[Training] dodging red flags

Zavien

The Risen Sun

His head shakes around the laughter, grinning like he could picture the force it would take to achieve such a feat - although he doesn't have to imagine too hard. Still, he gives Flora a mocking salute of his staff. "If you managed that, I'd be very impressed. We might even have to make you Captain." There's not a doubt in his mind that she'll pick up the skill once she's seen it a few more times. She'll probably even be adding her own flare before long.

As great as battle-dramas are, they're not exactly 'realistic' in terms of battle tactics and staffs aren't very conducive to the back-to-back stances. Luckily, Flora abandons the idea for practicality, sweeping in to target the golden dragon. Sol gives his own chirping challenge with an inflated confidence that turns out to be unfounded. Her staff deflects off the side of his scales before he manages to dodge, a small roar of dramatic indignation following as he retreats to a safer distance, pretending to drift to the ground in an impressive display of 'death.'

Rolling his eyes at his theatrical companion, Zavien focuses on their other opponent diving at him. Not wanting to accidentally hit the dragon, he gives a halfhearted swipe of warning before twisting the staff back into a blurring shield circle to ward off the vicious beast. There's a challenge in his eyes, daring Spice to try pushing through the defense, ready to strike if she does.

---

4/4

Lead with light, even in shadow

we write out the ends on our palms, then forget to read

Flora snickers, warm and unfiltered, at Zavien’s salute. "Captain Flora has a very dramatic ring to it," she muses, twirling her staff with enough flourish to prove she’s already halfway there. "I’ll start designing the uniform now."

But then Sol takes his hit like a true thespian, and she drops into character immediately, flinging one hand over her brow as the other clutches the staff. "We’ll go to Mort himself," she gasps, staggering back a step in mock anguish, "and beg for your return." Her voice trembles with performative grief as the golden dragon spirals down in his glorious, overacted demise, and she barely keeps a straight face as Spice lets out a draconic cackle from above.

Clearly unfazed by Zavien’s whirling staff, Spice blasts the makeshift shield with another icy gust. The cold air hits the spinning wood and fans out, sending a surprisingly pleasant breeze cascading across the field. Flora lets out a bright laugh as it tousles her curls, her sweater ruffling gently in the chill.

Once Spice finally pauses to breathe, Flora nudges Zavien with a playful bump of her hip, her staff tapping lightly against his leg. "That would work super during Longheat," she teases, nodding toward Spice, who gives a triumphant trill and preens like she invented portable climate control.

Turning to Zavien, Flora's grin softens just enough to show something genuine beneath the mischief. "Y’know," she says, wrinkling her nose in an endearingly crooked way, "I think we make a pretty good team."

Zavien

The Risen Sun

"No more than 'Queen.'" He grins, wondering if she planned to leave any titles for the rest of them, although, after the performance between her and Sol, he's convinced she deserves them. The dragon plummets to the ground in a fluttering of golden wings, the dust pluming around him in a flare of collapse. Flora's words elicit a keening cry, a 'Remember me when I'm gone.'

"I didn't realize I was signing up to be an actor in a play." The roll of his eyes is pure affection. The laughter that follows is too bright to be annoyed, and he might have joined in if the second dragon wasn't blasting cold air at his face, stealing his attentions for a moment before the drama is coming to a close. 

Zavien accepts the nudge, lowering his staff to lean against it as he turns to meet her gaze with a playful smirk. "I guess it's a good thing we're going to be working together." Whether it's icy fans or fighting monsters, he gets the feeling they'll be a good team regardless. Sensing that the curtains have closed on his performance, Sol flops back onto his belly, chirping to Spice so they can discuss their unfortunate loss and what tactics they might employ next time. 

Meanwhile, Zavien tilts his head, offering a small grimacing smile when he's forced to ruin the mood by bringing up an uncomfortable topic. "Although... you might want to be careful. I don't know if Kai mentioned our conversation the other day, but," he pauses, running a hand through his hair as he shrugs his shoulders, "it didn't exactly go well." To say 'he threatened my girlfriend and tried to get me to lie to my best friend' seems a little harsh, but he'd hate for her to be unaware of things that may affect her region, and he gets the feeling leaders less understanding wouldn't have appreciated such a broach of someone who had previously been speaking on her behalf. 

Sol trots up, searching for treats as Zavien tries to brighten his smile in hopes of being more 'supportive' of the relationship. "I just know you two are dating now, and I'd hate for him to say or do something that might have larger consequences than interrupting a sauna." The laugh he gives is soft and light, disguising the weight that had affected the conversation or what catastrophes might have otherwise fallen, all while he rummages through his pockets to offer the dragons a few pieces of dried jerky.

Lead with light, even in shadow

we write out the ends on our palms, then forget to read

Spice trills a lazy reply to Sol and flops down beside him, her small white body curling into an elegant coil as she lets out an exaggerated yawn. Flora laughs, light and easy, her earlier energy settling into something warmer as she leans against her staff. Her curls sway gently as she shifts her weight, shoulders relaxed, smile still playing at the corners of her mouth.

So when Zavien says be careful, at first she assumes it’s something about splinters, or the dangers of balancing on a weapon, or maybe something terribly earnest and Dragoon-like.

But then Kai’s name leaves his lips.

Her brows rise, surprise flickering through her expression like the momentary stillness between a wave’s crash and retreat. It only takes a heartbeat for her to smooth it away, her mouth quirking with a private, knowing sort of amusement. "He did tell me," she says with a soft chuckle, tapping the pads of her ringed fingers thoughtfully against the smooth grain of the staff. "We tell each other everything." There’s no edge to the words, no possessive barb or territorial claim, just the fact of the matter that unless their mouths were otherwise occupied, neither Kaisel nor Flora was very good at keeping quiet.

When Zavien explains further, Flora listens, head tilted slightly, curls brushing the side of her cheek. "For what it’s worth," she says finally, "I’m on his side about it. And not just because we’re together." Her brow lifts slightly, and she gives a shrug that feels casual despite the weight of the topic. "Just because someone knows something doesn’t mean they’re entitled to tell it to other people." Her aqua eyes lift to meet his, bright and steady, no hesitation or guilt clouding their clarity. She'd been keeping Jack's secret for years now, and maybe it was for having grown up around the Fae who couldn't lie, but she'd found all sorts of ways of avoiding that particular truth coming out.

"In the hypothetical world you created, where Koa somehow asked you directly about me and Kai," she continues, her tone very much suggesting just how improbable they both knew that situation was, "saying you needed to talk to your cousin would’ve been a perfectly upstanding and honest answer." Her voice is measured, calm in a way that for those who knew Flora well, might suggest that there was reason for concern.

Then, as if something’s only just occurred to her, a little smile tugs at her lips. Her head tilts as if in confusion, lashes fluttering just so. "But what did you mean, exactly?" she asks, gaze innocent as a rising tide. "Why would I want to be careful?"

Zavien

The Risen Sun

The open communication between the couple tugs a little at his heart, but Zavien grants a quiet smile, appreciating their relationship in spite of what chaos it may unleash. After hearing Kai's passion and dedication, it's not surprising. They obviously have something special and precious enough to risk fighting for. He just wished it wasn't against him. 

Depositing treats along the ground, Zavien stands to nod his head. He lets her speak without interruption, mulling over her words with a seriousness that he doesn't buckle under, but lets fall over him like a gentle hand to guide his perception. It doesn't sway his own beliefs, but his lips still curve up as he says, "I understand." He knows he should stop there, to let the improbable scenario fade, but if he's going to be working with Flora, she should know his reasoning. 

Zavien glances away for a moment to gather his thoughts, then returns her steady gaze with his own, soft and green as the stalks of sunny grass that bend but never break. "I don't want to tell Koa, especially if it's only going to hurt him further, but it's ultimately his choice on whether he wants to hear Kai out. If I tell Koa he needs to talk to Kai and he insists on hearing it from me - despite multiple warnings and attempts to convince him it would be better coming from Kai - " his shoulders give a small shrug, not dismissive but heavy with the truth he should have never asked for, "then as a friend, I have to tell him. Not doing so would damage our trust, because I believe refusing to tell the truth to those involved is the same as lying." The pause is long, letting his own morals and beliefs become blatanly clear despite it's soft and compassionate delivery. The fact is that he won't be the kind of person who hides behind half-truths and uncertainty, keeping information that doesn't belong to him from the people who deserve to know it, no matter how uncomfortable. 

Offering another gentle smile, he finishes by saying, "That's why I couldn't give Kai an absolute - not when Koa is my priority right now." There's a hint of apology in his eyes, not for holding his values, but for what unintentional role it may play. He'll do what he can to minize the damage to everyone involved, to force the conversation between Koa and Kai first, but he won't apologize for standing by his friend. Kai and Flora have each other to lean on while Koa has no one, and Zavien won't abandon his friend to suffer the truth alone. 

He may not know Flora well enough to catch her cues, but he's grown up around enough women to know when he's treading thin ice, the batting of her eyelashes anything but innocent. Contrary to the body's instinct to panic in the face of danger, Zavien sits back on his heels, calming as his head tilts in return. "Because people will do a lot of things for love, and I love Kai, but he's just hotheaded enough to make offers on your behalf in one sentence and quick threats in the next." The warm smile he gives is meant to reassure, to push away the cold of the warning for the positives of their relationship and Kai's unwavering devotion to her. "It's an admirable and rare thing, but I hope he finds a better way to show it - before a leader who hasn't been the hotheaded Dragoon takes offense." The joke is light, easing any suspicions of anger or annoyance she thinks he might still possess. After all, he has been - and sometimes still is - the Dragoon who dives into danger and dumb decisions to protect others.

Lead with light, even in shadow

we write out the ends on our palms, then forget to read

Flora listens, really listens—shoulders angled in, staff still cradled casually beneath one ringed hand—but that ease begins to fade with each passing word. Not enough to snap, not enough to raise her voice or flare with emotion, but the shift is unmistakable in the set of her jaw, the slow stillness behind her eyes, a frost creeping in under the silk. Zavien was her senior to be sure, but not her better when it came to political savvy or understanding quite how far the ripples would extend from the rock he'd tossed into the waters between them.

When Zavien finishes, Flora exhales slowly through her nose, then shrugs with all the effortlessness of someone brushing off a leaf that’s landed on her shoulder. "That," she says, light and lyrical as ever, "is like… the most unlikely scenario ever." Her head tilts, curls swaying as her frown curves in, deliberate. "And honestly, if you have to come up with some wildly unrealistic situation to make yourself sound right..." Wrinkling her nose, the queen shrugs. She can understand Zavien not wanting to be forced to lie to a friend, but if anything the convoluted nature of his response, not just to Kai but now to her, only made Flora feel like maybe he wasn't trustworthy at all. Lying wasn't the same as saying someone needed to hear information right from the horse's mouth, and if that wasn't something Stormbreak's new Commander understood, perhaps Torchline's queen would be stingy with what privileged information she shared with him in the future.

Flora's rings tap lightly against the staff as she glances down for half a breath, then back up again, the weight of her attention locking with his. "Besides," she adds, almost gently, "Kaisel is Koa’s family. And having known Koa since we were kids and having dated him, I’m pretty sure there’s no world where he’d ever fault someone for wanting to let a family issue be handled by family." Family being a cornerstone of Koa's personality if ever there was one. Still, there’s no heat in her tone, just steel beneath the satin.

But as Zavien offers his condescending little commentary on her partner, that sweetness on Flora’s face only intensifies. Her smile widens, radiant as a midsummer bloom. But her eyes? Her eyes are sharp enough to draw blood. Quietly, she says, "Well, while we’re playing a game of absurd hypotheticals—" On the ground, Spice gives Sol a concerned look. "Maybe the newly minted leader of the weakest region," she says in a voice like silk wrapped around a blade, "shouldn’t be turning an argument between friends in a steam room into political discord." She smiles. "Especially not with the ruler of the strongest region." Her voice doesn’t rise, not even a decibel, and yet somehow, it feels colder than the breath Spice had levied against the both of them, and still, her smile remains, effortless and unshaken.

Zavien

The Risen Sun

Confusion spreads across his face, not quite sure why his explanation is so farfetched, or why both she and Kaisel are stubbornly fixated on the single instance he would tell versus all the times he wouldn't. It pulls the lightness from Zavien's expression, glancing to Sol like he might make it all clear to him, but when the dragon proves just as confused, the Dragoon turns back to Flora. "I don't want to be right, I want things to be easier for Koa, and I honestly don't know how all this is going to affect him. All I said is that I'd try." And if they don't know him well enough to trust that, then there's honestly nothing he can do to convince her. What matters is that he'll hold to his values, doing what he can to be there for his friend. 

He's going to be sick. 

The joke lands wrong, the death promised in her eyes twisting in his gut, the dagger slipping easily between his ribs. When he'd only thought to caution and clear the air, barbed traps have been placed all around him, activated by stupidity. Kai had been all fire and brute volume, blasting accusations like they're cannons, but Flora is ice and poisoned sweetness, disguising violence in softness. But the threat crushes his heart just as easily. It breaks through his calm more than anything Kai could have said or done; the implications clear enough that panic immediately begins to set in amongst the pain and embarrassment.

Flora is the leader of the strongest region, and there's no denying that Stormbreak is the weakest after months of neglect and damage, but he hadn't expected her to take advantage of that, to hold it over his head and shove him down into some lower place after doing his best to be a good friend. It doesn't feel right, and as much as he appreciates her help and the connection he was hoping to build between their regions, he's not sure he wants to be involved with someone who sees him or his city as lesser. But he also can't afford to make an enemy of her - especially not over something as stupid as a fictitious scenario. 

Swallowing the hurt that flashes through his eyes, Zavien nods his head in deference of the threat she's lobbied. He doesn't shy away from the sharpness of her steely gaze, meeting it with the sorrow in his own. "You're right, and I'm sorry." He almost adds 'Your Highness' just to prove he's taking it seriously - that he realizes they're no longer talking as friends - but something tells him it would only piss her off further. He doesn't know what to do, doesn't know what to say, and doesn't feel inclined to figure it out after she's insulted him and his home. 

A deep sigh rattles from his chest, trying to dislodge the tightening there as he tries to navigate this new battlefield, filled with potholes and unknown enemies. The smile he offers isn't nearly as skilled as hers, and not nearly as sharp, taking its foundation from pain and sadness rather than anger as he says, "It seems that having someone threaten my relationship negatively influences my decisions, but I didn't mean to offend or offer unwanted advice. I'll work on that and hope you can forgive my lapse in judgement." For having thought her someone close and understanding enough to have hard conversations with.

Stepping back, Zavien tries to give himself enough space to breathe, to piece through what else he might say to salvage it all. Yet all he finds are more blunders, more errors and fuel for Flora's rage, and it makes him wince. "But apparently, I've overstepped, so I should be going before I say anything else dumb and cause a war or something." His laughter isn't as bright as before, hollowed by the hurt and anxiety of political tension - and the honest fear that she might be more hotheaded that her boyfriend. 

He doesn't let himself get swept up in the worries, smiling just enough to alleviate concerns of grudges or retribution. "Please let me know when you want that lesson, or if Stormbreak can do anything to help Torchline." Never good at hiding his true emotions, Zavien's somber smile dims, full of pity for the tragedies his people have had to endure. But his eyes shine brighter, giving Flora a peek at the heart of the people, the compassion and strength they hold despite it all. And there's a pride in his voice that nothing can take away when he says, "We may be the weakest region, but the people are passionate and always willing to lend a hand." And in the end, whether she chooses to throw threats or insults or find fault in his every word, Zavien and Stormbreak with always be there to help when the time comes.

Lead with light, even in shadow

we write out the ends on our palms, then forget to read

Flora gives her head a small shake, the last of the frost in her curls catching a glint of light before it vanishes entirely. "What would be easiest for Koa," she says, calm and unwavering, "is hearing it straight from his cousin, who actually has all the answers." Still, there's no venom in her voice, just a quiet certainty born of knowing what wounds look like when they come from the wrong people no matter how well intentioned.

As Zavien apologizes, she nods; nothing theatrical, just a simple, clean acceptance. He was a man, after all. And gods, weren’t they all prone to shoving their feet in their mouths on the regular? It might have ended then, but when Zavien slips in that one last attempt to cast himself as the wounded party, to thread justification into his apology, Flora raises a brow. "Mmm," she hums, almost gently. "I expect Kai would say exactly the same thing."

There’s no need to elaborate—no need to rehash who made the first move, who spoke out of turn, who was causing drama where there didn't need to be any. But the implication lands clear as glass: if it’s forgivable for Zavien to react when he thinks his relationship is under threat, then maybe he should extend that same grace to the man he’d cornered first.

As Zavien mentions overstepping, the Queen nods again, staff resting once more in her palm like the conversation’s shifted back into its proper realm. She doesn’t echo his nervous laughter or his dimmed smiles, she just watches him, still and composed in a way that suggests every flicker of her expression is intentional. "While we're offering up unsolicited advice, here's mine. Especially now that you're a leader," she says, voice smooth but firm, "don’t make personal fights into something political." Her brows rise slightly, her earlier comment about Torchline being stronger than Stormbreak left hanging like a loaded example between them of just what might happen if Zavien continued to take steam-room drama and turn it into something more than just an argument between friends. "I hope you can see how messy that gets."

Without another word, Flora slides a hand into the inner pocket of her sweater, the soft clink of metal barely audible before she withdraws the sleek, palm-sized compass. The etching on its surface catches the cold light just as she holds out her staff to Zavien; an offer made with clean, practiced grace and no lingering tension, though her expression remains tight-lipped.

Spice gives Sol a soft croon, brushing her white-scaled head briefly against the gold before fluttering up onto Flora’s shoulder in a swirl of wings and cold air. The little dragon coils there, watching Zavien with curious, unblinking eyes as Flora meets his gaze one last time. "Thanks for the spar," she says, the words clipped but polite. "I learned a lot." And with that, she presses her thumb against the compass and vanishes.

~FIN