deathsmajesty | The Creepy And Now Holiday-Appropriate Mansion, Thursday Evening

The Creepy And Now Holiday-Appropriate Mansion, Thursday Evening

Once again, the gate that blocked off the bottom end of Phoenix Way was opened, inviting everyone to the creepy (though much less abandoned) mansion. This time, however, instead of being guided around to the gardens, the lit path led them to the front door, where the a tall figure in a tattered robe and deep cowl gestured for them to step inside the door and get onto a...boat? Once people had climbed in settled themselves, the ferryman began to guide the ship down the River Styx. Or, okay, their long entrance hallway, with blue lights to either side of their boat to mimic water and bathing everyone in an eerie blue glow. (Yes, okay, the boat perhaps wheeled down the hallway rather than floated, but they had not refinished this house just to flood the hallway for verisimilitude. Even if Liliana had considered it for a few minutes.)

The double doors leading to the ballroom were opened, with thick fog rolling out of the doorway. And through that doorway, people could descend the stairs into the Underworld proper. Black and gold were the prevailing color, with deep red nods to a pomegranate motif. Gold coins and loose gemstones added to the decor, a nod to Hades' wealth - but even amidst all the dark opulence, touches of other colors could be seen: tucked away in various corners and small niches were flowering plants, a surprise kiss of springtime to be found in the least likely places. Rather than one large chandelier, they had several, creating areas of both light and shadow around the ballroom.

Welcome to the Underworld, dear friends.

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Duke dropped a quick kiss to her hair. "Mochof. I'll let you know." He smiled. "And if you want to use me as an excuse to clear out yourself, just let me know."

Octavia nodded, but she also said, "So far, I'm doing okay." Parties were still not her natural habitat, but she was pretty good in a crowd, these days. Even know, when she'd found an all-new weight to carry. "Besides..." And here, her head tilted just a fraction, as she looked him over. "I'm enjoying seeing you here. Looking like that."

All the florals were kind of making her want to put her hands all over him, and not for the usual reasons. Well, not just, anyway: he really was unbelievably pretty, like this.

"Yeah?" Duke preened a little under her gaze. "Lucifer won't shut up about my clashing florals. It's adorable."

Octavia's free hand came up to lightly brush over the pomegranate brooch he was wearing.

"He's just deflecting from the urge to do things to you that aren't appropriate for a party."

“Oh, he’s definitely doing that,” Duke agreed easily. “He’s just also enjoying our game where he objects to my entire aesthetic and pretends not to understand why I still look so hot in it.”

"I don't know if he's pretending," Octavia replied, letting her fingertips sneak up, and up, and up. Touching his hair and then, only barely, the laurel crown. "I think it might be a genuine conflict in his brain."

Her gaze lingered with her fingers.

"I keep telling him he's got to learn to broaden his palate," Duke noted, ducking his head a little to give her more access to that crown. "Usually he just mutters something about plaids, though."

That was just an invitation for her to carefully explore the contours of the golden leaves even more. So that was what Octavia was doing, a single fingertip brushing feather-light along their edges.

There may have been a thought brewing.

"He'll learn," she rasped. "And if he doesn't, you still have me."

And what Lucifer would likely have called her lack of taste.

"I do," Duke agreed, watching her face. Wondering what was on her mind. "And Luce does a good job of putting up with me, plaid and all."

The thought was bound to come out sooner or later. Right now, though, the expression on Octavia's face was... Well, something about it seemed to fit the suit she was wearing. Like there was something steady in her, and maybe a little calculating, but not in a bad way.

There was reverence in how her hand moved, but he didn't exactly have the best vantage point to see that.

"He loves you."

He didn't. But he liked that steadiness. It looked good on her.

"I know he does," he said. "You both do. And I am so lucky."

Octavia's hand slid away from the crown, and over his hair instead.

She finally looked him in the eye again, with that same steadiness.

"Are we still on for tomorrow?"

"Yes," Duke said firmly. "Your little boat or mine?"

"I was thinking maybe the house after all."

Well, the reasons she originally hadn't even considered it an option... Let's say she'd had some sense knocked back into her, on that front.

"Oh yeah?"

The smile went a little wicked as he thought about why she might be suggesting that.

"Yeah, that sounds good. Lucifer will be happy we're using it, for sure."

But did he know how much brighter all the pretty things on him looked when he smiled like that?

Because Octavia did.

She nodded. It was a precise, slow movement. "Maybe bring your crown, too."

It was an idle suggestion. Surely it had nothing at all to do with all the attention she'd just been giving it atop his head, or the thoughts she'd been thinking.

"At this rate? You might have to force me to take it off," Duke said, only partially joking. "I'm glad you like it."

This nod was even smaller.

"It's pretty," she said, her gaze flicking up to it again. "Noble."

And back to his eyes.

"I like that on you."

And something about that felt like it might be a path. To something. Some things.

"I like it on me, too," Duke admitted. He reached up, his own fingers stopping just short of brushing the crown. "This whole look, but also, like . . . the Persephone thing. It feels like it . . . fits."

Something in Octavia's expression softened instantly. Not like a spell had been broken but like... another took its place.

"Yeah," she said. "It does."

“I’ve got my seasons a bit backwards,” Duke said wryly, dropping his hand from his head to drape over her shoulder. “But we’ll make it work.”

Octavia's hand curled around his arm, for another point of contact.

"Yeah we will," she agreed. Her voice dropped lower, still soft. "Persephone has too much sway not to."

"I only really know the general details," Duke admitted. "You'll have to tell me her whole story sometime."

"Sometime," Octavia promised. "But right now... we should do something else."

"We should," Duke agreed. "Anything in particular you had in mind?"

The Creepy And Now Holiday-Appropriate Mansion, Thursday Evening

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