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+---- Thread: your smile fades in the summer (/showthread.php?tid=9935)
your smile fades in the summer - Flora - 08-16-2024
[say]"Mmhm, so now she's working at the Hanged Man."[/say] Flora says casually as the pair stroll through Frey's Breath. Unlike last time Flora has no bikini beneath her dress, and while she can't be certain, she is fairly confident the captain does not have tight black trunks under his clothes. The mention of when Flora had last seen Melita had sparked thoughts of the Fireheart in Flora's mind, and knowing where it would lead, the queen had just immediately interrupted their current line of conversation to fill the captain in on her side of things when it came to Aurelia.
[say]"She said how she'd come to see you first. You should have seen the way Melita flinched."[/say] The Doubletake continues with a low laugh, if only because being on Jack's bad side was not a place the queen would ever wish to find herself. [say]"Said she used to be your first mate and that she worked her way there of her own merits."[/say] By which Flora had interpreted as not on her back with her legs spread given the tone, but still she raised a brow in Jack's direction.
RE: your smile fades in the summer - Jack - 08-17-2024
[say]”Wonderful,”[/say] Jack drawls, and Flora doesn’t need to look over her shoulder at the captain to see his expression; she’ll practically be able to hear the roll of his eyes. He’s once again been corralled onto a skyship that isn’t The Ark to visit Frey’s Breath, and the Doubletake is right - there are no tight black swimming shorts beneath his pants. Are there shorts with duckies on them? Is there nothing at all? Only one way to find out.
Not just yet, though - Jack’s attention has been drawn to the cavern arching overhead, and a sliver of amber about to drip directly onto Torchline’s queen. Reaching out to grab Flora’s upper arm, Jack watches the lava wyrm ooze and drip, before it promptly freezes mid-fall with little more than a narrowing of his eyes. It shatters into shards of ice upon hitting the ground, and the captain releases her to walk once more.
[say]”She did and she was,”[/say] he continues, pushing his hands into his pockets. At the own merits remark, not to mention Flora’s accompanying thoughts, Jack barks out a laugh. [say]”She wishes she had the pleasure,”[/say] he mutters; of sleeping with him, he means. [say]”She was queen for a bit, disappeared, came back, became my first mate, then disappeared again for five years.”[/say]
RE: your smile fades in the summer - Flora - 08-17-2024
[say]'Wh--"[/say] Nearly stumbling over her own feet as Jack's fingers close around her arm, Flora's thoughts are instantly skeptical as her eyes narrow. It's only the satin-y purr of the captain's magic as it envelopes the wyrm that holds her tongue, before she sees something opaque out of the corner of her eye falling and shattering on the cavern floor. Looking down with a frown the queen clears her throat before shooting Jack a slanted smile. [say]"Gross, thanks."[/say] She murmurs, wrinkling her nose and stepping over the wyrm to continue at Jack's side.
Tugging a container out from her bag, Flora drops to her hands and knees before dipping it into the hot spring with a satisfied little smile. [say]"Is that so?"[/say] The Doubletake wonders, and had it been anyone else she was speaking to, there would have been a good deal more playful accusation in her tone. Given that it was Jack, though...if he said Aurelia had wished it, it was probably true if for no other reason than trying to make Flora jealous was a dangerous line for even him to walk.
[say]"She what?"[/say] Looking up sharply over her shoulder, Flora's eyes widen. [say]"She didn't fucking mention that."[/say] About being queen. [say]"That must have been before I even moved here.."[/say] When Flora had been
But why hadn't Aurelia mentioned it?
RE: your smile fades in the summer - Jack - 08-17-2024
Jack’s you’re welcome comes in the form of a gentle shrug of his shoulders and in promptly forgetting that he’d done anything at all, the captain falling to step beside Flora until she leans down to collect the hot springs water. [say]”That is so,”[/say] he drawls with a smirk, however. [say]”You ought to know better than most that it ain’t easy for people to sleep their way into my good books.”[/say] And even then, not enough for him to give them a position of authority on The Ark. One had to know certain things to even get close. (Looking at you, Flora).
Stepping back as if mentally preparing to have water thrown at him as he feels the surprise splash through Flora’s thoughts, Jack raises an eyebrow. [say]”Must’ve been,”[/say] he agrees. [say]”She ruled with Maeve for a bit, before fuckin’ off.”[/say] He shrugs - it hardly matters now, though it does make the fact that she’s now working for Flora at her bar as funny as it is annoying, in retrospect.
RE: your smile fades in the summer - Flora - 08-17-2024
[say]"But not impossible."[/say] Flora counters without looking up from the water. She doesn't need to, of course, not with her thoughts filling in the blanks: I did. The pair had been nothing more than fuck buddies for, gods, years before anything resembling the S.S. Situationship they were now on had started to form. But if that wasn't Aurelia had been to Jack, then fine.
As Jack steps back the queen raises an eyebrow before smirking. [say]"Chicken."[/say] She says with an affectionate roll of her eyes before dipping her fingers into the springs and then flicking them up at him, fully expecting the droplets to turn around midair and splash back in her direction.
[say]"So she bailed on Torchline, bailed on you, and by the sounds of it, now wants to prove herself as some, like, hero."[/say] It had sounded that way, wanting to protect Torchline, wanting to know about Starfall and how to fight the spread of the void. Though she doesn't come right around and say it, her thoughts more than suggest that if Jack did still think of her as a friend it'd probably be worth telling her to slow her roll.
Lifting her container of water and sealing, Flora glances around for one of the stupid lilies before standing. [say]"So...speaking of people bailing, can I say something selfish?"[/say] Reaching out but not actually grabbing at Jack, the queen bites at her lip. Whether he said yes or no, he'd already know what had her lips turning down at the edges: Melita. Demigod. Being part of the hero squad. Maybe dying.
RE: your smile fades in the summer - Jack - 08-17-2024
[say]”Nothin’ is impossible,”[/say] Jack agrees with a tilt of his head that acknowledges her point. In reality Flora had much more than slept her way into his good graces - he hadn’t handed her his reins for little more than a good fuck, after all - but of course he’s not about to mention that. His eyebrows raise as she calls him chicken, as she likely knew they would, and the droplets don’t merely turn back midair, they freeze to tiny points of hail for good measure.
Shrugging and clearly not caring either way about Aurelia now that she’s shown back up, Jack also gives a cursory glance around for any suspicious, lily shaped plants, before he’s leading them back through the caverns. [say]”She had the audacity to stroll on deck and rattle at the door to my cabin as if she’d never left. Ain’t shit to do with me,”[/say] he says simply.
But as for saying something selfish? That’s what Jack is all about, after all, and despite the leading nature of her thoughts, Jack glances pointedly over his shoulder towards Flora. [say]”Go on?”[/say]
RE: your smile fades in the summer - Flora - 08-17-2024
[say]"Oy."[/say] Covering her face a touch too late, Flora shakes her head as little beads of ice strike her hair and shoulders before dropping around her like little glassy marbles. [say]"Show off."[/say] She huffs accusingly, though there's something so childish about it that it has her thoughts bright with playful bursts of primary colours.
Flora, whose Dads had only moved back to Torchline the year before, whose brother lived in Stormbreak, whose other remaining family was living out their best lives in King's End, was astutely aware of the people in her life, these days. Koa had left her and though he was back, he was still far away. Sohalia and Paige had disappeared. Her twin and nonna had died. She'd chosen Jack for juvenile and girlish reasons at first, but as the years past, that choosing had matured and with each season she'd found more and more reasons to remain as near to his side as she could. And as for Melita? Chaos and circumstance had thrown them together in the beginning, but she'd come to think of the Honeybee as a close friend.
[say]"I don't get invited to all the meetings, but I know enough to know that as a demigod Melita is probably going to have to do some shit with these lilies, or with fighting off the void in other areas."[/say] Briefly Flora lets her thoughts outline the information Ronin and Deimos had brought back from Safrin and Vi, information about B and C teams going out and CleAnSInG. [say]"But maybe if the Ark goes...?"[/say] If Jack set sail the way he so often did, taking Melita with him? Even that was an imperfect plan, if only because Melita could just be channeled back into danger at any moment at all, but...it was something?
RE: your smile fades in the summer - Jack - 08-17-2024
Not bothering to respond to that - he absolutely is a show off - instead Jack focuses on the cadence of Flora’s worries, of her decisions and the reasoning behind them. Finding himself raising his eyebrows as it all comes together, Jack reaches out to snag the Doubletake around the waist, halting his footsteps and raising his eyebrows as he draws her close against his chest.
[say]”To make this clear, you’re askin’ me to take The Ark and fuck off with Melita so we’re out of the way of anyone wantin’ to borrow us for void-related bullshit?”[/say] If Jack is smirking, it’s in admiration of the queen’s audacity more than anything else. [say]”I can’t well refuse a direct order from Torchline’s queen, can I?”[/say] She just has to say the word to make it so.
RE: your smile fades in the summer - Flora - 08-17-2024
Tension ripples through Flora at Jack's touch, not because she doesn't want it, but because she does in a way that's abrupt and dark. Slipping against him, rather than looping her arms around his shoulders instead she wraps them around his lower back, resting her head against his chest that she might not have to look into his eyes and see whatever annoyance or condescension is likely there.
[say]"I mean...when you put it like that.."[/say] Only...the answer was still yes. She was asking Jack to fuck off with the Ark the way he normally did, and presumably as Melita was still part of his crew, she'd go along. Even if the Honeybee could still be channeled, maybe if she was out of sight she'd be out of mind as well?
Unable not to take that bait, Flora lifts her head and stares at Jack through her lashes with a feigned scowl. [say]'You refuse plenty of my direct orders.'[/say] She points out, before sighing softly and shrugging against him. [say]"We could go see Safrin now...could...do whatever she needed together to get the Ark to fly during the day, and then..."[/say]
Much as she almost couldn't stomach the thought of Jack leaving and certainly didn't want Melita to go either, gone was better than dead.
RE: your smile fades in the summer - Jack - 08-18-2024
As Flora looks up, she won’t be treated to Jack’s annoyance or condescension - just his amusement as he waits for her to come to her own conclusions about what she’s asking and why. She shrugs against him and he shrugs back, and even to those who know the captain relatively well, this same situation wouldn’t have seemed possible a season ago with Flora. She leans against him casually, taking liberties where others wouldn’t dare, and Jack lets her.
[say]”And then we’ll see,”[/say] he decides. [say]”The Ark is usually docked at Longheat, so I’ll need to make some excuses to head out, but otherwise I’m confident I can find a reason to get away.”[/say] Presumably by then the Starfall situation would have made itself clear, or so he hopes.
RE: your smile fades in the summer - Flora - 08-18-2024
It likely says just as much on her side of things that Flora isn't obsessing over the easy way she can press against the captain when she wants more than just attention. That she turns to him for reassurance as much as comfort is not something either of them probably saw coming, and yet as she peers up into his eyes, she doesn't feel as foolish as she might once have even if she does still have to swallow down fleeting fantasies of Jack arguing with her and declaring that he couldn't possibly leave her behind for that long.
[say]"You could always say Safrin sent you away."[/say] Flora suggests. She can read minds too, [say]"so she might even suggest it on her own."[/say] She half thinks, half mumbles if only because their conversation wasn't for the ears of those milling about the springs. Nodding her head over her shoulder, Flora peels herself (reluctantly) away from Jack and begins to head away from the rising steam.
[say]"Do you think Melita would go with you?"[/say] Fuckery aside, she was a demigod now, and it was all a bit for not if the Honeybee was going to be forced to stay.
RE: your smile fades in the summer - Jack - 08-18-2024
[say]”I could,”[/say] Jack agrees, raising his eyebrows and tilting his head a fraction to the side, both appreciative and surprised at Flora’s combination of thought and speech to keep anyone eavesdropping from really understanding what they were hearing. Not that he can sense anyone around, but still - he’s impressed. [say]”And she might, that’s true. Speakin’ of which, I’ll… well, I’ll think about it more closer to the time. But let me know when we’re goin’ to see Safrin, ‘cause I’ll need to get ready for it.”[/say]
[say]”Oh, absolutely,”[/say] he says of Melita, following after Flora through the steam towards the entrance where they’d come into Frey’s Breath. [say]”You’ve met her - she ain’t exactly the type to volunteer for hero shit, and I don’t reckon Ludo made her that way either. She won’t want anyone else messin’ with her cannons.”[/say]
Still smirking at that thought - since when did they become her cannons, exactly? - Jack ducks through the caverns to lead them back out into The Burrows.
~FIN