from a trickle to a roar.

A grin blossomed as he watched the realization hit her face of just what she was offering. They'd pulled shit on each other in the past, but even Scamp wouldn't joke about something like this. "Seriously," he confirmed, holding his hands up innocently. The place had practically been partially hers over the past few months--if anything, he was doing himself a favor by finding a new place. "Yeah, no, we've found a place. We're moving in at the end of January, halfway between here and my mom's place." All he could hope now was that she could afford it, though if he and Dodger were able to when they moved back to the island, he was pretty sure almost anyone could. "So, you've got a couple more weeks on the couch, and then my room's all yours. Or, actually, you can fight with Dodger over that one--he might want the bigger room." Thankfully, not his problem anymore.

It was in a fluid movement that she jumped from laying on the couch to being on her feet, the help of her flight making it easier than it should have been, but it's not like neither of the boys hadn’t put together yet that she was a fairy. This place, her soon to be official home, was one of the only safe spots she had to just openly and freely be herself - magic and all. It’s without any hesitation that Zarina reaches over and throws her arms around Scamp’s shoulders in a hug. “Fuck. Thank you,” she breathes, slightly embarrassed of showing so much emotion but unable to hold it back how grateful she truly was over this. Really, she had thought the only discussion they’d be eventually having about her status living here would have been the boys telling her she needed to get the fuck out - this, having an official room of her own, with name on the lease and everything, was way more than she could have ever hoped for. “Oh he can fuck off. I get the bigger room, I need the closet space more than he does and you both know it.” Not that she really had all that many clothes or possessions to her name, nor did she actually really care which room she got, but it was always fun to start a little fight with the boys.

~time skip to the new year~

Sprawled out across the living room couch that was basically also her bed at this point after crashing at the boy’s apartment for so long, Zarina wasn’t sure when either of them would be getting home and was taking absolute advantage of the solitude to finally rest. With a solution to her latest project practically just around the corner, or at least it felt that way, the majority of her time had been spent in her lab since the start of the new year, meaning barely any time had been left for herself - she needed to take every opportunity she had to relax that she could. It was only once she heard Scamp speaking up that she opened her eyes and realized she wasn’t actually as alone as she had thought. Before she could even say hello though, a set of keys tied with a bow was being thrown her way. As she caught them, she gave the small gift a stare before it all clicked in. “Wait, seriously?” she asks, needing to be sure this wasn’t some kind of cruel prank. Sure, she had been in theory looking for a place of her own the past few months, but… in truth, those attempts had been half hearted at best. Which made this offer exactly what she needed, given that sleeping on this couch practically every single night was starting to make her back feel like she’s aged thirty years in just a handful of weeks. “Yes. Absolutely yes. Are you sure? Have you and Angelica actually found somewhere yet? I don’t want to take your spot before you’ve like officially got a new place lined up.” She likes to hope Scamp is smart enough to know that, but then again, with these boys you can never be certain.

༝༝ ✧ ༝༝ 

Her smirk only grows at his annoyance and declaration that she was simply showing off. It partially was the truth, she had indeed been trying to show him how easy of a task it was for her, but mostly it had just been her own laziness that kept her from taking the harder route. “You? Having brains? Never would have thought I’d see the day,” she mocks right back, holding out her hand for him to pass the joint after he takes his first hit from it. There was a sense of peace hanging out away from the rest of the party with just him, a calmness that Zarina would never admit to enjoying as much as she does. “Hey - I was gonna carry you up with me but you were too quick to run off and go all parkour up a tree.” In truth, it was a bit impressive how easily he had gotten to the roof without use of any magic, but that’s another secret she has no intentions of letting him in on any time soon.

Scamp gave her an incredulous look, knowing Zarina would go to extreme lengths to get on his nerves. The beer in his hand made him unable to care, coupled with the knowledge that she didn't actually think so low of him. "Yeah, that's me. I love cheating everyone in my life for my own success," he played along. "Noted. I'll make Angelica research the historical backgrounds of all costumes we choose from here on out to be sure I'm complying with your rules for acceptable dress." Scamp gave her a salute, shifting the focus from his own costume to hers. It might've been the least creative one he'd seen all night, but, for anyone who didn't know her, they probably wouldn't have thought otherwise for a girl showing up as a pirate. "You gonna show a picture to your boss? You'll get employee of the month, looking so enthusiastic about your job while off the clock." Strangely, he'd gotten to know James Hook better in the past few months than he ever had before, with the sacrifice he'd made to save Scamp at the festival's outbreak. "How's life at the Roger, by the way?"

Again, she held back the joke of how it must be a trait that ran in the Tramp family’s Y chromosomes, knowing that even teasing about his asshole of a father was taking things too far. And people said she had no boundaries - well just look at her now. Granted, it was usually with her experimenting and science that anyone ever said that, but she’d take the small victories of proving people wrong in any way she could. “Or you could do the research yourself, instead of putting all the work on her. I bet she had to be the one to pick out all the pieces and bring your look together in the first place, right? Man, you really are just a lazy asshole taking everyone else’s credit for yourself,” she tusks in a faux disappointment as she shakes her head and takes a sip of her own beer. Snorting at the question of whether she was going to show her boss her costume, Zarina took genuine amusement in imagining how the man would react to her coming into his office to gossip about tonight’s party and events. “Yeah, ‘cause Hook really gives a shit about my dedication. And it’s good. Can’t complain, really. I run his errands and then get to fuck off and work in the lab he set up for me. Couldn’t really ask for a better set up than that. How’s… whatever the hell it is you do going?” She asked not only because it was expected to return the question but as yet another hope at getting some kind of glimpse into the mystery of his career.

⨯ ⨯ ⨯

The weed hadn’t been a part of her original plan for the party, though she honestly should have expected him to make this exact offer at some point in the night. A grin grew on her face, showing her agreement rather than feeling the need to vocalize it. “Come on then,” she prompted, poking him with her foot lightly in the exposed stomach area like he probably could have predicted she would. It only took him a second after that to finally jump up to his feet, quite literally, and he was making his way closer to the door before Zarina really had a chance to react. “Oh fuck off, I’m coming!” Following behind him eagerly, she watched as he went through all the work of going up to the roof the hard way, knowing he was just trying to show off. She waited until he was at the very top and shot down another mischievous grin before she kicked off the ground in a small jump and simply floated her way to the top using her magic. One of the best benefits of being a fairy, aside from all the usage she knew pixie dust could one day bring to the world after she figures out how to share it with others. Landing on the roof, her body almost immediately falls backwards so she’s laying down, staring up at the stars. “You gonna light that up or make me wait all night?”

A kick to the back of his ankle could've only come from one his sisters or a few select friends, one of whom turned out to be the culprit. Scamp rolled his eyes as he turned around to face the girl, who was quick to turn the spirit of Halloween into a lesson in the shortcomings of his costume of choice. "You really think I'm smart enough to know all of this? That's so nice of you, overestimating my intelligence," he said sarcastically, holding a hand to his chest as he took the commentary as a compliment, completely differently than Zarina had intended. "What am I supposed to do, go home and change? You wanna tell Angelica we have to crush her pop culture costume dreams?" Scamp questioned, nodding his head toward where his girlfriend was standing. "What are you supposed to be?" he took a step back, looking her up and down as he pretended not to know, hoping to get under her skin a bit as he shot the same questioning look her way.

The question may have been asked sarcastically, but there was truth and merit within it - Scamp likely had no clue about any of the things that she had just said. But Zarina wasn’t about to give him the pass that easily, not when one of her favorite pastimes was trying to make him feel uncomfortable or guilty simply for being a cis white man. “I think subconsciously you probably did, yeah. And you really related to it, wanted to make something for yourself off the backs of other people,” she shoots back, raising her arms and shoulders in a dramatic shrug as she looks him up and down as if actually judging him for what she said. The very thought of having to explain any of this to Angelica who was likely just so happy to be able to do a couples costume with him again was enough to have Zarina laying off. “Alright, alright. I’ll let it slide. But just this time. If you ever dress up as a racist abuser again, oh it’ll be so over for you.” There’s a joke that could be made that he’d better be careful to not look too much like his father then, but even she knows that’s taking it simply too far. So she keeps her mouth shut on that and rolls her eyes instead. “Oh fuck off. I know it’s not creative or anything - but it works.” Dressing as a pirate when she works at the Jolly Roger really was a bit on the nose, but she’d only returned back to the Isle a few weeks ago and that hardly gave her much time to go all out and get creative on her costume.

⨯ ⨯ ⨯

It likely wasn’t smart, staying in this position for more than just a moment or two, but when Dodger flips around to join her it just feels right to continue for at least a little longer. Until the blood flowing to her head became simply too much to handle. “You started sitting, that’s a total advantage over falling backwards,” she argues in defense of herself, reaching her leg out to kick at his as he tries to state that he’s somehow superior than her because he wasn’t feeling as spinny and dizzy. Throwing her hands above her head, they fell to the ground and she let out a laugh. “We should go skydiving,” she suggests, seemingly out of nowhere though it made perfect sense in her mind. The rush that had occurred when she flipped herself upside down over the couch was one that Zarina could only compare to the times she let herself fly high into the sky and then plummet to the ground, and it was a sensation she wanted to feel again. Right now. “Or at least go jump off the roof.” As soon as that thought was in her head, she knew she needed to do it. Pushing herself upwards, she righted herself to be in a sitting position on the couch and poked at her friend’s stomach. “Come on, let’s go roof jumping.” It was a crazy idea for a human to consider, but she was a fairy and Dodger was one of the only people outside of the magical community that knew that fact, so it’s not like he had any reason to doubt the safety of the activity.