all the debts I owe

// and you took me down, and what a slow fall,  but what i needed to be right here
and for one, it seems that i've found, that all the answers were all so clear //

He’s still recovering from the sickness, or so he thinks. It is quite possible that the nagging headache in the back of his mind that grows stronger and stronger by the hour is a sign that it’s returning. But at least he has some sense still, his mind somewhat sane, and being back from the Climb and in the familiar warmth of home.

An attempt to stave it away has him drinking a fair amount of regular water, hoping it’s not a hydration problem, when he sends a note to Ronin to meet at the Slagveld and to hopefully bring a bit more spring water. He isn’t really in a place to spar or train, but he’d absolutely like to chat with his best friend after everything that had occurred post meeting and his visit with Remi.

And then he waits, hand at his temple to try and apply pressure to push the headache back again.

SUNJATA

we shall heal our wounds, collect our dead

The leftover water is a precious resource, but for Sunjata, Ronin can spare more than a few sips. He brings a small flask of the stuff with him as he heeds the note sent his way, walking to the Slagveld with purpose. It’s more than just meeting his friend that draws him there, more than spring water, even. After what had happened at the meeting with everyone, he feels like he owes Jata an apology. And he definitely doesn’t feel like they should be sparring today either.

”Hey,” he says as he ducks inside, flask in hand and shirt open to try and combat the ridiculous heat in the air. Raising an eyebrow at the sight of Sunjata, the Star’s expression softens and he moves to clasp the Flood on the shoulder. ”Here. This should make you feel a little better. And if not, at least you know it’s not the sickness.” He offers the water out to him.

THE DARK STAR

and continue fighting

// and you took me down, and what a slow fall,  but what i needed to be right here
and for one, it seems that i've found, that all the answers were all so clear //

He doesn’t have to wait long, not when time seems to slip by and Ronin’s presence is felt at the door mere moments before the Star walks in. The hand lowers from his temple, the Flood squinting as he peers at Ronin with the light jostling of his shoulder. “Hey.” He mumbles by way of greeting, gesturing to the chair that’s beside his or space on the couch he sits on.

A flask is offered and Sunjata knows that Ronin’s read the letter, taking it as his ring clinks against the metal of the flask. “You’re a life saver, you know that?” He rumbles, flashing Ronin an easier smile. “Thanks.” At least this way, while he was still somewhat sane, he could try to ward it off before he got too fearful of it. He downs some of the water like a shot before his nerves get the best of him.

Already the headache begins to ebb and flow away, making it easier for the Flood to look at the Dark Star. “Sorry about the meeting… And my... Adventure attempt with Remi.” It’s almost mumbled at the end, the awkwardness reaching out for him again in a flush of his cheeks and neck.

SUNJATA

we shall heal our wounds, collect our dead

”Apparently, it comes with the job description,” he murmurs about being a lifesaver, Ronin smirking and slouching down onto the couch next to Sunjata. The sound of the ring clicking against the canteen draws his attention, the Star raising an eyebrow and nudging his friend. ”Decided to tie the knot while you were sick, huh? A bold choice, Sunjata.” It’s a shame, that the sickness has prevented real enjoyment of what should be a very joyous occasion, but at least Nate and Sunjata were married.

The Flood apologises and Ronin waves him off, sinking back into the couch and closing his eyes. ”Neither of us acted the way we would have preferred. Remi and I have an open thing, anyway - I just figured if you guys were going to enjoy yourselves, you should be sane for it.” He chuckles, opening one eye to gaze across at the other man. ”Besides, it would be a pretty hypocritical thing to be mad at you when Amalia and I...” He shrugs.

THE DARK STAR

and continue fighting

// and you took me down, and what a slow fall,  but what i needed to be right here
and for one, it seems that i've found, that all the answers were all so clear //

For a moment Sunjata considers the ring on his finger and his friends words, before his free hand reaches up to rub at his cheek and jaw, a huff of a laugh leaving him. “I don’t really remember it, to be honest.” His hand ghosts over a particularly dark bruise on his neck before his attention focuses on the Star. “Got the scar though so I’m pretty sure we did it right.” Flexing out his hand he shows it to Ronin, the scabbed wound that shifts closer toward leaving a scar behind.

As for Remi though, he can’t help but to puff out his cheeks with a small sigh, an agreement without quote saying the words. “I’d have preferred to be, to be honest.” And his lips part about to say something more when Ronin mentions Amalia and his head swings up, eyes wide, jaw feathering a bit in uncertainty or distaste, he can’t quite tell. “You… And Amalia?” He repeats, surprise coloring the accent of his words. “Isn’t she married?”

SUNJATA

we shall heal our wounds, collect our dead

The scar earns Sunjata a very perplexed look from Ronin, who has no idea what it means to do it right by Korofi standards. Still, he accepts that it’s the case, even if his smile is tinged with sadness to hear that the Flood doesn’t even remember getting hitched. ”That won’t do at all,” he says. ”I didn’t get to throw you a bachelor party or anything. Nope. You’ll just have to do it all again,” he informs him.

He doesn’t miss the way Sunjata rubs at the bruise on his neck, Ronin swallowing hard and letting out a soft sigh. Far be it for him to tell the other man how to live, but the words itch in the back of his throat, begging to be said. ”Be careful, while Nate’s sick. Okay?” he mumbles. ”I wouldn’t want him to have to live with it, if anything happened to you.”

Oh but then they’re talking about Amalia, and whilst he’s expecting surprise, it’s still a little more than Ronin anticipates. ”She and and Deimos... well. She left and she’s living with us right now. Put it that way.” He shrugs his shoulders.

THE DARK STAR

and continue fighting

// and you took me down, and what a slow fall,  but what i needed to be right here
and for one, it seems that i've found, that all the answers were all so clear //

“Mm, that’s the plan. I want to be able to remember it.” He snorts, gaze following Ronin briefly at the mention of a bachelor party. “You’ll get your chance, don’t you worry. Besides, I have a honeymoon planned in the Grounds that we can’t do until we’re better.” A wink is given toward the Star, a low hum of amusement leaving him before it fades at the realization of everything that’s happened.

Ronin’s warning is a good one, though it’s far easier for Sunjata in his sane state to enact on it. “I have been. I think… Something maybe happened when I was sick. He’s been more careful.” He doesn’t remember when he’s passed out, he only remembers the grogginess after before the house burned down. Then nothing. Then fire. “I think the Ascended are suffering a lot of thirst right now.” A brow raises as if Ronin might understand what he’s getting at.

Amalia and Deimos breaking up, though, that is news. Brows raise in his surprise, silent for a few heartbeats while he considers the implications. “Shit.” He isn’t sure what else to say, head cocking a bit as he looks back down to his hand with the ring on it. “Okay, well… Why Amalia, though?” He tries to recover, some sort of curiosity in there. “She never seemed the type. Actually, she was quite pissed at me for the things I did like that.”

SUNJATA

we shall heal our wounds, collect our dead

”I want you to be able to remember it too. It was the best day of my life,” Ronin says of his wedding, smiling across at Sunjata and letting out a wicked little laugh at news of the honeymoon he has planned. Knowing what he does about the Hollowed Grounds, about the places that he and Nate might find themselves, he can well imagine what they have in mind. Still, it’s hard for the topic of conversation to stay so buoyant as Jata continues, and Ronin swears under his breath.

”I’m sorry to hear that. It must have been bad, for Nate to know to be careful even in his state,” he says. There’s a pang of guilt that shoots through him, realising that Sam would have been feeling the same way when he sank his teeth into Remi.

Why Amalia, though? ”We were in Halo. Remi was sick... I haven’t ever felt that alone before.” Ronin shakes his head, a soft smile on his lips. ”I trust Ama. She’s my friend... and I think she needed it too. Do we need any other reasons?” Letting out a huff of a sigh, Ronin slouches further into the couch.

”Do you remember that dream you had...?”

THE DARK STAR

and continue fighting

// and you took me down, and what a slow fall,  but what i needed to be right here
and for one, it seems that i've found, that all the answers were all so clear //

In all the times Sunjata’s been engaged — three times to be exact — he’d never looked forward to any of them except for the one with Nate. And the fact he doesn’t remember it much does pang some hidden bout of sorrow within him at the thought, some attempt to try and recover a bit of his memory with it and coming up blank. But it’s fine, it wasn’t the end of the world, and he could have it again once they were all better — provided they did get better.

As for what occurred, he nods, lowering his hand to the scars forming under his ear, rubbing for a moment before his hand drops back to his lap, interlacing with his other hand while Ronin gets more comfortable. “I don’t remember what happened but I can only assume I probably blacked out.” A quiet snort leaves him with that, a long inhale that’s audible. “And I don’t usually do that, not unless it’s a brawl.” Flashing a crooked and amused grin Ronin’s way, he grows quiet as he explains Amalia and his recent adventure.

Really there’s nothing to say about it, a shrug of agreement. Though he does mentally tick a box that keeps it in there in case Amalia tries to start anything with him again. But the subject of dreams is heard and he shifts in his seat to focus more on Ronin, brows drawn in confusion. “I don’t remember a lot of dreams to be honest. Aside from one.” A boyishly crooked smile crosses his face. “Why, did I tell you about my terrible reoccurring dream where I relive my swim test over and over again?” He laughs now, because it was in the past and it’s a mask he likes to wear, but at the end of the day it had been quite the defining moment of Sunjata’s upbringing. “Wasn’t even the worst thing I did in Korofi. But… Why do you ask?” A brow raises, gaze lingering on Ronin’s face.

SUNJATA

we shall heal our wounds, collect our dead

Ronin’s lips press together, well able to imagine the situation that would have led Sunjata to blacking out, and he tries to press down the heaviness in his chest. All that time at the Climb - if they had returned sooner, might this have been avoided? Giving himself a mental shake, Ronin does his best to move on. It can’t be helped now, but he can try for the future, at least. The Star forces himself to relax, jaw softening and muscles draining of their tension as he gazes across to Jata, listening about his dreams.

”Something like that,” he murmurs, not in the habit of lying or being secretive about himself. ”I seem to have acquired a new ability lately, from Safrin. I can dream walk. I wondered if you remembered anything different about the last time you had that nightmare, is all.” Because Ronin doesn’t think he’ll ever forget it.

THE DARK STAR

and continue fighting

// and you took me down, and what a slow fall,  but what i needed to be right here
and for one, it seems that i've found, that all the answers were all so clear //

It’s his turn to think long and hard, a brow raised toward his friend as he speaks of dream walking, a brief moment as he clenches his jaw and considers the implications of such a thing. “I imagine you wouldn’t be a fan of my dreams.” He rumbles with a bit of a laugh, trying to block out whatever horror Ronin had seen. He’d had many nightmares, the swim test, his trial, Lusea’s death.

But he tears his gaze away from the Star, brows drawn together as he tries to filter through the black of memory before something sticks out. Pancakes, that shouldn’t be there, a foot stuck in a large piece of driftwood that he’d had help getting out, an argument with his father while Sunjata had attempted to placate the situation. His head tilts when he looks back to Ronin, puffing out a loud breath in surprise. “Was it you that yelled at my father? And… Did we make... Pancakes?” There’s something boyish about the crooked smile that crosses his face, something thankful.

SUNJATA

we shall heal our wounds, collect our dead

”No, I wasn’t,” Ronin agrees with a faint smile; he definitely hadn’t been a fan of Sunjata’s dreams when he had last been in them. He sits quietly and lets the Flood absorb the information, to try to remember as best he can. He’s patient, at least, and if Sunjata doesn’t want to talk about it - or indeed can’t recall it - then that’s perfectly fine as well. But as Jata does bring it up, he can’t help but flash a crooked grin in the other man’s direction, nodding.

”Quite a charmer, your old dad,” he says dryly. ”I certainly did yell at him, for pushing you off that bridge and being so delightful when I had words with him about it.” The huntsman’s blue eyes darken a bit, and he grumbles to himself. ”We did though, yeah. We made pancakes, and you showed me that cabin of yours. I met your sister.”

THE DARK STAR

and continue fighting

// and you took me down, and what a slow fall,  but what i needed to be right here
and for one, it seems that i've found, that all the answers were all so clear //

The confirmation from Ronin is really all Sunjata needs, a brief pause as a bit of horror coils in his gut, passing it off as he tries to remember the dream. And he does, it sounds like, a wavering smile given that shakes when Ronin speaks of his father. “He hoped I drowned that day. That part is true.” He murmurs quietly, tearing his gaze away from his friend so he might look anywhere else as Ronin speaks.

“I never had a cabin like that. When I was younger… It sort of came to me as a place maybe Luci and I could go if we ever made it out of Korofi. A place we could build. The VlamVloed is similar to it.” A place of warmth and coppery hues, of cold and navy blues. “Saartjie, though. Hm.” He pauses, letting a small smile cross his face, something nostalgic. “She was the only thing i had when I left Korofi. I took her and we ran.” And then he’d ended up here. Far away from the blue eyed brown haired sibling he’d killed for. “What did you think of it? Of my home?”

SUNJATA

we shall heal our wounds, collect our dead

Ronin’s jaw feathers as he listens, and through their Attuned bond Sunjata will undoubtedly feel the bite of something dark and protective; a sliver of insight into the sorts of things the Star would do if it meant keeping his children safe. ”Well, rest assured you’ll not have to worry about him again, even if he shows up here. Especially if he shows up here,” he mutters, slanting a smile right back at the Flood.

Rubbing a hand over his forehead, he chews at his bottom lip as the other man continues, scoffing out a laugh at the question. ”Which one?” he asks. ”I have to say the getup I found myself in was interesting. I liked those projectiles, too. The ones with a trigger you could pull. I think overall, though, I preferred your cabin.”

Glancing up suddenly, Ronin’s smile turns a touch brighter. ”I’ve got a gift for you and Nate,” he says. ”Belated, for your wedding I suppose.”

THE DARK STAR

and continue fighting