little did you know

flora

Despite the way Deepfrost had brought snow and ice to most of Caido, Torchline remained blissfully untouched. The presence of Starfall hadn't changed that, at least, and though it still loomed ominously on the horizon, if you turned your back to it and walked the opposite way down the coastline, you could almost pretend it wasn't there.

Almost.

Truthfully, there were lots of things Flora wished that she could ignore these days. She wished she could ignore the ongoing hostilities between her mother and her step-father, wished she could ignore the fact her best friend had disappeared (or, been kidnapped?), and that Koa had returned, and honestly, she would probably have kept ignoring Seren's return as well if her step-sister hadn't been at the tournament. But she had, and gods she'd come across like such a bitch if she didn't at least reach out.

So it was that as dusk began to fall and the sky turned a brilliant ruby-red, that Flora waited by one of the little drink stalls by the shore. Wearing an oversized sweater (one of her twin's, actually), the queen ordered herself a shot of something and downed it smoothly, hoping it would soothe her already frayed nerves.

My house of stone, your ivy grows
And now I'm covered in you

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

SEREN

For every tyrant, a tear for the vulnerable
In every lost soul, the bones of a miracle

She arrived with the first kindling of stars, bringing a piece of night with her that did not fade in the brilliance of the sunset. She could have been anyone, with her raven hair tousled by the ocean wind and her hands half drowned by the oversized sweater that rode low on freckled shoulders. Barefoot out of habit, still wearing her white sun dress in stubborn defiance of the season, with a dreamy smile lingering as an afterthought about her lips as she drifted towards her little sister. Could have, but was not; not with those weightless steps or the starlit aura that clung to her limbs.

"Hello, Flora," she greeted warmly, any nerves buried deeper than might be perceived. She opened her arms to the young woman, with a curious tilt of her head. "Are you a hugger? Hope I did not keep you waiting too long."

In every dreamer a dream - we're unstoppable
with something to believe in

flora

Indeed, Seren was a sight to behold. With all of her father's humanly good looks and with her mother's ethereal aura literally clinging to her skin, it was impossible not to recognize the demigoddess for precisely who she was. Flora, who had always been overly concerned with her looks and how she appeared to others had obviously taken note of her step-sister's appearance, though as Seren approached, the Doubletake was rendered a touch speechless at just how deep her beauty truly ran.

"Hey!" The queen chimed brightly as she set down her shot glass. Glancing into Serens' open arms, Flora grinned and nodded. "You bet." Slipping into the demigoddess's arms and wrapping her own around Seren in turn, Flora gave her sibling a quick squeeze. "This is weird, huh?" She mumbled as she pulled back, offering Seren a lopsided smile.

"Drink?"

My house of stone, your ivy grows
And now I'm covered in you

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

SEREN

For every tyrant, a tear for the vulnerable
In every lost soul, the bones of a miracle

Her sister was warm and bright as the Torchline sun. Seren held her tightly for as long as Flora allowed, and would have lingered close for far longer still. But she understood the awkwardness, even if she didn't feel it, and returned the crooked smile with one that was warm and reassuring.

"A bit, yes. Don't feel like you have to act like we know each other - as long as you are comfortable, I will be too." After all, they were strangers. That their fathers were married made them sisters, and Seren's friendship with Hotaru was another connection that tied them together - but those were extraneous things that didn't matter unless they both chose to let it.

"Please. Do they have any good wine?" Willing to let herself be guided to something suitable, Seren made herself comfortable next to her younger almost-relative.

In every dreamer a dream - we're unstoppable
with something to believe in

flora

Laughing at that, Flora could only nod, her eyebrows raised until they disappeared beneath her bangs. "Well someone is wise beyond her years." The Doubletake praised before pausing slightly and regarding Seren with her head tilted to the side. "Or...I mean, I guess you are older than me." Flora corrected with a shrug; it likely had only seemed that way because Seren hadn't been around for so much of Flora's life, but then, it wasn't as though time had just stopped for the demigoddess.

Had it?

"Not as good as my bar, but yeah, it's drinkable." So saying, Flora nodded to one of the barkeeps and ordered them each a chilled glass of sweet white wine. Once the stem of her glass was between her fingers, the queen immediately raised it toward Seren's own in a toast.

"Cheers. To sisters."

My house of stone, your ivy grows
And now I'm covered in you

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

SEREN

For every tyrant, a tear for the vulnerable
In every lost soul, the bones of a miracle

"A bit older, yeah. But not as much as I should be," Seren acknowledged. "To sisters!" Accepting the glass she raised it in turn and tapped the rim against Flora's, leaving a silvery tone humming in the air between them. Sipping tentatively, the wine was cool and sweet on her tongue, bringing to mind a number of things that Seren could barely place. Fruits, flowers, something barely remembered - she sipped again and smiled, pleased with the sensation.
"Your bar must be amazing if this is only 'drinkable'," she laughed. "What made you decide to do that?"

Finding a bench for them, she sat down and patted the wood next to her in case Flora wanted to get off her feet. A salty breeze kept tousling her hair, but it didn't seem to bother the starchild; she merely smiled and watched as people milled back and forth, sometimes stopping to buy drinks and sometimes slipping away down towards the beach, to melt into the shadows between bonfires and torches. It felt good to be there. Felt good to be home again, with sand beneath her feet and ocean music in her ears.

In every dreamer a dream - we're unstoppable
with something to believe in

flora

"Ohmygods, right? My twin and I went to a shrine when we were kids and then just...boom. Teenagers." It made the question of how old are you sort of impossible to answer; really, she was...what? 6? Which, if that was the case, it made a good deal of the activities she regularly got up to straight-up illegal.

"Oh, it is. You'll have to come one day." Flora agrees proudly. As for the why? With a slightly self-deprecating roll of her eyes, the Doubletake grins over her shoulder. "Welllll, to be honest, I wanted to be Torchline's queen for a while, but lost the election the first go around. When that happened, I sort of just poured myself into the bar because it felt like I had nothing else, you know? My twin had died, my parents all lived somewhere else, and I was just here trying to make a name for myself that didn't rely on being a Taliesin or a Katio." Eventually, she'd leaned hard into her familial relations, but for those few seasons, Flora had been deadset on doing things on her own.

Sitting down at Seren's side, Flora twists somewhat so that she could peer at her sister. "Do you ever feel like that? Y'know, being Ronin and Safrin's daughter?"

My house of stone, your ivy grows
And now I'm covered in you

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!