ANGER // ASHES

Exhaustion was an emotion that Danielle could never seem to not feel at all hours of the day, having worked well into the night with every intention of taking herself home. But she knew what usually waited outside on the nights when she didn’t linger inside or ask Paul for help until she was out of sight of the club; and they were people that wanted to make her an offer that she would resist. No part of her wanted to go home with them as she stepped out and saw them lingering, both her and some of the other girls that were smart enough to have a car. Or an exit plan. But then she saw Guy and a slight, warm smile caught her off guard when he stepped up and wrapped an arm around her shoulders – shielding her from the rest of the crowd.

           “Is this you offering to go with me or drop me off at the nearest diner to make sure that I eat something?” She teased, a small sigh of relief washing over her at his presence as she scrunched her nose to make a face at herself. “I’m starving.”

“this is me trying to persuade you back to my amazing hotel again.. you know because i love fucking showing off the place.” he teased. “this isn’t about you at all, it’s about my hotel.” it’s easier to talk to her than it is to almost anyone else, probably because she doesn’t seem to fear him at all. though he supposes he’s never had one of his famous tantrums around her, but then he’s never really had a reason to.

though if any of the bastards still lingering at the door went near her, that would soon change. opening the car door for her, he waits until she’s safely inside to go back around to the drivers side. “you can always call me when you’re done you know, it’s not like i have any kind of a social life. literally i sit in my bar and wonder if you got back to your apartment like a sad old man.”

“You hungry? The restaurant has a bunch of dinners going if you want something?”

he’d been downing drinks since before the event even started and he was starting to finally feel them. he should talk to her. he should tell her. after all what was the worst thing that could happen? he was already a stupid besotted puppy for his brothers ex fiance. walking up to her, he tapped her on the shoulder.

“can i say something to you?”

“fucks sake!” he growls, kicking one of the tires of his car as hard as possible with the sound of the mints hitting the sidewalk still clattering in his ears.

maeve knew it wasn’t the cool or hip thing to admit but she hated technology sometimes, not just a passing hatred either but deep deep loathing. how was it possible that in a time of crisis such as this not only was her battery slowly dying on her when she hadn’t touched her phone but all her social media obsessed friends couldn’t even be bothered to send her a message to let them know they weren’t buried under rubble. the only person she was certain was unharmed was robin who had been filmed helping in the aftermath and truly she should not have been surprised. disappointed yes but not surprised. she knew all too well what his stance on free publicity was. she’d still sent him a voicemail furiously asking him if he was alright if he hadn’t been hurt. she didn’t put it past him to perform while injured after all. 

just as she was pacing around through the crowd, clutching her phone for dear life hoping it’d buzz one last time and she’d have news from alexander or guy or anyone at all. just a few words of reassurance could really help soothe her frayed nerves right now. her phone, of course, stayed infuriatingly silent and she cursed under her breath, making her way through the crowd to try and find herself a bottle of water or a coffee.

guy locksley was usually hard to miss, standing at 6′3 he pretty much towered over everyone around him but maeve was so engrossed in her own thoughts she did not even see him approach, eyes lighting up as she let out a visible sigh of relief as she saw him and all but lept into her arms.

did this look like a scene out of a hallmark movie? the yelling each other’s names and embracing in the middle of a crowd? yes and yes. did she care? not even the slightest bit in that moment.

“am i okay? are you okay? where were you?” she asked and really she didn’t mean to come off so accusatory but she’d been worried. worried and maybe a little disappointed that he seemed to have been a total no show at the festival. sugar plums had a booth there, he could have shown up for the pastries and left. she’d have understood.

he crushes her to him for a long moment, the past hour or so have been hell as he tried to fight his way through police tape and twisted trees in order to find out if he was too late. if he’d missed his chance to ever tell maeve how he felt. while he’d been running he was sure that if or when he saw her he was going to tell her how he felt. damn robin. but now that he’s holding her, he can’t bear to ruin just knowing that she’s okay.

pulling back slightly he puts his hands on her shoulders, and without thinking he leans down to kiss her forehead. she seems completely unharmed, which he honestly supposes that he should have expected, considering how tough she always is. “i’m fucking fine, i went on that stupid forest tour because i thought it would be a fun hike.” he explains, his ears turning red as he cringes. he doesn’t admit that he practically ran off to join the tour to escape robin. 

he smoothes his hands over her shoulders a little as he just takes her in. “i came here with danielle, but she went with some friends for a bit..” he tells her. “is anyone here with you? has anyone checked over that you’re fine?” guy asks, still fussing like a worried mother.

            “And if the celery doesn’t work, then I would suggest carrots because everyone loves carrots,” she replied with a shrug around another pick at her burger as she couldn’t imagine finishing it all. Though if it carried, then part of her would take it back to Sammy for later but she wasn’t sure it would. Danielle had to fight the urge to stick her tongue out at him, choosing instead to roll her eyes with her ever growing smile. “Liking ice cream doesn’t make me soft. It makes me tough enough to admit to liking it enough to get out of the house into the sunshine. And possibly make some vegans upset in the process,” she added with a small laugh. “You’re not a giant rat, you’re my friend and I was offering it to you because I won’t be able to finish it and get my ice cream later as promised.”

“i think you might be right about that, carrots are a more widely loved vegetable.” guy responds, echoing her shrug as he finishes off his food and sits back in his chair a little.”alright you win dani, the ice cream people are the tough ones. eating ice cream is the weight lifting of food.” he teases, feeling the most relaxed that he’s felt in a long time. hanging out with dani is always so easy she doesn’t assume he’s some kind of monster, nore does she expect anything of him really. “i mean.. if the burger is going.. i won’t not eat it. i might need the strength if i’m going to hold up an ice cream cone.”

wow. even for guy, that comeback is weak as hell. guy has always been the brawn, while robin has been the brain. sure, guy isn’t dumb by any means and robin knows just enough martial arts to keep himself alive. but they both have their fortes: guy wins with his fists, robin with his wits. some people would argue that if they ever managed to put their differences aside and join their strengths, the locksley brothers would truly be a force to be reckoned with. “ oh, yeah, you might wanna talk to linen the doorman about that spending problem. a little bird told me he dove deep into our pocket and got himself a hooker. something about getting revenge on his asshole boss. ” he shrugs, nonchalantly. “ his words, not mine. ” it would be too easy to explicitly bring the issue of guy’s reputation among the hotel employees. for now, it remains at jab level. 

he leans against some closed stall behind him, arms folded and an ankle crossed over the other. he listens to his brother yammer on about his values, about their family legacy, blah, blah, blah. his eyes narrow slightly in feigned interest, chin tipping upward. “ you only know what i want you to know. ” does he care about the family legacy? hell no. his saintly reputation is a lie. but so is the vain reputation behind it. and, if you dig deeper, you’ll find another layer, and another layer, and another one. people see the version of him he wants them to see ;  and, for all it’s worth, they’re all true to some extent. he’s as selfless as he is self-serving, as kind as he is utterly ruthless. if even his brother bit the bait, then he truly is untouchable.

it’s hard to hold back on the slight lift at the corner of his lips when guy so shamelessly loses his temper. the people around them are already fretting and mumbling, so he considers his work here done. “ tell your fists to behave, g-easy. we can’t go around breaking and paying for everything. ” he removes himself from the stall he’s been leaning against and slips his sunglasses back on as he turns heel, about to leave. “ we have a spending problem, remember? ”

sometimes when he’s talking with his brother guy tries to remember how their pettiness got this out of hand. sometimes he can’t even remember and it feels like it went straight from him putting robins toys on top of high things so that he couldn’t reach them to them exchanging personal barbs in front of a bunch of children. “well if you’re aware that employee misconduct is going on then i’d wonder why you didn’t report it straight to me since you promised dad that you were on the straight and narrow now. but i guess a snake is still a snake after it sheds it’s skin.” he fires back.

“oh yeah little brother you’re really fucking layered. a shiny shell with a hollow fucking inside.” that jab was a little crueller than guy would maybe usually go in public but he’s embarrassed about his fist on the stall, looking around afraid that danielle will have seen this little display. he always tries to make it seem like he has it together around her, she doesn’t need anymore insatiability in her life. for once he’s glad that he doesn’t find her in his scan of the crowd. 

he opens his wallet and shells out an unnamed amount of money on the stall, before he starts to walk away from it. “you know i’m actually here with someone little brother, so if you really want to hang out maybe you should actually come by my office and we can talk about ‘the spending problem’ specifically you charging shit to the hotel credit card.” guy can control the sherwood and thus somewhat control robin and so he chooses to, whenever he can.

the term you’re looking for is ‘pomme de frites’ and it appears you might be missing a few brain cells.

we’re half brothers. also height is a lottery which i won and he lost