She watches him with wide, wide eyes and breath that holds itself tight within her throat. Florentine is surprised then, by just how much she waits for her brother’s answer. She dare not consider that he might say no but… what if he did? What would that mean for her moving forward?
There was a part of her, (and it is the one that put the question upon her lips in the first place) that longs to wrap herself up in family. Had Florentine been foolish to think that she might make another life – an extension of her family - out of her relationship with Reichenbach? There had been times, with her eyes closed on the fringes of unconsciousness, where her sleep painted them a future together.
Looking back, the Dusk girl cannot help but think of what a foolish girl she had been. That love was not big enough for her, or him. But family love has to be. So, in the spaces of her that her parents should fill, Flora fills herself with Asterion. And he would do for now, for always.
Into his neck she grins and laughs, whispering, “I know you will.” And she knows his unspoken concerns, for they were the same ones she also had. They were doubts and worries – things that would forever plague her family (more so than others, it seems). Flora begins to see it and know it now.
The girl is smiling, smiling, smiling, jesting and mocking because it was, in this moment, so easy in this moment. Their conversation carried her so far away from her sadness. But it is not to be and with finality Flora crashes down with a bump. The wind blows out from her sails by the sadness trapped in Asterion’s voice. It is an old and raw anguish, like rust that was never fully brushed away and has since begun to eat and eat all it touches.
Flora’s smile vanishes, her lashes heavy as she gazes at her brother. The flower girl does not rush this moment. As if stood before an inspiring painting, she drinks in everything about her brother. Oh she swallows his sorrow down to mix with her own and lends him, in the quiet piece of her room, a small piece of her own wounded heart.
Why did her father stay with her but not with Asterion? It was an unfair fact and she aches for her brother now.
“You will do a better job.” She promises, though her thoughts niggle, deep, deep down. Then she smiles, slow and playful. “Maybe Daddy has tried to leave me too - I just never let him escape.” She lifts her dagger between them. “This will always find him, no matter where he hides and, one day, I will reunite you both with it.”
Flora falls quiet, letting the dagger drop down to where it hung next to her breast. “I don’t know why he left you then, Asterion, but he has always been good to me. Nothing less than loving and so, I think, he would not let you go again. And if he does, he will have me to answer to.” There is a fire in her gaze and it heralds a pledge that will not so easily be extinguished.
Florentine pauses again, still considering, still weighing up her father and her brother. “He is the best worrier I know and gets himself into all sorts of ridiculous situations as a result. We are too laid back for that Asterion, so maybe we will never full understand his actions, past or present…”
Then, like a cloud moving away from the sun, the mood slowly lightens. Her voice lowers to a whisper as the flower girl tugs them both back, “I have no idea what a Regent does either… But I am sure we can find something to keep you busy and looks… Regenty.”
She hums dismissively at his praise, though a traitorous blush colours her cheeks. “Thank you.” Florentine whispers at last and her mind strays to the hospital and a boy delirious with pain. “There are times I don’t feel very brave at all.”
@Asterion
★ She is clothed with strength and dignity,
and she laughs without fear of the future ★
