[FIN] [PRP Oba] In The Twilight Lo I See [Sajah | Xewai]

[Kapoodles]

There was no time wasted on uneeded words at this point. There was no time for pleasantries or patience anymore, only business. Both of their lives were at risk now out in the open night.

Xewai was more than ready to answer the given questions, but there were so few.. That was fine, the sooner they were to figure everything out, the better.

"I've only begun to scan the area. I assume that the guard schedules change, so I need at most five days to prepare..." Yeah, five days would be plenty.. "We go any time after then, during the night. I will come in just like this, and I'll have a small group of people with me, your height and build. You two will switch places and we'll quietly escort you out. Then come the first light of sunrise, our person will leave as well in different clothing. You will have to leave us a signal for us on the day of the rescue."

Reaching into the opposite sleeve from where he pulled out a smooth polished stone, about the size of a sand dollar. It's vibrant greens and blues stood out against the desert sand and it shimmered faintly in the moonlight. On one side of the stone was the image of a spiral, cyclone shape, the exact same as the hair pin that Xewai wore in his hair when they first met.

"You can leave the stone at the entrance of sleeping quarters, buried in the sand. Someone from my organization will dig it up at sundown, and we will come for you at around this time." That would be a satisfactory answer, right?

A friend. He had a friend. Of course he had a friend. They always had people around them they cared about that they didn't want to leave behind. But the risk increased so much when someone else knew of the plan. Xewai bit his lip, trying to decide what he should do. He couldn't leave the friend behind... He just... No.

"Who is the friend? Where are they?"

 

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

Sajah listened, watching closely as the boy spoke and taking in the words. So there were a number of these ‘rescuers,’ all bent on taking him specifically out. It still struck him as strange. Suspicious, even, except not in a way he could pin down, because what would anyone have to gain in tricking him into attempting to escape? And fellow Matori at that. Besides, had relatively little to lose.

Other than Nyko.

When the other paused at his last line, however, Sajah felt a familiar prickle under his skin, shoulders stiffening as he braced himself for the words: they wouldn’t take more than one. To be fair, he did not know yet if his friend would even need or want the aid. Nyko had—well, a way about him, and a longstanding determination to change his circumstances that Sajah was by now well aware of. But this, all of this, was unplanned for, sudden and strange, and Sajah refused to agree to escape at the hands of strangers without at least identifying his friend’s situation.

But Xe did not dismiss the idea immediately, and Sajah felt as much surprise as he did curious relief. The boy hadn’t however, answered his first question. So, he took up the charcoal again, smudging out the two answered portions—no need to leave the words there if anyone were to walk up on them—and then drawing a line of emphasis under where after here, before adding: Ny— He paused, frowning, and then smudged again with his thumb, erasing part of the spelling and writing over:

Nicosia - near - other master house

What was the family name? Sajah knew he couldn’t begin to spell it. Instead, he gestured to the east, and then tapped his own chest.

I talk with him

Inside the servants’ building, floorboards creaked, and Sajah’s fingers crimped on instinct, tucking the sheet away for a moment and taking a step nearer to Xe. In the event that anyone did happen in on them, the other boy looked—well. Sajah’s gaze flicked down over him again in a third ‘cursory’ inspection. Standing near to each other, at the very least, looked as though it would be expected under the circumstances. Without thinking, he gestured out of habit, fingers flicking into instinctive, familiar motions, though they would be indecipherable to Xe’s eyes.

«If someone comes, moan like you love me.»  

[Kapoodles]

Xewai would admit he felt a little stupid when the other emphasized the first question. He THOUGHT he had answered it, but now that he thought about it, that probably had a totally different meaning.

"Oh, yes, right. We will go to Matori, to the southern island. There are no big cities there, but we do have a large settlement established by the Buhawi decades ago. It is as far east as the southern island goes. Once we arrive, you will be given your own home to dwell in as long as you like, and there will be work, if you wished to gather up money to leave. The Obans cannot reach you there, because no one knows the way except those who have been." As sketchy as it seemed, it was true. that unnamed village was his home for the past thirteen years. He knew it and the way there like the back of his own hand. Everyone else... Not so much.

"Nicosia..." The name wasn't familiar but he knew of the other masters in the area. There weren't many, but they all seemed to be clustered enough together. It wouldn't be hard at all to slip between the houses to find him, IF he knew what he was looking for... But the language barrier made it so much more difficult.

"I cannot say yes or no just yet... Please understand that our resources are low, there aren't many of us left... I would like to help him, and am willing, but I need to speak with him first. He would have to agree to follow the plan we have laid out... Can he be trusted...? Can you have him meet me?"

There were so many worries and fears that hadn't been expected rising up now. How could he say no? At the same time, there was so much danger now. And the sounds that were coming in from the cabin wasn't bringing any comfort either.

In a moment of nervous energy and nerves triggered by a slightly closer than comfort sound in the building, Xewai found himself moving closer to Saj, to the point where his arms where around the mute's middle, and his lips pressed up against his neck. He knew how this seemed, and the other must have been able to feel how hot his cheeks were burning at this point.

"Saj, I'm sorry..." He murmured, his hands moving to gently touch the other's back in what he thought would be a comforting touch. The pads of his fingers moved quickly and gingerly among the cuts and scars that were there. Xewai had seen what had happened earlier, and had hoped that the medicine had been of some use. As he spoke again, his lips brushed against the delicate skin on Saj's throat. "I do not mean to get so close... Let me know when it's safe to pull away."

 

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

Sajah listened to the explanation with growing skepticism. ‘Matori’ was well enough. Though he had never been outside of Oba, his parents had spoken of the ocean islands, the stretching beaches, and the cool lick of the sea against sandy toes. He had difficulty imagining it with no reference to base imaginings off of, but anything would be better than this, and that was his homeland. As the other went on, however, speaking of this strange organization and promising it would provide a home for him, work, and some guarantee of safety, suspicion prickled under his skin.

Even he — who had not been out in the world and always lived under the thumb of others who controlled such aspects of his life as ‘home,’ ‘food,’ and ‘work’ — even he knew that such things did not simply exist ripe and waiting, ready free for the taking. Coin with which to pay for things did not spring fresh from the soil for anyone to pluck it. Buildings did not wait, empty, clean, and uninhabited, just ready for strangers to come and ‘use’ at will and live in as long as they needed.

Everything had a price.

Everything.

And anyone who suggested otherwise was lying, or wanted something.

Of course, he couldn’t say as much, and even if he’d had the tongue to voice his thoughts, he might have kept his suspicions to himself. He still had not come up with a reason the stranger would lie about an escape attempt, and though his ‘plan’ seemed convoluted and confounded at best, having somewhere to go and a plan by which to go there by was worth something. And Sajahka was ready for change.

His ears flicked, twitching as his eyes narrowed when the other asked, ‘Can he be trusted?’ and his gold gaze snapped that way. Of course Nyko could be trusted. What he scratched onto paper, though, was: not leave without - can trust

His thoughts were still there: on Nyko, on the ‘plan,’ on some strange island across a body of sea when there came a crowding in feel, warmth and—

—there were lips on his neck.

Sajahka bristled, shoulders stiffening to iron consistency and eyes narrowing to yellow slits. Then fingers grazed his back, skirting over lumps and ridges, new and old alike, and a warning snarl bubbled up from his throat, fingers bunching and perfectly ready to shove—but then came Xe’s words, and half an instant after that, someone stepped out from inside. Sajah’s hands froze where they were, rigid on Xe’s hips.

Bharan’s laughter was not reassuring. “An’ here I didn’ think you knew you had a c**k, then, oi. Had to see for myself…” His eyes trailed down Xe’s backside, and his tongue clicked. “Not such a surprise to find you like back end roads, though…”

Sajah’s discontent slipped from between his teeth in a spitting hiss of a sound, and the next instant, he yanked at his company, dragging him further from the door and around to adjacent side of the building, out of sight. He ignored Bharan’s follow-up call out, snapping the paper back out instead and scratching onto it in smeared black a messy set of squares, shaded areas, and lined alleyways. It took thinking, but at length, he had it developed to a point he was satisfied, and drew a single circle around one of the small squares, scritching beneath: here, and then, another circle at the top of his makeshift maze of boxes and roads, he traced another circle, marking it ‘N’.

At the far bottom, he scribbled: if traitor to me, i die - traitor to Nico, i take knife. He scratched several stiff lines under the word ‘knife’ indicating it sharply with a tap of the coal piece before turning to Xe and touching his finger to the boy’s navel. From there he traced it up, up, up in a slow, ‘slicing’ line before flicking it in a final ‘cut’ across Xe’s throat.  

[Kapoodles]

It could not be said that Xewai didn't enjoy this brief moment of closeness. There were few times he had been so close to another being raised, and certainly never in such a manner. Yet it excited him. The beating of Sajahka's heart, the quickening of his breath once the person came around the corner, and the soft pressure on his hips while he was held in place. With every place his own fingers traced, the young man grew more worried, more saddened. It must have hurt so badly, and there was nothing he could do now. Nothing except to help this never happen again. It was in that instant, in that moment, Xewai clung tighter to Saj, as if to say 'I'm Sorry..' about the entire thing.

But as quick as it started, it was cut off, and he was tugged away around the corner out of sight of the stranger's judging gaze.

For just a brief moment, Xewai expected those hands to be on him again and for that closeness to return, but instead, his companion quickly scribbled a map, telling of where their 'friend was'. It wasn't very far at all, hell, he could probably make it over there in just a few minutes.

And then came the threat, a finger tracing up the length of him, then right across his throat. A bristle of fear crept up his spine, causing goosebumps to form on his forearms, yet he did not flinch. It was a threat, certainly, but he had no intention of causing it to come to fruition. His expression shifted to the utmost serious, his own eyes becoming stern as if he was thinking of nothing more than the final outcome of this rescue.

"I understand. If that day comes, I'll sharpen the knife for you. But it won't, and you two WILL make it out of here alive and well, I swear it." An ear twitched at another sound, one of larger, heavier footsteps going past them around another corner. It wouldn't be safe to linger here too much longer.

"Do you have anything else to discuss? If not, then we can end this here... I'll wait a few days until I go see Nyco... Then when you're ready, we'll go, and no one will ever hurt you like they did here. Not if we have anything to say about it." Xewai was never good at remaining serious for long and he genuinely smiled at Sajah, a hand coming up to give a simple 'thumbs up'.

"Even if there are bumps in the road, we will get you AND Nyko out."

The Only Black Uke