[SE] you'll never know it's coming

there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters

"Unsurprisingly that doesn't fill me with confidence," Jack drawls, accidentally voicing what Flora's thoughts have already surmised. "Though I daresay the regular wisps are probably pretty tame compared to these." All that is to say that he has no intention of following them to find out what they might have in store, and he also resists the urge to look behind them until he can once again hear the lapping water of the estuary and the trees begin to thin out.

Raising his eyebrows - almost breaking up or not, the appearance of any Family member is enough to sober the captain considerably, no matter how innocuous Vox might be compared to the others - and squeezing her closer against his side, he has to force his jaw to unclench before he speaks. "But he didn't do anythin' to you?" he asks in a low voice, finally glancing back as they emerge from the woods. No will-o-voids, thankfully.

"Well, looks like we're findin' a different way of gettin' to the village."

you look like my next mistake

Snorting under her breath, it's a rare thing for Flora to be more knowledgable of their surroundings than Jack, and the smug flush that heats her thoughts more than says she enjoys the captain's relative ignorance about all things Greatwood.

"Mmm-mm." The queen gives her head a little shake, savouring the protective tightening of Jack's arm around her. "He said he was flattered I was talking about him, then he just disappeared." Wrinkling her nose, Flora tilts her head, realizing that wasn't quite right. "Or...I mean he never really appeared. The air just buzzed and we could hear him talking, but not directly into our minds the way he normally does."

As they emerge, Flora takes a breath before finally allowing herself a look over her shoulder. "We can go back the same way, we'll just ask the forest to take us on a route that doesn't have any weird void creatures in it. I'm sure it'll listen."

there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters

"Yeah, yeah, smug it up," Jack drawls, smirking as he feels the press of her enjoyment against the web of his magic. "Since this place got a little more hospitable, I've been payin' more visits. Won't be long and maybe I'll even know a thing or two you don't." All of which is to say that Jack absolutely isn't used to being the biggest know-it-all in the room. And he does not care for it.

"Bet he was just tryin' to remind you that he's around. Always. Listenin', or whatever." Wrinkling his nose and resisting the urge to scrape through their surroundings with his telepathy for any sign of the perpetual purple voice in their heads, he instead slows his steps as they arrive back where they've begun.

And he grumbles, remembering the whole asking the forest part of travelling the Greatwood with all the skepticism Flora has likely come to expect from him. "You'd better be the one to do the navigatin' this time around, then," he says, gesturing for her to go first. "The trees like you more."

you look like my next mistake

Flora preens, absolutely basking in Jack’s begrudging concession, even if it's more of a complaint than an actual admission of her superior knowledge. "Ooooh, is that so?" she hums, tilting her chin up at him, a slow grin curling across her lips. "Last year you'd never even seen a forest before, and now suddenly I'm going to be schooled on my childhood home, huh?"she teases, giving his coat a playful little tug; though for all her sarcasm, she'd love to know what the Greatwood looks like through Jack's eyes.

"Yeah, well," she mutters, exhaling sharply. "I hated it." Because the implication of Vox always listening, always watching, is something she doesn’t particularly want to think about. Instead, she pivots to the task at hand, rolling her shoulders before turning her attention to the woods. "Alright, alright," she sighs, shaking out her hands as if that’ll somehow make communing with the Greatwood easier. "A silver tongue won't get you as far here, but sugared?" With a theatrical clearing of her throat, she steps forward, pressing her palms lightly against the nearest tree trunk.

The thing about the Greatwood is that it does listen—when it wants to. And it does seem to like her, or at least tolerate her in a way it certainly doesn't tolerate outsiders even though its been years since she lived amidst the trees. "Hey there, beautiful," she murmurs, her voice dipping into something honey-sweet, the way she might talk to a particularly charming stranger at the Hanged Man. "Mind showing us a way that doesn't involve those creepy things wandering around your paths?" Her fingers trace the bark in slow, absent patterns as she tilts her head, and wouldn't you know it, should the pair look closer, the path they'd just come from now looks subtly different.

there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters

"All the more reason for me to get acquainted with it, no?" Jack quips, resisting the urge to roll his eyes, though the amusement on his face is starting to crack through the surliness. "Maybe if we pay another visit to the House of Midnight I'll give you my thoughts about it." The Greatwood, its places and inhabitants, all splashed against the walls like a rich and living tapestry.

"You and me both," Jack mutters, of hating it, and though he and Flora haven't spoken further about the whole no thank you I will still be fighting the void situation, part of what he has in mind is a way to get some peace and fucking quiet against the static little prick in their heads. "And go on, then. Show me your sweetness."

Stepping aside with a flourish to let Flora do whatever it is she's going to do with the trees, while Jack is still as dubious as they come, even he can't deny the truth before his eyes and the subtle shift in the dirt pathway they'd taken just a few moments ago. "What'd I have to do to get you to talk to me like that?" he asks, nudging her gently before setting off through the undergrowth a second time.

you look like my next mistake

Flora’s eyes light up at the mere suggestion of going back to the House of Midnight, and she all but beams up at Jack before the words have even fully left his mouth. "Gods, yes," she breathes, eager to visit her parent's establishment and not simply to see the captain's thoughts splashed out across the walls.

His next question earns him a knowing smirk, the queen tilting her head as if considering it, though her thoughts immediately betray her—you could be sweet first; you could say you love me more; you could pin me up against one of these trees; you could marry me— But then she’s rolling her shoulders in a lazy shrug, aqua eyes glinting with playful mischief. "I'm going to assume that's rhetorical," she purrs, slipping her hand into his.

The queen's thoughts don't stay radiant for long, and before enough time has passed for a companionable silence to fall between them, she's nibbling at the inside of one cheek and stealing glances at Jack over one shoulder. "If you're going to fight the Family, I'm going with you," Flora announces softly. "But maybe before that happens, can we talk about some of the other things we could do that don't just involve declaring war?"

there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters

"You know what they say about assumptions," Jack says, smirking between two trees at a squirrel that's darting between the branches - no sign of wisps, voids, or anything else remotely purple again for now. Perhaps he will be sweet first - stranger things have happened in Caido, after all. For instance, his fingers close easily around her own, their warmth somewhat blocked by his gloved hands, but he's nonetheless keen not to let her go wandering given the way the Greatwood has a propensity to change at a moment's notice.

He's absently marked out the path they've taken so far in his mind when Flora speaks again, and telepathy or no, surprise shoots through his expression. "Oh?" he says, wisely not mentioning how she seems to have changed her mind since their talk on the beach. "Well that's good to hear, because I've got plenty of plans and ideas in that regard anyway. Safrin mentioned Hadama and Deimos have been given the tools to fight against the void already. I've invited them to meet me at the village to talk. This was before I knew I'd be runnin' into you here, obviously."

you look like my next mistake

"Mmm, I think I've made enough of an ass out of both of us for today," Flora concedes, flashing the captain a crooked smile.

As they walk, her fingers trace absent circles against the back of Jack's glove, her steps still easy, though her expression has turned more thoughtful. "I met with them before I came up north actually. And Sunjata." Her thoughts flicker briefly to the conversation in the bar, the way her frustration had gnawed at her patience until she was snapping at them almost the same way she had with Jack.

"Ronin is infected." Though she blurts the words out, there wouldn't have been any softening the news even had she toed around it before saying something; not with a telepath, anyway. "Which may or may not mean he wouldn't bring me back if I died, so...I've asked Remi to sort that out." Though Flora had always fallen back on the abilities of her parents, she'd never found herself hindered by them before, and the fact that she felt hobbled because of it wasn't something she was particularly fond of.

there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters

"Maybe I'll be the one to start makin' an ass of us for the rest of the day. Give you a break, y'know?" Jack shrugs a casual shoulder, turning a corner down the trail and using his air magic to sweep away a few branches that have fallen in their path as they walk. "Oh? That's no bad thing, I s'pose. Get everyone on the same page with all this shit." As much as they can, anyway.

Which, based on what Flora says next, might be much more difficult than anticipated. "Sorry, what?" Forgive Jack his confusion, but Ronin White Knight Taliesin falling prey to the void has not been on his bingo card for this year, and they're barely into the season as it is. His eyes narrow, as if putting together the webwork of fuckery that the Family have caused; between the infections running rampant and the destruction of the hotsprings, he really doesn't know what Dahlia and her cohort have to complain about.

"Well, here's hopin' he can sort it out sooner rather than late. Until then, though..." Reaching into his coat with his free hand, Jack withdraws a familiar and very rare feather, offering it out to Flora. "Keep that."

you look like my next mistake

Flora exhales sharply, shaking her head. "I don’t even think I’m on the same page as anyone when it comes to this," she mutters, frowning. "I might as well have been speaking another godsdamn language in that meeting. Not that I’d expect the three of them to just agree with me, but—" She cuts herself off with a sharp sigh, rolling her shoulders like she can shake off the frustration still clinging to her. "After all this death and failure I thought maybe they'd be willing to entertain an idea that wasn't just running straight into war, but I guess not."

She nods at his next words, sobering slightly. "Sunjata said he saw extra eyes on him at the Festival of Lights, but it's possible he was infected way longer than just around that time." The thought is a sour one, curling uneasily in her stomach, but she doesn’t let it settle—not when Jack is suddenly offering her the feather.

For a moment, she just stares at it. At him. At the easy way he holds it out to her, like it’s the most natural thing in the world, like it’s not one of the rarest things in Caido and something she knows he wouldn’t part with lightly. Her heart clenches in her chest, an unexpected ache settling behind her ribs, and if she wasn't suddenly drowning in a riptide of affection, she might have made some quip about how she hadn't actually hadn't expected him to actually be so sweet so soon after she'd thought it.

But instead, she shakes her head, reaching out to gently push his hand back toward him. "No, you keep it," she murmurs, voice softer, warmer, something fond curling at the edges of her words. "You’re the one with more plans to be actively reckless right now." Her smirk flickers back into place, though her aqua eyes are still impossibly adoring. "At least this way, only one of us can be stupid at at a time."

there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters

"You thought that speakin' to Hadama, as ramrod straight as it gets, Deimos who is more soldier than man, and Sunjata, rebellion incarnate, would entertain an idea that doesn't let 'em wave weapons and run into glory and danger?" Jack can't help but bark out a laugh at that, though he squeezes Flora's fingers between his own, as if to say he does appreciate that it wouldn't have been an easy meeting by any stretch of the imagination.

Scrunching his nose as she continues about Ronin's infection - and its presentation - Jack huffs out a breath and shakes his head. "Well, however long it's been, let's hope it's somethin' reversed sooner rather than later. I know your dear old dad ain't much use when it comes to actual war when it comes to these particular enemies, but he's a safety net we could really do with keepin' hold of."

The same sort of safety net that he offers so effortlessly out towards Flora before he even properly realises he's done it, something that surprises both of them as the tide of shock and delight wash over him from her thoughts. "...Yeah. If you change your mind, though," he says slowly, quickly sequestering the feather back away and flashing her a quick smirk, as if to move swiftly past the moment of sweetness on his part.

"I prefer daring and cunning, thank you," he quips. "Though I s'pose it can be argued that my plans might look stupid to the uninitated."

you look like my next mistake

Flora huffs, rolling her eyes even as Jack’s assessment of the demigods gnaws at the edges of her frustration. "Okay, fine," she mutters, squeezing his fingers in return. "But still. King's End, the Grounds, and Halo were all attacked during LongNight, and yet they still think they’re in a position to make some grand stand against the Family, rather than, oh I don't know, trying to make the Refuge in King's End actually safe from the Family?" Replaying enough of the conversation in her mind for Jack to get the gist of it—that if the trio of them were strong enough to go to Starfall and steal from the Family's personal island then they were strong enough to get a little drop of blood from Dahlia—Flora exhales sharply, shaking her head before moving on, because there’s no use in rehashing the whole conversation.

"Dahlia said that if Ronin or Remi interfere again, they’ll be coming for me and Mateo next. So, infected or not, I’d say you can count those two out of your plans." There’s no real bite to her tone, but there’s something unsettled beneath her words, something sharp and uneasy that she doesn’t try to hide from him. She hates the idea that the Family has anything they can hold over her parents, but even more than that, she hates the idea that they might actually make good on their threats. All the more reason for Remi to cure Ronin, she thinks.

Which is why, instead of dwelling on it, she lets herself be drawn back into something lighter, flashing Jack a smirk as she nudges her shoulder against his. "Be that as it may," she purrs, tilting her chin up at him, "if you remember, I stormed half a world away rather than listening to your plans, soooo, if you care to initiate me, I'm all ears."

there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters

Falling quiet to listen - both to Flora's comments and the conversation she feeds him through her thoughts - Jack scoffs and shakes his head once she's finished. "You're right, though," he says. "We're always on the defensive. Family members poppin' up to kill us or chip into our conversations. It's about time all our strongest went and pinned one of 'em down. They're good at makin' us feel scattered to the wind."

Drawing Flora flush against his side as he feels the cadence of her emotions turn prickly and sharp, Jack sighs and nods gently. "I'd already considered that," he admits - not that he likes it any. "I wonder if you an' Mateo might get somethin' to protect you from Family members? It'd be like takin' the shackles off your fathers."

As for his own plans, Jack lets out a soft laugh and inclines his head to her. "By all means," he drawls. "But my most conniving plans are best shared over some good liquor, so I'll tell you once we're back in civilisation if it's all the same to you."

you look like my next mistake

Humming a note of surprise as well as delight as she's tugged firmly back to Jack's side, Flora can't help the way her thoughts begin to gild softly despite their current topic of conversation.

At his suggestion, though, she scoffs, arching a brow up at him as she leans into his warmth. "Thing is, to do that I'm pretty sure we'd need a piece of them, and while I know I'm not the most selfless person out there, I think it would make way more sense to protect an entire part of King's End than it would just to keep me or Mateo safe." It was that thinking that had her wanting to go to Dahlia in the first place, because if it came down to the sacrifice of a few over the death or enslavement of basically everyone...well, that was math even someone like Flora could do pretty easily.

At his final remark, she grins, rolling her eyes before leaning up to press a quick, warm kiss to his jaw. "Oh, so you do want to get me drunk before revealing your grand schemes?" she purrs, fingers squeezing his. "Is that so I can't storm off as easily, or so that I'll be easier to convince?"