// Ring around the rosie - Pocket full of posie //
Well, shows what he knows about this region. Maybe he just wanted to believe Jack hadn't mattered that much, that Flora had built him up into something larger than life because that's the shape of him in her heart, which Kaisel suspects could still be true to a certain degree. He does understand the dilemma she's facing though. Much as Stormbreak likes to tout rules and control, it's also got a shady underbelly fraught with criminal hierarchies, some that Kaisel's more familiar with than his folks would appreciate.
"Right now," he corrects swiftly. "Torchline is a lot worse off without him, right now." Which doesn't make dealing with it now any easier, but he feels it's an important distinction to make, that the fate of this region is not, and has never been, in Jack's hands. "Maybe Jack kept his boot on the right necks, but that doesn’t make him the foundation. Torchline will find its footing again." Maybe she already knows this, even believes it, but he's not hearing it, and sometimes things don't really exist until you put some noise to them.
His grip only loosens to permit her reemergence, a wet, salty, static mess that tugs one of the corners of his lips despite the seriousness of the issue at hand. The ring of his arms tightens back around as she leans in again, deflated despite all the volume to her curls. "Bribes?" Kaisel echoes, not quite able to keep the distaste from his tone this time. He's not so naïve as to expect a self-appointed seedy king doesn't demand bribes, but it's the implication that Flora is the one who'd been paying those out that has his jaw tightening. "Is that how it all..." he trails off, hands flexing against her like he's grasping for reassurance. He's not quite sure he wants to ask if their relationship began with her offering her body to him, or if he wants to discover that the piece of shit took it time and time again. "Even at the end?" he wonders instead, because if it'd been love by then, how did business transactions find the space still?
Exhaling heavier than he means to, an attempt to remove some of the rigidity that crept in at the twisted notions of Jack's greed for anything and everything Flora would offer him, Kaisel's more than happy to grasp at fault instead. "Finally I get to be the one to ruin something," he says dryly, reaching to drag the hook of her arms up to his neck instead. "Sorry it had to be your kingdom." Although, he doesn't sound very apologetic at all, far too focused on positioning her hands and abruptly sweeping his up under her legs, swinging her off her feet and into his arms. If she's going to cry in her panties, at least she could be more comfortable while doing so.
He flashes a smile down at her before carting her over to the bed, seamlessly depositing her onto the nest of pillows and blankets. He doesn't entirely join her, just bows over, arms bracing on either of her sides as he lingers forehead to forehead for a moment. "What if," he ponders as he pulls away faintly, capturing the full view of her sea-glass stare. "You increase soldier presence? They'd keep some of the peace. Make the small fries think twice before adding to the chaos like they are now. Some of the real bottom feeders don't have many opportunities like this, so they're stirring it up even worse to stretch it out, but they're cowards at heart."
It's not a revelation, increasing security where there's riots, but it's a fine enough place to start if she's got the resources. It could cause a backdraft of unrest if mishandled, since these are the people who most loathe being policed, but there's a balance to them being allowed to thrive in her city and a reminder that their actions have limits. He's also part of that army now, and he'd love to get boots on the ground to clean up Jack's shit more thoroughly—not too different from burning his abandoned jackets in Flora's closet, just these ones are a bit more of the skeleton variety. "Station your dads out there and I bet a lot would calm down," he tacks on, because shitty fathers or not, they are local and strong, and this is their city too, surely they wouldn't want to watch it eat itself alive?
"And/or you could appoint someone king of thieves," he offers with a mild shrug, dipping lower to press a kiss to the tip of her nose and the corner of each eye before retreating into the closet. "It might not stick, depending on who you pick, or because you picked them at all, but it could be a line of intel for a while." They might die, but that's sort of the risk inherent with that rank regardless. "Could also pick without making it known you were the one to do so. You're in a position to close and open the ports, ignore certain inspections and jail others...you could just make one person particularly lucky." Her invisibility is an added tool to that effort as well.
"Right now," he corrects swiftly. "Torchline is a lot worse off without him, right now." Which doesn't make dealing with it now any easier, but he feels it's an important distinction to make, that the fate of this region is not, and has never been, in Jack's hands. "Maybe Jack kept his boot on the right necks, but that doesn’t make him the foundation. Torchline will find its footing again." Maybe she already knows this, even believes it, but he's not hearing it, and sometimes things don't really exist until you put some noise to them.
His grip only loosens to permit her reemergence, a wet, salty, static mess that tugs one of the corners of his lips despite the seriousness of the issue at hand. The ring of his arms tightens back around as she leans in again, deflated despite all the volume to her curls. "Bribes?" Kaisel echoes, not quite able to keep the distaste from his tone this time. He's not so naïve as to expect a self-appointed seedy king doesn't demand bribes, but it's the implication that Flora is the one who'd been paying those out that has his jaw tightening. "Is that how it all..." he trails off, hands flexing against her like he's grasping for reassurance. He's not quite sure he wants to ask if their relationship began with her offering her body to him, or if he wants to discover that the piece of shit took it time and time again. "Even at the end?" he wonders instead, because if it'd been love by then, how did business transactions find the space still?
Exhaling heavier than he means to, an attempt to remove some of the rigidity that crept in at the twisted notions of Jack's greed for anything and everything Flora would offer him, Kaisel's more than happy to grasp at fault instead. "Finally I get to be the one to ruin something," he says dryly, reaching to drag the hook of her arms up to his neck instead. "Sorry it had to be your kingdom." Although, he doesn't sound very apologetic at all, far too focused on positioning her hands and abruptly sweeping his up under her legs, swinging her off her feet and into his arms. If she's going to cry in her panties, at least she could be more comfortable while doing so.
He flashes a smile down at her before carting her over to the bed, seamlessly depositing her onto the nest of pillows and blankets. He doesn't entirely join her, just bows over, arms bracing on either of her sides as he lingers forehead to forehead for a moment. "What if," he ponders as he pulls away faintly, capturing the full view of her sea-glass stare. "You increase soldier presence? They'd keep some of the peace. Make the small fries think twice before adding to the chaos like they are now. Some of the real bottom feeders don't have many opportunities like this, so they're stirring it up even worse to stretch it out, but they're cowards at heart."
It's not a revelation, increasing security where there's riots, but it's a fine enough place to start if she's got the resources. It could cause a backdraft of unrest if mishandled, since these are the people who most loathe being policed, but there's a balance to them being allowed to thrive in her city and a reminder that their actions have limits. He's also part of that army now, and he'd love to get boots on the ground to clean up Jack's shit more thoroughly—not too different from burning his abandoned jackets in Flora's closet, just these ones are a bit more of the skeleton variety. "Station your dads out there and I bet a lot would calm down," he tacks on, because shitty fathers or not, they are local and strong, and this is their city too, surely they wouldn't want to watch it eat itself alive?
"And/or you could appoint someone king of thieves," he offers with a mild shrug, dipping lower to press a kiss to the tip of her nose and the corner of each eye before retreating into the closet. "It might not stick, depending on who you pick, or because you picked them at all, but it could be a line of intel for a while." They might die, but that's sort of the risk inherent with that rank regardless. "Could also pick without making it known you were the one to do so. You're in a position to close and open the ports, ignore certain inspections and jail others...you could just make one person particularly lucky." Her invisibility is an added tool to that effort as well.
Kaisel
// I'ma fucking blow all the ashes down //
Wearing a watery blue, faded and stretched-out sparkling hair tie on his left wrist
