back straight, chest out, just like a soldier

SUNJATA

the flood

He doesn’t remember how long it’s been since heMs been to the Greatwood. He just knows that it’s been a very long time. The woods warp and shift, directions he thinks he’s taken get thrown out the window at the next possible second. But it’s fine, because in the end he manages to stumble across it.

Perhaps the woods had known he’d be welcome? After all, he and Juniper had conversed about their little meeting, and Sunjata had offered to step out for a moment — a change of scenery, as it were. So he arrives, wearing a light jacket, mostly put together aside from still healing wounds and the gnarled scar up half of his face, peering at the entrance of the embassy (intrigued immensely by its existence here, had juniper been working hard on it?)

He gently knocks at the door before stepping back, watching it for any signs of interest, before glancing around the woods overhead.

did you get out all of that angry passion?
is it still formin'? Has it started to torture you?

JUNIPER

you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do

Juniper had been waiting for the Governor a bit longer than she'd expected; she'd begun to wonder if he'd gotten lost in the Greatwood, as often happened to outsiders, and if she might have to go looking for him. When the knock came, she answered the door quickly and with a smile.

"Governor," she greeted him. "Welcome. Come on in."

She would lead Sunjata past the entry room, with its currently empty reception desk, and into the meeting room behind it: halfway between conference room and lounge. A large table with some chairs around it sat at one end of the room, but the other contained a few lower, more comfortable chairs and a couch, and it was here that Juniper would bring Sunjata. She had tea ready and everything.

"I hope you found the place all right," Juniper said, a twinkle in her eye suggesting that she'd guessed at Sunjata's difficulties.

if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.

table by Skylark

SUNJATA

the flood

She’s quick to answer the door and Sunjata offers her an easy smile in greeting – one that lifts one side of his face more than the other, given the scar. “Hello Juniper.” He greets before they’re walking. “Thank you.” He tacks on at the end, drawing his jacket a bit closer and slipping inside to follow her wherever she chooses. His gaze casts around the embassy with intrigue and quiet delight, all things considered, and it doesn’t take long for them to reach the room she’s decided.

It’s comfortable and nice, far more charming than the rough edges of Torchline, and something about it is just as homey. “It’s been a while since I’ve been to the Greatwood. The woods kept turning me around.” He offers with a quiet laugh when he takes a seat on the soft couch, sitting up instead and trying not to melt into it, regardless of how much he wanted to. “But it’s just as lovely as always.” He compliments, flashing her a softer smile.

“The Embassy is lovely. Is it new?” He asks, gesturing with a still slightly bruised hand to the embassy they sit in. It looks well worn yet newly designed, a perfect mix of something that may have been here for ages and recently updated or the opposite – recently made and warmed up within.

did you get out all of that angry passion?
is it still formin'? Has it started to torture you?

JUNIPER

you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do

"Ah, yes, they do that," Juniper replied, speaking of the woods. They clearly hadn't been too hostile to Sunjata, or he'd be much later -- or wouldn't have reached the embassy at all. "Perhaps I should have come met you -- the woods rarely play their tricks on the Fae."

Rarely, but it could happen, if a Fae disrespected their home. Still, Juniper couldn't imagine that the woods would take issue with her speaking with Sunjata -- or that, as much as they had a mind of their own, they possessed enough sentience to judge complex circumstances like this.

"It is new, thank you." Juniper beamed with pride. "The building was abandoned when I acquired it, and Ianto and Felix helped me fix it up. I wanted to make a place where outsiders could come to learn more about the Greatwood, to get help if they needed it."

if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.

table by Skylark

SUNJATA

the flood

A soft, quiet laugh of agreement leaves him on the idea that the woods rarely play tricks on the Fae, but he waved it off with a small shrug when he takes his seat. “A change of scenery is always appreciated. Besides, you’ve come to Torchline quite often, figured I would return the favor.” He tips some of his charm into the ease of the smile that crosses his face, though it falters a fraction given the scarring and the soreness of his body.

He pretends it doesn’t matter.

So instead he’s glancing around the room, the Embassy, taking it all in and finding it quite welcoming all things considered. He hasn’t known many of them and the most interaction he’s had has been with Juniper herself. It made it… Easier, that way, he imagines. His steel gaze is bright when it finds Juniper again, listening to how she’d come about it. The names are familiar, Felix more so than Ianto, though he doesn’t comment on it. “I don’t particularly need help, but I would love to learn more about the Greatwood should you wish to give it a go.” It had always been a space Sunjata hadn’t ventured to — forests and woods of the like were rare in Korofi. The tallest things they had in sight were skylines of tall city buildings. And while the conversation may not be what he’s there for, he finds it absolutely couldn’t hurt any.

did you get out all of that angry passion?
is it still formin'? Has it started to torture you?

JUNIPER

you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do

"You're always welcome here -- both in the Greatwood and at the embassy," Juniper said, smiling back. She thought she noticed a hesitation in Sunjata's smile, a moment of pain or doubt -- and she wouldn't be surprised if it were pain, given the new scar stretching across his face. Would now be the time to get to her true purpose in this meeting -- to ask after him, and his husband, inquire how they fared after everything she'd witnessed and all the things she hadn't?

But then he was talking again, on another subject, and the opportunity was lost. Probably for the best: they could keep the conversation light, for now.

"And I'm always willing to talk about my home. Is there anything in particular you'd like to know?" Juniper was happy to delay getting to the reason for their meeting for the moment. It wasn't urgent, after all, and this wasn't a time when she wanted something from Sunjata -- that meant something, in her mind. Better relations meant not only talking to outsiders when she needed something -- showing concern for them as people, not just assets.

if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.

table by Skylark

SUNJATA

the flood

“Thank you.” He offers her with a softer, easier smile. He might not visit the Greatwood that often, but at least having the option to and be welcome made it easier to think about visiting. “The same goes for you and Torchline.” A decisive nod is given with the words, Sunjata whole heartedly agreeing that whenever Juniper wished to show in Torchline, she would find herself welcome there too.

For now though, the heavier talk gets set aside, in favor for learning more about the Greatwood, and he leans back in his chair to listen to her when she offers up the option of choosing about what he learns. He’s silent for a moment, debating, before his lips part. “Just… What it’s like?” He tilts his head slightly as he regards her. “Living among the trees and mostly to yourselves. I imagine it’s got its ups and downs.” There’s no judgement in his tone. Every place had their ups and their downs.

“For example, Torchline is great but it’s a bit hit or miss if you’re an Outlander.” He snorts, a crooked and boyish smile crossing his face.

did you get out all of that angry passion?
is it still formin'? Has it started to torture you?

JUNIPER

you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do

"Thank you," Juniper replied, to Sunjata's offer of hospitality. She was glad to hear that they were on the same page. "I'll have to take you up on that -- the weather in Torchline is beautiful. When it's not monsooning, I suppose."

Juniper considered Sunjata's question, her eyes a bit distant as she thought about it. "Well, this is my home -- I've never known anything else. Living in the Greatwood ... There's a sense of harmony with our environment; the wood takes care of us. We live as a part of the forest, not trying to tame or protect ourselves from it. But my people can also be very insular, and we have long memories. If the Fae decide they don't like you, well, your grandchildren may still feel their wrath."

She spoke from experience, of course: ostracized because of her grandfather's beliefs. Beliefs she now followed, to see him and herself vindicated -- though the jury was still out on whether she'd succeed.

And that last bit offered an opening to the subject that Juniper had really intended to speak of: "I saw that. I know there were things going on that I'm ignorant of, but I just wanted to ask: are you all right? How is your husband?"

if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.

table by Skylark

SUNJATA

the flood

A low chuckle leaves him in agreement, a huff of a sigh as he nods. “It’s quite stormy. Longheat or Leafchange are probably the best seasons to go, provided you don’t mind the heat.” He offers that tidbit of insider knowledge. Sure, everyone could agree to disagree, but those two seasons? Those were his favorites — specifically Longheat where they got to step out from the clouds and rain for warmth and sunlight.

A cleanse, he supposes.

And as he asks of what it’s like here, he doesn’t expect to find the towering trees to be so similar to Korofi in certain ways. It draws him a fraction distant, but the honesty in Juniper’s voice causes him to divulge a bit more than he otherwise would. “It was similar in Korofi where I’m from.” He offers her with some sympathy, imagining that the reason she’d brought that particular tidbit up was because she’d faced it just as much as he had.

But he draws silent, mulling over her question before he nods. “Better now.” That would soon change, however. “The Trial you saw was between me and my father.” He murmurs. “I… Was part of a rebellion against him before I came here. So him arriving somehow and messing with Torchline seemed like a bit of payback, I’d imagine.” He gnaws on his cheek, the opposite side of the scar before he shrugs. “But he’s gone now and I survived the ocean, so. Things are better. Thank you for asking.” It meant a surprising amount that she’d cared enough to reach out.

did you get out all of that angry passion?
is it still formin'? Has it started to torture you?

JUNIPER

you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do

"I'll keep that in mind," Juniper said, smiling. Probably best to stay out of Torchline for monsoon season, but she'd like to visit later in the year. Assuming, of course, that the entire continent wasn't consumed by war. But one could only hope.

When he shared a sliver of his past, Juniper tilted her head a bit, curious. She didn't want to ask about anything he didn't want to speak of, but ... "Similar how? The 'harmony with nature' part, or the 'grudge-holding' part?" The answer would determine her response, whether she offered sympathy.

Juniper absorbed Sunjata's words, nodding. "So it wasn't really about your performance as Governor, was it? Just a personal vendetta. I'm ... sorry you had to go through that." She means that in such a broad sense: not just the recent events, but that he'd had to rebel against his father to begin with, that he'd been born to a father worth rebelling against. "I'm glad to hear that it's over."

if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.

table by Skylark

SUNJATA

the flood

Similar how? Well, they weren’t engrained in nature the way the Fae were. Replace tall towering trees with skyscraper buildings and technology and then it might fit, but that’s beside the point. “Holding a grudge.” He answers easily, flashing her a small understanding smile had his judgement of her own situation been correct.

And he offers a bit more of himself for her, to see what had happened in Torchline, why it had gotten so out of hand. He shakes his head at first before his lips part again. “I think it was a bit more of a side effect. A few wrongs and it got blown out of proportion.” He gives an honest answer to that — nobody was perfect at ruling, just… Some were better than others. He likes to think that he’s leagues above his father, he likes to think he proved it too. “It’s a bit relieving, to be honest. I thought I was losing my mind for a few seasons there.” He hums a quiet laugh, shaking his head lightly.

“I’m glad it’s over now too. And what about you? What made you decide to be the diplomat?” Why had she been so different from the other fae he’d met that were reserved and snappy, snarky and harsh.

did you get out all of that angry passion?
is it still formin'? Has it started to torture you?

JUNIPER

you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do

Juniper nodded: the understanding in Sunjata's face spoke briefly of similar pasts, parallel ancestral burdens -- as did his statement about leading a revolution against his father. Clearly their trajectories were quite different, but she suspected that both of them knew what it was like to be born into a world that had already decided what it thought of you.

"It must have been maddening," Juniper agreed with Sunjata's account. If she wondered whether perhaps there had been more to the Torcher's complaints than just Shaju stirring them up, she said nothing of it now. He'd admitted to mistakes, and she didn't plan to make him enumerate them -- if she wanted the opinion of the people on the ground, she'd ask another Torcher. "I hope it's smoother sailing from here on out, if you'll excuse the nautical reference." Not quite a joke, but she smiled anyway.

"Nephele asked me to take up this role," she answered, but she knew that didn't cover what Sunjata really wanted to know. "I took it to help my people, and ... to prove my grandfather right, I suppose. He used to say that we should reach out to outsiders -- the rest of our people never forgave him, or me, for that. Looking back, I feel like ... if everyone was going to tar me with my grandfather's brush anyway, I might as well do something worth judging."

She laughed, making it into a joke, though it was actually a good bit more personal than she'd intended. Oops. To cover it, she added, "Once I started talking to outsiders -- not even the Ascended themselves, just people who knew an Ascended or two -- it became clear that the situation was too complicated for blanket animosity."

if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.

table by Skylark

SUNJATA

the flood

“Just a bit.” He agrees, finding an easier smile that blossoms on his face. And when he hears her joke he hums a quiet, sore laugh in response. “I can excuse it.  I hope it is too.” He agrees, face softening into something boyish and content — so at odds with the scarring and stubble of a beard on his face. But it is… Nice, to get to know someone so different, someone that had a similar difficulty in their upbringing of always having that dark ink stain that haunted them around every corner.

So he offers her dips of his head in understanding, his gaze growing just that much more so, before he’s trying to mull over what to say. “I know what you mean.” He agrees, flashing her an easy smile before she’s mentioning the blanket statement of the Ascended, and Sunjata realizes entirely what’s occurring now. “It always is far more complicated than we’re led to believe.” He murmurs, contemplatively, before he’s reaching up to rub at his tattooed neck. “For what it’s worth, though, I think you’ve been doing a wonderful job at it.” He thinks her grandfather should be quite proud.

“It is a shame that war approaches so quickly without giving us the chance to understand it all.” And just like that he’s turned the conversation sour. He grimaces, mostly to himself, before he’s inhaling a sharp breath in the hopes it might reset himself. “What do you think about it?” About the war and where lines would have to be drawn, who would draw them. He assumes he knows where the Greatwood stands, but he could always be wrong. So he gives the option for her to explain it for him.

did you get out all of that angry passion?
is it still formin'? Has it started to torture you?

JUNIPER

you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do

Juniper nodded, and blushed a little at the compliment. "Thank you. I appreciate that."

And then the conversation turned to war, and her smile vanished. She didn't mind that Sunjata had brought it up -- it was an important topic to discuss, after all. Still, it wasn't exactly fun. "I still hope there is some way we can prevent all-out war. And I will do everything in my power towards that end."

As for the rest ... Juniper had to think about what to say, exactly, keeping in mind that she spoke for the Greatwood as well as for herself -- and that she didn't know who Sunjata might share her words with. She hated to be so mistrustful, but she had to keep in mind his potentially divided loyalties when speaking of her own misgivings. "I fear there are those who will never allow peace." The Order, she meant. "And I wish I had a better idea of what the rest of us could do to resist them."

if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.

table by Skylark