Chapter Text
Lucanis could not believe the places Ren led him to.
Swamps of Hossberg? Gross but livable. Catacombs of Minrathous? Confusing and dark but livable. He'd followed in Ren's wake to what felt like nearly every corner of Northern Thedas.
This one took the cake.
He'd heard of the place a time or two, from Illario once even, and never thought he'd ever step through the doors of the most exclusive sex club in Antiva City.
Regardless, where Ren led he would follow.
The Estate had a reputation for being a den of sensual delights that would cater to only a handful of the elite at a time. Its clientele were as well kept a secret as the club itself.
Lucanis hesitated a moment to step through the gate into the wild, overgrown garden and only Viago's reassuring hand on his waist gave him the courage to continue.
The garden they entered was lush and flourishing, hedges towering over their heads. There were flowerbeds as well, but they'd been mostly emptied in preparation for the ever encroaching winter. Only a handful of hardy blooms lined the edges and perfumed the air.
The garden was laid out to guide one's steps to a pavilion, where a fire flickered, beckoning, to draw you in from the chill of the descending night.
Lucanis could see a few bodies, naught but black silhouettes in the shadows of the pavilion, and what looked like tables full of food.
There was a banner draped along the railing of the pavilion that simply read "Hunger".
Viago ignored it and continued toward the building the stone pathway was leading them toward.
It looked unassuming, two floors with white stucco walls, terracotta tiles on the roof and ironwork framing the windows. Smaller than most estates around Antiva City but bordered on all sides by endless rows of vineyard grapes.
Completely private.
Viago paused before the frosted glass doors and pulled the lace and ribbon mask they'd both been given from one of his inner pockets so Lucanis did the same.
Viago helped Lucanis tie the ribbons securely behind his head and Lucanis sighed in relief when he realized it was much less obtrusive than he'd feared.
Lucanis tied Viago's in place in return and was charmed by the way the blue lace framed his dark blue eyes. It pushed his curls back out of his face and accentuated the curve of his cheekbones. It was a nice spot of colour in his otherwise black attire, from his loose silk shirt open to show tantalizing glimpses of his chest down to his pristine boots.
Where Viago had been gifted blue Lucanis had been gifted a familiar purple, even if Spite slept more often than not these days. The only other difference in their attire was the comforting, familiar way Lucanis' vest wrapped around his torso.
That done Viago turned and pushed the doors open, one arm comfortably around Lucanis' shoulders.
They were greeted in the entryway by a slender Qunari woman, who gave them a respectful nod.
"Good evening, my lords, and welcome to our gallery. To your right this evening is Envy, to your left Desire and through the doors ahead is Pride, our main attraction this year. Through the great room you will find the stairs to the second floor, where you will find Rage and Sloth as well as our private rooms. Can I help you with anything before you go further?" She said, voice higher and sweeter than he had expected.
"No, thank you," Viago said for both of them.
"Very well, my lords. Please remember that you may not touch the displays without explicit invitation," she said with a deeper bow before she retreated to her post by what Lucanis assumed was the coat closet.
"Shall we see the main attraction?" Viago asked with a sweep of his arm toward the three doors.
"I suppose," Lucanis said with a shrug.
They had no idea where Ren might be, so they may as well. Their husband had kissed them goodbye yesterday and told them to arrive at sunset.
They were clearly among the last to arrive, as there were bodies occupying the couches pushed against the walls and a handful of couples tucked away in discreet niches as well.
Centred, naturally, in the middle of the room was a gold throne, inlaid with a fortune in shining jewels that formed a mosaic of flowers. It was a masterful piece of work, opulent without tipping over into gaudy
Lucanis nearly turned around and walked right back out of the room when he truly registered the man sitting sideways on said throne, legs kicked over the arm of it as he lounged.
Lucanis had met Archon Pavus at his coronation and this was not the way he'd ever imagined meeting him a second time.
Only Viago's arm around his shoulders kept him from acting on his panicked urge to escape before he was noticed.
It was too late anyway, they'd definitely already been noticed.
A figure unfolded themselves from the pillow sitting at the foot of the throne and Lucanis wondered who had the audacity to seat the Inquisitor on the floor.
"Welcome, my lords, to the annual Temptations of the Fade gallery. So glad you could make it," Fenlath said with true, friendly warmth despite the obviously scripted greeting.
He was clad in black silk that shimmered in the light of the strategically placed oil lanterns as he approached. He had two clasps made of bright gold at his shoulders and a matching gold belt cinching the loose fabric in at his waist.
It flowed all the way down to his ankles yet was fine enough that Lucanis could almost see through it to the slender body beneath. His white hair was loose and a striking contrast to his attire as it slid across the silk, long enough the ends fluttered around his thighs.
The Qunari by the door had been wearing a similar garment in dove grey, a sort of uniform perhaps? A quick glance around gave credit to the theory, as he saw a dwarf lady refilling a wine glass and an elf offering food clad in dove grey as well.
Lucanis' gaze was drawn back to the Inquisitor as he stepped over the rope to take a glass of wine from the tray of a passing server.
Fenlath's smile was impish as he crossed the boundary again and waved a hand to his husband, who was watching them from his throne with a lazy smirk.
"You can look, he wouldn't be sitting there if he didn't like it. I suspect you'll want to see Desire next," Fenlath said with a wink before he left them to rejoin Dorian.
Dorian was mostly naked save for a scrap of silk draped across his lap, which was covered by Fenlath taking a seat astride his thighs. He wore a crown with four horns that swept back and up made from a black metal that likewise glimmered in the light.
A spiky leather something swept into points across his shoulders and the straps to hold it in place framed his torso enticingly. Leather straps with slender ridges facing upward gave the illusion of the segmented look of demonic legs. He also had extra eyes artfully painted around his own gold lined ones and a twisting nest of metalwork on his hands to make them into claws.
A Pride demon. They'd turned the Archon of Tevinter into an obscene approximation of a Pride demon.
Lucanis watched, unable to turn away, as the Inquisitor fed his barely clothed husband sips of wine.
Once the wine was gone Fenlath reached over and drew a bowl of grapes from the side of the throne that Lucanis couldn't see. He started to feed them one at a time to the man whose lap he was perched in with the occasional kiss between morsels.
Dorian gave them another smile and an imperious dismissal with a flick of his hand and that was finally enough to shake Lucanis from his stupor.
Lucanis stopped a step away from the rope and turned an incredulous look on Viago when the possible meaning of Fenlath's words sank in.
"You don't think…" he asked Viago, though didn't finish his question.
"I absolutely do," Viago replied through gritted teeth.
A mysterious conversation Ren had prodded them along was suddenly making much more sense.
He'd needled them about some of the things they'd said during sex, about fucking him in front of other people, until he'd gotten them to confess that yes they'd actually do it. If the opportunity presented itself.
It seemed the opportunity was about to present itself.
Lucanis' steps were sure where Viago's slowed as they traced their steps back to the entrance and turned to the door they'd been told led to Desire.
Lucanis had to catch the door frame of the room he and Viago sped into to arrest some of his momentum.
Lucanis felt a fresh surge of sympathy for mages who had to deal with sights like this in their dreams.
Ren was lounging on a blue chaise with one leg hanging off to let his toes brush the floor, arms crossed comfortably at the wrist above his head to arch his back up off the silk of the couch. The chaise had no back, just sloped gently up into a backrest at one end, and was the same blue as Viago's mask.
A set of slender horns seemed to blossom from his forehead and stretched out from his head to curl elegantly at the ends. They were not as dramatically long as Lucanis had seen some painted but still made Ren's profile even more striking than usual.
His makeup was a vibrant purple, Spite and Lucanis' purple, that made his eyes seem brighter and his lips fuller. The collar around his throat was the same shade with a large amethyst set in gold hanging between his collarbones.
Two strips of silk draped across his hips were the only pieces of cloth on his body and were thin enough to leave nothing to the imagination. The only other thing he wore was an abundance of gold chains, weaving their way across his arms, his legs and his torso in patterns that drew the eye along his body.
Lucanis was broken from his lustful haze by a very familiar voice from the pillow on the floor beside Ren that he hadn't noticed, too busy looking at one of his husbands.
"Welcome, my lords, to the annual Temptations of the Fade gallery. So glad you could make it," Sassy's greeting was not as warm as Fenlath's had been, much more provocative and sultry.
Ren's bodyguard and one time lover was leaning comfortably against the couch at Ren's hip. He was dressed in blue silks that barely reached his knees and didn't meet along one side of his body, only held in place by his gold belt.
Lucanis felt a familiar surge of dark, mean feelings well up in him when Sassy reached up and handed Ren a glass of wine without looking away from them.
He'd always trusted Ren when he said that there was nothing but friendship between them now, but some dark part of him still hated the idea of them enjoying one another like that. Probably because they were so in sync, even as friends, that it was easy to imagine them as more.
It provoked the ever dwindling, irrational fear that Ren would leave him someday for someone better.
Ren stretched one arm down and tapped one long fingernail up against the blonds chin before he extended that same hand to beckon Lucanis and Viago closer.
Sassy rolled to his feet with his usual easy grace and turned to help Ren sit up with his hands on the bare skin of Ren's waist.
Lucanis growled, just a bit, as he stepped over the rope and Sassy shot him an amused look.
Ren wrapped a hand around the back of Sassy's neck and whispered something that made him grin before the blond stepped away to pass them on his way out of the room.
Lucanis wondered if his eyes had started to glow as he watched the blond leave. He turned back from the door to the much more comforting and familiar sight of Ren in Viago's arms indulging in an open mouthed kiss.
Lucanis kicked aside the blue pillow Sassy had been sitting on with more prejudice than the poor thing probably deserved as he stepped up to the couch.
"You are the worst, tesoro, I cannot believe this is happening," Viago was whispering into Ren's neck, though the eagerness of his hands on Ren's torso betrayed how upset he wasn't.
"My lord, I only wish to give you what you desire," Ren said back, eyes locked with Lucanis' as he arched up into Viago's hands.
"Tell me what you want, so I can give it to you," Ren simpered playfully as he wrapped his arms around Viago's back to press his nails into Viago's shoulder blades through the silk. He dragged his nails down Viago's spine and caught Viago's groan in his mouth as he pulled the Talon into another kiss.
"I'm going to fuck you until your clever tongue stops working, right here in front of all these people, so that there's no doubt in anyone's mind who you belong to," Viago growled before he sat up to drag Ren's laughing form into his lap.
Lucanis went tense when he felt someone step up beside him, rudely reminded that they were nowhere near alone in this room.
"Here, the things he wanted," Sassy's voice was an unwelcome intrusion even as the blond elf pressed a basket of bottles and silk pouches into his hands.
Sassy laughed at the carefully blank look Lucanis sent his way. Against all common sense he leaned in closer and slid a teasing hand along Lucanis' tense shoulders until their faces were a scant few inches apart.
"You're adorable, you know that? We had one, fantastic night together," the elf said with a fanged grin as he wound a lock of Lucanis' hair around his finger.
Sassy shoved the basket against Lucanis' stomach and used his now free hand to grab hold of the Talons' chin and turn Lucanis back toward the couch and the erotic display it held.
"He wants the rest of his life with you," Sassy whispered, so close Lucanis could feel his lips forming the words against his earlobe.
Sassy gave Lucanis a friendly slap on the back before he turned and vanished.
Lucanis didn't care where, his eyes were once again glued to Ren and Viago inextricably entwined on the couch.