you were more than just a short time

ISLA

He makes some good points, Isla jotting them down with a pencil before she forgets, marking where he's made comments and where they seem to be in alignment before setting down the utensil to take him through the supplies. Except by that point, whatever remark he wants to make is largely nonsense, and she's arching an eyebrow and smirking, prepared to ask him to try it again in a language she understands when his soft weight sinks against her.

It's no trouble for Isla to sit still and silent for hours on end, but she gets the impression Sunjata will wake up with a crick in his neck like this, so it's with a murmured word to him that she coaxes him to lay down, before returning to her plans. Now it's less asking for suggestions and more thinking out loud, just to ensure the hum of her voice is there to fill the silence.

And in the morning, when they set off out of the Refuge to go and scout out a good place for the building, Isla makes no mention of it. She's back in her dress now that it's dry, having to pick her way around particularly muddy patches after the night's storm, but it's a clear and breezy day today. "You mentioned we could make our own river and water sources," she murmurs. "I'd forgotten you could make water like that. So I guess we could build wherever feels right."

apres moi le deluge
after me comes the flood

SuNJATA

the flood

He doesn’t stir or wake again after settling – largely in part because of Isla’s voice, keeping him tethered in a way that keeps the nightmares at bay at least a little bit longer. Sure, the dreams are still tense, but they don’t wake him in a cold sweat like before, and when it becomes too much he simply turns onto his side or his back, more soft snores filling the air alongside her voice of plans.

And when the morning hits, he’s woken mostly rested, showered and cleaned up enough that when they set out he listens to her comments (only half remembering the offer he’d made about the river). “We could give it a whole moat if we wanted to.” He jests to her with a soft smile – relatively at ease compared to the trauma they’d shared with each other yesterday. He thinks it’s the fact he got more sleep than he has in the past year and a half. “I think if there was something strictly out of our control, Frey may be willing to help.” They break the edge of the Refuge and he feels all the magic and shifts come back to life within him, and his steps slow as he glances around the invisible perimeter, looking over toward the large green hills in the distance, broken up by the fading flowers from Longheat.  

“What about against the hills there? Might have a nice view of Meadowreach, you could see the Refuge from there, and we could dig out the river to meet up with the one that breaks by the Refuge?” He asks, his lightning scarred hand lifting to point to the section he’s talking about.

love will save you, but it won't save me

BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3

ISLA

"A moat?" Isla slants a fanged smile his way, the arch of her eyebrows telling that she's not entirely sure whether he's joking. "If we're going to do that, we'd better make a big tower and a nest at the top, for you to perch in as a dragon." Gazing back towards the ground to hop over some sodden, soft mud, Isla shivers to herself as she feels her upgrades seem to switch back on.

"Mm?" Rolling her wrists and flexing her fingers, she turns to gaze across to where he points, offering a gentle nod. "It would be protected from the worst of any rain or storms, too," she agrees. "And we could try and dig out a trail connecting it to the Refuge, so it doesn't feel disconnected."

Smiling more earnestly now, she gives Sunjata a gentle nudge with her elbow. "Good eyes," she says. "Shall we go over and take a closer look?"

apres moi le deluge
after me comes the flood

SuNJATA

the flood

“We’ll need to build an entire castle.” He rumbles with a soft huff of a laugh, winking toward her as she offers him a fanged smile alongside of the nest for his dragon shift. He rolls his shoulders before the dragon wings sprout from them, leathery and large, with that silvery scar tracing down the joint of one of them. He tucks them in, but not before one nudges Isla a hint playfully.

He half turns back toward the Refuge while they walk, imagining rather than a trail perhaps they could lay out some kind of actual road. “A road perhaps, make it feel even more connected.” Comes the thought out loud, before she nudges him back and he nods, the dragon wings disappearing just as quickly as they arrived while he steps off to the side, away from her a small amount so he can shift back into that Pegasus shift from the day before, lowering one multicolored wing for her to hop on in order to speed up the process.

Once she’s on he takes off and they’re at the spot relatively easy, landing without issue among the dying flowers as the leafchange wind edges in, and he shifts back to himself to look back to where the Refuge is. From here it’s a bit of a distance, but you can still see the little village clearly. “I think it’ll be nice, actually.” He offers softly, still looking around to see what markers he can see from this spot.

love will save you, but it won't save me

BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3

ISLA

"I didn't account for a castle in any of my plans, Sunjata," Isla tells him playfully, only to let out a surprised yelp as she's nudged with a dragon wing - a wing that nearly sends her stumbling into a muddy puddle. Were it not for the sudden appearance of the pegasus (and the offer of flight, something Isla will never ever not enjoy), she might have hatched a plan to make sure he doesn't leave here at all clean.

Alas, it's soaring towards their potential new brothel (and it still makes her scoff at the thought, honestly) instead, and she dismounts onto sturdier ground to sweep her hair up into a high tail so the wind can't take it. "A road," she agrees with a nod, turning to survey the area as well. The Refuge is visible, as is Meadowreach, and if she turns the other way she can just about make out the Boondocks, too. With the foothills at their back, though, they're nestled in relative safety.

"I like it," she says. "I think this might be a good spot. Shall we mark out the boundaries? If we get the foundation ready before we go looking for supplies, that might move things along a bit quicker?"

apres moi le deluge
after me comes the flood

i saw you comin' with the gun in your hands

Her complaint of a castle missing from her plans is met with a small amused smirk, one that changes as quickly as he shifts to a Pegasus and offers her a ride over. And once they’re settled, perhaps his crimes have been forgotten as she agrees about the road. For now, though, he surveys the area and the markers around, returning his gaze to her as she mentions that she likes it. That makes two of them, and that’s what matters in the long run isn’t it?

He realizes shortly after that he doesn’t have any actual markers, and instead only manages to have the ability to dig out the corners as a dragon, so eh flashes her a small apologetic smile. “Sure. I can start digging out the perimeter for the foundation so we’ll know?” He suggests, already stepping back to give himself room to shift. “Would you mind pointing them out for me?” He asks her, briefly, before he shifts into the large scaled dragon shift, hands now turned into large black claws with sharp tips already digging into the earth as he flexes his hand.

Once she’s pointed out one end according to her plans, he’ll start carving out the earth – finding it so much easier than before when it came to building the safe haven in deepfrost.

i can't want this, i can't want this

SUNJATA

ISLA

"Sure, that sounds fine," Isla says with a soft smile, stepping back as well as she senses Sunjata prepare to change into his (arguably) most impressive shift. And she's always left speechless by the appearance of the dragon, dwarfed by the size of it, standing in the shadow of mighty, leathery wings and a maw full of razor sharp teeth. Is she smiling to see it? Maybe.

Anyway.

Checking her plans from her pack and unfolding a measuring stick to get the exact plot, she points out the corners for Sunjata to gauge into with his claws, until they've got a rough square to work with. "Do you think you could join it all up, just in case it rains again? I wouldn't want to lose the marks," she calls to him. "Or if you could rake up the earth around it, it should be ready for us to build on when we come out here next."

apres moi le deluge
after me comes the flood

i saw you comin' with the gun in your hands

He doesn’t mind doing whatever it is she wants done – the dragon shift, paired with the softer earth (still so used to the frozen ground being impossible to break through back when he made the refuge) his claws cut like butter through the corners that she points out. He manages to carve in the edges, his large boxy head drifting closer toward her at her request – a grey blue eye with a slit pupil meeting her face at the request.

He can’t answer in this shift, but he can bob his head in an easy nod to her first request, deciding to go all out just in case it rained a lot. He doesn’t know if it will, but it’s something. His wings tuck in tight along his back and he moves down from one point to carve out a trench to meet up with the other – again and again, only breaking up his stride when he has to pull a particularly hefty rock out of the earth to toss over into a pile on the outside of their little square. And soon enough, the dragon finds himself panting, claws covered in clay and dirt, but a trench is made to connect each and every corner.

i can't want this, i can't want this

SUNJATA

ISLA

It's only when he begins in earnest that Isla realises how soft the ground is, the Remedy's lips parting to warn him not to overdo it but, well, here they are anyway. She tilts her head to watch the large rock go hefting away some distance from their foundation, Isla grinning and tilting her head. "I think we could carve the name of the place on that," she calls to him. "What'd you think?" Not that they have a name, yet.

By the time the deep trenches have been dug, she can't help but wonder how muddy Sunjata will be when he turns back into himself; but more on that later. Feeling a little useless given how much work he's doing while she stands on the sidelines, she hops over the nearest trench to stand inside the square he's made, the breeze sharp enough for her to turn up the collar on her coat.

"Do you want me to take over for a bit?" she calls to him, somewhat hesitantly. They both know she can do it, but what it entails might be a little too close to home for both of them.

apres moi le deluge
after me comes the flood

SuNJATA

the flood

The dragon casts a glance back toward the large rock, the shape of it would make for a good marker if they buried half of it back in around the entrance. It’s an option he snorts his agreement to – still unsure of a name, but realizing that they might as well use the material around. It’s got no other purpose right now anyway.

So the dragon rests for a moment once it’s dug, looking back over toward Isla as she offers to take over for a bit, some amount of hesitation as the understanding hits. But despite it, there is the ability that they can share it, that his abilities could be hers, he’d just have to get past the way the bite reacted with him even though he knows how next to impossible that would be.

Might as well rip off the bandaid for the sake of pushing through this, right?

Sunjata shifts back into himself, completely coated around his arms and legs with mud, flecks of it crossing his face and parts of his chest while he works to catch his breath, stepping over toward Isla to get closer to her. “Would make things easier, wouldn’t it?” He asks softly, already having made up his mind. Would it really be that different from the bites he’d shared with Neron and the other Ascended? At least it wasn’t strictly a Nate thing.

He can pretend and compartmentalize it. The surprising amount of sleep he’d gotten the night before ensures that his mind is functioning better than usual and he’s confident that he can do it. “So long as you’re comfortable with it, too.” He adds, neverminding the fact that she’d offered it in the first place.

love will save you, but it won't save me

BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3

ISLA

"I'll take that as a yes," she says in response to his snort, grinning and standing by as Sunjata shifts back to himself. "You're going to need a shower," she informs him, in case he's not aware of how he looks, before there's an entirely new thing to feel awkward about. It isn't even the first time she's bitten him, but this is... well, they both know. For Sunjata it's likely worse, given the ties he's got to Nate, but for Isla it's merely the recognition that she hasn't felt anything in over a year.

But it's not about that - it's about getting the foundations done for the building, and if she tells herself that enough, maybe she'll be able to compartmentalise it as well. "It's not as though it's brand new," she murmurs, smiling and stepping up towards him. "I'll make it quick," she promises, taking a long breath she doesn't need and leaning up to rest a hand against the side of his neck, the her lips pressing to his throat.

Only Isla has completely underestimated what it would be like to feel after so long, and although she's promised it will be fast and transactional, as her teeth break the skin and the flush of physical sensation floods her body, she's entirely a slave to it. Humming a note of need and pleasure against the Flood, Isla all but melts against him; like a traveller dying of thirst who finally gets a sip of water, suddenly nothing else matters.

apres moi le deluge
after me comes the flood

SuNJATA

the flood

“Again.” He comments about the shower – he can already feel the mud and clay hardening on his skin from the breeze, sticking the clothes to his body as he steps over toward her and watches as she takes the final steps to close the distance. As for making it quick? He wonders how well that’ll work out, perhaps she’d be able to but he isn’t so sure for himself. After all, he’s only kept up with one of his coping mechanisms.

The rest feeling far too guilty to indulge in. But he stands, one hand at her side as her lips find his throat, the only clean part of him at the moment, and he sucks in a deep breath just about the same time that those fangs dip in. And where Isla has underestimated how it feels to feel again, Sunjata’s underestimated his memory of the bite, how overwhelming it becomes the second that it starts.

She melts against him and his hand at her side tightens at her hip, keeping her there while his other lifts to pull her closer, his legs start to tremble and his breath catches in his throat with a whimper that edges toward a deep rumble of a moan as the sensation works through him. He flushes, his body reacts, a pressure very clearly growing and pressing against Isla, lust and desire replacing any hint of where he otherwise might feel guilty, and he burns so much that the horns spiral from his head, dragon wings sprout from his shoulders, encasing them in their own little cocoon of darkness as if it might block them from the outside world to indulge.

love will save you, but it won't save me

BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3

ISLA

Isla can't help but react in turn, grinding against Sunjata and letting her free arm loop around him to pin him close, and that's even before the wings come up to shroud around them. Quite why they're doing this and what they're meant to be achieving is lost to the feel of him, the heat that radiates through her from the iron hot flush of blood on her tongue. The hand against his neck sneaks up through the back of his hair before gripping at the base of one horn, tugging his head further to the side to get better purchase.

By the time sense returns to her enough to part her jaws from him, a river of crimson will be soaking into the mud on his clothing, one of her legs having hooked up and against his hips, as if she might be able to straddle his lap even while he's still standing. And as they do part, there's a breathless and dizzying couple of seconds where Isla can do little more than pant a needless breath against his throat, able to feel Sunjata's pulse (in more than one place, ahem) like the thunder of a drum.

It's at that point that Isla realises what has happened, the Remedy clenching her teeth and wincing as she tries to extract herself with as much dignity as she can (not all that possible, truthfully). "I am so sorry," she whispers. "I didn't realise I would-- I..." Clearing her throat, she wipes at her mouth with the back of her sleeve. "Well, that's embarrassing."

apres moi le deluge
after me comes the flood

SuNJATA

the flood

It’s enough that it overwhelms every thought he has, so much that when she grabs the base of the spiraled horn he shudders under the sensation, head automatically tilting wherever she wishes to tug it. One hand moves to better grant her purchase against him, under her leg to keep her there, wings shifting to press in even more (ignoring the lightheadedness as it starts to spiral in). It’s probably good timing when she pulls away, but while the sensation of it breaks for her, he’s still quite clearly affected, wings slackening to give her space as her apologies break the air, not enough to break through the haze she’s put him in, but enough that he realizes she’s grown uncomfortable with how well it had overtaken them.

All he can do is clear his throat, suck in a sharp breath, hand lifting to press against his neck (where the pressure of it has his nostrils flaring slightly), and a hazy steel to his gaze that greets her pebble blues as she wipes her face from the stark red against her pale skin.

Of course, it’s still a bit awkward for him – standing there on shaky legs in the middle of their little boundary, wound up with no semblance of relief in sight, his pants quite clearly tented. “It’s okay.” He manages, his voice throaty and deep, accented far heavier than usual as if he’s released the conscious effort in making it more understandable.

He shifts awkwardly on his feet, legs still slightly trembling. “Don’t be embarrassed.” He offers, the heat of the moment still rampaging through him as he reaches out to cup her cheek, to offer her a small smile. He's feeling it far too much still to even think about anything else at the moment.

love will save you, but it won't save me

BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3