Open up the gates, I feel close enough to heaven

Hotaru

Deep dive into the dark
Masked eyes as you pick me apart

Hotaru nearly flies back home, feet as light as the wings she can still feel beneath her skin. A thousand blessings Frey has given her, and a thousand more for allowing her to retain the shifts that her deity had unlocked in her soul the first time Hotaru had laid it in their hands.

The front door opens on a proverbial gale, golden hair flying and feet light and excitable on the hardwood as she abandons it open to the warm summer air beyond. "Sunny? Hart koning, where are you?" The elation is apparent even in her early tones, beaming with the force of sunlight and sex.

She winds her way through the kitchen and out through the back door, catching a glimpse of him at the edge of the creek just beyond their house. Standing on the back deck, dress billowing around her legs, Hotaru feels like a queen come home to her kingdom - everything she could possibly need here before her. "Sunny! I have news!" Laughter bubbles up like champagne in the space between each word, arms held wide to invite him closer, radiating happiness from every pore.

Your body melts into my skin
Baptise me and I'll be your sin

i have done bad things, did them to good people // got no self control, it's the root of my evil
wage war in my head when i'm tryna keep it peaceful // a little feels good, a little more and it's lethal

He doesn’t hear her as she enters the home, the door swinging wide and air flowing through, bringing with it the heavy scent of pollen and warmth. Instead, the Flood is outside, out by the creek as he utilizes his magic. Shirtless and letting the sun flicker through the tendrils of water that he lifts like thin streams, above and over his head, in well practiced movements over and over again until her voice nearly startles him.

The water falls, splashing against his cheek and neck, covering his skin with the dark ripples of floral notes, broken up by the brief flicker of light from the scars that had erupted in his surprise when he turns to her.

Everything seems fine, though, and she seems happy, so his guard settles — and he speeds up the process of getting to her open embrace, shifting immediately into that navy macaw shift of his, drifting over the distance with ease, until he can shift back into himself and pull her into his warm and shirtless embrace. “Good news I hope? Given the laughter, liefde?” He asks, letting it reflect in his voice when a soft chuckle leaves him in kind with her own.

SUNJATA

Hotaru

Deep dive into the dark
Masked eyes as you pick me apart

He is gorgeous, standing shirtless by the bank, and as floral tattoos bloom across him in his surprise Hotaru can only grin unrepentantly at how it accentuates his skin. He transforms as easy as breathing, and materializes before her anew to bring her into his arms as if the distance had never been a problem.

Golden feathers of her own sprout through her hair and tickle up her temples, an expression of lightheartedness and happiness as she winds her arms around his bare shoulders. "The best news," she assures on a bubble of warmth, pulling on his nape to bring him into a lingering, smile-heavy kiss that has no real end.

Pulling away, Ru places one hand on his cheek and smiles beatifically up at him. "Frey made me theirs. A demigod - just like you." So soon in the wake of their talk during LongNight, it feels almost ironically timed, but she couldn't be happier that they'd already set their boundaries ahead of time. So that she could know, with certainty, that she was answering Frey in truth without having to worry about the repercussions with Sunjata. Growth that the two of them had forged intentionally, to try and escape the bindings of past mistakes.

Your body melts into my skin
Baptise me and I'll be your sin

i have done bad things, did them to good people // got no self control, it's the root of my evil
wage war in my head when i'm tryna keep it peaceful // a little feels good, a little more and it's lethal

Her arms slip around him with ease and as she sprouts those golden feathers, navy filters through his own skin in response, avian to avian as he keeps that smile on his face, crooked with the scar, his brows lift as she doesn’t elaborate. Not initially at least, pulled in close for a warm and brilliant kiss, a sensation through the bond that screams sunshine through warm trees, the comfort of a warm bed. He presses back in, until she breaks and cups his cheek, head tilting into it as he tries to tamper down his impatience.

And that’s when the bomb drops, and his grin grows brighter, a huff of disbelief slipping from him, both brows lifting. “What?” He starts to say, laughing because he can’t quite believe that it’s happened. His hand lifts, covering her own at his cheek, reminded of how different this is compared to when Nate had come home as a demigod right after Sunjata had made the deal that had broken them.

“You’re right, that is the best news, Ru,” he breathes once it settles, scanning her to see the differences from when she’d left and when she’d returned, his other hand lifting to brush along her jawline before pushing back the silken, blonde strands. “Gods, I’m so happy for you.” And so selfishly for himself, too. Evident in how he dives back down for another capturing kiss.

SUNJATA

Hotaru

Deep dive into the dark
Masked eyes as you pick me apart

There is surprise, yes, but no shock or even a hint of negativity in those split seconds of sincerity anyone trained to see through lies is taught to watch for. His soul may be bare for her to run her hands over and peer through, but it comforts and delights her all the same to know she wasn’t wrong about this. She nods her head eagerly at his reaching, aimless question, incapable of holding all this energy and light in her chest when it so badly wants to escape.

It’s almost impossible to kiss with how she can’t stop smiling, but it makes it taste all the sweeter as she leans onto her toes to press into it. Not going far when they part, she tilts her forehead against his and sends a whimsical prayer of gratitude to Frey for the hundredth time today. “I haven’t fully explored what I can do yet, but they let me keep my shifts,” she breathes excitedly, certain he will understand just how important that is to her. How much she’d unintentionally sacrificed when Attuning, but how it had brought her closer to Frey, and how it had made her communication clearer and her darker instincts easier to manage.

Pulling away, she lifts both hands to cup his face, love spilling out from her eyes. “I’m going to train as much as I can, prove myself as quickly as I can. I promised you I’d be with you forever.” Now all she needs to do is prove to Frey that she is worth that precious gift of immortality, and to strengthen herself enough to weather the uncertain future looming over Caido. But in the end - as always - it would always come down to him.

Your body melts into my skin
Baptise me and I'll be your sin

i have done bad things, did them to good people // got no self control, it's the root of my evil
wage war in my head when i'm tryna keep it peaceful // a little feels good, a little more and it's lethal

She’s so vibrant as he pieces everything together, holding her close as his excitement for her outshines everything else. There’s no worry, no fear, no uncertainty or wariness that she’d made the wrong choice — something they both would agree with given the history between them. This is absolutely the best thing that could have happened, and he lets her excitement reflect within his side of the bond, a shining glimmer to meet hers.

His arms slip around her as she speaks again, some crooked and gentle smile blossoming across his face as he listens, bobbing his head in understanding. “We will have to test it out then won’t we?” He asks, relief spreading through him that she got to keep all of her shifts, lips twisting a little more boyishly as she reaches up to take his face into her hands — something that has him grinning his excitement down at her, lopsided as it is.

Her words strike a chord and his gaze crinkles a hint around the edges as he lifts his hands to cover her own, squeezing lightly before turning his head slightly to press his lips to the inside of her hand. “Both of us. Forever.” He breathes as if the idea wasn’t possible a few minutes ago, only now to have his world turned around — his lover becoming the very same demigod that he is.

It has him tugging her in again, drawing her close up against him because of the slight chill in the air. “How does it feel?” He asks curiously, recalling how it had felt when he’d changed, how much pain he’d gone through and how Safrin had been burned from him.

SUNJATA

Hotaru

Deep dive into the dark
Masked eyes as you pick me apart

"Yes," she croons like a mourning dove instead of the falcon that lies within the shape of her soul, the feathers in her hair flexing in a preening fashion at the idea of exploring her powers for the very first time with Sunjata and Sunjata alone. It was why she hadn't so much as run her fingers across the pool of potential she can feel sitting in her ribcage - not before she'd flown home as quickly as she possibly could, intent on sharing those revelations with her beloved.

The air does not bother her as much as him given her Academy blessing, but she is certainly not complaining about being pulled closer. She knows exactly how his transformation had felt, and while she wishes her own experience were not unfairly more pleasant, she won't lie to him about it either. "Like the most transformative sex you could ever envision," she breathes, recalling the smell of pine needles and sweat. "Pleasure and exploration and breaking all over - but not a bad kind, like the break right when you orgasm, or when you discover a new kink." For all her eloquence, she struggles to pin it down until the very end, eyes brightening. "Like an awakening. But physical."

And, as if it had waited for just this moment, a golden glow begins to overtake her inside and out, until she shines like a miniature sun in his arms. Golden hair a waterfall of sunshine and skin a plump bronze of youth, like the firefly her name had always meant, in languages and worlds long past.

Your body melts into my skin
Baptise me and I'll be your sin

i have done bad things, did them to good people // got no self control, it's the root of my evil
wage war in my head when i'm tryna keep it peaceful // a little feels good, a little more and it's lethal

He holds her close, keeping her against him not like something to be protected as he often had in the past, but something a bit more even footing. Because while before, yes, he had always viewed her as his equal, there was the strength of being a demigod beneath it that weighed over her hybrid status. Now, she stands there in his arms, warm and brilliant and vibrant and so much more that he can’t help but to actively start thinking about the future again instead of the one day at a time.

A deep chuckle leaves him, not at all upset that hers had gone well. She’d always followed Frey – Sunjata had gone through so much pain because of betrayal and cleansing rather than uplifting. He’d been torn apart, scrubbed clean, reborn. Hotaru, he imagines, got the full and beautiful treatment of becoming more. “Well, I’ll hope it doesn’t diminish my performance.” He teases her, sticking his tongue out briefly before she starts to physically glow and the surprise is enough that the scars on his face and neck flicker like a lightning strike of bright white in the face of her golden glow.

He's distracted enough to lift his calloused hands, cupping her cheeks and inspecting even closer, fingertips tangling in her blonde hair like they were threads of sunlight breaking through. “You’re quite literally glowing, liefde.” He says with all the awe he has, eyes bright and wide, bond flayed open to reveal nothing but pure excitement and hope for their future.

SUNJATA

Hotaru

Deep dive into the dark
Masked eyes as you pick me apart

Her laughter is effervescent, a fizz of mischief and fondness at the notion of comparing Sunjata to their shared herald. "Never," she reassures. "We both know there's no competing with Frey, but you've never come up short. In any way," she teases with a wink, cheekily bringing her palm to briefly cup between his legs and then laughing anew, still just as bright.

Maybe that's why it takes her a moment to realize he's staring, or to recognize that the light spilling subtly over his skin and shoulders is more than the afternoon sun overhead. His hands gently cupping her face has her blinking, lips parted but laughter ceasing as she tries to gauge his awed expression and the lightning-flash of emotion on his skin. His emotions touch hers like a caress, and her eyes fall in time with her hands rising to look upon her own skin. It's more subtle there, but the strands of hair that shift and curl over Sunjata's forearm as he threads his hands through show the truth of what he means.

"Oh - wow," she gushes glibly, and then a squeak of surprise escapes when the hair she can see goes suddenly white with a twinge of her stomach. The color flickers as whatever momentary control slips, and Ru immediately reaches for it once more. This time, her hair bleeds a natural ginger, the glow still relatively golden and making the strands appear almost immaterial as it moves. "Well that's new too," she laughs, looking up at Sunjata and wondering how she must look with her auburn hair and light eyes now.

Your body melts into my skin
Baptise me and I'll be your sin

i have done bad things, did them to good people // got no self control, it's the root of my evil
wage war in my head when i'm tryna keep it peaceful // a little feels good, a little more and it's lethal

He should expect her to be equally as playful as he is right this second, but it still takes him a hint by surprise when she laughs and reassures him, and he can feel the brief pressure of where her hand goes as if for emphasis, drawing out another deep chuckle from him until he’s distracted entirely by the golden hues of her hair, the way it seems to leak through his fingers like sunlight through blinds, captivating him and the entirety of his attention.

His hands move to draw more of those threads, watching as they spill through his fingers and he draws closer, head tilting slightly until she reaches for it and it continues to glow, spilling over his arms as he inspects it only to find the color shift, turning to something auburn and red and a deep realization settles in. It appears as though the two of them have started to make up their deity. Sunjata with the scent, Hotaru with the appearance shift.

Her eyes, though, are captivating too as he withdraws, still cupping her face to see both eyes the same light color and his lips twist in a crookedly boyish smile, tugging at the scarred half of his face. “Gods. Pretty soon I’m not going to be able to recognize you.” He teases, humming another gentle laugh, before he tugs her in against him and steps backwards to draw her into the house with him again, as if in search of a mirror but unwilling to part from her to look.

SUNJATA

Hotaru

Deep dive into the dark
Masked eyes as you pick me apart

Each new discovery is exhilarating, and Ru does not even mean to be actively bringing them to the surface. They flow naturally through her like her old magics had, and even the loss of her oldest and truest lightning does not inspire grief the way she had thought it might when there are these new gifts to replace it.

She giggles like a girl in his gentle grasp, nose and eyes crinkling with the intensity of her joy in ways she would normally never indulge in. He is so handsome, and she feels so close to him right now, like soon they will not only be truly equal but eternal. It's a high that feels equally unending.

He pulls at her and she goes, as she always goes, easy and trusting. They fumble their way back into the house, neither wanting to let go, until they're standing together in front of the large oval mirror hanging on the wall. Her eyes go to his face first - instinctual - where it hovers behind her, before she catches sight of her own changed appearance. The glow is more obvious in the shadows of the house. The auburn hair makes her heterochromia all the more striking, and Ru leans in as if enchanted, turning her face slowly and inspecting the way the dark tresses fall against her cheeks.

With a thought, freckles dance across her cheeks, and then her eyes flood into a dark brown that has her pulling back in surprise at how strange it makes her look, a startled laugh escaping her as she leans back into Sunjata's chest. "This is - wow - insane! I wonder how it will grow over time?" Her deviousness sparks through the bond, belying far dirtier thoughts than the wonder showing on her face in the mirror. Perhaps she could top Sunjata in a far different way someday? Something far more enjoyable than toys. Catching his gaze with her own darker eyes in the mirror, Ru's smile softens. "Still prefer the original, I hope?" Hotaru wouldn't be offended if he didn't, she knows he loves her beyond any superficial changes, but she's curious whether he finds any particular attributes exotic or appealing on her. Or if she should try any out that might entice him.

Your body melts into my skin
Baptise me and I'll be your sin

i have done bad things, did them to good people // got no self control, it's the root of my evil
wage war in my head when i'm tryna keep it peaceful // a little feels good, a little more and it's lethal

It’s a high they both share as he pulls her into the house with him, arms wrapped around her until they settle before the oval mirror, the Flood incapable of keeping his arms from looping around her, peering back at her through the reflection even as she scouts out his face first. All he can offer is that same crooked smile, watching her hair as it glimmers with those streaks of sunlight amongst the auburn hues, rising to her cheeks when freckles start to dot her face like little constellations. “Copycat.” He teases with a low purr, lowering himself so that his head settles above her shoulder, mirroring the freckles that stand out vibrantly against his skin thanks to the summer they’d had.

“Stronger, perhaps? It’s hard to say. I don’t think my scent has changed much since getting it.” It had been all encompassing in the beginning, though, not a single hint of himself leaking out of it in the presence of those that didn’t already find his usual scent appealing (Hotaru).

His grin blooms and a low rumble leaves him, head tilting to bury his face into her dark strands, even as he spies the dark brown of her gaze, sensing that dark wickedness through the bond beneath the layers of their jovialness. “I don’t think anything could beat the original. You may have to prove me wrong.” He says matter of factly, even the look he flashes her through the reflection of the mirror screams the same.

But there’s a mirrored sense of that wicked mischief through the bond as he tries to get her to elaborate her thoughts, keeping his own lips sealed on the matter to see if she says her thoughts first.

SUNJATA

Hotaru

Deep dive into the dark
Masked eyes as you pick me apart

Hotaru tilts her head to the side to bump against his, laughing quietly at his playful accusation. "What can I say, I love them," she murmurs, still distracted by her own appearance but never enough to miss a moment to compliment him. She's loathe to pick a favorite attribute, but given the topic, it's only fair she lavish attention on one of her own favorites.

"Mmm, but you don't control your scent magic," she points out, the deviousness only unfurling all the more as she considers the potential that may yet lie unlocked with this particular power because of that. There's a low, simmering sensation of wickedness that pools between them, and Hotaru watches her reflection as she bites into her bottom lip with a crooked smile.

"Maybe I'll be able to make myself taller someday." They both know that's not what she truly desires, and her eyes - still an unnatural shade - go a bit shadowed as they meet Sunjata's in the mirror. "Or maybe I'll be able to give myself a cock and really enjoy topping you, hm?" Intentionally winding out the topic only to cut the thread with her bluntness, tempered only by a faux-innocent sweetness.

Your body melts into my skin
Baptise me and I'll be your sin

i have done bad things, did them to good people // got no self control, it's the root of my evil
wage war in my head when i'm tryna keep it peaceful // a little feels good, a little more and it's lethal

“Apparently.” Sunjata hums with a laugh, lips twisting in pure amusement and comfort, lingering where he peers back at her in content through the reflection of the mirror. A feeling that stays despite the mischief that blooms when she changes her appearance again.

His arms remain tight around her as she mentions growing taller, something he hasn’t thought of but figuring that she had her reasons for it — until that shadowed gaze meets his and that devious sensation blooms inkier in the bond between them, the Flood’s dark brow rising as she finishes the statement. He’d be lying if the hint of a flush to his cheeks wasn’t because of the idea that burns through his head.

So instead he breaks his attention from here to bury his face and nose in against the side of hers, lips brushing along her cheek and down to her jaw, following it to her earlobe where he nips at. “That certainly is tantalizing.” He purrs, sure that Frey would allow them such a thing if they were to ask. For now, though, they have to settle with the traditional sense.

Not that he’s going to complain one way or another. “You still could until then, you know.”

SUNJATA