[SE] [Training] run baby run

there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters

Having promptly straightened up in the aftermath of his little display with the skull and the lightning, as if there really might be an audience of hundreds watching from somewhere on the island, Jack is busy fussing with the mageglass ring on his finger when Flora's thoughts first prickle to life through his telepathy. Freezing, because it's a very rare thing for the captain to be alone, and any interruption sets a wildfire along his magic, he nonetheless tenses and then relaxes in a matter of a second or two.

Flora's mind is as familiar to him as his own these days, though he hasn't anticipated the intensity of her thoughts as they swarm him; with no other souls around to distract or take up valuable mental bandwidth, Jack is free to drown in the Doubletake and everything she is. Her joy vibrates in his bones, making the sun brighter and the colours of the foliage more intense, and Jack turns only moments before she's jumping into his arms.

With calloused hands slipping beneath her thighs, Jack stumbles only a step or two as he catches her, and he turns his head up to find her lips in a kiss that says much more than hey. Only when he's satisfied that he's been able to taste the gold in her thoughts does he part from her, an eyebrow raised questioningly. "Are you stalking me, love?" he wants to know.