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+---- Thread: [SE] FORTify your heart (/showthread.php?tid=11986)
FORTify your heart - Kaisel - 09-01-2025
The courier delivered the rest of his things the other day. He hadn't been sure which room to claim at first. The guest one that he'd stayed in had been his first choice, but then if anyone else needed to stay over they'd be in her room and that seemed like a worse arrangement, not that he really expected to have much of anyone over any time soon given he'd set a few things on fire more or less to get here. He took it as his anyway, to be safe, because he wouldn't be the one turning any of his friends or family away here.
His clothes hang in the closet along with her bar-forever assortments that had been abandoned. Steve Stone and Ruby Rock have taken up residence on one of the living room window sills, so they might alert him of anyone coming up the walk, and have something nice to look at outside. His money plant is centered in the kitchen, where the light hits it just right, as per Maeteo's careful care instructions about what it needs. He stocked the pantries and fridge, although most of it is snacks and sweets than anything substantial, except the basics like milk and eggs. Everything else is mild and minor, and the rest is still hers.
What he is grateful for, is her wild stockpile of comforters and blankets, which came out like an angry avalanche the moment he opened a hallway closet out of curiosity. He managed to wrangle them back into a loose idea of folded and lugged them all downstairs, which is what he is grandly showing off to her now. [say]"Classic fort rules apply. Chairs, couch cushions, blankets, and clips are allowed. Everything else is off the table, including,"[/say] here he holds up an accusing finger towards her face. [say]"Channeling. No spirits or gods allowed Flo-go."[/say]
He leans back with a smile, hands slipping into the pockets of his gray sweats, rolled over his violet socks with different colors and shapes of flowers blooming over them. He's got on a black t-shirt, the chest covered with a giant frog face, the eyes of which jiggle with any strong movement. The house is warm enough not to need to bother with jackets or sweatshirts, though his maroon one is flopped somewhere nearby from when he first woke up, discarded after working up a sweat organizing all the supplies while too bundled for the effort and the fireplace heat.
RE: FORTify your heart - Flora - 09-04-2025
Flora stands at the edge of the living room battlefield, arms folded across her chest like a queen surveying a nation that dares to govern itself. A single brow arches with exaggerated suspicion, gaze sweeping slowly across the fortress of blanket towers and cushion ramparts that have colonized her former house. Her mouth purses, unimpressed, but only theatrically so. The twinkle in her aqua eyes is impossible to miss, especially not for someone who knows her well enough to spot the mischief swimming just beneath the surface.
But as he declares no channeling, Flora gasps, dramatic and wounded, hands flying up as if he’s personally robbed her of divine right. [say]"Excuse me?"[/say] The words rise like smoke from an elegant bonfire, all hiss and heat and pure indignation. [say]"That is a targeted attack, and you know it."[/say] Shoulders squared, she stomps forward (more pout than threat), stopping just close enough to jab a perfectly manicured finger into the soft frog-face on his shirt. [say]"You can channel too, Kai,"[/say] she says, dragging his name out like honey off a spoon before glancing down at his socks with an expression that's nothing short of scandalised.
Her own outfit might scream comfort, but the fine line between lazy and effortless is one she walks with a strut and a smirk. A white tank top clings in all the right ways, her neckline just tousled enough to say I woke up like this, even though they both know it took three changes and a mirror dance to get it just right. Her sweatpants ride low on her hips, gold bracelets clinking softly when she crosses her arms again with flair. Her curls are half up, half down, a few golden strands spilling like sunbeams against her collarbone.
Behind her, the soft clink of glass on wood echoes faintly from the kitchen, followed by a low, curious snuffle. [say]"Spiiiiiice,"[/say] Flora calls without looking, tone sharp as a cracked whip. [say]"You can't just go through the cupboards anymore. They aren't yours."[/say] There’s a suspicious rustle, a pause, and then the unmistakable sound of a small white dragon sulking.
With a sigh that sounds entirely too put-upon for someone surrounded by plush chaos and frog-shirted company, Flora looks back to Kaisel. [say]"Fine. No channelling."[/say] And even as she says it, her hands are already reaching for the nearest blanket, rings flashing. [say]"Hope you're ready to lose. Torchline was basically just one big sandcastle before I became queen."[/say]
RE: FORTify your heart - Kaisel - 09-04-2025
One of the frog's eyeballs deflates under her nail, giving the impression of a crinkly wink. [say]"Yeah!"[/say] he exclaims back, his stage presence just as bold alongside her theater. One hand darts out from his pocket to grab at her finger, threatening to hold her forever now, the risk of her poke. [say]"It is, because only one of us has been known to uneven the playing field that way."[/say] Honestly, she should be flattered a whole rule got added just for her. [say]"This is about what we can make."[/say] He relinquishes her hand as she crosses her arms, grin utterly unrepentant.
The eyeball pops back up to full height as he glances towards the noise. A scoff soon drags out in response, swiftly undermining Flora. [say]"You can do whatever the hell you want Spice!"[/say] he calls out cheerfully, absolutely intending to spoil her with every opportunity he can. [say]"My house, my rules."[/say] Gods, it felt good to finally use that line after having it wielded on him time after time.
Smugly, he drags his gaze back to Flora, grin tilting along with his head. [say]"You're so mean,"[/say] he teases, grabbing a comforter as her agreement lands. A verbal handshake, which isn't very trustworthy, so skeptically he watches the lean of her as she reaches for her building supplies. [say]"Mmhmm,"[/say] he says, clearly unimpressed by her taunt. [say]"Well this isn't sand babygirl. Us Breakers are master fort builders."[/say] Not much else to build with there, unless you were out laying more bricks. He flaps his blanket out in her direction before elegantly draping it over a tower of nearby chairs. It takes a bit of tugging to give it the best and most sturdy draping effect, creating the entryway with an impressive and taut arch of fabric.
RE: FORTify your heart - Flora - 09-04-2025
Flora gasps again—the audacity—as if his smug little declaration about her powers had been written on a scroll and nailed to her front door. [say]"If we’re building it together,"[/say] she snips, voice rising with the wounded drama of a queen wrongfully exiled, [say]"then I really don’t see why my hands should be tied behind my back while you strut around like a frog in charge of the pond."[/say]
With a scoff and the kind of hairflip that could stun a lesser man into silence, she snatches her finger back from his grasp, the motion quick and feline as she folds her arms beneath her chest, deliberately—very deliberately—propping her breasts up. [say]"Honestly,"[/say] she purrs, lashes fluttering with weaponised sweetness, [say]"I think you’re just a little intimidated by my strength."[/say]
The glitter in her eyes softens only for a flicker as he throws out that babygirl like a line cast into warm seafoam, tugging an absolutely ridiculous grin from her lips before she can stop it. It glows across her face, warm as tide-washed gold. [say]"Don’t try to flatter your way out of this,"[/say] she says, tone all exasperated delight as she turns, [say]"and it’s not Stormbreak either, dragon boy, so maybe don’t come in here acting like you invented buildings."[/say]
She watches his oh-so-proud blanket flap with a look of supreme judgement, as if his entryway is a child’s drawing next to a commissioned mural. [say]"Adorable,"[/say] she drawls, voice steeped in honey and venom both.
With ceremony worthy of a coronation, Flora stalks to the dining table; a graceful, pointed glide in her sweatpants, hair catching the firelight in molten ribbons as she reaches out and drags the entire thing forward with a grind of wood against floorboards. Not summoned, not magicked. Just raw, glorious pettiness and muscle. If he was making an arch as an entrance, she'd make a hall.
RE: FORTify your heart - Kaisel - 09-04-2025
He mock talks under his breath like the Spongebob gif as she starts up with a telenovela worthy show. He can't keep the laugh out though, which doesn't make his threat nearly as scary as he'd have liked. [say]"Keep it up and I'll actually tie your hands behind your back Flo-vo."[/say] So says the Pond Soul.
Her tits are plenty distracting all on their own, even when they aren't glistening bare under the sun. Hoisting them up, drawing the line of the fabric around them tighter so that each edge of them stands out with the strain of containment, that's definitely something he can't ignore. His gaze drops on its own, hypnotized momentarily into agreement. [say]"Uh-huh,"[/say] he mutters, mind suddenly blank of anything more. Blinking, his attention slides back up. [say]"You are like, freakishly strong."[/say] Not more than her fathers, but enough for him to rightfully be mindful of it every time he fucks around with her, a bit worried for the finding out—never enough to actually not, but, the thought is there at least.
[say]"Why, would that work?"[/say] he wonders with a roguish twist to his expression, chuckling through the spread of the fabric at her return fire. It lingers even as he shakes his head and crouches into the work, the song of her company. Stepping back to appraise his gothic-inspired masterpiece he erected, which he does with most things he erects honestly, he shoots side eye at her for the shade she throws. Not exactly the word any erection likes to hear.
Only Flora could somehow make sweatpants attractive, a thought that crosses his mind as he watches her very particular strut. He crosses his arms, one 'brow arching with feigned anticipation, but honestly her idea works, as grating as its execution proved to be. As thrilled as a drunk mom watching a child's magician at work, Kaisel lights up, [say]"yessss, Ro. Then we can build wings off of that!"[/say] He hoists some of the other chairs to either side of the table, giving support struts to the future draping.
RE: FORTify your heart - Flora - 09-04-2025
Flora lifts her brows in mock affront, hands braced on her hips like she’s about to hand him a formal citation. [say]"That would be against the rules,"[/say] she declares, voice rich with scandal and promise all at once. But the spark in her eye tells the real story, one lit more by innuendo than indignation. She leans in just enough for her voice to drop to something silken and sly. [say]"But I’d be more than happy to show you all the things I’m capable of without my hands, anytime you’re curious."[/say]
The grin that follows is sharp enough to carve fruit, golden curls swaying like a halo caught in a breeze as she spins back toward her corner of the construction site.
At the comment about her strength, she snorts without looking back, her arm hooked around a blanket as she yanks it taut across the rising frame. [say]"It's all that dagger throwing,"[/say] she replies breezily, [say]"does wonders for the triceps. You’ll be thankful the next time you’re staring down a stubborn jam jar and I’m the only thing standing between you and defeat."[/say]
His next question earns no words at all—just a twist of her mouth into a smug, knowing grin and a pair of eyebrows that bounce like punctuation marks at the end of a flirt. The flattery would work, and they both know it. As his side-eye sharpens, she returns it wide-eyed and innocent, with all the subtlety of a cat knocking something off a shelf.
But the moment his enthusiasm spikes, all challenge melts like sugar in rum. [say]"Oooh—wings,"[/say] she echoes, delighted, dropping the blanket and clapping her hands once as though he’s solved the mystery of life itself. [say]"Yes, yes, we’ll twist some of my scarves through the chair backs—make it drapey and dramatic, like those entryways in luxury brothels."[/say]
She disappears beneath the table, dropping to her hands and knees with a rustle of fabric and golden bangles, her sweatpants bunching low on her hips as she shuffles inside with a flourish. One leg kicks slightly behind her, more for show than balance, and her voice calls out from the growing depths of the fortress with a playful urgency that echoes off the walls.
[say]"Supports! I need more supports!"[/say]
RE: FORTify your heart - Kaisel - 09-04-2025
Any smart comeback he has turns into ash under the heat of her words, leaving his mouth dry and slightly ajar with definite curiosity and no lack of ideas to shovel into it. As she spins back around with the flash of a grin, his own curls in slow and dangerous. [say]"Anytime, huh? Holding you to that."[/say]
When it comes to jam jars, his grin widens into something bright and unashamed. [say]"My jar savior,"[/say] he swoons. [say]"Although I bet any I can't open are just because you closed them so fucking tight for no reason."[/say] He glances over at her amid fiddling with some fabric, 'brows lifted accusingly. [say]"Or didn't clean the rim off before putting the lid on,"[/say] he mutters, which is practically begging to glue the jar shut. He wouldn't put it past her to actually glue them shut, now that he thinks about it.
The image of their cozy fortress rises up in each of them, a grand design with great halls and sweeping wings, a spark of inspiration that spreads like wildfire between them. He grins as she vanishes under the hall like a marmot delving into its burrow, just an attractive, sexy one...scratch the whole marmot idea. Still hoisting sheets over the freshly arranged chairs like a sailor trying to catch the breeze in a race, his efforts are immediately abandoned as he harkens her desperate call. [say]"On it!"[/say] he yells, dramatically clambering over the east wing with an excessive leap. He dives for the pile of couch cushions, grabbing all that he can under his arms, in his hands, beneath his chin, and between his thighs.
Laden with integral structure amendments, he races waddles to the entrance and bellows, [say]"INCOMING!"[/say] He drops them all and one by one hucks them in like pucks at her.
RE: FORTify your heart - Flora - 09-04-2025
Flora catches the look he gives her—mouth parted, eyes alight with all the sparks she’s tossed into that firepit of his mind—and she doesn’t say a word. Just winks. One smooth, slow blink full of promise and trouble, letting silence be the match that ignites every thought he’s already halfway down the road with. Whatever image he’s conjuring, she’d rather let it bloom unchecked. Let him imagine. Let him squirm a little. He deserves it.
At the jar commentary, she only shrugs, laughing as she tugs the blankets taut around the edge of the table. [say]"If I’m mad at you,"[/say] she warns sweetly, [say]"tightening all the jars will be the first thing I do. Every single one. You’ll be crying into your dry toast for days."[/say] She doesn’t say anything about cleaning the rim, though, but her eyebrows shoot up like fireworks the second he says it, mouth twitching with restrained scandal, the joke sparking behind her teeth but held at bay.
The first pillow Kai throws hits her arm, the second nearly clips her hip, and the third lands squarely in her lap, prompting a yelp that’s more giggle than protest. [say]"KAI!"[/say] she squeals, laughing breathlessly as she tries to catch them midair, twisting and rolling to protect the frame she’s spent the last five minutes finessing. [say]"Slower! You’re gonna take out the whole west wing like it’s an overripe melon!"[/say]
Between scrambling and wheezing, she manages to line them into the curve of the inner wall, shoring up the corners and tucking the edges like she’s building a sanctuary for secrets and whispered truths. Her gold bracelets chime with every reach, her fingers moving quickly despite the chaos raining down around her. Then, without warning, her head pops through the centre of the structure, her hair full of static, wild golden curls clinging to the top of the blanket like rebellious seaweed caught in the tide. One aqua eye squints up at him through the makeshift skylight, the other hidden beneath the edge of fleece, her nose scrunched with mock fury.
[say]"What kind of construction is this?"[/say] she demands, gesturing to the hole around her head. [say]"We’re gonna get soaked when it rains, genius."[/say] Her voice is muffled by fabric but brimming with laughter, cheeks flushed and eyes glittering with every shade of mischief.
RE: FORTify your heart - Kaisel - 09-05-2025
He can barely see what's happening, too focused on flinging the next cushion in, unable to fully stoop low enough to peer inside if he really wants to get the full arc of his swing in. He can hear each one land though, and the faint sound of her scuttling about amid the strikes. He's already halfway to a grin when his name peals out, wreathed in her giggles, which sends it streaking fully across his face. He lifts up the last pillow, eeking it in little by little with short nudges of his foot. Slow, as requested.
While she lays cushions like brick and mortar on the inside, he fusses with the overlapping canopies on the outside that are starting to sag with the layered weight and the continual short little tugs here and there. A few he's able to secure by wedging against the chairs and twisting around the points of the legs, fashioning very decorative spires. Others he resorts to rummaging around the kitchen for bag clips, gathering up the two seams that need to marry into an even and flat line that will stay firm in the middle.
It's one such section he's giving attention to when she bursts through like a xenomorph. The clip fumbles in his hand, snapping on air and flopping out onto the burst seam as he's left gawking at her. The erratic splay of her golden crown, the overgrown eyepatch shielding half her face, and the cheeky look she wears like it's always suited her best are all too much. Laughter takes him by such storm that no noise makes it free, just a silent point directed at her before he doubles over and falls to the ground, weak in the knees. Utterly crippled, all he can do is shake and slap the floor, tears pricking at the edges as his body fights for air while continuing to deprive him of it.
He flops over onto his back, opening up his lungs as he tries to stuff the laughter back down for the sake of survival, through the humor hums through each audible exhale he blows out. [say]"Y-y-you l-l-ook f-f-ffffucking RIDICULOUS!"[/say] Deep affection colors the shaky tease, more laughter shaking free with it.
RE: FORTify your heart - Flora - 09-05-2025
Flora lets out a scandalised gasp so sharp it could cut through silk, her eye narrowing beneath the sagging rim of the blanket. [say]"I shouldn’t look like anything!"[/say] she shouts, outraged and howling with laughter, [say]"Because there aren't supposed to be HOLES IN OUR ROOF, you toad!"[/say]
Her words echo through the collapsing chamber of blankets like the righteous fury of a theatre queen mid-monologue—equal parts drama and disaster, but mostly disaster.
And then she vanishes as a muffled scuffle can be heard from within. A rustling. The faint thump of knees and elbows and the rustle-slide of fleece. A shadow shifts behind the patchwork walls, and when she emerges again, it’s with all the triumphant menace of a jungle cat who’s had enough.
A pillow is clenched between her teeth, her curls standing in electric rebellion around her head like a storm front, and her eyes practically blaze with mischievous vengeance. She pounces. One knee plants on either side of Kaisel’s thighs, the curve of her hips swaying as she settles over him like a goddess scorned, and absolutely about to make it his problem. [say]"You wanna laugh?"[/say] she huffs, muffled around the pillow. [say]"Laugh at THIS."[/say]
And then it begins.
With the full force of chaos and justice on her side, she whacks him. Over and over, the pillow descending with a wild rhythm that has more flair than force, feathers and drama flying in equal measure. [say]"THIS IS FOR THE ROOF,"[/SAY] she cries. Whap. [SAY]"THIS IS FOR YOUR STUPID RULES."[/say] Whap-whap. [say]"THIS IS FOR—"[/say] she pauses, forgetting the next crime, then shrugs. [say]"—SOMETHING ELSE YOU’VE DONE, I’M SURE!"[/say] Her laughter rings out, wild and effervescent, a riot of joy and static-charged curls as she rains down fluffy vengeance.
RE: FORTify your heart - Kaisel - 09-05-2025
She's an incensed jack in the box swaying through the canopy of cloth, a haunted one since she's able to spit ire as well as any black magic hex. It only steals his wind further, and her laughter feeds back into his, enriching his amusement until it threatens to smother him. This would be the way to go, if he had to pick, utterly in love and wasting away with bliss so rich his body can't make enough room for it.
Although, fear does start to creep up, as is typical of an encounter with a cursed doll, the moment he hears her on the move. Nothing good could be coming from that, he is certain.
He can see the slink of her when he lifts his head. It's a terrifying thing to witness a woman willing to get on her hands and knees and crawl towards vengence like Samara herself. Breathlessly he tries to ward her off, one hand lifting up while he kicks against the floor to push himself further back, something to buy him time. His socks don't keep much traction though, and the silent plea of his palm may as well have been a handhold for her to reach him faster. [say]"FLOAR-UH"[/say] he manages to bite out the scream amid his choking, giggly bitch fit. It's immediately drowned out with the plush slam of the pillow.
He squirms beneath her, flopping like a frog who's hops have been stolen. It's all he can do to suck in air amid tireless amusement and the shrieks of panic between each rise and fall of the brutally soft weapon. His arms flail wildly for purchase on something, anything, and then he resorts to grappling for her arms to keep the next onslaught at bay. [say]"YOU created the hole!"[/say] he accuses with a grunt of effort, as if reason has any place remaining. He bucks up with his hips against her seat and her pin, copper gaze flashing with ruthless adoration.
RE: FORTify your heart - Flora - 09-05-2025
[say]"KAI—ZEL!"[/say] Flora bellows, dragging the syllables out like a battle cry, the Z slicing the air with the kind of theatrical menace only she can conjure. It isn’t just a shout, it’s a reckoning, and the gleam in her eyes says she’s only just getting started.
As he flails beneath her, all limbs and chaos, she moves with precision born from mischief and murder, twisting her legs around his like a vine curling into place. Her feet hook beneath his calves, thighs clamping like a vice against his floundering escape, and it just so happens that it coincides perfectly with the moment he bucks up beneath her—an ungraceful, ill-timed rebellion that only serves to toss her forward.
Thrown by the jolt, Flora plants her palm beside his head with a sharp thump, her curls falling around them like a golden curtain, wild and static-tinged and glowing in the flickering fort-light. She’s panting now, but the kind of breathless that comes from living too brightly, not slowing down. Her chest rises and falls above his, close enough to graze, but there’s no retreat in her posture—only glittering, victorious defiance.
[say]"You were in charge of the roof,"[/say] she hisses, eyes wide with mock betrayal. [say]"There shouldn't have even BEEN a hole,"[/say] she punctuates, lowering her face a touch closer with every word. Despite the ferocity, the edges of her grin are curling again, breath still shaky from laughter, the pillow temporarily abandoned behind her like a discarded royal sceptre.
RE: FORTify your heart - Kaisel - 09-05-2025
It's her fucking freakish, jar-opening strength working against him. That and leverage. [say]"Gaaaahd,"[/say] he complains as he feels his wrestling attempt falter and fail. [say]"You're fucking made of steel."[/say] She's practically living cement for the way she's snared him.
He freezes when her palm slaps the ground by his head, the sound like a gunshot that purposefully missed to spare his life. All his attention rises to her face, the one looming ever closer, still creased with dramatic play and a thirst for his destruction. She's absolutely lovely, just like this. Flushed with effort and out of breath with laughter, features crinkled into mischief, tucked away with him in the private curtain of her free-flowing and completely tossed hair. It's the sort of position that would have been so dangerous for him before, one where time would have slowed so his memory could capture each detail in sharp clarity and hold it in his chest. He would have found a way to keep this game from breaking into anything more, resisting the urge to pop up and kiss her.
He doesn't have that problem anymore.
[say]"You are so hot,"[/say] he breathes out, fully enamoured. His hands slip up to either side of her face, gently tugging her into the kiss that he cranes his head up to plant. The whisper of contact between their chests becomes a full brush with the motion, brief before he has to sink back to the ground, but his lovestruck grin is on full and easy display. [say]"Definitely the best looking saboteur I've ever seen,"[/say] he mutters with a falsely cruel edge to one side of his lips, stressing the insult.
[say]"SABOTEUR!"[/say] he cries out suddenly around a laugh as he grabs for the arm supporting her to knock her over. [say]"You took out the roof on purpose, you're FRAMING ME!"[/say]
RE: FORTify your heart - Flora - 09-06-2025
Flora preens like a cat basking in praise, chin tilting up just enough to display the full proud arc of her throat. [say]"What did I tell you about flattery?"[/say] she says, all syrup and smugness, though the eye roll that follows is pure tormenting affection. [say]"But maybe you need to start lifting weights rather than gummy worms if you want a fighting chance next time."[/say]
Her laughter chimes like wind-tossed bells, bright and unbothered, curling around them like the softest thread; right up until his hands find her face and pull her down, his kiss silencing her. Her lips meet his in that breathless hush between heartbeats, and in the half-second it lasts, she softens completely. Her body doesn’t just press, it melts, the fight forgotten in the sheer, dizzying warmth of it. She’s still smiling when he pulls back, stunned into something golden and raw, eyes blinking down at him as if he’s something she’s still learning to believe in.
Which, of course, is exactly the moment he betrays her.
Her arm is swept from under her, and she lets out a startled yelp as she collapses with a thud onto his chest, sprawled across him like a shipwrecked siren cast upon a smug, treacherous reef. She glares up at him through a tumble of curls, feigned fury igniting once more like it never left. [say]"You absolute gremlin,"[/say] she growls, propping herself up with her elbow as her other hand darts forward. [asy]"You’re lucky I don’t have a dagger right now."[/say]
She tickles him right beneath his ribs with her free hand, then again, and again.
[say]"I’m surprised you even know what ‘framing’ means,"[/say] she huffs, her fingers wiggling into that sensitive spot just above his hips with merciless precision. [say]"Given your abysmal framing job on that entrance! It was more hole than hall!"[/say] But she’s laughing again, and her strikes have softened into playful torment, her body shaking with each giggle as she curls tighter against him, blanket-fort walls rising around them like the world outside has fallen away.