Lovedrunk on cheap wine

Hotaru

So many people will ask you to be beautiful and urgent
to discover what you cannot have and desire it

Rejuvenated by Frey’s presence and at the very least a letter back from her daughter, Hotaru follows her true north back to her fiancé. The mission he’s on is not one he undertakes alone, but it’s one she couldn’t join him on until she’d settled the parts of her that had shifted so violently out of place because of Dahlia’s gift. Though meeting Flora still looms on the horizon there is more peace to stabilize her now. Simply restoring her certainty is enough to lift the crushing weight off her shoulders for the time being.

At the towering entrance of the Greatwood is where they’d agreed to meet, and Sunjata is unsurprisingly already present by time she arrives. Landing and shifting, she weathers the monstrous visage that melts over his face until it dissolves and leaves only the true form beneath, arms outstretched and smile infinitely lighter as she slips into his arms.

“You aren’t running yourself ragged out here are you?” A lighthearted question that still promises admonition if he answers unfavorably. “I missed you,” she adds softly before he can answer, rising to kiss him sweetly. An insignificant amount of time apart, but their infections and cleansings have made her ever more reluctant to be away from his side.

Don’t desire. Don’t despair.
Rain is only rain in mid-air

// i'll sing it one last time for you, then we really have to go, you've been the only thing that's right
in all i've done. and i can barely look at you, but every single time i do //

He’d trekked along the Greatwood with Melita, and unsurprisingly came up empty as others had. But the sour loss of trying again is removed only for the way he looks forward to seeing his Valkyrie. So he waits, easily and avoidant of any of the woods beside him in case they harbor the void beasts, seeking out her arrival through the trail the Greatwood offers with a pulse of pride for everything she’s done so far (sending the letter to Flora, going to see Frey), that he hardly even flinches when the monstrous void flickers across her face before it settles into what he truly sees.

Accepting her hug warmly, the Flood’s smile is as crooked as it is content, amusement flickering in his steel gaze and as his lips part to speak, only to be cut off by the press of her lips. His arms wind around her gently, keeping her pressed against him briefly before he parts from the kiss to press his forehead to hers, pulsing with a twitch of mischief through the attuned bond. “What’re you gonna do if I am?” Comes the playful, bratty response, before he pulls away to let his softer smile become revealed. “I missed you too, liefde. How was the trip?” Twisting to tuck her into his side with a possessive sort of motion, he scans the pathway ahead as he walks, ensuring his steps aren’t too large or hurried so that she doesn’t have to feel rushed.

Perhaps if it’s more of a languid stroll there’d be a better chance at finding one of those elusive roses?

i know we'll make it anywhere away from here

SUNJATA

Hotaru

So many people will ask you to be beautiful and urgent
to discover what you cannot have and desire it

Everything is brighter now, not only because her mind has remained her own but because things are finally feeling familiar again. Sunjata’s pride and mischief wraps around her like a cocoon and she preens in his arms with no small amount of answering cheekiness. Or perhaps lingering remnants of the intensity she’d felt at Frey’s shrine.

“Tie you down so you can’t escape and see exactly how much energy you have left, and run it dry so you can’t use it on anything but me. Plenty of branches here to get creative with you know.” It springs quickly to her lips with whipcrack certainty and a weighted promise of delivery if he decides to trip that particular wire.

He doesn’t, at least not yet. Hotaru will never say never. She will equally never decline a lovely stroll through the woods with her heart of hearts, so she lets the sharpness of her smile fade into warmer currents as she wraps an arm around the Flood’s waist. Though her eyes stray through the undergrowth in idle hunting motions her attention is otherwise focused on him. “Wonderful. Everything I needed and more. I was pent up - in more ways than I thought.” Something he might ascertain on his own by the surety and almost pompous peace that dwells like a deep lake in her side of the bond. “Flora wrote back. She and Jack will be visiting soon, though I’m not sure when.”

Don’t desire. Don’t despair.
Rain is only rain in mid-air

// i'll sing it one last time for you, then we really have to go, you've been the only thing that's right
in all i've done. and i can barely look at you, but every single time i do //

It’s very evident that she’s feeling better, because as he offers his playful bratty response to test and see how things are, he’s pleasantly surprised (and a little curious) about her answer when it comes, letting his crooked smile bloom into something brighter as he tucks her into his side. “Ooh, that’s tempting.” He murmurs playfully, squeezing her shoulders lightly as they begin their search. “Gotta make sure there’s no hanging snakes, though.” He says thoughtfully, as if it’s an actual consideration.

But they begin their walk and his gaze flits around, searching for any of those elusive roses, nodding as she explains how the trip was — and knowing deep down just how much he’d felt the same until he’d seen Frey. But his gaze swings back to her to hear about Jack and Flora’s future visit, dark brows lifting slightly. “Oh?” He asks before hesitation betrays him and he huffs out a little sigh. “I might’ve gotten a little snappy with her recently.” He murmurs softly, a touch of regret that pulses through the attuned bond, but it had been concern that flared through him at the thought, one he’s sure she would’ve shared.

i know we'll make it anywhere away from here

SUNJATA

Hotaru

So many people will ask you to be beautiful and urgent
to discover what you cannot have and desire it

Her resounding snort is inelegant but amused as she leans into the squeeze around her shoulders. “They could either watch or be roasted, hardly a worry. I’m wonderful at multi-tasking.” Not that snake tastes particularly good - outside of her falcon shift that is - but surely something in these woods would find lightning-charred snake appealing.

His hesitation is but a moment but that’s all it takes for her to swing her eyes back to him. Any rising stiffness in her spine melts away a moment later as she squeezes Sunjata’s waist as if to wring the regret from him like a sponge. “She’s the queen of snappy, and though her ego bruises like a peach on the surface she’s made of stronger stuff beneath. I’m sure she’ll be alright.” Light eyes soften, pace slowing enough to lift her hand to his face, enamored all over again to see him in this light. “You love her, and she knows that.” And it makes her ache in ways she’s scared to face head-on. “And you’re arguably the favorite since you’ve never truly crossed her. If you ask her forgiveness in private - if you feel you need to - she’ll only require a small token in exchange for it.” Her smile grows cheeky, fingers snagging at his cheek to pinch playfully.

Don’t desire. Don’t despair.
Rain is only rain in mid-air

// i'll sing it one last time for you, then we really have to go, you've been the only thing that's right
in all i've done. and i can barely look at you, but every single time i do //

“Or drowned..” Sunjata muses, though it’s quite apparent that he isn’t as good at multitasking as his fiancée is. He’s sure they could make it work.

Yet as they drift further with no sight of any roses thus far, the Flood turns his attention toward Flora and the plans in motion. It helps that she squeezes him close, alleviating it, before she’s her own brand of menace when it comes to snagging his whole attention and slowing their pace and telling him all of the reasons why she probably wouldn’t take it personally.

He stills, scanning her face as the void melts away again and reveals her in all the beautiful, golden glory, and he leans into the touch like a golden retriever might — even if she pinches his cheek shortly after. “I think I have a right to be concerned..” He trails off, sighing before he presses into her space and tugs her up against him, because he knows the tension that will bleed into her with his words.

She doesn’t think brute force against starfall is working. She wants to try to negotiate with Dahlia.. and I don’t think it’s safe for her to do that in person. Letters, sure, if she was dead set on it. But in person after she’d already been killed and brought back?

Absolutely not.

i know we'll make it anywhere away from here

SUNJATA

Hotaru

So many people will ask you to be beautiful and urgent
to discover what you cannot have and desire it

There are miles yet of woods to explore, and the topics will come and go. There is always an ease between them, an ebb and flow that never ceases, and though she can tell this topic is harder to swallow given the pinch in his brow and the sour tang of his tension on the back of her tongue it won’t be a forever thing. She goes readily into his embrace as it tangles and tightens, drawing them closer together.

It’s the right choice - her heart skips at the news, and her breath stutters in a harsh exhale that’s swallowed by his chest. Dread crawls clammy and immediate down her neck and into the hollows of her spine. The air is warm, but suddenly she finds herself shivering in his arms.

She won’t - no, she - even her thoughts and feelings are too fragmented to follow, hands gripping at the back of Sunjata’s shirt. She wouldn’t ask permission. She’ll do it anyway. What do we do? It’s a plaintive question that has no real answer. They can’t shadow Flora in Torchline forever, even if Hotaru wasn’t waiting on their reunion already. Sunjata can’t be away from King’s End that long. Would it matter anyway? Flora is so much like the Valkyrie - nothing would truly stop her if she set her mind to it. But Hotaru can’t help but look to Sunjata in the vain hope that maybe, somehow, he sees a path forward that won’t mean her daughter walking right back into the wolf’s jaws.

Don’t desire. Don’t despair.
Rain is only rain in mid-air

// i'll sing it one last time for you, then we really have to go, you've been the only thing that's right
in all i've done. and i can barely look at you, but every single time i do //

He feels the warm puff of her exhale, the way her body tremors with the news, and he frowns to have to be the one to tell her this information. But he can’t lie to her anymore, and she’s Flora’s mother so she deserves to at least know about the goings on with her daughter. And while his discomfort was one thing, he knew the lengths Hotaru would go to keep her loved ones safe.

He knew that intimately.

Her words wrap around the attuned bond toward him and he keeps her close as his arms wind around her a touch tighter, a silent confirmation while her thoughts bleed into the truth they both know. I suggested that we try to get all the gods together or ask about that tree from awhile ago instead.. He admits, before a thought suddenly occurs to him and he realizes he needs to find a very vital item of information, one given to him by Wessex before she’d passed.

There’s a glimmer of cold that opens through the bond between them, before he stuffs it full of warmth and hope that he isn’t sure isn’t unfounded. I think I have something back home that might help., actually. He says suddenly, unsure for a moment where he might have put the knowtbook, but knowing it’s around. Something he needed to find before they got their hands on it and made everything worse.

i know we'll make it anywhere away from here

SUNJATA

Hotaru

So many people will ask you to be beautiful and urgent
to discover what you cannot have and desire it

It's news she wouldn't want to hear from anyone else. She doesn't have to hide her own reactions in his arms, nor throttle the swell of her feelings any more than the vaguest restraint necessary to not drown him. Just as he does, his revelation - whatever it might be - like distant fireworks in her own head. There is a chill that could be anything from trepidation to something darker, but it's not something she wants to face head on anyway, and the warmth that rushes in after it is a blinder she is happy to lean into just as she does into his chest.

Their walk is forgotten, but even this news can't take away the feeling of rightness in the world that builds within her at being back by his side. Then we have some idea of a course forward, is the mental equivalent of a murmur as her eyes open, head lolling to rest her cheek on his chest as she looks out into the dappled woods. We've worked greater miracles on less. With her daughter in the balance there is no other option in her eyes.

Squeezing her arms around him, she lifts her head with a bracing breath that helps buoy her faint smile up onto her face. "One step after another, then. And I do mean literally - let's keep walking." Maybe the metaphor will follow if they do and they'll find their way out of the woods in more ways than one.

- Fin

Don’t desire. Don’t despair.
Rain is only rain in mid-air