[SE] taste what fell from grace

RONIN

the white knight

light is easy to love.

"It's what you do for someone you love, right?" Ronin says, cocking a smile towards Sunjata and shrugging his shoulders. And for those you consider friends, he might have added, the Knight raising his eyebrows in playful challenge to see the scars light up along the other man's skin and the refusal he knows is hiding under his tongue. Luckily, Sunjata sees sense and goes to fetch himself a change of clothes, Ronin lingering by the counter to complete the transaction when he approaches.

"Yes I did," he says, bumping his shoulder against the Flood's with a wink as the merchant folds and wraps Sunjata's new clothes, offering him the coat to wear outside since it's bulky and the weather is chilly by Torchline's standards. "Now c'mon. Your beard is going to start scaring children," Ronin chides, grinning and leading them back out into the brisk coastal breeze and next door to the barber shop.

show me your darkness.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

SUNJATA

the flood

'cause we might as well be blind,
if seeing is believing, this parable's misleading

“Yeah, that’s true.” Sunjata concedes, huffing a little sound as he lets Ronin pay for his clothes he’s chosen. Nothing too ornate or too expensive, really, not that he thinks Ronin cares – but it’s something Sunjata has grown accustomed to in his experience. After all, he’d grown up as a kid with far more funds than were necessary, only to have to learn how to live off of what was provided. He’d become conscientious when he could be, and regardless of what Ronin says, Sunjata still chooses to pick things that get the job done, look nice, and won’t break the bank.

Taking the jacket when it’s offered from the merchant with a murmur of thanks, Sunjata takes the bag shortly after with the rest of his clothes in it, snorting to feel the bump from the Knight – finding a comfortable companionship within the gesture he hasn’t felt like he’d had in far too long. “How do ya know it already hasn’t?” He asks, eyes widening briefly as if he’s egging Ronin on – which he is, absolutely.

He has to be a menace sometimes.

But he’s quite content to follow the other man toward the barber shop, slipping into the establishment and explaining what he’d like in terms of getting cleaned up. His hair is the biggest problem, his beard – though unkempt and long, he chooses to keep still mostly long if only just cleaned up to be even. (It’s winter, you see, and he’s cold far too easily).

And with more banter and playfulness offered once the cut is done, Sunjata parts from Ronin feeling somehow impossibly lighter and better after the rollercoaster things have been for him as of late.

- FIN

you've got your shotgun loaded with excuses
— that you'll fire in vain —
but those 12 rounds just won't do