flora
The tide has a way of smoothing even the sharpest stones, and as Hadama’s apology ripples through the quiet Flora feels the heat behind her ribs ebb, replaced by a reluctant ache. She stands very still, fingers curled against her sides and lets his words settle the sting of her own. Moonlight beads on the waves like scattered pearls; she watches one crest, break, and vanish before she can trust her voice.
"I didn’t mean to fool you." The admission slips out on a breath, softer than anything she’s offered tonight. She turns back toward him, curls shifting in the wind, her expression stripped of earlier bravado. "I was just trying to keep you safe." Flora draws a slow breath, pressing her palm over the constellation of rings glittering at her sternum. "I’m sorry, too. For springing it on you without warning, for assuming you’d just… understand." She huffs an unsteady laugh, the sound carrying more self-reproach than humour. "You can blame my dads for that." They'd been the ones to enable her recklessness since day one, leading her to believe that not just demigods but all those around her would rally around her the way they always had
Her gaze lifts to his, and for once there’s no challenge in the sea-glass blue—only weary sincerity. "You matter to me, Hadama." A wave laps higher, wetting their boots. Flora nudges a pebble with the toe of her shoe, watching it tumble back into the dark water. She offers her hand, small against the breadth of his, but steady. "Friends and co-rulers?"
"I didn’t mean to fool you." The admission slips out on a breath, softer than anything she’s offered tonight. She turns back toward him, curls shifting in the wind, her expression stripped of earlier bravado. "I was just trying to keep you safe." Flora draws a slow breath, pressing her palm over the constellation of rings glittering at her sternum. "I’m sorry, too. For springing it on you without warning, for assuming you’d just… understand." She huffs an unsteady laugh, the sound carrying more self-reproach than humour. "You can blame my dads for that." They'd been the ones to enable her recklessness since day one, leading her to believe that not just demigods but all those around her would rally around her the way they always had
Her gaze lifts to his, and for once there’s no challenge in the sea-glass blue—only weary sincerity. "You matter to me, Hadama." A wave laps higher, wetting their boots. Flora nudges a pebble with the toe of her shoe, watching it tumble back into the dark water. She offers her hand, small against the breadth of his, but steady. "Friends and co-rulers?"
My house of stone, your ivy grows
And now I'm covered in you
And now I'm covered in you
