[RA] Uranium rain

Hadama did not dance.

True, he had grown familiar with his legs and he had mastered walking, running, and stairs, but there had been neither time nor opportunity to learn dancing. He had been content to stand on the sidelines and listen to the music, his stoic mien discouraging strangers from approaching as he concerned himself with his own thoughts. Others whirled around the dancefloor in handsome suits or bright dresses or outfits that had elements of both, and he admired the craftsmanship of their accessories and the deft movements of their feet, but he showed no inclination to try and join them.

He might have been one of the pillars that held up the ceiling as he stood in his customary stillness, present but lacking in the celebratory mood of those who had not been at the earlier meeting.

Until a vision of style and grace began to make her way towards him and the Tidebreaker drew in a slow breath and set his drink aside so that he could offer Flora a deep bow, waiting to speak until she made her intentions known.

i could be the reason you can't sleep at night

The night was a shitshow, but honestly, what else was new. When hadn't things gone wrong on a massive scale when they all dared gather together for even an ounce of fun and normalcy. The fact that no one had actually died this time (unlike Melita, and nearly Seren) was a small miracle in and of itself, and given that Flora had been spending the majority of the evening avoiding Koa and gossiping with Isla, when her aqua stare fell upon Hadama, it seemed only appropriate that they debrief about the nonsense of earlier.

"Come on, dance time." The Doubletake trilled, eyes bright and fingertips extended to pull her co-leader out onto the dance floor with it. It never occurred to Flora that Hadama couldn't dance, but nor would that knowledge have stopped her. In the immortal words of Elle Woods, what, like it's hard?

"Ah... I do not know how--" Hadama protested, but it was a weak defense as Flora claimed his hand and tugged him after her. He did not resist as she led the way onto the dance floor among the swirl of color and movement dictated by the rhythm of the music. There were few who could move the Tidebreaker when he did not want to be moved, but the Doubletake was one of them.

Once they reached Flora's destination her co-ruler allowed her to position his hands and arms to suit herself, emerald eyes watching the Queen as she began to move. She would need to take the lead, but he would follow without argument. His bearing was stiff and unpracticed and his steps were hesitant at first, but at least his large feet were encased in soft shoes rather than hard ones so he was able to shift them before he brought his weight down on Flora's toes.

"Thank you," he rumbled quietly as they sorted out which direction they were going and whose feet needed to go where. "For keeping a cooler head than mine today."

i could be the reason you can't sleep at night

Looping her arms around Hadama's neck—the song was a slow one, perhaps a bit more intimate than either of them would have chosen intentionally, but at least it would let them chat without having to worry about their footwork too much—the Doubletake wordlessly took the lead, easily able to raise her eyebrows and fix her co-ruler with an accusatory stare whilst simultaneously guiding them around the dancefloor.

"Yeah, what the fuck was that, huh?" She wondered, the corners of her lips wrinkling with smile lines even as she tried to maintain a stern stare. Flora, of course, could say very little on the subject of recklessness, but of everyone who'd have placed money on making a situation needlessly worse, Hadama wouldn't have been her top pick.

Hadama did not usually smile much in public settings, but his current serene expression was not out of the ordinary if they were trying to maintain a pretense of normality. There was no reason to spoil the party for anyone else, after all, and for those who had not been at the meeting of leaders it was likely an enjoyable event. So when he looked down into the Doubletake's smiling glare and let her lead him in the swaying dance - something that thankfully required little previous experience - he did little more than tilt his head an acceptance of her chastisement. It was a gesture that could be interpreted by any watchers as a simple acknowledgment of something his partner had said, but he was grateful for the music that covered his own rumbling voice from reaching past Flora's ears.

"A risk," he admitted, having had some time since the meeting to examine his actions. "A foolish one." He was silent for a moment as they made a slow - and mostly steady - spin past the band. "I did not think Dahlia would hesitate to kill Maea." A council member, yes, but regrettably unlikely to cause a war if she was murdered. "I hoped she would pause before killing a King."

Now he knew better, but the lesson had been a costly one.

i could be the reason you can't sleep at night

"Mmhmmmmm." Flora agreed emphatically, her ringed fingers smoothing down Hadama's collar as they moved in lazy circles around the dancefloor in an effort to make it seem as though she and the Tidebreaker were simply enjoying one another's company. And, it wasn't like they weren't.

"Doubt." The Doubletake concluded, on both accounts. "That's the fucked up thing. She could have killed you both and I still don't think it would have caused a war. Not, like, right away." Their danger meter was already maxed out, and though something would likely push it all to a head, Flora doubted if anyone on team Not-Purple was ready to let it happen so soon.

Even if one of their own was killed right in front of them.

"You and Maea aren't, like, a thing, are you...?" Because in Flora's mind, that would actually explain a lot.

If Flora had offered to teach him to dance under better circumstances it would have been an enjoyable evening. But if wishes were fishes there'd be no room in the sea for Merfolk, as the saying went. Of all those present she was most deserving of an explanation from him and he appreciated that it did not involve icy disdain or righteous rage. He would have been honest with her regardless, but it made their dance as comfortable as it could be under he circumstances.

"Yes," he agreed, the word a sigh as his collar was adjusted. "That is clear now." To Dahlia as well as to the Tidebreaker. And then a question followed that had nothing to do with the Reaper but which gave the King pause, his feet tangling briefly even at their slow pace. He tilted his head down to study the top of Flora's head, focusing on one cluster of artful curls as the silence stretched and he remembered the flush in the pale Ancient's cheeks as she had spoken of his former friend before he answered in his slow, measured tones. "Mmh. She is... interested... in someone else."

i could be the reason you can't sleep at night

"Yeah, she's cray." The Doubletake agreed, eyebrows lifting into her bangs with emphasis. "I mean, to just stroll in like that? Like, holy gods." Either that was some show of force, or they all just got bluffed to hell. "And what was up with Ever? He's been acting weird lately, but 5 minutes ago he couldn't even maintain eye contact, much less address an entire room without getting a nosebleed." That might have been a bit of an exaggeration, but all things considered, Flora thought it captured the weirdness pretty well.

With the copper and aquamarine band on her arm sparkling prettily as they danced—had Hadama been her secret gift-giver?—the Doubletake could only tut softly under her breath. "Okay, but like...are you interested in her?" Looking up at her co-ruler, Flora crinkles her nose suspiciously. Saying that Maea was interested in someone else was a very different answer than had the Tidebreaker just laughed and said no.

"Ever..." The name finally rung the bell that the young man's appearance had not and Hadama's brow threatened to furrow as he finally placed the vague sense of familiarity. "That was Everest Hart?" He managed not to stumble again his nod at a passing couple was decidedly distracted as he kept his voice quiet. "I did not recognize him." The shy tinkerer who had helped him collect webs once upon a time seemed a different man entirely than the one who had proceeded Dahlia through the door of Maea's office.

Although Hadama did have a gift for Flora he had not brought it to the Grounds. Nothing about the day had gone as planned, and the direction the conversation had taken was one more symptom of the strangeness of it all. It felt almost surreal, a sense of whiplash in how the professional and personal aspects of his life had suddenly drawn together in a way that was decidedly discomforting.

Silence met Flora's question as they continued to move in a slow sway along the lazy river of other dancers. It was a silence she might be used to by now, of her co-ruler losing himself deeply in thought before he finally spoke, his words measured but firm. "It would not be... wise. As today proved." And, though he was not in a joking mood, there was a certain ebb and flow to their friendship that he slipped into as easily as an otter into the sea. It helped that his tone could remain solemn as he spoke, not needing to feign some lilt of humor. "And she has the wrong kind of tail."

i could be the reason you can't sleep at night

"I know, right?" Flora's eyebrows raise in agreement. Glancing over the king's shoulder, she's able to spy the traitor in question. "And he's dating Isla now, of all people." She adds; the Remedy hadn't seemed inclined to hide the information, at least not from what Flora had understood, and really, it just added to the overall strangeness surrounding Everest Hart. "Maybe everyone is just going crazy."

Though Flora was indeed used to her co-ruler's stoic silences, as they continued to sway around the floor, she did give her arms a little nudge where they looped around his shoulders to draw his focus back from whatever depths of his mind it had sunken into. As for his comments about Maea, the Doubletake could only grin broadly in response. If he and the loreseeker were having a thing, that certainly would have made his behaviour a lot more understandable.

"That is speciest." She laughs, despite knowing exactly what he meant. Or at least she thought she did.

"What Sunny said got me thinking though...maybe it is time we start to think about making more items for our people instead of just training soldiers. If danger is just going to keep popping up like this, maybe it makes more sense to have, like, little "oh so you're leaving Torchline" fanny packs."

There was some information that was just too strange to process immediately and Hadama simply blinked at the image of shy, timid Everest with the worldly-wise and poised Remedy. ”…Indeed…” Given his own actions within the last day he did not feel qualified to comment on the sanity of others. Though it did seem to be going around.

Something in the water, maybe. Looking at you, Feverlands

It was preferred to the conversation about his love life, however, which tread dangerous waters. There was starlight in his veins now, and in his heart. Whatever else he might feel for Maea, he would not ask any person to hold the second place in his life when the first was already spoken for. So it was that Flora’s laugh eased some of the tension in the shoulders beneath her arms. ”Ah, my apologies,” he murmured at being called out in his preferences for fish-tails over spade-tails, but there was a hint of a twinkle in his voice.

It took another moment for him to connect ‘Sunny’ with Sunjata and a conversation that he had largely missed. He listened intently, however, and Flora’s suggestion drew a nod of his cheek against her hair. ”Yes. The soldiers have done well in their training,” he agreed. ”Should we harvest more shells for trade this season?” While the weather was cool was a good time for it.

Flora

Preferring to just rest her cheek against the king's broad chest rather than constantly craning her neck to look up at him, Flora sighed softly. "Yeah. He said that King's End could trade in healing items. I don't think we really got to what the other regions were capable of doing, because then Danta was asking for Deimos to make jackets for the ancients." As far as explanations go, for someone who hadn't been in the room at the time, it likely both would and wouldn't make any sense.

"I assume Halo does, like, icy stuff. I dunno about the Grounds and I'm not sure I'd trust anything coming out of Stormbreak." Normally that would go without saying, but just in case.

"I don't think Deimos or Danta are in the mood for politic talk after what happened earlier, but maybe I can chat with them about trading after this is all done?"

So long as the music remained slow Hadama had grasped the rhythm of feet and gently swaying bodies and no longer seemed quite as prone to almost-stepping on Flora's toes. It was his turn to crane his head down as she rested her head on his chest, the position an uncommon one to find himself in. Few were so bold with physical contact with the Tidebreaker, but a little more tension eased from his frame as he relaxed beneath the reassuring contact.

What Flora had to say was reassuring as well, though he had to pause to try and parse the dip into Halovian styles for Caido's newest oldest race. "...Ah." Deciding to pursue the sartorial segue at a later date, he focused instead on the question of goods for trade. "Torchline was going to trade with Halo and Stormbreak while Harper was King," he mused, dredging up old memories that had faded to mere bruises after so long. "And when Sohalia was Heart. But the LongNight meteors fell before we could meet with the Wardens. And Stormbreak was in no position to trade after the War." Too much damage had been taken, and they had needed to focus on rebuilding. Discussions had been postponed... indefinitely.

But Flora's charm returned the option to them and the edges of Hadama's eyes crinkled faintly in the torchlight. "I would trust you to negotiate the teeth from a shark," he assured her, voice solemn but his hand squeezed hers lightly as they managed a slow spin around a corner. "Luck and Healing would be a useful combination, if you think that Sunjata would be the easiest to approach." She had family ties to draw on in King's End, and the Flood seemed the most likely to eventually forgive Hadama's actions of earlier.

i could be the reason you can't sleep at night

"Oh? Cool." At least the other regions wouldn't be surprised when she reached out to them, then. "Do we have anything saved up to trade right now?" Flora wonders as they make what will likely be their final revolution around the dance floor if the musician's melody was anything to go by.

Glancing up at the king, Flora smiled in such a way that the bridge of her nose crinkled along with the skin around her eyes. "I think they're all easy, but Sunjata is basically family now." She chirps, almost echoing the Tidebreaker's own line of thinking.

"I know some of our citizens aren't the most trustworthy, but given everything that's going on, do you think they'd take advantage of it if we just left items around the city? That way they were available at all times and to anyone who needed them?" If Flora spoke to Jack about it, the queen thought perhaps she could get the Captain to help keep some of the more unsavoury folks in line. Quite what he'd want in return though she couldn't be sure, though at this point, there were few prices that seemed too high given the danger they were in.