[SE] Up all night

Fool me once, fool me twice
Are you death or paradise?

The ever-present lightning strikes across the sky, announcing the arrival of the duo. Thal leaves the comfort of her apartment behind them, trading it for the cold and mist that hangs over the field. Lucky for them, the storm is a dry one this time, and the lightning crunches, no drum of rain to drown out the electric energy. But the grass is still damp - hence the blanket that she lays out in the middle of the clearing. 

Flopping down on the blanket, she pulls the bottle of whiskey from beneath her cloak. "I heard rumor of a battle in Hak Etme just before LongNight - some massive creature no one's seen." Her eyes scan the lightning display as she pops the cork from the bottle, unbothered by its proximity. "Do you think Dygra made you a demi because something's stirring?" Another bolt snaps across the sky when she turns to Asta, the purple lighting catching the damp waves of her hair and the curve of the glass bottle she holds out for him.

Now you'll never see me cry
There's just no time to die

Thalassa

// i get a toothache every time i lie to someone i love //

The lightning echoes in the Levinsward as they make their way to the clearing. The blanket flattens out along the damp ground to prevent them from getting too soaked, and all the while Asta keeps his jacket wrapped tight around him. Sicarius darts forward among the damp ground, the bony dragonling practically bursting with energy as they stake their claim. As Thalassa flops down, Asta’s a bit more meticulous in how he joins her – settling on the blanket, tail sweeping over to wind around him comfortably. Humming a note of approval to see the whiskey that slips from Thalassa’s cloak, Asta pulls the bag he’d brought with him in front of him to rummage around in it. “Oh? Do tell.” The Butcher hums.

The question that follows has a smile tugging on his face, head tilting slightly toward her. “I do believe that, yes.” The Butcher starts off, taking the bottle as it’s extended and reaching in the bag to retrieve two glasses. “I may have even accidentally started falling asleep in her presence.” He winces, pouring a healthy amount of liquor in both the glasses and recorks it, handing a glass to Thal before he’s downing a heavy sip of the liquor in his own glass. “However, she did mention that there was a strangeness around, and while the chaos is to embraced, she senses there may be some complications with it.” Pursing his lips slightly, Asta’s head tilts and he swirls the amber liquid in the glass.

“And thus, a deal was struck.” His free hand lifts and he gestures to the scar in the shape of plush lips that cuts through his dark beard. It’s about this time that Sicarius returns from running around the area, zooming toward Thalassa first with dark smoke pouring through her nose as she huffs a cloud of it at other Ancient eagerly.

Astaroth

// please just look me in my rotting smile and tell me i'm the only one you think of //

Fool me once, fool me twice
Are you death or paradise?

Lightning flashes overhead in an ominous warning, as if the weather were trying to illuminate the darkness that gathers. "I don't know the details, just some vague descriptions that have been floating around. Some say it was a nightmare beast, others mention sticks and brambles, a few say there were too many eyes to count. Who knows what's real?" She shrugs her shoulders, the bottle of whiskey making its appearance while she glances at the dragonling. "I plan to ask Colt next time I see her." Even if she hadn't been there, it's her region now, so she probably knows something about the battle. 

It's a good thing Asta takes the bottle when he does, because Thal might have just dropped it in her shock. "You did what?!" There's no playful teasing or controlled response, her eyes wide enough to reflect the purple light when she lets out a startled laugh. "I would have paid to see that." She does tease this time, accepting the glass with a hefty dose of alcohol and a wide grin. 

Taking a sip, she shakes her head. "Seriously though, what happened?" Asta isn't the type to be caught distracted in their goddess's presence, let alone sleeping. 

An especially loud bolt of lightning cracks across the sky as Sicarius bolts towards her. Thal still hasn't gotten used to the companion, but she offers her hand out all the same, wondering if she's searching for snacks or attention. "Hmm. I'll let you know if I hear anything else." Of the strangeness, that is.

Now you'll never see me cry
There's just no time to die

Thalassa

// i get a toothache every time i lie to someone i love //

“Mm, perhaps all three?” The Butcher suggests, brows pinching slightly as he considers the option while they get situated and the lightning continues to flare above them – illuminating them in shades of varying colors. “Keep me updated, darling. It would seem that I have a vested interest now.” He laughs lightly, taking the bottle from her as he lets the small tidbit drop from his ascension.

Her laugh is met with a dramatic roll of his eyes and a groan, but it doesn’t swipe the grin from his face. “No, what you would have paid to see is how she woke me up.” Raising his dark brow toward her as he hands her the glass, he cradles his own in his hand and takes a sip just after she does, letting the heat of the halovian whiskey melt over his tongue.

He sets the bottle down where it won’t fall over and rummages back in the bag for a snack for Sicarius as he answers. “Well, she called me to her in the Climb. And when I arrived at the Soulfire Reach, she was standing there.” Which was an incredible feat on its own – to have witnessed her in the flesh, all the carnal chaos and beauty she encompassed, the taste of divinity he can still taste on his tongue despite the weeks that have passed.

His tail flicks comfortably behind him in a lull as if his thoughts have dragged him back there. “She told me about the potential complications, said it may require a butcher, and shortly after I somehow began to nod off.” He winces here, back to his dramatics. “She slapped me.” He laughs warmly, pausing to take another sip and to hand the piece of meat jerky in the bag to Thalassa to give to the nosy dragonling.

“I woke up, obviously, and then we struck our deal. She branded me with a kiss for her side, we sealed my side with a bite.” Flashing his too sharp teeth as if they were the epitome of sealing deals for the butcher (or pleasures, if Danta’s scars on his neck and shoulders have anything to say about it). “I would say that it began with the Peepholes. Many of us were drawn there by a light and many ended up falling asleep en route of following said light.” It’s clear his only experience with falling asleep had been in front of his deity.

Astaroth

// please just look me in my rotting smile and tell me i'm the only one you think of //

A sudden chorus of harsh voices erupts from above, sharp and insistent, echoing across the broken fields and skeletal trees. Gore Crows cluster overhead and along nearby perches, black feathers ruffling as they hop and flap with barely contained energy.

“EYES,” one screeches, while another snaps back with “MEAT,” the words barked out of beaks with no clear rhythm or meaning. They shout over one another, repeating the phrases again and again, some launching briefly into the air before settling back down just close enough to be irritating.

The pack shows no sign of leaving, only growing louder and more persistent as they shift positions, watching intently. Whether they are merely noisy scavengers or waiting for something worse to happen is impossible to tell, but their presence is impossible to ignore.

---

Gore Crow Areas Found: Hollowed Grounds, Greatwood, The Climb — Common Twice the size of their more common brethren, gore crows boast wickedly sharp beaks and talons that could pierce even the hide of a dragon, and even sharper wit to boot. Preferring human meat, their inky black feathers often glisten red with their most recent feast. Traveling in small groups, their eerie caws of words like "Eyes!" and "Meat!" can be heard echoing across battlefields or haunting a hunter's trail. These fearsome birds with gleaming red eyes are not to be trifled with, for it is not uncommon for a gore crow to finish off injured prey. Challenge Rating: Easy HP: 92 | To Hit: +34 | Dmg: 14 Movement: Fly 50 ft.; Walk 20 ft. SPECIAL SKILLS Gore Feast: When a gore crow deals damage with Peck or Rend Flesh, it regains a small measure of vitality from the blood it spills; Battlefield Harbingers: Their eerie caw echoes for a mile around, sowing unease and foreshadowing violence

TRAITS Bloodhound Instinct: Can track the scent of fresh blood for miles; Spectral Feathers: Partially ethereal, granting resistance to nonmagical physical attacks; Pack Tactics: Coordinate attacks, striking with uncanny synchronicity ACTIONS Peck: A lightning-quick strike with its serrated beak; Rend Flesh: Sweeps both talons in a brutal slash against one creature; Blood-chill Caw: Unleashes a piercing call that sends a chill through nearby foes

Fool me once, fool me twice
Are you death or paradise?

Although she can't say what about the rumors is real or fiction, she nods her head, promising the demigod, "I will." Her smile is knowing and a tad mischievous, curious as to what kind of chaos might be brewing and how her friend might play a role in all of it. 

When the topic turns to Asta's interaction with their goddess, she faces him more fully on the blanket, her smile fading to rapt engagement. The lightning around them is but a fun spectacle, her attention captivated by the tale he weaves. Her glass hangs forgotten between them as Thal displays her intrigue, shock, and ultimate amusement when Dygra - in her physical form - slapped him. Laughing at the big reveal, Thal finally takes another sip of her whiskey, grinning into her glass. "I'd have slapped you too." The blue of her eyes shine with affection and a bit of pride, even more certain that she would have paid a lot to see that. 

Lowering her glass to the blanket, she accepts the meat, tearing off a smaller strip from it to offer out to the dragonling. "I would expect nothing less." Of the kiss and bite exchange. It's fitting for him as much as their goddess, a demonstration of love and devotion that is something wholly them. 

Cautious of where her fingers are near the tiny teeth of the dragonling, Thal narrows her eyes. She hadn't heard of the Peepholes, and she tilts her head to hear more of what he has to say. "Lights? What were they?"

Another crackle of lightning silhouette the murder of crows that fly over their heads, their eerie cries as common as the thunder or lightning around these parts. Unless they decide to dive for the meat in her hands, Thal is content to let them fly on their way, perhaps having their feathers singed along the way.

Now you'll never see me cry
There's just no time to die

Thalassa

// i get a toothache every time i lie to someone i love //

Lightning cracks around them, the echo drumming through the valleys of the Levinsward as a ominous backdrop to the story that Asta weaves. Upon reaching the climactic point – the slap, obviously – the Butcher can’t help but to laugh along with her, sighing and rolling his eyes to take a pause. “I am not proud of it.” He half mutters, ashen tail tip twitching where it’s wound around him to rest at his thigh.

But the tale is told and the Butcher settles in to take a sip of his whiskey, content as can be before he’s tugging the coat a bit tigher around him to retain the heat. The liquor helps bolster more warmth at least, and for that Asta is quietly grateful. And while he tells her about the Peephole event, Sicarious carefully snags the jerky from Thalassa’s fingers and then promptly hops over her legs to settle in the middle of the blanket to chew pieces and strips off as though it were some kidn of prized bounty.

“I am not sure.” He admits with a wistful sigh, gaze dropping toward the bone dragon as he considers it. At least, for a few moments before the gore crows fly above them in their own little gathering. Eternally grateful for the bracelet on his arm, Asta returns his attention to Thalassa and ignores the crows. “They were.. warm and inviting and kept leading us deeper until eventually they stopped.” His nose wrinkles briefly before he’s gesturing toward her with the hand that holds the glass of whiskey. “Have you witnessed anything like that?” He asks, taking a sip of the liquor.

Astaroth

// please just look me in my rotting smile and tell me i'm the only one you think of //

Fool me once, fool me twice
Are you death or paradise?

Whether the twitch of his tail is a sign of lingering embarrassment or something else, Thal shrugs her shoulders, looking to the lightning overhead. "It must not have been that bad if she still made you her demi." It's certainly a fun story - one she'll happily share - but that's only because things worked out in the end. Dygra, being the all-powerful goddess that she is, could have easily killed him if she found his drowsiness offensive. 

Sicarius accepts the meat, and Thal smothers a satisfied smile, watching her gnaw on the piece. Her eyes only pull away when the crows call overhead, landing back on Asta as he explains the lights they'd seen in the Peepholes. She pulls in a sip of her whiskey, letting the liquid coat her tongue as the information coats her thoughts. 

When she swallows the warmth, her head shakes in refusal. "The only thing I can think of are will-o-whisps." Leading people into a trap sounds like something the mischievous balls would be up to, but wouldn't they have been recognized?

"Did anyone see where they lead?" she asks, dropping the last of the meat next to Sicarius before leaning back on the blanket, considering the lightning-filled sky.

Now you'll never see me cry
There's just no time to die

Thalassa

// i get a toothache every time i lie to someone i love //

“Despite my own embarrassment, my charm and action do tend to make up for things, darling.” The Butcher hums playfully, huffing a laugh before he buries it with the next sip of the halovian whiskey, feeling it warm him even further as his dark gaze drops onto his companion carefully taking the piece of jerky form Thalassa’s hand. As the dragonling finally settles on the blanket between them to gnaw on it like it’s a bone, Asta recounts the adventure in the Peepholes.

He sees her shake her head, the mention of will o wisps a good option, but not quite like what he’d experienced. So he hums a thoughtful note before he’s shaking his head, too, tilting his head with her next question as the next piece of meat is dropped by Sicarius. The dragon grumbles something that could be a thank you but could also be a warning, and Asta tries his best to remember what exactly happened.

They didn’t really lead anywhere, is what he comes up with. “Mm, well, they did not really lead anywhere. As people fell into a slumber they kept going and we kept following, yet they stopped and vanished when those that fell asleep woke up.” His nose wrinkles slightly and he swirls the whiskey in the glass as he considers it more. “And after that, we decided to leave before anyone else fell asleep and none of us made it out.”

Astaroth

// please just look me in my rotting smile and tell me i'm the only one you think of //

Fool me once, fool me twice
Are you death or paradise?

"I never said they didn't," she croons through a playful smirk. Thal had been a victim of his impervious charms herself, the smooth words and mischievous smiles managing to weasel their way past her prickly defenses. As much as she loves and respects their goddess, she doubts even she is immune to Asta's skills. 

Preferring to think of the grumble as appreciation rather than threat, Thal leaves the dragon to her treats, chewing on her own tough piece of information. After everything that happened with the Family, she doesn't like the idea of some unknown threat lurking in the forest, and she doesn't hide her suspicion. "Do you think it was a trap then? Or did you all stumble on something you shouldn't have?" It's doubtful he has the answers, but she voices the questions anyways, tail flicking an unsettling rhythm between lightning strikes.

Now you'll never see me cry
There's just no time to die

Thalassa

// i get a toothache every time i lie to someone i love //

“Good.” Astaroth grins – because it’s obvious thst Thalassa knows better than to wound him when he’s already let the pain of embarrassment slip in revealing one downside. He could have said it went beautifully, that he appeared and she’d been there in all her glory and grace, divine chaos asking him to be her Butcher, and upon saying yes shared an easy connection where she claims him and he has a chance to claim her again.

But the information is important, he thinks. If it was enough for Dygra to be cautious and wish to have a second demigod to help keep everything in line enough, then it felt imperitive to the story that he include it. So, he recollects while Sicarius takes the secondary offering of jerky, moving onto it when she’s finished the first bit and Asta pauses to sip from the whiskey as her question hits the air. “Mm, I am not sure.” But it did seem strange that they all vanished when those that had fallen asleep had woken up.

Lightning strikes as a backdrop to the tale he remembers, and he tilts his head toward her as he speaks again. “It could have been a trap, or it could have been a reveal. It is hard to say.” For those that had not fallen asleep, it had been not very climactic.

Astaroth

// please just look me in my rotting smile and tell me i'm the only one you think of //

Fool me once, fool me twice
Are you death or paradise?

She answers him with a low chuckle and a sip from her drink, letting the attention fade from whatever embarrassment he holds. He's seen Thal at her lowest. This is nothing in comparison, and she'll happily stroke his ego a little to help him feel better about falling asleep in front of their goddess, especially when the praise is warranted. 

The meat disappears faster than it takes the lightning to snap across the sky. Thal is liking the little companion more and more. They share a love of meat and few words, and she looks scarier than she is. Although Thal has never thought of companions as anything more than nuisances and weakness, but Sicarius is daring to challenge her opinion. 

Mulling over the lack of information Asta seems to have on the event, she offers another question, uncertain he'll have answers to that one either. "Do you think it's limited to the Oerwoud?" But then she leans forwards and tilts her head, presenting a question he can answer. "Should we investigate?" Her lips stretch into a fanged grin, mischief spreading past the confines of the expression. It's certainly possible that there's nothing to find, but it's equally possible that they'll find exactly what the light had been trying to hide, and the threat Dygra had spoken of.

Now you'll never see me cry
There's just no time to die

Thalassa

// i get a toothache every time i lie to someone i love //

The second Sicarius is done with the jerky, she rises up and pads her way over to the edge of the blanket, glancing back at the two Ancients before trotting outside of it, searching and sniffing the underbrush nearby for any critters that might be lingering and trying to avoid the dry lightning that cracks across the sky.

Asta watches her slip away before his dark gaze flits back to Thalassa, a small smile playing on his face despite the terrible things they’re talking about. He takes a sip of his drink and listens to her question, eyes flicking back to her as she leans forward and asks if they should investigate, with a grin that’s too wide and too excited. A low, smoky whiskey laugh leaves him before he answers. “Perhaps the bigger things are? I fell asleep in the Climb, therefore one could assume that it could reach anywhere..” His nose wrinkles suddenly and a dramatic, deep groan leaves his throat, tail flicking in irritation. “Like that horrible chatter box. What was his name? Vox?” He rolls his eyes. “A dreadful busy body.”

Not that Asta is any less of a nosy man. He loves his gossip, but he won’t spend his day sticking his fingers and ears into everyone’s personal space. Not unless he got something good out of it. “We could try to investigate, though I am far below my usual power capabilities, and it is Danta’s birthday season so I am trying to be good to ensure nothing happens to me.”

Astaroth

// please just look me in my rotting smile and tell me i'm the only one you think of //

Fool me once, fool me twice
Are you death or paradise?

The fact that it isn't contained to the Climb doesn't give her comfort, and the comparison to Vox of all people has her reeling back. Her face contorts into a disgusted grimace, distain tasting like venom on her tongue. "Ugh. Don't remind me. You know he showed up while I was having sex?" She raises her eyebrows at the Butcher. Of course Asta doesn't know that - she never told him - but she shakes her head of the chills that rise from the memory, tail snapping sharply with accusation. "He was a creep and a pervert." If whatever's going on is anything like him, Thal would make it her mission to hunt it down. 

The points he presents are good enough, but she isn't immediately dissuaded, her lips curling into an amused smile. "Mm. Danta can always tag along. I'm sure between the two of us, nothing would dare touch you." Throwing him a wink, she shrugs her shoulders and takes a sip of her whiskey, ultimately leaving the decision up to him. She'll happily keep to herself if he'd rather not. Mischief isn't as fun by herself.

Now you'll never see me cry
There's just no time to die

Thalassa