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+---- Thread: I come from the water (/showthread.php?tid=3522)
RE: I come from the water - Nate - 05-30-2020
There is something especially twisted about the prospect of a forced marriage, after all the blood and ash and flooding of Sunjata's past, something that has Nate's lips seeking the other man's head, his hands squeezing tight for a moment. [say]"I never actually told my father. I think... I mean, he had to know fucking something, but..."[/say] An easy roll of his shoulders, and he lets the subject drop away, focusing forward. [say]"Oh, so that's how she's related then."[/say] He murmurs, more to himself, a thread he kept forgetting about neatly wrapped up.
This might be the most embarrassing part of his story, the part that makes him cringe a little. [say]"There uh, wasn't a prize really. I mean, whoever won was gonna rub it in the others face, but that was it."[/say] It's... almost pure, really. He can angle it that way. Just the urge to go fast, to escape for a moment. It sounds real fucking poetic in hindsight.
[say]"Didn't flip, but it did go up on its side."[/say] Nate's hand tilts, more than a little dramatically, then flops flat again, grin widening with the laughter that comes from Sunjata. And he doesn't have to ask, the story freely given, absolutely blowing his out of the water, with just a few short words. [say]"How did you get a fucking tank?"[/say] He asks instead, wanting, needing to know that story.
The comment gives him pause, seeps into him like something warm, almost soothing. Nate did his best to try and not think about himself in relation to Lusea, something that's closer to respect than jealously. [say]"Troublemakers, huh? What's that say about you?"[/say] Comes the easy tease, before his own pause, next words a little softer. [say]"It's too bad I never got to meet her. What was she like?"[/say]
RE: I come from the water - Sunjata - 05-30-2020
“[say]It was sort of… This big thing that the resistance used as part of their reasons to be able to take down the monarchy.[/say]” Sunjata replies easily, though his brows pinch together a small amount. The mention of Melita, however, has it fading for a brief hum of bubbling laughter. “[say]I tried to kill her father when I left Korofi.[/say]” He admits, though there’s no shame in it – not in this instance, belatedly he might wonder what Nate would’ve thought of that admission, but it passes on as he focuses on what the prize even was for a race like that.
And honestly, he has a brow raising slightly, a snort slipping from his lips as he settles in, remaining every inch that blanket as his lips part to say something in regards to bragging rights before Nate’s hand is lifting and tilting, mentioning that he’d gotten it up on the side. “[say]Oooh.[/say]” Sunjata almost croons, though it breaks and beads away into some form of laughter.
The amusement radiating from Sunjata remains, however, as the mention of how they’d gotten a tank. And for a moment he forgets that while Korofi and America were similar in many ways, they were also very different. “[say]What’ya mean how’d we get one?[/say]” He asks, a tone of innocence hinting in his deep accented rumbles. “[say]We all had tanks. The enforcers. Patrol vehicles.[/say]” He muses, lips pursing briefly. “[say]It was just… the civilians and the slums that mostly had normal-ish cars. And bikes. Stole my bike. Anyway.[/say]” He offers, fingers drumming along Nate’s chest briefly before he continues. “[say]Oh, right. So we’d just, uh, stolen some of these new weapons my father had imported to be distributed. It was to give the resistance the upperhand, right? So we’re flying down these sets of stairs and we see that these fucking idiots from the thirty-second division left their fucking car running out in the alcove before they tried to surround the building. So Luci has this box right, and it won’t fit on my bike, this huge metal briefcase thing. So she slings it in through the window and slides in, tries to gun it and hits the corner of the building. Dented the thing and took out half of the corner of the building I swear.[/say]” A chuckle of laughter through this, though it was daunting enough as it was. “[say]I hopped on my bike and chased after her, but gods the tank was fucked. I’m surprised we made it back, to be honest.[/say]”
He settles a bit more after his story is told, with all the amusement, and when Nate questions him on Lusea he can’t help the slightly wide, nostalgic smile that crosses his face. “[say]Excuse me, have you met me? I am trouble.[/say]” He winks, before he nestles his head in again against Nate’s chest and his own hand. “[say]But… When we started going together, the resistance spouted it all around. The Fire and the Flood – hence the VlamVloed’s name. She was the fire, quick witted, took no shit, wouldn’t hesitate to put you in your place.[/say]” He smirks, as if she’d done it to him multiple times. Which, honestly? She had. Not like he minded.
“[say]Hard as steel, though. She was the daughter of the resistance, so she kinda had to be. Like how I had to be. Took her awhile to trust me, don’t blame her. I don’t think she actually did until my mom was killed and we all had to watch it. Sort of… Clicked with her that I wasn’t going to out them to my father.[/say]” There’s a purse of his lips as he thinks on it, chewing on the inside of his cheek briefly as he considers it. The conversation shifts to a bit more darkness, but it doesn’t wear on him like usual – there’s hardly a filter when it comes down to it. “[say]Melita’s dad was the one that outted us and got her and I captured.[/say]”
RE: I come from the water - Nate - 05-31-2020
Nate is well used to talking in circles with the inebriated, to dropping and picking up topics like a game, and, dark as it might be, murdering Melita's father is one that will have to be circled back to, if only because the statement comes before a fucking story about a tank, and like hell is he going to interrupt that for a little murder. Even his own story isn't good enough to do anything more than peter off in the face of it.
There's no better way to highlight the differences between them, between where they came from, than the strangely casual way Sunjata explains the tank, as a patrol vehicle. And Nate has to stop him, just for a moment, just so he can very quickly say, [say]"I've never seen a tank in real life before. Everyone had cars, police included."[/say] He falls quiet quickly though, rumbling a content sound as fingers drummed across his chest, as Sunjata recounted a story that seemed absolutely crazy. The plot of a movie, all wrapped into one story, one day of the other mans life. One day. But Nate laughs along, shifting his head so he can offer over more of his smile, moving his hand up to trace along a sharp cheek, a rough jaw. [say]"I can't believe you stole a tank, and didn't even get to use it."[/say] There's a dramatic sigh, a single finger tapping the other man's jaw just once, in faux admonishment. He should be more concerned, should maybe be a little less blase, but it was the past, and clearly Sunjata had made it through in one piece.
[say]"Are you trouble?"[/say] Nate hums, utterly unable to help himself, to stop the slow smirk that crosses his face. [say]"I thought you were Sunny."[/say] A kiss is pressed against Sunjata's head as he settles, Nate keeping close, not pulling his head, his lips away while he listens. [say]"Sounds like she must have knocked you on your ass more than once."[/say] There's a shift back towards that darkness, towards a seriousness that has his arms tightening, while he listens, without interrupting now. While there is something close to jealousy, the feeling that he couldn't possible live up to what Lusea had left behind, it was swallowed, almost immediately, by relief, or something close to it. There wasn't a hole to fill, just a change, a shift. [say]"I'm glad you had her."[/say]
And look, here's where they circle back, the note about Melita's father coming back up, wrapping up the question he'd had nicely. Well, not nicely. [say]"It's too bad you didn't get to do it."[/say] He offers, taking a step back without thinking, because if he paused to think, the words wouldn't come. [say]"When I worked with my, uh... my dad, one of my jobs was cleaning up after... things like that. Snitches, and all."[/say] It feels strange to admit, strange to shift the focus back onto him, but he'd said he was going to make an effort to share more. Maybe he could justify it as a kindness, a distraction from what happened after they had been captured.
RE: I come from the water - Sunjata - 06-01-2020
The fact that Nate’s never seen a tank in real life surprises him – though these tanks were different from the ones the Ascended’s likely thinking of. But they were still armored, still boxy, still could run over nearly anything and everything to get where they wanted. But the idea of the police having normal cars does give him a moment of pause, a considering look paired with a hum of thought. Then, as Sunjata continues on with the story, he falls quiet for a brief moment to laugh a vibrant, bubbling sound as Nate comments that they didn’t get to use it. “[say]Well not that one. We stole a lot of tanks.[/say]” The resistance did, at least. A lot of weaponry too.
“[say]I had my own, y’know, when I was the head of the second division.[/say]” He hums, flashing a wicked grin Nate’s way. The grin remains when Nate’s fingertip taps his jaw, a playful bit of a hum leaving the Ascended that Sunjata can’t quite see through to find the teasing tone. So he focuses instead, on the next comment, head tilting a small amount into Nate’s hand with a huff of a sigh, not unlike a child in that way. “[say]Both.[/say]” He offers, flashing Nate a smirk, before settling into the light kiss.
And really? The next comment alleviates something within Sunjata. It makes it easier, to speak of her and to have people know her the way he remembered her, instead of everyone else forcing him to shove her into a box in order to live. Well, he was certainly living right now, wasn’t he? His arms squeeze around Nate briefly, before he focuses on Nate’s comment. “[say]I think that sometimes… Then I realize we wouldn’t have her if I did. So.[/say]” Because Melita wasn’t Saartjie’s daughter, and whatever pulled him from Sunjata’s reach, had healed him up, had made it so Melita could be born.
But that’s beside the point, especially when his steel gaze lifts to focus on Nate’s face when he speaks – listening and letting that small smile curl around his lips. “[say]Was it?[/say]” He asks, head tilting a small amount along Nate’s chest, still into his touch, lips beginning to purse a small amount while he filters through what Nate’s said of his life. “[say]What did your dad do?[/say]” He asks after a moment, recalling the comments of Nate and his brother running packages around, moving drugs, threatening people and stealing. Which begged the question what made them have to do that?
RE: I come from the water - Nate - 06-01-2020
It's a little strange that this is where their differences lie, for a moment Nate wonders if this isn't the first, but merely the first they've actually noticed. The next moment he realizes he might have to keep a somewhat closer eye on what it is Sunjata is actually doing; he has no doubts the attuned will be honourable, but there's a chance they might have different ideas about what constitutes excessive. [say]"I imagine you had a lot less fun in your own than you did in the stolen ones."[/say] The words come alongside a laugh, a little shift of Nate's hips, so he can face the other man better. He can't deny the fact that, removed from most of it's context, the idea of Sunjata in a tank is... intriguing, let's say.
There's another hum, as he's squeezed gently. And as much as he doesn't want to admit it, doesn't want to say the cliche that's about to drop from his lips, it's true. [say]"I guess sometimes... fucked up things happen for a reason."[/say] Because really, if the options were Sunjata having that little bit of closure, or having Melita, he'd choose Melita.
Nate shifts, just a little, under the gaze that rises up to him, not pulling away, not hiding like he had before, though it's clear he wants to. [say]"I only did it twice, but it happened a lot more."[/say] It's not quite the shining defence he would normally provide for himself, but there's nothing, no one to defend against here, and it's easier to be more honest. [say]"He did a little bit of everything. And me and Bart did a little bit of what he did. He was a piece of shit."[/say] There's a huff, Nate rolling his eyes, his head back, then dropping his chin again suddenly. [say]"Apparently he was some military scumbag before we were born, but he was in jail until we were about a year old? And I guess he just never learned."[/say] That wasn't really an answer to what he did though, was it? [say]"He had a few connections to the local ah, Family, and mostly did stuff for them, but he had side grifts too."[/say]
RE: I come from the water - Sunjata - 06-01-2020
There’s a quiet hum of laughter that rises on the tail end of Nate’s comment. A concession. “[say]Yeah, that’s true.[/say]” He agrees, smile shifting a bit more lopsided with that and the subject that comes next, the slight readjustment of Nate beneath him while Sunjata feels like nothing more than a blanket all the same – strange but calm and content. The subject of Melita grants a small nod, a slight shift of his chin against Nate’s chest in the agreement, skipping over the cliché-ness of it.
They had Melita, and she was a spitfire enough on her own.
But his gaze lifts toward Nate’s, to ask what exactly he did and his father did, soaking up the information whether or not he’d remember it later. So he reaches up with his hand still at Nate’s shoulder, shifting as Nate rolls his eyes and drops his chin again. His fingers trail into the long dark hair there, chewing at the inside of his cheek briefly as he tries to figure out what exactly to say. “[say]Family?[/say]” Sunjata questions, realizing that it might be easier for Nate to explain if he isn’t looking at the Ascended – which is fine, his head feels heavy as fuck anyway – so he lowers his cheek to Nate’s chest, staring out over the table that held the items that Nate had brought.
Ah, fuck, he’s craving a cigarette so badly right now. “[say]Was it like…[/say]” He rumbles, squinting as he stares at the table to see if he’d brought his smokes with him, before his hand leaves Nate’s hair to pat his pocket. And ah, there’s a pack there. He pulls it out, shifting himself more into the space between Nate and the back of the couch. “[say]Like a gang or something?[/say]” Sunjata’s only experience with something like that were gangs of a sort. He lifts the pack from his pocket, slipping a cigarette out and putting it between his lips before his gaze flickers to Nate briefly – the last one to have the lighter.
RE: I come from the water - Nate - 06-01-2020
Nate leans into the hand in his hair, into the steely gaze, and manages to press another kiss to the attuned before his head is dropping again, leaving him with a question that Nate simply hums to, trying to figure out the easiest way to explain. [say]"It's like..."[/say] He begins, in the same moment as the other man, a low huff of laughter leaving him as he falls quiet to let Sunjata continue. Except, he doesn't, not right away, fishing out a smoke, Nate automatically reaching down to his own pocket, where he'd slipped the lighter out of habit.
[say]"It's exactly like a gang."[/say] The confirmation comes along with the flame of the lighter, Nate lighting the smoke and waiting until Sunjata had taken a drag to steal it for himself. [say]"A little bit better organized, I guess, but not at the level we were involved in. He pretty much just bothered mom's cousin, who knew a guy who would give him work."[/say] There's a little billow of smoke from between his lips, Nate trying, and failing, to blow a smoke ring before he holds the cigarette back out for the attuned to puff on. [say]"And he didn't wanna do a lot of that work, so we got roped in to help."[/say]
RE: I come from the water - Sunjata - 06-01-2020
They begin to speak at the same time, and Sunjata can’t help the slight smile that crosses his face with it as he begins to fish for the cigarette. And when he finds it, continuing on with his suggestion over what it was like in a sense that he could understand it in, he glances up to Nate as the lighter is there. A drag from it that’s far smoother than what Nate had earlier – and as the Ascended steals it, his gaze flickers back toward Nate.
There’s some glimmer of understanding with it, a hmm that’s accompanied with his own small plume of smoke slipping from his nose. He watches briefly the failed smoke ring, before he takes the cigarette back and smirks lightly toward Nate as he tries to settle in again. “[say]So you ended up being like… A branch of it? Doing some of the shittier things so the main guy wouldn’t get involved?[/say]” He offers, pushing up a small amount from his little crevice to take a drag and puff a ring toward Nate’s face with a small wink. “[say]You mentioned you went awhile before getting caught. Did anyone else?[/say]” He asks out of pure curiosity – wondering if much like the enforcers back home, how much those branches could be expendable.
RE: I come from the water - Nate - 06-02-2020
[say]"Something like that, yea."[/say] Nate hums, brows pulling together in scowl as the ring dissipated into nothing against his face, the last few coiling remnants chased away by a short huff through his nose. [say]"A few others did. Mostly the ones who fucked something up. If it wasn't their own mistake that got em, it always looked like it was. Me and Bart didn't fuck many things up."[/say] It's a little braggy, said with a bright grin. [say]"When we were little, and just starting to do stuff, we were more scared of my dad than cops. And when we were older, we were good at what we did, so... why stop, right? We started making our own connections at that point though, and that's what got us caught the first time."[/say]
Rolling his shoulders, Nate shifts again, pulling Sunjata up closer, more on top of him again, more out of the crevasse between his body and the couch. [say]"When I got arrested the first time, my Grandma drove out, cried to the judge or whoever that I was a good boy, getting led astray, and I ended up getting community service instead of something more."[/say] He laughs a little there, for the first time sounding a little sheepish. [say]"She almost killed me on the drive home. And she had someone come and watch me whenever I did my hours, just to make sure I was actually working."[/say]
RE: I come from the water - Sunjata - 06-02-2020
Despite the scowl on Nate’s face, Sunjata can’t help the slight wiggle of a brow in his own quiet amusement before he grows quiet and listens to the Ascended as he answers the question Sunjata’s poised. There’s a light smile crossing his face with it, trying to imagine what it was like. And when he mentions that they were more scared of their dad than the cops, there’s something that sort of resonates with Sunjata. It both… Did, and didn’t, because what did you do when you feared your father and your father was the police? But he doesn’t dwell on it, instead offering a small huff of a laugh at the mention of them getting caught semi on their own.
Nate shifts, pulling Sunjata closer, more of a blanket than someone trapped in the crevice of a couch and a body. He doesn’t complain, settling in easily atop Nate as if he’d always meant to be there. The cigarette is dragged from again, exhaled in a small half plume from his nose as he regards the comment of Nate’s grandmother. “[say]A good boy, huh?[/say]” Sunjata offers with a small amount of teasing before he settles in again as he hears the sheepish tone.
“[say]Makes sense.[/say]” He offers with a light laugh. “[say]But you got it done in the end?[/say]” He asks, flashing a softer smile toward Nate in his slight amusement, tipping the cigarette toward the Ascended to draw from. "[say]We didn't really have community service things in Korofi.[/say]" He knew what they were, had read about them, but the practice of it had long since passed by the time Sunjata had been born and his father assumed the Arbiter position.
RE: I come from the water - Nate - 06-02-2020
He can feel the tease in the attuned's words easily, and grins along with it, shaking his head. [say]"She woulda done the same with Bart too, but I ate all the heat for the first time. One of the perks of being identical, and one of the drawbacks of being the older one."[/say] A sigh accompanies the continued shaking of his head, his voice turning a little contemplative when he speaks next. [say]"I think she was the only one who really wanted anything better for us."[/say] It's a downer, compared to the mood they've managed to hold onto so far, but it feels right to say, to share with Sunjata.
[say]"I didn't really have a choice but to get it done."[/say] Nate laughs, shaking his head. [say]"At least it made me look real good though, right?"[/say] He leans in to take a drag from the offered cigarette, trusting in Sunjata to help it steady enough that nothing bad happened. It's not particularly surprising that community service wasn't something they offered in Korofi, though it does have a question bubbling up in Nate, and who better to ask than the man draped over him? [say]"How would I have been punished then? For drug trafficking, and assault?"[/say]
RE: I come from the water - Sunjata - 06-03-2020
“[say]Ack. The perks of being the older one, you mean.[/say]” Sunjata replies a bit dryly, though there’s amusement lingering in his tone. But it falters ever so slightly as Nate’s comment grows a bit more contemplative, a bit quieter and Sunjata’s focusing harder on him as the smoke curls around his nose with the slight exhale. “[say]It’s important to have those, y’know.[/say]” He murmurs softly, leaning forward a bit to press a kiss to Nate’s cheek before settling again.
Nate’s laughter, however, does bring back the lightness of the conversation, and Sunjata has to shrug a small amount in response. “[say]Made you look like a very good boy.[/say]” Sunjata replies with a wink, a hum of a laugh leaving his lips, slipping the cigarette toward Nate and ensuring that no cinders drop onto him. And when that’s done, he flicks the ash away into the ash tray on the table – shifting with a long arm reaching out toward it before he pulls it back to his lips and Nate’s question has his steel gaze flickering toward him as he considers it.
There’s a puff of smoke in a small sigh as some sort of far away look crosses his face. “[say]Depends on how severe the drugs were.[/say]” He begins, tone growing a bit more nostalgic as he recalls it. “[say]Assault depending on severity as well would’ve been probably a bit of time in prison.[/say]” He pauses, chewing on his lip as he considers it before drawing from the cigarette again. “[say]Drug trafficking something serious would’ve had you probably losing a hand, or your tongue, some form of indentured servitude of some sort after.[/say]” He grimaces at this, some sort of memory crossing his face of having to make… Kinder, almost, orders of those trafficking Korofi’s strongest whiskey.
RE: I come from the water - Nate - 06-03-2020
It's nice, in a way, to open up properly, to have the parts of himself he still wrestled with not only out in the open, but accepted. Maybe next time, he'll be able to do this when Sunjata is completely lucid, though truth be told he's handling his first high pretty well. Nate hums, and leans into the kiss on his cheek, a bright smile on his lips, crinkling bright eyes. And he rolls his eyes as he takes his drag, unable to banish the look on his face as he's teased.
Considering what he knew of Korofi, Nate should have expected the answer he got, shouldn't have let it be a shock, and yet. The look spread over his features is more sober now, a hand moving to stroke across the attuned's features, the gentle reminder that Nate is right here, that they're somewhere where this can just be a fun, hypothetical conversation, not an actual condemnation. [say]"Well..."[/say] He begins slowly, seriously, [say]"I guess that would really mess up my status as a well known good boy. Good thing I've got someone on the inside here."[/say] Nate laughs brightly, leaning in to kiss at Sunjata's forehead, trying to smooth away the lines of the grimace with his lips.
[say]"Did I ever tell you about the first time I ran away?'[/say] He asks, because he knows he hasn't, hopes it'll be enough of a hook to draw them back into gentler waters.
RE: I come from the water - Sunjata - 06-03-2020
In all reality, Sunjata doesn’t know how long they’ve been sitting here talking. In one hand it feels like hours and on the other it feels like hardly any time passed at all. All he knows is that he’s draped about the Ascended like a blanket – a fucking heavy blanket, letting all his weight down onto Nate. Perhaps its not quite as heavy as the thoughts that cross over his mind, that settle in his chest at the thought of what they’d have done to Nate. But the fact remains, he would’ve lived, at the very least.
But there’s a sober look along Nate’s face, and Sunjata settles into the hand that strokes along his features, pulling him out of the depths of those memories as a kiss is pressed to his forehead. And it smooths out as well, a small hum of agreement leaving him, smile returning crooked and bright in response. “[say]Mmm yeah, I guess that is a good thing.[/say]” He chimes back, flashing a small smirk toward Nate. “[say]I’ll take bribes.[/say]” He offers, winking to Nate before the question of him running away catches his attention.
A brow lifts and a conspirators grin crosses his face. “[say]You didn’t. Do indulge.[/say]” He rumbles, dragging from the cigarette again, before moving to flick the ash into the ash tray once more and focuses on the Ascended.