3 o'clock things

this world is a wasteland where nothing can grow

Niki seems to lean into the space opened up between them before realising it's for breath and composure, and he lets out a huff of breath that he'll likely struggle to catch no matter how long they give one another. "Surprised," he admits with a twitch of a smile at the corners of his lips, cheeks flushed and his pulse thudding dully in his ears. "Still hungover. But alright, yes." The confirmation comes paired with a small nod, his fingers grazing across Sunjata's jaw before his hand drops again.

"I know it is only a kiss, but..." He smiles again, glancing away and seeming bashful if anything. "It is more than I have had with anyone where it feels like I was there for it, you know?" It's the only way he can describe it, truly. He'd said once before that he'd done enough to know what didn't work for him, and the difference now is night and day, clearly, even when it's just a brush of lips and fingertips.

Niki

i used to have strength but i ran out of hope

relive who i've been at my worst,
every single night, looking for a distraction

For all the world, Sunjata swans around as Frey’s demigod, but for the man himself he still feels more and more like he did when he first arrived. He doesn’t feel extra special, he doesn’t feel like this Dionysus type that Niki likely sees when looking at him. So each time that Niki says he’s surprised or can’t for the life of him figure out why the Heartless might be interested in him, the confusion lingers in his mind for a second before it passes as if having to remind him just who he was. “I’m glad.” He says softly, head tilting into the fingers that graze his jaw before they drop. His hand remains on the back of the chair and watches as the necromancer grows bashful and it’s impossible for Sunjata to stop the small smile that blooms on his face in return.

“I know what you mean.” He murmurs softly, shifting a little to crouch beside Niki’s chair. “I’m guessing it’s working for you, huh?” He asks, peering up at the other man with a crooked smile on his face and a raise of his scarred brow, referring to the comment of the night before and how Niki had already experienced the things that didn’t work. He also finds it quietly amusing internally, because he can recall all the times that Nate used to find joy in all of Sunjata’s firsts and for a while there he couldn’t quite understand why.

That is, until now. But those are thoughts that don’t have any space in the air between them and he keeps them locked behind his teeth.

the flood

waiting for the sun to rise
pretty sight for some hollow eyes

totally sniped from odd ilu

this world is a wasteland where nothing can grow

He doesn't expect the Heartless to crouch beside him, Niki shifting a little to face him more in the chair without realising he's doing it. "Of course it is working for me," he says, his tone dry even if there's colour in his cheeks, the necromancer clearly back to his usual wit, a crooked smile on his face. "I knew what I found attractive far before I found the courage to act on it."

Between the few dates he had been on in his teenage years and the utter lack of a response south of the waist during any clumsy make-out sessions, it hadn't taken much to put two and two together for Niki. (And that's without considering the way he'd fluster around an attractive man).

"Or rather, before you found the courage to act on it for me," he adds in a quieter voice. "Thank you for that, by the way."

Niki

i used to have strength but i ran out of hope

relive who i've been at my worst,
every single night, looking for a distraction

As Niki turns to face him, Sunjata’s smile lingers in the corners of his lips as he nods and snorts a soft laugh to hear Niki’s usual dry humor. He reaches up, one arm draping over the arm rest of the chair as another little anchor point. “You’re welcome.” He says with a wink before he sucks in a breath and a laugh starts to break up the tail end of it, his grin lopsided and playful.

“I was pretty sure you were gonna beat the fuck out of me with your cane. And like I said last night, just because I struggle starting it doesn’t mean I won’t.” He hadn’t last night and to be honest? He’s glad he did follow with his impulsive thoughts. He’d been so careful lately to keep them contained that he thought he might explode if he had to do it again and see what he’d missed out on.

the flood

waiting for the sun to rise
pretty sight for some hollow eyes

totally sniped from odd ilu

this world is a wasteland where nothing can grow

"You attribute me to far more violence than I have ever enacted on you, Sunjata," Niki drawls, though he's unable to keep the playful edge from his voice. Still, as if to give the Heartless what he's already expecting, he does raise the cane where it rests between his knees, reaching out to gently bonk the demigod on the forehead with the handle of it. "There. I would not want to disappoint your wildest fantasies of me," he says with an amused raise of his eyebrows.

It still catches him off guard, the way Sunjata easily admits to struggling when it comes to instigating anything intimate; Niki's assumptions (which are rapidly disappearing now that they're faced with the truth) being that any chosen of Frey would excel in that particular arena. "You will forgive me, I hope, for being surprised to learn that you are shy," he says, a warmer smile curling across his lips now.

And perhaps that's why he does what he does next, because Niki has never had the confidence before now. But even very recent experience is enough, apparently, to have him closing the space between them, aiming a gentle kiss against Sunjata's lips.

Niki

i used to have strength but i ran out of hope