The full seasonal event can be read here! Below are the main seasonal items for quick reference:
1. A thread reacting to the season's weather in some ways.
2. A thread in the part of the city your character doesn't live in!
3. A thread relating to your vocation.
Of The Season
Quote
"Tell Dr. Nate that Gale sent you, and he still owes me for the mushrooms. Except that it takes you a while to reach the clinic, and by the time you do your fever is spiking, and so instead of the requisite message you instead tell the poor soul who greets you that 'A gale'a m'shrooms sent me cus'a my hands.'" - Zephyr in Oh help me, please doctor, I'm damaged
it's bad enough to see the sunlight through your seams the thread of you and hem of me it's bad enough in between
It’s perhaps more upsetting how well Nate returns the grip and manages to take him down again. Frustration flares for a moment before exhaustion and heat weigh out on him, he sags, hands falling from Nate’s chest and shoulders, falling into the heat cracked dust.
He doesn’t know if he can trust the Dryers not to reveal the secrets within, but at this point what choice does he have? There’s a certain demanding tone in Nate’s voice that has him instinctively taking that breath, even if it’s a shuddering one, holding onto it like he’s about to drop under water when Nate’s forehead pressed against his own.
His eyes close and he manages to exhale that breath, unable to draw into himself like he wants to. “Fine.” He manages to grit out.
you thought I kissed you just to borrow some lipstick? go be a stranger at a party reading lips across a room of empty space
Finally there’s some reaction in the direction he wants. Faint, reluctant ripples, but ripples none the less. It’s more life than he’d been getting before. “Good boy.”
In little bits Nate pushes himself upright again, breaking the sticky contact between them. The last to leave Sunjata are his hands, firm points of pressure refusing to let the other man fold in on himself. “Can I trust you to keep being good if I let go?” It’s not what he wants to say, but he has to triage, taking care of the most obvious holes first.
it's bad enough to see the sunlight through your seams the thread of you and hem of me it's bad enough in between
It’s only marginally more life, given the stress of the place they’re in, the heat, and the fact his journals are likely ruined. So as the pressure relieves, it makes room for more of that anxiety to eat away at him, so much so that he almost wants Nate’s hands pressure to remain.
He doesn’t get the luxury, though, and the needy part of him tries to rationalize that he’s leaving so it matters not trying to keep that connection. But it still settles uncomfortably in his stomach. “Yeah.” He mutters, all the fight pushed out of him from the heat and the rough housing.
The second that Nate lets his arms go, Sunjata sits up, glaring away from Nate and the journals to the quiet, nearly dry river bed this spot is nearby when the thought hits that if he isn’t staying, how’s a Dryer going to do anything with the mess of his journals?
you thought I kissed you just to borrow some lipstick? go be a stranger at a party reading lips across a room of empty space
Nate sits back on his heels, wiping a hand over his face and pushing his hair back carelessly. “Good boy.” He repeats softly, sighing out a breath and looking around. Blue eyes focus on the journals for a moment, squinting as he tries to make out anything about them.
Bouncing up onto his feet (and immediately regretting it as he catches a mouthful of dust and his head spins) Nate huffs again, glancing around before he steps towards his bag. Without saying a word to Sunjata he fishes through it, drawing out a fabric bag of his foraging for the day. “So… running away.”
A small pinch of dried something Is offered out to Sunjata, a dark brow lifted. “Chew, then let it sit under your tongue.” He instructs, slipping some into his own mouth and watching.
it's bad enough to see the sunlight through your seams the thread of you and hem of me it's bad enough in between
It’s not as comforting as he had originally hoped, the ‘good boy’ rolling off of him as Nate moves and Sunjata sits up, drawing even more into himself than he had before, but at least the brazen part of the crisis has passed. He’s silent now, at least until Nate questions his running away and his gaze remains on the dry river bed.
He doesn’t want to seem weak or soft, but he also decides it doesn’t matter much if he does end up leaving. So it’s with a sigh that he shuffles a bit, looking up at Nate as the dried something is offered. “I’m going to Garanenz. To stay with my mom.” The latter part is muffled as he follows the instructions.
And of course, the taste of it has his face scrunching up, doing his best to quickly chew it and let it sit under his tongue, all while watching Nate with pinched brows as if unsure whether it was a good idea or not to even be doing this. “What’s it?” He asks, the question warped slightly with how he tries not to move his tongue too much.
you thought I kissed you just to borrow some lipstick? go be a stranger at a party reading lips across a room of empty space
They haven’t been acquainted long enough for Nate to consider them friends, or even to have started trusting Sunjata, but there’s something endearing about his naïveté that sneaks under Nate’s defences. He just listens, sets the herb under his tongue. Nate shifts to sit beside him, chuckling under his breath as he presses their shoulders together.
“Something that’ll fuck up any drug test you take for the next three months.” Nate answers easily, the words coming out warped with how his tongue stays artificially leaden. “It’ll make you relax.” Leaning in a bit closer, and looking across at the runaway, a brilliant grin cracks across Nate’s face. “When your tongue starts to tingle, swallow. You got that puppy?”
One more thing flickers across the forefront of his mind, important enough to Nate that he has to mention before the root takes effect. “Hey. Lookit me?” Eye to eye, he means, his piercing gaze already focused on where he thinks Sunjata’s will go. “If you ever fuckin’ pull that shit on me again I will knock you out. Understand?”
it's bad enough to see the sunlight through your seams the thread of you and hem of me it's bad enough in between
Their shoulders press together and Sunjata slumps, all bravery falling to the wayside as the understanding of what it is hits. He panics a little, but he recovers swiftly in the realization that he doesn’t need to worry about it if he does manage to run away; but the prospect of getting caught and his father’s added reaction with this in his system settles with more discomfort. “Got it.” He says, focusing on the sensation to see when it begins to happen.
It hasn’t yet, but as he hyper fixates on it, Nate’s asking him to look at him, and he tilts his head in order to meet those bright blues — brighter now with the reflection of the sun, enough that he’s almost taken by surprise at first. “Me?” He asks, already ready to argue back the point even as his tongue starts to tingle. “You fucked up all my notes.” He mutters again, swallowing the root, tearing his gaze away.
“And this is a shitty place so I don’t think it’s a huge overreaction.” He glares at the river bed again, before pulling his attention back to Nate, frustration and hopelessness clear in the steel of his gaze.
you thought I kissed you just to borrow some lipstick? go be a stranger at a party reading lips across a room of empty space
“That was an accident!” Nate’s voice gets louder, the frustration on his face immediately giving way to regret as he lets the damp root invade his tongue, a waxy taste sitting heavily in his mouth. Swallowing and rubbing his mouth with a bare arm, Nate tries again. “Some stranger, creeping around. This is a shitty place.”
The sun has painted all of Nate with a faint pink brush, his hair stiff with the days sweat when he pushes it back again. “Notes for what?” Now that he’s calm, curiosity leaks in, aided by the tingling that starts in the back of his head before spreading down his spine, the world seeming brighter, shinier.
it's bad enough to see the sunlight through your seams the thread of you and hem of me it's bad enough in between
He winces as Nate’s voice bubbles louder, Sunjata shying away with a soft huff of his own annoyance. Accident or not, he supposes his own ‘creeping’ around was also an accident to stumble across Nate in the process. So all he can do is rub his cheek, smearing dust into the freckles on full display in the bright, tormenting sunlight. “S’not like I was trying anything. Didn’t think anyone would be out here.” He actually rolls his eyes, before he looks back at Nate with a huff, finding the blues to be far more vibrant than he had seen previously.
So he deflates, turning a bit to face Nate, his leg drawn up and his knee presses against the outside of Nate’s own leg. “I’ve got all my notes about the warehouses and important spots and people involved with keeping the Drench from rising up.” He admits, a bit sheepishly. “I’ve been working on them for years.”
you thought I kissed you just to borrow some lipstick? go be a stranger at a party reading lips across a room of empty space
Nate huffs one last time, eyes rolling and his head shaking, slowly at first but growing faster as the motion starts to make him feel lighter. He stops suddenly, teeth clacking as he focuses back on what he was doing. Sitting back on his heels, he reaches back for his bag, and unfolds a ragged umbrella, the handle telescoping out to mostly shroud the both of them in shadow. The canopy has been patched in scraps of dark fabric, the stitches making accidental constellations in the surface.
“So they’re what, a rebellion cheat sheet?” The thought is kind of funny, honestly. Especially in his affected state. “Why would anyone trust info from you?” Comes the blunt question, Nate’s head cocking to the side, wide eyes showing off how the blue of his iris is rapidly devoured by the expansion of his pupil.
A shaky grin spreads across Nate’s lips, his head cocking to the other side. “Its actually kinda cute, puppy.” He shifts closer, almost losing his balance as he reaches out to try and brush away the dirt on Sunjata’s cheek.
