gravity's a palm pushing down your head

Hotaru

I know they'll be coming to find me soon
But I fear I'm getting used to being held by you

No physical limits will prevent her from tightening her grip to support Flora as she sags, hand dropping away to envelop her around her waist once more. Here, she can drop her cheek to Flora's golden hair and drown in her scent, attuning her ears just enough to hear the rhythm of her heart past human limitations. It's not unlike cradling her, and perhaps that's why her tone shifts to croon softly, dripping hints of poison amidst honey.

"Of course they do, that doesn't matter. You're still invisible to everyone else." Or so she prays. Prays that she got here in time, before such an advantageous position could be lost. "There's no need to justify stepping down or leaving now. And then there will be no expectation to follow misguided advice, no citizens to placate or appearances to keep." Surely that's why Flora had persisted time and again. It's why Hotaru had not intervened sooner, aware of her daughter's thirst for success and approval. She regrets that now. The Family wouldn't have had to intervene in her stead if she hadn't coddled her daughter's delicate pride for so long. That's why she has to fix it here and now. "And when this is all over we'll say I stole you away, and you can rule wherever you like. It will all be alright." Her hand smooths gently over the back of Flora's head as she had for past heartbreaks and disappointments. This is surely no graver matter than those had been now that her death had been rectified.

Frowning at the wording and her daughter's mounting distress alike, Hotaru shushes her, arms tightening as far as they can without causing pain. "What? Who - your people? They can't blame a dead woman, and they'll understand in time that what they are wanting is wrong." Her eyes scan restlessly over the beach behind Flora, the ticking of the clock for every moment spent convincing like a death knell in her ears. "Calm, petal." Her magic winds through her veins, laying a delicate cord around Flora's neck; harmless, for now. Harmless so long as she doesn't tighten it. So long as Flora doesn't make her. She doesn't want to - it would be a grievous sin, stealing her daughter's free will for the sake of compliance - but she will not lose another child. If Flora cannot see reason, she will do what she must.

I used to sing about being free
Oh, baby, look what you've done to me