(SE) wear your silver lining

i was raised as a scorpion
being pulled by the moon in a high tide

They differ in that way, the fact that Sunjata had been born and raised and conditioned into receiving undivided attention whether or not the other person wanted to. He had always been a higher born noble, used to being put on a pedestal and watched for leadership or detriment. And it’s a trend he’s continued here, despite the times where even he didn’t want to be so highly regarded. It’s too little too late for that, given the demigod status he’s fulfilled for the last couple of years.

Either way, the two of them look at each other as friends and nothing deeper than that, and it’s comfortable. Even as they decide on the Eye of the Storm being their eventual destination. At the confirmation, a soft smile is offered toward her before the waiter returns with their drinks and Sunjata carefully blows on it – unsure how hot it would be, but realizing there’s more sensitivity with the scar on the inside of his mouth when it comes to heat.

“Not much so far. I’m thinking about expanding it. Adding houses and an actual road to go through it. Make it liveable for people.” A small shrug over the information – very little to offer from the wilds region (for now, it seems). “What about here?” He takes a sip from his drink and relishes in the warmth, cooled off enough to not burn the hell out of his mouth.

the flood

that's why i'm broken, yeah,
am i a villain or a saint?

Cheer up and dry your damp eyes and tell me when it rains
And I'll blend up that rainbow above you and shoot it through your veins

As Soh listened to Jata's plans for his home region, she sipped on her drink carefully, a strange feeling of gratefulness blossoming in her chest. She'd been fortunate enough to inherit an established city to rule over, but the Flood was having to start from scratch. She didn't envy him, even as she knew that he would make it a wonderful place to live. "That sounds lovely!" she said with a smile. "I've always liked King's End, when I've visited. I could certainly see plenty of people wanting to live there." Including herself, if she didn't have responsibilities here. Sometimes she wondered what life would be like for her now if she hadn't taken so much onto her shoulders. Would she have moved to Torchline to be with Jude? Would they have ended up the same way they were now if she had?

But Jata had asked about Stormbreak, and Soh winced slightly. "We had a bit of an incident recently," she admitted. "A giant moth attacked the city. We were able to kill it, but it did some damage. We're trying to organize repairs now, but it's looking like it might be Flowerbirth before we can get everything back to the way it was. Other than that, though, things have been quiet. It makes me wonder, with Safrin disappearing, if it isn't the calm before the storm."

the Luminary

'Cause your heart has a lack of colour and we should've known
That we'd grow up sooner or later 'cause we wasted all our free time alone

code stolen from sky who stole it from odd

i was raised as a scorpion
being pulled by the moon in a high tide

Where Somalia believed it to be a lot of work (which it was, of course), Sunjata looks forward to it. It gives him an empty playing field, as it were, to be able to create and build a space for people to start to call home, able to create whatever it was people needed or wanted to build their life around.

“I look forward to it, honestly.” He murmurs, before he takes a long sip of the drink again, settling into the seat a bit. Petronella even starts to relax, settling in against Sunjata’s neck, leaching up the warmth.

He draws silent as he asks about Stormbreak, brows lifting at the mention of the giant moth and wincing with sympathy. “That’s terrible.” Sunjata murmurs, before Sohalia’s mentioning the fact it might be the calm before the storm. “It might be… Or it might not be. Hard to say.” He pauses, shrugging a shoulder. “We do have quiet periods with or without another impending problem.”

the flood

that's why i'm broken, yeah,
am i a villain or a saint?

Cheer up and dry your damp eyes and tell me when it rains
And I'll blend up that rainbow above you and shoot it through your veins

It was nice, this trading of stories, in a way that Soh hadn't quite been aware of before. She had plenty of friends, and they were always happy to listen - but they didn't always understand in the same way that Jata did, being a leader himself. They might have different leadership styles, and different goals for their regions, and all manner of things, but at the end of the day, they understood the deep responsibility they held for their people. It was something that Soh shared with precious few others, and it was a relief to spend time with someone with whom she shared it.

"I just worry," Soh confided. "I don't know what may or may not be coming, and I want to be able to prepare and protect people, but..." She sighed, then shook her head. "But you didn't come to listen to me worry," she said with a laugh, shaking her head as though to banish her concerns into the ether. "Hopefully I'm overreacting, and nothing will happen."

the Luminary

'Cause your heart has a lack of colour and we should've known
That we'd grow up sooner or later 'cause we wasted all our free time alone

code stolen from sky who stole it from odd

i was raised as a scorpion
being pulled by the moon in a high tide

When it comes to stories, Sunjata has plenty. And after that, he has even more. Some of them were relatable to Sohalia and some of them weren’t. And that was fine. It helped to make rounded decisions, in Sunjata’s mind (whether or not he did it with his actions were another story, far too prone to impulsivity that he’s been working on). So he collects his own opinions, and is more than happy to sit there and listen to her woes, and understand where it is his friend is coming from.

She cuts herself off with a you didn’t come to listen to me worry and the smile Sunjata offers is a tilt apologetic, understanding glimmering in his gaze as he shrugs a shoulder only to hear the mewling protest from Petronella who’s decided that shoulder is her perch. “Don't apologize. I understand. And there is no harm in offering your people all the opportunity to strengthen themselves whether or not there is a threat on the horizon.” Sunjata was often a believer in better safe than sorry.

Which is what caused so much of the strife in his life during the previous war. He tried to be safe and ensure Nate’s safety, cutting ties and betraying gods in order to make that happen. Only for it to not even work. But that’s another story. “One thing that Frey has told me is that there is always something. Whether this is it or something years from now, there will always be something bigger and worse than us. Does it mean we should dwell on it? No. But we can be prepared for the inevitable.” Perhaps not exactly the uplifting nature she may have heard of when it came to Frey, but it was a truth nonetheless. If not this, then eventually, there would be something. So might as well live, right?

the flood

that's why i'm broken, yeah,
am i a villain or a saint?

Cheer up and dry your damp eyes and tell me when it rains
And I'll blend up that rainbow above you and shoot it through your veins

Better safe than sorry, was something that Soh was learning to live by. She wanted desperately to protect her people, to guide them down smoother paths and keep them safe from all that threatened from outside her region. But at the same time, she knew that that was impossible. She was only one person - one young, inexperienced person - and even in her wildest dreams, she knew that she couldn't imagine every potential peril, nor could she come up with every possible solution. It was why she surrounded herself with advisors and friends who could help her. Still, at the end of the day, she feared that she was the one who shouldered the responsibility. She was the Heart, after all.

While Sunjata's advice might not have been the most uplifting thing she'd ever heard, it was, at least, pragmatic, and Soh smiled ruefully. "I suppose that's true. You'd think, growing up in Caido, I'd have learned to expect the next big thing by now," she joked. But she'd grown up sheltered and protected - perhaps too much so - and now she was paying the price for her naivete.

the Luminary

'Cause your heart has a lack of colour and we should've known
That we'd grow up sooner or later 'cause we wasted all our free time alone

code stolen from sky who stole it from odd

i was raised as a scorpion
being pulled by the moon in a high tide

She’s correct in assuming that she’d shoulder the responsibility. It was something all leaders did. He’d done it for so long that he stepped down the second he realized that he couldn’t shoulder Torchline’s responsibilities any longer, back when they had barely wanted him to hold it in the first place. He has his father to thank for that entire nightmare, and selfishly Sunjata hopes he’s been torn apart and eaten by all the manner of sharks and terrible beasts down at the bottom of Torchline’s ocean.

But that’s neither here nor there.

And so he sips from his drink easily, letting the warmth of the coffee seep into his bones as he offers his friend an easy smile. “I also think it’s fair to want there to not be a problem down the line.” After all, it was exhausting to be focused so heavily on protecting your people by any means necessary. People needed time to live and grow and expand, not work nonstop to prevent the next big thing. A balance needs to be struck.

the flood

that's why i'm broken, yeah,
am i a villain or a saint?

Cheer up and dry your damp eyes and tell me when it rains
And I'll blend up that rainbow above you and shoot it through your veins

Sometimes Soh wondered if she'd made a mistake, taking on the leadership of Stormbreak at such a young age. She was still a teenager, young and inexperienced and naive, as she'd shown on more than one occasion. But someone had to do it, and no one else had been willing - so she'd stepped up. At the end of the day, did it really matter that there were still whispers that she was unfit for the position solely because of her age? Did she really care about what people thought? Was she stubborn enough to push through the doubt - her own included - to come out on the other side?

Time would only tell.

Part of her success would rely on finding a balance of preparation and relaxation. Bad things would happen - that was just a part of living - and although she would try her best to prepare her people for it, there were no guarantees that she would succeed. Nor could she expect them to stay vigilant every moment of every day, waiting for the other shoe to drop. It simply wasn't sustainable to live that way. So they did the best that they could, and that was all that she could ask.

"Well, we'll find out whether there's a problem eventually, I suppose," she said with a wry smile. "But in the meantime - are you hungry, or are you good with coffee for now? We can head to the Eye whenever you're ready."

the Luminary

'Cause your heart has a lack of colour and we should've known
That we'd grow up sooner or later 'cause we wasted all our free time alone

code stolen from sky who stole it from odd

i was raised as a scorpion
being pulled by the moon in a high tide

For Sunjata, it had been the opposite. The Flood had been raised since he was a child to rule something. Granted, the goal had been to have him be as cutthroat and bloodthirsty as his father had been, a man that was so hardened that if you cut him he’d bleed iron. And to Shaju, Sunjata had always been too soft, to empathetic, too prone to impulsivity – likely because his upbringing had been excruciatingly strict. The only time it hadn’t was when he won his first trial, the celebrations lasting roughly two weeks where he was allocated freedom, before the training came back harder.

Some things he picked up, others he learned from books he shouldn’t have read. And even all of that hadn’t prepared him to be the most perfect ruler. There had been whispers in Torchline, too, about his claim on the land when he was Governor. It’s something that Sunjata believed came with the territory, at least.

“Oh, I’m ready.” Sunjata says, flashing her one of his traditionally roguish grins before it disappears behind the cup, draining the rest of the coffee with surprising ease – luckily for him it’s cooled down. “Maybe we can eat after?” A suggestion, unless she was hungry, but Sunjata could survive. And besides, he’s really looking forward to the Eye.

the flood

that's why i'm broken, yeah,
am i a villain or a saint?

Cheer up and dry your damp eyes and tell me when it rains
And I'll blend up that rainbow above you and shoot it through your veins

"Excellent," Soh said, draining her own cup of what little was left and leaving payment on the table before she rose from her seat, Tarak in her arms until the little griffin clambered up to perch upon her shoulder. "Eating after sounds perfect. There's actually a little restaurant not far from the Eye that I think you'll like." And if it happened to be the same one Koa had taken her to, well, she just wouldn't think too hard about it.

She led the way down the streets, weaving through the foot traffic and pointing out various landmarks and points of interest as they went. "I have to admit, it'll be nice to have some company," she said as they passed her shop, which was currently tended by a girl she'd hired not long before to keep her sales up while she pursued her duties as the Heart. "It's been a little lonely lately."

the Luminary

'Cause your heart has a lack of colour and we should've known
That we'd grow up sooner or later 'cause we wasted all our free time alone

code stolen from sky who stole it from odd

i was raised as a scorpion
being pulled by the moon in a high tide

Petronella settles evenly on Sunjata’s shoulders while he stands, adjusting his jacket only minimally to give the sea panther enough space to lock herself into so she won’t slip off of him. It allows Sunjata to focus on Sohalia’s suggestion of a restaurant not far from the Eye they could eat at. Flashing her a smile, he nods and follows her, humming a soft little “can’t wait,” accented lightly.

The path they take is one that is unfamiliar to the Flood – not surprisingly, given how little he has been to Stormbreak, but he finds it easy enough to weave through the throngs of people given his height and scars, to the point it starts to feel like maybe he’s parting a sea in some ways. He manages to move through the people to step up beside her, still back enough that she can guide the way but close enough the conversation is easily heard, gaze flickering down toward her. “Why’s that?” He asks – wondering whether or not her council had been MIA or if it were for other reasons – admittedly lacking in the knowledge of what Sohalia’s been dealing with.

the flood

that's why i'm broken, yeah,
am i a villain or a saint?

Cheer up and dry your damp eyes and tell me when it rains
And I'll blend up that rainbow above you and shoot it through your veins

They made an odd pair - Sunjata, tall and dark and scarred, and Sohalia, short and bright and bubbly. It was amusing to see people part around them - whispering or staring or downright ignoring, as their natures commanded - though she suspected that the crowd parted more out of respect for Sunjata's appearance than her own leadership role in the region. In truth, it was often quite easy to blend into the crowd, when she wasn't trying to draw attention to herself, and today? Today, she just wanted to be her. Not the Heart.

She'd spoken without thinking, and her cheeks flushed as she realized she'd let some of her problems out without realizing. "Oh," she said nervously, unused to sharing her personal problems, except maybe with her closest friends like Tal or Flora. "Just - well, I had a boyfriend, but I think we're on a break now? And it's just been lonely without him around." She shrugged. "It's a long story."

the Luminary

'Cause your heart has a lack of colour and we should've known
That we'd grow up sooner or later 'cause we wasted all our free time alone

code stolen from sky who stole it from odd

i was raised as a scorpion
being pulled by the moon in a high tide

If nothing else has changed, Sunjata is still intimately aware of the wariness Stormbreak has with him – if for nothing else but the multitude of Ascended scars in his neck. But now, none of them existed, and it’s a series of marks in his skin alongside his tattoos that he thinks relatively little of these days, content to help break apart the throngs of people for them to get to their destination faster.

The conversation helps too, as she starts to explain and he listens to her woes, humming a sound of understanding. “I’ve had my fair few.” He offers in companionship, stepping up beside her to offer her a crooked smile. “I made a deal with Safrin once that had my husband leave me for a time.” Maybe it was similar, maybe it wasn’t – but Sunjata had made a deal to try and save Nate’s life, only to end up with a daughter out of the ordeal, something that had been entirely impulsive and pushed the Ascended demigod and Hotaru away, leaving him to raise Kamaria alongside ruling Torchline, which had been an equally as lonesome time.

Except, Sunjata had been different then, spending a fair amount of his time in the brothel in Haulani. But that’s neither here nor there. “Long story short, I get it.” He nudges her lightly with his elbow as they walk, trying to offer some amount of companionship.

the flood

that's why i'm broken, yeah,
am i a villain or a saint?

Cheer up and dry your damp eyes and tell me when it rains
And I'll blend up that rainbow above you and shoot it through your veins

Maybe it was silly, to voice her worries and concerns to Sunjata, of all people - Sunjata, who had been through so much and lost the one he loved permanently. At least Jude and Koa were alive, the possibility of a happy ending still there for them. At least she hadn't had to make a deal with a god, get on a deity's bad side, almost die because of it - there were so many things she hadn't experienced that he had, that made her woes seem trivial in comparison. She winced, but smiled sheepishly up at him.

"Thanks, Jata. I know there's other things to worry about, but I keep getting distracted. I feel like I should be able to separate my personal life, but it's hard. Does that make me a bad Heart?" she asked, silver eyes looking up at him nervously. She knew there were others better suited to her post than she, but it was one thing to know and another thing to know. Maybe all this time, she'd had her head in the sand while she was really only hurting her region.

the Luminary

'Cause your heart has a lack of colour and we should've known
That we'd grow up sooner or later 'cause we wasted all our free time alone

code stolen from sky who stole it from odd