flora
Flora scoffs, rolling her eyes without heat. "I think he was there for a good time," she counters, at least given how quick he was to start drinking and then strip off his shirt. Her words are dry, but not cruel—closer to resignation than bitterness. She shifts slightly beside Kaisel, adjusting the hand cradled to her chest. "And I’m—" She’s half a breath away from continuing, from launching into the case for why Koa doesn’t get to be the only one hurting—but Kai’s quiet ask slides in first. A sigh whispers out, quieter this time, the sting of being dismissed by Koa giving way to tired surrender, leaving the queen just quietly nodding. She's too tired to compete in the pain olympics, and just now she thinks she'd probably do just about anything Kai asked of her.
At his gentle self-deprecation, she snorts faintly and angles her head toward his. " It's only fair, considering how much I complain. You’re just keeping the scales balanced." Her voice warms, her thumb drifting again in easy, steady circles over the back of his hand. "I’ll always listen. You know that." Then, smugly, "Nah, you'd for sure forget where you moored it, like, immediately." Her smirk softens as she adds, somehow mirroring his own line of thought right then, "You should just move in with me instead. Save yourself the hassle."
The silence that follows his next words isn’t heavy—but it is full. Her lashes flutter shut as they rest together, the press of his head against hers anchoring something unspoken and important that she has no interest in dissecting or teasing apart. The truth of Kai's words doesn’t startle her. If anything, it slots in too easily, too familiarly beside the hollow ache she’s been carrying. Her fingers tighten gently around his as she just nods, the motion small and quiet, before turning her head just enough to try and catch a flicker of him through her peripheral vision. "Same," she whispers.
The gummy worm snaps between them with a playful tug-of-war, and she giggles at the way he chomps for it, delighted and affectionate, before letting it break off between his teeth so she could claim the other half. It fades, slow and warm, like sunlight under water—leaving something quieter behind in its wake.
She stays there a moment longer, holding his hand against her chest like it might keep something inside her from shifting too far out of place. Even with Bassian snoring softly in her room, the thought of letting Kaisel go, of slipping back into the too-big quiet of the houseboat alone, twists something deep in her gut.
So she doesn’t let go. Instead, she shifts just enough to nudge her nose lightly against his temple. "You should stay," she says, light, but not too light. No teasing to hide behind this time, and all of her flirtation carefully caged. "It's super late, or...early, or whatever. And we've already had boardgames and candy so...might as well stay on theme with a sleepover too, right?" She doesn’t push further than that—just lets it sit there, quiet and honest, her fingers still curled into his, though perhaps holding on just a little tighter.
At his gentle self-deprecation, she snorts faintly and angles her head toward his. " It's only fair, considering how much I complain. You’re just keeping the scales balanced." Her voice warms, her thumb drifting again in easy, steady circles over the back of his hand. "I’ll always listen. You know that." Then, smugly, "Nah, you'd for sure forget where you moored it, like, immediately." Her smirk softens as she adds, somehow mirroring his own line of thought right then, "You should just move in with me instead. Save yourself the hassle."
The silence that follows his next words isn’t heavy—but it is full. Her lashes flutter shut as they rest together, the press of his head against hers anchoring something unspoken and important that she has no interest in dissecting or teasing apart. The truth of Kai's words doesn’t startle her. If anything, it slots in too easily, too familiarly beside the hollow ache she’s been carrying. Her fingers tighten gently around his as she just nods, the motion small and quiet, before turning her head just enough to try and catch a flicker of him through her peripheral vision. "Same," she whispers.
The gummy worm snaps between them with a playful tug-of-war, and she giggles at the way he chomps for it, delighted and affectionate, before letting it break off between his teeth so she could claim the other half. It fades, slow and warm, like sunlight under water—leaving something quieter behind in its wake.
She stays there a moment longer, holding his hand against her chest like it might keep something inside her from shifting too far out of place. Even with Bassian snoring softly in her room, the thought of letting Kaisel go, of slipping back into the too-big quiet of the houseboat alone, twists something deep in her gut.
So she doesn’t let go. Instead, she shifts just enough to nudge her nose lightly against his temple. "You should stay," she says, light, but not too light. No teasing to hide behind this time, and all of her flirtation carefully caged. "It's super late, or...early, or whatever. And we've already had boardgames and candy so...might as well stay on theme with a sleepover too, right?" She doesn’t push further than that—just lets it sit there, quiet and honest, her fingers still curled into his, though perhaps holding on just a little tighter.
My house of stone, your ivy grows
And now I'm covered in you
And now I'm covered in you
