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RE: came in like a cannonball - Melita - 03-01-2026
Melita had kept her sister’s existence tucked right into her ribcage; secret and furtive, something cherished and not to be tarnished. Perhaps she hadn’t realized it’d never slipped out in the first place; she couldn’t even recall if she’d told her uncle that there’d been another niece. [say]“Oh. Yeah. Clementine. My twin.” [/say]Every bit as sweet as the Honeybee was not; the latter having lost the saccharine qualities amongst trauma, tribulations, and terror. Her smile was serene for a few moments, then saddened, disjointed. [say]“No, uh, she died before I was pulled here by the Voice. I tried to-,”[/say] save her, she meant to say, but then she shrugged it off, not wanting to claw any further. She clearly hadn’t been able to.
Impending counterparts were easier to discuss, though the reasons left her snorting, eyes widening at the influx of pregnancies and children rampaging around again. [say]“Oh,”[/say] uncertain if that was a good sentiment for raising kids, but fuck if she knew. Her nose wrinkled a tad, pushing her sunglasses back into place. [say]“Well, if that got ‘em in the spirit or something.”[/say] Though the notion of shopping sprees had her regaining some of the beleaguered humor, glancing over the top of her shades, a wolfish grin beginning to reappear. [say]“You guys should all get matching and coordinated pajamas. Or some of that demi merch that Kaisel’s been parading around in.”[/say] And ones that would be embarrassing or hilarious or hey both.
RE: came in like a cannonball - Flora - 03-04-2026
Flora stills a little when Melita says the name; Clementine. For a moment the sunlight feels sharper against her skin, the surface of the pool too bright, too loud in the way it slaps gently against the tumsea’s sides. Twin. The word sits between them with a weight Flora recognizes immediately, the shape of it familiar in her bones the way certain aches are when the weather shifts. The Doubletake doesn't ask questions, doesn't suggest impossible remedies or hopeful pilgrimages to Mort or clever solutions that Melita has almost certainly already clawed through herself in darker hours. Flora knows exactly how that path goes, how every door gets tested until the hinges come off and every god gets considered whether you believe in them or not. She knows the guilt of surviving. Knows the strange silence left behind when half of you is gone.
So she only nods once, slow and sincere. [say]"That really sucks,"[/say] she says quietly. It's not elegant, it's not comforting in any grand way, but at least it is honest, and Flora lets it sit there without trying to polish it into something prettier than the truth.
A breath later the current shifts again, conversation drifting mercifully toward lighter waters, and Flora shrugs, shoulders lifting above the tumsea as it rocks beneath her before groaning immediately at the mention of Kai's obsession with merch, throwing one hand up in theatrical despair as her head tips back against the float. [SAY]"Oh my gods, don't even get me started."[/say] She lifts her head again, squinting toward Melita over the rim of her sunglasses with exaggerated accusation. [say]"You encourage him even a little and I swear to Safrin the next thing you know he's going to have more than just your face on his underwear."[/say] The horror in her voice is entirely performative, but the grin tugging at her mouth betrays how fond she actually is of the chaos.
RE: came in like a cannonball - Melita - 03-05-2026
It wouldn’t have much mattered in how many times Melita had tried to claw her way back to Clementine. It had been in different worlds, different places, different tracks of life – no gods to pull someone back from the afterlife, no one like Ronin to bless a stranger with another breath. It’d been their mother, Clem, and Melita, until it dwindled down to just her in a span of weeks. Perhaps it was why she wore survival like it’d been burned into her veins. Sometimes it was all Melita knew or understood; how to rake claws down throats, siege, and assault.
Not meaning to dim the situation, she gave a light smile. [say]“Yeah,” [/say]shrugging it off and away because she’d worn that mantle for years, and no amount of movement was going to make it flutter off.
Half-tempted to cannonball again just to get away from the brooding fixtures, merch and Kaisel seemed to be the right combination, a distraction, a deterrent from deeper implications. She leaned across her float again and laughed, knowing in some detail about the underwear situation. [say]“Okay, but you could imagine him getting some Remi and Ronin pjs for all of you. Then everyone could wear them around your big house. It’d be grand.”[/say] Maybe she’d put the idea in his head next time she saw him, if he hadn’t already conjured up the clothing.
Pausing, smile warming up to more mischief, she indulged into more of the gossipy circuits. [say]"What's the worst thing he's had though?"[/say]
RE: came in like a cannonball - Flora - 03-14-2026
Flora doesn’t try to soften the moment when Melita shrugs it away. She knows too well how hollow comfort can sound when it’s aimed at something that old, something that carved into you so early it becomes part of the structure holding you upright. Platitudes bounce off grief like pebbles off armour, and so she simply lets the silence sit for as long as it wants to, the water shifting gently around them, sunlight warming the back of her neck while the conversation breathes.
Eventually the current carries them somewhere easier.
Flora’s grin returns slowly, curling sideways as Melita paints the image of Kaisel marching everyone around the house in coordinated Remi-and-Ronin pajamas. [say]"Oh I can absolutely imagine him doing that,"[/say] she groans, tilting her head back dramatically against the tumsea’s inflatable crown as though the thought alone is exhausting. One hand flops over her face for a moment before she peeks back out toward Melita with theatrical despair. [say]"And it's always the worst possible timing too."[/say] Her mouth twitches as she drops her hand again. [say]"Like we will be about to get up to stuff and suddenly I realize he is wearing an undershirt with my parents’ faces on it."[/say] She makes a face, scrunching her nose in exaggerated horror. [say]"Total mood killer."[/say]
Then she pauses, lifting one finger as another thought strikes. [say]"Or Hadama’s,"[/say] she adds, eyes widening behind her sunglasses.
The expression lasts only a heartbeat before she dissolves into laughter, shoulders shaking as the tumsea rocks dangerously beneath her. [say]"Honestly though, the worst ones are the jump scares. I'll reach for a tea he's brought me and it is Noah’s face staring up from the mug, or I grab a hand towel and it says something like CLEANING UP THE FLOOD with Sunjata grinning on it."[/say] She rolls her eyes skyward and shakes her head, the fond exasperation obvious even through the dramatics.
Her grin sharpens suddenly with mischief as she glances back toward Melita. [say]"Maybe I should make a tiny cannon with your name on it, super limited edition,"[/say] she suggests, tapping the side of her glass thoughtfully. [say]"So every time he shows up in another piece of ridiculous merch I can just—"[/say] She makes a small exploding motion with her fingers. [say]"—shoot him."[/say]
The idea delights her enough that she laughs again, the sound easy and bright as the tumsea drifts lazily across the pool while the two of them soak up the sun and let the conversation wander wherever it pleases next.
~FIN