// Start a tiny riot //
Koa and Jack both fade, each just something heavy that sinks back into the mud of thoughts that won't ever get fully washed clean again. Maybe there's some beauty in that though, that your heart is so bound with memories it can never hope to be fully pristine and sparkly white, always at least a little eggshell or greek villa, if not completely mauve or Flora-gold. Being hurt just means you had something worth staining you, however long that might have been.
He laughs low at her, biting back a quip that he'd need to complain all night to even out those scales. Not necessarily because she's always doing so, but because lately she's been going through hell and deserved to bitch about it. "Complaining does make it better." It's healthy.
A sigh, because she's right, again. "Maybe not if I get glow-in-the-dark sails or something just as loud as yours," he jokes, actually kind of grateful Flora made hers so impossible to miss. No fucking way is he going to bother reading all the sea puns and ex-wives just in the hopes Sugar Tide is the one being spelled out.
Reading his mind she says what he doesn't, which shuts him up for a minute as he tilts his head to try and look at her, attempting to gauge how serious or not she is. He's not entirely sure himself. He visits often enough, wants to be here, but could he leave his parents, Koa, and the Dragoons to do so? He'd been contemplating moving out anyway, recently, but that was like, a house a few blocks away, not a moving boat across Caido. If he drug his feet at all, it's because the idea of coming home to an empty room is the least appealing thought he's ever had, and he wonders faintly if it's much the same for her. "Oh yeah? And where would I put my stuff, in all the empty cabinets?" he teases, pulling the feather boa off from around his neck and flicking it towards her to make a point. "Plus I'd end up using all your favorite dishes all the time and drive you mad. And I'd forget to take out the trash, and probably borrow your shampoo too often." It's a nice idea though, and he can imagine the better parts of it, like cooking together and arguing over seasoning even though it doesn't matter, or hiding around corners to jump out and scare her (likely just to get decked into the floor), or complain in a pile of limbs just like this every night because life is hard each and every day.
Same
He eases a bit with the returned sentiment—not on edge, but not comfortable either, like throwing that out there was the equivalent to getting on an air mattress without making noise or rolling something off.
He schlorps his half of the gummy worm in with enough force it hits the back of his throat and threatens to choke him. He swallows it whole and coughs once, before laughing, because death by gummy worm somehow seems apt.
The moment stills, and the quiet creeps back in, leaving just the dim awareness of her heat and the rise of her breaths beneath the arm she's still clutching. He flexes his fingers around hers, glancing around the edge of his vision as he feels her shift against his temple, light but intentional. "Mmm" he hums in thought, eyes half-shut as he considers. He's certain Koa would not approve, for a number of reasons, chief among them is he'd then be waiting on Kaisel to return to Soh's apartment before they can make plans for the next day. He might even be waiting up now, although Kaisel dearly hopes Soh can convince him to rest, because if her touch can't do it, Kaisel isn't so sure his presence can.
Maybe though, he's feeling just a little bit selfish, and a lot tired. The thought of leaving her and this nest of safety and easy and good, it makes him feel leaden and immobile. He can't really fathom the walk back through Haulani, and recoils from the mere idea. "Okay." It's soft, but it's solid and certain, even if he's not entirely sure where she means to put him given that she's out of beds.
He laughs low at her, biting back a quip that he'd need to complain all night to even out those scales. Not necessarily because she's always doing so, but because lately she's been going through hell and deserved to bitch about it. "Complaining does make it better." It's healthy.
A sigh, because she's right, again. "Maybe not if I get glow-in-the-dark sails or something just as loud as yours," he jokes, actually kind of grateful Flora made hers so impossible to miss. No fucking way is he going to bother reading all the sea puns and ex-wives just in the hopes Sugar Tide is the one being spelled out.
Reading his mind she says what he doesn't, which shuts him up for a minute as he tilts his head to try and look at her, attempting to gauge how serious or not she is. He's not entirely sure himself. He visits often enough, wants to be here, but could he leave his parents, Koa, and the Dragoons to do so? He'd been contemplating moving out anyway, recently, but that was like, a house a few blocks away, not a moving boat across Caido. If he drug his feet at all, it's because the idea of coming home to an empty room is the least appealing thought he's ever had, and he wonders faintly if it's much the same for her. "Oh yeah? And where would I put my stuff, in all the empty cabinets?" he teases, pulling the feather boa off from around his neck and flicking it towards her to make a point. "Plus I'd end up using all your favorite dishes all the time and drive you mad. And I'd forget to take out the trash, and probably borrow your shampoo too often." It's a nice idea though, and he can imagine the better parts of it, like cooking together and arguing over seasoning even though it doesn't matter, or hiding around corners to jump out and scare her (likely just to get decked into the floor), or complain in a pile of limbs just like this every night because life is hard each and every day.
Same
He eases a bit with the returned sentiment—not on edge, but not comfortable either, like throwing that out there was the equivalent to getting on an air mattress without making noise or rolling something off.
He schlorps his half of the gummy worm in with enough force it hits the back of his throat and threatens to choke him. He swallows it whole and coughs once, before laughing, because death by gummy worm somehow seems apt.
The moment stills, and the quiet creeps back in, leaving just the dim awareness of her heat and the rise of her breaths beneath the arm she's still clutching. He flexes his fingers around hers, glancing around the edge of his vision as he feels her shift against his temple, light but intentional. "Mmm" he hums in thought, eyes half-shut as he considers. He's certain Koa would not approve, for a number of reasons, chief among them is he'd then be waiting on Kaisel to return to Soh's apartment before they can make plans for the next day. He might even be waiting up now, although Kaisel dearly hopes Soh can convince him to rest, because if her touch can't do it, Kaisel isn't so sure his presence can.
Maybe though, he's feeling just a little bit selfish, and a lot tired. The thought of leaving her and this nest of safety and easy and good, it makes him feel leaden and immobile. He can't really fathom the walk back through Haulani, and recoils from the mere idea. "Okay." It's soft, but it's solid and certain, even if he's not entirely sure where she means to put him given that she's out of beds.
Kaisel
// Stop being so goddamn quiet //
Wearing a watery blue, faded and stretched-out sparkling hair tie on his left wrist
