with each love i cut loose i was never the same
Flora breezes in with all the polished momentum of someone trying to do a million things at once. "I know, I know, I’m late," she says at once, aqua eyes finding Sohalia with a bright, apologetic wince that’s only partly theatrical, because gods, if one more person had needed her opinion about fishing schedules or volcanic soil samples, Flora was going to start handing out royal decrees via thrown shoes
Without waiting to be regal about any of it, Flora drops down onto the couch beside Soh with the sort of boneless little plop that makes her sundress fan prettily around her knees, leaning in immediately to press a kiss against her best friend’s cheek. It’s quick and warm and familiar, a small bright shell tucked into the palm of the moment before anything sharper can wash up between them, and then Flora lets herself sag back against the cushions with a heavy sigh that seems to come all the way from the crown of her head to the tips of her sandals.
For a few seconds, she closes her eyes and lets herself try to set everything down: the particular glittering pressure of Torchline sitting on her shoulders like a necklace that looks gorgeous until it starts to choke. Her fingers toy absently with one of her rings as she exhales, slower this time, as if she can breathe herself out of being Queen Flora Kaito Taliesin and back into just Flora, sitting next to Sohalia in a spa that smells like clean water and citrus and expensive oils, with no one asking her where the fucking latest shipment of supplies is supposed to go.
Cracking one eye open, she turns her head toward Soh and lets a wry little grin tug at her mouth, softening the apology without quite erasing the tiredness beneath it. "This could literally not have come at a better time."
Without waiting to be regal about any of it, Flora drops down onto the couch beside Soh with the sort of boneless little plop that makes her sundress fan prettily around her knees, leaning in immediately to press a kiss against her best friend’s cheek. It’s quick and warm and familiar, a small bright shell tucked into the palm of the moment before anything sharper can wash up between them, and then Flora lets herself sag back against the cushions with a heavy sigh that seems to come all the way from the crown of her head to the tips of her sandals.
For a few seconds, she closes her eyes and lets herself try to set everything down: the particular glittering pressure of Torchline sitting on her shoulders like a necklace that looks gorgeous until it starts to choke. Her fingers toy absently with one of her rings as she exhales, slower this time, as if she can breathe herself out of being Queen Flora Kaito Taliesin and back into just Flora, sitting next to Sohalia in a spa that smells like clean water and citrus and expensive oils, with no one asking her where the fucking latest shipment of supplies is supposed to go.
Cracking one eye open, she turns her head toward Soh and lets a wry little grin tug at her mouth, softening the apology without quite erasing the tiredness beneath it. "This could literally not have come at a better time."
