

"I'd say we're polar opposites there," she admitted. "There's never been such a thing as 'just sex' to me. It's letting my guard down, letting someone see past the surface, being vulnerable... " Tracing the rim of her glass, her shoulders rose and fell beneath the dark velvet of her dress. "I can't imagine money ever being enough to buy that kind of trust. I kind of wish it was different though. You seem far freer in your end of thing."

Bringing the glass to her lips, the liqour burned it's way down her throat. Was the taste growing on her? The swallow seemed deliberate, a carefully selected action - like stepping out on ice without knowing how thick it was.

Good days are gonna come along
Hold on, hold on!

Dantalion

how the fuck am I supposed to know

It wouldn't be the first thing they are polar opposites on, and given that this time it's a friendly conversation rather than shouting each other down in his office, Danta listens with quiet interest. "Well, my end of things are a celebration," he says with a vibrant smile. "There's no letting your guard down, no being vulnerable. It's going in with the intention of feeling as good as you've ever felt, and not stopping until you're satisfied." And a lot of the time that happens to coincide with the other person feeling good as well.

Taking another sip of rum, he relaxes in the booth. "Sex has always been one of the few pleasures I've had that didn't come with strings attached, so it's always been a release for me. All of us are different, though." He waves around the Dusklight as if to demonstrate. "We're all in it for our own reasons. Most of them just happen to be pretty straightforward."

if we're in love or if we're in pain?

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Maea

I feel it in the wind, my dear
The sun is gonna reappear

She could argue that allowing ones basest nature show, with all that came with it of sounds and reactions, had everything to do with vulnerability. In her mind it seemed a good way to open herself up to criticism and scorn where it would hit the hardest, and at least Maea didn't have any defense against that. But rather than cling to that conviction she tried to just listen for once, because for all their differences there was much about Danta that she both respected and admired.

"Given my reservations, what would you recommend I do then?" she dared, despite the sickly lurching sensation in her gut at the very thought of... feeling good, so to speak. "I'm growing tired of flinching at every little thing that goes on around me... but I'm... definitely still scared." She tried to make it sound casual, like it wasn't a big deal. But the quiver at the corners of her mouth betrayed her, more than the deers-in-headlight look in her eyes.

Good days are gonna come along
Hold on, hold on!

Dantalion

how the fuck am I supposed to know

With more than enough rum warming his blood now, Danta shifts to get comfortable in the booth, stretching his long legs out beneath the table and running a finger around the rim of his mostly empty glass. "Mm...? Well, I faked it until I made it," he says, gesturing to himself, to the Dusklight, to the general state of affairs around them now that he's successfully become Theocrat.

"What's that saying? Do it scared?" He scoffs. "I'm not sure how much I agree with that, but maybe it'll work for you. If you had a specific kink, that'd be one thing." The Dusklight caters for that. "But reservations are less easy to manage. Oh! Maybe you could just watch people for a bit. A lot of people are into that. The watching and the being watched."

if we're in love or if we're in pain?

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Maea

I feel it in the wind, my dear
The sun is gonna reappear

Did she balk at that? Absolutely. Did she also recall Charlie's offer to watch in vivid detail? Very much so. Her cheeks burned scarlet and no amount of rum could cover for that, but to her credit Maea only nodded. Because it made sense. Look at a thing until it stopped being frightening. It wasn't too different from the way she treated the bloodlust, and fighting, and so many other things in her life. It came down to whether she wanted to or not, in the end. If the need to change felt pressing enough.
"I see. Well... thank you. I'll think about it," she replied, and actually meant it.

Fumbling for the places that kept her boots tied, she undid them and kicked the shoes off. Making herself comfortable, now that the conversation couldn't get much more awkward, she pulled her feet up beneath herself and gazed thoughtfully at Danta across the table.
"Can I ask about it? Your life, before all this?" she asked him softly.

Good days are gonna come along
Hold on, hold on!

Dantalion

how the fuck am I supposed to know

"The Dusklight is always happy to serve," Danta trills to Maea, offering her a mock little bow from his seat and reaching out to knock back the rest of the rum, before (perhaps wisely) capping it. "Not that I don't enjoy my booze hitting me like a freight train, but I don't want to pass out too early," he says with a sharp smile. "Wine?"

Whether or not she agrees, the Maverick raises his hand to order a bottle of red wine and two glasses - and if Maea wants to partake, she's more than welcome. It's as Danta is filling his glass with the dark liquid that she asks her soft question, and his flinch is almost imperceptible were it not for the few drops of red that hit the table. "What could possibly be worth knowing about back then?" He asks quietly, the bravado remarkably thin.

if we're in love or if we're in pain?

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Maea

I feel it in the wind, my dear
The sun is gonna reappear

Laughing away the internal jitters, Maea followed suit in emptying the glass, quite literally capping the subject. "Yes please. And some water too, might be good." Else she would be seeing the inside of one of the rooms sooner than she had planned..

The brevity was short lived, alas. It was only because she was gazing so closely at him that she noticed the flinch or even the brittle response. Reaching over to wipe the fallen drops from the table, Maea licked her finger and tasted the sweet, tart boquet of the wine, fleeting as an afterthought. "Where you came from... why you weren't free. If possible I would like to avoid misunderstanding you again." She didn't quite smile, but there was a kindness in her gaze as she looked at him. "It's up to you, though. If you don't want to, that's okay."

Good days are gonna come along
Hold on, hold on!