Flora
By the time Niki stirs again, Flora has made herself at home.
She’d gotten out a scrap of parchment earlier, scrawling a quick note to Jack explaining that she wouldn’t be home tonight (not that he seemed to care, which, rude). Then, once the soup was left to simmer, she’d busied herself rifling through Niki’s bookshelves in search of something to pass the time.
She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting—maybe some dark and brooding poetry, maybe a treatise on death, maybe something about how to be the most stubbornly independent man alive (but no, that one was probably on Jack's shelves)—instead she found something on metalworking, and, given his knack for it, she decided to give it a go.
Sitting cross-legged beside him, Flora had smoothed back his dark hair, her fingers combing idly through the strands as she let her voice take on the kind of solemn, scholarly tone that might befit a dramatic reading of some great prophecy rather than whatever the hell she was actually saying. "—by adjusting the alchemical composition of the steel, one can achieve increased tensile strength, allowing for the forging of more intricate sigil-bearing alloys. However, the process requires—" She breaks off suddenly as a knock sounds at the door.
Pausing only long enough to press a soft kiss to the top of Niki’s fevered forehead (because of course she does), Flora sets the book aside and rises to her feet, stretching before heading to answer it.
It’s a fae. They give her a message for Niki, which she assures them she’ll pass along, but as soon as the door is shut, she’s making her way back to his side—just in time to hear the sleepy, rough-edged "Hello?" that signals his return to the land of the living.
Her teasing grin softens slightly as she takes in his hazy, exhausted expression. "How’re you feeling, babe?" she asks, folding her arms comfortably over her chest and leaning against a wall. "You hungry? I made soup. You didn't really have much to put in it, though."
She’d gotten out a scrap of parchment earlier, scrawling a quick note to Jack explaining that she wouldn’t be home tonight (not that he seemed to care, which, rude). Then, once the soup was left to simmer, she’d busied herself rifling through Niki’s bookshelves in search of something to pass the time.
She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting—maybe some dark and brooding poetry, maybe a treatise on death, maybe something about how to be the most stubbornly independent man alive (but no, that one was probably on Jack's shelves)—instead she found something on metalworking, and, given his knack for it, she decided to give it a go.
Sitting cross-legged beside him, Flora had smoothed back his dark hair, her fingers combing idly through the strands as she let her voice take on the kind of solemn, scholarly tone that might befit a dramatic reading of some great prophecy rather than whatever the hell she was actually saying. "—by adjusting the alchemical composition of the steel, one can achieve increased tensile strength, allowing for the forging of more intricate sigil-bearing alloys. However, the process requires—" She breaks off suddenly as a knock sounds at the door.
Pausing only long enough to press a soft kiss to the top of Niki’s fevered forehead (because of course she does), Flora sets the book aside and rises to her feet, stretching before heading to answer it.
It’s a fae. They give her a message for Niki, which she assures them she’ll pass along, but as soon as the door is shut, she’s making her way back to his side—just in time to hear the sleepy, rough-edged "Hello?" that signals his return to the land of the living.
Her teasing grin softens slightly as she takes in his hazy, exhausted expression. "How’re you feeling, babe?" she asks, folding her arms comfortably over her chest and leaning against a wall. "You hungry? I made soup. You didn't really have much to put in it, though."
Fatefully, I tried to pick my battles 'til the battle picked me
Misery, Like the war of words I shouted in my sleep
Misery, Like the war of words I shouted in my sleep
Code stolen from Queen Sky
