[SE] what in carnation

Melita

I never had a chance to be soft
I was always bloody knuckles

Melita hadn’t snagged at all her borrowed Halo clothes or stolen Iskra sweaters for this brief sojourn, thinking they wouldn’t be necessary as the season altered and changed; but she’d been incorrect on that assumption. Digging through her skyship had ensured she’d squirreled away a light jacket, adorned with Ludo and its many cats on the back, making the trek into the Inner Quarter and its marketplace a little easier. Maybe she’d gotten too used to Torchline’s warm air.

But even the Hollowed Grounds had a touch of chill to it – but maybe if they wound around closer towards the bonfire, they’d have less of an issue. “How’d LongNight go?” she started towards her uncle, ambling through the marketplace with a keen choice already laden around her thoughts. “We had empanada fire hoop jumping.” As a way of ‘top that’, as she circled around a kiosk full of flowers – though it seemed they were having trouble keeping stock in decent shape.

and shards of glass
I wanted people to be afraid of hurting me

// now we are hanging out in the backyard //

Infinitely familiar with the chill in the air that still lingered from the cold LongNight night, Sunjata’s decked out in a dark green sweater underneath a weatherproof jacket, hands in his pocket and warm boots. His gaze snags on the market they drift through, each stall bringing a smidge of curiosity as she asks how LongNight went, and when she says empanada’s, he’s hit with a distinct memory he’d forgotten about, with Nate’s voice and the snap of his fingers trying to remember the name encantado and resulting in that.

Charmed by it, even if he couldn’t feel the love for Nate in the state he’s in anymore, it was still amusing enough that he flashes her an amused smile as they stop by some flowers. “That sounds fun. We had a party with bonfires, sledding, markets, and music.” He touts a little playfully, nudging her with an elbow. “Did you jump through the hoops?” He asks as he reaches out to rearrange the bouquet closest to him.

the flood

// looking at a new point of view //

Melita

I never had a chance to be soft
I was always bloody knuckles

Nate had been an influence on all of them; so much so that Melita still hadn’t been corrected in the mis laden name. Despite that, there were still ways to carry on the Ascended’s time with all of them; so she winked and indulged where she could, perhaps for both of their sakes.

King’s End with bonfires, sledding, markets, and music still sounded like a good time – even without the fanfare of dolphins launching their way through hoops. “I didn’t have much of a chance – though it was hilarious to watch. Maybe next time.” She’d been wholly occupied by Iskra and their attempts to get on the same page with communication about the latest, sweeping news and information overload – where the Flood might be used to the arrangement and how quickly things maneuvered, the Abandoned certainly hadn’t been. “We did do the skijoring in Halo though!”

Pausing by the flowers, and ignoring the urge to jostle him back with her own bony elbow, she narrowed her eyes in brief speculation, before beginning to pick several hues of blue, green, red, and variances of in between.

and shards of glass
I wanted people to be afraid of hurting me

// now we are hanging out in the backyard //

“Ah, that’s fair. If you do next time, though, I wanna hear all about it.” He tilts his head to peer over at her with a playfully serious look, the kind he knows she’d see right through before it breaks into the easy lopsided smile on his face. It lingers as he explains what they did in King’s End. And as she brings up skijoring in Halo, Sunjata’s huff of a laugh slips from his throat. “And how was that? I don’t think I’ve ever been skijoring.”

He hasn’t been, he’s barely been sledding let alone skiing in anyway kind of way. But he keeps those thoughts behind his teeth as he waits for her to answer, picking through and rearranging some of the flowers they’ve stilled by while she picks a variety of colorful flowers. He doesn’t pick any for himself yet, content to look at them all and maybe run his fingers along a hydrangea that calls to him in particular. “The healing river should be done soon, hopefully. Though I think there’s gonna be some drama with it.” His nose wrinkles slightly with the thought, but his penchant for gossip and knowing she had one herself has him glancing sidelong toward her.

the flood

// looking at a new point of view //

Melita

I never had a chance to be soft
I was always bloody knuckles

Her smile turned distinctly Cheshire as she began surveying more of the flowers, arranging them in her grasp, picking at several more until it seemed full enough for her intentions. “Amazing! I rode while Iskra skied,” figuring he’d be the one with the most experience on them, given Halo (wrong). “And I didn’t even fall off!” which had been a near-miss. “You have to get rings while you ride the horse and the skier goes over jumps,” as she went on explaining, her free hand illustrating the launching mechanisms, imitating the movements and motions. “Fastest wins!”

When he started describing ongoing shit in King’s End though, she tilted her head, reveling in her penchant for gossip and drama. “Ohhhh? Do go on,” because, initially, one might think amplifying a river wouldn’t have too many quandaries, but her first instinct was to assume it was something to do with her uncle.

and shards of glass
I wanted people to be afraid of hurting me