If the sky should fall

Hotaru

Zeus has crafted you from clay and gold

He falls perfectly into her trap, making it almost impossible to refrain from grinning - but it’s more fun to affect an expression of hurt, a slight swell to her bottom lip in the vestiges of a pout. “Oh? So you’re saying I’m not enough of a challenge?” Though he’s admittedly a perfect opponent even for her theatrics, because she can’t hide the much more honest appreciative side-eye she gives him at the idea of watching him workout half naked. It cuts her feigned offense at the knees, damn him. “So how soon are we talking?” she simpers in return, humor clear in her tone and the bubble of laughter swelling beneath, scarcely restrained.

The wrinkle of her nose expresses her disapproval at the prospect that it’s his scars that intimidate, but she refrains from any form of rebuttal. Whether it’s true or not, Ru despises the idea that anyone can be frightened by his badges of survival. Then again, she’s entirely biased and she knows it, with so few scars to her own name and too much love for the man in question. Her own eyes catch and hold the moment they meet his, equally as helpless.

“Of course. I want to see it all.” Maybe not immediately, but she doesn’t want there to be any inch of him she hasn’t memorized, a single iota of soul and power she hasn’t familiarized herself with.

Such a lovely, pretty hand to hold - if you had the time

// the past is just a bridge we burned down behind us
when we left this town, running from the blinding heat //

The pouting of her bottom lip is something he sees straight through as if it were nothing but a clear window on a sunny day, a snort leaving him without answering it in favor for the comment of her having more enjoyment of watching him train rather than being a part of it. And when she asks how soon, well, a smirk blooms on his face. “Oh, I don’t know. Soon as we get back maybe?” He poses the question as innocently as possible, meeting her side eye with his own, precisely to see the way his comment of his scars makes her nose wrinkle.

It doesn’t bother him much these days, but he knows that it’s not so much the scars themselves but what they represent. A threat of sorts, that no matter what you did to him, he still remained, skin a gnarled mess of raised scar tissue breaking through the typical tan lines. But that’s neither here nor there because his grin turns something akin to his not-so-tempered down feral edge of his dragon shift. “You trust me, right?” He asks, knowing it’s a rhetorical question, because of course she does.

They wouldn’t be here if she didn’t.

So he reaches out to take her arm, hand shifting to the talons of that very same black dragon, slicing a small line on her arm up by her elbow, watching for a moment as a thin red line bubbles to the surface, and while he holds her he commands more water – this time a rain cloud amongst the otherwise clear and beautiful day, shifting so that the water from the sky he’s created can reach the cut and knit it back together before their eyes, disappearing as if it weren’t even there to begin with. “There, all better.”

the flood

// of our disaster when we left this town
you can rely on me, i will always let you down //

Hotaru

Zeus has crafted you from clay and gold

Hotaru had intentionally paused them mid-walk both for the privacy and the views, but suddenly she has other views she’d really like to see. “Suddenly I’m less interested  in seeing your new skills if that’s on the table,” she admits bluntly, humor curling in the corners of her eyes which gleam wicked.

“Of course,” she assures on its heels, all mischief fading away to sincerity as she lets him take her arm into his hands, watching curiously - fearlessly - as his claw nears her skin. It’s a hardly noticeable pain, a sharp slice and a dull throb, and easily ignored as she glances up at the sudden and conspicuously out-of-place rain clouds. The feeling of it on her skin is pleasant, and as she looks back at her inner arm she makes a small sound of wonder as she watches her skin knit back together like it had never been cut. “You’re finally catching up to me,” she teases, because if she can boast anything it’s the wide variety of her magic, even if it pales in comparison to the strength of his.

Still, she knows how important this is to him, what it means to have the security to heal and mend. Hotaru had felt the same when she’d unlocked the ability in herself. Turning her hand over, she gently grabs his elbow and rubs her thumb idly across his skin. “It’s wonderful. How much have you experimented with it?” Likely not much if he admits he needs to focus on training. She wonders the extent of this particular ability, its breadth and drawbacks. There’s so much more for him to explore now, and Ru can’t wait to see it happen.

Such a lovely, pretty hand to hold - if you had the time

// the past is just a bridge we burned down behind us
when we left this town, running from the blinding heat //

“What, you’d prefer I do it here and now?” He teases her, meeting her humor with a toothy grin of his own. It’s an amusement that fades when she wishes to see the rest and he asks whether she trusts him, hearing her confirmation and reaching for her, letting the slice in her pale skin bead up to the surface, watching as the rain drops land and knit the little line back together as if it had never been there, his steel finds her face with a softer, almost tender smile.

Whatever happened with George would have been right as rain (ha), had he had this ability back then. But he hadn’t, and so she must settle with that scar lingering and the memory they share of that poor terrible night. A night he doesn’t let linger in his mind for too long, not when she’s fine and in his arms. “I am doing my best.” He trills playfully, withdrawing slightly until she grabs his elbow and her pale hand strokes along his skin. “And not much, I think it’s the second time I’ve used it.” Another quiet admission, until he’s turning to stand beside her, picking a little collected pile of rocks not too far in the distance.

He says nothing outwardly, but he does reach for her to hold her closer to him, precisely as a riptide wave erupts from in front of him, not bothering them, but tearing up the ground with water until it reaches that little pile of rocks, exploding it up into the air like a geyser might, watching as the rocks plummet to the ground with little wet plops of sound. "Second time I've used that one, too."

the flood

// of our disaster when we left this town
you can rely on me, i will always let you down //

Hotaru

Zeus has crafted you from clay and gold

"I certainly wouldn't object," she throws back with a grin, "though a watery backdrop would make it better." Because of that she is willing to wait - but not long. Clock is ticking, Sunjata.

Something could be said about the importance of company kept, because the scar from George is the last thing on her mind as she watches the wound wash away into nothingness. There is only pride and a deep abiding love that even she has yet to fully come to terms with. Returning to a relationship is novel to her, and the force of returning emotions that never died is at times overwhelming when compared to the technical newness of their relationship. Not that they've ever done things by the book. She knows it's a joke, but her expression is soft and emanates pride. "You're doing amazing. This is amazing. I'm not surprised Frey saw fit to reward you." Not after everything he has done.

Stepping into his embrace, she glances over her shoulder at the sudden destruction wrought behind her, a noise of intrigue rumbling in her throat. "Well that's useful," she remarks, slightly agog. Turning back to Sunjata, she grins, incapable of resisting vixen machinations. "For construction of course."

Such a lovely, pretty hand to hold - if you had the time

// the past is just a bridge we burned down behind us
when we left this town, running from the blinding heat //

“Mm, then I guess you’ll have to wait.” Sunjata hums, flashing her a playful smirk before he shows her the majority of the new talents lingering under his skin. But what he doesn’t expect – and what he never expects, to be honest, is the pride and praise that settles around him like a brand new coat with each and every reward he shares with her.

So much so that even with the way he pulls her into his arms, letting the riptide go, watching as it destroys the pile of rocks in the distance, his attention flickers back to Hotaru with a playful hum of a laugh. “Ah, yes, but only construction.” Sunjata murmurs, a teasing jest before he wraps his arms around her a bit tighter, pulling her in for an appreciative kiss, allowing the bond to open and share all his gratitude for her despite the hard conversations they’d had. At least now, it feels as if things might be back to normal.

And with it, the rush back to the House of Midnight to follow through with that training he’s supposed to do.

- FIN <333

the flood

// of our disaster when we left this town
you can rely on me, i will always let you down //