karma's a relaxing thought, aren't you envious that for you it's not?
A ripple of delighted tittering echoed somewhere above the jungle floor—light and irreverent, as though sunlight itself had giggled. "He can suspect all he likes," Flora quipped from the ether, a grin clear in every syllable, "but who’s he gonna complain to about it? The Queen?" She sniffed dramatically, as though scandalised, and the leaves around them rustled in private laughter.
Her footsteps—soft as sugar on silk—hushed quickly into the underbrush as she jogged to catch up, the verdant shadows parting reluctantly as she moved unseen. Near the water’s edge, just as the sea’s salt began to press into the air again, the invisible queen reached out and gently caught Hadama’s hand.
A moment passed. Then the sensation of cool shell—familiar, worn, and still faintly sun-warmed—slid back onto his finger. "Thanks for letting me borrow it," Flora mumbled, the words softer now, all the playfulness folded up like a secret and tucked gently between them.
And though her form remained unseen, the press of her presence lingered like the last touch of a wave against bare skin—brief, fond, and fading—as she drifted away toward the surf.
~FIN
Her footsteps—soft as sugar on silk—hushed quickly into the underbrush as she jogged to catch up, the verdant shadows parting reluctantly as she moved unseen. Near the water’s edge, just as the sea’s salt began to press into the air again, the invisible queen reached out and gently caught Hadama’s hand.
A moment passed. Then the sensation of cool shell—familiar, worn, and still faintly sun-warmed—slid back onto his finger. "Thanks for letting me borrow it," Flora mumbled, the words softer now, all the playfulness folded up like a secret and tucked gently between them.
And though her form remained unseen, the press of her presence lingered like the last touch of a wave against bare skin—brief, fond, and fading—as she drifted away toward the surf.
~FIN
