with each love i cut loose i was never the same
Flora flashes Niki a grin over her shoulder, the kind that curls with easy warmth despite the drizzle. "Perfect," she says, adjusting her grip on the umbrella to tilt it more securely above him. "We’ll head down toward the boutiques. There’s this little deli tucked between a tailor and a bookshop. They do soup and sandwiches that’ll ruin you for anything else they're so good."
She starts toward the glistening street, her boots clicking lightly as puddles ripple in their wake. The Sugar Tide feels a world away already, replaced by the chatter of vendors and the smell of fresh bread carried on the damp spring air. "I used to come up here all the time," she goes on, her tone a touch wistful. "Especially when my brother first moved up here. But lately?" Her nose wrinkles as she sidesteps a puddle, curls bouncing with the motion. "The city’s been nothing but drama for me."
A laugh escapes her, bright and self-deprecating, as thunder rolls lazily through the clouds above. "Last time I was here—just before LongNight, actually—I got into the weirdest fight with Stormbreak’s new Commander." She glances at Niki with an incredulous smile, like she still can’t quite believe it herself. "Which, for the record, I did not start."
She starts toward the glistening street, her boots clicking lightly as puddles ripple in their wake. The Sugar Tide feels a world away already, replaced by the chatter of vendors and the smell of fresh bread carried on the damp spring air. "I used to come up here all the time," she goes on, her tone a touch wistful. "Especially when my brother first moved up here. But lately?" Her nose wrinkles as she sidesteps a puddle, curls bouncing with the motion. "The city’s been nothing but drama for me."
A laugh escapes her, bright and self-deprecating, as thunder rolls lazily through the clouds above. "Last time I was here—just before LongNight, actually—I got into the weirdest fight with Stormbreak’s new Commander." She glances at Niki with an incredulous smile, like she still can’t quite believe it herself. "Which, for the record, I did not start."
