Flora
Flora lets out a soft, breathy laugh, the sound curling warm against the damp air as she shakes her head, sending a few loose curls slipping free from her braid to cling lightly against her temple. "I don’t think you necessarily need to be careful," she says, the words easy but deliberate, her tone gentling rather than warning. She hesitates just long enough to find the shape of what she means, then glances sidelong at Soh with a grin that’s both teasing and entirely sincere. "I think you just need to..." She cuts herself off with a quiet laugh, nudging Soh lightly with her shoulder before continuing. "I know you haven’t always been treated like it, but you’re a catch, babe." Her brows lift emphatically as if to underline the point, her expression bright and unapologetic.
"You deserve more than someone just being nice and listening and being good in bed." The words come out lightly, but there’s something firmer beneath them, something that refuses to let Soh shrink herself into something smaller than she is. Flora snickers then, unable to resist softening the edge of it as she bumps her friend again. "I’m not saying that isn’t Zavien," she adds quickly, grin tilting a little sideways, "but so far, most of what you’ve said about him could apply to literally anyone who isn’t, like..Koa or Jack." The names land with a kind of casual irreverence, like they’ve been downgraded from something significant into something vaguely annoying and no longer worth reverence.
She exhales dramatically after a moment, though the grin she flashes Soh takes the weight out of it. "I thought it was too," she says of the rodeo and Zavien's continued anger, one shoulder lifting in a small shrug. "He apologized to me, so I figured that was that, especially since it was ages ago now."
Her gaze flicks back to Soh, softer this time, more understanding than teasing as the conversation shifts again. "No, I get that," Flora says quietly with a nod, before she slows slightly, her attention drifting toward the shoreline before returning to Soh, her expression thoughtful now, edged with something more personal. "But you’ve seen what it’s like when you don’t have to try so hard to make everything perfect," she continues, her voice steady even as something deeper moves beneath it. "When I was with Jack, I was always trying. Like, constantly. Trying to say the right thing, do the right thing, not be annoying, not be too much.." Her mouth twists slightly, a crooked, self-aware frown pulling at the corner of her lips as she glances briefly at Soh.
"Looking back, it’s so obvious how fucked up that was," she says, the words lighter than the thought behind them. Then she shrugs, one shoulder lifting as if to shake it off. "But I do get it. I get wanting to hold onto something that feels good, by making sure nothing could ever possibly knock it off balance." Her smile returns, softer now but no less certain. "But I just promise you," she adds, nudging Soh again, gentler this time, "when it’s the right person, even the imperfect, annoying, messy bits end up being part of what makes it feel right. You don’t have to smooth everything out for it to work."
"You deserve more than someone just being nice and listening and being good in bed." The words come out lightly, but there’s something firmer beneath them, something that refuses to let Soh shrink herself into something smaller than she is. Flora snickers then, unable to resist softening the edge of it as she bumps her friend again. "I’m not saying that isn’t Zavien," she adds quickly, grin tilting a little sideways, "but so far, most of what you’ve said about him could apply to literally anyone who isn’t, like..Koa or Jack." The names land with a kind of casual irreverence, like they’ve been downgraded from something significant into something vaguely annoying and no longer worth reverence.
She exhales dramatically after a moment, though the grin she flashes Soh takes the weight out of it. "I thought it was too," she says of the rodeo and Zavien's continued anger, one shoulder lifting in a small shrug. "He apologized to me, so I figured that was that, especially since it was ages ago now."
Her gaze flicks back to Soh, softer this time, more understanding than teasing as the conversation shifts again. "No, I get that," Flora says quietly with a nod, before she slows slightly, her attention drifting toward the shoreline before returning to Soh, her expression thoughtful now, edged with something more personal. "But you’ve seen what it’s like when you don’t have to try so hard to make everything perfect," she continues, her voice steady even as something deeper moves beneath it. "When I was with Jack, I was always trying. Like, constantly. Trying to say the right thing, do the right thing, not be annoying, not be too much.." Her mouth twists slightly, a crooked, self-aware frown pulling at the corner of her lips as she glances briefly at Soh.
"Looking back, it’s so obvious how fucked up that was," she says, the words lighter than the thought behind them. Then she shrugs, one shoulder lifting as if to shake it off. "But I do get it. I get wanting to hold onto something that feels good, by making sure nothing could ever possibly knock it off balance." Her smile returns, softer now but no less certain. "But I just promise you," she adds, nudging Soh again, gentler this time, "when it’s the right person, even the imperfect, annoying, messy bits end up being part of what makes it feel right. You don’t have to smooth everything out for it to work."
There's somethin' warm about the winter when you come around
there's nothin' boujee 'bout you cozy as a hand me down
there's nothin' boujee 'bout you cozy as a hand me down
Code stolen from Queen Sky
