you don't know that you're living 'til you're carrying scars
Flora fits in easily beside Soh, shoulder brushing shoulder as they resume their walk. The tide hums gently beside them, and though her heart still stings like a nettle burn, she clings to the comfort of Soh’s fingers twined through hers, the steady grounding of friendship that hasn’t vanished or faltered no matter how much else has.
"The vision," she says, lips quirking as if she’s pulling it from a catalogue in her mind, "is to have something for everyone I care about. So if they come over, they feel like it’s theirs too. Not just mine."
Her eyes brighten slightly, and the words come easier now, like the blueprint’s already half-built in her chest. "I’ll have a big greenhouse for Mateo—full of tropical plants and probably too many of those plants that make drugs. And a workshop for Niki so he can tinker with his ridiculous projects without making my kitchen explode. A den for Danta and Asta, with furs and a big crackling fireplace and probably some hidden liquor cabinets, because they’d expect nothing less."
She grins and nudges Soh gently. "For you? A room with a ton of windows and a huge drafting table for your maps. But also a window seat with, like, a million throw pillows and a cozy couch-nook so you can read for hours and pretend you’re just resting your eyes." A soft, teasing smile follows. "And I’ll stock it with the weird obscure books you’re always into. You know, the ones with names like Mythic Currents and Cartography of the Soul."
Her gaze drifts dreamily up the shore. "Enzo said I should add a springboard from the balcony into a pool. And portals into all the lands, so everyone can just pop in whenever they like." She laughs at that—bright, unbothered. "Which is, like, a lot, I know. But I’ve probably got a few years before he comes back, so I’ve got time." A pause, quieter this time. "I offered to let Caly and her siblings keep the Hanged Man...I figured it might be more what they need now than I do, so..." Her fingers squeeze Soh’s gently. "Might as well make it something impossible."
"The vision," she says, lips quirking as if she’s pulling it from a catalogue in her mind, "is to have something for everyone I care about. So if they come over, they feel like it’s theirs too. Not just mine."
Her eyes brighten slightly, and the words come easier now, like the blueprint’s already half-built in her chest. "I’ll have a big greenhouse for Mateo—full of tropical plants and probably too many of those plants that make drugs. And a workshop for Niki so he can tinker with his ridiculous projects without making my kitchen explode. A den for Danta and Asta, with furs and a big crackling fireplace and probably some hidden liquor cabinets, because they’d expect nothing less."
She grins and nudges Soh gently. "For you? A room with a ton of windows and a huge drafting table for your maps. But also a window seat with, like, a million throw pillows and a cozy couch-nook so you can read for hours and pretend you’re just resting your eyes." A soft, teasing smile follows. "And I’ll stock it with the weird obscure books you’re always into. You know, the ones with names like Mythic Currents and Cartography of the Soul."
Her gaze drifts dreamily up the shore. "Enzo said I should add a springboard from the balcony into a pool. And portals into all the lands, so everyone can just pop in whenever they like." She laughs at that—bright, unbothered. "Which is, like, a lot, I know. But I’ve probably got a few years before he comes back, so I’ve got time." A pause, quieter this time. "I offered to let Caly and her siblings keep the Hanged Man...I figured it might be more what they need now than I do, so..." Her fingers squeeze Soh’s gently. "Might as well make it something impossible."
you're either falling in love or you're falling apart
