sleeping on the blacktop

i was raised as a scorpion, being pulled by the moon in high tide
that's why i'm broken, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

There’s a sense of comfort that he doesn’t know what to do with that blooms in his chest, filling the hole where a lifetime of loneliness has sat — all from the simple motion of Adam patting his hair and wrapping an arm around his shoulders. It’s what sinks him in a little more, touch starved and desperately trying to commit it to memory while he has the chance, because he knows it isn’t going to last long.

And no, if Adam asked, he wouldn’t feel bad for being opposed to a monster. Perhaps he would if there was any semblance of a time where Shaju had actually acted like a father and not a military leader, trying his best to train the newest, smallest recruit. There was no love there to lose, aside from his own bitterness at how much he had tried to please his father, only to have never even come close to reaching the line of success. “Maybe.” He mumbles into Adam’s clothes, content to remain there as long as he had a chance to.

Which is far too short, if he’s being honest. And it’s with reluctance that he draws his head back to look at the other man, steel gaze a bit softer. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” He rumbles with a sigh, loosening his hold on the DJ so he can get off his lap and Sunjata can collect his things to retreat back into his temporary prison.

SUNJATA

Adam

You don't need sympathy

They got a pill for everything

He'd come back to visit Sunjata later, once the sun had descended over and beyond the Plates and no one would be looking. Scruffling his hair with one hand and patting his shoulder with the other, Adam gave Sunjata a quick kiss on the temple before hopping off his lap.

"I'll bring you back a treat or something. Maybe I'll go talk to my usual tattoo guy too." He reckoned the artist was trustworthy enough for the job - or that he could offer enough Lasti and threats to make him so. "Stay here, be good, you know the drill."

He watched Sunjata gather his things for a moment, then with a quick salute, he was off, jumping down into the street and mixing into the morning crowds.


{FIN}

Just take that dark cloud

Ring it out to wash it down