sad eyes on happy faces

Isla take your medicine As they are both aware, Isla is perfectly capable of becoming a problem if Sunjata is really feeling bored, but it seems that neither of them particularly wants to deal with that mess tonight. "Ah, yes, the horde," she echoes, her tone laced with amusement as she leads the way upstairs. The echoing moans of pleasure and various other noises from the rooms has become almost disturbingly normal to the Remedy these days, and she barely even blinks at it before ascending into the loft. "See, we could have another staircase over there," she's saying, gesturing to the far side of the loft, "and it could lead up into your dragon's nest. You could spy on the rest of King's End when you're bored or you can't sleep, and there would be more space for all your stuff." As she speaks Isla is already unbuttoning her dress, planning on changing into a shirt that definitely didn't used to belong to the Flood. That would just be ridiculous.

save your eyes for someone brighter than i will ever be

He follows her on her heels, and much like her he pays little mind to the sounds that leave the rooms. To him, so long as that doesn’t change into silence, then all was good. At least, not without some divine intervention, which he still needs to finish, but that’s a thought for another day as he steps into the room behind Isla and closes the door, muffling out the sounds of the brothel as if he’d extinguished a candle.

His steel gaze follows where she gestures, before his feet take him there to peer up at it as if he might have an idea on how to do it right this second, but he settles with setting the books on his desk before he looks back at her to see her slipping on his shirt once upon a time. “My own little Spire.” He drawls the sentence out, letting his accent linger on each syllable as he speaks before he snorts and drifts toward the closet to slip out of his shirt to toss in the basket.

“I do like the idea. Gives the House of Midnight yet another air of mystery.” His hand lifts to wiggle his lightning scarred fingers alongside the word mystery, as if to give it more of an spooky type of feeling. He's changed soon enough into a pair of soft shorts to sleep in, only because wearing anything else including a shirt would be death for him with overheating, and he returns to the bed to sit on the foot of it and flop back, peering up at Isla from where he's laid. "Hey, so, I know you had a shitty day. Is there anything else I can do to make it less shitty?" He's not good at talking about feelings and the like, but it's a question he has to ask.

don't hesitate to bring me to my knees

SUNJATA

Isla take your medicine "Mm, something like that," Isla agrees with a grin, gazing over her shoulder at Sunjata as she pulls the shirt over her head. "Probably a little bit less obsidian and a lot less everyone-hating-you, though." Spooky and mysterious or not, she's had enough of being looked at like she's the enemy for one lifetime. Still peering up at the slanted loft roof as if trying to imagine the staircase - and some shelving in the meantime for the rest of Sunjata's horde - Isla only glances back as he flops onto the bed. Her bare feet at silent as she pads across to join him, climbing up the length of the bed and flopping down. "Yeah," she says, of him being able to make her day less shitty, and already she's rolling against him to throw an arm across his chest, nestling her face into his shoulder. "You can stay right there for a bit, if that's alright. I know it's too hot... but you did ask." And here she throws a leg over his waist for good measure, too.

save your eyes for someone brighter than i will ever be

A huff of a laugh leaves Sunjata as he approaches the bed, a shake of his head before he plops down and starts to speak from his heart. “I think there’s still a little bit of everyone hating me.” At least any passers-by that didn’t approve of how he’d spent his life. But at this point, Sunjata’s main motto had turned into a lot of fuck its. And it’s that thought that has him sinking into the bed comfortably, looking up at her as he starts to offer those feelings talks that he’s so terrible at while she approaches on bare feet.

His scarred brow rises when she agrees that he could do more, though, and he watches her curiously as she moves onto the bed and rolls against him, an arm slung across his chest and her face in his shoulder, and the crown of blonde that has spread out across his sticky skin. There’s another soft snort as her leg crosses his waist and she seems to do her best to soak up his heat, and his hand slips under her to run up and down her spine gently. “I’ll survive. I’ve got a doctor that can keep an eye out for heatstroke, after all.” He rumbles, shifting slightly to give her a bit more room to curl up against him.

don't hesitate to bring me to my knees

SUNJATA

Isla take your medicine Tutting softly, Isla gives Sunjata's chest a gentle pat with her hand. "I don't think everyone hates you at all," she murmurs softly. "And if they feel annoyed with you, it's probably because they care about you. You're just afraid of that, of people caring." Her meeting with Remi has struck her to the core with some home truths about herself, and apparently it (and the liquor, let's be honest) is allowing her to deliver them, too. Shifting comfortably as his arm slips around her, Isla closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before letting it out on a long sigh; the scent of botanicals is fading now, and to the Remedy, Sunjata is seasalt and honey and whiskey. Huffing out a soft laugh, she raises an eyebrow up at him. "Let's hope your doctor is sober enough to catch the signs," she says. "Otherwise just shove me out of bed if you get too hot."

save your eyes for someone brighter than i will ever be

She pats his chest and he heaves a soft sigh – knowing that her rebuttal would come back and go against everything he’s thinking mentally. And it starts to, at least until she tells him that he’s afraid of people caring, and it hits a bone quite deep that he hasn’t thought of in quite some time. So eh draws silent again, mulling it over before figuring out a response. “I have become good at pushing people away.” Isla was the exception – perhaps because she was just as lonely as he. And perhaps because he selfishly hoped that perhaps her loneliness and sorrow would cancel out his own.

Things didn’t work like that though. And he doesn’t admit that either when she raises an eyebrow up at him, his face harbors a hint of a mask, one that seems to suggest he’s unaffected, especially as he huffs a laugh at her suggestion of shoving her out of the bed. And he might, if they end up gluing themselves together. “Guess you’ll have to find out, huh?” He teases her, flashing an innocent smile down toward her.

don't hesitate to bring me to my knees

SUNJATA

Isla take your medicine "Mm. You've got a lot of talents, but that's one of your hidden ones," Isla agrees softly, her voice a touch muffled against his chest, and she finds herself absently chasing the scars across Sunjata's skin with her fingertips. "It's not so bad, though. The people who matter most won't let you get away with it." She means, of course, people like Bart and Melita, but perhaps it would be fair to include herself in those ranks as well. "Mm, I guess I will," Isla says softly, peeping up at the Flood and smiling much more softly in response to the innocent look he levels down at her. Her fingers sneak up to softly grip his jaw, as if she might be able to gently shake his true expression to the surface; for now, though, she merely nestles back down beside him. "Goodnight, Jata." And see you later, she almost says, when the inevitable nightmares come for him.

save your eyes for someone brighter than i will ever be

Hidden talents, he supposes, are slowly becoming more and more visible the longer he spends time around others that can see through his usual abilities to keep a distance. But he doesn’t say anything while her fingers trace along his scars and tattoos, instead finding his attention lingering on the ceiling of the bedroom, following along the wooden beams of the support structure they’d built when they’d put this together. “That’s true.” He agrees softly, not delving into who those people might be, whether or not he believed that there were people out there that would prevent him from crashing and burning and isolating himself.

But that’s neither here nor there, because she peers up at him as he flashes her an innocent look, feeling the warmth of her fingers as she grips his jaw gently, and he hums a soft sound to agree to her I guess I will, before they nestle in again and he shifts to grow a bit more comfortable, tilting his head into the pillow to chase the temporary comfort it offers. “Goodnight, Isla.” He hums, closing his eyes, returning to his usual mantra of praying to keep the nightmares away.

- FIN <33

don't hesitate to bring me to my knees

SUNJATA