midnight at noon

 The

Nightingale

Phoebe paused mid sip, looking at him wide eyed over the rim of her glass. He couldn't look at Frey? But he was one of Frey's demigods! How was that possible? "Why is that?" she asked in confusion. The notion confounded her really, and she tilted her head, trying to make eye contact with him.

With the talk of swimming dropped, all that was left was the people he was trying to fix relationships with. And perhaps to his surprise, she knew both names well. "I didn't know you knew Melita." she said with some surprise. "It must be a bit complicated with Ru I suppose. How is it going?" she asked. Maybe if she showed real interest in his life he might be willing to be more open with her.

'cause I think everyone
deserves a chance to fly

Code blatantly stolen from Sky

relive who i've been at my worst,
every single night, looking for a distraction

Why indeed. “Because they look mostly like Nate to me with hints of Luci.” Both names she’d know well, both names of people he’d failed. Both names of people he considered to be his soul mates, the loves of his life. Both gone.

And he can’t bring himself to look upon the god he serves and see their faces in Frey’s own.

As for his relationships he’s trying to repair? There is a bit of surprise that she knows Melita and his head tilts back toward Phoebe a little, focusing on making sure his head is angled toward her even though his gaze lingers on the glass cradled between his hands. “Melita’s my niece.” He pauses, before continuing on about Hotaru. “It’s less complicated these days with Hotaru, thankfully. It’s just reconnecting.” He leaves out the part about how Nate and him had intended to marry Hotaru, how his deal with Safrin blew it up, and the following drama in Torchline that occurred.

the flood

waiting for the sun to rise
pretty sight for some hollow eyes

totally sniped from odd ilu

 The

Nightingale

Phoebe frowned at his response "Frey looks like Harper to me." she said, understanding the pain it caused to look upon the sex aspect of Frey. "But I still look. It...it's like a therapy to me. To see him in Frey's face reminds me I need to focus on healing my heart." she said.

But she hadn't expected Melita to be so close to Sunjata. "Your niece? So you're from the same world?" she said in surprise. She supposed she had never really asked where the redhead came from. It didn't seem to matter now that they were all in Caido. As for Hotaru, "I'm glad it isn't too complicated. It sounds like you're in need of friends." she said. And perhaps that was another reason Frey had wanted her to reconnect with him.

'cause I think everyone
deserves a chance to fly

Code blatantly stolen from Sky

relive who i've been at my worst,
every single night, looking for a distraction

There is a part of him that wants to tell her that despite everything, at least she gets to talk to Harper occasionally; that she can see his face, moving around, knowing that he’s okay despite the heartbreak with it. But he bites his tongue from it, instead only offering a quiet comment to the rest of her opening up herself to him. “It is difficult for me. Which, is something they knew. They gave me a blindfold to come and see them.” Because he had been avoiding them since the war ended precisely for that reason.

He doesn’t think he needs reminders to try and heal his heart when it feels like it’s an endless black void to begin with. What was there left to repair?

Topic of Melita was easier, surprisingly, because it rarely ever is when it comes to the fiery young woman. “Not exactly. Her father was from mine, married to my sister.” The one that had gotten Lusea and him caught, which had eventually lead to Lusea’s death, all for an attempt at using the information he had to get Saartjie’s hand in marriage. “He ended up going to a different world, where Melita’s from. I ended up coming here.” Some strange timey wimey thing, of course, though he can’t say how any of it works.

He didn’t even know magic was truly a thing before he’d landed here.

There is a small amount of surprise that brings his steel gaze back toward Phoebe, fully expecting her statement to come off like an attack, and when it doesn’t and seems actually genuine, the Flood simply nods. “It does sound like that, doesn’t it?” He agrees, softening to her. After almost all of his friends had died in the war.

the flood

waiting for the sun to rise
pretty sight for some hollow eyes

totally sniped from odd ilu

 The

Nightingale

"A blindfold?" she said in surprise. This was getting stranger and stranger, but Sunjatabwas one complicated man. So she shrugged and smirked over her glass. "Kinky. Just how Frey likes it." she said with a light laugh, hoping to bring some levity to the situation.

The situation with Melita was another complicated topic it seemed. Phoebe sipped her drink and considered him. "Does she hold that against you for some reason?" she asked, unsure why he would have to mend relationships with her if they hadn't met until this world. But she supposed family was complicated sometimes.

"Perhaps that's another reason Frey sent me to you." she said with a sip of her drink, finishing it off. "They care for you and your happiness in their own way you know." she said. A lot of times it was through tough love. Othertimes it was making connections that they were blind to for whatever reason.

'cause I think everyone
deserves a chance to fly

Code blatantly stolen from Sky

relive who i've been at my worst,
every single night, looking for a distraction

From everything he knew of Phoebe since he’d met her when he’d first arrived, how she’d seemingly been sheltered in a sense away from sex, Sunjata can’t help the surprised huff of a laugh that leaves him when she says kinky; the word coming from her certainly enough to get him out of those odd shadows that continued to try and creep in. “Yes, I think they enjoy it.” And he doesn’t mind, it keeps him from having to deal with coming to terms with someone else wearing Nate’s face.

Melita’s and his situation has him shaking his head. “No, her father was an asshole. We agree on that.” Graasvoel had been one of the worst people Sunjata had known in his lifetime – had done so many terrible things that he was glad to know that Melita often felt the same when it came to her father.  “I just had a tendency of doing stupid and selfish things to try and keep Nate alive. I burned many bridges.” He admits with a sigh, looking back down to his glass and takes another sip from it.

As she finishes off her drink, though, and comments about Frey sending her to him, he glances back up at her with a similar steel gaze that seemed to hide much behind them, not unlike they had been when they’d first met – only he’d been less scarred, less tattooed, less worn. And there hadn’t been the strip of grey starting to poke through the dark brown waves of his hair. “They mentioned that there was a part of you that still cared.” He admits, the Flood watching the Nightingale to see just how she reacts to that comment – wondering if Frey was wrong.

the flood

waiting for the sun to rise
pretty sight for some hollow eyes

totally sniped from odd ilu

 The

Nightingale

She was glad to see him take the joking well. It had been a serious conversation thus far so the levity she thought was welcome. The Nightingale twirled the empty glass between her fingers, watching him as he spoke of Melita and clarified situations. "Some bridges can be rebuilt though with work. I'm glad to hear you're trying." she said with a small smile. Family, especially blood relatives, were hard to come by for Outlanders like them.

His next statement took her aback though. Frey had said she still cared? It was her turn to glance out the window, retreating slightly from the conversation. She had a hard time still being open with Sunjata - so much had happened between them it was hard to forget. But Frey had bid her to let it all go. So she would try. "I do still care. I always have. It's why your decisions often made me angry." she said softly, glancing back over at him. It was uncomfortable to admit, but it was true.

'cause I think everyone
deserves a chance to fly

Code blatantly stolen from Sky

relive who i've been at my worst,
every single night, looking for a distraction

He is trying – desperately, as if he’s been trying to claw at the darkness in order to try and bring some light back into relationships where he can have a chance at trying to change something – even if it’s just previous interactions needing to be fixed. So far, things have started to go well, he hasn’t fucked up yet, and for once he really hopes to keep it that way.

Maybe it’s because he’s getting older and tired these days with the way his bones creak.

He does watch her curiously, though, as the tidbit drops from her lips, and while it sets her on the opposite foot just as she had done to him previously, he can offer some levity to her own admission too, flashing her a small smile that twists his scar. “I do sort of have that effect.” His decisions often left people upset and angry, and since the war ended? He’s trying to change that. “I am sorry, though, for being selfish. I… Grew up in a way where I never had a chance at getting anything I wanted and if I did miraculously get it, it was taken away.” He exhales a sigh and looks down at the glass in his hands, his left hand still sits his wedding ring from Nate, alongside the heavy lifted lightning scars, casting dark shadows along the rest of his bronzed skin, up his arm, under his shirt. “I made a lot of decisions too afraid and possessive and I’m sorry that I hurt you with them.” He glances up at her as the last few words leave his lips.

the flood

waiting for the sun to rise
pretty sight for some hollow eyes

totally sniped from odd ilu

 The

Nightingale

Phoebe managed a small smirk. "Well look at that, sincerely admitting to a flaw. Maybe you have changed." she teased. If he was having to rebuild so many relationships, it was clear he had a problem with making people angry - and at least he could admit to it.

She listened to his apology and tried to keep the reflex to be defensive down. He was trying, truly, and she could see it written on his face and hear it in the tone of his voice. For all of the apologies he had given her, none had ever felt quite like this. It came from his heart, not his mind where it was used as a manipulative tool. "Apology accepted." she said softly with a small smile.

Then she stood and made her way over to the bar, looking to refill her drink. "Now where do we go from here?" she said.

'cause I think everyone
deserves a chance to fly

Code blatantly stolen from Sky

relive who i've been at my worst,
every single night, looking for a distraction

Her teasing brings a light snort from the Flood, nodding lightly even as he has to carefully pick apart his words to figure out just what it was he wanted to say, knowing how his words could often get turned around. It seems as though he’s done a good enough job this time, getting everything out in the open exactly how he intends, and relief spreads through him as she accepts his apology, his eyes finding her honey brown ones as a genuine smile tugs on his face again.

Then she stands to go and get a refill, and Sunjata takes the moment to look out the window again over the expanse of hills, humming lightly under his breath at her question, as if he didn’t know just where Frey wanted them to go now that amends were being amended. “I suppose friendship?” He starts to say, questioningly, and sounding a bit stupid as he stands from the booth to head to the bar, slipping behind it while the bartender fills her wine glass and he picks up the bottle of whiskey to fill his own again, leaning to face her at the bar now rather than the booths they had been in before. “Again, I am not very good at these things.” He flashes her a crooked smile, takes a sip of his glass, and sets it down with a quiet sigh as the burn reaches his throat.

“Perhaps just keeping in touch. And, if you would like to go to Frey to ask them what they meant by their warning, I am willing to go with you.” He murmurs, conceding now that he doesn’t feel like he’s standing on such unsteady feet.

the flood

waiting for the sun to rise
pretty sight for some hollow eyes

totally sniped from odd ilu

 The

Nightingale

Phoebe smiled back at him, the look in her honeyed eyes indicating hers was genuine too. It was nice, she decided, not having an enemy out in the world. To make amends with the past and allow the negativity to remain where it ought - the past. She thanked the bartender for the refill and took a sip, watching as Jata refilled his own glass.

"To friendship then." she said with a smile, tilting her glass out to clink with his. Then she took another sip of her wine. "Practice makes perfect. The more you work at being friendly, the easier it will become." she said sagely. And he already was practicing by trying to rebuild bridges with the people he knew.

As for going to Frey? She considered the prospect again. "Let's see what this next season holds. We know the signs of things going wrong after all." she said. That would also give them time to work on this new, rebudding friendship they had.

'cause I think everyone
deserves a chance to fly

Code blatantly stolen from Sky

relive who i've been at my worst,
every single night, looking for a distraction

He hums a sound of agreement, half a snort before clinking his glass with hers and taking a sip, looking up to meet her gaze again. “I don’t think I’m unfriendly.” He murmurs, not unlike a playful pout, hoping the tone of his voice and the look on his face makes it clear to her that it isn’t a serious complaint but simple a teasing joke at his own expense.

The rest of it, though, with his concession to see their deity, he nods his understanding and finds some relief in how she pushes it off until next season — time to prepare and figure things out. “We do. We’ve seen enough of them.” He agrees, letting another playful look cross his face in the form of a gentle wince.

the flood

waiting for the sun to rise
pretty sight for some hollow eyes

totally sniped from odd ilu

 The

Nightingale

Phoebe smirked over her glass before taking a drink at his playful complaint. "But are you friendly?" she said teasingly. Jata sat somewhere in between in reality she thought. Neither friendly or unfriendly - just Jata. That seemed to be the case in most things in his life.

But new terms had been agreed to, friendships renewed, and plans made. It was time she took her leave. The Nightingale finished her drink and set the glass at the bar, giving him a smile. "I am pleasantly surprised with how this all went - I hope you are too. You'll have to come visit the Greatwood sometime." she said, turning to go. "Thanks for having me over. It's a lovely venue." she said before taking her leave.

-Fin

'cause I think everyone
deserves a chance to fly

Code blatantly stolen from Sky