#interaction: marcus

PM: Oh, yes. Not 100% but I’m sort of getting there.

Val had heard whisperings that Marcus was back in town for at least a week now. Had she heard from the man in that time since he'd apparently been back? Nope. Had she even heard from him in the months since he'd disappeared off the face of the earth? Another big fat nope. If Val hadn't already been upset that he'd just up and left her to the wolves of Briar Ridge who somehow thought of her as a home wrecker who had stood between Kira and Marcus getting back together, the lack of reaching out to her to explain himself really threw her over the edge. It wasn't that she expected anything romantic from Marcus - hell, she knew full well how it felt to have your latest romantic endeavor drudge up old memories and feelings better than anyone. It was just the lack of communication. The leaving her high and dry while their whole town thought of her as the villain. That was screwed up.

So when she spotted a familiar figure, one she had spent a good part of the summer memorizing underneath the sheets, there was no confusing him. Even with a mask on. Navigating through the crowd, she made her way to him, arms crossing over her chest as she came to stop right behind him. Reaching up to poke his shoulder, probably a little harder than was necessary, she waited with her arms crossed for him to turn around. "So you think it's okay to just up and disappear for six months without a word, while I'm left to deal with the fall out of your ex, aka Briar Ridge's sweetheart, being heartbroken over our fling?" she questioned. For once, not mincing her words, and sure as hell not holding back.

With everything going on at work and his love life, Cameron needed something to get out his pent up... whatever those emotions were. Basketball had always been a great relaxer for him. He remembered playing at the indoor court in the rec center every summer, but his parents never allowed him to play on the team at school because they wanted him to focus on his grades. It was nice to get lost in the movements again; dribbling the ball and shooting free throws. But it would also be nice to catch up with his cousin. It had been a while since Marcus and Cam had gotten to hang out, and he had heard some rumblings around town that seemed to indicate that Marcus might have something going on in his life that he needed to talk about to. So Cam threw the basketball at the hoop, moving to various distances around the court, as he waited for his cousin to arrive.

Valentina had been dwelling far too much on just how incredibly wonderful it had felt to get to pretend that she and Henry were still together. That one night at Golden Hour had set the brunette years back in terms of her 'getting over my ex-husband' journey and she truly couldn't believe she was back to square one, pining over Henry Monroe like the college girl she had been when she first met him. She knew it had all been an act for him, as much as she had wanted to believe there were actual feelings behind the show he had put on, that was far too dangerous a line of thinking and Val refused to allow herself down that rabbit hole. She needed a distraction, and when Marcus's BeReal post lit up her screen, Valentina's eyes lit up with a satisfied smirk. What was the saying? The best way to get over your ex was to get under someone else?

Sending him a quick text asking him to drop his location, she quickly changed into her favorite swimsuit and cover up before making her way to the beach. Glancing around, she finally spotted a large bonfire with a group of people hanging out around it. Upon getting closer, Val spotted Marcus and walked up to him, a bit of a smirk on her face. "Hey there, handsome." she greeted as she approached. "Up for some unsolicited company?"

With the resort keeping him busy, Cam wasn't making much time for cooking these days. Besides, being in that big empty house by himself tended to encourage more thinking that Cameron was willing to do. He tended to spiral when he was alone, thinking about the ways he had screwed up his chance at really turning his family's company around and what a failure he had been. It might be a coping mechanism to just avoid time alone altogether, but he was more than willing to deal with the repercussions of that than to deal with the issue head on.

notjustsurvive said: “How did you even do this?”

    “   With faith; trust... and a tonne of Pixie dust!   ”             OF COURSE, SHE WAS MERELY MESSING WITH HIM when she gave her initial answer and the grin that painted itself upon her lips was enough to show him of that but, even so, she laughed softly and shook her head as she moved herself. Granted, the ceiling full of stars had taken her quite some time to do, but she could not be more pleased with herself for having managed to achieve the starry blanket that now laid above them both.            “  I’m a lightbringer. It’s kind of what we specialise in... Light; stars; the sun; FIRE.   ”