Sloane Danvers

Hearing Sloane say she didn't want to lie down, he looked at her confused. A conversation. Well that rarely was good news. "A problem?" Axel followed Sloane, feeling his heart begin to race. What sort of problem could they have that had Sloane feeling and behaving like this. "Sloane what is going on?"

Nodding as he repeated what she said the redhead swallowed. “I think it could be a problem, yeah. I mean I’m not totally sure but I’ve done the maths and gone back through all the times I’ve been ill recently. How I’ve been feeling.” It wasn’t coming easy to her, getting the words out. She felt dizzy, fearing for Axel’s reaction. Even Ryen’s little giggles as she rubbed her chubby hand along his stubble wasn’t really registering with her mother who was panic eyed. “I’m late.” She blurted out finally - looking up at him as if pleading eyes could make him somehow able to prove her wrong. “My period is late. About three weeks.” @axel-mathis

The topic of Arkin came up and Sterling looked away from her own pumpkin and chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. She understood that her ex had left her when she got pregnant with Sunny, but Arkin had proven he was nothing like her ex and she had nothing to worry about. It was almost upsetting that Sloane couldn't see that. "Why wouldn't it be? He comes to every appointment he can, he stays over at my house all the time. He's there for me and I trust him that he's going to stay. Just because he hasn't built me a dance studio doesn't mean he doesn't care." Sterling laughed. "Besides, I have the money to build my own myself if I wanted." Sterling was half teasing, but she didn't get why every time Arkin came up there was some kind of threat to him.

"I am. After trick-or-treating with Sunny.“

“You do realise I was asking because I care about you, not because I’m accusing him of anything. You guys found out you were pregnant out of nowhere - I’m just asking how he’s dealing with it. I’m still asked about Axel, I’m still told people will do something to him if he’s not being good to me. In fact people are just fucking rude about him full stop, but that's not what i'm doing to you about Arkin. I don't know him, i'm allowed to check on how he's treating you, you don’t have to take it so personally.” That served her right for trying to show her friends she supported them and would be there to protect them. “What does the dance studio have to do with anything? I’m just checking that he’s supporting you int he way you deserve.” She lapsed into silence, scooping the inside of the pumpkin out with focus. Upset that her attempt at being supportive had just been taken in that way - and that she only thought her boyfriend was a good one because of some kind of expensive gift he’d given her. Sometimes she couldn't help but wonder if Sterling really did want to be her friend, because she got the impression otherwise sometimes. "I'm just trying to be a good friend - that's all." @sterlingxlevin

"I'm done with Summer." A decree coming from someone who regularly found herself beach bound. "Ready to become incommunicado until the new year once the cold hits. Be the hermit I was always destined to be in this life."

“Yes! I went into this toy boutique and they had so many things for you, yes they did” she said in a cheery tone. “Oh and I think there’s a teether in there that would go great with your costume, look at that!” Turning to look at Sloane, she offered a smile and extended her arm a little so the other girl could take the bags. “Thanks.” She chuckled and brought her hand back to Ryen once the bags were off her. Walking a little further into the house, Nikki made sure to pay enough attention to her steps while holding a small child. “I had the weekend from hell, and..sorry..but you don’t seem too relaxed either.” She told Sloane honestly. || @dancingdanvers

“Stop it! Look at that Snow White, it’s your apple! Only this one isn’t poisoned. Right?” She glanced at Nikki as if actually waiting for confirmation of that, eyebrows raised, before breaking into an amused smile. “The weekend from hell? Well that doesn’t sound very nice. Want to elaborate or are you being a woman of mystery all of a sudden?” Her not being relaxed was kind of the understatement of the century, it made Sloane pull a face, hating that she could be read by Nikki like that. He ability to mask emotions was clearly failing recently. “Honestly? That’s because I’m not very fucking relaxed really. Things are…feeling rough. It’s a bunch of first work problems obviously but you know…” That didn’t stop them feeling very real to her. @ambivalenceshefelt

Though it's an exaggeration, fun and Bora weren't often used in the same sentence if he could help it. He found that that sort of demeanour made people want to be around a person, and he barely had the patience or time to spare for the people he wanted to be around.

As Sloane describes the changes in her daughter, Bo scans her little face to take them in as highlighted by the person best equipped to notice their intricacies. It was easy to spot the obvious ones since he last seen her -- she was longer, heavier -- but the shift in hair colour does make him chuckle even if did cause Sloane some strife.

"I suppose you'll have to hope she takes after you in other ways," He moves the hand of the arm supporting her little body under one of her legs, moving it gently but deliberately in his best guest attempt at a pointe. "A little ballerina, perhaps."

With Ryen mostly settled against him and no loud protests to being held, Bo picks his spoon up with his free hand, dipping out another half-spoonful of the ice-cream he only half liked.

"Because they're terrors. They exist to terorrise me," He says as he brings the spoon to his lips, the truth of those terrors being he knew some of them were deserved on his part.

( That didn't make it any less grating. )

"I can imagine," He sympathises, though his sympathy was less for the man himself and more a shared economic strife. He's still waiting for his own stock portfolio to bounce back, certain it would with how evenly distributed the risk was for his investments.

"You should have called," He says, though he's quick to clarify that he wouldn't have personally done much when she had been struck down by sickness. "I'd have sent soup."

There was a coo from the baby around the same time said the word soup, getting a smile from him.

"See? She would have loved it."

It's when another hush falls does he look across the table properly, intuition that he tended to ignore because he had no personal gain from following it niggling at him enough to ask his next question.

"How are you really doing, Sloane?"

She was convinced that if he just gave it a chance he might actually enjoy coming out of his shell - which was why she was taking it upon herself to coax out the softer side of Bora. Ironically since…well she was Sloane Danvers, soft wasn’t really an adjective people used for her very often. She was persistent in making him hang out with her for exactly that reason, and with Ryen. Every time he had her in his arms the man seemed to soften somewhat. It was pretty cute. 

At his chuckle she gave him a look, her plight not something that was funny. “I mean, I guess so. Some ways, not all of them or we’ll have a little asshole on our hands.” Reaching across the table to tickle the baby’s stomach, careful not to get her long red hair into her ice cream. “Maybe, although truly I’d rather she didn’t become a ballarina or even enter that world, it’s a hellscape. I don’t want that for my baby.” The strife that came with it she knew far too well, was still dealing with to this day, the idea of her child going through that as well made her almost want to start crying. “Whatever she wants to be, we’ll support her.” Which was the truth - mostly. 

Taking a bite of her ice cream she made a face. “Maybe that’s what you get for marrying them. Just do me a fucking favour and don’t start talking to Axel about how shitty your marriages turned out, I’m already up against a brick wall trying to convince him he wants to change his mind about his stance on marriage so he will marry me. You barreling in talking about asshole ex wives would rally set me back.” Maybe that was a bit dramatic but she didn’t need any more ammunition for her boyfriend to use against the idea. 

Her eyebrows popped up at the mention of calling, though returned to their usual place when he mentioned sending soup. “Your compassion from a distance is what I love about you Bo.” She joked, licking a bit more ice cream delicately off her spoon. 

Ryen’s coo melted her heart, making her smile probably, eyes soft as she looked at the baby. His next question came with a different tone though, and she looks up at him from where she’d been prodding at her ice cream, eyes wide. Considering the options between telling him the truth and brushing over it like everything was fine. 

“You know, life can be hard sometimes, but it’s nothing I won’t come out the other side of, right? I mean…I shouldn’t complain. I have a house, an amazing daughter, a boyfriend I love, the rest is just…noise.” She gestured around her head as if brushing away said noise. “It’s all…superficial stuff really. Worry about Axel’s work, worrying about Ryen, still battling with hormones having a baby threw at me, I’ve not been feeling well recently which isn’t great. It’s just sometimes…everything goes a bit…dark.” She muttered, not really sure how to explain all the shit going on in her head. @borawinters

location: sunrise winery

"Okay, wait, hold on." Gwen couldn't possibly wrap her head around the idea that Sloane was proposing they do for her birthday this year. Each year, though, it seemed the woman was trying to outdo herself. "Are you telling me we have to mash these grapes to make our own glass of wine?" Surely it was just a tourist attraction to draw people in. She didn't know how she'd explain wine stained toes.

The music continued on and they danced together, bodies moving in time with the beat. In the massive crowd of people, the heat swelled. The summer nights not quite over yet. Aylin fanned herself with her hand as she swayed with the music. "God, it's hot!" She laughed. "I think I need a drink. You want one?"

Resting one hand on Aylin’s shoulder as they danced she felt a bit of relief that they seemed to be back to being in an okay place with their friendship, the argument they’d had not something Sloane wanted to dwell on. At the suggestion of a drink her eyes lit up (like she needed more!) “Yes, I do. I want a drink. Let’s go.” Nodding towards the bar enthusiastically. @aylinxc-s

Then the redhead was asking about the merfolk and Mikey couldn't help but laugh again. "Are you not paying attention?" She nodded at the tour guide. "That's what people say they see at the docks here. Merfolk. I don't believe it for a second, but middle school me would have loved the idea of merfolk being in Aurora Bay."

“Huh? Oh…no I’m paying literally no attention to them at all. They’re talking about mermaid’s now? Little off topic for a ghost tour but go off I guess.” She chuckled, remembering how much she wanted to be a mermaid when she was a really little kid, swimming around in her family’s pool pretending to be Ariel. Convinced she was one of her sisters because of their red hair. @mikeyxcallahan

"Two years? Wow, that's crazy. I guess you've got some good connections. I read there was a dance studio in town, perhaps I can find you there sometimes?" She was fishing to see if she still danced, honestly.

"Sometimes I guess, I go there for classes with a friend of mine. Not for ballet obviously but other disciplines." `If anything she'd been considering becoming a teacher herself while she was taking a break from the professional scene...as she was choosing to look at it in order to stay sane. "My boyfriend built me a dance studio in our house - so I mostly dance there." A slightly smug smile showing up on her face. @hannahxsinclair

location: the beach (summer bash)

Addison knew better than to wear flip-flops on a night like this, where she planned to be between the beach and the little carnival they had set up. She wanted to try and win every prize, but has been met with nothing. The beach seemed like a better option after the third loss in a row, so she grabbed some cheese fries and made her way over.

She wasn't expecting the fall or the slo-mo throw of the cheese fries as she reached out to stop herself. A flip-flop had gotten twisted between her foot and the sand. The impact was mostly on her wrist and then knee when she finally made it to the ground. She laid there for a moment in defeat before rolling over and looking around, hoping no one saw. But someone did see. "I'm guessing you saw all of that?"

"Yeah...yeah I saw all of that. It was...quite the feat of acrobatics." She replied, moving the few steps over to where the brunette was laying on the floor. "Are you alright? You came down pretty hard there." Bending down so she was closer to where she was laying, looking at wrist and ankle that had clearly rolled. @addisonxoconnell

Where? Home

After getting Sloane's texts with her asking him to cancel his work dinner and come home, he didn't really think too much of it. She said she wasn't feeling well, so he understood her wanting help with Ryen. He asked Emira to do her best to reschedule the meeting and he left. Figuring Sloane probably had something like the flu, he drove home, prepared to simply just take Ryen for the night, entertain her, feed her, bathe her and put her to bed. He had no idea what other dads were complaining about, it really wasn't that hard.

Walking in, he set his briefcase down. "Hey, what's up?" He said as he saw Sloane. Reaching out for Ryen he noticed that Sloane really wasn't looking well. "I got it from here. You go lie down." He said before greeting Ryen with a kiss and a silly face.

“Hey…” she muttered as he came in, letting him take the baby because she was honestly worried she might pass out if she didn’t sit down soon. “No, no I don’t want to go and lie down. We need to have a conversation.” Her voice was horse, it felt like she could hardly get the words out, panic already starting to bubble up in her throat. “I think we might…we might have a problem…” Sitting down on the sofa she put her hand over her mouth, wrapping her other arm around herself as she almost bent over slightly. @axel-mathis