we are young supernovas

Koa

I don't want to wonder if this is a blunder

"So what I'm hearing is that flying feels a lot like like jumping off a cliff to your death? Worth." Koa grins teasingly, chuckling at her sudden excitement. "That makes sense, though. I mean, I've probably jumped off more high things than you can count. Maybe my obsession with climbing shit and jumping off it all ties back to wanting to fly." Coming from someone else, this might be philosophical and self-reflective - but that isn't really Koa's style. No, for him it's all quite simple and surface.

He likes to go up. And then he likes to come down.

Turning fully to face Sohalia, Koa props himself up on his left elbow. "Okay- say you were a demigod or something. You could have any ability you wanted. What would you choose?" He raises a finger in warning, adding: "And you can't say something you're already able to do as an Attuned."

When I kiss your lips I want to sink down to the bottom of the sea

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Cheer up and dry your damp eyes and tell me when it rains
And I'll blend up that rainbow above you and shoot it through your veins

Soh laughed. "Something like that, at least sometimes." She tilted her head to one side, watching Koa, the stars above forgotten in favor of his company. "Were you always like that? Like, even as a kid, climbing things you weren't supposed to?" She could imagine a younger Koa, clambering up onto the roof, much to his parents' dismay. She hoped he hadn't gotten himself into too much trouble - after all, climbing things is much easier when one does have flight to get back down.

At his next question, Soh frowned in thought. "Oh, that's a tough one!" Her shifts already allowed her to do so many things. "Well, okay, so I can fly," she said, ticking off abilities on her fingers. "And I can breathe underwater now, so I can pretty much go wherever I want." Except Starfall, but nobody risked going there, and she wasn't about to ruin their perfectly good evening by mentioning it. "I can see in the dark, and I can hear pretty well... but if I could do anything..."

She paused. The things she wanted more than anything required more from her than magical ability, no matter how powerful those abilities were. Stormbreak, for example, wasn't exactly going to free itself. Roses weren't going to find themselves, people weren't going to cure themselves, and the Family sure weren't going to go jump off the edge of Stormbreak to fall to their deaths. But maybe her wishes were smaller. "I think I'd like to be able to heal," she said after a moment. "What about you?"

the Luminary

'Cause your heart has a lack of colour and we should've known
That we'd grow up sooner or later 'cause we wasted all our free time alone

code stolen from sky who stole it from odd

Koa

I don't want to wonder if this is a blunder

"Oh, always," Koa laughs, the rich timber filling the quiet space. "Always climbing trees or pillars or whatever else, getting into trouble. We had a treehouse growing up and this one time I convinced Noe to help me pull out every mattress from the house and make a crash pad so we could jump out of it. Dad was not impressed." Again he laughs, fond nostalgia warming and animating his face. He'd always been an ambitious kid, always tried to reach the things he knew he couldn't - be it heights, or strength, or romantic partners.

Lookin' at you, Soh.

He listens, spellbound, as Soh describes the abilities granted by her shifting, unable to quell the little serpent of envy that coils in his chest. Pipsqueak is worth it, Koa has to remind himself, glancing fondly at the perched dragon before returning his copper gaze to Soh. A patient smile settles on his face as she considers; his eyes, unbidden, skate over her lips, pert and coral and slightly pursed. It isn't until she speaks again that they snap back to meet hers, widening in surprise before crinkling back into a fond smile. "That makes sense." Of course she would want to heal, to care for others. It's in her nature, after all.

As for him? "Hmm," Koa muses thoughtfully, rolling over onto his back. "I think maybe super strength? Or the ability to take any hit without flinching. Or wait, what about teleportation?" He's grown more animated with each new idea; now he chuckles, chagrined. "I dunno - there's so many good options. Whatever makes me a better soldier, I guess."

When I kiss your lips I want to sink down to the bottom of the sea

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Cheer up and dry your damp eyes and tell me when it rains
And I'll blend up that rainbow above you and shoot it through your veins

Soh laughed along as Koa reminisced. It certainly sounded like the kind of thing he’d do, and Noe, too, being the firecracker that Soh knew her to be. The thought of Koa’s sister sobered her for a moment, though - infected!Noe had been unkind the last time they’d met, and it bothered Soh that there was nothing she could do to either cure the girl or mend her bridges.

Koa seemed unsurprised by her desire to heal, and she smiled sheepishly at how predictable she probably sounded. But if her wishes were a bit obvious, then so were Koa’s, who described various abilities that would make him a better soldier. ”Oooo, teleportation,” she agreed, grinning. ”I didn’t think about that, but how fun would that be?” She paused for a moment, her gaze flickering back up to the stars. ”Would you become a demigod? If you had the opportunity?”

the Luminary

'Cause your heart has a lack of colour and we should've known
That we'd grow up sooner or later 'cause we wasted all our free time alone

code stolen from sky who stole it from odd

Koa

I don't want to wonder if this is a blunder

"And useful!" Buoyed by the idea and the warmth of Soh's smile, Koa sits back up, his face and arms wonderfully animated as he talks. "Just think - we're mid fight, and you have me cornered, but suddenly, pop! I teleport behind you!" In a flurry of motion he all but flings himself over the reclining Soh, executing a barrel roll to land at her other side. Leaning in over her shoulder, he declares in a mock-severe, pseudo-menacing tone that could under no circumstances being taken as any true threat: "Nothing personal, kid."

Having executed his astoundingly ridiculous maneuver, Koa flops backwards onto the cushions, dissolving into laughter. He's very close to Sohalia now, enough that one wrong move might press them into one another. Indeed, as he reaches across her to reclaim the wine it's nearly an embrace, save for the hairs breadth of distance between her chest and his arm. But Koa's too comfortable to think about how uncomfortable this should be; so thoroughly is he enjoying her company, he's nearly forgotten about the distance he's sworn they must maintain.

He's still chuckling when Soh asks her follow-up question; catching his breath, the young man props himself back on his elbow, his fingers drumming thoughtfully upon the bottleneck. "I haven't really thought about it," Koa replies at last, which is not strictly true: he has thought quite a bit about becoming a demigod, just never in a real, intentional way. It's a complicated issue, and one he doesn't much want to dive into now, simple soul that the boy is. Instead he takes a drink of wine, deflecting with a curious, "You?"

When I kiss your lips I want to sink down to the bottom of the sea

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Cheer up and dry your damp eyes and tell me when it rains
And I'll blend up that rainbow above you and shoot it through your veins

Soh shrieked a laugh as Koa barrel rolled over top of her, attempting to duck her head to stay out of the way of any flailing limbs. Once she was sure he was done maneuvering, she peered over her shoulder, surprised to find him close enough to kiss. Her cheeks heated, but she did a remarkably good job of keeping her eyes on his rather than letting them lower to his lips. "As long as you don't break my nose again in this hypothetical teleportation fight," she teased wickedly, shifting to face him more fully, eyes dancing with mirth. Oh, it hadn't been funny at the time, but in retrospect?

When he leaned in for the bottle, Soh lost her composure for the briefest of moments: her breath caught in her throat, and she only just barely resisted the urge to lean into what was almost an embrace. But the moment passed quickly, leaving her only marginally (read: incredibly) flustered.

With the line of questioning having been what it was, Soh was a little surprised to learn that Koa hadn't given becoming a demigod any serious thought. Not that it was that easy, anyway - she suspected there was quite a lot to such a thing, even if she wasn't entirely sure what it entailed. "Me either," she said, stealing the bottle from Koa's fingers and downing another drink. "I think leadership was enough for me. I'm not sure I want more responsibility." In other words, please don't put me in charge of saving the world, I'm sure I'll fuck that up, too.

the Luminary

'Cause your heart has a lack of colour and we should've known
That we'd grow up sooner or later 'cause we wasted all our free time alone

code stolen from sky who stole it from odd

Koa

I don't want to wonder if this is a blunder

For years, it seems, Koa has been bending near enough to break, the unabashed confidence and well-meaning heart that made him who he is slowly carved away. But here in this haven beneath the stars, with the serenade of Sohalia's laughter ringing in his ears, he's beginning to feel whole. Enough that he's forgetting his carefully forged lines, the distance he'd promised to maintain, the guard he's forged through heartache and fear stripped away effortlessly by the sheer delight that Koa takes in making her smile.

"Oh, wow, you just had to go there." Once upon a time the reminder of their ill-fated spar might have caused some damage, but time has change their relationship enough that he can look back upon it and laugh. "As I recall, you headbutted me first," Koa challenges drolly, one brow arching playfully above his shining eyes. "If anything I was acting in self defense. But I am sorry about your nose." Without thinking he reaches forward, his large hand nearly filling the narrow space between them as he brushes his thumb briefly across that pretty organ, fortunately unblemished despite his assault.

They're very, very close together, even when Koa rolls onto his back. A part of him acknowledges, quite logically, that the proximity is of his making - he'd quite literally thrown himself onto her side of the blanket, after all - and he ought to return to his original spot. Another much louder and far less rational part points out that if Soh was uncomfortable she could move, and the fact that she hadn't indicates that the whole situation is, as the youth say, totes chill.

He chuckles as she takes another pull from the bottle, trying not to stare too long at the curve of her neck. But something she says catches his attention; for the first time that evening, a glint of seriousness and iron enters his tone. "Does that mean you're done with leadership?" he asks softly, a furrow between his eyebrows as he seeks her quicksilver gaze. "What about when we get Stormbreak back?" When, not if: despite the pessimistic lean he's taken lately, in his heart Koa refuses to acknowledge any real alternative besides the liberation of their home.

When I kiss your lips I want to sink down to the bottom of the sea

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Cheer up and dry your damp eyes and tell me when it rains
And I'll blend up that rainbow above you and shoot it through your veins

Sohalia giggled as Koa reminded her of the finer details of their disastrous spar, then scrunched her nose at him. ”I think it healed just fine,” she said. ”But I appreciate the apology.” He rolled onto his back, but they were still close enough to touch if she shifted even the slightest bit, so she elected to stay still, half rolled towards him. It was nice, this ability to joke, to lay a hair’s breadth apart without it being awkward, to spend time together and enjoy themselves. If this was what Soh got from bottling up her increasingly insistent feelings for Koa, then so be it.

Then the tone shifted, and Soh met Koa’s copper gaze. ”No, that’s not what I meant,” she explained, ”When we get Stormbreak back, I’ll happily return to leadership - if everyone will accept me back.” After all, she’d disappeared, allowed them to fall under the command of the Family. She’d been weak, useless, failed them when they’d needed her most. What kind of ruler did that? ”I just meant that… well, one region is enough to keep safe, you know? I don’t think I want to be responsible for the whole world. And to have the expectations of a god on your shoulders… it just sounds like a lot. I don’t… I don’t think I’m that strong.”

the Luminary

'Cause your heart has a lack of colour and we should've known
That we'd grow up sooner or later 'cause we wasted all our free time alone

code stolen from sky who stole it from odd

Koa

I don't want to wonder if this is a blunder

The apprehension in his chest unclenches when she clarifies. "I'm sure they will," Koa smiles reassuringly, because honestly, while Sohalia's queendom may have been short, it had led to one of the most important changes Stormbreak had ever seen. Koa reaches for her hand upon the blanket, cupping it in his own with a soft squeeze. "And, hey, none of that, okay? Knowing your limits - that isn't weak." Leaning in earnestly (or as much as he can, without the space between them growing painfully close), Koa peers resolutely into Sohalia's eyes. "You've never been weak, Sohalia, and I won't hear anyone saying that about my friend. Okay?" He's a Dragoon, a soldier, and she is his Queen. He's sworn to protect her from anything.

Even herself.

Relaxing back a little bit, Koa's face softens into an encouraging smile. "But also, this time, you won't be doing it alone. I'm here for you- and so are others, obviously. I'm not saying you need to choose me... or not choose, y'know, but, like-- I mean, that is--"

He cuts off with a flustered laugh, suddenly very much aware of how close he is to saying something they might both regret. "Sorry, you know how I am with words," Koa chuckles ruefully, relinquishing his hold on Soh's hand, lest she think he's trying to push for something she's already denied. "I'm just trying to say that you've got people in your corner who you can lean on. Promise you wont forget." Including the young man, in the capacity she'll have him. Which is not as her lover.

Which is totally fine.

When I kiss your lips I want to sink down to the bottom of the sea

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Cheer up and dry your damp eyes and tell me when it rains
And I'll blend up that rainbow above you and shoot it through your veins

Knowing one's limits - was that what this was? This tiny voice in the back of her mind that incessantly insisted that she wasn't good enough, or strong enough, or brave enough... was it just serving some bigger purpose that she didn't understand? Because if that was the case, she would almost rather be young and stupid again, without knowing that there were limits in the world and what hers were.

But Koa was so sweet, and so earnest, that Soh couldn't help but smile in response. And gods, but if she hadn't already been halfway in love with him, his speech - however flustered - would have ensured that she'd started to fall. Unfortunately for her, that ship had long since sailed, and there was nothing she could do about it now.

"I promise," she said in a voice that was small but resolute. Reaching out, Soh grasped his hand and gave it an affectionate squeeze. "Thanks, Koa."

fin

the Luminary

'Cause your heart has a lack of colour and we should've known
That we'd grow up sooner or later 'cause we wasted all our free time alone

code stolen from sky who stole it from odd