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+---- Thread: all out to sea (/showthread.php?tid=10729)
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RE: all out to sea - Flora - 02-25-2025
Flora absolutely doesn’t want him to go, she knows that much, at least.
But it’s tangled up in everything else—the way they'd gotten too busy for her to show him what she'd learned at the Dusklight (not to mention how little Jack seemed to care about her having been with someone else), the dress, and the way the whole of LongNight had fallen flat between them. Likely she was just being overly sensitive given everything that had happened lately, but gods if it didn't make her feel like maybe she didn't know Jack as well as she thought she did, and if that was the case, then maybe everything about the little life she'd envisioned for them was on so much quicksand. [say]"No I don't want you to go,"[/say] she says eventually. [say]"I just...don't want you to feel obligated to stay."[/say]
Twitching her lips, she glances at him, aqua eyes flickering over his face as if searching for something she can’t name before exhaling through her nose. [say]"You think the Ark might want a gravity cannon?"[/'say] Flora wonders, her voice still quiet even as her thoughts grew a touch sharper. Outfitting the Ark would make her more imposing than she already was, but of course it would come with certain strings attached, and if nothing else, Flora knew how Jack felt about his ship.
RE: all out to sea - Jack - 02-25-2025
At least Jack can relax in that much knowledge - that Flora is sure enough that she wants him to stay in the region, so that's one decision that's easy to stick by. [say]"I don't feel obligated to stay,"[/say] he tells her with the sort of simplicity that lets him cut through whatever other complexity might be muddying the waters between them. [say]"I'm choosin' to stay, because that's what I think is best."[/say] It would be one thing if Seren had died from drunkenly falling from a cliff or something, but this tastes like murder even if it hasn't yet been confirmed.
[say]"Your brother banned me from bringin' up anythin' from the other night,"[/say] he adds, keeping his voice down because he also knows said brother is lurking in the hallway. [say]"But if you wanna talk about it, I will."[/say] Otherwise it might be better left until the sun comes up.
Sudden talk of The Ark has Jack huffing out a laugh under his breath, his expression warping into something curious. [say]"I dunno. I'll have to ask her,"[/say] he drawls - and they both know he will, even if it's in the privacy of his own cabin when he's alone. [say]"It's a good idea, but it'd paint a target on her."[/say]
RE: all out to sea - Flora - 02-25-2025
Jack lying to spare her feelings is one thing the queen has never had to worry about, and so it's with a sigh that she just nods and accepts his words at face value. As for her brother's warning? Biting at the inside of her cheek Flora considers, and if nothing else, that alone shows some attempt at growth and restraint on her part. [say]"It can wait,"[/say] she murmurs softly before slipping out of the bed and heading toward the dress she'd peeled out of a day or so ago. Leaning down she rumages around for the small present, her thoughts suddenly haunted by images of Niki bundled up on his floor.
Tossing the gift onto Jack's lap, Flora's gaze finds his as she shrugs, almost apologetically as if knowing this would once again place him into her debt, gift-wise. [say]"Happy Birthday."[/say] I didn't have a chance to give it to you the other night
Slipping back into bed, but remaining sitting—gods knew what time it was, but though she felt exhausted she didn't feel tired—Flora's eyes narrow slightly. [say]"Babe, I seriously doubt that just because we died, we don't still have a big purple bullseye on our backs."[/say] If anything, being ressurected probably made the targets bigger. But she took his point, and besides, she'd have to talk it through with Hadama first anyway before just up and giving her boyfriend one of Torchline's strongest weapons.
RE: all out to sea - Jack - 02-25-2025
[say]"Okay,"[/say] Jack says, furrowing his brow as if trying to pick apart whether or not Flora is lying to spare his feelings (and that's a strange thing in itself for a telepath without even considering their entanglement with one another). Rubbing at his eyes and passing his fingers back through his hair, releasing it from the loose knot he'd tied it into, he lowers his hand just in time to see the box flying his way, catching it by instinct rather than intention.
[say]"Wh--"[/say] It's one thing for her to have put him into gift-debt with her again, but at the memories that flash through her mind, he can't help but scowl. [say]"Did your ghost pass out?"[/say] he asks before he can help himself, absently opening the box before his eyes fall on the bracelet with the mageglass glinting in it. The captain's smile is almost disbelieving, and he shakes his head to her gently, lowering the box to his lap and tracking her as she returns to the bed. [say]"I don't see mageglass my entire life, but you find it like pocket change,"[/say] he says, his voice laced with quiet affection.
[say]"Thank you,"[/say] he says, however foreign it might be for Jack to accept a gift with no strings. (For now). [say]"And a'right, you've got a point. But my ship doesn't have a bullseye on it, an' I'd prefer to keep it that way."[/say]
RE: all out to sea - Flora - 02-25-2025
[say]"Yeah I told you that. That's why I had to stay longer in the Greatwood, to make sure he was okay."[/say] The memory grows thicker as Flora thinks about it, the colour of the pillow behind Niki's head suddenly blooming into life, the sparse kitchen she'd made them soup in, and her ghost's kindle-dry sense of humour.
Unable to hide her small smile of satisfaction and even less capable of stopping the flood of warmth that rises up from her chest, Flora merely offers the captain a lopsided shrug. The mageglass had been a bit harder to come by than mere pocket change—what with Danta and Asta having stolen it for her, and then the bribes which had followed to soothe their aches and pains, not to mention her visit to the Greatwood to ensure that the original owner would never be able to piece Jack's newest piece of mageglass back to him—but...why wouldn't she want Jack to have nice things?
Rather than pulling the blankets back over her legs in order to build herself a little nest to fuss with, instead, she slips suddenly into Jack's lap. [say]"You can do something for me, if you want to repay me for this."[/say] Flora says softly, peering down at Jack as she settles her weight down against him and reaches to cup his face with her palms. [say]"You have to tell me that you love me more often, and not just after I say it first."[/say]
RE: all out to sea - Jack - 02-25-2025
Frowning - because yes, she had told him - Jack nevertheless lets the memory wash over him so he might see it in more detail, the captain tilting his head ever so slightly. [say]"Kid barely looks alive,"[/say] he mutters - and that was after she'd healed him. [say]"Seems like you managed to win him around, though. No exorcism needed, then?"[/say] He smirks.
Closing the box and setting it aside as Flora continues to think, and therefore let him in on the complicated journey his new gift had taken, it's not often that Jack considers himself surprised, but the expression lays plain on his face as she shifts to settle in his lap. [say]"Flora."[/say] It almost sounds like a scolding, if only because he doesn't understand why she'd go through such trouble, and despite her recent misgivings, she'll hear as much in the rumble of his voice.
With her hands suddenly ensnaring his face, though, he's unable to press the matter further, instead arching an eyebrow expectantly to hear her terms; and so be it if some strange tension within him uncoils at the idea of being even. Still, he doesn't expect the words that softly slip through the space between them, the captain narrowing his blue eyes almost affectionately up at her.
[say]"I'd say it right now, but that might come across a bit insincere,"[/say] he says, before his tone lowers. [say]"I'm thinkin' it, though."[/say]
RE: all out to sea - Flora - 02-25-2025
Smiling fondly, Flora nods. [say]"He's pretty scrappy, despite how he looks."[/say] Niki was a whole lot more than that, and despite how comparatively little time they'd spent together, she absolutely adored him despite all of his eccentricities. Or actually, more than likely because of them.
But then Jack's brief admonishment has something inside of her flinching and drawing back, even as she sinks down onto his lap. For all the ways Jack had mastered the art of embodying her unresolved daddy issues, he had also magnified them; case in point, the lingering belief that nothing she ever did was ever enough, that she was never enough. She'd fought for Jack, had fallen in love with Jack, had brought him back to life and given him the ability to do so for himself if ever he needed it, gifted him a ring and now a bracelet to amplify his power, and yet...
...everything still felt so fragile. Like he might decide at any moment he was better off without her, and if she was lucky, she'd see the Ark's red sails disappear over the horizon rather than just finding the harbour bare of her forever.
Smoothing her thumbs over his cheeks, Flora gives her head a little shake before leaning down and brushing the tip of her nose against his. [say]"My sister just died,"[/say] she whispers softly. [say]"I think now is fine."[/say]
RE: all out to sea - Jack - 02-26-2025
[say]"Scrappy?"[/say] Jack raises his eyebrows, but he accepts it; Flora is the one who has met him, after all. [say]"Least you know he's real now. Maybe you can go back again an' see him when the sun comes up."[/say] Ghosts don't pass out or eat soup or make mageglass jewellery, or so they say. Speaking of which, the captain glances again at the box on the bedside table, only to have his attention directed back up to Flora's face.
Furrowing his brow to feel her withdraw, in mind if not in body, he reaches up to press a calloused hand over her own. [say]"You ever considered that it ain't just you who feels like you're not enough?"[/say] he asks in a low voice. Ever the arrogant and cocky bastard of Torchline, only here in the quiet privacy of Flora's bedroom might he admit to such a thing, but with all the Doubletake has done for him echoing through her thoughts, it's enough to have anyone questioning the reason behind her selfless generosity.
[say]"I love you,"[/say] he murmurs into the fraction of space between their lips, his free hand running along her upper thigh. [say]"I know I still ain't great at showin' it. But that doesn't make it untrue."[/say]
RE: all out to sea - Flora - 02-26-2025
Flora's mind trembles at Jack's words, her brow furrowing as her lips part to interject. She's always been the one to wear her affection and love for him on her sleeve, had been the one to love him before she had any right to, had been the one carrying thoughts of their future like a second skin. If he's ever had any doubts all he'd need to do is look into her mind, to feel the rush of opalescent affection every time he looked at her, the flush of heat when he called her love, and the—admittedly annoying perhaps—way she wanted to do little else than remain at his side all hours of the day.
[say]"All I want is to be loved by you,"[/say] she whispers, before pressing a petal-soft kiss against his mouth that was so gentle it didn't even have her lips parting, though it was no less intimate for its comparatively chaste nature. Her mind burns and writhes, knowing that she's making more of this than she should, knowing that once the sun comes up no doubt she'll feel far less frenzied in her need for reassurance, but with Seren's death still heavy in her mind and with darkness in every corner, kissing Jack was all she could do to keep herself from giving in to the wild need to hear forever from his lips.
RE: all out to sea - Jack - 02-26-2025
[say]"Oh I don't doubt your feelings, love,"[/say] Jack says, his lips whispering across her own shortly before she leans in to close the distance between them completely. [say]"I doubt that I deserve 'em is all."[/say] Which, let's be honest, isn't too far a stretch to imagine for anyone with Jack's jaded past and bloody present, without taking into account the magic in his veins that has always kept him at arm's length from people while simultaneously allowing him closer than propriety would allow.
Drawing back from her kiss with a sly tilt of his head, the captain scoffs out a soft laugh and lets his hand drop from hers so he might turn to reach for a bit of parchment and a pen in her bedside drawer. [say]"Is that really all?"[/say] he says, glancing at her with a hint of mischief and knowing in his eyes, but he nevertheless leans in to use Flora as something to write against - right against her chest over her heart, as it happens.
Once he's finished, Jack holds up the small scrap of parchment for her to see.
Flora,
I love you.
Jack
[say]"There. Now if you ever forget and I ain't around, you can look at that,"[/say] he says, folding it into a small, neat square and offering it out to her.
RE: all out to sea - Flora - 02-26-2025
[say]"What you deserve doesn't matter,"[/say] Flora murmurs with a tentatively mischievous tilt of her head, her voice low and laced with affection. For a long moment, she remains still, or rather stiff given that Jack's using her as a writing pad.
As he offers the square to her, Flora's breath catches softly in the back of her throat as the bitter undercurrent in her thoughts suddenly recedes, revealing iridescent sunlit waves beneath an impossibly blue sky. [say]"I'm glad you signed your name,"[/say] she teases softly, her voice pitched a touch higher than normal given the smile she's trying (and failing) to contain. [say]"Otherwise, I'd never be able to tell it apart from all the other confessions of love I've been given."[/say]
Biting at her bottom lip to try and pin in place the rapidly expanding scream of delight building in the back of her throat, Flora curls herself forward to brush her nose against Jack's once more. [say]"Guess this is another secret of yours I have to keep, huh?"[/say] And before he can ask what she means, Flora leans down to kiss him again. About what a sweet man you can be.
RE: all out to sea - Jack - 02-26-2025
[say]"Yeah, I'm startin' to realise that. Might just take a few goes to remember it properly,"[/say] he replies, feeling himself relax as the dark tide of her emotions begins to settle into something calmer, amused even. And then the sun bursts through the stormclouds of her mind enough to catch him entirely off guard, the captain unable to keep the laughter from rumbling from his throat. [say]"If I'd known the way to your heart was a bit of paper I'd have done it earlier,"[/say] he teases.
Only for her to tease him right back, Jack hissing in a playful breath and pressing a hand to his chest as if it hurts. [say]"You do somethin' nice and look how she wounds me,"[/say] he drawls, as if there's an audience listening. (And there might be, Mateo). [say]"Mm?"[/say] Promptly silenced by her kiss, the captain snags an arm around her waist to pin her close against him, relaxing back against the headboard.
[say]"I have no idea what you mean,"[/say] he says with exaggerated defiance, the words mumbled against her lips. And if anyone asks he'll deny it, besides.
~FIN