cross my heart won't tell no other

Sohalia

I don't wanna look at anything else now that I saw you
I don't wanna think of anything else now that I thought of you

While it was quite common for Sohalia to visit Flora's Wildering House - indeed, the ample estate felt like a second home - it was less common for her to lounge about outside of her room when Flora was otherwise occupied. It was not, after all, her house, and she felt more comfortable reading in the room that Flora had made for her rather than running into any of the House's other potential occupants. It had taken her a while to get used to the spirits that roamed the halls; though she couldn't see them, she knew they were there by the doors that occasionally slammed, the windows that opened on their own to coax in a sea breeze, and all manner of other little things that indicated that the House was very much alive.

Now, though, she was rather fond of the spirits. She'd always treated them respectfully, and they seemed to treat her in kind. One spirit - or perhaps multiple; she couldn't really be sure - seemed to have taken a particular liking to her. It seemed to reside in the House's library, and it had taken to leaving books out for Soh that it seemed to think she might like when it sensed her approaching. At first, these tomes had been her usual eccentric bits and bobs about star charts or cartography or any number of interesting and useful topics.

Lately? Lately, they'd been romance novels filled with smut.

This particular afternoon, the spirit(s?) had rewarded her with another such book, and she'd taken it out to the pool to lounge in the spring sun. She'd donned a simple black bikini - nothing too scandalous - and decided that she might as well get a tan while visiting her best friend. And what better to do while one was laying out in the sun than read a good book? She'd just gotten to the first sex scene (which was much more scandalous than her attire) when the sound of a door opening nearby had her glancing up, expecting to see Flora emerge from within.

When she saw it was Kai, she snapped the book firmly shut and sat up, cheeks blazing. Setting the novel aside, she offered an awkward, flustered wave. Aside from the fact that she'd just been reading smut, she coudn't recall the last time she'd seen Kai. Not since everything had worked out for he and Flora, certainly. The last time she'd spoken with the young man would have been...

Oh, right. When she'd been a complete and utter bitch. Oops.

"Hey," she called. "If you want the pool, I can go...?"

I've been sleeping so long in a twenty-year dark night
And now I see daylight, I only see daylight

Kaisel

Haters on my back like a backpack

It rains here more than he expected it to, as if visiting this place so often during Longheat made it seem like that's how it would always be, just less hot. Which, had proven more true than not, especially in Deepfrost, having several days where he'd waaaaay over prepared to be cold and ended up lugging around a bunch of jackets at his waist like some 90's heartthrob. Thus, when today proves to be one of the nice ones not speckled with storm clouds, he does decide to take advantage of the pool, usually still preferring it over the sand of the beach.

He hasn't officially moved in. Not in the sense of a welcome package and a handshake deal between him and Flora, but he's pretty much defaulting to always being here now, as if the time away all last season in Stormbreak had shown both of them how much they preferred to be together when possible, and the benefits of falling asleep and waking up in the same bed. He does visit her his house from time to time, to water the plants, feed Ruby and Steve, and otherwise give Flora some space as needed. He hasn't even seen his room here, just wanders the common areas and sleeps in Flora's bed, never having had much in the way of decorations or things to bring over and invade her space with (and most everything fits in his backpack anyway).

He forgets then, sometimes, that there's others who might come and go that he doesn't expect. He hadn't been here for the building and the dispersal of all the keys to know who might come and go freely, and other than the longer term resident of Niki, it's mainly been people Flora has warned him of ahead of time. He's equally surprised then, to come across Soh when he wanders out for the swim.

Dressed in pink board shorts with red kiss marks patterning them, towel slung around his neck, he freezes as the book snap sound precedes anything else. He catches a glimpse of the woman sitting up before he's hastily throwing his arm over his eyes, spinning about on his heel. "Oh my gods, sorry, I didn't know you were out here." Her words land on his back, running overtop each other. "No no no, you were here first, I can go," he reassures, already taking a step back towards the door.

Blowin' up I'm fucking flawless

Sohalia

I don't wanna look at anything else now that I saw you
I don't wanna think of anything else now that I thought of you

When Kai saw her, he turned on the spot, averted his gaze so entirely that Soh glanced down at herself, as though checking to be sure she hadn't done something absurd like sunbathe topless. Once she'd reassured herself that she was reasonably well covered - or as covered as a bikini would allow her to be - she looked back at Kai's back with a frown. He was already stepping towards the door, reaching for the handle, but the Luminary called after him. "Kai, wait - "

Shrugging on a white coverup that fell to her thighs, she left her book on her seat and took a few steps towards her best friend's beau. Crossing her arms over her chest defensively, she said, "I... wanted to apologize. For, uh, how I acted last time I saw you." Worrying at her lip, she looked down, her cheeks red now because this was awkward, not because she'd been reading something questionable mere moments before. "I... haven't been myself lately. And after everything that happened with you and Flora, I took it out on you."

Forcing her silver gaze to rise, she tried on a tentative smile. "I'm sorry. Look, we can share the pool. There's plenty of space."

I've been sleeping so long in a twenty-year dark night
And now I see daylight, I only see daylight

Kaisel

Haters on my back like a backpack

He pauses as he's bid to, head tilting back faintly to hear her better, arm still thrown over his eyes like they've been scalded. He can hear her getting closer, and while he assumes she wouldn't be flinging her tits about, he can never be too sure these days with the company Flora keeps and the 'rules' of Torchline (better said the lack of them). "Are you decent??" he asks, hesitantly lowering his arm as she continues to talk. He hadn't actually seen anything, but can only assume, what with her being Flora's bestie, that she's out here trying to get some vitamin D for her girls. He's not about to get strung into the alternative D of that joke in any shape or form, accidental or otherwise, no thank you. "I didn't mean to ruin your tanning, or whatever," he trails off, squinting over at her and finding her thankfully covered.

"Apologize?" he wonders, the word drawn out like he's never encountered it before. He's trying to remember the last time they'd crossed paths, and what she needed to be sorry about. Between her crossed arms and the heat rising to her cheeks, it seems like something he should remember if it's that hard for her to admit to it, but he's at a complete loss for what she's going on about, and he feels bad about that. Anxiously a hand lifts to scrub at the back of his head, hair fluffing around the movement. "Uuuuuh, what?"

Admittedly he'd been disappointed in her efforts to fill in for him when he thought putting distance between him and Flora was best, but she'd tried to warn him away and it'd been a whole shit show anyway, he's not sure she would have made a huge difference no matter how hard she tried, something he can admit to now. He isn't quite sure what she took out on him though, and pretty confident he'd never forget some titties, least of all forbidden ones, he can safely cross that off the list. "Are you talking about the masquerade?" He blows air out between his lips so hard they raspberry briefly, the hand in his hair flopping out at the wrist in front of him dismissively. "Don't even worry about that old shit. People always get weird when they're drunk, especially if they have masks."

She looks worried though, so he fist bumps at her arm, a true apology accepted move. "Just keep everything locked up and I'm down," he agrees, to sharing, and takes a few steps back towards the edge like he'd been doing to start with. "Haven't seen you in a while though, how ya been?"

Blowin' up I'm fucking flawless

Hey, what's that? Out of the corner of your eye, you see a colourful, hand-painted egg. Perhaps it's sitting amidst some flowers, on a tree branch, next to a river, or in a merchant's shop, but wherever it is, it doesn't seem to be accidentally placed there. On one side you see a painted hot air balloon. Maybe it has something to do with the upcoming festival!

Go ahead and pick it up!

---

You've found a painted egg!. Whoever is next to post in this thread will be the first one to see the egg, but if they wish to give it to someone else, they're more than welcome! No need to post in account updates, just keep track of this thread and pick up your egg IC!

Sohalia

I don't wanna look at anything else now that I saw you
I don't wanna think of anything else now that I thought of you

"Am I - yes, of course I am!" Soh exclaimed, flustered at the insinuation that she might have been out here without being properly covered. This might have been Torchline, but Soh wasn't quite bold enough (yet) to stroll around without being minimally clothed. At least, not when it came to being out in broad daylight where any number of people could walk up on her. And also, not when she hadn't been drinking. "Unless you consider a bikini and a cover up indecent."

Her apology left her lips before she could think the better of it, and it immediately seemed to confuse Kaisel, who looked at her as though she'd sprouted another head. Embarrassed and vulnerable, Soh was about to tell him not to worry about it and flounce back to her book when he seemed to realize what she was talking about. Relief warred with confusion - when had she been drunk? Or at least, when had she been drunk enough for him to think she was drunk? - and she swallowed down whatever retort she might have offered if she'd known him better.

Then he fist-bumped her arm, and she blinked down at the familiar gesture, something tight in her chest loosening at the way he seemed to accept her apology and be ready to move on.

She snorted a laugh at his request. "Don't worry," she said drily. "I'm not from Torchline, remember? I generally prefer to have some minimum amount of clothing on my body." Recent strip poker nights notwithstanding.

She wasn't sure why Kaisel's innocent question of how she'd been sent her reeling away, but she turned to make her way back to her chair, a frown crossing her face. "Oh, uh, well -" she stuttered - unsure when the last time someone had asked her that was, and what the honest answer would be. "I'm... fine," she said finally, her tone carefully controlled. Maybe he'd call bullshit, and maybe he wouldn't, but either way - how could she begin to explain about Stormbreak, and Koa, and everything else?

Something caught the corner of her eye, and she glanced up to find a painted egg near the edge of the pool. Wandering closer, she picked it up. On one side, there was a hot air balloon, and Soh blinked as she carried the egg back towards her chair. Strange. Where had it come from?

I've been sleeping so long in a twenty-year dark night
And now I see daylight, I only see daylight

Kaisel

Haters on my back like a backpack

His lips twist up into something fighting back sourness for both their sakes. "Oh, I remember, just doesn't seem like that matters much around here. Flora's friends, Astaroth and Danta aren't from here either, but didn't stop them pulling their dicks out no problem." A hand waves towards the offending hottub nearby. "So I'm not taking my chances." Though, he's visibly easing at her reassurance, and the small restoration of faith that he's not so insane for his shock at the whole ordeal.

As they each step back towards their original places/targets, hers the chair and his the water, her answer hits his back like an uncertain rain. Scattered and cold, too light to be proper rain and too heavy to be mist. He settles on the side of the pool instead of wading in just yet, legs slipping under the surface as he glances over his shoulder at her with a squint like the Fry Futurama gif. "I might not know you as well as I know Flora," which is a given, but hang on chat he has a point, "but that's the least convincing fine I think I've ever heard." He's actually not sure fine is ever a real word, least of all when women say it.

He leaves that hanging, an offer for her to say more, not about to bully her into it. Especially not with an egg distracting the both of them. Now his gaze narrows like the suspicious chicken gif. "Another one?" His voice pitches up with the harried disbelief of it. "Second one around this house..." he mutters something about Flora's sprits under his breath before his gaze turns back to the water, watching it slide off his legs as he lifts them up and dips them back down.

Blowin' up I'm fucking flawless

Sohalia

I don't wanna look at anything else now that I saw you
I don't wanna think of anything else now that I thought of you

Soh tilted her head at the half-story that spilled from Kai's lips. Danta and Asta, like, as in the Ancients who Flora had slept with? Not that she was about to tell that story. That was between Kai and Flora, and under no circumstance was Soh about to get in the middle of that. So instead, she waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, the Ancients, right?" she said, playing dumb. "Huh. Well, I guess everyone has different comfort levels." She, of course, was not going to get naked anywhere near her best friend's boyfriend, but hey, that was just her.

She made her way back to her chair, only to find that her attempt at being fine was not particularly convincing. With a wince, Soh turned back to Kai. "It was, wasn't it?" She sighed. "I'm not not fine," she explained. "I just - a lot happened in the past year or so, and I guess I'm still figuring out where it all leaves me." She tried on a smile. "But I think I will be fine, and that's... basically the same thing, right?"

The egg sat there, glinting faintly, and seeming to draw Kai's ire. Raising a brow at his muttering, Soh hid a smile as she picked up the egg. "I dunno, it seems harmless," she said aloud, turning the egg this way and that. Shrugging, she tucked it into the small bag she'd brought to the pool with her. Kai might not appreciate it, but she'd hold onto it for now, whether it was a gift from the house spirits or not.

I've been sleeping so long in a twenty-year dark night
And now I see daylight, I only see daylight

Kaisel

Haters on my back like a backpack

The look he gives her is just as unimpressed at this new attempt of reassurance as the first. "Oh, well if you're not not fine, then by all means, I cannot not believe you." His lips quirk in a mild grin, shaking his head at the absurdity of it all. Not wanting to unload on him he gets, but if she's gonna lie about how she is, she's needs to improve it a fair bit.

She does give him a little bit of something though, so he quiets, just the sound of water slipping over skin as she explains carefully. "Sometimes you gotta embrace the not fine to get to the will be fine," he says sagely. "I went through kinda the same thing recently," he starts as a way of offering some common ground. "It's why I stayed in King's End while you all went back to Stormbreak. I felt all...mixed up about a lot of things, and it felt like maybe I could find more of myself and sort it out better with somewhere new to do it in. Y'know, break old habits by reducing familiar triggers and paths and stuff. Test myself, try new things, see what's out there and if part of it might contain me." He'd traveled a lot that season and met new people. He'd also ruined a lot along the way, but the upheaval made one path extremely clear to him when it'd all settled.

His legs still and he glances back at her. "I also got some plants. Those helped a lot."

He softens a bit more though, recognizing a bit of what she doesn't say. "We all had a lot happen to us last year. I know some of what you went through, but I know there's like twice as many things you keep to yourself about it all. So just, know it was all shit, but it's behind you now. You survived it. You beat it. And look! Now your not not fine!"

Blowin' up I'm fucking flawless

Sohalia

I don't wanna look at anything else now that I saw you
I don't wanna think of anything else now that I thought of you

Kai's teasing earned a snort, and Soh tossed a wry look his way before settling back on her chair, kicking her feet up and crossing them at the ankles. The breeze stirred her pinned-up hair, and she tucked a loose strand behind her ear. It wasn't that she didn't want to share - it was more that she didn't want to be a burden. This was her best friend's boyfriend, who happened to be the cousin of the guy who ghosted her. Things were a little... weird.

But he surprised her by offering some sage wisdom, and Soh frowned at his back as she listened - not because she was upset by it, but because he actually had some good points. And she hadn't been expecting that. And maybe, for the first time, Soh could see why Flora was so enamored. There was something about Kai that was simply... good.

Soh laughed as he finished his speech, recognizing the gentle needling in his final words. "Okay, you're way better at giving advice that you should be," she told him, picking up her book and flicking idly through the pages. "I think... I gave up leading Stormbreak, and I don't really know who I am without that. But I think I'm starting to figure it out, and I just... I want to like the person who comes out the other side."

I've been sleeping so long in a twenty-year dark night
And now I see daylight, I only see daylight

Kaisel

Haters on my back like a backpack

What could be deemed a back-handed compliment doesn't land with any such slap on Kaisel; he's accustomed to being underestimated. After all, an ice cream bar can be improved with sprinkles, but you can't do much without ice cream so that's what everyone's always clamoring for. Instead, he beams at the praise she doles out. "I know, more people should really listen to me." For some reason he doesn't think Zavien took his trampoline park suggestion for Stormbreak to heart, for example.

He leans back on his hands as she offers up a bit more of an explanation. "Leading Stormbreak is not who you are. That's a thing to do, not a person to be." He can absolutely understand wanting to be the person on the other side of bullshit though, but he doesn't agree with it entirely. "Do you not like who you are right now?" His head tilts across his shoulder as he looks over at her, politely curious. "Tell me one positive thing about yourself, right now." There is a touch of command to it, kind but unrelenting.

Blowin' up I'm fucking flawless

Sohalia

I don't wanna look at anything else now that I saw you
I don't wanna think of anything else now that I thought of you

Maybe more people should listen to Kaisel. Maybe his match with Flora was about more than just infatuation. Maybe they were more evenly matched than Soh had given them credit for, and that was something that she'd have to seriously ponder.

But for now, she pursed her lips as she prepared to argue that leading Stormbreak had become who she was. Maybe it shouldn't have been, but that was neither here nor there. It had consumed her, taking over her goals and desires, until all she could see was the end result where she was the Heart and Stormbreak was her home and there was no other option. But before she could formulate any kind of answer, Kai was pressing her for more information, and his question struck her dumb.

Did she like who she was? What was one thing she liked about herself?

The fact that she couldn't answer right away was probably more telling than anything she could have said. "I - I don't -" she spluttered, looking for all the world like a deer in the headlights. "I... draw maps really well?" It came out as a question, but it was an answer nonetheless, and strangely enough, Soh found herself hoping for approval, suddenly being steered in a strange conversation she'd never expected.

I've been sleeping so long in a twenty-year dark night
And now I see daylight, I only see daylight

Kaisel

Haters on my back like a backpack

He's patient as she sorts through the beginning formation of a response. It suggests this isn't the first time he's had to wait for someone to dig around in themselves to pull out an answer, and he absolutely isn't judging as he idles with his legs in the water. His gaze has since traveled away from her, not trying to pin her down with the weight of his attention, least of all when she needs to reach into herself and pry something loose.

Ignoring the uncertain way her reveal comes out, he focuses just on the offering. "Fuck yeah Soh, that's awesome. I don't even think I know how to begin doing something like that, and I use maps all the time! That's so neat." He's genuine, though also surprised, because it's not a skill he's ever given much thought before. Maps are so incredibly useful and ther required accuracy is paramount, he can't imagine it's the easiest thing to pick up or thrive in. "Y'know, Starfall isn't well explored, even still. I bet your map making skills could really come in useful there." It's true, but it's also a suggestion for her he knowingly hands over. Something that could drive her, if she wanted. A place to put in some work, with something that already suits her, and see if she can't emerge from the other side of it even better.

Blowin' up I'm fucking flawless

Sohalia

I don't wanna look at anything else now that I saw you
I don't wanna think of anything else now that I thought of you

As Kaisel's gaze wandered elsewhere, Soh was suddenly grateful that he wasn't just staring at her expectantly, waiting for an answer. Maybe that was half her problem: she was so worried about being what everyone else expected her to be that she'd lost track of who she was in the process. But maybe she was also figuring it out. She was a hell of a cartographer, after all. She didn't just pull that out of her ass. Even if it wasn't her most confident delivery, she believed in her work, and that had to count for something.

So as Kai responded enthusiastically to her reveal, the Luminary smiled. "It started as a hobby, years ago," she said, making her way over to sit on the side of the pool, dangling her legs into the water. "Then, before I was the Heart, I started selling them. I had quite a good business going. I wouldn't mind getting back into it, if I can make the time - and you're right about Starfall. I doubt it's been explored as much as it should be, never mind properly mapped."

It was something to think about, certainly. Somewhere she could apply her talents, a project she could tackle just for herself, without having to worry about anyone else in the process. And she could do it in bits and pieces, in between her Ambassador duties. "You know, maybe there's more of me left than I thought."

I've been sleeping so long in a twenty-year dark night
And now I see daylight, I only see daylight