you look like my next mistake
Flora sucks in a breath, sharp and ragged, her lungs aching from the effort of holding herself together. Her whole body vibrates, the raw energy of her frustration simmering just beneath her skin, barely restrained. "I don't need you to keep me safe—" The words shriek from her lips before she can claw them back, the brittle sound of them echoing mockingly across the water. Tears trickle down her cheeks as she grits her teeth together, her chest rising and falling too fast as hysterical breeze begins to scream through her mind. "I need you not to die." The words dissolve into a sob as Flora bitterly glares up at the sky, holding her breath as if it might hold back her tears. She could be brought back from the dead more easily than anyone thanks to who she was and the lengths her parents would go to for her; she didn't need protection. Just love.
Really, it was the only thing she'd ever wanted.
"I don't know because you never tell me anything." She goes on, trying and failing to keep her voice even. "There's just a few shards of mageglass between now and when Pierce killed you, and since magic doesn't do anything when he's around, it isn't about faith Jack. They killed us—probably killed Seren, and—?" Oh, fuck, Jack wouldn't have known yet. "—they infected Ronin." There was faith and then there was the basic arithmetic that said if they could get to the likes of Ronin or Sunjata, what hope did Jack have?
"Don't you dare." Now Flora really is screaming, on the verge of hysteria to see Jack threatening to turn away. "This is exactly what I mean, 'cause you do know Jack." Flora takes another step toward him, finger still pointed, accusation crackling in the air between them. "When you wanted the Ark, you built her from the bones up, and when you fucked up when you were learning how to captain her, did you sulk and walk away?" Ahh but there it is; they were both wrong. Jack does know how to love, because he's always loved that fucking ship.
"If you actually loved me and thought you weren't good enough, you wouldn’t be standing here saying it like it’s some grand noble sacrifice. You’d be fucking fighting for it."
Really, it was the only thing she'd ever wanted.
"I don't know because you never tell me anything." She goes on, trying and failing to keep her voice even. "There's just a few shards of mageglass between now and when Pierce killed you, and since magic doesn't do anything when he's around, it isn't about faith Jack. They killed us—probably killed Seren, and—?" Oh, fuck, Jack wouldn't have known yet. "—they infected Ronin." There was faith and then there was the basic arithmetic that said if they could get to the likes of Ronin or Sunjata, what hope did Jack have?
"Don't you dare." Now Flora really is screaming, on the verge of hysteria to see Jack threatening to turn away. "This is exactly what I mean, 'cause you do know Jack." Flora takes another step toward him, finger still pointed, accusation crackling in the air between them. "When you wanted the Ark, you built her from the bones up, and when you fucked up when you were learning how to captain her, did you sulk and walk away?" Ahh but there it is; they were both wrong. Jack does know how to love, because he's always loved that fucking ship.
"If you actually loved me and thought you weren't good enough, you wouldn’t be standing here saying it like it’s some grand noble sacrifice. You’d be fucking fighting for it."
