[PQ+] I ran right through my shoes

karma's a relaxing thought, aren't you envious that for you it's not?

A flat stretch of beach has been cleared just enough to make space for the chaos to come. Palettes of cool, Halovian lumber rest to one side, stacked neatly like someone had actually planned this (it wasn’t her). Large bins line the other side, filled with nails, bolts, hinges, and tools she can name about half of. In the middle, like a shrine to distraction and charm, a long table holds chilled drinks sweating in the heat and baskets of snacks both practical and indulgent—fresh fruit, salted crackers, a few too many sweets, and something fizzy that smells vaguely like coconut and recklessness.

She tugs her sarong higher on her hip, adjusting it as Spice flutters past her ear and then circles overhead, already eyeing the snack table like a tiny dragon of indulgence. Flora presses her hand to her chest for a second—just long enough to slow the flutter in her ribs, then she breathes it out.

The waiting doesn’t last long. One by one, they’ll arrive: familiar footsteps in warm sand, laughter carried on sea wind. Every face is one she chose, handpicked with purpose, love, and the kind of loyalty that digs deeper than driftwood roots. Neither Jack nor Kaisel has been invited, and she's not sure which absence hits hardest, but she buries both beneath a coral-pink smile.

When enough of them are gathered—when the laughter begins to stitch itself into the air like thread through fabric—Flora steps up onto one of the palettes like it’s a stage and she’s been rehearsing for this moment her whole life. "Okay!" she calls out, lifting both arms for attention, curls gleaming like spun gold in the sun. "Before we all start pretending we know how to use power tools, I just want to say—thank you."

Her voice wavers, but only a little. Just enough for those who know her to hear it. "This isn’t just a house. It's...a fresh start." Her gaze skims over them, warm and bright. "Also, there's snacks. And I promise I’ll try really hard not to get in the way while all the strong, capable people do the actual building."

---

PQ+ to build Flora's Malibu Barbie Dream House!

1. Flora (but with Remi as an NPC)
2. Sohalia
3. Astaroth (but w/ Sunny as an NPC)
4. Nikandr (but w/ Danta/Mateo/Ronin as an NPC)

NIKI

It's a world of firsts for Niki these past few days. First masquerade, first time getting drunk (and first time getting hungover as well, yes), first trip on a skyship, first visit to Torchline. It's safe to say that he's running on adrenaline and curiosity at this point, which is evident in the glitter of his slate eyes and the shadows beneath them as he arrives. He sticks to the boardwalk wherever possible, not finding it particularly easy to navigate on the sand with his cane, and as such he's one of the last to arrive.

Waving to Flora, he lingers in the shade as best he can - because no, he's quite obviously not dressed for Torchline - while someone he knows as the White Knight shoves a handful of sweets into his pockets and heads off immediately towards the pallets. Smiling and waiting for her to finish her speech, only once she hops down does he approach her.

"I also promise not to get in the way," he says with a sheepish smile. "But tell me what needs doing, and I will put my best into it."

As will they all, he's sure - and he glances over his shoulder just as someone (it's Mateo) rushes towards a pallet with a few bundled scrolls in his hands - plans and sketches, it looks like.

---

Niki arrives! Mateo and Ronin are being themselves.

my body's on the line now, I can't fight this time now
I can feel the light shine on my face

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

// he's nice, polite, he'll catch you by surprise //

He’ll never say no to a brief venture to Torchline, especially at Flora’s request with the promise of Danta coming with. It makes the stress of this season that much easier to manage if he’s sure he doesn’t have to be too far away from the Grounds’ Theocrat for too long. So he arrives, prepped and ready with a shirt mostly buttoned and sleeves rolled up, prepared to get started on crafting Flora’s new residence, all while glancing over to see Danta already at the bins of nails and bolts, rifling through them as if they harbored anything more impressive than the tools they intend to use to build this home. He greets Nikandr and Flora with a bright yet no less sharp smile.

He catches sight of Sunjata, though, which immediately sends him on edge, though the Flood doesn’t seem to linger on himself or the Maverick for too long, instead letting his focus be mostly caught by the task at hand and the others in presence. As such, he’s currently giving Flora and Ronin and Niki quite a charming smile that aches something fierce in him. Enough that there’s a touch of fire when he flashes his sharp smile over at Flora as she speaks, hands behind his back despite his tail waving in his frustration.

Approaching her a second after Niki does, the smile he offers the younger man is no less sharp as it is in agreement. “We are at your service, darling.” Gesturing to where he’s sure Danta’s pocketed a few of the nuts and bolts, regardless of whether or not they needed them immediately, he pointedly avoids looking at Sunjata who’s already looking as though he’s ready to start building with some direction.

---

Asta arrives! Danta is rummaging through the nuts and bolts and Sunjata’s greeted everyone and is just waiting to be told what to do.

Astaroth

// a smile so bright, you'd never bat an eye //

Sohalia

I don't even know myself at all
I thought I would be happy by now

With everything going on, Sohalia had been loathe to leave Stormbreak, but when her best friend invited her to come and help build The House? Well, Soh wouldn't miss that for the world. She'd elected to skip the skyship and simply taken to feathered wing; as a result, she'd ended up in Torchline with only the clothes on her back. Given that she was staying for a few days, she'd borrowed a few things from Flora's closet, with the end result being that she looked rather less like herself than she might normally.

Most of those assembled today were those she knew from one time or another, although the two Ancients and the young man with the crutch she knew only by name, and only because of Flora. After greeting those she did know - Sunjata, and Remi, and Ronin, and Mateo - with a subdued kind of affection, she lingered near Flora to hear the queen's speech. Once Flora hopped down, Soh smiled at her and waited for Nikandr and Astaroth to offer their services. Then she added her voice to the mix with a quiet, "Just tell me what to do, and I'll do my best."

---

Sohalia arrives and says hi to everyone she knows.

The more I try to push it, I realize
Gotta let go of control

karma's a relaxing thought, aren't you envious that for you it's not?

Flora claps her hands together with a delighted smack, bracelets chiming and curls bouncing as she beams at the gathered crew. "Okay! Look at you all—Torchline’s finest and most attractive volun-told labour force." Her eyes sweep over them with playful approval, though the expression softens as she lingers briefly on each face. Remi with his quiet steadiness, Ronin with his easy charm, Sunjata like a storm dressed in muscle, Niki glowing despite the shade, Danta and Asta radiating fire and flirtation, Mateo already halfway into the plans, and Soh—always Soh—standing right beside her like she belonged there. Her heart squeezes, full to the brim and then some.

"Alright, teams!" she declares, already gesturing with a gold-ringed hand as if she’s done this before. "Mateo, you’re with me and Sohalia. I need the brains and the beauty,”" she adds with a wink, slinging an arm loosely around Soh's waist and then extending the other to bump Mateo’s scrolls. "We’ll do a full walkthrough of the site—check for big rocks, hidden tree roots, rogue crabs, anything that could mess with the foundation."

"Danta, Astaroth —you’re on supply duty. Make sure we’ve got everything from the spec sheet. Hammers, hinges, the very specific shade of paint I circled six times." She narrows her eyes playfully at Danta. "And please stop stealing bolts like they’re treasure. They’re literally going into my walls."

Then, turning toward the two most casually powerful men in her life: "Ronin, Remi—you’re joining up with Sunjata and Nikandr to mark out the perimeter. We’ve got flagging string, we’ve got stakes, we’ve got plans, and we’ve got Niki, who’s clearly the only one here smart enough to dress like he’s not in a swimsuit catalogue."

Her smile turns softer, more sincere. "We won’t get it all done today, and I don’t expect anyone to break their back doing it. This is gonna be a process."

With that, she turns, curls dancing over bare shoulders as she sweeps toward the edge of the cleared space. "Team Walkthrough, assemble!" she calls over her shoulder, already gesturing for Mateo and Sohalia to follow.

---

1. Danta/Asta check the supply lists to make sure we have everything (and stop stealing shit)
2. Niki and Sunjata + Ronin and Remi, look at the plans and use the flagging to cordon off the area
3. Sohalia, Flora (and Mateo) to do a walkthrough and make sure there's no big rocks or anything in the way.

The smoke-filled lungs, the bitter taste illuminates

A sea breeze plucked at the strands of a braid that fell down Soh's back, tugging a few tendrils loose towards the end. The sun reflected off the waves, turning water into sparkling aquamarine and golden glitter. Flora's voice pitched over the crash of the waves along the shoreline, and for a moment, it was easy for Soh to forget about everything other than this. For once, she wasn't thinking about missing Tarak, or about failing Stormbreak, or about not knowing who she was or where she fit. Instead, she could focus on the task at hand and doing it well, all in service of her very best friend, who deserved a beautiful home and a fresh start.

So when she was assigned to stick with Flora and Mateo, Soh practically beamed. "I can take a look from above," she offered brightly. And then she was shifting. Golden hair and pale skin became purple feathers and emerald wings; a long, red beak sprouted where a pert nose had been. As a snowy owl, Soh was fierce and stoic; but as a zhenniao - the newest of her shifts - she was bright and fun (and, interestingly, poisonous). With a chirp, she took to the skies to get a different perspective of the site, searching for anything that seemed like it would get in the way of the foundation.

---

Soh shifts into a zhenniao and looks at the site from overhead.

My heart can't break holding your memory

Sohalia

NIKI

Widening his eyes to hear that he's been casually paired off with three of Caido's most powerful demigods, Niki glances at Flora for a second as if wondering if she's playing a joke on him. He can't tell yet, either, if it's a cruel one, but as Ronin steps forward to gather the stakes with a broad grin, the boy takes up the plans instinctively so he doesn't have to look too long at the Flood.

"Alright," he says after perusing them for a few minutes under the shade of a nearby palm, "let's mark out the first side - the corners are particularly important." He offers out the plans for them to see as well, able to pinpoint where the first stake ought to go down.

And it all seems to be going pretty well, despite the White Knight's preference to intercept Sunjata at every opportunity if it looks like he's getting too close to Remi, and with increasing attempts to (play?)fight him. That might cause some problems in the long run.

Meanwhile, Mateo is on plant duty when it comes to scouting the foundations, and whilst he isn't able to unearth any stubborn roots (luckily there are very few), he does insist on stopping to relocate some stunning weeds specimens. He also picks up a crab to throw at his father later.

---

Niki attemps to keep control of Team Demigod while Ronin keeps trying to start fights with Sunjata.

Mateo makes everyone pause so he can relocate plants and picks up a crab to throw at Ronin later.

my body's on the line now, I can't fight this time now
I can feel the light shine on my face

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

// he's nice, polite, he'll catch you by surprise //

There is a fraction of relief when Flora tells the butcher that he and Danta would have their own task – even if the Maverick himself looks a bit put out for having been caught stealing the bolts and nuts. He does as is requested (mostly), returning the majority of shiny bolts back into the box before Asta’s slipping away to collect his klepto of a boyfriend. He does snag the spec sheet, just to ensure all the pieces are there that they need because it gives one hell of a way to keep his sharp teeth busy and his tail wound around Danta’s leg lest he lose it on someone that gets too close.

Luckily that doesn’t seem to be too much of a problem with how much the blonde is infatuated with the hammers. Huffing a soft laugh under his breath, he wisely keeps his distance from whatever else is going on, counting and marking off the hammers, hinges, palettes. “And how many hammers do you have there, darling?” He says idly, sure that Danta could count them for him to make sure they have all the ones they’re supposed to and triple checks the paint that's been circled multiple times to ensure it is the one she wants.

Meanwhile, Sunjata’s doing his very fucking best to not cross paths with Ronin, which leaves him settled closest to Niki lest he get too close to Remi. There are a few glances shot Remi’s way when he thinks Ronin isn’t looking as if to silently say hey, what the hell?? before he ultimately looks back at Niki with a smile that he hopes appears less stressed than he’s suddenly feeling.

Following the paths and the train of thought, he takes Niki’s direction and works opposite of where Ronin is because at least that would give him time to react. He tries to cordon off the area with as little issue as possible.

---

Danta puts most of the bolts back and helps Asta survey and count the supplies to make sure they have them all (and the correct paint!)

Sunjata tries his V V V best to not get too close to Ronin with probably a few glances of HELP over at Remi but ultimately sticks closer to Niki to try and stay out of Ronin's way!

Astaroth

// a smile so bright, you'd never bat an eye //

karma's a relaxing thought, aren't you envious that for you it's not?

Team Perimeter (Niki, Sunjata, Remi, Ronin)
They’re barely halfway through marking the first side when the distant cry of seabirds turns into a swooping problem. A trio of hels—cocky white nuisances with the gall of pirates—come skimming low over the sand. One’s already made off with a length of flagging in its beak thinking it was a snack, flapping in the breeze like a stolen streamer, while the others circle as if scouting for the next shiny prize. Every time someone moves to chase them off, they hop just out of reach, croaking smugly.

Team Supplies (Danta & Asta)
The spec sheet is going fine—right up until they get to the second crate of hardware. It’s not there. In its place? A distinctly empty impression in the sand and a little trail of dragged marks leading toward the dunes. Whatever made off with it was strong enough to haul a full crate, and judging by the deep, uneven prints, it wasn’t human. There’s the occasional glint of a dropped nail in the trail, catching the sun like a breadcrumb path.

Team Walkthrough (Flora, Sohalia, Mateo)
What had started as a peaceful stroll to check for rocks and roots is suddenly...not. Soh’s aerial sweep pays off almost instantly: there’s movement in the sand ahead. A dozen or so crabs—not the little hand-sized ones, but big, dinner-plate bruisers—have staked out a spot right in the middle of where the living room will be. They’re busily digging, shifting sand in tidy little mounds, and every so often one waves a claw at the others like it’s giving instructions. One particularly bold crab (the size of a watermelon) has an old spoon clutched in one claw like a weapon.

Soh’s warning from above has Flora squinting into the sunlight until she spots the trouble. Her brows lift, slow and incredulous, as the colony of sand-shuffling crustaceans comes into focus. "Oh, absolutely not," she mutters, planting her hands on her hips. "This is prime real estate, gentlemen, and your lease is up."

The one with the spoon brandishes it at her like a duelist, and Flora actually takes a step back, laughing under her breath. "Bold, but still no." Glancing up toward the sky, Flora gives the mental command for Spice to do her thing.

NIKI

Sea birds aren't a problem that Niki regularly encounters in the Greatwood, and so even their calls are enough to have him instinctively flinching down (and unintentionally right against Sunjata, since he's also cowering but for a different reason). He doesn't expect the blatant theft of something that isn't at all edible or interesting for hels either, the boy left blinking out at the ruined bit of perimeter with mild shock on his face.

"Are... are they always like this?" he asks, watching the hels taunt and swoop away in general. "Is there a way to... to bribe them, perhaps?"

Ronin is way ahead of him, alas, but in lieu of bribery, the Knight opts for straight up intimidation. All but marching off down the beach, draconic wings spreading from his shoulders, he sends out a volley of firebolts in an attempt to scatter the creatures. If that fails, a full shift might be necessary.

Elsewhere, with a much friendlier sized crab in his pocket, Mateo is naturally aghast at the organised crustacean construction that seems to be going on in Flora's livingroom-to-be. Knowing better than to get in the way of Spice doing her thing, he opts instead to find a big bit of driftwood to brandish, hoping to help spook the crabs away.

---

Niki suggests bribing the hels to leave them be. Ronin ignores him and goes straight for threats and intimidation.

Mateo grabs some driftwood to brandish at the crabs to try and scare them off!

my body's on the line now, I can't fight this time now
I can feel the light shine on my face

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

// he's nice, polite, he'll catch you by surprise //

“This is… Unfortunate.” The butcher hums as he goes through the spec sheet, sure that he’s not going to like where the box has gone. But for the moment, eh stifles the immediate anger that flares in his chest, steadying himself as he brushes up against the Maverick to set the sheet down. Upon further inspection from the both of them, the butcher notices the drag marks, while Danta - you guessed it - notices the shiny glint of nails in the sand.

Wrinkling his nose, he sighs but beckons Danta to join him on this excursion to find the missing crate, following the trail of prints and swept sand from the crate to see what kind of beast has gone off with their supplies. Danta takes very little convincing with the way he’s snagging each nail as it appears in the sand, stuffing them into his pocket where a few of the bolts remained from earlier.

Sunjata, meanwhile, has evaded most of the threats and anger from Ronin by simply pretending it’s not there when something else thankfully captures the White Knight’s attention. Sighing a bit of relief even as Niki sags into him, he pretends to not notice it when he answers Niki. “Think it might be a little bit late for that.” The bribing, that is, given how Ronin’s already charging down the beach with threats and action.

The Flood decides to take it into his own hands, though, flashing Niki a charming and apologetic smile that he can’t be the shade for the moment as he shifts and shrinks into a much smaller form, but still large in comparison to the hels. The macaw takes to the sky, zooming across the beach to bully the hels into leaving them alone, deftly trying to avoid the ones that Ronin’s currently flinging his attacks off at.

---

Asta and Danta follow the Trail of the Missing Crate™!

Sunjata’s decided to try and bully some of the hels as his hyacinth macaw shift.

Astaroth

// a smile so bright, you'd never bat an eye //

So much time on the other side
Waiting for you to wake up

Soh swept through the air, enjoying the feel of the sea breeze in her feathers. There was nothing quite like flying, and for a moment, it was possible for the Luminary to forget her problems and be free. That moment, however, was not to last. She spotted a hoard of giant crabs digging busily in the sand, and after crying a warning to Flora, swooped down, shifting as she went. Where there had been a zhenniao was now a snowy owl - and she was pissed.

Down she came with a fearless shriek, talons outstretched as she swooped for one of the crabs. She wasn’t aiming to injure, really; she wasn’t sure her claws would pierce the crab’s thick shell. No, what she wanted was to snatch the crab up into the air, to carry it out to sea, and to drop it back into the ocean where it belonged. If it worked, she’d circle around to do the same thing again; if not, she’d have to think of something else.

—-

Soh shifts into a snowy owl and tries to carry one of the crabs out to sea, where she aims to drop it back into the water where it belongs.

Maybe I'll see you in another life
If this one wasn't enough

Sohalia

karma's a relaxing thought, aren't you envious that for you it's not?

Team Walkthrough (Flora, Sohalia, Mateo)
The crab in Soh’s talons is flailing wildly, its spoon clattering to the sand in defeat. Flora’s about to call this a win—one down, a dozen to go—when the colony reacts like they’ve rehearsed it. Claws snap in perfect unison, sand sprays in little arcs, and the watermelon-sized spoonless ringleader stomps forward like he’s auditioning for a duel.

"Oh, fantastic," Flora mutters, instinctively stepping closer to Mateo as two of the smaller crabs break rank and start scuttling toward his ankles, beady eyes locked on their driftwood-wielding opponent.

Then the sand behind the group...moves. Not just a little shift—heaves. A wide, rising mound bulges upward, spilling grains in rivulets, until something even bigger than the spoon-crab is clearly about to surface. Flora’s eyes widen, her bracelets jingling as she flaps a hand toward Soh. "Uh, babe? I think you’re about to have a mini-boss fight on your hands." err, wings.

Team Perimeter (Niki, Sunjata, Remi, Ronin)
While Ronin’s firebolts scatter two of the hels, the third—a bold little menace—tucks its wings and dive-bombs Niki, going straight for the rolled-up plans. Sunjata’s macaw form is quick enough to intercept, but the hel snaps at his tail feathers before veering off, circling higher as if plotting another run.

Team Supplies (Danta, Asta)
The trail of scattered nails leads them around the nearest dune—right to where the sand darkens with shadow. A long, scaled tail flicks lazily from beneath the dune’s lip, the faint creak of wood giving away that the crate is just out of sight. When they get closer, there’s a low, rumbling hiss from the shade, and a glint of yellow eyes watching from under the sand.

NIKI

"Yes, I believe you may be right," Niki mumbles as he hastily straightens up, glancing at the Flood as man becomes macaw and soars off into the sky amid a flurry of radiant bolts of fire. If someone had told the boy this would be his afternoon he'd have found it difficult to believe them, but then again, since meeting Flora, things like this are becoming increasingly common. (This is still wild, though).

Stepping back as one of the hels swoops low, tightly rolling the blueprints to make them a smaller target, luckily Sunjata is able to head off the cheeky bird before it even gets close, though he winces to see it escape with a couple of vibrant blue tail feathers in its beak. "Are you alright?" he calls, heading back to the gap in their perimeter string to repair it.

Ronin, content with having bullied the other hels away, turns his attention to the one determined to cause the most problems. Another flurry of firebolts is tossed into the sky, all of them focused, this time, on the overkill of one very foolish seabird.

Back at the Doubletake's would-be livingroom, Mateo is also stepping a bit closer to his sister as the crabs form rank like they've been enlisted into some weird crustacean front-line. Given that his attempts to spook them away have gone unheeded - and considering how aggressive they are in general - the botanist commits to his swinging with more brutality than before. Aiming at the crabs near his ankles, he'll try to smack them away down the beach.

---

Niki heads back towards the broken perimeter line, intending to fix it, while Ronin puts all of his efforts into popping the particularly troublesome hel!

Mateo plays crochet with the crabs.

my body's on the line now, I can't fight this time now
I can feel the light shine on my face

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!