the kids aren’t alright

SUNJATA

Things are wrong and things have moved so quickly, Sunjata can barely try to understand what’s gone on in the last few days. Where once he had been coasting along, like he had among the flood waters back home, he felt akin to the feeling of falling in, a moment of reprieve before his head slips under. He knows it is wrong of him, but Phoebe had conceded to Lusea, had given it up.

Would he have blamed her? Done the same in her shoes?

He doesn’t know, but he does know that an apology is in order, and a thank you somewhere in between. She hadn’t been to the Clinic in some time, and since then he had taken Lusea away from it, cleared it out of his things, removed himself from it as though if she were to return she wouldn’t constantly be reminded of him. But ah, the memories were still there. Still upstairs, still on the couch, still in the kitchen, still in the shower.

He runs a hand through his hair with a quiet sigh as he approaches the Infirmary, having checked the College too to no avail. This is his last attempt at finding out where Phoebe has gone. He tries to make himself as presentable, as close to how he had looked before as possible, carefully trying to hide the variety of bruising along his neck and collarbones, the scratches along the base of his neck— but his cheek is still tinted a darker shade from Lusea’s slap, and he finds he can’t quite hide that one as well as the others.

Quietly, he steps in, awaiting an electric flame from Pim at the sight of him. “Phoebe?” He calls out, praying to these gods and the gods from home she is here.

the deeper you dig, the darker it gets

No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.

Phoebe I know I am good at something, I just haven't found it yet Jata wasn’t a complete idiot to check the College first, given how much time she spent there as of late. But it didn’t have beds like the infirmary did, and she much preferred a bed to sleep on. She hadn’t dared to return to her clinic, her home, since she left that night. The clothes she wore were extra sets from the infirmary. Her meals…well actually she wasn’t particularly sure when she had last eaten, not feeling remotely hungry. But he would see her, curled up on a bed, back towards the door, buried under blankets. Between him and her though, was Pim. The dragonling growled low as he had the night Jata asked him to watch over Phoebe. But this time he did not cease upon seeing him, instead snarling louder at the man, rainbow electricity sparking around his fangs. ”Pim, stop. It’s fine.” Phoebe said, her tone emotionless and soft. But even as Pim ceased to growl (still glaring daggers at Jata though) she did not turn to face him. ”How is Lusea? Does she need me to tend any wounds?” Phoebe asked him quietly, staring blankly ahead at the wall at the back of the infirmary.

SUNJATA

He is not surprised to hear the growl, but some relief sends its way through his bones. If Pim is here, she is here. And that’s all he needs. He steps in further, clicking the door shut behind him as Phoebe tells Pim to stop, and she lays there curled up beneath the blankets, a frown finding his face at the tone to her voice. But what had he expected?

He steps closer, eyeing Pim for a moment, before his gaze returns to Phoebe — soft and gentler than he’d ever been. A softened edge, a sloping ledge. Until she speaks of Lusea, and his hand lifts to his neck, rubbing at the bruising, biting the inside of his cheek. “No, she is fine.” He tells her, and he means it. She is just as much the fiery fighter he remembers. “It had only been minutes between what happened to her and her arrival… I am sorry for how she reacted.” He tells her, not daring to step any closer should he be electrocuted on the spot.

“I am here alone, to talk to you.” His hand stills on his neck, steel eyes watching her for any kind of reaction, anything.

the deeper you dig, the darker it gets

No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.

Phoebe I know I am good at something, I just haven't found it yet Well. At least Lusea was fine and not in need of additional healing. She wouldn’t mustered the strength to do so had it been needed, but she was glad it wasn’t needed. It was a bit of a relief really. ”There is no need to apologize on her behalf. It is very disconcerting to arrive here suddenly, especially if you think you’re dead I imagine.” she said quietly. ”I hope she wasn’t too unkind to you over it. I am sorry I caused you both grief.” she said. That he was there alone didn’t really make much of a difference. She held no animosity towards either of them. Lusea had been taken off guard just as much as she had, and she always knew Jata had loved her more. It wasn’t anything against her, as much as it felt like it, just the reality of the situation. No one could have ever imagined such a scenario would come to pass after all. ”What is there to talk about, Jata? I think it is all fairly straightforward.”

SUNJATA

She doesn’t turn, she doesn’t even try to look toward him as she speaks, and he finds himself biting down on his cheek a bit harder, inhaling deeply through his nose, gaze drifting toward her and the outline of her body beneath the blankets. Lusea had died, Phoebe was going to, he thought. What had it meant at the end of the day? He doesn’t know what to do. He would rather her blight fueled rage than the shell he sees, would rather her scratch and tear than quiet nonchalance. “No, she can’t, wouldn’t.” He stumbles over the words. Lusea could rage, but she’d never harm him if she knew he couldn’t recover. That’s how they were, oil and sparks. And he knows he had seen a small amount of that same flame in Phoebe with the blight. And how she had raged, a fueled flame.

He thinks he deserves it, after all. And he’s always been a man prone to violence, living from a violent country.

He moves to step toward her then, arm falling from his neck to outstretch and touch her shoulder, an attempt to tell her to look at him — so see how sorry he is for it all. She tells him it’s straightforward and all he can do is nod a small amount in agreement, but it doesn’t quell him. “I wanted to tell you I am sorry.” I didn’t know, didn’t know, didn’t know. “And I wanted to say thank you.”

the deeper you dig, the darker it gets

No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.

Phoebe I know I am good at something, I just haven't found it yet ”I am glad to hear it.” she said softly, still unmoving, save for the trembling of her hands beneath the blankets. He would be hard pressed to spark rage in her over this, for there was nothing for her to be angry about. It was the natural outcome, and the logical one too. What else could she possibly be but contentedly resigned to the reality? When he touched her shoulder, Pim growled a warning, watching him closely. But Phoebe looked up then, her honeyed eyes near glazed over, expressionless, lacking the light they usually held. ”No you aren’t. Not really anyways. You have what it was that you wanted, and that is Lusea. I was never even close to her by comparison to you. I was convenient, that’s all.” she said quietly. ”I’m not sure what there is to thank me for either.”

SUNJATA

He touches her shoulder, rough, calloused fingertips touching gently as though she’s breakable. Pim growls, but there’s no electricity behind it, and he breathes a quiet sigh of relief as Phoebe’s brown gaze meets his own. But she is expressionless, drawn, shuttered, closed off from him. He doesn’t blame her. But it still hurts the same.

He doesn’t move his hand from her.

It comes rushing back, I didn’t know, I didn’t know, an anthem in his heart and mind, until she claims she was a convenience. A hard line forming along his chapped lips. “You were not just a convenience.” He tells her, an honest underlying in his words. He wonders if honesty would get him far in this. Maybe at first, an outlet, a person to be with, a person to hide who he was. But it had blossomed into something else, something more. “You brought her back to me, after I opened up to you. It is hard for me — was hard for me, to open up. But you did it. You peeled back my layers enough.” He moves his hand from her, head shifting to look away from her, the bruised outline of Lusea’s palm on his cheek.

She had made him soft. And yet, he finds if Lusea hadn’t come back, he could have been happy with her.

“And even if it was hard for me to do, I loved you for it.” He admits, quietly.

the deeper you dig, the darker it gets

No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.

Phoebe I know I am good at something, I just haven't found it yet Was his purpose to cause her pain? Did he wish to see her fight, to scream and yell and spew venom as the blight was apt to make her do? His words cut and punched and kicked, tearing into the contentment she felt. If she hadn't brought her...they would still be. But when he dared say those words - that he loved her - her eyes closed, feeling tears begin to rise. She would not let them beat her this time. "Don't say things like that as if it will somehow change things, as if it will mend my heart or make me forgive you for not choosing me. I am happy you are happy, but I don't owe you any guise of contentment with the consequences of your choices." she said quietly. Yes, she had been the one to walk away, but only to avoid this - avoid the bargaining that would lead to this end. He loved her for getting him to open up. He loved Lusea. The less words, the more powerful the sentiment. Feeling the conflict building in her through their bond, Pim took sudden action. He rushed forward, jumping onto the bed next to her, surging up on his hind legs, balanced ny his outstreched wings. The pink dragonling roared at the top of his lungs, the low, gutteral sound resounding, echoing through the room. He snarled and snapped towards the male, fangs barred. There would be no distressing his companion. Not on his watch.

SUNJATA

He doesn’t mean for it to hurt. He doesn’t mean for his words to bury themselves deep within her. But he wants her to know, to understand, that even if he couldn’t tell her, she had meant a lot to him. And that he cared, in that specific way of his, so deeply for her. But while he had mentioned Lusea was opposite of her, it also applied here — he had fallen fast and hard for the flame of Senzaok. With Phoebe, a graceful descent. Something that terrified him, frightened him, and he wasn’t willing to admit it after Lusea.

But Lusea was back, and there was a part of him that wasn’t scared anymore, not to tell her how he had felt. The words didn’t hurt as much when they left his lips, even if it were a knife straight to her.

He withdraws his arm, his hand returning to his side, right as Pim jumps onto the bed and he steps back to give space from the snarling dragon. He reaches up to wipe some of the spit away from his cheek from the outburst. A narrowed gaze finding the dragon as he grits his teeth.

“I wanted you to know how much you mean to me.” He adds, though his eyes remain on the dragon. “I don’t mean for it to hurt.” Perhaps a bit rushed, the idiot doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut, to let things lie. Lusea was right, he was bullheaded and stubborn, stuck in his ways. “And even with Lusea here now, I want…” He trails off, uncertain if it really even matters anymore.

It doesn’t.

the deeper you dig, the darker it gets

No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.

Phoebe I know I am good at something, I just haven't found it yet Pim rested his front feet down in the bed, wings still splayed and flapping with irritation as he growled low at the retreating man. Humans were so stupid, so messy, because Frey had been tired when humans were made. But that would not exuse this. Phoebe was a prized female, Frey blessed, and no male would make her feel less when he persued a lesser female. Not. Here. Bucko. Phoebe just sighed, knowing it was no use to tell Pim to stop now that he was riled. "So you wanted to hurt me more, to tell me you loved me...just not as much as her? Now you decide to give words to the things I already knew so the wounds burn with salt?" she said, still emotionless as she opened her eyes to look at him. "You want what? Both of us. Of course you would." she muttered.

SUNJATA

The dragon calms a small amount, but Jata is not too much of an idiot to pretend it’s safe. Instead his eyes shift to her, while she speaks — and he finds it to be true, deep down, that he hadn’t intended it, hadn’t reached for the knife that severs and tears. But he has, and he is here now raining their contents down upon her. He bites his lip again, a small scab that had formed from that night — that night — when wonderful, terrible things had happened.

Her her words shift the narrative he tells her, showing him how much of a mistake it was, and he shakes his head, another hand running up to brush along his hair — it does not matter what you want, idiot boy.

“I am not trying to wound you.” He begins again, recalling the night not long ago — broken glass, trances, and shoving the poor midwife from her own home to protect, to save, to lay with another. Had it been any other person he wouldn’t have cared. But he did, he does. But again, it does not matter. “I don’t want to hurt you. I never wanted it to come to this.” The words jumble together, his accent slipping through thicker, fuller, of a home Phoebe would never see. It’s not like he wants her to see it, anyway, that deep dark blue part of him.

“I am not naive enough to think that, Phoebe.” He tells her. “I want you to know that I am still here for you if you need help, even if it hurts.”

the deeper you dig, the darker it gets

No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.

Phoebe I know I am good at something, I just haven't found it yet Pim didn't move an inch either, hovering over her like a dragon over a horde. But instead of gold, Pim had Phoebe, and she was more precious than any shiny thing one could find. "I didn't either. I thought you were the one Jata." she said softly, a hint of emotion coming back to her voice for a moment before it dissipated. "But I not yours. And I will not offer you comfort for the hurt you feel over it, when you have another woman you'd rather get it from." she said, a firmness to her voice. Her decision on that was final. If he had regrets, she would not help him feel better about it. Lusea could do that. Or he could figure it out on his own. "Help me? With what? What can you help a dying, childless woman with?" she said bluntly.

SUNJATA

She tells him one thing he particularly doesn’t want to hear, silver eyes shuttering. the one, the one. He takes another step back, uncertain how to continue. Because he knew that she had dreams he never would have been able to give her, knew he couldn’t be the right one for her — and yet she had gotten trapped into his orbit when she could have been out achieving those dreams. He bites his tongue against a retort, letting her feel the way she needs to. He doesn’t need to interrupt it any further.

Her firmness is something warranted, something wanted among the fabrics of his mind, and he nods even if she doesn’t see it. “Alright.” It is his turn to concede, to let her feel the way she feels. To deal the way she needs to deal. To heal.

He stuff his hands into his pockets now, eyes drifting from her to the infirmary and the bed she lays upon, guilt slipping into the folds of his being as she tells him, and somewhere he wonders if they’d even ever talked about it before. “I can’t give you that.” He tells her, solemnly. The bruising on his neck are indication enough as to why. “If you need help with the infirmary, with continuing your research, someone to test things on.” He lists them out. “Things you need but might not have people willing.” He could do that, be there in a different way. “I am here.”

the deeper you dig, the darker it gets

No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.

Phoebe I know I am good at something, I just haven't found it yet She sighed in frustration, eyes closing. But her frustration made Pim growl low, tail flicking back and forth. "I am aware. I wasn't asking you for children." she said dryly, eyes opening again. Men could be so, so dense. She fell silent at his offer, irritation building in her now. She had graciously walked away. She had given him what he really wanted without fuss. Why, now, did he need to continue to poke and prod her? "I have those things." she said dryly. His offer was useless, just one more way to insert himself into her life that would only benefit him. "What I don't have is someone who loves me first and foremost. If you can find that you'll be a miracle worker." she said, intending to send him on a wild goose chase.