flora
Spice's first nudge is cold and insistent against Flora’s cheek, the second is a scrape of tiny claws against the blanket, and by the third the little white dragon has worked herself into such an offended, whisper-hissing spiral that Flora’s lashes finally flutter apart beneath the golden wash of early morning. "What," she mumbles, voice still sweetly thick with sleep as she drags one hand out from beneath the pillow and blindly pats for the source of all this icy betrayal. The answer comes in a rush of frosty breath against her ear, followed by an indignant series of chirps that have Flora blinking up at the ceiling as the nearby spirits fill in the blanks. At that, the last of her drowsiness vanishes as cleanly as if someone has thrown open every shutter in the room.
"Oh my gods." Flora sits up so fast her curls tumble wildly around her face, her mouth already curving into a bright, delighted smile as Spice skitters triumphantly over the rumpled blankets. "They’re here?"
Never mind that Kaisel is still away in Halo, leaving half the bed empty and far too neat for Flora’s liking. Never mind that she’d gone to sleep early enough to miss the arrival entirely, which is, frankly, rude of her own exhaustion. The annual LongNight invasion of her home by her favourite monsters has apparently begun, and if Danta and Asta are downstairs, then breakfast is about to become either charming, inappropriate, alcoholic, or all three. Flora does not bother making herself presentable beyond sweeping her curls back with her fingers and tugging the oversized shirt of Kai’s more securely around her shoulders. It hangs loose over her sleeping shorts, soft and familiar and almost criminally comfortable, and with Spice perched like a small snowy gargoyle against her shoulder, she slips from the bedroom and pads down the hall and then down the staircase.
The kitchen is her first stop, because if Danta is awake, there is at least a reasonable chance that he's helping himself. Finding it empty only makes her brows lift, and with Spice leaning forward eagerly enough that Flora has to brace a hand against her chilly little body, the queen turns toward the bar instead.
"Asta!" Flora squeals, the sound ringing warmly through the bar as she beams at him adoringly. Her bare feet carry her across the floor without hesitation, curls bouncing, Kai’s shirt slipping off one shoulder. "I didn’t even hear you two come in last night!" Her eyes flick almost immediately to the bone-white creature coiled around his shoulders, and Spice, who until now has been a nosy little monarch in her own right, goes very still. Flora’s delighted smile only sharpens. "And hello to you too, obviously," she adds, leaning just enough to look at Sicarius properly without crowding her. "Gods, she’s gorgeous. She was from Dygra too, I assume?"
"Oh my gods." Flora sits up so fast her curls tumble wildly around her face, her mouth already curving into a bright, delighted smile as Spice skitters triumphantly over the rumpled blankets. "They’re here?"
Never mind that Kaisel is still away in Halo, leaving half the bed empty and far too neat for Flora’s liking. Never mind that she’d gone to sleep early enough to miss the arrival entirely, which is, frankly, rude of her own exhaustion. The annual LongNight invasion of her home by her favourite monsters has apparently begun, and if Danta and Asta are downstairs, then breakfast is about to become either charming, inappropriate, alcoholic, or all three. Flora does not bother making herself presentable beyond sweeping her curls back with her fingers and tugging the oversized shirt of Kai’s more securely around her shoulders. It hangs loose over her sleeping shorts, soft and familiar and almost criminally comfortable, and with Spice perched like a small snowy gargoyle against her shoulder, she slips from the bedroom and pads down the hall and then down the staircase.
The kitchen is her first stop, because if Danta is awake, there is at least a reasonable chance that he's helping himself. Finding it empty only makes her brows lift, and with Spice leaning forward eagerly enough that Flora has to brace a hand against her chilly little body, the queen turns toward the bar instead.
"Asta!" Flora squeals, the sound ringing warmly through the bar as she beams at him adoringly. Her bare feet carry her across the floor without hesitation, curls bouncing, Kai’s shirt slipping off one shoulder. "I didn’t even hear you two come in last night!" Her eyes flick almost immediately to the bone-white creature coiled around his shoulders, and Spice, who until now has been a nosy little monarch in her own right, goes very still. Flora’s delighted smile only sharpens. "And hello to you too, obviously," she adds, leaning just enough to look at Sicarius properly without crowding her. "Gods, she’s gorgeous. She was from Dygra too, I assume?"
I hope you're wetting your appetite, finding your way into someone's eyes
I hope you're dreaming in black and white, and seeing in colour
I hope you're dreaming in black and white, and seeing in colour
