[SE] Now or Never

Colt

Love's just one of them words
That gets thrown around
So I ain't gonna say it, no I ain't gonna lie
If you were my last breath, I'd just wanna hold ya

Unlike lately, today boasts clear skies and a deeper chill, helped along by the coastal breeze and the sea's temperatures as they drift along the docked marketplace. Colt pauses to close her jacket all the way up, shoulder bracing against the bite of the wind as the leather zips together. She fists her hands back in her pockets as soon as she's able, a chill running across her that she shakes off as she steps back along the wooden ramps. Her boots tap out an unsteady rhythm, her gaze wandering from one stall to the next, lingering at some, forging ahead past others. No jingle of spurs today, no hat either—a lazy day of errands and house work, the horses and the cattle left to be, except for trusty Beans who bore her here, his nose pressed to the hitching post well behind her where he dozes.

A familiar sight catches her eye as she passes one such stall, and she pauses, doing a double take before stepping back. She reverses back to the vendor, boot heels clicking together, warm drawl sent his way. "Howdy Sunjata." She leans a bit to the side to peer around his frame at the goods, 'brows lifting at the assorted masks on display. "Masquerade or just an average day for you?"

If you were my last shot of whiskey
I'd press you to my lips, take a little sip
Swirl you around and around and around
Then I'd shoot ya down

SUNJATA

i found hope in a hopeless home
found my father but i lost my soul

He’d spent most of the morning working out just what kind of thing he could use to become rags in favor for Ludo, when the Flood had inevitably settled on a dark fabric, thick and warm but cut in a way that would drape nicely. After cursing himself numerous times for having not reached out to his niece about what might suit Ludo best, Sunjata’s finally gotten over his decision paralysis and snagged the cloth, fully intending on personalizing it a little bit later when he’s got the rest of the look acquired.

Which leads him to now, where Colt has found him perusing the masks, trying to find one that would suit his face well enough but also still give way to the thoughts racing through his head on just how to make this more him. “Afternoon, Colt.” Sunjata hums, flashing the rancher a crooked smile as his fingers curl against a mask that’s dark and would frame most if not all of the top half of his face. His scar would be on display, so the anonymity would be out the door anyway, but that’s fine considering how he intends on decorating them.

“Ludo’s party. Just need to find a mask and decorate it and this cloth for its rags. I was thinking some kind of watercolor effect.” Turning toward her to roll his tattooed shoulders, the Flood juts his chin back toward the mask. “Wanna help me pick one?”

i tried to trace it, i aimed to scope
been tryna kill it, but it's all i know

Colt

Love's just one of them words
That gets thrown around
So I ain't gonna say it, no I ain't gonna lie
If you were my last breath, I'd just wanna hold ya

"D'ya really think you need one?" she asks with a hint of a smile, one arm extended to gesture at all of him. "You'll tower over everyone like always, bit of a dead give away, don'tcha think?" Not to mention his scar, but he could always find a full face mask to deal with that. Still, she steps up alongside him at his offer, because she actually does still need one. She had finished working on the rest of the garment after leaving the Ark, but the mask had slipped her mind a bit. "Mm, fortunate you reminded me," she mumbles, reaching out for one mask decorated a bit like a fox. "I almost forgot I need one. I came here for some of the lemon cheese." Since she'd failed to grab any the other night and had been craving it relentlessly ever since.

She holds the mask a bit up towards herself and squints, but shakes her head and sets it down. "So, you want white and then you're gonna paint it?" she muses, fingers trailing over some other animal varieties, like a raven, peacock, a tiger. None what she's angling for, not that she knows what she wants, but she knows what she doesn't want whenever her eyes coast along the options.

If you were my last shot of whiskey
I'd press you to my lips, take a little sip
Swirl you around and around and around
Then I'd shoot ya down

SUNJATA

i found hope in a hopeless home
found my father but i lost my soul

“Hey, they wouldn’t let us personalize them if they didn’t think we’d be recognizable.” He touts a little proudly before it breaks into a soft laugh. Because yeah, he knows he’d be recognizable regardless, between the height and scars and tattoos. So it wasn’t exactly as though he’d be going in expecting to not be visible in some way or another.

As for reminding Colt, though, the Flood flashes a crooked smile her way. “Lemon cheese and a fox mask, huh?” Quite the grocery list, he might have added before he reaches out to snag a rather full faced mask – the design a volto, but smooth and black with whorls of what were florally but could be misconstrued for sweeping waves of water. “Doesn’t have to be white. I bleached and dyed the cloak I made so it’s black and blue. Figured I could add some blue paint to something like this?” Holding it up he shows it off to her curiously.

i tried to trace it, i aimed to scope
been tryna kill it, but it's all i know

Colt

Love's just one of them words
That gets thrown around
So I ain't gonna say it, no I ain't gonna lie
If you were my last breath, I'd just wanna hold ya

"The essentials, naturally," she grins, more than aware of how strange either of those are on their own, much less together. Although admittedly masks don't normally make the cut, but since Ludo is insisting on making it mysterious, she has to play along.

As he holds up a new one, she glances over, one finger rising to her bottom lip in thought and scrutiny. "Sure," she says with an unimpressed shrug. "But, if you're going for watercolor, isn't white kind of the whole point? Or at least, a lighter base, like a tan." She's no artist and watercolor certainly seems more up his alley, but she's fairly certain a black base would not work for that. "Unless you've changed your mind, although that's a bit dark, isn't it?" Maybe he meant to be wreathed in shadows the whole evening, everything dark enough to blend in, even his blues getting lost in the night. Doesn't quite seem his style, but water does lose its light when it gets deep enough.

"Do you think everyone will be so obvious or will there be challenges?" Her own outfit had ended up deviating a bit, something she hadn't originally considered when first sighing at the idea of the whole affair. Her fingers brush over an overly fancy mask, lace and gems galore, though it is white, as she holds it up to her own eyes and nose bridge. She glances over at him, tilting her head, "well, do I look absolutely disguised?"

If you were my last shot of whiskey
I'd press you to my lips, take a little sip
Swirl you around and around and around
Then I'd shoot ya down

SUNJATA

i found hope in a hopeless home
found my father but i lost my soul

“Obviously.” Sunjata hums a soft laugh, a small smirk blooming on his face as he goes to show her the black mask he’d picked. “I was gonna paint some waves with white and then watercolor it. Thought it’d be easier to have it with a dark base.” Turning the mask over and over in his hand, he tilts his head before he nods to the merchant. After a few moments, the merchant snags a few materials from the back so he can show her the thoughts he has.

Now, Sunjata is no artist, his style taking up more of an abstract kind of appearance, but he does manage to wash the mask with a thicker, opaque white in strokes that smooth out like waves along a beach. Brighter to make up the foam, and when he’s done, he snags the blue paint and conjures a bit of water to mix into it before splashing it along the mask until he’s quite pleased with the result.

“I think a few challenges, sure, but everyone’s got their own kind of vibe that makes them stick out.” He hums as he looks up over at her and spots the fancy mask with Colt’s gaze peering back at him from behind the eyelets. “Not sure if white and flashy are your theme. Silver, maybe?” He probes playfully.

i tried to trace it, i aimed to scope
been tryna kill it, but it's all i know

Colt

Love's just one of them words
That gets thrown around
So I ain't gonna say it, no I ain't gonna lie
If you were my last breath, I'd just wanna hold ya

Well, that'll show her. Why get a white mask when you can get a black mask and make it white? Maybe she doesn't get art, too focused on efficiency. Although she's always found beauty in the things that nature makes, like smell of a storm before it breaks, the wind tousling the hair of the grass, the way people don't give up no matter what kicks them down. Show her that in a painting and she just might pay the paintbrush more heed.

Still, her attention is on him as he gets to work, 'brows lifting with surprise that he's doing it here. Not only because he's decorating the shopkeep's wares in front of him, not that the vendor seems to mind, so perhaps this is a more common occurrence than she realizes. Again, masks aren't her usual style, but she's betting Sunjata has bought more than this one. Then there's the entire fact that this is a shop, not a studio, but again no one seems to mind. Art is so much harder than it seems, apparently.

At his final result, she smiles out her approval. "Perfect for you," she admits, and after a moment and his remark, places the gaudy pale mask down. Silver he suggests, and she rather thinks he's right, her fingers skimming over one not long after. "I'll take it as is," she tells the vendor as they exchange payment and mask. "I'm far too lazy to be doing all of that," her wrist flips towards the Flood, a lopsided grin flashed his way. "Mask, check. Now for the cheese. Catch ya later Sunjata."

[FIN]

If you were my last shot of whiskey
I'd press you to my lips, take a little sip
Swirl you around and around and around
Then I'd shoot ya down