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+---- Thread: the wild wild sea talking sweet to me (/showthread.php?tid=10503)
RE: the wild wild sea talking sweet to me - Flora - 12-27-2024
Jack's laugh sets off a slow chain reaction in Flora's thoughts; first there's just a dusting of lavender that, as it spreads, begins to coat her mind in a pulsing and golden light that he'd not be mistaken for thinking was bright enough to light up the entire room. [say]"Well, as long as that's all it was,"[/say] she murmurs softly, despite knowing nothing could be farther from the truth.
[say]"Mmmm..."[/say] Leaning to the side, with as little movement as possible, Flora shifts her hips enough to straddle the captain, all while keeping herself low and pressed against him, like some sort of blanket. [say]"I don't think so.."[/say] Aka no. Lifting her bed-warmed hands and placing her palms on his cheeks, Flora sighs softly with a sleepy smile. Leaning forward her nose first brushes against Jack's before her tongue parts his lips, wanting to feel the warmth of his mouth as much as to kiss him after spending so many hours watching the sky gradually begin to turn purple with dawn.
[say]"We could watch the sunrise from the roof if you think you won't be able to get back to sleep?"[/say] If he could, she'd happily stay. Better one of them be well-rested than both of them face the following day bleary-eyed.
RE: the wild wild sea talking sweet to me - Jack - 12-28-2024
[say]"Mm, that's all,"[/say] Jack confirms, more than happy to cement his agreement in the shared lie that will have the ring heating on Flora's finger. He's content to drift for a moment or so in the golden expanse of her thoughts, letting them smooth down the thorns that had erupted in his mind, taming it into a place that's wearily calm, if not entirely settled or content.
Shifting to assist her movements as best he can without actually doing any of the work himself, Jack's calloused fingers slip down the length of her spine to rest against her hips and the soft curve of her backside. As she leans in for a kiss it's one he grants without complaint, and even after the rough night (and even rougher few days and weeks), part of him - one part in particular - is keen to make the most of their proximity.
Alas, it's too bad that his mind is otherwise elsewhere.
[say]"Let's go,"[/say] he decides of the roof, knowing already that sleep is not a commodity that he'll be granted for the rest of the night. And so with both of them committed to being bleary-eyed and not entirely present for the day, Jack sits himself up with Flora in his lap, grabbing her blankets to take with them so they can ward off the early morning chill.
RE: the wild wild sea talking sweet to me - Flora - 12-29-2024
What begins as a gentle hum of encouragement shatters behind Flora's teeth as Jack's calloused hands unknowingly release a few of the locks holding the worst of the queen's trauma at bay. Exhaling a shivery sigh against his lips, much as Flora had been craving the sort of intimacy his body seemed keen to offer, the queen knew herself well enough to know that the sex would likely be bad (or, as bad as was possible to be with a man like Jack), and that she'd just end up crying in the middle of it. While there were times she'd opt for that regardless, just now she'd much prefer his arms around her instead.
The feeling of being small and bundled up in blankets has a silken glow misting its way through Flora's thoughts as she lets her fingers comb some of the sleep from Jack's hair as he sits them up. Brushing another fleeting kiss against his lips before slipping out of his arms, the queen makes her way toward her window. Though she hadn't had the occasion to scramble up onto her roof for what felt like years, her body still remembered how to do it easily enough, and once she was up, she paused to reach a hand down to collect the blankets from Jack to make his ascent all the easier.
Though Torchline was never quiet, the sorts of activities that took place this early in the morning were typically not the sort that invited noise, and so it was that the sound of the ocean lapping against the shoreline was far more resonant than it would be in a few hours. Only once they were settled with the queen making herself as small as possible in Jack's arms, did she finally allow herself to waft away the violet haze coating the worst of her thoughts.
[say]"My...my mom kidnapped me. On the beach."[/say] She begins, aqua eyes fixed on Jack's chest. [say]"She has magic that lets her make people do things and...Jack, she's infected."[/say]
RE: the wild wild sea talking sweet to me - Jack - 12-29-2024
Climbing out of bed with Flora in tow, it takes little effort to hand the blankets up to her through the window and to follow suit; Jack has never had occasion to climb onto the Doubletake's roof, but he's done enough breaking, entering, and climbing about rigging in his time to make short work of it. Settling with her more or less in his lap and bundled up enough to ward off the chill of the darkest hour, the captain is forever surprised by the way the rush of the sea can still the agitation in his bones.
Letting the whisper and pull of the tide ride along the rhythm of his breath for a few beats, Jack's tired blue eyes are on the dotted lights of the harbour and the endless, solid black beyond it by the time Flora speaks. He hasn't expected her to unlock the doors of her mind for hours yet, if not days even, but at the crumbs of information offered, his magic sweeps in to fill the gaps. [say]"And what did she make you do?"[/say] he asks, the same soft danger in his tone that he might have used when speaking of, oh, Pierce, perhaps?
RE: the wild wild sea talking sweet to me - Flora - 12-29-2024
Swallowing, Flora presses her eyes closed as she lets herself slump against Jack's chest, tucking her chin as if she might just melt into the blankets and the warmth of him. Striding slowly through the still-dark corridors of her mind, Flora forces herself into the memory of standing on the beach, of the Valkyrie slamming into her from the skies. Though Hotaru's voice was perhaps more shrill in Flora's mind, the desperation was genuine, as were the demigod's demands. [say]"She wanted me to go with her...but her magic...it doesn't work as well if it isn't something you'd normally do."[/say] For a few moments, Jack had been her tether to safety, if only because of Flora's unwillingness to simply up and leave him.
[say]"But then the next thing I knew I was on a boat somewhere, and..."[/say] Despite the blankets softening Flora's curves and edges, Jack will feel the way her entire body tenses as she forces herself to recall the few seconds of wakefulness she'd experienced; the ferocity in Remi's voice, his calls for Ronin, Hotaru's screams.
[say]"I don't know what she would have done..."[/say] It's that admission over and above the kidnapping and deception that has Flora's thoughts shrivelling and blackening at the edges as if every mote of warmth was being sucked out of her. [say]"This whole time...she was infected this whole time."[/say]
As was Sunjata, and, if her paranoia was to be believed, so were Remi and Ronin.
So too maybe was Jack.
RE: the wild wild sea talking sweet to me - Jack - 12-29-2024
Silent, as expected, to let Flora explain and to quietly absorb the memories and images from the landscape of her thoughts, Jack's arms tighten a fraction around the Doubletake without becoming a cage, and his eyes remain far out on the inkspill of the Arclight. He has a lot of suggestion on what Hotaru would have done, based on her being infected and Flora's untimely death at the hands of The Family, but he opts not to voice any of that out loud.
[say]"So Remi has her now?"[/say] That's his understanding, anyway, the captain frowning and wishing he might be able to tug the strings of Flora's memory to hop from her mind to the Bastion's to find out his plans. [say]"Your fathers aren't infected. Neither am I."[/say] This he says with quiet certainty; he's stood toe to toe with Dahlia's mind (even if it had been from behind the safety of the guildhall), and he'd recognise the bloom of her anywhere.
RE: the wild wild sea talking sweet to me - Flora - 12-29-2024
[say]"He took her to Halo."[/say] Flora confirms softly. Presumably to be healed, but gods knew what would actually transpire.
The Doubletake's thoughts immediately bloom with protective thorns, though rather than argue, she lets her mind confuse the far-off lapping of the waves with Jack's heartbeat as if the captain was suddenly the personification of all the things she loved most about Torchline. [say]"What if you didn't know? What if.."[/say] And this is what Flora has been up all night thinking about, [say]"..you all are infected, but you've been commanded not to know about it. Then my ring wouldn't be able to tell, and neither would you."[/say] What if Dahlia is stronger than your magic and Safrin's? What reason do we have to think that it isn't?
[say]"Remi and Ronin said they healed Sunjata in Halo but...what if they didn't?"[/say] Looking back, wasn't it a little suspicious that the four of them had so easily made their way to Starfall? And why was Ronin out by himself with the rapier the day Pierce took it from him, anyway?
RE: the wild wild sea talking sweet to me - Jack - 12-29-2024
Nodding softly at that, rather than gods knew, Jack is rather settled in the knowledge that Hotaru will emerge from Halo healed and freshly uninfected, especially after the conversation he'd had with Remi all too recently. But as the thorns grow and burrow in Flora's thoughts, Jack raises his eyebrows and sits up enough that he can pull his gaze away from the ocean and look down at the Doubletake.
[say]"If that were the case then I'd expect to see us tryin' to persuade you to unpick all the work we've done to keep the void out of Torchline. More than that, I'd expect you an' Hadama to be infected before the rest of us, so you can make those decisions first, an' welcome Dahlia in with open arms. So I s'pose that means you're either part of it, or no one is."[/say] He shrugs. [say]"An' since I don't see anyone tryin' to pull down the shields we made, I'm puttin' my bets on the latter."[/say]
RE: the wild wild sea talking sweet to me - Flora - 12-29-2024
[say]"You did take me to the Greatwood where Pierce found me..."[/say] Flora whispers cautiously, not quite believing that it could be true, but then, she'd never have expected her own mother to tear her away from her home so violently. [say]"Maybe you were collateral damage."[/say] Though she felt the way he shifted to peer down at her, Flora couldn't pull her cheek away from his chest to meet his gaze. [say]"And...I was infected if you remember."[/say] As for Hadama? Maybe it was his gravity magic that protected him, or Safrin. Or maybe he was in on it. He had been more than happy for Torchline to keep trading with King's End, after all.
Forcing herself to move, to straighten and twist enough to be able to meet the brightening blue of Jack's eyes as the sun began to appear over the horizon line, Flora inhaled shakily as her tired eyes began to brim with tears. [say]"I feel like I'm going crazy, Jack."[/say] Indeed the firm foundation of her mind was all but gone, clawed through by large violet furrows that revealed not bedrock, but an endless pit of confusion.
RE: the wild wild sea talking sweet to me - Jack - 12-29-2024
[say]"Where Pierce murdered us,"[/say] Jack reminds her, not trying to keep the sharpness out of his tone or his expression. Paranoia and feeling crazy he can absolutely understand (hi hello have you met Jack), but collateral damage at the expense of his own life? Credit to The Family where it's due, but he doesn't know if even their infectious influence could convince him to abandon his self-preservation.
Furrowing his brow and raising a hand to shield his face from the first fingers of dawn as they threaten to peek over the horizon, he inhales deeply, holds it, then lets the breath out again. [say]"It sounds like you need a break, to heal - and to sleep."[/say] He frowns. [say]"And to speak with Hotaru, whenever she's back from Halo. Barrin' that, I'd quite like to chat with Sunjata."[/say]
RE: the wild wild sea talking sweet to me - Flora - 12-29-2024
Where Ronin's frustrated tone had only sharpened Flora's hostility, hearing it in Jack's voice had the Doubletake crumbling further inward, though rather than pulling away, her arms snaked out through the blankets to coil around his bare skin. [say]"I don't know that I can sleep."[/say] Though the memories were hazy, Flora could still recall how quickly her body had obeyed that particular command of Hotaru's; how the intervals when she'd been unconscious were bookended by hysterical screams she was sure she'd never forget.
[say]"Sunjata?"[/say] Flora's brow creases ever so slightly. Presumably, it had to do with the fact that he was the only other person who knew what Jack was capable of, but even so, her feelings toward the Flood were nearly as murky as those toward her own mother. Feelings of abandonment and neglect had a sickly blue-green wind chilling Flora's thoughts as she shook her head slightly. [say]"He...wrote to Ronin. He knew my mom was coming to find me, and..."[/say]
And he let her.
RE: the wild wild sea talking sweet to me - Jack - 12-29-2024
[say]"Unfortunately I'm not sure you'll last long without it,"[/say] Jack tells her as gently as he's able, still frowning, though he softens as her arms snake around him beneath the blankets, the captain trying to tease the tension from his back and shoulders. [say]"You know a doctor, don't you?"[/say] Isla could likely provide medicine to help Flora get the rest she needs, even if it's only the bare minimum. Unless you think she's infected too, he hesitates to add.
[say]"Mm, you said he was infected but he got healed,"[/say] he remarks. With luck, the Flood would at least be able to explain how the fuck that came to be - the infection, he means - though he can't say or do much for the Doubletake when it comes to the sickly nature of her emotions towards him. [say]"All the more reason to talk to him then, no?"[/say] Granted, Jack doesn't know how much he'll feel like talking when he's face to face with the man, but it's a start.
RE: the wild wild sea talking sweet to me - Flora - 12-29-2024
[say]"The doctor knowingly dating someone who's infected?"[/say] Flora counters, and gods but it was easy to see violet strings connected to everyone in her life the more she looked. Suddenly the idea of having an invisible floating city high away from all of this the way she and Jack had once joked about, didn't seem like such a bad idea.
[say]"Unless it was a lie."[/say] Flora still wasn't sure that Sunjata had been healed, not if Remi, Ronin and Deimos were in on things as well. [say]"Because if he was healed, why would he knowingly let someone who was infected go after me?"[/say]
Peeling a hand away from Jack's side in order to rub her palm up one cheek and then into her curls, Flora tenses against the scream the begins to build in the back of her throat as she thinks about confronting her mother about what had happened. [say]"I don't have my parchment."[/say] She says suddenly, hand dropping back into Jack's lap. [say]"It's...it's on the houseboat she took me too."[/say] And her compass, but if the captain was planning on leaving for King's End, Flora wasn't about to let him go without having some way of keeping in contact with him the whole time.
RE: the wild wild sea talking sweet to me - Jack - 12-29-2024
[say]"Then I'll get you some Dreamdust,"[/say] Jack counters back, because like it or not, opting out of sleep isn't going to help Flora feel less crazy or untethered to the world, however triggering it might be for her. (And honestly, Sunjata might feel the brunt of that sting given that he doubts Flora will appreciate his first time meeting her mother resulting in him flaying her with his words). [say]"And I don't know - I'll add that to my list of questions,"[/say] he says.
He opts not to respond to her continued ideas about Remi, Ronin and Deimos being in on it - he also hasn't had enough sleep to tell her why it's ridiculous - and instead glances up at the rippling gold beginning to dance on the ocean waves. [say]"Well, good thing the sun just came up,"[/say] he says. [say]"Let's go find that boat and get it back."[/say] He'll ask Ronin to pinpoint the area if he has to. The Ark can do the rest.