no amount of freedom gets you clean

Sohalia

Soh laughed in tandem with Flora, raising her hands in surrender. "Okay, okay," she conceded. "Perhaps there are one or two embarrassing moments that you may have endured. But -" she added, gazing pointedly at Flora. "With how many people run around here half naked as it is, I refuse to believe that a nip slip is that bad." With the mood lighter, and Soh's amusement clear on her no-longer-blushing-furiously face, she went back to cleaning, moving on from the top of the desk to poke around in the drawers, which were largely empty.

She moved on to a bookcase nearby, dumping most of the books unceremoniously into a new bag, only to pause as conversation turned to her and her failing love life. Shaking her head at Flora's undying belief in her goodness, and uncomfortable with having to face the reality that she did give too many chances, Soh ran her finger over the spines of some of the books on the next shelf. Fortunately, Flora saved her from having to answer by nudging her lightly with a shoulder and sharing fresh gossip.

"Oh my gods, no," she said incredulously, laughter blooming where heaviness had settled only moments before. "Do we know why they were stealing Kai's underwear?"

yeah I got heartbreak that I reminisce about

Flora crosses back toward the shelves to help, grabbing a stack of books and lowering them into the bag Soh has opened. She keeps her attention firmly on the task, sliding the volumes in without lingering on the titles or the weathered covers; ancient maritime tomes she had tracked down piece by piece, each chosen specifically for Jack.

Soh’s laughter draws a snicker from Flora, and she shakes her head as she reaches for another armful. "here were some explosions later that night,"she says, as though that explains anything at all, before shrugging. "So maybe cannon fodder?" Another book disappears into the bag. "I know Koa and Kai like to prank each other," she adds with a casual flick of her shoulder. "So it could have just been that, but still, I can't picture you out doing that sort of thing on a Friday night."

The last of the shelf clears, and Flora straightens with a quiet sigh, her gaze drifting slowly across the room—over the desk, the couch, the chest, the lingering absence where the bottled ships once stood—and for a moment she simply stands there, before closing her eyes. "Spirits?" she calls lightly into the house. When she opens them again, her gaze slides down the corridor as though listening to something only she can hear. She nods once, satisfied, before glancing back to Soh with a small tilt of her head. "Can you finish this up?" she asks. "Soh and I need a drink."

There is a faint stir in the air of the room behind them, the sort that suggests the house has accepted the assignment. Flora slips her arm through Sohalia’s and gently tugs her toward the hallway. "Come on," she says with a crooked grin returning to her lips. "Those margaritas are calling."

~FIN

real big things I still gotta figure out

Code 100% taken from the queeeeeeen herself, Sky <3