(SE) i think we're haunted

SuNJATA

the flood

The Attuned can’t answer Maeve audibly, unfortunately, but he snorts his answer regardless – he even bobs his head slightly with it as he steps into the harness and waits patiently, tail twitching as he’s strapped in and the buckles are tightened. His horned head tilts toward Edmund and Maeve as the small child reaches out to tug at his fur, Sunjata’s ears twitching with it.

The second Maeve gives the okay for being strapped in, he lowers his head slightly and pushes forward, slipping out from the back of the building into the streets – people stepping away from them the second they see the three of them coming. The cart isn’t too heavy, thankfully, but he does take his time with it as they walk back, his hooves clattering against the walkway with each and every step.

always have an escape plan

BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3

"What a shame she's fucked in her head, " they said.

The journey is a relatively short one. It takes them no more than fifteen minutes to get there and they walk in a somewhat forced companionable silence given that they can't really communicate while he's shifted. Soon they're rounding towards the back of the Halenani near the private section of the garden. There a wood shed set up in the back that's clearly for holding firewood and the like. "You don't need to worry about unloading it. Some of the boys will get it." Maeve informs him, unhooking the various buckles from the harness so he can step out and shift once more.

Edmund is back to babbling happily in his swaddle, reaching for Sunjata occasionally despite the way Maeve keeps catching his hand in an attempt to keep him contained. "Tell Nate thanks for the gift. Though, I think part of it was more of a message than a gift." She muses, collecting her wares from the cart and adjusting her grip on the handle of her basket.

Maeve

// the edge is getting closer, it's a long spiral down. it's so fun to fly 'til you hit the ground
i think i'm getting too close, i think i'm getting too close //

They make it to the back of the Halenani, and Sunjata’s gaze flickers to Nate as she announces that they can leave the cart there. Still, he can’t do much until she’s unbuckled him, and the nyala moves to step out of the harness and ties before he shakes out and carefully avoids Edmund’s hands as he reaches out for him. But it doesn’t take long for Sunjata to shift back into himself, to find his space on the opposite side of the cart only to make sure they hadn’t lost anything along the way.

And when she asks him to thank Nate for the gift, the steel gaze rises to meet her once more – his face a stony mask of what it had been previously, a mask his father might have even been proud of. “I’ll tell him.” Though truthfully, he can’t remember what the gift was, the timing of it being given and everything that had happened with Haai made it seem next to impossible to recall for him what exactly it was.

But he moves to reach into the cart to grab his bags, the one specifically with the tapestry made in memory of Haai that he pulls onto his shoulder first, followed by the rest of the supplies he’d needed. “Is that everything?” He asks, his gaze seeking out her face again.

it's hard to get to heaven with my head in my hands

SUNJATA

"What a shame she's fucked in her head, " they said.

Maeve truly doesn't care one way or the other if Nate gets the message or if it means anything to him. She's simply doing her part aside from the letter that she sent to be civil. The Nightshade smiles softly, offering a small nod of her head, "That's everything. Thanks for the help, Jata. I hope you guys get settled out there and find some peace." She tells him genuinely, adjusting Edmund in his swaddle so he's laying against her chest, unable to reach blindly for the Flood.

"Just drop the blankets off the next time you're here once you get yours." With one final smile, letting her jade gaze slip over him again, the Nightshade lifts her eyes back to his. It's with a resigned sort of acknowledgement that she makes peace with how things are with them. Friends, but not like before. Lovers no more. All of that was fine. There was plenty for her to worry about without worrying about him too. Still, she does wish him happiness.

They all deserve it for just a while longer, don't they?

~FIN <3~

Maeve