flora
Flora’s heart twists a little more sharply at Koa’s quiet gratitude, at the heaviness she can practically feel radiating off him even through the tangled roots between them. For a second, she doesn’t speak, caught in the ache of it all, fingertips pressed into the cool earth to ground herself against his quiet admission of exhaustion and helplessness.
But when he speaks again—when he turns toward her with that simple, matter-of-fact confidence in her—it’s like sunlight-piercing clouds. Flora's breath catches sharply, eyes widening with something between surprise and relief, because gods if it isn’t exactly what she needed to hear, something she'd been told the opposite of by those closest to her. By her family, by Jack.
It’s not quite a smile that pulls at her lips, more a softening, a brightness flickering back to life. "That...is maybe the best thing you could have said to me right now," she whispers, a tremulous laugh hidden somewhere in her throat. But it’s impossible to stay lighthearted, not when everything feels like it's fraying at the edges. Flora sighs softly, leaning back against the roots again, head tilted upward as she stares through the shifting canopy. "Honestly, Koa? I'm so fucking sick of the demigods. I'm glad you aren't one."
For a moment Flora says nothing, before her expression gentles, earnest beneath the faint shimmer of unshed tears as she glances only vaguely over her shoulder, hardly even able to make out more than the dragoon's presence out of her peripheral vision. "Also, that means a lot," she finally says softly, fingers curling in the moss again. "You know, that you'd offer. Even after...everything." Her voice grows softer still, sincerity wrapped around uncertainty. "And same goes for you, by the way. If there's anything you need, you just...just say the word. Maybe we could channel together...get Vi's attention and get a rose for Noe, or.."combine MP or something
But when he speaks again—when he turns toward her with that simple, matter-of-fact confidence in her—it’s like sunlight-piercing clouds. Flora's breath catches sharply, eyes widening with something between surprise and relief, because gods if it isn’t exactly what she needed to hear, something she'd been told the opposite of by those closest to her. By her family, by Jack.
It’s not quite a smile that pulls at her lips, more a softening, a brightness flickering back to life. "That...is maybe the best thing you could have said to me right now," she whispers, a tremulous laugh hidden somewhere in her throat. But it’s impossible to stay lighthearted, not when everything feels like it's fraying at the edges. Flora sighs softly, leaning back against the roots again, head tilted upward as she stares through the shifting canopy. "Honestly, Koa? I'm so fucking sick of the demigods. I'm glad you aren't one."
For a moment Flora says nothing, before her expression gentles, earnest beneath the faint shimmer of unshed tears as she glances only vaguely over her shoulder, hardly even able to make out more than the dragoon's presence out of her peripheral vision. "Also, that means a lot," she finally says softly, fingers curling in the moss again. "You know, that you'd offer. Even after...everything." Her voice grows softer still, sincerity wrapped around uncertainty. "And same goes for you, by the way. If there's anything you need, you just...just say the word. Maybe we could channel together...get Vi's attention and get a rose for Noe, or.."
How can a person know everything at 18 but nothing at 22?
Will you still want me when I'm nothing new?
Will you still want me when I'm nothing new?
