that's what I tell him

flora

Flora tilts her head, studying Danta through the thick veil of steam, her usual playful smirk lingering but subdued. She’d expected some glib remark, some lazy, offhand flirtation about anchoring himself to the bed instead of the water, but instead, his voice goes quiet, and the shift in his expression—something like shame, but not quite—has her blinking. "He mentioned a bit," she admits after a beat, her voice softer now, less teasing, more thoughtful. She knew, of course, that whatever had happened to Asta in The Climb had been ugly, though to hear that even now the ghosts of past beatings and torture still haunted him?

"We have healers in Torchline that could take care of it, if you ever want it gone completely," she offers in a low voice. "When you're ready, anyway," she adds quickly, knowing sometimes that scars were necessary. The fact that she still bore the reminders of what Pierce had done on her shoulder and belly were evidence enough of that.

"I hate that though..for both of you." Not wanting to press more, instead Flora lets the weight of the heat drag tension from her limbs as she smiles crookedly, trying to pull them both back toward something lighter. "Gods, imagine," she scoffs, her smirk returning with lazy ease, "We'd have a population crisis and the Dusklight would go out of business immediately." She stretches, lazily drifting closer in the water, propping her arms along the smooth stone beside him. "Though, I guess I should be honoured to have survived my...y'know, whatever with him."

I want to be when you fall on me like night
I wanna kill the lights

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Dantalion

how the fuck am I supposed to know

"A bit is more than enough, believe me," Danta says with a long sigh, plunging the arm with the silk covering beneath the water as if to keep it out of sight since they're trying to have a nice, gossipy hangover-recovery sort of morning. "Oh, they can? I thought once scars were there, they were just... there," he says, furrowing his brow and considering it. "Maybe I'll drop by one, the next time I'm in the area." He nods. The memory and his own resulting nightmares are enough without the physical reminder, thanks.

Nodding - he hates it too, and then some - before rolling his shoulders as if to get rid of the dark train of thought, Danta sinks deeper into the water and lets his head rest against the stone as Flora sidles closer, a catlike smirk tugging at his lips to hear the imagined consequences of his actions. "Not to mention I'd find myself quite lonely," he quips. "And yes, you ought to feel very honoured. Granted," he adds in a low voice filled with mischief, "I'm pretty sure the killing and devouring comes after he does, so..."

So leaving Asta blue-ballsed isn't a bad thing, potentially.

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

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

flora

Flora wrinkles her nose, an exaggerated grimace flickering across her features before she quickly waves a hand through the steam, as if physically brushing the conversation away. There wasn't any more reason to talk about her brief tryst with the butcher, no matter how closed she'd come to really being eaten out in earnest.

"Good thing you’re so good at keeping your teeth to yourself, then, huh? Would hate for you to wind up as lonely as you are insatiable."

She sinks deeper into the water, letting the heat melt away any lingering tension, her gaze drifting idly toward the swirling mist that clings to the surface of the pools. "Hmm." Flora purses her lips, turning in place, scanning the edge of the pool with a critical eye before sighing dramatically. "Okay, tell me if I’m blind or just stupid, but I don’t see a single Lily anywhere," she huffs, stretching one arm out to gesture vaguely at the water around them. "I haven’t actually heard of anyone finding any yet, have you? Because, honestly?" She exhales sharply, rolling her shoulders against the heat. "At this point, I’m starting to wonder if they actually grow here anymore."

I want to be when you fall on me like night
I wanna kill the lights

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Dantalion

how the fuck am I supposed to know

"Well, one of us has to be," Danta agrees with a crooked grin; if not, his relationship with Asta would have likely been tragically brief. As Flora gets more comfortable in the water, the Maverick finally submerges himself completely, letting the heat soothe the tension from his body and mind. Frey's Breath might not be magic in the way some places are, but gods, it still helps.

He surfaces in time to see her peeping about for the apparently-very-important lilies that don't seem to exist, Danta snorting and shaking his head. "Between you and me, I've never seen them. Not before I took that long rock nap, not in the year I was here by myself, and not since. I reckon they're a myth."

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

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

flora

Snorting at that, Flora grins and nods. though as Danta disappears briefly beneath the surface, the queen's smile slips away and she takes advantage of the moment by frowning up at the rocky ceiling. It felt like one of those moments where she'd be able to look back and go, yeah, that's when it was over for Jack, but then of course the Maverick reappeared and talk of lilies had her rolling her eyes in agreement.

Reaching for his arm and twining hers around it to keep her loosely bound to his side, she sighs exaggeratedly. "I think so too. I mean, I got one right from Rae, but literally I've never seen them here and I feel like over the past few seasons everyone has been here a lot." So either they were a myth, or something—or someone?—was hoarding them.

I want to be when you fall on me like night
I wanna kill the lights

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Dantalion

how the fuck am I supposed to know

Content to have her arm twined about his own to stop her from floating away (like otters), Danta relaxes once more into the hotsprings and lets out a long sigh, closing his eyes rather than watching the light bounce off the rock overhead. "I don't know," he says slowly, "but if I were the Family, one of the first things I'd have done is stop shit like this from growing, you know? So maybe they figured out how to do that, and we've been looking all this time for nothing."

A cheerful prospect, that.

Blinking his eyes back open, he gives Flora a gentle nudge. "Still, it could be in a much worse place, right?" he says. "Will you be coming back through the portal with me when we're done here, by the way? Or is that magic compass of yours going to be whisking you off somewhere fun?"

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

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

flora

Flora hums, aqua eyes narrowing slightly as she lets the idea settle. "Gods, you’re probably right," she sighs, fingers idly tracing along the inside of his wrist beneath the water, her expression twisting into something equal parts frustration and reluctant acceptance. "It’d be smart, wouldn’t it? If they figured out how to stop them from growing?" She exhales through her nose, tipping her head back to rest against the smooth stone, gaze flickering toward the curling steam above them. "So much for divine intervention," she mutters, though there’s no real bitterness in her tone, just the weary kind of resignation that comes with being unsurprised by the worst possibilities since, you know, that's basically all they had these days.

At his nudge, she snaps back to the present, her smirk returning as she loosens her hold just enough to flick a bit of water in his direction. "Oh, yeah, because I love nothing more than wandering aimlessly through the wilderness," she drawls. "Honestly, I don’t even know where I’d go next. Right back to Torchline to fight with Jack some more?"

Flora tilts her head toward him, smirk softening just slightly, the smallest hint of sincerity creeping in beneath the teasing. "I’ll come back with you," she says, aqua gaze flickering over his face, watching the way the soft light plays against the planes of his features. "I've got one more thing to take care of in the Greatwood before going south."

I want to be when you fall on me like night
I wanna kill the lights

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Dantalion

how the fuck am I supposed to know

"Depends on what kind of divine you're talking about," Danta says with a cocky smile and a shrug. "I'm only approaching Dygra now about all of this because an Ancient was targeted. Before now, she was fairly live and let live about this whole thing. Her intervention would probably be a lot less acceptable to the rest of Caido than if it came from one of your baby gods."

Flinching at the water she flicks his way only to promptly retaliate, Danta's expression might be charged with mischief, but as Flora speaks, his eyes are soft. "I'd rather fight with Asta than be anywhere else," he says, shrugging openly. "So yeah, maybe that's where you go."

For now, though, it's back to the Grounds - and then to the Greatwood for Flora, apparently. "A thing to take care of, is it? I won't tell." He winks.

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

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

flora

Flora huffs a soft laugh, flicking a few more droplets of water his way for good measure before settling back against the stone, stretching her arms lazily along the edge of the pool. "Right, because Dygra’s solution would probably involve burning half the continent to the ground and letting the strongest crawl out of the ashes or something," she muses, half-teasing, half-serious, tilting her head slightly to regard him with a crooked smirk. "Not that I’d blame her, and at least you all would be alright," she adds after a moment.

But then Danta is retaliating, sending a small splash her way, and Flora yelps dramatically, swatting at the water with an exaggerated glare before grinning despite herself. His answer earns him a raised brow, and a slightly sad smile. "Yeah, well, I don't get the feeling he feels the same," she sighs.

"Mm," Flora hums, shifting slightly in the water, glancing away just long enough to make it clear she’s not going to elaborate. "I’ll tell you if it turns into something interesting," she finally says, flashing him a lazy, secretive little grin. "Someone should really take over the Greatwood again. Not being able to teleport there is a pain."

I want to be when you fall on me like night
I wanna kill the lights

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Dantalion

how the fuck am I supposed to know

"And what if it was, so long as the Family also ended up getting burned? I know fire doesn't especially upset them, but I imagine they'd complain if we burned them for long enough." Danta grins, trying to duck away from any further droplets of water, though he does hold in his own yelp of surprise as water flicks across his face.

At the twist of sadness in her smile, Danta drifts close enough to sling an arm around her, drawing her against the heat of his chest. "Yeah, well, he's an idiot as we've already well established. You've got to have at least a few brain cells to understand what you're missing," he reminds her, slanting a smile her way before letting her go once more.

"Oh, well if that's the case, I do very much hope it turns into something interesting," he quips, heading to the edge of the springs to slowly rise out of the water, stretching his arms above his head. "If you quit being Queen of Torchline, you come and take it over and we'll be leader neighbours," he suggests. "For now, though, let's go back and drink a fuckton of coffee. Then I might be ready for the day."

He won't be. But it's a nice lie to tell himself for now.

~FIN

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

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!