forgive my northern attitude

SUNJATA

so, collect your scars and wear 'em well
your blood's as good an ink as any

While his recent visits to Stormbreak have been solely to the Plaza and the hot springs, Sunjata has not gone back to the place where he’d nearly drowned before the start of the war – the place where he’d been made unconscious by Remi only to wake up in the prison shortly after. But he’d gotten out of it – thanks to still needing to finish the Refuge, and since then he’d avoided this space like it was his own personal plague.

Today, though, it’s the best place he can think of in Stormbreak to collect air for the shrine to Frey, unsure how one even goes about collecting air. He’s brought his bag of holding, alongside a jar with him that he’s probably going to just flail around in the air geysers, collecting what he can before sealing it closed and hoping that’s good enough.

So he stands on a walking path nearby one of the cliffs that descends down, down, down, ignoring it (and what happened the last time he was this close to the edge of a cliff), waving about the container, trying to collect some air and wondering how much of an idiot he looks as he uses his feathered Pegasus wings for added balance.

go scratch your name into the clouds
and pull them all... d o w n

Well look who's here?

Dahlia enjoys the Falling. She likes the way the wind feels threading through her fingers, the warm billows of air mixing with icy cold and cascading across her body. Today finds her soaking up the sunshine on the deck of someone's pleasure skyboat. Who the boat belongs to - or where the owner might be - is a question better left unanswered.

If she knows of the sketches of her pretty face that are circulating, she doesn't show it, and if she's aware that her name paints the lips of Caido's leaders with startling frequency, it doesn't bother her. No, her interest is on the Longheat afternoon... and the tall, winged man and his strange dance nearby.

"Sunjata?" She tilts her head, raven hair cascading down her shoulders, and she removes her sunglasses to see him better. "Whatever are you doing?"

let me put my lips to something
let me wrap my teeth around the world

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

SUNJATA

so, collect your scars and wear 'em well
your blood's as good an ink as any

He doesn’t expect company – though when does he ever? – so when she speaks, she’ll spot his tri colored wings flare out for balance as if surprised, before the Flood lowers the jar and pops the cap on it, hoping that it’s enough of what he needs to make the shrine. But as he’s doing that, there’s the realization that the voice is familiar in a way that is both relieving and stressful. It’s been a long time since he’s had to wear his masks, but they slip on like a worn hat, fitting back on as if there wasn’t anything else there in the first place when he tucks the bottle into the bag and turns to look at Dahlia with a small boyishly awkward smile.

“I was collecting air. Thought it was the best way I could accomplish it.” A casual shrug, before those wings are flaring again to rise him up, drawing him toward that pleasure skyboat that she sits on so comfortably, before he lands deftly in front of her. “You know, I’ve been trying to get ahold of you, but you are a tough girl to find.” He hums, head tilting slightly before he looks around the boat. “Have you been hiding away here this entire time?” He almost sounds playfully put out by it, but the mischief in his eyes says he isn't when he meets her gaze again.

go scratch your name into the clouds
and pull them all... d o w n

"Collecting air," Dahlia drawls, her smile catlike as she slides her glasses back up her nose to shade her eyes properly. "Please, don't stop on my account." She isn't sure how attractive she finds the winged dance he's doing, but it's certainly enjoyable to watch muscles flex and the sun catch in the light of his wings.

As he continues, Dahlia scoots to the edge of the boat, letting her long legs dangle over the side and into the open air as he comes to land before her, leaving her gazing up the long length of his body. "Am I? I certainly don't try to hide," she murmurs to him, leaning back on her hands and tilting her head.

"What can I do for you, Sunjata?"

let me put my lips to something
let me wrap my teeth around the world

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

SUNJATA

so, collect your scars and wear 'em well
your blood's as good an ink as any

“I’m fairly certain I’ve gotten enough..?” He says with a faint rumble of a chuckle leaving him, especially as he slips the jar away and comes to focus on her more fully, landing on the skyboat, feathered wings flaring to offer some shade, though the feathers ripple with each and every gust of wind from this height.

His smile twists into something a hint more playful and mischievous as she looks him up and down, almost preening as she takes him in, distracting himself by taking a moment to adjust the bag on his shoulder. “Mm, well, I remember how much you enjoyed the whiskey at the House of Midnight and I got a new version to try out that’s been barreled up for quite some time. Wanted to know if you’d join me to try it?” His head tilts to mirror hers as he extends the invitation.

“Only catch is that it’s in King’s End, but I’d like your opinion and would be happy to have you...” His voice trails off in favor for the crooked smirk that blooms on his face, the playful challenge in the steel of his gaze and lift of his scarred brow.

go scratch your name into the clouds
and pull them all... d o w n

"I certainly seem to have made an impression," Dahlia murmurs, happy to admire the body looming above her own and the fan of his wings from behind the shade of her sunglasses. "Do you seek out all visitors to the House of Midnight to offer them whisky tours?" She raises an eyebrow, before shifting to rise to her feet, all catlike movements and porcelain limbs.

Of course, even her full height brings her to Sunjata's shoulder at the most, and she peers up at his face with curiosity. "Happy to have me," she echoes, a soft laugh thrumming through her throat and chest. "And here I thought the Flood had left those days behind him." Raising her eyebrows playfully, Dahlia nonetheless considers the offer before nodding to him.

"It would be nice to see King's End under the sunlight," she admits.

let me put my lips to something
let me wrap my teeth around the world

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

SUNJATA

so, collect your scars and wear 'em well
your blood's as good an ink as any

His smile remains just as playful, alluring in a way that he fully intends on it being. “Not all visitors.” He rumbles, peering down at her with glimmering steel of mischief. “Just the ones that would appreciate it the way that you did.” Playfulness is a vibrant tether between them right now, a flirtatiousness that hadn’t been there before, a fun little mask to hide other motives.

But as she speaks next, his head tilts slightly, wings curling now that his body mostly blocks out the sun from her face, the edge of a primary feather brushing by her side as he blocks yet another rogue wind. “It comes and goes in waves.” He teases about his own moniker, flashing a wink for good emphasis, before his smile broadens slightly as she accepts his offer. “Great. Do you have a clear enough schedule to go for a ride now or would you prefer to meet me there?”

go scratch your name into the clouds
and pull them all... d o w n

It will be a question for later, just who is leading whom along the playful path of flirtation, and to what end. For those looking in, though, it will appear like a perfectly choreographed dance between them; the fraction of space between Dahlia and Sunjata; the brush of feathers; the smiles that curl across their lips. "I see," she murmurs, letting her fingers tease along the underside of one of his wings, as if to sample the velvet softness for herself.

"I can clear my schedule," she assures him. "And I'll ride (with) you anywhere you like." Lowering her sunglasses enough for playful cerulean eyes to meet his own, there's no small part of Dahlia that yearns to reach out and sink her fingers deep into his ribcage, to feel the flutter of his heartbeat around her hands. Patience, though. There may be time enough yet for that.

let me put my lips to something
let me wrap my teeth around the world

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

SUNJATA

so, collect your scars and wear 'em well
your blood's as good an ink as any

Despite the closeness of the wing, a part of him doesn’t expect her to reach out to run her fingers along the velveteen softness, a fact that has his feathers flaring with the touch (because obviously it feels good), and a hint more amusement flickering in his gaze. The offer is made, though, accepted shortly after with her agreement of clearing her schedule, and in the face of his innuendo his smile remains just as playful as it had before.

“I was so hoping you’d say that.” His voice slips into a brief purr, stepping away though making a slight show of his reluctance, before he ensures there’s enough space on this boat for his shift to spread. And not a few heartbeats later, the wings that had sprouted from his back now start to flesh out through his body – converting him from man to Pegasus, wings lowered to allow for her to climb onto his back to take to the sky, to see just how this was going to work.

And hope that he manages to keep his head.

- FIN <333

go scratch your name into the clouds
and pull them all... d o w n