i'll try to compromise

// i'm not so good with tenses //

“Please.” Sunjata offers once he’s recovered from the lightshow of his surprise and the bluntness from Niki that he appreciates. It’s honest and refreshing in a way that doesn’t feel judgemental or questioning, no knives hidden in the shadows of the necromancer’s tone. And perhaps he shouldn’t be so trusting of it with how much it has burned him in the past, but this is a breath of fresh air.

With the turn of conversation and the question of the paths, absolutely in relation to the Greatwood’s choice of rearranging paths willy nilly, Sunjata snorts and shakes his head. “They don’t. They stay exactly as they are.” He confirms with a nod. “And they’re even flecked with gold. Courtesy of my friend Isla who helped make it.” It isn’t as though he needs to sell the point more, but the addition of gold was a beautiful and happy accident he can’t help but to be fond of it.

the Heartless

// i'm tensin' up thinkin' about what i'm supposed to call you now //

this world is a wasteland where nothing can grow

"Very good," Niki says with a smirk, raising his empty mug as if to toast his commitment to pretending everything is fine, though at the sudden howl of wind outside that sends a flurry of rain against the glass, he can't help but think that the Greatwood is more a fan of the bitter truth. Or maybe the forest is just mad that he's called out its labyrinthine pathways, who can say.

"Well that is a relief," he says nevertheless, smiling to himself. "Do not get me wrong, you get used to it growing up here. But it will be nice to consistently know where things are, and to walk on cobblestone more than dirt paths." No root systems to stumble on, no unexpected ditches to fall down. The gold flecking does earn an arch of his eyebrow, Niki's smile growing further.

"I think I did see that when I visited last. It looked as though molten gold had spilled on the cobbles," he agrees. "Does she live in King's End as well?"

Niki

i used to have strength but i ran out of hope

// i'm not so good with tenses //

The very good scratches an itch in his brain that he hides with the huff of a soft laugh. The cup lifts again as he drains the last dregs of the coffee as the rain patters against the window again and Sunjata finds himself spending the moment to study Niki’s face as the abandoned continues.

He nods his understanding, a soft hum slipping from his throat. “I’m sure. You can be familiar with something but still have it fuck you over on occasion.” He’d grown up with the city at his heels and still managed to get turned around and lost in it on more than one occasion. It had been the bane of his existence on occasion, too. But it had also helped him slip away from his father, who suffered for much of the same reasoning of not quite knowing where every hidden alcove was despite his strong hold.

As for the gold, his smile turns a bit softer with the question before he shakes his head. “No, she lives in Torchline these days.” He really should go and see how she’s doing, he realizes. She’d been expecting the last time they talked and he’d been too caught up in everything else to reach out to her since then. Perhaps a letter would suffice for now, a thought that he tucks away in the far reaches of his mind.

the Heartless

// i'm tensin' up thinkin' about what i'm supposed to call you now //

this world is a wasteland where nothing can grow

"On occasion and for no apparent reason," Niki agrees. "Sometimes I open my front door and there is more than one pathway leading out into the woods, and I am never certain which will take me where I need to go." Or if either will, frankly. "I will miss the trees though, I think." The quiet canopy overhead has been a constant companion regardless of where the Greatwood decides to take him, and having an open sky to replace it will be strange for a while.

Nodding to hear that Sunjata's gold-spilling friend has relocated to Torchline, Niki's expression settles into something thoughtful. "Torchline does seem to be where the majority of people go," he says. There's nothing negative in his tone - he completely understands why, in fact, with its paradise horizons and carefree atmosphere. And that's without taking the steadfast leadership and numerous advancements into account.

"Alas, I cannot swim and I suffer in the heat, so it is not for me. Not permanently, anyway."

Niki

i used to have strength but i ran out of hope

// i'm not so good with tenses //

“Yeah.” Sunjata says a little wistfully, sitting back and glancing toward the window where the trees did loom tall and proud, shading and hovering over the home. It wasn’t a commodity to New Haven – having the occasional tree here and there dotting the valley but it wasn’t a forest. It wouldn’t feel the same as Niki feels here, unfortunately. “At least you don’t have to worry about wind storms taking out a tree nearby?” He suggests with a slight wince, familiar enough with rain and windstorms from Korofi loosening tree roots and branches that crashed down into buildings.

As for Torchline, though, his attention flits back toward Niki as he hears that Torchline was where the majority of people went. And truthfully? It so much hadn’t happened to him there, he might have stayed there too. It had always been his favorite and it’s part of the reason he’d carved out King’s End for a livable space, wanting to ensure that it did have its moments close to Torchline while still being its own thing.

Tilting his head to hear that Niki can’t swim – surprised, for some reason – and nods with a bit of understanding. “Would you ever want to learn how to swim?” He wonders briefly. “I’ll be honest, I love the heat. I loved Torchline, too, and I loved ruling it when I did.”

the Heartless

// i'm tensin' up thinkin' about what i'm supposed to call you now //

this world is a wasteland where nothing can grow

"Mm, that is true," Niki says of the potential hazards of being around such an imposing forest, even one that isn't magical and doesn't seem to move itself around on a whim. "I suppose if New Haven was identical to the Greatwood there would be no reason to move there." It's part of it, he supposes - being somewhere different, being able to broaden his horizons, not to mention moving closer to the friends he's made.

Gazing into the dregs of his coffee, he can't stop the wistful smile that tugs at his lips. He wonders if he'll come back to visit the Greatwood one day in the near future and be able to view it with different eyes, to move beyond that child's lens of impossible vastness and magic woven between the branches. Time will tell.

Talk of swimming draws him out of his thoughts, and Niki likely surprises both himself and Sunjata with his bark of laughter. "It is not for lack of wanting to, I assure you," he says dryly, gesturing down at his bad leg and the brace strapped to it. "Some things are just not meant to be. I did not know you ruled Torchline, though. What made you leave?"

Niki

i used to have strength but i ran out of hope

// i'm not so good with tenses //

“Exactly.” Sunjata hums, for once not feeling the need to sell the region. Niki was already moving there – the proof was in the boxes stacked up and being worked on that he’d rudely interrupted. But he is excited for the prospect of it, seeing as it feels like he’s losing more people than he is gaining them these days. Niki’s addition to the roster of King’s End citizens was one that he looked forward too immensely.

Surprised again to hear the bark of laughter, though, Sunjata nods with a bit of understanding. “That does make it difficult.” Though not impossible, though he doesn’t think it’s a good idea for him to overstep that particular line. He doesn’t know Niki’s injuries enough to tell whether or not he’d be able to give it a go, though Sunjata with his water magic would always be willing to help. “I had to learn to swim when I was.. six, I think?” He can’t really remember. He does remember the swim trials, though. And how he harbors a tiny and faint scar from where his leg had gotten stuck in the debris of the river during the test. How he had struggled and thrashed to get out.

The next subject isn’t really that much better, it turns out, when Niki asks him why he left Torchline. “A combination of things, really. My father undermined my leadership at first and so.. I decided I’d co-lead with my husband. But Nate was Ascended and Safrin haaaaaated him.” His nose wrinkles and he winces before he sighs a little and offers Niki a small smile. “She told me I had to demote him and I guess I decided rather than demote him mere days after promoting him, I’d just leave all together. Felt like I could control the outcome, I guess. So we moved to King’s End back when it was still wild.” Long before he’d made it livable.

the Heartless

// i'm tensin' up thinkin' about what i'm supposed to call you now //

this world is a wasteland where nothing can grow

"Mm, it does throw something of a spanner in the works," Niki agrees, though he leaves it there. A private man by nature, if anything he respects Sunjata too much to want to divulge anything of his (many) weaknesses, instead opting to let the subject drop when it comes to his own swim lessons - or lack thereof. "Six?" He raises his eyebrows at that. "They do say that learning younger is better. A lot of the children in the Greatwood are swimming in the calmer parts of the Symphony as toddlers. Even more so since the woods flooded after the war."

And it seems that the war is an unfortunate subject that they circle back around to in general, Niki's mild amusement growing more solemn by the moment as Sunjata explains the circumstances surrounding his leaving Torchline. "That sounds difficult," he says softly. He doesn't ask why the Heartless hadn't returned afterwards - after Nate's death, though he never says that outright either - knowing too well the way wounds and memories can linger. Sometimes in places, sometimes in objects, and all too often within people as well.

"I cannot imagine King's End any other way than it is," he says. "And it is where I chose to live, so I suppose you can treat that as a job well done on your part?"

Niki

i used to have strength but i ran out of hope

// i'm not so good with tenses //

Nodding at the question of six? that leaves Niki alongside the fact that the fae and others that live within the Greatwood taught their children early on. “My mother used to sneak me out to teach me slightly before our swim test.” He murmurs – a secret he kept close to his chest, though it wasn’t like it mattered much anymore. She was gone and has been for a long time. “The Swim Test was a fucked up ritual draped in "tradition" that we’d do. I got my leg caught during it, but I made it eventually.” Nose wrinkling again, Sunjata huffs out a little soft laugh at the memory (and the trauma it had caused after).

Instead, he lets the subject of Nate drop alongside Niki’s own understanding. The solemnity of the conversation returning despite how much Sunjata was trying to avoid it. It seemed to follow him, drape around him like a worn coat, where whatever story he had could – and often was - laced with melancholy.

“Oh I do. Trust me.” He shoots Niki a lopsided grin, his accented voice practically purring with the compliment. Something he realizes he needs to continue to strive for, if he won’t spend any time on his own in the future. The least he could do was ensure everyone else was happy if he couldn’t manage it himself.

the Heartless

// i'm tensin' up thinkin' about what i'm supposed to call you now //

this world is a wasteland where nothing can grow

Smiling at the thought of that - a mother sneaking her son out to teach him to swim to give him a headstart - evidently Niki has a much different idea of Sunjata's swim test, but he's soon corrected as the other man continues. Frowning as if wanting to doublecheck his own understanding, honestly the necromancer shouldn't be surprised based on everything he's been told so far, but he still winces at the idea of Sunjata's leg getting trapped.

"Well I am glad you did make it, otherwise you would not be here today and I would not be leaving the Greatwood," he says, trying to fish for some way to pull them out of the mood they keep sinking into. He settles on the obvious in the end, gesturing around at the mostly packed up kitchen. "I suppose I had better finish putting everything away, otherwise I will probably end up leaving it all behind."

It's only half a joke - Niki has never properly moved out before, and he has more stuff than he knows what to do with, to the point where abandoning it all and starting fresh does seem very tempting at times.

Niki

i used to have strength but i ran out of hope

// i'm not so good with tenses //

Out of everyone Sunjata had growing up, his mother and sister were perhaps the two that he didn’t have anything bad to say about. His mother was his protector and in turn, Sunjata had been Saartjie’s protector, too. But those thoughts are diminished while he works with Niki to keep the air lighter rather than let it drift to the darker subject matter.

“I’m glad too.” He admits, though a selfish part of him wonders about how much hurt he would have saved himself had he succumbed. Snuffed out too soon, perhaps, but maybe it would have hurt less. Ironic, considering his current clause for his immortality. Ah, but he’s getting dour again, so the Heartless latches onto a task, something to do with his hands rather than continue to let his mind run wild.

Snorting softly, he inclines his head. “Well, my offer still stands. If you want help, I’m happy to. But if you’d rather I fuck off, I can do that too.” Whichever Niki preferred, really.

the Heartless

// i'm tensin' up thinkin' about what i'm supposed to call you now //

this world is a wasteland where nothing can grow

Niki is already getting to his feet to collect and wash out their coffee mugs when Sunjata offers his assistance again, and the necromancer takes him at his word this time. His brow furrows as he glances around at the boxes in the kitchen, some sealed and ready to go, others still open and awaiting the last of his belongings. "I am sure I would find a more polite way to say it than that," he says, grinning over his shoulder as he uses his magic to whisk the mugs into the sink.

"But alright. If you insist on being helpful whenever we run into each other, would you mind taking a few of the boxes out into the hallway? Beside the front door is fine - it is just to clear some space and to make sure I know what is ready to be transported." The house will never feel empty, not really, but he can at least be as prepared as possible.

To be truthful, though, he's almost at the point where he can't wait to get going and be settled in a new place, if only so he doesn't have to live out of boxes any more.

Niki

i used to have strength but i ran out of hope

// i'm not so good with tenses //

He stands shortly after Niki does, as the mugs are collected and a bit of magic gets them swept into the sink to be cleaned. The grin shot over his shoulder at him is met with a content one from Sunjata in return, a low huff of a laugh that seems to suggest he’s positive Niki would find a better way to say it – but the result was still the same. “Yeah, I’m sure you would.” Prim and proper, though past experience suggests that Niki has a silver blade for a tongue where even the most confident, proper verbiage could still wreak havoc.

Glad he doesn’t find out, though, when Niki finally takes him for what he’s offering, the Heartless shoots him a nod. “Sealed ones, I’m guessing?” He asks, only because there were very little boxes within here that weren’t fully closed off to be transported, likely still lived out of for the meantime until the necromancer’s in Sunjata’s region.

Once the confirmation comes, though, Sunjata gets to work – each box moved with careful consideration and a demigod’s strength to stack them thoughtfully by the door where Niki had indicated but in a way that ensures it isn’t a nightmare or hassle for him to get to or pack up wheni t comes to it.

the Heartless

// i'm tensin' up thinkin' about what i'm supposed to call you now //

this world is a wasteland where nothing can grow

Sunjata would be correct in his assumptions, but for today Niki is happy to keep the razors under his tongue, especially given that the Heartless is being kind enough to help him. "You would be correct, yes," he says of the sealed boxes, and whilst the other man gets to work, he cleans out their mugs and sets them aside to dry. With that done, he's at least as helpful as he can be in the endeavour, stacking boxes ready to be transferred into the hallway on the table where they'd been sitting until all that's left are the few he's still packing.

"I hope I do not need to stress how much time you have just saved me," he says with a sheepish smile once they're finished, running his fingers through his dark hair. "Perhaps I should be a little better at accepting help when it is offered. Thank you, Sunjata. And with luck you will see me again very soon." It'll be even sooner than expected given Flora's birthday party, but then the necromancer isn't to know that.

~FIN

Niki

i used to have strength but i ran out of hope