[SE] creatures in heaven

please remain calm, the end has arrived. we cannot save you, enjoy the ride.
this is the moment you've been waiting for, don't call it a warning. this is a war

A deep chuckle leaves him as she answers his question, nodding and shrugging a shoulder as if to concede the point. The surprise was half the fun – and half the chaos, honestly. And to her shitty grin that she flashes toward him, Sunjata flashes her a crooked one of his own, before he busies himself with working on letting the steaks settle so that they can cook now that they have a good and decent sear on them, before he starts to collect the vegetables that Melita’s been chopping away at.

Starting to get them seasoned and into a pan, Sunjata huffs a childish groan at the mention of his ex. “I saw her not too long ago here, either.” He admits with a wrinkle of his nose. “She apologized about the whole meeting with Dahlia thing and then proceeded to talk about how she didn’t know who she was anymore or what to do? Like I could tell her?” Like his opinion mattered for some reason?

Though, perhaps that screams more to her than it does him. Like she isn’t over him still, despite the years.

SUNJATA

Melita

Eating fire is your ambition
to swallow the flame down

With the vegetables demolished and decimated, she took to cleaning up whatever mess she’d left behind, taking a cloth and running over any spots. “Realllllly,” she drawled, head picking up again at his insinuation. An apology for that shitty and disastrous meeting – intriguing, and probably unfortunate it had to happen at all. But for the other parts, the Honeybee couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “I don’t get why everyone has to tell her how to live. She asked ways to have fun.”

Something as old as time itself. Even when Melita’s childhood had been a complete clusterfuck, she’d still found ways to amuse herself. They were probably disastrous means to someone else, but it had still been worthwhile and entertaining for a girl who’d lost almost everything. “It’s not your responsibility either,” which he knew, obviously, given the response. “Weird. Like, I’m sorry you’ve lost yourself, but you’re the one who's got to figure it out too.”

to be lit up from within, vein by vein
to be the sun

please remain calm, the end has arrived. we cannot save you, enjoy the ride.
this is the moment you've been waiting for, don't call it a warning. this is a war

“Really.” Sunjata confirms with a sigh and a shake of his head. And while Melita cleans up, Sunjata continues to work on dinner, seasoning and searing before adding bits and pieces of each to the steaks and cooking the vegetables in a separate pan. At this point, the potatoes have started to boil, so while he listens to her he pokes one with a sharp knife to see how tender it’s becoming. “I have no idea. She needs to just… Try things and see what works.” Sunjata says with a sigh, turning back toward her for a moment as she continues.

Snorting agreement to the fact that it wasn’t his responsibility – knowing fully well that he wanted very little to do with it now that he’s got plenty of other things going on – the Flood can’t help the slight chuckle that leaves him as he nods. “No one is going to do it for you.” Agreeing with Melita’s sentiments, he shrugs a tattooed shoulder. “I think the biggest problem for her is that she, at heart, wants to be something other than what she is? Like, not Ascended or not Ancient. Just… Probably Accepted, given how much she didn’t want to be Abandoned either.” Attuned, maybe, but that’s the only thing that made sense to him as he thought about the conversation.

SUNJATA

Melita

Eating fire is your ambition
to swallow the flame down

She scrubbed away, content with watching a sheen come back to the countertop, and snagged at a few stray plates and knives that wouldn’t be necessary any longer. Listening all the while, she could only shrug haphazardly alongside her uncle; perhaps grateful for the growth that years and experience had given him – no longer slipping into Maea’s orbit, or perhaps vice versa. They all more than enough to contend with, and occupying the Ancient’s bizarre arrangements and orchestrations wasn’t one of them. “Yeah,” she hummed with agreement, huffing a little.

The other presumptions though left her wondering – because the track and trail of trials and experiences loomed over the woman they discussed – how many times she’d changed, altered, died, had become such a whirlwind that perhaps it was no wonder why she had issues. They really needed more therapists. “Then you have to wonder why she chose it at all.” Why not remain Ascended? Or behind, in Mort’s realm? There was probably an answer there that the Honeybee wouldn’t particularly care for, given her very brief interlude within the same region, but she clicked her teeth together, snorting at the whole ordeal. “Anyway. Maybe she just needs time to herself to work everything out.”

to be lit up from within, vein by vein
to be the sun

please remain calm, the end has arrived. we cannot save you, enjoy the ride.
this is the moment you've been waiting for, don't call it a warning. this is a war

It could be age, it could simply be the experiences that have lead up to this constant turmoil that Sunjata is tired of. Either way, it’s exactly what should be happening now. He’s entertained too many people for far too long that for a moment, however brief it may be, he’s chosen to become selfish. His time is better spent with Hotaru and Melita and the region rather than anything else.

Shrugging in answer to her question, he waits for a moment for the potatoes to be perfect before he removes them from the heat, starting to drain them so that he could start to mash them in the pot – adding all the things that would make it tasty (he’s learned a lot in terms of cooking from how he’d once been). “Maybe it’s a fear of missing out?” He suggests, even if the idea of it gives him the spark of a headache. Once he’s whipped up the potatoes nicely, he snags at some plates to transport their dinner toward the table. “I don't know. I do know that it’s exhausting.” The run around time and time again.

SUNJATA

Melita

Eating fire is your ambition
to swallow the flame down

Melita could understand some portion of that to an extent; wanting, yearning, craving to do something - but then she’d simply go and do just that. She wasn’t certain if Maea was stuck in the reaches and eaves of what to do or how to act because some of her life choices had been binding and unaltering, fear, or any other multitude. She wouldn’t ask either – the pale Ancient frequently left her discomfited – so she shrugged, helping Sunjata bring more of the food to the table. Silverware clinked around in her hands, dispersed along certain places and portions, nose wrinkling. “If she wants to be heroic, then she should just go do those things.” Without involving anyone else, she supposed, so the inherent selfishness wouldn’t touch or scorch others.

“Yeah. I don’t know how you put up with it for so long.” Love, affection, camaraderie perhaps. Maybe Maea hadn’t always been this way. Maybe it’d been time and death and reignition of trying for things she just couldn’t make work or happen. “Anyway,” and she snagged at a few glasses, pondering over water or alcohol. “Aurelia’s back too.”

to be lit up from within, vein by vein
to be the sun

please remain calm, the end has arrived. we cannot save you, enjoy the ride.
this is the moment you've been waiting for, don't call it a warning. this is a war

“I mean, I think she tries but then it ends up like her big show down with Dahlia at the meeting of leaders.” His nose wrinkles at the memory before he shakes his head. Maybe there was a time and a place to be a hero. Maybe there was the act of being a hero that was different from the action of it.

He doesn’t know and can’t say, so instead Sunjata focuses on making sure Petronella isn’t starting a fight with Fangorn (to which she isn’t, she’s simply trying to curl up against him to take a nap after tiring herself out chasing his vines every which way), and it’s about the time Sunjata’s attention snaps back toward his niece with the mention of how he’d put up with it for so long.

It’s an answer he can’t quite articulate, so he huffs a soft sigh. “I mean, it was fun at first. Until it wasn’t.” Until too many rules and incompatibilities started showing up. Where she wanted him to change and he would do everything in his power to prevent it. Not until he wanted to change, at least.

Nodding at the mention of Aurelia, though, his gaze seems to brighten as he takes a seat, waiting for Melita to decide what they should drink and for her to take her seat before he can start dishing out the servings. “I know. I saw her in Torchline.” His brightened mood seems to take on a slight damper as his lips try to twist into a small frown. “She asked how Nate was…” And he had to tell her what happened. Even the memory of telling her felt like a yawning pit was opening up within him, but he stifles it and silently hopes that Melita chooses the alcohol to bring to the table.

SUNJATA

Melita

Eating fire is your ambition
to swallow the flame down

“Ah true,” she muttered, nose wrinkling at the circulation of information. Maybe Maea just committed to actions to such a degree she thought others would follow, and when they didn’t, well –

She shrugged at it too, incapable and not invested in delving further into the Ancient’s mind. She’d figure it out or she wouldn’t. The notions about Aurelia and her advancements upon deep inquiries best left undisturbed caused her eyes to widen, and eventually she settled back at the table with alcohol in hand, pouring it out for both of them. “Sorry,” she uttered, for the pain and torment he’d had to endure again, for the pits not quite closed up no matter how far the years drifted and changed.

From there, they could continue discussions, and perhaps fill themselves up with enough liquor so not everything burned so traumatically.

[FIN <3]

to be lit up from within, vein by vein
to be the sun