[se] sorry but you just got in my way

& if you never bleed you're never gonna grow

Given how truly devastated Torchline had been earlier in the year by the arrival of Starfall, a few citizens had taken it upon themselves to organize an appreciation event in the middle of Haulani. The event consisted of random pairings of individuals who attended, in 5 minute segments, where each duo would clasp hands, and spend their time together saying what they were thankful for. The idea was of course to spread cheer and to remind all who were there that everything was not quite so bleak as it had seemed when the island had first appeared near their shores.

Of course Flora had attended given her position as queen. Dressed in a cocktail dress made mostly of sequins, the Doubletake looked as shimmery and effervescent as any might have expected from her. Having gone through a few rounds already Flora was nearly ready to excuse herself and find her way towards the punch bowl—gods hopefully it had been spiked with something—when the shifting crowd parted and an unfortunately familiar face filled almost the entirety of her vision.

Given how things were set up and how thick the crowd was around them, it wasn't as though Flora could somehow evade her next pairing, and so it was the queen found herself reaching out her hand to grasp Koa 's as they were bound together for the next five minutes in a ceremony of appreciation.

when I'm at the mall, security just can't fight them all
And when I'm at the beach, I'm in a speedo trying to tan my cheeks

Koa is also here.

Seeking purpose and also a reprieve from his downward spiral of emotions, the Dragoon had seen the signs for a gratitude event and thought, y'know what, seems like a nice positive way to spend and afternoon. He'd even gotten himself a nice set of clothes for the occasion, linen pants and a button-down shirt adorned with cloud wyrms wearing sunglasses. The sort of fun and festive thing he'd never wear back home.

And though it starts off stilted and strange, soon enough Koa is having a grand ol' time. His inherent extroversion and positive outlook make him well-suited to this kind of activity, and he makes a game of bringing smiles and laughs to his partners by the time they part. So it is he's  feeling brighter and lighter than he has in months, grinning boyishly as he spins around to meet with his next partner---

"Flora!"

There's a comical mix of vibrancy and alarm in Koa's voice as he squawks her name, an octave higher than usual. Clearing his throat, the Dragoon extends his calloused hands to wrap around those of the Queen. "I mean- Hey." The stony silence of their boat ride from Apopo looms heavy in his mind, threatening to rear its ugly head as he flounders for something appropriate to say. At last he settles on: "You look beautiful," a flush on his cheekbones and voice wavering uncertainly as he meets her flawless, aqua eyes.

Koa Carpenter

We headed to the bar, baby don't be nervous
No shoes, no shirt, and I still get service

& if you never bleed you're never gonna grow

Having very nearly excused herself from this round of appreciations in lieu of taking a break and getting some punch, Flora had remained for one more pairing if only because hearing so many flattering things said about her was good for her soul. The Doubletake had never been the sort of girl to fish for compliments, but instead actively baited the waters and advertised her needs with glowing neon on signs.

"...heyyyyy..." For a moment time does that thing, where everything slows and blurs. She can distinctly make out the stupid cloud wyrms and their stupid sunglasses (and gods she hates how well Koa is pulling off that look), can pick out some of the notes in the cologne he's wearing (he must be, no one smells that good on their own), and even has the time to notice the flush spread out across his skin.

That's right my lovelies! A quick compliment about what your partner looks like to get us rolling!

Clearing her throat as the instructions break the spell and time forges on, Flora lifts her chin slightly with the weight of the smile she's forced back onto her lips. "For someone who was LoSt iN ThE WiLdErNesS your skin isn't as destroyed by bugs as I would have expected." That was a compliment, right? Letting her fingers slide around Koa's as was the expected choreography, she let the bodies around them dictate her movements moreso than being guided by the dragoon as she continued to be held to fix him with her gaze.

when I'm at the mall, security just can't fight them all
And when I'm at the beach, I'm in a speedo trying to tan my cheeks

There's a lovely moment where it feels like maybe things will work. Where her hands fit perfectly into his, and the sunlight softens her knife-sharp cheekbones, and the scent of her perfume is floral and warm and as familiar as his own. Where neither of them smiles, because neither of them is trying to fake it, to hide the layers of confusion and hurt beneath affected ease. Koa's heart skips, willing, wanting, denial an easy and oft-sought rhythm he's danced to time and time again.

It doesn't last. Flora's chin lifts in a way he's all too familiar with, and Koa closes in response, frustration flickering fire-bright in the copper of his eyes. "Aww, you're too kind. The trick is mud baths and a cutting sugars- or all food, really." He doesn't let his smile falter at her barbed 'compliment', but something sharpens in the curve of his mouth, feathering the edge of a now-clenched jaw. So that's how it's gonna be, his hands seem to say as they shift over her fingers, which now feel foreign and abrasive in his.

Technically he's already complimented her, but it would be ungentlemanly not to do it again. "Your dress is gorgeous. You're certainly the most eye-catching person here." Gaudy is the implication, the sequins reflected in his glittering eyes.

Koa Carpenter

We headed to the bar, baby don't be nervous
No shoes, no shirt, and I still get service

& if you never bleed you're never gonna grow

"Aww, I suppose that's what explains the complete loss of muscle, mmm?" It felt undeniably good to lash out at Koa while wearing a smile, while dancing seamlessly through dozens of others who were praising their partners with no idea at all of the venom being thrown in their midst. It was petty and childish but gods it wasn't as though Flora could just fall into Koa's arms and declare the whole thing a mistake, now could she?

"I'm surprised you even noticed given how forgettable I seem to be to you."

Very good, very good! Now that we're all warmly acquainted, lets move onto your partner's favourite physical feature!

Tightening her fingers around Koa's while her smile likewise sharpened, Flora had to force her thoughts away from features of the dragoon that she did genuinely like by reminding her of the things Ronin had previously said about Koa. "Well, I think your best feature is definitely your back. Though maybe it's just because that's the part of you I see the most." Sneaking out of my bedroom. Running away. Leaving.

when I'm at the mall, security just can't fight them all
And when I'm at the beach, I'm in a speedo trying to tan my cheeks

"Yes, well, maybe my memory would be better if you didn't have a habit of literally vanishing every time things don't go the way you'd like." Which is often, his brittle smile says, while his thumb brushes pointedly over the invisibility ring.

And then they're onto physical characteristics, and what could be very low hanging fruit. "Thanks," Koa drawls in response to the compliment. "I had to do a lot of climbing, during my camping trip. Glad it's had a positive effect."

Things are getting sharper now, teetering into a territory from which it'll be dangerous to escape. Barbed can so easily become cruelty, and they're both so young and volatile, and it's so easy to bite back. "I'd have to say my favorite feature is your eyes." It's the beginning of what could be a sincere compliment, were it not for the bitterness in Koa's smile. "They're always so expressive. You've got a real talent for letting me know how much you hate me with just one look."

Koa Carpenter

We headed to the bar, baby don't be nervous
No shoes, no shirt, and I still get service

& if you never bleed you're never gonna grow

"So weird how that always seems to happen around you, huh?" Flora agrees, as her gaze dips down to her ringed fingers, focusing on her adornments rather than where Koa's fingers covered her own. "Maybe I'll use that one next time." She mentions, nodding toward a signet ring instead with a fairly ominous inlay of a large cat on it. Insert deadly pussy joke here.

Flora's lips twist into a smile that doesn't go anywhere near her eyes as they turn to physical compliments; eyes which pointedly do their best to imply that Flora is strangling Koa in her mind. "Aww, I mean, I can't take all the credit. You really make it so easy."

Now my lovelies! If your partner was in a fairy tale, what part would they play!

This question has the crowd shifting as multiple pairs of feet try to follow the steps of the dance while also trying to decide what literary roll their partner would occupy. A few left feet have several nearby couples shoving into the dragoon and the queen, pushing them comically closer to one another than either would likely want just at that moment.

when I'm at the mall, security just can't fight them all
And when I'm at the beach, I'm in a speedo trying to tan my cheeks

Florass eyes do a marvelous job of proving Koa right, staring daggers of brittle ice directly at the foolish Dragoon. He's steeled himself, though, nearly sunk as low as she in this mud-slinging festival of poorly-veiled insults, the mutual implosion of their relationship committed to by both children who think themselves such fully formed adults.

Maybe it'll be therapeutic? Y'know, get it off their chests.

Fairytales, huh? Once, the Dragoon had hoped for his own fairytale, had even thought that Flora might be cast in a princess role. But now? "Well, we already know you're a Queen, so I'd have to go with that." Smiling blandly, he tilts his head. "There's so many great stories with Queens in them, aren't there? Snow White, the Ice Queen, Rapunzel..."* Women anyone would want to be compared with, to be sure.

Koa is a marvelous dancer, and so it certainly isn't his fault that they're stuck in a game of bumper-bodies, stumbling as strangers sling elbows their way. On instinct he pulls Flora closer, turning his body and hunching his shoulder protectively as one particularly enthused man careens through the crowd. Shooting the offending stranger an aggrieved look before turning down to check on the Queen, he murmurs softly, "You okay?" It's genuine concern in his face and voice. For a second, he's forgotten that they're mad at each other.

It really ought to be romantic. They're just so bad at this.

Wonderful, darlings! Now that we've gotten to know each other, let's say one thing from today that we're grateful for!

*But, y'know. Caido versions.

Koa Carpenter

We headed to the bar, baby don't be nervous
No shoes, no shirt, and I still get service

& if you never bleed you're never gonna grow

"I'm mean, if the shoe fi—" Flora starts to say, before what felt like a sure victory was summarily away from her. Her lips pressed together suddenly and though she was quite aware of how closely she was allowing herself to resemble the evil queens that Koa was referencing, she just couldn't help herself. All of those queens were single and alone too, so maybe the dragoon had more of a point than he'd realized, not that Flora was going to admit it. "All the more reason not to adopt a kid." She sassed with a shrug of her shoulders.

"As for you. You'd absolutely be the handsome knight who like, volunteers to go and slay the dragon and rescue the princess. You'd stand up in some banquet hall, and everyone would say that it was impossible but you'd be adamant that you'd prove them all wrong." Forcing her lips into a smile again, the queen flutters her eyelashes. "But then you'd die immediately and everyone would say we told him so."  What a pair: they were: the wicked old queen and the placeholder hero.

"Ow—" Someone's elbow finds its way into Flora's ribs, and as she's tugged into Koa's arms, she too instinctively reaches to mould herself against him. For all of the roadblocks her mind and heart wanted to impose upon their interactions, her body had never been anything but pleased by the dragoon. Exhaling sharply, the Doubletake pulls one of her arms from around Koa's neck to rub tenderly against her side, as she lifts her gaze towards his and gives her head a little shake. "No, I'm fine." She murmurs softly, her sharp edges momentarily smoothed. It should have been romantic. Koa could have tucked a bit of hair behind her ear and said he really did think she was beautiful; Flora could have said that she really was glad that he'd come home safely. They could just have let it go in that moment, and yet...

At the final appreciation instruction, the Doubletake wilted. With the spell broken, she felt too tired to argue, but still too wounded to laugh it all off.

"I guess I'm glad you don't have two left feet, or this could have been much more painful." She mumbles, letting her one arm fall down to her side rather than placing it back around Koa's neck.

when I'm at the mall, security just can't fight them all
And when I'm at the beach, I'm in a speedo trying to tan my cheeks

She winds her arms around his neck and he pulls her even closer, his bright gaze dropping like copper stones into the sea of her blue. Stillness surrounds them, the promise of potential - he wants to tell her that he’s sorry, that he’ll protect her better if she gives him a chance. He wants to cup her chin and kiss her, to drown out the noise of their respective heartaches with a youthful promise and the heat of hope. If only they could wipe away the bullshit, replace it with something clean and real.

They don’t. Flora’s hand falls, and Koa’s face follows, his heartbeat heavy as distance breathes between them. Recapturing the fallen hand, the Dragoon finds himself staring down at it, his calloused thumb brushing lightly across her pale knuckles, and the rings that sparkle therein. He feels weary, wishful for something that might have been and resigned to that which isn’t.

“I’m grateful you didn’t disappear,” Koa finds himself murmuring, a muted smile pulling sadly at the side of his lips. “You shouldn’t have to hide from anyone. Least of all from me.” And as the host calls out that the time has come to switch your partner!, Koa lifts up Flora’s fingers, pressing them to his lips. He doesn’t ask her to stay with him, doesn’t beg her to try again.

Maybe their chance is gone forever.

Maybe there never was one at all.

Koa Carpenter

We headed to the bar, baby don't be nervous
No shoes, no shirt, and I still get service

& if you never bleed you're never gonna grow

Time slows again, and gods but the way the moment stretches out feels like both a blessing as much as a punishment.

—switch your—

Flora has just enough time to think about explaining that she wasn't disappearing so much as running because deep down, she was just as much of a coward as she'd made Koa out to be. Only he didn't have an illustrious family name to fall back on and demigods at his beck and call outside of channeling, so it was much easier for her to run and to call it leading. He only had the workings of his hands to deal with a queen and lover gone, a city in shambles, and gods if that wasn't something Flora should have said she completely understood.

—partn—

Inhaling shakily as his lips pressed against her knuckles, she recalled with suddenly tangible ferocity how the scritch of his unshaven skin had felt against the soft skin of her thighs, how his copper eyes had shone in the candlelight, and how they'd both laughed like children once they'd been able to breathe against the force of their first coupling.

—ers!—

And then he was gone, tugged toward someone else who was already looping her arms around his neck and holding him close, just as someone was trying to do to her.

~FIN