Take It With A Kiss {SE}

- NATE -

i was standing on holy ground,
so heart don't fail me now

With Sunjata healed, and with his own quest for a new eye well underway, it was finally time for that easy Flowerbirth, for a well fucking earned reprieve. On a night that felt like it had happened an eternity ago, the idea of hunting had come up, wrapped up in the idea of being fully shifted, and giving into it. At the time, it wasn’t something Nate had been able to do, wasn’t something he’d been able to see himself really doing, his specially not with how he struggled with the orca, but now?

Wasn’t like he had anything to lose, and there was a whole lot to be gained.

Of course, just coming to the decision didn’t mean there was any real plan. They’d gotten up late, waited until about sunset, judging as best as possible considering the cloud cover, and set off, wandering aimlessly along the tree line, hand in hand.

It wasn’t until they reached the Rainbow Road that Nate broke that connection, turning on a heel to stand in front of his fiancé, wide grin on his face. ”So,” a hand rose to wrap warmly around the attuned’s jaw, ”hunting? We get to start with some fun, at least.”

and even if the walls were falling down
it will always be us, this is holy ground

you know i'm gonna change, things just don't stay the same no more

This was the Flowerbirth he’d wanted. Waking up late, nothing on the agenda because he’d spent the last few days since Safrin healed him working to shore up the banks and reinforce some of the homes. Today is an easy day, one with the comfort of his fiancé, a hunt they’d promised what felt like forever ago. And so, wherever Nate leads him, he willingly goes, hand in hand, quiet conversation, and the slight drizzle of rain that comes and goes.

His steel gaze flickers toward Nate as the connection is broken, finding themselves among the foliage of a jungle not unlike where Sunjata’d been shot in the neck in his nyala form. He just hopes that a panther might be less assuming than a creature that looks like a fucking deer of all things. But Nate’s standing in front of him and he can’t resist the space where they’re not touching. His hands reach out, placed on Nate’s hips as the Ascended’s hand meets his jaw.

“You know I’m always game for fun.” He murmurs, a playful smirk crossing his face, fingers digging in a bit to the hollows of Nate’s hips. “And you need a refresher, right?” A playful tease, a wink shot toward his lover.

you know i'm gonna break your fading heart

SuNJATA

- NATE -

i was standing on holy ground,
so heart don't fail me now

It would be a lie to say Nate wasn't excited for this, wasn't excited at the mere prospect of this day. Though he'd taken parts of shifts before, he'd never really let go of himself, never given over to the natural instincts. This is going to be something new for him. A deep chuckle rumbled through Nate, his face splitting in a wide grin. "I do know that." He leans in, slowly, haltingly, the action almost a tease in itself before he settles in close, lips pressed in against the attuned's pulse, the hand on his jaw shifting to cradle his head. "And I do need a refresher."

There's no need to draw it out then, not if they both know what needs to happen. Nate's teeth sink into his fiance, yet another mark littering his skin, the number only growing the longer their easy season stretched. A low groan sounds through him, his arms both moving to wrap tighter around Sunjata, holding him close.

Every time they end up like this, there is a single moment where Nate thinks maybe, this is the time he doesn't let go. The time he doesn't pull back, no matter what the consequences may be. It isn't, not by a long shot, not as he pulls away after a shorter bite than he would normally take. Length doesn't stop the hard kiss pressed to the mark, or the ones that follow, pressed against Sunjata's jaw, his cheek.

and even if the walls were falling down
it will always be us, this is holy ground

you know i'm gonna change, things just don't stay the same no more

He leans in slowly, agonizingly so, that the muscles in Sunjata’s neck and along his back flex a small amount with anticipation. The smirk remains, amusement all too clear in how he stands, how he focuses on their closeness and his hands at Nate’s hips, fingers digging in ever so slightly. There’s a sigh that slips from him as Nate’s lips are pressed to his neck, his head inching up slightly to give his fiancé more room. “Then what’re you waiting for?” Comes the breathless statement, planting his feet and shutting his eyes the moment fangs slip into his neck.

It’s a rush of a sensation, as it always is, but something about it this time seems to pull at all the emotions and thoughts swirling within him, igniting and burning and pulling Nate closer even as the Ascended pulls away after taking just enough for a shift, that Sunjata can’t help but to shudder when he does. There’s a roughness to his voice, a hoarse growl that slips from him as he’s aiming a long kiss to Nate’s lips to break his fiancé away from the kisses to his jaw and his cheek, to claim one of his own, breaking only to question whether they want to finish this now in the jungle, or in the comfort of their home.

“Now? Or later?” He presses a kiss to Nate’s neck, then, pulling away and trying to swallow down against the flush to his skin, the warmth in his gut, the tightness to his pants.

you know i'm gonna break your fading heart

SuNJATA

- NATE -

i was standing on holy ground,
so heart don't fail me now

With the number of times they've done this, the number of places they've done this, there's a rhythm Nate expects, even unconsciously. It's why his hands are already ready to move up, to cup either side of Sunjata's face as they kiss, holding the attuned close and tight until he isn't, until they part, and Nate pulls away with an entirely unnecessary sigh, the sound doing little to express the heat coiling in his chest, the want making his fingers twitch.

"Fuck, I love you." Another time said, another moment where it doesn't feel like nearly enough. Hands shift to run along Sunjata's shoulders, to slip down his sides and pull his hips in tight, pressing them together. "Later." The word purrs out of Nate, completely at odds with his actions, his head tilting to offer more room to the attuned. "Can't have you all tired, right?"

With that, he finally, reluctantly steps back, shifting as he does, the action surprisingly smooth, despite his relative inexperience with the shape, with the trick of it in general. A single expectant eye stares up at Sunjata, the bright blue hue of it unchanged. There's no need to put anything into the bond, no need for words when the look is so clear. 'What are you waiting for?'

and even if the walls were falling down
it will always be us, this is holy ground

nobody really cared, so it never really mattered. it never really mattered, so it never really happened
what's the point in fightin' for a happy ever after? the past keep's hauntin' the future i imagine

There’s mixed signals in the way that Sunjata questions the plan and Nate confirms with a later despite still pulling him in close. And Sunjata follows through, hands roaming and the kiss devouring until it simply… Isn’t. The purr for later cooling him slightly, the follow-up question causing a smirk to cross along his face. “Mm, not for a hunt, no.” He purrs back, smirk shifting to something more feline and wicked.

But then they’re apart, and Sunjata has a moment to recover, even if a very feline hiss slips from his lips. He watches Nate shift, watches the way man becomes a form that Sunjata knows like nothing else. So he gives into it too, shifting until skin becomes fur, fingers become claws that Nate’s far familiar with. And then… Then they’re there – and Sunjata, for the life of him might not be able to say what he wants to say, but he can certainly show it.

The ‘what are you waiting for’ hits him immediately in the look given, and he pads a bit closer toward Nate – large head headbutting Nate’s own in a feline nuzzle of sorts. First… I want to show you something. He sends down, voice far more thickly accented within the attuned bond, and there’s a tentative pulse at first, a test, of sheer brilliant happiness that sparks through the bond.

And once he knows that one’s sent, Sunjata can’t help but to let the rest of it out, keeping his body near Nate’s, filling the Attuned bond with the happiness first, followed up by sheer, unquestionable love and admiration, adoration, warmth, delight. A feeling that Nate would know deep down that Sunjata would do anything for him. A love so intense to be unable to put into words no matter how many times they say it, shown here in the pulse of exhilarating emotions that burn and intoxicate him every time. I love you too. He manages to slip in between the feelings, slowly beginning to dampen them down as to not overwhelm his fiance.

SUNJATA

NATE

A purr rumbles through Nate's chest, deeply appreciative of the grace that lurks behind each move his fiancé makes, no matter the shape he's in. The feeling leeches out as he presses into Sunjata's head, if only because he doesn't know how to hide it, doesn't know he has to.

It is a misconception that is corrected almost immediately, Nate leaning in to shift just a touch closer the tilt of his head felt, even if it can't be seen from this angle. He's trying to lean into the shift, the instincts of how to move. Trying to follow the advice he'd received last time, far more willing to roll with the experience this time. The happiness hits him like a wave, echoes back all wrapped up in surprise, this part somehow forgotten - or maybe they'd simply grown closer, more trusting of each other, in the time since.

Just the happiness had been more than Nate could really grasp, had been enough to fill him full, but what follows gives the Flood an entirely new meaning. If he were still in his own body, he would cry. All he can manage though, is raising a large paw to Sunjata's shoulder; trying to pull him close, trying to slink in closer, trying to find some way to drown in this feeling. Trying to find a way to send it back, though he's not half as put together, not nearly as clear.

And then, he's just stuck, locked in place until the downpour becomes a drizzle, and even when it does, he needs a moment to pull all the parts of himself together again. Maybe... maybe now. Through the bond it's clearly a joke, ha ha, unless?, because of course that's the first part of Nate to recover, his mouth not needing the input of his mind to move.

Let’s admit, without apology,
what we do to each other

nobody really cared, so it never really mattered. it never really mattered, so it never really happened
what's the point in fightin' for a happy ever after? the past keep's hauntin' the future i imagine

All he needs is the happiness with surprise that’s echoed back to him, but Sunjata can’t just let his feelings end there. No, he sends the majority of them over. All the things he can’t find the words to say. All the feelings that Nate sparks within him, the answer to a question of just how much Nate means to him, how much having his attention and affection means to him. Despite Nate’s attempts to slip into the instincts of the form, Sunjata knows it would demolish the attempts with everything he lets loose.

That’s fine, they’ve got time.

There’s a large paw that matches his own, lifting and pawing at his shoulder – and Sunjata slips into it – large head burrowing within Nate’s chest and neck, head nuzzling in close as a low hum of a purr tears from his throat. He doesn’t care how long it takes before Nate can recover, but Sunjata basks in the sensations that echo back. He lets it wash over him, even if it’s not as put together, not as clear, Sunjata can see it, and it’s far more than enough. When he says he’s not going anywhere, he hopes the sharing of his emotions regarding Nate in this moment squash any doubts.

The joke is met with a hum of a soft laugh from Sunjata’s end of the bond, his head pulling back a small amount, ears perked forward as his steel gaze – the same hue in this form – focus on Nate’s face. His rough tongue slips out, brushing along Nate’s cheek as he moves to fully stand. You think you’re ready? He replies, because Sunjata’s not quite ready yet, but willing to pretend for the sake of feigned confidence, something Nate would acutely feel as well. His heart still thunders in his chest, but he attempts to recover the best he can in the moments that span after, still close, still near.

His boxy head slips back toward Nate’s shoulder, pressing his forehead against it to push his fiancé a bit, before he’s slipping away – stretching out, body arcing and tail swaying along the sandy ground, claws digging into the dirt as his paws flex. And then he’s standing, looking over his shoulder toward Nate, all amusement and love glimmering within the bond, unwilling to turn it off but to leave it a simmer in the back of his mind. So like before, try to give into the instincts. He murmurs, voice almost a whisper through the bond as Sunjata sinks low to the ground, his hunting instincts kicking in as he goes to follow a scent on the wind, wondering if Nate can smell it too.

SUNJATA

NATE

Did he think he was ready? Fuck no. Not at all. God, it was one thing to try to understand the depth of emotions within just himself sometimes, to struggle to find words for it, but to feel that same bottomless well in Sunjata is indescribable. If anything though, it makes that blind confidence easier to follow, Nate too overwhelmed by whats shared to resist leaning into the tongue that swipes across his face. As I'll ever be. Comes the purr, mental and literal, rumbling through Nate's chest as he rises as well, trying to keep close.

There is a still a buzz of warm, love-struck awe radiating from Nate, even as he's pushed back, keeping still for only a moment before he's following at his fiance's heels again, dragged along by the similar warm thread emanating from Sunjata. For whatever reason, giving in to the panthers instincts is easier at the moment, the stubborn insistence of control momentarily disarmed. He sinks down as well, creeping along the jungle ground as if he were born in it, save for the very obvious rumbling purr leaving him, deep and low.

With the initial emotional overload passed, Nate was vulnerable to the next one. He could smell. Still dull, but less faint than anything he'd experienced since he'd ascended. Why is this the first time we've done this? There's an exuberance in his tone not echoed by his motions, still careful and quiet, though leaning inexorably in the direction of a scent he doesn't recognize, but that seems to call to him.

Let’s admit, without apology,
what we do to each other

nobody really cared, so it never really mattered. it never really mattered, so it never really happened
what's the point in fightin' for a happy ever after? the past keep's hauntin' the future i imagine

The purr is loud, reverberating in both Sunjata’s mind and heart and soul, and he leans into the sensation – keeping that tether between them, one of a shining glimmering love that shines the darkness of failed words, of being unable to get words to simply work. He’s glad of it, though, that he’s been able to show Nate this way rather than stumbling through the words, and if he could simply do this forever then he absolutely would.

The love-struck awe that hits Sunjata gets put in the memory bank, one to reflect on time and time again, enough that it grows distracting as he lets it wash over him, basking despite the way he leans into his instincts – man becoming far more panther than he’d ever shown Nate before. They become the hunters, Sunjata catching a trail of Ramphires. Because you didn’t want to be a whale. The attuned replies swiftly, head tilting over his dark spotted shoulder to flash a feline grin at Nate, before looking ahead to the line he can almost taste in his pursuit.

I’ll let you have dibs on first pick. He purrs back, quieting his own purring as he sinks lower to the ground, coming up through the jungle trees and vines, ears perked forward to listen as soon as the sight of their colorful plumes as they graze, tearing greenery from the trunk and roots of a tree. Perfect. He sinks low enough to not cause alarm to the creatures, but still enough his steel gaze can find them easily – pulsing down the attuned bond to reach for Nate in both need and unity, to see what he picks.

SUNJATA

NATE

The reply, the toothy grin aimed back at him, both have Nate casting his mind back, trying to summon the feeling of being the whale. It had been something, to say the least, but not something like this, not nearly comparable. Perhaps the water was simply too foreign to truly enjoy. This is better than the whale. Nate's answer comes nearly as quickly, his shoulder dipping to bump against Sunjata, a knowing tease.

A pink tongue slips out from between his teeth as Nate works to quiet his own purring, following the trail of the ramphires almost as easily as the other man, a tugging trail of scent pulling at him, his instincts as easily as a physical touch. The creature come into to view sooner than he expects, and eh follow the lead of the true attuned, sinking down and looking over the herd with a newly critical eye, trying to lean into the senses of his shape.

Ready? The question comes a moment before Nate darts forwards, tail swishing as he leaps through the underbrush, claws outstretched to reach for a ramphire that has wandered just a step too far from the rest, close enough to them to be easy pickings.

Let’s admit, without apology,
what we do to each other

nobody really cared, so it never really mattered. it never really mattered, so it never really happened
what's the point in fightin' for a happy ever after? the past keep's hauntin' the future i imagine

This is. Comes the mental purr, the easy agreement as Nate’s shoulder brushes by his own – the feeling of a grin shot immediately through the bond toward Nate before they’re trailing after their chosen prey. He’s sure that they’ve managed to make it without alerting any of the Ramphires, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be able to catch one. If anything, Sunjata recalls the hunt with Deimos and his failed attempt at snagging a deer, of how Deimos had to go and clean it up when he’d made Sunjata depart.

The ready from Nate has Sunjata’s haunches already coiling, ready to spring – a hint of surprise slipping from him in his emotions as Nate darts off and Sunjata’s left scrambling to try and catch up. The surprise costs him, however, as the Ramphires begin to chirp and croon the danger as one panther shoots out at the one that’s strayed – the paw from Nate enough to gouge the side of the creature, freeing both feathers and blood.

Sunjata’s left faltering, however, watching as he goes to catch up, tripping himself up on the roots he hadn’t paid attention to as he kept his steel gaze trained on Nate. He tumbles among the grasses and attempts to recover quickly, pulling himself up and shaking his head to free it of dirt as he aims to pick up speed again and to help take the creature down. Goeie werk, skatjie. He purrs, pride blossoming through Sunjata and flooding the bond again, trying to cover up the embarrassment of his trip.

SUNJATA

NATE

A surge of adrenaline overtakes Nate as he pounces, the rush familiar, igniting the same place in his mind a bite did, without the accompanying surge of pleasure. Claws dig into feathers and flesh, and he scrabbles, reaching to tear away more, to incapacitate the animal completely. Excitement and inexperience both work against him, the ramphire slipping away from him, only to be barrelled over by Sunjata.

Nate hasn’t noticed the tumble, doesn’t understand the undercurrent of embarrassment under the words, but he doesn’t have nearly enough room in his head to actually think about it. Not when he was filled with such a rush of euphoria. The feeling leaks through the bond instead of words, Nate rising from where he’s skidded to the ground to press against Sunjata.

Big paws rise up against his fiancés shoulders, Nate trying to push him over and flop on top of him all in one motion. It might not be the most appropriate, over the fresh Caracas of their prey, but Nate couldn’t help himself, couldn’t help his need for closeness.

Let’s admit, without apology,
what we do to each other

nobody really cared, so it never really mattered. it never really mattered, so it never really happened
what's the point in fightin' for a happy ever after? the past keep's hauntin' the future i imagine

The ramphire falls while Sunjata attempts to recover – the rest of the flock departing swiftly now that one of them is downed. And in the end, all they’d needed was just the one, one to carve up and separate to prep for Fiat Lux, wherever it'll be held this year. Their work was done, for the most part, the hunt over and that is at least relieving enough of itself.

But then Sunjata’s stumbling again, a tangle of paws, claws, legs and bodies – Nate’s leaking euphoria through the bond floods his end and Sunjata’s almost left breathless with it, with the wonder of the sensation it sparks, as if it really were something so intense to feel. But then he’s being pushed back down, large paws on his shoulders, and Sunjata flops to the ground, ears perked forward as Nate settles on top of him, a breathy hum of a chuckle is sent down the bond – the briefest softening of his steel gaze as he looks up at Nate.

The attuned doesn’t mind, not when the creature’s already downed, not when they don’t have anything else other than dragging the creature back home to pick apart for later. For now? Now he can simply bask in the fact of his fiancé wearing his shift. Sunjata surges up a small amount, head butting into Nate’s in a soft nuzzle, another purr erupting from his throat, shooting another pang of the brilliant happiness that flickers through Sunjata to the other panther. He makes no move to pull away from the situation they’re in, content to sit there and watch, waiting to see what Nate chooses to do now. How was that? He purrs down the bond. Was it something Nate and he should do more often? He certainly knows he'd like to share his emotions this way more often.

SUNJATA