vainglorious.

She was obviously freaking out, and it was times like these he was glad he had done so much reading up on so many things. Royal situations, Isle situations, mental instability books, the list went on and on. He’d gotten his tactics down to a T, and it was simple, make them feel sorry for you. “Relax, you’re gonna stress me out. We’ve been given a very good opportunity.” Sterling explained, sitting down across from her as he looked over her face, “The plan is simple, use sympathy. Make them feel sorry for you, like you’ve never seen certain parts of the land and all youw ant to do is start over fresh and become a model citizen. That you aren’t wanting to be in the shadow of your parents mistakes, all the bullshit. Then, they’ll pay for you and make sure you are happy. The happier you are, and the more you’re out of their hair, the better right? It’s childs play.”

OLIVIA: Well then enjoy your time in Charmington. We also have another castle elsewhere if Charmington gets to be too much.

OLIVIA: Not to my knowledge. My parents may have something in mind, but it'll likely compare to my previous summer restrictions. So... no parties. Basically.

REAGAN: Another castle? Wow. Really have those options. Thanks for the offer

Swinging the door open, he wasn’t expecting to see Reagan, brows knitting together as he looked down at her when she blurted out the words that were clearly on her mind. The male let her speak, arms crossing over chest before sighing, “Zeus, take a breath, c’mon.” Lightly touching her shoulder, he ushered her inside his practically cleared out room. “Trust me, none of us are really looking forward to this whole…staying with our parents enemy situations. But at least we aren’t being forced back to the Isle, and you don’t have to stay with them all the time. Travel, explore the lands, all that shit.” Sterling offered, looking her over, she was clearly in disarray over everything. Some people were stoked, others were worried, but Sterling was just glad he had the summer to try and win over Beatrice. 

OLIVIA: Hi! I figured I should probably reach out to you regarding this summer.

OLIVIA: If you'd already made summer plans we're happy to accommodate them but you are more than welcome to spend as much time as you'd like in the castle.

REAGAN: Thank you. I don't really have any plans. I thought we'd all be shipped back home.

He wasn’t worried about his finals, Sterling was intelligent, tremendously so that he studied constantly. The boy wanted his grades to be high, his involvement in extra curriculars high, and his threat level low. So, here he was on a Friday night, grabbing a drink from the bar at Snuggly Duckling while squeezing through the masses of people who were probably avoiding their studies in favor of getting wasted. Fools, all of them. Taking a sip of his drink, he almost ran someone over as he wiggled through the crowd, glancing down to see a raven haired girl he knew pretty well. “My, my, my. What are you doing out tonight?”

@wickcdreagan

Reagan considered herself wickedly brilliant but she also knew that she had to keep her intelligence to herself. She needed passing scores, obviously, and high enough scores to keep her place at the University but that didn’t mean she needed to panic over getting perfect marks all around. So, while everyone else worried about studying, she was going out on the town. Dressed in her favorite romper with a nice pair of combat heels, Reagan was ready to break some hearts that night. As she was digging through her purse to find her Auradon issued ID, she found herself getting nearly crashed into by someone. Looking up she smiled at the sight of Sterling. Not the sort of heart she had been intent on breaking that night but she supposed he would make for some fun conversation, “You caught me. I’m actively trying to avoid passing my finals. Maybe find a hot date... or two. My summer is open so now is the time to start fishing for options.” Reagan was nothing if not honest. Tossing her hair over her shoulder, she looked Sterling up and down. “And yourself?” 

“Yep. Tangleton is the southern most Kingdom in Auradon. We’re basically where everyone goes for winter vacation because they stay warm there. Lot’s of beaches and ice cream. If you’re scared of heights though, watch out, there’s a lot of cliffs.” Of course that’s to be expected considering the Kingdom was relatively high above sea level, but you’d forget that when you were in the town square. “Yeah, I heard there were sharks? Sounds intense.”

Reagan was awful at geography. She knew the Isle like the back of her hand but Auradon? She always got the towns mixed up and the locations always were different from what she expected. Still, she gave an understanding nod as Riley described her home. “That sounds absolutely amazing, honestly. You’re very lucky. Maybe I can convince someone to take a trip with me and visit.” That is, if her kingdom was open to Isle kids. Some still weren’t so sure about this mingling between them (as they should be). “It was but it was also home right? There were certain things you could do to find the beauty of the place.” Reagan lied through her teeth.

“Do you mean when I’m at school?” Riley questioned, pushing a piece of soft blonde hair out of her face and behind her ear. “No, not really. If I go to the beach, I’m just not going to leave. Plus, the weather here is way more inconsistent than home, there are a lot of month’s when the beach isn’t an option. When I’m home though, I usually spend my whole day there.” She shrugged, knowing a lot of people had strong, negative feelings about the beach, but she was never one of them. She was a summer child, and she grew up in a costal kingdom. She loved the beach. “I think it’s mostly because my home is basically surrounded by beaches. It’s not hard to get to one in a couple of minutes.”

“Your home is that warm then? I’m jealous. I bet its absolutely stunning. I’ve always wanted to visit someplace that hasn’t had to deal with the chill of winter.” Reagan wished she could have grown up in such a place but so was life. She was always destined to be an Isle kid and that was that. “I mean my home was an island but swimming in that water was definitely not an option.”

Jumping the gun was the curse of his family, his father was too eager, didn’t think his plan through, and ultimately fucked up the future for his kids. But hey, without his fuck up, Sterling wouldn’t have even been born so you win some and you lose some. But at least he wasn’t the son of a major villian, sure his father tried to kill someone, but it wasn’t on the level of the magic villains that inhabited the Isle. Plus, out of all his siblings, he wasn’t as bad as Luca. He seemed harmless, and he planned on playing that up for the royals in his advantage. “I mean, I have a few ways of being convinced.” Sterling said smoothly, smirk still evident as she complimented him, “Other benefits, intriguing. Do tell me more.” He hummed as he leaned back against the fence and raised a brow as he looked her over easily.

It seemed Reagan and Sterling could come to a very great understanding. She didn’t know much about him but if things worked out, the pair could be great allies. The girl wasn’t going to jump the gun and offer her complete devotion just yet but she didn’t mind flirting just a little. The kid was cute and it had been awhile since she’d indulged herself in some harmless fun. “I help you, you help me.” Reagan said low and sultry as she stepped even closer and placed a hand on his arm, “I work in favors. I’d owe you one if you let me in today.”

“you’re demanding,” she echoed, sighing. the one night she didn’t have homework. a meeting. practice. anything. zoe had spent the better part of the last ten minutes trying to convince reagan to stay in. watch a movie. anything. but she had to hand it to the girl, she was persistent. “say i do say yes, where the hell are we going? and are you going to drag me out of bed for my 8:30?”

“we women have to be. otherwise, no one will listen to us.” thats what her mother always told her. she needed to demand what she wanted from people otherwise she wouldn’t get anything in life. reagan smiled, “you are too hot to be sitting in this bed at 8:30 at night. you and i need to go out and have fun. seriously, you’re telling me you’d rather watch a movie by yourself than go out and potentially meet the love of your life?” the brunette leaned forward, “i’ll make you a deal. we go for an hour to the bar and then we come back here and i’ll watch any movie you put on. even if its crap.”