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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 - 12-29-2024
[say]"Can we just—"[/say] Tension ripples through the Doubletake as her fingers clutch at the captain's body. While his idea is one that makes absolute sense, the way her mind rises so willingly to follow along has her immediately reeling, the memory of how she'd done precisely the same thing with her mother making her feel cold and violated and weak. [say]"—please can we just stay a little bit longer?"[/say]
Shivering despite not being cold, Flora twists in Jack's arms, spying the sheen of gold stretching out across the Arklight as the sun stretched its way over the water. Once they got up, once they put plans into motion to set things right, Flora would have to properly face the rest of what she was trying to keep at arm's length. Even if her mother had just been infected, even if no one else was in on it and the Valkyrie apologized, then what? None of that would remove the screams permanently etched into Flora's mind; it wouldn't erase the feelings of having been betrayed by someone she thought she could implicitly trust.
Jack's eyes looked all the more blue for the deep stormcloud-coloured bags settling beneath them, and for a moment the queen was entirely certain that the panacea for all her problems could be found in exactly that shade if only she could bottle it. [say]"Tell me you love me."[/say] She whispers, pleadingly; her curls burned with gold as the sun continued to rise, rendering the messy fly-aways almost pure white as Flora gazed up at Jack.
RE: the wild wild sea talking sweet to me - Jack - 12-29-2024
Having to steady himself in the way his own mind suddenly goes into freefall in an echo of Flora's, Jack blinks the world back into real focus and shifts enough that she might sit more comfortably in his lap, simultaneously drawing up a block on her mind like a gentle hand to keep the worst of her emotions at bay. [say]"We'll stay as long as you want, love,"[/say] he decides, understanding implicitly the need to control at least something about the day to come. The houseboat with her parchment and her compass will presumably still be bobbing around out there whenever they set off.
The sudden fire in Flora's thoughts catches him off guard, Jack glancing down at her to see her bathed in the radiance of dawn, her hair like spun gold, her eyes molten in these first rays of light. [say]"I do,"[/say] he tells her, his voice soft against the tumble of the waves against the shore. [say]"I love you."[/say]
RE: the wild wild sea talking sweet to me - Flora - 12-29-2024
Flora lets out a shuddering breath, her body melting into Jack’s as his arms tighten around her. He loves her. The words replay in her mind, brushing like feathers against the bruised places her mother had left behind, and it has her lungs releasing enough for her to take a full breath. [say]"I'm afraid to try and sleep,"[/say] she admits softly, her voice catching on the admission. [say]"Every time I close my eyes, it’s like... it’s all still happening."[/say] She doesn’t elaborate—she doesn’t need to. Jack knows. He’s seen her mind, the wreckage left behind.
So instead, she tries to fill the silence with something lighter, something that doesn’t make her chest ache. [say]"Did I ever tell you about the time Enzo and I tried to build a raft?"[/say] She asks, her voice sad but tinged with a faint smile. [say]"It was right after we moved here. We thought we could sail it all the way to the Maw. We spent days stealing scraps of wood and rope from the docks, sneaking them out into the shallows like we were on some secret mission."[/say] Given who and what Flora was to Torchline now, it was laughable to imagine her skulking around and hoarding bits of rope, but at the time, coming home with a long length of rope or a few nails which weren't too rusty, had felt like a goldmine.
Her fingers trace absent circles against Jack’s chest as she talks, the rhythm soothing even if her mind is anything but soothed. [say]"Of course, it fell apart the second we tried to climb on, and we ended up soaked and covered in seaweed. But.."[/say] Her voice trails off, her smile fading as the weight of everything presses in again. Flora closes her eyes against the tears threatening to spill over, her fingers clutching around Jack as if he might somehow anchor her against the tide of grief and memories. [say]"I don't know what to do, Jack,"[/say] she murmurs, her voice breaking. [say]"I don't even know where to start."[/say] Sleep yes, but then what?
RE: the wild wild sea talking sweet to me - Jack - 12-31-2024
[say]"Well,"[/say] Jack says, as rough and reasonable now as in every other facet of his life, [say]"either we buy or bribe you a dreamless sleep from somewhere, or we find somethin' that stops you needin' it. I got plenty of brutes on The Ark or out in Torchline who can stand guard over you while you rest."[/say] Because, alas, not sleeping is neither a sustainable answer or something that will help Flora get better in the long run.
Already considering both possibilities, as she continues with talk about her twin of all things, it's with a blink of surprise that the captain listens, his lips kicking up at the corner in a half-smile. [say]"Can't say it's a shame - there ain't much out on the Maw except still, black water. You should've aimed for Kuali'i - might've found treasure buried out there."[/say] Might have found some of his stashes if they were particularly lucky, though it's doubtful he'd have appreciated as much.
As Flora collapses inward again, Jack inhales a deep breath and lets it out again, absently tucking her curls back from her face. [say]"Yes you do,"[/say] he says quietly. [say]"You just don't want to think about the consequences of it. I get it, but... you do know what to do."[/say] Confront Hotaru. Talk to Sunjata. Regroup and hit back against The Family, in whatever form that might take.
RE: the wild wild sea talking sweet to me - Flora - 12-31-2024
Knowing that there were plenty of good reasons why the answer to, you can't just stay with me? should be a no, Flora felt the words plummeting to the forefront of her thoughts just the same. The weakness of her reaction had her instinctively wincing as if anything less than her best would be a failure in Jack's eyes. Whether or not that was true (Jack had heavily emphasized how her strength and resolve had drawn him to her, and when combined with the recent failings of her parents it shouldn't have been too much of a surprise for her new damage to manifest this way), it had the Doubletake wanting to peel herself out of his arms, to
[say]"We'd probably have been terrified if we'd made it even half that far."[/say] Flora admits with a small huff of laughter that barely had her thoughts sparkling the way they normally did when she brought up Enzo.
Searching Jack's face for a moment, Flora tries her best not to bristle. He'd stayed with her even when she'd been ridiculously drunk, had come to sit up on the roof with her, had held her and said he loved her. He'd done everything he could short of just...just understanding. But then, the captain had built up such strong walls when it came to his family, she doubted if he was even capable of feeling the way she did: shaken to her core, unmoored and unsettled when it came to the things she thought she could trust above all else. [say]"Yeah, you're right."[/say] She admits defeatedly.
RE: the wild wild sea talking sweet to me - Jack - 12-31-2024
[say]"You're right - there are a lot of good reasons. The main one was that I'd also be tryin' to sleep beside you though,"[/say] Jack says with a wry smile and a gentle raise of his brow. [say]"I can't very well stand guard over you if I wanna be anythin' like well-rested at the same time."[/say] Not unless they started sleeping in shfits, missing a good deal of the time they'd otherwise spend together in wakefulness.
As for whether Flora would have been terrified, her younger self and her twin bobbing around on the Arclight towards the endless Maw, the captain can only shrug his shoulders with a smaller, more private smile. With their luck they'd have encountered a pod of encantado and been absolutely fine, but he doesn't say that, especially not as Flora's thoughts threaten to grow spikes.
[say]"It'll work out,"[/say] he says with all the confidence of a man who, no, has never been moored enough to anyone to feel the wounds of that broken trust. A half truth, honestly; he's certainly tethered to Flora in that way now, but she, thus far, has never given him reason to doubt her. Not even now, arguably at her worst.
It's with those final words ghosting into the air and the morning light beginning to warm them that Jack falls silent again, waiting patiently for the Doubletake to decide she's ready to face the day.
~FIN