then pull me to the backseat

i'd probably still adore you with your hands around my neck

Having spent a rather informative few days at the House of Midnight, Everest had flown La Verbena to the Hollowed Grounds. That Isla was an Ancient and that the Grounds seemed to house the majority of her race was only a tangential consideration for the aviator. Given his appreciation and thirst for knowledge, if there were nuances to be gleaned from the Dusklight, he was happy to go in search of them.

So, unlike the majority of the clientele who stepped through the unassuming doors, Everest entered with a suitcase in hand and with on particular desires or preferences on his mind. Largely, that was still the problem he was sorting out: in a world with so many options, the aviator had no idea still what he really liked.

The transition from sunlight to organic red had the attuned blinking something as he let the door close softly behind him. Having no better idea what he liked to drink than how he liked to be fucked, Everest went to the bar and ordered himself a whiskey, shrugging when he was asked on the rocks?, before waiting for someone to come along and claim him for the evening.

That was how it worked, right?

.

you were automatic and as hollow as the 'O' in god

It might not be how it works, per say, but that isn't to say that the handsome aviator isn't drawing no end of attention as he arrives at the Dusklight - and with a suitcase in tow, as well. Still, given that he's at the bar rather than settled into one of the intimately tucked away booths or at the tables, the assumption seems to be (for now) that he's either already waiting for someone, or that he's here to drink alone. Shame, really.

Luckily for Everest, a tall blond is happy to come to his rescue, though it's from the other side of the bar. Having just stepped out from his office in the Backrooms (and gods the place is cloying with dread from the raven still caged within it), Danta is in need of a stiff drink himself. (Wink wonk).

He pours himself a whiskey - not on the rocks, as it happens - and leans against the counter to drink it, lifting his gaze to spot the newcomer at the bar. "You're a new face," he purrs, tilting his head and nodding at Ever's glass. "Need a refill?"

Dantalion

i'd probably still adore you with your hands around my neck

Oblivious, his lessons hadn't included flirting or even being able to seek out someone's gaze in a crowded room, Ever turns with obvious surprise toward the Maverick. Knowing exactly who he was looking at—Dahlia's lavender haze hadn't diminished his capacity for knowing his political figureheads—the aviator offers the blonde a polite smile before turning his blue gaze back to his glass. "New to you, maybe." He says, reaching for his tumbler and emptying it.

"Sure. But that one was too sweet." He says of the whiskey, disliking the sugary way it slid slowly down his throat only to pulse with dying heat in his stomach instead of burning the way he'd heard a good whiskey good.

"I've just come from the House of Midnight." Ever offers conversationally. "I was learning from some of their staff before I was told about the Dusklight."

.

you were automatic and as hollow as the 'O' in god

"New to me, indeed," Danta says, reaching for Ever's empty glass and opting to refill it with a measure of the liquor he'd chosen for himself. "Try this one instead," he suggests. Rich and dark and lightly spiced, hopefully the aviator will find it more to his liking. And if he doesn't? Well, they've got all night.

Learning from some of their staff has the Maverick's eyebrows raising, Danta propping his elbows against the bar as he leans in curiously. "Are you looking for a job, then?" he wonders with a tilt of his head, assuming that's what Ever means. "Because I'd consider it just by the look of you alone."

Compliments wrapped into flirting, Everest. Welcome to the Dusklight.

Dantalion

i'd probably still adore you with your hands around my neck

Smiling in thanks such that his dimples were on show beneath the days-old scruff on his cheeks, Everest lifted the glass to his nose and gave it the sort of pretentious sniff he'd seen from others, before glancing at Danta to see if the other man was also smelling his whiskey first.

"Oh, gods no." Shaking his head, it's with an amused laugh that he takes his first sip. Finding the whiskey appropriately biting, he coughs as the air in his mouth is seemingly reduced to flame. "I...really only became sexually active..oh..." Had he a watch to check, he might have done. "Two weeks ago?" Grimacing appropriately, though somehow just looking all the more endearing for it, the aviator shrugs without much shame. "Knowing I had a lot to catch up on, I thought I'd go to the experts to learn what I liked and didn't and how to be a good partner in bed."

Realizing belatedly what the Maverick had said, Ever glanced down at the sweater he was wearing with mild confusion. "Sorry, is that.." Smoothing down the front of it, he looks back to Danta. "..have I worn the wrong thing to be here?"

You've got to understand flirting, in order to be flirted with. Checkmate.

.

you were automatic and as hollow as the 'O' in god

Danta is not, of course, sniffing his whiskey first, but that's because he's liked this particular vintage for a while and he already knows what it smells like. Besides, he's much more interested in the dimples he can see beneath Ever's scruff, and what else might yet be hiding beneath his clothes. "Well that is a shame," he says with a crooked smile, only to nearly - but not quite, he's practiced at this - choke on his drink at the other man's next statement.

"I see," he says, straightening up with curiosity all over his face. "That is adorable," he informs him openly, flashing a fanged smile in his direction. "And what have you learned so far, I wonder?"

As for wearing the wrong thing, had Ever not spilled the beans on his inexperience only a moment ago, Danta might have told him he could have worn nothing at all and it would have still been the right thing. Instead he settles on a more direct approach, with a soft, "On the contrary - I was just implying that you were handsome."

Dantalion

i'd probably still adore you with your hands around my neck

Looking very properly like a puppy who is trying his best to understand the praise he thinks he's being given, Ever smiles slowly as he searches Danta's face for some reason to think he was the punchline of a joke. "Well, I know more than I did before I went in, though I was surprised by how varied sex can be." It's exactly the sort of naive thing one might expect someone like Ever to say. "I found that what I was drawn to one day wasn't that interesting the next. Did you know the House of Midnight's rooms can change, depending on how you want them? I had no idea something like that would make a difference." Reaching for his whiskey as he continued to try and recall the highlites of what he'd learned, Ever raises his glass to his lips.

"Oh, and I learned that I am a top."

As for the job offer which was actually a compliment, as the aviator takes his second sip—one that he manages far better than the first—Ever meets the Maverick's gaze with the soft sort of openness that comes from being a man who had no idea the usefulness of being handsome or even what it necessarily entails. "Thanks. You are too." Becaues it was polite to return a compliment, right?

"I'm Everest, by the way." Reaching out, the aviator offers a strong and vaguely calloused hand for the Maverick to shake.

.

you were automatic and as hollow as the 'O' in god

Now that it's gone from wait what to a proper conversation, for all intents and purposes, there's no better to talk about sex than in a brothel, so Ever is hitting all the right notes there. "Oh, yes," Danta agrees over the rim of his glass. "And even once you think you've gotten to grips with it all, there's always more to learn." So if Ever is an eager student, he might find this either pleasing or daunting.

"I did know that about the House of Midnight - I visited there quite recently myself. Our rooms aren't quite as special, but what you can get up to in them will more than make up for it." And if Ever plays his cards right (or plays his cards at all, as the case may be), Danta will be more than happy to show him.

And you know what? Knowing you're a top is an incredibly good start, in the Maverick's opinion. "Interesting. I enjoy being a switch, myself," he says, reaching out with ringed fingers to shake the other man's hand.

"Danta," he greets, more than happy to give his name in turn. "So do you know what you'd like to learn next? Or are you just going by feel?" Both literally and metaphorically.

Dantalion

i'd probably still adore you with your hands around my neck

"Really?" The corners of Ever's mouth Kombucha Girl as he weighs this new bit of information. Indeed it is daunting, and for a moment his expression falls slightly before the prospect of always bettering himself had his smile growing quite crooked if only because of how he attempted to stifle it. "Huh." He hums, sounding pleased.

Turning his attention firmly to the Maverick's experiences, rather than playing his cards, the aviator seems equipped only with a handful of marbles. Still, he is keen, if nothing else. "Is that so? Like what?" Assuming what Danta had meant was sex, Ever decided to clarify just in case.

"How do you know when you want to be one, rather than the other?" Maybe Everest wasn't a top, but merely hadn't found someone that he wanted to be topped by? Gods. Maybe he'd learned less than he'd thought.

Shaking the Maverick's hand firmly—while also trying to be careful not to press his ringed-fingers together too tightly—the aviator sighed heavily as he took a much healthier third tip of his drink, nearly finishing it off. "Well, I'd still like to learn how to last longer, but that might just come with time since everything is so new." He explains with a small shrug. "I don't think I would like roleplaying very much, but I would like to maybe try...I don't know, using things?" Ignorance had the aviator frowning softly as he lauged at himself. "But I don't know what sorts of things people normally use aside from, you know, handcuffs or something."

.

you were automatic and as hollow as the 'O' in god

Smiling into his drink as Ever digests that piece of information and lands on ding ding ding! perpetual learning, Danta watches the other man with a mix of open curiosity and approval. Eager if inexperienced, and more than happy to try anything to see what sticks? Sounds like a fine evening, in his experience. And so in response to like what?, he can only offer a fanged grin. "You said it yourself: sex is varied," he points out, finishing his own drink and straightening up suddenly.

"Come on," he invites. "I'll take you on a tour and you can get an idea what I mean." Because why tell when you can show?

As for the nature of his own preferences, Danta can't remember if he's ever been asked such a thing. And so, with an easy shrug, he offers out his hand to the aviator and hops over the bar so they can look around the Dusklight.

"Well," he says, "if the person I want to have sex with has a hard preference, it means I can step into whatever role works, but that sounds very clinical. Usually, it's more about how I want to feel. Sometimes I want to be grabbed and held and fucked. Other times I want to feel more dominant."

With a tilt of his head to hear Ever's list of potential brothel school subjects, Danta tries and fails to stop himself from smiling. "There are so many things you can use and enjoy," he all but promises. "Let's go. Maybe it'll make more sense if I show you."

Dantalion

i'd probably still adore you with your hands around my neck

"Sure." Hurrying to stand as if the tour might leave without him, Everest downed the remainder of his drink (instead of, you know, flirtatiously asking Danta for another or just bringing the glass with him), before fumbling for his bag.

Tilting his head slightly, he holds out his hand for Danta before the muscles in his arm stiffen to try and help ferry the man's weight over the bar. "You're very spry." He notes with a grin, before falling studiously into step with the taller man. Perhaps it had something to do with the difference in their body types, but Everest hadn't felt fucked by Thorn, so much as....well, he didn't really know. "I like the way it feels when someone tells you to fuck them, and then you do." The aviator explains. "I suppose I've never felt inclined to say that, or want that from someone else." He concludes, having only had sex for two weeks.

"And you can make yourself feel that way? No matter who you're with?" Thinking of dominance more as a physical trait than the sort of prowess he hasn't yet come to understand, Everest looks at the lanky blonde thoughtfully but was unable to think of him in the picture that his words were painting.

"I'd like that. If you have the time, of course. I don't want to be a burden, I can always wait for another time if that's better."

.

you were automatic and as hollow as the 'O' in god

"And I'm very good with my hands," Danta purrs as if to finish the compliment Ever has begun, straightening out his shirt and nodding for the other man to follow him. The aviator hasn't likely begun any studies into dirty talk, but needless to say, earnest though his statements might be, the Maverick is already feeling the sort of attraction towards the other man that would have him telling Everest to fuck him before too long.

"I wouldn't say I can make myself feel that way," he says, trying to put it into words. "It's like... sometimes I want to fuck a particular person, and so I am happy to be flexible depending on what they like. Other times, I'll look for someone to be with who will help me to feel the way I want to." The line between I want to fuck and I want to fuck you is a nuanced one, to be sure.

Danta does have the time, and he's already leading them out onto the main floor of the Dusklight. Out here, among the drinking, cavorting, gambling and chatter, Ever might sample a glimpse of a couple making out and groping, or someone blatantly receiving head tucked into one of the booths. "Some people enjoy it when others watch them," he explains, as if this public display has a reason other than depravity.

"Oh, and that person," he says, pointing to a man being fed strawberries whilst a dilligent worker strokes his cock, "probably likes to use food as one of those things you mentioned."

Dantalion

i'd probably still adore you with your hands around my neck

"Oh?" Ever's mind first interprets the Maverick's words as a simple statement of fact, before his newly acquired knowledge puts a slightly different spin on it. "Oh." Having at least some idea of what that was meant to mean thanks to Thorn's own skilled fingers, the aviator quietly clears his throat. It was difficult to both think and talk about sex without, you know, really thinking about it in a way which wasn't problematic.

"That's sort of how all of this makes me feel." Everest agrees, and though he misses the nuance in what the blonde is saying, he surprisingly does get the gist of it. "There's someone back home that I like, and even when I do orgasm and it feels good, it also feels different. But...maybe I'm still just doing things wrong." With a shrug, Ever continues to dutifully follow Danta along with his bag in hand and an expression of pure wonder and eagerness on his face.

Letting his gaze wander to where the man receiving oral was trying to carry on a conversation with the person next to him at the table as if there wasn't someone between his legs, the aviator pauses. If they liked to be watched then surely they wouldn't mind his gaze. Wanting to ask more questions about social sex, it was with a sharp inhale that Ever followed the Maverick's finger.

"He...food?!" Flushing, out of horror rather than arousal, Ever turned wide blue eyes toward the blonde as if expecting finger guns and a gotcha . "But what do strawberries have to do with it? Is there something in them? Some aphrodisiac, or..?"

.

you were automatic and as hollow as the 'O' in god

"Or maybe it's just that it feels better than good when it's with someone you have feelings for," Danta hazards a guess, and were it not for the fact that his new Dusklight customer has openly admitted to being near enough a blank slate when it comes (ha) to things like this, he might have tacked a duh onto the end of the sentence.

But then there's social sex and food play to observe, and the Maverick scoffs out a laugh to see the almost-disgust in Ever's expression. "Food," he repeats. "There are foods that are aphrodisiacs, and strawberries are one of them. So is chocolate, figs, that sort of thing. But honestly, I think he just likes them," he says of Strawberry Man.

"Anyway, come on."

And so they descend into the more private areas of the Dusklight. Not all rooms welcome people peeking in to observe, of course, and so Danta favours those where he knows they'll be well received. But their tour will introduce Everest to, in no particular order, the handcuffs he's already mentioned, blindfolds, ball gags and rope play, a whip, a threesome, a sex swing and - something that has Danta's jaw dropping in shock and delight (like Astarion when you open the barn door) - someone dressed like a milk cow.

Dantalion