// Ring around the rosie - Pocket full of posie //
He can't ever seem to hold on tight enough when something he doesn't want to let go of starts to slip away. As her hand tugs free of his, as her stare retreats well before her body does, he can't grab it back. Every attempt feels like he only swipes at air, and it's all just his damn breath.
"Flora—" His voice strains around the beg of her name as she completely withdraws to the other side of the room, preferring the cradle of her own hands over his. He gathers his in his lap, fingers flexing over nothing, and he blinks down at them like he might be able to find what's wrong if he stares long enough. Nothing else would ever land so final as the distance poured between them—the absence of her touch, the removal of it, like the greatest punishment. He exhales long and low, frustration at his own fumbles easing out as his body hangs over the pillow hugged to his chest like it's the last thing keeping him up.
When her voice comes next, his gaze lifts back to her, every feature drawn down in a way that sits unnatural on him. He feels helpless for a moment, wanting nothing more than to comfort her through this, but with the dirt on his own hands, could he?
He wrestles himself out of the bed, fabric dragging in a ridiculous shimmer as he stumbles across the floor after her. He stops a few paces short, hands out like he wants to reach her, but unsure about crossing the barrier she just put up, the one that specifically says No Kaisels Allowed. "That’s not what I think of you." The words are set down quiet, but steady, a Librarian's voice. "You are brave, and clever, and you give endlessly, and I am so in awe of you." He definitely means to find out more about her thieves guild on top of all this, because while it had been an of course moment, it's also wild. "I didn’t mean it like that’s all you bribe with, or something you want. I just—" He drags a hand through his hair, mussied already, trying to work through his thoughts. "I thought—with Jack—" He huffs out, annoyed at himself, at the captain still looming. "Gods, I don’t know, I twisted it into something ugly and I put that on you. I shouldn’t have." The words are taut, but there's no fight to say them, even as he frowns deeper. "I'm sorry."
His own stare turns to the view outside the window now, inhaling heavily through his nose as a hand thumps at his side. "We're so different," him and Jack, although admittedly his knowledge of the man is limited to: makes Flora cry, requires bribes of Flora, electrocutes people, kicks them out of parties, and has such a dark reputation that everyone blamed Kaisel instead of Jack for nearly dying. "So I don't—I—" Standing feels too hard, so Kaisel puddles to the floor next to her instead, hugging around his knees and glitter. "How could you love him?" he whispers. How did she almost pick him? She didn't, in the end, but it had been close enough that some of the ache of her nearly stepping away still sits with him, especially in moments like this. "I mean he's gone, shouldn't that be a good thing? You once weren't sure how to come back to living here with him around, but are you—do you miss him?" He thought she'd been upset about Hadama, but it seems she's grieving the loss of Jack more than anything, and the unrest at the docks hardly seems to be the reason.
"Flora—" His voice strains around the beg of her name as she completely withdraws to the other side of the room, preferring the cradle of her own hands over his. He gathers his in his lap, fingers flexing over nothing, and he blinks down at them like he might be able to find what's wrong if he stares long enough. Nothing else would ever land so final as the distance poured between them—the absence of her touch, the removal of it, like the greatest punishment. He exhales long and low, frustration at his own fumbles easing out as his body hangs over the pillow hugged to his chest like it's the last thing keeping him up.
When her voice comes next, his gaze lifts back to her, every feature drawn down in a way that sits unnatural on him. He feels helpless for a moment, wanting nothing more than to comfort her through this, but with the dirt on his own hands, could he?
He wrestles himself out of the bed, fabric dragging in a ridiculous shimmer as he stumbles across the floor after her. He stops a few paces short, hands out like he wants to reach her, but unsure about crossing the barrier she just put up, the one that specifically says No Kaisels Allowed. "That’s not what I think of you." The words are set down quiet, but steady, a Librarian's voice. "You are brave, and clever, and you give endlessly, and I am so in awe of you." He definitely means to find out more about her thieves guild on top of all this, because while it had been an of course moment, it's also wild. "I didn’t mean it like that’s all you bribe with, or something you want. I just—" He drags a hand through his hair, mussied already, trying to work through his thoughts. "I thought—with Jack—" He huffs out, annoyed at himself, at the captain still looming. "Gods, I don’t know, I twisted it into something ugly and I put that on you. I shouldn’t have." The words are taut, but there's no fight to say them, even as he frowns deeper. "I'm sorry."
His own stare turns to the view outside the window now, inhaling heavily through his nose as a hand thumps at his side. "We're so different," him and Jack, although admittedly his knowledge of the man is limited to: makes Flora cry, requires bribes of Flora, electrocutes people, kicks them out of parties, and has such a dark reputation that everyone blamed Kaisel instead of Jack for nearly dying. "So I don't—I—" Standing feels too hard, so Kaisel puddles to the floor next to her instead, hugging around his knees and glitter. "How could you love him?" he whispers. How did she almost pick him? She didn't, in the end, but it had been close enough that some of the ache of her nearly stepping away still sits with him, especially in moments like this. "I mean he's gone, shouldn't that be a good thing? You once weren't sure how to come back to living here with him around, but are you—do you miss him?" He thought she'd been upset about Hadama, but it seems she's grieving the loss of Jack more than anything, and the unrest at the docks hardly seems to be the reason.
Kaisel
// I'ma fucking blow all the ashes down //
Wearing a watery blue, faded and stretched-out sparkling hair tie on his left wrist
