flora
Flora's smile comes slow and sharp, cutting clean through the remnants of Kaisel’s disbelief like moonlight through stormclouds. Cold, but not cruel—more resigned than anything else—shaped by the edge of too many years learning not to flinch at memory’s teeth. "One of the first times I ever went out with him, I was probably seven? Maybe eight?" she murmurs, gaze fixed on their faux starfield as her fingers resume their gentle tracing along his palm. "I broke my ankle running up some stairs, and after Ronin healed it, he literally told me and my brother that we were a scab he couldn’t stop picking at which is why it always hurt and wouldn't heal."
Her smile tightens. "Said he loved Aoife’s mom. Hated ours. That I should stop trying so hard to fit into his family." Her fingers still for a moment, pressed lightly against Kaisel’s. "Looking back now, I get it, or at least, I think I get what he was trying to say. But when you’re a little kid hearing that?" She huffs, soft and bitter. "It was a pretty shit thing to say." And since then, aside from Enzo, Flora had never belonged anywhere.
She shrugs, but it’s small, the kind you do when you're used to brushing dust off something cracked. "We didn’t talk for years after that. And when we did, it was because Enzo died." Her voice lowers around the name, quiet as if speaking it too loud might shatter something. "Well, not because he died. Ronin came to defend Mateo, actually. I’d hurt his feelings." Her mouth twists, a wry little grimace. "Because he told me to stop moping about it."
The silence that follows is thick but not heavy. Kaisel’s presence curls around her like balm, grounding, and real. When he presses her in closer and kisses the crown of her hair, Flora sighs and lets her eyes flutter closed for a moment, breathing him in. And then she laughs—short and dry and not at all humourless—as he asks about Remi. "Gods, Remi was worse. Of course he didn't defend us." She shakes her head, curls brushing against his chest. "Clay stars don’t really fill the space where a dad should be." Her voice is light, but her eyes don’t match it.
But as Kaisel says that he was glad she was here, something in her stills. She turns to him, affection blooming across her face like sunrise cresting the waves. No fanfare. No sass or sting. Just this unguarded glow that starts in her chest and spills into every corner of her expression. She leans in without a word and kisses him, soft and slow, a whisper of gratitude shaped in warmth and skin. "Thank you," she murmurs as she pulls back, barely any space left between them. Her fingers squeeze his hand, tight and earnest, because, no, she doesn’t think anyone’s ever said that to her before.
When the star touches her forehead, she wrinkles her nose on instinct, giggling as he pulls her down with him. Her body curls into his instinctively, with her knee hooking over his, one arm draped across his chest, her head tucked beneath his chin as if it’s always belonged there. "You’re banned from popcorn duties forever," she declares, mock-stern. "I’m putting myself in charge of that. Indefinitely." A beat passes, and then she grins, voice soft but sure as she adds, "So I guess you’re stuck with me unless you want perpetually burned snacks." The stars above flicker gently, and for once, she feels like maybe they’ve fallen in the right place.
Her smile tightens. "Said he loved Aoife’s mom. Hated ours. That I should stop trying so hard to fit into his family." Her fingers still for a moment, pressed lightly against Kaisel’s. "Looking back now, I get it, or at least, I think I get what he was trying to say. But when you’re a little kid hearing that?" She huffs, soft and bitter. "It was a pretty shit thing to say." And since then, aside from Enzo, Flora had never belonged anywhere.
She shrugs, but it’s small, the kind you do when you're used to brushing dust off something cracked. "We didn’t talk for years after that. And when we did, it was because Enzo died." Her voice lowers around the name, quiet as if speaking it too loud might shatter something. "Well, not because he died. Ronin came to defend Mateo, actually. I’d hurt his feelings." Her mouth twists, a wry little grimace. "Because he told me to stop moping about it."
The silence that follows is thick but not heavy. Kaisel’s presence curls around her like balm, grounding, and real. When he presses her in closer and kisses the crown of her hair, Flora sighs and lets her eyes flutter closed for a moment, breathing him in. And then she laughs—short and dry and not at all humourless—as he asks about Remi. "Gods, Remi was worse. Of course he didn't defend us." She shakes her head, curls brushing against his chest. "Clay stars don’t really fill the space where a dad should be." Her voice is light, but her eyes don’t match it.
But as Kaisel says that he was glad she was here, something in her stills. She turns to him, affection blooming across her face like sunrise cresting the waves. No fanfare. No sass or sting. Just this unguarded glow that starts in her chest and spills into every corner of her expression. She leans in without a word and kisses him, soft and slow, a whisper of gratitude shaped in warmth and skin. "Thank you," she murmurs as she pulls back, barely any space left between them. Her fingers squeeze his hand, tight and earnest, because, no, she doesn’t think anyone’s ever said that to her before.
When the star touches her forehead, she wrinkles her nose on instinct, giggling as he pulls her down with him. Her body curls into his instinctively, with her knee hooking over his, one arm draped across his chest, her head tucked beneath his chin as if it’s always belonged there. "You’re banned from popcorn duties forever," she declares, mock-stern. "I’m putting myself in charge of that. Indefinitely." A beat passes, and then she grins, voice soft but sure as she adds, "So I guess you’re stuck with me unless you want perpetually burned snacks." The stars above flicker gently, and for once, she feels like maybe they’ve fallen in the right place.
you don't know that you're living til' you're carrying scars
you're either falling in love or falling apart
you're either falling in love or falling apart
