I ship it — Floroa, Klora, Flora Carpenter

C-4, I do that damage—My ego is titanic

His blood feels like a livewire running through him, his bones still vibrating. His visit from Safrin is alive and wild inside him, and he walks on air, so it feels, as he and Koa turn away from the shrines and back to the city. The glory of the Celestine is dazzling beside them, and though Kaisel has seen it time and time again, he finds a new admiration for it after meeting its creator, and he smiles at the star-touched foliage as they walk.

"You were right," Kaisel admits, beaming, as he glances at Koa and claps a hand on his shoulder. "She is incredible!" Admittedly, Kaisel cannot think of a time when Koa hasn't been right, but his head is plenty big enough so he keeps that to himself. He quiets for a moment then, thoughtful, his hands dropping to the pockets of his jackets. Now that he's out of fantastic stories to spin for his cousin, he's only got some stark truths to tell him.

"Ya know," he starts, pausing to brush his thumb over one particularly alluring flower. "Flora is single again." He's mostly telling it to the flower at this point, because the plant doesn't have the history with the Doubletake that Koa has. This plant, it hasn't had its heart torn asunder by the crow of Torchline, and so it takes the news much better than he suspects Koa will.

Kaisel

I woke up in self-destruction mode—Watch me go, I'ma do it again

Hear those bells ring deep in the soul
Chiming away for a moment

"Right?" Koa agrees jovially, mirroring the hand on his shoulder and adding an enthusiastic shake. "Like I've ever led you astray." He's smug as the cat who's got the cream, and not without good reason. It's a gorgeous day, things are generally looking up, and Safrin just called him her Favorite troublemaker, which is about as wonderful a compliment as Koa's ever received.

Buoyant as a cloud, Koa rocks to the soles of his feet. "Okay, so I know it might feel intimidating to do your first quest, but don't worry - I've got your back." At some point he's picked up a particularly interesting stick (when?); now he twirls it idly between his fingers, like a proto fidget spinner. He's been tossing it between his hands, alternating which one he exercises. It's in a flawless, intentional ark when Kaisel speaks again.

What he says is so startling that Koa drops his stick.

"What?" Koa spins around too quickly, his eyebrows shooting into his hair. His voice is too loud, the reaction too emotional; he clears his throat, forces his expression to school (a little), biting hard at his lower lip as he tries to play it cool. "I mean- oh. Huh." Oh? Huh? What the fuck are you doing, man? His brow furrows in confusion. "How, uh... how do you know that?" And why the shit is he telling Koa, when he should know that information will be like a tectonic plate shifting under his feet?

Koa Carpenter

Feel your breath course frankly below
And see life as a worthy opponent

C-4, I do that damage—My ego is titanic

The stick rolls and hits Kaisel's foot. It's a gentle tap, requesting him to be a bit braver and face his cousin fully. He plucks the flower as he pivots, spinning the stem back and forth between a thumb and forefinger. The petals sway as it dances in hand, merry.

"Yeah, I guess Jack dumped her when—" A pause. A quiet search of Koa's face, an attempt to ascertain what information to provide when so that his cousin can remain upright the longest. Koa has been uh, ready to crash out frequently lately. The Family taking over your home, booting out your ruler and ex, exiling you to the untamed wilderness, and infecting your darling little sister with brain worms can do that to a man, understandably. So Kaisel really is trying to be gentle, even if it's an ache inside not to blurt it all out and proudly announce that they should immediately kiss. Flora and Koa that is; Kaisel might admire Koa but he has no intention of swapping spit with his cousin.

"Well you know, she was infected, right?" Kaisel cocks his head slightly, and the flower comes to a stop between his fingers. "I ran into her at the Silk Houses, when she was brainwashed. I hadn't seen her in so long, I didn't really notice, but something was still, off, yanno? Mainly because she blamed herself for the family killing her." That had been a red flag, to say the least. Sorry I died, my bad. The memory of it still rankles him.

The more Kaisel tries to pace it out and be tender, the more he realizes he might be letting the heat of this Brazilian wax be cooling down too much. He just wants the stray hairs gone, not all the skin with it. "Anyway, that broadcast called her out when she got cured. So I went to see her, to be sure what was up since that night I saw her wasn't sitting right." Kaisel frowns, a hand placed on Koa's shoulders in solidarity and support. "She was a fucking mess dude. Said Jack didn't trust her, and that she made them unsafe. Because..." Gods he hadn't realize how much shit she'd gotten into until attempting to regurgitate it clearly. "Now that she's cured, Torchline is getting protected. But she can't benefit from the protection, or else Dahlia threatened to go after the people she cares about. So, the safest place to be for any of those people is in Torchline, but then it's a bit limiting, so I guess Jack was pissed." Kaisel's hands fall away and cross against his chest, preparing for Koa's complete understanding to arrive at last, and the ultimate point of all of this.

"So I helped her move. She's gonna live on a boat now." He smiles faintly, because not all of the memories of this most recent shit show are terrible. Reconnecting with Flora had been worth it, for one, although he happily would have done so under better conditions. "This is your chance, Koa. I know you loved her." Love? Kaisel isn''t really certain you ever stop loving a woman. "Go get her back."

Kaisel

I woke up in self-destruction mode—Watch me go, I'ma do it again

Hear those bells ring deep in the soul
Chiming away for a moment

Koa stares at the flower in his cousin's hands, not really trusting himself to look anywhere else. The yellow bloom flits about without a care in the world, utterly oblivious to the Dragoon's looming crisis, or the way it reminds him of another bouquet of yellow blooms. Sunflowers, the pet name he'd once given Flora, only to have it - and them - tossed back in his face.

Okay, maybe not actually, but it certainly felt that way. And now those feelings come sweeping back, herded by a well-meaning and bumbling shepherd with no idea of the wolves lurking among his flock.

"He dumped her?" He's angry on Flora's behalf, and then he's angry at his anger, because why the fuck should he even care? It's not his problem, she's not his problem, but try explaining that to a 23-year-old boy whose first summer love had left him just as bruised as the flower Kaisel flails. The rest of the story unfolds in pages that, were this a novel, might be considered outlandish or far-fetched- but this isn't a novel, it's Flora, and Koa has long since stopped believing anything outside her reach. Infected and cured and a realm protected, all in the, what? Six weeks? since he saw her. It's absolutely ridiculous, but he doesn't doubt it's true.

And he hadn't been there for any of it, because she hadn't wanted him.

She'd wanted Jack.

Kai concludes his recounting of the trials, a hand dropping from Koa's shoulder to cross over his chest. At some point Koa's shoved his hands in his pockets, and then taken them out again, and then rolled up his sleeves, and then rolled them back down. A part of him that he'd like to say is smaller than it positively preens in smug vindication; another part that he'd much rather ignore is shouting at him to ask more questions, to follow up and run to Flora, because he knows she must be absolutely falling apart.  "That's... A lot," is all he musters, the understatement of the year, and he's about to ask his cousin why he's saying all of this when the master plan is revealed.

This is your chance, Koa. I know you loved her.

And, well.

Fuck?

"Dude, what the fuck? Koa blinks, incredulous, staring at his cousin as though he's sprouted whiskers and a second mouth. "Like... the fuck?" he repeats, because it bears repeating, because honestly, the fuck? Not even knowing where to begin wit his answer, Koa spins on his heel, a dull laugh radiating from his lungs. He raises his hands, flails briefly as he isn't sure where to put them, and settles on his face, fingers tugging into his hairline as he tries to rub understanding into his eyes. "What are you even talking about? 'Get her back'? She fucking dumped me, Kai!" And is apparently going through a full-blown crisis.

And didn't come to him.

A thought occurs to him, and before he can think better he's spun back on his heel and taken a step forward, peering into his cousin's face. "Did she... did she say something?" About me is left unsaid but obvious, because it's quite apparent she said a lot. But had Flora confessed to Koa's cousin that she missed him, regretted him, wanted him?

Would it change anything, if she had?

Koa Carpenter

Feel your breath course frankly below
And see life as a worthy opponent

C-4, I do that damage—My ego is titanic

A clarifying set of two nods, with a knowing lift of his 'brows to Koa's first question—Y U P. Then, slightly widened eyes that say, buckle up buddy it only gets worse.

It's too much one might argue, the next evolution of 'a lot'. It is, however, perfectly Flora. Kaisel finds it endearing somehow, maybe because his heart isn't the one on the line. It's easy to have all the fun of the chaos and none of the ownership of the wreckage—like a storm chaser trying to get inside a tornado just to watch it spin. He wants Koa to feel the same way. He had, once, with Flora.

"I know," Kaisel sways from one hip to another, willing patience into the vibrations he can still feel. The echo of Safrin's voice across the cosmos perhaps, or the eager anticipation of his favorite power couple reuniting, hard to say. "I know," Kaisel punctuates the knowledge with splayed hands and the flower flutters free. Although he thinks, perhaps, he doesn't know, when Koa fires out a laugh like a weapon and twists away. Kaisel's hands fall limp at the wrist.

When Koa attempts to scalp himself, Kaisel steps forward, one hand tucking into his jackets pockets (every one of them) and the other reaching out for Koa's back. An attempt to reclaim the man sinking back into a boy, to hoist the once shining, fearless Dragoon out of the shadow of his heartache. The touch never quite makes it though. Koa's voice bites back like a dog that's just pissed on the wrong rug, so Kaisel pauses, and that hand swings up to rub at the back of his neck in hesitation. He must have fucked up the delivery because Koa wasn't cheering and hugging him.

"Yeah bu—" his voice sucks back in as Koa whirls back to him, dangerously close, especially with the face of a madman expertly worn. Kaisel takes a half-step back. There's a plea like none he's ever seen in Koa's eyes. He wishes he had an answer cocked, as easy as the tirade of the Doubletake's winding choices and consequences had been, but there's just a wisp of air there. A void, where Koa's name ought to have been on her lips. On his, even.

Kaisel is certain that they would be, even if they hadn't.

"I mean..." Kaisel's hand dropped from his neck and thumped against his thigh in muffled defeat. "She's just thinking about what she's lost right now man. Yanno, she's broken up about it all, and there's a lot for her to deal with, with the move and the kingdom and everything..." He doesn't chicken out. He holds Koa's desperate stare and hopes it steadies him. Hopes he fucking listens. "You still matter to her. You always will. So go see her, sweep her off her feet and show her she still matters to you and let the shit in the past stay in the past. People make mistakes Koa."

Kaisel

I woke up in self-destruction mode—Watch me go, I'ma do it again

Hear those bells ring deep in the soul
Chiming away for a moment

Okay, Kai, but you don't know. Not your fault, given Koa seems to have wholly lost control of his tongue, or the capability for rational thought. There's about seven thousand things in his brain right now, and while many have (rightly) accused the boy of being big-headed, even the the most impressive cranium in the world can't be expected to contain all this.

Kai reels back and Koa winces, realizing he's maybe being a little bit much. "Sorry," he mutters, stepping backwards to give his poor cousin space to breathe. The next stream of information is slower, giving Koa time to catch up, to slot things into place. Flora broke up with Jack. Kaisel decided that meant she'd want to get with him. But Flora hadn't mentioned him- and it wouldn't matter if she had, or at least that's what he has to force himself to believe.

Koa rubs rubs palms against his temples, the beginning of a headache starting to build behind his eyes.

"Kai... just because Flora's going through a hard time, doesn't mean she wants me." His voice comes out slowly, measured, though a tremulous current betrays the effort it's taking him to stay chill. "It kinda sounds like the thing she needs is a friend, not a new boyfriend." Or an old boyfriend swanning in, trying to take advantage of her vulnerable state.

Exhaling a slow, long breath, lets one hand drop, the other rubbing the back of his neck. His eyes focus on a bird that's perched beyond Kai's left ear, expression softening as the faintest ghost of a smile tugs against his lips. "Plus I'm... seeing someone." The expression falters; he quirks his mouth. "Or, well, I guess we're not actually dating yet - but we will be in a couple weeks. If we both... wear flowers." Which sounds a little absurd when he says it aloud, but that's just Koa's life. The Dragoon shrugs defensively, eyes snapping back to Kai. "It's a long story, okay? Point is I'm not even interested in Flora like that anymore."

Which is definitely, totally, a hundred percent true.

Koa Carpenter

Feel your breath course frankly below
And see life as a worthy opponent

C-4, I do that damage—My ego is titanic

Big head? Thick head is what Koa has. For someone who's managed to get two queens in bed Koa can't seem to play a knight worth a damn. "Do you know what you want for dinner every night?" Kaisel demands, arms crossing again as he leans into the idea he might be here a while trying to lead his stupid very smart cousin along. "No, you don't. Sometimes you don't know what you want until it's in front of you." Until you smell it, or taste it. Koa should be running for the first skyship to bring her some goddamn sausage for dinner. "You fight for everything in your life cuz. Fight for her too. Fight for your name on her lips if that's where you want it." Sometimes you had to chase them a bit. Flora seemed like the type that needed the drama of a pursuit.

A pause as Kaisel considers what Koa means about a friend. Probably true, he doubts she's immediately flipping through her eligible bachelor calendar, but Kaisel is afraid if Koa doesn't take action she might fall back into step beside Jack. Sometimes you eat whatever's fastest and cheapest, even if it's shit for you. "So show up, and be a friend. Show her she wants you. Hell, be crazy, and want her first."

Fucking PLOT TWIST.

To say Kaisel's gasted is flabbered is an understatement. "Who!?" he begs immediately at Koa's news. His arms fling out with the energy of the question and he steps closer, too excited now. Ultimately he just wants Koa to be happy, to be loved immensely, the way he fucking deserves to be. So even if it isn't with Flora, Kaisel will celebrate. "Flowers?" He tilts his head, 'brows furrowing in confusion as he tries to understand, but Koa waves it off. "...That sounds complicated bro." Some of the elation dies a bit, as it sounds like Koa is setting up for some sort of mysterious heartbreak again; wasn't he holding flowers one of the times he got broken up with? Seems like a bad omen.

His gaze narrows further as Koa lies through his teeth to him. "Not interested, huh?" Kaisel can't help but smirk a bit at the blatant bullshit. "Yeah, I'm sure if I told the mule trader Flora's single he'd react like you did just now." Kaisel aims a slow, gentle fist at his cousin's stupid shoulder.

Kaisel

I woke up in self-destruction mode—Watch me go, I'ma do it again

Hear those bells ring deep in the soul
Chiming away for a moment

"Okay, but I want to be wanted for dinner every night. Not just when the other option isn't there." He shrugs, angry and helpless and bad at explaining. How is he supposed to make Kaisel understand? Yes, Koa fights for everything and everyone, but when it comes to relationships? How is he supposed to fight for something he's never even been in? When the door is shut every time he raises his hand to knock, at what point should he maybe accept that he's the door-to-door salesman of romance, and nobody wants to buy his wares?

He wishes he could match the easy enthusiasm as Kai throws his arms out, seeming ready to embrace the world. Maybe if things weren't so goddamn complicated, he'd be able to muster up the elation that this news so deserves. Instead he manages a slightly hardened smile, as though already anticipating his cousin's reaction. "It's Sohalia," he says, ready to counter any upcoming argument, because he knows Kai remembers the last time, and even if Koa hadn't shared all the details (like how she'd sort of proposed a throuple with Jude who now lives in Koa's house), he can predict the red flags Kai might raise.

"We met up in the Greatwood, and we've been talking a lot and... and it's been really nice, y'know? She's a good person, and... and she said she's in love with me." Koa's cheeks warm; he glances away, the wonder in his open expression shadowed by the slightest frown. It had been what he wanted to hear for ages, so why hadn't it swept him off his feet the way he'd thought it would? And then there's also the part where....

"She's also Flora's best friend."

Koa Carpenter

Feel your breath course frankly below
And see life as a worthy opponent

C-4, I do that damage—My ego is titanic

He really thought he had Koa on that last one, but his stubborn cousin turns it back around on him, and both of them seem just a bit awful at trying to talk through this. In part because, well, it doesn't really fucking matter what Kaisel thinks, does it? He can weigh in, though Koa hadn't really asked him to, but in the end feelings aren't logical and no one can fully understand how Koa feels except, Koa. So while Kaisel wants to be exasperated and blurt out why does it matter who wants who for dinner first as long as everyone's eating at the end, he just settles for pressing his lips into a frown of concentration. He's trying to understand, gods he's trying, because he can see the pain etched on each line of Koa's face, built into almost every word as it comes from Koa's bruised chest. Kaisel might chafe at Koa's reluctance, but he hasn't felt the bite that would make him twice shy. He has the unshaken confidence of a man who has never been dumped, speaking to one who has only been dumped. Tragically poetic, really—but just fucking annoying in reality.

That frown deepens when Koa utters this new mystery girl's name.
So, not new. Still very mysterious though, because, what?

Kaisel can see Koa hardening as he explains, as if he's aware that this doesn't make sense and he himself can't understand the why behind it all. Kaisel draws in a breath and glances into the depths of the garden, as if he might find answers tucked away among the foliage. There it is though. The answer. Koa keeps talking and Kaisel's attention swings back, finally gaining some understanding of the plague festering inside the fellow Dragoon.

Soh told Koa she loves him.

She told him he matters, and didn't make him wonder about it. Flora... hadn't. Not once had they spoken of Koa while he was in Torchline. If anything, his name had been nothing more than a buffer between them. Kaisel's throat runs dry at the memory of how close they had come to adding another mistake to this, whatever this is (gestures at Koa's love life). Maybe Koa's right to be reluctant, then. Maybe Flora just needs someone, anyone, to fill the Jack-sized hole that had been torn from her. Once the hurricane of loss ends and her wounds mend, would she still need that hole filled by someone else? One hole, sure, but the one in her heart, the one that matters the most.

So, Koa is caught between two choices, each nearly as flawed as the next for the Dragoon. Flora is the sun, bright and warm, something hard to contain but which you feel a desperate need for. Sohalia is the flower, elegant and pleasant, something gentle to hold and which you can cherish with ease. Kaisel would pick the sun, but he doesn't mind that Koa is stuck on flowers. Admittedly, Kaisel would prefer to find a different option—maybe there's some wind out there to try and catch? Koa could always consider that too, he'd do well with some rain.

"Sounds like you have a lot to think about," Kaisel says with a softer smile, the energized rush of earlier dissipating to a quiet pat on his cousin's back. It's the finality of understanding; that there is no easy step to take, and no certainty anyone can offer. Koa will just have to pick—and leap. If he's too afraid of getting hurt, he'll never love again. "I might suggest," he exhales slowly, "that you consider someone other than exes who are best friends... you know, if you have any hope of staying sane in the future."

Kaisel

I woke up in self-destruction mode—Watch me go, I'ma do it again

Hear those bells ring deep in the soul
Chiming away for a moment

Koa snorts derisively; a lot to think about is a bit of the understatement of the year, but he appreciates that Kai finally seems to get that he can't just run off and ferry Flora into the sunset. Turns out adult relationships don't always work out quite as well as the fairytale ones, and things get exponentially complicated the more people are involved.

Or, yeah, don't date besties. Koa barks a laugh at this suggestion, some of the tension in his shoulders dissipating into weary exhaustion as he shakes his head. "That would have been a helpful suggestion two years ago," he chuckles wryly, scrubbing his hand across his face. Back before he'd been stupid enough to fall halfway in love with each of them, too young and naive and ruled by hormones to realize the messy minefield he was creating for Future!Koa to navigate.

If that's not young adulthood in a nutshell, I don't know what is.

Clapping a hand on Kaisel's shoulder, he offers his cousin a tired smile. "C'mon, I'm starving. Let's grab some burgers and we can work on coming up with how you'll impress Safrin and not talk about my love life for a bit, eh?" Especially given the titanic levels of mess it was about to reach.

[fin]

Koa Carpenter

Feel your breath course frankly below
And see life as a worthy opponent