i could be the reason you can't sleep at night
Flora gives Marcus a slight roll of her eyes, because yes, obviously everything is dangerous in degrees, but he knows what she’s asking, and the fact that he’s being slippery about it only makes her smile sharpen in that bright, polished way that tends to mean someone has forgotten she isn’t just another pretty face wandering through the market with too much coin and too little sense. "Well," she says lightly, fingertips brushing over the edge of the table without touching any of the bells themselves, "I’ll be sure to let everyone know where we got these from at the festival."
The words are sweet enough on the surface, but the undertone beneath them is all smooth warning: if the Queen of Torchline gets fucked over by a bell merchant in her own port, then everyone will hear about it, and whatever strange little business model he’s built around enchanted rejects will be out of luck before the next tide rolls in.
Turning back to Kaisel, Flora’s grin spreads wider and more crooked as her attention catches again on the purple now threaded through his outfit. "Now it’s just even more limited edition, babe," she says, reaching out to smooth her fingers over the altered flame as if admiring some rare custom variation instead of the aftermath of him failing to resist a magical object for approximately three seconds.
Her eyes flick back to Marcus as he mentions payment already owed, and Flora rolls them again, though this time there’s more amusement than threat in it. "Yes, yes." Reaching into her bag, she pulls out the coins with the air of someone paying a fine for a crime she has absolutely no intention of apologizing for properly, then lets her smile brighten into something almost dangerous again. "We’ll take them all." She glances to Kaisel as if anticipating the question before he can even properly shape it, brows bouncing once in quick, conspiratorial explanation as she shrugs. "They could be fun at parties."
Which, in fairness, is the exact sort of sentence that has probably preceded at least half of Torchline’s worst ideas, but Flora stands by it. Once Marcus starts wrapping the bells with enough caution to suggest he has learned several hard lessons about packaging, taping each clapper to the side so none of them can ring by accident, Flora reaches for one of the bells they’ve already tested and gives it a little shake. "Ooooh, I know what that one did," she says immediately, and then she leans in and up to press a kiss to Kaisel’s cheek, her smile brushing warm against his skin as her voice drops into a whisper. "That one makes it so you have to buy me lunch."
~FIN
The words are sweet enough on the surface, but the undertone beneath them is all smooth warning: if the Queen of Torchline gets fucked over by a bell merchant in her own port, then everyone will hear about it, and whatever strange little business model he’s built around enchanted rejects will be out of luck before the next tide rolls in.
Turning back to Kaisel, Flora’s grin spreads wider and more crooked as her attention catches again on the purple now threaded through his outfit. "Now it’s just even more limited edition, babe," she says, reaching out to smooth her fingers over the altered flame as if admiring some rare custom variation instead of the aftermath of him failing to resist a magical object for approximately three seconds.
Her eyes flick back to Marcus as he mentions payment already owed, and Flora rolls them again, though this time there’s more amusement than threat in it. "Yes, yes." Reaching into her bag, she pulls out the coins with the air of someone paying a fine for a crime she has absolutely no intention of apologizing for properly, then lets her smile brighten into something almost dangerous again. "We’ll take them all." She glances to Kaisel as if anticipating the question before he can even properly shape it, brows bouncing once in quick, conspiratorial explanation as she shrugs. "They could be fun at parties."
Which, in fairness, is the exact sort of sentence that has probably preceded at least half of Torchline’s worst ideas, but Flora stands by it. Once Marcus starts wrapping the bells with enough caution to suggest he has learned several hard lessons about packaging, taping each clapper to the side so none of them can ring by accident, Flora reaches for one of the bells they’ve already tested and gives it a little shake. "Ooooh, I know what that one did," she says immediately, and then she leans in and up to press a kiss to Kaisel’s cheek, her smile brushing warm against his skin as her voice drops into a whisper. "That one makes it so you have to buy me lunch."
~FIN
