Z'jai Kha

It was late. Or maybe it was early? Often times it was hard to tell being so deep under the sands; Z'jai slept when he could and came out when he was needed - his purpose for one thing and one thing only. He was quite fine with that, and if you pressed him with a knife to his neck, he would confess that he thrived on it.

Day and time were trivial, and this very moment found him hunched over a pair of hand-drawn maps, critically comparing them to one another. The barren wastelands of the Sagolii, instinctive geography he knew like the back of his hand. The handwriting on each parchment was indiscernible to him, letters combining to create words of no meaning whatsoever, but the circles and arrows leading from one bandit cave to another spoke his language in a tactically smooth tongue; fingertips silently tracing along the routes, committing them to memory in a vernacular that someone like him could understand easily.

Bright eyes were intensely focused, calculating - there was a certain preparation one needed for not only the perils of the desert underground, but also the volatility of potential combat in tight spaces.. index and middle fingers of one hand tapped a delicate cadence on the maps, over and over again, and Z'jai almost lost himself in a whirlwind of his own plans before a familiar voice pulled him from his reverie, sudden and unexpected.

"Hey, loser. Got you somethin'."

His breath hitched in his throat, senses on heightened alert for the briefest of moments as he was wont to do - old habits surely die hard - but he could sense the wild smile in Anrai's tone even before he entered the room, and so he relaxed gently against the back of his chair, palms moving to flatten against the tabletop in a subtle grounding motion.

"Yeah?"

Z'jai glanced back over one shoulder, pewter brows arched in a quiet curiosity as the shadow of his friend, his companion, blurred into the corners of his vision - Anrai, in all his brash and insolent ways, shifted himself into the quiet room as if it was nothing.

"Yeah. ... Hold on. I gotta get some shit for tonight." The raven haired Hyur paused briefly as he ducked into an adjoining room, the tension hanging heavy in the air for a moment, passing almost quicker than it had appeared. "You know I hafta fight tonight, right?"

Z'jai knew. Anrai had an insatiable hunger for many things, but the coliseum nearly topped the list, and fingers of one hand found themselves coiling around his length of silver hair as he stared blankly at the line of flickering candles that flanked his desk. "... Yeah. I do." His words trailed off into a lingering emptiness between them, and Z'jai quietly curled into himself, tail coiling about his own waist in an instinctively protective motion - Anrai had to know that he couldn't go back. Not there. Not after all this. He shifted himself in his chair, legs crossing one over the other, and resumed his posture leaning over the maps before him, yet not really paying attention... but waiting.

"... Ok. Just wanted to make sure. Might not be back until tomorrow, depends on how this shit goes." Z'jai heard him, words aloof and nonchalant as he packed his things noisily from his room. "Y'know, the later I'm back, the better it's gonna be, right?" More time means more rounds, and more money, and he lifted one shoulder nonchalantly; unseen.

".. Whatever."

He could practically sense Anrai's snide laughter from the other room, and as the Hyur moved to finalize his preparations, he found himself once more turning into his own attentions, failing to focus on the maps in front of him as quick footfalls approached him from behind.

"Hey. .. This's yours. Made me think of you. Y'know how hard it is to find -this- kinda shit out here?"

Z'jai paused at the words, blinking widely, and for the quickest of moments bright golden eyes met the intense indigo stare of Anrai, the gladiator shoving something insistently into one hand.

"... You're welcome." Anrai's smile grew just a bit then; crooked, daring, fingers linking with the AuRa's in a quick and nimble motion before he straightened and took a few steps backward. ".. See you soon?" Less of a question and more of a statement, as he disappeared into the darkness behind him, leaving Z'jai behind with a lingering curiosity, pulling the offered gift into his own grasp, ignoring his maps for the time being.

He hesitated for a long moment, golden gaze sinking into the intricately crafted weapon he suddenly had cradled within both hands - an elegantly carved knife, one he had not seen for ages, something from a long lost timeline; the delicate dance of Hak Khaal etched within the blade's hilt, and for the second time this night he found his breath paused within his throat, memory whirling to where he would have told him this and when he would have -known-.. bright eyes lifted, frenzied, to the spot where the other man had just disappeared from, and Z'jai found himself speechless against the emptiness that remained, unanswered questions alongside the soundless hope that he would come back - tonight, tomorrow - anytime soon so he could ask him, how, and where..