that drip could turn torrential

// as long as there's bread and as long as there's an appetite //

“It is better to do when it is least expected.” The butcher purrs back to Danta, a soft and amused hum as he continues to have his shadows at his heels while they walk, sipping gently from the drink in his hand. Turning his gaze back toward Kaisel and Flora, it’s to hear that there was in fact a hot tub at the Wilding House – much to the butcher’s relief, and amusement at the idea of needing spirits to find them bathing suits. “Or not sounds particularly ideal.” He hums, squeezing Danta’s hip as if to silently convey don’t you think?

Ah, but Kaisel’s comment of Charlie giving him the idea to talk to Dygra for his next quest captures his interest, his dark gaze surveying the Accepted with curiosity. “Oh, is that so?” Curiosity killed the cat, after all, and the butcher’s quite interested to hear just what Dygra could offer him that the rest of the gods could not (aside from pretty much everything in his humble opinion).

A hmph leaves him immediately after to hear that he could be a towel rack if he keeps this up, the butcher’s laugh is warm and a touch playfully outraged as he swings his attention back to his lover. “You must allocate me more usefulness than a towel rack. Is that all I am to you, my darling?” He drawls, tail sweeping to brush against Danta’s leg as they walk, casting a nod of his chin toward Flora with her mention of what he could be.

“A wine rack at least has some decorum.” It’s a drunken, playful whine. “And I could at the very least be positioned in a main room rather than a bathroom.”

Astaroth

// as long as everyone you need is stepping in line, you are camouflaged //

// but i'm weak, and what's wrong with that? //

"Oh, I am sure Dygra would love to hear from you after your performance at her shrine," Danta says with an indulgent smile and another sip of his cocktail, only for his eyes to light up further to hear that Kai is going to approach their mother goddess for his next quest as well. "Be careful, Flora," he chides half-playfully, "or your new beau will come home with horns and a tail. Charlie is very good at her job." That job being their priestess, of course, and recruiting worthy Accepted to the cause.

Glancing back to Asta at his drunken whining, Danta lets out a soft laugh and reaches up to gently pinch at the butcher's cheek. "Oh, but you would be my favourite towel rack," he purrs. "Why not both? Either way, I'm afraid you don't get a say on not being in the bathroom. I like the idea of thinking you're sneaking a peek at me while I shower." As if he doesn't spend most of his time with more skin on show than not anyway.

"Anyway," he continues, nodding up ahead at the blacker-than-black shape of Wildering House nearby, illuminated by various lanterns (whether lit by the current inhabitants or the spirits). "I vote for or not on the bathing suits, and I would definitely like to take a dip. Who's in?" He doesn't even have to really ask Asta, nudging the other Ancient with his hip.

Dantalion

// boy oh boy I love it when I fall for that //

flora

Flora’s brows arch high, delight flickering across her face as she leans closer to Kai, her voice a soft drawl. "Should I be worried," she teases, "that the priestess you’ve been riding around on has suddenly inspired you to pray to Dygra?" The grin that follows is wide and wicked, though her eyes are still laughing as they lift toward Danta and Asta before sliding right back to Kai. "Because it sounds like Charlie might be a little too good at her job. Is that why she wants you at her festival so badly?" she wonders, echoing the Maverick’s warning with a smirk. "How’d you meet her, anyway?"

Her fingers squeeze lightly at Kai's hand as she looks up at him, expression bright with mock suspicion that can’t quite hide the affection beneath it. Whatever answer he gives, she’ll drink it down with the same amusement she drinks everything else tonight, with warmth that flickers like the torches along the beach.

Wrinkling her nose as Danta elaborates on his plans for a decorative Asta statue, she lets out a low laugh. "Careful," she warns him, glancing toward the butcher with playful solemnity. "All that steam, and you’ll have mildew on your masterpiece."

When both Ancients agree that or not sounds ideal, Flora's gaze will find Kai's again, a slow and sultry smile curving her mouth as her fingers curl tighter around his. "What do you think?" she murmurs, her voice all honey and trouble, wondering if he could be tempted into a second skinnydip of the evening. Her eyes glint, teasing and hopeful all at once as her thumb strokes the back of his hand. "Up for another swim?"

Up ahead, Wildering House comes into view—its dark silhouette rising like something half-dreamt, haloed in the shimmer of lanterns strung along its eaves. The windows glow with the low, amber pulse of candlelight, while the waves hush and gather at its feet as though bowing in welcome. The closer they draw, the more the laughter and distant music of the LongNight revellers fade into a softer hum, replaced by the murmuring sea.

I hope you're wetting your appetite, finding your way into someone's eyes
I hope you're dreaming in black and white, and seeing in colour

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Kaisel

A low chuckle escapes at the thought of him returning from a mere meeting with Dygra completely changed. "No, no, nothing so grand as that," he reassures to both Danta and Flora, though Charlie's temptation of turning into a dragon is still a shiny one. With everything so warm and light about the matter, his own broad grin tugs up in easy response to Flora's teasing. He swings his shoulder in against hers, an affectionate eye roll following. "Let it be known I've only ridden her as a dragon," he hums, more amused than anything else that she finally had to admit he hadn't been lying. "And, dragons make convincing arguments. It's the same reason Spice always gets to taste test when I'm cooking." So really, seeing what Dygra was all about seemed like the least he could do.

"Me?" he scoffs, shaking his head. "You're the one who's getting some special honor or another," he reminds, although he hadn't really considered that Charlie's invite might be like a timeshare presentation trap and she'd end up lecturing him all about Dygra the whole time. His face scrunches up at the thought. "She just knows the best people to invite to a festival to ensure a good time." Being them, of course. He assumes Asta and Danta as well, now that he knows them and they know Charlie.

At her last question though, he does stumble a bit, turning to look at her with a touch of a frown as her hand squishes his. "Oh, uh. Well, it was when you were still not talking to me. When you sent all those letters, actually." Not their finest moment, and he doesn't want to linger on it too long. "Anyway, I had been putting off the last part of the quest, for the parchment for us, so after you stopped answering I ran to the House of Midnight to try and book someone there in order to finish it. I thought Charlie worked there..." He laughs a bit at the memory, embarrassed at the mistake given her actual role. "She didn't, but she still let me draw her nude so I could finish Frey's quest." He clears his throat after dropping that part, squeezing her hand now. "Strictly professional, I can assure you, but we've been friends since. Clothed friends." As many clothes as Charlie is want to wear anyway, which is often more revealing than Flora's wardrobe.

As talk of antler ranks shifts back to the matter of the hot tub, Danta finally grants some clarity to the joke everyone else has apparently been in on. Kaisel's features scrunch with newfound confusion, all the while thinking they were debating to hot tub or not. "Wha—all of us? Naked?" He asks her plainly, the syrup of her suggestion seeming to imply as much, but it's taken him so off guard he'd rather risk being another butt of a joke than misunderstand what sounds wildly insane for some friends to do.

Wanted me to fail out of spite, I didn't
All bark but they don't bite, they timid

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

// as long as there's bread and as long as there's an appetite //

He settles in for the story of just how Kai had met their wonderful priestess, his sharp grin (and grinning shadows) turning to the soldier with intrigue as he explains. “She does know the best people.” He agrees almost wistfully, the dramatics slipping from him with ease thanks to the liquor settling in his veins, keeping him aflame internally.

He does draw silent to listen to the explanation – hearing him explain an occasion that admittedly does sound very much like something Charlie would do. He snorts in response, tilting his head back toward Danta to hear that he’d be his favorite towel rack. “Ah, right, right. Of course. How could I forget.” The peeking, of course, what else could it be?

Glancing back toward Flora for her quip, he chuckles a warm sound, figuring he can let Danta figure out how to get rid of the potential mildew that would grow on him as a statue and listening instead to the idea of a swim in the hot tub awaiting them in the Wilding House. And it’s Kai’s confusion that sparks the most amusement for the butcher, squeezing Danta close and casting a playful glance to Flora before landing on Kaisel. “Yes.” He answers his question bluntly. “Unless that is a problem for you?” His horned head tilts enough that a lock of dark hair falls into his face, one he ignores as he keeps one arm around his lover and the other cradling the divinely sweet drink.

Astaroth

// as long as everyone you need is stepping in line, you are camouflaged //

// but i'm weak, and what's wrong with that? //

Only half listening to Kai's explanation of All About Charlie and how he definitely hadn't gone into the House of Midnight with the intention of fucking her (boring, but fine), Danta busies himself instead in freeing his hand from Asta's pocket so he can let it ghost along his side instead. "I would never let him get mildewy," he announces, grinniing another kiss against the curve of the butcher's jaw. "I'd make sure I kept every nook and cranny clean and dry. Every single one."

Smooching another kiss before he withdraws, the conversation - and yes, mainly Kai's discomfort about it all - is naturally a lot more interesting to him, especially as Wildering House comes upon them and he can already sense the hot tub in his future. Reluctantly, he peels himself away from Asta's side so he can start to head towards the pool and all of its delightful additions. "You can always just watch if you're shy," he says with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Lots of people have that kink in the Dusklight." He reaches out to playfully swat at Asta's ass, before darting ahead with a flick of his tail so he can hurry up and make good on this sudden idea.

Dantalion

// boy oh boy I love it when I fall for that //

flora

With alcohol humming pleasantly through her blood, Flora feels soft around the edges, warm in all the right places. Having already jumped to the wrong conclusion once today about Kaisel wanting a threesome and being thoroughly convinced otherwise, she only shrugs at the idea of him having only ridden Charlie in dragon form. Still, her brows bounce teasingly, the glint in her aqua eyes far too amused for innocence.

But as his explanation unfolds, her expression softens, the brightness dimming—not because he'd been with Charlie naked—but at the mention of that stretch of silence between them. It had been ugly, brittle, and raw, something she doesn’t particularly want to remember. She squeezes his hand in an effort to let him know she wasn't upset about any of it, before offering a sly, almost conspiratorial smile. "I didn’t know you could draw," she says lightly, as though that’s the only detail worth clinging to, the rest already forgiven and folded away. "You'll have to do me sometime."

When Kai’s confusion meets Asta and Danta’s unflinching agreement, Flora can’t help it; she laughs, low and delighted, the sound spilling out like a slow pour of honey. Turning toward him, she tilts her head, eyes bright and fond. "You don’t have to if you don’t want to," she assures him, her tone as gentle as it is amused. Then, leaning in until her shoulder brushes his, her voice dips into a playful purr. "But it’s not like you’ve got anything to be ashamed of." Her gaze drips down his frame—slow, teasing, pausing pointedly on his shark-patterned boardshorts—before lifting again with a raised brow.

Wildering House looms ahead now, the lanterns and candles already lit, their glow spreading across the sand like spilled gold. The hot tub steams invitingly beside her pool, ringed with smooth stones and a barcart glinting with bottles and citrus slices ready for the taking. A small zoo of floating pool creatures—flamingos, encantados, a slightly deflated unicorn—bobs lazily in the water, bumping against one another as if greeting the returning queen.

Flora turns back to Kai, lifting his hand to her lips and pressing a soft, lingering kiss against his knuckles. "It just seems like so much unnecessary work to go put on a bathing suit," she muses, eyes sparkling as she glances toward the others. Her shrug is casual, the alcohol in her system making her forgetful of what Kaisel did and didn't know about her relationship with the Ancients. "It’s not like they haven’t seen me naked before anyway," she adds breezily.

I hope you're wetting your appetite, finding your way into someone's eyes
I hope you're dreaming in black and white, and seeing in colour

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Kaisel

The squeeze of her hand is a welcome reassurance, though her wanting him to draw him is decidedly not. His cheeks flush a bit at that, and a nervous laugh shakes free. "I think anyone can draw, but not everyone can do it well. Trust me, I'm no artist." He'd half thought Frey might reject it and make him do it again, like a parent trying to interpret their child's latest masterpiece and not wanting to say what it was, but asking leading questions instead.

He could use some more of that previous comfort and light-hearted belief that his story would be the difficult one to get over. Because, a record-scratch moment is about to pop up. Yes, Astaroth says simply, and it feels then as if all eyes turn to him. His steps slow, then finally stop, rigidity racing up his spine as they each regard him like he's the crazy one and not the other way around. "Uhhhh," is all he can manage for a moment, helplessly turning his gaze to Flora, searching for something that might rescue him from this moment. Some sign that it's a joke, or that he misheard, or that it's anything other than two guys joining them, all naked in a hot tub like a casual everyday thing.

"Just watch....dicks floating around my girlfriend? Yeah, no thanks," he quips to Danta swiftly, trying to keep his tone friendly even if every part of him is recoiling. His gaze lifts just enough to connect with the Ancient before turning back to Flora, her easy grin feeling alien right now. His hand tightens around hers. Not a little pulse of connection, but a beg as the pressure remains, the same one rising behind his chest. He desperately wants to remain the sprinkles here, but he might have finally found something she's asking of him that he can't just shrug off and go along with. Not much truthfully ruffles him, and they haven't disagreed on much except a few domestic issues, like apparently the hamper is where the clothes go, every day. This thought, it's under his skin instantly.

He wants to give her everything she wants, and he's anxiously searching her face for this one, because he's a little lost that she would want this. "Well, what are you gonna do?" he asks, trying to keep his voice low. "That doesn't matter," he huffs, unable to appreciate the praise currently, shaking it away with his head.

He's reminded of what she said to him not so long ago, that not all her nudity is for him, and he swallows at the realization that maybe she meant situations like this. He should have asked for more clarification, or details, or anything. "It's not really that much work," he tries to reason. "I'd even help you put one on." The world creeps to a slower, colder thing though as she just casually drops they've already seen her naked. It seems to confirm where his thoughts are headed, and given the friendship between him and Charlie, it's perhaps a bit hypocritical, but it bothers him. Jokingly, he scoffs, "what, they draw you naked?"

Wanted me to fail out of spite, I didn't
All bark but they don't bite, they timid

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

// as long as there's bread and as long as there's an appetite //

Melting indulgently into Danta’s side, the butcher happily nuzzles into the kiss pressed to his bearded jaw, turning to the Maverick to offer a retort to just how he’d ensure he remained precisely dry (though he can guess it would have a lot to do with having his hands on him). He gets nowhere with it, instead stealing a real kiss that has their steps briefly interrupted before the chaos of Danta gets the best of them.

He peels away and Asta resists the very strong urge to tug him back, letting him take the lead and offer more of an explanation back to Kaisel at Flora’s side, whose steps have very much slowed. “The only secret here is you, Kai, darling.” The butcher has time to purr before Danta’s swatting at his ass and taking off like a shot, and Asta will be damned if he’s left behind while Danta has all the fun with the spirits and the hot tub without him.

It’s a juggle to ensure he doesn’t spill what’s left of his drink as he chases after the Maverick, leaving the couple behind to explain a touch further about the intentions of the night. But the sight of him following will appear as if the ghoulish shadows at his heels have exploded with the motion, warping thanks to his haunt into a long cloak as fire bursts along the obsidian of his horns, like they’re cracking suddenly with flame. Like each tine of his antlers is its own variation of Apopo. “You cannot just say such things and run!” He calls after his lover as he too bolts up the path to the Wildering House, shadow and flame announcing his presence.

Astaroth

// as long as everyone you need is stepping in line, you are camouflaged //

flora

Flora’s laughter falters, her smile catching mid-curve when the words “dicks floating around my girlfriend” hit the air. There’s still warmth in her cheeks from the drink, still a trace of that easy glow clinging to her, but something sharper flickers through it; bewilderment, a faint what the fuck? that flashes across her aqua eyes before she can temper it.

As Asta and Danta drift ahead toward the house, her focus narrows entirely to Kai. The pull of his hand tightens between them, and she feels the tension in it—coiled, deliberate—nothing like the usual touch that tugs her closer just to tease or anchor her. His voice has changed too. It's pitched low, but not with the sort of rumble that sends shivers down her spine, but just tight with strain. She stares up at him, confused and trying to bridge the gap between his discomfort and what she’d thought was harmless fun.

"Wait," she says after a breath, blinking as though she’s missed a step in a conversation that shouldn’t be this complicated. "Is this about you not wanting to, or you not wanting me to?" Her tone isn’t biting, just cautious, a hand on the railing of something suddenly steep.

When he throws out the quip about them drawing her naked, she exhales a quick huff of laughter that doesn’t quite reach her eyes, shaking her head. "No," she says simply, the word landing softer than her confusion feels. But the seriousness follows right after, sinking into her features as the teasing ebbs away entirely. "Kai…" she starts, searching his face for something she can read, something that doesn’t twist this light, ridiculous night into a fight. Her voice drops, low and even. "Do you really want to talk about this right now?" The question isn’t a dare, it’s an opening. A quiet ask for him to tell her just how big this hill they were on suddenly was, and if she was meant to get a medkit for him to make his final stand here.

I hope you're wetting your appetite, finding your way into someone's eyes
I hope you're dreaming in black and white, and seeing in colour

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Kaisel

"Both??" he says as if it's plain, not entirely sure where the distinction even matters. He doesn't want to see two men (any men, really) he's just met stripped down and simmering, and definitely not with her doing the same beside him. Even in locker rooms or steam rooms, the flash of nudity is brief, towels arranged for modesty and avoidance. He draws in another breath to try and ease the worry that climbing through him fist after first. "I mean," he sighs, trying to gather thoughts into something better than mind vomit. "Why do you want to?" He doesn't think there could be a palatable reason, but she's continually surprising him.

He wants a reason he can agree with. He's breathless as he waits for it, continuing to search her face like he could unearth it there even sooner. What he does find continues to press in on his chest instead. She's drawn in, all the brightness not fading, not exactly, but it lacks warmth, and even among all this darkness it provides no comfort. Her no lands wrong, the cautious set of his name even more so. Why is she warning him instead of just telling him?

He does hesitate a touch when her question flares between them like a last opportunity. She's drunk, far more than he is, and she clearly doesn't want to discuss this if she's going to offer an out. That's part of the problem though. There's no reassurance there, just something buried, and now he wonders what. His confusion is searching for answers, and it'll happily provide its own. "Oh, sorry, should I wait until after you have your dicktub time?" He scoffs, surprised to feel like she's drawing a line for sides, and isn't one the same one as him.

Wanted me to fail out of spite, I didn't
All bark but they don't bite, they timid

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

flora

The shift in him catches her completely off guard. One minute he’s warm and teasing and Kai, the next there’s this sharp edge in his tone that feels so foreign she doesn’t know where to put it. Flora blinks up at him, her brows knitting, confusion pulling softly at her expression. The easy laughter and heat of the evening stumble inside her chest, tripping over themselves as she searches his face for the part that makes sense. "I—what?" she stammers, shaking her head faintly, curls brushing against her shoulders. "I just wanted to have a nice time with everyone."

The words sound small and far too simple compared to the tension coiling between them. This wasn’t supposed to be complicated. Not here, not in Torchline, not in the one place where everything had always been easy and bright.

What Kai says next lands like a slap and has all the warmth in her cheeks draining at once. Flora straightens instinctively, spine taut, her hand going slack in his as if she’s been stung. Aqua eyes widen, shock flashing through them before disbelief takes over, then something harder. She stares at him, lips parting with a breath that trembles between hurt and anger. "Excuse me?" The words come sharp, clear, edged in the kind of disbelief that leaves no room for laughter. Her voice doesn’t rise, but it cuts clean through the humid air between them. Her fingers slip from his, falling to her side as she takes a small step back. "You want to try that again?"

I hope you're wetting your appetite, finding your way into someone's eyes
I hope you're dreaming in black and white, and seeing in colour

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Hey, what's that? Out of the corner of your eye, you see a colourful, hand-painted egg. Perhaps it's sitting amidst some flowers, on a tree branch, next to a river, or in a merchant's shop, but wherever it is, it doesn't seem to be accidentally placed there. On one side you see a painted hot air balloon. Maybe it has something to do with the upcoming festival!

Go ahead and pick it up!

---

You've found a painted egg!. Whoever is next to post in this thread will be the first one to see the egg, but if they wish to give it to someone else, they're more than welcome! No need to post in account updates, just keep track of this thread and pick up your egg IC!

// but i'm weak, and what's wrong with that? //

"You will find, Asta, that I can and just did!" Danta calls over his shoulder, grinning wickedly and slipping through the gate towards the pool (though he's making a beeline for the hot tub, obviously). Only when he's already kicked his shoes off and tossed his scarf and coat to one side does he realise that Kai and Flora aren't actually following them - and although having shed his initial warm layers means he's already starting to feel the bite of the Longnight chill, tipsy curiosity (nosiness is what it is) has him meandering back towards the butcher.

"...Are they not joining us?" he asks, needlessly whispering to Asta as he peeks out around the gate like they're in some Scooby-Doo episode. Eyes widening theatrically at the tell-tale posture of gon' start a fight between them, he swats Asta further into the pool area as if he's the one who is at risk at being caught.

"Shit, you think it was something we said?" He smirks, because he knows it probably fucking was, before gazing between the hot tub and his lover. "Stay warm, or eavesdrop? You're the gentleman, so it's your moral compass I'm gonna follow."

Dantalion

// boy oh boy I love it when I fall for that //