Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
Skinning and hosting by the epically talented Kaons, and functionality fanciness by the coding magic of Neowulf. If you ever see either of them around, make sure to show them some love!
Asta is completely content letting Danta figure out the middle of what he’s saying while he works on the pelt then moves onto the meat. His dark gaze finds the Maverick as Asta takes another bite of the strip he’d cut off, sharp teeth diving through the meat while he sees Danta mirror his position with the jutted hip. It’s a reflection he doesn’t expect to see, nor one he (for the first time perhaps) doesn’t feel the need to point out in a mocking way. Instead, he laughs a barked sound and grins that wide, toothy, almost threatening smile.
“You act as though I haven’t tried.” He says casually with a shrug, gesturing with the knife in a way that has another bead of blood flinging off in some random direction, before he cocks his head toward Danta, a dark piece of his hair falling forward into his face that he doesn’t move back yet. “It’s not the same.” He says so casually that it’s actually a little bit horrifying, before he returns his attention back to hunching over the deer to carve more strips out of it. “Perhaps I should pick a partner with magical healing.” He says idly, as if the thought’s just occurred to him. If he takes a chunk out, it could heal.
But that also begs the question of who’s even into that.
"We should get you a sticker chart. You can have a gold star every time you try not to cannibalise your one night stands," Danta drawls, raising his eyebrows and wondering if the other man is making a joke out of all of this, until it becomes apparent that Asta is very serious. "Magical healing as in the ability to regrow flesh and limbs? You'd be like a starving kid at a buffet," he points out. And he's not sure who'd be into that, but someone might be.
"Or maybe," he continues, reaching forward suddenly to plunge his hand into the deer's innards, reaching around until he can rip out some tasty piece of it (a kidney, he thinks), "you could experiment with a little self control. New world, new you and all that. Just don't bite anyone's tongue out of their mouth when you're making out, alright? It's frowned upon here in the Grounds."
if we're in love or if we're in pain?
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
“Brilliant. A rating system of my performance.” Astaroth drawls with a huff of amusement, completely against the idea but content with the joke for what it is. After all, as the idea occurs to him and Danta seems to point out how it could go poorly quickly (or not, who knows?) Asta laughs another rumbling laugh, one that has him standing up again to raise a dark brow at the Maverick in amusement.
One that has him watching the other man as he plunges his arm inside to retrieve the kidney, Asta’s tongue dips out to wet along his bloodied lips, still curved in the hint of a smile. “Or, I don’t indulge at all and everyone is none the wiser.” He offers with a casual shrug. “Nothing changes.” Except the tension in his shoulders, as Danta has unhelpfully made him quite obviously aware of now. One that continues to keep them tense the more he thinks about it.
"No, no, don't say it like that," Danta waves a bloody hand at the other man. "The sticker chart is for your restraint. Your performance is something that can only be commented on by your sexual partners. And I don't know if any of them have lived long enough to pat you on the back or high five you or whatever." Or maybe they had negative reviews, hence their untimely deaths. Who knew?
Busy devouring his piece of the deer, the Maverick can only offer an exaggerated wiggle of red fingers at the prospect of nothing changing, waiting until his mouth isn't full before he speaks again. "Sounds tedious," he informs the other man, before continuing as if Asta hasn't tried to close off the subject. "Oh, what if you were tied up? What if you got a muzzle? I know plenty of people who would be into that."
if we're in love or if we're in pain?
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
As far as Asta is concerned, it was still a performance chart no matter how much Danta tried to say against it. He does snort, though, a low laugh leaving him again as he shakes his head. “They have lived long enough.” Just not long enough to get back out the door… But ah, that was a long time ago and things were different then. Now, he tries to mostly keep up appearances and with it, certainly not falling back into old habits, even if they still seemed relatively fresh.
Astaroth does still, though, brows pinching as he looks across at Danta with the suggestions, as if confused for a brief moment trying to wrap his mind around it, before he very obviously busies himself with continuing to carve the deer, piling ‘steaks’ and other bits and pieces off to the side as he pours his whole focus into it. “Tied up and muzzled to let someone else take control?” He says, as if trying to get the gist of it. “Absolutely not.”
"Whatever you say. We're friends now so I'll believe you," Danta says, clearly having a fantastic time in stealing whatever parts of the kill he fancies whilst having a pleasant little heart-to-heart with his once nemesis. It doesn't mean he's brazen enough to snatch a whole slab of meat that Asta has just carved, instead continuing to pick at the deer carcass, bloodied to the wrists by now. (And a mess everywhere else, if he's honest).
Gasping softly to hear the other man's staunch refusal, the Maverick starts to stroll around their makeshift butcher's block, peeping over Asta's shoulder. "What's wrong? Not the trusting sort?" he asks, and if the taller man wasn't literally holding a knife, Danta might have tried to snatch his hands behind his back just to see the reaction. "Learn to live a little, Asta. World's changed, after all."
Nudging him with his hip instead, Danta turns to sit on the edge of the broken pillar, sharing the space with the deer by now.
if we're in love or if we're in pain?
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
What a strange world it was, with the two of them being friends after living for what felt like decades at each other’s throats. It was relieving, though, even if this particular topic was one that Asta found quite boring when focused at himself – not willing to change or adjust regardless of whatever the Maverick decided to offer as advice.
At least, until Danta is closer now and he can feel the heat and smell the deer’s blood coating Danta’s skin and it brings him pause as he carves. Danta has hit a nerve, as it were, and the taller Ancient waits for the blonde to settle on the pillar, bumped slightly by the shorter man’s hip, before he can figure out the words to respond – flustered and a bit frustrated by whatever this little game is that Danta seems to be playing at.
The knife gets set on the stone with a clink, before the taller Ancient slides over to break the space between them, invading and placing both hands on either side of the Maverick as he quite confidently sticks his bloodied face into the blonde’s, his dark eyes scanning the bright blues of the other man’s. “I’m surprised you are the trusting type.” He snaps a little, before he straightens up a little to his full height, bringing some space between their faces as his hand lifts to press against Danta’s bloodied and exposed chest, pausing as if debating briefly before he starts to push more as if trying to push Danta down onto the deer. “World’s changed, but I haven’t thus far.” It was always known he had a hard time giving up control.
"Who said I was?" Danta croons. "Maybe I just don't see anything to be cautious about here." Listen, just because they're no longer enemies doesn't mean he can't enjoy ribbing the other man, especially when it comes to matters like this. (Matters in which the Maverick finds himself unexpectedly more experienced, honestly). And so perhaps it's not much of a surprise that his chin lifts petulantly to see Asta draw so close, dwindling the distance between them down to almost nothing.
"Now I know that is a lie," he continues, even as a hand comes to try and encourage him to take the place of the deer on the slab (at the expense of laying all over the carcass, apparently). And Danta plays along a little, pushed back onto his elbows as he raises his eyebrows up at the other Ancient. "The Astaroth of even a few weeks back would have bitten my fingers off for being so rude," he points out.
"And he definitely wouldn't have discussed his sex life with me."
if we're in love or if we're in pain?
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
Maybe it’s true there’s nothing to be cautious about here, maybe it’s not. Astaroth hasn’t been here long enough to be able to tell – and a part of him still doesn’t wholly trust the Maverick’s choices, even if the Grounds had turned into being quite a pleasant space.
Regardless, he pushes against Danta (absolutely trying to get him to lay down against the carcass – he’s being nice in giving the blonde a bloody pillow to lay on, after all). He doesn’t get far, enough for Danta to push back onto his elbows, and before Asta can continue to push down to get past that, his words give him pause and a surprising amount of surprise.
“Like I had said before, I made a promise.” He says with a hint of annoyance, hand still pressed against Danta’s chest as if he’s forgotten about it. “And you have a habit of poking at things. I was simply trying to tell you that I don’t find your workers unattractive.” He mutters, halfway beginning to withdraw before a thought occurs and the knife is picked up by his freehand again, his tail lashing out behind him, deftly pressing the flat side of the blade against the arm where he’d definitely tried to bite Danta the first second they’d seen each other since their slumber.
“I am still much the same. I would have very much liked to take a bite out of you.” He gives one good shove against Danta’s arm and chest, before he steps back and lifts the blade to his lips, licking away the blood on the steel, a hint of evidence that seems to suggest that he still would.
"It isn't a habit, Astaroth. It's a calculated choice, and one I absolutely relish in making," Danta tells the other man sunnily, looking for all the world as if this is the most relaxing place in Caido, half prostrated against a deer carcass with a cannibal and his knife sizing him up. "But of course, I forgot how stalwart you are with your promises. Alas, I suppose you will just have to watch my attractive workers from a distance, and keep that steel rod in your spine."
Raising an eyebrow to see the flat of the knife come to rest against his arm, he's about to suggest that Asta might want to keep his butchery practice on the deer when the blade is gone again, and the Maverick scoffs out a laugh, despite almost being shoved over completely. "I will take that as a compliment," he decides, rolling to stand up again. "Especially coming from someone like you."
if we're in love or if we're in pain?
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
It’s almost fun and yet incredibly frustrating with how content Danta appears to be in the position that Asta has put him in, and it’s evident in the way that Astaroth kind of ‘blue screens’ for a split second as he listens. “As I said before, Dantalion, it’s truly not a problem.” If the Maverick wanted to use his full name, Asta would give it back. And besides, maybe he likes that steel rod in his spine, thank you very much.
As the other Ancient regains his space, Asta's busy running his tongue along the knife and watching as Danta slips off the pillar and makeshift table fully, and Asta returns back to the edge of it to finish up the rest of the useful deer parts, blood drying and beginning to flake off of his neck and forearms. “What is that supposed to mean?” He asks in an almost exhausted tone, lifting the back of his hand to rub at his lips where he can feel a bit of blood trying to dry uncomfortably, but only serves to smear more of it along his cheek and through his stubble.
Scrunching his nose and hissing a curse through his teeth to hear his full name hit the air - touche, Asta, fine - Danta strolls back around the edge of the makeshift table, licking the blood from his fingers even as the rest begins to dry. He'll be caked in rust red stains before long, and he has no intention of trying to clean up more than the bare minimum. He can always wash off in the Glade before they head back to the Dusklight.
With an indulgent smile, the Maverick takes himself away to lean against another broken bit of obsidian, watching Asta finish his work and shrugging his shoulders carelessly. "I just mean that if you enjoy devouring your conquests, and you'd quite like to get your teeth into me..." He grins, not bothering to finish the obvious conclusion: therefore, you must consider me attractive.
"You've got a little something just here," he adds, gesturing to his cheek where the dark red stain sits along Asta's jaw.
if we're in love or if we're in pain?
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
One thing does partially break Astaroth from the annoyance that keeps gleaning across his face – and it’s the way Danta’s nose scrunches to hear his whole name in the air. But he busies himself with getting to work finishing up the rest of the carcass, fully intending on returning home with both the pieces of meat and the pelt, intending to sell what’s left of the doe’s pelt.
And he waits, listening for the Maverick’s explanation that only sparks another brief roll of his eyes, silent for a few long moments to hear the follow up, where he lifts his gaze and raises a brow and his tongue dips out to run along his cheek as far as he can reach, his dark gaze making eye contact with the Maverick the entire time. “I have always been partial to blondes.” His dark brow lifts as a sharp edged smirk blooms on his lips.
He's absolutely going to need to take a dip in the Glade to clean up before heading back.
Asta can do whatever he likes with however much of the doe is left; Danta has had his fill, and he'd have just left it for the carrion given his own choice. And while he expects a great number of things from the taller man, agreement and then some are absolutely not on the list. That's not to say the Maverick minds, of course, his expression all but lighting up with something wild and delighted.
"I don't blame you," he purrs. "We do have more fun, after all." Straightening up from his leaning spot, he rolls his eyes to see the other man try (and fail) to clean himself off. "I had promised myself not to be sloppy," he recites, doing his best (worst) impression of Astaroth's accent, reaching out to rub the bloody mark from his face on his way back towards the door.
"I don't think all of that is going to fit in the bag you brought," he calls back casually.
if we're in love or if we're in pain?
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
