faded on a thread

SUNJATA

the flood

snow glistens on the ledge, whiskey on the bed
shake it out and light a cigarette

“Well, I’m a big fan.” Sunjata admits, voice still thick with sleep that makes it deeper as he shoots a sleepy smile over at Niki and takes the blanket to help fold it, setting it down alongside the other ones that Niki has already folded, before he snags his rumpled sweater and slips it back on and over his head, fingers threading through his hair to try and tame it into something somewhat manageable but all it manages to become is tousled and messy.

With a soft laugh leaving him, he nods as he slips away the partial shift back into just his usual skin, glancing to the couch to check for any feathers left behind. He spies one that he reaches over to snag with an apologetic slant to his smile. “Don’t think you have to on my account.” He offers a little softer, though no less appreciative as he pockets the feather (there’s more stuffed between the cushions that he can’t see, though, that Niki will probably find in the next few days).

“I would love some, yes please.” He beams a smile back at Niki once they get the couch in some semblance of a working order again, letting him lead the way to the kitchen while Sunjata trails after him, blessedly not hungover.

miss me when you, you wish you weren't right
shake me all out if i'm wrong, for you, for you

NIKI

"Who said it was on your account? I happen to have many friends who drop by drunk in the dead of night," Niki says, not bothering to hide the dry mischief in his smile or in his tone, though he does watch as Sunjata pockets the deep navy feather with something softer in his gaze. "Besides, in the event that you are going to make a habit of it, I would not want you to risk falling off the couch each time."

With the Heartless a little more decent in his sweater, Niki is able to look at him properly, and he offers a gentle nod to the request for coffee, leading them back through and into the kitchen. Outside the snow is still falling heavily - as it looks to have done all night - and the necromancer doesn't try to hide his surprise. "I think I may be snowed in," he remarks with a touch of amusement as he fetches a mug for Sunjata to pour him some coffee from the pot.

"This rarely happened in the Greatwood - the trees provided a lot of cover," he continues.

stay your pretty eyes on course
keep the memories of who i was before

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

SUNJATA

the flood

snow glistens on the ledge, whiskey on the bed
shake it out and light a cigarette

A low laugh leaves him to hear Niki’s dry humor, glancing back over at the necromancer with a glint in his brighter steel gaze that seems to suggest that he can see through the joke, but answers the opposite. “Oh, right, right. Of course. They probably want some place soft to land.” He nods his head as if convincing himself of it while he pockets the feather he’s snagged. And at the mention of not wanting to have him fall out of the couch each time, all he can do is shoot Niki a too bright smile. “Eh, if that’s the worst thing that happens, it’s a good day.” Given everything else that could have or has happened to the Heartless in the past.

Regardless, he trails after Niki toward the kitchen – the snow filling the window with a bright pure light and the cool sensation of winter. It makes him seem more like he was made for the sun with the way there’s still that light tan coating his skin, freckles smattering his nose and cheeks that would soon vanish with the lack of so much sun during the winter. And as he peers at Niki while he gets the coffee ready and he takes up a seat on a stool by the counter, he finds that the necromancer seems like he’s a cross between Leafchange and Deepfrost incarnate. With the pale skin to accompany the snow, he pulls his gaze back to the window before he can get caught out staring at him. “I think you might be right.” He hums belatedly about being snowed in, propping his head up on his fist.

Understanding glints in his gaze at the mention of it not happening in the Greatwood, though. Not often, at least. “Yeah, that does help. I hate shoveling it.” He admits with a soft laugh before his smile turns a bit nostalgic. “It never snowed in Korofi. So imagine my surprise when I land here in Caido and it starts snowing. I couldn’t figure out what the hell it all was.” Not his smartest moment, that’s for sure. But it had certainly been a beautiful showing, if it weren’t for the terror of heading into his first LongNight in the Grounds.

miss me when you, you wish you weren't right
shake me all out if i'm wrong, for you, for you

NIKI

"And who could blame them?" Niki agrees, more than happy to yes, and the imaginary plethora of drunken friends who might turn up on his doorstep at any moment. "And it might be a good day for you, but the sound of you hitting the floor almost had me spilling my coffee, so you can call it a safety precaution on my own account if you like."

Niki does embody the cold like someone born from it - which is apt, given that his birthday falls during this season. Still, he's unused to the brightness of the snow without a canopy of branches and evergreen to mute it, his blue eyes seeming cooler still as he glances out and into the still quiet street. "Occasionally the woods would clear pathways, so I did not have to shovel all that often," he remarks with a small and nostalgic smile. "Otherwise I would prepare to stay at home for the season."

Deepfrost is not the time for a man who struggles to walk to try and battle through forest trails, needless to say.

"Never?" he echoes, unable to help himself. "Gods, that must have been quite a thing to get used to." Setting the coffee down for Sunjata with the cream and sugar for him to add to his taste, Niki finally sits on the stool opposite, reaching for his own mug to warm his hands.

stay your pretty eyes on course
keep the memories of who i was before

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

SUNJATA

the flood

snow glistens on the ledge, whiskey on the bed
shake it out and light a cigarette

“Oh, well in that case definitely get a thick rug so you don’t have to almost spill your coffee.” He muses, chuckling softly to himself as he settles into his seat and waits for the coffee to come. The scent of it so strongly in here intermixes with the chill trying to rage inside, the warm smokiness of the fireplace that crackles in the living room still, alongside Niki’s own scent that has filled the space pleasantly.

Nodding to hear Niki’s explanation – he honestly can’t blame the necromancer for staying indoors. He already feels it enough in his wing when it’s winter and he tries to fly too much, the ache and throb of joints that no longer have the means to stay free from pain with the rapid change in temperature. “Hopefully you won’t have to worry about that here.” He says softly, because he’s sure as they speak there are people within New Haven already waking up, having their coffee, and getting ready to shovel the streets – like the very one this house is connected to.

He takes the coffee, though, and snags the sugar and cream to make his coffee sweet enough to wake the dead as he laughs softly and nods. “Yeah, it was. I hated it. I’m not meant for the cold, I’ve realized.” He laments, shrugging slightly before he too is cradling the mug between his hands. “I even had to be shown what a snowman was.” He admits quieter, like it’s a secret very few people know despite the amused slant to his lopsided smile that he aims at Niki, trying to catch his gaze. The light from the snow outside makes his own seem like pure liquid silver, bright and at odds with the warmer, sun kissed hue of his skin.

miss me when you, you wish you weren't right
shake me all out if i'm wrong, for you, for you

NIKI

"Very good," Niki says, raising his coffee in a toast. "When anyone asks me what I am shopping for, I will tell them that the Archon is tired of bruising his knees on my floor." It's a beat or two before he realises exactly what he's said, the necromancer flushing right to the tips of his ears and turning his gaze very determinedly down into his mug. "Not like that, obviously," he mutters.

Talk of shovelling snow has completely vanished from his mind, unsurprisingly, and he takes a too-hot sip of his drink as if that might help to sear away some of the unexpected embarrassment. He's lucky, in a way, that Sunjata offers the snippet about the snowman, Niki's laughter rushing out of him in a soft chuckle, and he tilts his head towards the Heartless. "Presumably you know how to build one now?" he asks tentatively, wondering how many will pop up around New Haven before too long.

stay your pretty eyes on course
keep the memories of who i was before

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

SUNJATA

the flood

snow glistens on the ledge, whiskey on the bed
shake it out and light a cigarette

The coffee is raised in a toast and Sunjata’s lifts alongside it automatically even before the tease leaves Niki’s lips that surprises him just as much as it surprises the necromancer. As Niki turns read with the realization, Sunjata’s grin is sharp and bright and the laugh that slips from him is one that’s of pure enjoyment.

“Even if it was like that, no one would bat an eye.” He murmurs softer, lifting the cup in a toast despite how it seems like Niki is trying his best to figure out how to make himself vanish into thin air. He hides the grin shortly after with a sip of the too hot coffee himself, sucking in a small breath to try and cool his tongue down as Niki’s laughter pours out of him and he finally is able to catch his gaze again.

Nodding a little sheepishly, Sunjata glances back out toward the window. “I do. Not that I’m any good at it, of course. But I get the basics and I can make it work.” It comes out playful, like he’s boasting about how terrible he is at a snowman to the point that Niki’s missing out not seeing his snow-atrocities.

miss me when you, you wish you weren't right
shake me all out if i'm wrong, for you, for you

NIKI

Niki's entire expression seems to read DOUBT in response to Sunjata's remark, and he raises his eyebrows as if to tell the other man to be serious. They might not be surprised, given their Archon's role in King's End and his status as Frey's demigod, but when considering he and Sunjata side by side, he bets they'd bat more than an eyelash or two about the logistics. "Yes, well," he says stiffly, "all the more reason to get a functional guest bedroom, no?"

To avoid any sort of misunderstandings.

Taking another sip of his coffee as the other man explains his snowman-troubles, Niki seems to relax a bit at last, nodding half to himself. "A shame - King's End is the right sort of place for a snowman building contest," he says. "Not that I am any better - I think, anyway. I have not done anything like that since I was very young."

stay your pretty eyes on course
keep the memories of who i was before

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

SUNJATA

the flood

snow glistens on the ledge, whiskey on the bed
shake it out and light a cigarette

Oh he sees the look and he knows enough about people’s body language to read between the lines, but it doesn’t deter the Flood any at all. After all, Hotaru had been nearly a foot and a half shorter than him, if one really wanted to look at logistics. He tries to figure out just how to respond to Niki’s little quip about the guest bedroom before Niki starts to relax and mention the snowmen again, and all this time Sunjata’s trying to figure out why there’s so much shame and nervousness around the idea of the other man’s preferences to the point that even a little snide joke that that puts him on the defense.

“I think Halo might have the monopoly on snowman building contests..” He points out, fingers tapping at the edge of the mug softly, head tilting slightly. “Though, if you ever get the itch to try it again, I might be willing to let you judge mine.” He pauses, raising a brow as he straightens up a little, trying to bring the conversation around to something warmer and more fun as he debates doubling down on the earlier shift.

miss me when you, you wish you weren't right
shake me all out if i'm wrong, for you, for you

NIKI

"They may have the monopoly on them, but that does not mean other regions are not allowed to build snowmen, does it?" Niki smirks into his coffee, already wondering about snowman legislation and territorial rights between regions when it comes to Deepfrost celebrations. Setting his mug back down and keeping his hands cradled around it to warm them up, he does raise an eyebrow as he's suddenly invited to watch - and judge - the Heartless's attempt.

"Well, if I am snowed in today, perhaps I will feel the itch to build one sooner rather than later," he says. Granted, he'll likely be surprised with the speed at which the rest of the residents shovel the street, but that's for later Niki to worry about. "Are you hungry?" he asks. "I was recently introduced to pancakes for breakfast by Kaisel, and I have been trying to learn to make them properly."

stay your pretty eyes on course
keep the memories of who i was before

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

SUNJATA

the flood

snow glistens on the ledge, whiskey on the bed
shake it out and light a cigarette

“They can build them, sure, but in terms of contests?” Sunjata remarks with a huff of a laugh, quieting down in time to take another warm sip of the coffee, letting the sweet warmth of it start to warm him up internally as a much better wake-up call than the falling off the couch had been.

A lopsided smile, boyish and warm shoots toward Niki at the mention of doing it sooner rather than later, though he knows the idea of being snowed in wouldn’t be longer than a few hours given the urgency and attention the town takes with the pride they have over New Haven. “Sounds good.” He hums, bouncing his brows playfully.

Though, surprise lingers in his face at the mention of being hungry and the possibility of pancakes. “Oh.” A brief pause before his smile grows a little sheepish and he tries to hide the slight wince of his bright steel eyes. “If I’m honest, I’m a shitty cook. But I learned how to make pancakes for Kamaria forever ago and they were halfway decent.” Probably not properly made, but certainly serviceable. “So I think between us we can probably figure it out?” Lifting the mug with one hand as the challenge is issued, he realizes that might be the best time to pry into Niki’s life a little more – when they’re busy creating the batter and cooking the pancakes.

miss me when you, you wish you weren't right
shake me all out if i'm wrong, for you, for you

NIKI

Niki can't help but scoff at that, the idea of a civil war erupting over snowmen contests evidently enough to shake the last bit of sleepiness from his mind. "It's settled then," he says, raising his mug again in a gentle toast. "I warn you, I have zero idea what makes a good snowman, but I will take my role as judge quite seriously." And Sunjata can count on him to scrutinise it accordingly.

First, though - pancakes. Apparently.

"That is alright - I was offering to cook," he says with a sheepish smile. "I do not expect a guest to make breakfast for me. Of course, if you would like to help I will not stop you, though I am not sure I should accept any assistance given that admission." Laughing under his breath, Niki carefully rises to his feet. "With that in mind, though, I have no idea how they will turn out. If it is a disaster, I will owe you breakfast at some point - how about that?"

stay your pretty eyes on course
keep the memories of who i was before

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

SUNJATA

the flood

snow glistens on the ledge, whiskey on the bed
shake it out and light a cigarette

“Oh that just improves my score, I think.” He decides with a snicker. If Niki didn’t know what made a good snowman, then that meant he’d be able to give it a solid go and hope that if he missed one thing or another he might still score well given the fact he wasn’t up against the most prim and proper of snowmen in this competition.

As for pancakes, his gaze lingers on the sheepish smile before glancing toward the rest of the kitchen so as to not stare. “I’m a better hand in the kitchen than anything else.” He admits, letting Niki rise to his feet before he joins him. “Nate used to have me stir or chop things. That’s about the extent of my experience, to be honest.” The memory is always a fond one, though. But Nate had been the best between them when it came to anything in the kitchen, and one of the things he missed.

As for Niki owing him breakfast at some point if they turn into a disaster, his smile turns mischievous. “You don’t owe me anything, Niki.” He reassures him. “But if you’d like to invite me to breakfast I’ll gladly accept. Y’know, provided there’s no recovery from this.” Which he highly doubts will happen.

miss me when you, you wish you weren't right
shake me all out if i'm wrong, for you, for you

NIKI

"We will see," Niki says with a scoff; in a competition of one entry, one could argue that he'd be free to judge whatever aspects of snowmannery that go on. And with that idea to amuse him, he summons his cane and moves to his kitchen to collect the ingredients; flour, eggs, butter, sugar, milk - all of which he happens to have procured over the past few days, luckily.

"Luckily, I think making the batter for pancakes does require a great deal of stirring. Can you crack an egg safely, or do you require supervision?" The dry humour has returned in spades since his unintentionally filthy joke, clearly, Niki arching an eyebrow to Sunjata as he comes to join him.

Leaning down to collect a mixing bowl and a whisk from a cupboard, he sets them on the counter and starts to measure out the ingredients. "Well, hopefully this will not be a disaster and you can count this as your breakfast invitation," he quips.

stay your pretty eyes on course
keep the memories of who i was before

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!