please allow me to introduce myself

JACK

The changing of seasons meant little to Torchline other than the potential for storms, and Leafchange was, if anything, more pleasant than the relentless heat that preceded it. So it wasn't surprising that those who worked the docks and were in the sun all day didn't care much for layers of clothing. However, one such street urchin standing before an impressive galleon, barefoot and with his faded linen shirt open, was not like to be trifled with.

Taking a drag from his cigarette, Jack appraised the Ark over the rim of his sunglasses, watched the men working at jobs that had been completed a long, long (long, long) time ago. Usually the captain would have set sail at the tail end of Longheat, and would be just about ready to return at this point. But things in Torchline had been turbulent at best, and that was before the volcano had erupted.

So the Ark sat pretty, and now there was no point setting off and earning fucking good money trading until Flowerbirth. And yeah. Jack was pissed about that.

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

and if i were you,

There were at least a few things Sunjata needed to understand better. First off, this whole underground sector that had been eluded to. Second, well… Torchline itself. And seeing as Melita was planning on joining the Ark as a member, to sail off on some grand adventures once the boat returned to sea – well, Sunjata wasn’t able to simply just let it be. His curiosity knew no bounds. So he weaves himself through the crowds until they part and he can see the edge of the ship in his view.

The man appears to have a wide berth around him, the one that sits there and stares at it with smoke trailing from it, and Sunjata makes a beeline toward him. “Is this yours?” He offers by way of greeting, nodding his head toward the ship with a raised brow and a somewhat amused smirk crossing his face. Introductions could come later – but he wanted to be sure he was talking to the right guy, after all.

i wouldn't love me neither

SUNJATA

JACK

Blue eyes flicked to Sunjata long before he came into view properly, luckily obscured by sunglasses to not look quite so obvious. Ah, the new Arbiter was it? Or should Jack call him the almost-Governor? Either way, hearing that there was a lawman in Torchline was guaranteed to put the captain in an even better fucking mood, and he took his time in taking another drag from his cigarette before replying.

"Depends on who's askin'," he told the other man, flicking ash to the ground. "And this is a she, thank you very much." He nodded at the Ark. "What do you want with her? And me, for that matter?"

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

and if i were you,

Silence is met with the drag of a cigarette, long and quite time taking – though Sunjata’s not one to judge. The smell of smoke clings to him just as much as it does everywhere else here in Torchline. Still, when Jack speaks, there’s a small smirk that crosses his face – steel gaze flickering toward the boat. The questions he’s met with, a bit uncertain to answer. Not wanting to say ‘the Arbiter’ and appear as though he’s trying to push around the weight of that when it literally didn’t matter, nor did he want that kind of insinuation.

So he turns his gaze back to Jack with a slightly wider smirk. “Curiosity, mostly. That and my niece will be heading out on her, if she’s the one I think she is.” A wink given to Jack, thinking of Melita and her fiery hair, her spirit burning and ready to go on this big adventure whenever it took off. Turning to Jack a bit more officially, he bobs his head slightly to greet him more formally. “I’m Sunjata.”

i wouldn't love me neither

SUNJATA

JACK

”Curiosity’ll lose you a few fingers an’ then some along these parts,” Jack rebutted, scoffing and finishing his cigarette, flicking the butt away. ”She’s the Ark. If that’s the one your niece is headed out on, then you’ve found her.” Who the fuck his niece was didn’t particularly matter to Jack. He’d recruited a couple of ladies over the past season, some drunk, some sober. Which one was related to the Arbiter was none of his business - though maybe it ought to be.

”I know who you are,” he said, peering at Sunjata over the rim of his glasses. ”You’re the guy who tries to run Torchline without checkin’ first about who runs Torchline. Call me Jack. I figured I’d be gettin’ a visit from you one of these days, Arbiter.”

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

and if i were you,

A huff of a laugh leaves him at Jack’s response of losing fingers, glad he still has them for how much he has a tendency to stick them into places. But a nod is granted at the name of the ship, a connection being made of Melita mentioning the Ark at some point. So this was her, then. Easy enough.

His gaze flickers to Jack with the introduction, however, shifting his weight a small amount as he regards the other man. “Ah but I have a pretty good idea who runs it.” A Cheshire smirk to that, not unlike his own Guild that spanned from the Grounds to Halo to here, now. “That’s actually more or less what I’m here for anyway. You got a more private space to talk, Jack?” Without prying eyes and ears, hungry for information he might not want to get out there.

i wouldn't love me neither

SUNJATA

JACK

"Then maybe you ought to have made yourself known to them before runnin' for Governor," Jack said with an equally as crooked smirk. "Still, you seem to have landed on your feet." Being Arbiter would do that, he assumed. Sunjata made mention of somewhere more private, though, and Jack thought he knew where this was going now. Nodding and getting up from his space on the wall, he beckoned for the other man to follow and headed straight up the gangplank and onto the ship.

There weren't many private places on the Ark usually, but they had been at port for so long that there wasn't much now to be done, and apart from the men who got out of his way, Jack and Sunjata could head to the stern of the ship and be relatively alone. "I'd offer you a seat, but a railin' will have to do," the captain said, leaning back against the side of the ship and nodding for Jata to go ahead and spit it out.

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

and if i were you,

“Something like that.” Sunjata agrees with a quiet chuckle. Really, he imagines he’d be doing the same old same regardless of whether he had a position in Torchline’s government or not. This just made it easier at the end of the day. Still, he follows easily as Jack leads the way, up onto the ship — something Sunjata hadn’t been on in many years but takes a moment to appreciate it all for what it was.

The Ark really was a beautiful ship.

His attention flits back to Jack, leaning against the offered railing. “Basically, from the Arbiter position, I don’t care about the whole operation you’re running. I’ll stick my nose out of it on official business unless I have to get involved, which something tells me I doubt it.” He rumbles, arms folding across his chest as he offers Jack another smirk. “But I do run a guild that has branches in Halo and the Grounds that I’m interested in seeing if we can work something out regarding what you do.”

i wouldn't love me neither

SUNJATA

JACK

She really was a beautiful ship, and with that single, ego-puffing thought, Sunjata went up a notch in Jack's estimation. As they leant together against the railings, with the sails furled securely overhead and the Torchline horizon sprawling against the sea behind them, he heard the Arbiter out. To hear that he was not going to get involved in Jack's business earned him yet another jump in respect, and the captain nodded to him.

"Given who our new Governor is, I'm glad to hear that," he said. He hadn't expected Remi to suddenly renege on the partnerships formed by the previous Governor, but you never knew.

Oh, but there was more. "Workin' with a guild?" He raised an eyebrow behind his sunglasses, a smirk curling across his lips. "Are you proposin' a deal, Arbiter?" he wanted to know. Suddenly this seemed very lucrative indeed.

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

and if i were you,

A dip of his head is given toward Jack, though the more he thinks on it the more Sunjata recalls Remi wanting to keep Torchline as it mostly was, just… Safer. Which he could agree with. The conversation of his guild, however, has a small smirk forming on the corners of his lips, shifting his weight a small amount as he focuses on Jack.

“I am proposing a deal.” He rumbles, turning to face Jack a bit more fully. “I have channels to those lands and already deal a great amount of moving cargo from the Grounds to Halo, could add in something here as well.” A raise of his brow to that. Already he’s making the headquarters here, what’s another trail to add to his entrepreneurship?

i wouldn't love me neither

SUNJATA

JACK

It was the mention of the other lands that drew him in, truthfully - while Jack had no intention of using these portals to wherever until they could fit his ship through them, he was very interested indeed in the places beyond Torchline. "I don't see why somethin' couldn't be arranged," he explained. "Where's your headquarters, Arbiter? And what'd you know about Rae's Fingers?" Not that there was much to know about them, currently. Fucking volcanos and all that.

"The Ark sails two seasons out of four - Flowerbirth and Leafchange, if I get my way. I didn't this year, given the state of Torchline. If we arrange somethin' for after Deepfrost, I'll be sure to keep you in mind." He nodded.

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

and if i were you,

At Jack’s interest, Sunjata offers a small Cheshire grin toward the other man. “The boxing ring in Haulani.” He explains, imagining it would make better sense than mentioning the Slagveld. After all, it was a unique name and hard to miss… But also hard to pronounce in certain instances. But the question of how much he knows about Rae’s Fingers, he leans back and folds his arms across his chest. “Went down there with Raza and a few others. There’s something alive down there, right now. But I do know what they’ve been used for previously.” He rumbles.

He’d visited with Nate beforehand, where Nate had found some device to remove Ascended bite wounds – and of course, they’d had to test it out.

But his attention focuses on Jack then, head tilting a bit at the information granted. “Sounds good to me, Jack.” He offers with an incline of his head, a smirk crossing his face. “Until then, you do your thing and I’ll do mine.” A wink given toward the other man as he pushes off the railing a bit and scans the boat once more just to take in the feeling of the waves beneath it, the thoughts it brings back.

i wouldn't love me neither

SUNJATA

JACK

The boxing ring? Jack nodded and made a mental note of that; it was always good to know what were legitimate places of business, what were fronts, and which were that curious combination of both. Huffing out a sigh as he explained about Rae's Fingers, the captain once again had to resign himself to the fact that his usual methods for ferrying his goods around was - at least temporarily - out of commission.

"Then I imagine I will be gettin' very clever indeed during Deepfrost," he muttered. "I'll throw a line your way, if I think there's anythin' you might need to know." Only polite, after all. Giving Sunjata a lazy salute, Jack pushed off the railing as well. "Just the way I like it," he said, heading down towards the gangplank before glancing over his shoulder. Sunjata's thoughts buzzed with nostalgia, and he scoffed.

"Stay a while, if you like the look of her," he offered. "She ain't goin' anywhere."

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

and if i were you,

The information is handed over easily, and Sunjata nods to Jack as he comments on becoming clever this Deepfrost. Not like it mattered much to Sunjata — he’d already agreed to let Jack’s work lie undisturbed so long as there wasn’t a reason to get involved. “If you can’t reach me at the boxing ring, I live beside the governor's house.” A nod of his head to that agreement as well before he focuses on the ship once more and Jack begins to depart.

And given the option to stay and relish in his nostalgia, just an added addition to this little business trip. So he can’t complain, instead, offering the other man a slightly amused grin but a nod nonetheless — he does exactly that. He stays a while, delving into his own nostalgia, before eventually it's time to go and he pulls himself away from it, making his way back through Haulani.

— fin <3

i wouldn't love me neither

SUNJATA