Sewing Seeds

Aurelia

and my hands aren't clean
maybe they never will be

That's fair, she thought. If she was the only one on Jack's shit-list, that'd be a shock. And, well, it's a very real and very human comfort to know that one's not alone in something - no matter how nuanced that something is. 

His comforting gestures didn't go unappreciated, and she took his hand from her cheek and gave it a reassuring squeeze. A sad and knowing smile crossed her features as he told her how he'd gone through it all before too, how he'd turned King's End from a place of ruin to somewhere livable.

"I'll have to come and see it," she remarked, as a side note. 

"You know, you've always given me hope. Even when I don't know if it was your intention. But when we first met, you gave me hope that I could find my place here too. And now you're doing it again." She chuckled, shaking her head. "You might not be a Natural, but Caido's a better place with you in it, Sunjata."

but they can still carry you home
when you're ready to sleep

we keep on doing this again and again
the same old things expecting something different

As she squeezes his hand, Sunjata’s smile twists a bit softer toward her – still curled awkwardly from the scar bisecting through the muscle, but it’s genuine and warm nonetheless. Perhaps a touch more charming because of it. “You do have to.” He informs her, as if it had no room for argument. Regardless of everything that had happened, turning a new leaf was something Sunjata craved. Something he needed. And he was trying so hard to be better these days that it only felt right to have other pieces slot back in.

He doesn’t expect her to continue to inflate his ego, though, and his smile turns a touch softer as he listens and squeezes her hand back with a soft huff of a laugh – not knowing what else to do in the face of so many compliments. “It wasn’t, honestly.” He admits, squinting a little at her before he shakes his head a little. “Thank you, though. It means a lot.” She’d get it. She knew all the shit he’d gone through during the lead up to the war – of marrying an Ascended while being Safrin’s chosen. Of fathering one of the starry goddesses children before he’d betrayed the goddess herself for Frey.

And now he feels free. Even if so many other things still hurt. “I’m really glad the whole Outlander shit has stopped lately. Half the time nobody remembers I wasn’t born here.” He leans in to say it like a secret, pulling away with a playful waggle of his brows.

but by now we know it's never gonna change
i'm not trying to complain, i'm just saying it's a waste