slow down, you're doing fine
Flora wrinkles her nose at the very idea, a tiny, indignant scrunch that ripples through her curls and settles in the water as a faint shimmer. "They were never a real threat," she insists, even though some small, honest place in her chest knows better—that if the Marins had stayed, if Jack had stayed tangled in that aftermath, Torchline might have gone up in a blaze far worse than a pub—but she refuses to give that thought any oxygen. "Just...dramatic," she concludes, with all the prim finality of someone placing a bow on a messy parcel and pushing it firmly aside.
She sinks deeper into the water until it laps warmly at her collarbones, steam curling around her shoulders like soft, enchanted veilwork. She listens as Asta explains, her aqua eyes widening in that raw flash of disbelief before softening into something tender and understanding. The more he speaks, the more the shape of it becomes clear; how easily exhaustion and fear could twist an innocent phrasing into something fatal in the wrong headspace, especially one that loves as fiercely and catastrophically as his.
When he finishes, she lets out a relieved laugh, bright and airy, nudging his arm right back now that the water has eased the stiffness in his muscles. "Oh, Asta," she sighs fondly, letting warmth colour every inch of the sound. She huffs playfully at him, eyes sparkling. "Let me guess—he was just saying he was worried about you?"
Her lashes flutter upward in a teasing sweep as she leans comfortably into his side, steam curling between them like a soft cloak. The water shifts with her movement, a lazy ripple spreading outward as she tilts her head against his shoulder. A smirk tugs at her lips, aimed down into the shimmering surface as though she can see the reflection of every past misunderstanding he’s ever endured (or at least the ones she was there for).
She sinks deeper into the water until it laps warmly at her collarbones, steam curling around her shoulders like soft, enchanted veilwork. She listens as Asta explains, her aqua eyes widening in that raw flash of disbelief before softening into something tender and understanding. The more he speaks, the more the shape of it becomes clear; how easily exhaustion and fear could twist an innocent phrasing into something fatal in the wrong headspace, especially one that loves as fiercely and catastrophically as his.
When he finishes, she lets out a relieved laugh, bright and airy, nudging his arm right back now that the water has eased the stiffness in his muscles. "Oh, Asta," she sighs fondly, letting warmth colour every inch of the sound. She huffs playfully at him, eyes sparkling. "Let me guess—he was just saying he was worried about you?"
Her lashes flutter upward in a teasing sweep as she leans comfortably into his side, steam curling between them like a soft cloak. The water shifts with her movement, a lazy ripple spreading outward as she tilts her head against his shoulder. A smirk tugs at her lips, aimed down into the shimmering surface as though she can see the reflection of every past misunderstanding he’s ever endured (or at least the ones she was there for).
Flora
you can't be everything you wanna be before your time
