Should I keep it light, stay out of the fight?

There ain't nothing that comes close to as good as you

The door flies open, harder than he means, his speed gentling nothing in the moment. That includes the volume of his voice, pushed forth with an energy that’s demanding to be heard, because she doesn’t have the full story. ”LISTEN!” Her parchment tone is still ringing in his ears, and he comes in hot, a grumble already edging into every breath.

He kicks the door shut behind him, missing a time or two, toe waggling behind him like a unique flamingo before he hooks it. His arms are full with his painted ketchup salt shaker and hot honey pepper shaker from the pottery cafe, and the wig he gave up wearing. ”I already told her I was out of line, I know, I KNOW!” Dripping from the rain outside, he shuffles over to the counter to deposit the goods.

”But,” he insists, flopping out of his neon orange raincoat with a shimmy of arms and effort. ”One, I can’t believe she tattled to you immediately,” he scoffs, nose wrinkling that she let herself walk away clearly soured still. He chucks the raincoat by the door, or close enough, his Dantalion brand crop top askew above his strawberry skirt. ”Second, SHE’S DATING ZAVIEN!?” His mouth pops open and stays there.

---

Kaisel

There is you, then all the rest, second place is the best they'll get

Whether I'm gonna curse you out or
Take you back to my house

Flora’s just finishing up her last response to Soh about meeting her for a spa day, when the door slams open hard enough to rattle the glass, causing her head to jerk up, curls shifting over her shoulder, aqua eyes going abruptly, unmistakably flat. She doesn’t interrupt Kaisel; she lets him come in hot, lets the volume and the flailing and the dripping and the frankly unnecessary flamingo-foot door-kick unfold in full, her gaze tracking him with the kind of stillness that looks a lot like restraint and feels nothing like it.

The moment he hits But, she’s already pushing up from her seat, the chair legs scraping back just enough to underline the fact that she’s not meeting him calmly, not even pretending to, one hand lifting in a sharp, slicing gesture that cuts straight through whatever justification he thinks is coming next. "Okay, but did you actually apologize?" she fires back, words quick and bright and edged in something that doesn’t bother pretending to be gentle, her free hand joining the first in a sweep that feels like it might knock something over if it were an inch to the left. "Like—actually apologize, Kai, not just—" her fingers flick in a vague, dismissive imitation of him, voice pitching higher for a beat before dropping back into something far more pointed, "—‘I was out of line, I know, I know,’ and then immediately launching into why you're actually not wrong at all?"

She steps around the table as the frustration sharpens into something more precise, more deliberate, her brows lifting as if the answer had better be correct even as she barrels straight past giving him time to provide one. "Did you tell her you were wildly out of line?" she presses, the words landing one after the other like they’ve been queued up the entire time he’s been talking. "Did you tell her you should have stapled your lips shut and that you’re going to make it up to her, properly?"

By the time he’s shrugging out of his raincoat, she’s already folding her arms over the oversized sweater she’d thrown on earlier, the motion tight enough to pull the fabric taut across her frame as she shifts her weight onto one hip, eyes rolling in a way that’s just this side of theatrical. "Yeah," she shoots back, voice dry enough to crack, "why wouldn’t my best friend immediately tell me that my husband made her feel like shit," the last word snapping a little sharper than the rest as her chin tips up, the gold at her fingers catching the light when she adjusts her grip against her own sleeves.

And then as he mentions point numero dos, despite herself, the corner of her mouth twitches, a flicker of something dangerously close to amusement slipping in before she catches it, tries to smooth it out into something far more neutral and doesn’t quite manage it. "We’ll get to that," she says, far too quickly for someone who definitely isn’t interested, the faint curve still threatening at the edge of her mouth as her eyes narrow just a fraction, recalibrating, redirecting, dragging the conversation firmly back where she wants it.

flora

I haven't decided yet
But I'm gonna get you back

Table by the bestest Sky!

There ain't nothing that comes close to as good as you

His arms sail up and out immediately, palms requesting understanding from the ceiling with the same unrepentant greed of a church’s donation bin being passed around post service. They say what he doesn’t maange to before Flora continues on, which is yes, obviously! Wordlessly they flop back down, folding against his hips at the wrist, a conversation being spoken between both their gestures in equal parts.

A noise of words just beginning gets cut off, face puffing with the breath he yanks back as she barges onward. Any good fight requires knowing when to dodge and duck and when to push out an attack. He’s waiting for the opening between her argument, bobbing and weaving around accusations until she drops enough of a guard that he can swing.

Her taunts prove more effective than his patience, and it’s his defense that falters once she breaks out an advanced move, poorly done impersonation. ”No!” he scoffs abruptly, an arm climbing with his brows. ”I explained. I didn’t—” He doesn’t get to say more before she’s rounding to him, forcing out a defensive eyeroll as theatrics spill over into verbiage.

”Uuuugh,” he complains with an oscar worthy delivery, face pitching down into the pinch of his hand as he tries to work composure into the bridge of his nose. ”This is exactly what she wanted by writing to you first! She got her side of the story in so now that’s the one that’s colored your opinion!” He’s stopped waiting for a fair opening, so at the risk of taking a punch to the face, he fires back, fighting for room to speak over her onslaught.

His head rears up from his hand as her voice slaps and lands, stinging in the wake of the false calm that attempts to briefly settle, no better than a hel setting down on an echo shark feeding frenzy. ”MAYBE she felt shitty because she’s full of shit!” His hands burst forth and sweep out, an impressive pantomime of Alien. He turns on his heel and shakes his head, droplets scattering. He busies himself retreating back to the doorway, stooping to unlance his boots, firing back over his shoulder all the while.

”It was not as bad as you’re making it out to be! She’s just butthurt that I said a few true things about where she’s putting her lips and that pissed her off.” He kicks one boot aside, the tile cool underfoot when his socked heel presses back down. ”She almost stormed out on me, I apologized, said I shouldn’t have said what I did, and we tried to talk, but even when I said I understood and that she should be happy, she just started to clam up and everything got awkward as fuck and since we’d finished painting, we just kinda, left.”

Kaisel

There is you, then all the rest, second place is the best they'll get

Whether I'm gonna curse you out or
Take you back to my house

Flora doesn’t interrupt him at first—; not because she’s patient, but because she’s watching, tracking the arc of him like she’s waiting to see just how much chaos he’s going to bring in with him. By the time he accuses Sohalia if using the parchment to get the upper hand, her brows are already climbing, her mouth parting in disbelief that builds with every word, until she lets out a sharp breath and finally cuts in, one hand lifting in a quick, emphatic gesture.

"No—she didn’t want to get ahead of anything," she shoots back, not yelling but absolutely not quiet either, the energy in her voice rising to meet his without hesitation. "She wanted to talk to her best friend about something that upset her, which—" her hand flicks outward in a small, incredulous motion, "—is a completely normal, not nefarious, very human thing to do."

As he insists her opinion’s already coloured, Flora makes a sound that’s half scoff, half laugh, already stepping back and throwing one arm out in a wide, dramatic sweep of the room like she’s physically clearing space for him. "Okay, lets hear it." She even gives him a little flourish of her fingers, like she’s cueing him onto a stage he’s already sprinted onto, the invitation dripping with just enough sarcasm to keep it from feeling generous.

She even tilts her head at him, expectant, like she’s waiting for something that might actually justify the way he’s come in here swinging, only for him to dexterously limbo his way under the argument bar. "Kaisel." His name lands hard, the shift in her immediate and real, her eyes widening in a way that isn’t playful this time, isn’t exaggerated, but stunned for half a heartbeat before it settles into something far more pointed, her gaze fixing on him. "That’s my best friend you’re talking about," she says, each word clear, deliberate, not cruel but absolutely not soft either, the look she gives him making it very obvious that this is where the line is, right here, right now.

Her arms fold tighter across her oversized sweater, her weight shifting as she holds that look on him for a second longer, letting it sit, letting it mean something before she exhales, the tension in her shoulders loosening just enough that it doesn’t snap. "Listen," she adds, still charged, still frustrated, but steering it now, trying to drag the conversation somewhere that isn’t just the two of them lobbing insults over each other’s heads. "I’m shocked about it too, okay? I’m not pretending I’m not—" There’s the faintest twitch at the corner of her mouth, like the absurdity of it is trying to sneak in again and she’s refusing to let it take over.

"But can we not?" she presses, tipping her head toward him, brows raised, the question carrying more weight than the words alone. "Like—can we not turn this into you just.. going after her? Just tell me what actually happened without—" her hand gestures loosely, searching, circling, "—all of that." Her gaze stays locked on his, steady and bright and still a little too heated, but open enough now that he’s got somewhere to land if he actually chooses to take it.

flora

I haven't decided yet
But I'm gonna get you back

Table by the bestest Sky!

There ain't nothing that comes close to as good as you

Arguments had been so much easier when it was just some wounded egos on the training mat, easily solved the next day with some bruises and beers after. Parchment whispers are a whole new feature, and the immediacy of them has only been to his benefit until now. He'd have to get used to it one way or another, because yes, Sohalia is Flora's best friend, and he doubts this will be the first time Sohalia writes something into Flora's ear about him. Intended or not, the results are here to stay. Sohalia had told Flora first, which immediately set Flora on Soh's side of events, not even waiting to clear her head about it before firing off the pen. What should have been settled between him and Soh, what he thought was already being reaired and just needed room to breathe, has now expanded and spilled over in the worst ways into his life. It feels intentional, like Sohalia needed to call in backup, and that more than anything irritates him. He'd thought they were friends too, but maybe he mistook her kindness, only ever an extension on Flora's behalf, and thought it genuine for him. Or maybe everyone's just needing to re-learn the shape of how they all fit together now, a reality just as much for him, because however much it feels like the world fades away when he's with Flora, it continues on with countless tangles and strings.

Chewing on his ire while he tugs off and kicks away his other boot, his shoulders rise closer to his ears in a wince at the sharp wield of his name. Alright, fair, he's let himself get dramatic in response, because how did they get here? "Okay, okay," he concedes with a heavy sigh. "I'm not saying she's a shithead or anything, I'm just saying, it feels like she's blown this out of proportion." Despite his present frustration, now aimed at Soh as much as himself, he is not spiteful or angry towards her. She's upset, clearly, he just wishes she'd stayed in the damn shop and talked it out with him then. It felt like she covered it up with unease just to set it all off the moment his back had turned.

Inhaling deeply, he yanks himself back to his feet, turning to face the cross of her arms. That brings a softer edge to his eyes, and his shoulders give way into defeat. He did not need to do wrong by two women tonight. "I know I didn't handle it right," he admits, stepping in closer to her. "I'm not arguing that. She asked to meet because she had a question about this old guy, Jude? And what to do about him. She said she wasn't sure if she should tell her boyfriend, and I just assumed she meant Koa." The flare of happiness he'd felt for them feels like a stone in his gut now.

Still drawing closer, he reaches out to grab her shoulders, palms smoothing down them. He'd not allow this to wedge any distance between them. The heat's all fled, the bluster of it spent now that he sees the shape of what he's walked into, and just how the hurt can intwine into Flora too. "When she revealed she meant Zavien, it took me by surprise. I mean—" his hands leave her, not intentional so much as falling away with a heaviness that feels like too much to keep upright now. "That's his best friend, Ro. He's gonna be hurt by this. Same as I hurt him." His frown returns, deepset and troubled, because it feels like his cousin is drifting further and further away, hurt sending him to a place Kaisel is worried he might eventually not be able to reach him. His jaw flexes as his teeth roll across each other, a different trail of thought that he swallows down. "Zavien is doing to Koa the same things." There's no keeping his distaste from his voice, and surely it's the same look that came through for Soh. All this bad blood between someone he'd once considered a friend, because he hadn't been willing to let Kaisel approach his cousin the way he needed. The irony that now Zavien has found himself in the same position, although lucky for him Koa isn't busy rebuilding a damn region this time.

"So, I said as much to her, and the fact that Zavien and Lena had been in love for as long as they had, that it felt like Zavien moved on fast." One hand tugs on the back of his neck, and he sighs through his nose. "It was shit I never should have said to her, not like that, I know. It upset her." Understandably so, and he knew it immediately. His gaze has traveled, rolling on and off her, but it swings back and stays on the sea of her face now. "I did apologize... but no, I didn't take back the things I said about Zavien." The man doesn't appreciate lying so much, it seemed the best way to do right by him honestly. "She sat back down, explained some of the shitty ways Koa made her feel, which I agreed she didn't deserve, and when she said Zavien made her happy I told her that's what she deserved, and that I get how feelings can take someone by surprise." Meaning how she and Zav fell into each other, despite Lena and Koa.

"If I'd known she was still that upset I woulda tried to talk to her more before we left the shop, but it kinda seemed like she wanted the space." Evidence, almost as soon as he says it, that any time he's given someone the distance he thinks they need, it turns around and bites him. Next person who wants to walk away from him will have to pry his dead body away at this rate.

Kaisel

There is you, then all the rest, second place is the best they'll get

Whether I'm gonna curse you out or
Take you back to my house

Flora’s head tips almost immediately as Kai says Soh had blown it out of proportion, her brows lifting in a way that’s less offended than it is pointed, like she’s lining his version up beside what she already knows and letting the comparison speak for itself. "Soh said you were being a bit of an idiot," she replies, not sharp so much as matter-of-fact, one shoulder lifting in a small, helpless sort of shrug as if she’s just the messenger here. "And that you were being super judgemental," she adds, eyes flicking over him with a look that’s just this side of unimpressed before her mouth presses into something that might’ve been a smile if it weren’t trying not to be. "Which—" her brows rise a fraction higher, "—I mean..that does kinda sound like what happened."

She doesn’t push it further than that, not yet, because he’s already moving, already shifting, and Flora’s attention follows him as he steps closer, her weight still angled on the stair above him so she has just enough height to look down at him properly, to hold that gaze a second longer; then he reaches for her, and just like that, the sharp edge of her folds. It doesn’t disappear, exactly, but it softens, loosens, something in her easing the second his hands find her shoulders, her own body leaning in without hesitation, closing the space between them like it had only ever been temporary. "Okay," she murmurs, quieter now, the word settling between them as she listens, her hands lifting almost absently to smooth his hair back from where it’s fallen, fingers combing through it with a familiarity that carries far more than the argument ever could.

She nods as he explains, slow and thoughtful, her expression shifting with it, the frustration reshaping into something more understanding. "I did say that to her too," she interrupts gently, thumb brushing along his temple as her hand lingers there. "That you were probably just surprised, and that you’d always been rooting for her and Koa, so.. yeah. It makes sense that you didn’t react perfectly right away."

There’s a small exhale from her, something softer, heavier, her gaze lifting to meet his fully, aqua settling into copper with a steadiness that feels far more intimate than anything raised voices could carry. For a second she just looks at him, something warm threading through the frustration like sunlight breaking through water, the kind of fondness that doesn’t get shaken loose by a fight like this. Her hands drift properly into his hair then, fingers threading through it as her mouth curves into a small, almost helpless smile.

"Babe," she says quietly, the word soft but full, "you know I feel the same way about things that you do." Her head tilts, curls slipping over her shoulder as she watches him, earnest and unflinching all at once. "If you died, I'd never move on. I’d bring you back like I did with Enzo, and if I couldn’t—" her lips press together briefly before she continues anyway, stubborn in it, "—I’d go to Mort’s realm, or I’d turn into some creepy witch until I finally died on my own." One hand lifts slightly, palm out, already anticipating whatever protest might be forming about her ending her life early to be with him, cutting it off before it can take shape, because that’s not the point and she’s not letting him drag them there.

"But," she continues, softer now, more careful, her hand returning to him, grounding them both again, "not everyone is like that." Her thumb brushes lightly along his jaw as she searches for the right way to say it without dulling the truth of it, her voice steady even as it gentles. "It’s the same thing that happened with Danta," she says, a small tilt of her head accompanying it. "Just because you see relationships a certain way doesn’t mean other people do, or that they have to." There’s the faintest flicker of a smile again, wry but warm. "Yeah, maybe it’s weird that Zavien moved on fast, but...neither of us has to date him, so who cares?"

She watches him as she says it, careful, deliberate, making sure it lands without turning into something sharper than she means it to be. "And for stuff like that—especially when someone’s excited about someone new—if they’re not asking your opinion?" her brows lift slightly, but not accusatorily. "It’s...really not the moment to give it."

The tension in her shoulders eases a little more as she exhales, one hand lifting to rub at her eye, the heel of her palm pressing there as she sighs into it, the earlier heat bleeding out into something quieter. "Soh’s not confrontational," she adds, lowering her hand again, gaze finding his. "If she’s already upset, she’s not going to stay and fight it out with you." Her mouth twists faintly, not quite a smile, not quite anything else. "So her leaving doesn’t really mean you handled it worse after that," she finishes, softer now, her hand settling back against him. "It probably just means she didn’t have it in her to keep going."

flora

I haven't decided yet
But I'm gonna get you back

Table by the bestest Sky!

There ain't nothing that comes close to as good as you

He had considered pulling out their hats, or, in their absence, demanding they adopt some kind of accent or add a required, silly phrase to every sentence. Whatever it took to chip away the tension, because he would not let his foolishness ruin anything more than it had, and he certainly wouldn’t give Zavien that power over his life. Fortunately, she seems to be of a shared mind, and where a chill had begun to descend on them both, the spark of contact shoves it away like it’s a force on par with gravity.

Everything recollects and organizes itself in her vicinity, a reminder of what’s already been tested and hard fought, of patience worn between them both, of things made better out of bad. It’s history and future all at once, and it’s the exact reassurance he always needs to clear his head.

When she says she expected as much, that his reaction, maybe not justified, is understood, it brings back a smile. Shy, and small, but carrying a bit of hope in his lips that he’s seen and known to a degree that matters. ”It’d been my mistake, to make that reach.” His shoulders shrug a bit, helpless to the fact he’d dared believe the two had reconciled and committed. He didn’t even know the half of it though, as it turns out. All the times Flora’s disfavor for his cousin had started to edge into conversation, he’d found an excuse, a shake of his head, a reason to give Koa credit. If Flora had been hearing everything from Soh though, about how she’d been made to feel, enough so that the two have now fallen this far apart… maybe there’d been more merit to hearing it all in those moments. Then again, if Soh is ramping this up, maybe she’s done the same with Koa? He’d need to see his cousin soon, for many reasons.

The whisper of her fingers through his hair is more calming than it has any right being, and tension leaves him so suddenly his body sags in its absence. ”You would not be a creepy witch,” he edges in, frustration briefly losing the battle to the smile that cracks out in response to her. ”You’d be a hot witch. Everyone would want potions from you.” It’s a dash of sprinkles, when everything’s gotten so heavy, but the weight of what she says lands true.

He nods, slow and understanding, because he already knows the things she’s saying are right. Had known them in the moment too, but too late. He’d picked the fight with Danta, and he still tries not to dwell on it, his brain prickling every time he remembers Danta desiring to fuck her again. This though, this he hadn’t intended, and tried to pull back, but the anchor had already dropped even as he hauled back on all the rope. ”She kinda was asking my opinion,” he huffs, a hand already weaving away the rebuttal. ”I know, not about who’s she’s dating.” Although with how often he’s made a mess of things, it might seem like he can’t keep his mouth shut to save his life, but he generally tries not to upset people. He just also has a strong knee-jerk reaction when it comes to the people that matter to him, Koa and Flora topping that list.

”Just, maybe made it easier to say it,” he sighs, the disappointment clear. He never meant to hurt Soh. ”I don’t know how I keep fucking up so much,” and there’s a wariness that creeps into his voice, because for someone accustomed to keeping things light and making people laugh, he’s done a lot of the opposite lately, and he’s beginning to consider sewing his lips shut. He has strong opinions, sure, but he can temper them usually. ”It’s not like I told her to break up with him, or threatened anything. She just… really took it poorly really fast. I don’t know how to work through something with someone if they’re not willing to stay and do it.” He can be persistent when it counts, but now his trust feels a little bruised with Sohalia.

He glances up at her, gaze having gone wayward with thought again, his hands pulling her down the step to him into a hug that he needs more than anything right now. ”I feel like I’m just upsetting everyone, even you.” Even the people he thought he wouldn’t, even the ones he thought he’d repaired it with. Too much again, too honest and too loud and too Kaisel.

Kaisel

There is you, then all the rest, second place is the best they'll get

Whether I'm gonna curse you out or
Take you back to my house

Flora’s expression softens further as he talks, the tension that had been coiled tight in her shoulders easing out in slow increments, her fingers still threaded through his hair as if that alone might keep him from spiralling off somewhere she can’t reach, her thumb brushing absently along his temple while she listens to the shape of what he’s saying and the quieter worry sitting underneath it.

"I obviously think Soh moving on from Koa was definitely the right thing for her," she says after a moment, her voice gentler now but still clear, her head tilting slightly as she considers it, "but yeah...once she decided, it was kind of fast." One shoulder lifts in a small shrug, not dismissive so much as accepting, her mouth curving faintly. She certainly wouldn't begrudge her friend finding happiness, maybe even love, after how long Koa had fucked her around for.

Flora's hands stay in Kai's hair, and when he makes the comment about witches, something brighter flickers through her expression, the corner of her mouth pulling into a wicked little grin that feels far more like her again. "I could be creepy and hot," she murmurs, eyes glinting as she watches him, letting that sit there just long enough to cut through some of the heaviness before it settles again into something softer.

She doesn’t argue when he circles back to whether Soh had been asking for his opinion or not, just nods slightly as he works through it himself, her attention shifting instead when his voice dips, when the frustration turns inward in a way she doesn’t like at all, her brows knitting as something sharper and more protective replaces the earlier irritation. "Hey," she says softly, quick but firm, cutting across that line of thinking the second it appears, her hand pressing lightly against the side of his head as if she can physically redirect it, her gaze steady on his.

As he talks about Soh taking it poorly, her head bobs in a small, thoughtful sway, side to side, her expression understanding even as she chooses her words carefully. "That makes sense, though. She was excited about someone new, and bringing up Lena probably made her feel guilty too, since they were friends." She pauses just long enough to lift her brows at him, a silent don’t jump in yet because she can already see it coming, before continuing without breaking stride. "And maybe they’re both already agonizing about that, or maybe neither of them cares at all, but either way—" her shoulders lift slightly, "—if she thought you were going to be happy for her and then got hit with all of that, it’s going to sting."

Her hand slides down from his hair to his neck, her thumb brushing there in a small, absent motion as her voice softens again. "Don’t think about it like she wasn’t willing to talk it out with you," she adds, shaking her head gently. "Think about it like she needed a minute to be upset. That’s not the same thing, and it’s not really about you so much as it's about her."

When he pulls her down into him, she goes without hesitation, folding into the hug like it’s the most natural thing in the world, the last of the tension draining out of her as she presses close, her hands immediately moving to tug his crop top up and off before doing the same with her baggie sweater so she can settle properly against him, skin to skin, like that’s the only version of this that makes sense. With her cheek resting against his chest, she draws in a slow breath, steadying, settling them both in something quieter than the argument had been, her arms wrapping around him as she exhales.

"I can be upset at you without being, y’know... upset-upset with you," she murmurs, the words half-amused, half-affectionate, her fingers tracing idly along his back.

flora

I haven't decided yet
But I'm gonna get you back

Table by the bestest Sky!

There ain't nothing that comes close to as good as you

The slow brush of her fingers is like an external heartbeat, providing a steady pulse of affection that resonates through any uncertainty with that one, small rhythm of continuity. Whatever the other noise, the vibrations humming through him until his bones are set on edge, that one remains the constant he can fall back onto and find his cadence again.

There’s no disagreement on his part about the speed or the correctness of Soh’s choices in the matter. There is a brief moment though, where a small voice in his mind begs to derail this conversation (and oh, wouldn’t it be easier then) and make her justify how something can be both creepy and hot. It’s a claim he’s certain she’d have some evidence for, but even that pull isn’t strong enough to yank him from this tide of worry. One that extends beyond Soh, building with every ripple he’s inadvertently caused, the tossed wake of each of their arguments where she’s had to apologize on his behalf.

It’d been so simple before. Now, it’s different problems, different hearts, and a complexity he too often tries to pretend isn’t there. Not for the first time, he thinks of the tasks Safrin once set down for him that he so confidently refused. Not that he prefers a different outcome, but maybe he should have taken her attempted lessons more to heart, Caly just the first to suffer his carelessness, and Flora soon thereafter. The list has only grown since.

Hey lands with the firmer set of her hand, like a heart kicking against a sternum to be heard. Her eyes hang on, and his sigh makes room for her to settle in with him. ”I suppose so,” he admits with a softness that speaks to how gradually he chews on her explanation. The idea that maybe he’s not the only one who handled things wrong isn’t a novelty entirely, but he’s not the one who left the studio mad and dashed off a post to a friend. He would have come home and spilled his guts to Flora, but with a much different approach than this had become. Proof enough then, that if they’d both been wrong to some extent, or if there is no right, that he’d still done it the worst, because his caused harm. Unavoidable, maybe, but he’d prefer to try.

”I guess then, she might have done the same thing I did. Thought ahead and yanked back when it turned up wrong.” She thought he might celebrate her choice, same as he thought he would be. Just, different choices made than thought of. Which, fine, but then the immediate call to Flora only settles deeper. ”If she needed a minute, she certainly didn’t want it alone.” It didn’t feel like she wanted a moment; it felt like she wanted a way to get back. Maybe he’s overestimating her motives, and the coincidence that his wife is her best friend is all that it is, but it certainly reads to him like Soh is just as careless in her own way then. Flora is more than just her friend. She always has been.

The collection of her in his arms is like the first breath he’s taken in full for ages. That she doesn’t just meet him, but rises up, on tiptoe if need be, and carries them further will always be the thing he adores most about her. Where others see height and border, Flora has only ever seen beyond. Their shirts fall away like leaves long due to be shed, leaving nothing but the core necessity left to thrive. The feel of her is immediate—a warmth and sensation that drags around him like this entire time he’s been without his proper shape. His chin tucks in over her head where it rests on his chest, eyes fluttering shut for a moment as he pulls her in tighter, greedy.

Suddenly, things don’t feel as large as they had been. Certainly not as sharp, or bright, or anything that can hold his attention for long. ”Oh?” he murmurs, the words muffled as his jaw doesn’t move and his lips barely part to let it pass, too content. ”Is that the difference?” he wonders, his own humor edging in, because the diference almost sounds absurd. He does hear it though, even if either way, it’s still upset. Which, he knows is unavoidable to an extent, however much he’d try to do just that. ”It’s all so clear now.” Truthfully, he’d rather have her loud and upset any day over distance and avoidance. ”You’re very good at it, y’know.” he says with a near wistfulness, as if even in this she has found a way to best him and earn more points. ”Being upset. Terrifying, really.” There’s enough lightness to his tone now to keep it from being a jab, but he pulls away from the rest on her head anyway to chase his fears, tilting down to kiss her long and slow, quieting everything to just them again for the time being.

Kaisel

There is you, then all the rest, second place is the best they'll get

Whether I'm gonna curse you out or
Take you back to my house

Flora’s mouth curves faintly against his chest at that, the movement small but knowing, her cheek still pressed to his skin as if she can read him better from here, as if the warmth of him carries more truth than anything said out loud, and when he suggests that Soh hadn’t wanted a moment alone, she gives the slightest shrug, the motion brushing against him in a way that feels more like a thought than a gesture. "That’s not fair," she murmurs, her voice soft but certain, her fingers idly tracing along his back as if mapping something she already knows by heart. "I’m her best friend." It stood to reason that alone sometimes included her.

There’s a breath after that, one that lingers just a little longer in her chest before she lets it out, her head tilting back enough to look up at him, curls shifting where they’ve fallen, her expression threading something more complicated through the softness. "Besides," she adds, a quiet sigh slipping into the word, "based on her letter, I’m pretty sure she’s on her way to Kings’ End right now to see Zavien, so..." She trails off there, not finishing it because she doesn’t need to, her eyes widening just slightly, a flicker of something unreadable passing between them—something tangled and knowing and just a little bit so, you know what that means—before she lets it settle, lets him take from it whatever he will.

But then he pulls her closer, and everything else—every thread of it, every lingering complication—loosens its grip the second her skin meets his, the contact immediate and consuming in the quietest way, like stepping into sunlight after being cold for too long, her body responding before her thoughts can catch up. The sound of his voice against her, low and barely there, hums through her chest like a second heartbeat, and she smiles to herself, something soft and private blooming there as her fingers curl more securely into him.

"I’ve had a lot of practice," she says, a quiet laugh threading through it, the meaning left loose and unpinned as to whether she means in general or with him specifically, because it doesn’t really matter which version of it is true when both of them are.

And when he pulls back, even just a little, she follows without thinking, drawn after him like there’s a line between them that refuses to slacken, her hands slipping from his waist up around his neck, her body already rising onto her toes before the space has even fully formed. She meets him halfway, like she always does. The kiss unfolds slowly, deliberately, something unhurried and deepening all at once, and the world doesn’t so much disappear as it softens, edges blurring, the sharpness of everything else dissolving into something distant and unimportant as her focus narrows entirely to the warmth of his mouth against hers, the way his breath mingles with hers, the subtle shift of him as she presses closer, closer still, until there’s nothing left between them but the shared rhythm of it.

Her fingers tighten slightly at the nape of his neck, her body fitting against his, her thoughts scattering like startled birds the longer it lingers, replaced instead with sensation, with the slow, spiralling pull of him that makes everything else feel smaller by comparison, quieter, easier to ignore. She exhales into the kiss without realizing she’s holding her breath, and whatever tension had been left in her unwinds there, not in some grand unraveling but in the subtle, steady way her shoulders soften, the way she leans into him like there’s nowhere else she’d rather be, like there never has been.

flora

I haven't decided yet
But I'm gonna get you back

Table by the bestest Sky!

There ain't nothing that comes close to as good as you

More noise than word is all he manages for the time being. Even then, the sound is barely there, swallowed between her mouth and his as he lingers in the space between her lips. He doesn’t so much end the kiss as let it linger past its natural edge, testing how long he can hold it there before the world pushes back in. It doesn’t, not right away.

There’s a steadiness to the touch between them that he collides with and then stays against. Not something soft, or fleeting, but solid, like bracing a hand against a wall and realizing it isn’t going to give. His hands follow that instinct. Not grabbing, not frantic, just finding. One drags slow along her spine, feeling the slight shifts beneath skin and muscle, the way she moves with him, the way they bend together without even trying. The other settles firm at her side, thumb and fingers pressing in with a firmness that means to keep her exactly where she is. Close.

The curl of her against him, tightening whatever remains apart, has him shifting in response. It's subtle, instinctive, the kind of movement that happens before thought can catch it. The seat of his palm on her hip tugs her into the tilt of his, and the arm that'd been marking trails on her back fists into her hair, holding her like he means never to stop.

He breathes her in like it’s the only thing that makes sense. When everything else has gotten tangled somewhere along the way, this is the only thread he can follow cleanly back out. There’s a quiet insistence in it now, the way he holds her, the way his mouth lingers and returns and lingers again. He's not asking, just reaffirming—here. Still here.

His grip softens only enough to slide, hand dragging up her side and reaching to cup the press of a breast that's smushed against his chest. His hand rolls over her as if checking she’s real, that she hasn’t slipped away in the space between arguments and misunderstandings and all the things he keeps getting wrong. "I don't want you to get any more practice," he whispers into the small space he affords, forehead pressing briefly to hers, breath uneven but steadying, a quiet exhale brushing across her lips.

Kaisel

There is you, then all the rest, second place is the best they'll get

Whether I'm gonna curse you out or
Take you back to my house

The kiss doesn’t end so much as loosen, like something unspooling rather than breaking, and Flora stays caught in it even as the shape of it shifts. There’s a heat to it that builds slowly instead of striking all at once, something that sinks rather than sparks, and she feels it travel through her in quiet, insistent waves, each press of his mouth against hers leaving something behind that doesn’t fade when he pulls back, only deepens when he returns, until her thoughts have long since given up trying to keep pace and scattered into something softer, less coherent, more sensation than sense.

She leans into him without hesitation, but it isn’t soft, isn’t gentle in the way it had been a moment ago, the line of her body pressing into his with a deliberate kind of hunger that answers the grip of his hand on her hip in kind, her breath catching again as his fingers tighten in her hair and something low and molten unfurls further, hotter now, sharper, coiling through her in a way that makes her want to lean harder into it instead of pulling back.

The drag of his hand along her spine pulls a faint shiver through her, one that echoes out into goosebumps as his palm brushes against the bulge of her breast against his chest, and her fingers tighten at the back of his neck, nails grazing just enough to answer the pull of his hand in her hair, her mouth parting against his again with a quiet, breath-warmed sound that slips free before she can catch it, the heat of him and the way he holds her burning through her in slow, steady waves that make everything else feel distant, unimportant, like the world has narrowed down to this one, consuming point where she can feel exactly how much he wants her to stay right where she is.

When he finally tilts his head so their foreheads meet instead, her breath catches as she pulls in a shaky inhale, a flush rising quick and visible across the bridge of her nose and cheeks, colouring her scarlet in a way she doesn’t bother to hide as she presses her nose lightly against his. "But then how else will I practice making up, after?" she murmurs, the words soft and threaded with something playful, her voice still slightly breathless, her lips brushing his again at the end of it like she can’t quite help herself.

She draws back just enough to look at him properly, though even that feels reluctant, like she’s giving up something she’d rather keep, her aqua eyes bright and sharpened by the flush that lingers across her skin, her lower lip caught briefly between her teeth in a deliberate, almost teasing bite before she releases it. "In the interest of fair fights," she adds, her tone tipping toward something lighter now, though the warmth hasn’t left it, "I was also shocked when Soh told me about her and Zavien."

flora

I haven't decided yet
But I'm gonna get you back

Table by the bestest Sky!

There ain't nothing that comes close to as good as you

His laughter breaks through the heat and the echoes of the chilly tension with a startling ease, the force of it shaking him against her for a moment. ”Shut Up,” he demands, wanting her to do anything but. Her lips coast over the smile that’s found its way there, his forehead rolling off hers soon after, if only to shake his head at her.

He’d like to say he’s steadier now, and in some ways that’s true, but in others, she’s begun to thoroughly dismantle him anew. Already weakening to the idea of making up, getting the view of her so flushed and teased threatens to knock the remaining leg of sense away from him entirely. It’s only the dangle of a fair fight that keeps him from toppling completely and grabbing her until they both forget just what the hell they’d been arguing about to begin with.

Instead, one brow cocks up, leading her to say more. Her admission lands like a lit fuse, and Kaisel suddenly grabs her in a new way, palms shaking her shoulders faintly as he bites down on the vindication of a shout. ”I know!” He draws in a breath close enough to a gasp, all his disheveled heat from her touch sharpening into something equally as bonding. Gossip.

”I thought you were in the know!” he accuses next, shoving faintly at her before recapturing her the instant thereafter, hand threading with hers as he pulls her along insistently to the kitchen. He needs a drink after all this shit. ”Not only because you’re her bestie, but you had that eye on them at the festival.” He drops her off by the counter, and the fact they’re still half undressed seems to be no thought at all as he busies himself pulling wine glasses out of the cabinet. ”Do you think that’s where it started?” He tips his sight back towards her before uncorking a bottle of wine.

Kaisel

There is you, then all the rest, second place is the best they'll get

Whether I'm gonna curse you out or
Take you back to my house

Flora’s laughter spills out of her before she can catch it, bright and unrestrained, the sound bubbling up through whatever heat still clings to her skin as he tells her to shut up, her grin only widening in response as if that alone proves she has absolutely no intention of doing any such thing, her lips brushing the edge of his smile in passing like she’s stealing something small and fleeting before it can disappear.

When he grabs her shoulders and shakes her, she doesn’t resist it at all, doesn’t brace or push back, just lets herself go loose in his hands, flopping dramatically with the motion like something boneless and delighted by it. "I know, I know," she echoes back between breaths, though it’s less agreement and more participation, more the rhythm of him than the content of it, and when he shoves her only to immediately pull her along again, she goes without hesitation, letting herself be tugged through the house. If he’d paused even half a second longer, she would’ve pulled him sideways instead, dragged him toward the couch and back into the warmth they’d only just started to unravel, but this—this is good too, this easy pivot into something conspiratorial, something that hums with the same intensity just pointed in a different direction, proving once again that they were a perfect match for one another in more than just sexual chemistry.

Flora hops up onto the counter, one knee pulling up beneath her so she can rest her chin there, watching him with bright, intent eyes as he moves around the kitchen like this is the most natural continuation in the world, like she isn't just in her bra and leggings now, still a touch breathless and a little flushed.

"No," she says, shaking her head. "At our spa trip she just said she was done waiting around for Koa, which—" her mouth twists slightly, something sympathetic flickering through before it tips back into something more wry, "—yes, I’m very sorry for you that it didn’t work out, but honestly.." She lets out a breath that turns into a quiet laugh, her fingers tapping idly against her knee. "I swear he has a secret family somewhere else with how often he just disappears now." She shakes her head again. "I did think they were cute, though," she admits eagerly. "But Soh said one day Zavien just—" her hand lifts, miming the abruptness of it with a small flick of her fingers, "—kissed her, and then they slept together, and then instantly they’re dating."

There’s a beat there, a tiny pause where something sharper gathers behind her eyes, something that curls into something unmistakably petty and a little too pleased to be entirely innocent, and when she looks at Kaisel again, her expression brightens with it, her brows lifting as if she’s about to deliver the most important part of the story. A part that matters only to the two of them. "And all of this," she says, leaning forward just slightly, voice dropping into something conspiratorial and a touch annoyed, "happened before anyone told Koa." Her eyes widen at him, just enough to underline it, to pass the full weight of that detail across the space between them like a shared secret she knows he’ll appreciate exactly the way she does.

flora

I haven't decided yet
But I'm gonna get you back

Table by the bestest Sky!