Originally designed to test the effects of sunlight on daemonkind, the solar irradiator also suited testing purposes for close-quarters and long-term combat for Ardyn. Larger rooms below, such as the one where he fought Lucian soldiers or the Infernian, were not technically built to sustain his daemonic powers and required too much caution from Ardyn for the results to be worth it—according to Verstael observing him beyond the barred walls. Ardyn did not much care these days where or what he fought if it staved off the ravenous bitterness stewing in his heart.
Fighting in a blur of red light and thick swirls of black and purple smoke, Ardyn cackled manically. The Starscourge coursed through him, molten and roiling, with the atmospheric energy of his royal arms charged like the air before a brutal storm. Oh, and what a storm he made. Sliding seamlessly in and out of darkness, Ardyn was not confined to the corporeal like others were. The destruction and havoc wrought by his hand was exquisite and as divine as Verstael had always claimed. It paled in comparison to the damage dealt in his undying state, which he sometimes craved for its untethered anguish, but this would be enough to sate him for today.
And Verstael as well. His analytical gaze fixed on Ardyn, no simple task, and a voracious grin drew attention to his graceful features. Despite the indomitable drive nested within his twisted, gnarled heart, there was a delicate quality to Verstael as well. He was too keenly aware of his short time on Eos and he yearned for more. It was precisely that selfish, curious disregard for the will of the gods and order of nature that Ardyn most prized in him.
When the last daemon he fought faded away in a haze, the gates whirred open to Verstael already up the staircase and through the doors.
"Excellently done," he praised with that enthusiastic edge to his voice whenever an experiment went his way. "Ardyn, these findings—"
Dismissing the royal arms with a sweeping gesture, Ardyn strode up to Verstael and snaked a hand behind his neck to brace him for what came next. Namely, Ardyn drawing him into a heated kiss. A hand pressed against his chest in surprise, joined by a muffled noise of shock, but that quickly disappeared as the muscles in his neck relaxed. Wrapping his fingers tightly in Ardyn's scarf, Verstael tilted his head and kissed him back. As though he'd been the one fighting with wanton abandon, the thrill of it still surging in his veins… Heh. Ah, Verstael.
Ardyn gave into what they both wanted, deepening the kiss until Verstael turned away to breathe. A flattering blush dusted his fair cheeks while Ardyn allowed the poor chief researcher to collect himself.
"Well, that was all very sudden, wasn't it?"
"Breathtaking," he agreed, talking quite literally as he was prone to. An eagerness flared in his crystalline blue eyes before he'd so much as made eye contact with Ardyn. "I wonder what caused it. Perhaps, with further study—"
Chuckling, Ardyn caressed from his neck up into the hair at the base of his head. "Oh, Verstael. If you want more, you need only ask."
Verstael looked unusual like that, almost hopeful, warmth blazing brighter across his freckled cheeks. Almost cute. And here Ardyn thought he knew every aspect of the man who rescued him from that wretched prison. His gnawing determination that knew no limits or moral boundaries. His unshakable confidence in his skills. The perilously fragile dream to be immortal. And then, this: a longing for something more from Ardyn himself. A monster, a stain upon Eos that marred the proud name of Lucis, but not to Verstael. Never to him. Where even Ardyn had seen a cursed existence and nothing more, Verstael realized his potential beyond simply suffering.
Of which there was still plenty to be had, naturally. By the gods, there was an ample supply. And yet… Ardyn smirked, taking his hand away to remove Verstael's from his scarf.
"What are you—?"
"I am waiting," Ardyn taunted him with his answer. Trailing two fingers along the angled jawline of his apparent subject of desire, Ardyn brought his voice down to a menacing tease. "But you should know by now that I am not patient."
As predicted, Verstael's eyes sharpened at that. He did love a challenge, and Ardyn was glad to indulge his baser impulses. "Then why bother with waiting?"
"Why?" Ardyn echoed, punctuating the question with another flippant laugh. "Why, because I wish to hear you ask me." Trotting past Verstael and down the steps, Ardyn rested against the back of one of the lifeless and bland couches in this sterile place they so generously called home. "What lover wouldn't long to hear how their beloved longs for them?"
And how that blush was united with his exasperated scowl were absolutely everything Ardyn could have hoped for. Where was the joy in following the winding trail of this if he was not going to humor his own need to push Verstael from time to time?
With pointed steps to wait at the top of the stairs, just beyond where the gates closed behind him, Verstael clearly committed his clever mind to outmaneuvering Ardyn in this little game of theirs. "I would like to ask you for further assistance in this matter."
"Hm? Silly me, it seems I have forgotten." Tapping his chin in mock thoughtfulness, Ardyn let a playful smirk take over when he did stand from the couch to wait at the base of the steps for the blond to make his move in return for this question. "What matter would that be?"
Brushing past Ardyn, Verstael picked up a data pad or some such and busied himself with it. To have an excuse to feign disinterest in their recent endeavor, most likely. Verstael may be a man of considerable scientific experience, but this was a realm he had a stark lack of knowledge in.
"I'll send in a round of Lucian prisoners for you to daemonify. After you have finished, let's see if we can't recreate that encounter between us."
"It's a start," Ardyn compromised, walking up the metal staircase again to the den where hapless daemons and enemy soldiers went to perish. Nastily, if he had anything to say about it. He could care less about the start to this test, which only gave more data for Verstael and his team to build their theories and inventions around. What could be more intriguing to a man cursed with no release from all that plagued him than an unexpected confession of feelings from the insatiable, faithless man that freed him when all others shunned him in disgust?
Ardyn tipped his hat as the gate shut again, and the royal arms came to him in a flash of ethereal red light. "Do enjoy the show, my darling."
