[ME] touch me and you'll never be alone

Flora

there's no time to waste on loving badly

Wildering House glows like a ruby dropped into the dusk. Every surface, every bannister, every sweep of coral stone seems to pulse with deep red light, caught and refracted through the crystal garlands strung from the balconies. The spirits have been unusually enthusiastic about this theme; they’ve woven shards of translucent brilliance along the doorframes, coaxed firelight into dancing curls, and stirred the air so that the whole place feels warm and indulgent, like the inside of a gemstone.

Flora stands in the centre of the grand living room, barefoot on cool stone, watching the last of the preparations unfurl around her. Her curls are piled up in a loose twist to keep the heat at bay, though a few golden tendrils keep escaping in ways she pretends not to notice. Kaisel helped her string the heavier crystal chains across the ceiling earlier, (and once he’d left to get ready, the spirits swept through with invisible efficiency, straightening each strand until it hung in perfect symmetry beneath the stained glass skylight). Said skylight now throws a kaleidoscope of reds, golds, and flashes of white fire across the room, and every motion she makes ripples the colours like something alive.

Spice has taken ownership of the refreshment table, chilling whatever needs chilling, her little white body coiled proudly beside a towering display of alcohol. Flora doesn’t even try to count how many bottles she’s assembled; the selection spans Torchline rum, delicate wines for the less feral guests, and several dangerous-looking decanters she’d picked up on the islands that come with vague warnings and no labels.

Outside, on the patio overlooking the pool, the real spectacle sits: long stone tables covered in platters of raw meat so fresh it still glistens under the torchlight. Open braziers burn steadily nearby, just waiting for an Ancient’s flame to quicken them. The air smells like salt and smoke and the rich, dark promise of something decadent.

Flora adjusts the fall of her dress—red lace, obviously, adorned with golden slit so high as to be dizzying, meant to look like a lick of flame—and looks around the house with a small surge of pride, just waiting for the guest of honour to arrive.

Code stolen from Queen Sky

we thieves and lovers will keep up our urges to sin, to sin
let your desire be simply acquired within, within

Despite the mud and awfulness that seemed to shroud this season – the party is an absolute highlight. Even the cold trek taken to Torchline had been one that wasn’t too dreary. But Asta knows all the hard work that Flora would have put into this, so he finds it of utmost importance it remains entirely a secret until it’s fully unveiled.

As such, he’s convinced Danta to wear a blindfold – which, if you’ve given a cat that hates water a bath, you can see just how difficult of a feat that had been. “I know, darling, but it is only temporary.” He pauses, his arm wrapped around Danta’s middle, guiding him easily through the gates of the Wildering House. “Step here.” He murmurs, guiding Danta up the step until they are finally within the confines of the party and Asta gets the first look (and the quiet greetings to the spirits that have likely helped with this whole endeavor).

He spies Flora in her decadent red, vibrant and like fire incarnate – stunning as she almost always was. He grins to her, each sharp tooth on display as they stop just underneath the glittering crystals of stained glass – the lights playing off Danta’s diamond horns in a stunning array of rainbows and multicolored hues that splash and dance across himself – dressed dark enough to physically portray being the Maverick’s shadow. She's certainly outdone herself, able to pick apart each facet of the decorations like they're living gemstones. It's brilliant and absolutely every ounce the beauty he'd imagined it could be.

“Ready, my love?” The light splashes onto him as he slips around to Danta’s back, his voice a low timber of warmth, looking up after to shoot a wink to Flora over his lover’s shoulder before his fingers are untying the red silk that had been used to blot out Danta’s vision, granting him the moment to take in the decadence.

Astaroth

if you want me all to yourself, then take on the leap

I'm like a titan that's risin'

He’s absolutely, positively, not going to let anything bad happen this night. He even says as much to his reflection in the mirror as he finishes combing through his hair—it looks no different when he’s done—jabbing a finger at the glass in mild threat to the man depicted there. Even if he doesn’t entirely blame himself for the other nights, between surprise dicks and chaotic blood moons, it doesn’t change the need for this night to not end up alongside the rest. First impressions have already been shot, but this is third time’s the charm, and after this there’s no cutsey sayings to save him. Not to mention this isn’t just a normal night, it’s Danta’s birthday, and those carry far more weight. With one ruined birthday already in the books, Kaisel is adamant not to see another.

”Is it ready??” he asks Flora, his voice carrying a nervous edge as he steps up beside her. His attire is a charcoal suit with a maroon waistcoat, the lighter color of his shirt collar rising above, finished with a black tie. He’s not quite barefoot, but does just have on maroon socks with black dragons patterning around them.

His gaze drifts over all the expertly arranged decorations with the same presence of a white glove down a bannister. It’s knotted his stomach so fully that it takes a moment for him to even register how impeccably stunning she is, head too busy craning around, looking for anything he could still do to help to ensure it’s all perfect. It does though, hit him. After a slight delay, he suddenly does a doubletake, attention fully abandoning the house in preference for her.

His inhale is audible as his eyes drip from head to toe, no disguise granted for his admiration of her. ”You look…” he breathes it out, surprised he could even manage those words with the way she’s stolen all the air from his chest. ”Like you’ll be stealing my breath all night long. Why haven’t you worn this before,” he murmurs the end into the back of her hand that he’s captured, pressing a kiss in after he’s done speaking, the movement slow and reverent. He’d not seen her before, not in full, still in the shower and fussing about. It’s one thing to see it laid out in the room, quite another on her.

Kaisel

Show you the harder the battle, the harder I fight

charlie

Charlie explodes into the moment like a firework with perfect timing. The instant Asta’s fingers loosen the red silk across Danta's eyes, she’s already in motion, heels clicking once against the stone before she vanishes upward in a glittering scatter of movement, all bare legs and wicked laughter as she darts! herself into the air, black leather flashing like a wink from the dark.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!"

Her voice rings through the stained-glass glow, bright as the shiver of crystal overhead. Spirits stir at the sheer joy of it; a few candles flare higher, a draft of warm air sweeps the room like applause. Charlie spins mid-air, her plunging neckline catching firelight in a way that absolutely feels intentional, and then she drops back down in a smooth, feline glide of heels and honey.

She lands in front of Danta and Asta with a starlet’s flourish, one hand on her hip, tail curling behind her in a delighted question mark. Her black leather dress is a heart attack waiting to happen; short enough to make the spirits gasp (one window slams shut in scandalised delight) with a neckline deep enough to be an event all by itself. She beams at them—sunny, adoring, impossibly pleased with herself. "Ohhh look at you two," she sings, glitter thick in every syllable. "Although, if you have any more blindfolds, we could turn this into a very different sort of party." Her grin widens, unrepentant and glinting.

She leans up to kiss Danta’s cheek—warm, bright, a little theatrical—then tips up to press another to Asta’s jaw, having to drag them both down to her level to do it. "My favourite birthday boy and my favourite person-who-puts-up-with-him. You two look stunning tonight."

I did a double take, triple take
Take me to naked Twister back at your place

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Dantalion

be love in its disrepute, scorches the hillside and salts every root

"Okay, but you've been saying that for hours," Danta drawls (it's been about fifteen minutes), his complaints warm with affection and tinged with his smile as he follows Asta's directions, corralled into the cradle of his arm and stepping towards only the gods know what. That's not exactly true, actually - Danta has a pretty good idea what, based on the chitchat he and Flora had shared when he'd sequestered them away in his blanket fort, and he knows they're in Torchline and, based on the smell of jasmine and sweetness on the air, that they've reached Wildering House.

"As I'll ever be," he assures the man beside him, and as the silk blindfold finally drops from his eyes, he's able to blink Flora's arrangements into full and glorious crimson. Mouth dropping open in an expression of awe and delight he doesn't even try to hide, Danta twists in Asta's arm so he can look at everything, the movement causing his shirt - something billowing and gauzy and gold, decorated with little coins that chime with every gesture - to shimmer in the wash of red light. "Flora." He purrs her name like it's an accusation or a prayer, stepping away from the butcher if only so he can step forward to kiss her cheek.

"This is ridiculous and I love it," he gushes, kohl-lined eyes trying to drink in all the decor at once, from the prismatic crystals overhead to the open braziers flickering out by the pool to the swathes of decadence and crimson and liquor to be enjoyed. "Thank you." Kissing her other cheek for good measure and offering a crooked smile to Kaisel as if to ask if he'd like one as well, the soldier is (perhaps luckily) saved by the sound of Charlie's greeting.

Turning just in time for her to quite literally pop into existence before them, he's quite lost in the plunge of her dress and the way he's at a perfect height (read: taller than she is) to enjoy it, Danta takes that as his birthday gift before he's tugged down for kisses. "The night is young, Charlie," he whispers, winking and straightening back up. "There are plenty of things we might use as blindfolds yet, and so much booze to lower the inhibitions."

be there and just as you stand, or be like the rose that you hold in your hand

Flora

there's no time to waste on loving badly

Flora draws in a long, steadying breath when Kaisel ’s question drifts toward her, the nervous edge in his voice twining neatly with her own. Her gaze sweeps the room once more, catching every flicker of candlelight against crystal, every mischievous ripple from the spirits, every careful flourish they’ve placed exactly where she’d hoped. She lifts one shoulder in a small, rueful shrug meant to look breezy even though her pulse feels as bright as the firelight. "It’s as ready as it’s ever going to be." And then his eyes land on her.

The shift in him is so palpable that Flora feels it move across her skin like heat from an open flame. His inhale catches, audible and sharp, and she softens immediately beneath it, her body drawn toward him with something slow and feline. She steps into his space with lazy confidence, offering her hand as he captures it, allowing the kiss to sink warmth up her arm while her free hand rises to slip gently around the back of his neck. Gold rings whisper against his collar as she leans in closer, her lashes dipping as though she’s letting herself enjoy being looked at for once rather than performing for an audience.

"Because it’s new," she murmurs, the words slipping warm against the air between them. Before he can answer, she draws her hand from his and guides it instead to her hip, pressing his palm to the delicate red lace so he can feel how impossibly soft—and fragile—it is. "I’ll have to be careful not to let anything tear it," she whispers, her voice a slow curl of suggestion, and the way she looks at him then suggests perhaps that's exactly what she might like to have happen later on.

She’s still close enough that her breath grazes the side of his jaw when Asta arrives with a blindfolded Danta in tow, and Flora’s heart leaps straight up into her throat. She straightens, slipping from Kaisel’s touch with a quick spark of nerves as she turns toward the entrance.

Dantalion ’s face—once the silk falls—is everything she’d hoped for. Awe, delight, reverent greed as he tries to drink the room in all at once. Relief blooms so bright behind her ribs that she laughs, a breathless, sun-warm sound. "No, you’re ridiculous," she shoots back at him, glowing. "And I love you." She swans forward without hesitation, looping her arms around his neck and pulling him down into a joyous embrace. The scent of gold-threaded fabric and warm skin meets her as she presses her lips close to his ear. "Happy birthday," she whispers, soft and sincere.

And then, because the gods delight in timing, Charlie detonates across the room like a confetti cannon with legs, shrieking her greeting so loudly that even the spirits jolt. Flora laughs again, stepping back so the birthday boy can be ambushed properly. Only then does she drift back toward Kaisel, slipping comfortably against his side as though she’s belonged there all evening. Her fingers slide into his, her shoulder brushing his arm in a quiet, grateful lean. "So far so good," she sighs, bright and relieved.

Code stolen from Queen Sky

// seems like the whole damn world went and lost its mind & all my childhood heroes
have fallen off or died. fake tears, real living, fake tears, but the alcohol never lies //

Things have been a little crazy as of late for the Flood – but the invite, however much he’s sure the Maverick’s partner hated sending it – was something he had to make time for. Not only for the fact of celebrating a birthday of a friend, but also because it coincidentally happened to be at Flora’s place. And Sunjata, well, he really needed to talk to Flora.

So he arrives in all of his Frey blessed resplendence, a short sleeve shirt that clings to his frame, leaving tattoos and scars on display as he slips in shortly after the grand reveal, shooting a lopsided grin over at Dantalion with a chime of his own to the mix “happy birthday, Danta!” before avoiding Astaroth’s gaze (sure a glare is to follow the sound of his voice). Making his way over toward an open table, he deposits the gift he'd brought - wrapped in paper that's reminiscent of red and glittery, sure that he'd appreciate the chaos of flecks of glitter being stuck to every portion of him that touched it. It does leave Sunjata sparkling as he steps away from the table, though it's nothing a little flare of water magic can't fix.

He greets Charlie with a grin as she bounces around the party, but his attention is on Flora and Kaisel at the present moment. “Wow, this is awesome, Flora.” He murmurs to her with a hum of an accented laugh, turning to Kaisel to flash a grin of greeting to him in turn. He’s masked it well for the party, but when he looks back at Flora it’s with a questioning look in the confines of his steel gaze, shadowed more than usual. “When you get a chance, can I talk to you?” His smile brightens – ensuring it’s not horribly urgent lest she worry about it, but still needing the alone time with her to figure something out.

some princes don't become kings

SUNJATA

we thieves and lovers will keep up our urges to sin, to sin
let your desire be simply acquired within, within

It has only been about fifteen minutes – but it’s been fifteen minutes too long by the Maverick’s opinion (that much Asta is positive). Once he gets him settled under the brilliance of the stained glass and the light that filters through, he’s captivated in part by the way the silk falls away from his lover’s face and the absolute appreciation and adoration that everyone here had for him. It is an overwhelming sense of people, however, even if he knew the majority of them. It leaves him remaining in Danta’s immediate vicinity, even as he’s stepping forward to thank the Doubletake for such a beautiful party.

“You really have outdone yourself, darling.” His compliment falls after Danta’s – not wanting to have ruined the moment by having seen it first. Besides, compliments could come at any time, and with the man of the hour finally able to witness it, Asta relaxes tenfold – even as Charlie quite literally pops in and greets them. A warm laugh leaves him, his tail flicking in delight as he’s dragged down to her level to feel the press of her kiss against his jaw.

“So do you, my dear. Absolutely delicious.” Whether or not he means it figuratively or literally is anyone’s guess – though despite his preferences, the butcher has openly admitted he isn’t a huge fan of devouring Ancients.

Of course, it’s all fun and games until he hears Sunjata’s grating voice ring out, immediately glancing up to pinpoint him as he deposits the gift on the table, his tail twitching and flicking with a flicker of annoyance. He swallows it down, because Danta had wanted him here, and lets his mask slip back into place – all but the tiniest little frantic twitches of the tip of his spaded tail as he surveys the party.

Astaroth

if you want me all to yourself, then take on the leap

I'm like a titan that's risin'

He absolutely lets himself get trapped in the view of Flora and the lazy embrace she provides, heat rising in a lurch as if her dress isn’t fabric but honest fire. ”Mm,” is his only amount of consideration her can rouse for her wardrobe addition, rather distracted from its origin the moment his fingers splay against the delicate containment of her hip beneath the red whisper of a promise. It seems that’s all it really is, a suggestion of a dress, now that he feels the mild strain of it beneath the seat of his palm. ”Yes, that’d be devastating,” he agrees with his own low tilt, head tipping down, gaze still tracing the pattern of fabric with approval. ”Let’s hope it holds up until the night’s over.” The steady pinch of it between two fingers, testing the limit of its give before he releases it entirely, is all the answer she should need as to how he intends to help her out of it post party.

Her breath lingers like the perfect perfume as she turns away, his attention slower to leave the moment, though he too pivots to offer greeting as the birthday boy Dantalion arrives with a rather apt guide dog in Astaroth. ”Happy birthday D-Dog!” he cheers brightly on the heels of Flora’s much more proper embrace. Kaisel does not intend to lean in for a kiss, but he does reach out to grab Danta into a bear hug, lifting him onto his toes and clapping his back loudly before pulling back. ”And, A-train,” he offers to Astaroth with a smile, extending a fist bump out to the dapper butcher.

Stepping back just in time to dodge Charlie, Kaisel does release a full bout of laughter at the sight of her overwhelming the two men in a fashion only she could manage. His arm slides naturally around Flora as she finds his side like they’re a magnet set of salt and pepper shakers on the kitchen table, the novelty kind that end up being more cherished than first imagined when selected, pulling the whole table together. His head turns towards her, fingers curling around hers, the grip pulsing steady agreement. ”I’d expect nothing less from something you put on,” he admits, smiling into the side of her forehead, a doting kiss offered there before he pulls back with Sunjata ’s approach.

With the quick glance the Flood offers and the fold of his words, Kaisel finds an excuse to make Flora available without any fanfare to it. ”I’m going to help the birthday boy to a drink,” he suggests, fingers the last thing to fall away from her as his arm stretches out before fully breaking.

”Charlie!” he shouts across the hall, having lost sight of the leather bomb but certain she’ll pop up any moment. ”Think you could deliver drinks if I play bartender?” he wonders, slipping up to the table of palettable poison. Lining up several glasses, flipping one and sliding it around Spice like he’s attempting to score a goal, he sets it down on the end with a flick. ”Alright best girl,” he asserts to the dragon, ”you know what to do.” Which is to say, frost the glasses. He grabs the Torchline rum, pouring it generously into each glass, then adds cherry liqueur, curacao, lime zest, and a splash of something unlabeled that really brings out the red color of the redrum drink in full.

Kaisel

Show you the harder the battle, the harder I fight

Dantalion

be love in its disrepute, scorches the hillside and salts every root

Glancing up at the sound of Sunjata's voice and offering a wide, fanged grin and a wave to see him, Danta decides that he and the butcher can have a few drinks before he peels himself away to actually say hello to the Flood. In the meantime, with Flora and Charlie and Kaisel still orbiting them, he steps in and against Astaroth's side and winds an arm around his waist as if to still the irritable flicking of his tail.

Unable not to laugh at A-Train, because he's heard his own moniker from Kai before now, he raises his eyebrows mischievously up at Asta. "You know I'm calling you that from now on," he drawls. "Now come on - let's go shove some meat into the fire."

Since Charlie and Kai are on drinks duty and Flora and Sunny are having a chit-chat, it only seems right that Danta corrals his lover to take full advantage of all of the Doubletake's hard work. It would be rude not to enjoy each and every part of it, after all.

be there and just as you stand, or be like the rose that you hold in your hand

charlie

Charlie basks in Dantalion ’s wicked little whisper like it’s warm sunlight, grin stretching slow and sinful across her face. She steps closer just enough that the light catches along the plunge of her leather neckline, her lashes sweeping up toward him in a way that’s practically a performance. "Oh?" she purrs, eyes glittering as bright as the crystals overhead. "And whose inhibitions are we trying to lower, exactly?" She makes a grand show of looking around the party; one hand shading her brow like she’s peering across a battlefield, the other planted on her hip. Her tail flicks back and forth with deliberate dramatics. "Not mine," she declares, scandalised. "And certainly not yours."

A sweet, scrunched-nose smile is aimed at Astaroth, affectionate and teasing all at once. She bounces her eyebrows at him in a way that suggests she is absolutely picturing him putting that tail to deeply questionable uses, and her grin brightens even more when she sees his flicking spade has eased under Danta’s arm.

Then she turns, spots Sunjata across the room, and gives him a playful little wiggle of her finger, the gesture shining with mischief before she twirls away entirely, giving the Ancients their moment.

"Kai Kai!" she chirps the moment Kaisel 's voice calls her name. She darts!—one second across the room, the next planted at his elbow like she’s popped out of a genie’s lamp—her heels clicking once on the stone in triumph. Her eyes are bright and impossibly blue, locking onto his with laser-sharp delight. "You know I can do so much more than that." She lifts a hand, slides a glass toward herself with nimble fingers, giving Spice a wink as if she and the dragon are running a secret, glamorous smuggling ring.

Then she leans in, lowering her voice just enough that the words pour like velvet. "Tell me, bartender..." Her eyebrows wiggle in a way that should probably be illegal. "Does your lovely girlfriend have anything...special planned for us all later tonight?" The implication is unmistakable—soft, sultry, wicked as sin—because Charlie is absolutely expecting something that involves far fewer clothes and far more enthusiasm. Her grin turns conspiratorial. "Because if she has, lemme know so I can stretch."

I did a double take, triple take
Take me to naked Twister back at your place

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Flora

there's no time to waste on loving badly

Flora all but glows beneath the tide of reaction washing through the room; the awe in Dantalion ’s eyes, the warmth in Astaroth ’s voice, Charlie erupting like a glitter bomb with legs. Satisfaction unfurls through her like a bloom opening in heat, golden and lush, and she flashes the trio a crooked, delighted smile before drifting instinctively back toward the gravity of Kaisel ’s side.

The kiss he presses into her forehead sends a breath of relief through her, something soft and shivery and grateful. She leans into it without thinking, letting the affection settle into her bones. "Careful," she murmurs with a teasing exhale, "you’ll make me think you actually like me." Her smile curves into something warm and lingering, but it slips into something more yearning the moment he steps away to play bartender; the brief stretch of his fingers leaving hers pulling a strand of longing after him and she watches him go with a roll of her eyes that’s equal parts fondness and exasperation, especially when Charlie materialises at his elbow like a leather-clad storm of enthusiasm.

Spice puffs a tiny swirl of approving frost over the line of glasses, and Flora gives the little dragon an encouraging wiggle of her fingers before turning back toward Sunjata.

"Thanks!" she beams at him, the praise from someone who knows extravagance landing sweeter than she expected. Her smile dims into a small, puzzled frown as she catches the shadow behind his eyes. It doesn’t snuff her joy, but it bends it a little, tilting it into something more searching. She studies the set of his shoulders, the subtle tension hiding beneath his brightened smile, and her aqua eyes sharpen with earnest concern.

"Yeah, of course," she says immediately, gentle and open as she steps a little closer so they don’t have to talk over the crowd. Her curls brush her collarbone as she tilts her head, trying to read what he isn’t saying yet. "Did you want to talk now?" in a new thread, or.. "Or later..?"

Code stolen from Queen Sky

we thieves and lovers will keep up our urges to sin, to sin
let your desire be simply acquired within, within

Confusion sparks across the butcher’s face to hear Kaisel greet them, recognizing the D-Dog moniker (as much as he hates it), but A-Train entirely confuses him enough that he very nearly gets distracted from his seething distaste of Frey’s demigod that has arrived. Looking down at Danta as he tells him he’s going to use that from now on, it’s with an exasperated sigh that the butcher joins him over toward the bar, his flicking, whipping tail relaxing with the close proximity of the Maverick.

When Charlie and Kaisel are far enough away, the butcher sends Danta a small smile of amusement and his confusion. “Is it supposed to mean a train of a wedding dress?” He asks in a hushed tone, unsure what exactly the context was because it makes absolutely zero fucking sense.

He catches sight of Spice as they arrive at the bar, though, and Asta shoots her a bright smile of recognition and gratitude for her help in the party – a vital one, to be able to chill their glasses without half of the motions it might take one to make a drink. His arm squeezes around Danta’s middle gently, leaving it open for him to talk with Charlie about her question to Kaisel. It was his birthday, after all.

Astaroth

if you want me all to yourself, then take on the leap

I'm like a titan that's risin'

Admittedly, Flora 's parting remark, however light and teasing it's meant to be, lands on him with a confused wrinkle of his 'brow. He can't help but glance back over his shoulder at her as he steps away, the look a clear ????, the previously confident departure from her side now leaving him wondering if he'd accidentally slighted her tonight. Usually a tease is something affectionately prodding wrapped around a kernel of truth, but the core to that particular one chills him.

The moment fades though as Sunjata captures her attention in full, and Charlie appears at his side with enough boundless energy to yank him from such a fog of wonder that he cannot keep the flash of a smile from breaking out at her infectious enthusiasm. "Oh, I definitely know what you can do Charlie ," he commends with laughter threaded into the words, glancing over at her while he works the drinks into place with Spice's expert assistance. "I merely figured you could hand deliver everyone their drinks the most reliably, and the quickest, to ensure no one goes thirsty." Everyone knows that's a major party foul, after all, and he doesn't trust that he can play waitress as well as he can bartender, nor does he particularly want to risk getting any drinks on Astaroth again.

He supposes people could always drift to the table and claim their own drink, whether the one he made or another, so he doesn't fuss over it too much now that they've been crafted and he swoops his own glass into his hand. "Hmmm?" He purposefully mumbles into the sip he raises to his lips, breath sending ripples over the tilted surface of the ruby drink as his 'brows lift with the only show of surprise at Charlie's question. While he absolutely picks up on the meaning, he also very intentionally rolls over it, still adamant on things going well. "Why would you need to stretch for a cake?" he asks with an easy smile as he lowers his glass, holding Charlie's eager gaze with all the intensity of someone playing bouncer for trouble.

Though the wonder does add another little cloud to the one still lingering from Flora's parting remark. She had not told him anything ahead of time, and he'd not been anticipating another hot tub incident tonight, but perhaps he should have asked.

Kaisel

Show you the harder the battle, the harder I fight