tell it to my heart

Isla

Having turned Remi's letter in her hands over and over until the heat from her palms threatens to set it quite literally alight, Isla eventually sets the parchment aside in a neat square and considers her next steps. Abandoning her small office in the clinic in the House of Midnight - and how jarringly strange it had been, not just to be back there, but how how easy it had been to fall into old routines - she heads into the waiting area.

It's with that same strange familiarity that she checks that there are no upcoming appointments, emergencies or walk-ins, and then heads out into the corridor that would lead to the rest of the House. The Remedy's expression is quietly troubled, even with the polite smiles she gives to the workers she recognises, her hands buried in the pockets of her doctor's coat, her footsteps soft on the rugs.

Soon finding herself at the main bar area - and there are no shortage of patrons who see the white coat and the stethoscope around her neck and assume she's a kink rather than the real deal - Isla heads to the counter so she might inquire with the bartender as to whether he's seen Sunjata yet that morning. The last thing she wants to do is bring trouble to the Flood's door, but... gods. It feels as though trouble is all that's available these days.

I'll take a bruise, I know you're worth it
When you hit me, hit me hard

SUNJATA

isn't it funny?
how the cold numbs everything but grief?

If he’s being honest, he’s glad to have Isla here. Even if dynamics had changed and things had gotten messy for a time for her in Torchline in regards to the whole Everest conversation. Such that when he’d heard she would be ensuring she was safe, and coming and spending time in the place they’d built, Sunjata couldn’t help but to feel the weight slip off, of stress he didn’t realize was there.

Things had gone back to mostly normal, and while he no longer lived in the House of Midnight, he could be found haunting the place. (He was still an option of the patron’s choices, of course, and not just the owner). So, as it stands, the Flood is in today, and just so happens to be stepping out from checking the books for a drink when he sees Isla sitting at the bar.

Already making his way over, the bartender hums with a soft laugh before mentioning it seems like he’s already found her. And sure enough, Sunjata slips in, snags the drink the bartender’s already pouring of his favorite smoky whiskey, and flashes a crooked and gentle smile toward the Remedy. “Hey. Settling in okay?” He asks, unaware she’s looking for him.

if we could light up the room with pain,
we'd be such a glorious fire

Isla

Raising a brow at the bartender's comment, Isla glances around just as a familiar tall shadow falls across her, a smile of her own automatically curling across her lips. "Hey, Sunjata," she replies, nodding her thanks to the barman - and accepting a citrusy cocktail with only a whisper of alcohol in it without even needing to ask. "Surprisingly well, actually," she adds with a soft laugh. "Some days it's like I never even left."

Glancing past Sunjata to the easy business being conducted in the bar area, Isla spots a small, empty booth out of the way of the main crowd. "Do you mind if we take a seat, if you aren't busy? Good as the drinks are, I actually came out here to try and find you." Phrasing it like that feels better than the dread attached to we need to talk, even if that's what it boils down to.

I'll take a bruise, I know you're worth it
When you hit me, hit me hard

SUNJATA

isn't it funny?
how the cold numbs everything but grief?

Sunjata nods and flashes her a soft smile, letting the low hum of his own laugh accompany her own. “It is nice seeing you around again.” He admits, lips quirking into an easier smile, less panicked and anxious because he’s within the House of Midnight and thoughts of void infections are far from the forefront of his mind. But he follows her gaze toward the empty booth back by the warm fire, mostly left alone from the main array of workers collecting clients, and he nods even if he’s a touch curious over what it could be about.

“I’ve always got time for you.” He teases her, slipping off the barstool and collecting his glass, letting her lead the way as he mulls over what it was she wanted to find him about – thinking of the void as a last thing on his mind, he imagines it might be something to do with the House of Midnight, so as he takes the seat opposite of hers in the plush booth and takes a sip of his glass, his steel gaze lingers on her to start the conversation, open and warm and content despite how they’d last seen each other.

if we could light up the room with pain,
we'd be such a glorious fire

Isla

"If only it were for a nicer reason, huh?" Isla smiles sadly. Unfortunately for her, void infections are never all that far from her mind given the reason she's not at her clinic in Torchline. (And the reason she's gone looking for Sunjata today, too). Her smile grows into something warmer to hear his second quip, at least, Isla following the Flood over to the booth and sidling into it opposite him. Taking a slow sip from her cocktail, she mulls over how to begin, before figuring it best to start from the top.

"I got a letter from Remi today," she says softly. "He and Ronin were threatened, by the Family. Their children were threatened, more accurately, I should say. So they... well. They aren't able to help with anything to do with the void any more. Not without putting Flora and Mateo at risk." Entirely understandable, too. "But that means they aren't able to help take Everest to the hotsprings in Halo. And since the Tundra is no longer infected, Remi suggests I approach you."

Wrinkling her nose - because no, she hasn't wanted to put this in his lap at all - Isla slumps back in her seat. "I suppose I just wondered if you knew anyone else who might be able to make the trip. I'd do it myself, but I'd be stone long before I got anywhere near the place."

I'll take a bruise, I know you're worth it
When you hit me, hit me hard

SUNJATA

isn't it funny?
how the cold numbs everything but grief?

He concedes to her, because the reason itself was not at all something to be celebrated. So her sad smile is met with a twist of his own in that same vein, only briefly until they’re sitting in the booth and his gaze flits across to her, watching as she mulls over her words. His brows lift when she mentions she’d gotten a letter from Remi and Ronin – and while she explains, he does know of that particular burst of information. And it reminds him of how he needed to go back and chat with Remi about it, given it got interrupted by Zavien’s untimely demise.

But his jaw sets, especially as he hears that he’s the go to for it. And honestly? Were it anyone else, he’d let the panic override the good – let himself pass the buck onto someone else to take charge of it.

But it’s her. And he knows there’s no one else. He knows it can’t be her and if it can’t be Remi and Ronin, the next logical step is him. So he nods, slowly, taking it in and taking a long slow sip of the whiskey and wishing it had burned like it did before he got to this point of brawn where it didn’t affect him as well as it had. “I mean, there’s Deimos.. But I’m pretty sure he’s busy with Halo and everything that’s gone on.” He starts to say, because he can read between the lines with what she says. He knows she doesn’t want to put it on him.

So he tilts his head a little and glances back up at her face, some amount of resolve settling into the panes of his face. “I… I can do it for you, Isla. I just can’t get to Stormbreak to grab him.” He’s fairly confident he’s strong enough to take Everest on, unlike when he himself had to be tricked into Halo itself. And besides, it isn't the first time he's kidnapped someone - even if it has been a decade and a half since the last time.

if we could light up the room with pain,
we'd be such a glorious fire

Isla

Conversely, because it's him (as he's already figured out), Isla has never intended for Sunjata to actually be the person to carry an infected, likely struggling Attuned the entire distance to Halo and the hotsprings. But he is someone who knows people, so it's her hope that he'll have a few names up his sleeve that she can approach to get the job done. Deimos is someone she'd half expected, in truth, and while she and the Sword have never spent that much time together, for something like this she hopes he'll be receptive to the idea.

Only, as the Flood points out a second later, Halo has not exactly had it easy this season, Isla wincing and dropping her gaze down towards her drink. "I could wait until things calm down out there," she says; it would mean staying at King's End potentially up until Flowerbirth and beyond in order to keep up her guise, and who knows what Dahlia might ask of Ever in the meantime, but...

Glancing up sharply when Sunjata outright says he'll do it, the Remedy is already softly shaking her head. "No, you don't have to do that," she says immediately. "It isn't fair to you. We can wait for Deimos - you and Hotaru have only just gotten some peace back. I'm not going to make you get close to someone who made you run away into the woods last time you saw him."

I'll take a bruise, I know you're worth it
When you hit me, hit me hard

SUNJATA

isn't it funny?
how the cold numbs everything but grief?

They could wait, but as their thoughts align in how they both have zero idea what Dahlia will ask of the Aviator the longer they wait, it seems like the only logical step to him. And while he hasn’t been the best in the past for these kinds of decisions, something about this one feels more important. He feels more sure footed when he offers it up, even if the thought has his stomach dropping and pooling with the alcohol in a swirling mix of anxiety. “I talked to Frey.” He starts to say, taking an inhale of breath and offering her a soft smile, tinged a touch sadly.

“I could get rid of seeing it, but, I wouldn’t be able to detect anyone that’s infected. And… Even though it’s really fucking terrible to see, I think it’s important too. I can help, like this. And I want to.” He wants to do something good for all of the bad he’s done over the years, even if half of them had been justified. He can help. He wants to help. “I’m getting better at seeing it in my reflection and in Ru, so. I can let Deimos know and if he has time he can help, but I think… I think it’s gotta be me.” His gaze scans her face, letting the honesty in his tone and his face in turn prove to her that he’s capable of it.

if we could light up the room with pain,
we'd be such a glorious fire

Isla

"Sunny," Isla says, her tone a mix of stern reprimand and soft pleading, the Remedy sliding her drink to one side to reach across the table and take his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. Her lips part to continue - no, he doesn't have to do this, it doesn't have to be him, she can find another way - but Sunjata beats her to it, Isla silenced to hear that not only has he spoken to Frey, but he's opted to keep seeing the remnants of the infection on purpose.

Her brow furrows as she lets it sink in, glancing up to his face as if to make sure he isn't just telling them both a clever lie until he's convinced himself it's okay. (Sunjata? Never). "You're serious about this aren't you?" she says slowly, letting out a long, deep sigh. "Fuck." Rubbing at her forehead with her other hand, she slowly straightens back up.

"I don't want to lie to him," she murmurs. "I can't do that. So maybe we can meet in Torchline in a week or so? I've got business in the Grounds, but after that..." After that, for better or worse, it's time to get Everest healed, she supposes.

I'll take a bruise, I know you're worth it
When you hit me, hit me hard

SUNJATA

isn't it funny?
how the cold numbs everything but grief?

His hand is hers to take, the one that still reflects the moonlit silver band to match the one Nate had perished with. His gaze finds her face, his explanation easy as it is careful and very serious as Isla points out, enough that he can see the way it actually hits her. (And yes, it’s still very much a if I tell myself I’ll be okay, I will whether or not it’s true). But, with as much bolstering hope he can pull from it and the mental capacity to try and allocate to it, the Flood nods when she answers and straightens up.

He gives her hand a squeeze and a small smile as the plans are laid out, nodding. “Yeah, that works.” He starts to say quietly, using his free hand to sip from the whiskey before he, too, straightens up a little. “Can we maybe get him somewhere less populated? I don’t want Torchline to think I’m just walking in and stealing people.” His nose wrinkles with the thought – because only a select few really knew about Everest anyway.

if we could light up the room with pain,
we'd be such a glorious fire

Isla

Smiling back at Sunjata as best she's able - because fuck, this is actually happening now, and Isla can already feel guilt curling in her stomach as she realises what she has to do and what it will do to Ever in turn - the Remedy finally slips her fingers out of his and grabs for her drink, wishing it were something stronger. "I can do that," she says with a gentle nod. "Perhaps Rae's Fingers? Enough places for you to hang around without being seen until it's time, and far away from Haulani," she reasons.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out again, finally Isla glances back to Sunjata again and lets her shoulders slump. "Thank you," she says gently. "Please let me know if there's anything I can do for you in the meantime, or afterwards. Whether it's to do with this place, or with the void, or... anything."

I'll take a bruise, I know you're worth it
When you hit me, hit me hard

SUNJATA

isn't it funny?
how the cold numbs everything but grief?

Once she releases his hand, Sunjata sits back a little bit more, straightening his spine as he nurses the last bit of the whiskey that won’t even affect him in the ways he wished it did. But, perhaps that was for the best, given the subject of the conversation. “Yeah, that works.” He hums to Isla’s suggestion, flashing her a small smile – because the topic was grim, but they were helping despite it, and while he wouldn’t want her to dwell on it for long it was important to get these plans nailed out.

As she looks back at him and offers what she can in terms of it, he nods and flashes her an easier smile. “I will.” Because he knows her better than to try and wave off the help – knowing she’d not take no for an answer. “For now, just try to relax? I’m not sure how busy you are but I was about to go and work out the books of the kitchen before I have an appointment. You're welcome to join me.” He murmurs, flashing her an easier smile and giving her a means to feel as if she’s helping for the time being.

Even if it was something that seemed so miniscule in the grand scheme. And all the while, he can work out the plans of just how he’d snatch up Everest and drag him to the hot springs.

- FIN

if we could light up the room with pain,
we'd be such a glorious fire