karma's a relaxing thought, aren't you envious that for you it's not?
Flora chuckles, tipping her head his way with a sly shrug. "Well hey, at least that means you’re always looking up, right?" The double meaning lingers, her grin cheeky.
When Damien stoops to tug off his boots, her own smile stretches wide, unguarded in its pleasure at seeing him give in to the beach properly. "Mmh, nope," she says with a snicker, "you only get one flaw for free. Anything else, you’ve gotta earn." She sneaks a glance at him over her shoulder as she angles back into the shallows, waves curling over her ankles, cool ribbons of foam threading between her steps.
"Maybe you just need glasses," she teases, though her smirk tilts softer, more lopsided, as she nods in understanding. "Hindsight’s a real bitch like that." She pulls in a breath, the salty air threading into her chest, and though she doesn’t pretend to know all the complexities of what Damien means or what he's endured to bring him to this point in his life, she thinks she understands enough. "Sounds like you need to keep your eyes up for damsels," she says lightly, "but also on what's underfoot."
Her shoulder bumps his again, gentler this time. "Take it from someone who was literally murdered while on a birthday vacation—you rarely have as much time as you think. No point in looking that far ahead." The words fall with a casual rhythm, but the weight beneath them is unmistakable; from Flora's lips, saying you never knew how much time you had left was anything but a platitude.
His deflection about eating like a raccoon earns a bright peel of laughter from her, head tipping back into the sunlight. "If that’s your biggest flaw," she grins, eyes glittering aqua as she looks up at him, "then you must be doing something right."
When Damien stoops to tug off his boots, her own smile stretches wide, unguarded in its pleasure at seeing him give in to the beach properly. "Mmh, nope," she says with a snicker, "you only get one flaw for free. Anything else, you’ve gotta earn." She sneaks a glance at him over her shoulder as she angles back into the shallows, waves curling over her ankles, cool ribbons of foam threading between her steps.
"Maybe you just need glasses," she teases, though her smirk tilts softer, more lopsided, as she nods in understanding. "Hindsight’s a real bitch like that." She pulls in a breath, the salty air threading into her chest, and though she doesn’t pretend to know all the complexities of what Damien means or what he's endured to bring him to this point in his life, she thinks she understands enough. "Sounds like you need to keep your eyes up for damsels," she says lightly, "but also on what's underfoot."
Her shoulder bumps his again, gentler this time. "Take it from someone who was literally murdered while on a birthday vacation—you rarely have as much time as you think. No point in looking that far ahead." The words fall with a casual rhythm, but the weight beneath them is unmistakable; from Flora's lips, saying you never knew how much time you had left was anything but a platitude.
His deflection about eating like a raccoon earns a bright peel of laughter from her, head tipping back into the sunlight. "If that’s your biggest flaw," she grins, eyes glittering aqua as she looks up at him, "then you must be doing something right."
