built for blame

i aint never been a keeper // despicable // i love her then i leave her

and if i were you,

Ah, the Sanctuary. A place he usually visits occasionally, mostly passing through, but with nothing on his agenda, Sunjata actually decides to spend time looking at the wares and shops along the main drag. It’s not like he has much else to do, finding that things have been well for him since Lusea’s return to him. And old habits have picked back up again, as evidenced by the cigarette held between his lips, only removing when the smoke starts to burn his eyes.

He traverses from shop to shop, browsing and looking, pausing and making idle chatter with charm before moving on once more. He’s not sure what he’s looking for, if anything, but he’s curious and takes his time.

Dressed in dark clothes and leather, with a small amount of furs to keep him warm from the sudden chill in the air, he moves from shop to shop idly and slow. Killing time, as it were.

i wouldn't love me neither

SUNJATA

ADAM

Adam was, for lack of a better word, dawdling. With a poorly rolled smoke held casually between two fingers, his chipped black nail polish (which he always applied in utmost secrecy, wanting people to believe it was just something that happened to him rather than a conscious choice) finishing the picture of somebody desperate to be seen as more than he was.

Though really, in the moment, all he was thinking about was how bored he was. For a place with so much shit going on, Caido really could get boring. He couldn't bother Amalia or Pet every day, and with no horse to ride, brothel to visit or highways to rob, he often found himself looking for something to do. Even the Devil's Advocates did not have that many tasks for him.

Idly, he considered finding a job, but quickly laughed the idea away. That was not at all inkeeping with his aesthetic.

As he stood scanning the people passing by, he noticed a particularly pretty face. Looked just as bored and aimless as he did, looking in each shop window and taking great interest in the greatly uninteresting. Hoping he could have found a partner in his listless afternoon, Adam nodded at the man as he passed and cheerfully said: "Hey! If you got half a conversation in you I got something to make you feel better by the end of it. Deal?" To make his offer clear, he reached into his bag and pulled out another smoke, twirling it in his fingers.

good evening, misadventure.
farewell morality.
it's time for another risky venture,
into the depths of depravity.

i aint never been a keeper // despicable // i love her then i leave her

and if i were you,

He doesn’t know how long he can withstand the idle chatter and feigned interest, before he ends up retreating back home. Thankfully for him, it matters little as a familiar voice pipes up and his head swivels toward the fellow Devil with a raised dark brow. “You make a very convincing offer.” Sunjata tells him with a light chuckle, stepping away from the crowds to angle himself better toward Adam, pulling the cigarette from his lips as he looks in interest as the man twirls it in his fingers.

Giving him a smirk, he nods his head. “You’ve got yourself a deal.” His accented words leaving his lips with a chuckle, tilting his head toward the alleys for a better conversation before he starts to step that way. “What did you have in mind?” He asks, discarding the rest of the cigarette with a puff of smoke, making sure to step on it before continuing and sticking his hands in his pockets, steel gaze sliding over to his coworker in a sense.

i wouldn't love me neither

SUNJATA

ADAM

As Sunjata got closer, Adam suddenly realised why he'd felt a nagging familiarity when he looked at the man. He had been at the meeting of the Devil's Advocates, hadn't he? Exactly the kind of guy he could get along with, then. Easily, he passed over the smoke then leaned back.

"Oh, you're taking me to an alley? Always a great sign." He joked, pretty sure he would be safe. He wasn't that fucked up, and his guns gave him a solid advantage over most people in Caido. Besides, he was sure if the alley was for anything, it was for Sunjata's upcoming confession of love rather than an attack.

What did he have in mind, though? Fuck, he had no idea. Blankly, he blinked for a moment, trying to bring an idea to life. "Eerr....oh! Oh, hey. I heard you're dating the midwife girl? Is that true?" Gossip was always fun, right?

good evening, misadventure.
farewell morality.
it's time for another risky venture,
into the depths of depravity.

i aint never been a keeper // despicable // i love her then i leave her

and if i were you,

He takes the smoke easily, a light smirk tilting the corners of his lips up as he reaches for a match to light it and they approach the alleyway. Sunjata shrugs, a huff of laughter as he leans against the wall to a shop. “It’s quieter here, might actually be able to hear what you have to say, is all.” But for shits and giggles, he raises a brow to the fellow man as if to get him to start the ideas, before Adam blinks for a moment and seems to blurt out some form of gossip.

His steel eyes narrow for a slight second before he looks out over the crowds passing through with a small shrug. “Was dating the midwife, yes.” He admits, taking a drag off of the smoke before he focuses his attention back on Adam and tilts his head. “Why? Who’s asking?” He jests with a wink, eyes softening slightly as he chuckles and waits to see what he has to say, when something glinting catches his attention and he tears the cigarette from his lips.

“Holy shit, wait, is that a gun?” His voice hits a bit more of an accent with the surprise as his eyes dart from the distraction to Adam, a bright smile crossing his face.

i wouldn't love me neither

SUNJATA

ADAM

"Uh huh. And I'm sure it'll be real quiet for all the people out there when you kill me." Adam sarcastically enthused.

He knew from the look Sunjata gave him that he had misstepped somehow with his gem of gossip. It was not out of character for Lucas to lie to him, he supposed; the man seemed like the sort that liked to sow trouble among his friends just for the hell of it. But no, it turned out that the information he had been given was just out of date, not incorrect.

"I'm asking, 'cos I was hoping you could get her into a job for me. But it's fine. I'll work something else out - I don't wanna be getting in the middle of a break up." It sounded far too much like hard work, and Adam had had enough romantic drama of his own for a lifetime.

Sunjata's sudden exclaimation made him jump, and when he actually heard what he'd said he was no less surprised. "Yeah, two of 'em, actually..." He turned his hips from side to side, showing him the holsters. "No one here knows what they are. I keep having to explain like they're fucking magic wands. You...do know?"

good evening, misadventure.
farewell morality.
it's time for another risky venture,
into the depths of depravity.

i aint never been a keeper // despicable // i love her then i leave her

and if i were you,

A huff of laughter is sent Adam’s way as he shakes his head. “Consider yourself safe.” He replies with an edge of humor to his voice. But he mentions Phoebe and Jata is already a smidge on edge, wondering what the Devil’s Advocates could have a use for her. When the explanation comes, he pulls the cig from his lips and exhales a small plume of smoke as he shakes his head. “I mean, I can try. What is it you’re looking for?” He tilts his head briefly.

Until of course his eyes catch sight of the guns and a grin sparks across his face as Adam shows him two. He laughs at the explanation given with a nod. “Yeah, I used them back home. Pistols mostly, but we had some rifles for other… things.” He says, chasing away the thoughts of himself and others along the rooftops, rifles pointed down below. He masks it with another smile. “I half assed a diagram of one to show someone.” He snorts, putting the cigarette back to his lips for a drag. “How’d you get them here?”

i wouldn't love me neither

SUNJATA

ADAM

He was surprised Sunjata was still willing to speak to Phoebe. Adam couldn't count the exes he was amicable with on one hand, and the ones he'd involve in criminal activties were an even smaller amount. But he wasn't here to ask relationship questions. "Okay...I was wondering if she'd grow some shit for me in those window boxes of hers. You can give her some kinda cut, I guess." Not much of one, though.

Someone actually knowing what guns were was weirdly comforting, a glimpse into his old life and world. "I didn't really...do anything to get them here. I just had them when I came over. And thank fuck too, cos I don't know what I'd do without my guns." He patted his hips. Really, he hadn't had to use them that much, but they had been a comforting thing to have.

"What did you get to bring with you? I didn't...know people weren't allowed to bring their shit. I didn't get my horse."

good evening, misadventure.
farewell morality.
it's time for another risky venture,
into the depths of depravity.

i aint never been a keeper // despicable // i love her then i leave her

and if i were you,

Oh to say that Sunjata was willing is an understatement. He doesn’t really want to, but it is his job after all. And in the end, the man rarely ever got what he wanted in the end. Still, he manages a bright smile toward Adam with a small nod of agreement. “I’ll see what I can do. But, she has the blight and I don’t know how it’s going to progress.” He tells the man honestly, shoulders rising and falling in a shrug.

But then Sunjata is asking what he had done to get such technology here, and the answer is certainly disappointing. A light frown finds his face as he drags deep on the smoke and exhales through his nose, a plume of smoke as it leaves him, and he shakes his head lightly.

“I barely arrived with the clothes on my back.” He rumbles, finding a small amount of humor within it. “I went to bed, woke up and slung some clothes on, stepped from the bedroom to the kitchen to grab some food, and poof I was in the labyrinth.” He offers with a chuckle, recalling how disorienting it had been, how he had met Lucas and was certain it was a dream.

Only he hadn’t woken up.

i wouldn't love me neither

SUNJATA

ADAM

"Man, everyone's got this Blight thing. I feel like I'm missing out." Adam laughed darkly. He had not actually seen anyone with the disease except for Safrin, and she had still seemed plenty divine and beautiful; the seriousness of the situation had not yet sunk in.

He could tell he'd disappointed in his answer, but there was little else to say. Like everything else in Adam's life, it seemed he'd simply been lucky. He'd unknowingly stumbled into this situation and it had given him a boon above the rest. It had been accepted, because that was how it usually went.

"Sounds more relaxing than my arrival. I was riding, aiming a shot..." He held out his hand before him, two fingers out with one eye closed. "Then poof. Here. That fucking asshole I was gonna steal from is the luckiest guy in the goddamn world. Except me, I guess." Proudly he placed his hand on his chest.

Opening his eyes to look at Sunjata again he wondered just where he had come from. "Tell me about your world, then. It seems like a fucking rite of passage here. Like we're all in prison. What're you in for?"

good evening, misadventure.
farewell morality.
it's time for another risky venture,
into the depths of depravity.

i aint never been a keeper // despicable // i love her then i leave her

and if i were you,

He wants to laugh at what Adam says, but there’s a part of him that focuses hard on the cigarette between his fingers, flicking the ash like snow as it drifts down to the stone beneath his boots before his slate eyes drift back up to Adam and he exhales a small sigh. “It’s not fun.” He admits with another small shrug. “Consider yourself lucky.” He gives a light smile in response. For the time, he considers himself lucky. (If only he knew what awaited him)

But they talk of arriving and he listens to Adam’s tale before laughing an abrupt bark of laughter. “If only he knew how lucky he was – how close he got to being robbed by Adam motherfucking Pikely.” He jests, recalling what Adam had said the first time they met in the Devil’s Advocates, when they had to go around and mention what they did and could bring to the group. With a small snort, he puffs another drag from the cigarette and regards the man before him as he asks where he came from.

“I came from a place called Korofi.” He begins, shrugging lightly in his jacket. “I guess I’m in for….” He trails off thoughtfully before raising a brow. “Anarchy and rebellion? Bringing down the societal structure of my home?” He hums with a laugh and a shrug. “It was incredibly shitty though, so all it needed was a bit of a push.”

i wouldn't love me neither

SUNJATA

ADAM

Adam wasn't really sure what reaction he'd expected to his joke about the Blight, so Sunjata's awkward and sad response wasn't something he could object to. He just nodded, scuffed the toe of his boot on the ground and looked away, wishing he hadn't said it.

Though hearing someone else say the 'motherfucking' in his name was always going to make him smile. "Hey, for real. I'm kind of a big deal back home. Had 10,000 on my head at one point, but I was in with most of the guards, so...I think I've been arrested.." He closed one eye and looked up, counting. "...47 times...? And never actually been executed. Got close a few times." It was clear that for Adam his amount of jail stays was a thing of pride, not shame.

Korofi...He nearly laughed and told Sunjata about Coffee, but he stopped himself, listening instead. It was a new thing he was trying to do. "Shit, man, that's all pretty up above our heads, isn't it? What was your 'push' gonna be?"

good evening, misadventure.
farewell morality.
it's time for another risky venture,
into the depths of depravity.

i aint never been a keeper // despicable // i love her then i leave her

and if i were you,

He’s thankful for the change in subject, that Adam drops it. And when the other man goes into the entire spiel about how famous he is, Sunjata can’t help but to smirk back at him in amusement. Perhaps the two men would get along even better. “I don’t doubt that.” He admits with a light snort, tapping the ash from the cigarette off again before his steel eyes land back on him.

But he asks about Korofi, and his smirk grows a bit bigger as he shrugs. “Seems you and I have more in common. Korofi was the place that made the laws, and we were ruled by a… Judge. Who would enact sentences and things.” He explains, refusing to say the term Arbiter but still wanting the point to come across. “And I was his son, pegged to take up the mantle after and enforce them. I was pretty well known for my lineage, really.” He says it so nonchalantly before he leans toward Adam with a smirk. “My push was simply being who I was and joining the resistance. ‘Fuck the government’ and all that. And we did. But since I was the head of the enforcers, I knew what their tactics were. We evaded them for a few years, wreaking havoc.” He snorts before he leans back against the wall and a boot lifts to set against the stone of the alley.

i wouldn't love me neither

SUNJATA

ADAM

Sunjata's smirking response carried an air of sarcasm, and Adam considered calling him out on it. But his pride was nowhere as bullish now as it had been back home and he decided the fight wasn't worth it. Instead, he pretended he took the words and genuine and nodded. (Though a small voice in the back of his head told him that even if there was sarcasm there, it was perhaps deserved; his fame had never been as grand as he made it sound).

With little frame of reference for the kind of system Sunjata described, Adam understood it on his own terms: that he was a prince. He tried not to instinctively make faces, his hatred for nobles running deep enough to appear even when he had already decided he liked someone. "So..." He paused, wondering if the question he wanted to ask was a good idea, then decided to just go ahead anyway. He was curious.

"Were you gonna kill your dad?" With a drag on his smoke he leaned back and looked at Sunjata, head bowed a little.

good evening, misadventure.
farewell morality.
it's time for another risky venture,
into the depths of depravity.