this ain't for the best

flora

Did Jack's telepathy work while he was sleeping? Flora didn't know, nor had it been a consideration as she'd pulled herself out of her bed to stare down toward the docks where the Ark was still moored; it wasn't a consideration as she lined her eyes with kohl and dressed in the gown Asta had purchased for her, made of skin-tight red lace and wine-dark satin; it wasn't a consideration as she'd twisted her ring in order to board the Ark without anyone's notice, not that there was anything more than a skeletal crew milling about giving the late hour.

Only now, standing before Jack's door, it was a consideration as Flora lifted her knuckles to lightly knock upon the wood before pausing. Standing in a puddle of shadow away from the moonlight, there was nothing at risk of giving away her invisibility, not unless someone planned on barging into the captain's quarters. So, resting her hand against the frame instead, the queen closed her eyes and filled her mind with thoughts of ringed fingers touching the lace gown hugging her curves before tearing through its intricate weave, of a still healing mark on the inside of her thigh tattooed over by a new pair of lips, of a man who might not have been in love with her, but sure as fuck wasn't in love with anyone else either.

Pressing her fingertips against the wood of the door frame, Flora let her thoughts grow ragged and wild, taking on their own contour and colour as inspiration struck: icy cold fingers against her spine, hands rough in her hair and lips soft against her cheek, kisses that tastes of whiskey or rum—sweet at first before burning the rest of the way down. Only when they turned to thoughts of days prior, of sultry voices and declarations of love did she actively control the narrative, subbing out those memories for lurid and scarlett fantasies instead.

We can't make any promises now can we babe?
But you can make me a drink.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

JACK

The answer to Flora's question, as it happens, is yes, but. The good captain's magic might be active whilst he's sleeping - probably more so than at any other time, without his deliberate mental barriers in place - but he's still very much asleep. It's only if something dangerous or unusual (or apparently sexy, Flora) starts thinking very loudly nearby that he's likely to stir, just as someone whispering in an ordinary person's ear might wake them.

However, without the adrenaline of an immediate fight or crisis to lurch him into wakefulness, Jack's realisation of the siren outside his door is more gradual. Blue eyes open slowly, as if mistaking Flora's thoughts for a dream, until the images that dance through his mind become more intentional, curling a catlike smile across his face.

He doesn't know what has brought the Doubletake to his door tonight and he won't care until much later on; already the panorama of ripping lace and greedy hands and lips dragging across her inner thighs is enough to wake him in all the right places, Jack rolling from his bunk and straightening into a lazy stretch.

The door to the cabin opens to reveal the captain in a pair of unbuttoned pants sitting low on his hips, already tenting quite obviously at the front. With dark hair tousled by sleep and blue eyes still not entirely tuned into the world at large, he tilts his head at the seemingly empty space, raising an eyebrow before stepping back as if to welcome in the open air, waiting for it to reveal itself as golden curls and deep red satin.

sometimes we put our hearts in the wrong places
(what the fuck is it doing between your teeth?)

Code stolen from Queen Sky

flora

It's lucky for them both, perhaps, that Flora has no shortage of fantasies from which to draw from, such that even though it might take a few moments for the captain to stir, the queen isn't at risk of running out of ideas and leaving his doorway. Luckier still, it doesn't occur to Flora to think that Jack might not be in, or worse, might not be alone.

As the door opens, the sight of the captain has something unspooling in Flora's belly; the way sleep still clings to him has the memory of the one actual night they'd spent together tickling at the back of her thoughts and wrapping soft hands around her throat that causes her breath to catch. Scratching her nails lightly across the muscles that point down past the buttons Jack had failed to do up as she slips in, Flora waits for the door to click closed before tangling her arms around the captain's shoulders in order to drag his lips against hers. Forgetting about her invisibility, for the moment Jack will have to rely on his sense of touch if he's at all interested in what Doubletake is wearing. Pressing herself against him, any amount of roaming on the part of his hands will reveal the way that only lace composes the top of the gown such that it fits Flora like a second skin, to where it envelopes her waist and curves in sleek sheets of satin beneath the lace that's cool to the touch thanks to the night air.

"I only put this on for you to tear it off." Flora whispers, and if Jack's hands haven't already started to wander over the lace corsetted around her, she'll set him on his way.

We can't make any promises now can we babe?
But you can make me a drink.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

JACK

Sipping in a shivering breath to feel unseen fingers tickling across his hips - evidently Jack is not yet awake enough to keep perfect track of Flora's invisible movements - the captain also waits for the door to click shut before stepping in and against the Doubletake. His eyes close and it matters little now whether he can actually see her; with her mind painting a tableau of lurid colours and insatiable hues, his hands are absolutely already beginning to wander, savouring the feel of snug lace begging to be torn from her body.

"Good," he rumbles, his voice sleep rough and low, "it's tight enough to make me jealous of it." To make him want to cover her with his touch instead, and already he's exploring the way the lace hugs her ribs and cups her breasts. Once he's given it a true inspection, such that he'd likely be able to guess at the pattern even with invisibility and closed eyes, only then to his fingers catch and snag at the hem, fists promptly clenching to rip the bodice away.

The sound of tearing lace is a perfect accompanying melody to Flora's thoughts, Jack discarding a section of the dress he's entirely torn, splashing scarlet across his cabin as it becomes suddenly visible.

He couldn't care less what colour it is at this point, alas - already his kisses are migrating down the soft column of Flora's neck and to her collarbones, the captain evidently intending to kneel before her where he might give a similar treatment to her satin skirts.

sometimes we put our hearts in the wrong places
(what the fuck is it doing between your teeth?)

Code stolen from Queen Sky

flora

"Do something about it, then." Flora encourages as she breathes out instead of up if only to better fill the spaces between Jack's fingers. Her fingers tangle in his hair, her mouth against his neck, and though the memory of kissing roses against the butcher's skin keeps her from doing the same, she still forms wordless pleas that her mind echoes out in bright reds and golds.

As Jack's fingers tug at the lace, the brief moment of tension between the pull of his hand and the intricate weave of the gown has Flora holding her breath, and in the seconds that follow the delicious sound of tearing lace, it feels as if she's actually able to breathe again. As if she'd been holding her breath in the hopes of things being different ever since she'd placed her hands on Asta's cheeks in the Tavern, and only now with his dress in tatters, could she properly dispel that hope.

Twisting her ring as the discarded bolt of lace reminds her that she isn't visible, Flora shifts enough to lean against Jack's desk (being mindful of his stupid maps), before gathering up the silk and lace into her hands and revealing the yellow-grey bruise on the inside of her thigh. "Make it go away," she whispers, her lips parted and cheeks flushed. How he chose to do that she didn't care; healing water, bruising over it, carving it out, it didn't matter.

We can't make any promises now can we babe?
But you can make me a drink.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

JACK

Only as his kisses dip further south and Flora becomes visible to him does Jack have sense enough to pick up on the fever flush of the Doubletake's thoughts; the way the heat that rolls out of her feels brittle, the way the pitch of her need borders on desperate, and not in a lusting, playful way. Nipping at the soft swell of her breast - barely enough to graze teeth, in truth - he settles back on his knees with a raised eyebrow as his eyes take in the yellowish bruise.

"Anything else you'd like me to take care of while I'm at it?" he almost whispers, and though Jack is already shifting forward to cover the bruise with his own lips, the intensity in his eyes as they flash up towards Flora is clear; anything or anyone. With healing water a step or ten too far away and the queen's warm body preferable to the cold blade of a knife, leaving his own mark over it is the least the captain can do.

It isn't kissing it better, exactly - but it is kissing it, more or less.

His eyes slip shut once more as he leaves a fresh bruise in the wake of his lips, one that will darken sooner rather than later, but his kisses continue to move inward after that point, Jack encouraging Flora's legs over his shoulders and for her to lean further against his desk, stupid maps be damned.

sometimes we put our hearts in the wrong places
(what the fuck is it doing between your teeth?)

Code stolen from Queen Sky

flora

Meeting his eyes down the length of her body, the queen sips in a breath before giving her head a shake. Much as she'd joked with Hadama the day after about starting a war with the Grounds or going after Danta and Asta personally, at the end of the day, all she actually wanted now was "you," the queen whispers almost without having realized it. "I only want you." That Jack's mouth begins to break blood vessels beneath the surface of Flora's skin when he does, has welcome waves of dull pain flooding the Doubletake's mind, pushing away whatever other thoughts might have followed I only want you.

Tangling one of her hands through a bit of lace hanging down from her waist, the trajectory of Flora's thoughts shiver for a moment as Jack's kisses wander up her thigh. Yanking at the fabric hard enough to have the table rocking from beneath her, the queen swallows as she slides a hand between her thighs interrupting the likely path Jack had intended to take. "I said for you to tear it off, Jack." Flora reminds him as her lips curl into a smile.

With her legs still over his shoulders, Flora leans back on one arm—she's definitely knocked something over, sorry about it—as her fingers slowly circle her clit. Gazing at him, her thoughts are wrapped in delicate lace and tulle that beg to be torn as he'd done with her bodice.

We can't make any promises now can we babe?
But you can make me a drink.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

JACK

There's no mistake that Jack is an arrogant man - Flora has known as much from the moment she met him and beyond that - and so whilst one might expect her words to flutter some sort of discomfort in him given his mile-high commitment issues, it also strokes the fuck out of his ego. He knows which one is worth listening to right now. And the Doubletake indeed guesses correctly regarding the path his mouth had intended to take, so it's with a rough laugh that the captain settles back, inclining his head as if she's just asked him the most gentlemanly thing in the world.

There's no savouring the fabric before tearing it this time, no feeling the way the satin and tulle hug her curves or pool against her legs; ripping through the material with the blunt impatience of a man keen to get to the prize waiting beneath, Jack all but shreds the length of the skirt until he reaches the place where it melts into remnants of lace. Smirking and leaning in towards her waist, its with hands and teeth that he parts the dress from Flora's body for good, leaving it to open like flower petals around her.

sometimes we put our hearts in the wrong places
(what the fuck is it doing between your teeth?)

Code stolen from Queen Sky

flora

With each seam that yields beneath his fingers and every complicated and labour-intensive lace flower that he shreds, Flora feels as a euphoric release deep in her core. Like being bound in a corset that was far too small and being able to breathe little by little with every released eyelet, the queen weaves in flickers of literal pleasure as her finger continues its circles between her thighs even as Jack leans over her.

Crying out with relief and the dark thrill of knowing that something so beautiful was now ruined beyond repair, Flora straightens shakily on her elbow. In the low light of Jack's cabin, the captain's eyes look nearly black, though the queen has seen enough of him to pick out the slivers of deepest blue even without the help of the moonlight streaking through in rigid shafts from the window.

Shivers of pleasure have Flora's shoulders twitching and her belly tensing slightly as she peers up at him, her lips parted around fractured moans as she holds his gaze. "Well?" Raising an eyebrow, for a moment the queen imagines what she must look like, splayed across his precious maps in a puddle of red lace, demanding things of him in the middle of the night while touching herself.

Don't just stand there, Jack.

We can't make any promises now can we babe?
But you can make me a drink.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

JACK

Feeling the relief as if it's his own, Jack doesn't realise he's been quite openly staring at the Doubletake until her voice hits the air. He's been watching the bands of moonlight paint her hair silver and her skin in shades of milk white, admiring the rise and fall of her breasts as she pleasures herself, legs splayed open and waiting for him to stand or kneel between them. "Forgive a man for savourin' the moment," he drawls, stepping in to claim her lips in a kiss that's much more awake than the first one she'd stolen from his lips.

With hands swarming her body, grasping at torn lace and the curve of her hips and ass, Jack takes his sweet time descending back between her thighs, pausing to linger against one of her breasts or the space just south of her belly button, peering up at her as if to judge whether he's about to be punished for being thorough.

Eventually, though, he's trailing kisses against her wrist and the back of the hand circling her clit, as if to ask for permission to take over, or at least to join in.

sometimes we put our hearts in the wrong places
(what the fuck is it doing between your teeth?)

Code stolen from Queen Sky

flora

"Nothing you haven't seen before." Flora purrs in response, her voice a touch shaky given the distraction she's imposing on herself. Pushing herself onto her elbow to press herself against his lips as she hasn't a free hand to grasp him with, as the captain's mouth begins to descend the queen sinks back down with a huff of frustration that only has her fingers moving faster.

I will spill ink over every single map on this table and use the extra to draw hearts on the walls you'll never be able to scrub out. Flora silently threatens as the captain lingers between her hips rather than her thighs. The threat hardly has any bite in it, though, because as soon as she's thought it, her mind imagines ink smeared over her hands and arms as Jack grabs for her jaw, fucking her at a punishing pace for making a mess without letting her touch herself to find release.

Were it not for the fact she'd already gotten herself quite close Flora might have further sassed the captain. Instead, it's with her toes already curling that she digs her heels into his shoulders to encourage him closer, her fingers slipping into his hair and tugging.

We can't make any promises now can we babe?
But you can make me a drink.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

JACK

The pictures Flora paints almost have Jack considering the loss of his maps worth it - almost. Regardless, the smile on his face is one of reluctant compliance; as fun as it is to tease the Doubletake, he's only teasing himself in the long run, and the second her hand makes room for him, he leans in to devour her. Able to match the pace she'd set and then some with the help of his magic, the captain hums a note of anticipation against her, fingers grasping at her thighs as if to arch her back and press her closer against his waiting mouth.

With greedy hands and a tongue relentless in its pursuit of her pleasure, Jack is already considering what they might do after he's coaxed Flora to the brink and shoved her over it. And if his hands weren't already full, he'd be touching himself as well, their thoughts combining into something reckless and fiery. He's half convinced Flora has come to his cabin to burn, though, so he doubts she'll mind.

sometimes we put our hearts in the wrong places
(what the fuck is it doing between your teeth?)

Code stolen from Queen Sky

flora

"—jack—" The first flicker of his tongue has fire burning up the back of Flora's throat such that it's all she can do to rasp out his name before clenching her teeth. Arching her back and tightening the muscles of her thighs to drag him even closer, already the queen's stuttered breaths indicate that she's not just close, but close. "—gods, jack—" The moan is small, as if having had to fit itself between the spaces in her teeth given the way her jaw kept clenching and unclenching.

Memories of joy and laughter that had filled her fit to burst when last the two were together tried to part the maroon curtain of her mind with little success. Though something flickered in Flora's chest as a result, wisely her mind focused only on the flicker of Jack's tongue between her thighs and the sound the lace had made when he'd torn it off of her.

Releasing her hand from his hair as she felt the welcome fingers of her orgasm grating down from her shoulder blades to the backs of her thighs, Flora pressed her thumb against the mark Jack had made on her inner thigh. The pain was dull and far away, but it sparked something monumental in her thoughts that had her climax crashing down on her hard and fast rather than dragging her toward some precipice only to let her flow off of it. Crying out, Flora half sat up as her muscles coiled and her legs shook, her eyes wide and her lips parted wide in a silent scream. Breathless and whimpering as if on the verge of tears despite being far from it, the queen collapsed bonelessly onto the desk as her body continued to shiver and tense with the aftershocks that bathed her mind in tones of magenta and violet.

We can't make any promises now can we babe?
But you can make me a drink.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

JACK

Flora's climax takes them both by surprise, and Jack is yanked along for the ride with fingers flinching against her thighs and a moan dragged from his throat. Despite knowing the price of overstimulation, it's with a clever tongue that he tries to prolong her pleasure as much as possible; only when he needs to gasp for breath does he part from her at last, his head lolling against her inner thigh, blue eyes glazed from the ripples of her pleasure.

"Fuck, Flora," he says, his voice rough and a smile forming around the words, despite the discomfort of his arousal still trapped behind the waistband of his pants. Gritting his teeth to stand, still breathless, he leans over the Doubletake with his hands pressed against the desk, raising his eyebrows. "'Fraid I don't have any lace for you to rip," he whispers. "Next time give me a little notice an' I'll get somethin' in."

sometimes we put our hearts in the wrong places
(what the fuck is it doing between your teeth?)

Code stolen from Queen Sky