and all that we intend is scrawled in sand
Flora nods as Kai stumbles gently through what to do with that information, her agreement quiet and immediate. "Yeah," she murmurs, voice dull around the edges. "It really sucked." There’s more there—so much more—but she doesn’t reach for it now. The past can stay where it is for the moment; the present is already too sharp.
When his arms come back around her from behind, she lets herself sink into them without resistance, lifting her hands to press over his as if to anchor them both in the same place. Remi’s sudden appearance, his too-brief certainty, leaves her with a strange, unbalanced mix of relief and dread blooming simultaneously in her chest. Not dead, thank the gods, but...then what the fuck?
Flora's breath slips out of her in a soft, helpless hum that borders on a moan, not of pleasure but of pure emotional overload, and she twists in Kaisel’s arms again, turning until her cheek presses flat against his chest. His heartbeat is loud there, steady and real, and she wraps her arms fully around his waist, holding on as though that alone might keep the world from tipping further off its axis.
"I know it’s probably rude," she says quietly after a moment, her voice small and tired but threaded with affection, "to disappear in the middle of the party..." Said party still thrums faintly beyond the walls, a reminder of how much noise and life she’s stepped away from. Her fingers curl lightly into the fabric at his back as she tilts her face up just enough to look at him. "But do you think anyone would mind," she asks softly, honestly, "if we just...went up to bed? Or—" Her voice falters, and she shakes her head, curled curls brushing his collar as she exhales. "I mean, you can stay if you want. I don’t want to pull you away if you were having a good time, or if there’s something you still wanted to do." His friend Charlie was here, after all.
Her fingers tighten briefly at his waist, then loosen again, a small tell she can’t quite hide. She presses her cheek more firmly against him, eyes closing as if the contact alone is helping her hold herself together. "I just..." Another shake of her head, smaller this time, more tired than uncertain. "I don’t think I can fake one more smile tonight after everything and I don't want to ruin it for Danta."
When his arms come back around her from behind, she lets herself sink into them without resistance, lifting her hands to press over his as if to anchor them both in the same place. Remi’s sudden appearance, his too-brief certainty, leaves her with a strange, unbalanced mix of relief and dread blooming simultaneously in her chest. Not dead, thank the gods, but...then what the fuck?
Flora's breath slips out of her in a soft, helpless hum that borders on a moan, not of pleasure but of pure emotional overload, and she twists in Kaisel’s arms again, turning until her cheek presses flat against his chest. His heartbeat is loud there, steady and real, and she wraps her arms fully around his waist, holding on as though that alone might keep the world from tipping further off its axis.
"I know it’s probably rude," she says quietly after a moment, her voice small and tired but threaded with affection, "to disappear in the middle of the party..." Said party still thrums faintly beyond the walls, a reminder of how much noise and life she’s stepped away from. Her fingers curl lightly into the fabric at his back as she tilts her face up just enough to look at him. "But do you think anyone would mind," she asks softly, honestly, "if we just...went up to bed? Or—" Her voice falters, and she shakes her head, curled curls brushing his collar as she exhales. "I mean, you can stay if you want. I don’t want to pull you away if you were having a good time, or if there’s something you still wanted to do." His friend Charlie was here, after all.
Her fingers tighten briefly at his waist, then loosen again, a small tell she can’t quite hide. She presses her cheek more firmly against him, eyes closing as if the contact alone is helping her hold herself together. "I just..." Another shake of her head, smaller this time, more tired than uncertain. "I don’t think I can fake one more smile tonight after everything and I don't want to ruin it for Danta."
