better in the morning

i am made of bullets; shrapnel /// you are solar flares and soft lips
better creatures could love you i know ///

Kiada’s almost as eager as Belial had been when she spots the raw meat getting moved onto the plate, and she sets a few of the cooked fries onto it alongside it (sure that it looks like quite the endeavor), but gods is she glad to be able to eat again. Life as an Ascended had been so dull and awful when everything had tasted like nothing. “Danta’s doing a lot of work, too. I’m happy with how things are going.” With all the work they all have put into it to make it theirs, only to have someone random show up and ask to put in a shrine for someone else’s gods within.

She slides into the chair he offers her and she shares some of the potatoes with him as well, nodding with a small crooked smile as she waits for him to sit with her. “It shouldn’t hurt to turn to stone. Just… I’ll need to be bathed in fire and blood.” She winces slightly as she says it though there is a smile that remains. “We can manage before it gets that far though I think? I would still love Zuriel to be there though.” Full confidence within it – wanting to believe that Dygra wouldn’t allow such parameters if it meant that she was actually in harms way.

And with that being said, she’s polite when she digs in, but she absolutely goes for the meat first.

kiada

/// but now they'll have to get through me
my love should wear a warning sign, damn right i remember you

Deimos

Belial hadn’t disappeared, but strategically placed himself beneath the table, in case any scraps came close by – from either Kiada or Deimos. He wasn’t particularly picky. But while he mooched and begged and hoped someone saw him, his bonded worked on ensuring the food and drinks were set and ready, before finally settling into a seat. Shuffling potatoes onto his plate, he laughed at the insinuation of Danta and work; mostly due to prior conversations with Noah, and the implications elsewhere. But he knew for all the airs the Ancient put on, there were efforts involved. “What else have you been working on?

Cutting along his steak, he listened to the implications of potential side effects – brow furrowing briefly, a silent promise that it wouldn’t be coming to any of that. “We will be careful.” But Zuriel and Belial would both attend regardless, useful, distinct, and caring about the Harpy in their own facets. He could always surround her in fire again, as they’d done towards the springs.

what does it mean to look upon a ruin
we are boneless. we are boiling hot blood.

i am made of bullets; shrapnel /// you are solar flares and soft lips
better creatures could love you i know ///

She starts to dive in, certainly aware of Belial that remains under the table, begging for scraps. So much so that she nearly thinks about slipping him one before Deimos’ question distracts her and she politely swallows down her bite before she speaks. “Mostly preparing the Grounds for Deepfrost. It should be better this year for us, with the bonfire being there.” And she’s worked hard to ensure that those in the general area outside of the warmth of the bonfire, would have enough wood to hopefully last the season that they were coming up on.

Explaining after the side effects of growing too cold, Kiada doesn’t think it would be that terrible or dangerous, but she nods all the same and flashes him a reassuring smile in between the bites as she clears her plate. “Did you know that when Fox found me last Deepfrost, I was actually sleeping in a fire?” She asks, offering a tidbit that has her laughing lightly at the memory. “I’m grateful to have the bonfire this year, to say the least.” And a home to be in from the beginning, thanks to the other Ancient and their relationship that they haven’t quite admitted feelings to yet, despite all the signs.

The realness of it is admittedly a bit frightening for her.

kiada

/// but now they'll have to get through me
my love should wear a warning sign, damn right i remember you

Deimos

Ignoring Belial’s imploring eyes from beneath the wood, he smiled, snagging a few bites before responding. He’d heard of the bonfire from Danta, and figured it made a great inclusion for everyone amidst the Grounds. Why they hadn’t done something similar like that before was a moot point – and something to consider in the back of his mind for features beyond the Citadel – like the Tundra, or any hunting and tracking meeting points. “I will have to remember to come see it sometime.” Deimos could always appreciate a massive inferno.

Snorting around another portion of potatoes, he couldn’t say he was surprised about the ‘sleeping in a fire’ bit. “Is that how everything started?” Between the pair? He couldn’t quite recall the details, and to be fair, he probably had wanted them omitted initially.

what does it mean to look upon a ruin
we are boneless. we are boiling hot blood.

i am made of bullets; shrapnel /// you are solar flares and soft lips
better creatures could love you i know ///

“You have to.” Kiada gushes with a hint of excitement, pausing midway through her chewing to speak before she remembers her manners and swallows down the bite before she continues. “There’s gemstones in it so it looks like stained glass in some parts. Quite stunning.” She should know, she helped place the stones within the branches alongside Fox and Danta.

At his snorting with her little information dump, she snickers to herself as she hears his question and shrugs her shoulder. “Sort of.” She doesn’t recall telling anyone how their little… whatever it was, started. Despite how she’s 99% sure they’re dating despite not admitting it aloud. “I first met him on the bone bridges and we went to the VlamVloed where I was heading to get a room. But there was some awful worker there that kept harassing me. I got the room, but Fox stayed with me to make sure nothing happened.” Amongst other things – which she certainly omits those details from her father.

Yikes.

“But then I couldn’t stay there once Deepfrost hit, so I went and tried to find some other place but everything was full. That’s when Fox found me and invited me to his family’s cottage for the rest of the season.” And she’s just… Never left.

kiada

/// but now they'll have to get through me
my love should wear a warning sign, damn right i remember you

Deimos

Deimos had never thought to place gemstones within any of his infernos – he merely embraced the sanctity of its power, its might, its roaring, engulfing prowess for calamity, chaos, and consumption. He widened his eyes at the thought of it though, before nodding in agreement and accord; when they could afford the moment, he’d see it. Deepfrost loomed in the near future, and he wouldn’t be leaving Halo until Evie and the newborn’s safety was secured.

Details about Kiada’s meeting with Fox hadn’t always been entirely forthcoming; he’d teased her plenty, and he didn’t want to know all of it, but he was amused around the bite of his potatoes just the same. At the notions of the Harpy being ‘harassed’, he half-wondered if she’d cut them to ribbons, but if Fox had managed to steer the situation away from it, perhaps the semblances couldn’t be helped. “And there you stay,” he laughed again. “As long as he is good to you,” a checking in, and confirmation of such a presumption – but the fellow monster hunter didn’t strike him as anything else.

what does it mean to look upon a ruin
we are boneless. we are boiling hot blood.

i am made of bullets; shrapnel /// you are solar flares and soft lips
better creatures could love you i know ///

Snorting in response to Deimos’ laughter, she nods and flashes a crooked smile once she’s devoured the rest of her plate, unfortunately not leaving a speck of anything for Belial who still seems to be begging. “He is.” She says softly, settling back in her seat for a moment as her internal worries surface, tongue prodding at her bottom lip briefly in thought. “So good to me that I sometimes wonder what I’ve done to deserve it.” Her dark brow lifts and she lets her gaze meet the same bright blues Deimos harbors, a glimmer of amusement in there despite the honesty of it all.

She hadn’t been a good person for a good stretch of time – and it’s something that the Harpy still deals with on the rare occasion when things are too good for her for too long. But she knows that Deimos has insight on that, and he’s the only one she’d ever admit such a quiet little secret to, and she awaits whatever kind of fatherly advice he can offer her for getting through such feelings.

kiada

/// but now they'll have to get through me
my love should wear a warning sign, damn right i remember you

Deimos

Only after Deimos had cleaned his own plate, with some clearly carved portions and smaller bites for the peryton, did he permit Belial to have any. He listened instead of watching the carnivorous deer devour everything far too quickly – brows furrowing slightly at where trepidations seemed to echo. “Fishing for compliments?” He started first, with a little light humor and a boyish grin, before taking both his dish and her own towards the sink.

It served as a mechanism for drawing out the real thoughts behind these sudden wounds, and what seemed to be prompting them. The Sword had never considered the Harpy to be one undeserving of love; she simply fought in different directions and altercations than so many others. She’d done so in Helovia, Isilme, and Caido; a traditional role of persistence, endurance, and fortitude that carved its niche into her actions. So instead of launching entirely into his own discourse of why she was, he turned on the sink, rinsing the utensils and such off while striving to expose the heart of the matter. “And why do you think that?”

what does it mean to look upon a ruin
we are boneless. we are boiling hot blood.