marked me like a bloodstain
Flora snorts softly into her mug. "Right? That's the thing that no one else understands when I try and tell them about Jack," she mutters, and while once the connection between the Flood and the captain had made her a touchy uneasy, now the queen was nothing but grateful for his understanding.
When Sunjata casually drops that her mother stabbed him, Flora chokes on her sip and turns to gape at him. "Excuse me, what?" she gasps, sounding both awed and impressed. "Gods. Of course she did. That sounds like her." Still, there's laughter behind it—true amusement threading through the ache, because it sounds like the sort of thing Flora might have done in the same situation. Except...she hadn't, had she? "Jack has another kid coming with Safrin." Biting at the inside of her cheek, Flora glances toward the fireplace. "With the triplets it was just a handshake, but this last time they slept together."
Maybe Flora should have stabbed him.
"You don’t have to come," she says after a moment, quieter now. "But if you want to, I… wouldn’t say no." Her fingers toy with the edge of the mug, tracing an invisible pattern. "I know she thought she was keeping me safe. Gods know I was a bit unhinged when I was infected too."
When Sunjata casually drops that her mother stabbed him, Flora chokes on her sip and turns to gape at him. "Excuse me, what?" she gasps, sounding both awed and impressed. "Gods. Of course she did. That sounds like her." Still, there's laughter behind it—true amusement threading through the ache, because it sounds like the sort of thing Flora might have done in the same situation. Except...she hadn't, had she? "Jack has another kid coming with Safrin." Biting at the inside of her cheek, Flora glances toward the fireplace. "With the triplets it was just a handshake, but this last time they slept together."
Maybe Flora should have stabbed him.
"You don’t have to come," she says after a moment, quieter now. "But if you want to, I… wouldn’t say no." Her fingers toy with the edge of the mug, tracing an invisible pattern. "I know she thought she was keeping me safe. Gods know I was a bit unhinged when I was infected too."







