turning into something caustic

It would be a lie to say that the reminder of Safrin was in any way pleasurable to Ronin, but he could not deny his daughter her delight, so he kept his eyes forward as she waved to the lighthouse and the cloud continued to speed along. With Sunjata and Haai taking the lead, it didn't seem a long journey until the jumble of houses came into view, and Ronin directed the nimbus down towards the ground. Scooping Seren into his arms as he landed (to keep her from standing in the mud, and also to make sure she stayed warm), he moved up beside Sunjata and nodded at the house he indicated. A smaller structure stood to the left of Jata's place, in need of a bit of care, but looking fairly solid otherwise. "Then that one is mine. Ours, I should say. Shall we go inside and get dry?" he asked Seren with a smile. RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

Seren

I am magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment
Destined to seek, destined to know

The trip was dizzying, impossibly fun, and Seren could have kept flying forever. But she was distracted enough by the appearance of the buildings and the tangled snarl of wild grown gardens to not complain when the cloud was dismissed. It did help that Father kept holding her, his touch had a rather soothing effect on the starchild.

Seren regarded the house Sunjata claimed as his, and then turned her focus to the one Ronin seemed most keen on. The stone building was smaller and unassuming, but the same purple flowers grew along the walls here as on the other houses.

"The flowers are pretty," she said, pointing to the wisteria. "Can we keep them?" Seren itched to explore the miniature jungle surrounding the houses.

But she nodded when the offer for dryness was put forth, and looked between the buildings. "In which one?" It didn't feel entirely obvious whether they would visit Sunjata now, or go straight into the new house.

I am a princess on the way to my throne
Destined to reign, destined to roam

SUNJATA

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

Honestly, all Sunjata had really done with the surrounding houses were to make sure they were stable enough. Everything else though had taken a backseat while he focused on his own in between healing the broken hand and the multitude of wounds that had appeared. When it came to the note of Maea and the like, Sunjata hadn’t really felt the need to rush fixing the rest of the houses either. So he offers a nod to Ronin when he claims one.

Seren’s question, however, is met with a pause as Sunjata begins to step toward his home. “The others aren’t really… Prepared yet. But I have extra rooms.” The tone of his voice would suggest it seemed likely they wouldn’t be filled for awhile. So he heads there with Haai on his heels, opening the door for them to enter, slipping in to begin to dry off. Haai immediately makes her way to the fireplace, igniting a flame within the hearth before Sunjata begins to pick up quite a variety of things that made this house not childproof.

Daggers, knives, his bow and arrow set from Deimos. “Towels are in here.” He offers, heading toward the kitchen to place the items in a higher location before grabbing a few towels for them all.

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

It made sense that the other houses were still in a state of disrepair, but Ronin vowed to have at least a couple of rooms made liveable before the end of the day. He didn't want to be any more of an inconvenience to Sunjata. Still, he nodded gratefully at the offer for them to go inside for now, carrying Seren with him as they walked up to the house. The wisteria caught his eye at the girl's question, and he nodded to her. "I don't see why not. Maybe we can grow other flowers too, would you like that?" he asked, stepping through the doorway and following Haai across the room so he could put Seren down by the warmth of the hearth. He couldn't help but smirk at the sight of Sunjata removing all of the non-child friendly items, following the other man to the kitchen area to get the towels. He mouthed a thank you as he accepted them, moving back to the fire to playfully drop a towel over Seren's head. "Now you're a ghost," he said helpfully, before sitting down beside her to help dry her off. RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

Seren

I am magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment
Destined to seek, destined to know

"Yeah! I love flowers," she immediately agreed, enthusiastic at the suggestion of planting more flowers. She was happy with the ease at which her request had been granted, and reached her little face up into the fragrant purple flowers as they made their way onto the porch, to breathe in the scent of them. Her face came away full of pollen, but it didn't bother her in the slightest.

Gazing about with bright interest in this new place, she actually stayed in place when Ronin set her down this time. There was the crackling fire to appreciate, walls to study and a great deal other things to gaze at... until, that was, a piece of night fell over her head.

"Boo!" she told her father, immediately playing the part he so graciously handed her, and made little grabbing motions with her hands towards where she thought he ought to be. Then she giggled, and as he began to dry her, she caught a corner of the towel to return the favor. She was perhaps not quite as gentle as she tried to rub it against his cheek... but she tried to be.

I am a princess on the way to my throne
Destined to reign, destined to roam

SUNJATA

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

He catches Ronin’s thank you, quiet and mouthed and only offers a quiet subdued nod in response as he hands the towels off. He grabs one for himself, drying off his hair and neck – clothes a lost cause until he changes. So for now, he simply dries off the best he can, listening to them in the other room. Subconsciously wondering what it might have been like to grow up with a father like Ronin – someone who actually seemed to care rather than create a weapon out of them.

At least, as much as he knew about the hunter, it was that he was quite the opposite of his own father.

Sunjata grabs a few glasses, filling them with water (regardless of how much he wanted to fill his with more alcohol) before slipping toward the two in the living room drying off beside the fire. He offers the glasses to the table beside Ronin and Seren before he moves toward the fireplace to rest an arm against the hearth, letting it dry off his shirt a small amount. “I don’t have much for entertaining…” Children. “But Haai enjoys games and she can be quite insistent.” He offers, lip curling in a small fond smile to that before it fades, urging the griffin to go and inspect Ronin and Seren with a wagging tail and a smoke tinged scent along her maw as she sniffs the girl beneath the towel.

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

"Ah! You scared me!" Ronin grinned at the towel that came flapping at him, rubbing gently at Seren's hair and allowing her to try and dry him off in turn, offering a stubbled cheek her way. It didn't matter if she wasn't quite so gentle; Ronin was the sturdy sort. "There," he said as Sunjata approached, "Teamwork." Wrapping the towel around her shoulders instead, he ushered Seren forward so she might sit a little closer to the warmth of the fire. A good move, apparently, for Haai was soon tromping over and Ronin reached out to muss her fur affectionately. "She's more playful than Sugar, right now." He smirked at Sunjata. "Do you think you can warm up here and play with Haai, Seren? I just want to check out our house next door, so I can start cleaning it up for us." RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

Seren

I am magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment
Destined to seek, destined to know

Her laughter was bubbling and delighted. Father was really good at playing, and so was Haai; the dark, wet nose drew even more giggles from the girl. Wrapped up in the towel, her hair a tangle of damp curls, Seren reached for the griffin and buried her little hands in the dark fur. It was a little coarse but very warm, and without hesitation Seren hugged the big wolf around the neck, and tried to reach the fuzzy ears to touch one of them.

Looking up briefly when the others spoke, she blinked. Stay here? Alone? "What is Sugar?" she asked, stalling a bit. "I can clean too..." There was a slight reluctance to let Father go away without her. What if he disappeared, like Mother?

I am a princess on the way to my throne
Destined to reign, destined to roam

SUNJATA

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

He catches Ronin’s smirk as he stands beside the fireplace, a small quiet nod granted to that, a ghost of a smile crossing his face. “Anything new and she has to stick her nose into it.” Sunjata replies easily with a small shake of his head. Haai nuzzles into Seren, letting the girl poke and prod wherever she liked – wings extended to offer a bit more of a detailed inspection.

Glancing down to Seren and back to Ronin, he clenches his jaw lightly. “I can stay if you’d prefer that.” His house isn’t childproof, and honestly when it comes down to it Sunjata’s not sure what might have slipped between cushions or under the couch or table during long nights spent drinking and sharpening weapons. “It just needed to be dusted out last I saw, work on a new roof and to toss all the furniture out and get new ones.” A rise and fall of his shoulders to that with a shrug, leaning back against the wall.

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

"Sugar is a dragon," Ronin informed Seren with a smile. "She's only very small - a little smaller than Haai, I would say. But she can be very grumpy." He winked, already rising to his feet. Seren's worries and Sunjata's obvious discomfort was enough for him to reconsider, and the hunter smiled between them both. "Well, we will need to make a fire in our house and you'll need to sit and warm up for a bit before you can help. But then yes, you can clean too." He nodded at Jata, holding a hand out for Seren. "And we can let Sunjata here get on with his day then, can't we? We'll come by and visit him later maybe." Or get drunk later that night, as it would turn out to be in Ronin's case. RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

Seren

I am magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment
Destined to seek, destined to know

"A dragon!? Can I meet her, daddy, please?" There was a wild enthusiasm about the girl as he explained what Sugar was, that quite eclipsed even her delight in pirates.

Sunjata's offer to stay, and Ronin's assurance that she could indeed help to clean in a little bit, settled her worries. The girl nodded vigorous approval of this -especially the part about coming back to visit - and gave Haai another fierce little hug. And then went over to dole out another equally exuberant hug to Sunjata - what she could reach of him, anyway - before she recalled that she wasn't supposed to.

Well. Oops?

With a mischievous giggle the girl hurried back to Ronin and took his hand, trying to look contrite without quite managing to pull it off. "I like him!" she told her father in a theatrical whisper, that carried a bit better than the girl quite intended it.

I am a princess on the way to my throne
Destined to reign, destined to roam

SUNJATA

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

He listens as Ronin explains Sugar, something in him shriveling up with the idea of Coffee at the back of his mind, though he doesn’t give in. Instead, focusing on the rest of everything — the houses to rebuild and fix and everything else he has going on. Haai herself enjoys the cuddles, whining a small sound toward the girl, but when she approaches Sunjata and hugs him around the leg, well…

Honestly he just stares, gaze flickering to the girl and then to Ronin before nodding to the hunter. A small snort leaving him at Seren’s not so quiet whisper to her father that has Sunjata not entirely sure what he’s done to garner it, but not exactly questioning it either. “You know where to find me.” He tells Ronin easily, moving to gather towels and go about his day.

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

"Of course you can," Ronin told the girl with a smirk. "You can meet her once we have dried off and made the house a bit better for her, okay?" As she went and said her goodbyes Ronin had to stifle his smile, glancing up at Jata with an apology that would always be silent but hopefully always perceived as heartfelt, and he mussed Seren's damp curls when she came to take his hand. "Do you now?" he echoed as they walked from the house, the hunter casting a wave over his shoulder. "Maybe if we get enough done today, we can bring him something for dinner this evening, hm?" he was asking as they left, swallowed up by the rain and the grey day. There was a great deal to do, though, so they had better make a start on it now. ~FIN RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.