[se] Hell will always come before you grow

Take my hand
And know that every second is forever

While Noah did not like to enter the Last Whisper, this was a necessity. Between his magic and his compass, the Forsaken made his way easily across the world with one thing focused on his mind. He needed to find Danta, needed to talk to him, and needed to make a plan to help fortify this land.

Because daddy Vi said so.

So he slipped carefully through the underground maze of tunnels and shops until he found himself standing outside The Dusklight. Noah sucked in a breath and stepped in, getting the attention of the first person lookin official enough that could send him in Danta's direction.

Don't Pretend
That I would ever be the one who loses faith

Noah Olson

Dantalion

but you can't be free

Danta is having breakfast - or brunch, he supposes, depending on how early you prefer to start your day. Regardless, Noah will find him doing just that in one corner of the Dusklight. The fact that he's enjoying said breakfast - strawberries, cream and chocolate - right off the body of a rather fetching young man is besides the point. (Or, in Noah's case, it might be exactly the point).

Having just kissed a strawberry from the lips of his al fresco partner, it's with bright juice dripping from his chin that he sits back and glances over his shoulder at the sound of his name being called. Mr. Looking Official has caught his attention and is currently gesturing to Noah; Danta grins and beckons the other man over.

"I do love Longheat," he purrs. "Nobody wants to wear many clothes. Care do join me?"

'cause I'm selfish, I'm obscene

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Take my hand
And know that every second is forever

Noah had a feeling that eh would have to steel himself against whatever he may encounter in the Dusklight, but he didn’t expect it to be while he was conversing with Danta, a man splayed merrily between them like a buffet platter. Noah swallowed and his jaw feathered as he sat himself across from the Maverick, keeping his glacier gaze straight on the leader with a very serious tone to his face.

”I’m not sure what has happened in the Grounds in the short weeks I have been gone,” Noah said, weight shifting ever so slightly so that he could rest his hands in his lap, ”but the rest of the world seems to be in shambles at the dawn of this Longheat.” Noah wondered if Danta had even gotten any of the letters that he knew Deimos had sent out. ”So I’ve had better seasons than this, by far.” There was a tinge of enough charisma in his tone to try and keep Danta talking with him, which he had lacked in their previous meetings.

The Forsaken proceeded. ”I came to see what you knew about how the meteor crashing in Torchline affected the Grounds.”

Don't Pretend
That I would ever be the one who loses faith

Noah Olson

Dantalion

but you can't be free

"Mm, has it?" Danta says mildly as Noah sits across from him, licking a dollop of cream from his finger. "I imagine it has something to do with the pile of letters on my desk." Letters that, as of yet, remain unopened. (Sorry, not sorry). Running his tongue across his teeth and letting his shoulders slump when it becomes clear that Noah is not here to party - he rarely is, in fairness - the Maverick dismisses his snack so they might speak without the distraction between them.

"The Outer Branches and Islands have flooded," he says, "but for the most part we're untouched by the disaster - and from what I know about the Grounds, that's a rarity." Settling back in his seat, he ruffles his fingers through his hair. "The majority of our important buildings are inland in the Inner Quarter, and as far as I'm aware, there have been little to no casualties."

Then again, if there were farmers and workers dead in the outermost parts of the Grounds, who would be around to report it?

'cause I'm selfish, I'm obscene

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Take my hand
And know that every second is forever

The attitude with which Danta sat across from him boasting made Noah’s skin crawl. Not in a way that it does when one feels disgusted about something gross — but in the way it did before it burned with anger. It made the demigod shift weight weight ever so slightly, but his eyes stayed straight ahead onto Danta and he imagined boring holes through the ancient’s skull. The entirety of the ancient’s laissez-faire look on the situation at hand churned Noah’s stomach. He couldn’t imagine holding the same kind of countenance. He couldn’t remember ever not caring about what was going on in Halo and what he could do to help the people there. Noah didn’t blink as the emotions bubbled beneath the surface.

”The letters on your desk, I am sure, report the immense dangers that we don’t know the scale of.” Noah said with a glacial tone that matched his gaze. ”It would be prudent to at least get a bearing of what the others do know, so you may protect your people from it.”

Don't Pretend
That I would ever be the one who loses faith

Noah Olson

Dantalion

but you can't be free

"I am sure they do," Danta agrees mildly, crossing his long legs and sitting back to regard Noah properly, wondering what he's done to earn such intensity from the Forsaken. "You say we," he continues, "but I get the feeling you're already well aware of these dangers. I also rather thought you'd returned to Halo." If he hasn't and he's thinking of making a permanent little home in the Grounds, all the better, but who knows?

A delighted, fanged smile lights up his face as the other man continues, and he lets out a companionable laugh. "Ah, but I am not very prudent, am I?" he says with a gentle shrug of his shoulders. "I'm getting the impression that I'm being lectured. Is that right? I just want to make sure so I can look appropriately chastised."

'cause I'm selfish, I'm obscene

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Take my hand
And know that every second is forever

The ancient's nonchalant posture only fueled Noah's irritation, his intensity met with an infuriating calmness. As Danta crossed his long legs and regarded Noah, the demigod's gaze remained unyielding, a silent demand for seriousness in the face of impending danger.

The Forsaken demigod, unamused, resisted the urge to snap back. "Returning to Halo is my concern," Noah retorted, his voice carrying the weight of suppressed frustration. "Prudence may not be your forte, but the safety of the Hollowed Grounds should be, and if that requires some semblance of seriousness from you, so be it." As Danta grinned, Noah's resolve remained unshaken, determined to convey the gravity of their situation to the ancient, whether he liked it or not.

Noah leaned back in his chair slightly, feeling ire begin to bubble in his throat as Danta’s fangs glimmered, revealed by his Cheshire grin. He couldn’t understand Danta’s point of view, nor understand how someone could even get there. Did he care about nothing? Noah’s ears burned, and he wanted to lash out with how much he had done for these lands in the last few seasons compared to the ancient.

Don't Pretend
That I would ever be the one who loses faith

Noah Olson

Dantalion

but you can't be free

"Well, then perhaps you should go there." Danta's smile, though it remains in place, takes on an air of bemusement, and with a careless hand he indicates for someone to bring him something hot and caffeinated to drink; he feels he may need it, if Noah is going to continue to be the subject of his attention.

"Forgive me for my ignorance--" and it might have been polite if he'd meant it, "--but I don't remember assigning you a post on my council. My decisions regarding the Hollowed Grounds and its safety are, quite frankly, none of your business. Unless you'd like to make them your business, in which case I think we ought to be having a different conversation."

His eyebrows raise, the thread barely veiled.

'cause I'm selfish, I'm obscene

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Take my hand
And know that every second is forever

The Hollowed Grounds had been made Noah’s business by someone with far more authority than Danta; thus, the demigod wasn’t going to let himself get too worked up with the Maverick’s words. Which was hard, because the two of them were like oil and water. Like sandpaper against glass. Danta’s eyebrows raised and Noah pushed his breath out of his nostrils with exasperated force. ”I have no desire to sit on your council, but I also don’t want to see your region go to ruin.” Noah had worked too hard the last seasons for that.

Pressing his back against his chair and running his hands down his thighs, letting the texture of his pants ground him in a way, Noah sighed again. ”If you don’t care about the betterment of this place, or for the greater good of your people, then I won’t seek out your assistance for future projects. I’ll send you a letter when they’re done.”

Don't Pretend
That I would ever be the one who loses faith

Noah Olson

Dantalion

but you can't be free

"Why?" Danta blurts, even as his hands reach out to accept the coffee prepared for him by the barman nearby. "Why do you care? Not, by the way, that my region is going to ruin or anything of the sort." Sipping at the drink and caring little for its heat, he sets it down on a side table - and sits himself up.

"Let's rewind a little here, Noah, and let me be clear. I came here, and this place was a shithole. I cleaned up and I made a place for my family - hells, we'd be sitting in a dusty, empty shell right now, if I hadn't created the Dusklight." He gestures around.

"There's a bonfire outside the Temple that will never go out - not in storms, floods, Longnight, nothing. I don't remember your assistance there. And when there were storms and floods, I recall being the one to invite you to help the region." Danta isn't capable of creating flames by sheer force of will at present, but the ones nearby in sconces start to flicker with his irritation.

"So before you start your future projects in a region you do not live in, may I suggest taking several steps back, removing your foot from your mouth, and restarting the conversation?"

'cause I'm selfish, I'm obscene

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Take my hand
And know that every second is forever

Did Noah care? Had he developed a passion and a depth of love for the Grounds and the people? No, not entirely. But he was loyal. Loyal to a fault. Loyal to his last and dying breath. The Hollowed Grounds did not hold a place of loyalty in his heart, but Vi did. And Vi had brought him here, told him this place needed him, and Noah was not going to run from that again. He wasn’t going to run from the discomfort of it, run from the way it took him from the places he did care for, to his very core. There was much more to do, and now that the world at large faced another threat that Noah knew, in the same depths of his core, that he would need to stand against — he needed his god on his side. ”The meteors that fell on Caido bring danger — and that is what I care about. Protection.”

This time, Noah’s own eyebrows lifted. ”Oh, so you do care.” Noah said simply, his glacial eyes keeping their hard gaze on the Maverick. His jaw feathered slightly, and he tapped a finger on the top of his thigh. ”You care enough to have done two things. Congrats. MY involvement in helping the Hollowed Grounds has history before you, and will continue despite you.” And if they were going to list out their contributions to this place, present and past, Noah’s list was longer. ”I came here concerned about the threat that loomed now before us, Danta, that you seem to want to ignore.”

He noticed how the candles flickered out of the corners of his eyes, and Noah was honestly surprised to see any emotion in the Maverick, rather than antagonism.

Don't Pretend
That I would ever be the one who loses faith

Noah Olson

Dantalion

but you can't be free

"And as I stated when you first interrupted my breakfast," Danta retorts, enunciating for Noah's benefit as if the man may have been too dumb to understand him the first time, "the meteors caused some flooding in the Outer Branches, but the Inner Quarter remains largely untouched by the disaster. Which is more than I can say for Torchline - or Halo, for that matter. Do you not care about protection in the place you come from?"

As for his TwO tHiNgS, the Maverick's brow furrows and he tilts his head. "Sorry, do you want a fucking medal? Last I checked, for all the history you have with this place, you don't rule it, and you never have. So either take it from me, or get out of my bar. We are done here."

'cause I'm selfish, I'm obscene

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Take my hand
And know that every second is forever

Noah’s concern still laced across his chest even as he kept himself centered and even tempered before the fiery ancient. Had this been part of Noah’s plan? No, certainly not. He had hoped that the Maverick would show some semblance of care for this place he SaCrIfIcEd himself leading. But the more colors he saw, the more he understood.

Danta was just a selfish piece of shit, and Noah would need to do what he was called to do without him.

Noah’s jaw feathered, but he remained silent. His face, as glacial as the start, hardened further and he only nodded. He wanted to tell the Maverick not to act surprised the next time he saw him helping the region, but wisdom held him. ”Good-bye, Danta.” He gave before departing in nothing but the blink of an eye.

FIN

Don't Pretend
That I would ever be the one who loses faith

Noah Olson