[PQ] [RQ] didn't stand by with fingers crossed

RONIN

the white knight

Ronin doesn't have a good argument for that - the boy is right and it does seem similar to a day at the spa, but he supposes that's still giving healing vibes - and so he lets him go with a cheerful wave before turning back to Remi and Flora. "I don't think you're supposed to smell it," he quips to his husband about the citrus assault, despite the fact that Remi had only so much as twisted the lid off the jar.

Grinning and smooching an obnoxious kiss to his cheek on his way by, he nods towards the Doubletake and immediately sets to grabbing up scrubbing brushes, sponges and buckets - and his duplicate gets involved too, so the work is even lighter. "I'll drop these back where they belong on our way down to the Northaven," he confirms as he works.

---

Ronin cleans up with the help of his duplicate!

i'll get over it
i just gotta be dramatic first

flora

Flora watches the water shift from clear to faintly opalescent as the salt and citrus begin to dissolve, threads of brightness unfurling through the basin in slow, lazy curls. She kneels to dip her hand in, letting her fingers trail through the mixture. It feels the same as always—cool, clean, humming with the faint signature of Safrin’s magic—only now it carries a sharper, sunlit note from the citrus and the unmistakable clarity of a good scrub. Maybe it isn’t dramatic, but she wasn't about to start doubting Rae's instructions now.

She rises smoothly, brushing dampness from her palm onto her jeans, and turns toward her dads. Ronin is already hauling supplies with cheerful efficiency while Remi’s tentacles continue their steady, almost meditative stirring.

"Thank you," Flora calls out with a crooked grin. "+10 dad points to the both fo you." Spice chirrs in agreement from where she’s perched, echoing Flora’s gratitude with her own miniature fanfare as the last of the citrus vanishes into the swirling, purified water.

---

THE END. GOOD JOB US

~FIN

I hold my breath just a little bit longer
halfway out the door but it won't close

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!