[SE] sweet as they come

Isla

It constantly surprises Isla, how many non-Ascended there still are in the Hollowed Grounds. And honestly it warms her heart too, knowing that there are people who would still be willing to be around them, despite everything. Not only that - non-Ascended need to eat. And that means markets are open.

She no longer needs to worry about the sun as much as she used to, an observation she absolutely needs to test when she gets a spare moment, and so it's with the Leafchange breeze whispering through her fair hair and the pale light on her paler face that she strolls among the stalls. Her senses might be dulled, but her imagination is as sharp as ever, and didn't they say you eat with your eyes?

If it's true, then all the candies and pastries they are selling are definitely delicious.

we're gonna separate ourselves tonight
we're always running scared but holding knives

// grass stains cut my bloody knees, it's goodpain, it means i can't be phased
that little death inside my sides, won't make it right //

He hasn’t heard about the fall out yet. He’s simply been home, waiting for their return, focusing on making sure that the twins have enough, making sure that he himself has enough, a thing that was typically left for Nate to figure out (the Ascended was so much better at it than Sunjata tended to be), but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t.

So today, he’s also out and about in the markets, drifting from place to place, getting food for himself and his children. But Sunjata’s always had a sweet tooth, and it’s what draws him right beside the blonde Overseer, distracted by grabbing sweets for himself for a brief moment before he remembers that he needs to grab some for Ludo. “If you’re curious about the taste I can certainly indulge myself and scientifically tell you what they’re like.” He muses to Isla, casting a sideways glance at her as a playful smile crosses his face.

he wins every time i find myself inside, alone all night

SUNJATA

Isla

Isla has been shamelessly absorbed with looking at the delicacies on offer, and she blinks herself back to the present at the sound of a very familiar voice. Already smiling as she looks across at Sunjata, the Remedy gives him an encouraging nod. "You are so kind," she purrs to him. "I'd love to know if those lemon bonbons taste as good as they look. And the toffees. Oh! And some of those strawberry tarts."

She offers Jata a pleading look, as if to say that it's all in the name of science, after all. "I'll even trade of them, and you can keep the ones you don't eat for later?" she suggests, nodding to the stall owner as if to tell him to go ahead and start packaging everything up. No is not an answer, evidently.

we're gonna separate ourselves tonight
we're always running scared but holding knives

// grass stains cut my bloody knees, it's goodpain, it means i can't be phased
that little death inside my sides, won't make it right //

“Whichever you want, I’ll be happy to be your lab rat.” Sunjata begins, flashing her a crooked smile, watching as she picks out all these different treats. His gaze lifts to her when she mentions he can keep the rest, humming a soft laugh in answer. “Good. I’m sure the twins would love some. I also should probably save some for Ludo, hm?” He can’t be too greedy after all. It’s the spirit of Leafchange.

But of course, the option of getting fucked up on tons of sweets for science sounds like a fun little birthday gift. “Thank you.” He offers her with a light little nudge into her side. Once the items are packaged up, he’s quick to pick them up and turn his steel gaze to her. “Infirmary or...? I feel like I only ever see you there.” He can’t help the light laugh that leaves him.

he wins every time i find myself inside, alone all night

SUNJATA

Isla

"Mm, I suppose you ought to save some for Ludo," Isla agrees, rolling her eyes. "People are leaving candies on their doorsteps, right? We can leave some on mine and you can take the rest home," she suggests, smiling politely to the merchant as they hand over the paper bag with the treats inside. "Though I would prefer to be able to taste them and eat them all myself." And pass out in a sugar coma afterwards, of course.

Allowing Sunjata to take the bag, Isla begins to lead them away from the market providing the Flood doesn't have anything else he needs to get. "Mm, I don't know if this is infirmary worthy, unless you are planning to have a bad stomach," she says, hiding a laugh behind her hand. "Would you like to go back to my place? I don't think I have ever invited you over."

we're gonna separate ourselves tonight
we're always running scared but holding knives

// grass stains cut my bloody knees, it's goodpain, it means i can't be phased
that little death inside my sides, won't make it right //

“I suppose.” Sunjata draws with a heavy sigh, a dramatic tilt of his head. Though he wonders what would happen if he didn’t leave the treats at the door. Either way, he hums a soft laugh and nods, grabbing the bag. He doesn’t need to get anything else. “I would say I prefer to not have to eat them all myself but we both know I would be lying.” Sunjata flashes her a wink, following her with content to be lead about wherever she needed to go.

As for the Infirmary and stomach aches, he hums a sound. “Hm, well, I have to say that you’re doing it wrong if you don’t end up with a stomach ache after.” At least in his experience – what bits of it he got to experience being an all too candied up child. “I’d love to see your place.” He says immediately, gesturing for her to lead the way as he walks beside her, realizing belatedly he’s never even seen where Isla lives or the general area of where the house sits.

he wins every time i find myself inside, alone all night

SUNJATA

Isla

"That isn't a bad thing, though. If you enjoy eating them all then it's like you're enjoying them for both of us, and as a medical professional I can assure you that I absolutely recommend it." Does that mean she also recommends getting a stomach ache, in that case? Maybe. They're about to find out, she supposes.

Setting off down the street with Sunjata, Isla feels more carefree than she has in a long time, and it's all in the name of getting the Flood a sugar high. "It isn't anything special. I have sent the Prince out on errands at least, so you won't be harrassed by a jealous companion," she assures him, turning a corner down a quiet little street towards the familiar green door of her home.

"And I don't have to use the place as an at-home clinic any more, so we'll have somewhere to sit," she adds, getting out her keys to unlock the door and welcome him inside.

we're gonna separate ourselves tonight
we're always running scared but holding knives

// grass stains cut my bloody knees, it's goodpain, it means i can't be phased
that little death inside my sides, won't make it right //

“You strike quite the compelling argument, Isla.” Sunjata rumbles, preceding a huff of laughter that rumbles through his chest. But he’s more than content to set off down the street with her, long legs making it easy to keep up as she follows the familiar to her path to her home. The green door is what he notices first, followed by her comment of the Prince. “I suppose I might be a jealous companion too if I spent a bunch of years as a… Slimey creature.” Sunjata murmurs a bit softer, almost in conspiracy, as if the Prince might just pop his head up like some kind of terrible jack in the box at his comment.

He looks around the porch as she gets her keys out, unlocks the door, and Sunjata steps in quickly and quietly after her, that soft smile still playing on his lips. “This is great.” He hums, appreciating the homeyness of it, (and perhaps feeling a smidge homesick himself). Without her saying much else, though, Sunjata makes a bee-line to the couch, taking a seat before he leans forward to pull out the candy and set them all out on the table, his steel gaze lifting to her with an amused smirk. "You get to pick what we set aside for Ludo and then pick one for us to try."

he wins every time i find myself inside, alone all night

SUNJATA

Isla

"So I have been told," Isla agrees with a cheeky grin over her shoulder. "Though I'm not sure you'd be jealous, exactly. You'd be more like one of those birds of paradise, I think. Preening and lovely and showing everyone how attractive you are now," she remarks, raising her eyebrows as if inviting him to challenge that mental image.

Not expecting the compliment but appreciating it very much nonetheless, Isla's smile softens as she closes the door behind Sunjata. "Cal is out for the day I think, but if he comes back I imagine you can expect him to join the experiment and make you try all the candy again for his benefit," she says, heading to the little kitchenette. "It would be my pleasure to choose. First, though - coffee? Wine? Anything stronger?" she offers.

we're gonna separate ourselves tonight
we're always running scared but holding knives

// grass stains cut my bloody knees, it's goodpain, it means i can't be phased
that little death inside my sides, won't make it right //

He doesn’t anticipate that answer from Isla, and it does cause a small little misstep in his mind from how he imagines the conversation going. So he huffs a laugh, nodding, rolling a shoulder in a small shrug. “I suppose you could say I’ve bloomed.” He hums with a charming grin, though he finds no fault in it. Sunjata isn’t entirely a jealous type anyway, only some instances sparking the majority of it (some of them intentionally), but recently? He can’t think of a time.

He starts to separate the candy once they’re inside, working on splitting them up versus the chocolates and the fruit ones, separating those into different categories, some that they have double of that he can set on the doorstep for Ludo, when his steel gaze lifts to Isla’s question. “Hm, wine might pair well with it, what do you think?” He won’t pass down the opportunity if she’s offering. As for Cal, though, he bounces a brow. He hasn’t met the man. Might make it awkward given the face that Finn had used back when the Halenani had collapsed… But that’s neither here nor there.

Sunjata doesn’t know it was Finn and it’s likely better off that way. “Haven’t met him. Heard about him though. Seems like a good guy.” He’s curious if she has anything to add to that, leaving the tail end of it open for her to interject should she wish to.

he wins every time i find myself inside, alone all night

SUNJATA

Isla

"Like a big, tall flower, yes," Isla agrees with Sunjata blooming, the medic grinning over her shoulder at him as she lingers in the kitchenette. She's absolutely not averse to wine with candy, nodding as if to tell the Flood that it's a good choice, before bending to get two glasses and a bottle of rich red wine. The more delicate stuff doesn't register at all in her tastebuds, so this is much better.

Once she's poured them both a drink, she returns to sit with him on the couch, setting down his glass and quickly dividing out the candies to be given to Ludo and the spirits. "Just so you don't accidentally start eating the offerings," she informs him, sipping her wine and raising her glass in a toast.

"I think you should start with some of the fruit ones, then move onto chocolate, and then finish with more fruit. It's what I would do," Isla informs him, as if this is a medical examination and not Jata eating sweets until he's sick.

She does blush, though, as they talk about Cal, not bothering to hide the warm smile on her face. "He's a good guy," she confirms quietly. "I think you'd like him."

we're gonna separate ourselves tonight
we're always running scared but holding knives

// grass stains cut my bloody knees, it's goodpain, it means i can't be phased
that little death inside my sides, won't make it right //

A big tall flower. If she hadn’t already made him out to be a bird of paradise, he might have joked about being some kind of sunflower. But that’s neither here nor there – and he listens as she tinkers in the kitchen, the shuffling of glass and the sound of the bottle as she picks it out. He focuses on working to separate them, and when she returns with the glasses to sit on the couch beside him and starts to separate them too, he takes the wine to take a sip from.

A pallet cleanser, somewhat. She separates out the treats for Ludo and he sets his glass down after toasting her and taking a sip, to move the lightning scarred hand of his over the fruits, hovering as he considers the options. “He’s the one with the metal arm, right?” He asks, in regards to Cal. And he picks a particularly interesting lemon treat (saving the blackberry ones for last given that those are his favorites), and he takes a bite.

One of his eyes squints lightly as he chews. “For a lemon treat it’s surprisingly sour.” He admits, snorting.

he wins every time i find myself inside, alone all night

SUNJATA

Isla

"Mmhm," Isla confirms around her glass of wine. "I took off his arm myself, but the upgrade was all the Voice. Makes him very good at DIY," she says with a chuckle, kicking off her shoes and tucking her feet up beneath her as Sunjata arranges his sweets. "Oh, a fan of blackberry? The strawberry ones were always my favourite." Nudging him, she settles back to let him enjoy the lemon bonbon.

And can't help but laugh, either, as he has the gall to tell her it's sour. "What did you expect it to taste like? Honey?" she asks, reaching forward to pluck up a wrapped toffee to offer it to him instead. "Here, that one should help."

we're gonna separate ourselves tonight
we're always running scared but holding knives

// grass stains cut my bloody knees, it's goodpain, it means i can't be phased
that little death inside my sides, won't make it right //

“What I wouldn’t give to be able to ignore accidentally smashing my thumb with a hammer.” Sunjata remarks perhaps a bit wistfully, but imagines it does make any and all kinds of repairs like that so much easier. But when she asks about the blackberry, he flashes her a boyish smirk, leaning in towards her as she nudges him. “When I was younger, my mother used to make me a blackberry pie for my birthday.” And given it was Leafchange now, he’s going to count it.

That and Nate won’t be around to help him make one they can share for both of their birthdays.

He swallows the bite and rolls his eyes toward her, taking the toffee and unwraps it. “Like a sweet lemon, not the kind that made the insides of my mouth water.” He protests, before slipping the toffee into his mouth and hums a content sigh. He nods with it, quite the relief from the surprising sourness of the lemon one. Definitely a winner in his book.

he wins every time i find myself inside, alone all night

SUNJATA