guns for hire

SUNJATA

so, collect your scars and wear 'em well
your blood's as good an ink as any

Perhaps Frey had only unleashed the version of Sunjata that Maeve had never known – the promiscuous, playful, charming flirt that likely would have fit in better working for a brothel the second he arrived than the mercenary work he’d done before. He wasn’t like Phoebe, nevermind the fact that the Flood was experienced when it came to flirtations and sex while Phoebe certainly hadn’t been at the time. Now? He doesn’t know (or care really) what Phoebe’s up to, but what the Flood does know is that when Sunjata and the other Frey demigod had shared a bed, Sunjata had been her second.

And once things fell apart given his promiscuity? Well, he can’t help but to think of her as some sort of prude.

Maeve stops in her approach to the edge, though, and Sunjata’s brows draw up a fraction as he listens to her speak. It isn’t what he’s expecting, but the playfulness dies down to let the water lap against them as a certain type of seriousness starts to bleed into him. “He did stay with me. And we did talk about you.” Sunjata murmurs, as if to give her a bit of a tidbit of what had occurred over LongNight.

What secrets had been shared. What hearts had been hurt and put back together and bandaged in ways that hopefully would help them heal. And all he can do is wait for her to finish, his steel gaze peering down into her jade as Sunjata stands to help support her in the water, chest to chest, water seeping and dripping off of the both of them. “Locke did tell me about your feelings… And for the record, Maeve, I hadn’t known. I thought it was part of our prior agreement.” The whole, don’t catch feelings for me it’ll be a bad time, and yet…

And yet. “Love is difficult and it has its moments, sometimes you recognize it and sometimes you don’t. Sometimes it’s in the little things and sometimes you need to be told.” His shoulders rise and fall in a small shrug, inadvertently drawing her a fraction closer to him before his shrug finishes and they’re back to where they were. “For what it’s worth, I apologized to Locke. I didn’t know and if I had perhaps we could have talked about it beforehand.” But they hadn’t known and the past was the past and words had a funny way of finding their way back at the end of the day.

She moves to latch onto the encantado and Sunjata loosens his hold on her, trying to focus on keeping the creature compelled when everything starts to fall apart and he grits his teeth. She’s securely on the creature yet Sunjata’s somehow lost control of it – perhaps an after affect of becoming a demigod, one that hadn’t arisen until now, which is terrible timing.

So he latches onto the creature too, trying to even it out and stay near Maeve and it. “Maeve… Don’t be alarmed but I can’t control it anymore…” He tries to speak as soothingly as he can, before the playful dolphin surges through the waves of the water and Sunjata’s shifting to keep up.

go scratch your name into the clouds
and pull them all... d o w n

I get them all worked up and down on their knees, you see

It's the best she can hope for. The way he simply accepts what she says and adds his own to it. How often had she needed to be told? To have it screamed in her face because she was too blind to see it through Locke's actions? Too many times. Too many times to deserve the chance that she was getting now. They were trying again for what seemed like the umpteenth time, hoping beyond hope that this will finally be the one that sticks, but she feels it in her gut that it will be. As long as they talk.

Her lips twitch into a soft smile, allowing him to shift her as he moves in the water, knowing that she weighs next to nothing to him. "Don't worry, Jata. You were never meant to know. I didn't want to burden you with that. I wanted to sort my shit out and fix it." She hadn't wanted anyone to know because it was never meant to be more. It couldn't have been. Yet she'd inadvertently hurt them. It was the price she had to pay for her mistakes.

There was perhaps more for them to say on the topic, but she's shifting away from him and climbing onto the back of the dolphin, holding on tightly as it starts to move. Okay. Not too bad. She could do this. She just needed to not think about the fact that she couldn't touch the bottom and something could absolutely grab her if it wanted to. An easy task until Sunjata's voice is reaching her, telling her he's lost control of the creature, and slipping away into the waves as it surges forward. "Jata! It's not panic. Not quite, but it is edging into that territory as the dolphin heads for deeper water and all Maeve can do is hang on.

Maeve

and catch a cold heart staring at the water, babe

“So I can see.” Sunjata murmurs lightly, flashing her a small amused smile. It’s a smile that fades, however, as he gets her onto the encantado and everything starts to fizz out – even his partial shifts, disappearing into next to nothing but the animals that linger under his skin. The encantado starts to move, Sunjata informs Maeve of his inability to control the creature, in as soothing of a tone as possible – before it’s a bit too late because it’s going for it - taking Maeve to the deeper waters despite the slight rockiness of the waves.

And Sunjata, while he’s a great swimmer, he can’t catch up on his own.  Her voice reaches him and he pushes himself out into a bit deeper waters to not beach himself as he shifts into his orca shift – speeding up to try and catch up beside the encantado, to give Maeve something else to latch onto, a long dark dorsal fin with a shark bite scar sticking out of the water while a steel eye encased in white rises out of the water occasionally to make sure she’s doing alright.

Aside from that, there isn’t much he can do but to try and get her to hop onto him – to realize that it is him, and that he isn’t here to eat her.

remember you flew

SUNJATA

I get them all worked up and down on their knees, you see

Maeve clings to the dolphin for dear life. She's been scared of the water, but it's never been like this. Not since the time she nearly drowned. Her muscles lock, keeping her in place and not daring to let her grip ease, too scared of what might happen if she did. Maeve can't help the way her vision tunnels onto the waves ahead of her, only able to focus on a singular thing in that moment, unaware that he's still trying to remain at her side.

The spray of water is hard to see through and Maeve turns her head away from it, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment against the sickness in her belly, twisting her stomachs up in knots. Only then does the sound of another body breaking water catch her attention. She forces her eyes open again, jade gaze locking on the orca swimming next to her, noticing the shark bites first. He's on the other side of her and she's not sure how to get over to him without completely letting go of the dolphin she's currently on. "I- I can't reach you!"

Maeve

and catch a cold heart staring at the water, babe

He continues to push through the waves, the orca shift in him taking control a bit more — growing restless and wolflike as he tries to keep up with the dolphin. The encantado continues its desperate attempt, this time a bit more wild and worried given that Sunjata’s right there. It tries to pull away but Sunjata is quick to follow.

And between the breaks of the waves he can hear her say he’s too far away, so he draws closer. Pushing himself so that his body lines up against the frantic encantado, his side bumping against her leg with smooth, cold blubber. And with it, he presses in, trying to angle himself so she can grab his dorsal fin.

remember you flew

SUNJATA

I get them all worked up and down on their knees, you see

The dolphin attempts to flee with her on its back, knowing when it is clearly outmatched, but Sunjata is faster. Much to Maeve's relief. He presses closer, cutting through the water with his powerful body, pushing until he's right against her again. The Nightshade twists her body, attempting to angle it so she can latch onto him, stretching one arm out to grab ahold of his dorsal fin. It all happens quickly after that.

The encantado veers away sharply just as she leaps off of it, changing her trajectory drastically, leaving her to plunge into nothing but open water. Maeve's jade eyes widen with fear as she realizes what happened, only having a moment to put together what all went wrong before she's plunging beneath the waves, panic lodged in her throat. Her legs kick desperately and she attempts to remember exactly how to tread water, but her panicked mind doesn't do her any favors, causing her to flail wildly instead as she begins to sink.

Maeve

and catch a cold heart staring at the water, babe

He can feel the tips of her fingertips touch the smooth side of his dorsal fin before it all falls apart. The encantado veers sharply and Sunjata’s a bit too far behind. He spins as quickly as he can in the water, albeit not much, before he careens toward her again, slipping beneath her flailing arms.

Once he’s positioned where he needs to be, he pulls himself up, hoping to get her to drape across his back with the scarred dorsal fin at her front to latch onto. And soon enough he’s pushed into breaking the surface more, stilling himself in the water to help her get situated.

remember you flew

SUNJATA

I get them all worked up and down on their knees, you see

The fear that runs through her is a real, visceral thing. It claws at her insides and she wants to scream. The desperate need for air urging her to breathe in, but she just manages to keep from doing so, knowing that it would only lead to water in her lungs. There is movement beneath her, water rushing and somehow pulling her deeper before something is pressing against her in the dark, urging her up and up until the surface of the water breaks. Blindly Maeve grips onto the smooth curve of Sunjata's fin, gasping and sputtering as she greedily sucks in lungful after lungful of air, chest aching with it.

A shaky hand moves to push her soaked hair from her face, laying limply atop the orca and willing her heart to slow as the adrenaline runs its course through her body. "Fuck." Is all she can manage to say as relative silence settles around them.

Maeve

SUNJATA

so, collect your scars and wear 'em well
your blood's as good an ink as any

He has her and he guides her back to the shallows, taking her easily onto his back and coasting through the slightly choppy waters – his shift making for an easy cut through the water and the ride itself isn’t that bumpy which helps to keep Maeve on top of him. But he knows that if he goes any further he’ll end up beaching himself, so he readjusts the second it starts to get a little tight for him, shifting down to his human shape and spinning quickly to keep her on him.

He knows how to swim, and he intends to get her completely out of the water. But doing it this way takes a bit longer, so he focuses on pushing them until she can stand without the water threatening her lungs. “There. You’re okay.” He murmurs, grasping her arm to ensure she stands on her own as he follows suit.

go scratch your name into the clouds
and pull them all... d o w n

I get them all worked up and down on their knees, you see

The moments that pass between breaking the surface and getting back to the shallows are a blur. Maeve barely even registers what's happening until there are arms around her instead. Weakly her own wrap around his neck, legs refusing to work as he keeps her steady in the shallows, letting her catch her breath against his chest. She's not sure how long they stay there like that, but eventually her head lifts and she looks up at him, "Don't really think any of that was a part of the plan." Maeve huffs, voice ragged as she attempts a smile.

Briefly her mind flashes to what would have happened should he have not been there to pull her out of the water or had he been unable to reach her. Finding the thought utterly to dark for her liking, Maeve pushes it away, taking a small step back from him even though she doesn't dare to let go. "Let's get out before I somehow manage to drown in three feet of water."

Maeve

SUNJATA

so, collect your scars and wear 'em well
your blood's as good an ink as any

He’d stay there for as long as she needs to catch her breath, to make it so the burning in her throat is bearable, to make it so she doesn’t think she’s drowning every second or two. Her huff, though, brings about a small hum of agreement from Sunjata. “It certainly wasn’t.” He agrees quietly, perhaps a bit remorseful. “It must have been a lingering thing from the change… It just hadn’t left fully yet.” He debates, unsure what had caused it but the more he tries it, the more it feels impossibly far away.

She steps a fraction away from him but still remains attached and his arms drop around her easily, keeping her close in case she tries to drift too far, ensuring that he has a proper hold before he starts getting them back toward the beach where the sand is underfoot and steady ground can offer her some respite. “Come on, you won’t drown.” He huffs, playfully offended. “I'm still here.”

It's an idle chat while they head up the beach back toward the public, a space to get her warmed up and comfortable.

- FIN <3

go scratch your name into the clouds
and pull them all... d o w n