[SE] when we were young

Ronin Taliesin

they say it's all been done
but they haven't seen the best of me

"I will be proud to take on that burden before you to," Ronin assures his friend, a sandy hand fluttering to his chest that he might make his vow, before it's back to finishing his moat and the final touches to his castle. "I wonder if perhaps Seren would like to meet Kamaria as well." He breaches the subject softly, carefully almost, and the caution is visible in blue eyes when he looks up at Sunjata. "They are sisters, after all."

Sitting back and considering his creation complete, or as complete as it's ever likely to be, Ronin nods gently as the Flood explains about Aurelia. He certainly hasn't gone into it with his eyes closed, and Ronin can more than appreciate that. So it's with a lopsided smirk that he glances back at him. "Then I wish her all the best. Torchline's rowdy enough without some poor soul trying to get them to behave. The last Arbiter always looked so stressed, you know?"

but the darker the weather, the better the man

you can take all you want

“Oh, Ronin, what would I ever do without you?” Sunjata replies, equally as playful and dramatic. But he manages to work his moat and the walls, detailing them out with little designs along the sides that could be considered either squiggles or ivy, whichever, before his gaze is lifting back to Ronin – the subject soft, despite Sunjata not thinking it needed to be. And he meets Ronin’s gaze with a soft steel of his own. “She’d like that. I did… Tell her about Seren. She does want to meet her.” Sunjata comments equally soft – no hard feelings or upset with the idea.

Sunjata leans back on an arm once he figures that his sandcastle is done, too, and regards Ronin’s with a careful gaze – as if studying it to see whether he’s won or failed. The dragon is a nice touch, though. The subject of Aurelia, though, and the following jest has him humming a deep laugh of a rumble, something lighter than he’s felt in a long time. “Gods, I’m not sure if it ever stopped.” He comments. “And then there was the whole… Accidentally slicing Zeph in the face that I’ll never live down.” A roll of his eyes with that, before the steel meets Ronin’s face again.

“So, how’re we going to see who won this battle?” He asks with a playful bounce of his brows.

but not who i am

SuNJATA

Ronin Taliesin

they say it's all been done
but they haven't seen the best of me

"Well on the one hand, you'd be getting older with no one to cheer you on, and you'd be boring and grumpy and absolutely not building sand castles with me right now," Ronin replies, as if Sunjata had really asked for his opinion on this matter. "But on the other hand, I daresay that you'd get into a lot less trouble without me around." An undeniable truth, if not a particularly pleasant one to admit. Not a season ago he'd rocked up to punch Sunjata in the mouth, after all.

Ah, but now their castles are complete and their daughters might be meeting one another, Ronin smiling and nodding his approval. "I'll speak with her about it, though it wouldn't surprise me if she drops by on her own. She liked you, if I recall." He smirks. "Also if it helps any, I think you've got just as many awkward moments under your belt as Governor as you did Arbiter." Does that help though Ronin? Does it?

But anyway, who will win their battle? Ronin hums out a sigh. "I suppose we really ought to get an independent judge, though to look at the two of them I'd say it was a tie. Yours has more turrets, but mine's got a dragon. They both have moats. Mine's bigger, but yours is wider." He bounces his eyebrows at Jata. "What'd you think?"

i am on a journey to discover what it's like to be free of all my demons

“Boring and grumpy?” He protests with a playful scoff, a roll of his eyes. But the smile that crosses his face at the mention of being in a lot less trouble without him around does have the Flood chuckling under his breath, shrugging at the truth of it all, certainly recalling the fight in the streets of Haulani during some of the worst part of the rains.

But he leans back on his arms, the tattoos swirling within the waves of his sleeves as he peers back at Ronin with the mention of Seren and Kamaria. “She did, yeah. Uncle Jata if I recall. Suppose that has a different meaning now, huh?” A raise of his brow, a slightly sheepish smile crossing his face with that, before he’s taking more playful offense to what Ronin says. “In all fairness, I was drugged for part of it.” A slight grimace forms on his face before he shakes his head to dislodge that particular memory from his mind.

“I feel like a dragon would’ve been a bit too cliché for my castle.” He pushes himself up to look down at the castle he’d created, before he’s leaning over to peer at Ronin’s. “I do like your dragon a lot, though.” He smirks, moving to stand and create some distance. And he shifts into the dragon shift of his, lowering himself to the sand and wiggling into it a bit so that his head can rest a few short feet away from the two castles. His slit steel gaze rises to Ronin’s after a moment. I think yours is better. You’re more of an artist, after all. He rumbles. Wanna squish them now or see how long they last?

SUNJATA

Ronin Taliesin

they say it's all been done
but they haven't seen the best of me

"Yes, I suppose it does. And you heard me - boring and grumpy," Ronin repeats, his chin tilted up as if to claim victory over that little insult. He can't really say much to the rest, after all, knowing all too well what kind of trouble he and Sunjata have gotten up to in their time on the islands. "Pfff, so we're blaming drugs for your bad decisions now, are we? You're getting deeper and deeper into denial you know," he says, playfully flapping a hand at his friend.

His friend turned dragon - that certainly gets Ronin's attention, and now that he isn't trying to punch Sunjata to death, he can actually appreciate the giant reptile. "Well isn't that sweet? I like your dragon a lot too, Jata." The Star beams, shifting in the sand a bit so the large, scaled head can come wiggling through to inspect the castles. His victory is given, but he's more interested in the Flood's latter point, and Ronin's lips twist in a smile that's much more devious.

"Oh, you know I want to squish them now," he says.

And so it is that Torchline's governor (as a dragon) and Safrin's demigod made a dramatic show of destroying the sandcastles they'd created. It's over a year in the making, but it's worth it.

~FIN