and all that we intend is scrawled in sand
Flora’s fingers loosen around the back of Kai's neck, her curly hair that's curled naturally but also literally curled tonight and is curly and no straight, not because she wants to let go of him but because she needs a sliver of space to breathe and to see him clearly, her hands still resting there as an anchor while she tilts her head back to meet his gaze. She listens as he talks through possibilities, her expression shifting from confusion into something quieter and more troubled as the implications begin to settle. The idea that her mother might have asked for divine interference lands with a soft but unmistakable weight, and crimson creeps up Flora’s cheeks, not from embarrassment but from a sudden, visceral unease that tightens her chest.
She swallows and lowers her voice instinctively, as if saying it too loudly might make the memory sharper than it already is, her fingers pressing lightly into the fabric at his collar. "When my mom was infected," she whispers, the words careful and deliberate, "she kidnapped me. She took me out into the middle of the ocean and drugged me so no one could find me and so I couldn't channel." The confession sits between them, heavy with implication rather than accusation, offered not to condemn but to explain, because her mother is capable of terrifying extremes when something inside her fractures, and Flora needs Kaisel to understand that this fear is not theoretical.
When he mentions Remi, something in her steadies even as urgency spikes, and she draws a sharp breath before shifting her weight and turning so that her back presses firmly against his chest, grounding herself in his warmth as she reaches for the golden thethers that connect her to so many. Twisting in his arms so her back is to him, she raises her voice just enough to carry through whatever unseen space connects her to her dad, words tumbling out in a rush shaped by panic and love in equal measure.
"Dad," she calls, the word instinctive and raw, her heart hammering as she channels Remi’s presence with everything she has. "Mom is missing and we need to know if she’s alive, so I need you to try and bring her through from Mort's realm." The plea spills out fast, clipped only by the knowledge that time may be short, and she presses her shoulders and hips more firmly into Kaisel as if bracing herself for whatever answer might come back, holding on to him while she waits for the universe to answer her call.
She swallows and lowers her voice instinctively, as if saying it too loudly might make the memory sharper than it already is, her fingers pressing lightly into the fabric at his collar. "When my mom was infected," she whispers, the words careful and deliberate, "she kidnapped me. She took me out into the middle of the ocean and drugged me so no one could find me and so I couldn't channel." The confession sits between them, heavy with implication rather than accusation, offered not to condemn but to explain, because her mother is capable of terrifying extremes when something inside her fractures, and Flora needs Kaisel to understand that this fear is not theoretical.
When he mentions Remi, something in her steadies even as urgency spikes, and she draws a sharp breath before shifting her weight and turning so that her back presses firmly against his chest, grounding herself in his warmth as she reaches for the golden thethers that connect her to so many. Twisting in his arms so her back is to him, she raises her voice just enough to carry through whatever unseen space connects her to her dad, words tumbling out in a rush shaped by panic and love in equal measure.
"Dad," she calls, the word instinctive and raw, her heart hammering as she channels Remi’s presence with everything she has. "Mom is missing and we need to know if she’s alive, so I need you to try and bring her through from Mort's realm." The plea spills out fast, clipped only by the knowledge that time may be short, and she presses her shoulders and hips more firmly into Kaisel as if bracing herself for whatever answer might come back, holding on to him while she waits for the universe to answer her call.
