we show off our different scarlet letters
Rising from the table with a toss of her curls and a satisfied smirk still playing on her lips, Flora adjusts the hem of her too-short jean shorts and grabs her half-empty glass, red heels clicking with purpose against the worn wood floor. The white corset she wears hugs her like a secret and doesn’t leave much to the imagination, not that anyone here had much imagination left after this much booze.
As she straightens, her aqua gaze sweeps the bar like a queen taking stock of her court.
Sohalia —talking toTalyson, of all people. Flora frowns faintly. Why wasn't she talking to Koa yet? Her gaze darts to the bar where Kaisel is definitely flirting with Calypso now, her arm slung around him and his wig once more askew. Mateo and Theea are tucked in beside him, with Koa doing his damndest to make everyone feel at home (save for Soh, she notices), as he calls out for a round of shots. Her parents are parenting, not that she looks hard, because presently it looks as though Sunjata has eyes melting out of his ears.
No sign of Jack.
Flora’s stomach twists, that acid ache of absence seeping beneath her ribs before she locks it down with a bright smile and a flick of her wrist.
"Soh!" she calls, her voice lilting high enough to rise above the hum of the party. "We're just heading to the back!" The words are breezy, innocuous—but Sohalia would understand them to be a cautious warning about slipping into the backroom to escape the party if she wanted to be alone. As for anyone else who hears, from the sly curl of her lips and the way her hips sway as she turns, Flora wants them to wonder. Wants the flicker of attention that follows when Astaroth and Dantalion rise too, trailing behind her arm-in-arm like heat waves.
The trio disappear through a door that few know how to open at the end of the corridor past the storage rooms.
As she straightens, her aqua gaze sweeps the bar like a queen taking stock of her court.
Sohalia —talking to
No sign of Jack.
Flora’s stomach twists, that acid ache of absence seeping beneath her ribs before she locks it down with a bright smile and a flick of her wrist.
"Soh!" she calls, her voice lilting high enough to rise above the hum of the party. "We're just heading to the back!" The words are breezy, innocuous—but Sohalia would understand them to be a cautious warning about slipping into the backroom to escape the party if she wanted to be alone. As for anyone else who hears, from the sly curl of her lips and the way her hips sway as she turns, Flora wants them to wonder. Wants the flicker of attention that follows when Astaroth and Dantalion rise too, trailing behind her arm-in-arm like heat waves.
The trio disappear through a door that few know how to open at the end of the corridor past the storage rooms.
