#wwbadlands

     “surprised to see you here, your majesty.” he greeted the prince at the bar after spotting him. the bar was less busy than usual thanks to the cold but gabriel had a natural resistance to the cold so he was still willing to venture out into the chilly weather for a beer. the cold was also making people more testy so he was hoping to see a good bar fight tonight but speaking with prince might be just as fun.

      “wow -- hey, no i’m alright.” the cut on his hand said otherwise. shards from broken beer bottles and drunk idiots like salem did not mix well. “okay, okay. maybe not totally alright.” taking another look at his hand, he wondered if he would need to get it stitched again. he missed being a ghost, human bodies were so fragile but as drunk as he was, he felt no pain. the only thing that reminded him that he should be concerned was the look he was getting from the guy in front of him.

     maybe there was some truth to that statement. ever since coming to this place, things had been mostly stressful. trying to keep his family safe by doing things jasper knew he shouldn’t be. trying to understand this place when halloween town was all he knew. try as he might, it was easier to feel like an outsider than anything else. “i just -- yeah, i think i could.” shoulders slump as the words come out. “i don’t know what i’m doing half the time these days. this place makes no sense to me.” 

     “thanks for coming with us,” he said as he passed over more napkins to his son. they had gone out for an ice cream run and claude knew it was close to charlie’s place so he texted the other to see if he wanted to come. it was an odd time to be craving ice cream but the shop thankfully had a good heating system. however, it did mean they had to enjoy their not so frozen treats at a faster pace and bellamy was definitely not keeping up since he had chocolate ice cream all over his hands.

     “so -- yer startin’ tae fancy my first mate?” it wasn’t really a question. few men and women could resist ellie’s charms although leland almost wished the prince could because he had never liked him. to be fair, he disliked all royals. “do ye think t’ats ah good idea?” it wasn’t a threat the captain was going for but he needed to make his concern seem real.

     a sex ed class. eros never even considered that he would be taking one at any point in his life and although he was an adult, he was still a vk. his attendance was required and if he wanted to keep up his good citizen act then he had to attend without complaint. taking a seat next to another man that seemed the closest to his age, he could only hope that the lesson would be short. “ looks like many others opted to skip this class,” he remarked to the other.