things get messy and the sky feels heavy

JACK

Jack leaves The Hanged Man without protest, even forgetting to throw a casual look over his shoulder towards Remi as Flora so willingly throws herself around him. (It would hurt to turn his head that much anyway, he tells himself). Silent until the bar is long behind them and the boardwalk has turned to soft, hot sand, the captain clears his throat and keeps his arm slung around Flora's shoulders.

"Your dear old dad is much more of a delight than I remember," he says roughly, a humourless smile on his lips, his eyes on the endless blue of a Longheat sky that stretches across the horizon. "Remind me not to get on his bad side, mm?"

Because of course he's going to play it fucking cool, even if the Doubletake wasn't walking alongside him. "There's some water back at the ship," he continues, feeling the strange need to clarify it despite the fact that Flora likely already knows very well where they are going.

when I look at something, I see it for what it could be
when I look at something, I see how it ends

Code stolen from Queen Sky

Flora

For all the times Jack had felt Flora's mind simmering with heat and flames, never before had her thoughts scalded quite like this. That she's silent is only because she's roasting Ronin's words on a spit, turning them over and over above the heat, making sure the flames touched every side of them. All that he'd said under the guise of being a good dad—about moving too fast, of using Jack as some way of passing the time, the age gap between them, of not caring about what sort of man Jack was—had Flora clenching her teeth hard enough to add to the headache brewing behind her eyes.

Jolted out of her thoughts by Jack's voice, Flora glances up at him briefly before returning her gaze to the sand and humming something under her breath. Flora certainly wasn't trying to hide her emotions, but then it hardly mattered at all if the crew thought the Doubletake was in a pissy mood when they boarded the Ark. If anything it'd probably mean they'd leave she and Jack alone.

I don't like that falling feels like flying
'til the bone crush

Code stolen from Queen Sky

JACK

Unable not to wince as Flora's thoughts bubble and boil over, the captain had initially been spared the full details of the mirror conversation that had occurred between Doubletake and Knight - he'd been a bit busy trying not to get murdered, truth be told. But now he's able to hear it play back in stereo, it doesn't exactly make him feel better, but like the woman at his side, Jack falls silent and keeps his steps swift across the sand.

Already sweating by the time they reach The Ark, he conjures a cool breeze around them as they head up the gangplank, gesturing for Flora to go ahead and lead the way to his cabin - where he presumes they are going, anyway. The crew, of course, think he's done something to piss her off, and so they offer little more than muttered condolences as he follows after her.

when I look at something, I see it for what it could be
when I look at something, I see how it ends

Code stolen from Queen Sky

Flora

There likely isn't 40ft between them as Jack sends her off toward his cabin, but Flora can hope that at least with distance comes a bit of a dampening on his magic that she might let herself stew in the overwhelming embarrassment she'd tried to keep from him. On the walk over it had been easy enough to focus solely on how furious she was, but gods there was nothing quite like having your Dads yell at you and your BoYfRienD to really make a girl feel fucking young. Really, that's where the majority of her anger stemmed from, that Remi and Ronin's little stint probably had knocked Flora down a few maturity pegs in Jack's eyes, especially as she could only assume that if Ronin had tried to drive the age-gap point home to her, Remi had done it to Jack as well.

As Jack opens his door, he'll find Flora standing up from where she'd been slumped over in his bed, a cloth covered in healing water already in her hand. Waiting for the door to click closed, she exhales a pent-up breath, her thoughts a marshy swamp of anger and fear. "I'm so sorry, I don't know what they were thinking." She says with a small shake of her head. Despite the heat Flora's face had gone quite pale but for the spots of colour high in her cheeks.

I don't like that falling feels like flying
'til the bone crush

Code stolen from Queen Sky

JACK

Oh, Remi had done that and then some, but honestly, if embarrassment is what's at the forefront of Flora's mind, then things are better than Jack might have expected them to be. He's slow to follow after her - he has to make the show convincing after all - but soon enough he does step into the cabin, clicking the door shut behind him and twisting the key in the lock to keep the world out. Physically, at least.

Shrugging out of his shirt and holding out a grateful hand for the cloth saturated with healing water that she's already prepared, Jack discards the garment and scoffs to her with a raise of his brows. "I do," he quips. He knows exactly what they were thinking, much to his chagrin. "Not to worry, though. Heard most of it before growin' up, though it's been a hot second since a grown-ass man gave me a verbal dressin' down."

when I look at something, I see it for what it could be
when I look at something, I see how it ends

Code stolen from Queen Sky

Flora

Handing him the cloth, Flora rubbed at her arms, feeling suddenly nervous and out of place in a room that she'd become so used to. Without the luxury of telepathy, unlike Jack, the Doubletake had no way of knowing whether or not he was taking into consideration the things Remi had said to him; whether or not he'd been moved by the Bastion's words or fists.

"They had no right. Especially not like that." Frowning, her gaze directed somewhere at Jack's desk as she worked her jaw loose from the way it was threatening to keep clenching, she swallowed bitterly. Of course she'd expected her parents to have something to say about what was going on, but she hadn't expected an ambush, least of all one in her own bar. "You've probably heard how my side of things went." She muttered, forcing her gaze back toward the captain before combing her fingers anxiously through her hair.

"Is that..." Glancing at the mark on Jack's throat, Flora's gaze lifts. "What did he say?"

I don't like that falling feels like flying
'til the bone crush

Code stolen from Queen Sky

JACK

"Don't fret, love," Jack mumbles, pressing the cloth against the growing bruise on his neck as he leans against the edge of his desk. "Not even death's demigod can keep me from what I want." He tips her a wink, before closing his eyes momentarily to let the water do its work - he'd quite like to talk without it grating with pain, if he's honest. Only once he feels the pain start to ebb away does he glance back at her, tired and irked in equal measure.

"Mm, I did. It was like hearin' the same thing twice, but one of 'em had manners," he says with a scoff. As for what Remi said? "Oh, where to start? You're a child - we're both childish, actually, but I'm too old for you, and not good enough for you. I don't get to be with someone like you. An' when you wake up and realise I ain't what you wanted, dear ol' Dad and the rest of Caido's demigods will be waitin' to come and take me out."

Honestly, though? That's fine. Whatever to that.

"He also called me a fuckin' pirate, so... y'know. I'm gonna blow a hole in his houseboat with a cannon next week."

Still. It really wasn't what Remi had said so much as what he had thought that has the captain replaying the conversation over in his mind.

when I look at something, I see it for what it could be
when I look at something, I see how it ends

Code stolen from Queen Sky

Flora

Unwilling to let herself get too carried away by Jack's phrasing, despite how intentional she's sure it is, the queen can only smirk. "That being keeping your head on your shoulders and not losing out on your new immortality?" Flora's laugh is a touch forced, though there is more of a sparkle sifting through her thoughts as her aqua eyes rise toward Jack's.

"Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh." Says Alexis Rose. Folding her arms across her chest and storming her way across the cabin and then back again, Flora doesn't feel even the slightest bit better for her minimalist temper tantrum, leaving her anxiety simmering too close to the surface for her to do much more than just fidget. "Well, they can compare notes then, because I told Ronin that all of that is bullshit." She huffs, combing her fingers through her curls once more.

Mention of piracy and cannon fodder has a small smile curling onto Flora's lips as she reaches to take the cloth from Jack and re-wet it from his supply. "That's really what got you, huh?" She chuckles, returning to stand before him and nodding at his chin that he should lift it and let her place the cloth this time.

I don't like that falling feels like flying
'til the bone crush

Code stolen from Queen Sky

JACK

"Mmhm, exactly that. Nothin' more," Jack confirms breezily, though the sly look in his eyes matches the sparkle in Flora's, and he contents himself in watching her minor explosion from the bed, across the cabin and back again. "Oh? I admire your decorum. I told Remi he was a shitty parent, and called him dad. That's when he hit me." He'd apologise if he was sorry about it, and the suppressed smirk on his face suggests that he very much isn't.

Feeling himself relax in a way that's almost suspicious as Flora returns to stand in front of him, Jack lifts his chin for her to dab at the remaining bruise on his neck, closing his eyes. "Of course that's what got me," he says petulantly, brows pulling together in a frown. "I ain't a fuckin' pirate." And of course that should be that, but it isn't, and it's in a quieter tone that Jack continues.

"Your old man really doesn't think much of me." He scoffs. "Cut from the wrong cloth was the phrase he used in his head, I think. Bad. Weaselly. Reminds me of the shit people used to think about me when I was a kid." And despite the lightness in his tone, that had kind of fucking sucked.

when I look at something, I see it for what it could be
when I look at something, I see how it ends

Code stolen from Queen Sky

Flora

Unable to help it, Flora bursts into laughter, and if their current topic of conversation wasn't so serious, she might have interrupted to ask Jack what sort of fight the crew must have been thinking they were having to hear laughter following the sounds of her stomping across his cabin. "Gods, I bet the look on his face was worth it, though." She chuckles, and it's only as she turns to wet the cloth that the context of Jack calling Remi Dad clicks into place.

Softly pressing the cloth against the lingering areas of dark red, Flora's eyes sift softly over the captain's face as he closes his eyes, smiling to herself as he adamantly repeated that he wasn't a pirate. Insert that skeptical gif of Jim here. "Well, you using cannons to blow up his houseboat will absolutely show him."

"Fuck sake." Flora whispers angrily, before nudging herself between Jack's knees in order to press herself gently against him. Dragging the cloth down his neck and then across one shoulder, the queen gives her head a small shake, her mind suddenly an arsenal of weapons to use against either of her parents, should the captain want them. "Well, I hope you gave as good as you got." With a man like Jack she doubted if it would do much good to tell him that she was really sorry her Dad was mean to him, even if the thought was clear in her mind. Instead, she just cupped his cheek softly with one of her hands, her eyebrows raised. "You aren't those things." She whispers emphatically, her thumb brushing softly against the swell of his cheek.

I don't like that falling feels like flying
'til the bone crush

Code stolen from Queen Sky

JACK

An unhinged one, Jack might have supplied, of what the crew believes about their fight based on Flora's laughter, before she's returning to smooth away what's left of his bruises with the cloth. "Wish I could comment. Couldn't really see his face with the way his arm was crushing my throat." He smirks, shrugging and thinking more about the look on Remi's face when he comes home to find his house has sunk to the bottom of the Arclight.

"Pirates target ships like mine. You know, ships carryin' valuable shit," he tells her stiffly, giving her an elbow to the ribs for good measure, though he doesn't stop her from leaning in and against him. If anything, Jack's arms slip around her waist, his head tilting to the side to allow for the path the cloth in her hands wants to take. "Mm, I reckon I got under his skin a bit. That's enough for now," he mutters.

The hand on his cheek is unexpected, Jack almost pulling away from it before thinking twice, and he huffs out a mirthless laugh. "Nah, I think most people would agree that I'm bad in some form or another," he teases. Wrong, though? He'll happily grind that word away under his heel.

when I look at something, I see it for what it could be
when I look at something, I see how it ends

Code stolen from Queen Sky

Flora

"Mmhmm." Flora hums in agreement, the word breaking into laughter as she's elbowed, and with it, her thoughts shattering prettily like a mirror ball. "Well, I'll make sure you have a front row seat to see the look on his face when I tear a strip off of him." No doubt it was what he and Ronin were scheming planning anyway, some way to get their points across again and to make sure that she knew they were just being caring parents instead of assholes.

"Everyone is bad in some form or another." Flora sasses right back with a small roll of her eyes. "The pair of them included." The hand on his cheek shifts, her fingers sliding all the way through his dark hair before curling around his shoulders. "I am sorry about it, though." She admits, clearing her throat ever so slightly, her eyes dropping down to his bare chest and the serpent coiling up toward his heart. "I figured they'd ambush me one day, but I didn't think they'd do it to you, and I really didn't think Remi would lay a hand on you." As her fingers tighten against his shoulder her thoughts begin to smoulder once more despite how relaxed her expression remains.

"I'll make sure that doesn't happen again." She vows in a low voice.

I don't like that falling feels like flying
'til the bone crush

Code stolen from Queen Sky

JACK

"A front row seat, huh?" Jack raises his eyebrows, and no small part of him would relish the opportunity. "So long as I've got a clear escape route, I'm in." One doesn't have to be a coward to not want to be stuck somewhere with Remi Taliesin. (And Jack can confirm that, given that he's very recently experienced it himself).

He doesn't expect the wisdom that spills from her lips, though honestly, with as much time as Jack spends around Flora these days, he really ought not be so surprised. Tipping his head forward ever so slightly for her fingers to play through the back of his hair, he gives a non-committal shrug that's about as good as any agreement.

"You didn't? I could have bet you my ship that he would," he says with a crooked smile, though of course that's easy to say now that it's actually happened. And where some men might have felt insecure about the fires that begin to burn in Flora's eyes, the captain absolutely knows better; if anything, he only draws her closer against him. "I believe you," he murmurs, leaning in for a kiss as slow as it is hungry.

when I look at something, I see it for what it could be
when I look at something, I see how it ends

Code stolen from Queen Sky

Flora

'You can wear my ring.' Flora offers, her lips curling into a mischievous smile, before she shrugs softly against him, her hips shifting back and forth between his hands as if to encourage them to pull her closer.

"I mean it." Softly said, the queen's eyes softened somewhat, the smouldering coals of her thoughts dousing as her fingers paused in their wandering as if to better hold Jack's gaze. The things her Dads had said about him, the implications they'd made, the regret she felt that he'd had to hear them at all. It wasn't on Flora to fight the captain's battles for him nor to keep him safe, but from what little he'd told her of his past, he'd suffered enough injustices to have the flames of her anger burning with far more righteousness than Remi would likely see coming.

"No." Shaking her head slightly, Flora drops the cloth onto his desk in order to twine her arms probably around his neck. "That's...I know it's a very Remi thing to have done, but it's a line he's going to wish he never crossed." There had always been how the Bastion had treated the world and then how he'd treated his family, and though it was too early by a large margin to count Jack among that number, by extension as someone Flora cared about, he should have had a far better hold on his temper, Jack's goading or no.

Melting against him, Flora's tongue slips past his lips, her body pressing forward to deepen the kiss as her fingers roam greedily up through his hair once more.

I don't like that falling feels like flying
'til the bone crush

Code stolen from Queen Sky