flora
The kiss to her wrist draws in a breath so small it barely lifts her chest, just the smallest flutter beneath her ribs like a ripple caught midair. She still doesn’t understand how he can be so gentle with her. Not just now, but always. Somehow his kindness never feels soft in a weak way. It’s not paper-thin or careful; it’s steady, like a current that holds her up, even when she isn’t strong enough to swim.
"Mhm," she hums, her thumb brushing just above his jaw as he shifts across her. "He came to see me a few days ago." A pause, before she grins. "So., yep, Lazy Dads it is. Maybe I’ll round up a few Ancients too, let them go bloodlust their way through the Fingers. That oughta sort out the riff-raff."
She can hear him in the closet but can’t see what he’s doing, so she props herself up on her elbows, brows drawn with suspicion and intrigue, narrowing toward the laugh she hears but can’t decode. When Kaisel emerges, the reaction is immediate: her jaw drops, eyes sweeping over him with the same greedy, slow drag a man might have given her in that dress, and gods, he fills it better than most of them ever would. "Wh—" she starts, only to dissolve into delighted laughter as he struts and launches himself toward the bed.
"Shut up," she groans at his cheesy line, rolling with the mattress as he flounces into her space, shoving at his shoulder with an eye roll so theatrical she probably deserves an award. Her hand instinctively slides to the open split of the gown where it won’t zip over his back, fingertips greedily tracing the warm, muscular lines beneath as if her hand already knew where it wanted to go. Her other hand closes tightly around his own as he threads their fingers together.
She’s already nodding along when his words catch her off guard. At first, she just blinks, tilting her head like she must have misheard. But when the implication sinks in—that Kaisel thought she’d been the bribe—her whole body stills. "What? No." Her voice is high with disbelief, her mouth falling open for a different reason this time. "No, no, ew. What?"
Eyes wide now, she sits up a little more, still cradling his hand in hers as she waves the other emphatically. "I wasn’t the bribe, are you kidding me? I was seventeen when I met Jack. And that's not.." Trailing off, her cheeks flush. There's of course no way to explain why a man like Jack couldn't find anything less than enthusiastic consent pleasurable without revealing more about him than she wanted to, and so instead Flora just shakes her head, lashes fluttering as her lips move uncertainly for a moment. "..he wouldn't want that." Swallowing, she shakes her head before adding, "the bribes were things like the mageglass he has, or docking slips to move illegal goods, or political favours."
Her frown comes slowly, drawing across her brow like a cloud skimming in front of the sun, not angry so much as a bit wounded. "You really thought I'd sleep with someone as a bribe? As a way to hold onto power?" she wonders, voice soft but unmistakably offended, her gaze flicking up to meet his with a flash of hurt behind the aqua.
"Mhm," she hums, her thumb brushing just above his jaw as he shifts across her. "He came to see me a few days ago." A pause, before she grins. "So., yep, Lazy Dads it is. Maybe I’ll round up a few Ancients too, let them go bloodlust their way through the Fingers. That oughta sort out the riff-raff."
She can hear him in the closet but can’t see what he’s doing, so she props herself up on her elbows, brows drawn with suspicion and intrigue, narrowing toward the laugh she hears but can’t decode. When Kaisel emerges, the reaction is immediate: her jaw drops, eyes sweeping over him with the same greedy, slow drag a man might have given her in that dress, and gods, he fills it better than most of them ever would. "Wh—" she starts, only to dissolve into delighted laughter as he struts and launches himself toward the bed.
"Shut up," she groans at his cheesy line, rolling with the mattress as he flounces into her space, shoving at his shoulder with an eye roll so theatrical she probably deserves an award. Her hand instinctively slides to the open split of the gown where it won’t zip over his back, fingertips greedily tracing the warm, muscular lines beneath as if her hand already knew where it wanted to go. Her other hand closes tightly around his own as he threads their fingers together.
She’s already nodding along when his words catch her off guard. At first, she just blinks, tilting her head like she must have misheard. But when the implication sinks in—that Kaisel thought she’d been the bribe—her whole body stills. "What? No." Her voice is high with disbelief, her mouth falling open for a different reason this time. "No, no, ew. What?"
Eyes wide now, she sits up a little more, still cradling his hand in hers as she waves the other emphatically. "I wasn’t the bribe, are you kidding me? I was seventeen when I met Jack. And that's not.." Trailing off, her cheeks flush. There's of course no way to explain why a man like Jack couldn't find anything less than enthusiastic consent pleasurable without revealing more about him than she wanted to, and so instead Flora just shakes her head, lashes fluttering as her lips move uncertainly for a moment. "..he wouldn't want that." Swallowing, she shakes her head before adding, "the bribes were things like the mageglass he has, or docking slips to move illegal goods, or political favours."
Her frown comes slowly, drawing across her brow like a cloud skimming in front of the sun, not angry so much as a bit wounded. "You really thought I'd sleep with someone as a bribe? As a way to hold onto power?" she wonders, voice soft but unmistakably offended, her gaze flicking up to meet his with a flash of hurt behind the aqua.
lust's a liar, a short lived fire
it isn't what you and I are at all
it isn't what you and I are at all
