From Attuned to Ascended to Ancient, Kiada Njovu-Reyes has been reborn several times throughout her short life, but her fighting spirit has never once been diminished. With beauty, grace and a quick wit, Kiada is the whole package wrapped in an infectious smile. Recent endeavours have found her in the heart of the Hollowed Grounds, aiding the region and bettering it for her new Ancient kin, and whatever she does next, we know it's sure to pack a punch.
Congratulations, Kiada!
Credits
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!
innocence died screaming honey, ask me, I should know
"Huh," Danta murmurs, thinking to himself before reaching out to give Astaroth the gentlest of slaps across the face - but it's a slap nonetheless, however you want to look at it. "On account of my being offended," he explains with a smirk. And he thinks he's found another chink in the other man's seemingly impenetrable armour with mention of Isla and her clinic, but off Asta goes again with his politeness, and Danta groans and rolls his eyes.
"Maybe I should invite her to come tapping at your door, then. You two can discuss medical implements and surgeries and all that other stuff. You know, on account of your similar interests." Shaking his head, he debates getting up and going to grab the rest of his wine, before thinking better of it. Knowing him, he'll climb off the bed and Asta will yeet him out the door.
I slithered here from Eden just to sit outside your door
Table base by Skylark
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
// a beast in the business of selling forgiveness //
It’s a gentle slap, but it’s still enough that he sits up a little, braced by his elbows on the bed as he squints at the Maverick. The explanation is given and he sighs and sulks for a brief moment. “Fine. I suppose I can give you that one.” Even if he didn’t wasn’t to and was half tempted to just tackle him in the bed.
But that might spark something else, so he politely refrains. For now, at least.
Rolling his eyes, Asta sits up more properly, standing to retrieve the bottle of wine, buzzed enough that he doesn’t seem to care about the two goblets strewn around the room wherever they’d left them, and hands it to Dantalion with a knowing gleam. “There are some things that polite company should not know about me. I wouldn’t want to scare her off with my incessant questions.” He drawls as if that’s all the reasoning in the world.
And he leans in to press against that bruise again on Danta’s shoulder when he continues. “You have the pleasure of knowing all my dark secrets, Danta, dear.”
innocence died screaming honey, ask me, I should know
"You are too kind," Danta purrs; if he'd been waiting expectantly to see if he could provoke a reaction out of the stoic Ancient, he doesn't make further mention of it. Besides, Asta hadn't taken the bait either way, which says much more about his discipline than it does the Maverick's.
Shifting a bit to let the other man get up, he trills a soft sound of thanks and snags the bottle he goes to grab, taking a long drink from it before offering it back. Really, it's not the sort of wine intended for casual gulps directly from the neck, but whatever. He cared about that a goblet and a half ago - now it's not so important.
"Bold of you to assume you could scare anyone off," he teases, only for the other man to reach out for him again. This time Danta catches him by the wrist, squeezing, and tilts his chin defiantly up at the other man. "Careful, now," he says. "For someone so adverse to it, you are being quite the flirt." He raises his eyebrows questioningly.
I slithered here from Eden just to sit outside your door
Table base by Skylark
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
// a beast in the business of selling forgiveness //
He gladly takes the bottle back but doesn’t sip from it until he starts to reach for the Maverick again, grin sharpening with his comment as if he might intend to prove it. He could be intimidating, he’s done it before. He would absolutely have no issue doing it again if it got him what he wanted. Peace and quiet.
It’s a sharp grin that remains though, even as his wrist is caught and squeezed, and Asta’s tail flicks playfully behind him side to side as he towers over Danta. “Am I? I had no idea.” He says dramatically, hand twisting in the grip Danta has to wrap his fingers around the blonde’s wrist in turn. “Perhaps you’ve rubbed off on me. Perhaps it’s the bottle of wine.” He lists out all the options, tilting his head this way and that.
“Perhaps it’s nice to see the mark left behind.” He shrugs casually and stands up a little straighter to take a sip of the wine, as nonchalantly as possible.
innocence died screaming honey, ask me, I should know
"The fuck you didn't," Danta retorts at Astaroth having no idea, his smile crooked and his blue eyes a mix of intrigued and puzzled. The rest of his response is stolen away by the expert twist to his wrist, the way the other man towers over him, and Danta can't help but let out a dark chuckle. "If I had rubbed off on you," he assures Asta, "you wouldn't know which way was up."
There's a quip in there too, about only needing a bottle of wine before he's anyone's, but he decides not to mention it. No, instead Danta reaches out a long leg, trying to hook it around the back of the other man's thigh enough to tug him forward and unbalance him. "If you like it so much, why don't you take a closer look?" he challenges.
I slithered here from Eden just to sit outside your door
Table base by Skylark
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
// a beast in the business of selling forgiveness //
He’s silent in the face of Danta’s retort, grin blooming even more toothy as the only response he’ll get. It’s enough of one, though, and he’s sure it betrays him as he towers over the Maverick, locked hand in hand (wrist to wrist?) and chuckles alongside the blonde at the jesting. “Is that so?” He asks, even if he doesn’t particularly care about the answer.
Especially not when the other Ancient’s leg hooks around his thigh and does indeed set him slightly off balance as he steps forward, breaking that distance and promptly putting himself directly between the Maverick’s legs. So much so, that he has to lean down to meet the blue gaze of the other man. Alas, his hands are full, one with Danta’s wrist and the other holding onto that bottle, but his tail does wind around to wrap around Danta’s leg to keep it right there. “Let me get this straight, darling, you’re inviting me in to close proximity of your neck?” He drawls, head cocking as his dark hair comes a little undone from the pronged horns to fall into his face, his dark eyes scanning the blonde from where he leans down.
innocence died screaming honey, ask me, I should know
"Catch me in the right mood and you would be amazed at the sort of things I'll invite you to do," Danta croons back, a dark smile curling across his lips. Call it the wine, call it the prolonged game of kiss-chase they've been playing (and not just tonight, either), but suddenly the prospect of being able to get a reaction out of the taller man is almost irresistible.
Almost.
Reaching up - and he's able to, because his hands aren't full - he grasps Asta's jaw in a surprisingly tight grip, leaning in close. "If I leave here with less limbs or flesh than when I came in," he whispers, "you don't have a place to stay any more. How does that sound?" Anything else is fair game, but Danta isn't anyone's snack.
He's the main fucking course.
I slithered here from Eden just to sit outside your door
Table base by Skylark
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
// a beast in the business of selling forgiveness //
A dark brow rises as if in a challenge to the dark crooning from Danta – sparking a little shiver down his spine that he hadn’t quite realized anyone was capable of doing. It sends his grin sharper, more calculating and curious, and perhaps a touch greedy as he meets those blue eyes with his own dark set.
He’s still as his jaw is gripped tightly, grin still remaining despite it, watching the Maverick lean in close to give his terms and Asta snorts, the air pushing against the hand that holds his jaw while his own hand that wraps around Danta’s wrist tightens a little as if to keep him just as close. “I suppose that’s a fair trade.” Only missing limbs and flesh? That meant marks were still on the table. And he certainly wasn’t going to clarify anything further than what Danta has said.
His tail tightens around the Maverick’s leg all the same, and Astaroth leans in against the tight grip at his jaw, pulling on the Maverick’s hand to pull his body closer while his other hand is still occupied holding the wine. “You have a deal, darling.” He purrs.
innocence died screaming honey, ask me, I should know
Marks are marks, as far as Danta is concerned - and perhaps that naivete will come back to bite him (lol) in the near future. For now, though, as he walks into a deal he's not even aware he's been making until right this second, it's through hooded eyes that he regards the other man, his gaze lingering on lips and sharp teeth even as he's tugged ever closer. "Good," he whispers.
His fingers loosen their grip against Astaroth's jaw just enough to graze across his cheek and up through the back of his dark hair. One might expect at this point for there to be devouring kisses, hands pawing at buttons and belts, trinkets falling from shelves from the movements of a bed. Call Danta a masochist for denying himself such immediate gratification, though, but he's waited long enough to see if he could tease this moment out that he plans to properly savour it.
And so his kiss, when it does come - and it does - lands surprisingly gently against the other man's mouth, melting into any touch that Asta is willing to offer. His leg remains hooked around the taller Ancient's thigh, but the fingers in his hair are gentle, the hand still caught wanting to free itself if only to press against a scarred chest.
I slithered here from Eden just to sit outside your door
Table base by Skylark
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
// a beast in the business of selling forgiveness //
He truly expects it to be just that – a chaotic blend not unlike what he was used to back in the Climb and with every other dalliance he’d had in the past. The circumstances had been different then, he supposes, and at present it’s a fellow Ancient that he finds himself tangled up with – quite literally – only to find the bravado and big talk of before seemingly… Soft?
Soft enough that confusion flares briefly, enough to falter the sharp toothed grin ever so slightly as his head tilts into the hand in his hair, his dark gaze scanning Danta’s face the closer he comes for the kiss – expecting something sharp and intense, like a taunting little fuck you to how he’s acted himself, surprise lingers in the press of their lips and the little exhale Asta has as he seems to freeze for a second – lips still pressing and diving into the kiss of course – but the rest of him seems to be buffering.
That is until Dantas hand is aiming for being let go and he obliges, reconnecting the disconnect as he sets the bottle on the bedside table, hands finally free enough to run up the Maverick’s sides, his wide hand slipping to his lower back to pull him closer as he presses back enough to push Danta down onto the bed, to hover over him properly. There’s no teeth in the kiss, he’s following the rules after all, but it’s surprisingly gentle as his spaded tail releases the Ancient’s leg and drags affectionately along the outside of his thigh while his hands now slip up the oversized shirt the Maverick wears, craving the other man’s warmth.
innocence died screaming honey, ask me, I should know
Lips parting in a soft moan, Danta arches and leans into every offered touch; it's been a while since he's had a dalliance with a fellow Ancient as well, and gods he's missed the heat in every touch, a warmth that might be uncomforable between any other couple. Among the two of them, though, it's nothing short of delicious, the Maverick shifting as best he can on the bed to position himself properly beneath the other man.
Humming a note of encouragement at the hands beneath his lower back and strumming the length of his ribs, he pauses his own explorations for just long enough to shrug out of his shirt entirely, discarding it in lieu of the press of their bodies. His own fingers tease across the scars that gouge trenches through Asta's shoulders and down his shoulder blades, savouring each mark and ripple of muscle.
Parting for breath just long enough to press another kiss to the underside of the other man's jaw, Danta's hips tilt up at the same time as he turns his head to expose his neck and the still healing bruise upon it; an invitation this time, rather than a taunt.
I slithered here from Eden just to sit outside your door
Table base by Skylark
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
// a beast in the business of selling forgiveness //
The warmth is delicious, especially with the raging fire in the fireplace – the room feeling more like a sauna than anything else at the moment, especially with the press of their bodies and combined heat. It would be uncomfortable for anyone else, but for the two of them, it’s perfect, evident in the way Asta hums into the kiss with the sensation of Danta’s hands making their paths along his deeply scarred skin. His own hands pause as the Maverick sheds out of his shirt, and he continues his little path of exploration against the soft yet hardened by muscle skin that Dantalion has to offer.
He's panting when they part, head tilted up as his hands smooth up Danta’s stomach toward his chest, and with the offer clearly shown with how he tilts his head, Asta’s immediately more engaged, like a bloodhound to a scent. He dives in, dark hair falling into Danta’s as his lips trail a blazing path along the Maverick’s neck, on places marked and not marked, dragging his sharp teeth along and wondering idly as his thumbs brush against the blonde’s nipples if he should make them quite a visible sign.
So he does – drawing himself back up to the soft space beneath Danta’s jaw and ear, biting down and tempering himself enough to simply bruise, hips pressing in against the other man’s where his have tilted up. He seems singularly focused, though, ensuring the mark that he leaves is only just a mark, before he trails down a fraction to do it again.
innocence died screaming honey, ask me, I should know
Hissing out a sigh as Asta's fingers continue their ministrations into more sensitive territory, Danta's mind is already heady with lust even before the other man's teeth come locking against his neck, almost close enough to the jugular and windpipe to steal his breath completely. The soft sound of surprise that rumbles through his throat and chest is tinged with something that isn't quite pain, and it's with parted lips and fingers flinching against the other man's back that the Maverick resists the urge to press further into the sharp teeth.
He's given just enough time to snatch in a lungful of air before Asta's jaws come down a second time, and it's definitely a cry of pleasure that he drags from Danta's throat now. Tail thrashing, one of his legs comes up to lock around the other man's waist to pin him close, and the fingers that smooth up and through dark hair are greedy and insistent, pressing the other man's mouth closer against his flesh.
I slithered here from Eden just to sit outside your door
Table base by Skylark
Horns: Diamond - they look very similar to #2 in this image.
// a beast in the business of selling forgiveness //
It’s pleasant and comfortable, even if he knows that the Maverick’s neck and shoulders are going to be horribly sore tomorrow. It’s a problem for later as he growls against the pale offered flesh, that one tracked mind still focusing on not drawing blood. And he almost gets away with it, sucking a mark in against the teeth marks that are already reddening beneath his lips, hot tongue pressing against the air of salt of the other man’s skin. He lifts his head slightly to press yet another, re-darkening that mark from before, already knowing it’s tender, when Danta’s pulling him closer.
He does accidently bite down hard enough to draw just a little blood, enough to taste the iron on his tongue and pull him toward that frenzy he’s avoiding. He groans against Danta’s skin, leaving one hand at Danta’s chest to twist at a nipple while the other trails down between them, pressing against the Maverick’s groin as he starts to try and fumble his way through removing the rest of the clothing that separates them, all while lapping at that small wound he’d caused until it starts to cease. He seems tense, like a spring about to unload, but he does reluctantly pull away, trailing more kisses against the Maverick’s shoulder, panting.
