Flora
Flora nods sagely as though abandoning the idea has been Kai's idea all along, her expression arranged into something solemn and approving that is immediately betrayed by the golden smugness blooming through the bond. It’s thick with affection too, warm and honeyed around the edges, because yes, obviously giving their house even more ways to take her side would be a disaster for him and a tremendous success for her, which makes his retreat both sensible and, unfortunately, a little disappointing.
The sudden tug of his hand has her taking one long, lunging step after him before her balance catches up with the rest of her, and then she’s moving properly, boots landing nimbly between roots and wet vines as she keeps herself at his side. The last of the Greatwood memory thins around them as they go, the river-light and child-laughter fading back into the dim glow of the Undergrove, and Flora glances after it only briefly before her attention returns to the ridiculous, wonderful shape of what they’re doing now.
"Oh, kid us would probably think it was gross to be hanging out with each other," she points out, snickering as she hops over a root that seems especially committed to taking one of them down. The thought only lasts as long as it takes for her mouth to twist with reconsideration, because there are very few principles a child can’t be bribed out of under the right circumstances. "Though with all the s’mores we brought, maybe they’d suffer through it."
As the brighter glow ahead begins to resolve itself into a scatter of glowstones, Flora understands immediately why the earlier site has lost to this one. It might not be the most practical choice, and it certainly doesn’t offer the kind of open view that would make a proper lookout happy, but the stones shine in soft, shifting hues that turn the damp dark into something much prettier than it has any right to be. "You know, when I was little, we played a game where you’d try and move glowstones as far as you could without them going out." Grinning, Flora reaches for his backpack, fingers already working at the strap to pull it from Kai's shoulders so they can begin unpacking.
The sudden tug of his hand has her taking one long, lunging step after him before her balance catches up with the rest of her, and then she’s moving properly, boots landing nimbly between roots and wet vines as she keeps herself at his side. The last of the Greatwood memory thins around them as they go, the river-light and child-laughter fading back into the dim glow of the Undergrove, and Flora glances after it only briefly before her attention returns to the ridiculous, wonderful shape of what they’re doing now.
"Oh, kid us would probably think it was gross to be hanging out with each other," she points out, snickering as she hops over a root that seems especially committed to taking one of them down. The thought only lasts as long as it takes for her mouth to twist with reconsideration, because there are very few principles a child can’t be bribed out of under the right circumstances. "Though with all the s’mores we brought, maybe they’d suffer through it."
As the brighter glow ahead begins to resolve itself into a scatter of glowstones, Flora understands immediately why the earlier site has lost to this one. It might not be the most practical choice, and it certainly doesn’t offer the kind of open view that would make a proper lookout happy, but the stones shine in soft, shifting hues that turn the damp dark into something much prettier than it has any right to be. "You know, when I was little, we played a game where you’d try and move glowstones as far as you could without them going out." Grinning, Flora reaches for his backpack, fingers already working at the strap to pull it from Kai's shoulders so they can begin unpacking.
Fatefully, I tried to pick my battles 'til the battle picked me
Misery, Like the war of words I shouted in my sleep
Misery, Like the war of words I shouted in my sleep
Code stolen from Queen Sky
