flora
Flora watches it all ripple through Kaisel in real time, the way the set of his shoulders hardens and then threatens to splinter, the flash of copper going sharp and bright like a struck blade, and it’s a small mercy that her fingers are still pinching his lips because she can practically feel the storm trying to force its way out anyway. Even when she pulls her hand back she braces, half-expecting some leftover thunder to crack the air between them, but instead it collapses inward, heat folding down into something quieter and more dangerous, and she exhales without meaning to when it doesn’t break loose.
When he says it was a nice thing to do, the sound that slips out of her is a surprised little laugh, brittle around the edges because that is not at all where she expected him to land. She slouches forward as he tugs her hand to his chest, forehead dipping as if the weight of it all has suddenly decided to settle there instead, and the sigh she gives is miserable and tired and real. "I saw him at the House of Midnight," she admits, shaking her head as if the memory refuses to line up neatly no matter how many times she’s tried to stack it. "We had this...weird conversation—" Weird likely because of everything they hadn't said, rather than what they had. " And I just...I didn’t want to be in the way. Not of him, not of Soh, not of anything they were trying to build."
Her gaze drops as Kai talks about competition, fingers brushing against his chest where he’s holding her hand like she might float away otherwise. "Maybe that’s only because I chose you," she says quietly. "If I’d walked away and gone back to Jack instead.." Her thumb traces a small, unconscious arc over his heart. "You’d probably be wondering what you did wrong too, why you weren’t enough."
Then he says they’re dense as hell, and she chooses to interpret that as a sweeping indictment of his entire family line, laughter breaking free despite herself, bright and champagne-light as it bubbles up and spills over. She rolls her eyes fondly. "Yeahhhh," she says, conceding the point with a shrug. "It was probably a long shot." She pauses, then softer, almost amused by her own stubbornness. "But for the five minutes he knew? I think he felt better." Flora had, too. The weight of being able to tell Jack's secret is one she hadn't realized had been so heavy until it had been lightened, even just for a few moments.
The memory keeps unfolding now that she’s let it loose, and she glances back down at Kai with a crooked smile. "You’ll be happy to know," she adds, warmth threading through it, "the very first thing out of his mouth was being furious about what Jack did to you on the beach." It was no surprise, of course, that Koa's immediate reaction had been to further indict Jack for what he'd done to Kaisel.
When he says it was a nice thing to do, the sound that slips out of her is a surprised little laugh, brittle around the edges because that is not at all where she expected him to land. She slouches forward as he tugs her hand to his chest, forehead dipping as if the weight of it all has suddenly decided to settle there instead, and the sigh she gives is miserable and tired and real. "I saw him at the House of Midnight," she admits, shaking her head as if the memory refuses to line up neatly no matter how many times she’s tried to stack it. "We had this...weird conversation—" Weird likely because of everything they hadn't said, rather than what they had. " And I just...I didn’t want to be in the way. Not of him, not of Soh, not of anything they were trying to build."
Her gaze drops as Kai talks about competition, fingers brushing against his chest where he’s holding her hand like she might float away otherwise. "Maybe that’s only because I chose you," she says quietly. "If I’d walked away and gone back to Jack instead.." Her thumb traces a small, unconscious arc over his heart. "You’d probably be wondering what you did wrong too, why you weren’t enough."
Then he says they’re dense as hell, and she chooses to interpret that as a sweeping indictment of his entire family line, laughter breaking free despite herself, bright and champagne-light as it bubbles up and spills over. She rolls her eyes fondly. "Yeahhhh," she says, conceding the point with a shrug. "It was probably a long shot." She pauses, then softer, almost amused by her own stubbornness. "But for the five minutes he knew? I think he felt better." Flora had, too. The weight of being able to tell Jack's secret is one she hadn't realized had been so heavy until it had been lightened, even just for a few moments.
The memory keeps unfolding now that she’s let it loose, and she glances back down at Kai with a crooked smile. "You’ll be happy to know," she adds, warmth threading through it, "the very first thing out of his mouth was being furious about what Jack did to you on the beach." It was no surprise, of course, that Koa's immediate reaction had been to further indict Jack for what he'd done to Kaisel.
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
