Darling, you're the one I want
"Practicing what?" Flora asks with wide-eyed innocence, blinking at him as though the flex means absolutely nothing, her gaze drifting vaguely somewhere past his arm in a performance so deliberate it borders on insulting. A beat passes before her expression shifts, dawning understanding spreading with exaggerated slowness. "Ohhh, theeeeeese," she drawls, and with all the affectionate aggression of a woman who refuses to be impressed quietly, she leans down and sinks her teeth lightly into the curve of his bicep, a playful gnaw that weirdly does make her want to sink her teeth into the muscle she feels.
The ensuing chaos of their tickle war leaves her victorious, breathless and grinning as she watches him recover, already bracing herself when he starts with babygirl, fully expecting nonsense to follow. Instead, the words that come out of him land soft and sincere, and it knocks the wind out of her in a far more dangerous way than anything physical could. For a second she forgets how to breathe properly, the smile that spreads across her face almost too bright to contain as she looks at him like he’s just handed her something fragile and infinite all at once.
"That’s—" she starts, then stops, laughing softly under her breath as though the feeling’s too big to fit neatly into language, her fingers brushing absently against his arm as she settles again. "Okay, well now you have to walk, because if you crawl I’m going to cry before we even get to the vows."
As he talks through the options, she nods along, her shoulder leaning comfortably into his side. "Pretty sure everyone we know can hitch a ride on the Sugatide, La Verbena, or the Firecracker," she says easily, ticking them off with a small movement of her hand, "or just fly themselves up." She’s halfway through considering if there’s somewhere else that might feel right when his voice trails off, the shift in him enough to snag her attention. "Hmm?" she murmurs, following the direction of his gesture before the sight of the qilin stills her.
She turns more fully, but slowly, carefully, as though any sudden movement might break whatever delicate, impossible thing stands before them. The creature’s presence seems to hum through the air, something ancient and quiet pressing gently against her senses, and Flora inhales softly. "I’ve never seen one before," she whispers, the words barely more than breath as her eyes linger on the shimmer of its form. She glances back at Kaisel then, voice still hushed, threaded with awe. "Have you?"
The ensuing chaos of their tickle war leaves her victorious, breathless and grinning as she watches him recover, already bracing herself when he starts with babygirl, fully expecting nonsense to follow. Instead, the words that come out of him land soft and sincere, and it knocks the wind out of her in a far more dangerous way than anything physical could. For a second she forgets how to breathe properly, the smile that spreads across her face almost too bright to contain as she looks at him like he’s just handed her something fragile and infinite all at once.
"That’s—" she starts, then stops, laughing softly under her breath as though the feeling’s too big to fit neatly into language, her fingers brushing absently against his arm as she settles again. "Okay, well now you have to walk, because if you crawl I’m going to cry before we even get to the vows."
As he talks through the options, she nods along, her shoulder leaning comfortably into his side. "Pretty sure everyone we know can hitch a ride on the Sugatide, La Verbena, or the Firecracker," she says easily, ticking them off with a small movement of her hand, "or just fly themselves up." She’s halfway through considering if there’s somewhere else that might feel right when his voice trails off, the shift in him enough to snag her attention. "Hmm?" she murmurs, following the direction of his gesture before the sight of the qilin stills her.
She turns more fully, but slowly, carefully, as though any sudden movement might break whatever delicate, impossible thing stands before them. The creature’s presence seems to hum through the air, something ancient and quiet pressing gently against her senses, and Flora inhales softly. "I’ve never seen one before," she whispers, the words barely more than breath as her eyes linger on the shimmer of its form. She glances back at Kaisel then, voice still hushed, threaded with awe. "Have you?"
in paper rings, in picture frames, in dirty dreams
