flora
Flora looks up the moment Kai rounds the corner, and the relief is there before she can stop it, bright and immediate that he's finally back home. Instead of commenting on it thought, because they're fighting, she lifts one shoulder in a half-shrug, chin tipping toward the mess of pipe cleaners and glue still littering the tray on her lap, as if this is all very casual and not at all the result of waiting wound tight for the sound of his footsteps. "I didn’t really feel like going out," she says lightly enough, even as her mouth quirks at his praise despite herself.
She lets him put the fish hat on her head without protest, leaning into the kiss he presses to her cheek in a way that betrays her far more than her words ever would, her eyes closing for the briefest moment before she straightens again, spine firming as if she can physically brace herself back into the argument she has been rehearsing. When he pulls back, she lifts the monstrosity she’s made and holds it out to him, eyebrows raised in silent expectation.
Only once the pasta strainer settles onto his head, purple pipe cleaners wobbling and googly eyes staring out with unearned cheer, does Flora reach for the blanket folded beside her. She drags it over her lap and around her knees, the motion small but unmistakably defensive, a little barrier she hadn’t planned on needing. Her shoulders drop as she exhales, and when she looks at him again the heat has gone out of it, leaving something quieter and sharper behind.
"I told you that Asta proposing to Danta was a secret," she says, voice lower now, threaded with disappointment that hurts more than anger ever could. Her fingers curl into the edge of the blanket as she keeps going, gaze steady on him even as her expression wilts. "And I could maybe have lived with you telling Asta you knew, even though that also wasn’t great, but telling Danta to get a manicure?" Her head tilts, incredulous and wounded all at once. "That is one of the most obvious, proposal-coded things you could possibly say to him, Kai. It’s like lighting a flare and then acting surprised when someone looks up." She swallows, jaw tightening just slightly as she tries to keep the tremor out of her lips that wants to pull them down into a frown. "I trusted you with that. And it isn't even just that it feels like you broke my trust, but you almost ruined something super important between two people who really mean a lot to me."
She lets him put the fish hat on her head without protest, leaning into the kiss he presses to her cheek in a way that betrays her far more than her words ever would, her eyes closing for the briefest moment before she straightens again, spine firming as if she can physically brace herself back into the argument she has been rehearsing. When he pulls back, she lifts the monstrosity she’s made and holds it out to him, eyebrows raised in silent expectation.
Only once the pasta strainer settles onto his head, purple pipe cleaners wobbling and googly eyes staring out with unearned cheer, does Flora reach for the blanket folded beside her. She drags it over her lap and around her knees, the motion small but unmistakably defensive, a little barrier she hadn’t planned on needing. Her shoulders drop as she exhales, and when she looks at him again the heat has gone out of it, leaving something quieter and sharper behind.
"I told you that Asta proposing to Danta was a secret," she says, voice lower now, threaded with disappointment that hurts more than anger ever could. Her fingers curl into the edge of the blanket as she keeps going, gaze steady on him even as her expression wilts. "And I could maybe have lived with you telling Asta you knew, even though that also wasn’t great, but telling Danta to get a manicure?" Her head tilts, incredulous and wounded all at once. "That is one of the most obvious, proposal-coded things you could possibly say to him, Kai. It’s like lighting a flare and then acting surprised when someone looks up." She swallows, jaw tightening just slightly as she tries to keep the tremor out of her lips that wants to pull them down into a frown. "I trusted you with that. And it isn't even just that it feels like you broke my trust, but you almost ruined something super important between two people who really mean a lot to me."
you don't know that you're living til' you're carrying scars
you're either falling in love or falling apart
you're either falling in love or falling apart
