feast your eyes on this

// grass stains cut my bloody knees, it's goodpain, it means i can't be phased
that little death inside my sides, won't make it right //

Iskra’s a wise man to know when to concede the point – even if it wasn’t one that he agreed with. At any rate, Sunjata takes the moment to devour a bit more food, snorting in response to Remi or Ronin being Saturday because that just simply made sense to him. As for the whims of the gods, a quiet little huff leaves the Heartless as he nods, pointing toward Iskra with a piece of rangoon he’d been nibbling on. “That’s a good point.”

His steel gaze flits to Melita as her attention drifts toward the ceiling, thinking aloud in ways that Sunjata can tack onto. “Far as I know, she’s always happy to have more.” She’d tried hard to get Sunjata, after all. And he might have gone for it if he’d lost a bit more control of his life back then – but Frey had arrived with a better offer and an out, and Sunjata needed that more than he needed any quiet assurances from the goddess.

At the mention of channeling though, Sunjata snorts. “It’s rarely fun in my experience. Though maybe you’ll be luckier with that.” She had the fun magics, in his opinion. People called him when they wanted a zoo of animals or something to do with water – both things that he was admittedly good at.

But when it comes to Noah, his attention drifts toward Iskra with the question – silent, because he’s not a Halo man, often choosing to avoid the snowy region entirely, unless it’s to talk to Deimos and fight those horrible man sized spiders. Even the memory of it causes a slight shiver to race down his spine as he gets back to snacking.

he wins every time i find myself inside, alone all night

SUNJATA

I will still be here, stargazing

Well, what’s a warning if not a test of limits, basically begging to be ignored, especially in the case of Mel. She doesn’t disappoint, taking to the risk like a fish to water, and perhaps it’s just proof of her fortitude, unbothered by the potentials of mental collapse. ”Wonder if she’s got a limit at some point,” Iskra muses, being tugged into the trap now that they’re all circling it. ”Surely eventually, there are too many, even for her? Imagine if everyone in Caido became a demigod?” He knows of Safrin, which is quite different from knowing her. Purely off a numbers game though, she’s gotta have a limit. Everyone has a limit.

Iskra is testing the limit of how much pineapple-glazed meat he can have before popping. A bit more, it’d seem, as he takes another bite. ”Isn’t the whole point of channeling that it’s probably unfun in that moment?” Crises, he believes, is the word that most people use. He supposes it’s easy enough to classify a crisis if you’ve never had to endure any real hardship though, so perhaps being in the bathroom without toilet paper would count for some, war for others, but neither sounds fun.

Shrugging under the weight of her gaze and the bite of her curiosity, Iskra shifts to grab another sip of his drink. ”Yeah, he lives in Halo, but we’re not close and he’s a quiet guy in my experience. I think you’re better off inventing your own story here Mel.”

Iskra

code by sky

mama bore a girl with a gun for a mouth

Half-tempted to refill her glass, she forged onward with more food instead, figuring three drinks would lead to a rather disastrous skyship end later on. Humming a little while the boys discussed demigod matters, she snagged at a few more rangoons and the sweet soy-ginger glazed chicken, glancing upwards as she returned to the table. “From what I’ve always heard, the demigods are there for a purpose.” Hers was amusement – chaos, fun, merriment, entertainment in the wake of Caido. Frey’s would be for the usual. Safrin and Vi seemed to be more slated on potency and power, but that was on presumptions. “Even if it seems to be like…war most of the time,” which she handwaved away. Perhaps Noah simply no longer fulfilled a role Vi required or needed. She couldn’t say, but she could certainly speculate, pondering over the circumstances.

As for the bits of channeling, she huffed. “Hasn’t been real fun yet. Except throwing ducks at you,” she shrugged, giving another little grin to her uncle as she sliced into her chicken. Her brow arched at Iskra’s comment though, sighing, her cheeks puffing outwards on a long breath. “I mean, nothing I’ve been called to so far has been dangerous, save for the nearly drowning part,” she added as an afterthought. Everything else she’d been a welcome participant in.

But he didn’t seem too willing to go be nosy and dramatic on their account, and her nose wrinkled vaguely. “Fiiiiine,” but then the smile turned back to her own penchant for mischief. “So what do we think? Was it something scandalous? Did he breach a contract? Do something very un-Vilike?” They’d been drinking after all – they could come up with any kind of tall tale. ”Or war stuff?”

Melita

of both beauty and battle cries

// grass stains cut my bloody knees, it's goodpain, it means i can't be phased
that little death inside my sides, won't make it right //

“Could be.” Sunjata comments over whether or not there could be a thing as too many demigods. In his experience, most of them vanish or perish anyway, or move on to the higher gods – something of which Sunjata also can’t fathom. The few interactions with Rae he’s had have been far more clinical than anticipated, and for as much as Sunjata doesn’t want to admit he’s emotional at times, it definitely always seemed to put him on edge when talking to them.

He much prefers Frey, especially his aspect, which is probably for the better.

At the mention of the ducks, though, Sunjata rolls his eyes playfully and shoots Melita a playful glare. “It took me ages to clean up all those ducks, by the way.” He drawls, sighing before shaking his head. “I was channeled a couple of times during the war. Always to try and fuck up something.” A few seconds of blunt panic, of course, trying to take in what was going on before reacting and promptly vanishing again.

Mention of Noah and what not has Sunjata shrugging and downing the rest of his drink – always wishing it would do more than it did. “I don’t know. Probably war stuff, if I had to guess.” He could dwell on it for a while trying to figure out what happened, but to be honest? It doesn’t affect him that much. “Either way, I’ll probably never find out. I’m pretty sure Noah isn’t the biggest fan of me, especially now with the whole Ru thing..” His nose wrinkles before he sits up to snag his glass. “Anyone want anymore drinks?” He asks, looking to Iskra and Melita in turn.

he wins every time i find myself inside, alone all night

SUNJATA

I will still be here, stargazing

Ultimately all they've got is guesses in the dark, and Iskra can only shrug at the ideas passed around. He has never given demigods too much thought, beyond the ways she encompasses many of his, and the rift of mortality between them that he tries never to dwell on. Power is there, and he recognizes that, but with no means to summon them and no godly ties to become one, Iskra has ever been more interested in how to continue to harness his own abilities better. "Nothing yet," he considers, of her dangerous channels, a glance lobbed her way that carries some caution in it. She is dauntless, and he adores that, but it does nip at his chest to think her summoned into the midst of a crisis unfolding. That's where the immortality comes in, but it won't stop her from suffering.

Shrugging it away as she turned to making up the possibilities, Iskra continues to pick at his food, raising a finger when Sunjata offers another drink. "I'll take one!" He luckily, was not driving. His brows do puzzle in though, and his gaze lifts to the Heartless as he licks the sauce from his thumb. "Noah and Ru are good friends then? He had met Ru before, had seen her around Halo plenty of times, but not enough to know much, not with his nights spent in bars and days in woods.

Iskra

code by sky

mama bore a girl with a gun for a mouth

Were they ever in a ‘oops all demigods’ situation, she figured the heralds on high would be able to solve the crisis. Or Caido, given its ability to do massive wipeouts and natural disasters with ease. Swinging her attention briefly away from chicken to give her uncle a very proud grin for all her illustrious, pain-in-the-ass abilities, she wasn’t surprised to hear his had been over war frames. That’s all they’d done for the past few years, and settling into something like peace, with the unknown always precariously dangling over them, seemed stranger sometimes. At the ‘yet’ from Iskra, she stuck out her tongue; having no way to argue that piece except with rampant immaturity.

When neither of them wanted to play into her little Noah imagination game, she huffed and sighed, taken to doodling on a napkin with a piece of spare charcoal in her pockets, doodling a cartoon depiction of the Sentinel with fangs. Her ears perked up at the kernel of gossip though, but with Ru attached to it she wasn’t sure how much more in depth they could go. Him having a grudge against Sunjata wasn’t that surprising, in so far as the Flood seemed to gain adversaries on easy fronts. “They used to rule together. Well, like for a short time in Halo, before the Ascended invaded.” After that was another billowing time of dramatics; the Honeybee could only shrug, figuring the closeness and loyalty was in those lines, and not a weird relationship one. He’d been with someone, she’d thought, but perhaps the timelines were jumbled.

As for more drinks, while sorely tempted, she did have to fly them home, so she gave a sad little shake of her head.

Melita

of both beauty and battle cries

// grass stains cut my bloody knees, it's goodpain, it means i can't be phased
that little death inside my sides, won't make it right //

“Yeah, yeah, I know you’re happy about that.” Sunjata drawls to Melita as he catches her shit-eating grin. It reflects on his face in the small tug of his lips, lopsided and boyish thanks to the scar tissue on his cheek from his lip. Either way, Sunjata shifts his attention to war times and Noah and making a drink or two that might hopefully do something more than just feel like a slight burn going down.

At Iskra’s I’ll take one Sunjata makes a little cheers and pulls out another glass and starts making the next drink – a whiskey of some kind, one that he indulges in as well with the scent of smoked wood lining the glass. “Yeah.” He murmurs, drawing quiet as he plays bartender, eventually returning to the table when Melita’s done explaining and sets the glass in front of Iskra before he takes a seat again and sips from the glass.

“They’d been friends before that though and after. Though I think with me back in the picture it made it a little more complicated for them.” He wasn’t stupid. He knew that Noah didn’t like him, but the reasons he wasn’t entirely positive on.

he wins every time i find myself inside, alone all night

SUNJATA

I will still be here, stargazing

Flicking his attention Mel's way as she explains that they used to rule together, he nods a touch, remembering some of Hotaru's history in that regard. Truth be told he's only pulled his head out of his ass long enough to remember the effects that the Sword has left on the region, but he supposes he must have been around. Not paying much heed to anything other than bars and axes for so long, it's no surprise he's out of the loop of his own region. Scratching at the hairs on his chin in thought, he hums under his breath. "Why'd they ever stop leading, anyway?" Heavy is the crown, as they say, and he glances over at Sunjata as his drinks is delivered.

Nodding his thanks and lifting his drink in a mirror of the cheers, he sips at it as well while Sunjata paints more of the picture. So friends who will find each other's company a balm after, everything. For Ru, someone who'd give comfort when Sunjata had left her wounded, and for Noah, he'd hear a terrible story and want to defend his friend from it. Even if he had gotten along with Sunjata, most people believe the first thing they hear, even when they know they shouldn't. "I'll keep my ear out, for one or the other." He tilts his gaze to Mel, meaning Noah's comments about Ru or retirement. "Don't think you have anything to worry about though, unless you were trying to curry his favor after all this time." Sunjata isn't giving him that vibe, but he imagines having known disfavor out there rankles to some degree.

Iskra

code by sky

mama bore a girl with a gun for a mouth

Giving her uncle another cat-that-ate-the-canary smile, her attention drifted back and forth, from her lovely new doodle to the conversation flowing around her. Head tilting at Iskra’s inquiry, her mind tried to concoct vague memories around it. Not being directly involved in that fiasco had its glories too. “Uhhh, I think they got ousted by the invading forces…then Ru ended up in the Greatwood and had Flora and Enzo…,” her eyes narrowed as she thought over the complexities and timeline, figuring Sunjata would know more and fill in some of those blanks. “Did Noah not like you much or something?” Granted, there could be multitudes for why that was – the Sentinel always struck her as a prim and proper little lordling. Might’ve been the Vi influence.

Giving her doodle a Vi-themed walking staff on that bout of inspiration, she leaned further onto the table, snagging another bite of her chicken. Though her eyes did go back to the Flood…well, the Heartless, at the currying of said ex-demi-god’s favor, not certain he would ever have any need. Nor desire, in all likelihood.

Melita

of both beauty and battle cries

// grass stains cut my bloody knees, it's goodpain, it means i can't be phased
that little death inside my sides, won't make it right //

Nodding to confirm Melita’s answer, Sunjata shrugs a shoulder lightly. “I wasn’t around much for that part. And it wasn’t really a conversation we talked about.” He admits, though he isn’t put off by that fact. He didn’t tell her about the time he’d ruled the Grounds before the war – when he’d taken over for Isla for the time before he had to venture off to build the Refuge that had saved so many.

Hearing Iskra ask him if he was trying to curry Noah’s favor at all sparks a deep laugh – one he hadn’t expected at all to erupt from his throat. “Gods no. I don’t really care.” He’d only care if maybe he was confronted by Noah, though something tells me it isn’t very likely to happen anyway.

“I think it’s a lot of just having Hotaru’s side of things. And while that’s fine, the time before we got together we were…. Very harsh about each other.” He winces before he downs another sip of the liquor, before setting the glass down and focusing on digging into a ramphire steak. “So yeah, I think a lot stems from that.”

he wins every time i find myself inside, alone all night

SUNJATA

I will still be here, stargazing

The war certainly did a lot to unsettle the usual lay of things, and Iskra should have guessed as much, more or less avoiding even that struggle, loath as he is to admit it now. He sips more eagerly at his drink to drown some of that shame, trying to hide his ignorance with a polite smile. "Turbulent times," he adds as if that summarizes it well enough, and shrugs, suspecting there is little that can stay the same when the world is upended, leaders least of all.

Sunjata's laugh is bold and Iskra's smile falters for a moment before deepening. "Seems you've nothing to worry about then," and maybe less reason for Iskra to muddy the scene by prodding the Forsaken. He's not the most tactful, leading charges quite obviously and loudly, so he doesn't have much faith he could suss anything out of Noah without it being obvious.

Unsurprised to hear Sunjata's reason, Iskra's attention is drawn towards the doodle that Mel is diligently working on. His cheek pinches in on one side with a smirk at the design, leaning his shoulder against hers and tapping with a pinky finger on the napkin as he whispers that she should draw comically large and angry eyebrows too. Leaving her to her own artistry, note taken or not, he slouches deeper into his chair. "Gods, I'm stuffed," he groans delightfully, one palm smoothing down the front of his shirt. "I think we did quite a number on the food tonight." As sorely as he'd like to finish his drink, each sip is reminding him of just how out of room he is.

Iskra

code by sky

mama bore a girl with a gun for a mouth

Melita shrugged, her insight not being very valuable on the front, though she couldn’t help but laugh, a light hiccup to follow, at her uncle’s indifference. At least he never seemed to care about what others thought of him – or catering to every demigod (ex or not, as it were)’s illustrious whims.

Her doodle had taken fine shape though, as she crammed one more portion of Rangoon and chicken combination into her mouth, brows furrowing as she studied the ridiculous piece of art. At Iskra’s behest though, she tilted her head, wondering if she had made the eyebrows too small. On the artistic hint, she nodded, taking all her concentration and effort into producing comical and hairy portions far larger than the model itself, giggling to herself until she slid it over for the Halovian to consider further.

The somber notions of Sunjata’s conversation didn’t leave too much in the wake of humor, but at the stillness, and lack of rumbling in her stomach now, she didn’t want to go too far into it again. “I think that’s fair though, given everything that happened. Maybe give each other some space and time, and then…” she shrugged. Talk it over? Figure things out? Break everything? Or leave it to where it was now?

Melita

of both beauty and battle cries

// grass stains cut my bloody knees, it's goodpain, it means i can't be phased
that little death inside my sides, won't make it right //

“Yeah true.” Sunjata decides, sinking into his seat a little easier once he’s wolfed down the steak and the drink, finally feeling somewhat sated for the time being. It’d last a while, given the little amount of food he has been eating lately, so with that bolstering a kind of bone deep exhaustion in his bones for his lack of sleep, Sunjata’s gaze falls on the napkin that Melita is doodling on. He doesn’t see from this vantage point what exactly it is, but watching Iskra and her interact softens something in him that he isn’t entirely sure what it is at the start.

Happiness, he thinks, that Melita’s got someone to spend time with and enjoy the company of.

Humming an agreement to Iskra about being stuffed and nodding to Melita, Sunjata’s lips quirk into a small smile. “Yeah. I’ll get some thoughts together and probably talk to her about it so it’s not so… Sudden of a thing.” Puffing his cheeks up before he sighs, Sunjata shifts to stand and collect the glasses so he can make it easier for himself and his staff to clean up the room. “Food was great and the company was nice. We should do it again.” He says as he turns back toward Melita and Iskra, shooting them both a warm smile.

Then, with idle chatter and continuing to clean up and seeing whomever wanted leftovers, Sunjata eventually (and a touch reluctantly) bids them both farewell.

- FIN

he wins every time i find myself inside, alone all night

SUNJATA