[SE] rebel heart

there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters

Deciding not to question it any further (honestly, things keep getting more absurd the more information he gleans), instead Jack merely scoffs out a laugh and seemingly accepts the bizarre, not that he believes they've come any closer to finding said Wishing Wagon for all of the thoughts Flora has about it.

It goes to show, how subconsciously uncomfortable he's become with their surroundings, since he welcomes Flora's presence around him with little more than an arm curling about her waist to cement her against his side. With his eyes still a little far away as they glance between the darkened trees and the will-o-wisps weaving between them, it's with a long sigh that he finally looks back to the Doubletake.

"Much as it would, it ain't about me tonight, love," he reminds her, having to remind himself that being in the Greatwood at all is a gesture and a gift, rather than some trip they'd decided to take together. "You lead the way. I'll manage."

i could be the reason you can't sleep at night

Given that Jack could find something to complain about at the best of times, the fact that he'd forgo being close to water simply so that Flora could flit about her former home to her heart's content was not lost on the Doubletake. Though if he wanted to keep her thoughts from turning into a thicket of romantic inclinations whose pathways only led to the sorts of scenarios she'd dreamed about as a young girl, he might want to temper his use of the word love a bit more. "I know, but I want you to enjoy yourself here too." That way he'd want to come back sooner than just her next birthday.

Then again...since it was her birthday and she could probably get away with it...Before her mind could even properly disclose what it was she was going to do—her thoughts began to blur into lavender smoke that billowed down starlit pathways—Flora twisted the ring on her finger and disappeared just as she stepped out of Jack's arms. Flitting away—no, she hadn't worn ballerina flats for this reason, but gods it came in handy as she danced across the ground—Flora left a trail of laughter in her wake for Jack to follow.

"Come on then!"

there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters

"Oh, I'm sure I'll enjoy myself once I meet the fox that grants wishes," Jack remarks with a wry smile; in reality he'll likely start to enjoy himself more when he realises The Ark is back within reach. (And yes, it's been completely lost on him for the moment that perhaps if he thought about it enough, the woods might take pity and lead him in the right direction). Alas, for now he's left at Flora's mercy, and doesn't she make sure he knows it.

Letting his fingers slip away from her as she steps away, the captain is left with his brow furrowed as the Doubletake promptly winks out of sight. Allowing her thoughts to flood through his magic at full volume, he all but prowls along the trail - not after her, of course, because he can't see her to know the direction, but that's the advantage of having no one else around. No distractions.

"I wasn't aware your idea of a birthday celebration was playin' hide and seek in the dark," he rumbles.

i could be the reason you can't sleep at night

"Trust me, I bet he'd like to meet you too." Not only because Jack was handsome, but as a fellow merchant she was convinced that Ianto would be more than a little curious to know everything about a man who'd raised up an empire of trade half a world away.

"Well, how would you know?" Flora counters brightly; had Jack been able to see her thoughts a la a witcher trail, they'd be a blend of lavender mist with golden sparkles throughout, constantly shimmering beneath the fey lights all around. Besides, it wasn't hide and seek exactly, but it wasn't as if the Doubletake minded having the entirety of Jack's attention focused on nothing but her.

"When we were younger, Enzo and I could go exploring for hours and hours, and yet always just be five minutes from home if we had to be." She calls, darting off the path and behind a tree to see if Jack would be able to tell at all that she'd stopped.

there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters

"Now that's a rare thing for me to hear," Jack says with a rumble of laughter; normally people go out of their way to try not to run into him, let alone sit and chat business. As Flora goes darting away invisibly (reminding him somewhat of a skittish doe in the woods), the captain idly keeps his fingers on the pulse of her thoughts; the way the trees look and sound and feel, the subtle landmarks that differentiate the one she chooses to hide behind from all the others.

"Mm, I s'pose I know for next time, at least." Next time when he chooses somewhere not quite so perfect for her to disappear into, granted. But Flora doees get what she wants, and the captain's attention is squarely on her as she fully hides herself (not that she needs to, what with the ring on her finger), and he stops just shy of the far range of his magic. "Are you comin', or...?" he calls, a smile in his voice.

i could be the reason you can't sleep at night

"Next time, huh?" For all of Flora's talk of forever, the captain wasn't quite so quick to make plans that included them both anything more than just a weeks into the future. Much of that had to do with the nature of his business of course with the Ark having to be able to set sail at a moment's notice if something valuable enough called her to action, but hearing Jack so casually mention being together in a year had Flora's heart fluttering up into her throat. Still, trying to play it cool (though when had she ever managed that), the queen called back, "Assuming we both live another year." Nothing says haha I'm not overly attached like a bit of dark humour.

Watching Jack go, Flora only begins to tiptoe out from her hiding spot as Jack's steps began to slow. "Well since you don't even know where we're going, I could ask you the same thing." Laughing, the queen jogs down the path, doing her best to silence her steps and hold her breath as she nears Jack. It's doubtful that she can get him to jump, but that doesn't stop her from reaching out to flutter her fingers across his back while yelling "BOO".

there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters

"Next time," Jack says, "unless you're gonna choose now to tell me that one of the other weird circumstances of your birth is you only get a birthday once every five years or somethin'." Which, he could laugh about it, but gods, it could be true knowing Flora. "And I have every intention of bein' alive next year, thank you. I didn't sire three kids with Safrin for immortality to fuckin' die a few seasons in." Gods, wouldn't that just take the cake on bad luck?

Having fallen to a halt entirely before Flora SiLeNtLy runs down the forest path towards him, not only is Jack not about to jump, but he's already bracing for the BOO Flora is about to shout at him. A shiver does run across his back as her fingers flutter mischievously over him, the sensation enough for the captain to try and turn to catch her around the waist, invisible or otherwise. "Are there ghosts in the Greatwood?" he wonders, smirking.

i could be the reason you can't sleep at night

Other than aging through several (about 10 years worth) of birthdays in an instant when she and Enzo had been younger (and then seconds later, older), if the parties Flora threw for herself on the beach every year in Torchline were anything to go by, the queen didn't have any weird customs or tricks up her sleeve where her birthday was concerned. "Ewww, don't say sire like you're some kind of breeding animal." Just because the term was completely apt didn't mean it didn't shroud Flora's mind in the mental equivalent of a shiver of revulsion.

Wriggling playfully in his arms as if truly trying to get out of his grasp, it's lucky for the captain that there's no one around to see how perfectly absurd he looks, with his hands around Flora's waist looking for all the world like he was just practicing how to hold a girl. "Sure are, and I'm one of them. I actually died here before saving the Mathair." She teases, before wrapping her arms around Jack's neck and twisting the ring on her finger.

With eyes full of precisely the same sort of laughter gilding her thoughts, Flora let the seed of a request take root in the back of her mind; kiss me, Jack. She imagined the captain with his fingers soft in her curls, his body pressing hers against one of the towering trees, his actions more on the side of romance rather than restless desire.

there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters

Scoffing out a laugh at that - of all the things that Flora could find fault and disgust in about the whole weird situation with Safrin, that it's his choice of wording is at least a little funny in the captain's eyes. "I s'pose you're right - what'd you call it when you father children by way of a handshake, then? A division of assets?" If Flora wants to talk business about his deals with a goddess, Jack is more than willing to meet her on that playing field.

"Oh, you are? It explains a lot about why I can't see you," he agrees, tilting his head only for her to miraculously appear in his arms. "Ah, never mind. I guess the Greatwood ain't that scary." Ah, but then the golden threads of her request thrum along his magic as if Flora has just plucked the string of a musical instrument.

And so of course Jack acquiesces in all the ways the Doubletake expects; with soft hands and warm lips, he kisses her as if the rest of the world doesn't exist around them, as if the trees might melt away into the warm sands of the coast with just a thought. It isn't even for her benefit alone; the feeling spreads its wings through Jack's mind and down into his chest, until he's drawing her closer of his own accord, his fingers gliding across the fabric of her dress.

i could be the reason you can't sleep at night

"Ewwwwww, don't call it anything," laughing, Flora shakes her head. Of all the moments to work out the nomenclature of what Jack was to his offspring and what had taken place between he and Safrin, on Flora's birthday trip back to her childhood home was not the one she'd pick.

Rising up onto her toes that she might fit against Jack's body just so, his touch has a warm shiver of surprise rippling through Flora's body. Ever undone by just how tender and gentle Jack could be when he (literally) put his mind to it, the queen felt soft fingers of heat spread out across her skin in response to his lips as her arms tightened around him to bring her flush against him.

For all the years and experiences between Flora and the child she once was wandering around the Greatwood, the way she pressed herself into Jack's kiss wasn't unlike the girlish musings she'd once let so thoroughly distract her. While one might assume Jack wasn't the sort of man to have occupied Flora's daydreams as a girl, he was blue-eyed and bronze skinned, roguish and mysterious; if that wasn't enough, he was currently kissing her with every bit of passion that her younger self might have imagined, all while his hands roamed over the sort of dress she once have dreamed about so effortlessly fitting into.

Moaning encouragement against his lips, Flora lets the fingers of one hand curl into Jack's dark hair as her lips and tongue continue to re-write the naïve musings of her younger-self about what it was actually like to makeout in an enchanted forest.

there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters

Smiling into their kiss despite himself - say more things, he might have mumbled if he'd had the breath for it. Roguish and mysterious are attributes he'd willingly give himself, and they sound even better whispered from the depths of Flora's mind. Alas, he's too busy kissing her in the moment, one of his hands slipping lower to cup her backside and anchor her more fully against him, the other remaining gentle in her curls until the Doubletake will be able to feel the effect of her body and her thoughts on him up close and personal.

Drawing back and clearing his throat, Jack raises an eyebrow around at the trees before huffing out a slightly disappointed breath. "Your woods are broken," he tells her in a rough whisper, brushing his lips across her cheek and the soft curve of her jaw. "I was thinkin' very hard about somewhere we might stay for the evenin', but nothin' seems to have shown up."

i could be the reason you can't sleep at night

In the space between each ever increasing beat of her heart, sparks alight in Flora's mind that have the will o' wisps around them paling in comparison. Her younger self hadn't lacked imagination, but inexperience had left her adorably naïve as to what properly making out with a man within the warm darkness of the Greatwood was actually like. Every curl and press of Jack's tongue had ripples of heat coursing out from Flora's belly as if Jack had skipped a stone across the waters of her mind. The fabric of her dress as it whispered across her skin beneath his hand had her back arching, and gods if the way he touched her didn't make all those endless hours going for runs feel absolutely worth it.

Sipping in a hasty breath that seemed only to heighten the way the Doubletake suddenly feels unsteady on her feet as Jack pulls away from her ever so slightly, Flora can only offer him a shaky smile that he's liable to feel rather than see. "You're just doing it wrong." She whispers back, and though her mind was certainly in the mood for romance, that didn't stop her hips from teasingly rocking forward against him. "Things don't just appear. The woods just make a pathway. Here, I'll show you."

Not wanting to stay in the Sidhe Village even though it was the smarter choice, there was somewhere else she knew of that wasn't as haunted by her past. Tilting her jaw to steal one last kiss, Flora reaches to tangle her fingers against the captain's.

The Guardian's Treehouse was one that Flora had helped Remi build way back when, and though it was wildly overgrown and likely all the supplies within were useless, there was still a place for a fire, furs and rugs locked away in a cedar chest, and likely a few candles as well for emergencies.

there exists a tipping point between gods and monsters

Jack's eyebrows raise almost in challenge - to say the captain is not used to doing things wrong is an understatement - but luckily Flora's hips tease against his own shortly after, and the skip of his breath confirms his attention is back front and centre on the birthday girl. "Well aren't I lucky I have you?" he purrs, knowing Flora is likely to turn over any number of ways those words might be taken, and he's more than willing to let her.

Letting calloused fingers slip against her own - and it's quite a rarity for them to go anywhere holding hands, he realises - Jack follows her down the path (the exact same path they've been walking all this time, he wants to point out, but whatever) only for a gnarled, overgrowth but fairly sturdy looking treehouse to come into view. "I can't help but feel like this is some hidden fuck you to your old man," he points out, barely stifling his smirk and glancing across at Flora.

i could be the reason you can't sleep at night

No, you know what Jack? You are lucky. Not only does being with Flora have certain benefits by virtue of her being the queen of the region you do the majority of your business in, but it can't be an entirely bad feeling to have someone with Flora's expressive mind in love with you (annoying as it might be at times). Oh, and surely revivify feathers and mageglass gifts haven't hurt either. For all of that, though, a girlish flush of affection colours Flora's cheeks and the bridge of her nose, her stomach tensing beneath the thin fabric of her dress to try and still the butterflies beginning to take flight.

And yet, Jack, as it happens the path no longer leads down toward the water where Flora had initially been playing on taking them, but instead somewhere in the heart of the Greatwood itself. Raising her eyebrows, Flora levels a dry look toward the captain. "Aww, I love making out with you and then having you bring up my dad." Where the queen's daddy issues had certainly been a catalyst in the early days when Flora had wanted nothing more than the fuck Jack, now she was just as happy not to think about Remi at all lest the captain get it in his mind that all of this really was just predicated on some big fuck you to her old man.

"I can get us back to the Ark just as quickly if you'd prefer that." She suggests, turning her back on the treehouse.