[SE] [Training] run baby run

there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters

"Careful," Jack warns, though not for the reasons Flora might think. "That sort of mindset is gonna be a distraction." Because for all of the frustration and anxiety crackling through her, for all that they are both well aware that she's capable of much more agility and grace than this, her ambition, her need to be more, to be the best - that's checking all the right boxes for the captain. Regardless, she is still dodging, whether or not they can be counted as good efforts, and so he doubles down as well.

Feeling out the magic that now vibrates through him, allowing it a much longer rein than he has done previously, Jack conjures more lightning to his fingertips. This he casts out like a net towards Flora, spiderwebbing towards her in an attempt to snag and shock. Given that he'd not been capable of such a thing even a few hours ago, however this little practice session ends, Jack will consider it worthwhile.

flora

Not always aware of the things she's thinking, the look Flora gives the captain is a touch blank for a moment, before she (wrongly) interprets his warning as being something related to her own hubris, or perhaps just an observation that her mind had wandered. Regardless, though the queen doesn't shelve her new goal, she does set it momentarily to the side in order to better focus on the here and now.

Prepared to dodge another bolt, as what looked like a wave of lightning shot her way, Flora's momentary confusion over what she was seeing took just a second too long, such that as her long legs tried to carry her away, Jack's electric netting caught her heel. A whipcrack of pain buzzed up her calf and thigh, the sensation not unlike having been whipped by plants that had could both pierce and sting. Crying out as she stumbles a few steps, maybe a better giRlFrIenD would have been proud of Jack for finally landing a hit, but all Flora felt was the bitter sting of failure. Forcing her injured leg down and leaning on it despite the way her muscles groaned to bear her weight, the queen once again balled her fingers into fists, her eyes locked on Jack.

"Again."

Just walk away, don't make me say
The only words I owe you: I told you so, I told you so

there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters

More than happy to correct Flora, before Jack so much as has the chance to open his mouth, his lightning is catching the Doubletake right on the heel, and he tenses automatically at the pain that buzzes through his own mind in response to her own. In retrospect perhaps he ought to have thrown up some level of mental block against it, but he honestly hadn't been expecting to hit her, such that it's a mixture of confusion and pride that swells in his chest.

Like his amusement from before, though, it isn't a feeling that lasts long. Flora's anger and bitterness slither along his telepathy like dark tendrils, an insidious siren song that has him straightening back up and shaking out his hands. "If you insist," he drawls, glancing at the space around her fleetingly as if to determine where she might try to dodge, before he throws a lance of electricity, brutal and perfectly contained, directly down towards her.

flora

Insist she does, and though she steels herself in preparation, Jack's next attack strikes Flora with the sort of accuracy that very much suggests that even were she on her a-game, she'd likely not have been able to avoid it. The blast spears through her sternum and gods if she isn't positive that she can feel it causing her bones to vibrate. Small red tributaries of heat snarl away from the point of impact leaving a jagged maroon star-shape in the centre of Flora's chest. Clutching at the mark and having to fight not to drop to her knees, the queen bites back a snarl of frustration and pain before forcing herself to release the breath she'd been holding. For a moment there's only the sound of her ears ringing and the sensation of heat on her skin before the rest of her sensations come crashing back in all at once.

"What the fuck," she moans, the criticism directed at herself rather than at Jack. Flora was fast. She was faster than Jack by far and much more capable than this. Biting at the inside of her cheek hard enough to taste copper, the queen glares bleary-eyed at the sands before giving her head a desperate shake.

"Once more." Knowing the captain would likely be inclined to say no, as Flora swallows, she lifts her gaze, forcing her hand to drop away from her chest. "Just once more."

Just walk away, don't make me say
The only words I owe you: I told you so, I told you so

there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters

Were it anyone else and any other occasion, Jack would not have only felt victorious - he'd have been pressing the advantage, too. So let it never be said that what exists between Flora and the captain (complex and unconventional though it might be) is a lie, because Jack is already reaching for the vial of fountain water in his back pocket, brought along just in case he managed to do some damage to himself on what should have been a solitary training session on the island.

"Flora," he says in a low voice, frowning at her insistence even as he completely understands it. It's the only warning she'll get, of course, and as she continues, it's with a soft sigh that Jack takes his hand back out of his pocket. Feeling more in control of the lightning now than he ever has done, it takes startlingly little effort for him to crackle down another whiplash of electricity, snapping it out towards her shoulder.

flora

Finally, and Flora would be wise to quit while she's ahead, this time the Doubletake moves with an uncanny swiftness across the sand, already having dodged and come to a stop before the bolt has even fully melted away. Panting, not simply from the heat or her previous exertions, but because of how tightly each of her muscles was coiled, as she bid herself to breathe, it took a few long seconds for her body to relax enough for her lungs to pull in a full breath. Still, despite the breathlessness and the pain, the exhilaration of triumph is well worth whatever potential price she might have paid had Jack hit her again.

"Maybe I'm getting old." Flora suggests as she glances down, her fingers ghost over the tree-branch-shaped markings that snaked out from the wound on her chest. Her birth-season was Leafchange, perhaps she'd hit 22 and it'd all go downhill from there. Assuming it didn't, the queen fully intended to commit herself to actually training her body. She'd recently sparred with one of the dragoons in Stormbreak, maybe she could make that a regular thing if Jack wasn't interested in playing workout-Ken to her workout-Barbie.

Just walk away, don't make me say
The only words I owe you: I told you so, I told you so

there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters

"I'll remind you that you said that when you are gettin' old," Jack drawls, and though part of him does feel disappointed to have missed the Doubletake that last time, he's equally as pleased to feel the bronze shimmer of victory in her thoughts. Crossing the sand and uncorking the bottle of healing water, he offers it out to her silently and, once she's taken it, slips his mageglass ring back onto his finger. "In the interest of honesty, I reckon maybe you just got unlucky."

Smirking and snaking out a hand to coil it around her waist, he draws her flush against him as if he wants to see the branching mark of his lightning fade from her sternum in real time. "Based on how that shit with the panther went, I'm not against comin' out here more often." A silent acceptance to the request she hadn't spoken out loud. Yes, Flora, I will be your workout-Ken. Not that Jack will ever fit that sort of mold, but as is always the case with the captain, it's the thought that counts.

flora

"We'll see if I make it to old." Flora says with a playful roll of her eyes, though whether or not she means she's likely to die young or that she'll become a hypocrite and also opt for immortality, not even her thoughts will be able to tell to captain. Reaching for the bottle with a small smirk, having almost expected Jack to take advantage of the fact she was wearing a bikini top and simply drenching her, Flora unscrews the lid before giving the captain the finger. Or, well, draws his attention to the ring on her hand, which just so happens to be on her middle finger. "This is supposed to help with that." She murmurs about the lucky ring Safrin had given her.

Stumbling forward, Flora relaxes almost immediately against him before her eyes lift and her lips begin to bow with a sly smile. Pouring the water in a slow stream down her chest, the Doubletake moans indulgently as it instantly removes the sting from her skin. The red tributaries shrivelled up before disappearing, and after a moment even the puckered starburst that marked the place Jack's lightning had hit her began to fade. Of course the captain will find himself a touch wet in the process, but given the heat, Flora doubts if he'll mind all that much.

Reaching for Jack's free hand, Flora tugs it to about shoulder height before releasing and holding out her finger. "Again," she whispers softly, pressing herself against him and turning her face up towards his.

Just walk away, don't make me say
The only words I owe you: I told you so, I told you so

there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters

"Maybe it did help with that. Imagine just how unlucky you'd have been without it," Jack says with a shit-eating grin. And whilst he had considered drenching Flora in the healing water, given the other strands of magic available for him to draw upon, he can always do that later. Or so he thinks, only for the Doubletake to douse herself with the water anyway, Jack raising his eyebrows and following the rivulets of sparkling liquid down her neck, against the brutal starburst of his lightning strike and down between her breasts.

And he's thoroughly enjoying the show, the view only interrupted by the way Flora presses herself flush against him, the captain raising an eyebrow as she manoeuvres his hand just so. "Again?" he rumbles. "You're sure you want to ruin your winning streak?" Because it isn't as though she can try to dodge this one - not that he expects she'll want to.

Nevertheless, one hand slips down towards her lower back, anchoring her against him, before sparks crackle between his fingers to buzz against the base of her spine. It might not be where she'd requested, it's true, but he'd done as she'd asked.

flora

"Welllll." Glancing down to ensure her bronze skin was once again free of marks, the Doubletake shoves the bottle back into Jack's pocket where she'd seen him pull it from, before curling her fingers up the back of his neck and into his hair. "Gotta make sure all that wasn't just a fluke from you." She says teasingly, her finger sketching out a circle in the air, before, unsurprisingly, Jack opts to do things his own way.

Nevertheless, Flora gasps with delight to feel the bite of static against her back, even though it has her flinching forward and against him. The salty sweat coating her skin has the electric blur of Jack's magic rippling outward and had the current been any stronger, likely it would have had the delicate chains growing hot. Rising onto her toes, Flora's fingers tug against the captain's hair, drawing his lips down toward her own if he wasn't inclined to come willingly. Through the thicket of I love yous and I want yous that the Doubletake's mind has grown into, something else has taken root. Something hidden beneath the soil whose growth doesn't yet depend on sunlight; something that might well do better in the dark. "I want us to be strong, Jack." Flora whispers, her teeth grazing against the captain's lower lip as she rises even higher onto her toes to fit herself even more completely against him.

Whatever the pair were to one another, Flora wanted them to be a force as far as Torchline was concerned. Maybe it was just a way to avoid the complicated conversations that they really ought to have been having about their own relationship, but it suddenly occurred to the queen that given who each of them was on their own, that together the leap toward being unstoppable was well within their reach.

Just walk away, don't make me say
The only words I owe you: I told you so, I told you so

there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters

"I'm anythin' but a fluke, Flora," Jack assures her with a smirk. A conniving cheat, though? Guilty as charged, and as the Doubletake's fingers tighten in his hair and her body arches against his own, even the pinpricks of pain radiating out from his scalp are more than worth it. That isn't to say he doesn't surrender willingly to her kiss, of course, the captain's arm tightening further around her waist now that he isn't charging her bones with static, his free hand tilting up her chin so he might deepen the kiss.

Tumbling into the dark tangles of her thoughts would have taken at least a modicum of effort once upon a time, but Jack is increasingly finding that it's his favourite place to be, no matter how sharp the thorns of her ambition, how twisted the branches. "Is that all?" he whispers, the words formed around a wicked smile. "We can manage that between us, I think."

Not standing like this out on some lonely, carnivorous island, granted. But with enough effort, certainly.

flora

"Yeah?" Flora wonders a touch challengingly before her tongue is teasing his and her arms are around his neck. No, there certainly wasn't a trail of luck in Jack Barclay's wake, which only made what he'd accomplished all the more impressive. Made him all the more impressive.

"I mean it." She implores, her body nudging against his for emphasis. Flora didn't want it the way she'd wanted the Hanged Man, not the way she'd wanted her guild, nor the way she'd wanted to make a name for herself. Instead, she wanted it the way she wanted to bring her brother back from the dead, the way she'd wanted to wear Torchline's crown, the way she wanted Jack.

Though the queen's family would always be an asset, she wanted her reputation to stand on its own, her strength and cunning to be enough in most cases with her parents being an ace up her sleeve rather than a chip she regularly was forced to cash in.

Pulling back only enough to distinctly make out the blue of Jack's gaze rather than seeing it as a smear above her, the queen takes a breath, her mind suddenly filled with the palpable kinetic energy the captain would no doubt have felt before she'd said I love you for the first time. "And I want it with you." He'd asked her multiple times if she was sure that she wanted a life at his side; a life of shadows and bloody hands, a life of being with someone who was trash. Now, finally, though it had been staring at her all along, Flora had her answer.

No, she didn't want that life. Didn't want a life with a price on Jack's head, because she'd make him untouchable. She didn't want to wake up to him sneaking into bed covered in blood, because she'd have been out with him. He wasn't trash, never had been, and whatever bad he'd done, who if not a queen, could absolve him of any wrongdoing? So no, she didn't want that life at all, because if her dad had shown her one thing, it was that the rules stopped applying once you were strong enough.

Just walk away, don't make me say
The only words I owe you: I told you so, I told you so

there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters

Flora doesn't need to fluff his ego - Jack knows he's impressive, knows he's built his life and his business from the ground up in a searingly short period of time - but the fact that the Doubletake's mind paints it as a realisation rather than some swollen and unnecessary compliment gives him pause. Tilting his head a fraction as if the gesture alone might provide him further insight into the parting curtains of her thoughts, the captain lets the dark spill of it wash over and through him, gleaning slow understanding in the gloom.

"You'll be painted a villain in more than one story," he warns, though quite why he feels it necessary to defend whatever kernel of light still exists within the Doubletake is beyond even his comprehension. "People won't stop wantin' what we have. We might have to kill to keep it. Maybe worse than kill." And whilst that is par for the course when it comes to the captain, for all of Flora's burning glory and lofty aspirations, she's still made it clear what type of life she does not want.

And he's not convinced her ideas will marry up in practice. As Remi Taliesin had also discovered, after all, no rules don't necessarily mean no consequences.

flora

"As opposed to what?" Flora wonders softly, sinking back onto her heels. The heat of the day, of Jack's body, suddenly seemed far away and she had to stiffen against a shiver. "A spoiled brat?" She'd been that already; no doubt was still thought of that way by some. "Some princess waiting for her prince charming?" Jack would never be that, it was true, but as the years went on, it was just as unlikely for Flora. All of her parents had been painted as villains at one point in their lives, and though the queen knew that certainly wasn't the example they'd likely want her to follow, it did make the title easier to consider bearing.

Feeling her thoughts grow thorny as her mind refused to interpret Jack's words as simply being measured and thoughtful rather than just a way of keeping one foot out the door so he could leave at any time, Flora let her gaze slip from his face to one of the buttons on his shirt, studying it in silence. It was naive, she knew, to want to admit that she'd kill to keep Jack having never killed anything that was actively trying to kill her first, and yet. But then, she supposed, she actually had to have the captain the way he had her.

Sighing softly as the thickets around this particular dark garden thickened, Flora nods. "K—" Another thing to talk about later.

Just walk away, don't make me say
The only words I owe you: I told you so, I told you so