I hope you dance

Nova

Setting aside her finished drink once she gulps it down, Nova flutters along behind Koa like the tail of a comet, bright and glittering. The alcohol is fuzzing pleasantly at the edge of her mind, making stardust out of the crystalline rainbow of her thoughts. She doesn't mind, still soaking in the energetic atmosphere of the bar.

Nova watches the exchanges with interest, from tattoo man to waiter to goth girl. Her black attire is the exact opposite of the annoyingly loud colors she wears, but she tries not to hold it against her when the woman hands Koa what she assumes is 'snapdragon.' Beaming a playful smile at whatever embarrassment gets rattled, she waves a sparkling hand. "Thanks, Luna!" The other name he says doesn't sound familiar (yet) but she pretends to be paying attention to his advice as her eyes fixate on the small bag. "Good to know!" Not that she's particularly worried. 

Plucking the bag from his fingers, she inspects the two tiny pearls with a tilted head with an excited giggle. "They're pretty, but they don't look anything like a dragon." No scales or horns or snouts or tails. It's a wonder why it's called such a thing. She considers other names for the pearly drugs as she dumps the two of them into the palm of her hand, ready to toss them into the back of her throat and see what all the fun is about.

There is a certain beauty in chaos,
magnificence in the uncontrollable.

I'm bringin' sexy back
Them other fuckers don't know how to act

Nova snatches the bag like a dragon sensing treasure, her naïve fascination with the potent pearls simultaneously endearing and alarming. "It's called that because it's made from Lial blood," he explains, reaching out to take the package back from Nova before she can drug herself enough to another plane of existence.

Too late; she's already plopped both pearls in her hand, and is eyeing them as though they were skittles she could throw back by the handful without a single concern. "Nope!" he declares, covering her palm with his and pulling the snapdragon back into his own control. "Number one rule of trying new substances: start small. Especially someone pint-sized like you. Here." He puts one of the pearls in his mouth, biting down gingerly but firmly enough to break it roughly in two. "Open wide," Koa instructs, holding the half out toward Nova, ready to pop it in her mouth. "Tongue up." He can taste the sweet sugar Mateo adds to make it dissolve as he flicks his half under his tongue; it won't be enough to fuck him up badly, but he should get a pleasant, loose sort of buzz.

Koa Carpenter

If that's your girl, better watch your back
'Cause she'll burn it up for me, and that's a fact

Nova

"But Lials aren't dragons." At least not that she knows of, and why wouldn't they just call it 'snap lial' instead? Why bring dragons into it? Overall, Nova is less than pleased with the chosen name, and she'll be sure to bring it up next time she's on a coffee ramble.

Another plane of existence might be exactly what Nova's looking for, but perhaps it's for her own safety that Koa snags the pearls from her hands - although it might not be for his safety based on the withering look she shoots his way. She's never been one for 'caution' or 'starting small' but it doesn't seem like she has much of a choice as he's spouting of orders, the pearls firmly in his possession and between his teeth. Maybe she'll snag the other one off him when he's not looking, but for now, she rolls her eyes and does as he says, opening her mouth and lifting her tongue to let him place the drug underneath, trying to talk as he does so. "Why'th thee givfe uvs twol if wae're onlvy tahkhing a halff?" Seems like a waste to her, and the pout pulling at her lips says as much when she closes her mouth. 

It dissolves quickly, leaving a sweet taste in her mouth as she smacks her lips. "I think you got ripped off. It disappeared and I don't feel any -" Slowly, like she's been dropped in a vat of thick, gelatinous goo, Nova's eyes grow impossibly wide, their blue depths swirling like a galaxy in the night sky. They take in the room around them like it's the first time, which it might as well be with how bright everything suddenly is. Kaleidoscopes of colors swirl around the lights in fractals, slowly sharpening and shifting in brilliant displays of art that look like cut glass. 

Her mouth hangs open a little, a wonderous smile on her face. "Wow. Is this what the world really looks like?" She lets out an excited giggle that sparkles with fizzling, unchecked magic, grabbing at Koa's hand as she moves to walk around the bar, her eyes taking in everything without really looking at anything - like where she's walking or the attention she draws.

There is a certain beauty in chaos,
magnificence in the uncontrollable.

I'm bringin' sexy back
Them other fuckers don't know how to act

"Well... no." This is a good point; Koa doesn't have much more than a shrug to counter with, as he is not the one in charge of naming drugs. "Tell you what, we can ask Mateo sometime. He'd probably know. Or you and he can come up with a new drug, and name it whatever you want." Because what's the logical next step after introducing your patron goddess's daughter to drugs?

Encouraging her to break bad.

Koa doesn't say anything in response to Nova's protests, nor does he contradict her declaration that he's been ripped off. Instead he watches with indulgent amusement that curves into a warm grin as the girl begins to feel the effects of the disinhibiting drug. It's like watching a flower unfurl in real time, or a child discovering the taste of chocolate. Her absolute delight and fascination are a drug unto themselves, Koa thinks- though maybe that's just the Snapdragon working its way through his veins.

Koa allows her to take his hand, following-slash-guiding her around the bar. "I like to imagine it's what the world would look like, if people weren't so stuck in their own shit. Or maybe how the gods see the world, I dunno." He's seeing it, too, a little bit, the radiance, the fractals, the enhanced colors and fascinating glow that seems to permeate the world at large. Placing a broad hand on Nova's shoulder, he gently guides her around a patron before they can collide. "What did the world look like to you before? Y'know, when you lived with your mom in the stars?"

Koa Carpenter

If that's your girl, better watch your back
'Cause she'll burn it up for me, and that's a fact

Nova

Giggling, Nova nods her head at the idea of meeting Mateo and getting to experiment with other names. "I like that! Maybe we can come up with something like 'Sparklebud' or 'Glitternotes.'" Other ideas buzz so quickly through her mind that it's hard to keep track of, but she's quickly forgetting about them as other topics come to mind. 

She doesn't know where she's leading them, just letting her feet guide the way around the bar to take in every inch of the new colors crystallizing along the lights, nodding as she echoes Koa's hypothesis that this might be what it feels like to be a god. There's a humming in her veins that's stronger than any alcohol-induced buzz, making her magic spark and tingle across her skin in random burst of power, although it luckily stays contained to her face and hands - where Koa might be able to feel the small shocks or chills that skitter across her skin. 

Spinning to look at one of the lights - and nearly bumping into a tall hulking man - Nova lets out another giggle. "Very tiny." Her eyes flit over him, not quite pausing as she leads them back towards the dance floor. "It was a lot easier to see all the stars from up there. You can't even imagine how many there are! What you can see when you look at the sky is only a fraction! And there are so many more colors up there - not this black nothingness that we see. It's more like a galaxy of rainbows painted across the sky! It's where we laughed and played until our mom was ready to send us down. It was beautiful!" She might have been sad or reminiscent if she wasn't so enthralled by her new perception of the world, and Nova twirls in her yellow dress, throwing out her arms as she lets out an indulgent laugh then pulling Koa back out to the floor. "Come on! Let's dance some more!"

There is a certain beauty in chaos,
magnificence in the uncontrollable.

I'm bringin' sexy back
Them other fuckers don't know how to act

The drugs make the illusions that dance on Nova's skin all that much more entrancing, a shimmering kaleidoscope of color and light that continuously drags Koa's gaze back into its grasp. Without thinking he runs his thumb over the top of her shoulder, as though the motion might elicit ripples, or set sparks arcing electric between their skin. "That sounds amazing," he exhales at her description of life among the stars, continuing to follow along as she leads him toward the dance floor. "Why'd you wanna leave?"

He loosens his hold on her shoulder as she twirls and spins, his hand sliding down her arm, past her elbow and down to fingers that flit away like butterflies, leaving him empty handed and bemused. "Where ya goin?" Koa laughs, head tilted, a grin on his face as he watches Nova spin and shine like the young comet she is. But then her arms are out and he's drawn back in, taking her smaller hands in his, letting the combined influence of her buoyancy and the drugs ease the inhibitions off of his back. "As you wish, Princess"

Koa tugs Nova close before pushing her back, releasing a hand to spin her around with his right. Laughing, he pulls her back in, wrapping his arm around her waist as he eases her into a deep dip.

Koa Carpenter

If that's your girl, better watch your back
'Cause she'll burn it up for me, and that's a fact

Nova

Koa's light fingers send her magic sparking and scattering across her shoulder, physical evidence of the tingling nerve endings that shimmer under her skin. She giggles, not shying away but squirming a little from the touch that has colors and ripples of different temperatures rippling from the point of his fingers then back. "That tickles!" It feels like a million tiny feathers pressing against the surface of a glittering moonlit pool, soft by breaking through the tension to prick at the water beneath, sending the lights refracting in a dancing galaxy.

Her nerves don't settle, but Nova just leans into the sensation, letting it caress her like a shawl of glittering starlight as she floats and twirls through the crowd. "Because there's so much to explore in Caido that we couldn't see from up there!" She'd seen pictures and the small smears of colors, but it wasn't the same and it had been with bittersweet excitement that she'd followed her siblings down from the sky. Shrugging her shoulders - and feeling like they floated a little higher than they should have - she gives Koa another bright smile that spreads like a wildfire across her lips. "My mom also has big plans for my brother, so it was time for us to make our grand entrance!" Or unleash them on the world, depending on how it was looked at. 

Then they're on the dance floor again, and the music is stealing her away in a whirlwind of notes that pulse in waves of color and light around her. It's harder to keep track of Koa as the world stretches and constricts around her, but Nova doesn't mind when he's pulling her into another spin, giggles flowing like sweet starlight from her lips as her head falls back, curls flaring in a golden crown. "I like you, Koa!" She likes the way everything seems brighter, the way he calls her 'Princess,' the way nothing seems to matter but the next swirling step to the beat.

There is a certain beauty in chaos,
magnificence in the uncontrollable.

I'm bringin' sexy back
Them other fuckers don't know how to act

"But what about everything there is to explore up there?" Like the bajillion stars- though if they're anything like the one that crashed into the ocean and ruined everyone's lives, maybe they're best left well the fuck alone.

That's a bad thought, though, and tonight isn't a night for bad thoughts. Tonight is for the way the light melts like oil on Nova's skin, and the galaxies that seem to swirl in her eyes, and the way he tingles like he's taken way more drugs than he actually has everywhere their bodies touch. "Sounds official. What kinda plans?" he wonders eagerly as they slide into the dance, eyebrows raising above a curious copper gaze, his head tilted slightly to the side.

Then they're dancing, moving like water over stones, falling apart here, coming together there. At some point Koa may or may not have slipped the other half of his snapdragon under his tongue; regardless, he's having a marvelous time, better than he's let himself had in months. "I like you too, Nova!" Koa laughs, thoroughly enraptured by her golden curls, by the unbridled effervescence and vivaciousness and pizzaz she's brought into this night.

The song ends, and the music shifts: it's time for a slow song. Without consideration Koa pulls Nova closer to him, wrapping a broad hand around her waist and knitting his fingers into hers. "I'm glad you decided to come down from the stars," he tells her frankly, his eyes almost molten in the dancefloor light. "I can't think of a funner... funner? More fun? Nah, funner- can't think of a funner way I could have spent my night."

Koa Carpenter

If that's your girl, better watch your back
'Cause she'll burn it up for me, and that's a fact

Nova

"I'll just finish exploring when I get back!" She says it like she plans to take a vacation in the stars, maybe spend the weekend or head home for dinner. But with another weightless shrug of her iridescent shoulders, Nova blazes past to the next topic. "Don't know! That's between him and mom!" And she does her best not to deal with the boring stuff like plans or responsibilities. That's literally Vesper's job. Hers is to have fun and make the world sparkle! Which she has no problem doing as the drug keeps making its way through her system, casting glitter and shimmering colors around them in fractals of light. A few people notice as they move, giving them large clearance when they feel the unnatural charge in the air. 

There's an unfamiliar warmth that radiates from his hand as Koa grounds her fluttering movements into the slower sway of the music, something new that mixes into the barrage of various sensations brought on by the snapdragon. Nova's skin prickles with ice and heat before settling into a low hum of magic as she flashes him another otherworldly smile at the flattery. She leans a little closer like she's trying to count the flecks of gold in his eyes, or maybe her own are trying to compete, the starlight twinkling amidst their blue depths. "Of course not! There's nothing funner than hanging out with me!" There's barely a breath before she's adding with a giggle, "And dancing! Dancing is the funnest!" The drugs might also have something to do with it, but that's a minor detail that she doesn't hang on, choosing instead to let her mind and body float in the midst of seeing and feeling, letting instinct and desire guide her movements.

There is a certain beauty in chaos,
magnificence in the uncontrollable.

I'm bringin' sexy back
Them other fuckers don't know how to act

Oh, it absolutely sounds like she's a college kid who pops back home on long weekends to beg her mom to do her laundry and prepare a home-cooked meal of celestial steak, and Koa is here for the idea. "Take me with you sometime!" he entreats, eyes wide and eager at the prospect, uninhibited and unabashed. Under normal circumstances he would never be so rude as to demand an invite to Safrin's realm, but boyish Koa, intoxicated king of ADHD, is only capable of so much prudence just now.

The embarrassment can come tomorrow.

Blonde hair and blue eyes have been the bane of Koa's existence, but the boy isn't thinking about that as he gazes down into Nova's frank and forthright face. He's utterly enchanted by this moment, and then the next one, each luminous and wonderful and humming beneath his skin. How on earth had he ever feared Nova? She's a fruity drink on a summer day, deceptively easy to go along with until, well.

We wind up here.

Koa throws his head back and laughs at her boasting, twirling her gently before pulling her in close, hand returning to her lower back. "Some things are funner than dancing," the boy suggests playfully, voice dropping into a flirtatious tone, eyebrows wiggling with intimation. Not that he's really trying to get in her pants, but combine a disinhibiting drug with a pretty girl and what do you expect Koa to do?

Koa Carpenter

If that's your girl, better watch your back
'Cause she'll burn it up for me, and that's a fact

Nova

It feels as much like 'her' realm as her mom's, the place where she'd come from and the place she's determined to eventually end up again. So when Koa invites himself, Nova doesn't hesitate to agree, her voice chiming through the song like an accent note that rings in harmony. "Okay!"

It's strange when the music slows, her body fighting the urge to fly around the room in a twirling breeze of shimmers. It wants to float away, to become the energy that buzzes in her veins, to combust in a shower of light; but Koa's hands are a stabilizing factor, keeping her in her skin and directing the bounding sensations into swaying hips and curling fingers that grasp at his hold on her hand and the dip of his shoulder muscles beneath his shirt. "Like what?" Her face scrunches, a giggle bubbling forth like she can't imagine what he might be thinking about - and, honestly, she has no idea, her mind too filled with colors and the various tinglings running across her skin.

There is a certain beauty in chaos,
magnificence in the uncontrollable.

I'm bringin' sexy back
Them other fuckers don't know how to act

Koa knows better than to view Nova the way he might any other woman, but man is it hard, especially when his brain is just as nebulous as her eyes. The glitter on her face is fascinating, leading his attention from the curve of her cheek down to perfect lips; he licks his own at the sight of them, mouth suddenly dry. He's so very aware of her fingers on his shoulders, pressing just a little harder in a way that would read as invitation from anybody else.

Nope, nope, nope, but maybe yes? Koa, usually so good at reading a girl's interest, has no idea what to make of Nova, and he's as fascinated as he is afraid.

I'd like to say he thinks carefully about his next move, but that wouldn't be accurate and I don't like to lie. Leaning in closer to Nova, he tilts his mouth toward her ear. "Well, like kissing, for a start." Koa's trying hard to be sultry and flirtatious, but his voice bounces uncertainly and his ears feel hot and the whole effect is a little muddled, far more boy than man. A thought occurs to him immediately after; he pulls back from her, brows in his hair, eyes a little wide. "You have kissed someone before, right?"

Koa Carpenter

If that's your girl, better watch your back
'Cause she'll burn it up for me, and that's a fact

Nova

Koa's attempt is admirable - it really is - but the sultry tone sounds like a warbling bird and she immediately giggles at the warm breath against her ear. But he'd tried, and she finds the close proximity at least a little disorienting as her eyes lose sight of his, her grip tightening to keep from floating away. It doesn't mean she gets the words, her eyebrows raising in disbelief. "Really? You think kissing is better than dancing?" She finds it hard to believe when she's having so much spinning and twirling, free as a feather in the wind. 

Not one to be caught unskilled or unexperienced, Nova lifts her chin at his question, a fizzling giggle popping in her mouth like candy. "Of course I have." There's a very unintentional pout to her lips as she thinks before adding, "I've kissed Vesper and Jack and Ronin and loads of other people!" She doesn't think to confirm or clarify if he's referring to kisses on the cheek, but the list of people and the adorably innocent tilt of her head makes it pretty obvious.

There is a certain beauty in chaos,
magnificence in the uncontrollable.

I'm bringin' sexy back
Them other fuckers don't know how to act

"It can be." Gods bless the boy but he's trying, even if his charm slides off Nova like water off an effervescent duck's back. Sure, there's a chance she's playing coy, but everything he's seen of the girl so far suggests a genuinely baffling level of naiveté that's worrisome to save the least, and yet Koa can't help but dig down into it, to see if she really is as remarkably innocent as she seems to be.

Certainly her siblings were worldly enough, if their respective face-sucking of his cousin and friend were anything to go off. So how the hell could Nova be so delightfully obtuse?

The surprise he feels at her defiance quickly shifts to wry amusement as Nova's list unfolds. Her brother, her father, a married man - either Nova has some very unexpected kinks, or she's still entirely misunderstanding the prompt. "That's not--" he laughs, shaking his head and blinking as he tries to decide if it's worth continuing this line. "I mean kissing kissing. Someone you like. Usually on the mouth. Like--" He points out a couple off to the side who have taken no steps to obscure themselves as they make out like there's nobody in the room. "Well, okay, maybe not exactly like them. But that general idea."

Koa Carpenter

If that's your girl, better watch your back
'Cause she'll burn it up for me, and that's a fact