Whatever it Takes

“there’s a difference between a healthy amount of imagination and the type of imagination that makes you start accusing people of witchcraft.”sometimes it was hard to know when amari was joking.they’d say dramatic and exaggerated things with a flat tone and face like stone.they didn’t have the energy to be anything other than straight-forward. they also enjoyed the mystery that came with constantly having a monotone voice.

he was right when he said jocks usually died in slasher movies but he also had plenty of options.”you could always be the main character or bland boyfriend.”they suggested ,refusing to not have the last word.“you can’t say you want a hockey mask then disrespect the classics like that. a chainsaw is the best weapon to have when you’re in a shitty cabin in the woods."their aloof facade briefly slipped,lips curving upwards into a small smile as they referenced a movie they loved. 

“jesus christ, that’s disgusting on so many levels.”amari liked to analyse the way people’s minds worked but sometimes other students said things that they didn’t want to touch with a ten foot pole.somethings weren’t unpacking; they were better off gathering cobwebs in a spooky attic.”i meant from wood”,they corrected.”.i’m not expecting you to make a paper mache machete.”either way they didn’t care as long as it didn’t involve them getting their hands dirty.they hated anything practical. 

“the overlook seems like it would be a pretty fun place to stay if jack wasn’t there.”,they commented.it was in the middle of nowhere but at least it had indoor toilets.”there’s a bunch of freaks staying there and ghosts definitely exist in that universe.”the thing they hated the most about ghosts was that there were an interesting concept but with no evidence.they were probably fake but amari wanted some kind of answer no matter what it was.”i don’t.i’m an open book.” they shut people out but that wasn’t the same as being secretive.

amari sighed. being in the same terrible situation as other people didn’t make it easier to deal with. if anything it made the situation worse because now they had to deal with cramped rooms and other people overreacting."any time spent here is too long."they knew that complaining made them sound privileged but that wasn’t going to stop them. staying is a run down cabin was not what they bargained for and they assumed the school could so better seeing how much admission fees were."thanks, i suppose you have some taste.”,they commented dryly. seeing how often nico referenced movies that they loved he had more taste than they’d ever give him credit for.

“Yeah, I guess…. I’m not yet at that level though.” He smiled playfully. “At least I hope so… Seen any witch around here?” He chuckled.

“Well those don’t end that well either.” He shook his head. “And besides, that would require actually having a girlfriend… Which is not a problem at the moment.” Yep, let’s say that his last sentimental adventures hadn’t ended well. “But I mean… they boy of the final girl, when he isn’t the killer, generally has a pretty grim fate… Unless it’s a subversion or something.” He mused.

“Fair.” He chuckled. “Wouldn’t want to trade a hand for it, though, you know?” He smiled, his gaze shifting to meet Amari’s. It was fun knowing that he wasn’t the only one with a passion for the genre around there. “Although that would be badass I give you that.”

“Nah… it’s just natural.” He chuckled. “Yeah… wood, getting some, that would definitely help them.” He lowered his eyes. “Too much? I know. Sorry.” He wasn’t, but then again, it was not like he was chatting with his buddies in the lockers, perhaps he should have kept the conversation to a ‘slightly’ better level.

“And yeah definitely.”

“Well, some of the guests can be of good company I can give you that… Can’t imagine any I’d like to spend the full winter though.” Yep, definitely. “But it’s definitely more luxurious than here I give you that. Although, it’s pretty easy given the competition.”

“Ohh are you though?” He teased. “No secret at all? Somehow I doubt that. It’s fine though, I am not gonna ask, I mean I like it when there is some kind of mystery.”

“Yep, don’t tell me… Besides, it’s not just the cabins that suck. I mean, I hope it won’t impact my training.” It would though, there was no way he could keep up the same rhythm he had at the academy. “And that would definitely be tragic if you ask me.” He phrased it more like a joke, but his tone suggested that there was more than a hint of truth behind his words. After all the seventeen years old had his priorities pretty straight.

“Thank you.” He grinned.

Diana had to suppress a roll of her eyes at the words Domenico spoke. He certainly didn’t mind his crassness. It only made it more grating that he didn’t even mind being crass in-front of a lady. The sisters may not be lady’s but she certainly was. “That’s quite pessimistic.” And likely true, loathe as she was to admit it.  There was almost nothing she hated more then not knowing something.

“Nothing irreplaceable, from what I’ve heard anyways.” Their would likely be a fair bit more of outrage if there was. So far it was mostly grumblings about the mess.” They took one of my shoes.” Keyword: one. 

“I’m sure the school is doing their best.” It was probably true, the schools best just wasn’t very good. She to had expected a response of a higher caliber. But would never verbally go against the school. That would go against the image she projected.

“Nothing solid.” Frankly Diana had no clue who had done this. They had covered their tracks well. But she alluded to having an idea anyways. She was never one to be caught unaware.

“I’d call it realistic.” He kept smirking. “But you are right, who knows, maybe the staff will have  a stroke of genius and figure it out.” He added, unconvinced. “I wouldn’t bet on that though.” He shrugged. Now Domenico could appreciate a prank well done, but this… well this sucked.

“That’s sick… if you ask me, stealing a girl shoe I mean…” Yep. “Besides, who does that?” Was he wasting time though, by discussing this, while he still didn’t know what, if anything have been missing among his own stuff. “And sure, replaceable, but still sucks I imagine.” He scratched the back of his neck.

“I bet they are. I mean, it’s another screw up for them… This kind of things don’t exactly help keep up the good name.” Which of course could be a problem. “I dunno, maybe we should look into it ourselves.” Where to start though? It was not like Domenico had any investigative skills though. “I just hope that they won’t just punish everyone when the thief does not show up on his own… Like with the pool party.” It wasn’t exactly the same though, after all everyone present there knew that they were acting against the rules.

“Nothing solid? Means you have something? Come on shoot… Got nothing myself, any idea can help…”

Leo had already been out and about when he started hearing the noises. Ordinarily he probably wouldn’t be out at this late hour. But he hadn’t been able to sleep so had decided to go exploring. In the pitch black dead of night. Like a genius. 

At first he ignored them,figuring it was probably just the Forrest or his imagination. He had an over active imagination during the day. It really only got worse the more tiered he was. He really needed to figure out how to get access to coffee at the cabins. 

He had been rounding the corner at the cabins when a quick movement caused his life to flash through his eyes. He admittedly hadn’t accomplished very much. But he was also only 17. So no regret. He barely stopped himself from screaming like an idiot. He did not want all of the cabins thinking he was the latest murder victim. 

“Dude what the hell?” He whispered to his friend. All he was doing was minding his own business, in the scooby doo way. Like pretending your not doing something but following a noise anyways. He was going to have nightmares about getting brained with a bat now. Broadripple didn’t even have a baseball team, where did he even get a baseball bat?

Leo was not good with keeping quiet. Ask anyone. He was a bit of a loudmouth. But when someone swings a bat at your face, well your at least quieter. Peering around Nico. Leo strained to see what he had been creeping towards. “What are you looking at?”

“You shouldn’t sneak up on people man.” Domenico took a deep breath, although  it was quickly followed by a chuckle. “I was about to rip your skull open with this you know?” He joked. Not that he would ever do that. “Anyway what are you doing outside at this time?” Well the same thing could be asked to him couldn’t it? Yep.

“It’s that clattering… I think it’s the fucking thief… want to catch him in the act.” Yep, truth was, he wasn’t doing a good job with that thought, chatting with Leo was unlikely to help his cause in any way. In fact they were wasting precious time.The guy could hear them and simply dash for the woods.

Speaking of that… He could hear some rustling coming from behind the cabin. “What was that?” He dashed past the corner. Nothing.

“Maybe it was just the wind…” Although there was none that night and his instinct told him otherwise. “But come on it’s never just the wind, right?.” He muttered, more to himself than to anyone in particular, a grin on his lips as his gaze shifted briefly to meet Leo’s. “Besides, there is nothing around here that might have caused the clatter from before.”

His attention kept darting from place to place, trying to catch at least a glimpse, it was too dark, just twisted wood as far as the eyes could see. Too many hiding spots. Fuck. Maybe it was just imagining things, besides, they were not in a movie after all, it could have very much been just the wind. Which perhaps was somewhat comforting, as if they were in one, the finale would have probably been pretty grim for either of them.

That noise again. This time he could swear that something was moving between the threes. He tried to lit its source with his phone (after all whoever it was, they must have noticed them by now), still nothing, but he could swear that he had seen some movement.

“Fuck. He’s getting away… Let’s go man. Maybe we can still catch him.”

It was an idea. For sure. And not a bad one. Besides, a part of Damian really liked the image of the Swim team united in camaraderie. He just didn’t want them to be met with disappointment if things didn’t go their way. “Draft a sheet of sorts,” he suggested after a beat. “To see who wants the extra hours. See how many signatures you could get from the team. If enough of them agree, I’ll join you all in asking.” It felt fair. A signature meant more than verbal agreement anyway. And signatures paired with a large portion of the team showing up felt unstoppable. Well, almost anyway. It would inevitably come down to whatever mood Coach Cobb was in the day they asked. 

“Erm…” Not the worst, not the best. But Damian couldn’t really divulge the details of his home life like that. He barely knew Nico after all. He shared what felt appropriate. “It was strange to spend so much time at home. I’ve always spent time at school or been with friends, so… it was interesting.” For a lack of a better word. He was reminded of how often his parents weren’t at home. And when they were home, they were always resting from their busy days or doing something else. Preferring silence and taking time to center themselves. They weren’t much for bonding outside of events they’d have to attend and mealtimes at the the table.

“It was nice to spend time with the dogs though. Personal Finance class felt a lot more manageable with a beagle by my shoes, I’ll tell you that much.” He offered a slight chuckle. “Yourself?” He asked. It was only proper after all.

“Ok Cap… Will get as many signatures as I can.” He smiled and gave Damian another pat on the back. 

It was a bit of a waste of time in his mind and it would have been easier if he just went to talk with the coach with a few of his friends (and more likely for him to get the credit), but it made sense. It definitely upped the odds of the coach Cobb saying yes. Now he would have to figure out a way to sell the extra hours to his friends. But then again, a few were after an athletic scholarship, not unlike him, so they probably had the same level of motivation. The others… well… Perhaps not every weekend. “Besides I’m sure that the coach also wants the team to perform right?” He grinned.

“Yeah, you have been in boarding schools a lot right?” He smiled at Damian, yeah. “Must have felt weird to be back home full time.” He nodded when Cap mentioned his dogs, Nico never had one of course, but he still liked the actual idea of having a pet.

“I…”

On his side of things, well, getting to see his siblings and his old friends wasn’t bad (plus getting to have the actual sun for a while was definitely a perk), but facing mom and dad hadn’t exactly been a walk in the park.

And truth was, even all the reunions had been somewhat bittersweet, after almost two years apart, his friends had all changed, moved on with their lives. It felt like he had lost something by going away, something that he wasn’t going to get back anytime soon.

“Well, it wasn’t too bad. At least I got the chance to catch up with my friends… and working on my tan a bit.” He smiled, but it didn’t fully reach his eyes.

“I don’t mind being back though.” He admitted frankly, which was strange maybe, given how much he had been whining about the school, but there he was. “I mean must have missed you Cap.” He teased.

𝐎𝐇, 𝐅𝐔𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓. 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓, 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐖, 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐍𝐎𝐖, 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒. Rion’s at his wits end with the cabins, the experience having been the exact opposite of relaxing. And now, a crash, somewhere further down the cabin. What’s disturbing, however, isn’t the noise itself, but how loud it is despite having no apparent source. Already people are getting up, searching, leaving much more noise than the initial crash had caused, and after shuffling his pillow around his ears a few times, he finally groans. Swinging his legs over the bed, he gets up to join the few other light sleepers that had gotten up to investigate. Strolling out of the cabin, he walks towards where the noise had originated from, half-confused. 

Inhaling, he takes a step forward — and immediately he feels a jolt of shock, met by a shadowy figure with some sort of weapon raised. But the surprise only lasts for a second when he realizes it’s Nico and exhaling, he chuckles. “Shit, dude, you can’t be out here with a goddamn bat and not expect people to be surprised…. hang on — you heard it all the way from the Junior’s Cabin?”

Domenico cuckled back, a bit awkwardly perhaps, still slightly startled by Orion’s sudden appearance.

“Yeah you’re right…” His determination to test his theory though, well, that was still there.

Besides, perhaps it was better this way, in between the two it would be easier to actually catch someone even if they tried to run.

“And yeah… Woke me up actually. And I was having a fucking sweet dream.” He smirked. “So I am a tad pissed.” He went back to whispering.

“Got any idea about what the hell might it be?”

“My bet… it’s the asshole who had gone through our stuff on Friday. Must be working on another prank or something… Gonna catch him in the act… are you in?”

“I mean, the prank was fine, but I’m still salty as fuck about it, he took my lucky zippo.” Sure he could always get a new one, it was just a cheap novelty lighter after all, but it was a present and the sentimental value couldn’t be replaced so easily.

“Let’s take a look ok?” He clenched the baseball bat again, just in case.

Winters with cold that sunk into bones with icy winds like daggers to bare flesh, and summers coated in dreary rainfall that lingered all day, hiding the sun behind thick clouds and a darkness for as long as the season would last. Amos was used to this dreary cold that came with the grey skies of Scotland. Not these muggy days, that left sweat clinging shirts to his back, and dripping down the sides of his face.

Amos wouldn’t quite second guess Domenico’s abilities to start a fire over his own, not when he’d only started fires for props, or to discard dramatic letters he no longer wished to read. Usually a match was enough for those however. “This kind of crap?” He mimics the other’s comment with an offence in his tone, “Are you calling sister a liar? I’ll have you know this isn’t much a laughing matter. Heed such words, or you may end up just like them.”

“Dunno man…” Nico shrugged, his eyes shifting toward the fire, still doing his best to feed the flames. Truth was, its fiery light made the place feel more alive somehow and Christ if that god-forgotten place needed it. “I don’t think they are in the business of telling us all the truth, you know?” He shook his head. “Which by the way is a sin, so the sisters are being really naughty in my books.” He chuckled.

“I mean… it all looks fucked up if you ask me. Come on a freaking biblical plague in our dorm?” Yep… “And add to that all the crap from last year… there must be something they aren’t saying right?”

Definitely, but then again, it could have been worse, he was sure that the staff was just trying to keep the school open and running and for once their objectives aligned with Nico. Not that he had any love for the institution, or for its representatives, it was just that he needed everything to work out right, plain and simple, or else there would be no high division college in his future.

“Anyway… where is this story of yours? I’m still waiting…” He smirked.

Diana frankly wasn’t to interested in how he would spend a Friday evening. She was sure it was something to emphasizes his jockness. So no, she wouldn’t be asking. Even if he wasn’t being rhetorical. And she didn’t need to ask if it sucked. Everyone had seemed upset upon arriving at the cabins and seeing them in a state of disarray.

She may be a bit hypocritical but she thought it was kind of ridiculous how Nico was threatening whoever did it. She may have done the same but at least it was internally. Didn’t he realize anyone could hear him. “Careful, wouldn’t want the sisters to hear you talking like that.”

“I actually don’t have everything back.” Diana almost forgot to ask him about his stuff. After all, it would be rude not to ask after he did. “Have you lost anything?” She doubted whatever he had lost was as annoying as a single shoe. 

“I’m sure whoever was keeping an eye on everything just took a break. They must feel awful.” Diana didn’t think the school had thought to leave a staff member at the cabins, they would be now trying to cover up the mistake.

“Whatever. The sisters hear me saying much worse…” he smirked. And besides, come on, I’m sure that I’m not the only one who is pissed.” Domenico shrugged. “Anyway, my bet is, we will never find out.” Or at least when they did the chance of payback will be gone.

“You didn’t?” He echoed her. “Fuck, they have been stealing too? What is it?” He frowned, wondering if anything of his was missing too. He had enough expensive stuff that wasn’t exactly easy to replace. Plus… Some things that he truly could not replace. Presents of friends. Or his signet ring… A tasty treat for a thief. “I still have to check all my stuff…” He clenched his fists and lowered his eyes. Yep he needed to take a look and fast.

“Very professional then…” He shook his head. “It’s not like this crap is something that happens in a minute…” Yeah it was messed up. “And if they have left the place empty, well, it sucks. It’s just… well I expected more from this place.

Well his school back in LA, had actual security around, but then again, it wasn’t exactly to protect the student’s belongings anyway… “Got any idea of who might have done this?” He tossed.

Plot Opportunity: **001

Open: Anyone

@ba-central

What was that? Domenico could swear that he had heard a strong clattering or something. Yeah it was enough to bring him back from the sweet embrace of Morpheus. Could it be just a dream? Maybe… Besides, the retreat wasn’t exactly quiet during the night, between the ‘music’ of the forest and the snoring of his roomies. Thanks god that he was actually a deep sleeper. And yet… that weird noise still managed to shake him up from his torpor. Truth was, his instinctive reaction was to just turn sideways and go back to sleep, but an idea had wormed its way into his mind.

What if it was that damned thief? The one that had stolen his beloved zippo and had ransacked through his things, strained a favourite t-shirt and in general gave him the nasty feeling of having his personal space invaded, not long before. Could be right? Perhaps they were working on another prank.

It would be sweet wouldn’t it to caught him (or her, but Nico believed himself enough in teenage psychology that he was convinced that the odds of actually being a girl were pretty low)? Yep definitely. Now of course there could be a thousand different explanation, but to the still barely awake mind of the seventeen years old there was no doubt. He was about to get that asshole.

As quietly as he could manage, unwilling to wake up the whole room, the young man left the warmth of his bed. Heart racing a little already.  Was he scared or something? No way, right? Right? For a moment he thought about putting on some clothes, clad as he was just in boxers briefs, yet he didn’t want to waste precious time. The thief could go away any minute from now. Instead he took just the baseball bat from one of the boxes under his bunk, the one that he had brought in Nightmore after the theft*, together with his phone, in case he needed a source of light. Although, given how far they were from civilization, that usually the stars were more than enough, even in that god-forgotten place. Good, with no light he would be harder to spot by his ‘quarry’.

He didn’t close the door behind his back when he left the room, better not to draw attention to himself. Swiftly he navigated the darkened retreat, stepping lightly on the path in between the cabins. Not the first time he had found himself sneaking around, nor probably the last. Yet, despite all of his outward bravado, the eerie atmosphere of the retreat still gave him the hibiby-jibies, he could feel the adrenaline raising already.

There it was. The senior cabin. And the source of the noise. He hid, leaning with his back against one of the wooden walls, the source of the noise was just past the corner. Now he only needed to peer past it before deciding what to do. (And to check if the source of the noise was actually someone from the staff being caught by the staff half-naked and with a baseball bat outside at night wouldn’t have been easy to explain). Speaking of which. What was that? This time he could swear that he had heard steps. Coming from the opposite side of the clattering though. Fuck. He turned swiftly to face the newcomer, the baseball bat raised in his left hand.

“Woah…” His eyes widened when he recognized a fellow student. “Sorry… I…” He whispered, ruffling the head on the back of his neck.

“Be quiet ok? I think it’s the fucking prankster.”

Frankie struggled to see what the school was doing for them now that they had been dropped in the middle of nowhere, but he had to keep up a front where he admired all faculty and their decisions. He wasn’t an absent supporter, he was an avid one. “What is it that you want to do after you finish school?” he asked. “It’s never too early to start thinking about that,” he added. He had started his own ten year plan when he was thirteen years old. The only thing that had gone wrong was losing student council and house captain to Gwen bloody Prescott.

He chuckled, “Oh, the beach wouldn’t be very fun. We’re in the wrong state for that.” He shoved his hands deep into his pockets, “I don’t imagine you’d like to go running a hundred miles just for a cold beach, huh?”

His cheeks flushed at the realisation that he had misunderstood. “My roommates are…” in truth he didn’t know much about them. He just knew that they weren’t really his friends, apart from Damian. He got along well with him. “They’re nice. Interesting. Hopefully they don’t snore too much. And yours?”

“Definitely.” Domenico nodded, of course he had been trying to plan his future for a while, now, there were things he wasn’t going to share with Francies, but he could give him a safe version right? “Doing my best to get to a top college, Stanford would be ideal… They have have an amazing business program.” Plus he would be back in Cali.

“Which means, that I’m gonna have to bust my ass with both grades and extracurriculars.” Yep and finding a recruiter that would help him out with an athletic scholarship, but that was a given to go to anything better than community college…

“But I mean.. Gonna be worth it. You man? I mean, you seniors must have anything already pretty much set by now am I right?”

“That depends… They are not like at home, but they aren’t too bad during the summer, besides, the weaves are great if you know where to look.” Which he didn’t, but then again, he had done some googling and it didn’t look too bad.

“Definitely not running…” He chuckled. “But I got my Ducati back at the campus, she can bring me there just fine.” Still, it was a pretty long ride, for what in the end was not going to amount to much.

“Mine don’t look too bad either… I guess we would have to see after the first night though.” He chuckled. “Fuck that would be my first… I mean… in a room with what? Like eight other people? Hope it’s gonna turn out fine.”

“i think your biggest problem is going to be your over-active imagination."sure the cabins looked like a cliche horror movie location but that didn’t mean it was one.at least it wouldn’t be as long as mass hysteria didn’t set in.

"that’s not true you’d probably have a bunch of options in a horror movie."it was easy to be a mediocre white guy in a movie.it was easy to be a mediocre white guy in general."just smuggle in a chainsaw instead of a machete and you’ll be fine.”,they advised with a small smile.they doubted that any of their classmates would find the necronomicon but making an evil dead reference was still irresistible.“you really want to make out with someone less than a meter away from a nun?"they quickly regretted suggesting that nico could potentially survive.amari thought that shame was a construct meant to control people but they also judged shameless people.shamelessness often overlapped with a lack of a survival instinct and for amari life was all about self preservation.

"you could always craft one.we don’t have anything else to do."it was a playful suggestion coming from a place of genuine concern.one of amari’s biggest issues with the retreat was the lack of ways to keep themselves occupied.they would have the time to focus on work or read but what were their going to do besides that? after a long day of learning and putting up with annoying classmates watching a low quality movie on youtube was a vital way to rewind.

amari rolled their eyes at nico’s unnecessary clarification.either he was being condescending or he was gormless and amari didn’t like the thought of either of those options.conny was endearingly awkward but awkwardness from most other people was uncomfortable to sit through."i knew what you meant. some members of the hockey time definitely have some skeletons in their closets but i doubt somebody has a secret machete collect. i wouldn’t rule it out ,though.” ,they joked.it was unlikely but anything was possible with the weirdos at broadripple. some of amari’s classmates had real stepford smiler vibes , it was offputting in a bad way.

a humorless chuckle left their mouth.“of course i’ve had a rough time settling in.this place is a dump and i hate that i’m sharing a room with a fuckton of people.i’d rather be anywhere else."they replied ,bluntly.they hated small talk but they could survive it when they had to ; being able to survive small talk was a necessary skill to gave if you wanted to make it in the world.however, this wasn’t a situation where they felt the need to play along with the rules of small talk."nobody’s getting murdered in the shower , put the chocolate sauce down hitchcock.”,they remarked.it was kind of fascinating to amari how quickly their classmates had resorted to imagining ghost stories.

“I wouldn’t call it a problem, more of a perk if you ask me.” Domenico chuckled. “I mean, without some, I’d die of boredom.” Yep, definitely, not that he didn’t have stuff to do, after all his life was pretty busy as it was and yet… 

“Well, athletes aren’t exactly known for surviving in horrors…” Domenico chuckled again.

“Although, if this was a more modern one rather than from the eighties, I’d at least have a chance.” He shrugged. There was actually something in the tone that they had used that the young man didn’t really like, but whatever, he wasn’t there for a fight over some bullshit. “A chainsaw… a bit cliche-y if you ask me, but I’m definitely going to consider it.” He teased.

“Yeah? I mean, they could watch for all I care, you know?” He chuckled again. “I mean, I imagine they would expel me though, so yeah… maybe I can care a little, but a part from that whatever. “Besides, they would be way more chill if they were actually getting some.” He smirked.

“Why not? A bit of art an craft to keep myself busy.” He nodded. “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy after all.” He smirked, although, cabin fever it was actually a problem that was way more plausible at the retreat than any machete wielding maniacs.

“But I mean, unlike at the Overlook we can actually bring something fun to do at the cabins… I for once, I’m gonna download a few movies once we get back at the school... “ Yeah it made sense, he won’t be able to stream, but at least he could leach the Academy wi-fi and get his fix of shows and movies to watch in the evening.

“Definitely, who doesn’t right?”

“We are all on the same boat I guess…” Domenico shrugged. “Ain’t gonna last forever though.” Well, he didn’t know that, but it made sense, eventually the dorms would get back to normal… Right? Right?

“That’s a good one.” Domenico laughed.

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐔𝐘’𝐒 𝐆𝐎𝐓 𝐀 𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐓, and Rion nods, shoving his hands into his pockets, following Nico further out from the cabins, safe from the prying eyes of any staff (or disapproving students). “Right, yeah, I’m all right,” he replies, not sure of what else to say. He’s not in the business of making small talk with his dealer, not when there’s not much to say in the first place.

Letting out a snort, he shakes his head, turning to look at him. “You can say that again. Literally jack shit for what, eighty miles?” He shakes his head, rolling his eyes. “Guess Nighmore’s the best we’ve got…” Rion pauses, mind wandering to the little town that seemed to be stuck in a generation back. “Hey. Do the people there seem… weird to you?” He stops by an old picnic table, lowering himself not onto the bench, but the table itself. **“I mean, man, I’ve lived in small ass towns before, but there’s something freakin’ off about that place.” **

“Great.” Domenico nodded, a satisfied smirk on his lips as they started walking away from the main buildings of the retreat. 

“Guess me too… I mean, it would be better probably anywhere else, but at least I imagine that my business is gonna boom here.” He chuckled. “I mean… nothing to do in miles… gonna be rich if this last for more than a few weeks.” Yeah, much likely, that said, he would definitely trade the few extra bucks he was gonna make, if he had a chance to go back to a decent dorm. 

“Yeah right?” He shrugged. “And at least back at the school, I could always grab my Ducati and go for a ride or something… here we are fucked, it’s how much? An hour jog to go back?” Maybe more? He wasn’t actually sure, at least until he had tested it out for his own. 

The young man found a spot on the table himself, one where he could keep the path leading to the camp well in sight, unwilling to risk getting spotted. Then he took his ‘tobacco’ pack from a pocket. “Weird as fuck, if you ask me.” He shook his head. “And a tad creepy.” He chuckled. “Just a little…” He took a small clump of green ‘stuff’ from the pack, measuring it between his fingers, it wasn’t much, but he was not going to bring his full inventory on the bus, there was always the chance that they would be caught. “Big town boy myself, but yeah I got what you mean, besides, they are closing down shops too…It’s like they really don’t want us to have anything to do…” 

He prepared a small bag for Rion. “There you go… if you need more, you’re gonna have to wait before going back to the campus. Usual fare...” He added. 

“I mean, all of this is strange if you ask me… a plague of insects? A dead bear last year? Blackouts, fucking bones in the agriculture plot.” He stretched his arms behind his back and closed his eyes. “Not a believer myself, but well… if I was… I’d say that the place is cursed or something.” 

“You know man, I think I’m gonna need a smoke myself.”

Frankie looked at Nico for a few seconds. “Is that what you want?” he said. “Because I think I can make that happen.” It was easy enough, it was just a matter of speaking to the right people. He felt like Nico would be a very good person to have on his side, not just for his obvious physical capabilities. Although he wasn’t quite as polished as Frankie there was something about the way he spoke, he was sure he could be persuasive if need be. “I’ll find a use for you yet.”

He looked in the direction of the bridge out of camp like he was desperate to make a break for it right then and there. “If only this were California. The sun and the sea and less…” he laughed slightly. “Just less than everything here.” He nodded in agreement. “Some time alone would be nice.” He realised that that may imply he wanted to be alone with Nico, “With my thoughts, I mean,” he quickly clarified.

“My mates?” he smiled slightly. “Just as merry as I am at the moment I suppose.”

“Yeah for sure.” Domenico remarked confidently. “Besides, yeah, they might have exiled us to a camp in the middle of nowhere, but school is still doing something for us, it’s about time I give something back.” He smirked, his gaze meeting Francis’, it was all bullshit after all and he was sure that his friend could easily see between the lines. “Deal…” 

“Don’t tell me… I would kill to go back to LA.” Well, assuming he could get the same deal, school-wise, of course. So yeah, no way he was gonna, at least until college. And even then… Who knew, Cali has some great universities, but that didn’t mean that they will take him. “And I go back home every summer after all.” Yeah that would have to be enough for now. “It wouldn’t be so bad though, if we weren’t that isolated, I mean, there are some neat beaches here too, cold as fuck from most of the year I imagine, but they are just what… a hundred miles from here or something… yeah... “ 

“Yeah sure.” Domenico raised one eyebrow, wondering why Francis had felt the need to so suddenly correct himself. “Guess we would have to wait and see, I mean… all of this. It’s definitely a first time for me.” He shrugged. “And I had just learned about life in a Boarding school, last year…”

“I meant roomates? Got any luck with them? Myself, it ain’t too bad. Besides, I would have never expected to have mixed rooms in a catholic school… I  mean…”

“I get that. I swear I have the worst attention span.” It was very true. If he had to jog the same path over and over he’d probably go nuts. He almost did an a weekly basis when they had soccer practice. One of these day’s he was going to die of boredom during the laps. Not to mention all of the incidents that could have been avoided if he hadn’t gotten distracted. The school was still kind of mad about that broken microwave plate.

“I make a fool of myself meeting normal people.” Honestly Leo thought it was a bit of a worrying trend. Something he should probably work on. Making first impressions was important and all that jazz. “What makes you think I’d be any good meeting a celebrity?”

Leo laughed when he started talking about temptation. “I’d probably go full speed ahead. I have like zero self control.” He’d never been good at stopping himself before. So why would that change with super powers. It’d probably only get worse. “I can see people doing it for the art. Most of the stuff Hollywood churns out is probably only good because of that.”

“Exactly right? One needs some variety in life, else it becomes boring as fuck.” He grinned. “At least there must be plenty of different paths around here… So yeah there is that.” Yeah… not that he would go alone though, just in case, the idea of getting lost in those woods wasn’t exactly appealing to the young man.

“Come on man.” He laughed, giving Leo a strong pat on the back. “Don’t sell yourself short, besides, it’s not like you actually are gonna have to have a conversation or something with celeb on the streets… doesn’t work that way.” Yep, they lived pretty much in a different world compared to people like them, didn’t they?

“Yep, me too man… me too.” He smiled. “I mean, who wouldn’t right? No shame in admitting it.” Besides, it was not like it was ever going to happen, it was cool though, to speculate about the idea of superpowers. Sure they have to live in reality, but it was a good way to kill some time. “Although, I dunno, always saw you as the type that would actually use them for good you know?” He chuckled.

“Well… My bet is that now… it’s mostly people doing it for money, I mean… everyone chasing the next big cinematic universe and copying each other at every chance they get.” Yep and none being particularly successful at that.

“You didn’t feel trapped before?” He asked with a raised eyebrow, Logan hated it at the dorms, always felt like the walls were closing in on him. The change was good, and he liked that it felt more rugged, like they were roughing it. It reminded him of the camper van. “This whole fucking place is a trap.”

Logan let out a snort of a laugh before he realized that Nico wasn’t joking. “Jesus dude, you have more stamina than me. My sisters the runner, I think I would be on the ground before you could say Go, but if you ever want to swim the lake, let me know.”

“I don’t think you could pull off ginger, sorry Nico, I gotta be honest.” He laughed, nudging his friend with his elbow as they made their way deeper into the woods. “Oh yeah you know it, I can hardly keep track of all the ladies falling at my feet.”

“Sure thing man… but I mean, it’s a trap we need after all.” Yep, the both of them, he knew that Logan didn’t think that way, but for him it there was no other path. Broadripple. College. A future. What else could he do right? And if had even the slightest say in it, he would not let his friend waste this opportunity either.

“But I mean, back at the dorms, I felt like I could go wherever…” After all sneaking out at night wasn’t hard, plus access to his ride meant that he could also go to town any time he wanted (not that there was much to do there though, to be honest.) “Here… not so much.”

“I mean... there are some perks. I can give you that.” For once, it was much easier to find a place to smoke in peace. Speaking of which... He offered Logan his Zippo to light the newly minted joint.

Domenico chuckled. “Excuses...excuses…” He gave Logan a pat on the back. “Do I hear a certain someone being a chicken?” He teased playfully. “Besides, you are selling yourself short man. My bet is, we can get there, go back and we won’t break a sweat. Both of us.”

“Ehi didn’t think of that…” Domenico remarked enthusiastically. “You think it’s swimmable?” It must be, at least in the warm season. “Fuck yeah man, we definitely need to take a look.”

“Do you? You are breaking my heart you know?” The young man chuckled.

“You will see… I know… it’s not easy given all the competition from your strapping Italian friend...” He smirked playfully. “But trust me... “

Weird? Well, it wasn’t the most common of circumstances, Damian could confidently say that much. It wasn’t every day an entire dorm building suffered a cicada infestation but… what was one to do? Complaining certainly wouldn’t make any difference. Damian has heard his fair share of parents try when he dipped into the administrative office for his new Buddy Club assignments.

“I imagine it’s just… the times.” It was a fruitless answer. Truthfully, Damian just wasn’t skeptical enough to find anything odd about it beyond being inconvenienced by the lack of proper accommodation. Because the cabins weren’t proper accommodation if you asked Damian. It was a halfway house at best but he was very tight-lipped about his true feelings regarding their new residence.

“Don’t worry, there are two bus trips for a reason. We’ll still have our practices but the extra hours…” He trailed off, knowing that would be a bit difficult to achieve with the schedule they had to abide by. “It’ll be rare. We can’t do much about it but I’d suggest using the weekends to get your extra hours in. I could talk to Coach Cobb about it, see what he says about allowing the team a couple of hours at the pool if possible.” Though it would be a long shot considering Damian was among the group caught at the pool party a while ago. He was only tentatively back in Cobb’s good graces. Very tentatively. In fact so tentatively that Damian tried his best to avoid asking for things and negotiating in an effort to build trust again.

The question wasn’t one Damian liked to think about. The hopeful part of him wished for this to be over sooner than later but the more realistic part had a feeling that wouldn’t be true. Instead of giving Nico an actual answer (that he didn’t have), he tried something else. “We’ll be back at the dorms before you know it.” He even spared a hand to pat Nico on the shoulder. “Take this time to… appreciate the nature, you know. Look at it as a opportunity to build a closer bond with members of your house or team, your friends. I’m sure everyone’s missed each other given our break and doing online school.”

“Yeah the times… times that suck if you ask me.” He shrugged. Whatever, if the experience sucked for him, he was sure that Mr. Oxfords and Button Ups wasn’t going to enjoy it either. So at least there is that. ‘Mal comune, mezzo gaudio.*’

“Whatever, we just need to soldier through after all, I mean, take this as a test of our determination or something.” Well, for himself, Domenico had decided that he would try to make the best of the situation, not that he would stop complaining obviously, but if he could do something to improve things for sure he was gonna give that a try. “I wish I can help out with something…”

“Caz- I mean, this sucks.” He lowered his eyes, sure he suspected that training would take a hit, but one thing was just imagining it, another having the bad news confirmed by their captain.

“I… Well, I really need that.” He remarked frankly a worried look in his eyes. How would he get noticed by a recruiter if he allowed his technique to slip? Fuck he needed all the extra hours he could muster. That was a fact.

“Yeah you are right.” A flash of hope beneath his blue pools. “It won’t be exactly the same though… but then again. Maybe I can-” He frowned. Well, he can try to ask himself, who knew right? Now, the coach wasn’t as receptive after the pool party, but then again, Domenico had done his best to, well… court the favors of the coach during the past season (to put it nicely). So there was a chance that he would listen to him, still, it was unlikely to be enough.

“Ehi… What if? I think I can get a few of the boys from the team on board with this. I mean, the extra hours… If all of us are asking, there is no way he could say no right? For the good of the team...”

“You do sound like a summer camp ad, you know Cap?” Domenico teased, but he still smiled at Damian, in his own way, he knew that Fritz was trying to encourage him after all. “But yeah sure, at least it’s not bad to be back among friends.” He tossed, yeah definitely… especially after how much of a mess the short interruption had represented for him, flying back and forth between the two coasts wasn’t exactly cheap after all… “How as it been? I mean, at home?”