i'd wipe the dirt off your name with the shirt off my back
The moment Jack opens his mouth, Flora’s stomach drops—just a little—like she’s missed a step on the stairs. Her eyes snap up toward the flag whipping cheerfully in the wind above her, and as soon as she sees the bold red and gold banner dancing like it’s got real gossip, her face twists in mortified realization. "Fuck," she groans. Her cheeks go bright with heat, but it doesn't stop the grin that curls slowly across her face, sly and unrepentant. "Maybe I did toss him over," she calls back, raising her voice over the wind as the Ark glides closer. "Got bored. Needed a little drama."
Truth be told, nautical flag code was one of those things she meant to learn back on the Ark—but since Jack never really ran into trouble that couldn’t be solved by speed, swearing, or storm magic, it had never come up. And her current interpretation was, evidently, loose at best.
Still, all of that fades just a touch as the Ark draws near and she really sees him. Jack looks..rough. Not injured, but his coat’s in tatters and there’s dirt smudged along one side of his jaw like he lost a fight with a cave—and won, barely. Flora leans slightly over the rail of the Sugar Tide, curls pulled back by the breeze, eyes narrowing as she takes in the state of him. Her fingers twitch against the polished wood at her side, not reaching, exactly, but resisting the urge not to.
"What the hell were you doing out there?" she shouts, then adds quickly, "Actually, wait. First—, did you see Hadama? He said he was going patrolling with Sah and Noah near Starfall."
She tries to keep it casual—like she’s just connecting dots, just curious, just making polite conversation with her most recent heartbreak while flying a skyship directly into his flight path under false pretenses.
Totally normal things. Totally fine.
Truth be told, nautical flag code was one of those things she meant to learn back on the Ark—but since Jack never really ran into trouble that couldn’t be solved by speed, swearing, or storm magic, it had never come up. And her current interpretation was, evidently, loose at best.
Still, all of that fades just a touch as the Ark draws near and she really sees him. Jack looks..rough. Not injured, but his coat’s in tatters and there’s dirt smudged along one side of his jaw like he lost a fight with a cave—and won, barely. Flora leans slightly over the rail of the Sugar Tide, curls pulled back by the breeze, eyes narrowing as she takes in the state of him. Her fingers twitch against the polished wood at her side, not reaching, exactly, but resisting the urge not to.
"What the hell were you doing out there?" she shouts, then adds quickly, "Actually, wait. First—, did you see Hadama? He said he was going patrolling with Sah and Noah near Starfall."
She tries to keep it casual—like she’s just connecting dots, just curious, just making polite conversation with her most recent heartbreak while flying a skyship directly into his flight path under false pretenses.
Totally normal things. Totally fine.
