like secrets to haunt

SUNJATA

may you prosper till you die
prim and pitted black and white

The day comes and ever since his meeting with Willow, he’s managed to get in a surprising amount of trouble — grounded to the POINT plate. He’s lucky in the fact that since he’d planned this beforehand, he’s managed to force his father’s hand in letting him meet her at POSE, to take the train in with her, to ensure everything goes according to plan. So far, it does, and right at the south end train station from POSE, he meets her, dressed a little more professional — business casual, as he likes to think.

It’s a nice button up shirt, unbuttoned for the top two. A nice pair of jeans and the usual thick enforcer boots, and no hood this time to hide who he is, but instead a hat sits over the mark shaved into his head. At least until they get to POINT. He finds her, flashing her a smile and guiding her toward the front of the train, and once they’re settled in and on their way to one of the last stops the train makes, his voice is low when he speaks.

“So, we can either chat in a cafe like before but far more restricted or… If you’re comfortable I can show you one of my spaces I’ve kept hidden. It is, however, under Bratena Manor.” This is said with a slight wince and a gentler smile as the train starts to come to a stop and people start to filter out of the train into the Unity Gardens.

may we dance until it rains
may we drink to hide our shame

Needn't be careful with me love -
I'd say rattle at will; I've been drinking my milk

Nerves prickled along her skin, causing small little shakes as she wandered her way toward the train station.  Many thoughts raced through her head as she moved forward, trying her best to herd and collect them into intelligible groups.  What she was doing would easily get her charged with treason, but the alternative of living out her life under the heel of the wealthy emboldened her to move forward.

She just hoped the courage stuck with her.

Another concern (as if being potentially charged with treason was not enough to keep you fixated) was the train ride itself.  Partial fear, partial excitement bubbling its way up to the surface.  Willow had never ridden the trains before - here or in Kotoll.  The thought of the high speed rail moving from place to place was fascinating, but also seemed reasonably dangerous.  You were, after all, racing quite literally hundreds of feet above the city below as you dashed between the Plates.

Her face is slightly pale and clouded with thoughts as she shuffles her way through the crowd toward the train station.  The focus of her mind so muddled that she nearly walks into Sunjata as she approaches, halting closer than she would have otherwise liked as the tips of his feet pop into her view pointed decidedly at the floor.

She does not clearly remember the awkward pleasantries and conversation while they boarded the train, nor the act of finding their seats.  However, once in motion, Willow quickly finds a weird sense of calm rushes over her.  It's almost as if the hefty weight of thoughts remains trapped within her skull, but her mind drifts out of her body.  The rushing landscapes mesmerizing as they float toward POINT.

It's only when the slowing begins that she realizes the trip is coming to an end, and the pristine parks and houses suggest they will be at their destination in a few moments.  Sunny's voice shakes her consciousness back to the present, and she looks at him with foggy eyes.  His wince and smile does not go unnoticed, and she matches it with one of her own.

"You lead the way," she says assuredly.  "We're not on my turf anymore."

Willow

Like trembling leaves right before the big freeze, I was with you.

background by valentin salja

SUNJATA

may you prosper till you die
prim and pitted black and white

He likes to think he has an idea of what’s going on with the people around him. Oftentimes he’s wrong, but there are times like now when he has an inkling that all of this must be incredibly uncomfortable and unsettling for her. So he does his best to try and alleviate it, to be this strong, confident enforcer – becoming an actor in order to speak with Willow under the confidence that it would be kept between themselves and wouldn’t paint them as traitors.

Of course, she’d get a lot more to gain out of it than he would if she played the game of doing it for the good of the Plates and to make a name for herself. But he didn’t get that feeling from her and certainly doesn’t think that it’s something she’d go through with.

Then again, he’s only known her for essentially an hour while she served him lunch and tolerated his company.

So he makes the decision swiftly, even if it causes her the discomfort she already shows from being here in the first place. “We’ll go to the Manor, then. Nobody will have a chance to listen in.” And it’s early enough in the day that his father’s gone and would be none the wiser to the things Sunjata’s up to.

The young Bratena guides Willow through the Unity Garden toward the edge of the Bratena sector, where they come across a small little parking lot with a row of cars within it. Sunjata’s is small but not too small and a sleek black, something that looks like it blends in with the other cars but has just enough features to set his apart from the others. And like the gentleman that he is, he opens her door for her, flashing a smile and closing it once she gets in before he gets into his side. “I have a stack of books where we’re going that I thought we could refer to. You could also keep some if you wanted.” If this was to become a commonality, that is. She could research it.

Either way, the drive should only take about ten to fifteen minutes, and Sunjata buckles himself in as he starts the car with a quiet rumble and begins to head out onto the road that leads to the Bratena Manor.

may we dance until it rains
may we drink to hide our shame