HARPER
The closeness is his kryptonite, and he leans sideways into Sunjata, grateful that the man bears his weight as if it doesn’t exist at all. Harper is no small man - muscular if not overly tall - but for once it’s nice to have his weight and worries alike carried by somebody else. Sunjata smells like patchouli and orange blossom, and it pauses Harper’s hand from reaching for his glass. A different kind of inebriation.
Harper has never known Hotaru in a personal way, but they’d lived in Torchline at the same time, and he knows she’s Flora’s mother - knows her by her title more than her name however. Any recollection fades in the face of apologies however, face twisting less than when Phoebe has recommended it but souring all the same. “I don’t regret the arguments I had against her claims of suitability for the throne…and she seems the type to hold a grudge regardless.” He wouldn’t be surprised if she hated him more after trying to apologize, especially if he didn’t apologize for the election itself. “But…maybe a letter. Though I’m sure she’d just burn it.” At least he says it with a huff of a laugh, capable of admiring her spitfire nature while still being exasperated by it.
His wandering attention is snagged as surely as his face, tilted and turned toward Sunjata, wide eyed and a little pink around the edges as he subsides into quiet complacency. He hangs on every word, no matter how his mind tries to recoil against it, refusing to believe his own happiness is more important than the lives of - what will soon no longer be - his people. “I don’t know who I am without Torchline as my purpose,” he confesses, voice warbling slightly, clearly affected by Sunjata’s intensity and his chosen words. “I’m so unhappy. But I don’t know what to do once I leave either.” One hand comes up to grip loosely around Sunjata’s forearm where it is still lifted to grasp Harper’s face. “I’ve lived there so long and now I won’t be. I’ve only ever followed Safrin and now my faith is breaking. What do I do?” Tears create a shallow film over his eyes, not quite enough to pool and fall but threatening to soon. Who is he if he is not the Stalwart, or a councilman? What worth does he have left if he is not serving someone else?
Harper has never known Hotaru in a personal way, but they’d lived in Torchline at the same time, and he knows she’s Flora’s mother - knows her by her title more than her name however. Any recollection fades in the face of apologies however, face twisting less than when Phoebe has recommended it but souring all the same. “I don’t regret the arguments I had against her claims of suitability for the throne…and she seems the type to hold a grudge regardless.” He wouldn’t be surprised if she hated him more after trying to apologize, especially if he didn’t apologize for the election itself. “But…maybe a letter. Though I’m sure she’d just burn it.” At least he says it with a huff of a laugh, capable of admiring her spitfire nature while still being exasperated by it.
His wandering attention is snagged as surely as his face, tilted and turned toward Sunjata, wide eyed and a little pink around the edges as he subsides into quiet complacency. He hangs on every word, no matter how his mind tries to recoil against it, refusing to believe his own happiness is more important than the lives of - what will soon no longer be - his people. “I don’t know who I am without Torchline as my purpose,” he confesses, voice warbling slightly, clearly affected by Sunjata’s intensity and his chosen words. “I’m so unhappy. But I don’t know what to do once I leave either.” One hand comes up to grip loosely around Sunjata’s forearm where it is still lifted to grasp Harper’s face. “I’ve lived there so long and now I won’t be. I’ve only ever followed Safrin and now my faith is breaking. What do I do?” Tears create a shallow film over his eyes, not quite enough to pool and fall but threatening to soon. Who is he if he is not the Stalwart, or a councilman? What worth does he have left if he is not serving someone else?
this is your ocean, an ocean of night
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
