— ❝ 「 ǫᴜᴇᴇɴ ʙᴇᴇ; 」

“Five more minutes and then I’m crossing the border to buy from a Lostie.“ Everly muttered to herself, annoyed that her dealer had the nerve to keep her waiting out in the cold.

“Forty percent off of unflattering clothes is still paying money for unflattering clothes.” 

Everly sighed dramatically, turning to stare at herself one last time in the mirror. She loosened her robed, opening it from around her waist to reveal the new, lacey lingerie she had been trying on when Sadie had walked into the room. “You’re a true friend, Sadie.” Everly said with a seriousness that didn’t fit the situation, closing the robe around her waist again. “I’ll give it to one of the other girls, I’m sure Hallie’s been consuming carbs again that her ass will fill it perfectly.”

“I think if you want something that fits, you should buy in house, not online.” Sadie didn’t speak to be cruel, just to point out the obvious.

“There was forty percent off online, Sadie.” Everly stressed as though the sale itself was the second coming. She was never one to waste an opportunity to treat herself to new lingerie, especially when it came at a discounted price. 

“Certainly not.” Hook didn’t deal personally with Everly, but he felt as though he knew her by association from how riled up she could make Gigi without much trying. He rather liked when the mermaid was mad. 

“I tend not to show up to my business encounters with a pocketful of dust.” He deadpanned, Hook always had his fingers in a number of pies but for the most part he kept his hands clean. 

“You know the best place to go if you’re tweaking, all you have to do is find my Crocodile and my favourite blonde dealer usually comes tumbling after.”

Everly smiled, delighted that her reputation proceeded her. Everybody at The Lagoon knew about Gigi and Captain Hook’s arrangement, the other girls would whisper and glare at Gigi when she would return from evenings with the leader of The Jolly Roger’s with a smile on her face and gifts from him in her arms. Everly had rolled her eyes so hard they were practically in the back of her head, she often wondered what the Captain found so special about Gigi. It couldn’t be her personality, and her certainly couldn’t be her figure or her breasts — or lack of. 

A sigh escaped her lips, shoulders dropping with disappointment at her wasted trip deeper into the old, abandoned church than she would normally like to go. The place made the hair on the back of her neck stand on edge almost as much as Mason did. Now there was a guy who had a reputation that proceeded him, one that made Everly shiver every time she saw him. All of the mermaids had heard what he had done to that red haired fairy, it made her feel sick to her stomach. 

“I’ll give crocodile barbie a text, or maybe if I yell loud enough that Ben isn’t the fairest of them all then he’ll magically appear.”

“Oh this?” Gigi glanced down at her stomach, with the flair for drama she was famous for. “It’s not the way I wanted to tell you Evey-kins but looks like dear old dad popped by to pay a visit and one thing lead to another as they tend to do.” The blonde said in a sing song voice. “And well a few oh daddy’s later and uh oh. I can only hope she inherits her big sister’s huge ass.” The blonde said flipping the other girl off with a playful grin. “Or maybe it’s just the the omelette room service brought me this morning after my amazing evening.” Gigi shrugged, twirling herself around the doorframe as she left the room. “Either way, I’m sure Sylvia Plath will have written something describing this situation. Later, Ev’s.” 

Everly wouldn’t give Gigi the satisfaction of a reaction, despite every impulse and urge in her body telling her to slap Gigi and wipe that stupid grin off of her face. If this was several years ago, when Everly was still in school and acting out to seek attention from her parents that she had no idea how to get any other way, she wouldn’t have thought twice about starting a cat fight. “Dad always did have a thing for loose legged, easy girls like you.” Everly looked Gigi up and down slowly, a sickly sweet smile spreading across her maroon coloured lips. 

“Just because I don’t want to see you naked, doesn’t make me a prude.” Sadie raised her eyebrow at the older girl, not understanding how she was incapable of seeing that there was a difference. 

“I wasn’t naked, I was wearing lingerie.” She protested, smoothing the silk robe down behind her as she took a seat on the plush, vanity chair. “Well?” Everly said with urgency, her voice wearing as thin as her patience. “What did you think of my new piece?” 

“You should of sized up in a panties so they’d lay flat. They’re cutting in and it makes your cheeks look like four dinner rolls.” Gigi said bluntly, tilting her had to the side as she took the other girl in. “The top’s cute though, good colour.” 

“You’d know all about dinner rolls, wouldn’t you?” Everly scowled, her eyes falling down to Gigi’s stomach. “Have you been eating your feelings again, Gigi?” She looked back up at Gigi again, a false, sweet smile spreading across her lips.

“You’re such a pain, Everly.” Sadie rolled her eyes as she tossed Everly her robe. Being the youngest meant that Sadie put up with a lot of teasing, even if she fought back. 

Everly caught the robe with her hands and shrugged it over her shoulders, the silk was cool and comforting against the warmth of her bare skin. “You can’t work at The Lagoon and be a prude forever.” Everly pulled her hair out of the robe, closing it over across her chest and tying it shut with the silk belt. “It’s only a bit of skin, Sadie.” Everly had always been confident with her body, it gave her a power over men she never wanted to lose. 

“I have a Sharpie.” Michael offered up as a replacement. Pens didn’t work well on this sort of material, but that seemed pointless to explain. “I’ve got about thirteen now– It’s cool.”

Everly took the sharpie from Michael and began scribbling a get well soon message onto his cast for him, signing it with the words ‘from your favourite mermaid’. She handed the sharpie back to him, pleased with her message and the stir of trouble it could cause back home for him. Mermaids weren’t enemies of The Lost Boy’s as much, but she was sure neither them or his parents would be happy about it. “Wow, that’s going to be a pretty large donation. Most kids would just want more signatures for the Instagram post.”

“I won’t until I see pants.” Sadie was stubborn enough to keep this going all night. The girls at the Lagoon were her family, but like family, she did not care to see them half naked all the time. 

“You’re such a prude, Sadie.” Everly complained with a roll of her eyes. If it really made her that uncomfortable then Everly would put on some extra layers. “Will you hand me my robe?”

“Could you please put some pants on?” Sadie lifted her hand to shield her eyes, though she was almost certain that Everly didn’t feel any need to cover herself up. 

“Could you please answer my question first?” Everly asked, mimicking Sadie’s tone of voice perfectly. She would have thought Sadie would have grown use to seeing half naked girls by now, it wasn’t like Everly was wearing any less than what the girls who worked the floor of The Lagoon would wear each night. 

“You can sign it if you want.” Michael offered up his pink cast, flashing a tired smile. He looked a bit banged up with the broken arm and bandage on the side of his head – but he was fine. “For every signature I get, I’ma donate $100 to breast cancer awareness… That’s why it’s pink.”

“Do you have a pen?” Everly was returning from one of her clients town houses when she spotted the battered and bruised boy, her interest and sympathy immediately sparked. It was Michael Darling of all people, the youngest ilk of George and Mary Darling. “Well, isn’t that sweet of you. How many do you have so far?”

Hook kept his eye trained on his company as his associate made his exit, their meeting short but fruitful. Things were coming together just as he liked but Hook never let himself get too comfortable with that. He drank the remainder of his whiskey, all too aware that there was another pair of eyes on him. 

“It’s not polite to stare, you know.” 

“Nobody ever did use the word polite to describe me.” Everly replied, her lips curving into a devious smirk as she moved forwards, heels clicking against the wooden floor as she approached him. “I couldn’t find any of your dealers so I decided to come straight to the source.” Everly said, a hint of irritation in her voice as she placed her hands on the back of one of the empty chairs. “Care to help a girl out?”