the unwinding cable car

If you could go back to yesterday

”So, okay, this story requires wine,” Soh said, settling into a comfortable lounge chair in a small spa located in the heart of Sidhe Village. It was built into a large tree, and the open windows looked out onto the Stone Symphony. Quiet and peaceful, the Fae owners had asked few questions about the two young women who had purchased an expensive spa package and settled in for a day of relaxation. They’d even thrown in a bottle of white wine for free.

Just now, Soh picked up her glass (which contained a rather heavy-handed pour, but let’s not judge) and studied it. ”It all started with Jude, weirdly enough. I don’t think I ever got the chance to tell you that he visited me recently.” Lifting her brows at Flora as if waiting for confirmation, she took a sip. ”As it turns out, he’s on a quest from Safrin to remove the lingering romantic feelings that he has, and I -“ She gestured dramatically towards herself. ”- am the subject of some of those romantic feelings. Lucky me.”

Would you change it all for me?

flora

Flora leans in as if Soh’s about to hand over something fragile and glittering instead of gossip, her elbow sliding along the arm of her chair until she’s angled properly toward her, aqua eyes locked in with an attention that feels almost physical in how it presses forward. The lounge is all soft warmth and filtered light, the sort of place that tries very hard to make everything feel slow and gentle, but there’s nothing slow about the way Flora listens, the way her fingers curl loosely around the stem of her glass before she lifts it and takes a generous sip.

At the mention of Jude, her brows shoot up so quickly it’s almost comical, the reaction immediate and unfiltered, and when Soh continues her mouth actually opens before she can stop it, a laugh catching halfway up her throat and turning into a sharp, inelegant cough as the wine goes down the wrong way. "Oh my gods—" she manages once she’s recovered enough to breathe, shaking her head, curls shifting with the movement as she presses the back of her hand briefly to her chest like that might settle the lingering burn. "It's so like a man to make his feelings someone else's problem." Her nose wrinkles, judgment bright and immediate.

Bad, bad boy, shiny toy with a price
You know that I bought it

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

If you could go back to yesterday

Snorting a laugh at Flora's take on the situation, Soh nodded. A few loose strands of hair that had fallen from her messy updo swayed against her cheeks with the motion. "Gods, right?" But then she softened. "I mean, Flora - things with Jude were over years ago. I had no idea he'd been holding onto all those feelings. I figured for sure he'd have moved on." Frowning, she took a sip of her wine. Fortunately, it went down more smoothly than Flora's. The thought of Jude's feelings lingering made her uncomfortable - which she doubted had been his intention, but here they were.

"Anyway, he said something about maybe being friends again when it was done, and like... well, first of all, I don't know if I even want that. Especially now that I know he has these feelings that he's locking away or whatever. But then I thought, is this the kind of thing one tells a new boyfriend about?" It felt weird not to tell him, like lying by omission - even if it was ultimately something that didn't affect her or her relationship in the slightest. Laughing weakly, she added, "Gods, my mistakes are just the gift that keeps on giving, huh?"

Would you change it all for me?

flora

Flora’s nose wrinkles immediately, sympathy and irritation tangling together in the way her expression sharpens, like she can’t quite decide whether to laugh or scoff and ends up doing a bit of both as she shifts deeper into her chair, one leg folding beneath her while her fingers circle the stem of her glass. "On the one hand," she starts, drawing the words out as if she’s weighing them properly, "I guess that’s flattering, in a very...like, inconvenient sort of way," and then she feigns a visible shiver, shoulders lifting as if she can physically shake the feeling off. "But on the other, I hate that it always ends up feeling like you’ve done something wrong." Her gaze flicks back to Soh, steady and knowing. "Like you owe them something just because they didn’t move on properly."

She takes another sip of her wine, smaller this time, more deliberate, before letting out a soft huff through her nose, the corner of her mouth tugging upward in a way that’s just a little too sharp to be fully amused. "And the friends thing?" Flora tips her head back against the chair for a second before rolling her eyes, the motion exaggerated but not unserious. "He can want to be friends all he likes, who wouldn't want to be your friend, but what exactly is he bringing to that now?" She lifts her brows, glancing sideways at Soh. "Because from where I’m sitting, it sounds like he’s bringing... unresolved feelings and a divine coping mechanism, which isn’t exactly a sparkling foundation for casual friendship."

Her fingers tap lightly against the glass before she lifts it again, taking another sip as she considers the last part, her expression shifting. "I absolutely would tell Zavien," she says after a moment, tilting her head as she lowers the glass again. "I mean, even if Jude disappears completely and never bothers you again, it’s still something that’s happening in your life, right?" She glances at Soh, a crooked grin pulling at her mouth as she leans over just enough to nudge her lightly with her shoulder. "And I know it’s not like you need things to talk about at the beginning of a relationship when everything’s all new and shiny and you’re just happy to be breathing the same air," she adds, amusement flickering through her voice, "but...I dunno. If Zavien’s your person, I think he should know the stuff that’s going on with you, even if it’s awkward. Wouldn't you want to know if this was happening to him, even if he was chill about it?"

Bad, bad boy, shiny toy with a price
You know that I bought it

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

If you could go back to yesterday

"Right?" Soh laughed, the sound wry and vaguely desperate, as though she wanted nothing more than to take all her past mistakes and leave them there where they belonged. Flattering? Maybe. But something about it felt wrong to Soh, leaving her uneasy with how long these feelings had festered in Jude. It was like it revealed a part of him she'd never known existed, something that she'd missed back in the days of their easy friendship. It was a strange combination of pity and betrayal, and it didn't sit well with her.

"I think I'm beginning to see that even if I did make mistakes and hurt people, the aftermath isn't entirely my fault," she mused, swirling her wine in her glass. The silver and aquamarine ring on her right hand caught and sparkled in the light. "I mean... it should have all been over when it was over. This... lingering emotion... I get it, but at the same time... I don't know. We've hardly even spoken. It's not like things with Koa, where we'd meet up and get tangled up in each other all over again. With Jude, he's just been gone."

Shrugging a shoulder, Soh took a sip of her wine as Flora talked about friendship. Her mouth twisted wryly. "Right, and wouldn't it be awkward for like, me to know that he has these feelings but him just be, like, ignoring them, essentially? Doesn't that put all the burden on me to carry?" Shaking her head, her brow furrowed. It just felt unfair in a way that she wasn't sure she deserved. For all her faults, she'd never tried to be cruel, never meant to hurt Jude. Springing this on her now, when she was finally finding happiness...

Soh blew a huff of air through her lips. "I'm going to tell him," she agreed. "I want to tell him." Her gaze softened into something sappy and lovesick. "I want to tell him everything. Even the smallest things about my day, I find myself just waiting to see him again so I can tell him about it. I'm working on a quest for a two-way parchment, like the one you have with Kai," she added. "Because living so far apart and having to wait eons for the mail to run is a special kind of torture."

Would you change it all for me?

flora

Flora’s eyes go wide in an instant, the reaction so emphatic it borders on theatrical, her free hand lifting as if she might physically push the idea away from Soh before it can settle anywhere it doesn’t belong. "Oh, for sure it isn’t your fault," she says, the certainty in her voice immediate and unshakeable as she nods along with her own words, curls bouncing faintly with the motion. "He doesn’t get to just...hold onto something for years and then drop it back in your lap like it’s still yours to deal with."

She exhales through her nose, the sound soft but edged, her gaze flicking briefly to the side before returning to Soh with a look that’s equal parts fond and exasperated. "Honestly, as far as I can tell, even the good ones are still idiots where feelings are concerned," she adds, the corner of her mouth tipping upward, because yes, she's absolutely talking about Kaisel.

At Soh’s point about the burden, Flora’s brows lift in a slow, deliberate arc, her expression slipping into something almost sweetly sarcastic as she tilts her head. "Yeah, no, that’s exactly why I think what he said is kind of bullshit."

As Soh starts to soften, to drift into that lovesick brightness, Flora’s expression shifts with her, something warmer threading through the edges as she lifts her glass and hides the beginning of a smile behind it, taking a slow sip like she’s buying herself a second to just watch it happen. "The parchment is super nice," she says after a moment, lowering the glass and tilting her head slightly, gold catching faintly at her fingers as she adjusts her grip. "I mean, I love ours—I love being able to just write to you whenever I want—but.." Her lips curve, just a little, a knowing sort of thing. "Being able to hear someone, their voice, the way they say things... it makes a huge difference."

She studies Soh for a beat longer, that same smile lingering before it sharpens into something more mischievous, more practical all at once. "So why doesn’t Zavien just move here?" she asks, like it’s the most obvious solution in the world, one brow lifting as she leans a little closer again. "I mean, my soldiers are nothing like Halo’s, I’ll fully admit that," she adds with a quick, easy grin, "but they’re the second largest, and I’d bet Ronin could absolutely use help managing training and stuff."

Bad, bad boy, shiny toy with a price
You know that I bought it

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

If you could go back to yesterday

Soh laughed at Flora's fond exasperation. "Maybe they are," she agreed. "But I can't really blame them. Feelings are hard." She herself had struggled for years to open up about hers, and still had difficulty sharing - or even processing - the more negative emotions she encountered. "I mean, up until recently, you're really the only person I shared mine with." Maybe with Jude, back when they'd been friends, but in recent times? With most people, her emotions were dressed up with a pretty bow, designed to be more palatable. It was only Flora with whom she felt she could be raw and real - or at least it had been, until Zavien came along.

She lifted her glass to her lips, snuggling down onto the chaise lounge she occupied with a happy little sigh as Flora talked about her parchments. "I bet it does," she said. "I think that's why things got so awkward with Kai - I just wrote him a vague letter that didn't really prepare him for me to not be dating Koa. I didn't think about it at the time, but..." She shrugged. "Or maybe it would have been the same outcome either way, written word or no." After all, it seemed to have been her verbiage rather than her tone that had caused that particular mess.

In any case, she laughed incredulously at Flora's question, a bright pink flush rising to her cheeks. "Flora, we just started dating," she said. "I mean, I'd be all for him living closer, but we haven't really talked about it yet. We've just been getting to know each other. Living arrangements haven't come up." Amused, but not resisting the idea, she tilted her head. "But, I don't know - I guess we'll see what he says, when we get around to talking about it."

Would you change it all for me?

flora

Flora lets out a soft, easy laugh, the sound warm as she tips her head in agreement, curls shifting against her shoulders. "Okay, fair," she concedes, lifting her glass slightly in a half-toast before taking a sip. "Feelings are hard." Her mouth quirks as she lowers it again, eyes flicking back to Soh with a glint of something amused and quietly opinionated; feelings might be hard, but women sure seemed to handle them a lot better than the men did.

At the mention of Kai, though, something in her expression tightens; not sharply, not defensively, but enough that it’s noticeable. She exhales, setting her glass down with a soft clink before shifting fully toward Soh, drawing one leg up so she can face her properly, attention settling in a way that feels more deliberate. "I’m sorry for how he reacted," she says, and this time there’s no teasing threaded through it, just something steady and genuine. "He told me what happened, and...yeah, he was really excited thinking you were dating Koa, because—obviously—he loves his cousin," she adds, one shoulder lifting faintly. "But that doesn’t mean he gets to come at you like that. He could’ve handled it way better."

The shift back into something lighter is almost immediate when Soh flushes, and Flora’s grin returns with full force, bright and unapologetic as she rolls her eyes in exaggerated disbelief. "Pffft, babe," she says, waving a hand as if brushing the whole argument aside, "you literally went from ‘he kissed me and we had sex’ to ‘we’re dating’ in the blink of an eye, so forgive me for thinking him maybe moving here isn't fast." She tilts her head, studying Soh for a second longer, something softer threading through the edges of her smile before she shrugs lightly. "But hey, if it does come up," she adds, easy and confident, "I know Ronin would be thrilled not to be the only ex-commander of Stormbreak around."

Bad, bad boy, shiny toy with a price
You know that I bought it

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

If you could go back to yesterday

Soh shifted to face Flora as she sobered, something tightening in her expression that made Soh feel immediately guilty. She hadn't put Flora in a fair position, stuck between her best friend and her husband, and she regretted that now. "It's not something you should apologize for," she said softly, reaching out to squeeze Flora's hand. "Kai is his own person, and I don't expect his behavior to reflect anything about you." Settling back on the chaise, she shrugged. "I'm less angry now than I was when it happened. He did backpedal, but... I don't know. I know I surprised him, but I wasn't expecting him to come after Zav's relationship with Lena." It hadn't been a fair accusation, in Soh's opinion. "But I'm more than willing to let it go - I just don't think I want to see him for a minute. Which, since I'm conveniently traveling, I don't have to."

She regarded Flora for a moment, tilting her head to one side. "But I'm sorry I got you involved. It wasn't fair to ask you to play referee. It's just... you're my best friend, so I just reacted, you know?" Her gaze softened into something affectionate. "But whatever happens in the future, I'll try not to put you in the middle of it."

Brightening considerably at Flora's teasing, Soh shook her head, laughing. "Okay, fair." Things had escalated rather quickly, after all. It might have been a little out of the order she'd have anticipated, but she still wouldn't change any of it. "You know you'll be the first to know if he does end up moving," she assured Flora with a grin. "But until then - parchment."

Would you change it all for me?

flora

Flora shakes her head almost immediately, the motion soft but stubborn, a quiet laugh slipping out of her as if Soh’s reassurance hasn’t quite landed where it’s meant to. "I’m still going to apologize on his behalf," she says anyway, the insistence gentle rather than forceful, like it’s less about obligation and more about smoothing something that doesn’t sit right in her chest.

At the mention of Lena, though, something in her expression shifts, the brightness dimming just a fraction as she exhales softly, gaze dropping for a moment before lifting back to Soh. "Has Zavien ever told you about the fight he and Kai had?" she asks, tilting her head slightly, her voice still easy but threaded with something more careful now. " know I told you a bit about the part I played in it, but Lena was a big part of that whole situation." Her fingers tap lightly against her knee before she adds quickly, almost reflexively, "And I’m not saying Kai was right to bring it up to you at all—he wasn’t. That wasn’t his place. I just.. there’s more history there than it probably sounded like in the moment."

As Soh talks about letting it go but not wanting to see Kai for a minute, Flora blinks, a cloud of surprise passing over her face before she can smooth it away, because it's a stronger reaction than she expects from her, especially given how compassionate and understanding Sohalia usually is, especially given how angry Soh had gotten in the moment. For a second it sits there, unfamiliar, before Flora lets it settle into something else, into the quiet, flickering recognition that maybe Soh is just being—understandably—overly protective of the new man in her life, and if anything, it feels achingly familiar; it's the exact same sharp-edged instinct Kaisel had had when Zavien had threatened his relationship with Flora all those months ago.

"Hey—no," she says, shaking her head again, this time leaning forward slightly, the movement immediate and firm. "Never do that." Her tone softens at the edges, but there’s something resolute underneath it. "I’d way rather be in the middle than have you think I’m just going to take his side no matter what." She huffs a quiet, fond breath, rolling her eyes just a little as if she can already hear the argument that statement might spark elsewhere. "I love him, and I’m always going to be on his side," she adds, lifting a shoulder in an easy shrug, "but that doesn’t mean I’m always going to think he’s right, or not want to hear from you if he's being an idiot."

The moment loosens again after that, tension slipping away as quickly as it came, and her smile returns—bright, familiar, a little mischievous—as she leans back into her chair. "Okay, good," she says, clearly pleased with her place in Soh’s information chain, before her brows lift and she wiggles them playfully. "Is there anything I can do to help you get it sooner?"

Bad, bad boy, shiny toy with a price
You know that I bought it

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

If you could go back to yesterday

Gazing affectionately at Flora, Soh shook her head. "Well, thank you," she said sincerely. "I do appreciate it." It meant a lot, that Flora was willing to take on Kai's idiocy and apologize on his behalf, even if Soh didn't think it very fair.

She noted the careful flicker of something in Flora's gaze at the mention of Lena and stilled, sensing there was more to the story than she'd known, more than she'd had a chance to talk with Zavien about. She still wasn't sure how to broach the topic, especially if there was some underlying feud she'd been unaware of. "No," she said, frowning. "Kai hasn't come up. You told me it was about Koa, right? So what happened?"

Warmed by Flora's immediate insistence, Soh nonetheless shook her head. "It's not that I think you'd always take his side," she protested. "It's just... I don't want to put you in an uncomfortable place, you know? You love us both, so it has to be hard when something like this happens." Or at least she imagined it would be; like standing in the middle of the ring, holding two of the people she loved most in the world apart.

It wasn't long before they fell into easier topics, though, and Soh laughed at Flora's clear readiness to help her. "I don't think so. I'm just going to see how things go, you know? I may be falling fast, but that doesn't mean I want to rush things." Saying the words aloud had an immediate effect, coaxing a shy, but no less brilliant, smile to her face. "It's stupid how happy I am," she told Flora. "I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, but... there is no other shoe."

Would you change it all for me?

flora

Flora lets out a long, dramatic sigh, already half shaking her head before she even starts, fingers curling more firmly around her glass as she leans back into the chair. "Okay" she says, lifting a hand slightly like she’s about to disclaim a legal statement, "take this with a grain of salt, because obviously it’s coming through Kai’s POV." And gods, wouldn't it be nice to just be able to replay something that had happened? #Foreshadowing. She tips the glass back and takes a generous sip, like she’s bracing herself for the retelling before lowering it again.

"So, Zavien asked if Kai and I were dating," she begins, her brows lifting as she glances at Soh, quick to clarify, "which, to be clear, we’d only been dating for, like, a minute at that point." Her nose wrinkles faintly before she continues. "And Kai told him yes, but not to say anything, because obviously he wanted to tell Koa properly, given all the history there."

She exhales through her nose, already gearing up for the part that clearly annoys her. "And instead of just being like, ‘oh yeah, for sure, I totally get that,’ Zavien kind of...weirdly doubled down and was like, ‘well if Koa asks me about it, I’m not going to lie to him,’ which is honestly such a wild take." Her free hand lifts, palm up, incredulous. "Like, on the off chance Koa even did ask Zavien about it, the fact that he couldn’t just say ‘you should talk to Kai about that’ instead is—" she cuts herself off with a small, disbelieving shake of her head, "it’s just so unnecessary. Especially because Kai had been bending over backward to try and talk to Koa about it for weeks."

"But anyway," she continues, waving the point along as she shifts slightly in her seat, "at the same time, Kai had asked how Zavien and Lena were doing, and if they were planning on getting married anytime soon, and Zavien said no, so then when Zavien kept pushing the whole ‘well I’d have to tell Koa if it came up’ thing, Kai basically turned it back on him and said, ‘okay, well if Lena asked me, I’d have to tell her you didn’t want to marry her yet.’"

Flora pauses just long enough to take another sip, slower this time, before letting out another breath, her shoulders lifting faintly. "Which—yes, obviously, that was petty, but equally Kai was like..a literal teenager at the time, and I think he was just so shocked that Zavien's initial response was to say he'd tell Koa instead of letting it be handled by family." Flora explains, tilting her head with a small grimace. "Really I think he was just trying to show Zavien how ridiculous that whole line of thinking was. Like you can know something and not tell even when asked, without it being a lie or being disingenuous." Her fingers tap lightly against the side of her glass as she looks back at Soh. "And then when Zavien straight-up ignored him at the rodeo, when Kai thought everything was already in the past because it was just a whatever argument between friends almost a year before, I think bringing up Lena later with you was just—" she shrugs, searching for the shape of it, "it felt like, how could Zavien have moved on from Lena if he hadn’t even moved on from a stupid argument with a friend, you know?"

The tension lingers for a second before she lets it drop, like she refuses to let it settle too heavily between them, and her expression softens back into something warmer, easier.

Grinning, she leans forward and reaches for the bottle, topping up both of their glasses without asking, the motion casual and familiar. "Anyway," she says, brightness returning as she slides Soh’s glass back toward her, "I hope the shoe never drops," she adds, lifting her own in a small, hopeful toast. "I hope you and Zavien stay happily barefoot forever."

Bad, bad boy, shiny toy with a price
You know that I bought it

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

If you could go back to yesterday

Soh listened, sipping on her wine, her frown deepening as the story went on - but likely not for the reasons Flora might expect. When her glass came up empty, she moved to refill it automatically with a heavy-handed pour that likely betrayed more than it didn't. Settling back against the chaise, she toyed with the stem of the glass. "Okay," she said, exhaling slowly. "So... okay." Suddenly things made a lot more sense, but...

"I get why Kai wanted to keep it quiet until he could talk to Koa," she said slowly. "Obviously there's a lot of history there, and... yeah. I get that." She paused, taking a long draft of her wine. "But... honestly? I get Zavien's response, too. And I'm not just saying that because he's my boyfriend," she hastened to add. "You have to remember, back then I was still in love with Koa. And if he'd asked me... I don't know if I could have lied, either."

Anticipating that Flora might not like that answer, she nonetheless plowed on. "Or, think of it like this - if somebody asked me to not tell you something, I'd obviously tell them no. You're my best friend, of course if you ask me something outright, I'm going to give an honest answer." Gnawing on her lip, she snuck a glance at Flora, feeling immensely guilty. But she couldn't lie, either. "Sorry, I just... I guess I can see both sides. I'm not saying that Zavien handled it the best, when I wasn't there, but..."

An awkward tension settled in Soh's shoulders, unused to disagreeing with Flora. It fell heavily on her mind, sure that Flora would blame Zavien for her opinion - when she would've felt this way regardless, even if she hadn't been dating him.

Would you change it all for me?

flora

Flora doesn’t react right away, not outwardly, the ease in her posture staying exactly where it is even as something quieter slips underneath it, something that doesn’t quite settle. If she’s surprised, it doesn’t show—not in her face, not in the way she holds her glass—but there’s a faint stillness to her that wasn’t there before, like she’s recalibrating in real time. She shakes her head softly, not sharp, not dismissive, just..adrift; like Soh, she also isn't used to having such fundamental disagreements with her bestfriend.

"I meeeaan," she starts, her voice even, searching rather than pushing, "I guess I just think that’s wrong, though." Her fingers slide absently through her curls, tugging them back from her face as she glances down at her glass before looking back at Soh. "Like, Koa and Kai aren’t just friends, they’re family." She shifts slightly, drawing one leg in closer, grounding herself in the movement as she tries to explain it without letting it turn into something harder than it needs to be.

"And...okay, so I get what you’re saying," she continues, her tone careful but not hesitant, "I get what it would feel like if Koa straight up asked you about Kai and I, but..." Her brows knit faintly, her gaze steady on Soh now. "If you did tell him, would you be surprised if I was mad at you about it?" The question hangs there, not accusatory, just honest, before she exhales softly and tips her head, shoulders lifting in a small, uncertain shrug. "Like...having feelings for Koa would make it understandable," she admits, her fingers still idly combing through her curls, "but I don’t think that makes it right. And it isn't like Zavien was in love with Koa."

She draws in a breath, letting it out slower this time, trying to shape what’s bothering her into something clearer. "And it’s not even just that he said he’d tell," she adds, her tone tightening just slightly, not sharp but more defined now, "it’s that it was the first thing out of his mouth, like that was even a likely situation." Her lips press together briefly before she huffs a quiet breath, a faint, incredulous edge slipping in.

"Like, put it this way," she says, tilting her head, eyes flicking back to Soh, "if I told you I’d meet you for a spa day unless I got eaten by a dragon first, you’d think that was weird, right?" Her brows lift, a small, pointed emphasis there. "Because—what?—being eaten by a dragon isn’t actually a thing that’s about to happen, and Koa had zero reason at that point to think anything was going on between Kai and I."

Bad, bad boy, shiny toy with a price
You know that I bought it

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!