a tear in space

so give me your prayers up on your feet
and i'll give you a show, it helps fill the seats

With Charlie slinking off toward whichever grouping piques her interest, Asta is left to wind his arm around Danta’s middle to guide him toward their room, and it’s certainly slow going and honestly wobbly, and gods he has to face one of his nemesis’ in the face of stairs. But they manage it, and the butcher clings closer and closer to Danta the closer they get to their room, all the while making comments about Charlie’s ability to hold her alcohol. “I’m truly shocked and delighted. I don’t know how she did it.”

The door opens easily and he slinks in with Danta to the newly renovated room, stoking the flames with a touch of magic and letting the warmth spread over the room. It’s when he releases the Maverick with a drunken and admittedly sloppy kiss to his temple, so that he can turn to lock the door.

Astaroth

so give me your sins, give me your lies
but whisper your love, and i'll whisper mine

// divide me down to the smallest I can be //

"I never had my doubts," Danta is informing Asta as they wander, swaying and off-balance, up the stairs towards their room. Granted, he hadn't expected Charlie to put away quite as much as she had managed - he certainly hasn't expected to be wobbling to bed this drunk, anyway - but he never doubted her ability.

The door opens onto a room that the Maverick has to blink twice at to begin with, the shadows contouring differently as a result of the renovations, stacks of boxes still left to unpack, his own belongings gathered against the far wall. As the flames ignite and fill the room with light and warmth, there's a touch more familiarity at least, and Danta totters forward to investigate.

The sound of the door locking has him turning almost in surprise - the Maverick never locks his door, as the butcher will well know, but Asta almost always ensures he has privacy in his own rooms, and it's with a lazy smile that he realises what that means between the two of them. "You wanna help me move the bed so we can have somewhere to sleep?"

Ambitious, yes, but currently the bed is just one more bit of clutter stacked with boxes and other items. If they can shove it beneath the mezzanine level, even if it's just for tonight (or forever, as the case may be), they'll at least stand a chance at sleeping on a mattress instead of the floor.

Dantalion

// put your, put your v-v-venom in me //

so give me your prayers up on your feet
and i'll give you a show, it helps fill the seats

The butcher did have his doubts, and he had been proven incredibly wrong. Not that he’s complaining though, given Charlie’s recent additions to her attire, he imagines she could come up with something perfect for the two of them. He looks forward to it actually.

Even if he isn’t really looking forward to tomorrow, given his current state. But for now, the butcher closes the door and locks it, ensuring that they aren’t bothered. Besides, he’s already positive he’ll be in no state to do actual security work if woken up.

Turning back to see Danta drift further into the room to inspect it, the butcher sidles up beside him, realizing the bed was packed and already complaining mentally why they hadn’t thought of that earlier before they’d started their competition. Regardless, he doesn’t want to sleep on the floor, and so it’s with a soft heavy sigh and an affectionate nudge to the Maverick that the butcher sways a touch toward the edge of the bed, ready to grab and move it. “I suppose if I trip and fall on the way there, the landing may be soft?” He muses, eyeing the comfortable mattress and the blankets strewn across it (provided he manages to avoid falling onto the boxes).

Astaroth

so give me your sins, give me your lies
but whisper your love, and i'll whisper mine

// divide me down to the smallest I can be //

"Will your landing be soft because you hit the bed or because you fall on me, though?" Danta wonders, having meandered over to the bed as well while the butcher finishes with the key in the door. Clumsily moving the boxes and any other clutter off the bed so it's easier to shove around, by the time Asta comes to join him he's feeling a little giddy and lightheated, grinning to the other man and grasping the footboard.

"Okay, let's go," he decides, not bothering with a countdown and merely heaving his weight against the frame so he can wrestle the bed across the room. It will take two of them, but thankfully the Maverick hasn't thrown his various rugs back down yet, so the going is fairly easy. Still, Danta trips more than once as he tries to turn the frame to snug it beneath the shadow and firelight of the mezzanine overhead, and he's out of breath long before they stop.

"Look," he pants, gesturing to it at last. "Made you a den."

Dantalion

// put your, put your v-v-venom in me //

so give me your prayers up on your feet
and i'll give you a show, it helps fill the seats

“Shall we find out?” Flashing Danta a too sharp and mischievous grin, the butcher prepares to move the bed along with the Maverick. Without a countdown, he’s a touch behind — but he picks up quickly and pushes the frame as well, pausing when Danta trips and trying his best to not sway so terribly much.

He’s glad for still wearing his shoes, for how much he’s accidentally kicked the bed frame’s leg. And by the time they get the bed in the precise position, the butcher is equally panting and his hair is all out of position, fallen into his face in layers away from his horns. He sags against one of the bedposts to look up at Danta from beneath the curtain of dark locks, shaking his head to get it out of his eyesight.

And that’s when he dramatically gasps, swaying over to Danta to wind his arms around the other man’s middle. “A den!” He trills in a sing song tone that sounds so strange when aired from his thicker accent, but his happiness is clearly seen. “You are so good to me.” Comes the softer follow up, leaning in to snatch a too chaste kiss because he’s still trying to catch his breath.

Astaroth

so give me your sins, give me your lies
but whisper your love, and i'll whisper mine

// divide me down to the smallest I can be //

Danta is also still wearing his shoes, not to mention far too many clothes for his liking, and he's already stripped off his shirt to ball up and toss away into a corner when Asta gets on board with where they are. Straightening up just in time to be snagged around the waist, it's with a musical laugh that he fights to try and keep both of them upright. "As good as you deserve," he says, the words mumbled against Asta's lips as one of his arms loops gently around the butcher's neck.

"Mm, you taste like cherries," he tells him, not sounding at all sad about it, though he's less standing with Asta and more relying on him to stay on his feet by now, Danta toppling towards the bed. "It's pretty cozy, I'll give you that much." With a tipsy grin he sinks down onto the mattress, kicking off his shoes before flopping back into the blankets.

Dantalion

// put your, put your v-v-venom in me //

so give me your prayers up on your feet
and i'll give you a show, it helps fill the seats

Calloused hands feel the smooth and subtly scarred skin of the Maverick’s as he pulls him close and becomes that statuesque pillar of support for him. And he smiles a knowing smile into the kiss, pulling away once he’s satisfied so that they can continue to try to catch his breath and so that he can get a good look of the makeshift den again.

“You gave me quite a few.” He hums, stepping back slightly as Danta sinks onto the mattress so that he can unbutton his shirt and fold it, setting it aside. He’s luckily steady enough on his feet to manage most of shedding his clothes, and by the time he’s done and everything is neatly placed (at odds with Danta’s rumpled and balled up clothes), the butcher finally crawls into bed along with Danta, curling up against him as best he can.

It’s with his nose pressed into Danta’s cheek that he murmurs a tipsy “you’re cozy.” A genuine compliment even if it comes out in a tone that suggests it isn’t.

Astaroth

so give me your sins, give me your lies
but whisper your love, and i'll whisper mine

// divide me down to the smallest I can be //

Able to hear rather than see the butcher stripping off his clothes, it's with a sigh and a grunt of effort that Danta shimmies out of his pants, kicking them away over the side of the bed. He manages to shift himself to lay down properly by the time Asta crawls in to join him, his arms outstretched to coil around the other man, drawing him close. "You're drunk," he fires back with a fanged smirk - not that he is any more sober for saying so.

Throwing a leg across the butcher's waist and working his fingers through his dark hair to tame it back out of his face, it feels familiar but different, laying in this deeper darkness with the walls and ceiling comfortingly close by. Danta can see the light from the fire dancing against the underside of the mezzanine above them, and he feels himself relax further against the other man.

"Sorry," he mumbles suddenly, the words spilling from his lips without permission. "If I wasn't like this so much downstairs." So easily affectionate, so desperate for the touch of Asta's hands and lips. "It's still new for me to just... be that way with someone." Unless it's to flirt or suggest sex, as Asta would have undoubtedly noticed.

Dantalion

// put your, put your v-v-venom in me //

so give me your prayers up on your feet
and i'll give you a show, it helps fill the seats

“Oh, I most certainly am.” He drawls with a vibrating laugh as they nestle in together. He’s more than content to let Danta thread his hair back out of his face, and it’s with a drunken series of blinks that the butcher tries to half focus on the Maverick, nestling into the makeshift nest of blankets and pillows as the leg gets tossed over his waist.

Content and comfortable, watching the faint reflection of the shadows dance from the fire across the diamond horns nestled into the wild blonde. “Mm?” He says, clearly confused, but as the elaboration comes, Astaroth is shifting slightly, hands lifting to brush his fingertips along the sharp jut of the other Ancient’s cheekbone. “Don’t apologize, darling.” He hums softly, flashing a small and easy smile to soothe any sudden anxieties.

“It’s new for me, too.” It’s easier to not second guess himself when behind closed doors, but in front of everyone? Given his well known penchant for disliking touch unless whomever has been granted explicit permission. “We could start small, if that’s easier?” He suggests, head tilting slightly as he noses in to press a kiss to his nose.

Astaroth

so give me your sins, give me your lies
but whisper your love, and i'll whisper mine

// divide me down to the smallest I can be //

Leaning into the warm cradle of Asta's hand, Danta closes his eyes for a moment, though he's forced to blink them back open as the world starts to tilt away from him and spin. Letting out a long, steadying breath and offering a faint smile to the other man, he nods his head. "I just didn't want you to think I didn't want to be doing this all night," he purrs, shifting closer as if he might be able to somehow wrap himself further around the butcher.

"Start small?" He echoes, scoffing out a laugh at that. "Asta, you fucked me so good I practically begged you to move in with me," he points out, his smile pressed against the slope of the other man's shoulder. "I don't think either of us are the sort of men to do things by halves." Case in point - look how drunk they are and look at the state of the room they're curled up in.

Dantalion

// put your, put your v-v-venom in me //

so give me your prayers up on your feet
and i'll give you a show, it helps fill the seats

Shifting to allow Danta to try his best to wrap more around him, the butcher continues littering him with attentions, going so far as to have his tail wind around Danta’s leg, keeping them locked together. “I cannot think of a time when you didn’t want to do this. Even if we argued before.” He murmurs softly, as if nothing Danta could do would dissuade him from thinking that this would be the end result.

But then he hears the laugh, the smile pressed into his shoulder, and the butcher’s own warps around the blonde’s as he tucks his bearded cheek against the side of Danta’s head. “That is a fair point.” He admits, nuzzling his cheek in as he parses his mind to figure out how to answer him.

“You know as well as anyone that I am not a particularly affectionate person out there. Unless I have been drinking, of course, but… I don’t know. I didn’t find it strange that we weren’t?” He tries to explain, finding it particularly difficult with the state of inebriation he fights with.

Astaroth

so give me your sins, give me your lies
but whisper your love, and i'll whisper mine

// divide me down to the smallest I can be //

Wanting to argue for the sake of it but finding Asta to be completely and utterly correct, Danta can do little more than snort his agreement against the other man's shoulder, his own tail sweeping lazily across the sheets before finally curling loosely against the butcher's ankle. "Well at least you know that hasn't changed. Even if we're out on business, this is always where I'd prefer to be." And why not? Especially cozied up in the dark as they are, there's little else the Maverick desires. You know, apart from maybe another cocktail, or a gallon of water.

Nuzzling Asta back obnoxiously and nibbling at the side of his neck, the Maverick lets out a heavy sigh that has his eyes trying to drift closed again. "I didn't find it strange either. I just... I dunno. I don't ever want you to feel like I don't want this, or you, or whatever." And apparently when Danta has been drinking, he worries about things like this a lot more.

Dantalion

// put your, put your v-v-venom in me //

so give me your prayers up on your feet
and i'll give you a show, it helps fill the seats

“Me also.” He hums, content to be nestled in amongst the dark and the heat, fully cementing it as a den in his mind, and the possessive part of his fyrhund shift is more than content with the result, even as his state of drunkenness catches up with his exhaustion that has his eyes closing.

When Danta obnoxiously nuzzles him back, he blinks his gaze open and tilts his head a touch to try and peer at the Maverick in the dark when he feels the nibble of his teeth at his neck and his head tilts perfectly to give him more room to lay his claims. “Danta, my love,” he hums, nosing his way to Danta’s ear, drunk enough to hum all of his confessions.

“I love you.” He says softly, just for Danta’s ears. “And I am oblivious. You will have to verbally tell me if you don’t want this, or me.” Pressing a kiss to the curve of his ear, he nestles into the pillows a bit more. “Otherwise I will just assume everything is the status quo.” Just like how he had been when Danta had gone and entertained that tourist. Never once did he think Danta didn’t want him.

Astaroth

so give me your sins, give me your lies
but whisper your love, and i'll whisper mine

// divide me down to the smallest I can be //

There is no shift in Danta's blood that feels the urge to make a space like this, not in the same way as Asta, but he's nonetheless more than comfortable to make it work. Especially if it makes the butcher happy, and the Maverick is smiling even as his eyes slip shut and he's left wrestling with the vague anxiety that accompanies his final comments to the other man. 

By the time Asta speaks his name, in fact - soft, affectionate and quiet in the firelight - Danta has been practically dozing off, but he shifts enough to press his lips to the butcher's throat, angling his head so he might speak against the shell of his ear. And as his words tumble out, the Maverick finds his breath hiccuping in his throat unexpectedly, Danta peering up at the other man and letting his fingers tighten around him.

Unable to find a response that says all the things he wants to, the Maverick surges forward to claim Asta's lips in a kiss that has no right to be as gentle or all-consuming as it is. Far too drunk to make more of it than this, Danta nonetheless does his damndest to blanket him with his body, drawing back only when he's convinced he's managed to show his feelings appropriately.

"I love you too," he whispers, brushing his nose against Asta's cheek.

Dantalion

// put your, put your v-v-venom in me //