bottom line, we made it out the first time still in love and half alive
Her smile answers his—crooked for crooked—before she slips her hand free of his and lifts her glass in a small, indulgent toast. "To your many talents," she purrs, the words touched with something that sits comfortably between flattery and truth, before tipping the gin back again. The burn comes quicker this time, easier, the strange inversion of it blooming through her chest as she swallows, leaving her thoughts just a little lighter, a little looser, buoyed on something warm and bright.
At his suggestion that they go, her brows lift, interest catching immediately. "Mm," she hums, finishing the last of it without hesitation, the empty glass set aside with a careless flick of her fingers. Now much closer to drunk than sober, nevertheless for the time being, the Ark is riding the high of being pleasantly buzzed. "I missed it too." Her eyes slide to him, a flash of something playful sparking there as her brows bounce lightly. "Wouldn’t mind a swim, if it is."
She’s already moving as she says it, slipping from her chair and looping her arm around his waist, her body leaning in to his from familiarity as much as inebriation. The room parts around them as they make their way out, her attention drifting ahead toward the door, toward the promise of salt air and open night. She flashes Gallagher a grin as he lets them through, the expression bright and easy, before stepping out into the cool breath of the harbour. The air hits first—salt, damp, alive—and she draws it in deeply, only for it to catch sharp in her throat as her gaze lifts to the stars, where, for a moment, she simply stares.
Her brows draw together slowly, the line between them deepening as the shapes resolve into something unmistakable and intentional. The words sit there, etched across the sky in impossible clarity, followed by the answer just as emphatic. Her head tilts slightly, the confusion settling into something narrower, sharper, before she glances sidelong at Jack. "I’d say we should get them a congratulations gift," she says dryly, the sarcasm cutting clean through her tone, "but since they already ran ahead and got married..."
At his suggestion that they go, her brows lift, interest catching immediately. "Mm," she hums, finishing the last of it without hesitation, the empty glass set aside with a careless flick of her fingers. Now much closer to drunk than sober, nevertheless for the time being, the Ark is riding the high of being pleasantly buzzed. "I missed it too." Her eyes slide to him, a flash of something playful sparking there as her brows bounce lightly. "Wouldn’t mind a swim, if it is."
She’s already moving as she says it, slipping from her chair and looping her arm around his waist, her body leaning in to his from familiarity as much as inebriation. The room parts around them as they make their way out, her attention drifting ahead toward the door, toward the promise of salt air and open night. She flashes Gallagher a grin as he lets them through, the expression bright and easy, before stepping out into the cool breath of the harbour. The air hits first—salt, damp, alive—and she draws it in deeply, only for it to catch sharp in her throat as her gaze lifts to the stars, where, for a moment, she simply stares.
Her brows draw together slowly, the line between them deepening as the shapes resolve into something unmistakable and intentional. The words sit there, etched across the sky in impossible clarity, followed by the answer just as emphatic. Her head tilts slightly, the confusion settling into something narrower, sharper, before she glances sidelong at Jack. "I’d say we should get them a congratulations gift," she says dryly, the sarcasm cutting clean through her tone, "but since they already ran ahead and got married..."
we didn't die, but no guarantees this time, but fuck it lets do it again
Siren's Wake | After she leaves a space, traces of her presence linger briefly: a faint scent of salt, the sound of distant water, a restless feeling in the chest. People rarely notice it consciously.
