never be so kind you forget to be clever
Flora laughs—softly, faintly, but it’s real—and scrubs a hand over her face like she might wipe away the weight of it all. "Here I thought the grey was just so that you'd look more distinguished," she murmurs, grinning, unable to hide the way her chest swells when he mentions he's proud of her, because gods if she hasn't heard everything but those words the last few weeks.
She takes the tea he offers, warming her palms with it as she leans against the edge of the newly finished counter, aqua eyes trailing along the grain of the wood. Her smile fades a touch when he reacts to the rest of what she’s said, though she’s not surprised. "I thought that too, about the agreement," she admits quietly, thumb tapping against the ceramic mug. "But... it wasn’t just about me. The deal said if I benefited personally from her blood, she’d go after the people I care about." Her gaze lifts to meet his, steady now. "And I can't risk that. Torchline really would become a prison."
She doesn’t comment right away on Jack. Not until the quiet stretches again and his words—I’m sorry to hear that—settle somewhere behind her ribs. "Yeah," she says eventually, voice softer than before. "Me too." The tea burns a little on the way down. She welcomes the sting. "But no... there’s nothing to do, I don't think. At the end of the day...I think I'd make the same choice again even if I knew it'd cost me him, and.." For a moment her throat tightens, and it's all she can do to look at the ripples in her tea rather than letting the cup fall from her fingers and shatter at her feet. "..I guess I thought love meant you never found yourself in these kind of situations, you know?" And, given the sort of love between the Knight and Bastion, she was pretty sure that Ronin did.
She takes the tea he offers, warming her palms with it as she leans against the edge of the newly finished counter, aqua eyes trailing along the grain of the wood. Her smile fades a touch when he reacts to the rest of what she’s said, though she’s not surprised. "I thought that too, about the agreement," she admits quietly, thumb tapping against the ceramic mug. "But... it wasn’t just about me. The deal said if I benefited personally from her blood, she’d go after the people I care about." Her gaze lifts to meet his, steady now. "And I can't risk that. Torchline really would become a prison."
She doesn’t comment right away on Jack. Not until the quiet stretches again and his words—I’m sorry to hear that—settle somewhere behind her ribs. "Yeah," she says eventually, voice softer than before. "Me too." The tea burns a little on the way down. She welcomes the sting. "But no... there’s nothing to do, I don't think. At the end of the day...I think I'd make the same choice again even if I knew it'd cost me him, and.." For a moment her throat tightens, and it's all she can do to look at the ripples in her tea rather than letting the cup fall from her fingers and shatter at her feet. "..I guess I thought love meant you never found yourself in these kind of situations, you know?" And, given the sort of love between the Knight and Bastion, she was pretty sure that Ronin did.
