In the Lights You Make

- NATE -

We'll get married or buried
We'll have a baby or kill someone

It had been days since the volcano, since the dizzying stand off at the edge of an emotional cliff, and Nate had finally started to feel settled. Though, perhaps that's not quite right, settled implying things were back to how they were before, but he's stepping back into himself quite nicely, making a space for himself in Sunjata's home, a space for himself with the other man.

The aforementioned homeowner had gone for the evening, some kind of official business that Nate couldn't really be bothered asking about, and normally, when he was left alone, he'd go wandering, along the beach, or into the ocean, where ever he wanted really. The only limit he had was the sun. And maybe that was what he was waiting for, as he sat on the porch, feet up on the railing, Haai's head on his lap and his hand on her head. Maybe he was waiting for the last few rays to disappear, to grant him the freedom of exploration.

Or maybe, he was just content to sit, in a half doze, and wait for Sunjata to come back.

Well, I can't decide what to try
Commitment or a gun

Seren

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

It was almost her bedtime. Almost, but not quite yet. The sun was still up, and the garden was still permitted as playground, and even though it was covered in ash, Seren had a grand time of rescuing flowers and plants from the smothering blanket.

She was not, strictly speaking, supposed to leave her side of the garden. There was some kind of border between the houses, but it was not that easy to see where it went. Frankly, she was too curious about the person sitting on the porch of the other building to pay much attention to it.

It almost looked like Sunjata, but also not. With all the stealth her five year old self could manage, she crept through the wild tangle of a garden, oblivious to the way the shrubs and vines rustled and shook from her passing.

Nor could she quite stifle the excited giggles at this most excellent prank.

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

- NATE -

We'll get married or buried
We'll have a baby or kill someone

Nate was only barely paying attention to what was happening around him, lulled by the sound of the ocean and the soft rustling of the vegetation that surrounded the house. Then, the more insistent rustling of that vegetation. A single eye cracked open, his head tilting as he actually starts to pay attention and hears... giggles?

Well. That's different. Haai is still calm, though her ears have swivelled around to follow the sound, so Nate can't be too concerned about it. Not really. But the giggles and rustles creep closer, and closer, and try as he might to ignore it, he can't. When they're almost upon he sits up, feet coming down onto the porch with a soft thump and displacing the griffin's head, who gives him an annoyed huff.

Theres a smirk on his face, a savage 'Gotcha!' before his eyes land on a child, no more than five or six, and he immediately pulls his grin into something softer, lets his shoulders slump into a more friendly shape. "Hey there." He says, voice light. "Should you be sneaking around here?"

Well, I can't decide what to try
Commitment or a gun

Seren

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

She almost made it. But just as she was about to spring out of the bushes and pounce on her unsuspecting victim, he moved. And the girl found herself staring up into eyes as electrically blue as her own, framed by hair just as dark as her own tumbling curls. The smile he gave her was sharp, and for a moment she grew utterly still in shock at this unexpected counter attack... Then she smiled back at him, wide and warm and delighted.

She giggled again, the kind of mischievous laughter that suggested that no, she shouldn't be, but she was anyway and that was half the fun.

"Hello! I live there," she said, pointing with a small, dirt-coated hand to the smaller house next door. "Is Sunjata home? Are you friends with him? Can I play with Haai?"

She made a cooing sound at the griffin, waving for her to come over. There was a 'thunk thunk' of tail against the porch, but either the wolf-bird didn't care to move, or she too waited for permission.

They clearly knew each other.

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

- NATE -

We'll get married or buried
We'll have a baby or kill someone

"You live there, huh?" Nate threw his thumb over his shoulder, in the same direction as she pointed, then made a show of thinking about it, nodding after a moment. "Well, when I was little, my mom always said I could go anywhere that I could still see home from, until it got dark. And," He makes a show of looking around now, before focusing back on her, shrugging as if to say they were cutting it close, but he'd let it slide.

His hand had found it's way back to Haai's ears, a belated apology for uprooting her so suddenly, but as her tail thumped, Nate lifted it, freeing the griffin to approach the girl as she wanted, fast and gentle and excited.

"I am Sunjata's friend, but he's not home no. So I'm waiting for him to get back." Nate crouches down, so he's on her level, and looks her over, trying to figure out who's kid this was. He knew who owned the house she pointed at, but he'd thought... well, it didn't matter, not with proof to the contrary apparently staring him in the face. "Are you Sunjata's friend too?" He asks, head tilting in his curiosity.

Well, I can't decide what to try
Commitment or a gun

Seren

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

Permission thus granted to stay and play for a while, Seren came scrabbling up onto the porch, and laughed happily as she was met with the cold touch of Haai's nose to a round little cheek. There was a tumble of girl and griffin as they wrestled, and it ended with Haai outstretched on the ground with the girl curled up by the fluffy belly, sprawled out half on top of her friend, with slobbered down hands and face rubbing dutifully at the wolf-bird. Ah, perfection.

Seren's eyes were very blue as she looked up at Nate, like stray pieces of sky and ocean. "Okay," she sighed, more than a little disappointed that Sunjata wasn't home. "Yeah, I am his best friend, and he is my best friend!" It was a declaration, perhaps with a bit of a challenge in there as she stared the big man down.

"Are you going to live here too? You can be my friend too if you want." It was a generous offer, she felt. Magnanimous and delivered with all the grace she could manage from this sprawling heap of legs and tail on the floor.

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

- NATE -

We'll get married or buried
We'll have a baby or kill someone

Nate stayed crouched, a hand coming up to rub at his chin as he watched the girl and griffin interact, clearly familiar. It set him a little more at ease, help him to keep his voice light. ”Best friend, huh?” He laughed, amused by the challenge in her tone, but not rising to it.

His eyes went appropriately wide when she extended the same offer to him though. ”I am going to be living here." Came the first answer. "And I would love to be your friend.” So saying, he offered out a hand, not caring about the stickiness, or the slobber from Haai. ”I’m Nathaniel. You can call me Nate though, since we’re friends.”

Well, I can't decide what to try
Commitment or a gun

Seren

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

She beamed at him, properly appeased when he didn't challenge her childish claims on their mutual acquaintance. It was good to know that Sunjata wasn't forgetting about her, even when she wasn't around.

The girl took his offered hand with a grave expression, her whole paw disappearing within his grasp. "It is very nice to meet you," she said, with a stilted, well rehearsed politeness. "I am Seren! My daddy is Ronin and mama is Safrin!" Because the question of her parentage was inevitable, and Seren wanted to help out, get it over with. Save people the need to ask.

"Do you have a companion too? Like Haai?" she asked, looking around as if expecting it to have hidden.

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

- NATE -

We'll get married or buried
We'll have a baby or kill someone

Nate grinned when his offer was accepted, and shook her hand with a single exaggerated motion. ”It’s very nice to meet you too, Seren. You have very nice manners, you know.” He mimics her stiff politeness, the praise coming as he released her hand.

Surprise spread across his face at her declaration, the words causing more questions than answers to spring up. ”Safrin, like...?” A finger is pointed up towards the sky, Nate’s brow cocked in quiet confusion.

Haai trotted over, seemingly jealous of the attention moving away from her and insisting on more of it. Nate lifted a hand to scratch behind her ears, and shook his head in response to Seren’s question. ”I don’t have a companion no. Never... really thought about it actually.” He hummed. ”But I’ve got Haai here to keep me company, don’t I?”

Well, I can't decide what to try
Commitment or a gun

Seren

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

Her responding grin was more mischievous than polite, a far better indication of her real nature than the stilted formality. When he pointed to the sky for clarification about Mother, the girl nodded vigorously. "Yes! I was with Mama in the stars and then we came here to meet daddy and now I live with him," she explained helpfully. With the patient air of someone explaining that blue and yellow mixed into green.

She looked a little disappointed to hear of his lack of animal sidekick. But of course, Seren didn't have one either. So she petted Haai too, and nodded. Not really minding having to share the griffin's attention. "I want a dragon, just like daddy," she confided. "But blue, like Sunjata's bird-parrot. Do you work with daddy and Remi and Sunjata? I want to help too but I am too small." Which was very annoying and made her pout a bit... but only for a moment.

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

- NATE -

We'll get married or buried
We'll have a baby or kill someone

Nate isn't quite sure what to make of what Seren tells him, about stars and Safrin and the oh so patient and certain tone in her voice as she tells it. Though, he supposed stranger things could happen, especially in a place like Caido, and finally settled on simply nodding, his outstretched finger coming back down to earth. "That must be very exciting for you."

The disappointment in his lack of an animal companion was shared by Nate, his mouth twisting into an exaggerated frown for a moment. Only a moment, before he was focused on her again, grinning conspiratorially while she spoke. "A blue dragon, huh? That sounds pretty neat." The subject shifted again, and Nate moved with it in stride, wanting to keep the child before him in a good mood. "I don't really work with them. I'm a doctor. But, I help out if they need it. Me and Remi and Sunjata actually helped people after the volcano happened."

Well, I can't decide what to try
Commitment or a gun

Seren

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

Seren nodded, it was exciting. Lots of new things to see and do and experience her days were full, and the world was beautiful. "Yes! But I miss Mama," she admitted, looking a little forlorn. It usually came to her just before sleeping, when the light faded and the stars came out. That pang of longing, of wanting to see Safrin's radiant beauty and nestle into her loving embrace. Where everything was safe and perfect.

But in the meantime, she dreamed of dragons and pirates, and grinned happily when Nate approved of her companion preferences. "What kind of friend would you want? What is a doctor? Oooh, I did not know... then you are a hero too! They said so at the port, I heard them."

The brilliant blue gaze filled with admiration, unveiled and awed as she looked him over again. The dark and blue eyes made him look similar to both Father and Sunjata, and to herself as well. Seren felt a touch of kinship about it, like they were somehow connected by it.

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

- NATE -

We'll get married or buried
We'll have a baby or kill someone

"Well that's okay. You miss anyone you're far away from, right?" Nate wasn't actually sure what he'd do if Seren grew upset properly, didn't have much experience with little kids, just a handful of common sense and the idea that he shouldn't act how the adults around him had. It seemed easier to just talk around the subject, bring up more of the good. "You get to be with your dad now, right? And everyone else around here." He gestured loosely towards Sunjata's house, then the town further along the coast, lights glittering in its shape, almost looking like the stars above.

A hand came to rub at Nate's chin as he thought about his companion choice. "I used to have dogs, where I lived before. I wouldn't mind getting a dog again. Or maybe something like Haai here." As he mentioned the griffin, he offered a particularly nice scratch around her ears, sending her head lolling back. There were other questions to answer though, easier than the companion one. "A doctor is someone who helps people when they're sick or hurt. I have a clinic in town, and I help anyone who comes in."

Talk of hero's though, seemed to hit Nate a little different, his expression growing a little embarrassed under her admiration. "I don't like to be called a hero. I just wanted to help people, and to keep them safe."

Well, I can't decide what to try
Commitment or a gun

Seren

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

That was true, there were a lot of people around that made her happy. They were not Mother, of course, but they helped make everything feel better. Her expression lightened and she nodded, seeming to put the sadness behind for now.

"Dogs are nice," she agreed, approving of the choice. "Haai is even better, she plays with me all the time." Unlike the stray dogs that sometimes roamed the streets of Haulani; she was not allowed to pet those.

"Is a doctor and a healer the same?" she wondered, squatting beside said griffin to pet her fluffy belly. "Loren made my knee stop bleeding, can you do that too?"

His attempt to diminish her admiration didn't really hit home however. "Helping people is what heroes do," Seren informed him, with a brilliant little smile. "If you are not a hero, are you a pirate, like Sunjata?" That would be okay too, but perhaps not as interesting. She already knew two pirates, that seemed enough.

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