DreadRedQueen

Snippet:

"What’s on the to-do list today?" She asks.

He joins her at the table, tucking into his own food.

"First, we collect our order from Enzo, then we get the ingredients I need for dinner and dessert for your parents coming over. Then, we should practice your set for tonight." He says, sipping his coffee.

"You’ll be playing with me?" She asks with a hopeful smile.

"Yes." He smiles. "I look forward to it." He adds.

Playing together was one thing, but to perform with her, that had been a dream of his for a while.

"That will be fun! Sounds like we have a busy day today." She grins

"Yes, it will be." He chuckles.

"We should get started!" She says as she finishes eating.

"Yes," he agrees, finishing his coffee and food and carrying the plates to the sink.

She helps him clean up, excited to see her dress.

He chuckles, sensing her excitement.

Spite darts into the living room, his ears back, eyes wide.

He darts under the living room table, then darts back upstairs like a rocket.

"Maker, maybe I shouldn't have given him some catnip this morning." Lucanis chuckles, watching his cat race around the house like a lunatic.

"At least he’s entertained?" She giggles.

"I'm hoping it will tire him out enough that he behaves tonight." He chuckled, drying his hands.

"Come on, let's go." He smiles, heading for the front door, pulling on his coat, and grabbing his car keys from the dish on the way.

She follows after him, grabbing her coat as well.

He opens the doors for her, and soon they are driving into the city.

He changes gear, joining the highway, the city flying by, as he drives a little faster than he should.

He weaves through the traffic and down into the city limits to Enzo's private car park.

He kills the engine and gets out, opening Lily's door with a smile.

"Someone is excited," She teases with a giggle. "I am too, so I can’t blame you." She grins.

"I want to see what masterpiece Enzo has made for you." He chuckles, helping her out of the car and locking it.

He guides her towards the Tailors with his hand on the small of her back.

The tailor's is quiet, the only sound is the bell ringing above the door as they enter.

There is movement in the back area, and then Enzo walks through the curtain.

"Ah, Señor Dellamorte, I was hoping that was you." He chuckles, walking up to them.

"We’re excited to see the dress!" She smiles.

"And I'm excited to show you, it just might be my finest work." Enzo chuckles.

"Please, right this way." He bows, gesturing for them to follow him out back.

Snippet:

The villa comes into view, the guards let them past and they follow Altara to the garden patio. A table has been set up with fresh tea, coffee and hot chocolate, plates and cutlery have been left out for the cake.

A young servant, Dante, recognises smiles when she notices them and waves before heading inside.

Altara smiles, sensing Lucanis and Spite nearby, she glances across the courtyard and grins, " Cake with a view, how delightful.

Dante hears the sound of swords clashing and grunts before they see them. It seems Lucanis and Spite were sparing, they were fast, darting around eachother, shirt sleeves rolled up, sans waist coats.

"Oh! Spite must be happy. How long do you think they've been sparring?" Dante asked as they sat down at the table and watched intently, paying attention to tactics and form, despite how fast the sparring match went.

"Judging from what im feeling through the bond, a while," Altara smirked. Spite and Lucanis had not realised they had an audience yet, they were far too distracted.

Lucanis manages to disarm Spite, sending his sword flying and skidding on the ground, Lucanis's sword now at Spite's throat.

He stepped closer. Spite was breathing hard. They stare at eachother for a moment, and then they are kissing. Lucanis pulls Spite into him, and a moment later, he's pressing Spite against a tree, the kiss becoming heated.

Altara clears her throat rather loudly, and the men part abruptly. Lucanis looks incredibly flustered when he realises he has an audience.

Spite is leaning against the tree, looking very disappointed when Lucanis picks up his sword and hands it to him. Spite pouts, realising their little moment has been interrupted, though he smiles when he spots Altara, and she waves.

"Oh my." Manuelle blushes furiously.

"Maker." Toya fans herself.

Altara chuckles in amusement, both from their comments and the flush of embarrassment she feels from Lucanis, he did tend to get a little swept up in the moment whenever he sparred with her or Spite.

"You can't use that distraction on the field, it doesn't work!' Dante jokes with a laugh, looking anywhere but at them.

Lucanis: "Ah, but im not in the field and I had already won." He chuckles, his cheeks still a little flushed, but he tries to play it off.

"Lucanis likes it when I'm distracting." Spite grins, Lucanis pinches the bridge of his nose and groans.

"Maker, Spite." He groans in embarrassment.

"How was your shopping trip?" he asks, trying to change the subject

"It was fun! Never seen that many expensive dresses in one place, or like all the jewellery. That was all so expensive and honestly a bit overwhelming, but it was fun!" Dante says excitedly.

"I take it you took them to your favourite tailor." Lucanis chuckles at Altara.

"Of course, He makes fantastic dresses. I dont remember you complaining about my wedding dress he made." She grins.

"Of course not, it was beautiful." He chuckles, though he had enjoyed taking it off more. He gives her a look, and she chews her lower lip.

Altara smirks knowingly and mouths 'later.' to him before opening the box containing the cake.

"I got some for you to." She smiles at him as he takes a seat next to her.

"Me too?" Spite asks, sitting next to her, he liked cake.

Snippet:

Lucanis opens the front door and greets Pike, letting him into the porch.

Pike closes the front door as Lucanis opens the inner door, and they both enter the house.

The inner door closes behind them with a soft click

"Something smells good, why cant all Talons treat me to dinner when they want me to do something for them?" Pike chuckles.

"Please, Pike, I'm not First Talon yet, we are equals." Lucanis chuckles.

"We have never been equals, Dellamorte, you're the Demon of Vyrantium." Pike grins.

"Please dont call me that." Lucanis sighs wearily.

Their conversation continues as they walk down the hall towards the living room.

"Where's my boy Spite?" Pike asks, looking around.

Spite perks up at his name, the toy forgotten as he jumps off Lily's lap with a meow.

"There he is." Pike grins, reaching into his pocket and pulling out something wrapped in paper.

He opens it and kneels down, offering a small piece of meat.

"My offering to the king of the house." He chuckles.

Spite trots up to him excitedly and takes the offering with a purr, chewing it happily on the floor.

Pike glances up at Lily.

"You must be Lily the Songbird." He grins, sauntering over and taking her hand, kissing the back of it.

"A pleasure to meet you, my lady." He purrs before releasing her hand.

Lucanis narrows his eyes and then shakes his head.

"Careful, crow." He warns, and Pike stands up straighter.

"Yep, that's me." Pike grinned, backing up when Lucanis looked at him.

"Shall we eat?" Lucanis asks, heading for the dining table.

She smiled and followed Lucanis to the table. She helped pour the wine and brought it to the table.

"Not going to lie, part of me agreed to this job because Lucanis's cooking is so damn good." He jokes, taking his seat, if he was to be Lily's bodyguard, that probably meant he would get to sample his cooking more often.

"Should I inform Teia your forging payment, and will take it in the form of meals then?" Lucanis jokes.

"dont you dare, I need the money." Pike laughs

"His cooking is amazing," she agrees, smiling at Lucanis. Pike seems nice so far. She was a little worried initially, but her fears are disappearing. He was a good guy.

"Jokes aside, I'm here to protect you, Lily. You can trust me, Lucanis is a good friend, and he has saved my ass many times. I owe him, and I won't let you down. That said, im not going to get in your way." Pike smiles.

"You need me close, let me know, you want me to be invisible, I can do that too, but rest assured, even if you think im not there, I will be close by and I will protect you with my life." He reassures her, his expression deadly serious.

Lucanis smiled. Pike was good at his job and loyal. He couldn't ask for a better person for the job, and he trusted him to keep his hands to himself, that was just as important to him as keeping her safe.

"You don’t have to be invisible! I’d… like to be friends if you don’t mind. It’ll just take some getting used to," She smiles at Pike. "You seem like a fun guy." She grins.

"I would like to be friends too." Pike smiled. It made the job easier if the client liked him.

The world shifts a sensation Dante is well used to, the physical realm transforming into the great expanse of the fade, the sky an array of colours, the stone archway comes into view, and Spite stoops to pass through, slowly so as not to startle Manuelle.

"Maker, what is that?" Manuelle squeaks, hiding behind Dante.

"It's ok, I won't hurt you, it's me, Spite," Spite says softly, though his voice is still quite loud and bassy in his true form.

"Determination." Devotion says excitedly, their golden form floating over to embrace him.

"Hello." He greets them, curling a wing around them.

Dante chuckles, seeing the two spirits greeting each other. It was nice to see Devotion being happy. They look back at their sister.

"Manu?" They smile.

"Is that really Spite?" Manuelle asks, clinging to them.

"Look, my origin." Devotion sings, pointing to Spite. They drift over to Manuelle and spin on the spot, their golden light soft and warm.

"Oh, Devotion, you're so pretty." Manuelle smiles, giving them a kiss. They press their foreheads together in greeting.

"It's really Spite. You have nothing to worry about." Dante could feel the warmth of Devotion light. "You two are adorable, you know that?" They chuckle.

Spite trills and calls for his wisps. It sounds like whale song.

"Greetings," Hope sings, appearing first and floating next to him.

"Hello." Love joins the song, following Hope.

"Welcome." Empathy appears last, and dances around Spite's head in greeting.

"Devotion, join us," Spite says softly, as he sits down, crossed-legged, his wings spreading.

"Family." Devotion sings, floating over to join him.

"Ready to train?" Spite asks Dante with a grin once everyone is settled.

Dante pays attention for a moment to the song of the spirits, feeling both soothed and energised by it. They nod and then look at their sister and grin.

"I'm ready." They grin. "Are you ready, sis?" They ask.

"What, um, do I need to do?" Manuelle asks nervously.

"Speak with Devotion, bond." Spite smiles softly, his 6 eyes blinking independently.

"Dante, teach you to call spirits." He grins. "Safe way." He adds.

"Oh, really? Nice." Dante was excited to learn, taking a deep breath to calm down, and concentrating on Spite, listening to his instructions.

"Yes, must concentrate, never call them without Spite, Cant protect you otherwise," Spite growled.

"Feels like home but not home." Devotion muses, playing with Spite's feathers, making him twitch occasionally, sometimes playfully swatting her with his wing.

"So you were one being before?" Manuelle asks Devotion.

"Yes, vast, the infinite, but cut away, taken." She sighs. Spite's wing curled around them comfortingly

"Safe now, a family again." Spite smiles before returning his attention to Dante.

"Spirit calling is like soothing, must look for right emotion. focus, whisper their names." He smiles, glancing at hope, love and empathy, and nodding his head, the three wisps disappear.

"Concentrate, call them back, one by one." He grins.

Dante closed their eyes, feeling the flow of magic around them, breathing it in slow rhythmic breaths.

They concentrate on love first, feeling the warmth of a memory filled with the feeling of home, of family, of love. They call out the spirit's name, their whisper barely audible on the wind but shimmering like a bell, their own feeling of love bright and loud.

Spite watches them for a moment before looking around, making sure it is safe.

Devotion had grown tired of playing and was resting against Spite's side, smiling as if basking in the magic that seemed to shift around him.

"Home." She sighed happily.