marked me like a bloodstain
Flora lets out a sharp laugh, nearly spilling what’s left of her cider. "Okay but if a woman my boyfriend had slept with, used her magic to immediately heal him after I stabbed him?" She grins, wide and unrepentant, tossing him a look that is equal parts godsdamn and girl, same. "I’d be pissed too. Maybe even try again for good measure." There’s no judgment in her voice—just the amused solidarity of someone who is, in many ways, far too much her mother’s daughter.
At Sunjata’s reaction to Jack’s ever-growing list of offspring, her expression tightens, humour bleeding away. "Yeah," she says, more quietly this time. "First time, he traded her the ability to make the Ark fly. Three kids for that." Her eyes flick toward the fire, jaw tight. "This time? They slept together. She gave him a void-warding necklace, or something. And another demigod."
Still, when Sunjata speaks again, when he offers his apology and the weight behind it, the queen shifts to lean into his shoulder. "I know," she says softly. "I know what it’s like, coming back when the infection is gone and everything’s louder and messier than it was before. I get it." She smiles a little, small and wry. "It isn't your fault. Or hers, really. It isn't anyone's."
At Sunjata’s reaction to Jack’s ever-growing list of offspring, her expression tightens, humour bleeding away. "Yeah," she says, more quietly this time. "First time, he traded her the ability to make the Ark fly. Three kids for that." Her eyes flick toward the fire, jaw tight. "This time? They slept together. She gave him a void-warding necklace, or something. And another demigod."
Still, when Sunjata speaks again, when he offers his apology and the weight behind it, the queen shifts to lean into his shoulder. "I know," she says softly. "I know what it’s like, coming back when the infection is gone and everything’s louder and messier than it was before. I get it." She smiles a little, small and wry. "It isn't your fault. Or hers, really. It isn't anyone's."
