over seas of { gold } // koi+evelyn+ophelia

[Stare]

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Evelyn Sparrow was thoroughly drunk and scared out of her mind by the time she was supposed to meet Koi.

She'd started early, taking refuge in a local bar just after lunchtime and occupying the same seat at the counter for a solid five hours. At first she'd distracted herself by holding loud conversations with the local sailors she knew as they came and went. They were always good for a bit of lighthearted talk, contemplating the weather that would be brought with the coming seasons or joking about tadpoles.

"Oy!" said one, broad and bearded, as the bartender set another glass of cider in front of her. "I 'ear you've got a tadpole of your own now. 'eard your sister was up in arms about 'im."

Her grip had tightened around the glass as she lifted it and took a long, deep chug. "You heard wrong," she said after she'd set it down, her voice surprisingly even. It was half true. Koi wasn't hers. He wasn't some piece of beach glass she'd scavenged and decided to keep for herself. And even though she'd been dwelling on the memory of his lips pressed into hers more often than she cared to admit, she still hesitated to tie him to her.

I want to be seen with you. I'm not embarrassed.

Downing the rest of her cider, Evelyn ordered something stronger. She stopped talking to the sailors after that.

By the time she left the bar it was raining, surface of the sea choppy and foaming, she could barely walk straight. Her soaked shirt and hair seemed like a minor detail as she carefully navigated around puddles and mud. She'd expected the alcohol to help somehow. Ease her anxiety, or at least give her a little bit of courage. Instead, her chest felt painfully tight, and she kept pressing a hand to her forehead in an attempt to clear her thoughts.

Stupid. She was so stupid.

A familiar figure was waiting for her at the docks, wisely carrying an umbrella, and her heart staggered painfully. She hadn't seen him since their tryst in her closet, and she had the sudden urge to try to pull him into a secret spot somewhere and avoid the meeting with Ophelia altogether. In this state, though, she was more likely to drag them both off the dock rather than into any good hiding place. Besides, this was what Koi wanted. This was what they both wanted. A fair shot with Ophelia and a chance to stop meeting in secret. She was sick of hiding.

"Bird boy!" She had to focus to keep her words from slurring, but she couldn't stop herself from tripping over one of the planks on the dock and stumbling the last few steps toward him. The world tilted for a moment, then steadied. Her face was flushed when she finally straightened and peered up at him through damp strands of hair. He almost definitely could tell what kind of trouble she'd gotten herself into, but she tried to pretend he didn't.

I'm not embarrassed.

Her gaze dropped to her muddy feet instead of meeting his eyes.

Yeah, well, you should be.

over seas of gold
searching for the light
i've already stolen
all she thought was right

[august vance d7b [Bella]]

KOI WALLACE

Koi had thoroughly baffled his parents with the outfit he’d been wearing this morning, an old gray t-shirt with some ripped jeans, something he’d never have worn unless he expected to do yard work or something. He’d changed out of his nicer clothes after two hours of waiting, unable to distract himself with anything other than thoughts of the day to come. Evelyn had said she felt out of place around him, partly since his clothes were on the higher end, so he’d decided to dress more like her. Dirty casual, he thought with a smirk as he walked, the rain tapping against his umbrella. Something the fishermen would wear. It was a compliment in his mind; Koi had never seen her in anything she hadn’t been able to pull off.

But there was something else to dressing like this--for days Koi had labored in his mind over how to show up and act around her sister. Be yourself, don’t change, Evelyn told him, but how could he, knowing that Ophelia would be looking for cracks in his presentation, and that the way he dressed would be one of them? He was sure he could hear her voice in his head: “Too good for us, eh? Did yer daddy buy ye that outfit?” Except he’d never met Ophelia, so the voice was Evelyn’s, minus the affectionate tone.

He watched the docks for her familiar outline, or a mane of red darkened by the rain. She was nowhere to be seen, but he was early according the gold watch on his wrist; he’d worn it every day since she’d gifted it to him. Too nervous to wait, he felt the seconds go by like molasses, the chill of the ocean wind creeping into his clothes. The rain fell through the spaces between the boardwalk planks, and he allowed the motion of the water to lull him to a stillness void of worries and obligations.

Evelyn, staggering towards him, brought Koi back to the task at hand. He knew what she’d been doing all day, but he couldn’t believe it. Not today.

As if he hadn’t enough to worry about. She couldn’t even look at him; instead she seemed suddenly interested in his shoes. He felt a burn in the pit of his stomach, tasting bitter disenchantment. He’d been so excited to see her, but now there was another shift in the plan; he never could plan for anything, could he? The universe had a way of screwing things up when he made plans with Evelyn, but she herself had never been the catalyst before. Not really.

“Hey, Ev.” He swallowed his fears like acid and let them simmer in his chest instead, wrapping an arm around Evelyn’s waist and pulling her to his side out of the rain. Still, he couldn’t help but feel annoyed as he held her steady. Any other day, he would have welcomed the way she leaned against him while they walked. It was funny the way things worked out.

“Um, you sure you’re ready for this today?” he asked. He knew they didn’t really have much of a choice, but he was just trying not to say the words that he was thinking. “You look a little…dehydrated.” He’d tried to hide his disappointment, but he knew by the end of the phrase that it wasn’t working.

[Stare]

[googlefont="Poppins:400"]

Maybe because she was drunk, but more likely because she was simply volatile by nature, the tone of his voice made Evelyn jerk away. It stung in a way that made it difficult for her to admit that the entire situation was her fault, so she tried to cover the way her face flushed with shame by glowering at him. "I'm not - "

Evelyn faltered when, mid-sentence, she realized that there was something different about him. Her eyes swept from his worn jeans to his loose t-shirt, gaze catching on the sharp lines of his collarbone visible because of the wider neckline. It was an outfit that she belatedly realized took its inspiration from her. The only difference was that Koi wore pirate better than she ever had. In fact, he wore it better just about anyone else she'd ever seen, and it took her a moment to realize that she was gaping. Her face grew even warmer.

"I, uh... I thought you'd wear a suit or something," she mumbled after far too long of a pause, her eyes still glued on that damn neckline. Then, realizing how she might have sounded, she stumbled to correct herself, words slurring slightly in the process. "I didn't mean - I mean, s'not bad. Good. You look good."

She was an idiot, and it would be a miracle if he wanted anything to do with her by the time they were finished with Ophelia.

But even though it was Koi, even though she wanted this so badly it hurt, she still couldn't admit that it was fear that had compelled her to drink that day. She had a reputation to uphold, after all. Evelyn Sparrow wasn't the type to be afraid of her older sister. Then again, she also wasn't the type to get lovesick over a tadpole. Yet there they stood, and she had to shove her hands into her soaking pockets to hide the fact that they were trembling slightly.

"It'll be fine," she said dismissively after an awkward pause, and she wasn't sure if she was referring to him, herself, or the entire situation. Then, noticing that her wet hair had left a damp patch on her shoulder, Evelyn reached up to try and pull it up from where it was plastered against his skin. Only her fingers couldn't quite grasp it the right way, and she only ended up tugging at it uselessly before giving up. As if she hadn't already embarrassed herself enough. Forcing herself to meet Koi's gaze, she tilted her chin upward slightly, refusing to let her shame show through. "Being mad at me isn't going to help anything, you know."

over seas of gold
searching for the light
i've already stolen
all she thought was right

[august vance d7b [Bella]]

KOI WALLACE

Koi was extra aware of the way her eyes moved along his body because she was doing it so slowly. Really, he would have laughed out loud on a different day. “Thanks,” he grunted to her compliment, modestly tugging his collar closer to his neck. Though he felt like he was wearing pajamas, the outfit was anything but comfortable. The material was too thin and kind of flimsy. Still, he couldn’t help but smile a little at her approval—maybe he had gotten the look right after all.

”Being mad at me isn’t going to help anything, you know.”

“Mad?” he coughed. He was trying to hide that his teeth were chattering slightly; she’d gotten his shirt wet and now he was chilly. “Mad at you? Never.” Koi squeezed Evelyn into his side, kissed her on the crown of the head. It wasn’t a total lie. Not mad, exactly. Scared, though, deep in his guts, like an animal knowing he was walking into predator territory unprepared. Or less prepared than he had expected. Just as nervous, too--he was making a painfully conscious effort not to make things worse. But he’d never been good at hiding things. At painting on smiles.

Koi could smell the liquor on her; it was coming through her pores, heavy and sour on her breath. It dragged him right back to the night in the boat when they’d been drunk together. Even the sickness after sunrise had been worth the way he’d felt warm and clumsy, sliding down next to her in the floor of the boat. Whole, that was the word. He’d been whole, filled up with moonshine and starshine and everything that shines, eyes, smiles and all of those what-ifs. It was different when they were drunk together.

“Kinda wishing you would have brought some for me,” he thought aloud. “I know the time and place for things like that, though.” Where had he heard that, there’s a time and place for everything. Dad probably. “But you... I guess it’s just another thing I’m going to have to get used to, right?” He bumped her playfully with his hip, maybe a little too hard.

[Stare]

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"I guess it’s just another thing I’m going to have to get used to, right?"

Evelyn refused to let anything show, determined to keep her reaction hidden, but his words felt like needles scratching at the surface of her rib cage, hinting at something worse to come. She didn't want to be something that Koi had to get used to. She wanted to be something simple to him, something that made him smile without even thinking about it. But she wasn't simple, was she? She was a disaster, a mess, and the same part of her that was scared that her sister would try to banish Koi from her life was even more scared that Koi would do the same when he figured her out.

And it would hurt. It would hurt more than she would ever admit to anyone.

She swallowed the thought and bristled instead, tugging away from him and narrowing her eyes. "I know the time and place for things like that," she mimicked, though the words slipped together a bit too much to be a convincing impression. "Who are you trying to be, my father? I'm fine."

To prove her point she pressed two fingers against her lips and whistled, surprising herself but getting a loud, clean note on the first try. There was a moment of silence filled only by the rain and the sound of Koi's breathing, comforting despite everything, before a rope ladder tumbled down over the side of the ship.

Evelyn eyed it warily. One last chance to bolt. She could tell Ophelia something had happened, make up some kind of story. She could tell her that she'd decided to stop seeing Koi, all on her own, and they could continue meeting each other in the middle of the night away from prying eyes. She could cling to their secret for just a bit longer.

But she was tired of being something Koi had to get used to. It was her turn to pull her own weight.

Evelyn reached for the ladder and began to climb.

By the time her feet were on the deck it was a miracle her heart hadn't pounded right through her chest. She felt somewhat nauseous, and it wasn't just the alcohol. Still, she kept her head high, chin tilting upward defiantly as she met a matching pair of beach-glass eyes. "Well, here he is. The boy you're raising hell over. Doesn't really seem like the cause of some kind of bloody mutiny when you see him up close, does he?"

She was discrediting Koi. She had to, to keep Ophelia satisfied. Still, she felt herself balk at her own words. Sure, Koi wasn't going to start a mutiny. That much was true. And maybe, in Ophelia's eyes, he really was just a boy.

But to Evelyn he was everything, and even drunk, she knew that fact was written all over her face.

over seas of gold
searching for the light
i've already stolen
all she thought was right