twoforsurprise | One Short Day In Antiva City

One Short Day In Antiva City

Davrin might have forgotten Lucanis' offer about the tailor, but he had not. Not all of their excursions were for fighting demons or cultists or darkspawn, and eventually Rook was going treasure hunting on the Rivani coast with Taash and Harding. And just them. Quite adamant that only Taash and Harding were needed, in fact.

Andraste preserve them, Rook was apparently becoming interested in matchmaking.

It worked out, though. The timing. Lucanis ever so casually mentions that Davrin promised to assist him in some errands in Antiva and Rook is just so happy they're not at each other's throats that they're told to not take however long they need. Lucanis makes a mental note to pick up something nice for Rook when they're in Antiva City.

Ah, Antiva City. A less beautiful Treviso, Lucanis used to say. That was before the Ossuary, before the occupation, before the blight. Now it's hard to not see everything that's been lost. He doesn't insult Davrin by assuming the man can't keep up with the Crow routes along the rooftops and across ziplines, so much faster than the weaving crowded streets up the hill the city is built on overlooking the harbor the few times they need to duck down to street level.

"Should be right around - ah, there it is," Lucanis declares once they're half way up the hill, the financial district of the city settled between the Palace at the top and the harbor and all the wealth the shipping industry brings. This time when he drops down to the street level it is where they'll stay for the time being, heading to an understated store front with a simple hanging sign that looks like an embroidered rose carved into the wood of it.

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Lucanis brought the snake around his wrist up to his face, pressing a gentle little kiss to her scaled body as she made herself quite comfortible around his wrist.

He'd like to change things, to keep another Illario from happening. To keep anyone else from feeling like that was the only option left for them. Maybe once blighted gods were defeated, that would seem like a much easier task to face.

"Would you like to meet Davrin, sweet girl? You will like him, I think. Here we go..."

He closed the small distance between the two of them, standing close to Davrin now, his wrist brought near Davrin's hand. He didn't think he needed to warn Davrin against sudden starling movements. Irene uncoiled a little bit from Lucanis, just enough so he could scent the air right next to Davrin, almost touching the elf with her tongue as she seemed to decide what to think of him. Lucanis remained relaxed, and so did she, soon enough moving to very carefully investigate his hand. It helped that Lucanis had Davrin's scent on him, and Davrin had Lucanis'.

Davrin was slightly concerned the scent of griffon on him- a predator to pretty much everything as far as he knew- might have a negative effect. But he supposed Lucanis had a pretty heavy dose of Assan on him at this point, too. He slowly moved his hand to rest on Lucanis', making a gapless bridge the snake could cross over if she pleased. With, of course, the side benefit of putting them back in contact.

"Hello, ma'am. I've heard a lot about you."

What a coincidental side benefit. Lucanis enjoyed it too, feeling the warmth off of Davrin where they were touching. Irene continued to move slowly and carefully, but even if her exploration was shy she seemed perfectly happy to do them, inching across their joined hands to investigate Davrin's wrist as she had previously been wrapped around Lucanis'.

"Ah, she likes you, I knew it. Charmer."

Lucanis glanced away from her to smile up at Davrin.

"She shares her father's excellent taste."

He'd stand and let the snake go where it wished, watching without even a hint of tension, let alone fear. It didn't even have everything to do with the monster hunter in him. It was trust, pure trust in the man besides him. Davrin had full faith that, should the snake bite, Lucanis wouldn't let him die.

"You sure you don't want to bring her to the Lighthouse? Manfred would be a fun obstacle course for her."

"Ah, you make it tempting..."

That was a sweet thought, Irene exploring the skeletal servant. Manfred seemed careful enough that Lucanis didn't think he would let her be harmed? There was always worry, though, especially when she could so easily accidentally harm if she was startled. He did keep anti-venom for her always near her habitat, though, and she had only ever bitten one person by accident.

Funny enough, it had been Viago.

"I suppose she might not find the Fade as unsettling as others."

Davrin's relaxed body language, the way he smelled like Lucanis, with Lucanis right there also clearly relaxed and calm had her brave indeed, looped around Davrin's wist with a bit of her tail still touching Lucanis'. She was a relatively small thing, for being so potent - about as long as Lucanis' fingertip to elbow, and with a little wiggling back and forth made herself very comfortable there.

"Assan loves it. Maybe animals are closer to their dreams than us."

He kept his arm still, letting her settle. Only moving, slowly, so he and Lucanis were shoulder to shoulder, close enough he could lean the side of his head against the other mans. Feeling somewhat like he was passing the only important test as to whether he was allowed to keep courting Lucanis or not.

"Or she'd summon a spirit army and destroy us all."

It was a sense of peace that Lucanis was fast coming to associate with the mere presence of Davrin, leaned slightly against him, he brought his free hand up to gently pet Irene's scaled head as she seemed perfectly content to take the rest of her post-meal nap right there on Davrin's wrist.

"If she summoned a spirit army, it would be to feed her, first."

So they would have a little warning.

"I have a smaller enclosure for her to stay in when this one needs cleaning... maybe I will see how she fairs for a day or two in the Lighthouse before bringing the whole thing over."

Or maybe the Lighthouse would simply make one as needed. It didn't function on normal rules of reality. But this way if it was too startling for her or anyone was upset by having her there, it would be easy enough to bring her back. Lucanis had to admit, now that he'd seen her again and saw she had not forgotten him, he missed her a great deal.

He nodded, letting the moment hold for now. It was terribly domestic, talking about moving pets and introductions to them, and it was a welcome break from the madness that was both the gods and Lucanis' new title.

"Maybe even find a room not a kitchen pantry for her?"

Not for Lucanis, of course. Nothing like that. For her, that Lucanis could happen to also share. And maybe pick up some personal items of his own beyond a coffee set and hard wood cot.

Lucanis did wonder what Assan would make of her. He was a predator - moreover, cats and falcons both predators of snakes specifically - but he was also something more than just an animal. He displayed an intelligence far beyond even the bred-to-be-too-smart dogs that came out of Ferelden.

He raised an eyebrow at the suggestion of a different room for her. Of course he'd need to be with her to keep an eye on her, so he'd have to go with...

"Do you have a suggestion of a space?"

He tried to keep the question light and casual, chickening out at the last minute from asking if Davrin was volunteering.

"I can think of a few places."

The height of bravery, the both of them. They stayed in the living Fade, if Lucanis wanted a room to appear specifically for his snake the Lighthouse would provide. Or if Davrin wanted a room to accommodate two for the long term, that too would be simple enough- somehow. He wasn't sure how it worked, exactly. If he'd need to speak to the Keeper or if it would simply accommodate based on will. His room had simply appeared last time. Maybe Bellara would know.

"But we should see if you snore in a soft bed before making any plans."

Two men who fearlessly handled the possibility of death every day. It was the living part that was frightening. Lucanis scoffed.

"If anyone snores, it's clearly going to be you. Like a bear."

The familiar ground of prodding, teasing. Lucanis smiled.

"I'll put her back in her enclosure - before she gets annoyed about being moved from her new favorite napping spot. Come here, darling."

That last part was to the snake, ever so gently pulling away from Davrin and urging her to uncoil from him. There was a brief moment showered she curled tighter around his wrist instead, but aside from that small display of petulance she allowed Lucanis to unwind her and return her to the safety of her miniature jungle, slipping back into the cover of the greenery.

Davrin watched, a faint fond and amused smile playing on his lips as the grand First Talon, most feared assassin and legendary mage-slayer, cooed at his pet snake and put her away. She might be safer at the Lighthouse for more reasons than just tricking Lucanis into living in a room. If anyone wanted to get at Lucanis in a similar way they'd attacked his grandmother by killing his family members, they'd go after the snake. Mercy on anyone that tried, but she was still a...well, cute was the only word, weak spot for the man.

"Punching bears doesn't transfer their strength and snoring to me, you know. If fighting something managed that, you'd be an all powerful mage by now."

Lucanis double-checked that none of the openings on her enclosure were unlatched before he turned away from it to regard Davrin. He had no control of the glowing, of Spite's wings, but sometimes the demon and him were on the same page.

The wings flashed and stretched out in a brilliant display before vanishing again, Lucanis looking at Davrin expectantly.

"You were saying, Orsacchiotto?"

No, it wasn't exactly magic, but still...

"Two against one's cheating."

His laughter probably took the edge off the accusation- and wasn't that Lucanis showing off his abomination skills was funny now a sign of how far they'd come. A couple of months ago he'd have drawn his sword. Now he leaned in to kiss his temple, wry smile still in place.

"But I guess I'll have to get used to it, huh."

Truly a sign of the changing times. Especially Spite's pleased purr in Lucanis' mind as Davrin found it as entertaining as they'd both hoped and he'd gotten a kiss out of it, too.

"Mmhmm. You would use Assan to help you, if you could. Admit it. Let's go see if we need to hunt down more linens."

Perhaps they would drape Illario's room in dust cloths now, too. Lucanis would have to make sure anything he found important was kept safe- he knew where many of the hiding spots were, he was certain. Later, though. Now he was taking Davrin's hand once more to head to his own room.

"A terrifying hunt, I'm sure."

He let himself be tugged along, almost asking if they should look for Illario's important items before the staff came along- but, no. That man had taken up enough of their thoughts and time for at least the day. It was time to focus on more pleasant things.

"Are the closets trapped with poison needles? Taash warned me about opening doors on my own in the 'Crow House.'"

"I promise not to direct you to any trapped closets. Or force you to speak with any of the staff. I know how distressed you get from needing to acknowledge your lessers."

Okay, that was a bit of an extreme tease there, Lucanis bumping his shoulder with Davrin. He suspected he knew the real reason for Davrin's apparent discomfort around staff in a big house, and he was hardly the first to have such feelings. The way back to Lucanis' room started to take some familiar turns of Davrin was paying attention during their initial break-in. While it was not right across from Caterina's rooms, it was noticeably nearby them. Especially contrasted with Illario's. When Lucanis pushed that door open - again, unlocked - it was not the dire circumstances he was concerned about... but at the same time, there were little tells about that this had been only changed in the last hour or so. Probably while they were seeing to Irene, honestly.

While not identical to Illario's room it held much the same. Ever so slightly larger in space, but that just emphasized the emptiness of it. Instead of a vanity there was a bookshelf, and a slightly darker patch of the flooring where Irene's enclosure had once been for years, long enough that the minor discoloration showed.

Well, one other difference. Illario had hidden away things he found important. Lucanis just didn't have them, aside from his snake.

"Ah, no need for a hunt after all."

"Your pantry is starting to look homey."

He was harping on the same point, but it was still unsettling. So much space, every inch of it highlighting over and over how impersonal it all was. Other than Irene's cage, it looked like any member of the family could sleep in any room without truly noticing. Save for how close they were allowed to be to the grandmother. That seemed a very purposeful means of establishing the familial pecking order.

He released Lucanis to go look out the window, take in exactly where above Treviso they were, what could be seen. How much Blight obstructed the view. Leaving Lucanis to do whatever he would need to do to consider the room acceptable for the night.

"I knew you would eventually come to understand it's charm."

Choosing to focus on what he enjoyed about the pantry rather than what Davrin clearly did not like about this.

It was different, when there actually was family other than the three of them. Caterina still ruled with an iron fist, of course, but there were others for her to split her attention between, others to act as a buffer between her and the youngest.

The view was -- honestly, still pretty good. Lucanis' main windows faced out towards the sea... ironically, given what happened to him ... and while the Blight hit the city and the canals hard, it hadn't quite moved out into the ocean to such a noticeable degree. if you tilted your head just right and maybe closed one of the curtains, you couldn't even see it. Lovely moonlight over the water and the shadowy figures of the ships anchored in the bay.

The benefit to such an empty room made checking it easy. Sure it was his home, but Venatori had recently been in residence. Lucanis did a standard sweep as he would do with any unfamiliar place he intended to sleep in, which generally involved two passes in differing order the second time. It also meant he could see that his wardrobe had freshly laundered clothing for sleeping in, even if the rest was rather sparse and likely still being cleaned of the vague mothy smell that hadn't been able to be quite beaten out of the room entirely with the quick cleaning. He grabbed a pair of comfortable pants to sleep in for himself, then the biggest he had for Davrin. It might not be quite as comfortably roomy on the elf as it was on Lucanis, but it should work.

"Catch."

Was the warning Davrin got before he was tossed the clothing.

If nothing else, Warden training had prepared him enough to catch a dangerous pair of flying pants. He caught the clothing in one hand, registering what it was only after, and then cocked his head to the side to Lucanis up and down. The hunt for linens was off, but Davrin clearly had a different one in mind as he slowly started to stalk towards Lucanis, outlined in moonlight from the still open curtains behind him.

"The First Talon can't be expected to undress himself, can he?"

In turn, Lucanis was quite distracted at first by the way Davrin's demeanor seemed to shift when he looked at the pants then looked over at Lucanis, the way he moved that had Lucanis' mouth going dry.

"Ah?"

Oh. Oh. The way the heat became so much more when that question registered. His hands had started to go to his own fastenings, armored as he was in his Crow leathers. They fell away instead, leaving everything as done up as it had started in.

"I suppose not. But the staff are so busy with the party..."

He could see the moment Lucanis picked up on the game, and the look of recognition paired with the acceptance of the invitation sent his blood rushing. It would take a few minutes to remove just out of sheer practicality for how much more securely fitted the armor was compared to casual clothing, but he had no intentions of drawing it out this time. What the future held with the Gods and Lucanis leading the Crows was uncertain, but here and now Davrin knew exactly what he wanted.

He came within inches of Lucanis before slightly side stepping, moving to stand behind him and trail his fingers along the back of neck, down along where his spine would be below the armor.

"Do you want to lock the door? The party will end eventually."

Eager prey, fellow predator - Lucanis watched Davrin's approach with rapt attention, all of it focused on the other man now where it had previously been spread across the room to look for every single disturbance of his space. He was ready to reach out for Davrin and pull him into a kiss first but the man goddamn sidestepped at the last minute. Lucanis couldn't be mad - a stranger at his back set him on edge, but by now having Davrin there was not only a comfort but an excitement as well.

It had the high possibility of being a long night in a very good way, now.

"You don't want to risk an audience?"

It was another tease - Lucanis absolutely did not want to do that. He still took a moment to lean back into those teasing fingers before sighing, stepping away to slide the bolt in place in the closed door. No chance of being disturbed now.

"With our luck? It would be your grandmother. Rook was bad enough."

Though, considering Rook had been invited to the party, there was still a chance it could be Rook just opening the door without knocking. The thought put a wry smile on his face that Lucanis might be able to feel as Davrin took the steps needed to regain his previous position and leaned in to kiss softy along his neck.

"We can just sleep. If you want that."

He could feel the curl of those lips against his neck and barely bit back a groan at it, tilting his head to offer more of said neck to Davrin. As much as he wanted. Emotionally wrung out as this evening had been for Lucanis, he was quickly finding an additional store of energy. For certain activities, anyway...

"I want you."

No shame or embarrassment to the admission. It was probably better he didn't know about Davrin's concerns about possibly being a secret to someone in Lucanis' position. Habitually private in his own business as he was, he'd announce it to all of Treviso. Not that it would be necessary - Lucanis had taken his hand at the celebration and they had left together. Discreetly or not, it was a room full of trained assassins, no less than a dozen noticed these things, and that information would be to the rest by sunrise.

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(Rook, running interference on Caterina like "They'd better be grateful for this..." )