sad eyes on happy faces

Isla take your medicine She'd promised Sunjata she'd start leaving notes to say when she was going out. And so Isla has done just that, though gone hunting probably doesn't account for the entire day. And now that the sunset is bloodying the sea beyond the Boondocks, it's safe to say that the note isn't worth the paper it's been written on. Isla will apologise later, when she remembers. Unfortunately, for right now, there's very little on her mind that doesn't involve seaglass green eyes staring right through her, an old, wrinkled letter that still sits in a drawer back at the House of Midnight, and the sort of pain that feels like her insides have been scraped raw and hollow. Standing at the edge of the Boondocks, bare toes in the grass, Isla considers stepping into the water before reminding herself not to be so dramatic. Granted, the evidence of previous drama lays scattered all around; hunks of old driftwood scarred by a tiger's claws; broken bits of crates from old ships that she's thrown at the jagged rocks; the carcass of a deer. Huffing out a long, shaky breath, Isla rubs at eyes that are already red-rimmed, and reluctantly turns for home.

save your eyes for someone brighter than i will ever be

She has left a note, but with it the absence of what Sunjata assumed would be relatively short turns into far longer than even he anticipated. Now, given his attempts at not living in the past any longer, he’d try and give her the benefit of the doubt. But something has felt off, and he can’t convince himself that she hasn’t been gone all day without there potentially being a problem. What if she’s hurt? What if something happened?

It’s a battle with himself for most of the day as the hours go by and he asks those at the House of Midnight if they’ve seen her yet over and over again until it’s likely become annoying. But the answers all the same, and Sunjata can’t help his curiosity any longer.

But he can play it off unlike last time, the dragon departing in a random direction, scouting above for her when he passes by the old house he’d shared with Nate. He lowers himself to the ground before it, stepping inside for a few minutes to see what had changed in the dusty tome of their previous house. Honestly, nothing much. But there are things left behind that he hasn’t thought about, opting to retrieve a couple of books left on the shelf.

And he departs, half preparing to shift again when he sees Isla, nonchalantly approaching despite seeing the carnage of boxes and the remnants of a deer. His brows pinch as he comes closer, offering out a “hey, everything okay?” As he approaches.

don't hesitate to bring me to my knees

SUNJATA

Isla take your medicine Thinking she's bought herself enough time to reorder her thoughts, the sound of Sunjata's voice isn't exactly unwelcome, but it does startle Isla out of a much needed chance to rub a balm on her mood. "Oh," she says, her voice a whisper given that she's almost lost it in the process of... whatever she'd been doing on the Boondocks. "I..." Yeah, it's fine. That's what you say, right? Maybe as an Ascended, sure. But for all the advantages of being hot-blooded again, there's no styling out something like this. "I ran into Remi," she continues, smoothing out a red stain on her yellow sundress. (It's not her blood - it's from a unicorn). "He..." She shrugs helplessly, because it's not as though the meeting would have ended any other way, is it? "I feel very alone, after seeing him. That's all."

save your eyes for someone brighter than i will ever be

He doesn’t mean to startle her, and he does tuck the books under his arm as he jogs to catch up to her, barely hearing her if it weren’t for the hEAR in his ear. But he does, and as she trails off and he notices the blood on her, quickly scanning her to make sure that it wasn’t her own, he stops rather abruptly when she tells him that she ran into Remi. There’s an immediate frown as he stares at her with unreadable steel eyes, a soft little “shit,” leaving him as he exhales a sigh.

“I’m sorry.” He offers, doing his best to be sympathetic. He can’t relate to it, not entirely. He’s never had anyone lose the memories of him, so he simply sits in silence for a few seconds as he gathers his words, never quite being good at them to begin with. But he imagines she probably wants to continue to walk, though, and unsure whether or not she wants to walk in silence, Sunjata can’t help but to offer a soft little “you aren’t alone. I’m here for you.” Like a repeating mantra between the two of them, there for one another when everything became too much.

don't hesitate to bring me to my knees

SUNJATA

Isla take your medicine "It's okay," Isla mumbles, even though it very much isn't, and she falls into step with Sunjata easily enough as they turn towards home. Feeling fresh tears wanting to well up in already sore, tired eyes, the Remedy pinches the bridge of her nose and forces a breath in, as if to make her pull herself together. "I... fuck. I know, Jata. I'm sorry," she whispers, feeling as if she's taken his company for granted all of a sudden. "I'm just so tired of being left behind, you know?" Left to carry the memories of those who had died or burdened her with them; Varus, Remi, even all the Ascended who had perished at the hands of the war or the sparkbird. "I guess you know how that feels too, though." He shoulders a similar burden with Nate, but - and it's unfair to think it, but here they are anyway - at least Nate isn't walking around, still, staring through Sunjata like they'd never met. "It was my fault, anyway. I could have just left - I didn't have to introduce myself to him."

save your eyes for someone brighter than i will ever be

“Don’t be sorry.” He hadn’t taken her words as she thought she implied them, so it just goes to show exactly how he fails time and time again with words. It was simply an attempt to be a reminder that he was there for her whenever, not to make her feel bad, and Sunjata shuffles the books under his arm a hint awkwardly as he draws silent, listening and trying to get his jumbled mind to put the words together how he intends again.

He looks back over to her with a quiet little nod, unable to keep the shift in his tone as if reverting back to his previous Korofian habits might help him string the sentences along easier. “Yes, I know what that’s like too.” He agrees. Though if it had been Nate, Sunjata would drop everything to try and get him to love him again. And if that didn’t work, well, he wouldn’t be standing here right now. But those are things Sunjata doesn’t say, instead shifting slightly to wrap an arm around her to tug her into his chest.

“It’s not your fault. I’m inclined to believe it’s all his fault for doing it in the first place.” He mutters with a hint of annoyance toward the end. Remi and Sunjata have always had an odd sort of relationship, especially as the war trudged on, and the last he’d seen of Ludo’s demigod was right before he blacked out trying to retrieve the relic from Stormbreak, and then occasionally in dreams since then.

And even still, none of those memories were ones Sunjata wished to think on too long. “Perhaps it was a good thing you did introduce yourself.” Maybe he would think about what he’d put her through.

don't hesitate to bring me to my knees

SUNJATA

Isla take your medicine Isla melts against Sunjata's side with little to no resistance, the Remedy's footsteps slowing so she might wrap her arms around him, hugging him tightly. "I wish neither of us knew what it was like," she admits, her voice muffled by his chest, and she'll apologise later for leaving his shirt wet with accidental tears. "He just thought he was doing what was best," she continues, having no idea why she feels the need to defend Remi especially given the fury with which she'd faced him only hours ago. Sniffling, Isla loosens her grip on the Flood enough to wipe at her eyes, shaking her head sadly. "He just looked at me like I wasn't there," she mumbles. "I doubt he will even come to King's End again, now that he knows I'm here. I just... there was so much I wanted to say, but none of it would have meant anything to him." And now she's left feeling foolish and upset and weirdly homesick, with nowhere to put those feelings. So instead Isla glances up at Sunjata and notices, for the first time, that he's carrying something. "You found books?"

save your eyes for someone brighter than i will ever be

His steps come to a stop as she wraps her arms around him, Sunjata’s arm tightening around her in turn, not minding the tears that wet his shirt. As she defends Remi, however, Sunjata just offers a noncommittal hum, finding no reason why she should defend him. But he doesn’t air those thoughts, simply holding her tight to him as long as she needs him to.

She loosens her grip, though, and continues and his hand lifts to rub a gentle line in her spine as he tries to figure out what might help. “Maybe you can write it all in a letter. Then one day maybe you can send it to him?” For Sunjata, he struggled with telling anyone anything close to his heart when face to face. He didn’t want to be looked at, trying to hide his face away when he spoke of anything that might be tough or too close.

But she questions the books in his arm and he pulls away to look down at them with a soft snort. “Mine and Nate’s old house is just over there. Thought I might get brave and go inside, found a couple books I remembered liking.” They weren’t stories, persay. More from the time of Sunjata indulging in his Caido history to try and work on a way to prevent the war. Even though that hadn’t worked, the books were still important.

don't hesitate to bring me to my knees

SUNJATA

Isla take your medicine Later, when Isla looks back on this moment, she'll realise why Sunjata is able to calm her down so much, and it will be as sad as it is anything else. It's because today he smells like ink and petrichor and botanicals; today he smells just like Remi. "Maybe," she mumbles, though the tone of her voice suggests she might well take him up on that suggestion. The letter might be novel-length, but if she doesn't plan to send it, that's fine, right? Wiping at her eyes as he steps back properly, the Remedy wraps her arms around herself instead, like that will help to hold herself together. "Oh? Shit, I didn't realise," she murmurs, peering into the distance as if she might be able to spot the house. "How was it, going back there...?" As for the books, she does manage a somewhat watery smile. "I can't stay up all night reading them to you any more, but I can try a chapter or two," she offers.

save your eyes for someone brighter than i will ever be

It’s likely a good thing that Isla doesn’t mention anything about how Sunjata smells in relation to how Remi had, some grudges deep within were hard to break through, and he isn’t sure the one revolving around Remi is one that he can break any time soon. So he remains silent as she considers his offer, knowing that in some cases when he’d written things down even if he didn’t intend to send them, he didn’t feel the weight of it as much.

But again, it would be up to her to decide.

So he shifts the subject, glancing back in the direction from whence he came. “Strange. We had a nice LongNight there, actually, before I came and took the Grounds over for you.” He pauses, looking back at her and stepping closer to wrap his arm around her shoulders again. “I’m pretty sure I know these ones mostly by heart these days, but it’ll certainly bore you to sleep I’d imagine.” He flashes her a crooked smile, leaving it open for her to decide whether or not she wanted to give it a shot. “We should expand the loft in the House of Midnight for all the books I’m hoarding.” He says absentmindedly, using the perfect terminology to describe his behavior as rooted in his draconic shift.

don't hesitate to bring me to my knees

SUNJATA

Isla take your medicine Frowning gently, Isla nonetheless tucks herself beneath Sunjata's arm, taking shameless comfort from the Flood even as she finds herself freshly wracked with guilt. "I almost wish I hadn't asked you now," she says with a sad smile. "You and Nate could have had more time out here, together." The things they thought they could do back then, when hope had still been a whispered thing against the mounting conflict. "Oh? What are they about?" Isla manages a smile at his remarks, surprising no one more than herself, and she peeks across at the books as they begin walking again, trying to spy a title. "I used to read medical texts to you, remember. It takes a lot to bore me to sleep." Then again, that had been back before she needed sleep. He's got a point, though, about the loft, Isla glancing up at him and nodding. "Maybe we can build some shelving into the roof space," she suggests. "You have been doing a lot of hoarding lately. Does Longheat make the dragon in you greedy?"

save your eyes for someone brighter than i will ever be

Sunjata shakes his head and puffs out a soft laugh, trying to pull the conversation away from the disparaging one they had just left behind. “Nate was there practically every week anyway getting things ready for the war.” The conversations they had over his interactions with Neron and the like, and suddenly Sunjata’s heart wrenches with a pang of guilt for the loss of the other Ascended as well, how Nate’s loss had understandably overshadowed the rest of the Ascended that had been lost.

As for the books at least, Sunjata lifts his arm to offer her a brief little peek at the titles as they walk back toward the House of Midnight. “History of Caido.” He offers by a means of explanation, settling in as she explains how they might be able to add more shelving into the roof space, before turning the question onto his dragon shift, a question that sparks a surprising laugh from Sunjata. “Not sure if it’s Longheat or all the time. Just… Now I have a place to put all my things.” The hand with the books under his arm lifts again to gesture when he speaks before he shakes his head.

“It’s an odd feeling, to be honest.” To feel so compelled to take and keep everything, protective over it to a fault.

don't hesitate to bring me to my knees

SUNJATA

Isla take your medicine Nodding her understanding but unable to quite shrug off the mantle of guilt and grief, Isla instead commits to distractions, and as the winking lights of the House of Midnight appear in the distance, they'll become all the more necessary. "History of Caido," she repeats in a drawl, peering across at the titles and raising her eyebrows at him. "I didn't know you were such a nerd, Sunjata." Her smile comes easier now, especially as the subject rolls on to his more draconic instincts, and she can't help but feel amused. "Is that why I keep finding things shoved under the bed?" she wonders; clothes, deer antlers, books, knick-knacks - she's seen it all. "I just thought you liked to hide your clutter - turns out you're sleeping on top of your hoard." Leaning against him a little more readily as they walk, she peers up at the rooftop of the House where the loft is. "Maybe we can extend and build you a little watch tower," she suggests. "For extra storage, and for spying."

save your eyes for someone brighter than i will ever be

“Really?” He asks in response to her calling him a nerd, his amusement twitching his face into a playful smile as he tilts his head down toward her, letting his steel gaze dance along her. “Have I not gone through the tale of my upbringing?” Where he had spent hours upon days holed up in the library back in Korofi, scouting out the books in the restricted section, purely for the information they held on the resistance he’d helped spark. “I have always been a nerd.” It isn’t his fault if people didn’t believe him.

A laugh barks from him when she tells him of his not so well hidden hoard under the bed and he shakes his head, exhaling a playfully exhausted sigh. “At least I know it’s safe there.” He tries to say, peering up at the lights of the House of Midnight as the boulder with the sign comes into view and the little dirt road starts to come to an end, the crunching of his boots soon drowned out by the sounds coming from the brothel. “Considering making me a dragon’s nest? How very kind.” As far as he knew, he was the only dragon that could be found in King’s End. Perhaps it would be fitting.

He opens the door with the hand holding the books, holding it open for her to slip in through before he follows suit, nodding to the man stationed at the front to make sure the riff raff doesn’t find its way into their establishment.

don't hesitate to bring me to my knees

SUNJATA