memories of a bygone age

And I came to, walking on the train tracks
How did I get here? And how do I get back?

Alys arrived promptly at noon.

She'd chartered a skyboat to drop her off at Wrenzoak's Refuge, and as she disembarked, she held her bags in one hand while cradling an ursur cub in the other. Once she was on solid ground, she set both down and paid the skyboat captain. She wished that Tal had been available. The trip would have been all the more pleasant had she been able to get both of her best friends in one place - just like old times.

With her accounts settled, Alys made her way through the Refuge and towards the brothel that it seemed Hotaru now called home. Sascha, playful as ever, bounded ahead of her, barreling forward a few steps before pausing to look over her shoulder for her bondmate. It was the ursur's first venture beyond the snows of the tundra, and she was ready to explore.

Upon her arrival, Alys picked up her cub and cradled her in her arms so that she couldn't run off and make mischief. She asked for Hotaru or Sunjata at the entrance of the brothel and waited, dark gaze flickering over the room. It was nice, she supposed, though she wasn't particularly interested in making use of their services. At least it was clean.

I've been up all night, let's stay awake
Push it further, you know I'll never break

Alys

// maybe we're endless, maybe we're infinite //

He doesn’t know what to expect when it comes to meeting Hotaru’s best friend. But he does corral Petronella onto his shoulder as her makeshift perch when he’s notified that Alys is here, steel gaze immediately looking to Hotaru in an uncharacteristically self conscious moment of do I look put together enough? He’s back to wearing his short sleeved shirts, a deep grey that contrasts with the scarred skin and dark tattoos, the shade of a short beard darkening his face alongside his freckles and bright grey eyes. His hair is kempt, combed somewhat back and off to the side, revealing the very same earrings worn in his ears that he refuses to take out. One set is for the hEARS while the second set dangle with feathers and navy blue, a gift from Nate he refuses to part with.

The rest of him is all the same – dark jeans, boots. But he does smooth out his shirt, removing a piece of fur from the shirt that had shed from likely one of his shifts. Regardless, once her approval is met, his arm slips into hers, hand intwining with Hotaru’s, and they descend the stairs to greet their guest. Sunjata remains silent, fully expecting the excitement from Hotaru at seeing her friend to be the first display, but he does offer a gentle smile – crooked in how the scar on his face has ruined the muscle there.

SUNJATA

Hotaru

Outside the traffic lights
They turn from green to red

In contrast to Sunjata’s worries, Hotaru has been brimming with restless energy all morning. Though she’s not a morning person at all, she’d been up with the sun and tidying up or otherwise hassling the staff with her constant check-ins, determined to ensure that every meal was perfect and all plans have no margin for error.

Sunjata looks amazing given the conscious effort he has put into his appearance, and Ru touches his elbow and leans up to kiss his jaw in silent consolation. Though her side of the bond has been a low buzz of anticipation all morning, now it reaches for him with sentiments reassurance meant to inspire confidence.

His hand in hers is the only reason she does not promptly snatch up her best friend, but she does step forward, her free hand reaching for Alys like a bridge between the two strangers as her beatific expression glows from within. Clearly intent on hugging her best friend with one arm while stubbornly holding onto Sunjata with the other. “Alys! How was the trip? No Tal?” The plan had been for only Alys to visit, but if she’d chartered Talyson then the Valkyrie would have expected at least a hello before his departure. Clearly eager to get things moving, Ru’s eyes turn between friend and lover. “We can either sit and eat in the bar or we have a room set aside, whichever you’d like more. And Sascha of course.” The Ursur will likely want room to roam, but Alys surely knows her companion best.

And as my heart applies the brakes
I reach across the empty bed

And I came to, walking on the train tracks
How did I get here? And how do I get back?

"Ru!" Alys exclaimed upon seeing her friend, Sunjata momentarily forgotten as she rushed in for a hug. She'd almost forgotten just how much it felt like coming home, spending time with Hotaru, and for a moment, she was content to bask in the Valkyrie's warm glow. "No Tal," she said, pulling back and casting an eye about for her cub, who was, fortunately, right where Alys had left her. "He was away making some deliveries. You know he's got a depot in Torchline now?" she added, pride in her voice. She'd told Tal the day they'd met that expansion was a good idea - the cards had foretold it - so to see him putting that into practice made her unbelievably pleased.

Her attention shifted to Sunjata, who had been silent as the women had greeted one another. He was tall and admittedly handsome, if one was inclined towards romance and sensuality, and Alys had to admit that as a pair, the two made a handsome couple. Her dark eyes lingered briefly on the man's visible scars before raising to meet his blue eyes. In her experience, anyone with that many external scars had just as many internal scars, and she wondered - not for the first time - what kind of man this was, to have captured Hotaru's heart so completely.

"Hello, Sunjata," she said then, offering a smile to her best friend's lover. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Alys, and this is Sascha." The ursur in question looked up at the pair with hands still intertwined, and stood on her hind legs to inspect them more closely. She knew from the bond that the woman, at least, was a dear friend, but the man was large and somewhat intimidating, and she scuttled back to Alys to hide behind her legs. The seer snorted, shaking her head. "She's every inch the fierce ursur," she added wryly. "She'll warm up. For now, perhaps a private room would be best?"

I've been up all night, let's stay awake
Push it further, you know I'll never break

Alys

// maybe we're endless, maybe we're infinite //

The low thrum through the bond that Hotaru offers, does indeed work to soothe any anxieties he suddenly finds himself faced with. It’s a balm that makes it easier for him to relax as they descend the stairs and Sunjata finds himself fully prepared to lose Hotaru’s hand as she greets her friend. It isn’t what happens, though, and his fingertips twitch against hers as she stubbornly holds onto his hand and gives Alys a one armed hug.

He remains silent, though, content to let Hotaru guide this greeting however she saw fit, listening to the little quick small talk they have before Alys’ attention is on him. Now, he’s often been a skeptic over the whole card reading endeavors (he already knows how this meeting will go, and he’s accepted it because he knows it had been a huge boon to Hotaru and the trajectory in her life. So honestly, what the hell?) But there’s something about the way she takes him in, the scars and tattoos and the stature of him that seems like she can read through the lines of himself. Of course, some of it had become common knowledge over the years, with very few pieces remaining close enough to his heart that not even the woman who’s hand he holds knew the details of.

“Hello Alys, pleased to meet you too. I’ve heard so much about you.” He rumbles, accented voice crossing the distance between them. “And hello Sascha.” He murmurs a bit softer, watching as the ursur starts to hide, and he regrets for the moment keeping Petronella upstairs – wondering if that might break through the shy spell the woman’s companion is having. Regardless, his steel gaze flickers back to Alys’ face, a softer edged smile blooming there – lopsided due to the scar. “Room it is.” He agrees, giving Hotaru’s hand a squeeze before he starts to head up the stairs back toward that private room they’d set aside – one that could change, given the House of Midnight’s magical abilities, regardless of what took place within it.

Opening up the room, it shifts into something cozy and spring-like, a blue sky with fluffy clouds passing over the sun more often than not, a white wooden table set in the middle with a few chairs sprinkled about, on the top of a grassy hill with the sound of a river feeding by, a soft cherry blossom breeze that’s perfectly warm enough to keep everyone comfortable without being too hot. The table is set with drinks and food, but plenty of space for everything else. And plenty of space around the 'room' for Sascha to explore and play in. "How's this?" He asks, flashing Hotaru and Alys a brighter grin, quite content with the room his imagination has created.

SUNJATA

Hotaru

Outside the traffic lights
They turn from green to red

Hotaru admittedly knows they are a striking couple, but it's a shame she can't glean it off Alys' thoughts the way she can another Attuned's, because it would surely be the cherry on top of her sundae right now.

"I'd heard, but I haven't had a chance to visit," she sighs in a familiar shade of almost-dramatized sighing, something regal and above-it-all eternally in her voice when prying eyes and listening ears linger about. They won't have a chance for long however, and Hotaru follows in Sunjata's gentle wake like a boat, meant for his deep waters and subtle currents.

Alys is tugged along in a train behind them, tethered by Hotaru's hands which greedily attach to both lover and friend. As the room coalesces around them, cherry blossoms catch in Ru's long golden hair, the floral scent making her inhale deeply and hum a pleased sound. "Perfect," she murmurs, squeezing his hand and leading all of them to the wooden table to arrange them upon the bench with her and Sunjata side-by-side and Alys perfectly placed across from them to better fit her card-laying.

"This is all about the kind of reading you want beloved. I'm just here to watch and facilitate." Winking, she sets about giving Alys and Sunjata time to discuss those details while she makes up plates, utilizing her knowledge of their respective favorites to personalize them.

And as my heart applies the brakes
I reach across the empty bed

And I came to, walking on the train tracks
How did I get here? And how do I get back?

Alys followed along, allowing herself to be tugged onward with a inward chuckle. Ru was happy here, it seemed; happy, and eager, and giddy in a way that she hadn't seen her friend before. She was the sun, and her surroundings seemed to orbit her - Sunjata included. Alys wasn't yet entirely sure what to make of the man who had captured Ru's heart, and though her initial impression was positive, she was eager to see what the cards had in store for him.

She and Sascha were escorted into a room that instantly shifted and contorted into a not-room: cozy, spring-like, with a brilliant blue sky dotted with clouds overhead. There was a white wooden table set with food and drinks, surrounded by chairs, atop a grassy knoll overlooking a nearby river. For a moment, Alys paused, stunned into silence by the reality of all that she could see - even knowing that she was within the brothel, this was like stepping into a painting of a springtime picnic. "This is remarkable," Alys said appreciatively, fascinated by the magic of it all. "I knew what the rooms could do here, but reading about it in a letter and seeing it are very different."

Sascha bumbled further into the room, chasing a butterfly that flitted around the top of the hill. Sure that her cub couldn't go very far, Alys let her guard down and watched affectionately as the ursur raced after the butterfly. They settled at the table: Alys sat comfortably on one side as the couple settled opposite her, with Ru presiding over them like the queen she was. Alys could have laughed at the way she more or less shoved Sunjata into a reading, but she merely smiled sweetly at her friend before turning to the man across from her.

"As Ru said, this is all about you," Alys advised, pulling a few decks from her bag. and setting them on the table. One was bright and airy, with alluring artwork and a welcoming feel; the other was dark and moody, beckoning and enticing with a promise to expose one's deepest emotions. "Do you prefer either of these decks over the other?" she inquired, gesturing towards the cards. "You may flip through them first, if you prefer. There is no right or wrong answer - it is simply which your intuition guides you towards."

I've been up all night, let's stay awake
Push it further, you know I'll never break

Alys

// maybe we're endless, maybe we're infinite //

It’s the most expansive and comfortable place he could think of – open enough to give Alys’ companion a good space to run around in while simultaneously being private enough that it was comfortable. He reaches up to pluck a cherry blossom from her hair as she squeezes his other hand, guiding the two of them to the table where he’s content to let her seat him wherever would be best for this. “It’s amazing, isn’t it? If you want any changes feel free to think them up and the room should implement it.” He offers to Alys before he sits. He doesn’t know how this whole reading ordeal works, nor does he truly believe in it, fully content to be guided in whatever way made it easier for everyone else.

Of course, it isn’t about them as Ru points out and Alys reiterates, and the Flood simply hums a soft airy chuckle of agreement. “I suppose so. I’ll admit, I don’t know what to expect.” Hearing how it had helped the woman beside him, though, was the sole reason that he’d agreed in the first place. And as Hotaru starts tending to the plates set out, Sunjata focuses on the decks that Alys pulls out – his steel gaze flickering from each one, to up to her, his lightning scarred hand reaching out to flip through each of the decks.

It should come as no surprise when the deck that calls to him is the dark and moody one – a statement not unfamiliar to Sunjata about himself many times over and over again. So he slides that one toward Alys and offers her a small crooked smile, made by the scar bisecting his cheek. “Let’s do this one.” And he waits, uncertain of what comes next, refraining from glancing toward Hotaru as another sign of his uncertainty.

SUNJATA

Hotaru

Outside the traffic lights
They turn from green to red

Hotaru sits quietly, busying herself with food and drink, curiously watching on as Sunjata makes his selections. She knows he doubts Alys' abilities, so it means quite a lot for him to give this a try. Not only because she is Hotaru's closest friend, but because her reading had set Hotaru on the path back to Sunjata in the first place - though she'd had no idea at the time, and had assumed the cards were pointing to George after she'd met him. To her, that is all the more reason to believe in the Seer's foretellings.

Content to cross her legs and lean slightly into Sunjata's side in a show of silent support, Hotaru picks at her food and watches the cherry blossoms spin in the air around them. Giving some small illusion of privacy as the beginning of the reading starts to take place.

And as my heart applies the brakes
I reach across the empty bed

And I came to, walking on the train tracks
How did I get here? And how do I get back?

Alys hid a smile as Sunjata made his selection, not surprised in the least when he chose the darker, more brooding deck. It was usually easy to tell which deck someone would be drawn to and, as a practiced seer, she was rarely surprised by a querent's choices. She pocketed the lighter deck, caressing the cards lightly as she did so as though to reassure them that they were still wanted, and then began to shuffle. "There are no expectations," she told Sunjata with a kind smile. "That is the beauty of the cards. They will tell you what you need to hear: no more, no less."

She riffled the cards, over and over, falling into a steady rhythm as she spoke. "Many believe that the cards foretell the future, but I find that to be misleading. I find them to be much more accurate in reading the past and the present; the future is always shifting, you see, whether because of choices we make or choices those around us make."

She switched to an overhand shuffle, the motion as second nature as breathing. The movement went on until she felt that the cards were ready, and then she slowed, cutting the deck once and pulling three cards from the top to place them face-down on the table. She set the rest of the deck aside. Flipping over the first card, she raised an eyebrow. "The past: the Three of Swords," she intoned. "Your heart has been pierced by the sharp blades of others’ hurtful words, actions and intentions, and they have inflicted intense emotions of pain, sadness, grief, and heartbreak."

It was not uncommon for Alys to pick up on little bits and pieces of the past through her readings, and Sunjata was no exception. Her heart squeezed painfully at the man's history, her gaze flickering to Hotaru and back. "The past can be painful," she said softly, wondering if the man across from her was truly ready for his to be revealed in front of his lover. "Why was it you, you wonder. There is no simple answer to that; sometimes we bear pain for no reason at all."

Then, because it felt right to say it: "Their deaths were not your fault."

I've been up all night, let's stay awake
Push it further, you know I'll never break

Alys

// maybe we're endless, maybe we're infinite //

He remains steady where he sits, soaking in the warmth Hotaru offers by the way she leans against him. It’s a healthy distraction for him while he listens to Alys and gives her a short little nod of his head in answer to how the cards will tell you what you need to hear. He isn’t sure what that is, but he does let his gaze fall one stack of them as she shuffles the cards. “Of course.” None knew that better than he did, in his opinion. After all, his middle name should probably be impulsive for how often he's shifted the future by one choice or another.

The first card is flipped over and he scans the artwork on them, unsure what it means and happy to listen to Alys as she answers his internal question. He remains reserved from Hotaru, too, keeping a close hold on the attuned bond with walls of steel between them so that nothing can slip. And what she tells him at first doesn’t really sound out of the ordinary, unable to keep the crooked smile from twitching onto his face despite the brutality of the words because yes, all things anyone would know about him were just uttered.

It's a thought he’s had often – Nate, when he couldn’t get him to stay in the Refuge with him, only to hear belatedly of his death up on the mountain. Lusea, when she’d arrived here and died again to a frost giant. When he’d taken Adam and Peter with him and Amalia and Deimos to the cold, Halo mountains, where they’d perished to a white dragon because of his own inability to completely understand Safrin’s quest. And so, so many more.

As it stands, however, anything she has to say Hotaru can hear – it isn’t like she doesn’t know about his past, after all. Perhaps not all the details and grit of them, but the basics were there. They always had been since the first time they’d met. “I often choose to blame my father for it.” For being him and having to bear as much pain as possible. It was like Shaju placed an Attention: Ruin this kids life sign and hung it above his head to follow him around for the rest of his life.

Still, the joke isn’t untrue, but it is still lighthearted enough that it comes off a bit as a deflection, only because the words she offers are ones he struggles with. How could they not be his fault? And it burns oddly enough when Alys tells him that they aren’t his fault that his chin dips slightly and the smile remains even as he chews slightly on the inside of his cheek, waiting for the next.

SUNJATA

And I came to, walking on the train tracks
How did I get here? And how do I get back?

Alys traced a finger over the heart on the card, her dark brows knitted in concentration. From what she knew of Sunjata, this card felt almost like a slap in the face. His history - in Caido, at least - had been anything but pleasant, if what Hotaru had told her was true, and his name preceded him in many ways. It was enough to have Alys offer a silent huff towards the cards. Thank you, but I think we can do better than that.

A missing piece of the puzzle fell into place as Alys watched Sunjata's deflection, her keen, dark eyes fixed on the set of his jaw and the flash of something undefinable in his eyes. There was more to the past than she knew, than Hotaru knew, than anyone knew save for Sunjata. And while that was true of everyone, everyone didn't have Hotaru's love.

Another card was drawn and placed swiftly over the past card - something she normally didn't do unless the querent had questions about a specific placement. But this was her friend's lover, and she wanted to know him - the real him, the him that he was beneath the layers of smiles and diversion. "The Devil," she murmured as she placed the new card atop the first. {sat}"Entrapment." She nodded to herself. "Your father weaved a web so tightly around you that you thought you'd never escape. You know what it feels like to be helpless, powerless." And it would certainly influence the man he became - as she was sure the next cards would reveal.

So she flipped the next card - the one in the Present position, and stared at it. "The Tower." She flipped a second card on top of the Tower. "Death." She tilted her head to one side. Her eyes flickered up to his. "You died, and yet you live."

I've been up all night, let's stay awake
Push it further, you know I'll never break

Alys

// maybe we're endless, maybe we're infinite //

She aims to read him, but he encloses that indifferent gleam upon his face. A reflection of Korofi and the mask he often wore – one very few saw through these days. Hotaru would know, of course, often dragging him out of the perfect unbothered exterior he provided others with. For now, though, it comes off as a protection, as if shielding her from the truth of the matter.

She draws more cards and his gaze follows alongside each one – the devil and entrapment, and his gaze doesn’t lift while she offers her explanation. “Yes.” Gone are the softer accented tones, the less formal slang, replaced with the more regal tone of that Korofian noble’s mask. His gaze doesn’t lift to meet hers, not as he continues to chew on the inside of his cheek.

His father had done everything he could to make him a monster, and in some instances it had worked.

Only when the next cards are revealed and Alys’ gaze lifts to his, Sunjata’s follow suit – once easy steel shifts to a stormier, clouded front as he nods. “Safrin killed me. My father tried before then. I've had more near-deaths than I can count.” The only one that had been successful thus far was Safrin’s, if it hadn’t have been for Ronin taking pity.

Still, with so many deaths and the multitude of more near deaths, it’s no wonder the Flood harbors the scars he does, both physical and mental. It’s no wonder he reacts the way he has. And with all the honesty of things that have occurred here, to a complete stranger to him, there’s only trust that Alys can find out about these because of the woman at his side, squeezing his hand. After all, how many times had people used what they learned about him against him any chance they got?

A lot, frankly.

SUNJATA

And I came to, walking on the train tracks
How did I get here? And how do I get back?

Interesting. The harder she pushed, the more closed off the man before her became. Gone was the soft, accented tone, replaced by something harder, something both more and less real than what he'd offered her before. So this was a man of many layers, of tiered secrets, and - if the cards were to be believed and, to Alys, they certainly were - of lies and betrayal and scandal and pain, pain so real and so raw that she felt she could almost taste it.

And yet, here he was, the man with whom Hotaru was in love - gentle, and kind, and loving, at least towards the woman at his side. It was always interesting to Alys, how many sides one could have, how many masks one could wear. As long as Hotaru was aware of Sunjata's many facets, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing - it was if he hid from her, if he tried to weave a web around her that painted himself only in a certain light - that was when relationships went bad.

Alys nodded. "Yes, but this goes deeper than physical death, she explained. "Perhaps it's because of what you have experienced, or in spite of it, but you have changed and transformed many times over. You are not the same man you once were, and you must learn to make peace with that." Her tone was gentle, nonjudgmental. She hoped that in her digging, she hadn't given him reason to throw up his walls; but, then again, that was simply a coping mechanism that some people displayed as the truth of the cards became more uncomfortable for them.

I've been up all night, let's stay awake
Push it further, you know I'll never break

Alys