and all that we intend is scrawled in sand
It is probably because of the weight Flora carries that the two of them stand at slightly different angles to this moment, even while facing the same future. She had loved people who never intended to marry her, had made peace with being chosen in ways that still left her standing alone, had her life threatened and taken from her once already that made time feel all the more precious. Waiting, to her, feels less like patience and more like standing at the edge of something she has already nearly lost. Still, she understands what he means.
Her shoulders soften as his words settle, and with a small, fond smile she sinks into him, forehead bowing just enough that his kiss lands there naturally, like punctuation rather than reassurance. She breathes him in, steadier now, letting his arm hold her while her pulse eases back into something manageable. When he starts listing scenarios, the grin that curves her mouth is unmistakable, the sort that comes with sparkle in her eyes and a clear intention to be an absolute menace about it.
"Wellllllll," she drawls softly, stretching the word until it becomes a promise. "For the first one, I’d tell everyone you’d already not-proposed weeks before, and that instead of saying all the things you already said, you just set the ring down quietly between us because you didn’t want to take away from it." Her brows lift with innocent conviction. [sawy]"Very romantic."
She glances down at her hand as he mentions the second, turning it slightly as though a ring might have appeared while she wasn’t looking, and her grin deepens. "Honestly? Even better," she says. "I’d tell people you were dreaming about proposing because you couldn't stop thinking about marrying me and sleep-walked to get the ring and slid it onto my finger." A soft laugh escapes her. "A literal dream proposal."
The third takes her a moment longer, her head tipping thoughtfully to one side before she shrugs. "That one," she admits, amused, "would be something we laughed about forever. And lots of people like having family around for big moments, right?"
She leans down then, pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth, unhurried and affectionate, before shifting to slide off him and tuck herself neatly at his side, fitting beneath his arm. Her voice softens as she speaks again, more serious now, though no less warm. "All I mean," she says gently, "is that I don’t want you stressing about doing it perfectly. As long as we end up engaged at the end of it, that’s all I really care about." Her nose wrinkles in fond affection, and she stretches up to press a soft kiss to his lips, the words whispered there like something precious and true. "I love you, Kai."
Her shoulders soften as his words settle, and with a small, fond smile she sinks into him, forehead bowing just enough that his kiss lands there naturally, like punctuation rather than reassurance. She breathes him in, steadier now, letting his arm hold her while her pulse eases back into something manageable. When he starts listing scenarios, the grin that curves her mouth is unmistakable, the sort that comes with sparkle in her eyes and a clear intention to be an absolute menace about it.
"Wellllllll," she drawls softly, stretching the word until it becomes a promise. "For the first one, I’d tell everyone you’d already not-proposed weeks before, and that instead of saying all the things you already said, you just set the ring down quietly between us because you didn’t want to take away from it." Her brows lift with innocent conviction. [sawy]"Very romantic."
She glances down at her hand as he mentions the second, turning it slightly as though a ring might have appeared while she wasn’t looking, and her grin deepens. "Honestly? Even better," she says. "I’d tell people you were dreaming about proposing because you couldn't stop thinking about marrying me and sleep-walked to get the ring and slid it onto my finger." A soft laugh escapes her. "A literal dream proposal."
The third takes her a moment longer, her head tipping thoughtfully to one side before she shrugs. "That one," she admits, amused, "would be something we laughed about forever. And lots of people like having family around for big moments, right?"
She leans down then, pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth, unhurried and affectionate, before shifting to slide off him and tuck herself neatly at his side, fitting beneath his arm. Her voice softens as she speaks again, more serious now, though no less warm. "All I mean," she says gently, "is that I don’t want you stressing about doing it perfectly. As long as we end up engaged at the end of it, that’s all I really care about." Her nose wrinkles in fond affection, and she stretches up to press a soft kiss to his lips, the words whispered there like something precious and true. "I love you, Kai."
