when i look at the man who would be king

sleep don't visit, so i choke on sun // and the days blur into one

He can only offer what understanding he can, and with it the multi-hued ball of emotions that pours from Wessex perhaps only opens Sunjata up a bit more with the open sky around them, with the staticky lightning that disperses into the clouds that surround them – heavy and wet and yet somehow soft in the light of everything. You’re welcome. He offers her quietly, easily, tilting just enough to slide her way to flap one wing over toward the other dragon with a hint of playfulness.

I can’t relate to you a lot with the barrier being up… I arrived after. But back in Korofi I rebelled against my role in my upbringing. It was like a barrier… A cage of sorts. So I can relate in that regard. He hopes it helps, that someone else might sort of understand, even if it were worlds away, lifetimes it felt like.

and the backs of my eyes hum with things i've never done

SUNJATA

we're all stories unfinished and we die to find some fitting words to write

His physical gesture seems to rouse her out of her melancholy, at least momentarily and she veers a bit towards him to ‘tap’ him back. She isn’t ready to let the other shit go, by any means, but she can try to shift her focus in the here and now.

Humming a quiet acquiescence, Wessex appreciates his caveat and tries to see the parallels between the two situations. Freedom is worth the fight, she says. I’d rather die than go back in a cage. And she has to laugh at it, because from where she flies, that’s exactly what’s going to happen. Which might happen. Who knows. But if there can be peace from it, it’ll be worth it. Resignation to the truth seeps towards Sunjata as she suddenly pulls up and presses her wings against her body, angling into a tight dive.

Race you back?”

WESSEX

sleep don't visit, so i choke on sun // and the days blur into one

As would I. Sunjata agrees, huffing an amused sound from the dragon as she tags him back, but the mood turns a bit dour and he coasts along the winds with his leathery wings as he tries to push back what she’s said to the recesses of his mind as to not have to think about them or deal with it until he absolutely, absolutely has to.

Race her back to the ground? Absolutely. There’s nothing like a quick dive to get your mind out of whatever crevice it’s fallen into, and so Sunjata draws up and angles down too, following after her and weaving through the tops of the trees as he manages to find the ground alongside her. She wins the race, but Sunjata doesn’t mind – not as he hits the ground again and shifts back into himself, finding idle conversation with Wessex on the trek back to some semblance of familiarity.

- FIN <33

and the backs of my eyes hum with things i've never done

SUNJATA