[SE] a clean getaway

you must burn brighter than ever

Melita didn’t know it at all either. She could only ever get bits and pieces along gossip trains or from Flora herself – the trauma ends of it, mostly. Death had a bizarre way of winding through Caido; taking bits and pieces upon the return from Mort’s Realm. She’d had her own – and she was certain there was a weight in there from shared forces and vitriol amidst the Captain, the Doubletake, and their unfortunate demises, something never quite taken away from shared abyss, violence, and vehemence. But then again, perhaps that was why Flora deserved peace now, and while she kept all of this to herself, she tilted her head, gazing back at Kaisel with an arched brow – because after all this time, repose still seemed like a difficult option for this world. “Then you’ll fight for it, mm?” she grinned instead, dropping another rag into a bucket and snagging at another.

The statements thereafter earned a loud snort, mostly in defense of Iskra, but also remembering the curse he’d had before (which, had, in hindsight and in present, been fucking hilarious). “Absolutely not,” came on the pretense of a miff, holding her jaw and nose upwards in some seditious, haughty manner. Maneuvering over to another harsh portion of mud, she rolled her eyes, gave another low breath, fighting back her own insecurities. “I don’t think he’d flip, and given his own track record, he can’t really say shit.” In fact, they’d be pretty standard and normal in comparison to the litany of fucked up relationship patterns Sunjata had concocted and implemented over the years. “I just haven’t ever talked to him about it either.” She shrugged; it was far more common for her to spout off or rant or vent or screech than dive into anything resembling familial burdens. “Maybe I’ll start there though. Maybe.” Like it wasn’t set in stone or anything, but the resemblance of a plan.

Though that didn’t mean she missed the gossip thereafter – gaze swinging back over to see his features warp at the memory, toss in a dry laugh for her part. “Not one bit of that surprises me. Which one was more overprotective?” One might argue they had reason to be, given everything Flora had gone through.

Then there were the prospects of gifts and items, and she tilted her head, listening as she tackled the larger grime. “Ooh, that’d be neat though,” contemplating memories, what one would want to keep, what had already faded, only to be snagged and renewed again. “You could do the same with her family too. Enzo and everyone.” Pausing, she considered further, finger tapping on her chin. “Flora’s got all kinds of weapons and the like – and that would be useful in another way. I don’t think everything has to be sharp or piercing.” Though, yes, she was partial to it – but the Doubleake had so many defenses and measures and guards to lean against; why not something filled with cherished moments instead of harsher outlooks? Gods, perhaps all this nonsense had made her sappy too. Gross.

His last sentiment made her pause again though, nose wrinkling. “Great, now I have to think of gifts.”

Melita

Got a spark in your heart so strike it

The time it takes him to answer her has nothing to do with the hesitancy of what he says, but that he's never considered it that way until she framed it as much. "With everything I've got," he agrees wholeheartedly. While he has always been willing to fight to defend Flora, to protect her, to save her, he has often started with not fighting for her. When he let his feelings be buried for the sake of Koa, when they agreed to still do the same for Caly and Jack too, both following their first kiss and then later, following their first decision to make an attempt at how they felt. How often he just let others just step in front of his love for her, like it mattered less than her wellbeing when it came to taking a stand. Not anymore.

At her very curt refute that her beau is not some disfigured monster, he can't help but laugh faintly. "Well, I'm happy for you then," he says simply, grin still edging into one side of his face as he leans into the work. "I think you'll know, when you're ready," he reassures, knowing that he and Flora are not necessarily the prime example to follow, not that he'd let that change their trajectory in the slightest. "You just kinda realize...life's not complete without them anymore. You miss them even when it hasn't been very long, and you want to tell them all the dumb and silly stuff about your day because you know they'll actually care, and if they feel the same way, that's when you know you got something real. That's when you share it with people." Simple, clearly.

As Mel angles it back towards his dinner though, he chuckles into the draw of his scrubbing motion, shaking his head. "Well Remi was talking about me in another language, so I've no idea what he was saying, but Ronin caused a scene in the kitchen by trying to threaten me a little, and the way he asked it pissed off Flora...rightfully so." He grimaces at that memory, rolling a shoulder a bit. "I think I passed though, because we all managed to sit down and eat still." And all this after being repeatedly told the bar was in the ground, and yet they'd all still managed to trip over it. "There's a lot about that...family dynamic I need to learn still, I think. Flora's told me some, and time will help, but it seems real easy to open up a scar again." The history of Remi and Ronin as dads is not a subject class went over much at all, usually just whatever demigod influence they swept throughout history. Legends, to be sure, and therefore absolutely able to smite him if they choose.

Her appraisal of his idea is a relieving one, smoothing out the areas of concern that've creased a bit with overthinking. He nods, "yeah, her family too. They mean a lot to her, even if they drive her crazy." Relatable, even if not in the exact same ways.

Her muttering about her needing to think of a gift draws his grin back into full bloom. He glances over at her as they each clean, wringing out his rag and dunking it again. "Some people don't like gifts," he offers. "Flora's basically a crow in disguise, collecting every little trinket she can, so I think gifts go over well for her, and I like getting to give her things when I can." So far his gifts have been either a bridge to her or a promise he felt he should maintain, regardless if she agreed, so this one would be the first he makes purely of his own thought to make her happy or give her peace. "It's like uuuuh, I think people call it love languages? Gift giving is one of them, but there's also words of affirmation, physical touch, quality time, and acts of service. So everyone kinda has one they prefer, or two maybe. I mean all of them are nice, right, but sometimes people find nice words empty and want you to do things, or the doing things is expected and it's the gifts that really show them you care." He shrugs, no expert, especially since he'd argue both Flora and him lean more towards physical touch, but other than dressing up in some kind of outfit and offering himself for her birthday, he wants to get her something more tangible than that, at least this time. "So might not need to worry too much about gifts, but could be good to figure out what each of you like."

you must burn brighter than ever

Melita had thought of it in other regards – sometimes needing to protect Flora from herself. Plans gone awry or off another path with the Family hadn’t gone unnoticed – death traps of her own devices, molding and melding herself into alien alliances only to double cross then get hunted down…all carried a particular lack of self-regard. But she’d take the answer as it was, nodding her head to seal the notion, to bear as witness, before she concentrated on tackling more of the lacquered mud.

Hearing someone happy for her was new, and she furrowed her brows at the semblance of it; maybe bothered that she didn’t quite know what to do with it. Nor with the next comment – eyes widening slightly at the descriptions. She’d been so fiercely independent much of her life, she very much doubted Iskra would want to hear of the endless minutiae of her day-to-day experiences (mostly of beating things up, starting shit, or some other self-inflicted tribulation or demigod trial). Her nose wrinkled faintly, trying to tangle it back into all these knots of what was supposed to be and how things commonly went, that she found herself blinking repeatedly and stuffing it away. It wasn’t that she didn’t care – but parts of it were overwhelming to her, that maybe she’d just need to discuss it with Iskra, rather than let it linger and fester. “Oh – well. We’ll see then.” A part of the plan too, she supposed, in communication rather than confusion. Or maybe, really, in the end, it’d be to find something that worked for them, rather than chasing down what everyone else orchestrated.

It was way easier to gossip about other family dinners; Remi speaking in a foreign language to simply talk around and about Kaisel, Ronin threatening, Flora being pissed…seemed par for the course. “I’d argue it’s just a dad thing, but given Remi and Ronin, it’s probably just a them thing.” Plus, really, what would she know about fathers, given how shitty hers had been. “They care about Flora and want to see her safe, but y’know, gotta go about it in a dramatic way,” she handwaved it with her rag flickering into the air and sending a spray of muck to the ground – pretending their theatrics couldn’t be deadly and life-threatening within half a moment. She had a fondness for both men, but she could understand how their motives might not match another’s. Her head tilted on the last statement though, wincing for all the figments she did know. “Yeah…they’ve been through a lot. Not to excuse the behavior, but, all of its understandable.”

The whole gift notions seemed to have open another rift though, and she could feel herself coiling back under the surface, suddenly very submerged into unknown territory and waters. She hadn’t been aware of ‘love languages’, she wouldn’t liken Iskra to a crow, nor was she certain where they settled into things. For another moment she found herself bewildered and stupefied, nodding incoherently. Gods, what did she even like? Had she ever looked inward? Fuck sake. “I’ve got lots to figure out, apparently,” she echoed, filling her cheeks up with air and letting it slowly exhale and funnel away.

Melita

Got a spark in your heart so strike it

He tries to imagine a gender bent universe where he is the sexy queen bringing home his (her?) latest main squeeze for his father to meet. Or would it be his mother? Aside from perplexing rules of AUs, he isn't sure he can imagine his folks putting on quite the same show, so maybe it is a them thing. Then again, unless they went the freaky friday route and Kaisel also adds a history of questionable relationships to his past, ones that involved his parents anyway, they certainly might be tempted to be more overprotective. "Eh well, it's alright I think. Ronin agreed to kiss me goodnight," he says casually, shrugging. There's some mischief in his eyes though when they slide sidelong to her, and no, he won't be explaining that further. He'll never make good on it anyway, not after Flora's breakfast confessional...not that he needed that to stop him, to be clear.

He nods though, a touch more serious. "Hopefully we can protect her together, then, when she needs it. She's plenty badass all on her own, so I don't expect that to be often." He doesn't need to add that she'd been murdered and infected, some of it twice and some nearly twice. He thinks if that should happen again, all of them together might be able to do something about keeping her more whole. For now, he's content to deal with the drama of what she means to wear each day, which apparently, you look good in anything, isn't correct answer enough when there's three options to pick between. She does, though.

"I think we're all figuring it out, all the time. Even, Remi and Ronin." He throws the towel in, literally only, not figuratively, and the water splashes up. "Welp, I'd say we did a number on her. Wanna head back and grab some lunch? Maaaaybe you could even give me a lesson or two on the way, I could be helpfuuuuuul>' He grins, helping collect the supplies before getting ready to depart with her.

[FIN]