#MY TAGLIST IM SO SORRY MY BEOVED TAGLIST

[crash-bump-bring-the-whump]

Whumpril 2024 - Day 4 - Swaying

Reality and Thanatos belong to @inscrutable-shadow !! God I love your boys thank you for letting me play with them c:

TWs: alcohol consumption, drunkenness, honestly it's just club stuff it's not heavy vibe wise

Bastian watched Mariano, leaning on the bar. He’d wanted to see what all the fuss was about with that fancy nightclub–The Realm. Allegedly it was fae-run, but he didn’t care either way. The bear of a bartender was worth the trip on his own, with his rolling gait and glowing golden eyes. Gabriel, he’d said his name was. 

They’d swapped numbers.  

“Your boy’s cute.” Gabriel said, passing Bastian another drink. Fluorescent and red, he’d called it Demon’s Blood. It tasted like biting into a fresh mango and went down easy like good vodka. Bastian immediately knew that Mariano would love it. 

“He is. So is Reality’s.” Bastian agreed with a grin, eyes drifting to where Mariano was dancing with Thanatos. His hips rolled, legs intertwined with the pretty vampire’s as they swayed with the crowd. He leaned in and said something against Thanatos’ ear, whatever it was making them both laugh. 

It wasn’t often that Mariano felt comfortable enough to let loose like this–they’d been dating for over a year by the time he’d even revealed that he COULD dance. But god could he put on a show when he wanted to, one arm looped around Thanatos to cage him in and keep him steady. His glowing white pact rings flicked towards Bastian and Gabriel now and then, making sure that they were still watching as his lips trailed to Thanatos’ jaw.

“Oh? I see Thanatos has finally loosened up.” Reality sounded as light as air when ae returned from talking to some particularly beautifully blossoming dryad. “Good, he’s needed this, I think. He’s been overthinking far, far too much.” 

“Don’t know many people who could keep thinking in general with Mariano grinding on them like that.” Bastian said, laughing as Mariano maneuvered them into more open space and dipped Thanatos easily.

“I couldn’t. I’d just eat him alive, or something.” Gabriel said, taking a sip from a water bottle he had nearby. “He’s just got one of those faces. Thanatos too.”

They watched Mariano spin Thanatos and release him, both grinning as the song faded into the next. Really, Bastian couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Mariano have so much fun. Mariano swayed back to the bar then with Thanatos at his side, the mage clearly too drunk to walk straight but somehow still confidently on his feet and walking a straight line. Bastian caught him when he got close enough, pressing a kiss to Mariano’s cheek. “Alright, water time, then back home.” 

“Ffffine, fine. Than–Thanatos, you, I…I want to give you my number, is that okay?” Bastian couldn’t help laughing as Mariano tilted in his arms, a gentle sort of worry winding into Mariano’s voice as he asked.

Reality seemed just as tickled as Bastian was as ae helped steady Thanatos. Thanatos, for what it was worth, flushed a pretty red and looked away before nodding. “I…would like that. Yes. Please.”

Not ten minutes later, they were waving goodbye to the cute fae and vampire, piling into a cab. “Sssso…so that's what people do in college?” Mariano's smile never wavered, clearly remembering why Bastian had dragged him out that night. “I see the…the appeal. That's way better than war crimes.”

Something twisted in Bastian's chest and he looped an arm around him, hugging Mariano close. “...Yeah. Yeah, it is.”

“Can we do it again sometime?”

The warm, easy hope in Mariano's voice, unmasked by his normal reservations and stoicism, hurt even worse. “Yeah, you're still pretty young. We could probably go out again next week if you wanted.” 

Mariano just hummed and leaned more heavily into Bastian. “Thanks.”

“...Yeah, any time, baby.”

@whumperofworlds @honeybees-125 @bxtterflystxtches and Coy you got pined already but ily so double ping @inscrutable-shadow