(SE) when the nighttime comes, say yes

SUNJATA

i'm drowning in all these voices in the sea
and meeting all my vices in the ring

He doesn’t see anyone as he looks to her. He sees her, the pale hair and the pale face, sunburned slightly with the reflection and heat of the water, the way his horned shadow warps on the curves of her face, those wary and uncertain pale eyes that find him as his own reflect nothing short of a softness, of trust, of friendship with the hint of not slipping away should she wish to drift closer. The waves continue to brush along his back, and it’s a steady rhythm as he listens to her speak, fingertips still sweeping gently along her arm until he finds her shoulder again.

“I can.” He rumbles to her, offering her a gentle smile. “I broke a few before I got the one I have now. It’s just a matter of finding out what works best for you, and how much of a tension to the bow string there is.” He explains easily, shifting his leg slightly beneath the water, to continue to prop himself up enough to be that anchor for her.

That is, until something cold and slick slides into his lower back with a bit of force, pushing him toward her as he grips onto her to not lose her among the slight drift. There’s a hint of surprise on his face, one hand slipping to her waist — high enough to not make any moves of the sort — before he lowers his head into the water fully once more to see what it was that had run into him. He rises from it to shake his head, brush the water from his eyes and push his hair back again as the horns continue to drip water, and he rolls his eyes as he looks back to her. “Seems like the trout are swimming on.” He rumbles with some small amount of amusement, close enough now to see the red patches on her cheeks.

so step inside, i ain't afraid to bleed
there ain't a casket strong enough for me

MAEA

It's the smiles that make it hard, really. And the trust. And the suggestion that he has no ulterior motives, not really. That he's not planning any of this, just... take things as they come. It's that devil-may-care attitude that makes her reckless, feel invincible... and makes everything feel so damned risky.

Talking about bows and training is a distraction, and a welcome one. But even as she tries to think of something else to say, Sunjata jolted towards her. She saw the surprise on his face, realized this wasn't part of the easy shifting he'd done on and off, and watched in some confusion as he sunk down below the surface. His shifting grip held her in place all the same - his hand was radiating heat against her waist, even through the fabric of her shift - but it was second to a brief concern that rushed through her mind. Had the river carried debris into his back? Was he hurt, did he bleed, what did she know about bandaging wounds and stopping...

"A... fish? It was a fish? Maea stared at him in outrage for a moment, head reeling with the implications. Then she began to laugh, a bright cheerful sound that filled the air and bounced off the rocky cliffs along the banks. It unclenched her fists, undid some of the tension that had been gathering in her spine. Sucking in a breath, she tried to calm herself... but the laughter only started up again as she looked at Sunjata and saw the amusement there.

She hardly even noticed how much closer they'd gotten as she shifted an arm and gathered up some water, that she splashed onto the side of his face in a mock slap without any force. "You nearly had me scared, boy. I thought you'd been hit by something big!" Still grinning, she held on a little tighter with the arm that still wrapped around his neck, not sure she was ready to battle the current on her own just yet.

SUNJATA

i'm drowning in all these voices in the sea
and meeting all my vices in the ring

He spies the outrage along her face at first, commenting an echo of what he’d told her — a fish, a trout, had just slammed into his lower back, catching him off guard because he’d been distracted by her, and he can’t help but to offer his own deep rumble of a chuckle in response to the trolling laughter that rebounds off the rocks and the water that surround him. He returns to his easy nonchalance, hand still at her waist while the other drifts back up to her shoulder, to tuck some of the hair behind her ear.

“Yes. It was a fish.” He hums to her in amusement, voice deep until she reaches up to splash/smack him with one of the waves. His own laughter rebounds as well, a husky vibrant sound as he squints to her through the water dripping from his brow, shaking his head hard enough to hope that some of the droplets land on her.

“If I’d been hit by something big, you’d know.” He informs her, crooked grin along his face to that. “It just caught me off guard is all.” He says, feigning innocence despite the light tap he gives her to her side, the raise of a brow in his amusement.

so step inside, i ain't afraid to bleed
there ain't a casket strong enough for me

MAEA

Maea tried to scowl as the water from his hair splashed at her, huffing in exaggerated indignity. She dipped herself down in the water, enough that it covered her hair before she came up. But before she could return the favor with her own long waterfall of hair she felt his finger dig into her side, and jerked sharply away in the other direction with a surprised squawk.

"You sly rogue," she accused, mirroring his own words from a while ago as she pushed away from him, meaning to back out of reach before he could do that again. "Just because you can't drown me doesn't mean you can get away with whatever you like."

Making a motion as if to send another wave of water-infused magic his way, all it resulted in was a sad little flop of the surface waves. The girl realized it just as she understood that she'd picked a fight without anything to back it up with... and with a sheepish smile began to back up a little faster.

SUNJATA

i'm drowning in all these voices in the sea
and meeting all my vices in the ring

He taps her, and she unsuspects it, slipping from his touch as she squawks and dives away. And he can feel the coolness of the water with her absence, but it still causes nothing but a feigned innocent smile to creep along his face, the rise of shoulders that offer a shrug, mouth forming a silent ‘What?’ as though he’s done nothing to inspire such a reaction.

He hadn’t thought he had, at least.

Her next set of words as she avoids his touch sends another rumbling hum of laughter to leave him, brightening the shadows in his eyes as he reaches for her again, waves created in the movement, the wave she too creates that laps against his neck with a cooling sensation. His lips quirk slightly as he looks at her then, seeing the water drip from her ivory hair, the burned splotches on her cheeks.

“I thought I was a poor wounded boy.” He teases her, slinking below the water once more until he can feel the water at the base of his neck, seeping into his hair as his horns drip more glinting light. He opens his mouth to say something casual, an easy response that could drift from his lips, but he thinks better of it. ’Perhaps you should kiss me and make it better.’ refraining from being uttered as he tilts his head to her slightly. But he’s noticed she’s backing up now, and he swims closer to her, arms outstretched to grasp her again, to spin along the current. “And you drowned me first, it’s only fair.” He chooses to say instead.

so step inside, i ain't afraid to bleed
there ain't a casket strong enough for me

MAEA

Perhaps he was a little bit of a monster after all. The mischievous kind of water dweller that tempted people close with kindness and then drowned them quick before they got a chance to figure out what the truth really was. He certainly looked fey enough with the water dripping from his horns, light playing over the water-slick skin so that his eyes kept shifting color... gray, blue, near black in the rippling shade and back again. It was quite breathtaking, distracting enough that she didn't move fast enough before he came surging after her, arms outstretched. Though she really did try, Maea was too tired to put in the strength needed to fight the water, and again she found herself caught in his arms, spinning with the current.

"You said you were fine," she reminded him, and wriggled to see if he would let go, or try to tickle her again. "And I don't think you're that easy to kill. Are you really drowning, fishboy?"

Water droplets glittered in ivory lashes as she scrutinized his face, those colorless eyes of hers implying that she saw no signs of any distress on him. He was smirking way too much for that

SUNJATA

i'm drowning in all these voices in the sea
and meeting all my vices in the ring

“That was then.” He informs her, giving her a charming grin before he darts for her and envelops her in his embrace once more, pulling her close enough and interlocking his arms behind her at the small of her back, tattooed shoulders rising and falling in a shrug with a cheeky grin falling along the panes of his face when she continues. “Internally, yes. Been drowning since Fiat Lux, so I can’t blame that on you.” He offers with a bit of his faltering smile, wonders if she’d seen how sick he’d been at the wedding, the bags beneath his eyes.

From when he’d been a whale trapped inside a monster of mud, fighting it from the inside out, only to learn that in his attempt to get the people as much healing as they could, that he’d put himself off with smoking and drinking until it became too much and he inquired. And since then, no smoking, no drinking, nothing to make his marriage even the slightest bit more tolerable. Aside from the days he pushes it too far, like here and now, not caring because he has her in his arms, too distracted by the pale skin that blushes and burns beneath his steel gaze.

“But I get checked every week.” He informs her with a small tilt of his horned head, breaking his eye contact with her to inhale another short breath and look to see how far they’d drifted. And they’d drifted away quite a bit. “Hold onto me.” He hums despite her wriggling to get out of her grip. If she holds on, he’d keep one hand around her frame, holding her close against him to battle back against the current to get to the softer, calmer waters they had originally started at, Haai remaining sunbathing over Ludo’s rags and his things, basket floating among the stillness by the shore. There was no doubt he was a powerful swimmer, but she also weighed hardly anything, as reed thin as she was.

so step inside, i ain't afraid to bleed
there ain't a casket strong enough for me

MAEA

He drops a bit of a bomb on her jest, and Maea's smile faltered as she tried to figure out if it actually was a joke or not. She'd not paid that much attention to him at the wedding, nor known him by the time they met at the VlamVloed. Bags under the eyes was not uncommon, nor was a raspy voice or shortness of breath... except his physique suggested he shouldn't tire easily. And she hadn't pushed him all that much with in the water-fight, not enough to warrant the exhaustion he claimed.

"Was that... supposed to be funny?" she asked, honestly confused. The inital reaction was to grow concerned, but if it really was only words then... she didn't want to be mocked for worrying too much.

When told to hold on, she did as she was bid, wrapping her arms more firmly around him. Her stomach thrilled at the sensation of being dragged along against the current as Sunjata swam back towards their cove. He really was strong, she felt the muscles of his back and chest swell and contract with each stroke. She tried to help by kicking them along with her legs, but... in the end just stayed as much out of his way as possible.

Fishboy indeed.

Once back in calmer waters, the pale girl turned on him, reaching up to take his face between her hands for a closer scrutiny. "What do you mean, you're drowning? Is it an illness? Why are you not getting it healed properly, instead of just getting it checked?"

SUNJATA

i'm drowning in all these voices in the sea
and meeting all my vices in the ring

Was it supposed to be funny? He supposes he finds some sort of dark irony within it that aligns with his humor to an extent, but shakes his head regardless. “Sort of.” He offers with an apologetic smile. But he’s realized they’d drifted off far, and she clings to him as they move through the water, acutely attuned to where her body touches his as he swims then back to their initial spot, heartbeat thundering beneath his chest from exertion and restraint. But she hasn’t pushed away yet, not as they land back in the cooler sensations of calmer waters, and he remains in a space to block the sun from her pale skin.

She takes her hands and places them along his cheeks, and he keeps her close to him, his body pressed slightly against her as he pants with the shortness of breath under her scrutiny. “It is an illness. And I haven’t had it magically healed because I’m not sure it would work. I’m not sure if I want it to.” He says hoarsely, roughly, gaze finding her pale colorless eyes with all the honesty he can muster. “It’ll take a few months to get better, but it will. I have medicine to take.” He tilts his head a fraction to press his stubbled cheek into the palm of one of her hands.

Perhaps she’s easy to talk to with the way that despite her words, she still lets him hold her close. So much so that he closes his eyes to inhale a bit of a raspy breath, half opening his eyes to peer at her when he does decide to speak. “Korofi had no magic, no shifting, no gods, nothing. Not falling back on healing magic kind of makes it feel more real.”

so step inside, i ain't afraid to bleed
there ain't a casket strong enough for me

MAEA

His chest rose and fell against hers, the grip he held on her rather stronger than before. It felt right, and so wrong to be this close, and she was as thrilled as she was terrified over the increased proximity. But so far he had not done anything to truly drive her off, given her no reason to think this was more than just another hug. Unconsciously she leaned into the embrace, stretched a little to fit her body better against his... but focused more on what he was saying.

It was poor reasoning. A condition left untreated, a hazard to his health. Her fingers tightened their grip on his head even as Sunjata leaned his head against her palm; a cute gesture, but not quite enough to soothe her worry.

"What if it gets worse?" she pressed him. "What if you don't get better? Please, you said yourself that magic is a gift... What harm could it do to try?"

There was fear in her expression as she met his gaze, her own dead serious. "My mother took ill after I was born, and there was no one around to use magic on her. It should have been fine, should have been nothing but she died of it anyway. Because they waited too long."

SUNJATA

i'm drowning in all these voices in the sea
and meeting all my vices in the ring

He’s very aware of how she moves to better fit against him, and he quietly adjusts himself to better accommodate the pressure she applies to him, holding his head in her hands while his own brace her from behind her back, interlocking once more. But he continues to peer down at her through his half lidded gaze, a muscle feathering slightly in his jaw beneath the palm of her hand. “Loren healed me when I got out of the creature, and it still developed.” He explains quietly. “I’d thought it was just a cold, put it off for a couple of weeks so the people that needed it more could be healed.” So the healers would still have energy to help those in more of a dire need.

But he can see the fear in her eyes, and his arms tighten slightly around her, a shield of his own to embrace her when she continues, divulging more into her past and he bites at the inside of his cheek, wondering if he should tell her the truth of it all. That he’d hoped it killed him in the end, having lost everything yet not too stubborn to go just yet. It made for a far better story than the rooftop would have, at the very least. “I’m sorry.” He offers her in a quiet accented rumble, hoping that the apology is reflected within the steel of his eyes.

He tilts his head toward her again, so the shadow of his face can block the sun from hitting her forehead. “I’ve already made agreements that if it gets to that point I’ll let them heal me.” He offers her, hoping it assuages some of her worries, wondering deeply the reasoning why she cares so much in the first place, but his self destructive tendencies had always thought that of others that wished to prolong his life as long as they could, to assuage some of his sorrows in any way they could. But something in the wording is off, the way it comes off so nonchalant, as though he believes in part that he deserves to suffer for what happened, what continues to happen as well.

so step inside, i ain't afraid to bleed
there ain't a casket strong enough for me

MAEA

Her thumb brushed absently across the line of his cheekbone as he spoke. Even if she's not actively thinking of the places their bodies connect, on a subconscious level there is a keen awareness of it spreading with every passing moment. There is a sort of easing within her, like a contented patience had fallen. Just waiting now, for her to realize what was going on.

When his arms squeezed her even tighter, reacting to some part of what she'd said - what, she didn't know - she responded automatically by putting her arms back around his neck. Pulling him down a little, so she could hide her frown against his jaw, Maea swallowed hard. He'd been healed, and yet it had escalated. Then... perhaps it had not been magic of a level strong enough? Or the Launceleyn had not known what to aim for. She was not familiar enough with either magic or medicine to know for sure, and latched on to the only glimmer of hope she could see.

"Well... then you wouldn't mind promising me the same thing, right? That you won't let it get so bad that we have to ask the gods to save you? Because if you die I swear I'll ask Ludo to let me haunt you. And you would not like that."

SUNJATA

i'm drowning in all these voices in the sea
and meeting all my vices in the ring

His breaths even out ever so slowly as he speaks and she strokes her thumb along his jawbone, leaning into the touch a fraction, her hands leaving their place to wrap around his neck where the horns drip the water onto her hands at the back. She pulls him down slightly to duck her head, and he follows her movements, letting her do whatever she wished with him. His resolve is faltering ever so much as the movement causes his jaw to hang idly by her forehead now, that one drift of a rogue wave would cause them to collide with her.

He finds that he quite likes that idea, consequences be damned.

And he can’t help but to want to touch her more, with how her body aligns against his, how she’s either unconsciously pulled him further into her and he pulled her into him, that his arms interlock, one hand splaying along her lower back wide to keep her near while the other drifts up to the pale hair he can see now once more, to tangle with the tresses within the water to feel their silk drift through roughened fingers.

He untangles his fingers from her hair to reach forward to her, to let those calloused fingers line along her jaw and lift her face to look at him as he offers her a smaller, more honest and boyish smile in response. But this close, his nose almost brushes against her own gently, close enough to share breaths as he looks down to that pale gaze. “I promise you, Maea Valair, that if it gets worse and my life is in true danger, that I will seek out healing.” He breathes to her, a deep whisper on the wind, thumb stroking her jaw.

so step inside, i ain't afraid to bleed
there ain't a casket strong enough for me

MAEA

It took her a bit too long to realize what she'd done. What she'd caused, how this might all play out. His fingers were a whisper through her hair, shooting lightning down the spine. She grew very still, almost forgot to breathe as the same hand moved around to her face, cupped the chin and made her look at him.

Close. There was so much color in his eyes. Layer upon layer of blue, so dense it smothered the light and darkened into gray. A stormcloud, a raging river, a flood full of emotions she could not entirely follow. All she knew was that the waters stilled a little when he looked at her, softened into something that was almost warm.

So close. She swallowed when he spoke, the response a sincere vow breathed onto her lips. She could almost taste his breath, felt the honesty of them. At least in this moment he meant what he said. Whether that would change in a heartbeat, a day or a few months however... was uncertain.

"Thank you, she murmured, heart racing so fast it was hard to get the words out. "I'll... I'll hold you to that..." Her mouth felt dry, lips sore and aching; she worried at the bottom lip with her teeth, telling herself it was about time to withdraw. She'd made her point, spoken her piece... Now back away.

Too close. Yet she didn't move. Transfixed, she hovered in place, unable to move. Her mind was going blank, a wonderfully terrifying feeling for this overthinker of a girl... There were reasons why she shouldn't stay, but in this particular instance she could not quite recall what they were. All she could see was him, his eyes, his mouth... and a warm, gentle thumb brushing along her jaw.

Her arms tensed ever so slightly over the shoulders on which they rested. A hand splayed, fingers spreading into the dark curls of his hair.