flora
Flora laughs, quick and bright, shaking her head at him. "Oh no, you’re definitely, like, the lead ghost in his mind," she says, grin tipping sideways with easy affection before her shoulders lift in a small shrug. "But I think he really worries that one day he’ll wake up and everyone will just be ghosts, so it's a recurring theme."
At the mention of collecting, she nods immediately. "Oh, it extends to rulers too," she says, already rolling her eyes. "You have no idea what a turn off it is to be making out with someone and then they take off their jacket and you just see one of your parents’ faces on their shirt." She pauses, just long enough to let that settle, before adding flatly, "Or their underwear."
The sigh that follows is half theatrical, half softened by the alcohol warming through her, and she shifts slightly, lifting her glass to gesture loosely. "Okay, so that’s Colt," she says, pointing toward the blonde by the ice sculpture without lingering. "She used to live in King’s End, her ranch burned down, now she’s moving up north to the desert, whatever," the words rushing past like they’re only there to get her where she actually wants to go, her tone sharpening as she leans in just slightly. "But she offered Sohalia—who is my best friend, and like, everyone knows that—a position on her council. And this was after I’d just had, like, a nice girls’ spa weekend for all of us together. Like... that’s a dick move, right? I mean, I get needing people to start up a region, but my best friend?"
She exhales sharply, catching herself a second too late as she realises where her focus has landed, and she shakes her head as if to correct it. "And Sohalia didn’t even say no," she adds, frustration threading through now. "She said she’d think about it." Her mouth twists, something more complicated slipping in as she sighs. "And now she’s dating someone who basically hates me and Kai, so...yeah it feels like between that and feeling like she needs purpose, she's gonna leave." The story, poorly and unfairly told of course thanks to the alcohol, has Flora's cheeks flushing slightly as she looks at Niki.
At the mention of collecting, she nods immediately. "Oh, it extends to rulers too," she says, already rolling her eyes. "You have no idea what a turn off it is to be making out with someone and then they take off their jacket and you just see one of your parents’ faces on their shirt." She pauses, just long enough to let that settle, before adding flatly, "Or their underwear."
The sigh that follows is half theatrical, half softened by the alcohol warming through her, and she shifts slightly, lifting her glass to gesture loosely. "Okay, so that’s Colt," she says, pointing toward the blonde by the ice sculpture without lingering. "She used to live in King’s End, her ranch burned down, now she’s moving up north to the desert, whatever," the words rushing past like they’re only there to get her where she actually wants to go, her tone sharpening as she leans in just slightly. "But she offered Sohalia—who is my best friend, and like, everyone knows that—a position on her council. And this was after I’d just had, like, a nice girls’ spa weekend for all of us together. Like... that’s a dick move, right? I mean, I get needing people to start up a region, but my best friend?"
She exhales sharply, catching herself a second too late as she realises where her focus has landed, and she shakes her head as if to correct it. "And Sohalia didn’t even say no," she adds, frustration threading through now. "She said she’d think about it." Her mouth twists, something more complicated slipping in as she sighs. "And now she’s dating someone who basically hates me and Kai, so...yeah it feels like between that and feeling like she needs purpose, she's gonna leave." The story, poorly and unfairly told of course thanks to the alcohol, has Flora's cheeks flushing slightly as she looks at Niki.
Fever dream high in the quiet of the night
You know that I caught it
You know that I caught it
