staying still

the first cut was the deepest, but it healed up whole

“Yeah, that’s fair.” Sunjata snorts, smiling softly to himself for the gift that he unveils as something he will only have to add to the small amount of things he cherishes, the gifts given that weren’t out of obligation but because they wanted to. It was the opposite of remembering halfway through the day to pick up a gift on the way, because it was hand carved, thoughtful, intentional, and Sunjata pockets it with gratitude.

He does try to play it down, though, and as Niki mentions getting the heart back, he snorts and nods. “Yeah, they’ll definitely have a purpose.” A reminder or the truth of it being the return to the old moniker when the heart eventually was remade. Instead, Frey has given him freedom in a different quest while he still waffles over whether or not to get the heart back (he will, eventually).

But for the house, the fine that dryly leaves the necromancer, Sunjata can’t hide the lopsided small smirk that blooms on his face – roguish in the fact that it’s almost like he’s made the perfect trap to catch the slippery cat that was Niki. “I’d love to.” He admits with a confident nod. “Gonna host a house warming party?” He probes, curious if he’d want that kind of announcement and sure he had a few people in mind to invite.

the flood

and the next one was a soft touch, but i bled out below

totally sniped from odd ilu

NIKI

With the matter of both gifts and houses settled, Niki forces his shoulders to relax a touch as he glances once again about the space, like he's finally able to see it in the context of somewhere that will feel like his own one day. "I have never hosted a party at all," he says quietly, smirking over his shoulder and heading back towards the open front door so he might be able to start carrying a few lighter bags inside.

"I do not have quite the array of friends that Flora does," he adds, grabbing a case containing his metalworking tools and setting it down in the front hall. "So if I do have a party, it will be on the quieter side." In fact, the only people he's likely to invite are Flora, Kaisel, Sunjata and Asta, though he has no idea about the animosity between the two lanky men. Better, perhaps, to just let people visit in their own time.

"If that changes, though, I will let you know. In the meantime, once I have my coffee pot unpacked, you are welcome to drop by whenever you are in the area." He grins.

my body's on the line now, I can't fight this time now
I can feel the light shine on my face

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

the first cut was the deepest, but it healed up whole

“No?” It both does and doesn’t surprise him. While maybe it wasn’t involving friends, he’d thought for a split second maybe Niki might have hosted a little ghost party now and then, a séance or two in his time. Though, he supposes, necromancy wasn’t controlling ghosts or spirits, so perhaps he’s off the mark.

As for the party itself and the array of friends that Flora has, Sunjata can’t help the soft laugh that leaves him – trailing after Niki as if to help bring in a few of the heavier portions so he wouldn’t have to figure out how to do it all on his own. “I don’t think a lot of people do, to be honest.” He surely didn’t. “It’s not always the size that makes it fun.” He starts, before a laugh of surprise leaves him and he corrects himself. “Of the party, of course.”

He hesitates by the wagon, though, gesturing to one of the larger boxes he could carry in for Niki if he wants it. “Soooo.. Which box has the coffee pot, then?”

the flood

and the next one was a soft touch, but i bled out below

totally sniped from odd ilu

NIKI

"Alas, no," Niki re-confirms, smirking as he grabs another lighter bag and murmurs sincere thanks when Sunjata helps out with the heavier and bulkier items. "Funeral parlours do not make for the best party spaces, unfortunately." Not to mention that he'd largely kept to himself until meeting Flora, and it's only since then that his social circle seems to have grown. (In large part because she'd given him no choice, for which he's grateful).

Setting down a couple more bags, the flush doesn't even have a chance to heat up the necromancer's cheeks before he's making a slow turn over his shoulder, narrowing his eyes playfully at Sunjata as if to ask where he learned that particular idiom. "I am sure," he drawls, finally starting to feel the heat at the tips of his ears and shaking his head as he grabs a small box to take into the kitchen.

"The boxes are labelled - it should be one of the only ones that does not say books on it," he calls. Indeed, the box in question helpfully says kitchen, and Niki glances back to the front door. "I may even have some coffee grounds packed as well," he says. Nothing else, unfortunately, but give him time.

my body's on the line now, I can't fight this time now
I can feel the light shine on my face

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

the first cut was the deepest, but it healed up whole

“That.. makes sense.” Sunjata admits with a huff of a laugh, quieter as he quietly devolves into innuendos and feels the narrowing of Niki’s eyes on him but wisely keeps his attention elsewhere as he goes to snag bigger boxes and the necromancer heads to the kitchen. Sunjata slips out the front door to snag a box, glancing down at the writing on it and finding in Niki’s neat scrawl that the box in his hands is designated for the kitchen.

Bringing it back in, he heads for the kitchen as well, just in time to see the faint pink hue of his ears that hadn’t been there before. He sets the box down on the counter and pops it open but doesn’t delve into removing things from it until Niki wants him to. “Found it.” He murmurs, gesturing to the box like it was a magic trick. “Want me to unpack it?” He asks, because the alternative is going to grab the other boxes designated as books to set out elsewhere for Niki to decide where to put it away.

the flood

and the next one was a soft touch, but i bled out below

totally sniped from odd ilu

NIKI

"Ah, thank you," Niki calls as Sunjata confirms that he'd found the box in question; in the meantime the necromancer is opening the box he'd brought in, removing a few mugs and the cutlery he'd carefully packed away - all pieces of the puzzle of coffee making, in the end. "That is alright," he says of unpacking it, offering a smile that's just a touch boyish. It's a personal thing, after all, to find new places for one's belongings. And besides, there's no chance of him being able to get the book boxes inside.

"I can unpack and make some coffee, though, as long as you do not mind having it black?" he offers, holding up a couple of mugs as if to confirm that they won't have to drink it between their cupped hands. "I do not want to trouble you more than I already have, but I do appreciate the help. It would have taken me all day to get things inside."

my body's on the line now, I can't fight this time now
I can feel the light shine on my face

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

the first cut was the deepest, but it healed up whole

The easy dismissal is understood – because gods knew he wasn’t a man meant for the kitchen. If anything, he was more of a disaster in it than anything else, so he’d be far more likely to put things in strange places that made absolutely zero sense regardless of how much you thought about it. And with the plan made, Sunjata steps back from the box so Niki can start putting things away, looking back over at the necromancer with his own boyish smile to meet his – even if it was lopsided from the scar.

“Hmm, I think I’ll survive.” He says surprisingly chipper and amused. But as for the plan of retrieving the rest of the boxes, Sunjata has zero qualms with it and would likely not cause him to grow tired or wind himself, so it sounds like a pretty good use of his time. “I’m happy to help, really.” He offers, disappearing with a small salute to go and haul the rest of the boxes in.

And with any luck at all, by the time he’s finished with that, Niki will have found the components of making the coffee as a little reward.

- FIN

the flood

and the next one was a soft touch, but i bled out below

totally sniped from odd ilu