Wrap your teeth around the pavement

M  A   E    A I talked to God to no avail Said, "If you won't save me, please don't waste my time." 'It is what it is.' Those were words to live by. As her hands clung to him, her thoughts latched onto that simple idea. Like a beacon of light in the dark, a dangling rope thrown to a raging sea. Maea felt him, heard him, and found that it wasn't nearly as awful to show Sunjata all her broken, bloody pieces as she might have imagined. He neither blamed her for her tears or tried to keep them from falling, and for that she held on tighter, cried a bit harder, leaned into him all that much further. Entrustied him with all that she was, in this singular moment of utter weakness. If he wanted to destroy her, then... now he had a wonderful chance. But he did not. Just held her, his cheek pressed to hers. The stubble on it scratched against her tender skin, his nose tickling on her neck, and it was comforting. Gradually, after what seemed like an eternity, Maea's breathing calmed. Grew less frantic. Still there were little hiccuping gulps of air sucked in - though parted lips, because her nose had become terribly clogged  - but it didn't matter. The storm was passing, if slowly. What did she want to do with what she had left? At the moment... just stay right where she was. Shelter in the safety of Sunjata's embrace, and merely... exist. Her arms moved, shifted up to wrap around his neck. A quiet plea not to let go of her yet.

hide your secrets, disguise your weakness

and lose yourself inside your busy head

In order to help he situates himself a small amount closer, invading the albeit small space between them, as she leans into him further, cries harder, and it’s all he can do to just let her. It was a wound of its own, a closing of a chapter of her life that Sunjata can imagine she’d clung to. Like how he’d clung to the Rebellion as his family, how he’d struggled with coming to terms of never returning back.

But soon enough, the racking sobs quiet to smaller wakes. And he hums softly to her, letting his voice be the rope to lift her anchor within the seas that she’d just fallen into. All he can do is brush her hair away from her face, keep the little circles around her back, keep his face pressed against her moonlit skin. A brief sigh passing through his lips when her arms move to wrap around his neck. And he pulls back a small amount, the hand that had been rubbing the small circles along her back, reaches up to brush away the tears that stain her cheeks, that feel cold as the removal of her warmth from them shifts the air enough. But he doesn’t let go. “You don’t have to figure it out now. Give it time to see what you want to do and go from there, without anything or anyone else telling you what’s expected of you.” He offers with a gentle smile.

burn your bridges, and leave no witnesses

all alone inside your busy head

SuNJATA

M  A   E    A I talked to God to no avail Said, "If you won't save me, please don't waste my time." Maea felt raw, scraped bare. Tender and oozing, like all of her self was one big tumble of skinned knees, with gravel still clinging to the flesh. Only reluctantly did she lift her head from his shoulder, let him wipe away her tears with calloused fingers that were surprisingly tender. Maea sniffled, wishing for a handkerchief to blow her nose; like a petulant child she settled for the sleeve of her dress. Wiping a rather inelegant line across her cheek, before she could get it all away. What a mess she was. "What do I do until I figure it out?" she asked. Her voice was a hoarse mess, only half there at all. Sounding as lost and lonely and foundering as a ship wrecked upon some foreign shore, unable to move at all. Neither back, nor forward. Stuck. At least he was there to achor her down. It felt as though Sunjata had been the only fixed point in her life. Well... aside from maybe Ludo. But the ragged Herald was not here, was not the one who held her and told her everything would be alright. That was all warm Flood hands and ocean eyes. Her head leaned in, until her forhead could rest against his. Eyes closed, his breath like mist on her face.

hide your secrets, disguise your weakness

and lose yourself inside your busy head

He lets her go at last, hands braced along each side of her along the ruined bar top. His gaze follows along the trails of her tears, as she tries to clean herself up. But he doesn’t care about that so much in the end. He doesn’t know how to respond to her initially, instead he closes his eyes when she presses her forehead against his. Remaining there for a few long minutes in her space and close enough to share breath, before he pulls away a fraction, seeking her gaze.

He leans back a small amount to grab the glass from earlier to give to her, before he grabs his own and offers her a gentle smile.

“Keep things as normal as you can, until it gets easier.” He pauses, head tilting a bit thoughtfully before he focuses on her again. “And don’t do the dumb shit I do.” His accented voice carries amusement within it, reaching to clink his glass against hers before taking a deep sip and savoring the burn once again, and then sets it off to the side of her to focus back on her again.

burn your bridges, and leave no witnesses

all alone inside your busy head

SuNJATA

M  A   E    A I talked to God to no avail Said, "If you won't save me, please don't waste my time." The girl considered that, as she took the glass and swirled the contents around the rim. Giving it a sip, she felt the strong flavors cleanse the taste of grief from her tongue, and understood for perhaps the first time how people might cling to the bottle for comfort. Not everyone had a Sunjata to cry on. Was he saving her again, by showing her the difference? It was becoming something of a habit. "What if being around you and your 'dumb shit' is the most fun I can think of?" she asked, not quite meeting his gaze after he set his own glass back down. Maea kept hers between her hands, rolling the cool glass between the palms. Savoring the feeling it brought. Savoring that she felt anything at all, when she'd been so numb just a while ago. Was it possible to grow addicted to people, too? Lately, the only times she ever felt whole and safe and sure of herself was when this man was around. Even now he was there, right in front of her, holding her close... and Maea knew that she'd feel hollow again as soon as he let go, or moved away. A hand moved to grab his shirt again, over his chest. Tugging a little, as if to make sure he couldn't just up and disappear.

hide your secrets, disguise your weakness

and lose yourself inside your busy head

He sets his glass down and her words reach him but her eyes don’t. And he searches her for a brief moment as if he can read what it is between the lines. He finds out he can’t, not really at least, and he focuses on the question she’d asked with a wry smile. “Then I think I’m being a bad influence.” He offers with a roll of his shoulders, a gentle smile sent her way.

Her hand reaches for his chest now, gripping onto the fabric and it tugs him a small amount closer to her, that very same smile settled along his face. “But, a bad influence that’s healed now. So I have that going for me.” He offers, leaning a bit closer toward her, reaching up to brush her hair from her face once more. Indeed, he seems brighter, lighter, head tilting lightly as he looks toward her.

burn your bridges, and leave no witnesses

all alone inside your busy head

SuNJATA

M  A   E    A I talked to God to no avail Said, "If you won't save me, please don't waste my time." She scoffed a bit at that, but couldn't quite deny it. Before he came along her path had been easy to see, challenging to walk but fairly straight forward all the same. Free of complications. Then he barged in like a colt in Leafchange, like the Flood he was named for, and suddenly all her ways were thrown into quesiton, every thought and action lit in a way that had her second guessing what she'd been doing with her life. The admission that Sunjata had been healed finally brought her gaze back to his face. To the bright eyes, the smiles, the easy breathing and smooth, untroubled voice that still didn't sound quite right in her ears. She hadn't bothered to ask before, but now? "Who..? What persuaded you?" He had been so stubborn about wanting the lung sickness to clear up on its own, as if using magic would somehow rob him of the experience. Yet here he was now. Whole and hale, ready to take on the world. A faint smile began tugging at her lips, and she leaned into the touch of his fingers on her face - she couldn't help herself when he looked at her like that.

hide your secrets, disguise your weakness

and lose yourself inside your busy head

“Wasn't so much convincing, really.” Broad shoulders rise and fan in a shrug. “I didn’t get a choice in it.” He explains, letting his fingers rest along her cheeks, gentle strokes that he focuses on before the steel of his eyes seeks the pale gaze of her own. “Safrin did it, when I spoke with her.” A quiet admission as though he’s telling her a secret.

He wonders if she’s healed the feeling of guilt from him as well about the things he’s done. But he doesn’t know, doesn’t want to ask, and so he instead focuses on the woman before him, leaning into his touch, a faint smile on her lips, a burden lifted momentarily from her shoulders. And he leans in, then, aiming to press a soft kiss to her nose, withdrawing a fraction to wink at her.

burn your bridges, and leave no witnesses

all alone inside your busy head

SuNJATA

M  A   E    A I talked to God to no avail Said, "If you won't save me, please don't waste my time." Ah, of course. Safrin. "Leave it to a goddess to achieve what no mortals were capable of. She went and turned the tide on you," she teased him gently, tugging again at the shirt she held between her fingers. Perhaps it should not have come as a surprise. Sunjata was one of her attuned, after all. One loved by the Lady of Starlight, Herald of Life. Why should she not ensure that they remained alive, and well too? There was an important lesson in there too, that she carefully tucked away for future use. Sometimes, the best option might be to not give this stubborn goat a choice at all. Just do it, and let him live with his frustrations afterwards. At least then, he would surely live? Relishing the tender warmth of his hand against her cheek, Maea let his fingers moved where they wished, in no mind to stop him. When he leaned in, she thought (not for the first time) that he would kiss her. But for the second time it was her nose that got pecked, and as he winked at her she wriggled it with a chuffing laugh, a little ticklish. Leaning in herself to bridge the distance he'd createtd, she pressed her own lips to his cheek, rather more lingering but no less soft. "I'm glad she did," the girl mumbled when she retreated. "Now I don't have to watch you suffer anymore, or worry that it will get worse."

hide your secrets, disguise your weakness

and lose yourself inside your busy head

The turn of phrase causes a snort to leave him, and he focuses on her a bit more intently as he strokes her cheek and leans in for the brief kiss to her nose. It’s a soft, playful motion, that causes him to wink as he pulls away a fraction, feeling her hands grip his shirt a bit more directly and allowing him the room to move closer. She leans in and presses a kiss to his stubbled cheek instead, which arises a light chuckle to leave his throat.

He faces her a bit more fully then, a light smirk to his lips. “I enjoyed my pity party, thank you very much.” A matter of fact answer, but he doesn’t stop there. He leans in gently to her to finally close that distance, soft lips aiming to meet her own in a kiss just as soft and sweet as the river had seen. His hand still cups the side of her cheek, the other splayed beside her leg on the top of the bar as he gives into her.

burn your bridges, and leave no witnesses

all alone inside your busy head

SuNJATA

M  A   E    A I talked to God to no avail Said, "If you won't save me, please don't waste my time." "Oh, I know," she assured "but the rest of us - " but that was all she could say before he leaned in again, closing the distance. It was something they had been stepping around for a long time now. A tide swaying back and forth, pulling in, pushing away, never quite there. She had her issues to hold her back, he enough problems to drown in, and despite all the teasing and taunting and games, there had always been a question left unanswered, somewhere. But though Maea still didn't know the answer, she couldn't think of any more reasons to keep away. Didn't want to, now that there was no shame to cloud their skies. So she remained, wtih her face cradled by his hand, and felt the soft press of his lips against hers as Sunjata kissed her. Hovered, quite motionless... until a sigh of something like relief escaped her, and she leaned in to it. Responded, moth soft and inviting under his, like it was the only thing that made sense anymore.

hide your secrets, disguise your weakness

and lose yourself inside your busy head

He finds he doesn’t care about the rest of that sentence when their lips meet. A soft addition to a dance that’s been happening for awhile now. He pauses while she does, a breath away, waiting for her to decide if she wants it too as his hand cradles her cheek with gentle strokes along pale moonlit skin.

But then she gives in, too, an inviting kiss in return — one that he’s happy to follow through with. His hand lowers from her cheek to the back of her head where he curls his fingertips in, tilting her head back just enough to continue the kiss perhaps a small amount deeper for a brief second, before pulling back a fraction to search her gaze. “Everything will be okay, Maea.” A whisper only for her ears, breath raking across her face and puffy lips, alight with truth.

burn your bridges, and leave no witnesses

all alone inside your busy head

SuNJATA

M  A   E    A I talked to God to no avail Said, "If you won't save me, please don't waste my time." Sweet bliss. A moment of perfect calm, where everything that mattered shrunk away to the simple connection of mouth on mouth, hand on skin, and a mingle of breath. Was this happiness? Was it the stillness after the storm? Well, no. It was just Sunjata. And it was everything, and it was enough. He pulled her into a deeper kiss and she melted into him, savoring every racing heartbeat until he pulled away, just enough to look at her. Search her gaze. What he found there? It looked a lot like love. "I'll trust you on that," she breathed back. Offering him again something they'd thought damaged. Broken. Perhaps beyond repair. But Maea was ever the believer in second chances. So she leaned in to kiss him again.

hide your secrets, disguise your weakness

and lose yourself inside your busy head

He searches her gaze, hears her breathy response, and smirks lightly to it. “I’m afraid I’m not too trustworthy of—” A person. He wants to say before her lips are on him again, pulling him ever closer and melts against him. His hand leaves the back of her head to cup her neck, thumb stroking gently along the soft skin of her jaw.

And he pushes the kiss a small amount deeper, nipping lightly at her bottom lip with some hint of playfulness, swiping his tongue along the seam, waiting to see what she wants to do.

burn your bridges, and leave no witnesses

all alone inside your busy head

SuNJATA