flora
"Yeah, but you're not people, Jack." Flora counters, her voice heating somewhat as if in defence against the slap of his hand against the bar. In direct contrast to the captain's expression, the queen is lit from within by the brazenness of youth and the luxury of a family who hasn't abandoned her, but has grown strong around her, shielding and protecting her. "No? Did he have a dad who ghosts could whisper to, telling him if something happened? Did he have revivify feathers stashed around the world? Did he have another dad who could bring people back from the dead?" It's pompous and self-aggrandizing sure, but gods, wasn't it also true? "If you died tomorrow, ask yourself who'd bring you back: me, or Safrin?" Safrin, the goddess who'd given him immortality, sure, and who he'd promised his love to, but Flora would bet everything she had that the goddess would just wave as Jack sauntered in Mort's realm without so much as lifting a finger.
Wilting, Flora presses her fingers against her cheeks before combing her fingers up through her curls and leaning her elbows against the bar. She'd reminded him once that he was capable of doing anything he damn well pleased such that she could only take his words as some backdoor he was trying to use to sneak out of this conversation. "So this whole time, you were just, what? Hoping to strike a balance between me liking you enough to let you fuck me and use me, but not letting it get so far as to find yourself here?" Her stomach clenches, and now it's Flora's turn to glance to the side, staring at the reflections of the canal against the rocky wall.
She imagines a conversation not unlike this sometime in Jack's future, only now that he has the foresight of seeing how it had gone with Flora, he's able to navigate better. Able to use her hurt to better love someone else down the line, or at least not hurt them quite so badly.
Wilting, Flora presses her fingers against her cheeks before combing her fingers up through her curls and leaning her elbows against the bar. She'd reminded him once that he was capable of doing anything he damn well pleased such that she could only take his words as some backdoor he was trying to use to sneak out of this conversation. "So this whole time, you were just, what? Hoping to strike a balance between me liking you enough to let you fuck me and use me, but not letting it get so far as to find yourself here?" Her stomach clenches, and now it's Flora's turn to glance to the side, staring at the reflections of the canal against the rocky wall.
She imagines a conversation not unlike this sometime in Jack's future, only now that he has the foresight of seeing how it had gone with Flora, he's able to navigate better. Able to use her hurt to better love someone else down the line, or at least not hurt them quite so badly.
My house of stone, your ivy grows
And now I'm covered in you
And now I'm covered in you
