dario de la cruz ll 27 ll recruiter for rift riders/bartender at salty splatoon
nico cole ll 27 ll civilian/clerk at v8 gas station
vincent santoro ll 32 ll soldier for mob/mma fighter
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attending with jules ( @xxblackmagicx ) as his date.
recently back in town, maddox is just here for appearances. he is here to get fucked up, keep his beautiful date company, fuck someone up, and keep an eye on his people.
(austin butler, cis male, he/him) Someone said they saw [MADDOX HAYES] around Rift Valley the night of Miles Logan’s murder. People are wondering if they had something to do with it. The [34] year old claims to be [IN MEXICO ON MC BUISNESS] at the time of the murder. They are said to be [COURAGOUS], which can play to their innocence until you consider they are also [RECKLESS]. But who knows if they are telling the truth? Rumor has it, they [ARE NOT] a witness in the investigation. Regardless, the [RIFT RIDER] who happens to be the [SECRETARY] is a suspect, but so is everyone else.
maddox hayes was born and raised in rift valley, the kind of town where everybody knew your name, your family, and every mistake you ever made before you even had the chance to make it. he grew up on the rougher side of town, the son of a mechanic and a waitress who worked twice as hard as anyone should have to just to keep the lights on. his childhood wasn't particularly easy, but it was good in the ways that mattered. summers were spent riding dirt bikes through empty lots, swimming in the quarry with his friends, and coming home covered in bruises that he wore like trophies. even as a kid, maddox never had much fear. if anything, he had too little of it. he was the first to climb the tallest tree, the first to jump from the highest ledge, and usually the first to get himself into trouble because he thought things would work out somehow.
as a teenager, that recklessness only grew sharper. maddox was popular without ever trying to be. teachers complained about him constantly, but somehow couldn't stay angry at him for long. he wasn't cruel or malicious. he was just impossible to keep still. he skipped class to race motorcycles, collected broken noses from fights he probably could have avoided, and somehow managed to talk his way out of consequences more often than not. underneath all the charm and chaos, though, there was loyalty. the kind that couldn't be taught. if one of his friends was in trouble, maddox was there. if someone needed help, he showed up. it didn't matter if helping meant putting himself in danger. more often than not, he'd throw himself headfirst into a problem before considering whether it was actually a good idea.
the rift riders have always been part of his life, as his father rode with the club back in his day. some of maddox's earliest memories involve sitting around club barbecues, weaving between bikes that seemed larger than life, and listening to stories he was probably too young to hear. he grew up surrounded by people who proved that family wasn't always blood. sometimes it was loyalty, trust, and the people willing to stand beside you when things got ugly. by the time he was old enough to understand what the club truly meant, he'd already considered many of them family.
joining the rift riders three years ago felt less like a beginning and more like coming home. he spent years earning respect the hard way, proving himself through work, dedication, and a willingness to do whatever needed to be done. while some members rose through intimidation or influence, maddox earned his place because people trusted him. they knew if he gave his word, he'd keep it. and now, maddox serves as the secretary for the club, a position he's held for the last two years.
extras:
he has a six month old kid with paloma santoro that he has no idea exists.
he is the kind of person that gets easy trigger fingers. it's a problem, he doesn't care.
sex & candy - marcy playground + loser - beck + brain stew - green day + send the pain below - chevelle on constant replay.
he is a bit of a nerd on the inside. he loves to game on old school nintendo, playstation, and sega.
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antonio stared at his brother for a long moment after the shouting stopped, the sound of vinny breaking apart echoing off the alley walls long after the words themselves ended. and for the first time since josephina died, antonio felt something inside himself crack openly instead of silently. because vinny looked exactly how antonio felt beneath the tailored suits and controlled voice and endless funeral arrangements. hollowed out. guilty. furious at himself for surviving her. antonio watched his little brother collapse onto the pavement and suddenly all the years between them disappeared. no don. no hierarchy. no expectations. just the same boy antonio used to drag home after fights, the same kid who followed him everywhere with blood on his knuckles and defiance in his eyes. and now here he was kneeling in the rain like a man asking permission to exist after failing the person he loved most. antonio hated that. hated that vinny genuinely believed josephina would have been better off with him dead instead. because the cruelest part was that antonio understood the feeling completely. he had spent every sleepless night since her murder replaying every choice he made, every security detail, every missed sign, every moment he had prioritized the organization over his sister and convinced himself there would always be more time later. protect the family. protect her. that had always been their purpose. and they had both failed anyway. antonio lowered himself down beside vinny slowly then, expensive clothes soaking instantly against the filthy wet pavement, but for once he could not bring himself to care. his shoulder pressed firmly against his brother’s because santoro men did not know how to comfort with words alone. they endured together. silently. physically. antonio rested his forearms against his knees for a moment before finally speaking, voice rougher now than vinny had probably ever heard it. “look at me.” not sharp. not commanding. just steady. waiting until vinny managed it through the tears. antonio’s jaw tightened hard enough to ache when he saw the devastation in his brother’s face. “you do not get to decide your life is worth less than hers,” he said quietly, but with absolute certainty. “and you do not get to put this entirely on yourself because you need somewhere to place the pain.”
his eyes held vinny’s steadily despite the grief burning behind them. “if this is your fault, then it’s mine too.” there. the truth neither of them wanted. antonio exhaled slowly through his nose before continuing, quieter now. “i was the one responsible for this family. i was the one she trusted to keep her safe.” the admission scraped something raw out of him. “and i failed her.” the words hung there ugly and honest between them. antonio rarely admitted failure aloud because failure implied weakness and weakness in men like them got people killed. but vinny needed honesty more than leadership right now. antonio’s hand finally came up to grip the back of vinny’s neck firmly, grounding rather than gentle. the closest thing to affection he knew how to offer. “but josephina would lose her fucking mind if she heard you saying it should’ve been you.” a faint, broken huff almost resembling a laugh escaped him then. “you know she would.” because their sister loved loudly and fiercely and obnoxiously. because she would have clawed both her brothers back from hell personally before letting either of them throw themselves away in her place. antonio swallowed hard before speaking again, softer this time. “you ask how i still call you my brother?” his grip tightened slightly. “because you are my brother, vincent. because nothing that happened to her changes that.” a pause. “and because i cannot lose you too.” there it was. perhaps the closest antonio santoro had ever come to pleading with anyone. his gaze dropped briefly toward the wet pavement before returning to vinny again, exhausted and devastatingly sincere. “i don’t know how to fix this,” he admitted finally, voice dangerously quiet now. “i don’t know how to fix any of it. but i know letting you rot in alleyways until you kill yourself slowly isn’t honoring her.” another beat passed. “so you’re coming home with me.” not an order this time. something far more fragile than that. “and we’re going to survive this somehow.”
vinny sat there for a long time after antonio finished speaking. not because he didn't have an answer, but because every answer he'd been carrying around since josephina died suddenly felt useless. all the anger, fights, races, the self-destruction...none of it sounded nearly as convincing sitting beside the man who had spent his entire life carrying half of vinny's burdens without ever being asked to. his jaw tightened as antonio admitted his own guilt, and immediately vinny shook his head. no. some stubborn part of him wanted to reject that outright. antonio wasn't supposed to be sitting in the mud beside him admitting he failed too. because if antonio failed, then what chance did any of them have? but then again, maybe that was the point. maybe there had never been a version of this where either of them could have fixed everything. maybe grief wasn't a problem waiting for the right solution. maybe it was just something they should carry like a new forged kind of armor.
the mention of josephina nearly broke him all over again. his eyes squeezed shut as a shaky laugh escaped him through the tears. “shit,” he breathed. “she'd be unbearable.” another laugh followed, cracked right down the middle. “she'd spend five minutes yelling at me and an hour yelling at you.” for a moment he could see it. her standing there with her hands on her hips, giving antonio shit for working too much and vinny shit for getting punched in the face again. and both of them shit for sitting in an alley like this. she was alive, loud, impossible to ignore. and the image hurt so badly he almost wished he hadn't thought of it. “i'm going to miss her so much,” he admitted, quieter now. “i don't know what the fuck i'm supposed to do, but i'm so fucking grateful to have you still. you'll never lose me, antonio. i promise.” his gaze dropped toward the pavement before slowly lifting back to his brother. “and stop that.” his voice was rough and immediate. “don't you ever say you failed her.” he shook his head harder this time. “you didn't. you could never. you will never fail this family, antonio.” there was no hesitation behind it despite everything else breaking apart around him. “i've spent my entire life watching you bend over backwards for this family. for us. for her.” his jaw tightened. “you gave our sister everything, antonio. every opportunity, every protection, every piece of yourself that a brother could give.” a pause. “if loving someone was enough to keep them alive, josephina would've lived forever because of you alone.” the words hung there for a second before he looked away again. “i won't let you take that away from yourself, you hear me? failure doesn't belong anywhere near your name, antonio."
silence settled between them after that. not uncomfortable. not empty. just shared. vinny stared at the rain gathering in the cracks of the pavement and slowly felt something loosen inside his chest. not heal. never that. but loosen enough that he could breathe again. antonio's words sat with him. because the truth was he was tired. tired of fighting. tired of punishing himself. tired of waking up every morning angry he had survived something josephina hadn't. eventually he nodded once, slow and reluctant. “okay,” he said, voice rough. “i'll come home.” it sounded less like surrender and more like trust. like placing something fragile into antonio's hands because he didn't know how to carry it by himself anymore.
for the first time all night, the corner of his mouth twitched upward. barely but just enough to remind both of them that vinny was still in there somewhere beneath the wreckage. he looked over at his brother, taking in the soaked suit, the rainwater running down expensive fabric, and huffed softly through his nose. “you know,” he muttered, dragging himself upright with a wince as his ribs immediately complained, “for a smart guy, you make some really questionable decisions. like sitting on the dirty ground next to a bum.” his eyes flicked down toward the suit jacket again, the corners of his lips weakly twitching upward a little more. “c'mon. you're getting your suit filthy.” another beat passed before he shook his head, something warmer slipping through the cracks of his exhaustion. “i've always liked your suits. i guess i've never really told you that. i don't think i could pull one off without looking like a guy trying way too hard, or more of an asshole, but you make it work.”
he offered a hand down toward antonio once he was steady enough to stand, lingering there for a second. “and for the record, despite how i look, i won the fight." he was sure they would be confused as to why he hadn't returned for the one he was supposed to go into later on tonight, and the thought kind of amused him. it's only when they are in the back of antonio's car, driving away from the alley, that vinny decides to speak again. "they're sitting too comfortable for their own good," vinny muttered, staring out the rain-streaked window. "and every day they get to wake up like nothing happened..." his jaw tightened. "it's making it really fucking difficult to remember why i'm supposed to be patient."
who: nico x romy (@echosnoir)
when: post-news breaking about dario's and bri's attack
where: romy's apartment
for an uncertain amount of time, romy had been pacing the length of her apartment. entryway, kitchen, living room, bedroom, living room, kitchen, entryway, kitchen, living room... she was fully aware that she couldn't fully process the entire weight of the news. wouldn't be able to, probably, until the next time she went into work and dario wasn't there.
fuck. she hadn't even gone back to work yet—not since josephina. the sick and twisted actions of some unknown assailant hadn't been mapped out with her suffering as the underlying X-marks-the-spot, she was sure, but nonetheless the cruelty had managed to once again, in quick succession, pull the world out from under her feet. every so often the wind, too, got newly knocked out of her, a fresh wave of a sob wracking her ribs from inside out. it was a wonder she'd, once again, been able to locate her phone and throw out a lifeline. a message in a bottle. a burning SOS.
because there in the space with her, just letting her move as she needed to, was her brother nico. after one of many laps, romy came to an abrupt halt in his general area, though her eyes settled off somewhere over by the fridge. "how the fuck does this keep happening?" she hissed. she knew he didn't have the answers, but the question also was nowhere near rhetorical. "we have—we have not one, but three groups of people trying to lock this down and not one has any fucking clue what they're doing."
nico had barely moved since she'd called him. while romy paced grooves into the floorboards of her apartment, he sat hunched over the table with a map spread out in front of him, one hand pressed against his mouth as his eyes traced routes and locations that probably meant nothing and everything all at once. every now and then he'd mark something down, circle a spot, stare at it until the lines blurred together. he wasn't even sure what he was looking for anymore. a pattern. a mistake. a clue. something. because surely people didn't just keep dying for no reason. surely there was something they were all missing.
the worst part was that nico knew people. that had always been his thing. he knew who was sleeping with who, who hated who, who owed money, who was keeping secrets they thought nobody else noticed. he knew how to listen. how to get people talking. how to make them comfortable enough to slip up. and lately? he'd stopped paying attention. he'd gotten comfortable. wrapped up in his own life. his friends. his problems. he'd stopped collecting the little pieces of information he used to gather without even trying. and now dario was dead. maybe it wouldn't have changed anything. maybe it wouldn't have saved him. but sitting there now, nico couldn't stop wondering if he'd missed something. if he'd heard a conversation weeks ago and forgotten it. if he'd brushed off a rumor that should've mattered. if he would've been around more would've he picked something that could've prevented another life taken? maybe. maybe not. nico would never left, and like many others, he was left with nothing but the 'what ifs'.
romy's voice finally cut through the noise in his head and his eyes slowly lifted from the map. for a moment he just looked at her. really looked at her. the grief. the anger. the exhaustion. he knew she was hurting more than she was saying. he'd seen her and dario together at the salty splatoon enough times to know they moved like people who trusted each other completely. like coworkers who'd become family somewhere along the way. after everything romy had just gone through...nico's soul ached for her and everyone else just as affected. “because nobody’s talking,” he answered finally, voice quieter than he intended. tired. frustrated. “or if they are, they’re talking to the wrong people.” his gaze drifted back toward the map for a second before returning to her.
“everybody keeps waiting for the cops to figure it out. or the feds. or whoever the hell else is involved. meanwhile half this town is sitting on secrets.” he rubbed a hand over his face and sighed heavily. “i'm tired of looking at everyone i care about and wondering who’s next.” the words came out before he could stop them. “you, eddy, soph, uncle zahir, sav, cassie, jules. everyone i care for.” he swallowed hard. “because that’s where my head goes now every time somebody dies.” for the first time since he’d arrived, nico pushed away from the table and stood. he crossed the room in a few strides before stopping in front of his sister. not blocking her pacing if she wanted to keep moving, just making himself available.
“i don’t know how it keeps happening,” he admitted softly. “but i’m done sitting around waiting for somebody else to figure it out.” his eyes drifted briefly back to the map. “the only thing is,” his gaze returned to hers. “i don't want to hurt you more, romy. if we do this...we're going to have to retrace steps. there might be something that was missed. some symbol marked behind something, an item forgotten by mistake, something, anything. when we talk to people now, we aren't just talking to them for the sake of it, we have to dissect every single thing they say. store it in the back of our minds and replay it until our ears bleed. if we do this, you promise to tell me when you need a break?"
"yeah, all the best stuff in the place was from her, if it were up to me i probably wouldn't even have a table to eat at or a couch to sit on." he shrugged, he rarely bought anything for the place unless it was some new piece of tech, furniture shopping was pretty much eddy's idea of hell. he clocked nico making his way around the kitchen, a little impressed by how easily he did it, it always took eddy so long to get to know a place like that.
he took a long swig of his drink, noting the change in taste, as the flavor of it warmed his throat as it went down. now more alochol than mixer, but that's how eddy liked it. "you definitely do, nico." he smiled a little wider. trying to hold it when nico spoke again. the mention of him packing made it obvious, even for eddy where this conversation was leading.
weirdly, edward hadn't put too much thought into the fact nico had been there a hot second, maybe he liked being looked after too much to really care, a little selfish on his part, but the other boy seemed eager to assist, so why change things. he might have been right though. it had been a long time. much longer than probably either of them anticipated. "yeah you do have a lot of shit here." he joked, trying to keep it light as he took another sip. "you're not in my hair at all" he muttered, taking another "but yeah, i am feeling much better. so, it's up to you, one more night wouldn't hurt though." edward shrugged, once again maybe being a little selfish.
nico laughed immediately at that, carrying the plates over toward the counter before setting them down. “okay, but now i need to know,” he said, turning to look at eddy properly. “what would this place look like if your mom hadn’t intervened?” his brows lifted in genuine curiosity. “would there be furniture at all? or would i walk in here and find, like, one television mounted on the wall and a bean bag chair in the middle of the room?” he pointed a fork at him accusingly. “actually, no. not even a bean bag. you’d probably just stand around because buying chairs would be too much effort.” the image alone made him laugh, shaking his head. “your mom deserves some sort of award for preventing that reality.”
he busied himself with serving the pasta after that, letting the conversation stay light for a moment longer. “yeah, apparently i do have a lot of shit here,” he admitted with a grin. “i started looking around today and realized i’ve basically been slowly moving in without meaning to.” he gestured vaguely around the apartment with the serving spoon. “my favorite hoodie’s here. my charger’s here. i found one of my sketch books under your couch. somehow my favorite coffee mug ended up in your cabinet.” a soft laugh slipped out of him. “honestly, if i stay another week i’m pretty sure i’ll discover i accidentally filed a change of address.” it was all in jest, really. but in a way...he also wanted to see, and more importantly, he wanted to hear, eddy's reactions.
then eddy said he wasn’t in his hair, and just like that, something in nico softened. his eyes flicked up almost immediately, the smile already forming before he could stop it. “yeah?” he asked quietly. there was something lighter in his voice now, relief sneaking through despite his best efforts. his smile widened just a little as he looked back at him. “good to know.” he held his gaze for a second before looking away again, focusing on grabbing the plates mostly so eddy wouldn’t catch how much that simple sentence had actually meant to him. “and for the record,” he added with a small laugh, “one more night sounds perfect. but i’m serious, fitz. any longer and i start getting opinions on your grocery shopping and reorganizing your pantry. which i might already have ideas for, so.”
there was a part within nico that felt a little bummed out when eddy didn't immediately protest for him to stay longer than tonight and another part of him was reminding him of where they actually stood. it was getting exhausting for nico to need to remind himself that this was just...he didn't even know anymore. was it even a hook up if they never actually hooked up? and another there was another part of nico that was telling him he needed to get away from eddy for a bit, that this was getting too complicated, that he was just going to end up hurt if he didn't. regardless of his inner turmoil, nico kept his carefree and playful personality about him tonight as he always did. "sit. enjoy. what do you want to do for our last night?"
For what felt like half an hour Nevin stood outside of her hair salon, waiting for her husband to appear. As per usual, she’d spent so long getting styled that they had closed with her within. She always compensated her stylist well for staying later than operational hours. Nevin glanced at her phone once more, her last messaged to Rhett going unanswered yet delivered. She sighed, and decided to move about a little. Needing to keep in motion in order to distract herself from her elongated wait. Last they’d spoken, he offered to pick her up and take her for a stroll. Enjoy the scenery before the sun dipped. A little date for them to enjoy without her having to schedule it ahead of time. It’s why she decided to get her nails repainted as well. Green - his favorite color. It didn’t match with much of her attire, but for the next couple of days she could make do.
Only on her rotation of the parking lot did she notice a familiar vehicle ahead and turned to find the owner approaching. Her smile came with ease until she noticed the damage done to his visage, and the way his face screwed in pain as he leaned against the car. Nev's eyebrows kissed with confusion. “ Exactly how would that be? ” she asked, though heat rose to her ears at the endearment. “ Had a bit of free time so I figured I’d get my hair done early. ” she responded, while trying to determine the bruising she saw on his features. Since squinting her eyes to get a closer look at his face wasn’t working well enough for her liking, Nevin moved closer to Vincent and reached for his face. “ Did you run into a bear or something? Should I call animal control? ”
“without supervision,” he teasingly replied, his grin widening the second she started walking toward him, even if the movement immediately threatened to split his lip open again. he watched her close the distance, cigarette hanging loosely between two fingers while his gaze dropped briefly to her hair before returning to her face. “looks nice,” he said casually, nodding toward it before she reached up to inspect the damage. he let her, surprisingly still beneath her touch, dark eyes studying her while she examined the bruises like she was trying to figure out whether he needed a doctor or a priest. he probably needed both in all honesty. at the mention of animal control, a rough laugh escaped him. “if you wanted to see me in handcuffs, love, all you had to do was say so.” the corner of his mouth tugged upward. “it’ll save us both a lot of paperwork.” he shook his head lightly before her concern had the chance to settle too deeply between them. “i'm alright, though. promise. looks worse than it is.” a small shrug immediately reminded him that maybe it didn't look worse than it was, earning a faint wince. “nothing an ice bath won't fix.”
for a moment his gaze lingered on her, taking in the fresh style she'd clearly spent time on. then, almost absentmindedly, he reached out. rough fingertips brushed a loose strand away from her face, tucking it back where it belonged. the gesture was brief, gentle in a way most people wouldn't expect from him. his hand dropped again just as quickly, but not before he felt how soft it was against skin still scraped raw from fighting. something about that simple contrast made his chest tighten unexpectedly. “money well spent,” he said quietly, eyes flicking over her hair once more before settling back on her face. a faint smile pulled at one corner of his mouth. “seriously. it looks beautiful.” then, as if realizing he'd been staring a second too long, he took a drag from his cigarette without taking his eyes off her. after a beat, exhaling smoke away from her direction, despite the closeness already, he closed it a little more. “take a ride with me.”
"‘Cause you’re sat in front of me!" And this wasn’t something he wanted to ask Antonio out of fear of looking like he was missing a piece of a puzzle that everyone already held in the palm of their hand. "What, I can't have one conversation with my cousin?" Nicky knows what this is. No real disagreement, only the roughened shorthand boys mistake for communication. Better this than asking Vinny how he feels. "They went below the belt? Fine. I say we hit 'em lower. But you call it." Taking the drink, he tips it towards Vinny, as if to say: I'll follow your lead.
vinny looked at nicky with a deadpan stare before giving a weak snort of amusement and rolling his eyes. “right. because you're sat in front of me,” he repeated dryly, lifting his glass slightly before taking a drink. “solid logic. can't argue with that.” the corner of his mouth twitched faintly despite himself before he leaned back further into the couch. at the comment about having one conversation with his cousin, another humorless huff escaped him. “because i've always been the talkative type, man.” the sarcasm practically dripped from the sentence. his gaze drifted toward the amber liquid in his glass for a moment before settling somewhere across the room. “i do want blood,” he admitted after a beat, voice quieter now. “theirs especially.” there wasn't any hesitation behind it. no pretending otherwise. grief and anger sat too close together these days to separate cleanly. then he turned his head toward nicky, studying him for a second. “who do you think would be a low blow?” his brow lifted slightly. “c'mon. let's hear it.”
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( 📲 ) INCOMING TEXT from yasemin durmaz to dario de la cruz: @echosnoir
YASEMIN: Hi, Dario, sorry to bother you, but you asked me to text you whenever that cat came back?
YASEMIN: She's back and meowing at your door. Would you like me to let her into the apartment until you come back?
Head down, face covered. No one seems to notice him, and yet--
"No, no, please--" A dismissive hand wave towards the first person who makes eye contact. Immediately, Christian thinks he is about to be swarmed by fans. "Do not make a scene. I am not in the mood." For signatures, to be recognised. "I have had the most exhausting day you could possibly imagine, so please."
nico blinked once, then looked over his shoulder like the man must've been talking to somebody else before pointing at himself. “me?” he asked, unable to hide the faint amusement in his tone. “babes, you're the one making a scene.” his brows lifted slightly as he glanced down toward it. “but...now i'm really curious about the kind of day you've had.” a small grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. “because you look like you're about three inconveniences away from fighting a parking meter.”
sour mango sunset title inspo from ( @fracturedlcve )
“the sunset faded and blended from pink to peace to mango in a smoothie in the sky. for as long as she doesn’t love me, i will love her.”
dario watched bri walk away with that same crooked grin still lingering on his mouth, walking backwards towards the fruit stand for a second, before turning away to look ahead at the fruit stand. without really thinking twice about it, he pulls out his phone to text bash. he had a feeling that asking bri to move in with him wasn't going to be easy, but he wouldn't let it go without giving it a good fight at least. all he wanted was for bri to know she had a stable place, a little bigger, nothing fancy but it had heart. in a way, it was already their home in his mind. he had even looked into how to create one of those electircal chairs that moved around the walls to help nova, but it was going to take some time because dario had zero idea where to even begin. he wasn't going to ask for anything more, all he wanted was for her to take the key.
his thumb moved before he could second guess himself, typing quickly before courage had the chance to leave him again. (📱bash: i’m gonna do it, man. i’m gonna ask her to move in with me. and if she says no, i’m gonna ask her again next month. and the months following.) he stared at the message for half a second before hitting send and tucking his phone away. the fruit stand vendor greeted him then, pulling him back into the moment. “afternoon,” the older man smiled warmly. “hey,” dario answered easily, slipping his phone away. “can i get two fruit cups? strawberry and mango. extra mango if you got it.” the man chuckled while reaching for the fruit. “got a lady waiting on you?” and dario...well, dario couldn't help the soft chuckle. “nah,” he admitted softly. “i'm waitin' on her.” and he knew that would always be true. in one way or another, he'd be waiting on her. for anything she needs. after all, her and nova became his family from the moment bri allowed him the honor of letting him help them whenever they needed.
then the scream came. sharp enough to split the world open. dario froze instantly, the smile disappearing from his face before his mind could even catch up to why his chest suddenly felt hollowed out. all the noise of the park dulled beneath the sound of it. he turned automatically toward the commotion and saw bri collapse. everything inside him stopped. “bri?” the name barely left him before he was already moving. he shoved past people hard enough to stumble them sideways, breath tearing through his chest as panic flooded every vein in his body so violently it bordered on nausea. nothing existed beyond the sight of her on the ground and the hooded figure standing over her. “BRI!” his voice cracked apart with it. the fruit cups hit the pavement somewhere behind him, forgotten instantly.
dario didn’t think when he reached them. there was no room left for thought. only instinct. only something primal and desperate ripping through him at the sight of her bleeding on the ground. he slammed into the hooded figure full force, shoulder driving into them hard enough to send both bodies crashing sideways. fists tangled into fabric immediately, dario forcing them backward with pure adrenaline fueling every movement. “get the fuck away from her!” the attacker recovered fast, faster than dario expected, and suddenly the fight became ugly. fists, elbows, shoves, pure survival. dario landed a punch hard enough to split skin across the figure’s mouth. another directly to the ribs. they stumbled backward and he took the opening immediately, dropping toward bri so fast he nearly fell beside her. “i’m here,” he breathed, voice breaking apart as his shaking hands hovered over her bloodied frame, terrified to touch the wrong place. there was so much blood. too much blood. “i got you. bri, i’ll keep you safe." like he promised he would. he would always keep her safe. and he honestly didn't know if she could hear him or not, but he wanted her to know he came back. he wanted her to know she wasn’t alone and she would be making it home to nova. that he would not let this be her last day on this fucking earth. nova was going to get to see her mom again, and dario, even if she couldn’t hear him, he needed to say it.
and suddenly there was movement that was too fast. dario turned just in time to catch the flash of the blade before pain exploded through him. at first it wasn’t even pain. just force. pressure. something violently wrong punching through his body hard enough to steal the air from his lungs completely. his breath hitched in confusion as the attacker ripped the knife free. then came the agony. it was like white-hot barb wire and catastrophic. dario staggered back instinctively, one hand flying to his abdomen as warmth immediately flooded through his fingers. his knees almost buckled right there, but adrenaline forced him upright long enough to swing again. he hit the attacker once. then twice. enough to force them backward before another shove sent him crashing hard against the pavement. suddenly his head rang violently against concrete. everything sounded distant then and like he was suddenly underwater. the hooded figure hesitated only a second before disappearing into the chaos.
dario tried to get back up. he truly did. his arm shook violently beneath him as he pushed against the ground, teeth gritted through a wet sound somewhere between a cough and a groan. blood spilled from his mouth before he could stop it. “fuck…” the word barely formed. his body wasn’t listening anymore. he collapsed back beside bri, chest rising in weak, uneven pulls that hurt worse every second. one trembling hand still searched blindly for her until his fingertips brushed fabric. there you are. relief hit him so sharply it almost hurt more than the wound itself. but his vision blurred badly now, darkening around the edges while the world slowly pulled away from him piece by piece. and all dario could think about—through the blood, through the pain, through the growing coldness crawling through his limbs—was how he wasn’t going home. not to bri. not to nova. he wasn’t going to get to ask her. he wasn’t going to hear nova laugh again or carry her half asleep to bed or watch her graduate or have those awkward teenage years talks or watch bri roll her eyes at him over coffee in the mornings. he wasn’t going to tell bash that despite every year spent angry and hurting and missing him, he had still always been the best big brother dario could’ve asked for. another cough tore through him, more blood spilling past his lips as his breathing faltered weaker and weaker. but he had strength for one more thing…one more final fight in and it boiled down to, “bri,..” he rasped softly “…i love you.” then nothing but shallow breaths followed. slower now. his eyes drifted shut for only a second, and suddenly the pavement beneath him was gone.
warm light replaced it instead. golden, soft, and endless all mixed into one. dario blinked slowly and found himself standing in line beside the ferris wheel again. the sky burned orange above the water, carnival lights glowing against the deepening sunset while somewhere nearby children laughed like nothing bad had ever existed here at all. the air smelled sweet, warm and safe. bash stood beside him exactly the way he remembered, solid and familiar and real enough to make dario’s chest ache. he looked over quietly, confusion flickering weakly across his face before something softer replaced it. understanding maybe. acceptance. “bash,…” he started faintly, though his voice trialed off. bash smiled sadly. “it's okay, hermanito.” dario let out the smallest laugh at that, watery and exhausted and strangely young sounding. bash nodded toward the ferris wheel. “i’ll make sure it stops at the top.” and something inside dario loosened then. all the pain he's ever felt. all the fear. all the fight draining out of him gently instead of all at once. “thanks, bash,” he replies softly as the cart opened for him, stepping inside. “i always did like the sunsets from up there.” and then the wheel ascended him from the earth below to the warmest sunset he'd ever seen.
"smells good." eddy complimented, smiling lightly as the different smells and flavors of whatever nico was cooking filled the room. he had never been much of a cook himself, so it was nice to see his kicthen actually get used for something. thankfully nico wasn't as messy as he was either, so the place was way tidier than usual too. another perk to having the boy around, aside from the obvious. he took the drink from his hand and took a sip within seconds. pulling it back and looking down at nico. "thank you, and i could eat..." he shrugged, not bothered either way but it seemed a waste to have nico go through the trouble of cooking not to eat it. "and it's great right? my mom bought it for me when i moved in." he shrugged again.
he stepped forward, closing the slight gap between him and the other man "glad to be home too, nico, and thanks for cooking, i'm sure it'll taste great." he added, leaning down and planting a short kiss on nico's cheek. "now what do you say we make this drink a little stronger huh? it's been one of those days." eddy joked as he walked past towards the drinks on the side, pulling the cap off and topping up his glass.
"what have you done today? aside from all this" he gestured to the kitchen.
“see? i told you i saved it,” he teased lightly, though there was something warm in the way his expression softened at hearing the compliment. “and yeah, your mom definitely knew what she was doing with the couch. i swear that thing could put anyone into a coma.” he laughed quietly under his breath before moving around the kitchen again, grabbing plates from the cabinet and beginning to serve up the spaghetti. the domestic ease of it all settled around him naturally now, like he’d been doing this in eddy’s kitchen for far longer than just a couple of weeks.
the kiss against his cheek caught him slightly off guard, brief as it was, but it still made warmth creep up the back of his neck. he glanced over to watch eddy making the drink stronger and couldn’t help the amused smile that pulled at his mouth. “oh, one of those days, huh?” he asked knowingly, setting one of the plates down on the counter before reaching for the second. “well, i’m not gonna stop you. honestly after almost setting your kitchen on fire earlier, i probably deserve a stronger drink too.” there was a lightness in his tone, but his eyes lingered on eddy for a second longer than necessary again.
at the question, nico’s movements slowed just slightly. he turned the burner off completely before carefully moving the pot to the cooler part of the stove, his gaze dropping there for a moment before he answered. “nothing really,” he said casually, though his voice had quieted some. “i started packing up some of my stuff.” a small laugh left him then as he rubbed the back of his neck. “didn’t realize how much of it i already had over here.” finally, he looked back at eddy, expression gentler now. “you’re better now, right?” he asked softly. “i just figured…it’s probably time i get out of your hair.”
nico's place looked a lot like yujin's own. this wasn't an observation that brought yujin grounds for bonding or comfort. if anything, it was a little concerning. because yujin didn't truly live in his apartment. it was a place he could momentarily stop by in, like a visitor, as a last resort, but it wasn't somewhere he could call home. and while nico's apartment didn't have as many of the telltale signs of that emptiness as yujin's did ( the little bowl by the door, the extra wine glasses in the cabinet ), it felt like it had been left on its own for a while. yujin observed it ever so quietly, tried not to show that skepticism in his features. he would ask, he decided. because he was learning that this was the things friends did for each other. "do you not have a roommate or anything? it's all quiet here." in which quiet didn't encapsulate what yujin meant to say, but it was enough of a nudge. he turned his gaze back to nico, he nodded. "sure," he said, "give me the tour."
“nah. no roommate,” he answered, taking a sip out of his wine glass. “used to think about getting one, but…” he trailed off with a small wave of his hand like he didn’t entirely know how to explain it. the quiet here had never really bothered him until recently. until he’d started spending more time in places filled with other people, with noise, with warmth. “i’m not home a ton anyway,” he added casually, though there was something a little quieter sitting underneath it all. he was lonely and often times felt out of place with the world around him. he especially felt out of place with his own family, except for romy, he wasn't too sure he belonged there either.
but then he caught the look in yujin’s eyes again, thoughtful in that observant way of his, and nico’s grin returned quicker this time, lighter on purpose. “alright, c’mon then,” he said, nudging his shoulder gently as he started leading him through the apartment. “welcome to the grand tour of my extremely glamorous estate. if i had any inkling you'd be over i would have had boas out for us to wear throughout the tour. ah well." he pointed things out dramatically as they went—the tiny kitchen he claimed was “for decoration only" (despite actually being a decent cook), the bathroom with a candle collection that had gotten slightly out of hand (because he had a small candle obsession), the little corner near the window where camera equipment and half-developed photos sat stacked together. pieces of him everywhere, scattered through the apartment in messy little bursts. because who nico cole was just a messy little burst of energy.
but it wasn’t until he pushed open the door to his bedroom that the place really shifted into something unmistakably nico. his room looked lived in in the best way. warm lighting cast soft amber tones across the walls, records stacked neatly beside a vintage player in the corner with sleeves spread out like art pieces all on their own. boas—pink, teal, glittery blue—hung off the side of a tall standing mirror, mixed in with necklaces and rings tossed carelessly onto the tray beneath it. the bed was surprisingly neat, dark blankets smoothed out beneath a pile of mismatched pillows, while polaroids and tiny prints were taped around the mirror frame and pinned haphazardly along one wall. there were books half-stacked on the floor, books he never intended to return to the library, sketchpads left open on the desk, little bursts of color and personality everywhere you looked.
it felt creative, alive, comforting. like stepping into the part of nico he didn’t hand out as easily to everyone else. he paused in the middle of his room for a second before glancing back at yujin, suddenly looking a little bashful. "do you like it?"
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"Eh, maybe." He gave a weak shrug, he didn't care much to fight back with him. "Can't a man who just got free from jail after a wrongful detainment just want to enjoy a fucking drink?" Wilder took a seat at one of the barstools. "You are looking a little uptight dude, I think you need to get your dicks sucked or something." But the look on his face was just full of amusement. "I thought it was a cute nickname, it really fits you." Wilder tossed the man a wink. "I'll take a whiskey neat, and open me up a tab, darling. Your gonna be serving me a while."
dario was confused as to why wilder wasn't giving him much fight back. he usually never held back and if that group chat wasn't proof enough, he didn't know what was. he sighed at the comment about looking uptight, rolling his eyes, instead he reached for the whiskey as requested. for a second he glanced around the bar to make sure it was just them, when he saw it was, he then pours himself a whiskey too. wilder was right, dario was a little uptight right now. “i’ll call you jerko from now on. dick and jerko. look at that.” it was a little amusing. he couldn’t help the small snort that left him as he downed the whiskey in one gulp before pouring another one to take slower. “you been doing alright since you got out? besides getting the best bartender customer service rift valley can offer.”
open to: everyone ( @thefaultstarters )
location: oceanside bar & grill
if there was one place she actually did like eating at, it was oceanside bar & grill. to her, they actually had some good food. and the outdoor seating was a bonus. leaning back in the chair, she took a long sip of her glass of wine before placing it on the table. eyes closing, a small sigh escaped her lips. peace and quiet. it was why she loved eating outside. because of the peace and quiet she would get. hearing the seat scrape across the wood though, she opened her eyes to see who it was. "you do know that there are other tables you could sit at, right?" she asked, looking at the person across from her.
“yeah,” he said simply, voice low, “there are.” he pulled the chair out anyway and dropped into it like he belonged there more than anywhere else tonight, leaning back with a slow exhale before finally meeting her gaze properly. “but i chose this one,” he shrugged, a flicker of dry amusement in his tone as he glanced down at her meal of choice and gave a small nod of approval. "not bad.” he tilted his head slightly, studying her for a beat longer than necessary, then let the smirk fade into something more neutral. “how are you doing, gi?"
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