candlewax & polaroids on the hardwood floor
The first click of the cane echoes down the hall, and Flora’s grin blooms before she can help it. She tries—really tries—to hide it behind the rim of her mug, but the corners of her mouth betray her, curling upward as the sound grows closer. By the time Niki rounds the doorway, she’s already lost the battle, aqua eyes bright with warmth that has nothing to do with the tea.
"Well," she murmurs, feigning composure as she sets her cup down and gives a helpless little shrug, "clearly the pool noodle experiment was a failure." The kettle still hums faintly from its earlier use, so she flicks it on again, the low whistle beginning to build as she turns back toward him, sweater sleeves dangling over her hands.
When she glances over her shoulder, the playful front softens into something gentler. "It was the least I could do," she says, nose scrunching as affection wins out over her teasing. "For letting me kidnap you for an entire season. Having you here really made things so much better for me than they would have been without you."
"Well," she murmurs, feigning composure as she sets her cup down and gives a helpless little shrug, "clearly the pool noodle experiment was a failure." The kettle still hums faintly from its earlier use, so she flicks it on again, the low whistle beginning to build as she turns back toward him, sweater sleeves dangling over her hands.
When she glances over her shoulder, the playful front softens into something gentler. "It was the least I could do," she says, nose scrunching as affection wins out over her teasing. "For letting me kidnap you for an entire season. Having you here really made things so much better for me than they would have been without you."
