one more night in hollywood

LOCKE

He stands on the little porch, staring at the door. Something feels off but he can't quite place what it is. But he shrugs it off. He's here to bug Nate, mostly, check on the twins, maybe get his back looked at properly. He needs to see if he can steal some paper to write a letter to Maeve, lots of shit. But Locke's not used to having friends nor is he used to asking someone else for help. But it's time to suck that up.

He knocks lightly on the door, wincing softly to himself. He hopes the twins aren't sleeping.

I wanna make up my mind
But I don't know myself

SUNJATA

i was never the sharp knife, but i was never the dull mind
i was somewhere in between, a thorn, an acquiescent

Whether or not Nate’s home is another story, because it certainly isn’t the Ascended that makes it to the door. Instead, it takes a few minutes for Sunjata to get himself up, to deal with his ribs barking pain in protest – pain that he hasn’t felt like this in a while – before he manages to make it to the door. He’s a bit flushed from the exertion of it all, opening the door with a crack – wondering when they’d let so many people know where they lived and how similar it felt to Torchline when people came knocking on their door – before stilling when he sees who it is.

The door opens a crack further, but Sunjata’s bracing himself on the door frame – a pale, lightning scarred hand and tattoo-less arm is one of the first things Locke would see, the next would be a bit of his hunched over appearance as he props himself up. “Locke, hey,” well this is awkward, isn’t it? “Do you want to come in?” He asks instead of ‘what are you doing here’, trying to be the host he’s supposed to be. The door opens further and Sunjata steps aside, still leaned against the door frame, sure that Locke can take it from here.

so you said it was for me, when you tried to break me
well you can save your breath, i know, i'm not the kind you pray for

LOCKE

It's not Nate but he has nothing against Sunjata, not really, not anymore. Hazel eyes roam over the other man's form before he whistles. "Look like you got hit by a ship or somethin'. What'd you do?" And to think he was coming here to see if Nate could patch him up. His own wounds are hidden behind his shirt and his inability to appear weak before his imaginary rival.

"Yeah. I do. Why don't you sit down and I'll get us something to drink. I was on my way to the Grounds and thought I'd stop by and see how you guys were doing." A half truth, really. But he's urging Sunjata back into the house and to sit. "I feel like a lots happened since the last time we saw each other." He gives the other man a grin as he heads into the kitchen, returning a moment later with hot drinks. Maybe he shouldn't be so familiar with someone else's house but too late Sunjata! You let him in!

I wanna make up my mind
But I don't know myself

SUNJATA

i was never the sharp knife, but i was never the dull mind
i was somewhere in between, a thorn, an acquiescent

“If you want to call Ronin a ship, be my guest.” Sunjata mutters, cutting Locke a small half smile that’s amused as it is pained. “Do you remember when the stars went out a few nights ago?” He prompts instead, wondering if he should just blindside Locke with the information outright or see if the Attuned can lead up to it. Regardless, Locke walks in and Sunjata nicks the door shut behind the other man, catching the grin that Locke offers as he strides into the kitchen as if he owns the place.

And honestly, when Sunjata flushes, he’s not sure if it’s from embarrassment, the grin, or just how much like Nate that was. “Sure.” He mumbles instead, moving to one of the arm chairs and sinks into it with a hum of pain, leaning back and stretching his long legs out, taking the mug when it’s offered and lets his steel gaze drift along Locke. “Lots has happened. Congrats, by the way. Of getting back with Maeve.” A crooked smirk crosses his face with this, a bit of playfulness slipping up as he cradles the mug in one hand and doesn’t let his gaze stray from the Attuned.

so you said it was for me, when you tried to break me
well you can save your breath, i know, i'm not the kind you pray for

LOCKE

"Oh, dragoon versus dragon huh? Too bad I missed it." Not that he knows the context or anything. But still. Probably would've been cool to see. Except, the whole, his friend being hurt thing. "Honestly thought I was going crazy. Been a long few days." Does he have a murder baby doll stashed away. Yes. Yes he does. "Let's see. Missing tattoos, Ronin beat the shit out of you.. Did you piss your god off?"

Locke hesitates a moment, wondering if he should tend to the other man more but decides against it. He sits on the couch, perched at the edge. He's not too keen to lean back at the moment. He takes a long drink, flushing slightly with the congratulations. Of course he knows. "Kinda surprised she wanted me back, honestly." It's true, he expected her to run him out of Torchline. "Speaking of, can I write her a letter? I got side tracked on my way to the Grounds and I want her to know where I'm headed.. So she doesn't worry." Ew, gross. Being a responsible partner.

I wanna make up my mind
But I don't know myself

SUNJATA

i was never the sharp knife, but i was never the dull mind
i was somewhere in between, a thorn, an acquiescent

“Mmm.. Not quite.” Sunjata murmurs, head tilting sideways before he readjusts a leg as a spark of pain shoots up it. “I didn’t fight him back. Just… Got pummeled. I earned it, anyway.” A shrug of a shoulder as he regards Locke with a hint of mischief floating in the steel of his gaze as he tries to breathe away the flush the Attuned had sparked in him. “I think pissing my ex-god off is a better suited choice of words.” He teases, but he’s pleased that he doesn’t have to explain everything entirely in detail just yet.

Locke’s smart, whether he thinks it or not. “I was surprised Nate wanted me back after what I did.” He admits, a bit of kinship between them. “There’s paper on the desk over there. A pen too, if you need to borrow one of those.” A wink is shot Locke’s way before he takes a heavy sip of his drink. “Feel free to use as much as you’d like.” After all, Sunjata isn’t planning on writing too much too soon.

so you said it was for me, when you tried to break me
well you can save your breath, i know, i'm not the kind you pray for

LOCKE

"I'm starting to think you might be a masochist, Sunjata." Only because he knows Nate and Sunjata didn't even try to fight back. Also maybe he wants to see the other's reaction. "Do I want to know? I thought you were one of her favorites." The grin he gives is mischievous but deep down he's worried and Sunjata might even feel it through the bond. If Safrin is sending out Ronin to punish those who upset her, what would happen to Maeve if something like that happened. To Edmund?

He pushes the thoughts away, shaking his head softly. "It's because we're both so handsome. They'd be fools to not take us back." Sure, something like that. He hums softly, another drink of his drink as he looks at the table for a moment before back to Sunjata. "Thanks. I'll write it in a bit." He's more curious about the train wreck of a man before him.

I wanna make up my mind
But I don't know myself

SUNJATA

i was never the sharp knife, but i was never the dull mind
i was somewhere in between, a thorn, an acquiescent

Locke’s comment does do well to bring a laugh to tumble from Sunjata’s lips, the curl of amusement palpable on his face but not through the Attuned bond. No, instead, Locke would find it silent on his end. Like something had been snuffed out. But the once-Attuned certainly still harbors his shifts, evident in the way that he tilts his head and raises a brow, avian-like aside from the flush that covers his skin again. “Depends on the day.” To this, he snorts and lifts the mug to his lips again.

He doesn’t sense the worry, but he’s smart enough to know that it could be considered probing. And Sunjata isn’t sure exactly how to respond. He was one of Safrin’s favorites. Until he’d thrown it all away for Frey.

Luckily, Locke distracts him with the honest truth, another snort leaving him. They both were good looking, but Sunjata hadn’t imagined it would be enough to cover the things he’d done. So he shakes it off, setting the mug to the side table as he sits up a bit straighter, resting a warm hand against his side as he readjusts how he’s sitting. “I, uh, went and had a chat with Frey. I’m not Safrin’s anymore.”

so you said it was for me, when you tried to break me
well you can save your breath, i know, i'm not the kind you pray for

LOCKE

He's always been fascinated by how easily Sunjata seems to shift back and forth, man and beast. He knows he does it too but he lacks the variety of the man before him. A part of him he tries to deeply ignore wants to thread it's fingers through his hair, feeling for feathers and horns and other curious things. He's acutely aware of how differently they're behaving without Nate around, something else he doesn't want to think about too deeply. So he drops the question he almost asks, focusing on the god talk and not the masochism talk.

Sunjata went to have a chat with Frey and doesn't belong to Safrin anymore. Strange. He takes another drink, head tilting again. "Makes you wonder if you were ever hers' to begin with, hmm?" Locke's not one for belonging to the gods, to anyone really. He is first and foremost, his own. "Was the sex that good or was the deal just that good? Always kinda wanted to fuck them.." As if he's not on his way to pray to the new gods. But still, curiosity and cats and who doesn't want to fuck a literal sex god?

I wanna make up my mind
But I don't know myself

SUNJATA

i was never the sharp knife, but i was never the dull mind
i was somewhere in between, a thorn, an acquiescent

There’s a part of Sunjata, the longer he keeps his gaze on Locke, that truthfully wouldn’t mind letting the Attuned explore what ways he can draw out the newer demigod’s shifts. But it’s also something he doesn’t bring up – regardless if the idea is amusing in and of itself, to possibly see the look on Nate’s face when he steps through the threshold to find them in a position such as that. But again, it’s moved on, and maybe for the best when he takes a sip of his drink and hears what Locke has to say.

Immediately, the grimace is growing on his face and he huffs a warm breath of a sigh, leaning back to cast his steel gaze to the ceiling. “I was most definitely hers.” He reaches up to rub at his chest, above the bandages, before his gaze drops to Locke again. “But I’ll always be more Nate’s than anyone else’s.” And that was the crux. He’d likely still be with Safrin if she hadn’t constantly made him choose.

There’s a slight hum of a laugh that slips from him, one that causes him to stiffen as it pulls against the bruised ribs and he readjusts how he’s sitting, feeling the flush skate across his skin a bit further down his neck. “The deal was incredible. I had to take it.” He lets his gaze land on Locke again. “And the sex?” He pauses to shake his head, another snort leaving him. “Was even better.” But it had been in a reverse order, sleeping with Frey before the demigod offering. “They asked me to be their demigod and given the deal they offered, I agreed. But it also meant I had to have Safrin burned out of me.”

so you said it was for me, when you tried to break me
well you can save your breath, i know, i'm not the kind you pray for

LOCKE

There's something to be said for the amount of self-control they're both showing. He watches Sunjata, keeping his eyes firmly on the other man's face and not flitting across muscular arms and newly paled skin. But he does frown with the way Sunjata holds his chest. Hadn't Safrin pulled out his soul or something? Turned him into a bird? So very different than Locke's own changing. "It must've been hard for her, losing to another god and Nate all at once." Not that he feels pity for the god.

So Sunjata's a demigod now. Interesting. He's starting to wonder how he's ran into so many of those recently. But maybe the gods are desperate. "Suppose that makes sense." It doesn't not make sense at least. "Did it hurt?" Maybe his wounds are from more than just Ronin. "I can't imagine giving myself to any of the gods like that." He doesn't have the loyalty.

I wanna make up my mind
But I don't know myself

SUNJATA

i was never the sharp knife, but i was never the dull mind
i was somewhere in between, a thorn, an acquiescent

“I suppose it was.” Sunjata rumbles, a part of him annoyed by the fact that it even had to come to this. If only he didn’t have to choose, he would’ve likely stayed with the starry goddess. But Frey had offered so much more, he would have been stupid not to take it. And regardless of the things he'd gone through since doing it, he was pleasantly surprised so far with the payoff.

Did it hurt, though? He’s silent as his gaze focuses on Locke, drifting from the man’s hazel eyes to the stubble on his cheeks, to the broad shoulders therein, and when he finally figures out how to respond, he nods slowly – steel snapping to hazel. “The worst pain I’ve ever experienced.” Physically, that is. “It went on forever. I think Frey took me to some… Time pocket or something. When I came out of it, my beard and hair was longer, but it was like no time had passed out here.” It was strange and if he thinks hard enough on it, he can still feel the hollow, phantom burning sensations in his bones.

He visibly shivers at the thought. “No? You definitely don’t seem like a Safrin kind of guy and you’ve mentioned Frey… Have you met Ludo?” A dark brow rises curiously, hoping to change and shift the subject.

so you said it was for me, when you tried to break me
well you can save your breath, i know, i'm not the kind you pray for

LOCKE

As before, he doesn't really care how Safrin feels as long as it doesn't affect Maeve. And as far as he can tell, it hasn't. Not that he's been home since this all happened apparently. He's not even sure if he really noticed the stars going out. The last few days have been strange.

He had noticed Sunjata looked different but he has chalked it up to time and you know, the lack of tattoos. Time pocket sounds more fun though. "Hope you were a masochist that day then." As jokey as he's trying to be, he's glad his friend is mostly alright. He can't imagine having something like that burned out of him. Locke notices the shiver and frowns softly to himself. He wishes he could do something more for Sunjata but he's no healer and he has no magics.

"I like Frey well enough. I guess. And have I met Ludo?" He huffs something between a laugh and a scoff. "Pretty sure you were there. Fucker crowned me and then pantsed me in front of everyone, including Maeve, who at the time was my ex and I had just found out she was pregnant. Some kind of sick fuckin' joke or something." It'll probably be funny to him some day but at the moment, hardly. "Doesn't help that I don't think Remi likes me so much." He's done his best to avoid the other man.

I wanna make up my mind
But I don't know myself

SUNJATA

i was never the sharp knife, but i was never the dull mind
i was somewhere in between, a thorn, an acquiescent

The joke reaches his ears and Sunjata snorts in response, a shrug of a shoulder before he’s leaning forward again, undoing one of the straps of the bandages to readjust it. In the process, it reveals quite a few black and blue bruises along his ribs and his side. “Mm well, it happened after, so.” So much for the fun afterglow of sex, especially with a deity, right? “I got to keep all my shifts, at least. None of the fancier perks so far, though.” He murmurs offhandedly, wrapping the bandage around his torso again to ensure it’s tight.

“Ah, I think I was… Wasn’t paying too much attention if I’m being honest.” Needless to say, Locke, Sunjata hadn’t witnessed anything. But there’s still the lingering internal amusement that he no longer shares down the attuned bond for Locke’s experience even if he was still upset about it. Regardless, the subject of Remi has him shrugging again, casting a steel gaze toward Locke. “I imagine you’re in a better position to Remi than Nate is.” A dark brow rises.

so you said it was for me, when you tried to break me
well you can save your breath, i know, i'm not the kind you pray for