VALERIE MCCOY.

“oh my gosh i’m going to butcher this,” val mused, trying to think of everything she knew about the beautiful sunbather. there wasn’t much she could recall, her first day had her frazzled and she had been way too distracted by the woman’s body, she was embarrassed to admit. still, she’d do her best. “celeste, if i don’t get all of these right, that just means we have to get more familiar with each other.” @penned-cbarbosa​

❝ i know ya are and i personally can’t wait to witness this bloody train wreck, ❞ she deadpanned unsuccessfully with a boop to the shorter woman’s nose, as a wide grin tugged at her features. ❝ please tell me this wasn’t your own idea of a good idea. i think ya would’ve had better luck joining a convent, val. ❞ addy snickered thoroughly enjoying that thought. she’d give val half a day with the nuns before they ran her out, possibly with holy water for good measure. still giggling at the thought, she rolled her eyes. ❝ don’t be a drongo, mate. been there, done that, and that can happen anywhere – how often do you get the chance to explore a remote island ?? ❞ sure the pretty people were nice but the island itself was what the blonde was currently looking most forward to.

-

“thank you so much for all your faith in me!! ...maybe i should go for it with just one. or two. three at most, but i hafta get it all out of my system, right??” val scrunched her nose at the taller blonde when she was booped, playfully swatting at her hand. “no, i thought i should just retire. i could do it if i live semi-responsibly. but nooo my agent said i had to stop hiding and show my face and overcome temptation. what a crock of shit!!” the actress stomped her foot, almost lost in her dismay when addy’s next words put an interesting visual in her head. “they’d have to be old nuns. otherwise i think that might be worse,” she joked. “what, is this meal in front of you not good enough for a second helping??” a straight face was kept for a moment as she gestured toward her body and set a hand on her hip, but the giggles broke through quickly. “aw, i guess you’re right. i should focus on all this beautiful scenery. if only all these hotties would stop getting in the way.”

“Well, there’s not much to hear. I’m not particularly public facing.” Sadhbh chuckled out before glancing at a nearby camera. “Until now, I suppose.” She hadn’t ever particularly considered just how public the choice to join the show was actually going to be. Well, at least not until now. Guess they were joining the long line of famous O’Scanlan’s. Whether they wanted to or not. “It’s not a worry, emotions sometimes get the best of all of us on here. I know I’ve had… looser lips than I sometimes do.” The Irishwoman admitted, before thinking for a moment. If this woman knew of her family, maybe they already knew of her past. That could be… good possibly? Not having to explain it as much. “Well I do believe there are some places with bars on the Island. I’d at least assume that there is. Probably in the love shack or one of the Bungalows.”

-

“oh, i dunno. everyone has a story, some people are just lucky enough to not have it plastered in gossip rags or raved about for weeks online.” val shrugged, trying to cover up the way she’d somehow made it more about herself than the woman across from her. “ohh...” she winced, then continued, “this show does get a lot of attention. do you think you’ll leverage that afterwards or try to disappear again??” the celebrity was curious. after all, it wasn’t often that members of famous families kept to themselves like sadhbh had thus far, though she supposed even with her admittedly limited knowledge of the woman’s immediate family she could see why she’d kept out of the limelight. “ooh, have i missed out on something juicy?? i wish i could say blurting stuff out like that was out of the ordinary for me.” unfortunately it was a bad habit that had left her an open book. “mmm, love shacks, bungalows... i’m already desperately missing a roof over my head. unfortunately, something tells me i’m not winning anything anytime soon. probably for the best, though...”

Celeste’s brows sloped as Val stumbled through an apology. But when comprehension hit her, both of Celeste’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh!” She chuckled and shook her head, “Wait, wait uhm. I didn’t mean that I’m not attracted to women. I am. I’m panromantic. But I’m also demixsexual. So… one night stands don’t really do it for me.” She smiled and shrugged. “That’s all I meant. You don’t have to leave. I’m Celeste,” she offered with an extended hand.

“ohhhh...” val hung her head, taking a moment to process and gather herself after her misassumption, chuckling quiet to herself. “well it’s a relief to know the humidity hasn’t melted the ol’ gaydar. but i’ll keep that in mind---don’t try to hit it and quit it with the attractive sunbather.” she gave the woman’s hand a shake, grinning at the invitation to stay. “valerie.” she didn’t have a towel with her, so she thought for a second on whether it’d be worth it to do battle with sand in unwanted places later before unbuttoning her own shorts and mimicking the shimmy that caught her eye earlier. lying down on her stomach next to the other woman, she propped herself up on her elbows. “do you think they’re really gonna make us stay here until we find love?? i feel like i better get used to this place.”

She couldn’t help but smile at the observation. Violet had heard that before and she never minded people ‘spilling too much’. If anything, she welcomed it. “Hi Val, Valerie Mccoy. And it’s fine. The spilling part.” She extended her arm out so that the woman could shake her hand. “Yeah, it is. It’s a nice reprieve from the hamster wheel.” Violet chuckled as she looked around. She wasn’t the most excited to be here but she couldn’t lie and say this wasn’t somewhat peaceful at times. “Hm? Well, honestly I didn’t expect to make the cut. I auditioned to please my brothers and thought there is no way they’d take me on but I guess the producers are masochists.” She grinned as she looked over to the crew quickly and then back at Val. “Are you glad to be here?” 

-

val giggled softly at the way violet poked fun at her. “phew, i was a little worried there. i promise i won’t try to jump you like that again. at least not without some subtlety and finesse,” she teased, before eagerly shaking the other woman’s hand. “the hamster wheel... sounds about right.” it wasn’t something she typically talked about or got into, but ever since she was a little girl on broadway there had been times that expression felt all too accurate. “aw, that’s sweet. by the sounds of it you’ve been giving the producers hell, then??” she grinned right back, thinking about how she might take a few cues from violet. “yes. well, i think so. i didn’t really want to come either, but i kinda like it here so far. if i could just not be so...” she cleared her throat, thinking of a less-blunt way to put it. “...distracted.”

“Trust me, I’ve heard worse. I’m a bartender, and you’d be amazed what comes out of people’s mouths once the alcohol takes over,” Raj chuckled before shrugging, “Yeah, I like to think that they are. Which speaking of those rules, what is your name? I don’t think that I caught it earlier,” he said with a smirk. While Raj still wasn’t sure that he was going to buy into the whole romance thing, at least this woman was gorgeous. 

-

“ohh, i know. unfortunately,” she admitted, hanging her head as she thought of a few drunken statements, propositions, and the like that she was a bit embarrassed about. when he asked her name, she smiled, finally processing the relief that this man in particular wasn’t one that already knew it. that he hadn’t seen the video that the whole world wouldn’t shut up about for so long. “valerie mccoy.” the starlet offered her hand. “but most people just call me val.” 

Khamani chuckled, “So that’s your effort at chastity? Directly telling how you wanna fuck everybody?” It was definitely a bold statement to make but Khamani didn’t mind the honesty. In fact, he kinda liked it. Plus, he wasn’t here for any meaningful attachments and this woman basically declared that she wanted a lay with everyone there. “Well, if you’re serious, I’d rather put myself at the front of that line rather than the end of it.” He gave her a knowing look, his gaze smoldering as he folded his arms across his chest, waiting to see if she was serious in taking him up on this or not.

valerie couldn’t help but giggle as it was put that way. “i --- well... it was honest, at least??” the statement was phrased as a question, trying to convince herself of its relevancy. he made a valid point. maybe her greatest reward on this island would be learning to put a filter on what she said. maybe aliens would descend from space on flying pigs. his next words surprised her, though she wasn’t sure why. she had made her intentions clear. “consider yourself at the front, then. after all, you’re standing close enough to touch,” she cooed, biting her lip as she thought about how she’d proceed. all of the things she wanted to do would have been a bit too forward, even for her. she reached a hand out toward his pants but stopped, thinking better of it, instead bringing it up and pressing her palm against his abdomen. she set her other hand on his forearm and lightly tugged to urge him to unfold his arms. “so touch me.” this wouldn’t be good for her reputation...

Riley chuckled a little and shook his head when the woman kind of apologised. “Honestly, it’s fine. Your gaydar must be broken,” he teased. “I’d be happy to be your friend. Someone clearly needs to help you keep your libido under control.” He was mostly joking. He wouldn’t cockblock unless he was asked to. “Oh, I know who you are. Nice to meet you, Val. I’m Riley,” he said and held out his hand to shake hers.

@shipwrecked-startnconfess​

Honestly it hadn’t taken much to convince the bartender to let Raj have a go at the bar, and before long he had gotten into the grove that he tended to get in at work - even occasionally flipping the shaker as he was using them just to show off a little. Was it a little weird doing this in a dinosaur costume? Absolutely. But it was fun and gave him a sense of normalcy that he had been looking for on the island since his fight with Rodrigue. “So I have two different dino-themed cocktails on the menu tonight,” he chuckled as someone walked up to the bar, “We have the Raptor-tail and we have the Jurassic Bomb. I personally recommend whichever one looks the best, but if you want to know what’s in them, let me know.”

val giggled at the drink names, still shaking her hips to the music as she stood at the bar, tail flailing about, dino head bobbing in tandem. “is a jurassic bomb going to get me bombed??” she asked, peering up at a clock behind the bar, making a mental note that she only had about twenty minutes before she could shed her scales for good. “i’m trying to behave myself like a lady tonight, you see. don’t want to get myself in trouble.” then of course, because she didn’t have a filter like a normal human being... “speaking of trouble — i won’t get pushy about it, but i’m not exactly a saint either, if you ever want to talk about whatever that was with you and cajun keanu with someone that might understand.”

“You know that I might have to try and watch some of your things after that monologue,” Raj admitted, smiling at the fact that Valerie had mentioned him after having said her name earlier, “But I want to know, what’s your favorite project that you’ve done. I should probably start there.” 

-

the split second between the words watch and some sent val’s eyes wide, having had too many memories of old acquaintances commenting on her video straight to her face. the relief and flattery she felt from the rest of raj’s sentence must have been noticeable. “that’s always a tough question,” she mused, doing her best to contain a grin. “do you like high fantasy??” 

“moral fiber. so, what is moral fiber?? it's funny, i used to think it was always telling the truth, doing good deeds, basically being a fucking girl scout...” she stepped toward the group, setting her eyes on a new friend she’d made this week. "but lately i've been seeing it differently. now i think moral fiber's about finding that one thing you really care about. that one special thing that means more to you than anything else in the world. and when you find her, you fight for her. you risk it all, you put her in front of everything, your future, your life, all of it.” her tone had fallen serious as she got into the speech, and now as valerie looked at morgan, on some level real life was fading away and this short haired beauty was the sole recipient of all her affection. when she finally reached her volunteer, val took a seat in their lap, but still addressed the rest of the group. “and maybe the stuff you do to help her isn't so clean. y'know what?? it doesn't matter. because in your heart you know... the juice is worth the squeeze,” she said, finally looking into morgan’s eyes and taking their face into her hands. “that's what moral fiber's all about.” to cap it off, val gave morgan a deep smooch, lingering perhaps a little longer than she needed to for this little performance, but she couldn’t help herself. “and scene,” she declared, finally allowing herself to laugh at what she’d just done.

standing up from morgan’s lap, valerie faced the entire group again. “as for the tell part of this show and tell... well it’d be too easy to mention my lovely volunteer here, so: raj, you’re cute, i like you. and addy, hottie, wow!! i haven’t been able to keep my eyes off’a ya. i’ve got a big ol’ ladyboner for both of you.”

“Well I might be the wrong O’Scanlan if you want to know how to recover from scandals. My uncle and cousin have quite a bit more experience than I do in that area of public life.” The irishwoman responded with a chuckle before thinking for a moment. Sure she had always been at least a little in the public eye, popping up in random gossip rags back home, but that was more for her proximity to the rest of her family. Never as the singular target of it all. “Well thank you very much for the compliment, lovely, but I’m not the type of girl who hops in from one flowery word. Maybe a lot of flowery words or a lot of good whiskey but not just a little bit of a hint.” She teased. Of course there were some… other complications. Not just because she still had her eye set on that American bookstore owner who just seemed to fit her in a very unique way.

“so it is you,” val mused, humming pleasantly. “don’t hear about you too often, not like other o’scanlans. sadhbh, right??” she’d been around the block (and the world) so many times that she’d picked up a few things, and liked to keep informed about famous families and the like. it helped her navigate the party scenes she frequented no matter where she was. “sorry, the island has me a little frazzled. kinda lacking a filter at the moment.” there was a bit of disappointment that val felt from the rejection despite it possibly being the smoothest one she’d ever been on the receiving end of, though it was probably for the best. it would not have been a good look if she immediately jumped someone’s bones, as lovely as they were. “i guess it’s a good thing we don’t have any whiskey...”

Raj wasn’t sure if the woman had been actually talking to him when she was talking about her reputation - truthfully he had no idea who she even was. But it quickly turned into her actually talking to him - or really propositioning him. Which wasn’t a first for Raj (get enough drunk women in a bar and they’re going to try at some point) but was definitely a first since being on the island. “Thanks…I think?” he finally said, “I’m flattered, but I have a pretty firm I need to know someone’s name before getting into bed with them rule. And ideally also a third date.” 

-

“oh. em. gee. i’m so sorry!!” val exclaimed, instinctively bringing a hand to cover her mouth, then slowly sliding it up to cover her eyes and peeking through a moment later to see if maybe he hadn’t run off. “i should really stop just blurting out whatever crosses my mind. you’re just hot, and it’s been way longer than i’m used to.” between trying to not just hop into bed with anyone like she used to make a habit of, going on about a year since she had a husband, and the sequester before actually getting to the island, a certain activity had been on her mind a lot lately. “but those are smart rules to have, they would have saved me a lot of trouble.”

“Um.” Violet was really using her profession while on this island. It’s not like she minded that at all. If anything, she preferred giving people advise more than she enjoyed trying to figure out why her ex was here or what everyone’s intentions were when it came to falling in love. That is, if anyone was actually interested in her like that all. And why should she care? It’s not like Violet had been thinking about the possibilities. It would go against everything she believed in. Nodding as the other continued, she didn’t even realize she had been over thinking her own situation but was quickly snapped out of it all when Cal concluded her rant. “What?” Violet shook her head, a small smirk pulling at the corner of her lips. “I think we need to scale it back a few. Hi, I’m Violet. Welcome to the island…” 

-

“oops, was that a little too out of nowhere?? i think you just have one of those faces that makes people wanna spill, ya know??” it didn’t help that val was never exactly one to hold back. it was all or nothing, all the time – and that’d gotten her in trouble before. it’s even what caused the scandal that put her on the island, trying to rebuild her reputation. taking a deep breath, she forced herself to scale it back along with the other woman. “hey violet, i’m val. valerie. ...mccoy. thank you, it’s really nice here,” she added, seemingly unable to stop rambling in the presence of her new acquaintance. “since i told you way more about me than you bargained for... what about you, what brought you to the island??”