tryna get my Usher on but I can't let it burn

Flora

Flora bites down on her lip, teeth dimpling the pink curve as laughter trembles in her chest. "Have you ever heard of laundry?" she asks, tone full of scandalised disbelief. Rolling her eyes with a theatrical huff, she adds, "Besides, I can't believe you just dreamt about it. At least I took things into my own hands." Still, her grin softens as she leans against him, his hands roving newly-familiar trails, and when he objects to the idea of nothing being hard, she flashes him a wicked little smile and tips her head. "Alright, alright. I’ll give you that one."

But then his fingers are beneath her chin, tilting her face toward his, and the smirk slips from her mouth like seafoam caught in a current. The look he gives her—close and tender and entirely unguarded—grounds her faster than a sudden tide. Her breath catches the moment he says she can’t convince him, and there’s the smallest shift in her expression, as if wondering for half a second whether he means it. But then his nose is brushing hers, and she exhales, eyes half-lidded and lips tugging into something softer, "I hate you," she whispers, the words utterly devoid of venom.

Flora's fingers slide into Kai's when he offers, wet and pruny and warm. She squeezes once, then releases with a breathy little groan as she bends fully—absolutely, shamelessly—for his benefit. The towel she retrieves from earlier is damp but servicable, and she tosses it at his chest with a flick of her wrist. Her fingers then gather her soaked curls, twisting them into a loose knot atop her head with a few quick turns before she fishes out a fresh towel from the cupboard. The effort she puts into drying off is...minimal, at best. A lazy sweep over her arms, a distracted pat down her thighs, and then she’s padding over to her bed, still bare and glowing, all cheek and no shame.

Flora flops onto the sheets with a low, luxurious sigh, her limbs sinking into the mattress. The thin sheet tangles at her hips, barely a whisper of modesty, but for once she doesn’t stretch or tease or glance back to see if Kaisel's watching her performance. Instead, she bites gently at the inside of her cheek, the motion thoughtful, her breath catching as it slips from her lips in a soft shiver. Her gaze finds him, and this time when she speaks, it’s quiet; not shy, but honest. "Last time we did this..." she murmurs, voice threaded with memory, "everything was fine until we left the houseboat the next day."

A flush rises beneath her skin, not from arousal but from something heavier. Her cheeks colour, but her eyes don’t waver, and there’s a steadiness in the way she watches him now, aqua caught in a hush of a strange sort of sadness. "This…" she says, slowly, each syllable weighted like a stone on water, "..isn’t going to be easy."

I hope you're sweating the bigger stuff,
finding some peace in an honest love
Hope you stop when you've had enough & throw the towel in

Code stolen from Queen Sky

Honey wherever you go, I know

He has, in fact, heard of laundry. Even separates his darks from his lights. Just seemed the best thanks he could offer Frey to let it go out that way. He'd definitely not be wearing it around town anyway, so a crusty pile it remained.

"Love you too," he murmurs around the grin just before they're nothing more than fingers locked together. It's brief, but lands with more meaning in his chest than the full body press she'd just provided, because the lingering heat of this one curls up in his heart instead of his balls. Although, everything gets plenty warm as his gaze is helplessly drawn to the tractor beam of her bent over form. Her ass on full and glorious display and the peekaboo of her second set of lips is enough to bring him back to his knees. He only survives the quiver of jelly he feels in them by leaning his shoulders against the tile, head tipping back with a groan she'll absolutely know the cause of. "You have to put that away if you want me useful at all," he mutters, the tail end muffled as the damp towel rings around his face. He grabs it with a shake of his head, flossing dry with it before wandering after her.

The nostalgia of her room hits him like a punch to his chest. For a moment he lingers at her door frame, tilting into it again as he lets his eyes hold her. Is this the kind of forever that they can't stretch out?

He doesn't think so. In fact, is certain that they can, this time. There's a lot of differences from that night to this one. He sinks in beside her under the sheet. Half-rolling into her, an arm sinking around her stomach as she thinks aloud and he lets the feel of it sit on them.

"Sounds like we should never leave the boat again then," he mumbles against her skin as he turns into her, eyes peeling over her shoulder, only half joking. "Get everything delivered." The cost would exorbitant, but can you really put a price on happiness and peace of mind? He exhales gently though, resigned to the difficulty of untangling everything that's as fucked as wired headphones put in a pocket for one minute.

"I'm all in Flora," he begins, as good a start as any, with all of it on the table. "I'm guessing me being in Torchline, at your old house, would be the best first step...unless you want me closer?"

Kaisel

I'd give up half of forever, just to be with you

Flora

The sheet rustles softly as Kaisel settles in beside her, and gods, the way his arm fits around her like it belongs there sends a tremour straight through her chest. It isn’t lust this time—though the image of him groaning in the doorway still curls heat beneath her skin—it’s something quieter, something that settles deep. His palm on her belly, still faintly pruny, makes her hand slide over his without thinking, fingers splaying to match the shape of his.

The joke about never leaving the boat draws a grin from her despite everything, the corner of her mouth tugging up as she turns just enough to catch his eye. "We always have my invisibility ring," she murmurs, brushing her nose against his, "if one of us really needs to make a run for snacks."

But as he says he's all in, as simple and steady as anything, a deep and difficult ache knots in Flora's chest. It’s not that she doesn’t want it. It’s that she does. Her breath draws in sharply, and she twists fully toward him, pressing closer even as the words rise, thorny and tangled. "Kai," she says, quietly but clearly, "I need to take this slow."

She doesn’t pull away; in fact, she curls tighter against him, like she could soften the sting just by being near. Her forehead nudges his, and she sighs into the space between them. "Jack is...in Stormbreak right now, literally waiting for me to come back so we can try again." The words taste awful, honest and horribly sad, but they need to be said. "I need to talk to him." And gods just the thought of that conversation was enough to have her body stiffening against the tremble that wanted to wash over her like a wave.

Her voice wavers for just a second before she lifts her hand, smoothing his wet hair back from his forehead. Her thumb brushes his temple, and when her eyes meet his, they’re soft but serious. "I was crying over him this morning. We can't pretend like that didn't happen," she says, the quietest tremble in her voice. "And I don’t want to make you a rebound. I want this to be something real." Not something that started because Kaisel happened to be there when her entire world came crumbling down.

I hope you're sweating the bigger stuff,
finding some peace in an honest love
Hope you stop when you've had enough & throw the towel in

Code stolen from Queen Sky

Honey wherever you go, I know

He bites back the urge to quip that testing the theory of the true problem being visible versus leaving the safe threshold of her ship at all isn't one they should tempt fate with. It's not the time to delve into imaginary scenarios though, much as he'd rather they whittle the hours away with that over...this. Not everything needs sprinkles.

The sound of it comes before the words do—that small, audible draw of breath. Nothing like the ones he'd just chased after in the shower. This is the sort of thing you usually only hear right before something heavy gets put into the world. A long note from a singer, an upset tirade, or the person he'd just wrecked everything for requesting to slow down. It's not I'm unsure exactly, but it's not I'm all in too, either.

Only the way she clings against him keeps the cold seep of dread at bay. There's something to that touch, more apology than purpose honestly, but he'll take it either way. Regardless, he knows he can't put his choices on her, whatever the outcome. She never asked him to do any of this...or anything, really, other than to help her move once. Technically, they left on her specifically asking him not to, when they'd been among the flowers. Still, he can't quite hold back the exhale that parts from him, trading air for this understanding. They'd already gotten further than he ever expected when this day began and he went to meet her in the market. That he suddenly clung on tight at the thought of losing her forever and imagining that her choice meant they'd both barrel straight into the surf of it, well that hadn't really been fair.

Gods, it hadn't even been a day and he'd gone from nervous to thrilled, dancing and loving to falling and trying his damndest not to break entirely while she could see, all to be scooped back into those hands—the same hands holding him now—with assurances and laughter and moans. Maybe slow is exactly what's needed on second thought.

Seems the only thing they hadn't brushed over yet was anger. He doesn't intend to, although the relative of it can't help but prickle up at the mention of Jack's name. He's made an effort to use that word less and less after she pointed it out to him that one night, and yet here they are, Jack still making his way into every conversation they seem to have. Kaisel's starting to feel like he might be dating Jack too.

At the feel of her stiffening, his gaze drifts back from the blank canvas of the ceiling where his thoughts started to stretch out. He turns enough to look at her, fingers squeezing hers where their hands remain locked. "Do you want me there?" he asks carefully, only trying to offer support. He doesn't trust Jack, and men like him don't seem the sort to react well to being rejected, so every number of possible outcomes starts to unspool in Kaisel's mind at the reunion. Flora still changing her mind about the captain, once faced with him, is on that list, but it isn't why he offers. He cannot hold her hostage in his affections, she has to choose them today and again every day after. He's more worried she might end up wearing bruises that aren't so easily covered. "I could just be nearby," he offers, figuring that walking up arm in arm wouldn't go over well. He could make some use of himself while he waited though, although then what? If she needed him, what could he do if he wasn't there? Shit, what could he do even if he was? Take the bullet, at least once.

His eyes flutter shut for a moment as her touch sweeps gentle against him, hair shifting to her appointed location. "Mm," he murmurs, gaze peeking back to her. "You were also crying over me," he points out, not in any unkind manner, just straight forward. "Maybe you need a day to just not cry Flora." He'd prefer a lifetime of that, but he doubts that's realistic no matter who she's with. Ultimately, what he's trying to say is she might just need more than a tumultuous day and the looming decision and conversation ahead to sit and think and recover. He certainly doesn't want to be the one she choose just because. "Or maybe take Soh," he suggests after another moment of thought, since maybe him being there with her for this is one place he shouldn't be by her side for.

He shifts a bit so he's more on his side, easier to see her. He keeps his grip in her hand, and the other drifts a bit further off her side, but remains, thumb brushing against her ribs. Quietly he lifts the back of her hand and kisses it, planting warmth and patience into the movement. "What do you need, Flora?" he says softly, watchful of her eyes. "Be honest about it," he follows up with the faintest smile, because it's not actually funny at all, but he's worried she'll do what she always does and strip herself bare for the sake of others. Something to spare Jack's feelings, and his. "What do you picture as, slow?"

Kaisel

I'd give up half of forever, just to be with you

Flora

His question startles a breath of laughter from her, surprised enough that it spills out before she can stop it. But when she glances up and sees that Kaisel’s serious—of course he is—her expression softens, the corners of her mouth tipping into something fond and aching. Gods. He really would. He’d walk up there like some golden idiot, smiling and supportive and infuriatingly present, and it has her shaking her head gently, her hand tightening around his.

"No," she says quietly, though her smile still lingers. "Having you there would only make it harder. And also..." Her voice trails off for a second before she lifts her gaze fully to his, steady despite the tired ache behind it. "Because it isn't about you, really. I can’t be with Jack because of the things he did and didn't do, not because of what you did or didn't do."

There was also no way to explain that Kai would need to be about sixty feet away for Jack not to notice him without revealing why. So instead, she just lets the words fade, her breath sliding out in a quiet exhale. "I’ll be fine." But she won’t be. And maybe some part of her already knows that she won’t go up to Stormbreak at all. That for all her plans and promises, for how much she loved Jack, she wasn't sure she could face him down and say that after everything she'd been through and everything they had, that she'd found her limit. It’s easier to be brave in hypotheticals. Harder to climb the stairs.

His voice brings her back, his reminder softer than it has any right to be. You were also crying over me. She nods, and it shouldn’t hurt as much as it does. "Yeah," she says, voice softer now, nearly lost in the space between them. It hadn’t been an ultimatum from him, not really, but it had forced her to choose. How the thought of his laughter vanishing from her life had been the thing that finally cut through all the noise; that when she imagined him gone, something in her chest had buckled and snapped. Even now, tears bite at the back of her eyes, but she blinks them away. "Maybe I do need that."

His thumb sweeps against her ribs and it’s kind—so impossibly kind—that it makes it hard for her to lie still. Kindness always undoes her more than cruelty ever could. She wants to cover it with her body, drown it out with pleasure or teasing or something she knows how to handle.

Her breath quickens, barely, and she turns into the question, hand pressing into his. She swallows, trying to pull thoughts into order, but after the day they’ve had, her brain is all soft edges and unspoken things. "Time," she says first, tentative. "Not space," she adds quickly, stretching one leg up and over his hip with a crooked smile that tries to lighten the moment. "Just...time."

Her voice steadies a little as she looks up at him again. "This week has been—" She huffs a breath that’s almost a laugh. "—like a rollercoaster I didn’t even know I was on. And now I just need things to settle. I still want to see you. I want to be like this with you," she says, hand sweeping vaguely between them, a warmth threading into the words. "But I can’t suddenly jump into a relationship and move in together."

Her lips twitch with something close to guilt, her voice quieter now. "And Caly..." She grimaces softly. "Even if things ended with you two before this, it’s probably going to hurt her. My feelings were hurt and you and I weren't even dating." She doesn't try to dress it up. Just leaves it there between them, something true and thorned.

I hope you're sweating the bigger stuff,
finding some peace in an honest love
Hope you stop when you've had enough & throw the towel in

Code stolen from Queen Sky

Honey wherever you go, I know

Her laugh does earn a raised 'brow, wondering faintly if what crossed her mind had been the same as in his, the what would he even do if he was there? The thing that wonders, as it has ever since that lightning nearly took him out, just what he can actually manage to protect. A bitter reminder of how far he still needs to work, and maybe going for a run in the morning isn't sounding so terrible right now.

She quiets though, and the thought drifts away with her explanations. Although he tosses her a meaningful look at I'll be fine, because has anyone who's ever actually fine said so? Fine is just a quicker way of saying I won't be fine, the same way literally can mean literally and figuratively. Fine also means don't fucking press though, so he doesn't. "Use our parchment when you're coming back," he murmurs. "I'll get a bubble bath hot for you and pull out one of those icy masks for your face so it's not cold cold." Tissues would be a given, and a blanket nest for after the shower, with tea and all the best snacks. "We can even lay on the sand, if that'll help." He can't quite keep from making a bit of a face at that idea.

She'll break, he knows. He can't keep that from happening, much as he wants to. All he can do is gather her up and promise that one day it'd be okay and things would hurt less. Maybe that's all love is—not the absence of hurt, but someone to hold you through it until it fades.

His hand shifts to grab her leg as it slides over him, tugging it up firmer into place, fingers splaying against her outer thigh. "Okay," he says with a small, almost laugh as he smiles back across at her. "Time but not space," he agrees, confirming that her Malibu dream house and Sugar Tide would be strictly for visiting. Maybe the empty house she'd offered him wouldn't feel quite as jarring as the one in King's End, not with the warmer coastline to greet him, all her remaining things filling up the spaces, and enough time with her that the echoing warmth and laughter of it would linger with him all the way to the empty bed.

"Although," he draws out carefully, fingers gripping a bit tighter against the curve of her leg. "I do plan on visiting Stormbreak often this season." He lets that sit for a moment. "Now is when they need the most help rebuilding, and I want to do that, with them. I planned on commuting back and forth as much as I can, but I'll still be gone for a bit." Perhaps the worst timing possible right now, but maybe it'd land cleaner, knowing the why, knowing he'd still be coming back, for her. "I'd ask you to come with, but I figured you can't commit to that." What with her having her own region to manage and all.

Then, a bigger, heavier sigh. He drags her a bit closer, needing to see her less than just feel her. "Yeah..." he says soft and laden with hurt he hasn't cracked open yet. "I need to talk to her and Koa. Neither's gonna be pretty." Maybe they'd both need to schedule facials after all the crying.

Kaisel

I'd give up half of forever, just to be with you

Flora

Flora nods in agreement about using her parchment, but the motion is followed by a soft laugh under her breath, the sound warm and shaped like a secret. "Though with the compass, I could probably make it home before the water’s even hot." Her nose wrinkles as she presses a light kiss to the corner of his mouth, an affectionate punctuation that lingers for a heartbeat longer than it needs to. "Thank you," she murmurs, "for thinking of that. Of me."

The way he holds her tighter, the way his voice shifts, now it's her turn to feel the weight of something coming. And for a beat, her heart braces for it. But when it lands—Stormbreak, rebuilding—she exhales, all that tension draining like water down the drain. She relaxes back against him, forehead to his chest for a moment, fingers brushing idle circles along his ribs. "Maybe you should take my compass," she says softly. "That way you’re not wasting time flying back and forth, and you can help more." It’s easy, offering it. A small thing, really—but it’s her gift to him, not just the object but the ease of it, the absence of worry. The combination of being with a man like Jack who had expected her to deal with the distance his profession and his moods required in tandem with being queen, had made Flora surprisingly unclingy, such that Kaisel letting her know well in advance of his plans has her nodding understandingly.

"And if you need anything while you’re there—anything at all—ask, okay? I can totally pop up to lend a hand. Or if you want to bring some of Torchline’s soldiers with you for extra muscle, they’re yours."

When he pulls her in again, this time she doesn’t just yield, she moves with purpose. Shifting, stretching, sliding until he's on his back again so she can sprawl across his chest, the length of her body warm and bare against his. She rests her cheek just over his heart, letting its steady beat settle into her.

She hums her agreement, soft and understanding at first, but when he mentions Koa, she lifts her head, just enough to see the copper in his eyes. Her brows pinch faintly. "Kaisel," she says gently but clearly, "he doesn’t own me."

Her voice is calm, but her body tenses in a way that betrays how long she’s held this. "What happened between me and Koa was a long time ago. Yeah, there’s history, and yeah, maybe it’s messier because you’re family, but he doesn’t get to call dibs on me from when we were kids and use that to decide who I’m allowed to date now." Her nose wrinkles slightly, the thought of it unpleasant and frustrating. "And after everything with Sohalia—especially the way he's treated her the last few months—there’s no way anything would ever happen between us again. Not ever."

I hope you're sweating the bigger stuff,
finding some peace in an honest love
Hope you stop when you've had enough & throw the towel in

Code stolen from Queen Sky

Honey wherever you go, I know

"Oh, right," he mumbles sheepishly around the corner of the kiss, the soft press and warmth lingering like mist caught over water. He forgot the Crow of Torchline and all her trinkets meant she has numerous tricks up her sleeve...her foot? Wing?

He braces for something different than this. Given that she'd started to go defcon 2 on him when he'd been running around the various regions this season, she's remarkably chill about this in comparison. There's some key differences he'll better recognize later—like the fact they're talking about it, or that he'll still be around, and how helpful it is that they aren't each convincing themselves the other is withdrawing completely—but for now he's just happy not to have her detonate.

Surprise marks him with the offer, features drawn up tall for a moment. "Yeah?" A steady smile replaces the worry, affection drifting gentle into his voice. "That'd help a lot, actually. Thanks, Ro." It's her next gesture that really makes him pause with disbelief. For her to be willing to lend aid to a place that matters so much to him without any hesitation, he knows there's weight to that, and he knows it's not just for him, but it brightens him all the same. "Really!?" He leans towards her, a laugh tumbling free and light as he delivers a storm of attention to her face, kisses like rainfall over her cheeks, her chin, the edge of her ear, and a more meaningful one across her lips. "That means a lot, Flora. Thank you." He breaths it out, honest and smiling, before slumping back into the bed.

As he sinks against it and tugs her in, the way she answers, folding against him as though she's a sheet herself, it's a perfect fit to his need. She slots into the nook of his body like a puzzle piece, filling in holes he didn't even know he had. One arm wraps around and behind her, absently sweeping back her hair and running along her shoulder. The other keeps its seat on her leg, fingers curling against her knee. He breathes in deep, like maybe he could hold onto this serenity in the future, when everything will surely need it.

His gaze lifts from the slow study of her skin he'd fallen into, resting back on her aqua stare. This is not what he'd thought would put an edge to her. "Yeah, I know that," he starts, a touch confused. "No one does." She does her best to explain, and he gets it, he does, but to him that's not the issue. "I don't think it's about dibs." Maybe, in the most boiled down sense of it, but Kaisel doesn't think that's why Koa's mad. "I mean, he knew you were single and he didn't—but he still felt—" Kaisel sighs, trying to fit the words around everything that's still sharp. "I betrayed him." It comes out softer than he means, too flimsy to handle any more pressure from volume. "I knew how he felt about you...and I ignored it." Maybe it's a question of loyalty in the end, and Kaisel's had finally wavered enough that trust got put on the line.

"Wait—" He'd been so tangled in his shit he hadn't quite registered what she said, but it's slipping in now. "What happened with him and Soh?" His 'brow furrows. "I thought they were, y'know, a thing after the party. She even took Noe in after she got cured."

Kaisel

I'd give up half of forever, just to be with you

Flora

As Kaisel starts peppering her face with kisses, Flora lets out a laugh that’s half squeal, half protest, theatrically trying to turn her head away while still keeping herself curled against him. She scrunches her features like she’s annoyed, but the way her arms refuse to let go of him gives her away entirely. Her nose wrinkles again as he pulls back, and she sighs with mock exasperation that melts into something breathless and fond.

"Just because my best friend isn’t Stormbreak’s leader anymore doesn’t mean they’re not still one of Torchline’s closest allies," she says, brushing her fingers along the side of his ribcage. "Though I guess that means I'll actually have to make political ties up there again, rather than just solidifying our alliance with sleepovers and hot chocolate."

But when talk turns to Koa, the humour drains quietly from her eyes. She listens, but her frown deepens with every word he tries to offer, and when he finishes, she leans in, brushing her nose gently against his in a motion that’s more tender than it is playful. "No, that’s what I mean by dibs, though," she murmurs. "That just because he had feelings for me...doesn’t mean no one else could. You wished for me to be happy, right?"

The thought of that day—the last day—comes back sharp. Koa’s voice echoing through the Celestine, his words too loud, too cruel as her goodbye turned into a fight. The way he'd said I love you for the first time, but springing it on her like a trap. Like a knife. She can understand every harsh word and every defensive tactic the dragoon had, but gods it was such a far cry from how Kaisel had acted today in almost identical circumstances. Her body stiffens briefly against Kaisel’s as the memory cuts through, but she shakes her head, as if trying to fling it away like sand from her curls. "This is already so much more than that ever was."

Flora's hand drifts up without quite meaning to, fingers brushing Kaisel's jaw as if searching for something solid—something real—and when she finds it, when her eyes lift to his again, there’s a different kind of ache stirring behind the aqua. She leans in slowly, not for drama or distraction this time, but because her heart needs the reassurance. Her lips find his in a kiss that’s soft and warm and steady. A hum of satisfaction shivers out from her, boneless and quiet, as if her whole body was exhaling into the space he’s made for her.

Then he asks about Sohalia, and she groans, dropping her head dramatically to his chest like the weight of it might drown her. "Ugh. They had this weird hook-up after the party. Didn’t even sleep together," she mutters, voice flat with unimpressed clarity. Her cheek shifts against his skin, but her jaw stays tight; he’ll feel the way it feathers against him, little flashes of tension that say more than her tone does. "And then after Tarak died, he just...basically vanished."

Her voice dips quieter, but her frustration doesn’t fade. "He chased her for so long, said all these sweet things about wanting to be with her, and then the second she was ready? He just—" She clicks her tongue. "Pulled all the way back." Lifting her head, Flora raises her brows, her expression caught somewhere between disbelief and a grim kind of amusement. "I’m pretty sure we saw him dancing with Nova at Ludo’s thing," she says. "Didn't even try to find Soh."

I hope you're sweating the bigger stuff,
finding some peace in an honest love
Hope you stop when you've had enough & throw the towel in

Code stolen from Queen Sky

Honey wherever you go, I know

Each touch she offers is something he absorbs, grabbing hold of it to make it last longer, run deeper, stockpiling affection like a doomsday prepper certain of Armageddon. Hasn't it always been so, with her? The shadows of past loves lingering on the fringes of everything golden, ghosts that haunt even in daylight. Even now, with all the salt lines from their lashes, the ghouls are pressing in, cold and cruel— the shower had washed more than sand away.

What she says, it all makes sense, but it's not about her and what she feels, not in this instance. "FuuucK." The word bites out unusually harsh, punctuated with a drag of frustration. His hand abandons her leg, pincering either side of the bridge if his nose as his eyes scrunch shut. He heaves out a long, rolling sigh, the sound of someone suffering through their choices. "I really thought he'd chosen her..." The back of his hand flops over his forehead, obscuring his view as his eyes open and burrow between his fingers into the ceiling, adrift with guilt.

Flora might be irritated with Koa, and Kaisel doesn't blame her after hearing it all laid out like that, but damnit he understands why his cousin is making every bad choice. "He didn't want to commit to Sohalia, not if he couldn't do it fully, so he's been trying to sort through it to make sure he doesn't half ass anything with her." So instead he just full assholed himself, it'd seem. "Maybe you've moved on, but he hasn't." Koa's searching for a way to undo a first love, but just like freezing time or traveling back to the past, some things are beyond the means of men. The dead could be revived easier than Flora could be lifted from a man's heart.

It did not help that his home came under threat, that Noe shattered in order to begin healing. For all the loss that runs rampant in Caido, Koa does not handle it well, not when it's leveled at the things he holds dear. He loves his family so much that he'll smother them with it, and himself too if need be.

Somehow, each of them has tried their best not to hurt each other, but their best simply hadn't been enough. He really thought Koa had found a way to give all the rest of himself to Soh, to love her despite it not being with every bit of his heart in the end. You don't get to take back the little pieces of yourself that you give away when you love someone, but if you're lucky, someone else loves you enough to fill all the missing parts. "This is so much worse than I thought," Kaisel groans into the fold of his arm as he turns into his elbow, certain his cousin might never forgive him now. Whether he should or shouldn't isn't the issue. Emotions, especially the ones threaded with love, do not subscribe to reality.

Kaisel

I'd give up half of forever, just to be with you

Flora

She sighs, quiet and windblown, her fingers tracing lazy patterns over the shape of his chest like she’s trying to draw sense from the chaos. "Then why—" her voice lifts, light but edged, "why did he flirt with her so much? Why act like he wanted her if he wasn’t sure?" The question hangs in the air like mist that won’t burn off, caught between heat and hesitation. She doesn’t sound angry exactly, just tired and disappointed in a way that reaches deeper than she means it to.

"I mean," Flora huffs, pulling her hair back off her neck with one hand and letting it drop again with a shake of her head, "what was all that buildup for? So he could finally have her and then bail the second it got real?" Her brows furrow. "If he was so worried about commitment, maybe he shouldn’t have spent seasons chasing after her with puppy eyes and half-promises." Koa's actions weren't for Kaisel to defend, Flora knew that, but gods she'd be so frustrated on Sohalia's part for so long that it felt good to finally release some of that built-up steam.

But as Kaisel curls into the crook of his arm, burying himself in that quiet weight of disappointment, something in her softens again. Her own sigh follows, quieter now, gentler as she leans in to press a kiss to his cheek. It lands light as seafoam, lips brushing the freckled edge of his frustration. "Do you think that maybe..." she murmurs, voice low and reluctant, "we shouldn’t make anything...public, then? At least until you've talked to Koa? And Caly, I guess." Her words come slowly, carefully, like she’s peeling them from skin. "I just—" Her hand drifts against his arm as her thoughts scatter like petals on the tide. She imagines what it'd be like for Koa—his gaze catching on the imprint of her in the sand, on the way Kaisel had pressed her down into it with kisses that had tasted like heat and surrender. What it would be like for Caly to see them together, so casually the picture of everything he said he couldn't give to her.

It spirals through her stomach like surf dragged too far from shore. "It’d make everything worse if they saw us together before you had a chance to talk to either of them," she finishes softly, more to herself than to him. Still, she doesn’t pull away, insteading staying wrapped around him, steady and warm, like this was something worth protecting, even if it had to be quiet for a little while longer.

I hope you're sweating the bigger stuff,
finding some peace in an honest love
Hope you stop when you've had enough & throw the towel in

Code stolen from Queen Sky

Honey wherever you go, I know

Why? That's always the question. One he asks even of himself, as though he's not always in on every secret or decision he makes either. "I—don't know," he admits softly, tired with the truth of it and all the lack of sense and closure it provides. Maybe, like him, Koa thought that if Flora was unobtainable, he'd learn to love someone else, and in that Koa succeeded. Kaisel is certain that his cousin does feel strongly for Soh, that he means to care for her with more than just words and misconstrued actions, he's just so scared to do it wrong he's not even attempting to do it right. Fear is ever the thief of joy.

The soft brush of her lips to his cheek, so gentle and light in contrast to the tight and heavy stone gathering in his gut, pulls him back a bit. It's a cut of light against this overhanging shadow, something that rescues him gradually, and slowly he turns his head back towards her. The idea she gives breath to though, it starts so small and quiet, but blazes only need a spark to start, and this one flares hot and bright the moment it hits him. "No." It comes out careless with its urgency, half-strangled with something bitter and fierce.

"No," he says clearer, steadier, tugging her all the way over onto him. He wants the full press of her, the scatter of her pulse chest to chest, the sway of each inhale through them. Only when he has her, does a sound like relief part from him. His hands lift to grab each side of her face, gentle but firm, thumbs smoothing across her cheekbones for a moment. There's a wild intensity to the stare he sets upon her, unflinching with his feeling about this. "I never want to hide how I feel about you again." He nearly growls with the conviction of it, the sound rising up from the depths of him. "They can deal with it."

Whatever he had to face, he would, to keep this intact.

Kaisel

I'd give up half of forever, just to be with you

Flora

His no hits like a spark against glass, fierce and unyielding, and she blinks; surprised, maybe, but not in a way that makes her pull back. If anything, the way his hands find her cheeks, the intensity in his eyes, makes her melt a little further into him.

As he tugs her fully onto him, Flora shifts instinctively, easing her hips just enough so she’s not grinding down on him (much as she might like to). Her legs fall comfortably astride his, and the warmth of his body beneath hers feels like something she could sink into forever. It’s absurd, how far they’ve come—how natural this feels now, after so many false starts and backsteps. From moonlight trysts and marketplace tears, to this: draped comfortably bare across his body, skin on skin, with nothing but a tangle of saltwater memories between them.

Flora smiles into the cradle of his hands, leaning in to kiss him again. This time it’s slower, steadier, sweeter. When she pulls back, it’s only far enough to speak, her voice low and warm. "You don’t have to hide anything," she murmurs, brushing her nose along his. "I wasn’t saying we should pretend this doesn’t exist. Just that…maybe we don’t need to flaunt it either. But...I mean, it's your call."

There’s a pause, and then something colours her cheeks that has nothing to do with the heat between them. She shifts slightly, belly tense to keep her shoulders lifted, her breasts grazing against his chest, lips tugging faintly to the side. "There is one more thing," she admits, voice soft but unsteady. "But I don’t know how to say it without it sounding…weird."

I hope you're sweating the bigger stuff,
finding some peace in an honest love
Hope you stop when you've had enough & throw the towel in

Code stolen from Queen Sky

Honey wherever you go, I know

Moments with her stretch long and easy, time passing without him even noticing when or how. It's pulled along with every laugh, each smile, and all the ways he'd reach for her without tumbling over the line. Now that the marker's gone, now that he can wear her like this, he's lost all sense of time and direction. It feels like anything else with her always had, just simple to slip into this state, as if they've done it hundreds of times before.

His gaze is reluctant to return in the wake of her kiss. He holds it there in the press of his lashes, long enough to draw every remnant of it in. Amber only returns to the drift of her nose, crosseyed for a moment as he looks down to her. An amused expression curls in among the heat and the fervor of his refusal, a faint laugh huffing free. "Just what do you have in mind for how it would be flaunted?" He wonders with no lack of mischievous delight, idly tucking a strand of hair back behind her ear. "So I should cancel my sky writing, and stop all the flyers I told them to plaster around town?"

The slight adjustment she makes and the rose that joins her gold doesn't immediately dwindle his schemes for all the ways he could embarrass her with his affection. They do dwindle into a quiet buzz at her words though, and the far-off look that had entered his eye with thought becomes clear once more as it flicks to her. "Hate to break it to you Ro, but you've been weird." His lips quirk with the honesty and fondness twined together. "It's the kind of weird I love." The sort that doesn't grow weary of his version either. "So, spill."

Kaisel

I'd give up half of forever, just to be with you