the sleepover clause

candlewax & polaroids on the hardwood floor

Laughter bubbles up bright and incredulous as Kaisel huffs out his wish. "A pool?" Flora echoes, throwing him a look that’s equal parts astonishment and delight. "Babes, we’re standing near the world’s biggest one—no membership required."

She doesn’t give him a chance to argue. Pivoting on her heel, she shoulders lightly into his ribs and uses the momentum to herd him off the sun-baked planks. Sand squishes under their shoes the instant they leave the boardwalk, hot grains sliding between her toes through the mesh of her runners. Hels wheel overhead, calling encouragement; the air tastes of kelp and salt and the promise of something cooler just ahead.

Flora lengthens her stride, loose black runners kicking up rooster-tails of sand, running shorts flashing sea-green as they catch the light. Sweat pearls at the small of her back beneath the racer-straps of her sports bra, but the burn is nothing compared to the bliss that waits. "C’mon, Kai,”" she calls over her shoulder, laughter carried on a breeze that already feels cooler. "First one in gets bragging rights for life!"

The shoreline rushes up to meet her. She doesn’t slow. Foam-capped water surges around her ankles, then her knees, and with a whoop Flora dives—Icarus in reverse, trading Torchline’s blinding sun for the cool kiss of the Arclight's waves. The sea cradles her in a shock of relief, salty and perfect, and for a heartbeat everything—ticked-off captains, countertop mishaps, the Family’s looming threats—dissolves into blue.

Kaisel

"Ah—" is all he manages as she drives him like livestock, poking and prodding against his side with an expert mark for the tender space between his ribs. He tried to angle away from the assault, to grab at her hands, but she's quick and persistent and it's a flurry that he can't dodge or find words to fight against, to say that he's never been to an ocean. The sand is a slog under worked muscles as she bodies him off the planks. While it seems to sap everything from him, it energizes her and she races ahead with a bright joy that bids him to keep up the chase, even if the goddamn sand crawls into his shoes with every stride, instantaneously grating and abrasive as it adheres to his sweat.

The city boy is utterly out of his element now.

She isn't though. She's liquid gold shimmering across the sand, bronze skin adorned with sweat sparkling beneath the light, hair a curtain of sunbeams and laughter like a summer day's delight as she crashes into the sea with a spray of salt and relief. He can't catch her like that even if he tries. His pace hauls up from the run to a slowing jog, until he's standing at the edge, where the sand is firm with the touch of the waves. He holds a hand against his forehead to squint beneath the sun, hesitant as he eyes the bizarre strands of kelp strewn about as if the ocean is unraveling. The power of the tide roars with a quiet threat that has him gulping. "How do you know there's not sharks!?" he calls out to her, tip-toing around the foam that sweeps water over his toes, enticing with the promise of refreshment.

And when the day broke, buried in violence
Somethin' made my mind up
I could do this with my eyes closed

candlewax & polaroids on the hardwood floor

"Oh, please." Flora’s voice rings back across the rolling surf, bright as Hel-call on a clear morning. She surfaces in a crown of seawater, curls slicked against her scalp and eyes dancing with sun-struck mischief. "Sharks prefer tastier meals than sweaty dragoons who smell like coconut face-mask and farts," she teases, treading easily in the gentle swells despite how her runners threaten to weigh her down.

She lifts one arm and beckons, the gesture half-challenge, half-invitation. "Besides—Torchline’s reef keeps the big biters farther out, and Spice is on lifeguard duty." The little dragon, currently orbiting overhead in figure-eights, punctuates the claim with an airy trill and a sparkle of frost that never quite reaches the water. "So unless you're about to tell me you never learned how to swim, get in here."

Flora back-strokes a few lengths, giving him space to follow, then flips and plants her feet on a sandbar where the water laps only to her ribs. "Look," she calls, voice softening, "you ran the whole dock in this heat. Your muscles are screaming for a cold soak. Five seconds and you’ll forget the sand, the sweat, the world. Promise."

Another surge pushes shore-ward, misting her shoulders with salt spray. "So help me, if I have to channel another god to get you moving.." Flora laughs, curls of water cascading off her collarbones as she waits—confident that a little goading and the promise of cool relief will draw Kaisel from the baking sand and into the blue beside her.

Kaisel

Kaisel grumbles in response to her remark, his hand dropping from his forehead to his hip in indecision. If he's being logical, he supposes all these people wouldn't be out swimming if it isn't safe, and Flora must do this all the time and still has all her limbs. Though, as she bobs up and down in the swells of the current, he rather thinks she looks exactly like a shark snack waiting to get consumed from below when she doesn't even expect it. Logic and fear don't tend to work well together.

When she gives something a bit more comforting to go off of, he eases a bit. The ocean isn't just a massive bathtub of water and sharks, there's rocks and reefs and sand all over making an underwater landscape no different from cliffs keeping back wolves. Yeah, that makes sense. With Spice serving as lookout as an added benefit, they'll have time to react before they're swallowed whole. He watches the dragon glinting occasionally in the light as she coasts overhead, sighing with some resignation.

Like a siren, Flora lingers in the spray, calling out to him with all the alluring songs of the sea. He cracks a smile at the notion, though perhaps sea-witch is a more accurate label for her. "No!" he nearly begs as the world flies from his tongue at the mention of another god. No, not a sea-witch, a sea monster, that's Flora. "I'm coming, I'm coming" he yells back, scoffing at her torturous methods as he pulls his shirt from his back and tosses it towards the sand that's still dry. He kicks his shoes off too, peeling away the socks with fervor to get at the itching sand between his toes.

"Here goes," he breathes to himself as he steps towards the water, the feeling of the liquid-soaked sand soothing under his barefeet. The wet beach stretches around his weight, water visible as it ripples away and soaks into the shore elsewhere. The faintest impressions are left behind him, soon to be shorn away by the tide. His toes curl as the rush of seawater splits across them and buffets his shins. It's an abrupt temperature difference and he gasps a bit, his hands flexing above him, helpless. He can feel the strength of the ocean even here, the water seeming bitter to break around his legs, the pull of it as the next wave readies a force that threatens to stumble him, and around him sand and shells are in freefall to the current. He's trusting her, but he can't help but feel only a madman first looked at the sea and said, yeah I wanna swim in that.

When he's up to his waist he finds he can't withstand the force anymore. He glances warily at her, eyes wider with the fear of this unknown than he realizes. He sucks in a breath through and dives into the next roar, popping up behind the surf with a newfound triumph and a smile of relief. He's alive, and it does feel nice in here. "Pools don't try to drown you so bad yanno!" he calls over to her as he slices through the water with a practiced stroke, popping under a wave as needed.

And when the day broke, buried in violence
Somethin' made my mind up
I could do this with my eyes closed

candlewax & polaroids on the hardwood floor

Flora can't help herself—her eyes rake slyly over Kaisel as he strips off his shirt and kicks away his shoes, a slow, appreciative once-over that she absolutely does not bother disguising. She's only human, after all, and Kaisel, half-exasperated and half-defiant against the stretch of golden sand and sea, cuts a surprisingly nice figure. It’s a brief, wicked little indulgence before she tips her head back and lets laughter bubble free, bright and delighted as he finally finishes shedding layers of fabric and hesitation before diving headfirst into the spray.

Unable to do anything but laugh—a sound full of delight and surprise—she watches him break the surface, victorious and relieved, and something warm unfurls inside her chest that has nothing to do with Torchline's sun. "Oh come on," she calls back brightly, wading deeper again until the waves lift her from the sandbar. "Pools are for toddlers and hangovers. If you’re not half-afraid of drowning, where's the fun?"

It's easy to catch the rhythm of the ocean once she's beside him, feeling the familiar push and pull that seems to hum beneath her skin. Flora dips underwater for a moment, letting the sea carry away sweat and worries alike, resurfacing beside Kaisel with a pleased, catlike smile. Her curls fan out around her like golden seaweed, and her aqua gaze sparkles wickedly as she splashes a little seawater toward him.

"See? Not a shark in sight—yet," she teases, twisting onto her back and kicking lazily so she can float alongside him. The water cushions her like liquid silk, the bright sky overhead a shifting mosaic of blues and sunlight. "Besides, if you survive this, I'll even let you pick the toppings on your pancakes. And," she adds, voice pitched dramatically, "I won’t tell anyone that Torchline’s bravest dragoon was scared of a few fish."

Her grin softens into something genuine as she studies him, noticing the lingering wariness in his expression even as he swims. "Seriously, though—you’re safe," she says, more gently, letting sincerity bleed through her teasing. "I won’t let you get eaten by anything, okay? Pinky swear." Flora holds out her hand toward him, pinky extended like a lifeline.

Kaisel

It's an odd feeling, being so small amid something so vast as the sea. It's not wholly comfortable at first, and not just because it's new or risks the passing interest of a shark. It's because it's disarming to be fully at the whim of the tide, nothing more than a visitor to her depths and their insurmountable power. For someone accustomed to regiment and control, yielding to the idea that he's on the cusp of possible annihilation is difficult enough. That he should laugh about it? Almost unthinkable — and yet, weirdly freeing. It's a burst of euphoria that threatens to sweep him away with each thundering wave. For a moment, he wonders if this is what it feels like to be in love, surrendering to something stronger than you and letting it place you on the edge of oblivion.

She swims towards him, all smiles and gold, and he catches her aqua eyes glinting. For a moment, he's certain he sees the entirety of the ocean contained inside them, the promise of destruction and elation in equal measure. The image is lost as her splash freckles salt across his chest and he ducks behind a raised arm too late, the motion only proving to sink him deeper briefly. Legs and hands churn the water on the spot as he recovers and with a delighted laugh of his own he returns a wave of his own making back to her.

She sinks into an ease he isn't capable of giving into yet, parts of him still fighting the tug of the tide as they bob and float like clouds in a reverse sky. "Yet," he mutters, glancing up at Spice to make sure she's still got her hawkeye view for shark spotting. The mild splashes of her kicking feet toss some seawater at his backside and he shivers against its cool, abrupt touch. "You think I'm the bravest?" It's barely a question, more like a smug preen as he watches her drift. "Maybe I ought to take up the name Kaisel Shark Slayer." He tilts his head back and vanishes underwater for a moment, resurfacing with a spray and a hand pulling the water from his face. "I'll take mountains of strawberries by the way. When you think you have enough, you're wrong, there needs to be more." He taps a finger against his palm, as if imagining the plate in his hand already.

His rough grin smooths out as he sees her gentle in the way she did when she became more honest. He holds her with his gaze, needing, craving that authentic support. As much as he thrives on the noise of laughter, it's only there to distract from the moments like this, when he's truly unsure. It's not a good look, doubt, and he manages to suffocate it most of the time. "Well, I mean, if there's a really hot siren out here you could maybe let her eat me," he grins, extending his pinky to lock with hers even as he tries to scatter the softer moment, afraid it might make him evaluate his need for it too much.

And when the day broke, buried in violence
Somethin' made my mind up
I could do this with my eyes closed

candlewax & polaroids on the hardwood floor

Flora watches the water stream off his face with an unrepentant grin, delight curling through her like a ribbon on the wind. "Kaisel Shark Slayer," she repeats, the words rolling in her mouth like candy. "Sounds very Torchline." She taps her chin thoughtfully, curls slicked to her temples by salt and spray. Her laughter bubbles up again, bright and weightless as the sunburnt waves around them, but something gentler threads beneath it—something quieter, blooming under her ribs as she watches the way he preens for her, the way he soaks up her praise like cracked earth drinking rain.

And gods, he deserves it. He deserves strawberries stacked into mountains and pancakes dripping syrup and as much love and loyalty as she can hurl at him without capsizing the both of them.

When he extends his pinky, the grin slides from her mouth into something softer, something that feels too big for the fragile air between them. Flora’s fingers tighten around Kaisel’s pinky, and with a mischievous gleam flashing in her sea-glass eyes, she tugs herself closer. The water parts easily between them, buoyant and warm, and in a few heartbeats, she’s sliding against his back, her limbs twining lazily around him like seaweed caught on driftwood. Her knees hook around his hips, her arms loop around his shoulders, and she drapes herself there without apology, chin brushing his salt-damp shoulder as she leans in, curls dripping water down the curve of his neck.

"If we do find a hot siren out here," Flora murmurs against his skin, voice low and wicked-soft, "you should be the one eating her." The words curl like smoke between them, teasing and suggestive, sweetened by the laughter she barely holds back.

Kaisel

Admittedly, she makes Torchline alluring. Maybe there's sky sharks up near Stormbreak though? Who knows, the ocean is vast but so is the sky, and the star whales have to have some predatory contention, right?

Water laps around his skin with fresh motion as she glides across the distance, nothing other than satin draping over the neckline of the sea. She coasts and curls, an attachment that he doesn't question or resist, as if this is their natural state—always touching. It's a reminder that they're still here, that there's still comfort to be found among the world which otherwise feels impossible for all its harshness. She's soft, where her skin presses against his, water nipping coolly in the hollows left between them. Her added weight seems to be negative for all the lightness that flutters inside him. "Oh?" his grin stretches, teeth pressing against salt as desire adds a depth to his tone. "Don't worry, I'm partial to sashimi." He laughs at the imagined scenario, leaning his head against one of her arms that lazes over his shoulder like a vine on a windowsill. 

"Though, admittedly... how fishy are we talking with a Siren? Or is it mermaids that have the, yanno, half and half?" He doesn't remember the aquatic legends too well, he must confess. He shrugs it off, one hand reaching across his chest to grab her opposing leg, pressed against both to steady her in all her barnacle glory as he begins to arc back towards shore, letting the waves do much of the work. Though he'd happily float and forget about the world all day with her, the risk of them capsizing is a real threat with her humming about seafood meals in his ear. It's enough to make a man forget the lines he's drawn in the sand, especially with high tide coming in.

Something brushes his kicking feet, and Kaisel jerks back and flounces, threatening to drown them both. "WHAT WAS THAT!?" he demands with a voice more shrill than he's ever managed, the fear ripping out every ounce of peace and warmth she'd coaxed into him. Kelp tumbles past on the current, slick and taunting.

And when the day broke, buried in violence
Somethin' made my mind up
I could do this with my eyes closed

candlewax & polaroids on the hardwood floor

Flora gasps, scandalized in the most exaggerated way possible, and smacks him—hard enough to splash water across both their chests—at his sashimi comment. "EWWWUH," she huffs, even as her legs twine more securely around his waist, clearly not at all as scandalized as she was pretending to be.

And then he jolts. Flora snorts against the damp slope of his shoulder, her legs tightening instinctively to keep from slipping off as he flails into motion. "Kaisel, for fuck's sake," she chokes out through helpless laughter, arms clutching tighter around his chest as his panic very nearly drags them both under. "It was seaweed! Gods, you absolute disaster—"

The words fall apart into giggles that bubble up, bright and breathless, as she props her chin on his shoulder. She’s still laughing when she draws a languid swirl across his collarbone with one finger, purely because she can, because it feels safe and easy and stupidly wonderful to touch someone without it getting complicated.

"You’re lucky you’re cute," Flora sighs dramatically against his ear, as if forgiving him is an enormous burden. "Otherwise I’d be letting the sharks fight over who got your left leg." Her grin sharpens, quick and wicked, before she presses a splashy, exaggerated kiss to the back of his salty, sun-warmed shoulder—platonic in the way that could be playful, could be dangerous, but would never actually be dangerous because they were, somehow, still just them. Just Flora and Kaisel. Always a little too much and not enough.

"Now pull yourself together, Shark Slayer," she teases, squeezing her legs lightly around his ribs before relaxing again, content to drift with him toward shore on the lazy pull of the tide. "We still have pancakes to get."

Kaisel

Her laughter is so at odds with his panic that he feels at once hot and cold (what up Katy Perry?). Like a well trained soldier taught how to act under severe pressure and how to always keep his cool though, Kaisel only loses his mind for a little bit longer. Striving now for air as much as escape from the Biggest Seaweed Monster Ever, his jockey only howling with humor and insults, he surges with the breaking waves towards the shore. You can’t see it, but his toes are flexed so hard in search of footing a pedicurist would be impressed.

His feet finally catch the slope of the beach, and he breathe a sigh of relief again. He's glad Flora isn't the least bit bothered while he's been fighting for his life, but that hardly matters because she calls him cute. Breaths a bit jagged, as much from exertion as the spike of anxiety, he tilts his head to the side in an attempt to look at her as she leans against him. Her breath tickles his ear like a scratch he didn't know he needed. "I know, I depend on it for a lot" he confesses with a laugh. At the mention of sharks he jostles her further up his back, feigning readjustment as he smothers the notion of an evil shark sweeping up the shore for one last fuck you, punctuated further because he's so close to being free of the watery killing field.

Her kiss calls attention to the region as the water beads around the spot, wind prickling against it with an ongoing reminder as it cools. If ever there existed a test for fortitude of spirit, resisting Flora would be it. His friend first and foremost, his cousin's ex and potential future second, he will not risk letting their play spill over into anything more. It's easy enough to imagine, to think he can stay in control, because she does not haunt his thoughts like a crush might. She is already there, soaked in good memories and curled against his heart with an unyielding affection for her. Maybe he’s a fool to think he can keep teasing the line without ever stepping over it, but the line remains, and he can be a fool for another day.

He carries her to shore, setting her down so he can gather his clothes and not stagger in the sand. He loops an arm over her neck and drags her to his side as they meander back to the house for showers and pancakes.

[FIN]

And when the day broke, buried in violence
Somethin' made my mind up
I could do this with my eyes closed