[SE] what changes and what stays the same

we shall heal our wounds, collect our dead

"I'll pass your opinion on," Ronin says - and he will, because if nothing else he's true to his word. "Though lately I would say he's more of a one-armed hermit, but I spend more time around him, so it's unfair to nitpick." Shrugging his shoulders, the Huntsman finds himself surprisingly put out when the hideous fabric is tugged out of his hands, blurting a "Hey!" as Flora decides he's no longer allowed to flaunt his paisley speedo ass about.

Having paused again to examine a midnight blue scarf with undulating patterns on it, like waves, he ignores it for a moment to turn towards Flora. "He doesn't have a right," he tells her gently. "Of course he doesn't. When Aoife died--" And he pauses here, and it's a pleading expression on his face that begs her not to I don't care his daughter's death as well, "--your father and I were wrecks. Not ourselves. We did awful things and said awful things, and no one had a right to tell us that we were wrong about that either."

Inhaling deeply and letting it out again, he shrugs. "People who did try to talk to us, though, I'm pretty sure they were just trying to show they cared about us. I didn't want to know at the time, but - fuck, what do you say when someone is killed? To someone trying to live with it?" He shakes his head. "I don't think Mateo was trying to hurt you. I just think he didn't know what else to say, because he was worried for you."

THE DARK STAR

and continue fighting

this is why we can't have nice things, honey

Though Flora crosses her arms so tight one might wonder how she was supposed to breathe, and though her eyes narrow to small pinpoints of blue, she doesn't I don't care Aoife's death. At least, not right away.

Staring at the changes in Ronin's expression, at the rollercoaster movements of his eyebrows and movements of his mouth, eventually Flora just shrugs and turns away. "Here's the thing though. When you're little, girls are told that boys are mean because it's how they show they like you." She flicks her fingers at an ugly brooch—the sort of thing she'd have adored when she was younger. "And girls are supposed to just think it's okay, but you know what? It isn't. Same way that Mateo's bullshit might be his way of showing he cares, but just like those little boys, it's wrong. I don't have to be the bigger person and go, oh, well he meant well, or he didn't know how to handle it. He can fucking figure it out, or he can deal with me hating him, and you can too."

Just then, as if something had just occurred to her (and guess what, it had), Flora's eyes widen and harden. "If you're such an expert on grief because of your brother and Aoife—" (Her voice does soften at the mention of Aoife) "—then as Mateo's dad, you should have taught him how to do better. Both you and Remi should have."

we shall heal our wounds, collect our dead

It takes Ronin aback - and given Flora's own personality, she will likely understand how rare a thing it is for him to be shocked into silence - but there's no veil around her explanations this time. No theatre, no dramatics. Just the truth, and that's what surprises him so much; to hear her so articulately explain why she's upset and why what happened isn't okay... she'd hate him for it, no doubt, but it makes him almost proud.

Of course, then the barbs come, and he winces a bit as he tugs the scarf from the rack and decides that it'll do as his nice thing. The Flood, waves, what more does Sunjata want? "You're right - we should have," he murmurs. "We should have done a lot more than we did, for him and for you and Enzo."

Rolling his shoulders as if made uncomfortable by the weight of the blame on them, he trades for the scarf and turns back to Flora once it's all parceled up. "And I'm sorry for that. We can make justifications like the war, and the gods, and whatever new crisis or tragedy crept up, but... you're right. It wasn't good enough, and I'm sorry. For what it's worth, you grew up to be an exceptional young woman anyway, even if you need to learn some appreciation for ugly paisley."

THE DARK STAR

and continue fighting

this is why we can't have nice things, honey

Being told that you're right when you've still more venom to spit, just leaves it pooling unhappily in your own gut. Perhaps that's why Flora felt suddenly sick, and why the colour in her cheeks both drained and brightened in equal measure. 'Well I'm so glad that Enzo's death could be used as such a teachable moment." She snarls, but it's soft. All bark, no more bite.

Well...maybe not no more bite.

Turning towards Ronin, her lips twisted into something uncharacteristically ugly, she narrows her eyes and gives her head a disappointed head shake. "Is that really what your charm amounts to? A few I'm sorrys and then some cute quip to tie it up?" Flora feels ill, and all she can hope is that if she vomits, some of it will get onto Ronin's ugly pants. "You realizing you're shit as a parent and your son is a shit brother doesn't make anything better. And—" Because honestly, now she just wanted to go home and eat a bunch of chocolate.

"—you aren't as funny as you think you are."

So saying, Flora sniffs, and offers the Huntsman an entirely fake smile before grabbing at the paisley cloth. She's sure Mateo will hate it.

~FIN