welcome to fire island, ny.

Somehow she had managed to find someone a bit similar to her in the dating world as well as the food one. Majority of her friends had managed to have several relationships or be engaged or married. Which left Lynn feeling rather alienated most of the times and afraid to rock the boat with her million and ten questions that she had. For example did people even ask someone to be their significant other or was it just assumed after a long time? Did one person lose their dreams for the other to have theirs? How many dates did one have to go before it was acceptable to fart in front of the other? So many questions racked the woman’s head but very few ever managed to make their way outside of her head. “How did you get into the boxing world? It is an interesting career,” Not many people she knew in that ring of occupation. “Have little freedom as is so I tend to be a bit selfish about it,” With her mother, siblings and friends she rarely had time for what she wanted. Not that she was complaining because if she was ever given that much time she would have to actually figure out what she liked. “Which is not bad, because after my entire life being in the Navy I don’t even know what I would do. Sounds stupid but how does someone pick up a hobby at the age of 28?” She was rounding up, her birthday wasn’t till a month away but she already felt old so why the hell not add up? They were getting closer to her house as she made a left turn, “You can get that – I promise to do my best to not listen,” she commented on the other woman’s phone screen lighting up. “Right? I want to do that. Or go to Iceland and just have these miniature adventures. Get all the stamps. It would be an interesting fight – navy versus professional.” She commented as she stopped the car and used her hands to draw an arch in the air as it would appear in a billboard, a couple light chuckles escaped her rose colored lips before she stopped the engine and took the keys out, “May the best taco lover end up surviving.” She concluded as she opened her car door and hopped off her vehicle. The woman walked towards her door, taking into account how the lights of the doorway were on indicating that Thals was out tonight, opening the door she pushed it open allowing Thea to enter as she followed her and closed the door shut behind her. “Welcome to my crash pad,” really her grandmothers who had been kind enough to realize that service members are not loaded and she would need some help when coming back home.

The question caused Thea to flinch as if she’d been struck, body tensing up for a moment as she wasn’t accustomed (or a fan of) sharing personal information with, well, anyone, but even so she found the truth seeping past her lips. “My dad was a boxer.” She admitted with a nod, choosing not to go into further detail. She had a scripted response having to do with following dreams and getting inspired by a dirty boxing gym around the corner of her house she gave to the reporters whenever they asked, but for some reason the fabricated story hadn’t been the one she’d told. Instead, she’d said the truth, albeit an extremely condensed version of the truth, but it was still the truth none the less. Deciding to quickly continue talking as not to encourage questions about it, turning the tables and asking Lynn a question about herself. “The Navy? What made you wanna join that shit show?” With a brow quirked up, Thea shifted in her seat. “What’s got you so tied down?” The question was posed with genuine curiosity, a slight scoff leaving her lips at Lynn’s next words. “Doesn’t sound stupid. It was hard enough deciding what you liked doing when you were eight let alone 28.. or 30.” She was talking about herself then, but she once again wouldn’t elaborate. “Nah, it’s fine. Just my manager, nothing important. He’s been annoying as shit lately.” Grabbing her phone from her lap and shifting so she could put it into her back pocket to solidify her point, Thea nodded her head in agreement. “Traveling was probably the second best thing about the job... even if I didn’t get to see much of anything. It’d be nice to be able to explore... but you’re right, we could probably sell pay per view tickets for it. Pitch it to HBO.” A light chuckle of her own escaped past her lips as she got out of the vehicle and followed Lynn to the front door. “I will, don’t you worry.” She winked with a smirk, walking into the house once the door had been opened and looked around. “Looks as a good of place as any to die.” She said, smirk playing on her features as she moved further into the home. “You have any tequila?”

   “Thea–” he feebly protested, but it was far too late. The unknown man’s collar firmly in her grasp before Dominic could try any other tactics. To be fair, he had to admit, the guy kind of deserved it. The man was just lucky this was all that’d transpired. “He got the idea.” The Owens boy tacked on in the backdrop, waiting to see if Althea was going to actually let the guy go. Though, given the words that left the arrogant fool’s mouth once she allowed him to slink away from the situation– Dominic wasn’t so sure he really did. Shaking his head the brunette let out an amused, half in disbelief, snort as Althea switched back into the casual mood they’d existed within before the whole encounter. Like a switch flicked on and off, suddenly everything was fine and she seemed reasonably unphased by the whole thing. “Yeah, let’s get another round. partially just for me to celebrate that not escalating into a bottle being smashed over the guy’s head WWE style.” He teased, his previously concerned expression shifting into an amiable lopsided smile. “I need another basket of fries though, you’re going to drink me under this damn bar way too soon otherwise.”

No one had ever accused Thea of being even tempered, even as a young child she’d thrown infamous tantrums whenever she’d felt the slightest bit inconvenienced or snubbed. It was part of the reason her mother had been so keen on allowing her only daughter to join such a volatile sport, the little girl’s quick temper worked well and it helped get her aggression out. However, now without her outlet, Thea was finding it harder and harder to not simply erupt on people like she just had (though if she was being honest, the man did deserve it). However once some of her anger had been released upon the unsuspecting victim, she was able to go back to her version of normal with her shoulders relaxing as she finished off her glass of tequila. “I can control my anger when I want to, thank you very much.” She snorted slightly, a ghost of a laugh passing through her lips as she waved the bartender over and ordered both of them another round. “Ah, c’mon Owens get it together.” She said playfully, pausing for a moment before she continued, “Make it bacon cheese fries.”

Steph didn’t like to think about just how much time she’d lost with Ben; the decade they’d spent estranged and living separate lives. But the fact that so much of that lost time had died with her twin brother? Well, Steph liked that even less. There had been only so much catching up on that lost time they could do in the nearly seven months she got after he returned to Wilmington, after he reentered her life. Particularly when Ben had been just as eager to hear about her life as she had been about his; it broke her heart, too, to consider all the things she’d never tell him to his face. All the things he’d never see. 

Thea wasn’t Ben, but she had been his best friend when Steph hadn’t been part of his life. She’d known Ben in ways Steph never would; had seen him grow from a teen, desperate to escape his pain, to a man who’d managed to find some kind of peace with it. She’d shared memories Steph would only learn through stories, and though Steph was hungry for it all, for any new scrap of information that kept her brother alive in some way, as she waited outside Carolina BBQ, one hand on Parker’s stroller, she found she also desperately wanted to know Thea herself. The woman her brother had grown so close with, had lived with for so long. 

She’d (miraculously) arrived a few minutes early, and the wait didn’t get any easier as the seconds ticked on. After nearly a year of texts and calls and even the occasional facetime, she didn’t think Thea would chicken out and stand her up, but it was hard, nonetheless. Wondering if she’d live up to the person Thea expected her to be – from their own limited interaction, but from whatever stories Ben had told her, too. Wondering if lunch was even such a good idea. Wondering if she was trying to hold too tightly to the past when she should be focusing on the future. But letting go didn’t come easy to Steph, and relief was hot and quick in her veins as she heard her voice, and saw the face she’d yet to see through anything but a phone screen. “Hi,” she said as soon as Thea was within earshot (of anything beyond a shout, anyway). “I’m so glad to see you.” Her smile was more tentative than her gesture; a reflexive hug that began as she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Thea. “How weird is it that we never really met before today?”

Thea’s entire body tensed up as soon as Steph’s arms wrapped around her frame, more out of reflex than any negative feelings she had about the embrace. The boxer wasn’t used to any physical contact that didn’t involve pain or pleasure. The hug had caught her off guard but before she could even process, her shoulders relaxed and she returned the embrace, head leaning against the other woman’s gently as she let out a breath she hand’t realized she’d been holding. “Me too.” She agreed, giving Steph a gentle squeeze before pulling back from the hug, light smile on her features that only seemed to grow the longer she was in Steph’s presence. It was a strange feeling for the woman, meeting face to face with someone who was such a big part of someone else she loved, a practical stranger, yet she felt completely at ease with Steph. Something she hadn’t felt since moving to Wilmington.

veeferro :

“Oh my God, will you stop honking? You literally have me, like, two hour’s notice,” Vee exclaimed as she strolled down her long-winded driveway toward Thea’s car, one hand clutching the floppy straw hat on top of her head while the other held a canvas bag full of the essentials (sunblock, sandwiches, an extra pair of sunglasses). After finally crawling in the front seat, she spent the rest of the drive over to Penelope’s putting the ends of her hair into braids so that they didn’t frizz in the heat. “Not upset enough to where she’s going to bail. At least, she better not — I had to call up my backup babysitter for this since the nanny has the day off. She’s, like, good or whatever, but she’s also, like, twenty-years old and tends to eat all of my ice-cream,” Vee frowned, glancing over her shoulder. “Ugh, does this mean I’m going to have to get up?” The doctor rolled down the passenger-side window as she saw the redhead approach. “Hey, skinny! Crawl through the window!”

It hadn’t taken her too long to get dressed after she’d forced herself out of bed and into the shower, and she was wandering around her apartment, tidying and putting a cloth over the surfaces when she heard the sound of the horn honking and poked her head around the window. Because of course Thea wouldn’t actually text her to let her know she was outside. “Alright bitch I’m coming” she shrieked out the window in the direction of the car, picking up the bag off the side table and slinging it over her shoulder. Thirty seconds later and she was outside the car, staring at the occupiers of the front seats. The suggestion of her clambering over the seats ellicited a scornful scoff, “are you having a fucking laugh?”. But it seemed that nothing was going to move them, and so with a groan she started to clamber through the window. “First you’re late, now you make me climb through your window, I’m beginning to think you don’t actually like me T”

@altheasantxs​

As Vee made her way down the driveway Thea couldn’t help the smirk on her own features as she honked the horn one more time. “Oh no,” She began sarcastically as she pulled away from the driveway and began the trip to Penelope’s, “Not the back up babysitter!” A slight laugh left her lips as she drove, glancing over to Vee before putting her eyes back on the road. “Isn’t that the one good thing about being a babysitter, though? Being able to eat all of the family’s junk food?” Not that she’d know, she hadn’t ever babysat a day in her life. 

Leaning across Vee to yell back out the window, Thea kept a hand on the steering wheel as she hollered “Hurry the fuck up!” to Penelope before leaning back into her own seat and looking at Vee. “Only if you want to. We can strap her to the roof if ya want.” Smirk coming back to her features, Thea’s brows raised as Penelope approached. “Hey, I remembered the margaritas. You can’t expect me to do both... and Vee’s makin’ ya climb. If you scratch the leather though I’m gonna kick your ass.” 

“Apart from the fact that I never seem to have any juice anymore, it’s fine, mum.” Tucking his phone between his ear and his shoulder as he punched in the key code to the front door of his building, Leo pushed the door open with his hip. “I know and it’s fine, honestly, I work all the time anyway, I think the cat is actually glad to have someone around, even if it does mean I need to find room for a second bathroom. I gotta go, mum, I just got home, I’ll call you in a couple of days, okay? Love you too, bye.”

Ending the call, Leo slipped his phone into his pocket, walking over to his security guard as he was waved over. “What’s up, Patrick, everything good?” As a package was held out to him, Leo checked the address before rolling his eyes a little. “Doctor turned postman, thanks for this.” 

Taking the stairs to his floor, Leo sighed happily as he opened the door to his apartment, the familiar meow of greeting as his cat wandered over to greet him. “Hey buddy.” Door closed behind him, Leo gave the cat a quick scratch behind the ears before placing Thea’s parcel on the coffee table. “Hey, Thea? Parcel out here for you? You know it’s not illegal to go down and get it yourself, right?” @altheasantxs​

Moving to Wilmington had been a split second decision akin to throwing a dart at a map when giving the owner of her favorite bodega the final say on her decision, but her mother had been all too happy to hear of the news, quickly throwing her to the wolves and finding her a place to stay with her own husband, knowing full well Thea couldn’t say no to her. While the pair had been legally married for over a decade, they were still strangers; never forming a friendship to go with the faux relationship they’d concocted for the US Government. So living together had been new and a difficult adjustment. Thea wasn’t used to having to answer to anyone, to think of anyone but herself and especially not used to sharing a bathroom. But there they were, sharing an apartment she didn’t feel at home in in a city she was sure she’d never grow to like. 

PENELOPE: You

PENELOPE: Suck

PENELOPE: Okay gotta go there's a guy that's been giving me the eye for the past hour and ya gal's got needs

THEA: Yeah I know

VEE: mmmm yeah maybe when i find a halfway decent man who wont leave after the kid turns one. just a thought 🤷‍♀️

VEE: but we're so dang charming! ughhhh we need to roadtrip to alabama one of these days so that i can show you all that southern charm we're missin out on here in wilm.

VEE: 🤢🤮 i hate this i hate it i HATE IT

VEE: god i should have done that. where does one even get lube??? is there a lube store hidden somewhere around here that no ones told me about????

[twenty minutes later]

VEE: well...he is really pretty....im sceered theeeeaaaaaaaaa.

THEA: you really have to learn how to pick em better don't you? until then, keep it up with the pushup bras

THEA: charming? more like nosy as hell and lacking any kind of personal boundaries. if alabama is anything like wilmington i really might have to pass

THEA: you'll be FINE

THEA: at a sex store? i'm sure wilmington has one or three. i'll look it up and we can take a trip and get you all of the essentials

PENELOPE: I definitely didn't sign up for that

PENELOPE: Fine u bore. You're missing out an amazing buffet though

THEA: Those are my terms and I'm not budging

lynn: sometimes I think it's just I lack guts with confrontation...verdict is still out.

lynn: for a moment I thought you said watching sex and drinking tequila, a decent night may I add.

lynn: remind me to pass up the next social gathering up.

thea: whatever it is it'll keep you outta jail and isn't that really all that matters?

thea: ya know, maybe that's how my night'll end because it doesn't sound too bad

thea: will do. you can join me at the bar instead

It was a truly admirable thing to pull off, Thea being able to resist repeating past mistakes and let another hard fist grace his features. There was never any doubt from his side that she would happily do so; she had a way of being annoyingly rebellious, no matter what threats he sent her way. The last time they saw each other had been the only one where she had actually hurt him, but even before that, he was confident that there had been times when she had felt a pressing need to rearrange his face a bit. And as much as she tried to brush off his words and act unbothered, he knew that the topic of her life dream and goal was still a sore subject, and that even if she refused to let him catch a glimpse of her weakness, it was still there, lurking underneath the surface. As she leaned in, a devilish smile tugged at River’s lips, pulling in a deep breath to catch the scent of her, welcoming the familiarity of her closeness and hating it all at the same time. And yet, her words only pulled a humorless laughter from his lips, mocking her comment for thinking that it would make a difference. Like he cared what she thought of him, or what anyone thought. Reluctantly, the brunette managed to loosen his grip within seconds, making him feel a sense of weakness that he wasn’t at all fond of. She slipped out of his hold so easily, and he could feel the adrenaline starting to pump through his veins, triggered by her actions. There had always been something about her that could get him going so easily in the past — and despite the years that had passed since then, she didn’t seem to have lost that impressive ability. For a brief moment, River watched as they were being served their drinks, reaching for his own glass to knock back a quick first gulp. Letting the glass find its way back to the counter once more, he eyed over the dark-haired beauty standing before him, letting his gaze linger a little longer on her ass, feeling that insatiable hunger growing inside of him. Hungry to take another bite of what had been his in the past, of what he had once enjoyed so deeply in-between the rage. He wanted to eat her alive. Stepping forward, the male reached out for her body again, arms wrapping tightly around her slender figure as he pulled her back in, pressing her back firmly against his chest as he held her in place. “You really gonna come here calling me a piece of shit, when you’re nothing more than a worthless cunt yourself?” Hands moving up her body, eagerly taking in what they had missed over the years, his head pressed against the side of hers, nuzzling her hair as lips placed themselves right by her earlobe. His voice lowered then, barely even a whisper spoken right into the shell of her ear. “The only fucking I’ll be doing tonight is you.” A brief, silent laughter fell from his lips then, one hand finding its way down lower, steering towards the area between her legs. He was toying with her, but there was no question about the fact that he wanted her badly. Her perfectly sculptured body and hot temper had been reason enough to make him cheat on the woman he loved in the past — no wonder she could still attract the same side of him, even without her being forbidden fruit this time. “Either I’ll fuck you senseless until you learn how to treat me with more respect, or you behave from here on, and I’ll be sure to do it nice and hard — just the way you like it.”

Glass in her good hand, Thea brought it up to her lips and took a slow drink from it, savoring the taste of the tequila on her tongue as she focused on her attempt to keep calm. Years ago the game River was playing had been thrilling for the boxer, his ability to get a rise out of her second to none in or out of the ring and she’d once relished in it (not that she’d ever admit it). But now, now all his antics were doing was testing her quickly dissolving self control and as his arms wrapped around her once more, holding her to him, Thea’s entire body tensed up as another dump of adrenaline coursed through her, the taste of copper in her mouth causing her to take another, longer drink from her glass as the hand on her cast-clad arm balled up into a fist. She didn’t react right away, though. Allowing him to spew his insults as she did her best to keep her facial expression indifferent even though all she wanted to do was turn in his grasp and remind him of their last meeting in Boston. “Just call ‘em like I see ‘em.” She said through gritted teeth, finishing off her drink in one quick swallow and setting the glass down a little harder than necessary on the wooden bar top before signaling for a refill from the bartender. He had her skin crawling and burning at the same time, a feat only ever having been obtained by him, her leveled breathing hiding the pounding of her heart beneath her chest as her jaw tightened at his words and a hollow laugh pushed itself past her lips. “Respect?” She asked, having had enough as her right elbow flew backwards, connecting sharply with his gut and freeing her from his grasp as she turned around to face him and collected his shirt beneath her fist and turned them once more, this time pressing his back into the sharp squared edge of the bar as she stepped forward and crowded his space- taking a page out of his own playbook while her fist kept it’s tight hold on the fabric of his shirt. “There is literally nothing on this Earth that could get me to give you even an ounce of respect,” She said lowly, face mere centimetres from his, “Especially not that pathetic excuse for a dick.” Pushing his chest with the fist currently gripping his shirt, Thea closed the distance between them as her nose brushed against his. “So why don’t you go bother someone else, hm? As much as I’d love to remind you just how much worse that face of yours could look I’d rather enjoy my night.” She stayed close to him for a moment, eyes narrowed as she stared defiantly into his, licking slowly over her lower lip before finally releasing her hold on his shirt but refusing to take a step back. “Now move out of my fucking way.”

“You stay here long enough, it’ll start getting creepy, how much everyone’s connected,” Matias remarked, not really meaning it. It was surreal, at times, but maybe creepy wasn’t quite the right word. He didn’t take it back, though, moving on with a question of his own– “You from New York?” He found himself laughing at her assessment– “Nah, this isn’t work. It helps with my job, sure, but this is fun. One of the best parts of my week, actually. Don’t worry, even if I pull out my notebook, I’m having fun.” And given this was a rewatch for him, there was every chance he might do just that. He didn’t like to take notes on his first viewing, instead taking everything in with his full attention. “So, no, not getting paid, though all this ads-before-the-previews BS might just deserve hazard pay.”

“What do you do that a broken arm puts you outta commission?” The question was nosy, sure, more nosy than he might ordinarily ask, but perhaps the woman’s bluntness was infectious, or perhaps he just suspected she wouldn’t take it personally. “You mean, the only good movies were made before 1970 or something? Nah, you can’t study film and ignore the mass amounts of things that are being produced right now. Obviously, not in every course, but I’m teaching a survey course that runs to the present this semester, and my senior seminar’s designed around my students’ favourite films.”

“Ugh, can’t wait.” Thea groaned with a roll of her eyes, head leaning back against the seat as she took a bite from one of her sour straws. She knew Wilmington was smaller than both Boston and New York City, but she’d still hoped that the narrowed population would allow her for some of the anonymity she’d grown fond of in the big cities. “Oh, fuck no. Boston.” She corrected quickly. There wasn’t anything wrong with New York, but she’d be damned if she let anyone think the city that never sleeps raised her. “There is nothing fun about taking notes in a movie.” She commented with a slight snort of a laugh, shaking her head in disagreement. She came to the movies to get out of her own head, something she doubted she’d be able to do if she was pausing to take notes. “Well someone had to give Maria here a job.” She nodded towards the screen with a smirk on her features. “But you ain’t wrong.”

Finishing off her sour straw, Thea wiped the excess sour/sugar grains off on her jeans as she glanced down at her arm before looking back to Matias. “Boxer.” She answered, but not giving any more information than that. While she was proud of her career and her title, she wasn’t one for offering up information about herself to strangers. “No. But every film class I’ve ever heard of is about old movies. Citizen Kane, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and The Godfather or some shit, ya know? All the old shit. The basics or whatever.” Shrugging her shoulders, Thea popped a few pieces of popcorn into her mouth. “So what recent movies do you teach, then?”